The volume.

All right, well goo hoops today here at the volume.

Happy Monday, everybody, hope all if you guys had an incredible weekend, have a jam pack show for you guys today.

We're hit two games from last night, Lakers Suns as well as Sixers Hawks.

I also want to share some stats from what the aftermath of that Spurs Thunder game.

I wanted to see some statistical markers that demonstrate some of the things that we talked about.

And then, as always on Mondays, our weekly power rankings.

You guys owe the joke before we get started.

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All right, let's talk some basketball.

So starting with Lakers Suns.

This is a game where Austin Reeves was out with the calf injury, and both Lebron and Luca were kind of a mess on offense, and yet the Lakers were able to get a win because of what they did on the margin, something they haven't done a whole lot of this season, a concept don't want to dive into today.

Luca was off all night.

He's been slumping a little bit over his three games since returning from Slovenia for the birth of his child.

He's shooting thirty seven percent from the field in twenty three percent from three, obviously well down from his averages to start the season.

He struggled with the three point shot most of this season, but it's been especially bad as of late, and he's been having a bit of a turnover issue issue.

He has twenty three turnovers over his last four games.

Lebron got off to a nightmarage start.

He had six turnovers in the first quarter.

Dylan Brooks I actually thought kind of woke him up.

You could tell Lebron just as a competitor, really wanted to win that game so that he could have a moment at Dylan Brooks's expense, and that after a really rough first quarter, Dylan kind of getting into it with them to wake Lebron up.

And from the start of the second quarter through the pass to Jake lave On that back cut, the one that put the Lakers up ninety nine to seventy nine.

I thought Lebron was really good in that stretch, and we'll come back to that stretch later when we talk a little bit about his beef with Dylan Brooks.

But down the stretch in crunch time, he didn't really have much juice to create offense.

Neither did Luca.

Marcus Smart was damn near shaving points down the stretch.

Lebron had a bad turnover on a post entry to DeAndre in the middle of the floor that wasn't open.

Just some really head scratching decisions across the board from the Lakers offensive players down the stretch.

Luca wasn't good, Lebron wasn't good in crunch time, neither was Marcus.

It was just rough.

But the team, despite having basically no offensive juice last night, was able to get a big win on the road against a good Phoenix Suns team because they came out and they physically dominated the Suns with their size and by playing harder than them.

The Lakers obliterated the Suns on the offensive glass night long.

They had twenty four offensive rebounds, leading to twenty five second chance points.

They had eight blocked shots they had thirteen steals.

They were the harder, playing, more physically aggressive team all night long, and it allowed them to win a game that they almost certainly lose otherwise because of the issues they were having on offense.

And this is where I want to talk about the officiating.

I'm very consistent with this kind of thing.

I think free throw differentials are very much a product of the way the two teams are playing.

I think blaming a loss on officiating or focusing on officiating is a loser's mentality.

I'm consistent with this.

We just had an example of it going the opposite direction for the Lakers against the Spurs.

In that game, the Spurs were plus twelve in free throws made What did I say after that game?

I said, Lakers fans complaining about free throws in that game was lame because the Spurs were very clearly the more physically aggressed team all night.

The Lakers were constantly out of position and so they kept fouling.

And I specifically called attention to the fact that one of the unique kind of like one of the unique realities about the way officiating in basketball works.

You'd think the more physically aggressive team would get called for more fouls because they're being more physically aggressive.

It's usually the opposite.

The more physically aggressive team tends to beat you to spots more often, and when they beat you to spots, you're out of position the opponent, and so the opponent ends up committing more fouls because they aren't meeting that aggression that the other team is bringing.

Last night, the Lakers were plus twelve in free throws made.

Why because they were a step ahead of Phoenix physically all night long.

The Lakers were quicker to loose balls, they were more disciplined on defense.

They simply won that margin last night.

Oh but Jason Luca's foul grifting all the time and jumping into dudes.

You're right, so was Devin book Devin Booker actually did a better job foul grifting than Luca last night.

Devin Booker attempted sixteen free throws.

That's not.

The free throw differential wasn't because of Luca grifting or because of Devin Booker grifting.

Both of those guys did their thing, and they attempted thirty free throws between the two of them.

Right, the free throw differential was because down the roster, throughout all phases of the game.

The Lakers were quicker to the ball all night and the Suns were constantly out of position.

And as for the late game stuff, when the Sons were trying their comeback, when they were down by twenty and they started playing crazy hard, and they they flipped the script and became the more physically intense team late in the game.

They were probably like it was such a bloodbath of a game down the stretch of that fourth quarter.

Physically, there were probably a dozen missed foul calls on both ends of the floor over the final five minutes of that game.

Like, I know, Suns fans are pissed off about the play where Dylan Brooks got it.

Brooks got ejected because right before that ejection, Lebron foul Dilan Brooks onnon three.

You're right, it was a missed call.

Dylan Brooks shot a three.

Lebron bumped into him with his shoulder as he was flying by on a close out, knocked him over.

It was a foul.

What do I always say?

Bad calls or missed calls are a part of the game of basketball.

Less than a minute earlier, when the Lakers were up five with a little over a minute left, Dylan Brooks straight up tackled Luca on a step back three along the left wing.

Luca went for the step back, stuck his right leg out, but Dylan was also running him off of his spot.

It was like a clear obvious fallle.

He tackled Luke on a step back three should have been a foul, but it didn't get called because it was such a blood bath of a game.

Those games become borderline impossible to officiate.

Bodies are falling down every five seconds.

Every possession ends with three or four dudes laying on the ground.

It's a blood bath.

It's going to turn into a shit show with officiating when that happens.

And that's what happened.

It was a shit show of physicality over the last five minutes, which is damn near impossible to officiate.

And they were about a half dozen missed calls on either end of the floor.

If the Lakers would have lost that game, it wouldn't have been because of a call.

It would have been because they lost a twenty point lead in the fourth quarter by slowing down too much on offense and a couple of really poor decisions with the basketball by both Marcus Smart and Lebron James and Luke Dncis would turnovers down the stretch and bad shots down the stretch of that game.

You can't blame the officials when you blow a twenty point lead.

And the Suns lost that game because they gave up a twenty eight to two run in the second half.

They had a nine minute stretch of game clock where they couldn't score.

That's why you lose the game.

So I think focusing on officiating in addition to being a loser mentality, it honestly just misses the plot.

You got your butts kicked in the free throw margin against the Spurs because you got beat to the ball constantly all game long by a faster team that was more physically aggressive.

And the Suns got beat in the free throw margin tonight because the exact opposite thing happened, and the Lake brought the physicality and they beat you to spots all night long, and they beat you to every loose ball and you were constantly behind, and it just, you know, it just is a shame.

I was listening to the Phoenix Suns broadcast last night, and honestly, it was just embarrassing the way that like this super interesting basketball game was going on, and all they could talk about is how they thought the league was rigging the game with the officiating for.

The Lakers is crazy.

And as for the last call with Devin Booker on Lebron, it's one of those ones where like, if it was a no call in the moment, and I saw the replay and like, so it was no call, we go on, Lakers end up losing the game, and I see the replay and Devin Booker comes down on the hand and the wrist the way that he did.

I thought it would have been defensible as a no call in the moment, but as soon as it got called and it was challenged, you have to go to the replay, and once you go to the replay, it's by the book.

He went down on his hand and his wrist, it's gonna get it's not.

You're not going to overturn that call.

But even then, you go back a few minutes, there's a play where Jake Lave blocks Devin Booker at the foul line and runs out in transition and Devin Booker yanks on the back of his jersey to wrap around and swipe down.

That does go to review and somehow does get upheld right.

So the point is is like this stuff is completely out of your control and it's pointless to dwell on the best thing you can do as a basketball team to address the free throw differential is to bring the physical aggression to the game.

If you are the more physically aggressive team, you will get a better whistle.

It has been like that for as long as I've been playing the game and as long as I've been watching the game.

That is just the way that it works when you get into these super physical environments.

So let's dig back into that idea.

How did the Lakers outwork the Suns in this game?

We saw a rotation change last night.

Jared Vanderbilt had played just three minutes total in the previous ten games, and even those three minutes were kind of unusual because Jake Lavia got hit in the face and so JJ ended up trying him and to do the hero for a few minutes just to see but vandersman out of the rotation for a long time.

But because Austin Reeves was out of the rotation last night with his calf injury, you know you got thirty five something minutes to disperse among the rest of the roster, and those minutes basically ended up getting split three ways between more minutes for Marcus Smart, who ended up starting, more minutes for Jake Laavia, and more minutes for Jared Vanderbilt.

Now, those are.

Three of LA's better defensive players and so more defensive talent on the floor.

It was actually the Laker defense that blew this game open again a nine minute span from the end of the third quarter to the middle of the fourth quarter where the Lakers allowed just two points, and it was the quartet of Jared Vanderbilt, Jake Loravia, gave Vincent, and Jackson Hayes in combination with Lebron or Luca those were the six guys that were primarily on the floor during that run, and they were all excellent on defense.

Jake did a great job on Devin Booker, staying attached, keeping his hands up to avoid fouls.

He's also bigger than Devin, which allowed him to get some great contests, including that block that we talked about there around the foul line.

I thought Van and Jake were both excellent in their passing lanes as they were playing off the ball defensively, getting steals Jake was awesome at anticipating where the kickouts were going and jumping them like a free safety.

Vando got a couple of steels on the right wing with just fundamental positioning.

Basic basketball one on one.

When you're playing a passing lane, you stay in between the ball and your man when you're one pass away and you typically are just maybe a hair outside of the passing lanes.

You don't get back cut, but you make up for that gap by having your hand in the passing lanes.

You're always, you know, standing just off the passing lane with your whatever hand that is in that direction in the passing lane, keeping your eye on your man and the ball.

That's good fundamental defense there.

And Jared Vanderbilt's quick and has long arms, and he got Calling Gillespie in that passing lane on the left wing.

You got Grayson Allen in that passing lane in the in the left wing.

That was a big part of those thirteen steals that the Lakers got in this game.

The job that Jake and Vando were doing in passing lanes, the ranginess at the rim in blocks like Vando is kind of like an underrated rim protector for a Ford big block and a low man rotation on Jordan Goodwin after he ended up having to step over after they put two in the ball on the left side of the floor.

Jackson has been so much better with his verticality on contests at the rim this year.

Every time I watched Jackson go up with two hands and not come down and hack the dude, it's funny.

He had one against the Spurs where he came down and hacked hard and all the guys on the bench were getting on him.

You can tell from the coaching staff down to his teammates, they have been really good at holding Van or holding Jackson accountable to his verticality and his contests.

And he's been much better really across the board this year, but especially on defense, defending the rim without fouling in a big one against Osoegadaro in the second half at the Rim, Gabe was scrapping all night.

He had a big steal on Jordan Goodwin with some ball pressure.

Vando, Jackson and Jake were the main sources of their offensive rebounding as well.

In those bench groups.

Those guys had twelve offensive boards between the three of them.

And again, like I said earlier, in the same way that Phoenix two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago today, I believe went into La and punked the Lakers.

Last night, the Lakers went into Phoenix and punked the Suns.

They were the more physically aggressive team and really brought it to them.

And again, like, this is one of those things where we can acknowledge the Lakers have personnel weaknesses, but they also are capable of just playing better.

And I thought last night was a good example of that.

You need both.

You need some more talent and you need the guys that you have to do a better job of competing in those areas.

No one is advocating for the Lakers to go give all of Austin's minutes to defenders.

Obviously Austin's too good of a player and when he comes back, he's gonna get all those minutes.

But it was fun to watch La anchored by some better defensive talent in this game to have a chance to impact the game.

And so a couple of notes from that, like maybe Vando should get more of an opportunity, especially on nights where Gabe doesn't seem to have it going on offense.

He did hit a big corner three in the second half, but he's been a little bit off on offense as of late.

Maybe Vando can give you a little bit more defensively in those situations when Gabe's not on, and again, most importantly, when you're looking at the trade deadline, it's a sign of what things could look like if the Lakers did find a high level defensive player that could actually earn thirty to thirty five minutes a night in this rotation.

Like Jake is struggling on offense, he can't shoot right now, shooting twenty eight percent on catch and shoot threes this season.

He blew a couple of layups on fast breaks last night.

Vando hit it three last night, but he was two for five.

He was one for three at the rim last night.

These guys are struggling to get into the rotation because they're so limited on offense.

So just imagine a universe where you've got a player that you're playing thirty thirty five minutes who's six', eight got a big natural motor that has him playing hard and he's doing a lot of damage in those margins of the.

Game but that's also knocking down catch and shoot threes and can do a little bit on.

Offense that's exactly, Why, like when it comes to that kind of, guy he would do more to help The lakers than he would just about any other team in the league because they have such a specific need for.

That type of.

Player, again like your value to a basketball team is unique to what your team needs and what you bring to the.

Table that's why that kind of player could be so impactful for this.

Team nice response from The, lakers, though AGAIN i talked about this in The Lakers collective pot On.

Thursday the main THING i was looking for in this game was just how they'd show up, Physically like would they show up for a fight Against, phoenix would they bring the fight To phoenix or would they wilt under the?

Physicality, again AND i thought they brought the, fight AND i thought they won the.

Fight they did the physical punking last.

Night that's why they, won even though their offense was kind of sketchy most of the.

Night and again it's a reminder that they are capable of playing better even with their personnel.

Weaknesses The Dylan Brooks lebron.

Beef i'm in a weird spot on this one, because on the one, HAND i actually really Like Dylan, brooks AND i think he's a great basketball.

PLAYER i think he'd be literally perfect as The lakers starting, three for, example BUT i don't think that's.

HAPPENING i Think phoenix should keep.

HIM i think he's a culture builder for.

THEM i Thought jordan not talked about that after the.

GAME i Think dylan's an important foundational piece For phoenix at this.

Point But i'm a big fan of him as a basketball.

Player WHEN i just think about the.

Basketball the stuff With, lebron, though it's it's getting a little over the top and it's kind of, Lame like it's not the first time we've seen a role player do, this you, know kind of grifting off the fame of a.

Superstar it's been an epidemic ever since really the advent of social, media right you like, it it's like an aura farming.

Thing guys are trying to.

Get some sort of like some sort of traction with their fame and their personality off of another.

Star and this is not the first guy to do this To, Lebron like we Saw Lance stevenson do, this we saw To Shan stevenson do, this and you know that there's a lot of, this like non basketball, stuff, Right Like dylan's just out out out the, gates just randomly shoulder Bumping lebron every time he gets a.

Chance so that play Where lebron lost his, cool he like slap the ball at.

Him the foul was, called there was like a second everyone Knew Dylan brooks is going to the foul, line so it's not like he's trying to save it from going out of bounds or something like, that and he just slaps the ball At lebron and again Like lebron overreacted to, it but it's Like lebron is just sick of.

It he's just sick of the crap because there's all of this extracurricular nonsense going.

On and then that play on the play he got ejected on like if he was just trying to win a basketball, game he'd be getting ready to get a, stop but, nope he's once again or a farming With lebron by going up and running up and throwing a completely unnecessary chest, bump and the shick is just kind of, old like we get.

It you're big and strong and you can bump shoulders with forty year Old lebron a little bit he's seventeen and eight against you in his, career and the one time he saw you in the, playoffs he torched you in the pivotal moments and he sent you.

Home so like it's one of those things where you're actually one of the better players in the league, Overall Dylan brooks as a role player when you focus on the basketball and you're actually a good enough basketball player now that you don't Need lebron in his fame to elevate you.

Anymore so like it's time to move past, that and like it's just it's very clearly become something that's more of a distraction For dylan and taking away from some of the impact that he has on the.

Game he got himself in foul trouble tonight or last, night picking up a fifth foul on a play where he was trying to Isole lebron once, again just trying to farm another, clip and he dropped his head and like Speared lebron in the chest with his head in the sternum and knocked him, over pick up his fifth.

Foul then you sit out the entire third quarter and your team gets absolutely thrashed while you're off the.

Floor why because you're one of the most important players on the.

Team AND i thought last night was an example where Like Dylan, brooks really good basketball, player undercut a lot of his success and hurt his team because he was more interested in his own like personal little show that he puts on With Lebron and it's, like, dude you're losing that.

Show you were routinely and consistently losing that.

Show you had a big night a couple a couple of weeks ago some, night didn't do the extracurricular bs that hurts your.

Team you were just making shots and playing defense and helping your team win a.

Game this kind of junk is actually getting in the way of his impact as a basketball.

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Virginia all, right let's move on to six er.

Socks so No Tyrese maxi For, philly who's missed the last two games with an.

Illness this was a game that The hawks led for almost the entirety Of they led for the entire first, quarter the entire third and fourth, quarters but ended up being a super fun game because The sixers kept it close thanks to a throwback night on offense From Paul george And joel Mb, too combined for fifty seven points and incredible shot making.

Throughout it is kind of a Vintage Paul george game where he's just hitting all those impossible shots off the.

Dribble we've talked about this, before But Paul george has always had a game that's kind of built on tough shot, making and what ends up happening is if he's got that kind of stuff, going he becomes basically impossible to.

Guard because he's six' eight and he's got a super.

Sharp handle he can protect the basketball against any type of, ball pressure and he's gonna be able to get to some sort of jump shot off, the dribble and if he's got the rhythm, like that you just get to stand there and watch them go in.

The basket and that was a big part of what he was doing down the stretch of.

This game embiid has sneaky been looking a lot more.

Explosive lately he has sixty one points in his last.

TWO games i want To take, philly though and set them aside for, a second because there's actually some really encouraging trends For, the sixers even though they've lost two out of.

Three games we'll get it to them in.

A minute But the hawks ended up holding on late some big plays on offense late in.

The Game Nikhil alexander Walker And jalen johnson both had big drives in crunch time where they engaged embat at the rim even though, they missed which actually loud and opening behind That For dyson daniels to come in and get offensive rebound, put backs One that jalen got and shoveled to him and then another one that the one On nik.

Keels drive dyson just grabbed himself and put it back in some huge, Threes Late zachary resache had a big steal and the three on the.

Left Wing Nikkeile alexander walker had a tough movement three at the top of, the key moving from his left to.

His right And Then yeka conglu a big play late in this game when they were only.

Up two he was a kind of a baseline out of bound Sequence where embiid was sagging back to defend all these off, ball screens and Then and yeka just popped out to the corner and hit his fifth three of, the game just an absolutely massive shot that Put the hawks up by.

Five late and.

Then again like they got the key stops late in the game that, they Needed vit kretchi had two massive.

Defensive plays at the tail end of this Game the sixers thanks to the hot shooting down.

The Stretch joel embiid hits a big three at the top of the KEY that i think cut the lead to ONE if i, Remember correctly And the sixers get the ball Back And paul george Has vit kretche and a cleared side iso on the left side of, the FLOOR and i think it's one eighteen to, one seventeen so it's a one.

Point Game paul george is working CLEARED.

Side iso he's got everything going in his game, this, night right and he's trying to work to something in the.

Mid range but, to fit to, his credit was applying a lot of really good ball pressure and physicality and it Actually forced paul to kind of retreat it a, little bit and he ended up taking a super difficult step back three out of the.

Left corner that was one of the lower percentage Shots that paul had taken.

All night so just really good individual Defense from viit there and then on the, final possession so they end.

Up fouling it's one twenty to.

One seventeen they come, back down they run a sideline at a bounds Play And quentin grimes breaks free to the.

Left corner really smart.

Peel switch vit jumps off of vj edgecomb jumps Out Onto quentin grimes just stands there with his two, hands up gets a great vertical contest, without fouling forces him into a really difficult shot that he ends.

Up Missing in atlanta escapes with, the Win and vit hit four threes in the game.

As well so it was a team best plus ten, last night a really nice Game, from cretchy season high twenty seven Points From, dyson daniels and everything was at.

The rim and one of the interesting trends this Year with dyson compared to previous seasons is he's cut way down on his three.

Point attempts these spot up situations when you're just standing at the three, point line they put such a heavy emphasis on your ability to, knock down catch and, shoot threes and he just hasn't been good at that in, his careers never been able to get across that like kind of mandatory minimum where you need to be around like thirty five percent on him for it to, make sense because then in a larger sample you start to get well over a point, per, Possession right but he's just been unable to knock them down in.

His career and one of the big changes this year with the way he's been working off the ball is it's almost solely as a cutter and as a vertical spacer in the.

Dunker spot he's got really good natural feel for relocations in the.

Dunker spot so like spacing relocations on the three point line, Are, Different right you're you're usually watching your on ball defender and you're sliding up or sliding down to try to create a passing angle.

For three or if a guy drives and, kicks out there's like a wheel spacing, Where, Like okay i'm in, the corner but this guy just drove and he's now relocating to, the CORNER so i have to slide up to.

The wing there's all these like different little spacing principles at the three.

Point, line well in the, dunker spot there's like a triangle of spots that you're constantly.

Hitting right so there's the dunker spot on the left side of, the rim there's the dunker spot on the right side of, the rim and then there's also that spot right in front of.

The rim they call that teeing up right where like you end up if a guy ends up driving on, the baseline you end up flashing right up to the top of the to the, charge circle making yourself available for those short little pop shots or whatever that you can make right there five feet in front of.

The.

Rim right so your job when you're working in that dunker spot is like your opposite your opposite dunker spot when the Guy's driving so if guy's in the, left wing you're in the right.

Dunker spot but if he drives across, the middle you got to relocate to the opposite.

Dunker, spot right if he drives towards the uh that left, Dunker spot like if he doesn't get across the middle but ends up cutting more to it's, the baseline then you flash right up towards.

The.

Middle right that's when you tee.

Up right there's all these like little bits of spacing like relocation principles that you have to know if you're working out of the.

Dunker Spot and dyson's just really good at.

That stuff and so he's doing a ton of damage this year slipping out of screens rather than popping and working as a vertical spacer there in the.

Dunker spot he's scoring about twice a game this year that he's got like thirty eight or thirty nine makes on cuts.

This season just a really nice way to kind of convert what was an untenable spacing situation with him at the three point line into something.

That's working, and again he's got a good.

Little floater it's the weirdest thing with him with his touch is jump shot form actually, looks good just doesn't.

Go in but he's got really good touch on.

His floater that's something that he's actually been very, good at and that kind of allows him to make some of those little short spacing shots even when there's a big in the way right because like he's not just going to vertical space in the traditional sense like.

Dunking everything he's spacing out of the dunker spot merely as a layup maker and as like a little.

Floater maker it's kind of like an interesting little wrinkle in this In this.

Hawks offense and he's doing it in off ball situations and on, ball situation so like he'll throw a high post entry and then just cut off the guy's shoulder and.

Get buckets he was slipping out his screens as the screener in like.

Inverted action he's just doing a lot of damage at the paint in.

This one twenty two of his twenty six points where either at the rim in layups or right by the rim.

In floaters really impressive Game From.

Dyson daniels and then the three point Shooting From Nyeka congo man five threes again, last night huge one in.

Crunch time like we talked about talked About Against joel embiid on that baseline out, of Bounds and anyeka now has forty nine made threes, this season which is more than he did in the entire season.

Last year he had forty eight makes in an entire season last year.

Forty nine here about a third of the way through the season in this twenty twenty.

Five campaign nice bounce Back for atlanta who had lost four were out of five.

Before that much.

Better defense that was the real thing that slipped for them in that tough stretch where they lost four at five one to nineteen defensive rating in those.

FOUR losses i want to Talk about phillies upside for.

A minute a lot of this is coming down to how Much Better joel embid is starting to.

Look athletically we talked about this at the beginning of, the season like it almost Felt like embiid was hurting them because he was just so much slower than the style that they were playing up and down.

The floor in the Speed That tyres max he was bringing to, the table he was starting to struggle defensively in a way that we hadn't seen.

Just because that lack.

Of mobility But the sixers have been playing some of their best defense of the season as.

Of late as a matter, of Fact since, november eleventh a game where they won Against, the Celtics the sixers have been the fourth best defense in THE.

Entire nba it's a fifteen, game sample really good in.

Every facet they've been the eighth best paint defense in.

That span and not.

Just embiid embid's always been an underrated rim protector when he's actually able to sit back around, the basket but he's been.

Especially good it's just.

Not him it's not.

Solely Him andre drummonds been really good protecting the rim in this run.

As well they've been guarding the three point.

Line well and then they've completely reversed a bad defensive rebounding trend from early in.

The Season before, november eleventh they were twenty third in defensive.

Rebound percentage they are eleventh IN the nba.

Since then so cleaning up the, defensive glass putting together a solid defense that's guarding both the rim and the three point, line well which again they should be.

Able to they've got lots of perimeter speed and they've got some, huge centers so like they should, in theory be able to be a team that can protect the paint and get out to the three point line at least in their, traditional coverages even if they might have some vulnerability that can put their bigs.

In space now this is exciting Because Both paul George And joel embiid are looking better offensively than they have at any point over the last.

Two seasons if they can piece this all together Like THE all nba Level That tyrese maxey was, hooping at the elite defense they've shown basically for a little over a, month now we've seen the scoring pop From oil embids start to rise to.

The surface we've seen the scoring Pop From.

Paul george this is the best he's looked over the last couple.

OF.

Seasons vj edgecomb just had his fifth twenty point game as a pro.

Last night had a huge driving layup in transition, last night kind of like the the uh you guys remember the Play That marcus smart had In the lakers game where he tried to beat the ball pressure and he drove the length of the floor and just got Swatted By ryan dunn right at.

THE.

Rim vj edgecomb basically did the exact same thing.

Last night where he tried to beat ball pressure just with a hard drive, in transition except for he's such a freaky athlete he got up into the dude's chest ended up having this crazy, banking finish huge play late in the game in.

That one if they can like find a way to piece all this, together Again The eastern conference is, wide open and this team does have a lot of upside because they've got so many dudes that, can score they have a strong.

Defensive foundation health is obviously the biggest.

Question mark we'd all be foolish to just expect this to all stay like this over the course of, the season but we'd also be foolish to not pretend like that, upside exists And the sixers have been flashing a lot of that over the course of the last couple.

Of weeks, all right next segment from notes are my Notes From.

Spurs thunder, SO again i wasn't On on.

SATURDAY night i wasn't able to get much into metrics because it's just too close to the end of, the game so the stats.

Haven't UPDATED but i wanted, to see, you KNOW because i talked a lot About how victor was a game breaking defensive weapon in.

That game and you know a lot of times like we talk, about, like oh this guy did a good job protecting the room, last night or oh this guy did a good job guarding the ball, last night and often it just means holding a team or a player below.

Their averages and, you know to, Some extent victor literally broke the thunder offense, last NIGHT and i wanted to see if there WAS or i shouldn't say, Last night, saturday NIGHT and i just wanted to see if there was some kind of like real statistical marker that demonstrated the sheer degree To which victor broke.

The offense AND so i dug into, the numbers and there was some pretty impressive.

Stuff there it logged an eighty three point three defensive Rating when victor was on the floor in.

That game that's obviously.

Very good they were also plus forty, four net which goes to show you how good they were on offense in.

THAT stretch i don't really want to focus on.

THAT today i just want to focus on the.

Defensive side, but again eighty three defensive Rating when victor was on.

The floor they made just four shots at the rim the entire Time that victor was on, the floor and two of them were, transition buckets One where victor got blocked at the Rim and shaye went out and got.

A layup another one where it was in that garbage time situation where they were just trying to take away.

A THREE so i don't really count this one because they were literally hugged up off the ball because there's a three point game with like what fifteen seconds left, or whatever so they were glued up off the Ball and shane ended up getting a driving dunk and that was just Like a victor's not going to help Off of shay and give a wide open three to check that could tie the game in the final minute of, the, Game right but in terms of the actual flow of, the game they had just two buckets that they made at.

The rim, and again this is a team that averages averages twenty makes per rim per game at.

The rim wemby played in twenty, One minutes so if you kind of just do some basic ratio math there, in Theory the thunder would in a twenty one minute span average about nine makes at the rim based on their, Season average so not just they drop from their, season average but a complete fall off from their season average and their ability to get to the Rim When Victor woman yamo was on.

The floor and this is perhaps the most FASCINATING stat i talked about after.

THE game i, was like seemed like on film this was forcing them to settle for a lot more off the dribble.

Jump shots and that's exactly.

What happened when you dig into, The Numbers oklahoma city attempted twenty six off the dribble jump shots in.

This game that was their highest total of the entire season for off the dribble.

Jump shots and.

When you dig into the film of the twenty six off the dribble jump shots, they took fifteen of them took Place when wemby was on.

The floor and again remember That's when wemby was off the floor for Twenty seven i've been of the forty eight minutes in, that game fifteen off the dribble jump shots in just twenty one minutes of Action when wemby was on, the floor with just two makes at.

The rim and on those twenty six off the dribble jump shots they took in the, entire game they made just nine, of them zero points seven to seven points.

Per shot one of their least efficient pull up shooting games of the.

Entire season that is the statistical representation of THE dynamic i was talking about Where when wemby's on, the floor it allows the flexibility for the guards to press up more on, the ball force them into much tougher off the dribble, jump shots and they would typically give up where a guard has to maybe be on their heels more because they have to contain the ball because they don't have the support behind them that they have when they Don't have wemby, behind, Them, right so like all of this is really fascinating because it just is again a statistical representation of that defensive Work that Victor women yama did in that game on.

The THUNDERSIDE as i dug a little bit more into, The film chet is the.

Key again three of the four Buckets that okasee Got when wemby was on the floor at the rim were a direct Result of Wemby tracking chet out at the three.

Point line the two layups that were in half.

Court sets so obviously the one in Late game i'm not really Counting because wemby was glued Up to chet and that Was when shay got, the dunk but the other two both of them were the exact.

Same setup It was chet in the strong side corner for a drive off of the left slot that ended up in a Layup where Chet where Chet dragged wemby just for far enough out of the lane and caused him to hesitate just Enough that wenby ended up being either late on the shay layup or didn't even make an attempt on the j.

Doub layup and again that's gonna be, THE key i Think putting chet constantly in easy play, finishing position so somewhere where it's particularly Hard for wenby, to help so strong side corner or weak side wing where he's one, pass away those are situations that are shorter, kickout passes and they're harder situations to help from If, you're wemby AND so i think that's gonna be a big Part of okay sees eventual counters for this and then trying To get wenby tied up.

In screens this is the other element of, It too like this is where like maybe running, more stack pick, and roll like Essentially bringing wemby into, the action but then having another a, third player a shooter in the action That's, backscreening wenby so That maybe Chet Or isaiah Hartenstein or Shay or jadab in their drives can Get behind Wemby as wenby gets tied up in bodies around the.

FOUL line i think that's another way that they can try to attack this specific Problem of Victor women yamas shutting off the rim.

For, them, ultimately though and this is not really necessarily a this, season PROBLEM because i Think the spurs are not quite ready to necessarily Beat the thunder four times out of seven in this.

Particular SEASON but i do Think the spurs are going to be their biggest rival over the next three to, four years, and ultimately in order For the thunder to solve, that problem they're going to have to figure out a way to score at the Rim when wemby's on.

The floor it can't just be pull up.

Jump shots if it ends up just being pulled up, JUMP shots i think that's a big Advantage For san antonio as this matchup gets more and more intense over the.

Coming seasons, all right let's get.

To our weekly.

Power rankings this is gonna be a quicker segment.

Than usual the schedule was very weird.

This week because of the n.

SEASON tournament a lot of the Teams that i'm talking about today in the power rankings only played one game, last week so not a whole lot to.

Get into we're gonna kind of fly through.

This again all of our lines are provided by, our Sponsor Hard rock bet.

Number Ten The orlando magic currently plus three thousand to win the title On Hard.

Rock bet the injury buck continues to Prevent the magic from reaching.

Their potential they Can't get Fronz and polo to be on the floor at the same time without one of them.

Getting hurt and then seemingly Every Time jalen suggs plays a few good games in, a row his body.

Breaks down and it's a shame because he was playing some great basketball his previous.

Five games he had averaged twenty two points per game on over fifty percent shooting in over thirty five percent From Three denny polls.

Is groin he was like this dynamic second wave of offense Off Of desmond baine in that first half Against, the knicks and then he just couldn't hold, up physically and that continues to be.

A problem the three point shooting went cold again in that game Against.

The knicks that's been a recurring theme in big games For the magic over the course of the last.

Few seasons but this is still the same dominant defense and rebounding team from, last year with a much improved offense twenty eight transition points, per game which is the fifth most in THE.

Entire nba last year they averaged, just twenty which was bottom five IN.

The nba so from bottom five transition offense to top five.

TRANSITION offense i do want to give some Credit To jamal.

Mosley here i've been critical of him over the past couple of seasons for his lack of refinement of, this offense and now he has them running more, than ever he has them moving without the ball more, than ever he has them passing the ball more, than ever and they're just playing in a much higher level on offense than they have in.

Recent years shout Out To jamal mosley's getting some good hoops out of.

These guys number Nine The boston celtics plus three thousand to win, the title according To Hard rock bet took a bad Loss in milwaukee Against the Bucks without giannis the.

Other Night the bucks ended up flipping the Script attacking.

Boston's mismatches, This game kuzmo Was Killing nemi cato as some, Quick ISOs bobby portis Was Posting, jalen Brown Posting, derek white then he was bombing threes in the.

Fourth quarter but can't Drop the celtics off the.

List here they've won seven of their.

Last, nine still they have the third best record in the Leaguees in november twenty third in a one to twenty nine offensive rating in, that span as they've been playing some of the best offensive basketball they've played In The joe, missoula Era And jason tatum is on the way sooner.

THAN later i would imagine number Eight The, minnesota timberwolves currently plus three thousand to win the title On Hard.

Rock bet got a couple of nice back bounce back wins Against the kings And, the warriors but they continue to have an inability to beat.

Good teams as we've seen in the standings.

This season they are fifteen to one against teams that are five hundred OR worse i should say below, five hundred and they are two to eight versus teams that are five hundred.

Or better and the problem continues to be.

Their defense According to Cleaning.

The glass when you filter their matchups to only teams that are in the top ten in, point differential they're currently out allowing one hundred and twenty four points one.

Hundred possessions that is the twenty third worst defense versus the top ten point differential teams in, the league According to Cleaning.

The GLASS but i do continue to be bullish On.

The wolves their offense is better than it's ever been and they are guarding.

Pretty Well When rudy goberart's on, The floor he's sneaky been one of the most valuable players in the league.

This season their defense falls off of a fifteen point Cliff When rudy gobert leaves, the FLOOR and i believe they'll be able to get enough stops to be really dangerous when we Get.

To april.

Number Seven The, houston rockets another team that only had one game.

Last week they bounced back from their tough Loss in dallas with a nice win Versus.

The Clippers the clippers, team that, like again has, been losing but they're playing everybody really tough.

These Days As kawhi Leonard And james harden continue to.

PLAY well i loved their crunch time.

Offense Again kevin durant had a rough, statistical NIGHT but i thought he was incredible down the stretch orchestrating things in pick and roll set up so many.

Quality shots hit Him and thompson in the pocket for an and One Hit shane goon in the pocket that started a four on three that ended up in a Dunk For jabari smith who was spotting up there in the.

Dunker spot He Hit jabari smith on a perfect cross court feed for like a wide open corner three in the, right corner.

Just happened to.

Miss It hit shangoon in the pocket for a nice little easy mid range jumper that.

He MISSED like, i thought it was really high quality offense and they ended up getting.

TO win i talked to all off season ABOUT how i was specifically Hoping that kad would bring back more of that spread pick and roll work that he was Doing, in brooklyn where he was really gifted at bringing the defender to the level and getting the pass to the roller and igniting four.

On threes and it's been awesome to see that become one of the Staples for houston in the, half court especially at the end of games.

This season shangun was, incredible again had a really crazy finish across his body down, the stretch and this one did really nice work in his one.

On.

Ones again, this team they're just so difficult to guard as a brute force team in the half court because they have so many impossible players to guard one on One Like, Kevin durant shangoon And A.

Men thompson still the only team Other Than oklahoma city in THE entire nba with a double digit positive net rating number Six The Los angeles lakers plus thirteen hundred to win.

The title according To.

Hard bet i'm not gonna say here long because we hit them in a segment earlier in, the show but obviously a very disappointing showing in the N season Tournament Against, san antonio once again shining a light on their.

Athletic deficiencies but as has been the theme, all season the team has just a lot more mental toughness than they have in previous iterations of.

The team they are yet to lose two games in a row, this season as they go on the Road into Phoenix Without austin reeves and get a big win not with, their offense but with defense, and rebounding just showing that they can win that type.

Of, fight again casual reminder that even though they have their, personnel limitations they also are capable of being a better team on the margins than.

They've shown number Five The denver nuggets plus seven hundred to win the title according to Hard.

Rock bet another one one.

Game team, last week easy road Win.

In sacramento kings didn't have A soul Hooga Gard nicola yoket so he just feasted.

All night he had thirty six points on fourteen for.

Sixteen shooting really nice.

Bench performance again For, the nuggets there are seven for seven Night From.

Yonas palancunis they were plus Five with yoka chop the floor in.

That game they are now just minus three point eight net per one hundred Possessions when yokich is off the floor to start, the season which seems bad until you remember that is, way way way better than they were in the previous, five seasons where they were routinely a negative double digit team Net when yokich was off.

The floor number Four The New york knicks currently plus fifteen hundred to win the title according to Hard.

Rock bet my current pick to Win The.

Eastern conference if the season, ended today another.

Offensive masterclassic it's a Very good.

Orlando Defense jalen brunson just fried one of the best defensive back courts in, The League, Carl, Towns Torch Twndell.

Carter junior this offense is five points per one hundred possessions better this season total than it was.

Last year they are a one to twenty two offensive ratings team, this year when they were a one seventeen.

Last Year mike brown has just squeezed a little bit more out of every facet of, this offense a little bit more, in transition a few more drives, every game fifteen more passes per game than they had, last year generating more spot up opportunities by a wide margin than they did.

Last season just a little bit better across, the board amounts to five points increase year over year in their, offensive Rating and josh Hart og And and Obi And michale bridges continue to do a wonderful job anchoring their defense with.

Their speed, in TRANSITION this nixt team appears to be on a mission to reverse the trends of.

Years past they definitely have a challenge ahead for them, tomorrow night though very very excited.

About That the spurs are an athletic juggernaut that are going to have guards that Can Guard, jalen brunson the ability to protect, the rim the ability to really cause some physical problems.

For them i'm excited to see how they match up in that, game tomorrow night.

Number Three The San antonio spurs currently plus three thousand to win, the title According To Hard rock bet once again touched on them early in, the SHOW so i won't stay.

HERE long i may have been wrong About the spurs before, the Season but i'm all in on.

Them now They have we're gonna do our next contender list in like the week or Two.

After christmas sambossini is gonna come join the show and we're gonna break, Down contenders and, Right now i'm leaning somewhere in that like three to four range, for them depending on how they look juxtaposed with a Team like houston here over the next couple.

OF weeks i just think they have the highest defensive ceiling in the league Outside Of oklahoma city Because Of, Victor women yama and their perimeter Athletes And deared fox since he joined the team as spearheaded a deadly drive and kick attack that has made them much more imposing defense or, excuse me offensively than they were.

Without him we'll see how they do against another tough opponent Against the knicks.

Tomorrow night.

Number Two The detroit pistons currently plus two thousand to win the title according To Hard.

Rock bet another team that just played one game, last week a total destruction Of The.

Atlanta hawks they had eight players in double figures seventy two points in.

The paint they are the number one paint scoring team in the league at fifty eight points.

Per game what this means is they're less reliant on jump shooting and some of the variants that can come.

With that they attempt just forty one jump shots per game and just thirty, two threes both bottom three IN, the nba and, for perspective there are seven teams in the league attempting over fifty jump shots per game at this point in.

The season that's how much of a difference in the shot profile For the pistons compared to what you see elsewhere around.

The league just a credit to the relentless rim pressure down.

The roster so many dudes who can drive.

The, basketball obviously you have your two man Game of Cad And.

Jalen durham but down the roster they have so many guys Of sar thompson pressures.

The Rim ron holland pressures.

The Room kar slavertz done a nice job driving the basketball.

This season they just have a bunch of guys that drive and it just continues to form a very strong profile of shots at.

The rim fun one time Against.

The celtics we will definitely be covering that one in tomorrow.

Morning's show very excited to See the pistons matchup against a fast guard laden Team.

Like boston lastly tonight number One The Oklahoma.

City thunder they are plus one hundred to win the title And On Hard rock bet that was plus one forty five, last week so now even odds to win.

The title can you believe that not gonna stay here?

Long again because we hit them earlier in, the Show san antonio did show that they're.

Not unbeatable they can still struggle to score.

At times if you can bring a combination of real rim protection with super athletic guys on.

The perimeter the problem is there just isn't a team IN the nba that brings the enough of a combination of real, rim protection real, perimeter athletes and reliable offense to actually threaten this team four times out.

OF seven i still think they're far and away the best team IN the nba at.

THIS point i have them in a tier by themselves at the top of.

The League, all, right guys IT'S all i have.

For today is always a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting, the Show jam.

Pack.

Slate tonight we're gonna Be, Hitting piston Celtics And nuggets rockets in.

Tomorrow morning show should have a fun set of game reactions for.

THAT one i have a scheduling conflict, this Week so i'm not going to be able to do the instant reaction right after the final buzzer Of The spurs, knicks game but we will have a reaction to that game Early on.

Wednesday, morning again as always a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting.

The show we will see you.

Tomorrow morning