The Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets Are A Notch Above the Rest | OM3 THINGS

It’s Monday so we’re back with another episode of The Old Man and the Three Things. This week, JJ is joined by Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. of ‘The Dunker Spot’ to discuss how the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic look like the championship caliber versions of themselves again, how the Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, and the Boston Celtics are separating themselves as the best team in the league, and what the post-trade deadlines versions of the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks look like for the rest of the season.

Subscribe to The Old Man and The Three podcast w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter YouTube channel today for more NBA analysis, player interviews and highlights.

Welcome to the old man of the three things with JJ reck and the dunker spot Nikas Duncan and Steve Jones fellas how we doing on this Monday morning doing pretty well sir hope you are Steve how are you I’m feeling great excited uh to be here a lot of great

Basketball going on right now can’t wait to dive into it there is a lot of great basketball going in going on right now I I actually there’s so much good basketball I may have a uh a fourth thing today that I might sneak in there I might sneak in there uh overall today

We’re going to talk Denver Nuggets we’re going to talk Boston Celtics and nikayas has pleaded his case strongly for the last 24 hours that we include the Toronto Raptors in today’s discussion uh we’ll save that for last let’s start with the Denver Nuggets who beat the Golden State Warriors last night uh

Nicoa yic just on one right now third straight triple double he moved up to Fourth all time passing LeBron James um fellas where do you want to start with Denver I have one a few things I want to talk about Steve why don’t we start with you how would you assess where they’re

At right now and what gets you excited what gets you concerned oh what gets me excited is just you can feel that Championship experience from them and the fact that they know what they want to get to on both ends of the floor I think offensively this is a team that’s going

To keep pressure on you they’re going to make you sustain defense which is hard these days to get to their counters run actions on both sides I think defensively they deserve a little bit more credit for the effort they’ve put in to become more versatile uh as far as

What they do with their personnel I think cavius cwell Pope has been excellent as far as navigating screens you see so many times when they play he’s into bodies he’s active but he’s able to show a denial and then shoot the Gap at the last second and that’s so

Valuable for joic that’s so valuable for their team defense I I think when you think of Denver before it was hey yic has to be at the level there rotations have to be great they’re not in that space anymore they’re they’re finding different ways to kind of add gaps we

Saw yogic in a drop they’ve continue to mix that in his timing has gotten better with the Nuance as far as I don’t have to show here when I’m low as a rim protector I can stunt and get back to mine uh being able to throw yogic on a

Non-shooter or a guard allowing him to stay closer to the rim uh that’s been really good for them so in this era of offense is everything I think having a defense that can do multiple things is so important but the key to me is when it’s winning time this year it’s winning

Time for Denver and that yic Murray TW Man game is hard not a ton of answers for it but they’re adding to it hey let’s clear the wings let’s get yic a catch and JJ this is an action you’ve talked about a lot that pass and cut

Action that chase action let Murray hit yic he can cut either way you defend that it’s a rescreen now you have to deal with that and they keep pressure on you adding a Gordon to the mix for now joic gets a catch Here Comes Aaron Gordon getting off coming off a back

Screen from Jamal Murray got deal with the handoff you show anything on that two on the ball here’s y on the short roll right to Aaron Gordon but they set that up earlier where Gordon will actually screen for Murray first so now okay we’re sitting on this B pick oh no

There’s Jamal Murray flying off I just love the little things they’ve done offensively to just let you know okay we don’t you don’t really have a counter yoka Chim Murray 2-an game we can get to it in different ways we’re going to keep that pressure on you real quick and I’ll

Let you jump in Nik uh your point about the screening into the two-man game I think is important because if you want to put a specific defender on Jamal Murray they will screen whether it’s a back screen rip trying to get a layup for Michael Porter whether it’s a back

Screen rip for Aaron Gordon trying to create a size disadvantage and then get to the two-man action so if you want to keep one defender on Jamal Murray they’re figuring out different ways to create switches before the Twan action with joic and I love that yeah the the offense has been a lot

Of fun particularly late I’m glad Steve touched on a lot of that uh just very quickly in the fourth quarter overtime 1.09 points per possession on any trip featuring Murray yic pick and roll over 1.3 points per possession with any [ __ ] muray dribble handoff in the fourth quarter overtime there isn’t really

Anything you can do except hope that they miss you switch it there’s a mismatch somewhere you Blitz it they can play out a short role with it they do a great job of spacing around that uh to both of your points it’s been a lot of

Fun it’s the defense for me Denver has been a top 10 defense or 10 to 12 range since is like two t of a you know Point separating those teams in that Bunch they’ve essentially been a top 10 defense all year long and considering how much noise has been around jic

Defense over the last three four five years one would hope that that would get a little bit more pub than it does like they’re playing him a drop more Steve already noted like being able to put him on a non-shooter and trusting him there he’s still very good when he’s at the

Level because of the deflections he can get and also just being a large human uh the conditioning has gotten better he’s got better at cutting off that guard you can’t just drive around him like he could early in his career and then you add in what kyp has been able to do what

Aaron Gordon does what some of those guys off the bench can do uh Christian Brown getting back into form Payton Watson has been fun all year long like this isn’t a team that you can just Blitz and turn it into a a score Fest if

You want to and if you do get to that point you get to the fourth quarter what are you doing with Murray what are you doing with joic what are you doing with mpj spotting up around that what do you do with Aaron Gordon just cleaning up

Things from the dunker spot or from the free throw line extended the way they use everyone as screeners um late in game but I I just go back to the defense I’m glad Steve mentioned kavus cwell pop we’ve talked about him on my pod uh all defense teams are going to be position

Lless this year like I don’t think he’s going to Mak an all defense team but he’s absolutely been at that level when he’s been healthy love the screen na from him he’s taken on some tough assignments I I’ve just had a lot of fun watching this Denver defense fly around

It just feels like they have found the right mix of this is what we do we’re at the level these are what the rotations are supposed to be like we can get more conservative we can play with the matchups this is just a highlevel defense and I don’t know if that gets

Enough love you mentioned kcp and I I’ve called uh you know a Denver uh golden State game obviously yesterday was the Denver Golden State game Steph has struggled in some of those games and a lot of that has been kcp last night Steph goes 6 for1 19 Steph was 1 for

Seven against kcp you mentioned the screen navigation I’m seeing a little bit and I I I don’t want to be like uh hyper hyperbole here I don’t want to use a hyperbole but I’m seeing a little bit of uh like Derek white Drew holiday in terms of highscreen navigation from kcp

Where Michael Malone has essentially given him the freedom like the great defensive players you have to allow them to play instinctually and it’s great like I this is a part of a longer conversation but I was watching a game yesterday uh it was not the Golden State

Denver game and I was watching it and uh there was a mismatch in the post and one player came on the low side for the double uh the guy guarding the ball kind of adjusted his feet to try to force him to the low side then the guy

At the top came to double and it resulted in one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA getting a wideopen three from the left wing and I thought to myself that’s a poorly coached team right defensively as a general rule in the NBA if you go into a game and I felt

This at times on certain teams where I’m like we are guessing defensively you can’t guess defensively except there are certain coaches like Joe moua with Drew holiday which we’ll get to in a second who allow them to just play instinctually and I think kcp is has the

Trust of Michael Malone where if there’s a high screen en roll and he’s guarding Steph Curry and it’s at 35 feet he may be into the ball but then he might go under right at the point of the screen it’s that stuff that it’s it’s little stuff Drew holiday does that better than

Anybody Derek does it better than anybody it’s that stuff that I just love where it’s like yeah we have our rules we have our Concepts we know we’re we’re not going under at Steph Curry at 24 feet or 25 feet but he he gives him the freedom sometimes he’s shooting the Gap

I mean I I called it I called the Christmas Day game and like he’s chasing Steph Curry off the ball and like hey you’re not supposed to shoot the gap on Steph Curry sometimes the screening angle requires you to shoot the Gap and that’s the stuff I love from kcp I

Really do um fourth quarter you brought up some offensive stuff I love this their clutch time defense has a has a defensive rating of 97.1 like holy [ __ ] that’s that’s incredible they they have played the most minutes their fiveman lineup has played the most minutes of any fiveman lineup in the NBA

Net rating of 14.1 let’s go through some of these teams Bucks starting five 15.3 Celtics starting five 11.7 Clipper starting five 12.6 Sun starting five 14.9 uh I cut it off at 225 minutes uh the Mitchell Jared Allen Max stru Dean Wade and Isaac aoro fiveman lineup 19.6

Net rating oh highest one uh with 225 minutes or more very interesting um so this starting lineup 125 offensive rating like they’re [ __ ] great the thing and I’m glad we’re talking about both the nuggets and the Celtics today the thing with the nuggets and the

Celtics that I have found and and I felt this way about the nuggets last year and in watching a b bunch of the Celtics this year and in calling that game Saturday night the thing that both these teams have in common right now is offensively they don’t fight the game

There were times in Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum’s career where they fought the game there is just the ultimate trust I’ll I’ll get my shots now their field goal attempts both of them average field goal attempts per game it’s down that whole team has had to sacrifice but

There is an element of just trusting the teammates trusting that the ball will work its way back to you it’s it’s a simple thing guys it’s a simple thing offensively both these teams by and large they just make the right play every time that’s not to say it’s

Perfect but they just trust it and they make the right play and that’s what I see jokic obviously for the Nuggets it starts with him right there’s no agenda within a game oh I might be able to score 40 tonight oh I might take eight shots tonight oh I I need Michael Porter

Jr to get going he’s he’s wide open they’re playing him with a smaller guy I can hit him on Cuts like he just reads the game whatever the game requires he’s going to then make the right read and that’s that’s what I love about the nuggets and that’s what I’ve I’ve Loved

About the the Boston Celtics recently yeah yic is just a super human he’s a super computer man I I I love watching that dude play uh just circle quickly back to the defense with yic because I’ve been so impressed with it just put you know just put yage in the pick and

Roll late in games under 0.9 points per possession allowed in the fourth quarter and overtime when he’s defending a pick and roll and you zoom out for the season wide number the all quarters all that good stuff 0.93 points per possession that’s 12th of I think 63 players that have defended at least

500 we we we got to change the calculus on how we’re talking about yers defensively there you go there you go uh you guys brought up the the bench um they haven’t played a ton and they did it last year in the playoffs they haven’t played a ton uh with Aaron

Gordon at the five as far as I could tell the the most uh uh the most minutes of any lineup with him at the five only had played in four games together in 21 minutes so not a big sample size they had defended well hadn’t scored well that’s going to be something obviously

Once the playoffs start that we’ll see more and more of um before we move on to the Celtics I think this is a nice little segue um called my first game with the A Team uh Mike Breen Doris Burke two Hall of Famers uh uh that

Whole crew uh just pH Lisa stter you know Schwab Tim Corgan like it was just great experience within the game I I may have uh jokingly said something to Doris and I was like oh she’s going to get me back and we highlighted Drew holidays pick and roll navigation and she said it’s

You know it’s it’s funny we we we admire what we can’t do ourselves right um during the game our guy Matthew Williams from ESPN on uh on D is like slack Channel he sent over a text and he was like JJ reck in the tracking era as the picking roll ball handler

Defender uh allowed 0.91 points per possession as the pick and roll ball handler League average during the tracking era is 0. N5 so I just want to point that out we didn’t have time on the broadcast to do it but I just want to point that out technically that’s what I’m talking

About technically it’s above average Aver all right better than average all right um hey I have a question before actually we move to Boston because I I I wanted to bring this up this is my fourth thing I’m gonna sneak this in here uh Sacramento uh dearen Fox playing out of

His mind they beat the Clippers last night he’s got four straight games with 25 points or more five rebounds or more five assists or more uh once again playing at all NBA level here’s something interesting because I brought this up it’ll be on later this week I

Brought this up in our new islands of The League episode the playoffs are all about matchups and uh since tyo took over the Los Angeles Clippers dearen fox has created 20.3 points per per game on Direct drives that’s the most versus any opponent that dearen fox has created

Right since tyo took over the Clippers um and I’m looking at the standings in the Western Conference and and I think the top four have essentially separated themselves and we’re g to as we get closer we’ll start talking about seeding and potential playoff matchups are there

Any easy matchups for any seed in the Western Conference in the first round there’s not right no right it is super fascinating to me in looking this Michael wilbon yesterday in the pregame show U and he was right he wasn’t I don’t think he was saying it flippantly

He said you know the Phoenix Suns at times they look like a playin team and before yesterday they were a they were a playing team now they’re sixth place right Phoenix Suns in in the first round like who wants that matchup who wants that matchup the four seed doesn’t want

That matchup the three seed doesn’t want that matchup the two seed the what like who wants Sacramento who wants a healthy Dallas team who wants uh who wants New Orleans if if they’re if they’re healthy it’s fascinating to me have you guys thought ahead about this at all oh I

Think it’s I think it’s going be nasty H for me it’s removed the seeds it it’s going to be a battle because your reward for having a great season and being a top two seed is potentially Luka Andor a Lebron team Andor a Steph C Curry team

And that seems really fair you know it’s it’s just like like you know every I feel like every few weeks we rotate and the team is on a rise here come the Kings here come the Suns here come the Clippers and it’s not wrong and then

It’s like wait what happened to them oh they just happened to lose four games four four of the last 10 games they’re on a they’re looking rough right now and it’s like no not like all these teams end up winning six or seven out of 10 I

Don’t know who wants like who wants to play Denver who wants to sign up for the Thunder who wants to sign up for the size of the Wolves none of it sounds fun none of yeah just think about what you said oh this team only won 60% of their games

Over the stretch they have now slipped into the playin it’s dumb it’s really dumb like five to eight separated by half a game right now we are recording this this will just be different tomorrow this will be different tomorrow yes exactly exactly all right let’s get

To the Boston Celtics uh here’s a just a general thought starter for us uh it it feels like they have sort of separated themselves and they are the best team in the NBA and that’s like unquestionably they are the best team in the NBA what really excites me about their team I

Mentioned just playing the right way it is 100% their in intuitiveness I think it’s like it it’s something that Joe really stresses but it has become so intuitive they are just excellent at finding the right matchups offensively and defensively they’re just all over the place they can they can match up so many

Different ways they can that you know Drew holiday it feels like it feels like this to me Drew holiday and Joe Missoula as a coach player pairing on the defensive end is like a perfect match and the fact that they have then Derek white who can essentially function full-time as the

Point of attack guy and Joe can just be creative with the way he uses Drew sometimes with matchups sometimes as essentially a RoR and a free safety guy um you know when they go to their Zone and Drew starts in the middle it’s like just go be

Instinctual so that stuff to me is like super super exciting do you feel like they’ve just completely separated themselves if we’re sort of tearing out these teams that the Celtics are are the tier one and then everybody else kind of has to go to a different

Tier I think for me like at the very least that’s the case in the East right now like there are some matches as we get to playoff time that this team could bother Boston or if Boston stops playing the right way offensively you can knock them out if you get the hot shooting

Whatever the case may be but just on balance they are the best team in the East and they have been the best team in the league this year and I’m glad you started with the defense like what’s funny to me as I tap into Boston games we’ve talked about them more the last

Few years like they’ll put Robert Williams on the wing that doesn’t shoot or now they’re doing it with christops they can just cycle through different rors if they want to which is funny to me hey let’s let Jason Tatum 610 dude just fly around and conserve energy offensively but also he could be

Impactful let’s just move christops around the board let’s move drew around the board have him in the middle of the Zone if you want to we whenever we go to the Zone like you can’t get a beat on Boston defensively on top of they have really good guys they can defend your

Top stuff so I I just really enjoy what they do on that end and think about it how good Al Horford still is defensively and he’s not necessarily the key to what they do anymore defensively I think that’s insane and I’m glad you mentioned uh porzingis on a RoR I’ve really liked

The work they’ve done with porzingis as far as saying hey we have you in a drop that’s fantastic if someone has it going come up above three-point line and and drop back if we put you on a non-shooter which I like that the Knicks kind of had

It going they were like you know what actually let’s dip into our bag of tricks let’s let’s go ahead and put Chris as porzingis on precious and let’s work through it there was a play in that Nick game I think it was in transition P porzingis have been guarding pre aoua

And this is where it stood out to me that I think Boston has a completely different level they can get to defensively Josh Hart just nods to to Precious like hey go go screen for Jaylen Brunson cuz KP is like below the three-point line KP sees it Jaylen

Brown’s right there just pushes him in the back actually big dog you you take this you take this switch and then press’s like all right cool Drew holiday is harassing the ball and then Josh Hart’s like you know what fine I got it because porzingis is guarding me and P

Porzingis is like hey Jaylen Brown you stay up there buddy you stay right up there and now Jay’s like cool I can switch Drew’s still harassing the ball jaylen’s like forget this I’m a drive and guess who’s right there in the paint Chris South and I was like oh no they are they

Are locked in I said this uh late in the game and it’s funny because I was talking to Josh and I think we were talking about that exact same play Yesterday um he actually called me about a a wine shop that was really good but we ended up talking

About the Celtics a bunch for 30 minutes um but I I said this late in the game with the the Boston Celtics um defensively they rarely have to put two on the ball and basketball to me it goes back to the let’s say the the Denver Nuggets

Two-man game with Jamal Murray and joic you’re forced to make some difficult decisions it goes back to Steph Curry and Draymond in their Twan action you’re forced to make some difficult decisions the the thing that if you break down basketball can you get two on the ball like that’s that’s the goal offensively

Can you get two on the ball can you create a two-on-one can you create a fouron three and the Boston Celtics and I know Joe emphasizes this they want to stay out of rotations and because of their personnel they don’t have to be in rotation that much particularly like against the Knicks

Jaylen brunson’s like the one guy that can sort of create his own offense there’s no Julius Randall that’s not to say divon Cheno is not awesome or Alec Burks or bogdanovich they can’t do it at times but like as a primary shot sh Creator they’ve got Jaylen Brunson and

They were totally content with keeping one on the ball and over the course of 48 minutes that’s going to lead to some really good things defensively particularly with the Personnel that they have I have a I have a question because it ties back to what you me mentioned

Earlier as far as the concepts those guys like Drew holiday and Derek white can now make the rotations they want to and use their activity as far as like dictating terms do you feel like that’s been an important piece for Boston as far as hey we know where the help is

Going to be at we can kind of color within the lines and show help knowing we can recover or someone’s got our back as opposed to there’s two on the ball I have to do this right I I I think that’s important I I would say it’s it’s not

Just those two guys though to your point about Tatum um and brown even Brown on the ball as a as a ISO Defender has been excellent this year and so it AC it’s across the board there were times Al Horford ended up on a you know a wing

Player and he’s able to stay in front and and it’s multiple moves it’s multiple counters and it’s like oh it’s a contested shot right it’s all of that stuff so when they do want to be impactful off of certain players right based on Personnel oh okay I can I can

Be in help here I can I can roam a little bit more here it it starts it all starts to me with across the board point of attack they’re not getting beat as much as some other teams and they and by the way I would say this too with Dereck

White and Drew holiday they are two of the best guards I’ve ever seen where when they do get beat they recover and so sometimes they don’t even overh help on a if dere Derek White against uh Miami on Super Bowl Sunday got absolutely crossed by Tyler herro on the

In the right slot left to right crossover like he was beat any nearly any other guard in the league Tyler hero is going to get an uncontested floater or layup at The Rim Derek white recovered and blocked the shot out of bounds like that it it it’s a rarity

It’s a rarity it’s it’s almost like yeah we can have all these rules and we can have all these schemes like if I if I’m a coach right we can do all that that’s great when you have the Personnel that the Boston Celtics have it just opens up

A world of possibilities it does and because because Joe Missoula is so creative and thoughtful about all of these matchups right I it goes back like he started Drew holiday on Joel embiid he they guarded him with Drew holiday for 24 halfcourt possessions the first time they played Philadelphia it’s

Stuff like that that is just so cool to me and look it it’s it’s like a it’s like a perfect marriage right it’s a perfect marriage between a coach who understands all of this stuff at a very high level and having smart instinctual awesome individual defense

Uh anything else you guys want to touch on with Boston uh I wanted to really quickly add the Drew holiday offensive possessions they feel very timely the usage as far as him being in the post him being a off ball screener for Tatum and brown him being an allball screener

For tatman brown I just think that kind of Pops because they play in waves and all of a sudden it’s like oh wait that is Drew holiday in the post no one’s helping oh wait that’s a roll they didn’t switch look at where the ball’s being kicked to that kind of stuff is

Where I’m like it just feels timely because it’s hard to just lock in on one person Jaylen Brown starts cooking now he’s good porzingis catches your defense in rotation you can’t make oh no here’s Jason Tatum driving like that blend but when Drew hit the way they use him just

Kind of feels important especially going forward in the playoffs I I’ll just quickly bounce off of that uh with the Drew Timeless and just in general like decision making has been like the question that I’ve had for Boston heading into the year we know what kind of talent they have Etc like

Being able to to one take some of the pressure off of Jason Tatum and jayen lebrown when you can get those timely possessions from Drew you can have Derek white initiate so much of your offense like the pick and roll between Derek white and Christos porzingis has been

Insane all year long when they’ve been off the floor it limits some of that decision-making tree for those guys and then also like think about the Ste classic steeve Point think about who they’re passing the ball to if Jaylen Brown now gets to attack a tilted

Defense if Drew gets to attack a tilted defense and this is with Drew likely getting what your third best perimeter defense just because of who Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown are Drew has that Advantage Jason Tatum can now attack a tilted defense like it just makes life so much

Easier for them and then just a quick question I toss to both of you uh how many all defensive candidates do the Celtics get this year is is it Drew and Dereck are they both making a team this year oh interesting interesting I think Derek makes the team I’m pretty confident in

That I’m pretty confident in that I think christops porzingis if we had a third team maybe would’ get some consideration he’ likely won’t be in the top 10 um but I I don’t I don’t know that Drew gets it this year I don’t know

I don’t and by the way I don’t know that he should or he shouldn’t um I haven’t really thought that much about all defense team I’m I’m offensively inclined Nas I’m offensively to your point I real quick so I I I want to I want to follow up on

Two things you guys said the Drew offense stuff is really interesting to me and Joe Missoula talked about this with our with our crew pregame he said every game is different for Drew in Milwaukee he was the primary ball handler he was the point guard he was

Asked to create offense he was going to run pick and roll depending on how the other team matches up sometimes he’s a screener sometimes he’s an initiator sometimes he’s just a spot up shooter and every game has been different for him you mentioned Derek white uh I I

Should sometimes on a broadcast you I try to stay away from like the super Advanced stats you know and we we we we like to use them on this podcast and I said Derek white has been a top five pick and roll uh ball handler this year

And he has I going into that game he was fourth in the NBA points per direct pick as the ball handler um and it’s interesting because you bring up the christops thing one thing that they are doing a ton of late game uh is depending

On the matchup right so if they have the weakest perimeter defender on Derek white he’s then initiating the offense and Jason Tatum is the screener if you don’t want to switch Derek white can get downhill and make a play if you do want to switch all right we’re going to

Attack that matchup and play out of that we’ve got you know let’s say it’s Atlanta we’ve got Trey young now on Jason Tatum two on the ball again two on the ball that’s that’s the entire late game stuff lately for Boston over the last 10 games of their clutch games

Literally has been let’s get the ball to Jason T him in some fashion whether it’s out of Spain pick and roll whether it’s out of a side pick and roll with Derek white whether it’s up at the top and let’s get him a matchup he wants and

Then play out of that and right now he’s making great decisions out of that all right third segment here I can feel the excitement goodness you know what I love I sincerely let me tell you what I love I love I love doing this podcast with you guys and I love

Doing this podcast with legs because we really do the goal of this podcast this Monday show The Old Man of the three things was always to cover the entire NBA you know our our Thursday show is guest dependent I know you guys cover the entire NBA on the dunker spot when I

Do Studio shows we’re talking about the same five or six teams and the same five or six players all the time I love that we get to do a segment with legs on Brandon Miller I love love that all right and so a part of me really loves

That we’re going to talk about the Toronto Raptors today theis let’s go lead us here lead us here take over the lead I think with Toronto I’m more intrigued anything like I feel like I’ve kind of slotted in as like the numbers guy on these episodes like I wish there

Was like a magic here’s an indicator that the Raptors are about to win eight of the last 10 like I don’t have a specific number on that front outside of they are just running all over the place uh post trade deadline like no team has gotten out and transition more to them

Which makes sense Emanuel quickley is a Onan fast break Scotty bars can grab and go RJ Barrett he’s missed a couple of games with how he’s coming back uh he’s obviously someone that can grab and go so like the transition offense has been fun but it’s more that post All-Star

Break now or post trade deadline rather like having yako perto just fully back in the fold I think his screening and decision- making really helps to half court offense and something that I’ve been monitoring with Toronto all year long you know with Darko coming in first year okay what exactly are they trying

To get to like there are some Personnel limitations this is something that Steve and I talked about earlier in the year I love this set I love this action I love the idea oh snap they’re still seeing a bunch of switches and unders what happens here and so I do love that yaka

Prto has come back in um and has just been like one of if not the best screener in basketball since we’re not going to talk about the finishing right now but the screening portion like I think that’s that really helps Emanuel quickly as he tries to work through some

Of the finishing issues since he’s been in Toronto I think overall he’s fine but in Toronto specifically he hasn’t been fun inside the yard but like he makes life easier for him and then just conceptually with Toronto being able to go side to side we may start with a pick

And roll with Emanuel quickly or with RJ Barrett if it doesn’t work let’s toss it back to yaka purle will go to the other side with a hand off he just Nails a guy and now we’re generating some downhill pressure and it’s giving those young guys the ability to make reads sometimes

They’re right some SS the wrong but I do love conceptually that you’re getting that with yaka back in the fold and now you add Kelly o Len with that second unit who gives you that same thing good screener can roll can pop can go side to

Side for you but even when he’s not directly involved him being being able to space above the break space at the opposite Wing removes the he Defender it opens up with the second unit in particular more cuts and more off ball movement for Grady dick more cuts and

Off ball movement for Bruce Brown OSHA baji’s been able to carve out some space as a cutter as well and so I just look at Toronto like again conceptually I like what you’re trying to build here and then within this playoff playin race as Trey Young’s about to be out for a

Month Ana kongu is in a walking boo he’s going to be out for another couple of weeks you look at Atlanta and you I guess you look at everything that’s happening in Brooklyn right now which I don’t you know that that’s that situation make me sad we’re not going to

Talk about that right now but I just kind of wonder how much of a playin push does Toronto make like they have the top six protected first round pick do they even want to push for that and in light of what Atlanta might look like you know

A solid win over Orlando yesterday as we recorded on a Monday but no Pao he was sick he was out I’m just kind of monitoring what happens with that 10 and guess Toronto’s technically 12 but I think they’re going to pass broken to be frank about it I’m

Just curious to see like what direction both of those teams go in get ready to get ready to learn pullup buddy jontay Murray’s on a mission I’ll just keep that in the back of your mind also didn’t you say the hawk season was gonna be saved I thought

So jayen Johnson Was Gonna Save the Hawks J was 21 n and seven last night for Jaylen Johnson like he’s he’s been playing pretty solid but uh I I took the L on that one uh well I only point it out because technically he could right now you know yeah that’s that’s true

That’s true there’s still time nobody’s saying your your take was wrong nobody was saying that nobody’s saying you’re you’re you still have what is it 24 games that they have left to play no one’s saying that I think what’s interesting what’s interesting to me to watch for the next month is how Atlanta

Plays so you’re a spot on you’re spot on about Toronto what are what are they trying to do because in some ways this is now the third or fourth year where we’re asking that what are they trying to do right um they certainly have a lot of good

Basketball players on their team and an All-Star and Scotty Barnes um do they make this push the more interesting thing to me is how does Atlanta play for the next month because I think quinnn Snyder offensively has really introduced a lot of stuff this year you know we we’ve

Kind of geeked out on on uh I guess what it’s called now five slot instead of five out which has given a little bit more space and has has allowed Atlanta to get to some cool second side actions with pin downs and dribble handoffs out of what his normal delay just moving

That big over to the slot right we’ve geeked out about that we’ve geeked out about the the Spain pick and roll to a flare with Tyrese halberton right Quinn Snyder offensively because of Trey young and and and bogdanovich they can run some cool stuff how do they defend for the next

Month I am I am really interested to see after whatever amount of games it is 14 15 games for the next month how their defense looks what the numbers say but how does it look can they get to some more creative stuff that to me is interesting because and this is not speculation

Because if we’re talking about what direction you’re going in as you are with the Raptors the interesting thing is what direction are the Hawks going in after this season that’s that’s interesting to me but I agree with you everything you said about the Raptors I agree with and I do

Love yaka purle I just want to say that let me also say that love that there we go just to quickly bounce off of that uh switchi as game of the season for the uh for the Atlanta Hawks yesterday against Orlando which part of that is just Orlando you can switch against them

That’s something we’ve been monitoring all year long but like I also thought about it I was going through that game this morning with Trey young out of month like the smallest person in the rotation for Atlanta highkey might just be de jante at this point which should

Make it a little bit easier for them to switch because I think part of why they’ve been so Blitz heavy and so two on the ball heavy and I have applauded Trey Young’s defensive effort this year I feel like that deserves a little bit

More love for I have as well I have as well I’m on the record as it I’ve done it I’ve done it good and so like even with that improved effort like he is still the smallest guy on the court and that is still just an element of we got

To put two on the ball here so you don’t just give up favorable switches or we’re not switching and doubling and then trying to figure out rotations because with Atlanta their rotations have been a mess behind their doubles and behind the blitzes and pick and roll for most of

The year and I I’ve love the steps that Jaylen Johnson has taken in particular but he’s not there yet nailing it all the time with Trey young out of there like in theory you could switch a little bit more you can’t simplify things so as you brought up like how creative will

Atlanta get defensively I wonder if this is now their excuse to get more basic get more bland let’s just keep this in front we have Collective sides now we may get beat but at the very least we can shrink the floor a little bit more we’re not going to be in rotation as

Much does that get them to be like a top 20 defense the rest of the year and if you can get enough of the pull-up shooting from De jonay Murray if you can get enough of the switch if you do get two on the ball the Jon

Was targeting Joe a little bit late in that game Jaylen Johnson got some short roll fund out of that I really enjoy him operating open space like can you carve out enough of the offense there are they like are they 13th in offense 19th in

Defense to close out of the year is that enough to hold on to the 10 seed this is where we’re at in this podcast but like is that enough to where they can hold on I’m intrigued by the bottom of the play in RAC K you you went here don’t don’t

Don’t say this is where we’re at in the podcast this was the route I give you guys the freedom to talk about what you want to talk about you chose this you chose thiss I’m just saying so correct me if I’m wrong uh before this Trey young

Injury Hawks were still number one in terms of most blitzes in in the league right you can correct me I’ll give you time to do that those those Blitz numbers and two on the ball because again we I like thematic podcasts you know I like I love when there’s through

Lines through a podcast two on the ball really hard to defend when you put two on the ball it just is um I I’m I’m interested to see over the next month that those switching numbers and and the blitz numbers really fast still number one Atlanta is still number

One in blitzes all right uh fellas as always a true pleasure hanging with you guys talking shop talking ball uh be well this has been another episode of the old man in the three things with JJ reick and the dunker spot n Duncan and Steve Jones