Breaking Down the Versatility of the Bucks, Celtics, Nuggets, and More | The Dunker Spot

Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. are back with another episode of The Dunker Spot to bounce around the league with post-All-Star break observations!

0:00 Intro
2:00 The versatility of the Boston Celtics
9:00 Put some respect on the Denver Nuggets
17:15 The Milwaukee Bucks are figuring things out
35:00 The Charlotte Hornets are thriving post-trade
45:45 A hat tip to the Dallas Mavericks’ defense
51:15 How good are the Phoenix Suns when they go small?
1:00:25 The Sixers and Knicks working through injury
1:05:15 A quick salute to the Sacramento Kings
1:06:05 A newsbreak from Steve
1:08:15 Shoutouts to Victor Wembanyama, Herb Jones and others

If you have NBA or WNBA questions for us, email them to dunkerspot@yahoo.com.

If you’d like to join our Dunker Spot online watch parties — they’re free, and easy to sign up for — you can do so here: https://www.playback.tv/thedunkerspot

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.

Hi hello and welcome to another episode of the dunker spot we are part of 3 42 Productions I am your host nikai Duncan and joining me as always is my co-host Steve Jones Jr Steve how are you doing sir ah feeling good feeling great happy

To be here excited to be here thank you dunkers for once again embracing your bounce uh dunker Nation let’s ride Nikas actually hi hello YouTube hi hit the hit the like button you are very important to us we greatly appreciate you but Nas lot of shooting Hoops going

On man lot of good basketball happening these days we are on the uh push to the playoffs the post All-Star break has been kind you know what time it is it’s not Tiffy time it’s time to hoop it up it’s not Tiffy time very quickly do you have elimination chamber no we don’t

Have time okay fair enough then so catch us on Thursday but no excited to Hoop It Up also quick shout out to our guy friend of the program Mark Jones giving our dear friend Steve the shout out after an Aaron Gordon dunk from the dunker spot from the dunker spot

Embracing his bounce Aaron Gordon shout out to Steve Jones on that he did in fact Embrace his bounce that was very cool uh I I was out while that happened I went to the the Asia Wilson book event and so to see Bob mentions blow up like hey dunkers spot got a shot

Excuse me they did what now and to get the clip that’s big time that’s fire we appreciate you big dog that’s good stuff right there I like how you slid that under the radar I uh made a peace treaty so I said no jokes uh so

Salute what’s next it was a cool event all right well then as you said we’ve had a lot of NBA basketball a lot of fun stuff we are past the allstar break we’re going to get into this push to the playoffs let’s talk about some teams that have caught our eye post Allstar

Break or just in general like leading into the break who’s caught our eye who we have some questions about we’re going to get back to the traditional format so let’s roll with it Steve who are some teams that have caught your eye as of late well for me the number one thing is

This is a fun time of the year we’re seeing more of these matchups we’re seeing teams gear up that like for me this is where it gets really fun I know that sounds like casual Behavior because it’s post Allstar break I know a lot of more people tune in Stakes are tuning up

But we’re starting to see these teams that we’ve learned things about these teams that we’ve seen the highs and lows start to execute a different levels in different matchups and for that I point to the Boston Celtics we talked about that with JJ reick on the old man the

Three things so after you watch this video watch that video or do both it’s all good but Boston winners of eight straight As We record this has really just continued to hit Level after level note after note you see that in matchup after matchup you’re just getting that

Blend of talent and versatility and the movement they have the tempo they play with uh the wave of talent as I feel it is what’s really standing out to me where we can watch the Celtics play the Knicks and Jason Tatum’s first free throw comes with seven minutes left and

Then he takes another shot at 656 left in the first quarter and it doesn’t feel unnatural now that might hurt his MVP case to some folks but that’s where Boston has worked towards to where Jaylen Brown when he have has one of those nights it’s so impactful porzingis

Mixes in those shots that’s very impactful the usage of Drew holiday something we’ve talked about opening things up for their offense Derek white being able to compete on both ends of the floor and having an impact there’s no one true person you can lock in on because the way they’re playing

Offensively and I think it just ties into their defense as well because of the activity of Drew holiday and Derek white which is been so fun to watch there’s a possession Nas that’s burned in my brain against Brooklyn before the All-Star break Drew switches onto maau Bridges right another screen comes now Derek

White switches on the Macau Bridges which uh unfortunate right there but Brooklyn resets Nick Nick class’s like hey I’m gonna set a pick and roll Chris porzingis is deep in the paint in a drop Drew Holiday from the wings says you know what buddy I’ll just

Take this you Flo to Mine Derek white and that’s where I’m like hey man that’s a lot to deal with especially in a playoff context when those two can have that activity you have size and length you think about how important that defense is to their offense if you have

Tempo questions if you have matchup questions when they get stops they get out and run they make quick decisions they get in a flow they get great ball movement it’s just a it’s a it’s a A or B scenario but I definitely want to give another hat tip to the

Celtics no that’s good stuff on Boston like as we talked about with JJ like the way that they are able to take things off the board defensively because of their personnel but also just the amount of things they can toggle through it’s been a lot of fun for me like when you

Have guards like d white and Drew holiday that can one just get nasty at the point of attack they can just navigate any screen you throw at them they can keep you out of rotation or because of how quick the hands are for Derek white because of how strong and

Smart Drew holiday is we can put Drew holiday on the big if we want to we put him on the wing we can turn some of the stuff that you want to use to exploit us into immediate switches kristos ringis will’ll put them on a non spacer or we

Have them on a five or if you do have a pick and roll partnership that you like how about we just put 610 Jason Tatum on your Center so then when you walk up the floor after the jump balls like wait a minute are are we still running this

Opening set do we still want to try to flow into this pick and roll it’s going to be a switch now do we go elsewhere and then the elsewhere is Derek white or Drew holiday or Jaylen Brown who’s had a good defensive season or now we have to

Engage Christo porzingis like none of that sounds fun and then you dig into the fun they have with the Zone like they just take so much off the table with their personnel and that’s before getting into how creative they can get then offensively as you said they get

Stops they get out and run with their starters they are getting downhill you got to worry about christof’s trailing and flowing into threes Jon Tatum can pull up into threes whenever he wants like i’ you know if you’ve been a long time dunker you know I always keep track

Of how often is Tatum getting downhill versus how often is he pulling up but like in transition you just don’t know what’s coming you get the second unit in you got to try to match up oh snap that’s Sam Hower in the corner and nobody’s within eight feet of them what

Are we supposed to do with that part like you just can’t get a beat on Boston I think that would how would be how some The Experience right now they take stuff off the board and depending on who has the ball Jason Tatum can Boogie whenever

He wants Jaylen Brown can do the same Drew holiday comfortable driving pulling up posting up smaller guys Gere white can beat can it tilt your defense or beat a tilted defense christops is a walking mismatch pick and Pops can space if you switch a small Defender onto him

He is bullying you on the Block it’s they are just a bus all right now until the MVP portion like I kind of feel for Jason Tatum because I think he has had a very good season you look at some of like the box score numbers or the advanced numbers

Like does he match up to like a shay or a yage or a Luca or a Giannis like probably not all encompassing but it shouldn’t be lost how good he is how impactful he is on both ends of the floor and how important he is like the driving growth even if it

Doesn’t pop with the box score with him averaging 12 free throw attempts or something like that the drives feel better the handle feels better it feels tighter the decision- making as a driver when is he passing how well I know people are annoyed by this portion but

With the foul drawing in particular can he seek out the body in a in a more natural way and get to the line that way versus some of the arm extended he’s off balance now he’s on the floor looking for a call and now Boston has to figure things out and transition defensively

Like the foul drawing has gotten better for him and then you zoom out and look at if Derek White’s initiating if Drew holiday is initiating or you know if we get the Derek white Christos foring pick and role in particular what on Earth are we supposed

To do now wh’s made shots all year and he’s a good driver Kristoff is a pick and pop threat and if we switch that’s a that’s a problem if we help from anywhere else especially when boxon sprinkles in Drew at the dunker spot or he does just have him ROM you can’t get

A beat on him and your other two options are Jaylen Brown or Jason Tatum against a tilted defense it’s frankly unfair if they’re able to be consistent with their Tempo and just the general decision making like they they are coming out of the East if they keep playing like this so

It’s been a lot of fun for Boston N I like it I like it and also whenever Drew holiday gets a post up just watch Derek white if they’re in the in the game together that man is going to find a gap and cut and I love that Chris soup

S is able to just really hit your mismatches whenever you feel like you should switch it’s a positive thing I want to go really quick to the West Nas really quick to the West I do want to give a hat tip to the Denver Nuggets

Well actually I want to give a hat tip to the West in general uh for what feels like the 18th week in a row if you look at the standings the top 10 teams in the west have all won either six seven or eight of their last 10

Games seems good and think about this New Orleans Dallas the Lakers Golden State as we record they’re 78910 they’ve all won seven their last 10 or better they all lost over the weekend in fashions that probably made their fan bases not feel very good to where New Orleans is like hey man

That’s the Bulls Dallas is like whoa what I didn’t need to do that Lakers that probably just pointing at Darin ham at this point that’s just my guess uh then Golden State’s like we really got we really keep dealing with yic but yeah you gotta keep dealing with yic and

That’s the overarching them to me who wants to deal with Nicole theic and these nuggets in the in the Western Conference playoffs this this this is a team that hey we understand who we are we execute we put pressure on you yoka just putting up numbers you want to go small I’m

Going to score you want to send help you know you shouldn’t do that I’m going to make the right read Jamal muray hey they’re 21 and three when Jamal Murray scores 20 or more points seems good and they find ways to open things up for them that two-man game with yic they

Continue to build and add to it uh being able to space the floor and get to pass and cut and keep pressure on you when they run an action you know one of my favorite things they get a stop yic brings the ball up anyone could screen

For him Aaron Gordon kcp but you got Michael Porter Jr looking to set screens on the week side and I just love that the defensive versatility they’ve added as far as jic improving in the gaps it’s not just two on the ball automatic we’re going to get something out of it he can

Play Drop he can show help he can recover he can guarden on Shooters uh they’re going to navigate their screens there’s a trust level that they have and I think that’s going to factor in especially in the playoffs when we know what we want to get to when it’s winning

Time we know the actions we want to run we feel confident that we have enough defensively to get us through it I don’t think the one seed is their priority this year I think their priority is being the best version of Denver that they can beat and you have in the back

Pocket Aaron Gordon at the five or as they’re experimenting now hey Zeke Naji come on back buddy give us give us some minutes at the five or the four and I think the Reps that their young guys have gotten Christian Brown pyton Watson very very key for the player off the

Play has been uneven but I think all of them had their moments this season I think it’s going to pay off down the line because you got to remember the context of it minutes are going to shift so your first run is going to likely be with jic

That’s plus now start second quarter Here Comes Jamal Murray Back featuring insert starter here depends on the game in the matchup but now we have the benefit as a team of having success and knowing what we need from our players around knowing what we need archetype wise

Peyton Watson knock down some shots give us some Cuts Drive some Closeouts cause Havoc defensively Christian Brown keep doing what you do just do a little bit better Zeke we need some switching from you if you can space the floor that’s great give us some roles that’s fine but

That’s a positive to where we just know what we need from you as opposed to what can you do etc etc so I think that’s gonna be a plus for them but I I just want to give a shout out to Denver real quick okay and it’s very quickly on the Denver

Front one can we just just pause a beat with nicolea yic in his season as he’s very firmly in the MVP race like I’m not going to do the nobody’s talking about yic that’s obviously disingenuous like we know yok we should know Y is good right now so

Not gonna press that button but 26 12 and N over a steal nearly a block a game the efficiency is down this season and he’s at 63% % on twos and 35% from threes he has a 65.1 true shooting percentage this year and that is down

Because the freaking alien had a 70 true shooting percentage last year which I still can’t get over but more than anything as you mentioned there’s no real answer for jic you can’t double them you can’t really switch against them he can just beat all that stuff like one very quickly about him bringing

The ball on the floor getting screens from Aaron Gordon one of the things that I chuckle at watching nugget games are is when Aaron Gordon is the one that brings the ball at the floor and you can kind of see teams in time figure out okay wait I know he can’t shoot like

That how far can we play off the muck up whatever we think is coming cuz we play off too far it’s just going to be a quick pitch and then something else is going to happen he’s going to receive a screen from Jamal Murray or he’s going

To go screen for someone else and now we’re in trouble so we kind of have to play up but we can’t play up too far because then things going to open up on the back end especially if they throw the entry into yic it’s so funny watching them kind of sort through that

In real time I don’t know what to do with this and then nugget score anyway so it just doesn’t end up mattering but that that just gives me a chuckle but back to yic and just the defense in general the Denver Nuggets are a top 10 defense the nuggets have been around a

Top 10 defense all year long kcp has been phenomenal particularly when he’s be healthy been healthy I hope he can stay that way but kcp kcp has been a lot of fun npj continues to do his job Aaron Gordon has been very good and then there’s yic who isn’t just at the level

Anymore which that hasn’t been the thing in a while but at any rate not just at the level though he remains very good at that as we saw in last postseason sprinkling in more drop coverage with him the drop numbers are good just one very quickly we’ll toss out some numbers

Uh joic has defended the third most pick and rolls in the League this year on any trip featuring a pick and roll defended by joic it’s 0.93 points per possession that is 12th out of 63 players to defend at least 500 here are some of the names

That he’s ahead of in that stat bamat bio you might have heard of him Visa zubot you might have heard of him Nick Claxton you might have heard of him Janis anmo you might have heard of him and also Brook Lopez you probably heard of him Anthony Davis I’m sure that

You’ve also heard of him yoka drinks higher on all of that and you immediately go well he’s at the level you got to trust the backhand behind him that’s also very important and impath Etc you go to yic and drop you will never guess what that number is what is it

0.93 points per possession it is the same thing it is also his lowest figure in the last three years the fact that the nuggets have been able to continue to build on the versatility that they have and yogic has been fine and drop he’s been fine at the

Level as Steve pointed out on the old man three things episode being able to play with hey yogic how about you go guard this Wing over here if you remember one of our earlier episodes talking about the Nugget Celtics game hey yoga you you hop on Drew real quick navigate that

Denver’s asking Nicole yish to do a lot of things and he’s doing a good job at it it’s not just The Supporting Cast is good it is impactful it’s important it’s not them saving him he is also a good Defender that shines through in the film it also shines through in the numbers

And then you just look at what he’s doing offensively he’s insane so I I just want to throw that in there now boom and right there uh we have got our clip for tomorrow why Nas thinks Nicole yic is the defensive player of the year salute for your service

Just you’ll be all right for two days we’ll be all right but I real quick I just wanted to add because you made some really good points I love when you go into the yic stats it’s just hard man because teams do a good job of Defending things you

Mentioned some of the switching where okay Denver tries to manipulate the matchups get someone smaller in Jamal Murray because in my head I’m like hey you probably need to stop Jamal Murray they work to make it hard on you and if you even if you navigate the action well

They go so quick to a rescreen or they go so quick to the next action that that effort now has to be replicated and you better hope your weak side is ready and in and that’s where it gets tough that’s the font of the Nuggets man I I just

Want to throw it in there man hey N I got another one for you though what you got the Bucks the Milwaukee Bucks the Milwaukee Bucks so so there their season isn’t over is that what I’m hearing I would not know who said these things but okay

Uh when when you keep it on the Bucks two wins post Allstar two Road wins post Allstar beating Minnesota beating Philadelphia I am noticing the little things from them post All-Star break and it’s one of those things I definitely wanted to come in here and talk about

You know because the East it’s there’s a little bit of wide openness to a degree they’re they’re game behind Cleveland for two uh but they’ve separated themselves from the Knicks and the 76ers because the Knicks and 76ers are going through it right now as expected you know not necessarily their fault but

Injuries are injuries the Bucks defense feels much better right now much stronger and they’re doing the little things the switching in particular has felt a lot stronger and the effort to keep the ball in front to limit that dribble penetration has felt a lot better and

That’s kind of the base that they need defensively to be able to navigate some of these series at a even if you don’t like the Personnel at the very least you can see this is a team that’s working harder is a team that understands what they’re trying to do defensively and

There’s value in that being able to double and rotate out of it whenever you need to double we’ve seen that in a few games showing help when there’s a mismatch and being able to rotate out of that that’s not something they they had done consistently before you can see there’s a change mindset

There when they need to you know show help on a switch if they have a matchup they don’t like you’re seeing guys in earlier at the elbow more active cleaning up those little things is is good because the scheme is going to be the scheme but you need to be able to

Defend outside of the first action you need be able to defend as a team and that’s big you know I go back to the game against Philadelphia the Sixers are like hey I think it might have been KY lar yelling get Dame in action so Kyle low is gonna set the

First screen and Malik Beasley’s like Hey we’re about to switch this and we see Dame jump out switch it against Maxi and force it to the left I’m like hey I was told that’s person that can’t play defense didn’t look like it to me well it didn’t B then Nei but Flex action

Philly Philly Philly runs Flex action Damon up switching on Tobias it’s a post up here comes Brooke Giannis is right there as well Giannis gets back out on the skip pass there’s no they’re they’re not stopping they’re continuing to guard I go to the Minnesota game because I’m

Sure question marks right we know Brook’s good in a drop we know Brook’s good at Rim protection what happens when Brooke has the guard is shooting big he’s guarding C he’s in with Bobby poris Milwaukee’s still switching they’re still looking to keep the ball in front and tough twos now

Brooke obviously madet sometimes to the paint but I was impressed with okay this is the mindset this is what they’re trying to do defensively they’re going to stick with it I was going to say while we’re on the Minnesota game you talk about them working through the offall communication

Possession late in the second quarter where Minnesota’s pushing after miss you got Dame on cat like oh no this is about to be a post up and then it’s just the the early pre- switch or scram switch rather J Crow is like no you you get out

Of here we we going we gonna deal with this ball in the air Dame gets out of there now it’s Jay Crowder now cat just loses the handle from there and it’s a turnover and Milwaukee goes the other way so I’m not going to give Milwaukee credit for the turnover portion but to

The little thing portion oh we see a problem let’s communicate this early let’s do this in a timely fashion and make sure we don’t open something else so something else up elsewhere while we’re trying to navigate this do it clean and so like you know does cat lose

The ball if he’s backing down damee versus Jay Crowder who’s stronger and bigger than him maybe not but like the fact that you even have to think about that now because you were able to navigate that as cleanly as you do but that’s a positive and Milwaukee just has

To continue to stack the little things within the half court because the one thing that’s shown through Underdog the transition defense has been much better since he’s gotten there and that felt like problem area number one for Milwaukee like you knew coming in okay going from Drew to Dame there is just

Going to be a difference in point of attack defense switch ability stuff like that there’s going to be a drop you can’t have some of the scheme questions on top of we don’t know who we’re matching up with Dame just drove to the basket and just stood there Giannis

Drove to the basket and fell nobody else picked up his guy the fact that they’ve cleaned up that portion and now you’re starting to see better flow defensively in the half court as well I feel like that bats well I had some bucks offense thoughts

But I I’ll let you go if you have no we G to talk about the offense because I’ve I’ve liked some of the things they’re adding there offensively just feels like they’re starting to tie things together Nikas moving through their options a lot better which is one of the things I was

Little concerned about you have pressure points what actions are you going to run but what do you do after the action how do you play outside of the play and you’re starting to see a little bit more of those kind of things where yes we can point to they are setting higher screens

For Damen Lillard which I think is a plus but got something for that too we’re now seeing where we start this High pick and roll with Dame he gets in the paint if he turns the corner and he kicks and that’s flowing into something else I think that’s really important for

Milwaukee to where now okay we don’t have anything on this side let’s swing it to Burk who SPAC and now he can go into a drible handoff with a Malik Beasley and that becomes even more important when Once Chris midson comes back that’s where you can start to get

Some of that side to side action we’ve seen them run vaction all season to where Dame is a able to have two High screens come up for him can go either way if nothing’s there we don’t have to force a shot let’s hit Giannis Giannis

Goes to do a dribble handoff now we got jannis in the post are you doubling now we can play out of that that’s the kind of flow it’s good to see Milwaukee hit and those are the kind of notes they have to hit going into the

Postseason you know I I I still believe I know there’s a lot of points on Dame’s play the shooting percentages the thing for me that stood out the drives have stayed consistent I think a big piece of that is being him being able to get into a

Paint touch him being able to get to the foul line him being able to open things up from Milwaukee that way I think that’s a huge plus I think the high pick and roll has been very good I think them running it with Giannis setting his screens higher have also been

Interesting I’m sure you have something on that but the Dame Giannis two-man game to where it’s not just pick and roll hey let’s mix in some pass and cut let’s let’s let Dame choose which direction he wants to go let’s get a rescreen let’s set a high pick and roll

Oh they defend two on the ball let’s get a rre screen if they can build on that cuz you know this is no disrespect the Hest but he just kind of stands there on the rec screen yeah there there’s still some Kinks to work out me so he he’ll set the

First screen and then he’ll kind of roll and D will be just kind of messing around in space and he’s in position but it’s like oh you going that way okay all right well I’ll let you go and then I’ll just fill in behind you that’s that’s cool that’s

Cool but no just very quickly on the Buck front cuz like the super high picking rolles have stood out particularly when it’s Dame and Brook Lopez like you mentioned the the v action so they’ll have like Brooke and Bobby Porters or Brooke and Yannis or Giannis and Bobby por whatever whatever

The case may be but with Dame and Brook Lopez in particular and like shout out to one second Spectrum but also the location filters where you can see like hey what are these super high ball screens look like so I say like basically from the hash extended and you

Can also filter for the back court too if you want to get really granular with it but at any rate naturally Damen Lillard and Brook Lopez lead the NBA and those super high ball screens in times of volume 124 of those so far this year Devin Booker and Yousef nurk is

Second Luca dones and dar Lively’s third they have combined for 100 it’s one of the funnier numbers that I have seen Damon they do like that is just the thing with Damon Brooke and like we’ve talked about it throughout the year in terms of just pick and roll

Chemistry because like the numbers for the Dame Yannis pick and roll have been good for like the opening month they’ve been really good numbers wise but as you’ve talked about we’ve talked about like some of the film you can see there’s still work to be done in terms

Of chemistry and yanis screening and rolling and what they do there but the numbers have been good with Brooke and Dame like that’s just been good all year long mostly because Brook is just a much better screener than Giannis is that is a large band to navigate through and

Navigate around and so once you add Dame and his shiftiness and you put them in even more space which very quickly not just the super high pick roles but in general I really enjoyed the Way Milwaukee has been clearing space when they’re setting up the brook uh the Dame

Brook stuff or the Dame Yannis stuff they do a really good job of keeping those wings clear so I’ll quickly note that portion but if you’re getting these screens at half court and now you’re just running into a brick wall and as you noted like the shooting for Dame hasn’t been

Great even the drives like in terms of the burst it hasn’t been the same if even this version of Dame if you’re giving him this kind of room good freaking luck he will finish or get to the free throw line now I am quite could be not even respectfully messy just I

Very briefly quietly you want to lower the volume the post edit I am keeping an eye on like how Dame is seeking out contact on some of these drives cuz it’s it’s start it’s starting to like and again I’m not going to be the one to like super complain about it like you

Know how I feel about like Trey and other guys like I’m not anti foul drawing but I’ll just say like you go to the Portland year last year it’s a lot I’m blowing by you this year is starting to lean a little bit more towards the O

I feel you coming on the right side let me get over here here a little bit and then try to finish through just keeping an eye on that portion of it especially if we’re getting into like playoff like projection what that’s going to look like so I’m keeping an eye on the burst

And just the general like what’s the balance there but the overarching point you’re still getting good stuff out of the Dame drives and to that point uh 48 players with at least 500 drives so far as of recording in terms of points per possession generated Dame is

Fourth and this is the year that we all feel bad about Tyrese halberton one Luca 2 demard Rosen three and D is four number five is Giannis so that’s pretty funny that those two are are right there but yeah what you got call Quick 20 second in there okay Demar de rozan huh

Yeah Demar de rozan what an interesting season it’s been for him and Chicago Bulls but we’re going to we’re going to set them to the sorry just we’ll CAU me we’ll Circle back yeah the the top 10’s fine top 10 is fine Tyrese Luca Demar Dame Giannis sheay 6 Donovan Mitchell

Seven Brandon Ingram eight James Harden guess he’s not watch he’s nine uh Deon Booker 10 and Anthony Ed is 11 the funny one is TJ McConnell at 12 for like the drives have been good in Indiana and that offense in general has been fantastic anyway the high picking roles have been

Super fun to your point like I love that there there is more chemistry building more flow out of Dame and Yannis like that should vote well for them the spacing has been really good the one thing I am keeping an eye on especially with the super high pick and rolls with

Brooke is just what happens if Dame does get caught like inside the yard if they pitch it back to Brook like where exactly is he settling because in the Minnesota game in particular it’s like super high screen and then he’s like five or six feet behind the three-point

Line and he gets the catch and it’s like okay you can make some of these however I don’t know if teams are going to guard those and like in the back of my head I’ve kind of gotten the how is Brooke going to be defended on the perimeter

When they space him in the corner like what is that going to look like and so with those super high ball screens you get the extreme example of no let’s just try to get back to Dame make sure he doesn’t get anything easy and then Brooks just kind of he’s way out there

And he’s not a christops level shooter so that that’s something I’m keeping an eye on at least but Milwaukee’s offense is looking it’s we’re getting it I think it’s a fair point to ask because it it it is very loud because of the commitment to Dame it’s like oh well

Brooks just there they’re fine with that even if they’re not it’s a tough rotation do they blend in more like that’s the tough part because it’s so high Brooke even if he rolls hard is only going to get so far if it’s set up

That high so now is it more you got the shot or you got to drive or you can flow into something else those type of Beats I wonder that’s that’s a good point you brought up quick Sidetrack because you unlock something my braid two of my favorite bits uh is you mentioned last

Year was Dame driving like by you I feel like this year is Dame like driving through you like I I’ve taken two dribbles you are still here Yeet uh and then my other favorite bit I did mention it again with Denver when jic gets a switch he’s like cool I’m ready to guard

And then someone hits him with the first step and gets by him and he immediately just slaps their arm like yeah good job man here’s foul take out of bounds that’s one of those are two my favorite BS but back to Milwaukee you know man I

Do this bit every year where I question Milwaukee’s lineup versatility and then I have a moment of hey you know what it’s not that bad Pat conington shooting 47% from three over the last 15 games in the calendar year of 2024 48.4% from three now of course low

Volume uh I know you’re going to raise your hand on that but that feels important that feels important because if you have a pat that is defending and knocking down shots that at the very minimum is going to open up some lineup versatility Jay Crowder I looked at his

Threes I think he’s like 0 for his last nine over five games I still believe because that man is going to to defend and he’s going to do his job danila gari putting it on for all the old heads team Monarch that man came in drove I was like wait a

Minute got a little juice in the step hold on Patrick Beverly his defensive mindset while also playing with Dame and looking to a that’s my other favorite bit when Pat Bev plays with Dame and Pat Bev initiates he’s like pointing for damee to get the ball or something and it

Doesn’t work and he immediately goes to talk to Dame like no no no no we got you we got you like he really meant that no we going to get this relationship right you g get that right but I I I kind of like some of the

Optionality to where you go with Yannis and Brook you can go with Portis and Brook you can go with ginari and poris you can go with Giannis and poris you can kind of mix and match some bigs that way and you get some smaller lineups once Middleton comes back that intrigues

Me so that’s something I’m keeping an eye on and we’re going to find out a lot about this team in all honesty uh they have two games against someone’s Charlotte Hornets so that’s great which should be interesting then they play the Bulls and then it is it is Western Conference time

Ni Clippers Warriors Lakers Clippers Kings yeah it’s time to find tun things so we’re gonna find out exactly what they’ve worked on and how good it is but I have been intrigued by it man it’s been fun to watch I will uh I will ask this okay very very quickly actually you know

I’m not even gonna ask this I’ll let you go and cook but I do want to give a salute Tannis he has 22 games scoring 30 plus points on 60% shooting that’s the most in the season in the league since Shaq had 23 in 1994

95 not bad he is still on Pace to be the first player in NBA history to average 30 points on 60% shooting it’s kind of wild basketball’s fun basketball is indeed fun like also just quick hat tip to the jannis passing not going to go as

Far as some others but he is a ridiculous passer and I do think I I I feel like I’ve said this on this podcast like eight times at this point I do think some of the driving Nuance with Giannis gets missed not just the passing but just how he alter stride length and

The way he’s able to find these crevices and like with the way that the Bucks are spacing now and in general the impact to have a Dame on the floor even with him not shooting well he has even more room to set up some stuff and so I I’m having

A lot of fun with some of the inside the art catches for young now to where now it’s just a dribble and a spin like that popped in the Philadelphia game where it’s like huh Giannis is just kind of catching and spinning and now he has a

Guy to beat or a second guy is now rotating over versus here’s a wall or even if it ain’t the wall here’s his Defender and someone just already here to kind of meet him there and so the fact that the Bucks are figuring out stuff to where the driving lanes are

Just a little bit wider for Giannis and now he hasn’t having to worry about a second or a third Defender until his first or second pivot is done that changes a lot and so I’ve had a lot of a lot of fun with that and then you

Mentioned Pat conon so nice that he’s knocking down shots again because I I’ve always loved the pat conon super late angle flip when he’s setting screens for Giannis to help set up some of those drives and the defense still isn’t quite where I want

It to be or what we’ve seen from Pat in the past but like it’s been serviceable enough and then you add that shooting I I think Doc is Doc meant that when he said I’m trying to get Pat going I I think he’ll take I think he’ll take

This portion and then also just respectfully while we’re on lineup stuff with Milwaukee the fact that Chris Milton is out and we still ain’t seeing Andre or Maran till uh to garbage time it might just be cook for them um this year we might see more of them next Seas we we

Will see what’s going to go on there but uh I just I think they’re more on team get Stay Ready stay ready so you gotta get ready um is there an Eastern Conference team that you wanted to talk about you’re already laughing so yes yes there is

Uh I as is tradition on the dunker spot we get the February SL poost Allstar break defense from the Charlotte Hornets and wouldn’t you know it the Charlotte Hornets are defending their tails off like they’ve been defending their tails off since Grant Williams and literally everyone else in

That second unit got there but no best defensive League post All-Star break I will say to the numbers portion one small sample size d two the fact that the Blazers missed every three in existence their game on Sunday that’s also going to skew at least some of like

The location field goal percentage stats but in general this is a team that has played harder and that part has been cool and like bit aside as I was again looking I watched the Hornets you know you can laugh at that if you want but like watching them and then just kind of

Looking at some of the numbers like oh they are doing the thing again it brought me back to when I was in Charlotte last year for I think it was the Kevin Durant debut with Phoenix post trade all the good stuff if I remember correctly he got traded but he was

Already out and so it was a few games till he made the debut but anyway I asked Steve Clifford ahead of the game like hey with offens is evolving more shooting better spacing inverting actions etc etc like what are you seeing from defenses what can they do to

Counter things do you already notice a trend of things that may uh may become more prevalent as the league goes on whatever he did mention at the end of his answer like we’re probably gonna see more Zone and I think that was the year where Miami was like literally setting

The tracking the tracking ERA record for like most Zone possessions in the season at that point um but he mentioned that but to paraphrase and maybe I’ll just clip you know like link the tweet in the description or something if you want to listen to the actual video but anyway uh

The paraphrase he said to me you have to be more aggressive I don’t think you can sit back like you used to and just hope guys miss you have to have ways to double team and had get the ball out of the guys’s hands and then he kind of

Went to a thing like you know not every team is Phoenix where you have Chris Paul Kevin Durant Deon Booker but you got to be able to get aggressive you can’t sit back also mentioned the importance of the the fundamentals are still there you got to get back on

Defense can’t give easy transition stuff don’t foul in possessions and so I went back and listened to that and I went dug into some of the numbers with Charlotte and like sure enough on the season their fifth in pick and roll Blitz rate Nick Richards has been at the

Level all year long before Mark Williams went down like it was one of the things I chuckled at earlier in the season I was like this is the big guy you would think in theory okay we got Mark Williams now we can kind of hang back in

The drop funnel guys inside like now we going to have you at the sometimes too you are not exempt so like he is very much stuck to that ethos and then post trade that’s like up the fourth so like not a big difference there but they are

They will put two on the ball if necessary and then looking at post-ups no team or only one team has doubled at a higher rate than Charlotte uh since the trade deadline Etc and so they do that they definitely pressure then you get into the second unit with this group and

It becomes more switch heavy this is with Grant Williams at the five um they have Bryce McGaw in there six7 and Lane y uh vilia misic from OKC he’s the smallest guy in the lineup he’s 6’5 and 30 so it’s not like you have a small guy

To pick on against Charlotte you have JT Thor out there you have zero out there and ultimately it’s just like a bunch of like Siz or similar siiz dudes that can just switch and they don’t really worry about who it is because we’re all strong to some degree outside of Bryson even

Then he’s like again he’s 67 and lanky and he’s like big for a guard and so they are able to just kind of flatten you out defensively with that second unit you got Grant Williams just barking out things and I do appreciate with the switching and you know how I feel about

Soft switching in particular it’s very much a season one of the dunker spot deal it’s like why are you just giving up this matchup what’s happening here why are you doing that with granite the five there is at least a hint of nuance where okay this isn’t really a threat

I’m going to stay here he communicates early enough n you just stay with your match up we’re fine this is a fake screen we’re not worried about it or even if it is you’re there enough to where I don’t have to worry about it you’ll get like a little push from Grant

So it’s like a pseudo drop but like there is a little bit of nuance there so I do appreciate like that portion of the defense the one thing I would say keep an eye on is the way that Charlotte is doubling post-ups like you can naturally do a lot

Of different things you can double from one pass away you can double from the Baseline if you want to if you want to double two passes away which is like the guy next to the entry pass or whatever like different teams do different things Charlotte is very much a we will double

From one pass away we are trying to hit you early we will go from there like I think about a team like Phoenix and every team would do this like I talked about Aaron Gordon a little bit earlier to where you may have like the non-shooter initiate the offense and

Toss in the entry pass and then cut through to the other side and then now the good Shooters one pass away like Phoenix does it a bunch with Joshua kogi and then he’ll pass it cut through and now it’s Devin Booker or now it’s Grayson Allen one pass away you try to

Do that against Charlotte they do not care as that guy is cutting through nope it’s a hit we are here have fun dealing with this and so like watching some of their defensive possessions like the one loss they’ve had since the trade was against Golden State and we got some

Antics there I have a rant on that very briefly but anyway like I think about that Golden State game I think it’s pods and Dario Sarge go with a pick roll on the left side of the floor Seth Curry’s in he didn’t play in the uh the Blazers game on Sunday but

Anyway so Seth Curry switches on to Dario Sarge and you’re thinking okay well this Double’s probably going to come Grant Williams now one pass away so he doubles and Andrew Wiggins makes the smart play they kind of know this is what Charlotte wants to do they’re going

To send the double from one pass away let’s see if we can set up a cut behind that so Andrew Wiggins cuts and because Brandon Miller is kind of the one that’s splitting behind that Brandon Miller technically gets beat on the cut and he still gets the deflection because he’s

Just long as heck and it’s like ah this is part of the calculus to why they do this and then even with the one pass away thing if Cody Martin is the one defending the point of attack or the entry pass guy he is so good at like

Playing between that guy and getting down digging on the double like there was a possession in the Blazers game early transition thing DeAndre eighton Jets down the middle of the floor gets a deep seal Grant eventually pushes him out but like he’s there Chris Murr is

Bringing the ball up the floor it’s like okay cool this going to happen Cody Martin recognized that DeAndre is jetting behind him he’s like all right let me sag back out but I recognize that you are my you are my matchup but I’m going to drop back here so you can’t

Make this early pass he gets out to Chris Murray entry pass comes Cody Martin literally hops Waits another beat and then just shoots down to DeAndre Eon as he gets ready to set up this post up steals the ball is going the other way it’s like that’s high octane stuff like

It’s it’s risky you can there are obvious counters to the way that they do it but like the decisiveness that they have with that has been a lot of fun to watch they’re just doing a really good job they’re just doing a really good job they’re getting back in transition

They are not fouling they are fifth in opponent free throw rate since this trade and they were we’ll just say they were not that good before the trades were made so that’s bounced up the one thing that has fallen and again I attribute that more to the smaller units

That they’re playing with uh with the second unit like teams are blitzing them on the offensive glass but even then they’re giving multiple efforts after the offensive rebound so like teams aren’t converting on those a bunch either we will see what happens when the sample grows because like last year they

Were best uh post Allstar break defense in the league we got about a month out that slipped to like seventh or eighth and eventually got to 12th Etc so like that can happen but I did want to quickly shout out what charlot is doing right now I’m glad you did that and I

Was goingon to say it’s it’s I was going to ask you a question how do you think Steve Clifford feels going from some of the comments he made prior to some of this success to now being able to look at a team be like hey you know they’re actually trying

Like you know this be part of our I was going to say like if you’re a head coach just saying like this is going to sound funny but they’re out there trying that from the top top that’s not what you want to hear because the first thought is then

Wait why weren’t they doing that earlier and then secondarily hey so they traded a bunch of these dudes to good teams and now the defense gets better why weren’t y’all n say no say no say space we got the game plan now and they’re they’re listening to us they’re locked in this

Is our this is a new identity you see what we can do right yeah that’s the counter yeah yeah so that that part has certainly been funny so like quick shout out to the Charlotte defense and then just very quickly on the offense like the tray man step backs are back that’s

Been a lot of fun me trun a whole bunch of pick and roll Grant Williams seems very comfortable operating as a screener and flowing all over the place he’s knocking down shots Brandon Miller is hey man he’s just third in Rookie of the Year voting now right is that is that

The bit like Lively missed a bunch of time highe Miss time Brandon Miller just he he’s he’s good still keeping an eye on the drives I I still love the intent to get downhill we we will continue to keep track of some of the passing decisions

As he gets into the paint but the shooting is Fun the off ball movement is fun him screening for Cody Martin in pick and roll like that fun to me at the very least like Point Cody hasn’t been the harness our top 10 offense but the offense during the stretch has not been

Good so I’m not going to like oversell it but like in general and then I’ll leave it here this is a whole lot of hornets talk but in general like I do appreciate Charlotte giving Cody Martin room to spread the wings a little bit like I’m glad he’s healthy first and

Foremost but beyond that if you project Cody to be a part of you know the the playin push for next year or if you’re going to do the natural hey he’s an interesting role player on a bad team what happens if he’s on a good team I

Think him getting these reps should help him in the long run if he’s on a better team whether that’s in Charlotte or elsewhere him being able to be trusted to run a secondary pick and role versus again this is he’s legit initiating stuff in Charlotte like that’s not his

Natural role but like with that he should be able to handle more secondary pick roles on a good team without you biting your nails like oh snap What’s it gonna look like the drives the passes then what he’s doing defensively like I’ve just enjoying this Cody Martin

Stretch and I will I will cap it there salute and that that right there is a dunker spot special nikayas lets us know what the Hornets are doing you need and you can’t say you didn’t expect it because literally in our first intro he he he he ranted about the Hornets so hey

We gotta gotta indulge our guy who else you got oh I’ll just quickly say on the defense note it’s also kind of funny in light of the Steve Clifford comments but I did want to highlight Dallas’s defense okay uh since the trade so I guess since

What February 10th I think was the debut date and they got OKC out of there but anyway since February 10th the Mavericks are fourth in defense this is also very funnily timed considering what Indiana just did to the Mavericks so you know great job there but I did just want to

Quickly highlight funny enough PJ Washington has taken on a lot of tough assignments and he has held serve in these assignments the maricks have at least tried to be skem Versa with Daniel Gafford they’ve had him in a drop they’ve had him at the level tossed in

Some late switching you know we talked about it after the debut like huh we got some zon from Dallas this is interesting I feel like they’re still trying to find the balance there I will say that Pacers game was probably the you know as we got into like questions about the fits and

Stuff when we talked about you know the trade deadline episode like that Pacers game was probably the one where like see this is what I was worried about here you get him in the drop and it’s deep or you ask him to do different stuff and

Indiana’s able to play out of that but on balance like gafford’s been fine and I think the offensive impact is very obvious for what he’s been able to do but in general and enjoyed PJ Washington Luca still try and with his size and who they put him on like that’s kind of all

They need R def function Josh green has been fun Derek Jones Jor back on the bench but he’s pressuring the heck out of the ball when he when he comes in I I just wanted to give a quick hat tip to the Dallas defense because if the

Defense is at a certain level you have Luca who just generates two on the ball out of thin air and Kyrie has been phenomenal as of late and so they they have the Firepower offensively they just need to get the defense to a level the defense has certainly been at the level

Since these deals have been made well I think one thing with their defense don’t forget what a healthy Maxi Cleaver can do for them defensively with the his versatility the amount of positions he can defend and they also they it feels like they tend to just have size I just

Feel bigger than usual as far as having length and the Personnel to really execute some of these things and survive some mistakes the one thing with me about that Indiana game is I felt like Indiana was very much like hey Luca why don’t you help in recover

Hey two people on this week side it’s Luca and Kyrie one of y’all going have to make this decision hey Daniel Gafford do you want to double this post up are you sure you know where to rotate after you double this post up hey Derek Lively you’re in a drop I’m Tyrese halberton

Here’s a jump shot hey Derek Lively you’re a rim protector I’m driving at the paint That’s Miles Turner in the corner it just felt very much like let’s just poke at these specific things and so it’s one of those you know you start thinking about playoff context is a team going to use

That because I think it’s something we’ve talked about this season where I think that the hack or we think that the the thought process is can we just put player X as the weak side help and either get what we want on the roll or

Get what we want on the Skip and is that going to be the thing for Dallas to where actually we don’t want to put Luca in this action we want to make Luca help and recover which he’s you it’s not like he’s been terrible at it the Pacers also

Play with a vroomy vroom vroom pace which is you know it’s just different it’s a little different you get sucked into that now you’re trying to score if you’re an offensive team and now pop everything goes off M Turner was great but I just wonder is that something that

They have to now counteract with their improvements defensely just thought no I think that part’s fair and like to the PACE Point like there are other teams in the west that ranking like the top five six in Pace I don’t think a team that plays like in the half court as fast as

Indiana does so even projecting like playoff issues Dallas may not have to deal with that to that degree but like to the foundation of it hey let’s just make Luca the primary helper let’s let’s go pick and roll one shooter on that in that weak side corner hey Luca what you

Gonna do about it there is some stuff he’s gonna have to solve there to your point he hasn’t been terrible at it and when he is engaged he’s honestly fine he doesn’t have the foot speed but like if he’s in early enough he is a strong dude

So he can just get a hand on the roller and then get back back out of there and it’d be fine let’s let’s just shift the body here funn you to the baseline or if guys are rotating back up okay let’s we’ll let you get middle but there’s a

Whole lot of hands here so you’re not going to get anything easy we can play out of there so like Luca has that awareness like we’ve seen that in spots this year we’ve seen that going back two years ago I think at this point when Dallas had the surprise top 10 defense

Luca can do that portion he’s not going to be a lock down guy I remember earlier this year like I CED like the isolation stats like some of that some baking some of that in is well the guys that are isolating him are some of the weaker

Guys at the end of the clock or if it is a good Defender everyone else is loaded up behind it so it’s not just Luca is a stopper but again you just need him to be able to function within a system and he has proven that he can do that for

Extended stretches we got the two year you know two years ago sample we’ve seen it some this year that’s all you need it is still worth keeping an eye on in a playoff setting what if he just has to do this over and over and over and over and over

Again but props there props there um trying to think is there any other team that I want shout out um I guess I’ll leave it there because I you know I just spent 15 on the Hornets uh but we’ll we’ll leave it there on the teams that

Have caught the ey uh who are some teams that we are thinking about little transition there I’ll go very quick you want to go really quickly yeah I I’ll go quickly okay it’s not a not a big thing like I’ll will start one like the Phoenix Suns are not bad and like

Bradley Bill is obviously out and that is a big Health question that you that’s baked into the trade like that’s part of why he was available is because he hasn’t been the healthiest dude and part of the calculus into Phoenix’s ceiling which if they hit it they can win a

Title this year but part of that calculus is Bradley Bill being available hasn’t been so that’s a natural question beyond that though I just keep an eye on Phoenix’s lineup versatility and more specifically okay what exactly are these KD at the five lineups what can they do how many

Of these can they get to what’s their best one how does it match up against some of the West Elite because I think in theory it is very easy to see why you want to do that offensively if KD is your five like there are only how many teams can truly

Match up with Phoenix in that regard with if you got the true big three with KD Booker Beal probably Grayson Allen with shooting now you got Royce O’Neal if that’s your five like how many teams can earnestly match up with that like not many

Right and so I get it but I also look like within that I guess for me like Roy Still Remains a help point which is why it’s a good thing that he can make quick decisions and still make shots like he very much can make them pay so it’s not

Like a bad thing but teams do help off of him and as we’ve seen without uh Bill there if Eric Gordon’s in that spot like teams are helping off of those guys more aggressively than I thought and like the double team willingness hasn’t dipped in

The way that you would at least I would think um just thinking about it theoretically and so it’s just like okay what exactly are you getting out of this I think you have to be even more I guess even more meticulous with how your spacing of teams are still

Going to double so you can set up okay if the ball’s going to swing twice now the guy taking the corner three is now Grayson Allen or the last guy to attack is now going to be Devon Booker if KD is the one being posted up Etc and like to

That point because I pulled up went to clean the glass pulled up the KD at the five numbers so filter with him on all the centers um off the floor it’s worth noting that the Suns have a 39.3 threo rate in the KD at five lineups which is

Much higher than their regular season number that’s a 79 percentile number League wide so like they do get the threes up but just kind of eyeing okay how much time are they taking to get to this who are the players that are actually taking these threes is there a

Level of teams dictating well if we double here and help here we can get this guy to take the three he might be a solid shooter but it’s one that we can live with can Phoenix do more to really punish teams in that regard and then defensively teams are rebounding nearly

40% of their own misses in the KD at the five lineups that is a that is an awful number to project forward and in general like this is still like it’s a small ball lineup naturally but even within that it’s KD and then it’s a gap between with the

Size and so I do just kind of Wonder are they really going to get enough offensively out of these because like the talent speaks for itself but in terms of shot profile are they going to get enough out of it and then defensively can they get stops and can they finish possession

With what they have out there and like season wide 342 possessions with Katie on the floor without a center it’s a minus 8.5 net rating right now and so they have a lot of season to figure this out but that’s where I’m just like okay what exactly is this going to be can

They find the right answers there no I I offer no push back I think it’s the the lineup stuff is something I’ve been tracking especially since hey we’re going to try and sprinkle in bbo at the four we’re going to try and you know play Ros O’Neil with different people

They’ve been mixing matching a little bit that’s been kind of fun the small ball part I for me I have to wait until Bradley Beal is healthy to kind of fully understand what the total vision would be I think the interesting part for me and just to add to what you’re

Saying one in that Lakers game uh they just recently played nurkic was very active I felt like he was very active for the most part you know obviously you’re gonna get the drop possessions where someone just runs right into him but one of the little tweaks they had in

The fourth quarter was hey you know what Royce O’Neal you guard LeBron you guard Anthony Davis nerk you got ruy and they actually switched nerk once the Lakers did a screen I was like that’s interesting again team’s trying to be proactive and okay we’re GNA you want to

Attack it you’re going to attack it with this person and now we’re going to try and set up our defense this way they did a switch they tried to switch in double LeBron was like actually I’ll just go around nerk so it wasn’t ideal but those

Are the kind of things I’m like okay Phoenix is trying to run through some things trying to figure some things out but right the Royce O’Neal fit has been really good and I think when you’re talking about those smaller lineups his ability to make the right decisions

Offensively and be impactful in the role I don’t think they have another person like that Grace Allen will make some decisions but defenses will treat him a certain way on the short roll I think Royce is has that combination of I can roll I can kick I can stop pop all that

Good stuff so I think that’s the positive there I I’d probably wait for Beal um yeah my only headlock with Phoenix is Bo boy they’re really good do you see the shots they can generate in pick and roll hey you know what man this is a whole lot of pick and roll

Man hey do you see what they operated and generated out of pick and roll I just kind of go back and forth I don’t know what to do with it that’s just full confession from me to the dunkers but they’re because it’s it’s the same thing

That gives you the wow that’s a very tough matchup in the playoffs is the same thing where they’re up 10 it’s like wait y’all y’all are still just spamming pick and roll huh okay yeah and then they go on a0 run right after okay MH yeah it’s funny you say that you just

Yeah it’s funny you say that like a thought that I had as I was thinking about Phoenix I was driving home thinking which yeah driving home just thinking about the Suns but anyway I was like top end Talent again Katie Booker bill of healthy like that’s insane and

The question that I had for myself that I was trying to sort through on this drive like is even with the talent and like it sounds inh ently disrespectful but like is Phoenix the easiest of the contending teams to scheme for yes and no no because that’s a lot of

Talent yeah like concep yes because you could eventually land into a space where actually you know what we’re going to stay at home and play Drop and you just shoot and that’s all you get you just get these shots but also no because it’s they’re going to they they have the most ability

To make you change your mind or feel feel bad about that idea very quickly it’s a It’s Tricky balance I wouldn’t say no you’re wrong but I also could see how you know what we’re just going to pick our poison that’s it this is what

You get yeah like I like I contrast that with contrast that with like Denver for example where it’s just like okay we just don’t we just have to try our best against the Murray yic Duo like we don’t have they have an answer to literally everything and with Phoenix again we

Know what kind of top end Talent they had that’s why I want to be care I want to be intentional about I am not trying to disrespect the Suns or think they’re bad or anything like that but like to Steve’s Point are they a team where you

Can get to okay well we’re gonna do this like KD might just average 40 and that’s just kind of tough Booker might average 35 that’s just kind of tough but like conceptually okay I’m not worried about cycling through four different coverages we’re just going to do this because this

Is the profile of These Guys these are the role players we feel good about helping off with these guys we know what we’re going to do it’s just a matter of can we executed enough and will they hit enough shots with like a team with Denver is like okay I don’t really know

What we’re going to do I guess we have to land on this and if they blow this up we have to just do we gotta do something else because this is this is hurting us period which you know Circle back to the den conversation it’s so fun when they

Just cycle through now we’re GNA keep running this it’s going to be the exact same setup you did something differently now it’s Murray’s turn now it’s Gordon’s turn now it’s y’s turn Phoenix can get there but I’m not at that point compared to like a Denver

Or some of the other teams in the west so that’s why I had that question um but yeah I just kind of want to keep eyes on what they do there and to that point you mentioned Royce has been Royce has been really good already I do want to see what the that

Young portion is going to look like because in theory with just the short roll decision- making alone or just the in space decision making alone if you’re sending double teams like he should be able to just nail that portion I will make the right pass Etc but even

Then with in the back of my head just just like ooh he will make the quick decision but what if that decision is still the one that teams want to live with against Phoenix what if it’s double KD ball to Dad we’re staying home on book and Grayson Allen the ball it is

Just going to be at be with Royce now he can shoot so it’s not in like bad bad but you know that again that’s just kind of the loop I’m in with Phoenix right now so I figured I would toss that portion out there uh did you have any

Teams man you know I I’ve been just thinking thinking about the Sixers thinking about the Knicks thinking about them trying to work through this phase uh looking at Philadelphia and teams were like Tyrese Maxi were loting on you two on the ball and Philadelphia was

Like you know what we’re going to mix in some more movement we’re going to try and play quick decisions buddy healed you be a screener for Tyrese Maxi we could play out of that let Tyrese get downhill and then teams were like actually we’re just going to switch that

And uh we’re going to switch most of these other actions that you’re running and if we need the help we’re going to help but outside of that we’re just going to try and keep everything in front you have to deal with that how do they overcome that and what do they try

And do with that going forward during this stretch I think is going to be important uh the Knicks I kind of have the same thought process but I think with the Knicks especially watch I thought this game hey Jaylen Brunson Let’s Get You On The Move let’s get you

Some movement before your pick and roll and then if you run empty side pick and roll let’s use that to start our movement so it’ll just be a fake you swinging a head will do a dribble handoff on the other side and then if you’re denied throw to hartenstein split

Play out of that that was very fun and then Boston was like actually um we’re just gonna ahead and put porzingis on precious and put Tatum on hardenstein and just kind of take all that away so you just kind of watching those teams try and navigate especially as the Gap

Starts to get closer now Nikas and this is where it gets it’s gets tricky Indiana game and a half out of fourth Miami two and a half out of fourth Winn is of what three straight for Miami now yeah it’s I told you I told you the heat

We’re gonna be fine it’s you did the magic two and a half games out of fourth they’re all a lot closer to Philly than New York but you know does this go from while they’re going to survive to while they might face each other in the first

Round to they might face each other in the playin that would get ha just tough SL It’s just tough SL so I figur I’m just keeping an eye on them because they’re working they’re working to find the gaps offensively they’ had good possessions but they’re going to have to keep

Working to find it cuz these these teams are hungry uh before you move can I just ask a very quick question for you Nicks related um last three games for uh for buan bogdanovic 23 minutes 24 minutes 19 minutes and this hasn’t been the healthiest group I will say they are still sorting

Through how they want to use Buon offensively how they’re balancing the spacing portion with the on ball portion versus the pick and roll portion either way the defense hasn’t been super kind we’ll put it that way you you are you at all we we are literally about five

Episodes from being able to do a super cut of nikayas just quietly slandering boam B Donovan’s defense and look man go ahead get your question off I just want to point that out I just that’s crazy I just want to ask you like are you at all concerned about or maybe

Concerned isn’t the right word are is it at least curious to you like hey what exactly are his minutes going to look like when the team gets healthier SL once to get in the playoffs like what is the tip’s trust Factor looking like because the highest minute

Game in this in that three- game stretch was the 24 minutes he went six of six from three and had 22 points if he’s just in the you will score or you will not play bag I that gets a little hazy for me as you project

Randle comes back OG comes back I think he’ll be fine because the context then will help him better than it does now I think he’s in much more of a box right now as far as hey we need you to do this if you’re not doing this I I can play

Precious 34 35 minutes I can play Josh Hart he’s kind of in that context where we’re searching for wins you know what I mean I think he gets elevated when those guys come back and now he can play with different combinations he can play OG and OG can take certain matchups and

Boon could do more of the Boon stuff like Bo bogy is a very talented player but you do have to kind of not set him up for success but you got to set him up for usage and he’s got to be the right context you know what I mean if it’s

This person has a ball Bunch this person has a ball Bunch this person has a ball bunch he can get lost in the shuffle sometimes or if you’re in a scenario where we need stops we don’t value that as much it sounds wild considering they’re not scoring as well but at the

Same time what is our de facto thing what do we trust so I think that’s where my mind goes I think he’ll be all right okay uh so if this guy has the ball and this guy has the ball this guy has the ball what is he going to do is he boyon

Barrett any other teams you want to mention you know man I’ll just give a I’ll just give a quick salute to the Sacramento Kings and the work that thearon fox is putting in uh last four games 32 51% shooting seven rebounds 7.5 assists 2.5 steals damont sabonis has 39 straight double doubles

And is now one of six players to have 20 or more triple doubles in a single season their defense works man like I they’re not going to get the respect or the credit but they’re active I think with a game plan they’re going to be very interesting being able to mix

Coverages dantos is just he keeps hitting people and trying to dunk on everybody I I would just keep an eye I I’m thinking about them in the playoff context some of those possessions where they play a little bit slower is that going to pay off down the line and we’re

Not just relying on the tempo some of mixing in the coverages to where James Harden comes off a hand off it’s two on the ball kawhai comes off it’s a drop is that going to help them in the playoffs I’ll just keep an eye on them real quick but before we continue

Nikas okay you ready for me to throw you off the rails uh sure what you got the things that happened uh during the podcast recording oh boy uh number one uh Shams says that uh the MVP Stewie oneyear non- guaranteed below maximum deal to return to the New York Liberty which as

Christina Williams put it uh means they can get someone else on a guaranteed deal okay so now a protect the contract that’s interesting I’m just trying to think of again who’s left on the market to that point like again do we have like the big Ed question mark if she’s going

To play basketball and as such like what kind of trade can be worked out there that would get very funny if that ends up being the end result there don’t worry about it then on the free agency Mark again we talked about Tiana Hawkins who what that could look like Etc but

You so we we’ll we’ll keep tabs on it but that’s interesting don’t wor about it also Warriors guard Chris Paul uh listed as available to return Tuesday against the Washington Wizards so there you go buddy the Chris Paul Revenge game how about that Sugar and Spice for okay appreciate you big dog

Huh wow let’s do we back okay so that those are the star announcements right we got the John quell news with last week yeah or we GNA have yeah so okay so at least we’re finally going to get some figures on that that’s that’s very cool okay also very quickly uh if

We’re in the teams that we’re just keeping eyes on like very boring analysis and I apologize but we will continue to monitor what the Minnesota Timberwolves do late in games offensively got see what that looks like at the high end you can go connley go

Bear an can go supernova K can drive cat the cat drives have just been incredibly fun and so they obviously can find things on the low end it is very quick shot heavy or hey we are super deep in The Possession ant can you please score

For us and ant can you get to the rim and ant gets hit does not get a foul call and then ant is yelling at R and that is just you know something to monitor in light of like their incredibly good season the defense remains insane Etc so want to monitor

That portion uh Steve any players you want to shout out before we get out of here uh Victor wanyama the five by five that that’ll 15th player in NBA 15th player in NBA history with a 5×5 first since youf nerkach in 2019 uh 31 minutes fewest

Minutes to do it you know the funniest part he’s he almost had it he could have had another one the night before yeah there we go yeah and so four assists yeah 19 points 13 rebounds five blocks five steals four assists but yeah first player in NBA history to average a 5×5

Over a two game stretch since 1973 74 sounds crazy right yeah yeah that’s him him Michael Jordan the only players to get five Steals and five blocks in consecutive games I love that wm’s initial reaction was did did did he win though did he win

Though did hey did he win though and uh Mike Mike did he did win those games just want to throw it out there now quickly well I just want to give a salute to vict that’s history and then IO dumu yes last 10 games averaging 16 points 4.5 assists three rebounds 1.2

Steals shooting 56 6% from the field 53 from three seven or more assists in three of his last four games as he does the annual hey y’all I’m pretty good uh Chicago Bulls tour which is going to be funny because I I would just like to remind y’all as y’all look at the

Playing get ready to learn pull-up buddy whether it’s Demar or Deonte get ready to learn pullup you you’ll be seated on that Tuesday night for clutch pullup buckets all right bud do we need that do we need that or or or or with Trey young out a month and

Ona kongu out at least the next two weeks if the Hawks slide at all do we get the thear D rozan Revenge game as he host the Toronto Raptors well based on previous events wouldn’t that be a different Revenge game no but but I fig we was sprinkle that in there

Also shout out to I dumu who made my what was it a 29 player list on on the last episode The dunker spot is flers I’m excited to watch post Allstar break he’s incredibly fun I’m glad he’s being more aggressive on my list a little bit shorter now since we talked about yic

Earlier he was on mine would like to give a salute to Herb Jones who’s averaging 11 points four boards nearly three assists over a steal nearly a block per game this year 58% on twoes 42% from three Steve herb Jones my guy is shooting 51% from three on nearly

Four attempts since Christmas that is a 26 game sample in addition to the cuts in addition to the drives in addition to the transition tax which that man is he is the Euro steps from herb Jones are so freaking fun dude he’s hitting shots he’s hitting shots I don’t believe

Herb Jones is a 51% three-point shooter on balance like that there’s going to be a dip at some point but man if herb Jones is has graduated from like the 31% from three class I am going to be incredibly excited because the defense is all world

And again he will fill in and do the little things he’ll get you your timely offensive rebounds he doesn’t mind screening which to that point keep an eye on the herb Jones Zion Williamson screener screening partnership uh we talked about uh Point Zion last week with JJ and boy did that spark some

Stuff that was funny but over 1.4 points per possession on the uh the Zion herb Jones pick and roll in February not a large sample there because you normally get it like early second quarter when it’s like Zion herb plus bench but the just keep an eye on the screening angles

From herb Jones again obviously not the the bulkiest guy very lanky fella but he’s nailing the flat screens he’s getting some of the late flips in there he’s doing the push offs against slips he he’s nailing the little stuff even if he’s not catching lobs and stuff but the

Defense the shooting I’m really enjoying herb Jones uh Al in Thompson from the Houston Rockets every game there’s something every game there’s something with this dude it’s a wild pass it’s an incredible drive against OKC is a chase down block on Shay gilders Alexander every game is something with that dude

The shot is not where it needs to be but everything else the passing the driving the on and off ball defense all starting to feel better the offens of rebounding which has been fun he’s a dude he is a dude and just quick quickly on the numbers front he’s

Played in 20 or more minutes in eight straight games that includes five starts during that stretch he’s averaging 13 10 and three with 1.5 Steals and 1.5 blocks and he’s averaging over four offensive rebounds per game uh during this run he had seven against Indiana he had six

Against New York we talked about that game uh the Knicks tried to put Jaylen Brunson on him because H A man is going to run the off he’s not going to shoot he’s going to be spaced now buddy get ready to learn crash and jump six in

That game had six against Memphis he had five against Phoenix over the weekend he just makes stuff happen keep keep giving that dude minutes and then the last one I want to shout out DeAndre hunter in Atlanta coming off the bench right now he’s been hurt averaging 16 16 points

Per game in about 23 minutes off the bench uh since he’s been fully back they haven’t played in back tobs yet so he’s missed two games uh 20 or more points in three of his four uh three in his four last games five of his last seven

And in general the big thing for me as it always is with DeAndre Hunter how quickly are you going to make these decisions when you catch the ball how quickly are you shooting how quickly are you catching and driving how quickly are you moving it that portion has popped

Heading into the All-Star break and especially in these couple of games post All-Star break so he has to keep that up especially in light of Atlanta’s injuries they’re going to need him I don’t know if he enters to start lineup again or not but really good play from

DeAndre Hunter just wanted to give him a quick hat tip there any closing remarks you got a benediction for us uh quick question for you what is what was Wilder the New Orleans uh M Miami uh Skirmish melee or uh your reaction when Dennis shuder tried to clo line Mike connley because

He took a shot in the fourth quarter do you oh I’m so glad you said that we can close with that I am a you know I am I am just a podcaster and as some of you make the jokes in in the in the comment section

Like I am in a chair I’m very much now to basketball so fair I just do not get the whole you shot the ball with 26 seconds left and you’re already winning how dare you like I understand like inherently like if Mike connley took the three and did like the step turnaround

Midair and then hit like the Dion Waiters pose and everything like that okay I understand being bad and even going back to the end of the Hornets Warriors game where we got some Antics with Grant Williams and stuff was it not just a layup like I If you toss it off

Glasg Go reverse dunk and I don’t know do a douge or something okay sure if there’s just a Time differential between the play clock and the shot clock and a shot is taken so we don’t have to have the awkward whistle when the refs also know that the game is over

And now we got to prolong this by another eight seconds and then add a team turnover to the total which is always funny when we get the moments of the players that don’t that don’t know it’s a team turnover not an individual turnover and just’s like oh no you take

The ball I don’t want it but like if you agree that the game is over why are we getting mad about a shot being taken while the game’s over like I I just I I don’t get that part especially if there’s no like no F no Antics

Involved if Mike connley does the Scotty Barnes TOS the three backwards okay you doing a little too much if it ain’t that what are we doing what are we doing now everything’s taking long because y’all want to push each other you are you are assuming this is just rational thoughts

That are being hashed out in real time this is adrenaline this is anger this is frustration this is a momentary moment where I don’t that that’s insane why are you doing that this is already bad enough why are doing that now the Warriors Hornets one was a little

Different I mean literally the warriors were winning in Shadow layup while winning and the Hornets has stopped I mean Steve cerr and Steve Clifford were literally dapping it up and they immediately had to curse out so I mean that one’s a little different the the the Wolves Nets one

Was little F I literally just think dinnner shooter did not know how much time was left but that was just like literally I’m just shooting this so there’s no shock like we had to play offense you know what I mean it’s not like we started with 26 and we got to four like

No like this this before and also the fact that you tried to Clos line Mike Conley and Mike Conley’s reaction was like what why would me like what you doing bro it’s like what are you doing how are you asking this question right now I haven’t seen

Someone that man at Mike con since Chris Paul hor thank you thank you for watching or listening to this episode of the darker spot Please Subscribe if you haven’t already we on Apple Spotify Google Stitcher pod Bean wherever you get your podcast you can find us if you are watching this on

YouTube you’re on JJ Redd’s YouTube channel and you haven’t subscribed to JJ Red’s YouTube channel you should probably subscribe to JJ Red’s YouTube channel we are here every Tuesday that that is the day after Monday the day before Wednesday every Tuesday we are here um so if you want to check out more

Dunker spot there we’re here every Tuesday and beyond that obviously there’s just great content dropping on the Channel all week long so subscribe become a better basketball fan have some fun with us have some fun with JJ and the Bevy of guests that he brings on

Come rock with us uh you can follow me on Twitter at nayas NBA you can follow Steve on Twitter at Steve jones2 join the dunkers spot community on Twitter if you haven’t already join us for our online dunkers spot watch parties you will not regret it if you have a league

Pass subscription you can rock with us watch games with us live Steve please watch games with us live get real time anal analysis if we get fourth quarter or overtime Antics we got Steve breaking down what happened what went right or what went wrong if you want that stuff if you also

Just want a safe haven to vent about life or some some weird stuff on the job or whatever the case may be got some food takes you want to share we do a little bit of everything in these watch party room so if you want to rock with

Us the link to the room is in the description uh to make a profile it it’s very easy process to set up your profile it’s free no shananigans again you do need a lead past description if you have that already sign up come rock with us

Watch some games with us come chop it up about life with us have some fun and with that we will catch y’all later in the week uh great show Nas the only thoughts were RI Ripley a