Jason reacts live after the Denver Nuggets dominant Game 7 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Jason discusses why he believes the Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden have fallen short and suggests it may be time for a rebuild in LA. Jason wraps up by providing a quick preview of the MVP matchup between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the OKC Thunder and Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume, blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high
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diverse range of programming that goes beyond the game. From
action pack live events to gripping behind the scenes documentaries,
to hard hitting investigative pieces and in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams.
(00:25):
Vice Sports captures the raw energy, drama and passion that
makes sports truly unforgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive
sports programs only on Vice Tv. Go to vicetv dot
com to find your cable channel.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
The NBA eighty two game grind is done. Now the
real fun begins. The NBA Playoffs are here and it's
time for all the high stakes drama, clutch moments, and
jaw dropping plays. I can't wait. If you're looking to
make the playoffs even more exciting, DraftKings Sportsbook has you
covered as an official sports betting partner of the NBA
from the playing games all the way through you to
the finals. Now's the time to back your favorite players
(01:00):
and teams as they chase glory All season long. DraftKings
has been the go to spot for NBA player props,
and that does not stop now, want to make your
playoff experience even more intense, Try placing a bet on
your favorite player's performance. Well they drop thirty points, forty
or more, it's your call. Ready to place your first bet?
Download the DraftKings sports Book Gap. Now lock in your bets.
Let's make this playoff run unforgettable. Here's something special for
(01:22):
first timers. New DraftKings customers. Bet five dollars to get
two hundred dollars in bonus bets. Instantly make it a
playoff run to remember With DraftKings. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook
Gap and use code hoops. That's h oops. That's code
hoops for new customers to get two hundred dollars in
bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings.
(01:43):
The Crown is yours. Gambling problem called Way one hundred
Gambler In New York call eight seven seven eight hope
and why, or text hope and Why to four six
seven three six nine. In Connecticut, help us available for
problem gambling Call eight eight eight seven eight nine seven
seven seven seven or visit CCPG. Do please play responsibly
on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas twenty
(02:05):
one plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario.
New customers only bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty
eight hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources,
see dkang dot co slash audio. All right, welcome to
(02:32):
who Tonight. You're at the volume heavy Saturday everybody, hope
all if you guys are having a great weekend. Well,
the Nuggets sent the Los Angeles Clippers home. We're gonna
be breaking that game down from the perspective of both teams,
focusing on where the Clippers should go from here, as
obviously this is the season where things tended to go
most right for them in terms of health, and yet
(02:53):
here they are getting sent home in the first round
and kind of disappointing fashion. And then we will also
talk a little bit about the pending Nuggets Oklahoma City
Thunder series. You guys know the Joe Before we get started.
To subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't
miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter
at Underscore JSONLTC. You guys don't miss you announcements, So
forget about a podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast
on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you
(03:13):
leave a rating and a review on that front. Jackson's
doing great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,
and Facebook. Make sure you guys follow us there, and
the last but not least, keep dropping mailback questions so
we can get to them in our mailbags throughout the
remainder of the season. We are also going over to
playback after the show tonight, so when we are finished here,
there's a link in the description to this video that
(03:35):
will take you over to playback where you guys can
follow the Hoops Tonight channel. We're gonna go over there,
We're gonna take questions from you guys. I'll have some
of you guys on stage. We also will start to
take a look at some film of the Nuggets Thunder
matchup from the regular season as we start to prep
for that second round series to make sure you guys
get ready to head over to playback right when we
finish up here live on YouTube, so and I'll get
(03:58):
send to Clippers home. One of the clearest bits of
information that we had after the first six games of
this series was that out of all of the units
in the series, meaning Clipper defense, Clipper offense, Nuggets defense,
Nuggets offense that the Nuggets offense was the best unit
in the series. Starting from the third quarter of Game four,
(04:22):
everything seemed to click for them, and they had scored
pretty much at will from that point forward in the series,
with exception of the third quarter of Game six where
they kind of lost control, right, but they had an
offensive rating over one twenty five in games four and
games five of the series when they took the three
to two lead, and here in Game seven, when they
needed to, they threw one of their best possible offensive
(04:46):
punches and closed the deal. Put up seventy two points
in the second quarter and third quarter, overcoming a first
quarter where Yokichen Murray couldn't make anything some good looks
that neither of them could make in the early portion
of the game. Ended with six players in double figures
before we even got to the end of the third quarter,
and what turned into a complete and total destructive blowout.
(05:09):
Classic Nuggets offensive machine. Advantaged creation from Nikola Jokic and
Jamal Murray, excellent play finishing from Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter,
Christian Brown, Peyton, Watson, Russell, Westbrook again coming in off
the bench and immediately providing scoring punch. It is so
bizarre to see him aggressively looking for three point shots
(05:30):
in them actually being good looks for this Denver offense.
They just threw an excellent offensive punch in that middle
portion of the game. Completely rattled the Clippers foundation and
they were never able to recover. On the other end
of the four the Nuggets brought the requisite competitiveness on
the ball against James Harden, against Kawhi Leonard. They held
(05:53):
the Clippers to just forty points in that second and
third quarter stretch. Then the Clippers just completely let go
of the rope. Tyler called a timeout with ten and
a half minutes left in the third quarter when the
Nuggets were up by fifteen, and coming out of the timeout,
we had this horribly ugly possession where James Harden has
the ball in the right corner and just sits with
the ball in the triple threat until the clock nearly
(06:15):
runs out, and then he dribbles into the teeth of
the defense and misses a floater. Clippers don't get matched
up in transition. Michael Porter, junior, wide open three on
the left wing, goes in they go down. Norman Pal
turns the ball over. They go down the other end.
Aaron Gordon Jamal Murray gets in the paint, easily draws
zoobots and help. That frees up Aaron Gordon to fill
in the gap on the offensive glass. He gets an
easy tap and they go down. Aaron Gordon blocks Norman
(06:37):
Palle at the rim. Really nice defensive play from Aaron
Gordon on that one, because Norman kind of went to
his inside hand and tried to shield it with his
back and Gordon just covered a ton of ground sneaky.
Aaron started to look really good athletically towards the end
of the series, which is encouraging given what we had
heard early in the series about how he was really
struggling to jump. He had a couple of dunks in
(06:57):
this game too, that kind of showed that he still
had that vertical pot. But he blocks Norm and Pal
off the rim. The Clippers leave Michael Porter Junior wide
open again in transition, and just like that went from
fifteen to twenty three and the game was basically over.
That was out of a time out when ty Lu
was trying to help regain control of the situation. The
(07:18):
Clippers completely fell apart easily. The most interesting part of
that stretch was that Kawhi and James Harden, while Yo
Kitchen the Nuggets are running away with the game, neither
Kawhi nor James Harden were able to generate any sort
of consistent offense against Denver in the half court, which
(07:39):
is crazy considering where we were at with both of
these teams coming into the series, and where we were
at with James Harden as a player, where we were
at with Kawhi Leonard. It's time to have a serious
talk about the Clippers moving forward, which we will do
in a few minutes. But congrats to the Denver Nuggets
for advancing to the second round. It looked super bleak
through the first three and a half game. Their offense
(08:00):
had stalled out, They looked super banged up. But again
in that third quarter of Game four, and I vividly
remember at that point in time, the intensity from Nikola
Jokic and just what he was able to do offensively
to get them going in that third quarter just completely
changed the tone and tenor of the series, and the
Nuggets never looked back. I think the Nuggets also recaptured
(08:22):
a good amount of their defensive identity in this series
that we remember from the past, proof of concept in
a lot of ways. I've watched the Nuggets at points
in this regular season, particularly in crunch time, look like
they still had some of that defensive upside. The big
question mark was whether or not they'd be able to
get back to that level, and there are bigger challenges ahead.
This Clippers team is not as good offensively as at
(08:45):
Oklahoma City thunder team, but I thought that this was
a proof of concept that they can at the very
least execute a game plan against a specific, high quality
playoff opponent and get stops when they need to, whereas
down the stretch of the season it was like they
literally could not get any stops of any kind against anybody,
(09:05):
and so I thought that that was an encouraging sign.
They locked a one to thirteen defensive rating in the
first three wins of the series. Obviously the fourth one
hasn't updated yet, but I feel like that's solid against
this team. And then again tonight forty points during the
middle two quarters of the game when they took control.
The offense is in just such a good place. Jamal
Murray in particular looks ready for what they need from him.
(09:28):
He had a layup in transition in the third quarter
run where he palmed it and took off in traffic
and went up and under and finished on the right
side of the basket, and I was like, he just
continues to get the lift and the explosiveness out of
his legs, which is a good sign of what they're
gonna need from him in the second round. We'll talk
about the OKC series in a minute. I want to
(09:49):
spend a little bit of time on the Clippers. I
have a lot of respect for this Nuggets team, especially
for Nicole Yokich, who I think is the greatest offensive
player to ever touch an NBA court, and I do
think they have a solid puncher's chance to beat Oka.
See as we will discuss in a few minutes, But
this Nuggets team is not at the level of OKCE,
(10:09):
Boston and Cleveland in terms of two way talent, and
the Clippers got blown out in a single elimination game
against them. What that means is that you're not close.
I think self awareness is important in the trajectory of
an NBA franchise. You have to be aware of the
fact that you're not close willing to admit it. Specifically,
(10:32):
your stars aren't good enough. I believe in James Harden
as a regular season offensive engine, and I think there's
a lot of value there. His ability to just create
advantages in the low intensity of the regular season will
set your bar so high in terms of like the
types of advantages your role players are getting. You're gonna
(10:52):
get a certain level of offense out of James Harden,
But in the playoffs, time and time again, as it
gets more intense later in this series, he just can't
get his game off. Eleven points in Game five, seven
points in Game seven. This is not This is something
we all knew was part of James Harden in what
his you know, trajectory looked like over the course of seasons.
(11:17):
This is not the new information. This is the latest
bit of solidifying information. Kawhi Leonard is capable of reaching
his peak for a game, but he did not have
any type of sustained success in this series, and it's
the most healthy he's looked in years. So it's time
to acknowledge that Harden and Kwhi are not good enough
(11:39):
anymore to get you where you want to go, which
means it is time to at least start looking towards
the future if you're the Clippers. I like a lot
of things about the Clippers organization. I think tylu is
one of the five best coaches in the NBA. I
think Lawrence Frank knows what he's doing in the front office.
I thought his pivot from Paul George Jones and Chris
(12:00):
Dunn was one of the smarter front office moves I've
seen in the league in the last few years. An
understanding of the diminishing returns of a tertiary star, an
understanding of the value of perimeter athleticism and the ability
to contain the ball in the modern NBA. I think
got a ton of value out of those guys over
the course of this season. Everyone is pretty much under
(12:22):
contract next year, depending on what Harden does with his
player option. I would assume he's gonna take it, but
we'll see. Maybe he ends up reupping on some sort
of discounted deal. But you're super flexible outside of that.
The year after next, a bunch of that money comes
off and you're pretty much wide open. You're starting to
see some of the light at the end of the
tunnel of the damage that was done from the Shae
Yos Alexander trade. You have some draft picks on the horizon,
(12:46):
but it's time to switch the focus of the front
office towards finding the next generation of Clipper perimeter stars.
I think Zoo obviously still has some good basketball left
to bill around, but like it's time to start looking
for who the next guys are that are gonna generate
offense for this team. That means you might have to
be willing to take on draft to pick Leyden offers
(13:09):
for quality role players that you have under contract. You
might have to be willing to take, you know, take
the hit of losing a quality role player like a
Derek Jones, like a Chris Dunn, like a Nick batoom Right.
You might have to be willing to potentially even flip
a star if the right type of offer comes around.
But ultimately you have to start thinking about getting as
(13:32):
many cracks at the draft as possible over the course
of the next couple of years. That also means your
scouting department has to shift gears towards looking for upside
rather than looking for immediate contribution. You're in the market,
you know. I talked about this last night with Detroit
Detroit is in the opposite boat. They don't need to
be drafting upside. They need to be drafting NBA ready
(13:53):
role player talent. The Clippers need to be shifting gears
towards looking entirely for upside. The arena is awesome. I
thought that was a resounding success. You have a bright future,
but it's time to start building towards that future if
you're the Clippers. We're gonna talk a little bit about
the Nuggets versus Oklahoma City. I like the way Denver
(14:14):
matches up in theory starts with the Nuggets being able
to score that unit that Denver has on the strength
of Jokicchen, the play finishing and the secondary shot creation
he has around him. That is a really strong foundation
to compete in a playoff series. They would two and
two versus each other this year, and the Nuggets had
a one to twenty seven offensive rating in their two wins.
(14:37):
They famously hung one hundred and forty points on him
in their last win. The ability to score starts with
Yo Kitchen Murray just being super comfortable in the matchup.
In the last game, Jamal had thirty four points and
looked pretty comfortable against Okac's smaller guards Jo Kitchen. The
two wins averaged twenty nine points, nineteen rebounds, twelve assists,
(15:00):
sixty percent from the field and forty percent from three.
Those two guys are pretty comfortable in this matchup because
their guards can be a little small, and because Nicole
Yoki is comfortable against everybody on the floor. They grabbed
over thirty two percent of their own misses in the
season series. That's a combination of Denver size in Oklahoma
(15:20):
City being a bad defensive rebounding team most of this year.
They're good at passing the ball through Oklahoma City's aggression. Again,
Oklahoma City's defense is built towards, you know, being really
aggressive with ball pressure, playing more in passing lanes and gapping,
trying to force turnovers. A lot of guys jumping passing
lanes and gambling because it leads to their transition opportunities.
(15:41):
You need a high level playmaking talent to be able
to pass the ball through that sort of thing. I
like the way that Denver matches up there in theory
on defense. They didn't guard the thunderwell this year statistically
in wins or losses, but with the level they've been
playing at defensively in this series. In theory, if they
load up on the strong side, if Christian Brown applies
(16:03):
quality ball pressure, they rotate as well as they've been
rotating on the backside, they should at least be able
to challenge Oklahoma City's ability to process make Okahoma City
solve the puzzle that is their strong side loaded defense.
Oklahoma City is the better team and they absolutely should
be favored. But I do think this is a very
(16:23):
interesting matchup, and I think the Nuggets will give them
a run for their money. I am going to begin
a continuing film session. We're going to talk some film
when we head over to playback here in a little bit.
But tomorrow morning, I will have a full series preview
on Nuggets firs OKSE. So come around to our YouTube
channel in the middle of the day tomorrow and you
guys will get to see that series preview between Nuggets
(16:44):
between Denver and Oklahoma City. So we're gonna head over
to playback now and over on playback, we're gonna take
some questions from you guys. We're going to have some
of you guys come up on stage. We're gonna watch
some film. We're gonna hang out for a good forty
five minutes over there, So I'll see you guys here
on playback here in just a couple of minutes. It's
always as sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and
supporting the show on the YouTube front. We will be
(17:07):
back again tomorrow morning for the series preview. Tomorrow night's
gonna be a little tricky on the schedule because we
have Pacers at three Pacific time, we have the Rockets
Warriors Game seven at five point thirty Pacific time. But
I'm actually going with Collin after the game. So we're
gonna go with Colin after the game, and then after
(17:27):
I'm done with Collin, We're gonna go live on YouTube,
and then we're also gonna do playback. So the normal
cadence that we have is just gonna be delayed about
an hour depending on how long we go with Colin,
but delayed about an hour after the final buzzer of
Rockets Warriors. But Hoops tonight will still be going live
tomorrow night, So so you guys here and play back
in in a few minutes for the YouTube crowd. I'll
(17:47):
see you guys tomorrow morning. What's up, guys, As always,
I appreciate you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight.
It would actually be really helpful for us if you
guys would take a second and leave a rating and
a review. As always, I appreciate you supporting us, but
if you could take a minute to do that, I'd
really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
The volume
The volume, blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high
octane world of sports. Vice Sports brings an exciting and
diverse range of programming that goes beyond the game. From
action pack live events to gripping behind the scenes documentaries,
to hard hitting investigative pieces and in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams.
(00:25):
Vice Sports captures the raw energy, drama and passion that
makes sports truly unforgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive
sports programs only on Vice Tv. Go to vicetv dot
com to find your cable channel.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
The NBA eighty two game grind is done. Now the
real fun begins. The NBA Playoffs are here and it's
time for all the high stakes drama, clutch moments, and
jaw dropping plays. I can't wait. If you're looking to
make the playoffs even more exciting, DraftKings Sportsbook has you
covered as an official sports betting partner of the NBA
from the playing games all the way through you to
the finals. Now's the time to back your favorite players
(01:00):
and teams as they chase glory All season long. DraftKings
has been the go to spot for NBA player props,
and that does not stop now, want to make your
playoff experience even more intense, Try placing a bet on
your favorite player's performance. Well they drop thirty points, forty
or more, it's your call. Ready to place your first bet?
Download the DraftKings sports Book Gap. Now lock in your bets.
Let's make this playoff run unforgettable. Here's something special for
(01:22):
first timers. New DraftKings customers. Bet five dollars to get
two hundred dollars in bonus bets. Instantly make it a
playoff run to remember With DraftKings. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook
Gap and use code hoops. That's h oops. That's code
hoops for new customers to get two hundred dollars in
bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings.
(01:43):
The Crown is yours. Gambling problem called Way one hundred
Gambler In New York call eight seven seven eight hope
and why, or text hope and Why to four six
seven three six nine. In Connecticut, help us available for
problem gambling Call eight eight eight seven eight nine seven
seven seven seven or visit CCPG. Do please play responsibly
on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas twenty
(02:05):
one plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario.
New customers only bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty
eight hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources,
see dkang dot co slash audio. All right, welcome to
(02:32):
who Tonight. You're at the volume heavy Saturday everybody, hope
all if you guys are having a great weekend. Well,
the Nuggets sent the Los Angeles Clippers home. We're gonna
be breaking that game down from the perspective of both teams,
focusing on where the Clippers should go from here, as
obviously this is the season where things tended to go
most right for them in terms of health, and yet
(02:53):
here they are getting sent home in the first round
and kind of disappointing fashion. And then we will also
talk a little bit about the pending Nuggets Oklahoma City
Thunder series. You guys know the Joe Before we get started.
To subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't
miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter
at Underscore JSONLTC. You guys don't miss you announcements, So
forget about a podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast
on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you
(03:13):
leave a rating and a review on that front. Jackson's
doing great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,
and Facebook. Make sure you guys follow us there, and
the last but not least, keep dropping mailback questions so
we can get to them in our mailbags throughout the
remainder of the season. We are also going over to
playback after the show tonight, so when we are finished here,
there's a link in the description to this video that
(03:35):
will take you over to playback where you guys can
follow the Hoops Tonight channel. We're gonna go over there,
We're gonna take questions from you guys. I'll have some
of you guys on stage. We also will start to
take a look at some film of the Nuggets Thunder
matchup from the regular season as we start to prep
for that second round series to make sure you guys
get ready to head over to playback right when we
finish up here live on YouTube, so and I'll get
(03:58):
send to Clippers home. One of the clearest bits of
information that we had after the first six games of
this series was that out of all of the units
in the series, meaning Clipper defense, Clipper offense, Nuggets defense,
Nuggets offense that the Nuggets offense was the best unit
in the series. Starting from the third quarter of Game four,
(04:22):
everything seemed to click for them, and they had scored
pretty much at will from that point forward in the series,
with exception of the third quarter of Game six where
they kind of lost control, right, but they had an
offensive rating over one twenty five in games four and
games five of the series when they took the three
to two lead, and here in Game seven, when they
needed to, they threw one of their best possible offensive
(04:46):
punches and closed the deal. Put up seventy two points
in the second quarter and third quarter, overcoming a first
quarter where Yokichen Murray couldn't make anything some good looks
that neither of them could make in the early portion
of the game. Ended with six players in double figures
before we even got to the end of the third quarter,
and what turned into a complete and total destructive blowout.
(05:09):
Classic Nuggets offensive machine. Advantaged creation from Nikola Jokic and
Jamal Murray, excellent play finishing from Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter,
Christian Brown, Peyton, Watson, Russell, Westbrook again coming in off
the bench and immediately providing scoring punch. It is so
bizarre to see him aggressively looking for three point shots
(05:30):
in them actually being good looks for this Denver offense.
They just threw an excellent offensive punch in that middle
portion of the game. Completely rattled the Clippers foundation and
they were never able to recover. On the other end
of the four the Nuggets brought the requisite competitiveness on
the ball against James Harden, against Kawhi Leonard. They held
(05:53):
the Clippers to just forty points in that second and
third quarter stretch. Then the Clippers just completely let go
of the rope. Tyler called a timeout with ten and
a half minutes left in the third quarter when the
Nuggets were up by fifteen, and coming out of the timeout,
we had this horribly ugly possession where James Harden has
the ball in the right corner and just sits with
the ball in the triple threat until the clock nearly
(06:15):
runs out, and then he dribbles into the teeth of
the defense and misses a floater. Clippers don't get matched
up in transition. Michael Porter, junior, wide open three on
the left wing, goes in they go down. Norman Pal
turns the ball over. They go down the other end.
Aaron Gordon Jamal Murray gets in the paint, easily draws
zoobots and help. That frees up Aaron Gordon to fill
in the gap on the offensive glass. He gets an
easy tap and they go down. Aaron Gordon blocks Norman
(06:37):
Palle at the rim. Really nice defensive play from Aaron
Gordon on that one, because Norman kind of went to
his inside hand and tried to shield it with his
back and Gordon just covered a ton of ground sneaky.
Aaron started to look really good athletically towards the end
of the series, which is encouraging given what we had
heard early in the series about how he was really
struggling to jump. He had a couple of dunks in
(06:57):
this game too, that kind of showed that he still
had that vertical pot. But he blocks Norm and Pal
off the rim. The Clippers leave Michael Porter Junior wide
open again in transition, and just like that went from
fifteen to twenty three and the game was basically over.
That was out of a time out when ty Lu
was trying to help regain control of the situation. The
(07:18):
Clippers completely fell apart easily. The most interesting part of
that stretch was that Kawhi and James Harden, while Yo
Kitchen the Nuggets are running away with the game, neither
Kawhi nor James Harden were able to generate any sort
of consistent offense against Denver in the half court, which
(07:39):
is crazy considering where we were at with both of
these teams coming into the series, and where we were
at with James Harden as a player, where we were
at with Kawhi Leonard. It's time to have a serious
talk about the Clippers moving forward, which we will do
in a few minutes. But congrats to the Denver Nuggets
for advancing to the second round. It looked super bleak
through the first three and a half game. Their offense
(08:00):
had stalled out, They looked super banged up. But again
in that third quarter of Game four, and I vividly
remember at that point in time, the intensity from Nikola
Jokic and just what he was able to do offensively
to get them going in that third quarter just completely
changed the tone and tenor of the series, and the
Nuggets never looked back. I think the Nuggets also recaptured
(08:22):
a good amount of their defensive identity in this series
that we remember from the past, proof of concept in
a lot of ways. I've watched the Nuggets at points
in this regular season, particularly in crunch time, look like
they still had some of that defensive upside. The big
question mark was whether or not they'd be able to
get back to that level, and there are bigger challenges ahead.
This Clippers team is not as good offensively as at
(08:45):
Oklahoma City thunder team, but I thought that this was
a proof of concept that they can at the very
least execute a game plan against a specific, high quality
playoff opponent and get stops when they need to, whereas
down the stretch of the season it was like they
literally could not get any stops of any kind against anybody,
(09:05):
and so I thought that that was an encouraging sign.
They locked a one to thirteen defensive rating in the
first three wins of the series. Obviously the fourth one
hasn't updated yet, but I feel like that's solid against
this team. And then again tonight forty points during the
middle two quarters of the game when they took control.
The offense is in just such a good place. Jamal
Murray in particular looks ready for what they need from him.
(09:28):
He had a layup in transition in the third quarter
run where he palmed it and took off in traffic
and went up and under and finished on the right
side of the basket, and I was like, he just
continues to get the lift and the explosiveness out of
his legs, which is a good sign of what they're
gonna need from him in the second round. We'll talk
about the OKC series in a minute. I want to
(09:49):
spend a little bit of time on the Clippers. I
have a lot of respect for this Nuggets team, especially
for Nicole Yokich, who I think is the greatest offensive
player to ever touch an NBA court, and I do
think they have a solid puncher's chance to beat Oka.
See as we will discuss in a few minutes, But
this Nuggets team is not at the level of OKCE,
(10:09):
Boston and Cleveland in terms of two way talent, and
the Clippers got blown out in a single elimination game
against them. What that means is that you're not close.
I think self awareness is important in the trajectory of
an NBA franchise. You have to be aware of the
fact that you're not close willing to admit it. Specifically,
(10:32):
your stars aren't good enough. I believe in James Harden
as a regular season offensive engine, and I think there's
a lot of value there. His ability to just create
advantages in the low intensity of the regular season will
set your bar so high in terms of like the
types of advantages your role players are getting. You're gonna
(10:52):
get a certain level of offense out of James Harden,
But in the playoffs, time and time again, as it
gets more intense later in this series, he just can't
get his game off. Eleven points in Game five, seven
points in Game seven. This is not This is something
we all knew was part of James Harden in what
his you know, trajectory looked like over the course of seasons.
(11:17):
This is not the new information. This is the latest
bit of solidifying information. Kawhi Leonard is capable of reaching
his peak for a game, but he did not have
any type of sustained success in this series, and it's
the most healthy he's looked in years. So it's time
to acknowledge that Harden and Kwhi are not good enough
(11:39):
anymore to get you where you want to go, which
means it is time to at least start looking towards
the future if you're the Clippers. I like a lot
of things about the Clippers organization. I think tylu is
one of the five best coaches in the NBA. I
think Lawrence Frank knows what he's doing in the front office.
I thought his pivot from Paul George Jones and Chris
(12:00):
Dunn was one of the smarter front office moves I've
seen in the league in the last few years. An
understanding of the diminishing returns of a tertiary star, an
understanding of the value of perimeter athleticism and the ability
to contain the ball in the modern NBA. I think
got a ton of value out of those guys over
the course of this season. Everyone is pretty much under
(12:22):
contract next year, depending on what Harden does with his
player option. I would assume he's gonna take it, but
we'll see. Maybe he ends up reupping on some sort
of discounted deal. But you're super flexible outside of that.
The year after next, a bunch of that money comes
off and you're pretty much wide open. You're starting to
see some of the light at the end of the
tunnel of the damage that was done from the Shae
Yos Alexander trade. You have some draft picks on the horizon,
(12:46):
but it's time to switch the focus of the front
office towards finding the next generation of Clipper perimeter stars.
I think Zoo obviously still has some good basketball left
to bill around, but like it's time to start looking
for who the next guys are that are gonna generate
offense for this team. That means you might have to
be willing to take on draft to pick Leyden offers
(13:09):
for quality role players that you have under contract. You
might have to be willing to take, you know, take
the hit of losing a quality role player like a
Derek Jones, like a Chris Dunn, like a Nick batoom Right.
You might have to be willing to potentially even flip
a star if the right type of offer comes around.
But ultimately you have to start thinking about getting as
(13:32):
many cracks at the draft as possible over the course
of the next couple of years. That also means your
scouting department has to shift gears towards looking for upside
rather than looking for immediate contribution. You're in the market,
you know. I talked about this last night with Detroit
Detroit is in the opposite boat. They don't need to
be drafting upside. They need to be drafting NBA ready
(13:53):
role player talent. The Clippers need to be shifting gears
towards looking entirely for upside. The arena is awesome. I
thought that was a resounding success. You have a bright future,
but it's time to start building towards that future if
you're the Clippers. We're gonna talk a little bit about
the Nuggets versus Oklahoma City. I like the way Denver
(14:14):
matches up in theory starts with the Nuggets being able
to score that unit that Denver has on the strength
of Jokicchen, the play finishing and the secondary shot creation
he has around him. That is a really strong foundation
to compete in a playoff series. They would two and
two versus each other this year, and the Nuggets had
a one to twenty seven offensive rating in their two wins.
(14:37):
They famously hung one hundred and forty points on him
in their last win. The ability to score starts with
Yo Kitchen Murray just being super comfortable in the matchup.
In the last game, Jamal had thirty four points and
looked pretty comfortable against Okac's smaller guards Jo Kitchen. The
two wins averaged twenty nine points, nineteen rebounds, twelve assists,
(15:00):
sixty percent from the field and forty percent from three.
Those two guys are pretty comfortable in this matchup because
their guards can be a little small, and because Nicole
Yoki is comfortable against everybody on the floor. They grabbed
over thirty two percent of their own misses in the
season series. That's a combination of Denver size in Oklahoma
(15:20):
City being a bad defensive rebounding team most of this year.
They're good at passing the ball through Oklahoma City's aggression. Again,
Oklahoma City's defense is built towards, you know, being really
aggressive with ball pressure, playing more in passing lanes and gapping,
trying to force turnovers. A lot of guys jumping passing
lanes and gambling because it leads to their transition opportunities.
(15:41):
You need a high level playmaking talent to be able
to pass the ball through that sort of thing. I
like the way that Denver matches up there in theory
on defense. They didn't guard the thunderwell this year statistically
in wins or losses, but with the level they've been
playing at defensively in this series. In theory, if they
load up on the strong side, if Christian Brown applies
(16:03):
quality ball pressure, they rotate as well as they've been
rotating on the backside, they should at least be able
to challenge Oklahoma City's ability to process make Okahoma City
solve the puzzle that is their strong side loaded defense.
Oklahoma City is the better team and they absolutely should
be favored. But I do think this is a very
(16:23):
interesting matchup, and I think the Nuggets will give them
a run for their money. I am going to begin
a continuing film session. We're going to talk some film
when we head over to playback here in a little bit.
But tomorrow morning, I will have a full series preview
on Nuggets firs OKSE. So come around to our YouTube
channel in the middle of the day tomorrow and you
guys will get to see that series preview between Nuggets
(16:44):
between Denver and Oklahoma City. So we're gonna head over
to playback now and over on playback, we're gonna take
some questions from you guys. We're going to have some
of you guys come up on stage. We're gonna watch
some film. We're gonna hang out for a good forty
five minutes over there, So I'll see you guys here
on playback here in just a couple of minutes. It's
always as sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and
supporting the show on the YouTube front. We will be
(17:07):
back again tomorrow morning for the series preview. Tomorrow night's
gonna be a little tricky on the schedule because we
have Pacers at three Pacific time, we have the Rockets
Warriors Game seven at five point thirty Pacific time. But
I'm actually going with Collin after the game. So we're
gonna go with Colin after the game, and then after
(17:27):
I'm done with Collin, We're gonna go live on YouTube,
and then we're also gonna do playback. So the normal
cadence that we have is just gonna be delayed about
an hour depending on how long we go with Colin,
but delayed about an hour after the final buzzer of
Rockets Warriors. But Hoops tonight will still be going live
tomorrow night, So so you guys here and play back
in in a few minutes for the YouTube crowd. I'll
(17:47):
see you guys tomorrow morning. What's up, guys, As always,
I appreciate you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight.
It would actually be really helpful for us if you
guys would take a second and leave a rating and
a review. As always, I appreciate you supporting us, but
if you could take a minute to do that, I'd
really appreciate it.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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