May 21, 2025 • 30 mins
Jason breaks down the film on Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. He discusses the drastically different defensive strategies each team is going with, why it's been easier for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to score than Anthony Edwards, and why Julius Randle needs to trust the kick out passes to his teammates.
#Volume
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
The NBA Finals are almost here and every play could
be the one that changes everything. This is the NBA
Playoffs where heroes rise, legacies are built, and the action
never lets up. And with DraftKings Sports Book and official
sports betting partner of the NBA, you don't just watch
the madness, you live it. Back your favorite team, ride
with your clutch, time killer, bet on the buzzer beaters,
(00:26):
the breakout performances, the game winning threes, from player props
to same game parlays. This is how you take your
fandom to the next level. The New York Knicks, after
beating the Celtics are up to plus three sixty, is
the second best odds to win the title. Surprisingly, the
Pacers back at plus six hundred because my initial thought
(00:46):
on that series is I want to pick the Pacers.
But some interesting championship oods right now. New to the game,
no sweat, Download the DraftKings Sportsbook, gap bet just five
dollars and if your bet wins, you'll score three hundred
dollars in bonus bets. It's that easy. I don't know
the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code hoops. That's code
hoops hoops for new customers to get three hundred dollars
(01:07):
in bonus bets if your bet wins. When you bet
just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.
Gambling problem called 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 y nine.
In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call eight
eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or
(01:28):
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
Boothill Casino and Resort. In Kansas twenty one plus age
in eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bet must
win to receive reward. Bonus bets expire one hundred and
sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible
gaming resources, see DKG dot co. Slash audio.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
All right, welcome to hoops to night. You're at the volume.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Happy Wednesday, everybody hopeful if you guys are having a
great week as promised for getting into game one of
the Western Conference Finals. In some film today, I'm gonna
be zooming in on the second half in the run
that Oklahoma City went on. There within that second half run,
we saw Oklahoma City Stars, specifically Shaye and Jay Dubbs,
start to win their one on one matchups. And what
(02:24):
made this particularly interesting to me was seeing the dramatic
difference in the way the two teams are defending each other.
Because it's not as simple as Shaye and Jay dubb
winning their one on one matchups versus Anthony Edwards and
Julius Randall winning their one on one matchups. These two
teams are defending each other very differently. We talked about
(02:46):
this a lot in last night's show. It is not
a coincidence that Minnesota attempted so many more three point
shots than Oklahoma City. That wasn't a process thing from
the standpoint of the offense hunting those types of shots.
It was a matter of the way they were being defended.
You guys are gonna see a bunch of examples right
off the front here of how one on one actions
(03:09):
for Oklahoma City are getting defended one on one, two
on two actions for Oklahoma City are getting defended two
on two. In that situation, the kickout reads aren't there,
but there are more opportunities in and around the paint
right similar in an opposite manner on the opposite end
of the floor.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
All the one on ones.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
With Ant and Julius, they're getting defended two on one,
sometimes three on one. All of the ball screens they're
getting defended three on two, sometimes four on two. And
so in a way, the way that the series will
go down, it's gonna come down to these guys doing
their respective jobs against those respective defensive schemes. Meaning, like
(03:51):
we saw in the second half of this game, Shaye
and j Dub have to win their one on one matchups.
These guys are gonna have to get into the and
they're gonna have to finish through a little bit of
contact against that defender that's been guarding them the whole possession,
or in this case, pick and roll finding the openings
for the two on two sequences with Isaiah Hartenstein, whoever
it is that's in the action, Kendridge, Williams, so on
(04:14):
and so forth right, that's gonna be their specific job
for Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
On the opposite end of the floor.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
As crazy as it sounds, they just got to keep
trusting that those guys are going to knock down those
threes on those kickouts. You're gonna see so many examples
in this footage when Julius and Aunt threaten the paint
at all, there are three four something like Shay's just
straight up ignoring his man and sitting in the paint.
Hartenstein sitting in the paint. They are packing the paint
(04:42):
and daring Minnesota to make kickout threes. And so there
are some refinements on both ends, right, Like, I don't
think Shay's gonna keep getting the whistle that he got
in game one, so his approach is going to have
to gear more towards shot making than it is towards
drifting as the series progresses, Right, there are realities for
(05:03):
both of them as it pertains to being efficient enough
on those drives to win that battle. In the large sample,
on the opposite end of the floor, there are complications Julius.
There are some kickouts that he threw in that second
half run or the pass was a little bit off target.
Because it was off target, it made for an easier rotation.
Because of the easier rotation, tougher shot. You know, guys
(05:25):
like Nazaret or Mike Conley were missing threes that were
more contested than they needed to be. So there are
some things about like deliberately getting the ball into the paint,
drawing the defense in and getting the pass out on
time and on target to the right read so that
you can make those so that you can capitalize on
those opportunities. Anthony Edwards, there were several sequences where he
(05:49):
either didn't attack enough to bring the appropriate attention or
just early in the clock settling for shots that prevented
him from generating those open catch and shoots. And so again,
the job for both stars on both teams is going
to be very different over the course of this series.
And I want to spend today's film session again it's
going to be a way to explain Oklahoma City's run,
(06:10):
but I also want to use today as just an
example of what we're going to be looking for heading
forward in the series for both of these teams to
reach the success that they're trying to reach.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
You guys, are the trip.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Before we get started. Suscribe to Hoops to Night YouTube channels.
You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me
on Twitter at underscore json lt so you guys don't
miss show announcements. I'm forget about our podcast feed, where
we get your podcast on our Hoops tonight. It's also
super helpful if we leave a rating in a review.
On that front, Jackson's doing great work on our social
media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Make sure
you guys follow us there and the last but not
at least keep getting the mailback questions into the chat
(06:41):
so that we can get to them in our live
shows after these games. All right, let's talk some basketball.
So right away from the start of this film session,
here in the early third quarter, I want you guys
to see just the difference in the way these teams
are guarding each other. So we're gonna head down to
the other end of the floor. Minnesota is gonna get
(07:05):
a driving kick from Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Here.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Watch what happens when Ant gets into the paint. So Ant,
this is just a simple transition cross match. Isaiah Hartenstein
has no choice but to pick up Ant. Ant makes
a dribble drive move. Watch the way Oklahoma City reacts
in the paint. So again, as you can see, by
the time Ant gets into the paint, lou Dort has
now completely ignored his man. He's in the paint. Shay's
(07:30):
completely ignored his man. He's in the paint. Chet has
completely ignored Jada McDaniels. He's in the paint. Jadubb has
his back turn to Mike Conley. All five Thunder players
are geared towards Anthony Edwards. And so what does Aunt do.
He makes a quality kickout pass to Jada McDaniels, hits
him right in the shooting pocket, really clean catch and shoot. Look,
this is the kind of read that Ant is gonna
(07:52):
have to make over and over and over again.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
This is if Aunt tries to solve his.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Problems by flying through these five by and trying to finish,
it's gonna do. Only all it's gonna do is make
things harder for them on the offensive end of the floor.
These are the kinds of reads they're gonna have to
keep making. Now we're gonna head over to the other
end of the floor. And this is actually an example
of an overhelp from Julius Randall. But I want you
guys to watch the way Rudy Gobert reacts. So we
(08:20):
fast forward. Shae ends up driving out of a ball
screen that turns into a switch and peels off, And
now it's Rudy Gobert against h Shay Gilds Alexander. But
watch Julius help off of Jadub and because of that help,
look at all the other guys. The other guys are
accounting for their man kick out. You can literally see
(08:41):
Rudy Gobert say like, stay out, what are you doing?
I got this, I got it under control. We want
to defend one on one. You're gonna see some more
examples here. Watch the reaction.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
We're going down to the other end again on this one.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
So one of the things you'll see here because I
have a couple other examples in the film. Mike Conley
is seeing a very deep drop coverage and so he's
able to get some clean looks at pull up threes
and floaters and stuff like that. He's gonna have to
be aggressive and look to score because Hertenstein is really
daring him to look to score. Similarly, here we go
another JDub drive. Watch how little reaction there is from
(09:20):
the other four wolves on this drive. There's literally no
reaction from the other four wolves as JDub looks to drive.
It is very much more of a one on one.
We're gonna trust our guy on an island to do
his job style of defense. This is an example of
(09:43):
Isaiah Hartenstein with excellent pick and roll defense. Watch how
he gets up to the level and gets it to
get rid of the ball, but still recovers back to Gobart,
which causes Gobert to pick up his dribble early because
he's facing pressure from the side that puts him in
a really tough spot where the two on one read
is over here.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
This is his short role read.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
He's got to find out which one of these guys
is open, but he picks up his dribble early, finds
himself trapped by two centers and just pitches it right
to shake Gilsis Alexander. But again like this is Isaiah
Hartenstein getting up and getting ant to stop, but also
recovering back to the ball.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Aunt has to push this just a step further.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
He needs to attack a little bit more or drag
this off further to the left to get Isaiah Hartenstein
further out so that when Rudy catches, he's got more
space in here to make a better cleaner read.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
We're gonna see a few.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Examples here of Chet looking to be aggressive against some
inattentiveness from Julius Randall. The first one here Julius Randall's
kind of just floating along the baseline. SHA's driving. Once again,
look at the lack of reaction from any other Wolf
on on this shade. Drive like Shay's like got Jaden
compromise in. None of the other Wolves care. This is
(11:03):
a one on one basketball team. You do your job.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
We're gonna stay home. But Julius, Look at Julius.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Julius is just kind of standing and Chet starts to
sneak along the baseline and gets himself a little post
catch here on the left block. Hits him with just
a little simple left shoulder hook. Nice work from Chet.
Here's another one of those deep drop looks that Conley faces,
one of only two shots he made in the game.
(11:31):
That's a look that he's gonna be able to get
against this defense. Once again, Julius being inattentive on Chet.
See look, he's just not paying attention sinking in simple
swing pass from Jdeb to Chet just looks to drive
immediately and gets into the lane. Jaden has no choice
(11:51):
but to pick him up. I didn't really see a
foul here. It looked kind of like Cheches fell over,
but there were a few of those in the second
half of this game, corner kick from an so Ann
had just hit a pull up three on the last possession.
Shae comes down, tries to match it, misses. We go
down to the other end. Watch the way Oklahoma City
(12:12):
reacts to this ant drive ball screen gets him in jail.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Once again.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Look at the way, Look at the way all of
these OKC defenders like Shaye, just like straight up comes
over in double teams temporarily and works against jad up again.
Look at Shae again, double teaming. Look at the bodies
in the pain. This is not going to be a
high scoring series for Anthony Edwards. This is not going
(12:37):
to be a Julius Randall got You want to know
how Julius Randall hit.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
A high point total.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
They gave him a bunch of open catch and shoot
threes in the first half. They took the catch and
shoot threes away in the second half. All of a sudden,
Julius Randall wasn't scoring. This isn't going to be an
open scoring type of series for either of these guys.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
On the ball.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Their scoring opportunities will come out of the rotation sequence
is after they get rid of the ball and gets
in the lane, draws three more bodies on help, kicks
it out to Mike Conley just misses this one. He
actually knocks down, but again you can see you can
see how this process is gonna work for Minnesota. It's
gonna be getting into the lane, drawing the bodies and
(13:20):
making those kickouts. Now, from this point in the game,
Oklahoma City's up fifty three to fifty. From this point
in the game, you guys will see an obvious kind
of shift in the way that both teams are accomplishing
their goals. Shay and Jay Dub are gonna start winning
their one on ones like consistently down the floor and
(13:41):
on the other end of the floor, You're gonna see
Aunts start to settle for some bad ones. You're gonna
see Julius start to make some poor kickout passes. You're
gonna see missed kickout threes. That's where things are going
to go off the rails. The two different jobs, very
different jobs for the Stars start to tilt in the
opposite direction from where they were to start this game.
(14:02):
Shae gets an and one here watch the lack of
help side reaction.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Again.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Shay's just Shae gets all the way down to his
right foot at the bottom of the of the semi circle,
and there's very little reaction from any timberwolve off the ball.
Shay's able to get a clean step back. Another that
was another I mean, I don't know where the foul is,
(14:32):
but Sha gets Shae was getting rewarded for a lot
of that kind of stuff last night. But you can
see the one on one stuff very different on this
end of the floor. Here's a cornerkick from Julius. Watch
the difference in the way he's being guarded post Shay's
(14:54):
in a strong side zone, completely ignoring his man, so
that makes it so that Julius can't hit towards the
baseline side.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
He's got to go middle.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Hartenstein is right underneath the rim, and even Isaiah Joe
is a foot in the paint off of Nikhil Alexander Walker.
Just very different in the way that they're defending these actions.
Here's the kick that's the job on this end of
the floor. Minnesota's got to make these kickouts every single time.
That is their pathway to victory. One detail though, look
(15:27):
at how that pass is just high and outside, which
kind of makes it for a funky release because now
he's got a no dip it and he's got pushed
from a normal corner three to a behind the backboard
corner three in the deep, deep corner. So Julius has
to be really deliberate about getting this pass right in
(15:49):
the shooting pocket so that Mike Conley can take a
clean normal catch and shoot instead of a rushed no
dip corner shoot in the deep, deep corner behind the backboard.
This is another one go down to the other end
of the flour JDub straight iso against Nikkeile Alexander Walker
(16:12):
against See Notice how Conley is not digging down, He's
getting back. That's the difference in their scheme. Notice Aunt,
what was Shae doing on the other end in this
exact same sequence. Shae was leaving this guy and stepping
up into the lane. Ant is staying put. It's a
(16:32):
one on one game for Oklahoma City. Same thing here
against Julius Randall. See like Nikkeil Alexander Walker's face guarding
Shaye off the ball, Ants staying home in the strong
side corner.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
It's a one on one game.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Nice shot though from jdeb See how Shane and Jadab
are starting to win those matchups like consistently every time
down the floor. That's literally when the game started to
tilt in their favor.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Here's an example of one of.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Those shots from Dante Devensna that I just really didn't like,
twenty one seconds on the shot clock, like a twenty
eight footer off the dribble, and it's just that's not
the shot you're going.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
To regain your rhythm with.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Alright, this time Shay one on one against the Keile
Alexander Walker. We did get a late keeloff double team
from Dante here, very rare, but once again Shay starting
to win that matchup. I thought this was an example
(17:37):
of Julius Randall forcing the issue against a triple team,
when I think this is the one we just saw
something ahead. This is Julius Randall forcing against a triple
team when there were corner kicks that were available. So again,
like losing discipline, losing control of the situation, crowds into it.
You need to get a good shot. Like in this situation,
(17:57):
you've driven, we have a pinon flair from Nikkeiel Alexander Walker.
You've got a nas read right here in the strong
side corner. If Keson Wallace is going to put a
foot in the paint off the strong side corner off
of naz Reid. You have to make that pass every
single time. This is not doing your job against the
(18:18):
defensive scheme that you are facing. You can see the difference. Okay,
see one on one. They're winning those battles all the
one on threes, one on twos. These are the situations
where Minnesota has to make Oklahoma City pay for this
style of defense. Instead, you settle for a tough, contested
mid range jump shot over a triple team. Shake gets
(18:45):
all the way to the rim.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Here.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
You'll see help at the rim, but look at how
late the help is because Minnesota doesn't want to help here.
Shake gets all the way downhill. The guys come over late,
right at the end after Shay has already split it.
I really like Shaye, by the way, working one on
one against Julius and Nas in this matchup. These are
matchups I think he should be hunting more. He can
get downhill against those guys or find openings just in
(19:10):
basic screening action as they don't want to give up
that switch. But all three Wolves have to leave there
try to block this shot, or I should say those
two in help. As a result, Shay actually is able
to get up and beat them back to the ball
and get an offensive rebound. Shay's really starting to win
that battle at the point of attack. Now here's one
(19:34):
of those post ups transition cross match Nazeri against Jay Dove,
straight post up. Ja Doub wins the battle, but just
being physically aggressive. Baseline double See like, look, there's the
baseline double team.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
These are not one on ones. These are one on twos.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
You gotta stop thinking score and you gotta start thinking
pass out of these post ups. You're playing right into
o Casey's hands by trying to bully Rue and trying
to score through these double teams. This was a really
weird sequence. Another bad Julius Randall defense sequence. Julius Randall's
(20:12):
on the ball, He's on JDub. Jdubb drives. JDub kicks.
Everyone's matched up. Dante's on Casson, Nazarite is on Isaiah,
Joe ants on, Kendrich Williams, Nikkeile, Alexander Walker is on Shay.
Watch who quits playing. Jadub drives, Julius is on him
(20:33):
kick Watch jadab JDub relocates to the top of the
key and Julius decides to just point someone else go
get him. Well, no one's there, Julius, He's wide open.
Now Nikkeile Alexander Walker has to close out JDub ball
fake gets into the lane. Really nice acrobatic finish in
(20:55):
traffic cornerkick from Julius. But once again, I want you
guys to watch it. Watch the location of the pass.
Middle of the floor. There's our double team. Relocate, relocate
(21:20):
double team from j dub Okay, there's our kick. If
this pass hits nas right in the shooting pocket, it's
a comfortable catch and shoot. Instead, the pass is low
and because of the low pass, look at where Nasried
has to catch it all the way down by his toes,
which disrupts the rhythm and slows it down just enough
(21:43):
so that case On Wallace can get a good contest
on that shot. Those are those little details like and
here's the thing, guys, there's a version of this game
where that conleague corner three goes in. There's a version
of this game where that nas Re corner three goes in.
But you increase your change, like I talked about, variances
far down the list for me below processed defense things
along those lines. Put the ball in the shooting pocket.
(22:06):
You give him a better chance to knock that shot down.
Once again, look at how it looks like a one
on one and Nasri doesn't even remotely consider helping until
Nikkiel's dead to rights. He's like, Okay, oh shit, Nikkiel's
dead to rights. I gotta get over there. And this
(22:26):
is a hell of a defensive play. But it's just
to me, it was jarring watching the film this morning
when you really got, when you really look at it,
just how different these two teams regarding each other, and
gets a little one on one here at the top
of the key, doesn't get into the pain enough to
draw a double team, but you can see the bodies
(22:49):
all behind him, goes into a little step back once again,
look at Shae Shae. As as soon as Nikhil Alexander
Walker cuts through, Shae's like, I'm done with him. I'm
no longer worried about Nikhil Alexander Walker. I'm officially just
in a soft zone double team of ANT, right, So
(23:09):
ANT in this case needs to just wait for Nikil
to relocate, continue to probe in this area and make
the kickout pass instead, he settles for a little pull
up mid range jump shot, and I like the mid
ranges when you get down to fifteen feet. Once you
get out to twenty feet, it doesn't really make a
ton of sense to me here on this possession, Ant
(23:37):
finally gets some downhill penetration against j dub And in
the transition crossmatch. By the way, this is a small
group for Oka. See there's no center on the floor.
Rudy's kind of got an inside seal on Shay that
prevents him from being able to protect the rim. Ant's
able to get through into the lane, beats a dig.
By the way, there's a dig from Isaiah Joe and
actually gets on the way the rim on this one.
There's going to be opportunistic things like that, especially in
(23:59):
semi transition situations like that where there's cross matches. But
again it's gonna be few and far between. It's gonna
be a passing series for Ant and Julius. I thought
this was a big time late shot clock kind of
rescue sequence from Kenrich Williams. Dante gets cleanly beat. This
hasn't happened often, but when he gets cleanly beat, that
(24:21):
forces a help That help puts the defense in rotation.
Go Bear's gonna slide over, Nasri's gonna slide over. Dante's
gonna end up back on ken Rich. Now there's six
seconds on the shot clock, and the best you can
get here is this guy's just got to create a
bucket against the closeout. Kenrich just boom, pull back, triable bucket.
(24:47):
Here's a quality corner kick from Anthony Edwards to Nikhil
Alexander Walker. Once again, I want you guys to pay
attention to just the difference in the way he's being guarded.
Ken Rich, full on double team, Crusoe, foot in the paint.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Gets him in jail.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Crusoe bails on Nikkeile Alexander Walker entirely, he's in the paint.
Shae Yildes Alexander bails on Dante entirely, he's in the paint.
Look at this, guys, there's there is no aunt just
forcing it through all this shit. That's not that's not
gonna be the pathway here. Corner kick the Dante's open
corner kicked to Nikila is open. He makes the corner kick, boom,
(25:28):
pump fake. That's a that's that's a you're not gonna
like You're not gonna get a better shot forcing through
the quadruple team than a Nikile Alexander Walker catching shoot
three on the corner when he's been in the forties
all year long. On this kind of shot, he just
just missed it, just left it short. Here's that picking
(25:50):
pop from kenridg Williams. Once again. The hesitancy to not
that they don't want to switch knas onto Shay so
to end up on the ball. Ken Rich just hops
easy picking pop three knockdown, big shift from Kendrick Williams.
In the second half yesterday, naz Reid's gonna force a
post up here once again. Watch the corner kick reads
(26:12):
that he doesn't make. I think he tries to force
it through Chet. Yeah, a little screening action. Tries to
go through Chet. There's a man down. Nikaile Alexander Walker
is completely unguarded in the right corner. This pass has
to be made, and instead he tries to force it
through the rim protector turnover. Shay one on one against
(26:34):
Nikhel just beats him. We get another peel off, double
little late peel off from Dante. Dante did twice right
when Shaye was going up for his shot. Was able
to come over and get a contest. And by the way,
that's one of the things. One of the things you'll notice,
(26:54):
okay Se won a bunch of one on ones in
a row. Now, what's starting to happen now that Okayse's
winning those one on one We've seen back to back
situations where Shay went to a pull up and Dante
did a late peel off double. You, Okasee, by winning
their ones, can turn that into opportunity to generate quality
(27:14):
catch and shoots as Minnesota starts to overreact to that
one on one success. Similarly, Minnesota go down to the
other end, beat them, beat them, beat them with those
kickout passes, hit a bunch of corner threes. Do it
again and again and again, and you might see those
guys start to stay home just kind of inherently because
(27:35):
of their basketball instincts, which will create some more opportunities
in the paint. Or you might get an audible from
our Daginal or he basically goes, it's time to stay
home and make these guys scorers. But you've got to
beat the base scheme. Oka see beat the base scheme
enough times that Minnesota is starting to crack a little bit.
(27:57):
On the other end of the floor, Minnesota is not
beating Okay sees base scheme because they're not hitting those
corner threes or not hitting those kickout passes often enough.
Now down eleven, and this is just losing control of
the situation. Tough tough pull up three early in the
clock down On the other end, as much as I
(28:20):
hate this call, Shae once again just rejects the ball
screen against Ant. Also, I don't think I don't think
go Bear needs to be up this high, especially when
you're trying tobaate Shane into taking jumpers instead of driving
go Beart's got to be further back.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
But uh it, it gets beat.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Hate the call, but still a bucket from Shae winning
his one on one matchup. So I think there's a
pretty clear trend that you guys can see from the film.
Oklahoma City's packing the paint leaving shooters open, Minnesota is not.
And whichever team can beat that scheme more effectively over
the course of this series is gonna win and force adjustments,
(28:57):
force that second layer of of whatever defensive idea Mike
Mark Dagenel has or Chris Finch has, and in game one,
Minnesota in the second half was unable to crack that
scheme and Oklahoma City was and that was the difference
in the game.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
And it's in Game two.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
It's gonna be on Minnesota because Okay, se he's not
gonna bail on that scheme.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
It just worked.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
They held them to forty points in the second half.
The only way they're gonna play them out of that
scheme is by relentlessly making those reads and knocking down
those shots. That's the pathway in Game two, Minnesota can
win this series. I think they have the advantages they need,
but I just didn't think they were nearly good enough in.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
That second half.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
All right, guys, That's all I have for this morning
is always a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me
and supporting the show. We will be back tonight live
on YouTube after the final buzzer of Nick Pacers, and
then when we are done on YouTube Tube, we'll be
heading over to playback dot tv slash Hoops tonight for
after show where we'll be taking taking callers and just
hanging out watching film things along those lines. Again, as always,
(29:56):
I appreciate you guys for supporting us. We'll see you
next time. What some guys always, I appreciate you for
listening to and supporting hoops tonight. It would actually be
really helpful for us if you guys would take a
second and leave a rating and a review.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
As always, I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Supporting us, but if you could take a minute to
do that, I'd really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
The volume
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
The NBA Finals are almost here and every play could
be the one that changes everything. This is the NBA
Playoffs where heroes rise, legacies are built, and the action
never lets up. And with DraftKings Sports Book and official
sports betting partner of the NBA, you don't just watch
the madness, you live it. Back your favorite team, ride
with your clutch, time killer, bet on the buzzer beaters,
(00:26):
the breakout performances, the game winning threes, from player props
to same game parlays. This is how you take your
fandom to the next level. The New York Knicks, after
beating the Celtics are up to plus three sixty, is
the second best odds to win the title. Surprisingly, the
Pacers back at plus six hundred because my initial thought
(00:46):
on that series is I want to pick the Pacers.
But some interesting championship oods right now. New to the game,
no sweat, Download the DraftKings Sportsbook, gap bet just five
dollars and if your bet wins, you'll score three hundred
dollars in bonus bets. It's that easy. I don't know
the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code hoops. That's code
hoops hoops for new customers to get three hundred dollars
(01:07):
in bonus bets if your bet wins. When you bet
just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.
Gambling problem called 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 y nine.
In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call eight
eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or
(01:28):
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
Boothill Casino and Resort. In Kansas twenty one plus age
in eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bet must
win to receive reward. Bonus bets expire one hundred and
sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible
gaming resources, see DKG dot co. Slash audio.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
All right, welcome to hoops to night. You're at the volume.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Happy Wednesday, everybody hopeful if you guys are having a
great week as promised for getting into game one of
the Western Conference Finals. In some film today, I'm gonna
be zooming in on the second half in the run
that Oklahoma City went on. There within that second half run,
we saw Oklahoma City Stars, specifically Shaye and Jay Dubbs,
start to win their one on one matchups. And what
(02:24):
made this particularly interesting to me was seeing the dramatic
difference in the way the two teams are defending each other.
Because it's not as simple as Shaye and Jay dubb
winning their one on one matchups versus Anthony Edwards and
Julius Randall winning their one on one matchups. These two
teams are defending each other very differently. We talked about
(02:46):
this a lot in last night's show. It is not
a coincidence that Minnesota attempted so many more three point
shots than Oklahoma City. That wasn't a process thing from
the standpoint of the offense hunting those types of shots.
It was a matter of the way they were being defended.
You guys are gonna see a bunch of examples right
off the front here of how one on one actions
(03:09):
for Oklahoma City are getting defended one on one, two
on two actions for Oklahoma City are getting defended two
on two. In that situation, the kickout reads aren't there,
but there are more opportunities in and around the paint
right similar in an opposite manner on the opposite end
of the floor.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
All the one on ones.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
With Ant and Julius, they're getting defended two on one,
sometimes three on one. All of the ball screens they're
getting defended three on two, sometimes four on two. And
so in a way, the way that the series will
go down, it's gonna come down to these guys doing
their respective jobs against those respective defensive schemes. Meaning, like
(03:51):
we saw in the second half of this game, Shaye
and j Dub have to win their one on one matchups.
These guys are gonna have to get into the and
they're gonna have to finish through a little bit of
contact against that defender that's been guarding them the whole possession,
or in this case, pick and roll finding the openings
for the two on two sequences with Isaiah Hartenstein, whoever
it is that's in the action, Kendridge, Williams, so on
(04:14):
and so forth right, that's gonna be their specific job
for Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
On the opposite end of the floor.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
As crazy as it sounds, they just got to keep
trusting that those guys are going to knock down those
threes on those kickouts. You're gonna see so many examples
in this footage when Julius and Aunt threaten the paint
at all, there are three four something like Shay's just
straight up ignoring his man and sitting in the paint.
Hartenstein sitting in the paint. They are packing the paint
(04:42):
and daring Minnesota to make kickout threes. And so there
are some refinements on both ends, right, Like, I don't
think Shay's gonna keep getting the whistle that he got
in game one, so his approach is going to have
to gear more towards shot making than it is towards
drifting as the series progresses, Right, there are realities for
(05:03):
both of them as it pertains to being efficient enough
on those drives to win that battle. In the large sample,
on the opposite end of the floor, there are complications Julius.
There are some kickouts that he threw in that second
half run or the pass was a little bit off target.
Because it was off target, it made for an easier rotation.
Because of the easier rotation, tougher shot. You know, guys
(05:25):
like Nazaret or Mike Conley were missing threes that were
more contested than they needed to be. So there are
some things about like deliberately getting the ball into the paint,
drawing the defense in and getting the pass out on
time and on target to the right read so that
you can make those so that you can capitalize on
those opportunities. Anthony Edwards, there were several sequences where he
(05:49):
either didn't attack enough to bring the appropriate attention or
just early in the clock settling for shots that prevented
him from generating those open catch and shoots. And so again,
the job for both stars on both teams is going
to be very different over the course of this series.
And I want to spend today's film session again it's
going to be a way to explain Oklahoma City's run,
(06:10):
but I also want to use today as just an
example of what we're going to be looking for heading
forward in the series for both of these teams to
reach the success that they're trying to reach.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
You guys, are the trip.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Before we get started. Suscribe to Hoops to Night YouTube channels.
You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me
on Twitter at underscore json lt so you guys don't
miss show announcements. I'm forget about our podcast feed, where
we get your podcast on our Hoops tonight. It's also
super helpful if we leave a rating in a review.
On that front, Jackson's doing great work on our social
media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Make sure
you guys follow us there and the last but not
at least keep getting the mailback questions into the chat
(06:41):
so that we can get to them in our live
shows after these games. All right, let's talk some basketball.
So right away from the start of this film session,
here in the early third quarter, I want you guys
to see just the difference in the way these teams
are guarding each other. So we're gonna head down to
the other end of the floor. Minnesota is gonna get
(07:05):
a driving kick from Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Here.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Watch what happens when Ant gets into the paint. So Ant,
this is just a simple transition cross match. Isaiah Hartenstein
has no choice but to pick up Ant. Ant makes
a dribble drive move. Watch the way Oklahoma City reacts
in the paint. So again, as you can see, by
the time Ant gets into the paint, lou Dort has
now completely ignored his man. He's in the paint. Shay's
(07:30):
completely ignored his man. He's in the paint. Chet has
completely ignored Jada McDaniels. He's in the paint. Jadubb has
his back turn to Mike Conley. All five Thunder players
are geared towards Anthony Edwards. And so what does Aunt do.
He makes a quality kickout pass to Jada McDaniels, hits
him right in the shooting pocket, really clean catch and shoot. Look,
this is the kind of read that Ant is gonna
(07:52):
have to make over and over and over again.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
This is if Aunt tries to solve his.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Problems by flying through these five by and trying to finish,
it's gonna do. Only all it's gonna do is make
things harder for them on the offensive end of the floor.
These are the kinds of reads they're gonna have to
keep making. Now we're gonna head over to the other
end of the floor. And this is actually an example
of an overhelp from Julius Randall. But I want you
guys to watch the way Rudy Gobert reacts. So we
(08:20):
fast forward. Shae ends up driving out of a ball
screen that turns into a switch and peels off, And
now it's Rudy Gobert against h Shay Gilds Alexander. But
watch Julius help off of Jadub and because of that help,
look at all the other guys. The other guys are
accounting for their man kick out. You can literally see
(08:41):
Rudy Gobert say like, stay out, what are you doing?
I got this, I got it under control. We want
to defend one on one. You're gonna see some more
examples here. Watch the reaction.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
We're going down to the other end again on this one.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
So one of the things you'll see here because I
have a couple other examples in the film. Mike Conley
is seeing a very deep drop coverage and so he's
able to get some clean looks at pull up threes
and floaters and stuff like that. He's gonna have to
be aggressive and look to score because Hertenstein is really
daring him to look to score. Similarly, here we go
another JDub drive. Watch how little reaction there is from
(09:20):
the other four wolves on this drive. There's literally no
reaction from the other four wolves as JDub looks to drive.
It is very much more of a one on one.
We're gonna trust our guy on an island to do
his job style of defense. This is an example of
(09:43):
Isaiah Hartenstein with excellent pick and roll defense. Watch how
he gets up to the level and gets it to
get rid of the ball, but still recovers back to Gobart,
which causes Gobert to pick up his dribble early because
he's facing pressure from the side that puts him in
a really tough spot where the two on one read
is over here.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
This is his short role read.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
He's got to find out which one of these guys
is open, but he picks up his dribble early, finds
himself trapped by two centers and just pitches it right
to shake Gilsis Alexander. But again like this is Isaiah
Hartenstein getting up and getting ant to stop, but also
recovering back to the ball.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Aunt has to push this just a step further.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
He needs to attack a little bit more or drag
this off further to the left to get Isaiah Hartenstein
further out so that when Rudy catches, he's got more
space in here to make a better cleaner read.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
We're gonna see a few.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Examples here of Chet looking to be aggressive against some
inattentiveness from Julius Randall. The first one here Julius Randall's
kind of just floating along the baseline. SHA's driving. Once again,
look at the lack of reaction from any other Wolf
on on this shade. Drive like Shay's like got Jaden
compromise in. None of the other Wolves care. This is
(11:03):
a one on one basketball team. You do your job.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
We're gonna stay home. But Julius, Look at Julius.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Julius is just kind of standing and Chet starts to
sneak along the baseline and gets himself a little post
catch here on the left block. Hits him with just
a little simple left shoulder hook. Nice work from Chet.
Here's another one of those deep drop looks that Conley faces,
one of only two shots he made in the game.
(11:31):
That's a look that he's gonna be able to get
against this defense. Once again, Julius being inattentive on Chet.
See look, he's just not paying attention sinking in simple
swing pass from Jdeb to Chet just looks to drive
immediately and gets into the lane. Jaden has no choice
(11:51):
but to pick him up. I didn't really see a
foul here. It looked kind of like Cheches fell over,
but there were a few of those in the second
half of this game, corner kick from an so Ann
had just hit a pull up three on the last possession.
Shae comes down, tries to match it, misses. We go
down to the other end. Watch the way Oklahoma City
(12:12):
reacts to this ant drive ball screen gets him in jail.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Once again.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Look at the way, Look at the way all of
these OKC defenders like Shaye, just like straight up comes
over in double teams temporarily and works against jad up again.
Look at Shae again, double teaming. Look at the bodies
in the pain. This is not going to be a
high scoring series for Anthony Edwards. This is not going
(12:37):
to be a Julius Randall got You want to know
how Julius Randall hit.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
A high point total.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
They gave him a bunch of open catch and shoot
threes in the first half. They took the catch and
shoot threes away in the second half. All of a sudden,
Julius Randall wasn't scoring. This isn't going to be an
open scoring type of series for either of these guys.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
On the ball.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Their scoring opportunities will come out of the rotation sequence
is after they get rid of the ball and gets
in the lane, draws three more bodies on help, kicks
it out to Mike Conley just misses this one. He
actually knocks down, but again you can see you can
see how this process is gonna work for Minnesota. It's
gonna be getting into the lane, drawing the bodies and
(13:20):
making those kickouts. Now, from this point in the game,
Oklahoma City's up fifty three to fifty. From this point
in the game, you guys will see an obvious kind
of shift in the way that both teams are accomplishing
their goals. Shay and Jay Dub are gonna start winning
their one on ones like consistently down the floor and
(13:41):
on the other end of the floor, You're gonna see
Aunts start to settle for some bad ones. You're gonna
see Julius start to make some poor kickout passes. You're
gonna see missed kickout threes. That's where things are going
to go off the rails. The two different jobs, very
different jobs for the Stars start to tilt in the
opposite direction from where they were to start this game.
(14:02):
Shae gets an and one here watch the lack of
help side reaction.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Again.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Shay's just Shae gets all the way down to his
right foot at the bottom of the of the semi circle,
and there's very little reaction from any timberwolve off the ball.
Shay's able to get a clean step back. Another that
was another I mean, I don't know where the foul is,
(14:32):
but Sha gets Shae was getting rewarded for a lot
of that kind of stuff last night. But you can
see the one on one stuff very different on this
end of the floor. Here's a cornerkick from Julius. Watch
the difference in the way he's being guarded post Shay's
(14:54):
in a strong side zone, completely ignoring his man, so
that makes it so that Julius can't hit towards the
baseline side.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
He's got to go middle.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Hartenstein is right underneath the rim, and even Isaiah Joe
is a foot in the paint off of Nikhil Alexander Walker.
Just very different in the way that they're defending these actions.
Here's the kick that's the job on this end of
the floor. Minnesota's got to make these kickouts every single time.
That is their pathway to victory. One detail though, look
(15:27):
at how that pass is just high and outside, which
kind of makes it for a funky release because now
he's got a no dip it and he's got pushed
from a normal corner three to a behind the backboard
corner three in the deep, deep corner. So Julius has
to be really deliberate about getting this pass right in
(15:49):
the shooting pocket so that Mike Conley can take a
clean normal catch and shoot instead of a rushed no
dip corner shoot in the deep, deep corner behind the backboard.
This is another one go down to the other end
of the flour JDub straight iso against Nikkeile Alexander Walker
(16:12):
against See Notice how Conley is not digging down, He's
getting back. That's the difference in their scheme. Notice Aunt,
what was Shae doing on the other end in this
exact same sequence. Shae was leaving this guy and stepping
up into the lane. Ant is staying put. It's a
(16:32):
one on one game for Oklahoma City. Same thing here
against Julius Randall. See like Nikkeil Alexander Walker's face guarding
Shaye off the ball, Ants staying home in the strong
side corner.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
It's a one on one game.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Nice shot though from jdeb See how Shane and Jadab
are starting to win those matchups like consistently every time
down the floor. That's literally when the game started to
tilt in their favor.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Here's an example of one of.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Those shots from Dante Devensna that I just really didn't like,
twenty one seconds on the shot clock, like a twenty
eight footer off the dribble, and it's just that's not
the shot you're going.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
To regain your rhythm with.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Alright, this time Shay one on one against the Keile
Alexander Walker. We did get a late keeloff double team
from Dante here, very rare, but once again Shay starting
to win that matchup. I thought this was an example
(17:37):
of Julius Randall forcing the issue against a triple team,
when I think this is the one we just saw
something ahead. This is Julius Randall forcing against a triple
team when there were corner kicks that were available. So again,
like losing discipline, losing control of the situation, crowds into it.
You need to get a good shot. Like in this situation,
(17:57):
you've driven, we have a pinon flair from Nikkeiel Alexander Walker.
You've got a nas read right here in the strong
side corner. If Keson Wallace is going to put a
foot in the paint off the strong side corner off
of naz Reid. You have to make that pass every
single time. This is not doing your job against the
(18:18):
defensive scheme that you are facing. You can see the difference. Okay,
see one on one. They're winning those battles all the
one on threes, one on twos. These are the situations
where Minnesota has to make Oklahoma City pay for this
style of defense. Instead, you settle for a tough, contested
mid range jump shot over a triple team. Shake gets
(18:45):
all the way to the rim.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Here.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
You'll see help at the rim, but look at how
late the help is because Minnesota doesn't want to help here.
Shake gets all the way downhill. The guys come over late,
right at the end after Shay has already split it.
I really like Shaye, by the way, working one on
one against Julius and Nas in this matchup. These are
matchups I think he should be hunting more. He can
get downhill against those guys or find openings just in
(19:10):
basic screening action as they don't want to give up
that switch. But all three Wolves have to leave there
try to block this shot, or I should say those
two in help. As a result, Shay actually is able
to get up and beat them back to the ball
and get an offensive rebound. Shay's really starting to win
that battle at the point of attack. Now here's one
(19:34):
of those post ups transition cross match Nazeri against Jay Dove,
straight post up. Ja Doub wins the battle, but just
being physically aggressive. Baseline double See like, look, there's the
baseline double team.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
These are not one on ones. These are one on twos.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
You gotta stop thinking score and you gotta start thinking
pass out of these post ups. You're playing right into
o Casey's hands by trying to bully Rue and trying
to score through these double teams. This was a really
weird sequence. Another bad Julius Randall defense sequence. Julius Randall's
(20:12):
on the ball, He's on JDub. Jdubb drives. JDub kicks.
Everyone's matched up. Dante's on Casson, Nazarite is on Isaiah,
Joe ants on, Kendrich Williams, Nikkeile, Alexander Walker is on Shay.
Watch who quits playing. Jadub drives, Julius is on him
(20:33):
kick Watch jadab JDub relocates to the top of the
key and Julius decides to just point someone else go
get him. Well, no one's there, Julius, He's wide open.
Now Nikkeile Alexander Walker has to close out JDub ball
fake gets into the lane. Really nice acrobatic finish in
(20:55):
traffic cornerkick from Julius. But once again, I want you
guys to watch it. Watch the location of the pass.
Middle of the floor. There's our double team. Relocate, relocate
(21:20):
double team from j dub Okay, there's our kick. If
this pass hits nas right in the shooting pocket, it's
a comfortable catch and shoot. Instead, the pass is low
and because of the low pass, look at where Nasried
has to catch it all the way down by his toes,
which disrupts the rhythm and slows it down just enough
(21:43):
so that case On Wallace can get a good contest
on that shot. Those are those little details like and
here's the thing, guys, there's a version of this game
where that conleague corner three goes in. There's a version
of this game where that nas Re corner three goes in.
But you increase your change, like I talked about, variances
far down the list for me below processed defense things
along those lines. Put the ball in the shooting pocket.
(22:06):
You give him a better chance to knock that shot down.
Once again, look at how it looks like a one
on one and Nasri doesn't even remotely consider helping until
Nikkiel's dead to rights. He's like, Okay, oh shit, Nikkiel's
dead to rights. I gotta get over there. And this
(22:26):
is a hell of a defensive play. But it's just
to me, it was jarring watching the film this morning
when you really got, when you really look at it,
just how different these two teams regarding each other, and
gets a little one on one here at the top
of the key, doesn't get into the pain enough to
draw a double team, but you can see the bodies
(22:49):
all behind him, goes into a little step back once again,
look at Shae Shae. As as soon as Nikhil Alexander
Walker cuts through, Shae's like, I'm done with him. I'm
no longer worried about Nikhil Alexander Walker. I'm officially just
in a soft zone double team of ANT, right, So
(23:09):
ANT in this case needs to just wait for Nikil
to relocate, continue to probe in this area and make
the kickout pass instead, he settles for a little pull
up mid range jump shot, and I like the mid
ranges when you get down to fifteen feet. Once you
get out to twenty feet, it doesn't really make a
ton of sense to me here on this possession, Ant
(23:37):
finally gets some downhill penetration against j dub And in
the transition crossmatch. By the way, this is a small
group for Oka. See there's no center on the floor.
Rudy's kind of got an inside seal on Shay that
prevents him from being able to protect the rim. Ant's
able to get through into the lane, beats a dig.
By the way, there's a dig from Isaiah Joe and
actually gets on the way the rim on this one.
There's going to be opportunistic things like that, especially in
(23:59):
semi transition situations like that where there's cross matches. But
again it's gonna be few and far between. It's gonna
be a passing series for Ant and Julius. I thought
this was a big time late shot clock kind of
rescue sequence from Kenrich Williams. Dante gets cleanly beat. This
hasn't happened often, but when he gets cleanly beat, that
(24:21):
forces a help That help puts the defense in rotation.
Go Bear's gonna slide over, Nasri's gonna slide over. Dante's
gonna end up back on ken Rich. Now there's six
seconds on the shot clock, and the best you can
get here is this guy's just got to create a
bucket against the closeout. Kenrich just boom, pull back, triable bucket.
(24:47):
Here's a quality corner kick from Anthony Edwards to Nikhil
Alexander Walker. Once again, I want you guys to pay
attention to just the difference in the way he's being guarded.
Ken Rich, full on double team, Crusoe, foot in the paint.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Gets him in jail.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Crusoe bails on Nikkeile Alexander Walker entirely, he's in the paint.
Shae Yildes Alexander bails on Dante entirely, he's in the paint.
Look at this, guys, there's there is no aunt just
forcing it through all this shit. That's not that's not
gonna be the pathway here. Corner kick the Dante's open
corner kicked to Nikila is open. He makes the corner kick, boom,
(25:28):
pump fake. That's a that's that's a you're not gonna
like You're not gonna get a better shot forcing through
the quadruple team than a Nikile Alexander Walker catching shoot
three on the corner when he's been in the forties
all year long. On this kind of shot, he just
just missed it, just left it short. Here's that picking
(25:50):
pop from kenridg Williams. Once again. The hesitancy to not
that they don't want to switch knas onto Shay so
to end up on the ball. Ken Rich just hops
easy picking pop three knockdown, big shift from Kendrick Williams.
In the second half yesterday, naz Reid's gonna force a
post up here once again. Watch the corner kick reads
(26:12):
that he doesn't make. I think he tries to force
it through Chet. Yeah, a little screening action. Tries to
go through Chet. There's a man down. Nikaile Alexander Walker
is completely unguarded in the right corner. This pass has
to be made, and instead he tries to force it
through the rim protector turnover. Shay one on one against
(26:34):
Nikhel just beats him. We get another peel off, double
little late peel off from Dante. Dante did twice right
when Shaye was going up for his shot. Was able
to come over and get a contest. And by the way,
that's one of the things. One of the things you'll notice,
(26:54):
okay Se won a bunch of one on ones in
a row. Now, what's starting to happen now that Okayse's
winning those one on one We've seen back to back
situations where Shay went to a pull up and Dante
did a late peel off double. You, Okasee, by winning
their ones, can turn that into opportunity to generate quality
(27:14):
catch and shoots as Minnesota starts to overreact to that
one on one success. Similarly, Minnesota go down to the
other end, beat them, beat them, beat them with those
kickout passes, hit a bunch of corner threes. Do it
again and again and again, and you might see those
guys start to stay home just kind of inherently because
(27:35):
of their basketball instincts, which will create some more opportunities
in the paint. Or you might get an audible from
our Daginal or he basically goes, it's time to stay
home and make these guys scorers. But you've got to
beat the base scheme. Oka see beat the base scheme
enough times that Minnesota is starting to crack a little bit.
(27:57):
On the other end of the floor, Minnesota is not
beating Okay sees base scheme because they're not hitting those
corner threes or not hitting those kickout passes often enough.
Now down eleven, and this is just losing control of
the situation. Tough tough pull up three early in the
clock down On the other end, as much as I
(28:20):
hate this call, Shae once again just rejects the ball
screen against Ant. Also, I don't think I don't think
go Bear needs to be up this high, especially when
you're trying tobaate Shane into taking jumpers instead of driving
go Beart's got to be further back.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
But uh it, it gets beat.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Hate the call, but still a bucket from Shae winning
his one on one matchup. So I think there's a
pretty clear trend that you guys can see from the film.
Oklahoma City's packing the paint leaving shooters open, Minnesota is not.
And whichever team can beat that scheme more effectively over
the course of this series is gonna win and force adjustments,
(28:57):
force that second layer of of whatever defensive idea Mike
Mark Dagenel has or Chris Finch has, and in game one,
Minnesota in the second half was unable to crack that
scheme and Oklahoma City was and that was the difference
in the game.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
And it's in Game two.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
It's gonna be on Minnesota because Okay, se he's not
gonna bail on that scheme.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
It just worked.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
They held them to forty points in the second half.
The only way they're gonna play them out of that
scheme is by relentlessly making those reads and knocking down
those shots. That's the pathway in Game two, Minnesota can
win this series. I think they have the advantages they need,
but I just didn't think they were nearly good enough in.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
That second half.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
All right, guys, That's all I have for this morning
is always a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me
and supporting the show. We will be back tonight live
on YouTube after the final buzzer of Nick Pacers, and
then when we are done on YouTube Tube, we'll be
heading over to playback dot tv slash Hoops tonight for
after show where we'll be taking taking callers and just
hanging out watching film things along those lines. Again, as always,
(29:56):
I appreciate you guys for supporting us. We'll see you
next time. What some guys always, I appreciate you for
listening to and supporting hoops tonight. It would actually be
really helpful for us if you guys would take a
second and leave a rating and a review.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
As always, I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Supporting us, but if you could take a minute to
do that, I'd really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
The volume
Host
Jason Timpf
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!