May 8, 2023 • 29 mins
Colin and Hoops Tonight host Jason Timpf give their instant reaction to the suns evening their series with the Nuggets at 2-2 on the back of another big Devin Booker performance, if Denver is still the series favorite, James Harden’s impact against the Celtics, why the Lakers have been such a matchup nightmare for the Warriors, how Golden State should rebuild their roster if they lose, if an aging LeBron can be effective into the later rounds of the playoffs, the similarities between this Lakers team and the bubble title team,
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
All right, welcome into the Monday Morning Podcast. And in
one of the really most dynamic offensive playoff games I've
ever seen. At one point, Jason Timp joining me Hoops tonight,
great podcast for the volume. At one point tonight I
looked up and Phoenix was shooting fifty eight percent and
then like forty seven from three and it was a
(00:33):
six point game. I thought, this isn't sustainable. Let me
give me a break. But you know it's it's I
want to throw this at you, Jason. Is that? And
I think this is a benefit of the NBA. Very
few controversial NFL players for a few controversial baseball players
or soccer players in America. Maybe internationally they are, but
in the NBA there's a lot of drama. Kawhi drama,
(00:54):
ad drama, Lebron and b Jahn, morant Zion, I mean,
even guys who are low key. Jokich gets involved in
an MVP debate. And I've always said the NBA is
the great story league. It's got great drama. It's soap opera.
And then there's Devin Booker, like Chris Paul has a
love hate relationship with fans, so does KD and Booker
(01:15):
goes out. He's Klay Thompson with better handles, like chill.
He's on one of the great heaters I've ever seen
in the history of the playoffs. He's really it's very
rare because the NBA, between shoe sales and social media,
it drums up a ton of stories. And you know,
I know he likes old cars, like there's just there's
(01:38):
just no story. And I watch him play and he's
got a little bit of an old school thing. He
still loves the mid range jumper, but he can hit
the three. He's not like Carmelo where he wouldn't embrace
it in his prime, like he'll move back and shoot it.
I mean, as somebody you played basketball again, I think
he's more athletic than Klay Thompson with a better ball handler.
(02:02):
But there is sort of this I'm just going to
show up and do my job. You know, Clay at
this point is very hot and cold. He was terrible
last game, great in game two. What do you make
of Bookers eater?
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You know, it's so interesting, Colin, because I think the
worst thing that happened to him in his career was
that he started averaging twenty five points a game pretty
early and was on a bad team, and so he's
been averaging. You know, he's been a mid twenties, high
twenties scorer who's relatively efficient for a really long time.
And so then Chris Paul came to the team, and
(02:33):
really it had nothing to do. Chris Paul played a
part of it, but they just added a lot of talent,
They added a lot of veterans, They added DeAndre and
they added Chris Paul and they started playing in these
big playoff games. And everyone just attributes all of the
success to the team to everything but Devin Booker. But
over the years, despite him reaching that scoring peak early,
he's added a lot of things. He's become a much
(02:53):
much better defensive player, he's become an outstanding playmaker and
high picking early a ten assist again tonight, And like
you said, he's just on an all time great shot
making run right now. And it's been as we go
back in his playoff career, he was kind of on
a crazy hot shot making run in that twenty twenty
one run when they almost won the title. It was
Chris Paul that fell apart at the end. He's been unbelievable.
(03:17):
I think that he's gone under the radar as a
product of the success of the team around him. But
I think he's legitimately in that same list with the
guys like Jason Tatum and Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid
and all those eight, nine, ten guys that we put
at the top of the league. He's in that tier.
He's probably near the bottom of that tier, but he's
in that tier like he's a bona fide superstar in
(03:38):
my opinion, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I don't think it's sustainable. I still like, you know,
I thought, I thought Phoenix, I watched them play the Clippers,
and I thought, ugh, if you could give them Norman
Palo off the bench, you'd be like, oh, okay, they
need a guy, they need a guy off the bench.
And then Chris Paul gets hurt Cameron Payne now and
it's like, now they don't have any guy, Like, they
(04:02):
have no bench. So they're not a championship team. They're
just not. I mean, Boston's gonna bring eight to nine Warriors,
can bring eight nine Lakers, although I think they have
a lot of b players, can give you eight nine guys.
I mean Phoenix is like six so and I don't
think it's sustainable. You know, I told somebody the other day, whoever,
I think the Nuggets will win the next two games,
and I think what's going to happen is Denver's going
(04:26):
to have a one oh series lead in the Western
Conference Finals because I think they're going to vanquish the
Suns here very quickly, and then the Lakers and Warriors,
two older teams, are going to go seven, and then
one of them with no rest, flies to high altitude Denver.
You're going to get run off the floor in Game one,
and so Denver's gonna have a one oh serious lead.
My takeaway on Denver is they're highly efficient. Jokic is insane.
(04:50):
Not every championship team Jason is great. The Spurs team
was mostly unappetizing to a lot of the nation. The
ratings were really bad, and that clean learned that early
Lebron team against the Spurs. Not every championship team is fascinating.
I mean the Utah Jazz I liked him, but you
know there were you know, the pick and roll. I mean,
(05:10):
even Malone wasn't highly vertical. He was kind of a
bully around the basket. So would you agree that Denver, though,
is gonna I think they're gonna win the next two games.
That's my take care I think so too.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I mean, you said, you said it's not sustainable, and
that's not an insult Colin. It's literally impotib It would
be unprecedented in NBA history for Devin Booker to continue
to shoot the way he's been shooting. He was thirteen
for seventeen on pull up jump shots in Game three.
Kevin Durant just had what I thought was the best
pull up jump shooting season ever and he shot fifty
five percent, like the best in the world at that
(05:41):
shot make about half of them, and Devin Booker's making
like over seventy five percent of them. So it is
not sustainable. And you know, the thing is is as
we look back throughout the series, kind of like Game
two in Nikola Jokic made fourteen shots in the paint
again tonight just living in the paint, makes some jump shots.
He's gonna make some jump shots. He made some crazy
ones and one over Devin Booker was crazy. But there's
(06:02):
no doubt that as you look at the shot quality
moving forward, Denver gets a little bit better shots that
are much more likely to be replicated as we move forward,
and they have two of the final three games at home.
So that's not to say the Suns can't win. If
Devin and KD go into Denver and they shoot the
lights out again, yes they can win the series. But
(06:22):
the safer bet is Denver because they're getting better shots
and they have home court and what I think is
the best home court advantage in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
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(07:40):
ugly for most of it. James Harten carries the Sixers.
Another absolutely remarkable James Harden game. There. You know, it's
hard to get my arms around what the Sixers are
between Mbeid's health, kind of the roller coaster of Harden
at this point in his career. I kind of always
know the athleticism I'm going to get from Maxi. Tobias
(08:02):
Harris can be a hot cold score. My takeaway when
I watched that game, and even if Boston would have
won in both regulation and the fourth quarter or fourth, yeah,
fourth quarter and overtime, Boston's last possession. You guys have
been playing together for six years, get it together. Like
(08:23):
everybody can bang on the coach for not calling a
time out, but my takeaway is in that moment with
that group, like if Stephan, Clay Draymond and Wiggins had
eleven seconds, I wouldn't want the Lakers to be set.
They're too good defensively, I'd rather be them. I'd rather
have them backpedaling a little bit, kind of look into
the sideline. I generally, if you have a veteran team
(08:46):
and a rotation you're comfortable with. I wouldn't call a timeout.
It goes back to the years ago the Seahawks Patriots
were in a Super Bowl. It was a real chess
match Pete Carolyn Belichick, and you know Belichick is defense.
He wouldn't call time out. He was like, we know
what you're doing. This is why we agonize over practice.
And so the Celtics and the Warriors are the two
(09:09):
teams in the league right now. I'm not calling a timeout.
My experience is my edge. Lakers a brand new team
since the deadline, I'd call a timeout. I'd want to
get the ball to Ad. Even Denver's kind of young.
Philadelphia depends on who's healthy and who's hot. So this
comes down to something. I just there's an apprehension with Boston.
(09:33):
I just can't get past. I just I can't get
past that. I do not trust them. You know, games
decided by five hundred or five points or less. I
could be wrong. I think they're now thirteen and fourteen.
That doesn't make sense with those guys, does it.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
The part that drove me crazy about that final possession
was them waiting so damn low like James Harden make
that shot with like twelve seconds left. It's a one
point game, so if you go down and you miss,
you have a chance to foul and get and get
another opportunity. They basically dribbled the clock out to try
to work to a specific switch they wanted on Jason Tatum.
They didn't actually start to look to attack until like
(10:10):
five or six seconds left. And so, you know, the
thing with Boston is, I agree with you, they don't
really need an organization because they have so many good
matchups and they're always gonna force you to help off
of a shooter like Malcolm Brogden a wide open three
in the left wing at the end of that game
that he ended up missing. They're going to generate wide
open looks. It's just go quickly. It's the stagnation with
Boston that becomes a problem when they dribble up the
(10:32):
floor and they just take a contested jump shot or
they get the switch they want, but then they stand
and they stare around for ten seconds before they do something.
I was so impressed by James Harden in this game
because he's kind of beating allegations in this playoff run
because he kind of has a reputation for being a
player that can fade later in series, and this was
(10:53):
a super unique performance from James Harden because this is
at a point in the series where they figured him
out right. They are forcing him to his right hand
every single time. He had back to back at the
end of regulation, when Joel Embiid was crumbling under Al Horford,
Just and Joe made a couple of huge plays in
ot so like, including the double team kickout to James
(11:14):
Harden for the game winner and a little fade away
over Al Horford. But Horford was completely falling off the
face of the earth again. Embiid was in that fourth
quarter and James Harden carried them. He had a hard
isolation against a Jason Tatum where he got into the
lane to his right hand and made a floater. He
had a pull up jump shot on Jalen Brown where
he got to his right hand and took a and
(11:36):
took a jump shot like he has. He has gone
to his weakness because that's what the playoffs are about,
or forcing you to be uncomfortable, forcing you to do
things that make you feel uncomfortable, and he is getting
He's having success in the weakest areas of his game,
and I think a big part of it is him
not relying on the step back jump shot from three,
or not just driving into the teeth of the defense
(11:58):
and trying to draw fouls, but taking what the defense
giving him, which is those mid range shots, the little
floaters in the lane, the little pull up jump shots.
I was so impressed by James Harden in this game,
and look like it sucks that he's so inconsistent, but
this is what you want from a second star. He
doesn't have to be there every night, but he needs
to be able to win you a game or two
in the playoffs, and Harden's won you two in this
series so far.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Well, and also a lot of the teams he was
on before he was such a ball centric scoring machine,
but by the time he got to the second round
of the playoffs, it felt like he was gassed. Whereas
MB's the MVP Tobias Harris gives you about every third game,
he gives you a big game. MAXI has control of
the ball, so it's not as hard and reliant. I mean,
(12:39):
they could he can play poorly and they can win,
maybe not in the playoffs, but in the regular season.
So I feel like he's got more energy. I feel
like there are times like today I thought, oh no,
he's not tired at all. Embid looked gassed. It's like
Harden didn't. Yeah, Harden didn't look gast at all. All right,
now we go to the Lakers Warriors. Let's spend some
time on this. You know, I was thinking about this
(13:02):
series and when Golden State was playing Sacramento, I felt
like they were facing a less talented version of themselves.
But they were really looking in the mirror a lot.
And that's why I always felt strongly they were going
to win the series because they kind of knew the
next trick. They could kind of guess what was going
to happen next. Sacramento's about a wing player away, a
(13:22):
Wiggins away from being the Warriors. Right, they have some
of the same components, but the Lakers are the opposite
of the Warriors. Size, great rim protection, ad a dominant
big length, inconsistent shooting, sometimes poor shooting, undrafted players bounce
(13:43):
around the league. Guys, they don't have the cohesion. You know,
they're a trade deadline team. I'm like, they're the opposite
of the Warriors, and I think there are times in
this series I feel like the Warriors were a little flummoxed.
They're not. This is like it's like in boxing, facing
a left panded boxer, You're like, I know I'm better
than him, but I don't have a sparring partner that's
(14:04):
a left I've never faced a lefty, and I just
feel like, to me, the Warriors feel they can't quite
make up their mind. Do they do they want to
challenge the Lakers or at the rim? Or are they
just going to do pull ups? Now? They went back
to kind of attacking the rim a couple of times,
and I'm like, guys, it's not gonna work. Ads has
good A defenders the league have. That's not going to work.
(14:25):
So I don't feel the same way I did with Sacramento,
where I felt kind of this kind of hovering confidence,
like they're going to figure out even though they've been
a bad road team. They solve that fast. But I
do think Kerr will make adjustments. But boy, there are
moments in this series they look small and frustrated. Is
(14:49):
that they look small and frustrated at times.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
This is a different type of team than any team
that we've seen the Warriors play. Really in this entire
era when you factor in the combination of their into
your size and the offensive skill that they have around them.
Here's a crazy stat for you, Colin. The Lakers have
won five postseason games this year shooting below thirty percent
from three So, like, you're absolutely right, they could not
be more different than what this four years team is.
(15:13):
I think this series has been such This entire playoff
run has been such a I think Darvin Ham has
been so incredibly impressive. He's hit a bunch of the
right notes. I thought he made a bunch of key
adjustments in Game six against Memphis, shrinking the rotation to
the correct eight guys, tweaking his coverage of Desmond Baine.
(15:35):
It was a masterclass. And then you go into this
series and it's Game one. We knew the Warriors were
going to throw their fastball, which was all their off
ball stuff with their main lineup, and Darvin Ham just
top locked all the shooters, funneled everybody into the paint.
It was a disaster. Game two, the predictable adjustment from
Steve Kerr, lots of Steph Curry high pick and roll,
Draymond Green kills him in the short role. The entire
(15:56):
game genius adjustment from Darvin Ham. He puts Jared vander
Built onto Draymond Green and Austin Reeves onto Steph Curry
so they can switch to Steph Draymond pick and roll.
Now when they bring Anthony Davis into the screen, it's
a role man like Jamichael Green or Kevon Looney who's
just nowhere near as good at making those decisions in
the short role as Draymond Green is. It's been a
(16:16):
masterclass coaching performance from Darvin Ham in my opinion. You
know what's interesting, and this is why I say it's
different than any other Warriors opponent in this era. In
the past, it used to be that the Warriors would
play your best players off the floor. Oh, we're going
to play your center off the floor because he's too slow.
We're going to play this guard off the floor because
he can't guard. In this series, the Lakers have been
able to keep their core rotation and guess what. The
(16:39):
Warriors have had to cut way back on Gary Payton's
minutes and they've had to cut way back in Kavon
Looney's minutes because of the Anthony Davis problem. We focus
so much on superstar offensive players and their ability to
overcome anything. Look at what Devin Booker did tonight. Look
at what Steph Curry's done throughout his playoff career. Anthony
Davis not single handedly, but he's carrying the vast majority
of this Lowe is exposing his defensive superpower to slow
(17:04):
down this Warriors offense. I think it's been one of
the best defensive performances I've ever seen from a player.
This is very different. This is a very different type
of challenge. Series is not over. I think the winner
of Game four wins the series. But man, this is
definitely going to be a unique challenge for the Warriors.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Well, yeah, game game Game five and Game seven, which
are huge games, obviously deciding Game seven, are both at
Chase Center. It is interesting. I did not pick the
Warriors to get to the finals, and a lot of
it was I think they've struggled all year to figure
out to bridge the old new gap. Now they're not
playing kaminga at all. Moody's good. Doesn't play a lot,
(17:41):
but he's actually pretty good. Jordan Poole is just infuriating,
but I think they need him. My takeaway on this
series was the Warriors would win it. But I felt
somewhere in the playoffs, whether it was against Jokic, or
it's against Anthony Davis, or it would be against MBID,
that they would face an offensive minded center and they
(18:05):
just get nothing from their bigs. I mean when Wiggins
was out, Jesus, I mean, they got nothing from anybody
but the back court for two months. I mean it
was just basically Steph kept him at five hundred. I mean,
they had no scoring. So Wiggins gives them, you know,
you're fifteen a game at the wing. But I do
think that Bob Meyer and Kerr, out of respect for Curry,
(18:31):
everything's going to be. They're going to attain players eventually
who are on Steph's timeline. Anthony Davis is on his
timeline right, bigs that can play, And I'm really interested
if they lose this series. They're not going to stand
pat They're just not And as Looney right now has
a reputation that's greater than his game. I mean, he's
(18:51):
got no offensive skill. He's a great rebounder. It's like,
we can take fewer rebounds, give me seventeen points. If
you ran the Warriors as constituted today and they lost
in Game six, and it was Anthony Davis that just
at the rim, protecting it and scoring. Where do you go,
(19:12):
because I don't think they stand pat Where would they go?
Speaker 1 (19:14):
It's so interesting you asked that because I was texting
a buddy of mine who covers the Warriors the other
day and for the record, do not think this series
is over. Would not be the least bit surprised if
Golden State one Game two and won the series. This
is not over. But in the hypothetical scenario where the
Warriors lose, what I would do is I would retain
your one, two three, so I would keep Steph, Klay Thompson,
and Andrew Wiggins, and then I would go all in
(19:36):
on the front line with size and athleticism. And then
I'd run a more traditional offense that you see around
the NBA, where you rely more on Steph Curry in
high pick and roll. It's just the way that the
game has been set up. That's where you can have
a ton of success these days, especially when you've got
shooting and athleticism around you. And Andrew Wiggins and Klay
Thompson are great at that. Specifically, too often they've had
to rely on being gimmicky to overcome their size issue,
(20:00):
no question, and it's worked like we're not being critical.
They've what they have, four titles. But you know, as
players start to age out just a little bit and
their effectiveness starts to slide just a little bit, it's
time to potentially try something different. And in that scenario,
I do all in on Steph Clay and Wiggins mainly too.
From an asset standpoint, like Clay at this phase in
his career is going to be tough to get like
(20:21):
value for right, Andrew Wiggins is one of the most
important types of players you can have on an NBA roster,
like a legit twenty point per game score that can
guard the other team's best player. Steph I think as
absolutely as at least two or three more years as
a peak level superstar. Then you start to look down
the roster and it's like Jordan Poole, like him or
hate him, He's at least an asset that you probably
can get some value out of. So I would I
(20:44):
would definitely look to bolster the front court with just
a ton of size in athleticism, get Steph a real
vertical spacing threat so he can actually run. You know,
you mentioned Anthony Davis. He might not be attainable, but
somebody that can do some of like a poor man's
version of him, that can play traditional drop coverag grim
protect and be a vertical spacing threat like that would
be the direction that I'd look to go if they
did choose to rebuild.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
So it was interesting Lebron didn't score a single point
in that game, and it was and we both we've
discussed this kind of ad nauseam that he really lets
the game come to him, and by the way he should.
He kind of waits for it, and so then he
turns the jet you know, the jets on later in
games and crucial situations, and it's it's like a really
(21:26):
it's like a it's like a boxer with a knockout
punch who's at the end of his career. He just
lets the fight come to him and then the other
guy gets worn down. Sixth round, he kind of seizes it.
Seventh round, goes to the knockout. But it's interesting with
Lebron that this series, I thought it was a real problem.
(21:47):
After Game one, they get one day rest, so they're
back on the court tomorrow. Do you foresee any problem
Game four, Game five, Game six, Game seven, and I'm
watching Lebron the other night, and I'm like, I know
what he's doing here, He's waiting for the moment we got.
(22:07):
We may have four more of these things. Would you
be concerned if you were Darvin ham about I don't
know how much can I get out of him? I got,
we got four games in eight days, potentially. That's just
he's not Jason. That's just not what he's That's not
what he is now.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
I mean to me, this series comes down to the
Lakers will absolutely will win if they get two more
defensive efforts like what they had in Game three, And
you know, Lebron James, there was a time out after
a that nasty Andrew Wiggins dunk and then Steph Curry
got a three on an offensive rebound put back where
they got it back to twelve. And after that time out,
(22:45):
Lebron really engaged himself athletically and started blocking shots getting
out in transition. You know, he doesn't quite have the
same first step that he usually has, probably a byproduct
of the foot injury, which is a byproduct of his age.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
His jump shot has kind of failed him in a
lot of different ways in the postseason run. Yeah, it's
kind of It's highly unusual, but it is what it is. However,
next to what Anthony Davis is doing and what Jared
Vanderbilt is doing. If Lebron James engages himself as a
rebounder and as a defender and pushes in transition when
he cans when he can, that's all they need from him.
(23:17):
That's all they need. That's how good this team is defensively.
They don't need him to be thirty five point per
game historical playoff Lebron. They just need him to be
engaged defensively. Now, you said, should Darvin hand be worried?
That's the thing. We have seen this throughout this playoff
run and really throughout the entire season. The Lakers struggle
to maintain their effort level. I would not be surprised
in the slightest if Game four was much closer, or
(23:41):
if the Warriors held a decent sized lead throughout the
Lakers struggle to maintain that defensive intensity. But it's really
that simple to me. If they can get two more
performances like that, they can win the series. Game four
I expect to be super close. Game five, I think
golden State would win nine times out of ten and
then game six back crypto if you get that three
(24:01):
two lead at that point. Lebron was excellent in the
closeout game against Memphis. He smells blood in the water
and he summons the necessary energy that he needs. Everything
comes down to game four for me.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
You know, it's interesting, this is sort of feeling like
the Bubble year. Anthony Davis was healthy and dominant. Anthony
Davis now is on a long streak of healthy and dominant.
Lebron was out of his prime but could be dominant
in spurts. There were several players KCP one, d Lo here,
big shot makers, but you always kind of feel like
(24:34):
they're not part of the future. Right then you have
like I mean when I always like KCP Rich Paul
and I talked about this. He was never afraid to
take a big shot like ever didn't know's love his selection,
but I loved his effort. Diegelo Russell same thing. He's
always willing to take a shot. But I don't think
(24:55):
they're going to sign him for a long term deal.
And the West year was weird. Veteran teams, you know,
dovetailed in the postseason in the Bubble. They missed their
wives and their friends and their kids. And this year
is weird. I mean the Clippers were weird. Denver's a
unique team. I mean, Golden State had from the punch
(25:18):
to the abysmal road performance, Chris Paul's now out KD trade,
it is that bubble team. Even though you know, if
you go back to the bubble and I don't remember
it specifically, but I can remember a D really being
(25:40):
dominant at times, and at times for the first time ever,
Lebron like kind of liking it. In fact, I mean,
do you remember that bubble where it was the first
time ever Lebron was in a championship level thing and
was very comfortable dropping the ball low and observing. I
think I think I think Lebron one of his assets.
(26:01):
I think he's very comfortable. I think deep down he
knows AD on both ends of the floor right now
is a better player more consistently than I am. And
I think Lebron's okay with it. He's always been a
great teammate. Do you think he knows that Not only.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Is he okay with it, he's been begging for this
for years. That was the whole reason why he like
he that's what he wanted Kyrie to b That's what
he's been wanting Anthony Davis to be. You know, I
do think this team is actually a little bit better
defensively than the twenty twenty Lakers with their core lineup.
They're not as deep because Dwight Howard was so important
off the bench for them, But it's the Jared Vanderbilt piece.
(26:37):
They never really had a real athletic forward that could
defend the way Jared Vanderbilt could. Thought that Laker team
had slightly better guard defenders. But also Anthony Davis I
think is on a defensive run that even he couldn't
reach in twenty twenty. The thing that the difference is
and the reason why, Like, I was incredibly confident that
twenty twenty Lakers team was going to win. They started
the season twenty four and three. I believed in their defense,
(26:57):
I believed in Lebron. I thought they were going to win.
The biggest fear.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
For me Miami. Miami was a bunch of kids, for sure.
That was a I was surprised it was competitive early
and they were just they were out of their element.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
For sure, and they they actually went through some tougher
competition in the Western Conference. I thought like that Nuggets
team was pretty good. The Lakers were just clicking at
a high level. That Houston team that was really weird,
that played a five out, you know. But specifically what
scares me with this Lakers team is they just don't
have close to the same offensive ceiling as that twenty
(27:30):
twenty Lakers team, even though that twenty twenty Lakers team
was known as being, you know, somewhat clunky offensively, simply
because Lebron James was operating at a much higher level
offensively in that playoff run. Yeah, he was giving you
forty in the finals. Like like if I if I
told you one of the odds that Lebron's going to
get forty tomorrow, you'd be like extremely low. Like it's
just he just doesn't seem to have that first and
(27:51):
then Anthony Davis was on such a jump shooting run
in that twenty twenty bubble. He was making everything out
of the post like he was Kevin Durant make you
shot like fifty something percent on pull up jump shots
in that playoff run. So like, as much as I
enjoy this Lakers team, I do think they have a
slightly higher defensive ceiling with their best lineups because of
Jared Vanderbilt. They have a little bit more flexibility, and
(28:13):
they do have more offensive skill in the back court.
But you win with superstars in the playoffs, and I'm
just a little concerned with the up and down nature
of Lebron and Anthony Davis offensively. That doesn't mean they
can't win it, but I view them as more just
in the pack, whereas to me, that twenty twenty Lakers
team was head and shoulders above everybody else.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Jason Timpf hoops Tonight such an important part of the volume.
His stuff's all over YouTube, really breaks it down like
I don't think anybody else does in this space. I
absolutely love it. I'll pass on discussing the knicks and
the heat. I don't even know how Miami. Miami's not
even playing well. That's what's amazing. They're not even I mean,
(28:53):
they're really not playing extraordinarily well. And I look up
and I'm like, Cody Zeller's on the floor, Lauren, Max Druce,
and Jimmy Butler's not. We'll discuss that this week when
we're on again. But as always, Buddy, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Thanks calling, see you next time.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Man the volume. Make sure to check out The Draymon
(29:32):
Green Show. I brought Draymond Green into the volume because
one of the more entertaining voices in sports. Unique perspective
understands behind the rope. Also chops up with guests like
Gary Payton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download The
Draymond Green Show wherever you get your podcasts. Only on
the Volume podcast Network.
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
All right, welcome into the Monday Morning Podcast. And in
one of the really most dynamic offensive playoff games I've
ever seen. At one point, Jason Timp joining me Hoops tonight,
great podcast for the volume. At one point tonight I
looked up and Phoenix was shooting fifty eight percent and
then like forty seven from three and it was a
(00:33):
six point game. I thought, this isn't sustainable. Let me
give me a break. But you know it's it's I
want to throw this at you, Jason. Is that? And
I think this is a benefit of the NBA. Very
few controversial NFL players for a few controversial baseball players
or soccer players in America. Maybe internationally they are, but
in the NBA there's a lot of drama. Kawhi drama,
(00:54):
ad drama, Lebron and b Jahn, morant Zion, I mean,
even guys who are low key. Jokich gets involved in
an MVP debate. And I've always said the NBA is
the great story league. It's got great drama. It's soap opera.
And then there's Devin Booker, like Chris Paul has a
love hate relationship with fans, so does KD and Booker
(01:15):
goes out. He's Klay Thompson with better handles, like chill.
He's on one of the great heaters I've ever seen
in the history of the playoffs. He's really it's very
rare because the NBA, between shoe sales and social media,
it drums up a ton of stories. And you know,
I know he likes old cars, like there's just there's
(01:38):
just no story. And I watch him play and he's
got a little bit of an old school thing. He
still loves the mid range jumper, but he can hit
the three. He's not like Carmelo where he wouldn't embrace
it in his prime, like he'll move back and shoot it.
I mean, as somebody you played basketball again, I think
he's more athletic than Klay Thompson with a better ball handler.
(02:02):
But there is sort of this I'm just going to
show up and do my job. You know, Clay at
this point is very hot and cold. He was terrible
last game, great in game two. What do you make
of Bookers eater?
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You know, it's so interesting, Colin, because I think the
worst thing that happened to him in his career was
that he started averaging twenty five points a game pretty
early and was on a bad team, and so he's
been averaging. You know, he's been a mid twenties, high
twenties scorer who's relatively efficient for a really long time.
And so then Chris Paul came to the team, and
(02:33):
really it had nothing to do. Chris Paul played a
part of it, but they just added a lot of talent,
They added a lot of veterans, They added DeAndre and
they added Chris Paul and they started playing in these
big playoff games. And everyone just attributes all of the
success to the team to everything but Devin Booker. But
over the years, despite him reaching that scoring peak early,
he's added a lot of things. He's become a much
(02:53):
much better defensive player, he's become an outstanding playmaker and
high picking early a ten assist again tonight, And like
you said, he's just on an all time great shot
making run right now. And it's been as we go
back in his playoff career, he was kind of on
a crazy hot shot making run in that twenty twenty
one run when they almost won the title. It was
Chris Paul that fell apart at the end. He's been unbelievable.
(03:17):
I think that he's gone under the radar as a
product of the success of the team around him. But
I think he's legitimately in that same list with the
guys like Jason Tatum and Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid
and all those eight, nine, ten guys that we put
at the top of the league. He's in that tier.
He's probably near the bottom of that tier, but he's
in that tier like he's a bona fide superstar in
(03:38):
my opinion, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I don't think it's sustainable. I still like, you know,
I thought, I thought Phoenix, I watched them play the Clippers,
and I thought, ugh, if you could give them Norman
Palo off the bench, you'd be like, oh, okay, they
need a guy, they need a guy off the bench.
And then Chris Paul gets hurt Cameron Payne now and
it's like, now they don't have any guy, Like, they
(04:02):
have no bench. So they're not a championship team. They're
just not. I mean, Boston's gonna bring eight to nine Warriors,
can bring eight nine Lakers, although I think they have
a lot of b players, can give you eight nine guys.
I mean Phoenix is like six so and I don't
think it's sustainable. You know, I told somebody the other day, whoever,
I think the Nuggets will win the next two games,
and I think what's going to happen is Denver's going
(04:26):
to have a one oh series lead in the Western
Conference Finals because I think they're going to vanquish the
Suns here very quickly, and then the Lakers and Warriors,
two older teams, are going to go seven, and then
one of them with no rest, flies to high altitude Denver.
You're going to get run off the floor in Game one,
and so Denver's gonna have a one oh serious lead.
My takeaway on Denver is they're highly efficient. Jokic is insane.
(04:50):
Not every championship team Jason is great. The Spurs team
was mostly unappetizing to a lot of the nation. The
ratings were really bad, and that clean learned that early
Lebron team against the Spurs. Not every championship team is fascinating.
I mean the Utah Jazz I liked him, but you
know there were you know, the pick and roll. I mean,
(05:10):
even Malone wasn't highly vertical. He was kind of a
bully around the basket. So would you agree that Denver, though,
is gonna I think they're gonna win the next two games.
That's my take care I think so too.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I mean, you said, you said it's not sustainable, and
that's not an insult Colin. It's literally impotib It would
be unprecedented in NBA history for Devin Booker to continue
to shoot the way he's been shooting. He was thirteen
for seventeen on pull up jump shots in Game three.
Kevin Durant just had what I thought was the best
pull up jump shooting season ever and he shot fifty
five percent, like the best in the world at that
(05:41):
shot make about half of them, and Devin Booker's making
like over seventy five percent of them. So it is
not sustainable. And you know, the thing is is as
we look back throughout the series, kind of like Game
two in Nikola Jokic made fourteen shots in the paint
again tonight just living in the paint, makes some jump shots.
He's gonna make some jump shots. He made some crazy
ones and one over Devin Booker was crazy. But there's
(06:02):
no doubt that as you look at the shot quality
moving forward, Denver gets a little bit better shots that
are much more likely to be replicated as we move forward,
and they have two of the final three games at home.
So that's not to say the Suns can't win. If
Devin and KD go into Denver and they shoot the
lights out again, yes they can win the series. But
(06:22):
the safer bet is Denver because they're getting better shots
and they have home court and what I think is
the best home court advantage in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
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time app All right, let's pivot to a wildly entertaining series,
(07:40):
ugly for most of it. James Harten carries the Sixers.
Another absolutely remarkable James Harden game. There. You know, it's
hard to get my arms around what the Sixers are
between Mbeid's health, kind of the roller coaster of Harden
at this point in his career. I kind of always
know the athleticism I'm going to get from Maxi. Tobias
(08:02):
Harris can be a hot cold score. My takeaway when
I watched that game, and even if Boston would have
won in both regulation and the fourth quarter or fourth, yeah,
fourth quarter and overtime, Boston's last possession. You guys have
been playing together for six years, get it together. Like
(08:23):
everybody can bang on the coach for not calling a
time out, but my takeaway is in that moment with
that group, like if Stephan, Clay Draymond and Wiggins had
eleven seconds, I wouldn't want the Lakers to be set.
They're too good defensively, I'd rather be them. I'd rather
have them backpedaling a little bit, kind of look into
the sideline. I generally, if you have a veteran team
(08:46):
and a rotation you're comfortable with. I wouldn't call a timeout.
It goes back to the years ago the Seahawks Patriots
were in a Super Bowl. It was a real chess
match Pete Carolyn Belichick, and you know Belichick is defense.
He wouldn't call time out. He was like, we know
what you're doing. This is why we agonize over practice.
And so the Celtics and the Warriors are the two
(09:09):
teams in the league right now. I'm not calling a timeout.
My experience is my edge. Lakers a brand new team
since the deadline, I'd call a timeout. I'd want to
get the ball to Ad. Even Denver's kind of young.
Philadelphia depends on who's healthy and who's hot. So this
comes down to something. I just there's an apprehension with Boston.
(09:33):
I just can't get past. I just I can't get
past that. I do not trust them. You know, games
decided by five hundred or five points or less. I
could be wrong. I think they're now thirteen and fourteen.
That doesn't make sense with those guys, does it.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
The part that drove me crazy about that final possession
was them waiting so damn low like James Harden make
that shot with like twelve seconds left. It's a one
point game, so if you go down and you miss,
you have a chance to foul and get and get
another opportunity. They basically dribbled the clock out to try
to work to a specific switch they wanted on Jason Tatum.
They didn't actually start to look to attack until like
(10:10):
five or six seconds left. And so, you know, the
thing with Boston is, I agree with you, they don't
really need an organization because they have so many good
matchups and they're always gonna force you to help off
of a shooter like Malcolm Brogden a wide open three
in the left wing at the end of that game
that he ended up missing. They're going to generate wide
open looks. It's just go quickly. It's the stagnation with
Boston that becomes a problem when they dribble up the
(10:32):
floor and they just take a contested jump shot or
they get the switch they want, but then they stand
and they stare around for ten seconds before they do something.
I was so impressed by James Harden in this game
because he's kind of beating allegations in this playoff run
because he kind of has a reputation for being a
player that can fade later in series, and this was
(10:53):
a super unique performance from James Harden because this is
at a point in the series where they figured him
out right. They are forcing him to his right hand
every single time. He had back to back at the
end of regulation, when Joel Embiid was crumbling under Al Horford,
Just and Joe made a couple of huge plays in
ot so like, including the double team kickout to James
(11:14):
Harden for the game winner and a little fade away
over Al Horford. But Horford was completely falling off the
face of the earth again. Embiid was in that fourth
quarter and James Harden carried them. He had a hard
isolation against a Jason Tatum where he got into the
lane to his right hand and made a floater. He
had a pull up jump shot on Jalen Brown where
he got to his right hand and took a and
(11:36):
took a jump shot like he has. He has gone
to his weakness because that's what the playoffs are about,
or forcing you to be uncomfortable, forcing you to do
things that make you feel uncomfortable, and he is getting
He's having success in the weakest areas of his game,
and I think a big part of it is him
not relying on the step back jump shot from three,
or not just driving into the teeth of the defense
(11:58):
and trying to draw fouls, but taking what the defense
giving him, which is those mid range shots, the little
floaters in the lane, the little pull up jump shots.
I was so impressed by James Harden in this game,
and look like it sucks that he's so inconsistent, but
this is what you want from a second star. He
doesn't have to be there every night, but he needs
to be able to win you a game or two
in the playoffs, and Harden's won you two in this
series so far.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Well, and also a lot of the teams he was
on before he was such a ball centric scoring machine,
but by the time he got to the second round
of the playoffs, it felt like he was gassed. Whereas
MB's the MVP Tobias Harris gives you about every third game,
he gives you a big game. MAXI has control of
the ball, so it's not as hard and reliant. I mean,
(12:39):
they could he can play poorly and they can win,
maybe not in the playoffs, but in the regular season.
So I feel like he's got more energy. I feel
like there are times like today I thought, oh no,
he's not tired at all. Embid looked gassed. It's like
Harden didn't. Yeah, Harden didn't look gast at all. All right,
now we go to the Lakers Warriors. Let's spend some
time on this. You know, I was thinking about this
(13:02):
series and when Golden State was playing Sacramento, I felt
like they were facing a less talented version of themselves.
But they were really looking in the mirror a lot.
And that's why I always felt strongly they were going
to win the series because they kind of knew the
next trick. They could kind of guess what was going
to happen next. Sacramento's about a wing player away, a
(13:22):
Wiggins away from being the Warriors. Right, they have some
of the same components, but the Lakers are the opposite
of the Warriors. Size, great rim protection, ad a dominant
big length, inconsistent shooting, sometimes poor shooting, undrafted players bounce
(13:43):
around the league. Guys, they don't have the cohesion. You know,
they're a trade deadline team. I'm like, they're the opposite
of the Warriors, and I think there are times in
this series I feel like the Warriors were a little flummoxed.
They're not. This is like it's like in boxing, facing
a left panded boxer, You're like, I know I'm better
than him, but I don't have a sparring partner that's
(14:04):
a left I've never faced a lefty, and I just
feel like, to me, the Warriors feel they can't quite
make up their mind. Do they do they want to
challenge the Lakers or at the rim? Or are they
just going to do pull ups? Now? They went back
to kind of attacking the rim a couple of times,
and I'm like, guys, it's not gonna work. Ads has
good A defenders the league have. That's not going to work.
(14:25):
So I don't feel the same way I did with Sacramento,
where I felt kind of this kind of hovering confidence,
like they're going to figure out even though they've been
a bad road team. They solve that fast. But I
do think Kerr will make adjustments. But boy, there are
moments in this series they look small and frustrated. Is
(14:49):
that they look small and frustrated at times.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
This is a different type of team than any team
that we've seen the Warriors play. Really in this entire
era when you factor in the combination of their into
your size and the offensive skill that they have around them.
Here's a crazy stat for you, Colin. The Lakers have
won five postseason games this year shooting below thirty percent
from three So, like, you're absolutely right, they could not
be more different than what this four years team is.
(15:13):
I think this series has been such This entire playoff
run has been such a I think Darvin Ham has
been so incredibly impressive. He's hit a bunch of the
right notes. I thought he made a bunch of key
adjustments in Game six against Memphis, shrinking the rotation to
the correct eight guys, tweaking his coverage of Desmond Baine.
(15:35):
It was a masterclass. And then you go into this
series and it's Game one. We knew the Warriors were
going to throw their fastball, which was all their off
ball stuff with their main lineup, and Darvin Ham just
top locked all the shooters, funneled everybody into the paint.
It was a disaster. Game two, the predictable adjustment from
Steve Kerr, lots of Steph Curry high pick and roll,
Draymond Green kills him in the short role. The entire
(15:56):
game genius adjustment from Darvin Ham. He puts Jared vander
Built onto Draymond Green and Austin Reeves onto Steph Curry
so they can switch to Steph Draymond pick and roll.
Now when they bring Anthony Davis into the screen, it's
a role man like Jamichael Green or Kevon Looney who's
just nowhere near as good at making those decisions in
the short role as Draymond Green is. It's been a
(16:16):
masterclass coaching performance from Darvin Ham in my opinion. You
know what's interesting, and this is why I say it's
different than any other Warriors opponent in this era. In
the past, it used to be that the Warriors would
play your best players off the floor. Oh, we're going
to play your center off the floor because he's too slow.
We're going to play this guard off the floor because
he can't guard. In this series, the Lakers have been
able to keep their core rotation and guess what. The
(16:39):
Warriors have had to cut way back on Gary Payton's
minutes and they've had to cut way back in Kavon
Looney's minutes because of the Anthony Davis problem. We focus
so much on superstar offensive players and their ability to
overcome anything. Look at what Devin Booker did tonight. Look
at what Steph Curry's done throughout his playoff career. Anthony
Davis not single handedly, but he's carrying the vast majority
of this Lowe is exposing his defensive superpower to slow
(17:04):
down this Warriors offense. I think it's been one of
the best defensive performances I've ever seen from a player.
This is very different. This is a very different type
of challenge. Series is not over. I think the winner
of Game four wins the series. But man, this is
definitely going to be a unique challenge for the Warriors.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Well, yeah, game game Game five and Game seven, which
are huge games, obviously deciding Game seven, are both at
Chase Center. It is interesting. I did not pick the
Warriors to get to the finals, and a lot of
it was I think they've struggled all year to figure
out to bridge the old new gap. Now they're not
playing kaminga at all. Moody's good. Doesn't play a lot,
(17:41):
but he's actually pretty good. Jordan Poole is just infuriating,
but I think they need him. My takeaway on this
series was the Warriors would win it. But I felt
somewhere in the playoffs, whether it was against Jokic, or
it's against Anthony Davis, or it would be against MBID,
that they would face an offensive minded center and they
(18:05):
just get nothing from their bigs. I mean when Wiggins
was out, Jesus, I mean, they got nothing from anybody
but the back court for two months. I mean it
was just basically Steph kept him at five hundred. I mean,
they had no scoring. So Wiggins gives them, you know,
you're fifteen a game at the wing. But I do
think that Bob Meyer and Kerr, out of respect for Curry,
(18:31):
everything's going to be. They're going to attain players eventually
who are on Steph's timeline. Anthony Davis is on his
timeline right, bigs that can play, And I'm really interested
if they lose this series. They're not going to stand
pat They're just not And as Looney right now has
a reputation that's greater than his game. I mean, he's
(18:51):
got no offensive skill. He's a great rebounder. It's like,
we can take fewer rebounds, give me seventeen points. If
you ran the Warriors as constituted today and they lost
in Game six, and it was Anthony Davis that just
at the rim, protecting it and scoring. Where do you go,
(19:12):
because I don't think they stand pat Where would they go?
Speaker 1 (19:14):
It's so interesting you asked that because I was texting
a buddy of mine who covers the Warriors the other
day and for the record, do not think this series
is over. Would not be the least bit surprised if
Golden State one Game two and won the series. This
is not over. But in the hypothetical scenario where the
Warriors lose, what I would do is I would retain
your one, two three, so I would keep Steph, Klay Thompson,
and Andrew Wiggins, and then I would go all in
(19:36):
on the front line with size and athleticism. And then
I'd run a more traditional offense that you see around
the NBA, where you rely more on Steph Curry in
high pick and roll. It's just the way that the
game has been set up. That's where you can have
a ton of success these days, especially when you've got
shooting and athleticism around you. And Andrew Wiggins and Klay
Thompson are great at that. Specifically, too often they've had
to rely on being gimmicky to overcome their size issue,
(20:00):
no question, and it's worked like we're not being critical.
They've what they have, four titles. But you know, as
players start to age out just a little bit and
their effectiveness starts to slide just a little bit, it's
time to potentially try something different. And in that scenario,
I do all in on Steph Clay and Wiggins mainly too.
From an asset standpoint, like Clay at this phase in
his career is going to be tough to get like
(20:21):
value for right, Andrew Wiggins is one of the most
important types of players you can have on an NBA roster,
like a legit twenty point per game score that can
guard the other team's best player. Steph I think as
absolutely as at least two or three more years as
a peak level superstar. Then you start to look down
the roster and it's like Jordan Poole, like him or
hate him, He's at least an asset that you probably
can get some value out of. So I would I
(20:44):
would definitely look to bolster the front court with just
a ton of size in athleticism, get Steph a real
vertical spacing threat so he can actually run. You know,
you mentioned Anthony Davis. He might not be attainable, but
somebody that can do some of like a poor man's
version of him, that can play traditional drop coverag grim
protect and be a vertical spacing threat like that would
be the direction that I'd look to go if they
did choose to rebuild.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
So it was interesting Lebron didn't score a single point
in that game, and it was and we both we've
discussed this kind of ad nauseam that he really lets
the game come to him, and by the way he should.
He kind of waits for it, and so then he
turns the jet you know, the jets on later in
games and crucial situations, and it's it's like a really
(21:26):
it's like a it's like a boxer with a knockout
punch who's at the end of his career. He just
lets the fight come to him and then the other
guy gets worn down. Sixth round, he kind of seizes it.
Seventh round, goes to the knockout. But it's interesting with
Lebron that this series, I thought it was a real problem.
(21:47):
After Game one, they get one day rest, so they're
back on the court tomorrow. Do you foresee any problem
Game four, Game five, Game six, Game seven, and I'm
watching Lebron the other night, and I'm like, I know
what he's doing here, He's waiting for the moment we got.
(22:07):
We may have four more of these things. Would you
be concerned if you were Darvin ham about I don't
know how much can I get out of him? I got,
we got four games in eight days, potentially. That's just
he's not Jason. That's just not what he's That's not
what he is now.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
I mean to me, this series comes down to the
Lakers will absolutely will win if they get two more
defensive efforts like what they had in Game three, And
you know, Lebron James, there was a time out after
a that nasty Andrew Wiggins dunk and then Steph Curry
got a three on an offensive rebound put back where
they got it back to twelve. And after that time out,
(22:45):
Lebron really engaged himself athletically and started blocking shots getting
out in transition. You know, he doesn't quite have the
same first step that he usually has, probably a byproduct
of the foot injury, which is a byproduct of his age.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
His jump shot has kind of failed him in a
lot of different ways in the postseason run. Yeah, it's
kind of It's highly unusual, but it is what it is. However,
next to what Anthony Davis is doing and what Jared
Vanderbilt is doing. If Lebron James engages himself as a
rebounder and as a defender and pushes in transition when
he cans when he can, that's all they need from him.
(23:17):
That's all they need. That's how good this team is defensively.
They don't need him to be thirty five point per
game historical playoff Lebron. They just need him to be
engaged defensively. Now, you said, should Darvin hand be worried?
That's the thing. We have seen this throughout this playoff
run and really throughout the entire season. The Lakers struggle
to maintain their effort level. I would not be surprised
in the slightest if Game four was much closer, or
(23:41):
if the Warriors held a decent sized lead throughout the
Lakers struggle to maintain that defensive intensity. But it's really
that simple to me. If they can get two more
performances like that, they can win the series. Game four
I expect to be super close. Game five, I think
golden State would win nine times out of ten and
then game six back crypto if you get that three
(24:01):
two lead at that point. Lebron was excellent in the
closeout game against Memphis. He smells blood in the water
and he summons the necessary energy that he needs. Everything
comes down to game four for me.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
You know, it's interesting, this is sort of feeling like
the Bubble year. Anthony Davis was healthy and dominant. Anthony
Davis now is on a long streak of healthy and dominant.
Lebron was out of his prime but could be dominant
in spurts. There were several players KCP one, d Lo here,
big shot makers, but you always kind of feel like
(24:34):
they're not part of the future. Right then you have
like I mean when I always like KCP Rich Paul
and I talked about this. He was never afraid to
take a big shot like ever didn't know's love his selection,
but I loved his effort. Diegelo Russell same thing. He's
always willing to take a shot. But I don't think
(24:55):
they're going to sign him for a long term deal.
And the West year was weird. Veteran teams, you know,
dovetailed in the postseason in the Bubble. They missed their
wives and their friends and their kids. And this year
is weird. I mean the Clippers were weird. Denver's a
unique team. I mean, Golden State had from the punch
(25:18):
to the abysmal road performance, Chris Paul's now out KD trade,
it is that bubble team. Even though you know, if
you go back to the bubble and I don't remember
it specifically, but I can remember a D really being
(25:40):
dominant at times, and at times for the first time ever,
Lebron like kind of liking it. In fact, I mean,
do you remember that bubble where it was the first
time ever Lebron was in a championship level thing and
was very comfortable dropping the ball low and observing. I
think I think I think Lebron one of his assets.
(26:01):
I think he's very comfortable. I think deep down he
knows AD on both ends of the floor right now
is a better player more consistently than I am. And
I think Lebron's okay with it. He's always been a
great teammate. Do you think he knows that Not only.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Is he okay with it, he's been begging for this
for years. That was the whole reason why he like
he that's what he wanted Kyrie to b That's what
he's been wanting Anthony Davis to be. You know, I
do think this team is actually a little bit better
defensively than the twenty twenty Lakers with their core lineup.
They're not as deep because Dwight Howard was so important
off the bench for them, But it's the Jared Vanderbilt piece.
(26:37):
They never really had a real athletic forward that could
defend the way Jared Vanderbilt could. Thought that Laker team
had slightly better guard defenders. But also Anthony Davis I
think is on a defensive run that even he couldn't
reach in twenty twenty. The thing that the difference is
and the reason why, Like, I was incredibly confident that
twenty twenty Lakers team was going to win. They started
the season twenty four and three. I believed in their defense,
(26:57):
I believed in Lebron. I thought they were going to win.
The biggest fear.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
For me Miami. Miami was a bunch of kids, for sure.
That was a I was surprised it was competitive early
and they were just they were out of their element.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
For sure, and they they actually went through some tougher
competition in the Western Conference. I thought like that Nuggets
team was pretty good. The Lakers were just clicking at
a high level. That Houston team that was really weird,
that played a five out, you know. But specifically what
scares me with this Lakers team is they just don't
have close to the same offensive ceiling as that twenty
(27:30):
twenty Lakers team, even though that twenty twenty Lakers team
was known as being, you know, somewhat clunky offensively, simply
because Lebron James was operating at a much higher level
offensively in that playoff run. Yeah, he was giving you
forty in the finals. Like like if I if I
told you one of the odds that Lebron's going to
get forty tomorrow, you'd be like extremely low. Like it's
just he just doesn't seem to have that first and
(27:51):
then Anthony Davis was on such a jump shooting run
in that twenty twenty bubble. He was making everything out
of the post like he was Kevin Durant make you
shot like fifty something percent on pull up jump shots
in that playoff run. So like, as much as I
enjoy this Lakers team, I do think they have a
slightly higher defensive ceiling with their best lineups because of
Jared Vanderbilt. They have a little bit more flexibility, and
(28:13):
they do have more offensive skill in the back court.
But you win with superstars in the playoffs, and I'm
just a little concerned with the up and down nature
of Lebron and Anthony Davis offensively. That doesn't mean they
can't win it, but I view them as more just
in the pack, whereas to me, that twenty twenty Lakers
team was head and shoulders above everybody else.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Jason Timpf hoops Tonight such an important part of the volume.
His stuff's all over YouTube, really breaks it down like
I don't think anybody else does in this space. I
absolutely love it. I'll pass on discussing the knicks and
the heat. I don't even know how Miami. Miami's not
even playing well. That's what's amazing. They're not even I mean,
(28:53):
they're really not playing extraordinarily well. And I look up
and I'm like, Cody Zeller's on the floor, Lauren, Max Druce,
and Jimmy Butler's not. We'll discuss that this week when
we're on again. But as always, Buddy, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Thanks calling, see you next time.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Man the volume. Make sure to check out The Draymon
(29:32):
Green Show. I brought Draymond Green into the volume because
one of the more entertaining voices in sports. Unique perspective
understands behind the rope. Also chops up with guests like
Gary Payton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download The
Draymond Green Show wherever you get your podcasts. Only on
the Volume podcast Network.
Host
Colin Cowherd
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