The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Steph Curry’s return to MVP form, Warriors dominate Heat, Toronto Raptors hot star

Episode Date: October 29, 2022

First (3:00), Jason Timpf reacts to Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors' 123-110 win over Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat. Jason discusses Steph Curry's MVP start to the season, Klay Thompson ...returning to form, and the Miami Heat's early struggles. Later (19:00), he takes a deep dive into the Toronto Raptors and their outlook for the 2022-2023 NBA season. #Volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.
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Starting point is 00:00:42 Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.
Starting point is 00:01:06 From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.
Starting point is 00:01:22 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. Hoops Tonight is presented by Fandual. The NBA is back and there's no better place to get in on the action than with Fandall. This is my favorite sports betting app that is out there.
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Starting point is 00:03:01 1-800-270-7-117 for confidential help in Michigan. 1-8-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope N-Y to 467-369 in New York. In Tennessee, redline, dial 1-800-9-9-97889 in Tennessee. visit www. www.1.1800 gambler.net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight, presented by Fanduel here at the volume. Happy Friday, everybody. Congrats on making it to the weekend. We're going to be covering the Golden State Warriors,
Starting point is 00:03:56 and they're convincing win over the Miami Heat yesterday. We're also going to kind of briefly touch on the Miami Heat. And then the team that most people in the comments last night wanted us to do a little bit of a deep dive into this morning was the Toronto Raptors. And so we'll be doing a dive into them on both ends of the ball and their start to this season. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the volumes YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.
Starting point is 00:04:22 Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason L.T. So you guys don't miss any show announcements. That's also where I put all of the NBA footage stuff since we have some limitations in our ability to use it on YouTube. And then last but not least, if for whatever reason you guys miss one of these shows and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish them, you can find them where every. you get your podcasts under hoops tonight. All right, let's talk some basketball. So, good win for the Warriors, got back on track. Defense still isn't quite where it needs to be,
Starting point is 00:04:52 but they're making progress. They had 108 defensive rating last night against Miami in particular. I'm not super thrilled about that in terms of the rest of the league. Now they're down to 20th, so I'm sure Steve Kerr is going to really be harping on that. But things are clicking so well on the offensive end of the floor that there's still a lot to be excited about. And here's the thing, Miami's just a pain in the ass. They're never going to quit. They're super well coached. They're going to find ways to make you feel uncomfortable. Jimmy Butler is always a threat to have a big game, especially in a moment that appears like a high pressure situation, like a road game nationally televised, this time on NBA TV, I suppose. But in Golden State against
Starting point is 00:05:36 the defending champions, like Jimmy's just going to play. well in a game like that and he did and he made a lot of timely shots to keep this game close. You also happen to catch one of those random games. I swear it's like one out of every 10 games. You get Bametabio just super confident scoring the basketball because like Bametabio actually has like a really nice short range game. Obviously he's not a stretch big. He's not going to consistently make you pay from the three point line. But he is one of the best like short jumpers that you see in the league, like little five-foot jumpers, seven-foot jumpers, ten-foot jumpers. He actually hit a couple of longer ones in this game as well.
Starting point is 00:06:16 But when he really gets comfortable and confident with that shot, he's really difficult to guard because he's a freak athlete. Guys are accustomed to giving him space. He just elevates over the top and can knock those shots down. You guys probably remember game six in Boston last year when the heat kept that series going and sent it to seven, a similar type of vibe where it was like it was almost like unrecognizable the level of aggression you were seeing from BAM. So a lot of that kind of led to Miami having a relatively successful offensive night
Starting point is 00:06:46 against Golden State. That said, they got absolutely obliterated on the other end of the floor. I think Golden State had about 126 offensive rating in this game. It was actually way closer than it should have been. Golden State shot much better from the field. They shot much better from three. They completely pulverized them on the glass, 50 to 3. 31. Specifically, James Wiseman, Kvonnui, and Draymond Green did an awesome job on the
Starting point is 00:07:13 offensive glass. They combined for seven offensive rebounds. Andrew Wiggins, too. There are so many times where you're watching and you don't even see him and he'll just come flying in out of nowhere to grab contested offensive rebounds over the top. Those plays feel like big momentum plays in a basketball game too. The Warriors also won points in the paint, 48 to 34. This was a destructive dominant performance. that was kept close because of turnovers. You know, this is something that's happened time to time over the years with the Warriors. They just can be a little fast and loose with their offense.
Starting point is 00:07:48 Miami, too, I mean, they're the, I think they're, you know, I think they're organizationally every bit as smart as Golden State is. They just don't have the talent. And they did a really nice job of mixing up man coverages and zone. A lot of zone in this particular game. Jimmy Butler, Bamaabatabio, and Kyle Lowry in particular are really good at kind of camping just outside of a passing lane and baiting you into thinking that a pass or a swing pass or a skip pass or something like that is open when it's not. And then they'll jump into that
Starting point is 00:08:19 gap and force a turnover. That is one of their specific strengths. And I tell you, Steph and Dremont in particular, there were several times where they were just making simple swing passes that someone would jump the passing. There was one in the third quarter where Dremon Green was bringing the ball up the right side. And before he even got to half court, I think it was Moses Moody running along the left wing, and he's just like, oh, I'll try this skip ahead pass, and Jimmy Butler jumped it.
Starting point is 00:08:47 Or like, Steph Curry, like dribbling at the top of the key, you know, trying to figure out which way he's going to attack the zone, and Clay Thompson is on the wing, and he just throws it to Clay Thompson, and Jimmy Butler jumps it and gets a steal. Like a lot of just sloppiness. And some of that, too, is just the way Miami plays. They're towards the top of the league and steals again.
Starting point is 00:09:06 end this year, just like they were last year. They're always going to be good in those areas of the game. And they took advantage of some sloppiness for Golden State and kept the game close. They had 16 steals in this game. But at the end of the day, they were obliterated in every single other facet of the game. So even though it occasionally got close, it never really truly felt like Golden State was threatened. And so again, like you're never going to, like I said with these defense details, these changes never happen overnight. You're not going to go from being an average defense to a great defense in one night. You have to build habits, build continuity, build connective tissue.
Starting point is 00:09:47 You're training younger defensive players like James Wiseman and Moses Moody to take significant roles. You know, you've got, because of injuries, you've got some unusual guys in the lineup in terms of the rotation. Obviously, when Clay Thompson and Draymond Green have their minutes restrictions lifted, you're going to have a little bit less of those guys anyway. So I do think over time you're going to see Golden State's defensive rating tick up, but I'm sure that Kerr's not super pleased at this point. Clay Thompson finally got going in that second half. He made four three, some big ones too, to stop Miami runs.
Starting point is 00:10:18 That probably felt good for him after the ejection with Devin Booker. There was a lot of talk, a lot of slander directed towards Clay, a lot of stuff like, oh, if Devin Booker switched places with him in his career, the Warriors would be even better and all this kind of stuff. and I think that stuff is completely loaded. There's just so much that you have to get into there. And I think that Clay Thompson's resume is unassailable. He's played so well in so many huge playoff games.
Starting point is 00:10:45 And he's just many, many times the defensive player that Devin Booker is. I think that's kind of disrespectful. So it probably felt good for Clay Thompson to finally get going in that second half and make some big plays in a warrior win. But I wanted to spend some time on Steph. I talked a lot about Steph over the course of the summer. So in the early part of the season, I was kind of focusing on some of the other parts of the roster. But the truth is, is he's been one of the most impressive guys in the league to start the season.
Starting point is 00:11:14 Among the guys that I had towards the top of my player rankings, Janus, Luca, and Steph are the ones that are impressing me the most. Tatum's putting up big scoring numbers, and I had him at 6th, I believe, in my player rankings, just kind of an homage to what he did in his playoff run. but Tatum's kind of abandoning playmaking so far in the season, and that is deeply concerning to me because that's such a huge part of why I had him as high as I did. I think he's only averaging like three and a half assists per game, which just goes to show you that he's kind of got his head in the wrong place
Starting point is 00:11:45 compared to what his idealized peak version of himself is. So even though he's putting up the numbers, I don't put him in that conversation. Katie is putting up scoring numbers, but he's not good enough in the details right now, and his team is suffering for it, specifically Luca, Steph, and Janice are picking up exactly where they left off at the end of last season and playing dominant basketball. Steph is playing with the confidence of a champion, you know, a guy that just clearly got the monkey off his back last year.
Starting point is 00:12:14 Not that he had a real monkey. It was just like he had three titles, the first two everyone pointed to KD, and then the first one, or the last two, everyone pointed to KD, and then the first one everyone said he got lucky because of injuries. And so this one was like the unassailable, like, you can't, you can't undercut this one. This one's for real. And you could tell that confidence is coming out of his pores, literally. He's just, he's just exuding that every game. And he struggled most of last season, if you guys remember, in the regular season.
Starting point is 00:12:45 So to see him playing really well in the regular season this year is a good sign. He's averaging 31, 6, and 6 on 66% true shooting. Now remember in that 2016 unanimous MVP campaign, he had a 67% true shooting percentage, and was averaging 30. So he's basically scoring at a higher rate and at about the same efficiency as his unanimous MVP season. He's shooting 50% on 6.4 pull-up threes per game. That's outrageous. He's shooting 49% on 10.2 above the break threes per game. That's completely insane.
Starting point is 00:13:23 he's shooting 45% on seven mid-to-short range attempts per game. So that's the mid-range and then everything in the paint that's outside of the restricted area. That's really, really good. And then this is the wild part, and you saw this on display last night against Miami. Steph is looking extremely explosive going to the rim, like as explosive as he's looked ever in his career.
Starting point is 00:13:45 And he's shooting 80% in the restricted area on almost two makes per game. Now, if you guys remember over the summer, we talked a lot about this, at the guard position, I want over 60%. And at the wing, if you're a big wing, I want that over 70%. Steph's at 80%, which is just out of control. This is also the first time in his career
Starting point is 00:14:06 that he's averaged at least six assists with less than three turnovers per game. He's showing complete offensive mastery on that end of the floor. And it almost like reminds me of LeBron in 2018 where I remember, you know, LeBron was always very good, but like in the Miami years, there still was like a little bit of like the production was there, but like you could tell like he didn't, he didn't have that overwhelming confidence. And then 2016, 2017, the production reached these insane levels, but it still just didn't quite feel like the overwhelming confidence. And then there was 2018. And it was like every game you watched LeBron, it was like it just felt like he could get to wherever he won. wanted, get to whatever shot he wanted, it was complete offensive mastery for him.
Starting point is 00:14:57 And I feel like Steph's entering into that phase of his career right now. And it's similar because it was about the same age. I think LeBron in 2018 was like 33, 34. And at this point, Steph is 34. So it's a similar age. You know, it's like mid-30s, you still have a good chunk of your athleticism, like 95% of your peak athleticism with the basketball IQ that comes from years and years and years of experience. And then your skill set is as polished as it's ever.
Starting point is 00:15:22 ever going to be. And then, yeah, when you get into your late 30s, the physical stuff kind of tails off and then you'll start to see some decline. But, but like, man, he's, this might be, this might be the best that Stever, that Steff will ever be. This is, this appears like his peak, kind of similar to the 2018 season for LeBron. So kudos of Steph. Great start to the season. You know, it's going to be an interesting season for the Warriors because they're going to have some downsides as they work through their rotation, trying to build those young guys into usable playoff pieces. And it's going to be a journey, but they're still going to be a pain in the ass, and I wouldn't want to see them in a playoff series. Miami, they're down to two and four now.
Starting point is 00:16:04 They still can't score the basketball. They're 23rd in offense. Outside of Jimmy Butler, they aren't getting consistent production really out of anyone on the roster. Tyler Harrow, in particular, is not shooting the ball well to start the year. But the biggest concern is their defense has fallen off of a cliff. Last year, they were fourth and defense overall, fifth in the half court, according to cleaning the glass. This year, their half court defense is down to 15th. Now, I will say that their schedule has played a big role in this. They've had a really tough schedule to start the year. They had Chicago, Boston, Toronto twice, then Portland, do they actually beat convincingly in Golden State. So schedule has played a role in this,
Starting point is 00:16:42 but their defense is not as good as it was last year. This was a concern for us after they lost PJ Tucker. They're legitimately very thin in the front court and nowhere near as physical as they were last year. The big concern is with the loss of PJ Tucker, they're getting absolutely demolished on the glass. Like we talked about last night, Golden State outrebounded them 50 to 31. They are 27th in rebounding percentage overall. They're just too small and unathletic on the perimeter and they don't have enough size on the interior to make up for it. Their aggregate size of most of their good lineups is just not big enough. And look, I get that they were one shot away from the finals last year.
Starting point is 00:17:23 And so it can be easy to say, like, we're this close, you know. But the reality is, is this team needs to make a move, in my opinion. They just simply don't have the pieces. And I think they underestimated how much PJ Tucker was valuable to them. Look, I won't ever count out Eric Spolstra. That would be foolish. I won't ever count out Jimmy Butler. Those guys terrify me in a playoff environment.
Starting point is 00:17:51 But right now, this looks like a team that fundamentally doesn't have the requisite physicality defensively and on the glass to compete in an NBA playoff environment. So I'd be pretty concerned if I was a Miami Heat fan at this point. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing huge. potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having
Starting point is 00:18:26 trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.
Starting point is 00:19:04 One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,
Starting point is 00:19:24 this is right what you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kai had to be able to.
Starting point is 00:19:42 They said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little camp? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.
Starting point is 00:19:59 Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence.
Starting point is 00:20:22 Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I said I asked you guys, because we had been talking a lot of Warriors and Lakers lately, And for those you guys that have been watching the show,
Starting point is 00:20:45 look, in our thumbnails and in our descriptions, we're going to mention Warriors and Lakers. That's just good business. And we're going to mention them at the top of the show, usually, that's just good business. At the end of the day, we're not doing this for fun. I don't work all these hours for fun. We do this because it's our job.
Starting point is 00:21:01 And the reality is, I do want to have as much of a wide-ranging coverage of the league as I can. And there were probably like four videos or so. that I did since the start of the season, where if you get past that opening segment, I am doing dyes into all of these other games. One of the videos, we covered seven games. Another video, we covered five games.
Starting point is 00:21:22 So just keep looking in the latter half of the videos. That's where you're going to see the analysis of some of the other teams around the league. But last night I asked you guys what team you guys wanted to hear me talk about. And the team that got most frequently mentioned in the comments was the Toronto Raptors. So we're going to do a little deep dive in Toronto right now. So after they beat Philly on Wednesday, they moved up to three and two.
Starting point is 00:21:45 They got Philly again tonight. We'll see how that goes. Their 15th in offense, 12th in defense, 11th in net rating. A lot of good on the offensive end so far. Pascal Seaccom has been incredible, 25, 9, and 8 to start the season. He's playing with the confidence that I've never seen from him. In that Sixers game on Wednesday, he was like, it was, was kind of cool to see him talking shit to PJ Tucker. And you could tell PJ Tucker was kind of daring him to shoot. And he stuck one and then like ran down the floor and basically like you could
Starting point is 00:22:23 tell PJ Tucker said something along the lines of like, I'm going to leave you open all night, something along those lines. And then PJ, uh, or Pascal Seacom was like, okay, bet. Let's see how this goes for you. And the rest of that first quarter, he lit PJ Tucker on fire with three point shots and every time down the floor was letting him know about it. He is shooting 42% on five pull-up mid-range jumpers per game. In combination, was shooting 36% from three overall. So that was one of their biggest issues last year against the Sixers, which we'll talk about when we get to that point.
Starting point is 00:22:59 But Pascal Seacum becoming a confident jump shooter would go a long way towards helping this team in a playoff environment offensively. But overall, that's your biggest bright spot right now on offense is how good PJ Tuck, or excuse me, how good Pascal Ciacom looks. One concern, the pull-up three isn't quite there yet, and that's going to be a big one for him, I think, over the course of his career. But overall, he's playing like an all-em-a-player on both ends, and that's exciting. Gary Trent Jr. is averaging 20.
Starting point is 00:23:27 The biggest thing that would concern me offensively right now is as a team, they're shooting, like, absolutely lights out from three to a completely unrealistic extent. and I'm sure most of you Raptors fans probably would agree with me watching these games. So check this out. Chris Boucher, Delano Banton, Fred Van Vleet, Malachi Flynn, and Scotty Barnes are all shooting over 50% on catch-and-shoot-3s. Over 50%. Gary Trent Jr., O.G. Anobie and Pascal Siakum are all shooting over 40% on catch-and-shoot threes. That's not sustainable. It just simply isn't. The best teams in the league aren't going to have, the best shooting teams in the league aren't going to have that level of shooting. from their role players. Here's why that concerns me.
Starting point is 00:24:10 They're already, according to cleaning the glass, 24th and half-court offense. So, yeah, they're 15th in offense overall, but they're being carried by the fact that their third in transition efficiency. They run the floor really well, which is going to be a strength of theirs, and we'll talk about how they might be able
Starting point is 00:24:25 to weaponize that here in a second. But they are 24th in half-court offense right now with that super-hot shooting. And like, think of it like this. Last year against Toronto in that playoff series, they shot 34% on catch-and-shoot-3s. In that series, when they were wide open, meaning defenders at least six feet away, they shot 35%. And this year, they're shooting 46% as a team on catch-and-shoot-3.
Starting point is 00:24:53 So are they getting better? Sure. Like, see Aalcom's form looks really solid and confident. Scotty Barnes looks like he's made improvements over the summer as a shooter. So they're going to shoot better than they do. did against Toronto last year, or excuse me, against Philly last year. I kept saying Toronto. Those numbers I was quoting was against Philadelphia in that first round series. They were 34% on catch-and-shoot threes, 35% on wide-open threes. But they're going to be better than that
Starting point is 00:25:21 because of natural improvement of players, but they're not going to shoot 46% on catch-and-shoot-3s. So with them already struggling to score in the half-court, when the shooting numbers normalized, that could be an issue. The reality is this is a physically imposing team that has gone all in on these huge wings. And there's a lot of pluses that come with that, but they're relatively low and offensive skill compared to the rest of the league. They do run some pick and rolls with guys like Gary Trent Jr. and Fred Van Vleet, but most of their offense is just Scotty Barnes, Pascal Seacum, and O.G. and Ninobe picking a matchup that they like and trying to bully their way to the rim. And I typically like that kind of offense, that brute force
Starting point is 00:26:00 type of offense because it translates really well to the postseason. But I usually like that when it's more skilled, like when it's coming from a guy like Luca or Quay Leonard or LeBron James, where it's that physical bully ball mixed with a really high-end offensive skill set. And right now, outside of Pascal Seacum, it's a lot of overwhelming physical talent that doesn't come with a requisite offensive skill to be a team that scores in the half court easily. That was why I wanted them to go after Donovan Mitchell this summer, as some of you Raptors fans remember, or after Kevin Durant. I mean, look, there's a lot in the future to be excited about.
Starting point is 00:26:38 You know, OG's improving over the years. Pascal's improving. You know, Scotty Barnes is one of my favorite young players in the league. He looks way better. He's going to continue to get way better. Maybe in three or four years this all pans out great. You look like a top-tier contender and everything's fine. But there's also a universe here where by the time Scotty Barnes gets to the point where he's ready to be the focal point of a championship team
Starting point is 00:26:59 where you lose some of this talent elsewhere on the roster and then suddenly you're not good enough. the delicate balance you had over the course this summer as it pertained to the trade trade market. It was, do you kind of go in on this talent that you have that's clearly missing that offensive centerpiece, or do you be patient and hope that everyone kind of pans out? And they're going the patient route, but here we are, and they're 24th and half court offense despite shooting the damn laces off the basketball. And that can be concerning. A bright spot. They're third in transition offense. First, in fast, break points scored per game. That's bolstering their offensive rating quite a bit.
Starting point is 00:27:38 Their first in steals per 100 possessions kind of reminds me, you know, the 2020 Lakers that won the title, they were a bad half-court offense, but they were a good offense because of what they did in transition. And all season long, everyone said, well, what if they can slow them down? If you can slow down the Lakers and keep them in the half court, you're going to beat them. and then guess what they got a bunch of steals and stops and got out in transition against Portland and then they got a bunch of steals and stops and got out in transition against Houston and then they got a bunch of steals and got out in transition against Denver and then they got a bunch of stops and steals and got out in transition against
Starting point is 00:28:18 Miami so at the end of the day if Toronto can play to their style which is get stops get out and run, then they'll be fine. But if teams manage to keep them in the half court, they're going to have hard time winning. It's just the reality. Strangely enough, you know, and I talked, I did a whole video on this in the preseason on Toronto, so you can find it if you dig far back into my Twitter feed. But they're still overhelping too much for what their talent really demands defensively. They're 24th and half court defense, despite having all that length in athleticism. And a huge part of it is they've got all these defensive pieces that you can leave on an island and force offensive players to take difficult shots.
Starting point is 00:29:02 But too often, and this has always been a Nick Nurse thing, he's a load up the side kind of coach. If you're off ball, you're damn near on the midline every single time. There's always like five defensive players on one side of the court if the ball's on the left wing. He is just an overhelp coach with the personnel that doesn't require that much help. And as a result, they're giving up too many points in the half court. for the amount of talent that they have. So, I mean, kind of zooming out, and again, this is all early. All these, like, characterizations I do with these teams, keep in mind that it's early.
Starting point is 00:29:32 A lot can change over the course of the next couple weeks. Philly could beat Toronto tonight and go on a run, and then everything I said about Doc Rivers could be irrelevant, you know? So, like, everything can change quickly. The Lakers have one of the best defenses in the league, so they're 0 and 4, but if they start shooting better and they keep getting stops, they might just start kicking the shit out of everybody. Like, you never know what's going to happen.
Starting point is 00:29:52 and I had a lot of people go like, oh, Jason, you had this team at, you know, you had the Lakers at 13th in your power rankings and their own four. You had Philly at whatever, fifth in your power rankings, and they're one in four, whatever it is. Guys, it's early. I'm never going to completely change my outlook of the season based on four or five games, but we do learn things. What do we learn about the Lakers?
Starting point is 00:30:14 They're a damn good defensive team. What did I predict this summer? I predicted that they would be a top five defense. They've been a top five defense, okay? their offense is shooting historically bad. Literally, no team in NBA history has shot worse than the Lakers through four games on a minimum of 80 attempts. I think Tom Havrosstrow tweeted that out yesterday.
Starting point is 00:30:34 That's not going to sustain. They're going to shoot better. When they do, if they keep getting stops, they're going to be a better basketball team. Me putting them at 13th is not that crazy. Philly still has a ton of talent. They have the second best offensive half-court offense in the league right now. if they figure out some things in their transition defense and in their half-court defense, they're going to start beating teams.
Starting point is 00:30:55 Like, it's just a reality. So in general, I can't stand when people get all like in your face about predictions. I won't take victory laps on predictions because I know predictions are a crapshoot. I'm going to be right sometimes. I'm going to be wrong sometimes. If it was easy to make predictions, we'd all be in Vegas making a ton of money betting on games and outcomes, which we all are not doing. We're all just having fun with it on fan duel.
Starting point is 00:31:19 So that's just the reality of it. What I'm going to do, though, is over the course of the season, try to learn lessons watching the film. As we learn lessons, we make adjustments. And you'll notice I haven't done a power rankings yet since the start of the season. I'll probably give it another week, probably next Friday, and we'll touch base on some power rankings. And then you know what?
Starting point is 00:31:39 We'll give it another couple weeks, and then we'll touch base on some power rankings. But you've got to give these teams time to play some basketball. Like Brooklyn's heading into a week stretch of their schedule. They have five pretty inferior opponents coming up. They could undo a lot of damage to their metrics during that span. The Lakers are still in a tough stretch, but they're going to head into an easier stretch after that.
Starting point is 00:32:01 You know, Toronto's been shooting super well. We'll see what happens when they stopped making shots. Miami has played, you know, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, twice, Portland, and Golden State. Like, they're due to have some easier games. So at the end of the day, everyone kind of has, like, it's too small sample size to make sweeping declarations, we just learn what we can from teams. And like, I've learned through watching that Miami's too small. That's just a thing. They're actually too small. They're not going to suddenly have no, no issues with size once they enter a weaker phase of their schedule. You know,
Starting point is 00:32:36 like you're going to see that the Lakers don't shoot the ball well enough. Yeah, they should shoot better than they have been. But I predicted before the season, they would be the worst shooting team in the NBA, not this bad, but I predicted they would be bad. That's a personnel weakness. They're going to have to address it at some point. But hey, here we are, what, 10 days into the regular season. We've learned quite a bit. I'm having fun. We're going to take this weekend off.
Starting point is 00:33:00 And I will be back on Monday afternoon covering the weekend's games. I hope you guys all have a fun Halloween. And I will see you after the weekend. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.
Starting point is 00:34:12 This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.
Starting point is 00:34:35 It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app,
Starting point is 00:34:57 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at a Podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam Jay And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down,
Starting point is 00:35:11 and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.
Starting point is 00:35:25 Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed humor. in.

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