The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Timberwolves-Mavericks Reaction: Luka Doncic & Mavs push Wolves to BRINK

Episode Date: May 27, 2024

Jason Timpf reacts to Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks' 116-107 Game 3 win over Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. Jason breaks down the game's biggest highlights and discusses what's next for both teams following Dallas taking a 3-0 series lead. #volume #Herd  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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. 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 I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS.

Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to fupas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Gianna Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano.

It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love.

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Hope all of you guys have had a great weekend. Well, the Dallas Mavericks have gone up 3-0 on the Minnesota Timberwolves in a game that kind of felt just like every other game in this series. felt to this point. A few different factors. Dallas shoots a little bit better, Anthony Everts plays a little bit better. But the same basic dynamic takes place, and Dallas pulls away late and crunch time, he gets a win to go up 3-0. We're going to break it down from the perspective of both teams. You guys said the drill before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT,

so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed, wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. And then keep dropping mailback questions in the YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them throughout the rest of the postseason. All right, let's some basketball. So this series actually, it kind of reminds me a little bit of some of those Lakers Nugget series, where it just feels like no matter how hard Minnesota plays, no matter how hard the Lakers play, the same base issues rise to the surface eventually at some point over the course of the game. And they all seem to end the exact same way. And it's like Minnesota just scrounging all these different ways to stay in the game. But when it push, when push comes to shove, Dallas is just a much better half court team.

And when they get into these slowdown situations, when they get stuck into the half court and it becomes about execution, Dallas is just better. Did anybody think when it was 104 104 that Minnesota was going to win that game? Of all of the close playoff series, and I'm not talking about these Boston ones where they're playing against mostly bad or injured teams. Among the relatively evenly matched series, this one has felt the most inevitable to me by far. because the basic issues that plague Minnesota and the advantages that Dallas has, they are not things that Minnesota can counter. It would require just bizarre shot making in order to lift Minnesota over the top in these slow down half-court environments, and it's just unlikely.

It's not that it's impossible. It's just highly unlikely, and it's certainly unlikely, given the fact that they now have to do it four consecutive times after tonight. Tonight, according to cleaning the glass, Dallas gets 120. points per 100 half court plays. Minnesota gets 102.3. So that's an 18 point per 100 play gap. Game two is 100 to 96.7 in favor of Dallas. Game one, 103.3 to 83.5 in favor of Dallas. Yet again, a 20 point gap. It has been a chasm between these two teams in terms of actually executing against a set and loaded up defense. I shared some of the ISO stats for you guys after game two.

but they're like shocking. When the teams take a shot out of ISO, game one, 1.6 to 0.5 points per possession in favor of Dallas. Game 2, 1.5 to 0.3 points per possession in favor of Dallas. 1.2 to 1.0 tonight in favor of Dallas in game 3. So Minnesota finally had their best ISO game of the series in terms of shooting out of ISO, and it was beneath where Dallas has been in all three games.

And that really is where this all comes down to. Jaden McDaniels is incapable of making Luca Donchage feel uncomfortable. Whereas Carl Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards both look completely and totally flummoxed. From the time it was 104 104, 104, on the very next possession for Dallas, they go down the floor. We have a huge defensive breakdown from Ant. He's on the weak side. PJ Washington's in the corner.

And I want to say Kyrie Irving was on the left wing. and Luca's dribbling the ball at the top of the key and inexplicably for no particular reason just sinks all the way down underneath the basket Luca just throws a simple swing pass to Kyrie extra pass to PJ Washington in the corner and he knocks down the three again this is where it comes down to half court decision making

that was the possession where Luca just got rid of the ball why? Because he is a half court surgeon he's looking at what the defense is doing finding where his advantage is and picking it apart there is a slow methodical approach to Luca which is what makes him one of the best if not the best perimeter half-court surgeon in the league. You don't need to do anything difficult if you're going to make that stupid mistake

and sink into the lane and leave a shooter open, especially on PJ Washington, who from above the break has struggled, but has burned you in the corner for threes. In this series, he did it in game one. That was one of the biggest shots of the game there after that Jada McDaniels turnover along the baseline. But from there, after Dallas went up 107-104, Kyrie and Luca hit three pull-up mid-range jump shots, tough, contested, over-the-top jump shots. Tough, contested, over the top jump shots, and the Timberwolves did not make a single field goal

until Anthony Edwards got a layup in garbage time when they were already down 11. That's the game. That's all it is. Minnesota goes down. It comes off a ball screen. Derek Jones is in his face. There's a big up high. There's swing passes available, but Ant either is just a little bit slow to make the read or can't get the pass on time on target or Dallas just rotates and chase them off the line.

Minnesota does have a weakness in terms of converting spot-up possessions. That's been an issue all season long. They were a good catch-and-shoot team, but they weren't a good like after you chase them off the line type of team. That was an issue. Again, all season long, there's random co-opted possessions where Carl Anthony Towns just takes a pull-up three, even though he was 0 for six from three to that point. You know, there's a random possession that just gets run through Mike Connolly late.

This was a team that was a bad half-court execution team all season long. They had a 104 offensive rating in crunch time when the score. was within five with less than five minutes left. This has been an issue all season long. On the other end of the floor, Kyrie Irving and Luca Donchich, comfortable getting to their spots. It doesn't matter if you have your best perimeter defender on Luca.

He's just comfortable there. He loves that matchup. Had Jada McDaniel so frustrated, he was just committing silly fouls all night as well. And like what was crazy is Jaden got really good contests on both of those last two, the fade away towards the middle of the floor, and then the fade away on the right side,

on the right elbow. Great contests. it just doesn't matter. Those are shots that Luca works on. And again, like, he just doesn't, the big thing I talk about all the time with fadeaway jump shooting, you want to disrupt the base.

You're trying to disrupt the legs so they don't get the lift that they need to knock down the shot. Lou Dort was able to bother Luca more there than Jada McDaniels is, right? And like, that honestly, if there's something to look back, as we look back at this series as a whole,

and like how favored Minnesota was, Minnesota was like, I want to say they were like a minus 190 favorite. going into the series. A lot of people picked them. I picked them myself coming into the series. I saw a tweet. I had a tweet that somebody put, I want to say it was in a mailbag. It might have been in a mailbag. It might even just been a YouTube comment. But somebody said something really fascinating. They just said, this series is a great reminder that every single matchup should be approached in a vacuum. And I thought that was super profound. Because this is such an

interesting example of like, you watch Minnesota just beat the living shit out of a super team and with Kevin Durant Bradley, Beale and Devin Booker, and like literally just manhandle him for four straight games and get them out of here quickly, then you see them like eliminate the defending champion and the team that has the player that most people think is the best player in the world at this point and it goes toe to toe with him and they win, right?

And then you come into this series and all of a sudden they look completely incapable of dealing with the Dallas problem. And again, that's where it comes down to the matchup elements, right? Like in the same way that in the same way that Minnesota is constructed to beat a team like Denver, because they have long defenders like Anthony Edwards and Jade McDaniels to put on Jamal Murray, who all of a sudden looks small when he gets a defender on his backside and ball screens, or the size on the front line with Carl Anthony Towns and Nas Reid, you know,

banging bodies with Luca Donchich and Rudy Gobert hunting on the backline. All of that stuff was excellent. for that specific matchup, but then you get into this matchup, and it's the exact same kind of thing in favor of Dallas. Like, Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards on Luca Donchitz, they're just too small. If he puts them in jail, he can comfortably operate in the middle of the floor and protect the basketball and manipulate the rim protector and the low man

until he finds whatever opening he wants to attack. Rim protection versus Anthony Edwards. Nicola Yokic and Yusuf Nurkich just could not protect the rim. It was just going right around and through those guys all. series long. He's attempting over seven shots in the restricted area per game in the Denver series, right? Like now you put him against some real athletic rim protection. Suddenly, this is a young 22-year-old downhill athlete that's going up against other young athletic bigs and all of a sudden he looks like he's struggling there, right? Luca on Rudy Gobert, right? Like, Luca's just done a really good

job of taking one of the strengths of Minnesota's defense, their ability to protect the rim. He has just manipulated the hell out of Gobert all series. long. He just has had no idea where to go. Guess the ball handler, guess the role man, whatever it is, he's been lost. And then even just Derek Jones Jr. as an on-ball defender against Anthony Edwards, Anthony Edwards is a top-tier perimeter athlete, like the best perimeter athlete we've seen in the league since Dwayne Wade as a primary ball handler. And here's the thing, KCP couldn't hang with that. The Bradley Beal couldn't hang with that. Royce O'Neill couldn't hang with that. But Derek Jones Jr., go look up some tape of him playing in college and in high school.

Go look at his best dunks as a pro in the NBA. Watch him in the way he moves around on the basketball court. He is a tier one NBA athlete. And the dude is playing, by the way, he's on a veteran minimum contract this year. It's going to be one of the biggest wrinkles for Dallas into this offseason. Because if I'm not mistaken, if I know the CBA properly, I don't think they're going to be able to offer him more than their mid-level exception, right? So, like, we'll see if they can keep him, but he's playing at the level of a player deserves to make about 15 million a year because he's been one of the best perimeter defenders in this postseason run. And so that's the thing is, like, Dallas just is constructed at the point of attack and at the rim on their defensive side of

things. And on the offensive side of things, with the perfect complimentary corner three-point shooters and vertical spacers for Luca Donchich and Kyra Irving. And Lucas size to deal with some of the length that Minnesota has on the perimeter, it's just a nightmare matchup. And it's something that, it's something that Minnesota can't hang with. And so I find that really fascinating. Going back to that, that tweet or that comment that I received, like, that's a big lesson that I've learned in this postseason run is like, don't get caught up in the momentum of any individual team, because momentum is only as strong as whatever your advantages are in the next series. It's really that simple. And we got to keep that in mind when we get to the NBA finals. I'm not making.

in any NBA finals pick today. Both series are 3-0, so God knows we're going to be able to take our sweet time working through series preview content, and I plan on going crazy. We're going to go through the regular season games. We're going to do deep dive film study. We're going to do it all to get prepared for that series.

But like, we got to keep that in mind for the finals. It doesn't matter how hot Boston is or how hot Dallas is. It's going to come down to the matchups. How does this guy fare against this guy? How does this scheme fare against this player's strengths and weaknesses? That is going to be what determines the NBA finals when we get there. 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 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. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021.

And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor.

I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, hope from a hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice.

One ring is too scary. Cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream. Cream a chicken suit. This is Help for me. Hippocrat, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected.

We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. One of the things I thought was super fascinating in this particular game and I thought was a great example of the dynamic that I talked about after game one and two. If you guys remember, I tweeted out during game two and I talked about after the game, no matter what had happened in that game, even if Nas read his shot or if Luca had missed his, I would have picked Dallas

to win the series. I thought that the half-court dynamic that I just explained ad nauseum there for a minute, I thought that dynamic wasn't going away, and I didn't think that that was something Minnesota could solve. And I also thought the gap was much wider than it looked. Even though both of those games came down to a couple crunch time shots from Luca Donchich, I thought Dallas dramatically outplayed Minnesota in every single phase of the game except for jump shooting. I read the jump shooting numbers in the last show, but like massive gaps and jump shot performance in both games, and that honestly masked and hid just how big of a chasm there was

between these two teams in terms of half-court execution. So what's fascinating about that is Minnesota actually played a lot better tonight in a lot of different ways. They made one adjustment. They put Mike Connolly on Kyra Irving to try to save Ant's legs. I didn't like that strategy simply because Ant is a pretty bad off-ball defender, and that ended up burning them late in the game when he was on PJ Washington. and we'll get into that in a little bit more detail when we talk about Ant.

But it did have some upside in that Ant had just a little bit more energy to continue to attack the rim downhill and certainly looked more aggressive in this game than he has all series to this point. They won the rebounding battle. They got killed on the glass the first two games. They won the turnover battle. They protected the paint way better. They got demolished in the paint in the first two games. It was they allowed 54 points in game two, 62 points in game three.

they held Dallas to just 40 points in the paint in this game. Specifically, from our film session, if you guys remember the film session I did yesterday, I talked a lot about Carl Anthony Towns and the other guys, Nas reading Carl Anthony Towns mostly, as low men, being way too preoccupied with corner three points shooting and leaving dunkers open. And again, like Dallas shot 50% from three tonight, guess how much 50% from three ranks on a points per possession basis? It's 1.5.

Guess how much a wide open dunk is worth? points every single damn time. If you have your screen defender up at the level of the screen and the roller gets behind him and you don't tag him, it's a seven foot athlete going downhill. He's going to dunk it every single time. There's no variance there. That's just a bucket. And they just did a much better job tonight tagging the roller and making those kickout passes

to the corner. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter because Dallas finally had some of the jump shooting flip their way as they shoot 50% from three. they go 14 for 28 overall as a team. PJ Washington and Derek Jones Jr. were five for nine from the three point line. Josh Green came in and hit a big one.

It just, the shooting swung back towards Dallas. And so it didn't even matter that Minnesota did some things better. Because again, once we peel back the layers here underneath the shooting variance, Dallas was outplaying Minnesota by a wide margin. So even when Minnesota managed to close the gap a little bit, Dallas got a little bit of shooting support and they get their most convinced win of the series to this point. I even thought Ant had a much better offensive game. I know the numbers don't really show it, but I thought he attacked in a much smarter way in this game. A lot of

ISO drives, like I talked about in our film sessions, like forget about the ball screen, just beat your man off the dribble and make kickout rates. Did a really nice job with that. Generated a lot of quality shots tonight. I think he had eight assists, had his most aggressive downhill finish of the series to this point. They cleared the side for him, ran him off of a little Iverson cut, which is basically just you cut from one side of the floor to the other. There's usually a screen around the elbow to try to get a little bit of separation. And then you just looked to attack off the catch. It's an action that Alan Iverson used to use a lot when he was with the Sixers. But they ran that on a cleared side of the floor. And I think it was Josh Green was on him.

He was chasing over the top. So when he caught, he just quick ripped towards the baseline, got good separation. Gafford was just a step late and Ant just absolutely yammed on him, right? Lots of really good stuff for Minnesota that they didn't do in the first two games, but it just didn't matter because they were lucky to even be in those games with as poorly as they were playing. Some of the variants went the other way and then Dallas ended up getting the win tonight. So like, you know, make no mistake. Like there's no there's no sort of adjustment that Minnesota can make. There's no sort of shooting result that can hide the fact that Dallas is just a better half-court team than Minnesota.

and no matter what happens, even if Minnesota comes out, just plays a really tough defensive game. They're probably going to end up in a game that's about 100 to 100-ish with about five minutes left, and it's going to be the same damn problem. Aunt and Kat don't know what to do. Luca and Kyrie know exactly what to do. And that's the bottom line.

Like, Luca is a top-tier superstar who's playing like the best player in the world. Anthony Edwards is a guy that has that potential, but at 22 years old, it's obvious, especially after this series in a different matchup that he needs considerably more time to get to that point. Because again, one of the things we talk about, like, versatility is the hallmark of a top-tier superstar,

being able to succeed against different coverages, being able to succeed against different types of players. And Ant, he showed through two matchups that he's capable of playing at that level, but he could not keep up that level of play against a different matchup that targeted and exposed some more of his weaknesses. Whereas here we are with Luca, and he's had some struggles in this postseason run, but he's, he was able to get through those struggles, and now he's in a more

favorable matchup, and he's barbecuing these guys. And it's a huge problem. Kyrie playing his best playoff basketball since he was hooping in the finals alongside LeBron James, like again, like just the perfect role for him. Once again, came in in that fourth quarter stretch, just started poor to kill Alexander Walker. He looked helpless. out there and the flailing he was doing to try to get contests on Kyra Irving and he just was having absolutely no success. Like, it's just, you know, they were talking about them as the best offensive back court in the history of the NBA. I need to look at that over the summer and really consider all of the other options. But they're sure as hell playing at it like that right now.

Last guy I wanted to shout out Daniel Gafford. He gets a lot of slander from Mavs fans, surprisingly, at least from what I've noticed. And I think it's just, It's because Lively's better than him. And I get that. And Lively probably is better than him. But Gafford brings a lot to the table in terms of his athleticism and strength. And I thought he made several huge plays down the stretch of this game, protecting the rim and rolling hard to the rim in ball screens.

And like he just has that timing down and pick and roll with Luka. It was cool to see him have that moment after he kind of struggled. If you guys remember, when Lively went down, he was not good in that third quarter stretch. And it got a little ugly. You could tell he was a little frustrated. and honestly like having him to have that moment where he got to kind of scream and yell and kind of celebrate a little bit that I thought was a really cool moment for Daniel Gafford,

a big bounce back fourth quarter from him. The Derek lively news looks like he's spraying his neck. That was a nasty hit that he took on that knee from Carl Anthony Towns. Here's the thing. It's bad news, but you can absolutely win the series without him. And if you win on Tuesday, you'll get eight full days off before the NBA finals. So like if something like this had to happen, it's not the worst. worst timing in the world, but hopefully Derek lively is okay and there's not anything more

serious going on. Before we get out of here, I want to talk a little bit about Anthony Edwards. I feel like we've learned a lot about him in this playoff run. For instance, like if you don't have a top tier athlete on the perimeter and you can't protect the rim, forget about it. He's just going to kill you. He's going to cut you to pieces, right? But I think the weaknesses have been made clear in this particular round and then a little bit towards the end of the Denver series. one, he struggles to pick a part of loaded up defense. So like when you throw consistent doubles at him or consistent traps in ball screens, he doesn't really know how to attack that yet.

And so it'll take work for him to kind of learn how to be more methodical in those situations to find the kill pass, meaning the pass that beats the coverage, not the pass that just gets rid of the basketball. Specifically in ball screens, when he faces that high drop with the low tag, that means defending three on two. Essentially, schematically, when it comes over the screen, the defender chases him. The screen defender's waiting for him right when he gets off the screen.

And even when Gobert rolls, they have a third defender tagging. And so they're fully loaded up on him. In those situations, that's the same coverage Minnesota has used in large portions of the series against Luca. What you have to do is do what Luca did. Come over the top of the screen, put the defender in jail, get him trapped on your backside. As Gobert rolls, the screen defender will kind of roll back with him. You methodically work downhill.

and then you have a three on two. The three on two is your ability to make that mid-range shot, the little floater as the defender is trapped on your backside, the roll man going downhill, and the shooter in the corner. It is a three-on-two because you have the screen defender in front of you and you have the low man, and you are basically manipulating those two. If they stay glued to the roller and to the weak-side shooter, that's when you've got to take that little floater in the lane, right?

Or do what Luca does and sometimes yank a pullback dribble as the guy's chasing behind you so that it gets back in front. and then shoot a little mid-range jump shot, right? Or if they come up to you and tag the roller, it's the skip pass. If they come up to you and they don't tag the roller, it's the lob pass. It's all those little reads working more methodically in ball screens that Ant's going to have to get a lot better at over the years. Secondly, passes on time and on target.

How many times in this series have you seen Ant make the right read, but the pass is like a little bit off target or like a high lob so the defense can rotate? Again, one of the things that Luca's amazing at is that pass is always hitting the shooter right in the shooting pocket. So even if you're actually set up to rotate, there's just less time for you to get out there because the shooter can go right up with it off of the catch. If you throw that pass off target, he has another couple of seconds while you're gathering and getting into your shooting pocket to get and close out and chase you off of the line. So being more diligent and deliberate about making sure those passes get there on target. And then lastly, on the defensive end of the floor, I thought he's been mostly bad outside of some specific responsibility, some on an island ISO defense. I thought he did a really good job funneling on Jamal Murray in the second half of game seven against Denver.

But like a lot of his screen navigation has been bad in all series. All series. Excuse me. And his off ball awareness in particular, just anytime he's not like actively engaged on the ball, he tends to relax, get out of. a defensive stance and kind of just meander into the lane. He got burned in a big way tonight on that with the PJ Washington Corner 3. And so like in general, those are all things that are going to take time. The defense stuff, it comes down to two things for me. Scar tissue. What I refer to that as is like, you need to lose and have it be painful so that you realize just how important it is

to be so locked in on the defensive end of the floor. Like I think this will hurt aunt to be eliminated in the conference finals and to play very poorly doing so. He's going to understand. I'm sure that I'm sure that a lot of his mistakes have been called out in film sessions or that he's been made aware in some way, shape, or form. He's going to look back at that and be like, man, like, I let my team down. I got to get better in that way. Maybe it'll require him losing a few more times. Maybe when he's 25 years old, he'll lose a big conference finals series and then finally he'll be like, I have to get better at these specific things. The second piece of it is conditioning. You can tell that that's an area where it tries to save energy right now. And look, I get it when it's

an old guy. I get it when you're in your mid to late 30s and you're trying to conserve energy. But all of the all-time greats, all-of-time greats, Kobe, LeBron, Michael Jordan, those are literally the three best perimeter players in the history of the league, in my opinion. All three of those guys had runs where they made all defense year after year. And they did it while being the primary offensive initiator for their team. That is a level that he has to get at, get two, if he wants to be regarded on the same level of those guys all time. He has to be willing and capable physically of committing himself to both ends of the floor. I still feel very strongly that there is a player in there that can reach the level that Luca and Nicole Yokic are on right now.

I think Anne has that potential. He's just going to need more time. And this is very valuable experience. playing against a really bad matchup for him like this, this goes a long way towards him, him like learning about what it's like when you get to these stages. Again, like he's going to know forever now that no matter what happens, no matter how good he looks in one round, no matter how good of a regular season he has, he's going to know eventually I'm going to run into sometime over a four-round stretch,

I'm going to run into a team that has an athlete on the perimeter that can kind of hang with me. and rim protection to funnel me into. How am I going to solve that problem? That is the problem that every single great player has to solve, right? Kobe had to learn how to manipulate defenses with the pass. LeBron James, like the 2007 Spurs and the 2008 Celtics both really sagged off of him and packed the paint, and he had to learn how to consistently knock down jump shots.

That became a problem again in 2011 as well as they played a lot of two big lineups, and the paint was packed against Dallas. A lot of his post footwork and bully ball game had to be refined. He had to encounter teams that exposed his weaknesses and humiliated him for him to learn how to polish up those specific weaknesses. These are all part of the journey, right? And so, like, I'm still a big believer in Ant. My opinion on Ant and his potential has changed zero over the course of this series.

However, I think that Dallas has revealed that he has a little bit longer to go to get to that point than maybe we thought after that day. Denver series. All right, guys, that is all I have for tonight. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show. We're going to be back tomorrow morning with a little film session on this particular game, probably a mailbag as well. As a matter of fact, I've been doing the mailbags from Twitter. Why don't you guys drop the mailback questions in this video, and I'll use this particular video's comments to do the mailbag tomorrow. I will see you guys then. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with

Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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. 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 IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players

and IHart Podcast presents Soccer Mom. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip.

Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love.

This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.