What the Sacramento Kings can learn from the NBA Finals
of stinking so we have get up on the on the TV in here and I saw a question on the Chiron right now the question says can Celtics keep winning with Tatum’s poor shooting great question terrific question and a fair one Jason Tatum is supposed to be the dude on this team and what that means in the NBA is the dude that puts the ball in the hoop most often he has not done that in this series uh he’s averaging 1710 and 8 and a half I think for the series 17 points 10 boards eight and a half assists yep a really really strong stat line but the expectation is that Jason Tatum is going to go SC score more and it’s not that he’s been passive he’s just not been shooting it well he went six of 22 in game two shot selections gross it’s it’s not been good but he’s found out a way to impact games can the Celtics continue winning if he’s not shooting well good question he’s shooting 31.6% from the field 28.6% from three but go ahead stinky but again they’re up two nothing and he’s finding ways to impact games so there was a question earlier though that said is this the biggest game of Kyrie’s career oh dog he played in a game seven no it’s not the biggest game in where team come back from 3-1 in the finals he hit a big shot in that game FYI is this the biggest game of Kyrie not even close do you know what Kyrie shoot shooting in this series this would even be the biggest game of this series no I I totally agree what what is he shooting 35% from the field 35.1 you know what he’s shooting from three 0% he’s over for eight zero it is the tied for the longest streak longest streak to start a finals without a made three I think in NBA history I think I saw okay so he’s 0 for eight PJ Washington is one for eight and then and then Luca’s eight for eight for 21 yeah Luca’s Luca’s filling it up yeah yeah so and even uh Derrik Jones Jr who had been so good before he’s been he’s one of five in the first two games they’re asking the question like it’s such a talking point well what if what if Dallas just starts hitting their threes and I I think what people are like completely ignoring is the reason why they’re not hitting their threes is because the Celtics are incredible defensively yes incredible not a lot of wide open looks uh no wide open looks the best shot blocking guard in the NBA in Derek white one of the best on ball defenders in Drew holiday and then that’s the matchup that you’re dealing with so your two best players are going up against that against these two dudes and then they have all these other guys that are really really good yeah whether it’s whether it’s brown or Tatum Horford like this this group of players is just built to win a championship they’re two-way players almost every single one of them and the fact that that Dallas isn’t hitting their threes it’s a lot because the Celtics just won’t let them get an open look dude they like throw a double it Luca it’s incredible they do this every time usually a team will do this once in a game and somebody will clip the video and post it on Twitter and like wow look at this defensive possession but this is just a Celtics all the time they’ll like throw a double at Luca right so that leaves somebody open Luca gets rid of it to the open Guy Somebody rotates up to that guy but meanwhile while that’s happening so the the Mavs would typically be able to find like Derek Lively underneath the basket for an easy bucket there right but the guy who originally doubled Luca has sprinted back to cover for the guy who had to leave his spot to get the guy who Luca threw the ball to and it’s every possession it’s just Flawless and I I I I they’re they’re incredible and that’s a big reason that Kyrie Irving has been struggling like they just they there’s he’s an he’s an amazing shot maker this is not a this is not a Kyrie disc this is a yo Boston’s defense is that real this is not oh they were an okay defense this year that’s playing way over their heads and the Mavs are missing open shots and just wait till those shots fall like you said man no they’ve just got hands in their face every time or they’re being forced to shoot from spots on the floor that n they don’t like to shoot no they’re being where they’re getting their shots is completely dictated by the Celtics yes like if you have a hot spot on the floor they’ve taken away your hot spot yep and not only that it’s the second and the third effort it’s something that Mike Brown coaches all the time Jordy Fernandez coaches all the time it’s not the first effort because everybody’s got the first effort it’s when the ball moves it’s that next effort and then realistically it’s when the ball moves again it’s that e that third effort and that’s again why the Kings really struggled early in the season on their three-point defense they weren’t getting that second and third effort consistently enough and guys were were closing out but it was late and they were giving up way too many wideopen threes and even contested threes they were giving them up but contested how how close are you getting how how close are you getting to the shooter and so the uh the way that Boston rotates the way that they close out on on their Shooters it’s just next level and it what’s it’s why you keep a team together it’s why you allow for like this chemistry to build but it’s also why you go out and get incred defensive players incredible defensive players it turns out actually help your defense get better what I don’t know how it works out that way you go out and you get a Drew holiday and all of a sudden you have someone that can defend Kyrie Irving okay you get a Derek white who can then credibly switch onto Luca donic yes yeah and then they the worst case scenario for them is a hand him off to Jaylen Brown an incredible athlete or Jason Tatum a very very good Defender like it the way that they are built is is nearly impossible to to beat at this point like we’ll see some other counter that that they can’t stop but for right now this is uh this is the best team in basketball and they deserve the respect Drew holiday in the finals 15 of 23 from the field yeah 19 rebounds eight assists two steals a block no turnovers 65.2% from the field 44.4% from three yeah 19 N and a half and four and that’s like their worst offensive guy quotquot it’s wild just and that’s so so I think you bring up an interesting thing with the with the Kings there in that second and third effort I think there’s a there’s an important distinction to make the Celtics are maximizing this yes the Celtics have done the thing where they’re combining Talent with with execution and game plan the Kings no matter how much Mike Brown coaches no matter how much film they watch like the kings are just not going to have the same defensive Personnel the Celtics do or or any any team is not going to have that Personnel there’s always going to be that weak link or two and you got to cover up for him but so much of of of defense is just effort related it’s so it’s so much like hey if you get blown by like go watch there’s I watch it this morning there a minute and 13 second long clip of Luca playing quote unquote defense in this series where it’s just a blowby and his feet never move MH he rotates on a on a vertical axis he just rotates oh Blow by there he goes oh well all right back up to floor okay let’s go back this way he opens the gate yes and then and then it but if you get if a guy goes by you chase him down you got to keep stay on him right stay on do something um and I think that’s so much of of what and I I think for for Mike Brown there was a lot of what he would talk about in postgame pressers like I’m not going to change Personnel I’m not going to change scheme until they do what we’re coaching yes we’ll start there and then once that’s not working we’ll try and do something different and I think that was the big change at the end of the year the Personnel change with with Keon Ellis for sure and I think that was a a big deal like Keon Ellis is just individually a a a fantastic Defender but it’s the effort that he brings too it’s the hustle and I think that that really bled over into the rest of the team so some guys who maybe weren’t as effective defensively started to be more effective just by matter of that second or third effort well I I think the second and third effort matter I also think an on ball Defender who knows how to fight through screens as well as anyone that I’ve seen in a king’s uniform his ability to fight through screens at Keon Ellis so incredible so when people are making passes he the deflections that he gets the deflections that happen because he slows down a pass he takes away something from somebody and now the ball isn’t as crisp the the balance of the player he’s up against isn’t isn’t perfect that matters and so like look I think it’s interesting When We the Kings don’t have the Personnel to match up with the Celtics like as as a defensive unit and it’s it’s not no team does no no team does but I’d also say like the second best or the first best defensive team in the league was Minnesota and because Minnesota is built so big man Centric that that’s even like that’s really really easy to to take that away from a team like defensively yeah they can be great and their their rotations and everything are good but they have a guy who is a defensive stopper at the rim and you can wipe him out of a game and take him completely out of it the Celtics don’t have that weak link sure there are times where you can get a 38-year old Al Horford in in some sort of switch and he can get beat okay there’s a time here and there where porzingis might get beat on something he’s just a little too slow-footed but it’s not every time and and those guys also have something they bring to the table that someone else on the other team can’t do and that’s where I think Gober being so limited offensively really like he you can play him off the court and then if Minnesota doesn’t want to remove him then you’re just gonna get killed and with with regards to the Kings the problem is that the Kings have like a lot of guys that they’re not horrible effort guys they’re not horrible Defenders but there’s nothing you can do about you know like if if Kevin herder at 67 is up against a fast shooting guard or or get swapped onto a a point guard he can’t keep up he’s 67 and and he’s just not that athletic the same goes for for sabonis if sabonis is in space on the perimeter sometimes he gets in trouble and can you go in the in the key can you go over the top of sabonis yeah you can go over the top of this bonus here and there but position defending he does fine the problem is that the way the way the Celtics move is we always hear this this weird thing people say they’re playing on a string right yes yeah yeah yeah yeah and it’s like when one guy it’s it’s almost like they’re all roped together so when one guy flies out to defend somebody it pulls another guy to somewhere else and when that guy moves somewhere else it drags somebody to some other position right they’re just moving in concert in in a way that very few teams can and to be honest it’s really good coaching it’s yeah and that’s where that’s where I think if you’re Mike Brown there are so many possessions that you can take of of the Celtics in in just in this finals forget all year and through the playoffs where you can go hey look when 38y old Al Horford is isolated against Kyrie Irving you can just go hey if Deus sabonis is isolated against Kyrie Irving watch how the entire defense fixes that yeah and ensures that that’s not going to be an easy bucket compresses yeah and you so okay you you know that that’s going to happen Okay so if he there’s a Blow by you know that this defender’s coming over which means like that sets in motion okay here’s how everything goes it’s like bunt defense in baseball right it’s like first baseman crashes down second baseman covers first base third baseman crashes down Short Stops covering third you’re going to leave second vacant like there’s a that there’s a there’s a Synergy to it right yeah and I think that that’s that’s such a huge thing with with Boston we’ve talked so much about their talent and it’s it’s there this is not this is not a Boston is isn’t talented thing they are they are the most talented team in the sport but they execute better than everybody too no and it’s not it’s not there’s there are things like the Derek white chased down block on PJ wa uh PJ Washington the other night in game two it’s like that’s just that’s Derek white being individually an insane Defender that’s just that that that not a lot of dudes are replicating that but hey could Dean fox make that play he has I think right he has so many chase down Blocks Early in his career exactly that’s just like that right there is just like hey that’s a that’s a good Defender Dar very very good Defender chasing a guy down and making a play that’s an effort play and I I just I if I’m if I’m Mike Brown I’m isolating every single possession that’s like that because pton Pritchard is playing minutes pton Pritchard not a great defender and they’re figuring it out Al Horford is a is a high IQ player but not not great sliding his feet at age 40 or whatever he is at this point yeah uh it’s kind of nuts to think that LeBron is older than than Al Horford oh yeah and he’s played that so much longer oh my God than Al Horford because I think Horford came into the league at 06 well he came into the league at 19 I want to say no no he might have been 20 oh no he was he was 08 the seven draft Yeah because they won back-to-back titles in Florida at Florida right was he was he two was he two years at Florida I I’m almost sure positive that him and jokim and Corey Brewer stayed together to win two okay am I wrong I’m checking on that right now I don’t I my you know what I’m lacking a little bit in my University of Florida basketball knowledge yeah um I don’t know I’ll find his stats somewhere that’s funny yeah Fox second year he had 45 blocks dearon Fox is second year in the league 45 and since then it’s been around 25 to 27 he had 31 blocks last year about 150 steals to lead the NBA impressive that’s insane yeah played 109 college games he was there for three years oh okay dang so he wasn’t yeah that’s crazy so how many years has he been in the league been in the league since 2007 2008 okay 17th season 17th season yeah LeBron has played so much longer four more seasons crazy oh Horford is so old he’s not even remotely close geez yeah and you’re watching Horford averag like 8.6 and 6.4 rebounds per game 2.6 and LeBron’s out there like 25 uh eight and a half seven and a half like and we’re like oh he’s falling off a little bit he’s falling off yeah just a little bit hey do you know what I have completely eliminated from my memory I’ll Horford talk here on ESPN 1320 Sacramento sports leader I have memory hold entirely a his Philadelphia year I no recollection of him playing for the Philadelphia 76 oh he signed a massive deal and then I believe and then I think they had to they had to pay to get they they traded to get out of it because they couldn’t afford it am I wrong I don’t I don’t know but and then apparently he played a year for the Thunder oh yeah zero recollection of Al Horford on the Thunder H you could have told me to name every team that Al Horford has played for and the Thunder would have been the last team I know for a fact he’s never played for the Kings and Warriors and I would guess both of those teams before I guessed the Thunder that’s wild no recollection of that um yeah he he signed as a free agent with Philadelphia uh at 28 million bucks but but I also it was bigger than that it was I think it was a 4-year deal and and he just played out of that last last season so it was a a 28 27 and a half 27 26 and A2 and then last year with Boston he signed a $10 million deal but that was he had signed for over 100 million like late in his career and was just making a lot of money with Philadelphia and the Philadelphia very quickly realized that they had made a mistake that that wasn’t going to work with him no no it sure wasn’t yeah very very crazy very C Horford might have worked with embiid um yeah well the the three-point shooting and stuff yeah I just think the spacing on the floor is really bad yeah uh with him there yeah no he was really good and he was really good at Florida too like that that team was was incredible NBA Finals game three tonight that’s what we’re talking about um it’s not the biggest game of Kyrie Irving’s career no matter what ESPN wants to ask oh yeah no way it’s just it’s it’s that’s insane but I do think for for Kyrie Irving specifically we can talk about role players and we can talk about the Al Horford’s and we can talk about Boston’s defense Kyrie Irving is supposed to be the type of player who is a little bit defense proof who is yeah you know what you can make it tough on him but he’s still going to go get 25 or 30 MH and it’s not even been that he’s been getting locked up defensively it’s just how he’s been playing there wasn’t I thought Kyrie was going to step into the series and be like no I’m a killer I’m going to average 30 in this series and there’s nothing you can do about it because I think that highly of of Kyrie on the court and he just hasn’t and that’s been shocking to me his just he looks like he’s playing a a game against the Hornets in in December it’s just a strange strange Vibe and maybe getting home changes things but I just we can talk about PJ Washington and Derrick Jones and and Derek Lively all we want but dude if Kyrie Irving is going to play like Kyrie Irving has played it’s not going to matter no it just it’s it’s not so I don’t this is not the biggest game of Kyrie’s career by a long by a long shot like I said he played in a game seven in the finals but it is the one where I think he has a all this all this this Kyrie Irving love that has been heaped his way as he’s helped guide the Mavs to this point and he’s been really good and all that is the best back court of all time and Kyrie Irving is the most skilled player to ever pick up a basketball and all this all this praise that he’s gotten I think this is his his kind of big opportunity to prove all of that right or if he goes out and has 12 points again tonight it’s going to be more of like oh maybe not yeah it’s tough maybe he’s not back I I don’t want to say it’s a Legacy game for him oh I love a legacy game yeah because I kind of feel you know what I kind of feel like um whoever well I mean if Dallas loses the series like we expect I don’t think unless they’re back next year and the year after I don’t really think we’re gonna think of this series all that much we’re gonna think of Dallas in this series all that much we’re gonna think this is the first for for the Celtics in this era and it might be the first of a couple a fiveyear span yeah and we’re going to think about them and how good they were I think Dallas is going to be an afterthought and so yeah I don’t think like if there’s a way that Luca and Kyrie storm back and win this thing then okay maybe it it becomes a legacy Series right for for both of them it’s the one that got Luca over the top and it’s the one that cemented kyi as a Hall of Famer and all this stuff and he might be I think he’s already there but but it cements him in a tier a different a different Stratosphere yeah I think him making it there I don’t think will have that same impact especially if he doesn’t play well man yeah like so much so much of this Legacy stuff is predicated on playing well in the playoffs and in the finals and that’s just that’s just it yeah and I know that he hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history and he was incredible in the 2016 finals that’s why he’s stamped like Kyrie is set but I I I also think that so much of how we feel about the Mavs at least going into next year I’m I’m with you I don’t I don’t think in 10 years we’re going to look at this as some historic finals it’s be like hey who’d they beat oh yeah that’s right like the the the Heats finals went over over the Thunder what an odd finals that was what like that I know it was Harden and Westbrook and Durant but they were probably there a year or two early and then they had to break up that that group and everything’s happened with Durant and Westbrook and hard since then in their individual careers but still when I when I think about who the Heat or who who LeBron James has beat in the finals it’s like okay I know I know I know they get he got the Warriors and he got the Spurs uh I get I genuinely forgot was it the heat that they played in the bubble finals oh no the I can’t remember I thought it was Miami yeah whoever it was in the bubble final but again it’s like that that’s kind of how I think I’m going to think about this finals but um man if if I think the the bigger deal for Kyrie specifically is if he plays poorly tonight and they lose his Series in four or five games and he just kind of has a bad series I think it just changes how we feel about the Mavs going into next year yeah where there’s some more like oh hang on okay hang on let’s let’s pump the breaks on the Mavericks all of a sudden being in the Western Conference Finals or finals every year because of Luca and Kyrie yeah I think that’s going to be the big change it was the heat yeah it was that’s the meme of Jimmy Butler and he’s leaning on the the stanion behind the basket I think that’s where that’s from yeah it’s a yeah it’s a 4-2 they they won 4-2 in that series I could tell you I know Anthony Davis hit like a gamewinner in that series like a big three or maybe was an elbow jumper I remember nothing about that series wow okay I got nothing and the the heat Thunder series I remember there was like a phantom foul call on Kevin Durant or maybe it was Kevin Durant should have there should have been a foul call on LeBron against Durant I don’t know
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