Sports
Giannis SUPERNOVA season for Bucks, Cavs redemption, Pistons arrival | Central Division Predictions
In this episode, we dive into the Central Division predictions for the upcoming NBA season, focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, and Chicago Bulls. We...
Giannis SUPERNOVA season for Bucks, Cavs redemption, Pistons arrival | Central Division Predictions
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Interactive Transcript
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This is an I Heart Podcast.
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Introducing IVF Disrupted, the Kind Body Story,
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a podcast about a company that promised to revolutionize fertility care.
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It grew like a tech startup. While Kind Body did help women start families,
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it also left behind a stream of disillusioned and angry patients.
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You think you're finally like in the right hands? You're just not.
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Listen to IVF Disrupted, the Kind Body Story, on the I Heart Radio app,
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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Hey, I'm Jay Chetty, host of the on-purpose podcast. I had the incredible opportunity
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to sit down with the one, the only Cardi B.
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My marriage, I felt the love dying. I was crying every day. I felt in the deepest depression
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that I had ever had. This **** was not given to me. I worked my ass off for me.
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Listen to on-purpose Richie Chetty on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
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or wherever you get your podcasts.
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I love that you created this system that revolves around you creating
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pockets of peace. World Mental Health Day is around the corner. And on my podcast,
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Jess Heel with Dr. Jay, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body,
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and spirit from breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity.
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I'm gonna walk away feeling like, yes, I'm gonna continue my healing journey.
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Listen to Jess Heel with Dr. Jay from the Black Effect Podcast Network,
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on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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I'm the home grader, it knows a little bit about everything and everybody.
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Lauren Low Rosa.
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You hear that?
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Scuses? Lauren came in.
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Hi.
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I came in telling the truth.
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Every day, I'm bringing you the latest in entertainment.
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Breaking down the headlines, you can't stop talking about
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Cause y'all are my co-hosts now.
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Oh my God.
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Listen to the latest with Lauren La Rosa, weekdays on the I Heart Radio app,
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The volume.
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All right, welcome to Hoops tonight here at the volume.
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Happy Monday, everybody.
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Hope all of you guys had an incredible weekend.
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We are continuing our season previews today with the central division out in the
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Eastern Conference.
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So that's the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Detroit Pistons,
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the Indiana Pacers, and the Chicago Bulls.
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You guys know the drill before we get started.
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Subscribe to the Hoops tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.
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Follow me on Twitter and underscore Jason L.T.
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Don't forget about our podcast feed, wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops tonight.
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It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and a review on that front.
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Jackson's doing an incredible work on our social media feeds on Twitter,
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Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
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Make sure you guys follow us over there.
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And last but not least, you want to get mailbag questions into our mailbags.
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Drop them in our full episodes on YouTube in the YouTube comments.
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And we will get to them in our mailbags throughout the remainder of the year.
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All right, let's talk some basketball.
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We are starting today with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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Off season recap, they kind of sorted just decided to run it back,
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which is a plan that I agree with.
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But let's dig into it a little bit.
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They lost Ty Jerome as a free agent to Memphis.
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They lost Isaac Coro in a trade for Lonzo Ball and Tristan Thompson.
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They added Lonzo Ball, who is a very different player than Ty Jerome.
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Ty Jerome has a higher ceiling.
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But it doesn't matter if Ty Jerome is going to flame out as a spectacularly as he did in the
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postseason in the Indiana series.
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Like the ceiling doesn't matter if you can't get there when it matters.
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Right? So like Lonzo is a different type of player.
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But I think he has a much higher floor.
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Why? Because he brings competence defensively.
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He's not the target that Ty Jerome was.
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He's actually a good defensive playmaker,
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which I think will help continue to drive the transition opportunities.
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Cleveland was a top 10 team scoring points off of turnovers last year.
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I think Lonzo fits well into that identity.
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And he's a guard who drives pace on offense.
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He's like a very poor man version of Tyrie's halibut in his ability to just throw kickhead
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passes and make quick decisions out of action that started vanages.
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Just a good like connective like rising tide that lifts all boats type of offensive player.
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And so again, he's not going to be able to just dissect teams in the clutch the way that Ty Jerome
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did and hit four to five floaters in a row at a drop coverage that just rips the hard out of a team.
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But again, Ty wasn't able to do that when it mattered.
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What Lonzo brings to the table is something that should translate to the postseason.
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It's a higher floor option.
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Larry Nance Jr. is a small ball five that I actually really like.
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He can shoot the ball well. He runs the floor well.
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He can do some switching on defense.
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I think he fits Cleveland's basketball identity really well.
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Thomas Bryant, if you've ever rooted for him,
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I've rooted for him with the lakers of seeing him around the rest of the league.
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He's a really solid offensive big. He's got good hands.
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He can finish in traffic and shoot a little bit.
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But he's just an incompetent defender, which keeps him from really sticking anywhere in the league at this point.
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In general, I like the moves.
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They avoided doing something crazy.
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I think Cleveland's playoff layman was mostly just a product of injuries.
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Mainly the turkto injury to Daria Scarland.
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Just we'll talk about more in a minute.
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So they're basically running it back with a couple of better options at some key positions.
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Isaac at Coral has been expendable really ever since they got Max Truce.
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Especially now with the Andre Hunter.
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Like they didn't need him as much.
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Ty Jerome was great all season, but he flamed out spectacularly.
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Like we talked about.
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I thought that replacing Ty with Lonzo was a really savvy move.
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And then Larry Nance is just a solid backup center if he can stay healthy.
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Right. So the calves are running it back and giving this group another chance.
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I think this is the right call.
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The calves kicked a lot of ass in the regular season last year for good reason.
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They were good defense that scored well off of turnovers.
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And they were a transcendently good offense fueled off of the dribble penetration that was
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created by Daria Scarland.
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Yet a turf toe injury.
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One that was so bad he needed surgery earlier this summer.
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So of course he couldn't move as well as he needed to move in the Pacer series.
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Of course that had all sorts of trickle down effects in the calves offense.
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Like the same offense.
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That was the only offense in the entire NBA to log an offensive rating over 120 last year
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in the regular season.
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They only got 112.6 in the Pacer series.
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I always talk about how basketball is more art than science.
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I'm a big believer that even one small shift.
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If it's in a specific area of vulnerability in your team, it can have devastating effects.
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Daria Scarland dribble penetration was the initial breaking of the defense.
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Talk about it all the time.
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If a guy dusses man off the dribble and comes screaming down into the lane,
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the defense over reacts and you get these really clean kick out opportunities.
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Which are going to lead to really high quality shots either right away or after one or two
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driving kicks that come off of that.
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But if you run into some resistance and maybe you probe the paint a little bit,
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but the drive has been flattened out.
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The defense isn't going to overreact.
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They're going to stay within their scheme.
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Those easy, easy kick out reads aren't there.
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It's going to be like a more of a shorter closeout,
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which is going to rely more on those guys to put the ball on the floor to create the next advantage.
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And all of a sudden, you're not getting those same super high quality threes that you did.
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So Daria Scarland not being the same dribble penetrator that he was in the regular season
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directly led to the difference in the quality of three point shots
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that Cleveland got in the post season.
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Like Donovan Mitchell is an insanely gifted playoff score.
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But just like I was talking about with Shay on Friday,
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like putting up great individual numbers doesn't necessarily add up to great team offense.
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Daria Scarland was the guy responsible for the quality of Cleveland's three point shots.
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Does easy stat to demonstrate this Cleveland generated 15 unguarded catch and shoot jump shots
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per game in the regular season per synergy.
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In the four losses to Indiana, they generated just nine.
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The one game they won, they generated 17.
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That was what got the engine running for Cleveland.
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Early dribble penetration off of pace that generated open kickouts without
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Daria set the top of his game.
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They were never going to get that out of him.
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So overall, I think Cleveland's front office did a good job of reading the room here.
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The East is weaker.
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Your two biggest threats have been effectively eliminated in Boston and Indiana.
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You were the only Eastern conference team to log away and against Oklahoma City last year.
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We talked about this on Friday.
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They went 29 and one against the East with that one loss being to Cleveland.
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You match up really well Denver because of your speed and your ability to attack
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Yochitch in space.
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If I remember correctly, you guys went two in one or two in overs Cleveland last year.
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You were clearly hampered by injuries when you actually made it to the playoffs last year.
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You're clearly capable of playing better than you did.
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And you have that opportunity for internal improvement because Evan Mobley continues to get
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better and better a year by year.
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So making slight tweaks and running it back was the right strategy in my opinion.
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Now, many of you will say,
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Derrius Garland is injury prone.
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That's just part of the deal.
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Now that may or may not be the case,
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but I still think after reading the room again, like if if everyone was coming back,
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like if Tyrese and Tatum didn't tear their Achilles, maybe you have to have a tougher conversation.
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But I think it makes sense to give him one more shot.
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And then if Derrius breaks down this year, then you can start having serious conversations
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because the track record at that point is too significant.
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And the East in 2027 will almost certainly bounce back in a huge way,
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both through the return of Tatum and Halliburton.
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And also just through the improvement of teams like Orlando and Detroit,
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things along those lines, right?
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The Milwaukee Bucks.
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Offseason recap, they lost Pat Conniton, Damien Lillard and Brook Lopez.
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They added Coil Anthony, Amir Coffee, Gary Harris, and Miles Turner.
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Everything's got to be great in on a curve here.
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Did the Bucks successfully pivot into becoming a championship contender?
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Obviously not.
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But that was essentially impossible under the circumstances.
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They did the best they could.
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First of all, I thought John Horst works some magic retaining his current players
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on favorable deals like Gary Trent on two for seven and a half.
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That's an awesome deal.
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Bobby Portis, three for 43 and a half.
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That's an awesome deal.
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I thought he was going to be asking for something closer to 20 per year.
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Tori and Prince, two for seven point one.
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That's an awesome deal.
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Kevin Porter, two for 10.5.
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All four of those guys for $26 million annually or whatever it adds up to,
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I think that's solid cat management from John Horst and the Bucks.
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They were super light on ball handling.
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So getting a guy like Coil Anthony is a backup guard.
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It's a nice get there.
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I think Miles Turner is the ideal front court partner for Yannis.
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They will almost certainly on defense be a pack the paint and funnel type of team
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because of their point of attack, a point of attack defense.
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So like Miles Turner coming up to the level with Yannis playing on that backline
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as they kind of yo yo back and forth.
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I think that's going to give teams some problems defensively.
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Miles Turner is a better defender than Brooke Lopez at this point in time.
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Andy gives Yannis a natural pick and pop partner.
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He's got it is going to get into action with Yannis and pop to the top of the key
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and it's going to be a way to start the offense.
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He's a decent option to throw the ball down on the block against mismatches.
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Like Miles Turner did a lot of mismatch hunting.
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With Indiana and the postseason last year, especially in the first three rounds.
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Gary Harris and Amir coffee are perfectly fine bench role players on the wing.
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Again, given their situation, I think the bucks did fine.
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I think their best chance to succeed in the short term is basically to lean entirely into
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Yannis with shooting.
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I would start Kevin Porter Jr. Gary Trent and AJ Green instead of Kyle Kuzma.
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As I talked about in our player ranking series,
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I really want to see the bucks at least double.
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Yannis is picking role volume.
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I think you ran somewhere around like 350 last year,
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but it was one of their most productive play times.
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He just got great stuff almost all the time.
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And towards the end of the season, he was just picking teams apart with it.
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I lean into a steady diet of inverted ball screens with guys like AJ Green and Gary Trent
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slipping out to the top of the key.
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Pick and pops with Turner.
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I think it's a great way to quickly get the defense and rotation.
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I think they'll get a lot of downhill.
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Yannis screaming into the paint type of stuff out of that.
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And then again, this was the best catch and shoot team in the year in the entire league last
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year. So like you're going to be spraying out to some really high quality shooters there.
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I want to see Yannis 750 picking roles this year if he's healthy.
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I think that would be a good hallmark of the right offensive approach for this particular team.
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For the second side, Kevin Porter Jr. had some really natural ball handling
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like chemistry with Yannis.
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He plays with good pace.
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He does a good job of getting the ball to Yannis in the pocket.
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I think he'll similarly be able to have some success with Miles Turner and picking pop.
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So like if you actually dig into the numbers, Kevin Porter Jr.
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Gary Trent, AJ Green and Yannis, when those four were on the court last year,
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albeit a small sample.
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In 224 possessions, they were plus 42.4 net.
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They had a 139 offensive rating with those guys.
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It's something that I would lean into.
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Lean into what you're great at, right?
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Like you don't have good back court ball handling.
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You don't need to be given everybody else to the ball.
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You don't have good perimeter defense.
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So lean into protecting the rim.
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At least be good at what you can be good at.
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This team can be good at protecting the rim.
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Will they have to give up a bunch of threes?
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Yes, but they can be good at protecting the rim.
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If they're good at protecting the rim and they give the ball to Yannis on offense and they have
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him run a ton of inverted action in ball screens with Miles Turner,
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they're going to be a team that can win some basketball games.
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Are they going to go out there and win 60 games?
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No, but you'll get into the playoffs as a middleing seed and you have an upset shot against anyone
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in that conference because there are four top tier superstars in the NBA.
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Three of them are out west.
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You have the other one.
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The only other guy that can reach that level is imbued and Philly and I think it's highly unlikely
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that they survived the season long enough to actually put that sort of confrontation in front of Yannis.
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So yeah, I think they did about as well as they could under the circumstances.
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It's going to be kind of like Yannis's 2018 LeBron year.
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Very little chance to win the championship, but an awesome chance to just flex your muscles and
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show how good you are in this league.
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Yannis has shown a ton of growth as a playmaker on the ball.
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I think he's got a good roster for him to accentuate that specific part of his game.
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I think him and Miles is a very strong defensive foundation in the front court.
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I think they have the potential to be at least an interesting team this season.
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I started trying to get pregnant about four years ago now.
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We're getting a little bit older and it just kind of felt like the window could be closing.
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Bloomberg and I Heart Podcasts present.
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IVF disrupted the Kind Body story.
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A podcast about a company that promised to revolutionize fertility care.
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Introducing Kind Body, a new generation of women's health and fertility care.
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Backed by millions in venture capital and private equity,
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it grew like a tech startup.
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You think you're finally like with the right people in the right hands,
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Don't be fooled.
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By what all the bright and shiny.
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Listen to IVF disrupted the Kind Body story.
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Starting September 19 on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Hey, I'm Jay Chetty, host of the on-purpose podcast.
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I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with the one, the only Cardi B.
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My marriage, I felt the love dying.
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I was crying every day.
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I felt in the deepest depression that I had ever had.
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How do you think you misunderstood?
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I'm not this evil mean person that people think that I am.
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I'm too compassionate.
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I have sympathy for **** that **** my man.
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Put so much heart and soul into your work.
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What's the hardest part for you to take that criticism?
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This **** was not given to me.
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I worked my ass off for me.
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Even when I was a stripper, I'm gonna beat the best pole dancer in here.
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When was the moment you felt?
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I didn't.
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I still feel this day.
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Don't feel comfortable.
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I fight every day to keep this level of success,
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because people want it.
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Take it from you.
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So bad.
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Listen to on purpose with Jay Chetty on the I Heart Radio app,
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Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
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What's up everybody?
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This is Snacks from Traviner's Podcasts
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and we're bringing you the horror every week,
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all October long.
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Kickin' off this mud.
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I'll be bringing you all my greatest fear-inducing horror games
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from Res and Evil to Savage Hill.
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Me and Tony bringing back Fire Team.
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I'm left for dead too.
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And we're just gonna be going over some of the greats.
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Also in October, we'll be talking about our favorite horror and Halloween movies.
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And figuring out why Black people always got to die first.
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As the umbral reliquary invites any and all
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foolish brave enough to peruse,
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it's many curiosities.
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But take heed.
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All sales are final.
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Weekly horror side quests written and narrated by yours, Truelee,
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with a full episode read and a commentary special.
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And we'll cap it off with horror movie Battle Royale.
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Jason versus Freddie.
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Michael Myers versus the A.E.
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with the little tongue mustard.
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October, we're doing it Halloween style.
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Listen to the travelers podcast from the Black and Fick podcast network.
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On the IHR Radio Al Apple Podcast,
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or wherever you get your podcast.
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I'm Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman,
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host of the Psychology Podcast.
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Here's a clip from an upcoming conversation
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about exploring human potential.
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I was going to school to try to teach kids these skills
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and I get eye rolling from teachers or I get students
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who would be like,
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it's easier to punch them on the face.
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When you think about the motion regulation,
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like you're not going to choose an adaptive strategy
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which is more effortful to use.
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Unless you think there's a good outcome as a result of it,
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if it's going to be beneficial to you.
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Because it's easy to just say like,
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like, go blank yourself, right?
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It's easy.
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It's easy to just drink the extra beer.
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It's easy to ignore, just suppress,
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seeing a colleague who's bothering you
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and just like walk the other way.
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Avoidance is easier,
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ignoring is easier,
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denial is easier,
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drinking is easier,
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yelling screaming is easy,
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complex problem solving,
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meditating, you know,
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fix effort.
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Listen to the Psychology Podcast
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on the iHeartRadio app,
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Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Next to Detroit Pistons.
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Another impressive offseason, in my opinion,
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you lose Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr.
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in Dennis Schroder.
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All three guys that played big roles for you last year.
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But you bring in Duncan Robinson
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who can replace some of that shooting
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and by the way,
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I think Duncan's a better playmaker
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than both Malik Beasley
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or Tim Hardaway Jr.
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So actually,
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he'll be a really useful offensive player
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in Detroit.
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He had a lot of two-man game chemistry
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with Bamette Bio
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and was really good at making reads
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off the way the screen defender was guarding him
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and could get the defense into rotation
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coming off of action.
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I think he'll help a lot.
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Keraslavert and the return of Jaden Ivy
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will replace Dennis Schroder's ball handling.
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Keras in a lot of ways is like a bigger version of Dennis.
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He's like a three-level score
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who's also a good perimeter defender.
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Like just a good backup guard in this league.
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I think that's a good pick up there.
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And obviously,
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you're returning Jaden Ivy.
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And Jaden Ivy before he went down
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with injury last year
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was putting up 18 points,
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40-bounds for assists
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on 57% true shooting.
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In his last five games before going down with injury,
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he averaged 19.2 points per game
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on 60% from the field
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and 21 for 36 from three,
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which is 62%.
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So like, I mean,
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that's the main storyline to start the season
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is we're getting Jaden Ivy back.
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Let's see what this guy can do, right?
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We always talk about your rebuilding pathway.
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We were just talking about it
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yesterday with respect to Portland and Utah, right?
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You need your foundational superstar
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and you need your supporting star.
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And then from there,
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you need a mix of role players
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that fit the skill sets of those two stars.
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You're in a better spot than most teams in the league
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because you know you have the right
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foundational superstar.
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I like Kade was incredible last year.
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And yet it still feels like he can get so much better.
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So your foundation is set.
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The question is,
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can Jaden Ivy be the right number two around Kade?
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I think he can be.
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But we need to see more.
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And hopefully we'll get to see that this season.
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The set of role players,
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it's starting to take shape solely but surely, right?
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Like you have athletic wings
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who can defend on the perimeter
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in a Mentomson in Ron Holland.
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You have skilled veterans on the perimeter
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that can help your young stars on offense
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like Duncan Robinson and Keras Levert.
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You have big,
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ass kicking centers in Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart.
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The weak spot on the roster is the power forward spot
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like Tobias Harris.
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And I actually thought Tobias playing well
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like he did for stretches
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in that playoff series against the Nix.
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It was like a proof of concept
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for what an upgrade there would look like.
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And I've heard the name Lori Marken
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in brought up by several folks for Detroit.
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And I got to say I like it.
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In addition to being the type of high volume
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catch and shoot player that Kade has always thrived with,
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he loves hunting shooters, especially in transition.
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He's just a bigger, better athlete
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and just a much better all around player than Tobias Harris.
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I think it's the kind of move
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that would kind of accentuate this era
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and the timeline that Detroit is on
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as Kade is growing faster than we originally expected him to.
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But regardless of whether or not they make a trade
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or how far they get in April and May,
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it's going to come down to Kade's development,
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especially in the playoffs.
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There were several warps that showed in the Nix series,
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which I thought overall was an impressive showing from Detroit.
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Kade averaged 5.3 turnovers, which is too many.
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He shot four for 24 on pull up threes.
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His mid ranges were fine.
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He was pretty good.
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There is 13 for 27 that's 48%.
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But his inability to hit the pull up three
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really hurt him in that series.
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And he was just 42% on layups 18 for 43.
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These are all areas that I think he's more than capable
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of massively improving on.
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As soon as this year and certainly in the coming years,
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I thought it really showed for the pistons in crunch time.
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The pistons logged a 109 offensive rating
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in the clutch against Detroit.
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In large part because of turnovers,
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they turned the ball over and astonishing 26% of their possessions
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in the clutch in those three clutch losses.
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It wasn't all Kade, but Kade did have three of those turnovers.
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Now to be clear, none of this is meant to be an attack on Kade.
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More just a reason to be optimistic about the future.
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There's a reason why I always talk about young teams
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underperforming in the playoffs.
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There's a reason why Oklahoma City got pushed to 7 twice
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by two inferior teams when they were a 68 win team
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in a stacked conference.
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There's a reason why Kade wasn't as good in that playoff series
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as he was in the regular season.
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The playoffs present different challenges.
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Coaching staffs get to spend weeks figuring out how to make you uncomfortable.
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The defenders get to guard you so many times over the course of weeks
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that they become familiar with your moves
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and they get better at guarding you.
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The pressure and the stakes are different than what they used to be.
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So for better in teams, they've been through it a ton.
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They've addressed their weaknesses.
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They've added variety to their games to make them harder to guard.
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If a defender sees them for a two week straight.
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And they've learned how to be more collected under pressure.
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So I'm not judging the pistons.
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I thought they were overall very impressive in that first run.
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But it showed the specific things that Kade needed to get better at.
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And I expect him to start getting better at those things this season.
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Maybe the ideal trade for a guy like Mark and in will pop up.
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And that can accelerate the timeline a little bit.
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But if not, this year just represents another opportunity
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for Kade to become a better basketball player.
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And for the pistons to learn if Jade and Ivy is their secondary star.
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To learn what tweaks need to be made in the roster for the future
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when they need to make deeper playoff runs down the line.
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All right, we're going to go quicker on these last two.
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The Indiana Pacers, they lost Thomas Bryant, Miles Turner,
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and effectively Tyrese Halliburton for the whole season with an Achilles tear.
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They added James Huff, who I think is a solid rotational centenary.
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He can really shoot the ball and he's got good size at the rim.
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James Weisman, who obviously was a very talented lottery pick,
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but he struggled throughout his career to reach that upside.
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But he does have upside.
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He's coming back from Achilles tear as well, though.
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It's worth mentioning.
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I was listening to Rick Carlisle on the Zacklow podcast
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while I was working out the other day.
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And he did a nice job kind of breaking down the strategy to start next year.
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Ben Mathurin's going to start, which I think is great.
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They're going to give him a ton of touches and they're going to see
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how he's developing at this phase in his career.
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I thought he showed some real pop in the post season.
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He's an apex athlete who can get to his spots and can get to the rim.
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There's real value there.
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He's also a fiery competitor.
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It probably needs to be reigned in a little bit.
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But you'd much rather have a guy like that that you need to reign in a little bit
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than a guy that doesn't like to fight and that you're begging to fight
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and he doesn't want to fight.
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Right?
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So I think it's a great opportunity for Ben Mathurin.
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Rick said he's likely going to go center by committee.
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They have four of them.
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Isaiah Jackson, Tony Bradley, James Weisman and James Huff.
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We'll see.
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I would imagine.
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We'll see all of them at various points in the season.
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He specifically mentioned the 2014 Dallas Mavericks as kind of an example of a three-centre rotation
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that he used for an entire year.
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He talks about how Andrew Nemhard and
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Nemhard's going to be his primary initiator throughout the season.
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But he's also going to be the primary guy to guard the opposing best perimeter player,
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which is obviously a lot to ask, but it speaks very highly of Andrew Nemhard.
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I don't think the Pacers are going to win a playoffs series this year or make any real noise.
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But I do have way too much respect for Rick Carlisle and for the guys in that locker room,
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how hard they play, the overall basketball culture of the team,
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to think that they won't be a pain in the ass and probably find a way to make the playoffs anyway.
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They're probably still going to pick up full court.
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Rick correctly stated that it's basically impossible to replicate Tyrese's pace,
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but I'm sure that they're going to try.
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Nemhard, Nees Smith and Siacum are all still really good players.
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And the East isn't exactly full of awesome teams, right?
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So I think it's absolutely possible that the Pacers will win some games,
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be a pain in the ass and if we see them playing in April in a playoffs series,
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I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.
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Lastly, today, the Chicago Bulls.
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Quick off season recap, they lost Lonzo Ball and Taylor Horton Tucker.
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They added Noah Senge in the lottery, basically a super-raw,
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a high upside wing type of prospect.
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Isaac Acoro is basically a DN3 wing.
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You Bulls fans have had plenty of experience with that type of player over the years.
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They were feisty to end last season.
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They went 15 and five down the stretch.
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That was the fifth best record in the league from March 6th on.
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They were top 10 in both offense and defense in that span.
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Their schedule was kind of weak, but there was also a handful of really nice wins in there.
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Like to beat the Lakers twice, they beat the Pacers, they beat the Denver Nuggets.
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Kobe White and Josh Giddy hit a really nice level offensively.
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Kobe averaged an efficient 26 points per game in that span.
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Josh Giddy basically averaged a 21 point triple double in that span.
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And they had an insane stretch of clutch shooting.
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They hit 55% of their clutch threes in that span of games,
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which is by far the best in the league.
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And they even hit a half-court buzzer beater against my Lakers
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in this wild finish of a game.
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One of LeBron's worst moments in the regular season in his career.
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It was a fun stretch, but I don't expect the Bulls to be hosting a home court playoff series
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this year or anything like that. Let's just put it that way.
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And it kind of feels like there are team headed towards a lot of turnover either this year or next.
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They extended Josh Giddy and like, I think Josh is good.
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I think he's a nice shot creator.
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He's really good in last season.
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But I think he's basically incapable of being good enough at what he does to build your team around.
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Like his primary trait is shock creation.
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And I just don't think he's nearly as good at it as the best players in the league.
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And so it's tough. There's a place in the league for guys like this.
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But it just if he's on your team and he's making 25 plus million.
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I just think that handcuffs you to a certain extent.
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They had Patrick Williams locked up.
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modest buzelis is an exciting and talented young player.
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We'll see what Noah Sengue is.
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But basically everyone else is an expiring contract.
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Kobe White will be unrestricted next summer.
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They haven't extended I had a Sun moon.
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Apparently they were shopping him around a bunch this summer.
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So they seem kind of destined for another full rebuild soon.
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This year will be about seeing if Josh Gidey is worth building around.
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Again, I wouldn't personally, but he's going to get another opportunity this year.
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We're going to see what ceilings guys like modest and Noah are actually headed towards
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what they're trending towards this point.
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And we're going to see what you can get by trading some of these expirings.
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There are a lot of guys in that lineup, whether it's I had a Sun moon or it's Kevin Herder
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or it's Nicole Vousavitch or any of these guys.
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There are going to be guys in there that I think teams are going to make calls on
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throughout the season to anchor their lineups as they attempt to make a run at the championship.
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Those are vehicles with which to give yourself more runs at the draft
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to try to find who your foundational stars are.
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All right, guys, this is all I have for today.
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As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show.
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We'll be back on Wednesday with six sports, excuse me, five more teams.
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I will see you guys then.
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Introducing IVF Disrupted, the Kind Body Story.
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A podcast about a company that promised to revolutionize fertility care.
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It grew like a tech startup.
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While Kind Body did help women start families,
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it also left behind a stream of disillusioned and angry patients.
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You think you're finally like in the right hands?
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You're just not.
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Listen to IVF Disrupted, the Kind Body Story on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,
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or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Hey, I'm Jay Chetty, host of the on-purpose podcast.
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I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with the one, the only Cardi B.
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My marriage, I felt the love dying.
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I was crying every day.
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I felt in the deepest depression that I had ever had.
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This **** was not given to me.
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I worked my ass off for me.
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Listen to on-purpose, with Jay Chetty on the iHeartRadio app,
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Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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I love that you created a system that revolves around you creating
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pockets of peace.
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World Mental Health Day is around the corner.
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And on my podcast,
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Jess Heel with Dr. Jay, I dive into what it really means
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to care for your mind, body, and spirit from breaking generational patterns
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to building emotional capacity.
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I'm gonna walk away feeling like,
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yes, I'm gonna continue my healing journey.
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Listen to Jess Heel with Dr. Jay from the Black Effect Podcast Network
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on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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I'm the homebreda knows a little bit about everything and everybody.
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Let me know.
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Lauren Low-Rosa.
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You hear that?
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Exclusive?
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Lauren came in high.
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I came in telling the truth.
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Every day, I'm bringing you the latest in entertainment.
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Breaking down the headlines, you can't stop talking about
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and giving you my very unfiltered tape on the biggest stories in the industry.
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From exclusive news and y'all know I got it,
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to us breaking down the interviews.
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Because y'all are my co-hosts now.
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I'm giving you the deep dyes on some of the biggest moments in pop culture.
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Oh my god.
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Listen to the latest with Lauren Low-Rosa weekdays on the iHeartRadio app,
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Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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This is an iHeart Podcast.