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The Detroit Pistons Have Leveled Up… · Kenny For Real

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  Speaker 1: The Detroit Pistons are thirteen and two to start the season,
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  Speaker 1: currently on an eleven game win streak. There's so many
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  Speaker 1: great things to talk about, and I want to do
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  Speaker 1: that today. And before you negative nancis, get into the
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  Speaker 1: common section. Oh, Kenny, this is the easiest part of
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  Speaker 1: the schedule, So so should we not just talk about
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  Speaker 1: the team being the one seed even if they've gone
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  Speaker 1: against easy competition. No, because I think part of leveling
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  Speaker 1: up as a basketball team is looking at an inferior
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  Speaker 1: team and busting a ass. And I feel like that's
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  Speaker 1: exactly what the Detroit Pistons have been able to do
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  Speaker 1: over this eleven game win streak. It always blows my mind.
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  Speaker 1: And maybe it's because I'm a Bears fan and I've
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  Speaker 1: seen it a lot on Twitter over the last i
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  Speaker 1: don't know, a month or two. It's like, Oh, y'all
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  Speaker 1: only beating bad teams. What are we supposed to do?
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  Speaker 1: What are we supposed to do? Our schedules are schedule,
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  Speaker 1: You play the team in front of you, You win
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  Speaker 1: those games. And that's exactly what the Detroit Pistons have
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  Speaker 1: been able to do. I thought that when Kate Cunningham
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  Speaker 1: went down an injury and they say he's going to
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  Speaker 1: be out for a couple games. It's like, Okay, this
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  Speaker 1: has been a cool story. At this time, there's a
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  Speaker 1: seven game win streak, but they're about to maybe lose
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  Speaker 1: a couple of games. No, they've been able to continue
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  Speaker 1: on path on the defensive side of the and other
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  Speaker 1: people step up without Kate Cunningham and the lineup, and
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  Speaker 1: that's amazing. Last day they play against Atlanta Hawks, a
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  Speaker 1: team that was actively on the streak as well. They
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  Speaker 1: didn't have porzingis Trey Younger rees I say, I don't care.
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  Speaker 1: That was my starred game of the day, the game
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  Speaker 1: that I gave all my attention to, because both of
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  Speaker 1: these teams have been playing so well and DJ Piss
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  Speaker 1: has walked out of that as winners. And as I'm
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  Speaker 1: watching these games, I can't help but to think about
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  Speaker 1: less than two just less than two years ago, Kate
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  Speaker 1: Cunningham goes to the podium after a loss to the
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  Speaker 1: Utah Jazz of all teams and says, we're not two
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  Speaker 1: and twenty five bad. And again less than two years later,
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  Speaker 1: they're the number one team in the East through the
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  Speaker 1: first fifteen games. Why did this? Why did I struggle
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  Speaker 1: to do quick math of thirteenth plus two through the
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  Speaker 1: first fifteen games, they are the number one team by
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  Speaker 1: three games. That is something to be extremely proud of Detroit.
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  Speaker 1: But I want to talk about it because Kate Cunningham
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  Speaker 1: has been on another level. Let's see what these exact
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  Speaker 1: stats look like. Twenty seven points per game, nine and
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  Speaker 1: nine assists. So I'm gonna say ten assists and five rebounds.
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  Speaker 1: And right now I would guess that if the season
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  Speaker 1: worked and he'd be Clutch Player of the Year, I
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: would say because he's been averaging like twelve points in
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  Speaker 1: the fourth Quardy even last night, I guess Atlanta he
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  Speaker 1: had a couple of big shots down to Strutch. So
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  Speaker 1: he has been incredible. But it has not been a
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  Speaker 1: one man show, and I feel like that's what's one
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  Speaker 1: of the reasons why they have leveled up. One of
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  Speaker 1: the biggest criticisms about the orchestration of the Detroit Pistons
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  Speaker 1: is that it really is Kay Cunningham as the sole
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  Speaker 1: creator of this team. And if Kay Cunningham happens to
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  Speaker 1: have an off night, he happens to go against a
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  Speaker 1: defense that really schemes against him, the team is kind
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  Speaker 1: of dead in the water beforehand, that's not necessarily the
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  Speaker 1: case anymore. They lose in the Shrewder, and it's like, man,
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  Speaker 1: he was so good for us on the second half
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  Speaker 1: of the season, and before the season even starts, Jay
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  Speaker 1: n Ivy goes down an injury as well, so it's like,
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  Speaker 1: oh my god, it's all Kay Cunningham. And you saw
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  Speaker 1: that at the beginning of the season, their season opening
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  Speaker 1: versus the Chicago Bulls, they struggled when Kay Cunningham wasn't
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  Speaker 1: on the floor. The Bulls went on huge runs without
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  Speaker 1: Kate there. But then they found a guy. They found
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  Speaker 1: a guy currently on a two way, my boy, Dennis Jenkins,
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  Speaker 1: who right now is averaging twelve point game, but that
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  Speaker 1: don't tell a full story. Last night, he has fourteen
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  Speaker 1: as a starter alongside k Cunningham, but he started three
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  Speaker 1: games where Kate was injured against Indy, against Philly and
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  Speaker 1: against Chicago eighteen points and twelve against Chicago, nineteen and
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  Speaker 1: eight versus Philly, and in twenty six and eight versus
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  Speaker 1: the Indiana Pacers. And I don't know if this is
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  Speaker 1: because both of these guys are on top of mind
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  Speaker 1: right now, and maybe this is a crazy comparison because
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  Speaker 1: one of these teams is maybe the greatest team of
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  Speaker 1: all time defensively and all. But I'm looking at what
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  Speaker 1: AJ Mitchell is doing over there in OKC, and I
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  Speaker 1: looked at this again, smaller sample size again with Dennis
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  Speaker 1: Jenkins and say they are providing similar things, not in
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  Speaker 1: the exact same way. I think Aj is a better defender,
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  Speaker 1: and I think they have their different courts about their
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  Speaker 1: game and all. But having a guy like Dennis Jenkins
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  Speaker 1: that can just get two feet into the paint, get
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  Speaker 1: into flow to range and break down defense and put
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  Speaker 1: teams in rotation is a huge plus because without K
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  Speaker 1: Cunningham on the floor, they really didn't have that. And again,
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  Speaker 1: this is a two way guy that has made a
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  Speaker 1: name for himself over the last couple of weeks and
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  Speaker 1: it's insane big shot in the game versus Washington, and
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  Speaker 1: then has a twenty four point performance there as well.
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  Speaker 1: So he just adds a whole different dynamic and and
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  Speaker 1: a whole different element. And though Star Thompson was coming
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  Speaker 1: back from the ankle, I felt pretty good when I
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  Speaker 1: loaded up and saw that he was starting alongside K Cunningham,
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  Speaker 1: because yeah, they kind of could use a secondary creator
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  Speaker 1: in a lot of those lineups. I mean, the dude
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  Speaker 1: is kind of relentless, and it's so insane to see
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  Speaker 1: a guy like him, because I mean I knew him
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  Speaker 1: from a video of two k I shot like two
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  Speaker 1: weeks ago. Before that, I didn't know who the hell
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  Speaker 1: he was. And for him to just be on a
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  Speaker 1: two way and last year he just his stats were
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  Speaker 1: not good in this limited amount of minutes. For him
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  Speaker 1: to give that opportunity and just be like, yeah, no,
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  Speaker 1: I'm actual an NBA player, just like that is insane
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  Speaker 1: because he wasn't playing. He literally wasn't playing through the
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  Speaker 1: first two weeks of the season. Literally DMPs or we're
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  Speaker 1: up by twenty, put put Jenkins in the game. And
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  Speaker 1: now I was like, man, you just went from a
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  Speaker 1: DMP one night to playing thirty to forty to thirty
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  Speaker 1: minutes per game. That's insane and it comes at a
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  Speaker 1: perfect time for them. Huge positive. He is I think
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  Speaker 1: the number one surprise, though even more surprising than the
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  Speaker 1: Dennis jinkin minutes and being good is Jalen Duran is
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  Speaker 1: real life playing and not just an Also, he's playing
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  Speaker 1: at an all NBA level. It is twenty points per game,
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  Speaker 1: it is twelve rebounds. And I love the fact that
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  Speaker 1: in those three games where it was no Kay Cunningham,
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  Speaker 1: he was still able to have ridiculous performances. Yes one
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  Speaker 1: of them against the Indiana Pacers, who might have the
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  Speaker 1: worst center court in all the basketball. But for him
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  Speaker 1: to go out there and have thirty one and fifteen
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  Speaker 1: and the one that went super virus and bringing the
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  Speaker 1: ball up the court, sizing Jay huff Up and hitting
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  Speaker 1: the mit range jumper, that was just not who he
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  Speaker 1: was on both sides of the floor. He has completely
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  Speaker 1: leveled up. One thing I admire about. Maybe it's just
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  Speaker 1: a JB. Bickerstaff thing, or maybe it's just these bigs
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  Speaker 1: here in Detroit. A lot of the times they just
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  Speaker 1: get down court and they steal their man and just
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  Speaker 1: waiting for a touch four feet away from the basket.
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  Speaker 1: And it's not many people in the league that are
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  Speaker 1: stronger than Jalen Durham or Isaiah Stewart. So when they
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  Speaker 1: get that ball, it's like, over my left shoulder, I'm
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  Speaker 1: just gonna put the ball in the paint. That happened
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  Speaker 1: at least four times last night against the Atlanta Hawks.
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  Speaker 1: Where semi transition between the Detroit Pistons and it's like,
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  Speaker 1: big fella, give me the ball down low and I'm
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  Speaker 1: gonna make it work. And they've just been doing that,
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  Speaker 1: killing the glass and just being great defensively. I think
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  Speaker 1: the offensive lead is what's going to you know, get
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  Speaker 1: people talking about Jalen During a lot more. But I
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  Speaker 1: really think the defensive side of the ball is the
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  Speaker 1: bigger surprise, because there were times last season where I
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  Speaker 1: just genuinely questioned whether or not he could be a
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  Speaker 1: full time five man because the way he was covering
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  Speaker 1: the defenses in the pick and roll, it just wasn't good.
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  Speaker 1: He'd have stretches. Was like, oh, yeah, there he is.
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  Speaker 1: There's a guy that is uber athletic and super fast
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  Speaker 1: on his feet for his size, and other times like
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  Speaker 1: he's just completely lost in the pick and roll. That
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  Speaker 1: is not the case anymore. Teams, even just last year
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  Speaker 1: in the postseason, Jalen Brunton was like, Hey, bring Jalen
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  Speaker 1: During in this pick and roll and we go cook
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  Speaker 1: off of it. I mean, maybe that could happen, you know,
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  Speaker 1: in the seven game series again, but teams are more
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  Speaker 1: reluctant to do that now. Because you just can't score
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  Speaker 1: as often out of it. I guess some of the
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  Speaker 1: stats Piss's opponents are scoring a minuscule zero point eight
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  Speaker 1: two points per play when Jalen Duran is defending a
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  Speaker 1: ball screen less than one point per possession. With Jalen
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  Speaker 1: Durham is guarding the screen, that's nuts. And I've said
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  Speaker 1: it before, I'll say it again. I know Isaiah Seward
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  Speaker 1: gets the rap of being this hot head, dirty player,
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  Speaker 1: and he does have somebody. I'm not taking that away,
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  Speaker 1: but I think because of that it overshadows how great
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  Speaker 1: of a defensive player he really is. And I know
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  Speaker 1: we're talking about Isaiah Stewart, but I promise we're gonna
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  Speaker 1: get to him. But in this game, it got to
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  Speaker 1: the point where Jalen Durham was being such a minute
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  Speaker 1: defensively and blowing up actions where in Yaka Congo that
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  Speaker 1: the Atlanta Hawks has just opted to letting Yaka Congos
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  Speaker 1: in the corner. Now, he has been a great three
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  Speaker 1: point shoot of the season, which is amazing, but they
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  Speaker 1: just wanted Jalen Duran away from the ball as much
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  Speaker 1: as possible. And right here you see na Kealz and
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  Speaker 1: the walker trying to give it to Jalen Johnson, and
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  Speaker 1: Jalen duran completely leaves Nyaka. Now it is probably a
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  Speaker 1: pass that Jalen Johnson should make, but still blows up
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  Speaker 1: the play and the sark Thompson is there to rip
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  Speaker 1: it up with something he did a lot last night.
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  Speaker 1: This is literally the next possession. Jalen Durham comes down,
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  Speaker 1: he scores off that steal from a star Thompson. He
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  Speaker 1: hustles his butt down core. This is semi transition for
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  Speaker 1: the Atlanta Hawks of four minutes left. Just completely blows
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  Speaker 1: up another layup attempt and that was off Dice and
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  Speaker 1: Danis's toe and it's their ball. Here's a play that
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: stood out to me when it comes to Isaiah Stewart's defense.
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  Speaker 1: They're gonna get Jalen Johnson the ball top of the
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: key kind of you know, see the situation woman that
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  Speaker 1: left down by four. Put the ball in your best
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  Speaker 1: player's hands. Here's a little screen to try to get
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  Speaker 1: a switch. Doesn't happen. Isaiah Stewart goes under that and
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  Speaker 1: just there the contests of the rim and retain the
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  Speaker 1: board like these dudes are just amazing. I mean, I
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  Speaker 1: could look at this stuff all day. But Isaiah Stewart
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  Speaker 1: is just he's a lot quicker on his feet than
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  Speaker 1: I think he gets credit for. Here's a screen from
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  Speaker 1: the Yaka Congo. Again. The yacka Congo is shooting like
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  Speaker 1: forty percent from three. He's shooting like eight threes a
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  Speaker 1: game in the last couple so he's been like really
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  Speaker 1: on it. So here's a little heads right there. Boom,
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  Speaker 1: he gets back to him like that's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: space to cover for in yacka congole. He gets back
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  Speaker 1: enough to make him drive it and then boom, turnover force.
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  Speaker 1: And this is from a few games ago. I'm just
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: these are four clips that we just put together. Boom.
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  Speaker 1: There's a great close out for a block, and all
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: of these are like stocks and blocks, so it's not,
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  Speaker 1: you know, something crazy. There's a lob a tip. No, no,
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  Speaker 1: thank you. I just want you to just watch Isaiah Stewart.
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  Speaker 1: There's three pacers there, Boom keeps the ball in bounds,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: comes through a nim hard missed that next one. It's
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: just like Tony Bradley got a lot of touches in
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  Speaker 1: this one. And again that's another indication of this team.
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  Speaker 1: I'd be very good. But Boom meet him at the
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  Speaker 1: rim right there. Easy. Now, This next one, if I'm
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  Speaker 1: not mistaken, is the big one where he comes up
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  Speaker 1: with multiple stops by himself. Again, not a great piss
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: of team. I mean a PACER's team. Who cares. Who cares?
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  Speaker 1: This is just like something that translates. It's just something
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: that translates. Boom just cutting things off. Jars Walker trying
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  Speaker 1: to get baseline No. Twenty eighties. They're cut it off
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: against it to Bradley. Nope, bump into him, Nope, that's
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Isaiah Steward down there. Baby, it ain't happening. And it's
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: not just all blocks and steals. It's good positioning. It's
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  Speaker 1: using his body to cut off drives. Again. They're just
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  Speaker 1: doing an amazing thing to have that identity of a
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: defensive oriented team while also having a closure like Ky Cunningham.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: It is a really good recipe. Avey mentioned the name
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Dunci Robbins, who has fit like a glove over these
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: last couple of weeks as he's finding himself in Detroit.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: We knew him when he played in Miami as a
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: guy that played a lot more on ball, doing like handoffs,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: because that was the Miami Heat thing over the last
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: couple of seasons, and they're starting to incorporate that more
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: in Detroit and he's really found himself a little bit there,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: so it's been great. It's been really good, y'all. Javonte Green,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: a guy that has always been a fan of WUS
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: since his time in Chicago, has been able to pack
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: some punch off the bench on both sides of the floor,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: so it's pissing. Team has been cool, have been very fun. Again,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: I think it's too much big picture about where they
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: sit in the standings or where they will sit in
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: the standards at the end of the season. I'm looking
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: at their upcoming schedule. It's not like I thinks it's
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: super super difficult. The Bucks will be without Giannis on Saturday.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: They just played the Pacers and got that win. The Celtics.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: I think above five hundred now, so I guess above
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: five herds a team. The Magic are putting it together,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: so that's the game we're really looking out for. Same
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: thing with the Miami Heat, but for the most part,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: they're not going to get super Juggernauts. These are all
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: games that they will be in in my opinion, So
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: who knows like we legitimately might get to the beginning
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: of the calendar year in twenty twenty six and the
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Pissons are still the number one seed. That's crazy. One
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: of the questions we got asked on numbers on the
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: board yesterday is can the Detroit Pissons win the Eastern Conference?
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: And I said, yeah, they can. Now what I put
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: money on it, probably not, but they you can't tell
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: me that they can't because it's not as like there's
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: an OKAC in this conference. Right The Knicks have looked
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: good on the offense side of the bald, they still
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: got a lot to figure out defensively. The Calves are
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: still trying to figure it out as well. Hopefully Deer's
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: goarland to injury is done somewhat soon because that's when
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: they look the most complete with Deer's Goardland is there.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: And we just watched this Detroit Pisson team before taking
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: this next jump, if you will have a really competitive
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: series against that Knixt team. And now we got a
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: new coach over there with the Knicks, so maybe that matters.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: But it's possible like this went from a team in
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: my mind that before the season started again, cool playoff team,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: maybe get out of the first round. So like, I
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: can see the stars in line and where they're in
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: the conference finals. It's nuts. It's a twenty first year
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: anniversary of the Mallads of the Pallace too, and I
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: saw something. Let me see if this is still the case.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Hold on. Okay, So that was just a straight up liast.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: See that's why you fact checked for yourself because somebody
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: said that over the last ten years, the NBA has
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: not scheduled the Detroit Pistons to play on this day
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: because they were free anyway, they played there like two
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: years ago on this day. Detroit Pistons basketball looking good,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: fun watch, great defense, good coaching. And they were two
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: and twenty five less than two years ago. That's crazy.