YouTube Transcript:
What Makes a Great Basketball Player? | LeBron James & JJ Redick | Full Episode

Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.

AutoDub

Understand YouTube Foreign Videos

Immersive YouTube Voice Translation

Break language barriers, embrace global quality content

Solve Foreign Video Barriers Instantly

Video Transcript

first of all dude I'm so excited to have

this conversation like fun it's going to

be fun um it's going to be

fun I just want to before we

start I want to make sure we're on the

same page with like why we're doing this

right thank you

um I think it like the core it's got to

be what nothing else is which is we're

celebrating the gang y right so I think

overall like I want it to feel

comfortable relaxed I want it to strike

a very positive tone um I typically rant

about things I'm going to probably rant

today like I it it just comes out

naturally like

whatever let's do [Music]

it welcome to M the game with LeBron

James and JJ reck this is a new podcast

presented by uninterrupted and 342

Productions I want to be clear here this

is a basketball show this is a show with

the intention and purpose to celebrate

the game promote the game explain the

game uh we will be covering a number of

topics not just the NBA NCAA men's and

women's WNBA

feba uh Lebron and I are two people who

I would call us obsessed with the game

of basketball with this sport that has

given so much to us and two weeks ago we

sat down in LA to record the first two

episodes the first episode actually

asked a simple question what makes a

great basketball player Beyond just

talent and skill set and we touch on a

number of things that we think that we

think make a great basketball player

this is about creating

separation once you get to the highest

levels Everybody Has Talent everybody

has skill how do you separate yourself

one of the things we talk about is

basketball intelligence in some ways

it's a nod to the title of the show and

we posit the question can You Learn

Basketball intelligence can you learn

and develop basketball IQ or is it an

eight and I would argue of course you

can of course you can develop basketball

intelligence through film study through

great coaching and of course through the

number one teacher

experience and I think that's an

important thing to note I was fortunate

to play 15 years in the NBA it was a it

was a hard 15 years of being a plumber

but I had a great experience and I

learned so much about the game and I had

great coaches and I had great teammates

LeBron of course has played the game at

the highest level for 21 years his

experience is valuable his basketball IQ

is valuable one thing to note if you are

listening to this podcast uh we also

have a video podcast available on social

and YouTube and in those videos we will

be showing the exact basketball Concepts

that we are talking about episode one

actually has uh a few different

basketball Concepts that we talk about

episode two is a little more granular a

little more EXO uh but episode one we do

talk about thumb down what is thumb down

thumb down is simply a high screen and

roll a high pick and roll uh thumb down

angle which LeBron references is just

when that pick and roll is angled to a

side of the floor so it's not in the

center of the floor it's either in that

left High quadrant or that right High

quadrant closer to the sideline so thumb

down angle would simply be a ball

handler with the ball a player in either

Corner another player in the high

quadrant opposite the ball and then the

screener and again these two guys can

play Pick and role and you play out of

that by the way a lot of teams call High

pick and roll something different not

every team calls it thumb down I know

when I played for Stan Van Gundy and the

Orlando Magic we had thumb down which

was a high screen en roll with the

fiveman the center we also had a screen

and roll called thumb up which was with

the fourman LeBron by the way will

reference X4 and X5 some teams call the

fourman X4 some teams just call them

four some teams call the fiveman X5 some

teams call the fiveman just five horns

chest is another play that we talk about

horns chest is when two offensive

players are in both corners and then two

offensive players are directly above the

elbow or free throw line area at the

three-point line creating almost like a

horns and then the point guard plays off

of that so the point guard can dribble

off either side the point guard can also

throw the ball to one of the players at

the horns and they can get into

screening action this is horns very

simple ball handler player in either

corner and then two players up here a

lot of times this guy will be the

fiveman this guy will be the ball

handler and this guy will be the scorer

or the shooter Boston Celtics by the way

when they run their horns action a lot

of times the fiveman is space to one of

these corners and they involve Jaylen

Brown Jason Tatum and either Drew

holiday or Derek white horns chest is a

very simple play so let's say this is

LeBron and this is

D'Angelo right here and this is the X5

this is the fiveman D'Angelo would

dribble off of a LeBron screen right

here and then the fivan would then set a

chest screen or a flare screen for

LeBron to this side and that's

ultimately where the ball would go

another play we talk about is floppy

which is a play that I ran all the time

I'm not actually sure why it's called

floppy I do know that the visual for

floppy was this so I think floppy means

you can basically go to either side

floppy is when a catch and shoot

offensive player goes underneath the

basket and there's two bigs one on

either side that can screen for him and

he looks to come off of screens on

either side and catch and shoot the ball

this is just a simple floppy action so

you have the two bigs let's say this is

the fiveman this is the fourman this is

the point guard and then you have the

two Wing players underneath the basket

and let's say the two is the shooter he

can come off either side for a catch and

shoot he could also so come off the

fiveman catch and shoot and honestly

this is going to get a little

discombobulated I know when I played

with Matt Barnes and Philly we would

just dance in circles in here and then

I'd shoot out one of these sides when I

think about the game of

basketball I regard it as so important I

care for it I love it I want to pay

attention to it I want to learn more

about it the game is constantly

evolving and hopefully these discussions

and conversations that LeBron and I have

sometimes with other basketball players

and basketball people hopefully we can

do that hopefully we can teach and

explain and celebrate hopefully we can

[Music]

game what' you bring well we're going to

start off I brought two bottles chamon

2012 I brought this this is special my

first championship year very special to

me so uh it's a good vintage in burgundy

very very good vintage and then Lynch

BOS uh 95 I just brought that just feel

like that's a nice little Aftershock but

I'm going to open the 2012 chambertin

and then we could just that's okay I

it's more than okay with me I heard you

was a wine guy too so well I I told you

this we were originally supposed to

record this first sit down in New York

so in anticipation of that I actually

brought three bottles of 89 l w Ro to

the office and obviously some things

came up we didn't make it work so that's

a great Sound by the way we were both on

the same page we were both on the same

page which I love um it's funny I I

called your game Wednesday night uh

against the Clippers you had just an

insane fourth quarter and I was talking

about as it relates to you competitive

stamina which is simply the ability to

do something at a high level and then

get up the next day and do it again and

for you that's happened season after

season year after year I think the best

players have a level of competitive

stamina and it's one of three qualities

for me that make a great basketball

player cuz your quote after the game it

was I know I was born with some gifts

and athletic abilities but that only

gets you so far for sure what are the

qualities for you that make a great

basketball player Beyond just talent and

skill set and

size um knowing the history of the

game knowing the history of the game

knowing the ones that came before you

knowing the ones that paved the way

knowing the reason why you're

actually having the ability to actually

live out your

dream that doesn't happen without the

people that came before you it doesn't

happen without Bill Russell you know

going through what he went through

during the Civil Rights Movement and all

those things Oscar Robinson going on

with what he had to deal with you know

during those times it does not happen if

they're able to just be pure and who

they are that allows us to now perform

and do it with no care

um also I think discipline

at people you know what people use that

word so loosely

what does it mean to

you you have

to have the ability when you when it

comes to discipline it's like you have

ones you have to sacrifice loved ones

for a long period of time if you want to

be great it is very unfortunate and you

feel it at times you you know you know

the saying if if if the if it's too hot

get the hell out of the kitchen yeah

sometimes you just got to get out of the

kitchen cuz it gets hot but you have to

have a discipline to sometimes you have

to sacrifice loved ones in order to be

great because they don't

understand and and that's okay they

don't understand what it means to like I

am getting up every single day at 5 or 6:

a.m. and when I get home after everyone

leaves the gym I'm going to take a nap

so now you're sacrificing your loved

ones cuz you're not spending time with

them and when I wake up I'm probably

going to train again and then I'm going

to have dinner and then I'm going to bed

and I'm going to do that every single

day for a long period of time that's

sacrificing and discipline you know and

for me I was 18 when I came into the

league so I got my best friends from

high school that's now in college I got

one that's at Ohio State I got two

that's at the University of arran I have

another one that's at a school in West

Virginia uh Fairmont State and they're

calling me telling me uh Hey Oho you got

y you got to come down to the you got to

come down to these parties you're not

going to college you're never going to

be in college you

got and I I couldn't do

it I couldn't do it I look back on it

now I wish I would have done a few of

them not going to

lie I'm not gonna lie I wish I did um

but then the third thing JJ

asked do you really love the

game like do you really love the game

and I'm not just talking about like wins

and losses do you really love the

process of the game and everything that happens

happens

before the referee does like this that's

the easy part you noce you notice you

was one of the first ones in the gym one

of the last ones to leave everyone sees

when the cameras are rolling and the

20,000 fans are there and the

cheerleaders are dancing and the popcorn

is popping and the celebrities are

sitting in Celebrity role but like who

has the love for the game when nobody is

there you know I love all of that and

it's interesting the Love of the Game

part is so funny to me because I think

there's a there's a distinction M

between loving the game IE the game the

actual competition itself and what it

means to actually love the game and

everything that goes into that you hear

guys all the time I just want to play I

just want to play okay do you want to do

all the things that are

necessary that lead up to playing the

actual game well the guys that say I

just want to play won't they they their

career won't be long yeah because

they're not going to put in all the

other all the intricate parts of what to

get to that point that's only going to

it's not going to last that long it's

not going to last that long you won't

have a a long sustainable career and and

that's okay some some guys I I mean

you've been a locker room some guys

don't really care about playing a long

time in this league or or having a

sustain you have so sometimes I I look

in like some of the All-Star locker

rooms I've been in and you see a guy one

year or you see a guy maybe two years

and then he's he's not in the locker

room anymore after that and you just

like Wonder to yourself why you know you

don't know you don't know if it's the

max contract that he got after he made

the All-Star team you don't know if if

now they know him by one name for one

summer you know you just don't know but

it's like if you want to if you want to

be great and want to be like legendary

or not even I don't even say

that if you want to maximize everything

that you

have with your career and your

ability then squeeze the [ __ ] out of

that limit yeah why not yeah I want I

want to talk about each of those three

things uh little in depth because I also

have three things but the history of the

game part's interesting to me because

you brought up Oscar Robertson M and

whether the Casual fan knows this or not

Oscar Robertson sued in 1970 for free

agency and that court case took six

years so the NBA really didn't have any

form of free agency until 1976 side note in

1977 at the time in free agency you had

to compensate the team that was losing

the player mhm so Gail Goodrich left the

Los Angeles

Lakers and went to the

Jazz the Jazz compensated the Lakers

with some future draft picks one of

those picks turned out to be magic johs

be magic it's pretty interesting um you

talked about the discipline is pretty

interesting that's pretty cool though I

like it's like soccer now yeah yeah it's

like soccer you got to Club there wasn't

real unrestricted free agency John conak

was the first guy and that was like 1987

right it just didn't exist right the

reason I mean I didn't make as much

money as you but the reason I got to

make a lot of money in the NBA is like

it's a direct line to Oscar Roberts yeah

for sure you know let's let's celebrate

that right you talked about the the

sacrificing loved ones I always felt

like my Pursuit was so selfish yeah and

I would acknowledge that to my wife my

kids whatever my friends it was so

selfish it was like the only way that I

knew how to do it the only way that's it

so you touched on those things uh my

three things are competitive stamina

which I'm going to get to in a second

the Love of the Game is one of mine for

sure caring more about your craft

instead of the other stuff that doesn't

matter is a direct quote from you for

sure uh and then the third one I think

is basketball IQ yeah basketball

IQ I have

described nicoa yic I've described you

as having uh supercomputers like your

processing speed is a little different I

put James hard in that category I put

Luke in that category there's there's a

number of guys that have like a

different processing speed some of this

stuff Love of the Game that's a little

bit of just desire attitude all that

stuff competitive stamina same thing y

can you develop basketball IQ at the

highest level you can get a little

smarter as a player can you develop it

as a fun while you was while when you

brought up basketball IQ I was start the

first thing that came to my mind I

started thinking right away I was

like are you are you born with

basketball IQ or are you taught the game

the right way and now the basketball IQ

clicks on like I was literally just when

you was explaining that because I come

from I come from I believe great

coaching you know from my literally

Coach Frank Walker senior to my at the

time a coach uh coach Drew Joyce to my

high school coach who was a former

college coach coach Dan bro and then my

a coach took over when coach dber I went

back to college

basketball I'm thinking to myself I'm

like I I I was taught the game the right

way um but the one thing that a those

coaches always told me they they told me

that I had a an an uncanny ability to

process information faster than anyone

they've ever seen

one coach and this is I know you're

this there's guys in the

NBA that if you call a play or coach

draw a play to one side of the

floor they can't switch it in their head

and do it and say let's run it to the

other side yeah without the coach

drawing on the clipboard yeah I've never

understood that and I don't know I never

understood that so if I say we running

we running thumb down angle we're

running on the right side so cuz I have

a left-hand point guard he wants to come

middle to a strong hand he has the

ability to hit the pocket pass with the

left hand has the ability to throw ahead

he's Lefty and also has the ability to

throw back on the

shake but if I say hey we running thumb

down angle on the left side because now

the right hand guard coming

right I've had teammates that's like oh

what do you what do you mean coaches

always every in practice we only ran it

from this side

yeah I I could flip a play when I was 8 years

years

old no matter if it was just passing cut

no matter if it was let's run flex but

let's start on the left side no matter

if it was just you know let's dho dho

dho driving kick the last one all right

now let's let's just drive the Baseline

Baseline Drive drift if the GU the B if

the if the if the forward on the left

side's looking at the ball you can slot

cut I could that I was doing that stuff

when I was like 8 n years old and and my

coaches would just be blown away and I

would just I wouldn't know where it came

from I have no idea so to get back to

your question I think I was born with a sports

sports

IQ and it could have been any sport but

I just think basketball was the one that

I like I

was I chose and maybe I was chosen to do

that as well and I just took it to a

whole as I got older and your mind gets

you start to you start to live it you

start to want to be a part of it you

start watching I started to watch the I

start watching the games you know when I

was like 19 years old I when I first

started I was watching just a fan I was

just a fan of Michael Jordan and Anthony

Penny Hardway and Grant Hill and you

know those guys I was just a fan but

then when I started playing the game I

actually started like studying what

those guys were doing on on the floor

and what teams were doing how teams were

guarding how coaches were coaching you

know sub and patterns you know time of

possession you know one thing that kills

me JJ in our

league I'm G tell you what kills me tell

me tell me what kills

you the two for one shot at the end of

quarters are you going uh on a anti-

crusade against the two for one I

understand why the two for one is

important obviously it's numbers you get

two possessions the other team gets one

possession in theory it's a fre shot in

theory it's a free

shot but what people sometimes don't

account for the four or five possessions before

before

that are we on a run are we on a heater

have we gotten a good shot over the last

two and a half minutes what is the other

team doing how are are they in a great

Rhythm if we haven't gotten a great shot

in two and a half three minutes and

we've been turning the ball over why am

I just going to dribble down and shoot a

40-footer with 33 on the clock why not

get a look cuz that great look at the

end of the third even if we get one shot

may give us momentum going into the fourth

fourth

quarter right you know it's interesting

because I think it does [ __ ] with the

flow of the game and as a player I felt

that as a a broadcaster now where I'm

calling games you can you have such a

good feel as like an outside Observer

yeah of this action happening

so end of the second quarter you're

going going into halftime with the lead

you've established let's say a pick and

roll partnership where you're getting a

good shot every time down the floor on

the other end you're getting

stops you're getting stops the other

team's having why are you you're right

why are you gonna just jack up a

35-footer just go to the pick and roll

rely on your defense now boom you go

into the half with essentially the same

momentum you would have if you get the

two for one yeah by the way you shouted

out your coaches I I I want to say this

because I think there some of it is in

eight with basketball I yeah yeah some

of it is the way you're taught some of

it is going back to your point about

discipline the dedication to the craft I

gotta I gotta shout out my coaches now

because delmare Irving Keith Haynes dick

wall my early coaches for The Rono

Jaguars yeah they taught me how to play

they taught me how to play with

toughness I get to Jun uh JV 8th grade

Chris Morris y Billy Hicks then I go to

Coach K at Duke yeah so by the time I

got to the NBA I knew how to process and

think the game it wasn't new to me it

wasn't new to me to think the game you

also knew what was [ __ ] and what and

what was not [ __ ] yes there's a lot

of [ __ ] that gets taught in our league

league

potential guys with potential they come

in and say this guy has potential we

have to

if it's not year one maybe year two or

not year three or maybe year four or we

going to pick up his option in year four

like it's been it's been grasped on

potential like that has

been that's the whole thing of the

lottery the whole thing of the lottery

pick one through 13 or 14 I don't even

know what it is now when it cuts off

like you've been a lottery

pick but it makes sense why those guys

that's like 16 to 30 16 to 42 why those

guys be on real contending teams making

impacts also why is it the same teams

that always draft

well and the same teams that always

draft poorly I'll tell you when I get my

team the teams that draft well those

guys will be working for me for sure

just you to offer him a bag yeah for

sure you got to getok OKC does an

unbelievable job with that that's a fact

that's a fact I was thinking about you

know this so by like the end of my first

year with the Clippers mhm re realized

all of my catch and shoot stuff I wanted

to come over left shoulder yes sir right

I wanted to come to my right yes sir and

so for the next three years every single

time we drew up a play was to do that

right when I got to like Philly to your

point about like guys not understanding

this I got to like Philly and New

Orleans the coaches would drop a play in

the Huddle and I'd be like n no no I

want to come over my left shoulder just

flip it and I'd walk out on the court

and then my teammates would be like oh

what am I what am I doing here you know

what I mean I'm like no no just just

flip it which guys by the way the the

the the processing speed I mentioned a

few guys guys you played with guys you

played against yeah that you think have

that sort of highlevel basketball IQ uh

ran Rondo yeah for sure he has he can

process flip do things on the on the go

like it's very weird to me that he's not

coaching at a high level I think it's

because he doesn't want to do it it's a lot

lot

it is a lot it is a lot who wants to

deal with all these rich entitled guys

all the time it's you guys make too much

money it's just a weird thing you guys

make too much it's just a weird let's

get a cheers man let's get a cheers man

Cheers Cheers thank you for the wine by

the way it smells amazing

too um going back to that competitive

stand of thing cuz I I was calling the

game and I knew this CU I played in LA

but Clippers home games against the

Lakers is not really a home game half

the crowd are Clippers fans half the

crowd are Lakers fans and so the arena

felt very subdued you know cuz you guys

were getting your ass kicked getting our

ass kicked the body language was bad I

think I even mentioned that on air like

you just saw it in the huddles you saw

it coming out of timeouts going into

timeouts you saw it when guys were

getting subbed out like it was just bad

body language and then as Darvin ham

said you you decided to put your cape on

and Lead this comeback you out scored

the Clippers in by yourself in the fourth

fourth

quarter in that moment where you're down

19 in the fourth a dead game you know

your team is I call it like letting go

of the Rope you know doc River used to

always say that don't let go of the Rope

Y what what goes through your mind

mind

um you probably got a few minutes to try

to change it or you gonna get you're

gonna get pulled knowing it's a back to back

back

knowing that okay we we lose to the

Clippers we got our ass kicked okay but

we we can't then the very next night

lose to to Washington as well so I go

out there at down 19 you know with the

with the lineup I believe it start of

four lineup was myself DLo Jackson Hayes

tan Prince cam

reddish so you know coach Drew up a play

first play Believe DRS up horns uh horns

chess um and they they [ __ ] up they

[ __ ] up on the on the horns chest so

we ran it again and there another thing

that bothers me about the NBA too you

why do we not continue just run the same

thing over and over until they stop it

they you was guys would run a play one

time you were score and then they change

to play but anyways we ran it again and

they [ __ ] it up

again so I mean for me if I see two

threes go down I'm going to check and

see if it's a heater in this right in

this right elbow for sure and I hit

another one

and at this point now I'm feeling really

good um I got a I got a nice bounce in

my in my step we're getting stops and um

you know I take one down the right wing

and uh PJ's picking me up in transition

and I rarely shoot the ball on the run

you know especially if the ball's in my

right hand I rarely shoot

it but I I had a bouncing I had a

feeling I felt like I I said if this one

if I can make this one go or I know this

is when like NBA Jam you're on fire you

know if this one goes yeah um and I let

that one go from the right wing by their

bench I kind of almost bumped into T and

they call

timeout that's when I knew that the

momentum can

change um you know the momentum can

change and once you know once the once

the the the the ball the snowball gets

going down that Hill you know Snowball

turns into the Avalanche and Avalanche

just turns into it's over with you know

so I just felt good at that

moment a few things there so like with

the three ball we've seen it so often

now no lead is really safe no you think

back to early in your career I came in

the league in

0607 I played no minutes my first two

years yeah but you know what if we had a

19point lead going to the fourth I might

get all 12 minutes of garbage time for

sure people would would clear their

benches this was 15 years ago for sure

people would clear their benches with a

17-point lead in the fourth in 9 minutes

to go you can't do that anymore you

can't do that anymore you know why

because I believe in 0809 or whenever

that little lightskinned [ __ ] came in

the league that's in Golden State he

changed that whole narrative he did he

singly hand single-handedly changed the

no lead is safe it's like it's like Pat

Mahomes right now it's interesting you

bring up Steph because I think there's

love that guy a long history of great

players MH that have impacted the game

MH and you can see a lineage between

different skill steps right uh Michael

to Kobe right you can you can see that I

don't know that there's been a player

that has influenced the game more than

Steph and you can certainly point to

like Harden for sure in that era Damen

Lillard for sure but it you're right it

started with stuff when it come to

influence since since I've been watching

the game since I've been watching the

game the most influence on the game and

obviously we know what Mike did for the

game sure you

know Steph and Allen Iverson are the the

two biggest influential guys in our game

since since I've been watching and

covering it you know one they're 63 6'4

if you want to step not 6'4 if you want

if you want to look on the back of a

basketball card you know you're always a

lot taller on the back of the the back

of the basketball card you know Allan

Iverson and

Steph they were just so

relatable and kids felt like they could

be them they were their they were guys

that was not always counted on they were

small in stature and they just def

defined the odds so you got AI who's

like unbelievable crossover cornrows arm

sleeve we wear arm sleeve everyone wears

arm sleeve now because of Alan

Iverson and he's going in the trenches

you know laying it up over bigs whatever

the case may be and now you have Steph

who's shooting over the Empire State

Building you know it's like those two

are the two most influential when you

say the game how they changed the game

and the kids and and like those are two

guys that you just want to watch every

single night I have a I have an arm

sleep because of Alan I like no no

[ __ ] no [ __ ] one of my tattoos

is because of alen Iverson sure I and

Steph I think he changed like the

influence with Steph I think is like he

fundamentally changed how we viewed how

the game should be played with the

three-point shot do you think CU part

part of the Steph thing in this

three-point Revolution for a fan is that

we have now simplified the NBA all right

we're just going to shoot a bunch of

Threes yeah my question to you going

back to that basketball intelligence

piece does the game require more

basketball intelligence now or does it

started

from you can't ask me that because I'm

always side on basketball IQ yeah always

um I think throughout the regular season

you can get away with a low IQ team if you're

you're

talented you can get away with it in the

first round and maybe get away with it

in the second round

when you get to the Conference Finals

and you get to the

finals obviously the top four teams in

the Conference Finals they have players

unless a team just happen to hit a

heater and they just get lucky but the

top four teams normally are going to be

the team with the best

players um four the best

coaches and what's going to separate him

is now the basketball IQ kicks

in because you you there's moments in

the game that a coach cannot prepare you

for film can't prepare you

for the history of the game can't

prepare you for where you have to have a

basketball IQ to make adjustments right

away and if you don't have that level

of mind frame or capacity than a team

like Denver who has one of the greatest

IQ guys that we've ever seen in jokic

Draymond

Steph any one of my teams if I played

you in the finals myself and when I won

in 20 it was myself and Rondo on the

floor so you you I think that those

things those things help I I believe

that when Golden State beat Boston it

came down to IQ in the

finals cuz Boston to me had the better

Talent Boston had the better Talent

but it came down to IQ people say experience

experience

IQ I made this comment the other day

about Tatum it feels like with him the

reads are

quicker making the right Play It's just

quicker there's no he doesn't fight the

game as much I did uh the details thing

for ESPN yeah yeah yeah uh during that

finals and I I did I did Clay was the

first episode Steph was the second epod

Tatum was the third and so I had all

these Tatum Clips I got to go through

and break down I don't never watch the

episode they you know it's beyond a pay

wall um but you know what I saw

was on the isolations on the on the wing

so a lot of times would' be in the slot

y the high quadrant right and they've

given him

space they would bring that low man over

early sometimes it was Draymond y but

not always

sometimes it was Clay Y and very

rarely did he end up getting the Golden

State Warriors into rotation yeah now it

feels like he's just making the play off

the ball now it did happen a couple

times in that finals yeah yeah but it

wasn't as quick and it was rare yeah and

obviously with their personnel like it's

it's different now with porzingis but I

think that's that's part of like the

growth so even going back to like the

question about can you teach basketball

IQ in some ways it's it's an it's an

eight right but in some ways if you're

studying it and doing it you can see the

growth in a player yeah because I mean

you know there's a great saying that

says the best teacher in life is

experienced as well and we look at T I

mean he's 25 years old he's 25 years old

and I believe he's been to the

Conference Finals four times uh been to

the the the obviously the NBA Finals

once he's 25 I didn't I mean I didn't

win my first one till I was

28 I think Joker won his first one at 27

I think MJ was 28 as well um Kobe

without Shaq was around same age was so

like you know I think we have a

um you know we have a lot of

expectations on JT but he's he's

experienced a lot of winning in his

career so far and obviously we we you

know everyone wants to see him get over

the hump but for Conference Finals in a

in a fin appearance before the age of 26

is that's Elite and like you just said

he's he's continued to grow and you know

they are in a position where they can

make another title run and like you said

personnel helps you know Adam porzingis

and and and getting Drew for a bag of L

potato chips uh that that helps as

well that helps as well but uh you know

JT is definitely the the you know when

you when you when you go you start

scouting for Boston he's a he's a number

one guy for sure

basketball IQ to me uh

when you were earlier than me when I

first got in the NBA though what that

meant to me in some ways was being able

to remember a play honestly as simple as

that uh being able to recognize patterns

you come out of an atto okay oh my God

there's a misdirection here I know

there's going to be a pin down comment

right it's just that's pattern

recognition offensively defensively it's

just making the right read

the game like all that that's that's

basketball IQ I think what's interesting

about today's NBA

NBA

is what smart coaches do and what smart

players do which did not happen when I

first got to the NBA nearly every

possession all you're doing is trying to

find the right matchup a Target you're

it's you're playing chess on The

Possession Target basketball yeah and

that to me is the biggest difference

yeah that that never happened bro I I

was watching a game I was calling a game actually

actually

guy had the ball good offensive player

had the ball at the top of the key and

they're playing the Clippers and end of

the shot clock seven on the clock

another guy off the ball is being

guarded by kawh Leonard and he comes up

to set a pick and roll for the guy with

the ball and it makes no sense and I'm

like that's just low basketball IQ just

low basketball IQ keep kawhai away from

the ball that is low Bas yq that is low

Bas yq that doesn't make any sense and

that happens a lot n and I'm going to go

back to when you first started it you

said remembering a

play how many guys [ __ ] up a play out of

timeout Burns me

alive it burns me alive that a coach can

sit there and guys all Five Guys 10 eyes

are looking at the play and they come

out of time I [ __ ] it up bothers me so

bad but yeah like you said you knew like

when you

played you had two reads I'm coming off left

left

right and if the big is not up I'm

shooting that [ __ ] and it's and if the

big is up I'm pocket passing yeah what

else are we talking about well the one

other thing the one other thing

sometimes the big would be back right

and I'd get the stunt off the pass get

the stun off the pass so like when I

played in Philly they would do that off

Ben and then I would just kick to Ben

and he's got a head of steam going down

the L well I mean and when you got you

you got to read the nail guy too you got

to read the nail guy I I don't don't

kind of like underestimate well that's

not well that's not yes I agree agree I

agree I was more thinking with the

Clippers I was thinking more with the

Clippers or pocket to to it's so weird

though because you know even like the

the coverage on catch and shoot stuff

and there's not a ton of catch and shoot

guys right anymore we're like you're not

running floppy happen a lot but like

when I first started running it or like

Ray in Bost yeah when you're running

that you would always stun up with the

big with the big and the pocket pass was

always there always there once teams

started playing more drop coverage they

just kept the big back in catch and

shoot and so a lot of times that that

help would actually come off the passer

so if they knew we were in to catch a

shoot play Kick to me that the help

comes off the passer then it's then it's

I got to make that read back to the top

yeah I mean obviously it's you know

because now offense is so more extended

now you know the big could be the guy

that can help up a little bit because

you know if you look at like Rip

Hamilton you know at the time he wasn't

he wasn't coming off their floppy down

action going to the three-point line he

was com off more elbow action so you can

kind of you know contact help with the

big and then mostly when we obviously

when we came in the league there was a

point guard in the front there was a

another forward at the free throw line

and there was two bigs so even if you

did get extended a little bit when you

made the pocket pass at least the other

big X4 X5 could come over and help now

well like you know in Boston's case it's

there Five Guys on on the perimeter at

one time nobody's in the paint nobody's

in the paint you have drew Jason uh you

know Brown you know um porzingis could

be at the top he could be you know you

got Derek white they're all over the

place so you know the the the level of

where you help from has changed a lot

because the bigs in basketball

history have been programmed to help no

matter where they are and that's where

IQ comes in too you got certain bigs

that you know if I just drive this slot

and they say don't help strongside

shooter in the corner that is the

easiest three you just know that there's

certain bigs that he's going to leave no

matter what because he's been programmed

rim um I think we W there cuz if I if I

go to the next thing we're going to talk

for another hour yeah cuz I can talk no

no no I'm serious like cuz I mean that

was that was legitimately what I had is

episode one all

right that's been fun how was it yeah

just keep rolling how was it s part

that's that's me only okay you know we

got we got room for

improvement this has been episode one of

mind the game thanks for listening

thanks for [Music]

[Music] watching

[Music] he

Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video

Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds

One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps

Paste YouTube URL

Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript

Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds

Get Our Chrome Extension

Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.

Add to Chrome — Free

Works with YouTube, Coursera, Udemy and more educational platforms

Get Instant Transcripts: Just Edit the Domain in Your Address Bar!

YouTube

←

→

↻

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

YoutubeToText

←

→

↻

https://youtubetotext.net/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

YouTube TranscriptPreparing your results…