There's nobodyinthe n B A thatcanstopthemoffensivelyiftheygiveyouanythingdefensively.
And I toldyouthis, Max, I toldyouthis a coupleofweeksago.
I said, Excusemeatthetimetheywereranked 27thor 28thoverthelastfivegames.
I thinktheirdefensehasbeenlike 18 again.
They'renotoff.
They'renotawesomeandallofthisotherstuff.
Butthey'veimprovedsignificantlyenoughforyoutolookatthemandpayattentionandthefactthattheycango 9 10 deeponanddon't miss a beatoffensivelyiftheygiveyouanythingdefensively, I mean, iftheywere 20thdefensively, that's goodenoughtherethatpotentoffensively.
And I thinkwhenyoulookattheEasternConference, I don't thinkthere's anybodythatcouldmesswiththem.
AndeventhoughyoucouldlookatUtah, Denver, ofcourse, theClippersand a healthyLakerssquadagainthehealthyLakerssquadwouldbemycaveat.
IfAnthonyDaviswere 100% I probablywouldnotsaythis, butheisnot.
Now, assumingthat A D ishealthy, theLakersaretheteamtobe.
They'rethedefendingchampions.
Noonereallyextendedthem.
TheHeattooktwogamesfromthemthatwasextendingthem.
Butbeforethat, thegentlemansweepedtheWesterngentlemenswepttheWesternConference, including a DenverteamthatnotonlygavetheClippersalltheycouldhandlebutbeattheClippers.
Stephen, iftheydon't have a D, don't bothershowingupbecausetheymightnotgettothefinalsprobablywon't gettothefinalswithout a D, letalonebeatwhoever's thereoutoftheEast.
Butassuming a D isthere, thisLakersteamistheonlyteamintheleaguethatisabsolutelyelite, bothendsoftheflooroffenseanddefense.
Remember, noteamhaswon a championshipinthelasttwodecades, 20 yearswith a defenserankedlowerthan 11th.
Now, do I agreewithyouthattheNetscouldbethefirstteamtodothatwith a midrankedkindofdefense?
I thinktheNetswillplaygoodenoughdefense, butthat's a toughSiri's.
It's not a given.
I'm notsayingit's not a toughsyriza, buttobutthree's willbetwosanydayoftheweek.
And I thinkthatwhenyouconsiderthemarksmanthatthemeantthattheNetscanputonthefloorallatthesametime, I thinkthatspellstroubleforthePhiladelphia 76 isparticularlywithBenSimmonsrefusingtobe a perimeterthreat.
That's numberone.
I thinkthatyouhavetolookatitfromthestandpointthatthePhiladelphia 76 ishavetailedoff a littlebitdefensivelyoverthelastfewgames.