After Joel Embiid got to the free throw line 18 times against the KAT-less Timberwolves on Friday night, I felt today's pod was a good time to take stock of how Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic have ascended over the past year while KAT has largely been sidelined. How Embiid and Jokic have optimized their games and how KAT's optimization still remains somewhat ambiguous.

We also get into how the Wolves defense has a growing propensity to crater in second halves. D'Angelo Russell commented on the Wolves' lack of defense after Friday's (audio included), so we get into why Russell is right about the Wolves never really playing any good defense. Also some conversation on how Ricky Rubio has turned in three consecutive stinkers over the past week, and why he just isn't fitting in to the Wolves' offensive scheme. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices