WEBVTT - Clippers/Lakers Postgame Spaces 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:18.400 M all Ryan, Welcome to the State of the Lakers 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:20.639 on DASH Radio. Thank you guys so much for making 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:24.160 time for us on your Friday night. I I jinx 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:26.439 to everybody. It's my fault, I said. I had a 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.159 good feeling about tonight. I had a feeling that the 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.720 Lakers were gonna build off of their positive momentum from 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:35.360 the last couple of games. Not not the results, because 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:37.320 obviously they played some bad teams, but I thought they 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:39.519 had some better process in a lot of ways. And 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.839 boy was I wrong. And I was super annoyed with 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:45.640 the process most of the night. They started to get 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.559 a little bit on track in some areas of the 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.400 game as the game progressed. But you know, tonight, when 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:54.840 guys are banking in threes, you know I'm a lot. 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.240 I'm a firm believer that that's the basketball. Guys. When 0:00:57.280 --> 0:00:59.760 you play like you deserve to lose, things start to 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:01.720 have and at the end of the game as if 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:04.760 you deserve to lose. And that's kind of where my 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:06.680 head's at right at this exact moment of time. I've 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:08.280 got a ton of thoughts. But before we get too 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:10.640 deep into it, Rogs, how you doing, man, how's your 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:15.320 week bend so far? Are you as annoyed as I am? Yeah, 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:18.160 I mean, happy Friday to you and everyone in here, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.880 and appreciate everyone that comes out and hangs out after 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:24.760 another just awful way. That's probably the worst way to lose, right, 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.600 A close game, a game where you never could take 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.600 the lead, which is very frustrating. So every time you 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:32.919 get it within two, the Clippers hit like two threes, 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:35.319 and then again it's eight, and then again it's ten. 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.600 It felt like just an uphill battle all game. And yeah, 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.759 you're right, just a bunch of frustrating things. I thought 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.600 Tyler coached a hell of a game. I thought after 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.240 every time out the Clippers came out and got exactly 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:49.360 what they wanted. I gay, so we can go chronological here, 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:52.880 like I thought. The starting lineup, but I was annoyed 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:55.480 by it. And it's not Taylor's fault. It's not th 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:58.280 HD's fault, who, to be honest, did a nice job 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.760 on Paul George, like I thought, he did his role, 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:03.520 like he fought him in isolation, made him take tough 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:07.440 shots over the top. The spacing again was just absolutely disgusting. 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:09.960 To start the game, A d post ups with Dwight 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.480 Howard th ht on the opposite wing just looked really bad. 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:15.760 Our defense was okay to start. I thought the Clippers 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:17.880 missed a lot open shots and then we just fouled 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:19.519 them a ton of the second quarters. That was my 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.799 biggest frustration. I thought we started off with bad process 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:24.840 and then once Maleikue Monk, you just saw the energy 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:26.640 of the game change. I thought when he came in 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.000 and they hunted him defensively for sure, That's why we 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.400 had to start trapping Paul George. But I think this 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:34.320 team needs to hurry up and realize who they are 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:37.360 because this you can't go to these lineups like I 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:39.679 get it. Dwight Howard for DJ was was definitely the 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.079 right move. But then when you put Taylan in there, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.920 you just again destroy your spacing and I thought Lebron 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:48.360 Russ and a d all all kind of suffered for it. 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.480 So yeah, just a frustrating game, Just a total opposite spectrum. 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.639 How you watch the Clippers who just spread you out, 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.880 it's pretty much a little bit of dribble penetration, kickout, 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:58.840 kick out. They have three shooters that you have to 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.120 close out hard to man the other side. It's a 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.600 d lebron and Rush trying to pound the pound their 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:05.520 way through like a bull in the China shop. It's 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:09.079 just two totally teams under the opposite end of spectrum 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.280 in terms of offense. But I was hell of frustrating 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:14.640 to watch. Yeah, I'm glad you brought up that the 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.440 Lakers need to figure out who they are, because that's 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:19.960 the detail that gets lost in all of this. The 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.760 Clippers are a team that know what they're good at. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.120 They know what they do well, and they lean into 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.480 those things. They know what they're bad at, and they 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:30.960 stay away from those things. The Lakers are a team 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:36.800 that are clearly internally unaware of what they're good at. Um, 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.040 you look at the Clippers, you're gonna see a lot 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:44.360 of Paul George attacking with drible combinations leading into pull 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.360 up jump shots because that's what he's best at. That 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:50.360 is his best skill. When you're looking at the very 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:54.560 best but Paul George game, it's all sorts of beautiful, 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:57.960 drible combinations and jump shots from all over the floor. 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:03.040 But nad what is their best game look like? Their 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.440 best game looks like if you're Anthony Davis, it's bullying guys. 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:10.200 And mismatches in the post. It's flying around on defense, 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.200 making plays out of your area. It's Lebron getting downhill, 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.480 creating for his teammates, generating high quality three point shots 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.240 for his teammates, and then living at the rim when 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:25.760 the other team ceases to help on his drives. And 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.840 what you're seeing, with exception of a little stretch there 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:30.760 at the end of the third quarter when Russ really 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.039 started to put his head down, I saw a team 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.479 that was settling all night long, and yes, spacing was 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:38.760 part of it. We're gonna talk about the starting lineup there. 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.039 It doesn't make any sense. It's totally redundant and actively 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.280 handcuffed handicaps the team on offense. So we're gonna get 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:47.479 into that. But they didn't play with the line up 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:49.680 the whole game. They played a large chunk of that 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.279 game with a D at the five, with a lot 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:55.880 of shooting, and I saw dozens and dozens of opportunities 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:58.000 where Russ in the first half he was much better 0:04:58.000 --> 0:04:59.400 than the second half. But rust in the first half 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:03.400 in Lebron all game saw driving lanes and just chose 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:05.640 to not attack because it was easier on their body. 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:09.720 Maybe they're lazy. Yeah, I get it. Lebron's rusty. He's 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:12.200 been in and out of the lineup. But for whatever reason, 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.680 we do not embrace the fact that we are a 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:20.440 downhill basket attacking team that generates high quality three point 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:24.320 shots for our best shooters on kickouts. And until we 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.800 accept that and embrace that, we are going to continue 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:33.120 to flounder and mediocrity. That's just the reality of our predicament. Meanwhile, 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.839 the Clippers, who have significantly less talent than us, because 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.680 they're best player, because they're leaning into their strengths, they're 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:42.080 a better basketball team than us. They've played a significantly 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.760 better schedule, the tougher schedule than we have, and they've 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.479 been better in every area of the game up to 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.760 this point in the season. So are you surprised that 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:52.760 things went the way they did? And so it was 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.200 one of the more infuriating games that I've ever watched. 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:58.640 And until the Lakers waked the hell up with these 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.120 little details about their entity, they're going to continue to 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.920 planner like this. Yeah, And I mean it wasn't all bad, 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.120 I guess to me. We lost this game in the 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.560 first quarter, and then in the fourth quarter. I thought 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:11.680 the second and third. We played well enough to win. 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:14.400 We just need to start with some shooting like that 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.640 that nine up in the in the starting lineup, it's 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:18.760 just begging for shooting next to them. And we saw 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.120 Rust get going a little bit, he got downhill. But 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:22.719 you're right, there was a lot of settling, and I 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.800 think the spacing and them settling are all intertwined. To me, 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:27.800 like that, that's all part of it. How can you 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.640 attack when there's three people in the paint with driving 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.520 waynes But I saw it all night long, for sure, 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:36.120 I agree with you. I just think like when you 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.400 started start the game with that, it sets up a tone. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:41.240 It's that it sets the tempo for the game. I 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:43.640 thought that we played way too slow and the Clippers 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:46.120 not turning the ball over. I was watching, I had 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.120 the Clippers broadcast for some reason, was playing and they 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:50.760 were talking about how the Clippers were, you know, holding 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:52.320 onto the ball, they weren't turning the ball over, and 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:54.039 some of that was true. But I just feel and 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:55.760 you saw Lebron try to get a few steals, but 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.800 we need to get out and run. We played way 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.560 too slow. This game was played fully pretty much in 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:02.839 the half corps and I think that leans to the Clippers. 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:05.800 The Clippers are the better offensive team, especially in the 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.360 half courp they execute better, and I thought that really 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:10.000 just that's what made the game to me. They were 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.280 the Clippers didn't turn the ball over, We couldn't get out. 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.880 They hittent of the three tonight. That's with going I 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.840 think four for for four for thirteen or something from 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:21.080 three at the half. So they were absolutely on fire 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:22.560 in the second half. We were putting the ball out 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:24.200 of the net and we weren't getting turned over. So 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.200 it was a slow game walking it up. And that's 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.600 the lead to like you saw a lot of you know, 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.440 actions that get Lebron or a D in the midpost, 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:33.640 and it leads to these fade away jumpers. And I 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.880 thought a D was aggressive. I thought he got a 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:38.760 lot of offensive rebounds minus the you know, mis free throws. 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:40.720 I thought he was really good tonight. But you're right, 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.440 a lot of settling. But I think that's all intertwined 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.320 to me, Like, definitely Lebron and Russ were settling, but 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.920 we need to put them with lineups that that makes sense. Uh. 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:51.720 That was my main thing from tonight, like we need 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:53.760 to put lineups. That makes sense. And I thought our 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:56.119 defense was fine in the first quarter, and the zone 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:57.840 made no sense to me. Did you see that, Jason, Like, 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.880 why aren't we zoning against the Clippers who absolutely spaced 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:02.960 you out? That made no sense. I thought our standard defense. 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.280 But he's directly into their strengths exactly. Frank's hole double 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.480 team thing was completely nonsensical. Paul, you get you. If 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.880 you're gonna panic every time a superstar makes a contest 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.040 to jump shot, then we're gonna double team every team, 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:17.040 every star in the league. Like that's that's playing against 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:19.560 Paul George. When you play against Paul George, he's going 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.119 to make some tough shots. You cannot change your entire 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.040 defensive scheme to something we basically haven't done all year 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.160 just because he made a couple of tough shots. Like 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.720 it was if Frank was all over the place tonight too. 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.280 He was every bit as bad as he usually has 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.880 been this season. Well to the like double team, like 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:38.280 I understand because they don't want Malik Monk on Paul George. Right, 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:39.960 So you had Malik Monk in the game and the 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.880 Clippers and ty Lou, who's extremely good at what he 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:45.240 does when I'm Milik Monk every single position, and that 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.240 makes sense. He did that with Reggie Jackson too, and 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.880 I was fine, if you're gonna trap Paul George, the 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.400 guy you don't, you can't leave Luke Knar like that. 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:54.600 Can't be the guy you don't close out on, make 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:56.920 Sergi Baka Shoe or make whoever else you You can't 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:58.760 leave Luke Arnar to mean, I thought they did that 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:01.400 way too many times. I thought we overreacted on Reggie Jackson. 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:03.320 I thought he got a bunch of just ball fakes, 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.320 straight line layups, like I get the trapping Paul George. 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.240 That makes sense, you know, don't leave Leak Monk on 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:10.360 the island with him. I would have rather just switched, 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:13.240 like you said, and trust your help behind them, and 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.960 trust that and make Paul George hit those tough shots. 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.960 But I understand the idea of trying to trap and 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.400 get back to your man. But then they just completely 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:23.480 fell apart. I thought we had no clue what we 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:25.560 were doing. We double turgy back in the post for 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:27.920 some reason late in the game. That's where Canard got 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:29.960 his first three, and then he got a couple of 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:32.559 wide open ones off of some miscommunications. I thought that's 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:34.480 what lost the game. It was close enough to win 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.120 even with how bad they played, but just the execution 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:38.760 down the stretch was awful. We had no clue what 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.319 we're doing defensively, and you're right, Vogl was all over 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.800 the place. Yeah, So with the starting lineup m that 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:46.480 you brought up, this is the one time, the one 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:48.320 area of the game where I would cut the Lakers 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.960 from slack their stars, at least for not driving the 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:54.680 ball to the basket. You know there, Every time you 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:57.400 put a lineup together, you're trying to accomplish a certain 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.679 list of tasks that need to be done on the basket, correct, 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:02.920 Like I need a certain amount of shot creation. I 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.560 need a certain amount of finishers, whether that's a vertical 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.640 spacer or a guy who can knock down threes or 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:10.000 a slasher who can catch and rip through and get 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:11.880 all the way to the rim. And then defensively, I 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.120 need contain at guys, guys who can guard, guys who 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:16.520 can dribble, guys who can chase shooters off the screens, 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:18.559 and any guys who can guard on the back line 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:22.200 do something to either tagger roller disrupt an interior pass 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.200 and defend the rim with verticality. You need to check 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.679 all those boxes in order for a lineup to have 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.160 some amount of success. The starting lineup that Frank went 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:35.000 with was so incredibly redundant. It was all dribble creators 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.520 with all guys that are gonna First of all, they 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.640 defended fine with that lineup that was obviously going to happen. 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.000 But on the offensive end of the floor it was 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:47.240 totally redundant. But nobody that is a knockdown shooter in 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:49.840 the entire lineup. All guys that are trying to get 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.719 downhill with everybody's defender in the lane stopping them from 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:57.720 going downhill. And you know, there's a certain aggregate spacing 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.800 like I I actually like using to Howard as a 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.440 big man alongside Anthony Davis to try to bring a 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:07.720 little bit of you know, a really like nuclear size 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.000 wrinkle that confuses the other teams and really shuts off 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.160 the paint. I like that, but it can't be with 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.640 the starters, because it can't be with Russ. You need 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.319 to have a certain aggregate shooting on the floor that 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:22.120 makes that lineup function. That needs to be a either 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:25.599 like a Russ off either three shooters or Lebron and 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:28.160 two shooters with A D and Dwight, then you're gonna 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.280 get a lot of of quality looks in that offense, 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.480 and you'll be able to disrupt the other team with 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.800 your overwhelming size. But going with the starters, with Russ 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:41.320 and th HT, who's defender will inevitably have a foot 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:43.560 in the paint every time they don't have the ball, 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.079 and dwites man who's in the paint, and Lebron and 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.120 a D who in and of themselves are not fantastic shooters. 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.800 You're you're asking for failure that Our guy cran just 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.439 pointed out a sequence where where th h T drove 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.839 and kicked to Russ, who was unguarded because Russ's man 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.640 was in the lane, at which point th HT relocated 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.120 to the three point line and Russ drove right back 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:08.040 into the paint into th h t s man and 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.560 kicked out to th HT. And it's like, I'm literally 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.839 on the couch trying to pull my hair out because 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:17.439 I'm watching this team actively handicap itself. You have weapons there, 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.000 but you you don't want to use all of them 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:23.080 at the same time like that, because their skills become redundant, 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:27.400 your offense gets crippled. And if there's one thing I'll 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:29.240 toss you in terms of the rest of the game, 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:31.880 it does set a tone. When you set a tone 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:35.120 for settling that lingers and that sort of thing can 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:38.199 be the reason why Lebron is content to continue to 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.440 take jump shots later in the game. I'm not letting 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:42.440 him off the hook for that, but I'm just saying 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.600 the starting lineup certainly doesn't help with that. They commit 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:48.640 push sure, and I think, you know, the Clippers are 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.480 a good team. They're good solid team. We tend to 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:53.960 talk about the Lakers, obviously, but they're good solid team. 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:55.680 I think zoo Bach is one of the best, you know, 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:59.199 rim protecting bigs and when you just combine that with 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.520 the spacing, was is gonna be tough to score. The Clippers, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:03.760 I think are the second rank defense, and you put 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.520 you put a lineup, you put an already offensive the 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:09.160 challenge lineup against a really good defense. I think that's 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:11.439 what it's gonna look like tonight. But I don't really 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.559 like to And I think like plus minus sometimes is 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:15.640 you know, low hanging analysis, and it's not always the 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:18.480 best indicator of how a person played or how the 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.079 impact of the game. But Wayne Ellington a plus fifteen 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:23.960 in twenty minutes, and I thought that matched the eye 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.320 test to me, like he takes shots that the Clippers 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.600 were kind of begging you to take. Clippers zoned a 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.280 lot tonight, and that makes sense with our lack of 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:33.760 shooting and all our guys who just want to get 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:35.360 to the rim. They played a lot of zone. It 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:37.680 was a lot of ball kicks to th HT open 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:39.320 to the corner. I think he was like, oh for 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:42.000 three from three tonight and then just stopped shooting them. 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:44.559 But yeah, like I thought Wayne Ellington was much needed. 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.240 I thought he would start tonight, and even when he 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.600 started playing well, I thought they would keep th HD 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:51.680 in the in the starting lineup. In the second half, 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.480 I was okay with starting Russ, Wayne and t h 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:56.600 D if you want to keep th HD on Paul George, 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:58.920 which isn't even what happened. They put th HD on 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.920 Reggie Jackson, just our third, which is really confusing to me, 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.600 which if you're not gonna put th HT on Paul George, 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:06.719 and what's the point of playing him anyway. But that's 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:08.520 the stuff that I would like them to move up 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.199 to and look vocal took DeAndre Jordan out of the 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.760 starting lineup. That's step one. I think step two is 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.360 putting a shooter um in that lineup, and they're gonna 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.720 get picked on. We saw tonight. Paul George isn't the greatest, 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.160 uh comparison for that, because not everyone has a you know, 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.840 six ten star wing like that, but they're gonna get 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:27.720 picked on. I just think there's ways around that. And 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.040 you need your offense to have taken away where we're 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.440 not playing from behind every single game. The King's even 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.360 the great win against the Kings, we were downten before 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:38.920 the tip for the ball tipped up in the air. 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:40.880 So I just think it's tough to win that way 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:43.040 when you're just battling uphill all night. And I thought 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.600 you saw that. You saw the fatigue as well, um 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.520 and and it's tough to play that way. Yeah, I agree. 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:52.200 And and at a certain point, Frank needs to feel 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.960 the urgency. We've we've noticed in the past that Frank 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:58.840 is willing to make these sorts of adjustments as soon 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.560 as he feels the gravity of the situation, which is 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:03.440 what he did in the playoff run. In the bubble. 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:07.160 But like man, like we were a five hundred basketball team. 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.760 We have all our guys with exception of a reason, 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:13.400 and we are we're we're getting beat by mediocre teams. 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.800 The Clippers are good. They're good. They're good team. They're 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.360 they're not a great team. We're gonna face a lot 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.120 of better teams this year. That's a team at home 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:25.240 with all our bodies that we have to beat. That's 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:27.880 a that's a game we have to win. And so again, 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:30.680 to your point, like spotting the other team ten points 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.560 or or a proverbial, you know, mythical ten points. However 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:36.680 you want to quantify all of the negative effects that 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.560 come from that lineup, you're just setting yourself up for failure. 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.200 They were just in general, like I said, keeping Dwight 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.160 Howard in lineups that have a certain amount of spacing 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:47.880 so that you don't have to play with the starters. 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.600 You use that wrinkle with shooting, you know, keeping th 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:55.200 ht and Russ staggered so that his his skill set 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:59.680 isn't completely wasted with the starters. The lebron at the center. 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:01.760 I she like that look, but it needs to be 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:03.760 a little bit more switching and a little bit less 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:06.320 traditional pick and roll coverage because Lebron is just not 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.600 big enough to be a really effective drop coverage big. 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.360 He's better if you can try to keep him, you know, 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.680 rotating around in defense and communicating and flying around. Take 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:17.960 advantage of the foot speed that that lineup has, you 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.240 know what I mean, that's the advantage of that lineup. 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:21.800 I thought they did a lot of switching in the 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:24.640 second quarter with that group, and it looked okay, But 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.200 then in the fourth quarter there was no there was 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:30.040 no switching, and Lebron is getting barbecued in drop coverage 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.760 against Isaiah Hartenstein, and so there's just a lot of 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:36.360 really really bad process tonight. But it's like I can't 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.600 even man, I like, I can't even like stop finding 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:42.320 places to point blame here, because it's like they went 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:44.200 to Lebron at the five in the second quarter and 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.720 he would not drive to the basket. He had like 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.280 a five minute stretch at the center with all of 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:53.920 this spacing and shooting, and I counted one basket attack 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:56.120 and it was in transition when he got the and one. 0:16:56.480 --> 0:17:00.040 Every single half court set, he was completely unwilling to 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:01.680 his head down to get to the rim. It's like 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:05.639 the whole purpose of sacrificing all of our size and 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:08.879 athleticism to put you at the five is to create 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:11.399 space for you as a driver and as a rollman. 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:15.000 Like you have to wise on that. And like, I know, 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.800 I've been really critical of Lebron this year, but this 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.919 team needs more out of him. They need him to 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.240 be better. And there's only so much slack you can 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:25.840 cut him on the on the in and out of 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.240 the line up front. Yeah that okay, I'm gonna spot 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.200 you that when you miss more jump shots and usually miss, 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.399 or when you need to sub out more frequently than 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.080 you usually do because you're tired, But dude, if you can't. 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:38.399 There was a play where he had Isaiah Hartenstein in 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.040 the corner with plenty time on the shock clock in 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.119 the second quarter and Wayne Ellington is wide open on 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.560 the opposite wing and Wayne Ellington's van is waiting under 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.360 the basket. He could have either skipped at Wayne Ellington 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.359 or done a rip through on Isaiah Hartenstein, gotten to 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.600 the paint and done a little pass along the baseline 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.560 to the corner, and he jacked up a stupid step 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:00.840 back three that he missed, which as I've pointed out 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.720 on Twitter if you look into the numbers, he's terrible 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.000 with that shot. This season, he's he's money on catch 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.480 and shoot wide open threes. He's right around fifty. I 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:11.920 can't remember the exact numbers. That obviously changes every day, 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.800 but he's shooting an incredible percentage on his wide open 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.320 catch and shoot threes, and he's breaking the hell out 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.120 of all these step back jump shots, and he just 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.760 keeps going to him and like I, I, it's it's 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:27.520 it's been extremely frustrating because this this is not the 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.960 Cads where you can bs your way through the season 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.199 and you know that you're facing the Raptors in the 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:37.120 conference finals, so you'll be fine. No, the meanwhile, on ESPN, 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:39.800