WEBVTT - Hornets/Lakers Postgame Spaces 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:18.439 Mmmm, it's all right. Welcome to the State of the 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:23.320 Lakers post game show on DASH Radio. Thank you guys 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:25.640 so much for staying up late to hang out with 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:30.040 us after one of the more bizarre Laker wins that 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:33.159 I can remember. Um, it was kind of weird in 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.720 the sense that, like there was so much good, Like 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:37.919 they competed at a level that we haven't seen them 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:41.279 compete at in a few games, and there was so 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.160 much good happening on the court. But meanwhile we had 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:47.560 this kind of bizarre night from both Anthony Davis and 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:52.080 Russell Westbrook. Um, you know, the heroes of the game, 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.600 in my opinion, were the role players. And while you know, 0:00:56.040 --> 0:01:00.200 Anthony Davis made several huge defensive plays and a few 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.440 big baskets as well, I felt like he kind of 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:07.120 was working through some some stuff mentally that game. It 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.399 seemed like it was definitely a funky barn. What was 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:13.280 your you know, initial takeaway? Um, you know, just like 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:17.040 I say always from thirty feet up, what's your initial takeaway? Yeah, 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:19.080 And again we do these right after the game, so 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:21.600 it's kind of hard to fly that high right away, 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.560 So just trying to look at it right away. Obviously, 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.720 the turnovers from Russ are probably the big story in 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.160 this UM. I'm not sure if I think you two 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.640 did the eight seem pretty frustrated at that. I'm not 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:35.920 sure if that was his direct frustration, but I guess 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.640 that was definitely part of it. Vocal again went with 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.160 the two big exiting the reasons that we've talked about 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.640 a lot, the idea that we don't have any wings. 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:46.560 I thought it worked in the first shift in the 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:50.680 starting lineup, like I thought they played pretty well. The 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.040 Hornets aren't really a team that have a lot of 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.520 like shot making off the dribble per se. And I 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:57.600 thought on the second half they kind of started going 0:01:57.640 --> 0:01:59.680 to that. You saw Lamello be a little bit more 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.640 comfort rule and that's starting five just got pulled. So 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:04.680 that was I guess my first takeaway here is Vogel 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.079 with a very short leach in that second half. With 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.680 that with the two big lineup, and I thought we 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:13.560 found a few things. And again, those rust turnovers on 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.760 the fourth are really bizarre. You just I know his 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.920 decision making isn't always great, but usually just don't see 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:22.280 that from a guy that's been in the league as 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:24.960 long as him. I guess just the like you know, 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.520 nonchalant walking the ball up. He's getting picked up almost 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.720 at half core by Terry Rosier, and you know he 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:33.600 loses the ball out of bounds one play. One play 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:36.239 they knock it out that lob to a d lay. 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:38.160 Just that one didn't make sense some of the decision 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:41.760 making overall. I mean, it was a rust game. And 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.119 that's why I say lean into the rust ball, right 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:46.560 because I thought you saw some of the positives from that. 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:48.720 So that's like my main takeaway here. A lot of 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:51.320 strained stuff, a lot of the five free throws on 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:54.400 one possession, just weird stuff that happens like that that 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.480 they had the hornets back in the game, So we 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:00.160 are going to talk about Ross. I did think was 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:04.799 super interesting the way that Terry Rogier completely threw him 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:08.919 off of his game with ball pressure, which is which 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:11.600 is bizarre because that's supposed to be like the one 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.440 thing that every point guard has to be able to handle, 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.720 you know what I mean. But we're gonna I think 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:18.720 I feel like, as you and I always do, we 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:21.760 should start with the positive because I have lots of 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.240 thoughts on Russ. What I'm gonna say, I'm gonna save him. 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.519 But the uh yeah, I'm very much going to need 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.560 you rush tonight to to talk me down from some 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.160 of some of my opinions on Russ. So so we'll 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.520 say that for a little bit. But to big guys 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.240 that I want to shout out tonight, Um, Austin reeves, 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:42.200 particularly in the first half, although he also made some 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.040 plays in the second half. You know, the one thing 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.040 that's starting to pop up with Austin a little bit 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.800 is his three point shooting is starting to be a 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.400 little bit of a lot. Not a liability, but he's 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:53.640 not knocking him down at as high of a clip 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.480 as you'd hope for from that position. Very very Alex 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.800 Crusoe esk in a lot of ways, Um, but just 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:04.160 in general, one of the better. I tweeted out it 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.160 was the best half he's played as a as a pro. 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.040 I think you could probably look at this game now 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.120 and say it was probably his best game as a pro. 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:15.240 Just incredible off ball defense, incredible on ball defense, this 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.320 level of energy that was contagious that went through the 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.040 whole team. He had two isolation scores tonight that I 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.400 counted one on Kelly Ubre Or he drove into his 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:29.279 chest and bounced him off and then shot like a 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.120 little ten foot fade away and knocked it down. And 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:33.320 then he had that huge one. I think it was 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:35.320 either in the fourth quarter over time, I can't remember, 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:37.560 but where he attacked out of the week side corner 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:40.720 and uh, you know, the ball kind of stuck with 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:42.159 him and all of a sudden there was four seconds 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:43.800 left on the shot clock and he just drove to 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.960 the baseline and did you know one of my favorite 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.159 go to moves, Just hit the dude with your shoulder 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.040 in his chest and just spin off if you if 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:55.480 you do it and you initiate the contact and you 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.800 and you hit him a little bit like regardless of 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.039 height difference, you can get shot off and he and 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.800 he made it as a huge one just in general, like, 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.400 I think we've come to the point with Reeves where 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:10.160 he's been so good that you absolutely have to keep 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:12.640 him in the rotation and even as the team gets healthy, 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.160 he's that he's been that good. And I think he's 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:19.400 been that good enough for long enough that the guys 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.640 in the locker room would understand why he's getting minutes, 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:24.800 which may not have been the case earlier on and 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:28.280 then the other big guys. Belton Um Obviously we've talked 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:32.040 a lot about how his extreme high level spot up 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:36.479 shooting is such a huge deal. Um. Obviously it basically 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:40.120 won them the game tonight, but even looking forward for 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:43.200 the team and it's ceiling and what this team is 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.679 going to look at it look like in high leverage moments, 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.599 having a guy like that you cannot leave is going 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.000 to be such a huge asset. And then as we 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.160 saw tonight, I thought he had his best defense and 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:59.120 effort game of the year. Tons of multiple effort plays defensively, 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.800 getting his hands on on on balls that even used 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.120 to being active in passing Wayne's contesting shots that he 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.320 used to just let go. Just just an awesome, awesome, 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.200 awesome game from Carmelo Anthony. And so those are my 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:17.320 two stars of the night, the two huge, glaring positives 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:19.200 that I wanted to point out. Would you agree with that? 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.039 Was there anybody else that you wanted to shout out? No? 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.000 I would agree with that. Well, let's start with Reeves 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.599 because I thought, just this is just an incredible sentence 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.640 to say, like, well, I tweeted it too, But when 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:29.719 the overtime started, I said, we needed him out there 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.360 to guard LaMelo Ball, you know LaMelo Ball, the one 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:36.640 averaging twenty on from three and all that, and Volgo 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:39.640 put him in for defense. Frank Bogo put Austin Reeves 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.760 and every badly and for defense Land and the undrafted rookie, 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.640 and you're right, his defense was just incredible. We talked 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:47.680 about it all the time that Frank, you know, likes 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:50.000 to play this drop kind of coverage and you need 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.320 guards who can stick. And Austin Reeves was the best 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:55.360 at it tonight. He might have been the best at 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.640 it all year. He drew a few offensive fouls I 0:06:57.640 --> 0:06:59.839 believe too on that where he was kind of chasing 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:03.000 on overs ear. But the work on LaMelo that last play, 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.239 he gart him one on one. If you watch closely, 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:06.800 they got he got him one on one. They had 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.240 a screen he switched and then shut off Gordon Hayward 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:11.640 at the rim, which allowed a d to come out 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.840 and contest, which I think was forgot who was in 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:17.360 the corner who took the three um But but yeah, 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:19.720 was able to contest that, and then they got offensive 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:21.440 rebound and got a tough one from Martin in the 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.320 other corner. But yet his defense was just incredible even 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:26.320 if his shots not going, He's just in the right 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:28.840 place way too many times for me to where you 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.000 don't play him. And I think in that second unit, 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:33.920 im i'd actually like, I think to start him right 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:36.080 now if you start a D at the five, I 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.800 think Reaves has just been that good defensively. But just 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.400 his defense was incredible even if he didn't make, you know, 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:43.920 his spot up three's teams don't leave him though, you 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:45.600 know what I mean, Like, even if he's not making 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.360 his spot up three, he's a guy they respect as 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:50.840 a shooter already. Like they don't play off of, they 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.560 don't stack off him. Melo got a bunch of good 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.000 looks open three tonight. I think reeves on the floor 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:57.920 for a lot of them. He just helps the spacing, 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:00.880 he's in the right place, he's there, recharges, you know, 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:03.640 and his hustle energy that all just is needed on 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.320 this team where you can tell the lack of energy 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.600 just goes back and forth and then mellow. I don't 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:10.240 know what other I don't know if there's any like 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.080 superlatives left to talk about him. Some of these three 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.720 to night weren't even open. Uh. He was just feeling 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:17.480 it at Staple Center. I think he was shooting like 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:22.040 sixty eight percent on threes and that went that one man, 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:24.720 the wheels were coming off. It felt like the team 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.679 was about ready toe and that three hitting it overtime 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:29.720 completely changed the complexion of it. Yeah, and you could 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:31.760 see him to be like, let's go, let's keep it going. 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:34.040 If he's the camera kind of pan on him, but 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.040 he was while he was walking back on that. But yeah, 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:37.920 and he saved us. I don't know where this team 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:40.760 would be without Mellow. It's another twenty plus game from him. 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:43.080 I think it's like his fourth for the season or something. 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.600 But it's just he's been great, Like it's there's nothing 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:48.960 you could say. And his defense like if it's possible, 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:51.120 that's more than enough, And like you talked about tonight, 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:52.960 it was even better than that. He gets hands on 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:55.160 a lot of strips. He's never going to be perfect, 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:57.040 but he's kind of been in the right place A 0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:00.480 few times. I thought the Mellow lineups were good enough 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.760 defensively to win, but as shooting, he has just been incredible. 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:04.200 So I did with with you. Those were kind of 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:08.680 the two stars from to name. You know, Mellow is 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:13.080 an interesting guy for Russ to watch as an example 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:17.040 of how to age gracefully as a star. That was, 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:21.280 you know, much more nuclear, you know, in his younger days. Now, 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.640 Mellow to his you know, to to Russ his defense, 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.200 Mellow it was it was a propless. He didn't accept 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:30.520 it right away. But if you look at what Mellow 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.360 is as a basketball player right now, like he's he's 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:35.959 the same level of skill that he's always had. It 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:38.720 just he was he had a certain amount of athleticism 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:42.920 in his prime that allowed him to have a physical 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:46.440 advantage to go with his skill, that allowed him to 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.360 be a guy who was, you know, one of the 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:52.319 best scorers in the league. Right So the core skill 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.559 set behind that is still there. But Carmelo Anthony has 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:59.640 understood that he's not the same player, and he has 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:03.160 transformed his game in a lot of ways. He understands like, hey, like, 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:07.160 I will not be able to play for a winner 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.560 unless I put in more effort on the defensive end 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:12.440 than I did when I was in my prime. Like, 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:14.560 and he gets that, Like he he knows that a 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.240 game like tonight, um Frank might go another direction if 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.240 he's getting just barbecued all over the floor. So he 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:25.360 over the course of this season has each successive game 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.840 gotten a little bit better on the defensive end, a 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:32.480 little bit better with his effort and focus. He's completely 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:38.760 changed his shot profile to uh to taking higher quality shots. 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:41.320 When he takes the tougher shots, they now take place 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:44.760 when he already has his rhythm, you know, even you know, 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:48.520 I've complained a lot about him posting up bigger wings, um, 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:51.040 you know, instead of posting up smaller guards. And there 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:52.480 was a play in the first half where he got 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.560 Kelly Ubrey on him and I remember sitting there thinking like, 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.600 I don't really like the snatch up, and but Mellow, 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:02.400 Mellow was hard about it. He's like he pumped, like 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:05.040 Mellow's like, I'm not gonna be able to just elevate 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.440 over the top of this guy anymore, so I'm gonna 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:11.360 try to Outsmarten and Kelly Bray is young and overaggressive, 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.600 and he jumped out of his shoes and Mellow got 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.319 two free throws out of it. Point being like, Mellow 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:18.920 is finding a way to age gracefully. And it's a 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.720 big thing that Russ has to pay attention to. And 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:23.880 this is something that I talked a lot about a 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.960 couple of nights ago when we did our last pot 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.480 after the Portland's game. You know, Russ has to kind 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.480 of accept the realities of who he is as a 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:37.240 basketball player now and and try to identify what he 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.520 can still do to impact the game and try to 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:43.080 focus on those areas and pull back in other areas. 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:44.920 That's the only way this is going to work. And 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:49.640 to his defense, as bad as he was tonight, which 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.920 we're gonna talk more about, like he's kind of in 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.680 a rocket between the rock and hard plates here like that, 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:59.680 the team needs him to to try to create something. 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.199 I mean, like, here's the reality, Like like Vogel probably 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:07.120 goes with Rondo for the first six, seven, eight minutes 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.560 of the fourth quarter if if, if he doesn't get ejected. 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.000 You know, he was forced to go back to Russ 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:19.640 early there, and and the you know, the team just 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:21.960 needs him to do this. But when Lebron comes back, 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.760 when th Hd comes back, when the team's whole, he's 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:26.079 got to find a way to tell some of his 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.360 back because what you saw tonight is something that I've 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:31.959 talked about a lot over the course at the beginning 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:37.000 of this season, the concept of hemorrhaging possessions. So, for instance, 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.680 who was the better basketball team tonight even without Lebron 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.040 The Lakers were. The Lakers were clearly the better basketball team. 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.560 They were roughly points better if you look at the 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.880 way that they played on both ends of the floor. 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:54.200 But Russ hemorrhage so many possessions as either a director's 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.080 old turnovers or the other big one that you saw 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.760 a lot, especially in the first three quarters, was I 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.560 had absolutely no advantage here, but I'm just gonna throw 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:07.120 it up at the rim anyway, you know, around the basket, 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:10.120 like just like getting into the lane, having no separation 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:14.640 and just jacking stuff up, like shots so crazy that 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.400 if you saw a dude shoot them at l a fitness, 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:19.360 you'd be like, what is this guy even doing in here? 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.520 Like that's how bad it was. And what you saw 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.160 was so many of those clustered in one game that 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.720 it damn near costs them. That's how bad that was. 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.760 And what scares me is the idea of him doing 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.800 that hemorrhaging possessions even in a smaller skill Let's say, 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:41.240 Hemorrhage is half as many. But it's Game five against 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:45.720 Phoenix on the road and the series is tied at two, 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.520 and he does two or three stupid things in the 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:51.600 fourth quarter that can literally cost you a playoff series. 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.240 It can't. And as I've pointed out so many times 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.320 over the years, like he's done it in the past, 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.400 there are Oklahoma City games, pivotal Oklahoma City playoff games 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:05.960 where his poor decision making arguably cost them serious and 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.040 so it's just it's it's one of those things where 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:12.240 you know, I'm having a really hard time trying to 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:15.560 keep a positive outlook with this because even if he 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.960 does temper back a lot of this stuff, just his 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:24.280 basketball i Q isn't what it needs to be for 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:28.600 what this team needs out of that position. And I'm 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.480 a little bit scared. So you can try to talk 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:33.120 me down. If you can try to talk me down, 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:35.880 that'd be great. Talk me down and said, well before 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.120 we get super deep into us, because I feel like 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.000 this is where this is going. Um, I just want 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.000 to keep shout out to a couple more players. First 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.560 of all, Rondo, you spoke a little bit about him. 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.800 That's the like playoff Rono you won't see every night. 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.040 But I think like this team right now that's hurt 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:53.160 needs him to be a little bit more right, just 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:55.120 again we can get into us. But I just thought 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:57.240 once he came in, I think he did come in 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:00.200 for us, just change the whole energy of that game him. 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:04.000 He was active on defense, calling out plays, He forces 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:06.320 a d to play in the air, which I really 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:08.720 like about him. He was throwing him lobs and stuff. 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:10.800 I'm gonna give him a quick shout out. And then 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.040 also I thought Wayne Ellington, you know, he didn't still 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:14.880 didn't shoot well, but I thought you saw kind of 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:17.000 what he could be. And then Malique Monk is well, 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:20.160 I thought they made impacts. Still not great defensively, but 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:22.680 I thought they had pretty good games for for what 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.600 they can what they did tonight to bring it on Russ. 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.640 Like watching this game, it kind of again is the 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.120 Russ experience. You're gonna get good stuff, you're gonna get bad. 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:33.960 The finishing isn't there. I know we talked about this 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:36.640 with Ruche as well last time, like this is kind 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:38.440 of what he is. And again I thought there's a 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:40.600 little bit still more finesse that was in his game, 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:43.880 like the left handed finishes that are just way off 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.680 those kind of stuff I'm hoping kind of gets cleaned up. 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.720 But I thought you did see some things like he 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:51.760 came in for Rondo and Ronald got ejected and the 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.240 lead actually increased. They went up to eleven, and then 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:56.560 I think it went to fourteen. Um, and then all 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:58.920 those bad plays kind of happened in that crunch time. 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.640 You know how they NBA games go when a team 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.120 tries to, I guess, play not to lose rather than win, right, 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:06.800 you know what I mean. I felt a lot of 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:09.480 that energy with rus. It was a lot of this 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:13.560 walking the ball up really slowly, uh just zero pays, 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.680 taking like sevent eight seconds to get it off. And 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.600 again Terry Rosier give credit to them. And then I 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:20.520 thought the Hornets also went to a lot of zone 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:22.840 as well. Um, and I think that really mess the 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:25.200 Lakers up as well. And I guess my only like 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.240 you know, positive kind of spin is those are Lebron's 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:30.360 time though, right, that is the time where like the 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:33.440 ball is in Lebron's hands like you're not gonna see. 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:35.720 And I think it's been clear this season. And right, 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.200 you thought there's been like some talk that maybe would 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:39.880 be kind of a back and forth Layton games. No, 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:43.080 it's been pretty much Lebron has the ball, rush is off. 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.920 You know, maybe screening but maybe being in a dunker spot, 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:48.480 or you know, maybe screening for Lebron are doing these 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.360 off off ball screens. But Lebron is the one who's 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.160 gonna have the ball in his hands and making those decisions. 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.320 And I think it's clear that you know you don't 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.440 Russ in those positions. To to put it nicely, I 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.520 guess that's why I'm not too worried about it. This 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:04.600 is the time we talked about last time, to just 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:06.680 rack up wins. I know it was ugly, but they 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.760 did get the win as ugly as it did. Look, 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.080 they did hold them off and over time. So look, 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:14.720 this is what you're gonna get right now. Russ is 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:17.439 gonna have to be this thirty percent usage player like 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:19.879 he just is, especially if you're going to continue to 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.320 start two bigs, which maybe this is the game that 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:24.760 changes it. I wouldn't bet on it, you know, Vocal 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:27.960 use the word tempting tonight to start eighty at the 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.960 five h We'll see if that happens again. The wing 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:34.840 situation isn't gonna change. I don't believe that Taylor horn 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:37.200 Tucker is gonna play the next game. They're gonna want 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:39.480 him to get a few practices in. I'm sure. I 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:41.200 don't think none is close enough. So if the wing 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.520 csition position doesn't change, I think we're gonna still start this, 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:46.800 you know, phone booth starting lineup for us, and this 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.240 is what you're gonna see. Sometimes I thought he did 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.480 a better job of kind of not taking those threes, 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.720 even with Charlotte flying way under. Decision making is what 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.680 it is. The turnovers are what they are. But overall, 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:01.000 it was a better game from him. Uh then maybe 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.080 those if you take I know, you can't take away 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.800 those fourth quarter turnovers, but we take those away. It 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:08.439 wasn't a terrible you know rust game, you know what 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.800 I mean, Like like if you take good away, like 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:13.440 the point of the game where Lebron would have ball. 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.439 I know, this is a really big spin on it, 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.199 and you can't take those away, and that's part of 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:19.480 the experience. I'm just trying to pull you down from 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:22.840 the ledge here. I'm just saying but but but yes, 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.440 just watching it tonight, watching the full game, I thought 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:27.480 it was an okay game from him. We did leaning 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:29.880 lean into the rust ball a lot after that, first 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.199 few minutes of that starting lineup, I wrote in my 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.879 notes that like a I think it was Yeah, it 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.560 was a Russ Ellington, Monk, Mellow and Dwight combo, and 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:40.359 I thought that looked pretty good. Mellow started, Mellow was 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:42.920 on fire during that lineup. I thought the spacing was good. 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.359 It was a one center lineup. Russ was coming off 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:48.960 going downhill, Dwight was setting really awesome screens. Uh. Even 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.159 if Russ got the basket missed, Dwight was able to 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:53.520 pin his man pin and his pin Russ's mann and 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:55.879 get offensive rebounds. That's something they can build off of 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.320 this game. But you know, the turnovers are what they are, 0:18:58.359 --> 0:18:59.640 so that that's kind of how we saw the rest 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:03.760 game to So I'm gonna do this one last time 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.160 and then I'm gonna make you hold me to this. 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.960 This is the very last time I'm going to call 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:10.840 into question why the hell they even did this to 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.520 begin with, because this is the last time. If I 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:15.399 ever try to do this again, you have the right 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.240 to tell me to shut up on on the on 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:23.679