WEBVTT - Celtics/Lakers Postgame Spaces 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:18.040 M all right, Welcome to the State of the Lakers 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.000 on DASS Radio. Thank you guys so much for coming 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.960 to hang out. Out of Tuesday, we finally have, uh, 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:25.799 not just the convincing Laker win, but a convincing Laker 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.640 win against a good team. The Celtics are coming off 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:30.800 a stretch where they just won three out of four games. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.200 They were competitive on the road in Utah, they beat 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.760 the living crap out of the Blazers the other night. Um, 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:38.879 this is a this is a decent basketball team that 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.880 came to town, and we just looked way better than them. 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:44.199 Um why because we are way better than them? And 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.479 obviously we've been off to a very frustrating start to 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:51.600 the season. Um. I thought Lebron set the tone from 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:53.680 the start tonight, which is something I've been begging for 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:56.720 him to do all season, and I thought everyone else followed. 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:00.040 And that's kind of one of the big formulas for 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.080 succes tonight. There's a lot of other details we're gonna 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.600 get into, but before we get too far into it, Roge, 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.080 how are you, my guy? Are you feeling as good 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:11.240 as I am right now? Man? That has to be 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.360 game of the year, win of the year. That was fun. 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:16.920 It was it was. It was great to finally get 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.280 a fun game, right, and we had three days off 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:21.520 in between. It was nice for us as well to 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.200 get a break from Lakers basketball. The Lakers looked like 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.520 they needed it. Um. Lebron especially came out with more 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:29.800 energy than I've seen from him, and he just set 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:31.640 the tone. Like you said, in this game was just 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:35.160 it felt it wasn't wire to wire. But the Celtics 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:37.319 never to me, felt like they were gonna win tonight, 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.560 which which is really just a stark contrast from what 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:42.800 we've been seeing from all these games, and that second 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:44.920 half they took over. I don't think the final score 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.520 really indicates, um, how big a game this was for them. 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.200 Just a fun game, man. Finally Laker fans and all 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:53.520 of us kind of get a good game to enjoy, 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:54.960 Like it was. It was nice to have one of 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:57.480 these for a change. Yeah, you know, Lebron really set 0:01:57.520 --> 0:01:59.040 the tone from the beginning of this game, and it 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.120 reminded me of a Die dnamic that used to happen 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.280 back with the Lakers year they won the title, where 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.080 you would see Anthony Davis kind of sleepwalk his way 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:10.160 through the beginning of a game, but Lebron would kind 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:12.560 of carry him over that stretch. And one of the 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.800 things that told me a lot about who Anthony Davis 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:17.600 is as a competitor, as he would inevitably in the 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:20.520 second half of those games really turn it up, come 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:23.640 out like gangbusters, and put his physical imprint on both 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:25.920 ends of the floor. And when he did, the team 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:29.680 was borderline unbeatable, especially with Lebron already in a rhythm 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:31.600 like he was at the beginning of the game. And 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:33.280 that's one of the big reasons why I've been so 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:37.359 critical of Lebron this season. I've probably been more critical 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:40.880 of him than any other Lakers player, and more so 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:43.880 than most Laker fans have been. But it's just because 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:45.560 I hold him to such a high standard and I 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:48.280 know what he's capable of. And you know, yes, he 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.160 took a lot of jump shots early in the game, 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.080 but they were they were high quality jump shots, they 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.240 were in rhythm. The ones that were contested were closer 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.200 to the rim. If you look at his shot chart, 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:03.000 these weren't stepped back threes from These were interior jump 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.400 shots closer to the basket, where he has shown a 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.639 propensity in his career to be a high percentage jump shooter. 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.000 There's lots of good process from him. And then he 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.280 was also putting his head down and getting to the 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.600 rim a lot more than we've seen him try to 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.440 do this season, um, And it was inevitable to me 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:22.440 that eventually Anthony Davis and Russ would find a time 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:24.760 in the game where they would put their imprint and 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:27.960 a d kind of started end of the second quarter 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:30.359 and continued for most of the second half, and then 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:34.760 Russ was just unbelievable at the end of that third quarter, 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.080 just putting his head down and getting to the rim again, 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:40.160 something we've talked about a lot. Russ kind of slowly 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:44.080 breaking through that that wall, constantly putting physical pressure at 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.320 the point of attack on guys, and they might hold 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:48.720 up for a quarter some nights, they'll hold up for 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:53.160 two quarters, but eventually he just wears on people to 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.640 the point where he starts to get that rim pressure, 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:58.000 and from there it's about kicking out the shooters. And 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:00.400 I have to look at the numbers because but from 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:02.440 the eye test the scenes that we didn't shoot amazingly 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.720 well tonight, So there's even another level we can get to. 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.640 But we were living in the paint it was. It 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:12.080 was much more. It was much closer to our identity. Uh. 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.560 Frank Vogel's lineups made a lot more sensible. Get more 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.039 into that later, but they made a lot more basketball 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.000 sense with what this team is good at. But at 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:21.800 the beginning, it was all about Lebron doing what I 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:23.920 expect him to do every night, which has come out 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.400 and set the tone and be a leader. You know 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.839 that be the guy that the other guys will inevitably 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.839 get swept up in everything that you bring to the table. 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:35.120 And that's where this team is going to be capable 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.760 of beating quality teams, which is the next step and 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.120 then you know, progressing this season. But did you did 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:42.280 you see what I was talking about there? Just Lebron 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.240 kind of setting the tone and uh and the rest 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.359 of the guys following. Yeah, he not only set the 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.600 tone offensively, but I thought defensively as well. Right, and 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.400 the starting lineup, you know, it's still kind of frustrating 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:57.279 at times. When we got the news that you know, 0:04:58.080 --> 0:04:59.960 Blight Howard's is being taken out, we were gonna have 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.240 eighty at the five, but it was Taylor and Avery 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:04.760 Bradley so your spacing was still going to be bad, 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.320 but the floor balance is better. And with Lebron and 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.880 a Dy as your back line, that's still a super 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:12.520 great catalyst for a great defense right when you have 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.320 both of them engaged. And I thought you saw that 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:17.599 all night. Tatum had sixteen points. I think right away 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:19.840 Um in the first quarter with like five minutes gone 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.200 or something, he already had sixteen. But I thought they 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.040 didn't overreact to that. But Lebron Andy were engaged. Lebron 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.360 on that back line was engaged almost every single play, 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.159 taking out pretting out orders of where to switch and 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.600 telling people where to go. We need that every single night, 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:34.840 like you talked about. And this is game twelve of 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:36.920 the Big three. I believe I have my numbers right. 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.880 I think there were six and five before tonight with Lebron, 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.560 and tonight I put them. I believe the seven and five. 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:45.560 And this is kind of the way that the ceiling 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:47.440 of this team is gonna work. To me, I feel 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.120 like Russ has pushed his weight, Like I'm looking at Russ. 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.040 The lacks. The last six games, all Um pretty much 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.320 all over twenty points. Other than the Clipper game. Four 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.200 of those games are of at least nine assists. Two 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:00.200 of them are with the eleven assists, and in this 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:02.600 is tonight game from him. Tonight, he got to pick 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.000 his spots because Lebron was able to take over in 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.880 that first quarter, was taking jump shots, but I thought 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:09.919 they were good jumpers, that they were in rhythm. I 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.440 thought they were aggressive a D in that third quarter 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.279 going to the basket, I thought he was really settling 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:17.240 in that first half. Only four shots for a D. 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.080 To me, it's just not enough. But pulling this back 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.080 with Lebron, him and a D started to get to going, 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.400 started getting it going, and Russ was able to pick 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.159 his spots. Russ got really going in that third quarter, 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:29.240 and I thought, that's what the ceiling of this team is, 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:31.240 where you have Ron and a D going and then 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.560 it's just Russ at Russ as like a volcano earthquake 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:36.560 coming at you, where where you have to try to 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:38.360 stop him while Lebron and a D are going. And 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:40.039 I thought that's what we saw tonight. This was the 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:42.200 best game the Big three I've played on both ends 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.240 of the floor. He saw Russ take the Jayson Tatum 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:48.840 matchup and I thought that got him engaged defensively as well. Um, 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:51.000 I thought Taylor would be the guy on Tatum, but 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.119 Russ looked like he wanted that matchup, and I thought, 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:55.159 you know, he did. He did the best that he could, 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.520 but he was engaged, he fought, and that really all 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:59.720 started from Lebron in that first quarter. It kind of 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:01.760 led to both of them get going, and this is 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.359 how you have to win. The three stars all played well, 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:06.120 and when they do, I feel like we're gonna beat 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.800 teams like this. Yeah. One of the things I've been 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.080 harping on all season is the Lakers leaning into what 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:13.760 they're good at. It's been very frustrating to me to 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:17.440 see Frank Vogel kind of cater his philosophy, both with 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:20.160 the rotation and with the scheme, more towards like his 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:25.200 personal basketball philosophies rather than what his personnel is good at, 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.560 what the team's you know, basketball character is made of. 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:30.920 And you know, we've seen a lot over the course 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:33.520 of the last few weeks, not just with Frank, but 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:37.080 with Lebron and a D. This this idea that they 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.360 didn't really understand what they were good at. Both Lebron 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.320 and a D were leaning way too heavily into their 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:45.760 off the dribble jump shooting game, which while it's something 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:48.880 that has helped make both of them versatile in their careers, 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.560 it's not been their bread and butter. Their bread and 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.720 butter in their career has been physical, you know, uh, 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.840 leaving a physical imprint on the game, generating a ton 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.520 of brim pressure all the good stuff that comes from that. 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.440 And then with Frank, it's you know, I was blown 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:07.960 away by how poorly we defended with the starting lineup 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.400 against the Clippers. But a lot of that has to 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.280 do with, you know, Frank not seeing the forest for 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:17.480 the trees, leaning way too heavily into size and defensive personnel, 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.000 and not understanding that if you run crappy offense all 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:24.000 the time and you're constantly missing contested lake clock jump shots, 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.480 that your defense has never said that, your guys are 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.240 always jogging back in transition, and your defense isn't gonna 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.360 look good anyway. It was. It was a whole lot 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:35.199 of of of of guys up and down the organization 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:38.720 that needed to wake up and understand what they needed 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.080 to do for this team to succeed. Frank from the 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.160 beginning of the game, you know, the everything made way 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:46.840 more sense, Like you don't need to play Lebron at center. 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.640 That can be a matchup thing, but you have Dwight Howard. 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.400 Dwight Howard's a really good backup center. He's the perfect 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:54.839 guy to bring in when Anthony Davis goes to the bench. 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:58.560 That makes way more sense than starting huge with a 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:02.239 D and Dwight and Russ and then going super tiny 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.480 with Lebron at center and at the start of the 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:06.440 second quarter. None of that ever made any sense. And 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.680 so this was a way more functional rotation. Like you said, 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:12.160 I wouldn't go with Avery Bradley, I'd go with more 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:14.840 shooting in the starting lineup. But those are nitpicky things, 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.440 the things that we can go at the guys for tonight. 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.680 We're nitpicky things. All these things in the previous weeks 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:24.400 that we've been pointing out, these have been glaring, obvious 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.520 basketball malpractice that had to be pointed out. These weren't 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.720 money Monday morning quarterbacking from our couches when we have 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.800 no idea what we're talking about. This was every basketball 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:36.480 mind in the world was looking at this, like, what 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:39.080 in the world were you guys doing? Your two best 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.800 players are leaning into the weakest part of their offensive 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:46.240 skill and the coaches playing personnel that actively sabotages the team. 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.640 We were we were all in the right to be 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:51.640 upset about what we were seeing, and it was such 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.680 a breath of fresh air to see that tonight go 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.800 the opposite direction, everyone kind of leaning into their strengths. 0:09:57.840 --> 0:09:59.360 I tweeted out at the end of the first quarter, 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.280 but I've out of run was coming, and the reason 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:04.120 why it was kind of ironic. I I went into 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.199 the Clippers game feeling good about what was going to happen, 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:09.839 and then as soon as the game started, I immediately 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.320 was shaking my head NonStop on the couch, incredibly frustrated. 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:15.720 Tonight was kind of the opposite. I came into Tonight's 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.560 game having no idea what to think, Like is tonight 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:20.240 the night that the Lakers just kind of roll over 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:23.360 and quit? Or is tonight the night that they wake up? 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:26.120 You know? Like I didn't know, but almost immediately when 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:29.079 I saw how engaged Lebron was, and I knew Anthony 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.040 Davis was going to follow him eventually, and I knew, 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.520 like always Russ, it's been to come a theme for 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.079 him in third quarters that's kind of when he starts 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.080 to break through that physical wall and start to impose 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.959 his will. I knew those I knew those things were coming. 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:44.880 Our defense was dialed in and engaged. You could tell, 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.679 even though Tatum made some shots earlier. Tatum's incredible, don't 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.559 get me wrong, but you could tell that both Russ 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.760 and Phdre were being disruptive with their with their length 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:55.880 and athleticism. You could see the good process. You knew 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.360 the run was coming. That's why I felt good throughout 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:00.360 most of this game. This is a of the fresh 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:02.800 air Rod. I gotta say, man, like this was I 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:05.280 could the Clippers game was a low point for me 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:07.880 as a fan of this team. Without frustrated, I was, 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.319 and tonight was as encourages that Ben and and it's 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.559 always been in there. They just needed to play into 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:17.080 their strengths. Yeah, we look like a functional basketball team. 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:19.360 Like we look like a basketball team that made sense. 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:21.680 And I was thinking about that that other starting lineup 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.000 with like two centers and all that. That starting line 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.079 up is like a broken clock, right, it's right twice 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.160 a day, like sometimes those you know, jumpers go in. 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:31.320 But it's ugly basketball. It's not conductive, it's not good process. 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.240 I thought tonight was good process. Even with Avery Bradley starting. 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:36.520 You can kind of see the reins of what we're 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.400 gonna be, right And I was thinking, like, maybe Trevor 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.079 Reason is in that spot. I see why Kalen is 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.720 in there, and Taylor's defense will get into that later, 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:45.680 but I thought he was. I thought he was pretty good. 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:47.880 Like you throw him on Jayson Tatum, you throw him 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:49.560 on Paul George the last game. I thought he did 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:51.600 his job for the for the most part, we helped 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:53.400 a little bit too much. But this is kind of 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:54.959 what the team needs to be going forward. And I 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.560 think we have some Winnabo games, Winnabo games coming up 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.800 here after the Boston one from tonight. But yeah, man, 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.360 the big three played well. Um a d was aggressive 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:05.320 and that they're I thought Aides defense as well. He was. 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.199 He was getting killed at halftime by the TNT guys 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.360 and everybody, but I thought his defense in that second 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:12.959 half was great. He was shutting everything off. And this 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:14.600 is kind of what I would like the lineups to be. 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:17.400 Um Leak monk Wayne Ellington. I thought we saw more 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.360 good process with them as well. We saw Lebron ball. Right, 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.600 they had Peyton Pitcher tried to try to hide on 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.600 Wayne Ellington and he came and said a bunch of 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.280 like ghost screens. That was just good offense. Russ as 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:30.000 well with driving lanes. Right, we saw Russ with driving 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:32.439 lanes and he had like a hammer dunk on somebody 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.800 I don't remember who it was. He got a big 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.600 time hammer dunk and he saw him kind of being excited, 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:39.280 and this is this the way to play, man, This 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:41.920 is how we have to be going forward. I hope 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:44.079 David Bradley is not the one starting every night, but 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:45.840 if that's what's gonna be, that's at least we have 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:47.960 the good process of a d S starting at center, 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:51.280 Lebron at the power forward, and those two engraged defensively 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:54.200 can can have a good defensive team. Boston's a solid 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:56.439 team I think there. They have a good record in 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:58.400 the last fifteen games or something. They've picked it up 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:00.760 since they're slow start even with out Jalen Brown, and 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:03.439 just there a solid team with good NBA players. Um. 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:05.720 I thought tonight was a really big win, big biggest 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.120 one of the year to me. Uh, and just good 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.520 process stuff that we saw. Um all night. Yeah, and 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:13.720 even at the end of the game, you know, in 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.120 the fourth quarter when the Celtics were you know, attempting 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:19.400 at least to try to make a run, you saw 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:24.000 Lebron's process better. You know, he wasn't he wasn't just 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:29.400 navigating switches and uh and jacking up stupid threes. He was, 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.959 you know, working the ball around, trying to When he 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:36.240 would get the switch on Peyton Pritchard, he would you know, 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:38.440 try to back him down almost like a three point 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:40.920 line post up. And there was a play where got 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:42.920 into the lane and kicked out to Carmelo Anthony. It 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:44.720 was nice. It was like a lot of the lot. 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:46.760 That was another one of those things that's been kind 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:50.880 of irritating through this season. You know, poor poor, poor management, 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.880 lead management. That's what I'm calling poor lead management. That 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.040 was an issue all season long. And and and that 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:00.840 wasn't an issue tonight. Our process remained good. Again, Like 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:04.240 every every issue that I had tonight was nitpicky like. 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.319 And it doesn't blow my mind that Frank Vogel thinks 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.640 it's a good idea to chase Dennis Shrewder over the 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:13.200 top of screens. Yes, that blows my freaking mind. Like that, 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:17.199 just that continues to hammer home my philosophy that Frank 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:21.760 is obsessed with his own basketball philosophies rather than actually 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.320 catering to what his guys are good at. But like 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:27.680 that's a nitpicky thing, like the flip side is. I'm 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.560 sure Frank the way Frank sees it, like if we 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.000 press up on Dennis and chase him over the top 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:35.280 of screens will make him feel uncomfortable over the course 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.080 of the game, and maybe that will you know, manifest 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.600 in the long run. And but yeah, but again these 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.360 are all nipicky thing. I thought we found too much. 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.400 You know, we got we got way to reach in 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:49.360 happy underneath the basket after we get beat instead of 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.440 just walling up and making guys make shots over the 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.600 top of us. But again, just all nitpicky. I want 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:59.480 to stay mostly positive tonight. I thought, th ht uh, 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:01.400 we can kind of move on to him here, but 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:04.080 before before you move, before you move on a t 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.520 h D really quickly. Um. Lebron has had thirty in 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:08.520 the last in four of the last five games that 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:10.800 he's played. Um, which it doesn't feel that way just 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:12.880 because he's been on and off so much but it's 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:14.560 kind of crazy to think about it, even with him, 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:16.640 you know, load managing through games. I think it was 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:20.400 Tony who covers the Utah Jazz. Tony jones Um, who 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.840 covers the Utah Jazz, said Lebron has had thirty and 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.120 four the last four games, four of the last five games. 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:27.040 It just doesn't feel that way. But I just want 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.320 to end with that. Lebron is still putting up you 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.320 know Lebron. Now, it's just he's held to a higher standard, 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.280 which makes sense, it's Lebron, but yeah, go ahead on 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:35.640 a t HD. I just want to throw that in 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:37.640 there because it just doesn't feel that way. It hasn't 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.400 felt like Lebron's had thirty in the last for the 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.200 last five he's played, but I guess that's what it is. Well, 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:46.680 really quickly on Lebron, like this is this is something 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.640 that's frustrating to me. It just as someone who's watched 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.120 him through his whole career. He's so good. This is 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:55.800 the Anthony Davis thing too. Lebron and a d half 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.120 the time, you you you you're you're like, yeah, they 0:15:58.160 --> 0:15:59.840 didn't really play all that great, and then you look 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:02.160 at box score and it's like damn from seven, eight 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.280 and seven or Anthony Davis. It's textbook. It's the way 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.840 Anthony Davis had thirty two and fourteen. I thought he 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.440 was bad. Like that's that's just kind of the nature 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.240 of the way those two guys are because they're so talented. 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.680 But the point is is, like we do know that 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:20.240 there's a difference between a really impactful thirty points and uh, 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.280 thirty points, you know what I mean, Like Lebron's Lebron's 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:25.680 thirty points in the game against Sacramento and the triple 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.200 overtime game, you're like, like, really bad shot selection, really 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:31.760 bad game management. You probably were one of the main 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:34.680 reasons why they lost that game. That's not the same 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.880 as tonight, where from the opening tip you were setting 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.560 a tone. All of your baskets carried a great deal 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.120 of impact on the game, and as a result, it 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:47.640 gave time for for a D and Russ to find 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.000 their groove in the second half to help you get 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.080 that massively. Like to me, that's different, but again that's 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.400 just that to me, is the difference, like the difference 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:58.200 between the guy who averages twenty five and the guy 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:02.240 who's won of a super duperstar is impact within the stats, 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:06.359 but you know, like like timely baskets, like within a 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.480 winning concept, like all of those different things are are 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:13.600 where what separates, you know, because you're gonna find lots 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:15.520 of guys in the league at average around twenty points 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:16.840 a game, you know what I mean. That's that's where 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.560 you see that difference. But moving moving on to th 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.760 h T. I've been infuriated with his offense that goes 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:27.600 without saying I think he's he's just he's and I 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:30.359 say infuriated, I understand it, Like to me, it's just 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:35.160 young basketball player, Like that's it's just it's just he's 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.520 entered the phase of the young basketball player slump where 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.679 he's just not even seeing the floor, like he's making 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:45.399 he's making reads off of what's happening two inches in 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.320 front of his face. Not kind of seeing like I 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:50.200 said earlier, like seeing the forest for the trees, like 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.399 understanding the dynamic of the five man offense, like you 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.919 could tell right now he's in such a jump shooting 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.160 slump that he's just taking every jump shot he can 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:01.480 see the rim on like there was one there. And 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.399 towards the end of the game where he just jacked 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:07.879 up a three in transition and could cause Frank to 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:10.479 call time out. There was one, and there was one 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:12.080 of the first half where was the catch and shoot. 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:13.800 He was kind of open, but it was early in 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.040 the shot clock, and you're kind of thinking, like, you know, 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:19.440 you maybe work for something better first, get yourself going 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.639 at the rim before you know. There are little things 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:23.760 like that that he has to to work out, and 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:28.879