WEBVTT - Pistons/Lakers Postgames Spaces 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:17.480 M M all right, welcome to this day of the 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:19.400 Lakers on Dad right now. I think you guys so 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:21.000 much more, coming to hang out with Rod and Knight. 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:27.240 Finally a relatively uneventful UM evening for Ler basketball. Um. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.159 I know some people are a little frustrated with, you know, 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:33.320 the closeness of the margin, but I thought tonight was 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.680 a pretty clear positive step. I mean, you never are 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.560 gonna be able to become a good team overnight. Uh. 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.560 There that was that there's just too many problems to 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:46.600 fix with this team to you know, have a situation where, 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:48.479 you know, just some guys have a good raw ros 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:50.080 speech in the locker room, come out and give good 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.519 effort and fix everything. It was always gonna be a process, 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:58.160 but there had to be a clear, intentional um first step, 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:02.600 and I thought that tonight very well could have been that. However, Rodge, 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:05.559 it feels like something I've said a half dozen times 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.280 this year. So where are you at today? Man? At 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:10.920 first one? Has your weekend been? I hope you've had 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.600 a chance to relax a little bit and to give 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:17.320 me your thoughts on so far on tonight's game. Yeah, 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.839 I had a good weekend. Um, enjoying with some family 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:21.280 here as well, So I was kind of in and 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:23.080 out on this one, but I did catch the main 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.000 kind of things. I saw the ugly, obviously starting lineup 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.800 that stayed this team has lost the benefit of the doubt, right, 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:31.600 Like you would agree, like this team has lost the 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.640 benefit of the doubt with the good game bad games 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.199 that they've been hasn't they've been having, But I thought 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.360 tonight it's one of It's probably the best game we've 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.280 seen from a Big three as a collective. Uh. So 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:44.560 we had I think I had the stats up here. 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.640 We had Anthony Davis with Lebron with thirty three, Russ 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.160 with twenty five. I thought the rim pressure was was 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.840 great from all three of them really attacking the basket. 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:56.680 Lebron took I think nine threes, but then that really 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.360 got to the rim. And that's what we need to 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:01.760 see from them. Uh And I'm hoping this is kind 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:03.760 of something we can see going forward. But this team 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:05.360 was lost in benefit of the doubt to me, like, 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:07.680 I need to see this on a consistent basis. And 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:10.360 I've seen people like you said, upset with the margin 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:14.000 the margin that we won won by. But we're not 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:16.480 a good team right now, at least so far, and 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:18.520 people are gonna be mad at the DeAndre Jordan minutes. 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:21.000 Dwight Howard was out tonight, I believe with rest, so 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.320 it really just had him and Lebron and a G 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:27.280 at the center. But yes, yes, yeah, I think Uh 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.200 Mike Mike Trudell on the on the broadcast said he 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:33.040 was resting and Vogel was going with more guards tonight 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.720 going against this Detroit team. But yeah, man, I want 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.320 to see this going forward. But we got a lot 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.440 more Lebron, a d of the center at center lineups, 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:43.680 and hopefully this is something we see going forward. But 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.040 that's where I'm at since this is a good win. Again, 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:48.160 the scoring margin isn't great. Detroit kind of made a 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.839 run late, but we can't really be picky right now 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:53.480 with with wins that we're getting. We didn't go to overtime, 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:55.440 which is a positive, right like we beat them, we 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:57.840 beat them in regulation. Uh, That's where I'm at this 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.680 with this. It's a good win. Good hopefully we can 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:02.320 build on it. But they've lost the benefit of the 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:05.680 doubt to me for for saying that it's something we're 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:09.600 gonna build one and you know, as I said at 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:11.880 the very beginning, the Lakers have a laundry list of problems, 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.280 you know, like they're you're never going to be able 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:16.800 to get th h T at age twenty one now 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:21.200 to be a really consistent offensive player. So he's, you know, 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.560 gonna be a kind of on again, off again type 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:26.720 of guy in our offense, you know, And the same 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:28.320 thing goes with him on the defensive end. He's gonna 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:30.280 have nights where he makes a ton of big plays, 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:31.799 and then he's gonna have nights where he's getting lost 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:35.480 off the ball a very Bradley. His offense very clearly 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:39.640 comes and goes. His defense, you know, is very active. 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.880 It's very active, but it doesn't accomplish a ton that 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:45.240 There's nothing we can do to change that. The same 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.840 goes for everybody on the roster. Wayne, Malik and Carmelo 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:52.040 are kind of offensive engines that will get hot and 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:53.840 then also go cold, and they're not gonna give us 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.680 a ton offensively. That's not going to change. Frank isn't 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.480 going to change unless he gets fired. As we've seen, 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.480 he's very very reliant, he's very very set in his ways. 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:05.720 You know, that's not something we can change without Frank 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.680 getting fired. You know, uh, Russ is what Russ is. 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:14.240 But there was one clear thing going on that absolutely 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:18.039 was very very easy to change, and that was Lebron 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:22.159 in a D's engagement level. And so tonight a lot 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:24.520 of those things that I just listed off reared their 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:29.640 ugly head, Frank's, Frank's insistent on using DJ, the terrible 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:36.360 spacing offensive guards, mellow Monk and uh Ellington all had 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:42.120 pretty offensive nights that all led to that close scoring margin. 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.400 But the functionality of the team, meaning like the quality 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.760 of shots they were giving up and the quality of 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:52.960 shots they were generating for themselves, was all significantly better 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:55.520 because at the very beginning of the game, while Braun 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:58.880 and a D made a concerted effort to be engaged 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.560 physically in the game, instead of taking a boatload of 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.120 dumb jump shots, they both put their head down and 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.760 got to the rim a lot. A D, when he 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.200 screamed instead of popping, would roll hard to the rim. 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:13.680 I talk a lot in the last part with at 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.960 about out of area defensive place. You know, like a 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.280 D and Lebron are so incredibly gifted that they'll make 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.240 a play and you'd be like, oh, man, I can't believe, 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:24.480 you know, he blew that play up, or he got 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.040 this crazy block, or he did this, But usually it's 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:30.200 because the offense kind of ran directly into him and 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.800 his freak talent took over. There was very little extra 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.599 effort to get out of their area to cover for 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:39.120 their teammates. And you saw that tonight. You saw Lebron 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:42.440 actually stepping in and taking charges instead of standing there 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.200 and watching. There was a play early in the game, 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:48.440 a d off ball, there's a guy posting up a mismatch. 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:50.760 He went out of his area to come over and 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.880 he raced the shot. Those are those are additional effort plays. 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:56.760 That's covering for the fact that your teammates don't have 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:00.960 the amount of talent that you have. And so, and 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:03.200 even though all those other flaws that I talked about 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:06.920 have to get fixed, we still need forwards. We need 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.000 to find a way to be generate easier shots. We 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:14.400 need uh Frank to give up on DeAndre Jordan's and 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.400 use Avery Bradley a lot less. That's all true, but 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.080 step one was getting Lebron and a D on board 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:22.479 and for them to try this hard in a game 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.600 against the Pistons, for them to come out into this 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:28.359 game with that level of urgency on both ends, to me, 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.279 it was a big step. And it's not about once. 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:33.039 Like you said, they don't get the benefit of the doubt. 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.159 We don't get to just assume this means problems are fixed. 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:38.599 They have to show us over an extended stretch that 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:41.880 they are. But this was a good first step in 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:45.839 that direction. Yeah, I agree with that, and I've seen 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:47.600 people you know, start to do that. You know, they 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.839 miss k CP, they miss Kyle Kuzma, they miss Danny Green. 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.960 Those aren't players that aren't on minimum deals though, right 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.000 like those are players making eight to twelve to fifteen 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.359 million dollars a year. When you have a team with 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:01.919 three stars and a bunch of just minimum guys on 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.760 the roster, your three stars pretty much have to show 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.120 up every single night, or at least two of them 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.200 have to be at an engagement level to match, and 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.880 even a team like Detroit that's really bad. We're just 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.920 not playing at the level right now where those two 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:17.600 or three of them can be disengaged. And it's not 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.920 fair to have Lebron with these kind of Lebron having 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.120 this load a d I think he's the young one, 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.040 he's twenty eight. He's the one that should be he 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:28.760 should not be load managing through games, uh, in between games. 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:30.680 But it's something that we've just seen. The effort level 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:33.000 hasn't been there, and we've seen guys kind of breakdown 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.880 why that's happening. And the spacing issues, to me, are 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:38.080 still gonna be there. Frank Vogel looks like he's gonna 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.080 go down. He's gonna go down with the ship his way. 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.240 Like people expected DeAndre Tron and Avery Bradley not to 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:46.640 start tonight and they did again. Uh, and I think 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:48.520 we were down seven to one or something like that 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.200 when the game started, uh, and it was really bad. 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:53.160 It looked ugly. But he's gonna go down with the 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:55.680 ship his way. And maybe that changed when we get healthy. 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:58.000 But you're right, Lebron and a D. Being engaged is 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.720 the first step. Those other guys an't going to change 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.480 the way that those those guys can Molik Monk to me, 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:05.720 is not going to get better defensively. Wayne Ellington probably 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.560 isn't gonna be is not gonna be better. Carmelo Anthony 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:10.760 is what he is. Lemon and eighties engagement level have 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:13.400 to be have to be to a baseline level. Right. 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:15.120 It doesn't have to be great. Lebron doesn't have to 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.360 be a percent defensive Player of the Year. But like you, 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.160 like you said, defense defending out of his area, Lebron 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:22.840 defending a d defending out of this area. It's just 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:25.440 stuff that we need we net Like in that Indiana game, 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.360 I thought Lebron showed what he can be, and then 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:29.320 the next in the next few games are just he 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.040 just stopped trying again, like it was just his effort. 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.440 Can't wane that much for this team. Uh, they really 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:36.200 need him, And I thought tonight it was great. I 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.439 thought the engagement was really there from from the opening tips. 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.640 So hopefully it's something we can build on. But you're right, 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:43.480 I just thought it was an engagement level that we 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:45.120 need to see. And they're the leaders of the team. 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.040 Frank Vogel, people are asking for his head on on 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:50.880 a stick. We'll see if that comes to fruition. Uh, 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:53.240 this is another game that he survived, he got the win. 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:55.880 I don't think they want to make that change right now, 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:58.480 and again I've been very clear on my stance on it, 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.240 but it's starts with them too. At the top. No 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.040 scheme matters until your stars are engaged. And I thought 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:06.400 we saw that tonight. Even if there's a lot of 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:08.320 a lot of stuff, we still have to fix a 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:10.040 lot of the lineup that still have to be fixed. 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:12.240 That's the top of the that's the top of the 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:14.960 key for me, is is Lebron and a D engaged 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:18.400 at a level that brings everyone else. You can build 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.800 on that, right, like like, like you know, turning activity 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:26.080 into production on defense is a process, but the first 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:29.200 step is that activity. You've got to get guys actually 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.520 willing to put in put their bodies on the line 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:34.680 to do the job. From there, you can get to 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.400 the point where guys start to build that on a 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:42.559 string type of continuity defensively, right, that's them, Like, there 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.720 were a lot of place tonight where guys were trying 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.640 hard but got out of position. But that's to be 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.960 expected because they haven't really really tried to attempt to 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:57.240 make their defensive scheme work, you know, up to this point. 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.720 But like at a certain point you had to you 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:03.640 had to at least start the process of everybody giving 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:06.680 ship so that they can start to build that continuity 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.160 and understanding, Like hey, like Avery tends the funnel guys, 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.440 this way a D s now going out of his 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:15.040 area to help here. So I it is worth it 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.120 for me to rotate over to that week side corner, 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:21.200 whereas in the past it was already a layup. So 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:23.480 I I would just quit on the play myself too, 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:25.480 because I don't even my faults. Somebody else quit like 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:28.520 it's all part of building that chain. And then then 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:30.960 that's when you're you'll start to see the multiple efforts 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:33.640 start to come into play, and that's when you'll start 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.720 to see that invigorate the offense. Because again, like I said, 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.760 our role players weren't good tonight. None of our offensive 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.240 you know, firepower pieces off the bench really got going. 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.600 Everybody made a handful of plays, but nobody really got going, 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:49.960 you know what I mean. And so from that standpoint, 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:51.520 it goes back to something that you and I have 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.720 said NonStop over the last three years. When the Laker 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.760 role players are bad, but Lebron and a D are engaged, 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.960 we win by a little And Lebron and Nadi are 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.640 engaged and our role players are okay, we win by 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.480 like fifteen And when Lebron and n D are engaged 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.520 and our role players play really well. We blow teams out. 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:13.200 So tonight kind of fit back into that mold for 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:16.840 me of Lebron and A D leaving a physical imprint 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.360 on the game, no one else really being able to 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.839 match them. But it not mattering because Lebron and A 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:25.760 D are that good, you know. And and I think 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.080 we can move this to us a little bit because um, 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:34.079 he's been the most consistently engaged player that we that 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.240 from the Big three over the course of the last 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:39.840 you know, almost a month, And I think I think 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:42.800 he deserves to get a lot of credit because you know, 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:44.720 that's what kind of made the Lebron and A D 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:49.840 stuff so embarrassing. Is meanwhile, Russ, you know, while he's 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.000 getting all the blame on Twitter from people outside of 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:54.840 the Laker fan base, you haven't watched him night in 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.520 and night out, and people inside the Laker fan base 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:01.200 that including myself, who had just been hard on him, 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:03.640 especially at the beginning of the season. I think people 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.160 like you and I who actually have been watching have 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:08.559 taken it a lot easier on Russ says, he's gotten 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:10.600 better because we have no we have no we have 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.240 no personal against him, you know, what I mean. But 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:17.160 like again, Russ. Russ has been good for a couple 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.160 of weeks now, so it's nice to see Lebron in 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.600 a d medium at that level, and we're seeing two 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:26.760 Russ start to find comfort and where to be aggressive. 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.079 It's hard for me to watch him with DJ still 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.480 because you can tell there's just no there's no real 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:34.520 opportunity for him to go. But he had a lot 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.800 of opportunity tonight with a d Or. He'd go five 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.679 out and and there'll be nobodies in the paint and 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:41.000 he could put his head down and get to the rim. 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.600 He had some bullyball post up type of touches. It's 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:47.160 good to see Russ just starting to look comfortable in 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:52.960 the Laker offense. Yeah, he's definitely starting to pick his spots, 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.000 and anyone who's in the past he's watched US and 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:58.319 Washington and Houston has said he kind of picks it 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:00.839 up as a season goes along, and hopefully that's something 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.160 that's happening here. Is engagement level has been there. Offensively, 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:06.719 I think defensively still, he gets lost a lot of 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:10.040 times on shooters or when he's the help man. He's 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.640 really he really likes to go up go help on 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:14.720 the boards, and that's something that really hurts the team. 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:18.040 But you're right, he has pushed the pace. We've talked 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:21.760 about it all year. Though. This team needs to choose 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:23.720 an identity, and I think that one has to be 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:27.040 one that fits Russ. The DJ and Avery Bradley lineups 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.040 are so against what Russ is good at, what what 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.160 gets Russ comfortable, and I think that's been the biggest frustration. 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:34.800 But I don't know if Vogel is going to go 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:36.959 away from that. But I thought again tonight his room 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:40.239 pressure was great, and it's what we thought the formula 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.079 would be for this team, right. It's Lebron and Aidy 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:45.760 going off and then you have Russ as well doing 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:48.240 his thing, putting up the numbers. And the numbers aren't 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.280 always great like they you can, you know, argue whether 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.440 they impact winning or whatever you want to say, but 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:58.600 I mean twenty five points, nine rebounds, six assists, three turnovers, 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.720 only three threes tonight, really getting to the basket, like, 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.679 that's what that's the formula for this team winning, right, 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.440 Lebron and a D being themselves and then Russ adding 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:09.760 his production to that. And I think That's how you 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:11.760 have to win here when you have a team full 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.360 of guys on minimum deals, like the three stars have 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.160 to be themselves, like, especially against good teams Detroit. Maybe 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:18.760 you can get away with if one of them are 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:21.200 playing well, but you need all three of them, all 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.920 three of them going. I thought today was a sign 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.160 of that of what it can look like. I guess 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:29.000 when it's going, it's going well. But yeah, Russ starting 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.480 to get more comfortable, starting to find his spots. Uh, 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:33.600 the ad at the five lineups are obviously where he's 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:37.080 most comfortable. Eighties still can't He's not shooting great, but 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.120 his gravity is still there. I think I saw you 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.640 treat that as well. Like eighties gravity as a shooter 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.080 at the five still exists even if he's not shooting. 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.000 It's something that just opens driving lanes for him. Uh 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.400 and Lebron. It's something I think we need to lean into. 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:51.800 I think, you know, Vogel will eventually lean into that, 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:55.200 hopefully when we get the full team healthy here. But 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.200 but yeah, I thought, I think Russ is progressing upwards. Um, 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.400 and he's not hurting the team, right. I I think 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:05.240 that hasn't heard the team in a long time exactly. Yeah, 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:06.840 And I think there's a line there. I think we've 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:11.160 become uh. I think the conversation has come really close 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:14.160 to if he's just not hurting the team, then it's great. 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:16.040 He needs to be a positive though, right for the 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:17.560 team we get to where it needs to go. He 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.360 needs to be a positive every single nine and and 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:22.160 it's trying to do it. And and to your to 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:27.800 your point about like the specific um like offensive approach 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.280 to the team and leaning into identities. This is where 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:33.960 I really really struggle with the Avery Bradley and DeAndre 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:38.400 Jordan's minutes because I, you know, will you and I both, 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.000 but primarily me because of that clip that was just 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.080 taken out of our podcast, has gotten a lot of 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:46.280 crap for the DeAndre Jordan's and you know, my, my 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.280 whole approach to DeAndre Jordan's signing wasn't really all that complicated. 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.040 Like he's a drop coverage big who is playing in 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:55.600 a switching system in Brooklyn, and it was just very 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.800 clear that he was never going to succeed up there. Meanwhile, 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.280 the Lakers were coming off of back to back seasons 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:05.320 being like the very best, if not second best, behind 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.800 Utah drop coverage team in the league. That was what 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.600 we did extremely well. So I'm sitting here thinking, like, hey, 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.640 we'll get dj in here. He'll slot right into that 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.640 Javil McGee, Dwight Anthony Davis role on our defense and 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:20.960 it'll be nice is he won't play, But if Lebron 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.360 or if Anthony Davis has to take a night off, 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.120 or or Dwight Howard has to take on night off, 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.600 you can slide DeAndre Jordan in there and he'll be 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.640 able to run a rudimentary drop drop coverage with our 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.240 scheme and it'll work. And all of that went to 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.920 hell because not only did our guards not do their 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.720 job in that scheme, Lebron and a D just completely 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:44.600 mentally checked out on the season defensively compared to the 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.920 way they were the previous two years. So all of 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.800 a sudden, we're when we do run drop coverage, it 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:51.920 looks like trash. Even if it's a D or Dwight. 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.440 We're doing a lot more switching, We're running a jankie zone. 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:57.280 And then you're like, why isn't DeAndre Jordan looking good? 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:01.120 And it's like, because it was obvious that when he 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:02.960 came in here it would be more of the same 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.080 with the way that this team was playing. And then 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.320 all of a sudden, tonight DJ looks like a functional 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.040 center again because Lebron and they D are engaged, you 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:15.840 know what I mean. And look, I still don't like that, 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:18.119 and I'm about to explain why. But the point is is, 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:22.399 like none of this was It wasn't fair to judge Malik, 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:24.920 to judge Mellow the way we did in the first 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.159 few games of the season, to judge DJ, to judge 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:31.040 any of these guys with the way that Lebron and 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.159 they D were playing, because at that point they might 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:34.919 as well be the Houston Rockets, you know what I mean, 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.320 in terms of just the what what they're going to 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.600 look like on the television screenplaying basketball. So it wasn't 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:44.040 really fair. But so to your point about the identity, 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:45.600 this is where I would like to see a lot 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.320 more Malik Monk, a lot more Lebron at the five, 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.840 a D at the five, a lot more favoring than 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:55.600 shooting over guys like Avery Bradley over DeAndre Jordan's you know, 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:57.919 Baysmore's out of the rotation. Now. The reason why it's 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.359 because I think with Lebron and a D try, you'll 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:07.119 actually see functional, workable defense from the league Monk, from 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:11.840 Wayne Ellington, from Carmelo Anthony, from these guys, because again, 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.560 it's just easier for them to do their jobs when 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.120 Lebron and a D are flying around out of their 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:21.439 area and making plays. And so from there, that's how 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:23.639 we turned this from a team that only scores a 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:25.880 hundred nine points or whatever it was against the Pistons 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.960 into a team that could put up thirty while also 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.760 getting a bunch of stops. It's by leaning into that 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:35.600 offensive identity a little more while while still expecting Lebron 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.159 and a D to engage on the defensive end. I 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.359 think we need to kind of re evaluate some of 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:42.439 that with Lebron and a D checked in. Does that 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:47.080 make sense? Yeah, and for sure doesn't. And I think 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.520 I was more on the like, I'm fine, like I 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.480 was wrong about this. I was kind of fine with 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.640 DeAndre Jordan's starting in place of like just taking that 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.000 JaVale McGee role, and JaVale McGee's motor is a lot 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:01.040 higher and all that stuff of it is true. Jandre 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:04.119 Jordan's obviously has highlight clips or low light clips if 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.200 you want to call it where he just absolutely doesn't 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:08.680 try it, right he I've said it before. He takes 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.320 the path of least resistance on pretty much any play 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:13.880 that he does. And and maybe that's just something that 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.440 that passes down when Lebron and a D aren't engaged 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.160 and it just goes on to him. But that's something 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:19.680 that he's done a lot of this season. He takes 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:22.119 the path of leasse resistance, right, if he has to go, 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:23.919 if he has to go out to a shooter and 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:26.359