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Speaker 1: The volume. What's up, guys, It's Jason from Hoops Tonight,

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Speaker 1: to Hoops Tonight, presented by fan Duel here at the volume.

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Speaker 1: I hope all of you guys have had a great

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Speaker 1: week so far. I'm starting to get pretty excited because

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Speaker 1: I'm going down to Mexico this weekend with some friends.

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Speaker 1: Down to Rocky Point, although, as fate would have it,

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Speaker 1: there is a massive hurricane that is climbing up the

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Speaker 1: next coast that is going to pound Rocky Point with

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Speaker 1: rain on Friday and Sunday, a place that if you've

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Speaker 1: ever been there, you know doesn't get a whole lot

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Speaker 1: of rain, So it should be a very interesting Mexico trip.

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Speaker 1: That said, I'm still looking forward to some R and R.

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Speaker 1: We are continuing with our power rankings today with number thirteen,

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Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Lakers. I'll go ahead, and I'll go

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Speaker 1: ahead and read the show announcements while you guys are

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Speaker 1: freaking out for a minute. Um, don't forget to subscribe

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Speaker 1: to the volumes YouTube channels. You guys don't miss any

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Speaker 1: more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore

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Speaker 1: Jason lt so you guys don't miss any show announcements.

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Speaker 1: And last, but not least, if you miss one of

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Speaker 1: these shows and you can't get back over to YouTube

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Speaker 1: to finish them, don't forget. You can find them in

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Speaker 1: audio form wherever you get your podcasts. Under Hoops tonight

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Speaker 1: and then, once again, just like I told you guys yesterday,

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Speaker 1: bear with me. I'm still I'm still my respiratory system

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Speaker 1: is still completely messed up from what I had last week.

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Speaker 1: So just bear with me a little low energy and

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Speaker 1: some coughing. UM. So, if you guys remember when we

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Speaker 1: started this process, I talked about the four tiers of

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Speaker 1: the teams that we were going to cover now, and

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Speaker 1: you also know that when it comes to this sort

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Speaker 1: of thing, I value the playoffs. That's the same way

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Speaker 1: that I've always been up and consistent with that ever

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Speaker 1: since I started doing this show, I've always cared more

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Speaker 1: about what a player accomplishes in the postseason, what a

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Speaker 1: team can accomplish in the postseason. That's always been where

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Speaker 1: I place the most value. Not that I don't place

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Speaker 1: value in regular season or other types of accomplishments. That's

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Speaker 1: just the primary source where I find the most valuable information,

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Speaker 1: the most informative basketball is in the postseason. Um, when

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Speaker 1: we were sorting the teams into tears, we had the

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Speaker 1: bottom tier, which was the non contenders. Right like when

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Speaker 1: I was talking about Minnesota and I was talking about

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Speaker 1: Chicago and I was talking about New Orleans. Those teams

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Speaker 1: are all interesting for one one reason or another. But

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Speaker 1: I don't think any of those teams are capable of

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Speaker 1: winning a championship. The types of like hell would literally

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Speaker 1: have to freeze over for things to break right in

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Speaker 1: a way for them to be able to eventually be

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Speaker 1: holding the Larry O. Brian Trophy in this particular campaign.

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Speaker 1: But if you remember the next year I had above,

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Speaker 1: that was the Puncher's Chance Contenders, And this particular set

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Speaker 1: of teams are are teams that don't have nearly as

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Speaker 1: much talent top to bottom on the roster as the

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Speaker 1: best teams in the league, but they have something about them,

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Speaker 1: a player or a couple of players that make them

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Speaker 1: exceptionally dangerous. And so for instance, with the Lakers, it's

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Speaker 1: Lebron James and Anthony Davis. You know, Lebron James and

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis one nearly eighty percent of their games in

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Speaker 1: the first two seasons when they were together, and they

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Speaker 1: were both on the floor at the same time. Now,

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Speaker 1: last year was a complete disaster, and I promise we're

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Speaker 1: going to get into that when we get into the

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Speaker 1: last year's section of this particular show, and we'll talk

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Speaker 1: about all the reasons why, But one of the bigger

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Speaker 1: reasons why was injuries. The reality of the situation is

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Speaker 1: that Lebron James and Anthony Davis weren't available often enough

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Speaker 1: for them to truly be a good basketball team. That

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Speaker 1: doesn't change the other issues. The other issues needed to

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Speaker 1: be addressed. Many of them weren't addressed. We're going to

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Speaker 1: talk about those issues. But at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: if you end up in a playoff series and the

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Speaker 1: Lakers are healthy and Lebron James is on the court,

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Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis is on the court, and Patrick Beverley

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Speaker 1: is on the court, and let's call it Austin Reeves

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Speaker 1: is on the court as a fourth player, regardless of

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Speaker 1: who that fifth guy is, they are dangerous. They can

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Speaker 1: beat you because they have Lebron James and because they

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Speaker 1: have Anthony Davis. That's the reality of who the Lakers are.

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Speaker 1: And in a playoff series against any of the top

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Speaker 1: tier teams in the league, if you're best players Anthony

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Speaker 1: Edwards and your second best shot creators Karl Anthony Towns,

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Speaker 1: I don't think you have enough to be able to

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Speaker 1: beat a Steph Curry or to be able to beat

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Speaker 1: that Boston Celtics team or the Clippers if they're healthy.

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Speaker 1: But if the Lakers happened to everything go right throughout

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Speaker 1: the season, everyone's healthy, Anthony Davis gets back to what

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Speaker 1: he was, They absolutely have a puncher's chance to beat

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Speaker 1: those better teams in the league because of who Lebron

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Speaker 1: James is and because of who Anthony Davis is. That's

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Speaker 1: why they are puncher's chance contenders. Do I think the

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Speaker 1: Lakers are most talented team in the league. No, and

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Speaker 1: we're gonna get into all the reasons why. But I

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Speaker 1: do think they have a legitimate chance to win the

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Speaker 1: title if everything breaks right for them, and that is

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Speaker 1: inherently going to push them up in my list because

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Speaker 1: of the way that I value the postseason. Obviously, the

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Speaker 1: far more likely outcome with this particular Lakers team is

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Speaker 1: that they're dumpster fire. I know that Lakers fans know that,

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Speaker 1: and all of you guys who are fans of the

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Speaker 1: other twenty nine teams are of the league in general,

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Speaker 1: know that the most likely outcome is that this is

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Speaker 1: a disaster. Lebron James and Anthony Davis miss a bunch

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Speaker 1: of games, they barely scrape into the playing tournament, or

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Speaker 1: they don't make the playoffs and they end up losing

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Speaker 1: in horrific fashion. That's the most likely scenario, but there

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Speaker 1: is absolutely some in that pie graph. There's a piece

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Speaker 1: of it that is everyone stays healthy, and you've got

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Speaker 1: to beat Lebron James and Anthony Davis four times out

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Speaker 1: of seven. And I miss you. Even if you guys

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Speaker 1: aren't scared of them, I promise you, the other twenty

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Speaker 1: nine gms in the league absolutely are um so last

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Speaker 1: year they were twenty second in offense, twenty one in defense.

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Speaker 1: Lebron only played fifty six games, Anthony Davis only played

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Speaker 1: forty games. Kendrick Nunn, who is the player they invested

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Speaker 1: in with the mid level exception, played zero games. Russell

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Speaker 1: Westbrook and Malik Malik Monk were the only players on

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Speaker 1: the roster who were available for more than seventy games

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Speaker 1: UH during that entire season. So injuries were a significant

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Speaker 1: chunk of what happened. The rest of the problems come

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Speaker 1: down to a couple of specific pieces, and I want

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Speaker 1: to get into them really quick. Versus Russell Westbrook. Now,

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Speaker 1: before we go any further on Russ, I wanted to

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Speaker 1: tell you guys about my rule for Russell Westbrook this season.

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Speaker 1: I there's this weird perception among some Lakers fans that

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Speaker 1: I uh that I love to trash Russell Westbrooker, that

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Speaker 1: I look forward to opportunities to talk badly about him.

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Speaker 1: That is not the case. Um, I don't do it opportunistically.

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Speaker 1: You guys see the numbers are Russ videos don't do

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Speaker 1: that well. The what this show is at its best

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Speaker 1: and performs the best when we talk basketball. That's what

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Speaker 1: I like to do. That's what actually leads to success here.

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Speaker 1: I don't talk about Russ to try to get hits

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Speaker 1: or to try to go viral. That's not what I do.

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Speaker 1: It is authentic. He bothers me with the way he

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Speaker 1: plays the game. And when I was covering the Lakers

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Speaker 1: last year, I had to talk about him a lot.

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Speaker 1: It was just the reality of the situation. But I

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Speaker 1: was hopeful that the Lakers would trade Russ so that

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Speaker 1: we would not have to do that this year. But

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Speaker 1: it's looking as though he might be coming back. So

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Speaker 1: I was talking with the guys on our team and

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Speaker 1: we were trying to come up with some ideas, and

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Speaker 1: I think we're gonna have a rule this year. After today,

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Speaker 1: this is the last time that I'm going to talk

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Speaker 1: about Russ in depth, and after today, we are going

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Speaker 1: to have a clock, a limit, and anytime Russ comes

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Speaker 1: up as a topic, we're going to limit it to

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Speaker 1: one minute, and it will be one minute of a

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Speaker 1: take on Russ and then we're moving on because it's

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Speaker 1: it's not something I want to do. I have zero

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Speaker 1: interest in this being a Russ show this season, and

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Speaker 1: it's it's a shame that he's gonna that he's probably

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Speaker 1: gonna be on the Lakers and we're gonna have to

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Speaker 1: talk about him as much as we are. Um. First

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Speaker 1: of all, it's important to differentiate the difference between the

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Speaker 1: effects of the Russ trade versus the effects of Russ

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Speaker 1: the basketball player. The Russ trade sent out Contagious Callbo Pope,

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Speaker 1: a good starting shooting guard in this league, Kyle Kuzma,

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Speaker 1: a good starting wing in this league, and Alex Cruso

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Speaker 1: not directly through the trade, but in the trade they

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Speaker 1: brought in a lot more salary than they sent out,

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Speaker 1: and when the pennies got pinched at the end of

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Speaker 1: the season, Crusoe ended up getting cut. So I consider

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Speaker 1: that at least partially to be a side effect of

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Speaker 1: the Russell Westbrook trade. Not to mention they lost the

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Speaker 1: first round draft pick in that deal and during the

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Speaker 1: summer when first round draft picks were you know, few

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Speaker 1: and far between for the Lakers, and they're so concerned

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Speaker 1: about losing you know, pick because of how handicaps them

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Speaker 1: moving forward. Gosh, it sure would be nice to have

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Speaker 1: that Russ pick right about now, wouldn't it. But when

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Speaker 1: we look at Rust the basketball player, I want to

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Speaker 1: get into the little things that he struggles with that

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Speaker 1: hurt this particular team. But the reality was is in

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Speaker 1: just in terms of scoring efficiency as a high volume

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Speaker 1: guard in this league, he was one of the worst

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Speaker 1: in the league. And that was one of the larger

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Speaker 1: portions of the Lakers issues this year. One of their

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Speaker 1: primary ball handlers was one of the worst primary ball

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Speaker 1: handlers in the league. That in and of itself handicapped

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Speaker 1: to the Lakers on a night in a night out basis.

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Speaker 1: Some of these stats are insane. There were a hundred

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Speaker 1: and seventy eight players in the league this year that

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Speaker 1: attempted at least a hundred and fifty catch and shoot jumpers.

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Speaker 1: Russ ranked one out of eight at when you waited

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Speaker 1: for threes, it was actually worse, so seventy one. There

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Speaker 1: were fifty one players who attempted at least three hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty pull up jumpers. Russ was dead last in

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Speaker 1: effective field goal percentage on those jumpers at thirty nine.

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Speaker 1: Effective field goal percentage thirty nine on pull up jump shots.

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Speaker 1: There were a hundred and eleven players who attempted at

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Speaker 1: least two hundred shots in the restricted area. Russ ranked

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Speaker 1: one d out of a hundred and eleven in shooting

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Speaker 1: percentage in the restricted area at fifty percent. He was

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Speaker 1: terrible at finishing around the rim. He had six or

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Speaker 1: more turnovers in the game seventeen times. There were sixty

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Speaker 1: five players who posted up at least fifty times. Russ

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Speaker 1: was sixty in points per possession at zero point eight.

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Speaker 1: There were seventeen players who ran at least two hundred ISOs,

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Speaker 1: and Russ ranked in points per possession. So, just in

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Speaker 1: terms of what primary ball handlers do, which is shoot

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Speaker 1: the basketball, shoot it off the dribil, drive the ball

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Speaker 1: to the basket, take care of the basketball, post up isolations,

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Speaker 1: isolate on mismatches, he was just one of the worst

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Speaker 1: in the league. That high volume Russ primary ball handler

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Speaker 1: thing cut the Lakers off at the knees on offense

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Speaker 1: it's just the reality of what happened in that situation. Now,

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Speaker 1: the one thing I'll say in Russ's defense there was

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Speaker 1: it was intended that Lebron James would be around, and

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Speaker 1: that Anthony Davis would be around, and that Kendrick Nunn

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Speaker 1: would be around, and Russ could have a more limited

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Speaker 1: on ball roll. So the one thing I'll say in

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Speaker 1: his defense is that he shouldn't have been relied on

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Speaker 1: to that capacity. But the one reason why I don't

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Speaker 1: cut him a ton of slack in that department is

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Speaker 1: when those guys were available, When Lebron and Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: was on the floor, he played the same way. There

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Speaker 1: was no change in approach with those two guys on

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Speaker 1: the floor. He didn't suddenly embrace the role player things.

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Speaker 1: He didn't suddenly lock in on the defensive end of

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Speaker 1: the floor. He did the same old Russ stuff, regardless

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Speaker 1: of whether he's playing by himself or he was playing

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Speaker 1: with Lebron James and Anthony Davis. That it's the reality

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Speaker 1: of the situation with you within the role on a

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Speaker 1: basketball team of primary shot creator. He's just not good

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Speaker 1: enough to do that anymore, at least not for a

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Speaker 1: good team. He's bad at that even I would say

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Speaker 1: by NBA standards. So the Rush trade essentially involved exchanging

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Speaker 1: three solid role players. I'd argue excellent role players. Alex

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Speaker 1: Cruzo and Cantavious called Pope are excellent role players. Kyle

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Speaker 1: Kuzma turned himself into a good role player towards the end,

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Speaker 1: and with the Lakers, they traded out three solid role

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Speaker 1: players for a bad primary creator who also is bad

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Speaker 1: at role players stuff. And then when we get into

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Speaker 1: the role players stuff, he was a bad off ball defender.

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Speaker 1: He lost shooters frequently. He would die on pin down screens,

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Speaker 1: or he would just run into the screen and then

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Speaker 1: point and ask for a switch from one of his teammates.

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Speaker 1: He would miss box outs, He took possessions off. He

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Speaker 1: would have entire possessions where he would just stand with

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Speaker 1: his hands kind of dangling by his side while basketball

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Speaker 1: was happening around him. He was freelancing a lot on defense,

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Speaker 1: just like what instead of buying into what the scheme was,

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Speaker 1: he would just randomly double or or randomly attempt to

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Speaker 1: jump a passing lane and and get out of position

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Speaker 1: when he was on ball. On defense, he actually was

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Speaker 1: pretty solid in isolation. Ross has an ego and that's

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Speaker 1: that's a focused play. Everyone staring at you. He takes

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Speaker 1: it personally to get his stops. That's not surprising. His

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Speaker 1: pride on the line, and he has great physical tools.

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Speaker 1: He is a good isolation defender. That just wasn't enough

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Speaker 1: to make up for some of the other things. He

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Speaker 1: was a terrible pick and roll defender, dying on screens

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Speaker 1: often off the ball on offense. His inability to remain

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Speaker 1: a threatening when he didn't have a basketball was an issue. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: we talked about him as a catch and shoot shooter

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Speaker 1: and how bad he was this year hundred and seventy

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Speaker 1: out of a hundred and seventy eight players who attempted

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Speaker 1: at least a hundred and fifty catch and shoot jump shots.

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Speaker 1: But also he was just willing to stand still when

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Speaker 1: he didn't have the basketball. He didn't do He wasn't

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Speaker 1: active off the ball as a cutter or screener, cutting

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Speaker 1: when his defender wasn't looking to get open underneath the

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Speaker 1: basket or hey, instead of just standing at the top

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Speaker 1: of the key, maybe you run down and set a

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Speaker 1: pin down screen on my Malik monks Man, and maybe

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Speaker 1: Malik monk can get free literally anything other than just

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Speaker 1: standing still. And then in late game situations was where

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Speaker 1: it was the most frustrating. He would routinely make catastrophic

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Speaker 1: mistakes when the game was on the line. He would

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Speaker 1: lose a shooter like him losing Patty Meals on the

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Speaker 1: biggest possession in the Christmas Day game when Patty Mills

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Speaker 1: relocated to the weak side corner and Russ was just

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Speaker 1: standing doing nothing watching the ball as his man got

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Speaker 1: open and made the dagger freelancing uh that you may

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Speaker 1: may or may not remember a game where Reggie Jackson

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Speaker 1: made a game winning layup against the Lakers, where he

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Speaker 1: drove to the left and then spun back to the

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Speaker 1: middle and made a lay up off the glass. On

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Speaker 1: that play, Russ was in help. Instead of positioning himself

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Speaker 1: between Reggie and the rim, he lunged to try to

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Speaker 1: get his steel completely missed, and then when he spun

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Speaker 1: back there was no help and Reggie Jackson was by

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Speaker 1: himself underneath the basket. That's a defensive mistake that cost

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Speaker 1: his team a basketball game. I can't remember the specific game.

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Speaker 1: I was trying to think of it this morning, but

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Speaker 1: there was another one where it was close towards the end.

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Speaker 1: They were playing a good team and he barreled down

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Speaker 1: the lane on a late transition play and tried to

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Speaker 1: dunk the basketball and missed it off the front of

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Speaker 1: the rim. Just like he was. He he he could

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Speaker 1: never see the bigger picture of the basketball game and

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Speaker 1: how important specific possessions were or specific moments were. He

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Speaker 1: just was Russ, kind of like unleashed, and in those

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Speaker 1: moments he often did more damage than good. He missed

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Speaker 1: key box outs, take bad shots on key possessions, turned

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Speaker 1: the basketball over. He was the most frustrating player I

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Speaker 1: have ever covered, and that is why he was talked

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Speaker 1: about as much as he was, And that's why we're

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Speaker 1: gonna have that rule again. The rule is this season

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Speaker 1: from this is the last time I'm getting in depth

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Speaker 1: into the Rust thing for the rest of the season.

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Speaker 1: If we have to talk about Russ in any capacity,

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Speaker 1: we're slapping a clock on it. It's gonna be quick

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Speaker 1: and we're moving on because it's not something that I'm

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Speaker 1: interested in doing. Okay, So, first it was the injuries.

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Speaker 1: Second it was the Rush trade. Third, it was Russ

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Speaker 1: the basketball player. Fourth it was Frank Vogel So, first

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Speaker 1: of all, all you Lakers fans remember this, but there

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Speaker 1: was specific line up data, not to mention just visually

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Speaker 1: watching the games, especially in big wins like when they

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Speaker 1: beat the Utah Jazz. A handful of times, the Lakers

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00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,399
Speaker 1: had a clear identity with the type of players that

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Speaker 1: they had on that roster. There are big guys. The

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Speaker 1: two bigs that they signed Dwight Howard and uh DeAndre Jordan's.

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Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan was awful. Dwight Howard had handfuls of good

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Speaker 1: games mixed in, but it was the first year where

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Speaker 1: he couldn't really be relied in, relied on night in

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Speaker 1: and night out as a dependable backup center. So because

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Speaker 1: of their weaknesses at the center position, it was clear

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Speaker 1: that their best chance to win basketball games was to

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Speaker 1: go really small with Lebron James at center and then

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Speaker 1: have Dwight Howard play a small role coming off the

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Speaker 1: bench and spelling Lebron in his center minutes, and then

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Speaker 1: to basically go all in on their youth play guys

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Speaker 1: like Stanley Johnson, Austin Reeves, you know um when in

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Speaker 1: Gabriel after they brought him on board, Malik Monk in particular,

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Speaker 1: and you saw that in the lineup data, the lineups

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Speaker 1: that succeeded the most were lineups that included Malik Monk,

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Speaker 1: lineups that included Austin Reeves. The that was where the

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Speaker 1: team had to go with the personnel shortcomings they had

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Speaker 1: as a result of the injuries. You know, and again,

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Speaker 1: like I wanted to mention this earlier when we were

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Speaker 1: talking about the Lakers as a contender this year, but

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Speaker 1: especially when it comes to Lebron James and Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 1: their injuries are specifically impactful because of the types of

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Speaker 1: players they are. You guys, remember me talking about the

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Speaker 1: responsibilities that have to be fulfilled on a basketball court, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: let's just say that there's a hundred responsibilities that these

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Speaker 1: five players have to fill. And when you've got truly

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Speaker 1: great players like Lebron James and Danny Davis, they can

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Speaker 1: take huge chunks of those responsibilities away. So let's say

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis takest of the responsibilities and Lebron James takes

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Speaker 1: the responsibilities. Well, then the other guys on the floor

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Speaker 1: can split the rest of it and it's easier for

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Speaker 1: them to fill because they're smaller roles. But let's just

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Speaker 1: say we take one guy out, we take Anthony Davis out.

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Speaker 1: Now there's a huge chunk of the responsibilities that have

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Speaker 1: to be feel fulfilled by these lower level players. So

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Speaker 1: the Lakers roster weaknesses, their bad role players became way

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Speaker 1: more apparent with the injuries than they would have been

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Speaker 1: under other circumstances. When you have like let's let's say,

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Speaker 1: for instance, we're looking at the Toronto Raptors. They don't

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Speaker 1: have anybody as good as Lebron, they don't have anybody

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Speaker 1: as good as Anthony Davis. So yeah, their role players

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00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:59,520
Speaker 1: do looks uh significantly better because they're fulfilling all the

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Speaker 1: response abilities on the floor, right, But in the case

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Speaker 1: of the Lakers, they depend so much on Lebron James

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Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis taking significant chunks of those responsibilities away,

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Speaker 1: especially with what they can do as two way players.

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Speaker 1: But when Anthony Davis was pulled out, a bright light

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00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,000
Speaker 1: was shined on their lack of role players, and that's

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Speaker 1: when those things became an issue. But regardless, and this

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00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:26,840
Speaker 1: team wasn't good enough. But if their best case, if

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Speaker 1: the intention was to just float the ship until you

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Speaker 1: could get into a play in game, and maybe Anthony

401
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Speaker 1: Davis comes back and maybe Lebron comes back and you

402
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,760
Speaker 1: can make a run. If that was the goal, their

403
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,520
Speaker 1: best way to do it was to lean into smaller

404
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,440
Speaker 1: lineups that favored their youth, and they did not do

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00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:47,479
Speaker 1: so in spite of great data that was available because

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Speaker 1: of Frank Vogel's stubbornness. Frank Vogel has always been the

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Speaker 1: type of guy that tries to bend the roster to

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Speaker 1: his basketball identity rather than bending basketball identity to fit

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Speaker 1: his roster. That was the biggest mistake he made in

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Speaker 1: that particular season, and that's why they didn't perform as

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Speaker 1: well as they could have. Even though he was dealt

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00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,960
Speaker 1: a bad hand of cards. That season was a disaster.

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Speaker 1: It was gonna end poorly anyway. But there was a

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Speaker 1: better version of that story where they were a seven

415
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Speaker 1: or eight seed or maybe a playing team had they

416
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Speaker 1: played to their strengths, and they just did not do so.

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Speaker 1: Offensive organization was a huge weakness for Frank Vogel. For

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Speaker 1: Frank Vogel, his he ran very few sets. The sets

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00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:36,080
Speaker 1: that he would run were rudimentary and predictable. Like every

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Speaker 1: team in the league knew they wanted to run that

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Speaker 1: horn set where they'd have a very Bradley come off

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Speaker 1: of the the dribble handoff and then the second screen

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Speaker 1: right like. That was one of the few sets that

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Speaker 1: they ran frequently. They would run a handful of specific actions,

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Speaker 1: like they'd run um like screen and pop actions with

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Speaker 1: like Malik Monk and stuff like that. But the truth

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Speaker 1: of the matter was is their offensive organization is way

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Speaker 1: below what the rest of the league, especially the better

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Speaker 1: teams around the league. We're doing. So Frank Vogel, and

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Speaker 1: I'll go to my grave saying that Frank Vogel was

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Speaker 1: a fantastic coach for the Lakers. That roster fit his

432
00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 1: specific skill set perfectly. He had them all bought in.

433
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:16,560
Speaker 1: They had one of the best defenses I've ever seen,

434
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,600
Speaker 1: and they dominated on the way to the title. Frank

435
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 1: Vogel deserves a lot of credit for that, but his

436
00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:27,480
Speaker 1: stubbornness in this particular season when the team changed around him,

437
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:29,880
Speaker 1: was one of the factors that led to their demise.

438
00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 1: So then, uh so we have the injuries, we have

439
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,280
Speaker 1: the rush trade, we have Russ, we have Vogel. Fifth,

440
00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,640
Speaker 1: I had Lebron his lack of commitment to defense early

441
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,400
Speaker 1: in the year that trickled down the roster and caused problems.

442
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:46,400
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis his rapid decline his I don't know. Maybe

443
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,560
Speaker 1: it's like a work ethic, maybe it's just injuries. I

444
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,240
Speaker 1: don't know what it is. He used to be a

445
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:53,000
Speaker 1: top five player. Now he's barely a top twenty player.

446
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,639
Speaker 1: That's what happened to Anthony Davis. And then just in

447
00:23:55,720 --> 00:24:00,560
Speaker 1: general in terms of a philosophy, rob Olinka and Clutched Sports,

448
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,520
Speaker 1: who obviously is influential in their decision making, those two

449
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 1: parties massively undervaluing the importance of role players, and they

450
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 1: I think there was some pride there. I think they

451
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:15,359
Speaker 1: looked at it as Lebron James and Anthony Davis won

452
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,640
Speaker 1: the NBA Championship, which they did. Don't get me wrong,

453
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,920
Speaker 1: they were the most important part, but they attributed too

454
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,440
Speaker 1: much of the credits to those guys and not enough

455
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,200
Speaker 1: to a great group of role players that did their

456
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,919
Speaker 1: jobs to the best of their ability and at a

457
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,360
Speaker 1: very high level, and as a result, they were able

458
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,480
Speaker 1: to win on the biggest stage and take home the

459
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 1: trophy the best. The best example of that specific decision

460
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:42,680
Speaker 1: process was them choosing Taylor Horton Tucker over Alex Cruso. Now,

461
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,199
Speaker 1: I believe this is another one of Clutch's big blunders.

462
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 1: The two big blunders from Clutch was pushing for the

463
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:52,080
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook trade and then this particular one. And essentially Taylor,

464
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 1: who I like, We've talked about him. He's got a

465
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,040
Speaker 1: lot of potential. He's not ready yet, but he's got

466
00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,360
Speaker 1: a lot of potential. But Alex Cruso clearly was a

467
00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:05,520
Speaker 1: better and more impactful player within this timeline then Taylan was.

468
00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:10,080
Speaker 1: He should have been prioritized or hell, Genie Buss had

469
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:11,960
Speaker 1: the money to pay him both, she chose not to,

470
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:14,920
Speaker 1: but them favoring when they decided they had to cut

471
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,240
Speaker 1: one of them. When they decided to cut Caruso instead

472
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,199
Speaker 1: of Taylor, Norton Tucker, that was the best example of

473
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: them not prioritizing the role players enough and not valuing

474
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 1: what they did for them enough. So again, how do

475
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:33,080
Speaker 1: you miss the playoffs entirely in a league that allows

476
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: twenty of the thirty teams in and you have Lebron

477
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,600
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis on the roster. The only way

478
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,520
Speaker 1: is if everything goes wrong, and that's what happened. So

479
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,760
Speaker 1: guess what. You can't just blame Vogel. You can't just

480
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,879
Speaker 1: blame Russ, you can't just blame Lebron. You can't just

481
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:56,200
Speaker 1: blame injuries. It's all of those things. But every single

482
00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,119
Speaker 1: one of those problems still exists, and every one of

483
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:01,399
Speaker 1: them have to be a rest in order for the

484
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 1: team to succeed. They have to stay healthy in a

485
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,000
Speaker 1: way they did not last year. They have to fix

486
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,960
Speaker 1: the Russ problem, either by Russ improving as a role

487
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 1: player or getting him off the team. They had to

488
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:17,440
Speaker 1: fix the coaching situation. They did. Applause to Genie and Rob.

489
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 1: They picked the right guy. I thought Darvin Hamm was

490
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,920
Speaker 1: the perfect choice. Okay, they need Lebron rededicated on the

491
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,720
Speaker 1: defensive end of the floor, and they need Anthony Davis

492
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 1: to regain his status as a top ten player in

493
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 1: this league. They have to fix all of those things

494
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,200
Speaker 1: that went wrong for them last year in order for

495
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 1: them to truly contend again. Now for the record injuries,

496
00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: who the hell knows what's gonna happen. I think they

497
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 1: will fix the rust problem. I expect him to trade him,

498
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,919
Speaker 1: hopefully sooner than later. I expect Lebron to have a

499
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,359
Speaker 1: great season this year. I think Darvin Ham will do

500
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,200
Speaker 1: a much better job with this group than Frank Vogel did,

501
00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: and I think Anthony Davis will have a bounce back season.

502
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,399
Speaker 1: Bam right there. That's a significant improvement over what they

503
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 1: were last year. But if they don't solve the Russ

504
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 1: problem and they don't stay, hell of the none of

505
00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,320
Speaker 1: this matters. The start of the NFL season is here,

506
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,760
Speaker 1: and the best place to practice your touchdown dance is

507
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,240
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508
00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,960
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509
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510
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511
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,119
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512
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,119
Speaker 1: if I had a free bet, I'm gonna be I'm

513
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 1: gonna be fading the Dallas Cowboys all year. I don't

514
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,760
Speaker 1: like their head coach and I think the Tyrone Smith

515
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,840
Speaker 1: injury is catastrophic for them. So I will be in

516
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,480
Speaker 1: Week one betting on Tampa Bay minus two and a

517
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,960
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518
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,959
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519
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520
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 1: of football season with a no sweat bet during Week

521
00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:52,720
Speaker 1: one Make every moment more with Fan Duel, an official

522
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 1: sports betting partner of the NFL. Alright, so now that

523
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 1: I've gotten off my soapbox about last season, we can

524
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,000
Speaker 1: look forward to this season. Um So, in the draft,

525
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,400
Speaker 1: they picked up Max Christie, who's a lanky defensive wing.

526
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 1: I watched him a little bit in Summer League. Uh,

527
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:11,360
Speaker 1: interesting player, but I don't think he's NBA ready yet.

528
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,920
Speaker 1: Cole Swider really good shooter of Once again, I don't

529
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,280
Speaker 1: think he's necessarily ready to contribute this year, but with

530
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: their lack of shooting, they might actually need him. But

531
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,600
Speaker 1: my gut says that neither of them will play much

532
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,600
Speaker 1: this year. They traded Taylor Horton Tucker, and Stanley Johnson

533
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 1: for Patrick Beverley. We did a full breakdown of that,

534
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:32,399
Speaker 1: um I believe last week or the week before, so

535
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 1: you guys can check that out deeper down in our feed.

536
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 1: They signed Lonnie Walker with the mid level exception, which

537
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,800
Speaker 1: is the big move I didn't like from this summer.

538
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 1: Once again, prioritizing a clutch client over the needs of

539
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 1: the team. He's a small guard that is an inconsistent

540
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,000
Speaker 1: shooter and doesn't defend. Not a not a great player

541
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 1: that I'm super excited about. They signed Damien Jones, Troy

542
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,480
Speaker 1: Brown Jr. Thomas Bryant, and Juan to Sconell Anderson, all

543
00:28:55,520 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 1: two veteran minimums, and then theoretically Kendrick Nunn should find

544
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,120
Speaker 1: only play in the second year of his contract, so

545
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 1: looking forward at the Rush trades. So before we go

546
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:08,960
Speaker 1: any further on this, I just wanted to say I

547
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:13,959
Speaker 1: am not a reporter. I do not have the types

548
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:17,440
Speaker 1: of sources that the people who have earned that right have.

549
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 1: I have no intention in being a fake reporter of

550
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 1: any or anything like that, So take everything I say

551
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:26,920
Speaker 1: with a grain of salt. But I do have friends

552
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,760
Speaker 1: who work in the league, and I do hear things,

553
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,200
Speaker 1: and I will talk about them as potential scenarios, but

554
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,720
Speaker 1: do not take them as reporting. That is not what

555
00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 1: this is, Okay. I just wanted to say that up front.

556
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,520
Speaker 1: So what I've heard on that note, um, I've heard

557
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 1: that the Lakers are considering holding out trading Russ because

558
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 1: they seem to believe that the net situation could go

559
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 1: south and that Kyrie Irving could be available at the deadline. Um,

560
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,240
Speaker 1: I'm frustrated by that if it's true, because I don't

561
00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 1: understand putting your cards in that ask it when there

562
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,240
Speaker 1: are more feasible and realistic options at hand right now

563
00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,800
Speaker 1: that aren't that much worse than a potential Kyrie Irving

564
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:12,520
Speaker 1: type of deal. But it would explain some of their

565
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,560
Speaker 1: reasoning over the course of the summer. So that's one

566
00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,000
Speaker 1: of the things I've heard with Utah. The most realistic

567
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:22,920
Speaker 1: deal that's on the table is Bogdanovitch Boy Boy Bogdanovitch,

568
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,840
Speaker 1: Rudy Gay, and Mike Conley for Russell Westbrook in one

569
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:30,720
Speaker 1: first Now, what I've heard is that Utah is like

570
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 1: totally down to do that deal and the Lakers are not.

571
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:35,920
Speaker 1: Um Again, take that with a grain of salt. I'm

572
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 1: not a reporter. This is just the things that I'm hearing.

573
00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,560
Speaker 1: If that's the case, I think that's insane. We're gonna

574
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:43,360
Speaker 1: talk about it a little bit further down the line.

575
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:47,920
Speaker 1: But Bogdanovich and Rudy Gay in particular are our solid

576
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 1: role players that fit a specific need on this team.

577
00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:55,080
Speaker 1: Wings that can competently play offense. The Lakers have a

578
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,720
Speaker 1: lot of young wings that are athletes that are going

579
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,840
Speaker 1: to be inconsistent and downright frustrating at times on offense.

580
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 1: Rudy Gay and Boy and Bogdanovitch are a little bit

581
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,160
Speaker 1: more reliable and at least would offer you a different

582
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 1: punch on that side of the floor. I like Mike

583
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 1: Conley fine. Um. I don't think he fits a specific

584
00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,760
Speaker 1: need on this roster, especially with the Patrick Beverley deal,

585
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,280
Speaker 1: and it's a team that's already pretty small in the

586
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,360
Speaker 1: back court. But hey, you could do something with him,

587
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,800
Speaker 1: and maybe you could flip Kendrick Non or something like

588
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 1: that if you get Conley and he's and he's a

589
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,520
Speaker 1: nice fit. Um. So it looks like the Lakers are

590
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,600
Speaker 1: trying to weigh the prospect of keeping Russ to get

591
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 1: something better during the season versus taking this Utah deal

592
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,640
Speaker 1: that's here right now or something else. But it looks

593
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,200
Speaker 1: like they're leaning towards keeping Russ, which I think is insane,

594
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:38,960
Speaker 1: but it is what it is. The other thing is

595
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 1: Lebron's mini camp. He does a mini camp before each season.

596
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,959
Speaker 1: Presumably that's gonna happen any day now. And I just

597
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,440
Speaker 1: have a hard time believing that Lebron would host that

598
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 1: camp and take Russ to it, and then they would

599
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,480
Speaker 1: trade Russ afterwards. But between that and training camp, it

600
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,240
Speaker 1: just seems pretty confusing. So here's how we're going to

601
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,880
Speaker 1: proceed on this show. I'm gonna proceed as though Russ

602
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,880
Speaker 1: is a Laker this year, and if they do flip him,

603
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 1: we will address it at that point, but for now,

604
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:09,640
Speaker 1: we're just gonna move forward as though Russ is on

605
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,320
Speaker 1: the team. So the depth chart at the guard position,

606
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,760
Speaker 1: they have Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker, Kendrick Nunn,

607
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 1: and Austin Reeves. On the wing, they're pretty thin Lebron James,

608
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,160
Speaker 1: Troy Brown Jr. Juantaskano Anderson, and Max Christie. And then

609
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,080
Speaker 1: their bigs are Anthony Davis when you and Gabriel, Thomas

610
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:32,480
Speaker 1: Bryant and Damian Jones. So on offense, I talked about

611
00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:34,960
Speaker 1: this earlier when we're talking about Frank Vogel, but because

612
00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,000
Speaker 1: they don't have a ton of offensive organization, they were

613
00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 1: just a brute force offense. They ran the third most

614
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:45,080
Speaker 1: isolations and the fourth most post ups in the league

615
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:48,880
Speaker 1: last year. They were thirteen in isolation efficiency, in ninth

616
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,800
Speaker 1: in isolation and post up efficiency, so they weren't as

617
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 1: impactful doing that, but that was the type of offense

618
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,920
Speaker 1: they ran. They were finding the guy that had the

619
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 1: best matchup, whether it was Lebron or Russ, and they

620
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,400
Speaker 1: were just attacking in isolation or post up time after

621
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,560
Speaker 1: time after time after time. That was the that's textbook

622
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 1: brute force offense. And for the record, it is a

623
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,239
Speaker 1: little bit more reliable in the postseason as long as

624
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 1: you can do it well. But that particular Laker team

625
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:17,480
Speaker 1: did not do it well. They did not run very

626
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:19,440
Speaker 1: much pick and roll. They were a bottom bottom ten

627
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,600
Speaker 1: pick and roll team in the league. The main reason

628
00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,720
Speaker 1: why is, and we've talked about this, Lebron James in

629
00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,280
Speaker 1: in Anthony Davis both dictate that you put a big

630
00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,880
Speaker 1: forward on them, and so if you've got two big

631
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:32,239
Speaker 1: forwards into screening action, what's the smartest thing to do?

632
00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,040
Speaker 1: Switch it. So every time Lebron James and Anthony Davis

633
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:36,880
Speaker 1: frant pick and roll, they would just switch it. That's

634
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:39,760
Speaker 1: why the Lebron James Anthony Davis pick and roll that

635
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:42,040
Speaker 1: we all dreamed about when they made that trade never

636
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 1: really materialized. Russell Westbrook uh is not a bad basketball player.

637
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,880
Speaker 1: He played bad in the role that he had this year,

638
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:52,720
Speaker 1: but he's not a basketball player. And if you play

639
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 1: small guards on him, he can get them to the rim,

640
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,040
Speaker 1: but he can't shoot. So teams started putting forwards on

641
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:03,160
Speaker 1: Russ big awards and having them play way off, knowing

642
00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:04,920
Speaker 1: that he could take all the jumpers he wants. He's

643
00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:08,160
Speaker 1: gonna shoot him as inefficiently as anybody in the league.

644
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,680
Speaker 1: And if they drive in, he can't bully them because

645
00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:14,239
Speaker 1: they're bigger than Russ. And so once again, if I've

646
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 1: got Russ being guarded by a forward and Anthony Davis

647
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,200
Speaker 1: being guarded by Ford or Lebron being guarded by forward,

648
00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:22,280
Speaker 1: even pick and rolls with Russ as the ball handler

649
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 1: would struggle because of teams willingness to switch. And then

650
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:27,680
Speaker 1: even when they ran pick and roll with the bigs

651
00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:30,600
Speaker 1: like DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard, teams were going so

652
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,120
Speaker 1: far underneath the pick and roll with Russ and the

653
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:35,800
Speaker 1: drop was so deep that they weren't getting good stuff

654
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,160
Speaker 1: out of that. Either. Russ could walk into a pull

655
00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,680
Speaker 1: up fifteen foot or anytime he wanted. He just wasn't

656
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,640
Speaker 1: gonna make them. The one kind of on ball screen

657
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:46,080
Speaker 1: action they ran that had some success was a pick

658
00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,800
Speaker 1: and pop with Monk Lebron. James built some good uh

659
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 1: chemistry with Malick over the course of the season doing this. Essentially,

660
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 1: if Malik is being guarded by a small quick guard,

661
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,799
Speaker 1: they're not gonna want to switch. And so as long

662
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:01,240
Speaker 1: as Malik sets a pretty solid screen and forces Malik's

663
00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:05,240
Speaker 1: man to hedge or to show or to switch onto Lebron,

664
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 1: Malik could pop and at least have an advantage to

665
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,560
Speaker 1: attack from going uh going downhill. They don't have a

666
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:13,959
Speaker 1: shooter like that on the roster anymore. So that's gonna

667
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,440
Speaker 1: be an interesting looking forward this year. And you know,

668
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:21,560
Speaker 1: and essentially the downside to brute force offense is it

669
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,680
Speaker 1: wears on you and you need to spread the love evenly.

670
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:27,640
Speaker 1: You need to have lots of matchups that you can

671
00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,560
Speaker 1: attack with lots of players so you don't become predictable

672
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,120
Speaker 1: and so you don't wear down. But when Anthony Davis

673
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,319
Speaker 1: went down and when Lebron was banged up as much

674
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 1: as he was during the season, and they tried to

675
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,399
Speaker 1: run a brute force offense without the manpower to do so,

676
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:42,239
Speaker 1: and that was a huge part of why it didn't work.

677
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:44,640
Speaker 1: Um So, what do I think they should do this season?

678
00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,000
Speaker 1: So last year they were they ran the twenty five

679
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,320
Speaker 1: most off screen actions in the league. These are actions

680
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: like I was talking about with Chicago in with um uh,

681
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,439
Speaker 1: with New Orleans, where you have your your perimeter star

682
00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:01,160
Speaker 1: whoever it is, started the week side corner and kind

683
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:03,920
Speaker 1: of work his man down to the short corner and

684
00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 1: then come off of a screen and basically curl around.

685
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,520
Speaker 1: If he's open, he could shoot, but curl around so

686
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,160
Speaker 1: that he's attacking in isolation, but with an advantage either

687
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,520
Speaker 1: the defender trailing him on his backside or him going

688
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 1: under this under the screen and you're meeting him with

689
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,960
Speaker 1: the head of steam. The Lakers didn't do that nearly

690
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:23,160
Speaker 1: enough this year. Now, they don't have movement shooters, so

691
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:25,040
Speaker 1: you're not gonna have guys flying off the screen shooting.

692
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:26,759
Speaker 1: But I'd like to see them do a little bit

693
00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:28,680
Speaker 1: more of that to try to get Lebron and Russ

694
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,919
Speaker 1: attacking downhill with an advantage. Milwaukee did do this quite

695
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:35,440
Speaker 1: a bit, so I'm hoping that Darvin Hamm brings some

696
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:38,920
Speaker 1: of that over uh from Milwaukee. I don't think it's

697
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:40,600
Speaker 1: crazy to think that you could do that with Anthony

698
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,080
Speaker 1: Davis as well. Imagine like a horn set where you

699
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,040
Speaker 1: have Anthony Davis on the left elbow and you know

700
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,480
Speaker 1: Lebron or one of the big Thomas Priyant, someone like that,

701
00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,560
Speaker 1: on the right elbow cross screen. Have Anthony Davis come

702
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:54,359
Speaker 1: over the top of that screen, catch and just go

703
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:56,680
Speaker 1: so that he's attacking with a little bit more of

704
00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,240
Speaker 1: an advantage, especially since Anthony Davis doesn't have the quickest

705
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 1: feet in the world. UM, Kendrick Nunn coming back should

706
00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,000
Speaker 1: be an interesting pick and roll threat for them because

707
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 1: he'll have a small defender on them, so teams won't switch.

708
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:10,239
Speaker 1: The thing is is it's better in theory than it

709
00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:13,120
Speaker 1: isn't result. He was only thirty eight percent on off

710
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:15,880
Speaker 1: the dribble shooting and UH two thousand one when he

711
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:20,000
Speaker 1: was with the Miami Heat only on pull up threes.

712
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,480
Speaker 1: That's not good enough. Uh. He was zero point eight

713
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,799
Speaker 1: three points per possession on pick and roll. That's not

714
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:31,279
Speaker 1: good either. So hopefully that's just the Miami Heat situation

715
00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:33,400
Speaker 1: and he's got more talent than that and he'll flash

716
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:37,279
Speaker 1: that this year, but the Lakers could absolutely use uh

717
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,200
Speaker 1: Kendrick Nunn being a better pick and roll shot creator.

718
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,360
Speaker 1: I think that you'll get to see Patrick Beverley do

719
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:46,080
Speaker 1: some stuff off on second sides as well, but you

720
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,920
Speaker 1: don't want him as a primary creator. Spacing is going

721
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:51,520
Speaker 1: to be the biggest concern with this particular team. So

722
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,120
Speaker 1: Kendrick Nunn is an outstanding catching shoot player. He shot

723
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:58,600
Speaker 1: from three. Patrick Beverley is solid thirty nine percent last

724
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,920
Speaker 1: year on catching shoot threes. Bron James is solident of

725
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:04,960
Speaker 1: catching shoot threes, but Lebron can't shoot when he has

726
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,600
Speaker 1: the basketball as a spot up shooter. Right. So the

727
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:11,520
Speaker 1: reality is is everyone else on the roster is a

728
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,680
Speaker 1: player that other teams will play way off of. They're

729
00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,879
Speaker 1: not gonna care if Troy Brown Jr. Takes threes, They're

730
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,400
Speaker 1: not gonna care. If Wantascano Anderson takes threes, they're not

731
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,040
Speaker 1: gonna care. If Thomas Bryant takes threes, they're not gonna care.

732
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,640
Speaker 1: If Anthony Davis takes threes. They're not gonna care if

733
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:28,520
Speaker 1: any of these guys take threes, except for maybe Kendrick

734
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:31,200
Speaker 1: Nunn and a little bit of Patrick Beverley and Lebron

735
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 1: when he doesn't have the basketball. So spacing is gonna

736
00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:38,040
Speaker 1: be a severe problem on this particular team. There are

737
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:41,200
Speaker 1: a couple of things that could help. They desperately need

738
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:43,360
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves to take a leap as a jump shooter.

739
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:45,560
Speaker 1: You actually wasn't as bad as you think last year,

740
00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,040
Speaker 1: and catch and shoot situations will get to that um

741
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:50,840
Speaker 1: when we get to the X factor UM. But the

742
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,880
Speaker 1: other thing too is Thomas Bryant, in theory, should be

743
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,000
Speaker 1: a stretch big that should allow the Lakers to have

744
00:38:57,160 --> 00:38:58,880
Speaker 1: a little bit better spacing when he's on the floor.

745
00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:01,920
Speaker 1: But once again, there's a huge difference between shot result

746
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,160
Speaker 1: and the way teams that actually guard the way teams

747
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:06,799
Speaker 1: actually decide to guard. You. My guess is that even

748
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:10,200
Speaker 1: if Thomas Bryant shoots from three, that other teams are

749
00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:13,840
Speaker 1: gonna happily dare him to shoot, and so spacing is

750
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 1: going to be a significant issue for this team. And

751
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:20,680
Speaker 1: this is this is probably the biggest reason why a

752
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:24,399
Speaker 1: Rush trade is so important and why holding onto Russ

753
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:28,760
Speaker 1: would be so catastrophic. Most of the Lakers role players,

754
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,239
Speaker 1: like we talked about earlier on the wing, are athletic,

755
00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:39,280
Speaker 1: play hard, defensive minded guys. All of them have severe

756
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:44,080
Speaker 1: offensive limitations right now. Um, Austin Reeves, who's not a

757
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,400
Speaker 1: very good shooter at this point, although he was in college,

758
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,719
Speaker 1: so I'm hopeful that he'll figure that out. Austin Reeves

759
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,960
Speaker 1: attacking closeouts is good. But outside of that, a lot

760
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,560
Speaker 1: of those other players are not going to shoot the

761
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:57,680
Speaker 1: ball well, are not going to be good into driving

762
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:00,319
Speaker 1: kick type of system. They're gonna struggle there. They don't

763
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,400
Speaker 1: have competent role players on the wing. And so if

764
00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:07,040
Speaker 1: you could flip Russ and bring back someone like boy

765
00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:10,680
Speaker 1: On Magdanovich who not only can attack mismatches and post

766
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:13,160
Speaker 1: in the post as a as like a big mismatch

767
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,480
Speaker 1: attacking four that I always talked about, but can shoot

768
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:18,200
Speaker 1: the basketball. Is a high i Q player that can

769
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:20,680
Speaker 1: attack close outs and make reads. Rudy Gay can do

770
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:23,319
Speaker 1: all of that stuff as well. Both of them have

771
00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 1: some defensive limitations, but at least you'd have some versatility

772
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:29,560
Speaker 1: and decisions that you can make where hey, if the

773
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:32,360
Speaker 1: young players are playing out of their mind and playing

774
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,640
Speaker 1: well in offense, hey we lean into that. But hey,

775
00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:38,239
Speaker 1: all of them are are are have completely lost their

776
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:40,640
Speaker 1: confidence on offense. We need to go with Rudy and

777
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:43,279
Speaker 1: boy On tonight because they're just more confident on that

778
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,279
Speaker 1: side of the floor. The Lakers just don't have that

779
00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:47,760
Speaker 1: punch right now. And so one of the biggest reasons

780
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,040
Speaker 1: why I think they have to make that trade is

781
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:54,480
Speaker 1: to just bring in competent offensive wings, just to make

782
00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:56,880
Speaker 1: things easier for them on the offensive side of the floor,

783
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,279
Speaker 1: you know, and in general, this is there's so much

784
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:02,440
Speaker 1: that comes we We were talking about this earlier when

785
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:05,319
Speaker 1: I was talking about the Lakers, but having competent role

786
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:08,360
Speaker 1: players is extremely important. They are confident when they shoot

787
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:11,320
Speaker 1: the basketball. They are willing to relocate and move without

788
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,799
Speaker 1: the basketball. They'll cut to the basket, they'll screen for

789
00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:17,319
Speaker 1: each other. Rudy Gay and boy and Bedonovitch offer you

790
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:20,280
Speaker 1: match up hunting. So if Lebron's tired on a possession

791
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:22,440
Speaker 1: and he doesn't feel like doing anything, but Boyon's being

792
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:24,880
Speaker 1: guarded by six five wing, he can go down to

793
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 1: the block and post up. That's an option for you,

794
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:30,040
Speaker 1: same thing for Rudy gay Um basketball like you, So

795
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:33,920
Speaker 1: avoiding taking stupid shots or not understanding time and score,

796
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:37,359
Speaker 1: or making a silly mistake or turning the basketball over.

797
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:41,000
Speaker 1: Young basketball players do that veteran players typically don't, and

798
00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:45,440
Speaker 1: so improving those role players to having more competent veteran

799
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,880
Speaker 1: presence to mix with some of the youth would go

800
00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 1: a long way towards making things easier for them on

801
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,799
Speaker 1: the offensive end of the floor. So let's talk about

802
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:55,719
Speaker 1: us for a second. If they don't trade Russ and

803
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:57,960
Speaker 1: they have to keep him, how do you fit him in.

804
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:01,120
Speaker 1: He is good at a couple of things. He's big

805
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,800
Speaker 1: and strong, and he can get to the room. He

806
00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:06,359
Speaker 1: doesn't finish well, but he can get to the rim.

807
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 1: He can bully smaller guards on the defensive end of

808
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:11,920
Speaker 1: the floor. He's a great athlete. Still, He's not what

809
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,360
Speaker 1: he used to be. He's not a nuclear athlete anymore,

810
00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:17,080
Speaker 1: but he's still a great athlete that all money, that,

811
00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:21,480
Speaker 1: all you know can come together into a usable basketball role. So,

812
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:24,560
Speaker 1: for instance, if he went from being a primary creator

813
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:27,920
Speaker 1: to being a secondary creator, either off the bench or

814
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:32,279
Speaker 1: second side creation playing off of attention that is generated

815
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:35,239
Speaker 1: by other players on the team. He's not good enough

816
00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:37,920
Speaker 1: for high volume creation, but he certainly is good enough

817
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:41,160
Speaker 1: to do it in small bursts and against specific matchups,

818
00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:45,080
Speaker 1: like if he happens to to draw a weak defensive player,

819
00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:48,040
Speaker 1: that can be some uh an opportunity there. And then

820
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:50,920
Speaker 1: just focusing his efforts on the defensive end of the

821
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,920
Speaker 1: floor and not just on ball like we talked about.

822
00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:58,480
Speaker 1: But he's a big, strong athlete. He can be a

823
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:01,399
Speaker 1: good health defender if he can. There's enough he can

824
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:05,319
Speaker 1: be a dominant UH player within a defensive scheme if

825
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:06,960
Speaker 1: he commits to that end of the floor. He just

826
00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:09,400
Speaker 1: has to be willing to do so. And then on

827
00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:11,520
Speaker 1: the offensive end of the floor, instead of just standing

828
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:14,200
Speaker 1: around when he doesn't have the ball, cut without the basketball,

829
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:17,520
Speaker 1: go screen for a teammate, crash the offensive glass, do

830
00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,040
Speaker 1: something to be useful, knowing that you're not responsible for

831
00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:25,000
Speaker 1: those primary shock creation responsibilities anymore. If he does those things,

832
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:29,120
Speaker 1: that could replace a role player that they can hunt

833
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:32,000
Speaker 1: somewhere else in a trade. If he became that, they

834
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:34,239
Speaker 1: wouldn't need to trade him. I just don't think it's

835
00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:36,880
Speaker 1: a realistic thing for him to embrace those things, and

836
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:40,000
Speaker 1: that's why they I think they have to trade him.

837
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:42,520
Speaker 1: Moving on to the defensive end of the floor, so UH.

838
00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:44,960
Speaker 1: In Frank Vogel's defense, they were severely limited last year.

839
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:48,120
Speaker 1: They had bad defensive players. Um. The good defensive players

840
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:50,799
Speaker 1: that they had were either hurt like Anthony Davis, or

841
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:53,680
Speaker 1: just weren't playing hard like Lebron James, who, again, as

842
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:55,640
Speaker 1: I've said, when he cares, is one of the best

843
00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:58,440
Speaker 1: defensive players in the league, he just doesn't care, uh,

844
00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:02,439
Speaker 1: at least not in this past season. So it's hard

845
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,759
Speaker 1: to say too much about what Frank did with that group. UM,

846
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:08,719
Speaker 1: but this is a completely different roster, a completely different coach.

847
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:10,759
Speaker 1: We have to look forward to what Darvin Hamm would do.

848
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:14,760
Speaker 1: So Darvin Hamm's defensive scheme in Milwaukee, because of brook

849
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,480
Speaker 1: Lopez and Janice together, it's essentially a two big scheme,

850
00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:24,520
Speaker 1: and typically what they would do is, um, Joannice is

851
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:27,000
Speaker 1: so good off ball when he can load up and

852
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:29,640
Speaker 1: help around the rim. They would have brook Lopez run

853
00:44:29,640 --> 00:44:33,520
Speaker 1: a traditional drop coverage as the screen defender, and then

854
00:44:33,719 --> 00:44:35,800
Speaker 1: Janice is waiting underneath the basket. And you know, we

855
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,759
Speaker 1: talked about tagging rollers, So in a drop coverage, you

856
00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:41,800
Speaker 1: can imagine if I've got a really good shooter coming

857
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:43,880
Speaker 1: off of that screen and the guard has to chase

858
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:46,560
Speaker 1: over the top and as a result, Brooke has to

859
00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:50,000
Speaker 1: come up and help, so there's a pocket pass that's

860
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:52,719
Speaker 1: open to the roll man. A lot of teams will

861
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:54,880
Speaker 1: tag out of the week side corner, sending a player

862
00:44:54,920 --> 00:44:56,920
Speaker 1: in over to to grab the roleman, or at least

863
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,400
Speaker 1: to stop him from rolling to the rim. Janice is

864
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:02,120
Speaker 1: devis dating in that role as the helper in the

865
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:04,200
Speaker 1: week side corner, coming into help and pick and roll.

866
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:07,279
Speaker 1: The Lakers could run very similar stuff like that with

867
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:11,160
Speaker 1: Lebron James and Anthony Davis, or with Anthony Davis and

868
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:14,359
Speaker 1: Thomas Bryant, or Anthony Davis and Damian Jones, right, So,

869
00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:17,040
Speaker 1: I'd like to see them kind of follow a similar

870
00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:19,760
Speaker 1: type of idea. This is a team that has weak

871
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:23,000
Speaker 1: perimeter defensive players. That's just the reality of the situation

872
00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:26,800
Speaker 1: right now. But they do have strong interior defensive players,

873
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:29,800
Speaker 1: especially when they're healthy. With Lebron James and Anthony Davis,

874
00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:34,319
Speaker 1: this can be a basketball team that mimics the Milwaukee

875
00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:38,480
Speaker 1: goal of being willing to give up three point shots

876
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:42,239
Speaker 1: at the expense of completely erasing things around the rim.

877
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 1: It's better to be truly great at one thing and

878
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:49,239
Speaker 1: to try to to manufacture success elsewhere than to be

879
00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:52,200
Speaker 1: great at nothing and to be bad at everything, you

880
00:45:52,239 --> 00:45:55,080
Speaker 1: know what I mean. And so from a schematic standpoint,

881
00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:57,400
Speaker 1: I'd like to see Darvin ham lean into over help

882
00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:00,600
Speaker 1: and taking away the rim. They do have some better

883
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:02,840
Speaker 1: athletes on the roster than last year, with the addition

884
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,439
Speaker 1: of Troy Brown Jr. Want Toscano Anderson and then again

885
00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:07,640
Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard were old and they swapped

886
00:46:07,719 --> 00:46:10,319
Speaker 1: him out for younger, more athletic bigs and Thomas Bryan

887
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:14,640
Speaker 1: and Damien Jones. So would that increase in athleticism. They

888
00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:16,839
Speaker 1: should be able to be potentially a little bit better

889
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:18,920
Speaker 1: on the defensive end, even on the perimeter. And then

890
00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:22,279
Speaker 1: Patrick Beverley with him at the point of attack, he'll

891
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:24,000
Speaker 1: be the best point of attack defender the Lakers have

892
00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:27,399
Speaker 1: had since they got this core together, except for maybe

893
00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:30,960
Speaker 1: Alex Caruso. With him there and with his tone setting,

894
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:35,319
Speaker 1: he's a He's a real try hard guy, not a

895
00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:37,000
Speaker 1: fake try hard guy. He's not a yeller and a

896
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,919
Speaker 1: screamer you know that doesn't accomplish anything. He's a yeller

897
00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:41,960
Speaker 1: and a screamer that also puts his money where his

898
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:43,760
Speaker 1: mouth is with the way he plays on the defensive

899
00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:47,360
Speaker 1: end of the floor. I expect that to whip Anthony

900
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:49,919
Speaker 1: Davis and Lebron James into a frenzy on most nights

901
00:46:50,120 --> 00:46:51,920
Speaker 1: to the point where they defend at a level that

902
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:56,440
Speaker 1: they're capable of. If Lebron James is dialed in on

903
00:46:56,480 --> 00:46:59,080
Speaker 1: the defensive end of the floor, and Anthony Davis is

904
00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:03,279
Speaker 1: healthy and Patrick Beverley is they're leading the charge, and

905
00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:06,440
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves is in that fourth spot, they can be

906
00:47:06,520 --> 00:47:10,680
Speaker 1: a great defense, not just a good defense, unbelievable defense.

907
00:47:11,239 --> 00:47:13,120
Speaker 1: I know because I've seen it with Lebron James and

908
00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:16,720
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis. When they have good role players alongside them,

909
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:19,799
Speaker 1: they are capable of being every bit and not every

910
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:22,759
Speaker 1: bit pretty damn near as good defensively as they were

911
00:47:23,120 --> 00:47:25,799
Speaker 1: in that season. As long as all of this pans out,

912
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:28,319
Speaker 1: it's a long shot, but it is possible for it

913
00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:32,880
Speaker 1: to pan out the best case scenario without a rush trade.

914
00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:37,000
Speaker 1: So if Russ stays on the roster, if everyone stays healthy,

915
00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:40,640
Speaker 1: they will be a top five defense because of Anthony

916
00:47:40,719 --> 00:47:43,879
Speaker 1: Davis and Patrick Beverley's leadership on a night and night

917
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:46,839
Speaker 1: out basis. Like I said, that lineup of Lebron James

918
00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:51,080
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, Patrick Beverley, Austin Reeves, either Russell Westbrook or

919
00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:55,360
Speaker 1: one of the younger we Wings. That's four fantastic defensive players.

920
00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:58,080
Speaker 1: If they get anything out of that fifth spot, they

921
00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:02,640
Speaker 1: will be a great defensive team. But again it huge qualifier.

922
00:48:02,719 --> 00:48:06,560
Speaker 1: They have to stay healthy. On offense, they will struggle.

923
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:10,439
Speaker 1: They have less shooting than they did last year. Yes,

924
00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:12,400
Speaker 1: having Anthony Davis come back and getting back to what

925
00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:14,759
Speaker 1: he was will help, but last year they were in

926
00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:17,160
Speaker 1: the twenties on offense. I expect him to finish amount

927
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:21,480
Speaker 1: around if they keep Russ. If they keep Russ, this

928
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,560
Speaker 1: is a middle of the pack offense at best. So

929
00:48:24,600 --> 00:48:26,759
Speaker 1: if they are a middle of the pack offense and

930
00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:29,239
Speaker 1: they are a top five defense, that makes them a

931
00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:32,440
Speaker 1: middle of the pack playoff team and they will struggle

932
00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:35,080
Speaker 1: too much to score to be a team like the

933
00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:37,920
Speaker 1: Clippers if they're healthy, or beat a team like the Warriors.

934
00:48:38,080 --> 00:48:41,640
Speaker 1: So to be clear, if they don't trade Russ, I

935
00:48:41,719 --> 00:48:44,000
Speaker 1: do not think they're a contender. I think they're a

936
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:48,719
Speaker 1: non contender. But if they make that Jazz trade, or

937
00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:51,000
Speaker 1: if they make the Pacers trade, or any other trade

938
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:55,160
Speaker 1: that brings back competent offensive role players. You still have

939
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,680
Speaker 1: Patrick Beverley, Austin Reads, Lebron James, and Anthony Davis. You

940
00:48:58,719 --> 00:49:01,359
Speaker 1: still have top two or lineups on the defensive end

941
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:05,840
Speaker 1: of the floor, except for your adding incompetent offense around them.

942
00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:08,640
Speaker 1: In the former boy On Magdanovich or Rudy Gay or

943
00:49:08,680 --> 00:49:11,359
Speaker 1: Mike con Ley or whoever it ends up being. Health

944
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:14,680
Speaker 1: would still be a major concern there because every player

945
00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:17,200
Speaker 1: that's been mentioned to trades, whether it's Miles Turner or

946
00:49:17,239 --> 00:49:19,719
Speaker 1: it's Boyan Magdanovich or it's Miken Lee's already Gay, those

947
00:49:19,719 --> 00:49:22,000
Speaker 1: guys have all had health issues. So health is still

948
00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:26,360
Speaker 1: a major concern there. But if healthy post a Westbrook trade,

949
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:29,279
Speaker 1: they could be a top five defense and a top

950
00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:34,640
Speaker 1: ten offense and have a real puncher's chance to beat anyone,

951
00:49:35,520 --> 00:49:38,879
Speaker 1: because again, if they happen to get there, it's going

952
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:42,440
Speaker 1: to be extremely hard to beat a healthy Lebron James,

953
00:49:42,440 --> 00:49:45,279
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis with a handful of good role players in

954
00:49:45,280 --> 00:49:49,160
Speaker 1: a playoff series. So again it's a puncher's chance, the

955
00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:53,680
Speaker 1: most likely chance. But I think the Lakers have that

956
00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:56,600
Speaker 1: puncher's chance to win the title as long as everyone

957
00:49:56,640 --> 00:49:59,200
Speaker 1: stays healthy and as long as they make a Russell

958
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:03,400
Speaker 1: Westbrook trade to bring in more competent role players. Worst

959
00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:05,440
Speaker 1: case scenario, don't have to go too deep into it.

960
00:50:05,680 --> 00:50:08,480
Speaker 1: Injuries cause a bunch of problems, they keep us around,

961
00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:10,319
Speaker 1: and there's a bunch of drama, so the locker room

962
00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:13,280
Speaker 1: is toxic, and then you end up hunting the twentieth

963
00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:15,920
Speaker 1: season of Lebron James career. To be clear, I think

964
00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:19,760
Speaker 1: that's the most likely outcome. I would not be surprised

965
00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:22,800
Speaker 1: if they held under Russ thinking that they can get Kyrie.

966
00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:26,560
Speaker 1: The season gets off to a really ugly start, so

967
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:28,399
Speaker 1: by the time they get to the deadline, it doesn't

968
00:50:28,400 --> 00:50:30,960
Speaker 1: make sense to trade Russ anyway, and then they end

969
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:33,400
Speaker 1: up just punting this whole thing. That is what I

970
00:50:33,480 --> 00:50:37,799
Speaker 1: think will happen, to be clear, But I do think

971
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:41,720
Speaker 1: there's a possibility that it could go better. The biggest

972
00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:45,080
Speaker 1: X factor for this particular team is Austin Reeves. He's

973
00:50:45,120 --> 00:50:48,280
Speaker 1: already right now heading into a second season an above

974
00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:52,359
Speaker 1: average defensive player. He's an excellent, excellent positional defender. We've

975
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:55,319
Speaker 1: talked about this before, the difference between forward, aggressive, trying

976
00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:59,000
Speaker 1: to force turnover type of defenders and then positional defenders

977
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:02,080
Speaker 1: that give ground with the purpose of making you shoot

978
00:51:02,120 --> 00:51:04,400
Speaker 1: over the top. Austin always did a really good job

979
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:07,120
Speaker 1: of sliding his feet, taking contact in the chest and

980
00:51:07,239 --> 00:51:09,320
Speaker 1: forcing players to shoot over the top and they would miss.

981
00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:11,560
Speaker 1: He has a decent amount of sizes six ft five

982
00:51:11,560 --> 00:51:14,800
Speaker 1: with basketball shoes on UM, and he gives consistent effort

983
00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:16,719
Speaker 1: on every possession. The biggest thing he's there is he's

984
00:51:16,719 --> 00:51:18,799
Speaker 1: gonna have to put on some muscle. But from what

985
00:51:18,840 --> 00:51:21,960
Speaker 1: we've heard, he has put on a lot of muscle

986
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:23,880
Speaker 1: this offseason. I think he's put on almost fifteen pounds

987
00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:25,759
Speaker 1: of muscle. If that's the case, he could be a

988
00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:29,080
Speaker 1: great defensive player next year. UM. The other thing with

989
00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:31,640
Speaker 1: Auster is that he's really good at is attacking closeouts,

990
00:51:32,120 --> 00:51:34,280
Speaker 1: and new Laker fans will know exactly what I'm talking about.

991
00:51:34,560 --> 00:51:36,960
Speaker 1: Austin reeves when he would beat someone off the dribble

992
00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:39,759
Speaker 1: when attacking a closeout, would always make the right read.

993
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:41,719
Speaker 1: If there was an open shooter on the wing, he

994
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:43,479
Speaker 1: was going to hit them. If there was an open

995
00:51:43,520 --> 00:51:45,640
Speaker 1: player cutting back door, he was going to hit them.

996
00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:47,920
Speaker 1: If there was a big man in the dunker spot,

997
00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:49,839
Speaker 1: he was going to hit them. He was very good

998
00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:53,640
Speaker 1: attacking closeouts. His weakness was he wasn't good enough as

999
00:51:53,640 --> 00:51:55,760
Speaker 1: a catch and shoot shooter. He had only an effective

1000
00:51:55,760 --> 00:51:59,000
Speaker 1: field goal percentage of fifty three, which is okay, but

1001
00:51:59,120 --> 00:52:02,160
Speaker 1: on only two point two attempts, he pump faked way

1002
00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:04,920
Speaker 1: too often if there was a contest anywhere near. He

1003
00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:07,200
Speaker 1: needs to get to the point where he can confidently

1004
00:52:07,560 --> 00:52:10,319
Speaker 1: and competently knock down three point shots at a higher clip,

1005
00:52:10,520 --> 00:52:13,319
Speaker 1: most importantly, higher volume. He needs to get that catch

1006
00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:16,280
Speaker 1: and shoot percentage or attempts up from two point two

1007
00:52:16,440 --> 00:52:20,280
Speaker 1: up to closer to four, a little bit quicker release

1008
00:52:20,560 --> 00:52:22,319
Speaker 1: and a little bit more confidence so he doesn't pump

1009
00:52:22,320 --> 00:52:26,080
Speaker 1: fake as much. Um. But if Austin Reeves can turn

1010
00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:30,239
Speaker 1: himself into a legitimate three and D player and replace

1011
00:52:30,680 --> 00:52:33,319
Speaker 1: one of those really good role players that they were

1012
00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:36,680
Speaker 1: missing from that season, that would go a long way

1013
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:39,680
Speaker 1: towards improving their chances. So, yeah, a lot to unpack there.

1014
00:52:39,719 --> 00:52:41,400
Speaker 1: We got into a ton of stuff today. And we're

1015
00:52:41,440 --> 00:52:43,040
Speaker 1: gonna talk about the Lakers a lot this year as

1016
00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:45,000
Speaker 1: long as they're relevant, and we'll talk about them again

1017
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:47,200
Speaker 1: if they make a rush trade. But it's just they're

1018
00:52:47,719 --> 00:52:50,719
Speaker 1: a super wide range of outcomes they could miss. The

1019
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:52,920
Speaker 1: playoffs entirely, and they can win the title, and I

1020
00:52:52,960 --> 00:52:55,040
Speaker 1: think they're the only team in the league that has

1021
00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:57,480
Speaker 1: that type of variants. Um. All right, that's all I

1022
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:00,280
Speaker 1: have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate your guys,

1023
00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:59,520
Speaker 1: and I'll be back tomorrow with number twelve, The Volume