Speaker 1: Hmm. Welcome to the State of the Lakers post game spaces.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for coming to hang out
Speaker 1: with Roger and I. It's funny we were planning, we
Speaker 1: were texting earlier today because we have gone almost an
Speaker 1: hour and a half and every single one of these
Speaker 1: that we've done, and I was a complaining to Roge.
Speaker 1: I was like, look, man, I'm getting old. I can't
Speaker 1: stay up this late. We gotta find a way to
Speaker 1: trim these down a little bit. So I was like,
Speaker 1: let's go for forty minutes, and then the Lakers decided
Speaker 1: to go to overtime and keep me up all night anyway.
Speaker 1: But that was easily one of the stranger basketball games
Speaker 1: that I can remember watching in a long time, just
Speaker 1: seeing like a championship contender running their entire crunch time
Speaker 1: offense through talent Horton Tucker to Julius Randall kind of
Speaker 1: sort of outplaying Anthony Davis to Derrick Rose getting in
Speaker 1: the time machine. There's a lot of stuff to get
Speaker 1: into with this one. What was what was your first
Speaker 1: initial impression, your first you know, if you had to
Speaker 1: describe how you're feeling right now, what would you say,
Speaker 1: Roger well, I guess first, I just want to give
Speaker 1: that NIXT team credit mandate. They came out with physicality.
Speaker 1: They were like the definition of what you talk about
Speaker 1: a lot, right. It's like when you're physical early, it's
Speaker 1: hard for really the rest to kind of determine what's
Speaker 1: a foul or what's you just being super physical. So
Speaker 1: credit to them. They played great. Julius Randall, I feel
Speaker 1: like every shot he took I kind of wanted him
Speaker 1: to take, Like he took those midrange kind of step
Speaker 1: back jumper, those contested threes. So I credit to them.
Speaker 1: But yeah, what a what a fight? What a This
Speaker 1: felt like a playoff game, a super playoff game. Tough shots,
Speaker 1: nothing easy, everything contested. Um, this type of games you
Speaker 1: want to see before the playoffs start. It was good
Speaker 1: to see a d even though he was missing his jumpers.
Speaker 1: I thought he was still really impactful. Um they doubled
Speaker 1: him super hard on every touch. Um he was playing
Speaker 1: in a crowd in a phone booth the whole night.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I guess, Like my first initial thoughts are like,
Speaker 1: these are the two best defenses in the league. Like,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a coincidence. This was like a
Speaker 1: I don't even think both teams scored a hundred and
Speaker 1: even with finishing over time, I think the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: of the Lakers won a eighteen and fifteen. I was
Speaker 1: kind of these two teams really defend, really get into it.
Speaker 1: The Knicks really like cover the paint. I said that,
Speaker 1: I tweeted that early, and They're going to really make
Speaker 1: you take shots, make threes. They made the Lakers uncomfortable,
Speaker 1: but it was this is a big win for the
Speaker 1: eighty to kind of fight through. He could tell he
Speaker 1: was kind of lingering at the end, but it was
Speaker 1: a good win, really big win to to build off
Speaker 1: the last one. Yeah, So let's let's start with Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis because I thought it was an interesting night for
Speaker 1: him in the sense that, like early on in the
Speaker 1: first half, I felt like he looked great physically, Like
Speaker 1: you know, I came into this night thinking the Lakers
Speaker 1: were gonna lose, not because I don't believe in the
Speaker 1: team or anything stupid like that, but just because the
Speaker 1: Knicks are a really, really good defensive team and the
Speaker 1: Lakers were down a lot of shot creation and it
Speaker 1: was kind of going to be more or less similar
Speaker 1: to what we saw against the Clippers the other night,
Speaker 1: just you know, against the slightly more inferior offense. UM,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, like that, they
Speaker 1: kept themselves in the game with their defense. But I
Speaker 1: expected Anthony Davis a struggle and he did making shots.
Speaker 1: But I felt like, especially in the first half, he
Speaker 1: was getting to his spots. It's not like he was
Speaker 1: having trouble getting quality looks against the Nick defense, And
Speaker 1: I thought that that was encouraging. UM and the Nix
Speaker 1: deserve a lot of credit for kind of taking some
Speaker 1: of the aggression out of a D because you could
Speaker 1: tell there by the end of the game, like a D.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say he was being passive, because
Speaker 1: I don't think that that's necessarily fair. You could just
Speaker 1: tell he was so fatigued by what the Knicks were
Speaker 1: doing to him defensively that it was almost kind of
Speaker 1: like he was looking at talent Orton Tucker and like, look, man,
Speaker 1: I need you to I need you to make a play,
Speaker 1: you know, because there was only like it felt like
Speaker 1: a d could get maybe a jab step jumper or
Speaker 1: fade away jumper, but that was pretty much all he
Speaker 1: could get against that Nick defense when they were really
Speaker 1: loaded up on him. But what did you think of
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis? Is a game on the offensive ent? Yeah,
Speaker 1: Like again I thought his jumper was it going, But
Speaker 1: I thought he created pretty good shots. I mean again,
Speaker 1: they doubled him really hard. It was kind of tough
Speaker 1: for him to create anything. And again, the knicks were
Speaker 1: super physical. Julius Randall was like, he's not Zion, but
Speaker 1: like he's a sturdy dude, right, Like it's he's really good, yeah,
Speaker 1: and and it's really tough to move him. So, like
Speaker 1: he was the primary defender on a D all night,
Speaker 1: and like whenever they try to give it to a
Speaker 1: D in the post, Randall would just do a little
Speaker 1: bit of a bump, right, and it would take a
Speaker 1: D just a step out of where he wants to
Speaker 1: catch the ball every single time, and those little bumps
Speaker 1: they add up for the whole game. I think a
Speaker 1: D shot I'm not complaining about the refer anything, but
Speaker 1: like eight shot five free throws to night, which is
Speaker 1: really low. I think he was a double figure free
Speaker 1: throws the last few games. And that kind of thing
Speaker 1: took away his want to attack the rim. Right, if
Speaker 1: you're attacking the rim and getting mauled which I think
Speaker 1: he was getting fouled. But credit to the Knicks. They
Speaker 1: were just super physical. They also played really good defense.
Speaker 1: They protect the paint really well. Um, so yeah, that's
Speaker 1: what I thought of a D on the offensive, and
Speaker 1: I thought his jumper wasn't going, which really hurt again
Speaker 1: this next team, and you combine that, like this is
Speaker 1: the worst team for me to not have any ball
Speaker 1: handling for right, this is a super physical, ball pressure team.
Speaker 1: It was kind of mirror of the Lakers, right, Like
Speaker 1: they're really ball pressure Lakers very much. Yeah, and they
Speaker 1: really get after you. They're big, step up on those greens.
Speaker 1: No one what, no one's in a well Julius rounds.
Speaker 1: Those are tough guys to get any space from. Alfred
Speaker 1: Payton is picking up full core. We're having We're having
Speaker 1: like Kyle Kuzma try to just bring the ball up
Speaker 1: so that a D doesn't have to every time. So
Speaker 1: I thought this was like a pretty clear game that
Speaker 1: he was going to struggle, and he still was really
Speaker 1: productive for me. Yeah, one last note on Anthony Davis's
Speaker 1: offense before we move on to the Laker defense. The
Speaker 1: you know he could take first of all, Julius random
Speaker 1: deserves a ton of credit for the defensive job he
Speaker 1: did on him. Um, And that was one of the
Speaker 1: biggest things that I was impressed by Anthony Davis is
Speaker 1: go to things to do when uh, when he pump
Speaker 1: fakes and he doesn't necessarily get you off your feet.
Speaker 1: Is that dribble to the left and then once you
Speaker 1: cut him off, you'll spin and back and like, like,
Speaker 1: Julius is so sturdy that like, like like a d
Speaker 1: would pump fake from aboutt and then take that dribble
Speaker 1: to the left, and Julius would just just literally take
Speaker 1: it right squarely in his chest and kind of bounce
Speaker 1: a d back towards the other side. And there was
Speaker 1: just nothing open for him. He was beating him to
Speaker 1: his spots in those driving lanes. So it was one
Speaker 1: of those weird things where he could get to a
Speaker 1: fadeaway jump shot, but he couldn't get past And that
Speaker 1: that was something that I thought was really impressive. And
Speaker 1: you know, here's the thing. Part of that has to
Speaker 1: do with facing and the fact that you know, you're
Speaker 1: just not seeing the same driving lanes. However, he could
Speaker 1: take a note from Julius Randall. Anthony Davis, I mean
Speaker 1: could take a note from Julius Randall in activating that
Speaker 1: high volume three point shooting as an alternative offensively when
Speaker 1: everything else has been shut off. Because Julius Randall wasn't
Speaker 1: getting anything in the in the midpost when Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: really locked in at the end of the game. But
Speaker 1: what he what he could do though, is he could
Speaker 1: get a three point shot off and ended up being
Speaker 1: what nearly beat the Lakers. But he made I think
Speaker 1: four threes tonight. And you know, for a player that
Speaker 1: is as skilled as Anthony Davis is, to me, that
Speaker 1: should be something that he looks to do a little
Speaker 1: more often is get you know, six, seven, eight threes
Speaker 1: up because it's gonna help free up everything else in
Speaker 1: his game. And he's skilled enough to make him And
Speaker 1: then again it's the alternative. What are you gonna do?
Speaker 1: Let talent Horton talks her, continue to run everything. It's like,
Speaker 1: find some other way to add a little bit more versatility,
Speaker 1: you know, so that you have another counter that you
Speaker 1: can go to in a game like this when you know,
Speaker 1: when you're driving lines have been completely shut off. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a't a good point. He only took one three point
Speaker 1: attempt tonight and he obviously wasn't feeling his jumper. I
Speaker 1: mean with the midrange, wasn't going. I don't think he
Speaker 1: was confident tonight, and to go go put it back
Speaker 1: up to the three point land and I think that's
Speaker 1: a good call on that and the t she was
Speaker 1: really the only guy that can dribble, especially with their
Speaker 1: ball pressure, right, So he's the one that had to
Speaker 1: kind of run everything. He was the only one comfortable
Speaker 1: with it. And I guess we can kind of move
Speaker 1: on to him. He was really in the big story
Speaker 1: in the fourth court, late fourth quarter and overtime. He's
Speaker 1: another guy like you can't buy these type of reps, right.
Speaker 1: I think he had like seven or eight turnovers tonight,
Speaker 1: but they needed every single one of his dribbling, his
Speaker 1: attacking of the ram, finding guys on the outside. He
Speaker 1: made a couple of tough passes, but I thought he
Speaker 1: was really good, especially in overtime, like to even have
Speaker 1: the like guts to take that step back three pointer
Speaker 1: down one um and those huge shot and it just
Speaker 1: shows his confidence is growing. And this again another thing
Speaker 1: that can pay dividends. Maybe not in this playoffs, maybe
Speaker 1: next year. Um, you could just see, he got more
Speaker 1: and more comfortable. Right as the game got along. He
Speaker 1: kind of read where the coveragers were coming from. Uh,
Speaker 1: he was coming off those screens a lot more confident
Speaker 1: in the fourth par What else did you see from
Speaker 1: THHD tonight? So at the beginning of the part when
Speaker 1: I said that, I thought this was one of the
Speaker 1: strangest games that I remember seeing. It mostly had to
Speaker 1: do with talent Horton Tucker because it was such a
Speaker 1: roller coaster, which is to be expected. But I think
Speaker 1: I disagree with you know, I I view the benefit
Speaker 1: of the reps like I understand the benefit of the reps,
Speaker 1: but in terms of like strategically allowing him to do
Speaker 1: as much as he did at the end of the game,
Speaker 1: which for the record, he had tennis is tonight, which
Speaker 1: is amazing. He hit arguably, I'm not I'm not sure
Speaker 1: what his college career. I didn't watch him very closely
Speaker 1: in college, so I can't speak to that, but arguably
Speaker 1: the biggest shot of his NBA career tonight in that
Speaker 1: three that he made to beat to win the game.
Speaker 1: He had his moments, So I don't want to, you know,
Speaker 1: gloss over that. However, strategically I was a little bit, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I was confused as to why they leaned
Speaker 1: so heavily on him at the end of the game.
Speaker 1: And I think the reason why was because Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: kind of became passive a little bit against Julius Randall
Speaker 1: and the Knicks health defense. But it kind of was
Speaker 1: confusing to me because I felt like you might have
Speaker 1: been better off maybe going with a little bit more
Speaker 1: shooting and trying to get Anthony David, just force feed
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, because arguably the guy that needs those reps
Speaker 1: more for this postseason would be Anthony Davis reading double teams,
Speaker 1: really reading the help, getting more three point shots up,
Speaker 1: being more active with the ball outside the three point
Speaker 1: line to try to create something when there's a lack
Speaker 1: of space like that was kind of my takeaway, and
Speaker 1: it worked out, And you know, I'm still a big
Speaker 1: believer in what talent Horton Tucker can be, but I
Speaker 1: was confused, like there are a lot of the mistakes.
Speaker 1: He made a lot of mistakes at the end of
Speaker 1: that game, which again, great reps, but I disagreed with
Speaker 1: it from a strategic standpoint. Yeah, I just don't think
Speaker 1: they had anywhere else to go and ad. He looked
Speaker 1: pretty exhausted, right, like, I'm not sure if his conditioning
Speaker 1: is back to where it needs to be. He looked
Speaker 1: tired at the end of the fourth um into overtime,
Speaker 1: and again those bumps by like Randall just he was
Speaker 1: defending him all the all game. Those bunches they just
Speaker 1: add up, and going to the fourth quarter, you could
Speaker 1: tell he just didn't really want to continue driving into
Speaker 1: three people, four people, right, because the knicks really collapsed
Speaker 1: on him, made him try to kick those out and
Speaker 1: they kind of dared PhD and all those guys to
Speaker 1: make shots. Dot KCP had a wide open look right
Speaker 1: in the late fourth before, Yeah, that would have won it.
Speaker 1: He had a wide open one. West had a few
Speaker 1: wide open ones Um and Macamore as well, and they
Speaker 1: just really and again they just covered the paint. They
Speaker 1: really locked it down. And I think t was only
Speaker 1: got I mean, they were just and he got stripped
Speaker 1: a few times as well, right, I think Terrick Rose
Speaker 1: got him. I don't remember if that was in overtime,
Speaker 1: there was when it was when Derrick Ross gambled in
Speaker 1: the backcourt and then HD pushed and then Rose basically
Speaker 1: just chased him down and poked it away from behind,
Speaker 1: and you could see that turnovercoming like a mile away.
Speaker 1: I felt like once once he passed it up. But again,
Speaker 1: those are things that you have to live with because
Speaker 1: other than him, like, you're gonna have a d bringing
Speaker 1: up every time. And you could tell he was exhausted.
Speaker 1: He was not himself, um, and they had drumming down
Speaker 1: there as well. There was just nowhere to work, so
Speaker 1: he was the only one comfortable driving in a nice finish.
Speaker 1: But you had a lot of mistakes, but you're gonna
Speaker 1: live with that. He's a twenty year old guard who
Speaker 1: should not be in this position. He's basically playing Lebron's role, right,
Speaker 1: Like that's Lebron's role to to do all that, to
Speaker 1: have the ball the whole time. So I thought he
Speaker 1: did it as well as he could. And they had
Speaker 1: no one else to go through, especially Caruso being out
Speaker 1: so early in the game as well. It's just really
Speaker 1: tough to have only one ball handler. Basically, maybe the
Speaker 1: saw would have been a nice ad over there too,
Speaker 1: But I thought Drummond was playing pretty well. I think,
Speaker 1: and I guess we can move to like Drummonds, Um,
Speaker 1: what do you think from him tonight? Yet? Had he
Speaker 1: had a really interesting game? I thought he had a
Speaker 1: prototycobal drumming game. What do you think from him tonight? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree with you that he had a prototypical drumming game.
Speaker 1: And honestly, like, to me, the more fascinating thing about
Speaker 1: the because Drummond is Drummond and we've kind of talked
Speaker 1: that to death, so to speak, the interesting thing to
Speaker 1: me about this matchup was it struck me as the
Speaker 1: kind of game where the Lakers really paid the price
Speaker 1: for playing centers, and the primary reason had to do
Speaker 1: with their gross who was so gotten to such a
Speaker 1: rhythm early in the game operating in in that pick
Speaker 1: and roll that the Lakers basically had to start, you know,
Speaker 1: doing their their version of a trap, which is basically
Speaker 1: like you know, catch heads or the center's yingda there,
Speaker 1: but he's not really ball pressuring. He's kind of halfway
Speaker 1: between a drop and halfway between between a trap. And
Speaker 1: what would happen is Derek grows that they led there
Speaker 1: in the second half, he towards the Lakers by basically
Speaker 1: coming off of that quickly reversing the ball, and then
Speaker 1: there would be a shooter open on the back end
Speaker 1: or the big man big man rolling down the lane,
Speaker 1: Derrick Rose wouldn't make the pass that led to the shot.
Speaker 1: He'd make the pass that led to the pass that
Speaker 1: led to the shot. And I thought that, you know,
Speaker 1: one of the problems with that was that kind of noncommittal,
Speaker 1: slow footed center as that second defender in the screening
Speaker 1: action with Derrick Rose, and that this goes for both
Speaker 1: drum and and this all. I thought it really killed
Speaker 1: the Laker D and uh. I think it's an example
Speaker 1: of a team where you know, when you're going against
Speaker 1: a really good guard that dictates a ton of defensive
Speaker 1: attention in those screening rolls, that's one of those ones
Speaker 1: where you really need a D in that action, and
Speaker 1: you really need to be a D to be the
Speaker 1: one that can either sw whitch onto the guard or
Speaker 1: be active with his hands at the screen so that
Speaker 1: Derrick Rose can't just easily reverse the ball to a
Speaker 1: wide open shot. And then the Lakers, I thought, did
Speaker 1: a bad job of guarding that reverse pass um in
Speaker 1: the sense that it made it was too easy to
Speaker 1: swing it back up across the top, which then led
Speaker 1: to the inevitable assist. I thought there their screening roll
Speaker 1: coverages in general with Drummond and Marcusol on the floor
Speaker 1: are really sloppy tonight, and I think Derick Rose just
Speaker 1: absolutely killed him as a result. Um, you know, Drummond,
Speaker 1: it is what it is at this point, he definitely
Speaker 1: negatively impacts their facing. I thought he had some good
Speaker 1: moments tonight, but there were just you know, just normal
Speaker 1: Drummond type of mistakes that you've we've grown accustomed to
Speaker 1: at this point. Yeah, I'm looking at the box. I
Speaker 1: didn't even realize he played thirty five minutes tonight, which
Speaker 1: is which is, which is quite a bit. But again,
Speaker 1: like he was six for eleven and those five misses,
Speaker 1: it feels like he missed fifteen, right Like every rebound
Speaker 1: he gets he goes up, it feels like it misses.
Speaker 1: But he had eighteen rebounds, five offensive rebounds. I thought
Speaker 1: he was at least a fourth down low. He kept him,
Speaker 1: I thought in the game when the Knicks tried to
Speaker 1: kind of push the lead out on those covers, like
Speaker 1: Derrick Rose he was ten for twenty two. I thought
Speaker 1: he had a lot of floaters and kind of tough shots.
Speaker 1: I thought he had a few contested ones as well.
Speaker 1: I didn't think it was too bad on him, but
Speaker 1: some of that, like the defense really bogged down that
Speaker 1: screen action when Derrick Rose would come off the pick
Speaker 1: and rolls, I thought they got really tired at the end.
Speaker 1: I think you twated this to this. The defense got
Speaker 1: really sloppy right as the game went on. Closeouts were
Speaker 1: really bad. They really picked, they really picked on the
Speaker 1: they really used the Derrick Rose Julius Randall's screen and roll.
Speaker 1: I thought they went to that a lot down the
Speaker 1: stretch and then Rose would kind of kick it to Julius.
Speaker 1: But I thought Drummond, like I thought, he played his game. Um,
Speaker 1: this was one of the best games I think I've
Speaker 1: seen from him, just from like an engagement level, Like
Speaker 1: he wasn't hitting his like little flip shots in the
Speaker 1: rim or nothing like that, but he was really engaged
Speaker 1: on defense. He had a huge block forgotten who it was,
Speaker 1: but he really protected the rim. And again, you hold
Speaker 1: a team of like ninety points, I think you do
Speaker 1: your job basically defense, Like I think this is this
Speaker 1: is a game you should be able to win, right
Speaker 1: you hold the team this slow to this low scoring.
Speaker 1: So I thought he did his role very five minutes
Speaker 1: of a lot for him, though, Um, I thought Tread's
Speaker 1: really got put out of the rotation, only had five minutes,
Speaker 1: So I thought he was okay. I thought I thought
Speaker 1: he played his role tonight. Yeah, he was definitely better
Speaker 1: in those coverages then Mark was. UM. But I still
Speaker 1: thought that. I mean, there were even a couple of
Speaker 1: moments where the Knicks missed some opportunities. I thought, um,
Speaker 1: just by Julius being a little bit tunnel vision, uh,
Speaker 1: and Derrick grows missing some stuff. But you know, I
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I thought he was better than Mark.
Speaker 1: I just thought one of the interesting takeaways from that
Speaker 1: is that when you play a team like the Warriors,
Speaker 1: for instance, and the play in um putting a center
Speaker 1: on the floor in those screening actions, when you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to be pretty aggressive with Steph, I think as
Speaker 1: a recipe for disaster. UM. And I hope that Frank
Speaker 1: is willing to audible out of that, which of course
Speaker 1: he hasn't been willing to a regular season. But I
Speaker 1: just I just and this has been kind of a stylistic, uh,
Speaker 1: the disagreement that I have had with the Lakers all year,
Speaker 1: and that I wish they were just trapped because then
Speaker 1: at the very least when they do those sleeping swing
Speaker 1: passes back across the court to whoever is at the
Speaker 1: top of the key or whether it's someone going coming
Speaker 1: down the lane, you can at least force that to
Speaker 1: be a little bit more of a looping pass, which
Speaker 1: gives your defense a chance to recover. Uh, And he
Speaker 1: gives them a little bit of a better opportunity to
Speaker 1: get those rotations intact. But I thought, I thought Mark
Speaker 1: looked like really bad on the defensive end tonight. I
Speaker 1: thought you looked slow footed and out of place. And
Speaker 1: I think this is an example of a matchup where
Speaker 1: where you really can't play him. And I think a
Speaker 1: good comp for that in the West would be the Warriors,
Speaker 1: you know, a team that uh that that I think
Speaker 1: Mark would be out of place against. Yeah, Derrick Rose
Speaker 1: really took it to him, right if I like, every
Speaker 1: time you got a switch on Marcus All, he just drove,
Speaker 1: He drew a value out to the rim, hit his floaters.
Speaker 1: So maybe this isn't like really a game from Mark.
Speaker 1: I thought he was okay, kind of trapping out. He
Speaker 1: had for assists really quickly in his minutes. He kind
Speaker 1: of helped out with that, but they were really physical
Speaker 1: with him as well. TOAJ Gibson was really into him.
Speaker 1: He wasn't able to get really comfortable um at all.
Speaker 1: And I guess you can kind of move move on
Speaker 1: from there. West Matthews, I thought I had another just
Speaker 1: really good game. He looked really good. He looked ready,
Speaker 1: like he looks ready to go in the playoffs. He
Speaker 1: had he had that big three as well. Um he
Speaker 1: had to tip in. Um. It just feels like he's
Speaker 1: going to be a big part of the rotation right
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Like it just feels like he's he's
Speaker 1: solidified himself as a role. Do you see that as well?
Speaker 1: From him? I thought West was fantastic. I thought, I
Speaker 1: thought on both ends of the floor again, and there's
Speaker 1: there's a stability with West. Um. You don't have to
Speaker 1: worry about him making mistakes. You know, most of the
Speaker 1: defensive mistakes tonight, ironically, I thought came from the big
Speaker 1: not just the centers, but Anthony Davis. For as good
Speaker 1: as he was in his isolation plays against Julius Randall,
Speaker 1: I thought he had some sloppy ones too, a lot
Speaker 1: of low bike closeouts and things along those lines where
Speaker 1: where he left things compromise. I thought the guards were
Speaker 1: in general pretty good tonight, and I thought West was fantastic.
Speaker 1: I thought he did a really good job on Derrick
Speaker 1: Rose at the end of the game m hm. And
Speaker 1: I thought a big part of the reason why the
Speaker 1: Lakers were able to I think our friend Pete from
Speaker 1: Laker Film Room tweeted this out. They held the Knicks too.
Speaker 1: I want to say it was like six points in
Speaker 1: the last seven minutes of the fourth quarter that allowed
Speaker 1: them to send the game to overtime. And I thought
Speaker 1: a big part of that was West's defense on Rose.
Speaker 1: And I think the two times he broke three were
Speaker 1: uh he made a floater over Wesley where West defended
Speaker 1: it perfect, like just bodied him the whole way. Um
Speaker 1: didn't foul there was you know, took it in, took
Speaker 1: the jump in the chest, and he just made a
Speaker 1: tough shot over the top. And then the three that
Speaker 1: Derrick Rose made in overtime was on a play where
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis did his sloppy close out on on Julius
Speaker 1: Randall and blew by him and West had to step
Speaker 1: over and Derrick Rows ended up wide open. But a
Speaker 1: big part of the reason why the Lakers won that
Speaker 1: game was Wesley Matthews defense on Derrick Rose in my opinion,
Speaker 1: and uh, and he deserves a lot of credit. But
Speaker 1: he's peaking. Is he looks great physically, he's starting to
Speaker 1: knock down open threes. And then again, he's just that
Speaker 1: he's that stable force, that guy that you can count
Speaker 1: on to fulfill his role as small as it is.
Speaker 1: And and my my hope is that he will be
Speaker 1: in the postseason rotation over th Ht when the time comes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was cool to see him and Kuzma kind of
Speaker 1: going right. Kuzma I thought really saved him and that
Speaker 1: the first quarter, second quarter, I think he had like
Speaker 1: sixteen points or something. He was the only one really
Speaker 1: able to get any offense going. He was shooting. It
Speaker 1: was kind of cool to see like him and West.
Speaker 1: It feels like both of them are gonna be a
Speaker 1: big part of the playoffs. And we talked about in
Speaker 1: the last last spaces that you can have enough wings
Speaker 1: right as cool to see the Lakers have two of
Speaker 1: them going at least moving to the playoffs and then
Speaker 1: hopefully we get Lebron back tomorrow. I think you'd play
Speaker 1: again against Houston tomorrow. But it was cool to see
Speaker 1: him and and Kuzma. I think Kulin missed the last
Speaker 1: game or and that he didn't play well in the
Speaker 1: previous game against Portland, so he got his jumpers to go.
Speaker 1: Um and Yeah. I thought they really brought it tonight
Speaker 1: and the defense man just like against this this next team.
Speaker 1: I thought this was like a really huge win. It
Speaker 1: could be like a building win in my opinion. Um,
Speaker 1: I thought they could really easily just let it go.
Speaker 1: But they were done. Yeah, they were down like nine
Speaker 1: or something. You could see I think they were down ten.
Speaker 1: You could just see like the fight kind of go
Speaker 1: and then a few shots go in, a tip, a
Speaker 1: tip goes in and h th hd F. I really
Speaker 1: brought that kind of energy as well on the fourth.
Speaker 1: I was just a really big win. Do you have
Speaker 1: anything else from from tonight? Yeah, I mean you know
Speaker 1: to to to go to the higher elevation to look
Speaker 1: down on it, Like I agree, Like it was one
Speaker 1: of those games where when you're looking at the standings,
Speaker 1: it wasn't really all that important. The Lakers are far
Speaker 1: more likely to end up in the seventh season anywhere
Speaker 1: else and you could argue that that's where their best
Speaker 1: um to avoid the Clippers in the first round. And
Speaker 1: so it was one of those games where there was
Speaker 1: no reason in the world to push through even a
Speaker 1: D physically for him too, I think A D was
Speaker 1: being a little dramatic, uh there at the end of
Speaker 1: that game with his uh physical wear and tear, because
Speaker 1: under the circumstances, I really do think they would have
Speaker 1: benched him if it was something serious. Um that said, like,
Speaker 1: you know, the Lakers could have easily packed it in.
Speaker 1: A D could have packed it in, and and they
Speaker 1: went for it, and uh, you know they're there at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, Like momentum does matter, confidence
Speaker 1: does matter, and and I I think putting a little
Speaker 1: wind streak together like this at the end of the season,
Speaker 1: including it, it it looks like it'll be two wins against
Speaker 1: playoff teams. I think Houston, who were their last two,
Speaker 1: I think they play like Cleveland and someone else so
Speaker 1: that they go on the road for their last two.
Speaker 1: But to get a couple of wins against playoff teams
Speaker 1: like this without lebron um, we will give you that
Speaker 1: confidence to know that that that you're you're capable of
Speaker 1: going on a run and think they have a good
Speaker 1: reason to feel confident moving forward. Yeah, I guess that's
Speaker 1: kind of the big kind of picture here. And we
Speaker 1: we we thought Lebron would played tonight, and he was
Speaker 1: kind of like a late scratch during the day. But
Speaker 1: I just hope, like a d kind of keeps up
Speaker 1: that aggressiveness that he was showing. I thought tonight he
Speaker 1: just got really tired. The names are super physical, and
Speaker 1: I thought that kind of brought him down. But just
Speaker 1: to keep that, keep that aggressiveness, keep his jump keep
Speaker 1: shooting the jump shot even though it wasn't going. I
Speaker 1: just want him to keep taking it. And with Lebron
Speaker 1: coming back, trying to fit fit him back into big
Speaker 1: back into the team, the team can kind of get going.
Speaker 1: They play Houston, Indiana and the Pelicans to close it out, um,
Speaker 1: and I think this is a chance they can. They
Speaker 1: can definitely win out right. I think the Pelicans are hurt,
Speaker 1: the Pacers aren't playing great basketball, and the Rockets are
Speaker 1: are the Rockets, So it's a good time to kind
Speaker 1: of build going to the playoffs, Like a five game
Speaker 1: win streak. I think that would be great no matter
Speaker 1: who they play. Um, I think they can jump to
Speaker 1: the sixth seed or they can stay. I didn't realize
Speaker 1: there's still only a game back, but I guess those
Speaker 1: teams have the tiebreakers, so they're two games back. But
Speaker 1: no matter what, you need, this team needs to like
Speaker 1: look at themselves, right. I don't think they care anymore
Speaker 1: about looking at looking outside. And Lebron get back tomorrow,
Speaker 1: that'd be awesome, kind of build some chemistry. They said,
Speaker 1: Shoulder compartely maybe come back with the last two and
Speaker 1: it looks like people are going at the right time.
Speaker 1: Hopefully Crusoe is not out for too long. I just
Speaker 1: I just hope this team isn't through a radical for
Speaker 1: too long. Like we talked about it, how this team
Speaker 1: has been all year. You get one guy back, you
Speaker 1: get one guy out, so you're basically just playing, like
Speaker 1: get playing a guessing game with how it's gonna look healthy. Um,
Speaker 1: So hopefully we get Lebron back and you can kind
Speaker 1: of pit back in th HD won't have to play
Speaker 1: the Lebron role, and Shoulder can get back and just
Speaker 1: get this team going with these last three games. Yeah,
Speaker 1: ill with where we were when you and I did that,
Speaker 1: spaces are first spaces, which I think was I can't
Speaker 1: remember when exactly it was, but um, with where we
Speaker 1: were about a week and a half ago, in terms
Speaker 1: of the overall, you know, morale of the fan base
Speaker 1: and morale of the Walker room, they have to feel
Speaker 1: a heck of a lot better going from Lebron basically
Speaker 1: checking out because the ankle because he came back too
Speaker 1: soon from his ankle, and Anthony Davis looking like an
Speaker 1: absolute shell of himself, especially on the defensive end, and
Speaker 1: with all of the other injuries they were dealing with,
Speaker 1: and the Dennis Shrewder COVID news man that was rock
Speaker 1: bottom and uh and to be where they are now
Speaker 1: with some really solid wins three straight or not three consecutive,
Speaker 1: but three wins in the last week and a half
Speaker 1: against against playoff teams like really good teams without Lebron,
Speaker 1: and to kind of have the defense clicking again, I think,
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of reason to be optimistic.
Speaker 1: But hey, let's get some Let's get some guests up
Speaker 1: here for about fifteen minutes and then let's call it tonight.
Speaker 1: Let's do it. Get your requestion, Let's see how long
Speaker 1: when you go UM first one, I think was lows.
Speaker 1: I appreciate everyone that stayed in here after the game.
Speaker 1: We know it's late. Hey, what's up you guys, what's
Speaker 1: going on? And now? Much so I just wanted to ask, like,
Speaker 1: I think Jason basically test on this, but since A
Speaker 1: d was like, look like he was like laboring at
Speaker 1: the end of that game, do you guys think he
Speaker 1: said tomorrow or do you think he's gonna play? I
Speaker 1: originally thought he was going to and then I think
Speaker 1: I think it's possible that with the Banner Knight, that
Speaker 1: he might push through and and play a little bit
Speaker 1: um uh, you know he with with the with it
Speaker 1: being against Houston, I wouldn't necessarily think it's all that
Speaker 1: important for him to push, you know, exert himself major
Speaker 1: league tomorrow. But at the end of the day, like
Speaker 1: you know, I would argue that with the reps with Lebron,
Speaker 1: I would argue that it's important for him to play.
Speaker 1: But at this point, with without it all just depends
Speaker 1: on how dramatic he was being. If he was being
Speaker 1: super dramatic and he's not anywhere near as hurt as
Speaker 1: he let it let us all to believe tonight, then
Speaker 1: then he'll play. But but but if if he really
Speaker 1: is banged up, if he's got a mild growing strain,
Speaker 1: which is what the broadcast keep kept asking about, then
Speaker 1: then then I I would hope that they would keep
Speaker 1: him out. That's that's what I'm saying at this point.
Speaker 1: I just want us to go into the playoffs healthy,
Speaker 1: regardless of where we're going to see because I feel
Speaker 1: like at this point, like whether we're their seventh or
Speaker 1: the sixth seed, it's whatever tod me. At this point,
Speaker 1: I really just want us to be healthy to even
Speaker 1: have a shot at like actually advancing deeply to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So that's why I was asking. I was hoping that
Speaker 1: it wasn't like a serious thing, because I really didn't
Speaker 1: look into it after the game. Yeah, A d kind
Speaker 1: of scares all of us, like three times a game, right,
Speaker 1: Like exactly, he falls like every other possession, and I
Speaker 1: think he falls for like good reason. I think it's
Speaker 1: so he doesn't get hurt, right, I think that's how
Speaker 1: they're kind of taught to fall. Yeah, exactly. I think
Speaker 1: this Lakers team, if it's anything serious, even like ten
Speaker 1: percent serious, he's gonna sit. In my opinion, that's just
Speaker 1: how they've operated. I mean Lebron said tonight right um
Speaker 1: and talked about it. He wanted to give it one
Speaker 1: more day. So I don't think they'll push through it
Speaker 1: at all. If you see ad he played tomorrow then
Speaker 1: and he's fine. If he doesn't play, they're probably just
Speaker 1: want to just don't take it too serious. I guess
Speaker 1: they don't really care about the seating. That's how they
Speaker 1: really operated. I think they're starting to take these games
Speaker 1: more serious. They're being coached more serious. But I think
Speaker 1: he'll he's not going to play if it's anything even close. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think they're about it, Yeah, definitely. I think they're
Speaker 1: just treating these games like a tune up game right now.
Speaker 1: At least that's what it looks like. Just try to
Speaker 1: get some sulf ready to play in the playoffs, especially
Speaker 1: because they gotta play the play and probably and they
Speaker 1: got to take that game seriously no matter what, even
Speaker 1: if they get you tries, you don't want to risk it.
Speaker 1: For all of you who play basketball that listen here,
Speaker 1: any of you, even if it's just pick up like
Speaker 1: sometimes when you play like a really physical game, or
Speaker 1: if you go to a specific run where I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's like older guys who tend to foul
Speaker 1: a lot or whatever it is. When you play some
Speaker 1: really physical basketball, sometimes it just beats the heck out
Speaker 1: of here and you just got a bunch of bumps
Speaker 1: and bumps and bruises and you're just really sore the
Speaker 1: next day. And so let's just hope it's that and
Speaker 1: that's something more serious. Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for
Speaker 1: it too. Maybe he just got nicked in the leg
Speaker 1: or something and they just felt like a little bruiser
Speaker 1: or something. But yeah, I just wanted to clarify that because,
Speaker 1: like like I said, I just saw that like he
Speaker 1: was they said, they mentioned the growing thing, but I
Speaker 1: really didn't like follow up with it. I think you
Speaker 1: should be fine though, hopefully, But like you said, the
Speaker 1: rage he does scarce every time he falls. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: does exactly. All right. Well, yeah, thank you guys. I
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Appreciated. Yeah, no worries. How do I say,
Speaker 1: y'all could just send me down, I assumer I don't
Speaker 1: know how to do that. I'll just leave. I'll just
Speaker 1: leave you. Ah, he can can because he took off. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: are you there, Matt Or is it Matt, what's going
Speaker 1: on there? Not much great win tonight. I think that
Speaker 1: one of the things that was interesting about tonight for
Speaker 1: me personally was the fact that it really did feel
Speaker 1: like a playoff intensity game with playoff steaks. And I mean,
Speaker 1: like it's not obviously playoff takes us, but man, it
Speaker 1: felt like it. And I think that that's super important
Speaker 1: as a dress rehearsal too the actual playoffs and potentially
Speaker 1: to play in. And I think it's really important for
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis to play through some some hard physical play. Um. Also, lastly,
Speaker 1: shout out Drummond. I've been hard on Drummond for a
Speaker 1: while now, but um, he really stepped up tonight. He
Speaker 1: was awesome on the offensive board's really good protecting the
Speaker 1: him And uh, yeah, that's all. Just wanted to say
Speaker 1: a couple of comments. Man, hey, dude, you're absolutely right
Speaker 1: about the playoff intensity and how important that is. Like,
Speaker 1: you know, Roger and I were joking earlier earlier, like
Speaker 1: it felt like the Lakers could have packed it in
Speaker 1: a few times, and honestly, the reason why they did
Speaker 1: it is just that, like, I think it's super beneficial
Speaker 1: to get reps playing really intense playoff level basketball, because
Speaker 1: then you're not shell shocked by it and you don't
Speaker 1: dig yourself in a hole early in the series because
Speaker 1: you're used to playing at a different intensity. Like I
Speaker 1: I think that just like you were saying about a
Speaker 1: d just like you were saying about the team. It
Speaker 1: helps to identify the value of this type of game
Speaker 1: and just try to win the damn thing so that
Speaker 1: you can add it to your arsenal of confidence and
Speaker 1: your arsenal of intensity, um, so that you're prepared to
Speaker 1: make that adjustment when all of a sudden, ever game
Speaker 1: is like that. Yep, Matt, I think you hit it
Speaker 1: around the head like that. They needed to start playing
Speaker 1: these games serious, not just from a players standpoint, from
Speaker 1: a coaching standpoint as well, just with the lineups, and
Speaker 1: it just feels like they're starting to really get serious.
Speaker 1: And this was playoff intensity basketball, Like this is what
Speaker 1: the playoffs looks like when it bogs down, right, You
Speaker 1: don't get easy shots. Um, everything's tough, everything is physical.
Speaker 1: They don't call everything, um the free Those aren't just
Speaker 1: given right like that. The was the playoff level game
Speaker 1: and they were able to pull it out without any
Speaker 1: shock creation, which is great, and I think you're right, Drummond. Really,
Speaker 1: I thought his physicality made a difference tonight. U. He
Speaker 1: had a good game and it was a really good
Speaker 1: test for the team. I think the Knicks are legit.
Speaker 1: I don't think this is like a facade. I don't
Speaker 1: think it's gonna go away in the playoffs. Like I
Speaker 1: think they're legit defensive team. They know that they know
Speaker 1: what they do, so getting a win on them is huge.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think you're right. All right, Next we
Speaker 1: got Merge. What's going on? Merge? Hear me, hear me,
Speaker 1: we can hear I'm back. I had the I had
Speaker 1: a couple of comments, uh the Drummond. On a second,
Speaker 1: what Matt said about Drummond. I thought this was his
Speaker 1: best game as a as a laker. Um even more
Speaker 1: so than that that that book, the bookly next game
Speaker 1: where we blew them out. I thought it was big
Speaker 1: that he was in the game down the stretch making
Speaker 1: big I clutch plays, often to rebounds, or was at
Speaker 1: one beginning of overtime where he got a rebound and
Speaker 1: came to the th HD in the corner for three. Um.
Speaker 1: He made a bunch of those plays today and I
Speaker 1: was really impressed. I think that's kind of the route
Speaker 1: that you if Drummond is the main contributor in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: that's where you want to see from him. Um. And second,
Speaker 1: I just want to talk a little bit more about
Speaker 1: th HD. RAJ knows how high I am on THHD
Speaker 1: even t even coming out of the draft. Th h
Speaker 1: D was one of my was a guy that I
Speaker 1: was fine taking in like the lottery. Uh so I
Speaker 1: was extremely high on th HD. I just want to
Speaker 1: see where you guys stand as th HT as like
Speaker 1: his his highest ceiling outcome. Where do you guys think
Speaker 1: that that lands for him? Just from what you've seen
Speaker 1: so far and just what he can improve on the
Speaker 1: easiest Where do you guys see he can be as
Speaker 1: like best case scenario? I remember, I remember before this season,
Speaker 1: I asked your I'm just share with everyone here, like
Speaker 1: what is th HD's outlook? And you said all star?
Speaker 1: And I thought you were crazy. Um, I remember, even
Speaker 1: but but I can I mean, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you'll get there, but I think he's gonna be really good.
Speaker 1: Like he look doesn't look scared. Um, he's a really
Speaker 1: good Uh he can be a really good shot. Creator,
Speaker 1: and he looks comfortable taking shots off the dribble. Um.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's three point shot will get
Speaker 1: to where it needs to go, but he looks awesome.
Speaker 1: I think I'm higher on him than you aren't, right, Jason,
Speaker 1: But I think he's great. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: can just give him the ball every time down the
Speaker 1: down the floor in the future, but he's looking like
Speaker 1: he's going into that kind of archetype where he can
Speaker 1: play it that way. My criticism is not of th HD,
Speaker 1: it's of the Lakers and how much they've leaned on him. Um.
Speaker 1: I do think it will pay off in the long run.
Speaker 1: I'm a believer in the reps. I just think strategically
Speaker 1: within the lens of trying to win right now, I
Speaker 1: thought they've leaned on him a little too much. That's
Speaker 1: just my opinion. However, I am a huge believer in
Speaker 1: th HD. And you know it's funny, I've always the
Speaker 1: compent everyone throws out there is Eric Gordon. I've kind
Speaker 1: of come around on that more towards ironically the player.
Speaker 1: He reminds me that most of his Dwyane Wade, and
Speaker 1: obviously he's not going to be a Superstars One Finals
Speaker 1: MVP in his early twenties. But what th Hd is
Speaker 1: is he's this relentless slasher with extremely strong legs who
Speaker 1: can take these big lunging steps into the paint, and
Speaker 1: his his jump shot game kind of reminds me of
Speaker 1: d Wade to where like his percentages are never really
Speaker 1: going to pan out too much, but like he's got
Speaker 1: all of the jump shot moves in the bag. Like
Speaker 1: the you know, the game winner tonight was like off
Speaker 1: the dribble, Uh, there's a little bit of a screening
Speaker 1: action with a d that that Derrick Rose gets caught on.
Speaker 1: He gets a little bit of separation and he just
Speaker 1: takes a hard dribble to his left and elevates and
Speaker 1: knocks down at three. Or the shot that he made
Speaker 1: at the start of overtime where he kind of ran
Speaker 1: into the corner. He's got step backs, he's got spinning moves,
Speaker 1: he's got one leg fade away. It's like he's that
Speaker 1: is the kind of thing that reminds me of Dwyane Wade,
Speaker 1: because that was the Dwayne had experience was, you know,
Speaker 1: percentage wise, he was never a great jump shooter, but
Speaker 1: everybody knew that like if if his team needed shot,
Speaker 1: he could go get one and and uh and his
Speaker 1: career highlight tape is full of him making those types
Speaker 1: of plays. And you know, so that's what I kind
Speaker 1: of see him as his d Wade light. Just a
Speaker 1: relentless rim attacker who was capable of some playmaking and
Speaker 1: will never be a good percentage shooter, but can can
Speaker 1: get to a lot of shots, and to me, that
Speaker 1: can be an all star. And and to be honest,
Speaker 1: it's up to him because he certainly has the physical
Speaker 1: tools and I thought I was high on him, and
Speaker 1: he just compared him to Dwayne Wade sent it's not
Speaker 1: even the offense for me that I think I see
Speaker 1: him as like like making it this high value guy.
Speaker 1: I really think that there's a lot of unpapped potential defensively.
Speaker 1: Obviously the arms that he has UH help a lot,
Speaker 1: but I think he's a lot he's smarter on that,
Speaker 1: and then some people give him credit for um. Obviously
Speaker 1: the off ball stuff isn't great, but there aren't a
Speaker 1: ton of twenty year older rookies that are great at
Speaker 1: off ball defense unless you're some historically great defender your
Speaker 1: first year, like i'nna teasetyble or something like that. Uh,
Speaker 1: but I think that it it changes his outcome to
Speaker 1: like a good like score, to like a guy who
Speaker 1: you can really trust in all facets of the game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's his wingspan really comes into play. I thought to
Speaker 1: not even he created like some turnovers on the Knicks
Speaker 1: when they trapped, and he really fits that like trapping
Speaker 1: scheme as well. I think Vogel even said he has
Speaker 1: like more defensive potential than offensive potential just from like
Speaker 1: his his week span and everything. And yeah, I think
Speaker 1: he has better instincts. You're right. He makes like young mistakes,
Speaker 1: which I think I'm fine with. Like I don't expect
Speaker 1: him to be able to defend great in like a
Speaker 1: playoff series any any of that. But yeah, I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna be really good. And just touch on your
Speaker 1: drumming point, I think you're right, Like I just wish
Speaker 1: you when he got offensive rebound, he kicked it out
Speaker 1: every time, right, Like I just wish he did that
Speaker 1: instead of putting it up. But you can't really be picky,
Speaker 1: but five offensive rebounds, it was definitely his best game
Speaker 1: other than maybe the Brooklyn game. Maybe that was like
Speaker 1: the second second best game from him, But tonight he
Speaker 1: had some good kickout passes and it feels like he
Speaker 1: can make those when he wants to. He just decided
Speaker 1: sometimes to go up against three people. But I thought
Speaker 1: he was good tonight. Defensively, talent Horton Tucker had some
Speaker 1: ridiculous rotations and at the end of overtime when the
Speaker 1: Lakers would send doubles or heavily shade towards Julius Randall,
Speaker 1: his closeouts are like when THHD is doing his job. Defensively,
Speaker 1: it's kind of frightening because his clothes outs he comes
Speaker 1: in super low, but he's got those super long arms
Speaker 1: and he can beat you the spots. And I agree.
Speaker 1: I think I think he's got uh all world defensive
Speaker 1: potential on top of whatever you get out of him offensively. Yeah, definitely,
Speaker 1: really guys, thanks for having me on again again. Thanks man.
Speaker 1: Yeah for sure out one more is you can get
Speaker 1: your re question. We've got one more left here? Yes,
Speaker 1: all right, one more and then we'll call it tonight
Speaker 1: and then we'll be back tomorrow. Yea timid, timid dial.
Speaker 1: What's going on? I hope I ain't Bucher. That looks
Speaker 1: like it's connecting here, big guys. Okay, yeah, what's going on?
Speaker 1: And so much so this is Die from Nigeria, big fan.
Speaker 1: So M I just want to ask a question. So
Speaker 1: should them lackas be worried about them? Draymond Stephan the
Speaker 1: Warriors if we're finishing seventh seas, which looks likely, That's
Speaker 1: the question I want to ask. So this matchup has
Speaker 1: been on my mind literally NonStop over the last few days.
Speaker 1: It's a super super interesting matchup because the Warriors have
Speaker 1: been playing really well for a long time. They've won
Speaker 1: six of their last seven games. I saw someone tweeted
Speaker 1: today that since they ditched Wiseman from the rotation, they've
Speaker 1: been like the third best team in the league by
Speaker 1: that painting. Um, so they're in there, are top five defense,
Speaker 1: and they have arguably the best player in the world
Speaker 1: if you ask someone in the Bay, although most people
Speaker 1: out of the outside of the Bay would probably disagree
Speaker 1: with you, but the point is is they they are,
Speaker 1: without a doubt, a dangerous opponent that should be respected
Speaker 1: and and um someone that I hope the Lakers are
Speaker 1: taking very seriously. The one game setting thing is super
Speaker 1: tricky because of the high variants of the way that
Speaker 1: Steph plays, and because the Lakers have a tendency to
Speaker 1: have nights where they go very cold, I tend to
Speaker 1: think that that, you know, seven game series, I would
Speaker 1: pick the Lakers oncent of the time as and I
Speaker 1: would You could play that series a hundred times, and
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers win every single one of them
Speaker 1: because I think they're equipped to take advantage of all
Speaker 1: of the different chess moves that take place in a
Speaker 1: playoff series and beat a team like that. But in
Speaker 1: a one game setting, I give them roughly a chance
Speaker 1: because they defend and because they have to and and
Speaker 1: in that type of environment, anything could happen. However, I
Speaker 1: do believe the Lakers will win. And the reason why
Speaker 1: it's very simple. They're really good at defending guards like this.
Speaker 1: They didn't do a great job of it tonight and
Speaker 1: they let Derrick Rose get going. But KCP is an
Speaker 1: extremely gifted lock and trail defender. That makes him a
Speaker 1: very good Steph Curry defender. And when you couple that
Speaker 1: with the Lakers ability to trap and recover the way
Speaker 1: they did against Dame and the way they did against
Speaker 1: James Harden and the way they did against Jamal Murray
Speaker 1: in the playoffs last year. We know that they're defensively
Speaker 1: built for this type of matchup. My guess is that
Speaker 1: if they played that Steph would have a rough night
Speaker 1: and that the Lakers would win by twenty plus. I
Speaker 1: really do believe that. However, I do think that there's
Speaker 1: a legitimate chance that it could be close and roughly
Speaker 1: a twenty chance that the Warriors could pull it out,
Speaker 1: and I hope that the Lakers take that match up
Speaker 1: very serious. Yeah, I think you always have to respect staff,
Speaker 1: But I mean when they played this year, the Lakers
Speaker 1: blew them out by over twenty twice, and that was
Speaker 1: without Anthony David Um even them out. Yeah, they were
Speaker 1: up and just decided to stop playing Um the beginning
Speaker 1: of the year. I just think they can't handle the size.
Speaker 1: They just don't have enough UM. And I think the
Speaker 1: Lakers are probably the best. I think you would agree
Speaker 1: with me, Jason. They're like the best trapping team in
Speaker 1: the league, and they're really good when they were able
Speaker 1: to do that and just build a lot of chaos,
Speaker 1: and then they'll really get into Steph, make him try
Speaker 1: to make passes over the top, really make guys like
Speaker 1: Draymond Andrew Wiggins, UM, all those other guys make make
Speaker 1: jump shots, and I just don't think they'd be able
Speaker 1: to make up. I think it's a little high for me.
Speaker 1: I just don't see them even in a one game sample.
Speaker 1: Obviously staff can go crazy and hit like their team
Speaker 1: threes or something, UM, but you can do that against
Speaker 1: anyone any night. So but I just think they don't
Speaker 1: have the the size or the requis in talent people
Speaker 1: to keep up with the Lakers, who are the best
Speaker 1: defense in the league and blew them out twice without
Speaker 1: their best defender UM, And I just think they have
Speaker 1: a size issue, they have a talent issue. And Lebron
Speaker 1: James and a D. I feel like we'll be pretty
Speaker 1: serious in one game sample. I don't think they're gonna
Speaker 1: take that lightly either, and they just have a matchup
Speaker 1: for either. I think Andrew Wiggins has been great this
Speaker 1: year on defense, UM, but he just he can't guard
Speaker 1: Lebron or a D and any kind of matchup. Draymond
Speaker 1: does a nice job on him, nice job on a D.
Speaker 1: But I just don't that the size is too much
Speaker 1: rebounding and they wouldn't be able to they would be
Speaker 1: able to get shots that they want. KCP Caruso. Guys
Speaker 1: like that really good at chasing around screens making stuff.
Speaker 1: At least work, that's all you can do. I think
Speaker 1: that would be enough to kind of make that a
Speaker 1: easy win in the plane. Yep, I agree. It's it's
Speaker 1: a textbook anything gonna happen type of game. I think
Speaker 1: the Lakers are really better, um, but but you know
Speaker 1: I I definitely think they're an opponent that should be respected.
Speaker 1: All right, thanks for having that. Thank you, all right, everybody,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for taking time to hang out
Speaker 1: with us after the game tonight. We're are Roger and
Speaker 1: Ice playing from neuron outus to do one of these
Speaker 1: after every single game and hopefully that means a couple
Speaker 1: more months. Hopefully not a much shorter time frame than that. However,
Speaker 1: we really appreciate you guys. We're gonna I'm gonna immediately
Speaker 1: transcribe this into the screen recording into a podcast and
Speaker 1: I will tweet it out to you guys. Um, we
Speaker 1: will see you tomorrow night after hopefully Lebron James returning
Speaker 1: and looking like Lebron James. But Roger got anything else
Speaker 1: before we go it's it man. Thanks a good for everyone.
Speaker 1: We know it's late, so I appreciate everyone hanging out
Speaker 1: and uh staying after the game.