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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Jason timp Podcast. Thank you guys so

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Speaker 1: much for taking time out of your evening to come

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Speaker 1: hang out and talk some basketball with us. I'm super

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Speaker 1: excited tonight we have Rods as you guys know him

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Speaker 1: as at Unwritten Rules on Twitter. He is one of

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Speaker 1: my favorite guys to bring on to talk Lakers because

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Speaker 1: he has a lot more time than I to do,

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Speaker 1: or at least he's willing to devote a lot more

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Speaker 1: time to watch a lot of the in depth film

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Speaker 1: and you can bring a lot of perspective that most

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Speaker 1: of us don't, you know, have the time to really

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Speaker 1: build and uh so I'm really excited to have him

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Speaker 1: on to bring his expertise. We're just going to dive

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Speaker 1: into all things about the Laker off season today and

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Speaker 1: uh you're gonna hear a lot of optimism from Raj

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Speaker 1: and I I would imagine, because I think we're naturally

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Speaker 1: optimistic people, but also there's a lot to be optimistic

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Speaker 1: about with this Laker team. And I think before we

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Speaker 1: get started, I want to talk real quick about why

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Speaker 1: I think we should be so optimistic, and it starts

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Speaker 1: with what happened with the Laker team last year because

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Speaker 1: As I've said several times on Twitter over the last

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks, Lakers were one of the most dominant

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Speaker 1: basketball teams of this century. They started the season twenty

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Speaker 1: four and three. Think about how crazy that is to

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Speaker 1: start the season twenty four and three. At one point,

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Speaker 1: they finished the season at a sixty four win pace.

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Speaker 1: They were the fourth best offense in the league and

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Speaker 1: the third best defense in the league going into the bubble.

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Speaker 1: They finished the season with the best record among all

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Speaker 1: NBA teams against winning teams against teams at five or better.

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Speaker 1: And then they got into the into the playoffs and

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Speaker 1: they only lost five games. They were never truly threatened.

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Speaker 1: Even in the series where they got pushed to six,

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Speaker 1: they just absolutely obliterated the Miami Heat. They were one

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Speaker 1: of the most dominant teams not only in the history

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Speaker 1: of the league, but in in this modern era with

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Speaker 1: with as much depth of talent as there is from

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Speaker 1: top to bottom. And I think one of the main

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Speaker 1: reasons why there was so much pessimism surrounding the team

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Speaker 1: basically stemmed from two things. They dropped an early game

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Speaker 1: against the Clippers where they posted up a d every time,

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Speaker 1: and then they dropped an early game or Christmas Day

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Speaker 1: game against the Clippers where they had a pretty big

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter lead that they blew at the end with

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Speaker 1: some foul calls that went one way and and just

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Speaker 1: missing a couple of shots. And then they lost that

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Speaker 1: game at the end of the road trip against the Bucks.

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Speaker 1: And then there was the seeding games, which were weird.

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Speaker 1: They there were no fans, so there was no adrenaline

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Speaker 1: for the players to feed off of. They had absolutely

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Speaker 1: nothing to play for. They had locked down. Anything that

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Speaker 1: they needed was seating. There was no legitimate reason for

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Speaker 1: them to be the best version of themselves. And they

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Speaker 1: went three and five, and most importantly, they couldn't score,

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Speaker 1: which completely changed the whole, you know, perception of that

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Speaker 1: team because it made everybody think they were a bad

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Speaker 1: offensive team, even though they were the fourth best offense

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Speaker 1: all season long and and and during that seating game

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Speaker 1: they were the seating stretch. They were still defending. So

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Speaker 1: I say all that to say this, the reason why

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Speaker 1: we're going to be so excited in this podcast for

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Speaker 1: how good this Laker team can be is because they

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Speaker 1: already were one of the most dominant teams that we've

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Speaker 1: seen in this modern era and they legitimately got better

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Speaker 1: in my opinion, on both ends of the floor. And

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Speaker 1: so I think that I think that that's the important thing,

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Speaker 1: is to kind of confront some of that weird, illogical

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Speaker 1: pessimism that surrounded last year's Laker team that was never

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Speaker 1: really based in reality, because they were good from start

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Speaker 1: to finish. I was tweeting pretty recklessly about them back

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Speaker 1: in October, and I know you've felt the same way

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Speaker 1: of out. But yeah, I mean, do do you agree

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Speaker 1: with me? Do you think that do you think I'm

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Speaker 1: overreacting a little bit? No, I think you're right. I

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Speaker 1: think like there are times last year where you kind

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Speaker 1: of had to convince me because there were times where

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Speaker 1: like they would lose a game and would be like,

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Speaker 1: oh my god, what's happening? And then you would go

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Speaker 1: on like a rant like dude, they're okay, They're just

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Speaker 1: one like ten in a row, Like it's okay to

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Speaker 1: lose one game. So I think you're right, um, And

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Speaker 1: the dominance level, I forget, like because you remember the

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Speaker 1: losses way more than the wins in a weird way,

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Speaker 1: Like I remember exactly losing that home game to Dallas

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Speaker 1: that they lost. Luca went off at home. But then

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Speaker 1: you forget like they won like fourteen in a row

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Speaker 1: or some crazy amount and you have sixteen and five

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Is nothing to joke about. And they're

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Speaker 1: like the first team to win without any home court

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Speaker 1: right they want to. They won the championship with zero

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Speaker 1: home court advantage. Now they didn't have to go on

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Speaker 1: the road at all either, but that's a pretty big deal.

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Speaker 1: So this year they get home court. UM. I think

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Speaker 1: they've got a much better roster, more balanced roster around

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Speaker 1: this team. Now, obviously chemistry was a big deal from

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Speaker 1: last year. We'll see how that um kind of correlates

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Speaker 1: to this year. But yeah, I think you're right. I

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Speaker 1: think they were dominating last year and they've improved. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you can't deny that they hadn't improved this team, So yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'll see. I mean, obviously, when you win the championship,

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Speaker 1: you have the right to be positively and you obviously

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Speaker 1: going to next season with a lot of positive feelings

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Speaker 1: on it. It's hard to do and I think I

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Speaker 1: think one of the things that I always tell people

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Speaker 1: when they're dealing when they're trying to cope with regular

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Speaker 1: season losses, because especially I remember when I was younger,

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Speaker 1: when I was in my teens, and I was watching

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Speaker 1: a game where I had a rooting interest, whether it

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Speaker 1: was the Arizona Wildcats or whether I was watching you know,

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Speaker 1: Lebron when he's playing with the Cavs. They lose a

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Speaker 1: game and I had to keep I would constantly just

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Speaker 1: kind of just be devastated by it, even in like March,

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Speaker 1: which never made any sense. And it's funny because you

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Speaker 1: think about, like, if I told you that an NBA

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Speaker 1: team was gonna win sixty games, you would think, oh,

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Speaker 1: that's a dominant basketball team. That's a bona fide championship contender,

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Speaker 1: you know, But if they like, just by a simple

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Speaker 1: matter of math, if a basketball team loses or win

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Speaker 1: sixty games in a regular season, that means they have

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Speaker 1: to lose twenty two times. So I think about it like,

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Speaker 1: that's crazy. You're losing at that rate. You're basically losing

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Speaker 1: once a week like that, that's it. That's insane. So

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Speaker 1: I think it's important to always kind of keep that

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Speaker 1: perspective and understand that even the warts that popped up

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Speaker 1: for the Lakers, the warts like dropping those couple games

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Speaker 1: to the Clippers, dropping that game to the Bucks having

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Speaker 1: some you know that. I think they lost four games

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Speaker 1: in a row at one point where things got a

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Speaker 1: little rough there. But you have to remind yourself and go, like,

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Speaker 1: it's not like there's a team out there that's perfect.

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Speaker 1: You know, there's into two thousands, seventeen Warriors, your outlier contender.

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Speaker 1: That's so different from any traditional season. All these teams

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Speaker 1: are struggling. And that was what so weird about it

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Speaker 1: is the Lakers would have this pessimism surrounding them, and

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Speaker 1: it's like have you watched the Clippers. They're getting their

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Speaker 1: butts kicked by bad teams, and they don't like each other,

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Speaker 1: and there's all this bad body language and all their

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Speaker 1: guys are in and out of the lineup, and it's like,

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Speaker 1: how is that getting you know, glossed over for their

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Speaker 1: sake but being completely you know, like having this big

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Speaker 1: flashlight shined on it for the sake of the Lakers.

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Speaker 1: And I never really understood understood the watch behind that.

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Speaker 1: Uh but yeah, so let's let's get started with what

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Speaker 1: I think is the first really interesting you know that

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Speaker 1: like structural things surrounding the Lakers, and it stems from

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Speaker 1: that interview that we had with Dannis Shrewder and his

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Speaker 1: inaugural press conference with the Lakers, where he basically kind

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Speaker 1: of came out and publicly said, I plan on being

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Speaker 1: the starter, okay, like and it wasn't like necessarily super

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Speaker 1: uh kind of like, it wasn't very you know, uh, modest,

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Speaker 1: it was very like intentional. It seemed wasn't low key

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Speaker 1: at all, right exactly, And so so let's assume that

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Speaker 1: that's that whole dynamic to me makes the starting lineup

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Speaker 1: dynamic interesting for the Lakers because for starters, you can

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Speaker 1: throw Alex Cruso out the window as a starter, which

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Speaker 1: is crazy because arguably their most dominant performance last year

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Speaker 1: was with Alex Caruso on the starting line up, so

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Speaker 1: we set him aside. So there are seven names, in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, that can be considered for a starting shot

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Speaker 1: starting spot. There's Lebron and Anthony Davis. There's k C.

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Speaker 1: P There's Wesley Matthews. There's Dennis Shrewder, who threw his

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Speaker 1: name in the hat and I probably wouldn't have put

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Speaker 1: it there before he said that. Uh, Marcusol and Montrese Harroll.

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Speaker 1: So Lebron and A Dye have to write, you're thinking

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Speaker 1: contagious call. Well, Pope probably has to why because he

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Speaker 1: started a lot of last season and you just paid

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Speaker 1: him a lot of money, you know. So the reality

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Speaker 1: is is, like, it doesn't make necessary, It doesn't necessarily

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Speaker 1: make a ton of sense to have him coming off

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Speaker 1: the edge. So that leaves West, Dennis Mark, and Shreds

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Speaker 1: fighting for those last two spots. So my first question

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Speaker 1: for you is what do you think the Laker starting

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Speaker 1: lineup will look like? And then follow that up with

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Speaker 1: whether or not you agree with that concept or if

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Speaker 1: you wouldn't have if you would change anything about it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I just to speak on the like shrewder thing, Like,

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Speaker 1: I think it's great that he wants to be a starter. Um,

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Speaker 1: we obviously aren't in the room with his agent, with Polinka,

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Speaker 1: with you know, Lebron and a d or whoever got

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Speaker 1: to talk to him and promised the starting start, didn't.

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Speaker 1: I just think it's I don't think it's like normal

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Speaker 1: for a guard who's coming from another team to come

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Speaker 1: to a championship team and demanded to be a starter.

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Speaker 1: I think that's a little strange. I still would be

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Speaker 1: surprised if he's starting on opening night. UM, Like, I

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Speaker 1: think you can go as treads like do you want

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Speaker 1: to be a starter? He's can be like, hell yeah,

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Speaker 1: I want to be a starter? Like this, what kind

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Speaker 1: of question is that? Like? So, I mean, I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure if he was asked directly, but I mean I'm

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Speaker 1: sure he doesn't want to come off the bench anymore.

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Speaker 1: And that's understandable. The dude's a competitor, right. He averaged

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Speaker 1: eighteen points a game on a fifth seed last year.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure he believes he can start. But I still

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Speaker 1: think UM that starting lineup is going to go with

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Speaker 1: a k C. P. I think he's earned it his

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Speaker 1: playoffs performances, UM has gotten him in that lineup, and

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Speaker 1: I just think you want to keep as much like

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Speaker 1: chemistry as well as last year. UM, just to keep it,

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Speaker 1: keep the continuity, right, Like I think Wes Matthews feels

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Speaker 1: perfectly for Danny Green. They are very similar players. Um.

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Speaker 1: I think West is a little bit of a defender

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Speaker 1: on the ball, but anyways, they're they're both kind of

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Speaker 1: three and D players. And then Mark saw if it's

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Speaker 1: perfectly with Jabal and then you can keep that playoff

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Speaker 1: bubble team together with k C. P Lebron and a

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Speaker 1: D and then that bench unit can build their own continuity, right,

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Speaker 1: because last year it was kind of aretic. You had

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Speaker 1: a regular season Rondo trying to play with Kuzma who

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Speaker 1: was doing his thing, and then you had Caruso coming

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Speaker 1: in trying to get minutes. It was a little bit

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Speaker 1: erratic and anyway through the season. So I think you're

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Speaker 1: right thing, those are the spots. Obviously Lebron and a

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Speaker 1: D are locked in. I would think trez is gonna

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Speaker 1: come off the bench. Um, I think Shorter is going

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Speaker 1: to eventually come off the bench to start. He's still

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Speaker 1: gonna get his starter in minutes though, and his his

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Speaker 1: minutes next to Lebron and a D. But that's kind

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Speaker 1: of how I see it going, how about you. That's

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Speaker 1: the that's the important detail. And so for the record,

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Speaker 1: like I had, I've I know what this experience is like.

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Speaker 1: When I was playing at Arizona Christian University, I started

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Speaker 1: this season as a starter, so a totally different vibe

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Speaker 1: than my junior college years. Like in junior college, I

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Speaker 1: was an all conference player. I was had all these

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Speaker 1: big scoring numbers. They were lying heavily on me to

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Speaker 1: be an offensive creator. And then I was playing with

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Speaker 1: two All American guards, you know, and the n A

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Speaker 1: I A is all weird, like they have weird age rules.

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Speaker 1: So our guards were twenty nine and thirty one years

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Speaker 1: old playing college basketball, you know, and I was twenty

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Speaker 1: two and you know, trying to fit in with these

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Speaker 1: two like big alpha personalities that have been around the

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Speaker 1: game forever. And I was like a Trevor Reasa type

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Speaker 1: role on that team. All I did was guard the

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Speaker 1: other team's best player and spot up in the in

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Speaker 1: the corner and shoot threes while these guards took all

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Speaker 1: these dribbles. And while it's one thing to buy into

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Speaker 1: that role from the standpoint of, you know, being unselfish,

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Speaker 1: it's another thing with the way that it can affect

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Speaker 1: your rhythm. And I genuinely remember like that process. I

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Speaker 1: was a starter my entire college career. I started every

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Speaker 1: game in junior college. I started like the first twenty

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Speaker 1: games of the season when I was at Arizona Christian University,

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Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, they were like, we

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Speaker 1: had a backup three. He was all he was an

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Speaker 1: All conference player this season before, and he was older.

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Speaker 1: He was I think he's like twenty eight years old,

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Speaker 1: and the coach basically just came to me and he says, hey,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna start with Jordan's and we're gonna have you

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Speaker 1: come in off the bench. That way you can be

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Speaker 1: a bit more as bull of all all this stuff.

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Speaker 1: But the reality is is like coming off the bench

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Speaker 1: is hard. You go through this intense warm up before

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Speaker 1: the game, you're going through layup lines, You're all jazzed up,

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Speaker 1: there's a crowd, you're you know, jumping out of your

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Speaker 1: out of the gym, and then all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: it's like I'm sitting and not only that, but it's

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Speaker 1: like eating at you because you're just watching other guys

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Speaker 1: play when you feel like you should be out there.

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Speaker 1: And so I I sympathize with the with with the

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Speaker 1: plight of what Dennis is talking about. The flip side

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Speaker 1: of it is, though, is his role is different. His

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Speaker 1: role on this team is to be aggressive with the basketball.

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Speaker 1: So in the starting lineup, it's foolish to have Dennis

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Speaker 1: be super aggressive with the basketball. It doesn't actually make

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Speaker 1: a lot of sense from a basketball a Q standpoint

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Speaker 1: for what they're trying to do in those minutes because

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Speaker 1: in those minutes when Lebron and a D are on

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Speaker 1: the floor, everything needs to be flowing through that as

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Speaker 1: much as you can, because there are two of the

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Speaker 1: top three or four players in the entire world. So

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Speaker 1: that's just a smarter that's just a smarter basketball like

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Speaker 1: you approach to the game. It's not we're not benching

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Speaker 1: Dennis for the sake of of of trying to you know, uh,

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Speaker 1: like Paris out who's the best player on the team.

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Speaker 1: It's just actually, if we have you check in with

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Speaker 1: five minutes to go in the first quarter, we can

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Speaker 1: have you come in and be super aggressive and not

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Speaker 1: have to worry about deferring to Lebron and Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 1: So that that's the reasoning why I didn't like that

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Speaker 1: sort of approach. It shows me that Dennis is kind

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Speaker 1: of worried about the wrong things. That's said, even if

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Speaker 1: they do start Dennis, they can work it out just

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Speaker 1: by quickly benching either Lebron or a D. And I

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Speaker 1: think you'll see that a lot, especially as you're dealing

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Speaker 1: with Lebron trying to load manage, because I think the

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Speaker 1: clear obvious answer for the starting lineup is to go

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Speaker 1: KCP and West because West is a perfect starter because

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Speaker 1: he doesn't need touches, he locks up, he's a ball

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Speaker 1: pressure guy. He can set the tone defensively. And then

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Speaker 1: the same thing with Marcusol. Marcusol because he's just going

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Speaker 1: to be a high you player who's not who's not

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Speaker 1: overly aggressive. He's perfect in the starting lineup. And then

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Speaker 1: you bring in Tres and Dennis and you say it's

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Speaker 1: your time, just go get him. But if if they

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Speaker 1: insist on starting Dennis, which I believe they will, which

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Speaker 1: will lead to Dennis k CP, Lebron a d Marcusol,

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Speaker 1: then you're gonna have to do some quirky stuff with

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Speaker 1: your rotations to quickly get either Lebron and a d

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Speaker 1: out or a d out to get UH to get

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Speaker 1: Dennis the ball more because he's going to basically be

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Speaker 1: spotting up in some of those minutes. That would be

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Speaker 1: my one concern. Yeah, and the thing also, I think

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Speaker 1: there's enough playmaking between Marcusol and Lebron in that starting

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Speaker 1: lineup to where I don't think you need an extra

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Speaker 1: pastor there. Um. I think Dennis is the best, as

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Speaker 1: you said, on the ball, attacking off ball screens, um,

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Speaker 1: getting downhill and that's a little more tougher when he's

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Speaker 1: like standing on a week side corner waiting for you know,

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Speaker 1: the help to come down from a Lebron drive or

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Speaker 1: you know, a d um flashing to the room, things

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Speaker 1: like that. So obviously they can work well together. I

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Speaker 1: just think his skill set kind of matches more of

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Speaker 1: that second unit. And it's still kind of strange to

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Speaker 1: me like that that he would just come in and

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Speaker 1: demand to be a starter and they would just like,

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Speaker 1: you know, give him that. Like, I just think that's earned.

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Speaker 1: That's earned on the court, right if he's averaging like

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Speaker 1: twenty points a game and six assists up in his minutes,

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Speaker 1: and yeah, it started. Like if he's demanding to start,

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Speaker 1: then he started the basketball show. If he needs to

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Speaker 1: start or not, he he doesn't need to demand it,

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Speaker 1: you know, day one of training camp. I think it's

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Speaker 1: kind of strange for a team that that just dominated

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Speaker 1: their way, Like you said, an intro to a championship. Um,

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Speaker 1: this guy coming off, you know, a five seat off

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Speaker 1: the bench is just weird, you know, just you're right,

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Speaker 1: it's about optics, like exactly, dude, Like I feel I'd

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Speaker 1: have so much more respect for you if you felt

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Speaker 1: that way, and you just kept it in the house.

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Speaker 1: But I mean, it's the thing, and this is what

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Speaker 1: is important that you're bringing to the table, Rodger, and

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Speaker 1: what drives me nuts about so many fans. It's like,

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Speaker 1: it's so you can be a Lakers optimist and be

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Speaker 1: honest about the things that you're seeing. And like, as

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Speaker 1: much as I love the Dennis acquisition, and we're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk more about what he does for the offense and

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Speaker 1: for the defense, but it's okay to acknowledge like that

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Speaker 1: wasn't I didn't love what he said in the press conference,

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Speaker 1: Like it wasn't ideal, you know, especially talking about a

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Speaker 1: team that had such great, such great chemistry. And we

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Speaker 1: just dealt with this with JaVale McGee, with all the

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Speaker 1: reports we had about how much he cared about starting,

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Speaker 1: and it's like and then now we're all of a

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Speaker 1: sudden throwing him into the fire in the Western Conference

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Speaker 1: finals to get absolutely cooked by you know. So I

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Speaker 1: think that I'd prefer to see the egos checked at

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Speaker 1: the door. But it's you can even if he is

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Speaker 1: privately insisted on it, you can still make it work.

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Speaker 1: And and maybe that's what it is is trying to

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Speaker 1: make him happy long terms so that he's you know,

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Speaker 1: more committed to the franchise. But it's all gonna work out.

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Speaker 1: So let's dig into some of the fun stuff that

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Speaker 1: I think you in particular, can be super helpful for

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Speaker 1: so UM. As I mentioned earlier in the show, the

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Speaker 1: Laker offense was one of the best offenses in the

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Speaker 1: league last year that got completely glossed over because of

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Speaker 1: the bubble games. And Zach Lobe presented some data and

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Speaker 1: he was including data from the bubble games for the record,

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Speaker 1: but he basically pointed out that most of the Laker

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Speaker 1: offensive success came in transition and that that they struggled

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Speaker 1: a little bit in the half court now. But like

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Speaker 1: I said, he was including games from the bubble So

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Speaker 1: it's difficult to manage that, uh, that kind of expectation

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Speaker 1: from what we saw and when they were more engaged. Um,

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Speaker 1: And the realities is scoring in transition is still offense.

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Speaker 1: It's not like like the Lakers scored a lot in

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Speaker 1: transition in the playoffs. Game six of the NBA Finals

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Speaker 1: was a track meet. They were strangling the heat and

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Speaker 1: then running out for layups and dunks on the other end.

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Speaker 1: So it's not like that's not real offense. That said,

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Speaker 1: I understand some of the concern there, and I think

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Speaker 1: a lot of it stemmed from spacing issues. And the

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Speaker 1: spacing issues stemmed from a lot of Rondo minutes and

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Speaker 1: a lot of JaVale McGee and a lot of Dwight Howard.

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Speaker 1: So what I want to start with is, let's talk

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Speaker 1: about specifically with the starting lineup to start how does

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Speaker 1: how does having Mark Garsol out there instead of a

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Speaker 1: JaVale McGee Dwight Howard completely change the way that the

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Speaker 1: Lakers play offense to start games. Yeah, it's everything, man,

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Speaker 1: because like you can see, when the Lakers started games, um,

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Speaker 1: it would be really clunky, clunky, even though they have

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Speaker 1: Lebron and a d um. You just have two bigs

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Speaker 1: in the paint right away, um starting your offense on

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Speaker 1: and you'll have Javal in the dunker spot usually and

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Speaker 1: teams just can just sit there and wait for Lebron

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Speaker 1: to drive, a d to drive and just dare the

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Speaker 1: shooters to kind of hit a little bit concessis shots.

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Speaker 1: But now Marcusol, he operates on the top of the key. Um,

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Speaker 1: he'll never hit them, He'll never miss a guy that's

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Speaker 1: going off a backcut. They'll never miss, like a good

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Speaker 1: back screen or he'll always hit you right in the

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Speaker 1: right in the place. And like he can really play

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Speaker 1: make um and help and even find Lebron on back cuts,

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Speaker 1: and it can it can allow Lebron and a D,

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Speaker 1: a D and Lebron to kind of work off each

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Speaker 1: other as well. Um they can screen for each other,

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Speaker 1: and uh, Marcosol can find him and just have another

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Speaker 1: playmaker out there so that you're not just running Lebron

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Speaker 1: is OS two or a D i OS or a

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Speaker 1: D post ups. You can Lebron. You can learn Lebron

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Speaker 1: Marcosol action. And they have to respect him out there.

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Speaker 1: I know his three point shooting kind of collapsed in

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Speaker 1: the bubble. I think it was like a thtent or

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Speaker 1: something like that. But I think he's still shot like

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Speaker 1: thirty as a whole before the bubble. Um. He's respected

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Speaker 1: out there. Even though he's a little bit slower foot.

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Speaker 1: He's not the same guy he was, but he's still

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Speaker 1: the amazing pastor. He still has the i q um

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Speaker 1: and he's it's going to open up everything. Having a

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Speaker 1: spacer along with a D out there. We saw it

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Speaker 1: with like Marky Morris. Right, when you have Markis Morris

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Speaker 1: and a D out there, how much space that just

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Speaker 1: gives a D to work down low. Now imagine like

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Speaker 1: that guy is now seven foot, that guy's now a

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Speaker 1: great passer, and you don't really lose much in terms

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Speaker 1: of room protection, and you could still go big and

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Speaker 1: keep that identity. I know you talked about that a

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Speaker 1: lot of the Lakers identity last year. You can still

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Speaker 1: kind of keep that big identity while also also opening

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Speaker 1: up the offensive floor. Yeah, so I agree, Like I think,

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Speaker 1: I think spacing as part of it, Like obviously having

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Speaker 1: a center who can shoot opens up a lot of things.

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Speaker 1: First of all, Anthony Davis spent half of the season

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Speaker 1: last year posting up with a big in the dunker spot,

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Speaker 1: which is just gremely difficult to do because when it

429
00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,359
Speaker 1: big is in the dunker spot, just natural shell spacing

430
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,639
Speaker 1: allows the opponents at the opponents center to sit right

431
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:21,720
Speaker 1: under the basket and to not get a defensive three

432
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,639
Speaker 1: second calls. So it completely messes up your spacing at

433
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,720
Speaker 1: four st. Anthony Davis to be hesitant and a lot

434
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,680
Speaker 1: of those positions and take a whole lot of turnaround

435
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:31,479
Speaker 1: jump shots and things that were a little bit more

436
00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,119
Speaker 1: finesse and less power, which, for the record, fine when

437
00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,600
Speaker 1: you're Anthony Davis because he's so good, but you can

438
00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,600
Speaker 1: see him potentially have a lot more success as a

439
00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,639
Speaker 1: to the basket post up score when you've got Marcosol

440
00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,320
Speaker 1: spacing from the three point line, specifically with his three

441
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,240
Speaker 1: point shooting. I know that there's been a lot of

442
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,679
Speaker 1: talk about his postseason performance, but I think it's important

443
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:56,560
Speaker 1: to remember that, you know, he only played what he played.

444
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,879
Speaker 1: The Raptors Celtics series went to Game seven A, but

445
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:03,639
Speaker 1: they swept the first round, so he played the leven

446
00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,600
Speaker 1: playoff games, and and he was really good in a

447
00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,919
Speaker 1: larger sample size in the regular season. So theoretically and

448
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 1: with the Lakers, with the with the probability of him

449
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,600
Speaker 1: making a deep playoff run, and honestly just because of

450
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,680
Speaker 1: the Toronto never had the level of offensive creators to

451
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,119
Speaker 1: generate the quality of looks that Marcosol is gonna get.

452
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,960
Speaker 1: Playing alongside Lebron and Anthony Davis is going to be

453
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,000
Speaker 1: a different level in that regard. So I think, like

454
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,280
Speaker 1: just strictly from a spacing standpoint, it opens things up

455
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,480
Speaker 1: from Lebron driving. It opens up things for Anthony Davis

456
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,080
Speaker 1: as a post up threat, and most importantly, uh, just

457
00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,320
Speaker 1: quality of looks are gonna help Marcosol generating points for himself.

458
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:46,840
Speaker 1: But then there's a second element to that, and it's

459
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,280
Speaker 1: it's just the basketball, like Q is so much more

460
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,760
Speaker 1: complicated than people realize. It's not just about like, uh,

461
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,679
Speaker 1: it's not just about like learning how to channel your

462
00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:59,520
Speaker 1: aggression or being in the right spot at the right

463
00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:02,720
Speaker 1: time on the defense. Like a lot of spacing is

464
00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,880
Speaker 1: about like being in the right spot, like shifting your

465
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,480
Speaker 1: body when you need to, kind of naturally by instinct

466
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,240
Speaker 1: to help create openings. It's like kind of just on

467
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,600
Speaker 1: a whim setting a screen at the right time. It's

468
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 1: cutting instinctually at the right time. Was something that Alex

469
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,080
Speaker 1: Crusoe is so good at. Like Alex Cruso had so

470
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,359
Speaker 1: many offensive limitations, but he was a high i Q

471
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,960
Speaker 1: basketball player, which just makes it a lot easier in

472
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,720
Speaker 1: the half court generate like these little tiny openings that

473
00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,120
Speaker 1: can help you over the course of the game, generate baskets.

474
00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 1: And that's a huge part of the Marcosol experience. Dwight

475
00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 1: Howard and JaVale McGee I I specifically with Dwight Howard.

476
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,480
Speaker 1: I thought he was a big impact player for the

477
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,560
Speaker 1: Lakers last year. I thought they should have found a

478
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,399
Speaker 1: way to bring it back. And that's an entirely different

479
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:50,439
Speaker 1: topic that we've all discussed. But Dwight Howard is not

480
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,960
Speaker 1: a high i Q offensive basketball player. So he's a

481
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:55,720
Speaker 1: high i Q defensive basketball player, but he's not a

482
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,600
Speaker 1: high i Q offensive basketball player. He struggled a little

483
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 1: bit with what I'm talking about as it pertains to

484
00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: Marcusol being in the right spot at the right time,

485
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,520
Speaker 1: cutting at the right time, flaring at the right time,

486
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,760
Speaker 1: finding that open spot on the perimeter where you think

487
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,000
Speaker 1: Lebron will find you or where the opening will be.

488
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,320
Speaker 1: All that stuff I think is important. And then you

489
00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:16,440
Speaker 1: talk about with his there's this whole other elements to

490
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 1: the offense that they can run um in the possessions

491
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:22,720
Speaker 1: where Lebron and a d are either resting while on

492
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,879
Speaker 1: the court or off the court, and that's just his

493
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:28,159
Speaker 1: basketball que as a passer, getting them the ball high post,

494
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 1: getting the ball in a position where when you have

495
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,000
Speaker 1: guys like Crusoe, Montrez Harrold on the floor, you can

496
00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,600
Speaker 1: get them cutting into into specific spots on the floor

497
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,320
Speaker 1: where Marcusol can find them. I think he completely opens

498
00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:40,640
Speaker 1: things up on that end, right. And it's no accident

499
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,040
Speaker 1: that Alex Caruso like is one of the best guys

500
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:44,840
Speaker 1: to play next to Lebron James, right. It's because it

501
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 1: was really high i Q. And then you pair that

502
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,520
Speaker 1: now with Marcusol, who's another just super high i Q guy.

503
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,400
Speaker 1: Imagine those two guys now working together. I think that's

504
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:54,280
Speaker 1: the best. I don't know you could. I mean, I

505
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,480
Speaker 1: think it's debatable, but it's probably the best passing front

506
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,879
Speaker 1: court in the league if you kind of put the

507
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:01,960
Speaker 1: song in Lebron together. Just imagine those two finding each other,

508
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:04,399
Speaker 1: finding Lebron going on it back. How many times with

509
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 1: Lebron cut and like no one would throw in the

510
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 1: law when he would like have the lab and you

511
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,120
Speaker 1: know he would go back to the corner or something

512
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 1: like that with his hands back and try to catch

513
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 1: and isolate again. So Marcusol will never miss you on

514
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 1: those kind of cuts. Toronto kind of lived off that

515
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,480
Speaker 1: Toronto wasn't as talented either, but they'll lift all those

516
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:21,560
Speaker 1: cuts and those back back door screens. I think he's

517
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 1: gonna help Kuzma and Cruiso a lot on there. He's

518
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 1: a massive improvement to the collective basketball i Q of

519
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,840
Speaker 1: the Lakers, right, And I don't think that can be overstated,

520
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,760
Speaker 1: especially when, like I don't know how many times we

521
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,480
Speaker 1: have to see an NBA history basketball i Q win

522
00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,119
Speaker 1: games at the highest levels of playoff basketball, whether it

523
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:45,240
Speaker 1: was watching the Spurs for years or watching watching teams

524
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,040
Speaker 1: that have famously been called old all year long suddenly

525
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,879
Speaker 1: become the best teams when when the when the you know,

526
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:54,439
Speaker 1: late round playoff series, uh, you know are being fought.

527
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:56,360
Speaker 1: And I think that that I think that that sort

528
00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,520
Speaker 1: of thing is like again, you know, the Lakers, because

529
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:02,919
Speaker 1: they had so much youth and athleticism with some of

530
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,520
Speaker 1: the other moves that they made, Marcosol infusion is a

531
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 1: super good, a super you know, worthwhile risk in my opinion,

532
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 1: because you're not sacrificing your overall athleticism and age of

533
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 1: the team. You're bringing in a savvy, veteran player that

534
00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 1: into a situation where his strengths can be emphasized instead

535
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,879
Speaker 1: of his weaknesses. Right, So let's let's uh shift forward

536
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:30,520
Speaker 1: in the game now to end of the first quarter,

537
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,800
Speaker 1: early second quarter type of stretch where now you have

538
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,359
Speaker 1: Mantrez and uh Dennis Shrowder on the floor. In this case,

539
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 1: you're looking at a line up where it's probably going

540
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: to be some combination of Montrese Harold, Anthony Davis, Um,

541
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,880
Speaker 1: Dennis Shroder, Wes Matthews, maybe a Kyle Kuzma in there.

542
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:51,880
Speaker 1: But that's gonna be the type of lineup that you're

543
00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 1: working with offensively. How do you see that, uh, that

544
00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 1: line up working to find baskets? Yeah, then it's exciting.

545
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,880
Speaker 1: I mean after watching you know, regular season Rondo Um

546
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 1: trying to isolate or run ball screens that go nowhere

547
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,840
Speaker 1: that create no advantage as you would say a lot Um.

548
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 1: Now you get Schroeder and Montrez Harrold with I'm assuming

549
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,680
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis will play in the second unit next to

550
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,560
Speaker 1: Harold to kind of take take off his defensive deficiencies,

551
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:20,720
Speaker 1: and you can have those two run screen and roll.

552
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,240
Speaker 1: You can have a d and Um Shooder run pick

553
00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,399
Speaker 1: and roll and have like Kusma in the corner or

554
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,720
Speaker 1: MARKI Morris and Caruso cutting. I think it's just gonna

555
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:30,680
Speaker 1: be beautiful. Those two that you need to kind of

556
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:32,359
Speaker 1: play their own basketball. I think it will be a

557
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,120
Speaker 1: lot faster than the starting lineup. This all obviously isn't

558
00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:37,240
Speaker 1: gonna try to get out and run too much, so UM,

559
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 1: I expect that you need to just run up and down.

560
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:40,840
Speaker 1: Shooter is one of the fastest cards in the league.

561
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,360
Speaker 1: I think, UM, just having the basketball, I'm being able

562
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:46,240
Speaker 1: to speed up and down. And Harold likes to run.

563
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 1: He has a huge motor UM, so he's gonna just

564
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,160
Speaker 1: keep driving to the rim. And I think those two

565
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,960
Speaker 1: are gonna score a lot. They those were two eighteen

566
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 1: points of game scores UM off the bench last year.

567
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:57,680
Speaker 1: I think I think they can do the same thing

568
00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:00,399
Speaker 1: here um playing next to Lebron or a D depending

569
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:02,679
Speaker 1: on how Vocal wants to play it. But I think

570
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 1: they're gonna get a lot of baskets UM. And yet

571
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 1: you can see last year, like when the bench would

572
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,560
Speaker 1: come in, we would kind of struggle, right those numbers.

573
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:11,720
Speaker 1: People would attack a D a lot because they would

574
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 1: say the numbers when Lebron sits, UM, we're still a negative, right.

575
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,600
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers were like negative point something with

576
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 1: Lebron off the bench last year. That kind of flipped

577
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,640
Speaker 1: in the bubble. But I think this will help a lot.

578
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:26,879
Speaker 1: Somehow Rob got the two six Man the Year candidates

579
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 1: to join this championship team, UM, filling both of the holes.

580
00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:32,840
Speaker 1: I thought backup point guard was like the number one

581
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,040
Speaker 1: hole to fill. He filled that in before free agency

582
00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,359
Speaker 1: even began. So yeah, I think this bench is gonna

583
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:44,000
Speaker 1: have a no, no trouble getting points of UM going forward. Yeah,

584
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:45,959
Speaker 1: I agree. So I think I think the first thing

585
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,919
Speaker 1: that's interesting from the standpoint of what Dennis Shrewder had

586
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:50,760
Speaker 1: to deal with in Oklahoma City, he was spending a

587
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 1: lot of time with you know Darius Basically you're spending

588
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 1: a lot of time with you know, Steven Adams. He

589
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:58,320
Speaker 1: was dealing with some spacing issues that he won't necessarily

590
00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:00,600
Speaker 1: have to deal with with the bench lineup of the Lakers.

591
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,959
Speaker 1: So theoretically, let's pretend it's Dennis Shrewder, West Matthews, Kyle Kuzma,

592
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,679
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, and Montrese Harroll. First of all, you can

593
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,240
Speaker 1: run pick and roll with Anthony Davis. Forget about Tres

594
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,120
Speaker 1: for a second. You can literally run pick and roll

595
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 1: with Anthony, which is gonna generate more opening for him

596
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: than he's ever experienced in his career. As a as

597
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 1: a pick and roll ball handler. Then in the scenario

598
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:22,680
Speaker 1: where you're running pick and roll with Montrese harroll, you've

599
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,720
Speaker 1: got Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, and West Matthews on the perimeters.

600
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 1: You can't help anywhere in that mix, and you're you're

601
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,200
Speaker 1: just giving him a little bit more flexibility to uh

602
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,000
Speaker 1: to turn what is one of the more gifted role

603
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,160
Speaker 1: men in the NBA's just because you know, I think

604
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:39,720
Speaker 1: he was. I can't remember who was. I was tweeting

605
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,520
Speaker 1: out Montrese's measurables the other day. But one of the

606
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 1: big reasons at his height that he's so effective around

607
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 1: the basket is he has super super long arms, and

608
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: he's a super high standing reach. If I'm not mistaken,

609
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,680
Speaker 1: his standing reach in his wingspan are both higher and

610
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,800
Speaker 1: longer than Bamata bios if I remember correctly. So, Montrese

611
00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,880
Speaker 1: brings a lot of length around around the basket. Offensively,

612
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 1: big hands, he can catch everything. I had a Brett

613
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,160
Speaker 1: Dawson was a friend of mine who who has been

614
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 1: covering the Oklahoma City Thunder for a long time. He

615
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,760
Speaker 1: said that when he was watching Dennis play in Oklahoma City,

616
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:17,880
Speaker 1: he was frequently frustrated with how with the stone hands

617
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 1: that the Biggs had there, and it made him it

618
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,280
Speaker 1: made him less of a willing cats in the sense

619
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:25,200
Speaker 1: that he just was a little bit hesitant to throw

620
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 1: the ball to guys who didn't know what to do

621
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:28,480
Speaker 1: with it when they got it, or maybe they couldn't

622
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:30,920
Speaker 1: catch it to begin with. That's the problem you're gonna

623
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 1: have with Anthony Davis and with Montrez Harrold. So I

624
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 1: think it definitely brings out, you know, what could be

625
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,520
Speaker 1: the best out of Dennis shooter. And then the other

626
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 1: thing with him, you know, he's a more aggressive jump shooter,

627
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,480
Speaker 1: which I think is important because the Rondo jump shooting

628
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,720
Speaker 1: experience was such a roller coaster. There were days where

629
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,560
Speaker 1: he was confident, he was firing away and it really

630
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 1: opened things up for their offense. But for every night

631
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:56,640
Speaker 1: like that, there was a night where he was either

632
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,320
Speaker 1: completely unwilling to take them or he was bizarrely super

633
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,200
Speaker 1: aggressive and not making anything. And so it was it

634
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,240
Speaker 1: was such a roller coaster in that regard the Shrewder.

635
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,600
Speaker 1: You know, there's been some talk about how before last

636
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,560
Speaker 1: season he wasn't a great jump shooter, and whether or

637
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,480
Speaker 1: not last season was an outlier. But the reality the

638
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:18,760
Speaker 1: situation is is even like the worst case scenario for

639
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 1: Shrewder as a jump shooter UH this season would be

640
00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 1: better than what they were dealing with with Rondo. So

641
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 1: I think I think that I think the Dennis Shrewder

642
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,840
Speaker 1: of jump shooting is not really concerned me. And most importantly,

643
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,080
Speaker 1: his aggressiveness will open things up in that regard. And

644
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:36,680
Speaker 1: the other thing with tread that I think is interesting

645
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:43,400
Speaker 1: is it brings he brings an interesting wrinkle against switching defenses.

646
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:44,960
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people have talked to death

647
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,760
Speaker 1: his ability to uh to victimize post Mitch mattch mismatches.

648
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,960
Speaker 1: So you run some sort of screen and roll, you know,

649
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 1: Lebron's tired or Shrewder's tired. They've been aggressive in previous

650
00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 1: possessions and they get the switch, but they don't really

651
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,120
Speaker 1: have the legs to blow at the center. Well, you

652
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:02,720
Speaker 1: can dump it down to Tres and he can get

653
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,200
Speaker 1: you a basket against an undersized defender. That that's been

654
00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:07,440
Speaker 1: talked to death. But one of the big ones, in

655
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 1: my opinion, that hasn't been talked about enough is the

656
00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,239
Speaker 1: pressure that Montrese can put on the basket. As an

657
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:16,040
Speaker 1: offensive rebounder against switching defenses. So you have Dennis Shooter

658
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 1: come up the floor, montrese is being guarded by you

659
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:22,400
Speaker 1: know Bach or some something like that, and gets the screen,

660
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 1: gets Dennis switched on to him, and Dennis is feeling feisteed,

661
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: just giving him all sorts of space, and he settles

662
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,680
Speaker 1: for a jump shot and he and he misses it. Well.

663
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: In that scenario, you can pretty much count on Montrese

664
00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:38,120
Speaker 1: Harold like diving to the rim if he's got Lou

665
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:40,719
Speaker 1: Williams on him in this case, or some Red Jaccon

666
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: or whoever the guard was that was guarding uh Shrewder

667
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,520
Speaker 1: diving to the basket, pushing them underneath the rim, getting

668
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:49,480
Speaker 1: an offensive rebound and putting it back up in That

669
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,200
Speaker 1: was one of the things that I noticed the most

670
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,760
Speaker 1: with Montrese Harold. That's kind of glost over last year

671
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 1: is that three points that's free points, because that's that

672
00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,200
Speaker 1: is in the scenario where Dennis Shooter or Lebron are

673
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 1: making those jump shots, you're getting made jump shots, and

674
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 1: then there's certain percentage of them that are not being

675
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,080
Speaker 1: uh that the jumps are the jumpers are being missed.

676
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,320
Speaker 1: Montrez is converting those into a certain amount of points

677
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,400
Speaker 1: per possession as well. So I thought that those are

678
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,520
Speaker 1: the things that make me the most excited about about

679
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: him in that regard. And we always look at it

680
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,560
Speaker 1: like what could the free agent do for us? Right,

681
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:22,400
Speaker 1: we look at who we had add like what can

682
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:23,920
Speaker 1: Truoder do for us? Hair? Or do it for us?

683
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:26,680
Speaker 1: But like Shooder last year, I was looking at the

684
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,800
Speaker 1: numbers he played of his minutes, Nick to a traditional

685
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 1: five and Steven Adams or new Lands nowell miss that

686
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 1: means like he had no space at the rent. Right,

687
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 1: those guys are just lob lob dunk guys. Try you

688
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 1: have to pass it right in the paint. Adams has

689
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 1: a little bit of a postgame, but he's not a

690
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,520
Speaker 1: guy you're really throwing it download to um to get baskets.

691
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,200
Speaker 1: Now you have been playing with Anthony Davis and his

692
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 1: jump shoot game. I know people like to talk about

693
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,560
Speaker 1: the three pointer. I'm more interested in the mid range

694
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 1: pull up. Having a guy who can hit that shot

695
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:55,920
Speaker 1: next to a d just opens the world up. I mean,

696
00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: we saw Rondo would drive and people would just give

697
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 1: him that little lane right that little oh Man's land

698
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:03,480
Speaker 1: where Biggs will come out too. But guards need to

699
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,640
Speaker 1: be able to hit that shot in today's today's game

700
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:08,040
Speaker 1: to open things up, and Shooter has that, um. And

701
00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:10,840
Speaker 1: I think him playing Stade will open him up. Um.

702
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,680
Speaker 1: And obviously it will help a D as well. If

703
00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:14,480
Speaker 1: a D shitting that mid range jumper, then I'm not

704
00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,240
Speaker 1: sure how you really defend that at that point. And

705
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:20,480
Speaker 1: obviously Harold, he obviously he played the five a lot,

706
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:22,360
Speaker 1: which I thought was out of position a little bit

707
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:25,479
Speaker 1: last year, especially defensively. Um. I thought Doc had him

708
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,520
Speaker 1: on Bates. That just didn't make sense. Obviously the Denver series,

709
00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,480
Speaker 1: he was on Yo kitch for probably way too long. Um.

710
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,840
Speaker 1: Now he gets to play on fours. I think he's

711
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,200
Speaker 1: he's quickness that he uses on offense, he can use

712
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:38,120
Speaker 1: that on defense. Right, He's a little bit more of

713
00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,640
Speaker 1: a blitz player. He shouldn't be back down and drop

714
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,320
Speaker 1: coverages or things of that nature. So I think, um,

715
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 1: we can help them as well. UM coming here, Yeah,

716
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,440
Speaker 1: and we're gonna We're gonna get defense here in just

717
00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:50,560
Speaker 1: a minute. And I am I I think there is

718
00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,960
Speaker 1: a case for how the Montres Harold signing can work

719
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,520
Speaker 1: out on the defensive end. And we're gonna talk about that.

720
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,360
Speaker 1: The last thing I want to say about the offensive end, though,

721
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,440
Speaker 1: is something that I've talked with you about several times,

722
00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:06,160
Speaker 1: because so we look at the uh the Montrese Harold

723
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,839
Speaker 1: and Dennis Shrewder signing as these two big six men

724
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,279
Speaker 1: that came in to join these two stars in l A.

725
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,200
Speaker 1: And I think it's important to remember that the Clippers

726
00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:16,960
Speaker 1: kind of had a similar thing going on last year.

727
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:18,960
Speaker 1: They had Kawhi Leonard and they had Paul George, these

728
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:22,080
Speaker 1: two star ball handlers, and then they had these two

729
00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:24,960
Speaker 1: six men and Lou Williams and Montrese Harrold. And one

730
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,120
Speaker 1: of the big reasons why that didn't work is they

731
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:32,279
Speaker 1: I thought that they m that the collective basketball i

732
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,840
Speaker 1: Q of the team was too low in the sense

733
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 1: that too often Kauai and Paul George would become very

734
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:42,840
Speaker 1: passive as all of the role players were heavily involved

735
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:44,640
Speaker 1: in the game, and then when it came time for

736
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:46,279
Speaker 1: them to turn it on, they never really had much

737
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,120
Speaker 1: of a rhythm. Paul George in particular, really struggled with this,

738
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,000
Speaker 1: and I think it's one of the reasons why he

739
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,080
Speaker 1: was so hot and cold throughout the season. So while

740
00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:55,719
Speaker 1: all of those things we just talked about our great

741
00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:57,759
Speaker 1: on the offensive ent, and I'm a big believer and

742
00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,319
Speaker 1: everything that we just said, I still think it's very

743
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:04,160
Speaker 1: important that while Lebron and Anthony Davis are on the floor,

744
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:07,759
Speaker 1: they remain heavily involved in the offense. Now there there,

745
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:10,960
Speaker 1: there's a way to do that. For instance, like, uh,

746
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 1: when Dennis Shooter is on the floor with Montrese Harrold,

747
00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:16,200
Speaker 1: the actions need to be run with Montrese, but they

748
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:18,440
Speaker 1: also need to run with be run with Anthony Davis.

749
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,720
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis needs to get his touches because Anthony Davis

750
00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:23,960
Speaker 1: in a rhythm is still going to be a more

751
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:27,560
Speaker 1: dominant offensive force than anything Montrese Harrold and Dennis Shooter

752
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:29,520
Speaker 1: can hope to do. And the same thing goes for Lebron.

753
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,279
Speaker 1: So where the where one of the biggest things they'll

754
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:34,319
Speaker 1: bring is just depth, the ability for them over the

755
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,160
Speaker 1: course of the seventy two game season to generate offense,

756
00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:40,000
Speaker 1: especially in nights where Lebron in a D arresting or

757
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:42,600
Speaker 1: if Lebron in a D stay in the low thirties

758
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:44,719
Speaker 1: in terms of their minutes per game, but at the

759
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,200
Speaker 1: end of the day, I still think it's very important

760
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,400
Speaker 1: to understand that this team will be at their best

761
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,840
Speaker 1: when Lebron and a d are very aggressive on the

762
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:55,680
Speaker 1: offensive end of the floor, and then having Dennis Shooter

763
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:57,800
Speaker 1: and Montrese Harrold and all these guys kind of play

764
00:35:57,840 --> 00:35:59,880
Speaker 1: off of that to the best of their ability. I

765
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:04,160
Speaker 1: think that's something to keep in mind. All right, So

766
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:09,560
Speaker 1: the defensive end, this is something that I have been

767
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,000
Speaker 1: confused by from not just Lakers Twitter, but from a

768
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 1: lot of from one of the more common things that

769
00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:17,360
Speaker 1: I've heard from Twitter, as people say things like, oh,

770
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:19,719
Speaker 1: our defense might have gotten a little bit worse, but

771
00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:24,080
Speaker 1: our offense got way better, is one thing, or particularly

772
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:28,120
Speaker 1: from a lot of people in the basketball analytic uh,

773
00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:30,080
Speaker 1: you know, and a basketball analysis that you'll see on

774
00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 1: Twitter from outside of the Laker community. You'll see a

775
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:35,960
Speaker 1: lot of things about how the loss of JaVale McGee

776
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,360
Speaker 1: and Dwight Howard are a loss of length and athleticism

777
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,479
Speaker 1: on the interior. You'll hear things like that, or you'll

778
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,279
Speaker 1: hear about the loss of Avery Bradley, or you'll hear about,

779
00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:48,960
Speaker 1: you know, Danny Green's positional defense, Danny Green's helped defense.

780
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,680
Speaker 1: Things along those lines, and how losing those things actually hurt.

781
00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:56,480
Speaker 1: They're uh there this team on the defensive end of

782
00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:00,080
Speaker 1: the floor. So my question for you is relative of

783
00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,560
Speaker 1: two last year's Laker team, which I've said was the

784
00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:05,799
Speaker 1: best defensive team in the league because even though they

785
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,480
Speaker 1: didn't have a better defensive rating than Milwaukee, they were

786
00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:10,840
Speaker 1: playing better offenses night in the night out. They finished

787
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,239
Speaker 1: with the third best defensive rating in the league and

788
00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:17,200
Speaker 1: the absolutely dominant defensive performances against a bunch of really

789
00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:22,000
Speaker 1: good offensive teams, right Houston, Denver, really good offensive teams.

790
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,200
Speaker 1: And then obviously when they played the worst offensive they played,

791
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:28,000
Speaker 1: which was Miami, they really strangled them from time to time.

792
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 1: So relative to that team, how do you feel about

793
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:35,080
Speaker 1: this Laker defense? I think I think sometimes you try

794
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:37,680
Speaker 1: to complicate things. I mean, I feel like the reason

795
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:39,799
Speaker 1: that Laker team was so dominant is because they have

796
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:42,640
Speaker 1: an Anthony Davis on their team, Like that's the versatility

797
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:44,400
Speaker 1: of Anthony Davis allows you to have the kind of

798
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:46,880
Speaker 1: defense they did. Now, I think they do lose some

799
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,600
Speaker 1: with Dwight Howard. I think him and a d playing

800
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:52,479
Speaker 1: together as like a physical force was something that really

801
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:54,880
Speaker 1: helped the team last year. But looking at with Javel,

802
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,040
Speaker 1: he's a he's a room protector, but he's a different

803
00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,359
Speaker 1: kind of room protecting the marketsol. So I don't think

804
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,279
Speaker 1: you kind of I don't think you lose that, and

805
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:03,319
Speaker 1: I think what you gain an i Q defensive i

806
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:05,560
Speaker 1: Q And also Marcus all is more of like a

807
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,840
Speaker 1: straight ahead, verticality defender. I think that's just as effective.

808
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:10,200
Speaker 1: There was a lot of times with Jabel would just

809
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,719
Speaker 1: try to block everything in sight. UM it would kind

810
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:14,680
Speaker 1: of lead to guards be able to bate him at

811
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:16,840
Speaker 1: the rim um and things and like things like that.

812
00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:17,960
Speaker 1: So I think they can keep it up. I think

813
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:21,000
Speaker 1: Danny Green's um wing defense was good. I think it

814
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 1: fell off in the bubble um. There's a lot worse

815
00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:26,160
Speaker 1: going forward in the playoffs UM, and I think they've

816
00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:28,279
Speaker 1: replaced that with Wes Matthews. I think he's a better

817
00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:31,239
Speaker 1: um on ball defender. I think he's more similar to

818
00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:33,759
Speaker 1: Avery Badley kind of they kind of replaced that. And

819
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:35,920
Speaker 1: then UM, I think k CP showed that he can

820
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,760
Speaker 1: fill in that Danny Green role. He chase guys off screens.

821
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,239
Speaker 1: He's not as tall as Danny Green is, but I

822
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,279
Speaker 1: think he can fill in and then off the bench.

823
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,239
Speaker 1: Shrewder has good defensive metrics, at least from looking at

824
00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:48,719
Speaker 1: his numbers from last year. Harol. Obviously, I think was

825
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:51,239
Speaker 1: just played in the wrong position. Um, that's still going

826
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,160
Speaker 1: to be seen, but I think they can still play

827
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:54,839
Speaker 1: that way. I think a little bit their identity went

828
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,160
Speaker 1: out with Dwight Howard. I think that was a big

829
00:38:57,200 --> 00:38:58,959
Speaker 1: part of the bench units. He would come in and

830
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:00,759
Speaker 1: we can see if Harrod kind of do that. He's

831
00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:03,759
Speaker 1: in the same mold, right. He likes to dominate with physicality.

832
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:06,880
Speaker 1: He likes to dominate by attacking the rim. Um. He

833
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,799
Speaker 1: screams after a lot of dunks, similar to how Dwight

834
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,200
Speaker 1: Howard did, and uh, I know we laugh about that,

835
00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:13,799
Speaker 1: but that was a part of the Lakers identity, right

836
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:15,840
Speaker 1: when Dwight comes in and he gets offensive rebound and

837
00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:19,480
Speaker 1: dunks it and screams, Yeah, the bench screams and it

838
00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:22,359
Speaker 1: gets the team going. Um. So I think that's kind

839
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,480
Speaker 1: of how they see that. Similarly, and obviously Harrold is

840
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:26,919
Speaker 1: a much better offensive player. You can, like you said,

841
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,520
Speaker 1: you can throw in the isolations, but looking at the defense, Um,

842
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:31,399
Speaker 1: he's more of a switchable player. I think he can

843
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,160
Speaker 1: switch a lot more than Dwight could on the perimeter,

844
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,000
Speaker 1: so it's gonna be interest. I think they can still

845
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,680
Speaker 1: keep their defense, um afloat. I'm not sure if we'll

846
00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,239
Speaker 1: get another Lebron defensive year as we did last year,

847
00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:42,920
Speaker 1: so I think that would be a part of it

848
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:45,600
Speaker 1: as well. I'm sure you'll speak to that, but um yeah,

849
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 1: I think they can still they can continue it from

850
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:52,480
Speaker 1: the season before. Yeah, so I think, um so, to

851
00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:54,840
Speaker 1: be clear when it comes to there's a reason why

852
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,200
Speaker 1: basketball analysts will be a little bit more pessimistic about

853
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:01,600
Speaker 1: the Laker defense as it pertains to what they lost

854
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,200
Speaker 1: at the center position. But as with any type of

855
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:07,160
Speaker 1: defense that you can bring to the table, as with

856
00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:10,520
Speaker 1: any type of defender, there is a given a take. So,

857
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:13,120
Speaker 1: for instance, like if you're a high i Q low

858
00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 1: physical gift defender, you bring a lot of like uh,

859
00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,480
Speaker 1: you bring a lot of like consistency in the sense

860
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:22,040
Speaker 1: that you're always in the right place at the wrong

861
00:40:22,239 --> 00:40:23,960
Speaker 1: at the right place, at the right at the right time.

862
00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:27,320
Speaker 1: Unless you make fewer mistakes, you give up fewer wide

863
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:33,080
Speaker 1: open shots. But with physical limitations comes the simple fact

864
00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:37,160
Speaker 1: that really athletic offensive players can get high quality looks

865
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,759
Speaker 1: in isolation against you, or in the case of a

866
00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:41,879
Speaker 1: center at the rim, like when you have a Marc

867
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:45,439
Speaker 1: Asol type or Montrez Harald type, a guy who an

868
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:49,160
Speaker 1: athlete who is slashing to the rim, experiences no hesitation

869
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:53,000
Speaker 1: in what he's thinking about when he's going to the basket,

870
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:56,919
Speaker 1: compared to the Javail McGee Dwight Howard mold, where it's

871
00:40:57,080 --> 00:40:59,320
Speaker 1: there's like a little bit of a fear, there's a

872
00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:01,440
Speaker 1: little bit of in the back of your head, this

873
00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:05,280
Speaker 1: idea that you know, I can't get sloppy around the basket,

874
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:08,160
Speaker 1: They'll send it into the third row. And I do

875
00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:10,399
Speaker 1: think that that matters, without a doubt. I don't want

876
00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:12,440
Speaker 1: to gloss over that and just make it seem like

877
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:15,719
Speaker 1: it's an apples to apples comparison, because it's not. The

878
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:20,120
Speaker 1: matter is the downside of the JaVale McGee Dwight Howard

879
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:23,640
Speaker 1: experience is part of that equation as well, and that

880
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 1: is that they had a little bit of a tendency

881
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:28,920
Speaker 1: to get out of position, to make silly foul. JaVale

882
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:32,399
Speaker 1: McGee is always falling all over the place, jumping out

883
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:35,680
Speaker 1: of his shoes, against a weak pump fake or things

884
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:38,239
Speaker 1: along those lines. That kind of stuff goes out of

885
00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:42,040
Speaker 1: the window with the Marcusol experience. And so that's from

886
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:46,000
Speaker 1: that standpoint, like I'm a believer that with the athleticism

887
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:49,200
Speaker 1: that Anthony Davis brings to the table, with Lebron who's

888
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:52,360
Speaker 1: actually a highly underrated back line defender, and his ability

889
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:56,800
Speaker 1: to rotate to the basket, jump completely vertical, not commit

890
00:41:56,840 --> 00:42:00,279
Speaker 1: a foul, and deter layups around the rim. When you

891
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 1: have that kind of stuff around the basket, the it

892
00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:05,239
Speaker 1: could be a little bit more flexibility with what you're

893
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:09,560
Speaker 1: doing with Marcusol and most importantly, the Lakers when they

894
00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:12,280
Speaker 1: were at their best in the postseason, We're not playing

895
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:16,200
Speaker 1: dwighter debail in the in and uh at the end

896
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,680
Speaker 1: of these games when they were really strangling and putting

897
00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:21,560
Speaker 1: these teams away, they weren't relying on those guys. So

898
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,720
Speaker 1: I'm looking at their defense. While they brought a certain

899
00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,239
Speaker 1: element to the defense, it wasn't the only reason why

900
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:29,600
Speaker 1: they defended well. It was part of their entire scheme,

901
00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:32,640
Speaker 1: chasing guys off three point line, forcing them into Anthony

902
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:35,960
Speaker 1: Davis and Lebron and just really good commitment and effort

903
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:39,040
Speaker 1: and habits that's what actually put their defense together. And

904
00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:41,719
Speaker 1: then you said before I loved your comparison of of

905
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:45,000
Speaker 1: Wes Matthews to Avery Bradley, because West Matthews is like

906
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:49,120
Speaker 1: the wing version of Avery Bradley. He's a little bit undersized,

907
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,960
Speaker 1: but he's extremely latter, really quick, and he's very good

908
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:54,919
Speaker 1: at using his hands without getting called for fouls, which

909
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:57,040
Speaker 1: is like a it's like a gift. It's like a

910
00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:00,440
Speaker 1: magic ability that he has where because I've on against

911
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:03,280
Speaker 1: guys like this in my time playing where it feels

912
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:06,359
Speaker 1: like they're fouling you, like you're trying to get around him,

913
00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 1: and it's like this dude's holding me in in my space.

914
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:11,240
Speaker 1: But it's a call because there's just a natural gift

915
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 1: in the way that he hand checks you, in the

916
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:15,799
Speaker 1: way that he can kind of get his body in

917
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:19,800
Speaker 1: your way to where it just never gets called. Uh.

918
00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:22,200
Speaker 1: Andrea Gudala has another great example of someone like that,

919
00:43:22,239 --> 00:43:24,960
Speaker 1: but Wesley Matthews, because he's a little bit taller and

920
00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:27,640
Speaker 1: because he's a lot stronger, he kind of had that

921
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:31,879
Speaker 1: Avery Bradley effect against bigger wing offensive threats. And that's

922
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:34,960
Speaker 1: what I what I like in that regard. But I

923
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,360
Speaker 1: think that while Danny Green was a little bit bigger

924
00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:40,840
Speaker 1: and a little bit better off ball instinctually kind of

925
00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:43,800
Speaker 1: being in the right spot as a help defender, Wesley

926
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:46,160
Speaker 1: Matthews just so much better on the ball that I

927
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:48,880
Speaker 1: think that it's kind of like, uh, it's something that

928
00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:51,080
Speaker 1: the Lakers can still scheme around and make it work.

929
00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:52,920
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, all of the

930
00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:57,400
Speaker 1: core pieces that made their defense great Alex Caruso Contavious

931
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,440
Speaker 1: called Will Pope, uh, someone in that Danny Green mold,

932
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:02,560
Speaker 1: which of Danny Green, West and Matthews, whatever you gonna

933
00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,520
Speaker 1: call it, Lebron James, Anthony Davis, all of those pieces

934
00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:08,440
Speaker 1: are there, and no matter what, as long as the

935
00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:11,160
Speaker 1: habits are still instilled and as long as they care enough,

936
00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:14,960
Speaker 1: they should defend better than they did last year's because,

937
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:17,839
Speaker 1: especially since Rajon Rondo was another kind of weak link

938
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:20,480
Speaker 1: in the defense last year in terms of his seen

939
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:23,400
Speaker 1: his effort. Dennis Shrewder is not a great defensive player,

940
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:26,279
Speaker 1: but he's a much better defensive player, especially in terms

941
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:28,920
Speaker 1: of what he brings athletically to the table. He's quicker,

942
00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:31,680
Speaker 1: he's got long arms, and he can be disrupted, so

943
00:44:31,719 --> 00:44:34,200
Speaker 1: it comes down to the lebron thing which you method,

944
00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:38,080
Speaker 1: which you mentioned, So as someone who's cheered from his

945
00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:41,359
Speaker 1: whole career, I am really interested in seeing what he's

946
00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:42,759
Speaker 1: going to bring to the table this year. From an

947
00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:46,960
Speaker 1: effort standpoint, I think we'll know pretty early on. I

948
00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:48,920
Speaker 1: think I think we'll be able to be make a

949
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:51,400
Speaker 1: more informed decision after we see him play a few games.

950
00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:55,600
Speaker 1: That set what makes me optimistic, because there are a

951
00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:57,440
Speaker 1: lot of reasons to be pessimistic that they're on such

952
00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:00,719
Speaker 1: a quick turnaround. He's in your he's coming already at

953
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:02,960
Speaker 1: the top of the mountain. There's a little bit less motivation.

954
00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:07,719
Speaker 1: The optimism for me comes from Anthony Davis and the

955
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:10,759
Speaker 1: new players that they brought to the table. A lot

956
00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:13,400
Speaker 1: of the times when the Lake, when the Cavalier teams

957
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:16,480
Speaker 1: in the Miami Heat teams faded, when the Miami faded

958
00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:19,719
Speaker 1: defensively in two thousand and fourteen, when the Cavaliers team

959
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:22,720
Speaker 1: faded defensively in two thousand and seventeen, it was most

960
00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:27,040
Speaker 1: the same players. They basically brought back the same guys,

961
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:31,000
Speaker 1: so there was complacency because it was the same group.

962
00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:36,160
Speaker 1: This is very different Laker group. This Marcosol being in

963
00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:38,960
Speaker 1: that locker room, Dennis Shooter being in the locker room,

964
00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:41,200
Speaker 1: Montrose Harold being in the locker roo, Wesley Matthews being

965
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:43,160
Speaker 1: in the locker room, and West and Dennis and and

966
00:45:43,160 --> 00:45:46,280
Speaker 1: Tres have never won a title. Right, You've got guys

967
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:49,040
Speaker 1: in that locker room, have every that have every reason

968
00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:53,399
Speaker 1: to h to want to attack this season in terms

969
00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:56,080
Speaker 1: of their effort. And then the reason why, say Anthony Davis,

970
00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:57,719
Speaker 1: is this is a player who takes pride on the

971
00:45:57,760 --> 00:45:59,960
Speaker 1: defensive end. This is the player is one of the

972
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:02,040
Speaker 1: few examples of a player in the NBA who's a

973
00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:05,279
Speaker 1: star in the NBA who's better defensively than he is offensively.

974
00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:08,840
Speaker 1: And so from that standpoint, like Anthony Davis, I believe

975
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:13,560
Speaker 1: will have confrontations with Lebron as he fades at certain

976
00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:16,200
Speaker 1: points in the season in terms of his defensive focus.

977
00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:20,720
Speaker 1: And after right, gives me optimism that the Laker defense

978
00:46:20,719 --> 00:46:22,480
Speaker 1: in terms of their effort, will be better than what

979
00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:24,800
Speaker 1: it was. Right. And Montres Harrow is in a quiet

980
00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:27,160
Speaker 1: duty either, Right, He's not going to just stand around

981
00:46:27,200 --> 00:46:30,560
Speaker 1: and watch Lebron not trying offense on defense. And yeah,

982
00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:33,120
Speaker 1: like you said, Anthony Davis kind of keeps him accountable, right,

983
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:36,200
Speaker 1: he keeps him going. And then, like the quotes coming

984
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:38,359
Speaker 1: out from Lebron, he doesn't sound like a guy who

985
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:40,840
Speaker 1: was trying to walk into this season. Like he sounds

986
00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:42,759
Speaker 1: a good guy ready to go. UM And I think

987
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:45,000
Speaker 1: he knows the states, he knows the chance he has

988
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:49,439
Speaker 1: to repeat it is like fifth fifth ring here. So yeah,

989
00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:50,960
Speaker 1: he looks ready to go. And I'm excited to see

990
00:46:51,000 --> 00:46:53,279
Speaker 1: if feel continuous defensive effort. I'm not sure like he'll

991
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,800
Speaker 1: be every night like it was last season. Um, I

992
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:58,759
Speaker 1: don't think that's um as necessary this year. I think

993
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:00,880
Speaker 1: the talent that they have allows him to kind of

994
00:47:00,880 --> 00:47:02,880
Speaker 1: ease into a little more than last year. I think

995
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:05,359
Speaker 1: last year is trying to prove a point um and

996
00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:07,400
Speaker 1: things like that. But yeah, I think I think you're right.

997
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:09,640
Speaker 1: I think he'll be ready. You're ready to go. And

998
00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:11,799
Speaker 1: and two and two really small things that I think

999
00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:13,800
Speaker 1: will help too. Is one. I think at some point

1000
00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:16,439
Speaker 1: fans will rejoin the equation during the season. I think

1001
00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:19,960
Speaker 1: we'll see. But if fans rejoined the equation, that's going

1002
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:22,040
Speaker 1: to bring back some nostalgia from Lebron because he hasn't

1003
00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:24,120
Speaker 1: played in front of fans in forever that will bring

1004
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:27,719
Speaker 1: another competitive fire out of him and UH, and then secondly,

1005
00:47:28,239 --> 00:47:31,240
Speaker 1: the strengths of the team being able to limit his minutes.

1006
00:47:31,719 --> 00:47:34,120
Speaker 1: You know, if you look at the two thousand eighteen

1007
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:37,160
Speaker 1: Calves for instance, he was in a situation where so

1008
00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:39,480
Speaker 1: much was on his play offensively, so much was on

1009
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:41,200
Speaker 1: his plate and what he had to bring night tonight

1010
00:47:41,239 --> 00:47:43,799
Speaker 1: for that team to win that he couldn't really at

1011
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:46,399
Speaker 1: least he thought that he couldn't really put that much

1012
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:50,360
Speaker 1: energy and effort into the into the defensive end of

1013
00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:53,479
Speaker 1: the floor. This is an entirely situation. This team could

1014
00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:56,120
Speaker 1: be a championship contender if Lebron took ten shots a game.

1015
00:47:56,560 --> 00:47:59,880
Speaker 1: So from that standpoint, what's important with the Lebron experience

1016
00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:03,480
Speaker 1: years keep his minutes down around thirty two thirty three

1017
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:08,400
Speaker 1: at night, and then have your new guys UH be

1018
00:48:08,480 --> 00:48:10,879
Speaker 1: hard on him when he slacks, and then he should

1019
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:13,160
Speaker 1: have every reason to bring it. And then most importantly,

1020
00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:15,680
Speaker 1: like a lot of this falls on Vogel than him

1021
00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:20,759
Speaker 1: being that intense authority figure that will demand a lot

1022
00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:23,439
Speaker 1: out of these guys. And I think that that makes

1023
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:29,480
Speaker 1: me a little more optimistic. So yeah, definitely, definitely. So, uh,

1024
00:48:31,040 --> 00:48:34,919
Speaker 1: what do you make of the Kyle Kuzma conundrum? Yeah,

1025
00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:36,520
Speaker 1: I think I asked you about this. Sounds like I

1026
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:41,680
Speaker 1: wanted to kind of discuss it. Um. Sorry, the Kyle

1027
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:45,799
Speaker 1: Kuzma thing is interesting because sorry, I think he's seen

1028
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:48,719
Speaker 1: like differently online than he is. He's viewed, like his

1029
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:52,040
Speaker 1: perception on Twitter or like with fans is so different

1030
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:54,360
Speaker 1: than I think how the front office views him the

1031
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:56,400
Speaker 1: front house, like how we've um is just like, you know,

1032
00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:59,320
Speaker 1: a average role player who kind of hit some shots,

1033
00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:02,320
Speaker 1: sometimes defense here and there. I think the front office,

1034
00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:04,560
Speaker 1: the front office fused him as a player they've developed

1035
00:49:04,600 --> 00:49:07,120
Speaker 1: for four years, right, They put time and effort into

1036
00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:10,000
Speaker 1: developing into a winning player, and that's what he became

1037
00:49:10,080 --> 00:49:12,919
Speaker 1: last year. He became a winning player. Um, he wasn't great,

1038
00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:15,279
Speaker 1: he didn't shoot great from three, but you know, he

1039
00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:17,560
Speaker 1: defended well enough to play twenty three minutes a game

1040
00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:20,760
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, right, there were players who got Benchedjaville

1041
00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:24,000
Speaker 1: was unplayable in the playoffs. Dwight Howard played one series

1042
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:27,879
Speaker 1: basically against Denver Calcus, averaging twenty three minutes a game.

1043
00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:29,879
Speaker 1: I think matters in the playoffs he's not perfect. He's

1044
00:49:29,880 --> 00:49:32,880
Speaker 1: obviously not worth the money. He thinks he's gonna get

1045
00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:35,799
Speaker 1: around twenty million dollars a year. But obviously his off

1046
00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:38,719
Speaker 1: court stuff is what it is. It's not defendable. I mean,

1047
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:40,480
Speaker 1: there's nothing I can say about his stuff that he

1048
00:49:40,520 --> 00:49:42,600
Speaker 1: does off the court. He opens the door to all

1049
00:49:42,640 --> 00:49:45,440
Speaker 1: the criticism for that, but just looking on the he

1050
00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:48,200
Speaker 1: you know, he welcomes that. I think, Um, I think

1051
00:49:48,200 --> 00:49:50,200
Speaker 1: it's interesting how he goes about it. But you know

1052
00:49:50,239 --> 00:49:52,040
Speaker 1: that's heating neither here and they're just looking at on

1053
00:49:52,080 --> 00:49:54,960
Speaker 1: the court. He defends wings, and this team needs more

1054
00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:57,800
Speaker 1: wing defenders, right. It's kind of somehow it's more garden

1055
00:49:58,320 --> 00:50:01,360
Speaker 1: forward heavy. Um, So I think who's is going to

1056
00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:03,359
Speaker 1: play a role if he can hit his He shot

1057
00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:06,840
Speaker 1: like fifty from the corners, um. All everywhere else he

1058
00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:09,160
Speaker 1: kind of struggled. But even just doing that, stay in

1059
00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:12,520
Speaker 1: the corners hitting threes. UM. Looking back watching all the

1060
00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:15,600
Speaker 1: Bubble playoff games, I forgot how many like big shots

1061
00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:18,560
Speaker 1: he hit. He had a bunch of like run stopping shots,

1062
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:20,080
Speaker 1: like the other team would go on like a fifteen

1063
00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:21,960
Speaker 1: four run and he hit like a huge three to

1064
00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:24,600
Speaker 1: kind of send the Tide and obviously those shots, um

1065
00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:27,279
Speaker 1: don't really get remembered. You remember, like the no look

1066
00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:29,799
Speaker 1: pass that he tries in a playoff game that just

1067
00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:33,160
Speaker 1: is nonsensible. There's no point of me. But yeah, exactly,

1068
00:50:33,200 --> 00:50:36,080
Speaker 1: those are things that get glorified um online. But like

1069
00:50:36,120 --> 00:50:38,600
Speaker 1: that's where I think it is that he's obviously not

1070
00:50:38,760 --> 00:50:42,080
Speaker 1: a great player, but um, he's not terrible either. And

1071
00:50:42,200 --> 00:50:44,000
Speaker 1: I think that's how the Lakers see him. He he

1072
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:46,400
Speaker 1: was drafted by this front office. He's the last player

1073
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:48,880
Speaker 1: on this team that was that first draft e right,

1074
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:51,799
Speaker 1: He's longest drafted player on the team, and I think

1075
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:54,440
Speaker 1: that's how he's seen. I remember last year people wanted

1076
00:50:54,480 --> 00:50:57,200
Speaker 1: to trade him and Danny Greens to New York for

1077
00:50:57,360 --> 00:51:00,200
Speaker 1: Marcus Morris and I just thought that was crazy because

1078
00:51:00,239 --> 00:51:01,759
Speaker 1: I thought there was no way the Lakers were just

1079
00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:03,839
Speaker 1: gonna salary dump him. Like there was just no chance

1080
00:51:03,880 --> 00:51:07,680
Speaker 1: that was happening. Um, so one of those guys, Yeah,

1081
00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:11,080
Speaker 1: I think I was like, what are you doing? But um,

1082
00:51:11,160 --> 00:51:13,160
Speaker 1: and there's another one for like Bach I think in

1083
00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:17,560
Speaker 1: uh Sacramento not Bogdomabilly, and um, yeah, so I think

1084
00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:19,520
Speaker 1: that's where I think that's where the team stands, and

1085
00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:22,279
Speaker 1: obviously he's gonna want money in the next offseason, which

1086
00:51:22,320 --> 00:51:24,680
Speaker 1: makes sense. Um, I don't think the Laborers are gonna

1087
00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:28,080
Speaker 1: pay him anything other than maybe the five six million

1088
00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:30,799
Speaker 1: that he's paid right now, but obviously he wants more

1089
00:51:30,800 --> 00:51:32,759
Speaker 1: than that, and that's fine. I just think there's no

1090
00:51:32,800 --> 00:51:35,279
Speaker 1: reason to just throw him to another team, as a

1091
00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:38,319
Speaker 1: lot of Lakers Twitter seems very ready to do. Um

1092
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:41,160
Speaker 1: at the first side of the deal. Well, I think

1093
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:43,279
Speaker 1: for me and entirely comes down to what you can

1094
00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:46,600
Speaker 1: get back. I mean acknowledging the reality of the situation

1095
00:51:46,640 --> 00:51:48,919
Speaker 1: I think is important, which is that you're probably gonna

1096
00:51:48,920 --> 00:51:53,160
Speaker 1: lose Kyle Kuzma this summer because the reality is just

1097
00:51:53,719 --> 00:51:56,800
Speaker 1: look at what we saw this last offseason and teams

1098
00:51:56,800 --> 00:52:00,120
Speaker 1: throwing big fat contracts at players that are what you

1099
00:52:00,120 --> 00:52:03,000
Speaker 1: would consider to be average, you know what I mean.

1100
00:52:03,080 --> 00:52:05,720
Speaker 1: Like I get like I was pretty excited about potentially

1101
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:08,960
Speaker 1: bringing Dana Daniela Gallinari to the table this this summer.

1102
00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:12,320
Speaker 1: But the reality is is Danielle Gallinari is only marginally

1103
00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:15,719
Speaker 1: better than than Kyle Kuzma and is probably an inferior

1104
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:19,000
Speaker 1: defensive player, and yet he's playing for all that money

1105
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:22,400
Speaker 1: in Atlanta. So the reality is is like, you're gonna

1106
00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:25,279
Speaker 1: lose Kyle Kuzena this summer unless you want to completely

1107
00:52:25,320 --> 00:52:28,880
Speaker 1: hand handicap yourself in the salary cap moving forward. So

1108
00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:32,799
Speaker 1: then the question becomes, in the short term, just just

1109
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:36,640
Speaker 1: this season, who do you have who can you get

1110
00:52:36,719 --> 00:52:39,319
Speaker 1: for Kyle Kuzma that could be potentially be better than

1111
00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:43,720
Speaker 1: Kyle Kuzma um within the scope of this season, because

1112
00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:45,759
Speaker 1: the reality is whoever you get back, you're gonna have

1113
00:52:45,800 --> 00:52:48,880
Speaker 1: similar contract problems. If you bring back a bigger salary

1114
00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:51,400
Speaker 1: than Kyle Kuzma and he has multiple years left on

1115
00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:53,759
Speaker 1: the deal, it handicaps moving forward. If you bring back

1116
00:52:53,800 --> 00:52:56,360
Speaker 1: a person who's an expiring deal, now you have the

1117
00:52:56,520 --> 00:52:58,720
Speaker 1: question mark about whether or not you lose that person

1118
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:01,600
Speaker 1: for nothing. So all it's all relative to the deal.

1119
00:53:02,080 --> 00:53:05,120
Speaker 1: But the bottom line is what is Kyle right now?

1120
00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:08,200
Speaker 1: He's an average NBA player. He is a below average

1121
00:53:08,200 --> 00:53:11,480
Speaker 1: ball handler, he's a below average shooter, and he's a

1122
00:53:11,560 --> 00:53:13,799
Speaker 1: below average basketball i Q. But what he does bring

1123
00:53:13,800 --> 00:53:15,640
Speaker 1: to the table is he's he's got a lot of size,

1124
00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:17,560
Speaker 1: and he's got a lot of confidence. So on any

1125
00:53:17,600 --> 00:53:20,479
Speaker 1: given night, it minds you there's more bad than good,

1126
00:53:20,600 --> 00:53:23,000
Speaker 1: But on any given night, he can give you a

1127
00:53:23,040 --> 00:53:25,520
Speaker 1: significant scoring pop. And then, like you said, he's capable

1128
00:53:25,520 --> 00:53:27,600
Speaker 1: of hitting big shots because he's not scared of the

1129
00:53:27,640 --> 00:53:31,160
Speaker 1: moment in that regard. So from from that same point, like,

1130
00:53:31,200 --> 00:53:33,200
Speaker 1: that's that's what he is right now. He's your the

1131
00:53:33,280 --> 00:53:35,600
Speaker 1: eighth or ninth best player, seventh or eighth or ninth

1132
00:53:35,640 --> 00:53:38,480
Speaker 1: best player on this team. So the question becomes if

1133
00:53:38,520 --> 00:53:41,440
Speaker 1: you can potentially find some front office around the league

1134
00:53:41,600 --> 00:53:45,400
Speaker 1: who values Kyle Kuzma enough to give you a legitimate asset,

1135
00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:48,520
Speaker 1: something that you can either quickly parlay into something else

1136
00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:50,879
Speaker 1: or something somebody that can help you more than Kyle

1137
00:53:50,920 --> 00:53:54,279
Speaker 1: Kuzma is in this particular season. I think you've got

1138
00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:57,239
Speaker 1: to pull the trigger on it, because I do. The

1139
00:53:57,320 --> 00:54:00,440
Speaker 1: reality is is like they can have as many conversations

1140
00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:03,560
Speaker 1: with Couza as they want, Rob Blincoln can tell him

1141
00:54:03,600 --> 00:54:06,879
Speaker 1: as many you know, weird mythological tales as he wants

1142
00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:10,760
Speaker 1: from books that he's read, eccentric whatevers. But the bottom

1143
00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:12,880
Speaker 1: line is is Kyle Kuzma is going to come to

1144
00:54:12,880 --> 00:54:15,160
Speaker 1: the table with an offer sheet next year that's signed

1145
00:54:15,239 --> 00:54:18,560
Speaker 1: from you know, Sacramento Kings or some some something stupid

1146
00:54:18,600 --> 00:54:20,479
Speaker 1: like that, that's gonna be a four year, eighty million

1147
00:54:20,480 --> 00:54:24,320
Speaker 1: dollar contract, And and the Lakers are not going to

1148
00:54:24,320 --> 00:54:27,359
Speaker 1: to sign that offer sheet unless they are a percent

1149
00:54:27,360 --> 00:54:29,560
Speaker 1: sure that no star in the next four years is

1150
00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:31,640
Speaker 1: coming to join Lebron in a D and L A,

1151
00:54:31,680 --> 00:54:34,319
Speaker 1: which I just don't think they would handicap themselves like that.

1152
00:54:34,440 --> 00:54:37,800
Speaker 1: So accept the reality of the situation. He's an average

1153
00:54:37,880 --> 00:54:41,239
Speaker 1: NBA player. You're gonna lose him for for a big

1154
00:54:41,280 --> 00:54:43,799
Speaker 1: fat offer sheet this summer. So just taking on a

1155
00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:46,320
Speaker 1: deal by deal basis, and if you see something that's worthwhile,

1156
00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:48,799
Speaker 1: jump on it. Yeah for sure. I mean I can

1157
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:50,960
Speaker 1: also like see a scenario. I know this will kind

1158
00:54:50,960 --> 00:54:53,080
Speaker 1: of dry fans mad, I'm sure, but like, let's say

1159
00:54:53,239 --> 00:54:55,040
Speaker 1: just a scenario I'm throwing out. Let's say the Lakers

1160
00:54:55,080 --> 00:54:57,560
Speaker 1: went back to back. I see the Lakers giving him

1161
00:54:57,560 --> 00:54:59,319
Speaker 1: like a Jordan Clarkson deal, Like I don't know if

1162
00:54:59,320 --> 00:55:01,480
Speaker 1: you remember the Lake signed Jordan Clastion to like a

1163
00:55:01,520 --> 00:55:05,200
Speaker 1: four year, fifty million yeah, which I think was a

1164
00:55:05,200 --> 00:55:07,040
Speaker 1: good deal. At the time. People thought of it as

1165
00:55:07,160 --> 00:55:08,719
Speaker 1: kind of a little overpaid by I mean, it was

1166
00:55:09,120 --> 00:55:10,879
Speaker 1: it was a guy that they developed who they saw

1167
00:55:10,920 --> 00:55:13,319
Speaker 1: getting better and they just invested that. Now, I don't

1168
00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:15,000
Speaker 1: think who's would take that. I think he wants a

1169
00:55:15,080 --> 00:55:16,480
Speaker 1: lot more than that. But I can see like if

1170
00:55:16,520 --> 00:55:18,719
Speaker 1: he doesn't get any offers, like say he shoot he

1171
00:55:18,719 --> 00:55:20,959
Speaker 1: hasn't known the season where he shoots really poorly from three,

1172
00:55:21,480 --> 00:55:23,200
Speaker 1: or you know, he just doesn't get offer sheets from

1173
00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:25,400
Speaker 1: teams like that, because I think twenty million dollars is

1174
00:55:25,719 --> 00:55:28,200
Speaker 1: a lot of money from for any team to pay

1175
00:55:28,280 --> 00:55:30,240
Speaker 1: k Kuzmi year. I don't care how much they believe

1176
00:55:30,239 --> 00:55:31,799
Speaker 1: in him. I think that's a lot of money. So

1177
00:55:32,040 --> 00:55:33,960
Speaker 1: I could see that as well. But yeah, you're right,

1178
00:55:33,960 --> 00:55:36,120
Speaker 1: they're probably losing next year. I'm sure they'll shop him

1179
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:39,480
Speaker 1: at the deadline. Um. I think he understands that. I

1180
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:41,560
Speaker 1: think they try to get maybe Bugonovitch for him this

1181
00:55:41,600 --> 00:55:44,480
Speaker 1: summer and that kind of fell through as well. But

1182
00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:46,799
Speaker 1: I think you're right, that's that's that's just what he

1183
00:55:46,880 --> 00:55:48,840
Speaker 1: is right now. And I think there's like a line

1184
00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:51,000
Speaker 1: that he's seen as like a super trash player or

1185
00:55:51,080 --> 00:55:53,439
Speaker 1: like you know, there's some there's people who think he's

1186
00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:56,360
Speaker 1: he should be starting as well. There's like that section

1187
00:55:56,400 --> 00:55:58,799
Speaker 1: of people exist, so there's like a fine line where

1188
00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:02,000
Speaker 1: he fits, and obviously his social media kind of tears

1189
00:56:02,040 --> 00:56:05,759
Speaker 1: that line apart. But um yeah, just looking on the court, Um,

1190
00:56:05,800 --> 00:56:08,239
Speaker 1: he is who he is. Like you said, well, likability

1191
00:56:08,280 --> 00:56:09,840
Speaker 1: is a big part of what shapes are opinion on

1192
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:12,360
Speaker 1: these players. I mean, like, when I'm trying to be

1193
00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:15,839
Speaker 1: a really unbiased, honest basketball analyst, I still think James

1194
00:56:15,840 --> 00:56:18,240
Speaker 1: Harden is like the seventh third best player in the world.

1195
00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:21,320
Speaker 1: But I hate that guy, and like it's just everything

1196
00:56:21,360 --> 00:56:23,600
Speaker 1: that he does drives me nuts, and in my opinion,

1197
00:56:24,040 --> 00:56:26,560
Speaker 1: like when I'm ranking NBA players, I want so badly

1198
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:28,200
Speaker 1: to put him lower. And it's a similar thing with

1199
00:56:28,239 --> 00:56:31,040
Speaker 1: the Kyle Kuzman thing. He does so many unlikable things

1200
00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:34,239
Speaker 1: that it causes a lot of Laker fans to kind

1201
00:56:34,239 --> 00:56:36,839
Speaker 1: of gloss over which and you you did a really

1202
00:56:36,840 --> 00:56:38,600
Speaker 1: good job of laying out all of the good that

1203
00:56:38,600 --> 00:56:41,880
Speaker 1: he brings the table. He is a good NBA role player.

1204
00:56:42,360 --> 00:56:44,040
Speaker 1: But the one thing that would make me nervous is

1205
00:56:44,080 --> 00:56:46,200
Speaker 1: even at that four years six million type of number

1206
00:56:46,200 --> 00:56:48,920
Speaker 1: four year fifty million, even if who's the brandies with

1207
00:56:48,960 --> 00:56:52,399
Speaker 1: Puma is a Puma, Even if Puma was like, hey,

1208
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:55,440
Speaker 1: listen under the table, take his l a deal instead,

1209
00:56:55,520 --> 00:56:57,279
Speaker 1: and we'll give you an extra five million a year,

1210
00:56:57,719 --> 00:56:59,920
Speaker 1: you know, or something like that. Like, the reality is

1211
00:57:00,080 --> 00:57:02,920
Speaker 1: is like even at that number, even at four fIF

1212
00:57:03,200 --> 00:57:06,760
Speaker 1: four for fifteen a year, it's still kind of limits

1213
00:57:06,800 --> 00:57:09,279
Speaker 1: your flexibility when it comes to other stars. So from

1214
00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:12,960
Speaker 1: that standpoint, I would want if as a like, like

1215
00:57:13,600 --> 00:57:18,120
Speaker 1: as a Laker front office person analyzing that situation, I

1216
00:57:18,160 --> 00:57:20,200
Speaker 1: would want to see a little more out of Kyle

1217
00:57:20,280 --> 00:57:23,640
Speaker 1: Kuzma just understanding it's kind of similar to the Montrase

1218
00:57:23,680 --> 00:57:26,880
Speaker 1: Harald thing, the Montres Harald thing. At the numbers. Just

1219
00:57:26,920 --> 00:57:29,800
Speaker 1: being at the numbers makes amazing sense. Paying nine million

1220
00:57:29,840 --> 00:57:31,640
Speaker 1: a year for a guy who's gonna get you eighteen

1221
00:57:31,640 --> 00:57:33,760
Speaker 1: points a game and you know, brings a lot to

1222
00:57:33,800 --> 00:57:36,640
Speaker 1: the table offensively, it makes it's a no brainer. But

1223
00:57:36,920 --> 00:57:39,160
Speaker 1: if you actually look at the hardcat and the fact

1224
00:57:39,160 --> 00:57:41,520
Speaker 1: that you can draw a direct line that costing you

1225
00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:44,520
Speaker 1: Avery Bradley and costing you Dwight Howard, it's a little

1226
00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:46,280
Speaker 1: bit more complicated. And that's the way that I look

1227
00:57:46,320 --> 00:57:49,040
Speaker 1: at it with Kyle Kuzma is if you if you

1228
00:57:49,080 --> 00:57:51,760
Speaker 1: want to bring in a third star, then you have

1229
00:57:51,800 --> 00:57:54,120
Speaker 1: to understand that the rest of your roster is basically

1230
00:57:54,120 --> 00:57:57,040
Speaker 1: going to be veteran minimum contracts and maybe guys that

1231
00:57:57,080 --> 00:57:59,440
Speaker 1: you have bird rights on, like like a contiguous called

1232
00:57:59,440 --> 00:58:02,760
Speaker 1: a pope. So bringing Kyle Kuzma back kind of does

1233
00:58:02,920 --> 00:58:06,880
Speaker 1: affect the long term strategy of the Lakers. So it's

1234
00:58:06,920 --> 00:58:09,720
Speaker 1: something it's something to keep in mind. It's not just about, oh,

1235
00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:14,480
Speaker 1: he deserves fifteen million, It's about what you're potentially losing

1236
00:58:14,840 --> 00:58:18,120
Speaker 1: as the dominoes fall further from that deal. But no

1237
00:58:18,160 --> 00:58:20,760
Speaker 1: matter what, like, let's give him another chance, like as

1238
00:58:20,840 --> 00:58:23,320
Speaker 1: is the case with all this stuff, like this is

1239
00:58:23,360 --> 00:58:26,560
Speaker 1: going to be his second full season playing under this

1240
00:58:26,640 --> 00:58:29,600
Speaker 1: type of role, with this type of talent. Give him

1241
00:58:29,600 --> 00:58:31,440
Speaker 1: another chance to see what he can bring to the table.

1242
00:58:31,800 --> 00:58:34,080
Speaker 1: All right, lastly, real quickly before I get you out

1243
00:58:34,080 --> 00:58:39,600
Speaker 1: of here, what is your prediction for the Lakers this season,

1244
00:58:39,640 --> 00:58:42,160
Speaker 1: both in their regular season performance and what you expect

1245
00:58:42,160 --> 00:58:47,520
Speaker 1: from them in the playoffs. Uh So, I still think

1246
00:58:47,560 --> 00:58:50,240
Speaker 1: they come out pretty well. I don't think they're as

1247
00:58:50,320 --> 00:58:52,680
Speaker 1: dominant in the regular season as they're last year. I

1248
00:58:52,720 --> 00:58:54,800
Speaker 1: expect a lot of more resting, not as much rest

1249
00:58:54,880 --> 00:58:57,640
Speaker 1: as like games off, but I'm expecting the goal as

1250
00:58:57,640 --> 00:59:00,080
Speaker 1: hard as they did last year. Um, I still have

1251
00:59:00,200 --> 00:59:01,880
Speaker 1: to make it the one seed. I think their talent

1252
00:59:02,280 --> 00:59:04,600
Speaker 1: level is enough to get the one seed um in

1253
00:59:04,640 --> 00:59:07,800
Speaker 1: the regular season, and I still having them going back

1254
00:59:07,840 --> 00:59:09,800
Speaker 1: to back. I think when you have a title team

1255
00:59:09,800 --> 00:59:11,840
Speaker 1: that got better, I think it's only right you give

1256
00:59:11,880 --> 00:59:13,960
Speaker 1: them the benefit of the doubt, give them a chance

1257
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:17,120
Speaker 1: to repeat. And I think they've gotten all the tools

1258
00:59:17,120 --> 00:59:19,520
Speaker 1: they have to repeat. Here, I'm not sure. I'm not

1259
00:59:19,560 --> 00:59:21,720
Speaker 1: sure what's stopping them. I mean, I think every contender

1260
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:25,479
Speaker 1: is either got worse or stayed pretty marginally as they were,

1261
00:59:26,240 --> 00:59:29,800
Speaker 1: depending how good you think surgery Baka is. But I mean,

1262
00:59:29,800 --> 00:59:33,840
Speaker 1: other than that, like every contender kind of stayed the same. So, yeah,

1263
00:59:33,880 --> 00:59:38,120
Speaker 1: I think repeat they repeat here. Yeah, So I've gone

1264
00:59:38,120 --> 00:59:40,200
Speaker 1: back and forth as it pertains to the regular season

1265
00:59:40,720 --> 00:59:44,280
Speaker 1: because of the Lebron thing, because of the classic issues

1266
00:59:44,360 --> 00:59:46,800
Speaker 1: that repeating teams deal are the two teams defending the

1267
00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:48,920
Speaker 1: title deal with And I kind of fell back to

1268
00:59:49,040 --> 00:59:53,200
Speaker 1: kind of the two thousand one Lakers model, which for

1269
00:59:53,240 --> 00:59:55,800
Speaker 1: two thousand one, the infusion was Kobe's growth. He got

1270
00:59:55,880 --> 00:59:57,840
Speaker 1: so much better than he was in the year two thousand,

1271
00:59:58,240 --> 01:00:01,160
Speaker 1: But the reality was it wasn't so much about them

1272
01:00:01,200 --> 01:00:03,440
Speaker 1: having to deal with apathy on there, and it was

1273
01:00:03,480 --> 01:00:05,439
Speaker 1: the fact that the rest of the league just wasn't

1274
01:00:05,480 --> 01:00:09,200
Speaker 1: capable of hanging with them. And in my opinion, all

1275
01:00:09,280 --> 01:00:11,880
Speaker 1: of the contenders got worse. The Warriors, I mean, what

1276
01:00:12,240 --> 01:00:14,320
Speaker 1: we expected from the Warriors got worse. I think that

1277
01:00:14,640 --> 01:00:17,480
Speaker 1: got worse. I think Utah is more or less the

1278
01:00:17,520 --> 01:00:21,560
Speaker 1: same like the Clippers. It's hard to say, but I

1279
01:00:21,680 --> 01:00:23,560
Speaker 1: think they have the same fatal flaws that they had

1280
01:00:23,800 --> 01:00:27,320
Speaker 1: uh coming into last season. Dallas added stuff, but not

1281
01:00:27,440 --> 01:00:29,320
Speaker 1: enough to really be a difference maker in my opinion.

1282
01:00:29,480 --> 01:00:32,959
Speaker 1: So the reality is by making the moves the Lakers made,

1283
01:00:33,200 --> 01:00:36,120
Speaker 1: they massively increased their margin for error on a night

1284
01:00:36,160 --> 01:00:39,840
Speaker 1: tonight basis. Adding players as talented as Denistrator Montrez, harrald

1285
01:00:39,880 --> 01:00:42,800
Speaker 1: and and and Marcus al West and Matthews, those guys

1286
01:00:42,880 --> 01:00:44,560
Speaker 1: make it so it's a little bit harder for you

1287
01:00:44,600 --> 01:00:47,080
Speaker 1: to lose night tonight. And when I when I think

1288
01:00:47,080 --> 01:00:50,480
Speaker 1: the talent gap has now increased between what the Lakers had,

1289
01:00:51,520 --> 01:00:54,720
Speaker 1: Lakers had between them and any of their opponents on

1290
01:00:54,720 --> 01:00:57,920
Speaker 1: any given night, that gap has grown, and so in

1291
01:00:57,960 --> 01:00:59,480
Speaker 1: my opinion, it will be a little bit harder for

1292
01:00:59,520 --> 01:01:02,680
Speaker 1: them to lose. And then I think just in general,

1293
01:01:02,800 --> 01:01:06,280
Speaker 1: the the back in the stadiums thing, the infusion of

1294
01:01:06,320 --> 01:01:08,919
Speaker 1: players who haven't won a championship onto this roster, which

1295
01:01:08,960 --> 01:01:12,960
Speaker 1: is different from your stereotypical defending champion. I think all

1296
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:16,120
Speaker 1: of those things will keep Lebron engaged. And I actually

1297
01:01:16,160 --> 01:01:18,200
Speaker 1: think the Lakers will end up with the one seed,

1298
01:01:18,200 --> 01:01:20,200
Speaker 1: which I think is something that a lot of analysts

1299
01:01:20,200 --> 01:01:23,280
Speaker 1: disagree with, and I think I really do think that

1300
01:01:23,320 --> 01:01:25,720
Speaker 1: it's it's shaping up for a season where the Lakers

1301
01:01:25,720 --> 01:01:28,720
Speaker 1: could win at about a sixty to sixty five win

1302
01:01:28,840 --> 01:01:32,400
Speaker 1: pace and uh and go into the right go into

1303
01:01:32,400 --> 01:01:35,720
Speaker 1: the postseason with with the number one overall seed, and

1304
01:01:35,800 --> 01:01:38,440
Speaker 1: so as far as the playoffs go, I more or

1305
01:01:38,520 --> 01:01:41,760
Speaker 1: less expect when I saw last year. I don't think

1306
01:01:41,760 --> 01:01:43,440
Speaker 1: there's a single team in the league that can take

1307
01:01:43,480 --> 01:01:47,240
Speaker 1: them the six outside of the Los Angeles Clippers. I've

1308
01:01:47,240 --> 01:01:49,600
Speaker 1: talked about this at length. I think they're the only

1309
01:01:49,600 --> 01:01:52,320
Speaker 1: team in the league that has really built for to

1310
01:01:52,320 --> 01:01:55,280
Speaker 1: to have some matchup advantages against the Lakers. What they

1311
01:01:55,360 --> 01:01:58,280
Speaker 1: bring to the table with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard

1312
01:01:58,320 --> 01:02:02,160
Speaker 1: as mid range scores is they attack a specific gap

1313
01:02:02,200 --> 01:02:04,360
Speaker 1: in the Laker defense and the way that it's structured

1314
01:02:04,840 --> 01:02:07,000
Speaker 1: and uh, and they have some size now with Tobaka

1315
01:02:07,280 --> 01:02:09,960
Speaker 1: and and Zoobach that can confront some of the size

1316
01:02:10,000 --> 01:02:12,800
Speaker 1: that the Lakers have. I really do think that they

1317
01:02:12,840 --> 01:02:16,280
Speaker 1: have the capability of at least making the Lakers sweat

1318
01:02:16,320 --> 01:02:19,440
Speaker 1: a little bit. But I predict something similar a you know,

1319
01:02:19,560 --> 01:02:21,760
Speaker 1: four or five game first round, four or five games

1320
01:02:21,760 --> 01:02:24,080
Speaker 1: second round, a little bit of a battle with the Clippers,

1321
01:02:24,440 --> 01:02:27,040
Speaker 1: and then a five game NBA Finals type of series.

1322
01:02:27,080 --> 01:02:29,880
Speaker 1: That's That's what I'm predicting at this point. Yeah. My

1323
01:02:29,960 --> 01:02:31,840
Speaker 1: main kind of thing to look at is um Athene

1324
01:02:31,920 --> 01:02:35,600
Speaker 1: davis jumper. His mid range jumper obviously was insane Katie

1325
01:02:35,680 --> 01:02:38,240
Speaker 1: level of in the playoffs. Um, I'm not expecting it

1326
01:02:38,360 --> 01:02:40,520
Speaker 1: to stay at that at that rate, but if he

1327
01:02:40,520 --> 01:02:42,920
Speaker 1: can even be close to that, I'm not sure how

1328
01:02:42,920 --> 01:02:45,120
Speaker 1: a team really beats his team. Um, they look pretty

1329
01:02:45,160 --> 01:02:47,560
Speaker 1: unguardable when a d has his jumper going. I think

1330
01:02:47,560 --> 01:02:50,400
Speaker 1: he was hitting like mid range bull ups and they

1331
01:02:50,400 --> 01:02:52,360
Speaker 1: were still winning at like a sixty five one pace

1332
01:02:52,440 --> 01:02:54,880
Speaker 1: in the regular season. So in the playoffs that jumped

1333
01:02:54,920 --> 01:02:58,160
Speaker 1: to like, um, he was hitting him off the dribble,

1334
01:02:58,240 --> 01:03:01,000
Speaker 1: And if that's real, then you to shut this season down,

1335
01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:03,160
Speaker 1: because I don't think it is, and he's really going

1336
01:03:03,200 --> 01:03:05,400
Speaker 1: to happen if if he's still hitting those um at

1337
01:03:05,440 --> 01:03:09,000
Speaker 1: that rate, him getting better as he's entering in his

1338
01:03:09,080 --> 01:03:12,400
Speaker 1: prime and dealing with better spacing than he's ever had

1339
01:03:13,520 --> 01:03:18,040
Speaker 1: continuity with with his core role players. There there's like

1340
01:03:18,120 --> 01:03:20,760
Speaker 1: this scenario where you could just see this, you know,

1341
01:03:21,040 --> 01:03:24,000
Speaker 1: nice from last year type of m v P campaign

1342
01:03:24,000 --> 01:03:25,960
Speaker 1: from Anthony Davis, which would be really fun to watch.

1343
01:03:26,680 --> 01:03:29,440
Speaker 1: Uh And because there were there were some legitimate things

1344
01:03:29,480 --> 01:03:31,840
Speaker 1: on that Laker roster last year that constrained some of

1345
01:03:31,880 --> 01:03:34,080
Speaker 1: his strengths, and so I think it'll be cool to

1346
01:03:34,080 --> 01:03:36,160
Speaker 1: see what he does. But anyway, so I've had you

1347
01:03:36,240 --> 01:03:39,600
Speaker 1: for over an hour now, so I appreciate you taking

1348
01:03:39,720 --> 01:03:42,600
Speaker 1: time after a long day of work to come hang

1349
01:03:42,600 --> 01:03:47,120
Speaker 1: out and offer your expertise. As always, I really really

1350
01:03:47,160 --> 01:03:49,800
Speaker 1: appreciate you doing this to all of you have turned

1351
01:03:49,840 --> 01:03:53,000
Speaker 1: in and listened. I would imagine that Roger will be

1352
01:03:53,080 --> 01:03:55,200
Speaker 1: kind enough to join me several more times over the

1353
01:03:55,240 --> 01:03:57,640
Speaker 1: course of the season, so you'll be seeing lots of this.

1354
01:03:58,480 --> 01:04:00,400
Speaker 1: But thanks again, man, I really appreciate you coming on.

1355
01:04:00,680 --> 01:04:02,720
Speaker 1: No thanks for having me man. It's funny to see

1356
01:04:02,720 --> 01:04:04,560
Speaker 1: you and like all Lakers out now, so it's like,

1357
01:04:05,640 --> 01:04:09,760
Speaker 1: what's funny as you can see a little Yeah, actually

1358
01:04:09,760 --> 01:04:13,040
Speaker 1: had for a while. I have a lot here. That's

1359
01:04:13,080 --> 01:04:15,440
Speaker 1: awesome man, that's great to be here. All right, man,

1360
01:04:15,440 --> 01:04:17,080
Speaker 1: have a good night. I'll talk to you later, all right,

1361
01:04:17,120 --> 01:04:17,920
Speaker 1: you too, Thank you, Bro,