WEBVTT - Lakers/Hawks Postgame Spaces 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:17.840 M m all right, welcome to the Saint of the Lakers. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.079 Is that if my Dad's radio. Happy Sunday, everybody. I 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:21.639 hope you all had a great week. I hope you 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:24.560 enjoyed your weekend. Um. I hope you had something to 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.479 enjoy this week other than that awful stretch of Lakers 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:32.560 basketball which included you know, everything but the wind raj, 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.000 which has been pretty much the story of this week. 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.000 I think. But how are you doing? Man? I'm doing well. 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:41.400 Beautiful weekend, great weather here in Cali, had a nice 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.479 when you like, little event last night, and wake up, 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:46.360 wake up real early to watch this game. Yeah. It 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:48.760 was a you know, a fun one for like three quarters, right, 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:50.559 I think like for the first three quarters they did 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:53.239 their job up tending going in the fourth and then 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:55.880 kind of just collapsed at the end there. I lost 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:58.640 the fourth I think by eighteen, so kind of like 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:00.680 a meltdown in the fourth. But I gonnall man, how 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:04.080 are you? I'm doing great? Um? You know. It's one 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.320 of those things where, like I think the announcers on 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:09.840 the spectrum feed did a good job of pointing this out. 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:11.959 It felt like one of those games where the first 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:15.160 team to really attempt to try to play defense would 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:18.160 end up winning. And you know, it ended up being 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.920 the Lakers, ironically, who who were the first ones to 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.080 try to at least take some control over the game 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:27.959 on the defensive end of the ball. And then they 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:32.120 completely and utterly fell apart in that fourth quarter. Rise 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:36.679 by my count, they took twelve They missed twelve jump 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:41.000 shots in that fourth quarter, and attempted only four shots 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:44.319 at the rim, which is really bad process for Russell 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.720 Westbrook Anthony Davis team. Now we could talk about why 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.320 in a second, because there were some line up things 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:51.600 there that I thought were interesting. And then on the 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:53.920 other end of the floor to give up thirty eight, 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:57.880 to offer almost no resistance, especially around the rim. Um. 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.600 I'm gonna butcher his name, but that bad cup center 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.120 that they had that played uh okay, I can't remember 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:07.800 what his name was, but yeah, yeah, so he absolutely 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:10.480 torched us. It was just it was one of those 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:15.119 things where again you're looking at the game and you're saying, man, 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:19.639 Anthony Davis looks great. That's great news. Russell Westbrook, who 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:23.320 I've been incredibly critical of, is starting to show some 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.080 signs of life. Even though I got a couple of 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:27.760 bones to pick with him at the end of the game, 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:31.600 and the leak month looks incredible again, although he's been 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.400 showing some inconsistency in recent weeks. But you've got all 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:38.040 of this good baked in there, and they just can't 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.280 win a game, Raj. And it's one of those things, 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.680 you know, I I think, um, I can't remember exactly 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:45.320 who it was who said this on Twitter, but someone 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.440 was saying, like, hey, no more moral victories. Were out 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:49.640 of time for moral victories. And that's the truth, guys. 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:51.920 When you look at the standings and you look at 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:55.919 the situation at twenty four and twenty seven, this deep 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:58.600 into the play in the way that we are. There's 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.480 some real urgency here. We can't afford to keep having 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.200 these nights where it's like, hey, we looked good, but 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:06.600 I didn't get the win, or hey, so and so 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.360 looks good, but we didn't get to win. And even 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:12.000 without Lebron, this was another game that we should have won. 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:14.320 I thought the Philly game was winnable too. I thought 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:17.639 the Charlotte game was winnable. This is it's looking pretty 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:21.280 bleak right now. Roger. I'm not gonna be entirely bleak. 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:23.960 But man like, at a certain point some of these 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.919 have to turn into wins instead of losses. Yeah, for sure, 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.880 in the season definitely obviously depends on when Lebron gets back. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:33.840 We're definitely running out of time. Um and we kind 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:35.840 of you know, Lebron and E D Sat the last one. 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:38.040 Who knows, you know how serious those where. We'll see 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.520 if Lebron can come back here soon. Hopefully the knee 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.360 knee soreness isn't too serious. But yeah, like we're running 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:45.920 out of time here. I think there's like twenty eight 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.600 games left. But tonight, man, just sticking on tonight, you 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.880 get third, you get eighty points combined from A D, 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:53.640 Russ and Leak Monk. You should be able to win 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.080 that game, right, Like, it doesn't matter what happened. Leak 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:58.600 Monk was able to kind of fill the Lebron production. 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:00.960 You get like thirty three or third four from league Monk. 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:03.280 A D had a really nice first half again. Russell 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.400 Westbrook starting to finish at the rim. I think like 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.840 seventy five or seventy at the rim in the last 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:09.600 six games. Um, and he was I thought he had 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.360 a really nice floor game tonight to me though, like 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:14.720 the issue was, you know, I feel like there's a 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.320 breaking point when you start as small as we do. Um, 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.200 we started Rusts, Malik Monk and Avery Bradley, and you 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.760 know it gets hidden because we were scoring at such 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.159 a high level. But I thought the fact that those 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.200 three started, John Collins just got whatever he wanted right 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.840 and again that kind of gets hidden. Um. DeAndre Hunter, 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:32.479 I thought, just got to wherever he wanted in the 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:34.840 mid range. And there's a breaking point to that. Trey 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:36.960 Young wasn't going to be one for seven from three 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:38.960 from the whole game. I think that's what he started. 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.159 He ended up hitting for in the last minute there. 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:42.840 And you know Atlantis the team that has a lot 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.880 of firepower. Um, they're not too complicated. It's high ball 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:48.839 screen with Trey Young, it's him picking us, picking players apart. 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:51.120 I thought we really broke down there. He got a 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.640 lot of lobs to on Yetta, as you talked about, 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:55.680 and he was able to take step back threes. I 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.120 thought he cooked Avery Bradley tonight, like there's a little 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.040 bit too too much, a little bit too much every Bradley, Um, 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.600 I kept t eating that's enough, Avery Bradley. I thought 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.200 there was like I thought, you know, he's just too 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.320 small to kind of contend with him. He was also 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.679 physical with him for no reason. There was a screen 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.200 coming anyway we were, Vogel said after the game, I 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.280 was listening that the plan was to soft trap him. Well, 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.760 then what's the point you know of like fouling him 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.120 at half court or you know, every Radley was super 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.600 ball pressuring him. And while we were in the bonus too, 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:24.279 I thought just that wasn't smart. But what did you 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.039 agree with that? Because I thought that was the breaking 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:27.919 point here. We were scoring so much that it was 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:29.799 kind of hidden. But I thought, you know, you started 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.680 three small guards. Um Atlanta was able to get switches 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:34.800 where they wanted. John Collins was able to keep the 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.080 Hawks really in it until Trey Young uh exploded there 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.000 in the fourth quarter. When you start, you know, two 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:42.560 small guards like that, um leak monk and you know 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:45.359 every Monk was great offensively, but again gets picked on 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:48.640 offensive defensively. Avery Bradley again I thought, was awful on 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:50.760 both ends. I let alone what he's supposed to be 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:54.200 good defensively? You have all these Carmelo Carmelo Anthony minutes 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.320 as well, he's slow on the defensive and all that 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.000 combined to me, Atlanta scores one twenty nine. You you 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.040 score one twenty one points, you win most games in 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.520 the NBA. We just couldn't defend even with a d 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:08.039 out there, just cannot defend them. Well, yeah, dude, you 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.840 saw it in the closing group. You're looking at like 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.360 Malik Monk has to have a game like he did 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:17.080 tonight offensively to be a positive player, because he's pretty 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:19.520 quickly become one of the worst defensive players that we 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.080 have on the roster. He gives up, you know, a 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:26.520 lot in in conjunction with what he brings offensively, and 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.960 so he he literally has to go for thirty three 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.320 in order for that to be a worthwhile exchange. And 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.200 then you look at Avery Bradley, and he does a 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:36.920 pretty good job when he's on the ball, applying ball 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.680 pressure when he's not committing fouls, but then as soon 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:42.520 as he gets involved in anything off the ball, he 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.400 struggles all the tonight or all day today, I should 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.159 say all morning, because this was an eleven am start 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.640 here in Tucson. All morning, Avery Bradley when he would 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.960 get disengaged from the ball would get lost floating around 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:58.719 on the perimeter. And then Russell Westbrook again like he 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.679 brings good defensively, but he just has these little lapses. 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:07.839 It tie game bad clothes out on DeAndre Hunter and 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.520 ends up committing a foul. It's like, dude, you're Russell 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.200 freaking Westbrook. You have to be able to keep DeAndre 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.240 Hunter in front of you. That's not that especially in 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:17.880 a pivotal moment like that. And so when you have 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:22.480 three guys on the floor, those three together on the 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.840 floor at the same time brings so many limitations offense 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.560 or defensively that it's really difficult for that to work. 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:30.200 One of the things I had in my notes raj 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.400 anytime Stanley Johnson and Anthony Davis were involved in an 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:39.120 action defensively, they are devastating to it was it was 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.080 anything else where we were getting burned. And one of 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:43.760 the things that I thought the Hawks did a really 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.000 good job of in this game was using off ball 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:51.240 actions to get Anthony Davis away from the basket. And 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:53.760 they did this a lot. By again, I'm going to 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.920 butcher his name, so that that backup center that they had, 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:01.200 they put him on the floor and use him uh 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:04.920 and put John Collins on the perimeter, essentially dragging Anthony 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.880 Davis away from the basket and putting Stanley Johnson in 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.920 the awkward position where he's, you know, trying to defend 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.200 the rim. And he does a pretty good job. But 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.679 one of the things that drives me nuts with Frank 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.480 is he uses Stanley as like a drop coverage big 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.320 sometimes instead of switching those screens, and so then he 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:24.040 ends up having to do that no roller behind coverage 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.280 where they can just Trey Young is so gifted at 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.800 just placing that log pass like high above where Stanley 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.280 can get it, but where his teammate can grab it 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:34.040 and just catch it and take a power dribble and 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:35.880 go up and finish. And at the end of the 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.679 game on the other end of the floor. This is 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:42.120 where it gets tricky. Avery Bradley, like he shot the 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:45.160 ball well this year, but teams don't guard him. This 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:47.280 is something you talk about all the time, Rogs. There's 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:51.840 like a difference between a good shooter that gets started, 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.720 Like there's a difference between what you actually shoot in 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.840 terms of your percentages and what defenses do. For instance, 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.400 Avery Bradley knocking down shot this year, teams don't guard en. 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:05.720 Kyle Kuzma in the past shot terrible percentages with the Lakers, 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:09.439 but teams guarded him. It's all about like perception instead 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.600 of reality around the league, and the perception with Avery 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.440 Bradley is you can leave him open. Stanley Johnson, same thing. 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:17.640 You actually ended up making a huge three towards the 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.600 end of the game, but they're not guarding him, and 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.040 then they're also not guarding Russ so you find yourself 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:26.080 in this awkward position. We're basically it turned into a 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:29.440 jump shooting contest except for the guys shooting jump shots 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:33.160 for us. For Anthony Davis, who's good, you know, has 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.679 been shooting the ball well this week, but overall is 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.800 an inconsistent jump shooter. And Malik Monk, you know, and 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.839 guess what, Trey Young made more threes, you know, just 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:46.199 like like in a shooting contest, the better shooter is 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.040 gonna win. And when when they had an opportunity towards 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:51.000 the end of the game to make shots, the Hawks 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.199 did and we didn't. And like I said, you missed 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.360 twelve jump shots, but you only attempt four shots at 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:58.679 the rim. I don't like our chances there We're just 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:02.440 not a very good jump shooting team, especially off the dribble, 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:05.280 and so I it was it was frustrating Rod because 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:07.880 there was some good process there, like Russ was getting 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:11.480 into the paint, Anthony Davis was having success bullying guys 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.400 on the on the offensive glass he was doing he 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.000 was making aggressive moves to the rim, and then we 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:19.280 got to the fourth quarter and it just turned into 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:21.760 let's dribble the ball around on the perimeter until we 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:24.760 take a pull up jump shot, which again it's attached 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.080 to the fact that you have too too little shooting 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.320 on the floor. And to your point, it would be 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:33.040 one thing if we were huge and athletic at every 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.280 position and we can make up for it with switchability 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:40.120 on defense and ball pressure and rebounding and all those 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:43.000 things that come with size and athleticism. But no, we 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.720 are a jump shooting team that placed three little guards 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:47.839 and we're just getting killed on the defensive end of 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:50.080 the floor. So it was it was definitely frustrating for 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.360 me to watch, uh, you know, because I just felt 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.000 like that I felt like it was a winnable game 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.000 ras and not sure it wasn't winnable. We played well 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.320 enough to win through basically three quarters and then it 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.640 was an absolute disaster class in that fourth. Yeah, and 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:05.840 you know we had that people call it a fake 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:08.400 come back whatever it was, to come back against the Hornets, right, 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.680 We didn't get to talk about that one, but I thought, 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:12.560 you know, that's what we kind of built on here. 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:15.079 Russ continue to get to the rim tonight like that stuff. 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:18.440 That's good process. That's where you miss Lebron the most. Alright, 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:22.000 late camp stuff, game slows down. We kind of just 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.480 went to straight up a D post ups. Um. I 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:26.640 thought he looked a little tired as well. At the end. 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:29.400 He couldn't just get to the basket. They started zoning 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.120 up on him as well. And that's where you see 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.320 the effect of the Russell Westbrook gravity kind of taking 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:35.959 taking apart. Right when you don't have Lebron on the floor, 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.240 it's Russell Westbrook at the top. It's straight a D 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:40.960 post ups. You're relying on Leak Monk, who was incredible 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:42.520 that whole night. But you know it was pretty much 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:44.520 on three pointers. So basically he's trying to get a 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.040 three up. He's still under size. The Hawks can kind 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.280 of switch actions on him. You get a D posting 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:51.600 up trying to get shots. He's taking mid range pull ups. 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:53.720 That all kind of collapsed. I think we scored eighteen 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:56.280 points in the fourth. We had like five points Jason, 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.280 with like half the fourth gone. I think, uh we 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:00.920 were you know, we were up eleven and you know 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:03.200 that lineup to start the fourth. I really didn't. I 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.959 thought we stayed with that too long. The Carmelo Dwight Howard, 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:09.560 you know, Front Core has been just a real rough 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.760 watch recently. I just Dwight's not the same. He's not 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:16.959 as active, doesn't jump as much. Yeah, his his feet 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.320 look like they're stuck on the floor. It's just there's 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.120 a there's not a bounce to him that there was. 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:23.760 His coverage is his drop coverage. He's a second lad 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:25.920 on all these the law passes are there for him. 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:28.679 He's not stopping the guard either. Um. It just looks rough. 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:30.720 And then you have Carmelo Anthony trying to rotate right. 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:32.719 So a lot of those plays are like Carmelos that 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.200 drop big. Carmelo's the guy who's the low man who 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:37.079 has to help, and that's just rough against like a 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.440 guy O Coongo who's just who can jump off the floor. 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:41.280 I think you have like a one handed you see 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:45.120 that one handed crazy Dunky had that disgusting insane Yeah, 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:46.800 I thought trade through that. I thought trade through that 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:48.439 pass way off and he was still able to get 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:50.120 it and duncan he just we just had big Art 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:55.200 too slows throw him higher. The athlete will go get 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.120 the right, let him go, let him go get it. 0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:58.760 Um And you're right about a D being out of 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:00.000 the play, and I thought a D was a little 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.560 bit frustrated on that as well. I don't think we 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:04.600 wanted to switch. But the way that the Hawks kind 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:06.840 of run their action, they set like a double screen 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.720 where eighties now on Trey Young, and then you know 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.319 you have Stanley Johnson, who's I thought great. I thought 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.800 when Stanley and a D trap tray, that was our 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.360 best defense really like they were able to get hands up, 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:19.679 got some steals. But then if you don't get that steel, 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:22.240 it's you know, Carmelo, Anthony Rotating, who I thought was 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.160 closing its leak monk, it's every Bradley Russell Westbrook at 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.320 times who still kind of undersized. So I thought that's 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.120 where we lost this one. No Lebron in the fourth 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:31.120 the signing excuse you should win a game on the 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:33.720 road where you're up eleven in the fourth, But all 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:35.880 those things kind of melted down here, and you know, 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:39.280 maybe Dwight looks kind of unplayable Carmelo Anthony, I feel 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:41.400 like gives up as many points as he scores on 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:42.600 a lot of times. Like we have a lot of 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.080 just really older players and I'm interested to see how 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.959 it goes here. But hopefully Lebron gets back. We can't 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:50.439 build anything, though, Jason. I think that's the frustrating part 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:52.280 of watching all these games, like you're seeing a little bit, 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.199 you're seeing good here. A d has a good game, 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.160 that Russ has a good game, and they're all separated. 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.720 Lebron has an incredible game, and now they're just all 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.319 separate entities that we're trying to put together. Mileek Monk 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:03.760 drocks thirty four, but again you have to put him 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:05.880 back in the six man role really when Lebron comes back. 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:07.720 So I don't know, man, this team has like a 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:10.240 super short window to figure this out. Have you checked 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:13.760 the standings recently, Jason? You know, I'm not a I'm 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.200 not a standings checker, Like I've I never really checked it. 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:18.400 I just checked recently, and I'm like, we're ninth. Oh, 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:20.440 Like I did not realize that. I was like, the 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:22.560 MAVs are eight games over five hundred. I did not 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.280 realize that the Clippers won again today without Kwai and 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:27.440 Paul George Um on the I'm not sure. I don't 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:28.840 remember if it was on the road or at home 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:31.840 against Charlotte, but they want again. So it's it's rough man. 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:34.560 We're like, this is the extreme scenario, but we're like 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:37.280 only four games up on San Antonio. Who's I believe 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.280 out of the playoff picture? Like they just think about 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:41.880 that from the from from how we're treating this season. 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:43.760 So I think it's go time. I think, you know, 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:46.280 if Lebron can, it's a sense of urgency here. Like 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.240 I get Lebron has to be healthy to come back, 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.440 of course that's number one. But we need to start 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:53.160 building some continuity here because like all these games without 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:55.440 all three of them, is just tough to take data 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.320 from here. We started DeAndre Jordan Jason in that Charlotte game. 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:00.800 We didn't talk about this waste of joke, what a 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:02.960 waste of like a process game? You know what I mean? 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.400 What could you take from that. I don't I don't understand. 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:08.080 And obviously DJ's out of the rotation. Trevor Reason played 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:09.600 in that Charlotte game. I don't think he's in our 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:12.040 rotation either way. Ellington played in that game, and he's 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:13.800 not in our road like he started that game. When 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.320 Ellington started that game, he's not in our rotation. I don't. 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:18.680 I don't know, but you're right, it's a sensitive urgency 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:20.400 that we need to get to. We need to find 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.120 actions that we can go to in the playoffs that 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.480 are usable. I think the russ e D screen role 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:26.760 has to be something we can you know, us in 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:28.960 our back pocket to deploy on other teams, and we 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:31.000 just haven't been able to find those things and that's 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:34.440 been frustrating. Yeah, you know Dwight, I wonder if there's 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.920 something going on with Dwight health wise, because you know, 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.600 Dwight has had bad games this year. I've just always 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.080 thought that Dwight's success has been more tied to like 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.920 line up structure and you know, is the entire team 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.080 playing hard because you know, Dwight is kind of like 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.680 an energy guy in a lot of ways, and uh, 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.600 he's more or less looked the same to me athletically 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.760 this year as he did in That sounds crazy to say, 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:01.520 but of light in these last handful of games, for 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.040 whatever reason, it just looks like the step isn't there. 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:05.720 There was a play today, I believe it was in 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.520 the first half where it was either Monk or Russ. 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.920 Somebody threw Dwight alab and he usually would catch up 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.160 or jump up and dunk it, and instead he caught 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:15.640 it and he came down with it. He ended up 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:17.680 drawing a foul on the play. And I remember just 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.040 sitting there thinking, like, man like, Dwight looks slow, Like 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:24.120 this is the first time I've seen Dwight legitimately look 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.120 like he's lost the step since, at least compared to 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:29.800 this version of him. But I mean, we're four and 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.120 a half games back of the sixth seed rage and 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:35.640 I tend to I tend to think that the sixth 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.480 seed is vitally important for the Lakers for a couple 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.360 of reasons. One, the play and tournament is something you 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.600 want to avoid at all costs. And again reminder, we 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.360 barely beat Golden State on a game winning three from 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.640 lebron last year. We very easily could have lost that game, 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.479 ended up playing in a single elimination game against Memphis, 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.040 and that's a coin flip. With how well Memphis was 0:16:58.080 --> 0:16:59.880 playing at the end of the season last year, that 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.240 could have gone south very quickly. It just so happened 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:05.840 that it didn't, and so we there is an urgency 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:07.480 to get up there. And then the other thing too 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.879 is time, right, we need continuity. So obviously you have 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.160 this thirtysothing games left. I think it's thirty one games left. 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:18.360 But you don't want to go thirty one games straight 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:23.200 into a very difficult, very grueling series with Golden State 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.600 or Phoenix, a team that when we're at full strength, 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:30.199 we're probably only like we're we would barely beat them 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.040 if we beat them anyway, Like we're not gonna go 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.280 to Golden State smack them in five. That's not happening. 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:37.879 We're not going to Phoenix and smacking them in five. 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.000 That's probably a six or seven game series if we're healthy. 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.560 You would like to avoid that until later on. If 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.280 you could get that sixth seed, then you could play 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.920 either Memphis or Utah in the first round and give 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:52.639 yourself a better chance to get a really good feel 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:57.679 for playoff basketball. Before you roll into basically, uh, you know, 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:02.199 a wheel match up against the title contender at that 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:04.600 point in the second round. So urgency is a real 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:06.880 thing here, and that's what worried me about Lebron's knee. 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.200 I got in trouble with a bunch of crazy, insane 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:12.240 Lebron fans because I tweeted out that I was worried 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.800 about Lebron's knee and they thought they basically thought I 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:17.639 was insinuating he was sitting on purpose, which is ridiculous. 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.679 But I was worried about Lebron because I'm sitting here thinking, 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:24.600 like early in the season, he was resting because of 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:27.760