WEBVTT - Kings/Lakers postgame show 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.640 Welcome to the State of the Lakers post game show 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:14.360 versus The King's Jason is out tonight. Uh, he was 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:16.720 a game time decision, but he's on a ski trip 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:18.840 and so he decided to take this one off. So 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.200 I'll be solo here, so kind of bear with me. 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.040 This was a tough one. Of course, I was, you know, 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:28.040 lower on the Memphis loss and others. I didn't really 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:29.720 think it was that big of a deal, like as 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:32.120 big a deal as people thought. I have. Memphis kind 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:35.519 of been closer to the Utah Phoenix tier than the 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.839 one the bundle up of the West with us to MAVs, Clippers, 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:41.400 et cetera. So I wasn't really mad at that we went. 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.319 We won our last at least six games other than 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:47.519 the two Memphis losses, but tonight was definitely a step back. 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.960 We'll get into it. Russ obviously is again the poster story. 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.680 His players will be plastered everywhere, and I'll definitely get 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.840 into him. We scored sixty seven points in that first half, 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:03.440 so this game was definitely winnable. You're up six. Honestly, 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:06.360 to me, this game was lost on the defensive end here. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:11.000 The King's really ran simple actions and you know, you 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:14.080 can blame continuity, you can blame effort. I think all 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:18.360 those things are kind of intertwined. And I'm gonna try 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:20.960 to kind of put some clips up here of stuff 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:24.760 that I'm talking about, so again, people listening on the 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.959 pod or on dash radio tomorrow, I'll kind of explain 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.040 the player. It's pretty simple. So the first player is 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:31.760 kind of up there, and I'm gonna try to, you know, 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:35.679 integrate basketball players into the you know, into the podcast 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:37.039 a little bit here so I can kind of have 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:39.480 a little bit more visuals so it's a little easier 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.000 to see. But the first tweet is up there now. 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.360 So the Kings run this double draft screen, and it's 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.720 pretty simple here. They runned it, and they ran this 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.880 all night, right, It's basically just two screens for their 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:54.360 guard against whoever's defending whoever's against Leek Monk or every 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.000 Bradley or someone that we can't switch against, right, And 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.200 it was lay up after layup, or corner three after 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:05.600 corner three. It was and look, I don't I don't 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.280 know how to like start this, but we lost this 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.480 game defensively, and the rustuff is super frustrating obviously, and 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.120 he ended a lot of our big runs, but I 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.360 thought Lebron wasn't engaged on that end. And I don't 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:19.720 blame Lebron for and that's my kind of first point. 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:23.160 I don't blame Lebron for not being engaged defensively every 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.920 single night, right because he has a huge scoring load, 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.200 Like that's just what he has on his on his 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.840 plate every night. He has to score thirty thirty points 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.400 for us to be competitive. But when you go small ball, 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:37.959 you're big has to be engaged. And on these plays 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.040 we have no clue who the help guy is supposed 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.840 to be. And again I'm not sure where that responsibility lies. 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:45.800 But Stanley or Russ have to kind of step in here, 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.840 or Lebron has to show and recover back to Bagley. 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:51.480 And this is I just picked one play. This was 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:52.960 one of the first players of the game, and we 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.119 never really even adjusted to this. The King scored every 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:58.600 single point pretty much in the paint. There were four 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:00.800 for fourteen from three in the first half and still 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:03.239 put up sixty something points um. And that's kind of 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:05.480 where I want to start with this, because eight is 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:07.600 gonna be out a little bit longer as well, and 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:10.440 we can't just go into a nose dive here. I 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:12.799 would have liked to see Dwight Howard play a little bit, 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:14.320 play a little bit more, but there has to be 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.080 an identity to go along with the small ball where 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:19.760 we have a defensive identity as well. And this is 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:21.800 stuff that I just saw all night. I could have picked, 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:24.240 you know, five more plays of that. Darren Fox got 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:26.440 right to the basket. I thought Austin Reeves was our 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.120 you know, best defender on him tonight. I'll get into 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:31.560 Austin Um a little bit later and kind of why 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:33.040 I think he needs to play more. But d n 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:36.440 Fox got lay up after lay up. Looking at the 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.160 you know, plus minus always isn't always the best, you 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:41.840 know barometer for things like that, but Dwight Howard was 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.880 a plus nine tonight in fifteen minutes. I don't think 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.800 that's an accident. The Kings went up big twice. Actually, 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.080 I thought both our runs came from playing Dwight. And 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.480 I understand we want to move our identity and I 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:55.960 want to keep you know, I'm trying to keep this 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.160 podcast a little bit more on tonight. That's what happens 0:03:58.160 --> 0:03:59.760 when you do a post game show every day. But 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.160 we're trying to move to this small ball identity, but 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.680 it can't be this rigid, right Like, there has to 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.560 be some leeway for versatility here because if Lebron is 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:11.640 not going to be engaged, and again I don't blame 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.280 him for that because of his scoring though, like I 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.400 talked about, but you have to kind of switch up here. 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:18.480 I think, you know, Dwight Howard should have played more. 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.839 Now does that change the outcome of this game? Who knows? Right? 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.520 And I think, you know, the offensive stuff is our 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.680 issues as well. I think the defense has to get better. Man, 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.039 there has to be some kind of identity there because 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.000 we gave way too many points in the paint, and 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:34.159 we came back out of the second half of the 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:37.239 same energy, with the same effort, and it really felt 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.720 like we could outscore the Kings tonight, right Like, That's 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:42.800 kind of what I felt that, That's kind of how 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.479 we operated this whole game. We were scoring at ease, 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.159 our jumpers were going down, and once those didn't go down, 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.240 the Kings, you know, just continued to score at the basket. 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:53.200 At the Darren Fox got lay up after lay up, 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.360 and again that double drags King is just one kind 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.240 of operation of them, if you could see it up there. 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.840 For wherever just came in, Kings ran that they ran 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:02.120 a just a simple ball screen, and our rotations were 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.760 so off, which is so against what a vocal team is. UM. 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.840 If you remember last year Lebron and a d went down, 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:11.640 but our defense stayed number one, and I don't expect 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.000 this team's defensive state number one. Of course, the you know, 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:17.480 the personnel is totally different, but the scheme still it 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:19.520 just feels like it's off a little bit. And we 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.200 have guys who help in different places, and we definitely 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.680 have people that players go at. I talked about they 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:26.479 went out Lake Monk and every badly a ton of 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:29.640 because they know that we're not going to switch those actions, right, 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.040 So when when the Kings run this double drag, they 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.400 make you operating more of a drop type of coverage, 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:36.839 UM and and we really got destroyed with that. And 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.240 I just didn't see enough adjustments there. I thought, why 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.280 Howard was just a nice player to put in there 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:43.240 just to get just to change it up. And I 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.000 love that they kind of he kind of mirrored his 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:47.479 minutes with Alex Land. I just wish we closed with that. 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.840 I wish we closed the half with that as well, right, 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:51.559 because I thought, darn Fox just got to the basket. 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:55.119 The Kings weren't even hitting their outschild outside shots tonight. 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:56.920 Like I talked about four for four team from three, 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.080 they got little bit hot in the third quarter, but 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.560 when he scored sixty of the points like that, you 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:04.359 should be up more at halftime, And you know I was. 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:06.159 I was a little bit worried about that. And again, 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.400 like I, I don't agree to the fact that, you know, 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:10.360 the loss to Memphis or even the lost of the Kings, 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:12.279 and I throws away the stuff we've kind of built 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:14.839 up in our small ball identity, because again, this is 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:17.120 a new team. It's a new new, non new team, 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:19.200 but a whole new identity that we're moving towards. Right, 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:22.320 We've moved towards this small ball thing, and it's a 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:24.280 all new continuity. And we talked about how, you know, 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.520 DeAndre Jordan is not in the rotation anymore, but you 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.800 know this is stuff you'll see with You'll see you'll 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.360 see us give us a big, big up, give give up, 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:34.280 big leads and stuff like that. But I just want 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.800 to see a little bit more, little less rigid in 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:38.880 our rotations here, and I thought, you know, Frank kind 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.560 of pushed the wrong buttons uh tonight, And it's kind 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.400 of nitpicking as well. At again, like I talked about, 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:47.000 I'm not sure how much we're gonna win when Lebron 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:48.479 has that kind of effort, But I would just like 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:50.320 to see, like us to play a little bit more 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.120 of a traditional game there with with d why Howard, 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.480 because when we're small like that, and we're and when 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:58.680 you're small and not switching everything, that means your help 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:02.320 has to be insane or you have physical guards that 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.680 can protect the rim, right, Like, that's what happens when 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:06.479 you go small. The point of going small is to 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:08.040 be able to have a bunch of life size guys 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.080 that can defend. But again, when you're going small and 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.080 it's League Monk and every Bradley out there, and you 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:15.520 have Lebron who's just engaged as the back line center, 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:17.640 and again I'll keep using this caveat. I don't blame him, 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.160 just this is what happened tonight. And again at the end, 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:21.720 there was a lot of plays where you know he's 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.480 jogging back in transition and the Kings get open three 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:26.600 in the corner. But when you have that type of play, 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:28.480 I would have loved to see kind of dry Howard play. 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:30.120 And this is not just about Duy Howard. I just 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.320 mean like just from a sense of just changing it 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.120 up a little bit, play a little bit more traditional defense. Uh. 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:37.440 The King's again are bad team. They came in tonight 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:40.360 eleven games under five hundred, and they have some talent 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:43.200 on that roster, but there's no way they should be 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.040 scoring at will like they were in the paint. I 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.320 would just like to make a couple of different decisions, right, 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.360 show that Marvin Bagley can catch and swing to the 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:53.480 corner on the week side corner, right, and show that 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:55.480 you know met you can catch in the paint and 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:57.680 swing to the corner like that stuff that I feel 0:07:57.680 --> 0:07:59.280 like we should have at least made them go into 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:01.880 and really did, and they caught it float after floating 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:03.600 after floating in the rim, and we just kind of 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.800 gave them baskets in that way. And it's just it's 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.160 tough because I feel like we are in such wind 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.880 collection mode now we're weak. Like obviously you're experimenting with 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:14.960 small ball lineups, but you have to kind of play 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.280 with the game is going as well. Uh, And I 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:19.840 really just didn't think we did that. Uh. And I 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.680 thought tonight felt very similar to Memphis in a way. 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.200 Obviously Memphis does it on a higher level. They execute 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.000 at a higher level, but the way that Jaw just 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:28.640 put his head down right and got to the basket 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.400 on us, Darren Fox did that tonight. Darren Fox average 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.719 is twenty seven a game against us on pretty high efficiency. 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.079 I was seeing too when there when the King's excuse me, 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:41.240 when the King's posted his numbers against us, and that's 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.120 just tough. It felt like a layup line. And when 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:44.680 Lebron is not engaged in that way, I think you 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:48.640 have to kind of find other ways. Our small ball 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:53.680 has a breaking point right defensively like that's and when 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:55.280 it has that kind of breaking point, you have to 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:57.000 kind of switch up there. And if Lebron is not 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.520 in the Draymond role, and it's just gonna be tough 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.440 for us to kind of survived these type of games, 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:05.320 especially when Russ is playing the way he was. And 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.320 I thought, you know, and I guess I can kind 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:08.800 of move on to Russ because I'm sure that's what 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:13.679 everyone pretty much wants to hear about well before I 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:16.560 get into that, Like, I'm tired of the four million 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.079 dollar conversation. Like I think that's you know, been extended 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:22.600 as much as it has um. I think bringing up 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:25.640 how much Russ makes it's pretty negligent to the season. 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:29.760 That's an offseason conversation, right, Like Russ as whatever you 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:31.280 want to if you want to call it. And I 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:33.120 don't like using the word asset, but you know, that's 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:36.520 how UH people talk when they talk about transactions and 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:38.840 stuff like that. That's for the that's for the off 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.720 season here. Like there's stuff that Russ does. But my 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.679 expectations of him, and I think a lot of people 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.760 have discussed as well, are not to be a score 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.720 or even the second option. And I think you're seeing 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.560 that in these last few weeks, right. And he's had 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:57.280 a bunch of low turnover games and I think tonight, 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.199 let me check how many turnovers he had, he had 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.120 one turnover tonight, Right, And you're starting to see him 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.040 in his head a little bit kind of decide shot past, 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:10.200 you know, and those decisions that he just never had 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:14.000 to really be as cognizant of when he was the 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.000 main guy. Right, And you're seeing this transition. And I've 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.679 talked about Russ in terms of this is a season 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:24.000 where he's facing his own mortality, right, and every player 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.760 kind of gets to that that point. And a player 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.400 like Russ who's been, you know, not just the number 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.640 one an option, like the only option right on a 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.280 lot of teams like where in the last few years, 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.760 like with Washington, right, he was the number one ball 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.320 handley option on that team. Bradley Beale was more of 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:41.560 a come off, you know, downscreen type of offense guy. 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:43.760 Russ Westbrook was running pick and roll, you know, with 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.200 Daniel Gafford, you know, and all those guys and the 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:48.480 bigs to make their run. But that's not how I 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.160 see him on this team. And I think tonight in 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.000 that first half was probably the most off the ball 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.280 I've seen Russ uh and I've seen Lebron be turned 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.959 into a full time screener. And if you go reway 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.520 that first have it was just all it was Malik 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:06.679 Monk Lebron screen reactions. It was Avery, Bradley Lebron screen 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:09.320 actions like and Lebron full time screenal Like I talked about, 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:11.440 he's the full time finisher. Um, that's kind of why 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.760 I'm seeing with Russ and these you know, these switches 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.319 from player. It's never pretty, right, and uh, I think 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.480 people have also compared it kind of to Carmelo Anthony, right, 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.200 and it wasn't pretty when Carmelo Anthony went through an okay, see, 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:25.560 which is you know, it's kind of funny how you know, 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:28.080 these things kind of intertwined because they played together in 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:31.040 Oklahoma City. But when it was Russ, Paul George and 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:33.920 Carmelo as the third option when one of those when 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.360 one of those guys sat out, Carmelo couldn't just fill 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:38.440 into the second option, right like he just he was 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:40.720 just not at that point in his career. And that's 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.920 what I'm seeing with Russ as well. And obviously those 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:47.040 laking decision makings are always tough. And I don't know 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.120 what that late possession was. We were down, I believe 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.520 for Lebron had just hit a lay up. Russ comes 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.000 up the left side of the floor, Lebron doesn't go 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.360 get the basketball. Malik Monk decides to set a little 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.199 brush screen. Lebron sets a little flare screen from the 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:02.960 league Monk and he just goes stands on the other 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.839 side and rust the sides, Harrison Barnes goes under the 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:07.959 pick like every player in the league will do when 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.160 defending him, and he gets, you know, an open three 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:14.040 that doesn't go. But I think it was interesting in 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.839 this game to kind of keep it tonight. So Russ 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:20.560 started this game with Darren Fox on him right, and 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.160 he took him to the basket almost every single time, 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:27.000 or even when it was Haliburton or anyone. And in 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:30.839 the second half, the Kings switched Harrison Barnes onto him right, 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.600 and that really just switched his whole flow of the game. 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.600 And when that happens, there has to be an adjustment 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:38.200 there where Russ has to be like, Okay, I have 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:40.520 Harrison Barnes on me. Now, that's not a guy I 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:42.720 can overpower the rim. That's not a guy I can 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:45.040 you know, get to the basket finish, you know, rock 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.439 the rock the baby like you did tonight, like on 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.400 one play. But that's just not a guy you can 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:51.840 go through, right, And teams are gonna try to throw 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.760 guys that Russ can't go through. And we always discussed 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:59.280 the Lakers Houston playoff series. The Lakers had Anthony Davis 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.960 on Russ. They have some you know, Joe Schlow guarding him, 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:04.040 or they didn't have even our good defenders and Alex 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.840 Gruso and Kyle Kosma and DCP because he was just 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:08.520 too strong so he would be able to bully to 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:11.320 the basket. And we had Anthony Davis to throw on him. 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.280 And that changed the complexion of that series. And I 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.120 thought throwing Harrison Barnes on him, Uh, tonight changed the 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:18.240 complexion of tonight for us. He was kind of getting 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:21.760 to the basket. Uh, he was. Again, he's not gonna 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:23.920 make a lot of those, and he misses a lot more, 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.640 it feels like, and he makes at the rim. I 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.280 think I was seeing he was shooting at the rim 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.000 on layups and stuff like that, but just his pressure 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.880 at the basket and intertwme. It intertwines to me why 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:37.920 I would like to see Dwight Howard Um play a 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.559 little bit and let me see if I can kind 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:52.200 of share this share this plane, bear with me, all right, 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:55.400 if you guys can see the play here. So Russ, 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.880 this is what Russ does though, right, He's gonna attack 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.760 the rim, so yeah, Haliburton on him. But when however, 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:02.760 and gets to the basket, and this is why I 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.120 want him to like, especially but when Anthony Davis isn't 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:06.640 bad because this would be a D right, and a 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:08.839 d can kind of feel the Dwight role. Obviously he 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:10.400 can feel the Dwight role, but he can feel that 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:13.680 offensive rebound role. And I think that's so important when 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.560 Russ is playing, especially without Lebron, when he's gonna have 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:18.080 the ball more at the top of the key. So 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:22.040 Russ drives on this play right, and alex Land has 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.400 to come over, and the big will mostly come over 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.080 on a rush dry Ruskin. If Russ gets his his 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.360 shoulder passed the guard, the big will come over, and 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:32.200 then you have I believe that's Harrison Barnes trying to, 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.560 you know, take away Dwight from the offensive rebounds. And 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.360 I like, to me, that's just stuff that's important right 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:41.000 now when adies out. I don't like when, you know, 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:44.000 especially when Russ plays without Lebron and no centers. So 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.120 when it's like Trevor reesa Carmelo, if our shooter is 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.480 not Inferno there, it's like layups at the rim a reason. Still, 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:52.600 I thought this was the best of reason looks, but 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.040 he's still kind of slow right when he's when he's 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.920 moving around, he's still not quick um and Stanley Johnson 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.680 is good but still sana Johnson's and underst center. So 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:02.640 like those are just three points that you can kind 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:04.640 of pick up so that every you know, Russ lay 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:06.920 up miss at the rim, isn't the team going the 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:08.960 other way? And transition, you know, you can kind of 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.280 you can kind of pick off some of these easier 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:13.600 points there with what Dwight Howard in the game, and 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.000 that's another reason I'd kind of like him to get 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.200 more minutes, especially until eighties get eight gets back. I 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:21.880 just think a backup center is important. I think again, 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.840 our offense was great tonight and Lebron not being engaged 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.400 defensively was was part of the reason I think we lost. 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.640 But that's just stuff. And you know, this season has 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:32.560 kind of I said that from like the fifth game 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.120 of this year, like the season has become about acquescing 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.200 to Russell Westbrook, and I think that I think that's 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.760 magnified one of one of our stars gets out, And 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.120 I'm not telling you to change your expectations because like 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.880 that's just what it is. The contract to me, is 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.680 just negligent for what the season asked for right, and 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:52.880 this is the season we're trying to win a championship, 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:54.880 Like that's the whole point of this year. So what 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.000 can we do to put rust in better positions to 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.440 where we're successful when he's on the floor, right, his 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.440 contract means nothing once that ball tips up because he's 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:05.320 on the team, like, and he's gonna be on the 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.800 team after I don't remember when the trade deadline is 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:10.960 February something, for the fifteenth, I think, but he's gonna 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:12.560 be on the team after that. I promise you. The 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.080 best is not going anywhere for this whole season, So 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.480 trying to find out places that we can kind of 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.360 put them, And I think when Adie gets back, it 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.600 does slot him in a little bit better position. But 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:24.800 this is not excusing his play, right, Like he can't 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.000 be missing layups, he can't be taking these awful jumpers. 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.200 And again I thought tonight it was just another terrible, 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.520 I guess decision making game from him in terms of 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.280 when to shoot, when to pass. And I'm sorry if 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.840 I'm rambling here, but I feel like there's places on 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:42.920 the floor you have to put them. And I did 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:44.720 a video on the you know, when we beat the Kings, 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.240 the last time we went to Lebron Malik Monk two 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:49.960 man game every single time down the floor, and I 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.040 don't know why we went away from it tonight. We 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:54.120 didn't pick on Buddy Healed at all, we didn't pick 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.520 on Darren Fox as a defender at all. We didn't 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:58.960 force the Kings to do anything any of those actions. 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:03.040 Lebron took. Uh, he took twelve threes tonight, which I 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.480 think is just a little too high. And again maybe 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:07.560 that's part of the that might be intertwined as well 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.119 into the load managing stuff. Not wanting to drive to 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:12.760 the rim, But twelve threes to me, just get twenty 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:15.040 nine shot attempts to total for Lebron. So I can't 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.040 you know, Betwo nippicky, but you know, twelve threes is 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.920 a lot three or twelve from three from Lebron and 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.240 and all that's kind of intertwined. But there's places we 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.520 have to kind of put Russ there, and it's just 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.800 it's just tough to watch him. I guess in a 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:30.000 role that I don't think he was supposed to. I 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:31.679 guess b for this team, and I'm not sure if 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:33.800 that's the role that they imagine for him, but this 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:36.159 is just not the role that his skill set now 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:38.360 asked for, right. He needs to be a guy that's 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.680 attacking and already compromise defense. He can't be the guy 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:43.480 at the top of the key running a pick and 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.320 roll and trying to make decisions out of that, especially 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:48.919 in late game. And I think he's gonna transition. We do. 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.280 We do a nice job, you know, setting some brush 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:53.600 screens for him where he can attack a defender that 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:55.720 he likes, like meant to was a guy that I 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:58.000