WEBVTT - Part Two Pacers/Lakers Postgame Spaces 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:17.960 M all right. Welcome to the State of the Lakers 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:19.959 presented by DASH Radio. Thank you guys so much for 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:22.400 coming to hang out on. This is gonna be a Thursday, 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:24.920 Thursday evening. I guess. This is part two of our 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.080 postgame show from Pacers Lakers, starting with rog and I 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.360 breaking down some stuff with Russell Westbrook and then getting 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:35.240 back into kind of like a eulogy for Frank, just remembering, 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:37.320 you know, all the things that he did really well 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:39.960 while he was here, which then turned ironic when we 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.520 discovered live on the show that he was at least 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:44.199 going to be staying with the team long enough to 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:47.880 fly to Orlando. So that's all in this pot. As always, 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:50.479 we appreciate you guys support, and we will see you 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:54.360 for the postgame show on Friday night after the Magic Game. 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:58.440 But I think this is a good transition to Russ because, 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:02.360 you know, the one rotation decision he made tonight that 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:04.920 I agree with was him pulling Russ. And this is 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.640 something that we've talked about a lot on the show 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.400 here in recent weeks, and it's a it's a basic concept. 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.240 Like I shared out Russ's shot chart, the dude can't 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:16.400 make anything around the basket. Okay, he's shooting. I think 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.039 coming into tonight he was at like fifty percent within 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.199 three ft of the rim. That's a horrible number, guys, 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.040 that's not a good number. I know it sounds efficient 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:28.600 in the grand scheme of things, but to literally miss 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.560 almost half of the shots that you attempt at the 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.440 rim is an atrocious number. And it vastly undercuts the 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:39.120 positive impacts of his rim pressure. And like, what do 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.560 I always say, guys, Like when you're when to be 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:45.240 a positive perimeter basketball player, you have to be able 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:46.800 to do You have to be a triple threat. You 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:48.680 have to be able to shoot, you have to be 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:50.480 able to drive, and you have to be able to 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.520 make reads when teams send help your way. And the 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:57.080 thing with Russ is he can't shoot. When he drives, 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.920 he can't finish. And when it comes to making reads 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.920 against bad teams, when he's passing to areas, he can 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.120 have some success, but he really struggles making reads against 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:08.560 good teams that take away what he's good at and 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:11.040 take away his easy reads. That's why he has all 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.160 these horrible turnover games. But again, this, this is what's 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.520 so bad. Rogs one of my consistent themes has been like, 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.480 you know, Russ sucks against good teams, Like Russ can't score, 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.560 can't do anything to contribute against a good team. Well, 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.120 he's starting to have these nights against bad teams too, 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:29.520 and that's a really bad sign. This is the last 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:31.200 thing I'll say, and I'll kick it over to you, Roger. 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.440 There was there was a meme that became famous a 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:36.600 couple of years ago. I think it was shortly after 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.040 his time in Houston. Do you guys remember there was 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.240 like a timeline, Okay, And in the timeline, it's like 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.520 it's like a calendar timeline, and at the beginning, it's 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:46.680 like it's Russell Westbrook and it's like at the beginning, 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.320 it's like this is the worst basketball player of all time. 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.440 And then in the middle there's a little stretch where 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:54.240 it's like, oh, question mark. And then there's like another 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.720 stretch where it's like this is the best basketball player 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.440 of all time. And then there's the final and where 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:05.079 it all becomes a b that that meme is now 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:08.120 completely inaccurate because where's the stretch for he's the best 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.960 basketball player of all time? Does that stretch exist? Because 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.000 I see him getting worse and worse on a night 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.399 to night basis, And it's just it's just the unfortunate 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.360 reality of the predicament. Now I understand this is something 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:22.679 that I've talked about a lot in recent weeks. It's 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:25.600 going to be extremely difficult to trade Russ because nobody's 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.160 gonna want him. It is going to take a great 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:31.760 deal of circumstances falling in the Lakers lap to break 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:33.919 their way in order for a team to be willing 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.720 to take on Russ's salary and to send back filler. 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:41.120 But there's a reason why, Frank ben Struss, there's a 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.640 reason why in the Utah Jazz game we had our 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.200 best moments without Russ. There's a reason why Dwight Howard 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.120 and Russ on the floor don't work with the two 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:51.800 of them together because that combined lack of shooting. And 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.040 there's a reason why I've been pushing for this so far. 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:58.200 It's because even if you got crap back for us, 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.680 if it's crap, that can play a some kind of 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.480 role on this team, not the Russ role, but rather 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.640 similar role as to what Kuzma on KCP filled, Even 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:12.000 if they do it at the rate that those guys, 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.800 did this would be a better team. It's time to 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:17.360 cut the losses. It's time to understand that this was 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:19.400 a mistake and the team needs to move forward. Now. 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:21.640 It's going to be difficult. It's very possible that this 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:25.599 can't happen this deadline. What I'm advocating for is if 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:29.520 it's possible, it needs to be done, because there's nothing 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:32.640 to be gained by going down with the ship that 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.680 that's just a matter of pride at that point, like 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.880 that's just that's just cutting off your nose despite your face. 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.760 It would make way more sense to just acknowledge the 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.839 reality of the situation. Russ isn't a very good basketball 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:47.520 player anymore. He's not going to raise your ceiling against 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.600 good teams. Now, he's actively hurting you against bad teams. 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:53.159 Just because he made a handful of threes. It's almost 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:54.920 like the worst thing that can happen because he's gonna 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:57.800 start shooting him even more. It's just it's it's been 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.560 an absolute disaster on that front. And again, just like 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:03.119 with Frank, it's not the only reason the Lakers are bad, 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:06.560 but it's one of the reasons. And everything that went 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:08.320 out in that trade is part of that reason as well. 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:10.160 But that's just that's where I'm at with russ Man. 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.200 This is just another another that shot chart is absurd. 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.520 He can't put the ball in the basket. Rodge can 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.000 do it anymore. It's interesting because I've been, you know, 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:20.400 I've been kind of charting this and and looking at 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.320 this rewatching the games and stuff. And this is the 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:27.000 first time, obviously that Vogel has pulled Russ right, And 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:28.880 I didn't think he would pull him in a game 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.120 like I didn't even think it would happen halfway through 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.400 the season. But it's been a progression of what I've 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:37.000 been seeing. And we've been slowly and slowly we've been 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.520 removing Russ from like what we do structurally right like 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.240 in terms of what we run on offense. Go watch 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.760 these games, and he has just parked on the week side, 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.440 he is parked in the dunker spot off the ball. 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:51.760 We're running off offense through th ht fully through Lebron 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.200 as a screener or Lebron with the ball. Avery Bradley 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.800 even runs actions like we have moved Russell Westwark so 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:58.599 much off the ball, and I think that you're even 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.479 seeing this in his stop shop selection as well. And 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:03.920 again I think he had he had one turnover tonight, 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.359 So we're getting the low turnover games, but we're sometimes 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.480 we're getting even worse shots. You're seeing these one leg 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:10.919 fadeaways because that's the only place that he's kind of 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:14.280 a one legged fade away is the hardest basketball shot 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.240 I've ever tried to learn. It is an impossible shot. Like, 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:19.479 it's amazing that Kevin Durant is as good at it 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.120 as he is. For Russ to be taking that as 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.720 that bad of a jump shooter is literally the worst 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:27.840 case of the worst lack of self awareness I've ever seen. 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:30.599 And so, you know, and he's taking these because, like Jason, 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:34.599 his only time that he's getting offensive possessions is in transition, 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:36.200 you know, where he has a little bit of an 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:38.240 advantage against a one on one against a player that 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.800 you can physically over power. Or we're clearing aside for 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:43.840 him to attack on right, so we're like, if he's 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:45.920 gonna if he's on the left side, we throw everyone 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:47.880 to the right side. It's a clear out where he 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:49.920 can attack the rim or you know, shoot that little 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.400 bank shot that that's pretty much it. We have gone 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:54.839 away pretty much from russ screen role. He ran a 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:57.680 field with Lebron tonight, a couple with dwife. Other than that, 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.159 we've kind of gone away from Russ as the ball, 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.479 how did he shoot? And he gets it and it's 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.920 a it's rogue possessions, Jason, Like, okay, so someone has 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:07.800 the ball, we run an action through the league Monk 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.560 through Lebron. The ball swings because you know, Russ's guy 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:12.480 plays off him because that's what everything's gonna do. So 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:14.440 when we park us in the week side, where that's 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:16.840 kind of the toughest place to kind of hell off, right, 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:18.200 he's all the way in the week side. So even 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:20.160 if you park his guy into the paint and still 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.800 doesn't kind of impact the offensive action, but still so 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:24.280 he gets the ball and then that's where he can 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.200 kind of go rogue play in isolation play attack his 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.320 match up there. But like he used to me, we're 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:31.320 moving him more and more off the ball, and I 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.200 think we're kind of seeing that as well. In the 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.680 minutes he played twenty six minutes against Utah, twenty six 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.160 minutes again tonight against uh I'm ready for God Tho. 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.240 We played Indiana twenty six minutes again tonight gets Indiana 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.840 like his minutes are going down, his possessions of the 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.800 basketball are going down. And I've been a proponent of it. 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.520 It's just wild to watch it in real time. And 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:53.680 it's interesting. I think this is the way to best 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.480 use you know, Russell westbrook skill set. Put him um 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:59.640 where he's attacking and already compromised defense. And that's maybe 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.120 better in theory than it is an actuality when you're 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:04.960 watching the ball game. But it's interesting, man, we're watching 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.680 this progression of how we're using Russell Westbrook, and when 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.240 a d comes back, he'll be even more right subjected 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.960 to uh less possessions, subjected to less offensive possessions that 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.280 are surrounded by him. We're running. We've moved to non 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:19.960 Braun and Russ liners. Remember in the off season, we're like, oh, 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:21.560 we're gonna have one of Russ or Braun on the 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:23.640 floor all the time. We have moved to line ups 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.040 without both of them. We are getting we would wrap 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:28.840 and again not this. I don't want this to be 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:30.920 a full referendum on Russ because I don't think that's 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.120 what it is. But you know, we're we would rather 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:35.800 just have Malik Monk and Taylor, Horton, Tucker, get these possessions. 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.040 Get these you know, ball screen possessions. Where the floor 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:40.559 is open, where Stanley's at the five. Let those let 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.200 them run accidents. They've been good, Jason. They have been 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.480 caring us for for these last few games. So I 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.120 think the Russ conundru musition interesting. But I'm still on 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.640 the He's not going anywhere, you know, And I think 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:52.880 there's ways to kind of, you know, put him still 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:56.040 in better positions. And if I'm gonna put on the 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.320 hold on, I'm gonna put you in this. Okay, Let's 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.080 say Oklahoma City or some team not Oklahoma City. I 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:05.120 don't think they have the salaries match. Let's say Orlando 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:07.719 calls and they go, we want Russ, we want to 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.640 sell tickets. We'll give you, you know, Terence Ross and 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.840 you know, some combination of salaries, and but you're gonna 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:15.120 have to give us a first round pick whatever. So 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.439 let's say a Russ trade does materialize. Would you pull 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:22.360 the trigger? Yes? Or no? Man? That that's so tough 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:26.080 to decide, man, And maybe like maybe that's the course 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.640 of action here. I would, you know, I think the 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:30.440 team and who cares, you know what I think, like, 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:32.040 I think the team would still like to see what 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.280 Russ Ron and a d looked like as a collective. 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:36.640 I also think it's just a bad look though, right 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:40.280 You trade five players, four players, three of them super 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:43.640 high rotation guys for Russell Westbrook over the summer, including 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:45.200 a first round pick, and then you dump them to 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:48.120 Orlando you know how many months later, four or five 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:51.320 months later for whould you say, Terrence Ross? And well, 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.400 I I put the trade together a while. There's a 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.280 combination of salaries. I can't remember what it is. I 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:58.800 just don't. I just like, okay, so in those okay, 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:00.960 so is it not a bad I'd look also to 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.800 go down with the ship, like dude, you know, Rose, 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.119 He's gonna shoot this poorly in the paint in the playoffs, 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.840 if not worse, when defenses are really dialed in and 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:14.240 scheming to what he likes to do. This is going 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:18.280 to get worse. There's not I just what have we 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:21.959 seen this season that would lead you to believe that 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.360 Russell Westbrook is going to be a successful and productive 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.400 basketball player for US in a postseason series against a 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.320 good basketball team. To give me one thing, is it Okay. 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:35.040 I'll give you one thing. Playmaker. He's he's been a 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.480 decent playmaker for us this season in our week schedule 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.719 against mostly bad basketball teams, but in the games that 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.240 we played against good basketball teams, that hasn't translated. So again, 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.000 I like, literally today in the fourth quarter, there was 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.920 a play where he worked into the lane break the 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.559 jump shot, ran down the floor and got absolutely dusted 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.000 by Harris Laverne on the perimeter for a lamp. It's 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:00.319 like he is actively hurting us on both ends of 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:04.600 the floor. Yeah, it's it's it is it is again, 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.360 I get okay. Like I said, that's why I bring 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:11.000 up the Pride thing. It will look bad to trade Russ. 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.160 That will be the equivalent of Lebron and and and 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:19.240 Rob Perlinko and Anthony Davis basically admitting, like we screwed up. Yeah, 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:22.440 we screwed up bad. But my thing is, like, dude, like, 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:24.640 I don't view that as a sign of weakness. I 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:26.960 view that as a sign of strike when someone's willing 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:29.319 to look in the mirror and be like, this didn't work. 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:33.480 So this happened to a smaller extent, right, it wasn't 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.000 to this level, but it was definitely like, oh this roster, 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:37.679 we buill bring it. You know. It's funny. I'll think 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:39.880 about that team they brought in Isaiah Thomas right that, 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:42.480 And I thought, and you know, Isaiah Thomas was supposed 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:44.920 to be like the inside Chanles, it wasn't healthy. So 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.520 it's not the same apples apples, you know, comparison, but 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.760 it's interesting kind of the similarities there right there. Isaiah 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.160 Thomas lebron fit wasn't what they thought it would be, 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.520 and they ship half that roster out, so that could happen. 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.640 I don't think you're wrong there. I just like, that's 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.480 not like I don't see how Lindo doing that deal, right, Like, 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:03.880 I don't see any team being like, Okay, well it's 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:08.280 not likely, right, it's not likely. I'm just saying, like 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:12.560 in the universe for that materialized, I am a firm 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.120 believer that the Lakers would have to take that so 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.360 that they would have to do and I think they 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:20.520 have to do their due diligence to try, you know, 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.160 and and and and and My thing is like like again, 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:26.520 like I there was a point here that season about 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:30.280 what games in We're like, you're looking at this and 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:34.600 you're like, Russ has been okay. Yeah, you know, like 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.440 he was really bad in that stretch to start the season, 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.199 and like it was, it had some really rough moments 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.520 like that, you know, the okay see losses for instance, 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.200 you know, but like there was that little stretch there, 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.920 like ten fifteen games. We're like like this, there's this 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.920 is okay, like he's not bad. But the dirty little 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:54.000 secret there is we were playing bad teams, Raj, we 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:55.959 were we were we were playing bad teams. And he 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.680 was also shooting abnormally well, he was shooting like thirty 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:00.880 seven percent or something like that of wide open threes, 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:04.680 which has since cratered until tonight at least. But like 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:07.439 a get like like my thing, there is like outside 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.480 of that little stretch where he was okay, not even 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:14.040 really good, just like okay, like okay enough that you 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:16.000 could look back and be like he's not the reason 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.120 why they're struggling, you know. But outside of that stretch, 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.640 it's been all bad. It's been all bad. Rage. Yeah, no, 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.680 you're you're not wrong there. And I think you know 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.720 he's facing his mortality. I keep saying that, and the 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.360 adjustment really hasn't come we're trying to make him you 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.840 know this, we're trying to make Russell Westbrook not Russell Westbrook, right, 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.120 Like we're turning him into this low turnover you know guard. 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:40.240 And when you do that, it's great, you get the 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.120 no turnovers, but the domino effect is then created, right, 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.280 you create this domin effect of like a guy who's 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:48.320 you know, way more concerned about where his shot in 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:50.400 past comes from then he's ever had to be. And no, 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:52.880 so now you're getting these terrible shots again, these mid 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:54.439 range pull ups. Those are the ones to me and 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:56.599 you have to take out, like the misses at the 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:58.560 rim what they are, if they're at the volume that 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:00.960 they're at, I can live with. That issue is when 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.840 you confound that when you compound that with the you know, 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:07.200 in transition dribble, contested pull up jumper or you know 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:09.040 he had that three pointer where he got the offensive 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.360 foul on I believe where he liked. I think he 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.400 hit Tory Craig in the face. Like, those are the 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.480 shots that we can't have, Like when a defender flies 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.040 under a screen, I honestly think, like you know, his 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.240 forum is okay on those when he gets a little 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.200 you know, jump stop pull up like that. That's probably 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:26.360 where he's best. But then like the four for six 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:28.600 from three is going to be a super anomally Obviously 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:30.560 you're not gonna get that every night. But yeah, like 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.480 it's been rough for sure. And I've always said, like 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.040 this process that you want to build here and the 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:38.240 contract is what it is. To me, I know you're 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.960 ready to cut Bait and that might be and to me, 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:42.800 I think that Bait is gonna be cut in the summer. 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.040 Uh whatever happens here unless they win a title, but 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:47.720 I think that Bait is gonna be cut. But like, 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:50.280 there's places we have to fit them and we're doing 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:52.360 that now, and it's gonna look ugly, and it's looked 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.600 ugly for a lot of this season, but it's the 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:56.680 best way to put it. And and you might be right, 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:58.680 you know, you can trade Russ for some minimum guys. 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.480 I just think that's that's such a tough decision for 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:04.840 front obvious to make mid season because you're gonna obviously 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.080 you're gonna you're gonna lose everything that you kind of did, 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:09.920 and maybe that's the way you have to go, But man, 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:12.840 I don't know the rest fit definitely has been ugly. 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.160 I just I think when a D comes back, hopefully 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:16.840 that kind of fits guys in the right place. But 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:19.320 it hasn't been pretty man, and we're we're seeing the 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.160 progression to moving rust more and more off ball, which 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:23.800 is not what we thought over the summer. The whole 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.920 point of bringing Russ in was to give Lebron the 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:29.480 more off ball actions, which he's done, but it's been 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.640 with like Leek Monk and to ht h D instead 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:33.720 of you know, instead of with Russell Western. So it's 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.400 such a such an interesting kind of situation we were 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:38.760 in right now. Yeah, so I wanted to say one 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:40.440 thing about Russ before we can move on, and maybe 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:42.440 maybe you and I can try to find a shred 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:45.960 of positivity in this somewhere. But you know, so, Pete 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:49.000 from micro FILMERM had a really interesting uh A point 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:51.880 that he made in the podcast today when he was 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:55.440 referencing the predicament that Frank Vogel was put in this year, 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.920 and his point was basically like, look at the first 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.840 year Lebron came, it was like, let's get Paul George, 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.960 and then when Paul George failed, it was like, let's 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.240 bring in all these playmakers, you know, Land Stevenson and 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:09.480 a Jean Rondo, so on and so forth. And then 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.480 when that didn't work, the the you know, they traded 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:17.600 everything for for Anthony Davis and then their an initial 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:20.520 goal was to get Kawhi Leonard with that, you know, 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.600 because because again like this is the dirty little secret 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.239 about Lebron throughout his career. You know, there's some detractors 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:28.640 of his that like to kind of paint him as 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.840 a ballhog. But the dirty little secret about Lebron is 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:34.400 he he wants to give the ball up, like he 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.920 wants to have his you know, third slash half of 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:41.520 the game that he's on the floor where he controls everything, 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:44.320 but in the rest of that half, like he wants 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:46.640 to have spot up possessions. He wants to have possessions 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:48.800 where he can cut and do things like that. Why 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:51.400 because that's been part of the tale of Lebron's creat 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.360 He likes to rest while he's on the court. And 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:56.800 the only way he can feel comfortable doing that is 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:58.480 if you can give the ball to somebody else and 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:00.800 have them make a play. And is extend that is 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.520 extended year after year, because it happened even when they 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:07.119 traded Danny Green for Dennis Schroeder and then finally culminating 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:10.680 with the Russell Westbrook trade. The thing that I disagree 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:16.160 about with that particularly is with this team construct without 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.960 Russell Westbrook. Excuse me, Like, yeah, if you take Russell 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.600 Westbrook out of the picture, like just for a second 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.199 here as I try to paint this picture, this is 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.520 not the same type of style offensively that Lebron is 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:32.639 used to play. So traditionally, over the course of Lebron's career, 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:35.879 guys who played off the ball were not you know, 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:39.840 really they weren't guys who would make plays. You know. 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:42.960 They were more like specialists, you know, and your your 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.520 Kyle Korverer's or your Shane Battiers or you know, Mike Miller's, 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:50.520 those those types of players, and not exactly so with 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:55.080 those types of guys, you had to have playmaking guys 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.960 that can generate high quality shots for those guys. But 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.840 this is why in such a book, Big Believer in 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:03.239 Modern Basketball. This is something that we talked about a 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.840 ton after that Phoenix Sun series last year. This idea 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.760 of high level clothes out attacking in a five out 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.640 dribble drive and attack offense. It's kind of important for 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.720 everybody to be able to do that kind of stuff, right, 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.240 And so that the irony and all of this, as 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:24.120 we saw in that Jazz game, is the Lakers actually 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.800 have a lot of guys who can do that already. 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.160 Like th HD can put the ball on the floor, 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:30.800 make stuff happen. I thought he had one of his 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.840 best games as a pro tonight, which there's just a 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.880 line of guys. But anyway, the but Austin reeves like he's, 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:41.480 you know, an extremely intelligent basketball player that can put 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:43.080 the ball on the floor and make place for people. 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:45.600 You know, Stanley Johnston, we talked about a lot in 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:48.359 the last pot about his basketball background and how that 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:52.080 bred his ability to make things happen with the ball 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:54.320 in his hands with a live dribble. And then obviously 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:58.240 Molique Monk is is like literally like the modern generations Microwent, 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:01.080