1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:18,040
Speaker 1: M all right, welcome to the State of the Lakers.

2
00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:19,960
Speaker 1: Hasn't a boy dads badio. Thank you guys for making

3
00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:22,599
Speaker 1: some time on a Saturday. This is gonna be really quick,

4
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,560
Speaker 1: maybe ten fifteen minutes. My wife is out of town,

5
00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,360
Speaker 1: had a little bit of extra free time. I had

6
00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,040
Speaker 1: a couple of thoughts about a couple of NBA related

7
00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:32,040
Speaker 1: topics that I wanted to touch on, so I figured

8
00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,319
Speaker 1: we might as well hop on a space is really quick. Um,

9
00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,840
Speaker 1: my goal is to hit on steps shooting this slump

10
00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,000
Speaker 1: that he's been in for the vast majority of this season.

11
00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:45,280
Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about Grayson Allen

12
00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,120
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, kind of how I feel about

13
00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,280
Speaker 1: what makes him different from some of the other dirty plays,

14
00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,040
Speaker 1: dirty players that we see around the league, and why

15
00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,800
Speaker 1: I think he can be so problematic. And then at

16
00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,680
Speaker 1: the end, I want to talk about Russ in this

17
00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,000
Speaker 1: ridiculous little media tour that he's been doing over the

18
00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,160
Speaker 1: last couple of days that I think is kind of

19
00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,559
Speaker 1: tone deaf and uh, completely unaware of what Laker fans

20
00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,440
Speaker 1: are actually looking for from him. So three quick topics.

21
00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,040
Speaker 1: Like I said, ten fifteen minutes. I appreciate you guys

22
00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:15,560
Speaker 1: coming to hang out. Let's go ahead and get started.

23
00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:20,040
Speaker 1: So step shooting, as we know, he is below from

24
00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,400
Speaker 1: three this year, and for basically the last basically half

25
00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,400
Speaker 1: of their games games, he's shooting well below what we

26
00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,400
Speaker 1: would expect um from a player of his caliber. His

27
00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:36,080
Speaker 1: field goal percentage has been in the high thirties and

28
00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:38,720
Speaker 1: his three point percentage has been in the low thirties

29
00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,280
Speaker 1: for this stretch. And I, you know, I see Warriors

30
00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:44,480
Speaker 1: fans in particular kind of working through it in a

31
00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,840
Speaker 1: bunch of different ways, trying to blame stuff with rotations,

32
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,520
Speaker 1: trying to blame stuff with his shot selection, trying to

33
00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,680
Speaker 1: blame stuff with you know, the way he's being utilized

34
00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:57,560
Speaker 1: on and off the ball. And I remain just completely

35
00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,400
Speaker 1: and utterly unconcerned. I can't think of anything that worries

36
00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,520
Speaker 1: me less than whether or not Steff is going to

37
00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,960
Speaker 1: start making shots at some point. Um. The reason why

38
00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,440
Speaker 1: is because he looks great physically. This is the big

39
00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,959
Speaker 1: thing that we look at here. You know, when I

40
00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,040
Speaker 1: watch people get upset about Lebron having a rough game

41
00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,400
Speaker 1: or poor shooting night, or failing to get his step

42
00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,320
Speaker 1: on a guy, a lot of times, all I have

43
00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,400
Speaker 1: to do is see one or two moves that he

44
00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:26,239
Speaker 1: might make over the course of the game where I

45
00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,639
Speaker 1: can say, oh, like his legs are still there. He's

46
00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,560
Speaker 1: just having an off night forever for whatever the reason

47
00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,920
Speaker 1: might be. Now, when it comes to when it comes

48
00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,480
Speaker 1: to jump shooting in particular, it gets a lot more

49
00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:43,040
Speaker 1: finicky because there's so much related to the mental side

50
00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,519
Speaker 1: of the game. Like, for instance, step this year is

51
00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:50,320
Speaker 1: shooting fifty six percent when he's tightly guarded, very tightly guarded.

52
00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 1: I should say, according to NBA dot Com, he's shooting

53
00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,560
Speaker 1: forty when he's tightly guarded. He's actually been making the

54
00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,239
Speaker 1: tougher you know, classic Steph Curry types of shot, and

55
00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,679
Speaker 1: he's been missing the wide open ones. Is wide open.

56
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,280
Speaker 1: Three point percentage is five percent lower than it was

57
00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:09,040
Speaker 1: last season. So it's one of those things where it's

58
00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,040
Speaker 1: very flukey to me. I think a lot of it

59
00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,519
Speaker 1: is confidence related, you know, Like I said, jump shooting

60
00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:16,639
Speaker 1: is kind of like this. It can be one of

61
00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,239
Speaker 1: those things where you know, gets in your head and

62
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,919
Speaker 1: you start to overthink things and you get you stopped

63
00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,600
Speaker 1: stop thinking about your form, and you start thinking like

64
00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,200
Speaker 1: you've got the yips, or you just don't have it tonight,

65
00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:30,040
Speaker 1: or man, I just wish one of these would go down,

66
00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 1: and it just gets in your head and it can

67
00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,280
Speaker 1: really be it can really be a problem. That's what's

68
00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,080
Speaker 1: different between a jump shooting centric player and a player

69
00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,120
Speaker 1: likes to get to the rim. They can typically impact

70
00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,280
Speaker 1: the game no matter what, just by you know, pushing

71
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,560
Speaker 1: through that physical barrier of trying to put their head

72
00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:48,280
Speaker 1: down and get to the rim. Now, to be clear,

73
00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,040
Speaker 1: Steph has still had an amazing season. I think there's

74
00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,200
Speaker 1: a case to be made that he still our m

75
00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,240
Speaker 1: v P because of all of the attention that he

76
00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:58,480
Speaker 1: drags all over the court. There is you know, if

77
00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:00,800
Speaker 1: you look at the Warriors metric, the way that their

78
00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,839
Speaker 1: teammates performed with step on the step on the floor

79
00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,760
Speaker 1: is vastly better than the way they performed with Steph

80
00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,120
Speaker 1: off the floor. So we have to be clear in

81
00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,840
Speaker 1: understanding that Steph just because he's not shooting particularly well,

82
00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,520
Speaker 1: doesn't mean he's having a bad season. He's been very

83
00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,920
Speaker 1: good defensively, He's been very good in in big moments

84
00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,599
Speaker 1: at the end of games. He had another big crunch

85
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,240
Speaker 1: time moment last night. I actually think that's gonna be

86
00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:27,279
Speaker 1: the one that gets him going, because I do believe

87
00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,640
Speaker 1: this is associated with his confidence. So again, I he

88
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,560
Speaker 1: looks great physically, the team looks great. I'm not even

89
00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,640
Speaker 1: remotely concerned about step I think he's gonna be fine.

90
00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:39,440
Speaker 1: The one thing I was gonna say, if I had

91
00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,880
Speaker 1: to be really nitpicky with step is related to shot selection.

92
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,960
Speaker 1: And I've noticed this, especially over their last couple of games.

93
00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,080
Speaker 1: You know, Steph is a gunner from three. He's one

94
00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,440
Speaker 1: of the few guys in the league that being a

95
00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,640
Speaker 1: gunner from three works for him. It's actually beneficial to

96
00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:57,280
Speaker 1: the team in a lot of ways. That's where he

97
00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,400
Speaker 1: gets his gravity from. However, step has been in the

98
00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:02,280
Speaker 1: league for a long time now, you know, they're in

99
00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,440
Speaker 1: two thousand sixteen and two thousand fifteen. So much of

100
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:07,600
Speaker 1: what he was doing was catching the league off guard,

101
00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,480
Speaker 1: and his style of play was so unusual that he

102
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,400
Speaker 1: could have success, you know, basically based on defensive schemes,

103
00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,320
Speaker 1: having no idea how to handle what he was bringing

104
00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:21,479
Speaker 1: to the table. Now it's completely different. Over the course

105
00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,600
Speaker 1: of the last six seven years, there's been a blueprint

106
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,560
Speaker 1: formed for how to guard Steph Curry. Now, for the record,

107
00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,840
Speaker 1: there's a blueprint that exists for every superstar in the league.

108
00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,000
Speaker 1: So I don't mean that as a negative. I just

109
00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,720
Speaker 1: mean during that early phase of the Steph era, he

110
00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,800
Speaker 1: there was no blueprint because he was so unusual. There

111
00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,200
Speaker 1: was no one had seen anything like it, no one

112
00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:44,719
Speaker 1: knew how to guard him. Well, now there's a blueprint.

113
00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,120
Speaker 1: You rough him up off the ball. You're grabbing your

114
00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,239
Speaker 1: hold so that as he's doing his off ball actions,

115
00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:51,000
Speaker 1: you fatigue him and it makes it harder for him

116
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,240
Speaker 1: to move around. And essentially you get somebody on your

117
00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,480
Speaker 1: team who's a ball hawk who does a good job

118
00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:59,880
Speaker 1: of making sure that after Steph gives up the basket

119
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,440
Speaker 1: all he doesn't lose focus or get out of his stance,

120
00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,880
Speaker 1: because that's when step is most dangerous. So now there

121
00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:06,599
Speaker 1: are a handful of guys in the league that actually

122
00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,640
Speaker 1: can do a decent job against him. So this is

123
00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,040
Speaker 1: where Steph has to evolve with them, right, just like

124
00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,479
Speaker 1: every other star that has has come through the league,

125
00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,000
Speaker 1: especially as as they get older, you have to find

126
00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,040
Speaker 1: a way to evolve faster than defenses have been. And

127
00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,000
Speaker 1: so what I would like to see is to see

128
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,720
Speaker 1: step take a little bit more advantage of guys over

129
00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:28,720
Speaker 1: playing him to the three point line and make a

130
00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,440
Speaker 1: greater attempt to score in other spots on the floor.

131
00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:33,960
Speaker 1: Steph is one of the best midrange shooters that we

132
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:35,640
Speaker 1: have in our league. It's a it's a shot that

133
00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,680
Speaker 1: he has to learn to lean on more, especially when

134
00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:43,120
Speaker 1: you've got guys risking position, getting out of position for

135
00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,480
Speaker 1: the sake of chasing you off the three point line

136
00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,200
Speaker 1: when there's an option there for you in the paint,

137
00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,240
Speaker 1: and he's got an arsenal of these like scoop shots

138
00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,600
Speaker 1: and floaters that when Steph is really clicking, that he

139
00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,480
Speaker 1: can go to. So again, if I'm being nitpicky, I'd

140
00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,120
Speaker 1: like to see Steph just embrace a little bit or

141
00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,720
Speaker 1: of of of a very varying shot profile, take on

142
00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,680
Speaker 1: a little bit more of some of the other spots

143
00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,040
Speaker 1: on the floor rather than hunting those threes all of

144
00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,360
Speaker 1: the time. I've seen his story too many times this year.

145
00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,960
Speaker 1: You know, Warriors down three late and Steph comes down

146
00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,040
Speaker 1: and he just jacks the three, and it's like sometimes

147
00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,160
Speaker 1: they go in and sometimes they don't. You know, if

148
00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,760
Speaker 1: he adds a little bit more versatility there, I think

149
00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:25,080
Speaker 1: it will get him back into his confidence, which then

150
00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,600
Speaker 1: will unleash that barrage of Step three pointers that we

151
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,080
Speaker 1: all know. But again, you look at the numbers, it's

152
00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,360
Speaker 1: the wide open ones that he's missing. His body looks great,

153
00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,960
Speaker 1: so it's just a typical shooting slump. I wouldn't overthink it.

154
00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,480
Speaker 1: I feel pretty confident that step is gonna have a

155
00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,720
Speaker 1: big time end of the season. I wouldn't be shocked

156
00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,239
Speaker 1: if he ended up over by the end of the season.

157
00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,240
Speaker 1: One last note on Steps something that's a little bit interesting, Uh,

158
00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,840
Speaker 1: he in his last two postseason runs is underneath from three.

159
00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:59,280
Speaker 1: That would be an indicator of serious decline. Now, obviously,

160
00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,560
Speaker 1: in the two was a nineteen playoff run, he um

161
00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,360
Speaker 1: was the focal point of the defense because of a

162
00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,880
Speaker 1: couple of injuries, so that's a little bit different. But

163
00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,200
Speaker 1: it'd be interesting to see this year what he shoots

164
00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:12,720
Speaker 1: from three in the postseason. I think that'll be a

165
00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,040
Speaker 1: good indicator of where he's seriously at in terms of

166
00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,680
Speaker 1: any sort of alleged decline. Um. But let's let's move

167
00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:26,120
Speaker 1: on to Grayson Allen for a second. So I was

168
00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,480
Speaker 1: thinking a lot about you know, what makes Grayson Allen

169
00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,680
Speaker 1: different from other players around the league that get people hurt,

170
00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,280
Speaker 1: because we've seen a bunch of them. I've seen, you know.

171
00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:38,559
Speaker 1: We we see that play like the Solomon Hill play

172
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,600
Speaker 1: on Lebron or Matthew Dellavedova in the two thousand fifteen playoffs,

173
00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,880
Speaker 1: diving into Kyle Korver's legs, that sort of thing. There

174
00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,400
Speaker 1: is an epidemic in the NBA of dangerous hustle. This

175
00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:52,800
Speaker 1: is something that needs to be talked about. That's separate

176
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,199
Speaker 1: from the Grayson Allen issue. I don't think guys should

177
00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,560
Speaker 1: It's I don't think I should be diving for loose

178
00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:00,719
Speaker 1: balls when guys are running next to him. It's kind

179
00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,920
Speaker 1: of similar to diving at a quarterback selex. Obviously, if

180
00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,360
Speaker 1: you're a defensive end and an offensive lineman is pushing

181
00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,160
Speaker 1: you down to the ground, sometimes you you have to dive, right,

182
00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,320
Speaker 1: But the league basically decided, even though that's a natural

183
00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,920
Speaker 1: football play, it's far more important for our quarterbacks to

184
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,839
Speaker 1: be healthy because that's what's best for the league. It's

185
00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,319
Speaker 1: best for the league if our quarterbacks are on the field,

186
00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,920
Speaker 1: that's when we get our best television product. And all

187
00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,640
Speaker 1: of the thirty two teams agreed, and that's the way

188
00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:31,719
Speaker 1: they chose to proceed. That's kind of the type of

189
00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,160
Speaker 1: angle that I think the NBA needs to take. Like, yeah,

190
00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:37,839
Speaker 1: we get it, it's a hustle play. You're going for

191
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,920
Speaker 1: a loose ball. But in my opinion, similar to the

192
00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:43,960
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard play, where the the Zaza Petulia and Kawhi

193
00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,400
Speaker 1: Leonard play where we decided we didn't want defenders coming

194
00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,079
Speaker 1: up under jump shooters anymore, we have to do the

195
00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,960
Speaker 1: same thing with all of these weird fake hustle plays

196
00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,640
Speaker 1: where guys are diving on the floor in blowing guys

197
00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,520
Speaker 1: knees out and blowing guys uh ankles out. We need

198
00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:01,520
Speaker 1: to have a rule that if you die for a

199
00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,679
Speaker 1: loose ball and there's a player where the ball is

200
00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:06,559
Speaker 1: and you take out their legs, it needs to be

201
00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:09,839
Speaker 1: some kind of flagrant, some sort of some sort of

202
00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,640
Speaker 1: accountability there, because again, it's just more important for the

203
00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:15,559
Speaker 1: sake of the league, for the health of the league,

204
00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,960
Speaker 1: for the TV product, to have our basketball players actually

205
00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,720
Speaker 1: available and able to play. But that's different. Like when

206
00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:24,840
Speaker 1: I think of like other dirty players in the league,

207
00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:28,480
Speaker 1: like Patrick Beverley is a good example. Patrick Beverley, Like

208
00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,040
Speaker 1: when I think about dirty plays from him, they're typically

209
00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,840
Speaker 1: related to hustle, so they might fall in that category

210
00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,080
Speaker 1: that I'm talking about, like maybe it should be penalized

211
00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,319
Speaker 1: with a flagrant or something like that. The stuff that

212
00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,560
Speaker 1: Grayson Allen does is flat out dangerous and it's not hustle.

213
00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,400
Speaker 1: It's just dirty. There's a huge difference between the two.

214
00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:47,800
Speaker 1: You stick in your foot out and tripping a guy

215
00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:50,360
Speaker 1: that has nothing to do with you trying to make

216
00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,920
Speaker 1: a basketball play that happens to be dangerous and getting

217
00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,079
Speaker 1: someone hurt, that's you just being a prick. That's you

218
00:10:57,240 --> 00:10:59,920
Speaker 1: just being a jerk who's trying to hurt somebody at

219
00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,559
Speaker 1: then like a child, unable to control your urges to

220
00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:05,800
Speaker 1: lash out when you get beat off the dribble. There's

221
00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,320
Speaker 1: it's it's absolutely inexcusable, and I there's absolutely no place

222
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,760
Speaker 1: for it in basketball. And the same thing goes with

223
00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,000
Speaker 1: two basketball players that I want to use as an

224
00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,720
Speaker 1: example of what I'm talking about, Taylan Horton Tucker last

225
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,040
Speaker 1: night against Orlando. On a play when Jalen Suggs took

226
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,480
Speaker 1: off to go to the basket, Taylor Horton Tucker went

227
00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:26,880
Speaker 1: with two hands towards the ball to try to make

228
00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,839
Speaker 1: a play. He got both hands on the basketball during

229
00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,280
Speaker 1: the process. He got some wrist as well, and he

230
00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,240
Speaker 1: his momentum was at an angle that it was unfortunate,

231
00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,920
Speaker 1: and it pulled Jalen Suggs to the ground and it

232
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,160
Speaker 1: ended up being a dangerous play and Jalen Suggs ended

233
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,199
Speaker 1: up getting hurt. Now there's a blame pie there that

234
00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,319
Speaker 1: all three players are involved, because Jalen Suggs had no

235
00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,679
Speaker 1: business trying to take off right there. He had no angle,

236
00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,600
Speaker 1: there was no advantage. It was just an extremely dangerous

237
00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,839
Speaker 1: move on his part. Taylan obviously pulling the ball down

238
00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:59,360
Speaker 1: that's dangerous as well. There's an angle to where Lebron

239
00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:01,720
Speaker 1: kind of has hands up in there, kind of pushing

240
00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,559
Speaker 1: Jalen in the chest. That's all dangerous, But they're all

241
00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:09,160
Speaker 1: basketball plays. What Grayson Allen did was not a basketball play.

242
00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,760
Speaker 1: He wasn't looking, he didn't know what was happening. He

243
00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:14,199
Speaker 1: knew he had Alex Cruise up by the arms. He

244
00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,920
Speaker 1: knew that by pulling him it was gonna be uh,

245
00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:20,319
Speaker 1: something super dangerous and the worst case in the weapon.

246
00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,240
Speaker 1: And now a player who deserves consideration for the All

247
00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,280
Speaker 1: Defense Team is gonna miss two months of basketball because

248
00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,800
Speaker 1: Grayson Allen couldn't control himself again and got somebody hurt.

249
00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,760
Speaker 1: I think Grayson Allen deserves a significantly long suspension, something

250
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,920
Speaker 1: that sends this very important message. Yeah, we might be

251
00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,760
Speaker 1: able to hustle, to legislate dangerous hustle out of the league,

252
00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,800
Speaker 1: but this business with Grayson Allen doing this jan ky

253
00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,800
Speaker 1: dirty stuff has to get out. The only way it's

254
00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,840
Speaker 1: gonna happen is if they levy a heavy suspension on him.

255
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,400
Speaker 1: There needs to be a point if Grayson Allen is

256
00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,199
Speaker 1: going to stay in the league, there needs to be

257
00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,359
Speaker 1: a point where he actually starts to encounter these situations

258
00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:01,960
Speaker 1: and it's dada just sticking his foot out or doing

259
00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,440
Speaker 1: something stupid. He finally thinks about a consequence for once

260
00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:07,960
Speaker 1: and he stops doing it. It needs to be done

261
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,720
Speaker 1: before somebody gets seriously, seriously hurt, and maybe it's worse

262
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,599
Speaker 1: than a couple of months. Alright, really quickly, before we

263
00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:16,040
Speaker 1: get out of here. I wanted to hit on this

264
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:27,480
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook thing. So after the catastrophe against the Indiana

265
00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,000
Speaker 1: Pacers the other night, we had the story from Davig

266
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,920
Speaker 1: Mediment about Russ walking off the floor essentially, and then

267
00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,760
Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan's kind of trying to shepherd him back to

268
00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,240
Speaker 1: the bench. And then we heard that he skipped on

269
00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,000
Speaker 1: the media session, but not only did he skip on

270
00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,560
Speaker 1: the media session, he skipped the postgame meeting with the team.

271
00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:45,640
Speaker 1: Like he ran back to the locker room. It took

272
00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:47,480
Speaker 1: a quick shower and ran out of there. And so

273
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:52,679
Speaker 1: then Russ goes on the offensive, right, he tells, uh,

274
00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,560
Speaker 1: he I think he did the interview with Adrian Morzanowski

275
00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,640
Speaker 1: and he does this lengthy story about all the how

276
00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,360
Speaker 1: difficult this has been and how he's just working through

277
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,360
Speaker 1: it and how all he wants to do is win

278
00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,200
Speaker 1: and he's gonna do whatever it takes to to make

279
00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:08,760
Speaker 1: sure he fits into that role. And you know, everyone's like, oh,

280
00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:10,680
Speaker 1: Russ is saying all the right things, And I thought

281
00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:12,480
Speaker 1: the same thing. I'm like playing Russ is saying all

282
00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,480
Speaker 1: the right things. But they said all the right things

283
00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,960
Speaker 1: in that story before the season when Anthony Davis, Lebron

284
00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,720
Speaker 1: and Russ met up and talked about what this would

285
00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,560
Speaker 1: look like, and during that that time, Russ said all

286
00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,400
Speaker 1: the right things about what he would have to do

287
00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,160
Speaker 1: to fit with Lebron and Anthony Davis. That was all

288
00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,200
Speaker 1: said before. This is all This is a classic talk

289
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,440
Speaker 1: is cheap type of situation. I just no one's interested,

290
00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,280
Speaker 1: and you're saying you have to do all the right things.

291
00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,320
Speaker 1: Just go out and do all the right things for us,

292
00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:40,840
Speaker 1: Like the Laker fan base. If there's one thing about

293
00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,600
Speaker 1: the Laker fan base, they're gonna be real with you, man, like,

294
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:46,880
Speaker 1: if you play really well, if you do all the

295
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,680
Speaker 1: little things well, if you do what's necessary to fit

296
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,320
Speaker 1: into this team, the fan base will embrace you again.

297
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,920
Speaker 1: They'll stop demanding that you get traded, they'll stop tweeting

298
00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:59,760
Speaker 1: out every bad play you make. If you actually tip

299
00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,480
Speaker 1: this scales to where what you do good outweighs what

300
00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:05,720
Speaker 1: you do bad, your impression around the team, You're impression

301
00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,640
Speaker 1: around the fan base will change, and it will Frank

302
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:10,600
Speaker 1: will start playing any more. There's so much good that

303
00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,000
Speaker 1: comes from that. Just focus what's going on the court.

304
00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:18,000
Speaker 1: And then we get this ridiculous story today in ESPN

305
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,320
Speaker 1: talking about how Russ got back on track against the

306
00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:25,560
Speaker 1: Orlando Magic, and it's just so like tone deaf to me, like,

307
00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,520
Speaker 1: come on, man, like we we you do you really

308
00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:32,720
Speaker 1: think that you're going, you know whatever, it was like

309
00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,560
Speaker 1: seven for fifteen or whatever it was against the Orlando

310
00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,000
Speaker 1: Magic and having some success getting to the rim against

311
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:43,360
Speaker 1: that absolute dogshit defense, that that's gonna be what turns

312
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,720
Speaker 1: everything around. Like, come on, man, like have some standards,

313
00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,080
Speaker 1: have some understanding, like don't be so tone death, be

314
00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,520
Speaker 1: aware of what people are asking for from you. We

315
00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:56,840
Speaker 1: play the Miami Heat tomorrow. The Miami Heat have one

316
00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,720
Speaker 1: of the best defenses in the league. They're one of

317
00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:00,960
Speaker 1: the best, most well co to his teams in the league,

318
00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,520
Speaker 1: well coached teams in the league. Eric Spoelstra is going

319
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:06,360
Speaker 1: to have a game plan that is going to be

320
00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,120
Speaker 1: geared towards exposing all of Russell Westbrok's weaknesses. And what's

321
00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,040
Speaker 1: really going to happen in that game is russ is

322
00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,600
Speaker 1: gonna have an opportunity to show us what he really

323
00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,200
Speaker 1: means when he says what he said to Adrian W.

324
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,360
Speaker 1: Dronowski the other day. Is he going to go into

325
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,560
Speaker 1: that game and do his defensive job on every single possession.

326
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:24,520
Speaker 1: Is he going to go into that game and never

327
00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,880
Speaker 1: get lost off ball? Is he gonna go into that

328
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,840
Speaker 1: game and stop hunting rebounds but rather hunt his box

329
00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,680
Speaker 1: out which is more important to the team concept. Is

330
00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:35,440
Speaker 1: he on the offensive end going to make the right

331
00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,720
Speaker 1: read to take away what or to directly attack with

332
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,760
Speaker 1: Miami is game planning to take away from you? Or

333
00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:44,880
Speaker 1: is it gonna look like it's looked against every other

334
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,080
Speaker 1: good team this year, where it's fast and loose. For

335
00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,760
Speaker 1: every good defensive play, there's a bad defensive play or

336
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,920
Speaker 1: bad jump shot selection getting into the lane and picking

337
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,640
Speaker 1: up your dribble and getting yourself in a bad position.

338
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,480
Speaker 1: Those that's what we're really watching. Russ. We don't care

339
00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:02,960
Speaker 1: what you did against the Orlando Magic. We don't care

340
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,159
Speaker 1: what you say to Adrian Warzanowski. You have a good stretching.

341
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,439
Speaker 1: You have a stretch of games here coming up against

342
00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,280
Speaker 1: really good teams. If you go into this stretch of

343
00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:15,680
Speaker 1: games and you do your job on defense every single

344
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,560
Speaker 1: possession or the vast majority of the possessions, and on offense,

345
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,760
Speaker 1: you play within the five out concept, just like Malik

346
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,320
Speaker 1: Monk is, just like Stanley Johnson is, just like all

347
00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:27,760
Speaker 1: these guys are. Just do your job on both ends

348
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,960
Speaker 1: of the floor. I promise you, Lak your fans will

349
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,119
Speaker 1: be thrilled to have you on the team, like your

350
00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,320
Speaker 1: fans will be thrilled to think about what this next

351
00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:38,040
Speaker 1: two years would be like. The only reason they're not

352
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,200
Speaker 1: the only reason I'm saying trade you. The only reason

353
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,720
Speaker 1: all these guys are saying trade you is because you're

354
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,239
Speaker 1: not paying attention to that stuff, and you're far more

355
00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,000
Speaker 1: wrapped up in the old RUSS instead of embracing what

356
00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:51,920
Speaker 1: the new RUSS needs to be. So no more of

357
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,480
Speaker 1: these stories, no more of these weird puff pieces and

358
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,040
Speaker 1: quotes coming out. Just go out and play basketball, Russ.

359
00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,680
Speaker 1: If you go out and you play well, everything is

360
00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,040
Speaker 1: going to turn around for you. It's really that simple.

361
00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:04,040
Speaker 1: Al Right, guys, that's all I have for today. This

362
00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:06,000
Speaker 1: is gonna be on our Twitter feed or excuse me,

363
00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,280
Speaker 1: our podcast feed here in about fifteen twenty minutes and

364
00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,760
Speaker 1: Rod roges out of town. So Venet was kind enough

365
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,000
Speaker 1: to offer to join. So Venet is gonna be joining

366
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,000
Speaker 1: me for the post game show tomorrow, the final right

367
00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,280
Speaker 1: after the final buzzer. I believe it is a three

368
00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,760
Speaker 1: pm Pacific Standard time. Tip. We appreciate your support as always,

369
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:25,919
Speaker 1: and I'll see you guys tomorrow