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Speaker 2: co slash mma. All right, old, good to hoops today

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Speaker 2: you're at the volume. Hope all of you guys have

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Speaker 2: had an amazing week. Well, we had the JJ Redick

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Speaker 2: news come down yesterday and we went for about ten

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Speaker 2: minutes just giving my initial impressions on the hire. But

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Speaker 2: I've had another day now to kind of sit down

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Speaker 2: and think it all over, and I can think of

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Speaker 2: nobody better for us to get into the weeds of

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Speaker 2: the JJ Reddick higher than my friend Yovan Boja covers

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Speaker 2: the Lakers for the Athletic and also has been doing

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Speaker 2: some work for us over the course of the last year.

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Speaker 2: We're gonna get into every single angle of this. We're

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Speaker 2: gonna talk about the hiring process. We're gonna spend a

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Speaker 2: good amount of time on the x's and o's side

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Speaker 2: of things. I really tried to sit down today and

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Speaker 2: think about all the different areas of improvement for this

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Speaker 2: particular Lakers team and how JJ can help, and Yova

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Speaker 2: and I are going to go back and forth about

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Speaker 2: that for a little bit, and then at the tail

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Speaker 2: end of the show, we are going to talk about

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Speaker 2: the off season and what direction we think the Lakers

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Speaker 2: at this point are going to be looking to go

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Speaker 2: in terms of personnel, which my opinion is a way

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Speaker 2: bigger deal than anything having to do with the coach. Anyway,

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Speaker 2: real quickly, before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops

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Speaker 2: and I YouTube channels so you don't miss any more

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Speaker 2: of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore JSNLTS.

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Speaker 2: You guys, don't miss announcements, don't forget about a podcast

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Speaker 2: feed wherever you get your podcasts on our Hoops tonight,

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Speaker 2: and then keep dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube comments,

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Speaker 2: all right, without any further or do let's bring on Yova.

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Speaker 2: So Yova, this has been kind of a wild couple

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Speaker 2: weeks for you, I would imagine, why don't you just

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Speaker 2: kind of let us under the hood a little bit.

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Speaker 2: Tell us about what the last month or so has

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Speaker 2: been like as you've been tracking this process. How did

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Speaker 2: we land with JJ Reddick as the head coach the

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Speaker 2: Los Angeles Lakers.

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Speaker 1: Well, Jason, it's been a while seven weeks for me,

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Speaker 1: dating back to May third, the Lakers fire Darvin Ham.

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Speaker 1: I'm on my way to a wedding in Mexico, and

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Speaker 1: I thankfully like I done my prep work of had

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Speaker 1: the story ready, had my Youthtube video ready. But from

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Speaker 1: that point, all of the chatter that I was hearing

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Speaker 1: from talking to people within the Lakers and around the

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Speaker 1: league was JJ Reddick, and that was all the buzz

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Speaker 1: for basically all of May and the when you fire

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Speaker 1: a coach, you do so with at least a couple

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Speaker 1: candidates in mind. So for the Lakers that was JJ

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Speaker 1: Reddick and tylu Now, the problem with Tyleru was he

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Speaker 1: was still in a contract with the Clippers for another year.

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Speaker 1: He also had the whole situation with the Lakers back

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Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen up that the Lakers were trying to make

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Speaker 1: amends and if he somehow it was in a lame

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Speaker 1: duck situation and could get out of his contract with

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Speaker 1: the Clippers, the Lakers were going to pounce on that

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Speaker 1: and make him a big offer to be their head coach.

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Speaker 1: So through like early to mid May, the buzz was

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Speaker 1: Tylu JJ Redick. Then it started to be the actual

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Speaker 1: interview process with guys like Sam Consel, James Barrigo, Mike

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Speaker 1: and Noriy David Adelman. Tylu ends up coming to an

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Speaker 1: extension with the Clippers, and it's clear that maybe from

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Speaker 1: his side there was a little bit of negotiating tactic

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Speaker 1: where if you have interest from another team, now of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, there's some onus on the Clippers to get

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Speaker 1: something done a little bit quicker than they had initially wanted.

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Speaker 3: So interview process starts. J. J.

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Speaker 1: Redick meets with Rob Polinka for nearly two hours in

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Speaker 1: Chicago at the pre draft comp and it is a

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Speaker 1: sort of an informal meeting technically, but two hours is

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Speaker 1: a long time to talk with someone, and I think

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Speaker 1: you get a pretty good sense of someone and their

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Speaker 1: their background and their philosophies, and you know, they did.

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Speaker 3: Touch on some of those things.

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Speaker 1: But so that that's about like mid May now and

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Speaker 1: then rest of the month, it just continues to be

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Speaker 1: the buzz growing of JJ Redick is going to be

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Speaker 1: the guy. The one thing that is holding this process

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Speaker 1: up is that he's set to call the NBA Finals

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Speaker 1: for ESPN and ABC, And in the middle of the season,

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Speaker 1: ESPN and ABC lost Doc Rivers, who is part of

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Speaker 1: that top broadcast crew. So you then promote JJ Reddick

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Speaker 1: to that spot and you don't want to lose him

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Speaker 1: right before the pinnacle of the season. So that was

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Speaker 1: a bit of a hold up, you know, according to

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Speaker 1: multiple people. Just you know, JJ is going to have

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Speaker 1: to ride this out through the finals, and if he

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Speaker 1: ends up being the Lakers head coach, it's going to

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Speaker 1: have to be after the finals. Then early June it

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Speaker 1: starts to really be JJJJJJ, But then this Dan Hurley

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Speaker 1: situation comes out of nowhere, seemingly and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: you know that there's like he's flying to LA there's

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Speaker 1: a meeting. The Lakers make him an offer. Now the

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Speaker 1: offer people can quibble about how strong of an offer

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Speaker 1: it actually was, clearly it was not strong enough to

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Speaker 1: get him to leave Connecticut. And he even said, and

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Speaker 1: you know, he did multiple interviews. In the Dan LeBatard interview,

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Speaker 1: he says, like there was a number. I don't know

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Speaker 1: exactly what it was, but I'm sure there was a

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Speaker 1: number that would.

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Speaker 3: Have got me to leave.

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Speaker 1: Clearly that the six years, seventy million dollar deal was

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Speaker 1: not that. So then the Lakers have to circle back

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Speaker 1: with JJ Reddick and some of the other candidates and

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Speaker 1: then do some damage control bring him in officially for

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Speaker 1: an interview in between Game four and Game five of

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Speaker 1: the finals on that Saturday. I was told by multiple

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Speaker 1: people he crushed the interviews. Was incredibly impressive. One person

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Speaker 1: told me that his personality was electric and it was

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Speaker 1: just like unlike anything that compared to all the other candidates.

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Speaker 1: It was just like ja We knew JJ was going

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Speaker 1: to crush the interview. I don't think that's a surprise,

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Speaker 1: but like he really stood out from just his communication

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Speaker 1: and his personality and his ability to talk through different scenarios.

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Speaker 1: So he crushes the interview on Saturday. On Monday, he

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Speaker 1: has an important conversation with Anthony Davis. The two talk

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Speaker 1: on the phone, and that was important because Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: had sort of been backing James Brago, who he overlapped

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Speaker 1: with in New Orleans briefly after being drafted.

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Speaker 3: So, you know, he talks to JJ.

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Speaker 1: They get on, you know, the same page that they

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Speaker 1: talked through the offense and sort of what the vision

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Speaker 1: is for Ady being more involved in fourth quarters and

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Speaker 1: crunch time, and then on you know, So then a

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Speaker 1: couple of days, so the finals on Monday, JJ gets

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Speaker 1: a couple of days to decompress, be with his family,

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Speaker 1: think over the situation, and then Thursday morning he gets

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Speaker 1: the contract offer and they agree to terms. So that

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Speaker 1: is the sort of timeline of the last seven weeks.

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Speaker 1: And there was lots of swiss and turns with the

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Speaker 1: Dan Hurley situation. James Brago was technically the first candidate

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Speaker 1: to get an interview in person, so like, there's some

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Speaker 1: detours along the way, but from the beginning, most of

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Speaker 1: the buzz was JJ and this ended up playing out

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Speaker 1: that way ultimately.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the timeline seemed pretty simple to me in the

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Speaker 2: sense that like, yeah, you don't want I think JJ

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Speaker 2: would have honored ESPN and gone and covered the finals

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Speaker 2: even if he had taken the job. I mean, obviously

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Speaker 2: we know behind the scenes he kind of thought it

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Speaker 2: was his to have anyway, you know. But at the

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Speaker 2: same time, I could see why ESPN wouldn't want the

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Speaker 2: broadcast team like just naturally discussing JJ coaching the Lakers

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Speaker 2: while they're trying to cover the finals. So like, it

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Speaker 2: made some sense on that front. And then Dan Hurley's

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Speaker 2: one of those guys too, where you know, if his

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Speaker 2: name comes up as an option, you just have to

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Speaker 2: explore it. You can't just be like, nope, we already

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Speaker 2: have our guy, like go. You know, there's a certain

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Speaker 2: diligence you have to do there. Even if it was

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Speaker 2: a long shot, and it all seemed pretty standard in natural,

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Speaker 2: there was definitely some drama on the reporting front. I

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Speaker 2: thought it was bizarre how Adrian Moorganowski was just kind

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Speaker 2: of covering it as though the JJ was never in

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Speaker 2: the picture and it was always about Dan Hurley. It

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Speaker 2: was kind of weird. It seemed pretty natural flowing to

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Speaker 2: me that JJ was their guy. Another option came to

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Speaker 2: the surface, they explored it, it didn't pan out. They

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Speaker 2: were patiently waiting for the end of the Finals, and

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Speaker 2: then JJ became the option. Now before we kind of

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Speaker 2: get back into JJ, I was wondering, I have a

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Speaker 2: couple of quick follow ups.

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Speaker 3: First of all, was there.

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Speaker 2: Any consideration for Monty Williams after he became available the

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Speaker 2: other day?

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Speaker 3: No, I've been told no.

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Speaker 1: There had been some Monty buzz in May of it

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Speaker 1: was trending toward him potentially being fired, and there was

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Speaker 1: a sense of similar to Taylou, who Monty Williams was

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Speaker 1: someone the Lakers previously pursued in twenty nineteen. He was

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Speaker 1: the number two choice behind Lou, and had he become available,

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Speaker 1: I think, like a month ago, I think he would

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Speaker 1: have been interviewed and had a legitimate chance to win

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Speaker 1: the job. But I think at that point they were

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Speaker 1: too far along with Reddick to seriously consider that. And

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Speaker 1: I mean if they had pivoted to well, let's stall,

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Speaker 1: let's like I mean, first, they're running out of time

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Speaker 1: that the draft is in, you know, five days, but

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Speaker 1: also it's you know, I think at that point, had

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Speaker 1: they spurned Reddick a second time for another candidate, that

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Speaker 1: might have been a deal breaker.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I like I viewed Money Williams two as like the

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Speaker 2: old guard of NBA coaches. It kind of fits into

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Speaker 2: that like like Doc Rivers kind of mold where it's

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Speaker 2: there's just it almost seems like they're disconnected from where

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Speaker 2: modern basketball is going, and there their own personalities almost

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Speaker 2: become bigger than the team. It almost just seems counterproductive.

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Speaker 2: So I feel like they, you know, made the right

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Speaker 2: decision to not look down in that direction. So just

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Speaker 2: really quickly before we move on, how did you interpret

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Speaker 2: the whole like woje Day and Hurly thing? Was that

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Speaker 2: like do you think that there was some gamesmanship going

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Speaker 2: on there or was there truth to what he was

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Speaker 2: saying about early being the target the whole time?

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Speaker 1: It's this part of the story is I will say,

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Speaker 1: like I've been covering the NBA since twenty eleven, this

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Speaker 1: is going to be my seventh season as a beat writer.

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Speaker 3: This was the craziest like wrinkled to a.

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Speaker 1: Story I can remember personally, because even coming like typically,

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Speaker 1: I mean, there will be things that blindside you covering

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Speaker 1: the MBA of be it trades, signings, firings, hirings, like

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Speaker 1: there's an element of secrecy for sure, but this is

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Speaker 1: still a situation where you talk to five different people

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Speaker 1: with and around the team, and you will get five

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Speaker 1: different answers, five different conspiracy theories, five different perspectives as

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Speaker 1: to what actually happened with this situation. So for me,

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Speaker 1: my best read on it, I would say is there

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Speaker 1: was legitimate interest from the Lakers end for Dan Hurley.

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Speaker 1: Like they made him, they flew him out, they interviewed him,

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Speaker 1: They risked losing j because like there was a scenario

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Speaker 1: in which this plays out and JJ just says, like,

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Speaker 1: you know, peace, like I don't like you know, you guys,

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Speaker 1: were you know, indicating one thing, then you flip that

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Speaker 1: and now you're interviewing Hurley and like I'm out, and

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Speaker 1: JJ could have and then all of a sudden, now

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Speaker 1: there it's Jade Sprago or maybe it is Moni Williams

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Speaker 1: now that he's available. But like, I think that the

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Speaker 1: Lakers would have been on like Plan C or D

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Speaker 1: at that point. So, h there was some real risk

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Speaker 1: for the Lakers in terms of pursuing Dan Hurley and

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Speaker 1: having this come out the way that it did and

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Speaker 1: being this like spectacle like that, there was some real

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Speaker 1: risk on their end. So I do believe that the

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Speaker 1: Lakers had legitimate interest in Dan Hurley. Now was it

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Speaker 1: the level of interest that they were willing to make

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Speaker 1: a godfather offer that he couldn't refuse, and the type

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Speaker 1: of you know, eight years one hundred million had been

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Speaker 1: thrown out there, Like had they put that on the table,

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Speaker 1: I think he's probably.

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Speaker 3: The coach, and they clearly were not willing to do that.

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Speaker 1: So there's an element of like, you could want something

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Speaker 1: but not want it to the extent that you're going

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Speaker 1: all in, So I don't it's still unclear to me

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Speaker 1: if they were quite all in on Dan and Hurley. Like,

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Speaker 1: they clearly were very interested and interested enough to make

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Speaker 1: an offer, but it seems to me it might have

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Speaker 1: been a situation where it was more like, we want you,

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Speaker 1: and we're willing to give you this contract, but we're

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Speaker 1: not going to go above this, and if you're not

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Speaker 1: willing to accept this, we're fine with getting our first

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Speaker 1: choice pretty much the whole way, which was JJ Reddick.

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Speaker 1: So as for like the Hurly communication, you know, my

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Speaker 1: sense was they reached out to him initially when they

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Speaker 1: made the initial candidate pool and he was not interested

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Speaker 1: at that time. Since then, ESPN and The La Times

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Speaker 1: have reported that Hurley met with Polinka, apparently kind of

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Speaker 1: secretly at the combine and they had some conversations there,

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Speaker 1: so you know, if that's the case, then obviously you

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Speaker 1: know that there was maybe something interest around then. But still,

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Speaker 1: you know, in talking to a lot of people around,

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Speaker 1: the Lakers was like this was something that was kept

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Speaker 1: very internal of it, very tight lipped, like it might

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Speaker 1: have only been three or four people who knew about it,

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Speaker 1: including players not knowing about this. So they did a

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Speaker 1: good job of like moving in secrecy with the move.

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Speaker 1: And look, I think if Dan Hurley had been available

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Speaker 1: from the beginning, I think he would have been the

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Speaker 1: no brainer for choice, So it makes sense why the

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Speaker 1: Lakers went after him. I think the thing that is

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Speaker 1: less clear is how serious Dan Hurley was about this situation, right,

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Speaker 1: because really, if you look at who had the most

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Speaker 1: of the gain here, it was basically Dan Hurley.

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Speaker 3: And now he got elevated. Like I don't follow.

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Speaker 1: College basket, Like I knew who he was, but I

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Speaker 1: don't follow college basketball that much. I know Yukon had

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Speaker 1: won back to back, but it's like now I know

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Speaker 1: a lot more about Dan Hurley over the last few

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Speaker 1: weeks than I had previously known, and like he's been

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Speaker 1: elevated to a certain status that you know, he probably

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Speaker 1: deserves because of his accolades. But like, I don't think

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Speaker 1: he I mean, you've clearly talked about way more now

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Speaker 1: and he just did a giant press tour after this

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Speaker 1: Jury five interviews. It's like, I don't know, there's like

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Speaker 1: so that that part of the doesn't necessarily pass the

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Speaker 1: smell testomy. But I know from the Lakers, Like I'm

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Speaker 1: not as plugged in on the college basketball side or

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Speaker 1: the Hurley side, but I can't say from the Lakers

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Speaker 1: side there was legitimate interest. It's just there's also degrees

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Speaker 1: of interest, and clearly they weren't willing to go past

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Speaker 1: that six seventy and that to me, in the case,

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Speaker 1: they were fine with JJ if he didn't work out

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Speaker 1: with early, they were fine you know picking JJ.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate that JJ didn't take it personally too. Like again,

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Speaker 2: like I'm excited about what JJ can be as a coach,

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Speaker 2: but he doesn't have any coaching experience. Dan Hurley is

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Speaker 2: one of the most respected and accomplished coaches in the

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Speaker 2: country right now, you know what I mean? And like,

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Speaker 2: if the volume was looking for an NBA analyst and

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Speaker 2: they had been talking to me and then suddenly JJ

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Speaker 2: Reddick came available. It'd be stupid for me to be

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Speaker 2: offended that they would consider JJ, or probably higher JJ

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Speaker 2: over me. He's JJ Reddick, He's arguably the best in

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Speaker 2: the world at what he does, you know, right now

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Speaker 2: in the sports media space. And so, like, I appreciate

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Speaker 2: to your point there's some risk, but like I appreciate

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Speaker 2: that JJ didn't take it personally, because again, that's just

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Speaker 2: an avenue you have to explore if it becomes available,

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Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So I want to I

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Speaker 2: want to move more to the basketball side of this,

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Speaker 2: which is, to me, the far more, the far more

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Speaker 2: fascinating side. Just tell me a little bit about the interview,

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Speaker 2: the formal interview when JJ came to LA. What if

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Speaker 2: you were to kind of like explain, like if you

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Speaker 2: had to just just kind of like translate JJ Reddick's

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Speaker 2: pitch for how to take the Lakers to the next level,

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Speaker 2: how would you word that for us?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So JJ met on Saturday with you.

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Speaker 1: You previously met with Rob Polinka, spoken with him multiple

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Speaker 1: times over the course of multiple weeks, but this was

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Speaker 1: his first chance to meet with Genie Buss Joey Buss,

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Speaker 1: Jesse Buss and the real stakeholders in the Lakers and.

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Speaker 3: Have conversations with them.

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Speaker 1: So, you know, my understanding was he he met individually

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Speaker 1: with each person and then there was also some some

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Speaker 1: group conversations, but you know, each person had their own

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Speaker 1: set of questions and different parts of the organization and

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Speaker 1: just you know, basketball philosophy that they wanted to break

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Speaker 1: down with him. And again I was told he was

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Speaker 1: incredibly impressive, the most impressive of I mean, they only

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Speaker 1: met with three different candidates Barrego, Hurley, and Reddick in person.

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Speaker 1: All of the other interviews were done remotely, uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: primarily with Rob Polinka. So I guess among those three candidates,

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Speaker 1: I was told JJ was the most personable. Uh. It

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Speaker 1: was just the most detailed and he had, you know,

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Speaker 1: multiple answers for any hypothetical that they were throwing at him.

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Speaker 1: So one thing that he really pitched himself on was like,

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Speaker 1: I know, I don't have any coaching experience at the

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Speaker 1: professional level, but I'm going to be adaptable. I'm going

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Speaker 1: to come in with an open mind, and you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm not coming from a certain coaching tree or a

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Speaker 1: certain coaching philosophy like I'm going to be establishing this

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Speaker 1: in this position, and I'm going to adapt to the

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Speaker 1: roster and the season and how things are going. And

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Speaker 1: I think coming from you know, the situation with Darvin

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Speaker 1: Ham and how that unfolded, there was an element of

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Speaker 1: stubbornness with a lot of his mistakes, and that was

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Speaker 1: really the biggest gripe with Darvin Ham was, you know,

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Speaker 1: just the lack of adaptability with the rotation with lineups,

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Speaker 1: with his coaching philosophies, be it pick and roll schemes

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Speaker 1: or how the offense was being run. That Darvin Ham

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Speaker 1: was married to his philosophies. And JJ Redick came in

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Speaker 1: and they had basically the exact opposite approach of I'm

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Speaker 1: willing to adapt and continue to adapt and continue to

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Speaker 1: tinker and try different things. And then the other thing,

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Speaker 1: which I think is arguably like it's not Ex's and O's,

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Speaker 1: it's not basketball strategy, but his communication skills and the

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Speaker 1: ability to effectively communicate with players and command the locker

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Speaker 1: room and get a level of buy in was something

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Speaker 1: that really appealed to them, especially coming off of Frank

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Speaker 1: Vogel lost the locker room in his final season. Darvin

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Speaker 1: Ham lost the locker room in his final season, and

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Speaker 1: part of it was with Frank. I think he's on

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Speaker 1: the nicer side, he's a bit soft spoken.

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Speaker 3: With Darvin, there's.

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Speaker 1: Elements of that, but there was also some elements of

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Speaker 1: disorganization in terms of game plan and strategy.

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Speaker 3: So I think JJ not only having.

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Speaker 1: A certain level of adaptability and coming in with an

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Speaker 1: open mind of like I want to collaborate with the

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Speaker 1: from office, collaborate with the players, and really make sure

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Speaker 1: everyone is buying into the same vision of how we

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Speaker 1: are running this team. There's that element, but it's also

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Speaker 1: the element of effectively communicating with players and making sure

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Speaker 1: you know that the plan is going to be the plan,

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Speaker 1: and you're going to know where you are in the

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Speaker 1: pecking order, where you are in the hierarchy, and if

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Speaker 1: that changes, we will have an open and honest conversation

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Speaker 1: about that instead of because I would hear like and

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Speaker 1: stuff starts to trickle out, but you would hear stuff

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Speaker 1: of like you know, with Darvin, this isn't the PYLO

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Speaker 1: on Darvin. This is just to kind of contrast it.

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Speaker 1: But like with Darvin, there might be like a certain

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Speaker 1: plan at shoot around, and then in the pregame meeting

404
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Speaker 1: that plan changes and guys would feel like, I don't

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Speaker 1: really know like why this is changing, or I'm not

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Speaker 1: given a reason. I'm just kind of told like, hey,

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Speaker 1: you're out of the starting lineup tonight, or hey we're

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Speaker 1: going with this look tonight. And with JJ, I think like,

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Speaker 1: and he certainly, I'm sure knew some of this stuff

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Speaker 1: and was able to properly cater to the audience, and

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Speaker 1: that's part of his skill, you know, clearly, But I

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Speaker 1: also think like, if we're looking at his strengths coming

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Speaker 1: in from day one, I think it is his adaptable mindset,

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Speaker 1: and that's based on just listening to his podcast, listening

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Speaker 1: to his basketball philosophy, but also his communication skills, and

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Speaker 1: he is far and away a better communicator than Darvin

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Speaker 1: Ham or Frank Vogel, and I think that that's going

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Speaker 1: to be an asset that from day one he's able

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Speaker 1: to communicate with the players in a direct way and

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Speaker 1: even a confrontational way, but I think a way that's

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Speaker 1: going to benefit them where they're going to have the

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Speaker 1: hard conversations early and it's not always going to be pretty,

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Speaker 1: but I think that's one of his clear skills from

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Speaker 1: day one.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think specifically with the younger roster too, Like

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Speaker 2: if we look back last year now, I think will

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Speaker 2: I think they will bring in a vet or two

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Speaker 2: this year to try to kind of balance that, because

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Speaker 2: I would venture to guess if you asked Lebron on

430
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Speaker 2: some truth serum, like what were your thoughts on the

431
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,080
Speaker 2: roster last year, one of the things he would say

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Speaker 2: is he'd probably say we were a bit too young,

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Speaker 2: and that I think it reflects in some of just

434
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,760
Speaker 2: the lack of attention to detail that you saw on

435
00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:56,400
Speaker 2: a possession by possession basis. You know, JJ, I think

436
00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,520
Speaker 2: is going to have a relatively easy time bringing the

437
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,800
Speaker 2: certain amount of you know, uh presence or aura to

438
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,280
Speaker 2: communicate with a young player and get him to kind

439
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,480
Speaker 2: of like listen to what he has to say. But

440
00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 2: I think it will be contingent on Lebron kind of

441
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,359
Speaker 2: backing all of that, in AD backing all of that,

442
00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:14,639
Speaker 2: And so as long as Lebron and Ad kind of

443
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,960
Speaker 2: stand behind JJ early on to help add you know,

444
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,199
Speaker 2: legitimacy to the things that he's saying, I think that

445
00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,400
Speaker 2: a lot of JJ's communication will resonate you know when

446
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,160
Speaker 2: I think about it, Bear with me here for a minute,

447
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:28,520
Speaker 2: because I'm gonna I'm gonna kind of go through my

448
00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 2: thought process on this.

449
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:30,040
Speaker 3: But like.

450
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,840
Speaker 2: His love for the game and his competitiveness, I give

451
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:35,840
Speaker 2: him like an a plus. You just don't make it

452
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:38,439
Speaker 2: to the NBA as JJ Reddick if you're not just

453
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,600
Speaker 2: a crazy, a crazy m effort for lack of a

454
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,439
Speaker 2: better word. And like, I actually think that JJ. We

455
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,439
Speaker 2: see this JJ that we see in the media, but

456
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:48,920
Speaker 2: I think he's got a nasty side, which I think

457
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 2: will serve him well as a coach because I think

458
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,240
Speaker 2: there's a I think there needs to be an element

459
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,560
Speaker 2: of that you were talking about Frank Vogel being a

460
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,040
Speaker 2: little soft spoken. Like, I think JJ's is going to

461
00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:59,879
Speaker 2: be an animated coach, and I think that's going to

462
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 2: be a good thing. I mean, when I look around

463
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,199
Speaker 2: the NBA and I think about the best coaches, Spolstra, Popovich,

464
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 2: you know, occur tylu, you know, Michael Malone, like those

465
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,399
Speaker 2: guys are pretty animated and active and involved with what

466
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,040
Speaker 2: they're doing. Right the experience side, to me, experience is

467
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:19,400
Speaker 2: like one of the more overrated things, you know, when

468
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,120
Speaker 2: it comes to this sort of thing like, I'd rather

469
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,880
Speaker 2: have a talented, inexperienced person over a mediocre experience person

470
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,320
Speaker 2: any day of the week, especially when it comes to

471
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,480
Speaker 2: these kinds of overly competitive professions. So the real thing

472
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 2: that I think is fascinating is the actual basketball organization piece.

473
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:37,639
Speaker 2: And so bear with me, I'm just kind of going

474
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 2: to kind of go through some of my thoughts on

475
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,720
Speaker 2: where I think JJ can really help. So I want

476
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,760
Speaker 2: to start with offensive organization. So one of the things

477
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,320
Speaker 2: that frustrated me last year was the Lakers took some

478
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 2: massive leaps in their five out offense and just seem

479
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,000
Speaker 2: to have awesome ball in player movement for extensive stretches

480
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,119
Speaker 2: and got a lot of really high quality looks that

481
00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:59,920
Speaker 2: manifested in them being one of the best offenses over

482
00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,199
Speaker 2: the tail end of the season. But I thought that

483
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,320
Speaker 2: there was a lack of value on individual possessions in

484
00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:08,720
Speaker 2: a kind of a tendency to get away from that

485
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,080
Speaker 2: from time to time. You know, one of the guys

486
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:12,639
Speaker 2: that I think did a really good job of breaking

487
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,560
Speaker 2: this down this year is Tim Kranews. Tim kranis who

488
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 2: does stuff just a lot of x's and O stuff,

489
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,359
Speaker 2: but he focuses a lot on the Lakers, and he

490
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,800
Speaker 2: was crazy enough to sit and chart like every single

491
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,840
Speaker 2: damn possession that the Lakers had this entire season, and

492
00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:28,919
Speaker 2: he did a really nice job of kind of demonstrating

493
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 2: the difference between when the Lakers ran set offense versus

494
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 2: when they ran freelance offense. And freelance offense has a

495
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,199
Speaker 2: very important part in the game of basketball, and it

496
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,560
Speaker 2: needs to be to think of it as like five

497
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 2: out motion. It's just kind of like read and react

498
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:45,600
Speaker 2: basketball that you lean back on after you've run a

499
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 2: set action or after you end up in the half court.

500
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,680
Speaker 2: But I think the Lakers could be served well by

501
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,879
Speaker 2: being more deliberate about getting to a set early in

502
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,959
Speaker 2: the possession and then playing in the flow out of that.

503
00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:00,920
Speaker 2: And there are too many possessions where like they would

504
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 2: try to push in transition to run early offense, which

505
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:05,680
Speaker 2: is good. You want to push up the floor when

506
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:07,000
Speaker 2: you can, because if you can get the defense in

507
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,960
Speaker 2: rotation without having to run a set, that's great. But

508
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,639
Speaker 2: there were too many of those possessions that when the

509
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,119
Speaker 2: transition push was kind of cut off, that they would

510
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:20,199
Speaker 2: flow into just like some basic ballscreen or ISO or

511
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 2: dribble drive and the possession would fall apart early instead

512
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,520
Speaker 2: of pulling out running a set and then getting into

513
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 2: action from there, getting into your five out motion from there,

514
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:33,440
Speaker 2: and so just simply increasing the percentage of possessions when

515
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 2: the Lakers actually run a set play versus and kind

516
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,280
Speaker 2: of cutting down on the possessions where they push and

517
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:42,280
Speaker 2: transition and then just kind of get into the flow

518
00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 2: before getting any sort of advantage. I think the attention

519
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,880
Speaker 2: to detail, valuing each individual possession more will help, as

520
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 2: cran just pointed out so well, all over the course

521
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,160
Speaker 2: of the season, and as you can tell just by

522
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,320
Speaker 2: watching the film when the Lakers would run their sets,

523
00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:59,760
Speaker 2: they got great stuff all the time. There's just too

524
00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 2: much talent on the floor. There's too much basketball IQ

525
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:05,160
Speaker 2: in terms of the ability to read and react out

526
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 2: of it. The weaklink was Ruey at the start of

527
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:09,439
Speaker 2: the season, and by the end of the season he

528
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 2: started to feel when he was supposed to cut along

529
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 2: the baseline, when he was supposed to flow into the

530
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,240
Speaker 2: next action. They have the talent to be a truly

531
00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:20,200
Speaker 2: great offense as long as they value each individual possession.

532
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,440
Speaker 2: A couple individual things too, like cutting down on pull

533
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 2: up twos. They took twelve per game last year and

534
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,400
Speaker 2: shot just forty percent on him that was zero point

535
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,199
Speaker 2: eight points per shot. D LO took a ton of

536
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,680
Speaker 2: them that were really bad shots that he was barely hitting,

537
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,640
Speaker 2: like thirty nine percent of Austin Reeves was the only

538
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,640
Speaker 2: player on the team that actually got more than one

539
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 2: point per pull up jump shot. And so I think

540
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 2: like just cutting back on some of those, especially the

541
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 2: ones early in the clock. The getting Anthony Davis more

542
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 2: involved piece is really interesting to me, and we can

543
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,359
Speaker 2: get let's just let's bounce back and forth on this

544
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:53,639
Speaker 2: for a minute and then we'll come back, because I

545
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:55,719
Speaker 2: do have some thoughts on JJ on the defensive end

546
00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:00,320
Speaker 2: of the floor, but with getting Ad more involved, I

547
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:05,160
Speaker 2: one hundred percent agree as it pertains to the overarching

548
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 2: forty eight minute game, Like there were way too many

549
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:09,880
Speaker 2: stretches where it'd be like a big third quarter run

550
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,400
Speaker 2: for the other team and AD hasn't touched the damn

551
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:14,399
Speaker 2: ball for two and a half minutes, you know what

552
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,320
Speaker 2: I mean, Like that sort of thing happened way too often. However,

553
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 2: crunch time. You know, AD has his own issues in

554
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,399
Speaker 2: those situations. You know, he has. He can struggle to

555
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,800
Speaker 2: read the floor from time to time. His inability to

556
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 2: hit a jump shot can be an issue from time

557
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,159
Speaker 2: to time. The crunch time offense wasn't an issue for

558
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,000
Speaker 2: the Lakers last year. They were top ten in the league.

559
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,280
Speaker 2: They had a one nineteen offensive rating in the clutch,

560
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 2: and they had a one twenty one off offensive rating

561
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,719
Speaker 2: in the clutch in the three postseason games where they

562
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,479
Speaker 2: ended up in clutch situations. So, like, again, I'm not

563
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 2: necessarily opposed to it. I just don't necessarily think that's

564
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 2: the strong suit of AD's game. I think the bigger

565
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,920
Speaker 2: thing is just sticking with the the uh. Like JJ's

566
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,959
Speaker 2: a big believer in three man action, making sure that

567
00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,920
Speaker 2: if Lebron has the ball in these clutch time situations,

568
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 2: that Ads not just standing in the corner spacing or

569
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,280
Speaker 2: just setting a basic ball screen. Because if Ad just

570
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,639
Speaker 2: sets a basic ball screen, most teams are gonna switch that,

571
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:10,879
Speaker 2: and then AD is just gonna go stand in the

572
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,800
Speaker 2: corner or stand in the dunker spot. Three man action

573
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,000
Speaker 2: makes it so much harder to switch. And there were moments,

574
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,480
Speaker 2: especially in the Nuggets series, where the Lakers run a

575
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,399
Speaker 2: bunch of stack pick and roll down the stretch of

576
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 2: the game with d Lo backscreening for Ad in those

577
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,640
Speaker 2: ball screens, and they got great stuff out of it,

578
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,639
Speaker 2: and they can that I think is great. Keeping Ad

579
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 2: involved in three man action at the end of games

580
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 2: is great, But I don't think just force feeding Ad

581
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,760
Speaker 2: in the clutch is gonna solve the problem. And then

582
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,400
Speaker 2: the last thing I'll say before I bounce it back

583
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,959
Speaker 2: to you, They've got to invest more at the start

584
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,000
Speaker 2: of the season and throughout games in Anthony Davis's jump shot.

585
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,680
Speaker 2: I think, especially as Jared Vanderbilt gets reintegrated next year,

586
00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,120
Speaker 2: especially if they end up having some sort of big

587
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,800
Speaker 2: look where AD's at the four, I think they're gonna

588
00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 2: need Ad to take at least five to six jump

589
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,360
Speaker 2: shots a game and be willing to take three point shots,

590
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,560
Speaker 2: especially out of the corner. And then if I shouldn't

591
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,240
Speaker 2: even say just out of the corner too, like he's

592
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,160
Speaker 2: got to take picking pop jump shots too, because those

593
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,720
Speaker 2: are open in the offense. But like there is way

594
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,280
Speaker 2: too often during the regular season where that just disappeared

595
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,680
Speaker 2: from AD's game and he'd take one or two jump

596
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 2: shots a game for a month and it's like no

597
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,440
Speaker 2: matter how good he is as a jump shooter if

598
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 2: you don't invest in it so that he can build

599
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 2: rhythm that won't reap rewards down the end. And so

600
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 2: I really want to see him just be more invested

601
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:32,520
Speaker 2: in over the course of the season as a jump

602
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:34,840
Speaker 2: shooter as well. But in general, I agree with getting

603
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,120
Speaker 2: Ad more involved in the offense. I just don't necessarily

604
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,360
Speaker 2: think force feeding him in the clutch is going to

605
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 2: solve all their problems. Do you agree?

606
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, I do.

607
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,200
Speaker 1: And you mentioned the three man actions, So that's something

608
00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 1: that we heard during this process of reporting was the

609
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 1: Lakers and now JJ Reddick are looking forward to these

610
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,440
Speaker 1: three man actions with Lebron Ady and Austin Reeves. I

611
00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:58,480
Speaker 1: think you are going to see some stack pick and

612
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 1: rolls in span pick and with those three and a

613
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 1: lot more three man actions. And I think the framing

614
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,239
Speaker 1: has been interesting where it's been. You know, obviously, you

615
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 1: know at some point Lebron is going to retire and

616
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,080
Speaker 1: it's going to be Anthony Davis's team. So there has

617
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 1: been a focus and an onus on how can we

618
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 1: get Ad more involved, how can we continue to funnel

619
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:23,160
Speaker 1: things through him a bit more? But the three names

620
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 1: that we've heard over the last few weeks as like,

621
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,800
Speaker 1: you know, focuses for the Lakers in terms of player

622
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:34,600
Speaker 1: development and how they fit with the roster is Austin Reeves, Ruey, Hutchimora,

623
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 1: and Max Christy. And I think that's kind of interesting

624
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,000
Speaker 1: with you. I mean, you still have Jared Vanderbilt there,

625
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,360
Speaker 1: you still have Gave Vincent, you have Jalen Hood Schafino,

626
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 1: Maxwell Lewis so like some younger players, but like those

627
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 1: have been the three names that the Lakers have been

628
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 1: sort of treating as the foundation of the team in

629
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 1: addition to Lebron and Ad. So I think elevating Max

630
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 1: Christy will also, you know, that's a whole other conversation

631
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:01,800
Speaker 1: that we've had I'd at various points, but like, I

632
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,200
Speaker 1: think he can step in and potentially be like a

633
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: top eight guy next season for them Ruey, either as

634
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 1: a starter or as like a six man type like

635
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 1: microwave forward off the bench.

636
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:14,720
Speaker 3: So I think the.

637
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 1: Lakers, I mean, like it seems to be an acknowledgement

638
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:19,560
Speaker 1: of like who the best players on the roster are

639
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,160
Speaker 1: or who the better players on the roster are and

640
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 1: the different ways to empower them.

641
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,080
Speaker 3: But yeah, I think like the Lakers would.

642
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,280
Speaker 1: I remember with Frank Vogel, they'd run those pin down

643
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,240
Speaker 1: actions for ad that where he could curl or he

644
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 1: could pop from the left side of the floor, and

645
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 1: like they would occasionally do that with Darvin, but they

646
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,160
Speaker 1: didn't do it consistently enough. And I think that's the

647
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 1: other thing is like, you know, and this was something

648
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:44,480
Speaker 1: that we reported out during this process, was like JJ's

649
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:47,480
Speaker 1: meticulousness and his attention to detail. And he's a guy

650
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,240
Speaker 1: who's very i mean honestly borderline OCD and in some way,

651
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,960
Speaker 1: like you talked about doing his three hundred and forty

652
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,320
Speaker 1: two shots from the same spots on the floor every

653
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,640
Speaker 1: day during the offseason, and like he's very routine based

654
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 1: to to you know, is.

655
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:03,080
Speaker 3: Everything he does.

656
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,640
Speaker 1: And I'm sure, like I'd love to pick his brain

657
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:07,840
Speaker 1: on the podcasting side as to like how he improved

658
00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,640
Speaker 1: as a podcaster, because I'm sure he was very routine

659
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 1: oriented with that and probably would watch back to film

660
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 1: and take notes and like break it down almost like

661
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,479
Speaker 1: breaking down basketball. So like that's just how he's wired,

662
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 1: that's his personality. And that was not and again it's

663
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,160
Speaker 1: not to keep bringing up Darvin Ham, but like that

664
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,520
Speaker 1: was something that the Lakers struggled with last year. And

665
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:28,880
Speaker 1: I think JJ coming in and I think he is

666
00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:30,400
Speaker 1: going to be tracking some of these things. And that's

667
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:34,280
Speaker 1: another thing that JJ is much more pro analytics than

668
00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,520
Speaker 1: any coach the Lakers have had, like ever, and the

669
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:40,360
Speaker 1: Lakers are kind of always like, you know, they were

670
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 1: one of the last teams to send an analytics group

671
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 1: to the Sloan Mit Sports Conference, and they're one of

672
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 1: the last organizations to beef up their analytics staff. So

673
00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 1: like the Lakers have always kind of been behind the

674
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,000
Speaker 1: curve with analytics and modern basketball even I mean even

675
00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:57,960
Speaker 1: the last few years, like they've been among the league,

676
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,480
Speaker 1: you know, you know, among the last place of three

677
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 1: point attempts, and like last year they shot the ball

678
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,480
Speaker 1: much better, but they were still twenty eighth in attempts.

679
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,400
Speaker 1: So it's like they have to modernize their offense as well.

680
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 1: And I think one of the things that JJ has

681
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:12,680
Speaker 1: constantly talked about is like he has a good relationship

682
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,280
Speaker 1: with Joe Miszula, And you know, I don't think Laker

683
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 1: fans do love this, Like his son's favorite team is

684
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,280
Speaker 1: the Celtics, and like so he consumes the Celtics a lot.

685
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:22,360
Speaker 3: And what did the Celtics do?

686
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,120
Speaker 1: They take forty plus threes a night, And there's obviously

687
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:27,880
Speaker 1: ways you generate those threes. You're not just taking threes

688
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 1: to take them necessarily. But I think for the Lakers,

689
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,640
Speaker 1: like modernizing the offense and actually like and everything was

690
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,600
Speaker 1: rim based, and I think there is an element of like, yes,

691
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 1: you have Lebron, you have Ad.

692
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:39,760
Speaker 3: You should be living in the rim.

693
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:42,600
Speaker 1: You shouldn't be making those guys take like, you know,

694
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:43,960
Speaker 1: ten plus threes a night.

695
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:45,600
Speaker 3: But there's also.

696
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,360
Speaker 1: A balance to it where I just think in twenty

697
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: twenty four and beyond, you can't be twenty eighth and

698
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:54,840
Speaker 1: three point attempts per game and expect to actually contend

699
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:55,800
Speaker 1: for a championship.

700
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:59,400
Speaker 3: So I think unless you, you know, have your dominating all.

701
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,080
Speaker 1: The other category, which the Lakers weren't necessarily doing either.

702
00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:04,440
Speaker 1: So I think for them, part of it's going to be,

703
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,720
Speaker 1: you know, to your point with Ad, like getting ads

704
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 1: jump shot going and potentially more threes, and that's that's

705
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:11,719
Speaker 1: been a talking point every preseason for like the last

706
00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:13,880
Speaker 1: three years. So it remains to be seen if he'll

707
00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,000
Speaker 1: actually do that. But even if eighty isn't taking more threes.

708
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,279
Speaker 1: If they can find ways to just generate five to

709
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 1: seven more threes a game and shift that away from

710
00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:24,759
Speaker 1: some of the pull up jumpers, some of the mid

711
00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:28,960
Speaker 1: range stuff, and just modernize their offense, I think that

712
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,080
Speaker 1: could go a long ways. I mean, they were again

713
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:34,360
Speaker 1: second in the league, you know, from February on, that

714
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 1: could be first by a bit right over the course

715
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 1: of a full season, potentially depending on how they reshape

716
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,960
Speaker 1: the roster. So I think JJ is going to come

717
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,480
Speaker 1: in with a very organized, very analytically driven and I

718
00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:48,360
Speaker 1: think he's going to bring an element to the Lakers

719
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:52,160
Speaker 1: offense that they have not had really ever, you know,

720
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,920
Speaker 1: since the league has shifted over like the last decade.

721
00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:57,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, you hit that, you hit the nail. Ned Like

722
00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,760
Speaker 2: if you could turn those twelve pull up twos into

723
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,040
Speaker 2: seven pull up twos and those five all become either

724
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,120
Speaker 2: rim attempts or three point attempts, like, that's the thing.

725
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,280
Speaker 2: It's not. It's not so much the number of threes,

726
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,120
Speaker 2: because you know, it's more efficient than threes rim attempts.

727
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:13,120
Speaker 2: So it's like, as long as you're just trying to

728
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,319
Speaker 2: tilt your offense towards those two types of attempts in

729
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:18,680
Speaker 2: a way from the lower value attempts in the middle. Now,

730
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:21,799
Speaker 2: some of it's unavoidable, like Lebron James is forty next year,

731
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,600
Speaker 2: so like he's not gonna stop taking pull up twos,

732
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,880
Speaker 2: at least not to some sort of dramatic extent. But

733
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,640
Speaker 2: like if you can get it, like if Austin's taking

734
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:31,759
Speaker 2: them in Lebron or taking them, but no one else

735
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,560
Speaker 2: is taking them, and they're primarily in rescue possession situations,

736
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:39,520
Speaker 2: meaning like late clock, need to get something going, you know,

737
00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,399
Speaker 2: just to kind of get something up on the rim

738
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:45,640
Speaker 2: before the end of the clock. I liked your mention

739
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:49,319
Speaker 2: of kind of JJ's focus on analytics, Like I like

740
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,640
Speaker 2: that he specifically mentioned in the reporting that I saw

741
00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,400
Speaker 2: the focus on empirical evidence, which is basically like being

742
00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,800
Speaker 2: able to Again, there's always there's there always two sides

743
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,480
Speaker 2: to this, because you don't want to overreact to evidence,

744
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,080
Speaker 2: especially in a small sample size if you have an

745
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:09,520
Speaker 2: overarching basketball philosophy that you're trying to build out. So

746
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,520
Speaker 2: for instance, like the Laker early five out results were bad,

747
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:16,320
Speaker 2: and so if you actually just listen to the evidence,

748
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,160
Speaker 2: you'd be like we were a better offense last year

749
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:21,360
Speaker 2: when we were running these spread pick and roll, cleared

750
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,360
Speaker 2: side pick and roll, just kind of like old fashioned

751
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,560
Speaker 2: four out brute force type of offense. If you bail

752
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:28,920
Speaker 2: on five out, you don't get the results that we

753
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,400
Speaker 2: got in the tail end of the season when everything clicks.

754
00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:34,120
Speaker 2: So it's always a delicate balance. But at the same time,

755
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:38,640
Speaker 2: it's like there was abundantly clear evidence that the Torrian

756
00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:41,400
Speaker 2: Princes at the three stuff wasn't working for the majority

757
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 2: of the first part of the season, and they never

758
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,839
Speaker 2: bailed on that until it was too late, and then

759
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:47,719
Speaker 2: they were in some massive hole in the standings. And

760
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,240
Speaker 2: so I think just a better relationship with the data,

761
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:52,759
Speaker 2: better understanding of how it works, in a better like

762
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:55,839
Speaker 2: willingness to listen to it will go a long way

763
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,719
Speaker 2: toward towards helping the Lakers kind of avoid some of

764
00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:02,920
Speaker 2: those pitfalls. Defensive end is where that can be really useful. So,

765
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:06,840
Speaker 2: like I was looking through the numbers today, the Laker

766
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,200
Speaker 2: defense was pretty bad, especially bad in the regular season

767
00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:13,760
Speaker 2: after their offense started clicking. Now they had some moments

768
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,160
Speaker 2: in the playoffs where they defended really well. I thought

769
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:19,359
Speaker 2: they defended the Nuggets pretty well for large stretches, but

770
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:21,839
Speaker 2: then they really struggled in crunch time. But I thought

771
00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:24,200
Speaker 2: that was more personnel related. And there's this I want

772
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 2: to be clear before I go any further on this,

773
00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:29,360
Speaker 2: there's a personnel element to this that has to be

774
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,920
Speaker 2: factored in. The Lakers do not have a starting caliber

775
00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:34,920
Speaker 2: player that is an excellent perimeter defender and a plus

776
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,919
Speaker 2: offensive player doesn't exist on the roster, and that's something

777
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:41,640
Speaker 2: that they absolutely have to address going into this postseason,

778
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:43,320
Speaker 2: which we're going to talk about here in just a minute.

779
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,600
Speaker 2: But the Lakers gave up the three the third most

780
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:49,680
Speaker 2: three point attempts in the league per game, They allowed

781
00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:54,960
Speaker 2: the sixth highest opponent three point percentage, they allowed the

782
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 2: the tenth most points in the paint per game, they

783
00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:00,920
Speaker 2: allowed the fourth most second chance points, and they allowed

784
00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:04,880
Speaker 2: the fourth most fast break points. So like they were

785
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:07,799
Speaker 2: there wasn't a phase of defense where they were great

786
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:11,920
Speaker 2: except for not fouling, so which probably had a lot

787
00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:14,040
Speaker 2: to do with everyone getting easy buckets on them.

788
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:14,279
Speaker 3: Right.

789
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:18,560
Speaker 2: So, like, I think there's an analytic approach to defense

790
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,279
Speaker 2: as well as it pertains to like you've got to

791
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:25,239
Speaker 2: find out what you can protect for sure, in this case,

792
00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 2: in all likelihood, protecting the paint is probably going to

793
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:29,319
Speaker 2: be the goal of this particular team, But we don't

794
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:32,160
Speaker 2: know what the roster looks like. But there are certain

795
00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:35,040
Speaker 2: things that, regardless of your personnel, you can clean up

796
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:38,799
Speaker 2: through coaching in terms of preaching, attention to detail, and

797
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:41,759
Speaker 2: focus on fundamentals. So like, this team has to be

798
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:47,839
Speaker 2: a good defensive transition team. You can't be giving up

799
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:50,359
Speaker 2: as many points in fast break situations as they did

800
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,319
Speaker 2: last year. This team has to find a way to

801
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:55,839
Speaker 2: at least take away either the rim or the three

802
00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,759
Speaker 2: point line. It can't be neither. If it's neither, you

803
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 2: have no chance to be effective defense. So like, again,

804
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 2: if we come out of this and Max Christie's the

805
00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:07,399
Speaker 2: best perimeter defender on the roster going into training camp,

806
00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:10,200
Speaker 2: then that probably needs to be a roster that loads

807
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:12,560
Speaker 2: up the strong side and shuts down the paint. That

808
00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:16,080
Speaker 2: has to be like at least somewhat of the fundamental

809
00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:19,919
Speaker 2: strong point. Or if they're more built around taking away

810
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:21,920
Speaker 2: the three point line, then there needs to be a

811
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,520
Speaker 2: focus on that in terms of not overhelping, staying home

812
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 2: on shooters, giving up rim attempts at the expense of

813
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:29,680
Speaker 2: taking away those three point shots. What it can't be

814
00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:32,239
Speaker 2: is what Darvin Ham built out last year, which is

815
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:34,800
Speaker 2: a defense that is good at nothing. And so again

816
00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:38,279
Speaker 2: like just identifying whatever direction he wants to go with

817
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:41,239
Speaker 2: this with this roster when it's all built, and just

818
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,800
Speaker 2: kind of constructing a game plan that at least tightens

819
00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,760
Speaker 2: up some of those areas, because at the very least

820
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:49,600
Speaker 2: you have to be like, if this is going to

821
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:51,960
Speaker 2: be an offensive oriented team, like, let's pretend they go

822
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,799
Speaker 2: in on an offensive minded you know, trade piece that

823
00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:58,480
Speaker 2: they bring in and it's Austin lebron Ad and some

824
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 2: other great offensive player, and we're the super high powered

825
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:03,759
Speaker 2: five out offense and we're top five in the league

826
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:05,440
Speaker 2: in offensive rating. Blah blah blah blah.

827
00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 3: That's great.

828
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,160
Speaker 2: You still have to be at least a mediocre defense.

829
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:11,920
Speaker 2: They have to be in that ten to fifteen range

830
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,560
Speaker 2: at a minimum if they're an elite offense to be

831
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,840
Speaker 2: a legitimate threat. And that can be done just like

832
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,920
Speaker 2: the Denver Nuggets did last year, as long as you

833
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:23,560
Speaker 2: polish up all of those details and you're great at

834
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:26,400
Speaker 2: least at some things. And so again, just paying attention

835
00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:30,239
Speaker 2: to the data, the attention to detail holding players accountable.

836
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 2: I think that's gonna go a long way all right,

837
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:34,319
Speaker 2: before we get into the offseason, I'm gonna have some

838
00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:39,640
Speaker 2: rapid fire questions for you surrounding surrounding the JJ higher.

839
00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,840
Speaker 2: What is Lebron's involvement been with on the JJ Reddick

840
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:44,279
Speaker 2: front in terms of him getting the job.

841
00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:48,200
Speaker 3: Apparently it's not been involved.

842
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 1: That's been what we reported at the Athletic that that's

843
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:55,719
Speaker 1: what we've heard from sources within the organization and also

844
00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 1: outside of the organization. I mean, Rich Paul came out

845
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:04,160
Speaker 1: and basically out statement to Sham's about Lebron not backing

846
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 1: JJ and basically just because of our podcast partners doesn't

847
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:10,040
Speaker 1: mean he wants him to be his head coach. So

848
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:14,160
Speaker 1: I think really this traces back to the Russell Westbrook

849
00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:16,840
Speaker 1: situation and some of the fallout with that and the

850
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:19,480
Speaker 1: blame game from that. So I think ever since then,

851
00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:24,760
Speaker 1: the front office and Lebron have not been.

852
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:27,160
Speaker 3: They've not been.

853
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,440
Speaker 1: Working as closely as they were up to that point.

854
00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 1: So I think that it's it's been a little bit

855
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:34,520
Speaker 1: more of a separation of church and state, so to speak.

856
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:37,440
Speaker 1: And I think with Lebron it was sort of like like,

857
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:39,840
Speaker 1: you're I'm probably gonna get the blame here.

858
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:41,880
Speaker 3: If JJ, if they hire JJ.

859
00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:44,439
Speaker 1: And it doesn't work out, Like I'm going to get

860
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:47,280
Speaker 1: some level of blame here because we have this podcast together.

861
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,440
Speaker 1: So I'm just like, I don't have a say in this.

862
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:53,680
Speaker 1: I'm removing myself. So you know, to my knowledge zero,

863
00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:56,239
Speaker 1: I mean, of course, on some level, like him having

864
00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:58,759
Speaker 1: a podcast, we can't ignore him having a podcast with

865
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:02,760
Speaker 1: JJ and then seeing eye to eye on basically every everything,

866
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:07,000
Speaker 1: excuse me, everything basketball wise, Like there's some level of like, okay,

867
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,319
Speaker 1: well you got the co sign there, but from my

868
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:13,000
Speaker 1: you know, to my knowledge, he was not involved in

869
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:13,640
Speaker 1: this process.

870
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:32,040
Speaker 2: So what do you think the Lakers mean when they

871
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:34,840
Speaker 2: say they view him as pat Riley or Eric Spolstra.

872
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:38,719
Speaker 1: Well, pat Riley, I think there's a clear you know

873
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 1: that one. It's not just like the way he dresses

874
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:45,160
Speaker 1: or or the hair. It's it's more so like making

875
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:49,320
Speaker 1: the jump from being a player to the broadcast booth

876
00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:52,239
Speaker 1: to the coaching chair and a matter of just a

877
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:55,160
Speaker 1: few years now, pat Riley, did you know he was

878
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:57,080
Speaker 1: an assistant coach for a couple of years, so he

879
00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:00,080
Speaker 1: at least had a little bit of experience before becoming

880
00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:03,279
Speaker 1: a head coach, So that is one key difference. It's

881
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:06,400
Speaker 1: also in late seventies early eighties, like they had one

882
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:09,280
Speaker 1: assistant coach, so it was like a much different process,

883
00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:13,120
Speaker 1: and it was probably like a slightly easier process, right

884
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:15,640
Speaker 1: or even very much easier.

885
00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:20,360
Speaker 3: But so that's one thing. But they see like the charisma.

886
00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:24,800
Speaker 1: The gravatas, like him having that tough, competitive.

887
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,080
Speaker 3: Spirit, and they see a lot of the traits that

888
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:28,959
Speaker 3: the Lakers.

889
00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:31,520
Speaker 1: Saw in pat Riley that made them want to elevate

890
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:34,239
Speaker 1: him to being their head coach as traits that JJ

891
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:35,800
Speaker 1: Reddick has as well.

892
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,440
Speaker 3: So nothing like basketball exits.

893
00:43:39,239 --> 00:43:42,440
Speaker 1: No's necessarily, but more so like just the the personality,

894
00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:46,239
Speaker 1: the charisma, the competitiveness, the like the desire to win

895
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:47,320
Speaker 1: at all costs.

896
00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:51,520
Speaker 3: They see that in JJ Reddick. So that that's and.

897
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:54,560
Speaker 1: The Lakers, of course, like they tend to, you know,

898
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:58,279
Speaker 1: compare things to their past and the glory days, so

899
00:43:58,719 --> 00:44:01,600
Speaker 1: like it is, you know, it's kind of funny that

900
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:04,920
Speaker 1: like that was the comparison. Now the Eric Spolstra Steve

901
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:10,600
Speaker 1: Kerr is more so, like they want JJ to become

902
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,840
Speaker 1: a program builder, a culture setter, like those are the

903
00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:16,680
Speaker 1: terms that they use and have a coach in place

904
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:21,200
Speaker 1: for the next ten fifteen years. And it is interesting

905
00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:22,960
Speaker 1: to me that he only signed a four year deal

906
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,080
Speaker 1: compared to the six year deal that was offered to

907
00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:29,040
Speaker 1: Dan Hurley. But they're viewing this as like Lebron and

908
00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,920
Speaker 1: eighty probably have two more years maybe three MAX together,

909
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:35,040
Speaker 1: and then there's going to be the next era of

910
00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:39,200
Speaker 1: Lakers basketball, and can you build something sustainable here and

911
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:43,800
Speaker 1: be a stalwart and be you know, an iconic coach

912
00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:48,439
Speaker 1: that transcends this era of Lakers basketball, that transcends maybe

913
00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:52,320
Speaker 1: multiple iterations of Lakers basketball. And you know, Steve Kerr

914
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:55,520
Speaker 1: obviously has been fortunate to have Steph and Draymond and

915
00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:58,200
Speaker 1: Clay together for that whole time. But like looking at

916
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:00,799
Speaker 1: Eric Spolstra when he came in, I mean, he came

917
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:03,600
Speaker 1: in right before the Heatles, and then you know, see

918
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:06,080
Speaker 1: he had that version of like Dwayne Wade going out

919
00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:07,800
Speaker 1: getting thirty and ten every night, but they were a

920
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:10,719
Speaker 1: pretty bad team. Then they get the Heatles, then they

921
00:45:10,719 --> 00:45:14,640
Speaker 1: have that kind of down period and then they rebuild

922
00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:17,040
Speaker 1: and get Jimmy Butler and Beam out of Bayo. Now

923
00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:19,200
Speaker 1: they have this iteration and now they might be going

924
00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,920
Speaker 1: in a different direction potentially this offseason. So, like Eric

925
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:25,840
Speaker 1: Spoltzo has been there for multiple generations of heat basketball,

926
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:28,600
Speaker 1: and I mean it's it's a very high bar for

927
00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:32,000
Speaker 1: JJ tow be coming in it'd be compared to those guys.

928
00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:34,640
Speaker 3: But he's about to turn forty next.

929
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:37,680
Speaker 1: Week, and he you know, he's incredibly young, and so

930
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:40,359
Speaker 1: like this is if he wants to, he could coach

931
00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:43,239
Speaker 1: till he's sixty five seventy, and you know, whether that

932
00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:46,239
Speaker 1: ends up being with the Lakers or multiple teams, like

933
00:45:46,719 --> 00:45:49,279
Speaker 1: only time will tell. But they want that type of

934
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:52,920
Speaker 1: guy of like just a smart person who's going to

935
00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:57,080
Speaker 1: adapt to how basketball is changing and year over year

936
00:45:57,280 --> 00:46:00,680
Speaker 1: change their coaching philosophy, change like how they view things,

937
00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:03,560
Speaker 1: and that is something that JJ's pitching that he's going

938
00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 1: to do. And so I think those comparisons are more

939
00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:08,520
Speaker 1: like a modern version of that. But the pat Riley wanted,

940
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:10,439
Speaker 1: I think it's more just like the glory days and

941
00:46:10,719 --> 00:46:13,880
Speaker 1: they're just the path that they follow to becoming coaches.

942
00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:17,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot of pressure there, but I think

943
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:20,120
Speaker 2: that JJ will handle that kind of pressure well and

944
00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:23,200
Speaker 2: use it to fuel him two more quick ones before

945
00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:26,160
Speaker 2: we get to the offseason. Did the podcast get mentioned

946
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:27,640
Speaker 2: at all during the interview process?

947
00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:32,839
Speaker 1: Not to my knowledge, but I was not in those conversations,

948
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:36,520
Speaker 1: so I can't. I'm I mean, I would guess probably,

949
00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:37,800
Speaker 1: but not to my knowledge.

950
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:41,040
Speaker 2: If you had to quickly list off what you expect

951
00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:44,520
Speaker 2: the assistant coaching staff to look like, what do you think? Yeah?

952
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:46,640
Speaker 1: So the four names we reported at the Athletic are

953
00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:48,840
Speaker 1: Sam Cassell. The Lakers would love for him to be

954
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:53,960
Speaker 1: a lead assistant, Scott Brooks, Jon Rondo, and Jared Dudley.

955
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:57,040
Speaker 1: I don't expect all four of those names to be

956
00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:59,160
Speaker 1: on the bench next season. I would expect maybe a

957
00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:02,279
Speaker 1: couple of them. Uh, Sam could be in Land to

958
00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:04,759
Speaker 1: be promoted in Boston with Charles Lee going over to

959
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 1: Charlotte that Scott Brooks was recently let go by Portland,

960
00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:12,800
Speaker 1: and then Rondo's dealing with some off court legal stuff,

961
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:16,200
Speaker 1: so that's that's the potential, you know, hold up there.

962
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:18,960
Speaker 1: And then Jared Dudley, I mean, he was on Dallas's

963
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:22,080
Speaker 1: bench and they just made the NBA Finals, so he

964
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:24,560
Speaker 1: could potentially be in Land for a promotion there or

965
00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:28,000
Speaker 1: just staying there because of the state that that team

966
00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:31,400
Speaker 1: is in right now, So I like Stanman. This is

967
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:33,480
Speaker 1: just pure speculation here, but Stanman Gutty is a name

968
00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:36,560
Speaker 1: that to me, I think would be an interesting one

969
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:39,040
Speaker 1: of just you know, he's calling games for T and

970
00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,480
Speaker 1: T right now. But JJ has said that that is

971
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:44,000
Speaker 1: the best coach he's ever played for, and I think

972
00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:45,839
Speaker 1: he would make a lot of sense either as an

973
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:48,600
Speaker 1: offensive or probably more of a defensive coordinator, but like

974
00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:50,719
Speaker 1: either way, kind of being that lead guy if the

975
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:54,680
Speaker 1: Lakers can't land Sam Cassel. So pure speculation there for

976
00:47:54,719 --> 00:47:57,160
Speaker 1: those who are about to agree to that, but I

977
00:47:57,160 --> 00:47:58,840
Speaker 1: think stanm Aan Gutty would make a lot of sense.

978
00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:02,320
Speaker 1: So I've heard though they want at least one former

979
00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:05,320
Speaker 1: head coach, if not two, on this current staff or

980
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,560
Speaker 1: on JJ's staff, as kind of a buffer with experience

981
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:10,960
Speaker 1: and just to help guide him through his first year.

982
00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:15,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm I am most concerned about them giving him

983
00:48:15,600 --> 00:48:18,799
Speaker 2: somebody to help with just like the personality dynamics and

984
00:48:18,920 --> 00:48:22,680
Speaker 2: navigating just the flow of an eighty two game season

985
00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:25,839
Speaker 2: and some of the postseason highs and lows that can

986
00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:29,040
Speaker 2: take place after wins and losses. In terms of the tactics,

987
00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:32,040
Speaker 2: I actually get really nervous about former head coaches because

988
00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:34,040
Speaker 2: like some of them tend to be a little bit

989
00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:36,440
Speaker 2: stuck in their ways. The NBA is very different than

990
00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:39,120
Speaker 2: what it was when Stanman Gundi was last coaching at

991
00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:41,799
Speaker 2: the NBA level. So like, but I don't worry about

992
00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:44,760
Speaker 2: JJ with the tactics at all, because he's just he's crazy.

993
00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:47,960
Speaker 2: He's crazy competitive, he loves the game. That dude will

994
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:52,880
Speaker 2: That dude will be buried in basketball ideologies for the

995
00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:56,520
Speaker 2: next month, like for the next three four months prepping

996
00:48:56,560 --> 00:48:59,240
Speaker 2: for this season. I have no concerns about his ability

997
00:48:59,239 --> 00:49:02,200
Speaker 2: to handle the tactic side of things. It's just will

998
00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:04,560
Speaker 2: he be able to handle the personality dynamics that are

999
00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:08,000
Speaker 2: very different being a coach versus when you're just in

1000
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:09,680
Speaker 2: the locker room as a player, And so like getting

1001
00:49:10,600 --> 00:49:13,440
Speaker 2: some head coaching experience just to help him navigate that

1002
00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:15,440
Speaker 2: I think would be really useful. All Right, we're just

1003
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:17,279
Speaker 2: going to spend about five to ten minutes on this.

1004
00:49:17,400 --> 00:49:21,239
Speaker 2: But obviously it's been what seven eight weeks since you

1005
00:49:21,239 --> 00:49:25,280
Speaker 2: and I last chatted. What do you think the current

1006
00:49:25,960 --> 00:49:28,239
Speaker 2: ideology is at the front office in terms of the

1007
00:49:28,280 --> 00:49:31,080
Speaker 2: direction you think they'll go this summer in terms of

1008
00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:32,000
Speaker 2: player personnel.

1009
00:49:33,560 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 1: So what I've been hearing the last few weeks and

1010
00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:39,760
Speaker 1: what I've been reporting out has been the team leaning

1011
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:44,719
Speaker 1: more toward small to medium upgrades to this roster, likely

1012
00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:48,960
Speaker 1: in the form of a couple separate deals with role players.

1013
00:49:49,480 --> 00:49:52,760
Speaker 1: So the mid sized contracts that they have are Austin Reeves,

1014
00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:57,000
Speaker 1: Ruy Hutchemora, Jared Vanderbilt, potentially the Angel Russell if he

1015
00:49:57,080 --> 00:50:01,840
Speaker 1: opts in, and Gabe Vincent. So of trading some combination

1016
00:50:02,239 --> 00:50:04,680
Speaker 1: of those guys, either packaging a couple of them together

1017
00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:08,640
Speaker 1: or doing a couple separate deals and then using your picks,

1018
00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:12,840
Speaker 1: maybe using a Jalen Hoodschafino to get a couple of

1019
00:50:12,880 --> 00:50:14,320
Speaker 1: upgrades Vietnam.

1020
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:15,960
Speaker 3: Primarily like they need a wing.

1021
00:50:15,840 --> 00:50:20,399
Speaker 1: Upgrade that they need ideally, like Ruy Hutchimora and Jared

1022
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:22,960
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt have like a basketball baby, and like that is

1023
00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:26,239
Speaker 1: the starting small forward for the Lakers. That player is

1024
00:50:26,239 --> 00:50:29,560
Speaker 1: hard to find. But you know, I think not having

1025
00:50:29,600 --> 00:50:32,319
Speaker 1: to do sort of like offense defense with those two

1026
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:34,560
Speaker 1: and having to pick and kind of give up one

1027
00:50:34,600 --> 00:50:37,600
Speaker 1: side of the ball. So that's going to be a

1028
00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:39,719
Speaker 1: point of emphasis for them, is trying to find that

1029
00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:42,680
Speaker 1: elusive three and d winning, which they had multiple of

1030
00:50:42,719 --> 00:50:45,440
Speaker 1: them a few years ago, if you remember KCP, Kyle

1031
00:50:45,560 --> 00:50:48,640
Speaker 1: Kuzma and Alex Caruso, and now that they've really struggled

1032
00:50:48,680 --> 00:50:51,359
Speaker 1: to find two way talent over the last few years, so.

1033
00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:53,440
Speaker 3: That that is like priority number one for them. Is

1034
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:54,319
Speaker 3: figuring that out.

1035
00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:58,960
Speaker 1: Now if D'Angel Russell opts out and leaves or ops

1036
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:00,880
Speaker 1: out and is signing trade it somewhere like all of

1037
00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:02,920
Speaker 1: a sudden, you have that point guard hole and you

1038
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:05,640
Speaker 1: only have the non taxpayer mL to replace him with.

1039
00:51:05,719 --> 00:51:08,200
Speaker 1: So the Angel Russell really is the pivot point here,

1040
00:51:08,719 --> 00:51:11,080
Speaker 1: and I haven't got a great read on what he's

1041
00:51:11,200 --> 00:51:13,919
Speaker 1: likely going to do. I mean, I thought the Molik

1042
00:51:14,040 --> 00:51:16,080
Speaker 1: Monk contract was pretty interesting. It was a little bit

1043
00:51:16,120 --> 00:51:18,839
Speaker 1: lower than I was expecting for Molik Monk, and that

1044
00:51:18,880 --> 00:51:21,040
Speaker 1: could just be a sign of with the new second

1045
00:51:21,080 --> 00:51:23,880
Speaker 1: Apron rules and even the first Apron rules, teams are

1046
00:51:23,920 --> 00:51:27,439
Speaker 1: going to be more conservative with their spending on non

1047
00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:31,240
Speaker 1: all stars and superstars. So a guy like the Angel

1048
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:33,960
Speaker 1: Russell in theory, you couldn't maybe make the case of,

1049
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:36,120
Speaker 1: you know, could he get twenty million from a team

1050
00:51:36,160 --> 00:51:40,200
Speaker 1: or twenty five like maybe on paper that could be

1051
00:51:40,239 --> 00:51:43,120
Speaker 1: his value, but in actuality like it might not be

1052
00:51:43,200 --> 00:51:45,000
Speaker 1: the case. So a guy like the Delo has to

1053
00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:47,160
Speaker 1: pick between do I want eighteen million four one year

1054
00:51:47,200 --> 00:51:49,239
Speaker 1: and then test for agency the following season, or do

1055
00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:53,040
Speaker 1: I want maybe a smaller annual value.

1056
00:51:52,800 --> 00:51:54,640
Speaker 3: Deal for multiple years.

1057
00:51:54,719 --> 00:51:58,200
Speaker 1: So but my sense in all this is the Lakers

1058
00:51:58,239 --> 00:52:00,719
Speaker 1: have been leading more toward smaller moves in part just

1059
00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:03,439
Speaker 1: because it gets really difficult to build out a good

1060
00:52:03,520 --> 00:52:07,160
Speaker 1: roster in twenty twenty four when you have three guys

1061
00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:09,040
Speaker 1: making forty plus million dollars. I mean, look at the

1062
00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:12,200
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns like that ultimately was I think what you

1063
00:52:12,239 --> 00:52:14,480
Speaker 1: know did them in was just and there was a

1064
00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:16,920
Speaker 1: limitation there. I think to how those guys fit, I

1065
00:52:16,960 --> 00:52:21,080
Speaker 1: think there'd be a more natural fit between a guard

1066
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:24,520
Speaker 1: Lebron and ad Like I think positionally it kind of

1067
00:52:24,520 --> 00:52:26,279
Speaker 1: makes a bit more sense and like you could you

1068
00:52:26,320 --> 00:52:29,840
Speaker 1: could see the vision there. But after the Russell Westbrook situation,

1069
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:33,920
Speaker 1: with the new second apron rules and the limitations with

1070
00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:36,279
Speaker 1: building out the roster and the limitations that come with

1071
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:38,960
Speaker 1: just even crossing the first apron, I think they're leaning

1072
00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:40,120
Speaker 1: that way now.

1073
00:52:40,160 --> 00:52:42,520
Speaker 3: I will say, like the Dan.

1074
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:45,799
Speaker 1: Early thing, it shook me a little bit in terms

1075
00:52:45,840 --> 00:52:50,440
Speaker 1: of like their ability to sort of misdirect. So I

1076
00:52:50,480 --> 00:52:52,920
Speaker 1: want to add the caveat of like, there's certainly the

1077
00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:56,520
Speaker 1: possibility that, like the buzz coming out has been supporting

1078
00:52:56,560 --> 00:53:00,760
Speaker 1: cast upgrades and you know, more minimal to margin all upgrades.

1079
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:03,960
Speaker 1: But maybe there is a something that are working. But

1080
00:53:04,120 --> 00:53:05,440
Speaker 1: the problem with that, though is we just don't even

1081
00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:08,800
Speaker 1: know who's available. Like right now, Atlanta has not clarified

1082
00:53:08,800 --> 00:53:10,640
Speaker 1: who's going to be available between Trey Young and de

1083
00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:11,320
Speaker 1: Chantey Murray.

1084
00:53:11,320 --> 00:53:13,040
Speaker 3: It could be both, could be, neither could be one.

1085
00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:16,719
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell has not signed his extension yet with Cleveland,

1086
00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:20,640
Speaker 1: so like that's a big one. Darius Garland is going

1087
00:53:20,719 --> 00:53:22,920
Speaker 1: to be kind of like the fallout guy with Die

1088
00:53:23,080 --> 00:53:26,360
Speaker 1: if Donovan stays versus if Donovan asks out. So like

1089
00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:28,759
Speaker 1: there's still a lot of uncertainty as far as like

1090
00:53:28,880 --> 00:53:32,279
Speaker 1: which stars are even available right now. But I would

1091
00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:34,520
Speaker 1: not be surprised if like that the Lakers kind of

1092
00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:36,600
Speaker 1: pull a smoke screen and all of a sudden, it's like,

1093
00:53:36,640 --> 00:53:39,480
Speaker 1: well they trade for star X that we were not expecting.

1094
00:53:39,880 --> 00:53:42,440
Speaker 1: But as of now, everything I've been hearing has been

1095
00:53:42,520 --> 00:53:45,440
Speaker 1: more let's upgrade, like the starting small forward spot, may

1096
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:48,400
Speaker 1: maybe the point guard spot if Dlo is gone, and

1097
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:50,640
Speaker 1: then let's go into next season with some measure of

1098
00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:52,600
Speaker 1: continuity and then a couple of upgrades.

1099
00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:55,680
Speaker 2: I like that strategy within the context of Lebron and

1100
00:53:55,719 --> 00:53:58,200
Speaker 2: Ad being healthy, Like if I just knew they were

1101
00:53:58,239 --> 00:54:00,279
Speaker 2: gonna have another season like they did last year. I

1102
00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:02,560
Speaker 2: like that strategy just simply because, like I thought, Lebron

1103
00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:04,839
Speaker 2: and Ad both played at a top ten level through

1104
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:08,200
Speaker 2: the entire season, and especially in that first round. I

1105
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:10,040
Speaker 2: thought both of I thought both Lebron and Ad. I

1106
00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:12,320
Speaker 2: thought Lebron and Ady just they straight up out played

1107
00:54:13,239 --> 00:54:15,520
Speaker 2: Yo Kitchen Murray head to head. I thought Ad kind

1108
00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:18,080
Speaker 2: of more or less met Yo Kitchen's level, and Lebron

1109
00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:20,080
Speaker 2: was better than Jamal Murray outside of a few clutch

1110
00:54:20,160 --> 00:54:24,560
Speaker 2: jump shots. But down the roster, Aaron Gordon, KCP, Michael

1111
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:29,480
Speaker 2: Porter Junior, those dudes just absolutely dusted the D'Angelo, Russell,

1112
00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:34,279
Speaker 2: Ruy Hatchi Mura group, like they really struggled and so like,

1113
00:54:34,480 --> 00:54:36,960
Speaker 2: Austin Reeves was pretty good once again, shot fifty five

1114
00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:39,040
Speaker 2: percent on pull of jump shots. He's at twenty one

1115
00:54:39,120 --> 00:54:42,359
Speaker 2: playoff games now, seventeen points per game on sixty one

1116
00:54:42,360 --> 00:54:45,120
Speaker 2: percent for shooting, which is awesome, and so like, I

1117
00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:48,200
Speaker 2: kind of liked that idea within the context of what

1118
00:54:48,239 --> 00:54:52,120
Speaker 2: we've seen in recent NBA history too, because like Dallas

1119
00:54:52,200 --> 00:54:56,560
Speaker 2: misses the playoffs last year, make a couple of personnel tweaks,

1120
00:54:56,600 --> 00:54:58,640
Speaker 2: like here's a good point of attack defender and Derek

1121
00:54:58,719 --> 00:55:02,359
Speaker 2: Jones junior. Here a Ford in PJ. Washington, here's two

1122
00:55:02,400 --> 00:55:04,920
Speaker 2: vertical spacing threats, and Lively and Gafford bam, all of

1123
00:55:04,920 --> 00:55:07,040
Speaker 2: a sudden, they're in the finals. So like, if your

1124
00:55:07,120 --> 00:55:10,319
Speaker 2: top two is as good as Lebron and ad Are

1125
00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:13,080
Speaker 2: and your third best player is as good as Austin

1126
00:55:13,120 --> 00:55:16,399
Speaker 2: Reeves is, then subtle tweaks can go a long way.

1127
00:55:16,560 --> 00:55:20,520
Speaker 2: Golden State twenty twenty one, their mediocre missed the playoffs.

1128
00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:24,360
Speaker 2: You know, bring in a you know, an Auto Porter junior,

1129
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:29,000
Speaker 2: Bring in you know, Gary Payton, bring in the you know,

1130
00:55:29,040 --> 00:55:31,840
Speaker 2: Andrew Wiggins kind of buys into his role. Klay Thompson

1131
00:55:31,880 --> 00:55:34,120
Speaker 2: comes back, all of a sudden, they end up winning

1132
00:55:34,120 --> 00:55:36,920
Speaker 2: the championship. So like, again, I don't I think it's

1133
00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:39,000
Speaker 2: a little bit more complicated just with how talented the

1134
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:42,040
Speaker 2: top of the league is. But if the reality is

1135
00:55:42,040 --> 00:55:45,200
Speaker 2: is the de Lo Ruey piece was the weak point

1136
00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:48,200
Speaker 2: last year. I was actually this morning watching a bunch

1137
00:55:48,239 --> 00:55:51,480
Speaker 2: of film, just kind of getting just reminding myself what

1138
00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:53,520
Speaker 2: the Laker offense looked like, because it's been so long

1139
00:55:53,560 --> 00:55:58,839
Speaker 2: since I've watched it, And like Ruy, Ruy turned out

1140
00:55:58,840 --> 00:56:00,800
Speaker 2: to be the weak point on both ends of the floor.

1141
00:56:01,360 --> 00:56:03,600
Speaker 2: Too many possessions were ending with him getting wide open

1142
00:56:03,640 --> 00:56:07,000
Speaker 2: corner threes that he couldn't make, too many driving closeouts

1143
00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:08,719
Speaker 2: into the lane where he'd smoke a layup or take

1144
00:56:08,800 --> 00:56:10,520
Speaker 2: some sort of bad mid range pull up jump shot,

1145
00:56:11,080 --> 00:56:13,400
Speaker 2: not tracking Michael Porter Junior on the other end of

1146
00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:16,560
Speaker 2: the floor, losing track of him, not battling enough physically

1147
00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:19,480
Speaker 2: underneath the basket. Like Ruy just had a bad series.

1148
00:56:19,520 --> 00:56:22,400
Speaker 2: But Ruy to me is a bench player who's masquerading

1149
00:56:22,440 --> 00:56:25,360
Speaker 2: as a starter for the Lakers. D'Angelo Russell is a

1150
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:29,080
Speaker 2: redundancy next to Austin Reeves. And so if I believe,

1151
00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:33,799
Speaker 2: I genuinely believe this, if the Lakers could get two

1152
00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:38,319
Speaker 2: high quality starters, not stars, just starters that play at

1153
00:56:38,320 --> 00:56:41,480
Speaker 2: the two and the three between Austin Reeves, Lebron James

1154
00:56:41,520 --> 00:56:44,400
Speaker 2: and Anthony Davis, that just automatically puts them into a

1155
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:46,799
Speaker 2: different tier as a basketball team. I think that would

1156
00:56:46,800 --> 00:56:50,960
Speaker 2: put them up in that group with the teams that

1157
00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:52,759
Speaker 2: are out of the play in that are towards the

1158
00:56:52,800 --> 00:56:55,640
Speaker 2: top end of the of the Western Conference. But it's hard,

1159
00:56:55,840 --> 00:56:59,520
Speaker 2: it's those are the two most desired positional archetypes around

1160
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:01,960
Speaker 2: the league in terms of role players are the two

1161
00:57:02,000 --> 00:57:05,319
Speaker 2: and the three guys that guard opposing perimeter players and

1162
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:09,319
Speaker 2: that are offensive threats off the ball when teams throw

1163
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:11,960
Speaker 2: extra attention towards your stars. So it's a lot to

1164
00:57:12,120 --> 00:57:14,400
Speaker 2: ask to go out and find that type of player.

1165
00:57:14,840 --> 00:57:17,520
Speaker 2: But like, as long as Lebron and Ad are healthy,

1166
00:57:17,600 --> 00:57:20,800
Speaker 2: I like that strategy. My main concern is what do

1167
00:57:20,840 --> 00:57:23,480
Speaker 2: you do if AD misses thirty games? What do you

1168
00:57:23,520 --> 00:57:27,080
Speaker 2: do if Lebron misses thirty games? If Ad misses thirty games,

1169
00:57:27,080 --> 00:57:33,240
Speaker 2: you absolutely have to have some kind of legitimate center

1170
00:57:33,520 --> 00:57:38,320
Speaker 2: that can play and defend the rim and win contested

1171
00:57:38,360 --> 00:57:42,440
Speaker 2: rebound battles. Jackson, Hayes and Christian woodren't those guys, So

1172
00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:46,800
Speaker 2: they have to find a legitimate backup center option because

1173
00:57:46,960 --> 00:57:49,640
Speaker 2: chances are Ad will have to miss some chunk of

1174
00:57:49,640 --> 00:57:52,240
Speaker 2: games this year and then on the Lebron James front.

1175
00:57:52,240 --> 00:57:55,880
Speaker 2: If he misses time, the Lakers ball handling takes And

1176
00:57:55,920 --> 00:57:57,600
Speaker 2: that's where it could be an issue where if you

1177
00:57:57,640 --> 00:57:59,600
Speaker 2: did have just role players and you didn't bring back

1178
00:57:59,640 --> 00:58:02,400
Speaker 2: let's just for the sake of argument at Dejonte Murray,

1179
00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:05,200
Speaker 2: if you add a Dejontay Murray in a legitimate backup center,

1180
00:58:05,520 --> 00:58:09,200
Speaker 2: you just have more fortitude to deal with Lebron and

1181
00:58:09,240 --> 00:58:11,920
Speaker 2: AD injuries. But then the flip side of that is like,

1182
00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:14,200
Speaker 2: you're not winning the title unless Lebron and Ad are

1183
00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:17,880
Speaker 2: healthy anyway. So like, I understand that perspective in the

1184
00:58:17,920 --> 00:58:20,680
Speaker 2: sense that you're basically betting like our best version of

1185
00:58:20,720 --> 00:58:23,800
Speaker 2: ourselves is healthy Lebron Ad playing at a top ten level,

1186
00:58:23,840 --> 00:58:26,680
Speaker 2: Austin being the MAINO genobili of the team, and two

1187
00:58:26,760 --> 00:58:29,800
Speaker 2: starting quality two and three that all come together for

1188
00:58:29,840 --> 00:58:32,200
Speaker 2: a postseason run. So like, again, there's just a certain

1189
00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:34,200
Speaker 2: amount of risk when you're building around a forty year

1190
00:58:34,200 --> 00:58:37,280
Speaker 2: old Lebron James and an Anthony Davis who's had a

1191
00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:39,919
Speaker 2: propensity to be you know, deal with injuries from time

1192
00:58:39,960 --> 00:58:42,200
Speaker 2: to time. But I am curious to see and to

1193
00:58:42,240 --> 00:58:44,280
Speaker 2: your point about like them coming out of the woodwork

1194
00:58:44,360 --> 00:58:48,600
Speaker 2: with some sort of you know, random deal. It really

1195
00:58:48,600 --> 00:58:52,520
Speaker 2: just matters what's available, Like that's really what matters. Like

1196
00:58:52,560 --> 00:58:54,160
Speaker 2: if you have a phone call with somebody and that's like,

1197
00:58:54,160 --> 00:58:56,280
Speaker 2: oh shit, we can get this guy or that guy,

1198
00:58:56,360 --> 00:58:59,160
Speaker 2: then yeah, you got to explore it. But like if

1199
00:58:59,200 --> 00:59:01,680
Speaker 2: those aren't available and these high quality role players available,

1200
00:59:01,720 --> 00:59:03,520
Speaker 2: you got to go that way. It's not worth it

1201
00:59:03,560 --> 00:59:06,720
Speaker 2: to just invest in two low quality starters either, right, So,

1202
00:59:06,840 --> 00:59:09,120
Speaker 2: like again it's it's really hard to make a call

1203
00:59:09,160 --> 00:59:11,400
Speaker 2: on these things just because we're so disconnected from it.

1204
00:59:11,480 --> 00:59:14,040
Speaker 2: But anyway, Yovan, we've already taken too much of your time.

1205
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:17,000
Speaker 2: I really appreciate you making this work on short notice.

1206
00:59:17,120 --> 00:59:19,120
Speaker 2: It's good to see you again. It's been too long.

1207
00:59:19,760 --> 00:59:21,120
Speaker 2: I would imagine you and I are gonna have a

1208
00:59:21,160 --> 00:59:23,120
Speaker 2: lot to talk about over the course of the next month.

1209
00:59:23,560 --> 00:59:26,360
Speaker 2: Isn't it funny how the NBA season works where it's

1210
00:59:26,440 --> 00:59:29,640
Speaker 2: like it's just it's like, oh, here's the trophy. On Monday,

1211
00:59:29,640 --> 00:59:32,680
Speaker 2: it's the Celtics are are champions, and then it's like

1212
00:59:32,760 --> 00:59:35,520
Speaker 2: JJ Redicket's hired, the draft is on Wednesday, free agency

1213
00:59:35,560 --> 00:59:39,840
Speaker 2: starts that weekend or whatever, like it just never freaking ends. Man,

1214
00:59:39,880 --> 00:59:41,600
Speaker 2: before we get out here, why don't you tell us

1215
00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:43,320
Speaker 2: about what you're working on over at the Athletic right

1216
00:59:43,320 --> 00:59:44,360
Speaker 2: now and on your YouTube channel.

1217
00:59:45,680 --> 00:59:48,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I will be reporting out the JJ Redick

1218
00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:52,200
Speaker 1: press conference whenever. That likely Monday or Tuesday. He actually

1219
00:59:52,240 --> 00:59:55,720
Speaker 1: turns forty on Mondays, so I wonder if he gets

1220
00:59:55,800 --> 01:00:00,080
Speaker 1: the day off from doing the buzzsaw of media that

1221
01:00:00,080 --> 01:00:03,240
Speaker 1: that's gonna be fitting for him asking about podcasting and

1222
01:00:03,240 --> 01:00:05,720
Speaker 1: all that stuff. But uh, yeah, so we'll be reporting

1223
01:00:05,720 --> 01:00:07,440
Speaker 1: all that out at the Athletics, So make sure to

1224
01:00:07,480 --> 01:00:09,600
Speaker 1: subscribe and then also make sure to check out my

1225
01:00:09,640 --> 01:00:12,560
Speaker 1: YouTube channel. You can just search you govom booha or

1226
01:00:12,600 --> 01:00:16,480
Speaker 1: Booja's block. That is my video podcast on there. So

1227
01:00:16,600 --> 01:00:22,000
Speaker 1: we'll be also reacting and uncovering everything that we're reporting out,

1228
01:00:22,040 --> 01:00:23,560
Speaker 1: so be on the lookout for that.

1229
01:00:24,880 --> 01:00:27,600
Speaker 2: Thanks again, Yovan. Everybody get over there and subscribe to

1230
01:00:27,720 --> 01:00:29,920
Speaker 2: Yovon's YouTube channel as well as supporting his workover at

1231
01:00:29,960 --> 01:00:31,320
Speaker 2: the Athletic. We are going to take the rest of

1232
01:00:31,320 --> 01:00:34,520
Speaker 2: the weekend off. On Monday, we have Sam Vassini, also

1233
01:00:34,600 --> 01:00:36,360
Speaker 2: from the Athletic, coming on the show. We're going to

1234
01:00:36,400 --> 01:00:39,440
Speaker 2: break down the NBA draft everything I talked about at

1235
01:00:39,440 --> 01:00:40,960
Speaker 2: the end of this week in terms of the five

1236
01:00:40,960 --> 01:00:43,880
Speaker 2: biggest takeaways from the postseason and the mail bag. Thanks

1237
01:00:43,880 --> 01:00:45,800
Speaker 2: to the JJ redick Hier, we are pushing that to

1238
01:00:45,840 --> 01:00:48,840
Speaker 2: Tuesday Wednesday next week and then we will be reacting

1239
01:00:49,400 --> 01:00:52,600
Speaker 2: to the NBA Draft on Thursday morning. As always, I

1240
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:55,760
Speaker 2: sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show and we

1241
01:00:55,800 --> 01:00:57,640
Speaker 2: will be back after the weekend on Monday.

1242
01:01:00,160 --> 01:01:00,800
Speaker 1: The volume