Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight. Here at
Speaker 1: the Volume, Happy Friday, everybody. Round one coverage of the
Speaker 1: NBA Playoffs. Here at Hoops Tonight is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Chase Freedom Unlimited. How do you cash back? Well?
Speaker 1: The Los Angeles Lakers, after being a dominant defense throughout
Speaker 1: the entire series, get a legendary performance from Anthony Davis,
Speaker 1: and they finally break out offensively after being stuck in
Speaker 1: the mud all series long, and get a monster win
Speaker 1: over the Memphis Grizzlies to advance to the second round.
Speaker 1: I have a bunch of different angles I want to
Speaker 1: hit from this game and looking forward for the Lakers
Speaker 1: into the rest of the postseason. You guys know the
Speaker 1: Joe before we get started. Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channels.
Speaker 1: You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Underscore Jason lt. You guys don't miss
Speaker 1: any show announcements. And if for whatever reason, you guys
Speaker 1: miss one of these shows and you can't get back
Speaker 1: over to YouTube to finish, don't forget. You can find
Speaker 1: them wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight So
Speaker 1: I have I want to go into every single player
Speaker 1: who played in the core rotation for the Lakers for
Speaker 1: at least a minute. And I want to talk about
Speaker 1: some crucial adjustments that Darvin Ham made that I thought
Speaker 1: swung the tide of this game early. But I can't
Speaker 1: say another word without getting to who I thought had
Speaker 1: one of the most dominant performances I've ever seen from
Speaker 1: an individual basketball player to dominate a game on both
Speaker 1: ends of the floor in the playoffs. Anthony Davis had
Speaker 1: a similar performance strictly on the defensive end in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty in Game six of the NBA Finals, kind of
Speaker 1: a similar situation. Disappointing Game five defense all around on
Speaker 1: the team wasn't quite where it needed to be, and
Speaker 1: in Game six, AD left nothing to doubt in single
Speaker 1: handedly crushed the Miami Heat offense on his to his
Speaker 1: first NBA Championship. Similar type of vibe in this game,
Speaker 1: just a level of effort and energy that started with
Speaker 1: AD but flowed through the entire roster. And we're gonna
Speaker 1: hit on everybody. But you know, here's the thing, Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis has never won a defensive Player of the Year aboard.
Speaker 1: When I talk about who the best defender in basketball is,
Speaker 1: I usually say Yiannis, And the main reason why is
Speaker 1: he has a lot of the similar tools and versatility
Speaker 1: to Anthony Davis. But his big thing is he just
Speaker 1: he's healthy all the time and he plays incredibly hard
Speaker 1: all the time. So in terms of like actually building
Speaker 1: a defense around a player for an entire season, you
Speaker 1: can't do much better than a guy like Janna Santana Kumbo.
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis has a impact on the game with his
Speaker 1: length and his defensive IQ and his and his mobility
Speaker 1: that I believe nobody else in the league has. Everything
Speaker 1: with him is health and available health and an effort.
Speaker 1: He can fade in and out of games at times.
Speaker 1: He can have some games where he shows up and
Speaker 1: you're like, man, like, where's Anthony Davis? What is he doing?
Speaker 1: And obviously health keeps him off the floor from time
Speaker 1: to time. But when he's like that, when he's healthy
Speaker 1: and locked in, there's nobody who can do what he
Speaker 1: can do. Not Rudy Gobert, not Draymond Green, not Giannison Tennecompo,
Speaker 1: not Brook Lopez. None of these guys are close to
Speaker 1: as good as what he can do around the rim.
Speaker 1: All of those guys are amazing but when Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: is right, he's another level above that. It just clearly
Speaker 1: he probably had what five or six blocks in this game.
Speaker 1: I didn't even look at the box score. I'm sure
Speaker 1: he changed at least fifteen sixteen shots. I can't tell
Speaker 1: you how many times the Lakers would make a catastrophic mistake,
Speaker 1: you know, like a there's play Lebron just throws the
Speaker 1: ball away on a fast break, just turns it over,
Speaker 1: and there's a Tias Jones runout, and Anthony Davis is like, no,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna force you to the other side of
Speaker 1: the rim, make you taking him possible reverse lamup. You're
Speaker 1: gonna miss it. Oh and Jared Jackson's trailing the play.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna grab it before he can get there
Speaker 1: either and just blow up a two on one fast
Speaker 1: break by myself, or somebody will gamble out of position
Speaker 1: and give up a driving lane, and Anthony Davis is
Speaker 1: just there, you know, so Jaron Jackson posting up and
Speaker 1: or I think it was actually John Moran like kind
Speaker 1: of working in an ISO, didn't even see Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: just swoops him from behind, just takes the ball away.
Speaker 1: Now we're going the other direction. But what was unique
Speaker 1: about this performance that made it different in my opinion,
Speaker 1: than the one in the twenty twenty finals was he
Speaker 1: also absolutely torched Memphis in their switching attack on the
Speaker 1: other end of the floor. And this is why I
Speaker 1: tweeted out like there are only a small handful of
Speaker 1: players in the entire NBA that can impact a game
Speaker 1: as much as Anthony Davis did in that first half,
Speaker 1: because in addition to everything he was doing defensively, just
Speaker 1: like otherworldly impact on the d defensive vent, on the
Speaker 1: other end of the floor, Memphis was switching pick and rolls.
Speaker 1: They started doing this in the middle of the series,
Speaker 1: and it was a problem when Lebron had the ball
Speaker 1: because they were switching you know, Brooks and Jaron Jackson
Speaker 1: or Xavier Tillman and Jaron Jackson, and they weren't really
Speaker 1: gaining much of an advantage. But I disagreed with this
Speaker 1: strategy from Taylor Jenkins. But he started switching pick and
Speaker 1: rolls with the guards. So now all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you're ending up with John Morant or you know, someone
Speaker 1: like John Contar or Desmond Baine guarding Anthony Davis rolling
Speaker 1: to the rim on a switch, and I thought the
Speaker 1: Lakers did a really nice First of all, credit to
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis. He was rolling hard, quickly and quickly ceiling
Speaker 1: and getting positioned. Why is that important? Getting there quickly
Speaker 1: makes it so that you're there before the defense can
Speaker 1: load up on you. Memphis was trying to do a
Speaker 1: lot of work, fronting Anthony Davis in the posts and
Speaker 1: bracketing from behind. It. It's a coverage to talk about
Speaker 1: a lot on this show. Like when you front you
Speaker 1: offer backside help. It makes that over the top pot
Speaker 1: pass extremely difficult. Right, But if you go quickly and
Speaker 1: seal before they even react, you can beat him there.
Speaker 1: All of the Laker guards did an amazing job getting
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis quick feeds up high where only he could
Speaker 1: get them, and he could quickly turn around and finish.
Speaker 1: Just unbelievable dominant basketball from Anthony Davis. Again, everything I've
Speaker 1: said about Anthony Davis from the moment he put on
Speaker 1: a Laker jersey, has had nothing to do with what
Speaker 1: he's capable of. I have consistently insisted that when he
Speaker 1: is right, he is every bit as good as Nikolae
Speaker 1: Jokic and Joel Embiid. I very passionately feel that way.
Speaker 1: He's not the same franchise Cornerstone, because you're not gonna
Speaker 1: get it for eighty two or over the course of
Speaker 1: eighty two to the same extent you're gonna get from
Speaker 1: Embiid and Jokic. But for any playoff series or any
Speaker 1: small sample size, as long as Anthony Davis is playing
Speaker 1: at his best and is healthy, he's every bit as
Speaker 1: good as those as those guys because he's on a
Speaker 1: different stratosphere defensively, and he dominated that game tonight. I
Speaker 1: want to talk about Lebron first second too, because like
Speaker 1: he had a rough game in Game five, I wasn't
Speaker 1: particularly worried about it. Lebron's one of those guys like
Speaker 1: he's much more susceptible to poor shooting Knights. He has
Speaker 1: had stretches of sloppiness, but for as long as I
Speaker 1: can remember, with Lebron James, at least since probably since
Speaker 1: twenty twelve, I'd say, if there's a big game and
Speaker 1: his team has a real chance to win, you can
Speaker 1: depend on him to play great and to impact winning
Speaker 1: to a great extent. It's the only player that I
Speaker 1: can think of in my time following the NBA who's
Speaker 1: that dependable. Even guys who are considered his peers around
Speaker 1: the league, guys like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, they're
Speaker 1: a little susceptible to shot result. Shots aren't going in,
Speaker 1: not as much impact. Lebron James was struggling on the
Speaker 1: ball in this series because a couple different reasons. It's
Speaker 1: a very physical series. Dylan Brooks is one of the
Speaker 1: best perimeter defenders in basketball, and Memphis in general was
Speaker 1: loading up on driving lanes. But Lebron James is a
Speaker 1: very smart basketball players, very versatile. I did an episode
Speaker 1: with Colin Coward months ago where I pointed out we
Speaker 1: were having a conversation around Kevin Durant, and I said, like,
Speaker 1: you know, Lebron James is underrated as a plug in
Speaker 1: play player because of all the different roles that he
Speaker 1: can fill on both ends of the floor. So Game six,
Speaker 1: he can tell early early in the game, oh, Dangelo
Speaker 1: Russell has it going. Austin's playing better, ads locked in,
Speaker 1: they're winning on these switches. I don't need to have
Speaker 1: the basketball in my hands. Let me just be a
Speaker 1: stereotypical NBA big And he just started screening and roll
Speaker 1: into the basket, crashing in the glass, working in spot
Speaker 1: up situations, and just getting out in transition to it,
Speaker 1: all of these other things to impact the game on
Speaker 1: the offensive end of the floor alongside an offense that
Speaker 1: was running through everybody else. So much of the ball
Speaker 1: was in d'angela, Russell and Ousin Reeves's hands tonight, and
Speaker 1: a big part of that is just the way the
Speaker 1: series shook out. From a matchup perspective, the Laker guards
Speaker 1: had the better matchups in the series. It made sense
Speaker 1: to float through them, at least when they were playing well.
Speaker 1: D'Angel Russell had some rough stretches, but in this particular
Speaker 1: game it paid off. But Lebron completely altered his approach
Speaker 1: on the offensive end of the floor and as a
Speaker 1: result had hit one of his more efficient and productive
Speaker 1: offensive games in the series. And then on the defensive
Speaker 1: end of the floor, he did exactly what you ask
Speaker 1: of him, which is just stay engaged, hard closeouts on shooters,
Speaker 1: active around the rim, playing passing lanes, and getting out
Speaker 1: in transition. Before we get to some of the Laker
Speaker 1: role players, I wanted to talk about a couple of
Speaker 1: specific adjustments that Darvin Ham made that I thought were
Speaker 1: really smart again. I was critical of Darvin ham earlier
Speaker 1: in the series for a couple of specific reasons, namely
Speaker 1: just like being a little bit too hesitant to call
Speaker 1: time out when Desmond Bain was getting going in the
Speaker 1: second half of Game four. I believe if I remember correctly,
Speaker 1: guess what happened in this game, Desmond Bain finally hits
Speaker 1: a three. I believe it was in a transition situation.
Speaker 1: If I remember correctly, it's turnover quick run out just
Speaker 1: ribbled into a pull up three on the left wing.
Speaker 1: Darvin Ham Boop immediately calls a timeout. That's an adjustment.
Speaker 1: We let Desmond Bain get going by letting the game
Speaker 1: run for too long. He's killed us for two games
Speaker 1: after that. Not doing that. Tonight he hits one three.
Speaker 1: We are calling a timeout. Overall in the coverage, he
Speaker 1: made two specific adjustments, one adjustment that he started to
Speaker 1: make in the second half of Game five, and then
Speaker 1: that had to do with Anthony Davis just coming way
Speaker 1: higher out of his screen doing one of two things
Speaker 1: he was mixing up, like a high show to take
Speaker 1: away the pull up, and then Anthony Davis would sprint
Speaker 1: back to Xavier Tillman to get back in the lane,
Speaker 1: and then in other situations he would straight up blitz
Speaker 1: and drag Desmond Bay out to forty feet onto live dribble,
Speaker 1: and then as soon as he picked up his dribble
Speaker 1: then he would sprint back. But that was an adjustment
Speaker 1: they started in the second half of game five, but
Speaker 1: they continue that into game six, which was smart because
Speaker 1: that's when they slowed Desmond Band down for the first time,
Speaker 1: which was in the second half of game five. But secondly,
Speaker 1: and this was the most important one I thought early.
Speaker 1: I think if I remember correctly, it was the very
Speaker 1: first play in game five in Memphis. Desmond Bain had
Speaker 1: just played a great game. He had thirty six points.
Speaker 1: In game four, they run a a complicated like screen
Speaker 1: the screen or action underneath the basket, and Desmond Bay
Speaker 1: comes flying off to the elbow wide open because Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves gets caught on the screen. And throughout that game,
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves was really struggling with the complicated screening actions
Speaker 1: that Taylor Jenkins was running again, lock and trail position.
Speaker 1: It's a lot easier said than done, especially even in
Speaker 1: a single screen situation. It's easier said than done. But
Speaker 1: as soon as it gets to the point where there's
Speaker 1: multiple interchanges, it gets really difficult to do, and Austin
Speaker 1: look like, obviously he's not the most athletic dude in
Speaker 1: the world. But it was more about just the actual
Speaker 1: action itself and the fact that it was too much
Speaker 1: to ask one player to navigate all of that than
Speaker 1: it was about his athletic tools. I thought it was
Speaker 1: a schematic thing, so I wanted to see if Darvinham
Speaker 1: would make an adjustment. One of the early plays in
Speaker 1: this game, in the first quarter, Desmond Bay is coming
Speaker 1: off in action I believe it started on the left wing,
Speaker 1: and he's coming off towards the top of the key
Speaker 1: and Austin Reeves gets caught. It was a double screen.
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves gets caught on the first screen, and rather
Speaker 1: than asking Austin to just keep fighting through and let
Speaker 1: Desmond Bank come off wide open, D'Angelo Russell, who's guarding
Speaker 1: one of the screeners, jumps in and takes Desmond Bay again.
Speaker 1: Like that's a simple idea. In a single screening action
Speaker 1: with the big you just have Anthony Davis show and
Speaker 1: you ask Austin to chase. But if it's a multiple
Speaker 1: screening action where Anthony Davis is at the end of
Speaker 1: the screen, but there's another guard involved. Have the other
Speaker 1: guard fight through one of the screens, because then he
Speaker 1: only has to fight through one. Austin gets caught on one,
Speaker 1: he can jump in and catch him on the second one. Right,
Speaker 1: they were just much more willing to have Austin peel
Speaker 1: off onto a screener rather than just leaving him on
Speaker 1: an island to chase Desmond Bain around, And as a result, finally,
Speaker 1: after for two straight games, Desmond Baine looked like the
Speaker 1: best player on the floor, the guy consistently getting to
Speaker 1: his spots and the only guy in the series who
Speaker 1: was comfortable knocking down jump shots. I think they held
Speaker 1: him to five or sixteen tonight, shot him down when
Speaker 1: they needed to. So, you know, a lot of Laker
Speaker 1: fans were critical of Darvingham all season. I was critical
Speaker 1: of him earlier in the series for being slower to
Speaker 1: make some of these adjustments. But here's the bottom line.
Speaker 1: The Lakers are moving on to the second round because
Speaker 1: in large part they were able to slow down things
Speaker 1: that were beating them earlier in the series. That's coaching
Speaker 1: and that's making adjustments, So shout out to Darvin Ham.
Speaker 1: And honestly, like between that and Taylor Jenkins foolishly switching
Speaker 1: the guard Anthony Davis screens to allow Anthony Davis to
Speaker 1: get switched on too smaller defenders, I thought Darvin Ham
Speaker 1: just flat out out coached Taylor Jenkins in this game,
Speaker 1: and at the end of the day that ended up
Speaker 1: playing a significant role. So shout out to Darvin Ham.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about Austin Reeves and D'Angelo Russell
Speaker 1: for a minute. I thought it got a little carried
Speaker 1: away at certain points in the series before tonight, in particular,
Speaker 1: in large part because Austin and Di Loo just played
Speaker 1: really well tonight. At certain points in this series it
Speaker 1: felt like the Laker guards were co opting the offense
Speaker 1: too much. But it's a matter of matchups, and we've
Speaker 1: talked about this a lot on the show over the
Speaker 1: course of the season, but it's about staggering, right, So
Speaker 1: if Anthony Davis is drawing Jaron Jackson and he has
Speaker 1: great role gravity because like, look at how many lobsy
Speaker 1: caught tonight, just because you could just throw it up
Speaker 1: anywhere around the rim, and because Lebron James is dragging
Speaker 1: their best perimeter defender and Dylan Brooks Away and the
Speaker 1: other players on the floor are John Morant, bad defensive player,
Speaker 1: Desmond Baine average defensive player, Xavier Tillman average defensive player.
Speaker 1: You know, they went small a lot, played a lot
Speaker 1: of guys like Tyas Jones and Santi al Dama. Those
Speaker 1: guys are both of them are average to below average
Speaker 1: defensive players, so there's better matchups out there for other players.
Speaker 1: Ruey Hatcha Mura got off a lot in this series.
Speaker 1: In the Santi Aldama matchup, D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reeves
Speaker 1: attacking the other Memphis guards had quite a bit of success.
Speaker 1: Danzel Russell was given John Morant serious problems in this game,
Speaker 1: so matchups allowed those guys to have better opportunities. And again,
Speaker 1: like in a series where because of the physicality, Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis and Lebron James just could not make a jump shot.
Speaker 1: Although credit to Lebron, he made a couple of big
Speaker 1: ones in the first half of this game. I thought
Speaker 1: that kind of softened things up a little bit on
Speaker 1: the On the offensive end of the floor, Austin and
Speaker 1: Dilo made jump shots and made pull up jump shots
Speaker 1: in the mid range. And that was a huge part
Speaker 1: of how this Again, like we knew, I've been preaching
Speaker 1: the Laker defense ever since the trade deadline. There was
Speaker 1: a stretch where Anthony Davis played without Lebron, and there
Speaker 1: were some stretches with Lebron, But like throughout it all
Speaker 1: up and down, regardless of what happened, there was one
Speaker 1: consistent thing through it all was their defense. And they
Speaker 1: had several stretches where their defense was absolutely stifling, but
Speaker 1: never really did they like really click offensively against a
Speaker 1: good defense. And tonight that happened, and that's the most
Speaker 1: encouraging part because that defense is good enough to beat
Speaker 1: the Grizzlies. That defense with that offense, that's good enough
Speaker 1: to win the trophy. And it's it's the it's the
Speaker 1: total package. It's Anthony Davis and Lebron James applying legitimate
Speaker 1: rim pressure. It's their defense allowing them to get out
Speaker 1: transition consistently. It's Ruy Hachimura's matchup attacking on the wing
Speaker 1: that pressures the rim, and it's three guards that bring
Speaker 1: completely different punches. D'Angelo Russell this super slow, methodical you know,
Speaker 1: kind of like Finesse game, and then it's Austin Reeves
Speaker 1: with this like he has an underrated handle, like Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves legitimately might have a top twenty handle in the NBA,
Speaker 1: which is insane for a player as young as he is.
Speaker 1: But he's really good at setting up his man in
Speaker 1: ball screens and great at getting downhill and engaging screen defenders,
Speaker 1: drawing fouls, and is such a great passer in those situations.
Speaker 1: Had another while behind the back pass in this game
Speaker 1: to Jared Vanderbilt in the corner, and then Dennis Schroeder
Speaker 1: just your stereotypical dribble drive guard. And then on the
Speaker 1: other end of the floor, guys like Dennis at the
Speaker 1: point of attack, Lebron and Anthony Davis on the back line,
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt, Ruey Hatchamura taking perimeter defensive signments like Ruey Hatchi.
Speaker 1: Mura did an excellent job defending Desmond Baine in this game,
Speaker 1: Like what a luxury. Let's just put Rui like another
Speaker 1: random little diamond in the rough, like we were able
Speaker 1: to discover, you know, from Darvin Ham's perspective, he was
Speaker 1: able to discover that he had another defender that could
Speaker 1: do a significant job on who I thought was the
Speaker 1: best player on Memphis in this series, and that was
Speaker 1: Desmond Bain. All of it was really impressive. A couple
Speaker 1: of specific things I wanted to shout out Dangela Russell.
Speaker 1: You know, this is this guy that has not had
Speaker 1: a successful playoff career, and I think what makes it
Speaker 1: work in this particular situation is he's finally slotted properly.
Speaker 1: He's basically the fourth option. Austin and Anthony Davis and
Speaker 1: Lebron are better offensive players in drawing better defenders, Desmond
Speaker 1: Bain is guarding Austin Reeves, and he got D'angela Russell
Speaker 1: drew the worst of on Memphis, which is John Morant,
Speaker 1: which helped him to get going and most importantly like
Speaker 1: getting him off the ball. This was a revelation early
Speaker 1: in the season with Minnesota, but Danzel Russell's legitimately like
Speaker 1: a really good spot up shooter, and so putting him
Speaker 1: in that situation off of Lebron James and Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: really really helped Reuly. I thought I had a great series,
Speaker 1: did a lot of things on the glass defensively and offensively.
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt. I think he made three threes tonight, did
Speaker 1: a great job defensively on John Morant, made a bunch
Speaker 1: of big plays in the passing lanes as well. Dennis
Speaker 1: Schroeder had a stretch there in the second quarter where
Speaker 1: his point of attack defense was frightening, and I actually
Speaker 1: think that he's going to play a massive role in
Speaker 1: the next round, regardless of who they play, whether it's
Speaker 1: Sacramento or Golden State, just because of the job he
Speaker 1: can do at the perimeter, which is going to be
Speaker 1: so much more important against that particular team. And then
Speaker 1: when Gabriel came in, what do you play like a
Speaker 1: three and a half minute stretch there to start the
Speaker 1: second quarter and just did enough to float the ship,
Speaker 1: and that unit was plus one with Anthony Davis off
Speaker 1: the floor. Little things that can help you win an
Speaker 1: NBA championship or playoff series at least. I'm glad we
Speaker 1: had some time tonight to actually get to every single
Speaker 1: one of those players, because every single one of them
Speaker 1: deserves a massive shout out and a team performance in
Speaker 1: what I thought was the most dominant performance in the
Speaker 1: first round from any NBA team, which we'll talk a
Speaker 1: little bit more about a minute. The Lakers are in
Speaker 1: great shape right now because in the early game tonight,
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors brought a laxadaisical effort at home.
Speaker 1: My friend samos FONDIII covers the Warriors for the Light
Speaker 1: Years podcast. He had a really interesting point in his
Speaker 1: opening rant, and basically what he said was like he
Speaker 1: said he was like I wished, so I wanted so
Speaker 1: badly after Game five to think that's last year's team,
Speaker 1: But he said, the regular season is the regular season.
Speaker 1: And you know, one team was hungry and tough all
Speaker 1: year in Sacramento, and one team was kind of complacent
Speaker 1: all year, and that was Golden State. And I agree
Speaker 1: with him. That doesn't mean Golden State's not gonna win
Speaker 1: the series the verywell might I have that Game seven
Speaker 1: on Sunday as a total coin flip. But I love
Speaker 1: that Sam pointed that out because it's a super interesting
Speaker 1: example of something I've talked about a lot over the years,
Speaker 1: which is like the regular season doesn't matter, but it
Speaker 1: does matter. It doesn't matter in the standings. This year
Speaker 1: has been the resounding example of that, Like there's too
Speaker 1: many good teams, so regardless of where you're situated in
Speaker 1: the standings. It's really more about home court advantage than
Speaker 1: anything else. Like, there are seven great teams in the West,
Speaker 1: seven of them six if you take out the Clippers,
Speaker 1: who lost Kawhi Leonard. But with Kawhi, they looked like
Speaker 1: a pretty damn good team, you know, So like you're
Speaker 1: not gonna get a good matchup in the first round
Speaker 1: even Minnesota, Like, look like Denver beat him in five,
Speaker 1: but Minnesota was in though those games, like every one
Speaker 1: of them, at least three of the five. So like, again,
Speaker 1: seeding doesn't matter as much. But what the regular season
Speaker 1: is is it's a great time to build habits, to
Speaker 1: build continuity, and to set the foundation for what you
Speaker 1: need to be as a basketball team in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And one thing I'll say about this Laker team, this
Speaker 1: is a continuation of a regular season trend. Yes, they
Speaker 1: were bad in the aggregate for the whole year or
Speaker 1: forty two or forty one, and I don't even remember
Speaker 1: what their record was forty three and thirty nine. But
Speaker 1: post deadline, they were what the second best defense in
Speaker 1: the entire league? Oh, big shock, Now they're defending at
Speaker 1: a high level. They won most of their games oh
Speaker 1: big shock. They're four and two so or five and
Speaker 1: two so far in postseason games. Like it's a continuation
Speaker 1: of a regular season trend. But most importantly, with the
Speaker 1: Warriors trick in that game off, it buys the Lakers
Speaker 1: two points of optimism. First of all, extra time off.
Speaker 1: The Lakers just finish an extremely physical series against that
Speaker 1: Memphis Grizzlies team, and now because of Golden State losing,
Speaker 1: they are guaranteed all day Saturday, all day Sunday, all
Speaker 1: day Monday off, and they'll play Game one on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: So that buys Lebron James and Anthony Davis in particular
Speaker 1: some time to rest their bodies vitally important. Secondly, I
Speaker 1: have no idea who I'd pick in a Lakers Warriors series.
Speaker 1: Those two teams are kind of uniquely equipped to give
Speaker 1: each other problems. But I know for a fact that
Speaker 1: I would pick the Lakers over to the Kings. It's
Speaker 1: a terrible matchup for them. They like Harrison Barnes and
Speaker 1: demonis the bonus, and Trey Lyles having to navigate Lebron
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis for seven games is it is
Speaker 1: a disaster waiting to happen. I you know, I pointed
Speaker 1: this out to a couple of my buddies. Well, I
Speaker 1: was texting during the game. But if you guys remember
Speaker 1: last year, Golden State just ends up in this like
Speaker 1: physical war with Memphis, right, and Memphis beats the shit
Speaker 1: out of them in game five, even game six, even
Speaker 1: though the Warriors won comfortably at the end, like they lingered,
Speaker 1: Memphis lingered throughout most of the game like it was
Speaker 1: a battle. And Golden State did not look overly impressive
Speaker 1: in that series. And then they went and played Dallas,
Speaker 1: a finesse team that was undersized at most positions on
Speaker 1: the floor, and the Warriors just ripped through them like
Speaker 1: tissue paper, went up three to zero, and aside from
Speaker 1: mailing in Game four, dominated that series. Right, That's kind
Speaker 1: of how I see a Lake King series, going them
Speaker 1: dealing with just this blood bath of a Memphis physical
Speaker 1: defense and then going to like it would be like
Speaker 1: if Lebron James and Anthony Davis played an entire series
Speaker 1: with a twenty pound weight vest on and then for
Speaker 1: the second round they just took the weight vest off.
Speaker 1: That's what it's gonna feel like for those guys, For
Speaker 1: Lebron James to go from a low center of gravity,
Speaker 1: super physical defender to a defender in Harrison Barnes that
Speaker 1: Lebron James has torched his entire career with a high
Speaker 1: center of gravity that he's gonna be able to move
Speaker 1: off of his spot all the time, to a defensive
Speaker 1: center in Demona Sabonis who is literally hopeless to guard
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis. It's gonna be such a breath of fresh
Speaker 1: air for those guys. And then as part of that process,
Speaker 1: it's gonna draw multiple defenders all series long. And the
Speaker 1: strength of the King's defense is their guards. And I
Speaker 1: don't think it's gonna be as much of an Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves and D'Angelo Russell series. But if all those guards
Speaker 1: have to double and shade over to Lebron James and
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, they're gonna get a bunch off ball opportunities.
Speaker 1: So again, like that Game seven, Golden State Sacramento is
Speaker 1: a total toss up. Even though I agree with Sam's
Speaker 1: overall point about your regular season identity, I think that
Speaker 1: has more to do with the Warriors just bringing a
Speaker 1: laxadaisical effort in a close out game. But at the
Speaker 1: end of the day. I do think the Warriors are
Speaker 1: a better team than Sacramento. Sacramento has home court advantage,
Speaker 1: so easy little trade off there. I think that evens out.
Speaker 1: I think it's a total coin flip, and in a
Speaker 1: huge stressful game, the Warriors are gonna feel a lot
Speaker 1: more comfortable in that setting than Sacramento. So I will
Speaker 1: not stop betting the Warriors just because I refuse to look.
Speaker 1: I'd rather go down betting on the people who have
Speaker 1: been there before and that have been in these moments,
Speaker 1: and that I trust. I'd rather look at. I'd rather
Speaker 1: lose that bet and come back and be like man
Speaker 1: like I guess I guess this was the end of
Speaker 1: the rope. Then to put my energy and effort behind
Speaker 1: that Sacramento Kings team who's just never been there before.
Speaker 1: So I definitely believe Sacramento can win. I believe they'll
Speaker 1: be a slight favorite, but I can't go off of
Speaker 1: my Warriors pick. That said, if Sacramento wins, what an
Speaker 1: amazing matchup for the Lakers, And no matter what, getting
Speaker 1: that little bit of extra rest is huge. Last note
Speaker 1: I want to hit before we get out of here.
Speaker 1: I thought that was the most impressive performance as a
Speaker 1: team in the first round in terms of like most shocking.
Speaker 1: Of course, it's gonna be Miami over Milwaukee. But if
Speaker 1: you really dig into it, it's like Giannis doesn't play
Speaker 1: the first three games essentially, and in the last two games,
Speaker 1: the Bucks outplay the Miami Heat pretty thoroughly for three
Speaker 1: and a half quarters. I mean, they were up sixteen
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter of Game five, and then at
Speaker 1: the end of the games, Miami stole the games with
Speaker 1: like amazing execution and shot making and defense, coaching, all
Speaker 1: those different things. Like they stole that series, which impressive
Speaker 1: is not even the right word. Miami's probably the most
Speaker 1: impressive win. But in terms of dominance, nothing trump's what
Speaker 1: the Lakers did to the two seed in the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: The Memphis Grizzlies had the fifth best record in all
Speaker 1: of basketball this year, and the Lakers beat the shit
Speaker 1: out of them. That's not the same as Philly sweeping
Speaker 1: the trade filler from the Kevin Durant deal, and it's
Speaker 1: it's it's it's just that that to me, is the
Speaker 1: best any team has looked in the first round. Is
Speaker 1: the Lakers to end that series against Memphis winning three
Speaker 1: of their last four games. So look, I'm not about
Speaker 1: to make him my championship favorite. I think by default,
Speaker 1: looking at the easy path going out of the Eastern
Speaker 1: Conference with Joel Embiid being hurt and James Harden not
Speaker 1: playing well, going into like, Boston's in really good shape there,
Speaker 1: and then in the Conference finals they're gonna face an
Speaker 1: undermanned Knicks or Heat team. Undermanned relative to Boston, I
Speaker 1: think Boston now becomes the safest bet to win the title.
Speaker 1: But man like, if you're a Lakers fan, you should
Speaker 1: be feeling great because in that tier right below Boston,
Speaker 1: I pretty much have Warriors, Lakers, Nuggets, Suns all kind
Speaker 1: of on the same level, and whichever one of those
Speaker 1: teams comes out is gonna have a great chance to
Speaker 1: beat that Boston team too. I want to give some
Speaker 1: credit to Sacramento first, most importantly, just for their approach
Speaker 1: to this game. They were zero to four in Chase
Speaker 1: Center this season. They lost there twice early in the
Speaker 1: regular season, and then they lost there twice during this series,
Speaker 1: once a blowout in Game three and then Game four.
Speaker 1: I know Harrison Barnes had that look at the end,
Speaker 1: but I mean, really, when we dive into it. There
Speaker 1: was that weird Steph time out, there were some turnovers,
Speaker 1: like the Warriors were several possessions ahead of them, and
Speaker 1: just happened to trick that game into position where Harrison
Speaker 1: Barnes had a look. So they've pretty much dominated the
Speaker 1: series ever since. That two to ozer deficit now essentially
Speaker 1: what got them beat in the first two games. If
Speaker 1: you guys remember when I would do the breakdowns from
Speaker 1: those games, I talked a lot about perimeter defense and
Speaker 1: dribble penetration leading to shot quality. Shot quality is a
Speaker 1: tough thing to focus too heavily on with the Warriors
Speaker 1: because they specialize in making tough shots. They've got two
Speaker 1: of the best pull up jump shooters in the history
Speaker 1: of the league, and Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Clay
Speaker 1: a little bit more of a movement shooter, but you
Speaker 1: hit some stuff off the bounce as well. Steph is
Speaker 1: probably the best pull up jump shooter to ever play
Speaker 1: in the history of the league. And they just would
Speaker 1: go over drop coverage and knock down crazy shots. They
Speaker 1: won a championship doing it last year game four, down
Speaker 1: two to one against Boston, Steph just made difficult shot
Speaker 1: after difficult shot after difficult shot. That's what they do.
Speaker 1: So you can't focus too much on shot quality for
Speaker 1: the Warriors. If they just get a bunch of wide
Speaker 1: open looks, you're just gonna lose, like you're gonna lose
Speaker 1: by forty if you just give Steph Clay and all
Speaker 1: them driving kick looks all game long, right like you
Speaker 1: expect them to take and make tough shots. But on
Speaker 1: the other end of the floor, the Warriors do have
Speaker 1: to force teams into difficult shots. And in the first
Speaker 1: two games, I told you guys, I thought the King
Speaker 1: we're getting higher quality shots because of dribble penetration. There's
Speaker 1: a huge difference between flattening out drives in straight line drives.
Speaker 1: So when you have a straight line drive, it engages
Speaker 1: the help defense in a way that goes above and
Speaker 1: beyond the way that a flattened out drive will engage
Speaker 1: help defense. When Malik Monk goes flying down the lane,
Speaker 1: it forces a guy like Steph to come out of
Speaker 1: the corner to help, which is going to leave Darren
Speaker 1: Fox wide open on the wing right. However, if you
Speaker 1: flatten out that Malik Monk drive and make him kind
Speaker 1: of take a banana route and you're kind of engaged
Speaker 1: on his hip. Now Steph can maybe just dig at
Speaker 1: the ball or stay home entirely right, and that forces
Speaker 1: Malik Monk to either take a contested shot over the
Speaker 1: top or to try to throw a pass to a
Speaker 1: player that's being guarded, which can lead to turnovers. Perimeter
Speaker 1: defense is not only the best form of rim protection
Speaker 1: that there is, but it is the best way to
Speaker 1: force turnovers because it allows your other defenders to stay
Speaker 1: in passing lanes. In the first half, it was very
Speaker 1: effort related. I thought the Warriors brought an incredibly poor
Speaker 1: level of effort and execution in the first half, and
Speaker 1: they were just getting like they'd get a basket and
Speaker 1: Darren Fox would just dribble all around them all the
Speaker 1: way down the floor and lay the ball in. It
Speaker 1: just easy transition pushes with no resistance for easy baskets
Speaker 1: at the rim. Then in the second half, the Warriors
Speaker 1: did pick up the effort a little bit, but they
Speaker 1: just couldn't contain Maleik Monk. They and again, like when
Speaker 1: it's really hard to get that engine running that late
Speaker 1: in the game, it's like you kind of set a
Speaker 1: tone and especially once you've given the other team hope.
Speaker 1: They're gonna bring their engine. They're gonna be running at
Speaker 1: a high level that's gonna be difficult to match. That's
Speaker 1: why it's so important to crush hope with teams like this.
Speaker 1: We're about to go check out Lakers Grizzlies here in
Speaker 1: a minute, and like, I think it's imperative for the
Speaker 1: Lakers to get an early lead to sap some of
Speaker 1: the energy from the Grizzlies. If they allow it to
Speaker 1: stay close, it's a one point game in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: that's where Memphis is you full energy and athleticism and
Speaker 1: physicality is going to become an advantage for them. And
Speaker 1: in the second half just from and it's been like
Speaker 1: this the whole series, but in Games three, four, and five,
Speaker 1: the Warriors did a much better job containing dribble penetration
Speaker 1: from Deer and Fox and Malik Munk. You know, we
Speaker 1: talk a lot about schemes on the show, not as
Speaker 1: much as some of the other shows. There are guys
Speaker 1: that like really heavily focused on sets and counters and
Speaker 1: all that sort of thing, And I think that can
Speaker 1: get a little in the weeds for the way that
Speaker 1: we do it here. I prefer to focus a little
Speaker 1: bit more on a balance between personnel, other basketball concepts,
Speaker 1: and then some scheme stuff. And one of the big
Speaker 1: reasons why is because I think that at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, regardless of what sets you run or
Speaker 1: how complicated your counters are, your personnel has to execute.
Speaker 1: So it doesn't matter if you run the perfect set,
Speaker 1: if a guy doesn't set a solid screen, or you
Speaker 1: can blow a play up defensively just by not allowing
Speaker 1: yourself to get screened. More often than anything having to
Speaker 1: do with the sets, it does come down to personnel,
Speaker 1: sheer force of force of will in combination with your
Speaker 1: athletic tools and the skill set you have that you
Speaker 1: can use in conjunction with those athletic tools. And in
Speaker 1: this game, that push and pool, that pull, that that
Speaker 1: tug of war that takes place in dribble penetration. That
Speaker 1: was a battle the Kings won in game one and two,
Speaker 1: and then the Warriors got control of it, and then
Speaker 1: they let go of the rope tonight, and then they
Speaker 1: ended up getting their ass kicked at home. The series
Speaker 1: is not over. I believe the Kings will probably be
Speaker 1: a slight favorite in game seven, probably a one point favorite,
Speaker 1: but the Warriors have a very good chance to win
Speaker 1: that game because, in large part I did think effort
Speaker 1: and energy played a huge role in Game seven. Sacramento
Speaker 1: was in a similar motivation. It was in an even
Speaker 1: better motivational position in Game five coming off of two losses,
Speaker 1: and the Warriors went into Sacramento and just soundly outplayed them.
Speaker 1: So it's not over, but a very disappointing effort from
Speaker 1: the Warriors. I want to give a bunch of guys
Speaker 1: specific credit on the Kings. Darreon Fox in that first half,
Speaker 1: his transition impressure was incredible. Malikue Monk in the second half.
Speaker 1: I covered him with the Lakers last year. He was
Speaker 1: one of my favorite players on that team. Rob Plinkett
Speaker 1: was incapable of retaining him because the only offer he
Speaker 1: could make without without hard capping the team was that
Speaker 1: Lonnie Walker contract at about six million a year, and
Speaker 1: the Kings were able to give him ten million a year.
Speaker 1: So it just it wasn't realistic that they were going
Speaker 1: to be able to keep him. But he was one
Speaker 1: of my favorite players that season. He had great chemistry
Speaker 1: with Lebron James. He was a reliable scorer. He was
Speaker 1: one of their best plus minus guys, and watching his
Speaker 1: game manifest really well at this level has been impressive
Speaker 1: and honestly like it's the latest example of if you
Speaker 1: have an one elite skill, like truly elite skill, you
Speaker 1: can be an impact player in the NBA playoffs. In
Speaker 1: Malik Monk, it's just impossible to keep him in front
Speaker 1: off the dribble because of his combination of quickness, athleticism,
Speaker 1: and pull up shooting that forces you to play up
Speaker 1: on him. Sabonis has been struggling a lot in this
Speaker 1: particular series. He struggled a lot in that in the
Speaker 1: later portions of this game, he actually got off to
Speaker 1: a good start in this game. It's actually one of
Speaker 1: the wildest subplots of this series is that the Kings
Speaker 1: are tied three to three, basically getting nothing out of Sabonis,
Speaker 1: But Trey Lyles is a different type of perimeter oriented player,
Speaker 1: a little more comfortable off the dribble, a little more
Speaker 1: comfortable comfortable from the three point line. It holds up
Speaker 1: well enough defensively to not be a huge drop off
Speaker 1: from Sabonis, who's not a great defender either, and he
Speaker 1: actually helps them a lot on the offensive end of
Speaker 1: the floor. I thought he played pretty well. Kevin Herder
Speaker 1: hit a bunch of big shots after struggling throughout the series.
Speaker 1: I am so impressed by this Kings team oh to
Speaker 1: four here in Chase Center through this point in the season,
Speaker 1: and they it'd been so easy to just let go
Speaker 1: of the rope and be like, I don't believe we
Speaker 1: can win this game. No, they came in confident and
Speaker 1: flat out pumped the Warriors on their home floor. But
Speaker 1: that said, the Warriors are defending champs for a reason.
Speaker 1: They're four time champs. I expect them to bounce back
Speaker 1: and bring a great effort in Game seven. Expect that
Speaker 1: to come down to the wire and be an incredible
Speaker 1: basketball game. I'm very very excited for that. All right, guys,
Speaker 1: that is all I have for today. I have a
Speaker 1: series preview for six Ers Celtics that's coming out tomorrow morning.
Speaker 1: I've already recorded it's I believe it's going up at
Speaker 1: about like eight thirty something Pacific time, might even be
Speaker 1: up earlier than that. So when you wake up tomorrow,
Speaker 1: that series preview should be on the feeds. And then tomorrow,
Speaker 1: like I said, we're celebrating my wife's birthday, so not
Speaker 1: covering Game one of Nuggets Suns until Sunday morning. But
Speaker 1: then on Sunday afternoon, I'm sure we're gonna have something
Speaker 1: big plan for King's Warriors. It'll either be me or
Speaker 1: me and Collin something along those lines. So keep an
Speaker 1: eye on the feeds and I'll keep you guys posted.
Speaker 1: All right, Thanks guys, You tomorrow