WEBVTT - Lakers Need Consistency, Zaccharie Risacher Making The Leap, Suns Cooked 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:07.600 The volume, the finals are here. The only thing for 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.559 sure is it's the last time to bet on college 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:13.080 basketball this season. It's been an amazing ride to get here, 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:15.960 full of the unexpected happenings. Maybe there will be more. 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.680 Get in on all the action, expected and unexpected with 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:24.560 DraftKings Sports Book. With live betting, exclusive content, promos, and parlays, 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:29.240 DraftKings is the ultimate college basketball destination for March. Ready 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:31.720 to make your first bet, check out the matchups and 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.120 pick a team to win. It is that simple. 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You're at the volume 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.280 heavy Monday. Everybody. Hope all of you guys had an 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:56.640 incredible weekend. It is good to be back. I had 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.559 a very fun weekend at the sphere with my wife. 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:03.160 We went to three Dead shows and just an incredible experience. 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:05.680 I've seen them. I think I was talking through this 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:07.960 with my brother last night. I think I've seen nine 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:11.320 Dead shows now, so I think I officially qualify as 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.640 a deadhead. I've really grown to appreciate that as like 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.320 one of the final opportunities we have to see in 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:22.080 old school jam band in their prime. And it's been 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:23.840 a lot of fun. That said, it's time to get 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.200 serious about the NBA. We are three. I was thinking 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:28.160 about this when I was recording with Colin last night. 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:29.920 And by the way, if you haven't seen that yet, 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:34.000 go to the Colin Coward podcast YouTube channel. We talked 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:35.880 last night. We talked a bunch of Celtics, we talked 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:38.359 a bunch of Thunder, we talked some Lakers, we talked 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:40.119 to some Cooper Flag. We got to do a bunch 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:42.320 of stuff, so make sure you guys check that out. 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:44.720 But while we were talking, we were thinking about the 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:46.600 next time we're gonna record, and it's gonna be in 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.240 two Sundays. Two Sundays from now, we're gonna know four 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:53.239 of the eight first round series, and that following Sunday 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:54.920 we're gonna know all eight of them, and we're gonna 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.120 have series previews and we have the play in tournament. 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:00.000 There's just so much exciting basketball ahead. It feels very 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.959 very much like the calm before the storm. But that's it. 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:04.800 I'm glad I got to take a little bit of 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:06.880 a break and do some traveling, but I'm excited to 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:08.480 get back to it. Today. We're going to be talking 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:12.200 a little bit of Lakers after their uneven road trip, 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:14.800 which has shown a lot of extended stretches of dominance, 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:18.639 but also some execution lapses, including a catastrophic loss in 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:20.320 Chicago to the Bulls. Or we're talking a little bit 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.640 about that. I want to shout out Zachary Rissache, who 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.200 had a career high thirty six points last night, and 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:27.240 there was some stuff with him that was popping in 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:31.400 a film session I did with him surrounding a Hawk's 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:33.400 Rockets game about a week ago. So I want to 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.680 kind of talk a little bit about Zachary Rissache's rookie season. 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:38.160 And then at the tail end of the show, I 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:40.520 think we finally saw the nail, the final nail go 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:42.440 in the coffin of the Phoenix Suns last night, as 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:46.080 they just got demolished by the Houston Rockets. So I 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.480 want to talk a little bit about the Suns at 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:49.720 the tail end of the show, and then we are 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.640 going live tonight after the TNT Slates so we're going 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.880 to be hitting Celtic's Grizzlies as well as Lakers Rockets 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.040 in tonight's show. You guys are the joke before we 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.160 get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. Miss 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:01.720 any more of our videos, follow me on Twitter at 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.720 underscore jsonlt so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:06.440 forget about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:07.920 on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.080 leave a rating and a review on that front. We 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.280 also have brand new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.480 and Facebook where Jackson's doing some incredible work this year. 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:16.560 Make sure you guys follow us there, and then, last 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.280 but not least, keep dropping mail bag questions and YouTube 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.080 comments so we can keep getting to them throughout the 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:23.960 remainder of the season. We're doing a mail bag I 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:26.160 think I'm recording one tomorrow, so make sure you get 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.680 a bunch of mail bag questions in the comments of 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.159 this video for what we're recording tomorrow, which I believe 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.960 is going to air on Wednesday. All right, let's talk 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:39.080 some basketball. So after the Pacers game, I talked a 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:43.440 lot about the idea of the Lakers having these brief 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:49.080 catastrophic lapses in execution that are costing them games or 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.839 costing them opportunities to close games out more comfortably. Since 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:56.920 the Pacers game, they lost an absolutely insane game against 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.320 the Bulls. The Bulls made eleven threes in the fourth quarter, 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:01.640 including a half court shot from Josh Giddy to win it. 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.840 And a win in Memphis against the Grizzlies similarly where 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:07.919 they led by twenty and then ended up trailing in 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.240 the fourth quarter. And the Grizzlies have been spiraling a 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.000 little bit, and they just fired their coach, but they 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:14.479 have a ton of talent. Joan Morant was back. They 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:16.440 were the five seed, I believe at the time, or 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:17.799 the four to five seed. They had the same record 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:20.360 as the Lakers, a couple of quality opponents on the 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:24.280 road that the Lakers dominated for stretches, yet still had 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.719 to manage to almost lose. I talked about those issues 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:30.960 after the Pacers game, and a couple of great examples 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.599 in the two following games. Again, they've played three good 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.159 teams on the road in this three game span. The 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:39.880 Pacers had won seven out of eight. The Bulls had 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.280 won eight out of ten. And the Grizzlies were in 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.200 a cold spell, like we said, but their five seed 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.479 and they've been great at home all year. The Lakers 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.359 led by at least seventeen points in all three of 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:55.760 those games. They led by twenty against Memphis, they led 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:59.080 by eighteen in the fourth quarter of the Bulls game. 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.560 Yet they trailed in the fourth quarter of every single 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:06.440 one of those three games. Actually managed to lose one 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:08.799 of them. And if it wasn't for a Lebron tapping 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:10.640 at the buzzer against Indiana, they would have gone one 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:14.839 to two in those three games. Long extended stretches of 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:21.240 dominance undone with these brief catastrophic laps As an execution 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:24.039 the Grizzlies game, I was watching it yesterday in the 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:26.560 morning before we went to the airport. They were up 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:30.520 fifty to thirty. On a Lebron James shot put them 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.599 up twenty. The Grizzlies cut that twenty point lead to 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:39.440 six in four minutes. Imagine dominating a team for a 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:43.120 quarter and a half and losing ninety percent of that 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.080 progress in a four minute span where you let go 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:49.279 of the rope. It ends up being the same issues 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:53.520 every single time. One of these two. On offense, they 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:57.320 walked the ball up the floor slowly. They usually succumbed 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.720 to ball pressure and either get too deep into the 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.000 shot clock and have to take bad shots, or they 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:04.560 end up having to face a trap or something like that, 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:06.880 and Lebron, Luca or Austin will be sloppy with the 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:08.920 way they handle that ball pressure and they'll turn the 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:10.800 ball over and they'll end up going the other way 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:13.840 in transition. On defense, and this is one of the 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:17.320 most interesting things about this Laker defense. Their defense is 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:22.360 predicated on keeping the ball in front of a defender, 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.280 always keeping someone between them and the rim, so they 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:27.680 have to make something over the top. You'll see with 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.560 their dribble penetration the way they handle it like the 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.360 guy on the ball has a job to slide his 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.040 feet and contain the ball. Great example I thought from 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.240 the Grizzlies game was Austin Reeves. I thought Austin just 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:40.920 did an excellent job for most of the game in 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:44.400 reps against John Moran and against Desmond Bain, sliding his feet, 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:48.720 absorbing contact, flattening out drives. That's what you want to do, 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:51.600 but inevitably you're gonna give up dribble penetration. This Lakers 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.440 team is going to give up dribble penetration. They have 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.040 too many of those slower footed guys on the floor. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:00.760 Foot speed is not necessarily the strength this Laker team 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.960 outside of a handful of guys, right So from there 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.440 they have a plan. They're always funneling towards the sideline 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:10.520 and they're offering help from the baseline. And generally speaking, 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.280 if a guy gets beat off the dribble, that guy 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:16.760 who's guarding the ball will just bail and run to 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:19.320 the next rotation and there will be somebody almost to 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:21.640 like it kind of feels almost like catching, like the 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.800 guy is the helper is catching the drive, sitting in 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:28.200 his stance, arms out wide, right around like that first block, 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.280 second block, waiting for the guy on the drive in 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:34.320 help as the team rotates around him. And that's how 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.640 the Lakers deal with dribble penetration. They basically switch on 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:42.560 the drive. If that makes sense that that's the type 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:47.040 of scheme requires a lot of hard work. The on 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.120 ball guy has to rotate out of it. The helper 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.920 has to be there in time. There are these brief 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.520 openings where guys have to rotate to shooters. It's a 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.120 lot of running, a lot of reading the play, a 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.000 lot of communication. And when the Lakers do those things 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:06.439 this year, they've been great defensively. They did it consistently 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.679 for a few months there from mid January to early March, 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:14.319 right and we've seen flashes of it in the last week. 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.439 They hold Chicago to seventeen points in that third quarter 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:19.480 when they go on their big run to take the lead. 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.480 They shut Indy down in that second quarter when they 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.559 first took their big lead in that game. But since 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.640 Lebron's injury, it's been a we'll do it when we 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:33.760 feel like it kind of thing. And again like when 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:36.400 in the two main ways that I see them let 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:38.440 go of the rope in these like kind of catch 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:42.360 help type of rotation situations, it are like at the 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.240 end of the Indie game, Lucas starts getting beat off 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.440 the dribble, Ruie starts getting beat off the dribble. The 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.400 catches were not there. The Lakers were just hugging up 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.600 off the ball, leaving dudes on an island, and they 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:58.520 were giving up easy like concession driving lamps. Again, that's 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.640 a fundamental part. So what makes their defense good is 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.640 they're loaded up, they have their help ready, they rotate 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:07.560 out of it, and they literally almost blew a game 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:11.960 in Indiana by completely stopping that at the tail end 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:15.600 of the game. The second way that you'll end up 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:18.600 seeing it is in overhelp situations. This we saw in 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.839 the Bulls game. It's okay to acknowledge that the Bulls 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.800 shot eleven for fourteen from three in the quarter. That's 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:30.600 insane under any circumstances. A lot of impressive shot making, right, 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:33.280 but you have to find a way as a defense 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:37.040 to make guys uncomfortable, to make them miss, And there 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.040 were several execution errors in that quarter which are going 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:44.439 to breed a red hot shooting stretch. They helped off 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.040 of the strong side corner twice in that fourth quarter 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:50.079 against the Bulls. You guys have probably heard this before, 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.199 this concept of don't help off the strong side corner. 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.400 There's a very specific reason why you don't want to 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.080 help off of the strong side corner. It is the 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:02.600 easiest pass in the world basketball player to make. You're 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.760 funneling guys towards the sideline. Guys on the left wing, 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:09.840 he rips to the left, the guy sliding with him, 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:13.800 he's got dribble penetration. What's the easiest pass in the 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.360 world for that guy to make is if the guy 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:20.320 in the left corner steps over and it's like, okay, 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:24.520 little ten foot chess pass to a wide open guy 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:29.960 standing in the corner literally ten feet away, writing clear view, 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.600 it's an easy pass to make. Right what you're supposed 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.960 to do in that situation. That guy, if he wants 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.559 to gap to where he feels comfortable closing out, that's 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.000 one thing where he just reaches and recovers. But that's 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.040 not the guy you ever want to concede the pass to. 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:48.200 You have help coming from the baseline. When the help 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:51.760 comes from the baseline, there's a way to beat that help, 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:56.080 but it is a substantially tougher pass. Now imagine a 0:11:56.080 --> 0:12:01.400 different scenario, left wing rip, left dribble penetration. We have 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:03.880 Lebron on Kevin Herder in the left corner in the 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.520 fourth quarter of the Bulls game. Lebron helped off Kevin 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:08.440 Herder got a wide open three, and he nailed it. 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:12.000 Let's say Lebron's gapping but stays in control of Herder. 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.640 Now the help comes from Jackson Hayes along the baseline, 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:22.880 who's open the skip for a left handed dribbler trying 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:28.480 to go across his body and acrossed helpers covering twenty 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:30.800 five feet in the air thirty feet in the air 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.960 to get to the open man. That's why you don't 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:38.120 help off the strong side corner. It's simply about knowing 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:41.079 where the help is coming from and making the passer 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.440 make a more difficult pass. A more difficult pass over 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:48.440 a longer stretch of space that's looping or deflected or 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:51.520 not on target is much easier for your defense to 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:53.920 rotate out of. That is basketball one oh one. There 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:58.800 were two strong side corner helps that gave wide open 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.400 threes to Kobe White and Order in that fourth herder 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:07.120 in that fourth quarter. Those are execution errors. Jackson Hayes 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.960 overhelped on a drive left Nikole Vusovich wide open at 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:11.560 the top of the key. Again, we talked about this. 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:15.760 When a guy has a drive flattened out and under control, 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.640 he now has to take a contested, off balance layup 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:24.240 substantially lower percentage shot on a two. Like if he 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.240 goes forty five percent on that layup, that's zero point 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.720 nine points per shot. Your defense can live with that 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.680 it's the straight line drives where it's like he's going 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.520 to make a layup every time. That's when you need 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.719 to be there and ready to help. You overhelp, give 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:41.839 up a wide open three to Vusovich. Luka had a 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:45.280 very similar one where a driver was contained, left Patrick 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.840 Williams wide open at the top of the key. Lebron 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.640 two awful reps in the final minute uh go screen 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.000 from Kevin Herder that the Lakers were switching all night. 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.120 It was a clear switch. Lebron looked like he was 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.760 on the bus because they're up, you know, five or 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:00.800 six with less than a minute left. He thinks the 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.160 game is over. It's not over. He's lazy. He's on 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.960 He's standing upright out of his stance. Kevin Herder slips 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:09.079 out of the screen, hits a wide open three the 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:12.800 possession before the Kobe White three that gave him the lead. 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:17.440 Lebron overhelps on Avusvich upper like kind of left wing 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.680 area catch, ends up leaving Patrick Williams wide open in 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:22.640 the left corner right before he threw the ball away 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:25.840 throwing the ball to Kobe White. These are execution errors. 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:27.920 I saw a lot of Laker fans saying like, oh, 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.800 I cannot believe the Bulls shot eleven for fourteen from three. 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:33.960 We have got to get out of this mindset of 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:36.640 thinking that shooting is all just luck. It is not. 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.480 You can play teams into missus and makes to a 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.440 certain extent, I would argue that process has a much 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:49.000 bigger role in shot result than luck, even though we 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.720 can acknowledge that luck does play a role. And again, 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:57.800 like the Lakers, they they have an opportunity to win 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:01.760 the title this year, but there are certain non negotiables 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:06.200 things that they absolutely must have tightened up if they're 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:07.680 gonna get to where they want to go, and one 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:10.600 of them is they have to be the best defensive 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.800 version of themselves, which is going to require a wire 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.760 to wire level of execution. I know they can do it. 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:19.160 They held what six or seven straight teams to one 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:21.680 hundred and two points or fewer. They are capable of 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.960 doing that. They have not been doing that since Lebron 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:27.000 James came back from injury. I just think it's at 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:30.080 least worth acknowledging as a trend and something to keep 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.400 an eye on. The bottom line is the Lakers just 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.800 played three good teams on the road, went in methodically 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:40.240 dominated them to large leads, and yet they were one 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:43.400 Lebron tip in from going one and two. I'm not 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.240 trying to be all gloom and doom. I'm still super 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.240 high on the Lakers. I was listening while I was 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.480 on the airplane yesterday to Pet and Darius from Laker 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:54.440 Film Room, and Darius Oreano does great work. He also 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:57.280 writes for Lakers dot com. He was talking about how 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:00.880 he viewed these two games, these two kind ugly games 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:04.480 to Indiana and Chicago, as part of the Lakers returning 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:11.760 to form before the Lebron injury. I totally agree. I 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:15.040 do think that these last three games are a sign, 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.800 especially after they looked bad against Orlando and what was 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:22.920 the of the first Chicago game, they are progressing towards 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.680 being what they were before the Lebron injury. I am 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:28.560 still super high on this team. I'm still very tempted 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:30.800 to pick them to win the West when we do 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.920 our playoff predictions in the coming weeks. But I wanted 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.320 to harp on these execution lapses because I do view 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:40.520 them as a non negotiable thing. If how many champions 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.280 do you know of an NBA history? They had a 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:48.480 reputation for extended like or like consistent three or four 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.000 minute stretches in every game where they just don't play 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.720 hard and they don't execute and they hemorrhage leads. It 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.920 burns you, it does, don't tell me it doesn't. It's 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:03.880 happened so many times in NBA history that the Bucks 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:06.160 Raptors series, when they had that big lead in Game 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:12.760 four before they blew it the the the Lakers, excuse me, 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:15.440 the Miami Heat blowing that game to the Dallas Mavericks 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:17.919 in Game two back in twenty eleven. There are so 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:22.600 many examples in NBA history where series who the trophy 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:27.040 goes to swings on a team blowing a lead, a 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:33.200 team not finishing the job. Job's not finished until the 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:38.359 buzzer sounds, and that is a very important hallmark trait 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.840 for NBA champions. And I just would like to see 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.879 before we get to mid April, I would like to 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:48.920 see a week or two stretch where the Lakers show 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:52.160 that consistent level of execution from buzzer to buzzer again. 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.520 We are going to be covering the Lakers Rockets game 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:59.159 tonight on YouTube, including the Celtics Grizzlies game live on 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.680 YouTube after the final buzzer of that last game. Let's 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:03.800 move on to Zachary Usache in the Hawk. So he 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.120 drops the career high thirty six in a dominant victory 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:09.639 over the Bucks. So the third game this year he 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:14.399 scored over thirty points. Zach's played twenty seven consecutive games. 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:18.960 In those games, he's averaging fifteen point two points per game. 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.640 He's shooting fifty two percent from the field forty three 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:25.720 percent from three on over five attempts per game. He's 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:28.760 showcasing a little bit more of a quick release against 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:30.800 the Bucks. Hit a couple of no dip jumpers. Those 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:34.320 are where the ball is already is caught in the 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:37.199 pocket and you flow immediately into the shot instead of 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:39.520 having to catch somewhere else and then dip down into 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:43.240 your release and like kind of restart your chain of 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.199 energy from the floor up to the top of the shot. 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:50.080 He's showing a lot of really high level scoring. I 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:51.640 want to talk about this concept for a minute because 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:53.680 I think it's a really important part of team building 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:57.400 moving forward in the NBA. Scoring is the ultimate compliment 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.960 to playmaking. I've been thinking a lot about this content 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.520 at this season. When you have elite playmaking on your team, 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:07.320 Guys like Trey Young, guys like Lebron, Luca and Nicola Jokic, 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:12.320 these really really high level passers. You need elite play 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:17.920 finishing to pay those sequences off. Whether it's a vertical 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:22.880 spacer like Aaron Gordon alongside Jokic, or Derek Lively alongside Luca, 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.440 Jackson Hayes alongside Luca, or a deadly spot up guy 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:28.760 someone like Kyle Korter back with Lebron when he was 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.760 with the Cavs, or Malik Beasley playing with Kid Cunningham. 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.760 Guys that can pay off these sequences from your playmakers. 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:37.600 But one of the manifestations of that type of player 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:39.680 that I've been talking a lot about this year, I've 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:43.080 been referring to it as the weak side scoring forward. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:45.359 This is why I went into detail about the strong 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.200 side corner help thing that we talked about earlier. The 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.880 same concept is built into pick and roll coverages too. 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:53.280 There's a reason why they don't offer low man help 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:55.280 out of the strong side corner. They offer low man 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:57.640 help out of the weak side corner. Why do they 0:19:57.640 --> 0:19:59.639 do that? So that for the same reason on an 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:02.680 ISO drive, if a guy's getting downhill in a ball screen. 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:05.520 The opening for him as a playmaker is across the 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:08.480 court and across his body. That's the goal. You want 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:10.240 to make it across the court and across the body, 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.160 across as many help defenders as possible to make that 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:17.520 past difficult, right, but that is ultimately the opening, and 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:21.880 all of the best playmakers in the league consistently capitalize 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.680 on those openings. We've talked about this concept a ton 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.919 making reads in pick and roll. What are my reads? 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.720 Big man steps up, I'm making a read based on 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:34.159 the role man or the weak side corner, based on 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:36.080 what the low man does. If the loeman steps over, 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:39.080 I'm skipping it. If the one man stays home, excuse me, 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.200 I'm throwing the lob. If the big man drops back 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.840 and the guard is chasing, my read is to shoot 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:46.640 in the mid range. My read is to get as 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:48.720 close to the basket for as high percentage of a 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:51.359 shot as possible. Those are the pick and roll reads. 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.320 And so when these teams, the majority of teams are 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:56.399 bringing their big up to the level and bringing the 0:20:56.400 --> 0:21:00.560 low man over, that skip passes open, and those skip 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.080 passes are going to be made, especially by Trey young. 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:07.600 In these sorts of situations, there's a bunch of different 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:10.640 ways that you can look to score right. It's not 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.840