Speaker 1: Mmmm. But welcome to the State of the Lakers podcast. UM.
Speaker 1: Usually it's uh me and Jason, but Jason is out
Speaker 1: celebrating his thirtieth birthday in uh San Diego, so I
Speaker 1: have to birthday to to him. Um, but today I
Speaker 1: got a really special guest. UM. He's not just a
Speaker 1: friend of the show, friend of both of ours. Um.
Speaker 1: He's been on our Spotify Green Roo has been on
Speaker 1: our Twitter spaces. UM, I have rue Her. He's the
Speaker 1: host of the Noble and Rufe show, Bye Ball His Life, Ruche.
Speaker 1: How are you doing today? Man? Man, I'm doing well.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to be here, always down to talk basketball.
Speaker 1: So thanks for asking, thanks for asking me to come on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: of course. Man. It's a Saturday morning here, so I
Speaker 1: appreciate you coming on on a on a beautiful Saturday morning. Um.
Speaker 1: You're in Texas. I'm in California out two hours ahead. UM.
Speaker 1: So first, like, I just want before we get into
Speaker 1: the Laker stuff, because I know everyone wants to kind
Speaker 1: of and unless the people listening want to get into
Speaker 1: Laker stuff, but I think it's important to go around
Speaker 1: the league. Um. It's very easy to just go get
Speaker 1: in this echo chamber and just talk about, you know,
Speaker 1: your own team. So I'm sure you've been watching Summer
Speaker 1: League right like you've been watching some league. What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on your Eastern Rockets summerly, because I think
Speaker 1: they have been the most like fun team and summer
Speaker 1: league like they've had the best team. To me, Jana
Speaker 1: Green could arguably have been the best play Like, what
Speaker 1: do you think of your summer league team? Before we
Speaker 1: get into all the Lakers stuff, So I separate the
Speaker 1: summer league that the Rockets summer league team into the
Speaker 1: guys that are definitely like that we drafted that are
Speaker 1: on the team, and then the you know, the fringe
Speaker 1: players that are hoping to get like a two way
Speaker 1: or whatever. The fringe players hoping to get a two
Speaker 1: way unfortunately are not very good. Um, they just aren't.
Speaker 1: There's not really much to talk about when it comes
Speaker 1: to them. The Rockets gave Matthew Hurt I think out
Speaker 1: of Duke a two way, so you know, who knows,
Speaker 1: maybe that turns into something at some point down the line.
Speaker 1: But as far as the guys that the Rockets drafted,
Speaker 1: man Jalen Green has been so much fun to watch.
Speaker 1: He's looked incredible Unfortunately he got hurt, so hopefully that's
Speaker 1: nothing too serious and they have enough time to rehab
Speaker 1: him before the actual season starts. But could not be
Speaker 1: happier watching him. I mean, his stroke is incredible. Defensively,
Speaker 1: he was definitely active and there probably needs to get
Speaker 1: you know, um beef up a little bit at some weight,
Speaker 1: but all the tools were there. His handle looks very beautiful.
Speaker 1: We've got nice crossover, super quick, super explosive, and he
Speaker 1: started showing some flashes of creating off the dribble and
Speaker 1: out of the pick and roll, and that's like, that
Speaker 1: is what I wanted to see, So I was happy
Speaker 1: with that. Alpain Shangoon. That dude is crazy. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: the fan base was kind of split when the Rockets
Speaker 1: drafted him, but he's looked extremely talented, kind of like
Speaker 1: a like a Sabonis yokich S type player. Not to
Speaker 1: say that he's going to be as good as them necessarily,
Speaker 1: but just a European Turkish. I consider Turkey to be
Speaker 1: in Europe different discussion, but up in big man, good touch,
Speaker 1: great skills, versatile, super high i Q. He just turned nineteen,
Speaker 1: and I don't think I've ever seen a big man
Speaker 1: at nineteen play like that, so I'm hoping that what
Speaker 1: he does will translate into the NBA. He looked pretty
Speaker 1: good against Evan Mobley, and I thought he held his
Speaker 1: own against Precious for Toronto, So really happy with that.
Speaker 1: And then um, Josh Christopher had some ups and downs.
Speaker 1: I see the potential with with with Josh Christopher, so
Speaker 1: it was fun to watch kind of get get a
Speaker 1: chance to watch him going. And then Usman Garuba from Spain.
Speaker 1: UM only played one game and he came straight from
Speaker 1: like Tokyo, I think, and he was Jet lags. So
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna put much stock into that one game,
Speaker 1: but I'm excited man. And then as far as the
Speaker 1: rest of the Summer League goes Kaid's been popping off.
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley's potential is definitely on display. Chris Duarte had
Speaker 1: a good game or two, Um Cam Thomas had a
Speaker 1: really good game. It's just nice to see young talent
Speaker 1: balling out. Yeah, for sure, man, So have you been
Speaker 1: to Summer League before? I have not. You were right, yes,
Speaker 1: So I was there. I've been there the last few years.
Speaker 1: So I went when the Lakers had their lottery picks
Speaker 1: and that thing was filled like a playoff game, like
Speaker 1: to the bone when it was like brandon Ingram, Lonzo
Speaker 1: Paul you know what I mean, and Kyle Kuzma left
Speaker 1: I think was crazy. It was loud. It's funny going
Speaker 1: there now like kind of trickling and out. Um, it's
Speaker 1: not as loud. I want to ask you because when
Speaker 1: I was watching Green, I got to see a little
Speaker 1: bit of their little bit a little bit of him there. Um,
Speaker 1: he reminds me a little bit of brandon Ingram. Do
Speaker 1: you see that a little bit in his game where
Speaker 1: like the ball handling at that size and like he's
Speaker 1: a better shooter already and he's already better at taking contact,
Speaker 1: but like I see that like that ability to kind
Speaker 1: of attack off the dribble, had the jumper as well,
Speaker 1: just the full complete offensive game. To me, he was
Speaker 1: the most like impressive guy that I got to see live.
Speaker 1: At least he just looked extremely comfortable on the floor.
Speaker 1: Do you see a little bit of that? Like do
Speaker 1: you see him as like this like score kind of
Speaker 1: like this isolation score eventually that like Ingram has became
Speaker 1: now like this like go to guy. I definitely see
Speaker 1: him as an isolation score As far as comparing the
Speaker 1: two of them, I didn't see Brandon Ingram, but I
Speaker 1: will say that the similarity is their fluidity with the rock.
Speaker 1: You know, like when they are getting to their to
Speaker 1: their moves and trying to get to their spots, they're
Speaker 1: so fluid, and they're both kind of lanky and skinny, um,
Speaker 1: but they're so quick at the same time that like
Speaker 1: when they make their move, they're decisive. It's there, and
Speaker 1: it's the kind of thing that you can't really stop.
Speaker 1: You can contest it, but you can't really stop it. UM.
Speaker 1: So I see that that kind of similarity. Obviously, Brandon
Speaker 1: Ingram is bigger um and has more ability to kind
Speaker 1: of he's just longer, right. But yeah, I mean as
Speaker 1: far as being an isolation score, man, I was so impressed,
Speaker 1: like he looked it really looked like the G League
Speaker 1: preparation had him ready to just dominate the summer league.
Speaker 1: That's that's that was kind of my takeaway. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: his body looks a lot more NBA ready already than
Speaker 1: Ingram was even wasn't evenone, wasn't even close in that
Speaker 1: first year. Lam wasn't as comfortable either as a score,
Speaker 1: So it's cool to see him kind of go off
Speaker 1: the dribble and yeah, it was fine. I got to
Speaker 1: see Kate a little bit as well. Kaide looks like
Speaker 1: a guy also ready for the NBA, like his body
Speaker 1: dudes coming out of college or like the top of
Speaker 1: the draft definitely has a chance to be special. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the rest of the draft as well. But like
Speaker 1: those first three, I guess Jalen Suggs look pretty good too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Scotty Barnes has some flashes. We'll see, we'll see if
Speaker 1: Toronto regrets taking Barnes over Suggs. But but yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I mean it's fun. It's just fun to see high
Speaker 1: level basketball and to be excited about like the future,
Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, it's funny going to Summer League because
Speaker 1: I was there for Alonzo's first game, right and Alonzo.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you follow Alonzo like you see
Speaker 1: l A or whatever, but like there's a bunch of
Speaker 1: them people in there that obviously never watched Alonzo play,
Speaker 1: right in some releague such a like I don't know
Speaker 1: how to explain it. It's like the crowd is on
Speaker 1: top of you, so like when someone screams, you can
Speaker 1: hear them, like that's how like, that's how it looks
Speaker 1: like the Drew. I don't know if you've been to
Speaker 1: the Drew. I haven't it, but it's a similar type.
Speaker 1: It feels like it's a similar kind of experience there.
Speaker 1: But yeah, like the crowds right there, they can hear
Speaker 1: everything the crowds saying. So like Alonzo this is the
Speaker 1: first his first game, and he's like dribbling at the
Speaker 1: top up and you could just hear like the crowd
Speaker 1: is kind of silent a little bit, goes a little quiet,
Speaker 1: and they're like someone's like do something like where this
Speaker 1: is not Alonzo's game at all. And Alonzo, you know,
Speaker 1: a young guy, he's like trying to fulfill with the
Speaker 1: crowd wants. So Alonzo starts taking these step back threes
Speaker 1: and it just wasn't his game. So it's just funny.
Speaker 1: Some of these is a cool place. I'd recommend you
Speaker 1: to go at least one time. I definitely want to,
Speaker 1: so hopefully I wish I would have gone this year. Honestly, um,
Speaker 1: I would even consider still going, but Jalen Green's done
Speaker 1: so because he probably won't Yeah, he probably won't play.
Speaker 1: He probably won't play next year. Uh, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1: So Rush is like my guy go to for all
Speaker 1: Houston Rockets for anything Houston um, and I wanted to
Speaker 1: get him on to talk about Russell Westbrook because I
Speaker 1: don't think there's that many people who know more about it.
Speaker 1: I know he played for the Wizards last year. I
Speaker 1: know that. I just like, when I go watch Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook film on the Wizards, it's really weird to me
Speaker 1: because Russell westbrooks the one player where like watching him
Speaker 1: without a crowd is just a really strange thing, Like
Speaker 1: it just really is. You see him screaming into like
Speaker 1: this abyss and I feel like it's just you just
Speaker 1: don't get the same kind of feel. So I watch
Speaker 1: more Russell Westbrook on the Rockets. I feel like that's
Speaker 1: more of the type of team. Rockets are more of
Speaker 1: a contender as well a winning environment. Before we get
Speaker 1: into like the encore, the basketball, he how we can't
Speaker 1: shoot all that stuff, Like what's like when your team
Speaker 1: gets Russell Westbrook, what does it do? Let's do for
Speaker 1: your culture? Like what does that mean? I guess when
Speaker 1: you get Russell Westbrook on your team? Okay, I'm really
Speaker 1: excited to talk about this, so so thanks for having
Speaker 1: me in mind, and I agree with you, Russell Westbrook
Speaker 1: in Washington is not the best I guess fit or
Speaker 1: kind of piece of analysis for how he's going to
Speaker 1: fit in Los Angeles. I will before I get into
Speaker 1: the nitty gritty, I will start by saying my overarching
Speaker 1: thought on Westbrook on l A and that is he
Speaker 1: is quote unquote the number three option remains to be
Speaker 1: seeing how that works and plays out. But on paper,
Speaker 1: he's your number three, and your number one is Lebron
Speaker 1: James and your number two is Anthony Davis. So talent wise,
Speaker 1: the Lakers are far and away better than anyone in
Speaker 1: the West. I think the Lakers are a lock for
Speaker 1: the finals if they're healthy, and I think they have
Speaker 1: a very good chance to win the championship. So any
Speaker 1: criticism that I may give about Russell Westbrook, just keep
Speaker 1: in mind that I think l is gonna win it
Speaker 1: all um, if not get to the finals. So what
Speaker 1: does it mean when your team gets Russell Westbrook? Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: First and foremost, it means that there's going to be
Speaker 1: a divide among your fan base. You know, some people
Speaker 1: are gonna just absolutely love what he does. Some people
Speaker 1: are gonna have some issues with it. Some people will
Speaker 1: be more so in between. Um, he is the type
Speaker 1: that he just plays a very binary game, right, He
Speaker 1: plays his game at all times. Sometimes that's good, sometimes
Speaker 1: that's bad. Um, there's no discretion with him, right. So
Speaker 1: it's exciting. It is exciting, and it's love hate right, Like,
Speaker 1: that's kind of the theme it's for for people I
Speaker 1: think like you based on what I've seen from how
Speaker 1: you view the game and talk about the game, It'll
Speaker 1: be love hate. There's gonna be nights where he cos
Speaker 1: off and he saves the night. There's gonna be nights
Speaker 1: where no one has energy but he does and it's infectious. Um,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be nights where you're down ten with four
Speaker 1: minutes and Russell Westbrook goes on a tear and brings
Speaker 1: you back into the game to win it. And then
Speaker 1: there's gonna be nights where he's just pulling up from
Speaker 1: the elbow over and over, or you know, his lack
Speaker 1: of shooting ability really stands out and teams are able
Speaker 1: to double off and you have to figure out a
Speaker 1: counter and all that type of stuff. So so yeah, um,
Speaker 1: I mean we can get into the positives and the
Speaker 1: negatives and all that. But I think first and foremost,
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook on your team means a polarized experience and
Speaker 1: you're gonna find yourself on both ends of it throughout
Speaker 1: this season for sure. So I was against the move,
Speaker 1: Like it was clear, like people are asking me. I
Speaker 1: was like, there's no way this happens. It doesn't make
Speaker 1: sense on the back on the basketball floor, like you know,
Speaker 1: he's a super ball handler. Like we already saw how
Speaker 1: Phoenix defended us, Like they stayed in the paint, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like they weren't even guarding us outside.
Speaker 1: Now you add another um, a nonshooter to it, and
Speaker 1: I agree with you, Like Russell Westbrook's coming here to
Speaker 1: be Russell Westbrook. Like I see a lot of people saying, oh,
Speaker 1: he can adjust his game. You don't trade for Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook to not get Russell to change Russell Westbrook. And
Speaker 1: when you're getting Russell westroom for him to be himself.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of positives and negatives to that,
Speaker 1: But I guess, like I just want to stay a
Speaker 1: little bit like what it means. I guess, so like
Speaker 1: off the court kind of with the role players and
Speaker 1: stuff like you hear he's a great teammate and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. Did you see that where like he impacted
Speaker 1: kind of the Rockets role players I guess in a
Speaker 1: way that they weren't doing before. Like obviously James Harden's
Speaker 1: the I guess, the leader of that team, no matter
Speaker 1: of Houston, He's the face of the franchise. But I
Speaker 1: guess like just for some of those role guys, like
Speaker 1: I hear Bam mclamar always like talks about it. I
Speaker 1: think um in front the other guy that got suspended
Speaker 1: from the bubble. But I think, like, yes, heys House
Speaker 1: as well, So like did you see that as well
Speaker 1: when he was on Houston kind of how he helped
Speaker 1: the role players, Um, I guess, like with confidence and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. Yeah, so okay, Harden was not that type, right.
Speaker 1: Harden was the type that was like you'll give me
Speaker 1: the rock Um, I'm gonna score fifty and like that's
Speaker 1: all you need to know. Um. Not to like put
Speaker 1: Harden down. He just wasn't the vocal type of leader.
Speaker 1: He was like a leader on the court more so
Speaker 1: by his by his example of play Yeah excuse me,
Speaker 1: um Westbrook. I think and this is what I think
Speaker 1: will work. For sure. His approach and work ethic I
Speaker 1: think will mirror that of Lebron's, and Lebron is very
Speaker 1: Lebron is very much a guy that's like, Yo, we're
Speaker 1: doing it my way because I'm Lebron James and it
Speaker 1: works and um, you know, if you're not on board,
Speaker 1: you can get shipped. Um. And Westbrook is also he's
Speaker 1: a he's a family man kind of guy. You know,
Speaker 1: he comes in all business. His approach may not he
Speaker 1: may not approach the nuance of the game the way
Speaker 1: that we would like to if we were like playing
Speaker 1: a video game and you know, playing with Russell Westbrook
Speaker 1: for example, but he works hard and I think that
Speaker 1: that definitely permeates to the rest of the team. Fun fact,
Speaker 1: when he was in Houston, I think part of the
Speaker 1: reason that him and Harden mutually agreed to kind of
Speaker 1: split into their own thing was because they realized that
Speaker 1: they were no longer like they were still friends, I think,
Speaker 1: but from from what I heard, they didn't really even
Speaker 1: have dinner much together during last season, even before COVID hit.
Speaker 1: I think when Russ came there was like you saw
Speaker 1: that Tim McMann article where like oh, you know, Harden
Speaker 1: was late for film sessions where everyone had to wait
Speaker 1: for Harden to go on the PJ to Vegas or
Speaker 1: whatever it was. Um, and that stuff irked Westbrook because
Speaker 1: he does approach it more like Lebron does. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I you know, they kind of I think we're
Speaker 1: at odds in that respect, Harden and Westbrook, and I
Speaker 1: think that they kind of figured out, like, yo, this
Speaker 1: isn't how I remembered it being. You know, we've kind
Speaker 1: of grown in separate ways since becoming superstars in our
Speaker 1: own right. Um. So yeah, I think it will help
Speaker 1: the team. And I think that him and Lebron will
Speaker 1: get along in that way from a leadership perspective and
Speaker 1: from how they approach the game and practice and things
Speaker 1: like that. And I think that's definitely gonna have a
Speaker 1: trickle down effect on the rest of the guys. Yeah
Speaker 1: for sure. So, Like I feel like he'll be big
Speaker 1: for a D because a D the guy that really
Speaker 1: he can't Like he gets a lot of ship and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, but he really does can He can
Speaker 1: sometimes go through the motions, and I think Russ is
Speaker 1: not a guy that goes through the motions like Rest is.
Speaker 1: Just watching him, like he feels like a guy that's
Speaker 1: on all the time, Like even watching his Washington tape,
Speaker 1: like seeing him scream and an empty arena in Orlando.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just like it's funny to watch like
Speaker 1: him kind of play play with that kind of motor.
Speaker 1: And I think that does a lot for the team.
Speaker 1: So I guess we can start like going onto the
Speaker 1: basketball fit. So let's to the negatives first, I guess.
Speaker 1: So like his jump shooting, how like I don't know
Speaker 1: how to ask this, like how reckless does it get?
Speaker 1: Game to game? Like I guess, Like how how he's
Speaker 1: been in the league for a long time. I guess,
Speaker 1: But like that pull up jumper that he takes and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, it feels like he takes a lot
Speaker 1: of shots where like when the other team goes under
Speaker 1: the screen, um, he'll still fire even if he's hissed
Speaker 1: to hit his miss his last five. Like what do
Speaker 1: you think your most like concerns with with russ In
Speaker 1: l a like on a on the basketball floor, Like
Speaker 1: what's your biggest concern I guess with him is his shooting,
Speaker 1: like his shot select shin Like is it his defense?
Speaker 1: Like what do you think is the biggest concern for
Speaker 1: you with with rust in l A. So I was
Speaker 1: just looking up his three point percentages so that I
Speaker 1: can make sure I have the correct data. Um Man,
Speaker 1: he can be reckless with the shot. So here's the thing, right,
Speaker 1: we're talking about Russell Westbrook. You made mention. You're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna get Russell Westbrook to try to make
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook change, right, And he's been in the league
Speaker 1: for however many seasons. I don't know what it is now,
Speaker 1: twelve thirteen came in. I think it's thirteen. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: that's crazy. And so you have to realize when you
Speaker 1: have a guy that's played thirteen seasons at the usage
Speaker 1: rate of Russell Westbrook, meaning that he's just got the
Speaker 1: rock in his hand, doing his thing the way that
Speaker 1: he does it, and he's won an m VP doing so,
Speaker 1: and he's said all these crazy triple double records in
Speaker 1: the process. You're not going to change that guy. Um
Speaker 1: So you're you're getting Russ and you're getting all the positives.
Speaker 1: But the caveat to that is that you're getting it
Speaker 1: on his terms. Now what that means is, um sometimes
Speaker 1: you just have to live with those shots, right, there
Speaker 1: are times where you need a get or you need
Speaker 1: a bucket to stop the bleeding, to get some momentum,
Speaker 1: or to stunt the momentum of the other team, and
Speaker 1: instead you get Russ pulling up from eighteen ft and
Speaker 1: it clanks, you know, or you get Russ doing He
Speaker 1: has this one shot. I don't know if you've seen this.
Speaker 1: It blew my mind when he started doing it in Houston.
Speaker 1: He does a a fade away like a post fade
Speaker 1: away bank shot off one leg? Is that the one leg? One? Yes,
Speaker 1: it's one of the ugliest shots I've ever seen, bro.
Speaker 1: And it's just one of those things where you're like, dude,
Speaker 1: we're down three with four minutes left, why did you
Speaker 1: take that shot? You know? And so you'll see that
Speaker 1: it's gonna happen. It's inevitable. Now there's times where he
Speaker 1: pulls up and he gets in a rhythm and it's butter,
Speaker 1: you know, and it's like he's really on um. In Houston,
Speaker 1: his three point percentage I think was the worst of
Speaker 1: his career twenty five point six percent, the worst of
Speaker 1: his career since his second year in the league um
Speaker 1: and since two thousand fourteen, he has shot under thirty
Speaker 1: from three, one, two, three, four five times in whatever
Speaker 1: that is seven seasons. I guess one to three, four, five, six,
Speaker 1: and eight, So five times in eight seasons UM. Starting
Speaker 1: back into four fifteen, he shot twenty nine point nine
Speaker 1: percent twenty nine point six MVP season season, after that,
Speaker 1: twenty nine point eight season, after that in Houston eight,
Speaker 1: and then last season he upped it to thirty one
Speaker 1: on four attempts. I remember in Houston we used to say, man,
Speaker 1: if he can just shoot like thirty two from three,
Speaker 1: we would do so much better. And I'm sure Lakers
Speaker 1: fans remember in that series in the bubble yall were
Speaker 1: probably like, dude, sag Off rust because he can't make
Speaker 1: it UM And I know we're talking about the positives here,
Speaker 1: but you asked about his shooting. So yeah, So so
Speaker 1: that's kind of you just have to live with it,
Speaker 1: what you have to hope for. To his credit, he
Speaker 1: did change in Houston. Unfortunately, it required Houston trading Russell
Speaker 1: I'm trading Clint Capella to create that five out space
Speaker 1: because the lack of spacing really killed Houston and it
Speaker 1: killed their efficiency, especially after the Mike D'Antonio offense that
Speaker 1: they were known for. So once they did that, he
Speaker 1: was able to use his athletic tools and his first
Speaker 1: step and his burst UM to really become a force.
Speaker 1: And he was like, I think he had the best
Speaker 1: two point percentage of his career. UM confirmed that yes
Speaker 1: he did by far is the only time. It was
Speaker 1: the second time in his career where he shot over
Speaker 1: from two he shot fifty one four. The second in
Speaker 1: his career is seen where he shot fifty point three
Speaker 1: percent and everything else is sub fifty. So he was
Speaker 1: able to make that adjustment, get into the paint and
Speaker 1: kind of dominate from that perspective. UM, the question in
Speaker 1: the issue is going to be can he do that
Speaker 1: with Lebron and a D. Lebron can shoot, a D
Speaker 1: can kind of shoot from three. I wouldn't call it reliable, um,
Speaker 1: but there's only so much rock to go around, you know. UM. Now.
Speaker 1: The positive about all this, though, is that I think
Speaker 1: what l A wants and I think what Lebron wants
Speaker 1: is someone they can just give the ball to and
Speaker 1: say please take over, so that, you know, so Lebron
Speaker 1: can chow and he can do that. UM. The downside
Speaker 1: to that though is in Houston. I know specifically the
Speaker 1: bench units they would stagger Harden and Russ at times right,
Speaker 1: and the bench units led by Russ with Harden on
Speaker 1: the bench, we're by far the worst lineups that Houston ran. UM. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because you know, think about it, it's basically at that
Speaker 1: point it turns into like a Russell Westbrook like Washington team.
Speaker 1: You know, he's just leading the pack, going full force
Speaker 1: and he's either on and getting his way or it's
Speaker 1: kind of more so reckless, you know. So UM shooting.
Speaker 1: It's tough to watch him shoot threes, it really is.
Speaker 1: And it's not like he takes a low volume. UM.
Speaker 1: That was volume he's taken in like the last almost
Speaker 1: ten years is three point seven UM. In Houston he
Speaker 1: shot three point seven, which was his lowest over that span.
Speaker 1: In Washington he shot four point two. Four point two.
Speaker 1: Three is a game like there's no need you need
Speaker 1: there's no reason you need rust westn to do that
Speaker 1: unless he's hitting right. So it's it's just a mixed bag. Man.
Speaker 1: He brings tons of positives, but he negates them on
Speaker 1: his own with shooting because in his mind he can shoot.
Speaker 1: He just doesn't rust the percentages or care for the percentages.
Speaker 1: So we'll see how that plays out. I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna depend on the lineups that the Lakers run. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so you brought up his percentages, like his
Speaker 1: three point percentages, Like I almost throw those out because, like,
Speaker 1: I don't expect him to shoot, well, I also don't
Speaker 1: expect people to guard him, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Like they're just not gonna garden he could shoot for
Speaker 1: a game, They're not gonna garden like he can hit
Speaker 1: his last three. They're just hiring up. So like I'm
Speaker 1: already going into it knowing like they're not guarding Russell Westbrook.
Speaker 1: So my biggest concern is that, like, yes, a D
Speaker 1: can shoot right, like he can shoot jumpers, but if
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis is shooting jumpers, he's no longer Anthony freaking Davis.
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's a jump shooter. Like Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: generational skill is to be able to roll to the rim,
Speaker 1: be a lop threat, and also handle animals, you know,
Speaker 1: but they wants to get to the rim. That's what
Speaker 1: a D wants to do. Lebron as well, Lebron can't shoot,
Speaker 1: but Lebron wants to get to the rim. Russell Westbrook
Speaker 1: wants to get to the rim. I don't know who
Speaker 1: we're starting at center, but like I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be Marcus Sault, so maybe that gives you little spacing
Speaker 1: and then one shooter. So that's my kind of concern here.
Speaker 1: I think this team is gonna run. Um, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be in transition, try to get a lot of baskets
Speaker 1: off that. I know you said the Russ kind of
Speaker 1: non hardened minutes were like really bad in Houston. I guess.
Speaker 1: I guess the only like caveat here is that, like
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be paired with a d Like,
Speaker 1: I don't think you're gonna have a Russ line up
Speaker 1: without a d or Lebron on the floor. So I'm
Speaker 1: a little worried about the Russ Lebron and like, you know,
Speaker 1: nothing else on the floor there with no shooting. So
Speaker 1: that's my little concern there. But like I think I
Speaker 1: like him in transition, Um, I like him as that.
Speaker 1: And then again it gives another ball handler. Dennis Shrewter
Speaker 1: just wasn't that I want to ask you about his playmaking.
Speaker 1: So this is like idea that he's that he assists
Speaker 1: hunts and and stuff like that. I see a guy
Speaker 1: that's an elite, elite playmaker. Like, I don't think you
Speaker 1: get eleven assist a game on accident. Now, there's things
Speaker 1: you can do here and there. But like, like, am
Speaker 1: I wrong in thinking like he's a really good like
Speaker 1: he understands the floor spacing. I guess like he understands
Speaker 1: like how to get corner shooters their shots. Um, I
Speaker 1: feel like he's a really good dump off pastor, Like,
Speaker 1: and he's to me, he's one of the best law
Speaker 1: pastors ever? Is that wrong for me to saying like
Speaker 1: he's a really good law pastor at least for Steven Adams.
Speaker 1: He used to get Jeremy Grant cutting off corners a
Speaker 1: lot um in Oklahoma City. Um, I think he's really
Speaker 1: good at finding pigs that way. Like, what do you
Speaker 1: think about his passing? Like is it how much of
Speaker 1: it is like him trying to get assist or is
Speaker 1: he really just this really great playmakers? Is somewhere in
Speaker 1: between there? I think it's somewhere in between, leaning towards
Speaker 1: being a great playmaker. The reason I say somewhere in
Speaker 1: between is because there are guys that see the play
Speaker 1: developed ahead of time. Yeah, Ron, Chris Paul, James Harden,
Speaker 1: Like they're they're waiting for the action because they're waiting
Speaker 1: for what that action is going to spring open, right,
Speaker 1: Like they're waiting for that pick because they know when
Speaker 1: they get the pick at the top of the key,
Speaker 1: they're gonna take it. And they already know when that
Speaker 1: pick comes that what they're about to do is penetrate,
Speaker 1: draw the corner defender over, and then kick it to
Speaker 1: the corner. Right. Russ doesn't operate like that. Russ's m
Speaker 1: O first and foremost is I'm going to the basket
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna make my little crawl. I'm gonna use
Speaker 1: my burst and then maybe make like a quick crossover
Speaker 1: and I'm going to the basket. Now if somebody helps
Speaker 1: over at the last minute, he like figures it out
Speaker 1: on the fly. And it's both a gift and a curse, right,
Speaker 1: because sometimes it's incredible, it's like whoa how did how
Speaker 1: did he react so fast and make that play? And
Speaker 1: other times it's like God, damn it, you know, um
Speaker 1: he just threw it away, or you know, like I remember,
Speaker 1: Chris Paul was really good at putting the ball in
Speaker 1: the shooters pocket because he was purposeful with it and
Speaker 1: intentful with it, intentional with it, right, he saw the
Speaker 1: play developing ahead of time. Westbrook doesn't really hit shooter pockets.
Speaker 1: He'll get you the ball, but not necessarily like where
Speaker 1: you want the ball. So in Houston, if you notice,
Speaker 1: which is the excuse me, which is the first time,
Speaker 1: God damn, excuse me, sorry, in Houston, you'll notice, is
Speaker 1: the first time since Um, Katie left, Right when did
Speaker 1: Katie Lee? Fifteen sixteen? Yeah, so Katie left in the
Speaker 1: summer of sixteen. So two fifteen, two sixteen, Westbrook had
Speaker 1: tennis is per game. Him and Katie were working, you know,
Speaker 1: they gave up their three one lead whatever. But ever
Speaker 1: since then, um, he has only had less than tennises
Speaker 1: per game once and that was in Houston when he
Speaker 1: had seven on the dot per game. Yeah. And it's
Speaker 1: also the only season that he's actually been on a
Speaker 1: winning team, um that that want to playoff series. All
Speaker 1: the other ones have not. So I don't know if
Speaker 1: there's a direct correlation there. I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: being conclusory and just kind of like looking at the
Speaker 1: result and then working backwards. But it just seems like
Speaker 1: there is a correlation between him having the ball lesson
Speaker 1: creating less and being used more as like just a
Speaker 1: propelled score that can also create, versus him being like
Speaker 1: the primary creator, which he's not going to be in
Speaker 1: l A. You mentioned transition, by the way, that's one
Speaker 1: thing he will do, um, and it is a positive
Speaker 1: he will get in transition. He'll push the pace. There
Speaker 1: will be times where he just picks up three points
Speaker 1: because he just hits the turbo jets and there's nothing
Speaker 1: you can do. The downside to that is that in
Speaker 1: close games and in the playoffs, offense and games are
Speaker 1: one in the half court um, and that transition stuff
Speaker 1: kind of goes out the window. I know a lot
Speaker 1: of Rockets fans would think, you know, oh, the points
Speaker 1: will lose from his bad three point shooting and from
Speaker 1: increased turnovers or whatever will gain in things like transition
Speaker 1: and so on and so forth, And that didn't really
Speaker 1: play out the way that you think. Maybe it works
Speaker 1: out like in terms of numbers, but like I'm saying,
Speaker 1: those last five to seven minutes, things change and you know,
Speaker 1: transition doesn't really win you the game. Um. But no,
Speaker 1: he's a he's a great creator. Um. I just think
Speaker 1: that I think his presence gives the defense. His presence
Speaker 1: makes you have to adjust your game instead of forcing
Speaker 1: the defense to adjust. Now the defense can camp out
Speaker 1: and make you adjust if he's willing to move off ball.
Speaker 1: And there were times where he was and he would cut.
Speaker 1: For example, he'd be camped out in the corner and
Speaker 1: he would cut and Harden would flip him up an
Speaker 1: alley up and he'd finish it like that. Stuff will happen,
Speaker 1: you know. Um, but he's not wired to do that,
Speaker 1: you know. And he wanted to leave Houston because he
Speaker 1: wanted the ball back in his hands, like he changed
Speaker 1: in Houston, but he didn't like the fact that Houston
Speaker 1: asked him to change. And so and I know that
Speaker 1: internally there were some people thinking questioning the guy's commitment
Speaker 1: to wanting to be on a winning team because you know,
Speaker 1: he forced to trade and he would rather play in
Speaker 1: Washington and do what he does then, you know, be
Speaker 1: a part of a team that at least want a
Speaker 1: playoff series and had a potential future. Take of that
Speaker 1: what you will. But but yeah, it's just a very
Speaker 1: like polarizing, like there's gonna be times where you get
Speaker 1: all the good. There's gonna be times where you get
Speaker 1: all the bad. I will say that. There's also times
Speaker 1: where you look up and you're like, man, he's killing it.
Speaker 1: He's got twenty seven, you know, ten and seven. But
Speaker 1: then you look at his attempts and you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: he's got twenty seven on like seventeen of three. You know,
Speaker 1: like is that? Yeah, that's good? But does that translate
Speaker 1: the championship basketball? I don't know one thing about him
Speaker 1: as well. To his credit, he doesn't get and this
Speaker 1: will probably change in l A. So monitor this. He
Speaker 1: doesn't get as many foul calls as you think. Um
Speaker 1: he gets. He gets hit a lot at the rim
Speaker 1: and doesn't get the benefit of it. Um. And he's
Speaker 1: also been shooting poorly from the free throw line. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, sixty six percent this season sevent in Houston
Speaker 1: was decent sixty percent the year before that. The year
Speaker 1: before that he used to be an eight percent guy
Speaker 1: from the line. So I don't know, I don't know
Speaker 1: what happened, but um, but yeah, for someone with his usage,
Speaker 1: which to confirm his usage, it has been thirty plus
Speaker 1: wow ten years. So pent usage in Washington, thirty four
Speaker 1: and a half percent usage in Houston. I imagine he'll
Speaker 1: be somewhere around like two in l A. We'll see.
Speaker 1: But that's the thing, right if if he's not being used,
Speaker 1: he's not as useful. Um. And that's kind of the
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook conundrum is you've got to give him the
Speaker 1: keys in order to get what you want out of him. However,
Speaker 1: when you give him the keys, is the ship getting
Speaker 1: steered the way that you wanted to get steered? For sure?
Speaker 1: And I think it's been pretty clear Russell Westbrook's been
Speaker 1: in the league thirteen years, right Like, I think it's
Speaker 1: pretty clear that Russell Westbrook as a super high usage
Speaker 1: player is probably not a championship winning formula, right Like,
Speaker 1: it just isn't. We've seen the playoffs too many times. Um,
Speaker 1: him against Utah, you know what I mean, kind of
Speaker 1: shot them out of it Portland as well. He takes
Speaker 1: these personal matchups against Dame, he takes his Burnstal match
Speaker 1: against Donovan Mitchell, Um, even Ricky Ruby a little bit,
Speaker 1: right Like, you just see like there's a competitive fire
Speaker 1: there and there's like a double edged sword to it.
Speaker 1: But I think it's pretty clear, like him as a
Speaker 1: high usage, high ball handler is in the championship formula.
Speaker 1: I totally agree with that. I think that's why this
Speaker 1: is so fascinated because I don't think he's ever like
Speaker 1: even with Katie and Oklahoma City, Katie wasn't the like
Speaker 1: ball handling type, right, Katie was like, let me run
Speaker 1: to the to the post, you know, let me, you know,
Speaker 1: come off these these these screens or you know, these
Speaker 1: floppy actions like Russell Westbrook at the ball in his
Speaker 1: hands and he's deciding where the ball goes, I think,
Speaker 1: And even with James Harden in Houston, UM, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I don't know how much that helped as well, but
Speaker 1: like just him with Lebron and Anthony Davis, two guys
Speaker 1: that like, again you said Russ is the third option.
Speaker 1: I think he's the third best player, right, Like I
Speaker 1: think he's like he's probably still going to be the
Speaker 1: second option on most plays because you have the ball
Speaker 1: in his hands, Like it's just how basketball is gonna work.
Speaker 1: But I think this is the first time he's had
Speaker 1: two other players that I guess he thinks should have
Speaker 1: the ball right that he should be feeding. Um. So
Speaker 1: that's why I'm interested if he can get that usage
Speaker 1: to like, but again, this is still Russell Westbrook, so
Speaker 1: it's interesting to see. But and he talked about him
Speaker 1: like he doesn't want to move off the ball. I
Speaker 1: thought Houston did some really good things in the playoffs
Speaker 1: where like I want to see this in l A
Speaker 1: as well, and you can kind of speak on this
Speaker 1: where they like inverted the offense right where like Russ
Speaker 1: was the center, I guess um. But again that kind
Speaker 1: of moves a D to the perimeter a little bit.
Speaker 1: But I just think like there's things that can be
Speaker 1: open there. Him as a screener, and you know him
Speaker 1: and reportedly him uh Lebron and a D had a
Speaker 1: dinner together, you know, and they were like you, we're
Speaker 1: going to sacrifice and all that stuff is very easy
Speaker 1: to say, and you know in August or in July,
Speaker 1: you know, before before the cars kind of gets settled there.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that's where I'm most interested. To me, So,
Speaker 1: like you talked about him off the ball and stuff like,
Speaker 1: was that stuff like Houston try to do and he
Speaker 1: really just wouldn't do it, I guess. Or is Mike
Speaker 1: D'antoni's offense gets a lot of like you know, flak
Speaker 1: for like it's pretty much an isolation heavy mismatch attacking
Speaker 1: offense where there's not much ingenuity to it. How much
Speaker 1: is that you know on Mike? Is that on Russ?
Speaker 1: Like it's not a hardened just wanting to continue to
Speaker 1: do his isolations? Like how much do you think like
Speaker 1: that kind of contribute to him not being able to
Speaker 1: be as effective off the ball? Is that just who
Speaker 1: rust is? I guess in that it's a mix. I mean,
Speaker 1: Harden and D'Antoni definitely wanted to play that way, so
Speaker 1: you know, and Russ was coming into that scenario. So
Speaker 1: I don't know what those conversations were like, but just
Speaker 1: logically you have to think that Russ had to fit
Speaker 1: himself into that um. But again, to be fair, they
Speaker 1: traded Capella to clear that space were him because it
Speaker 1: really wasn't working. Now, you saw in the in the
Speaker 1: in the bubble, right, they would double Harden, the Lakers
Speaker 1: would double Hardened, and they forced Russ to do something,
Speaker 1: and that is that's how you beat Houston. That's how
Speaker 1: they beat Houston that year. The difference this time is
Speaker 1: that you can maybe double Lebron. He gives it up
Speaker 1: to Russ. Russ takes the offense five on four, um
Speaker 1: or four on three, I mean, and then he's got
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis to flip it up two over the top.
Speaker 1: So that is the difference. UM Houston did not have that.
Speaker 1: Houston had Russ going four on three and they were like, Russ,
Speaker 1: finish over Anthony Davis or kick it out for three.
Speaker 1: And so I think ultimately there are enough weapons and
Speaker 1: tools that this will work. And I think that the
Speaker 1: one guy that can maybe not make him change, but
Speaker 1: rain him in or get the best, absolute best out
Speaker 1: of him is Lebron James Um. I just think like
Speaker 1: that's the one guy that can definitely do that. But
Speaker 1: Lebron is not gonna be moving off the ball. So
Speaker 1: that's what I'm mented to see, right in those moments
Speaker 1: where defenses are collapsing and you've gotta whip it to
Speaker 1: Russ and he's like, you know, one on one is mode.
Speaker 1: What does the rest of the team do? I feel
Speaker 1: like Anthony Davis is the release valve over the top,
Speaker 1: and then you got a bunch of catching shooters um
Speaker 1: Areza Ellington. I forget all the names that the Lakers sign,
Speaker 1: but um so that's kind of the dynamic, Like what
Speaker 1: is what is that going to play out? Like, Um,
Speaker 1: I also think that you know, like I said, he will,
Speaker 1: I think he will move off the ball if if
Speaker 1: it's there. But it's just about creating that space, Like
Speaker 1: you're now forced to create that space for him, and
Speaker 1: I'm just curious to see, like how how is that
Speaker 1: going to play out? Um? Because like if he's standing
Speaker 1: in a corner, it's just it's just so much easier
Speaker 1: to defend, you know, you just know as the defense,
Speaker 1: Like Okay, we'll live with with Russ shooting the three
Speaker 1: and if you crashes like you can, I mean, there's
Speaker 1: only so many times he can crash the corner for
Speaker 1: the alley to doing a forty eight minute game, right, Like,
Speaker 1: but I think you're right. I think you will have
Speaker 1: the ball the most after the on just by virtue
Speaker 1: of being the creator. Um. But I don't know, man,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think I think it's gonna be interesting. Um,
Speaker 1: we'll see. There was something I'm trying to remember, but
Speaker 1: I'll let you speak as I try to remember. Point.
Speaker 1: So the Lakers last year, so what happened a lot
Speaker 1: was like their offense because people always beg for like
Speaker 1: a Lebron a D pick and roll. Right, They're like whenever,
Speaker 1: whenever we're down like five or six, you know, Laker
Speaker 1: fans just run the Lebron had he pick a role?
Speaker 1: You know, and but like with that, just looking at
Speaker 1: it from basketball stints, like teams switch it, right because like,
Speaker 1: you know, who you have guarding a D, you're probably
Speaker 1: gonna want okay with guarding Lebrons, So they just switched
Speaker 1: that pick role. I'm hoping that and then our offense
Speaker 1: just turned to, okay, what's the mismatch? Very houstons, except
Speaker 1: for in the post, right, A D and Lebron are
Speaker 1: gonna be hitting you from step back threes or stuff
Speaker 1: like that. But you know they'll attack you in the post.
Speaker 1: So like we'll just get a switch, throw it into
Speaker 1: a D. And again, a D s okay as a
Speaker 1: post player, but his points for possessions are pretty low
Speaker 1: in that in that sense, he's not a guy that
Speaker 1: you know, wants to just go down and to take
Speaker 1: jump hooks and stuff like that. So that's where the
Speaker 1: offense kind of melded to. And you see how ugly
Speaker 1: sometimes it looks. I'm interested to see if Russ can
Speaker 1: open up eighties kind of ball screen game. You know.
Speaker 1: I know in Houston you traded your center and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. But I'm really interested because in Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: he was a ball screen guy. He was a guy
Speaker 1: that run a lot of actions with Steven Adams and stuff. Well,
Speaker 1: I think that Steven Adams had better hands than Capella
Speaker 1: in traffic, and um, I'm sure the A D also does.
Speaker 1: So I see your point there. I mean I think
Speaker 1: that it's logically it should makes sense, right, Rush should
Speaker 1: be able to run a screen and roll with a
Speaker 1: D and get um. So, I mean, I think that
Speaker 1: will definitely work. It's just you'll see, and you're the
Speaker 1: only way to to learn or to figure it out
Speaker 1: is once it happens, right like, oh yeah, it all
Speaker 1: it all in your head. You're like yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1: But then once he starts breaking, you just start seeing
Speaker 1: like oh damn, you know, and about us. This is
Speaker 1: what I was gonna say, Um he is how old?
Speaker 1: Is he? Thirty two? I think too? Yeah, when does
Speaker 1: he turn thirty three? He turns thirty three in oh
Speaker 1: October twenty nine, so he'll bet oh yes, So it's
Speaker 1: a thirty three year old season. Okay, so he'll be
Speaker 1: thirty three this season. Now, he was hurt in the bubble,
Speaker 1: he had like a quad strain or whatever. I guess
Speaker 1: he was healthy this year, so maybe it's a move point.
Speaker 1: But if he gets hurt, his game is so exclusively
Speaker 1: reliant on his burst that he becomes a negative by far.
Speaker 1: Whereas Lebron can roll his ankle come back, a d
Speaker 1: can roll his ankle be effective, Harden can pull his
Speaker 1: hamstring and still you know, take Milwaukee to game seven mm.
Speaker 1: When Russ gets hurt, he loses that explosion and but
Speaker 1: he but he doesn't have the game to compensate for
Speaker 1: the injury, so he keeps playing his game. It's just
Speaker 1: not the same. And that's one thing to look out
Speaker 1: for if he gets nicked up at all, Like you're
Speaker 1: gonna get a much, a much lesser version of Russell Westbrook.
Speaker 1: And I think also, what we haven't talked about at all,
Speaker 1: and we tend to do this on NBA Twitter, We
Speaker 1: love offense. Yeah, I was gonna ask you about this
Speaker 1: next actually defense. Yeah. So, and this is the thing
Speaker 1: with Russell Westbrook, Man, it's always you gotta talk yourself
Speaker 1: into it. You know, well he's got the tools. You know,
Speaker 1: Well if he just focuses, well, he's just he's he's
Speaker 1: a superstar, right like and in every sense of like
Speaker 1: what comes with that, Like he's a superstar. Maybe the
Speaker 1: production isn't it. But Russell Westbrook, whatever you want to
Speaker 1: say about he's a star. So it's easy to talk
Speaker 1: to yourself into everything, you know, So it is you're right,
Speaker 1: go ahead here. No, no no, you're good. You're good, I mean,
Speaker 1: And that's what we like. It's just a natural progression.
Speaker 1: It's just funny for me because when the Rush Roomers started,
Speaker 1: I was watching you and Jason Timp and Jason Maples
Speaker 1: and like y'all were. I saw how y'all were reasoning
Speaker 1: your way through it, you know, and at first it's
Speaker 1: oh god, no, no, no, no, everybody healed. And then
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, well you know, if X y Z,
Speaker 1: then okay, this could be all. You know. It's just
Speaker 1: funny to watch because that's the truth. And and that's
Speaker 1: kind of the underlying theme with Russell Westbrook is it
Speaker 1: could work. Some things are gonna have to fall in place,
Speaker 1: but it could work. Now. Defensively, he is just not
Speaker 1: a good team defender. Okay, his game is really now. Again,
Speaker 1: this all comes with the caveat of if anyone can
Speaker 1: change him and tweak his weaknesses, it is Lebron James
Speaker 1: So and maybe Frank Vogel resonates with him in a
Speaker 1: way that you know, Mike D'Antoni didn't. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but he he's just so fixated on his game. He's
Speaker 1: a very me, me me kind of guy. Not in
Speaker 1: a not in a selfish way, but that's just how
Speaker 1: he's wired. You know, it's you, we're on offense. Okay,
Speaker 1: give me the rock? Right, can MVP doing that? MVP
Speaker 1: doing that? So how do you change that? Like, if
Speaker 1: you were to explain to him, hey man, you need
Speaker 1: to change he'd be like, hey man, what the funk
Speaker 1: are you talking about? Like, go look at my career. Okay, thanks,
Speaker 1: And he's right. So it just is. It just is
Speaker 1: what it is. But you saw you mentioned Rubio against
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and okay, see right, remember that, you remember
Speaker 1: how he got so fixated on like his one on
Speaker 1: one with Rubio blowing it for the team, right, kind
Speaker 1: of same thing. He's not intentionally blowing it. He's just
Speaker 1: a loof he ball watches. He instead of you know,
Speaker 1: noticing like, oh, hey, here's the pick, we need to
Speaker 1: make the switch. Let me communicate that to my teammate.
Speaker 1: Let me hedge real quick, cover your back, and then
Speaker 1: helped back over to my guy. He's more so like, oh,
Speaker 1: I think he's about to drive. Let me get this
Speaker 1: week's side block, you know, or oh, let me let
Speaker 1: me jump the lane and try to steal this pass.
Speaker 1: Like he wants the big play. He wants the home
Speaker 1: run play um, And that translates to defense as well.
Speaker 1: Like he wants the home run play um, he'll lose
Speaker 1: his guy off the ball. Sometimes he might just kind
Speaker 1: of be aloof and drift over watching the play on
Speaker 1: the strong side and leave his his shooter open in
Speaker 1: the corner on the weak side. Like those things, those
Speaker 1: types of things just happen. I do think that l
Speaker 1: A should be good enough defensively to shore up his deficiencies.
Speaker 1: But he he's got the type of tendencies that can
Speaker 1: break down a team scheme. Right, Like everyone's doing the
Speaker 1: right thing, and all of a sudden he's just ball watching.
Speaker 1: Wait until like jump the passing lane. Who that's about?
Speaker 1: This guy leaves him open, you know, those types of things. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so since the Lakers they ran a very much. They
Speaker 1: had like a bunch of ball hawk defenders, right, they
Speaker 1: had a bunch of like really high level point of
Speaker 1: attack guards. Um, who pick up full core, you know,
Speaker 1: And I don't expect Russell Westerbrook could be picking up
Speaker 1: full court. I mean that's just he's Russell Westbrook. Like
Speaker 1: he's not gonna be doing that. But like, I think
Speaker 1: I want him on like a matchup where he has
Speaker 1: to he has to know that this guy can burn me,
Speaker 1: you know, Like I want him on that. I don't
Speaker 1: want him on like an off ball catch and shoot
Speaker 1: shooter chasing around screens. Like, I just don't want him
Speaker 1: on those kind of players because I've seen he loses
Speaker 1: guys off ball. Um, he likes to attack the glass, right,
Speaker 1: So he's very much I think looking for rebounds, um,
Speaker 1: not a bad way. Like when he gets the board,
Speaker 1: he's off and running. So um, I think he goes
Speaker 1: for boy, I think he goes for offensive rebounds a
Speaker 1: lot to um that that should help. But yeah, on
Speaker 1: on the defensive end, like I think he goes for
Speaker 1: rebounds a lot, trying to push the pace and can lose.
Speaker 1: His guy can go out shooters, so I liked him
Speaker 1: pointing the tech. I'm interested to see what the Lakers
Speaker 1: do if they keep in drop covers this year. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's played with a big like a
Speaker 1: d behind him, so I'm interested to see how how
Speaker 1: they kind of scheme that out. But interesting, Lakers are
Speaker 1: going through an identity shift, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: all these the guards before where these like really like
Speaker 1: aggressive guards, and Russell Westbrook's aggressive in terms of like
Speaker 1: he goes for steals a lot. I see like he
Speaker 1: gambles a lot. I think, um, trying to play those
Speaker 1: passing lanes. So again, like thirteen years in, I don't
Speaker 1: think you're gonna change the guy's spots. You might, you know,
Speaker 1: change a little bit here and there, but I think
Speaker 1: marginal fixes have huge, you know, implications for a championship
Speaker 1: level team, like you win titles on the margins sometimes,
Speaker 1: and I think in Westbrook can change a little bit
Speaker 1: that that can help. But I think expecting it too
Speaker 1: would be kind of false. You're getting Russell Westbrook for
Speaker 1: who Russell Westbrook is, which is in crazy player and Transition,
Speaker 1: a crazy fired motor dude and there's negatives to it. Um,
Speaker 1: And I think you've kind of brought I guess like
Speaker 1: pulling like full circle here, like real quick? Can I
Speaker 1: comment on what you say? So, but you brought up
Speaker 1: a really good point. First of all, championships are one
Speaker 1: at the margins. YEA. Obviously you need top heavy talent.
Speaker 1: That's why the teams with top heavy talent making at
Speaker 1: the finals, and then whoever wins at the margins wins generally. Um,
Speaker 1: he is focused on rebounding, which can be a positive,
Speaker 1: but that's kind of another theme with him. He's focused
Speaker 1: on the basketball right, both on offense and both on defense.
Speaker 1: So even on defense when he's ball watching, it's because
Speaker 1: he's focused on the basketball. And so that's kind of
Speaker 1: the trap he falls into, is like, oh, shots going up,
Speaker 1: let me like walk over, get ready for the rebound.
Speaker 1: Forgets to box out, or oh someone's swing in the corner,
Speaker 1: let me watch the ball, box the ball. Oh ship
Speaker 1: forgot my guy? You know. So that's the thing he's
Speaker 1: his he said he's aggressive. He is aggressive him as
Speaker 1: a point of attack defender, he's he's I. He's intense,
Speaker 1: and he's like quick and jack you know. But The
Speaker 1: thing with quick guys is quick get joked, Yeah, because
Speaker 1: you're on you know, you're on your heels on defense.
Speaker 1: It's just hard one and you're done one move. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And so he's kind of the same way like on
Speaker 1: paper again, like if you were to use him on
Speaker 1: two K and use his athletic attributes, like you could
Speaker 1: lock somebody down, but it just generally doesn't translate that way.
Speaker 1: So I just wanted to to kind of comment on
Speaker 1: those things. Um, and and I think your approach is right,
Speaker 1: You're not maybe he can make some marginal tweaks. I
Speaker 1: think that's realistic. Yeah, you shouldn't view him as oh,
Speaker 1: if we can just make him change X y Z. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the appropriate way to view him is, Okay, given his weaknesses,
Speaker 1: if the rest of the team is able to shore
Speaker 1: up those weaknesses enough while extracting the positives that we
Speaker 1: can count on him bringing to the table, then what
Speaker 1: is the result we get? And I think that's the
Speaker 1: way to view him. But what were you going to
Speaker 1: say about bringing it full circle? Yeah, because I was
Speaker 1: gonna say, like, so Lebron and a D is probably
Speaker 1: the biggest Like, um, how do you say, like gap? Right,
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of like they can fill in a
Speaker 1: lot of things. It's like you look at the Lakers. Look,
Speaker 1: I love the Lakers team that won the title. I
Speaker 1: love the team last year as well, but you look
Speaker 1: at that roster like up and down, Like it's not
Speaker 1: like it's loaded with a crazy amount of talent, right
Speaker 1: like k C. P. Crusoe, they're really good players, like
Speaker 1: I love them, but but like Lebrono Nadie do paper
Speaker 1: over a lot of weaknesses. And I'm thinking, like I'm
Speaker 1: already expecting Russ to have five games, like I'm going
Speaker 1: into it knowing that, Like I think it's foolish to
Speaker 1: think like he's gonna come here and just be this efficiency. God,
Speaker 1: it's it's not gonna happen. He's gonna have games like that.
Speaker 1: You know they're gonna be ugly games. Um. I don't
Speaker 1: compare him to like Andre Drummond, but like when Russ
Speaker 1: has a bad game, you know it right, it's loud.
Speaker 1: It's like he doesn't quietly go into the night. You know,
Speaker 1: ask Cruso. I could be like, oh, ask Truso shop
Speaker 1: too for ten tonight. I didn't realize I don't even know,
Speaker 1: No Russ. I'm going to know he's gonna be loud,
Speaker 1: He's gonna be screaming. So I just think, like Canada,
Speaker 1: lebrono Eadie kind of paper over when those bad games happen,
Speaker 1: Like if those two are having good games, you can
Speaker 1: kind of fill the margins there. And that's where I'm
Speaker 1: really fascinating him, like bringing a kind of full circle here.
Speaker 1: He is now on a championship championship contender team. I
Speaker 1: think that Houston team was as well. This is gonna
Speaker 1: be his biggest buy in, I guess, Like, so how
Speaker 1: do you see it? Like do you see it working out?
Speaker 1: Do you see the like clunks in the beginning? Like
Speaker 1: how do you think that fig I guess works um.
Speaker 1: And then as the season goes here, like do you
Speaker 1: do you think it's a pretty clean kind of early
Speaker 1: fit or are there's gonna be a lot of things
Speaker 1: that they're gonna have to kind of work through. I guess,
Speaker 1: just bringing it full circle offense, defense, everything, Yeah, So
Speaker 1: I mean, how do I see it working? Like I said,
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers will make the finals, if not
Speaker 1: win at all. That that's I believe that because I
Speaker 1: believe Lebron James, is that good And to answer your question,
Speaker 1: I think, or to answer your philosophical question, I think
Speaker 1: that they will. They'll fill up the weakness is well
Speaker 1: enough because I believe Lebron and a D are that good.
Speaker 1: I'll push back on last year's Lakers roster not being
Speaker 1: that good. We're not having this conversation and you're not
Speaker 1: having the Russell Westbrook conversation if a D doesn't get
Speaker 1: hurt because the Lakers probably go to the finals. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, They're probably go to the finals. They probably
Speaker 1: win at all um his buying, I think it will.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna be really high highs right. I
Speaker 1: think there's gonna be like electric fast break dunks between
Speaker 1: him and Leron. I think there's gonna be some electric
Speaker 1: like Lebron darting from the corner finishing a Russ lob
Speaker 1: and just like times where you know, we look at
Speaker 1: this and say, no one's gonna stop these guys, and
Speaker 1: then I think there will be low lows. Um you know,
Speaker 1: Russ shooting seven of twenty three for sixteen points. I
Speaker 1: don't know, right, um five turnovers. Also, by the way,
Speaker 1: we didn't really talk about this factor in his turnovers,
Speaker 1: because I think he's now going to be the the
Speaker 1: highest turnover guy on your roster. And some of those
Speaker 1: turnovers sometimes he'll like literally dribble it off his foot
Speaker 1: out of bounds. Sometimes he's just not looking and he'll
Speaker 1: pass it to a guy that he thought was in
Speaker 1: the corner that wasn't turnovers like that that kind of
Speaker 1: just makes you like stop and think, like God, damn, dude,
Speaker 1: what are you doing. So I think it'll I think
Speaker 1: it will take a second to fit. Like I said,
Speaker 1: there'll be highigh. There gonna be some of those games
Speaker 1: early on, depending on who's on a schedule and who's
Speaker 1: playing in those games where they just run fools out
Speaker 1: the gym, you know, and like Lebron is spry and
Speaker 1: ready to start the season and they're just dunking and
Speaker 1: dunking and eighties swatting and Russ is yelling and pounding
Speaker 1: his chest and it's like, oh my god, these guys
Speaker 1: can't be stopped. And then, like I said, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be those nights where you can see the shooting as
Speaker 1: a problem. The lack of shooting. Um, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: nights where maybe they are still struggling to figure out
Speaker 1: who's getting the ball in crunch time and who's doing
Speaker 1: what with it. I think we'll figure out how willing
Speaker 1: is Rus going to be to move off the ball.
Speaker 1: He was pretty notorious for not moving off the ball
Speaker 1: in Oklahoma City. He didn't move much off the ball
Speaker 1: in Houston until they figured out, all right, when when
Speaker 1: Harden gets trapped at half court, Russ you get the
Speaker 1: keys or they made this adjustment, and like, I think
Speaker 1: it was like Game four when the series was basically over,
Speaker 1: but they started having Russ cut um early and it works,
Speaker 1: you know. So it just depends on how they implement him.
Speaker 1: But I think it'll be clunky with some extremely high
Speaker 1: highs and some low lows and then but I think
Speaker 1: they're just gonna win, and so I don't think it
Speaker 1: will matter too much. I think they're just gonna There's
Speaker 1: just no one in the West that I think talent
Speaker 1: wives can stack with them. Yeah. Yeah, So I guess
Speaker 1: you kind of brought up your favorite to win the
Speaker 1: title this year. Um, I guess I guess Lakers nets
Speaker 1: would be my kind of pick there. It's kind of
Speaker 1: interesting kind of clash of styles, right, I'll need to
Speaker 1: ask you about this as a as a hoops guy,
Speaker 1: because I think it's interesting. The Nets are kind of
Speaker 1: built on this like skill, you know, this like suit
Speaker 1: smooth jump shooting skill kind of team, and the Lakers
Speaker 1: are like, We're just gonna pound you at the rim.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put in Dwight Anthony Davis trying to just
Speaker 1: beat you up at the rim. Just a just a
Speaker 1: cool kind of clash of styles, and that'd be nice
Speaker 1: to the NBA can't kind of do that. But I
Speaker 1: agree with you. I think it's gonna be a little
Speaker 1: bit of an adjustment um for Rust coming here. I
Speaker 1: honestly thought Dennis Shooter like had a good year last year.
Speaker 1: It's kind of crazy what happened to him. But like
Speaker 1: that's kind of the good and bad of playing for
Speaker 1: the Lakers. I guess you kind of if if you
Speaker 1: do do bad, you can have a really really shoo.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about how he fits? Because Russ
Speaker 1: isn't He's not. It would be disrespecting to call him
Speaker 1: Dennis Shrewder, but he is like a quick twitch, give
Speaker 1: me the ball dinner Shrewder can shoot a lot better
Speaker 1: than Russ. Believe that or not. Um, I mean in theory. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean shooters still shot I think from three UM,
Speaker 1: and it was even the worst in the play The
Speaker 1: thing about Shrewder, though, which I think really turned the
Speaker 1: Lakers off on him, is he looked scared in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: like he looked legitimately feared to shoot UM. And he
Speaker 1: started shooting when we were started, when we were down twenty.
Speaker 1: But like, and people forget this, he had a good
Speaker 1: game two in Game three, like he really did. He
Speaker 1: had like twenty points or something, and we don't win
Speaker 1: those games without him. But just when a d went out,
Speaker 1: he really got scared to shoot. It sad because he
Speaker 1: had a good year to me, good defensive year. I
Speaker 1: thought he was a good defensive player. UM. When they
Speaker 1: offered him four years eighty, like, I thought that was
Speaker 1: a good deal like that. I was hoping he took it.
Speaker 1: He didn't, and that's probably bad on him not to
Speaker 1: take it because because of what he ended up with.
Speaker 1: But like I thought, I thought he would had a
Speaker 1: good year. And it's crazy to see like even Laker
Speaker 1: fans kicking him out the door. I just thought like
Speaker 1: he had a better year. He got COVID twice UM,
Speaker 1: which again is is Uh, it's not a great thing
Speaker 1: on his resume. But like he got COVID twice and
Speaker 1: he really struggled with that at the end of the
Speaker 1: year or not. I don't I don't know if he
Speaker 1: got COVID. I guess he was in COVID protocols twice. Um,
Speaker 1: and he was out for like two weeks. So um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it sucks man, because like he had a
Speaker 1: really bad playoffs and that's sometimes what happens. The Lakers
Speaker 1: moved on, it was pretty clear, and then the whole
Speaker 1: league kind of moved on without him. But like you,
Speaker 1: by the way, okay, yeah I felt lower. I think
Speaker 1: in the playoffs that might have been a lot lower.
Speaker 1: I'm guessing. Um, I know he missed a ton in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, but I guess it just didn't. He also
Speaker 1: has a really slow release, Like when you watch him
Speaker 1: game the game, his release is really slow, and he's
Speaker 1: a small point guard. He doesn't get separation as you
Speaker 1: think you should as that kind of quick titch twitch
Speaker 1: quick twitch garden with a d you want a guard
Speaker 1: that can kind of shoot off the dribble. Um, that's
Speaker 1: kind of what I'm looking for. And uh, Shrewder really
Speaker 1: doesn't have the mid range game as he should. Um,
Speaker 1: he comes off it releases really slow, so teams can
Speaker 1: kind of chase him over the top and kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, making making him scared to kind of shoot
Speaker 1: that little jumper there. And him and a D didn't
Speaker 1: really have much of a connection. I think I saw
Speaker 1: us that he had one lob to a D the
Speaker 1: whole year. Um, again, that's a lot of that's also
Speaker 1: on a D who came in out of shape, which
Speaker 1: he that's from his own words, um, and a D
Speaker 1: was never himself. So I hope we get an a
Speaker 1: D year this year. But from three in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: by the way, okay, yeah, that's I guess that's better
Speaker 1: than what But again, teams don't guard Denis Shooder either though,
Speaker 1: you know from from three, like even his percentages that
Speaker 1: kind of look at that and think like they're not
Speaker 1: going to guard him. So it's it's fascinting to see
Speaker 1: what happening. But definitely keep an eye though. I really
Speaker 1: think Westbak's gonna start getting some love from the refs
Speaker 1: more so, okay, more so than he used to, because
Speaker 1: there were a lot of times in Houston where his
Speaker 1: poor field goal percentage would be would not be reflective
Speaker 1: of his game because he was getting hammered at at
Speaker 1: the rack. Okay, he'd get like three or four missed
Speaker 1: attempts because he was just getting hammered with no call.
Speaker 1: Some of that's his fault, um, for not like for
Speaker 1: basically embracing the contact and not realizing like hey, you're
Speaker 1: not getting the call, or or for just hoping for
Speaker 1: the call and like, you know, feeling the contact and
Speaker 1: like going like oh like ah, you know, instead of
Speaker 1: like trying to finish through. So not entirely not his fault,
Speaker 1: but I do think that was one thing I remember
Speaker 1: watching him where I was thinking, how does this guy
Speaker 1: not get to the line more? Because he's definitely like
Speaker 1: bullying at the rim. It will be a clash of
Speaker 1: styles with the nets um. I think the difference is
Speaker 1: that Anthony Davis and Lebron are very efficient with how
Speaker 1: they attacked the rim. Yeah, may or may not be,
Speaker 1: depending on what version you get, but again, I just
Speaker 1: think you have so much I mean a d and
Speaker 1: Lebron dude, Like, who's messing with that. I've been saying
Speaker 1: this and some people have been telling me I'm crazy,
Speaker 1: but I don't think the West is good this year.
Speaker 1: It's very middling. Like we'll find out if Phoenix was
Speaker 1: for real, if that run was for real. Um, and
Speaker 1: even beyond whether or not the run was for real,
Speaker 1: we'll find out if they have enough to to run
Speaker 1: it back the way that they want to. Denver. You know,
Speaker 1: if Jamal Murray comes back and he's fully healthy, Okay, Denver,
Speaker 1: we'll get well, we'll be legit. But if he doesn't,
Speaker 1: I still think they're missing a piece to mess with
Speaker 1: the Lakers for sure. Um. Who else? Utah fraudulent until
Speaker 1: further notice. They lost to the Clippers, they lost to
Speaker 1: the guy. They got bounced by Reggie Jackson and Terrence
Speaker 1: Man after having point lead. I was at that game, man,
Speaker 1: I was at that game six man. Watching watching Utah,
Speaker 1: like you know, melt live was just the most just
Speaker 1: fascinating to watch watch him pick on Rudy Gobert every
Speaker 1: single time was just a fascinating like switch of like
Speaker 1: what matters in the regular season, you know, and what doesn't.
Speaker 1: Watching Reggie Jackson saying no, no, no, I got I
Speaker 1: got Rudy Gilbert on me, you know, like go stand out,
Speaker 1: Like what an insane kind of concept to think of
Speaker 1: a guy that just won, you know, defensive player even
Speaker 1: more insane. Good people still after that game or like, no,
Speaker 1: he's one of the greatest defensive players ever. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe by the metrics, homie. But Reggie Jackson, like what
Speaker 1: are we talking about here, Like, let's stop making it
Speaker 1: Terence Man, Like Terence Man was like, hey, leave it alone.
Speaker 1: I got Rudy Gilbert on me. So how disrespectful is that?
Speaker 1: It's insane. It's just like, let's stop making this complicated.
Speaker 1: Let's just watch the game and kind of take take
Speaker 1: the easy surface level stuff away, Like you can play
Speaker 1: that man off the court easy. So Utah's fraudulent, Portland's
Speaker 1: you know, contender in my opinion, Dallas. Maybe Luca will
Speaker 1: will them to something, but I don't think they made
Speaker 1: any improvements, any material improvements. You know who else Golden State,
Speaker 1: maybe Clay comes back and he's legit and maybe cominga
Speaker 1: you know, Pops off and Auto port Or Jr. Is
Speaker 1: the perfect role player and all this stuff. Are they
Speaker 1: like a championship contender with the Lakers and the Nets? No,
Speaker 1: not to me? Um, Yeah, maybe, but I mean I
Speaker 1: think they'll be good, but not like that level. So what, like,
Speaker 1: what are we left with after that? Memphis Clippers, Clippers
Speaker 1: without Kauai. You know, like Paul George put the team
Speaker 1: on his back, Reggie Jackson was amazing. They did what
Speaker 1: they did, But over the course of eighty two games
Speaker 1: in a regular season without Kauai, it's gonna look a
Speaker 1: lot different in my opinion. Um, Pelicans. You know, maybe
Speaker 1: they'll improve and like make the playoffs, but they're not
Speaker 1: definitely not a championship contender. So by virtue of that alone,
Speaker 1: irregardless or sorry, regardless of how Russell Westbrook fits, l
Speaker 1: A is the favorite straight away. Everything else is gravy
Speaker 1: at that point. If Westbrook gives you what you want
Speaker 1: him to give you, it's gravy. If he takes away
Speaker 1: in the ways that we have discussed here. Yeah, even
Speaker 1: if he's a net negative, I still think LA is
Speaker 1: too good. So that's the way to just look at it.
Speaker 1: You're just too damn good. Um, if Westbrook pops off,
Speaker 1: then you will be unstoppable, I think for sure. And
Speaker 1: I guess the thing I want to kind of close
Speaker 1: with going on an hour here, but like we've talked
Speaker 1: about this um off the pod and all that, um
Speaker 1: Chris Paul. You know that the Rockets cut kind of
Speaker 1: shame for like, you know, our people are saying Chris
Speaker 1: Paul wasn't worth the extension or whatever. Like, was it
Speaker 1: interesting to you watching because I thought they were gonna win.
Speaker 1: They went up to Oh, Chris Paul looked like he
Speaker 1: was in control. Devin Booker looked like he was in
Speaker 1: kind of you know, he's in a groove. They lost,
Speaker 1: But like, what was it like watching Chris Paul? You know,
Speaker 1: like a year after you trade him? I guess, like,
Speaker 1: what was what are two years? Sorry? He played in
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City one year? What you think of like watching
Speaker 1: Chris Paul doing what he does a bittersweet, painful, you know,
Speaker 1: like damn. For me, it was vindicating because I I
Speaker 1: hated trading him. Yeah, um, you know, so for me
Speaker 1: it was just kind of like hmm, it was just
Speaker 1: kind of like, man, that might go down as one
Speaker 1: of the worst trades of all time. Now, Phoenix lost.
Speaker 1: I was rooting for Phoenix to win. Phoenix lost and
Speaker 1: the Rockets got Jalen Green, So like we we quickly forget.
Speaker 1: And so the story was written a little bit differently,
Speaker 1: but yeah, man, I mean I remember I was studying
Speaker 1: for the bar. I was chilling taking a break. I
Speaker 1: got the Woes notification on my phone that the Rockets
Speaker 1: traded for us, and I was like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: what And then I got the notification that they included
Speaker 1: first round picks and pick swaps, and I was just like, oh,
Speaker 1: we really traded the franchise away, hoping that this works,
Speaker 1: you know, and and it didn't. Um So, but I
Speaker 1: was happy for Chris Paul because he gets a lot
Speaker 1: of disrespect and I think I think that he's obviously
Speaker 1: one of the greatest point guards of all time, and
Speaker 1: to do what he did with Phoenix, it's pretty incredible,
Speaker 1: you know, and like people love to hate on him.
Speaker 1: Before the series, I thought Milwaukee definitely was gonna take it.
Speaker 1: When Phoenix went up to Oh, I was still saying
Speaker 1: Milwaukee had some fight left in him, but I thought
Speaker 1: Phoenix would eventually win. But I think it became apparent
Speaker 1: one Janice turned it on. They just didn't have an
Speaker 1: answer for Johannice Um because Milwaukee was so much more talented.
Speaker 1: Like that's what it is at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: Man top end talent. You know, you had book CP
Speaker 1: and and Aiten on one end, book top end talent.
Speaker 1: Aiten kind of like a middle level talent, um CP
Speaker 1: top end talent, but thirty six so negates it. And
Speaker 1: then you had Jannest and his prime, Middleton and his
Speaker 1: prime and Drew Holiday. Even even with Drew Holiday going
Speaker 1: like four of twenty one or whatever, you still had
Speaker 1: his defense and his ability to at least create. So
Speaker 1: they were just two top end talented. But but yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I see Lakers Twitter always talking about SEP three. If
Speaker 1: Lakers had gotten CP three instead of Russ, no one
Speaker 1: is stopping the Lakers in my opinion. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: just want to let you get that off because I'm
Speaker 1: also a big CP three guy. Like I'm a big fan. Um.
Speaker 1: I remember I went to my first ever end game,
Speaker 1: was going to see Chris Paul um he played the Lakers.
Speaker 1: It was my first every game. Chris Paul dropped like
Speaker 1: thirty five and ten. David West you remember David West
Speaker 1: was on those team. David West had forty five that
Speaker 1: night and uh and they beat us and they beat
Speaker 1: us in Staples. Yeah, it was it was so but
Speaker 1: watching him just live bro he's even back and owned.
Speaker 1: I think this was oh nine, just his control, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, like nose where everyone's on the floor, He's
Speaker 1: like lobbing the Tyson Chandler like it was. It was cool.
Speaker 1: So like it's cool to see him. Um, I hope
Speaker 1: he gets the credit he deserves. People are saying he choked,
Speaker 1: like Phoenix had no business being in this finals, you know,
Speaker 1: like they had no business. Eightan is in his third year.
Speaker 1: Mckel Bridges, Cam Johnson. Those dudes are super young, Like
Speaker 1: it's it's weird to watch him choke, but um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's cool to get Hopefully he gets some credit. He
Speaker 1: got resigned to a hell of a number. Was not
Speaker 1: expecting that three years, one twenty and I got the
Speaker 1: contract that people thought the Rockets gave him. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: because I mean basically meaning that people thought by the
Speaker 1: time he was thirty six that contract was going to
Speaker 1: be awful. Turned out, by the time he was thirty six,
Speaker 1: he took a team to the finals. Now by the
Speaker 1: time he's forty, that contract is going to be terrible
Speaker 1: unless he defies all the odds. But I can't imagine
Speaker 1: he'll be forty and doing anything other than putting up
Speaker 1: like thirteen and eight or something, twelve and seven or something,
Speaker 1: you know, so you'll be getting the bag. But it
Speaker 1: was nice to see him kind of prove his haters wrong. Um,
Speaker 1: because dude, I saw it firsthand. Man, I saw what
Speaker 1: he did to that Rockets team. Him and Harden were
Speaker 1: unstoppable together, you know. So he's like my height, like
Speaker 1: barely taller than me. And just just to think that
Speaker 1: he does that among giants and the NBA's ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. I thought that series change when like Janice
Speaker 1: switched on to him, right and like it was has
Speaker 1: pretty much switched the series to me, be honest, switching
Speaker 1: to him and Devin Booker kind of really shut their
Speaker 1: water off. But yeah, it's cool to see him, um
Speaker 1: kind of get going. But yeah, ruche, we're going like
Speaker 1: an hour here. I'll kind of close it out. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you coming on. Man. Uh, we gotta have you
Speaker 1: on again with Jason, We'll have we'll have you on. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I wanted to get into kind of Rockets team building
Speaker 1: or it just team Bill in generals and we have
Speaker 1: a long summer here, so um, like the NBA doesn't
Speaker 1: come back for a while, so I'll definitely have you
Speaker 1: on Rouche Working Working. The people find you man. Yeah, Man, Um,
Speaker 1: and hey, thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Always a pleasure to talk basketball with some Lakers hommies. Um.
Speaker 1: You can find me on Twitter, r O O. S. H. Williams,
Speaker 1: Ruce Williams, and UM The Noble and Ruth Show. You
Speaker 1: can find it anywhere you get. Your podcast hosted by
Speaker 1: Ball is Life. We have a ton of guests on.
Speaker 1: We just had Onyeka Okongu on from the Atlanta Hawks,
Speaker 1: a ton of NBA guests, journalists, so check it out. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: go go follow Rouge, go listen to the podcast. UM
Speaker 1: does great work. Um, not just with Houston Rockets, just
Speaker 1: NBA analysis in general. UM just puts out videos as well.
Speaker 1: So yeah, go give me and follow. I appreciate you
Speaker 1: coming on, man, appreciate it.