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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to hoops tonight. You're at the volume.
Speaker 2: Happy Monday, Everyboday. I hope all of you guys had
Speaker 2: an incredible weekend. We got a very special guest, mister
Speaker 2: Jovann Buja, returning to the show Laker fans. He's going
Speaker 2: to be joining us at least for the next month
Speaker 2: or so, about once a week to break down all
Speaker 2: of the storylines surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers. For those
Speaker 2: of you guys who are not Laker fans, we still
Speaker 2: have another show coming out later today. We're gonna be
Speaker 2: doing a power ranking video where we hit the top
Speaker 2: ten teams in the league at this point, and then
Speaker 2: we're also going to do a deep dive on the
Speaker 2: Los Angeles Clippers, who are a royal ing shit show
Speaker 2: right now, which will be fun to get into. But
Speaker 2: we're gonna talk Lakers for a little bit right now.
Speaker 2: Mister yovonn Bouja, It's very good to see you again.
Speaker 2: A lot to get into today. Let's start with a
Speaker 2: tweet that you sent out earlier today referring to Jared
Speaker 2: Vanderbilt's impending return. You said that he's been cleared by
Speaker 2: the medical staff to start ramping up. What else have
Speaker 2: you heard surrounding that? And if you had to guess
Speaker 2: a timeline on Vando's return, what would you put right now?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd be on the conservative side with Vanda looking
Speaker 1: at one to two weeks right now. If I had
Speaker 1: to target a return date, I'm looking at either the
Speaker 1: twenty second or the twenty fifth, so around Thanksgiving. Because
Speaker 1: you got to remember, he got injured during the first
Speaker 1: preseason game, so he missed the entirety of the preseason.
Speaker 1: He's missed the first ten games, is gonna miss again
Speaker 1: at least I think a few more games, so that
Speaker 1: ramp up process it's a pretty vague term. I think
Speaker 1: the optimism there is that he's been cleared to start
Speaker 1: to ramp up. But a ramp up can be a
Speaker 1: few days, it can be a couple of weeks. So
Speaker 1: I think with the injury luck that the Lakers have
Speaker 1: had in recent seasons and the way that some of
Speaker 1: these things have gone, I tend to be more on
Speaker 1: the conservative end, So I'm looking at probably closer to
Speaker 1: week and a half to two weeks before Van do
Speaker 1: is back.
Speaker 2: And they're gonna need him. It's funny because he was
Speaker 2: probably their very best point of attack defender last year.
Speaker 2: Andy average seven rebounds of the game last year, two
Speaker 2: very specific issues that the Lakers were having trouble with,
Speaker 2: and him coming back kind of solves a lot of
Speaker 2: their regular season problems. It's funny. I always you got
Speaker 2: to differentiate between regular season problems and playoff problems, and
Speaker 2: does Van doos solve a lot of the big picture
Speaker 2: problems with whatever the potential playoff ceiling is with the Lakers,
Speaker 2: that's up for debate, but certainly, within the context of
Speaker 2: the regular season, that dude fixes so many of their
Speaker 2: problems it's not even funny. And I'm sure they'd like
Speaker 2: to have him back. But that's not the only injured
Speaker 2: Laker right now. Lebron James missed last night's game against
Speaker 2: the Blazers with essentially what was referred to as like
Speaker 2: kind of lingering issues with his shin injury that he
Speaker 2: got with Kevin Durant. Do you think last night's rest
Speaker 2: for Lebron was more a proactive like kind of like
Speaker 2: just trying to find days off for him, or do
Speaker 2: you think he's actually dealing with some sort of issue
Speaker 2: in that shin.
Speaker 1: From my understanding, it is a proactive situation where the
Speaker 1: Lakers are just trying to be precautionary Lebron. I mean,
Speaker 1: remember we got to go back to Opening night where
Speaker 1: Lebron plays twenty nine minutes against the Nuggets. Everybody's freaking out,
Speaker 1: why did he play so a few minutes? And Darvin Ham,
Speaker 1: you know, mentions this minutes restriction that they're gonna try
Speaker 1: and keep him playing twenty eight to thirty minutes a night,
Speaker 1: but since then that has gone out the window. Lebron
Speaker 1: has played thirty two or more minutes in every game
Speaker 1: except for the Houston game, which was a thirty four
Speaker 1: point blowout loss. He played twenty seven minutes in that game.
Speaker 1: So if you look at the workload, the Lakers have
Speaker 1: had to rely on Lebron a lot more than I
Speaker 1: think they initially anticipated, in part due to injuries, due
Speaker 1: to several players underperforming offensively, and really just the offense
Speaker 1: cratering when he's not on the floor. So I think
Speaker 1: they viewed this opportunity against Portland and you know, already
Speaker 1: a lot team that looks like a lottery team, but
Speaker 1: then you add in Scoot Henderson's out, Anthony Simons is out,
Speaker 1: Robert Williams is out. So that was a game that
Speaker 1: the Lakers identified as we should still be able to
Speaker 1: beat this team even if Lebron isn't playing, and it
Speaker 1: was pretty close that they almost didn't escape with the win,
Speaker 1: but they ended up winning the game. Lebron got some
Speaker 1: rest and now he's got a couple of days off
Speaker 1: until they have a tough back to back against Memphis
Speaker 1: and Sacramento.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting because if he was dealing with some
Speaker 2: sort of lingering thing from the shin, I don't think
Speaker 2: he would have looked as good as he did down
Speaker 2: the stretch against the Suns, Like he more or less
Speaker 2: looked like Lebron in the second half of that game.
Speaker 2: So I'm not really concerned about it in the big picture.
Speaker 2: The reality is that in the modern NBA, there's just
Speaker 2: not a lot of nights that you circle as like, hey,
Speaker 2: maybe we can get this one without Lebron, and like
Speaker 2: that was literally the perfect one if you really, like,
Speaker 2: kind of after a game where he's particularly a sore
Speaker 2: and before an important n Sason tournament game and a
Speaker 2: back to back, like it just kind of seemed like
Speaker 2: the perfect circumstances. I wasn't even the slightest bit worried
Speaker 2: about it when I saw that news. The biggest story
Speaker 2: surrounding the Lakers this past week was Austin Reeves being
Speaker 2: moved to the bench, a move that I thought, you know, was,
Speaker 2: at least the motivation behind it made sense in the
Speaker 2: sense that like the Lakers starting lineup was struggling consistently,
Speaker 2: and the backcourt in particular, was a driving force behind
Speaker 2: those struggles.
Speaker 3: But the.
Speaker 2: Team is kind of pitching it as like he's our
Speaker 2: Manu Genoa. Believe shout out to Logan Swayin had of
Speaker 2: content here at the volume you basically coined that term,
Speaker 2: but like it's being portrayed as essentially this big picture
Speaker 2: san Antonio spurs, We're gonna empower him the way we
Speaker 2: did Manu kind of thing. But what have you heard
Speaker 2: behind the scenes behind like the reasoning behind moving Austin,
Speaker 2: whether or not it's a permanent thing or a temporary thing,
Speaker 2: and just how he and some other people in the
Speaker 2: locker might have reacted to that change.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I was very surprised by it, and in
Speaker 1: speaking with people around the team, a lot of.
Speaker 3: People were surprised by it.
Speaker 1: It seems like it was a decision that Darvin Ham
Speaker 1: kind of kept close to the vest and really tight
Speaker 1: within his coaching staff, and he made the decision after
Speaker 1: the Houston game, you know, as they were heading over
Speaker 1: to Phoenix, you met with Chris gent, one of his
Speaker 1: lead assistants, and they kind of talked it through, came
Speaker 1: to that decision, and then he and Austin met up
Speaker 1: in Phoenix at the hotel, had about a thirty minute
Speaker 1: conversation and kind of talk through it, and I think
Speaker 1: the Lakers, if you look at it now, like the
Speaker 1: Lakers are kind of doing a half measure where they
Speaker 1: clearly had to split up D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1: That back court just was not working if you look
Speaker 1: at all the lineup data and just the eye tests,
Speaker 1: like those two guys have such similar strengths and weaknesses,
Speaker 1: and you know, I think a lot of the problems
Speaker 1: that they were having defensively and on the defensive glass
Speaker 1: in particular, kind of stemmed from just having Austin and
Speaker 1: Delo out there and those guys not really being able to,
Speaker 1: you know, hit guys in the paint or rotate the
Speaker 1: proper rotate properly or whatnot.
Speaker 3: So I think they had to split that back court up.
Speaker 1: But it's kind of a half measure in my opinion,
Speaker 1: just because if you look at it, Delo has been
Speaker 1: starting games, but Austin's been closing, And to me, it's
Speaker 1: like you're trying to keep both sides happy, where you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: Delo has been a starter his entire career. We're going
Speaker 1: to keep him in the starting group. Austin, you're gonna
Speaker 1: come off the bench, but now you're going to close games.
Speaker 1: So in the Phoenix game, Austin played the entirety of
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, Delo didn't play. Then in the Portland game,
Speaker 1: Austin checked in at the five minute mark for del
Speaker 1: Delo sat the rest of that. So on the one hand,
Speaker 1: you're still seeing that, you know, actions speak louder than words,
Speaker 1: and the Lakers are saying we trust Austin running the
Speaker 1: offense and crunch time more than we trust Delo, and
Speaker 1: that kind of shows their commitment and confidence to Austin.
Speaker 1: But to me, it's it's still like, if you had
Speaker 1: to split them up, I would go with the guy
Speaker 1: who's better, who's your third best player, who's been better
Speaker 1: over the entirety of kind of this tandem together, who
Speaker 1: is better in the playoffs, who Darvin Ham said as
Speaker 1: a future All Star, Like, I just don't really see
Speaker 1: trying to split it up this way where you're trying
Speaker 1: to keep Delo happy by keeping him the starter, But
Speaker 1: it's almost kind of this token starter position where when
Speaker 1: it comes down to crunch time, you're gonna still split
Speaker 1: them up.
Speaker 3: And you're going to lean towards Austin.
Speaker 1: So I think, you know, also from talking to people,
Speaker 1: there was a sense that Austin would take a benching
Speaker 1: better than Delo would and that, you know, this was
Speaker 1: a concern the Lakers had in the Western Conference Finals
Speaker 1: against Denver, where Delo was kind of unplayable on both
Speaker 1: sides of the ball, and it took till game four
Speaker 1: for them to really feel comfortable benching him and just saying, hey,
Speaker 1: like this is our last resort. If he doesn't take it, well,
Speaker 1: we're about to get swept anyway. So I think that
Speaker 1: was another sense too, was that Austin's a good soldier.
Speaker 1: You know, he stayed professional throughout discussing the demotion. I
Speaker 1: know they're calling it a realignment, calling it a demotion,
Speaker 1: and you know, so I think that was another sense too,
Speaker 1: was Dilo has been playing slightly better.
Speaker 3: I think that gap is shrinking. But it was also kind.
Speaker 1: Of politically trying to figure out how can we keep
Speaker 1: both sides happy, and so far it's been Delo starting
Speaker 1: and Austin closing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that that's what's so funny about the
Speaker 2: manor Genobili thing is like the important context to why
Speaker 2: Manor Genobli came off the bench was Tony Parker was
Speaker 2: a better player than him, Like that, Tony Parker was
Speaker 2: second team All NBA. Tony Parker was a guy that was,
Speaker 2: you know, essentially just a better option in the starting
Speaker 2: lineup than Austin Reeves was. Now, I think there's there's
Speaker 2: it's it's it's important to acknowledge that that's probably the
Speaker 2: reason that Austin's younger doesn't have his you know, obviously
Speaker 2: doesn't have the pedigree that D'Angelo Russell did coming out
Speaker 2: of college. Obviously it was this you know, big time
Speaker 2: score out of Ohio State. It was a lottery pick.
Speaker 2: It's a totally different vibe in terms of their kind
Speaker 2: of like ego that they're bringing into the situation, right,
Speaker 2: and I think that that obviously is going to natural
Speaker 2: make Austin kind of an easier target there for lack
Speaker 2: of a better term. Now, I do think that there's
Speaker 2: it's important to acknowledge why this isn't working because more
Speaker 2: or less, these two guys were the back court last
Speaker 2: year and it didn't seem like a problem until they
Speaker 2: ran into that Denver matchup, and you know, you and
Speaker 2: I talked about this after Media Day, and I think
Speaker 2: it's it's safe to say that the Del Austin backcourt
Speaker 2: was destined to be broken up at the deadline because
Speaker 2: of that Denver series and the realities of the limitations
Speaker 2: of those two as a top tier like playoff duo
Speaker 2: in the back court. But they should have been fine
Speaker 2: in the regular season, and so let's like there's a
Speaker 2: reason why it hasn't been working out, And I think
Speaker 2: I think a big part of it is, like Austin
Speaker 2: hasn't been as good defensively as he was last year.
Speaker 2: Now there's there's context there, like he's in general been
Speaker 2: in a little bit of a funk to start the season.
Speaker 2: He had a really long off season with a lot
Speaker 2: of mileage on his legs, And maybe it's one of
Speaker 2: those things where like as the season progresses, he'll get
Speaker 2: back into better shape. But he hasn't been as good.
Speaker 2: He hasn't been as good on the glass, he hasn't
Speaker 2: been as good at the point of attack, he hasn't
Speaker 2: been as good in his rotations. He just hasn't been
Speaker 2: as good as he was last year. Now, I don't
Speaker 2: think basketball players just magically get bad at basketball overnight
Speaker 2: like that. I think he's just dealing with some stuff
Speaker 2: and he will be fine, but that duo won't be
Speaker 2: able to play together in the regular season until you know,
Speaker 2: the two of them kind of start holding up better there.
Speaker 2: I do think Vanderbilt coming back helps a lot in
Speaker 2: the sense that he kind of takes on a lot
Speaker 2: of the dirty work responsibilities that you expect from the
Speaker 2: back court. He is a primary point of attack guy,
Speaker 2: excellent defensive rebounder in a way that Torreon Prince is not.
Speaker 2: So that's the next question here. When Vando comes back,
Speaker 2: do you think Austin goes back into the starting lineup
Speaker 2: at that point or do you think they slot Torrian
Speaker 2: Prince at the two. What do you think is going
Speaker 2: to be the look when Vando comes back.
Speaker 3: My understanding is it's TBD right now.
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers are still in evaluation period with
Speaker 1: how they view Austin coming off the beat be first starting.
Speaker 1: I do expect Vando to go back into the starting group.
Speaker 1: I think he'll start over either Ham or Torrian, which
Speaker 1: is kind of a crazy statement to make with the
Speaker 1: way that Cam has come on these last two games
Speaker 1: in particular, but I think it's been about three or
Speaker 1: four games now that he started to play better, even
Speaker 1: if his shot hasn't been reliable. But so right now,
Speaker 1: I would Peggett as Delo, probably Torrian Vando lebron in
Speaker 1: Ady as the projected starting lineup once Vando is back,
Speaker 1: But a lot of things could change, Like I think
Speaker 1: Torrion hasn't shot the ball well. He's shooting thirty one
Speaker 1: point four percent on threes this season. That was a
Speaker 1: guy that coming in what was a near forty percent
Speaker 1: career three point shooter. So if he continues to struggle,
Speaker 1: I think he probably has to move to the bench.
Speaker 1: And then you know, who knows, maybe Vando is the
Speaker 1: guy that you know. I was talking to someone this
Speaker 1: morning and they were saying, maybe Vando is that the
Speaker 1: kind of the bridge to making the Austin Delo back
Speaker 1: court work again. Where he handles the top perimeter assignments.
Speaker 1: He gives you that energy and athleticism and length in
Speaker 1: the front court, you know, a good defensive rebounder and
Speaker 1: just someone who I mean we saw at work in
Speaker 1: the regular season where that five sume was really good
Speaker 1: together and I think they were about plus ten or
Speaker 1: or plus eleven points per one hundred possessions off the
Speaker 1: top of my head, so I think Vando. I mean again,
Speaker 1: we'll see when he returns, We'll see how guys are
Speaker 1: playing up until that point. But I mean, so far,
Speaker 1: the Lakers are two and zero with Austin coming off
Speaker 1: the bench. I think he has played well in that role.
Speaker 1: Cam has played well in the starting group. But I
Speaker 1: think longer term and just big picture, as you were
Speaker 1: hinting at, if D'Angelo Russell isn't here past the trade deadline,
Speaker 1: then this is all kind of for not where now
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to I mean, I assume if you're
Speaker 1: trading Delo, you're probably moving Austin back into the starting lineup.
Speaker 1: So it's like, I mean, Austin is the guy who's
Speaker 1: signed for three more seasons.
Speaker 3: He's gonna be.
Speaker 1: Here past the trade deadline in LA. Like I just
Speaker 1: I think it's a mistake benching him personally. I just
Speaker 1: I understand the logic behind it, but I disagree with it,
Speaker 1: and I know several people within the team disagree with it,
Speaker 1: and I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think they're an interesting spot with it.
Speaker 1: But I think Bando is going to go back to starting,
Speaker 1: and it comes down to probably Torrian or cam for
Speaker 1: the fifth starter.
Speaker 2: As of right now, I've kind of liked the big
Speaker 2: looks in general when Torrian's been at the two or
Speaker 2: Camrad has just been at the two. I think in
Speaker 2: the big picture, that's kind of what the team looks
Speaker 2: like is basically Torrian at the two plus whatever player
Speaker 2: they get back for d Lo, or maybe Torrian at
Speaker 2: the three with whatever player they get back from Delo
Speaker 2: if it's a guard. But like that kind of to me.
Speaker 2: I mentioned this to you in a text message the
Speaker 2: other day, and I think it's the truth. But like
Speaker 2: when you look at this Austin situation, when you look
Speaker 2: at in general, just the way that the starting lineup
Speaker 2: has looked when you go back to the Denver Nuggets series.
Speaker 2: We kind of said this on media, but I feel
Speaker 2: more certain about it now. I think D'Angelo Russell getting
Speaker 2: traded is one of the safest bets in the NBA
Speaker 2: this season. It's a simple question of like if you
Speaker 2: can't play him alongside your third best player in the
Speaker 2: back court and you have to bring him off the bench,
Speaker 2: and if you look at the lineup data and it's
Speaker 2: like whenever one of them's on but the others off
Speaker 2: is literally when the team has been playing at their best,
Speaker 2: like and that goes for both of them. Even the
Speaker 2: d Lo led units without Austin have been really good,
Speaker 2: so like, it's pretty clear that that's the direction that
Speaker 2: they're going. So I guess my question for you is
Speaker 2: it does have you heard anything coming from the Laker
Speaker 2: front office that they are as aware of this issue
Speaker 2: and that they also see that as the inevitable destination.
Speaker 2: And if so, do you know what archetype of player
Speaker 2: that they're looking at? Are they looking for like big fish?
Speaker 2: And we saw that report come out the other day
Speaker 2: that the Lakers might be looking at a star or
Speaker 2: do you think they're looking at more a higher quality
Speaker 2: role player upgrade for that to two or three spot.
Speaker 1: It's been pretty quiet on the trade front, I think
Speaker 1: since the beginning of camp. But when they re signed
Speaker 1: d Lo and it came out that he had declined
Speaker 1: his basically his no trade clause, you know, part of
Speaker 1: a little CBA wrinkle. When you sign a one plus
Speaker 1: one with a player option, you traditionally get a no
Speaker 1: trade clause for you know, that first year and with
Speaker 1: the new CBA. They tweaked it where you know, you
Speaker 1: could decline that, and I think the Lakers and dal
Speaker 1: kind of came to an agreement of we're going to
Speaker 1: give you more than you could get on the open market,
Speaker 1: because I don't think he had much of a market
Speaker 1: this offseason, and had he left the Lakers, he probably
Speaker 1: would have had to sign for the full mid level exception,
Speaker 1: which would have been about twelve twelve and a half
Speaker 1: million dollars starting out.
Speaker 3: So Lakers decided, hey, we're going to give you some
Speaker 3: more money.
Speaker 1: We're going to give you seventeen and a half over
Speaker 1: two years, or you know, seventeen and a half annually
Speaker 1: over two years, and then you're going to waive this
Speaker 1: so we can trade you at the trade deadline if
Speaker 1: we find the right move. So I don't think they're
Speaker 1: fully committed to trading Delo. I think there is a
Speaker 1: scenario in which they figure this out, it works really well,
Speaker 1: and they just decide to ride it. And like, I think,
Speaker 1: really this was an opportunity for them to move him
Speaker 1: to a bench role potentially where it could have just
Speaker 1: been like Austin's the starting point guard, Delo is the
Speaker 1: sixth man and I think that would kind of make
Speaker 1: more sense in a playoff setting where if you're playing
Speaker 1: Denver and you have Delo coming off the bench, like
Speaker 1: he can play twelve to fifteen minutes if he's not
Speaker 1: playing that well. But it's harder to do that if
Speaker 1: he's the starter and Austin is.
Speaker 3: Coming off the bench.
Speaker 1: So I again, that's where I don't really I feel
Speaker 1: like there's a bit of a cognitive dissonance there with
Speaker 1: the benching of Austin when it feels like a temporary measure.
Speaker 1: But in terms of guys that they're looking at, I
Speaker 1: think the Kyrie rumor is going to pop up again
Speaker 1: come trade deadline.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: Dallas is off to a great start. They're eight and two,
Speaker 1: so I don't see why they would trade Kyrie. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, and that probably looks like something like Dilo
Speaker 1: and Ruey and a pick for Kyrie. And I don't know, like,
Speaker 1: I don't see why Dallas does that right now unless
Speaker 1: they start struggling, and then I think there's gonna be
Speaker 1: a Chicago fire sale.
Speaker 3: So you know, Alex Cruso is obviously a Laker.
Speaker 1: Favorite, but Zach Lavine, de Marta rose In those have
Speaker 1: been two guys the Lakers have been interested, have been
Speaker 1: interested in for several seasons, now you know Damar, even
Speaker 1: going back to the Toronto days, but but also in
Speaker 1: San Antonio. So I look at those maybe one of
Speaker 1: those three as a target for LA come the trade
Speaker 1: deadline or maybe sooner, depending on when Chicago decides to
Speaker 1: blow it up. So I think Kyrie will come up again,
Speaker 1: depending on what happens with Dallas. But I think if
Speaker 1: Chicago has a fire sale, I think the Lakers are
Speaker 1: going to be calling them and trying to get in
Speaker 1: that mix.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a way different set of circumstances because last
Speaker 2: year it was like they needed to make a trade
Speaker 2: just to be competent in the regular season, and like
Speaker 2: the Russell Westbrook situation was tenuous. There was bad body language,
Speaker 2: there was you know, all of these like Zapruder film
Speaker 2: type things where like people's like, oh, look, Russ gave
Speaker 2: a weird look to Lebron across the arena or whatever,
Speaker 2: you know, like.
Speaker 3: That sort of something with some of the dynamics to
Speaker 3: each other exactly.
Speaker 2: And so, and then there was that weird clip the
Speaker 2: other day where before the tip off of the Clippers game,
Speaker 2: he was kind of like avoiding the hello handshakes at
Speaker 2: the at the start, and like that's the thing. Like
Speaker 2: it was just a totally different vibe. And that's the thing. Like,
Speaker 2: the Lakers are not a bad team right now in
Speaker 2: the big picture of the of this of this regular season.
Speaker 2: So it's not like, oh, my gosh, they need to
Speaker 2: make a trade. They need to make a trade. It's
Speaker 2: just it's inevitable that they're going to. Like, there are
Speaker 2: three teams this year that I look at as really
Speaker 2: high probabilities to make a trade, even though they're already good,
Speaker 2: like the Lakers. I think the Milwaukee Bucks, same type
Speaker 2: of thing, need to upgrade that two spot in some
Speaker 2: way shape or form into a rotation level like starting level, defensive,
Speaker 2: rebounding guard right. And then the Philadelphia seventy six ers.
Speaker 2: I think they know they're a good regular season team,
Speaker 2: but I think they know they probably need one upgrade
Speaker 2: if they're gonna have any chance of contending with the
Speaker 2: with the Bucks and the Celtics and the big picture
Speaker 2: in the playoffs because of the inevitable playoff shortcomings that
Speaker 2: Joel Embiide has, right, So it's important to differentiate here.
Speaker 2: Jovan and I are not saying like the Lakers need
Speaker 2: to make some big trade because it's like all hell
Speaker 2: is breaking loose. This is just big picture playoff ceiling stuff.
Speaker 2: I think the Cruso Derozen package is one that I
Speaker 2: find interesting. You know, I really like Rui Hachimura, but
Speaker 2: he kind of falls into a similar space with Dlo
Speaker 2: where like there's some issues with specific playoff matchups where
Speaker 2: it's like, because Ruy basically plays the same position as Lebron,
Speaker 2: there are certain matchups where you're like, oh man, we
Speaker 2: really need him Memphis and Denver, right, and then there's
Speaker 2: another matchup against Golden State where you're like, yeah, we
Speaker 2: can't really use him in this series, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. And that kind of inherently makes him somebody
Speaker 2: that you start to look at. Is if the target
Speaker 2: package required more salary filler, you've probably consider him there,
Speaker 2: even though he's a great player. The other guy I
Speaker 2: was looking at was Dorian Finney Smith with the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 2: I like him as an option that you could get
Speaker 2: without having to include Ruy Hotcha Mura that basically brings
Speaker 2: in a good catch and shoot player that can guard
Speaker 2: at the point of attack, just basically like a better
Speaker 2: version of Torrian prints at the three that you can
Speaker 2: go to in those specific situations. But I think I
Speaker 2: do think it's going to happen. It's just a question
Speaker 2: of what they intend to go after it, and I
Speaker 2: think going after a star would be a huge mistake.
Speaker 2: I think Lebron looks great. I think that the late
Speaker 2: game offense has been excellent. I don't see the need
Speaker 2: for a star more than I see the need for
Speaker 2: just upgrades at very specific position groups with the role players.
Speaker 2: So as we move on to kind of talking more
Speaker 2: x's and o's, let's do a quick little rundown on
Speaker 2: how the season started. Lakers five and five, seventh in
Speaker 2: the Western Conference right now, twenty third in offense, second
Speaker 2: in defense, twenty fifth in rebounding. They're grabbing just forty
Speaker 2: seven point four percent of available rebounds. Once again last
Speaker 2: night in the in the Blazers games, just way too
Speaker 2: many long rebounds that in fifty to fifty balls that
Speaker 2: are going to the other team. Another kind of concerning
Speaker 2: stat in the standings, the Lakers are one in five
Speaker 2: against teams that are five hundred or better, but they
Speaker 2: are four to h against below five hundred teams. So
Speaker 2: as we move into the second portion of the show,
Speaker 2: what we're gonna do is Jovanna and I are going
Speaker 2: to go over the biggest flaws that we see with
Speaker 2: this particular team so far through ten games. We're gonna
Speaker 2: go one out of time, Yovan, So I want you
Speaker 2: to give me the first item on your list of
Speaker 2: the biggest flaws with this team. Will kind of break
Speaker 2: it down from there.
Speaker 3: Well. In flashing red bright lights, three point shooting.
Speaker 1: And it's funny because on paper, I think many people
Speaker 1: expected this to be the best three point shooting supporting
Speaker 1: cast that the Lakers have had in the Lebron eighty era.
Speaker 1: And you add Christian Wood, you add Tori Prince, you
Speaker 1: had Gabe Vincent, but the Lakers. You might have to
Speaker 1: cover your ears, folks, But twenty ninth in three point makes,
Speaker 1: thirtieth in three point attempts and twenty ninth in three
Speaker 1: point percentage. So they're a bottom two three point shooting team.
Speaker 1: And I don't care. You know, they can fix some
Speaker 1: of these other issues that they have, but if they're
Speaker 1: a bottom two three point shooting team, they're not gonna
Speaker 1: win a championship, let alone. Potentially a playoff series with
Speaker 1: their current level of shooting, and of course we've seen
Speaker 1: the last couple of years they've gotten out to slow
Speaker 1: starts from a shooting perspective, So they're going to shoot better.
Speaker 1: It's kind of inevitable. But you know what once that
Speaker 1: that I have constantly referenced over the last two years
Speaker 1: that I think matters in the modern MBA is that
Speaker 1: since twenty eleven, which is an arbitrary delineation, but for me,
Speaker 1: is kind of when the shift started to small ball
Speaker 1: and you know, heavy three point shooting offenses. So starting
Speaker 1: with Dallas Mavericks group, every champion has ranked in the
Speaker 1: top ten in three point makes attempts or percentage at
Speaker 1: least one of those three, often two of those, and
Speaker 1: sometimes even three of those with some of those Warriors
Speaker 1: teams that the Cavs teams. So three point shooting, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm not breaking news here, but like is a very
Speaker 1: important thing in the modern era. And I don't think
Speaker 1: it's good enough for the Lakers to be fifteenth or
Speaker 1: eighteenth in some of those categories, Like they got to
Speaker 1: be close to the top ten at least in one
Speaker 1: of them. And so you know, the one exception over
Speaker 1: the last thirteen years has been the twenty twenty Lakers,
Speaker 1: but that team had the best defense in the league
Speaker 1: and two top five, if not top three guys, So
Speaker 1: the Lakers have kind of defied that. I guess they
Speaker 1: have a recent history of that. But to me, this
Speaker 1: group has to shoot much better than they have and
Speaker 1: barring you know, them making a trade that really upgrades
Speaker 1: the shooting, I think this is an issue that like, again,
Speaker 1: they're going to shoot better. Maybe they're in the top twenty,
Speaker 1: maybe are in the top eighteen in some of these
Speaker 1: you know categories, but for them to be top or
Speaker 1: bottom two in percentage really attempts is the one where
Speaker 1: like you can control your attempts, you can't control your makes,
Speaker 1: you can't control your percentage.
Speaker 3: But like, they should be shooting more threes than they are.
Speaker 1: I know part of that is due to them not
Speaker 1: shooting well, but I just look at it as like
Speaker 1: the process isn't correct either, where like you got to
Speaker 1: shoot more threes, and I think that's something that they
Speaker 1: have to address first with Darvin's offense and just kind
Speaker 1: of the style of play that they're playing, but potentially
Speaker 1: at the trade deadline, like, I think this group probably
Speaker 1: needs some more shooting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, those two pieces at the end are are are
Speaker 2: going to be the interesting, you know, progression of the season,
Speaker 2: whether or not they make some sort of change in
Speaker 2: the offense and whether or not a trade ends up
Speaker 2: actually kind of beefing up their ability to generate quality
Speaker 2: threes because the real problem, in my opinion, is that
Speaker 2: they're not generating quality threes. The Lakers attempt just fourteen
Speaker 2: point one wide open threes per game, which is where
Speaker 2: the defenders at least six feet away, and that ranks
Speaker 2: twenty ninth in the NBA. And like when you when
Speaker 2: you look at the shooting percentages, like there are a
Speaker 2: few guys that are shooting around their career norms like
Speaker 2: Christian Wood, Ruby Hatchamuri Lebron, James cam Reddish. Those are
Speaker 2: those guys are all shooting about what you'd expect. None
Speaker 2: of them are shooting better than you'd expect, but they're
Speaker 2: all shooting about what you'd expect. But then a lot
Speaker 2: of they're like like historically good shooters are shooting Portland,
Speaker 2: like Austin Reeves thirty two percent from three this year.
Speaker 2: He was forty percent last year. Forty four percent in
Speaker 2: the playoffs. Dangel Russell twenty nine percent. He was forty
Speaker 2: one percent last year. Torrian Prince, he's a career thirty
Speaker 2: seven percent, and he's shooting thirty one percent this year.
Speaker 2: Max Christie's one for ten on the season. He was
Speaker 2: forty two percent last year. Gabe Vincent one for fourteen
Speaker 2: on the season. He was thirty eight percent last year.
Speaker 2: So do I expect some guys to start making shots
Speaker 2: that they've been missing so far this season?
Speaker 3: Yeah, the process plays a role.
Speaker 2: And so this is where I wanted to ask you
Speaker 2: about the offense because essentially one of the big one
Speaker 2: of the big storylines kind of surrounding the team this
Speaker 2: they've gone away from their spread, pick and roll, spread
Speaker 2: post up type of offense, kind of a brute force
Speaker 2: type of offense that they ran last year, and they're
Speaker 2: running more of like a five out read and react
Speaker 2: kind of like dribble handoff, like multiple players, multiple actions,
Speaker 2: lots of motion taking place on the floor, and it
Speaker 2: seems to have specifically disrupt disrupted their spacing and pick
Speaker 2: and roll like it just seems like guys are getting
Speaker 2: in each other's way and they're just a little Now
Speaker 2: it's gotten better over the course of the last few games.
Speaker 2: They have gone back to a little bit more of
Speaker 2: the spread, pick and roll stuff they did last year.
Speaker 2: Have you heard, because I do think that that plays
Speaker 2: a role in the three point shooting. I think people
Speaker 2: get in trouble when they start to expect, like, oh,
Speaker 2: we'll eventually start making shots. It's like, yeah, there's a
Speaker 2: luck element in shooting, but there's a huge process element
Speaker 2: in shooting, in my opinion. So have you heard any
Speaker 2: buzz surrounding any sort of discontent within the locker room
Speaker 2: surrounding the offensive approach to this point in the season.
Speaker 1: No, but I think there's a healthy level of frustration
Speaker 1: with the results. I think naturally, you know, they don't
Speaker 1: want to be twenty second in offense, and they don't
Speaker 1: want to be again twenty ninth in three point shooting percentage,
Speaker 1: Like that's not what they came into. Like, if anything,
Speaker 1: on paper, this group looked better offensively than defensively, and
Speaker 1: I think it's really been the opposite, where again, they've
Speaker 1: kind of been better defensively the games that they've won.
Speaker 1: They've been able to, you know, lock down defensively, play
Speaker 1: bigger lineups and kind of figure it out and muck
Speaker 1: it up and win games that way. So I think,
Speaker 1: as you pointed out, I think that there's a process
Speaker 1: problem here. But also with a redn't react type offense
Speaker 1: and a five out offense like that takes reps, that
Speaker 1: takes continuity, and I think with having certain guys out,
Speaker 1: you know, several guys have been in and out of
Speaker 1: the lineup, not really the principal guys for the most part.
Speaker 1: You know, Lebron has missed one game now, Eighties missed
Speaker 1: one game now. Austin and Dilo have been available for
Speaker 1: all ten games games, but Vandos missed all ten games,
Speaker 1: Gabes miss six, Rui's miss four, Torrian's missed too. So
Speaker 1: you've had several prominent guys within the rotation in and
Speaker 1: out of the lineup or just out of it altogether.
Speaker 1: And I think it's kind of been a process of
Speaker 1: just figuring out, like you have to know how certain
Speaker 1: guys like to play, how certain guys like to move,
Speaker 1: what are they going to do off the ball?
Speaker 3: What are they going to do? Like, how does you
Speaker 3: know does this guy like to reject the screen? How
Speaker 3: does this guy like to roll?
Speaker 1: Like all that stuff comes down to timing and continuity
Speaker 1: and reps. They haven't had a lot of practice time.
Speaker 1: That's just kind of the nature of the modern MBA is,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of times you're figuring this stuff
Speaker 1: out on the fly and games. The Lakers have had
Speaker 1: several instances in which they've had, you know, walkthroughs and
Speaker 1: shoot around trying to implement some of this stuff, but
Speaker 1: it's just it's hard to do on the fly compared
Speaker 1: to actually figuring it out. So I do I do
Speaker 1: give them some grace and say, you know, I think
Speaker 1: there is an element of just everyone's kind of adjusting.
Speaker 1: I think some of this stuff is affected Austin and Dilo,
Speaker 1: and that's why that partnership hasn't necessarily worked the way
Speaker 1: that it did last season.
Speaker 3: But I think for them, they want to give it.
Speaker 1: Darvin has constantly said give it twenty games and then
Speaker 1: let's reevaluate it. So I think what we'll see what
Speaker 1: the next ten games look like, and if they continue
Speaker 1: to struggle, I think they have to potentially look at
Speaker 1: going back to more of last seasons for out offense.
Speaker 1: And I think that suits who it wasn't great last
Speaker 1: year obviously they still struggled offensively, but we at least
Speaker 1: saw the ceiling of that team can make a Western
Speaker 1: Conference finals. Like right now, I think the offense has
Speaker 1: been so bad that if this continues for another five
Speaker 1: to ten games, like, you really do have to reevaluate
Speaker 1: it well.
Speaker 2: And that specifically is the issue that I have with
Speaker 2: it is when you look at the bigger picture, the
Speaker 2: guys that it seems to be negatively impacting the most
Speaker 2: are guys that you're going to need in a big
Speaker 2: way towards the tail end of the season. Like d'An
Speaker 2: Angelo Russell has actually been a better player in the
Speaker 2: regular season so far this year than Austin, even though
Speaker 2: you and I both agree Austin is a better player,
Speaker 2: but in this specific offensive approach, d Lo just seems
Speaker 2: more comfortable. I think a big part of it is
Speaker 2: his strength. He's stronger than Austin right now, so he
Speaker 2: has a little bit better time getting to his spots
Speaker 2: for his little, short, little mid range jump shots. And
Speaker 2: I think like Austin in particular is a guy that
Speaker 2: is like kind of an old school let him cook
Speaker 2: type of scorer in the sense that you kind of
Speaker 2: have to give him space and he needs he needs
Speaker 2: to be able to take seven or eight dribbles in
Speaker 2: a pick and roll to get to the spot that
Speaker 2: he wants to get to. Austin can also play excellent
Speaker 2: off the ball, but in his on ball reps that's
Speaker 2: kind of when he's at his best. And I haven't
Speaker 2: really been pleased with how Anthony Davis has been involved
Speaker 2: in the offense, specifically in the five out looks, and
Speaker 2: so that that has been concerning that he's already completely
Speaker 2: abandoned the jump shot after basically using it, you know, intentionally,
Speaker 2: and talking about using it intentionally in the preseason. So
Speaker 2: I would say that, like when two of your best
Speaker 2: three play players seem to be the opposite of empowered
Speaker 2: within your offensive look, it's time to potentially consider altering it.
Speaker 2: I have seen them at least within the the you know,
Speaker 2: in the context of when Austin's on the floor with
Speaker 2: his own unit and de Lo's off, they do start
Speaker 2: to run more of that kind of spread, pick and
Speaker 2: roll stuff they did last year. So I do I think,
Speaker 2: and in the big picture, I think it's important to
Speaker 2: have multiple looks and to be able to go to
Speaker 2: different offensive approaches depending on what the matchups dictating things
Speaker 2: along those lines. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: this is my main concern with the five out offense.
Speaker 2: If you look at the teams that do it well,
Speaker 2: teams like Golden State Sacramento, for instance, they have in
Speaker 2: Sacramento incredible downhill pressure guys like Malik Munk and Darn
Speaker 2: Fox right, and then in Golden State they have like
Speaker 2: guys that come flying off a screen shooting love doing
Speaker 2: so and hit those shots at a high rate. And
Speaker 2: the Lakers kind of don't have either of those, and
Speaker 2: so to me, it doesn't it's not necessarily the best
Speaker 2: fit for this particular group of guys. They have methodical,
Speaker 2: unathletic guards that need space to get to go to work,
Speaker 2: and then they have old school like power players that
Speaker 2: also need to operate with a cleared side for a
Speaker 2: post up so that they can make easy reads and
Speaker 2: things along those lines. So I am curious to see
Speaker 2: in the big picture how long they stick with it.
Speaker 2: But I do agree with Darvin Ham's approach in the
Speaker 2: sense like give it some time, like let's see if
Speaker 2: they can figure it out in the meantime, And I
Speaker 2: would argue that they should still have been winning at
Speaker 2: a higher rate even with the offensive struggles, just through
Speaker 2: better kind of effort and commitment in other areas. Now
Speaker 2: that we're we're kind of we've hit the three point
Speaker 2: shooting element of it. What's the next item on your list?
Speaker 2: As one of the biggest flaws we've seen in the
Speaker 2: Lakers so far this year.
Speaker 1: Defense, And I think this in part will be not
Speaker 1: necessarily solved, but at least improved with Gabe Vincent and
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt coming back. I think those are probably their
Speaker 1: two best perimeter defenders aside from obviously Anthony Davis. So
Speaker 1: I think we haven't seen the best perimeter defense from
Speaker 1: this group in terms of just their potential. But I
Speaker 1: still look at it like I think a lot of
Speaker 1: their issues have even the Portland game last night, Like
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers again escaped with the win, and yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought eighty and Bruie had had some nice defensive plays,
Speaker 1: and you know, I think Cam has done a really
Speaker 1: good job on the perimeter. But still like I feel
Speaker 1: like guards can kind of get whatever shot they want
Speaker 1: against the Lakers.
Speaker 3: It feels like, and I.
Speaker 1: Just I don't know, I think there's something with the
Speaker 1: point of attack defense hasn't been great, that the pick
Speaker 1: and roll defense, in my opinion, hasn't been great, and
Speaker 1: I just think, you know, I really would have liked
Speaker 1: to have seen how the Lakers would have fared against
Speaker 1: Phoenix had Devin Booker been available in either one of
Speaker 1: those games. I think he would have probably torched them
Speaker 1: with the way that their their guard.
Speaker 3: Defense has been.
Speaker 1: So I just look at it as again, I think
Speaker 1: that's part of the reason why they had to split
Speaker 1: the d Low Austin pairing up was both of those
Speaker 1: guys have been minus defenders up to this point in
Speaker 1: the season, And I just look at it as we
Speaker 1: had talked about it before the season, you know, early
Speaker 1: in training camp of premier defense is arguably the biggest
Speaker 1: concern with this roster. And again, you plug in Vando,
Speaker 1: but that comes with its own offensive concerns of that's
Speaker 1: another non shooter that you're plugging in there. Teams are
Speaker 1: gonna sag off of him, They're going to load up
Speaker 1: the paint. So I think there's no like Gabe is
Speaker 1: one guy that I look at is okay, he's a
Speaker 1: plus shooter even with the one for fourteen three point shooting,
Speaker 1: and I think you've seen some good things from him
Speaker 1: at the point of attack. Definitely a downgrade from Dennis,
Speaker 1: and I think they really missed Dennis. That's been clear
Speaker 1: through the first ten games. But I just I think
Speaker 1: the perimeter defense is some It has been pretty shaky
Speaker 1: at best, and I look at that as something where
Speaker 1: you mentioned Dorian Finney Smith. I really like that name.
Speaker 1: Royce O'Neill also another guy in Brooklyn, Like those are
Speaker 1: a couple of guys that like three and d Ish
Speaker 1: basically three and d wings that could plug some of
Speaker 1: those holes. But I think Cam's been solid. I think
Speaker 1: Torrian's had some moments, although he fouls a lot and
Speaker 1: is a little bit undersized in certain matchups. I think Chris,
Speaker 1: I mean, Christian Wood held his own against KD for
Speaker 1: that fourth quarter, but like, I still don't think that's
Speaker 1: a sustainable h you know, solve there. So I think
Speaker 1: it's it's a lot on ad shoulders and he's played,
Speaker 1: I mean, he's what top six or seven in minutes
Speaker 1: right now, basically has played every game, and they're just
Speaker 1: asking they're putting a lot on his shoulders. I think
Speaker 1: that's unsustainable as well. So for me, it's it's the
Speaker 1: perimeter defense and just how they figure out the right
Speaker 1: lineups and combinations. But I do think it will get
Speaker 1: better once gave in vandor back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you actually list out the Lakers minutes total
Speaker 2: minutes played this year and you get past the first
Speaker 2: four guys, which is Austin, Dilo, Lebron, and ad who
Speaker 2: lead the Lakers in minutes, the next two are redicatory
Speaker 2: in prints, and I think that's a pretty strong indicator
Speaker 2: of what Darvin Ham sees from the rest of the
Speaker 2: roster and their needs. You know, like you're not You're
Speaker 2: not like I would argue those are not your fifth
Speaker 2: and sixth best players, but they're the guys getting those minutes.
Speaker 2: And again, like I think, I so I kind of
Speaker 2: tie these things together because I put perimeter defense on
Speaker 2: on this list, but I reference it as perimeter athleticism
Speaker 2: and defense and just kind of everything associated with that.
Speaker 2: Like the what what the Lakers do not have in
Speaker 2: their current rotation because of the Van do injury is
Speaker 2: a top tier NBA athlete who has a high motor
Speaker 2: and because they don't have that, and like this was crazy,
Speaker 2: like Cam Reddish is rebounding at the highest rate of
Speaker 2: his career since his second season and getting steals at
Speaker 2: the highest rate of his career. And it's a big
Speaker 2: part of that is like they're empowering this kid. It's
Speaker 2: like you're one of like you're like the only dude
Speaker 2: we have right now who's available, who's a top tier
Speaker 2: athlete that can do this job, Like just so just
Speaker 2: go do it. They're basically pointing him and shooting him,
Speaker 2: and he's doing a really great job within that role.
Speaker 2: I think I think Cam Reddish succeeding the way he
Speaker 2: is is a testament to Cam, but it also is
Speaker 2: a testament to what this roster needs. And you're actually
Speaker 2: seeing how like a player that is considered essentially like
Speaker 2: a journeyman in the NBA at this point is playing
Speaker 2: some of the best basketball of his career because his
Speaker 2: specific skill set fits what this roster does not have.
Speaker 2: And if you go back through NBA history, pretty much
Speaker 2: every single championship team has a high motor, top tier athlete.
Speaker 2: You know, if you look at Bruce Brown last year,
Speaker 2: Aaron Gordon last year, you go back to Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 2: and Gary Payton the second with the Golden State Warriors,
Speaker 2: and you go back to Giannisontenacoopo and Drew Holliday on
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty one Bucks and obviously the Lakers. It's like,
Speaker 2: at this phase in Lebron and Anthony Davis' career, you
Speaker 2: have to have a high motor athlete around them, and
Speaker 2: I think that kind of helps you in multiple ways.
Speaker 2: It helps you in the point of it tag defense
Speaker 2: assignment kind of like staggering and making sure guys are
Speaker 2: kind of guarding matchups they can handle. But it's also
Speaker 2: big on the rebounding piece. We mentioned the Lakers have
Speaker 2: been a horrible rebounding team to start this year, and
Speaker 2: a big part of that is they lose every fifty
Speaker 2: to fifty ball, every long rebound goes to a bigger,
Speaker 2: better athlete. And so I think that to me is
Speaker 2: why like I look at that specific type of upgrade
Speaker 2: is necessary and why I think going after a star
Speaker 2: is so foolish. We've seen this again with the Suns.
Speaker 2: We've seen it again with the Clippers just recently. Like
Speaker 2: when you bring in a star when you already have stars,
Speaker 2: there's a diminishing return on what you get on the
Speaker 2: third star, and in a lot of cases, what you
Speaker 2: really just need is dudes that can help make the
Speaker 2: stars jobs easier by taking that workload off of their plate.
Speaker 2: So I'm one hundred percent with you on that page.
Speaker 2: I think I think obviously the deadline has some potential
Speaker 2: to fix that problem, and I think with the assets
Speaker 2: that they have available, they will be able to make
Speaker 2: that upgrade. But I think it's gonna be really interesting
Speaker 2: to see what they do before the deadline, because they
Speaker 2: need to, Like again, Dangel Russell can't be traded until
Speaker 2: January fifteenth, and you know, shout out to d low
Speaker 2: if he knows he's going to be traded, and that
Speaker 2: more or less has been communicated to him as like
Speaker 2: a high degree of possibility. Right, He's been a professional,
Speaker 2: he has been a great leader, he's been mentoring some
Speaker 2: of the younger players on the roster. He is staying
Speaker 2: mentally engaged, and he's playing hard. Like I like, I
Speaker 2: actually have been so impressed by D'Angelo Russell this entire season,
Speaker 2: just with the way he's handled all that. But there
Speaker 2: is a degree of urgency within this like that until
Speaker 2: January fifteenth, that this group needs to find out how
Speaker 2: to do a better job. What, in your opinion, is
Speaker 2: the best way for the Lakers to manage this weakness
Speaker 2: in the short term.
Speaker 1: Well, I think Van Doo coming back is gonna help,
Speaker 1: But I think you got to go with the bigger lineups.
Speaker 1: And I recently actually you know that this morning, how
Speaker 1: a piece go up state of the Lakers ten observations
Speaker 1: through ten games, And one of the things I looked
Speaker 1: at was the front courts and all the different front
Speaker 1: court pairings that had at least one of Lebron and
Speaker 1: Ad in the lineup, because of course that's kind of
Speaker 1: gonna be your foundation. You can have some odd lineups
Speaker 1: of Christian Wood, Jackson Hayes and like Torrian Prince, but
Speaker 1: I don't think that's something you're going to see when
Speaker 1: it actually matters. And it's clear that the bigger front
Speaker 1: courts have just been better. And if you look at
Speaker 1: the net differential on cleaning the glass, like the Lakers
Speaker 1: play better when they have some combination of Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: and Christian Wood, Anthony Davis and Jackson Hayes, Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: and Ruey Hatchimora, like the bigger lineups. And I'll take
Speaker 1: egg on my face, like I was against the two
Speaker 1: big lineups entering the season, I didn't think they made sense.
Speaker 1: Like even to this day, I still think Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: is a five, and he's kind of been the five
Speaker 1: in those lineups more so than not.
Speaker 3: But Christian Wood has exceeded expectations.
Speaker 1: I think he's held out reasonably defensively, like you don't
Speaker 1: want him as your primary rim protector. And Darvin has
Speaker 1: tied his minutes largely to Ad and Jackson Hayes for
Speaker 1: that reason. But I think he's added some length. He's
Speaker 1: a good weak side shot blocker. When AD's contesting a shot,
Speaker 1: you know Christian will come with the second level of
Speaker 1: contesting or he'll just vacuum up defensive rebounds. That I
Speaker 1: think in that Phoenix game in particular, that was why
Speaker 1: the Lakers won that game, was Phoenix was killing them
Speaker 1: on the offensive glass. Christian Wood comes in and he
Speaker 1: helps hold down the fort. So I just look at
Speaker 1: Lakers have played better with size. I think they have
Speaker 1: to go back to that being their full time identity.
Speaker 1: And we haven't seen the three guard lineups because Gabe
Speaker 1: Vincent's been out. I'm sure he was playing. We would
Speaker 1: see some d Lo Gabe Austin just because as we
Speaker 1: know Darvin tends to like those lineups, so, but I
Speaker 1: think that's not going to work with this current group.
Speaker 1: With the way that they've been giving up defensive rebounds,
Speaker 1: They've been susceptible to cuts and just kind of energy
Speaker 1: plays that you can't I mean, part of that has
Speaker 1: to just be guys being locked in and focused and
Speaker 1: giving maximum effort. I think the effort has been poor
Speaker 1: at times, and that's been a little bit disappointing if
Speaker 1: you're the Lakers. But part of it is just size.
Speaker 1: And if you have Christian Wood, Lebron, James, and Ruey
Speaker 1: Hachimora out there together, that's like three dudes six '
Speaker 1: nine and above. With Lebron and Ruey you get a
Speaker 1: level of force and athleticism. With Christian Wood, you get
Speaker 1: a bunch of size and length, and like, it's harder
Speaker 1: to grab off into rebounds when those guys are in
Speaker 1: the paint compared to going eighty Torrian Prints and Cam
Speaker 1: Reddish or you know, just one of those guys being
Speaker 1: in there in a three guard lineup. So for me,
Speaker 1: it's it's clear this group has played bigger, has played
Speaker 1: better bigger, and that's something that they really need to
Speaker 1: lean into more than I think they have up to
Speaker 1: this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, again, like if you don't try to outplay people
Speaker 2: in an area that you are undermanned, Like if you
Speaker 2: can't beat guys to the basketball with straight line speed,
Speaker 2: then you need to beat them up high, and so
Speaker 2: like it's a great it's a great way to look
Speaker 2: at it in the sense that like when they have
Speaker 2: three dudes that are six nine in taller and excellent
Speaker 2: defensive rebounds like Lebron James, Christian Wood and Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: on the on the floor at the same time, they're
Speaker 2: gonna win a lot that they may lose the occasional
Speaker 2: long rebound, but they are gonna get every damn rebound
Speaker 2: that's around the rim just because of how how big
Speaker 2: they are.
Speaker 3: And I kind of I.
Speaker 2: Agree with you, and and honestly, like it's gonna require
Speaker 2: difficult things like doing more staggering of Austin and Dilo,
Speaker 2: which they're already doing. But it's clear in terms of
Speaker 2: the emergency stop gap until January fifteenth, they basically have
Speaker 2: to slot in order to compete physically, someone like Reddish
Speaker 2: Aratorium prints at the two, and I think I think
Speaker 2: that's gonna be essentially their their formula until they get
Speaker 2: deeper down the line. Essentially like we can't compete with
Speaker 2: teams in straight line speed, but we can compete with
Speaker 2: teams with our overall size because of what Christian would
Speaker 2: ended up being. And like again, Christian we said this
Speaker 2: in our in our Media Day pod, but basically Christian
Speaker 2: Wood is a zero risk proposition in the sense that,
Speaker 2: like he was a veteran minimum contract, obviously there were
Speaker 2: some potential downsides. Everyone's like, oh, he can't guarden pick
Speaker 2: and roll, he can't guarden pick and roll, and that
Speaker 2: is true. When he's been the primary rim protector guarding
Speaker 2: and pick and roll. He's been flambathed like that that
Speaker 2: goes without saying, but he's actually been excellent help side
Speaker 2: defense situations and he's had some interesting on ball reps
Speaker 2: against switches and then like kind of little niche assignments
Speaker 2: for three four possessions at a time, or he'll guard
Speaker 2: like Kevin Durant or something like that, and he's proven
Speaker 2: as that kind of backside guy, essentially the lowman behind
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis or the lowman behind Jackson Hayes to be
Speaker 2: a really helpful player. And when you combine that with
Speaker 2: him basically allowing them offensively to operate in that true
Speaker 2: kind of like you know, true four out one in
Speaker 2: spacing or five out spacing with a second big on
Speaker 2: the floor. He's been a home run in that regard.
Speaker 2: But the question becomes like, are you going to be
Speaker 2: able to play Christian Wood next to Lebron James and
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis for an entire postseason run? And it's probably not.
Speaker 2: It's probably gonna be more of a matchup dependent kind
Speaker 2: of thing, which keeps bringing us back to the original
Speaker 2: crux of the issue, which is like you gotta have
Speaker 2: another vert like like straight line top tier athlete at
Speaker 2: the two or three that can compete in a lot
Speaker 2: of these situations and help them win more of those battles.
Speaker 2: Did you have anything else on your list of biggest flaws?
Speaker 2: Those are really the only two that I put in.
Speaker 2: Obviously they're the three point shooting in the perimeter athleticism.
Speaker 2: Obviously they're both very complicated issues, but those are the
Speaker 2: only two I had. Did you put anything else down?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think a subcategory of the premier
Speaker 1: athleticism is what we were just talking about. The defensive
Speaker 1: rebounding has been awful, but I think that like the
Speaker 1: perimeter defense and the defensive rebounding kind of are both
Speaker 1: subcategories of the lack of perimeter athleticism. Other than that, no,
Speaker 1: I think like those are the two biggest things. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think the jump shooting in general and that kind
Speaker 1: of starts to stem into some of the three point shooting,
Speaker 1: like has been an issue, and I think this team
Speaker 1: continues to just be at its best living in the paint.
Speaker 1: But I would say, I mean, maybe just the offense overall,
Speaker 1: that that would be kind of the third thing for
Speaker 1: me would just be the five out offense and how
Speaker 1: stagnant it has been and just kind of janky at times.
Speaker 1: But other than that, I think that the three point
Speaker 1: shooting and the perimeter defense and rebounding to me, have
Speaker 1: been kind of the two main themes that have translated
Speaker 1: into each game that have ultimately hurt this team and
Speaker 1: kind of caused them to play behind for the most part.
Speaker 2: Well, that perimeter athleticism piece, I think will help with
Speaker 2: the offense piece as well, because like again, everyone thinks
Speaker 2: of rim pressure something that has to come from the
Speaker 2: ball handler. It's not necessarily the case, like you that
Speaker 2: straight line athlete just in random transition pushes can cause
Speaker 2: havoc and bring multiple bodies into the paint. There's you know,
Speaker 2: the Mavericks have been using Derek Jones like this a lot,
Speaker 2: where they'll kind of position him on the weak side
Speaker 2: wing and he'll just catch and rip to the basket
Speaker 2: really hard instead of catching and shooting because he's such
Speaker 2: a freak athlete that just when he catches and rips,
Speaker 2: everyone kind of coalesces around the paint anyway. And so there,
Speaker 2: I think just having a really good straight line athlete
Speaker 2: on the floor next to their core four guys would
Speaker 2: go a long way towards just generating higher quality shots.
Speaker 2: And that's kind of why I put perimeter athleticism is
Speaker 2: kind of a vague term because I think I think
Speaker 2: in general that helps in so many different ways, especially
Speaker 2: in the modern MBA with how things are spaced out.
Speaker 2: What do you think, obviously this has been a disappointing
Speaker 2: start right five and five? I think I till Logan
Speaker 2: asked me at the beginning of the season to make
Speaker 2: a guest based on their first twelve games since they
Speaker 2: went to and ten last year, and I said they'd
Speaker 2: go seven and five, And I think that's actually on
Speaker 2: the table as a possibility if they beat Memphis on
Speaker 2: Tuesday and then they win on Wednesday. But I still
Speaker 2: think through ten games that if I think if you
Speaker 2: gave truth serum to every Laker in that locker room
Speaker 2: and asked him and said, are you disappointed or you know,
Speaker 2: happy with how the start of the season went, I
Speaker 2: think most of them would say they're disappointed. So like,
Speaker 2: with that as kind of the context, what would you
Speaker 2: say is your biggest silver lining that you've picked away
Speaker 2: from this team at this point?
Speaker 1: Look, I'm feeling optimistic, so I will give you two
Speaker 1: silver linings. One, I think this team has played pretty
Speaker 1: terrible for the first ten games, and the fact that
Speaker 1: they're five and five to me is a win. Like
Speaker 1: I think they played at It was funny after the
Speaker 1: seventh game Darvin, he was answering a question and he
Speaker 1: was kind of like, you know, we're we could easily
Speaker 1: be six and one right now, and we're clearly not
Speaker 1: a one in six team, And like, I disagree with that.
Speaker 1: I think the way that they've played, like, to me,
Speaker 1: they've played more like a two and eight or three
Speaker 1: and seven team than a team that's like seven and
Speaker 1: three or eight and two like they've had, like they're
Speaker 1: five and two in games that have gone into crunch time,
Speaker 1: and that alone might be its own silver lining of
Speaker 1: like this team's resolved, Like four of their five wins
Speaker 1: have come after trailing by double digits in the first
Speaker 1: quarter and in some cases double digits in the second half.
Speaker 1: So like this team has showed a resolve and just
Speaker 1: a kind of a calmness within the chaos that even
Speaker 1: if they get down, they have a slow start, they
Speaker 1: can still come back and win a game. So I
Speaker 1: think the fact that they're five and five despite again
Speaker 1: you know bottom, I mean their bottom six in that rating,
Speaker 1: their bottom two and three point shooting, Like they've had
Speaker 1: a lot of things go against them, all the injuries,
Speaker 1: all the poor the poor starts. Like to be five
Speaker 1: and five to me is a win in and of itself.
Speaker 1: But the second thing for me is Lebron in my opinion,
Speaker 1: is back to his pre injury form before that foot
Speaker 1: injury that he had in February, where shooting a career
Speaker 1: high fifty six point seven percent and making a career
Speaker 1: best eighty three point four percent of his shots within
Speaker 1: three feet at the rim, and that's been like he
Speaker 1: might be one of the few exceptions in terms of
Speaker 1: guys benefiting from the five out system, like some of
Speaker 1: the driving lanes that Lebron has had, And of course
Speaker 1: part of that is just his burst his athleticism. It's
Speaker 1: back compared to where it was, let's just say in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. But Lebron's finishing at the rim has been incredible.
Speaker 1: I think his shot selection has been much better than
Speaker 1: the past couple of years, and just his efficiency so
Speaker 1: far offensively, Like the Lakers have been about twenty four
Speaker 1: points per one hundred possessions worse when Lebron has been
Speaker 1: off the floor, so they're as reliant on him as ever.
Speaker 1: And on the one hand, you'd like to see some
Speaker 1: of the d Lo or Austin led lineups be better
Speaker 1: and the Lakers not have to rely on him as much.
Speaker 1: But the fact that he's looked as good as and
Speaker 1: I know you've been on the clutch stuff, like so
Speaker 1: first in the league and clutch baskets, I think third
Speaker 1: in scoring and tied for fourteenth and plus minus in
Speaker 1: crunch time, so like that's all, Like he's been making
Speaker 1: shots and making plays that he wasn't making last season.
Speaker 1: So overall, I think the fact that Lebron has looked
Speaker 1: as good as he has in year twenty one at
Speaker 1: almost thirty nine, that in and of itself, to me,
Speaker 1: is a really positive sign for the Lakers eventual contention.
Speaker 1: If they can just get healthy and potentially make another move,
Speaker 1: you know, fill in some of these gaps that we're
Speaker 1: talking about, like Lebron, at that level, I think you
Speaker 1: can win a championship.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Lebron stuff has been super interesting because you
Speaker 2: mentioned the five out stuff, and it's a really simple concept.
Speaker 2: With five out, if you can get past the first
Speaker 2: line of defense, the backside rotation is infinitely harder because
Speaker 2: you don't have a defender waiting in the dunker spot
Speaker 2: or basically like in an easy help situation. It's a
Speaker 2: much longer rotation. So Lebron's gonna have had a steam
Speaker 2: against probably a perimeter player that's in help, so he's
Speaker 2: gonna have a much better chance of finishing around the
Speaker 2: rim or easier kickout opportunities. But that initial line of defense,
Speaker 2: the guy that is digging down off of the defender
Speaker 2: on either side is closer than they would be in
Speaker 2: a spread pick and roll type of situation or a
Speaker 2: spread ISO or post up situation, and so Lebron with
Speaker 2: his incredible strength can just shoot through these tight gaps
Speaker 2: and get to the rim and have no problem. But
Speaker 2: it's the lesser athletes that are struggling with it. And
Speaker 2: to your point, like that's a great example of why
Speaker 2: you know it is worth sticking with in the long run.
Speaker 2: My thing with the five out is just like I
Speaker 2: think they should cater it towards each player in the
Speaker 2: sense that like, hey we have an Austin led group
Speaker 2: out there, let's run more spread pick and roll. Hey
Speaker 2: we got Lebron on the floor, maybe we run it
Speaker 2: this way. Liked lo lineups have done a good job
Speaker 2: with the five and out of the five out stuff,
Speaker 2: So like, I think that's kind of the short term
Speaker 2: solution there is kind of just cater the offense more
Speaker 2: towards each individual group. But the stuff in the crunch
Speaker 2: time is really important because brom was a bad clutch
Speaker 2: player last year and a big part of that was
Speaker 2: his jump shot wasn't falling, and it kind of kind
Speaker 2: of spiraled into all of these other, you know, ancillary
Speaker 2: issues and it turned into this thing where he would
Speaker 2: get the big on the switch and he'd take that
Speaker 2: pullback three, and he just missed it every single time,
Speaker 2: and it was a huge part of how games kind
Speaker 2: of ended up being close light that they probably shouldn't
Speaker 2: have been. This year, he's just been so much more decisive.
Speaker 2: He's knocked down a bunch of clutch jump shots this year.
Speaker 2: He has specifically dominated the game as a matchup attacker
Speaker 2: at the end of games, generating high quality shots against
Speaker 2: the weaker defense of you know, kind of areas of
Speaker 2: their opponents. And so I think that's a huge silver lining.
Speaker 2: I put two others on my list. One Christian Wood,
Speaker 2: which we already talked about just him hitting as a
Speaker 2: veteran minimum signing in unlocking real big lineups for this
Speaker 2: Laker team. I think what is a huge home run.
Speaker 2: And then secondly, just like Lebron's overall level of play
Speaker 2: and just where he looks in general. We talked about
Speaker 2: this before the year as like one of the major
Speaker 2: you know, kind of like swing factors for this team.
Speaker 2: Are they going to be able to go toe to
Speaker 2: toe with the best stars in the league. And Anthony Davis,
Speaker 2: it's been a little bit of a mixed bag. He's
Speaker 2: had some bad games, he's had some good games, but
Speaker 2: I think more overall, he's kind of looked more or
Speaker 2: less like he did last year. Lebron James looks like
Speaker 2: he's better than he was last year, and I think
Speaker 2: that's super encouraging. And then lastly, five and two in
Speaker 2: clutch games, that's the fifth best record in the league
Speaker 2: by winning percentage in clutch situations, the fourth best clutch
Speaker 2: net rating. The Lakers have been elite on both ends
Speaker 2: of the floor and have grabbed fifty five percent of
Speaker 2: available rebounds, so when push comes to shove, they can
Speaker 2: lock in and they've played really good basketball at the
Speaker 2: end of games. It's just been funny because, like in
Speaker 2: four of their five wins, they've been such shit for
Speaker 2: like three quarters and then they lock in and they
Speaker 2: play good basketball. I think that's kind of colored the
Speaker 2: entire season as disappointing in a way that maybe the
Speaker 2: record wouldn't suggest. But let's let's let's do one last
Speaker 2: thing before before we get out of here. Did They're
Speaker 2: going on on East Coast road trip soon, where they're
Speaker 2: going to play Cleveland and Philly back to back on
Speaker 2: the road.
Speaker 3: That's it.
Speaker 2: That's gonna be a tough one, but the schedules a
Speaker 2: little easier up until then. Really, the tough games are
Speaker 2: a home game against the Kings and then a home
Speaker 2: game against the Dallas Mavericks, two games which the Lakers
Speaker 2: will be favored in. H Do you think there's any
Speaker 2: chance that the Lakers hit the road at eleven and
Speaker 2: five on an eight game winning streak?
Speaker 3: Any chance?
Speaker 1: Yes, But I think again, we'd have to see some
Speaker 1: better overall play from this group. I think you just
Speaker 1: hit on it where you know, I think in crunch
Speaker 1: time they've been great, but I would just like to
Speaker 1: see sustained periods like I was like looking for that
Speaker 1: last night against Portland, where even with Lebron out like
Speaker 1: that could have been a situation where they just had
Speaker 1: a wire to wire Victory won that by fifteen to
Speaker 1: twenty points, and as as subjective as it sounds, I
Speaker 1: would have felt a lot better about them currently. But
Speaker 1: the fact that they were kind of messing around with
Speaker 1: that game. You know, Portland was up, you know for
Speaker 1: stretches of the first quarter. You know, they got back
Speaker 1: into the game in the fourth quarter, and there was
Speaker 1: a couple of minutes there, I thought they were potentially
Speaker 1: going to win that game. Like to me, just they've
Speaker 1: kind of been playing with their food, so to speak
Speaker 1: a little bit too much, and I would like to
Speaker 1: just see a little bit more killer instinct from them
Speaker 1: of just come out and look. They'll they'll play Portland
Speaker 1: at the end of the week. They've got some winnable games.
Speaker 1: But Memphis just came into the Clippers arena and beat them. Sacramento,
Speaker 1: as we know, has been a tough matchup for the
Speaker 1: Lakers over the past year, just with their their speed
Speaker 1: and their five out offense and their perimeter shooting. So
Speaker 1: I think that's a tough one. Looking at Houston again,
Speaker 1: you know, they just beat the Lakers by thirty four points.
Speaker 1: Iverything beat the Nuggets. They're on what five game win
Speaker 1: streaks five or six. And then you got Dallas, who's
Speaker 1: been the second best team in the West in my
Speaker 1: opinion up through this point. Also Utah, who who's kind
Speaker 1: of sneakily been a bit of a tough matchup for
Speaker 1: the Lakers also with their five out offense and uh,
Speaker 1: some of their spacing and shooting. So I'm gonna say no,
Speaker 1: I don't think it happens. I think it could happen,
Speaker 1: and that you know, they're home for five of the
Speaker 1: next six games. Looking at it right now with the
Speaker 1: one road game being Portland, but I suspect they go
Speaker 1: four and too over the next six games, and that
Speaker 1: would put them at nine and seven, which again I think,
Speaker 1: with their current level of play, is a win compared
Speaker 1: to where they could be.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think they're gonna go eleven and five.
Speaker 2: It's funny in general, I think I think like I think,
Speaker 2: I think you remember the high motor athlete thing we're
Speaker 2: talking about. I don't think it's really possible to go
Speaker 2: on like long win streaks and to blowout teams unless
Speaker 2: you have high motor athletes because of the fact that inevitably,
Speaker 2: when a team is down, they start playing hard. And
Speaker 2: it's kind of like that early fourth quarter run last night.
Speaker 2: It's like the Lakers are so unathletic that when they
Speaker 2: start not giving a shit, they just the bottom falls out,
Speaker 2: and so like they're so prone to those ugly stretches,
Speaker 2: it's like inevitable that they'll drop. I feel the same
Speaker 2: way around nine to seven, ten and six, before we
Speaker 2: get you out of here, how's your achilles, how's the surgery?
Speaker 2: How are you holding up mentally? I feel like if
Speaker 2: I was in your position, I'd be spiraling into depression,
Speaker 2: So I'm curious to hear how you're doing on that front.
Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate it. Man, It's been tough. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna lie. This has definitely been the toughest physical situation
Speaker 1: I've ever dealt with. I think, so I've been fortunate
Speaker 1: to speak with multiple people who've dealt with it. Actually
Speaker 1: had a conversation with Kevin Durant when the Suns were
Speaker 1: in town and we talked a little bit about it,
Speaker 1: and you know, hadn't met him before, just went up
Speaker 1: to him, introduced myself and asked him for his advice
Speaker 1: on it. And everyone that has dealt with it has
Speaker 1: unanimously said, like, the mental part is the toughest part. Like,
Speaker 1: physically I'm okay now. I had surgery almost two weeks ago,
Speaker 1: so first few days of surgery.
Speaker 3: Were really rough.
Speaker 1: I had to be on pain medication, couldn't get out
Speaker 1: of bed. You know that that was really rough to
Speaker 1: deal with, But since then, largely pain free. It's just
Speaker 1: kind of the mental grind of like you always have
Speaker 1: to be like, you know, you got to go to
Speaker 1: the bathroom. Your instinct is stand up, walk to the bathroom,
Speaker 1: And like there's been times I've had to stop myself
Speaker 1: and be like, Okay, gotta get my scooter.
Speaker 3: I got.
Speaker 1: I got this eyewalk thing which is almost like it's
Speaker 1: almost like a peg leg kind of where you you
Speaker 1: put your knee in it and then it's like a
Speaker 1: crutch below the knee.
Speaker 3: So been walking around with that a little bit.
Speaker 1: But the biggest thing for me has been, like I
Speaker 1: was really looking forward to, you know, the season and
Speaker 1: traveling and like the beginning of the season is always
Speaker 1: really fun, getting to know some of the players, getting
Speaker 1: to go get drinks of people, get dinner. So I
Speaker 1: wasn't on this pass road trip hoping to be back
Speaker 1: on the road by the end of the month, hoping
Speaker 1: to be walking a little bit by the end of
Speaker 1: the month. So I'm trying to approach this recovery like
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers and exceed expectations. So it's been tough. It
Speaker 1: has been mentally draining, but I'm trying to keep a
Speaker 1: good spirit with it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and most importantly, you got a lot of good
Speaker 2: basketball left in you got to get back out of
Speaker 2: the basketball court one day. Yeah, I've been dealing with
Speaker 2: achille soreness, bad soreness, so bad that I've shut myself down.
Speaker 2: Now this is the third time, because I tried to
Speaker 2: come back to quick twice and like just last Sunday,
Speaker 2: a week ago, yesterday, I played in a mensley game
Speaker 2: and I was like, it's worse than it's ever been.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I gotta shut it down. So I'm shutting
Speaker 2: down for the next month probably and just being away
Speaker 2: from the game as long as I've been over the
Speaker 2: last couple of weeks months, I should say, has been
Speaker 2: kind of like torture for me. So I can't even
Speaker 2: imagine what it's going to be like going without it
Speaker 2: for a year, because like it's almost even it's even
Speaker 2: above and beyond the love of the game. It's like
Speaker 2: just really easy way to get good cardio. It's like
Speaker 2: it just in terms of like just your day to
Speaker 2: day health, Like it just helps to be able to
Speaker 2: strap on a pair of shoes, go to the gym,
Speaker 2: play for an hour and a half and burn a
Speaker 2: thousand calories, you know, like you don't get to do
Speaker 2: that anymore, and it's really unfortunate, and I'm really curious.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be picking your brain throughout the process because,
Speaker 2: like I'm really curious as to what that whole mental
Speaker 2: challenge is like. Along the way, yo Van, thank you
Speaker 2: so much for taking the time to join us today,
Speaker 2: Laker fans. Like I said, this is going to be
Speaker 2: a thing at least for the next month, hopefully longer.
Speaker 2: We appreciate giving us the time. We appreciate everybody for
Speaker 2: supporting the show. We will see you guys later today
Speaker 2: for our Power rankings and Clippers evisceration.
Speaker 1: The volume