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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to hoops today here at the volume.

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Speaker 2: Happy Tuesday, everybody. Hope all you guys are having a

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Speaker 2: great start to your week. Today is Lakers Day. We're

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Speaker 2: having my friend Jovan Booja on the show again to

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Speaker 2: break down all things Lakers. Are gonna ask him some

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Speaker 2: questions about some potential guys returning from injury, the Chicago

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Speaker 2: Bulls saga, and then we're gonna dive into the basketball

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Speaker 2: and talk about everything that's been going on with this team,

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Speaker 2: not just over the last couple of weeks, but over

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Speaker 2: the season in general. Yovann, how's it going, man? It

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Speaker 2: is good to see you again.

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Speaker 3: It's good to see you, man. I'm doing well. How

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Speaker 3: are you?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing good? I heard you. I heard you started

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Speaker 2: your or you're starting your achilles rehab today. So I'm

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Speaker 2: gonna I'm going to not talk about my achilles ramp

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Speaker 2: up because mine is from like severe tend tonight as

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Speaker 2: you actually to yours. That would make me a huge loser.

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Speaker 2: So I'm not going to do that. We're gonna dive

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Speaker 2: straight into into Lakers basketball. Let's start with the guy

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Speaker 2: that I think is kind of in that same veine.

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Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt is allegedly ramping up, but Darvin Ham mentioned

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Speaker 2: last night that it's a slow ramp up. I'm wondering

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Speaker 2: if they're if they're kind of treating that similar to

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Speaker 2: Achilles related stuff in the sense that because it's kind

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Speaker 2: of in and around his heel, if they're just being

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Speaker 2: very careful with it. I was just hoping you could

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Speaker 2: give us an update on Jared Vanderbilt and his potential

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Speaker 2: return to play.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well, I feel like I have to give the caveat

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Speaker 1: that with any Lakers injury situation, Shin, it's it's kind

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Speaker 1: of day to day, and you know, you hear different things,

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Speaker 1: and you know a guy will have a setback or

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Speaker 1: it just feels like all of these situations that they've

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Speaker 1: dealt with really for several years now, have kind of

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Speaker 1: been dragged out. I think Kendrick Nunn is the most

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Speaker 1: famous example, but with the Vando situation.

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Speaker 3: So we spoke.

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Speaker 1: Last time we spoke was the day after his announcement

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Speaker 1: of him, you know, returning to the court, and I

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Speaker 1: had heard that the Lakers were targeting this road trip

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Speaker 1: for him to return. But obviously we got a couple

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Speaker 1: of games left, it seems unlikely. I wouldn't be shocked

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Speaker 1: if maybe he plays in that Okay, see game, but

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Speaker 1: it does seem unlikely right now.

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Speaker 3: So from what I'm.

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Speaker 1: Hearing, next week it is probably the more optimistic end

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Speaker 1: of the timeline, and then potentially the week after that,

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Speaker 1: depending on I mean again, as you were saying, like

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Speaker 1: he's got heelberciitis. So a lot of this is just

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Speaker 1: how does fair after you know, getting on the court.

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Speaker 1: He's been doing some two on two and three on

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Speaker 1: three stuff, some you know, starting to do some contact.

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Speaker 1: So I think with him, it's just a matter of

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Speaker 1: pain tolerance. How does it respond to being back on

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Speaker 1: the floor, how does it respond to contact, and how

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Speaker 1: does it respond to treatment? And it's really a day

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Speaker 1: by day process of just monitoring that before they're comfortable

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Speaker 1: with him being back on the floor.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and again that specific area, that lower part of

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Speaker 2: your heel is like one of the most poorly circulated

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Speaker 2: parts of your body. It heals extremely slow down there.

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Speaker 2: It's so painstaking. You know. I've heard a lot of

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Speaker 2: Laker fans, like non Laker fans, say things like, oh, like,

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Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt's not going to fix all your problems. And

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Speaker 2: I agree in the grand scheme of like the playoff

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Speaker 2: ceiling of the team and everything like that, but there's

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Speaker 2: no question he's just a huge help in the regular season.

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Speaker 2: He is the one top tier high motor athlete that

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Speaker 2: they have on the roster. The other two guys, Cam

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Speaker 2: Reddish and Ex Christy, they're both a little bit on

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Speaker 2: the smaller side, where Jared Vanderbilt brings real length and

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Speaker 2: size and athleticism and motor and that's like one of

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Speaker 2: the most valuable things that a basketball team can have

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Speaker 2: in the regular season. So I think him coming back

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Speaker 2: will help them with some of the day and day

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Speaker 2: out effort stuff, which we're gonna talk about in a

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Speaker 2: little bit. The next guy, Ruby Hotchi Mura had a

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Speaker 2: nasal fracture, I guess, and apparently had a procedure done.

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Speaker 2: Where is he at in his potential return.

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Speaker 1: This one came out of nowhere because I didn't notice

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Speaker 1: a Ruey hit to the face in that Dallas game.

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Speaker 1: You know, he wasn't bleeding to my knowledge, and I

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Speaker 1: think you would have noticed something like that. So that

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Speaker 1: was kind of a freak accident that happened. But he's

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Speaker 1: going to be reevaluated in a week, which would put

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Speaker 1: him potentially returning for that Houston game, if not for

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Speaker 1: the wild card game next Tuesday, in the start of

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Speaker 1: the playing tournament. So I suspect Ruey will be back

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Speaker 1: for one of those two games, most likely wearing a mask.

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Speaker 1: But this was another like this kind of sums up

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. They're already dealing with, you know, Vandoh and

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Speaker 1: Gabe Ham.

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Speaker 3: Goes out, Ruey goes out.

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Speaker 1: It's just like one guy after the other with these random,

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Speaker 1: sort of freak injuries that they've had. But Ruey is

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Speaker 1: the one that Ruey and Cam could be back by

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Speaker 1: the end of the week, and so on that front,

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Speaker 1: at least the Lakers should have some reinforcements soon.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, i'd heard that. I guess. I guess Cam b

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Speaker 2: Reddish has actually dealt with growing issues in the past

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Speaker 2: who he's just been particularly careful with his I'm excited

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Speaker 2: to see masked Ruey. I think that's gonna be fun

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Speaker 2: to watch. And again, Ruey and Ruey and Jared in

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Speaker 2: particular are both very important for the regular season, and

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Speaker 2: I think I think that's gonna be something that will

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Speaker 2: help at least steady the ship on the night to

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Speaker 2: night stuff. Well, there is this other guy who plays

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Speaker 2: for the Lakers. His name is Gabe Vincent. I know

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Speaker 2: we don't remember this because he's only played in four

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Speaker 2: games this season, but is he still on the team,

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Speaker 2: Is he still going to be playing basketball anytime soon?

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Speaker 2: Where are we at with Gabe Vincent and his return

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Speaker 2: to play?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so he's said to be reevaluated by the end

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Speaker 1: of the week, and from that point there should be

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Speaker 1: an update. This is the one that I don't have

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Speaker 1: a great sense of the timeline on, and people have

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Speaker 1: been comparing him to Kendrick Nunn. Both guys came over

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Speaker 1: from Miami. So I mean, with left effusion, it's kind

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Speaker 1: of this weird thing with swelling and again kind of

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Speaker 1: just how he's handling the you know, he had PRP

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Speaker 1: treatment done to his knee and it's just it's one

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Speaker 1: of those situations where it is kind of again, kind

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Speaker 1: of a treatment based thing in terms of just how

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Speaker 1: his body responds. So Gabe is the one that I

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Speaker 1: think there's an unclear timeline on right now, and I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised if he's out a bit longer. But

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Speaker 1: that could be next week, that could be several weeks.

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Speaker 1: Right now, it's pretty up in the air.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: One of the things with Gabe too is his return

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Speaker 2: actually makes the most sense after Jared Vanderbilt has returned,

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Speaker 2: just with the direction the team is gone, in the

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Speaker 2: sense that they've got more towards staggering Austin and d

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Speaker 2: Low and playing one of their good point of attack

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Speaker 2: guys at the two. And that's not to say that

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Speaker 2: I don't think Gabe can do that, but I think

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Speaker 2: Cam and Max have been better than even Gabe is

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Speaker 2: capable of, just from a size standpoint. And so in

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Speaker 2: a weird way, having Vanderbilt back to kind of take

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Speaker 2: some of those primary point of attack assignments so that

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Speaker 2: you know, because like the slotting has worked really well

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Speaker 2: in the sense that Max Christy has been so good

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Speaker 2: at the point of attack over the last few games,

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Speaker 2: and I watched the film this morning. He was not

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Speaker 2: responsible for that complete shit show. Defensively, in the first half,

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Speaker 2: it was basically everybody else. And so with Max being

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Speaker 2: able to kind of take the higher difficulty assignments, that

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Speaker 2: has slotted Torrian better and he's been able to handle

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Speaker 2: lesser assignments in the minutes that he's been out there

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Speaker 2: with them, right, And so that's kind of the way

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Speaker 2: I look at it, is like, if Gabe is your

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Speaker 2: primary point of attack guy that's getting minutes there next

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Speaker 2: to Tory, and it can be a problem. But if

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Speaker 2: Jared's out there and he could take the more difficult assignment,

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Speaker 2: that makes more sense. So like, in a weird way,

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Speaker 2: I'm not even sure that he'd be as useful now

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Speaker 2: as he can be when Jared comes back. The final

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Speaker 2: part of this before we get into some of the

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Speaker 2: basketball stuff, and this is not really directly related to

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Speaker 2: the Lakers, although you and I both believe so in

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Speaker 2: kind of the grand scheme, the Chicago Bulls are still

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Speaker 2: a shit show and they are in all likelihood going

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Speaker 2: to blow things up this year. So I want to

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Speaker 2: talk about it first from the perspective of what you've

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Speaker 2: been hearing within the Lakers and what your sense is

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Speaker 2: on the direction they're leaning. And then I want you

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Speaker 2: and I to talk about which Chicago Bulls players we

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Speaker 2: think the Lakers should target. But let's start with the

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Speaker 2: Lakers and what you've heard and what your sense of

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Speaker 2: the situation is, What is their read on Chicago and

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Speaker 2: who they prefer in that specific situation.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, in conversations I've had in recent weeks regarding

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Speaker 1: the Bulls, there is real interest in Zach Lavine, but

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Speaker 1: I think it comes at the right price, right, So

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Speaker 1: if you look at his contract, he's owed. I mean

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Speaker 1: take put aside the forty million that he's making this year,

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Speaker 1: but it's about one hundred and thirty plus million over

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Speaker 1: the next three years. He's got like a fifty something

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Speaker 1: million dollar player option that I think he's going to

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Speaker 1: pick up in twenty twenty six, twenty seven. So they're

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Speaker 1: looking at it like if we're investing in this, like

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Speaker 1: this is kind of a negative contract, right, So we

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Speaker 1: don't want to give up too much in terms of,

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Speaker 1: you know, our depth and draft capital, and they are limited,

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Speaker 1: of course, and when they can give up certain players,

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Speaker 1: and then on top of that, they don't have much

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Speaker 1: draft capital to include anyway. So I've actually heard that

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Speaker 1: they're more interested in DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso. That

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Speaker 1: was something I reported a couple of weeks ago. And

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Speaker 1: I mean, Ac he's the one that got away Laker fans.

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Speaker 1: Still it still bothers them inside the organization. It's still

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Speaker 1: a very divisive topic in terms of his departure and

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Speaker 1: why that happened and who's to blame, and it's just

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Speaker 1: kind of a thorny situation still. And then Damar is

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Speaker 1: someone that the Lakers have courted for several years now,

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Speaker 1: dating back to you know, originally Toronto and then San

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Speaker 1: Antonio and now in Chicago. So also both of those

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Speaker 1: guys are on more manageable contracts. Alex has a partial

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Speaker 1: guarantee for next season, Damar is an expiring contract. So

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Speaker 1: you look at Damar comes in, he's that over the

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Speaker 1: top shot maker that the team seemingly doesn't really have

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Speaker 1: outside of when Lebron's jumper is falling. I think he's

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Speaker 1: someone that could be a crunch time option for them

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Speaker 1: and kind of balance out Lebron's you know, pick and

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Speaker 1: roll attacks. And then Alex Cruso one of the best

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Speaker 1: point of attack defenders in the league, one of the

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Speaker 1: best perimeter defenders in the league period, so we've seen

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Speaker 1: the success he's had next to Lebron in a Lakers jersey.

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Speaker 1: So I think both of those guys make more sense

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Speaker 1: within what the Lakers need. I think with Zach you

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Speaker 1: could see the fit there as the third guy. I

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Speaker 1: think the Lakers haven't had that third reliable offensive option,

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Speaker 1: uh you know this season. I think Austin has grown

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Speaker 1: into that more recently, and that was what we were

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Speaker 1: expecting from Game one, but with the start, you know,

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Speaker 1: the struggles of that starting group, them moving Austin to

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Speaker 1: the bench, I think that they've kind of needed that

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Speaker 1: third guy, and I think Austin could do it. But

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Speaker 1: whether you get Zach, whether you get the mar, whether

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Speaker 1: you get someone else, I do think they could use

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Speaker 1: a boost offensively. So I think there's there's real interest

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Speaker 1: in all three guys, but from what I've been told,

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Speaker 1: Damar and Alex are higher on their priority list.

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Speaker 2: You know, I'm glad to hear you say that, because,

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Speaker 2: like I, here's the thing in a vacuum. I lean

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Speaker 2: Zach for a couple of reasons One, Lebron's gonna have

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Speaker 2: the ball at the end of a lot of these

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Speaker 2: games and in big moments, and he as like I

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Speaker 2: think about like the two man game stuff that Austin

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Speaker 2: and Lebron have had so much success with, like ghost

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Speaker 2: screens and slipping out of it. They did a lot

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Speaker 2: of that in the playoffs last year too. I imagine

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Speaker 2: Zach is kind of a more high powered offensive version

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Speaker 2: of that type of game, and Austin's so good off

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Speaker 2: the ball that that can work great. I also Jamar

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Speaker 2: Derosen as a over the top shot maker. Like last

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Speaker 2: year he made about forty seven percent of his pull

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Speaker 2: up jump shots, which even though he only takes long twos,

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Speaker 2: that's still pretty good. But this year his pull up

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Speaker 2: shooting his way down. And so I just look at

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Speaker 2: like Zach's playing at a level that's a little bit

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Speaker 2: higher than where Damar is right now. I do like

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Speaker 2: Damar as a passer better, and then on ball, I

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Speaker 2: think he just in general is a better half court

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Speaker 2: shot creator than Zach is, but off the ball and

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Speaker 2: playing off of Lebron specifically, I like Zak is a

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Speaker 2: fit better. But the contract stuff that you mentioned is

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Speaker 2: super important. Like you can imagine a scenario where you

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Speaker 2: bring in Damar and then you retain him on a

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Speaker 2: team friendly deal because you have his bird rights and

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Speaker 2: you can bring him back at you know, twenty million

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Speaker 2: for four years or some than like that after the season,

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Speaker 2: Like you have flexibility by bringing in his salary as

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Speaker 2: in expiring in a way that helps you maintain the

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Speaker 2: ability to build around Anthony Davis into the future. So

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Speaker 2: I just think, like, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 2: you bank on a guy like DeMar this initial you know,

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Speaker 2: month or so of the season being kind of fluky,

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Speaker 2: and him getting his shot back and kind of figuring

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Speaker 2: things out, and then that just being a better option

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Speaker 2: for you down the line. The Alex Caruso piece, I think,

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Speaker 2: you know, I don't think it necessarily has to be Alex,

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Speaker 2: but he's the type of player they need, which is

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Speaker 2: like an excellent two way off ball player that can

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Speaker 2: take primary point of attack assignments, can play off of

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Speaker 2: Lebron as a cutter and as a shooter, and just

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Speaker 2: in general, is that like high motor athlete that we've

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Speaker 2: been talking about so much. That said, the problem with

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Speaker 2: Alex specifically is like you think of him as a

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Speaker 2: two next to Austin, and we've already seen kind of

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Speaker 2: with with Torian at the three, it looks a little small,

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Speaker 2: looks a little bit like they struggle rebounding in those situations.

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Speaker 2: Jared in there fixes a lot of the defense and

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Speaker 2: rebound situations, but then you have the offensive questions surrounding him,

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Speaker 2: And so a lot of times I kind of lean

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Speaker 2: more towards looking for a bigger three and d wing

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Speaker 2: because then you can put Torri in at the two,

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Speaker 2: where he's actually been more successful this season. And so

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Speaker 2: in a weird way, like when it comes to the

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Speaker 2: Bowls potential packages, all three of those players kind of

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Speaker 2: have a big kind of like question mark beau Zack's

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Speaker 2: contract and his knee, DeMar's kind of shooting this season,

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Speaker 2: and whatever it would cost to retain him, and then

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Speaker 2: Alex and just whether or not that's exactly the type

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Speaker 2: of player they should be looking at or not. Like

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Speaker 2: so it's complicated, and that just kind of leads me

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Speaker 2: to where if it's the right deal and you don't

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Speaker 2: have to overspend and it makes sense in terms of

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Speaker 2: the salaries, you do it, but you don't overpay for

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Speaker 2: any of those guys. I would look at that as

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Speaker 2: more of a trade of opportunity rather than a trade

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Speaker 2: of aggression, if that makes sense. So that's kind of

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Speaker 2: the direction I look with the Bulls. And then I

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Speaker 2: do think though that you and I have set this

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Speaker 2: in in both of the shows we've done already, and

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Speaker 2: I'm sure you still agree, which is, I do think

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Speaker 2: this team eventually does need to make some sort of trade.

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Speaker 2: I think that that has been kind of, like, you know,

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Speaker 2: one of the safest bets in this NBA season the

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Speaker 2: minute they resigned D'Angelo Russell, And I think that's kind

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Speaker 2: of the direction we're going. Would you agree in that sense? Still?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so, especially with I mean,

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Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll get into the Philly loss and you

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Speaker 1: know Lebron saying they need to make a lot of changes.

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Speaker 3: I think I think something is coming down the road.

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Speaker 2: So moving out of this Philly loss. So they dig

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Speaker 2: a huge hole and then they proceeded to get their

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Speaker 2: butts kicked anyway all the way through to the finish.

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Speaker 2: This third time this happened the season where they dug

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Speaker 2: a big hole and then they weren't able to dig

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Speaker 2: out of it. They kind of got killed when Sacramento

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Speaker 2: came into town about a week ago or a week

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Speaker 2: and a half ago, and then when they went into

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Speaker 2: Orlando this happened, and then going into Philly this happened.

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Speaker 2: But one of the consistent themes throughout the season is

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Speaker 2: they've dug holes even in their wins and even in

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Speaker 2: the games they've had a chance to win. I dug

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Speaker 2: into the today because I wanted to kind of demonstrate

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Speaker 2: this because it really is insane. They beat Houston about

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Speaker 2: a week ago, they dug an eleven point hole in

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Speaker 2: that game. They beat Portland, they dug an eight point

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Speaker 2: hole in that game, which again not that big of

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Speaker 2: a hole. But against Portland, it's like, why why are

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Speaker 2: you going down by eight against Portland? Like that just

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Speaker 2: should not happen. Right the second win against Phoenix, they

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Speaker 2: dug a fourteen point hole in that game. When they

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Speaker 2: beat the Clippers, they dug a nineteen point hole in

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Speaker 2: that game. When they beat the Orlando Magic at home

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Speaker 2: in the game early in the season, they dug a

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Speaker 2: eight point hole in the second half of that game.

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Speaker 2: When they beat Phoenix the first time, they dug a

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Speaker 2: twelve point hole in that game. Even in the clutch

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Speaker 2: lost to Dallas, which they led in the final minute

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Speaker 2: and lost on a Kyrie Irving game winning three. They

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Speaker 2: dug a twenty point hole in that game. The Miami

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Speaker 2: Heat game where we had Cam Reddish miss the wide

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Speaker 2: open three and Austin Reeves missed a couple of really

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Speaker 2: good looks down the stretch. They dug a twelve point

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Speaker 2: hole in that game. In the Sacramento loss at the

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Speaker 2: one that went to ot early in the season, they

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Speaker 2: dug a fifteen point hole in that game and still

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Speaker 2: had a chance to win it late.

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Speaker 3: And so like you basically listed every game at this point.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, like six of their ten wins they dug substantial holes,

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Speaker 2: and they are seven and three in crunch time. They've

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Speaker 2: been one of the very they have been the fourth

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Speaker 2: best clutch team in the league by net rating. They've

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Speaker 2: been excellent on both ends of the floor. And literally

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Speaker 2: all three of their losses they frantically dug out of

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Speaker 2: a hole and then barely lost and had a chance

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Speaker 2: to win. And so, like you know, it's one of

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Speaker 2: those things where I think, and this is I want

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Speaker 2: to I want to get into this for a little

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Speaker 2: bit because I find it to be really fascinating. So

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Speaker 2: before we get into some of the details, I just

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Speaker 2: want to ask you this is the team aware that

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Speaker 2: this specifically is a problem. Are they doing anything to

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Speaker 2: address it or are they downplaying it within the locker room?

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think them trying to address it was

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Speaker 1: moving Austin Reeves to the bench and playing some of

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Speaker 1: the bigger lineups that you've seen recently with Tory and

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Speaker 1: Prince at the two. Now the last couple of games,

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Speaker 1: they've been limited in terms of lineup flexibility with so

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Speaker 1: many guys being out, particularly I mean Bandos missed the

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Speaker 1: whole season, ruly has now missed almost half the season

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Speaker 1: with how many games he's been out. Cam's missed the

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Speaker 1: last three games. So those are three bigger, rangier wings

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Speaker 1: that I think give you a certain level of lineup flexibility.

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Speaker 1: This team has shown through the first eighteen games that

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Speaker 1: they play better, bigger, like that that is their identity,

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Speaker 1: kind of similar to last season, similar to the twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty team, Like they've played better with a defensive identity,

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Speaker 1: more size on the floor, just kind of mashing you.

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Speaker 1: You've seen that the rebounding has picked up. They haven't

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Speaker 1: been as susceptible to giving up offensive rebounds, second chance

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Speaker 1: points when they've had at least kind of like a

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Speaker 1: ten man rotation. So I think there are some positive

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Speaker 1: trends there, but the slow starts, and based on Lebron's

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Speaker 1: comments last night, like I have to wonder if they

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Speaker 1: consider a starting lineup change again and whether that's Torian,

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Speaker 1: whether that's de Lo. You know, I would suspect probably

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Speaker 1: more likely Torian than Dlo, but like something's got to

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Speaker 1: change where you can't keep getting down, Like I think

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Speaker 1: Darvin has kind of downplayed it in some of his

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Speaker 1: comments with us in the rest of the media in

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Speaker 1: terms of, you know, it's not about who starts, it's

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Speaker 1: about who closes, and like you know, he'll look for

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Speaker 1: kind of reasons to justify it at times. But it's

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Speaker 1: a problem if you're consistently down eight to twelve to

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Speaker 1: upwards of fifteen or even twenty points in the first quarter,

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Speaker 1: and we know Lebron and ad are the starting locks.

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Speaker 3: Those guys are good.

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Speaker 1: I think Max has played pretty well over the last

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Speaker 1: couple of games as a spot starter, so I think

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Speaker 1: you have to look at Torrian has really struggled at

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Speaker 1: the three spot. He's shooting under thirty percent on threes,

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Speaker 1: So I think that's something longer term. Where is cam

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Speaker 1: you know, this camera place him. I think Van Do

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Speaker 1: is going to go back to starting ultimately, but the

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Speaker 1: Lakers I think have to probably make another starting lineup

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Speaker 1: change at some point, or at least something within the

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Speaker 1: early parts of the rotation because right now, those first

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Speaker 1: six to eight minutes every game, consistently, they're just getting outplayed.

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Speaker 1: And it's not like, again, you know that they're down

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Speaker 1: twelve to eight, like a lot of times it's twenty

434
00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,280
Speaker 1: two to eight or something along those lines. So like

435
00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,520
Speaker 1: that is a consistent problem that has hurt them all season,

436
00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:27,600
Speaker 1: and I think last night was kind of the nader

437
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:31,280
Speaker 1: of the season and you got to really, I think

438
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,400
Speaker 1: evaluate or reevaluate at some point because this isn't again,

439
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,960
Speaker 1: this isn't a four game sample, a six game sample,

440
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,280
Speaker 1: an eight game sample. This has been eighteen games of

441
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,840
Speaker 1: thirteen fourteen of those they've trailed by double digits.

442
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, So that specifically is the part that's difficult to

443
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,520
Speaker 2: parse out right is how much of it is related

444
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,560
Speaker 2: to legitimate personnel weaknesses and how much of it is

445
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:57,960
Speaker 2: related to effort. And I do think it's a little

446
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,520
Speaker 2: bit of both, but like when I watched the film,

447
00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:05,480
Speaker 2: it's consistently a lack of effort to start games. And

448
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 2: one of the problems they have is Anthony Davis can

449
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,919
Speaker 2: ebb and flow an effort. Now, his lower defensive effort

450
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:17,399
Speaker 2: is still deeply impactful compared to the vast majority of

451
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,639
Speaker 2: defensive players in the NBA, but even he can kind

452
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 2: of ebb and flow, like I thought, I thought he

453
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 2: was generally just not really fighting to hold his ground

454
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,359
Speaker 2: against Embiid at all last night's game, as Embiid was

455
00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:31,480
Speaker 2: trying to basically bully him to the basket. He just

456
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:33,840
Speaker 2: kind of was tissue paper in a lot of ways.

457
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,560
Speaker 2: And I've just seen I've seen ad do a much

458
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 2: better job on Embiid than he did in that game.

459
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,439
Speaker 2: Lebron James in particular was making zero efforts off the

460
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,399
Speaker 2: ball to start last night's game, and then D'Angelo Russell

461
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,679
Speaker 2: in particular was really really struggling, and so some of

462
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 2: that you got to accept as the reality of the

463
00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,239
Speaker 2: short term. Austin has become a better defensive player than

464
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,560
Speaker 2: d Lo. Over the past few weeks, we've criticized Austin

465
00:22:57,800 --> 00:22:59,920
Speaker 2: for his defense to start the year. I believe that

466
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 2: his criticisms were legitimate. His activity on the glass and

467
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,320
Speaker 2: defensively at the point of attack has gone up a

468
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,800
Speaker 2: level over the last couple of weeks. D'Angelo Russell is

469
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:09,840
Speaker 2: more or less where he's been the entire season. And

470
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:13,280
Speaker 2: so when you start games out with D'Angelo Russell and

471
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 2: Lebron James, is two guys that are kind of just

472
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 2: feeling things out right and not really doing much. Anthony

473
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,959
Speaker 2: Davis defending, but not all world Anthony Davis that we

474
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 2: know he's capable of being. And then you have one

475
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,600
Speaker 2: high motor guy in Nex Christie out there and then

476
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,639
Speaker 2: Torrean Prince, who's an average athlete with an average motor.

477
00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,880
Speaker 2: I think that specifically is a recipe for a disaster. Now,

478
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 2: the obvious solution is if you were to bring Jared

479
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,520
Speaker 2: Vanderbilt into that situation, you have your high motor athlete.

480
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,120
Speaker 2: But we saw the Sixers last night do a lot

481
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:44,760
Speaker 2: of ignoring Max Christi, in particular in the early portion

482
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 2: of the game, and they're certainly going to do the

483
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:48,560
Speaker 2: same thing with Cam Reddish, and they're certainly going to

484
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 2: do the same thing with Jared Vanderbilt. Around the league,

485
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,040
Speaker 2: and so then you run into this issue where maybe

486
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,280
Speaker 2: you bring in the athleticism and motor that you need

487
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 2: in the starting lineup, but now you run into problems

488
00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:01,080
Speaker 2: with the offense and just the s in general. And

489
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:04,240
Speaker 2: so they're not gonna move Austin into Delo's position, even

490
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,680
Speaker 2: though Austin's been playing better than Dlo because of all

491
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,880
Speaker 2: of the reasons that we've discussed in the past involving

492
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,320
Speaker 2: the ego, and so some of this is like I

493
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:14,800
Speaker 2: have to almost tell Laker fans like they're the Lakers

494
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:19,159
Speaker 2: are telling you through their effort that they don't really

495
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,760
Speaker 2: view this as all that important. And part of it

496
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,280
Speaker 2: is like they literally were blow five hundred all year

497
00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:29,240
Speaker 2: last year and made the Western Conference Finals. So this

498
00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 2: is a team that like never really truly feels threatened

499
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,119
Speaker 2: during the regular season. So as fans, you got to

500
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,880
Speaker 2: adjust your expectations in a lot of ways because they

501
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 2: do not have an easy personnel fix to this problem.

502
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:45,280
Speaker 2: After the deadline, if they do upgrade d Loo into

503
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 2: a high motor athlete, now you're in a situation where

504
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,200
Speaker 2: it could be Austin Reeves as a starting guard who

505
00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:53,960
Speaker 2: is playing better. In the details, than d Loo is right,

506
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,240
Speaker 2: you have Jared Vanderbilt in the starting lineup, you have

507
00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 2: a guy who's a much better offensive player, two way

508
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,160
Speaker 2: play athlete at the two that you get back from

509
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 2: d Lo, and then you have Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Suddenly,

510
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:07,560
Speaker 2: I think you would have a much easier time floating

511
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:09,920
Speaker 2: the night and night out efforts stuff in the regular season.

512
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,560
Speaker 2: But that's not happened until February, and so like at

513
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,360
Speaker 2: a certain point, like I kind of just think this

514
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,600
Speaker 2: is what they're gonna be until then, because they're always

515
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 2: gonna be in this predicament of their high motor guys

516
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 2: can't score, and when they put their offensive guys on

517
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,440
Speaker 2: the floor, they don't play hard enough. But then again,

518
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,520
Speaker 2: we see every single game they're the second best defense

519
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,120
Speaker 2: in the NBA and second halves this year, so much

520
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,439
Speaker 2: so that they were before the Philly game, and then

521
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 2: even though they got boat raced in the second half

522
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 2: of the Philly game and give up a million points,

523
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,639
Speaker 2: they're still the second best defense in the league in

524
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,080
Speaker 2: second halves. They eventually lock in. They just don't do

525
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:47,560
Speaker 2: it until it's like, Okay, we absolutely have to now

526
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,800
Speaker 2: if we're gonna have any chance to win this game.

527
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 2: And then you even see d Lo and you even

528
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,440
Speaker 2: see Lebron and some of the lower level guys start

529
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:56,760
Speaker 2: to make additional efforts and make plays, and so like,

530
00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:58,640
Speaker 2: some of this is just you got to accept the reality.

531
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,040
Speaker 2: But counterpoint is who won the title last year? A

532
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 2: one seed Denver Nuggets, who won the title the year

533
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:06,719
Speaker 2: before that, A one seed the Golden State Warriors who

534
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 2: won the title the year before that. A one seed

535
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 2: the Milwaukee Bucks who won the title book the year

536
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:14,719
Speaker 2: before that, a one seed the Los Angeleslikers. So like

537
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 2: NBA history tells us, like, if you want a chill, yeah,

538
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,240
Speaker 2: you can do a playoff run, and you might be

539
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:21,760
Speaker 2: able to make it to the finals or make it

540
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 2: to the Western Conference finals. But the team that wins

541
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 2: is the team that from day one of the NBA

542
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,439
Speaker 2: season to the end of the regular season goes. We

543
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,760
Speaker 2: are using this eighty two to practice being awesome at

544
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,520
Speaker 2: basketball so that when we get to the playoffs, we're

545
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,120
Speaker 2: ready for this. And so, like I would just say,

546
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:43,080
Speaker 2: from a strictly basketball character standpoint, this team is throwing

547
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,200
Speaker 2: up all sorts of red flags that they don't give

548
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,960
Speaker 2: a shit and at a certain point that should tell

549
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 2: us a lot about what this team is capable of

550
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 2: in the big picture.

551
00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:54,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like they're playing like a team that won the

552
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,920
Speaker 1: championship last year, right and is in its title defense.

553
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,160
Speaker 1: And it kind of reminds me of some of those

554
00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: you know, mid twenty ten Warriors teams that got off

555
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 1: to slower starts in the regular season, or some of

556
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,399
Speaker 1: those early two thousands Lakers teams where you know, the

557
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:14,919
Speaker 1: first year they won the championship, they won sixty seven games,

558
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 1: the next year they won fifty six, and you just

559
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,040
Speaker 1: kind of see that from defending champions where but this

560
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,720
Speaker 1: team isn't a defending champion. Like they had a historic turnaround.

561
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 1: They made the Western Conference finals, had a great finish

562
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:32,320
Speaker 1: to the season, But like I still think, you know,

563
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,680
Speaker 1: you can go one of two ways where they come out.

564
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,320
Speaker 1: Sometimes you'll see a team make a deep playoff run

565
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,160
Speaker 1: and the next year they come out like gangbusters and

566
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:44,280
Speaker 1: they start the season sixteen and four, and you know

567
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:48,680
Speaker 1: they're playing with that hunger of you know, we didn't

568
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,560
Speaker 1: reach our ultimate goal last year, and the Lakers have

569
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,959
Speaker 1: almost come out the opposite way kind of to your point,

570
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:56,520
Speaker 1: and it's sort of like, well, we know we can

571
00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,359
Speaker 1: kind of flip the switch, and they kind of like,

572
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:01,200
Speaker 1: I don't think they did that at the end of

573
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:03,720
Speaker 1: last season, but there were several games last year like

574
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,840
Speaker 1: they kind of had this comeback resilient identity of no

575
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,240
Speaker 1: matter how much they were down, they could turn it up,

576
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 1: ramp it up defensively, get out and transition and overcome that.

577
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,520
Speaker 1: And they had several notable comebacks after the trade deadline

578
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 1: last year.

579
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,679
Speaker 3: And I think that's that's still clearly in their.

580
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,760
Speaker 1: DNA with some of the comeback some of the comebacks

581
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,760
Speaker 1: that they've been able to have this season. But then

582
00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,679
Speaker 1: you run into a really good Philly team that's big,

583
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 1: that has two guys playing at All Star, if not

584
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,880
Speaker 1: all NBA levels and EMBIID and MAXI, and you see

585
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,640
Speaker 1: what happens. You have a historic forty four point loss,

586
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 1: tied for fourth biggest deficit in Lakers history, and the

587
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,600
Speaker 1: worst loss of Lebron James's career. And like, that's what

588
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 1: happens when you don't, as Darvin said, last night, meet

589
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,640
Speaker 1: force with force. So I think that's kind of been

590
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,160
Speaker 1: a consistent trend for them, as you were saying, even

591
00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:59,560
Speaker 1: against the Portlands of the world. It hasn't just been

592
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:03,200
Speaker 1: the Philly and like even the Portland. Like a couple

593
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 1: of those games, it was like they sort of just

594
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 1: one with their talent and just being a much better

595
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 1: team than Portland, even if they aren't trying their hardest.

596
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 1: So this is something they have to address, whether it's

597
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 1: now or down the road. I think it is one

598
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 1: of the things that I've been slightly concerned with to

599
00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 1: start the season.

600
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think if I was coaching the team, what

601
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 2: I would do to float things until the deadline is

602
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 2: when Jared comes back, I'd move Austin into the starting

603
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 2: lineup and I'd go with your same core five that

604
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 2: you ran at the end of last season. Why because

605
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,920
Speaker 2: on a night in, night out, basis Jared bringing that

606
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 2: Austin more or less defending and rebounding the way he

607
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,320
Speaker 2: has over the last couple of weeks. I think there's

608
00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:45,360
Speaker 2: enough of that in that lineup to make it work.

609
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:49,120
Speaker 2: But post deadline, the goal has to be if Austin

610
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,920
Speaker 2: is your one and Lebron's you're four and eighty is

611
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 2: your five. You need two top tier athletes at the

612
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 2: two and the three that are both plus offensive players

613
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 2: just as role player guys. I don't know if that

614
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,000
Speaker 2: ends up being Torrian Prince and Jeremy Grant, or Torrian

615
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 2: Prince and Dorian Finney Smith, or whether it ends up,

616
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,920
Speaker 2: you know, being a Toryan Prince at the three and

617
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:11,200
Speaker 2: getting more of like an athletic guard or somebody like that.

618
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,600
Speaker 2: But you just can't go forward. It's not tenable anymore.

619
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,640
Speaker 2: And the Lebron and ad era to be unathletic in

620
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,520
Speaker 2: your starting lineup, because when you're unathletic and you don't

621
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,400
Speaker 2: play hard, you're gonna get your ass kicked in the

622
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,040
Speaker 2: modern NBA. It really is that. It really is that

623
00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:28,080
Speaker 2: simple to me, and so I'm interested to see how

624
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:30,120
Speaker 2: they address that. I will say the last thing on

625
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 2: this before we move on to our game. Jared Vanderbilt

626
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,640
Speaker 2: will help a lot with this regular season stuff doesn't

627
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 2: have anything to do with their ultimate playoff ceiling in

628
00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,680
Speaker 2: my opinion, unless Jared Vanderbilt turns into a thirty eight

629
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:45,680
Speaker 2: percent corner three point shooter, which I don't think is

630
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,480
Speaker 2: going to happen. So like, I don't think it's a

631
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 2: take about what the Lakers are capable of, but the

632
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 2: night in, night out stuff he's just going to help

633
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:54,720
Speaker 2: so much. I know we've said that like six times

634
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:56,840
Speaker 2: in the show, but it's just important because it is

635
00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,600
Speaker 2: a legitimate loss that this team has been dealing with.

636
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:02,840
Speaker 2: All Right, So we're gonna move forward to this game.

637
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,240
Speaker 2: This game is called something or nothing. Here's what I'm

638
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 2: gonna do. I'm going to give Yovan a trend mostly

639
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,560
Speaker 2: just facts being laid out, and Yovann's gonna tell me

640
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 2: whether or not that trend is something meaning like something

641
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,520
Speaker 2: legitimate that needs to be factored in moving forward, or

642
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,000
Speaker 2: nothing meaning it's just a blip and it's not anything

643
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,320
Speaker 2: to be concerned about and the Lakers shouldn't worry about it.

644
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:31,160
Speaker 2: So our first question, Max Christie and Cam Reddish have

645
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,000
Speaker 2: shown flashes of really high level point of attack defense

646
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 2: even against particularly tough assignments. I think I think that

647
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:39,800
Speaker 2: Max Christie in particular has gone through the ringer in

648
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 2: this last week and has shown some really high level stuff. Obviously,

649
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,040
Speaker 2: that's one of the biggest personnel needs on this roster.

650
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:51,240
Speaker 2: Is that trend something or nothing for the Lakers?

651
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:52,600
Speaker 3: I think it's something.

652
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:56,000
Speaker 1: I think that both guys, I mean, we talked about

653
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 1: before the season, how high both of us were on

654
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 1: Max Christy after his summer league performance, the flashes that

655
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,000
Speaker 1: he showed last season, and I think you've started to

656
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,960
Speaker 1: see that over the past week that he's been thrown

657
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,840
Speaker 1: into the starting group. I still think he has a

658
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,959
Speaker 1: ways to go in terms of his development. But for

659
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 1: a guy who's only twenty years old in his second

660
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 1: NBA season to be defending Donovan Mitchell and hold him

661
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 1: to one of seven shooting and be defending him in

662
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,760
Speaker 1: crunch time, like, I just thought that showed me a lot.

663
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,360
Speaker 1: And then Cam has been a revelation since joining the

664
00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:34,840
Speaker 1: starting lineup, And you know, that was someone that I

665
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,600
Speaker 1: was pretty skeptical of the Cam Retish signing, you know,

666
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:41,560
Speaker 1: based on talking to people who had covered him before,

667
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,360
Speaker 1: been around him before, and just didn't you felt like

668
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:47,640
Speaker 1: he had a very mid range heavy game, and I

669
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:49,440
Speaker 1: think you saw some of that in the preseason, But

670
00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:52,600
Speaker 1: the Lakers have simplified his role as you know, you

671
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 1: are gonna take catch and shoot threes, you will finish

672
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,280
Speaker 1: in transition. You'll get some back cuts and some offensive rebounds,

673
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,320
Speaker 1: but for the most part, like we don't want you

674
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:03,400
Speaker 1: putting the ball on the floor, we don't want you

675
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,960
Speaker 1: taking these pull up mid range jumpers that you love

676
00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,440
Speaker 1: to take, and then defensively, like you're that guy, You're

677
00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 1: our point of attack guy. You're going to guard the

678
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,240
Speaker 1: best perimeter defender, and we want you to focus on

679
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,280
Speaker 1: really just taking threes and you know, defending your ass off.

680
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: And I think he's done that so far. He's I mean,

681
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,320
Speaker 1: before his injury, he had led the league and steals

682
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,120
Speaker 1: in the month of November, and I thought he was

683
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 1: playing at a really really high level and starting to

684
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,200
Speaker 1: kind of actualize his potential.

685
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:32,240
Speaker 3: In the NBA.

686
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,480
Speaker 1: So both of those guys, to me, deserve to be

687
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:39,959
Speaker 1: in the rotation. And I don't know like what that

688
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,400
Speaker 1: means for a guy. Again, we were talking about Torri

689
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 1: and Prince and some of his struggles when Vanda comes back,

690
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 1: like you know, do you just go giant and it's

691
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,240
Speaker 1: maybe fewer minutes for d Lo, fewer minutes for Gabe,

692
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: and just more Austin at the one with these jumbo

693
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 1: lineups of like Austin and Max in the back court,

694
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:01,640
Speaker 1: Austin and Cam the back court, Austin Andrean in the

695
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:05,360
Speaker 1: back court, and you're playing basically, you know, six or

696
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,880
Speaker 1: five and up guys in your rotation, which is something

697
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,800
Speaker 1: we saw the championship team do and have some success

698
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,880
Speaker 1: with for the most part. So I think this is

699
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:15,560
Speaker 1: something for sure.

700
00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:18,840
Speaker 2: So I think it's something within the context of the

701
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 2: regular season in the sense that, like I think both

702
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,480
Speaker 2: Max and Cam have shown that in a night out

703
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:27,839
Speaker 2: night a night in, night out kind of context, they

704
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,359
Speaker 2: can bring effort and energy and they're both great point

705
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,319
Speaker 2: of attack defenders. In my opinion, Cam Reddish coming out

706
00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:36,880
Speaker 2: of college at Duke, that was the most exciting thing

707
00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:40,400
Speaker 2: about him was he was really laterally quick, and he

708
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,759
Speaker 2: had good physical tools, and he could sidle up and

709
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,640
Speaker 2: over screens pretty well. Like that was the number one

710
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:47,640
Speaker 2: thing that stood out about him coming out of out

711
00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:51,280
Speaker 2: of college. Max, as we've talked about, it's the same combination.

712
00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:55,279
Speaker 2: He's surprisingly strong, absorbs contact well, has good length, and

713
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:57,440
Speaker 2: moves his feet really well, and played really hard all

714
00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:00,000
Speaker 2: the time. That said, everything we know about NBA history,

715
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:02,280
Speaker 2: he tells us, if you've got a really young player

716
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:06,080
Speaker 2: that has some offensive limitations that you're relying on in

717
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:08,000
Speaker 2: a postseason series, you might as well just check him

718
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 2: off as being just almost useless, at least within the

719
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:13,399
Speaker 2: context of the important stretches of games. It's one thing

720
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,319
Speaker 2: for them to come off the bench for you know,

721
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,160
Speaker 2: one shift to half and play really hard against the

722
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,839
Speaker 2: bench guy for the other team. But like, I think

723
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,600
Speaker 2: if either I think if the Lakers are expecting that, like, oh,

724
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,520
Speaker 2: Jared's gonna come back and Torrian's gonna move to the

725
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:30,919
Speaker 2: bench and Max or Cam is going to be our two,

726
00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:33,560
Speaker 2: I think that would be a really bad idea. I

727
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 2: think in the big picture, they're both perfectly fine as

728
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:41,320
Speaker 2: bench point of attack guys in the rotation, But relying

729
00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:47,200
Speaker 2: on them to be consistent, starting, starting level production, especially

730
00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 2: as we get into the postseason, I think is I

731
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:51,640
Speaker 2: think that would be nothing like I think. I think

732
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,680
Speaker 2: I think both guys would struggle heavily in a playoff

733
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 2: series in big minutes, is what I'm saying. The second question,

734
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:05,280
Speaker 2: this one, this one's a tough one for me post deadline.

735
00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:10,120
Speaker 2: Last year, in twenty seven games, including seventeen games coming

736
00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 2: off of the BETCH, similar context to what's happening right now,

737
00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,399
Speaker 2: Austin Reeves averaged seventeen points and five assists per game

738
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:20,320
Speaker 2: on seventy three percent through shooting. Last year, in sixteen

739
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:24,160
Speaker 2: playoff games, he averaged seventeen points and five assists on

740
00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:26,480
Speaker 2: sixty two percent through shooting, down from the regular season,

741
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:31,799
Speaker 2: but still excellent. This season, in eighteen games, hasn't missed

742
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:33,200
Speaker 2: a game, so he's had plenty of time to kind

743
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:37,360
Speaker 2: of build rhythm. He's averaging fourteen points and five assists

744
00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:40,399
Speaker 2: per game on fifty eight percent through shooting, which again

745
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:44,000
Speaker 2: is good, but not the Austin that we got accustomed

746
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,759
Speaker 2: to seeing the latter half of last season. He has

747
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,920
Speaker 2: now also entered into another shooting slump. He's shot just

748
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:52,800
Speaker 2: twenty six percent from three over his last seven games.

749
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:55,000
Speaker 2: Is this something or nothing?

750
00:36:58,560 --> 00:36:59,440
Speaker 3: I'm going to say nothing.

751
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:02,759
Speaker 1: I agree with you, like I kind of struggle with

752
00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:07,239
Speaker 1: deciding how I feel about that. I think expecting him

753
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:09,480
Speaker 1: to get back to seventy three percent true shooting is

754
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,600
Speaker 1: that that's a really high level that I don't know

755
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,880
Speaker 1: what was sustainable. I do think in the grand scheme

756
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,840
Speaker 1: he has played better since moving to the bench.

757
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:20,520
Speaker 3: He shot the ball better.

758
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 1: Now, I think you could have moved de Lo to

759
00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:26,160
Speaker 1: the bench and probably had similar, if not better results.

760
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:29,239
Speaker 1: So I don't think it's strictly because the Lakers moved

761
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:30,960
Speaker 1: him to the bench, but it was clear you had

762
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:32,880
Speaker 1: to split those two guys up. And I think Austin

763
00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:35,640
Speaker 1: playing with the ball more in his hands in second units,

764
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:39,440
Speaker 1: playing a little bit more with Lebron closing games. We've

765
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:42,440
Speaker 1: seen he's had some nice closing moments for them in

766
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:43,240
Speaker 1: recent weeks.

767
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:45,520
Speaker 3: So I want to say it's nothing.

768
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:47,920
Speaker 1: I don't think he's going to continue to shoot the

769
00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:51,640
Speaker 1: ball as poorly as he has at several points this season.

770
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,399
Speaker 1: I do think his legs have come back more. You're

771
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,439
Speaker 1: talking about his defense. I think his defense has been better.

772
00:37:56,719 --> 00:38:01,000
Speaker 1: His shot has looked better overall. Like last night, I

773
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,200
Speaker 1: kind of chalk up like that that was an avalanche

774
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,960
Speaker 1: of just you know, Philly was making everything you had.

775
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,319
Speaker 1: Patrick Beverly and Marcus Morris come off the bench and

776
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:15,080
Speaker 1: hit season high, you know, four threes each almost single

777
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:18,160
Speaker 1: handedly out shooting the Lakers, just those two guys. So

778
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 1: it's just like I feel like last night, and really

779
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,640
Speaker 1: we're at the point where a bad shooting night can

780
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,840
Speaker 1: dramatically swing your shooting percentages. Like Max Christy went oh

781
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,240
Speaker 1: for three last night on threes, he dropped from thirty

782
00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:34,800
Speaker 1: five percent three point shooting down to twenty two percent.

783
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:38,120
Speaker 1: So that just shows you, one game can really swing

784
00:38:38,239 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 1: how we view someone's shooting. So with Austin, I think

785
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:44,160
Speaker 1: it's gonna get better. As we're talking about, if this

786
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:47,239
Speaker 1: team makes a move and maybe even slots him more

787
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,439
Speaker 1: as like a fourth option or or like a three

788
00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:53,359
Speaker 1: point five option, I think you could see even better

789
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:54,839
Speaker 1: efficiency numbers with him.

790
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,040
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna say nothing for now.

791
00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,480
Speaker 1: Of course, if this continues for the next twenty games,

792
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:02,279
Speaker 1: I'll probably have a different answer. But I think we've

793
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 1: seen enough of a sample size from Austin that I

794
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:06,320
Speaker 1: don't know if he's gonna get quite two the heights

795
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,560
Speaker 1: of last season of fifty forty ninety seventy three percent

796
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:13,279
Speaker 1: true shooting percentage after the trade deadline. But I do

797
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:16,560
Speaker 1: think he's a better shooter than he showed through the

798
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:17,240
Speaker 1: start of the season.

799
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:18,080
Speaker 3: Yeah.

800
00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:20,719
Speaker 2: See, that's the tough part, is like he's still been

801
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,000
Speaker 2: so good like he the last couple of weeks. I

802
00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:26,800
Speaker 2: would say that Austin was pretty bad to start the

803
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:30,759
Speaker 2: year when you factor in his poor shooting and the

804
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 2: turnovers and what the struggles he was having defensively in

805
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:36,040
Speaker 2: on the glass. What's interesting is like he's kind of

806
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,320
Speaker 2: entered into a little bit more of a shooting slump recently,

807
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,239
Speaker 2: but his playmaking has actually gone up a level. He's

808
00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:43,600
Speaker 2: starting to figure out the reds in the offense set

809
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,200
Speaker 2: at a higher level. He's up over six assists per

810
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:48,680
Speaker 2: game over his last eight if I remember correctly, And

811
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:50,799
Speaker 2: the defense and rebounding stuff has ticked up. And then

812
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:54,799
Speaker 2: you mentioned the crunch time stuff. He's been so unbelievably

813
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,960
Speaker 2: good in crunch time, Like he literally made the biggest

814
00:39:57,960 --> 00:39:59,919
Speaker 2: shout of the game against Houston, he made the read

815
00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:02,560
Speaker 2: to Lebron and those back door cuts against Cleveland. We've

816
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:04,920
Speaker 2: seen him at big time pull up jump shots in

817
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 2: big moments and other clutch games throughout the season. Like

818
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,920
Speaker 2: he's been awesome in so many different ways. That said,

819
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:15,560
Speaker 2: like to me, there's a difference between like Austin being

820
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:18,319
Speaker 2: really good, in Austin being what he's capable of being,

821
00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,480
Speaker 2: which is like what managing Nobili was for those Spurs teams,

822
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:23,680
Speaker 2: which is this guy that doesn't put up the most

823
00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:26,439
Speaker 2: amazing box score numbers ever, but at the same time

824
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:29,680
Speaker 2: is deeply impacting winning on a little bit higher level

825
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:32,440
Speaker 2: than where he is right now. And all I'll say

826
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:37,840
Speaker 2: is that it's nothing. But if this does turn out

827
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:40,200
Speaker 2: to be what he is, which I don't believe. So

828
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 2: I believe he's going to play better in the bigger picture.

829
00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:45,920
Speaker 2: That does change the way we'd have to look at

830
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:47,799
Speaker 2: the outlook for this team, because I do think they

831
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:50,080
Speaker 2: need Austin to be what he was in the playoffs

832
00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:52,799
Speaker 2: last year, if not a little bit better, for the

833
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:54,640
Speaker 2: Lakers to have a good chance to win the title

834
00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,400
Speaker 2: this season. But I did think it was interesting to

835
00:40:57,400 --> 00:40:59,560
Speaker 2: look back at those numbers, and what's crazy with Austin

836
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:01,879
Speaker 2: is like fifty eight percent true shooting, and we're talking

837
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:03,759
Speaker 2: about him like he's having a way down year, as

838
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:06,200
Speaker 2: if that's not like incredible in the you know, over

839
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 2: league average. All right, here's our here's our last question.

840
00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:14,560
Speaker 2: The Lakers have played the fourth toughest schedule in the

841
00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:17,520
Speaker 2: NBA this season so far, with opponents having won fifty

842
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:21,200
Speaker 2: three percent of their games. They have the ninth easiest

843
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,480
Speaker 2: remaining schedule As a result of that, Jared Vanderbilt has

844
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:28,280
Speaker 2: not played yet. Ruey Hatchamura has only played two hundred

845
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:31,120
Speaker 2: and seventy nine minutes out of the eight hundred and

846
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,799
Speaker 2: seventy four that the Lakers have played. Gabe Vincent has

847
00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:38,520
Speaker 2: only played one hundred and thirteen minutes. They are well

848
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:42,520
Speaker 2: positioned for mid season trade. And despite all of that,

849
00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 2: they are ten and eight and are just three and

850
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,000
Speaker 2: a half games back at the number one overall seed.

851
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,480
Speaker 2: And they have several really positive trends in my opinion,

852
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 2: with Lebron's jump shooting, which he's been at one point

853
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:57,920
Speaker 2: zero nine points per jump shot, which is way up

854
00:41:57,960 --> 00:41:59,680
Speaker 2: from last year and right about where you need him

855
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:02,280
Speaker 2: to be. And Anthony Davis is having the best post

856
00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:05,200
Speaker 2: up season of his career, in large part fueled by

857
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:07,719
Speaker 2: him hitting every single hook shot that he's taking, like

858
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:12,760
Speaker 2: damn near jokicesk. Everything I just said, is that something

859
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:14,200
Speaker 2: or is that nothing?

860
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:17,720
Speaker 3: It's something. I think it's something.

861
00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 1: I will say one thing that I've been a little

862
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:26,440
Speaker 1: discouraged by is they're five and eight against teams that

863
00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:29,800
Speaker 1: are five hundred or better and five and zero against

864
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:33,080
Speaker 1: teams below five hundred. So on the one hand, it

865
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:35,399
Speaker 1: is encouraging to see them taking care of business. They're

866
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:39,200
Speaker 1: beating the teams they should beat. They've beaten those teams

867
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:43,239
Speaker 1: in impressive fashion. Thinking about the Utah win, the Memphis win,

868
00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:46,719
Speaker 1: and they've taken care of business, particularly in the N

869
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,799
Speaker 1: Season Tournament, which is it feels like if you called

870
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,000
Speaker 1: every game an N Season Tournament game.

871
00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:54,920
Speaker 3: All of a sudden, this team looks like world beaters.

872
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,600
Speaker 1: But I think some of the losses against the better teams,

873
00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:00,560
Speaker 1: like I want to see some.

874
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:01,600
Speaker 3: More impressive wins.

875
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:03,839
Speaker 1: I thought the Cleveland win was impressive, the Houston win

876
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:06,960
Speaker 1: was impressive, but then I also look at the Philly

877
00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:09,719
Speaker 1: shillacking and like that to me, I don't want to

878
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,000
Speaker 1: read too much into a regular season result, but like

879
00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:15,520
Speaker 1: even the I mean, Darvin kind of called it out

880
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,600
Speaker 1: last night, but like even the rookies came in and

881
00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:22,600
Speaker 1: weren't giving maximum effort. You had that Mobaba dunk late

882
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:24,600
Speaker 1: in the game, and it was just like even with

883
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:27,960
Speaker 1: them beat out, they were outscored forty to fourteen in

884
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:32,120
Speaker 1: that fourth quarter, and Philly's third unit was kicking their

885
00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:32,920
Speaker 1: third units.

886
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,600
Speaker 3: But so to me, like I do want to see

887
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:36,520
Speaker 3: more of that care factor.

888
00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:38,520
Speaker 1: I do want to see them take the regular season

889
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:41,440
Speaker 1: and these first quarters more seriously. But to your point,

890
00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:44,279
Speaker 1: with how difficult the schedule's been, with how many guys

891
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:46,399
Speaker 1: they've had out and really critical guys, because I think

892
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:50,200
Speaker 1: this roster, while it is deep. They clearly have guys

893
00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:53,400
Speaker 1: in specific roles and the roles that they've been missing.

894
00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:56,640
Speaker 1: Like on paper, before Cam Reddish kind of broke out,

895
00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:59,600
Speaker 1: we would have said Jared Vanderbilt and Gave Vincent were

896
00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:03,719
Speaker 1: they're too best perimeter defenders taking ad aside, but when

897
00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,600
Speaker 1: he has the guard wings. But like Vanderbilt and Vincent

898
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:09,480
Speaker 1: being out, I think has really compromised their Primmeter defense.

899
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:12,319
Speaker 1: And even with that, they've been so good defensively over

900
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:14,880
Speaker 1: the last ten games or so and that's kind of

901
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,560
Speaker 1: become their calling card again. So for me, I think

902
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,120
Speaker 1: it is something that this team, as you said, has

903
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 1: as a much easier schedule moving forward.

904
00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:24,719
Speaker 3: You know, they're basically on the road for a.

905
00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,080
Speaker 1: Month if you look at their schedule, kind of starting

906
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:30,319
Speaker 1: with this road trip and then their home Saturday against

907
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:31,759
Speaker 1: the Rockets. They their home next week for the n

908
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:34,319
Speaker 1: Season Tournament, but then they go Vegas, then they got

909
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:36,879
Speaker 1: Dallas and San Antonio and like they got several road

910
00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:41,560
Speaker 1: trips in December. Once they get through that, it's a

911
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:44,839
Speaker 1: lot easier. So I think this is a team that

912
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,239
Speaker 1: is going through it right now, but they're going to

913
00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:51,080
Speaker 1: figure it out. I still think they'll be in that

914
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:54,439
Speaker 1: playoff top six. It's just a matter of how high

915
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:56,960
Speaker 1: is the ceiling, and that is something that we got

916
00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:58,600
Speaker 1: to see what they look like when they get their

917
00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:00,759
Speaker 1: guys back, and then on top of that, what do

918
00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:03,759
Speaker 1: they need and do they ultimately make a move. I

919
00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:05,839
Speaker 1: think we both are in agreement that they will. What

920
00:45:05,880 --> 00:45:07,480
Speaker 1: does that move look like and how much does that

921
00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:08,200
Speaker 1: raise their ceiling.

922
00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:11,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny because the Philly game in particular, I

923
00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:15,440
Speaker 2: just don't care all that much about because it's not

924
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:17,920
Speaker 2: like we're watching that game and like, oh, they're completely overmatched.

925
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,799
Speaker 2: Like I even't felt in any of these losses to

926
00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,160
Speaker 2: the good teams that the Lakers are overmatched. I haven't

927
00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:25,799
Speaker 2: felt that way. And like, and you know, the NBA

928
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:27,719
Speaker 2: is kind of weird like that, where it's like, yeah,

929
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:30,759
Speaker 2: the Lakers also just had a really impressive road win

930
00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:34,600
Speaker 2: over the Cleveland Cavaliers, that same Cleveland Cavaliers team that

931
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:37,160
Speaker 2: just went into Philly and beat Philly that you know,

932
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:40,400
Speaker 2: and like, and I'm pretty sure that if I remember correctly,

933
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:42,880
Speaker 2: Donovan Mitchell didn't even play in that game, and so like,

934
00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:44,799
Speaker 2: like that's just kind of how things go. Like the

935
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:46,920
Speaker 2: game last week where the Kings came in and just

936
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:49,560
Speaker 2: and just beat their ass. Like, have you looked at

937
00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:52,520
Speaker 2: the Kings this season, Like outside of the two Pelicans

938
00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:56,080
Speaker 2: losses last week, they've they've kicked everyone's ass, including a

939
00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:58,000
Speaker 2: bunch of good teams. Like they're just playing really good

940
00:45:58,000 --> 00:45:59,960
Speaker 2: basketball right now. Like a lot of this is just

941
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:02,360
Speaker 2: kind of how the NBA regular season goes, which is

942
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:04,839
Speaker 2: why we talked about that set of trends like this

943
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,200
Speaker 2: is not this is you know, because I've heard a

944
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:10,480
Speaker 2: lot of Lakers fans use the phrase, oh, another fake comeback.

945
00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:12,279
Speaker 2: These are not fake comebacks. You know how I know

946
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:15,040
Speaker 2: because I remember the fake comebacks last year. The fake

947
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:19,400
Speaker 2: comebacks were like they're completely overmatched and are terrible, and

948
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:21,759
Speaker 2: then they just play harder and they get it back

949
00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:24,960
Speaker 2: to like eight, and then they end up losing by eleven,

950
00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:27,319
Speaker 2: and everyone's like, oh, they got it from twenty seven

951
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:29,680
Speaker 2: to eight. That's a fake comeback. Yeah, one hundred percent

952
00:46:29,719 --> 00:46:32,600
Speaker 2: agree with you. These are like they're in position to

953
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:34,840
Speaker 2: win a lot of these games. They won six of

954
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,640
Speaker 2: them and they almost won another three where they so

955
00:46:37,719 --> 00:46:40,759
Speaker 2: like this is literally like a matter of effort. They

956
00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:43,760
Speaker 2: have been one of the very best second half teams

957
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:46,799
Speaker 2: in the NBA, and they have fared extremely well in

958
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:49,560
Speaker 2: slow down half court environments against the best teams in

959
00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:52,480
Speaker 2: the league. They've done well. This is literally an issue

960
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:56,160
Speaker 2: with effort and focus and energy and athleticism during the

961
00:46:56,640 --> 00:46:59,359
Speaker 2: during the larger portions of games, especially in the early

962
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:03,400
Speaker 2: portions of and so like, here's the thing. Would I

963
00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:05,239
Speaker 2: feel a hell of a lot better about them if

964
00:47:05,239 --> 00:47:06,960
Speaker 2: they were twenty four and three like they were in

965
00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:09,960
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty season. Absolutely. That's why I'm out over

966
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:12,160
Speaker 2: here saying the Lakers are the championship favor They're not.

967
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:14,960
Speaker 2: I have them as a lower level team in the

968
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:19,480
Speaker 2: championship contender tier because they have the tools, they have personnel,

969
00:47:19,560 --> 00:47:21,920
Speaker 2: things that they can implement in a playoff series that

970
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:24,279
Speaker 2: other teams cannot do. That is why they have the

971
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:27,560
Speaker 2: capability of winning a championship. But for me to really

972
00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:29,960
Speaker 2: get behind this team, they need to have an extended

973
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:32,200
Speaker 2: stretch where they look like a championship team. And so

974
00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:34,920
Speaker 2: far to this point, as a result of the injuries,

975
00:47:35,160 --> 00:47:37,760
Speaker 2: as a result of the schedule and as a result

976
00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:41,880
Speaker 2: of some really poor effort, they've looked underwhelming. But in

977
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:44,640
Speaker 2: spite of that, they're ten and eight, instilling in striking

978
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:46,399
Speaker 2: distance to make moves. So I think in general, it's

979
00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:48,920
Speaker 2: one of those things where, like my feelings about the

980
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:52,240
Speaker 2: Lakers in the big picture haven't changed all that much

981
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:55,840
Speaker 2: except for that it just kind of looks like a

982
00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:58,560
Speaker 2: lower level of focus than you would hope for from

983
00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:01,560
Speaker 2: a traditional NBA champion. But I haven't seen like major

984
00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:03,879
Speaker 2: personnel things splash off the screen where I'm like, oh,

985
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:06,600
Speaker 2: like that's new. I don't think they can overcome that.

986
00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:08,520
Speaker 2: Like I haven't felt that way. Have you felt that

987
00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:09,040
Speaker 2: way at all?

988
00:48:10,080 --> 00:48:12,520
Speaker 1: The one the one thing that I'm concerned with, and

989
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:15,000
Speaker 1: this has been a concern for me going on several

990
00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:19,080
Speaker 1: years now, is the three point shooting. And part of that,

991
00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:21,319
Speaker 1: I think there's a trickle down effect that you know,

992
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:25,160
Speaker 1: people don't really factor in where you play better defense,

993
00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:28,919
Speaker 1: you're gonna get better shots offense. Like it's just kind

994
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:31,759
Speaker 1: of it's it's a it's a yo yo, where like

995
00:48:32,040 --> 00:48:34,400
Speaker 1: I think, you you know, put better defensive players on

996
00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:37,880
Speaker 1: the floor, like theoretically, you know that that's gonna stop

997
00:48:37,960 --> 00:48:39,920
Speaker 1: teams from scoring as much, and then you know you're

998
00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:42,560
Speaker 1: able to get out and transition and get easier baskets

999
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:43,319
Speaker 1: and like so.

1000
00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:46,480
Speaker 3: I think offensively some of the concerns will.

1001
00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:48,799
Speaker 1: Just kind of be ironed out by getting Van Do

1002
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:51,880
Speaker 1: go back eventually and game and et cetera. But I

1003
00:48:51,920 --> 00:48:54,160
Speaker 1: do think the three point shooting is a concern for

1004
00:48:54,239 --> 00:48:58,920
Speaker 1: me looking at you know, after last night, they're thirtieth

1005
00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:01,839
Speaker 1: in the league, makes per game, can't get any worse

1006
00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:05,840
Speaker 1: than that, twenty ninth in attempts per game, and I

1007
00:49:05,920 --> 00:49:11,000
Speaker 1: think they're they're twenty sixth in percentage. So to me,

1008
00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:14,200
Speaker 1: like that is something where you cannot win a championship

1009
00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:16,680
Speaker 1: as a bottom five three point shooting team and all

1010
00:49:16,719 --> 00:49:17,799
Speaker 1: three of those categories.

1011
00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:21,680
Speaker 3: So and I know some of that is it's it's.

1012
00:49:21,640 --> 00:49:25,640
Speaker 1: Variance, and you know they're gonna regress positively, and I

1013
00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:28,319
Speaker 1: you know they're not a bottom five three point shooting team,

1014
00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:32,359
Speaker 1: but if they're closer to that, like twentieth best three

1015
00:49:32,360 --> 00:49:34,799
Speaker 1: point shooting team, I do think that's a concern in

1016
00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:37,960
Speaker 1: a playoff setting. And again, maybe they address that with

1017
00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:40,080
Speaker 1: what the moves they make at the trade headline. They

1018
00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:43,080
Speaker 1: bring in a couple of shooters and it looks a

1019
00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:45,680
Speaker 1: lot better, But to me, there has to be a

1020
00:49:45,719 --> 00:49:48,520
Speaker 1: certain level of shot making that hasn't always been there

1021
00:49:48,719 --> 00:49:52,160
Speaker 1: with this group, and so that that would be my

1022
00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:55,080
Speaker 1: kind of only real concern through these first eighteen games

1023
00:49:55,160 --> 00:49:57,239
Speaker 1: is like you have a guy like Torrian coming in

1024
00:49:57,560 --> 00:49:59,960
Speaker 1: career thirty eight percent three point shooter. He's shooting on

1025
00:50:00,160 --> 00:50:02,359
Speaker 1: thirty percent, and I think that's going to get better.

1026
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:04,520
Speaker 1: But we've also seen guys come to LA and just

1027
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:07,880
Speaker 1: for whatever reason not shoot the ball as well as

1028
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:10,000
Speaker 1: they normally do in other spots. Like I look at

1029
00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:12,960
Speaker 1: Pat Beverley last year, Like Pat was quietly a near

1030
00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:16,040
Speaker 1: forty percent three point shooter the last few years before

1031
00:50:16,080 --> 00:50:18,400
Speaker 1: coming to LA. He comes in and just can't make

1032
00:50:18,440 --> 00:50:22,239
Speaker 1: a shot. So I mean, Beasley thirty five percent with

1033
00:50:22,239 --> 00:50:24,840
Speaker 1: the Lakers last year, forty five percent right now with Milwaukee.

1034
00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:26,600
Speaker 1: So like, for whatever reason, I don't know if it's

1035
00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:28,200
Speaker 1: the lights, I don't know if it's playing with Lebron

1036
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:31,239
Speaker 1: or a combination, but like, guys just don't shoot the

1037
00:50:31,280 --> 00:50:34,480
Speaker 1: ball as well in LA as they do in other spots,

1038
00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:37,080
Speaker 1: And that to me is the one concern of just like,

1039
00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:40,120
Speaker 1: clearly they can still win games not shooting the ball well,

1040
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:43,680
Speaker 1: but to me, like it has to get at least

1041
00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:46,880
Speaker 1: closer to league average for me to have more confidence

1042
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:49,480
Speaker 1: in their playoff offense because right now that that's kind

1043
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:51,160
Speaker 1: of the one area I'm a bit concerned with.

1044
00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:54,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I think the one thing I'll say

1045
00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:59,000
Speaker 2: that gives me a less trepidation surrounding the shooting is

1046
00:50:59,160 --> 00:51:02,360
Speaker 2: just what the core five will look like down the line.

1047
00:51:02,560 --> 00:51:05,600
Speaker 2: Like if the core five down the line ends up

1048
00:51:05,640 --> 00:51:09,960
Speaker 2: being Austin Reeves with Torreon Prince at the two and

1049
00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:12,920
Speaker 2: player to be named later, who's a good shooter that

1050
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:15,279
Speaker 2: can defend that you get back at the trade deadline.

1051
00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:18,240
Speaker 2: With Lebron the way he's shooting the season in Anthony Davis,

1052
00:51:18,480 --> 00:51:20,320
Speaker 2: I don't think spacing is going to be a concern

1053
00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:23,839
Speaker 2: in the important stretches of games, you know, down the line.

1054
00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:26,520
Speaker 2: I do think from a process standpoint, i'd like to

1055
00:51:26,520 --> 00:51:29,719
Speaker 2: see the Lakers take more threes. Specifically, I was thinking

1056
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:31,839
Speaker 2: about that in the Sixers game last night, where it's

1057
00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:34,919
Speaker 2: like when Lebron James and Anthony Davis play with real

1058
00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:38,919
Speaker 2: downhill force, which they do whenever they need to, they

1059
00:51:39,120 --> 00:51:41,320
Speaker 2: don't really need to shoot, like it's just not necessary.

1060
00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:44,040
Speaker 2: They're just so damn good at getting downhill to the rim.

1061
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:47,400
Speaker 2: But in the line in the In the rest of

1062
00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:50,000
Speaker 2: these portions of games, when they're kind of in chill mode,

1063
00:51:50,160 --> 00:51:53,280
Speaker 2: I'd almost like to see more guys taking threes because

1064
00:51:53,560 --> 00:51:56,560
Speaker 2: just in sheer attempts, they're just not taking enough. Like

1065
00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:59,560
Speaker 2: they're they're like right around I think twenty nine three

1066
00:51:59,560 --> 00:52:01,440
Speaker 2: point of ten per one hundred possessions. Them and the

1067
00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:03,399
Speaker 2: Pistons are the only teams in the league taking less

1068
00:52:03,400 --> 00:52:06,480
Speaker 2: than thirty. Like you need to be just from a

1069
00:52:06,520 --> 00:52:10,440
Speaker 2: shot value standpoint, taking more of them, and like you

1070
00:52:10,480 --> 00:52:12,400
Speaker 2: almost think of it as like a floor balanced thing,

1071
00:52:12,440 --> 00:52:14,120
Speaker 2: like set your defense up so that you can get

1072
00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:17,480
Speaker 2: back and transition off a long rebound and take more threes.

1073
00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:20,759
Speaker 2: It because just from the standpoint of shot value, when

1074
00:52:21,239 --> 00:52:23,239
Speaker 2: when you come off of a screen and you gotta look,

1075
00:52:23,560 --> 00:52:25,560
Speaker 2: just take it instead of just like you know, kind

1076
00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:27,439
Speaker 2: of hesitating and then swinging the ball for the next

1077
00:52:27,440 --> 00:52:28,680
Speaker 2: guy to do the same thing, you know what I mean.

1078
00:52:28,719 --> 00:52:30,520
Speaker 2: I'd like to see them push their volume a little bit.

1079
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:32,160
Speaker 2: But as long as they can come up with a

1080
00:52:32,239 --> 00:52:34,759
Speaker 2: core five where you have to guard all the guys,

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00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:37,640
Speaker 2: I think I think they're fine in the big picture.

1082
00:52:38,480 --> 00:52:40,279
Speaker 2: Is there anything else you wanted to plug before we

1083
00:52:40,280 --> 00:52:41,080
Speaker 2: get out of here today.

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00:52:42,239 --> 00:52:46,120
Speaker 1: No just at yovan Buja and all social platforms and

1085
00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:47,560
Speaker 1: read my work at the Athletic.

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00:52:48,320 --> 00:52:50,600
Speaker 2: All right, man, this was awesome as usual. We will

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00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:53,000
Speaker 2: be having you on again next week as always. We

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00:52:53,040 --> 00:52:55,040
Speaker 2: appreciate all of you guys for supporting us and for

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00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:57,279
Speaker 2: supporting the show and we will see you guys tomorrow.

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00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:25,000
Speaker 2: The volume