WEBVTT - Magic/Lakers Postgame Spaces 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:18.160 Mmmm. Welcome to the State of the Lakers on Dad Purdie. 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:19.840 Thank you guys so much for coming to hang out 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.360 on a Sunday night. Your Los Angeles Lakers are five 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.760 and two in their last seven games, starting to look 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.080 a lot more like the team that they that we 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:29.840 hoped they would be. We gotta wait for the numbers 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:31.960 to update, but my guess is that they will be 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:36.000 top ten in both offense and defense over that span. Uh. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.480 Not a perfect seven game stretch, a couple of ugly 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:40.599 losses in there, but we gotta take our wins where 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:42.080 we can get him. Rogs right, how are you doing, man? 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:45.920 How's your weekend? Ben? So far, it's been good. Yeah. 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.000 We're not really in a position to be picky about wins, right, 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:51.800 like this is a five, close to five team, but 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.040 it was nice to just to get another blowout win. 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:56.600 I thank you missed the last one, but yeah, this 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:58.840 was a much better win and it's good to have 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.400 one that felt like it was a win throughout, like 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:03.319 Orlando made a run in the fourth and those kind 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.119 of things happened. But yeah, it was a good win. 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:06.679 It was a fun win. At least I don't know 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.880 about goodwin with how the Orlando Magic's record is. But 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.280 how are you man? Welcome back? I guess he missed 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:14.280 the last one. Good to have you bet. You guys 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:15.840 did a great job holding it down while I was gone. 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.039 Special shout out to Viny. I always appreciate that he 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:19.760 is available to help us when one of us has 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.320 to stop for whatever reason. But yeah, man, I'm excited. 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:25.680 You're right. We can't be picky about this at all whatsoever. 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:29.160 After the You know, I was extremely critical of Lebron 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:31.520 and a d to start this season because while they 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.480 had some excuses like Lebron had some availability issues and 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:37.399 Anthony Davis's jump shot like that's a little bit out 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:40.240 of his control. I can't get super upset about at 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:42.960 him that shots that he used to make are suddenly 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.800 not going in. But I was mad about process with 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:47.800 both of them. Anthony Davis was taking a lot of 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.640 really difficult jump shots. He wasn't being as aggressive in 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.320 the post to get into the lane. He would float 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.760 in and out of games. Defensively, his motor wasn't what 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.400 it was in previous season. And then Lebron, even if 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:02.680 you gave him an excuse for conditioning, even if you 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.960 gave him an excuse for trying to get his legs 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.760 underneath him. He wasn't as engaged as he should have 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.160 been given the situation. And if you guys remember, after 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.120 that triple overtime lost to the Kings, Roger and I 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:17.920 both just went in on those guys for just not 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:20.960 being good enough. And if you remember after the game, 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:24.560 Lebron in his postgame interview said, I have to find 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.040 a way to be better for this team. And we 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:29.160 talked about in the next pot that we thought that 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.720 was the first time Lebron really vocalized. You know, the 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.120 word I used was contricte. Maybe that's the wrong word, 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.280 but like he just finally seemed to get it that 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.160 what those guys were bringing to the table wasn't enough. 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:44.440 That if there are intent was for the Russell Westbrook 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:46.560 trade to make it so that they could coast, that 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.840 clearly wasn't materializing. They weren't going to be able to coast. 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:52.400 So it got to the point where those two guys 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:57.600 had to take on the responsibility and the accountability necessary 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.360 to get the ship headed in right direction. And they 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.960 had a really ugly game against Detroit, if you guys remember, 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.000 but in that ugly game. It was ugly outside of 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:09.720 Lebron and a D. Lebron and a D were both fantastic, 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:11.880 and over the course of the next next seven games, 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:13.560 look there they were a bad team. It was never 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:16.519 gonna get fixed overnight, and Anthony Davis still has a 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:18.400 ways to go to get to where he needs to be. 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:21.680 But again, one they played three over five teams in 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.080 that stretch, they did beat one of them, they nearly 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:25.959 beat another in that Clippers game, they had a chance 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.440 to win that one late. And then they went four 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:30.960 no against the below five hundred teams, which is good 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:34.040 because they have already lost seven games this season against 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.480 below five hundred teams. So we're trending in the right direction. 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.720 But to me, it all starts and ends with Lebron 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.480 and a D. And so far Lebron has been able 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.680 to get back to mostly what he was at his 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.920 peak in this Lebron a D era. Once, once a 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.040 D kind of gets back to that level, then we'll 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.480 really be cooking with gas. But to me, you know, 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.440 we looked at that game, that triple overtime lost to 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.160 the Kings as a potential turning point, and so far 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.360 it appeared years that it might have been long way ago. 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.640 Obviously not a perfect stretch of games, but we're headed 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:09.440 in the right direction. Do you agree with me, rog, Yeah, 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.600 for sure. And we keep saying like this team has 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:13.760 kind of lost the benefit of the doubt um And 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:15.400 we talked before we're gonna keep this one a lot 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.080 about Lebron because he's kind of deserved it. I guess 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.800 for this one, I want to separate. I guess because 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.440 I feel like I can separate the team from Lebron, 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.920 and I know they're intertwined. Obviously, his play directly correlates 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.560 with wins and all that, but he's been awesome. Man 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:31.520 in Orlando is not a good team. Okay, see he's 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.480 not a good team. But the last seven games, Spectrum 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:38.800 posted it thirty points, almost eight assists. On shooting. Tonight again, 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:40.599 I think he hit the triple double thirty ten and 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:43.479 ten or something three blocks. This is the best to me, 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.720 he's looked since he got hurt last February. I think 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.400 when Solomon Hill fell into his high ankle sprain, and 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.000 I think someone was telling you that he was in 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:53.560 the MVP conversation during that time, and the leader in 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.520 the MVP conversation, but just his body looks great. He 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:59.120 looks like the most energy energized guy on the floor, 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.039 even though he's the old this guy on the floor, 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.839 his body looks good. He's running like he's getting blocks, 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.240 he's getting lift on his jumper as well. He just 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:08.560 looks great. And again I want to separate him from 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:10.520 the team because the team is, you know, two games over, 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.279 hasn't been great. Lebron to me, looks Lebron looks like 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.560 he's ready. He looks like a guy that can continue 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.120 to be the best player UM in any series against 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:21.120 any team. And that was the most important thing for 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.080 us to look at. In the space. He still isn't great, 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.599 We still put him in rough spots, but it just 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.800 looks like he doesn't care about that stuff. And and 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:29.520 we'll get into it more, I guess from this game. 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:31.080 But I want to stick on that because I think 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.200 he's been awesome last eight games. It's gonna average for 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:36.560 around thirty eight and eight or something like that, and 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:38.760 that's just incredible for a guy who's thirty seven, like 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.000 his age needs to be put into that because that's 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.280 unprecedented stuff. That's just stuff that we have not seen 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.040 its stuff that we shouldn't take for granted. Um. And 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:48.960 even though Lebron's you know, this is what you're for 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.440 whatever it is with the Lakers, but just stuff that 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:53.479 we shouldn't take for granted. And this is the best 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.320 he's looked even his whole tenure. Here, his body, his 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:58.920 jumper is, everything is going well. Um And I think 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.160 that's awesome to see. And obviously when a d and 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:03.160 Russ kind of hit their stride, that's when this team 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:05.520 will hit the ceiling. But we've got the first part 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.160 of that right, Like Lebron being Lebron is the total 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:10.000 key to the house. Obviously, you know how to key 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:11.479 to the house. You're not gonna be able to get in, 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:13.600 So like that's that's step one. And I think he's 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.360 looked great. Yeah, you know, there's this there's it all 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:20.000 comes from a specific section of basketball fans, and we 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:21.320 all know who they are and they don't need to 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:24.400 describe them. But there's always been this sick obsession with 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.240 trying to get out in front of Lebron's decline, to 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.040 try to be the guy that like is like here, 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.280 this guys, it's here the declines here everyone look, look, 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.320 look Lebron's bad now, and and it's it's so funny 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.680 because for literally a half decade, everyone's been trying to 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:42.080 jump out in front of that train. And it's like, guys, like, 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.240 it's gonna eventually happen. He's thirty seven, he's played a 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.800 million minutes. You don't have to be the guy who's 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.280 wrong all the time. He will eventually. If your desire 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:54.880 is to see Lebron not be good at basketball anymore, 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:56.600 you don't have to hold your breath that long. It's 0:06:56.600 --> 0:07:00.000 gonna eventually happen. But you keep making yourself look foolish 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:01.800 by trying to jump out in front of that train. 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.200 And here's the thing. If you're being honest with what 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:07.400 you're seeing and you understand the way that Lebron plays, 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.760 he plays there is a lot of physical flash, but 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.400 he plays with his brain. That is has always been 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.920 his best asset on the basketball court. When you look 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:20.640 in that fourth quarter, Orlando is just throwing crazy double 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:24.480 teams and strong side like like box coverages at him NonStop, 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:26.800 and he's just picking them apart. Like he would have 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:28.800 loved to go out and put up forty in that game, 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.080 but he didn't need to he always scored I think 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.680 five five in the fourth quarter because Orlando was just 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.080 sending all kinds of bodies at him. His the way 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.120 he plays the game, at his size and strength, with 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:41.920 his basketball IQ and with his newfound I said new 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.280 found it's been around for roughly seven eight years now, 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:46.920 but with his ability to shoot the basketball, he was 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:49.800 always going to be at least a top ten player 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:52.720 well into his late thirties. So to me, it's just 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.680 it's just crazy that people keep It's like they're it's 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:58.320 like it's like they have no worry about whether or 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.760 not they'll be proven wrong. They just they're just addicted 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.160 to like that rush that they get from like seeing 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:05.000 him have a couple of bad games and trying to 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.120 jump out in front of it. It's silly to me. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.080 I mean, come on, man, like, just how are you 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.360 not just sitting back and enjoying this? Like I could 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.400 watching him tonight get those three crazy chase down blocks. 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.360 All I could think is like, it's insane that he's 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:20.320 that that we're still watching this and it's about to 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.120 be the year two, and I just I wish all 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:25.600 I like those people. That's a miserable crowd of people 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:27.760 over there, So I don't envy them in any in 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:30.120 any sense, but I mean, all I know is from 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.640 my perspective, I'm just trying to enjoy it while I can. Yeah, 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:37.040 I don't really want to give that any attention. But 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.760 were you able to hear the Spectrum broadcast tonight. I'm 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.880 not sure if you got here, but Stulan kept saying, okay, 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:45.040 so Steve Lance was saying, this is vintage Lebron, and 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:46.600 I was thinking, like, well, I mean, I'm not sure 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:49.640 that ever ended, you know, like it's been vintage Lebron 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.640 for a long time. But moving, I guess onto the game. 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:56.000 He picked the team spirit up tonight, right, Like, That's 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.480 what I caught from tonight, And to me, it's really 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:00.480 not fair that he's the one that has to do that. 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:03.720 I guess, um, but this team looked super lethargic early on. 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:08.400 It looked very uninterested, very disengaged, high turnover prone, just 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.440 lack of engagement. I thought he tried to keep everyone's 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.960 spirits up, which just crazy to see again in a 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:16.920 guy in your year, nineteen thirty seven years old. But 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:18.360 did you see that as well? Because I thought that 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:19.920 was a big point of this game, and I thought 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.160 this turned around the whole night. He picked everyone up. 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.040 He was flexing after and once right, kind of extending it. 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:28.320 I'm just trying to give everyone's spirits up. And I 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:30.280 thought that's what turned the game. I guess in the 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.320 third quarter he saw the defense go up as well, 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:35.760 but yeah, he just looked awesome. He destroyed Orlando in 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:37.880 that third quarter. I believe we were down five. He 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.080 had two threes to start that quarter and I just 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:42.080 got on and got them on a tree to oh 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.880 run twenty three, oh run and put the game away again. 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.800 Orlando came back and made a run. But he brought 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:49.880 the spirit up of the team. And that doesn't have 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:51.760 to be his job every night, but that he could 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:53.800 you could see that he could tell that that was 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.400 his job tonight, was to pick the team spirit up 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:57.959 and I and I thought he did that. And his 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.000 him being able to recognize that and recognize what the 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:03.240 team needs every night, I think it's special. And you're 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:05.560 starting to see him round into form, and he's talked 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:07.920 about it after the games. He's starting to get healthier, 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.120 and you're seeing that jump off the page. To me, 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:12.679 he looks like you know in conversation for best player 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:14.520 in the league, and that's all. That's all you can 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.400 really ask of him. And he's looked he looked great 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:18.400 at that. But do you agree with that? Do you 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:20.680 agree he picked I guess the team's spirit up tonight 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:22.920 because I thought I thought that kind of turned I 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.520 guess this night around. Well, it's funny you said that 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.080 this is his job for tonight, for the team that 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:31.040 spend his job for the entire season. He just what 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.400 he wasn't doing it to start the season. Like when 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:36.360 you put this roster together, Yeah, of course it looks silly. 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.680 If Lebron looks like the seventh best player in the 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:40.839 world and a D looks like the fifteenth best player 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.720 in the world, of course, then you're asking Molik Monk 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.600 and Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook and all these guys 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.280 who are far more limited to do a lot more 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.520 to fill in those gaps. This only ever made sense, 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:56.760 This roster construction only ever made sense with Lebron and 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.520 a D being Lebron and a D the same guys 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:03.320 that on the title. Okay, and you know again, I 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:04.959 was super critical Lebron. I had a lot of guys 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.240 who were who are who are on my case about 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:09.920 it during that stretch, But like it's it's it's not 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:12.680 really all that complicated to me. You cannot possibly tell 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:15.520 me that this guy from an energy standpoint that we've 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.640 seen the last two weeks is the same guy from 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:22.400 the beginning of the season. It absolutely was not for stretches. Yes, 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:25.000 we saw it a little bit against Houston, little bit 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:27.400 against Cleveland. He was good in that Golden State game. 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.440 He had his moments. I'm not I'm not pretending like 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.160 he didn't have his moments, but it just wasn't the 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:35.800 same guy from an engagement level, from a care level, 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.960 from an effort level, that we've seen since that that 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:44.199 triple overtime catastrophe against Sacramento. They he absolutely has turned 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.120 it up. But that is absolutely what he needs, because 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.840 you know, someone said on Twitter, they go. The people 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.000 have been saying like, oh, it's it's ridiculous that Lebron 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.760 has to hit the gas to beat a team like 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.520 Orlando on a random Sunday night. And the way the 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:00.080 way I look at it is like, no, no, know, 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:03.120 like there will be a point this season, you know, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.920 hopefully where everybody kind of is in the right role, 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:10.000 Lebron and Nadiere in a groove and everyone else gets going, 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:12.200 and then Lebron and a D will have some more 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.800 margin for error to have off nights here and there. 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.160 But the team just isn't rolling like that right now. 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:18.920 They don't have good enough defensive habits. I talked a 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.160 little bit about this in the podcast yesterday. We're not 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:23.559 boxing out at all. We're not contesting shots. We are 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.520 literally dead last in the league and contested shots per 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:28.920 per game, and we're dead last in the league in 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.720 uh in box out, the defensive box out percentage. We're 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.160 just not doing those things well. When all of those 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:37.959 things get tightened up, when this team becomes a basketball 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.199 team that has good habits, that plays the game the 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:43.959 right way, that develops that championship basketball character that I've 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.280 been harping on all season, when they get that nailed down, 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:49.719 then Lebron and a D and Russ will have the 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.120 flexibility in the margin of air to have off nights. 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:53.880 That's just not the way the team is right now. 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.360 He has to be like this now. But in theory, 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.160 the way this roster was constructed, if they all have 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:02.240 good habits and they all do their jobs in the 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.199 dirty work parts of the game. There is enough offensive 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:08.679 creation here, there's enough shooting here. You have this like 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:13.160 Elite other perimeter option in Russell Westbrook. In theory, it 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:15.679 will all kind of come together and make more sense 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:18.520 at that point. But yeah, like at this point, when 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:21.520 the team still sucks at all those things, Lebron's got 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.360 to be the guy who is the energy. He's got 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:25.560 to be the guy that gets everyone going, that builds 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.320 the momentum, that carries them until they get to that point. 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:31.000 If that makes sense, Yeah, for sure. And we're starting 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.240 to see it right last eight games thirty ten and ten, 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:36.000 And I think a lot of people have been trying 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.240 to and I've seen just how the conversation has been 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.640 around this team, and we talked about it after every game, 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.600 trying to just have a one one fix, right, like 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.160 just press one button and it fixes the team. Right. 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:48.600 And it was DeAndre Jordan's not starting, it was put 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:50.840 E d at the five, it was start our shooters. 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.319 I think those are all, you know, little solutions. But 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.280 there's a good team in here, right and I think, 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.319 of course, and the way they're going to find it 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.280 is through try on error and the trial has probably 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.480 taken longer than it should have, right, Like the error 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:07.040 was found like ten games ago, but we're still doing 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.720 the same trials. But like to find the to find 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:11.520 the good team in here, it's gonna take trial and error, 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.400 and you can't even get to that trial without having 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:18.000 Lebron being himself without a D being himself. Right, Like 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.760 to me, you can't even get to that trial error 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.520 part until Lebron and a D are themselves and a 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:25.960 D has put up the numbers that still when we 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.720 watch the film sometimes it feels like it's not matching 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.360 and we still have issues on engaging, but the numbers 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:32.920 are there the point you know it's leading in points 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:34.880 of the paint. But now that Lebron's kind of picked 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.600 it up, you see him start to roll and again, Okay, 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:39.600 seeing Orlando aren't great teams, but they did have a 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:42.520 good win over Boston, the loss in Memphis things um, 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:45.000 and just putting this more into the team perspective. I 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.240 believe we're now like six in defense in the last 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.840 six games, and I think that's gonna even go up 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.800 after this. Sorry last seven games or six in defense, 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:55.520 twelfth in offense. The numbers are starting to even ow 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.520 to match the roster um. And again, these are silver 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:00.480 linings that you're trying to find on a team that's 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:02.920 two games over five. But it's also a team that's 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:04.840 missed Lebron for a lot of these games. And even 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.640 when he played earlier in the year, he was wasn't 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:10.640 this Lebron. So I guess those are like kind of 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.760 the civil lines you can see. But Lebron being himself 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:14.880 is such a breath of fash air. To see these 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:16.920 last eight games or whatever it is. It seems like 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.720 he's ramping up, he's picking it up. His energy is awesome. 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.320 He looks like the young guy on the floor. Um, 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:24.360 And it's just been great to see man. And it's 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.560 been fun to have at least two two wins that 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:29.920 to talk after a win for once, it's been like 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.560 it's been bad loss after bad loss. But yeah, it's 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:34.360 great to see them. And the team is moving in 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:36.960 a positive direction, even if it doesn't feel like it, 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:39.200 even if the engagement looks bad, even if they look 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.240 disengaged for quarters on end. Um, hopefully these are kind 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.520 of uh stepping stones to a good team. But yeah, 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:45.960 I think there's a good team in here. Man, it's 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:47.560 just it's gonna take a lot of trial and air 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:49.120 to figure it out. And the trial is gonna take 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.880 longer than we probably wanted to. But I think that's 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:53.640 the way we find the good team in here, and 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:57.120 I think we're getting to that. Yeah, no idee on 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.800 Lebron before we move on to the team. Uh. You know, obviously, 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.360 with the way that the top of the field looks 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:06.240 right now, Lebron would have to rip off another month 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:08.600 where he's just incredible and the Lakers would have to 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:10.880 win a whole lot of games in order for him 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:15.160 to kind of enter into the MVP conversation. But that said, 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.200 for him to even be playing that level of basketball 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:21.160 absolutely changes the calculations for the for the rest of 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.400 the season, because that's been one of the biggest question marks, 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.120 you know, around this whole era. How long can Lebron 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:29.960 play at an m v P level that is by 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.600 definition the window, you know what I mean. And so 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:35.560 for him for him to be looking like this and 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.400 also trending in the right direction, not oh he has 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:40.520 dead legs on Tuesday night and he has dead legs 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.080 every night and you can just tell, oh, this is 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:44.440 what he is now no, he is progressing in the 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:48.520 right direction athletically. You could tell as his conditioning gets better, 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.560 and as he gets his legs underneath him, he's looking 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.400 better and better, his touches matching up. Then there then 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.280 there will be this continuity piece where all the guys 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:59.160 playing together for a long time. Because with this stretch 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.520 of basketball, the Lakers still had crazy turnover. I mean, 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.320 Anthony Davis has missed two games, right, so you know 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.840 the way the way I look at it, this has 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.520 a lot of room to go up from here. Now, 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:12.440 moving on to the team, and I talked a little 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:16.280 bit about this on the On on Today's spot earlier today. 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.240 But we we have some things that we do really well, 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:22.720 and we pushed the ball in transition and we avoid 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:24.560 half court sets. I actually thought that was one of 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:27.159 the biggest problems in the first half tonight against the Magic. 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.040 The Magic we're playing it too big lineup, a really 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:33.280 really big shot blocking two big lineup, and the Lakers 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.680 weren't doing a good job of pushing the ball in transition, 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.320 something they've done super well all season they weren't doing tonight, 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:41.280 so they kept getting caught in these half court sets 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:43.960 against the Magic and when you have that much size 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:46.600 and guys like Russ and t h T and Lebron, 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:49.600 who are are guys who prefer to be downhill, you know, 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:51.560 try to get to the rim, guys like it's it's 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:55.040 inherently going to lead to some Jankee looking basketball. And 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:58.080 I thought, you know, pushing in transition is the inevitable 0:17:58.080 --> 0:17:59.240 way to get out of that. How do we know, 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.320 because that's what team did to us for all season 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.479 when we were starting with DJ and and Anthony Davis 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.560 in the starting lineup, and and and prioritizing these big, 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.879 lumbering lineups, teams would run us off the floor. And 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:12.800 it was only a matter of time before we started 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:14.639 to do that to the Magic and start to have 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:17.680 some success. And we did in the second half. Obviously 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:19.480 need to dig into the tape to kind of get 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.640 a better feel for that, but you could tell that 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:24.679 that is one of our strengths. And so when we 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:26.720 that's what kills us at the end of these games, Like, 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:28.320 I'm not too concerned about what happened at the end 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:32.200 of the game tonight. That's classic older guys letting me guess. 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:36.199 But we kept getting caught walking the ball up the 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:39.080 floor and attacking their set defense. And then when we 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:40.760 would miss a shot, they would run it right down 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:42.760 our throat and attack in a semi transition and get 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:44.480 all the way to the rim and draw foul or 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.600 make a layup right and and so our team is 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:53.080 at our best. Our comfort zone is defending with energy, 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:55.639 but pushing the ball in transition, staying out of the 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.200 half chord is what allows us to be at our best, 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.280 as I opposed to the other night. Before tonight this game, 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.040 we were six in the league and field goal percentage. 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:04.720 That's pretty good, right, So like for for us to 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:06.840 be twenty three or whatever, we were an offense, but 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.880 sixth and field goal percentage, that basically tells us when 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:12.160 we value the possession, we don't turn the ball over, 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:15.680 and we get and we stay out of those slow, 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:19.320 methodical half court possessions. We are getting great shots and 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:22.760 we have good process. So what makes me happy is 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:25.879 there are more optimistic I should say, is that there 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.960 there is kind of like an identity forming with this team, 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:31.960 and identity that didn't exist early on. And when we 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:33.960 start to tighten up those little things that I was 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:37.400 talking about, like finishing possessions on defense, by getting good 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.040 box outs and guys crashing from all over the floor, 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:42.879 and then offensively just taking care of the basketball, getting 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:46.440 to the point where that field goal percentage becomes what 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:48.800 we rely or that's excuse me, that sixth in the 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:51.680 league and field goal percentage that we're relying on when 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.760 we on offense, that we're getting to that more and 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.040 not hemorrhaging possessions and doing things stupid things to shoot 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:01.000 us in the foot. When you clear all that you know, 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:05.840 stuff up, you can see that there's a definitive pathway 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:09.200 to being a contender here, and so that to me 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:12.600 is exciting. And obviously step one is a seven game 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:15.160 stretch like this where four of the teams are bad 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:16.840 and two of the good teams you played are also 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:19.480 pretty bad, and yeah, you go five and two, and yeah, 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:22.120 there's some disappointing stretches in there, but you're defending, You're 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.120 you're definitively heading in the right direction. And the next 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:27.919 step is like, hey, go to Dallas on Wednesday and 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.040 kick their ass. That's that's that's the next step. They have. 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:33.280 They have a little foundation here, they just need to 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:36.119 continue to build on it. Yeah, for sure, and they 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:38.920 have a chance here to run off some wins. I mean, Dallas, 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.359 I believe Luca is gonna be out for a little while. Um. 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:43.760 Then they play Minnesota, who's been on a bad stretch. 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:45.320 I think they lost like five games in a row, 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:48.560 out again, came back. Now you heard his ankle again, 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:50.880 So he's gonna be out again, I believe. Yeah. So 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:52.919 you play the Mads without Luca, you go to the 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:55.479 you go play in Minnesota where they beat us at 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:57.600 home by like thirty. Um, so I'm sure they would 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.080 want to get some revenge on that, and also so 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:02.199 it has not been playing well. And then Chicago, who 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:04.680 I think has like eight other guys or nine guys 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:07.880 out due to COVID protocols. And then you play Phoenix, 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:09.880 who I think is still out. I think Chris Paul 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:11.639 and Devin Booker is still out or something. But you 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:16.480 have Okay, Yeah, so you have a chance here to 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.320 run off some wins. But to me, like the team 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:21.679 is playing themselves a lot of the times, right Like 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:23.719 when especially when you play bad teams, I feel like 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:26.280 you're kind of playing yourself. And against Memphis, I thought 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:29.200 we beat ourselves and turnovers it's such a big part 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:31.320 of this team, where if we can just stop the 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:33.120 other team from running, because I think our half court 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:35.600 defense has been better. And then the fourth quarter, to me, 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:37.680 a lot of this was we went small, We went 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:40.040 lebron at the five, and to do that, your guards 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:41.720 have to be so engaged. And you can tell Russell 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:44.080 Westbrook had did not want to be tagging, you know, 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:46.560 in the fourth quarter up twenty on guys rolling to 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:50.520 the rim. Yeah, so it's basically just pick and roll 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:54.520 and window Carter dunk or Wagner dunk or Vagner open three. 0:21:54.560 --> 0:21:56.440 So the engagement little job. That's why I'm not really 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:59.000 worried about that fourth quarter. I saw enough in the third. 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:01.760 But yeah, getting back to the team, like the identity switch. 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:03.840 I think Austin Reaves is a big part of that. 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:06.760 We're seeing league lunk at more minutes. Wayne Ellington, we 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:08.600 ran a floppy action for him, I don't know, did 0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:11.400 you see that tonight? We ran one floppy action stept 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:13.479 for him. He got a curl three. I thought that 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:15.480 was amazing. Like we're starting to at least see the 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:18.240 identity of this team, and the starting lineup still isn't great. 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:20.720 I don't think it's gonna change anytime soon. Even though 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:23.400 I thought th h T was awesome tonight. I think 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.200 he hit like three threes um and his defense was 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:28.719 was great. He had five steals. I believe we had. 0:22:28.760 --> 0:22:30.680 The team is starting around and Avery Valley is never 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:32.639 gonna you know, hit threes out of consistent rate, but 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:34.880 he plays hard. That starting line up again, the space 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:37.320 is gonna be jankie, but we're seeing identity shifting. I 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:39.399 thought it was great. We closed tonight with Lebron at 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:41.639 the five. Orlando went on a run, he pulled out, 0:22:41.680 --> 0:22:43.720 he took out Dwight Howard. We went Lebron at the 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:46.439 five with Russ and Uh. Russ was able to attack 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:48.119 the rim and kind of close the game. And I 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:50.359 think that's a little bit of and you're seeing pieces 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:52.399 and pieces here where like you can fit a D 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:54.880 into that, right, you can have a D at the five. 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:57.359 And I believe they closed with Monk and uh and 0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:00.440 Bradley or or it was a th H and Bradly, 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:02.800 I don't remember who was, but yeah, they closed the 0:23:02.840 --> 0:23:05.080 game and we're seeing pieces of the team kind of 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:07.320 form here. And we got a little bit of news 0:23:07.520 --> 0:23:10.200 uh about a reason. I guess in that video. But 0:23:10.440 --> 0:23:13.560 we're seeing the identity shift here a little bit, uh, 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:18.160 piece by piece in these games. Yeah, let's let's talk 0:23:18.160 --> 0:23:19.840 about TC for a second, because I thought I thought 0:23:19.840 --> 0:23:23.080 he had one of his better games as of late. Um, 0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:24.560 you know, you and I talked a lot about how 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:26.800 he was getting kind of doing young guys, stupid young 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:30.680 guys stuff offensively, like just you know, forcing the action, Uh, 0:23:30.880 --> 0:23:32.920 just whenever he catched the ball and there wouldn't be 0:23:32.960 --> 0:23:34.359 a defender aroun him, he would just assume it's a 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:36.280 time to shoot instead of time to make a read, 0:23:36.400 --> 0:23:39.760 and being overly aggressive on defense and committing silly fowls. 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:42.720 You know tonight, one of the things we were harping 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:44.159 on with him is like kind of take away some 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:46.600 of the decision making responsibility in terms of him like 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:50.359 actually running actions and try to get him with an advantage. 0:23:50.400 --> 0:23:52.399 So they did a lot of really good stuff like 0:23:52.440 --> 0:23:54.760 trying to get him to attack off of curls off 0:23:54.800 --> 0:23:56.359 of like where he would just come out of the 0:23:56.359 --> 0:23:58.439 week side corner and curl around a guy and try 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:00.800 to hit him when he's got the ender already on 0:24:00.840 --> 0:24:02.560 his back, so that he can you know, kind of 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:05.240 use his body to get position and then just stick, 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:07.200 you know, stick his arms out like he always does 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:09.960 to to finish those layups, and a lot of attacking 0:24:10.040 --> 0:24:14.920 closeouts and you know, just primarily attacking and already compromise defense. 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:18.280 You could tell tonight in particular, that's that's where th 0:24:18.480 --> 0:24:21.120 HD actually has potential to be a really good offensive 0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:24.359 player already. Obviously we can talk about his ceiling, and 0:24:24.400 --> 0:24:26.959 there's kind of a divide among Laker fans, you know 0:24:27.080 --> 0:24:28.879 about you know, whether or not he's going to be 0:24:28.880 --> 0:24:30.320 an All Star or whatever you want to say, or 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:32.439 what other teams might think about him in terms of 0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:36.240 a trade piece. But right now, for this team, they 0:24:36.359 --> 0:24:38.760 just need him to do what he did tonight. Be 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:41.760 able to curl off the screen when Lebron needs rest, 0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:44.560 so you can just dribble out of give you an advantage, 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:46.920 hits you and stride and have you make a play, 0:24:47.000 --> 0:24:50.119 you know, when the double teams come, when the the 0:24:49.920 --> 0:24:52.320 the defense is loading up on one side, to swing 0:24:52.320 --> 0:24:54.400 it around to you and have you beat a guy 0:24:54.440 --> 0:24:56.720 on a close out and make a play. He also 0:24:56.760 --> 0:24:59.200 made a lot of really nice passes today. That one 0:24:59.200 --> 0:25:01.400 in the second half and where I thought for sure 0:25:01.440 --> 0:25:02.760 he was going to shoot and then he ended up. 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:05.439 Lebron was cutting at the same time too, and he 0:25:05.520 --> 0:25:08.000 kicked it out to Avery Bradley in the corner. I 0:25:08.000 --> 0:25:09.359 think it was the three that put him up by 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:12.680 twenty five. But just just in general, tonight, th HT 0:25:12.920 --> 0:25:17.639 succeeded by playing a role instead of being an initiator. 0:25:17.680 --> 0:25:19.919 He was a guy who's finishing plays and and it 0:25:19.960 --> 0:25:23.280 worked really well. And that's that's what you need when 0:25:23.400 --> 0:25:25.600 you're especially when you're looking down the line and you're 0:25:25.600 --> 0:25:27.680 gonna have Russell Lebron in a d in a playoff series, 0:25:27.680 --> 0:25:30.600 playing forty minutes a piece. You need him to succeed 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:34.040 in a limited role and instead of trying to be 0:25:34.160 --> 0:25:36.000 the guy already, if that makes sense. But I was 0:25:36.040 --> 0:25:39.200 really really happy with what I saw from THHD tonight. Yeah, 0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:41.639 his his jumper went, which I think, you know, changes 0:25:41.680 --> 0:25:43.800 a lot of stuff for him, and he was taking 0:25:43.800 --> 0:25:45.840 it confidently. And I've always said I think he's a 0:25:45.880 --> 0:25:47.879 better at catch and shoot, you know guy than he 0:25:47.920 --> 0:25:49.960 even thinks he is. He doesn't have to drive on 0:25:50.000 --> 0:25:51.760 every play, and those curls, you're right, those are stuff 0:25:51.800 --> 0:25:54.120 that just set place for him where he comes off 0:25:54.119 --> 0:25:57.320 the curl and he gets him going downhill and he 0:25:57.359 --> 0:25:59.920 has all these wild finishes at the rim and he's 0:26:00.160 --> 0:26:01.800 does a lot of this where he thinks he gets fouled, 0:26:01.800 --> 0:26:03.280 so he just throws it up and he got to 0:26:03.320 --> 0:26:05.320 the rim a little bit tonight. But he's out there 0:26:05.359 --> 0:26:07.679 to me defense for defense, And I thought, again today 0:26:08.359 --> 0:26:09.879 we talked about it a lot of th HD is 0:26:09.920 --> 0:26:12.920 a havoc defender, right, he's a chaos creator. Um, he's 0:26:12.960 --> 0:26:15.160 not much. Indeed he does. He's not great yet at 0:26:15.160 --> 0:26:17.840 like going around screens. He still gets killed when he's 0:26:17.840 --> 0:26:20.560 trying to chase guys, but in isolation he's a problem. 0:26:20.560 --> 0:26:22.399 His length is a problem. He had a bunch of 0:26:22.400 --> 0:26:25.280 deflections tonight again, like I said, five steals, and I 0:26:25.320 --> 0:26:27.399 feel like he deflected way more, way more balls and 0:26:27.480 --> 0:26:30.119 that changed a bunch of shots. Um, he was he 0:26:30.160 --> 0:26:32.440 was good tonight. And this is kind of the peak. 0:26:32.480 --> 0:26:34.080 If we can get this level of th HD. I 0:26:34.119 --> 0:26:36.239 don't think the jumber is gonna go like this just 0:26:36.320 --> 0:26:39.520 controlled shot selection. I guess, um got to the rim, 0:26:39.600 --> 0:26:41.960 got to got to the rim aton. This is kind 0:26:41.960 --> 0:26:43.600 of what we need in Orlando is not a good team. 0:26:43.640 --> 0:26:46.200 They don't have great shop blocking, I guess at the rim, 0:26:46.680 --> 0:26:48.439 but I feel like he's gonna stay in the starting lineup, 0:26:48.440 --> 0:26:53.880 don't you like, I don't feel like that starting he's playing. Yeah, 0:26:53.920 --> 0:26:55.280 so I feel like he's gonna stay in the starting 0:26:55.280 --> 0:26:58.120 lineup unless maybe Reeves you know, takes over at some point. 0:26:58.200 --> 0:27:00.680 But uh, yeah, I think th hd gonna stay there 0:27:00.720 --> 0:27:02.840 for now, at least until we get a reason back 0:27:03.359 --> 0:27:06.200 whenever he comes f Yeah, Austin looks great too. And 0:27:06.200 --> 0:27:08.919 and you know, this is something Vane was talking about 0:27:09.000 --> 0:27:10.679 in the in the pod when he was filling in 0:27:10.720 --> 0:27:12.000 for me the other night, and I thought he hit 0:27:12.040 --> 0:27:14.360 the nail on the head, like Reeves is a connective 0:27:14.359 --> 0:27:19.120 tissue guy. What you know, there's with basketball, We talked 0:27:19.119 --> 0:27:20.399 about this with the starting line If you have a 0:27:20.440 --> 0:27:22.679 list of responsibilities that need to get filled on the floor, right, 0:27:22.720 --> 0:27:24.719 Like I need guys who can create from the perimeter, 0:27:24.840 --> 0:27:27.800 either getting into the length of drivel penetration or like 0:27:27.840 --> 0:27:29.480 a Chris Paul type and more of a guy who's 0:27:29.560 --> 0:27:33.639 like really good at getting teams into sets right. But 0:27:33.680 --> 0:27:35.640 then you also need guys who can finish play both 0:27:35.960 --> 0:27:38.320 at the rim as you know, vertical spacers or as 0:27:38.320 --> 0:27:40.280 guys who can roll hard to the Raymond pick and roll, 0:27:40.600 --> 0:27:42.800 or guys who can pick and pop, or guys who 0:27:42.800 --> 0:27:45.480 can attack closeouts or spot up shoot things along those lines. 0:27:45.480 --> 0:27:47.080 You have a bunch of roles you have to fill. 0:27:47.640 --> 0:27:50.679 So when you have Lebron in a d and Russ 0:27:50.720 --> 0:27:53.720 on your team, those guys do so much to cover 0:27:53.800 --> 0:27:58.000 those responsibilities. There's kind of a diminishing return with the 0:27:58.040 --> 0:28:00.320 guys who play around them, right. You know, we talked 0:28:00.320 --> 0:28:02.480 about this a lot in previous seasons, like, yeah, is 0:28:02.880 --> 0:28:06.520 Wesley Matthew is a fantastic shooter? No, but if he's 0:28:06.720 --> 0:28:10.359 wide open, how much different is the is the you know, 0:28:10.440 --> 0:28:13.679 expected result compared to if you have a better shooter 0:28:13.720 --> 0:28:17.000 in that spot with everything else that Wayne Ellington is 0:28:17.000 --> 0:28:18.960 bringing to the to the floor. Whereas if you don't 0:28:18.960 --> 0:28:21.000 have Lebron and rust and yeah, maybe you need a 0:28:21.000 --> 0:28:24.040 Tyler Harrow who can do crazy stuff off the dribble 0:28:24.080 --> 0:28:27.360 to generate shots for himself. There's a diminishing attorney, isn't 0:28:27.400 --> 0:28:30.280 there with that because you actually need that ability from him. 0:28:30.520 --> 0:28:33.639 Guys like Austin Reeves, they're not great at anything, but 0:28:33.800 --> 0:28:36.119 because they're pretty good at everything and they're you know. 0:28:36.119 --> 0:28:38.360 One of the things that with Austin Reeves you see 0:28:38.440 --> 0:28:40.280 is like there was a ploy today where he caught 0:28:40.320 --> 0:28:42.920 wide open in the in the week side corner and 0:28:43.040 --> 0:28:45.640 had a shot and pump faked it and swung into 0:28:45.680 --> 0:28:48.120 Avery Bradley, who was every bit as guarded as as 0:28:48.280 --> 0:28:50.480 Austin Reeves was, and he missed it. And you're like, 0:28:50.720 --> 0:28:52.440 you like, you'd like to see Austin take that shot, 0:28:52.480 --> 0:28:56.720 But that's Austin's character. Austin's basketball character is like, I'm 0:28:56.720 --> 0:28:59.560 gonna error on the side of not shooting this. I'm 0:28:59.560 --> 0:29:02.080 gonna around the side of making the extra pass. You know, 0:29:02.160 --> 0:29:04.280 even with those rotations, like there's so many plays where 0:29:04.320 --> 0:29:07.640 the Lakers will concede a basket because they're like, Okay, 0:29:07.640 --> 0:29:09.360 we just didn't get it done on this possession. This 0:29:09.400 --> 0:29:11.480 guy's rolling to the rim. He's gonna get it done. 0:29:11.520 --> 0:29:13.280 Who cares, We'll get it back on the next possession. No, 0:29:13.360 --> 0:29:16.000 Austin's like every single time, I'm putting my face, I'm 0:29:16.000 --> 0:29:18.880 putting my body on the line, like I'm getting in there, 0:29:19.120 --> 0:29:20.800 I'm gonna try and take a charge. I'm gonna try 0:29:20.840 --> 0:29:23.520 to disrupt the play. He got hit in the gut 0:29:23.520 --> 0:29:25.520 again today like elbowed and they looked like he got 0:29:25.600 --> 0:29:27.560 the win knocked out of him on another play like that, 0:29:27.840 --> 0:29:31.760 Austin Reaves. He is a white than they said. He 0:29:31.880 --> 0:29:35.200 is a connective tissue player. When you play him alongside 0:29:35.320 --> 0:29:38.719 very good players, he actually brings more to the table 0:29:39.120 --> 0:29:42.560 than more talented players than him do. And you you 0:29:42.560 --> 0:29:44.720 you have to have guys like that in your rotation. 0:29:44.800 --> 0:29:48.960 They're such a hall mark of you know, NBA champion 0:29:49.160 --> 0:29:52.080 level teams. Like great example of this is Gary Payton Jr. 0:29:52.360 --> 0:29:55.000 With the Golden State Warriors. If you play Gary Payton Jr. 0:29:55.000 --> 0:29:57.080 On the Orlando Magic, he's not gonna look like a 0:29:57.080 --> 0:29:59.880 good basketball player because he's not going to be able 0:29:59.880 --> 0:30:03.160 to generate advantages for himself and there's nobody else on 0:30:03.200 --> 0:30:07.200 the team that can generate advantages for him. But within 0:30:07.280 --> 0:30:10.360 Golden State, he's constantly playing with an advantage and so 0:30:10.480 --> 0:30:15.200 in that environment he can his connective tissue is it 0:30:15.320 --> 0:30:19.080 brings immense value to the team and so I love 0:30:19.160 --> 0:30:21.080 that dynamics. It's always been one of my favorite things 0:30:21.120 --> 0:30:23.240 about the game of basketball. It's like when I go 0:30:23.320 --> 0:30:26.200 play pick up, I'm not always just trying to run 0:30:26.240 --> 0:30:28.200 with the most talented guys. I want guys on the 0:30:28.240 --> 0:30:30.960 floor that mesh well with what I do, and I 0:30:31.160 --> 0:30:33.960 have a much better chance of winning a lot when 0:30:34.000 --> 0:30:36.640 I have that than just let me roll with all 0:30:36.680 --> 0:30:38.960 the most talented guys, you know what I mean. And 0:30:39.000 --> 0:30:42.080 so that that to me is Austin Reaves basketball player 0:30:42.080 --> 0:30:45.640 in a nutshell, and I'm glad to see that he's 0:30:45.640 --> 0:30:48.960 starting to get an opportunity again. Yeah, and I'm not 0:30:49.000 --> 0:30:50.960 trying to make this. You know, you can make this 0:30:51.000 --> 0:30:54.480 THHD versus Austin Reaves. But Austin, you know, Austin has 0:30:54.520 --> 0:30:56.960 no I spoke about this again last part with but 0:30:57.000 --> 0:31:00.120 Austin has no Like he knows exactly who he is 0:31:00.240 --> 0:31:01.640 right in the league, and he knows what's going to 0:31:01.760 --> 0:31:03.360 keep him in the league. And I think that's the 0:31:03.360 --> 0:31:06.280 difference to me between him and Taylor, where Taylor still 0:31:06.360 --> 0:31:08.440 you know, when Taylor starts to get going, he'll like 0:31:08.480 --> 0:31:10.719 get the ball and like stop the whole play and 0:31:10.760 --> 0:31:12.280 be like, Okay, it's my time, you know, give me 0:31:12.320 --> 0:31:14.080 a high ball screen like this is I'm going to 0:31:14.200 --> 0:31:16.800 run the show for here. And the starting lineup doesn't 0:31:17.200 --> 0:31:19.680 ask for that, like it just doesn't it's great. It's 0:31:19.760 --> 0:31:22.000 nice to have another ball handler that can create. But 0:31:22.040 --> 0:31:24.200 it really asked for guys who you always talked about 0:31:24.240 --> 0:31:26.080 do the dirty work. And Austin, you know, is always 0:31:26.120 --> 0:31:28.520 like rubbing his face off because he just got elbowed, 0:31:28.600 --> 0:31:30.920 or you know, like grabbing his ribs because he just 0:31:30.960 --> 0:31:32.680 got hit. He just got to elbow to the rib 0:31:32.720 --> 0:31:34.720 But he he just goes in and does the dirty work. 0:31:34.880 --> 0:31:36.480 You don't have to ask him to do it. It's 0:31:36.480 --> 0:31:39.280 all natural for him. And then on the offensive end, 0:31:39.560 --> 0:31:41.400 you're right, he's a you know, he's a glue guy. 0:31:41.440 --> 0:31:43.280 He makes the right play every time you get a 0:31:43.320 --> 0:31:46.120 play tonight where the ball swung around it got to him. 0:31:46.320 --> 0:31:49.040 I think Carmelo was in the corner. Carmelo swung it 0:31:49.080 --> 0:31:51.520 to him, he got it, he was a little bit open, 0:31:51.560 --> 0:31:53.240 but the guy ran out and ran out to him. 0:31:53.240 --> 0:31:55.720 He faked it, won dribble right back to Carmelo for 0:31:55.720 --> 0:31:57.479 an open three. And I was like, man, that's just 0:31:58.040 --> 0:32:00.320 that's just stuff that you can't like. He just like, 0:32:00.400 --> 0:32:03.000 that's just stuff that he has instinctively, Like he just 0:32:03.280 --> 0:32:06.600 understands basketball and he understands how spacing and flow and 0:32:06.720 --> 0:32:09.240 where guys get open looks at so he's awesome. And 0:32:09.480 --> 0:32:11.640 last thing I guess on Reeves is him and Lebron, 0:32:11.840 --> 0:32:13.480 And again I don't want to get too much into 0:32:13.640 --> 0:32:17.520 their chemistry, but he rolls into open space into aware 0:32:17.560 --> 0:32:20.320 that fits so great with Lebron, right like their tree 0:32:20.320 --> 0:32:23.520 Man game is just beautiful and and Austin Reeves only real. 0:32:23.800 --> 0:32:26.560 You know, his detriment right now is his physicality as 0:32:26.640 --> 0:32:28.960 his body, you know, is his physical traits. But like 0:32:29.040 --> 0:32:31.360 he'll screen and he'll roll, and he could he'll short roll, 0:32:31.440 --> 0:32:32.920 or he'll roll all the way to the rim or 0:32:33.000 --> 0:32:34.960 get to any kind of open space that makes sense. 0:32:34.960 --> 0:32:37.160 So it's fun watching him play. I think his minutes 0:32:37.200 --> 0:32:40.240 are going to continue to go up. Um I believe 0:32:40.320 --> 0:32:42.320 that he wasn't healthy. I guess why he was collecting 0:32:42.400 --> 0:32:44.320 DMPs and stuff like that. But he's a big part 0:32:44.360 --> 0:32:46.320 of this team and he's part of the identity as well, 0:32:46.600 --> 0:32:49.560 uh the shift in going small. And and last thing Vogo, 0:32:49.600 --> 0:32:51.320 I guess how a quote today where he said, um, 0:32:51.440 --> 0:32:54.960 Lebron's thirty point games are a function of better spacing 0:32:55.000 --> 0:32:57.320 right and better lineups and and obviously you can say 0:32:57.360 --> 0:32:59.440 that was obvious, but it's just good to hear. You know, 0:33:00.320 --> 0:33:04.160 thanks Frank, I'm glad. I'm glad you finally understand well again, 0:33:04.240 --> 0:33:06.000 but again, like it's great to kind of hear that, 0:33:06.080 --> 0:33:07.960 I guess, and I think Austin is a big part 0:33:08.000 --> 0:33:10.480 of that. Um, it's hard to find two way guys, 0:33:10.640 --> 0:33:12.240 you know, like they pay a lot of money for that. 0:33:12.400 --> 0:33:13.920 They pay a lot of money for two way guys, 0:33:13.920 --> 0:33:15.640 and I believe we have one on a rookie deal. 0:33:15.800 --> 0:33:18.000 So um, yeah, I think I think Austin has been 0:33:18.040 --> 0:33:20.120 great and it's cool to see him kind of find 0:33:20.160 --> 0:33:22.680 his niche with the team too. Yeah. Andre Gudala did 0:33:22.680 --> 0:33:24.960 a podcast a while back, um, and they were asking 0:33:25.000 --> 0:33:28.120 him about step Curry potentially breaking the three point record, 0:33:28.440 --> 0:33:30.280 and they basically were like, you know, like what's your 0:33:30.320 --> 0:33:34.040 most memorable step three? You know, like typical interview questions, 0:33:34.040 --> 0:33:37.600 and and Andre Gudala went on like a diet try, 0:33:37.680 --> 0:33:40.280 basically saying like I don't remember many of steps three's. 0:33:40.520 --> 0:33:42.880 And he was like because because he's like when I'm 0:33:42.920 --> 0:33:46.400 out there, he's he's constantly just doing these little things 0:33:46.400 --> 0:33:48.000 to help the team win, and he's like half the 0:33:48.040 --> 0:33:50.080 time he's like I would just hear the crowd go 0:33:50.200 --> 0:33:53.240 crazy and I just run back on defense because he 0:33:53.360 --> 0:33:56.000 just like he was maybe setting off all screen, or 0:33:56.000 --> 0:33:57.960 maybe he was the one screening for step or he's 0:33:58.120 --> 0:34:00.239 fighting for rebound position or whatever it is. You know, 0:34:00.280 --> 0:34:03.680 like he's just so wrapped up in the job that 0:34:03.800 --> 0:34:07.200 he's almost not even paying attention to what's happening, you know, 0:34:07.280 --> 0:34:09.560 with Steph running around or doing whatever he's doing. That's 0:34:09.640 --> 0:34:11.239 kind of like what you see with Austin Reeves. Like 0:34:11.239 --> 0:34:14.040 there are a lot of plays where where where the 0:34:14.080 --> 0:34:16.680 older veterans on the Lakers are kind of guessing at 0:34:16.719 --> 0:34:18.560 what the outcome is and trying to get ahead of 0:34:18.600 --> 0:34:21.000 their next job, you know, like leaking out after a 0:34:21.080 --> 0:34:23.840 three or doing the same thing like giving up a 0:34:24.200 --> 0:34:26.560 instead of fighting for a defensive rebound, like leaking out 0:34:26.560 --> 0:34:29.080 in transition. Austin Reeves is just always in the mix, 0:34:29.160 --> 0:34:31.799 like he's just always just fighting it in and he'll 0:34:32.000 --> 0:34:33.680 I see that happen all the time with him, where 0:34:33.920 --> 0:34:35.960 the ball go through the net and it'll like where 0:34:35.960 --> 0:34:37.920 Austin will be the last guy who realizes it and 0:34:37.960 --> 0:34:40.600 he'll start running back, you know. But uh, yeah, he's 0:34:40.600 --> 0:34:44.319 definitely a really good a really good glue guy for 0:34:44.360 --> 0:34:47.520 this team, and uh, it makes you feel Obviously he's 0:34:47.560 --> 0:34:50.080 not Alex Cruso. We're not going to talk about Alex 0:34:50.120 --> 0:34:56.360 Cruso again, but uh, but him him developing as quickly 0:34:56.400 --> 0:34:58.719 as he did into a guy that can help this 0:34:58.800 --> 0:35:02.480 team win is undoubtedly takes a little bit of that 0:35:02.520 --> 0:35:06.120 pain away, you know what I mean. And and especially 0:35:06.120 --> 0:35:08.960 since he's a little bit better offensively, you could even 0:35:08.960 --> 0:35:11.920 make the case that he fits well with this team's identity. 0:35:12.600 --> 0:35:14.360 Obviously he doesn't shoot the lights out or get to that, 0:35:14.440 --> 0:35:17.319 but he's just he's a little bit more sound as 0:35:17.360 --> 0:35:20.719 an off ball player than than Alex was. Um, so 0:35:20.760 --> 0:35:22.480 he so he fits well with this team and I'm 0:35:22.480 --> 0:35:25.000 happy with him. So we were gonna we were gonna 0:35:25.040 --> 0:35:26.719 move on to a little bit of stuff that we 0:35:26.760 --> 0:35:30.760 saw in that UM spectrum. It was in their postgame 0:35:30.800 --> 0:35:35.200 show after the last game, I think, but basically they 0:35:35.239 --> 0:35:39.000 had the behind the scenes in the the UM coaches 0:35:39.040 --> 0:35:40.600 meeting when they were kind of coming up with their 0:35:40.600 --> 0:35:42.640 strategy or whatever. Come then it looked like they were 0:35:42.640 --> 0:35:46.200 talking about rotation in particular, and so a couple of 0:35:46.239 --> 0:35:49.440 interesting things. They talked about Anthony Davison's fatigue, which is 0:35:49.480 --> 0:35:51.280 something I definitely want to hit on here in a minute. 0:35:52.000 --> 0:35:53.879 But one of the interesting parts that I saw there 0:35:54.000 --> 0:35:58.359 was Frank was basically talking about the starting lineup, and 0:35:58.400 --> 0:36:00.360 he was talking about how like guys like Monk and 0:36:00.440 --> 0:36:04.319 Ellington are guys that he favors as offensive players, and 0:36:04.360 --> 0:36:09.200 then th Ht, Avery Bradley, and Austin Reeves were defensive players. 0:36:09.480 --> 0:36:12.120 And then he basically was saying, I don't know that 0:36:12.160 --> 0:36:16.920 we can even play four of these guys alongside Lebron 0:36:17.000 --> 0:36:18.319 Russ and a D but they're going to try to 0:36:18.320 --> 0:36:20.480 play four in the meantime. But he's always trying to 0:36:20.520 --> 0:36:22.680 weigh those two against each other, which I thought was 0:36:22.719 --> 0:36:26.000 interesting strictly from the same point of like we all 0:36:26.040 --> 0:36:28.440 think of th h T as like a second side creator, 0:36:28.480 --> 0:36:32.319 a guy who runs actions, but obviously Frank views him 0:36:32.320 --> 0:36:34.640 more as a defensive piece, which I think is is 0:36:34.680 --> 0:36:37.279 definitely interesting, and I think you're seeing him kind of 0:36:37.280 --> 0:36:40.200 trend in that direction and the way they're using him. 0:36:40.200 --> 0:36:42.280 But but that I thought that was an interesting question 0:36:42.320 --> 0:36:45.640 to ask. I personally would lean into, even as good 0:36:45.640 --> 0:36:48.560 as Avery Bradley's played, and he's played very very well, 0:36:48.960 --> 0:36:52.719 I would lean into what, like Monk or Ellington, one 0:36:52.760 --> 0:36:56.000 of them lean into them big because you need that shooting. 0:36:56.920 --> 0:37:00.279 But I would prioritize, I would kind of go from 0:37:00.360 --> 0:37:02.920 every Bradley out of that five, if that makes sense. 0:37:03.080 --> 0:37:07.359 But where are you at with that kind of decision? Yeah, 0:37:07.360 --> 0:37:09.439 So that's interesting that the quote that kind of got 0:37:09.480 --> 0:37:11.920 blown up was vocal saying we have enough wings, right, 0:37:11.960 --> 0:37:13.560 and people are like, how could you say we have 0:37:13.680 --> 0:37:16.200 enough wings? You know, like we're super short on wings. 0:37:16.200 --> 0:37:17.920 But I think what he's thinking about is like, yeah, 0:37:17.960 --> 0:37:20.480 we have PhD and then he has Kem baysmore he 0:37:20.520 --> 0:37:23.160 could go to even though camp Baysbre's not playing right, 0:37:23.200 --> 0:37:25.040 and then when Trevor Reason gets back and I think 0:37:25.040 --> 0:37:26.759 that's kind of what he means by the we have 0:37:26.880 --> 0:37:29.799 enough wings um in that situation. But I've been you know, 0:37:29.840 --> 0:37:32.000 I've been asking for Ellington to start for a little 0:37:32.160 --> 0:37:35.799 while now, and Ellington was honestly the odd man out tonight. Um. 0:37:35.840 --> 0:37:37.880 I don't I think he only played like ten minutes 0:37:37.960 --> 0:37:40.799 or something like that because they Bradley, um leak monk 0:37:41.160 --> 0:37:43.920 going off. Yeah, but that's who I guess like to 0:37:43.920 --> 0:37:45.799 start in that role. I feel like th is gonna 0:37:45.840 --> 0:37:48.880 stay there because, like you said for defensive purposes, but 0:37:48.920 --> 0:37:51.800 every Bradley has been playing well too, right, like again 0:37:51.840 --> 0:37:53.960 every Bradley. You can separate the team I guess from 0:37:53.960 --> 0:37:55.920 Bradley as well, because Bradley has been playing well. He 0:37:56.040 --> 0:37:58.719 just it's not his fault. He doesn't fit that lineup. Like, 0:37:58.760 --> 0:38:00.920 I can't be mad at him that he's not a 0:38:00.960 --> 0:38:03.000 dead eye three point shooter. That's not who he is 0:38:03.040 --> 0:38:04.960 and we knew that going in. I can't be mad 0:38:05.000 --> 0:38:07.280 at him for starting, so but I would like Ellington 0:38:07.360 --> 0:38:09.520 to start. I think that would open things up just 0:38:09.560 --> 0:38:12.040 a bit um just for the starting lineup. It's still 0:38:12.080 --> 0:38:15.400 just so ugly, especially for russ Uh and for Lebron. 0:38:15.480 --> 0:38:17.360 So that's who I'd like to start. But I understand 0:38:17.400 --> 0:38:20.239 Ellington has defensive issues and Bogo is a guy that's 0:38:20.280 --> 0:38:23.400 going to maximize that he's gonna go on the defensive end. 0:38:23.680 --> 0:38:25.359 And I think we're just going to continue to see 0:38:25.360 --> 0:38:27.200 th HD and Bradley to start. But it was fascinating 0:38:27.239 --> 0:38:29.920 to get behind the scenes kind of look into the 0:38:29.960 --> 0:38:32.320 coaches and how they kind of make decisions like that, 0:38:32.360 --> 0:38:34.359 because I just I think it's interesting and it's not 0:38:34.400 --> 0:38:36.479 an easy decision. I think these are all really tough 0:38:36.719 --> 0:38:38.560 things that you have to way back and forth. And 0:38:38.600 --> 0:38:41.759 I think the A D conversation was fascinating as well 0:38:41.760 --> 0:38:44.919 when he said, eighties tired after playing the full full 0:38:45.000 --> 0:38:47.359 first quarter, but we don't have another center because you'd 0:38:47.360 --> 0:38:48.960 have to put Dwight Howard in and he doesn't like 0:38:49.040 --> 0:38:51.480 to play Dwight until the second quarter. So it's a 0:38:51.480 --> 0:38:53.160 fascinating kind of back and forth. But what do you 0:38:53.160 --> 0:38:54.960 think of that? What do you think of um A D? 0:38:55.120 --> 0:38:58.600 I guess through Phil Handy um showing his concern. I 0:38:58.600 --> 0:39:01.239 guess for being fatigued after full of force quarter full 0:39:01.440 --> 0:39:03.880 first quarter, which you know, that's that's that's fair, Like 0:39:03.920 --> 0:39:06.600 that's not every player plays the whole first quarter, and 0:39:06.800 --> 0:39:09.360 most don't, right Yannest plays in like six minutes stints 0:39:09.360 --> 0:39:11.279 like superstars all around the league don't play the full 0:39:11.440 --> 0:39:12.640 first part. But what do you think of that? I 0:39:12.640 --> 0:39:15.200 guess that that part of the video. I was genuinely 0:39:15.239 --> 0:39:17.880 confused by it. Uh not not the fact that A 0:39:18.000 --> 0:39:19.920 D was tired. That makes perfect sense to me, and 0:39:19.960 --> 0:39:22.640 I agree, like, don't play a guy twelve minute shifts 0:39:22.960 --> 0:39:25.960 when he struggles with his motor, like that's that's not 0:39:26.080 --> 0:39:29.200 a that's completely nonsensical. Now, his thing was like, I 0:39:29.200 --> 0:39:30.880 don't want to go to Dwight to end the quarter, 0:39:31.160 --> 0:39:33.680 and I don't understand that because to me, it should 0:39:33.680 --> 0:39:38.000 be a basic staggering concept, right, because like I'm looking 0:39:38.040 --> 0:39:42.000 at Lebron running the second unit to start the second quarter, right, 0:39:42.320 --> 0:39:44.640 and Dwight's probably gonna be with him in that group. 0:39:45.080 --> 0:39:48.160 But that Dwight shift is split up by a quarter 0:39:48.200 --> 0:39:50.440 time out, which is usually like three and a half minutes. 0:39:50.520 --> 0:39:53.320 So why can't Dwight play the last three minutes of 0:39:53.360 --> 0:39:56.200 the first quarter? You know, Russ is with that lineup. 0:39:56.239 --> 0:39:58.680 That's when you can lean into Russ and shooting and Dwight, 0:39:58.960 --> 0:40:02.600 you know, and uh, and then from that standpoint, a 0:40:02.719 --> 0:40:05.560 D is gonna come back. Sometimes Dwight gets a rest, 0:40:05.600 --> 0:40:08.000 he comes back, starts the second quarter, and then a 0:40:08.120 --> 0:40:11.160 D can come in whenever, you know, like right now, 0:40:11.160 --> 0:40:12.880 he's been coming in around the six minute mark in 0:40:12.920 --> 0:40:15.120 the second quarter. But by taking him out at the 0:40:15.160 --> 0:40:16.560 nine minute, the first he can come out in the 0:40:16.600 --> 0:40:19.879 nine minute, come back at the nine minute after nine minutes, 0:40:19.880 --> 0:40:21.480 and the first he can come back at the nine 0:40:21.480 --> 0:40:23.799 minute mark in the second quarter. So I didn't understand that. 0:40:23.800 --> 0:40:26.080 When I was listening, It's like, it's a basic staggering 0:40:26.080 --> 0:40:28.560 If you're gonna play a D nine minutes and then 0:40:28.640 --> 0:40:30.600 Dwight six minutes, and then a D nine minutes and 0:40:30.600 --> 0:40:33.160 then you know, just repeat that in the second half. 0:40:33.200 --> 0:40:36.800 I don't see why that can't just be the rotation again. 0:40:36.880 --> 0:40:40.120 Like what you're asking from that position is when a 0:40:40.239 --> 0:40:41.640 D s on the floor, he does a little spot 0:40:41.719 --> 0:40:43.600 up work. But for the most part, those are screening 0:40:43.640 --> 0:40:45.400 dive guys. You don't have to change the way you 0:40:45.480 --> 0:40:49.520 play as much when you switch between those two. And 0:40:49.560 --> 0:40:51.880 so that was confusing to me. And look, a D 0:40:51.960 --> 0:40:54.840 has struggled with his motor all season. We you know, 0:40:54.920 --> 0:40:56.880 I've gotten an arguments with a bunch of people about this, 0:40:56.960 --> 0:40:59.120 and you know, the way I look at it, you know, 0:40:59.160 --> 0:41:01.440 he's not really much of a self starter. He struggles 0:41:01.600 --> 0:41:04.839 trying to navigate his way through the game in terms of, uh, 0:41:04.920 --> 0:41:06.960 knowing when to be physically aggressive and when to be 0:41:07.000 --> 0:41:09.839 more passive. Why not make that decision a little bit 0:41:09.840 --> 0:41:12.200 easier for him by giving him shorter burst. That's literally 0:41:12.239 --> 0:41:16.280 what Russell Westbrook does. Russell Westbrook loves coming in, playing 0:41:16.280 --> 0:41:19.080 his ass off for six minutes, sitting for three, playing 0:41:19.120 --> 0:41:21.000 his ass off for six minutes, sitting for three. It 0:41:21.040 --> 0:41:24.600 doesn't if that that might work better than playing for 0:41:24.640 --> 0:41:28.239 twelve minutes, being awful for half of them because you're, 0:41:28.440 --> 0:41:30.680 you know, very tired, and then sitting on the bench 0:41:30.719 --> 0:41:33.040 for what amounts to like twenty five minutes of real time, 0:41:33.719 --> 0:41:35.440 you know what I mean? Like, I just didn't. I 0:41:35.480 --> 0:41:38.720 didn't understand that in terms of the concept, Like, it's 0:41:38.719 --> 0:41:41.680 like to me that there, He's like, has anybody Frank 0:41:41.719 --> 0:41:44.040 goes in the video, he goes, has anybody heard anything 0:41:44.400 --> 0:41:47.520 in the locker room about A D s long shifts? 0:41:47.520 --> 0:41:50.360 And you know, I can't remember who was the assistant 0:41:50.360 --> 0:41:53.279 hand Yeah, So Phil Handy speaks up and goes, yeah, 0:41:53.320 --> 0:41:55.040 A D always comes up and tells me he's tired. 0:41:55.360 --> 0:41:57.239 To me, it's like end of discussion, Okay, cool, we're 0:41:57.239 --> 0:42:00.279 shortening his shifts, Like, like, what's the what's the push 0:42:00.320 --> 0:42:01.959 back there? Like, I just don't get it. You don't 0:42:02.000 --> 0:42:05.040 have it doesn't make any sense to do that. Lebron 0:42:05.160 --> 0:42:07.400 hasn't even done that since he was a young player. 0:42:07.840 --> 0:42:12.200 Lebron hasn't played twelve minute shifts literally since he was 0:42:12.239 --> 0:42:14.520 in like since he was you know, I think thirty 0:42:14.520 --> 0:42:16.680 two or earlier, like he just like he, It just 0:42:16.760 --> 0:42:19.880 is a nonsensical way to do it, unless you're a 0:42:19.880 --> 0:42:22.279 guy like the honest or like young Lebron, a guy 0:42:22.320 --> 0:42:25.080 who oh Draymond Green, like a guy who just has 0:42:25.120 --> 0:42:28.640 an incredible motor, who catches a second win and can 0:42:28.680 --> 0:42:30.239 just go up and down the floor all day long. 0:42:30.280 --> 0:42:31.960 If you're that guy, that's great. But Ad is just 0:42:32.000 --> 0:42:35.319 not that guy. So I would definitely try to get 0:42:35.400 --> 0:42:38.719 him more in and out of the game quicker um 0:42:38.760 --> 0:42:41.120 so that he has an opportunity to stend more of 0:42:41.160 --> 0:42:44.200 his energy while he's out there. Yeah. I thought another 0:42:44.239 --> 0:42:47.200 interesting thing too, was Phil Handy kind of putting the 0:42:47.280 --> 0:42:49.600 responsibility on a D as well. Right, He's like, he 0:42:49.680 --> 0:42:53.799 told him, if you don't want to play, they hand 0:42:53.880 --> 0:42:55.799 up and we'll sub for you. And I think part 0:42:55.800 --> 0:42:57.839 of this it's not that vocal, you know, I don't 0:42:57.840 --> 0:43:00.640 think he doesn't know how to staggers. They rely on 0:43:00.680 --> 0:43:03.080 a D so much defensively, right, So I'm thinking, like 0:43:03.320 --> 0:43:05.880 they like him playing that full first usually get the 0:43:06.120 --> 0:43:08.360 you know, you get the team's best players in that 0:43:08.440 --> 0:43:11.080 first quarter, So they play him the full force and 0:43:11.120 --> 0:43:14.000 then Dwight and Russ or whoever, and maybe it's I 0:43:14.000 --> 0:43:16.120 think it's Lebron who starts the second Um. I think 0:43:16.200 --> 0:43:18.120 Russ comes back back in late in the first and 0:43:18.120 --> 0:43:20.120 then I'm not sure if it's Russian and Braun or 0:43:20.120 --> 0:43:22.040 something that starts the second quarter, and they've been going 0:43:22.080 --> 0:43:24.319 with le Brunett center, but it's either Dwight Howard. I 0:43:24.320 --> 0:43:26.680 think they like that lineup. But yeah, we'll see if 0:43:26.680 --> 0:43:28.520 going forward, if that changes a little bit. You could 0:43:28.560 --> 0:43:31.120 tell a D is tired um, And I thought they 0:43:31.239 --> 0:43:32.759 made a good point as well that it could be 0:43:32.800 --> 0:43:35.200 injury prevention as well. Um. You could just see him 0:43:35.239 --> 0:43:37.319 not you know, like in that Memphis game, there are 0:43:37.320 --> 0:43:38.799 a lot of times where they would go at him 0:43:38.800 --> 0:43:41.000 and he's just kind of stepping back, you know, and 0:43:41.040 --> 0:43:44.160 just trying to preserve or just not go as we've 0:43:44.200 --> 0:43:46.120 seen a d B And there's a lot of factors 0:43:46.160 --> 0:43:48.160 to that, and there's always human elements to it. But 0:43:48.160 --> 0:43:51.120 I think it's a fascinating discussion because the the full 0:43:51.160 --> 0:43:53.200 first quarter thing that is fatiguing, like that's tough for 0:43:53.280 --> 0:43:55.600 a player to do, especially with the load that a 0:43:55.719 --> 0:43:58.440 D carries on the defensive end and on on on 0:43:58.480 --> 0:44:01.080 the offensive end honestly, where he put in the post 0:44:01.120 --> 0:44:03.439 and he's you know when especially when he's at the five, 0:44:03.520 --> 0:44:05.680 he's banging with guys or you know, get his job 0:44:05.760 --> 0:44:07.480 is to be the screen roll guy. But like, it's 0:44:07.480 --> 0:44:09.799 a fascinating discussion because I think it's interesting, and we'll 0:44:09.800 --> 0:44:11.799 see if Lebron at the center lineups can kind of 0:44:12.000 --> 0:44:13.600 fix that as well, maybe they pull a d a 0:44:13.640 --> 0:44:15.880 little bit quicker so he has energy going forward. But 0:44:15.880 --> 0:44:17.480 I think it's interesting. It's fascinating to get to kind 0:44:17.480 --> 0:44:19.680 of look into that because that's not something I think 0:44:19.719 --> 0:44:21.920 we knew about before before the video, even though we 0:44:21.960 --> 0:44:23.799 saw it on film and we kind of had thoughts 0:44:23.800 --> 0:44:25.880 about it. I think it's interesting to hear it, I 0:44:25.880 --> 0:44:29.000 guess from the from the coaching staff. Yeah, So moving 0:44:29.040 --> 0:44:33.239 beyond the minutes, just to the general idea of fatigue 0:44:33.280 --> 0:44:36.360 for Anthony Davis. I got into a discussion with the 0:44:36.400 --> 0:44:38.000 Cranges about this the other day, and I'm going to 0:44:38.080 --> 0:44:39.800 try to get him on the pod next week because 0:44:40.000 --> 0:44:42.440 obviously Twitter is just a really terrible place to have 0:44:42.960 --> 0:44:45.520 these kinds of back and forth discussions, and he's just 0:44:45.560 --> 0:44:47.200 a super smart guy and I'm sure he'll be able 0:44:47.239 --> 0:44:49.719 to to give give us a really good example of 0:44:49.840 --> 0:44:53.520 his perspective. But he basically was like his cases, like 0:44:53.600 --> 0:44:56.040 a d has more on his plate on both ends 0:44:56.040 --> 0:44:57.880 of the floor than any start in the league, was 0:44:57.960 --> 0:45:01.760 his point. Like his point like, defensively, he's basically covering 0:45:02.400 --> 0:45:05.200 for garbage defensive lineup by flying around all the time 0:45:05.239 --> 0:45:08.520 trying to to cover for people and then offensively obviously 0:45:08.640 --> 0:45:12.040 has way more responsibilities than a you know, a Rudy 0:45:12.040 --> 0:45:15.279 Gobert or a Clint Capella or the the other you know, 0:45:15.719 --> 0:45:19.080 ground covering mobile defensive centers that we have in the league. 0:45:19.080 --> 0:45:21.719 And he's not he's not wrong in that regard. I 0:45:21.760 --> 0:45:24.040 just think I think that's part of it. But I 0:45:24.080 --> 0:45:28.080 think I also think part of it is is that 0:45:28.080 --> 0:45:32.000 that motor, because there's no excuse, regardless of what your 0:45:32.040 --> 0:45:36.600 responsibilities are, to have three consecutive off days and then 0:45:36.640 --> 0:45:41.040 go into the Boston game and and be really hot 0:45:41.080 --> 0:45:43.960 garbage for the first twentysomething minutes of the game, you know, 0:45:44.040 --> 0:45:47.320 like it's like and just looking like you're not mentally 0:45:47.360 --> 0:45:50.040 engaged in the game. When we when we recorded that pot, 0:45:50.160 --> 0:45:52.719 that was the big that was one of the big 0:45:52.760 --> 0:45:54.719 stories of that game was like Lebron was carrying him 0:45:54.760 --> 0:45:57.799 early and Anthony Davis came in the second half, you know. 0:45:57.880 --> 0:46:01.400 And then obviously the Memphis games same thing. Like again, 0:46:01.480 --> 0:46:03.839 Memphis was two nights later, so it's not like it 0:46:03.880 --> 0:46:06.720 was the same rest. But he had played two games 0:46:06.760 --> 0:46:11.560 total in the previous seven days. So I can't like, like, man, 0:46:11.600 --> 0:46:13.680 if you're running out of gas, then like, how the 0:46:13.680 --> 0:46:15.480 hell are you going to get through a playoff run? 0:46:15.560 --> 0:46:17.600 You know what I mean? So I can't. I can't 0:46:17.640 --> 0:46:21.239 really make the fatigue excuse for him entirely. I do 0:46:21.320 --> 0:46:23.960 agree that he has a really difficult job, and and 0:46:24.000 --> 0:46:26.200 I'm glad Crane has pointed out because it's it is 0:46:26.239 --> 0:46:29.840 absolutely true. However, there's not a guy in the league 0:46:30.280 --> 0:46:32.360 that's vying for a spot to be considered one of 0:46:32.360 --> 0:46:34.520 the top tier superstars that doesn't have a lot on 0:46:34.600 --> 0:46:37.320 his plate. Like think about how much running Steph Curry 0:46:37.360 --> 0:46:39.080 has to do every night in order for the Golden 0:46:39.080 --> 0:46:42.120 State offense to even function. And in addition to that, 0:46:42.520 --> 0:46:44.400 he's got people vying for him to make an All 0:46:44.440 --> 0:46:47.040 defense team, which I don't necessarily agree with. But he 0:46:47.160 --> 0:46:50.480 is absolutely a good, positive defensive player. He's doing a 0:46:50.560 --> 0:46:53.160 lot for them night in and night out, you know, 0:46:53.239 --> 0:46:56.200 like that's that is what comes with the territory when 0:46:56.239 --> 0:46:59.160 you're that type of player. Same goes for Janice, same 0:46:59.200 --> 0:47:01.919 goes for Kevin. To Kevin Dury is having an incredible 0:47:02.239 --> 0:47:05.719 two a season and he's being asked to do so 0:47:05.840 --> 0:47:09.280 much every night because one of his co stars wouldn't 0:47:09.280 --> 0:47:11.880 take the vaccine and another one of his co stars 0:47:12.239 --> 0:47:15.520 literally showed up to the season like he has been 0:47:15.560 --> 0:47:17.680 on a spot teen day bender at the strip clubs. 0:47:17.719 --> 0:47:19.960 Like he just like it's he's been asked to do 0:47:20.160 --> 0:47:22.680 so much night in the night out to keep the 0:47:22.680 --> 0:47:25.600 team afloat. Like I don't like the idea of being 0:47:25.600 --> 0:47:28.040 like guys, we should really just lighten up on a 0:47:28.160 --> 0:47:30.560 d he's he's got to do too much, Like no 0:47:30.840 --> 0:47:34.160 like that that then then don't tell me he's one 0:47:34.160 --> 0:47:35.480 of the top players in the league, you know, like 0:47:35.480 --> 0:47:41.440 this is what we expect now practically he's struggling with 0:47:41.480 --> 0:47:44.520 the long shifts, So how about we make his job 0:47:44.560 --> 0:47:47.600 a little bit easier by giving him opportunities to step 0:47:47.600 --> 0:47:49.400 off the forward and get his breath, you know what 0:47:49.400 --> 0:47:51.600 I mean? That's that to me, is like a more 0:47:51.640 --> 0:47:55.200 practical solution there. But to me, asking a D to 0:47:55.200 --> 0:47:57.600 do what we're asking a D to do is foundationally 0:47:57.680 --> 0:48:00.239 what we did with this team. If you're if you 0:48:00.280 --> 0:48:03.520 are a team that doesn't trade everything away for a 0:48:03.520 --> 0:48:07.480 super duperstar, You've got really high quality role players. You've 0:48:07.480 --> 0:48:10.719 got lots of guys on midsize contracts. All of them 0:48:11.280 --> 0:48:14.680 are expected to do a lot so that the top 0:48:14.719 --> 0:48:18.080 players on the team have lighter workloads. But when you 0:48:18.160 --> 0:48:21.879 trade Brandon Ingram and Lonzo ball and and Josh Hard 0:48:21.920 --> 0:48:25.000 and all these guys to UH to a team to 0:48:25.160 --> 0:48:29.600 bring back Anthony Davis, you are saying, I think this 0:48:29.640 --> 0:48:34.320 guy can do what a lot more than what these 0:48:34.400 --> 0:48:38.320 three players can do combined. That's literally what the the 0:48:38.600 --> 0:48:42.520 entire concept of this sort of team construction was. It 0:48:42.600 --> 0:48:46.440 was it was it was always about Lebron and a 0:48:46.520 --> 0:48:48.840 D are gonna have to do a lot, you know 0:48:48.880 --> 0:48:50.919 what I mean? And so that and so that's where 0:48:50.960 --> 0:48:54.160 I was pushing back. And by the way, Tim's I'm 0:48:54.160 --> 0:48:55.840 gonna reach out him tomorrow. We're gonna get him on 0:48:55.840 --> 0:48:57.319 the pod next week and we're gonna have a good 0:48:57.320 --> 0:48:59.200 discussion about this, and I'll try to work it out 0:48:59.200 --> 0:49:01.120 so you can be there as well, Rods. But like 0:49:01.719 --> 0:49:05.200 my my point is is, like I think it's okay 0:49:05.239 --> 0:49:08.040 to hold Anthony Davis to that standard in terms of 0:49:08.080 --> 0:49:10.040 what we expect him. We can talk about the practical 0:49:10.080 --> 0:49:14.919 stuff like I just said, but I think in terms 0:49:14.920 --> 0:49:16.880 of the principle of the matter, I think it's okay 0:49:16.880 --> 0:49:19.960 to expect that from him. Yeah, I think there's like 0:49:19.960 --> 0:49:22.200 a fine line, right, and we're starting to see a 0:49:22.360 --> 0:49:24.919 d trades pop up on the timeline, which I think 0:49:25.000 --> 0:49:29.200 is you know, just absolutely insane. I think that's crazy. Um, 0:49:29.239 --> 0:49:30.879 it's tough. It's a it's a fine line to walk 0:49:30.920 --> 0:49:34.399 because the numbers all say that he's been contributing at 0:49:34.520 --> 0:49:36.359 you know, the level that he's supposed to. He leads 0:49:36.360 --> 0:49:38.239 the league in you know, paying touch, he leads the 0:49:38.280 --> 0:49:40.480 leading in dunks and points in the pain and and 0:49:40.520 --> 0:49:42.400 all that stuff. And then you talked about cranes. He 0:49:42.680 --> 0:49:45.600 posted that eighties, running the most as any player in 0:49:45.600 --> 0:49:48.640 the league. Um, again, his defensive versatility has been all 0:49:48.719 --> 0:49:50.800 up and down. He's switching, he has to protect the 0:49:50.880 --> 0:49:53.240 rim and all that's true, but still there's an engagement 0:49:53.280 --> 0:49:54.920 level that you have to expect, and I think the 0:49:54.960 --> 0:49:57.680 toughest part is that we've seen it. We saw it all. 0:49:57.800 --> 0:50:00.960 Like to me, I saw it all. And obviously there's 0:50:01.200 --> 0:50:03.719 games where he doesn't engage offensively as he should, and 0:50:03.760 --> 0:50:05.680 I can live with that, um, I can live with 0:50:05.719 --> 0:50:07.799 that kind of stuff here and there, but it's been 0:50:07.840 --> 0:50:10.759 too it's been too often. I guess that I see 0:50:10.800 --> 0:50:13.840 where there's just full quarters where he just isn't isn't 0:50:13.840 --> 0:50:17.200 there and this team and this team just can't handle that, 0:50:17.320 --> 0:50:20.080 I guess especially. I think Russ has pulled his way, 0:50:20.120 --> 0:50:22.160 but Russ is still supposed to be the third guy 0:50:22.160 --> 0:50:23.880 on this team. That's the whole point of this, and 0:50:23.920 --> 0:50:25.880 I feel like it's been a lot of a Russ 0:50:25.920 --> 0:50:27.879 has led a lot of the comebacks, at least early on, 0:50:28.160 --> 0:50:30.400 and again that second half against Boston was great, and 0:50:30.440 --> 0:50:32.400 we see bits and flashes of it. We just has 0:50:32.440 --> 0:50:35.360 to be consistent. I think the putting on mass is 0:50:35.400 --> 0:50:37.640 a really key point as well. I think that's been 0:50:37.920 --> 0:50:40.040 something that's everyone's kind of pointed out now and I 0:50:40.040 --> 0:50:41.960 think that's part of it. That is not getting that 0:50:42.040 --> 0:50:44.719 same lift as he was. He got blocked twice, I 0:50:44.719 --> 0:50:46.600 believe in Memphis and one of them was like by 0:50:46.640 --> 0:50:49.200 Kyle Anderson. That kind of stuff happens, but it's just 0:50:49.480 --> 0:50:51.440 there was a lack of lift there that that you 0:50:51.440 --> 0:50:53.600 see is kind of impacting him and we'll see how 0:50:53.640 --> 0:50:55.399 that goes. But the numbers are still there. He's still 0:50:55.520 --> 0:50:57.839 a super impactful player. It's just when you have when 0:50:57.840 --> 0:51:00.239 you see a guy with the amount of talent so 0:51:00.320 --> 0:51:02.960 cantalizing that a D has, you expect more right when 0:51:03.000 --> 0:51:05.720 you watch him, you just feel like there's a super 0:51:05.760 --> 0:51:09.040 crazy impactful player there and we're not seeing the ceiling 0:51:09.080 --> 0:51:10.640 of it. And I think that's the part that we 0:51:10.680 --> 0:51:13.000 struggle with because the numbers are all there, like you 0:51:13.000 --> 0:51:14.720 can go and low. He's still putting up his twenty 0:51:14.760 --> 0:51:17.080 six and ten and he can sleepwalk into a lot 0:51:17.120 --> 0:51:19.040 of that, right, Like that's just how good he is, 0:51:19.200 --> 0:51:21.719 even with his jumper not falling. But it's a a 0:51:21.760 --> 0:51:23.560 thin line to walk. We'll see if the minutes kind 0:51:23.560 --> 0:51:25.760 of come down a little bit. I think that's something 0:51:25.800 --> 0:51:28.239 that that's a fixable issue. Like you talked about, the 0:51:28.280 --> 0:51:30.640 jumper isn't really something we can control. It's gonna be 0:51:30.719 --> 0:51:33.160 up and down so the whole season. But I just 0:51:33.160 --> 0:51:35.600 think like it's a tough thing to walk here. Blaming 0:51:35.680 --> 0:51:38.560 everything on a D obviously isn't the case. He's not 0:51:38.640 --> 0:51:41.279 the problem, right, But I just need him to contribute 0:51:41.280 --> 0:51:43.480 more to the solution, right, And I guess that's the 0:51:43.719 --> 0:51:46.239 That's the way I would like to put it. People 0:51:46.239 --> 0:51:48.040 are like, oh, eighties, you're saying eighties the problem. No, 0:51:48.080 --> 0:51:50.040 I'm not saying he's the problem. I just there's a 0:51:50.040 --> 0:51:52.560 solution here that needs him to be more part of it. 0:51:52.600 --> 0:51:54.880 And you know, his defense. This team needs him to 0:51:54.920 --> 0:51:59.439 be all world defensively on most possessions, and it also 0:51:59.520 --> 0:52:02.840 needs on to be all world defensively almost possessions to 0:52:02.880 --> 0:52:05.279 beat the good teams. That's just how this team is 0:52:05.360 --> 0:52:07.600 kind of built, at least until we see how thirty 0:52:07.640 --> 0:52:09.759 six year old of reason fits into it. But like, 0:52:09.840 --> 0:52:11.719 that's how this team is kind of built, and he's 0:52:11.760 --> 0:52:14.120 expected to do that. I think it's okay to expect 0:52:14.120 --> 0:52:16.719 our twenty eight year old superstar who just signed the 0:52:16.760 --> 0:52:19.520 Mega Max hold him to a higher standard. Like, I 0:52:19.520 --> 0:52:22.880 think that's okay without going to an extreme of trading 0:52:22.960 --> 0:52:25.040 him or calling him soft or you know, like all 0:52:25.080 --> 0:52:27.600 these extremes that we see. There's the middle lines. Here 0:52:27.600 --> 0:52:29.279 that that we can walk and I think I think 0:52:29.280 --> 0:52:32.000 that's important to talk about. Yeah, exactly, and guess what, 0:52:32.160 --> 0:52:34.480 like you can't you can't be like, oh A D 0:52:34.640 --> 0:52:37.000 is doing great. It's all the minimum guys that are 0:52:37.040 --> 0:52:39.760 at fault when the reason why we have minimum guys 0:52:39.840 --> 0:52:41.960 is because we went after Lebron and na D. Like 0:52:42.040 --> 0:52:47.200 with that team structure comes the accountability and responsibility, you 0:52:47.200 --> 0:52:49.719 know what I mean, Like you and even above and 0:52:49.760 --> 0:52:52.040 beyond that with the Russ thing. It's like you guys 0:52:52.080 --> 0:52:55.040 had even a variation of that where you had some 0:52:55.120 --> 0:52:58.480 high quality role players like how Kuzma, like Alex Cruising White, 0:52:58.520 --> 0:53:02.680 k CP, all under control and you forfeited that to 0:53:02.800 --> 0:53:05.120 bring in Russ, you know what I mean. And that's 0:53:04.920 --> 0:53:08.880 that to me, like those guys, I just those three guys, 0:53:08.920 --> 0:53:13.440 I can't really go around making excuses for them. Um 0:53:13.480 --> 0:53:15.680 you know when they this is kind of like a 0:53:15.719 --> 0:53:18.880 decision they made in a predicament that they put themselves in. 0:53:19.000 --> 0:53:21.759 But to be clear, that's not something we're trying to 0:53:21.760 --> 0:53:25.040 be super negative about. This positive night, um uh, the 0:53:25.080 --> 0:53:27.439 team is trending in the right direction. I think I'm 0:53:27.480 --> 0:53:29.960 surprised I didn't hear about that Luca news. That's a bummer. 0:53:30.040 --> 0:53:32.839 I thought that would have been an interesting challenge going 0:53:32.880 --> 0:53:35.640 into Dallas on Wednesday, but so that's all we have 0:53:35.719 --> 0:53:39.080 for tonight. Uh So quick news. So, my grandfather actually 0:53:39.080 --> 0:53:40.759 passed away a couple of days ago, so I am 0:53:40.920 --> 0:53:44.480 flying to Iowa on Tuesday, so I'm actually going to 0:53:44.600 --> 0:53:49.560 miss the the game on Wednesday night, but I'm sure 0:53:49.600 --> 0:53:52.960 we'll get uh Raj is still planning on going that night, 0:53:53.000 --> 0:53:55.080 so we still have a postgame show and then I'm 0:53:55.080 --> 0:53:58.200 gonna try to get my thoughts out there on on 0:53:58.239 --> 0:54:01.800 Thursday during the day sometime as well. But we appreciate 0:54:01.840 --> 0:54:03.680 you guys support. This will be on dash Radio tomorrow 0:54:03.719 --> 0:54:06.960 morning at seven am Pacific Standard time, and we'll be 0:54:06.960 --> 0:54:09.279 on our podcast feeds here in the next twenty or 0:54:09.320 --> 0:54:11.840 thirty minutes or so. We always appreciate your support and 0:54:11.880 --> 0:54:15.560 we will see you in a couple of days. Thanks everyone,