182.Lakers Play-in Hopes dead?

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In Michigan one eight seven seven eight Hope and Why or text hope and Why to four six seven three six nine in New York. In Tennessee redline dial one eight hundred eight eight nine nine seven eight nine in Tennessee. Visit www one dot one eight hundred gambler dot net in West Virginia. Welcome to Lakers Tonight, presented by FanDuel Here at the Volume, I am Jason Tim. Happy Friday, everybody. I hope you all had a great week and that you have big plans for the weekend. We are going

to talk a ton of Lakers tonight. That was, you know, probably the most frustrating basketball game that I can remember watching when you factor in all of the details surrounding

the situation. This Lakers team has been super frustrating all season, but there have been varying reasons why it was livable for one reason or another, whether it was early in the season so you knew there was a long runway to try to figure things out, or you could point to a clear personnel issue like an injury or the need to play a player that you would never in a million years play unless you absolutely had to because you were back against was against the wall with a

bunch of unforeseen circumstances. This was not any of that. This was as close to a must win as you could possibly imagine for this team. They had more than enough personnel available to win the game handily, and not only did they lose, but they actively sabotaged themselves, which is something that has been a very persistent problem throughout the entire season. It's like that coach from the Arizona Cardinals after that famous Monday night football loss. They are

who we thought they were. When a team tells you everything they are about themselves over a massive, massive sample size, it's unrealistic to expect them to change. And a lot of that's on me. If you guys, remember, I last night laid out the case for how a Lakers playing birth could realistically happen and how they could use that birth to potentially make some noise in a playoff run. And I explained to you guys using one stat that they actually had a better punch than they've shown for

most of the season. I pointed out that in a hundred and eighty four minutes this season, coming into tonight, with Lebron, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook on the floor with no center, they were plus eleven point for net, meaning they were outscoring teams by eleven and a half points per one possessions. But there was a very important

stat that I threw out before that. If you guys remember I said there are some bad Lebron in a D stats, And I told you that this season, coming into tonight, when the Lakers had Lebron and Anthony Davis on the floor together, they had a negative net rating and one that was worse than they were last year with Lebron and a D on the bench at the same time. So that's how they've been this season with Lebron and a D on the floor. So what's the

difference between those two scenarios. Why are Lebron, a D and Russ with no center playing relatively well, And why are Lebron and a D in general and the totality of their minutes playing so poorly? And the obvious reason why was throughout the entire season the Lakers, either by either forced by injury at various points or simply because of malpractice from the coaching staff, they very frequently played

their worst players alongside Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Basketball, you know, coaches have, like there's coaches have a philosophy that they bring to a situation. Frank Vogel has a core philosophy, right, and it centers around controlling the interior as a defensive team, shutting off the paint, but also rebounding, controlling the glass. It's all about physical dominance and with the Kers that worked. That's why I've been so defensive

of Frank Vogel over this entire span. But the league has changed a lot in the last two years, and that particular team was so skilled down the roster. When you really looked at all the players they had in their rotation, Alex Crusoe Contavious called, well, Pope Kyle Kuzma that was a better version of Dwight Howard. JaVale McGee is a much better backup center than anybody they had that season. He was actually started. That team was significantly more talented. This team is not so much, so you

can't afford to play away from your strengths. And you know, there's it's the concept. It's it's like the concept of confirmation bias, confirmation biases, seeing something that that comes when you have a specific worldview, You're gonna gravitate towards data, and you're gonna gravitate towards evidence that confirms your belief.

We have had so much evidence this year that this team is at their best when Danny Davis is at the center position and they play their younger players, when they play Austin Reeves, when they play Stanley Johnson, when they play Malik Monk alongside Lebron James and Anthony Davis. That is when this team has been at its best. And there's been significant data to back that up. But

Frank Vogel has consistently ignored that data. I told you guys, after they beat the Jazz earlier this season, they beat the Jazz, they run him off the floor. It's that Stanley Johnson, Lebron pick and roll at the end of the game, and there was an amazing lineup that finished the game as Austin Reeves, Malik Monks, Stanley Johnson, Lebron

and I believe it might have been Tailing. I can't remember who the fourth fifth guy was, but they had a core lineup that controlled that game in the fourth quarter. Frank did not play that lineup a single minute the next game, not a single minute. So he had data right there in his face, proof that what he was doing was working with that group, and he completely ignored it and went back to what he was comfortable with

and then next game. That's confirmation bias. That's seeing two sets of data, a data that goes against your worldview and data that goes towards your worldview, and ignoring the data, the clear and obvious data that goes against your worldview. Frank doesn't like to play this way. Frank doesn't want to play Anthony Davis at center. He loves having two bigs on the floor. He wants to play traditional old

school plotting basketball. That's what he wants to do. He wants to live in the half court and play like he did with Roy Hibbert in the Indiana Pacers, which worked back in the day. This is a completely different league now. His worldview is inherently flawed for this NBA in the year two. So here we go fast forward to today, Like I point out three minutes Lebron a D no center plus eleven point four Lebron a D in totality negative. So is Lee, that's the way they

need to play Lebron and a D at center. But he in that first half tonight, you played twenty four minutes of basketball. By my count, they played about three minutes and fourteen seconds with Lebron and a D and no center, with ross three minutes and fourteen seconds out of twenty eight available. So all of the data in the world, all of the success in the world screaming that you need to play this way, but Frank wants

to play his way. And you know, obviously towards the end of the game, there was a there was a point about seven and a half minutes left in the third quarter where Frank did finally go. He took Dwight out of the game. He he he played Lebron, a D and Russ without a center, Bingo bengo. They went on a run right away. Lebron is just getting to the

basket every single time down the floor. He actually, I have a big feeling that Lebron, like you know, Lebron and a d are are They look like themselves for the most part tonight right. But the context here is is neither of them has played consistently of late, so they're conditioning wasn't there. This was a game you had

to win early. This was a game you had to avoid crunch time at all costs, because you knew that the longer the game dragged on, the longer it was competitive, the more likely Lebron and a d S rust and conditioning would become a problem. And it did. Lebron fired off everything he had in the tank in that third quarter, had absolutely no lift in the fourth. Don't think it

was the ankle. I think it was fatigue. It's It's completely unrealistic to expect him to take a bunch of time off like that and then to just walk back onto a basketball court and be able to play forty minutes of high level NBA basketball. That's unrealistic. This was a game where you had to come in and play to your strengths and close the deal early. But instead it was close. And what do I always tell you, guys, if a game is close at the end, literally anything

can happen. I remember watching a game in the bubble in and I watched Dj Augustine of the Orlando Magic personally execute the Milwaukee Bucks with a couple of big shots at the end of the game because they played with their food all night. They ended up winning the next four games and won the series. But I can't tell you how many times in my time watching basketball I've seen a team play with their food for whatever reason.

Usually it's just effort related. The Lakers actively sabotaged themselves with strategy. But you find yourself in a close game, there's eight minutes left and anything can happen, So guess what happens. Jonas Valanciinas makes a weird lurching three from the top of the key, because that's the kind of thing that can happen in a close game. There's a player where Jonas Valancionas post up Anthony Davis and uses his off arm to clear space for the shot and

gets a foul call. I thought it was a really bad call, but guess what happens in really close games, Sometimes really bad calls. It's part of the deal. There were some really good looks that people missed at the end of the game for the Lakers. What happens when you're in a close game, sometimes you missed shots. This just happened last week. It might have been a week ago, it might have been two weeks ago against Washington, played with their food blue lead. It was close. Next thing

you know, Lebron was missing a wide open three. At the end, Russ missed a wide open three and they got killed by Kris STAPs. Porzingis making contested jump shots because that's what happens when you mess around with the team and get into a close game. This was This is a team I I told you guys yesterday if Lebron and a d really were engaged, which I thought they were tonight, but there was no reason in the world why they shouldn't go five and one down the

stretch because they are. Even with all of the issues surrounding the two of them on the roster this year, they're good enough to win these games. They're good enough to beat the Nuggets. They're good enough to beat Golden State if Steph Curry's her. They're good enough to beat everybody remaining on their schedule. But the Suns. That's how

good they are. They're good enough to go out tonight and have the Pelicans down to going into the fourth quarter to where Lebron and a D could run out of gas and be fatigued and it could not be a problem. But instead they played with their food and instead Frank went right, this, this is ridiculous. So, first of all, the starters, I've told you guys all season. I've done videos on it, I've done breakdowns, I've shown

you guys numbers. I've shown you everything that I can to show that the best players on the roster where Austin Reeves, Stanley Johnson, Malik Monk, and Taylor Horton Tucker alongside Lebron and a D. Austin Reeves didn't play tonight. I I get it, he hadn't played super well in the previous few games. But if you know anything about the game of basketball, you know guys like Austin Reeves

glue guys, guys who are fifth then in lineups. They require talent alongside them to get them the easy opportunities that they capitalize on. Austin Reeves was always gonna look worse with Lebron and a D off the floor. He's not a guy that can create a ton of things for himself against that defense. He's not as a guy who's gonna thrive if he's being guarded all the time. He was going to play a lot better with Lebron

and a d coming back. There was no reason in the world to playoffs, to play Avery Bradley over him tonight. That isn't a completely inconscionable decision. That is, there is no defense for it. I cannot even fathom a reason why he would do so. And guess what. Guess who was cooking like crazy to start the game. C J McCollum. Why can c J. McCollum is bigger than Avery Bradley, He's smarter than Avery Bradley, and Avery Bradley is not good enough on ball anymore to really disrupt players like that,

and he's a terrible off ball defender. He freelances like crazy. Play in the first quarter, Dwight Howard's got Brandon Ingram on a switch. There are two Pelican bigs under the basket. Uh Lebron James is waiting under the basket. Anthony Davis is waiting under the basket. Who cares if Dwight Howard gets beat off the dribble. Avery Bradley just randomly runs over and double teams. Brandon Ingram gives up a wide open three to see J McCollum, and you can guess

how that went. Austin Reeves doesn't make that kind of mistake. He's a low He's a high floor, low ceiling guy. He's the perfect guy to be the fifth man in the lineup. He doesn't freelance, he doesn't make mistakes. He simply does his job. He never forces a bad shot, he attacks close outs and makes great reads. He is the ideal player to put alongside Rustle, Lebron and Anthony Davis. And he did not play tonight. It's completely indefensible. First run someb of the game, they put Monk in for us.

That's fine. Then they bring in DJ Augustine for Dwight Howard. So you go small and your response is to have Malik Monkey DJ Augustine on the floor. DJ Augustine needed to play earlier when this team was decimated by injuries. There was no reason in the world for him to be in the rotation tonight, not a single reason in the world. And then we go into the second quarter.

You have Lebron, James and Anthony Davis on your team, and you started the second quarter with DJ Augustine, Russell Westbrook, Malik Monks, Stanley Johnson, and when you in Gabriel, that's an indefensible decision. And then as soon as you brought Anthony Davis back in the middle of the second quarter, here came d White Howard with him. I just it's been like this all season. You can't afford as a basketball team to have this many factors working against you.

We just saw it with the Memphis Grizzlies, who beat the ship out of the Phoenix Suns tonight. It was that relatively close and competitive with Memphis controlled that game. They did it without their players, their best players. They did it without Jaren Jackson Jr. Without Steven Adams, without John Morant, without Desmond Baine, because that's the only thing that was working against them tonight, missing players. They don't

have a scheme that actively goes against their strengths. They don't have a coach that is stubbornly entrenched in his in his outdated approach to the game of basketball. They don't have a front office in ownership group that is is just steeped in in in like weird familial dynamics and inability to empower the proper people in the job. They don't have those issues, so they can overcome one issue this Laker team can afford to have with all of the issues they have with the rust mistake and

everything that's surrounded that. Letting Alex Cruso go having these inferior role players, you can't afford to then have a coach that also doesn't play the good players you have. I've done so much to defend Frank Vogel over the course of this season because I have the utmost respect for what he's capable of as a defensive coach when he's given the tools. But this is just look, dude, you've got to adapt, and the Lakers have a handful of guys on their roster that are completely unwilling to

do so. Anthony Davis thinks he's Kevin Durant and his insistent on taking really difficult midrange jump shots for a lot of his offense. It wasn't so bad tonight, but that's been an issue over the course of the last two years. You've got Russell Westbrook, who literally went on yet another interview yesterday sobs story. I'm just pushing through a really tough season, not a single word out of his mouth about how he's one of the least skilled

guards in the entire NBA. Not a single word out of his mouth about how, you know, hey, maybe this season has shown me that I need to make some improvements this offseason in the skill areas of my game. And then you've got Frank Vogel who thinks it's two thousand their team with Roy Hibbert. Still there's way too much stubbornness on this roster. There's way too much stubbornness in this system. Now, they're not completely dead. They can

overcome this. I said they'd go five and one. Maybe they go four and two and they still get into the playing spot. But my optimism was centered around them playing into their strengths. I did that whole video yesterday, and they went out and tossed it all in the garbage. Everything they learned over the course of the season they tossed in the garbage. And so now do I think

they're gonna make the playing game. No, because they gotta go beat Denver on Sunday, And if they continue to do the same thing they did tonight, they're gonna lose to Denver on Sunday. So they're not going to make the playing tournament and they're gonna get eliminated. They're gonna go home early, and next thing you know, at the blame aim will start and Franco get fired and Russell

get traded away, and they'll they'll pretend everything's fine. But if this team doesn't start getting smarter, they're not going to be able to overcome some of the restrictions they have with their cap sheet. When you're operating on the fringes like this, when you've got Lebron and Anton Davis making a ton of money and you've got this albatross of a RUSS contract that you have to deal with, you have to be smart. You have to be the smarter team. You can't be the dumb team. I talked

a lot about this yesterday with the Clippers. Right down the hall in Crypto dot com arena. There is a team that has been dealing with significantly lesser talent this season who has been significantly better. Why Because they don't have nepotism in their front office, because they hire smart people to do the job. Because they have a coach that literally just in the last four or five years, has completely changed his approach and philosophy of the game.

When he was in Cleveland, he was basically Doc Rivers Light. Now he's Mr five out, Mr embraced all of the modern trends in basketball. That that team is from the top down so incredibly smart. And in this Laker team, it basically has Lebron James going for it once again tonight. Just this could have been even worse if Lebron didn't

go crazy like he did in the third quarter. And it's unfore and again he had to do that in the third quarter to keep that game competitive and they were only up by one going into the fourth quarter and he was out of gas. That's you can't ask that of Lebron at this point of it in his career. He can't be get fifty every night. Guy. No one's ever been that guy, not since Wilt and that was a completely different sport. I just it's as discouraging as

anything that I can remember watching as a fan. You know, I am not your traditional Lakers fan. I grew up in Tucson, Arizona. But in twenty nineteen I started covering the team. I fell in love with the team because that team was so much fun. They had they played directly into their strengths. The coach was perfect for the roster they had. Lebron and Nade were completely dialed in. They tried harder than everybody every single night, and they were winners. Those dudes were winners, and it was a

fun team to cover. And literally this season has been such a departure from that, it's like it's hardly even recognizable, and and it is. It is what it is. You know, Anthony Davis, he looked fine, but this dude hasn't been able to stay on the court for more than a handful of games at a time, literally since the bubble. It's gonna take a while for him to get back to where he's at. Lebron is dealing with an injury himself. He's not in shape yet, he doesn't have his rhythm yet.

You you can't afford right now to not bring your best to the table every night, and this team willingly, deliberately does not bring their best. The last thing I wanted to hit on with the Lakers before we move on was Russ. You know he. I thought it was a classic Russ game in the sense that he had a lot of bad that he brought to the table, but he also had a lot of good that he

brought to the table. When he was guarding brandon Ingram in isolation, he did a really nice job but holding his ground with physicality, making brandon Ingram shoot over the top. He did something that I've always thought was really smart. When you're a shorter defender, don't try to block the shot, don't try to contest the shot, contest the face. He's doing a really nice job of just getting his hand right there in in brandon Ingram's face, and he made

him miss some shots. It was good defense. But then when he would getting pick and roll coverage, he kept dying on the screens. When he would get matched up with c. J. McCollum, he did a really bad job because it's a little bit more labor intensive. And then you know, this is the classic thing that happens with Russ all the time. Makes two huge threes early fourth

quarter to put the team up eight. But the problem is is this season he's been shooting twenty eight point five percent on catch and shoot threes coming into tonight point five percent. And what did he do? A few possessions later? He took an off the dribble three on the left wing and air balled. Sandwiching those two threes was two air balls mixed in with a ton of trash talk, and the team gave up sixty four points in the second half with Lebron and a D on

the floor. It's just not good enough. I I think Russ has to Russ has to come to terms with the fact that he needs to completely adjust the way he plays basketball. He's got to go into this offseason and massively improve the skill areas of this game. I don't understand how he doesn't look across the way and see c Jim McCollum and think I need to be

able to do that stuff. All these NBA guards are incredible with what they can do with the basketball, and Russ just has not made an attempt to build that out in his game. Just simply has not put the work in and like and that's what I'm That's what I'm sick of their talking trash to you, Russ, when you airball that shot because you actually can't shoot, and the two threes you made are two of the few that you've made, because when you've cotton shot threes this year,

you've made less than of them. That's why they're talking trash. So you rubbing it in their face doesn't actually accomplish anything. The only thing that's going to accomplish anything is you getting in the gym this summer. Man, work on your game. You can't be six three lebron every more anymore. That just runs people over. You've got to get more skilled. But an insummation to put a bow on this whole

thing with the Lakers, I'm annoyed, I'm frustrated. I I this season just needs to be put in the review mirror, and that that that there's so much self reflection that needs to be done within that franchise. And it figures that the final nail in the coffin would be Frank Vogel dipping right back into every mistake he made at the start of the season, with all of the evidence laid out in front of him. All Right, we're gonna bring my guy Carson to play some games. How's it going, man,

I'm great, Jason, how are you? I'm annoyed? Man? Yeah, yeah, you know, I actually could pick up on that. All right, well, we're gonna pick the mood up here because we've got the five biggest questions from around the NBA for you tonight. And the first one is related to a game that you already mentioned, and that was the Grizzlies going out and beating the healthy Sons without four of their top guys. And they're now twenty and two without Jaw this season.

So is that a big deal to you? You know, it's funny because I I remember when the Nets lost in Memphis without Job. The other night, I did this whole thing about how young athletic teams at home in front of a raucous crowd or like a buzz saw when they really really want to win a game. And I watched the first few minutes of that game, and I'm like, yeah, textbook buzz saw. Because you know, and this is this is the twenty and two thing means nothing.

It relates to Jaw, has nothing to do with how valuable Jaws to the team, has nothing to do with this team's ceiling in terms of what it looks like when it has John the floor. What it does tell me is that this team, you know, I've said a lot about the Suns that they are the most talented team in the NBA from top to bottom. What Memphis is showing us by them going twenty in two without Jaw is that they are very much right up there

with Phoenix, not quite there. I don't think they quite have the high end players, but I think I think Memphis has a lot more talent than we've given them credit for, and that's something we should probably factor in

when we're talking about their ceiling. Yeah, I mean you mentioned the talent there, but I think the number to me that stands out most from when they haven't had Jaws that in those twenty two games, they have a defensive rating of one oh one point five, which would be like almost five points better than the best actual defense in the league. And I just think since Taylor Jenkins got there, he has done such a remarkable job of establishing a defensive culture with, like you said, a

young group. That's abnormal to be one of the five six youngest teams in the league and be that great defensively. So do you think that he deserves more credit in like the Coach of the Year conversation? Is he under underappreciated in that way? Absolutely? I I would credit the front office as well, But like you know, you hit the word on the head. It's if you hit the nail on the head with that word culture, because you're right, it's super uncommon for young basketball teams to be really

good on the defensive end of the floor. The main reason why is because defense is about so defense is so much more complicated than people think. Like Lebron came into the league as an absolute freak athlete. He was not a good defensive player the first three or four years that he was in the league because defense is so so much about focus, so that you it is

such a brain game that people don't understand. And I remember this even when I was playing, Like the extent of time you have to spend memorizing plays so that you don't get surprised by screens. Like it's just it's such a silly thing to think about, but like how often, Like because if you're not paying attention and you don't know where the screen is coming from, teams disguise actions really well and you can run headlong into somebody in

the whole defensive concept breaks down. It is so difficult to be a good defensive player, and it is so much It's so much more than just are you big, strong and fast and so to Taylor Jenkins is credit you know, because there's so many things in offense that you can't control making shots. You know, how the rhythm role players are role players are they gonna feel good

one night or they're gonna feel bad one night. But there's one thing that you can always control, and it's what you do on the defensive end of the floor, because it's all about effort and focus. And so to Taylor Jenkins credit, he's established a culture there and as long as it's like it's like keeping the main thing, the main thing, as long as that's always on the front burner, as long as that's always the thing at the top of the player's minds, and you established that early,

it becomes almost like reactionary. It's almost like instinctual. You defend because that's just what you do. And that's what's so hard about this Laker team is like they they have the opposite of that instinct. They have to go out of their way to defend because it's not instinctual for them because it is not ingrained in their culture and it but to Taylor Jenkins credit, like, that's really difficult to do with young players, and he somehow managed

to pull it off. So now that they are standing here and they're lapping the competition for the second best record in the league. What do you think is a successful season for them at this point when it comes to how far they can get in the playoffs. Oh, that's an interesting question. I mean, they're not gonna say

this kind of thing in the locker room. In the locker room, they're talking title or bust, as they should, because when you when you have the second best, like people don't realize this, Like you know, we were just talking about home court and the buzz saw. They're going to have home court over anybody in the Eastern Conference if they make it to the finals. So Memphis basically has the home court locked up for the first round,

the second round, and the finals. The only round that they're gonna have to go on the road is if they play Phoenix, So they they they are poised and set for a legitimate playoff run here. Now I expect that they would lose to Phoenix and possibly earlier because you know, the other the next and the next issue with youth is understanding how to win in a playoff environment. And you know, historically young teams have struggled there. There the thunder and two thousand twelve are a great example.

They were favored going into that series. They were significantly more talented the the Heat were just smarter, and as that series progressed, they won five four games to one in a series that probably should have gone six or seven games. Because they won all of the basketball i Q areas of the game. That's gonna be their biggest shortcoming. But I would say if they made it to the Western Conference finals and went down admirably in like six games,

that's a massive resounding success for the season. But I'm sure inside the locker room they're talking title or bust. All right, biggest question from around the league tonight number two. The Nuggets lost tonight. Yokich had thirty eight nineteen and eight. But still that m v P race is getting so tight right now with the way that Janice has been surging as of late. So does that loss hurt Yoki's MVP case? You know, I don't think Yokich is hurting his mv keep the m v P case as much

as as Janice is helping it. So the real you know, Yoki just considered the MVP front runner for two reasons, in my opinion, One is he's been incredible. But two is, we don't have a traditional candidate in the sense that we don't we didn't have like one of the best records in the league that has like a bona fide like Titan of the NBA at the top. Right. You know, it's not like, you know, Steph Curry and the Warriors in two thousand sixteen. It's not like Lebron James and

the Heat in two thousand thirteen. You don't have these this like best team in the league, clearly one of the best players. And so Yoki's kind of capitalized on that. He's gonna end up finishing up with the sixth seed, and Janice is gonna end up probably is the one seed, averaging thirty thirty points per game and potentially winning the scoring title depending on how things go with Lebron here down the stretch. So, like I I think Janice is just starting to demonstrate to us a very traditional m

v P case and that's why he should win. And for the record, I'm okay with it, Like I really like Yoki, but I think we've jumped the gun on him a little bit. You can run him off the floor and transition and he's and he's only good defensively and drop coverage, so there's a lot of different ways you can attack him. He has some glaring weaknesses, and we just have guys at the top of the league that don't have glaring weaknesses. And you know, you guys know me like, I'm always going to defer to the

proven guys. And I would much rather see Yannice get the trophy than Yoki's for so many different reasons, not the least of which is he's just a better basketball player and in almost every facet of the game. Do you feel like that decision is kind of made for you at this point or is there something that can still happen down the stretch in these last five six games. You know, if for whatever reason, the Bucks don't get the one seed, Yokich will get it, just because of

the fact that he's got such strong voter support. Vote A huge portion of the voter base relies on advanced metrics for their decision. I I I find catch all metrics to be almost offensive because basketball is such a beautiful and complicated sport. I don't understand the need to try to apply one number to a player's impact. I respect the people who try to figure that out. I just for me, it's like basketball blasphemy, so I avoid

it with a ten foot poll. But like Yokich has the support of all the advanced metrics, and a lot of the voters rely on that kind of thing. They would love for a reason to vote for him. So if Jannest for whatever reason doesn't get the one seed, I think Yoki gets it easy. But I I think yok I think I think Janice sees that as an achievable a goal, and the team is good enough to get the wins to do it, so I would expect

your honest to get it. Although that I think the mentioning players tonight had more to do with the back to back than them punting the one seed. I will say Yoki's winning it would be a really interesting rewriting of the president, just because even though the Nuggets have been statistically with him on the floor like on par

even with the Bucks, they've been a great team. I think from eight until last year, Jordans won it as a three seed eight eight, and then Russ wanted as a six seed in every other winner was a top two seeds. If he were to do it in back to back years being a four and a six seed. That would certainly be as you talk about, you know, not having a traditional historical candidate, that would be kind of a rewriting of that precedent, which would be interesting.

So you mentioned the Bucks sitting there guys tonight, and you know, not exactly sure on the motivations behind that, but do you think that teams out East should try and tank and avoid that one seed so they don't have to face Brooklyn or the two seed potentially as well.

You know, it's funny because this is a this is a conversation that comes up of a lot frequently because of the concept of load management, the way teams are very very careful with the way they take care of their stars and mostly keep their eye on the long term goals of the postseason. And you're seeing more and more frequently, really really good teams fall down in the standings for that reason, not not the least of which

has been the Lakers the last couple of years. I have a very very firm policy on this kind of stuff. Don't screw with the basketball gods. Anytime you ever play basketball in a way that that that deliberately limits your potential. I view that as playing And you know, some people don't believe in this kind of thing. I always have. It's just, you know, there's there's a reason why some shots go in and some shots don't. Some people think

it's just luck. For me, it's like, I'm a big believer in like confidence and flow and rhythm and and and I think that like the best example of this was the Bucks last year. They had an opportunity to take their way out of having to play the Miami Heat in the first round, the same Miami Heat that embarrassed them in the bubble, and instead they were like, no, we're gonna whoop your ass now, and then we're gonna

whoop your ass in the playoffs. And and I that's just to me, I think that's just like the the appropriate way to go about something like that. Yeah, I'm with you all the way on that one. I would not be tempting the basketball gods because they are cruel

and vicious, all right. So I mentioned yesterdays, we mentioned on yesterday's show that Draymond was having Jayson Tatum on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, And one of the things that came out of that was Draymond told Tatum that he should be the m v P of the NBA next year, and he's sort of worked his way into the outskirts of that conversation this year, just with how phenomenal he's been the last couple of months in the Celtics, you know, having the best record in the

league for the last games. But what do you think? Is he a future MVP candidate? Is he a guy you expect to win that award someday? I absolutely think that he's a He's gonna be a perennial MVP candidate moving forward. You know, actually winning the award is really difficult. I as much as we talk about m v P, we do it because it's just kind of part of

being an NBA fan. It's probably my least favorite MBA award because if it were up to me, we would have an m v P that we give after the season, like after the finals, and it would just simply be who's the best player in the league. I would I. I I just I hate how frequently we play these stupid mind games to talk ourselves into one player being better

than another because of regular season results. It's a huge pet peeve of mine, so I'm not a huge fan, and for that reason, Tatum might never win an m v P because the advanced analytics community gets behind a different guy each year, or you know, narratives can play a big role in that kind of a thing too, so he might not ever get one that I expect him to be near the top. I have him so

right this year. I have the three big ones up top, Yokich, you know, Janis Embiid, then I have Luca kind of in another tier right down there at four, and then below that it's like John Moran, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, all fighting for that fifth spot, and you could make a realistic case for Tatum to finish fifth. There. The Celtics have been arguably the best team in the league here down the stretch. When you look at the way Tatum is played since January, it's really really high level stuff,

like like peak small forward type of stuff. He's averaging thirty points extremely efficiently, especially in the last month. He's starting to shoot the three really really well. He's an amazing defensive player and he's taken massive leaps as a playmaker. When you watch the Celtics now, Jayson Tatum is basically getting doubled all over the floor and still giving you thirty every night. He is like so so so much

better than I think people think. And a lot of this has to do with the fact that the Laker fan base is a very loud fan base. It's a large loud fan base, and they have made jokes at Tatum's expense for a long time. There's actually a lot of anti Celtic sentiment on Twitter, and there's a lot of or in the the the general NBA fan base, and like, I think that has caused people to sleep

on him a little bit. He's firmly a top ten player in the NBA in my opinion right now, Like I would take him hands down over a guy like James Harden right now. He's like creeping up to that. I kind of have that tier right below the big three guys, right below Janice, Lebron and Katie I kind of have like the Yokich mb Luca tier type of guys. I put Tatum right in that next tier right there, which is which is not an easy tier to make your way into. He is, on any given night, capable

about playing any player in the league. I love his game. Yeah, and you talk about just his overall evolution, how much better do you think he can actually get from here? And is he just like the clear successor to the Kauai is the eighties as like, you know, maybe not on that level historically, but the top score first wing in basketball for however long. Absolutely, I would say that there's a case. Here's the thing, Since January, he's been

that guy. Since January, he's been peak Kauai. But you guys know the way that we do this, We're not going to heap that praise on you for doing it January, February, March. You gotta do it in April, May, June, so like. But now, for the record, I expect him to do so. Hopefully the Robert Williams injury doesn't end up being too much. There's word that he could come back in the second round. I am hopeful that that Tatum gets a chance to show it this season. But like, I'm not gonna heat

that praise early. But what I would I would compare this run that we're seeing from Tatum right now cut different player, archetype, different ceiling potentially set the Steph Curry is one of the best players to ever play the game, but it kind of reminds me of Steph in two thousand fourteen, two thousand thirteen, where you're like, holy cow, like this guy is like a legit star, like like

super superstar. And that's kind of the way I've you take him like he's in the infant stages of his ascendancy into being one of the top five players in the NBA. Like I that that's how highly I view him. I'm not trying to deliberately use hyperboboly like this dude is so incredibly good, Like people have no idea how good he's been playing this last couple of months. He's he's one of a handful of guys in the league that is just getting doubled every time down the floor.

And you literally have to because if you leave him on an island, if you let him play pick and roll, he's gonna burn you shooting threes as guys die on screens. And he's actually like really good going to the basket now, which used to be a weakness of his He's added a little bit of strength. He's got an incredibly quick first steps, handles a lot better than it used to be.

He's just a freaking monster right now. Yeah, I think he's one of the most skilled scores of the basketball of my lifetime, which isn't that long, you know, but like the blend of footwork and balance and pure shaw making and handle it his size, like the guy was just built to score the basketball. So I'm all in with you on the Tatum praise. All right, last big question of the night. The Pelicans obviously went out and

got the win tonight. They have really looked in a lot of ways like a different team since mccollan got there, and just over the past twentysomething games and now they're sitting up in the nine seed. But obviously the Zion question remains ever relevant. So just factoring in all of that, what do you make of their future as a team? I like their future. I don't think they're gonna do anything this year. They're gonna they're gonna get out of the They're gonna get out of the plane. They're gonna

beat the Spurs. Actually, they'll lose to the they'll lose to the Clippers. So they're not even gonna get out of the plane this year. If they did, they'd lose to the Sun's and they get swept. So like, but what what I like about the way that they've gone is, you know, Brandon Ingram hasn't played great defense really since he left the Lakers until this season. Just in this last stretch of the season, he's starting to play a

lot better defense. They they have had a massive issue with front court defense, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that Zion and this is a huge issue with NBA player um scouting over the course of the the last few years, every time anybody sees an undersized power forward, they instantly go, hey, it's the next Draymond Green. And then they realized that Draymond Green is a complete unicorn and no one else can actually

do what he does well. Zion Williamson is not up to the defensive task and they're gonna have to probably play him alongside a center or alongside a ton of really range e, switchy athletic wings. And what do you know, they went out and they found a couple of them, and uh, Trey Murphy and and uh, I'm blanking on his name now all of a sudden, the guy that guarded Lebron all night tonight. But like, combined that with Brandon Ingram, you know, there's basically the way I see.

There's two approaches the defense. There's the Frank Vogel approach, which is which have have a dominant rim protector and then chase everybody off the three point line and funnel them into the paint. The A way to have an elite defense in the NBA these days is to have a bunch of guys that can guard on the perimeter. And so if you have a lineup that has a C. J. Mccollin, Brandon Ingram too, freaky athletic wings and Zion, that's where you can contain ball handlers and wrote and your length

and athleticism allows you to cover ground in rotations. It's like a it's like a much more modern approach to defense. That's something that I believe very strongly, and so like them. Uh to David Griffin's credit for how much he's screwed up since he got there. The finding the couple of wings that they found to put alongside Brandon Ingram has raised the athletic profile of those lineups, and so I'm excited about what they could potentially be. But they need

Zion to get back, They need a fold. They need him to come in in shape, and they need him to be able to be a good at least a good perimeter defender that can contain ball handlers and at least rotate around on the backside since he can't be Draymond. If that makes sense. Yeah, shout out to the great Herb Jones there. The second win gigs sometimes too. That guy kind of does it all. I think he's a really fun rookie. He's been very impressive. All Right, I lied, Jason,

that was not the last question. We have a bonus one here, and I think it's going to frustrate you because we have a couple of wild quotes from Lakers tonight to your favorite Lakers Frank Vogel on the choice to bench Austin Reeves and th ht tonight quote. This is a playoff game for us. Use the roster however you see fit in terms of that matchup. And I've got one more for you here you can react to both. Russell Westbrook on how the Crypto dot Com arena crowd

affects the team's performance. I don't pay attention to this crowd, to be honest. What are your thoughts? All right? I'm gonna start with uss I am so sick of his obstinence towards the Laker fan base. Dude, they don't like you because you suck. That's why they don't like you. They don't like you because you uck. And not only do you suck, you're obstinate about it. You're stubborn about it, and you think it's everyone else's fault except for your own.

There hasn't been a single moment this season where Russ has come out and said, I'm not good enough at basketball. Now that I've lost my athleticism, I need to make an improvement. That lack of self awareness, that lack of accountability had, combined with his poor play, combined with his chip attitude, has turned this fan base against him. And I I did. I did a big video on this about a month ago, and I stand by it. I have no problem with the Laker fan base heckling Russ.

I have no problem with the Laker fan base giving him a hard time. He has earned every bit of it. And I literally cannot wait for this experiment to be over. I cannot wait for I I cannot root for a Russell Westbrook team ever. Again. I just can't do it. I just can't do it. As far as Frank Vogel goes.

You know, again, like I said earlier, we have data sets here, man, I literally we we know that this team plays better with Austin, th h Team, Monk and Stanley than they do with a Reason Bradley, you know, bays More Dwight. They just do. They just simply do and so and and again, like the what who knows what's going on behind the scenes. It's possible that Lebron went to him and said, I want to go down with the Vets, but I doubt it. I think this is Frank. I think this is Frank leaning into his

comfort zone. He literally d NP coaches decisioned Avery Bradley three of the last four games, and the one game he played, I think he only played like sixteen minutes. So he's played like literally four minutes per game over the previous four games, and you threw him into the fire tonight when we literally know that he plays that that that Lebron and a d played better with the young guy. Like, I wish you wouldn't have read those to me, Carson. I know, I'm sorry. I feel terrible.

I got your blood boil and now you gotta go find a way to unwind and and sleep. After this, after the vibe started to get more positive. But you know it's entertaining. I gotta say, yeah, that is what it is, all right, Well, thank you us, and I appreciate the game. Man. These are fun alright, guys, that's all we have for tonight. I think we need to call it and then we can rejoin this roller coaster on Sunday as the attempt to get a win over

the Denver Nuggets. As always, I sincerely appreciate your guys support. We will be back after the final buzzer on Sunday, when the Lakers probably lose to the Denver Nuggets. I will see you guys in a couple of days. Volume