Episode 13: Lakers Opening Night Recap with Vinay Killawala @vkillem

How you doing, man? I am doing good. Excited the NBA is back. Looks like we neither of us got any time off, just like the players. But you know a lot of cool things to learn from yesterday's games, even though they're just on game sample sizes. But just glad that the league is back. Yeah, me too, man. And And like it's funny because I would imagine that for most of the guys in the league they wanted

some more time off. But at the same time, like when you love basketball the way that these guys do, or the way that we the way that we do, get back into it, you're kind of just like you just get into the grind and you love it, Like I thought. Lebron had an interesting comment after the game last night. He said, I'm kind of glad this is over now. It felt weird that we had a game. Yea, now we can just kind of focus on our season. Um. And it was really cool to see all of those

guys get their rings. I think it's one of the coolest things in sports because you know, uh, only one team gets to win, and it makes it that much more special and and and it was really really cool to see everybody, especially to see their families involved. I thought the Lakers absolutely nailed it in a really weird environment. Yeah, I was gonna say that, I thought the ring ceremony

was really great. Um. I would say that the family part was real nice touch, especially considering the bubble they could never you know, their family wasn't even there for a majority of the time and stuff I got. I thought, you know, there wasn't too many like very like expansive

speeches or you didn't get too emotional. It's just like the right amount of ring ceremony, the right amount of at least from a liquor fan perspective, the right amount of like attribution to like um, Kobe and stuff like that. So I thought that was really nice. Uh, it was just a great presentation all the way through. That's what you kind of expect from the Lakers, and you know it hats off to Genie Buss and and the rest of that, um, you know, the rest of that franchise

for doing it the way they did. I like that they talked about the first responders and stuff I got too. That was really nice because sometimes we forget, um that there's an entire world outside of basketball that's still occurring that we're part of. UM. So I think it's nice that all that sort of stuff happened. Uh. And then we got onto the game, which was very very different experience.

I thought the Lakers nailed it. And I mean, so first of all, as many of us know, defending champions sort of have a history of struggling on ring night. It's just it's a lot of emotion. And then I'm a huge believer in the uh, the motivational advantage in basketball, the team that has more to play for, and I think that it takes a lot of mental toughness to overcome that that doesn't. It doesn't mean that it doesn't

happen from time to time. And obviously the Lakers will be at a motivation disadvantage throughout the season, and I'm sure they will overcome it. But opening nights a classic example of that, because you're always playing a really good team because for TV purposes, they're gonna put you against

somebody that everybody wants to watch you play against. That team, in all likelihood had a disappointing playoff lost the previous year, and all likelihood they just watched you get your rings, and they're extremely frustrated, they're extremely motivated, they're chomping at the bit, and what do you know, the game started, and in the game kind of went as you would expect.

The Clippers jumped out to a big lead. The Lakers fought back, but by the time they fought back, they were a little fatigued and they weren't really ready to continue to maut that effort, and then the Clippers pulled away.

But that said, I think that there was a lot of really good basketball for us to have interesting, you know, takeaways from and the format that you and I settled on for this, which I think would be cool is we're gonna give you the three things that we liked the most, and then we're gonna give you, guys the three things that we didn't like, strictly speaking from the Lakers, and then we'll shift to the Clippers from there. Um, So the first thing that I liked, and you can

just let me know if we overlap on this. There was a lot of pessimism surrounding Lebron physically last night, which was surprising to me because I thought he looked good physically. Yeah, there were several attacks to the basket where he looked more or less like the same guy. He missed a lot of shots at the rim, but it wasn't so much that he wasn't up high enough or that he wasn't getting enough sell separation. He was right there at the rim. He was just missing shots

because he's more or less rusty. He came out and basically told us that Instagram post where he was doing a workout with his son was the first time he touched a basketball from October eleven that day, which was November, I believe, so a month and a half basically, and then he went right into training camp. So he's gonna be rusty. But I thought athletically he looked good, and that's not that long of a gap, so theoretically, I would imagine that he's going to pick it up very quickly.

I didn't see anything to be too pessimistic about from Lebron physically. What did you think? Yeah, I thought, um, everything that Lebron was doing yesterday, I thought, athletically he looked fine. It looked like he had a really nice burst in transition, had a really nice burst in um even in some of the half court action that that first dump that he got, he that was based off of his guy going to go double Anthony Davis and him like immediately cutting, So like the reaction timing and

all that stuff was there. I mean, it actually just seemed like he was playing basketball. I know he played it the pregames, but it felt like he was just playing basketball for the first time, like live, live basketball, like he had to. He had the finger roll that he missed, uh that was like wide open pretty much, and then he had that he had like a point blank play up that he just like literally just shot over the rim and it went like off the back

of the back of the room. So it's just like when you see stuff like that, and you're more versed in Lebron than I am, But like, even just from a basketball perspective, watching somebody do that, it reminded me of like somebody who's been stuck in the pandemic for a long time and just taking a break and then just showing up to play pick up basketball and then just you know, missing basic shots that you would normally, if you had a rhythm, you would already know how

to do. So Physically, I thought he was fine. I thought the rhythm was kind of up and down depending on his first shift versus his second shift. Uh. And it was very reminiscent of the first game they played in the preseason against Phoenix, if you remember, if you got a chance to watch it, Anthony Davis, his shooting looked good, but both he and Lebron came out sort of out of rhythm, a little bit, kind of figuring out who who the ball was going to. And plus

you know they had de Schroder. They're trying to figure out how they're integrating him into the loop too as well. Their first shift in that game didn't look that great, but that second shift, the defense turned up. They I think they were down to Phoenix in that game and then they wiped away like a fifteen point deficit. We saw almost the same exact thing happened yesterday night where they came out a little slow. Our Stars came out a little slow, and then the second shift they kind

of ramped it up a little bit more. And then you know that the second half, like the fact that he didn't even he didn't even break thirty minutes. Like so I was just like, all right, they're not taking this game very seriously. And I think most sensible fans saw it as this is the their fifth preseason game more than it is the first game of the regular season. Yeah,

and you know, Lebron. I saw a stat over the off season where it was either I think it was it was for sure last postseason and then maybe for his entire career. Now Lebron had a higher fieldical percentage in the paint than Seaquille O'Neal. And I know for sure it was in the last postseason, but it may or may not be for his whole playoff career at this point. But that is an absolutely upsearch stat. Lebron when he gets to the rim and he gets enough

separation to be around the room. He's just gonna make it. That's that that that is one of his calling cards. And last night he was just smoking layps right and left. He was missing everything that that he had around the rim. And it was never a factor of him shooting over too much length or him There was one play where he got blocked by Zobos as he kind of drove in on the left side, but like for the most part, he was getting plenty of separation and he was getting

to the rim. He was just smoking laps. And for anybody who's played any real amount of basketball, especially like you said, the pandemic example is perfect because I went through this. I was playing four or five times a week for you know, years leading up to the to the pandemic, and you know, for for several months there, especially at the beginning, I was not playing at all. And then I get invited to some run somewhere and I I go play, and it's like it's not like

I can't play anymore. It's just like the ball feels a little weird in your hand, and your your every little like gathering drip bill and finish and everything just kind of feels funky and that just kind of goes away over time. You just have to kind of build your rhythm back. And again, the the this isn't like are we wondering whether or not Lebron can regain his two thousand eighteen playoff form like we talked about last postseason.

We're saying, can he be the same guy he was two months ago, which right exactly absolutely certainly can be. So that if the reason why I put that down is one of the things that I liked was because I thought physically he looked great. That Duncan transition he had that was just ridiculous when he did that, I was like, well, I was not expecting that in Game one.

I would say that as it relates just to that topic in itself, like you have to separate Lebron's finishing being out of rhythm and then actually just look at how he looked just getting to the rim. I thought he getting to the rim, he had a little spin in a phone booth on on Zoo Bach Like that wasn't as athletic as he probably normally would make that move because he's he's a little bit more exaggerated when

he makes that spin move, But it looked good. So like the fact that he was getting to the room is probably a good sign of more than anything. Uh, and then the finishing will correct itself as the season goes on. Agree, The thing to watch there is the separation he's getting. Okay, So what's the first what's the first thing you have on your list of things that you liked? Okay, So the thing that I liked was Anthony Davis his mid range shooting. Uh. Yesterday he didn't

take too many shots in the paint. That's, you know, probably by design because he didn't want to go in

game one to start, you know, wrestling around. I think at the very beginning of the game, he had a possession where he had a back on him and he faced him up and he used a slight dribble fake, uh, not like a jab step fake towards the middle of them, towards the middle of the court, and uh, he got a back open up his hips to the base, opened the open the base signed up by switching his hips, and he immediately attacked him with his left hand and

he got a dunk out of it. The rest of this stuff was all jump shots that he was making. It looked really good coming out of his hands, the ones where he wasn't fading away. He was kind of standing straight up when he was releasing. Um. That looked really good. It is a one game sample size, but it's nice to see that it's still continued to translate over.

Him taking those jumpers over zoo Bach was also impressive because zoo Back was supposed to be the guy who had enough length and close out ability to affect that shot, or at least that trajectorated that shot. So I'm not a jump shot expert or a shooting expert, um, but I would assume that it was good that he was making those in rhythm and it looked like he wasn't using too many different moves to get himself out of rhythm. He was taking them face up and it looked good

in general. Yeah, So I actually think it's really interesting that you brought this up, because it's gonna be something that's going to be very interesting to follow with all of the players from the bubble, because I do think that there is some truth to the fact that conditions in the bubble kind of lent themselves to the players

shooting better than they normally would. That said, one of the most important aspects of jump shooting, his confidence and I up with you a lot about this the first time you and I did a podcast together when we talked about Anthony Davis shooting mid range well in the bubble, and I mentioned that, like, there's a pathway to adding a skill to your game. You you work on it by yourself to the point where you feel like you

have it mastered. Then you start trying it and pick up or in practice, if for the case of an NBA player, and then you start trying it in games. And sometimes there's a barrier between that shot working so well when you're not being watched on TV, and then it's suddenly being something you feel confident taking with the world watching. And and what's interesting to me is there's been all this question about whether or not Anthony Davis is jump shooting would translate from the bubble to the

regular season in the in the real world. And the truth is is it looks like it may strictly on the strength of his confidence, that ability has always been there, his form great. He to the point about him being contested. Him and Kad have this weird thing where like if a hand is up just doesn't bother demand it right, Yeah, exactly, because they shoot up, they don't shoot out. They have really really smooth releases, and they shoot so high that

it just doesn't bother them. So from that standpoint, like the way that I look at it, Uh, it'll be interesting to see what Jamal Murray too, a player who's shot really really well in the bubble, who had issues being kind of hot and cold in the playoffs before last season, if the confidence boost from being that guy who was as good as he was, who dropped forty on Kauai in a Game seven, who did all those things, just simply allows him to be a more confident jump

shooter for the rest of his career and it leads to him making shots. And I think I think that's what it was. The ability was always there with a D. The inconsistency was born out of just lack of reps as he was learning to be a more versatile, aggressive midrange score and now it's kind of just sort of coming together. And in the bottom line is that's something to be super super super excited about for the Lakers,

because that's what makes him a top five player. Other than that, he's just you know, go bear with a little bit more offensive versatility, but his his his ability to be elite in that regard is what vaults him up into that you know, tier one, tier two star level. Yeah, I mean it turns him being it puts him into that elite category of three tier scores, which is the very top of the top when it comes to like the best scores in the league. And typically you wouldn't

think of Anthony Davis. You wouldn't if the first thing I said, well, what's what's Anthony Davis's best quality? Usually the first thing you say is he's he's a defensive player of the year. Can it right? You wouldn't. The first thing you wouldn't say, is it like he's a you know, three tier elite score. That's not the first thing you would say. And um, that still may be true now, but now he can add that if it's consistent and it remains consistent through the season, Um, you

can add that. And that when you combine those two things, defensive player of the Year and three tier score, that's when you start getting into, Wow, this guy's an m v P level caliber player. Um. So it's a good sign for him, and I hope he continues to I wonder if winning a championship took the pressure off of playing the game of basketball for him now, um, and so now he just gets to play basketball and he

doesn't have to worry about chasing a championship anymore. So I wonder if there's a level of confidence he gets from that. So, and it's to your point, I think you're absolutely right onto something there. I did without a doubt. I think like one of the most common things that happens the first time the team wins the title is

the comeback super super confident the next year. That that's what's so beautiful about the way Rob Lincoln did this is he he kept the core guys who are going to feed off of the confidence of winning the championship, and then he brought in enough new blood that there's not going to be stagnation and guys who don't have any sort of motivation. So the second thing that I put on my list of things that I liked was

Montrese Harrold's offensive rebounding. Yeah, so what I loved about the way that they used Montrese last night is he did have a couple of isolation plays, but it was not the vast majority of his offense came playing off of the other players on the floor, and and he was an absolute beast on the offensive class, which is

literally like stealing points. And it's one of the most important things to factor in when you're talking about him on the defensive end, because I kind of just throw throughout most of what I saw defensively from the Lakers last night, because I didn't think their effort was super good on that. And but like it's the verdict is still out as to what kind of defensive player Montrez

can be on this team. However, if he's gonna get full offensive rebound putbacks every single game, that's just work. That just cancels out a lot of any any defensive mistakes he brings to the table. Those are empty possessions for the Lakers that they're coming back on defense with two points. And that's what's actually happening on those plays. And I thought, I thought you I thought it invigorated the team. I thought it brought a lot of energy, and you could tell, like you could tell Lebron and

a d were feeding off of it. They were all feeding off of it. He brought a lot of energy last night, and I was really, really pleased with the way he fit in offensively. Yeah, and and you know, one of the benefits of being a good offensive rebounder or being able to put pressure on the offensive boards like that is stops the the opposing team from breaking out into the transition. They have to send an extra guy to help on to help with the defensive rebounding

and stuff like that. And that that in itself is pretty awesome thing. Even the Clippers themselves, they they utilize that offensive rebounding prowess with zoo back. Every time he grabs an offensive rebound, it causes problems for the defense because he got to send more guys back to help out. Um. And Lakers actually ran into that situation themselves a little bit when Zombo had a couple. I wouldn't say you got like one or two offensive rebounds for put backs

or something like that. Um. And so they're the fact that we have one We only need one guy to put that kind of pressure on on the offensive offensive class is is great because if you find them with four guys who will make sure that they get back in transition and the good communicators and they pick stuff up, you have the luxury of doing stuff like that. And telling Mantraz giving him the green lights to go go ahead and attack the offensive class however you want. So

all the parts kind of fitting together with that situation. No, you're absolutely right. Having a having a one man offensive rebounding force allows you to the risk and not sacrifice or transition defense. I think, I think, I think it's a really good fit. So what do you have is your second thing that you liked? Okay, so the second thing that I have is um Montress partner in crime last night for some of those sets Dennis Schroeder Um.

Yesterday was the first game where we saw outside of the very first preseason game where Dennis Schroder ran a lot of pick and roll. He ran it with Montrese, he ran a little bit of I think he ran a couple of possessions with Marcasoul and then he actually ran some with Anthony Davis. At the very beginning of the game, he had a little bit of an issue with the entry passes UH to Anthony Davis. He was

throwing him at his feet and stuff. I got um and that clearly gets fixed once he watched his tape and realizes where Anthony Davis likes to catch the ball and stuff like that. So I think that will get correct. I'm not too worried about it. But um, part of the part of that comeback in the second quarter that erased that twenty two point deficit was him just getting loose as a score. And when I watched him in the very first preseason game, it seemed like he was

trying to be a fist ailitator for everybody else. And that's usually what you expect. Happened to your debut with your new team. You're being watched on national television, even though it's preseason game. You want to fit in and I think, um, that's all fine in handy, But we brought him on board because we need him to score and we want him to score. And the Lakers of Anything are a team that has a lot of role

players that know how to play around volume scores. So if he's scoring, the rest of everything else will fall into place. Crusoe Kuzma, Taylan Horn, Tucker, everybody else will fall into place, Markip Morris. So that's what we needed from him, and that's exactly what happened. Yesterday was only one game, but we can already see what the difference is when we have a bench that can score versus a bench that could not score at all last season, and so it was nice. It was funny. Um uh.

But it was also nice to see that our bench could battle back against another team's bench and take a lead. And Lebron and Anthony Davis were staggered in and out for as part of those lineups two as well. But I thought there was a stretch in the game where Schroeder and Mantrez were scoring like practically every every possession, and so the Lakers didn't even have to look at

Anthony Davison. They just put Anthony Davis on quaint. They're like, just play defense and we'll take care of the offense. And that is I would say awesome. The more that they can do that, the more that like Anton Davis being on the court, but just having to only play defense is a boon for the Lakers. That's how Vogel can and and it's a it's an advantage of Lakers can utilize or exploit moving forward. Um if they can

keep that scoring clip up. Mhmm. Yeah, So I I think I agree with you in the sense that the bench is going to be something that can carry the Lakers early in the year, as the lethargy from their stars and their starters can get them in some holes early in games, like we talked about earlier, just having that influx of people who don't have any reason to be lethargic and don't have any reason to be you know, complacent, those are the guys that can fight back and get

and get the Lakers back into these games. And then honestly, just the competitive nature of Lebron and a D and KCP and guys like these, their champions, They're not going to sit there and let their bench carry them. Inevitably, they will feed off of that and find and find

a way to try to match their intensity. Um. So this is actually good because I actually put Schroeder down as one of the things that I didn't like, Uh not Schroeder himself, but I did think that he was just a tad bit over aggressive to be clear, to the good stuff I noticed with Schroder, instant chemistry with Montrez that that that that is that goes to show you how gifted he is as a natural pick and roll playmaker. Um. And then he is absolutely I was

pleased with what he brings to the table. In the sense that I do think there will be a scenario where this works really really well for the Lakers, having Schroeder shot out of a cannon and being very aggressive from time to time. That that said, um, I did think that there were some stretches, particularly in the third quarter. He took some shots that were a little bit outside of the flow of the offense that kept things outside of of Lebron and Anthony Davis and what they can

bring to the table offensively. What I mean by that is that something that I harped on a lot last year, which is that I'm a big believer in continuing to feed your top two players because it allows them to gain a rhythm which will inevitably help you over the course of the game. That doesn't mean Dennishrioter doesn't shoot. Doesn't mean the Dennistriotor doesn't you know, uh, you know, you don't want him playing inhibited. But this is where it comes. This is where him being in the starting

lineup becomes a problem. Because I loved the way that Brooklyn used Harris Lavert yesterday. I don't know if you caught that game, but when Carris Lavert checked in to start the second quarter, they just shot him out of a cannon and he just started going to work and

he was generating all sorts of offense. He I think he took seven shots in his first nine minutes and made like four of them or five of them, and he was he was all over the place, and it was a huge net positive because early in the game

they just ran everything through Katie and Kyrie. And then when you know, during a during the stretch of a game, when I think that either both of them were out or or a Katie was on the floor but he had been used a lot, and he was being a little more passive, kind of resting in the flow of the game, they just shot Karris LeVert out of a cannon. He just was super aggressive and and that's what I that's what I'd like to see, And this is what I put down as one of the things that I

didn't like. I just would like to see the Lakers focused Dennis Shutter's aggression through specific points in the game when it makes a little bit more sense. And part of this is Anthony Davis's fault, because he was so passive at times as a result of the double teams that that it kind of forced someone else on the floor to try to create something and and Shuter would

be more aggressive. But I think there's a sweet spot because you know, he was I think he was five of fifteen last night, and he was five or fifteen. But he played well. I really do think he played well. He nearly had a triple double at eight assists, and he's not notoriously a high assist guy. And one of the reasons why is I thought he just had a few bad shots in the game that if he takes those out and and kind of plays like a little bit more under control, it might impact this team a

little bit better. But I'm I'm really picking NTS here because he was good last night. I don't want to overplay that but or underplay that. But I just yeah, like that, I I see, I really liked what I saw. But I think they can focus his aggression in different parts of the game a little better. Yeah. I think that's a that's probably something that is going to happen

over the course of time. My entire logic, or at least my my approach to what I think the first ten games of this season are probably gonna be is um Vocal just wants to get reps up with different lineups, um, and get these guys a little bit used to it. Like even if you're best friends with you know, like if you go and play reck ball and you're unless you're like absolutely best friends with the other four guys that you've played with and you guys have played hundreds

and hundreds of games together, it's really hard. Even if you know the person and you've seen how they play, it still takes a certain amount of reps to kind of get real comfortable with how each other other plays. I want to say that maybe his over aggression also probably came and the fact that the Lakers were down, and so he was just trying to change the change

his speed of the game and stuff I got. Um, he did definitely get himself stuck in a few bad spots like overdriving or getting a little bit too deep without having like a real good outlet pass and stuff I got to his teammates. But I think that's something that he'll learn that he doesn't have to rush stuff and you can play within the field of the offense and whatnot. Um, But I think your stuff is valid. I think I saw that on the timeline as well.

Most most Laker fence. We're pretty happy with what Shoreder was doing. They were just a little concerned about his you know, some of it was a shot selection and some of it was just being a little over zealous with sort of how his activity on on the ball in the bottom line is is they're going to need him to be super aggressive. It's just about figuring out when, and you make a great point, like it's just about learning when, which you can't just you can't like scheme that.

It's so like you can to the to with your lineups to a certain extent by just having him come off the bench, which doesn't appear they're going to do. But the bottom line is over time and through playing experien arians, all of these guys will learn how to play off of each other better. Um So, the third thing that I liked was the defense in the second quarter.

So when the Lakers got slapped in the face to start the game, their competitive nature kicked in and they did something that I think is a is a big landmark for this team and has been throughout the throughout the Lebron and Ad experience. When they lock in defensively, teams just can't score. This was a Clipper offense that was humming on all all cylinders yesterday, um uh. And they held them to seventeen in the second quarter, much

better ball pressure. They made Kauai feel uncomfortable. Kaui missed a lot of shots in this stretch. They did a good job of getting into his body so that when he was shooting shots, he was always shooting off balance. He was Kauai wasn't bumping people off. People were bumping Kauai off. Marcusol had a good stretch during this time where he was protecting the rim. Well this was before uh he played limited minutes because of foul trouble. But I really really liked what I saw from the Lakers

defense and the second quarter. As bad as they were for the game, that was enough for me to see to feel optimistic that they can still hit that peak when they need to to try to pull games out. Yeah, that was so that quarter overall. I'll just give you some of the plus minus is a little tricky of of a data point to use, but it's okay if you use it within the course of like a single

run to understand the contributions. Right. So in that in that um the minute distribution wise, if we look at that second quarter, we got eight minutes of Cruzo who went plus eight. We got eight minutes of Markith Morris who went plus nine. Uh. Montraz seven minutes, almost eight minutes, he went plus ten. Schroeder played three minutes and went plus ten. Uh. Lebron and a d both went eight

minutes six minutes respectively plus twelve plus fourteen. Uh and even uh everybody's favorite whipping boy, Kyle Kuzma went uh six a little over six and a half minutes and he went plus seven. So that's that's a testament of just that the entire energy shift, like you mentioned, of that second that second shift, that line up in the second quarter was completely friend It wasn't just one guy

or a specific lineup group. If everybody came and said, all right, like f this, we're not going down by like twenty points and and just laying down uh and and defensive wise, you're absolutely right. The Clippers shot seven of twenty five in that quarter. Kah I took seven shots, went two of seven. The next best shooter was Paul George at and he went to for five, and then Lou Williams, who went too for three. Everybody else pretty much missed every single shot attempt that they took. So

that's that's pretty good. Um, they didn't the big differences Lakers Dan Foule. They only gave up two free throws in that quarter. And that's something that Frank Vogel mentioned at the beginning. The Clippers are a team that is very, very good at drawing fouls. Um, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are probably the best at drawing fouls. They think last year they were like in like the nineties something percentile of drawing fouls. Yeah, in the league and stuff

like that. And um, obviously the way those calls that they get in the regular season they changed. Like I saw a Laker fans saying, man, Paul Jordan gets all kinds of files, and then I think Kauai like he yelled for an end one and the ref like gave him a really late continuation on that. But like we we've done this exercise before. They don't get those calls in the playoffs. That's what kind of throws them out

of rhythm and why why they have collapses. Well, not definitely apologized, be not quite as much, but you're to your original point. The Lakers offense came out really great. They went ten of twenty two. They took nine threes um, they only made three of them, but look at the free throw advantage. They have fourteen free throws in the second quarter. So when you see a huge free throw advantage like that, the first thing you're thinking about is, well, how how often were they going to the rim? And

that was really what the testament of the second quarter was. Um. In the first quarter of the Lakers settled for a lot of jump shots as the guys kind of we're warming up their legs and warming getting a lather on. And in the second second quarter, the Lakers are like, all right, let's lock in down defense and let's attack. Let's attack the room. And that's what they did, and a lot of these shots came from attacking the rim. Um.

That's the Laker's identity. Their philosophy has always been put pressure on the rim as much as possible, and that the winning formula. We saw that with even the heat. The heat as much people talk about Tyler Harrow and Duncan Robinson shooting threes, it's the fact that they can get to the rim. Jimmy Butler, Batman to bio um even done tragic because they're willing to attack the rim repeatedly over and over again. It opens up the rest

of your offense. Those are high percentage shots. So um, I was really glad with what I saw on the energy. It's it's I think somebody in your in the chat mentioned that it's very reminiscent of of the second quarter against the Suns, like that second shift once they're all warmed up. Now, this is the Laker team that you've got to be concerned about, and it's just you have

to match the energy of the bench. It's like it's the main guys because the main run they they would think it was forty two thirty one, or it was like fifty forty one, it was a ten point game or something with just a couple minutes left in the first half, and they closed it to two with a run with the starters. Because literally, you can't just sit there and watch the bench guys carry you and not get a little annoyed that you're not a bigger part

of what's happening. And then how they fought back. Yeah, and it's good that the team, the players on the team, even the stars on the team understand the accountability that comes with when your teammates are putting in. So it was it was good to see. I mean, we only really played one quarter of really quality defense. If we had played two quarters or maybe even three quarters of events,

this could have been a blowout if they'd really quality defense. So, um, you know, uh, it was really really good to see. So what was your third thing that you liked? Uh? So the third thing that I like was just it's actually not even think the Lakers really made it out of the first game relatively unscathed. Then nobody had any serious injuries. Like the thing I'm like always super worried about now, especially with like the Achilles hairs and all

these things that are happening. It is just like anyone play can can end up hurting somebody. Um, So I'm that's like the number one thing that's probably gonna be a constant theme for me, like did we make it out of this game unscathed? Um? Lebron tweaked his ankle trying to help on zoo bach Uh, and he looked like he was okay. Case P looks like he had

a Charlie horse because he got screened by Zoom bach also. Um, and he was fine also, So like every time I see somebody go down, Auntie Davis hit the floor, I want to say a couple of times. But now I'm almost positive that he's doing that on purpose because he doesn't want to land on his feet and risk turning his ankle if there's somebody happens to be underneath, So he deliberately falls on the ground. So he walked away

relatively unscathed too. So, um, that was my third favorite thing to see that even with all the little nix and bruises that they got during the course of the game, nothing was serious and um, you know they stayed healthy. Um you know what was a chippy game at one point I would say, yeah for sure. And and they get too. They get two days off leading into the next one. Um a Christmas there they at home. I'm just double checking right now, I believe so yeah, I

think it's a home for the Mavericks. So so they they're they're no one has to travel. They get two full days Lebron, plenty of time for him to get his ankle right. It should be it should be perfect. Um. Okay, So the first thing that I didn't like other than the one that I already mentioned, which was a short or is over aggressive over aggressiveness, which we already decised. Um, I really didn't like. And this is something that goes

beyond just last night. It goes into the preseason. I really don't like the way they're using Marcusol while they're isolating Anthony Davis, either in face up face ups are post ups. If you look at my Twitter feed, I've talked about this a couple of times over the last week. UM, it just seems kind of so at least with with Dwight Howard and with and with JaVale McGee, when they would sit in the dunker spot and help would come, you could kind of float something up towards the rim

and they dunk it. Now, Anthony Davis isn't really a gifted enough pass or to take advantage of that. But at least when Lebron was driving to the basket, that was an option and and it made some sense for them to be there. But with Marcus s Sol, he's not an above the rim threat, and Anthony Davis isn't isn't really that great as a wraparound pass or drop

off passer around the rim. He makes simple passes, but he struggles with some of the more complicated passes, and so it doesn't make any sense to me to have Marcosol run to the dunker spot every single time Anthony Davis ice relates. It just is putting him in a position where he's going to have to fade away or shoot some sort of jump shot that is over the top of the defense rather than going through the defense.

And the best example of it is that Sergebaca one that he where he dunked when he drewup past him and dunked. Because that's that's why you want to clear the paint for Anthony Davis. You clear the paint for Anthony Davis. He's got such a physical advantage he's gonna go around the guy most of the time. And if you have Marcosol at the top of the key, then the person who's gonna be helping, because it's not like they're not gonna help. There's still gonna be people in

the length. But then the person who's helping is probably gonna help from the short corner, in which case it's probably going to be a guard, which means that person is not going to be able to contest Anthony Davis at the rim, he's just gonna dunk on him and by the time he gets over, it's It's one of those things where it just seems strategically inept to have Marcosol wasted in the dunker spot rather than have him. And that doesn't mean he has to play at the

three point line all the time. It just means that, you know, when in those specific scenarios where you're trying to get Anthony Davis going in isolation, it makes more

sense to have him out front. I like the idea of using him as the post entry guy because Marcus he has a really quick release and he's such a big target that if you have him one pass away and you have him throw the entry past Anthony Davis, if the double team comes right away, Marcusol can tee up wide open threes, you know, with an easy like and that's a read that Anthony Davis can make very very easily. Uh. And plus the guy who's guarding Marcusol

probably isn't going to close out super fast. He's a little slower body who's charging it Anthony Davis. It's just something that I'd like to see them figure out a way to better use marcosol during Anthony Davis's isolations and post ups. Yeah, so I thought the Mark being a good passer and being a good post entry pastor. So I I I agree with your sentiment. I don't think

he should be standing in the dunker spot. I would have thought that maybe they would have put him in the corner on the opposite side at the very worst, to at least have, you know, if they want to swing the ball all the way back around to him. Um, I would whom the only reason why that happened, It wasn't by design. I think maybe Mark just thought that he had a mismatch in terms of size because they

put Ibaka was his defensive matchup. But I baca want to go guard Anthony Davis, which makes me think either batoum or Clai Leonard or something like that was on Marcus soul. So I think he just went there to try and help, you know, possibly get an offensive rebound

or something like that. So I don't I don't know if it was by design, but ideally you don't want him in that spot because he did it a couple of times against the Suns and the clip Okay, okay, because the a d and Lebron didn't play, but there was a couple of plays against the cliff of the Suns that I actually put on my Twitter feeds. Similar thing where he just his first instinct when he's running down the floor and they're doing quick isolations is to

run to the dunker spot. Yeah yeah, okay, okay, then that's fair. Um yeah, so if if he's if he's doing that, then maybe on film they'll say, hey, don't run here and just run to the spot instead or just stop right here. Um, So that that's definitely a

good thing. I agree with you. I would have thought that they would use him as the post entry guy because it actually puts the defensive guy in sort of a tough position to decide, not not whether he's going to close out on Marcus sold, but like for a big man, a person who plays a power forward center position, like to decide, do I go and help with the rebound to secure the rebound in case this guy misses, do I go to help double, Do I do this? Do I do that? Or do I worry about this

guys shooting a three? Like those sort of things, and Mark being such a high i Q guy, it seems like he would be a really good option to be the post centry pastor for those isolations. Um, but we'll we'll see, you know. And the thing is that if that double comes eight, he can send that back out. And Mike is a super super i que guy. He knows exactly which where the advantages on that pass if Lakers set up a design backcut or something like that or whatever it may be. So forgot to take that

first pass out of this Yeah, exactly. And he's a quick pastor too, he doesn't waste time making that read. Um. I think a while back I posted a video about like how he actually starts looking in the direction of where the pass is going to go before he even catches the ball in his head. Like it's pretty cool stuff that he does. Um, So they may start doing that. They may try him out as a post centry passer when it comes to that, But I think I think

that's fair. He's better utilized either in the corner of those of those sets or at the top of the key of those sets as opposed to in the dunker spot. I agree. So it was the first thing that you didn't like, Okay, uh So for this one um our fan favorite from last season. Alex Caruso, Uh, he had short He had a good defensive game, but he had what I want to say is a rough offensive game. And that may also be because he had the hip injury. He didn't get as many reps and stuff like that.

The Lakers deployed um Caruso and Taylor and Horton Horton Tucker at the same time, which I was excited for because I actually think those two guys can definitely play together. The only problem was I think their responsibilities were flipped. I think they used Alex. I don't know if it was by designer, if it's just what happened, and Taylor's just being, you know, a good teammate and letting his teammate like kind of run the show. Um. The pick

and roll stuff has been uh. Crusoe's offense out of the pick and roll stuff has always been a little shaky uh, and it hasn't been great. It's part of the reason why he couldn't take minutes away from Rondo last season because he was having trouble with it. And it's just one game, but he was having trouble with

it last night too as well. Um. Not mishandling the ball, but you know, like just having struggling with the with the floater um, struggling with just kind of making reads good passes he had to and I want to say he had two passes that just pretty much went straight out of bounds because of the way he threw the past um that can be corrected with just some more reps um or it could just be something that requires

a little bit more attention. But um. The only thing I didn't like is I thought we saw a really really good action out of Taylor Horton Tucker during the preseason that I'm kind of surprised that he didn't get those reps. And I don't think it's as big of a deal right now because I think maybe what's happening is Vogo wants to give Caruso the chance to for everybody on the team to openly see, hey, look, maybe this is just not the best way to use him. And Voco seems like the kind of guy who doesn't

just do it without telling his players. He lets them try it out and when it doesn't work, then he'll switch to responsibility. So I wouldn't be surprised if they run that tandem more and more if that's a if that's a thing that the Lakers try to do. Um, that those responsibilities flip. And Caruso is still a fantastic defender. He has a really good fantastic defenses last defensive possessions last night, and I think that's really the best way

to use him. He's he's much better in transition as an off the ball cutter, a guy who just kind of is like the wild card and just kind of does stuff because of his natural prowess. And Taylor horn Tucker, at least from what we've seen in the preseason game so far, has a very very good nose for the rim uh and getting to the rim with a live dribble, and UM, I'd like to see him get that opportunity at some point and see how Alex functions off the ball with him um in that role. Yeah, agree with you.

If as long as as long as talent Hornon Tucker is even half the guy that he was in the preseason, and as long as Dennis Shrewder is on this roster, there's no longer any reason for Alex Caruso will run any of the offense, to be honest with you, and and you know, Look, the reality is is Alex Crusoe

is a specialist. He was a specialist last year and and that's what he projects to be in the n b A. He's he's so far from being a you know, a competent, you know, NBA ball handler that if that comes at some point in his career, it's going to be at some point in the probably distant future. At

this point. But that said, I think he's an all defense level defender, I'm not the most important thing is finding a way to get him less involved with the ball in his hands on offense, but keeping him in the rotation and keeping him involved with this team night in the night out, because he is kind of, for lack of a better term, he's kind of the heart and soul he's there. He's the guy that that fires

everybody else up with his defensive sequences. He's like kind of a barometer for that team, especially in the grind of the regular season. And so my hope is that they find a way to balance that so that Alex Cruzo stays involved in the rotation while they kind of take ball handling duties away from him. So, um, the second thing that I didn't like or I should say the last thing that I didn't like, I don't. I don't have any I don't have anything else that I

didn't like, So this will be an optimist. So I continue to be frustrated with the way that Anthony Davis handles double teams, and I uh, I'm hoping over the course of the season that Lebron gives me some good counter examples. He hasn't had too many post touches so far in preseason or in the or last night. But you know, I talk a lot about how the anytime it's any time it defense double teams, they're they're putting

themselves in a precarious position. They're they're putting themselves in a position where the other guys are playing three on four, and if the offensive players have any idea how to adequately space themselves, there's really no way to guard NBA

players like that. But for whatever reason, Anthony Davis is so uncomfortable under that blitzing double team that his first instinct is to find the nearest outlet guy, the nearest guy who's gonna sprint somewhere towards where his face is and and just throw a really simple pass just to get get rid of the ball. And then and then he'll just take himself out of the play at that point because he's decided, Okay, I tried to post up, They're just gonna double team and let me get rid

of it. And and and there were a lot of examples last night, and I put I put a couple of them on my Twitter feed. But the of him panicking and missing a clear open read somewhere else on the floor to eat, turn the ball over, or to throw it to somebody who was in a great option. There was one where Lebron actually got a dunk as he kind of started cutting. But look, but Anthony Davis's read was to give the ball to a player thirty feet from the basket rather than just kind of holding waiting.

And Lebron is so good at this. He he will hold the ball strong with two hands, and he'll turn and pivot, you know, keep the defender on his back as best as he can, and he'll wait to see what develops and then he'll make a read and it usually ends in either a wide open three or a dunk. And that's that's that thing with Anthony Davis. He's still I still think he's the fourth, third or fourth best player in the league. I still think he's unbelievably incredible.

His his mid range progression is such a great sign for Laker fans. But that's something I'm gonna be harping on a lot this year because I really think it's the thing that separates him from being the guy who can be the best player in the league. Yeah, I think that a couple of times that we've had this conversation. The biggest hole in probably Anthony Davis's game up until that midrange shooting kind of kicked in, UM was literally

just his ability to read defenses. And that's something that's something that I was hoping that Lebron and and the coaching staff would help him figure out to some degree.

I think like Lionel Hollands and now with Gasola, Lionel Hollands, like they'll probably help Anthony Davis with that sort of aspect because because Soul was a really good post passer, high mid or low post whatever, maybe UM that's been like the difference between him being like a regularly triple double kind of guy, Like he has all the tools to be like a guy who could average a triple double all season off the strength of him scoring, drawing

a double team and then just setting up his teammates. And I think that's the like last thing to making him practically unguardable. Um. But so I agree with your with with why you didn't like that. I just think that when I think about like other elite tier players, like when we think of Harden and stuff like that, like they kind of do the same thing, like when they get blitz, they give it up and then they're like, Okay, well now now this, now this possession is not my

my not my fault. If anything bad happens. I think it's a weird all thing that tends to happen with guys um and so Harden and the issue is more pronounced because they run an offense specifically tailored to his strength, and then he dips out of possessions after he gets double team uh and doesn't participate. Um Anthy Davis is a big guy. You can't do that. You have to

always be participating if you're that big. But I hope as the season progresses, um and maybe if they make that adjustment with the post entry passes and they bring a soul over to his side, so now he has a wider field division and a wider angle behind him, he'll feel a little bit more comfortable making some of those passes. Yeah, So for the record, I'm holding him to a very high standard in that. Like That's why I was trying to clarify that stuff there at the end.

I'm not trying to say that because I love watching

Anthony Davis play. I got into a discussion with somebody last night about, you know, kind of the differences between him and k D. And it's important to remember that Anthony Davis just put on one of the most amazing defensive playoff runs I've seen in my life watching basketball, and and it kind of culminated in that Game six where he because he was able to play off of Bam, he just completely shut down the Miami offense to the point where they looked like they had no idea what

to do with themselves. And and so I'm not I'm holding him to a very high standard. It was just something I noticed during the game last night. And it's and it is a clear scheming thing. If you throw hard doubles and Anthony Davis, he's going to get rid of the ball, and chances are you can get him to kind of take a passive role in the game if you get him to do that a few times. And so it's just something. It's just something to keep an eye on. Um so real quickly because I know

you only have about ten more minutes. Uh. A couple of really quick notes that I that I liked about the Clippers. Uh. There was a lot of talk about how they implemented the triangle offense. I thought that was really interesting because I thought it gave them some order that they didn't really have last year, kind of a purpose to everything that they were doing on the floor. Uh.

And I really, I really do think that. And it's it's so allegedly Kauai is the one who pushed for it, and I really do think that that made a lot of sense. Um. I will say, I will say I didn't see them run any triangle offense. It seemed like a lot of their offense was just five out and they let uh. And and of course it's a long season, they may institute it, you know, they it's it's a learning triangle office is one of the most difficult office

just learned from everything I read about it. Um, it seemed like last night was just five out and that's that's why they started ibaka and it was five out basketball and like Paul George, Kauai and Lou Williams run their isolations and seem very much off ball action for Canard. For Lukenard, I didn't see too much pick and roll where they went to the dive guy outside of Lou Williams and Zoo Bok running it together. So I didn't

see mut triangle offense. But you know, like, well it'll it'll be, and mean it took in theory, it makes sense for them to try somethingture that. I actually liked Kennard on the ball. I thought he was their best after last night. That was the second thing I had on my list there is uh. Maples was talking a

lot about him on the defensive end. There's a lot of truth to that, but but I really really do like uh he almost has a genobly esque I don't know it's as you say this about every lefty, but he he was throwing these swing passes across the court, getting into the lane and making simple reads to get open shots for people. I actually thought Kennard made a lot of sense in their offense. Um Paul George was unbelievable.

That's the player that you hope he's gonna be. That's something that, Uh, if he plays that well throughout this season, then the Clippers are a legitimate title threat. Um. And then I thought Zobach once again, he's he's the he's the plus minus hero because every single game he's the guy who that the Clipper seemed to play better. And I think it's time to take a look at Montrez last year and just say maybe it's not so much that he was bad or it was just that Zubach

so good. It's so good. Yeah, but he was a beast last night and he and he's he's he's legitimately very big and difficult to keep off the offensive glass. When he catches the ball around the rim, and he's got any sort of momentum going towards the room, you basically have to wrap him up or hack him. I thought he brought a lot to the table of last night that that made the clips look pretty dangerous. Anything

you any take as you had from the clips last night. Um, I just thought that their isolation play was they made a lot of people are like, well, Kus mccannic, guard Paul George, Uh, and which is true because you know, Paul George is supposed to be a superstar tier player or star tier player. But I thought he did a

good job trying to stay in front of Paul George. Um. You have to remember you're asking a six eight guy to run round to to withstand screens from Sergebaca and withstand screens from zoo Bach and then still be able to close out or recover in time on Paul George. Obviously, there's some plays in direct isolation where he got beat

by Paul George. Um, but a lot of those shots are just really good contested makes, and if somebody make sim you just you gotta tip your hat and just say, hey, congratulations. But I'll take my chances and play the field. I don't think the night is going to be sustainable by

any degree. Um. And outside of that third quarter stretch where he kind of ran off like eight to eleven points or something like that, that was the difference between the Lakers probably maybe winning this game and then losing this game. So if you're going to rely on a stretch like that from Paul George on a nightly basis, I don't know if you get that every single night and so um, that's really all I saw at their

offense does look any different than what I saw last season? Um, I think the only difference is because they started abaka uh and the Baca went like five of seven like he'd like. He seemed like he couldn't miss anything from the perimeter. Um. So it was good because they enabled their their superstar wings to have nobody sitting at the rim outside of whoever their primary defender was. So it's good in that sense. But I'm sure teams will slowly, you know, as they watch more tape on them, we'll

figure out exactly what lou is trying to do. One last note on the Lakers. UH, I was disappointed in Wesley Matthews on the defense about yeah, yeah, I said, I it's tough to judge. Defense is a five man unit that moves in unison and UH and Wesley Matthews is a ball pressure guy, which means he has a tendency to give up straight line drives, which is fine as long as the defense is is you know, cohesive, and guys are ropating into the right spots. There's he

had a lot of those isolations. Even with Kuzma, there was no backside help, so they like these guys knew that they got him on the hip they draw a foul or give a good shot exactly. And so, but the one silver lining there is that, like Danny Green, didn't really bring much as an on ball defender last year. So there's really nowhere to go but up in that regard really quickly before I get you out of here. So obviously I try I bring you on for your

Laker expertise. But we are basketball fans. We do watch the other games. I don't really want to talk about the Nets much because the truth of the matter is is I want to see if they can defend. And they haven't really played a great offense yet. They played the Celtics without their two best playmakers last year in the preseason, and then they played that Warriors team, which is an absolute mass right now. But I do find them intriguing with all the offensive talent they bring to

the table. But what I do think is interesting is this Warrior's team. So I I tweeted about this last night, and I think it's really really interesting, uh, because you know, we get so wrapped up in the barber shop talk surrounding basketball. We talk about you know, you know player X is the best because he won a player wise the best because you know he's won that this many championships, or the player lost in the second rounds he must suck, or whatever it is we get wrapped up in that

that we forget that. You know, yes, basketball is the sport that individuals impact the most, but it's also a team sport. And and there's there is a there's a rhyme and reason to everything that the team does on its pathway to winning a game. And and Steph Curry, like Lebron, impacts the game beyond his scoring and the attention that he draws Steph with either off the ball or on the ball. And then Lebron as an on the ball guy driving to the basket and kicking the shooters.

And I thought it was really interesting to see the Warriors consistently find themselves with guys either open or in full were on three situations or three on two situations and just making stupid reads and making taking useless dribbles and taking bad shots and just looking like they had

no idea what to do. And I think it's a great example of how important it is to have high i Q players on your team, and understand that when you have guys that attract lots of attention, you know that that those are the guys that actually are so like they're kind of just as important to everything else

happening on the offense. And I think we've really overrated or underrated over the years, how important Andrea Guadala and Sean Livingston, and Andrew Barbosa, and Andrew bo Get and even Draymond Green, who wasn't there last night, how important those guys were to what Steph Curry does because just like any other great offensive player, if you throw multiple bodies on them, somebody else has to do something and more just they're putting you in a position to succeed.

And and I did think it was really interesting to see how, you know, Steph's gravity, you know, it was markedly less effective last night, the result of the low i Q players around him. Yeah, so I would say, my my main takeaway, so I only watched the first half of that game. Um, but my main takeaway from that game so I didn't see any of like the Wiseman stuff that happened in the second half. I saw it on my timeline minding a garbage time at the

very end. Okay, yeah, so what I saw this is my main takeaway, at least from the Warriors side of this, is they're young guys specifically, or the new guys, not young guys specifically. Wiggins and Neubre. I think they had just they had a case of the jitters or whatever

you want to call it. I think they went to Brooklyn and they realized who they were playing, and um, this may be the first time that those two guys who are going to be important contributors to this team, UM are dealing with uh, not a high stakes reward situation, but they're in a high stakes environment because of who they're playing next to. This is the same thing that happens with Lebron, same thing happens with Katie. All Right, So there are there's a difference when you have the

expectations of playing in Minnesota or Washington. Okay, see and now the expectations playing Golden State. UM. They have a very large fan base on Twitter. They're very active, They're posting highlights, low lights, everything. So I think that stuff hit him with a ton of bricks. Uh, Wiggins, he'd brick two wide open threes at the beginning of the game and they missed like a point band play up on a drive and I was just like, Okay, this guy,

this guy is not ready for this game today. Um. But the one thing that I will take away from I did take away from this is, um, when Steph was on the ball, there were times where he was definitely trying to help his teammates kind of get into a rhythm. And the way he was doing that was, you know, attacking the rim, which is not something that you want a six two guy doing over and over again against the treated players because that can lead to injury and stuff like that. UM. And I'm sure Kurt

doesn't want him doing that. I think he's openly said before he's not James Harden. He's got six six two pounds or whatever it is. We can't ask him to keep doing that sort of stuff. But I thought the shot quality that he was getting for his teammates was really good. But but the fact that they weren't making any of those shots made it is what made it.

You know, it compiled a really bad situation. So I think that's a good sign for Warriors fans where that whether he's used off the ball or whether he's used on the ball, he can create very very good shots for his teammates off the equity of just him being a superstar player and being a really smart guy. Um. As a fan, if I was a fan of Warriors fan, I would like them not to have to have him go to the rim as much as he does, only because I don't want to risk him getting hurt. And

if he gets hurt, then your seasons. You know, it's a really tough situation to be in. I want to try and get jam On back as soon as possible because he could play that point forward role and and direct guys that the way they need to and set curry up off the ball. Um. The other side of the thing takeaway I'll take from the Warriors this will be my last thing, is their defense needs a lot of work. Their guys need to get really, really in tune with how these rotations and stuff we're gonna work.

When they were coming back in transition, I couldn't count how many times I saw ubre passing off an assignment in transition because he didn't know where his guy was. And that's the problem, like guys wide open and trance visition, right, And then that's why you saw Joe Harris get you know, step into wide open threes. You saw Kyrie step into wide open threes. Um, maybe everybody's focused on the rent, but that was sort of the issue that I saw.

So that was my two takeaways. But it's just one game, and I think over time, hopefully they'll they'll get that correctly. I think Jaymond will make a very very big difference from a this is where you're supposed to be offensive geometry, all that sort of outstandpoint. Well, vin A, thank you so much for your time. Man, we're right at the limit here. Um. Like I said, I really appreciate you coming on. You're awesome, You're great at what you do,

and hopefully you'll join me a few more times this season. Yeah. Absolutely, I enjoyed, Uh appreciate everybody taking time to listen to your podcast and listen to me talk about the Lakers and a little bit about other basketball teams. Uh. And I'm excited to be back whenever I do. Awesome man. Yeah, the Lakers Central is the name of the podcast. Is that? Yeah? So I co host the Lakers Central podcast. I have a newsletter, you can find out my bio. I'm only on Twitter at V killum v K I l E

m uh. The newsletter is a little more Laker centric, but thanks to ESPN pushing Zach low to behind the paywall, I'll probably start writing a little bit more about some of the other teams I like watching. And I watched way too much basketball for my health, so that's pretty much it. Alright, buddy, have a good rest of your day and I'll talk to you later. All right, Thanks a lot, take it easy, Bye bye.