Episode 27: State Of The Lakers With Raj C. @UnwrittenRul3s

California coast, but yeah, thank for having me. I know, it's it's so much easier for me to make this stuff work because I'm in Arizona some an hour behind you, guys, So every time I link up with somebody from California,

it's a little bit easier for me. Um. I thought you were the perfect person to have on today because I think, honestly like anybody who's been watching the Lakers lately is gonna be frustrated with what they've seen, even even though I talked about before the game last night that I thought it was kind of a throw away, Um, just as a result of the obvious circumstances that both teams were going through. Uh, there are some lingering problems,

and so we're gonna talk. We're gonna talk about that today. We're gonna talk about the Laker offense. We're gonna talk about what this team looks like without Anthony Davis, what they need to do to succeed, and just kind of touch all the bases. But I wanted to start with the offense because last night, you know, obviously they made

a Brooklyn Nets defense that's terrible of Brooklyn. Brooklyn Nets defense that since the Harden trade is dead last and points alloud in the paint, a team that and just about every other team in the league has been lighting it up against um A friend of mine on Twitter who post lines I want to say, like they were seventeen of their last twenty games they went over on the over under and uh, just for the game, like

it's always a boat race with those guys. And then last night's game looked like an old Eastern Conference playoff games, so it was it was definitely really strange. But going into last night, even if you throw away that game, over the last fifteen games, they were twenty second in offense. Uh.

So that's where I want to start today. It's just kind of talking about like the reasons why things have been kind of stagnant and ugly on that end of the ball, especially giving the level of talent that this team hass So what's your what what is your diagnosis for what's going on with the Laker offense. Yeah, it feels like the sum is less than the whole of the parts, right, Like they have a lot of great

offensive talent, it's just not fitting correctly yet. I think that's a product mainly to Anthony Davis not being himself. I think Davis obviously, even before he went down, it felt like he wasn't at his top gear. He's not playing at his best, and really Shrewder relies on that.

Lebron has been caring. Obviously, he's been great, he's been at he I think he had a great game last night too, But when you have him the only one going, k c P has been struggling, and the shock creation just isn't there, especially you see when he gets out of the game. I mean last night's a throwaway. Obviously there's not many people playing, but even before last night, when he comes out, the offense just creators, especially when there's no Shrewder. And then THHD obviously has taken a

step back, which is expected. You weren't gonna expect him to be a high level NBA player the whole season, and but I think that's the main reason why this offense just looks slow. Marcusol started to hit his threes, but before that he's been almost a liability on offense pretty much people aren't guarding him, and now people are not guarding KCP, which is a little worrisome. For now. I think, I think this whole team just needs the All Star Break, which is a little worrisome because the

All Star Break is still like eight games away. So, um, it's it's kind of a long way. It's it's gonna be a trend here. But like you said, the offense has really been struggling. The defense somehow, it's still at first, I mean it's it's um it's dropped a little bit for the last ten games, but um it's still ranked number one, which is surprising. So that's a good thing to see. But yeah, the offense has really has really been tough without without eighties production, and Shrewder has been

up and down. He started to pick it up and I think he was out with the COVID protocols, so that really that really messed him up last night and against the team like Brooklyn, Man, they they're gonna give you open shots, and I felt like we missed a bunch of them. Casey, he missed a bunch of them. Um, and then Caruso couldn't hit it three as well. So Matthews also, I think went over on his shot last week. Do we have any news on the shoulder thing at all as to what happened? Was it a close contact,

was it a positive test? We have no information on that. I don't believe we do. But if it was a positive test, I feel like he wouldn't be the only one that's out. And I was thinking too, Yeah, So I don't think we have any news on that. And you know how this goes. I mean, the NBA is going to take their time with this COVID protocol stuff,

so we we're not sure. And Anthony Davis, I think I ruled out for another four for four weeks, which puts him, Yeah, but that puts him a little bit after the All Star break as well a couple of games. So hopefully we get him back back healthy to get this offense. How may again, So the main comparison that I've been making, uh, you know, to be clear, I always you you're aware of this. Everybody who follow follows

me is aware of this. I'm a huge believer in this team, and I'm an optimist with them, and uh I even at the darkest points of last year, I maintained that optimism just because I really believed in the way that they were put together. And this stretch of games that they're going through right now reminds me so much of the seeding games in the Bubble. And I talked about this a lot last night, But like so, if you remember the seeding games in the Bubble, there

was nobody in the crowd. It was the first time they were playing without fans. Um they had absolutely no stakes because they weren't really worried about seeding. Now, you could argue that there's a little bit more of that type of urgency in this in this season, but I don't think the Lakers are particularly scared of any sort of playoff path through the Western Conference. Um. And then in addition to that, they went unbelievably cold from three And I just want to read some of these numbers

to you, because this is crazy. These are some shooting numbers from Lakers over the last fifteen games. Contabuous called well Pope, Kyle Kuzma, p Alex cruzoent Dennis Shroeder, Talent Horton Tucker, and a d You only played ten games in that fifteen game stretch eighteen percent from three. And you know, I I this kind of thing is like a cascading effect, Like it's one thing that kind of

leads to another thing that leads to another thing. Like you know, the the lack of of shooting has caused teams to pack the paint, which has caused guys who attacked the basketball lot like talent Horton Tucker to start to struggle. You know, KCP has always been really good at attacking close outs. All of a sudden, guys aren't closing out his hard on him, so it starts to

affect his game. You know, Anthony Davis, like his ability to shoot the ball is such an important part of his game, and and I really do think that it just kind of waterfalls into all of these different things.

Even Lebron, who shop the ball really well to start the year, is down to thirty six over his last fifteen games, so which is okay, but it's not it's not great, but I think it's But if you remember in the seating games, even despite all of that stuff, their competitive nature kicked in in the form of them defending. Because even in the seating games, when there was nothing else going good for the Lakers, they were locking up

and it was which was weird. And so I think that's kind of like the way this team is wired is like when the offense slips, they just lock up. Now, last night was a weird example, and that was the weird part to me because and this is the next thing I wanted to touch on, was, you know, I talk all the time about how I think the Laker defense is predicated on these guards pressuring on the perimeter, but they're they're comfortable in the chaos. You know, We've

talked about it a hundred times. And I was really disappointed last night in Caruso and KCP and UH and West Matthews and and th h T for just just being a step slow in all those rotations and in all the chaos. It didn't it didn't look like them. I mean, did you agree with what what I'm talking about from last night? Yeah, So, like this team without the rim protection is really reliant on like having chemistry and being on the same page defensively, speed beating guy's position.

And last night, like like you said they were just not on the same page. And also they had a lot of lineups that just never played together. Um, you had Quinn cooking in the second quarter. Um th HD I thought was horrible off ball last night he was ball watching. Um he left Joe Harris like five straight times to go to go help on a on a drive that just was not necessary. And uh yeah, k CP looked really a step slow, especially on Kyrie. Um he tried to chase him around. So yeah, like all

the guards just do not play well. I thought Crusoe did okay on Hardened like I thought he did his job in isolation, but um for the most part. But other than that, Yeah, the Cards just really struggled. And for this team, like they're not gonna stop guys at the rim, like marcusol is just not gonna stop. Even Jeff Green put him, put him in the paint like a shot over him. But uh yeah, for this team,

they really need the guards. Like on the same page, when you have line up said just have not played together, and they just they just do not They just can't defend the same way. Um without without those guys on the same page. M hmm, you know, I agree and and like there's a you know, there's there's a there's a math equation here. It's interesting with the Brooklyn nets h you know, having to do with their defense. So

people will say things like uh. People will say things like, oh, well, uh, who cares as long as they outscore the other team. And there's some truth to that, because it's a basic scoreboard math equation, like your defense only needs to be as good as what it takes for your point differential to be good enough to beat these teams. That's what that's what you're like, common sense would tell you. But

there's a reason why defense matters so much. There's a reason why, you know, there's that crazy top ten defense stat that everyone throws out every year. And it's interesting because Brian Windhorse had a podcast and Ramona Shelburn and and someone else was on I can't remember the other day, and they were basically confronted this issue, like what like, are we entering an era where defense no longer matters?

And I thoroughly, I thoroughly disagree, because defense translates to the playoffs better than offense does because defense only depends on effort, offense depends on rhythm and feel and confidence and all of these other things, and defense only depends on effort. That's why that defense stat exists. That's why the Steve Nash sons were unable to win in the playoffs. That's that's why that sort of thing doesn't translate it.

And so when I see the Lakers go out and dog it the way they did last night, I'm never overly concerned. I'm disappointed because as a fan, I want them to play better, but like I'm never concerned because when the chips are down, that team just dials it up and and the best example is that game five, in Game six against Miami last year, they come out and they're really lazy. In game five. I'm tweeting about it all games just complaining, like pulling my hair out,

you know. Uh. Laker Film room goes in and and and post that thread of all those video clips of them just losing shooters in all game long. And then they come out the next game and it's like, all right, we're dialing this up, and all of a sudden they were getting stops. And so that's why I'm not worried about it. But I was definitely frustrated, you know, you know,

you know, it's crazy. I thought they actually defended enough last night where like if they made some shots, that would have been a game still, which is kind of insane because the math. The math problem was just I think someone tweeted like Joe Harris had like eight threes and the Lakers only attempted eleven or something like crazy number like that, where they were just getting destroyed in the math problem. Also the free throws. I thought, I

think the next shot more free throws as well. But yeah, I thought they defended still enough to where if they made a couple of shots, um, that would go in. I agree with you on the defense part. My thing is, like the only pushback I have is that, um yeah, defense obviously matters on teams in the playoffs. It's just I think super teams like this are the exception. Like that's the point of having the three best isolation scorers or whatever in the history of the game, Hardened, Katie

and uh Kyrie is just it's a level offense. I just think we haven't seen that kind of matches maybe the Golden State years, and that still wasn't isolation scoring. So I think they'll need defense. I just think like their defensive rating is needs to be taken into context, like will bring it up like they have a wet they have like the twenty seven defense or something some low defensiveount and to me that that number needs to be skewed in terms of context of like can you

score one twenty with them? Like I look at the Milwaukee Bucks, who are actually really struggling right now. They're like in a five game losing streak. Can they keep up? Like can they score with Katie Harden and Kyrie in a consistent possession? Like will will they go cold? Because if you go cold like the Lakers last night, I went cold for four minutes, you can't do that against Brooklyn.

You're gonna lose. Like they couldn't score for four straight minutures is unacceptable with the talent on this roster, even without the guys. But and that game was over. The Nets went up fifteen in that stretch. It was a close game, and then they went up fifteen and from there they were trying to fight back. But yeah, like that's where I only pushed back with this NETS team, Like I think they're like now eleven and one against teams above five hundred, which is kind of ridiculous that.

I don't know if that means they're just dogging on on the bad teams. I don't watch enough of them, but yeah, like that, That's where I'm at with them, Like, obviously, do you need defense, They're gonna need to defend at a certain base point level. But this team is gonna just score the hell out of boll I mean, I don't trust Philly discover with the Milwaukee and then from there the East kind of drops down from there. I

I am a believer in Brooklyn. Um. I've been a roller coaster with them this year because to start the season I picked them when they had Jaren Allen, Katie and Irie, and then after the Harden trade, I kind of got off of that train and now I'm back on and and the main reason why I and when I say back on, I mean I think they'll get out of the wet or the East. I still believe that the Lakers at full strength can beat that team

for the record. Though, when Lebron was on the floor last night without Showder and a D it looked pretty good like they were competing with that team. And I know Katie wasn't playing either, but but that that they can compete with that team when Lebron's on the floor, and as long as they have shoulder in a D to lean on, I think it should be more competitive.

But the reason why I believe in that team is, you know, say what you want about Kyrie and James Harden, they've both had stretches in their career where they have defended Jay Is in particular in two thousand eighteen, Pyrie in particular in two thousand sixteen, and all it took was all of them to kind of reach that level. And and last night you could see that they adopt

a really basic switching scheme. They switch everything. They're willing to give up offensive rebounds, they're willing to give up enough stuff around the paint as long as they keep you in isolation so that there's no flow to your offense, so that there's no rhythm to your offense, and so that everyone's just a little uncomfortable. It's what the two eighteen Rockets did so well. And Kyrie and James Harden

both are bought into that. Now. It took them getting their butts kicked by some bad teams, but they're both bought into that now. And and and you know Katie is not going to be less less bought in on that in them they are, so there's reason to believe that this could work. And so you know, I've come back around on them. I still think there's a pathway for Philly in l a the Lakers in particular, to

beat them by by by not playing their game. You never want to play their game by just getting into an ISO contest, but rather by just bullying them around the rim they do. A guy like Ben Simmons and embiid, a guy like Lebron and a D are gonna that that kind of duo is gonna be able to put relentless pressure on the rim and kind of potentially swing that matchup. But yeah, I'm I'm a believer. I'm a

believer in Brooklyn. Yeah. Um, so let's talk, Uh, let's talk about what this Laker team has to look like without a D because you know I talked about with Tommy on Wednesday's pod. You know, I'm a I'm a big I'm a big believer in uh, in the fact that this team isn't entirely a D dependent. I think that's been something that's been overstated over the years. You know, like Oh, Anthony Davis is here. They are a great defense. Oh Anthony Davis is here. That that kind of unlocks everything.

That's not to say a D is not great. He absolutely is great. But this team is constructed around Lebron's playmaking and around elite defense, and their elite defense is structured around stuff that that a D helps a great deal, but they don't necessarily need. And they have a lot of NBA starter level players, like k c. P is an NBA starter level player, so is Dennis Well. Dennis is a really good starter. You know, Marcus Stolt is a starter level player. Kyle Kuzma as a starter level player.

Wesley Matthews started last year for the best team in the NBA in the regular season. You know markiefmore not Markief. Montrese Harrold is a starter level player, so is Alex Cruzo. There is a lot of of talent on this roster. They didn't look like it last night. They played poorly, but there's a lot of talent on this roster. So I'm a believer in the fact that they can not only float the ship without a D but that they

can be really good. Uh So, so my question for you is like, you know, what is there, what is their pathway to like to competing for that one seed with a D out over this next month. Yeah, to me, it's mainly on the offensive end. Like obviously a D fixes the defense a lot. I thought last night, Like, obviously their effort wasn't there on defense, but when they want to. I think this is a guard oriented defensive team for the most part, and then a D kind

of fixes things around that. A D is obviously the to me, is the best defensive player in the league, but this this thing is credic exactly. Yeah, and their defense is predicated on the guards flying around, creating turnovers, being aggressive. Um. I like when this team is aggressive. Treads last night for some reason, they had him again dropping back and it just doesn't help anything when he does that. UM I like him when he's aggressive up

in a defensive stance, and you could tell. I think Treads really feeds off like the whole team, when the team is really locked in aggressive, he gets into that mode. And last night, also, they're gonna need Lebron to be a defender for pretty much the whole game, Like he needs to be locked in. It's really tough when you have all these guys switching and trying to um create turnovers, and you have a few guys just not on the same page with that. UM, I think they're gonna need them.

And then on offense, they're gonna need Shrewter back. I think they just don't have enough um playmaking without him, um, they needed another playmaker. Lebron can't be making every single play when he goes When he goes out of the game, it just creators unless we get th HD playing back at his level. UM. So I think you're right. I think they have the talent to kind of a afloat um without a d I just think his offense is

really needed here. Like this team just they just can't score enough right now, especially with the shooters going through the slumps they are and West Matthew's KCP. They got hit open shots or this team is going to really go down in the standings. They're kind of lucky because the Clippers also, I think are just out with Kauai PG as well, so they're kind of staying above them,

above water, above water here. And I think what people forget it is like last year in Milwaukee had like I think like a six game lead in the standings um in like January February, and by the time the season ended, I think the Lakers caught him. So like people are saying, Utah has the one seed locked up, I just don't agree with that. It's a two game lead with like thirty games left. Um so yeah, I think I think they have time still and there's just

no urgency. Like you said, there's no urgency, there's nothing to play for, there's no fans in the arena. It's really tough for them to have anything to jump up for. Yeah, I agree, Like the Jazz are playing above their above their weight. They're they're you know, they're they're overachieving right now. Like if you if you were to you know, the Jazz are better than we all thought they were, but if you were to rank the teams in the West, you're putting them third behind the two l a team.

So it's it's very clear that they're overachieving. So theoretically, over the course of the season they'll kind of snap back to reality a little bit. There's also they remind me a little bit of the Bucks last year in the sense that they're kind of scheme dependent and uh, and they're kind of like a, uh yeah, exactly. So theoretically, over the course of the season, some teams will unlock some success against them, it will get spread around the

league and teams will guard them better. No different than what happened in Milwaukee last year, who not only struggled in the bubble in the seeding games and in the playoffs,

but they also struggled in the um. They also struggled in the things, like they also struggled in the in the the last like half dozen games, last dozen games heading into the COVID stoppage, like that was a team that I don't want to say the league figured them out, but but there was there was an obvious path to where things were kind of getting off the rails for them.

And so you know, as far as far as you know, between the Paul George injury, the Anthony Davis injury, and the Jazz potentially kind of coming back to reality, things are very much still open there. But I agree, like as far as the shooting goes, you know, we have experience with this, Like they went cold for stretches at the beginning of the season last year and then they got hot. They all got hot in March, you know, like Avery Bradley, we would go cold for a while.

Avery Bradley was scorching hot going into the end of the season. K CP struggled to start the year, was really getting slandered by Lakers Twitter. All of a sudden, he was the most consistent player at the end of the year. You know that this is how it goes. It's just an awkward situation where everyone's going cold. And the funny part is like Marcus al starting to make shots like this, this thing is it's all gonna just

kind of turn around at some point. And you know, if you remember after Game four against the Nuggets, Game five against No, Game four gets the Nuggets last year, you and I did a pod and I was freaking out about lebron jump shot and I was saying, like I was like, man, like he's losing his confidence. This reminds me of the Spurs in two thousand thirteen. This might not be good, blah blah blah blah. And then he just came out in games Game five and just

lit them on fire and executed them. Like this is a team that is mentally tough. They understand what they're going through with they're shooting. It's gonna turn around. It's only a matter of time. I'm not concerned about that at all. Yeah, and the seventy one day offseason, right is also like the elephant in the room here. Like I saw a stat the other day. I looked up a stat the other day all the other three contenders.

So I believe the Celtics, the Heat, and the Nuggets are combined forty and forty three, which I think is like a forty six percent one percentage. And then you compare that to the Lakers, who are around twenty two and eight now, but um, they're on like a seventy one percentage. So just to compare like those teams, which are good franchises, it's not like the Heat going to the summer and we're like, oh yeah, we're gonna rest, like you know, they they proclaimed this heat culture and

all that, and obviously like they had some injuries. But you know, all these teams Denver as well, this is a good team that went into the season with zero practice, and Boston as well. I think they're they're underperforming, so um, you gotta look at from there. I think the Lakers aren't a lot of better position. I mean, it could be that I feel like if they ran the same team back, it might be in that position. To be honest, all that new blood kind of helps with um that

short offseason. So that that's another thing that I think people got taken account is that they really had no summer. I think I saw that they're having their ninth practice of the year tomorrow, which is just insane. Usually you you know, you practice a lot more than that. So all those teams are are kind of going through it, and you're kind of we're kind of lucky to at least be in this spot still second in the West,

second best record in the league right now. Yeah, the there are landmarks that you look forward repeating champion UM or champion attempting to repeat, like you know, uh, have they completely let go of the rope defensively the way like the you know, the shot Kobe Lakers did no completely, or like the way the fourteen heat did no, Like they haven't let go the rope defensively. You know, Uh, there's injuries, but they're all manageable. I mean, knock on wood with this a d thing, Like I hope it's

not something that becomes a chronic problem for him. UM. But but like the There there are no like giant red flags that would concern you and make you think like did they lose a bunch of talent to try to avoid the luxury tax? No, they actually added talent. Like you know, does does Lebron look like he's aging? No, he actually looks a little better than he did last year. So there's no major red flag that would have you be concerned about this team. You know, I was talking

about this with Jeremiah on Twitter this morning. He's he's saying that he doesn't think the Lakers would get out the out of the West, and I said, you know, well, what has changed? Like, yeah, Utahon, Phoenix are an interesting wrinkle that that are in there, you know, but like Denver was one of those types of teams last year and they got worse because they lost their defensive wings. You know, Like, so they're not gonna be that much

of a factor. You know, the Clippers are a little better than they were last year, but so are the Lakers and so, and my my question would be like what what has changed, like, you know, materially that would make you think that that that that that that this is some sort of different outlook than last year And

and I don't see that. I do think you brought an interesting point up about Tres because you know, uh I, I keep saying, like, you can't, you can't set him up to fail by putting in a position where his flaws can get exposed. And when you put him in a drop coverage or when he's in that catch hedge catch hedge coverage, but that he's sitting too low to the basket where he's not really bothering the ball handler, like you're he's just gonna look like one of the

worst players on the floor. And whereas like when when in the last couple of weeks he's been really good defensively, and I think it's been because he's been extremely active running around, not around the basket, more in rotations, using his length and his quickness and his effort, like his motor to be effective on the defensive end of the ball.

And then suddenly last night it was like like the worst possible Montrese scenario, constantly in drop coverage around the basket, getting absolutely bullied on the offensive glass by by DeAndre Jordan's, making DeAndre Jordan literally look like like vintage DeAndre Jordan's, like all all of those sorts of things are are avoidable in my opinion. And and you you made a great point to you said, like he tends to feed

off of the overall defensive energy of the team. And it's so true, like this team has a tendency to I don't want to say, let go of the rope, uh like, but when a couple of guys aren't bringing it, like the whole team seems to just kind of be out of sink on that end of the ball and and it's it's frustrating to watch because I feel like

that's like that's avoidable. Yeah, Darius at Form Balloon Gold, he has a great expression like you know, there's like the let the foot off the gas statement, you know, like that you're foot off the gas. The Lakers just get out of the car Like there's no get lit the foot of the gas. They just get the whole car.

And with treads. He's a guy like, um, you'll see a lot when when someone scores, he does a lot like hey, you're supposed to be there, Like you know, he does a lot of pointing and stuff like that. And I think he's a guy that really needs like chemistry with lineups. Um, when he starts to play with a bunch of people, he knows their tendency where to help. He played a lot with He played with th h T last night, Quinn Cook with that second unit and they just really um struggled to have any kind of

rhythm on the defensive end. And Steve Nash did a smart thing. He kind of Mirrord Deandre's minutes with Tress and they had Jeff Green mirror and Mark Um it looked like he really coached for last night and Vogel and he even said this that he was not coaching for last night. Um, he really had zero game plan, especially for the nets specifically. Um, so he's still experimenting with stuff. So um yeah, that was smart by the

smart by Steve Nash. And uh yeah, treads just man when he's when he's not like in a defensive stance and not actually defending, it's just it's just not helping anything him And a drop coverage doesn't stop anybody. He's not protecting the rim. His hands aren't up, his hands aren't active. He's he's a guy that can create turnovers and um, you can see when he's really lively, like

even on offense. Um, he had a few buckets, but like you said, the Nets kind of push you into their style, right this isolation heavy basketball and a tread even fell into that. He was taking you know, iso jab step jumpers over DeAndre Jordan, which just again it's just plays right into right into into their hands. I agree, Uh, well, are you worried about KCP at all? I feel like he's earned the benefit of the doubt, right, Like, I mean, he's a guy that um, he's he's an iron man.

He plays every game for the most part, and he's uh he struggled to in this stretch, but he had a really nice starts of the year, and guys go through slumps, like you know, as a as a player, as a shooter, guys struggle sometimes with their shot. He's obviously in his head right now, but I think he's earned the benefit of doubt when he played that well in a playoff series and high level intensity games that consistently you you get to benefit out in like these

uh dog days of the NBA season. So I think I think he'll be fine. He's a guy that needs the All Star break. Um, I'm kind of fine if he wants to take a few games off like, you know, maybe you can't say rest anymore as a as a term, but you know you could say sore whatever, a calf or something and give him a few days just to just to rest it. I think I think he deserves it. He does seem a little banged up. You made a

good point about shooting, like it's basketball. I made the same thing about the made the same point about the

Lakers as a whole earlier. But it's so everything has kind of like a a cascading effect, and you know, when you're not shooting well, it drastically affects everything else you do on the basketball court, Like I have noticed even with myself sometimes, like like if I if I missed some shots, all of a sudden, like you don't see the floor as well, because you know, maybe you're rushing a little bit, so instead of taking time to really read things now, all of a sudden, you're pressing.

And you could see that with KCP yesterday, like there was when he missed his first couple of threes, he started pump faking a ghosts. There was one where he caught the ball at the top of the key with like fifteen feet of space and just didn't even he didn't pump fake. He just he just like I met immediately upon catching the ball, he's looking to swing it and and you're driving into traffic to where there were a bunch of hands where it wasn't really uh much

space for him to operate. It was just you could tell like he psyched himself out. But I like he's been in worst slumps before and gotten out of him. And you know, KCP is at his best when the game is simple for him. You know, I've told you a million times. I think he's one of the best close out guys in the league. Like if you if you close out short, he's gonna shoot the ball, and he's gonna make a lot of him. He's gonna make

of him when he's in a good groove. You know, when if you if you chase him off the line, he's a he's really good at just ripping through going up off one leg, either finishing or making that next read. And and that's gonna be when he snaps out of it, is he makes a couple of shots and just kind of gets back to KCP basketball and just and I'm just not worried about that. I still and he's uh one of the better you know, three and D type of guards that we have in the league right now. Yeah. Same,

confidence is a hell of a drug. Like I say that with KCP. Like with confidence, he looks like a million dollar player. And then when when he's when he's in his head, he's obviously not at that level. So he just needs his confidence back. He'll be fine. What are you are you concerned about th h T at all? I mean he's a twenty year old, Uh, basically a rookie. I mean last year he played like five games and he got a few playoff games. To me, he's a rookie.

Like Lakers didn't have a first round pick this year, they traded it for Dennis Shrewter, So to me, he's our first round pick. Um, he goes into the glore of a Lakers young cores that we see all around the league, um kind of driving. So I think he's another one of those. I mean, it's kind of hard to expect him to be the backup point guard, a twenty year old backup point guard on a championship level winning team. Maybe if this was like the New York

Knicks or Knicks. Actually, I've been playing well, but whatever the terrible teams. If he was like the point guard there, he'd probably be getting a lot more touches, being able to get a rhythm and be able to average fifteen or something like that. On this team, he's just not gonna get the touches to do that. And you can

see he's still trying to find his way. He he does a lot where like he'll drive and like he doesn't realize there's help coming, Like he'll get he'll like do his two steps and then he'd be like, oh, oh shoot, there's like a big right there, and he tries to kick it out. Then um, last night he drove and took like a fade away one leg jumper.

I was like it was like man. But again, like as Laker fans, we can't, like I said before, we can't push for th h t minutes and then be mad at like the growing pains, right like we you can't have both. You can't want TSC to play and then also want him not to make the mistakes that come with it. And I think these are investments in the future. These are you know, these are these are not for this game. What t does for this the

turnovers and all that is all building towards something. He's not a defined player, right, He's not a shrewder like where you're like, man, what are you doing. You've been in the league seven years. Why are you trying to behind the back? You know? No, look like so you gotta let the kid learn, and I'm fine with the bumps that are going to come with it. I think

the talent will oversee what he's doing. Now. I'm trying to throw away last night's game in terms of evaluating him on the defensive end, because it reminds me of some of the Montrez problems earlier in the year, when you know, he would look really bad in a game where the entire team looked really bad defensively, and so you know, if you remember earlier in the year against Portland, he had that wake up call of a game guardian Gary Trent Jr. Where he kept leaving him open and

giving up all those threes and it pretty much cost him a game. And uh, I thought he had made progress from that and gotten to the point where where he had kind of made some strides on understanding the defensive end and his just a focus in the in the incessant like you literally can't lose focus for a second or it could cost you. And I thought he

had kind of figured that out. There was a lot of stretches there over the last month where he was dominant defensively, like part of some crazy defense, some sequences for the Lakers where they would go on crazy runs where he was just everywhere getting strips, getting steals, you know, disrupting, passing everything, and uh, and I was more concerned with

his offensive inconsistency. Not concerned, but just that would be the thing that would be the difference between him being like a pivotal part of their playoff rotation and kind of being a microwave guy only played five ten minutes a game, you know, And last night was the first time in a long time where I kind of saw

some slippage on the defensive end. And I'm hoping that it was just a throwaway from the standpoint of of the whole team's effort, because you know that's gonna be you know, if you look at the Lakers guard rotation, they have Dennis Strutter, KCP, Alex Caruso, Wesley Matthews, and th h T. So that's five guys in the playoffs.

You're probably only going to see four of those guys play because Lebron and Kyle Kuzma and Anthony Davis and Montrez Harrold and Marcus Saul are still gonna play, and you're you may even see some Marquis Moore's for specific

matchups when then he's shooting from the five. So from that standpoint, like you know, in order for him to break into that top four and be playing in the playoffs, I think they can live with some of the offensive inconsistency, some of the him not seeing the floor super well.

It's that it's games like last night where he's giving up an offensive rebound to Cole to Kyrie Irving, when he's giving up on a play, or or he's losing Joe Harrison rotation, Like those are the kinds of things where he's going to find himself out of the rotation. And and I, like I said, I just kind of

hope last night was a throwaway. Yeah. Same, he's an over helper, right, He's the guy that really likes to help, so like he'll be in the paint even though his man is Joe Harris and the nets are really good at like if you're in rotation, it's over, Like they moved the ball three times, um, and it's too Joe Harris. I think TLC Timothy Loo hit like four threes in three minutes because the Lakers lost him. So the nets

will put you in. Then they're one of the the the best opments of the team, So you can't have guys getting lost falling asleep off the ball. Yeah, and like it was funny yesterday. You know, I tweeted this out yesterday. You sent me the d M about the guy that got upset that I said this, but which was funny. I had to reread that like six times, like some guy was like I was tweeting after the game and I basically was like did any Laker play well tonight? And it was kind of just presenting the

topic that was pretty clear. Yeah, that was But anyway, the you know, like Lebron was fine, but he wasn't great, Like he didn't shoot the ball well, and I agree with you, like he wasn't great on the defensive end.

There was a play at the start of the fourth quarter where he uh was kind of standing on the block and Jeff Green was guarding him and Joe Harris was there with it was either Crusoe or I can't remember who it was, and uh and Jeff Green and Joe Harris was in the corner and Jeff Green just kind of went and set a pin down and uh and Lebron stood on the block and uh, whatever guard was over there when it was Cruiser t HD or whatever gets caught on the pin down and Joe Harris

breaks free for three and Lebron basically didn't move on the entire possession, and they're thinking, like, all right, like we can't do that, you know either, you know, and then uh, you know, Kuzmo was good, but I also felt like he had he missed some bunnies. He had a couple of players where he would like get steals but then like fumble the ball out of bounds. Like I didn't think it was his best game either, and he's still kind of struggling a little bit from the

from the three point line. But every every other Laker had about their worst nightmare game, Like Caruso had his classic like driving into the lane and then just throwing the ball to the other team. Uh, missing floaters and layups. You know, th HD had one of his worst offensive

games in a while. You know, Mark Kith Morris was bad. Uh, Westerley Matthey, like literally every single Laker played one of their worst games that I've seen them play, and and that was why it was like so crazy to see them even compete there where they were within ten or at the end of the third quarter. Uh, it was wild because like you just don't see that very often.

But it goes to show you what we said and what you were pointing out, you know about like getting out of the car, Like the Lakers just have a tendency to really to really let things slip. Yeah, I thought Kuzma actually, like I thought he played pretty well. He brought the energy last night, right like, um, He's still went after his offense, rebounds, he had like a he had a bunch of big threes. I thought to keep him close for a little bit. So I thought

him Lebron had like the best games last night. Kusma has been pretty consistent just bringing the effort, trying every night, so give him some some credit for that. I thought he played well. I thought he defended his role. I thought he played well. So that's that's the only ones. Yeah, you're right, though everyone else had a pretty much a bad game. And you're not gonna beat the nets with like your half, your over half, your roster just not

not contributing at all. And and DeAndre Jordan played the best game I've seen him play this season in terms of his activity. I'm sure he's had better scoring nights, but his activity was great too. Cabereau was a brick in Philly and and now he's making everything in Brooklyn. Joe Harris was great, like they Jeff Green never misses

an open shot anymore. I'd sent out a staff the other day, like, you know, you always have to trust your eye to eyes sometimes because I remember sitting there thinking, like, man, Jeff Green is making all these shots when he's playing in Houston in the playoffs last year, and then this year in Brooklyn. It's like, man, every time I watch a Brooklyn game, like Jeff Green is not missing any shots, and you look it up and he's like forty three

over over the last playoffs in this entire season. But yeah, you can't, uh, you're you can't expect to beat a team when you're just getting outplayed down the roster, Like if Montras is gonna get out by DeAndre Jordan's that's gonna be a problem. Uh rooking, before I get you out of here. What are you still confident? Are you wavering? How do you feel about them getting out of the West. How do you feel about them in a match up with Brooklyn? I'm pretty confident. I think Brooklyn and the

Clippers are the toughest ones that. Like you said, I actually think Brooklyn is a little bit more tougher. I just think they're offensive, like firepower, has a little bit more of a juice that's able to kind of just outscore you for four games like as possible. Those two teams the only ones that I see. I think Utah is a great team. I just think the matchup for

US is just awful. Um. I just think like go Berry gets played his strengths kind of get played off with and Anthony Davis at the five lineup, I think, and they have no one to guard Lebron as well when things matter. Davis just wants to completely emasculate Rudy. Yeah. I don't know why. I don't. I don't know what Rudy did to a d to make that matchup really personal. It feels like a lot of people really take Rudy's matchup personal for some reason, he just has that way

about him, I guess. But yeah, like a D takes that matchic really personal. Um, Lebron plays well in Utah, I think. So yeah, those are those the only teams that, like, I think have have a real chance. I think this team is fine. You can't really judge them without a D. I mean I set a lot like I saw a lot of headlines this week like if Anthony Davis isn't there or isn't healthy, the Lakers you know, can't win.

And that's like, well, obviously, I mean what kind of analysis that like analysis is that, Like it's obvious if the Lakers don't have a D, then then yeah, they're not gonna win the title. You can do that because you're like can win by losing a star, even Brooklyn. They're not winning without Katie or one of you know, one of them, or even the Clippers, and because everything is built around this idea that they need all three

of them to overcome their their defensive deficiencies exactly. And so so with the Clippers, right, they need both Kauai and they don't just need PG, they need PG two be himself in the playoffs, which is still uh TV hit TV D. So yeah, I think the Lakers are fine, and Lebron is still shown that he's not just like he's not dropping, he's actually like to me, he's wide in the gap in a weird way, another ridiculous tone

class night, like what is going on? So I want to I guess I want to ask you this because like you've been watching Lebron a lot more than me, and I feel like you probably think he's been the best player in the league since twenty twelve. You think, like, so Kobe's last Like to me, Kobe was at the top around two thousand ten, and then I think eleven

was when Lebron lost in the finals. But like around that time, I'm thinking he was the best guy, kind of like a vacancy, like give it by honorary, give it to Kobe kind of thing. Yeah, but in twelve, by then Lebron was the best player in the league. I'm guessing so, and it was him and made me k d right at that time. And then Steph obviously came in, staff came in to me like the gap has widened. I guess I think it's him and Steph maybe like those two. I guess are the best stuff

does in a different way. But like, I feel like the gap has widened between him and the best player in the league just with um how I mean, Steff is still coming back. Katie's not what he is what he was. So what do you think, Like, is that gap widening, is it around the same as it's been since he's been at the top, or what do you think about that? I don't think the gap is necessarily widened, but I think it's more a product of just how

insanely talented the league is right now. Um, you know when I look at this kind of stuff, like you know, whoever wins the title this year? I was thinking about this literally on my on my drive home. I was playing basketball this morning and I was driving home and I was like, I, whoever get like if if if Kauai runs through Lebron and a D and then runs through this Katie team in Brooklyn, Like that's that's insane.

If Lebron does the same to Kauai in Brooklyn. If Brooklyn does it to Joel em Beat and then gets through one of the l A teams, if like like if if Philly runs through it, or if you like, whoever wins this title this year. You know, I'm not a big believer in diminishing titles, but I mean I also believe that summer are a little bit more impressive than others, like this year, borrowing massive injury implications, like this is gonna be an unbelievable accomplishment for whatever team

hoisted that trophy. And and again, it's just a product of how insanely talented the league was. Like think of it this way, Like last year, Steph and Kadie missed the playoffs because of injuries, and yet the Lakers still had to go through Damian Lillard, who's unbelievable um, and they had to go through you know, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. They had to go through Nicola Yo Kitchen, Jamal Murray, who was literally a thirty point it's like,

sixty percent effective field goal percentage guy last year. And then they had to go through you know, Jimmy Butler, who is arguably one of the ten best players in the league when he's when he's dialed in like that in the playoffs and like, and so a down year for talent because of injury was still just this insane pathway and this year is gonna be even crazier, you know,

as far as like his career path. Like, I'm really really hard when I evaluate the top players in the league, and I do put a huge, you know, extra amount of weight on on that that I Q and savvy for winning basketball games, because I think like that is one of the most underrated aspects when we're evaluating players. Is just like a player's ability to sense the teetering outcome of the game in specific moments, and that kind of thing is not evaluated by talent. That's evaluated with

your brain. Because Lebron undoubtedly has been the most talented player in the world since two thousand seven, you know, and maybe at this point there might be players who are more talented than him in terms of just pure ability, but there's you know, from two thousand three to two thousand twelve, Lebron just he didn't quite have the same grasp of that ability to to take control of basketball game. That's why Dirk did what he did in two thousand eleven.

Dirk was peaking mentally sense to those moments like in Game three against Miami when Miami's kind of falling apart and he's making that comeback. Like, that's Dirk. That's Dirk sensing and smelling blood in the water. That's you know, Dirk.

In Game six was the best one. You know, Game six, Miami's coming home, they have two home games with a chance to win the series, and Dirk is just like, no, Like, I have an opportunity here to get this done and Chris Bosh can't guard me, you know, And and and that and that was that. That's where it teetered. And two thousand twelve was when Lebron figured that out, and

since then it's been him. And as far as the gap though, like it's like, man, it's hard to say Lebron is way better than the other players in the league when Steph's playing the way he's playing, when Katie's playing the way he's playing, when kawais playing the way he's playing. You know, I I don't hold this against Michael Jordan's because in fairness, you know, it's hard to push yourself to a certain level when there's not a carrot that's being dangled in front of you. I think

that's why he retired twice like he did. But like Lebron cannot rest, there's a reason why he's improving. He cannot rest because the dudes on his heel on his heels in any other season would be the best player in the world. Like drops Steph Curry in any other era other than maybe Michael Jordan's era, he's the best

player in the world. Drop Kuai and in the seventies and eighties, like he's right up there with Magic and Larry Like like Kevin Durant, Kevin freaking Durant is unbelievable, Like it's just it's it's just what a great time to be like that. I I keep getting bummed out by all these people complaining about watching basketball this year because dude, like, of course it's a little bit ugly

from time to time. You know, we're all the threes, but the half court slog in the early two thousands, there's not as much talent on the floor is just as ugly. You just start romanticizing it, like I want fans back. Yes, the regular season has always been crappy because of the tons of games and the lack of urgency, but like, how can you not, Like literally two of the top four players who are the top three players missed last night's game, and the talent level was unbelievable

on the floor. Yeah, yeah, it's insane. And as a guy, like I don't know when you brought up Georgian and I was just thinking, like, obviously, the Lakers haven't been in the playoffs for a long time before. Lebron obviously got back last year, and I just I guess I forgot. Like I think Kobe does in a different way, it's more of a scoring kind of dominance, but Lebron it's like in every possession kind of like I know, every possession matters, and like his mind is at like a

different level than I've seen it. And just like when I saw that in the playoffs last year, this year I watched, I'm like, oh, this isn't even close. Like this has like this is nothing compared to like what he does when it matters, Like when it matters, Like his mind is on a different level. Every person is in the right place, he's controlling. He knows every play

every every other playbook. So that's where it gives me like a calmness, like I guess, like that's how CAS fans must have felt, like obviously he didn't he didn't coast this much. He coasted a lot more I think in Cleveland, right, Like I'm guessing, uh, they were watching. Yeah, they were like about a fourth seed that sometimes some years that they went in. And you know, those Atlanta Hawk teams really remind me of like this Jazz team this year, Like they won like sixty five games, just

beautiful offense. Right Obviously they were coached by Mike Budenholzer, which is you know, another topic. But yeah, like but but Lebron obviously, just like in the playoffs, I remember watching and I was like, man, like this Hawks team isn't even on the same tier and they won like fifteen more games, and Lebron is like toying with him. He's like, oh, Jeff T like are you serious? So

like it's it's hilarious just to watch. And that's that's where I'm like, I'm thinking, that's where like the gap widened to me is when I watched the playoffs last year, I'm like, oh, there's no one else, maybe Steph because he hasn't been in there for a while or d. But they just do it in different ways. Like I just feel like Lebron's at a different level right now.

He's at like this, which is weird in year eighteen, where like I feel like I've seen his like peak in terms of athleticism matching, the mind matching, you know, just the just the experience as well. So that's where I was questioning, like the gap widening between him and

like a guy like Kauai. I guess it's all subjective, Like you know, all of these players are different, Like you know, it's funny because I'm a Lebron fan, uh and everyone, And the big difference between me and most Lebron fans that you'll meet is like I am a basketball junkie who who loves all of these guys, Like I'm a huge Michael Jordan's literally have a frame of Michael Jordan's first Sports Illustrated cover. When I play basketball,

I play, I mimic Michael Jordan in my game. Like the biggest thing I've been working on the last few years is like all this low post stuff that I literally have stolen from him. Like everyone associates my fanhood with Lebron as some sort of like oversimplification of my view on basketball, and it's ridiculous. And it's like, you know, the for MJ's birthday, the that video went viral again

from the last dance. And it's so funny because you know that you could not pick two more different archetypes of basketball players to be competing for the goat title between Lebron and Michael Jordan's because you know, Michael Jordan's whole view of the game, his whole persona, his whole you know, uh, his leadership technique, the way the way he viewed basketball, like when when a game would be teetering, the way that he would perceive his pathway to grabbing

control of the game again, versus the way Lebron views that identical scenario. Versus the way Lebron would behave in a documentary, versus the way Lebron would treat his teammates. Like it's all so different, but it's equally impactful or or close, you know. And so that that's what's so interesting to me, because like you talk to any of Lebron his teammates, it's like he's jokey, he's jovial, he's

he's nice. In the media is all this stuff, but behind closed doors, it's like if you go out drinking and and you miss the workout in the morning, like

he's on your ass. You don't keep the locker room clean, he's on your ass like if he's if you do all, like it's all this stuff that gets lost in the shuffle and and and you know, when you're watching a random Tuesday night against Memphis, there will be like an out of bounds call and Lebron will be like demonstrative freaking out, like yelling at the refs and doing all

this stuff. And I'm always sitting there thinking, like, it's amazing to me that, you know, some of his detractors have painted him as someone who doesn't care as much and and but it's all it's all the aesthetics and the and the differences in the way these guys are

and and honestly, I think it's cool. And it's because if all of them were the same, like if this was Nascar, it would just be a result based thing and'd be like, well, this guy won, and they're all in the same car and they're all driving the same way,

and this guy won. But no, it's not like that, you know, like, how do you how do you differentiate between a Kareem and a Michael and a Michael Jordan's You can't, like it's all sub you know, and and and I think, like, I think it's okay to embrace some of the barbershop stuff and have some fun, you know, talking ship back and forth and and in exchanging opinions

and arguing back and forth. But like the the way that it's it's portrayed is like this like clear cut, you know, lying in the sand, like this guy is better than this guy. Like that to me is frustrating because there's really there's absolutely no way to make that case, uh in definitive way, because of how different they're. I mean, Lebron literally is half as polished as as as a Kobe or as a Michael Jordan in terms of his like offensive skill set. Uh, yet yet is every bit

as good as them, you know, And that's crazy. I don't know how you. I don't know how you differentiate that. Yeah, it's tough. I just love like they all have that

same Like I know, Jordian, Lebron, even Curry. I'll do it differently, but I just like they all have that offidence about them, right, all that like like people see stuff as this humble dude, but that dude wants to like really kill you, Like he's gonna he's gonna hit us he's gonna hit it in and out, dribble three in your face and make you know about it, Like you know, he has his humble persona and staying with Lebron Like I saw it last year in the playoffs

and he hit that logo three against Dame, you know what I mean, Like he's like, and I think that was Game five or something. I'm like, oh wow, I did not see this coming, I guess. So it's cool that they all have that, and the last dance kind of obviously glorified Michael Jordan's and doing that. But I think, um, all the stars today kind of have that. You can't be a star today without having some kind of like confidence level um with that, And yeah, you're right, the

talent in this league is insane. I think what Luca and Trey do at like twenty one years old is absolutely absurd. Um. I see people already asking can you win with Trey Young. I'm like, he's twenty one having the keys to like the best offense of the league when he's on the floor. Just like, appreciate the talent first before you start like going what was Atlanta doing with the trade? Like at least you know what I mean,

at least, you know, I appreciate the talent person. Then you can go into sea defensive liability all that, of course, But yeah, I just think there's a lot of that

going on today in the conversation. You show up on the road in Washington against a bad team, and it's like, oh, shift, I have to car Bradley Beale and Russell Westbork tonight you show up on the road in uh Minnesota, like you know, like I thought, like I thought the Lakers look really good in Minnesota the other night, and so many people would oversimplify that by saying they're the worst team in the league record wise, But I mean, Karl Anthony Towns has missed most of the season, and I

want to sit there and be like, Karl Anthony Towns is really, really good. And and so you've got the number one pick from this last year's draft, who is just being shot out of a cannon because of Dangela Russell's injury, and Karl Anthony Towns, who like is just a dead eye three point shooter who could do all these other things offensively. It's like, that's the worst team in the league. Like that's who I'm playing on the

worst team in the league. You know, I go to I go to Atlanta, It's it's Trey Young and John Collins. You know, you go to UH. You just pick any team in the league and it's the like Sacramento is a huge pain in the ass. You like, they're just paying the ass. It's just it's crazy. Like and I that's what I appreciate the most about this season, you know, is like that I you know, my wife has been doing a lot of homework at home lately because she's

been doing some schooling on the side of her job. UH. And like I've had a lot more time to watch some of the other teams in the league, and I've just been having so much fun with it. And I

that wait for fans to get back. Of course, all of those things go without saying, but like I just I've been having I've been having a lot of fun with it and and and like I talked a lot about this with UH the other day on Monday in a pot But like I'm I'm not worried about the playing styles because I think, like I think we've seen

like the Lakers are a great example of this. Utah is a great example of this, Like the the their teams are already adapting and they're figuring out a way to make the teams that shoot a ton of threes pay, uh, making that kind of end up actually working to their detriment, you know what I mean. Yeah, we did this every year, right, We see a team that's hot from three and and then they get into a series where the defense tightens up. That space goes from like you know a little bit

of space to like really tight. All the shooters get you know, uh, the game plan for them. You know, like I don't think anyone's game planning right now for Bogdanovitch or whoever whoever is hitting three's on Utah. They're all hitting like from three. But you know, in the playoffs that space gets tightened, you have nowhere to go go there all of a sudden, they're gonna have to make him be an office and threat the way he is in UM. And I just feel like in the playoffs,

it gets it gets tighter. You see that. You see teams um just within the pressure of that. So we'll see how that goes by. Every year we see the team that can get to the rim, get to that can defend the rim, defend the paint and the defending the end. Uh score at the rim and the other end, they're the ones who wins. So that that's where I'm making on this season again, I'm interested in what Frank has for the Jazz because he has famously cared a

little bit more about regular season game plans. Um. It's funny because I I've seen Lebron get mad at the coaching staff for the scouting report before. You saw that with Zeke Naji the other day in Denver, Like Seek was making these threes and Lebron was like looking over at the coaching staff almost as if the scouting report was like close out short on Zeke, Like there's like this weird accountability for that kind of stuff within that organization.

So I'm really looking forward to that Jazz game which is next week. Sometime I can't because like, I think that's a game that I think that's a game that Frank is gonna try to win. And I let's fingers crossed that that that Dennis gets back. But hey, do I really really appreciate you taking an hour to come hang out and talk with me this week? Uh? I hope I'm getting you out of here in time. Everyone else who do joined. I really appreciate you guys for

listening and supporting. I will have the podcast version of this up UH in about twenty minutes or so UH, and then I will speak to you guys next week. Thanks again, Roger, I appreciate you man, thanks for having me. Man M.