Episode 28: Show Announcements, Cold Lakers And Surging Nets

have for the show moving forward. And then I wanted to give my quick thoughts on that Lakers Miami game from a couple of nights ago, because I thought it was really interesting and it explained some of the things that we should be looking for with that team in the next couple of weeks. And then I wanted to quick give my thoughts on the Brooklyn Nets after another

really last but to start with the show announcement. So you know, I really like building some sort of consistency with the kind of people that I do the show with. And um, you know, I've I've really enjoyed working with Tommy doing that kind of all around the NBA podcast that I've been doing. And uh, I've really enjoyed doing a Laker specific podcast later in the week, and I was talking with Raj. We had him on on Friday.

If you remember, I was talking with Raj after the show the other day, and he expressed an interest in trying to start something weakly, and so him and I are going to give data try So ideally the way it will work is early in the week, I'll do something with Tommy that's kind of based on the entire NBA, and then later in the week I'll do something with Raj that's very Lakers specific. That's not to say we won't talk about other stuff, but that's kind of the

the idea. UM. However, I believe how kind of strange it is to introduce the podcast as you know, a podcast with my name when I'm doing it regularly with

a guest, uh, you know, on a weekly basis. So what I'd like to do is is keep like a thread that is the Jason tim podcast threat that you guys can subscribe to that will have all the shows that I do, but at the same time, I'll have different show names for those specific podcasts on all the show ship lots of ideasames for uh guys, let me know, send me something on Twitter, um, do something to let me know. UM. I kind of like the idea of doing State of the Lakers for the RAJ one on Friday.

But if you guys have any other ideas of all years, but that way, at least I can introduce those podcasts with a little less awkward uh intro than you know, here's me, but here's the show starring two of us. So I'd like to to get that switched up. But I'm very excited. I'm excited to do something weekly with Rod. He's super smart. He watches more film than just about

any of us. He's one of the few guys that out there that has time to actually go out and wash the tape over and over again and get a good feel for things and um, and he's got a really good feel for for Laker Nation and what they want to hear on a weekly basis. So I'm looking forward forward to that, and I really appreciate your guys support. It's been really fun to see how this has grown

over the last few months. We're just about to crest over five thousand podcast downloads, and then that's in addition to many tens of thousands of of live viewers as well. I know it's small and we're just getting started, but you know, I'm having a ton of fun with it, and I really appreciate you guys to support otherwise, otherwise I would just be talking into into empty space. Um,

but let's get started. So I wanna I'm really interested in this in this Laker Miami Heat game the other night, because you know, the there is the obvious fact that there's no point in over evaluating what's happening with the Lakers right now as it pertains to their playoff prospects because of the obvious fact that Anthony Davisontennisure will be back. However, there is the other aspect of this that has to do with the standings, having to do with the fact

that right now the Western Conference is very deep. There's home court advantage of stake. There's a but two different things, especially considering I expect fans to be available for for the playoffs and so because of that, these wins matter. And you know, every every uh little into ground you can gain or lose in a in a moment like

this could affect you down the line. If you have to play the Clippers in the second round, for instance, if you have to play four road games against Utah, for instance, those are the kinds of things that matter right now, regardless of what's happening as far as the team might look on the court later in the season. And so, you know, every team has had some sort of of issue with health at some point in the season,

whether it's through COVID or whether it's through injuries. And the Lakers got lucky for a long time, and you know, it could have been a number of different things. Maybe they were really safe with with going out in public, or or maybe you know, it's strictly a matter of luck. But for whatever reason, up to this point, they've been mostly fine. And now Dennis is out for at least the next two games, and Anthony Davis is out for at least probably the next what three weeks or so.

So you have to find a way to beat Washington tonight, and you have to find a way to try to beat Utah tonight without Dennis, and then you have to try to find a way to win for a couple of weeks after that without a d but with Dennis. And so even though it may not matter as far as how that team dictates specific matchups in the playoffs, it's still important right now for the standings, and so

that that's what's fascinating to me. And you know, the Lakers have struggled so far without Dennis, they lost to Brooklyn and they blost in Miami, and a big part of that has to do with the fact that the Lakers aren't making shots. But at the end of the day, there is no better option for trying to win these games than to just trust what you've been doing, which is to defend and to continue to have Lebron nurate as many wide open shots as you can and hopefully

you just start knocking them down. And I talked in the pod with Roger the other day that this reminds me a lot of the seating games in the bubble and this idea that you know, for whatever reason, they just went amazingly cold in those seating games, but they snapped out of it and they were able to beat all of the teams. There's all this concern in the bubble, like, hey, what happens when they just started doubling Anthony Davison Lebron

and start making these role players make shots. That was the same concern last year that it is this year. And last year they made the shots. And these are the same guys, if not even a little bit better players in that regard to make shots this season. And so I I remain confident that they will eventually snap

out of it on the larger scale. But it was interesting in that Miami game because, you know, there's a lot of concern about Lebron's decision making and the idea that he kept, you know, passing the ball as the

game progressed. But if you watched the game, essentially what was happening was every single time there was any sort of action in the post or at a pick and roll, they were doubling Lebron like hard doubling off of the screen and leaving the screen, or as he slipped or as he popped to the three point line, and over the course of the game, you could tell Lebron made a conscious decision, I'm not going to four shots over

this double. I'm going to pass the ball to this guy popping or rolling to the basket, and I just trust that if we play four on three, we're gonna get enough open shots to win the game. And for whatever reason, they're still in this slump and they weren't able to make shots, and it led to them you know, falling apart and once again failing to score a hundred points, once again looking completely inept offensively and once again losing.

But there really isn't a better option. And you know, if you I tweeted about this the other day, if you had to nit pick, you could tell Lebron like, one of the easiest ways to avoid the double team is to not call for a screen or to stay

out of the post. But if I'm Lebron, I'm thinking, you know, how's our offense gonna look if I just start relentlessly attacking a Jimmy Butler or an Andrea Iguadala in oscolation Because if you attack in isolation, they're less likely to double, because it's much harder to double in the open floor because it puts your defense and much

more precarious position. But Lebron is telling you he doesn't want to just relentlessly I late Jimmy Butler or relentlessly isolate Andrea Guadala because he doesn't like the way that

that would cause the offense to flow. You know, And and this is one of the biggest things that I've been critical of of some of the people in Lakers Twitter who have been talking about the types of actions that the Lakers are running, right, because the other alternative would be start to run more screening actions around the floor. Start to do something that's a little bit more motion motion based in the half court. But the problem is

the Laker personnel is not really great for that. Like Kuzma is a is a decent player running off the screens and shooting. That's that's one option. And you know, but like if you look at like Wesley Matthews is not a very good player coming off a pin downs and shooting, catch and shoots off the move. You know, that's not his That's not his game. That's not Alex Crusoe's game. You know, that's not Montrez Harrold's game. That's

not any of these guys games. If you look at the personnel that they have, They've got a bunch of really good defensive guards that can work and catch and shoot situations, but they're not great off the ball scores. You know, they've they have they all have niche a niche stabilities. Like Bruso can cut to the basket pretty well. You know, mantrase Harrold is good attacking mismatches in the post. You know, uh, even with Kyle Kuzman and coming off

the screens, he's kind of streaky. He's not necessarily a super consistent shooter running off the screens. So it's one of those things where I actually, if you look at what they were doing against Miami, understanding that Miami was doubling Lebron, if he just ran these simple actions giving it to the to the to the to the cutter or the excuse me, the screener and letting them play full on three, they were getting open shots, and they were basically just saying we trust that over time, this

is gonna break open. Over time, kind of like what happened in the bubble, They're gonna start making shots and all of a sudden, everything's gonna change. But again, for for the playoffs, this is not an issue that they have to be concerned with. You can't double Lebron James in the half court and let Anthony Avis and Dennis Shrewder play four on three. They're gonna get killed if

you do that. This is something specifically that teams can do to this specific Laker roster as a result of the injuries and and and the COVID missing time for Dennis Shrewder that it's specifically to this situation and as far as how to survive the next two games. How do you try to beat Washington, how do you try to beat Utah? I think you keep doing the same thing.

You defend like crazy, and the Lakers defended extremely well in the second half against Miami, and then in the on the offensive end, you continue to just let Lebron attract as much attention as possible, and you just count on the fact that the lid is gonna come off the basket, They're gonna start making shots, and then fine, and then when Dennis comes back, everything will open back

up again. If you guys remember the Minnesota game, and I know they're the worst team with the worst record in the league, but they have Karl Anthony Towns Now, they're not as bad as it shows in the standings. That team, Uh, Theker offense got a little bit more free flowing, Dennis Shrewder got his rhythm back. Lebron played a really good game as well. They were making shots. They were up from three for that game. Everything's gonna

be fine, is doing as Dennis comes back. You just have to try to find a way to win in these next two games. And it's doable just by doing the same thing they're doing and don't get overly concerned with how this might project to how they'll play in the playoffs. It's just not something to worry about. So the last thing I gonna talk about today, like I said, there's gonna be a short one. Uh, I think I'll talk today. I talk about it is Brooklyn. So there's

a lot of Brooklyn looks great. I mean, there's no point beating around the bush. But I think people are kind of a lot of people who are pro Brooklyn are kind of getting lost in the in the chaos

that surrounded all of the Brooklyn pessimism. Because, as is usually the case, when criticism starts flying around, there's like the really loud people that are saying nonsensical stuff, and then there's like the rational people that are just like, well, this is a legitimate concern that we should probably keep an eye on. And that was the way the Brooklyn Nets trade went with with with James Harden, James Harden

trade happens. You know, there's all these crazy people in the woodwork, and they're not gonna be able to defend their garbage. Like this team isn't gonna you know, they just lost to Cleveland. Like this team is not gonna be able to win, blah blah blah, And obviously those people were crazy. But beneath all of that there was you lost Jared Allen, DeAndre Jordan looks a little bit

washed this season. In specific matchups, not having a legitimate center could be a problem, you know, Okay, like the uh, Kyrie Irving and James Hard didn't have a bit of a history of being inconsistent with their defensive effort. And I was one of those people who was just strictly saying, like,

I don't think they're really good. I'm a little bit worried about how they might be able to guard Joe l Embiid in a really physical Philadelphia defense that's gonna make them work over seven games in a way that might wear them down. And then I said the same thing about the Lakers. A guy like montrese Peril and Anthony Davis is gonna present a big time smatch problem from that Brooklyn, He's offense not to mention run. And so all I said was great, they're gonna have an

unprecedented good offense. However, let's take a look at how this might work in specific playoff matchups. We talk all the time on this show how specific playoff matchups can get anybody beat. The conversation, the the the example I used all the time is the two thousand nine Calves. The two thou nine Calves were one of the best, were the best team in the regular season that year. Lebron was nearing the top of his game, but there

was a specific matchup problem. If you watch, Dwight Howard averaged over thirty points a game in that series, had forty in Game six because he was going against the dress Kiss and Anderson versy out. And then suddenly he gets up against Andrew Biden, Andrew buying him and Patissoul and he's way less effective and it and they can't take advantage of that specific mismatch, and all of a sudden, the Lakers are arch better team and they make the

Magic look like a flawed basketball. That's the way these match us work. It's not it's not a it's not a matter of you know, who has more talent, because I would argue the two thousand nine Cats had more talent, but it was a specific matchup that got them beat, not just Dwight Howard, but the really big guards in in Turka Glue and Richard Lewis for the magic and the problems they presented from Will Williams and Delante West.

That's the same thing that we're talking about in the the offensive end and specific matchups like, yeah, the Lakers are gonna have trouble guarding, uh, Kyrie Irving, the Lakers are gonna have trouble guarding James Harden. They're gonna have trouble guarding Kevin Durant. But at the end of the day, there is a huge front court mismatch in the sense that guys like Anthony Davis and Montrez Harrold, guys like Ben Simmons and Joel Embiide are gonna be almost unguardable

for Brooklyn in the paint. And now I'll remind you in that thousand nine Eastern Conference Finals, Lebron average like thirty eight, nine and nine and it wasn't enough. So this idea that you know, uh, that Kyrie Irving and and Kevin durantan James Harden can put up monster numbers and it's just an automatic trump card isn't necessarily the case specific playoff matchup, they have a shortcoming in the front court that two teams I think can exploit. I

was never worried about the Clippers in Brooklyn. That's matchup. I talked often, if you guys remember about the fact that I think, uh, the Clippers play into these guys hands a lot of the times, especially switching defenses, because they don't really uh they kind of degenerate from their normal offense and really really heavy isolation stuff, uh with Paul George and Kauai, and that plays right into Brooklyn's hands unless you're doing it at the rent. That's the

key difference, you know. It's not it's not a question of whether or Paul George can score on the perimeter against some Brooklyn nets card. It's the fact that in a playoff series, that sort of repetitive isolation can get you beat. However, if you're Anthony Davis, it's at the rim. If you're Joe lm beat, it's at the rim and at the free throw line. Those are the kinds of things that are much more consistent and reliable in a

playoff series. And you know, so, um. One of the things too that that that that I think is interesting is that is the way that Brooklyn's switching defense can cause specific you know, anomalies in a regular season. So there's a reason why, Uh, it's really rare to see

a team user switching defense. It's essentially like, um, if you can run more traditional defensive actions with more traditional defensive talent, like a good big hoo can guard in space, and a good big who can protect the rim, and guards who can defend the point of attack and things like that, that's a proven method of defense, and we see that around the league. Look at the Lakers, this great example. However, teams like the two eighteen Rockets, teams

like this team. I don't think it's a coincidence that both Mike D'Antoni teams they kind of have to rely on a little bit of a gimmick because they don't have necessarily, you know, uh that that type of defensive talent. You know, specifically with this Brooklyn Nets team. That two eighteen Rockets team did have a decent amount of defensive talent. But the idea there is is there Brooklyn is telling

you we can't run traditional defense. We can't have DeAndre Jordan's just guarding and pick and roll all day long. You know, we can't have uh, guys like Kyrie Irving and James Harden who fasically just die on screens for their entire career. We can't have those guys chasing guys off of pin downs and chasing guys off of other screening actions because they're just gonna get beat. That's not that it doesn't fit into what their defensive skill set is,

so they have to switch everything. And there's and like I said, it's it's it's a flawed defensive scheme in the sense that can be exploited when you play seven times in a row. But when you're playing against twenty nine other NBA teams and night in and night out, you're seeing more traditional defensive schemes. And then finally, on a random Tuesday night, here comes the Brooklyn Nets and they're switching everything. It throws you off and and and

you struggle to handle it. All of the bed defense and ly more traditional defensive actions. This team is a random wrinkle that that that these teams are running into on a random Tuesday, on a random Thursday, on a random Saturday, and they're struggling to deal with it. In a small sample size, if you're running a switching defense with Kyrie Irving and James Harden and Joe Harris on

the floor. Chances are it's not gonna work as well as seven game series when there's big time mismatches on the floor and and a team kind of figures out over the first couple of games how to consistently attack it, you know, and at that point in the playoff series, game two, game three, whatever it is, where they figure out, oh crap, Kyrie Irving can't keep Ben Simmons from the rim, Oh crap, you know, Jeff Green can't keep Lebron from Remember, they can't keep Anthony Davis out of the off the

out of the paint, or they can't defend Joel Embiid one on one. All of a sudden, they're going to have to start doubling. And when they do, they'll be in rotation. And that's a team that doesn't defend well in rotation. They lose guys all the time, they're not

on a string, they don't communicate super well. In a playoff series, that is a defense that teams will be able to exploit to a greater extent than the Clippers after playing a bunch of traditional defenses and then randomly running into them on a Sunday night and not really adjusting in time to really figure it out. And so I I I I still think they're a really good team. Never really doubted them from that respect. I just was concerned about very specific matchups between Philly and the Layers.

They have specific personnel that are going to cause major problems for that team in a seven gamer, and I think that that's okay to And I'm not sure that we'll get to really see an example of how that might work out until later in this season and hopefully health permits, because in this season it just seemed and you know, there's been a lot of talk about the quality of basketball this season, and in my opinion, one of the big reasons why the quality has been down

is on any given mm hmm and and so you can't get a feel for how good the teams are, and you can't get it. You can't get a feel for what that matchup might look like when you know, like even last night's game between Brooklyn and the Clippers, it's like, you don't think Kevin Durant's gonna change that equation a little bit in some way. So it's it's just hard to get a feel for any of these games.

But you know you just you just just try to think about it on almost a possession by possession basis, because as those series progress, as you get to game four, as you get to game five, as you get to game six, it's so like both teams know each other extremely well, they know all of their actions. You you

can't run an offense to get a shot. It's all about these specific matchups and as many matchup problems that Brooklyn presents for the other team, the other team ESPEC actually in the case of the Elite Contenders, is going to present just as many matchup problems for Brooklyn on the other end of the floor, and at that point it's just a matter of which map gets exploited, exploited to a greater extent um. That's all I have for today. Uh. I have Tommy coming on again earlier this week and

Rage later in the week. Like I said in the beginning, if any of you guys has suggestions for changing the names of those shows, uh, even though they'll stay in the same thread, you can either send it to me on Twitter or or send it to me in the comments. I'm also planning on adding my email to the to the Twitter page anyway. Just so I can use it for like mail bag stuff later on. UM, but as always I appreciate all you guys support. This will be up shortly on the podcast feed. UM. Everybody have a

good rest of your week. Coupe's productive. Hope you have a good time Helpe. Everybody's safe and I will talk to you in a couple of days