Episode 49: Nuggets/Lakers Postgame Show On Spaces

was that was the biggest win so far. I mean, Denver I think was nine and one coming in even without Jamal Murray and to to get this win was great. I'm still out off a high off that win. Um, so yeah, that was gray. Seeing a d back. Like I said before, I didn't really care about the win. I just wanted to like the win was cherry on top. For me, seeing a d back was the, uh, the most important thing, and we got that. We got full

on a d on both ends of the floor. You hit the biggest shot in the game to put them up for So yeah, that was a that was a big time when uh tonight, Yeah, I was. I was, you know, throughout the game, I kept waiting for this, you know, a stressful part on account of the fact that they were missing their two primary dribble creators and Denver. I know, Denver doesn't have a ton of defensive talent, but they do defend pretty well, and with there and Gordon,

they have a decent amount of athleticism. And it was one of those things where I was kind of just waiting for Denver to try to tighten the screws a little bit, and I knew that when they did that, the Lakers would struggle to score just because of the fact that Schroeder and Lebron were oute and that's what ended up happening. But uh, you know, they got that there.

There were a couple of wide open threes that they got out of it, one for Caruso, one for a D and then a D one of the jumpers weren't following a D, stopped settling and took a power dribble, got into the lane and took that little floater over the top from like eight feet, which has kind of been one of his bread and butter shots throughout his career. And it actually Denver defended it really well. He just

made it. And uh, and then you know the that that defensive play at the end is the microcosm of why we get so frustrated rooting for Anthony Davis because like that's always in there. But that's what he's capable of all the time. He is the most freaky uh gifted and and not just with his physical tools, but also with his anticipation in his instincts. He's the best defensive player in the league when he gives a ship and he just can't be bothered all half the time.

That's what makes him that generational defender, right, the ability to be in the paint and still get out and blocked that shot. I'm I was watching the replay here. I think he still had like two feet in the paint while that past was going to composit when he reached out and blocked it. And we saw a lot of that tonight, not blocked on three pointers, but where he like impacted um shots, where he helped in the lane.

Because the Lakers, they didn't change really their defensive coverage on screen roles, they just a d was a lot better as a help defender. He was getting weak side blocks going out, being able to contest the shooters, and that's what we wanted, right. We spent the whole Yesterday's um kind of Doom and Gloom podcast when you look at it now, but our spaces when you look at it now. But that this is what we expected and

that's all I wanted to see from tonight. The win is awesome to get that on top of it, but to get a d back looking like this, we get this a d and when we're cooking, we're rolling here. This is um. This is the best that he looked. His jumper was there, he had legs under him. He was engaged the whole game. I felt like maybe one or two plays where he kind of made I think he almost got a steel on MPJ got like the

dunk it was in the fourth quarter. But other than that, he was engaged the whole game, helping and yeah, this this is why Laker fans and us call him the best defending in the league. He hasn't looked like that the last few games, but um, tonight was his best so far for sure. Well and Laker Laker fans have had a tendency in the past for good reason, because that's the way fans are, and for the record, all

fan bases act this way. The Lakers just happened to have a lot more fans, but Laker fans have had a tendency in the past to kind of bully their players into getting it together, you know, and this is the first time that's been directed towards one of their stars. And you know, and and it wasn't just pressure from the fan base, it was what was happening on the happening to him on the court. He was getting humiliated. Like it was shown in the scoreboard. The Lakers. I

shared some numbers today. I just dove into the lineup data. The Lakers were the second best defense in all of basketball when a D was out for thirty games. Then when he came back, and you know, all of the minutes that a D was on the court, they were giving up like a hundred and twenty points per one hundred possession, some crazy number like that. And then in the hundred and ten or so minutes without a D they were still only giving up a hundred and three

points per one hundre possessions. So their defense was consistent through the return of a D except for when he was on the floor. He D was being humiliated for his lack of effort. And he finally got sick of getting humiliated, and he responded and I think we all kind of saw this coming. Like no one, just no competitor who has this much success in life, like a D is a national champion in college and an NBA champion, Like, no one's just gonna sit there and let himself continually

be humiliated. Eventually, something's gonna kind of rise up inside of them and they're just gonna fight back. And we saw a D fight back tonight, and like he is the defensive ceiling razor. That last play is a great example of what happens when you're an elite defense but you're going against an elite offense. There's a breakdown because Yokich is gonna cause breakdowns because of how good he is. And Denver gets a wide open look like you said,

a D s got both feet in the paint. You're watching that on your couch, like, oh, and he blocked that shot like he is the ceiling razor. Because even the best defenses will eventually have openings in a D is capable of shutting even those openings, and that's what makes them so scary. Yeah, and that's definitely, uh, what we what we asked for, right, Like that's what this

team needed. Every everything else we can talk about we talked about last night all like the ancillary pieces, like I'm sure we're gonna get into Andre Drummond, but we couldn't even start with that until Anthony Davis got right and and it seems he got right. Um, and they got the big win tonight. If they can beat the Clippers somehow on Thursday, hopefully Lebron returns, then um, it

will be a really nice pickup for this team. Um, they needed to win like this right Like you could tell with all the quotes that were coming out that uh that the team was kind of down for right now, but it looked like they took this game serious. Um, So that was that was the most important thing, uh in my in my like in my notes here, Um, I was I really wanted to see what they did on Yoki, right Like, I thought that was gonna be big tonight. And I thought they approached it kind of

like a playoff game. I mean looking at yoki Is shot shot chart here, and he missed a bunch of like you know, like those shots that are in the paint not at the rim. Um I'm seeing here he missed like eight, eight or nine shots right there. And I think if you can make him take those like those two pointers that are contested that aren't like at the rim, I think you've kind of won against him. And he made some of those, right, uh those uh, those fade away like mid range shots that you can't

do anything with if he hits those, it's those. But that's where I thought Drummond was actually okay tonight. Like again, we're gonna talk about a lot later, but I thought he did his job, and then they kind of switched a lot of his actions as well. But what you see with with because I thought they did a fantastic job on him. So I figured coming into the game

that a D would entirely avoid the assignment. That seems to be part of his m O right now is that he doesn't want to take the assignment unless he absolutely asked to, like in the biggest moments, like that's the only time you'll consider it, because there I noticed, even when they went to the bench in the second

quarter or at the end of the first quarter. I believe actually Montres Harrold came in who has a history of kind of having issues with Yokich, and a D wouldn't take Yokich then either, he put he ended up taking I think dojer or one of the wings and and left Montrez on Yoki. So it's clear that he wanted nothing to do with him. So it comes down to what are you gonna do with Drummond and and Gasol on him, and both of them I thought did

a really good job. I thought Gessol did a little bit better because he avoided some of the uh more troublesome fouls. The that play where Gasol fouled him at the end of the game and they gave him the two free throws actually kind of was trying to make a smart play there. He noticed that he gave up middle. He thought the defense was compromised. He's like, I'm just gonna grab him so they'll just have a side out

of bounds. But other than that play, which was in retrospect the mistake, Gasol did a really nice job at defending without fouling and making him make shots over the top. Drummond had a couple of mistakes. I thought he lost him on a couple of boxouts paid where he primarily lost Yoki, and then he had that play where you know yokis you didn't have a good jump shooting night, he got over zealous defending him at that at that pull up a little eighteen footer that he shot and

sent him to the line there too. So I mean, the thing is is like those little mistakes, you want to see him both cut out. But for the most part, they did their job. They threw bodies at at Yokich

and made him work. And I I said this in the tweet earlier, it's always a team effort, like the What helps um, what helps those guys do better on an island with Yokich is having guys like k C. P and Wesley Matthews who are so good at like stunting and giving the impression of taking away space while at the same time being able to recover and get out two shooters because they didn't really have to send hard doubles at Yoki, which takes away his passing ability.

That that that's where he's at his absolute best, is when he breaks you down to the point where you have to send doubles and then he will pick you apart. But the Lakers just kind of make you feel like you're in a crowd, but technically it's still one on one matchup, and and it takes away a lot of those reads and it was just all in all, just an unbelievable defensive performance from the Lakers. Just another one

of those Frank Vogel masterpieces, Yeah, for sure. And and just looking at here, I think Denver went six for twenty four from three, and I thought a lot of those were actually pretty bad. Looks like, this is a pretty good three point shooting team, right, that's what Yogi's jaws. He kind of creates shots for them, and they ended

a really nice job closing out. I guess we can like talk about Lakers Twitter's hero here Marcosol, which it feels like it feels like Lakers Twitter was not loud enough, right, And uh, Vogel is like reading the timeline because Gasow got his minutes and he absolutely killed Um he he kind of allows a d to be the five without actually giving up any size, right, Like that's kind of what helps here. We saw him come in the pace, the pace just like immediately picked up Carusoe KCP. They're

starting to fly down. Um he had like a beautiful full core pass. I think, um, I forgot to forgot. I think it was the West Matthews. Um he got a beautiful full core pass to him and the ball just moves around. He knows where the play to pass to eight can play in the post with a lot more space, right. I think that's where it was really key he got. He got good looks from there, so yeah, like it was really great scene Mark, and then he hit his threes, like I think I think he had three.

I think he had like three threes tonight. And he really helps a guy like th HD. Like in my notes here, I put like th HT and Mark because that THD is a real creative driver, right, and he needs a release valve, like I called Mark a release valve, and he gives them that release vell Like THHD can go in, jump in the air, spin and then find Mark in like the corner or something, because he's just creating as he goes. And I thought they helped the bench.

They went away from that Treads and marquis Um line up in the second half, which I thought really hurt them in the first half. They played Mark in those minutes, and yeah, like I guess Lakerstore needs to be even louder. I think he's gonna start getting more minutes. I feel like Vogel really didn't want to go back to him in the in the fourth quarter, but that lead was just slipping so quickly that you had to get the one any any through in uh Gasol in the in

the end there. But I thought that was the main keys to me tonight. It was eight going off coming back and then Marcosol looking like he's ready for um,

he's ready for the playoffs. Yeah. And you know, one of the cool things about Twitter, one of the cool things about you know, modern social media is like you get a lot more really smart people involved with this stuff, and there were there were just a lot of really smart Lakers people from all over the world really that we're like, we're looking at data because we all have access to the data, we all have access to the film, and we're watching it and it's like we we all

knew we were right. You know that that's the reality of it, because like we were all watching the same thing and we were all looking at the same data.

That's what was so refreshing about hearing Kyle Kuzma come out in the post game yesterday and be like, you know, this is what we think we should do, because it goes to show you that, you know, we y'all were you know, thinking the same way that a professional basketball player might think when they look at this, or you know Frank Vogel saying, well, you know, we're gonna try to make it happen, and then he did so in practice today by playing the Salmore as far as in

theory on the court though, like you know, it's a couple of things. You said, it makes a D like he's the five, but the Lakers are still big. Well, the truth of the matter is is it makes a D to five on offense. That's the important part, because a D would love to be the five on offense. He just doesn't want to guard big guys. That's literally all it is. A D is shirking the responsibility of dealing with the physicality of playing the five position on defense.

That's all it is. He can sugarcoat it and all these different things, but that's what it is. And the truth is is he willingly is making What he doesn't understand is that by taking that responsibility it actually takes away a lot of what he has to deal with on the offensive end, because instead he may not be wearing himself down as much on the defensive end, but on the offensive end, he's playing in a crowd more, he's dealing with more bumps and bruises as he's going

to the basket. So it's like he's kind of signing himself up for just a different version of the same problem. Uh. And by playing Marcusol, it kind of puts him in that perfect sweet spot where on offense he's effectively playing you know, a four out one in attack where he has the space to attack, but then on defense Marcusol is taking all of that beating for him. That's why the Marcusol fit was such an obvious and clear fit

to make this work. And then the other big thing that you know, the obvious stuff with his shooting in the way of impact it's facing. But the other big thing, and you mentioned this was his outlet passing. And it wasn't just it wasn't just a long bomb. It's the starting to break quicker stuff. Like it's the instead of getting getting the rebound and doing what Drummond does where he like chins it and like spins around and like maybe he'll take two dribbles himself and then he'll find

a guard and he'll give it to him. Like Marcusol like starts to break actively before he even has the ball, Like he's getting the rebound and he's looking over and he sees a guard streaking and he'll catch it and throw a quick tap pass forward and something like that gains you an advantage and gets you playing in semi transition where the defense isn't set, rather than going against the set defense, which has been a weakness for the

Lakers literally for two years. So like having Marcus all out there impacts the game on so many levels, And just like with Alex Crusoe last year, you're going to continue to see it in the box score. When they play Marcusol, they're going to have success, and it's gonna show in the in them winning the minutes that he plays, and when they continue to play a big, bruising, you know, brainless, spaceless five, they're gonna struggle. I think I think that's

just going to continue to be the theme. Yeah, I think that's a little a little rough, Like we want to we want to blame a lot of it on drum and let people were all happy because Drummond got

his fifth foul. Like I thought, Laker Twitter to go through a full on celebration because Drummond picked up his fifth foul, and like he struggles that the post ups are still a lot, Like I just I still don't understand why you over throwing into him in the post as much, especially with with Lebron not in the game, and Caruso had a lot of turnovers with him to him tonight too as well. Right, they're just not on the same page where he should be cutting um and

all that. But again, like they're both on the team, like a soul and Drummond are both on the team, And like it's funny seeing JaVale McGee on the other side, because I see Drummond as like Javal roll. You know, you saw Javal like you saw the good and bad of him tonight, like you saw people to roll. But like he does these weird things where he tries to go bhind the back past is and weird floaters that some of them went in, and I see Drummond in

that same kind of light. Man, it'll be it'll be situational. It's very clear they want to get him minutes in the regular season. Um, but maybe that was agreed agreed upon before he signed here or something, but that that seems like the clear thing that's going on and and and Mark obviously, I mean anyone who's watching you know these games, we're watching these games, you could tell that

Mark is having just a huge impact. And I think he'll play a lot when when these games matter, especially in against Denver, who I think this is his second really good game against the Nuggets, especially defensively. Right. I think he turned that last game round as well tonight, Yogi, he had a few good baskets on him, but you could tell, like he bothers him. Mark is really smart. Um, you're not gonna like trick him. He knows, he knows

all the all the tricks up the sleeve. He's a former Defensive Player of the Year, all the all the accolades and stuff like that. So he's a really awesome dude to just have on there where your kids. Is gonna have to work for his shots, and that's all you can ask for. Um, I think you could twin like eleven for twenty five or something tonight, and and if you make him do that, you're gonna win the game. So they held Denver to under twenty five points in

every quarter. And this is a good offensive team even without Jamal Murray. Like this is a team that's that can put up points. So I thought that was great and Mark was a huge part of this win. What did Michael Porter Jr. Finished with? What was like seventeen? I think it might have been nineteen. He had nineteen Yeah, okay, yeah, So what I thought was interesting too is like as like Michael Porter Jr. In his last ten games has

been averaging like twenty six. Yeah, And I thought KCP and Kyle pos both didn't really nice job throughout the game just staying in his airspace and making him feel uncomfortable. Look, when he's so tall that when he gets up into his shot, like, there's really not a whole lot you can do. But what you need to do is get him to second guess his shot enough that he just takes fewer attempts. And I thought I thought the Lakers

did a good job of that. Like his his last three that he took, which was late, is one at the top of the key that he ended up missing. Long h he was in all sorts of crowd, there was a body on either side of him. There's no way that when he's going up he's not thinking about all that congestion and the way that it affects a shot, and again, just the laker. You know, you and I both have have beat the drum for two years. But I think they're the best defense, one of the best

defenses ever when they when they try. But I have all the Frank is an excellent at scheming, They're strong at every position. H they're they're good at containing at the point of attack, and that they're good in their rotations, and they're good at the rim, and they have big wings now and it's just they're They're an unbelievable defensive team. You know what, I was a little too hard on

Drummond Um. The one thing I'll say about Drummond is if they're gonna play him, I just wish strategically they would use him in a way that plays to his strengths offensively. And what I mean by that is like, look, he's not a great post up player, and if you are going to post up with either Lebron or a d he's not serving any purpose because he can't catch lobs and at least not as well as he needs to, and he's just not a good enough finisher out of

the dunker spot. There was a actually a play today if you remember I think Caruso ended up throwing a lob to him, you know, went over the top and went out of bounce like Javao would catch that for instance. You know, like he's just he's just not great as

like a straight up vertical jumper. But if you use him as a ball screener, like if Lebron's on the floor with Drummond or Shrouders on the floor with Drummond, he put everybody else at the three point line and use him as a screener, he has real value there because he's a big body. It gets the ball handler and advantage and makes the defense commit one way or

the other. Then he can bring some value there and get get him rumbling to the rim as opposed to trying to go straight up over Yokis or whoever it is, where he just struggles to finish. And I do think that just because Gasol is the obvious sticks to a lot of their problems, doesn't mean Drummond can't play. It just means, you know, you need to adjust on the fly here and use him in a way that makes sense.

And I don't know, maybe you stagger those two guys instead of instead of staggering with Trez and maybe he's the odd man out. I don't know. I think these are tough questions, but it's very clear that Marcusol has to be one of the guys who is in the rotation. Yeah, so the thing you're talking about, what's tough about that is making Drummond the screener is then you turn a D pretty much into a spot up shooter, right, like he'll just go stand in the corner. And they did

that a few times today. The problem is Denver, they just cheated off the shooters. I think Alex trus hit a few, but they left him open time times. And the problem with Drummond is like he's not a good finisher in the dunker spot. He's not a lop threat, and like he has a tough time catching like passes that if they're not thrown for from like Lebron right, Like Crusoe's a good pastor. He's not going to pass you open, but like if you're open, he can find you.

But again, he's not a great pastor. Neither is a D. I think they ran like a screen roll with a D as a ball handler, right with Drummond as a screener. And I thought it was really nice a d shortness, Dribble had the big on his back like he was a guard and then through this like nice little pass in the painted Drummond right in his hands. But it's just a little too hot. And again ad is not

like an awesome pastor like Lebron. Maybe that gets through with Lebron, I don't know, And it goes right through Drummond's hands and Denver goes the other way. So that's where like the struggle is finding like an offensive role for him, and it looks like the only real role for him where he can get shots up is through post uffs, right, even if they're super inefficient, they just

they need him to get looks. And when a guy is just in the you know, right near the rim, has a guy sealed, like, it's tough for a guard to like look that away, right, Cruiser has to throw that like if a guy has got a new pin. Drummond just does not hit them at a rate that you would believe a big ship. But again again I don't like piling on him because I feel like he does do things that add to the game. Um he uh, he defends at least at a normal good enough level.

Where he can stay on the floor. It's just his offensive to struggle, especially with no Lebron and the shooting is inconsistence of Denver can kind of play off him. So I guess that's a lot of drum and talk.

But yeah, again, like I just feel like he's ancillary still, like to these title hopes, and like what we need to be The key things are eight needs to be himself and we got that tonight and Mark showed they still big time competitor, and those are things that really matter tonight looking rather than looking at this through like wow, Drummond really closed again or was about to close, because

I think that's just what's gonna happen right now. And I really don't think those things will matter once we get into the into the real games. You're right, and and and for the record, I think I think there's some line up moves from Frank that could help some

of these problems. Like, for instance, I used to complain all the time about Rondo being a starter, if you remember, because I felt, yeah, I felt like what he did with Lebron was very redundant and inevitably the Lakers would get off the slow starts because you have these two, like, you know, pound the ball type playmakers, and neither of them were well. Rondo in particular wasn't very good off

the ball, and it would cause problems for them. Well, then they put Rondo on the bench, and then that actually ended up working for them in the postseason when they kind of staggered Rondo and Lebron. And that's the thing is you're right, like, ideally you don't want to turn a D into a spot up shooter. That's why the drum and minutes makes so much more sense coming

off the bench and playing with Lebron. But I agree with you, these are all ancillary things and the most important thing, uh, you know I said last night, if you guys remember, I said I just need to see it once. And what I was referring to it are the three things that I think are abundantly important to this team winning the title, and that's a D looking like a D, Lebron looking like Lebron, and the defense

looking like the Laker defense. And tonight we saw two of those three things, so we can be relatively comfortable knowing that there's still a dominant basketball player inside of a D. This season, I think we all knew, you know, over the course of his contract that he would be a d again, but there was concerned with his health and with his frame of mind that maybe he wasn't

there this year. Well he clearly is because tonight tonight he made some world changing blaze and he he actually like straight up just outplayed the m v P like Nikol Yoka is the MVP, Anthony Davis was better than him tonight. So that was was obviously very uh you know,

uh comforting for like a fantasy. And then you know, the defense was they took an extremely gifted offensive group with arguably one of the top two or three offensive players in basketball this year, and they basically shut him down tonight and uh you know, held him well under a hundred points and in one with by getting stops down the stretch of the game. And so those two

things are very comforting. And now basically just comes down to the Lebron stuff, which I was wrong about last night because I thought that he was I thought that he was going to play tonight, because I thought he just exited the game early essentially just to get ready for tonight. And clearly there he is dealing with some linger in pain. Is that something you're concerned about at all, not really from like the doctors that I follow, and obviously Lakers Twitter is a nice, big space. There's a

lot of people and a lot of professions. There are a a lot of really good doctors. And they say that, like, I think he was a little bit sore, right, I think that was the Shams report, And they say that's pretty normal after a highly ankle sprain like this. So, um, I don't think I'm nervous about it. I mean, Lebron had a quote that he doesn't feel like he'll ever

be a d percent again. I think in his career he had some quote like that which is a little bit, a little bit, a little bit dooming, especially with the way the others were playing. But I'm not worried about him, And I feel like Lebron's gonna be there. Um, he's like the least of my worries on this team, to be honest, Like, I think I think he'll be there when it when it matters that he just needs to get some time with this team. And and that's where I want to see on Thursday. Like I'm not I'm

not sure if they'll beat the Clippers. Clippers they're playing at a at a pretty awesome level well right now. But I just want to see that same effort in intensity as when Lebron wasn't here, you know, tonight, all those guards defending the same way. Um, I want to see a D being a D. And again, I'm not talking about win and loss, just him impacting the game like he did tonight. He had a big time impact on it when he was on the floor. And I want to see that same thing on Thursday with with

hopefully with Lebron um coming back. And maybe Lebron might not be yet, and that's expectable. That's expected. Um, there's still like seven games left. Um, I trust that he knows how to ramp up. The guy that's been a multiple finals multiple times in a row. Uh. If anybody knows how to wrap himself up for a playoff, playoff run, he knows it. So I trust him more than anything else on this team. Everything else needs to work right, I'm sure Lebron will be there to control things when

it when it matters. Yeah, we're on the same page. I I'm not necessarily concerned about it either. Are one of the nice things too with Lebron, Like if you had to, if you had to pick between getting, you know, for this season, having a D AT or Lebron AT or Lebron A and a d AT physically, I would take a D being more healthy because he we actually need his physical tools so much more for this team to reach its ceiling because of what he does defensively.

But Lebron at of what he is physically, is still so capable of impacting the game. And for the record, we saw that in these last two games the Lakers, we had an extremely good defense and we're positive on the scoreboard in Lebron's first two outings even though the Lakers defended like dogshit overall over those two games, when Lebron was on the floor, things looked good because he just impacts the game really well on the defensive end as a communicator and as a back line defender, and

then on the offensive end just making decisions, just making basketball decisions every time he goes down the floor. And so like, I'm less worried about him getting to his peak physical form than I am about a D. And so that's what makes it so comforting to see a D make plays the way that he did tonight. As far as like you know, Lebron's progression here, you know, uh what the what's most important is to understand what this particular injury. It appears to be mostly about pain tolerance.

So like right now in this regular season, he can be a little bit more you know, uptight about it and and take rest when he needs it. But at the end of the day, like when they when they get into when they get into the postseason, Lebron is gonna be able to you know, do whatever he needs to do to deal with the pain and play through it. And the other wrinkle on this UM that makes it a little bit less concerning for him to take a night like tonight off is the standings are entirely in flux.

I was listening to the Low Post today um and Zach low is reading off basically the statistical percentages of teams landing and specific needs. It's all over the place, like Utah is considered a sixty forty favor to get the one seed, which is just a little better than a coin flip. Denver and the Clippers are straight up in a fifty fifty coin flip in terms of probabilities

as to where they'll end up. And then literally coming into tonight Portland's Dallas in the Lakers were all pied, and you know, it's so like the truth of the matter was is like you could have you you could theoretically have approach to the end of the season in a super aggressive manner and been rewarded with the Clippers for your trouble. So I do think that his approach

of prioritizing his physical health makes the most sense. However, I do I I do think that it's a little bit less important for him than it is for a d If that makes sense, Yeah, for sure. And again, like I wasn't standing watching at all today because to me, it was no point until we got you know, eighty to look like this and the team looked like they cared about any of these games because looking at the standings, really didn't matter if the Lakers was gonna keep dropping

games m due to no engagement. So that was a good thing. Now I can go back to kind of looking at the standings again, which I think we're tied with Dallas still, so um, we have a tough skin tonight. Okay, Portland lost all right, So yeah, that that's a that's a good thing, I guess We'll try to stay out of that playing game, I guess, but man, we have I think three back to backs left um to close the close of the season with teams like Phoenix, the

Clippers coming up, the Knicks. Um, all all tough games. But another guy I wanted to touch on tonight, Crusoe I thought had his best game in a while, right. I think I think he was hurt, but um, yeah, he had like a really nice It looked like playoff Caruso to me. That's why I kind of put in my notes here. Um, he looked back to his old self. I think he was like a plus four tonight, but the whole team was kind of in the low plus minuses as well. But I thought he just looked awesome

being able to deflect. He was awesome on Yokich as well, especially when they were helping and recovering. He had he had timely threes, missed a few down the stretch, but he cut, he dove on the floor, He just he did everything that he does. And I thought that was an underrated part that that wasn't really talked about. Was they missed him and his energy. Um, that's really that really helps them. And uh, I thought he was a big part of the win too. I don't think they

went tonight without him. Denver has a guy like him on on their side and Composo it really gets under guy's skin. And I thought he matched that, he matched the energy on our side. What do you see from Caruso tonight, Well, I mean you said it all man, he was, He was awesome. He's their best point of

attack defender in my opinion. I actually think he's a little bit better than Dennis too, because he's just a little bit bigger um and you could tell when he would come off the floor how much easier you know, Composo was getting to his spots or Austin Rivers was getting to his spots, just because there was a little bit less resistance at the point of attack, and you know, and then offensively, like I I have reached I was actually thinking about this. I think it was in the

third quarter. I have reached a point with Caruso where when he's shooting, I feel like it's going in from three, which is crazy to think about because last year you and never in a million years would have felt that way.

But his form, his form, his is solid and he pretty consistently knocks him down, and yeah, he missed a couple at the end of the game, but kind of the Lakers just in general as a jump shooting team went cold at the end of that game, which is something that can happen and it tends to percolate through the whole roster. But I mean, he with him being

able to knock down those shots that transforms everything. He's a little bit like he had he struggle a little bit and pick and roll there at the end, uh, when they kind of tried to run him with the closing group a couple of times where he got into no man's land there at the free throw line, and then he kept picking up his dribble when he was trying to give the ball to a D which then they would just do like crazy ball pressure and denial on a D and he kind of got caught, you know,

in in a tough spot. But those are those are like really nitpicky things and that's not something he's going to have to do when the time comes. But I mean, he's the lifeblood of that team. And when when they are playing like this, when they're playing this, well, uh, he usually starts with him and It's the best compliment I can I can pay him is that he's kind of like the hard the soul of their defense. One other guy I wanted to compliment was k C. P

Um just he's such a winner, man, it's ridiculous. Like he had two plays at the end of that game that were completely ridiculous. There was one where him and Drummond got caught in the pick and roll and I think I think k CP was on Michael Porter Jr. And they switched it and and Yokis got the ball at the top of the key against KCP and actively on the couch. I'm like, oh, like, why did they switch that? He should have fought over the top. Yokis

is gonna barrel to the rim on him. Yokis does his classic you know, you know, kind of ripped through over the top and the rolling down the rim looking clumsy like crazy. But he's got a step on KCP and he just stripped it right off. It was leg

out of bounce. It was a huge play. Uh. And then there was another one where someone took a shot I think it was I think it was Michael Porter Jr. I think it was the one that he missed from the top of the key, and KCP was not in like, you know, because there's all these different elements to rebounding, right, like, you gotta be the guy. There's gotta be some boxes out with people around the rim, and then there's gotta be people who crash, and and KCP was guarding someone

in the opposite corner. His man wasn't crashing, and KCP just went flying through the lane, took off off one leg, rose way up over everybody, and ended up tapping the ball out to Marcusol on a play that could have ended in an offensive rebound for Yoki. And I'm literally sitting there, I'm like, this dude just like he feels the moment and he just knows how he can make these little plays that can swing the outcome of a game.

And both of those plays I just mentioned could have ended up saving the Lakers two points in a game that they won that was just barely a two possession game. So I mean that that's that's how I love I love I love room for KCP man, Like he's come so far from where he was, you know, two years ago, and it's just like just a bona fide winning player. Yeah, he was a big part of I thought the defense

on MPG as well. They had him up, I think on him at the end of the game too, And I wrote here MPJ had zero assists tonight that that was a big part of it. They really made it tough for him. Um, they got on on him and he had a tough time getting space at all. KCB put up seven rebounds as well, hit two threes. I thought they were preally timely threes as well, and they

needed shooting. Like I think he went over five against the Kings, but you know, he's four for four for for nine and these last two against Toronto and Denver, and he's proved that he hit shots like when it matters, right, Like he's proven that he's gonna hit him at least in the playoffs. Last year. Um, he had a little cold streak in the season, but he looks like he's finding his way back. So yeah, like it's nice to

have him back. Um, it's gonna be tough now because, like I think the big news is that we're not gonna have a Dennis Shrewd to the playoffs start, right, So like that's another ten four teen games where the Lakers won't have the starting backcourt, and I don't think they really lose anything because they get Crusoe more minutes I guess, so that kind of other than the th h T minutes. But they get a Crusoe and KCP in there, and that's still a really really elite backcourt defense. Um,

they played really hard, especially when they got it going. Um, they can really shut down opposing guards. And uh, Denver is a really good team where like once they passed the Yokers, they do a lot of really nice cutting actions and a lot of split huts and and I thought the switching and the guards playing well, it was a big part of them. Mean p J Josie got hurt I think in the middle of that, but he's been playing lights out for them and they did a

nice job shutting him down. So yeah, I agree. KCP was great. Hey man, Caruso were a big part of this. Um, they need their guards playing like this, because it was so obvious that they weren't right, Like it just jumped off the screen. Since a D came back, like the all everyone's intensity was pretty much at like a preseason level, and it it seemed back to like really intense ready for the playoffs tonight, so hopefully they picked that up

going forward on on Thursday. But it was good to see KCP and Crusoe both like shut and be able to shut down this other team, along with a D being back to himself engaged on every possession. And I want to know, like, what do you think, because they ran it a lot through th HD tonight right now, I just don't think he's ready. Um, I think you tweeted about this. If he's going to play in the playoffs right like, I think it's gonna be really tough. Like he he's not ready for full ball control. He

had a lot of turnovers against Compozo. He really got into him. Um, you had that weird layoup at the end that kind of won the game too. I thought that was kind of crazy. Oh man, that was one of the craziest plays I've ever seen. Like it was literally like about to become a catastrophe if th D, Like if the Lakers had somehow lost that game and their last offensive possession was th h T shooting literally like literally a backwards the hook shot, like it would

have been unbelievable. But I mean to your to your original point, like you had mentioned, like you know the Lakers will be fine without Dennis. I agree. I I view Dennis as more of like a ceiling razor. Uh Now, without Lebron and Dennis, it becomes a huge problem when they lack all of that offensive creation. But we know the Lakers can win with Lebron and a D and various defensive role players around them. We know they can do that. But Dennis Shooter, to me, he's just ceiling

razor for specific matchups. When when you're playing a switching defense in a late round playoff series and you just need someone to make a play, He's that guy that will be able to make offensive plays that they didn't have in the past, and so I think he does bring a great deal of value there um. But in the meantime, they can defend extremely well down with all their positions with without Shrewder, they have enough depth to

cover for that. It's just an out without Lebron, they just have to rely on a lot of Crusoe and th h T and pick and roll, which is just they're just not They're they're what you would call below average NBA pick and roll playmakers. And THD is gonna have his nights where and he's gonna have his moments, but but he's not reliable. Is the word that Darius Soriano used that I thought was apt for this specific description.

And you know, as far as like you had mentioned earlier that he thrives with gassoul And I don't think I think that's as simple as literally just what happens with his uh spacing. I think just like any other basketball player who prefers to put his head down and go to the rim um, he does better when there's space to operate and when you put him out there with because all he has space to operate in a way that he doesn't have when you put him out

there with, you know, a lack of shooting. And so I think I think that I think it really is that that's simple on that front. Yeah, and especially right now, Like that's why I think most fans wanted Marcus all right, because that's another playmaker like you can have out there. Like the no spacing kind of compounds the issue of not enough ball handlers and a d really has to create a lot of the offense through the post, and it's really easy easy to double him, right, So they

come down and they throw it into him. And the shock clocks already at like six, so I throw it to him. It's a quick double. He kicks it out to like Caruso or you know, or Ben McLamore, another guy that like they just trust that they can get out and contest on that. So that's why it's nice have like a saul out to the three point line, a guy who can create shots for for other guys, especially guys like k cp um even cruise out cutting. So I think that's that's why we were kind of

asking for him to play, especially right now. No Dennis Ruder to the play until probably Game one of the playoffs, so I'm expecting hopefully BECAUSEOL gets a lot more minutes there. Um, they obviously do trust th HD kind of run to run screen roles. I mean, they gave him the ball at the end of the game they're to kind of create, so so hopefully he can kind of make it up. The Clippers are a tough team to do that too, though.

They're really good at ball pressuring and they have a lot of wings that make it really tough for you that can really cause turnovers. So like that's where my worry is. But yeah, for right now, I think they'll be able to, especially if Lebron plays on Thursday, they should be fine. Um, it'll be another guy that obviously will create shots for everyone, but for right now. For for a time, I thought I thought THHD really struggled

in that in that aspect. Yeah, And you know what I had tweeted about earlier was like, there's specific means that the Lakers app from their role players, and one of them is they just need a lack of mistakes. Um, you know, because it is a game of inches when you get into these playoff series and and you don't necessarily need the crazy, uh the highs that come with th HT because you're gonna be leaning on better players for those moments. You're gonna be leaning on a d

Lebron and Dennis Schroders. So when you when you no longer need th h t s highs, you suddenly need people that aren't gonna have the lows. And that's why you play someone that is a lower ceiling, a little bit more dependable. If there's one silver lining on the shrewder thing, Um, if there's one silver lining on the shooter thing, it's just that Uh. He kind of took on a whole lot of mileage on his legs during

that non lebron A d phase. There was even the time where he was complaining about his knee starting to be a little sore, and there's a lot of limping. There's some tailbone stuff too there where he took a bad fall in one of the games. He took a beating there for a while. So if you had to find some reason to be a little bit less annoyed by the fact that he's out for two weeks, would be the fact that he's gonna get some rest. But I mean there's also stuff that goes with COVID having

to do with conditioning. Um. You know, if you if you really are bed ridden for seven days, it can be the problematic for your conditioning. So I mean it's certainly not a good thing, um, But but may it may end up being a blessing in disguise if they can get him back and get him integrated before they get into a real barn burner of a playoff series. Yeah, and I wonder he might just come off the bench, I guess for maybe the first series right, just to

get his his legs back. People people are out for hopefully like he's out for probably I don't know if they tested positive for COVID, but hopefully he's okay. And yeah, when he comes back, I'm sure he'll he'll have to get his win back again. But I mean, the Lakers have enough guards to kind of especially if Lebron is gonna play a lot more minutes going forward, they should be able to be okay. But he's a big part

of their team. And that's the only thing I worry about is getting him getting enough reps with Lebron and e d together, um, those two I think only like twenty something games together, and he's going to be a big part of their offense, a big part of their shock creation, getting baskets, and he needs a rhythm and a flow to know when and where they like the basketball, where he shoots from and uh, all that stuff. They

just don't have enough time to get that going. Maybe the first round is where they can build build those habits. Maybe if it's maybe if it's against a team like Denver, like this Denver team perfect, Yeah, yeah, And Denver really plays the style of a defense that's really conductive to Dennis Shrewder right, they played like a drop coverage with with Nicole Yo Kitchen. That's that's a shot that he looks for, Dennis looks for, so it can really get

him going, get him in a rhythm very quickly. This would be the perfect team for him, but you know, you don't know. There's like eight games left and the standings are all all bunched together, so we really don't know. But it would be a ferrict team for him to kind of come back from, get his legs back from, get his jumper going again, because he was playing well until he came out so this and he was carrying the team. He kept them afloat while Lebron and A

D were out. Um, and maybe this is good rest for him, like Lebron and eight he got. But we'll see it. It's tough to lose your starting point guard though, two weeks before or three weeks before the playoffs start. I mean, that's just that's just really tough. But that's how this season has gone. Oh man, Like, what what

a weird roller coaster? Today has been? Like waking up to the terrible Schroder news, finding out that Lebron really is having ankle Payne like it was, it was as low as I can remember in this last two years, and then they finished the night looking like every bit like a team that if you throw Lebron and then Mix is probably the title favorites. Like, that's that's how quickly, that's how quickly things turned around. But hey, let's get a couple of let's get a couple of guests up here,

and then let's call it at night. Roger and I are gonna be doing a lot more of these, and if they run this late, we probably won't try to go too long. But you know, part of the reason why we do this is we want to get you guys on board. Let's see. I'm gonna start with I think this is g that maning to hear us? Yeah, can y'all hear me? Yes, sir? What's going on? Man?

Nothing much? Finally a good win here. But what I want to ask you guys, pinky backing off the THHD thing, what do you think the rotation is gonna be cut too? Because you know, West was huge, because Saul was huge, and when a Shooter and eight Shooter and Lebrons are back, I mean, you can't have all of them playing because I think we're gonna cut it too. What like ten eleven, So I just want your thoughts on that. Yeah, I feel like it's gonna be a matchup dependent most likely.

I mean, like to me, in the playoffs, the Vets are gonna play like I feel like West Marcus all those guys are gonna play more. Right now, th HD is getting a lot of minutes. Especially how's the ball handler. I just I just don't see him being in that role in the playoffs, and they're gonna throw them in see if it if it works when the playoffs, to possessions just matters so much more, right, Like every possession matters, and it just you just can't have these kind of

turn homes and stuff. So I think that's will be cut too. But the Lakers, they have a deep team, deep roster. Everyone's going to be expecting minutes. So that's that's a tough part of this. But I think everyone getting minutes now allows Bogo to kind of pick and

choose who he wants to play when the playoffs started. Yeah, I think I think you saw today to just in the second half, like there's a lot less in Montrez and you know, I think, uh he actually went to Caruso instead of th HT down the stretch, and then when Crusoe started to struggle to create offense, he went back to th HD for a couple of possessions. That was kind of the interesting back and forth he was

having tonight. But that means Vogel views th HT as is one of his offensive creators, and right now, for a game like tonight, the offensive creator depth chart was thin. They didn't have Lebron and Dennis there, so he needed th h T more. But t is gonna fall the fourth on that depth chart pretty quickly, if not fifth, if he has Alex Crusoe ahead of him. So it's one of those things where I think he's the obvious squeeze.

And then if you're gonna play Gassault and he has some clear loyalty to playing Drummond, then Tres is an obvious squeeze. And then the other one to pay attention to is Markief, who just can't hit the side of a barn with a jump shot lately. Um that that's starting to to to become a bit of a problem, um And I'm hoping that that that rectifies, because he was one of their best shooters in the post season

last year. But I mean, those are the three names that come to mind to me Keith, tres And and th Hd as guys that will probably fall out of the rotation when when all hands are on deck. So for mcilmore because I know he hasn't been utilized as well when Lebron was in, because I think Frank brought him in when he pulled Lebron, which like doesn't make sense at all. And I know his defense is a little bit shaky, but when you have him, you know,

with a b out there, I think it's fine. Do you see any way of him falling out a little bit? But I think he has three point not making. He's probably needed the most. Yeah, Like I think Jason's higher on Ben Malgimore than I am. Uh, Like, I do think they needed shooting, like he's an unconscious shooter, and the Lakers like really need that. They don't have a lot of guys that kind of take threes like that

where they don't even have to. He doesn't even have to be open, right, Like he thinks every shot is a good shot for him, which has its good and bad.

But it's just like his defense. He needs to be playing with Lebron, right, That's who needs to play next to he'll get good looks there and then he can survive, like if he's playing with the starters, playing next to a D I just don't like him in that all second unit, Like he plays a lot of minutes with like all of our worst defenders together would be like it was like thht Ben Malcolmore treads Markie Moore's right, Like that's just a line of where he's just not

going to be good at and he's gonna be guarding people that you know are good score so that I think he'll play in the playoffs though, Like I think he'll get minutes, but he'll be I think he'll be a lot more situational. Um. Yeah, so that's why I think of Ben Malkimore. Yeah, I think so. Two. I think there was a lot of debate going on with Ben Malcamore today on it or um. You know, like if you look at his numbers, it's a lot of bad stuff defensively, but the ones that were lining is

it's been good with lebron Um. I think they have about thirty minutes together so far, and in the UH maybe a less than that, maybe like fifteen. I can't remember. They have some amount of minutes together so far, and in those minutes they've defended extremely well. The defensive braining is about one oh three, and they've scored the ball at a crazy rate, about a hundred and thirty three points per one Hunter possessions. And you know, it's a

no brainer. It's a it's an archetype of basketball player that Lebron is one with throughout his entire career. I think Jr. Smith, think Kyle Korver, even Ray Allen there towards the end wasn't as good defensively as he used to be Lebron. Lebron as a back line communicator can help guys who have, you know, a little bit of a space case attitude on defense and on the other end, can get them wide open looks so that they can

capitalize in their value. And so I tend to think that it's too early to give up on McLemore, even though he's had some struggles, because he really is a player that you need a Lebron type to really unlock him. And to Rodge's point, like it's like the rising tide that floats all boats if you put if you put Ben McLamore with crazy bench lineups that don't have a ton of talent, like it's kind of setting him up to fail a little bit. All right, Well, yeah, thank

you all for answering that. I don't want to take up too much time for him people to speak, so I'll have off this, but thank you too. I see you'll later. Thank you. All Right, let's get another one in here. Let's see what we got. Let's try t Yeah, what's up? Um? Well, obviously Lakers, you know, close win,

close win against Nuggets. But my question is that I'm just you know, I've been watching a few of the Lakers games, you know, against the Raptors, um against the King Sacrament Kings, and you know, my issues just with with Andre Drummond and Ga saw minutes, you know, like you know, you see you see what Marcusol did throughout the whole game. He you know, space to you know, spaces for folk floor. You know, made some playmaking you know, uh assist and all that. But when you see you know,

Andre Drummond, you know, floppy plays, always creating turnovers. But my my question is like when it but from from from now on or when it comes to the playoffs playoff time, do you think um um vocal, do you think Vocos should start um Gassol then Drummond because I believe I believe he should, to be honest, got that's that's my question. You're preaching to the choirer T Like

I mean, I've been preaching. I've been preaching because like I don't know what because they I was watching the fourth to fourth quarter, and you know, I was Gasol was planning. You saw the Lakers were making creating, shots, were making shots were falling in and that. But when you bring in drumming in the game, somehow, some way, the Nuggets they come crawling back, and I'm like, what the hell is vocal doing? Bro? We were we here?

You man? I think I think we're Roger and I both agree that like, uh, that we think that Gasol is the obvious option as a starter, but that you

don't give up on Drummond either. But at the end of the day, like Frank has shown a tendency, just like he did with Javeil last year, that when push comes to shove in the postseason moment, that he is willing to make those adjustments, those tough calls that make a guy after, you know, sit on the bench, after he played a lot throughout the season, and so I'm

not worried about that specific decision being made. What about you, rog Yeah, T Like what I would say is like, if you remember last year, like Javal was on the side, was on the other side. He was on the other side tonight, but he started every single game right um last year. And that's how I would picture Andre Drummond,

Like he's in that role. He's in that role to like bang around with fives in the regular season so that a D doesn't have to take those matchups, take some weird shots, eat possessions right where um where there's nothing going, they just throw it to him and he gets a shot up instead of getting a turnover. Like that's why I see. That's how I see him in Gasol will be in that Dwight Howard roll right, that former Defensive Player of the Year, the guy you can

you know, lean on for his experience and stuff. And maybe he'll start some games, maybe he won't, Maybe they'll start a D at the five, But that's how I see I don't think again, I don't think Drummond is going to be a big part of like whether we win or lose the title here. I really don't. I think it'll be a lot of the stalls. So maybe

this is just being wishful thinking. I don't know. They might start drumming game one of the playoffs, who knows, But I just think like Vogel has has shown in the past that he won't if the matchups needed that he won't. Right. He started Marti Morris in the second round against Houston UM and I think against Portland he also bench Jabail in the finals. Jabil and Dwight. I don't think play JaVale at least didn't play a single

minute and in those first few games. So that's how I say, like I wouldn't, I wouldn't stress too much about that. I mean it pisces me off man. You see what Mark you saw? You saw what you saw did tonight, like you know anytimes Secul saw the way he's playing this And I'm thinking to so, why is Frank Vogel point and giving one minutes to drumming who does nothing? Like literally does nothing. All I see is him posting up, him him not rebounding the ball. But

when I see the saw, he's making the plays. He's making the plays, And you know, I don't know, man, I don't know what Vank Frank Vogel is no one man, But I mean, I mean I'm not I'm not worried like all, but the Lakers, to be honest, I mean, there's like, I don't know how many games it's left, like seven games, but like I mean, they I don't want to see him in the playing tournament, to be honest, I as don't. But I mean hopefully, you know, they can figure this out and uh, you know, hopefully we

can get another trip. Yh yeah, we we agree with you. Te hey man, thanks for hopping on. We appreciating thank you. All right, Let's do one more and get out of here. Let's give Mr David up here. We lose David. All right, let's try another one. Let's do Daniel. Hello, can you hear me? Hey, guys, like your nation, what's up. We're feeling a little bit better tonight. Absolutely. I think that was a much needed win for everyone. And the only thing I would really like to say is overall, to

not really freak out. I think now is a little bit too early to get worried, but maybe it's okay to be a bit nervous, just kind of the Lakers overall, you know, mm hmm, yeah, everything's go ahead. Rush. I would say, what makes you what makes you most nervous, Like, what's making you the most nervous um, So the high ankle spring is what's really making me nervous because that takes just so long to recover from and it's not something that you can really like speed up with a

ton of physical thing arapy. You just kind of have to let it heal on its own. So that's a huge drag. Fortunately, Anthony Davis is looking a lot better, and I think the last hurdle he needs to overcome from returning his injury is just that mental hurdle, and him getting a lot of minutes tonight makes me feel better with that, So overall, I think things are going to be okay. I agree you man. I've talked a lot about the mental hurdle when it comes to these injuries.

I broke my foot in between my first and second year playing college ball, and like I it took me like six months to trust taking off of that foot again. And I think I think when you factor in the fact that it's his achilles, I think it gets a little a little bit even more nerve wracking. That's scary. But what's nice is you know, just by virtue of the threat of the competition tonight, he rose to the occasion and he forced he was forced to trust it

and uh and it held up for him. And so I think that helps to build a little bit more confidence overall in terms of feeling nervous about this team, everything's about the margin for error. Like last year there just wasn't this outstanding threat other than maybe the Clippers out there. But this season it's like, man like, Denver looked really good before the Lakers man handled him tonight. The Clippers look really good. Phoenix and Utah both look

really good. The Brooklyn is this behemoth out east. If they can get healthy, that could be a gigantic problem in terms why would they stop Anthony Davis and Lebron from getting to the rack or for that matter, I'd love to see the Milwaukee Brooklyn series. What are they gonna do with you? Honest, I don't know. No, I agree, And and that's the thing is like then also Milwaukee and Hilling, So is that these huge challenges, And so I think being nervous normal. That's just a reaction to

the fact that the league is so unbelievably talented right now. Yeah, and just speaking to the Lebron point, like, I don't think anyone knows their body better than Lebron, like you should, he said, he kind of rushed back a little bit, but I'm rewatching that. Like Toronto game, I thought he was moving pretty fine on both ends. He was hitting

his jumpers as well. So, like Lebron is the last time I'm worried about what this team, Like, I wanted to see Anthony Davis, me and Jason wanted to see Anthony Davis put up a game like this, and he did, and I thought that was the most important thing. We can't really predict how Lebron will play, but like just watching his playoffs, um, I don't know who else is right now as well. So a lot of teams are banged up, a lot of teams are gonna have to

fight through this. This is a really tough schedule that's been put out. All teams are going through hell of a schedule. So maybe it's just the healthiest team that will win. But I like your point about like Brooklyn and all these teams have like flaws right that they're gonna have to go through. I don't know what Brooklyn's answer for a guy like nice is. I don't think it's Blake Griffin, Like, I don't think that's the answer for him. Um, So it's gonna be it's gonna be

like really interesting to see. And and the Lakers have two really big trump cards A D and Lebron are to the best cards you want going into the playoffs, So that that's thing that you can make you calm all that chemistry and stuff that those are real concerns, like chemistry with the team and getting enough reps with this with the guys. That's when I'm most nervous about. But I don't think I'm nervous about Lebron, right, Jason Lebron probably would be fine. I think he's he's a

guy I'm least nervous about in the playoffs. Yep. Agree. As we mentioned earlier, I just he's less dependent on his physical gifts at this phase of his career. Um, I should say strictly just his mobility. He's a little bit more dependent on his strength, size, and his brain, which allows him to kind of compensate for some of his uh you know, physical issues dealing with the injury, Daniel, thanks for coming out, man. We really appreciate you. Yeah,

you guys made tremendous points, and I thank you. Guys have been doing a really good job, so thanks for having me. Appreciate Thank you. Let's give David one last chance real quickly before we call it a night, and he bounced out again. I don't know what's going on with that, all right, everybody, Well, we'll try to call it just because it's already eleven o'clock. Um, but we

really appreciate you guys supporting us as always. Um My guesses we'll do another one of these on Thursday after the Lakers hopefully beat the Clippers, and I'm going to do my best. Oh, David, we get you. Yeah, you can hear what we can hear you. What's going on? What's going on with fellas well? I think you kind

of touched on it, uh in the last one. But I was just wondering with Lebron coming back from the ankle injury and then Schroulder possibly being out to like maybe the first round, like you guys said, are you guys worried about like the ball handling like in the first round the playoffs, especially like after what happened with like Tatum, how he said he has to have like an inhaler and stuff. I feel like shoulder is not

to be like going into the first round. Yeah, and I feel like th ht s are only option behind Lebron If that's the case, Yeah, that's a that's a scary thought. I think that really depends on the team.

Like if we're playing the Clippers in the first round, that's a big worry of mine because they're the ball pressure a law and and Lebron's gonna need another ball handler, especially, but against a team like Denver, I think Shrewder can kind of work his way back, and you know what covid that that's scary, Like we don't know how he's going to come back. Hopefully he comes back, but he's

gonna get a lot of time. He's gonna get two weeks here for sure out and hopefully he can kind of build back slowly while the Lakers get some wins. But yeah, that's definitely a concern. We saw tonight. I mean t ht was running that second unit for a while. It did not look good. But I think that's what I think that's where gasol comes in, right, Like you have another laymaker that that you can give the ball to. Again, I call him like a release vout because give him

the ball at the top of the key. They're not going to ball pressure him out there because he's Marcus al so he can kind of playmate from there. But yeah, I'm definitely concerned though with the ball handler and give shrewders out and not himself. I think shrewder is absolutely necessary to be the corp person whoever comes out of the East. But the Lakers have an ability to win basketball games with Lebron being their only really good primary ball handler. I mean, depending on how you felt about

Rondo last year. Uh. The point being like, I think they can beat Denver, for instance, without without Schroeder. They just need to get him healthy in time for whenever

the Clippers come around. But yeah, as far as you know, the high ankle spring goes for Lebron, just like we were saying earlier, like you just he I would rather have Anthony Davis at his peak physical form because of what they need from him defensively, and let Lebron play old man ball, like if he needs to post up all the time and and do whatever it would use his strength as opposed to his mobility to gain an advantage,

then that's what they gotta do. Um. But at the end of the day, like uh he, whenever you're listing worries for the Lakers, I think Lebron should be pretty low towards the bottom of that list for sure, right right, right, Well, I appreciate you guys. Thanks, all right, alright, guys, So yeah, the stay tuned for Thursday, and I'm gonna try to throw this thing together and get it on the podcast either here in a little bit tonight or first thing

tomorrow morning. Thanks as always for your support. Rise. I appreciate you as well, man, and I will see you guys soon. Thanks everyone, I appreciate it. B Bye.