Episode 54: Lakers/Warriors Play-In Preview

Well that that Warriors game certainly was entertaining, you know, part of the reason why they've been such a um you know, I did h after after Warriors, Twitter was waxing eloquent about all of the ratings uh stuff yesterday and about how step is the only draw in the NBA. I did a little bit of digging and basically coming into this stretch, uh, the Lakers were the biggest straw in the league. But during during this crazy hot streak

stuff has been on. In the last you know, a month or so, He's had like five of the ten most watched the games this year, um. And I think a big part of that is just high stakes. Every game for them matters. They were literally in a situation where they needed to win all these games to avoid being in the nine seed, you know. And I think a couple that with, you know, with how amazing stuff is and and everything else associated with it. It just

you know, it's musty TV. You know, Yeah, it reminds me of Portland's last year, right, they just had to like win out um from the bubble, and that's kind of where they were going as well. They played like three straight They're gonna play like three straight playoff games. Tonight was one obviously the playing game as well, so

exciting games for them exactly. And obviously we're not gonna talk about ratings tonight, but the but I I always say that, you know, the biggest issue with NBA ratings is a lack of urgency, and the Warriors just played with a hell of a lot of urgency all year and it was it was musty. But anyway, I think we've got enough to get started here. Welcome everybody to

the State of the Lakers postgame show. Um, we're not going to talk too much about this game tonight game on account of the fact that the Lakers once again gave probably sub fift effort, especially on the defensive end

of the ball. We'll touch on a couple of things, but our primary goal for tonight is to really deep dive into a Warrior's Lakers playing game on Wednesday, which now all of a sudden carries a ton of importance because since Denver tanked, and because of the fact that the Clippers tinked, now all of a sudden, the Lakers are in a bracket that includes Phoenix and Portland and Denver.

If they can win on Wednesday, what that means is they have a favorable match up against Phoenix, a team that cannot guard Anthony Davis as we saw last week, in a team that the Lakers would probably be heavily favored against in a playoff series, and then a second round series against either Portland, who is probably the most flawed of all of the West playoff teams that are in the top eight, and Denver, who's missing their second

best player. So as it shakes out, Wednesday becomes incredibly important, not only to avoid the single elimination game that could take place on Friday, but also for the Lakers to stay on the proper side of the bracket um and they can do so just by taking care of business. And so we're gonna really dive into into that Wednesday game because it's so important. But before we get there, Roj, is there anything you want to touch on from tonight's

uh wreck pickup game? Between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers. Yeah, I had a few things kind of written down. I think I stopped writing after the second After the second half start, you could tell it really it really got to just an open gym running. But I thought Lebron just looked amazing, Like he came out and he looked like he was actually playing pretty hard at first quarter up until the up intil the half at least, Um, he was posting up pretty nicely.

He was moving well. He was blowing up plays defensively, like I just haven't seen him defend like that since he came back right like he was just catching balls out of the air like they were trying to do weak side passes. He was blowing up the pick and roll. Um, he looked, he looked awesome. He looked as fast as ever um in transition. How about you? Did you see that as well from Lebron? I thought he was like

the huge story tonight. He looked really good on the back to back right, Like I didn't expect him to play this much, especially played that second half. There was a little scare at the end there, but yeah, he looked, he looked awesome. Do you see that as well from him. Yeah, so first about to scare um. You know, on replay, it looked like after he did this spin and he came down, he landed all his weight on that left

leg and his right foot did touch. Uh. I can't even remember who the defender was, but it did come down on the foot, but it didn't look like he had and he weight on it. So and then after the play he was kind of smiling and laughing around. So I think Lebron is fine. I think he was just pulling a little bit of classic Lebron melodrama on

along the baseline there. Um. But that said all, all in all, I thought he looked amazing physically, and that's literally all you can ask for, because the polished stuff is gonna come in time. I mean, hell, even when Lebron is at his absolute peaks a tendency to be kind of sloppy at the beginning of a playoff series.

So that's just kind of part of the deal. You just want him to be physically capable of defending and doing the things that he needs to do physically in the post and getting to the rim, you know, the stuff that he can rely on even when his jumper is not falling and when his handles a little sloppy like that kind of thing. And I thought there were

two plays to me that kind of showed that. One was the play that I think you're referencing in the first half where he just literally shot out of a cannon to jump into that passing lane and went down the floor for like a right handed layup where he was jumping at like a forty five degree angle from the rim and still finish like just an unbelievable defensive,

you know, pick six. And then there was the play where he kind of tiptoed along the baseline where he caught the ball in transition along the right wing and he turned, he caught it at the three point line and turned and drove, and the defender tried to kind of shut off the baseline, but he left a little bit of a gap and Lebron just kind of like sidled along the side, you know, right along the baseline without stepping out of bounds and made a reverse layup.

And that is an example of a play that you know, him having really good ankle stability would be necessary for him to be able to pull that off. And so both Anthony Davis and Lebron looked great physically, and I think that's literally all you can, you know, take away from this particular game. Yeah, I thought a D was moving well. He just his jumper wasn't going. He looked like very much he was trying to get through this came healthy, right Like you could tell in his intensity.

Um wasn't great either. Another thing I wrote down here is I thought drum And looked pretty well, pretty good tonight, right, Like I just I was thinking, like his speed at his size, it really shows up next to Lebron and a D right like you don't really see it when he's not playing with them. But I thought he was a force. Like he had a few of those misses at the rim. I think he was like six for eleven, and again those five misses feel like because just easy

they looked. But he was dunking a lot of a lot of baskets. And we talked about this yesterday, like the spacing, the spacing issue, right, I thought they figured that out a little bit better tonight, Like Dennis Shrewder also looked like he was moving better, and I think that helped they found a drumming on a lot of like dump off dump off passes at the rim, and he was moving well, He's able to cut off kind

of screens and it just was a force download. I think he had like Ken rebound before half time, so I thought he played well, um and he was pretty He's gonna be pretty situational as well. But did you see that too? That That's mostly the other thing I

had written down from this game. Not much to take from it, but I thought Drummond also like his speed and his at that size, it just looks really good next to Lebron and a d tow other just freaks um at their positions, right, So when you have those two plus him, you could tell New Orleans had a tough time trying to like box him out. He really gave them problems download. Do you see that as well

from them? Yeah? Yeah, So I actually thought they had an interesting wrinkle with him in the anker spot where they kind of spaced him a little bit further away from the rim. I don't know if you noticed that, but like you know, one of the things that I think we've noticed with Drummond and his athleticism is he's not really he doesn't really have a ton of pop like from a strike vertical the way that someone like

Montrese Harold does, you know what I mean. And so they kind of had him stand almost like fifteen feet away on the baseline and as the the action would take place, he would kind of load up, and you know, if the ball didn't come to him, he would, you know, just go for a rebound. But then if he was able to catch, he had so much momentum going towards the rim that he actually had more of a traditional, you know, above the rim type of center presence down there,

just because he had his momentum going towards the rim. Um. But I agree with you, and and obviously, like the biggest thing that we're gonna pay attention to um with him is whether or not he can be impactful defensively when everybody's engaged. And unfortunately we didn't get a fantastic look at that in the last two days. But but but I still think he's gonna have had some moments

in the postseason for sure. Yeah, it's a good point on that, like him getting a momentum going to the rim, Like he's not a good like just straight up dunker right like would find him. He's running from not the corner, but like that mid corner, or we can kind of go in and catch and dunk. And I guess the only last thing I thought I talked to Saul looked great, and I felt like this was like a playoff rotation.

I felt like, um, I know Ben Malcolmore is your guy, but he got I don't think he played tonight, Is that right? I didn't see him, so yeah, him play tonight. And I felt I felt like they put a lot of playoff lineups out there. Um, I would like to see Gasol kind of stayed with that second unit. He really opens things up. And yeah, I think that was it really from tonight after that second half, especially with Denver just absolutely taking um taking that game. There's not

really much to take from here. But do you have anything else from from this game? No, I think we're good. So so basically, you know, as like a rounding assessment here at the end of the regular season, there's one thing that we were hoping to see, and that was that they would be healthy and and and everyone appear

is to be healthy. And you know, Lebron, I still think like, like even on that little spin move lay up he had at the end of the game to get to his twenty five points per game streak that he was obviously chasing when he made that move. He doesn't. He still doesn't quite look, you know, as as powerful and explosive in that move as you would hope. So it's not like he's a percent by any stretch of

the imagination. But I think Lebron and a d are where you would hope they would be physically given the circumstances. And so really that the everything else about the team, like the fact that they haven't played great defense in the last couple of games, those sorts of things I think are really relevant for this playing game, but but less relevant for the coming playoff matchups because they'll have more time to kind of figure that out. But so I I dug in a little bit to the numbers

from this season from Lakers Warriors. Some of it, you know, most of it, to be honest, you gotta take with a grain of salt because you know, in the three matchups that the Lakers had, two of which they blew the Warriors out, and one that they blew them out and blew the lead. Uh, those three games were all before this recent stretch or the Warriors have looked fantastic. The Warriors have won fifteen of their last twenty games, and during that stretch they've kind of unlocked the formula

that works. And so I don't necessarily think that you can look at this as just the Lakers are going to destroy them, because they destroyed them this year. The Warriors are a little bit better now than they were during that stretch. Um. If you look at the numbers in their matchups this year, they destroyed them with Lebron on the floor. They destroyed him with Lebron off the floor. They destroyed him with Steph on the floor. They destroyed him with step off the floor. There's really nothing you

can take from that. Um. The only thing that I looked at from this year's matchups was because I was curious as to whether or not, other than Andrew Wiggins, if the Warriors had anybody to throw out Lebron. And the only name that came to mind was Juantascano Anderson, who is another big, bruising forward who has the ability to at least not get completely physically dominated by Lebron.

And in those minutes he had some success against Lebron. Um, and we'll dive into that a little bit here in a minute, But the point being, I'm not sure that you can take too much from what you've seen in the Laker Warrior matchups this year. What do you think

about about the minutes they've played this year. Yeah, I mean, I think there are still a few things you can take, but I think the size advantage is still there, right Like, like they beat him up on the board, Um, I think they have fourteen offensive rebounds against them in February. They want the rebounding him much of like forty six to thirty or something back in March. That's still there

for them. And and also like the Warriors are gonna go to Steph Curry right Like, that's pretty much what they're gonna go to still um in this playing game. They have some other guys that are playing well. Jordan Pool, I thought I played really well tonight. Wantascano understand, like he's a nice piece for them. But the the Lakers are gonna try to take away step Curry, and I still think they have like the pieces to do that. Now that they're playing a lot better, they have a top

five defense. I don't think they did when they played Um the last time. Back in March February, but they've been a pretty good defensive team all year. They moved more to Draymond at the five, right, I guess that's kind of the adjustment you have to um kind of look for there. But they still have the guards, are

going to chase staff. That stuff. You can take A d didn't play in the last game, last one, if I remember correct, I think aid he played against them, or he didn't play in the last two actually, so he didn't play against them in February or March, and the Lakers won by over twenty and those two matchups.

So I still think there's things you can take. The words are definitely playing better and in a one off it's totally different than a series that we talked about that a lot, But that's what I would take from it. The size advantage, and now the Lakers added adding Drum and they're kind of adding onto that size size advantage

with the Warriors losing Wiseman too. Right now they're playing better with that Wiseman, but still they lose that size down know not, Draymond is an amazing five, amazing center. I just don't know they'll be able to keep them off the glass. That's how the Lakers one of those two matchups, they beat them up on the boards a lot offensive rebounds, a lot of points in the paint.

That's how they being a bomb up at twenty. That's the thing I would take, I guess, and the other things I'm not too much sure, but but they can definitely still win that size advantage that they have over the Warriors. Mm hmm, I agree, And that will be the interesting thing to see is is whether or not the Warriors are capable of going small. I'm gonna read. I'm gonna read a couple of just a couple of lineups. I I went into the NBA dot Com database and

I just ran the last twenty games. So just this stretch where the Warriors are fifteen and five, and they're most used line up by a mile with two six minutes played. The next closest is forty eight minutes. So the lineup they lean on the most is Steph Curry, Camp Bays Moore, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Cavon Looney. So they actually are playing five for the most part um at least most often uh in these minutes, which

I think is important because I think the Lakers. I agree with you in the sense that I think this is a series where the Lakers can lean on their size, and I think it's a series that's gonna force of Warriors to play bigger um. That lineup that I just mentioned in their two six minutes is plus six point seven per one possessions and they're okay on offense, and

they're really good on defense. And that's to be expected because with kei Yan Looney on the floor, it just makes it hard to play four on three off of those Steph double teams. There's just they just don't have

as much offensive talent on the floor. Their best lineup that played over thirty minutes in this twenty game stretch was Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Kent bays Bore, Juantascano Anderson, and Michael Molder, which is a small ball team, but again, that's that guy that I was telling you about, Juantaskano Anderson. Putting him at the four allows him to guard Lebron, which allows you to play Draymond at the five, which

unlocks a lot of stuff for them. That lineup for them is plus sixteen eight per one hund possessions and thirty five minutes over this twenty games span, and in the minutes that Lebron and j t A have shared the floor this year, he's three for seven from the field over two from three, And if you take his scoring on a per thirty six basis, he scores at a rate of about fourteen point four points per game, which is pretty low. Um, So that's a really small

sample size. I think it was fifteen minutes. So if there's a if there's a path to success there, it's them going small, trying to put j t A on Lebron and hoping that that allows them to play more freely offensively because keep on, Looney's not on the floor, and it just kind of opens up a bunch of

things for them to be good on both ends. But I agree with you, I think it's all gonna come down to whether or not if the Lakers play drum and then in Davis, or if they play Marcus on Davis, will the Warriors be able to just avoid being completely physically obliterated. Yeah, And if you saw tonight, I mean, Jonah's Valancina's got twenty nine and sixteen, I mean, and he's just not that he's I mean, he's a good center, good bruising center, but he's not Anthony Davis and so

Andrew Drummond being able to play next to them. And I just look at their lineup like they played I think eight guys today, right, So, I mean they're gonna have to throw probably Wiggins on Lebron pretty much full time, Draymond on a D and I just don't think that will keep up through a through a full game. Again, Steph can get hot right there, but that's what they'll have to go to. They're trying, they're gonna try to win the math game. I guess right, they're gonna shoot

a bunch of threes. Um, Steph caught thirty six shots tonight, and I just don't I just don't feel like the Lakers would kind of allow him to get get up that many shots. Memphis was kind of having trouble trying to stay with him, right, Like he would give it to Draymond and you'd get like an easy cut off and and they'd like they'd use that almost every time

on them. Um, they did not see that coming. All those split cut actions they had Looney throwing it into the post and then he just comes to the step comes to the screen for Steff. I just don't see that working against the Lakes in a full series. Now again, stephaniely just go insane. You can just shoot off and go I so against a d against the Switches, But I just don't think that'll that'll keep in a full

in a full game like through forty eight minutes. UM. They've blow them out three times this year, two times this year. The one time that they didn't, UM, they were up twenty and just kind of let the gas off the pedal. But I guess we can kind of go to like how the Warriors would kind of win this game if that, if we want to go through there, it would basically be Steath going berserk, right, And I guess Draymond hitting. He didn't hit three tonight, but I

guess him had taken those threes. I think they're gonna make like guys like Andrew Wiggins camp based more umqantes kind of awing like they're gonna have to prove to them they're gonna make shots. Lakers are really good at trapping, trapping ball streams and kind of making other guys beat them. I think they're the best, like off ball defense team in the league where especially if a d and Lebron are kind of engaged, what do you see from that, Like,

what's your what's your way of the Warriors? I guess winning um that playing game on Wednesday. Yeah, so let's let's because I want to I want to dive into both sides of the ball. And I think I think the method in which the Warriors would beat the Lakers would involve them really disrupting and stagnating the Laker offense

with their defense. So in a scenario where they'd win, i'd be the type of game where, you know, two minutes left in the first quarter, the Lakers call it time out because they're down, you know, twenty two to ten, because for whatever reason, you know, there's just no space on the floor, and drum Drummond is blowing up all the little handoffs and stuff to drum to drum end under the basket. Draymond Green, I mean, is blowing everything up under the basket. And Wiggins is doing a good

job on Lebron, just kind of containing him. But at the same time, there's like no driving lanes because there's a lack of spacing, and you know, maybe KCP got a couple of contested looks, but they're not great like that, to me is the pathway to to the Warriors winning. It's just an excellent defensive performance and they're an excellent

defensive team. And that is one in the cards with this team is them just really really putting up an incredible defensive effort stagnating the Lakers, a team that has been prone to that this year, especially when they play a five next to a D and so so that

to me is is where it would start. And to me, it all comes down to because Draymond Green is gonna be just fine and amout to Anthony Davis and Kievan Looney is going to be just fine in the matchup against against any of the Laker centers that they throw out there. And when I say just fine in terms of Draymond, I mean he's gonna make it work. Like

it's not gonna be easy. It's not gonna look like what it did against the Sun's where a D is just getting everything he wants and like the people on the couch watching at home or like this is violence, what's happening here, That's not what's gonna happen with Draymond. Like it's gonna be worked like a d might make

some shots, but it's not gonna be easy. And so if Wiggins can hold his own and that matchup against Lebron and just not get completely, you know, destroyed to the point where they have to send reckless double teams and Lebron can pick them apart, I think things could stagnate.

And if they do, that would be the recipe where the pressure creeps in a little bit, all the role players get sweaty poems and things start to get a little bit tougher, and then it just becomes one of those games where all of a sudden, you're middle of the second quarter and you're like, oh, this is gonna be a close one, you know what I mean? And and so I think it all starts for the Warriors

on the defensive end. Yeah, and I think our guys are gonna have to hit open shots, right, Guys like k ZP Dennis Shrewder who hit a few threes tonight, They're gonna have to hit their open looks. Especially if we start Andre Drummond um, that lane is going to be clogged. But I guess my only question with that is that um if Kevon Looney and Draymond Green. They're gonna do a nice job, I guess, um in isolation against them. But can they stop like Lebron James from

attacking the room? Can they stop Dennish Shrewder into the basket? Can they stopped Andrew Drummond Anthony Davis from attacking offense rebounds? I guess that's like my question there. Now, like the Lakers go cold and like Steff is going going crazy from three, that really opens everything else up for them. But I just think the Lakers have really good guards KCP Alex Cruce, So they're gonna try to try to make it really tough on Steff. Right, You're not gonna

stop him, just make him work. Um now, I think make him shoot like forty times. I think that is kind of making him work a little bit. But they're gonna try to take those away, trap them a little bit harder, make Draymond kind of make that four on three passes to base Moore and guys like that. But yeah, I guess that's the way that the Warriors could could could steal one right again, this game I believe is in is in l a But still, um, that's the way they can steal if STEP's going hot and then

they're they're shooters are making shots. As more guys like that, UM can can stop them. But I think the only thing with as they have to take away the rim because Lebron's gonna try to attack the roim, Anthony Davis is gonna try to get to the rim. Um, that's the only way that they'll win this game. If they're able to take away that, then they have a chance. The Lakers shooters can go cold. Um, they don't have any awesome, great shooters on the team, but those dudes

can go cold. Because do you see that as well? That's kind of the way this goes. The Lakers kind of go cold again in a one game sample. That's why I wanted to stay out this playing thing, not being scared of the Warriors, but just just putting this up to one game. It's just it's just really tough. But is that kind of what you see as well? Just them kind of going cold, and that's that'll be

the way the Warriors can win this one. Yeah, So let's let's shift to that same matchup and focus kind of on on the Lakers here for a second, because the role players hitting shots is definitely an important part of it, agree with you, And it's definitely gonna be Let's put it this way, if the role players are making shots for the Lakers, I think they take care

of comfortably um the end of the day. Well, I when I say Wiggins holds his own against Lebron, I just mean like he's physically capable of at least not getting entirely destroyed, because we all know Lebron is gonna get by. It's just a matter of what else is

open there. And so what I think, what I think is gonna be really key to watch is, especially in a play in format, is how quickly is Frank willing to pull on a center if it looks like it's going to be one of the That's gonna be the the kill of this game, because if it is a game where the Warriors have a lead in the first half and the scoring numbers are very low, it's gonna hit the under that kind of game, and it's clearly for all of us watching because of a stagnant, you know,

lack of space to operate for their two best players and and and they continue to play. That's a huge concern for me in that play in type of format. I think it's so important that Frank reads the writing on the wall. Middle of the second quarter, warriors are really hanging around or even have a lead. You know, Dan is kind of clogging things up because all treads

they're clogging things up or whatever it is. I really really hope that that that Frank is not down episode to speak, and that he understands the threat of what could happen with against the really good defense, because with the Pacers the other night, even for an average defense, when they lock in at the end of a game and Drummonds on the floor, it's like, here come a bunch of ab shots because there's just nothing open and pick and roll because there's always the third defender involved,

and because there's no opportunity for lebronore A d to bully their way to the rim on account of the

lack of space to operate. So I Frank is aware of the fact that in a one game setting, have to be weaker with that plug than he would in the playoffs world, right, I think he's going to treat this as like do or die game, Like I don't think they want to go and and lose this game and then go play that that one game for your season against Whereons, against Memphids and Santonio, and then it's stuff that we've talked about all um this whole season. I guess this whole second half the season, at least

I can't bring it back. I guess to tonight, Um. I thought the rotations tonight were very much playoff, playoff level rotations. We saw no treads tonight. UM, I think trends and kind of play against the Warriors. Actually, I think that's the team maybe you can play play against. They don't have that many centers. But again, I think drummer will get a quick pool, um if if they're down, marcusol will probably get minutes against the Words, and Gon'll be a nice team for him to play. And then

Anthony Davis at the five. We'll probably see a lot more of that right um on on Wednesday, especially if it's a winning time. I think they'll still start with drumming and see how the game goes, see how the flow is going. But I think it'll be a quick pool for sure. We'll see a lot of k c P, a lot of cru So, a lot of kuzma Um, a little bit of Wes Matthews. But from there, I think the rotation will be pretty much kind of what

it was tonight. Write a few th h team minutes, maybe not too much, and just stick with that eight nine month rotation. You can't mess around with this. I think they want to get that, at least get that game and then get the rest till till round one. But you would you see that as well. A lot of a d at the five probably. I mean, that's really what Bobo can go to, right, and then he

has all those centers to kind of rotate around. I just think that that's what he'll he'll go to if if they're down they won't really keep with Drummond or if Drummond can't stay up. But I actually think, like against the Warriors, he kind of that's kind of his skill set, being able to switch up top. That's what Drummond kind of does, right, He's not really a big lob taking away center. But against Steph, I think that obviously step kills everybody, but that's kind of the type

of archetype of player that he can play against. But we'll see, um, we'll see, but I'm pretty sure Voge

will have a pretty quick pool on on Wednesday. Yeah, he needs to again like bast basketball games have a tendency to slip away rather quickly, like you can fall apart quick and you can put yourself in and just like against Denver last year in Game three, where yeah, you start trying to come back and you get back into the game, but then you have no way and that's pressure who let the foot off the gas and put you away, Like you have to grab him by the throat from the start, and if you sense it

slipping away at all, you've got to go to your ace in the hole because there is no second change. And we as we've discussed that length already. It is so important that they get seven eight, not only by the chaotic single elimination game on Friday, but just because of the opponents based along the way with Lebron and Dad. This is such an camp. So there's no point in pulling any punches in any way whatsoever. But lets let's

to the defensive end. And so this uh the the what the Warriors do extremely well, basically what they've done give given Steph the ultimate flight, or at least they've gotten him to mentally ex smit green light the way that he didn't earlier in the season. He's shooting considerably more now than he did in the first and it's been a big part of the reason successful. They're basically just living and dying on high volume. Even double and

triple teams. He just you can have a double team on Stephy seconds of a possession, but you let him slip and you get beat. It literally happened to the Jazz the other night. The phenomenal job guarding him offensive rebounds, someone got detached from Steph. Step got a three and to beat them. You know that that's the way they're operating.

They're just waiting for you to slip. So it's gonna be important for to not have the mistakes that have plagued them at even in the postseason one, because it's just sip ups where steps gonna be ready because he's an elitely he's an elite conditioned athlete. He's not gonna get tired if you leave him open. He's gonna strong and confident in the shot, and he's gonna make you pay um and then and then you know, at the end of the day, like we've always said, there's such

a good tame. You do manage to get Step to give up the You just have to be really sharp on the back end and make sure that you know you end up with somebody that's an inferior player, making a like a Michael Molder, someone like a J. T A and stay glued the ball doesn't circle around back to him all and he can make you pay. Again. I think it's gonna be a really interesting match up to see whether or not there's of taking out of

this ridiculous that he's been in for over a month now. Yeah, he's gonna He's gonna try to shoot them into a win, right, Like that's really their chance here. Um, I don't think there's enough like talent there where they can win without him kind of scoring thirty five forty five points. But you were able to watch that full game today right against Memphis, Um, Step versus Memphis. I don't watch the entire thing, but I watched, Okay, so like watching watching

against Memphis, just seeing how they depended him. Now, the Lakers gonna have a few days to kind of scout this, I guess, And again I don't know how much they need. They played him three or four times or three or four times this year, but just watching them trying to defend, try to trap him and just like relax after giving up the ball, right Like I saw Janey Jackson New Jr. Do that a lot. They really picked on him. I thought at the top of the key, Um, I just

don't see that happening. I guess with the look, if STEP's going hot, you got it trapping. You have to get the ball out of his hands. And I think that's what they're gonna try to do. And the k CP I was CRUs like we touched on before. They're probably one of the best guys being able to chase over screens. Right, Stef's not gonna stop moving. He's gonna keep firing, um, even if he starts off slow. But I guess that's that's the way you gotta do it.

You gotta get the ball off his hands to make make Hans Kanna understand, make Andrew Wiggins, make all those dudes make shots now. Wiggins made shots tonight. Jordan Poole had a really nice game for them. But I guess that's the key there is try to get them to slow down. STEP's gonna do what he does. I think he's still gonna get his thirty I'm just trying to make him work for it, I guess, And that's how you have to defend him. That you're gonna have to

defend step. He doesn't have clay tops in next to him, right, so this is where you have to try to trap him part get the ball of his hands make I don't know how much you're gonna try to switch with a d at the top with him, but I guess that's that's the only way to defend him. Is there anything else you see from them on the officive band that the Lakers might have trouble trouble stopping I guess for them, I'm not even sure that I would do

any switching with a D involved. First of all, I want to say that you know, you know it he's barbecue chicken or anything like that match up in that matchup, because he's not that he can hold his own in that matchup. But I just think it's inviting a risk that's not necessary. It's like it's like not filing at the end of a game when there's when you're down three or when you're up three, it's like, yeah, like you we're going to get a stop. It's like, why

you can chance. If you feel like you've got guys that can knock down free throws, just commit the foul, then go home and winner, you know what I mean. And that's kind of the way I see it with the with the with the steps stuff. Wrap the living out of him, and I would literally say, we're going to go down. If we lose, it's gonna because Michael Mulder made a ton of shots. Now, First of all, as you and I have talked about, the Lakers are

the best trap and recover team in the league. They haven't always shown it a large part because of the inc um defense that can show up every once in a while, or they just mail it in. But that's that's always been their calling card. And the only difference is that it's not like it is with Harden, where you can trap him, he gives up the all and he backs away to half court. You have to remember that, deaf, you are not safe until literally you have secured the rebound.

That is when you can finally relax on Steph Curry. Defensively, you can you can you can fake like he's out of the play for twenty seconds and then just break open at the right moment and make you pay, and so that will be the key different the way they've guarded you know, Dame and and James Harden, guys who were less. You know they're less. You know that the making making you pay for trapping them. You know, because step has been getting trapped basically ever since the two

thousands finals. Uh, you know, even prior to that. Excuse me, in two thousand fifteen against the men, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Like he's just been seeing nothing but traps NonStop. Now he's playing with inferior teammates. But at the end of the day, like, you know, these guys are pros and if you don't, if you're not sharp on the back

end there, you will get beat. But I think it's gonna be really interesting to see how committed they are to the trapping and if they're consistent they are sloppy with it, or if they go which is with a D, I think you run the risk of Staff getting hot, at which point anything can happen. You know, I have the utmost respect for Staff. I think he's the second best player in the league. I've been unbelievably impressed by

the way he's played this season. I think the Lakers need to approach this game this day as if they're going against appear and not against someone that's beneath them, because I think they are very very capable of losing this game. That's how much I respect Steff, And that's how much I respect Steve cur and this Warrior's defense Green and and I really, I really hope, I really hope the Lakers come at it with a sense of urgency, and I hope they don't come in kind of lacks

some days ago. Yeah, for sure, I don't think they're going to treat this as some like walk walkover when right that they know who said people people one knows who step is Draymond. They know their body of work. And again, look we can talk like excelling those and everything and like what they do defensively, but we talked about all the time. Basketball is not played don't like a spreadsheet or on like coach's boards. Right, It's played on the floor. And like you know, one game sample,

anything can happen. Stef can go crazy, you can have forty five and they can win like that that could legitimately happened. Like Steff is that good where he can win you the game. I just don't. I just think the Lakers would be pretty heavily favored, um in this one. But definitely that that can happen in a one game playing sample. That's why you want to stay out of this. I was hoping Denver could could win tonight, but then it happened, so yeah, Steph can definitely win. I think

they'll go into it serious. Um. Lebron looks ready right, like not piggybacking off tonight, but he just looks ready to go. I thought he was very serious. Um. He was talking to Shrewder and all those guys about kind of defensive kind of rotations and stuff like that. The team is ready to go. I think they'll treat this as a playoff game, as they should. It is a playoff game, because you don't want to go into that

nine tin winner matchup. UM, So I think they'll take it serious again, like there's not I don't know what else you can kind of go go into there. Because it's gonna be a one game sample. They're gonna have to defend step and kind of make those other guys shoot, and I think if they do that, they'll win. Um. I feel like they went pretty comfortably in my opinion. I just think Lebron and a D will be ready to go by that time, by Wednesday, ready to ready

to ramp it up again into A games and playoffs. Yeah, so I think we can you know, inflammation. Just say, the two things that were keeping an eye on the most will be how successful the Lakers are with their trap and recover, whether they can get Steph quote unquote out of the game or at least as close as you can, or if it ends up burning them, or if they're sloppy and they let Steff get off anyway.

And then on the defensive or on the offensive end, I think the thing we're gonna be watching is is that the Warriors are a top tier defensive team, and the and the Lakers play without a ton of spacing, and so I think those will be the things that that we have to keep an eye on. Um. But

I agree with you, it's a one game sample. You know that there's a hundred different ways this game can go, and it's not gonna be like series where you have the X game and the Y game and the Z game and the A game in the B game, in the C game, and you look back on the series and you're like, wow, every game was like different than

the others. You know, like like we've seen so often in the past watching NBA playoffs, so you know this is just gonna be you know, God knows what's gonna happen, and and and and the Lakers are just gonna have to be on their toes now, thankfully in terms of their preparation and effort. You know, you know who has a great deal of respect for Steph Curry too is

Lebron James. You know, this is a guy that who I mean, it's not as simple as losing to Steph, but he has lost the staff three times in the playoffs and and and been sent and been sent home by him and his teammates. But the point is is, you know, Lebron has a great deal of respect for staff, and I I think that he's gonna have have those guys ready to go. Um. But yeah, dude, that's all I got in terms of of prep for this game. If you want to get some guests on here and

we can take some questions. Yeah, people want to get through a question, We'll get get a few people up here. I guess my last thing on this, like my biggest concern with this team just all year. I think today was like the twenty six game that's Shooter Lebron any Da played together, right, And today it was like the third third game with with Drummond and then all those starters.

So I guess that's my biggest worry go into a one game playoff that Warrior's team, even though they're really shorthanded, they've kind of been playing together for a little while, right, They've built a little good chemistry together. Um and Steve Kerr I think is short in the rotation. Um. I think I was talking to some Warrior fans and they said, seemque short in the rotation for like a few months now.

They've been playing like eight nine guys, um, And they might get Ubery back as well, but by that playing game, I'm not really sure. But that's my biggest worry here is just that that chemistry is not there yet. The Lakers have the town level to win this game pretty comfortably, in my opinion, is just that chemistry knowing where everyone is, especially like if they get down where the rotation should be, kind of being locked in in that respect, I think

they'll be locked in mentally. It's just locked in as a team together, right, that's a little different. Um, So that that's my only I guess the biggest concern with this like one game playoff, right, when you get a series to kind of set it down, it's a little different. You can not relax in game one, but you know you can kind of feel things out, experiment lineups. You can't do this with this kind of game. It's a game seven to me because you don't want to go

into that last game. So I guess that's my final concern, and then yeah, I should Do you have anything else from from this series? Yeah? Yeah. The last thing I was just gonna say it was just to just to follow up on what you were saying, is just like the Lakers have a talent advantage, a clear talent advantage, but the Warriors have been playing better basketball for for the last month, and a lot of that has to

do with injuries. Like I'm not glossing over the obvious reasons why the way things are that they are, um, but let's let's call it what it is. The for the last month there, you know, the last twenty games, they have been a bona fide, you know, championship contender type of team in the way that they've played on both ends of the floor. Now you could call that strength schedule, you could call that then capitalizing on injured teams that aren't playing all their guys. There's a bunch

of of you know, underlying context there. However, you can't argue with the results. And the point is is that the advantage the Warriors have coming into this game is that they're playing damn good basketball right now. You know, the Lakers have won five in a row as well, but they've they've had three cake walks in that in

that stretch. And so what you hope is that the Lakers talent in this recent stretch of winning, even though it's been a little sloppy on the defensive end, you hope that that can overcome the month or so of quality basketball that this inferior team has been playing. But you know what, dude, I cannot wait for that game. That is going to be one of the more entertaining NBA games of this last decade. I'm I'm very much looking forward to it. But yeah, let's get some people

on Yeah, it's probably not to talk about ratings. Will probably be one of the most rated playoff playoff games in total, right, just Lebron step um going at it in a in a one game off kind of game seven feel Um, So I guess we can start with Pedro here and and get your request and only we can get to you tonight, um, which just kind of it's all nine is not too late, but probably twenty minutes. Yeah,

you know, it's up Goods. So we kind of talked a lot about the Warriors, but I was kind of wondering, do you guys know what seed we would be playing in the second round if we win Wednesday? So if we would Wednesday, it's really simple. We play the Suns in the first round, and if we beat the Suns,

we play the winner of of Portland and Denver. So, like I said, that's the other angle of this Wednesday game that makes it so important is it's the difference between going through what would probably be the ideal path through the playoffs, you know, facing the Clippers in the finals or Western Conference finals, I should say, and then facing two inferior teams in the in the second round, and then the first and then the first round opponent

that is a really, really bad matchup. The Lakers are a bad matchup for them in the sense that they can't they really can't guard Anthony Davis. You know, if they lose on Wednesday and they have to beat you know, Memphis or San Antonio on Friday, then you're looking at Utah in the first round, who has been the best record in the league this year, and someone that is probably matches up with the Lakers a little bit better um than the Suns do. And then you have to

play the Clippers in the second round. So all all around, all around, this Wednesday game carries up the utmost importance for the Lakers pathway through all of this. Yeah, that for sure. Yeah, then, because that would really make the pathway a lot easier. Nuggets and Sons, Right, I feel like both of the Clippers and Lakers kind of got what they wanted, I guess other than the playing game, I don't think the Lakers wanted to be in there. But going from Phoenix to like Denver and Portland, who

are you know, respectable good teams. It's just in the second round, like that's that's a pretty good choice. And then from there you play the Clippers in the conference finals, and Lebron and e d should be in rhythm, right going the team should be in a really good flow by then. It's over a month from now. Yeah, yeah, that looks like what both teams can. Well, at least the Clippers wanted because they kind of force that to happen, right, and Denver can also helped out in there. So but

it looks like they got what they wanted. Both teams are gonna play in the conference finals, which I think is right, which is which should have happened, right, That was the correcting everyone would have predicted before the season. So it looks like we got it. Yeah, the Clippers. The Clippers are sneaked in this is here, you know, geniuses who tank. So there's they're they're playing with fate. But Utah Donovan Mitchell has not played since his ankle injury.

Donovan Mitchell has not played, and Mike Conley's barely played. Uh, and so there there's the Utah is not exactly sitting in a super confident position. If they have to play Golden State in the first that is a much more dangerous series for them on account of their lack of

health from the backcourt. And so there's a chance the Clippers could end up going you know, Dallas and then Golden State, a team that I think they man handle, or Dallas and then Utah you know, with a like a relatively rusty backcourt, so that the first, you know, say what you want about the Clippers and the Nuggets that you know they were smart to do what they did to them, just as it rolled them and and mhm,

supule of intentionally losing basketball games. Yeah, the basketball gods are watching right as they see in the other and Laker from the podcast as well, So they're they're testing fate here, testing karma. So we'll see, let's see what's what happens. All right, Thanks God. Question that I really had was wondering him about. Appreciate it man, Thank you all right, thanks Jordans. Are you there, hy? Sorry? Can you hear me? I can hear you. What's hey? What's on? Man? Um?

I was just wondering, how confident are you guys and the like us and the playoffs if we go, if we beat the side and awfully beat the Warriors. I'll

just put a flat, uh, really simple. If they beat the Warriors on Wednesday, I think the Lakers, I think they have a very clear path through the first sounds based sheerly on what they are right now, and then as soon as Lebron gets back in shape, which again, like I was telling Rodgers just a second ago, that Western Conference Finals series is probably five weeks away at

this point. So that's a lot of time to really get your legs back underneath you and playing not in a regular season schedule where you're you know, bare barely even motivated to to sweat on any given night. He's gonna be playing real, high leverage basketball games for five weeks going into that stretch. So I think if they can get through the Warriors on Wednesday, which I do not think is a guarantee, I think I think they're sitting really pretty to go on and run here and

win this thing. And I think it would be the Vegas favorite if they win on Wednesday. Oh cool man, sure, sweet Yeah, I feel the same way. As long as they're healthy. We've been talking about that all year. Um they like to me, I think the Western Conference is a little tougher than a lot of people make it seem like. I still think Denver and Poorland are respectable teams. But the Lakers that they have, uh, if they have health on their side, they have the talent on their

side as well. And I mean Jason talked about a lot the Clippers are the main team right that worries us, and I think we still kind of feel that way. And especially if the Clippers. The Clippers get to the Western Conference finals, that means they're rolling to right. Like they played well, they were able to knock two teams out of the playoffs, I think that's gonna be a health iight like I would still pick the Lakers by a margin, but I think I think that would be

a really tough series. But I'm so confident that they can get there. I think can at least get there. They have that means they have a shot. Cool n my question, Yeah, it was pretty short, but thanks for thanks for answering it. Thank you for happing on Jordan. We appreciate it. Cool you man. I think I think

it'll be interesting. You know, when when we speak confidently about the Lakers, you have to remember that these other teams all have flaws too, you know, and you know the Lakers flaw, the one that everyone is pointing to all season was, well, what about Lebron's ankle? Well what about a d you know in his achilles? And both of those seemed to be non issues at this point.

So you're diving into a Clippers team that you know, they've been a little bit better at pressuring the rim lately, but they're not a great rim pressure team, and they tend to really stagnate in the clutch, and they rely too heavily in isolation, and and there are a lot of reasons that they could fall apart. Defensively, they haven't been nearly as sharp as some of the other contenders. You know, we've talked a lot about Brooklyn and their

flaws and Milwaukee in their flaws. Like all these teams have have just a laundry list of items that could get them beat, and the Lakers have some items on that list too, but they have less the fewer of those items, and their stars look healthy, and there there's there's reason to be optimistic because all I'm trying to say, yep, I agree, let me get our um here. Yeah, all that other stuff is gravy. Right, Lebron looking like himself and a d looking like themselves is pretty much what

we needed the last few games. It's like it's connecting. See if I can get jailing up here, Well, the other one connects can you hear a sailor? Yep? Can you hear me? Yeah? What's up? Man? Yeah? So I just had one quick question or just one quick question that guys might for your perspective, um, for the gamma Wednesday against the Lakers. I mean, I'm sorry against the Warriors for you personally, what would your ideal rotaste and look like? So Roger and I talked about this a lot.

I think we'd both like to see a lot of a d at the five. But my guess is that they'll start big. Because the Warriors start big, they start keep on Looney at center. Um. And so my guess is that the Lakers will attempt to physically dominate them. Um. I just hope that if they are unsuccessful and physically done, and that they quickly audible as far as that. Outside of that, I think Roj you can dive into a little bit that I think it'll look a lot like it did tonight in terms of the guys who got

dnp s. What do you think? Yeah, absolutely, I think that it will be like a shorter rotation like we thought tonight. We didn't see Tress tonight and he might play against the Warriors, But I kind of expect him to not play either either then and no bad maxim or either tonight. We got some Wes Matthews minutes, but I think we'll pretty much stick to the core of a Crusoe, k cp um, Kuzma and all, just like the main core guys. And then I think Drummond will

still start. I think you'll get a quick pull, but I expect Marcusol to play a lot and just go with that eight nine mine rotation and treat that as like the game seven. And I feel like they will. Um so I think we'll see a short rotation. They'll see if that starting lineup works. If not, I think Bogle will get a quick pull, but I would like to see Marcosol, Andre, Drummond and then a d at the five. And I think we know like what the wings, who the wings are and and of course Lebron that's

that's what I would he has a rotation. Mhm. Okay, thanks guys, thank you do see if we can get our showan back up here. Thank god it's going good doing well. Thanks. I just wanted to get your guys thoughts on what you see as Montrez Harrold's role moving forward. UM I think at the beginning of the season, we all had some ambitions for him, and we knew that he was limited defensively, But how are we gonna incorporate him?

Do you think it's important to do so? Do you think that if he doesn't get time, he's gonna kind of act up on the bench. I just wanted to get your idea on that. Well, for starters, I think I think we all got to give much his roses for really, you know, uh, doing what we all hoped he would do this year, which was eat innings in a short turn round season where we expected some lebron a d health issues. I don't think we expected this, but we expected some issues in that department, and in

Montrez did an amazing job. But at this point in the season, I think Roger and I talked about this a lot. I think it's all about matchups. I think he plays a lot against Phoenix. I think there's an opportunity to play him against Golden State anybody that doesn't use a big, bruising center. I like the option. But if he's going against you know, Nurkics or or or Yokich in the second round, I don't think you can

play Montrez. You know, any if it's like going against Gobert and Gobert is just getting offensive rebounds over the top of him because he's not a great, you know, box out big, They're gonna be matchups where I think he just can't play him. As far as his attitude, I think I he got I think he's had some d MPs this year already, and I think he kind of understands how that works. Also, Frank Vogel deserves a ton of credit for just being extremely professional and straightforward

with his players as it pertains of the rotation. He'll go up to him, he'll say, hey, Tries, you're not playing him, like it won't be something that surprises him, or where he sits on the bench just hoping he gets his number called. Like he's gonna have a very transparent coach who will then turn around in the next series and go, hey, guess what you're playing with the second unit in this series. You're gonna play twenty five minutes a game, probably, like you know, he's gonna be

all in the loops. I think his attitude will be fine. What do you think, Roger, Yeah, this is like this is not the team where people really can pout right about minutes and things like that. You're in a championship team, like the minutes get allocated how they are UM. And we saw last year as well, Vocal was able to kind of choose who he wants to play in each series. I mean, JaVale started every single game UM in the in the regular season, and he was benched for a

lot of series in the playoffs. I'm not like, Tres is another guy, Like I defend Andre Drummond and Montres is another guy. Like it's really easy to see what he doesn't do right, Like it's a really easy thing to do is just be like he's not this big defending he's not this big paint defender. He's not this really great pastor you know, out of the post, or he's not this great switchboard defender. But he's a really

nice finisher down low. He's a guy that punishes small guy when teams try to go small small ball five. And I think that is useful in the playoffs series, Like that's just another weapon you can kind of throw out there. And is it more situational than a lot of other players, Yeah, for sure, But he still has like a really nice use on this team. I think against the team like Phoenix, who goes with Dario starch As at the five, that's a nice, nice team to

kind of play him with. Right, Let's say we can't get any offense going, we just throw treads in there, trying to muck things up down low, get to the free throw line, get finishes at the paint if they're trapping really hard. Like I think he's gonna play in the playoffs, I'm not as much as he did in the regular season, Jason. I think you put it perfectly.

He's an inning seeder right in the regular season, and I think he did his job right, like he Lakers are in the playoffs, not the best seed, but they're the seventh seed. And he really carried a lot of the offense when Lebron was out. Um, even when Shrewder was out and and we only had like a few guards able to run the offense, he really got points for us and when we needed it, kept us alive, kept us a float. Um kept our energy and a lot of games when we didn't have it. So he

deserves credit for them. I think there are places to play him, and I think he'll play Um. We saw him play lot the other night yesterday. I forgot who it was already, but he got minute to get against him, So he'll he'll get minutes in the playoffs, will be it'll be situational. I just think there's there's things he

does well that people just do not see sometimes. And again, yeah, doesn't play another minute at all because and he deserves what he did for us in the regular season, and he was a big part of the floating the boat here and the reason intendency right now, I just to fall up on that really quick. I do I agree with you. I think with this team it's it's tough to kind of say that you deserve a certain role or that you should be playing all the time. But

we do see that. I feel like a little bit more of this season than we have in other seasons because we do have at the beginning of the season we wanted Shrewder to start, when maybe a more Avery Bradley type defensive guard would have been better next to Lebron playing point guard. We've had Drummond come in and have some disappointing games and still and keep that starting spot, and then Tras obviously coming off the six man year and and being one of the better finishers in the

league around the rim. So I do think it's been a little bit tougher to manage that rotation this year than it was last year, just because it seemed like last year everyone kind of accepted their role and was good with what they were doing. So I wonder if you think that's any different. I mean, I understand there is this championship culture, but do you think that's any different this year? Yeah? Absolutely. I mean, for starters, last year, the Lakers were picking up j R. Smith and Dion

Waiters off off of the waiver wire. At the end of the season, you had Kyle Kuzma. Wasn't Kyle Kuzma is.

I know, it probably won't manifest in the numbers, although his three point percentages up, But Kyle Kuzma is a significantly better basketball player this year than he was last year because he's become so solid at doing all of the little things you need a role player to do to be impactful, and so that that has complicated things like last year there were a lot games where they just went away from Couz and went to Markeeve Morris, you know, uh in in those lineups because Markip was

a little bit more dependable as a veteran and was knocking down threes. And so the point is is like just in general, this year, the Lakers have more options that they didn't have last year, so that complicates things.

But again, I think encounter that with professionalism. I think I think if you're Ben McLemore and you sign a minimum contract to come play for the Los Angeles le who are contending for the championship and already have five guards that they're playing in their rotation, like, you knew what you signed up for. You signed up for. Inconsistent minutes you signed up for. If I'm having a bad game, I might not see the floor. Again, that's kind of part of the deal. All these guys knew what they

were signing. If there's anybody that could could complain at all, it's Marcosol, you know, because he was getting pursued by some other teams and the Lakers really really wanted him signed into a two year deal. And then they're all all the buzz around the trade dead and was the Lakers need another center. The Lakers need another center, And then they go and signed Andre Drummond. So that was that to me, would be the one guy if you were, and he just has been such a pro about it.

He's just been a pro. So I've been really impressed with just the way the whole organization has behaved. And what is a complicated situation, Like you said, it's hard to make these decisions right and then like really quickly, like a championship kind of hides a lot of things, Like we forget a lot of things because of the end result, right, Like the championship was there, so it feels like everything else would just soft and roses up to them. And the last year's team was special. I'm

not doubting that they were great. I think they had the one seed locked up by like five games. But like we forget, like we were playing Rondo a lot of minutes, like I thought, when he wasn't playing well right, still getting like experimental minutes with him. We played a lot of Dion Waiters um in the seeding games, and Dion Waiters really never touched the floor that much in the playoffs, play a lot j R. Smith as well, So you know there were players that we saw play

that just did not play again in the playoffs. Dutube situation and all that. Jabl McGee another guy as well, So I think it is last year. Maybe it wasn't as as much as this year, but still I think they both had players that Again, like in the playoffs, every series is is different, let alone like the whole playoffs compared to the regular season. Each series has its own things that's gonna need. So that's where I think the similarity is there from from last year. It's it's

not too off for me. All Right, thanks a lot, guys, have a good night, and let's get this wink Man. We'll see you on Wednesday hopefully. All right, let's see God m sailary, are you there. Let's try to get but sheer here is as the other guy's connecting. Yeah, it's like key left, no worries we meet someone else out here, Christmas? Christmas there? Do you ever to hear me? Yes? How's it going? Yeah, Like I just wanted to know your like your open on a roll of shooders. I

think it's better if it comes off the bench. What do you guys think about it? And like I'm not a big chatsman, but like he has passed the eye tests on the difference. But I think from where I saw like start like off way through the season where

we have like better differensive things with him on the bench. Then, um so if you could get check it under about a three point shooting things, and especially if you're going to play Drummond with the spacing thing, you see, it's like if it's better if he comes off the bench or something. So with Shrewder, the defensive numbers are a little bit tricky when you evaluate on off because of

going against the team's starters versus going against their bench lineups. So, for instance, Dennis Shooter starts and he primarily plays against the other teams starters, so naturally it's gonna be harder to get stops against that group than it would be against bench lineups. I mean, that's why defensive metrics are so convoluted and why it's so difficult to use the defensive metrics to to draw a line between different players. And uh, as far as Dennis Shooter goes, we have

to kind of trust our eyes. He's extremely good at the point of attack here, he pressures the ball all game long. He's got an extremely good motor. He plays hard the entire game, and he's good with his hands without fouling he's you know, we've seen him frustrate guys like Kyrie Irving like we saw earlier this year, Dennis Shrutter is an absolute plus defender. The only weakness he has on the defensive end is going to be against

bigger wings that try to attack him and switches. As far as him coming up the bench, We've talked about this, you know, dozens of times on this podcast. But the truth of the matter is is he deserves to start because of how good he is defense, and it's very important to him, obviously, with his the way he has behaved in interviews and stuff during the season, it's very important to him that he starts. It's it's part of his ego, which is fine. He's he's Dennis Shrewter. He's

a very very good basketball player. He should have an ego. But at the end of the day, like I think we can be I think we can be confident in one thing with this group, and it's that Dennis Shooter is going to start. That's just that's just the way it is. Uh, they may go to a quick hook, they may not use him in key lineups, but he's gonna start. And as longest teams aren't attacking him and switches with bigger offensive players. I think he'll be on

the court for all their most important lineups. What do you think, Roage? Yeah, I agree with that, and I also think like it gives them another shot creator, right, Like, I think that's important. But his team, especially if you start Andre Drummond, Anthony Davis, other guys that really just don't don't have the ball like that aren't creating shot um. And like touching on his three point shooting, I think

it's more streaky right, Like he can hit open threes. Um, he doesn't hit him out of a huge rape, but he started hitting the three is a little bit more tonight. But I just think that ball handling and then you touched on his defense. His defense has been too good just to bench so um, just putting that together, you get all that defense, plus you get that shock creation, be able to be able to hit shots from mid range,

be able to play in the pick and roll. Lebron doesn't have to run the offense the full time, um all game, and I think that's really important. I think that's why he'll continue to start. If you start a guy like Casey like Caruso, you can close with him, but if you start with him, you really just have the ball in Lebron's hands. Um the whole time. Um that he's that the starting lineup is playing, I think that's just a huge wear and tear on him. So

that's why I like Sho just starting. And we've touched on this many times. He's earned that line, that starting line up, like you said, yeah, And then as far as Drummond goes, we talked about him a lot earlier in this spot, so when we uh uh, if you hang out about an hour after this, if you look at one of our Twitter feeds, you'll see a link to the to the podcast. You can kind of listen to the in depth of version. But the short version is is that it kind of similar to the Shrewder thing.

We expect Drummond to start kind of perve some sort of agreement when he signed UM, and we just kind of hope that that Vogel, if he identifies that he's hurting, spacing and that he's not being a dominant physical presence, that he'll just take him out of the game quick uh, not entirely, unlike he used to do with JaVale McGee last year. Who would play basically the first few minutes of the game, in the first few minutes of the second half, and then not see the floor of the

rest of the game. Um, so I'm not terribly worried about where he fits in the rotation. It's really easy to kind of manipulate rotations to get your best players on the floor, you know, like we saw last year just when when push came to shove, it just ended up being Alex Crusoe contagious called a pope, you know, Lebron Mark, Keith Morris, and Anthony Davis like it. Just regardless of who started, that just kind of ended up being who was on the floor when it mattered. You know.

That's that's that's where Frank's power really comes into play. Yep uh anything else for the president, Yeah, that's just thank you, Thank you appreciate it. I think we have I think we have one more here. Cool, let's see one more and then we'll see you guys on Wednesday night. George, are you there? Can you hear me? We can hear you. So yeah, this is a very interesting season that we had here. So absolutely we just need to really just

enjoy this moment. It's very much, very Dicey. Yes, we just have we we just know that we do have Lebron James. So just going to my question, I'm just curious, what's the who will guard Stephcer here? Because I think maybe Shooter would be we'll be starting, or because I'm he saw just the game earlier that Dylan Brooks was the one guarding step He's a bigger dude. So do do the makers consider Wes Matthews? And of course KCP would be there, of course, yeah, that's it. So I

think it's gonna be KCP for the most part. He's the lakers best lock and trail defender. It's his best skilled defensively. Um, I would be. I wouldn't be surprised if Shrewder, you know, kind of advocated for himself in the in the planning for this game to try to be the one to guards stuff. But I think that would be a mistake. I don't. I think he's a little bit slender, and I think it's a little bit easy to pick him off with screens. So I think the guy, I think the guy they're going to try

to throw at him his KCP. But at the end of the day, like if Steph plays you know, forty two minutes, which you probably will in that game. Uh, you're gonna have to probably put multiple bodies on him. I like Wesley Matthews. He's a little bit bigger and he's a little bit more susceptible to getting caught on screens, but he's definitely an option. Caruso would be another guy. I think that would be great to throw at him.

What about you, Russ, Yeah, I think they're gonna pretty much try to mirror KCP with Steps minutes similar how they did. I think when he was guarding Devin Booker, Steps not the same defense, the same player as Steven Booker, but just keeping them on, just keeping that same kind

of matchup with them. Other guys will obviously get a turn to him, but I think KCP is like our best guy that chases dudes around screens, and that's how step kind of gets a lot of his shots, um coming around screen actions coming uh through picks and all that. So I think I think he'll get most most of the minutes. West is another guy. You can throw him and throw him as well. Um, but yeah, I think you want speed on Staff and try to get as much size on him as well. And I think KCP

is probably the best blend of that. Alice Crusoe as well, another guy in it. And like basically you also have to have your bigs going up right, and this is not no, this is not a one on one kind of match up here, Like then they're not playing mono mono here. Like you need your bigs to be able to come up and help and recover. That's that's who

you need really playing well. You need like Andre Drum and Anthony Davis, everyone to be in sync on what the coverages are against Steff or else he'll burn you. Um like he definitely can. So I think KCP will get the main assignment, but you'll have your bigs and all that be a huge part of the equation. The Lakers have done a good job on Steff this season. In their three matchups. He's shooting. Let's see, he's shooting.

He's averaging twenty three points per game in the three matchups, he's shooting forty two point three from the field and thirty four point six from three with three rebounds and five assists. He add that to me, mostly comes down to two KCP k CP. If if I will, I think Roger and I are both going to dive into a lot of film over the next few days of

this particular matchup. But from what my brain, what I remember from those games is KCP doing a really nice job on staff and I'm really interested to see what you and I find as we dive into the film a little bit this week. Yep, I agree. So, yeah, do have four guards have to face and maybe if really this is really closely, maybe Lebron with yeah take the challenge as usually doesn't beat the schemes. Yeah, So basically that's it. So yeah, I appreciate everything to you guys.

Thank thank you man, We appreciate That's actually an interesting little wrinkle. There is the idea of Lebron and we talked about that earlier. The Lakers could start to switch some of these screens. But at the end of the day, I think anytime you leave Stephan isolation, even though it may not be a high percentage shot on a possession by possession basis, you run the risk of him getting crazy hot, which can beat you in a one game setting.

That's why I would I would primarily trap him, um, but having a guy like KCP that can stay attached to him so that that second defender that it gets involved in the trap can can be a pest, and the two of them together can hopefully force him into some turnovers and just make him in general be uncomfortable. I think I think that's all part of the uh, the operation there. It's gonna be a five man effort. There's no one man that's gonna stop step cry. I

promise you that, Yep, exact. Jason, do you have time for a few more? We just got a couple more in year. Give it time to a few more? Yeah, go ahead, man, all right, we gotta Vne up here, our friend Vane and there Rod there Jason, a longtime listener, first time caller. I just wanted to jump in here. I know, I know, I haven't been here in a while. I've been listening to you guys in the background, jumping

around into different spaces than listening to people talk. I don't know if you guys covered this, because I may have been elsewhere. UM, but I'm curious, uh do you think the word I have my opinion, but do you guys think that the Warriors come out playing um A D against Draymond and solo coverage? Or do you think they're going to bring the double early. I think they'll

start in solo coverage. I think Draymond I think I think Draymond, as an individual defender against a D will make him work and settle for a lot of jump shot jump shots. I really believe you will. I think I think that that is actually going to be a matchup that the Lakers would be smart not to overly rely on, because I just think I think Draymond in general has defended a D pretty well. What about you rush, Yeah, I agree with that. I think the guy that the

doubles Lebron right away in the post. But I think they'll try to at least see now if eighties cooking them, they'll send the double. But I just think for the post, for the most part, they're gonna let Draymond try just bump him. Draymond has every heat, every trick in the book, right, and he's like the small, tough guy. It's hard to kind of just bully him and uh try and try

to over the top of him and all that. But I think they're just gonna let that single single coverage um and try just double Lebron and see if that if that works out, for them. What do you what do you think? So, I think I'm in the same boat with you two guys. I think they'll try single coverage on Anthony Davis. But if the game, you know, if he starts drawing, like if he draws like a quick early foul on Draymond, or if he gets like maybe one or two buckets, even if they're tough buckets.

But if he gets to the rim, it's like how he gets to it, which is gonna be probably the biggest concern for the Warriors. Um, if he gets to it really easy, they're probably gonna bring that double early. Um. If if it's a little tough, it makes bring in anyway, it's just to get the ball out of his hand because they may they may think did drumming playing that

last matchup that we had against We didn't. We didn't have him on the team, right, So yeah, yeah yeah, So so one of the things, um, not to take time away from anybody. One of the things I've noticed is like, uh Adie likes the passage rum like with enthusiasm, like more than he likes to pass two more than he liked the passage of vail and passed and passed too.

Uh who am I thinking of Dwight? And that's been like a wrinkle to his passing, like the enthusiasm behind it and like he's like high fiving him on the way back, and like, you know, they're acting like these the Bash Brothers or something like that, you know, just enjoying, enjoying doing what they're doing. So I always I'm curious that I wonder if Aidies sort of passing acumen has improved because he's he's passing to somebody he likes, and uh, I wonder if he'll try and take advantage of that

a little bit more. I thought I saw it in the Pacers game. I felt like I saw it a little bit in the Pelicans game too as well today. So I'd be curious if that's a new wrinkle that that people aren't ready for when it comes to him, because that's that's a big part of unlocking, Like you know, he's complete package repertoire and that we that we want to see at him. Yeah, we talked a little bit earlier about how Drummond getting a little bit more of

a running start out of the dunker spot. It's kind of unlocked a little bit of is above the rim stuff because he's so sloppy when he's coming from a standstill position, it just doesn't tend to get any lift.

But I agree with you. I think I think I think we're all lying to ourselves if we don't pretend that really likes playing with Drummond U. The thing that's tricky is the like we mentioned at the beginning of the pod, the Warriors in this twenty game stretch where they've been fifteen and five, they're most used line up by a mile, has been with Keevan Looney at the five, uh, like over a hundred fifty more minutes than any other

lineup that they've played. And so you know, it's very clear that the Lakers actually, for excuse me, the Warriors for being a team that we always think of as playing small. They've really played big with Luney a lot. But they like Looney on switches, they like him as a defender. Um. But I think I think that's an

easy way to kind of throw matchups. If Draymond d is in the position where Looney ms on Lebron or where that it forces them to go to lineups that they don't like using with Draymond at the five where all of a sudden, Lebron's physical presence, He's physical presence, just as big bodies around the rim, becomes something that can really punish the Warriors because they don't have a center. So I think I think so much comes down to what they end up doing with Drummond in the rotation.

But I mean, yeah, like a D loves playing with him, so I wouldn't be surprised if Drummonds heavily involved in plays thirty five minutes. Yeah, and Drummond is like really good at like making himself available download right, he doesn't finish at a high enough rade that I would like,

but he does make himself available. He's a big body, and I don't think that he saw this as well be name, Like I talked about this earlier, like his speed and his size, it really looks it looks really good next to Lebron and a D. Right, Like it seems to like like just make his attributes look a lot better. I didn't look as well without paying not

playing with them. Obviously, everyone looks better next to Lebron and a D. But just his kind of skills and his talent, I feel like just gets better playing next to them like his rebounding, his force down low. And yeah, it's pretty clear a D and a D and Lebron recruited him here, right, and a D I think maybe even a little bit more. Um, it's pretty clear they wanted to play together, and I think they they're playing a little bit better. I thought the spacing was a

little bit better tonight. Drummond got like poor dunks. The Pelicans aren't like the best defense. But just seeing him like go up strong, actually dunk was good. I think you're right, he is looking for him more. I don't know if that change is going to the playoffs, but it's definitely what's happening now. That's that's a good point. Yeah, yeah,

it's just a it's just a small observation. But we haven't gotten a chance to see too much of Lebron, A D and Drummond together, So yeah, it's been very interesting to see how much more of A like a let me attack the rim, draw the extra guy and set up drumming, as opposed to him trying to score over two people, which is something that A D was trying to do a lot last season. So right, um, you know, it's it's addition and then simplifying Drummons role

even further. So yeah, that's all I had. Guys, Thanks for taking my questions. Thanks for appreciate you mine. Thank you. Alright, we got one more, alright, my guy Michael are you there? Hey? Y'all hear yeah, we can hear you. What it's going on? Man,

how's how y'all doing? We're doing good? Well? Um, you know, I don't have anything deep or it's not even really Laker specific, but as I was watching the game to night, you know, I was really when I was sitting there watching at the end of it, I just I couldn't really believe like how happy I was to see the clock hit zero. And um, I just wanted to get y'all's thoughts on just this season in general, or how

y'all are gonna remember it? Like you know how they say the season is a marathon, not sprint, but it felt like a marathon where he had to pull tires after a football practice and you know there was some outside of like the playing tournament, Steph season obviously Randall season. Um, it just I'm just so relieved. It feels like we're finally at like the starting line, and so I just wanted to get y'all's opinion on how y'all are gonna

view this season, you know, regardless of the playoff outcome. Well, I mean you said it best man, like it's been it's just been one hell of a season. Uh and and from that standpoint, like you know, uh, for them to be whole at this point after everything that's happened kind of feels like a miracle. You know, like like we talked about how two weeks ago it was like absolute doomsday scenario Lebron came back too quick from his angle.

A d looks completely watched, you know, Dennis Shoter just got Covid Like it was like all hell was breaking loose. And for them to actually kind of feel like their whole right now, it just it just feels like an absolute victory. But I still think it's been a fun season. And I mean, Roge you can speak to this too, just because you and I have kind of been going down this path together. But like you know, I'm a I'm a Lebron fan. Everybody knows. I'm from Tucson, Arizona.

I don't I think grow up in an NBA city. I'm just a huge I'm just a huge basketball fan. Lebron is the one who got me interested in the game, and that's how I became a fan of the Lakers. But you know now that I with Raj have been covering the Lakers, like I've fallen in love with this team.

And what's been really cool is with Lebron being out, you know, like you really get to spend a good amount of time getting to know all of the other players in bigger roles and seeing what they're capable of and and seeing that there's you know, Lebron is the one who came in and kind of turned things around, as we all know, but the Lakers are kind of formed a pretty awesome identity that starts with Rob and extends down to Frank and the rest of the guys

on the coaching staff, and extends into professionalism throughout the roster that permeates through to Crusoe and into Kuzma has become such a savvy vet and and to you know, to Dudley, you know, and and everything that he brings as the as just the lead by example type of guy. And and I think it's been honestly one of the more fun seasons because there's been a ton of adversity,

Like how much more boring? Now, obviously we probably prefer this for the the actual prospect of winning a title, but how much more boring would this season have been if the Lakers just rolled? You know like this? This this season has been more interesting, to say the leadst I think you would agree with me, right, Roger, Yeah, for sure. And I love that that you asked this

because it's so interesting. Like what I was just thinking about is like you take this sacrifice every time, but it feels like that that this regular season is kind of the sacrifice for the championship last year, right, like there was no um, there's no off season. They jump right back into it, so you were going to give up, like what the season could have been? Like we talked about it before the season started. I thought this was this is the most talented Laker team that I've kind

of seen. Um, I'm really good to watch the two thousand Lakers. So this is the most talented team I've seen, just top to bottom. And it feels like it was separated into like three separate parts. Like right, we had

the beginning of the season. They started like twenty one and six and then um, A D goes down and then we get like a Lebron MVP season, Like I just that's not what I was expecting at all, And we got a Lebron MVP season and he goes down and then we get this like amazing like developmental kind of season where we get to like throw th ht and just let him kind of make mistakes and grow. And I thought that was really fun and just see him kind of growing to the player he is now.

And you don't really get that as like your friends. We watched a lot of developmental years. We're watching like Brandon ingram Loams the ball and it kind of reminded me of that, just seeing his potential kind of um get to where it is now and now like it's all coming together. I don't know if we'll be able to see the full force of it. That's kind of how I'll remember this season is like three separate parts.

Now that they kept a good defense for the whole thing memoraculously somehow, but like just getting like a Lebron MVP season, that great start to it, and now this is like the final trimester of it where you get like that complete and look, look, most some teams don't get a chance to get going the playoffs healthy. Right, Sometimes you just get injury rid old seasons like that happens, so we're lucky to even like get up healthy season. So that's how I kind of remember this into like

a few separate kind of parts. And it's been fun. Um, even though we didn't get the full kind of superstars playing every game kind of thing. Um, I think it's been fun. And I think you've seen that impact throughout the league. You saw Miami start off slow, right, Boston had a season from hell, they went late in the playoffs. All those teams kind of really started slow. Denver as well started really slow, and you saw the impact of that.

So that's how I remember this season. Oh well, y'all sound y'all sound like y'all enjoyed it more than I did, which which you know, hell, hell is the is the biggest thing. So that's the only win, some only w that we need. So I appreciate it, y'all. Thank you, Michael. We appreciate you. Man. Probably had some frustrations, for sure. It's probably picture of it, yeah for sure. Yeah, we're

just trying to be positive here, man. You'll take care than all right, Everybody thank you so much for hanging out with us tonight. UM, I'm going to take my almost thirty year old asked to bed. UM. I will have this posted on our podcast feed either here shortly or first thing in the morning for those of you

who missed out. UM, and then Roger and I will hopefully be doing another preview podcast on Wednesday night, hopefully for the Phoenix Suns and hopefully not some sort of chaotic event sets where everybody's freaking out and we're trying to call him everybody down. But we'll see how it goes. But thank you guys so much for hanging out with us. Appreciate it. Thank you, Thank you guys,