Hoops Tonight - Draymond Green-Jordan Poole reaction, LeBron & Lakers new weapon, Ben Simmons' shot

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hundred gambler dot net in West Virginia. YEA, all right, Welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented by FanDuel here at the volume Happy Tuesday, everybody. I hope all of you guys had an incredible weekend. I got out of town to San Diego for a couple of days over the weekend. It was amazing, hit all my favorite spots like Cornado

and La Joya. Spent some time in the gas Lamp Quarter. Um. It's one of my favorite places to go because it's closed, it's only six hours down the road, and then the food out there is incredible, and that's one of my favorite things to do with my wife is just taste all the local cuisine. Um. It was great little get away. Um getting ready to start this grind, and so I wanted to have one last chance to kind of relax

and get some distance. But I'm excited. This is gonna be a really fun nine month marathon here of a lot of really good basketball and what should be a very very exciting season. Uh. Today we're gonna address the Draymond Green punch on Jordan Pool that needs to be talked about. We're gonna talk about the Warriors Lakers game on Sunday night, which I think was very interesting and informative on a bunch of different levels, especially as it pertains with the role players on both teams. So we're

gonna talk about that. Rob Polinka signed a surprise extension, which again apparently happened a long time ago too. But I have some thoughts there, and then there's a Ben Simmons video that's going around that we're gonna talk about. Um, those of you guys are waiting for some of our other teams to get hit on. And I know it's been a lot of Lakers and Warriors in this past week. They've just been the most interesting teams here early in the preseason by virtue of drama, and then obviously the

Lakers in the pressure that is on them. We are going to get to a bunch of other teams this week. I have the Denver Nuggets on my list, the Clippers on my list, the Milwaukee Bucks on my list. We're gonna get into them all this week. So stay tuned to the feeds and we will get a round to a bunch of the other teams. Do you guys know the joke before we get started? Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you

don't miss any show announcements. That's also where I put NBA footage since we can't use it on YouTube. Have two videos in particular from the Lakers Warriors game that I want you guys to check out that we'll talk about specifically today, but there's one with James Wiseman rolling hard to the rim and one on Kendrick Nunn in his ability to shoot off the dribble in the way that opens up things for the Lakers in their pick and roll. Again on my Twitter account at Underscore Jason

lt is where you'll find that stuff. Um. And then last but not least it for whatever reason, you miss one of these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish them, you can find them wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops tonight. So the Draymond punch, it was bad. There's no point in sugarcoating it and trying to pretend it's something that it's not. Um. Draymond himself has said that, and it's it's bad on two level.

It's bad when you look at the punch in a vacuum, but it's also bad when you look at his role on the team and and some and how he violated his station there so to speak, um, looking at the punch itself, to all I can go on is what I see in the video, And in the video I thought Draymond ran Jordan's pool off his spot. It wasn't a shove, but it was a physical, aggressive move into Jordan's personal space. That Jordan's shove was a pretty natural

reaction to that. I feel like a lot of us would probably do the same thing if we were in his spot. And then in the punch itself, there was just a ferociousness to it that was concerning, to say the least. So looking at the punch, it's not good. And then when you factor in that he's the leader of the team, it's even worse. This is not Bobby Portous punching Nicolamir Titch. This is not a couple of

role players going at it. This is one of the two most important leaders on the team who has a lot of responsibility that goes beyond basketball for this organization doing this to one of the young, up and coming future pillars of the franchise, and so even if we just look at it from that perspective, it's problematic as well. That said, I think Draymond knows what's at stake here. I think he knows that what's at stake for this particular team and UH and their aspirations for this year.

I think he knows what's at stake for his own personal reputation and how it might impact his ability to get an extension, either with the Warriors or a new contract somewhere else. I think he understands the gravity of the situation, and I believe that Draymond is a good person. There's a tendency to relay competitiveness on a basketball court

as some sort of indictment, indictment on someone's character. You know, I personally complained to my wife all the time that I can be a real asshole on the basketball court sometimes, and I come home sometimes and I'm like, man, I really don't like the way I behaved today. And that doesn't mean I'm a bad guy. That just means that I'm super competitive, and when I'm in those settings, I

can become somebody that I don't particularly like. But off the court, I believe that my reputation speaks for itself as it pertains to the way I treat people, and the same goal is for Draymond. I think I think Draymond's a good man. I think he's just a very competitive person that has uh sometimes that can manifest in some ugly sides of himself on a basketball court, and I think it's important to to kind of put a

barrier between those two. I had a similar incident happened when I was in college, uh one that was not physical, but was It was an altercation between me and a teammate. It was in junior college, my second year, and me and a gentleman, a guy named Miles. Him and I were the two best players on the team. We both made the AL Conference team that year. We took the

most shots, we were the leaders. And we were playing against Salt Lake Community College, ironically against Gary Payton, the second in that game, and we were losing by like ten or fifteen points in the second half, and and they were on a run. Things weren't going well, and we were on what I thought was a two on one break and Miles Uh, I thought he forced to lay up and I thought he missed me trailing the play, and so I got mad at him uh and we ended up screaming at each other on the court. It

was a really bad look. It was bad. We both got pulled from the game and had to sit out the rest of the night. Like it was just it was a really really ugly moment. And then they showed me the tape after the coaches did, and I wasn't even open. There was a second defender that was trailing right behind me. So Myles didn't give me the basketball because he shouldn't have given me the basketball. But what was funny about it is like similar to the Draymond thing,

even just in a vacuum, I was wrong. But then when you factor in my position as one of the leaders on the team, it's my job even if I was even if I was frustrated with not getting a touch on that play, even if I was right, which I wasn't, I was wrong, But even if I had been right, it was it's my job as the leader

of the team. Is if I have a concern with Miles in his in him keeping me involved in the offense, I have to address that with him privately or in some way that doesn't manifest the way it did during that game. It was probably the ugliest moment of my college career and one that I'm not proud of, and one once again, like I think, when that kind of thing happens, it's not an indictment on who you are

as a human being overall. It's just to slip up and it's just important to acknowledge it for what it is and to move forward. I do apologize to the team in front of everybody, and and it's and once again, it's just it's not about how that kind of stuff happens necessarily, it's about addressing it properly and then making sure it doesn't happen again. You know, with Draymond, it's funny, like my I have two main takeaways from this thing.

It's really bad, and I think people need to acknowledge that. But I'm also very confident that Draymond is gonna get through this with the team. I think that again, he understands what's at stake with this team and their aspirations, and he understands what what's at stake with his personal

contract situation. He understands the stakes. The team needs him to be available to play, and the team needs him to be a respected leader in the locker room, and they need him to be Draymond, They need him to be his emotional self that he is just obviously not crossing. That's that specific line. And so like what happens next? Where where do we go from here? You know, Step one is obviously accepting blame, which he has done so publicly. But step two is the job that's done behind closed doors.

He has to earn back the respect of his teammates. UM. I believe that it's Draymond said in his press conference that him and Jordan are are close. I don't know if that's necessarily true based on the vitriol that was behind that punch, but either way, they need to get close. Um. I think the easiest way to squash this whole thing is for Draymond to go out of his way to build a relationship with Jordan pool find common ground, find something,

and honestly, it's their competitiveness. There two competitive dudes who love to win, hate to lose, and our great basketball players. That's common ground. Find the find the common ground there, and then if that friendship blossoms, I believe that we could be sitting later on this season and have this be a thing in the past and something that this team has completely moved beyond. But that work is in front of him. Um. I believe he's taken the right

steps to this point. Um, but he's got more steps to go along the way, and as long as he does his job on the court and does his job as the leader of the team and quelling this situation. I believe that this will be a thought in the past. I don't believe it will affect his contract situation. If he can fix this, I don't believe that it will affect this team and their ultimate ceiling as long as he can fix this, which I believe he's capable of.

And then kind of looking at it from the perspective of the Warriors, I saw a lot of I saw a lot of people going the direction of like, oh, they should trade him, you know, And I just think that's insane, uh, for starters. Draymond's unique fit within this particular team and the value that he brings with their continuity and what he does for them on the defensive

end of the floor, they they need him. He was gone for twenty nine straight games with a back injury during this season, and in that stretch, the Warriors went sixteen and thirteen, their defense fell down to tenth in the league, and Steph wasn't generating the same quality shots that he usually does. Um, they weren't the same team without him. And I'm sorry, but if they did some sort of dramatic three team trade that landed a Miles Turner and dumped Draymond somewhere. I wouldn't have them, and

I wouldn't have them as the favorites anymore. I think he's vitally important to what they do. I think I think him, Andrew Wiggins and staff right now are the three most important players on the team in terms of what they do on both ends of the floor and how it helps them win. So the reality is is, like now, Draymond might not be a Warrior next year, Like maybe he opts out of his deal and wants an extension, doesn't get it and goes somewhere else. That's

on the table, But that would be about money. I don't necessarily think that would be about this. The Warriors have a legitimate salary crunch coming regardless of what happens, and yeah, Draymond might be a casualty of that. But the reality is is they need him on the basketball court, and there's no way that they're dealing him during the season unless things won't weigh south, which I don't expect them to do um. But again, I just wanted to make sure that we addressed it. I'm not you guys

know me. I'm not interested in the drama. I'm interested in the basketball. But this had to be addressed, and I think it's pretty cut and dry. The punch was bad. It was bad in the punch, It was bad in his role as a leader of the team. But I if there's one person out there that I think is up to the task of cleaning up this type of man, it's Draymond. I think. I think he understands what's at stake, and I think he's a good a good person to lean on to fix his particular mess in this case.

Um So let's move on to some real basketball. Tip Off the NBA season with fan Duel, America's number one sports book. Right now, new customers can tip off the season with a no sweat first bet up to one thousand dollars back in free bets. If you don't win, just sign up with promo co Jason t. Here's a couple of futures that I would keep an eye on if I were you, Guys. Among the favorites to win the title, I really like the Warriors. Among the long shot bets to win the title, I really like the

seventies sixers and the Dallas Mavericks. And then on the m v P front. I think Janice is gonna get it this year. I really don't understand why Luca is the favorite. I don't think they're gonna win nearly enough regular season games. Janice is just a safe bet to put up monster numbers to win a ton of games, and it's been long enough since he won his last one that I think he's gonna have some pull with the voters. Vandel is my favorite sports betting app. I

love how easy is to use. I love how easy it is to get money in and out. I love that cash out feature that allows you to get out of a bet when garbage time could potentially ruin it. It's just the best there is right now. So NBA fans c for yourself why Vandel's America's number one sports book. Download the Vandel Sports Book Gap and sign up using promo code Jason T to get started with your no Sweat First bet up to one thousand dollars um. The Lakers played the Warriors on Sunday Night and a very

interesting basketball game. Another strong showing from the Lakers, which we'll get to here in a minute. But I want to spend a lot of time talking about the specific role players on both teams. Um, starting with the Warriors. So Jordan Pool, Um, Jordan Pool put on a show in this game. He I don't think he gets enough credit for, you know, because he gets lumped in with a lot of these guys that are up for these extensions, like right, like Tyler Harroll got this massive extension from

the Miami Heat. I think Jordan Pool is better than Tyler Harrow. Tyler is a little taller, and he's a better hatch and shoot player right now, but I think Jordan's has a much better natural gift for scoring the basketball and creating advantages. Um. You know, there's a wild

play in this game where where Jordan got downhill. I can't remember if it was on a dribble handoff or a pick and roll, but he got downhill and he did like a behind the back a move and kind of like a shuffle step into a floater and he made it and the crowd just went crazy. I remember sitting there thinking, like, you know, everyone looks pays such close attention to skill, right, like how well does someone shoot,

how well do they dribble? That kind of stuff, And Jordan has skills just like Tyler Harrow has skills, but one of the things that Jordan has that I don't think Tyler has is that like natural scoring, like feel. It's hard to describe. It's not really a really What it is is confidence because it's a willingness to try things. It's an audacity to trust in your ability to take and make difficult shots. Jordan obviously has an incredible skill set.

He's very fast, much faster than Tyler Harrow, uh aster with the basketball, much better ball handler, um shooting. I don't think he's as good of a shooter as Tyler, but he can shoot the ball really well. And he he can it's it manifests as a flare like it manifests and fancy plays like that behind the back move into the floater. But he has the audacity and that natural scoring flair um that I think makes him really impactful with the basketball in his hands, creating advantages not

just for himself before his teammates. I would absolutely take him over Tyler Harrow, and he deserves all the money that's coming from him. If you guys have not checked out Jordan Pool in this particular game, go to I don't know if you can find highlights of it on YouTube or if you need to go to NBA dot com stat website. But he put on a show in this game, and it was an assortment of really, really

fascinating baskets. UM. James Wiseman he up and down night because he struggled defending Anthony Davis, which is to be expected. He's Anthony freaking Davis man. He's one of the best bigs in all of basketball. UM. But one of the things that he did really well in this game that that really stuck out on film that I wanted to talk about is the concept of rolling hard to the basket after you set ball screens, because this is something that is not done well enough around the league by

other bigs. A lot of bigs get lazy with it. Even Anthony Davis. I've complained a lot over the years about him not rolling hard to the basket. UM. Rolling hard to the basket is important because it actually acts as gravity. It pulls in defensive players underneath the basket. We talk a lot about about drop coverage on this show, and the dynamic, as you guys know, is very simple. The ball handler comes over the top of the screen and a good shooter, so in this case of Jordan

Pool will have to be chased over the top. Right. Steph is obviously a great example of a guy that you have to chase over the top. Two. When you chased over the top, the guard typically can get downhill, but the big man his job is to corral that while also accounting for the role man. If the rollman rolls slowly to the basket, then the screen defender, the big man who's defending the ball screen, he can drop higher to dissuade the pull up shot or to prevent

the guard from getting downhill to the basket. But when you roll hard to the rim, the big man has to drop back to the rim faster. It's like it's like if it's very We think of vertical spacing as the lab threat, right, That's what lab gravity is. You

have to drop back. Most drop coverages come with the They inform their bigs they call it no roller behind coverage because your job is to make sure that the roller does not get behind you so that you can dissuade the role and stop the guard from getting all the way to the rim. There was a play in this particular game where Steph had the ball. He was being guarded by Matt Ryan on a switch. He's a

little shooter for the wing shooter for the Lakers. And when you in, Gabriel was the screen defender for the Lakers and James Wiseman was setting the ball screen and on the play, Matt Ryan does his job, gets over the top of the screen and he's on steps backside to apply ball pressure back pressure. If when you in, Gabriel was up step would have to slow down his dribble, in which case Matt is now smothering him from behind.

But because Wiseman rolled hard to the rim, you can see when you and Gabriel take two or three quick backwards steps to get back into the lane to take care of Wiseman rolling. As a result, Steph doesn't have to slow down. He just picks up steam and just goes right at when you with the left handed layup on the play when you and jumps, but his momentum is all screwed up because he's back pedaling, so he

doesn't get the same amount of lift. He ends up committing a foul on Steff and Steph makes the layup for an and one. I clipped out this play and added it to my Twitter feed. You can see it at under at Underscore Jason lt where I put all the rest of our film breakdowns. But on this play, it's a great example of James Wiseman and how when he rolls hard to the rim, it drags the screen defender back and that opens things up for Steph and

for Jordan Pool on those plays. That's gonna be an interesting dynamic to this team because Kevin Looney and Draymond Green, as good as they are, they're not vertical threats, so when they roll hard to the rim, it doesn't manifest with the same level of gravity. James Wiseman is an excellent vertical spacing threat, so when he rolls hard to the rim, it's gonna really warp things for them. I thought it was a really interesting dynamic from this game

and a good good sign of UM. You know, basketball's all bad habits, and it's a good habit that James Wiseman has that he rolls hard to the rim like that.

UM Andrew Wiggins I thought had a really good game attacking closeouts with power um Max Christie in particular for the Lakers in Juanta, Skano Anderson ended up matched up with him a lot and uh man, Like when he would catch the ball on the perimeter, even though the closeouts there and there's not really an advantage, he would just rip through to the right, and like j t A and Max Chrissy are sliding with them and they got their hands on him, and they're trying to be

physical and they're trying to hold their ground. But like Wiggins is a vet now, Like he's not the skinny wing that he was when he was coming up through high school. He's a big, strong wing now and he's realizing that, like when he just goes that people can't stop him. And man, he was just ripping through them on closeouts and getting all the way to the rim. Really interesting and exciting performance from Andrew Wiggins. I thought Dante DiVincenzo did a good job with the basketball in

his hands. He was only one for five from the field, but a lot of that's his legs and he's he's got he's getting a double on that side because it's not just he's getting his legs from preseason. He also is coming back from an injury, so there's some mental stuff he's getting over, so he's not getting the amount of lift that he usually does but he's passing the ball really well, and most importantly, he's intent on getting downhill.

A lot of the Warriors guards, Stephen and Clay in particular, a little bit of Jordan Pool, although Jordan's pretty good getting downhill too. They are kind of coming off of those ball screens looking more to shoot, or coming off of those griple handoffs looking more to shoot. And Dante is going downhill. And he's an underrated athlete in underrated size wise for a lot of the you know what

we consider two guards around the league. He already has a really nice natural passing give and take with James Wiseman kind of hunts him everywhere on the floor, especially as drop off passes. They connected on several of those on Sunday night. Um. I like I like his fit. I think he's gonna do a really nice job filling in the auto porter junior role. UM and I thought it was a really smart signing from the Warriors brass this summer, Kevin Looney did a really nice job guarding

Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis again had some success against James Wiseman, but Looney really forced him into being a jump shooter. I've always been critical of Anthony Davis of not you know, he's too heavy, so he doesn't really have the foot speed that he had when he was younger, and so

he struggles to beat people off the dribble. Well, Kevan was playing really uh solid discipline defense, positioning himself directly between a d and the rim and just moving his feet and baiting Anthony Davis into taking really difficult jump shots. And if I remember correctly in the footage that I watched, he made a tough one a jab step at the at the left elbow, but he missed a lot of jumpers over the top of Loony Luoni smothered him under the basket once and got to stop it. He got

bailed out by a whistle. But it wasn't one that I agreed with. Um Luny Kevin Kevin lunis just flat out good. It's honestly one of the weirdest dynamics with this Warrior's team because Looney's good and Draymond's good, and that's really all they need in the front court with the style that they like to play. So it'll be really interesting to see how they kind of shoehorned Wiseman minutes in there as a result. And then last Moses Moody.

He struggled early in the game, especially on Kendrick Nunn ducking under picks, but he must have got yelled at by coach or something, because man, in the second quarter he had a really good shift where he was chasing over the top of screens and actually forcing Kendrick Nunn to ISO him rather than get his normal stuff out

of pick and roll. I think Moses Moody is the clear pick as that guy that's going to fit in as that kind of like that Gary Payton second roll UM as one of the wings off the bench that takes a significant defensive assignment. Uh. Moving out of the Lakers. So again, when we talked about Um preseason earlier on, I told you guys how I'm not I'm not interested in the outcomes of games. I mean, how the Lakers

were one in three. I also, you know, got in trouble with some of you guys last week because I missed the result of a Warrior's game because I misread a box score. I don't care who wins preseason games. What I care about is the the core lineups and uh and and like how they stack up against other core lineups from some of the other teams, and then you can you can kind of dive a little deeper into specific role players and and how they might fit

when everyone is available. But at the end of the day, you're looking for habits. You're looking at are they playing hard? Do they have good defensive habits in terms of boxing out or defensive rotations and things along that lines, those lines, running the floor and transition defense. You know, do are they establishing an identity as a team that does all the little things and does it well, you know, beyond the fact that the Lakers went winless last year. They

were winless and not playing good basketball. And what's interesting is that if in the four games the Lakers have played, in three of them they played at least one of their stars, they played a d this last game, they played Russ and Lebron in the second one, that they played all three of them in the first one. And in those games they played the Warriors, the Kings, and the Sons, and they won their minutes in all three

of those games. Now, does that mean the Lakers are gonna, you know, have an amazing regular season, No, not necessarily, But what it does tell me is that they're competent enough and discipline enough, or at least attempting to build that type of identity which will allow Lebron James and

Anthony Davis to control the outcomes of games. They need to be disciplined and they need to be sharp in the details, so that if Lebron and A d play like two of the top seven players in the world, they can contend with the best teams in the league. And that's what That's the way I feel about the

Lakers so far through four preseason games. I think they are good enough on the details and good enough their personnel that if Lebron James and Anthony Davis are available consistently and play like top ten players, they absolutely will contend out West. That that that to me is almost a sure thing as long as Lebron and AD are healthy and play like top ten players. Obviously, if Anthony

Davis doesn't play well, that will hurt things. Obviously, if injuries creep into the equation, obviously that will hurt things. But I've seen enough so far in preseason to know that they will contend out West if they are healthy. That is how good Lebron James and Anthony Davis are And that's how good of a job Darvin Hamm has done breeding some more competence into this roster. You can really see it on the defensive end of the floor.

They're competing in the physicality areas of the game. They're fighting over ball screens and applying back pressure. They're making the tough rotations. I put a clip on on on Twitter today that you can see where there's there's a play where Jonathan Cominga like slips the screen with Jordan's pool and JANCEASCTO Anderson gets caught on it and and j K is open on the right block like just

just completely unguarded. But on the play, Anthony Davis rotates over off of Kevan Luney to stop j K from shooting, and then Max Christie out of the weak side corner dives in like just this is hard work, gets into defensive stance and does a swim move, gets around Cavan Luney, gets down in a squat and boxes Kevan Luney out

of the lane. Then when j t A comes down, they all rotate back to their spot and that play ended up working around and they actually ended up botching a switch where uh, I believe Steph Curry slipped wide open to the rim, but Quantascono Anderson snuffed it out on the backside and got his steel. That the the the level of the attention to detail on the defensive rotations, the fighting for position, the getting over the top of screens, the boxing out. That's all miles ahead of where it

was last year. Now it's not all Darvin Ham. It is partially Darvin hamd. But I want to I wanna make make a leer here. That the idea of what happened with Frank Vogel, which is a team buying out or tuning out a coach. That happens a lot. Demanding coaches a lot of times they have to have player turnover or they need to be they need to be relieved of duty and send somewhere else because they just burn you out with how much they ask. We've seen

this happen with Tom Tabodeaux. Hell, you see this happen with Bill Belichick. But what happened was is Frank Vogel lost the locker room last year and they weren't playing hard for him. So there's two things that are contributing to this. Darvin Hamm's competence, but also just a new face in there and somebody that the team is actually willing to listen to. Um uh, they blocked five more

shots in this game. Again, some of this is chasing over ball screens and blocking guys when they go for pull ups, but it's a more activity around the rim. I think. I think the Lakers are gonna end up being one of the better rim protection teams in the league this year. Um Kendrick Nunne I did a whole bit, like two minute video on this that you can find

on my Twitter feed. His ability to shoot the basketball coming over ball screens has opened up so many things for the Lakers on the offensive end of the floor already. And we've talked about this concept before. If the defender can go under the ball screen, it takes away the drive. If it takes away the drive, then you can't get downhill.

If you can't get downhill, the defense doesn't collapse. If the decent defense doesn't collapse, you don't have the ability to make reads to open players that can start your driving kick. That's just the reality of being a guard that can't shoot, and that's been the big problem with Russell Westbrook and one of the big reasons why he's been so inefficient as a ball creator in this league over the last couple of years. But Kendrick Nunn, because he can shoot off the dribble, forces you to chase

over the top. Helps you in two ways because Lebron can shoot off the dribble, but the Lebron's being guarded by big forward and Anthony Davis is being guarded by big ford, so they're just gonna switch that. You can't switch that with Kendrick Nunn because he's being guarded by a small in this case Steph Curry. In the video breakdown that I did, I showed kind of the progression. You saw the Warriors try to switch. Steph ended up on a Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis just literally ran to

the front of the rim. Kendrick Gunn threw it up to him. Two free throws right easy, breezy you Uh. Moses Moody ducked under a ball screen and Kendrick Nunn just rose up and knocked down a twenty six ft off the dribble. Three. Then as they started to chase him over the top of the screen, he started to get downhill. He made floaters, he made pull up jump shots, he was making reads to his teammates, thrown throwing passes to the weak side. It's just it's just a dynamic

that the Lakers have not had. They've had guys who could shoot like Malik Monk, but navigating pick and rolls is a really delicate balance of being patient and willing to make reads, and Malik is more of a gunner, more of his score. So Kendrick Nunn just has been so much better in that role already in this preseason and it's opened up a lot of stuff for their offense. Um I did want to briefly shout out Anthony Davis's

jump shot looks good here. Early made two additional threes in this game, both of them trailing the floor and transition trailing bigs for threes. That's one of the best ways to get open shots and transition because most bigs have a tendency in transition defense just to run to the front of the rim because that's what they've been told to do their entire basketball career. And so when you have a big trail to play, it's just a great opportunity to catch the big sleeping or too far

back and to get open threes. There a d made two three's I believe in the second quarter in this game. Also, his elbow face up game looks pretty sharp here early on, and that's that just was a staple of Anthony Davis in the bubble. So when you see that, that's absolutely encouraging. UM. I thought Lonnie Walker had kind of an up and down game. A lot of Lakers fans are high on his defense in the preseason. I'm not really seeing it on tape. He's competing, but his form trying to get

over ball screens is just not good. He dies on ball screens too easily goes under him sometimes when he gets lazy. He one of the things that I'm noticing on tape. You'll see good ball screen defending guards. You'll see them when when when the guard is preparing to go over the screen, they get up in to the ball handler and try to almost split the difference like in between the screener and the guard as he's going

over the top. It's very physical play. They get physical up into the guard to get over the screen, and Lonnie gives space and then just kind of turns and runs directly into the screen. And he was getting screened way too easily. So there's some stuff there that they got to figure out. But his athleticism does pop, and you see that in defensive rotations. You see that crashing

the defensive glass. You see the athleticism there. But in order for it to translate to success on the defensive end of the floor, he's gonna have to figure out a way in Darvin Hamm system to be better at chasing over the top of ball screens. He did shoot the ball well, um. I think he made three threes in this game. He made a couple of pull up mid range shots as well. But his like Kendrick Nunn, is very under control. When he's navigating pick and roll,

you can tell he's not rushed. You can tell he's taking what the defense gives him. With Lonnie Walker, it's a little more more wild. It's a little more like what do I feel like doing on this possession kind of thing, you know. And so I'm not as high on him as other Lakers fans are right now, but I don't think they necessarily need him to be good given some of the other players they have on the roster, So it's not exactly a high pressure situation for him.

But I do think if he's gonna find minutes in Darvin Ham's system, he's just gonna have to be better defensively. That if he can channel his athleticism to being good chasing over the ball, screens containing dribble drives in isolation situations, making rotations, and then if he can be consistent as a jump shooter, he absolutely will have success in this rotation. But he's gotta he's got to get those two, those two areas tightened down. Matt Ryan knocks down seven threes

in this game. I need to see more defensive tape before I can tell you whether or not he can fit in the rotation. He did all the right things and was competing. What you can tell, he's a little slow footed, which is to be expected. He's a bigger wing right um, and he's not a fantastic athlete. Um. But here's the reality. The Lakers don't have a lot of on the roster, and so just by virtue of a hole in the roster, he might get an opportunity.

And again, just like I said with Lonnie, if he can defend well enough, if he can defend just well enough to fit in this Lakers scheme, his shooting is going to be enough to keep him on the floor. Um. Again, that that's all I had on this particular Lakers Warriors game. But we're gonna get to a bunch of the other teams later on in this week. So moving on to

Rob Polinka. Um. So, it was reported that he signed this extension before the Darvin Ham acquisition, largely so that they can tie those two together, so that they can kind of have some confidence that this is where the basketball vision is. It's Darvin Ham leading the team, you know, Rob Polinka building the team. I I didn't think he deserved it based on the decisions that he made. But

I'm also not surprised. I mean, Genie Buss is very much a family She runs the Lakers like a mom and pop shop, not like a multibillion dollar organization, and so she's gonna prioritize things like personal connections over competency. She loved Kobe, she was close with Kobe. This is Kobe's former agent. Not surprised at all that she went this route. But again I didn't think. I didn't think

he deserved it. I think the reality as we zoom out from the Lakers situation, Lebron James and the way he weaponized his cache to bring in Anthony Davis, and then the scouting department, Joey and Jesse Buss in the consistent train of good young basketball players they've brought in. And I like Matt Max Christie by the way. He's got a long way to go as a shooter, but he's already pretty good defensively, dribbles the ball a lot better than I expected, and is quicker with his feet

than I expect. There was a play in this game he actually airballed, I think, or missed it short, but he kind of like snaked a pick and roll and took an escape dribble far to the right and elevated into like a pull up fifteen footer on the baseline, and he missed it. But I remember sitting there thinking, like, man, like he can get to the point where you can

knocked that shot down. Like he's dribbling the ball well enough, and he's at he's athletic enough that he's gonna be able to get to that shot whenever he wants, And so there's potential there for a dynamic two way player. Another guy that I think is a really interesting find

from the Lakers scouting department. But that scouting department and Lebron James has kind of carried this roster over the course of the last half decade, and I don't think Rob has done a good job and so and so, I'm I don't think it's a good idea to extend him the way that he did. But like I said,

I'm not surprised. The reality is the Lakers will not have consistent success in the NBA, especially after Lebron is gone, until they have somebody running the basketball operations department that is a basketball nut job, someone that is willing to do the work to understand what type of basketball players succeed in the modern NBA, the same way that Joey and Jesse bust two. I know Rob Polinka used to

play in college. I know he has a basketball background, but the reality is is right now, he's he's agent guy, he's sales e, he's a personality manager. He's kind of more of like a figure head than he is a grinder. I don't think that Rob Boblinka watches forty basketball games a week to keep up to date with what's working

in the modern NBA. I don't think so. Now, maybe I'm wrong about that, but you guys tell me if you guys think that Rob Polinka is as a tuned to what's working in the modern n b A. If he was, he wouldn't constantly be building rosters with traditional bigs and tiny guards. He wouldn't be targeting players like

Lonnie Walker with the mid level exception. This roster would have more wings somewhere between six seven and six nine that can defend multiple positions, and can attack close outs, and can shoot the basketball and do all of that stuff. You know how, you know, because that's what all the other good teams are doing. That's what the Warriors are doing,

That's what the Toronto Raptors are doing. You know, all of the all of the front offices that we consider to be competent are all heading in the same direction, and we're all seeing that lead to succes s, and then we're seeing Rob do different stuff. I don't believe that he's the right guy for this position, and as long as he's there, I think that the team is handcuffed.

I think that's just the reality of having a guy that's not a real basketball grinder, A guy that can watch, you know, every single meaningful basketball game in the NBA for a week and pay attention to what's working for certain teams and find little opportunities to add value here and there the way that the scouting department does. I just don't think Rob's the right guy for that. Uh. One last note on the rob Berlinka thing. I think he botched the Rust thing. I think he should have

moved him. I think he should have got Myles Turner and Buddy Yield or this Utah Jazz package, mainly because they needed training camp to establish good habits and to get those guys up to speed with some continuity to get ready for the season. I think even if they do get something tenent better, it's the loss of training camp and in the continuity from it that I think is problematic there. But this Victor Wemman Yama thing might

just have given him another chance. He's so incredibly good that there will be a good amount of tanking, and some of these teams that are concerned about potentially ditching some of their high quality role players that aren't contending will be more willing to do so because of this Victor woman Yama situation. So Rob Polinka just might end up falling asked backwards into a good trade here. If things pan out properly, He's got another chance here, but

I think he needs to do so. I have not seen enough from Russ yet in preseason to tell me that he's changed and he's just gonna suddenly be a productive player on this team. So I'm still pro trading him, and Rob's gonna get his chance, I think as a result of this Victor women Yama thing. The last thing that I wanted to touch on today was Ben simmons. Um obviously hasn't looked great offensively here in the preseason.

There's a pretty nasty video of him playing at a park and air bawling what looks like a twelve foot jump shot to the left. Um. I I disagree with a lot of people as it pertains to like, oh, he's right handed. He's not left handed like your dominant hands are dominant hand. I don't know what to tell you.

It's a form issue. He cross fires. He holds the ball kind of like almost like this on the side of his head and then flings it almost to the side, and so when he lines it up right, it can it can be a decent shot, but it's just too easy for the shot to go off the rails in terms of form. And you saw a perfect example of it in that video that's going around. When you're when you cross fire, you're gonna have a lot of left to right misses, and he had a really bad left

miss on that particular play. Do I think Ben Simmons needs to make threes to be a productive NBA player? No. What I do think, just like with Joannice, is you have to show a combination of a willingness to score the basketball either at the rim or before the rim, and you need to show a willingness to pass. He has the willingness to pass, and he can score at the rim. What he does not have is any sort of confidence to score somewhere between the perimeter and the rim.

Doesn't have to be a three, doesn't have to be a pull up fifteen footer. It can be hook shots, it can be floaters, it can be short jump shots in the lane, but it has to be something. He's got to find something there that is a a coherent, reliable shot that will make teams guard him honestly, because if they don't guard him, honestly, then those passing opportunities aren't there for him, and now he becomes a defensive player that is an offensive liability, especially when you get

into late rounds of the playoffs. And so again, like I think some of the focus on his jump shot is too much, but he I think. I think the easy answer is short jump shots like ten to fifteen foot jump shots that he could reliably make. But he's got to clean up some stuff with his form, and to me, it's that cross firing that he's got to get rid of. Al Right, guys, that is all I have for today. Like I said, we're gonna get into a ton of the other teams later on in this week.

As always, I sincerely appreciate your support and I will see you next time. And the volume