May 1, 2025 • 57 mins
The nerds react to Anthony Edwards & the Minnesota Timberwolves looking to close out Luka Doncic, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5, and break down how Amen Thompson led the Houston Rockets to a dominant win over Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors to keep their season alive.
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00:42:39 - Rockets-Warriors
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
No, oh my god, how could he do that?
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Watch what Charles Darwin? The nerves is where it's at.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Welcome everybody back into Nerd Sash as always, I'm Carson
Brevorn alongside, and he is Logan Camden and you already
know the deal. We got some playoff basketball to talk
about today, and Logan, we're gonna start with the big
matchup of the evening. The Minnesota Timberwolves close out the
LA Lakers. It is not Lakers in five, it is
(00:46):
instead Wolves in five. They did this in spite of
the fact that they had one of the worst three
point shooting performances in NBA history coming into this game. Logan,
all teams in NBA history combined when attempting forty or
more threes and making fewer than fifteen percent of them
(01:06):
were zero to nine. So you have to think about that.
It only had happened nine times. It's such a rare
combination of that sort of volume with that poor efficiency
from beyond the arc. And they were losing by an
average of twenty plus points per game these previous teams
and Minnesota wins. Anyways, how did they get that done?
And what does this game say to you about the Timberwolves.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
We can start there.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
They're better. Fuck. I mean, I'm so old for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I'm so mad at the Lakers, man, the lazy ass,
fucking Lakers. We'll get to them in a minute. But
Rudy Gobert was the star of the show tonight. No
Rudy Gobert disrespect will be tolerated after the night. He
dominated this game. They said it all over to broadcast
throughout it. But it's his first twenty piece in the
playoffs since Utah, it's his first ever.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I mean, just what a monumental game for him.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
He grabbing every single board. And that's what I was
confused about.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Man.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I didn't know if it was a smart call for
the Lakers to go so small throughout this game because
it was such a glaring mismatch and they just got
dominated in that facet. And so you're talking about the
outlier three point shooting that we got from Minnesota and
how bad they were, Carson, how do you circumvent that?
How do you overcome super poor three point shooting? You
(02:26):
kick the other team's ass on the glass. And that's
exactly what Gobert did in this game. And not only that,
Gobert dominated offensively on the interior two put backs. There's
just nobody with enough size to slow him down, and
so he feasted in this game. The other big thing,
(02:47):
I just thought the Lakers came out flat. How do
you come out flat in a game where you're at
home down three to one, and it's like, I'm getting
apathetic effort, I'm getting nothing to slow down the Timberwolves,
to provide any resistance. Guys are just getting cooked. I'm
(03:07):
just disappointed, man, I I just cannot That is the
definition of going out sad.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Oh yeah, what we just got from La.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
And then the theme of this game and the theme
of this entire series. The Lakers got completely outplayed down
the stretch in the fourth quarter. They got dog coming
into this game. They mentioned it on the broadcast. The
Wolves were plus thirty six in the fourth quarter. It's
the most important quarter man. You gotta play your best
basketball when the game's on the line. And for the
(03:38):
most part, it had been Anthony Edwards leading the charge
and getting this team across the finish line. And this
one is pretty much go. Baron Randall putting in a
lot of work, and I thought it was a really
disappointing game from the Lakers effort wise too. But the
big three I thought just shit their pants in this game, Luca, Lebron.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
And Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Austin Reeves deserves to be like an island banished shop,
all alone by himself, ostracized away from society, like Luke
and Lebron are over here and they're disappointing. But Austin
Reeves deserves to be banished from LA for his performance
in this series and in this game.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
What a colossal fucking disappointment.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Carson, Like, I'm not a Lakers fan, but that was embarrassing, dude.
And to go out in five games said, sorry ass.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Lakers, humiliating and pathetic.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
And I want to start by giving credit to the Wolves,
because I want to be clear. They're the better basketball team.
That much is very clear. And I think that they
are a great basketball team, and I have been kicking
myself for being too low on them coming into the playoffs. Frankly,
I think part of it was just an unfair amount
of skepticism of Julius Randall, who has played really good basketball.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
In this series.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Has been very clean and efficient and smart as a
mismatch attacker, hasn't been a ball stopper, has moved the
ball well. He's done everything right, and I think that
I was too critical and had too much doubt about
him in a playoff setting because outside of that, like
the Timberwolves check so many boxes for a deep playoff
run in today's game, they have top five depth in
(05:19):
the sport. I think the only teams that have superior
depth would be the three teams that have been like
in a different tier than anybody else this entire season,
that being, of course, the Thunder, the Celtics, and the Cavs.
Outside of that, the Timberwolves three through nine is as
good as it gets, and their lineup versatility is as
good as it gets. So this is a huge advantage
(05:41):
of theirs that we've seen materialize time and again throughout
this series. Go Bear struggling offensively in Game four. Great,
we close with nas Reed and he's a weapon. Mike
Conley is struggling. Great, we close with Dante Evincenzo. He's
an elite shooter and he's so disruptive defensively, Like, they
have so many different lineups with which they can beat you.
They have so many different reliable contributors. And then you
(06:02):
have ant, who was playing at an extremely high level
in their first three wins, was not good at all tonight,
but they still have a good enough collective supporting cast
that they win this one. So they're really really good,
and I think that they showed that in this series,
like they were just absolutely the better basketball team Bron.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Like you said, shout out to Julius Randall, Man, I'm
spressed with Julius. I have been really negative about Julius
Randall for a long time.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I think he'd earned it. I think it was warranted.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
But midway through this season, Julius made a commitment to
playing different, a different style and brand of basketball, making
a commitment to not be as much of a black
hole and playing smart.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And I'm proud of him.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
Man.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
This is player growth, this is character development, This is
real tangible growth, man, And I think he works here.
And this was a really impressive game and series for
Julius and is so as someone who.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Has been a Julius R.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Pessimist, I gotta give him his props as well, man,
because it was.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I think I'm I'm encouraged by this, and I.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Hope that Julius has turned over a new leaf moving forward.
I'm he played winning basketball in this series.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Man.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
I'm also so happy that Gobert was so utterly dominant
in this game. And I mean he was fantastic, like
just consistently good as a finisher and absolutely dominant on
the offensive glass. Nine offensive boards, twenty four rebounds in total,
like with obviously his elite defensive contributions, but he damn
near single handedly won them this game. Randall absolutely deserves
(07:37):
his credit as well for still being an efficient offensive
contributor in this game, and especially down the clutch, really
isolating matchups that he liked and winning them a couple
extra possessions on the offensive glass. But like, even though
Minnesota is clearly the better team, you are not supposed
to be able to win a game when you shoot
this poorly from beyond the arc. And in the first half,
(07:58):
I was like, the Wolves should be up twenty something.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Man.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
They shot eighty percent on two pointers in the first half,
and they had ten offensive boards, and every look they
were getting from three basically was wide open. Like the
Lakers were doubling even more aggressively than they have in
any of the previous games, and they're getting great look
after great look. They just literally couldn't make anything. Like
it's a freak outlier bad shooting performance. This is like
(08:23):
if the Rockets won the game when they missed twenty
seven straight threes.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Man, the Wolves missed eighteen.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Straight threes and there was never a stretch where they
were on from deep. So that's the only thing that
gave the Lakers a chance and for them to still
not be able to cash in and win this one game,
they still would have gone down because the Wolves are
just better. But to not escape when the opposing team
has a historically awful three point shooting performance, when Anthony
(08:48):
Edwards goes five of nineteen, I just think that's a disgrace,
and I think it's peaks to the fact that this
Lakers team is thoroughly mediocre, and that has honestly been
the case since they got Luka Doncic. I mean, they've
had some really high highs. They had their win streak,
they had a big win over OKC. I'm just so
mad at myself for buying into this team as being
(09:10):
anything more than a first round exit, because when they
first got Luca man I said, I think they're going
to be like the sixth or seventh best team in
the West. I highlighted all of the red flags, Luca
not playing at the same level, them having no playable bigs,
their complete lack of lineup versatility, lack of depth, horrible
defensive backcourt, lack of rim protection, all of these things
(09:31):
I laid out, and then I don't know what the
fuck happened.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Man, they started drinking at kool aid.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Me too, brother, me too.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I think I got a little bit too impressed by
a couple of really impressive individual performances, and there was
so much mediocre basketball in between that, and I knew
it after Luca trade, Man, they were fourteenth and offensive
rating and seventeenth and defensive rating. I think they had
a negative net rating with their big three on the
floor together, Like all of the points were there, and
(10:03):
still we just have this idea, man, Well, I'll speak
for myself that like superstars can overcome so much, and
they have so much shooting, and they'd shown the flashes defensively,
and you're like, if they can just really execute on
both ends, they can still reach a ceiling that we've
seen in moments, but the moments were way too few
and far between. In Minnesota had way too many ways
(10:26):
to expose their shortcomings. Having to help so aggressively, having
to double so often, not being able to consistently rebound
on the defensive end.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
All of that stuff was a major problem in this series.
And it's not a surprise. I'm still have been a surprise.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
At least it's not.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I'm upset at myself too, not for just taking the
Lakers outright, because I think the Bucks had a real
the Bucks. I think the Wolves had a really significant
flaw that I noted coming into this, and it was
their clutch offense, and I think I had a valid
reason to be skeptical.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
About this in general.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
What I'm really mad about is what you're talking about
is their matchup specifically against the Lakers, because a lot
of the keys that I said went in the wolves favor.
Me and Carson were very close in this series. Uh Like,
we didn't think the Wolves were like gonna get drugged
by the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I said, Lakers said.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
The Wolves are just better, just flat out.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Better they are.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
And the couple biggest things that I'm mad about one
is the Anthony Edwards component. I'm mad at myself for
thinking that the Lakers had anybody that could check him,
and not giving enough credence to him and his ability
and all the defensive attention he was gonna draw in
this series, And like, damn, man, it's like I've been
(11:43):
the biggest fucking ant guy on the planet for so
long and even I was like a man, give me
Luke and Lebron. So I'm mad at that that I
didn't see An't having a great series in coming, because.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I should have. But bigger than that shit defense the
rim pertend.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
The size aspect of it, the fact that the Wolves
have so many big, nasty sobs that can bang in rebound,
and that's the area where I'm really upset with myself.
If there's anything that the Wolves have proven that they
are over the past couple years is that they're tough,
that they're gonna fucking though Haymakers at you every game
(12:22):
and if they're not going back down. And if there's
one thing that the Lakers have proven in their identity,
it's that their soft as charming it's toilet paper. And
that's the real aspect that I'm mad at myself for
not recognizing, is that the Wolves ain't gonna fold. The
Wolves are tough, they gonna battle. They're gonna fight, and
they've got depth and the Lakers are soft in short
(12:43):
and uh, I drink that damn kool aid. The guy
that I'm really angry is about is Luca. But we
can save that if you've got more stuff on the Wolves.
I think that's the next biggest thing to talk about, though.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Like I want to give props to the Wolves to
what they did in this series, what I think they're
capable of doing going forward, most likely in a matchup
against the Warriors, Like absolutely great basketball team. This game, though,
says so much more about the Lakers, like Rudy was great,
Randa was really good. You're not supposed to be able
to win a game when the opposing team misses forty
(13:15):
three pointers and make seven. And that's where I think
I talked about a lot of like the core issues
with the Lakers roster construction, some of the really big
red flags that were there and that I talked myself
into overlooking just because well, oh, they have a couple superpowers.
But guess what, man, those superpowers didn't come through. Where
was the best offensive big three in basketball? Didn't see
(13:38):
them in this series. Austin Reeves was abominable. He was
so so bad on both ends of the floor in
this entire series, Like he is incapable of getting by
any of Minnesota's perimeter defenders. He was incapable of punishing switches.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
You see it.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Even in this game, there's a possession where he actually
creates a little space on a step back versus Rudy.
He won't even take the shot. He just passes out
of it. His confidence was destroyed. But against a team
that is this big, that is this athletic, and it
is this physical, like, he just doesn't have the ability
to get by people.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
He doesn't have the burst.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
I thought that his ball security was horrible against that
kind of ball pressure. So many terrible turnovers in this series.
And then defensively he's getting targeted over and over again.
And in this game, like he couldn't even make a
wide open three. That's the one thing that you expect
to be reliable with him is that elite shooting at
least off the catch, and he had none of it going.
(14:35):
So he was bad in a way that I think
like really jeopardizes his future with this team.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
It was that concerning of a series.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
But this is inexcusable stuff from Luka Dancic, who was
just horrible in fourth quarters, and to end this series,
we talked about it coming into this game. He was
averaging five points per game on twenty nine percent shooting
in fourth quarters, just dreadful and was an abomination defensively
the entire time. Like the number of blowbys that he
(15:03):
allowed in this series is an embarrassment. The number of
times that he was targeted by Anthony Edwards or by
Julius Randall and they're getting past him, or they're getting
deep into the paint and they're drawing help and they're
creating a shot for somebody else, Like Reeves and Luca
single handedly or I guess together, made the Lakers defense
(15:23):
untenable because of how easy it was to consistently exploit
them on that side of the ball. And then what
Luca gives you offensively in this series is just not
nearly good.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Enough to justify that.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Like he ends up being terrible in fourth quarters. He
gets his thirty a game on solid efficiency, but in
the big moments wasn't good enough. The conditioning wasn't good enough.
And I think that both he and Lebron should be really,
really embarrassed with their effort in key moments, their inability
to get a body on Rudy Gobert and Julius Randall
(15:57):
down the stretch of this game felt like they didn't
care about winning, Like it was that level of poor
effort of a do or die game.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
It's simple shit, it's putting a body in boxing like It's.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Like, dude, Rudy obviously is a huge size advantage. Some
of these offensive rebounds are uncontested. He is not getting
boxed out whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
And that's what I really don't understand, is because you
figured that would be a point of emphasis for JJ
coming into this game. They they're starting five in this
game as Hachi, Murray and DFS. You know, they're not
running a big It's like, you can win like that.
But the way to win it is all four or
five guys have got to make a commitment to boxing
and battling on the glass. That's the only way you
(16:38):
overcome something like that. And man, like you said, Lakers
look like they couldn't care less down the stretch.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Yeah, and also I have to say Luca definitely was
not good enough for them to win this series. But
their formula had to be basically, we're gonna have the
two best players on the floor, or at least our
two guys are gonna both play at a consistent Superstar
Time ten level, and neither of them did. I thought
that Lebron was really good in games three and four,
(17:05):
but in Game one he was just floating through that
when they needed more out of him if they were
going to win it. In this game, like, he has
some nice moments where the intensity is there and he
makes some really nice cuts, but it's just very illuminating
to me how little Lebron is comfortable of or was
comfortable in this series. Just like initiating offense for you
(17:29):
for an extended stretch, like that phase where Lebron took
over never happened, and it was always just sort of
him picking his spots, him really relying on the jumpers,
and that just meant that he wasn't reliably great enough
offensively for them to win this series. So there's so
many ways in which the Lakers just weren't good enough,
and still like they had their chances in games three
(17:51):
through five, they were in the clutch and all of
these and they were out executed in the clutch and
all of them.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Every single one of them.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I'm seeing some ridiculous takes in the chat right now,
I'm gonna be honest with Yeah, Nico Harrison was not right,
Like you never do that trade.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
It is still moronic, It is still idiotic.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
The difference between the Lakers and the Mavericks or the
Mavericks were a championship contender at full health with Luka
Doncic and we were just I was just wrong on
the Lakers, Like I'm gonna keep it on it be.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I thought they could go deeper in this.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I didn't think they were championship contenders, but I thought
they were definitely conference finals. But this roster's way worse
and Nico's not right. What I will say is that
Luca's got to be way better, and I think this offseason,
this offseason, Luca has to make a commitment to getting
into shape, to getting his conditioning better, and making a
(18:44):
commitment to just trying. It is really concerning that in
back to back playoffs, it is a track record now
of you not caring it all on that end, and
I'm two of.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
The most shameful defensive performances I've ever seen was the
Superstar the finals last year in this entire series, the
number of times that Jade McDaniels just blew by him, and.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
It's in there's a difference, right, because Luca does not
have the the physicals to be a really high level,
impactful defender. Right, He's got real limitations. He's slow footed,
He's that's his biggest limitation, right, He's just slow. But
you can mitigate that with effort. I don't even see
(19:29):
him trying man like defense is.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Yeah, we know he can be passable.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
We've seen stretches where he's passable because he's got good
hands and he can move his feet decently well, and
he's strong, so when he can stay in front of you,
he can be kind of physical. Like, yeah, he's always
going to be a below average defender.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
But this was disgraceful defense.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
And it's the second straight playoff series when he is
by so so far the worst defensive player on the
floor and a weak point who is getting attacked and
exploited over and over again and compromising his team on
that end exactly to the point where it's like, you're
not giving me all around superstar impact. The last two
playoff series we've seen from Luka Doncics. That's not superstar
impact when you are that destructive to your team's defense
(20:10):
and you're not giving me the twenty twenty one versus
the Clippers kind of Luca production. You're not giving me
last year regular season Luca production that you need to
offset that to where I'm still like, Okay, yeah, you're
playing like one of the handful of best players on
the planet. Like he just didn't do that in this series,
and he didn't do that this year with the Lakers
man twenty eight, eight and seven on fifty nine percent
(20:32):
true shooting. I've been talking about these issues with him
for a long time, and some people like looked at
me like I was crazy, Like it doesn't matter that
he's not getting by people, that he's not getting to
the rim and finishing at the rim. It's nearly the
same rate that he was years ago, and it does matter.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Yeah, are you comfortable putting Tatum over Luca.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
Tatum's a hell of a lot better at basketball right
now than Luca. Like this year, it is not a conversation.
So the only argument for having Luca above him is
just the benefit of the daltation.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Just like being someone who's saying.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
I know what Luca is capable of at his best,
what he was last year and in the previous couple seasons.
I'm not inclined to give the benefit of the doubt though,
to a guy who like just doesn't seem to take
basketball seriously enough. And like that's what this series is, man,
the box out stuff. It's embarrassing. It is embarrassing with
your season on the line.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
It's petulant almost.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
It's like a child where it's like, I'm so good
on offense, I don't even need to you know, like,
what's the point. I'm here to serve buckets And it's like,
that's not a championship mentality, man. And the biggest thing
to me is that this year you can really isolate
it because, like, it was a horrendous defensive series in
the finals last year, and I was willing to give
Luca somewhat of a pass because of the laundry list
(21:49):
of injuries he was dealing with in that series. I
was like, you know what, it was really bad, it
was really ugly, but all right, I'll give him a pass.
And even Nan in that run, the Mavericks had such
a good defense behind him that you could limit how
good Luca needed to be in this situation that's completely different.
Like not that the Lakers don't have any good defenders,
They've got some, but it's a way worse defensive situation
(22:12):
where it's more important that everybody does their pulls their weight,
and he just didn't do that at all this offseason.
So I need to see a mentality change. And it's
concerning to me too, Carson, because it's like the Lakers
have kind of had this as a part of their identity,
even pre Luca, you know what I mean, not given
full effort, not giving a fuck.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
It's got to be different.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
And so like, don't get me wrong, the Lakers do
that trade a hundred times out of one hundred. They
have given themselves life for a decade into the future
because you have acquired a guy like.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Luka Danciic, and there's gonna take a lot.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
There's gonna be a major, major roster overhaul this offseason.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
And I would be comfortable with.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Moving off of Austin Reeves one just because I think
we have seen some of the potential playoff limitations with him,
but more importantly, because if Luca's going to be this
bad defensively, I'm willing to sacrifice the offensive firepower that
Reeves gives me to get a three and D guard
or someone that fits better in this team system.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
You got to get a big man. You've got to.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Improve the depth. There's a lot of roster movement that's
gonna happen here, and I think it's gonna make the
team better. But to get this team where it needs
to go, Luca's got to be better defensively. He's got
to be in shape, and I really want to see
him make a commitment to that this offseason because that's
where the work is going to be established. It's not
playing yourself into shape in the regular season. It's gonna
(23:35):
be this offseason getting into shape. So when the regular
season kicks off, you're good to go.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
To give me all.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Eighty two, man, And that's what I need to see, man,
Luca his.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Luca's dropping for me and my player rankings, Man, and
I don't know I.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Answer sending Luca's dropping. What a complete fucking disaster.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Man.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
It is so rare to see a season that is
this bad end to end from a twenty six year
old who I have considered like one of the all
time great offensive talents that we've seen and one of
the clearly top four players of the last five years.
For him to have a season where he is this
consistently below the level that we know he's been capable
(24:23):
of in years past, with like just a few exceptions,
that's so so bad. And if he doesn't look himself
in the mirror this offseason and work his ass off
to get better, then I do think that that is
a condemnation of Luca's basketball character and like could be
really really concerning about what level he is going to
get back to. That being said, I agree with you
(24:43):
the trade never ever will make sense on the MAVs
part because of the approach that they took getting an
older player back who still isn't better and who has
more concerns about availability in Anthony Davis, and shrinking their
timeline like that.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
No, I know that you're not.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
I'm just saying I know that take is going to
be come more popular now because of Luca's issues, and
it's still wrong. And like you, ECTO would way rather
have a decade plus of Luca than three years of
prime Anthony Davis or whatever they're going to get.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
One hundred percent, I don't want to act like any
of those concerns about Luca weren't valid, because they obviously
are with what we've seen in the past two seasons,
but shouldn't change the fact that a trade.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
I do want to talk about what's next for the
Lakers because I think that you were hitting on it.
There are two very clear needs for this team. They
absolutely need another good two way wing. That's what I
thought time and again when Austin Reeves is struggling on
both sides of the ball, like if he is not
going to be a productive offensive player because he's overwhelmed physically,
(25:44):
you need to have a guy out there who can
defend at a higher level, who can switch, who is
not another target to be exploited, who can be a
more impactful team defender, to cover up for Luca's issues,
And obviously they did not have that guy.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
On this roster.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Well, they had a couple of him and Ruija Chi Murr,
but they had to play them forty plus minutes a
game because they had no playable bigs.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
They needed every minute they could get out of those guys.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
And then you might turn to Gabe Vincent, who they
played more in this game, and he's a solid defensive guard,
but he's still small and obviously not nearly the offensive
player that reeves is they could turn to Van do O,
some who's a really good defensive player and has an
excellent motor, plays with his hair on fire, but is
so limited offensively, Like they needed to have multiple options
(26:30):
they could turn to, and they didn't, and their top
three player was actively bad, really on both ends in
this series.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
That kills you.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
In today's NBA, the Timberwolves are the exact opposite of that.
They have so many guys who they can turn to.
So that's where the Lakers really need to improve. Obviously depth,
but specifically getting a two way wing.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I would say.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Ideally more of like a true point of attack defender,
because I think that DFS and Ruy and Lebron, they
all collectively do a pretty good job with the back
line stuff being super active as helpers. I want somebody
who can stay in front of guards at a higher level.
And then obviously they need a serious big, like you
cannot attempt to play a series against a team that
(27:12):
has two awesome bigs when you have zero rotation caliber bigs.
So I do have a trade idea since at that
time of the year. What if they traded Austin Reeves
for Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendrix and a second round pick.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Is that enough to get back for Reeves? Would Utah
do that?
Speaker 2 (27:30):
It's in it for Utah big at.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Austin Reeves, who I do think is pretty sick, and
if he's not in a defensive backcourt with Luca, then
I'm a lot less concerned about it. It's just I
don't think that you can really put a high level
defense together with those two as your point of attack.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
I don't think. I don't think you can either. I
would not do that if I was Utah. That's enough.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
That's not enough for me, okay, but you think that
would be good for the Lakers.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
One hundred percent if you can get a guy like Kesler,
I'm I'm selling the forum for Kesler like I'm willing
to give up a couple role players if that means
I can get him. And you tell me what you
think about this. Yachi Mura really works with these guys.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
He was so great tonight.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Can we give credit to him because he was the
one dude who showed up in a big.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Man I'm willing to shop everybody, though, I am willing
to trade anyone on this roster, and maybe other than
Luke and Lebron obviously, but ree Is, I think is
the guy who is on a good contract, is an
intriguing asset across the league. And he addresses and I
(28:35):
get that it's a disappointing series for him, a really
disappointing one basically across the board. He is still a
very intriguing asset for teams because of his skill set,
Like he's a really good offensive.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Player and absolutely post All Star Break what three games
super efficiently.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
And teams, teams need that, and they would be willing
to sacrifice because the Lakers don't need more offense, they
don't need more creation.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
You need defense.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
And so I'm I really like that for La And
I want.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
To be clear, like this was a terrible series from Reeves.
This is not an overreaction to propose this, in my opinion,
because the second they traded for Luca, I mentioned that,
like this was a very reasonable path for them to
consider down the line, just because Austin Reeves is really good.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
But alongside Luca, you need.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
To prioritize that perimeter athleticism and defense, and you don't
need to prioritize the offensive creation that Reeves brings as much.
It just makes it even a little bit clearer when
he's as bad as he was. And then let's say
that they can do that. Okay, Walker Kesler, I think
would be a huge win for them to get He's awesome,
dominant interior defender, great on the glass, really efficient finisher.
(29:42):
Then you still have Connect who I think is something
of an asset even though he's twenty four and like
really bad defensive, at least he can shoot the hell
out of the ball. And you have the twenty thirty
one first, and then you use that to try to
get that one wing. I think that that is their
path this offseason. Do you have some super chats that
I want to get to thank you all of you
(30:03):
for your generous donations to the Nerd Seze Foundation. Kaylee says,
one minute before tip off, I sent in the Discord
Monster Rudy game incoming. I can feel in my veins.
Thank you Rudy, and thank you me. You cooked, I
mean you cooked. It's the best playoff game of his career.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Hey, Kaylee's the goat bro, She's the goat Wolves fan.
We should have known bro we shot out and she's
the only clairvoyant one man. We were all sipping on it,
Lakers kool aid.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
Yeah for real, super Nova says, did aunt outplay Luca
this series?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Yes, I would say so convincingly. And if you have
aunt over Luca, which I'm probably slowly moving towards, I
don't blame you, Like I.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
God, I'm so disappointed Luca man.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
The only knock on ant in this series would be
the scoring efficiency, which really gets brought down by this game.
And like, he was really really bad as a scorer
in this game. He goes, oh, eleven from three, but
he's also forcing some drives and struggling to finish at
the rim. So it was like an f scoring performance
for him in this one. But he had some great
scoring performances and most importantly, he consistently made the right
(31:08):
reads as a playmaker and throughout this game. Like, yeah,
he was struggling individually as a score but they were
still treating him like the Anthony Edwards who gave them
forty three in Game four. So again, he created so
many wide open shots for his teammates in that first half.
So the scoring volume is there, the playmaking is there,
and he was very solid defensively. He wasn't getting an
(31:28):
f on that side of the ball like Luca was.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
I have a potential trade. I don't okay, I don't
love it, but it's it's something.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Sorry, Okay, I'll hear it.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
So the Lakers send out Reeves, Hachi Mura and Connect
and they get back KCP and Goga Batadze.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
No, absolutely fucking not.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
What the hell I was trying.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
I was trying to cook up Suggs. But I have
no way of making the money work.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Nah, man. They can do better than that.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
I mean, Reeves is certainly a better asset than that,
And if I can, I'm holding on to Ruy.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I think Ruy fills his job very nicely.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
For this he does, but like I said, I just wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
I mean, that's not enough. CACP couldn't make a shot
this year and go guy. I love him. He's a
backup center.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah, I mean, but they need a backup center like
I'd like.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Them to get a starting center. I think they can
get a starting center with Reeves. I think we don't
need to underrate him as an asset just because he
struggled so much in this series.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
I'm also trying to find a spot that works for
Reeves too, where he's not going to a bottom feeder
like Utah.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I'd like that.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I mean Reeves and Orlando would be sexual.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
I love it for them. I'd like this perspective.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Now, I'd like to work out something that's mutually beneficial
for both teams. But like I said, if I'm the Lakers'
front office, I'm on Pelinka. I'm not married to anybody
but Lebron and Luca.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Yeah, film me to offer to show me the money.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Another sports rent says the Lakers need a real center.
Luca's better when he has a lob threat and isn't
going io every time down the floor. I totally agree,
And obviously that is probably going to be their number
one priority we talked about. That's one of the two
major priorities at the very least the Mark Williams deal.
Obviously they end up breaking off that could be for
(33:19):
their long term good just because of availability stuff.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
But it would be really.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
Nice to have a young athletic center like that, with
those sort of defensive tools and that sort of play
finishing ability. So I do really like Walker Kestler, He's
not as much of a vertical lob threat necessarily, but
just like a really awesome two way. Yeah, really great
defender for sure. Thomas says, hilarious seeing Reddick being blamed
when his best player acts like he's playing in a
(33:44):
preseason game with the season on the line. What do
you thinking about JJ Reddick in his.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Job with this team, in his future with this team? Logan,
I like Reddick.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I like Reddick a lot.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
I think Reddick firsthand got the full Lakers experience.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Yeah, rilling of the.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Media, the apathetic level of play from the Lakers. The
Lakers issue, to me is a top down issue. I
don't think that it is something that Reddick can singularly fix.
I think when your two stars of Lebron and Luca
and both of them are okay with is not playing,
you know what. Like I hate making that such a
big deal, but it's like we talk about the stars,
(34:22):
and now the teams buy into their identity behind them.
If it's Halliburton and the Pacers and they're uptempo sharing
the ball, if it's the Nuggets in their play style
of sharing the ball, pretty basketball, working good shots to
get great shots the Timberwolves. I think embody that Anthony
Edwards and his relentless intensity and passion, and they all
(34:44):
play with that. I think it's an issue with the
Lakers when you're two stars of Lebron and Luca and
they're okay with I like JJ. I think he's a
good X's and O's guy. I think he's gonna get
better as he gains more experience. And for the most part,
I like his game plans and the stuff that he employed.
The stuff in Game four I didn't like where he
played his entire starting five, the entire second half. That's
(35:06):
the only real issue that I disagree with. But hm,
he for sure got the full Lakers experience.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Man, I feel.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I feel kind of bad for JJ because I feel
like he's gonna get I think he's gonna get.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Cooked in the press by the media and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And I don't really I think it's more of a
roster construction issue that the Lakers didn't do absolutely run
or anything like that. Like, I don't feel like JJ
failed this team absolutely dude.
Speaker 4 (35:33):
When they made the move for Luca, I looked at
the roster and I said, Yeah, this is not a
team that's gonna make a deep playoff run.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
They're gonna be a first round exit. And then again
I talked.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
To myself into, oh, they can win a playoff series,
they can win two playoff series. But absolutely this was
an issue of roster construction. There weren't adjustments to be
made for JJ, Like they had to stick to one
basic defensive principle. They could make some little alteration to
it in terms of how aggressive they are sending doubles
(36:02):
compared to just aggressive gap help, but like they were
never going to be able to really stay home on
shooters and like play ant more one on one because
they just don't have the defensive personnel to do that
on the perimeter or on the back line. They have
to be this super switch heavy defense that again basically
just tries to muck up drives and you have that
sort of collective helping in the paint. And then offensively,
(36:26):
when you don't have a playable big like, there's really
not much versatility there. I do think at times it
would have been nice to see them just run some
more actions, run some more organized offense as opposed to
literally just isoball every possession down try to force the
switch usually with a big who guarded the Lakers pretty
(36:48):
well in isolation, like Rudy guarded them pretty well. Nas
was totally capable. Julius Randall I have to give credit
for playing some of the best defense I've ever seen
from him in this series too. So Lucas absolutely at
his best when he's able to feed a big out
of pick and roll, when he's seeing drop coverage, when
you are able to switch like, he can definitely still
(37:10):
beat you. But he wasn't as consistently great as a
scorer this year as he has been in years past.
I do think that his passing is a bigger weapon,
and they were able to limit his playmaking impact in
this series by again basically forcing him to be that
isolation heavy scorer, and the Lakers just didn't have a
ton of buttons to push because they don't have a
(37:32):
roster with any.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
Sort of versatility.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
So there are some things from JJ where I'm like,
he's damn near like Bobby Knight out there, dude. I mean,
he gets angrier than any coach in the NBA, really,
and that's on the court, and that's impressors, which is
just kind of weird because I feel like we got
a sense of his personality because he did so much
media stuff and he's not at all like that, Like
(37:56):
he's a lighthearted guy.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Which man like.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
I think the job is different for sure. Absolutely, I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
I'm always not in there.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
I do like it because I at least see the
JJ gives a fuck. He cares like my sleeve, and
to me, I don't. I don't really mind that as much,
and I can trust me, bro i'd be frustrating. I
think we don't be frustrated coaching the Lakers man.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
And I do think that he's a good x's and
o's coach. I think if you looked at like some
of their best individual defensive games this year, he cooked
up some phenomenal game plans against Denver against OKC in
the first matchup, so he got the most out of
this team. At the end of the day, it was
just a team that had some fatal flaws that no
coach is really going to be able to make up for.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
So congratulations to the Wolves.
Speaker 4 (38:43):
To the Lakers, man, I kind of think you should
be smited by God if you lose a game when
the opposing team shoots under fifteen percent from three and
takes forty seven of them. Like, I'm still just trying
to wrap my head around the fact that they couldn't
capitalize on that in this individual game.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
It's really really embarrassing.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Deven Chenz so many great looks, couldn't hit any Nikay
Alexander Walker had so many great looks, couldn't hit any
but on average eleven, Oh my gosh, he went oll
of eleven. Truly, Rudy Gobert won them this game on
the glass and with his finishing in the paint and
put up some prime Kareem abdul Jabar numbers, some prime
(39:21):
Zobots numbers. Gotta respect Gobart man. I'm really excited to
see what the Wolves are capable of, and they're going
to be my favorite against whoever comes out. If it's
the Warriors or the Rockets, I think it's gonna be
the Warriors, and I think that's a really difficult matchup
for Golden State for some reasons that we will get
into later. For now, we're going to take a quick
(39:42):
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Speaker 5 (41:51):
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Speaker 4 (42:39):
The Lakers got embarrassed, Logan, But so did the Golden
State Warriors up three to one obviously, so very different
level of urgency for them to win this one.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
But the major culprit in their blowout.
Speaker 4 (42:53):
Loss was none other than my beloved Amen Thompson, who
just had a masterful game.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
What do you have to say about his performance, Logan.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
I mean I thought he was the best player on
the floor.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Yeah, God, damn right he was.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Against Golden State.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
This is a really ugly Golden State game, and I'm
surprised we haven't had more of these showings yet where
the you know, the Rockets really can disrupt Golden State.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
But I mean, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
This was the second largest uh first half deficit for
Golden State in their franchise playoff history. They trailed by
twenty seven points. They just hit him in the mouth
and the Warriors never came back. I mean, they closed
this game for almost the entirety of the fourth quarter
(43:42):
with the bench mob out there and shout out to
the bench mob for making it close.
Speaker 4 (43:46):
I mean, dude, it was like the last eighteen minutes
of the game.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
It took as that was six minutes left in the third.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
Dude, TJD. Kevin Knox like Pat Spencer.
Speaker 1 (43:55):
That was wild to see in a Braxton key.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
We got Jackson be a legend.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Yeah, that was crazy.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
But the game was basically decided in the first half.
Golden State scoreless for three minutes in the first quarter,
scoreless for six minutes in the second quarter. Butler and
Curry were scoreless in the first quarter, didn't score a point,
and Steph Curry didn't get a bucket until after the
midway point through the second quarter. You combine that with
(44:27):
the fact that the Rockets were not missing in the
first quarter. Van Vliet spraying, Dylan Brooks hidding everything. Uh damn.
Tarry Easton had a big game too, man, just driving
to the rack and getting good looks inside and shout
out to the Warriors bench unit, because I mean, without them,
this would have been even more of a beatdown, Like
(44:49):
those guys were hidding some shots.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
I mean, it was really ugly for the Golden State.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
I mean, in garbage time. I appreciate you giving props
to the bench mob.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
No, no, no, I don't.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
I don't mean those guys. That's not the part of
the game I'm talking about it. I'm talking about in
the first I mean, dude, in the first quarter, I
think the bench had sixteen points.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
The starters had eight.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Like it was I think it was De Santos in
the Boys given Yeah, true, Quintin Post Like the Rockets
defense was so disruptive and impressive in this game, and
the Warriors were really sloppy too. I want to give
credit to Houston, but I do think this was a
double edged sword. I thought Golden State played a really
(45:29):
sloppy game.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
As well.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
I think some of this is gonna average out in
the next game. I don't think Houston is gonna be
is good shooting from behind the arc, but they're gonna
make life hard on Golden State.
Speaker 2 (45:43):
Man, this isn't something that's gonna change.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Like the ball pressure, they couldn't figure out the zone
in this game. They kept getting open threes, but nobody
was penetrating and getting downhill, and so you're settling with
bad three point shooters taking shots.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
This is a really impressive game for Houston.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
And that's what I'm saying, Man, down three to one,
that's the intensity that you come out with. And I
get that Houston as a defensive minded, super athletic and
physical team and they're way younger. They came out with effort,
they came out with energy. They made sure that they
weren't gonna get denied and get the door slammed on
them the way the Lakers did.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
And props to him for that, man, But.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
Amen was the star of the show today, dude, super
disruptive getting downhill. Like I said, Man, I thought he's
the best player on the floor in this game.
Speaker 3 (46:28):
I don't even think it was close.
Speaker 4 (46:30):
He was absolutely dominant on both ends, particularly defensively. Though
I thought that he probably had the second most impressive
individual defensive performance of the playoffs so far. I would
give the number one nod to Alex Caruso in Game three,
but he became the third player since twenty fifteen in
the playoffs to have five plus steals in one plus
(46:53):
block and a half. Who else is on that list? Logan,
Draymond Green makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
And TJ Warren. How the hell the TJ Warring get
on that list?
Speaker 4 (47:01):
I don't know, But Amen is on that list now too,
and I think he does just about as good a
job on Steph as anybody I've seen. Like I think
Drew did a great job on Steph at his best.
I think that Kawhi did a really awesome job on
Steph at his best. But a Men is just a
one of a kind athlete. He's one of the greatest
athletes we've seen in the history of this game. His
(47:23):
motor does not stop, and his level of ball pressure
in his hands with his length, like he's just taking
the ball from Steph and Steph's thumb is hurt, so
maybe the handle's not quite as sharp. And also Steph
just didn't have his peak focus in this game, none.
Speaker 3 (47:39):
Of the Warriors did.
Speaker 4 (47:40):
But for a men to take the ball from him
three separate times in the first half alone and go
the other way and get transition opportunities, I can't think
of another time that I've seen somebody.
Speaker 3 (47:51):
Do that to Steph.
Speaker 4 (47:53):
Steph also this year is only ten of twenty eight
when guarded by a men, so he's really struggled in
that individual matchup up and on top of that, like
a man is blowing things up as a help side
rim protector, he gave Steph major problems. I do think
when Steph is at his best, like he was in
games one in three, there's nothing that anybody can do.
But I would probably be inclined to stick specifically to
(48:16):
a men on Steph even more than they have because
they've mixed in a lot of Van Vliet and a
little bit of Brooks. But I think a man is
absolutely the best answer. And then offensively, he was super
aggressive in transition. He was cutting well, he was cleaning
up on the offensive, glass, had a couple of nice
pick and roll possessions, just like super productive two way
performance ends up with twenty five in this game.
Speaker 3 (48:38):
Six boards, three assists, five steals, three blocks.
Speaker 4 (48:41):
So he was unequivocally the best player on the floor
in a playoff game in year two. That's not something
you see a lot. That's special. And this is a
guy who still has so much room for growth, so
much room for improvement. And I've just been very encouraged
by how good he's looked at these last two games,
Like clearly has gotten more comfortable as the series has
(49:01):
gone along. I've liked his offensive approach more. I've liked
him being really opportunistic in transition, just looks a lot
more comfortable and has played some really good basketball for
the Warriors. Everything was bad in this game. I thought
their defensive energy just was not.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
What it needed to be.
Speaker 4 (49:16):
But also like Dylanbrooks shot really well, Fred van Vliet
was on fire again. I will say, like, you cannot
get caught switching late with Van Vliet, where you don't
get a hand up to get a good contest on
a pull up three. You cannot let him walk into
pull up threes in transition, you cannot get caught under
on a handoff.
Speaker 3 (49:35):
Like all the dude wants to do is shoot threes.
Speaker 4 (49:38):
Okay, that's eighty percent of his shot, Diet, so can
test those threes. He shouldn't be getting any open looks, really,
but he got some in this one, and he has
shot the hell out of the ball in the last
couple of games. So the defense certainly struggled the most
that it has and the Rockets offense looked as good
as it has like everything was clicking. Shng Goon was
even bullying Draymond, which he has not done in this
(50:00):
series up to this point. And then offensively, everything was
so so bad for the Warriors. I thought the non
Steph lineup in the first half was horrifying. You mentioned
how confounded they were by the zone. My god, like,
it didn't look like an NBA offense. And that is
very liable to happen when Steph is off the floor
(50:21):
if Jimmy can't step up and correct it and take
things into his own hands, and in this game, Jimmy
just was not capable of that whatsoever. But like you said,
nobody's penetrating the zone. They're not getting the ball where
they need to. In the middle, they're turning the ball
over like crazy, and when guys get decent looks, they're
passing up on them.
Speaker 3 (50:41):
Nobody's really confident there, dude.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
That's what I didn't get with Kurs minutes in this game.
I didn't really understand some of the lineups that he
was going to. I wanted some more Buddy like even
though I've been you know, critical of Buddy.
Speaker 2 (50:53):
It speaks to the point you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (50:56):
Where somebody's got to be able to shoot the ball.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
And somebody's said to like Gary Payton can be passive,
Podds can be passive, Dre Jimmy right, like James.
Speaker 3 (51:07):
Ris Santos, look at damn near the whole team dude.
Speaker 1 (51:09):
For real, Like sometimes that's why I want. I want
her to be a little bit smarter with with some
of these minutes, Like you need a guy sometimes it
can just beat a little release valve for you, you know.
Speaker 4 (51:20):
And uh yeah, but they really need Jimmy to be
great in those non Steph minutes.
Speaker 3 (51:25):
I mean that's been such a Jimmy difference.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Jimmy tried, but Jimmy was just missing, Like Jimmy I
got to some looks, but.
Speaker 3 (51:33):
Yeah, he got to some okay looks.
Speaker 4 (51:36):
They are gonna need him going forward to be closer
to the Game four performance that he gave them than
this one, which I think he might be capable of replicating.
But like he's clearly not at one hundred percent. That
was obvious even in Game four. That's why the second
half was so impressive that he founded it in himself.
I think he just probably needs Dylan Brooks to say
(51:58):
something crazy, maybe talk a little much too much shit
after this game and then I think that you can
get a better version of Jimmy again. But yeah, I mean,
he was really bad in this one, and Steph really
struggled in this one, and nobody around them could step
up and make shots. So this was terrible from them.
I also think though, this was a very obvious spot.
Speaker 3 (52:17):
For a potential letdown game.
Speaker 4 (52:19):
Like old team, a little beat up, Steph hurt, Jimmy hurt,
rockets crazy young, crazy, competitive, defensive minded, like you know
that they're gonna fight for their life, and it's not
surprising that the Warriors didn't bring that same energy. Like
it's pretty reminiscent of twenty twenty two against the Grizzlies.
(52:39):
They were up three to one and then they got
smacked on Memphis home floor, and then they closed it
out in Game six. I would expect a similar story
this time around. They do need Jimmy to be better.
They definitely need to play a hell of a lot
better than they did today, But they just didn't bring
their best stuff, and I think part of that was
just effort of.
Speaker 2 (52:56):
The team's remaining in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Do you think the Warriors have the lowest Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 4 (53:02):
I was going to say that, man, and I'm glad
that you brought it up. There are just so many
instances in which, like if Steph and Jimmy aren't being heroic.
All of the flaws of the other guys on this
team can.
Speaker 1 (53:14):
Be so dependent on those guys, and when you're getting
it going, the Doves look unstoppable.
Speaker 3 (53:21):
Yeap, I totally agree.
Speaker 4 (53:22):
I think that they have the biggest floor to ceiling disparity,
and I do think that they have the lowest floor.
Speaker 3 (53:28):
There was one quote that stood out to me though.
Speaker 4 (53:29):
They were talking to Dennis Scott, who's doing the court
side reporting, and he said that Steve Kerr told him
before the game that if they got to a spot
like this where they were down by like close to thirty,
he'd pull the starters quickly.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
Would you even drop that? Like, that's what our expanation.
Speaker 4 (53:49):
Man, I'm like, first of all, I think you can
figure that one out on the fly. If you're down
by thirty, I think you can feel out when you
want to take out your guys. But Okay, if you
are thinking about that, why are you disclosing that? Like
that to me was just a mindset of a team
that wasn't ready to win this basketball He didn't care
that much about winning this basketball game.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
Hey, Dennis, I think we might get drugged tonight in
the case I'm pulling all my starter.
Speaker 3 (54:14):
That's what I'm saying, Like, how did that come up?
Speaker 4 (54:16):
Like did Dennis cut really ask him like, if you
guys are getting your ass kicked, are you pulling guys?
Speaker 3 (54:21):
Did kerr off for that? Either way? I thought that
that was weird.
Speaker 2 (54:23):
And you know what even made me mad?
Speaker 1 (54:26):
What tell me, do you think I thought the Dubs
should have put their guys back in for that little
last stretch.
Speaker 2 (54:32):
Yeah, because I'm down down thirteen ish. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (54:36):
It just made me mad that fucking Braxton Key sold
like a layup that would have kind of been a
little bit of a momentum, you know, I think it
would have cut it to eleven or nine, and then
it's like, oh shit, dude. You know we had a
couple of threes and we're right back in this thing.
And then once Key sold that layup and Pat Spencer
got the ejection.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Dude, bruh.
Speaker 1 (54:57):
I feel so bad for Pat Spencer. They can't even
call him man by his own name. The fucking PA
guy called him his brother, He called him Cam Spencer.
Like that's so disrespectful, man.
Speaker 3 (55:10):
That is disrespectful, and I won't stand for it.
Speaker 4 (55:12):
I get what You're saying about them putting the starters
back in at the end, and I was like.
Speaker 3 (55:16):
Eh, should they?
Speaker 4 (55:17):
But then I was like, Nah, they've punted on this game,
and that's okay. Let Jimmy get a little rest, Let
Steff get a little rest, and they'll be back and
they'll be out their best for Game six, which I
do think they will win. Any last words before we
wrap this episode up, Logan nas Reed nas Reid finds
(55:40):
his way in the second round for the second consecutive year.
Shout out to the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are very good
at building very good basketball teams and that was on
display against one team that certainly had the star power
on paper, but did not have a very good complete
basketball team. We of course will be back tomorrow night.
(56:03):
We got two game sixes, so you know, we got
to talk about those, and if you want to catch
that show, you know where to find us. You can
watch the live stream on YouTube, or you can watch
it back after the fact, or you can listen to
the show across all audio platforms, also on our YouTube channel.
Though we have all of our video essays and breakdowns
that we do. I just did one yesterday talking about
(56:24):
how there's a new reality in the NBA. Things are changing.
Depth is more important than ever, lineup versatility is more
important than ever, which is the exact theme that we
saw play out in Timberwolves Lakers.
Speaker 3 (56:36):
So you can go ahead and check that one out
if you want. I thought it was a good video.
I thought it was interesting.
Speaker 4 (56:40):
You can also check us out across social TikTok, Instagram
at Nerd Sessh, Twitter at nerd Underscore Sessh, and you
can join our discords. You can see things like Kaylee
calling out the go Bear masterclass in coming, all sorts
of clearvoyants probably going down in the discord, people accurately
predicting the goings on of the stock market, all sorts
of stuff. They could probably make you hundreds of millions
of dollars and, if not, at least a friend Logan,
(57:02):
So don't want to beat any dead horses here. I
think the practice is disgusting and it should be banned.
Speaker 2 (57:08):
That's the most valuable commodity in life, man.
Speaker 3 (57:11):
Friendship, Yes, sir, I love that. On that note, as always,
I've been Carson Brabber
Speaker 1 (57:17):
I've been Logan Camden and this was Nerd Sash
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
No, oh my god, how could he do that?
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Watch what Charles Darwin? The nerves is where it's at.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Welcome everybody back into Nerd Sash as always, I'm Carson
Brevorn alongside, and he is Logan Camden and you already
know the deal. We got some playoff basketball to talk
about today, and Logan, we're gonna start with the big
matchup of the evening. The Minnesota Timberwolves close out the
LA Lakers. It is not Lakers in five, it is
(00:46):
instead Wolves in five. They did this in spite of
the fact that they had one of the worst three
point shooting performances in NBA history coming into this game. Logan,
all teams in NBA history combined when attempting forty or
more threes and making fewer than fifteen percent of them
(01:06):
were zero to nine. So you have to think about that.
It only had happened nine times. It's such a rare
combination of that sort of volume with that poor efficiency
from beyond the arc. And they were losing by an
average of twenty plus points per game these previous teams
and Minnesota wins. Anyways, how did they get that done?
And what does this game say to you about the Timberwolves.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
We can start there.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
They're better. Fuck. I mean, I'm so old for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I'm so mad at the Lakers, man, the lazy ass,
fucking Lakers. We'll get to them in a minute. But
Rudy Gobert was the star of the show tonight. No
Rudy Gobert disrespect will be tolerated after the night. He
dominated this game. They said it all over to broadcast
throughout it. But it's his first twenty piece in the
playoffs since Utah, it's his first ever.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I mean, just what a monumental game for him.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
He grabbing every single board. And that's what I was
confused about.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Man.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I didn't know if it was a smart call for
the Lakers to go so small throughout this game because
it was such a glaring mismatch and they just got
dominated in that facet. And so you're talking about the
outlier three point shooting that we got from Minnesota and
how bad they were, Carson, how do you circumvent that?
How do you overcome super poor three point shooting? You
(02:26):
kick the other team's ass on the glass. And that's
exactly what Gobert did in this game. And not only that,
Gobert dominated offensively on the interior two put backs. There's
just nobody with enough size to slow him down, and
so he feasted in this game. The other big thing,
(02:47):
I just thought the Lakers came out flat. How do
you come out flat in a game where you're at
home down three to one, and it's like, I'm getting
apathetic effort, I'm getting nothing to slow down the Timberwolves,
to provide any resistance. Guys are just getting cooked. I'm
(03:07):
just disappointed, man, I I just cannot That is the
definition of going out sad.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Oh yeah, what we just got from La.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
And then the theme of this game and the theme
of this entire series. The Lakers got completely outplayed down
the stretch in the fourth quarter. They got dog coming
into this game. They mentioned it on the broadcast. The
Wolves were plus thirty six in the fourth quarter. It's
the most important quarter man. You gotta play your best
basketball when the game's on the line. And for the
(03:38):
most part, it had been Anthony Edwards leading the charge
and getting this team across the finish line. And this
one is pretty much go. Baron Randall putting in a
lot of work, and I thought it was a really
disappointing game from the Lakers effort wise too. But the
big three I thought just shit their pants in this game, Luca, Lebron.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
And Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Austin Reeves deserves to be like an island banished shop,
all alone by himself, ostracized away from society, like Luke
and Lebron are over here and they're disappointing. But Austin
Reeves deserves to be banished from LA for his performance
in this series and in this game.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
What a colossal fucking disappointment.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Carson, Like, I'm not a Lakers fan, but that was embarrassing, dude.
And to go out in five games said, sorry ass.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Lakers, humiliating and pathetic.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
And I want to start by giving credit to the Wolves,
because I want to be clear. They're the better basketball team.
That much is very clear. And I think that they
are a great basketball team, and I have been kicking
myself for being too low on them coming into the playoffs. Frankly,
I think part of it was just an unfair amount
of skepticism of Julius Randall, who has played really good basketball.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
In this series.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Has been very clean and efficient and smart as a
mismatch attacker, hasn't been a ball stopper, has moved the
ball well. He's done everything right, and I think that
I was too critical and had too much doubt about
him in a playoff setting because outside of that, like
the Timberwolves check so many boxes for a deep playoff
run in today's game, they have top five depth in
(05:19):
the sport. I think the only teams that have superior
depth would be the three teams that have been like
in a different tier than anybody else this entire season,
that being, of course, the Thunder, the Celtics, and the Cavs.
Outside of that, the Timberwolves three through nine is as
good as it gets, and their lineup versatility is as
good as it gets. So this is a huge advantage
(05:41):
of theirs that we've seen materialize time and again throughout
this series. Go Bear struggling offensively in Game four. Great,
we close with nas Reed and he's a weapon. Mike
Conley is struggling. Great, we close with Dante Evincenzo. He's
an elite shooter and he's so disruptive defensively, Like, they
have so many different lineups with which they can beat you.
They have so many different reliable contributors. And then you
(06:02):
have ant, who was playing at an extremely high level
in their first three wins, was not good at all tonight,
but they still have a good enough collective supporting cast
that they win this one. So they're really really good,
and I think that they showed that in this series,
like they were just absolutely the better basketball team Bron.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Like you said, shout out to Julius Randall, Man, I'm
spressed with Julius. I have been really negative about Julius
Randall for a long time.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I think he'd earned it. I think it was warranted.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
But midway through this season, Julius made a commitment to
playing different, a different style and brand of basketball, making
a commitment to not be as much of a black
hole and playing smart.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And I'm proud of him.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
Man.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
This is player growth, this is character development, This is
real tangible growth, man, And I think he works here.
And this was a really impressive game and series for
Julius and is so as someone who.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Has been a Julius R.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Pessimist, I gotta give him his props as well, man,
because it was.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I think I'm I'm encouraged by this, and I.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Hope that Julius has turned over a new leaf moving forward.
I'm he played winning basketball in this series.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Man.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
I'm also so happy that Gobert was so utterly dominant
in this game. And I mean he was fantastic, like
just consistently good as a finisher and absolutely dominant on
the offensive glass. Nine offensive boards, twenty four rebounds in total,
like with obviously his elite defensive contributions, but he damn
near single handedly won them this game. Randall absolutely deserves
(07:37):
his credit as well for still being an efficient offensive
contributor in this game, and especially down the clutch, really
isolating matchups that he liked and winning them a couple
extra possessions on the offensive glass. But like, even though
Minnesota is clearly the better team, you are not supposed
to be able to win a game when you shoot
this poorly from beyond the arc. And in the first half,
(07:58):
I was like, the Wolves should be up twenty something.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Man.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
They shot eighty percent on two pointers in the first half,
and they had ten offensive boards, and every look they
were getting from three basically was wide open. Like the
Lakers were doubling even more aggressively than they have in
any of the previous games, and they're getting great look
after great look. They just literally couldn't make anything. Like
it's a freak outlier bad shooting performance. This is like
(08:23):
if the Rockets won the game when they missed twenty
seven straight threes.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Man, the Wolves missed eighteen.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Straight threes and there was never a stretch where they
were on from deep. So that's the only thing that
gave the Lakers a chance and for them to still
not be able to cash in and win this one game,
they still would have gone down because the Wolves are
just better. But to not escape when the opposing team
has a historically awful three point shooting performance, when Anthony
(08:48):
Edwards goes five of nineteen, I just think that's a disgrace,
and I think it's peaks to the fact that this
Lakers team is thoroughly mediocre, and that has honestly been
the case since they got Luka Doncic. I mean, they've
had some really high highs. They had their win streak,
they had a big win over OKC. I'm just so
mad at myself for buying into this team as being
(09:10):
anything more than a first round exit, because when they
first got Luca man I said, I think they're going
to be like the sixth or seventh best team in
the West. I highlighted all of the red flags, Luca
not playing at the same level, them having no playable bigs,
their complete lack of lineup versatility, lack of depth, horrible
defensive backcourt, lack of rim protection, all of these things
(09:31):
I laid out, and then I don't know what the
fuck happened.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Man, they started drinking at kool aid.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Me too, brother, me too.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I think I got a little bit too impressed by
a couple of really impressive individual performances, and there was
so much mediocre basketball in between that, and I knew
it after Luca trade, Man, they were fourteenth and offensive
rating and seventeenth and defensive rating. I think they had
a negative net rating with their big three on the
floor together, Like all of the points were there, and
(10:03):
still we just have this idea, man, Well, I'll speak
for myself that like superstars can overcome so much, and
they have so much shooting, and they'd shown the flashes defensively,
and you're like, if they can just really execute on
both ends, they can still reach a ceiling that we've
seen in moments, but the moments were way too few
and far between. In Minnesota had way too many ways
(10:26):
to expose their shortcomings. Having to help so aggressively, having
to double so often, not being able to consistently rebound
on the defensive end.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
All of that stuff was a major problem in this series.
And it's not a surprise. I'm still have been a surprise.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
At least it's not.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I'm upset at myself too, not for just taking the
Lakers outright, because I think the Bucks had a real
the Bucks. I think the Wolves had a really significant
flaw that I noted coming into this, and it was
their clutch offense, and I think I had a valid
reason to be skeptical.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
About this in general.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
What I'm really mad about is what you're talking about
is their matchup specifically against the Lakers, because a lot
of the keys that I said went in the wolves favor.
Me and Carson were very close in this series. Uh Like,
we didn't think the Wolves were like gonna get drugged
by the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I said, Lakers said.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
The Wolves are just better, just flat out.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Better they are.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
And the couple biggest things that I'm mad about one
is the Anthony Edwards component. I'm mad at myself for
thinking that the Lakers had anybody that could check him,
and not giving enough credence to him and his ability
and all the defensive attention he was gonna draw in
this series, And like, damn, man, it's like I've been
(11:43):
the biggest fucking ant guy on the planet for so
long and even I was like a man, give me
Luke and Lebron. So I'm mad at that that I
didn't see An't having a great series in coming, because.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I should have. But bigger than that shit defense the
rim pertend.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
The size aspect of it, the fact that the Wolves
have so many big, nasty sobs that can bang in rebound,
and that's the area where I'm really upset with myself.
If there's anything that the Wolves have proven that they
are over the past couple years is that they're tough,
that they're gonna fucking though Haymakers at you every game
(12:22):
and if they're not going back down. And if there's
one thing that the Lakers have proven in their identity,
it's that their soft as charming it's toilet paper. And
that's the real aspect that I'm mad at myself for
not recognizing, is that the Wolves ain't gonna fold. The
Wolves are tough, they gonna battle. They're gonna fight, and
they've got depth and the Lakers are soft in short
(12:43):
and uh, I drink that damn kool aid. The guy
that I'm really angry is about is Luca. But we
can save that if you've got more stuff on the Wolves.
I think that's the next biggest thing to talk about, though.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Like I want to give props to the Wolves to
what they did in this series, what I think they're
capable of doing going forward, most likely in a matchup
against the Warriors, Like absolutely great basketball team. This game, though,
says so much more about the Lakers, like Rudy was great,
Randa was really good. You're not supposed to be able
to win a game when the opposing team misses forty
(13:15):
three pointers and make seven. And that's where I think
I talked about a lot of like the core issues
with the Lakers roster construction, some of the really big
red flags that were there and that I talked myself
into overlooking just because well, oh, they have a couple superpowers.
But guess what, man, those superpowers didn't come through. Where
was the best offensive big three in basketball? Didn't see
(13:38):
them in this series. Austin Reeves was abominable. He was
so so bad on both ends of the floor in
this entire series, Like he is incapable of getting by
any of Minnesota's perimeter defenders. He was incapable of punishing switches.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
You see it.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Even in this game, there's a possession where he actually
creates a little space on a step back versus Rudy.
He won't even take the shot. He just passes out
of it. His confidence was destroyed. But against a team
that is this big, that is this athletic, and it
is this physical, like, he just doesn't have the ability
to get by people.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
He doesn't have the burst.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
I thought that his ball security was horrible against that
kind of ball pressure. So many terrible turnovers in this series.
And then defensively he's getting targeted over and over again.
And in this game, like he couldn't even make a
wide open three. That's the one thing that you expect
to be reliable with him is that elite shooting at
least off the catch, and he had none of it going.
(14:35):
So he was bad in a way that I think
like really jeopardizes his future with this team.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
It was that concerning of a series.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
But this is inexcusable stuff from Luka Dancic, who was
just horrible in fourth quarters, and to end this series,
we talked about it coming into this game. He was
averaging five points per game on twenty nine percent shooting
in fourth quarters, just dreadful and was an abomination defensively
the entire time. Like the number of blowbys that he
(15:03):
allowed in this series is an embarrassment. The number of
times that he was targeted by Anthony Edwards or by
Julius Randall and they're getting past him, or they're getting
deep into the paint and they're drawing help and they're
creating a shot for somebody else, Like Reeves and Luca
single handedly or I guess together, made the Lakers defense
(15:23):
untenable because of how easy it was to consistently exploit
them on that side of the ball. And then what
Luca gives you offensively in this series is just not
nearly good.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Enough to justify that.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Like he ends up being terrible in fourth quarters. He
gets his thirty a game on solid efficiency, but in
the big moments wasn't good enough. The conditioning wasn't good enough.
And I think that both he and Lebron should be really,
really embarrassed with their effort in key moments, their inability
to get a body on Rudy Gobert and Julius Randall
(15:57):
down the stretch of this game felt like they didn't
care about winning, Like it was that level of poor
effort of a do or die game.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
It's simple shit, it's putting a body in boxing like It's.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Like, dude, Rudy obviously is a huge size advantage. Some
of these offensive rebounds are uncontested. He is not getting
boxed out whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
And that's what I really don't understand, is because you
figured that would be a point of emphasis for JJ
coming into this game. They they're starting five in this
game as Hachi, Murray and DFS. You know, they're not
running a big It's like, you can win like that.
But the way to win it is all four or
five guys have got to make a commitment to boxing
and battling on the glass. That's the only way you
(16:38):
overcome something like that. And man, like you said, Lakers
look like they couldn't care less down the stretch.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Yeah, and also I have to say Luca definitely was
not good enough for them to win this series. But
their formula had to be basically, we're gonna have the
two best players on the floor, or at least our
two guys are gonna both play at a consistent Superstar
Time ten level, and neither of them did. I thought
that Lebron was really good in games three and four,
(17:05):
but in Game one he was just floating through that
when they needed more out of him if they were
going to win it. In this game, like, he has
some nice moments where the intensity is there and he
makes some really nice cuts, but it's just very illuminating
to me how little Lebron is comfortable of or was
comfortable in this series. Just like initiating offense for you
(17:29):
for an extended stretch, like that phase where Lebron took
over never happened, and it was always just sort of
him picking his spots, him really relying on the jumpers,
and that just meant that he wasn't reliably great enough
offensively for them to win this series. So there's so
many ways in which the Lakers just weren't good enough,
and still like they had their chances in games three
(17:51):
through five, they were in the clutch and all of
these and they were out executed in the clutch and
all of them.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Every single one of them.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I'm seeing some ridiculous takes in the chat right now,
I'm gonna be honest with Yeah, Nico Harrison was not right,
Like you never do that trade.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
It is still moronic, It is still idiotic.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
The difference between the Lakers and the Mavericks or the
Mavericks were a championship contender at full health with Luka
Doncic and we were just I was just wrong on
the Lakers, Like I'm gonna keep it on it be.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I thought they could go deeper in this.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I didn't think they were championship contenders, but I thought
they were definitely conference finals. But this roster's way worse
and Nico's not right. What I will say is that
Luca's got to be way better, and I think this offseason,
this offseason, Luca has to make a commitment to getting
into shape, to getting his conditioning better, and making a
(18:44):
commitment to just trying. It is really concerning that in
back to back playoffs, it is a track record now
of you not caring it all on that end, and
I'm two of.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
The most shameful defensive performances I've ever seen was the
Superstar the finals last year in this entire series, the
number of times that Jade McDaniels just blew by him, and.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
It's in there's a difference, right, because Luca does not
have the the physicals to be a really high level,
impactful defender. Right, He's got real limitations. He's slow footed,
He's that's his biggest limitation, right, He's just slow. But
you can mitigate that with effort. I don't even see
(19:29):
him trying man like defense is.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Yeah, we know he can be passable.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
We've seen stretches where he's passable because he's got good
hands and he can move his feet decently well, and
he's strong, so when he can stay in front of you,
he can be kind of physical. Like, yeah, he's always
going to be a below average defender.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
But this was disgraceful defense.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
And it's the second straight playoff series when he is
by so so far the worst defensive player on the
floor and a weak point who is getting attacked and
exploited over and over again and compromising his team on
that end exactly to the point where it's like, you're
not giving me all around superstar impact. The last two
playoff series we've seen from Luka Doncics. That's not superstar
impact when you are that destructive to your team's defense
(20:10):
and you're not giving me the twenty twenty one versus
the Clippers kind of Luca production. You're not giving me
last year regular season Luca production that you need to
offset that to where I'm still like, Okay, yeah, you're
playing like one of the handful of best players on
the planet. Like he just didn't do that in this series,
and he didn't do that this year with the Lakers
man twenty eight, eight and seven on fifty nine percent
(20:32):
true shooting. I've been talking about these issues with him
for a long time, and some people like looked at
me like I was crazy, Like it doesn't matter that
he's not getting by people, that he's not getting to
the rim and finishing at the rim. It's nearly the
same rate that he was years ago, and it does matter.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Yeah, are you comfortable putting Tatum over Luca.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
Tatum's a hell of a lot better at basketball right
now than Luca. Like this year, it is not a conversation.
So the only argument for having Luca above him is
just the benefit of the daltation.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Just like being someone who's saying.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
I know what Luca is capable of at his best,
what he was last year and in the previous couple seasons.
I'm not inclined to give the benefit of the doubt though,
to a guy who like just doesn't seem to take
basketball seriously enough. And like that's what this series is, man,
the box out stuff. It's embarrassing. It is embarrassing with
your season on the line.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
It's petulant almost.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
It's like a child where it's like, I'm so good
on offense, I don't even need to you know, like,
what's the point. I'm here to serve buckets And it's like,
that's not a championship mentality, man. And the biggest thing
to me is that this year you can really isolate
it because, like, it was a horrendous defensive series in
the finals last year, and I was willing to give
Luca somewhat of a pass because of the laundry list
(21:49):
of injuries he was dealing with in that series. I
was like, you know what, it was really bad, it
was really ugly, but all right, I'll give him a pass.
And even Nan in that run, the Mavericks had such
a good defense behind him that you could limit how
good Luca needed to be in this situation that's completely different.
Like not that the Lakers don't have any good defenders,
They've got some, but it's a way worse defensive situation
(22:12):
where it's more important that everybody does their pulls their weight,
and he just didn't do that at all this offseason.
So I need to see a mentality change. And it's
concerning to me too, Carson, because it's like the Lakers
have kind of had this as a part of their identity,
even pre Luca, you know what I mean, not given
full effort, not giving a fuck.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
It's got to be different.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
And so like, don't get me wrong, the Lakers do
that trade a hundred times out of one hundred. They
have given themselves life for a decade into the future
because you have acquired a guy like.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Luka Danciic, and there's gonna take a lot.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
There's gonna be a major, major roster overhaul this offseason.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
And I would be comfortable with.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Moving off of Austin Reeves one just because I think
we have seen some of the potential playoff limitations with him,
but more importantly, because if Luca's going to be this
bad defensively, I'm willing to sacrifice the offensive firepower that
Reeves gives me to get a three and D guard
or someone that fits better in this team system.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
You got to get a big man. You've got to.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Improve the depth. There's a lot of roster movement that's
gonna happen here, and I think it's gonna make the
team better. But to get this team where it needs
to go, Luca's got to be better defensively. He's got
to be in shape, and I really want to see
him make a commitment to that this offseason because that's
where the work is going to be established. It's not
playing yourself into shape in the regular season. It's gonna
(23:35):
be this offseason getting into shape. So when the regular
season kicks off, you're good to go.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
To give me all.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Eighty two, man, And that's what I need to see, man,
Luca his.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Luca's dropping for me and my player rankings, Man, and
I don't know I.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Answer sending Luca's dropping. What a complete fucking disaster.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Man.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
It is so rare to see a season that is
this bad end to end from a twenty six year
old who I have considered like one of the all
time great offensive talents that we've seen and one of
the clearly top four players of the last five years.
For him to have a season where he is this
consistently below the level that we know he's been capable
(24:23):
of in years past, with like just a few exceptions,
that's so so bad. And if he doesn't look himself
in the mirror this offseason and work his ass off
to get better, then I do think that that is
a condemnation of Luca's basketball character and like could be
really really concerning about what level he is going to
get back to. That being said, I agree with you
(24:43):
the trade never ever will make sense on the MAVs
part because of the approach that they took getting an
older player back who still isn't better and who has
more concerns about availability in Anthony Davis, and shrinking their
timeline like that.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
No, I know that you're not.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
I'm just saying I know that take is going to
be come more popular now because of Luca's issues, and
it's still wrong. And like you, ECTO would way rather
have a decade plus of Luca than three years of
prime Anthony Davis or whatever they're going to get.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
One hundred percent, I don't want to act like any
of those concerns about Luca weren't valid, because they obviously
are with what we've seen in the past two seasons,
but shouldn't change the fact that a trade.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
I do want to talk about what's next for the
Lakers because I think that you were hitting on it.
There are two very clear needs for this team. They
absolutely need another good two way wing. That's what I
thought time and again when Austin Reeves is struggling on
both sides of the ball, like if he is not
going to be a productive offensive player because he's overwhelmed physically,
(25:44):
you need to have a guy out there who can
defend at a higher level, who can switch, who is
not another target to be exploited, who can be a
more impactful team defender, to cover up for Luca's issues,
And obviously they did not have that guy.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
On this roster.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Well, they had a couple of him and Ruija Chi Murr,
but they had to play them forty plus minutes a
game because they had no playable bigs.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
They needed every minute they could get out of those guys.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
And then you might turn to Gabe Vincent, who they
played more in this game, and he's a solid defensive guard,
but he's still small and obviously not nearly the offensive
player that reeves is they could turn to Van do O,
some who's a really good defensive player and has an
excellent motor, plays with his hair on fire, but is
so limited offensively, Like they needed to have multiple options
(26:30):
they could turn to, and they didn't, and their top
three player was actively bad, really on both ends in
this series.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
That kills you.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
In today's NBA, the Timberwolves are the exact opposite of that.
They have so many guys who they can turn to.
So that's where the Lakers really need to improve. Obviously depth,
but specifically getting a two way wing.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I would say.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Ideally more of like a true point of attack defender,
because I think that DFS and Ruy and Lebron, they
all collectively do a pretty good job with the back
line stuff being super active as helpers. I want somebody
who can stay in front of guards at a higher level.
And then obviously they need a serious big, like you
cannot attempt to play a series against a team that
(27:12):
has two awesome bigs when you have zero rotation caliber bigs.
So I do have a trade idea since at that
time of the year. What if they traded Austin Reeves
for Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendrix and a second round pick.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Is that enough to get back for Reeves? Would Utah
do that?
Speaker 2 (27:30):
It's in it for Utah big at.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Austin Reeves, who I do think is pretty sick, and
if he's not in a defensive backcourt with Luca, then
I'm a lot less concerned about it. It's just I
don't think that you can really put a high level
defense together with those two as your point of attack.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
I don't think. I don't think you can either. I
would not do that if I was Utah. That's enough.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
That's not enough for me, okay, but you think that
would be good for the Lakers.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
One hundred percent if you can get a guy like Kesler,
I'm I'm selling the forum for Kesler like I'm willing
to give up a couple role players if that means
I can get him. And you tell me what you
think about this. Yachi Mura really works with these guys.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
He was so great tonight.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Can we give credit to him because he was the
one dude who showed up in a big.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Man I'm willing to shop everybody, though, I am willing
to trade anyone on this roster, and maybe other than
Luke and Lebron obviously, but ree Is, I think is
the guy who is on a good contract, is an
intriguing asset across the league. And he addresses and I
(28:35):
get that it's a disappointing series for him, a really
disappointing one basically across the board. He is still a
very intriguing asset for teams because of his skill set,
Like he's a really good offensive.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Player and absolutely post All Star Break what three games
super efficiently.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
And teams, teams need that, and they would be willing
to sacrifice because the Lakers don't need more offense, they
don't need more creation.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
You need defense.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
And so I'm I really like that for La And
I want.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
To be clear, like this was a terrible series from Reeves.
This is not an overreaction to propose this, in my opinion,
because the second they traded for Luca, I mentioned that,
like this was a very reasonable path for them to
consider down the line, just because Austin Reeves is really good.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
But alongside Luca, you need.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
To prioritize that perimeter athleticism and defense, and you don't
need to prioritize the offensive creation that Reeves brings as much.
It just makes it even a little bit clearer when
he's as bad as he was. And then let's say
that they can do that. Okay, Walker Kesler, I think
would be a huge win for them to get He's awesome,
dominant interior defender, great on the glass, really efficient finisher.
(29:42):
Then you still have Connect who I think is something
of an asset even though he's twenty four and like
really bad defensive, at least he can shoot the hell
out of the ball. And you have the twenty thirty
one first, and then you use that to try to
get that one wing. I think that that is their
path this offseason. Do you have some super chats that
I want to get to thank you all of you
(30:03):
for your generous donations to the Nerd Seze Foundation. Kaylee says,
one minute before tip off, I sent in the Discord
Monster Rudy game incoming. I can feel in my veins.
Thank you Rudy, and thank you me. You cooked, I
mean you cooked. It's the best playoff game of his career.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Hey, Kaylee's the goat bro, She's the goat Wolves fan.
We should have known bro we shot out and she's
the only clairvoyant one man. We were all sipping on it,
Lakers kool aid.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
Yeah for real, super Nova says, did aunt outplay Luca
this series?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Yes, I would say so convincingly. And if you have
aunt over Luca, which I'm probably slowly moving towards, I
don't blame you, Like I.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
God, I'm so disappointed Luca man.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
The only knock on ant in this series would be
the scoring efficiency, which really gets brought down by this game.
And like, he was really really bad as a scorer
in this game. He goes, oh, eleven from three, but
he's also forcing some drives and struggling to finish at
the rim. So it was like an f scoring performance
for him in this one. But he had some great
scoring performances and most importantly, he consistently made the right
(31:08):
reads as a playmaker and throughout this game. Like, yeah,
he was struggling individually as a score but they were
still treating him like the Anthony Edwards who gave them
forty three in Game four. So again, he created so
many wide open shots for his teammates in that first half.
So the scoring volume is there, the playmaking is there,
and he was very solid defensively. He wasn't getting an
(31:28):
f on that side of the ball like Luca was.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
I have a potential trade. I don't okay, I don't
love it, but it's it's something.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Sorry, Okay, I'll hear it.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
So the Lakers send out Reeves, Hachi Mura and Connect
and they get back KCP and Goga Batadze.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
No, absolutely fucking not.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
What the hell I was trying.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
I was trying to cook up Suggs. But I have
no way of making the money work.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Nah, man. They can do better than that.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
I mean, Reeves is certainly a better asset than that,
And if I can, I'm holding on to Ruy.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I think Ruy fills his job very nicely.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
For this he does, but like I said, I just wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
I mean, that's not enough. CACP couldn't make a shot
this year and go guy. I love him. He's a
backup center.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah, I mean, but they need a backup center like
I'd like.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Them to get a starting center. I think they can
get a starting center with Reeves. I think we don't
need to underrate him as an asset just because he
struggled so much in this series.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
I'm also trying to find a spot that works for
Reeves too, where he's not going to a bottom feeder
like Utah.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I'd like that.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I mean Reeves and Orlando would be sexual.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
I love it for them. I'd like this perspective.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Now, I'd like to work out something that's mutually beneficial
for both teams. But like I said, if I'm the Lakers'
front office, I'm on Pelinka. I'm not married to anybody
but Lebron and Luca.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Yeah, film me to offer to show me the money.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Another sports rent says the Lakers need a real center.
Luca's better when he has a lob threat and isn't
going io every time down the floor. I totally agree,
And obviously that is probably going to be their number
one priority we talked about. That's one of the two
major priorities at the very least the Mark Williams deal.
Obviously they end up breaking off that could be for
(33:19):
their long term good just because of availability stuff.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
But it would be really.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
Nice to have a young athletic center like that, with
those sort of defensive tools and that sort of play
finishing ability. So I do really like Walker Kestler, He's
not as much of a vertical lob threat necessarily, but
just like a really awesome two way. Yeah, really great
defender for sure. Thomas says, hilarious seeing Reddick being blamed
when his best player acts like he's playing in a
(33:44):
preseason game with the season on the line. What do
you thinking about JJ Reddick in his.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Job with this team, in his future with this team? Logan,
I like Reddick.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I like Reddick a lot.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
I think Reddick firsthand got the full Lakers experience.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Yeah, rilling of the.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Media, the apathetic level of play from the Lakers. The
Lakers issue, to me is a top down issue. I
don't think that it is something that Reddick can singularly fix.
I think when your two stars of Lebron and Luca
and both of them are okay with is not playing,
you know what. Like I hate making that such a
big deal, but it's like we talk about the stars,
(34:22):
and now the teams buy into their identity behind them.
If it's Halliburton and the Pacers and they're uptempo sharing
the ball, if it's the Nuggets in their play style
of sharing the ball, pretty basketball, working good shots to
get great shots the Timberwolves. I think embody that Anthony
Edwards and his relentless intensity and passion, and they all
(34:44):
play with that. I think it's an issue with the
Lakers when you're two stars of Lebron and Luca and
they're okay with I like JJ. I think he's a
good X's and O's guy. I think he's gonna get
better as he gains more experience. And for the most part,
I like his game plans and the stuff that he employed.
The stuff in Game four I didn't like where he
played his entire starting five, the entire second half. That's
(35:06):
the only real issue that I disagree with. But hm,
he for sure got the full Lakers experience.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Man, I feel.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I feel kind of bad for JJ because I feel
like he's gonna get I think he's gonna get.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Cooked in the press by the media and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And I don't really I think it's more of a
roster construction issue that the Lakers didn't do absolutely run
or anything like that. Like, I don't feel like JJ
failed this team absolutely dude.
Speaker 4 (35:33):
When they made the move for Luca, I looked at
the roster and I said, Yeah, this is not a
team that's gonna make a deep playoff run.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
They're gonna be a first round exit. And then again
I talked.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
To myself into, oh, they can win a playoff series,
they can win two playoff series. But absolutely this was
an issue of roster construction. There weren't adjustments to be
made for JJ, Like they had to stick to one
basic defensive principle. They could make some little alteration to
it in terms of how aggressive they are sending doubles
(36:02):
compared to just aggressive gap help, but like they were
never going to be able to really stay home on
shooters and like play ant more one on one because
they just don't have the defensive personnel to do that
on the perimeter or on the back line. They have
to be this super switch heavy defense that again basically
just tries to muck up drives and you have that
sort of collective helping in the paint. And then offensively,
(36:26):
when you don't have a playable big like, there's really
not much versatility there. I do think at times it
would have been nice to see them just run some
more actions, run some more organized offense as opposed to
literally just isoball every possession down try to force the
switch usually with a big who guarded the Lakers pretty
(36:48):
well in isolation, like Rudy guarded them pretty well. Nas
was totally capable. Julius Randall I have to give credit
for playing some of the best defense I've ever seen
from him in this series too. So Lucas absolutely at
his best when he's able to feed a big out
of pick and roll, when he's seeing drop coverage, when
you are able to switch like, he can definitely still
(37:10):
beat you. But he wasn't as consistently great as a
scorer this year as he has been in years past.
I do think that his passing is a bigger weapon,
and they were able to limit his playmaking impact in
this series by again basically forcing him to be that
isolation heavy scorer, and the Lakers just didn't have a
ton of buttons to push because they don't have a
(37:32):
roster with any.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
Sort of versatility.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
So there are some things from JJ where I'm like,
he's damn near like Bobby Knight out there, dude. I mean,
he gets angrier than any coach in the NBA, really,
and that's on the court, and that's impressors, which is
just kind of weird because I feel like we got
a sense of his personality because he did so much
media stuff and he's not at all like that, Like
(37:56):
he's a lighthearted guy.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Which man like.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
I think the job is different for sure. Absolutely, I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
I'm always not in there.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
I do like it because I at least see the
JJ gives a fuck. He cares like my sleeve, and
to me, I don't. I don't really mind that as much,
and I can trust me, bro i'd be frustrating. I
think we don't be frustrated coaching the Lakers man.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
And I do think that he's a good x's and
o's coach. I think if you looked at like some
of their best individual defensive games this year, he cooked
up some phenomenal game plans against Denver against OKC in
the first matchup, so he got the most out of
this team. At the end of the day, it was
just a team that had some fatal flaws that no
coach is really going to be able to make up for.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
So congratulations to the Wolves.
Speaker 4 (38:43):
To the Lakers, man, I kind of think you should
be smited by God if you lose a game when
the opposing team shoots under fifteen percent from three and
takes forty seven of them. Like, I'm still just trying
to wrap my head around the fact that they couldn't
capitalize on that in this individual game.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
It's really really embarrassing.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Deven Chenz so many great looks, couldn't hit any Nikay
Alexander Walker had so many great looks, couldn't hit any
but on average eleven, Oh my gosh, he went oll
of eleven. Truly, Rudy Gobert won them this game on
the glass and with his finishing in the paint and
put up some prime Kareem abdul Jabar numbers, some prime
(39:21):
Zobots numbers. Gotta respect Gobart man. I'm really excited to
see what the Wolves are capable of, and they're going
to be my favorite against whoever comes out. If it's
the Warriors or the Rockets, I think it's gonna be
the Warriors, and I think that's a really difficult matchup
for Golden State for some reasons that we will get
into later. For now, we're going to take a quick
(39:42):
break for some words with DraftKings, and then we will
talk about that Warriors Rockets game. The NBA eighty two
game grind is done, and now the real fun begins.
(40:06):
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(40:28):
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Speaker 2 (40:33):
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Speaker 1 (40:33):
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Speaker 4 (40:57):
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Speaker 5 (41:51):
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Speaker 4 (42:39):
The Lakers got embarrassed, Logan, But so did the Golden
State Warriors up three to one obviously, so very different
level of urgency for them to win this one.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
But the major culprit in their blowout.
Speaker 4 (42:53):
Loss was none other than my beloved Amen Thompson, who
just had a masterful game.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
What do you have to say about his performance, Logan.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
I mean I thought he was the best player on
the floor.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Yeah, God, damn right he was.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Against Golden State.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
This is a really ugly Golden State game, and I'm
surprised we haven't had more of these showings yet where
the you know, the Rockets really can disrupt Golden State.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
But I mean, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
This was the second largest uh first half deficit for
Golden State in their franchise playoff history. They trailed by
twenty seven points. They just hit him in the mouth
and the Warriors never came back. I mean, they closed
this game for almost the entirety of the fourth quarter
(43:42):
with the bench mob out there and shout out to
the bench mob for making it close.
Speaker 4 (43:46):
I mean, dude, it was like the last eighteen minutes
of the game.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
It took as that was six minutes left in the third.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
Dude, TJD. Kevin Knox like Pat Spencer.
Speaker 1 (43:55):
That was wild to see in a Braxton key.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
We got Jackson be a legend.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Yeah, that was crazy.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
But the game was basically decided in the first half.
Golden State scoreless for three minutes in the first quarter,
scoreless for six minutes in the second quarter. Butler and
Curry were scoreless in the first quarter, didn't score a point,
and Steph Curry didn't get a bucket until after the
midway point through the second quarter. You combine that with
(44:27):
the fact that the Rockets were not missing in the
first quarter. Van Vliet spraying, Dylan Brooks hidding everything. Uh damn.
Tarry Easton had a big game too, man, just driving
to the rack and getting good looks inside and shout
out to the Warriors bench unit, because I mean, without them,
this would have been even more of a beatdown, Like
(44:49):
those guys were hidding some shots.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
I mean, it was really ugly for the Golden State.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
I mean, in garbage time. I appreciate you giving props
to the bench mob.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
No, no, no, I don't.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
I don't mean those guys. That's not the part of
the game I'm talking about it. I'm talking about in
the first I mean, dude, in the first quarter, I
think the bench had sixteen points.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
The starters had eight.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Like it was I think it was De Santos in
the Boys given Yeah, true, Quintin Post Like the Rockets
defense was so disruptive and impressive in this game, and
the Warriors were really sloppy too. I want to give
credit to Houston, but I do think this was a
double edged sword. I thought Golden State played a really
(45:29):
sloppy game.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
As well.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
I think some of this is gonna average out in
the next game. I don't think Houston is gonna be
is good shooting from behind the arc, but they're gonna
make life hard on Golden State.
Speaker 2 (45:43):
Man, this isn't something that's gonna change.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Like the ball pressure, they couldn't figure out the zone
in this game. They kept getting open threes, but nobody
was penetrating and getting downhill, and so you're settling with
bad three point shooters taking shots.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
This is a really impressive game for Houston.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
And that's what I'm saying, Man, down three to one,
that's the intensity that you come out with. And I
get that Houston as a defensive minded, super athletic and
physical team and they're way younger. They came out with effort,
they came out with energy. They made sure that they
weren't gonna get denied and get the door slammed on
them the way the Lakers did.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
And props to him for that, man, But.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
Amen was the star of the show today, dude, super
disruptive getting downhill. Like I said, Man, I thought he's
the best player on the floor in this game.
Speaker 3 (46:28):
I don't even think it was close.
Speaker 4 (46:30):
He was absolutely dominant on both ends, particularly defensively. Though
I thought that he probably had the second most impressive
individual defensive performance of the playoffs so far. I would
give the number one nod to Alex Caruso in Game three,
but he became the third player since twenty fifteen in
the playoffs to have five plus steals in one plus
(46:53):
block and a half. Who else is on that list? Logan,
Draymond Green makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
And TJ Warren. How the hell the TJ Warring get
on that list?
Speaker 4 (47:01):
I don't know, But Amen is on that list now too,
and I think he does just about as good a
job on Steph as anybody I've seen. Like I think
Drew did a great job on Steph at his best.
I think that Kawhi did a really awesome job on
Steph at his best. But a Men is just a
one of a kind athlete. He's one of the greatest
athletes we've seen in the history of this game. His
(47:23):
motor does not stop, and his level of ball pressure
in his hands with his length, like he's just taking
the ball from Steph and Steph's thumb is hurt, so
maybe the handle's not quite as sharp. And also Steph
just didn't have his peak focus in this game, none.
Speaker 3 (47:39):
Of the Warriors did.
Speaker 4 (47:40):
But for a men to take the ball from him
three separate times in the first half alone and go
the other way and get transition opportunities, I can't think
of another time that I've seen somebody.
Speaker 3 (47:51):
Do that to Steph.
Speaker 4 (47:53):
Steph also this year is only ten of twenty eight
when guarded by a men, so he's really struggled in
that individual matchup up and on top of that, like
a man is blowing things up as a help side
rim protector, he gave Steph major problems. I do think
when Steph is at his best, like he was in
games one in three, there's nothing that anybody can do.
But I would probably be inclined to stick specifically to
(48:16):
a men on Steph even more than they have because
they've mixed in a lot of Van Vliet and a
little bit of Brooks. But I think a man is
absolutely the best answer. And then offensively, he was super
aggressive in transition. He was cutting well, he was cleaning
up on the offensive, glass, had a couple of nice
pick and roll possessions, just like super productive two way
performance ends up with twenty five in this game.
Speaker 3 (48:38):
Six boards, three assists, five steals, three blocks.
Speaker 4 (48:41):
So he was unequivocally the best player on the floor
in a playoff game in year two. That's not something
you see a lot. That's special. And this is a
guy who still has so much room for growth, so
much room for improvement. And I've just been very encouraged
by how good he's looked at these last two games,
Like clearly has gotten more comfortable as the series has
(49:01):
gone along. I've liked his offensive approach more. I've liked
him being really opportunistic in transition, just looks a lot
more comfortable and has played some really good basketball for
the Warriors. Everything was bad in this game. I thought
their defensive energy just was not.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
What it needed to be.
Speaker 4 (49:16):
But also like Dylanbrooks shot really well, Fred van Vliet
was on fire again. I will say, like, you cannot
get caught switching late with Van Vliet, where you don't
get a hand up to get a good contest on
a pull up three. You cannot let him walk into
pull up threes in transition, you cannot get caught under
on a handoff.
Speaker 3 (49:35):
Like all the dude wants to do is shoot threes.
Speaker 4 (49:38):
Okay, that's eighty percent of his shot, Diet, so can
test those threes. He shouldn't be getting any open looks, really,
but he got some in this one, and he has
shot the hell out of the ball in the last
couple of games. So the defense certainly struggled the most
that it has and the Rockets offense looked as good
as it has like everything was clicking. Shng Goon was
even bullying Draymond, which he has not done in this
(50:00):
series up to this point. And then offensively, everything was
so so bad for the Warriors. I thought the non
Steph lineup in the first half was horrifying. You mentioned
how confounded they were by the zone. My god, like,
it didn't look like an NBA offense. And that is
very liable to happen when Steph is off the floor
(50:21):
if Jimmy can't step up and correct it and take
things into his own hands, and in this game, Jimmy
just was not capable of that whatsoever. But like you said,
nobody's penetrating the zone. They're not getting the ball where
they need to. In the middle, they're turning the ball
over like crazy, and when guys get decent looks, they're
passing up on them.
Speaker 3 (50:41):
Nobody's really confident there, dude.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
That's what I didn't get with Kurs minutes in this game.
I didn't really understand some of the lineups that he
was going to. I wanted some more Buddy like even
though I've been you know, critical of Buddy.
Speaker 2 (50:53):
It speaks to the point you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (50:56):
Where somebody's got to be able to shoot the ball.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
And somebody's said to like Gary Payton can be passive,
Podds can be passive, Dre Jimmy right, like James.
Speaker 3 (51:07):
Ris Santos, look at damn near the whole team dude.
Speaker 1 (51:09):
For real, Like sometimes that's why I want. I want
her to be a little bit smarter with with some
of these minutes, Like you need a guy sometimes it
can just beat a little release valve for you, you know.
Speaker 4 (51:20):
And uh yeah, but they really need Jimmy to be
great in those non Steph minutes.
Speaker 3 (51:25):
I mean that's been such a Jimmy difference.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Jimmy tried, but Jimmy was just missing, Like Jimmy I
got to some looks, but.
Speaker 3 (51:33):
Yeah, he got to some okay looks.
Speaker 4 (51:36):
They are gonna need him going forward to be closer
to the Game four performance that he gave them than
this one, which I think he might be capable of replicating.
But like he's clearly not at one hundred percent. That
was obvious even in Game four. That's why the second
half was so impressive that he founded it in himself.
I think he just probably needs Dylan Brooks to say
(51:58):
something crazy, maybe talk a little much too much shit
after this game and then I think that you can
get a better version of Jimmy again. But yeah, I mean,
he was really bad in this one, and Steph really
struggled in this one, and nobody around them could step
up and make shots. So this was terrible from them.
I also think though, this was a very obvious spot.
Speaker 3 (52:17):
For a potential letdown game.
Speaker 4 (52:19):
Like old team, a little beat up, Steph hurt, Jimmy hurt,
rockets crazy young, crazy, competitive, defensive minded, like you know
that they're gonna fight for their life, and it's not
surprising that the Warriors didn't bring that same energy. Like
it's pretty reminiscent of twenty twenty two against the Grizzlies.
(52:39):
They were up three to one and then they got
smacked on Memphis home floor, and then they closed it
out in Game six. I would expect a similar story
this time around. They do need Jimmy to be better.
They definitely need to play a hell of a lot
better than they did today, But they just didn't bring
their best stuff, and I think part of that was
just effort of.
Speaker 2 (52:56):
The team's remaining in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Do you think the Warriors have the lowest Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 4 (53:02):
I was going to say that, man, and I'm glad
that you brought it up. There are just so many
instances in which, like if Steph and Jimmy aren't being heroic.
All of the flaws of the other guys on this
team can.
Speaker 1 (53:14):
Be so dependent on those guys, and when you're getting
it going, the Doves look unstoppable.
Speaker 3 (53:21):
Yeap, I totally agree.
Speaker 4 (53:22):
I think that they have the biggest floor to ceiling disparity,
and I do think that they have the lowest floor.
Speaker 3 (53:28):
There was one quote that stood out to me though.
Speaker 4 (53:29):
They were talking to Dennis Scott, who's doing the court
side reporting, and he said that Steve Kerr told him
before the game that if they got to a spot
like this where they were down by like close to thirty,
he'd pull the starters quickly.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
Would you even drop that? Like, that's what our expanation.
Speaker 4 (53:49):
Man, I'm like, first of all, I think you can
figure that one out on the fly. If you're down
by thirty, I think you can feel out when you
want to take out your guys. But Okay, if you
are thinking about that, why are you disclosing that? Like
that to me was just a mindset of a team
that wasn't ready to win this basketball He didn't care
that much about winning this basketball game.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
Hey, Dennis, I think we might get drugged tonight in
the case I'm pulling all my starter.
Speaker 3 (54:14):
That's what I'm saying, Like, how did that come up?
Speaker 4 (54:16):
Like did Dennis cut really ask him like, if you
guys are getting your ass kicked, are you pulling guys?
Speaker 3 (54:21):
Did kerr off for that? Either way? I thought that
that was weird.
Speaker 2 (54:23):
And you know what even made me mad?
Speaker 1 (54:26):
What tell me, do you think I thought the Dubs
should have put their guys back in for that little
last stretch.
Speaker 2 (54:32):
Yeah, because I'm down down thirteen ish. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (54:36):
It just made me mad that fucking Braxton Key sold
like a layup that would have kind of been a
little bit of a momentum, you know, I think it
would have cut it to eleven or nine, and then
it's like, oh shit, dude. You know we had a
couple of threes and we're right back in this thing.
And then once Key sold that layup and Pat Spencer
got the ejection.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Dude, bruh.
Speaker 1 (54:57):
I feel so bad for Pat Spencer. They can't even
call him man by his own name. The fucking PA
guy called him his brother, He called him Cam Spencer.
Like that's so disrespectful, man.
Speaker 3 (55:10):
That is disrespectful, and I won't stand for it.
Speaker 4 (55:12):
I get what You're saying about them putting the starters
back in at the end, and I was like.
Speaker 3 (55:16):
Eh, should they?
Speaker 4 (55:17):
But then I was like, Nah, they've punted on this game,
and that's okay. Let Jimmy get a little rest, Let
Steff get a little rest, and they'll be back and
they'll be out their best for Game six, which I
do think they will win. Any last words before we
wrap this episode up, Logan nas Reed nas Reid finds
(55:40):
his way in the second round for the second consecutive year.
Shout out to the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are very good
at building very good basketball teams and that was on
display against one team that certainly had the star power
on paper, but did not have a very good complete
basketball team. We of course will be back tomorrow night.
(56:03):
We got two game sixes, so you know, we got
to talk about those, and if you want to catch
that show, you know where to find us. You can
watch the live stream on YouTube, or you can watch
it back after the fact, or you can listen to
the show across all audio platforms, also on our YouTube channel.
Though we have all of our video essays and breakdowns
that we do. I just did one yesterday talking about
(56:24):
how there's a new reality in the NBA. Things are changing.
Depth is more important than ever, lineup versatility is more
important than ever, which is the exact theme that we
saw play out in Timberwolves Lakers.
Speaker 3 (56:36):
So you can go ahead and check that one out
if you want. I thought it was a good video.
I thought it was interesting.
Speaker 4 (56:40):
You can also check us out across social TikTok, Instagram
at Nerd Sessh, Twitter at nerd Underscore Sessh, and you
can join our discords. You can see things like Kaylee
calling out the go Bear masterclass in coming, all sorts
of clearvoyants probably going down in the discord, people accurately
predicting the goings on of the stock market, all sorts
of stuff. They could probably make you hundreds of millions
of dollars and, if not, at least a friend Logan,
(57:02):
So don't want to beat any dead horses here. I
think the practice is disgusting and it should be banned.
Speaker 2 (57:08):
That's the most valuable commodity in life, man.
Speaker 3 (57:11):
Friendship, Yes, sir, I love that. On that note, as always,
I've been Carson Brabber
Speaker 1 (57:17):
I've been Logan Camden and this was Nerd Sash
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