April 17, 2025 • 31 mins
Adam Auslund hops on to talk Clippers-Nuggets and Lakers-Wolves. What does the future hold for Bobby Miller after last nights disaster against Colorado? The Mavs won a play-in game to stay alive for one more day.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are we continue on fred rug and Rodney Peach on
a five seventy LA Sports. We've got NBA playoffs coming
up this weekend. We've got Lakers and Minnesota Sunday, Clippers
and Denver on Saturday and joining us now the man
that is all things Clippers and all things Rodney NBA,
the Salta most of the Clipper pregame halftime in postgame show,
(00:25):
Adam Ausselin, Adam, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Freddie? What's up?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Rodney could be back with you, guys. How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Fantastic? Yea fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Look at Freddy he's not even He's not even sweating
it right now, Adam, because nothing started yet.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I'm sure he's itsing to talk about the Lakers first.
I know that.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Now let's do the Clippers first. Real, let's to the Clippers.
Let's get into it, Adam, how do you like their
chances in this series?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
If you're asking for a pick, I'll take the Clippers
in six games now. Could the Denver Nuggets easily win
in six games too?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
They have Nikola Jokic. She averaged thirty one point triple
double this season. I think he has a real case
for winning his fourth regular season MVP. I think he's
the best player in the game. So typically in an
NBA playoff series, team with the best player wins. But
the difference here is can the Clippers have the second
best player in Kawhi, the third best player in James Harden,
(01:18):
and the fourth best player in Avisa Zubas before we
get to Jamal Murray, who's got a hamstring injury and
has been struggling at times this season to stay healthy
and just just be consistent out there. They also have
Aaron Gordon who's a little bit banged up. It's Jokicic
versus the Clippers, and he's good enough to take down anybody.
So it's a concern. But they were twenty first in
defense this season. The Denver Nuggets, they weren't good on
(01:40):
that end. That was a big reason why Mike Malone
and Calvin Booth both got fired, Like what do you
do when Jokic is not on the floor. That kind
of tells you how good you are as an organization
with your roster and with your coaching, And they were
miserable whenever Jokis was off the floor. So if he's
playing forty two minutes per game in this year that
he might the Clippers better win those minutes when Jokich
(02:03):
is off the floor because Denver has not been good
without him. Guys, basically, it's like this, they averaged twenty
one more points per one hundred possessions when Jokic is
out there on offense they are They go from god
tier on the offensive end with him out there on
the floor to being the worst offense in the league
without Niko Jokic. So it's all about him and what
(02:23):
he can do in this series, which tells you, Okay,
how much can a Visa Zubat slow him down? Well,
traditionally he has been one of the best guys to
use against Nikola Jokic. He has been that good on
that end. So look, it's a different animal in a
playoff series against Jokich. They came back down three to
one in the bubble against the Clippers. Both teams are
different now, but the Denver Nuggets do have championship pedigree.
(02:45):
They won less than two years ago. So this is
probably the premier series of the first round when you're
talking about a series that could go six or seven.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I said this yesterday. We were kicking it around. Who
has more pressure on him in these playoff series? Luca
or James Harden. You know what I said, James Harden.
I think for James Harden, he's had a good year,
he's not performed well in the playoffs. I think for
him his legacy, he needs to have a good playoff run. Here.
I'm not even saying the Clippers have to win, but
he's gotta play better.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Well, you'll agree, it's funny when we talk about James Harden.
He's underperformed in the playoffs. It's like he's averaged twenty
eight points per game in his playoff career something like that.
The last ten seasons, he's had really good moments and
he's had some bad moments in must win games, and
those have stood out to people more than anything. So
it's fair to say it's a mixed bag with James
(03:35):
hard you don't know what you're going to get at times.
But I would still say there's probably more pressure on
Luca because, I mean, James Harden does have Kawhi Leonard
is his number one option. I mean, Luca is the
number one option for the Lakers over Lebron. That's what
it is. Right now, so I think there's probably still
more pressure on him. But yeah, there's always gonna be
(03:56):
pressure on James Harden because of the doubters, because of
the the overall narrative with him in close out games
and not getting it done. But I also believe, and
I got a long memory, that if the Houston Rockets
were going up against the best team ever in the
Golden State Warriors after they won seventy three games and
then added Kevin Durant, James Harden would probably have a
championship by now. He was a victim of his era
(04:17):
to some degree. They went seven games against the best
team ever in the last two games. He didn't have
CP three next to him for the Houston Rockets back
in twenty seventeen or twenty eighteen, whichever year you're talking
about with Golden State. I think it was the first
year in twenty seventeen. So yeah, I know he's had
his low moments, But if you go back to that
playoff run he had two years ago with the Philadelphia
(04:39):
seventy six ers and that big series against the Boston Celtics, well,
he had two games without Joe El Embiid where he
dropped forty points. But then at the end of the
season or at the end of the series, he wasn't
as good in Game six, and so people remember that.
But it's like, you know, he's had some real, real
highs in the playoffs as well. I think you gotta
(05:01):
present the full picture of James Harden has been a
mixed bag in playoff competition.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Yeah, and when you don't win it, people tend to
focus on the negative parts. They don't focus on what
you just mentioned because oh they were you know, they
had a chance to be Golden State and they didn't
do it.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Well. You remember they didn't have CP three, But nobody
wants to talk about that.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, and nobody's beating that Golden State team. Nobody is
ninety six bulls aren't beating that team.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, or dropping forty without em beat. I mean, nobody
wants to bring that up. It's just he failed or
he didn't get it done. When when he's supposed to
be this you know, triple double guy in the playoffs
every single game and it doesn't work out that way.
And I said the same thing, Uh, Luca is the guy. Luca.
(05:49):
It's all Luca. Whereas James Harden with the Clippers. Everybody
knows if Kawhi doesn't go, they don't win, regardless of
what James Harden does.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
So I think the pressure is certainly certainly on Luca
when you look at this though, Adam, and I'm going
back to the Clippers. Now, they they get past this
first series, do they become the team that absolutely nobody
wants to play.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yes, but they'll be playing OKC in the second round,
which is a problem because they match up very well
against the Clippers. They just have so many different defenders
you can throw at Kawhi and at James Harden to
slow them down. I still give them the edge in
that series.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Would they want to see the Clippers? Know?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Because the Clippers have been the hottest team in the
NBA the last twenty five percent of the season. They've
won eighteen of their last twenty one games. They have
won eight in a row heading into this series, and
they just won an overtime up in San Francisco against
the Golden State Warriors and one of the best regular
season finales we've ever had. So they are on a
special run right now. It you know, some of this
(06:59):
is good depend on how this series goes. Some people
have picked them to win in five over the Denver Nuggets.
I have too much respect for Nikola Jokic should do that.
But there are pathways where you can say, look at
how flawed this roster is with the Denver Nuggets. How
can the Clippers not figure this out? Just Jokic is
that good? But to your point, if they get out
of the first round, if they continue to play at
this high of a level, plenty of people have already
(07:22):
been saying they can come out of the West, and
I do believe that. But okay, see in the second round,
and they're going to be rested because they're going to
take out whoever they get between the Dallas Mavericks and
the Memphis Grizzlies in that first round in no more
than five games. You know, I wouldn't be stopped if
they swept either of those teams. So they're going to
be fully rested and waiting for the Clippers, who are
(07:44):
likely to be in a dogfight of a first round
series against Denver.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
All right, let's switch over now talk about the Lakers.
The public things. The Lakers got a pretty good shot
to win this whole thing. Now, what do you think.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I guess I'm going herd mentality maybe as PTSD. I
always feel like the Lakers are to find a way.
But this is a series of contrasting styles in major ways.
Where the Timberwolves want to play bigger, they want to
have Gobert out there, they want to have Julius Randall
nas reed like. I just don't see how they can
(08:16):
impose their will on the Lakers. I think it's gonna
be the Lakers making them adjust to how they're playing
out there, and if that happens, I think the series
is gonna be lost by the Minnesota Timberwolves because the
big reason that there's six defensively this year and they
were number one last year is Rudy Gobert. If he
gets played off the court like we've seen so many
(08:37):
times in the playoffs, if you go small and take
him out to deep water like Luca did last year
in the Western Conference Finals and then mfed him over
and over again after he hit that big shot on
Rudy Gobert saying you can't guard me. He's gonna be
taken off the floor, and that's one of their biggest advantages.
And then all of a sudden there's all these driving
lanes for the Lakers to pick at, and they have
(08:59):
three guys who very cerebral with high IQs, and Lebron
and Luca and Austin Reeves out there with the ball
in their hands a ton. I just don't know how
Minnesota's gonna be able to match up with the Lakers
small ball, which by the way, isn't that small. They'd
still have a bunch of guys who are six seven
and above out there that you're throwing at. Teams with
Ruey hotchemore Yes playing center. But I think the Minnesota Timberwolves,
(09:23):
it's a bad matchup for them going up against the Lakers.
It's gonna be for a lot of teams. I see
a path where the Lakers are head to the Western
Conference Finals. I don't even think.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I'm not even the Lakers Clippers.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It could be Clippers gotta handle business against Denver and Okay, see,
they got the tougher path to get there. But I
think the Lakers they should be concerned about Golden State
and if they win against the Houston Rockets, because honestly,
I just don't see the Minnesota Timberwolves having a path
to victory in this series against the Lakers, like unless
(09:56):
Julius Randall, who has been a playoff off cive at times,
who has really struggled throughout his playoff career. Ask New
York Knicks fans. Unless Julius Randall has some monster series
for them, Unless Rudy Gobert can stay on the floor,
which I just don't see happening, this Lakers team should
win in five or six games at most. Honestly, Luca
(10:20):
matchup hunts maybe better than anyone in the league, and
they took what I think was a better Minnesota team
last year with Karl Anthony Towns out in five games
in the Western Conference Finals. Now, three of those games
were very competitive, in one possession games. But Luka Dacch
he knows this matchup very well. He's going to pick
(10:40):
it any weakness that is out there, and I think
Minnesota again is going to have to adjust to them.
So if they go small to play the Lakers game,
who they're gonna have out there? Dante DiVincenzo, Nikhil, Alexander Walker,
Jaden McDaniels, nas Reed, and Ants. I just like the
Lakers playing their style and what they're comfortable at more
(11:02):
than I like Minnesota having to adjust and play at
the Lakers pace and somehow figuring out out on the fly,
how we're going to basically come up with this small
ball lineup that we haven't used much all season long,
but now we have to have a necessity because we're
taking on the Lakers. I don't see that working out
that well for them. I mean, I expect them to
win a game, but I wouldn't be shot if the
Lakers won this thing in five because Luca he averaged
(11:25):
thirty two on high efficiency against Minnesota last season, and
they're gonna make ant haf to guard like he's their
best option against Luca. Well, that's not good. He's gonna
be asked to do so much for them on the
offensive end. With Minnesota, they're gonna wear out Anthony Edwards
that way. It's just Mike Conley, how's he gonna play
in this series? He's too small. They're gonna match up
hunt him. They have too many flaws that the Lakers.
(11:48):
You know, their weaknesses are the Lakers' strengths in so
many ways.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
All Right, both teams, Adam, Clippers, Lakers, take Luca and Lebron.
They're gonna do their thing. You assume they're going to
do their thing. You take Kawhi James Harden going to
do their thing. Who's the next guy that has become
up big for both teams?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I think of Evitza Zubots. It's not just his defense
on Nikola Jokic that has to be big, because really
you could only do so much to stop Jokic on offense.
You're at his mercy a lot. The best way to
take him out of his offense is to make Jokic
have to work on the defensive end. So that means
if Vitza Zubats is gonna have to show what he's
(12:34):
been doing over the last half of this season, and
he has turned into a top five center in this league.
He ended up averaging seventeen and thirteen per game, but
it was like twenty to twelve that he's been at
over the last two months now. He's been an absolute
monster and he has been good in the past against
Nikola Jokic. He's had one of his highest scoring games
against him. So they have to trust him getting down
(12:56):
on the block, showing off that he can finish with
the right hand, with the left hand, guys, he had
the most hook shots in a season in the last
forty years in the NBA of Vitza Zubas this season,
like he was incredible, but he has to make Jokic
work and they have to play through Avitza Zubats so
they can wear out Niko Jokic. Part of that is
(13:17):
also just high pick and roll with James Harden, who
has had a lot of success against Nikolo Jokic if
you look at head to head record, because he makes
Jokic come up and have to fight through the pick
and roll and hardens a pick and roll master, and
it just tires him out. It's the only thing you
can do because on the offensive end, like Jokic, he's
gonna have his.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Way with you.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
He's too skilled. He shot forty one percent from three
this season, and he started off the first two months
shooting fifty percent from three. Jokic himself said, this is
the best basketball he has ever played. So if SGA
gets the MVP over him, hey tip your cat, because
this is the best I've ever played out there, and
I think SGA will win it over him. But I
think Jokic has a real case because with out him,
(14:00):
they wouldn't be a playing team. Ten for Nuggets, like
the rest of the roster is very flawed. So it
comes down to a Vita Zubats his defense that he
can play on Jokic to a degree, but really wearing
him out on the other end and just going at
him and having success and making Yokic guard him. And
for the Lakers in this series, you know, I think
(14:23):
Austin Reeves guys has been criminally underrated the last three
months or so. I know Lakers fans, they know how
good he's been, and they've probably over hyped him in
past years. Not this year. I've been saying I would
take him over Devin Booker at this point. I think
he offers more. I think Austin Reeves has turned into
a guy that could get twenty five points per game
(14:43):
if he was on a lesser team and wasn't playing
next to Lebron and Luca. But if you look even
over the last couple of months, there have been times
where all three of them are on the floor and
they're still running things through Austin Reeves. Part of that
is because, well, your best two defenders are guarding Luca
and guarding Lebron, so he gets the third best guy
(15:03):
on him and Austin Reeves. He can go at them
like he's so much more skilled now, especially with gains
of the basket and also finding others. So I think
Austin Reeves, while he is an X factor, I'm as
almost expecting him to play well in this series. It
could be somebody like Dorian Finney Smith. What does he
shoot from the outside in this series? Is he over
(15:24):
forty percent? And can he guard Anthony Edwards well enough?
Or how much is Van Doo gonna play in this
series and wear down Anthony Edwards. I think it's gonna
be some of the other guys like that, the Lakers
Big three. To me, Austin Reeves has performed very well
in playoff setting so far in this year in his
career as a Laker, so I'm not even worried about him.
(15:44):
It's really just some of the others. Ruy Hot Chamoor,
can he make them pay with his outside shooting? Gabe Vinson,
who's been really good the last couple of months for them.
Is his shooting going to carry over? It's guys like
that to me with this Lakers team, if they're shooting
well from the outside with the others, you know this
is definitely gonna be over in five games.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
In my opinion, Yeah, I think the Lakers won that,
and I actually think you're right. I think the Clippers
beat Denver. Now I feel worse about it, but I
do think they beat Denver. All right.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Fred is not the kiss of death. He's not Charles Barkley.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I get run Sie. Well, you know Charles. He's He's
gonna be working in a new well, same group, new
place next year. So yeah, he can say anything he wants.
Now's not going to be held against him. Okay. At
the end of it, though, Lakers Clippers, who do you think?
And you've just outlined everything and did a good job.
(16:41):
Who goes further in the West.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I think the Lakers have the easier path. I do
just based upon matchups. The Clippers wouldn't match up as
well against Minnesota as the Lakers do. And while the
Clippers do match up well against Denver, there's only so
much you can do against Nikolai Jokic. I still think
that's the tougher series, and then they have to take
on OKC in the second round. The Lakers are getting
(17:05):
Houston or Golden State in the second round, and I
think Houston would be much more. That would be an
easier team for them to run over because of their
youth the inexperience. But if somehow Houston gets past the
Golden State Warriors, they're gonna have a lot of confidence.
The Golden State Warriors, though, have the better chance of
taking out the Lakers. They beat them recently, and they
(17:25):
can play small because they usually do anyways, that's a
comfort place for them. They're good playing small. So I
think what the Lakers are rooting for is for Houston
to upset Golden State in the first round, so they
end up taking on the Rockets in the second round
instead of Golden State, and therefore they're getting to the
Western Conference Finals. I don't think anybody's stopping Minnesota's not
(17:45):
stopping the Lakers, and Houston isn't. The only team that
has a chance would be the Golden State Warriors before
the Western Conference Finals. Now, should they get there and
they see the Clippers or the OKC Thunder, yeah they
could lose those series. They could definitely lose to those
two teams. But that's the thing. They're on the right
side of the bracket to have a chance to get
to the Western Conference finals. The matchups are favorable, more
(18:06):
favorable for the Lakers and their path than it is
for the Clippers right now.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
All right, Adam, great job, Thank you for hanging out
with us today.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Love you guys.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
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Dodgers are I don't think they've yet in Texas, but
(19:01):
they will soon. They're headed off to play the Rangers.
It's an off day for him. Let's look back at
last night and talk about Bobby Miller on the other side.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Ah, come on, let it go, Ronnie. You're doing your
thing today. On a Throwback Thursday, Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan
on a Throwback Thursday. Many thanks to the Salty One.
The salty a Adam Austlin. He knows his stuff, you know, Freddie.
We talk a lot about David vasse On, you know,
the baseball side, Dodger side.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
He absolutely is the best in the business.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Adam Austlin knows his stuff when it comes to basketball
and all things Clippers and frankly all things Lakers and
pretty much the NBA as well.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Adam is right dialed in. Yeah. And when he started,
when he started doing the Clippers, he was learning, you know,
it was a new experience for him. And Adam and
Kevin do their own podcast and it's very good. FNA
and somebody's he started doing the Clippers, you know, you
could see him getting comfortable and getting adjusted and as
he did it longer, I mean, not only did he
(20:06):
become quite good at doing the Clippers, but then you
could see the amount of interest he had in the
NBA in general. And he is all over it. I mean,
he told us honestly when Denver fired Michael Malone. He
told us what happened before it was even reported. But
there was a rift in the front office that had
been going on for a while. I believe he was
(20:28):
the first one to say that, and he was writing.
There have been a few times he's been on and
said things and you're thinking, where did he get that?
And then three days later somebody writes it. So, yeah,
he's all over it. He really does a good job. Okay,
So Bobby Miller last night, that was not good anyway
you look at it. He struggled, had a huge lead,
(20:51):
and you're thinking this is going to be just gravy
for him. Put a big smile on your face, get
them five, get through it, right, But do you think
that that was it?
Speaker 3 (21:00):
That sometimes could be an issue though, right, Fred, Like
you get up and you're you know, you you go
out and you basically get after him. I think they
scored They scored one run though then their first inning,
yes they did, so you know you're not feeling great,
but you're like, okay, got them down. I got out
(21:21):
of that first inning.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Then your guys come up and score seven and you're
up seven to one going trotting back out there for
that second inning. Sometimes it may do a little too
little something to you as you're amped up for this
game and I gotta hold them down. I gotta be
perfect how to do this. I know it's the Rockies.
I'm I'm supposed to shut them down. And your team
(21:43):
gets you seven runs in the first inning, maybe there's
a little relaxing to you. Maybe there's a little bit
of you know, Okay, I don't have to be perfect now,
I can just kind of work my way through it.
And maybe there's a little bit of mentality that that
(22:04):
happens when your team gives you seven runs in the
first inning.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Understood. In this case, don't buy it. I'm going to
help him. I'm trying to help him. Man, it made sense.
I get it. But now I can't buy that. I
can't buy that. Here's a guy that had lights out
when he started, struggled, got hurt, rehabbed, and they put
(22:29):
him back and said, all right, get down and okay, see,
let's work on what we got to work on. Let's
get you back to where you were. He's a fierce competitor,
he's tough as nails, not afraid of anybody, get down there,
start working, figure it out, because we may need you
up here. You'll be back. Okay. The call comes. By
(22:49):
the way, he wasn't the first call, if you remember correctly,
you weren't even the second call. But now the call came,
and this for a that some years ago we looked
at it and said, my god, he could be the
ace of the staff. So he gets the call and
he comes out here and they do all they can
(23:10):
do to help him. They stake him to an enormously.
Just get out there and really work on your confidence,
work on your game, work on yourself. Go five, come in,
sit down, go to the post game buffet and the clubhouse,
have a bite to eat, and you'll have a big
smile on your face. Your confidence will have grown, and
(23:30):
you'll be back. Okay. So the well, you know, I'm
pitching against Colorado, so maybe I take my foot off
the gas. I can't see that. Not last night for him,
because he needed a good outing, He needed a good performance.
And Dave Robertson, they can all say whatever they want
after the game, right because Dave's never going to bury anybody.
You know that, that's not how he is. But he's
(23:52):
also a guy that has set on numerous occasions. This
is a performance based business. You must perform. And that
was an opportunity, a major opportunity, and he just whiffed.
And you can come up with any number of reasons why.
The end of the day, it doesn't matter. He just whiffed.
And will he get another shot. Yeah, probably he'll get
(24:17):
another shot. But I think the runway is getting a
lot shorter now for him, it's getting a lot shorter.
And I mean, if it doesn't turn around in the
Dodger organization, I think it's getting shorter now. Doesn't mean
there's nowhere to land, but it's not very large. And
(24:41):
if he can't pitch at the major league level, if
they determine that or he allows them to make that determination,
he's not going to be in the Dodger organization because
they don't need him. And maybe if that happened, he
went somewhere else, he would rediscover what he lost and
he'd be great, and that you want that for everybody. Yeah,
but I think last night said an awful lot about
(25:03):
what his future could be here.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
I hear what you're saying. I don't know if it's
that dramatic because it's one game. Is this first game back,
it was him, you know, in a in a spot
start situation.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So I don't, I don't. I don't know if that's true,
but I do I do.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Hear you when you say that, you know, there's a
there's a lot of competition for those those slots as
a starting pitcher, and then you're gonna have guys coming off,
you know, the I l that or or rehab assignments
that are also gonna compete. So your your window in
(25:48):
every start matters, which is why you know, it's so
good to see Dustin May get off to a good
start because you know, I think he's slowly and if
he didn't do it already, I think he's close to
solidify in his position within this rotation. But that that
pressure is also on you know, Tony Gonslin as he
gets ready to come back and try to get back
(26:10):
into the rotation, that pressure is on him quite a
bit as well. You know, I think we're gonna you know,
they're gonna obviously Clayton Kershaw is gonna get his moments
as much as he can. They can give it to
him and see if he can he can handle that
and he's in a different category than the other guys.
But but Gonsolin and Bobby Miller, and and and Dustin
(26:31):
May they they kind of were in that spot of
or are you guys gonna even be you know, in
our plans as we go through the rest of the season.
The good news is this, if you're a Dodger pitcher,
and if all are healthy there's a lot of them,
it simply means you are not gonna have to throw
(26:52):
an enormous number of innings this year. I mean that
Kaleti was on he said, Corbyn Burns Arizona. You know,
they may want him to go two hundred innings. He's
doing that for the Dodgers. Nobody needs to do that
for the Dodgers. There are enough pictures where you can
spread this out, and the objective here is to have
enough of them healthy when you hit the postseason. So
(27:13):
the feeling is, well, the less you throw, the less
wear and tear on your arm, the less danger. Granted,
somebody could be the first game of the playoffs and
blow their arm out. Well, okay, that could happen at
any moment.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
But the feeling is if you do less, now you
got a better shout to be healthy then, so there
are going to be enough pictures here when everybody is healthy.
It's just it's sort of like, you know, do you
have a seat when the music stops? That's kind of
what it is. And last night I don't think Bobby
(27:46):
Miller got to take a seat. I think he's still
walking around listening to the music. And I think for
his sake, the next time he better sit down. All right,
we are back to wrap it up right after this.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
And now, Yeah, nothing like a little Earth Went and
Fire on a throwback Thursday. Roddie Fassio doing your thang. Man,
appreciate you, right if fred Rogan closing it out, Freddie,
what you got?
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Well, I'll tell you this. Nico Harrison can smile. He's
still alive. He's still alive. He's okay tonight. That trade
still looks like a billion dollars. He's good to go.
He hung in there. He made it because every game
for him is like, oh god, oh no, this is it.
(28:46):
So he's still alive, Rodney, I think that should be acknowledged.
He's still there. It's okay, yea what he will be
there for a minute. He'll be there. You think Nico's
getting any sleep at night. I'll bet you last night
he did for the first time in a while. Yeah,
(29:09):
at least he tried to. You know, you have that
sleep app. If you were a watch or the Oral Ring,
you have a sleep app and you can check your phone.
He's probably said fifteen minutes a night for the last
three weeks. I mean he had to be exhausted. He's
mentally drained. Yeah, yeah, no doubt, no doubt. And it'll
(29:31):
be an interesting next few weeks for Nico. You think
he's gonna be He may leave like the mask play,
he may leave that and watch.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
He's gonna be glued to the Laker games more so
than any other games in the league, just to see
how the Lakers do and rooting against him.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
You know, his his great hope, at least for this year.
There is one great hope for him. And if he
pulls this off, if it happens, oh, he gets a
bit of a respite. He must hope and pray that
in this year's playoffs the Mavericks go farther than the Lakers.
Oh yeah. Is it complete redemption? No, but at least
(30:12):
does it buy him some time? Yes, yes, that's what
he must hope and pray.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
That will be one of the great miracles in modern
NBA playoff history, because they'd have to work. They have
to win another game, by the way, just to get
the eighth seed for a chance to play Oklahoma City
without Kyrie Irving. So if they do that, you know,
it might be a victory for this season thousand percent
and in the future. Not only we traded Luca, we
got ad we didn't have Kyrie Irving, and we beat
one of the best teams who had one of the
(30:39):
best runs in the last twenty years.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
That be remarkable. See, that's what I'm saying. That's what
I'm saying. But he's he's got to go farther than
the Lakers, so he's got to get in right. But
winning the first game, winning last night means he's not out,
which means he's still alive. But does that make sense?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I mean, yeah, it's not gonna happen, but sure.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Okay, Well then why don't you just start yelling fire Nico.
Why don't you be that guy?
Speaker 4 (31:06):
There's already thousands of other people calling for his job.
He doesn't need me piling on, so.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Come on, come on. It ain't Nico's fault. Nico didn't
operate in a vacuum. No, no, but Nico's gonna get
it if it goes south, Rodnie, thank you, Kevin. Great work, Rodney.
We're back tomorrow to wrap it up, sir,
Are we continue on fred rug and Rodney Peach on
a five seventy LA Sports. We've got NBA playoffs coming
up this weekend. We've got Lakers and Minnesota Sunday, Clippers
and Denver on Saturday and joining us now the man
that is all things Clippers and all things Rodney NBA,
the Salta most of the Clipper pregame halftime in postgame show,
(00:25):
Adam Ausselin, Adam, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Freddie? What's up?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Rodney could be back with you, guys. How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Fantastic? Yea fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Look at Freddy he's not even He's not even sweating
it right now, Adam, because nothing started yet.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I'm sure he's itsing to talk about the Lakers first.
I know that.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Now let's do the Clippers first. Real, let's to the Clippers.
Let's get into it, Adam, how do you like their
chances in this series?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
If you're asking for a pick, I'll take the Clippers
in six games now. Could the Denver Nuggets easily win
in six games too?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
They have Nikola Jokic. She averaged thirty one point triple
double this season. I think he has a real case
for winning his fourth regular season MVP. I think he's
the best player in the game. So typically in an
NBA playoff series, team with the best player wins. But
the difference here is can the Clippers have the second
best player in Kawhi, the third best player in James Harden,
(01:18):
and the fourth best player in Avisa Zubas before we
get to Jamal Murray, who's got a hamstring injury and
has been struggling at times this season to stay healthy
and just just be consistent out there. They also have
Aaron Gordon who's a little bit banged up. It's Jokicic
versus the Clippers, and he's good enough to take down anybody.
So it's a concern. But they were twenty first in
defense this season. The Denver Nuggets, they weren't good on
(01:40):
that end. That was a big reason why Mike Malone
and Calvin Booth both got fired, Like what do you
do when Jokic is not on the floor. That kind
of tells you how good you are as an organization
with your roster and with your coaching, And they were
miserable whenever Jokis was off the floor. So if he's
playing forty two minutes per game in this year that
he might the Clippers better win those minutes when Jokich
(02:03):
is off the floor because Denver has not been good
without him. Guys, basically, it's like this, they averaged twenty
one more points per one hundred possessions when Jokic is
out there on offense they are They go from god
tier on the offensive end with him out there on
the floor to being the worst offense in the league
without Niko Jokic. So it's all about him and what
(02:23):
he can do in this series, which tells you, Okay,
how much can a Visa Zubat slow him down? Well,
traditionally he has been one of the best guys to
use against Nikola Jokic. He has been that good on
that end. So look, it's a different animal in a
playoff series against Jokich. They came back down three to
one in the bubble against the Clippers. Both teams are
different now, but the Denver Nuggets do have championship pedigree.
(02:45):
They won less than two years ago. So this is
probably the premier series of the first round when you're
talking about a series that could go six or seven.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I said this yesterday. We were kicking it around. Who
has more pressure on him in these playoff series? Luca
or James Harden. You know what I said, James Harden.
I think for James Harden, he's had a good year,
he's not performed well in the playoffs. I think for
him his legacy, he needs to have a good playoff run. Here.
I'm not even saying the Clippers have to win, but
he's gotta play better.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Well, you'll agree, it's funny when we talk about James Harden.
He's underperformed in the playoffs. It's like he's averaged twenty
eight points per game in his playoff career something like that.
The last ten seasons, he's had really good moments and
he's had some bad moments in must win games, and
those have stood out to people more than anything. So
it's fair to say it's a mixed bag with James
(03:35):
hard you don't know what you're going to get at times.
But I would still say there's probably more pressure on
Luca because, I mean, James Harden does have Kawhi Leonard
is his number one option. I mean, Luca is the
number one option for the Lakers over Lebron. That's what
it is. Right now, so I think there's probably still
more pressure on him. But yeah, there's always gonna be
(03:56):
pressure on James Harden because of the doubters, because of
the the overall narrative with him in close out games
and not getting it done. But I also believe, and
I got a long memory, that if the Houston Rockets
were going up against the best team ever in the
Golden State Warriors after they won seventy three games and
then added Kevin Durant, James Harden would probably have a
championship by now. He was a victim of his era
(04:17):
to some degree. They went seven games against the best
team ever in the last two games. He didn't have
CP three next to him for the Houston Rockets back
in twenty seventeen or twenty eighteen, whichever year you're talking
about with Golden State. I think it was the first
year in twenty seventeen. So yeah, I know he's had
his low moments, But if you go back to that
playoff run he had two years ago with the Philadelphia
(04:39):
seventy six ers and that big series against the Boston Celtics, well,
he had two games without Joe El Embiid where he
dropped forty points. But then at the end of the
season or at the end of the series, he wasn't
as good in Game six, and so people remember that.
But it's like, you know, he's had some real, real
highs in the playoffs as well. I think you gotta
(05:01):
present the full picture of James Harden has been a
mixed bag in playoff competition.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Yeah, and when you don't win it, people tend to
focus on the negative parts. They don't focus on what
you just mentioned because oh they were you know, they
had a chance to be Golden State and they didn't
do it.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Well. You remember they didn't have CP three, But nobody
wants to talk about that.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, and nobody's beating that Golden State team. Nobody is
ninety six bulls aren't beating that team.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, or dropping forty without em beat. I mean, nobody
wants to bring that up. It's just he failed or
he didn't get it done. When when he's supposed to
be this you know, triple double guy in the playoffs
every single game and it doesn't work out that way.
And I said the same thing, Uh, Luca is the guy. Luca.
(05:49):
It's all Luca. Whereas James Harden with the Clippers. Everybody
knows if Kawhi doesn't go, they don't win, regardless of
what James Harden does.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
So I think the pressure is certainly certainly on Luca
when you look at this though, Adam, and I'm going
back to the Clippers. Now, they they get past this
first series, do they become the team that absolutely nobody
wants to play.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yes, but they'll be playing OKC in the second round,
which is a problem because they match up very well
against the Clippers. They just have so many different defenders
you can throw at Kawhi and at James Harden to
slow them down. I still give them the edge in
that series.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Would they want to see the Clippers? Know?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Because the Clippers have been the hottest team in the
NBA the last twenty five percent of the season. They've
won eighteen of their last twenty one games. They have
won eight in a row heading into this series, and
they just won an overtime up in San Francisco against
the Golden State Warriors and one of the best regular
season finales we've ever had. So they are on a
special run right now. It you know, some of this
(06:59):
is good depend on how this series goes. Some people
have picked them to win in five over the Denver Nuggets.
I have too much respect for Nikola Jokic should do that.
But there are pathways where you can say, look at
how flawed this roster is with the Denver Nuggets. How
can the Clippers not figure this out? Just Jokic is
that good? But to your point, if they get out
of the first round, if they continue to play at
this high of a level, plenty of people have already
(07:22):
been saying they can come out of the West, and
I do believe that. But okay, see in the second round,
and they're going to be rested because they're going to
take out whoever they get between the Dallas Mavericks and
the Memphis Grizzlies in that first round in no more
than five games. You know, I wouldn't be stopped if
they swept either of those teams. So they're going to
be fully rested and waiting for the Clippers, who are
(07:44):
likely to be in a dogfight of a first round
series against Denver.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
All right, let's switch over now talk about the Lakers.
The public things. The Lakers got a pretty good shot
to win this whole thing. Now, what do you think.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I guess I'm going herd mentality maybe as PTSD. I
always feel like the Lakers are to find a way.
But this is a series of contrasting styles in major ways.
Where the Timberwolves want to play bigger, they want to
have Gobert out there, they want to have Julius Randall
nas reed like. I just don't see how they can
(08:16):
impose their will on the Lakers. I think it's gonna
be the Lakers making them adjust to how they're playing
out there, and if that happens, I think the series
is gonna be lost by the Minnesota Timberwolves because the
big reason that there's six defensively this year and they
were number one last year is Rudy Gobert. If he
gets played off the court like we've seen so many
(08:37):
times in the playoffs, if you go small and take
him out to deep water like Luca did last year
in the Western Conference Finals and then mfed him over
and over again after he hit that big shot on
Rudy Gobert saying you can't guard me. He's gonna be
taken off the floor, and that's one of their biggest advantages.
And then all of a sudden there's all these driving
lanes for the Lakers to pick at, and they have
(08:59):
three guys who very cerebral with high IQs, and Lebron
and Luca and Austin Reeves out there with the ball
in their hands a ton. I just don't know how
Minnesota's gonna be able to match up with the Lakers
small ball, which by the way, isn't that small. They'd
still have a bunch of guys who are six seven
and above out there that you're throwing at. Teams with
Ruey hotchemore Yes playing center. But I think the Minnesota Timberwolves,
(09:23):
it's a bad matchup for them going up against the Lakers.
It's gonna be for a lot of teams. I see
a path where the Lakers are head to the Western
Conference Finals. I don't even think.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I'm not even the Lakers Clippers.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It could be Clippers gotta handle business against Denver and Okay, see,
they got the tougher path to get there. But I
think the Lakers they should be concerned about Golden State
and if they win against the Houston Rockets, because honestly,
I just don't see the Minnesota Timberwolves having a path
to victory in this series against the Lakers, like unless
(09:56):
Julius Randall, who has been a playoff off cive at times,
who has really struggled throughout his playoff career. Ask New
York Knicks fans. Unless Julius Randall has some monster series
for them, Unless Rudy Gobert can stay on the floor,
which I just don't see happening, this Lakers team should
win in five or six games at most. Honestly, Luca
(10:20):
matchup hunts maybe better than anyone in the league, and
they took what I think was a better Minnesota team
last year with Karl Anthony Towns out in five games
in the Western Conference Finals. Now, three of those games
were very competitive, in one possession games. But Luka Dacch
he knows this matchup very well. He's going to pick
(10:40):
it any weakness that is out there, and I think
Minnesota again is going to have to adjust to them.
So if they go small to play the Lakers game,
who they're gonna have out there? Dante DiVincenzo, Nikhil, Alexander Walker,
Jaden McDaniels, nas Reed, and Ants. I just like the
Lakers playing their style and what they're comfortable at more
(11:02):
than I like Minnesota having to adjust and play at
the Lakers pace and somehow figuring out out on the fly,
how we're going to basically come up with this small
ball lineup that we haven't used much all season long,
but now we have to have a necessity because we're
taking on the Lakers. I don't see that working out
that well for them. I mean, I expect them to
win a game, but I wouldn't be shot if the
Lakers won this thing in five because Luca he averaged
(11:25):
thirty two on high efficiency against Minnesota last season, and
they're gonna make ant haf to guard like he's their
best option against Luca. Well, that's not good. He's gonna
be asked to do so much for them on the
offensive end. With Minnesota, they're gonna wear out Anthony Edwards
that way. It's just Mike Conley, how's he gonna play
in this series? He's too small. They're gonna match up
hunt him. They have too many flaws that the Lakers.
(11:48):
You know, their weaknesses are the Lakers' strengths in so
many ways.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
All Right, both teams, Adam, Clippers, Lakers, take Luca and Lebron.
They're gonna do their thing. You assume they're going to
do their thing. You take Kawhi James Harden going to
do their thing. Who's the next guy that has become
up big for both teams?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I think of Evitza Zubots. It's not just his defense
on Nikola Jokic that has to be big, because really
you could only do so much to stop Jokic on offense.
You're at his mercy a lot. The best way to
take him out of his offense is to make Jokic
have to work on the defensive end. So that means
if Vitza Zubats is gonna have to show what he's
(12:34):
been doing over the last half of this season, and
he has turned into a top five center in this league.
He ended up averaging seventeen and thirteen per game, but
it was like twenty to twelve that he's been at
over the last two months now. He's been an absolute
monster and he has been good in the past against
Nikola Jokic. He's had one of his highest scoring games
against him. So they have to trust him getting down
(12:56):
on the block, showing off that he can finish with
the right hand, with the left hand, guys, he had
the most hook shots in a season in the last
forty years in the NBA of Vitza Zubas this season,
like he was incredible, but he has to make Jokic
work and they have to play through Avitza Zubats so
they can wear out Niko Jokic. Part of that is
(13:17):
also just high pick and roll with James Harden, who
has had a lot of success against Nikolo Jokic if
you look at head to head record, because he makes
Jokic come up and have to fight through the pick
and roll and hardens a pick and roll master, and
it just tires him out. It's the only thing you
can do because on the offensive end, like Jokic, he's
gonna have his.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Way with you.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
He's too skilled. He shot forty one percent from three
this season, and he started off the first two months
shooting fifty percent from three. Jokic himself said, this is
the best basketball he has ever played. So if SGA
gets the MVP over him, hey tip your cat, because
this is the best I've ever played out there, and
I think SGA will win it over him. But I
think Jokic has a real case because with out him,
(14:00):
they wouldn't be a playing team. Ten for Nuggets, like
the rest of the roster is very flawed. So it
comes down to a Vita Zubats his defense that he
can play on Jokic to a degree, but really wearing
him out on the other end and just going at
him and having success and making Yokic guard him. And
for the Lakers in this series, you know, I think
(14:23):
Austin Reeves guys has been criminally underrated the last three
months or so. I know Lakers fans, they know how
good he's been, and they've probably over hyped him in
past years. Not this year. I've been saying I would
take him over Devin Booker at this point. I think
he offers more. I think Austin Reeves has turned into
a guy that could get twenty five points per game
(14:43):
if he was on a lesser team and wasn't playing
next to Lebron and Luca. But if you look even
over the last couple of months, there have been times
where all three of them are on the floor and
they're still running things through Austin Reeves. Part of that
is because, well, your best two defenders are guarding Luca
and guarding Lebron, so he gets the third best guy
(15:03):
on him and Austin Reeves. He can go at them
like he's so much more skilled now, especially with gains
of the basket and also finding others. So I think
Austin Reeves, while he is an X factor, I'm as
almost expecting him to play well in this series. It
could be somebody like Dorian Finney Smith. What does he
shoot from the outside in this series? Is he over
(15:24):
forty percent? And can he guard Anthony Edwards well enough?
Or how much is Van Doo gonna play in this
series and wear down Anthony Edwards. I think it's gonna
be some of the other guys like that, the Lakers
Big three. To me, Austin Reeves has performed very well
in playoff setting so far in this year in his
career as a Laker, so I'm not even worried about him.
(15:44):
It's really just some of the others. Ruy Hot Chamoor,
can he make them pay with his outside shooting? Gabe Vinson,
who's been really good the last couple of months for them.
Is his shooting going to carry over? It's guys like
that to me with this Lakers team, if they're shooting
well from the outside with the others, you know this
is definitely gonna be over in five games.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
In my opinion, Yeah, I think the Lakers won that,
and I actually think you're right. I think the Clippers
beat Denver. Now I feel worse about it, but I
do think they beat Denver. All right.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Fred is not the kiss of death. He's not Charles Barkley.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I get run Sie. Well, you know Charles. He's He's
gonna be working in a new well, same group, new
place next year. So yeah, he can say anything he wants.
Now's not going to be held against him. Okay. At
the end of it, though, Lakers Clippers, who do you think?
And you've just outlined everything and did a good job.
(16:41):
Who goes further in the West.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I think the Lakers have the easier path. I do
just based upon matchups. The Clippers wouldn't match up as
well against Minnesota as the Lakers do. And while the
Clippers do match up well against Denver, there's only so
much you can do against Nikolai Jokic. I still think
that's the tougher series, and then they have to take
on OKC in the second round. The Lakers are getting
(17:05):
Houston or Golden State in the second round, and I
think Houston would be much more. That would be an
easier team for them to run over because of their
youth the inexperience. But if somehow Houston gets past the
Golden State Warriors, they're gonna have a lot of confidence.
The Golden State Warriors, though, have the better chance of
taking out the Lakers. They beat them recently, and they
(17:25):
can play small because they usually do anyways, that's a
comfort place for them. They're good playing small. So I
think what the Lakers are rooting for is for Houston
to upset Golden State in the first round, so they
end up taking on the Rockets in the second round
instead of Golden State, and therefore they're getting to the
Western Conference Finals. I don't think anybody's stopping Minnesota's not
(17:45):
stopping the Lakers, and Houston isn't. The only team that
has a chance would be the Golden State Warriors before
the Western Conference Finals. Now, should they get there and
they see the Clippers or the OKC Thunder, yeah they
could lose those series. They could definitely lose to those
two teams. But that's the thing. They're on the right
side of the bracket to have a chance to get
to the Western Conference finals. The matchups are favorable, more
(18:06):
favorable for the Lakers and their path than it is
for the Clippers right now.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
All right, Adam, great job, Thank you for hanging out
with us today.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Love you guys.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
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Dodgers are I don't think they've yet in Texas, but
(19:01):
they will soon. They're headed off to play the Rangers.
It's an off day for him. Let's look back at
last night and talk about Bobby Miller on the other side.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Ah, come on, let it go, Ronnie. You're doing your
thing today. On a Throwback Thursday, Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan
on a Throwback Thursday. Many thanks to the Salty One.
The salty a Adam Austlin. He knows his stuff, you know, Freddie.
We talk a lot about David vasse On, you know,
the baseball side, Dodger side.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
He absolutely is the best in the business.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Adam Austlin knows his stuff when it comes to basketball
and all things Clippers and frankly all things Lakers and
pretty much the NBA as well.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Adam is right dialed in. Yeah. And when he started,
when he started doing the Clippers, he was learning, you know,
it was a new experience for him. And Adam and
Kevin do their own podcast and it's very good. FNA
and somebody's he started doing the Clippers, you know, you
could see him getting comfortable and getting adjusted and as
he did it longer, I mean, not only did he
(20:06):
become quite good at doing the Clippers, but then you
could see the amount of interest he had in the
NBA in general. And he is all over it. I mean,
he told us honestly when Denver fired Michael Malone. He
told us what happened before it was even reported. But
there was a rift in the front office that had
been going on for a while. I believe he was
(20:28):
the first one to say that, and he was writing.
There have been a few times he's been on and
said things and you're thinking, where did he get that?
And then three days later somebody writes it. So, yeah,
he's all over it. He really does a good job. Okay,
So Bobby Miller last night, that was not good anyway
you look at it. He struggled, had a huge lead,
(20:51):
and you're thinking this is going to be just gravy
for him. Put a big smile on your face, get
them five, get through it, right, But do you think
that that was it?
Speaker 3 (21:00):
That sometimes could be an issue though, right, Fred, Like
you get up and you're you know, you you go
out and you basically get after him. I think they
scored They scored one run though then their first inning,
yes they did, so you know you're not feeling great,
but you're like, okay, got them down. I got out
(21:21):
of that first inning.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Then your guys come up and score seven and you're
up seven to one going trotting back out there for
that second inning. Sometimes it may do a little too
little something to you as you're amped up for this
game and I gotta hold them down. I gotta be
perfect how to do this. I know it's the Rockies.
I'm I'm supposed to shut them down. And your team
(21:43):
gets you seven runs in the first inning, maybe there's
a little relaxing to you. Maybe there's a little bit
of you know, Okay, I don't have to be perfect now,
I can just kind of work my way through it.
And maybe there's a little bit of mentality that that
(22:04):
happens when your team gives you seven runs in the
first inning.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Understood. In this case, don't buy it. I'm going to
help him. I'm trying to help him. Man, it made sense.
I get it. But now I can't buy that. I
can't buy that. Here's a guy that had lights out
when he started, struggled, got hurt, rehabbed, and they put
(22:29):
him back and said, all right, get down and okay, see,
let's work on what we got to work on. Let's
get you back to where you were. He's a fierce competitor,
he's tough as nails, not afraid of anybody, get down there,
start working, figure it out, because we may need you
up here. You'll be back. Okay. The call comes. By
(22:49):
the way, he wasn't the first call, if you remember correctly,
you weren't even the second call. But now the call came,
and this for a that some years ago we looked
at it and said, my god, he could be the
ace of the staff. So he gets the call and
he comes out here and they do all they can
(23:10):
do to help him. They stake him to an enormously.
Just get out there and really work on your confidence,
work on your game, work on yourself. Go five, come in,
sit down, go to the post game buffet and the clubhouse,
have a bite to eat, and you'll have a big
smile on your face. Your confidence will have grown, and
(23:30):
you'll be back. Okay. So the well, you know, I'm
pitching against Colorado, so maybe I take my foot off
the gas. I can't see that. Not last night for him,
because he needed a good outing, He needed a good performance.
And Dave Robertson, they can all say whatever they want
after the game, right because Dave's never going to bury anybody.
You know that, that's not how he is. But he's
(23:52):
also a guy that has set on numerous occasions. This
is a performance based business. You must perform. And that
was an opportunity, a major opportunity, and he just whiffed.
And you can come up with any number of reasons why.
The end of the day, it doesn't matter. He just whiffed.
And will he get another shot. Yeah, probably he'll get
(24:17):
another shot. But I think the runway is getting a
lot shorter now for him, it's getting a lot shorter.
And I mean, if it doesn't turn around in the
Dodger organization, I think it's getting shorter now. Doesn't mean
there's nowhere to land, but it's not very large. And
(24:41):
if he can't pitch at the major league level, if
they determine that or he allows them to make that determination,
he's not going to be in the Dodger organization because
they don't need him. And maybe if that happened, he
went somewhere else, he would rediscover what he lost and
he'd be great, and that you want that for everybody. Yeah,
but I think last night said an awful lot about
(25:03):
what his future could be here.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
I hear what you're saying. I don't know if it's
that dramatic because it's one game. Is this first game back,
it was him, you know, in a in a spot
start situation.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So I don't, I don't. I don't know if that's true,
but I do I do.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Hear you when you say that, you know, there's a
there's a lot of competition for those those slots as
a starting pitcher, and then you're gonna have guys coming off,
you know, the I l that or or rehab assignments
that are also gonna compete. So your your window in
(25:48):
every start matters, which is why you know, it's so
good to see Dustin May get off to a good
start because you know, I think he's slowly and if
he didn't do it already, I think he's close to
solidify in his position within this rotation. But that that
pressure is also on you know, Tony Gonslin as he
gets ready to come back and try to get back
(26:10):
into the rotation, that pressure is on him quite a
bit as well. You know, I think we're gonna you know,
they're gonna obviously Clayton Kershaw is gonna get his moments
as much as he can. They can give it to
him and see if he can he can handle that
and he's in a different category than the other guys.
But but Gonsolin and Bobby Miller, and and and Dustin
(26:31):
May they they kind of were in that spot of
or are you guys gonna even be you know, in
our plans as we go through the rest of the season.
The good news is this, if you're a Dodger pitcher,
and if all are healthy there's a lot of them,
it simply means you are not gonna have to throw
(26:52):
an enormous number of innings this year. I mean that
Kaleti was on he said, Corbyn Burns Arizona. You know,
they may want him to go two hundred innings. He's
doing that for the Dodgers. Nobody needs to do that
for the Dodgers. There are enough pictures where you can
spread this out, and the objective here is to have
enough of them healthy when you hit the postseason. So
(27:13):
the feeling is, well, the less you throw, the less
wear and tear on your arm, the less danger. Granted,
somebody could be the first game of the playoffs and
blow their arm out. Well, okay, that could happen at
any moment.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
But the feeling is if you do less, now you
got a better shout to be healthy then, so there
are going to be enough pictures here when everybody is healthy.
It's just it's sort of like, you know, do you
have a seat when the music stops? That's kind of
what it is. And last night I don't think Bobby
(27:46):
Miller got to take a seat. I think he's still
walking around listening to the music. And I think for
his sake, the next time he better sit down. All right,
we are back to wrap it up right after this.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
And now, Yeah, nothing like a little Earth Went and
Fire on a throwback Thursday. Roddie Fassio doing your thang. Man,
appreciate you, right if fred Rogan closing it out, Freddie,
what you got?
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Well, I'll tell you this. Nico Harrison can smile. He's
still alive. He's still alive. He's okay tonight. That trade
still looks like a billion dollars. He's good to go.
He hung in there. He made it because every game
for him is like, oh god, oh no, this is it.
(28:46):
So he's still alive, Rodney, I think that should be acknowledged.
He's still there. It's okay, yea what he will be
there for a minute. He'll be there. You think Nico's
getting any sleep at night. I'll bet you last night
he did for the first time in a while. Yeah,
(29:09):
at least he tried to. You know, you have that
sleep app. If you were a watch or the Oral Ring,
you have a sleep app and you can check your phone.
He's probably said fifteen minutes a night for the last
three weeks. I mean he had to be exhausted. He's
mentally drained. Yeah, yeah, no doubt, no doubt. And it'll
(29:31):
be an interesting next few weeks for Nico. You think
he's gonna be He may leave like the mask play,
he may leave that and watch.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
He's gonna be glued to the Laker games more so
than any other games in the league, just to see
how the Lakers do and rooting against him.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
You know, his his great hope, at least for this year.
There is one great hope for him. And if he
pulls this off, if it happens, oh, he gets a
bit of a respite. He must hope and pray that
in this year's playoffs the Mavericks go farther than the Lakers.
Oh yeah. Is it complete redemption? No, but at least
(30:12):
does it buy him some time? Yes, yes, that's what
he must hope and pray.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
That will be one of the great miracles in modern
NBA playoff history, because they'd have to work. They have
to win another game, by the way, just to get
the eighth seed for a chance to play Oklahoma City
without Kyrie Irving. So if they do that, you know,
it might be a victory for this season thousand percent
and in the future. Not only we traded Luca, we
got ad we didn't have Kyrie Irving, and we beat
one of the best teams who had one of the
(30:39):
best runs in the last twenty years.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
That be remarkable. See, that's what I'm saying. That's what
I'm saying. But he's he's got to go farther than
the Lakers, so he's got to get in right. But
winning the first game, winning last night means he's not out,
which means he's still alive. But does that make sense?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I mean, yeah, it's not gonna happen, but sure.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Okay, Well then why don't you just start yelling fire Nico.
Why don't you be that guy?
Speaker 4 (31:06):
There's already thousands of other people calling for his job.
He doesn't need me piling on, so.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Come on, come on. It ain't Nico's fault. Nico didn't
operate in a vacuum. No, no, but Nico's gonna get
it if it goes south, Rodnie, thank you, Kevin. Great work, Rodney.
We're back tomorrow to wrap it up, sir,
Roggin And Rodney News
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