May 2, 2025 • 40 mins
The Kings were eliminated by Edmonton last night while the Clippers remained alive against Denver. What will next season look like for the Lakers as Lebron and Luka will both likely be facing free agency? Can Max Muncy build off of his homerun on Weds as the Dodgers head to Atlanta tonight?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, here we go, Fred Rugan Rodney Peete on
a five to seventy LA Sports a one hour sprint
today because the Dodgers are in the East Coast. They're
taking out Atlanta, actually the East, not the coast, but
they're there for a weekend. Series begins today. The game
starts early. So Rodney, we've got one hour, one hour
wonderment for the folks today, one hour of wonderment. That
(00:22):
that's right, wonderment. Let's get started with this. So last
night I hit five hundred. I want one for two. Yeah,
I said both the Kings and the Clippers would win,
both would remain alive. Well, I was one of two.
The Kings are out. The Kings are done, eliminated in
Edmonton for the four straight season. Started the game like
(00:46):
a bat out of hell Quentin Buyfield. They dropped the
put Quentin Buyfield scored and you're thinking, okay, the Kings
are ready, the Kings are not going down. Edmonton tied it,
Kings took the lead, Edmonton tied it, and then basically
from that point on it was catch up for the Kings.
Then they lose at six to four, a bitterly disappointing
(01:09):
end to a season and Rodney, I think it proposed
as many many questions here, Do you have any thoughts
on the Kings before we get going?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I just, I mean it felt like going into this series,
this was the year that the Kings get over that
Edmonton hump. And I think they were the better team
all season long. Hints why they had home home ice,
They've gotten out to leeds in. I think every one
(01:39):
of these games they've gotten out to a lead and
then squandered it, even the ones that they won. Which
made it probably concerning Fred is that they the game
that they won, they were in a commanding lead and
then Edmonton caught up, tied it up, and the Kings
had to win in dramatic fashion early on. But it
just felt like there was a lack of understanding or
(02:04):
being able to finish for the Kings, and it just
was disappointing because they could score, they could score at
will on Edmonton for almost two and a half periods
and then they.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Would give it up.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And I just, I just it was a weird series
because the way they the way and how much they
scored on Edmonton, especially early, and then allowed Edmonton to
get back in these games and then eventually, you know,
at the end of the day, you know, win them
in the end, like they did these last two.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Jim Hiller said, we believe we could have won the series.
We believe we should have won the series. We didn't.
So that's the bottom line, and that is the bottom
line observing it. The one thing I saw was the
speed of Conor McDavid, and overall, the speed of the
Oilers crushed the Kings when the games were really on
the line. Suddenly the King looked like they were skating
the molasses and the Oilers had jet packs on their back.
(03:05):
Now that's not something that's easily correctable. And you can
make the argument seriously that the Kings played as well
as they could play. I mean, during the regular season,
they had forty eight wins that ties for best enfranchise history,
one hundred and five points ties for best in franchise history,
won a team record thirty one times at home this year.
(03:27):
Think about those stats. So everything was lined up, everything
was in place. They were the better team, and they
had home ie advantage, and in the end they came
up short. And as much as I love the Kings
and everybody knows I do, and I feel close to
a number of people in the organization. But now something
(03:49):
has to be done because that was it. Oh that
was it. No, that was it. That was your best shot.
Somebody's got to get it. It's time for something to happen. Yeah,
something has to change because they can't get past these guys.
They can't. They had a hell of a year and
they can't. When it really mattered, they couldn't. Did they
(04:11):
want to? Sure? Did they give it their best shot? Absolutely? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So why do you change because you know they had them.
I mean it wasn't like they got blown out and
got swept right right. They had him and they outskated him.
I would say, you put all the games together, the
Kings outskated him seventy five percent of the of the
(04:36):
time on the ice. But yet in crunch time and
certain critical moments, Edmonton was able to score. Edmonton was
able to tie things up. You know, they scored, well,
they scored one of those games, they scored two goals
in eighty minutes eighty seconds, you know, and tied it
up and send it into extra time. I don't know
(04:59):
if you all always got to just make a radical change.
I can remember when and in football where the Colt
with Peyton Manning couldn't get over the hump on New England.
They just couldn't figure out a way to beat them.
Brady and New England and Belichick had their number, and
then eventually they finally got through that, and they finally
got over that hump beat them went on to win
a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I don't know if you drastically change everything right now, Fred,
because if you really if they go back and really
look at the film, I know they look at it
and they're disappointed, and it's probably an ugly watch, but
they were the better team and should have won, and
there were a few, i'm sure, little things that they
could have done differently. And maybe it's experienced, maybe it's
(05:43):
because they do have probably the best, the best guy
in the game and Connor McDavid. But I don't know
if you drastically or you know, radically change everything because
they lost a serious Edmonton. That's like saying somebody lose.
You lose to Michael Jordan, and now you got to
(06:04):
change your whole roster.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
No, I'm not saying you have to change a whole roster.
I'm not even suggesting that. I'm not saying change the
whole roster. I'm not saying blow the whole team up.
I'm not saying that. But what I'm saying, and it's
pretty clear they're just not good enough to beat them.
And maybe it's that that moment in time, that moment
in time where unfortunately the Kings are as good as
(06:27):
they can be, but Edmonton is just better when it counts.
Maybe it is that moment in time. But for the
four straight season they're knocked out by the Oilers, and
that is not acceptable. You can't sit back and go,
We've given it our best shot, but our best shot
isn't good enough. And that's what this says, our best
shot is not good enough. I thought Darcy Kemper had
(06:49):
a hell of a year in the Nets, great year,
I mean, just terrific, far better than he was in Washington.
He had a really good year. Quentin Byfield emerged, finally
grew into the potential that he had and it was spectacular,
just spectacular, but in the end, just not enough. And
(07:10):
I have to tell you this is as Dave Roberts says,
as you've talked about, as ed has said, this is
a performance based business. It's pretty simple. There are wins
and losses. It takes a lot to win, and sadly,
it also takes a lot to lose. And the Kings
can't beat these guys on accounts to continue going into
(07:31):
the playoffs every year, run into these guys and go, well,
next year will be our year. I'll tell you one thing. Now,
we got it, because we'll get them next year. All right, fine,
but we've gone through this a couple of times. We're
gonna make the corrections and get them next year. And
now here we are when they are as good as
they have ever been and they're not good enough. People
(07:53):
don't show up every year, and they do they do.
Kings fans are exceptionally passionate, but they don't show up
every year year to sit and wait and find out
you're not good enough. We've seen this movie. We've seen it.
We've gone to the box office now four years. And
the funny thing is, no matter what the beginning is
(08:16):
in the middle, it always ends up the same way.
That's just not gonna work. People aren't good. It doesn't work.
This was This was disheartening. It was heartbreaking and exceptionally troublesome,
(08:38):
and something has to change. I don't know what that is.
I'm not suggesting you blow up. What is it?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
You can't say it unless you tell me what it is.
All right, Well, maybe you know what you do, Maybe
you know what you need. You need a different focus
from leadership. Maybe there are tweaks, little fear. Maybe the GM,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Not the coach. He did a good job. It's first year.
I think Jim Hiller did great and they made a
great You're the coach.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You just talked about by Phield coming through having his
best seasons. You know, he put together a nice roster
and they they they lost to UH, a team that
they haven't been able to get over humped with. They'd
be more experienced maybe whatever. But they also have quote,
(09:29):
the best player in the game, right and and sometimes
that becomes the difference. It's it's Detroit and not get
being able to get past Boston because Larry Bird has
got magic in the garden. It's Chicago not getting past
the Bad Boy Pistons for three straight years, four straight
(09:52):
years because the Bad Boys were more physical. Yeah, but
they didn't necessarily say we're going to clean house, We're
gonna get rid of everybody, we got to get stronger,
Maybe we got to add one more piece, but let's
not go crazy, because we're right there. We're close. And
(10:12):
one thing you can do, unfortunately in sports, and more
so now than back in the eighties, nineties, two thousands,
is that we are in such a win now, such
a immediate gratification society, that if it doesn't happen in
one year, it doesn't happen right away, then we got
to make radical changes because we need that instant gratification.
(10:36):
And sometimes all it takes is a little bit of patiences.
Don't want to heed that you got You just said
they got a first year coach, right, you know what?
He was an assistant last year. Yeah, last year, the
first year running the show. You know what I mean?
He had he had the team. Do you think the
Kings we're capable of beating Edmonton? Yes, the way they played,
(11:02):
they they were the they were the better team. They
were capable of beating them. It was almost like they
they hae to say this like this, but but but
got up and were not not as confident to closing
things out as they should be and they didn't put
(11:22):
their foot on you know, we talked about this all
the time, put the foot on the throat.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
They're up.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
That was it one of those games they're up, you know,
three goals in the third period and they can't shut
them down and close it out. And so I don't
know if you you radically change other than you have
a different focus and you look at this and go, okay,
maybe we add one more piece, or maybe we add
(11:47):
somebody that is that can help us be a difference maker.
Whether it's a defenseman or whether it's another score. I
don't know what it is, but I don't think you
radically change when you when you are actually this close.
You got to take the emotion out of it first
and then go, okay, let's really analyze this, and that
(12:07):
maybe is let's step away for two weeks and come
back and look at the film and see what we
did could do that that's fair, And I think for
Kings fans this is awfully raw and awfully fresh. On
one of them, Sure we do this, But I'm also
a fan.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
And it seemed as if in the third period each
game Edmonton had a switch. It was like sitting on
the bench, yeah and somebody just flipped the switch and
all of a sudden you were looking at an entirely
different team, and it was so odd because for so
(12:44):
long and so many of those games, you're thinking, all right,
the King's got them, okay, But no, Honestly, it was
as if they came out in the third period and
had jetpacks on and the Kings were baffled by this
and couldn't keep up with them. And it really makes
absolutely no sense because the Kings had dominated early in
(13:07):
those games. Yeah, and it's I get you need to
be patient. I understand that, But truly, when you look
at this, they can't beat them. Four years in a row.
They can't beat them. And you can sit here and say, well, yeah,
(13:28):
we're one guy away, and they probably have done that
in past off seasons. And I am not suggesting you
blow everything up. I'm not saying that, but this isn't
going to work. And I can assure you if we
had Luke Robataie on right now, he would say the
same thing. It doesn't work. We can't continue like this.
(13:51):
Nobody wants to win more than they do nobody and
I'm sure they are scratching their heads as well, trying
to figure out what the hell happened. And you can
look at all the tape and you can run through
the analytics. There's one bottom line, and Jim Hiller said
it best. We believe we should have won the series
(14:12):
and we didn't. So why will next year be any
different if this happens again. I know it's difficult to
keep up with Connor McDavid, the dirty, best player in hockey.
And by the way, the Kings put it on him
a couple of times too. They let him have it
a few times, they delivered some punishment, they played some
(14:32):
old school hockey with him. But when it got down
to it, and maybe he can do it with everybody
in the league, all of a sudden, and we knew
he was fast, and we've said that from the beginning,
nobody could even It's like, where is he? He's everywhere?
All of a sudden in the third period, it seemed
like Edmonton was moving the puck so quickly that the
(14:59):
Kings couldn't even figure out where they were. Now, how
could that happen? How could that happen? What was it?
All I know is it's not good. It's disheartening and
it's disappointing and frankly, and we shouldn't say this. I
feel for those guys because I really like them. I
(15:22):
feel for them today, I feel for their fans, I
feel for the whole organization, from the president all the
way down. A lot of those guys are my friends.
I consider them friends. But damn guys, come on.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, it's like they got a you know, with McDavid
and one guy, And it happens in sports. One guy
can motivate an entire team. And when you have that
one guy that everybody believes in no matter where we are,
no matter what the situation is, he's gonna find a
(16:00):
way to put us in a position to win. And
that's Conor McDavid for Edmonton, and they believe in him
so much and not and not all the time it's him,
but what he does in crunch time is make everybody
believe that they can win, no matter what the situation is.
And I don't know if the Kings have that guy,
(16:22):
and maybe that's it. They don't have that guy that says,
we are not losing today, we are going to find
a way to win this game in crunch time and
we're not gonna lose it. And certain teams have it
and certain teams don't.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Edmonton has it. It didn't matter. I mean you look
at there's certain those those those.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Games where like Edmonton's getting ready on the version of
being blown out, and that really happens in hockey, especially
in the playoffs, where you get blown out. And if
they were come back and scored three goals in three
minutes and be like tied the game up, and it
was like he was he refused to let his team lose,
(17:06):
and the great ones are able to do that and
have their teammates rally around that. I don't know if
the Kings have that guy that they can say this
guy Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan Magic, They're not gonna let
us lose and crunch time, they gonna make the play
(17:27):
to win it. And I don't know if the Kings
have that guy, and they certainly didn't have it as
well as Edmonton had it in this series.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
So I want one for two, that's the one I
missed when I come back, the one I hit, and
also the future of Lebron with the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Oh yeah, it is a Friday, And even though we're
on a short show, we still absolutely positive actively positively.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
We don't care.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
No Roddy p Fred Rogan let's go one hour.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
All right, the other half. So I had the Kings wrong.
But Rodney, you got the Clippers right, got the Clippers right.
Last night they lived to play another day. They beat Denver.
But the key in this one is something we touched
on yesterday. James Harden, who had been struggling, stepped up
in an enormous way, probably one of the most critical
playoff games of his career. Twenty eight points eight in
(18:35):
the last eight in the final minutes they beat Denver
to force Game seven. Kawhi had twenty seven, Norman Paul
had twenty four. They were on the ropes. And I'll
say you, of the two, I thought the Clippers could
get knocked out before the Kings. But Rodney, it was
the Clippers that hung tough. It was the Clippers.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I thought it was a gutty, big time performance by
a Clipper team that people were leaving for dead. And I,
you know, you mentioned James Harden. I thought he played
extremely well. He was aggressive and sometimes we've seen him,
(19:14):
you know, kind of take the easy way out, easy
way out and just fire up threes. In situations like
this when they don't go in, he keeps firing them
up and they don't go in. But I think he
was aggressive and last night's game Fred where he was
getting to the rim, he was going to the rim
to get fouled or to score, and that was a
(19:34):
big difference or he would kick it. And I also
thought the key member of the of the Clippers last
night was Nicholas Patout. Are they lucky they have him
on this team because he did He did so many things.
He had some big timely threes, but he also played
defense and blocked some shots that were critical and down
(19:54):
the stretch. The tune to me was phenomenal. And of
course Norman Powell playing with a chip on his shoulder
was was great as well.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Yeah, it was the game they had to have early
in the series.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
He needed everybody, right, they needed everybody to win that game. Yeah, yeah,
they did not just Kawhi, not just you know, one person,
but Kawhi was Kawhi. Kawhi was phenomenal too, But it
was a supporting cast to me that got this done.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, but specifically you're one hundred percent right. But the catalyst,
the guy they had to have more than anything, was Harden. Yeah,
he had to play well and given what he has
gone through in the playoffs and what he has dealt
with and really the disappointing outings. Last night, he really
performed well. And now when I look at it, I
(20:47):
think the Clippers can win it. I thought they could
win it going in. But I feel a hell of
a lot better now than I did two days ago.
I'll tell you that it seemed that they had righted
what was wrong. Remember that game they committed twenty two
and that's why they were lost right early in the series. Yeah, yeah,
Now now it seems and it's game by game, second
(21:10):
by second, But now it seems as if if they
can play like that again, they are the They are
the better team in my opinion. But now if they
play like that again, they will win the series. Uh.
And I'll say you it's gonna be really bad if
you get this close and can't finish it.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
I mean there's one thing though, Fred, they they won
this yes, game six, they wanted at at into it,
but they got to go to Denver because to try
to win this thing and close this out, that's gonna
be a tall task. And they shot themselves in the
foot because they had they had a chance to to
to to really take a stronghold on this and they
(21:49):
didn't do it. And obviously the the Aaron Gordon last
second dunk Boy and everybody sick to their stomach because
as a Clipper win and in essence this this game
could have been a closeout. But yeah, they got to
go to Denver and that's gonna be a tall task
(22:10):
because you know the Joker is going to be ready
to go. But what I'll also say, I mean, I
mentioned all those guys I mentioned Kawhi, I mentioned James Harden,
We talked about him. James Harden had to come up big,
and he did. And then we mentioned, you know, Norman
Powell coming up big, Nicholas Patoon coming up big. Beat
the Subots playing the Joker has been big time. He
(22:32):
has not back down. He has deed him up, he
has blocked his shots, he has frustrated him. He has
played his ass off against the Joker, which many consider
the best player in the game. Zubots as to me,
might be the MVP of this because he does a
(22:53):
lot of that dirty work and also he's playing on
both ends. Fred he's scoring as well. He's getting some
buckets of his own. But to play d like he's
played down the stretch. I mean he blocked a couple
of the Joker shots at point playing and which you
never see the Joker miss those or get him blocked because.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
He's so big and so physical.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
But Zubos has matched him from a physical standpoint and
so impressive to see what Zubas has been doing.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
All right, so they will have a chance, the Clippers
to win that series. Now let's move on to the Lakers,
because for the Lakers, it's what's next. So Jovann Bujan
sam Amick wrote, first of all, let's talk about the
guys that they're going to build around. Austin Reeves is here.
He's done. He's going to be here next year, one
hundred percent. Okay, we got that. So next time of
(23:46):
the hit Paraders, Lebron. Lebron has the ability to opt
out of his deal, and I think it's fifty two
million dollars. He can opt out. So there's a number
of things he could do. He can opt out and
play somewhere else. He could opt out and sign a
new deal for more money here, or he could stay
(24:09):
exactly where he's at now. Last year, if you remember,
he did give them a bit of a haircut I
think two point seven million dollars, so they would be
able to stay in a certain salary area within the
second apron and not facing awful penalties. Right, they had
hoped he would have given them more of a haircut.
(24:29):
But the point is this, he said, yeah, i'll help you,
but i'll help you if we get these guys. They
didn't get those guys. They got some guys, but not
those guys. So he give him a haircut. The feeling
here is that he's not opting out this time. He
really doesn't want to play anywhere else. But on the
other hand, he's not give them money back, so he's
(24:51):
going to be where he's at. Overall, the sense is
he'll stay where he's at and be paid what he is.
What he gets, you know, something that's deserved. He shouldn't
have to give my haircut. That's deserved. Okay, So now
you've got him. Austin Reeves of course is here. That's
(25:12):
good news. What is Reeves? Is he signed through next year? Yes?
I know he is, Okay, Okay, Next up is Luca.
You pointed this out early on. You certainly brought it
up yesterday. Yeah, Hey, what if Luca leaves after next season.
What if he goes and I sat here and told
(25:34):
you he's not going anywhere. He's gonna stay right here.
There's no way he'll leave the Lakers. No one just
leaves the Lakers like that, leaves this market, leaves that
fan base, leaves the national attention. It's not like he's
opting out and going to Charlotte, you know what I mean.
But you do have to think he can opt out.
(25:56):
He could go. Now next year, he'll be here, but
they've got to be thinking about that possibility. I don't
think anyone seriously thinks it'll happen. But let's say, for
argument's sake, next year is not what everybody hopes because
next year is the year where everybody's rolling on the clock.
(26:17):
Now with this group, this group is on the clock.
Lebron's gonna be Lebron. He's gonna play like he plays
and you're not gonna have any concerns with him. Austin
Reeves is gonna be a year older, more experienced. You
know what you're gonna get with him. There's only upside.
He's not gonna get worse. So those are two. You
(26:38):
got those two? What about Luca let's say go sideways
next year. I can't imagine it would. I think the
Lakers will do everything they can to improve the roster.
I think they understand the importance of getting bigger. And
as you pointed out yesterday, the year they were winners,
they were big. Yeah, Defelle McGee, Dhite Howard, they were big,
(27:01):
they had big guys. They don't have those guys anymore.
Those guys aren't here. You have Jackson Hayes who did
not perform well, and JJ Reddick was so uncomfortable with
his performance you wouldn't even put him in the games.
All right, so he'll be back. Who else? How do
you get bigger? How do you get a big, strong
(27:22):
four so Lebron can move to the three on defense?
How do you do that? Who is that guy? Because
that will determine I really believe the future of Lukadancic.
I don't think he's gonna sit here. If they suck,
I can't imagine they would. Nobody thinks they will. But Rodney,
(27:42):
I can't imagine this guy's gonna sit here because unlike
in Dallas, this is a different market and if you
don't perform here, you're gonna get.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
It it's oh, you're gonna get it? Yeah, do you
want all that smoke? Because they don't care about your
supporting cast. All they care about is who's the superstar
and the superstar that didn't get it done. So if
they don't put a team around him and they don't
surround him with the right folks and it goes sideways
(28:15):
next year, yeah, this is you know, get ready to
have the last run of those seventy seven jerseys because
he's not gonna stay around. They got to show him
that they're committed to making this a winning combination and
a winning team. So this is a big, gigantic off
(28:36):
season for the Lakers with not a whole lot to
work with.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Though, well that's the problem honeywise, right. But see that's
the problem when you have Lebron and a d and
A made a lot of money, but it's not lucal money.
When you were paying two guys that much, and you argue,
if you think they are overpaid, I got to tell
you in the NBA they're probably not okay, And certainly
(29:03):
Lebron no matter what I've said, anybody said, whatever, anybody thinks,
you know something, that's a guy that turned his money,
So take that off the table. He's earned it. He's
earned it. Yeah, but when you are paying two guys
that much, now, what are you gonna do. It's you've
got to look for bargains. You've gotta look for guys
(29:26):
that are affordable, that fit into your system, and that
will contribute and make a difference. I remember in the
first incarnation of this, and you guys yell at me
when I say, well, I remember when they said when
Trevor Ariza gets back. I'm not saying that now. What
I'm saying is that's kind of where you're at. Who
(29:46):
are the other guys? Who is Ruie? Is RUI good?
And if not, who's Ruie but costs less? You know
what I mean? Yeah, gave Vincent good? Well, who's yeah
a version that gave Vincent that's better, that costs less.
Jared Vanderbilt, Well, who's that guy that costs less? And
(30:10):
is it worth Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Is it worth going and get somebody cost less or
maintain some sort of continuity because if you work with
the guys that have been here, you gotta believe that
these Vincent and Rui will continue to get better in
the same situation as they go forward playing with each
(30:32):
other for an extended period of time. You bring somebody
else new, you bring two new guys, and they got
to get familiar with Luca, they gotta get familiar with
the Lakers, they gotta get familiar with Lebron, and it
may take a year or two for them to kind
of get the gel to this, you know. And granted
for Rui, you know, we had the injury. He's wearing
a face mask for the last half of the season.
(30:54):
You know, I'm not gonna fault.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Him for that.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I think he's a quality player. I think it can
be good for the Lakers. I wouldn't get rid of
them because you're gonna have to pay somebody else in
that role.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I don't know how they I don't know how they
construct this, you know. And and based on this Minnesota
series that they just lost, are they fully convinced Austin
Reeves that is the Big three? Are they convinced that now?
Because that's what the talk was going into that series,
that they finally got their Big three and Austin Reeves
(31:30):
took up the next level. I tend to think that yes,
one series did not diminish Austin reeves contribution over the
last year and his growth. I think he will be
better next year and they will be able to rely
on him and they they will have a legitimate three
big three that they can count on with with Austin
(31:50):
Reeves being a part of that. And then where do
you go?
Speaker 1 (31:54):
How do you how do you put the other pieces together?
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Do you keep some of the guys you got or
do you clean house and say, okay, we've got the
big three and now we're just gonna bring in other
people to see if they can fit with us.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Well, the thing is this, and it was abundantly obvious.
They've got to get bigger. Yes, they first, they have
to get bigger. Above all, they've got to get bigger.
They're not going to win now we know next year
it will be the exact same thing if they don't
have more size. They tried to do make a deal
(32:26):
for Mark Williams. It fell apart. They didn't have anybody
big enough in there. Whatever, they've got to get bigger.
Isn't that crazy, though, Fred? Do you think about that?
Think of that?
Speaker 2 (32:35):
The way the game has changed and it's turned into
a three point game, and Steph Curry changed the culture
and changed the game. And it's uh, you got bigs
that step outside the three point line, you know, seven
footers that now you got to be able to shoot.
But at the end of the day, it comes back
to the real fundamentals of basketball that you've got to
(32:57):
have big guys, you got to rebound, you got to
protect the rim. And that's the same in football. It
comes back to Philadelphia. You gotta be able to run
the football late in the season in order to be
a championship team. And as much as the nuances and
the other things happened throughout the years, it comes back
(33:18):
to you better have some size. If you don't have size,
you don't win. Well, yeah, that's Minnesota asked, ready to
go bear?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
That was that was difficult to watch? Well, Minnesota, I said,
Minnesota can't shoot good. Even better, if they're gonna miss,
there's gonna be a rebound, right sure, Okay, well then
we'll just get two instead of three. Not a problem.
They got everything. They got every ball. Lakers were out
rebounded by like twenty. Think about that. They just weren't
(33:50):
big enough. Here's the other thing they have to do
is they construct their team going forward. They gotta find
guys to play defense. They've got to and that's been
a constant concern, but it's never been more prevalent than
it is now. They've got to find a guy that
can play defense. Okay, one hour show, so we better
(34:14):
talk about the Dodgers getting ready in Atlanta. That's next. Okay.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Today's afternoon Delight is pretty Ugly by Zara Larson. The
pop star dropped this sing along with the music video
as he gets set to release her forthcoming fifth studio
album later this year.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
In an interview about.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
The songs, he said, I have so many things to
say about how women are being portrayed and judged because
they're not pretty enough, and then when they go and
fix something on their face, they're picked on even more. Again,
Today's Afternoon Delight is pretty Ugly by Zara Larson. An
(34:57):
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Speaker 1 (35:45):
All right, so the Dodgers back at it. That an
off day yesterday. They're in Atlanta right now. They'll take
on the Braves tonight. Yamamoto is on the hill. Jack
Harris wrote about something in The Times that we kicked
around about two weeks ago, and the struggles Max Monsey
was having. Rodney, he has been struggling. Hit his first
home run of the season Wednesday, and he looked like
he was the happiest guy on the planet. Now when
(36:07):
you look at month and Dave Roberts by the way,
he says, the struggles are puzzling? Are they puzzling? Now?
It's taken him a while to hit his first home run,
but we know he's kind of a bushelman. Things come
in bushels. Hits one then they'll come, then he'll probably
tail off, then they'll start again. So is he really
(36:29):
struggling or is this Max Munsey?
Speaker 2 (36:32):
M I tend to think he's struggling. I tend to
think he's struggling because he hasn't had this kind of
drought without a home run number one, because that's what
he's known for. And then on top of that, he's
not getting the walks. Max Munsey has usually been a
guy that works to count, and like I know, it's
(36:56):
feast or famine, either it's you know, a home run
or you know, sometimes to strike out or ground out.
But he's not getting the walks that he normally would
get in a particular season. And Max has always been
one of those guys that kind of as a great
eye and works the count, and he hasn't done that
this season. So I don't think this is the Max
(37:20):
Max Month'sy version that we've seen the last three years.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Is something different at the end. You're right, he was
the kind of guy. I'm not saying he was a
Little league but remember the guys in the Little League. Hey,
I watch as good as a hit. Yeah, remember that, Hey,
don't swing, don't swing, We need base runners walks as
good as a hit, no problem here. Max kind of
was like that for a period of time, and it was
because of his eye. He was he was incredible at
(37:47):
determining where the pitch was and look, you get on base,
you get on base, and really, in the analytics driven
world of baseball, just get on base. So he was
very valuable in that regard because he did that. And
I think you're right now, maybe he's pushing, maybe he's pressing.
(38:08):
Maybe he feels that the season hasn't gone as he
would have liked to this point. So as the Dodgers
would call it, you see him chasing a little bit. Now,
you see him chasing. And the thing with Max, who
has been on the show, we are fans. He's a
friend of the show and we like him. He doesn't
have a lot of margin for error. He's either gonna
(38:31):
hit it or he's not. I mean, even if he
doesn't hit a home run, but if he hits it,
more often than not, that ball is driven somewhere. He's
not a singles guy. Yeah, He's not a guy that's
gonna move somebody around or hit for average.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Right, He's not gonna best and family with him and
which he's delivered right in big moments too, but it's
at at some point you come up in big situations,
you got to deliver. And whether that's a base hit
or even what he's done in the past from a
walk standpoint, that's big to pass the torch, right, that's
(39:10):
what the Dodgers lean on, and they've they've said since
Dave Roberts has been here, as you know, we passed
the torch to the next guy.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
And Max has not been able to.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Do that because he's got a lot of strikeouts, a
lot of punch outs, a lot of hitting into double plays,
and that does not pass the torch.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
Well, he'll try to get that righted this afternoon again,
Dodgers in Atlanta. It's an early start and that's why
we are concluding after only one hour.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
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Speaker 1 (39:57):
All right, that'll do it for us, Petros and money
your next one hour today. That terrific weekend, Ronnie, Thank
you for everything. Kevin, great job, Rodney. We do it
again Monday, Sir,
All right, here we go, Fred Rugan Rodney Peete on
a five to seventy LA Sports a one hour sprint
today because the Dodgers are in the East Coast. They're
taking out Atlanta, actually the East, not the coast, but
they're there for a weekend. Series begins today. The game
starts early. So Rodney, we've got one hour, one hour
wonderment for the folks today, one hour of wonderment. That
(00:22):
that's right, wonderment. Let's get started with this. So last
night I hit five hundred. I want one for two. Yeah,
I said both the Kings and the Clippers would win,
both would remain alive. Well, I was one of two.
The Kings are out. The Kings are done, eliminated in
Edmonton for the four straight season. Started the game like
(00:46):
a bat out of hell Quentin Buyfield. They dropped the
put Quentin Buyfield scored and you're thinking, okay, the Kings
are ready, the Kings are not going down. Edmonton tied it,
Kings took the lead, Edmonton tied it, and then basically
from that point on it was catch up for the Kings.
Then they lose at six to four, a bitterly disappointing
(01:09):
end to a season and Rodney, I think it proposed
as many many questions here, Do you have any thoughts
on the Kings before we get going?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I just, I mean it felt like going into this series,
this was the year that the Kings get over that
Edmonton hump. And I think they were the better team
all season long. Hints why they had home home ice,
They've gotten out to leeds in. I think every one
(01:39):
of these games they've gotten out to a lead and
then squandered it, even the ones that they won. Which
made it probably concerning Fred is that they the game
that they won, they were in a commanding lead and
then Edmonton caught up, tied it up, and the Kings
had to win in dramatic fashion early on. But it
just felt like there was a lack of understanding or
(02:04):
being able to finish for the Kings, and it just
was disappointing because they could score, they could score at
will on Edmonton for almost two and a half periods
and then they.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Would give it up.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And I just, I just it was a weird series
because the way they the way and how much they
scored on Edmonton, especially early, and then allowed Edmonton to
get back in these games and then eventually, you know,
at the end of the day, you know, win them
in the end, like they did these last two.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Jim Hiller said, we believe we could have won the series.
We believe we should have won the series. We didn't.
So that's the bottom line, and that is the bottom
line observing it. The one thing I saw was the
speed of Conor McDavid, and overall, the speed of the
Oilers crushed the Kings when the games were really on
the line. Suddenly the King looked like they were skating
the molasses and the Oilers had jet packs on their back.
(03:05):
Now that's not something that's easily correctable. And you can
make the argument seriously that the Kings played as well
as they could play. I mean, during the regular season,
they had forty eight wins that ties for best enfranchise history,
one hundred and five points ties for best in franchise history,
won a team record thirty one times at home this year.
(03:27):
Think about those stats. So everything was lined up, everything
was in place. They were the better team, and they
had home ie advantage, and in the end they came
up short. And as much as I love the Kings
and everybody knows I do, and I feel close to
a number of people in the organization. But now something
(03:49):
has to be done because that was it. Oh that
was it. No, that was it. That was your best shot.
Somebody's got to get it. It's time for something to happen. Yeah,
something has to change because they can't get past these guys.
They can't. They had a hell of a year and
they can't. When it really mattered, they couldn't. Did they
(04:11):
want to? Sure? Did they give it their best shot? Absolutely? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So why do you change because you know they had them.
I mean it wasn't like they got blown out and
got swept right right. They had him and they outskated him.
I would say, you put all the games together, the
Kings outskated him seventy five percent of the of the
(04:36):
time on the ice. But yet in crunch time and
certain critical moments, Edmonton was able to score. Edmonton was
able to tie things up. You know, they scored, well,
they scored one of those games, they scored two goals
in eighty minutes eighty seconds, you know, and tied it
up and send it into extra time. I don't know
(04:59):
if you all always got to just make a radical change.
I can remember when and in football where the Colt
with Peyton Manning couldn't get over the hump on New England.
They just couldn't figure out a way to beat them.
Brady and New England and Belichick had their number, and
then eventually they finally got through that, and they finally
got over that hump beat them went on to win
a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I don't know if you drastically change everything right now, Fred,
because if you really if they go back and really
look at the film, I know they look at it
and they're disappointed, and it's probably an ugly watch, but
they were the better team and should have won, and
there were a few, i'm sure, little things that they
could have done differently. And maybe it's experienced, maybe it's
(05:43):
because they do have probably the best, the best guy
in the game and Connor McDavid. But I don't know
if you drastically or you know, radically change everything because
they lost a serious Edmonton. That's like saying somebody lose.
You lose to Michael Jordan, and now you got to
(06:04):
change your whole roster.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
No, I'm not saying you have to change a whole roster.
I'm not even suggesting that. I'm not saying change the
whole roster. I'm not saying blow the whole team up.
I'm not saying that. But what I'm saying, and it's
pretty clear they're just not good enough to beat them.
And maybe it's that that moment in time, that moment
in time where unfortunately the Kings are as good as
(06:27):
they can be, but Edmonton is just better when it counts.
Maybe it is that moment in time. But for the
four straight season they're knocked out by the Oilers, and
that is not acceptable. You can't sit back and go,
We've given it our best shot, but our best shot
isn't good enough. And that's what this says, our best
shot is not good enough. I thought Darcy Kemper had
(06:49):
a hell of a year in the Nets, great year,
I mean, just terrific, far better than he was in Washington.
He had a really good year. Quentin Byfield emerged, finally
grew into the potential that he had and it was spectacular,
just spectacular, but in the end, just not enough. And
(07:10):
I have to tell you this is as Dave Roberts says,
as you've talked about, as ed has said, this is
a performance based business. It's pretty simple. There are wins
and losses. It takes a lot to win, and sadly,
it also takes a lot to lose. And the Kings
can't beat these guys on accounts to continue going into
(07:31):
the playoffs every year, run into these guys and go, well,
next year will be our year. I'll tell you one thing. Now,
we got it, because we'll get them next year. All right, fine,
but we've gone through this a couple of times. We're
gonna make the corrections and get them next year. And
now here we are when they are as good as
they have ever been and they're not good enough. People
(07:53):
don't show up every year, and they do they do.
Kings fans are exceptionally passionate, but they don't show up
every year year to sit and wait and find out
you're not good enough. We've seen this movie. We've seen it.
We've gone to the box office now four years. And
the funny thing is, no matter what the beginning is
(08:16):
in the middle, it always ends up the same way.
That's just not gonna work. People aren't good. It doesn't work.
This was This was disheartening. It was heartbreaking and exceptionally troublesome,
(08:38):
and something has to change. I don't know what that is.
I'm not suggesting you blow up. What is it?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
You can't say it unless you tell me what it is.
All right, Well, maybe you know what you do, Maybe
you know what you need. You need a different focus
from leadership. Maybe there are tweaks, little fear. Maybe the GM,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Not the coach. He did a good job. It's first year.
I think Jim Hiller did great and they made a
great You're the coach.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You just talked about by Phield coming through having his
best seasons. You know, he put together a nice roster
and they they they lost to UH, a team that
they haven't been able to get over humped with. They'd
be more experienced maybe whatever. But they also have quote,
(09:29):
the best player in the game, right and and sometimes
that becomes the difference. It's it's Detroit and not get
being able to get past Boston because Larry Bird has
got magic in the garden. It's Chicago not getting past
the Bad Boy Pistons for three straight years, four straight
(09:52):
years because the Bad Boys were more physical. Yeah, but
they didn't necessarily say we're going to clean house, We're
gonna get rid of everybody, we got to get stronger,
Maybe we got to add one more piece, but let's
not go crazy, because we're right there. We're close. And
(10:12):
one thing you can do, unfortunately in sports, and more
so now than back in the eighties, nineties, two thousands,
is that we are in such a win now, such
a immediate gratification society, that if it doesn't happen in
one year, it doesn't happen right away, then we got
to make radical changes because we need that instant gratification.
(10:36):
And sometimes all it takes is a little bit of patiences.
Don't want to heed that you got You just said
they got a first year coach, right, you know what?
He was an assistant last year. Yeah, last year, the
first year running the show. You know what I mean?
He had he had the team. Do you think the
Kings we're capable of beating Edmonton? Yes, the way they played,
(11:02):
they they were the they were the better team. They
were capable of beating them. It was almost like they
they hae to say this like this, but but but
got up and were not not as confident to closing
things out as they should be and they didn't put
(11:22):
their foot on you know, we talked about this all
the time, put the foot on the throat.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
They're up.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
That was it one of those games they're up, you know,
three goals in the third period and they can't shut
them down and close it out. And so I don't
know if you you radically change other than you have
a different focus and you look at this and go, okay,
maybe we add one more piece, or maybe we add
(11:47):
somebody that is that can help us be a difference maker.
Whether it's a defenseman or whether it's another score. I
don't know what it is, but I don't think you
radically change when you when you are actually this close.
You got to take the emotion out of it first
and then go, okay, let's really analyze this, and that
(12:07):
maybe is let's step away for two weeks and come
back and look at the film and see what we
did could do that that's fair, And I think for
Kings fans this is awfully raw and awfully fresh. On
one of them, Sure we do this, But I'm also
a fan.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
And it seemed as if in the third period each
game Edmonton had a switch. It was like sitting on
the bench, yeah and somebody just flipped the switch and
all of a sudden you were looking at an entirely
different team, and it was so odd because for so
(12:44):
long and so many of those games, you're thinking, all right,
the King's got them, okay, But no, Honestly, it was
as if they came out in the third period and
had jetpacks on and the Kings were baffled by this
and couldn't keep up with them. And it really makes
absolutely no sense because the Kings had dominated early in
(13:07):
those games. Yeah, and it's I get you need to
be patient. I understand that, But truly, when you look
at this, they can't beat them. Four years in a row.
They can't beat them. And you can sit here and say, well, yeah,
(13:28):
we're one guy away, and they probably have done that
in past off seasons. And I am not suggesting you
blow everything up. I'm not saying that, but this isn't
going to work. And I can assure you if we
had Luke Robataie on right now, he would say the
same thing. It doesn't work. We can't continue like this.
(13:51):
Nobody wants to win more than they do nobody and
I'm sure they are scratching their heads as well, trying
to figure out what the hell happened. And you can
look at all the tape and you can run through
the analytics. There's one bottom line, and Jim Hiller said
it best. We believe we should have won the series
(14:12):
and we didn't. So why will next year be any
different if this happens again. I know it's difficult to
keep up with Connor McDavid, the dirty, best player in hockey.
And by the way, the Kings put it on him
a couple of times too. They let him have it
a few times, they delivered some punishment, they played some
(14:32):
old school hockey with him. But when it got down
to it, and maybe he can do it with everybody
in the league, all of a sudden, and we knew
he was fast, and we've said that from the beginning,
nobody could even It's like, where is he? He's everywhere?
All of a sudden in the third period, it seemed
like Edmonton was moving the puck so quickly that the
(14:59):
Kings couldn't even figure out where they were. Now, how
could that happen? How could that happen? What was it?
All I know is it's not good. It's disheartening and
it's disappointing and frankly, and we shouldn't say this. I
feel for those guys because I really like them. I
(15:22):
feel for them today, I feel for their fans, I
feel for the whole organization, from the president all the
way down. A lot of those guys are my friends.
I consider them friends. But damn guys, come on.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, it's like they got a you know, with McDavid
and one guy, And it happens in sports. One guy
can motivate an entire team. And when you have that
one guy that everybody believes in no matter where we are,
no matter what the situation is, he's gonna find a
(16:00):
way to put us in a position to win. And
that's Conor McDavid for Edmonton, and they believe in him
so much and not and not all the time it's him,
but what he does in crunch time is make everybody
believe that they can win, no matter what the situation is.
And I don't know if the Kings have that guy,
(16:22):
and maybe that's it. They don't have that guy that says,
we are not losing today, we are going to find
a way to win this game in crunch time and
we're not gonna lose it. And certain teams have it
and certain teams don't.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Edmonton has it. It didn't matter. I mean you look
at there's certain those those those.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Games where like Edmonton's getting ready on the version of
being blown out, and that really happens in hockey, especially
in the playoffs, where you get blown out. And if
they were come back and scored three goals in three
minutes and be like tied the game up, and it
was like he was he refused to let his team lose,
(17:06):
and the great ones are able to do that and
have their teammates rally around that. I don't know if
the Kings have that guy that they can say this
guy Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan Magic, They're not gonna let
us lose and crunch time, they gonna make the play
(17:27):
to win it. And I don't know if the Kings
have that guy, and they certainly didn't have it as
well as Edmonton had it in this series.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
So I want one for two, that's the one I
missed when I come back, the one I hit, and
also the future of Lebron with the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Oh yeah, it is a Friday, And even though we're
on a short show, we still absolutely positive actively positively.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
We don't care.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
No Roddy p Fred Rogan let's go one hour.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
All right, the other half. So I had the Kings wrong.
But Rodney, you got the Clippers right, got the Clippers right.
Last night they lived to play another day. They beat Denver.
But the key in this one is something we touched
on yesterday. James Harden, who had been struggling, stepped up
in an enormous way, probably one of the most critical
playoff games of his career. Twenty eight points eight in
(18:35):
the last eight in the final minutes they beat Denver
to force Game seven. Kawhi had twenty seven, Norman Paul
had twenty four. They were on the ropes. And I'll
say you, of the two, I thought the Clippers could
get knocked out before the Kings. But Rodney, it was
the Clippers that hung tough. It was the Clippers.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I thought it was a gutty, big time performance by
a Clipper team that people were leaving for dead. And I,
you know, you mentioned James Harden. I thought he played
extremely well. He was aggressive and sometimes we've seen him,
(19:14):
you know, kind of take the easy way out, easy
way out and just fire up threes. In situations like
this when they don't go in, he keeps firing them
up and they don't go in. But I think he
was aggressive and last night's game Fred where he was
getting to the rim, he was going to the rim
to get fouled or to score, and that was a
(19:34):
big difference or he would kick it. And I also
thought the key member of the of the Clippers last
night was Nicholas Patout. Are they lucky they have him
on this team because he did He did so many things.
He had some big timely threes, but he also played
defense and blocked some shots that were critical and down
(19:54):
the stretch. The tune to me was phenomenal. And of
course Norman Powell playing with a chip on his shoulder
was was great as well.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Yeah, it was the game they had to have early
in the series.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
He needed everybody, right, they needed everybody to win that game. Yeah, yeah,
they did not just Kawhi, not just you know, one person,
but Kawhi was Kawhi. Kawhi was phenomenal too, But it
was a supporting cast to me that got this done.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, but specifically you're one hundred percent right. But the catalyst,
the guy they had to have more than anything, was Harden. Yeah,
he had to play well and given what he has
gone through in the playoffs and what he has dealt
with and really the disappointing outings. Last night, he really
performed well. And now when I look at it, I
(20:47):
think the Clippers can win it. I thought they could
win it going in. But I feel a hell of
a lot better now than I did two days ago.
I'll tell you that it seemed that they had righted
what was wrong. Remember that game they committed twenty two
and that's why they were lost right early in the series. Yeah, yeah,
Now now it seems and it's game by game, second
(21:10):
by second, But now it seems as if if they
can play like that again, they are the They are
the better team in my opinion. But now if they
play like that again, they will win the series. Uh.
And I'll say you it's gonna be really bad if
you get this close and can't finish it.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
I mean there's one thing though, Fred, they they won
this yes, game six, they wanted at at into it,
but they got to go to Denver because to try
to win this thing and close this out, that's gonna
be a tall task. And they shot themselves in the
foot because they had they had a chance to to
to to really take a stronghold on this and they
(21:49):
didn't do it. And obviously the the Aaron Gordon last
second dunk Boy and everybody sick to their stomach because
as a Clipper win and in essence this this game
could have been a closeout. But yeah, they got to
go to Denver and that's gonna be a tall task
(22:10):
because you know the Joker is going to be ready
to go. But what I'll also say, I mean, I
mentioned all those guys I mentioned Kawhi, I mentioned James Harden,
We talked about him. James Harden had to come up big,
and he did. And then we mentioned, you know, Norman
Powell coming up big, Nicholas Patoon coming up big. Beat
the Subots playing the Joker has been big time. He
(22:32):
has not back down. He has deed him up, he
has blocked his shots, he has frustrated him. He has
played his ass off against the Joker, which many consider
the best player in the game. Zubots as to me,
might be the MVP of this because he does a
(22:53):
lot of that dirty work and also he's playing on
both ends. Fred he's scoring as well. He's getting some
buckets of his own. But to play d like he's
played down the stretch. I mean he blocked a couple
of the Joker shots at point playing and which you
never see the Joker miss those or get him blocked because.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
He's so big and so physical.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
But Zubos has matched him from a physical standpoint and
so impressive to see what Zubas has been doing.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
All right, so they will have a chance, the Clippers
to win that series. Now let's move on to the Lakers,
because for the Lakers, it's what's next. So Jovann Bujan
sam Amick wrote, first of all, let's talk about the
guys that they're going to build around. Austin Reeves is here.
He's done. He's going to be here next year, one
hundred percent. Okay, we got that. So next time of
(23:46):
the hit Paraders, Lebron. Lebron has the ability to opt
out of his deal, and I think it's fifty two
million dollars. He can opt out. So there's a number
of things he could do. He can opt out and
play somewhere else. He could opt out and sign a
new deal for more money here, or he could stay
(24:09):
exactly where he's at now. Last year, if you remember,
he did give them a bit of a haircut I
think two point seven million dollars, so they would be
able to stay in a certain salary area within the
second apron and not facing awful penalties. Right, they had
hoped he would have given them more of a haircut.
(24:29):
But the point is this, he said, yeah, i'll help you,
but i'll help you if we get these guys. They
didn't get those guys. They got some guys, but not
those guys. So he give him a haircut. The feeling
here is that he's not opting out this time. He
really doesn't want to play anywhere else. But on the
other hand, he's not give them money back, so he's
(24:51):
going to be where he's at. Overall, the sense is
he'll stay where he's at and be paid what he is.
What he gets, you know, something that's deserved. He shouldn't
have to give my haircut. That's deserved. Okay, So now
you've got him. Austin Reeves of course is here. That's
(25:12):
good news. What is Reeves? Is he signed through next year? Yes?
I know he is, Okay, Okay, Next up is Luca.
You pointed this out early on. You certainly brought it
up yesterday. Yeah, Hey, what if Luca leaves after next season.
What if he goes and I sat here and told
(25:34):
you he's not going anywhere. He's gonna stay right here.
There's no way he'll leave the Lakers. No one just
leaves the Lakers like that, leaves this market, leaves that
fan base, leaves the national attention. It's not like he's
opting out and going to Charlotte, you know what I mean.
But you do have to think he can opt out.
(25:56):
He could go. Now next year, he'll be here, but
they've got to be thinking about that possibility. I don't
think anyone seriously thinks it'll happen. But let's say, for
argument's sake, next year is not what everybody hopes because
next year is the year where everybody's rolling on the clock.
(26:17):
Now with this group, this group is on the clock.
Lebron's gonna be Lebron. He's gonna play like he plays
and you're not gonna have any concerns with him. Austin
Reeves is gonna be a year older, more experienced. You
know what you're gonna get with him. There's only upside.
He's not gonna get worse. So those are two. You
(26:38):
got those two? What about Luca let's say go sideways
next year. I can't imagine it would. I think the
Lakers will do everything they can to improve the roster.
I think they understand the importance of getting bigger. And
as you pointed out yesterday, the year they were winners,
they were big. Yeah, Defelle McGee, Dhite Howard, they were big,
(27:01):
they had big guys. They don't have those guys anymore.
Those guys aren't here. You have Jackson Hayes who did
not perform well, and JJ Reddick was so uncomfortable with
his performance you wouldn't even put him in the games.
All right, so he'll be back. Who else? How do
you get bigger? How do you get a big, strong
(27:22):
four so Lebron can move to the three on defense?
How do you do that? Who is that guy? Because
that will determine I really believe the future of Lukadancic.
I don't think he's gonna sit here. If they suck,
I can't imagine they would. Nobody thinks they will. But Rodney,
(27:42):
I can't imagine this guy's gonna sit here because unlike
in Dallas, this is a different market and if you
don't perform here, you're gonna get.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
It it's oh, you're gonna get it? Yeah, do you
want all that smoke? Because they don't care about your
supporting cast. All they care about is who's the superstar
and the superstar that didn't get it done. So if
they don't put a team around him and they don't
surround him with the right folks and it goes sideways
(28:15):
next year, yeah, this is you know, get ready to
have the last run of those seventy seven jerseys because
he's not gonna stay around. They got to show him
that they're committed to making this a winning combination and
a winning team. So this is a big, gigantic off
(28:36):
season for the Lakers with not a whole lot to
work with.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Though, well that's the problem honeywise, right. But see that's
the problem when you have Lebron and a d and
A made a lot of money, but it's not lucal money.
When you were paying two guys that much, and you argue,
if you think they are overpaid, I got to tell
you in the NBA they're probably not okay, And certainly
(29:03):
Lebron no matter what I've said, anybody said, whatever, anybody thinks,
you know something, that's a guy that turned his money,
So take that off the table. He's earned it. He's
earned it. Yeah, but when you are paying two guys
that much, now, what are you gonna do. It's you've
got to look for bargains. You've gotta look for guys
(29:26):
that are affordable, that fit into your system, and that
will contribute and make a difference. I remember in the
first incarnation of this, and you guys yell at me
when I say, well, I remember when they said when
Trevor Ariza gets back. I'm not saying that now. What
I'm saying is that's kind of where you're at. Who
(29:46):
are the other guys? Who is Ruie? Is RUI good?
And if not, who's Ruie but costs less? You know
what I mean? Yeah, gave Vincent good? Well, who's yeah
a version that gave Vincent that's better, that costs less.
Jared Vanderbilt, Well, who's that guy that costs less? And
(30:10):
is it worth Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Is it worth going and get somebody cost less or
maintain some sort of continuity because if you work with
the guys that have been here, you gotta believe that
these Vincent and Rui will continue to get better in
the same situation as they go forward playing with each
(30:32):
other for an extended period of time. You bring somebody
else new, you bring two new guys, and they got
to get familiar with Luca, they gotta get familiar with
the Lakers, they gotta get familiar with Lebron, and it
may take a year or two for them to kind
of get the gel to this, you know. And granted
for Rui, you know, we had the injury. He's wearing
a face mask for the last half of the season.
(30:54):
You know, I'm not gonna fault.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Him for that.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I think he's a quality player. I think it can
be good for the Lakers. I wouldn't get rid of
them because you're gonna have to pay somebody else in
that role.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I don't know how they I don't know how they
construct this, you know. And and based on this Minnesota
series that they just lost, are they fully convinced Austin
Reeves that is the Big three? Are they convinced that now?
Because that's what the talk was going into that series,
that they finally got their Big three and Austin Reeves
(31:30):
took up the next level. I tend to think that yes,
one series did not diminish Austin reeves contribution over the
last year and his growth. I think he will be
better next year and they will be able to rely
on him and they they will have a legitimate three
big three that they can count on with with Austin
(31:50):
Reeves being a part of that. And then where do
you go?
Speaker 1 (31:54):
How do you how do you put the other pieces together?
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Do you keep some of the guys you got or
do you clean house and say, okay, we've got the
big three and now we're just gonna bring in other
people to see if they can fit with us.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Well, the thing is this, and it was abundantly obvious.
They've got to get bigger. Yes, they first, they have
to get bigger. Above all, they've got to get bigger.
They're not going to win now we know next year
it will be the exact same thing if they don't
have more size. They tried to do make a deal
(32:26):
for Mark Williams. It fell apart. They didn't have anybody
big enough in there. Whatever, they've got to get bigger.
Isn't that crazy, though, Fred? Do you think about that?
Think of that?
Speaker 2 (32:35):
The way the game has changed and it's turned into
a three point game, and Steph Curry changed the culture
and changed the game. And it's uh, you got bigs
that step outside the three point line, you know, seven
footers that now you got to be able to shoot.
But at the end of the day, it comes back
to the real fundamentals of basketball that you've got to
(32:57):
have big guys, you got to rebound, you got to
protect the rim. And that's the same in football. It
comes back to Philadelphia. You gotta be able to run
the football late in the season in order to be
a championship team. And as much as the nuances and
the other things happened throughout the years, it comes back
(33:18):
to you better have some size. If you don't have size,
you don't win. Well, yeah, that's Minnesota asked, ready to
go bear?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
That was that was difficult to watch? Well, Minnesota, I said,
Minnesota can't shoot good. Even better, if they're gonna miss,
there's gonna be a rebound, right sure, Okay, well then
we'll just get two instead of three. Not a problem.
They got everything. They got every ball. Lakers were out
rebounded by like twenty. Think about that. They just weren't
(33:50):
big enough. Here's the other thing they have to do
is they construct their team going forward. They gotta find
guys to play defense. They've got to and that's been
a constant concern, but it's never been more prevalent than
it is now. They've got to find a guy that
can play defense. Okay, one hour show, so we better
(34:14):
talk about the Dodgers getting ready in Atlanta. That's next. Okay.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Today's afternoon Delight is pretty Ugly by Zara Larson. The
pop star dropped this sing along with the music video
as he gets set to release her forthcoming fifth studio
album later this year.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
In an interview about.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
The songs, he said, I have so many things to
say about how women are being portrayed and judged because
they're not pretty enough, and then when they go and
fix something on their face, they're picked on even more. Again,
Today's Afternoon Delight is pretty Ugly by Zara Larson. An
(34:57):
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Speaker 1 (35:45):
All right, so the Dodgers back at it. That an
off day yesterday. They're in Atlanta right now. They'll take
on the Braves tonight. Yamamoto is on the hill. Jack
Harris wrote about something in The Times that we kicked
around about two weeks ago, and the struggles Max Monsey
was having. Rodney, he has been struggling. Hit his first
home run of the season Wednesday, and he looked like
he was the happiest guy on the planet. Now when
(36:07):
you look at month and Dave Roberts by the way,
he says, the struggles are puzzling? Are they puzzling? Now?
It's taken him a while to hit his first home run,
but we know he's kind of a bushelman. Things come
in bushels. Hits one then they'll come, then he'll probably
tail off, then they'll start again. So is he really
(36:29):
struggling or is this Max Munsey?
Speaker 2 (36:32):
M I tend to think he's struggling. I tend to
think he's struggling because he hasn't had this kind of
drought without a home run number one, because that's what
he's known for. And then on top of that, he's
not getting the walks. Max Munsey has usually been a
guy that works to count, and like I know, it's
(36:56):
feast or famine, either it's you know, a home run
or you know, sometimes to strike out or ground out.
But he's not getting the walks that he normally would
get in a particular season. And Max has always been
one of those guys that kind of as a great
eye and works the count, and he hasn't done that
this season. So I don't think this is the Max
(37:20):
Max Month'sy version that we've seen the last three years.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Is something different at the end. You're right, he was
the kind of guy. I'm not saying he was a
Little league but remember the guys in the Little League. Hey,
I watch as good as a hit. Yeah, remember that, Hey,
don't swing, don't swing, We need base runners walks as
good as a hit, no problem here. Max kind of
was like that for a period of time, and it was
because of his eye. He was he was incredible at
(37:47):
determining where the pitch was and look, you get on base,
you get on base, and really, in the analytics driven
world of baseball, just get on base. So he was
very valuable in that regard because he did that. And
I think you're right now, maybe he's pushing, maybe he's pressing.
(38:08):
Maybe he feels that the season hasn't gone as he
would have liked to this point. So as the Dodgers
would call it, you see him chasing a little bit. Now,
you see him chasing. And the thing with Max, who
has been on the show, we are fans. He's a
friend of the show and we like him. He doesn't
have a lot of margin for error. He's either gonna
(38:31):
hit it or he's not. I mean, even if he
doesn't hit a home run, but if he hits it,
more often than not, that ball is driven somewhere. He's
not a singles guy. Yeah, He's not a guy that's
gonna move somebody around or hit for average.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Right, He's not gonna best and family with him and
which he's delivered right in big moments too, but it's
at at some point you come up in big situations,
you got to deliver. And whether that's a base hit
or even what he's done in the past from a
walk standpoint, that's big to pass the torch, right, that's
(39:10):
what the Dodgers lean on, and they've they've said since
Dave Roberts has been here, as you know, we passed
the torch to the next guy.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
And Max has not been able to.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Do that because he's got a lot of strikeouts, a
lot of punch outs, a lot of hitting into double plays,
and that does not pass the torch.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
Well, he'll try to get that righted this afternoon again,
Dodgers in Atlanta. It's an early start and that's why
we are concluding after only one hour.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
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Speaker 1 (39:57):
All right, that'll do it for us, Petros and money
your next one hour today. That terrific weekend, Ronnie, Thank
you for everything. Kevin, great job, Rodney. We do it
again Monday, Sir,
Roggin And Rodney News
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