Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Defense Collapses Completely in Painful 135-117 Loss to the Hornets

Starting point is 00:00:00 Lakers defense collapses completely against the Hornets on Thursday. Stop me if you've heard this one before it got really ugly. Can the Lakers fix it on a giant January road trip? That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers first listen to every day.

Starting point is 00:00:35 Monday through Friday, sometimes on weekends, even on holidays, no matter how where you get your podcast, this one's always going to be free for you, not behind a paywall. And if you're getting it on Spotify, you're getting it on Apple. Maybe you're Andy one of the 37,000 subscribers to the YouTube channel, Lockdown Lakers on YouTube, no matter how you're doing it, you're helping make the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in this or any other known universe on Brian Kamenetsky, with Andy Kamenetsky, we spent about almost 20 years now covering the Lakers for ESPN, for the athletic, for the LA Times. And in all that time, Andy, it's been hard to find a team.

Starting point is 00:01:15 It seems to struggle as much as this one does defensively on many nights across the NBA. The Lakers lose 135 to 117 to the Hornets on Thursday night. And my God, Andy, if let's say you thought that. things were well in hand in the first quarter and you said, I'm going to get to bed early. Man alive, are you surprised by the final score? I mean, you're giving up at that point after

Starting point is 00:01:42 the first quarter, so I would say at that point shame on you. I mean, this is not exactly... It's 13. It's time to go to bed. This is not exactly a team that you feel like, all right, you know, they're up nine to end the first. This thing is over. They've got it under control.

Starting point is 00:01:57 Like, I honestly, at that point, while I appreciate you being here, you're clearly not here enough because we would have told you stick around this might get interesting. I know we're going to talk about the defense rightly in this game because it was bad in every facet. But frankly, this was a game where pretty much all of the Lakers weaknesses that we've seen over the course of this season were put together in a blender and turned into a really bad drink for the Lakers. It was a weakness smoothie. I mean, seriously, the the Hornets, if nothing, I mean, they've been playing better of late, but I'll say this, they were very well prepared to play this game because say what you will about whatever

Starting point is 00:02:50 things they're still figuring out as a young group. They clearly knew how to go at the Lakers in this game. Well, it's not, it's not complicated. And like, you know, that's the thing. It's like, Some nights the Lakers are able to kind of withstand it. And more often they've lost eight now of their last 13. They have not been able to withstand it. But it's like it's not the formula itself is not a secret. And everybody has, everybody knows it. Everybody's figured it out.

Starting point is 00:03:19 Do you want to let people know today's episode is brought to you by Fandwell before tip off check the Fandual app and see what's dropping your NBA happy hour every Friday from 6 to 730 Eastern. 3 to 430 Pacific. I just, you know, but you're right. You can look at this and, you know, their defensive weaknesses were exposed. The lack of bench power was exposed. The lack of ability, quite frankly,

Starting point is 00:03:45 for like a quick player to put the ball on the floor and get a bucket. Their tendency to go on long, long offensive droughts. You know, if you're, if you're keeping score at home, the Lakers, it took him two minutes to get a bucket in the second quarter. And then they went six minutes without a field goal, six minutes without a field goal. So two minutes. 16 points in the second quarter. Two minutes it took to get a bucket in the second quarter. And then you go another six minutes without a field goal.

Starting point is 00:04:20 And like you say, you end up with with 16 points in quarter. And Marcus Smart talked about that, like after the game. when that happens, you are putting an enormous amount of pressure on your defense. It's just like, because you're never set. You're never playing. You're always playing. You kind of lopsided. It's an enormous pressure on an already rickety defense.

Starting point is 00:04:45 And clearly they couldn't respond. And beyond that, though, I mean, obviously it's problematic when you go those long droughts without scoring. They had nine total bench points. in this game. JJ opted to give Kobe Buffkin a pretty long look, I think, to see, frankly, to see, can I play Kobe Buffkin instead of Dalton Connect and or Nick Smith Jr. I think I'm going to give Buffkin a bit of a pass just in the sense that he's barely

Starting point is 00:05:17 worked with this group. And you could tell that there were times where I think he looked like he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be doing out there. I think it was a mixed bag. But the reason I'm bringing this up is not to pick on Kobe Buffkin. It more speaks to just their inability to land on a bench group that works, particularly when you don't have Austin Reeves who would push either Marcus Smart or Jake LaRavia to the bench. When you don't have Jackson, he was unavailable in this game.

Starting point is 00:05:46 And Jackson, while not a prolific score, he is having a good season. And compared to some of the other options, he's Frick and Will Chamberlain. So you're essentially when we need out and play you're essentially playing without a backup center because Maxi Claiba is deployed I think it's fair to say sort of situationally and the situation is we don't need you to score ever right that's the situation against the team like the hornets who were you know up and down the floor but you know what's funny about that though really quick and this speaks to what I was talking about before exposing Laker weaknesses and being prepared is that. They got the memo run on these dudes because Charlotte's actually not a team that runs. Their bottom five for pace, their bottom five fast break points. Like they played out of character along those lines. Now, they also played very in character for some other stuff that I want to get into, particularly the three-point shooting, because I didn't like some of JJ's comments

Starting point is 00:06:48 afterwards talking about Charlotte and hot shooting, like almost, almost like this could be just another one of those nights because no, just no. But Charlotte, they did what they do well, but they also really went out of their way to go at the Lakers for things they don't do well. Yeah. And I think in that second quarter particularly, they really took advantage of, you know, those opportunities that are created to push. And I don't mean like you're taking everything up to the rim.

Starting point is 00:07:22 like, you know, getting out running fast break, dunk, like whatever. I just mean pushing. Like you get up the floor quickly before the other team can set some sort of advantage and organize their defense in the way that you would want. You get the cross matchups. You get all kinds of stuff that make a team uncomfortable. It's quite frankly, it's what the Lakers were doing in the first quarter. Like, you're going to look at this score.

Starting point is 00:07:46 If you just wake up and like my guy went to bed after the 13 point lead and said, all this well, I'm going to sleep. If you just look at the box score, the percentages that Charlotte shot, and all these other things, you're like, oh, my gosh, the collapse. The Lakers looked. They were blown. They got the doors blown off of them. They came out with energy, the Lakers did.

Starting point is 00:08:06 They came out with good pace. That first quarter they played was one of the better quarters that they've played over the last couple of weeks. They play with purpose, with pace, with energy. Again, not fast break finishes, but, They forced some turnovers. They got up the floor. And they moved with some urgency on both sides of the ball.

Starting point is 00:08:28 And I just, you know, we'll talk about other things that went wrong here. But I, it is a really bad sign for the Lakers. You know, we haven't talked about. Luca Donchich was 15 of 26 in this game. Very efficient night from Luca offensively. 15 of 26, 39 points. LeBron James. Very efficient offensively.

Starting point is 00:08:54 10 of 19, 29 points. The Lakers got 68 points from their two stars. They only turned the ball over nine times. So it's not like they were just throwing the ball all over the darn place. Like if you get that performance from those two guys and you keep your turnovers down, and at least by the end, they shot a reasonable percentage from three point range, to lose by 18 when you do that is distressing to me. Yeah, I mean, like I said, other than Luca's individual performance,

Starting point is 00:09:35 LeBron's individual performance, at least offensively, I mean, both of them had moments in terms of defense where they were part of the problem. I thought Luca in particular, one of the things I want to get into is I thought the Lakers at times really lost their composure with the refs. And non-calls, and so it's clear, we'll get into this, but just setting the foundation for this, I actually think they were justified in a lot of what they were complaining about, but you have to keep playing.

Starting point is 00:10:09 And even though some of the calls and non-calls in this game were frankly bizarre, you still have to keep playing. And that is, in terms of exploitable weak, of the Lakers, something we have seen a lot. There is a trend, though, that's going on in the NBA, across the NBA. The Lakers answered a few questions about it after the game, though, that is related exactly to what you're talking about. And if it holds, it's going to be a problem for the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:10:38 We'll break it down next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by DoorDash. The seasons heat up. DoorDash has a way to keep fans in their bag the whole way through, whether you're watching highlights, the tunnel fits, or your favorite player. DoorDash makes everything that much more fun. And every bag, every players, they got the bag, and DoorDash has one too. DoorDash keeps the snacks stocked, the gear fresh, the watch party vibes on point.

Starting point is 00:11:13 There's going to be nights when your team stresses you out, like for the Lakers, every, say, other night, every third night. Sometimes a few games in a row. Let DoorDash become the post-game therapy. Sometimes you need dessert to eat your feelings. Like now, like right now. Sometimes you need a lot of cups for many altering post-game beverages or things along those nature. You want to make sure your charger is ready to go and your phone's ready to go because you're going to be bitching with your friends afterwards for a while.

Starting point is 00:11:47 All those things can be delivered through DoorDash from tip off to overtime. Stay in your bag. order on DoorDash get snacks, drinks, gear, whatever gets you through the season. No judgment. Delivered right to your door. DoorDash in your bag all season long. Do you want to remind people about the Everydayer Club. If you are looking for a different experience with the Locked on Lakers podcast, more ways to engage with us, engage with fellow Locked on Lakers listeners and Lakers fans, you can join the Everyday Air Club. It's $5 a month, $50 a year.

Starting point is 00:12:30 You get access to the Locked on Everyday Air Club Discord server, which includes a group chat just for listeners of the show. It's a place where you can go talk to each other. Again, talk to us. We'll use stuff we get from that Discord server as part of the show. Just another fun way to stay in contact and communicate and talk to everybody and perhaps vent. We'll put your stuff to the front of the line.

Starting point is 00:12:54 We will put the everydayer's comments to the front of the line in terms of the interactivity that we very much encourage for this show. And even better, you are certainly just as better, you get the show presented to you without ads. So an ad-free audio feed, whether you get in the show through Apple, podcast, Spotify. However you do it, you will get an ad-free version of the show. Again, locked on, it's the Everydayer Club. Go to the show notes, or you can find it at locked onlickers. dot supercast.com. Check it out.

Starting point is 00:13:26 See if it's for you. If it's not, do nothing. Show stays the same. It's funny you mention the free throw thing because the Lakers offense has very much been built on the ability for Luca especially and then Austin when he's healthy to get to the line. And a lot has been made over the last month or so that fouls and free throw attempts are way down. The NBA is clearly across the league made a change in how they are

Starting point is 00:14:00 how they're calling games. And it is in part a response to people complaining that foul merchants were going to the line too much. Games were getting too choppy. Too much was being called. Games not physical enough. It's too soft, whatever. But the point is, if it holds, the Lakers are going to have to figure out a way to adjust because one of their typical strategies and strengths is going to be mitigated by a league-wide change in officiating. And currently they are adjusting by complaining about it.

Starting point is 00:14:37 There was a point in the third quarter where Luca drove. There was some contact on a jumper. There was no call. He was unhappy. He began rubbing his head to emphasize that he had been hit and was yelling at the ref. very slow getting back at all. Lakers are playing at that point, four on five,

Starting point is 00:14:56 they can barely defend five on four. And Miles Bridges, who have been super hot the entire night, ends up getting an open corner three. Luca at that point had a tech call. Like there was a series of bizarre, off-arm calls and non-calls that kept going against the Lakers. There was a point where Gabe Vincent clearly expected,

Starting point is 00:15:21 a call on a loose ball foul in third quarter, didn't get it, led to a transition bucket for Charlotte. JJ was up and yelling at that point. There was a time where Jake Laravia got an offensive rebound off of Kobe Buffkin driving miss. He got very clearly shoved, and the ball ended up going to Charlotte out of bounds. JJ was really upset at that point. Charlotte scored on the next possession. And again, a lot of what the late. Lakers were upset tonight.

Starting point is 00:15:53 Brian and I are not big criticizing the refs. Like, that's not a big part of this show. It's pretty rare when it comes up at all. There were a lot of stuff that I understand where the Lakers were coming from. You've got to keep playing through it, though. And you can't. There are too many times you see this with Luca, but he's not the only guy on the team,

Starting point is 00:16:12 but where they are at times even just putting up shots in a way where you can tell they are expecting the call. Like they're shooting in a way where it's about drawing contact. And they get frustrated when the shot boat doesn't go down and they don't get the whistle. They got to just play, man. They got to just play through this stuff. The reputation of Luca as a guy who complains about officiating is not new. He arrived here with that.

Starting point is 00:16:48 He comes from a long line of. superstar players who complained to the referees. But I think where the Lakers are running into trouble is just, it's that mental thing of like there was one, there was one moment where like La Ravia was the only player up the floor because all four Lakers were turned in protesting at the ref. Poor Jakes up at the front is like it's like one on five. It looks like, you know, John Snow and that famous meme from, you know, Game of Thrones are standing there with his sword.

Starting point is 00:17:29 Like, where are my dudes? But like, you have to adjust mentally. And then they have to figure out how they're going to generate points in another way. Because if you continue to kind of bang your head against this and the games are going to be called differently, inconsistently, no doubt. They're always kind of a little inconsistent. It's almost impossible to call an NBA game totally consistently, given the athletes on the floor. But like if this is what it's going to be, like you can't fight that. You have to play.

Starting point is 00:18:07 I agree with you. And, you know, I just, they're not, they are currently, you know, sort of responding like it's like, like you said, but you're just bitching about it. And that is not going to get it done. And it only makes the problem worse because you get more frustrated and more frustrated and more frustrated. And if you don't believe us, listen to Marcus Smart, who afterwards acknowledged, instead of getting back, we were talking to the officials a lot. That doesn't help. It just doesn't it for a team that is already not great in transition defensively when everyone's locked the F in, like when they're really putting. their minds to this, they are a mixed bag at best. You can't put yourself in, you can't put yourself

Starting point is 00:18:57 in a position where your defense is playing shorthanded. You're not mentally engaged because you're making sure you get the last word with the ref. Like, you just, you can't do it. Like, you can't do it. It's funny. Not this team. They can't know it. Smart said something else. We'll get back to the defense here a little bit. Smart said something. It was interesting. Like, you know, what do you do in responds to it. Dan Wakey at the athletic was kind of asking a series of questions about this trend in the NBA. And it's been something that's been noticed and written about a lot over the last month or so to the point that I actually tweeted Andy about or texted Andy about it earlier on Thursday. Like, this is what you get when, you know, with all the gambling stuff and this

Starting point is 00:19:38 and that, whatever. Like people were complaining too much and now there aren't enough foul calls. and people are wondering if the games were fixed. So Smart though said that the Lakers just have to start filing. Just foul more. They can't call everything. This is an approach to defense that a lot of teams take, very physical. Thunder, Pistons, some of the best teams in the league. But here's the thing.

Starting point is 00:20:09 You've got to be able to get near enough to the opposition to foul them in a way that could plausibly not be a foul. And to do, like, you can be really physical and you can do that. But if you're reaching or if you're two feet away or if you're late to a spot or your shoulder checking or you're doing a, you're going to get the foul call. Like, Detroit can do it because they are young and athletic and move their feet. and they've got some defenders on that team and all the Lakers

Starting point is 00:20:44 are fighting a reputation for zero defense. They're fighting the athleticism. They're fighting the movement. That type of defensive style, they're going to make some changes before they could even do that. Well, I mean, James Worthy said after the game, and he's spot on, they're just not

Starting point is 00:21:02 connected that way. He said they're just not connected in any way on the defense event. And if you're going to play that sort of style and get away with it, there's a baseline of how good of a defense you have to look like in order to get the benefit of the doubt from the refs. You've said it, though, a lot during the year. Like the hope for this team, you know, we talked about even going back in the summer was that like defensively you could be better than the sum of your parts. And it's been hard to do that because the lack of continuity, different lineups every day and all that is not trying to make excuses. that makes that style of defense harder to pull off.

Starting point is 00:21:44 But I think at this point, they're certainly not better than the sum of their parts. I'm not even sure they're as good as the sum of their parts. You mentioned some stuff that JJ said. He did have a comment that I thought was really interesting as well. So we'll break down JJ and his perspective on the defense next. Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Fandul. Friday's already feel different during basketball season.

Starting point is 00:22:11 and fan duels making them even better. Every Friday night before the games tip off, Fandul gives fans a new way to kick off the weekend with NBA Happy Hour. NBA Happy Hour is your official pregame, a limited time window when special offers drop right inside the FanDuel app before the action starts. Fridays from 6 to 7.30 Eastern have become appointment viewing with NBA Happy Hour. Opening the FanDuel app during Happy Hour always brings

Starting point is 00:22:40 something new, whether you're talking about boosts or bonuses or just surprises. Surprise! It's easy. There you go. You look inside the app. Surprise! It's easy to check the weekly special before tip off and make a move before the window closes. So before tip off, check

Starting point is 00:22:57 the Fanduil app, see what is dropping during NBA Happy Hour every Friday night from 6 to 7.30. Eastern, little basketball, a little action, a whole lot of Friday energy. That's NBA Happy Hour only on Fandul, the official sports book partner of the NBA.

Starting point is 00:23:15 We'll get to the JJ's comments here in a second, but I saw an interesting question on the YouTube chat as we do the show live, as we generally do after games, asking like why, and I scrolled past who asked it, but the question is like, why are they playing game? Like, why is because, you know, didn't get a whole lot out of him.

Starting point is 00:23:36 And overall, he has not been particularly good this year. Vincent was 0 of 7 from the field, 0 of 5 from 3 point range. No points in 15 minutes. They got nine points from the defense. So Rui, Jared Vanderbilt. Nine points for the bench. I'm sorry, from the ban.

Starting point is 00:23:54 Rui, Jared Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, and Kobe Buffkin, each played 15 minutes or more off the bench. They got nine points between the four of them. The Lakers starters played, all of them played over 30 minutes on Thursday night. So the answer to the question is why is Gabe playing is because someone has to play. Like then you can't run LeBron any more than he was.

Starting point is 00:24:22 And it's like you know, it's bad enough that you're kind of having to keep his minutes up where they are, despite having played on the second night of a back-to-back a couple days ago when he, I'm sure, wasn't going to. I mean, they don't have enough players. They have to, Gabe Vincent has to play. Well, the answer to why Gabe Vincent is playing, and I mean, to some degree, if you want to give a little bit of grace to JJ and the coaches that and whatever, he is coming off a good game against the Hawks.

Starting point is 00:24:49 He played very well against the way. He's not been good. No, no, he has not been good. But really the answer to why is Gabe playing to some degree is Kobe Buffkin is playing. Like that's how far into the box of potential answers that they are digging. You said that he was playing in part to see if you could play him instead of Connect. Obviously, Dalton didn't get on the floor in this game until garbage time. Neither did Nick Smith, Jr.

Starting point is 00:25:17 Right. And but I also think there is a little bit of an element here of auditioning for some of Gabe's minutes. Sure, sure. The point being, though, that Kobe Buffkin, who was on a 10-day deal, and I'm happy that he is, I brought up like a week or so before they eventually gave him that 10-day deal that I wouldn't have been surprised if they brought him up. But that they need to bring him up at all, particularly with Austin unavailable and you're getting low on ball handles. Like that's the answer to your question. Like at this point, it's no longer about the perception that I understand that Gabe is the equivalent.

Starting point is 00:25:59 He is basically Darban Ham's Tori and Prince or Frank Vogels, Avery Bradley. Like it's at this is a necessity thing by now. Like that's what's happening. I get why anybody listening or watching doesn't like it. I'm just saying that's the reason. Yeah, he can dribble and knows, knows what he's supposed to be doing and who else is going to play. Your other choice is brawny. Do you want Brani playing 18 minutes a game?

Starting point is 00:26:29 Well, you, the royal you in the chat room or beyond probably doesn't. I am a big fan of Brani's development. I am encouraged. He's continuing to play well in the G League. If Brony is playing 18 minutes a night for this team, bad things are happening. So let me tell you what I thought was interesting from Redick that I think was something that I think does speak

Starting point is 00:26:53 to some of the problems the Lakers are having defensively. He talked about how the Lakers, part of the reason that they're giving up a lot of threes with space is because they are afraid of getting tight on opposing ball handlers and opposing players because they're worried about the blowby. They're worried they can't stay in front of them. By the way, with cause. And so they get stuck in this kind of no man's land where you feel like you need to give

Starting point is 00:27:23 somebody a little extra six inches, an extra eight inches of space, an extra foot, which is in the NBA, is a mile because you can't stay in front of them off the dribble. Therefore, you're giving up far easier perimeter shots. So it's a phenomenon that I think is pretty spot on. You know, he, I think he described it basically as they're sort of afraid of ball pressure, you know, putting it on. It's hard to argue with them and it's not a good trend. Nope.

Starting point is 00:27:55 There is a reservation, I think, a lot of times. I mean, there are times when the problem I think is a lack of focus, a lot of, lack of attentiveness, a lack of just willingness to get your ass back as the first step of trying to handle certain things or I've complained about this the entire time in the JJ Redick era. I think they switch both too automatically and way too passively. And all these different things come together to create bad defense. JJ said he thought their low man tonight was awful. and it didn't sound like he meant specifically DeAndre.

Starting point is 00:28:36 No, it's whoever he means whoever is positioned in that spot based on like the whoever's the low man has certain rotational response. Exactly. Just to clarify, because I saw some reaction that felt like JJ sub-tweeting. It can be Aiden, but it often is. Right. It doesn't have to be. Right, exactly.

Starting point is 00:28:57 One of the things, though, that caught my ear from JJ Postgame that I really did not like at all was in talking about the hornets and the they're shooting tonight from from distance they they were just bearing the lakers 47 percent 20 of 43 a lot a lot of these shots i thought were not well contested at all um they had a very easy time setting these up they they got a lot of them off second chance opportunities they crush the lakers on the glass, despite often not, despite not having a ton of misses, they managed to get a lot of offensive rebounds, scramble the Laker defense. Yeah, particularly in the second.

Starting point is 00:29:42 Like, that's like Lamello Ball who had 27 points in the second half, three at halftime. It's 27 in the second half. We've got a lot of second chance opportunities. And this is obviously not the first time we've seen a team bury the Lakers from behind the arc. And JJ, in talking about this, part of what he said was, quote, another team that has a hot shooting night. I'm calling BS with that, man.

Starting point is 00:30:06 Like I'm completely calling BS. The Hornets for this season are fifth in the league for three point percentage. Over the last 15 games, they are shooting 41% as a team. Miles Bridges, who hit five threes in this game, in January, seven games, I don't know if that includes tonight, but he's shooting 40% from behind the arc. Mello in December and January combined is shooting about 42% from behind the arc on about nine threes a game. We know con can't nipple can shoot.

Starting point is 00:30:41 That's one of the reasons he is a surprise frontrunner for or among the front runners for rookie of the year. That's what this team does. Like this is not a hot shooting night. This is Charlotte being Charlotte. This is what they do. It's one of the, it's one of the things they're actually really. good at. And this was actually, I think the Lakers allowing Charlotte to do something they do really

Starting point is 00:31:07 well even better because they were so bad guarding the three point line. And I don't like hearing that, especially because it's not the first time we've heard JJ say this, you know, talking about it, expected, you know, make raid and expect it luck, blah, yada, yada, yada. Charlotte's good at this. And they allowed Charlotte to be even better than the thing that they're good at. I didn't like that. I did not like hearing that at all. I didn't quite entry. I don't disagree with what you're saying. And the Lakers need to avoid that kind of like sort of,

Starting point is 00:31:40 it's not us. It's just, you know, the ebbs and flows of. Everybody gets up for the Lakers, which is. There is a certain truth to like, of, of, like, luck, essentially. Like, there are some nights where teams, hit shots that they shouldn't there's some nights that teams don't hit shots that they they should and you know luck actually over the 10 games stretch really can have a an impact on your defense or or your offense or things like that and so like I

Starting point is 00:32:17 I get I did so I didn't totally read it the same way and he certainly was plenty of critical of sort of what they were doing I and I I think when he was talking about them being afraid to pressure the ball. That's kind of what he's getting at. He's talking about those shortcomings and part of the reason the teams find themselves able to take and get themselves into a rhythm is because they don't have any confidence to stay in front of the opposition. I'll be honest with it. I smarter people than me are responsible for figuring this stuff out. But like there's no, I think it's fair to say at this point. There is no sort of easy lever to pull for fixing the defense.

Starting point is 00:33:07 There isn't. And I'm not saying you were suggesting that. To me, the easiest prescription for trying to make them a little more stable on defense is to avoid what happened in the second quarter, where they go two minutes without scoring to begin the quarter, and six minutes without a field goal. I'm just talking about in sort of looking ahead. What can they do next?

Starting point is 00:33:37 They got four really tough games coming up and then a long road trip, even against mediocre teams. You're out on the road for a long time. There's nothing easy about it. I think they can fix the offense or make the offense better. I don't know how much defense they can fix.

Starting point is 00:33:55 You are correct that this is a team. We've talked about this a lot. their defense is often dictated by their offense because that at least allows themselves theoretically the best chance to try to get set and be the best version of a flawed defense they can be. That being said, though, teams are running off makes against them as well. You're not wrong in what you're saying. I'm just saying it has to go beyond that.

Starting point is 00:34:25 And my annoyance with JJ there, like I said, but just to reiterate it, it's not simply the comment tonight in a vacuum. It's not the first time we've heard a version of that. And against this particular team, I'm just like, what do you mean a hot shooting team? Like, they've been hot. This is what they do. Like, were they higher than they, did they shoot, you know, 47 percent? Yes, it's higher than 41 percent over the last 15 games. but 41% is pretty damn good.

Starting point is 00:34:57 Like you'd be leading the league. Very good shooting team. Right. So it's like, no. Like to me that feels in some ways, even though I know JJ was plenty critical of the defense, it feels in some ways like throwing your hands up, whether that's throwing your hands up to cover for the team

Starting point is 00:35:15 or to cover for the staff, cover for yourself, whatever. It just rubbed me wrong. Fair enough. Lakers traveling to Portland, a Portland team. that is very quickly and very quietly getting healthy Jeremy Grant and Drew

Starting point is 00:35:29 Holiday both back in their lineup so that's not going to be an easy game Saturday night in Portland we of course will be back after that one is over Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you know hang out over 37,000 subscribers do check out that everyday or club link to see if the Discord chat is for you and we'll see everybody after the game

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Defense Collapses Completely in Painful 135-117 Loss to the Hornets

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.