Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Eliminated by Timberwolves, Dominated by Gobert in 103-96 Game 5 Loss

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

A postseason that began with so much optimism ended far, far faster than virtually anyone expected.The Lakers lose Game 5 to the Wolves Wednesday at the Crypt, final score 103-96. Minnesota left the d...oor wide open for the Lakers, but they couldn't push through. They came out incredibly tight, seemingly unsure of what they wanted to do on the floor. Little breaks that didn't go their way seemed to frustrate them (think airballs landing in the arms of a waiting Wolves player). Luka Dončić took a shot to his back late in the first half, and had to go back to the locker room. It was an open question whether he'd return, emerging from the tunnel only moments before the third quarter started. Still, the Lakers fought back, and again had a chance to win heading into the fourth quarter.And again, they couldn't score enough to get it done. 16 points in the fourth is a fitting final 12 minutes, given how that was a problem all series. The Lakers didn't average 20 points across the five Q4s in the series, a remarkable bit of futility.There are plenty of questions to ask. Austin Reaves had a horrible series. Luka faced a lot of adversity, but wasn't everything the Lakers needed. LeBron put in a heroic effort in many ways, but the Lakers needed a bigger presence in fourth quarters throughout the series. DFS? The bench? Centers?Not much there, either. And then there's JJ Redick, and his decision making.It's going to be a fascinating offseason, following what was one of the most incredible, unpredictable and transformational Lakers seasons in history.Hosts: Andy and Brian KamenetzkySEGMENT 1: Lakers lose, season over.SEGMENT 2: What went wrong?SEGMENT 3: What's next? Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Amazon Fire TV Stick 4KDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required. CarGurusBuy or sell your next car today with CarGurus at CarGurus.comto make sure your big deal is the best deal.  WayFairAfter the holiday hustle, there’s nothing like giving your home a little TLC. Give your home the refresh it needs with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. Wayfair. Every style. Every home. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Locked on Lakers for Thursday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Komeneski. That's a wrap. The Lakers are eliminated in game five by the Wolves. 103.96. They're out in five. A lot to unpack. That's next.
Starting point is 00:00:16 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 Lockdown Lakers. First, listen to every day. Monday through Friday, no matter how,
Starting point is 00:00:38 where you get your podcasts. This one is always free. It's never going to be behind paywall and locked on Lakers on YouTube's where you can go hang out with 35,000 plus. Very sad people, Andy, because the Lakers, the season is over.
Starting point is 00:00:53 It is finally done a crazy and exciting and transformational season in a lot of ways ends earlier than I think most people expected, certainly including us. 396 is the final score in game five at the crypt. Minnesota left the door wide open for the Lakers to try to force a game six. And the Lakers, I mean, they put in effort, at least after the first, you know,
Starting point is 00:01:24 seven or eight minutes of the game, but the execution was not there. The quality of play was certainly not there. and as a result, the season's over. I want to let people know that today's episode is brought to you by the Amazon Firestick TV 4K. Turn any TV into your Xbox, no console needed. Head to Amazon.com slash fire TV locked on to learn more. You know, based on the way the Lakers started this game, down nine at the end of the first quarter, Luca Donchich clearly hobbled by a back injury going into the half.
Starting point is 00:02:02 Honestly, he played better with the back injury than he did in the first half. He did. I don't know if he was fully feeling something that was then made worse by the, but whatever. He had 13 points in third quarter. It was his best quarter by far. I, you know, but you just, you look around it. Like there was so much that seemed to be going wrong for the Lakers.
Starting point is 00:02:27 And yet had they been able to score some points in the fourth quarter, quarter, there would be a game six, but it kind of feels appropriate, Andy. The Lakers score 16 points in the fourth and are going home because the fourth quarter was what cost them throughout the series. The fourth quarter cost them throughout the series, but this almost feels like they went full circle back to game one because game one, which we talked about for Wednesday's show, the Lakers were all talking about during Tuesday's practice, treating this game five like a game seven, and that I said, I wish they had treated game one like game seven. Game one, they came out super flat for most of the game and like a jarring lack of urgency
Starting point is 00:03:20 and intensity and physicality. They came out in the first half of this game, like to paraphrase a bit of what Ferris Bueller said about Cameron, if you put a diamond, or put a lump of coal in his hind parts, you'd have a diamond. They were just incredibly tight in the first half of this game. They looked highly self-aware of, oh, my God, we need to win this game. And because of that heightened self-awareness,
Starting point is 00:03:52 it did not seem to lead to a lack of focus and intensity, but just fear is too strong because they were, I think tight is the right word. It's a lot of ways, the mirror opposite. Yeah, it was the mirror opposite of game one, like, but like a horseshoe. It leads to the same place. Exactly. It is a full circle journey backwards to game one. I thought other than Rui Hachamura, who was arguably the best Laker from start to finish in this game, And Jared Vanderbilt, I don't think anybody on the Lakers in the first half looked particularly ready or ready or diet. It's best best minutes of the series, I thought, were in the first half of this game. Yeah, if nothing else, my persistent bitching throughout this series that JJ should play Vando more, he did and Vando actually at least didn't make me look like a fool in the process.
Starting point is 00:04:51 He also played better and was more effective than yeah. But those two, though, and this really mattered. Those two, Rui and Vando, I thought were the only guys in the first half who really looked ready to play. And truth be told, as bad as the Lakers were, they finished down 10 in the first half. It could have been way worse. Oh, yeah. Because Minnesota missed a ton of shots, including second chance, third chance. They even had a fourth chance opportunity.
Starting point is 00:05:26 in the first quarter that they did not convert. They missed 43s as a team. I don't know how many in the first half, but certainly many. Anthony Edwards played bad throughout the course of this game. Julius Randall, who was very good for the game, but got into foul trouble in the first half. Jaden McDaniels got into foul trouble in the first half. The Lakers did not capitalize on their absences one iota.
Starting point is 00:05:52 It was, you know, it's interesting you mentioned like Vanderbilt. I think part of the reason, yeah, Rui was playing kind of, you know, for lack of a better term, free. He didn't feel tight. And I think the reason that Vando played so much more effectively in this game compared to the others, especially relative to his teammates, was he was the only, the other guy. Like during the season, Vanderbilt is effective in part because he's playing
Starting point is 00:06:15 in a gear that's higher than a lot of, like everybody else on the floor, because it's the regular season. Part of what makes him less effective in the postseason, is everybody is now playing at Vanderbilt speed. Well, in game five on Wednesday night, Vanderbilt was again playing at that pace that was so much faster and higher and freer than the Lakers playing. And that was what I expected the whole team to look like in this game
Starting point is 00:06:48 was to come out and move it, cut him. And instead they were just unsure. And, you know, I know what I think J.J. Reddick meant with, you know, talking about being on edge. But it was like the wrong kind of on edge. As it turned out when they got on the floor, they looked on edge tight rather than on edge focused. And I, you know, I, it's just look, Minnesota was clearly the better team in this series. The matchup was better. It was interesting.
Starting point is 00:07:26 The execution was better. Everything was better. But like it just, you know, none of the stuff. And we'll get into it tonight. We'll get into it for Thursday show. We'll get into for Friday's show. Like what went wrong in the series and what maybe buttons weren't pushed that could have been? Bottom line, Minnesota outplayed the Lakers, outcoached them out, everything.
Starting point is 00:07:47 It's interesting. You and I, when we did the preview of the series with Ben Beacon from Lockheaval. On Wolves. And by the way, congrats to Ben. Congrats to the Locked on Wolves fans. Congrats to the Wolves. We both picked Lakers and Six, for that matter. Ben also picked Lakers and Six.
Starting point is 00:08:04 But the things that we brought up as potential issues for the Lakers, like if the wolves were going to win this series, it is quite possible. I'd have to go back and watch the actual show. But everything we brought up ended up happening. The Wolf's ability to get second chance points. They had 20 in this game. Rudy Gobert, who we will get to.
Starting point is 00:08:30 And God damn, does this piss me off to say it? That dude was a freaking monster. 27 points, 24 rebounds, two blocks. The dominator, man. 12 of 15 from the floor. He was, but we talked about how Minnesota, they're not necessarily, tonight notwithstanding, an incredible offensive rebounding team,
Starting point is 00:08:52 but they're often extremely opportunistic with the ones they get, and that had been a problem over the course of this series. We talked about how Julius Randall would probably be the guy to step up, and if the Lakers were not going to have three of the best four players in this series, Julius Randall would be the most likely guy
Starting point is 00:09:15 to mess up that hierarchy. It turned out to be Julius, Randall and maybe others too, but Randall overcame his playoff issues that he had had with New York. And side note, you and I both love Julius when we cover him. So on a, I guess, micro personal note, happy for him. We talked about how the wolves on paper profile to be a team that could do a pretty good job defending the Lakers, especially if the Lakers fell into isoball bowl bowl. belief, which they obviously did.
Starting point is 00:09:53 Like all of the pitfalls that we predicted, even while predicting Lakers in six, pretty much all of them came through. But the problem, right. And the reason it was Wolves in five as opposed to Lakers and six, it's like you can say, you know, these things are how the problem was, you know, on the Lakers side, all the things that we thought were going to be present for the Lakers, most of them were not. and it was, you know, LeBron, there is a little bit of an aster's.
Starting point is 00:10:24 We'll talk a lot about LeBron going into the, you know, through the rest of, you know, the season going into the off season and all these things. I don't think it's fair given what he had to do defensively to call him bad. But he was quiet. He was really what, and that's what I think I want to get into next. It's like whether you're talking about LeBron, whether you're talking about Austin, who was just flat, terrible, this whole series, talking about the depth around, you know,
Starting point is 00:10:53 the role players, DFS did not have a good series, I don't think. And there are a lot. But like, we learn some stuff about LeBron and what this team that look like and all that kind of stuff that they have to be conscious of for next year. We'll break down some of these things next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Amazon Fire TV. Did you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox?
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Starting point is 00:12:21 stick 4K second gen, Fire TV. stick 4K Max first and second gen and fire TV cube third gen so look um there is going to be plenty of talk about j j reddick and conversation and you know did he screw up the series again you know we've we've covered game four and the choices of the second half at nauseam in game five uh he did change the starting lineup he pulled jackson hayes uh from it put dFS in um maxi claiba alert maxi claiba got the, I guess, five or six minutes that Jackson, I guess, would have gotten maybe in this game, went to Maxi Claibah instead. Boy, he leaped Alex Lennon in the rotation quickly. It didn't take long.
Starting point is 00:13:14 And, you know, we can discuss JJ's performance. But, you know, ultimately, I did find it interesting in, you know, our friend Cranjus McBasketball team underscore NBA, the Lakers Exceptionals and Pod, who charts games. in real time in terms of the structure of the Lakers organized offense versus freelance. His numbers say that the Lakers actually were far more organized in this game than they had been all series, ran a ton more of structured stuff. And they still scored 96 points and nothing in the fourth quarter. So you look at this and ultimately we can and should talk about JJ's performance in this series. But ultimately, Austin Reeves was really bad throughout.
Starting point is 00:14:06 He said as much after the game. And game five was arguably the worst of it, 12 points on 5 of 14, shooting two of 10 from three point range, two assists against six, six turnovers. LeBron, again, it's not that he was necessarily bad, but they needed him to be louder offensively than the 22 points on 9 of 20, 9 of 21 shooting. And at the very least, I think what we learned is that LeBron, you know, this is sort of the first time like, you know, quote unquote, playoff LeBron. It can't be all of the stuff.
Starting point is 00:14:44 Like you can ask, he really did, I thought, an admirable job defensively in this series, but was just not visible enough, particularly in fourth quarters for them to be. be successful. And so the ask is for LeBron going in and the expectation is all of it. And he couldn't do it. And for whatever reason, couldn't do it. Maybe it's Minnesota. Maybe it was health coming back for the growing bottom line, LeBron, too quiet down the stretch of games throughout the series. That's an issue. Luca faded in parts. I'll give him a pass for game five because you barely walk. The Lakers stars, first and foremost, were not good enough in this series. Before you get to coaching, before you get to the supporting cast, before you get to deciding that Jackson
Starting point is 00:15:40 Hayes was the, you know, TNT strangely kept cutting to every time Rudy Gobert did something. You know who he was? As if the Lakers had shack on the bench and weren't playing him. You know who he was. He was Nico Harrison in Dallas's playing game that they lost. Every time Anthony Davis would grimace or something was going wrong, they would cut to Nico. Jackson Hayes was the Nico of this game. It's like, you know, guys, like the reason Jackson is on the bench and glued there is because he was terrible in this series. And so why are we cutting to him every time, as if.
Starting point is 00:16:21 they treated him on TV as if he'd been playing 32 minutes a night and suddenly got benched. He'd been playing. Yeah, I mean, live. We can have a larger conversation about this when we get. Sure. Tonight's going to be more about the game itself and, you know, specifically what happened. I don't disagree that Jackson Hayes had a bad series and more often than not he was playing badly. I do think Jackson is potentially representative of JJ pushing the panic button on certain players very quickly.
Starting point is 00:16:59 Even if Jackson by himself is not the most glaring example of it, I think Jackson is an example that you can look at and say, with JJ in this playoff series, and this is something of nothing else, I think JJ is going to have to. work on when the trust goes, the trust goes fast and he hides it like the worst poker player at the table you've ever played against and taking their money. I don't think it's an uncommon trait in coaches, but there's definitely some truth of that when you're talking about JJ. But the flip side is, look, Vanderbilt was one of the players that JJ allegedly did not trust in game four and came back, played his best minutes of the series in game five. So, I mean, I just, I think.
Starting point is 00:17:47 some of this is right there is i mean i will we'll talk a lot about j j the the the the point for the lakers is they lost this series because their stars weren't good enough their most prominence or certainly not prolific enough at the very least like in the in the case of someone like lebron for example who like you mentioned defensively for most of the series he was very good but they frankly needed more they needed more and they needed they needed law lebron to be taking over more, like truly taking over. And I think we saw some of the limitations there. I don't think he had a bad series.
Starting point is 00:18:25 I think he had a series where we saw some of the limitations in what he's able to do. And again, I don't know. It can be matchups. It can be health. You had a two-week injury that the second week was into the playoffs. I don't know. when it to some degree is in the point, because you have to start from this point going forward,
Starting point is 00:18:53 building around what you saw in this playoff series. And especially AR, this was wildly deficient. And then when you start getting down the line, Rui Hachamura, putting you over here in this category, you played a pretty good series for the Lakers, I thought, overall. But DFS was not good. And, you know, Gabe Vincent off the, like,
Starting point is 00:19:14 they didn't have it. anything really off the bench to be able to adjust to, I think certainly for not from a scoring standpoint, unless you wanted to try out connect. But, you know, or move Rui to the bench for more balance, something like that. I guess. But like, you know, he's, I'm just throwing out options. I'm not saying JJ should have done it. I'm just saying those are basically. The ultimate year five best players are going to play the most minutes anyway. Rui's going to play about the same amount, whether it comes off the bench or as a starter. So I think, you know, you just, the top heaviness of the Lakers construction only works when everybody is playing at the level that you need them to.
Starting point is 00:20:02 And Luca, you know, he scored a bunch and but then he got sick and that's not totally his fault, but it impacts the series. and he ran out of gas a little bit in game four and he was hurt in game five. And okay, I'm not saying Lucas trash or the trade was a mistake, but Luca wasn't at where the Lakers needed him to be to win the series. LeBron, we just went through it. Reeves was way below.
Starting point is 00:20:33 And that's why they lost. I mean, that's why they lost. And there's a lot of other stuff that's learned. That's why they won. They needed, again, more from all three members of the designated big three, or broadly speaking, the big three that is the label. 75 points a game was sort of what the benchmark we put on during the season. And they certainly got damn near none of it from Austin. They got really on a consistent basis about three quarters in total of what they wanted from LeBron.
Starting point is 00:21:07 and I think about three quarters in total of what they wanted from Luca. And that just was not nearly enough. No, and I'm, I give Luke a lot of credit for playing through what he did both in game three and in game five. And the assignment that the Lakers were given by JJ, you know, in game four to play the entire second half,
Starting point is 00:21:32 those guys, it's not effort. You know, that core group of five guys, they left everything on the floor. It's not they were loafing and like, you know, didn't care, didn't show up. They didn't James Hartman? Tonight for the first half, they might have cared too much. Yeah. Like, you know, I know a lot of, it's interesting you, you just, well, after the break,
Starting point is 00:21:55 though, we can talk about this because most people weren't reacting to how they came out in the first quarter, but I read it the same way you did. So we can talk about that. And we'll talk about maybe. how the Lakers begin to look ahead to the offseason next. You know, it, you know, Rudy, for all the, and Rudy dominated them, and maybe they could have done stuff differently with it. Minnesota score 103 points in this game, Andy, and yes, they should have scored.
Starting point is 00:22:34 I don't know Rudy Gobert. Yeah, they should have scored more. And the Lakers probably should have lost this game by 25 points. But the point is, the wolves were seven of 47 from behind the ark. It is insane to win a game. To win, first of all, just going seven of 47 is in and of itself. That is damn near a basketball war crime. Right.
Starting point is 00:23:04 I mean, you and I shooting might be able to go seven of 47. To go seven of 47 from behind the arc to have 40, empty possessions on threes alone. And to win the game speaks to the Lakers not coming up in the areas where they needed, most notably in this specific game, preventing second opportunities, third opportunity. Like even the times when Minnesota didn't score, that was all times that the Lakers didn't have the ball trying to make up the possession game. Like just the time that they spent eventually getting a stop, you know, after, really, I'm not exaggerating, close to a minute of possession time for the wolves, that's a couple possessions right there that the Lakers didn't have for themselves.
Starting point is 00:23:59 Right. And I think, you know, you've got to be able to build a team now going forward where you have, you have. You have the the the the ability to absorb you know what if lucca's sick for a game you know or you know that you just you can distribute some of this stuff around like they've just got to be able to to build something out that's a little bit more conducive to how Luca plays and and all of that because again I'm not I'm not being I'm really I am honestly not trying to crush Luca and I'm not being good enough whatever the guy could barely move like anybody who's ever. had a back injury knows how hard it is to do that and he was scored 13 points in the third he finished with what 28 28 28 7 and 8 or 7 and 9 28 7 and 9 only turned the ball over twice he was trying you know he was getting blown by 15 times he was trying took a lot of abuse in this game lebron was doing you know every there was lack of effort was not the issue here. Lack of want or lack of care was not the issue in this game or the series. The Lakers had holes exposed in what they did. And then, you know, you look at the question of adjustments.
Starting point is 00:25:26 Like, I was just to say, I'm just, I think most people read what they were doing at the beginning of the game as them not coming out with intensity. I read it like you. I think I think they were tight and panicked and whatever. And that belief that we sort of felt that. from them coming out of practices earlier this week, clearly didn't translate to the game. I know they were talking on the postgame show, Andy, on spectrum about, for example, adjustments. The Lakers needed to make more of them.
Starting point is 00:25:55 And I don't disagree because what they were doing didn't really work. I just wonder what they were. You know, like, was the adjustment in game five to actually play Jackson Hayes 20 minutes because they were getting beat on the boards? I don't think so. A, because Jackson's on a great rebounder, and B, he's been so ineffective in this series. That's why he wasn't playing.
Starting point is 00:26:16 I think with someone like Jackson at this point, it's essentially cost into any of JJ's plans that he's been ineffective, but also he clearly was playing like a guy expecting to get yanked. He, I think, was growing increasingly self-conscious of his ineffectiveness. was often maybe, I mean, I know Jackson be foul prone. He'd been better at it this season. Maybe some of his bad fouls this year was trying too hard, whatever. But Jackson, I think, if you were going to try to make Jackson a presence in this series, it needed to come earlier by giving him more leash, not less. And I'm not even saying that JJ necessarily gave him too little,
Starting point is 00:27:06 even though I brought up before, I do think Jackson is indicative of JJ giving up on certain guys too easily and making it pretty damn clear how little he thought of them in certain moments. And that is something he needs to do better. I mean, I'm not saying. The problem is, I think in principle,
Starting point is 00:27:28 you're right, in the specific, I don't know what to do, though, because you're left with the, you know, I think he gave up. I can tell you what I think you should do. I mean, I can give you an answer. Okay, go ahead. Let guys play more.
Starting point is 00:27:42 I think he yanked guys often without it really being deserved. I think there were guys, particularly Vanderbilt, Jordan. I'm just talking about Hayes. I don't think Jackson, if anything, people were wondering rightly if he was going to. Like I said, I'm not talking too much. I'm not going back to him. I'm not specifically and solely talking about Jackson. I think Jackson, though, is a face of a larger problem.
Starting point is 00:28:09 If you want to say that he is not the most prominent face of it, fine. But I think it is indicative of how JJ coached in this series in ways that I think hurt the team. I think he often left himself with two few options in terms of the players. And when you leave yourself with two few options, you also start limiting what you can do on the court. you start limiting how fresh these guys actually are, the verve that they can play with, all of that stuff. So again, I think, and I agree with you, even with my tolerance level for choices in game four,
Starting point is 00:28:46 I'm still, I mean, like tonight, giving Max Eclaba like a couple minutes down the stretch in crunch time, Maxie Claib, I believe this is the first time he's, He's worn a Laker uniform since participating, like, in the team photo and, like, when Maxie would end up on the Jumbotron doing skits with the other guys or whatever, like in-game entertainment, the idea of playing Maxi Claibba a couple minutes in that moment was freaking insane. I mean, in all honesty, like particularly, okay, like to. I would have kept Vando out there. Vando was playing well. He's actually played with these guys. Like, that's just
Starting point is 00:29:26 kind of like what I thought about the game four decision. That's just kind of galaxy brain. I don't, again, I was my thinking was too, like I'd probably just leave Vanderbilt out there. If he looks at the second half minutes, the play where he stepped out of bounds is the one that is going to look bad to everybody. But other than that, like if, you know, they put him in there to try to, as JJ said after the game,
Starting point is 00:29:48 to try to find just a little bit of spot size or whatever. And he earned them two extra chances on one possession, earned them two extra plays because he boxed out Gobert to allow an offensive rebound and then he drew Jaden McDaniel's sixth foul. That was all in one possession.
Starting point is 00:30:07 On the next possession on defensively, he did what he was supposed to do and moved Gobert off the boards and LeBron actually allowed the offensive rebound because he lost track. I think it was Randall, lost track of his guy. It's, I'm not, but like my point is it
Starting point is 00:30:25 I don't want to say it worked but it wasn't it like again I sort of when you you're trying to like you're going to the same stuff the same stuff isn't working you're you know
Starting point is 00:30:40 I think JJ sometimes you need to shore up rebounding you put somebody in there was a little bit of a bigger body here is what I get it if nothing else okay here is what I would say maybe this is the best way of putting it I think a lot during this series
Starting point is 00:30:52 JJ, at least to me, seem to be spending more time fixing the things, fixing kind of in finger quotes, the things that weren't necessarily working as poorly as the things going more poor that seemingly he wasn't fixing. That's what I would say. Overall, I thought there were more glaring things out there that required fixing that seemed to be going more unaddressed than some of the micro he was getting involved. And I just, it's, I think JJ was asked after the, after the game, like, you know, to sort of evaluate his rookie season. And it's a little quick for that, like, could, you know, what could you, you know, he's got, and, you know, he said, you know, he wasn't specific about it. But, you know, I can be better. I absolutely, you know, will be better and all that kind of stuff.
Starting point is 00:31:46 I imagine it will be. I don't. I'm sure, too. Yeah. I mean, I'm not, I'm not like pulling. giving up on JJ. No, I'm not saying you are. I'm answering the questions.
Starting point is 00:31:56 But my point is, though, like the Lakers obviously, I think felt moments in this series where, you know, maybe a rookie coach, first time coach, guy on a learning curve. Like we saw a guy in his first playoff experience. But then I think, you know, the Lakers are going to have to this summer to separate that from the, you know, the questions of. of the roster and the questions of the performance of their stars and not get hung up on the margins. And whether you play Jared Vanderbilt for an extra two and a half minutes or, you know, Maxie Claib against the four minutes that Jackson Hayes got, that's kind of a decision on the margins.
Starting point is 00:32:45 And this series wasn't lost on the margins in the slightest. This series wasn't close in that way. Minnesota was the superior team in almost every way. I think they lost both on the big and on the margins. Right. But if you're losing on the big, you're losing on the margins. You know, like this stuff, you know, if Austin Reeves, maybe he could have been used differently, used better, play better. You know, I mean, I'm not.
Starting point is 00:33:15 I mean, right. So if Reeves is better, if LeBron is more productive. If the roster is constructed, like you go into the series with a playable center, you know, and I think they tried to do that with Williams. And then we'll talk about whether or not they should have just bit the bullet
Starting point is 00:33:36 or what they think they saw or whatever it is. Mark Williams, by the way, a cheeky post-game tweet, just a smiley face after this one. And I don't blame him. I don't, I don't sweat Mark Williams for taking a shot at the team here. Nope.
Starting point is 00:33:56 But like they entered this series with one, one playable, in theory, playable big. And that playable big had some question marks. Sure. Like, yeah, I'm not, I'm not trying to say that all of the, that all of the reason they lost was JJ. There was plenty of subpar performances, plenty of all that. I mean, we got into it. And we're going to get more into it. Just JJ came up.
Starting point is 00:34:24 So I was answering question. I just don't want to. In some ways, and I saw our friend, I forget if it was Domyn or Darius, who said this after the game. It's like in some ways it's better that they lost in five because the structural problems and stuff like that are much more obvious and difficult to ignore than if they had, you know, kind of pushed it to seven, you can kind of shut your eyes to certain things. But we will start, Andy, breaking down the season that was and what is to come beginning tomorrow because the season is over. Again, shorter than anybody expected.
Starting point is 00:35:09 Thank you, by the way, to everybody who was with us throughout this entire season, the new viewers and listeners that we gained after. the Luca deal, our fellow Slovenians. We appreciate all of you all being here. This has been a, Brian and I have covered this team for almost 20 years now. This has been one of the most interesting seasons. Oh, fascinating. Ever covered.
Starting point is 00:35:41 Oh, my goodness. And covering it was made that much more fun because you guys have remained, as always, a really fantastic audience and community. So thank you very much. We don't go anywhere. We do not go anywhere in the off season. We, you know, when you get deep into the dog days, we might take a day off here and there,
Starting point is 00:35:59 but we're going to be putting out shows, you know, throughout the rest of the NBA season, obviously into the off season with free agency and the draft and all these other things. So stick with us. We will continue to look ahead and all that stuff. Thanks to everybody for making Lockouton Lakers first list them every day, Monday through Friday, checking us out on YouTube. Over 35,000 strong. We'll see everyone
Starting point is 00:36:25 tomorrow.

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