Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Lack Energy and Focus, Can't Get Stops, Lose to Phoenix 125-108

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Lockdown Lakers for Tuesday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Komeneske, the Lakers no show on Monday against Phoenix. And they get blown out 125 to 108. We'll break down everything that went wrong. Next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network.

Starting point is 00:00:28 Your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers your first listen of Every Day. part of the locked on podcast network the number one sports podcast network in this or any other universe we certainly appreciate you whether not you're whether you're getting the podcast through apple whether you're getting it through spotify if you're a regular on the youtube channel over 37 000 subscribers over there however you do it we certainly appreciate it uh even on nights Andy where the Lakers just flat out suck. Boy, especially appreciate you being here on the nights where the Lakers flat out suck.

Starting point is 00:01:10 Anybody can show up and hang out when they kick a leap out of some team. No, that's true. When they absolutely crap the bed, as was the case in this 125-108 loss to the sons, y'all being here, that's when it really matters. So, uh, gracios for real. do want to let everybody to know that today's episode is brought to by Fandul right now. New customers can bet just $5

Starting point is 00:01:36 and if you bet wins, you get $300 and bonus bets to use across the apps. Ahead to fandul.com to get started. You know, it was funny. Like the Lakers played one really good quarter Sunday night and

Starting point is 00:01:52 in their win against New Orleans. And then three, I will call them mediocre quarters for the sake of generosity and we talked about like you know they're obviously going to have to do better against phoenix uh they said that j j reddick said that um people got mad at us for not celebrating the win enough not noting that like you know use your tune up to play like you want to play in the next game and lo and behold um they came out even in the first quarter andy which was finished 31 31 they did

Starting point is 00:02:29 not look good. I don't think they look particularly good throughout the game. The first quarter was the high watermark, but even then, I didn't think they look sharp. Well, part of the problem was the first quarter was basically the Luca Donchit show, and he had 20 points in the first quarter, eight of 11 from the field. It's obviously a good showing for Luca, and it was the only quarter where the Lakers did not turn the ball over excessively. But what they were doing in the first quarter, A, was not balanced in terms of defense on the other side of the ball. It was the only quarter they did a good job guarding the three point line, which I did a

Starting point is 00:03:10 mini preview breaking down this game. And one of the things I talked about that the Lakers needed to be mindful of with Phoenix was their ability to shoot. And for a quarter, they did a decent job guarding the three point line. and for the other three quarters, they were god awful at it. But what they were doing in the first quarter defensively wasn't matching the offense. And in the meantime, the formula offensively did not feel sustainable, but it also didn't feel like an actual plan. And I know we've talked before about the pluses and minuses of what has been a very well-established pattern of Luke Adanjic really.

Starting point is 00:03:54 taking over first quarters and setting a tone that way. Luca's game itself was a very, very mixed bag from there. Nine turnovers, Luca actually took the blame for the loss. So if you get upset any of the Luca super fans and our friends from Slovenia, as a draw vote to all of you, if you get upset about anything we say about Luca, we're just repeating what he said because he was pretty harsh on himself. Yeah, I mean, he had a lot of company. Oh, it wasn't all Luca, but this was not a great Luca game.

Starting point is 00:04:31 It wasn't. And it was one of those games where like the final numbers, if you kind of just look at the sort of the counting stats and you're not counting turnovers, if you're looking at those stats, you know, you see 38 points. You see a very efficient night from the floor, all that stuff. Like from that standpoint, Luca was good. And, you know, he was certainly the best of the Lakers big three. Austin Reeves finished with 16 points, backloaded.

Starting point is 00:05:02 He was very quiet through most of the game. LeBron only had 10 points, three of 10 shooting. He was, you know, he had to hustle, Andy, just to get to the double digits. I know something we'll talk about over the course of the show. the slow starts for LeBron feeling his way through games. This one, he never started. If we don't get into all of them in this show, it'll certainly come up for Wednesday's show.

Starting point is 00:05:30 I increasingly am having questions about what LeBron's role on this team is, acknowledging I know he is still working his way back from the long absence, didn't get a full training camp, pushing 41, yada, yada, yada. In the beginning, when he first came back, it seemed like there was a kind of formula that he was a part of. I'm not sure what they're doing feels fully formed enough, but we'll get to that. This is a game that was defined.

Starting point is 00:06:08 The Lakers were bad defensively, but they were undone by their offense. They turned the ball over, 21 turnovers, 22 of team turnovers. That led to 32 points off of turnovers for Phoenix. It led to a 28 to 2 advantage in fast break points for the suns. It's very difficult to get going in terms of pushing pace and all that kind of stuff. when you are either turning the ball over constantly or taking the ball out of your own net the entire night,

Starting point is 00:06:46 which what the Lakers did, you know, Phoenix shot 57% or Andy both. You know, so, you mentioned it Phoenix being a team that turns teams over a lot, you know, league leaders steals and things like that. They just, the Lakers were a step slow in everything. They were a step slow in their execution. They weren't cutting as hard. They weren't moving as quickly. They weren't playing as hard.

Starting point is 00:07:11 Austin Reeves flat out said. They played harder than we did. And this, of course, Andy, is after Devin Booker left the game after only 10 minutes of play. The Lakers were really done in by Dylan Brooks and Colin Gillespie, not Devin Booker. Well, I want to make sure that it is perfectly clear. Credit Phoenix for being the better team in this game. And I was skeptical about Phoenix heading into this season. I still need to see a larger sample.

Starting point is 00:07:38 with them against better teams. But if nothing else, they are maximizing what they have and they're playing their asses off. And that's really commendable, especially considering the last couple years there, which was just this like listless malaise where everybody was clearly miserable. So kudos to them. And they can be an opportunistic team. Like you mentioned, a lot of the Lakers turnovers, though, had nothing to do with Phoenix

Starting point is 00:08:07 forcing them in. it. It was the makers making terrible decisions with the ball, like pounding the ball into submission as if they were literally trying to kill the ball, like literally snuff out the life of the ball. There were several turnovers where they were just dribbling themselves into trouble, terrible decisions, bad attempts at home run passes. Like, again, Phoenix deserves credit for being opportunistic, but the Lakers just made their own lives so much, frankly, stupidly more difficult than it needed to be. Yeah, that's what I mean.

Starting point is 00:08:50 I think, you know, if you were going to kind of break down what Luca was critical of himself about, I think it's a lot of it was that. It's just sort of poor, poor choices, lazy choices, lazy cutting, lazy ball movement. And like, you know, Rui Hachamura, and I. know we talk about all the time. I got to get Rui more involved in this and that. There's some of this sometimes just on Rui. Like Rui had one shot in this game.

Starting point is 00:09:18 One shot, one rebound. And that's it. That was his contribution to the box score. Didn't have a bucket, didn't know a point, didn't have a free throw. And, you know, some of that's him. Some of that, you know, is, I bet his touches in this game would be shockingly low. And that's what I'm about. That's where I'm getting at.

Starting point is 00:09:38 Like, we talk sometimes about sort of imbalance and, you know, Reeves cooking and Luca cooking and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, this is one of those games. And we've noted it before Robert Orry went on for a while in the postgame show on Spectrum Sportsnet. Like, you got to, people got to touch the ball. And it's, it's not a question of everybody's got to get, you know, five shots. This guy gets seven shots. that guy gets 10 shots. It's not just about shots.

Starting point is 00:10:10 It's about literally touching the ball. And the Lakers just have too many possessions where not enough guys touch the ball. And there are a couple reasons for that. And I know one of them is one that you agree with, Andy, wholeheartedly, and we'll get to it next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Fandual. NFL Sundays move fast.

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Starting point is 00:10:56 Live betting is best when the game starts to shift. A receiver gets hot. Defense tightens up. Momentum flips after a turnover. I don't like that word after tonight's game for the lakeovers. Lakeovers, turnovers, lakeovers. Fandul lets you jump. You just called them the lakeovers.

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Starting point is 00:11:33 So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fandul.com, place your first. NFL live bet all season long. Fandul, the game moves fast, and so do you. Andy, you mentioned in the Fandul read that the game moves fast. The Lakers didn't. That was part of the problem. It's like when people talk about moving, playing fast in the NBA,

Starting point is 00:12:08 too often they just think about fast break points. And the Lakers actually, especially with LeBron back in the lineup, and, you know, his passing ability, his ability to get and go and nobody's getting in his way at the rim. And Lucas hit ahead ability, all this stuff. The Lakers actually, for a team that isn't hyper athletic and isn't an up and down team, can and really should get out on the break. But most of the time when Andy and I are talking about playing fast, every day Erz will hear his harp on this, it's literally moving. Move quicker. Get up the floor. Faster.

Starting point is 00:12:46 Don't take six seconds, you know, seven seconds to get across half court. Take five seconds. Don't take six seconds to get into your, your first action. Take three seconds. There were a couple,

Starting point is 00:12:59 you know, possessions. There was one where LeBron ended up with a shot clock violation, where the Lakers had all this nice ball movement, this and that, balls, you know, couldn't quite get the right shot they were looking for. Everybody's being unselfish.

Starting point is 00:13:11 All of a sudden, you're out of time. Like, you know, they have so many unnecessary late clock shots that come from simply wasting five seconds at the beginning of every possession. And that crushed them in this game. I mean, that can be one of the issues where the offense often operates with very Luca heliocentric, very Austin heliocentric. And presumably when LeBron gets fully in the swing of things, however long that's going to take. Again, I have concerns about this process now five games in, but LeBron eventually becomes one of the candidates for this as well.

Starting point is 00:13:52 And the heliocentric thing can obviously work. There have been plenty of teams, including four with LeBron, that have won championships that way. But there still has to be some kind of action happening. If everybody is just standing around basically waiting for the same guy who's bringing the ball up the court to cross half court before they can get an eight second violation, and then things don't start moving until about 10 seconds left on the clock, you're likely to end up with bad offensive execution or a turnover because you're suddenly left without options

Starting point is 00:14:32 and you're forced to make a pass under duress or a decision that you wouldn't want to make, but you have to. And that leaves to a worst case scenario, a live ball turnover. And the Lakers, they're never going to be, no matter how much effort they put behind it, they're never going to be a great team defending in transition. They simply do not have the personnel for that. They can maybe at times pick their spots and be reasonably effective, but it's never going to be a strength. If they excessively turn the ball over, they are likely to lose

Starting point is 00:15:08 because they do not have the roster to offset it. Yeah, and, you know, they're not a team that reliably can make up three point shots. You know, the defense, I mean, we haven't really tackled the, you know, really gone on a deep dive on, you know, do you believe in the Lakers and this start? Because on the one hand, there's a lot of reason to believe in it. They've won a lot of games with missing a lot of players. And all of that stuff, if you don't believe for a little while, they actually had a very good strength. schedule. That has fallen off. They've done a lot of their damage against the bad teams in the league. Most teams with gaudy records build that up, beating on bad teams in the league. It's actually

Starting point is 00:15:54 very impressive. They're 10 and 1 against teams under 500. That's really good. But they aren't, you know, the defense isn't anywhere near top 10. The offense, like you say, goes through these stretches of awkwardness, we'll say. You know, the shooting is unreliable. They are very good inside the arc, but they are very unreliable outside the arc. And so if you're down, you know, 10, 15, 18 points, like there was a moment, maybe, Andy, I don't think you disagree, but maybe you do. Like, they made a little tiny push.

Starting point is 00:16:35 Like they started like near the end of the third quarter, that thing where you try to get it to 10 going into fourth. You're like, oh, they got a chance. They've got three minutes to make it happen. Get a couple buckets in a row. But you just, I personally have trouble believing that they can do that, that they can get enough stops to go on a really quick, you know, tend to run against good teams.

Starting point is 00:16:59 Not yet. And that's something you've got to be able to do if you're going to advance in the playoffs. Their best defense is in a lot of ways. don't put yourself in the worst scenarios for your defense. Like, mention this. Play from ahead. They're a good team playing from ahead. Well, play from ahead, but also don't do the things that put you in the worst position

Starting point is 00:17:22 defensively. And, you know, the turnovers are a prime example of this. It's also to, I mentioned this after the New Orleans win, which the Lakers controlled because they were playing the zombie pelicans. but the intensity and the focus and the intentionality was dramatically missing in that game. And it was something that you and I said at the top of the show didn't like. I think this is another game where they really missed Marcus Smart. And we are seeing where Smart's value really comes through in games.

Starting point is 00:17:58 I mean, forget what he might have been able to do trying to slow down Dylan Brooks or slow down Colin Gillespie or anything like that. the defense, it's the collective intensity or lack thereof. They are often a different team in terms of just pure urgency when he's on the floor. And there's a reason that they have generally not just won the minutes when Smart has played, but they've won the minutes pretty decisively really no matter who he's playing with. It hasn't really mattered what the floor combinations are. And I think it is in part because he provides very specific things. You know, he's like Liam Neeson in Taken, very specific set of skills.

Starting point is 00:18:43 And those skills are pretty lacking across this roster, especially, you know, if Jared Vanderbilt is out of the rotation. Like, you start just running out of the other guys who might do some of this, even a lesser version of it. Like, smart is a better player than Vando. but he's the next closest guy to replicate some of those things missing. So they really need Marcus Smart. It's become pretty evident. It also gets to the challenge and the risk of smart. And we talked about that.

Starting point is 00:19:20 They are they're trying to keep him healthy. And he's out with the back spasm. He's already missed some. games and he's already pretty dinged up and he started the season dinged up and like I know you were a huge Jordan Goodwin fan and you know obviously he was on the floor tonight with Phoenix and you know like like everybody had a nice game you know the 13 points 5 of 10 shooting and stuff like that I mean I don't think I don't see him as you know a Marcus smart future defensive player the year candidate no no but like a guy who brings some energy and he has like

Starting point is 00:19:58 kind of a poor man's version of what you get from a player like smart. Yes. And that's useful, especially with this roster. But the biggest thing is availability. And if

Starting point is 00:20:14 they can't keep smart available, they're going to run into trouble. And so this is, this is, I think, one of the big issues with starting him is just the extra grind that that takes and you're up against first team players for more of more of that time.

Starting point is 00:20:34 After the break, there is something, you know, that there are a lot of things that this good start gives the Lakers the flexibility to do. But treating and treating a guy like smart with kid gloves is one of those things. they missed an opportunity to really, you know, distance themselves from the seventh seed, which is, you know, the spot you don't want to be in the West. But they still have that wiggle room with a guy like Smart. But the road trip coming up, if they're not careful, could eat into that. So we'll talk about that next.

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Starting point is 00:21:59 Huge range of unique stats, fantasy score, fail goal attempts, free throws made, turnovers, whatever, lakeovers, whatever fits your strategy. Deposits and withdrawals that are easy and quick, which keeps everything flowing. Download the prize picks app today. Use the code locked in NBA to get 50 bucks in lineups and after you play your first $5 lineup. That's code locked on NBA for 50 bucks in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. prize picks it is good to be right um so folks andy on the the show for monday heard me talking about like you're sort of in my mind what i see is like the the objectives in this season step one

Starting point is 00:22:46 finishing the top six make sure you do not have to do the play in uh stay out of that nonsense you get the rest before the playoffs obviously j jredical handle it differently this year than last year, but you don't want to mess around with any of that. Step one, that missed an opportunity to put another game between themselves and the suns. Too early to panic, but would have been nice. They would have put it six games between them and Phoenix in the loss column, had they won that which a quarter of the way into the season is actually a lot.

Starting point is 00:23:21 That's a big gap for Phoenix to have to make up. Step two, top four. You know, okay, that could still happen. Step three, second round, you still have home court advantage. That means you're a two seat. And, you know, that's what we're hoping to work for here. They have, they're going to have to figure out where, like, which of those things are most valuable to them. Because ultimately, they also have to keep LeBron healthy.

Starting point is 00:23:50 They have to keep Marcus smart healthy. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried about smart because he has missed some games. and it is clear that he is filling a role on this team that nobody else can fill. Well, certainly nobody else, JJ, is confident in filling. And it's also concerning because this is not like LeBron versus New Orleans' left foot injury management, which LeBron said in so many words after the game, like, you know, this is what happens when you get old. these things add up and you know you have to you have to keep an eye on it and back to backs

Starting point is 00:24:30 it's challenging for anybody at this stage much less LeBron younger players at times and Joel M. Bid I don't know if he's ever going to play it back to back for like no rest of his I do know the answer to that the answer is no right so this this is the deal with Marcus smart it's a little more concerning because this is not a load management thing this is a he's dealing with something specific thing and And for the time being, it's going to be up to these other guys to channel that mindset and that energy and that urgency on their own because it can't fall solely on Marcus Smart. It's certainly until he is back in the rotation, not going to fall on Jared Vanderbilt. And you look at the way, I mean, but then I'm just saying from there, you run out of the most obvious candidates.

Starting point is 00:25:21 And take like Phoenix, for example, tonight, man. Like especially after not having Devin Booker from the majority of this game, he leads with that groin strain, they didn't have Grayson Allen, who, beyond his shooting, brings a very specific aggravating energy. Yeah, I mean, he's got. What are you looking for is he's annoying? Yeah, he's got the most punchable face in the NBA.

Starting point is 00:25:46 Let's let's everybody's thinking it. I'll just say it. I am not. So it's clear. urging anybody to punch Grayson Allen. I have never heard a bad thing about the guy, I mean, other than the tripping stuff at Duke,

Starting point is 00:25:59 but he seems to have grown out of it. He doesn't seem to do that anymore. Okay, so I have heard a couple of things. Okay, I have not heard anything bad about Grayson Allen in a long time, but nonetheless, it is... Other than the aqueducts, what did the Romans do for us?

Starting point is 00:26:16 Yeah, but I was trying to, I was trying to maintain the messaging of, don't go looking to punch Grayson Allen. But the point is, you lose your best player and you lose one of your key role players who also can bring a lot of intensity and energy. That type of situation could lead a team

Starting point is 00:26:37 to shrug their shoulders and feel like we don't, we don't have the horses to win a game. They just went out and played harder. Yeah. Like they went out and gained more determination from it. Look at their roster, Andy. I mean, Royce O'Neill has stayed in the league for however many years, basically by being one of those guys, just hardworking, annoying to play against,

Starting point is 00:27:01 you know, does all the right stuff. You know, that just truly professional. Dylan Brooks is as, you know, dialed in sort of irritant, high intensity, a player as you can find in any sport anywhere. You know, Gillespie is, you know, stuff. trying to establish himself as an NBA player. He's always playing hard. But, you know, Ryan Dunn is an excellent defender.

Starting point is 00:27:27 Goodwin, as we've talked about, plays very hard all the time. I mean, like, they got... Nigel Hayes-Davis, you know, Nigel Hayes Davis, former Cup of Coffee Laker. He's trying to reestablish any type of career in the league. We know who Jordan Goodwin is. He's always going to play hard. Right.

Starting point is 00:27:43 So it's... The Lakers, they just... they can't get by in games, and they said as much afterwards, not matching another team's intensity. They're often not can be able to match the athleticism, or perhaps be able to move as quick, but like they can't afford not to be matching intensity. And that can mean mental focus,

Starting point is 00:28:11 that can mean physical focus, that can mean a lot of things. It doesn't have to mean we're running faster and jumping higher. It means that we are locked in. to at the, you know, at the level that we should be. And they just weren't in this game. They just weren't. They played very, very poorly.

Starting point is 00:28:32 And some of that happens. Sometimes that happens. When you show up, you do your best and you just suck. It's a physical activity. Everybody, we've all been there in whatever sport. We've tried, like, you know, you're playing tennis with your friends. You can't get the ball over the net. You're playing, you know, pick up ball and you can't hit a shot to save your life.

Starting point is 00:28:49 It happens. You're trying your best. I don't think they were trying their best in this game. No. I don't think they brought it. I don't think they were intentionally loafing, but I don't think they brought it in this one. Look, JJ mentioned a few times afterwards that they were lacking the physicality

Starting point is 00:29:05 that was necessary for a game like this. Like he said, if you don't play hard against that team, that team being Phoenix, you will get, as he said, exposed. And he said, like, there are all these different elements that came out through not playing hard. And I think one of those things is actually focus. Like if you are not playing hard, it becomes easier to become that much less focused. And the lack of focus can turn into, I don't know, 22 turnovers.

Starting point is 00:29:34 Wouldn't you agree, Andy, though, too, that that's part of, like, that the problem we were talking about in the first segment of just not enough hands touching the ball, possession to possession, plays into that intensity. It's hard to maintain the intensity when three or, you know, two or three or four guys don't get that, you know, engagement with the game. I know, again, that this has been Lucas pattern his entire career as far as the first quarter thing. And there's been a lot of success in Lucas career that includes first quarter success. So I'm not saying they need to scrap the whole thing and go back to an entirely blank, drawing board, but I do think that they need to focus to some degree, like reconfigure this

Starting point is 00:30:24 a bit. So if nothing else, you're making sure that Luca's dominance in the first quarter feels like it's spread all over the place as opposed to purely in the field goal attempt count. Like, Luca had as many shots in the first quarter as almost the entire starting five, I mean, the other four starters combined. Yeah. And yes, he was 8 of 11. He was super efficient. That stuff can be, it can be, I guess, demoralizing for an opponent.

Starting point is 00:30:56 But the flip side, as we've talked about, and I want to make it clear, it is not purely because of Luca, but the Lakers are a bad first quarter team. So if nothing else, the way Luca is playing, I'm not saying it's the problem, but a damn sure has not been the solution because they're not a good first quarter team. We had these conversations going back when Kobe, you know, would come out and just annihilate teams early or have these stretches where he took over games, but the ball didn't move enough. And, you know, it's, again, it's, I, Luca can finish possessions taking all the same number of shots. But I just think the Lakers operate better on both sides of the ball when more hands touch the ball possession to the possession. First of all, they're taking more advantage of the skill that they have between LeBron, AR, and obviously Luca.

Starting point is 00:31:51 But more importantly, they are a pretty ordinary. I think ordinary is a generous way of putting it right now, an ordinary defensive team. To your point, Andy, that you made in the last segment, if you're an ordinary defensive team, do the things that you can do to put your defense in the best position to succeed. And a lot of that is run a good offense, take good shots, and do all that stuff. Sometimes it won't save. There were times the Lakers flat out did not get back in transition on Monday. That's hustle.

Starting point is 00:32:29 That's attention. But there are other times when the offense is you're in balance because you think A is going to happen. You're waiting for something. You can't move because and all of a sudden the ball. goes the other way and you're not going to be able to get set up and a half court effectively. Yeah. And it's just it there, Luca is obviously starting these first quarters with an intensity because you can't play the way he does in the first quarter without being pretty dialed in. Like I don't think it's, you can't phone in what Luca does in the first quarter. Like it's,

Starting point is 00:33:03 I think it is actually impossible. But there is that question. And I know, you've raised it before about how much it dials down everybody else in the process, depending on if, you know, if Luca can find the perfect balance of, you know, somehow putting up 15 to 20, but also getting five or six assists. And obviously other guys have to make shots in order to get the assists. But I bet if you track Lucas passes in the first quarter, it's probably his lowest quarter. I'd be pretty confident that we'll look up on the, uh, the second

Starting point is 00:33:37 second spectrum. By the way, I'd forgotten about this. You know, I mean, you probably do because you might have looked at it. I'd forgotten how long ago it was that Nigel Hayes-Davis

Starting point is 00:33:49 played his two games with the Lakers. It was back in 2017, 2017, 2018. Oh, yeah. And then he played five, you know,

Starting point is 00:33:58 two games for Toronto that year, five games for Sacramento that year. So nine NBA games in the 17-18 season. And he hadn't been back, since. So kudos to Nigel Hayes Davis for working your way back to the NBA. He's 30 years old. That is not easy to do. Also, too, and I'm not saying that the solution to this is necessarily more LeBron runs sets in the first quarter, but the way things operate for the Lakers in the first quarter is emblematic in a lot of ways of what thus far feels like at best,

Starting point is 00:34:36 a fuzzy role for LeBron since returning. And in the beginning, it looked like maybe he could be part of like a, you know, a co-closer role with Austin Reeves in the fourth quarter. And, you know, that can work well if you head into the fourth quarter up. But in the meantime, though, it leaves three quarters where I, A, I'll be totally honest. I'm not sure where LeBron is at physically and how much he actually can. can do. And I have concerns about how long this ramp up, assuming it is fully successful, how long it's going to take and what it's going to look like. And again, we can talk about

Starting point is 00:35:18 this more at length on Wednesday show because we're close to rapping. But I am also just, I am growing concerned that they don't quite know what to do with LeBron. LeBron doesn't quite know what to do with himself when he's out there. He is, I think, very clearly trying not to be a problem or create a Luca and Austin versus LeBron narrative. If anything, he may be going too far out of his way for it. We'll pick this up tomorrow because there's that and obviously the Lakers kicking off a challenging three-game road trip capped by a cup game against the spurs. So four challenging games coming up for the Lakers. They obviously need to improve over what they did on Monday.

Starting point is 00:36:09 Locked on Lakers on YouTube is ready to hang out with over 37,000 subscribers. We'll see everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Lack Energy and Focus, Can't Get Stops, Lose to Phoenix 125-108

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