Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Reaves re-injured, More Terrible Defense for the Lakers In 119-96 Loss

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

It seems to be getting worse before it gets (hopefully) better. The Lakers spoiled Christmas with a very, very lackluster effort against the visiting Houston Rockets. The Lakers were flat from the ge...t go, fell down by 12 after the first quarter, and never really threatened to get back into it. They simply aren't functioning well enough on the defensive side of the ball to reliably make a comeback on a team like Houston. Not just because the Rockets can defend, and but because there's no reason in the slightest to believe they can get enough stops. JJ Redick lit into his group after the game, with cause. Players recognized the need to play harder and faster. But how much of this is roster construction and skill set? How much is Redick looking to be precious around his choices? At the least, shouldn't JJ consider a change in the starting lineup? Maybe Rui out, Smart in? Because what's happening now don't work. HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: The Lakers again get thumped. SEGMENT 2: What's going wrong? SEGMENT 3: What are the potential things JJ could do to address what's happening?  Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclubSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DoorDashFrom tipoff to overtime, stay in your bag and order on DoorDash.Get snacks, drinks, gear — whatever gets you through the season — delivered right to your door.DoorDash. In your bag all season long.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here:https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBARobinhoodYou expect more from yourself. Expect more from your money. Get started today at robinhood.com/yourmoney. Your money. Your move. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Options, futures, and crypto trading carry significant risk and may not suit all investors. Securities offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Futures trading is offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC and not SPIC or FDIC protected. Crypto offered through Robinhood Crypto, LLC (NMLS ID 1702840), not FDIC or SIPC protected. Portfolio management offered by Robinhood Strategies, an SEC-registered advisor.GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now. 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 The Lakers once again can't get any stops, and they once again take one on the chin. Tough Christmas night against Houston. We'll break it down next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks, Debra, if you're making Locked on Lakers, first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, no matter how where, get your podcast, this podcast, Apple, Spotify, one of the 37,000-plus subscribers to the YouTube channel.
Starting point is 00:00:36 You are part of making the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in the universe. Andy, man alive did the Lakers decide to kind of screw up Christmas. I'm glad at least the game was in the evening when most people might have already eaten or at least open their presence because otherwise their day could have been ruined by the effort that the Lakers put out against Houston. Certainly JJ Reddick's was. Yeah, I mean, and not just was it ruined for the Lakers in the,
Starting point is 00:01:05 this one 1996 loss to the Rockets on Christmas. The Lakers now 19 and 10, they are undefeated for losing by double digits. In 10 losses, they have lost by double digits in all 10. I have said this before. Unfortunately, I fear I will say it again, because this might be one of those that's going to get worse before it hopefully gets better.
Starting point is 00:01:32 But when these guys lose, they get their asses handed to them and there's no way around it. But in a lot of ways, the Lakers, they were ruining Christmas for their fans right from the jump because the Lakers, in a lot of ways, I think, laid the foundation for losing this game, not just in the first quarter, but early in the first quarter. Giving up offensive rebounds for second chance points was a huge theme in this game. Houston had 17 for the game, 24 second chance points. They had 23 points off the Lakers 16 turnovers.
Starting point is 00:02:10 The Lakers had several, they gave up four offensive rebounds in the first three and a half minutes of this game. They had given up six points off turnovers in, I believe, the first four to five minutes of the game. Luca had four turnovers in the first four and a half minutes. In a lot of ways, setting a theme for, we've talked a lot about the defensive execution for the Lakers and it being lacking in the lack of focus, lack of desire. And I think that was a factor in night. But I actually think the lack of focus and execution and urgency
Starting point is 00:02:48 was worse on the offensive then. I felt like tonight there was put it this way there was as little attention paid to detail offensively to me as there was defensively
Starting point is 00:03:05 in the loss to the suns which isn't to say that the defense was good against the rockets I'm not applying that at all but I actually felt like where more of the laissez-faire other than I guess on the glass because the Lakers got out rebounded 48 to 25.
Starting point is 00:03:25 But it felt to me more like there was casualness and a lack of precision more glaring offensively than defensively, but it wasn't good on either end. No, it wasn't. I mean, look, JJ Redick was all over their effort and execution and their care factor and their want. And, you know, you did not. And we mentioned after the game in Phoenix,
Starting point is 00:03:47 like the Lakers, Reddick often is, It's an us thing. We, we, we, we, whatever. And it's like that one, he was, you know, we're doing our job as coaching staff. The players, you know, need to pick it up. They need to be, you know, there needs to be more care. And he was as critical of the Lakers as he's been after a game in his tenure. To your point about the offense, they are, they were bad on both sides of the ball.
Starting point is 00:04:17 They're going to be wrong. And I think game like this. emphasizes a point that I know we make a lot of the show. I harp on all the time. Bad offense is a bad thing for a bad defensive team to be doing. Like you they can't afford bad offensive possessions. There was one that got replayed a couple times the people probably saw on the SPN broadcast where Luca comes up and it takes early clock shot, very little ball movement. It's a three-pointer long rebound comes out. It's tipped to Taris, and he goes back the other way.
Starting point is 00:04:52 Nobody stops the ball. All the Lakers are in transition. Luca doesn't really challenge at the rim. It's an easy bucket for the rockets. So not only the Lakers give away a possession, they also were terrible in transit. So they're not good enough defensively to behave like that offensively. There's just the whole thing is out of sorts.
Starting point is 00:05:15 We're going to talk about JJ mentioned that Saturday's practice. They're not practicing Friday, but they are going to practice on Saturday. And he said that Saturday, he told the team was going to be a very uncomfortable practice. He said that the practice itself is going to be uncomfortable. He said the film session is going to be uncomfortable. And it sounded like both he wants to work them physically and mentally and also a fair amount of come. There's going to be some people need to come to Jesus. And everybody needs I guess appropriate on Christmas, but everybody is going to need to start having honest conversations with themselves, with each other. I think there's some uncomfortability that JJ himself
Starting point is 00:06:04 needs to be willing to endure, that I will say for his preaching about the need for people to make uncomfortable choices. And the way he's framing this as, you know, when you're on the court, making the more difficult decision, not. not looking for the half step, not looking for the easier way out. There will talk about it. There are some areas where I think JJ is going to have to start making himself a bit more uncomfortable too with certain things that he does with this team. But you can look up and down the roster. And over the last couple games, you can basically point to everybody in terms of in at least one of, if not both of these games.
Starting point is 00:06:48 a display of carelessness, a lack of focus, a lack of effort. You know, sometimes on both sides of the ball, sometimes more glaringly on one side of the ball. But either way, there is not enough urgency permeating from this. They're not a high motor team. And I think, you know, effort, execution, all these other things. Motor is a skill. You know, you'll hear coaches talk about.
Starting point is 00:07:18 about that. I know we said, you know, fans like, just play hard. Just playing. That is true. There's no question. Motor, though, anybody who's been around the game long, you know, a reasonable amount of time will tell you is a skill. Certain guys have it. Certain guys have it less. And the Lakers just don't have a lot of high motor guys. Particularly at the top. Right. And the high motor guys aren't well, you know, super well-rounded players. Like, you know, Jared Vanderbilt is a high-motor player, but he is a deeply flawed one. Are you talking about three-corner-three Jared Vanderbilt? I am. But, you know, and I'm not blaming this on Vando. I'm just saying like, you know, he is a guy who is, you know, high-motor,
Starting point is 00:08:07 but has drawbacks that make it so sometimes even when you need that, you can't put him on the floor or leave him there or he doesn't help you as much. Smart is a high-motor player, but he's also a little older, a little slower, a little more injury prone, and not a, certainly not an athlete, you know, that jumps up. It's just, it's a bad combination of a lack of that kind of super high motor guys who are always go, go, go, go, go, and a corresponding lack in athleticism. So, you know, I feel like what we've seen over this now three-game losing streak and really over the last couple weeks with their defense is just the, the short-concum.
Starting point is 00:08:48 of the roster kind of laid bare at a time where the offense for a bunch of reasons. Reeves been in out of the lineup and Austin was hurt in the game. Should mention this earlier. Austin left the game. Only played 15 minutes. Re-injured the same calf. So who knows how long he's going to be out. But guys have been, you know, he's getting an MRI on Friday.
Starting point is 00:09:08 Dan Wojke from the athletic reported sources told him. This is not something the Lakers have announced, but sources told him he's going to be getting an MRI. There were a few reports that he did not leave using either crutches or a walking boot. So I guess that's potentially something good, but clearly JJ said he didn't have a lot of details. I saw a report that DeAndre Aden actually threw him over his shoulder and carried him like a sack of potatoes. So that might not be good. But there are all kinds of reasons. Luca hasn't been as good since that he was in the first three weeks of the season.
Starting point is 00:09:47 hard to keep that up all season long. Jake Laravia has kind of dropped off a little bit. Like, they're just lots of, you know, Rui has not been nearly as impactful over the last couple weeks as he was. He was a ghost in this game. He was, yeah. Did he score? No.
Starting point is 00:10:03 I didn't think so. He was a 0 of 6 from the field. Yeah. He absolutely was a ghost. DeAndre Aiton, kind of a ghost in this game. LeBron really started looking gassed in the fourth quarter. And I think, I think LeBron. has looked more comfortable over the last five or six games and is moving better.
Starting point is 00:10:22 But it is becoming clear. LeBron is at the very least not capable of regularly or reliably turning it on to carry a team when things aren't going well. I think more than that, we use the defensively he's not, you know, you know, he needs help. Right. And so, you know, then, you know, Luca has is doing. a lot of work and isn't going to be able to carry you on that side of the ball either. There's just a lot going on and we'll break it all down in the next segment or start to at least. Do it enough people know that today's episode is brought you by Game Time.
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Starting point is 00:12:47 So go from tip-op to overtime, stay in your bag and order on DoorDash, get snacks, drinks, gear, whatever you need to get through the season. DoorDash in your bag all season long. You know, it's, it is going to be really hard for them to fix what, I don't know what the fix is right now. And, you know, this team defensively is so bad that when they fall down by 12 to a good Houston team that can now, you know, has gone from being a team that couldn't score to a team that can score a lot,
Starting point is 00:13:27 you go down by 12 after the first quarter and it just feels like they can't win in not because they can't score enough, although that's a problem, because they can't, how are they going to get enough stops? Like you've got to get a lot of stops to come back from a 12 point deficit when you know the other team with Kevin Durant is going to make another run at some point in the game. And it's just they were ahead. They were playing from ahead during a lot of that early season success. And what is clear right now is they cannot play from behind because aren't good enough defensively to do it. They entered this game scuffling just like the Lakers. They'd actually been playing pretty bad leading up to this point.
Starting point is 00:14:13 And the Lakers, I think at least theoretically, could have had an opportunity to jump on a team going through their own stuff and that was vulnerable in a lot of different ways. You know, for my weekly ESPN Lakers show Lakers talk on 710 ESPN, I previewed the game with Jackson Gatlin from Locked on Rockets. And he had been very concerned in a lot of ways about this game and thought that there were ways that the Lakers could potentially attack the Rockets. He said their defense, frankly, has not been up to what it had been earlier in the year and that their offense has certain vulnerabilities, particularly when they can't score on second chance points, problem solved tonight for Houston.
Starting point is 00:15:00 And no offense has vulnerabilities against the Lakers. But I do think, though, like there is no easy fix. And I don't know if there is a fix, certainly with the roster as is. Fixes may not come without, you know, there are certain things I'm sure they can do try to do differently schematically. You know, I've talked incessantly in the JJ Redick era about them switching way too much. and switching to passively. Like, at the very least, I think they should work on the way they switch
Starting point is 00:15:29 because there were too many possessions in this game where they switched without providing any type of anything for Houston to navigate at all. And if you were doing that, then at some point you might as well just ask them, how would you like us to defend you? Like, what would be your preference? what would be the most optimal, pleasant way to do this?
Starting point is 00:15:56 And you can talk about what, I know you and I've debated before, and I'm not looking to debate it now, but about whether this is JJ's philosophy versus the roster personnel limitations, combination of both whatever, in this sense, I don't care because the way they are doing it
Starting point is 00:16:15 can't possibly be effective and considered effective. And they've been doing it this way, for a year and a half. So at some point, that falls on the coach to say, do this differently, do this with more force. And, you know, I want to read at some point before the show's over, JJ's pretty heated comments about the team.
Starting point is 00:16:40 Okay. Let me pull them up really quickly. But like, well, I, well, okay. Yeah, here we go. He started out by saying, quote, the two words of the day were effort and execution. And he mentioned that when they exhibit both, they're a good team and when they don't, they're a bad team. Then he said, we were a bad basketball team.
Starting point is 00:17:03 When asked why they weren't able to execute, JJ said, quote, because we don't care enough right now. And that's the part that bothers me a lot. We don't care enough to do the things that are necessary. We don't care enough to be professional. You know, we had it. We had it. We had it. We had it before.
Starting point is 00:17:18 I always say this culture, I always say this about a good team being a functional organism. He actually snapped his fingers. It can change like that. We don't have it right now. Then when asked how they can fix things when they don't practice a lot, JJ said, quote,
Starting point is 00:17:33 it's a matter of making the choice. And too often we have guys that don't want to make that choice. And it's pretty consistent who the guys are. Saturday's practice, I told the guys it's going to be uncomfortable. The meeting is going to be uncomfortable. I'm not going to do another 53 games like this. And he was asked later if the care factor,
Starting point is 00:17:48 can be coached. And he said, the care factor is, do I care enough to do what I'm actually supposed to do and just do it consistently? That's what championship habits are. And that's just what we don't have right now. I don't think the fixes, like in terms of like true fixed, is right there in front of them. But I think if nothing else, the first step towards fixing it to whatever degree is can you
Starting point is 00:18:16 make it better? Can you make it flawed but better? A better version of something flawed. And I feel like everybody from JJ and his staff through the players need to all be looking for the ways to make it flawed but better, whether that means the flawed offensive guys look to be the best version of themselves they can be offensively. And the coaches find the best ways to use them offensively to accentuate the things they do better defensively. The better offensive players need to be the best version of themselves. They can be defensively, even if it's flawed. And in the case of JJ, he needs to start playing, I think, at the top of games,
Starting point is 00:19:00 at least one of his three designated rotation energy guys, the guys that bring the things that he's clearly looking for between Vando, smart, or Loravia. he needs to start one of those three guys at the beginning of a game to set the tone that he wants. Otherwise, JJ can talk about this, but the reality is he's not doing the thing he's uncomfortable with. Like it's very clear he's not comfortable with the idea of sacrificing an element of the offense that he wants. And he wants the other guys, who I imagine the starting five includes some of the guys that he's talking about, doesn't do things that he wants. or there's he is concerned about losing that offensive piece of it.
Starting point is 00:19:47 He needs to make himself a little bit more uncomfortable too. And this is not new for me to say this. But I think, yeah, obviously we're talking about the starting lineup here. But like the notion of not starting Rui, whether it's entirely based on believing that, you know, you want to keep that offense in there, whether you, I think starting Vanderbilt is something that I did. I think he still is not a big Vando fan, although, you know, he's playing him. He's getting more playing time. Guys are hurt, but like, you know, we'll see when the rotation. Those three dudes I mentioned had the three best offensive ratings in this game tonight.
Starting point is 00:20:26 And, you know, Vanderbilt hit a couple corner threes. He's being pretty judicious about the shots. He takes, you know, overall on a night where a lot of things were a problem, Jared Vainabult was probably really not one of them. I would argue he was the best player on the court tonight. It's very possible. Low bar to clear, very possible. But at the very least, they need to find the balance that comes with not playing Rui and LeBron to start games.
Starting point is 00:20:57 And so if you're going to play LeBron to start games, and they are, then you've got to sit Rui. Like, it's just the, this is not a wild thing that anybody. is proposing. It's the starting lineup that even a couple idiots like us have been proposing since the beginning of training camp basically every idiot who covers his team is right. And I, that was our assumption as to what they would probably land on. And then smart got hurt and made that impossible, whatever. But like that to me seems like the, when you think about strings to pull just the, it's been healthy every game. It's the easiest one. You know what? I mean, Jake has not played great.
Starting point is 00:21:42 But he brings that thing. Right. Well, that's what I was going to say. It's like, you know, you have, you know, he still provides a certain level of energy. And I love Rui. Rui is not an energy guy. No, he's not. Let's, let's, we'll stay on this and figure out maybe what else is going wrong here.
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Starting point is 00:23:46 Okay. So anyway, you get access to ad-free shows, a special Discord chat for locked-on listeners and locked-on Lakers fans. Andy and I'll be trying to pop in there and all that kind of stuff as well. But mostly just the biggest thing is it offers you a change in your viewing experience,
Starting point is 00:24:09 $5 a month, $50 a year, and the show is ad-free. If that's not your jam, you don't want to pay for it. As we say at the beginning, time never behind a paywall we're not going to make you start now so uh everyday club you go and you go to lockdown lakers dot supercast.com and check it out so i i am i mean i know i know that that circumstances have made it hard smart's been in and out of the lineup then really was in and out of the lineup and all those other stuff but this to me if you if you want to point to a place where
Starting point is 00:24:42 I feel like JJ is just kind of repeatedly making a decision that does not make much sense to me. And there may be his context. We don't know about whether it's smarts minutes, whatever. This is the one thing that I just look at and say, it just doesn't make much sense because it clearly doesn't work. The sample size is big enough now to know it does not work. and with the other three guys that you know, really four, because it's not like Aden's not starting, you know the other four starters are going to be who they really have to be.
Starting point is 00:25:21 And if that's the case, and you need to find a fifth guy who works best with them, clearly it's not Rui, not getting it on either side of the ball. And so a change there needs to be made. You talk about other schematic stuff. It's hard to know sometimes whether or not it's execution or scheme or yes to both. But the starting lineup thing to me just seems obvious.
Starting point is 00:25:42 is. Yeah, I mean, because here's the thing. There have been guys in and out of the lineup that has made it difficult for JJ to play the correct starting lineup, whatever the correct starting lineup would be on a consistent basis because guys have been unavailable throughout the opening 30, 29 games of the season. That is clearly not JJ's fault. But it is very clear what his preferred starting lineup is with everybody available. That is his choice, and it's a choice, like I said, he needs to start looking for the uncomfortable himself. That being said, we've talked a lot about the defensive issues with this team
Starting point is 00:26:24 and those struggles and the need to find better ways to execute it, better ways to overcome the sum of the parts. Part of what's been so frustrating to me about this unwillingness to put one defensively oriented player among the starting five for that balance is quite frankly, I don't think the offense has been good enough to be so precious about it. Like that's the thing that's driven me crazy about it is they don't have an elite offense. It'd be one thing if JJ did not want to tamper with the thing that's been so good that, yeah, it's got some problems, but you see how much.
Starting point is 00:27:06 This just puts this team in an advantage time and time again, and you don't want to take away from it. The offense has gotten progressively worse as the season's gotten along. I think it's gotten progressively less clear. It's gotten less cohesive. They don't move. There's very, very little action and movement in the lay. Compared to what the Sons were doing the other night,
Starting point is 00:27:33 compared to what Houston was doing, where the ball ping pongs around. The Lakers get possessions like that occasionally, but they don't get them enough. And I mentioned in the first segment the sequence with Luca, and there are three or four of those a game where the ball doesn't move. They're a couple with LeBron,
Starting point is 00:27:51 where the ball doesn't move. They're going to be a couple with A.R., where the ball doesn't move. And it's bad because both they turn into low efficiency plays, but they also are, catalysts for the other team to exploit the Lakers defensively. And, you know, when they, earlier in the season, look, there was still a lot of Luca and it was Lucca-centric and it's going to be Lucasentric.
Starting point is 00:28:16 Luca was more efficient at the beginning of the year. That extra 10% of efficiency or whatever it is, 15% makes a big difference. But there was just more hop and action and, you know, perhaps urgency because they were playing without LeBron. They were playing without Lucas sometimes. There was just more of that urgency that that that they were playing with. And that isn't just the care factor. It's pace.
Starting point is 00:28:41 It's probably attention to detail. There's no probably. I guarantee you that is what part of what JJ is talking about is attention to detail. It's not talking purely about playing a hundred miles an hour on every single possession. I guarantee you he is talking about attention to detail on both sides. of the ball, not just defense and not, like some of urgency, some of what, again, I've never asked this about JJ, but I asked this to JJ. I'd be stunned if isn't what he's talking about. Part of urgency is the desire to maintain your focus where you are minding these details,
Starting point is 00:29:24 where you are playing with purpose offensively as well. Like Luca, Austin, and LeBron, especially over the last few weeks, they're on three different islands offensively. Like there is no cohesion between the three of them at all. And I don't know what percentage falls on the three of them individually or JJ for not making them do it more or having more for them to do the other guys. I guess at times just standing around, whether because they don't think they're going to get involved or because they don't know what they're supposed to be doing while the three different island. It's a lot it is. It's a lot of screen and roll reliance on like you know,
Starting point is 00:30:08 Luca gets in the paint. This thing happens here. Now guy this guy cuts it's a lot of read and react and a lot of understanding. But like if the penetration is a little slower, if it doesn't happen or it's like like you say, the ball sticks a little bit. And so a couple possessions go by and you're a second late making a cut or a move or something like that. You know, the screen doesn't come quite as quickly isn't set quite as well. So it's just like, I, they, I do think it would help significantly if the ball touched more hands on more possessions in terms of just raising the level of engagement. And I, yes, a different, you know, it's, you run a Lucca Donchich offense differently than you
Starting point is 00:30:50 would, one with, you know, a different star. Like there may be less structure, there may be all, but like, they need to run more action and involve more guys and set more screens off ball and do all these things. Not because it's going to get them just because it's going to get them better shots, but probably will. But mostly because they need to get guys moving. They just don't really. You saw it like there was a, I think it was in the middle of the second quarter or something like that where the action and the energy just picked up a little bit. Lakers kind of seem like they might have a chance to pull it within five or six by half time.
Starting point is 00:31:29 But that and just there's just all of a sudden you see them kind of wake up and they're all moving with more purpose. Construct reasons for them to move with purpose. They just stand too much. And that translates to defense. You're a half step slow offensive. You're going to be a half step slow defensively. Half step slow. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:51 They just. I really hope. one of the readers in the chat like asked is do you see because sometimes they lose and you can pull some positive stuff out of it. There's nothing really I think you can pull from these last three games and the way they've been playing defense really for the last couple weeks. That's particularly positive. I think, you know, if you were looking for something, he played was horrible against Phoenix. But overall, I think you could say Vanderbilt has kind of rehabbed his value to the team and things like that. But beyond that, and a lot of you, I know, Andy, you would argue it, you know, was probably always there.
Starting point is 00:32:29 No, I really don't see any. I did argue it was always there. I don't see anything positive. Because Luke is not like playing bat. Like Lucas sort of slowed down a little. LeBron is fine. But like, you know, we're seeing some of the limitations of just LeBron at the, you know, the defense. He is certainly, you know, he's not the entire.
Starting point is 00:32:52 problem. He's not certainly not the solution. Rui is not playing well. Jake LaRavia is not playing well. I'd say Aiton is more or less doing his job on most nights. And I think you're getting... Tonight notwithstanding. He was. He was. And Aiton is the Lakers need their stars to be excellent.
Starting point is 00:33:10 They do. And the stars were not excellent. They weren't bad, but they weren't excellent. Lucca was not bad on Thursday. He was not excellent. LeBron was not bad. He was not excellent. Austin got hurt. They need, they have always needed their stars to be excellent and then a performance from another guy or two other guys kind of step up. Aiton has been, you shouldn't have to be
Starting point is 00:33:37 depending on DeAndre Aten to be good in, you know, really good in 85% of their games. He's more of a 75% guy. Three out of four and he's been doing his job. Mark is smart. Say most of he's doing that, but he's a limited player. Like there's certain things you can't rely on it to do. So it's a bad combination right now of the, the energy that the vibe around the team, which was so good before is now really bad. And that now is starting to lay bare some of the shortcomings in the skill set and in the roster construction. And guys probably just aren't playing real well right now. And that'll even itself out, but it's, man, is it ugly right now. Look, this meeting that they have on Saturday, this practice, however much of it is on court,
Starting point is 00:34:22 however much of it's in a film room and talking, it needs to be as uncomfortable as JJ promised it's going to be. And it needs to be uncomfortable for everybody on that team, including the staff. And I would say that if it is not properly, you know, properly uncomfortable, tangibly uncomfortable for everybody, if everyone on that team who plays, significant minutes or is a coach does not hear at least one thing they don't want to hear, then this thing wasn't executed the way it needed to be. You know, JJ had an interesting answer when it asked something to the effect of, you know, could the players not bringing it, so to speak, regularly lose their minutes or, you know,
Starting point is 00:35:09 could they start seeing their spot in the rotation threatening? And JJ said, like, kind of I've tried everything. And I don't know if he meant he's tried everything in terms of convincing him or he's tried everything in the sense of like, I've given the guys, I've given other guy shots and I know they can't handle it. So they don't, they don't, there's, I don't think that's a string he can really pull. Right. It's not like there's nobody, there's no 11th or 12th guy for the Lakers that like, you know what?
Starting point is 00:35:38 He's given Donald Knewlack. Plenty of opportunities. He's given Nick Smith plenty of opportunities. He's given Nick Smith plenty of opportunities. You know, New York, all of a sudden, Coleck on, you know, Tyler Colac's been really good or like a Jalen Tyson on, you know, on Cleveland who's been able to kind of crack into the rotation
Starting point is 00:35:54 and like they've got players there that can, you know, that aren't playing that could. The Lakers don't have anybody who's not playing who could or should. Right. So that's a tough string for him to have to pull. We'll see what happens over the weekend. They need to get better and they need to get better quickly. And right now at least, it looks like that's going to be a tall order.
Starting point is 00:36:15 Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can hang out with over 37,000 subscribers. Do check out the Everyday Club if you're interested in having that ad-free experience. We'll see everyone on Monday.

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