The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Draymond Green-Jordan Poole reaction, LeBron & Lakers new weapon, Ben Simmons' shot

Episode Date: October 12, 2022

Jason Timpf reacts to the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole drama with the Warriors, explains how Golden State will move forward, and recaps the Lakers-Warriors preseason game as Stephen Curry and LeBron James prepare their teams for the regular season. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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All right, welcome to Hoops tonight, presented by Fanduel here at The Volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody. I hope all of you guys had an incredible weekend. I got out of town to San Diego for a couple of days over the weekend. It was amazing. Hit all my favorite spots like Coronado and La Jolla, spent some time in the gas lamp corridor. It's one of my favorite places to go because it's close. It's only six hours down the road. And then the food out there is incredible. And that's one of my favorite things to do with my wife is just taste all the local cuisine. It was a great little getaway. Getting ready to start

this grind. And so I wanted to have one last chance to kind of relax and get some distance. but I'm excited. This is going to be a really fun nine-month marathon here of a lot of really good basketball and what should be a very, very exciting season. Today we're going to address the Draymond Green punch on Jordan Poole that needs to be talked about. We're going to talk about the Warriors Lakers game on Sunday night, which I think was very interesting and informative on a bunch of different levels, especially as it pertains with role players on both teams.

So we're going to talk about that. Rob Polinka signed a surprise extension, which again apparently happened a long time ago too, but I have some thoughts there. And then there's a Ben Simmons video that's going around that we're going to talk about. Those of you guys are waiting for some of our other teams to get hit on. I know it's been a lot of Lakers and Warriors in this past week. They've just been the most interesting teams here early in the preseason by virtue of drama and then obviously the Lakers and the pressure that is on them.

We are going to get to a bunch of other teams this week. I have the Denver Nuggets on my list, the Clippers on my list, the Milwaukee Bucks on my list. We're going to get into them all this week. So stay tuned to the feeds. get around to a bunch of the other teams. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the volumes YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT so you don't miss any show announcements. That's also where I put NBA footage, since we can't use it on YouTube. Have two videos in particular from the Lakers

Warriors game that I want you guys to check out that we'll talk about specifically today. But there's one with James Wiseman rolling hard to the rim and one on Kendrick Nunn in his ability to shoot off the dribble in the way that opens up things for the Lakers in their pick and roll. Again, on my Twitter account at underscore Jason LT is where you'll find that stuff. And then last but not least, for whatever reason, you miss one of these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish them. You can find them wherever you get your podcast under hoops tonight. So the Draymond punch.

It was bad. There's no point in sugar-coding it and trying to pretend it's something that it's not. Dremont himself has said that And it's bad on two levels It's bad when you look at the punch in a vacuum But it's also bad when you look at his role on the team And in some and how he violated his station there, so to speak Looking at the punch itself

All I can go on is what I see in the video And in the video I thought Dremon ran Jordan pool off his spot It wasn't a shove but it was a physical aggressive move into Jordan's personal space, that Jordan's shove was a pretty natural reaction to that. I feel like a lot of us would probably do the same thing if we were in his spot. And then in the punch itself, there was just a ferociousness to it that was concerning, to say the least. So looking at the punch, it's not good. And then when you factor in that he's the leader of the team, it's even worse. This is not Bobby Portis punching Nicola Muratich.

This is not a couple of role players going at it. This is one of the, two most important leaders on the team who has a lot of responsibility that goes beyond basketball for this organization doing this to one of the young up-and-coming future pillars of the franchise. And so even if we just look at it from that perspective, it's problematic as well. That said, I think Draymond knows what's at stake here. I think he knows what's at stake for this particular team and their aspirations for this year. I think he knows what's at stake for his own personal reputation and how it might impact his ability to get an extension,

either with the Warriors or a new contract somewhere else. I think he understands the gravity of the situation. And I believe that Draymond is a good person. There's a tendency to relay competitiveness on a basketball court as some sort of indictment on someone's character. You know, I personally complain to my wife all the time that I can be a real asshole on the basketball. 12 court sometimes. And I come home sometimes and I'm like, man, I really don't like the way I

behaved today. And that doesn't mean I'm a bad guy. That just means that I'm super competitive. And when I'm in those settings, I can become somebody that I don't particularly like. But off the court, I believe that my reputation speaks for itself as it pertains to the way I treat people. And the same goes for Dremont. I think, I think Dremont's a good man. I think he's just a very competitive person that has, uh, sometimes that can manifest. and some ugly sides of himself on a basketball court. And I think it's important to kind of put a barrier between those two. I had a similar incident happened when I was in college,

one that was not physical, but it was an altercation between me and a teammate. It was in junior college, my second year. And me and a gentleman, a guy named Miles, him and I were the two best players on the team. We both made the L Conference team that year. We took the most shots. We were the leaders. and we were playing against Salt Lake Community College, ironically, against Gary Payton II in that game.

And we were losing by like 10 or 15 points in the second half, and they were on a run. Things weren't going well. And we were on what I thought was a two-on-one break. And Miles, I thought he forced to lay up. And I thought he missed me trailing the play. And so I got mad at him. And we ended up screaming at each other on the court.

It was a really bad look. bad. We both got pulled from the game and had to sit out the rest of the night. It was just, it was a really, really ugly moment. And then they showed me the tape after the coaches did, and I wasn't even open. There was a second defender that was trailing right behind me, so Miles didn't give me the basketball because he shouldn't have given me the basketball. But what was funny about it is like, similar to the Draymond thing, even just in a vacuum, I was wrong. But then when you factor in my position as one of the leaders on the team, it's my job. even if I was frustrated with not getting a touch on that play, even if I was right, which I wasn't,

I was wrong. But even if I had been right, my job as the leader of the team is if I have a concern with Miles and him keeping me involved in the offense, I have to address that with him privately or in some way that doesn't manifest the way it did during that game. It was probably the ugliest moment of my college career and one that I'm not proud of. And once again, like, I think when that kind of thing happens, it's not an indictment on who you are as a human being overall. It's just a slip up. And it's just important to acknowledge it for what it is and to move forward. I do apologize to the team in front of everybody. And once again, it's just, it's not about how that kind of stuff happens necessarily. It's about addressing it properly and then making sure it doesn't happen

again. You know, with Draymond, it's funny. Like, my, I, have two main takeaways from this thing. It's really bad, and I think people need to acknowledge that, but I'm also very confident that Draymond's going to get through this with the team. I think that, again, he understands what's at stake with this team and their aspirations, and he understands what's at stake with his personal contract situation. He understands the stakes. The team needs him to be available to play. And the team needs him to be a respected leader in the locker room. And they need him to be Dremont. They need him to be his emotional self that he is, just obviously not crossing that specific line. And so, like, what happens next? Where do we

go from here? You know, step one is obviously accepting blame, which he has done so publicly. But step two is the job that's done behind closed doors. He has to earn back the respect of his teammates. I believe that it's, I, Dremont said in his press conference that him and Jordan are close. I don't know if that's necessarily true based on the vitriol that was behind that punch, but either way, they need to get close. I think the easiest way to squash this whole thing is for Dremont to go out of his way to build a relationship with Jordan Poole. Find common ground, find something. And honestly, it's their competitiveness. They're two competitive dudes who love to win, hate to lose, and are great basketball players.

That's common ground. Find the common ground there. And then if that friendship blossoms, I believe that we could be sitting later on this season and have this be a thing in the past and something that this team has completely moved beyond. But that work is in front of him. I believe he's taken the right steps to this point,

but he's got more steps to go along the way. And as long as he does his job, job on the court and does his job as the leader of the team in quelling this situation, I believe that this will be a thought in the past. I don't believe it will affect his contract situation if he can fix this. I don't believe that it'll affect this team in their ultimate ceiling as long as he can fix this, which I believe he's capable of. And then kind of looking at it from the perspective of the Warriors, I saw a lot of, I saw a lot of people going the direction of like, oh, they should trade him, you know. And I just think that's insane. For starters,

there's Dremont's unique fit within this particular team and the value that he brings with their continuity and what he does for them on the defensive end of the floor, they need him. He was gone for 29 straight games with a back injury during this season. And in that stretch, the Warriors went 16 and 13. Their defense fell down to 10th in the league,

and Steph wasn't generating the same quality shots that he usually does. They weren't the same team without him. him. And I'm sorry, but if they did some sort of dramatic three-team trade that landed him Miles Turner and dumped Dremont somewhere, I wouldn't have them as the favorites anymore. I think he's vitally important to what they do. I think him, Andrew Wiggins, and Steph right now are the three most important players on the team in terms of what they do on both ends of the floor and how it helps them win. So the reality is, is like, now Dremon might not be a warrior

next year, like maybe he opts out of his deal and wants an extension, doesn't get it, and goes somewhere else. That's on the table. But that would be about money. I don't necessarily think that would be about this. The Warriors have a legitimate salary crunch coming regardless of what happens. And yeah, Draymond might be a casualty of that. But the reality is, is they need him on the basketball court. And there's no way that they're dealing him during the season unless things won't way south, which I don't expect them to do. But again, I just, wanted to make sure that we addressed it. I'm not, you guys know me. I'm not interested in the drama. I'm interested in the basketball, but this had to be addressed. And I think it's pretty

cut and dry. The punch was bad. It was bad in the punch. It was bad in his role as a leader of the team. But I, if there's one person out there that I think is up to the task of cleaning up this type of mess, it's Draymond. I think he understands what's at stake. And I think he's a good, a good person to lean on to fix his particular mess in this case. So let's move on to some real basketball. Tip off the NBA season with Fanduel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers can tip off the season with a no-sweat first bet, up to $1,000 back in free bets if you don't win.

Just sign up with promo code Jason T. Here's a couple of futures that I would keep an eye on if I were you guys. Among the favorites to win the title, I really like the Warriors. Among the long-shot bets to win the title, I really like the 76ers and the Dallas Mavericks. And then on the MVP front, I think Yonis is going to get it this year. I really don't understand why Luka is the favorite.

I don't think they're going to win nearly enough regular season games. Janus is just a safe bet to put up monster numbers to win a ton of games, and it's been long enough since he won his last one that I think he's going to have some pull with the voters. Vandu is my favorite sports betting app. I love how easy it is to use. I love how easy it is to get money, in and out. I love that cash out feature that allows you to get out of a bet when garbage

time could potentially ruin it. It's just the best there is right now. So NBA fans, see for yourself why Fandual is America's number one sportsbook. Download the Fandle Sportsbook app and sign up using promo code Jason T to get started with your no sweat first bet up to $1,000. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed.

That's correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Lakers played the Warriors on Sunday night. And a very interesting basketball game. another strong showing from the Lakers, which we'll get to here in a minute. But I want to spend a lot of time talking about the specific role players on both teams, starting with the Warriors. So Jordan Poole. Jordan Poole put on a show in this game.

He, I don't think he gets enough credit for, you know, because he gets lumped in with a lot of these guys that are up for these extensions. Like Tyler Harrow got this massive extension from the Miami Heat. I think Jordan Poole's better than Tyler Harrow. Tyler's a little taller, and he's a better catch-and-shoot player right now. But I think Jordan has a much better natural gift for scoring the basketball and creating advantages. You know, there's a wild play in this game where Jordan got downhill.

I can't remember if it was on a dribble handoff or a pick-and-roll. But he got downhill, and he did like a behind-the-back move and kind of like a shuffle step into a floater, and he made it, and the crowd just went crazy. And I remember sitting there thinking, like, you know, everyone looked, pay such a attention to skill, right? Like, how well does someone shoot? How well do they dribble? That kind of stuff. And Jordan has skills, just like Tyler Harrow has skills. But one of the things that Jordan has that I don't think Tyler has is that like natural scoring, like, uh, feel. It's hard to describe. It's not really a, really what it is is confidence because it's a willingness to try things. It's an audacity to

trust in your ability to take and make difficult shots. Jordan obviously has an incredible skill set. He's very fast, much faster than Tyler Harrow. Faster with the basketball, much better ball handler. Shooting, I don't think he's as good of a shooter as Tyler, but he can shoot the ball really well. And he can, it manifests as a flare. Like, it manifests in fancy plays like that behind the back move into the floater, but he has the audacity and that natural scoring flare that I think makes him really impactful with the basketball on his hands, creating advantages, not just for himself before his teammates. I would absolutely take him over Tyler Harrow,

and he deserves all the money that's coming from him. If you guys have not checked out Jordan Pool in this particular game, go to, I don't know if you can find highlights of it on YouTube or if you need to go to NBA.com stat website, but he put on a show in this game, and it was an assortment of really, really fascinating baskets. James Wiseman, up and down night, because he struggled defending Anthony Davis,

which is to be expected. that he's Anthony freaking Davis, man. He's one of the best bigs in all of basketball. But one of the things that he did really well in this game that really stuck out on film that I wanted to talk about is the concept of rolling hard to the basket after you set ball screens. Because this is something that is not done well enough around the league by other bigs. A lot of bigs get lazy with it.

Even Anthony Davis, I've complained a lot over the years about him not rolling hard to the basket. Rolling hard to the basket is important because it actually, acts as gravity. It pulls in defensive players underneath the basket. We talk a lot about drop coverage on this show, and the dynamic, as you guys know, is very simple. The ball handler comes over the top of the screen and a good shooter, so in this case, a Jordan Poole, will have to be chased over the top, right? Steph is obviously a great example of a guy that you have to chase over the top too. When you chase over the top, the guard typically can get downhill. But the big man, his job is to corral that while also accounting for the roll man.

If the roll man rolls slowly to the basket, then the screen defender, the big man who's defending the ball screen, he can drop higher to dissuade the pull-up shot or to prevent the guard from getting downhill to the basket. But when you roll hard to the rim, the big man has to drop back to the rim faster. It's like, it's like, we think of vertical spacing as the lob threat, right? That's what lob gravity is. You have to drop back. Most drop coverages come with the, they inform their bigs.

They call it no roller behind coverage because your job is to make sure that the roller does not get behind you so that you can dissuade the roll and stop the guard from getting all the way to the rent. There was a play in this particular game where Steph had the ball. he was being guarded by Matt Ryan on a switch. He's a little shooter for the wing shooter for the Lakers. And Wenian Gabriel was the screen defender for the Lakers, and James Wiseman was setting the ball screen.

And on the play, Matt Ryan does his job, gets over the top of the screen, and he's on Steph's backside to apply back pressure. If Wenian Gabriel was up, Steph would have to slow down his dribble, in which case Matt is now smothering him from behind. But because Wiseman rolled hard to the rim, you can see Wenyan Gabriel take two or three quick backwards steps to get back into the lane to take care of Wiseman rolling.

As a result, Steph doesn't have to slow down. He just picks up steam and just goes right at Wenian with the left-handed layup. On the play, Wenian jumps, but his momentum is all screwed up because he's backpedaling. So he doesn't get the same amount of lift. He ends up committing a foul on step, and Steph makes the layup for an and one. I clipped out this play and added it to my Twitter feed. you can see it at underscore Jason LT, where I put all the rest of our film breakdowns. But on this play, it's a great example of James Wiseman and how when he rolls hard to the rim,

it drags the screen defender back, and that opens things up for Steph and for Jordan Poole on those plays. That's going to be an interesting dynamic to this team because Kevin Luni and Draymond Green, as good as they are, they're not vertical threats. So when they roll hard to the rim, it doesn't manifest with the same level of gravity. James Wiseman is an excellent vertical spacing threat. when he rolls hard to the rim, it's going to really warp things for them. I thought it was a really interesting dynamic from this game and a good sign of, you know, basketball is all about habits, and it's a good habit that James Wiseman has that he rolls hard to the rim like that.

Andrew Wiggins, I thought, had a really good game attacking closeouts with power. Max Christie, in particular for the Lakers and Juan Tiscano Anderson, ended up matched up with him a lot. And, man, like, when he would catch the ball on the perimeter, even though the closeouts there and there's not really an advantage, he would just rip through to the right and like JTA and Max Chrissy are sliding with them and they got their hands on him and they're trying to be physical and they're trying to hold their ground. But like Wiggins is a vet now.

Like he's not the skinny wing that he was when he was coming up through high school. He's a big strong wing now. And he's realizing that like when he just goes, that people can't stop him. And man, he was just ripping through them on closeouts and getting all the way to the him really interesting and exciting performance from Andrew Wiggins. I thought Dante DiVincenzo did a good job with the basketball in his hands. He was only one for five from the field, but a lot of that's his legs. And he's getting a double on that side because it's not just he's getting his legs from

preseason. He also's coming back from an injury, so there's some mental stuff he's getting over. So he's not getting the amount of lift that he usually does. But he's passing the ball really well. And most importantly, he's intent on getting downhill. A lot of the Warriors Guard stuff and Clay in particular, a little bit of Jordan Poole, although Jordan's pretty good getting downhill too. They are kind of coming off of those ball screens looking more to shoot,

or coming off of those dribble handoffs looking more to shoot. And Dante's going downhill. And he's an underrated athlete and underrated size-wise for a lot of the, you know, what we consider two guards around the league. He already has a really nice, natural passing give and take with James Wiseman. He kind of hunts him everywhere on the floor, especially his drop-off passes. They connected on several of those on Sunday night.

I like his fit. I think he's going to do a really nice job filling in that Auto Porter Jr. role. And I thought it was a really smart signing from the Warriors Brass this summer. Kevon Looney did a really nice job guarding Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis, again, had some success against James Wiseman. But Looney really forced him into being a jump shooter. I've always been critical of Anthony Davis of not, you know, he's too heavy, so he doesn't really have the foot speed that he had when he was younger.

And so he struggles to beat people off the dribble. Well, Kivan was playing really solid, disciplined defense, positioning himself directly between AD and the rim and just moving his feet and baiting Anthony Davis into taking really difficult jump shots. And if I remember correctly in the footage that I watched, he made a tough one, a jab step at the left elbow, but he missed a lot of jumpers over the top of Looney. Looney smothered him under the basket once and got a stop.

but he got bailed out by a whistle, but it wasn't one that I agreed with. Kevon Looney's just flat out good. It's honestly one of the weirdest dynamics with this Warriors team because Looney's good and Dremont's good and that's really all they need in the front court with the style that they like to play. So it'll be really interesting to see how they kind of shoehorned Wiseman minutes in there as a result. And then last Moses Moody, he struggled early in the game, especially on Kendrick Nunn, ducking under picks, but he must have got yelled at by a coach or something because, man,

in the second quarter he had a really good shift where he was chasing over the top of screens and actually forcing Kendrick Nunn to ISO him rather than get his normal stuff out of pick and roll. I think Moses Moody is the clear pick as that guy that's going to fit in as that kind of like that Gary Payton's second role as one of the wings off the bench

that takes a significant defensive assignment. Moving on to the Lakers. So again, when we talked about preseason earlier on, I told you guys how I'm not interested in the outcomes of games. I mean, hell, the Lakers were one and three. I also got in trouble with some of you guys last week because I missed the result of a Warriors game

because I misread a box score. I don't care who wins preseason games. What I care about is the core lineups and how they stack up against other core lineups from some of the other teams. And then you can kind of dive a little deeper into specific role players and in how they might fit when everyone's available. But at the end of the day, you're looking for habits.

You're looking at, are they playing hard? Do they have good defensive habits in terms of boxing out or defensive rotations and things along that lines, those lines? Running the floor and transition defense. Are they establishing an identity as a team that does all the little things and does it well? Beyond the fact that the Lakers went winless last year, they were winless and not playing good basketball. And what's interesting is in the four games the Lakers have played, in three of them,

they played at least one of their stars. They played AD this last game. They played Russ and LeBron, and the second one, and they played all three of them in the first one. And in those games, they played the Warriors, the Kings, and the Sons. And they won their minutes in all three of those games. Now, does that mean the Lakers are going to, you know, have an amazing regular season? No, not necessarily. But what it does tell me is that they're competent enough and disciplined enough, or at least attempting to build that type of identity, which will allow LeBron James and Anthony Davis to control the outcomes of games.

They need to be disciplined, and they need to be sharp in the details, so that if LeBron and AD play like two of the top seven players in the world, they can content with the best teams in the league. And that's the way I feel about the Lakers so far through four preseason games. I think they are good enough on the details and good enough with their personnel. that if LeBron James and Anthony Davis are available consistently and play like top 10 players,

they absolutely will contend out West. That to me is almost a sure thing, as long as LeBron and AD are healthy and play like top 10 players. Obviously, if Anthony Davis doesn't play well, that will hurt things. Obviously, if injuries creep into the equation, obviously that will hurt things. But I've seen enough so far in preseason to know that they will contend out West if they are healthy. That is how good LeBron James and Anthony Davis are, and that's how good of a job Darwin Ham has done breeding some more competence into this roster. You can really see it on the

defensive end of the floor. They're competing in the physicality areas of the game. They're fighting over ball screens and applying back pressure. They're making the tough rotations. I put a clip on Twitter today that you can see where there's a play where Jonathan Kaminga like slips the screen with Jordan Poole. And Juan Tiscano Anderson gets caught on it. And and and jk is open on the right block like just just completely unguarded but on the play anthony rothased over off of kvon looney to stop jkk from shooting and then max christie out of the weak side corner dives in like just this is hard work gets in a defensive stance and does a swim move gets around kvon loony gets down in a squat and boxes kvon loony out of the lane

then when j t a comes down they all rotate back to their spot and And that play ended up working around, and they actually ended up botching a switch where I believe Steph Curry slipped wide open to the rim, but Juan Tosconno Anderson snuffed it out on the backside and got a steal. The level of the attention to detail on the defensive rotations, the fighting for position, the getting over the top of screens, the boxing out, that's all miles ahead of where it was last year. Now, it's not all Darvinham.

It is partially Darwin Ham. But I want to make it clear here that the idea of what happened with Frank Vogel, which is a team buying out or tuning out a coach, that happens a lot. Demanding coaches, a lot of times they have to have player turnover or they need to be relieved of duty and send somewhere else because they just burn you out with how much they ask. We've seen this happen with Tom Tudow. Hell, you see this happen with Bill Belichick. But what happened was is Frank Vogel lost the locker room last year, and they weren't playing hard.

for him. So there's two things that are contributing to this. Darvinham's competence, but also just a new face in there and somebody that the team is actually willing to listen to. They blocked five more shots in this game. Again, some of this is chasing over ball screens and blocking guys when they go for pull-ups, but it's more activity around the rim. I think the Lakers are going to end up being one of the better rim protection teams in the league this year. Kendrick Nunn. I did a whole, like, two-minute video on this that you can find on my tour. Twitter feed, his ability to shoot the basketball coming over ball screens has opened up so many things for the Lakers on the offensive end of the floor already. And we've talked about this concept

before. If the defender can go under the ball screen, it takes away the drive. If it takes away the drive, then you can't get downhill. If it can't get downhill, the defense doesn't collapse. If the defense doesn't collapse, you don't have the ability to make reads to open players that can start your driving kick. That's just the reality of being a guard that can't shoot. And that's been the big problem with Russell Westbrook and one of the big reasons why he's been so inefficient as a ball creator in this league over the last couple years. But Kendrick Nunn, because he can shoot off the dribble, forces you to chase over the top. Helps you in two ways. Because LeBron can shoot off the dribble, but LeBron's being guarded by Big Forward and Anthony Davis is being guarded

by Big Forward. So they're just going to switch that. You can't switch that with Kendrick Nunn because he's being guarded by small, in this case, Steph Curry. In the video breakdown that I did, I showed kind of the progression. You saw the Warriors try to switch. Steph ended up on Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis just literally ran to the front of the rim. Kendrick Nunn threw it up to him two free throws. Right?

Easy breezy. Moses Moody ducked under a ball screen. And Kendrick Nunn just rose up and knocked down a 26 foot off the dribble 3. Then, as they started to chase him over the top of the screen, he started to get downhill, he made floaters, he made pull-up jump shots, he was making reads to his teammates, throwing passes to the weak side. It's just a dynamic that the Lakers have not had. They've had guys who could shoot like Malik Monk,

but navigating pick and rolls is a really delicate balance of being patient and willing to make reads. And Malik is more of a gunner, more of his score. So Kendrick Nunn just has been so much better in that role already in this preseason, and it's opened up a lot of stuff for their offense. I did want to briefly shout out Anthony Davis's jump shot look good here early. made two additional threes in this game, both of them trailing the floor in transition. Trailing bigs for threes, that's one of the best ways to get open shots in transition

because most bigs have a tendency in transition defense just to run to the front of the rim because that's what they've been told to do their entire basketball career. And so when you have a big trail to play, it's just a great opportunity to catch the big sleeping or too far back and to get open threes there. AD made two threes, I believe, in the second quarter in this game. Also, his elbow face-up game looks pretty sharp here. early on. And that just was a staple of Anthony Davis in the bubble. So when you see that, that's absolutely encouraging. I thought Lonnie Walker had kind of an up and down game. A lot of

Lakers fans are high on his defense in the preseason. I'm not really seeing it on tape. He's competing, but his form trying to get over ball screens is just not good. He dies on ball screens too easily, goes under him sometimes when he gets lazy. One of the things that I'm noticing on tape, you'll see good ball screen defending guards. You'll see them when the guard is preparing to go over the screen, they get up into the ball handler and try to almost split the difference like in between the screener and the guard as he's going over the top. It's a very physical play.

They get physical up into the guard to get over the screen. And Lonnie gives space and then just kind of turns and runs directly into the screen. He was getting screened way too easily. So there's some stuff there that they got to figure out. But his athleticism does pop, and you see that in defensive rotations. You see that crashing the defensive glass. You see the athleticism there. But in order for it to translate to success on the defensive end of the floor,

he's going to have to figure out a way in Darvinham's system to be better at chasing over the top of ball screens. He did shoot the ball well. I think he made three-threes in this game. He made a couple of pull-up mid-range shots as well. But his, like, Kendrick Nunn is very under control when he's. he's navigating pick and roll. You can tell he's not rushed. You can tell he's taking what the defense gives him. With Lonnie Walker, it's a little more wild. It's a little more like,

what do I feel like doing on this possession kind of thing, you know? And so I'm not as high on him as other Lakers fans are right now, but I don't think they necessarily need him to be good given some of the other players they have on the roster. So it's not exactly a high-pressure situation for him. But I do think if he's going to find minutes in Darvin'am's system, he's just going to have to be better defensively. If he can channel his athleticism to being good chasing over the ball screens, containing dribble drives in isolation situations, making rotations, and then if he can be consistent as a jump shooter,

he absolutely will have success in this rotation. But he's got to get those two areas tightened down. Matt Ryan knocks down seven-threes in this game. I need to see more defensive tape before I can tell. tell you whether or not he can fit in the rotation. He did all the right things and was competing, but you can tell he's a little slow-footed, which is to be expected, he's a bigger wing, right? And he's not a fantastic athlete. But here's the reality. The Lakers don't have a lot of shooting on the roster. And so just by virtue of a hole in the roster, he might get an opportunity.

And again, just like I said with Lonnie, if he can defend well enough, if he can defend just well enough to fit in this Laker scheme, his shooting is going to be enough to keep him on the floor. Again, that's all I had on this particular Lakers Warriors game, but we're going to get to a bunch of the other teams later on in this week. So moving on to Rob Polinka. So it was reported that he signed this extension before the Darwin Ham acquisition, largely so that they can tie those two together

so that they can kind of have some confidence that this is where the basketball vision is. It's Darwin Ham leading the team, you know, Rob Polinka building the team. I didn't think he deserved it based on the decisions that he made, but I'm also not surprised. I mean, Jeannie Bus is very much a family. She runs the Lakers like a mom and pop shop,

not like a multi-billion dollar organization. And so she's going to prioritize things like personal connections over competency. She loved Kobe. She was close with Kobe. This is Kobe's former agent. Not surprised at all that she went this route. But again, I didn't think he deserved it.

I think the reality as we zoom out from the Lakers situation, LeBron James and the way he weaponized his cachet to bring in Anthony Davis, and then the scouting department, Joey and Jesse Buss, and the consistent train of good young basketball players they've brought in. And I like Max Christie, by the way. He's got a long way to go as a shooter, but he's already pretty good defensively, dribbles the ball a lot better than I expected, and is quicker with his feet than I expect. There was a play in this game.

He actually airballed it, I think, or missed it short. but he kind of like snaked a pick and roll and took an escape dribble far to the right and elevated into like a pull-up 15-footer on the baseline and he missed it. But I remember sitting there thinking like, man, like if he can get to the point where he can knock that shot down, like he's dribbling the ball well enough and he's athletic enough that he's going to be able to get to that shot whenever he wants. And so there's potential there for a dynamic two-way player. Another guy that I think is a really interesting find from the Lakers scouting department.

But that scouting department in LeBron James has kind of carried. this roster over the course of the last half decade. And I don't think Rob has done a good job. And so I don't think it's a good idea to extend him the way that he did. But like I said, I'm not surprised. The reality is the Lakers will not have consistent success in the NBA, especially after LeBron is gone, until they have somebody running the basketball operations department that is a basketball nut job, someone that is willing to do the work to understand what type of basketball players succeed in the modern NBA, the same way that Joey and Jesse bus do.

I know Rob Polinka used to play in college. I know he has a basketball background, but the reality is right now he's agent guy, he's salesy, he's a personality manager, he's kind of more of like a figurehead than he is a grinder. I don't think that Rob Polinka watches 40 basketball games a week to keep up to date with what's working in the modern NBA. I don't think so. Now, maybe I'm wrong about that, but you guys tell me if you guys think that Rob Polinka is as attuned to what's working in the modern NBA. If he was, he wouldn't constantly be building rosters with traditional bigs and tiny guards.

He wouldn't be targeting players like Lonnie Walker with the mid-level exception. This roster would have more wings somewhere between 6-7 and 6-9 that can defend multiple positions and can attack close-outs and can shoot the basketball and do all of that stuff. You know how you know? Because that's what all the other good teams are doing. That's what the Warriors are doing. That's what the Toronto Raptors are doing. You know, all of the front offices that we consider to be competent are all heading in the same direction.

And we're all seeing that lead to success. And then we're seeing Rob do different stuff. I don't believe that he's the right guy for this position. And as long as he's there, I think that the team is handcuffed. I think that's just the reality of having a guy that's not a real basketball grinder, a guy that can watch every single meaningful basketball game in the NBA for a week and pay attention to what's working for certain teams and find little opportunities to add value here and there the way that the scouting department does.

I just don't think Rob's the right guy for that. One last note on the Rob Polinka thing. I think he botched the Rust thing. I think he should have moved him. I think he should have got Miles Turner in Buddy Heald or this Utah Jazz package, mainly because they needed training camp to establish good habits

and to get those guys up to speed with some continuity to get ready for this season. I think even if they do get something 10, 15% better, it's the loss of training camp and the continuity from it that I think is problematic there. But this Victor Wenbinyama thing, might just have given him another chance. He's so incredibly good that there will be a good amount of tanking,

and some of these teams that are concerned about potentially ditching some of their high-quality role players that aren't contending will be more willing to do so because of this Victor Wemagnama situation. So Rob Polinka just might end up falling ass backwards into a good trade here if things pan out properly. He's got another chance here, but I think he needs to do so. I have not seen enough from Russ yet in preseason to tell me that he's changed and he's just going to suddenly be a productive player on this team. So I'm still pro-trading him. And Rob's going to get

his chance, I think, as a result of this Victor Wenbiamma thing. The last thing I wanted to touch on today was Ben Simmons. Obviously hasn't looked great offensively. Here in the preseason, there's a pretty nasty video of him playing at a park and airballing what looks like a 12-foot jump shot to the left. I disagree with a lot of people as it pertains to like, oh, he's right-handed. He's not left-handed. Like, your dominant hands are dominant-hand. I don't know what to tell you.

It's a form issue. He crossfires. He holds the ball kind of like almost like this on the side of his head and then flings it almost to the side. And so when he lines it up right, it can be a decent shot. But it's just too easy for the shot to go off the rails in terms of form. And you saw a perfect example of it in that video that's going around. when you crossfire, you're going to have a lot of left-to-right misses,

and he had a really bad left-miss on that particular play. Do I think Ben Simmons needs to make threes to be a productive NBA player? No. What I do think, just like with Janus, is you have to show a combination of a willingness to score the basketball, either at the rim or before the rim, and you need to show a willingness to pass. He has the willingness to pass, and he can score at the rim.

What he does not have is any sort of confidence. to score somewhere between the perimeter and the rim. Doesn't have to be a three, doesn't have to be a pull-up 15-footer. It can be hook shots. It can be floaters. It can be short jump shots in the lane. But it has to be something. He's got to find something there that is a coherent, reliable shot that will make teams

guard him honestly. Because if they don't guard him honestly, then those passing opportunities aren't there for him. And now he becomes a defensive player that is an offensive, liability, especially when you get into late rounds of the playoffs. And so, again, like, I think some of the focus on his jump shot is too much. But I think, I think the easy answer is short jump shots, like 10 to 15 foot jump shots that he could reliably make, but he's got to clean up some stuff with his form. And to me, it's that cross-firing that he's got to get rid of. All right, guys,

that is all I have for today. Like I said, we're going to get into a ton of the other teams later on in this week. As always, I sincerely appreciate your support, and I will see you next time. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

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