The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Lakers Tonight with Jason Timpf - Klay Thompson takes down the Lakers and solving the Westbrook problem
Episode Date: February 13, 2022Jason breaks down what the Lakers showed in a tight loss to the Warriors, highlights the difficult conversation the team needs to have with Russell Westbrook and reveals who they need to target on the... buyout market. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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All right, welcome to Lakers tonight, presented by Fanduel.
here on the volume. I am Jason Timp. Happy Saturday, everybody. I hope you all had a great week
and that you were having a good weekend so far. That was definitely a much more competitive basketball
game than I think any of us really expected. That said, there have been a few times this season,
namely that early season game when LeBron was out when they beat the Miami Heat or that Utah Jazz
game from about a month ago. And then tonight where when you would have expected this team,
everything that's happened to this point in the season to fold or to fracture rather than to
show a little bit of competitive spirit. And I don't think that that's a coincidence. Because
regardless of how you feel about the way this team has performed, and regardless of how you feel
about the roster, there's still a gap there. Even though the roster is nowhere near what it
needs to be in order to win a championship, which we're going to talk more about later, even though
it's not to that level, it's certainly not as bad as it has looked often this season. And I think
a lot of that has to do with the fact that there have been scapegoats for people to point that
and to make excuses for and to take the responsibility off of themselves for one reason or another, right?
It's really easy to be like, it's Frank's fault.
He doesn't run the right defensive scheme with what we're doing.
It's real easy to say it's Rob Polinkas' fault.
He didn't give us good enough veteran minimum players.
It's easy to say it's Jeannie Bus's fault.
She let Alex Caruso go.
It's easy to blame the Russell Westbrook trade or to blame Russell Westbrook himself.
But the fact of the matter is, the talent that has actually been on the court for the Lakers
for the most part this season has underachieved even relative to what that standard should have been.
And I think that that was a subtle message that Rob Polinka and Jeannie Bus
tried to send to this team at the deadline.
I don't think those two are blameless, so I'm certainly not lifting them up as some sort of, you know,
you know, lighthouse here that is the one leading the way,
because they both have made absolutely inexcusable mistakes over the course of the last couple of years.
So they are not off the hook by any stretch.
But Rob Polinket decided not to make any moves at this deadline.
And he had a quote in the press conference, this weird little proxy war that took place between clutch and the front office.
Immediately after the deadline where Rob says there's, you know, an understanding,
he basically implied that LeBron and AD agreed with their decision to not make any moves.
He used the word alignment.
And then Rob and AD immediately go through Dave McMedman to the press to be like,
heck no, there wasn't.
We did not agree with this.
We wanted there to be moves.
And I think that it's funny because Rob's quote that he had in that press conference,
he says, when it comes to finding success when a team is not winning,
I think the most important action is for everyone to look in the mirror and be better.
That includes the front office.
It includes the coaches.
It includes the players.
And I think one of the things that Rob did by not making a move is he took away the excuse.
The dirty little secret is, is even if the Lakers had made a trade, would it have improved
them?
Yes.
If they would have brought in two NBA-level starters to help slot players further down than they
are right now.
absolutely would have helped the team. But the truth of the matter is it would not have fixed all
their problems because they have a boatload of problems with their basketball character,
their willingness to buy into roles, their willingness to do the dirty work, their willingness to
take responsibility for the outcome rather than to blame other people. And Rob essentially at the
deadline says, this is on you guys. I'm not going to make a panic trade here to bring something
in, this is on you guys. Now, I disagree with that strategy. I think Rob should have made a move,
or at least a move, anything to mix things up. The reason being is that LeBron and AD are so good,
you have to capitalize on these handful of years they have together, and punting one of those
years is terrible management when you factor in the limited window that they have here. But,
that said, even though I disagree with that strategy, I understand.
a message that Rob Poinko was trying to send.
Because this team that went into Golden State tonight and nearly won,
they literally would have won if they got anything out of LeBron in that fourth quarter.
LeBron had an absolute horrific fourth quarter.
And if they get anything out of him, they probably win the game.
But that team that went up to Golden State tonight and nearly beat Golden State,
that team's not four games under 500.
That team is not a playing team.
That's a team that's right up there with the Utah Jazz and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Maybe they're not a bona fide contender, but they're a heck of a lot better than where they are right now.
But the bottom line is that team that we saw tonight has been an exception to the rule.
It's been a rare occurrence.
It hasn't been the consistent product that we've seen from this team.
and I do like that Rob took that blame game out of the picture and said it's on you guys to figure
this out like here's the thing LeBron you can blame the role players all you want and we're all
going to sympathize with you in the sense that we know that there's not enough talent on this team
to win the title but you have to be better your role players tonight played well enough to
beat Golden State. Your role players tonight played well enough to give you a chance to win on the
road against one of the top tier championship contenders in the league, and you fell apart in the fourth
quarter. Sloppiness. Sloppy passes, throwing the ball away, inability to finish around the rim with all
the length, a couple of missed defensive assignments as well. You got to be better, man. That's on you.
Now, we're going to cut you some slack. You're not Russell Westbrook. This hasn't been what you've done
for the most part this season, you've been very reliable all season.
But I like that the accountability is being shifted back to the players.
LeBron can't go up to the podium tonight and blame the role players.
LeBron can't go to the podium tonight and blame Rob Polinka.
It was him that didn't hold up his end of the bargain.
Same thing with Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis had one of the most dominant defensive performances that I've ever seen from a player in the first half,
but just did not bring enough offensively in this game.
you are a player that has been compared to Janus Antenacumpo.
You have to be able to score at will against a Golden State Warriors team that doesn't have
Dramong Green.
The accountability is on you guys as well.
Does Rob have a responsibility?
Yes.
He has to in the next month hit two or three home runs in the buyout market.
He has to.
That's his job.
Frank Vogel has to be better.
He has to play Reeves.
more than Avery Bradley, which he did tonight, but very much did not do in the game against the
Blazers when you played Reeves 15 minutes and Bradley 35 minutes. So Frank has to be better.
Frank has to find defensive schemes and offensive schemes that actually fit his personnel. He has a job.
The role players have to be better, but LeBron and Anthony Davis also have to be better.
They also have not been good enough on a day-in-a-day-out basis this season to propel this team
to where they need to go.
And so as much as I've had problems with Rob and what he's done this season,
kudos to him for making everybody look in the mirror and be like,
you guys are going to have to figure this out.
Our best chance to use this out, he thinks their best chance to use the assets is in the
off season.
And I get that.
I disagree, but I get that.
But he's right in the sense that this team needed to look inward before they looked
anywhere else.
From the standpoint of Russ, I thought we saw an interesting dynamic tonight at play with Russ
that is interesting projecting forward for this team.
Because once again, after our trade deadline special, Russ had a comment shortly after
when the Lakers had practice where he took a pot shot at Frank Vogel saying,
hey, the reason why my back is flaring up is I'm sitting down for too long.
which is ridiculous, completely ridiculous, and an obvious shot at the head coach.
And if you're going to actually make a run at this, an attempt to win the championship,
via the plane, I don't care whatever the route is, if you're going to really make a run at it,
you can't have a malcontent on the team.
You can't have a player who is deliberately going out of his way to complain
or to be a source of negative energy.
Any of you guys out there who have ever played competitive sports at a serious level,
you guys understand what I'm talking about.
You've been in locker rooms where everybody messes and has the same goal,
and you've been in locker rooms where there's that one guy
who doesn't like what his specific role is or what his specific circumstance is,
and he starts to talk, and he starts to try to form a click in the locker room,
he tries to find supporters, and it becomes an issue.
That can't happen with Russ.
So the question becomes, do you send him home,
or do you keep him around and try to make it work?
And I do think you send him home if he continues to be a malcontent.
But Russ at this point in his career is still capable of having a positive impact in basketball games.
So you have to try to communicate with him and convince him to buy in.
And I think that role is as a bench player.
So tonight, as has been the case throughout this entire season, when Russ is playing with the first unit,
alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and against the best defensive players on the other team,
especially against the top tier teams, he's been ineffective to say the least.
That's me being nice, okay?
but in specific settings, for instance, against limited defensive teams, or specifically with bench groups,
when LeBron or Anthony Davis are off the floor, and he's also going against the lesser defensive players
that come off the bench for the other team, he can be impactful.
And you saw that again tonight. His first shift was awful. He had two basically pick six turnovers.
one was a turnover and the other one was a missed layup
where he didn't get back either and they scored
and wasn't really offering anything on either end of the floor.
But in the second quarter and in the third quarter
he had two short stints with each
in each case with either LeBron or Anthony Davis off the floor
and for the most part with Steph off the floor
and going against the other team's lesser players
that came off their bench and he had some success
getting to the rim making things happen.
in transition, creating shots for his teammates, and just being a positive force.
And that's not a surprise. We had this conversation last week.
Like, Russ is not a... Russ is not so bad that he doesn't belong in the NBA.
He's just going through the NBA's version of a midlife crisis.
He's just struggling, adapting to his waning physical skills.
There's still, in Russ's bag that he brings to the arena every night, there's
is enough to be a productive basketball player. He's your textbook off the bench point guard,
in my opinion, who attacks the other team's lesser defenders. Almost every bench guard in the league
is a bad defensive player. That's usually why they're bench guards. That's why Malik Monk comes off the
bench for the Lakers. So let Russ feast against those guys. And then you establish with Russ in a
conversation that depending on how focused you are on those little details of the game,
that we might not play you with the closers. And so the idea there is, is you have to sit down
with Russ and be like, here's the situation, man. We wanted to move you at the deadline,
and we couldn't. We are going to move you in July. That's going to happen. This was a bad
fit. There's too much bad blood. This thing is over. This partnership that we have here is over.
in July. But we have this four or five month stretch here where we have two decisions.
You can either buy in to this smaller role that we have for you as someone who primarily
operates with bench lineups and closes when you're bought in. Or you can go home because if
you're going to be a malcontent, we can't have you around. That kind of honesty up front with
Russ, at least you put the ball in his court to make that decision.
I believe that as a competitor, Russ would rather play.
And that Russ would rather try to make this work.
So I expect him to respond well to something like that.
But you have to have that conversation.
And, you know, I thought Austin Reeves, who played amazing tonight,
showed so much and demonstrated what I've been talking about that we need from Russ.
You know, there's been a lot of talk, starting with the Utah Jazz game,
Russ had about a 10-game stretch where he put up decent numbers. He averaged about 18 points
and shot about 45% from the field and somewhere right around like 36% from 3. He had an
okay stretch of offensive basketball. But I didn't think he was very good in that stretch. I thought
he was okay. Thought he was less harmful than usual. But he wasn't very good in that stretch.
And the reason why is because statistical output alongside LeBron and Anthony Davis doesn't carry
the same value that statistical output brings when he's the focal point. So for instance,
Austin Reeves, only had 13 points tonight, only had three rebounds, and only had two assists.
But he was all over the place on both ends of the floor. Did an amazing job, moving his feet,
and competing on defense, had a handful of just outrageous defensive plays, had a chase down
block on Clay Thompson. And then on offense, just a majestic performance attacking closeout.
Every time he caught the ball after attention was devoted to LeBron or devoted to Anthony Davis,
he just made the right play every single time.
It was a magnificent performance from him.
13, 3, and 2.
If you were looking at the box score, it's the most indiscriminate performance that you'll see.
But all of us who watched the game saw what Austin brought to the table.
And that's what I'm talking about with Russ.
as the third guy, as the guy alongside LeBron and Anthony Davis, it's not about doing
Russ stuff. It's about doing basketball stuff that the third, fourth, and fifth guy on the
floor usually have to do alongside the best players in the world. That's what you're asking from
that position.
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And so that's the conversation you have with Russ.
Hey, man, you've been a malcontent.
I'm willing to let it all slide.
Let Frank have the conversation.
I'm willing to let it all slide.
I forget about everything you said about me
in the media, but let's make a run at this thing in this different role.
Because either way, you're gone in July, so let's try to make it work.
I think you have to have those types of conversations,
especially now in light of everything that's been going on in recent weeks,
because this team is close to fracturing.
And the only way to avoid the fracturing is to have the tough conversations
and to make sure that everybody in the locker room is bought in.
because you could have that same conversation with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Like, hey man, we don't think we have enough talent to win the championship this year.
So are we going to make a run at this thing?
Like, really try for this.
Or are we going to BS through the end of the season, get the 9 or 10 seed,
and get blown out or swept by the Phoenix Suns?
Like, because if we BS through the end of the season,
that's what's going to happen.
So from that standpoint, it's like, hey, if that's what's going to happen,
why even put the wear and tear on your knee, LeBron,
your fluid-filled knee, your 37-year-old knee,
your most mileage in NBA history knee?
That's the conversation that you have to have on that front.
Russ has to buy into the role,
but LeBron and AD have to decide if they really want to go for this or not.
Because if they don't want to go for it, what's the point?
If they don't want to go for it, packet it.
If you think you can flip Russ with two first round picks for some good stuff this summer,
and if you think you can flip THT and Kendrick Nunn for some good stuff this summer,
and you guys think you have no chance and you plan on mailing it in on a nightly basis
through the end of the season, send LeBron and AD home to.
That's my thing.
Because I think all of those guys, I think Russ, LeBron, and AD would respond to that conversation
insulted. I think they would look you in the face and be like, hell no, I'm not going home.
Let's go get this thing. Appeal to their competitive nature. Try to get that part of them to
drive them across the finish line here. I think that needs to be the goal. The last thing I wanted
to hit on the Lakers front was this buyout situation. So one of the stories that came out
today was from the athletic having to do with this idea that Boston is likely to buy out
Dennis Schroeder and that the Lakers would want it. Now, as is always the case around this time of
year, you have conflicting reporting because then David Beneman came out shortly after and was like,
actually, I heard that they're not going to buy out Dennis Schroeder. So who knows what's going to happen.
But the names that have been thrown out most frequently have been at the point guard position,
Dennis Schroeder and then Goran Drogich, who Adrian Morginowski reported today that the Lakers
are going to make a significant attempt.
to get.
And then on the wing, you're hearing names like D'Anre Bembri,
who's like a 6-5-2 guard who does dirty work pretty well.
And Gary Harris Jr., more or less the same player,
better athlete, better shooter,
but more or less the same archetype of player.
And what I would say is this.
I like Dennis Schroeder.
He was fine.
He competed while he was here.
I thought he was a better defensive player than Russ.
He was less volatile than Russ.
Didn't have the upside that Russ had.
Wasn't as good as a switching defense.
defender. Russ does well when you get him on an island against bigger offensive players.
But one of the biggest problems for the Lakers all season has been size in athleticism.
So bringing in a six foot tall, very skinny Dennis Schroeder doesn't help you on that front.
So my thing is like, look, if Russ doesn't respond well to the conversation and he goes, get me
out of here, I'd rather hang out with my wife and kids and not get lacerated by the Lakers' Twitter fan base
non-stop every day, okay, fine. Then you can look at somebody like Schroeder to fill into that role.
But if you're looking for more off-ball guys to play around LeBron A.D. and Russ, they can't be small.
That has to be completely off the table in terms of options. That's what's so hilarious about
people saying, oh, Kendrick Nunn can come back and bring a big boost. Kendrick Nunn is a good player.
He's going to help them, but he doesn't solve their problems. He's too small. They need size and
athleticism. So from that standpoint, that's where I would look at the guys like D'Andre Bembri,
or like Gary Harris Jr.
You need to get athletic, talented, skilled guys
between 6-5 and 6-8
that can guard multiple positions,
that can operate in Frank's switching scheme,
and that can shoot and attack close-outs.
That's what those two guys can do.
So those are the direction,
that's the direction that the Lakers need to look.
Trevor Arisa was awful tonight.
He got caught on every screen.
He's a big part of why Clay Thompson got going.
He lost him a bunch of times.
He looked really,
really as washed as I've seen him look. Those are the types of swaps that you're looking to make.
Get somebody like D'Andre Fembrey playing Trevor Areza's minutes. You know, find a way to make it so that
Avery Bradley doesn't play 26 minutes a night, but maybe he plays a shift in each half, so he's right
around 15, and you need to give those minutes to a better player. That's where a guy like
Garrett Harris comes in. I was very intrigued by the Goran Drogich thing. You know, I think the only
only way that the Lakers could get him is by promising him a starting spot.
But that type of negotiation from the Lakers has not gone well in recent years.
There was reporting that Javail McGee was intent on starting per his contract in the championship
season, and that ended up being an issue as Javail really struggled in the playoffs in particular,
and the Lakers kept him in the starting lineup pretty much until their back was against the wall.
I don't like that.
And then the same thing happened with Andre Drummond.
Andre Drummond was clearly bogging things down for the Lakers because AD at the four just wasn't good for their spacing,
yet they repeatedly played Andre Drummond because there was some under the table promise of playing time to Andre Drummond.
So I don't love that idea.
But Goron Drogich is an actually,
Goron Drogich actually fits the mold of a basketball player that LeBron would like playing with.
I think he thought Russ was that kind of guy.
I think LeBron thought Russ was more cerebral.
than he actually was, and I think that's been a big part of why this hasn't worked.
But Gorin Drogich is very much a cerebral basketball player.
He's a guy who plays with pace, and I don't mean speed.
I mean, he can slow himself down.
He can come off the screen and pin the defender on his back
and wait for a play to develop and make a read,
rather than bull in a china shop down the lane,
just throw it up there and hope for the best.
So I actually like that fit.
And then if the team is going towards switching, which they've been doing most of the season,
that's where Gorin Rajat's being a little bit bigger, gives you just a better weapon on that front.
But, you know, the bottom line is that I think coming into this season, Laker fan, all of us,
massively underestimated how important the role players are.
You know, I used to joke with Raj that in the 2020 season,
if the role players played okay
and LeBron and AD were out there
being LeBron and AD, you were going to win.
It'd be ugly, but you were going to win.
And if they played good,
then you were going to blow the other team out.
That was the anatomy of that team.
And the reason why is because even when the role players
struggled offensively,
they all competed their ass off
on the defensive end of the floor.
That's what that group did.
What you've seen with this group
is that if they're not absolutely making everything on the offensive end of the floor.
So if they're not playing great, the Lakers will lose because they're not giving you much
on the defensive end of the floor in all of the hustle areas of the game.
And so that's where, you know, LeBron after the Milwaukee Bucks game, he got asked,
you know, do you think you can ever get to the level that the Milwaukee Bucks are at?
And he said no.
And I agree with him.
I think all of us need to come to terms with the reality that this is not a championship team.
However, it's still worth going for.
If Rob Polinka hits an absolute home run in the buyout market and finds three functional pieces that can send guys like Trevor Arisa out of the rotation, send guys like Avery Bradley to the bench, send Russell Westbrook to the bench, if you can do that, you'd change a lot of things with slotting,
and you give this team a chance.
But no matter what, LeBron and AD have to be absolute world beaters in order for this to work.
And that's why I appreciated what Rob Polinka did in that press conference.
Put the responsibility on LeBron and Anthony Davis.
All right, so the last thing I wanted to hit tonight before we get out of here really quick
is just LeBron passing Karim Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list for regular season in playoffs.
Now, this is a debate that you have with everybody because do you count the playoffs with stuff like this?
I think he should.
I thought it was ridiculous when Barry Bonds was hit 755, how they completely discounted postseason home runs.
I don't understand that dynamic in sports.
Like the playoffs are the most important games.
Why do we discount what that all means?
But I think LeBron is starting to build an unbelievable case for being the best basketball player that ever lived.
he'll never be able to match Michael Jordan's dominance.
When you're talking about Michael Jordan's case, it always centers around dominance.
When you win six titles and eight tries, in eight years,
it's just impossible for LeBron to ever have a stretch
that can match that at this point in his career.
But you start to work down the line and it's like, okay,
he scored more than anybody ever already.
In addition to being one of the best playmakers to ever play the game,
in addition to being one of the most versatile defensive players to ever play the game.
Then you combine that with the versatility of his success.
You have him getting all the way to the finals with Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Hogas.
Then you have him getting 60, having 60 win seasons and making it to the Eastern Conference finals
with Delante West and Mo Williams and Shaquille O'Neal, right?
And then you go into Miami and he wins two titles with Dwayne and Chris Bosch.
Then you go into Cleveland and he wins a title and makes four finals with Kyra Irving and Kevin Love.
He actually made it to the finals again without Kyrie Irving.
Then he gets into with the Lakers and he's playing with Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma and they're always hurt and they still won over half their games when he played.
Then he wins a title playing with Anthony Davis.
There's all of this variety to LeBron's success that has started to frame his career as, you know, when we're trying to talk about circumstances, right, the things that differentiate between these two guys.
circumstances are always, you know, they're debatable. They're what ifs. They're hypotheticals. It's
impossible to draw the line between those two, right? But LeBron has so much variety to his success
that it's unassailable. I can't doubt whether or not LeBron would succeed in one era or one
environment with one co-star, with one coach, with one system. I can never debate that because
he's done it in every situation. And we haven't even gotten
to a half dozen other things that are huge hallmarks of LeBron's MVP case, or his goat case,
like his longevity, for instance.
We can go on for days and days.
But it's crazy because that dominance piece he may never be able to touch, but everything else,
I think he's got it.
And that's where it becomes one of those things where it's all in the eye of the beholder.
But LeBron's starting to give you a lot of stuff to look at, if that makes sense.
All right, that's all I had for you guys tonight.
Thank you guys so much for coming to hang out.
We have no show tomorrow because of the Super Bowl, but we will be back Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week.
As always, I appreciate the support, and I'll see you guys in a couple of days.
Volume.
Funderstruck, adjective.
Shocked and amazed by the power of fun on Carnival.
Riding Bolt, the world's first roller coaster at sea.
Brian got Funderstruck so hard, his 93-year-old grandmother felt it 3,000 miles away in Nebraska, and immediately booked a cruise.
Hooray!
Get fundersruck starting at 289.
Carnival, choose fun.
Cruises run U.S. dollars per person double occupancy.
Taxes fees and poor expenses additional restrictions apply.
Full details on carnival.com, ships, registry, Bahamas, Panama.
Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.
Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 occupier
Pella band with their between songs banter.
Where does your group perform?
We do some retirement homes.
Those people are starving for banter.
Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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's 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'm saying.
Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.
You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in
sports media.
Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand-new podcast.
The Clifford Show.
This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only
deserve to be heard, but celebrated.
So let's get to it.
Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard 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.
On the Look Back at a podcast.
For 1979, that was a big moment for me.
84's big to me.
I'm Sam J.
And I'm Alex English.
Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what went down.
and try to make sense of how we survived it
with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.
Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.
It was a wild year.
It was a wild year.
I don't think there's a more important year for black people.
Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is an IHeart podcast.
Guaranteed human.
