The Mismatch - Tournament Instant Reaction: Haliburton's Rising Star Power and Lakers Dominance

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

Verno and KOC are live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as they react to the semifinal round of the in-season tournament! They first discuss the Pacers’ resiliency and Tyrese Haliburton’s continuing rise as a star as the team eliminates the Bucks (01:19). After a disappointing end to the Bucks' tournament run, the guys discuss what has been going wrong for them and what needs to change for the Bucks to reach the Finals. Next, the guys discuss the Lakers' complete and utter dominance over the Pelicans (21:28). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out http://theringer.com/RG to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me at Team Mobile Arena live on this Thursday after game one of the in-season tournament between the Pacers and the Bucs. It's Kevin O'Connor from the ringer.com, aka Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Conert, Kevin O'Climax. Burn, no! 128-119 the Pacers beat the bucks

oh my goodness this whole event I tweeted this out at the end of the game this whole event has been a Tyrese Alliburton coming out party and of course he makes huge shots down the stretch he ends with 27 points he ends with 15 assists

I believe was the final total let me yeah and zero turnovers in the game And the Pacers, I mean, if we were looking for the, what could this in-season tournament bring us that would be different, I think they're making this incredibly memorable on the way to winning this whole deal, if they can get one more win, and along the way, beating the two favorites in the Eastern Conference, in the Boston Celtics and then the Milwaukee Bucks. They're trying to get us out of the building, Kevin.

We're not going anywhere. We're not leaving. We're not going. We're here. We're basking in the Halliburton glory. You know, the amazing thing is, is like those numbers, the zero turnovers again. We saw him do that against the Sixers earlier last month

in the group play game against the Sixers when he had 30 plus points in that game. The dude is, like you said, it's been a coming out party for him this entire season, this entire in-season tournament. the dude is absolutely amazing. That three-pointer, he hit the step back, the playmaking all night, the handsiness on defense, the rebound he had at the end of the game.

The dude is, I mean, he's absolutely special. He is. It's fun to see some Pacer's buzz going on. So cool. And, you know, well, let's talk about the environment because I think everybody's going to want to know what it was like in the arena. The beginning of the game, I was like,

oh, no, this is a disaster. It felt like All-Star, kind of dead in a way. You know what? It felt exactly like the All-Star game. You had Damien Lither coming down shooting threes, Halliburton coming down shooting threes. And I was sitting next to Logan Murdoch and Amina Hossett. We were talking throughout the game. And one of the things that they mentioned that I was like, it does feel like All-Star. And I think it was Amin that said, you know why? It's the constantly excited PA announcer. Oh, yeah. So if you're in a home arena, right he's like

Janice Antigoupo and then on the other end he's like Julius Randall or whatever right And plus it's like the darkened section too like right They have like the shades closed and everything They make it extra extra dark in the arena Well they also needed that in the first half

Because the crowd was poultry At the beginning of the game It's starting to fill in I talked to some people before the game Who work around the league and they were like We think it'll fill up second half It did and it did And it did and the second half

of the game. First half of the game. Well, they walked outside and told everybody they said, come in. You guys want to watch a basketball game? There was actually a lot of street performers in the crowd tonight. They were doing their acts up here. They also invited a lot of people. I saw Funny Man Marco. I saw Vivica and Fox.

I saw Money Bag. Yo. They obviously had gotten a bunch of people in here, you know, to try to come to the United. Tonight for the Lakers. Oh, it'll be loaded. For sure, it's going to be sold out tonight, the Lakers Pelicans.

but also in the first half of the game, the Pacer's bench was going wild. They were up for every big play. The Bucks, they had no energy, but they came out with energy in the second half. Oh, they felt like they matched the Pacers energy more so in the second half. I thought they had flipped it completely. That's what makes this so impressive for the Pacers. Exactly.

Because they're up 12 at halftime, and I turned to those guys, and I'm like, look now. I said, there's only six minutes gone in this third quarter. and... Bucks are right back in it. They're up to leave. I said that's a 16 point swing in six minutes.

I thought Bucks might keep rolling and building the lead and it wouldn't end up ah, you know, it's actually not that competitive of the game, but the Pacers, they're resilient.

I will be very fascinating to see. I did see the... I saw, I saw, I did see Janus jerseys around in the crowd. I saw a few Pacers things here and there.

Tons. of Lakers. So they were already... Now, I didn't understand this. And they need to change this, I think, maybe, going forward. So they're clearing out the arena, if anybody could hear in the background. They're clearing out this arena, and then they're going to get a whole new crop of people in here for the next game, right?

Like, it's... I thought that you would buy this in a two-game package, like the NCAA tournament or something. A fan complained to me before the end. They're like, we got to leave between games, and I was like, that sound like you do have to leave between games. You do? You have to leave between games. games.

Because it's two tickets and not a one ticket for both games. What I'll say is, and we'll record after tonight, the second part of this podcast, but the Lakers thing will be slam. I saw already a lot of Lakers jerseys in this crowd. Now, of course, they are a massive national brand. They could play in any city, and there'll be tons of Laker fans there. But given the proximity to Los Angeles, I think that this is going to be a very, like, it will feel like a very

pro. It'll be, it feel much more like a Lakers home game than it will for the Pelicans. I don't even know if the Pelicans will have fans here. They might have sold a couple hundred tickets. Maybe. Through the team. And you know what's crazy? The Pacers did have some people here. And I was,

when I went to go pick up my media credential today, I was walking out. And Sharif Abdulrahim is a guy that I've built a relationship with him over the last couple of years. He is the commissioner of the G-Lea. Sharif was picking up his pass at the same time. So we're walking out of the park MGM. We're walking by and this guy, huge guy. He walks by him. He's like, Sharif walks up and Sharif O'Reef, he was like, oh,

my God, whatever. He introduces me to him. And he's like, let me tell you, Chris, he's like, I couldn't score on this guy. And I'm like kind of looking and I'm like, who are we talking to? And so then he introduced me and he's like, hey man, I'm Jeff Foster. Oh, wow. All right. And he's like, he's like, you know, the reason I gave you problems, I never bid on your pump face. You know, and Sharif's like, I'm telling you, this guy, for whatever reason, we play against him, the guy gave me so much trouble. And so now we're talking to Jeff Foster and walking in, Austin Crozier, he's like, you know what?

Me and Austin, the Pacers made this thing. We're like, hey, let's go out. We'll take the wives to you two and whatever. And I'm like, that's like the Pacer's legend. going up. This Pacers, Jeff Foster and Austin Crozier, I know they were at the game. Where's Germain O'Neill? Is he down there? I don't know. I don't know. But you were talking about their bench. How crazy did they go from McConnell? Oh, my God. He's like flexing. Yeah. It's so intense. And then like before he had the two back-to-back traveling calls, which is crazy.

He deflected the ball on the inbound. Yes. Bench went crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Like, yeah, he's flexing. He had some great minutes off the bench. I mean, the Pacers bench, like even just, you know, pulling up the the simple plus minus stats like Mathurin plus 17, Jackson plus 14, Neesmith plus 16 McConnell plus 9, Nemhard plus 6. Like their bench is really what outplayed

the bucks throughout that game, especially in the first half. And I felt like some of those bucks units, I mean, like they just don't have a lot, man. Bobby Portis, I think, we talk a lot about the bucks a need for upgrading at the wing. Like they need Pat Connethin back.

They need to upgrade over Malik B's. a Beasley dame backcourt is not good enough defensively to win the finals, I don't think. They need to upgrade there, and maybe Connethon will be that upgrade. But they also need an upgrade in the front court. Bobby Portis is not quite the same impact he was the year. He's like talking about as a sixth man of the year candidate. He's not quite the same impact. So I think for the Bucks, like they don't, they have like one second round pick they can deal.

They have Bochamp. They have Andre Jackson, who I think should be playing for the Bucks. But he's in there for like a minute tonight. Yeah. Just, I was, I was sitting there in my media scene and I was like, oh, Andre Jackson. He was in for a minute. And that's it. It might have been even like 30 seconds.

It's just listed as a minute on the box store. And as you're saying, you know, the bucks are way better equipped to deal with the teams that want to put pressure on the rim. Because they've got the two big guys in Janus. By not Halliburton. These guys aren't. They'll jump shoot you to death. For sure, Hallibur can do that. They get to their spot.

Bruce Brown floaters. Yeah. To that matter, he hit a couple of those tonight. Yeah, you stop up quick. If you're going to do the drop coverage thing, all right, fine, we're going to stop up quick. And they got a bunch of guys that could shoot on this team. And the other thing is...

It's just weird. Their defense should be way better. And I talked about this at the very beginning of the season. I said, we've got to wonder when you have two relatively inexperienced coaches that are going to have to go up against the air expulsors of the world, the Rick Carlisle's work. And people could have whatever their opinion. I think most people know Rick Carlisle is a great basketball.

coach, but there is not a basketball coach that I have ever covered that does not sing the praises of Rick Carlisle. Other coaches think Rick Carlisle is a great basketball coach. Even look at the way he's evolved with the Pacers. I mean, his system is completely different with Indiana compared to anything he did during his first fit with Indiana. And then with his years in Dallas, it's a dramatically different environment. There's just something too.

And this is the case was bolster. This is the case with, you saw it last year with Tibido and the way they wiped the floor with Cleveland. one thing that can really even things out is that advantage on the bench. And this is not a demerit to Missoula or Griffin or any other coach that's in their first couple of years in the league. It's just natural and experience versus major experience. Same thing.

For the thing is, it is also a detriment to Adrian Griffin, because it's been a disaster to start the season for the bucks. It's been horrible. The defensive system they installed. They change it four games in because the players are asking for it. The Terry thing. The Terry Stotz thing, but even with the change with the defensive system, they, yes, they have Brooke Lopez dropping now.

But then they're still pressuring on the ball a lot with weak on ball defenders. They're not doing what they did last season. They can't stop point of attack at all. No, not one bit at all. But it's the type of thing with, like, we mentioned Andre Jackson. Is a rookie really going to make the difference? No, but I would like to see Andre Jackson with his cutting and high IQ and his own point of attack defense, at least get an opportunity.

And like, there's just a lot of me in League Beasley. It's a lot of me league Beasley. And I just think with the bucks that this team, they're 15 and 7 on the year. They made it to the final four of the in-season tournament. But I wrote this in my article last week or whatever, but I just feel like they're leaving a lot of meat on the bone. Probably that's just my takeaway with them. In fairness, they are putting together two legitimate superstars.

But they should be using those guys more together. That's the simplest thing. I mean, wouldn't you figure that by the time we get to the end of the season, it's just your pick and roll to death? you would figure that. I know. But not necessarily. I know.

It should not be that hard, right? It might just be philosophically, he doesn't believe in running pick and roll 25, 30 times for a game with Janus. And you could win every game doing that. It might be that with Griffin. It might also be partially that Yannis doesn't want to be an on-ball screener that often.

No, I know. And he also brings him all up still. You know what I mean? Like there are times where he is the ball handler that's starting the offense. Right? Or pulling up for three or whatever he decides. he wants to do with it. But they are...

I just think whatever the number is, they're season high. I think Pina had this in his article. It's like 18. Right. 18. That's crazy. The most devastating combination

you could draw. And they don't run a lot of dribble handoff actions either. So, like, is this Griffin? Is this Janus? Odds are is probably a little bit of both. Well, and I think what we're going to find is... And it'd be interesting by the time I get to the playoffs

because there's two advantages. right. The same way we talk about this of the NFL, right? Like, who's your head coach, who's your quarterback? So much of your success or failure is going to be determined by those two things. Who's your best player and who's your coach in the NBA

can also be said. And you've got a pretty deadly combo with Halliburton and Carlisle. Yeah, it is. That they are obviously good enough. And there, you know, I think that there was a novelty of, hey, is this early

season good or is this legitimately good? And the answer is they're legitimately good. And there is, you have now gone and we saw this with Gilders Alexander last year, these guys go to the next stop on their trajectory, which is, I can be the best player on the floor a lot of nights to I can be the best player on the floor any night. Any night. And that's on a floor that includes Giannison. Dacupo.

Who do not, I mean, God, Janus is 13 for 19. Take 30 shots, bro. I know. I know. Like, obviously, I mean, you're 13 for 19. He has 37 points at the game. And he goes to the rim at will. There is strange.

This could have been an easy 50 ball for Yanis. Who is guarding him on the Pacers? And the thing is, you shouldn't. Nees Smith is a good defender, but like, you can't expect him to stop to be honest. One, the other thing is, and this is the, this is the Griffin thing. You can imagine, if you think about this

like we think about the way it would be in the playoffs, I would sit there and go, well, it shouldn't take you game one to figure that out if this was game one of a series. It shouldn't take you game one to figure out

like, hey, there's nobody on this team to guard this guy. Just forcefeet it and make it happen. Especially with the way the Pacers play defense. Michael Pina and his article today had some outstanding stats from Second Spectrum that detailed, I thought, I painted a good picture about the way the Pacers play defense. He mentioned how they allow only 25% of opponent shots from behind the arc,

which is a league low by 5%. But that's partially because they don't help on drives to the rim. They help, but only 58% of the time. That's not only the lowest number this season, it's the lowest number in the entire second spectrum database. Wow. So I just think like numbers like that kind of help paint a picture with what we saw tonight where you're saying, Janus got to the room at will.

Why is he not taking more than 19 shots in a game? Well, I don't know why either, especially when we all know the way the Pacers play defense, when they're treating as Pina wrote in the article, they treat everybody like Clay Thompson behind the art. They're not helping. So why are you not attacking? Teams are reluctant to beat you two versus three. and I think that this is almost like

this is an update of the way that basketball is being played. This is a total sellout to going, all right, we're going to shoot a million threes. We're going to make a million threes. And you're not. And we're going to play the math here, right? Because even though teams still are getting to the room

and the free throw line against the Pacers like easily. But you haven't seen the sellout on the guarding the three point line. So they're banking on what happened tonight where the bucks aren't attacking the rim as much as they should. Now, their defense has to get better. Of course it does. In order, like, this is the type of thing that over the course of a seven-game series will be exposed. That on a game-in, game-out basis. Even on Saturday, it could regardless of the opponent.

For sure. Pelicans and Lakers like going to the basket. You just have to decide this is what we're doing. Yeah. This is going to be the Brooke Lopez, Janice Antecumpo, drive to the basket. everybody's pounding the board. And we know Brooke can do that. The other thing is, you end up getting short rebounds. And now.

When you have a size advantage with your squad. Much like we saw with the Pelicans and how they got here. Yep. Which was in that King's game, ball comes off the rim. So bonus is in the middle of Ingram Zion and Valancho. Herb Jones. Good luck. Yeah.

Who's coming away with that ball? And I think that over the course of a seven-game series, series, that's the thing that the Pacers obviously have to get better at. They're going to have to get bigger, and they're also going to have to, they've got to just be okay defensively. Their offense is so amazing. But you've got to be okay defensively. Like, you can't be like 29th in the league. That will, that'll be tough to get by with.

In a great spot. In a great spot for where they are in their trajectory. And you can't take anything away. These teams played short rotations and wanted like hell to win. And they couldn't beat that Pacer's team. It was really cool to watch. It's cool. Game 1 is a success.

It's a weird environment. I've never been to an NBA game like this. No, not at all. I liked it, though. But wasn't the All-Star game. I liked it. I thought, I look forward to tonight. Tonight's going to be really interesting.

It'll be a different energy with the Lakers. It's going to feel like a Lakers home game. Yes. For sure. I'm going to hate it. But it's going to be fun. Especially if it's close. For you, Kevin O'Laker.

For me. There's going to be, There's going to be more Pelicans fans. No, I mean, I'm a Pelican. What I'm saying is, thank God. I'll be with my brethren. But what I'm saying is there will be a higher percentage of people rooting against the Lakers than there would be at a Lakers game, a actual home game at Crypto.

So like there's going to be a neutral vibe. It's just that's going to heavily lean Lakers. It's probably going to be like 75% Lakers instead of 99%. So it's good. I think it's still think it's going to be a really fun atmosphere. You're going to have loud cheers against the Lakers. No, you won't. Yeah, you will.

No. Me? You. We know you love the Pelicans. You always have loved their chemistry. Oh, I'll be wrong. I'll be up there. You've always thought the Pelicans are great chemistry.

You see the clip of Ingram and Zion getting asked if you guys thought about how you're going to celebrate the way they laughed together and looked at each other with a, what are we going to do? I don't want to, look, and I don't want to take credit for saving their season, but after I think You played a factor. After I talked about their chemistry, they had a player's only meeting. After they mocked the fact that they didn't have bad chemistry, they ended up having a player's only meeting to talk about,

wait for it, wait for it. How do we party after the end-season tournament? What do you think Zion has a mind? You're welcome. What do you think Zion has in mind for Saturday night? What? I mean, why is he doing this?

why is he doing this he ain't going to eat any less than we did momofuku stand up just depends on what he's eating food is amazing at that place amazing isn't it great yes

place is great but uh I mean you see how Zion looks in this deal we haven't seen a lot of Zion LeBron on the same court I'd have to go look it up I feel like we haven't gotten it that very much I'm very excited I wonder how many times that they've even matched up against each other in the past I'm being serious

I bet it's not very many how many games they have actually played at the At the same time Right there we go 4 and O versus Zion In his career Okay

LeBron is 4 and O against Zion in his career Thank you Jesse We'll see It's gonna be 4 and 0 5 and 0 tonight or 4 in 1 we'll see I can't wait We'll talk about it after Game number 2

We'll be back then All right we're back for the second nap of the podcast late after the second game of the in-season tournament. 133 to 89, the Lakers beat the Pelicans. My Pelicans fandom is officially over. That was an absolute disgrace, an absolute disgrace. And the Tyrese Halliburton Invitational was marred by, this disgusting display of basketball.

That was horrible. I mean, I don't even understand how this whole, like, even throughout this in-season tournament that we've had that has been played on Tuesdays and Fridays leading up to this, then the knockout game, and you saw that Pelicans team against the Kings. I just don't, it is unfathomable that you would come out and look like that tonight against the Lakers in a national television game that everybody's going to be tuned in to check out because this is the first time through. You're playing a premier team and there is laying eggs and then there's whatever that was

tonight. Like that is. I honestly, everybody was just done with the game by the third quarter. Well, when I walked up out of my seat, it was late. Like me and Ryan Rusillo, we stayed late because we wanted to watch Dyson Daniels and Max Lewis and Hud Schafino and Christian Wood out there getting minutes. I had to stay. Was that fun? I had to stay.

And when I turned around, there was like nobody behind us in our section. We were like the last ones there. We're the only junkies. That was an embarrassing display by the New Orleans Pelicans. Zion, I mean, he's been invisible. They win the game the other night with him not doing a lot tonight. Nobody else did a lot to make up for him being a complete zero. He's huffing and puffing after a five-minute stints on the floor.

He's not respected. You see that 10-foot jumper he hit at one point. The Lakers aren't even respecting him from that distance because he doesn't shoot. He's not getting into the basket the same way that he has before, as we've talked about throughout the season. Ingram tonight, four of 13. Very poor night for him. nobody was shooting the ball well either I've told you this every time they play well

you know people will be like oh you you had something to say by the Polkins and then every time they which is most of the time that they don't mesh very well it's very obvious to anybody their their starting lineup is not balanced

it's not and that's the group that you're playing with and I went and looked it up they're actually that that starting five which is unfathomable with the talent that they have, their starting lineup is a negative net rating. The one they used tonight with McCollum, Zion, Ingram, Jones, Valentureus, that one we talked. Yes.

And whereas the one with Herb Jones and Dyson Daniels together. Plus 20. Yes. Fantastic with that defensive deal. There's a balance. I agree. There's a balance that they don't have. And this is why we said CJ coming off the bench to keep that starting five would make more sense.

They're also. And this is one of the famous. arguments that we had about, this is during the Josh Hart thing, they have one defender. They have one in the starting lineup. They have one defender. He's awesome, but there's one of him. McCallum's not a defender. Ingram's not a defender.

Williams is not a defender. And Val Tunes is not a defender. So it's like, okay, what are we doing here? You know, they are going to have to balance that thing out because now, look, you always have a, whenever your team is having problems, the biggest problems are lack of talent. That cannot be solved. This can be solved.

They have the goods on the roster to solve it, but honestly, Kevin, it feels foolish to even talk about their lineup and this and this and this. This is a no-show. This is not this has nothing to do with the lineup This has nothing to do with how they're constructed This is one team came out Took this whole experience very very seriously It wanted to win this game

And just beat the shit out of the other team The Lakers wanted Yeah Zion wanted a party We talked about it earlier with the couple of those You got a lot of that last night As soon as this started taking place They were like what are the Pelicans do last night But I mean when you're one of two games

That's about to be on national television and so now. And this being the Premier game. I actually think that this is the best case scenario for the NU. No, no, no. For the NBA. In terms of the, again, this game was horrible. But I was saying for the final,

having that one on ABC, because you've got the premier team that people will tune in for in the Lakers, right? They've got a national, international, worldwide brand. And the other basic, The best case scenario for them is this has been a star making event for Halliburton who then parlays this into a February hosting the All-Star game in their hometown. So like they have created a star out of this and he's going to be up against.

Regardless of what happens Saturday night. Right. Unless he like puts up a stinker, which he won't. He won't. He won't. He won't. But they have created a star has been created from this to where your name is now much more well known than it was before. And, you know, I was talking to somebody earlier tonight and they were saying, you know, that whole him being on TNT for the first time, you know, last week.

And about talking about Halliburton and about how good Halliburton is. And then he was like, and then I started to realize, like, nobody's watched him. Nobody's ever watched him. You have to be a real NBA fan seeking him out. Somebody I was sitting with during that first game, they said to me that they saw Halliburton at the airport over the summer when he was going on a family vacation, and nobody in the airport recognized Halliburton.

Yeah. And I said to him, it must be pretty nice to have like a $200 million contract and you're not getting recognized. That's right. I remember I saw Halliburton in an airport. Maybe it was two summers ago. I was going from L.A. to Vegas before Summer League. nobody recognized.

And he's even in a bigger star now, but this could be the turning point for Hallibur and where people do start to recognize. Okay, I'm going to tell you something. You love this. Devin Walker, who works with me on my local show. Great guy.

Love Devin. Devin is like super into collecting like vintage wrestling shirts. Like there's a whole niche market like for collectors. And whether it's sports collectibles or it's wrestling shirts or whatever,

he's in these like Instagram live auctions that he does right so like a guy so it'll be like Russell Jones or whoever and they'll have these auctions and they'll say all right we've got this NWO original shirt it's up for auction whatever and you know there might be I don't know

30 to 50 to sometimes 100 people sometimes might get bigger in these auctions Halliburton is routinely in there oh he's probably winning all of them No, anything he wants he gets. But he's with all these guys. And he's like talking back and forth and whatever. And it's like he's on these like Instagram live wrestling auctions with my buddy.

He's in these like, you know, sports card auctions and stuff. Like he's just, he literally operates as a regular human being. He is. He just happens to be six foot five and being an unbelievably talented. But other guys don't operate like that is what I'm saying. Right? You don't just go into like some. He's a great podcaster.

I know. He's really good with JJ. I know. You don't go into some like vintage wrestling shirt auction with 35 other guys. You're like, oh man, Halliburton. They got it, you know? Like he's in on this stuff. I think stories like that, like for a fan who's listening to this podcast right now,

like for me listening hearing that story, it makes him even more likable. I imagine that's a similar experience for anybody who is a fan listening to this. And I'll tell you this. Devin loves Hallibur. Because of that. Because of that. I mean, look, it's He, like, interacts with guys and whatever.

He really. It's a huge opportunity for the Pacers on Saturday. Yes. But they are going against a team that wants it bad. We saw that tonight with the Lakers. LeBron James, like that 20 point first half, he ends with 30, 9 of 12, 8 assists, five rebounds. He was unbelievable, man.

Like, when I watched this game, I was thinking to myself, prior to the in-season tournament, I was talking about, well, what? can we learn about potential playoff implications from these games? Maybe not a lot, but I do think that at least seeing the way LeBron's performing in games that matter that he wants to win, it's at least an indication of what the levels that he can reach when he's tapping into it. They took care of the sons. Yes.

And then they went and had, they looked as good as they have looked at the entire season tonight. And he did that in 23 minutes. He barely had a play. That should not have been a non-competitive basketball. Not at all. And yet LeBron made it non-competitive, regardless of the defenders the Pelicans threw at him. Whether it was Herb Jones, who's their best, or anybody else in the team. Made no difference.

And that speaks to LeBron's level that he's still at right now. It's crazy. And so I think for the Lakers, that's one of the thoughts. Why is he in better shape and more athletic than Zion? He's 20 years older than the guy. It's bad. He blew past him on one of the plays. And I'm like, come on, bro.

This guy is 20 years older than you. Yeah. It's embarrassing. We once called Zion like a super LeBron. And now, I mean, what do you have tonight? 13? Zion had 13 points on 8 shots in 26 minutes. All right, let's just say this, too.

Massive difference in the energy and the fan representation in the arena for the second game. That first game, you didn't notice until the second game that the first game was just like a lot of, you know, smatterings of indifference. It was casuals in terms of like they weren't hardcore. Hey, let's go see a basketball game. Yes, but it was still a good, like, I think, neutral crowd. It's just this was an intense crowd where Lakers fans were jumping out of their seats. There's no question.

And it was a home court advantage. It was. Oh, for sure it was. There's very few teams, and that's going to be the interesting thing going forward. It was a good rowdy Lakers crowd, actually. It was a good crowd. It'll be an interesting thing going forward to see. Producer Jesse just can't wipe the smile off his face right now.

Oh, I know. Constantly smiling. Oh, I know. He's a little big Lakers fan. Well, and he loves that, I mean, and you have been, you're pretty torn as well, right? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, I mean, I know you're Kevin. O'Laker, but you were originally Kevin O'Pellican, so it had to hurt. It had to hurt.

No, you know, you had to happen to the Grizzlies and see what I had to hear. Holy mother. Holy. I mean, hell, the Las Vegas aces were on the front road tonight. They should just put them in there. Let them play it against the Lakers. They'd have put up a better fight. The Pelicans were horrible.

Let me get some Asia Wilson action. Asia Wilson can at least run up and down the court without losing her breath. This guy. That was pathetic. There's some news that kind of came through. I just saw a tweet about this. What news? Headline from Chris Haynes, Bleacher Report.

Uh-oh. Sources. Sources? Bucks veteran challenges coach. Teammates after NBA tournament elimination. Who is this from? Chris Haynes. So here we go.

He's the Damien Lillard report. Here we go. After the Bucks were eliminated, forward Bobby Portis, passionately challenged head coach Adrian Griffin and teammates to be better. League sources tell Bleacher Report. League sources. Damien Lloyd tells him Richard report.

Griffin entered the locker room and began harping on the importance of winning the rebounding battle. The Pacers won the rebounding battle for 51 to 46. Portis quickly interjected and stressed how essential it is for Griffin to structure the offense down the stretch of games. Whoa. Portis continued voicing its concerns. Griffin welcomed the criticism and acknowledged. he could be doing a better job with more aggressive play calling.

This is not good. Oh, this is bad, dude. No, this is not good. Oh, my God. Let me tell you this. Well, Haynes in the locker room? Bobby, hey, hey. It's not good.

It's not good for that to be coming out. It's also not good. The game ended four hours ago. Also not good that Bobby Portis is the guy that's upset. Let me tell you something. He stinks right now. But he is not to be trifled with.

No, he is. I promise you this. Hey, I bet Adrian Griffin said, I'm sorry. I saw Nico Mirage's face. I'm sorry, man. I am sorry. I know you. He crushed his teammates face before scrimed.

This is the second time that we know of this season where something like this has happened. We know it happened earlier in the year when he changed the defensive scheme because from the urging from the players. Now we're hearing about Bobby Portis talking about how the offense needs to be more structured at the end of the games. Wow. This is where. Wow.

This is where Janice made. I was thinking about this earlier tonight. I bet that's fine, though. No, no, listen to me. It's fine. Listen to what I'm saying. Yannis earlier in the year, remember after the Bucks lost of the he, he was complaining about, without mentioning Budenholzer by name, how he didn't even get a chance to defend Jimmy Butler.

He felt like we need to make more adjustments. I think Janus, when he self-analyzed his needs, he felt that he needed a coach that he could control and do whatever, that he, whatever he wants. Griffin is more that coach. He can do whatever he wants. He can put himself in the game. He can defend the player that he wants to defend. He can kind of control. However, what he actually needed was more of a micromanager.

Somebody who, as Portis is saying, is adding structure at the end of games. Who's calling plays. How is Janus only getting 19 points? Because there's not plays being called. There's no structure to the team. And that is typically, you know, the dynamic of head coach and assistant coach, right? it can be a lot of good cop bad cop and stuff that goes on

that's right yeah and I yeah I mean look this is bad but it's not in the sense that you can fix that don't fix a roster you can fix that if you need to

all right no no bro you got him to sign the long term max extension in Milwaukee I know I'm saying but that's it that's the only thing that matter but this particular season. Can you fix it?

Sure. I don't know. Griffiths really screwing up. In a lot of ways. Look, everybody's got a... Everybody's got a short memory. There was a friggin' mutiny on Spoe. I know. You're right. And he could fix it. I mean, it happened. Listen, he could fix it. Joe Missoula was a bozo supreme last year.

You know, there was a... He could fix it. He could fix it. I know he could fix it. And it could also be fixed within the course of a season. This is a long season. So first 20-something games. But it's a lot through 20-something games. It's a lot. Okay, so that's where there's concern and it needs to be fixed fast.

Here's the thing, yep. Hopefully, things improved. It's too much drama for a good team. Yes. That's the thing. And also the first half of the game, I think we talked about the story, they had no energy. They weren't getting off the bench. They looked lifeless in the first half.

And in the second half, they came out with energy. They were clapping for each other, cheering for each other. Like, I don't know. They just felt like a team that was together. first half they felt like individuals. Did you feel like the Pelicans had good chemistry tonight? Did the Pelicans account tweet me tonight? Or no.

This guy. Or no. Did all those Pelicans fans tweet me tonight or no? Is my time behind Silent? It might be. I haven't checked it. I haven't checked it. I just didn't know. I didn't know if they were mocking how good the chemistry would. Look pretty good. I mean, look, I stopped watching when they're down 40, so I don't know.

He might have got better after 40. Maybe. Jordan Hawkins in the game. Oh, he came in? Hey, he did come in. Oh, I didn't see him. I didn't see him. Lewis as well.

He goes taking a piss or something. Ah. What do you think Zion's going to do tonight? Eat. Eat what? Everything. Everything. going to be like Godzilla.

Isn't there a new Godzilla? There's a new Godzilla. You see it, Jesse? He said it's good. I heard the new Godzilla's good, too. I don't know. Maybe I'll see it. I don't know.

A little matinee, maybe. Did you feel like they, did that look like a team that cared that they were getting their ass stomped in? Not to me. No. Not to me. I just don't.

It's a big stage. They've made a huge deal out of this thing. Also, you do have to give Lakers credit, too, though. The Lakers dominated. The Lakers, they look like a team that when they're clicking, when they're... You get down 40, it's a laydown, man. I know it is. It was a laydown.

It was a laydown, but the Lakers also did make it a laydown. They snatch their soul. Do you think the Lakers went Saturday at? Certainly in that third quarter. What was it? A 40-something to 17 or something crazy. I thought the Pellons will put up a little bit of a fight. Yeah.

Game of runs, huh? And they were all Laker runs. I think there's a four-point run by the Pelicans at one point. I think Zion had like two buckets in a row. Jeez. This is rough, man. I was, I was hoping.

They don't call them runs. They call them walks. They're too Zion walk. This guy's doing stand-up tonight. Two Zion trot. Jimmy Kibbles comedy club tonight, the little stand-up. I'll be there tonight. Good ticket still available.

Some open mic somewhere. There's Ellis Island. I think they do open mic that. I'll head that way. I did like the event. I resent that that second game was so dismal. I wish you were here. I wish you were.

The Halliburton Invitational. Yeah, no, I wish you were. I have to go. You have to do game Friday. No, tomorrow night. You're doing a grusiness game. I'm going out to dinner with Rudy Gaubert. Oh, yeah?

No. You're going to get more socks? No, I'm not going. No, I'm not going at the dinner with Rudy. You wear those yet? No. You throw them in the trash or something? I have not.

No. I've kept them. Okay, cool. I'm going to put them in your care package for Christmas. Oh, thank you. So you're getting me. I also bought you a Pelican's future ticket. I mean.

No. I think Saturday not will be good. I do. And again, I think it's good that it's going to be Halliburton versus the Lakers. I do think that. And I like, I'd never been in this arena before. I like this arena. That's nice. The Concourse is nice too.

I like the Concourse. They got to update it. They got to update it just for like, you know, make it a little more modern. The big thing that is very noticeable. And especially because they host a million USC events here, I cannot believe how small the Jumbotron is. Oh, it's tiny. to host all these like boxing and UFC events. Like because otherwise,

I mean, it'd be like two ants wrestling each other if you're sitting up where we are right now. And then you need an awesome jumbo tron, right? The jubotron is terrible. It's pathetic. And we're in Vegas. Everything is big and opulent.

And it's like... The concourse seems nice. Like there's some nice area. It's fine. There's not enough bathrooms, but it's fine. I agree. Not enough bathroom. You need balmer, you know, to put that change in. But, I mean, the, the jumbo tron thing should be an easy.

From what I understand, the Vegas team that moves here is going to build the new stadium. They're going to build a new stadium for what I understand. But this is still a venue that's going to host things because it'll still be having concerts and UFCs and whatever. They just need to get, honestly, that's the first thing I noticed. It is smart. A freaking 35-inch TV up there. What is that thing? You can't even see anything on it.

And that's just, you go to any arena now. every arena has awesome Dumbo Trons now. Everybody's updated that. But that's the only thing I really noticed, but I did like the arena just fine. I mean, it's clean, it's nice, and sight lines are fine.

And I like the proximity to where everything is. The fact that you could walk here from so many places in Vegas is good. It's kind of just downtown. And I thought that the NBA, boy, they spent a fortune promoting this thing in town. You can't walk

five steps without seeing in-season tournament crap. Oh, it's everywhere. And how about the people buying the gear? I walk by the souvenir thing. I always buying this stuff. There's a bunch of people in line buying in-season tournament gear. And I'm like, really? Okay. Bro, they're like $40 T-shirts, too.

I was there. The in-season tournament. You were here? I was here. Oh, I saw it. I'll remember it forever. I mean, my Pelicans experience. just getting to see them in person that was obviously Kevin don't want to talk about it doesn't

Oh what's there? Huh? That was your pelicans, bro. I know. They laid an egg. We went through it. We talked a lot about them laying an egg. This is the most disgraceful performance

in IST history. Oh, it was. By far. Without a doubt, it ranks the number one. It's going to be hard to break that record, too. Yeah, no. I don't know if any. Other IST team.

He's going to be able to do that. It's going to stand for a long time. Enough already. I'm going to party with Zion. Yeah. All right. Let's get out of here. Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always.

Kevin, I'll talk to you on Monday. And enjoy dinner with Rudy Gobert on Friday night. Hello. Must be 21 plus in President Select States. Fan Duel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. or visit fanbool.com slash RG in Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Virginia. Call 1-800 next step, or text next step, 533442 in Arizona.

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