The Ringer NBA Show - How Can Russell Westbrook Square His Game With the Lakers’ Aspirations? Plus: The Heat Are the Real Deal and the Nets Are in Trouble. | Real Ones

Episode Date: October 28, 2021

Logan and Raja give their thoughts on an inconsistent Lakers team led by Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis in LeBron James’s absence (0:30). Then Raja tells Logan why he loves this Miami Heat team and they discuss their evolving opinions on the Brooklyn Nets (26:25). Finally, Raja gets something off his chest in a heated Mad Hooper (37:30) and they each award their Real One of the Week (39:20). Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Top MMA voices, Ariel Hwani, Chuck Mindenhall, and Pizzie Carroll are live on the Spotify Greenroom app for every major MMA card with the Ringer MMA show. Hear the guys react to weigh-ins in real time and find out what they think of the fights the moment the final card ends. Plus, when breaking MMA news happens, they'll be live to talk to you about it. And if you miss the Green Room show, you can hear it as a podcast anytime on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Popping. Real one, slogan Murdoch, Roger Bell, Rara. How you doing, man? Ready to pod? I'm pot. I've been potting. What you're talking about?

I pod through the whole pre-production. I pod through the whole pre-production meeting. I would say you to fans for pot and through the whole pre-pod meetings, but it's only because you have to. We both have to make sure that we're recording earlier than we're supposed to be recording because we will start to forget. It's just, it's been a thing throughout the whole rule and it's history. I've just, I was forgetting stuff. It's just, this is what it is.

And particularly in the early part of this season, I mean, we're just like a lot of the teams we're watching, Logan, right? Like, you're just not in your, in mid-season form yet, right? Like, I got half of an episode with my audio straight, half not. Like, I just, yeah, so it's easier to, if you stay ready, you ain't got to get ready. I've sympathized with teams a lot more now

since I've done the podcast, especially early in the season. Because we have great shows. Sometimes we have, you know, good shows where audio's messed up. and we just don't have nothing to talk about. But I've had a lot more sympathy for teams going on during the early part of the season. And one of those teams I have sympathy for, Rajabelle, is the Los Angeles Lakers, okay? A team that just had a very wild back-to-back where they played the Spurs one night, down double digits, come all the big back and win.

Russ has one of those nights, which we're going to get to. We're going to talk about Russ a lot today. And then the next day, last night they fucking squandered a 26-4. lead. It was a lot of emotions going on. And all of which, while LeBron is on the bench, he is hurt, I think it's a knee ankle issue. It's something, man. He's not playing right now. And the Lakers are showing strides, but they're also showing the marks of a new team. LeBron has ankle soreness officially. Now, one of those people that are tasked to help with this is one Russell Westbrook, who was who was traded for in the offseason was a quarterback. It was a

quiet, much as the chagrin of some of the league to the happiness and joy of some other people like me and you. But we had the full of Russ experience. You know, San Antonio Spurs game, he's dunking on fools. He literally carries the Lakers, him in AD, carry the Lakers to an overtime win. And then this next one, both of them are responsible for squandering this lead. How am I supposed to root for Russell Westbrook, Roger? Because I'm very new to. this. The first time he's been on one of my teams, on a team that I enjoy. I've always loved him, but from afar, I didn't have to deal with the ebbs and flows of this. Roger, how do you deal with rooting for Russell Westbrook as a longtime Russell stand? How do you do this? You have to take the good with the bad. There's no other way to put it. There are nights where he's going to be fantastic, and the stats will support that. And then there are nights where he's going to be really inefficient. And it may or may not result in a win. But you have to know,

that his heart is always in the right place and he's going to give you 110% every night. So that's where you have to start with Russ. Like the heart is going to be in the right place. It's always about winning. You never have to second guess

whether or not, in my opinion, what's being done on the court is in an effort to take care of self, right? So you're going to, but you're going to have to, I mean, he's not an efficient offensive player. Like, that's factual, right? And so it's going to be new. for the Lakers. I thought it was

interesting. I was kind of clowning the other day when I saw him come back and have the 33 ball against San Antonio. And I was joking with some people like, I told you he didn't forget how to ride a bike. Like he knows how to ride a bike. You just, you put him in a role that he's never been in before, which is the third fiddle. And so when he can hop back into one or two,

he's going to wind up with 33 and double figures in one other category and close to that or if not that in a third. you know, and it resulted in a win. And then last night, it just wasn't super efficient. There were a bunch of turnovers, and the Lakers fumbled the bag. With Russell Westbrook, I see a player who has all the qualities I love and all the qualities that will piss me off. And the qualities that I love is, bro, he is a gamer, dog. He is going to give everything he has because that's all.

the reason, his passion is the reason why he's gotten to this point in life. So of course he's going to do that. I was watching the San Antonio game and he had a poster dunk and it was so great that a damn near got emotional, Raja. And you know that feeling with Russ, right?

Where he just does something, he dunks on a fool and he does the Russ scream. Like, I'm here and it's everything that he had bottled up that he just, just just laid out on somebody. Right.

And I had that. And then he has the plays where you can tell he's just developed bad habits throughout his career that just haven't been checked, right? Where the first thing he does when he's indecisive is his shoot. We know when a Russell Westbrook shot is going in versus when it's not. When he's in rhythm and he's chilling, that shot's going to go in. But then when he's like just trying to figure stuff out and he does like the weak like mid-range shot and it's just like very arcing and he has no chance. and it's not in rhythm of the offense. So that has been happening with me on the ebbs and blows day.

But I have a take. I think the Lakers were absolutely right in trading for him. I know there was a lot of talking, trading for Buddy Hild and what these things would provide. But I want Russell Westbrook down to stretch on my team with the years that he's accumulated, with the experience that he has in the same vicinity as LeBron and AD, in this situation.

I'd rather have him and what the Lakers were trying to do than Buddy Heald at this point. Am I wrong in thinking that right now? With all that being said and all the ebbs and blows,

I still believe that Russell Westbrook should be a Laker. That is going to play itself out over the course of this season because I'm in your camp. I've been on record as saying I would have taken Russell Westbrook too

and I think they'll figure it out. I think they'll figure it out. I've also said on Pod that things have to change offensively for that to manifest itself. If you're going to insist on playing a certain style, then Buddy Heald was the better fit. Russ is going to have to streamline his game when you just talked about some of those errant kind of out of nowhere pull up jumpers and he's got to become more efficient. It's not in

his nature to be that way. He's used to playing for a career with the ball in his hands for the most part and having the breadth, if you will, to just kind of miss a bunch of shots and still get opportunities and eventually figure it out and then poses will on a game and therefore win. You don't have that. There are too many mouths that have to be fed in Anthony Davis and LeBron. So I think you are correct, Logan. It's the short answer for that. But they're going to have to continue to evolve.

They're going to have to figure it out. Anthony Davis last night, while he was not bad, like he had. 30. You know, I need, he and he's got to get a free throw line more than seven times. Like it just suggests to me, I mean, you got to get some free throw line more than seven times. You know what I mean? Like, we're going to need you to do that. Like, Shay Jilis Alexander had more free throw attempts.

So we're going to have to figure out when LeBron is out of the game and he's not playing, you know, how we're going to get this done. And I would say that LeBron's injury right now, it's not a good situation for them. And I know it's a minor injury. I know it's a minor injury. But I think it sets back your time. timetable on getting all of those guys on the same page, right? Because now you're cast and Russ back into the role that he played in other places. And that's not what you want him to do. No. And I was going to get to that point where you want, you don't want Russell Westbrook.

You don't want him to be a number two on this team because the ceiling isn't as high when he is a number two on this team. You want him to be a number three cutting, not getting 30 points or maybe 12 points, 13 rebounds, and honestly, and 12 assists, you honestly want him to be the 1772 version of Will Chamberlain. That's what you want. You want him to be a guy that was a superstar and is literally a superstar in his role.

You know, give the ball to Jerry West. Give the ball to Elgin Baylor, man. You know, like, we just need you to do this very specific thing at the highest level in the league. And he can't really do that right now because he has to be the number two guy. and he can't find out how to work off of AD and LeBron. You look like you were about to say something.

I was. Yes, he was, although it wasn't really coming together great, and he hadn't had a lot of success at it, he was starting, he was down the path of figuring out, if he could figure out how to fit in that box they need him to play in. And then when you take him back out of that box and say, all right, now you need you to win a game. Now you're back to square one because now he's back to like,

okay, there's, you know, it's, you're conditioning a mind to do what you needed to do. And when you're trying to condition a mind, there's got to be consistency. And there's got to be like, this is what it's going to be every night. This is what it's going to be. Like, at least to get you there. You could come out of that box from night to night once we get into the season. But we're going to kind of need you to understand how we want to play. I really think, I know you didn't ask me, but I'm going to tell you,

I think LeBron should give up fast break or transition all handling responsibilities. Not maybe not all of them. No, no, no, no, no. Go ahead. I agree with you. Yeah, maybe not all of them because he's really good getting downhill too. And I get it. It's LeBron.

I'm a bigger LeBron fan or as big a LeBron fan as a Russ fan. But that's where I see opportunity for Russ to contribute more than I do in a half court standing around and asking him to cut to the basket. I think you can get him off. I think they're 12 to 14 in transition for Russ. You don't even have to get like steals. I'm talking about off of the rim outlet to Russ and just let him apply pressure on the defense.

You know, and so if you could get him 12 or 13, 14 from made shots or free throws doing that, then you can sit him around and ask him to get six or seven more in a cutting capacity. Now, it's funny you said that because when I think about Russ is, Russ just needs those points because he wants to feel like he matters, man. He just wants to feel like he is like any other NBA player. And I remember thinking about, you talking about this made me think about opening night when LeBron went off and AD went off.

But Russ was kind of just trying to figure out where he just even fits. And he was really frustrated with himself afterwards. But you make a great point because, listen, we all know LeBron get his rhythm. No matter if he's off the ball, on the ball, no matter where he's. he is on the floor, he can get his rhythm. But when you, when you constantly take the ball up the court, as LeBron is doing,

you continue the trend for, that the Warriors, I mean, the Lakers have been, you continue to train that the Lakers have been on, which is LeBron has all the responsibilities, and when he's off the floor, we don't know what the fuck to do.

Now, if he can give the ball to Russ or any other guy, or Russ, I would just say Russ, or make sure that AD gets the responsibility, and you've referenced this before, make sure that they feel like they have ownership over the offense, because if they have that, you can take those nights off. And even if it results in losses, because not all losses are created equal.

There's, like, say the San Antonio, if they lost that game, I saw a lot of great things with the Lakers in that game that they just learned from. It's about learning, and I think that if you have to sacrifice a few losses to make sure that, hey, Russic feels ownership over this, or AD feels ownership of this offense, because you're trying to give that baton off, I think that you should, that LeBron should be off ball a lot more

just because it'll give ownership to everybody else. And then when the playoffs roll around and you need the ball, LeBron, you get it because you're that good to where you can get your rhythm back. I would take it a step further. The ball can wind up in LeBron's hands. It can be there. Just let's not have it there the entire possession.

So like let Russ speed it up the court and explore opportunities in secondary transition. then get it moving. And once it finds LeBron's hands, like LeBron does the magic, LeBron does. It just gives him the opportunity in transition to just get a touch on the ball. I'll just use myself as an example.

And I was, you know, obviously, clearly, not the type of offensive weapon that any of these guys were. But, you know, they counted on me to do certain things and shoot the ball when I was open and knock down shots and come off screens and knock down shots. And I would say to Mike DeAnne Tony sometimes, While I know I'm not going to eat as much as some of these other guys,

it's really, really difficult for me to go through the first five minutes without really even touching the ball and then be ready to knock down shots when I get it in the fourth, fifth, six minute. So what Mike would do was he'd come out and just, even if the play calls weren't for me to get shots, they involved me touching the ball and having some responsibility. It's all for feel. It's all for flow.

It's all for, you know, that little person inside of you saying, damn, bro, they just go sit you over in his goddamn corner and you're not going to touch the ball. And that shit starts to eat at you. You start to, and so if you're involved and you're getting some touches, it doesn't mean that you have to be the score on those plays. It's just giving you a feel, right? You feel like you're a part of the game now. And that's kind of the way I see Russ in transition.

Like, is that why when you were in, I used to hate this shit whenever I watched the Phoenix Suns? It would be like everybody else goes off on the fucking. Lakers when I was watching the Phoenix Suns, but it was because you guys fucking passed ball, man. You guys really made your teammates feel involved when you guys were playing. I used to fucking hate it. And it was, you guys played great basketball. It's all I'm saying. Thank you. We had a really good rhythm. We had, um, now we also were a team. We could play two ways. A lot of what we did revolved around Steve Nash creating out of pick and roll. So we could look like a LeBron team with, with four guys, you know, three guys standing around

perimeter spots, probably two corners filled and a high wing, and then some sort of ball screen, right? And we all ate off of the pressure that Steve and the roll man put on the rim. But we were those type of players, right? Russell Westbrook isn't that type of player. But we could also play in a way where Mike would run elbow action and it would get me some pin downs off of some action. We ran, you know, pistol action where I wasn't a great creator of shots for myself. But if I kept it in a way, let Steve come off a pistol. The big was right there and he'd get a little brush screen on my man and I'm able to come

off a little screen and knock down a jump shot or, you know, quick action, which was a weak side pin away in transition. And I could come flying off of that either for a catch and shoot at the elbow or tight curl, which would get me on the rim. Like, we could play both ways. And so that's why I'm always a proponent of teams not just locking into one style, especially when your personnel doesn't fit that one style you want to play. Damn it, Roger, you have started this shit off in a bag.

you know, I just want to say that. I just want. You know, it's fun to talk basketball with people who know basketball, and you would think, you would think, Logan, that it would be easy to convince people high-level basketball players, and I talked about this last time,

and it's not, this is that. I want to get into that. I want to get into, I think I know where you're going. I do want to get into the psychology, and this is something with Russ, the psychology of a basketball player who has to be to transition on the fly with these things. Because I see a team like the Lakers who or LeBron led teams in general where it's kind of hard to make trend. It's kind of hard to make changes within that ecosystem because LeBron is so dominant, but he's also so good at being dominant.

It's really hard. And you see these with these superstar teams. I think the exception is the Warriors. but you see it with these teams to where they're so locked in all philosophy that sometimes it's hard to change. What goes into the psychology of that, Roger? Success is where it starts. Success on a personal level. I'm an NBA superstar because I'm so gifted with the ball in my hand in this style of play. Organizational success, like it's not only am I brilliant, but we've won championships doing it and I've been brilliant. And that's

why we've won championship. So, you know, those are hard, those are hard things for a coach to ask a player to discount when he's trying to convince him to do something different. Right? We're all creatures of habit. You know, in the NBA, the game is so different from when I played now. There was a whole handful of guys in the NBA when we played. They weren't great shot creators for themselves. There are very few people in the NBA who, given the opportunity, can't get in their bag and get you a bucket. It's pretty cool to watch. Like individual skill and ability to create for self

is at an all-time high. And so that's going to lend itself to people get in a ball and wanted to dance. Wanted to get in, you know, wanted to get, and you are going to dance. But when you're talking about winning games, winning championships, right? We're talking about the margins for error shrinking.

And so while, like, I don't know. Maybe we were 48% effective in that style of ISO play or stagnant offensive play. And that's damn good. But if we run up against the team that's better than us at that and they're getting more free throws because they're more physical, well, we needed to be up at 51%. And that's fractional. But if it's not there, we're not going to win.

And so, you know, those are some of the things that it's hard to convince dudes. You're talking about the best players on the planet. Exactly. How much, and that requires a lot of ego. So how much does that play a part into it? It's like, dog, man, what you mean, bro? I'm such and such and I've won this amount of time without you coach. So what the fuck you're going to tell me?

Like, how much does that play? I mean, that's it. That's it in a nutshell. That's like, that's 99, 97% of it. So how was like, how was like what makes a Tim Duncan or Steve Nash or a Steph or a player like that to where it's like, to where they can be like, I personally think it's longevity, right? I just think that it's, you know, the trust between the coach and the star player is

paramount. And I think that's what goes into it a lot. I agree with you 100%. In the case of Tim Duncan, he wasn't that type of player. Like Tim, Tim was never a give me the ball and I'm going to get you 50 type of player. That's just wasn't now he would have. And he could do that. Yeah, he'd have.

I mean, he did do that at times. But it wasn't, I don't think that's where his mindset was. And I don't believe LeBron's mindset is there either. LeBron has just been in a lot of different situations and believes that, you know, having that court spread, him having the ball, getting downhill and running pick and roll is the best way to do it. And when it doesn't, and this is just my take on it, when it doesn't work where he's going or where he winds up going next, or it doesn't work right away, right? we're going to revert to that. We're going to revert to it because, you know, we trust a little bit. We have LeBron here for a reason.

He's going to bring his champion short, but at least the finals appearance. Let's give him the best chance to get us what we brought him here for. So you're going to revert to that. And when Tim Duncan, you are talking about and you hit the nail on the head, you're talking about organizational stability and being somewhere for a career. So the message that Popovich and company preached, it bore fruit, like over and over and over again. And so you're buying in. that's why your team stability is so paramount in this league.

It seems like there's always, in the recent years, teams having to adjust in the beginning of the season, not because they're not good, but more because they haven't been around each other for a while. With this era of player movement and how we're going to do these things, it's just been so, been hard to even gauge teams throughout these first couple of weeks. But organizationally, it has to be tight because, you know, you know, it has to be tight because is you talk about what happened with the spurs, what's going on with the spurs under with Tim Duncan.

And you look at the Sons right now, and they're a really good basketball team. But they're one in three, and they're having curious losses. I have to imagine that the shit that happened to start the season is having some sort of effect on that team. How could it not, right? So you have to have,

and I think about LeBron's career, where a lot of that the Cleveland years, the first time around, didn't work out the way he wanted to, And so he felt like he needed a change to better his career. He did not want to, he wanted to compete for titles. And then times changed. So he has to take control because he's good enough to do it.

And he has to win trials elsewhere. So he's had to move. And it's hard to trust people when you're on the move that much. And so it's just interesting is all I'm saying. I'm talking out loud, but this is just all so interesting to me, the psychology of this league. Again, for anyone thinking that it's easy to manage a team, like T. Liu had when he tried to tell people it was kind of the hardest job to have all of that talent. X as in O-wise, I got why everyone was like, what are you talking about? You have three of the

best players on the planet. But a lot of it is the psychology of the athlete and managing it and making sure people feel like they're, even if you're asking them to take a step back, that they're still validated and who they could be, even though you're asking them not to be that. There's a lot that goes into that. And for that reason, they're not easy jobs. Yeah, man. I just want to say, I want to say something else about the Lakers just because, like, we're going to talk about them and they're just a hot team. Here's what I know that, or I believe that they're going to get their stuff together offensively at least. Like, I think that they'll figure that out.

What could keep them afloat in the meantime is the defense. And that's, I don't know if you remember, I said, you know, if they can. guard people because they're usually a really good, they're really bad defensively right now. I can imagine why. Do you see who is on that team? Yeah, I know, but they're really bad defensively. You're talking about 26 out of 30 teams in the league defensively right now in terms of defensive officials. They're playing, they're playing Carmelo 30 minutes a game. They're playing these people 30 minutes to get. I love Carmelo. I love Carmelo, but if you're asking him to be out there

playing that role, I know I said let's wait 20 games or 15 games, but they're starting to be signs that aren't good. And it's not the offense. It's not that. That defense is a truartious. It doesn't matter what that offense is going to look like. Yeah. It was atrocious down the stretch, man, last night. I was, I was ready because we're going to have this Russ conversation no matter what, because I, in this Lakers conversation, no matter what, because after that San Antonio game, I was ready to make an apology. I was ready. I was ready to just to just say, I apologize. You know how we do on the real ones. We, we, we, we, we, we, we walk back our words if they if they didn't we walk back our words we have to and so i'm watching the game last

night i'm fucking i'm like oh they're up 26 we go put on the ps2 right once you go play to play to NBA street boy said the PS2 the PS2 the PS2 roger your boy got the PS2 um so i'm over here playing NBA street and i look at the score and they're fucking down eight and i look at the highlights and I'm like, are you, how? How? So a lot, there's going to be a lot, as long as this roster is the way it is, there's going to be a lot of games like San Antonio where they have to just, it's exhilarating and they have to just gut it out with this great offense down the stretch.

But man, that's stressful, dog. It's so easier when you have a great defense, bro. It's so much easier. So we'll see, do you think this team, this is the team that we're going to see, like, if I say March, do you think this is the same team that's going to, Same roster? No. Nope.

Nope. Can't be. Can't be. I mean, I'm thinking about LeBron's three years. Has there been a year where they haven't made a move? I would say the first year that he was in L.A. That they were just all fine. They were just, okay.

Yeah, there's going to need to be a move made, Logan. There's going to be me. And I'm telling you now, I know I said let's wait 20 games, and I will wait to 20 games. I think offensively they're going to figure it out. But there's starting to be some trends that suggest they're going to be bigger problems there. I want to put you on the spot, Roger.

What up? As Russ on the team by March. Yeah. I think so. Yeah, Russ is there. Russ is there. I think so, too. Let's take a quick break.

And Roger has a team that he wants y'all to keep an eye out on. We'll be right back. And we are back. So we had the prepod meeting, which Roger was being the feds on and recording the whole thing, just to get us all in trouble. But one of the things that came out of that was, I was like, what do you want to talk about, Roger? He says, I want to talk about the motherfucking Miami Heat, right?

I watched the Heat game last night. I want to watch the, I want to, we need to talk about and have a conversation about the Miami Heat. They played the Brooklyn Nets. They took control of that game very early on. It was never, it was never in doubt, honestly, if you watch the game. Bam out of Bio Bald. I just, I like the Miami Heat this year. But, Raja, why do we need to pay attention to the Miami Heat?

You have the floor right now. You should pay attention to the Miami Heat. And this is not a knee-jerk reaction to what happened last night. This was just the first time I really got a good look at them. And it just verified some things that I had thought. They don't play a 2021 style of basketball. They got a real old-school vibe to them. They get down and they lock up.

They're not trying to score 125, although I'm sure they could. They're just trying to beat you. and they're going to do whatever it takes to beat you. They're physical. They got a bunch of antagonists running around the court in your face, just bullying and debawing and bully-balling. They're really, really talented offensively. They've got a bunch of guys that can get you a bucket.

I really like the Miami Heat. I think they're going to be a problem for everybody. They're going to be a problem for everybody. They don't even have Victor Oladipa. I have no idea what version of Victorola Depot is coming back. I have no idea. Does it even matter right now? It doesn't right now.

But what I'm saying is like, this is how I feel about them now, watching them, and he isn't even in the fold. Let me just look. Let me just look. I had these numbers up a second ago and tell you what they did to the Brooklyn Nets last night in terms of, they out rebounding them by 20, right? And you're going to tell me, y'all, Brooklyn struggles, you know, on the class. They did last year.

and, you know, that's a thing. Okay, 20 is a big damn number. Offensive rebounds, I don't even have it. But let's go second chance points. 31 to 4. It was 31 to 4 in second chance points. They were just debawing Brooklyn. Yeah.

They were just bully ball. They won't do that to everyone. And that might be an Achilles heel for Brooklyn moving forward. We could touch on that at some point. But the fact is, I think they can beat you in a lot of different ways, right? And that's going to be a problem. I just, I'm ready for a rant, Roger, because, you brought it out of me just now.

Over the last 10 years, NBA has gotten way too cute, man. It's gotten way too, way too much finesse out here, way too much like, you know, I don't, I just,

I miss, I didn't know how much I missed 90s basketball. And a lot of that has to do with last year's postseason with the Knicks involved. But it made me think about, we need physicality back into the game, dog.

We need shit talking back into the game dog. And the Miami Heat of this season do that. They are such a physical basketball team, bro. They had Blake Griffin on the floor, and they weren't picking him up. They were, it was a, this is a Pat Riley team. This is a Pat Riley Eric Spoucester team. We're going to kick your ass. We're going to, Jimmy Butler got the baggy jersey on right now with the baggy shorts.

He got the headband on. He is fucking taking offensive rebounds. He's probably going seven of 21, but it doesn't. Doesn't fucking matter because all seven of those were putbacks over your biggest player. He is imposing his will. Then you have bam out of bio getting blocked shots. He's talking shit. Is he the biggest dude on the floor?

No, no, he's not. But he's headbutting people. He's headbutting Kevin. He's like, I'm here. I'm fucking here. And I love that about this Miami team. This is the best version. This is like the bubble Miami team, man.

I like this. I do like it. Now, when we talk about the Brooklyn Nets, I have some legitimate concerns about them, man. I really do. We're seeing that Kevin and James are getting a little older, right? And they can only do so much offensively to overcome this roster that while Valiance is a lot of guys that it's a veteran-led roster. But I don't think we can count on Blake Griffin just being the guy every single night. God bless the Marcus Alders.

I don't think we can just rely on him to be a big at a high level every single night. So you're going to have these ebbs and flows. And it's just really hard to watch the Brooklyn Nets right now. All right. Let me just go back for a second and tell you with the Miami Heat shot from the field last. Okay. Let me take you back. The Miami Heat shot 39.6% from the field for twos and 27.6% from threes.

That's beautiful. And they beat the shit out of you. Yes. So again, what I'm saying about. them is they're going to be a problem for people because they can shoot. They're not going to have those numbers. They have guys that can fill it up. They didn't. Now, what you're going to tell me is, you know, Patty Mills didn't play great and, you know, Kevin Durant didn't play. I am going to say facts, except like some of that had to do with the people guarding them. They were up in, in their

personal space. And that affects the way you play. As far as Brooklyn is concerned, you are 100% correct. believe that they can win a championship without Kyrie Irving. Yeah. I don't believe it. I don't believe it either. I think they can be really, really good, especially as James Hardin continues the round into form. I'm not panicking about James Hardin right now.

I'm not. I think, you know, he had a tough offseason rehabbing those injuries. He didn't get to play a lot of basketball. He even said it himself. I think he's going to be fine. I think Kevin Durant's going to be fine. Patty Mills, nice pickup. Not enough.

not enough with the rest of that roster. That roster is built for a three-headed juggernaut of an offensive combination and they just, without him, I don't think they can't. The thing is, though, is, this is, it's funny to the tail between the Brooklyn Nets and the Miami Heat, it's the two-tail sign. One team has an identity and the other team just does not. It doesn't matter how good you are. It doesn't matter how much talents you have.

You have to have a North Star as a team. And I don't know what direction. the direction the nets are going in right now. I just don't know. Do they pass it to Kevin every single possession and have him figure it out like they did against the Milwaukee Bucks? Or do you give it to, like,

what do you do with this roster, man? It's so hard. Well, to that point, to that point, watching the game last night, I don't know, three minutes to go. It was starting to slip away. You know, I'm looking for some, for some understanding of what we're trying to accomplish

on these possessions because they get more and more critical as the clock evaporates. And I got just the opposite. I got panic possessions. I got wild shots. I got skips across the court that got deflected and stolen because it didn't look like we knew what we were going to be in and we were on a shot clock. Like, that's not a good look.

That's not a good look. They are 29th in the league right now in offensive efficiency. With Kevin Durant and James Harden on the roster. 29th in the league right now. Let me tell you what they are defensively right now. Because that's usually where we're going to take issue with them. Not as bad. They're 18th in the league.

I don't think they're ever going to be great on that end. But you can't be, they're not going to wind up. Again, 20 games, barometer, right? It's going to get better. They're not going to wind up there. But I just don't think that without Kyrie, the rest of the roster is going to be able to do enough to win a championship. They'll be a good team.

but I don't think they win the championship. Now, I do wonder this, and this is another question. I asked you about this to Lakers. Do we think that this is the, this is the roster that we're going to see in March with the Brooklyn Nets? And I don't think so. And the second question that I would ask is Kyrie going to be on the team in March,

because if they need to make a deal and both sides are just dug in, do you make a deal to get Kyrie out to get some more rail-rounded players to get you over the hump? What do you do? You asked me last year. You remember when you asked me about moving Kyrie, what I said? No, it wasn't just you. It was you and Perk.

Right, correct. And I would say this. I would have to get back. I'm not going to get back Kyrie, right? I can't get back Kyrie. But if I could get some pieces where the, you know, I could get two pieces back that they were really, really good players and maybe, you know, obviously not Kyrie,

but would help me round out that roster or round KD and James Harden. The answer to that is yes. I don't know that they can. I don't know. But if purely in a vacuum and you said to me, hey, we're going to give you a bona fide stretch four type of defender rim presence

and something else that I could plug into a starting lineup. I'm in. I just, and I don't have any reporting on this, but just from 3,000 miles away. It just seems like it's untenable there. It doesn't seem great. It doesn't seem great.

Matter of fact, whenever you see Steve again, whenever you see Steve now, just give him a hug. Just give him a hug. Like, don't have any words. Don't have any words. Don't even do it. Like, what's up? Just, like, come here and give him a hug. Because I think that's what he needs at this moment in life.

That's my man. He got work to do, though. Him, my buddy, David Vanterpool. I don't, I try to keep the, I try to respect the relationship because I am in the media now. And so while personally, I want to know how those cats are doing. I want to check in with them. I don't ever want them to think that I'm just trying to be, you know, digging for anything like that.

And so that's a, that's an interesting relationship in and of itself. But I probably need to check in on them because it looks, I agree with you. It looks, this, for anyone that wanted to know again, oh,

it's not going to be a distraction. Oh, it's not going to be, bullshit. Yeah, dude. This is where we are. It's going to, it's it.

It's all we got to say, man. It's it. And so I'm not even absolving Steve and staff for maybe some things that they need to do better, but there's a lot going on there. Sometimes I just want, like, you know, I wish that, you know, that Steve was just back in Manhattan Beach and feel like he'd have a great time right now. He'd be having a lot better time from Beach in, L.A., and just chilling.

I can't confirm this, but. Yeah. Maybe he does too. I don't know. I'm just saying I have no source on that. I did not ask him that. I'm just saying, no. Yeah.

Hey, Steve, rocking with you dog. because it's like it's us right now. All right. Mad Hooper time. Roger has some shit to get off of his chest. He's been watching John Morant all season. And he has something that he needs people to, people in high places and corporate office in the C-sweets.

They need to know something. What do they need to know, Rajah? I'll tell you why I'm mad, son. You want to know why I'm mad, son? Let me tell me why you mad, son. We got this man, John Morant, out here on one of the league leading teams to start the season, averaging 30.5, 5, and 8.

I'm going to say that again, 30.5, 5, and 8. But I got to watch this man run around in Kyrie's and old, old Kobe's, and LeBron's, or whatever the hell else he's wearing. This man needs a signature shoe. He's not going anywhere. He's a highlight waiting to happen. He's only getting better. He's virtually unguaritable.

The jump shot continues to get better. I'm calling for a signature John Morant kick. Somebody make it happen. If the higher ups aren't listening, I can respect that. I can dig it. And let the streets start talking, no. Let's get on that. We need hashtag John Morant's signature shoe, baby.

It's coming. Biggs don't sell shoes. Cats like John Morant sells shoes. Let's get it done. Hey, hey, Nike. We're looking at shoe player. We're looking at you, all right? We need a John Morant's signature shoe right now,

and then we need an Asia Wilson signature shoe. Stop fucking playing with us, all right? Stop fucking playing with us, all right? All the real ones street teams right now, get Josh shoe, get Asia's shoe, we hear right now. Just, hey, all our street team, everybody, all the affiliates, we see you, all the real ones. Let's fucking make this happen.

Before we get out of here, real one of the week. Honestly, maybe. What's up? Can I touch on one more thing real quick? Yeah, go ahead. I think I went to, go ahead. I owe this to both Chicago and New York. Can't wait to watch you guys play.

Can't wait to watch you guys play. Probably better than I gave both teams credit for being definitely this early in the season. And both have characteristics that I think are sustainable, and you're going to be there. I don't know about championship, but really good basketball teams. Can't wait to watch your two teams play. I want to add one more team to that list. Yeah. Sacramento Kings

Did you see them One of my Sleeper teams I don't think I don't know They're gonna make the playoffs I just saw the fucking Harrison Bards

in a three To beat your Phoenix Sons last night I was like I was like okay I like Tyree's Halliburton I like I like what you guys got

I like Buddy Hill I like I like Darren Fox you know I like your roster okay I just want to say I don't know what that means Davey on Mitchell

like you I like you sir and you know how we feel about Mark Jones on this program We know that's all love. That's all love. All love.

We're one of the week, man. We always said it'll be a person, person, or person, people, thing, or entity. I'm going to go to a city. I'm going to go with the city of San Francisco. Because on Monday, I just had a great day. I had a great day. I went chilled, went to the hate Ashbury, went record shopping, walked, saw all the tie-dye, just had a great walk over there.

went to downtown to the Cheesecake Factory. I ate a great meal. I had gumbo, the gumbo there, had the bread, watch Russell, not Rod's Walsh, but watch the Seahawks play. What's the Monday Night Football Game. It was a great night, man. It was like one of those old-school San Francisco night.

Sasha's been trying to get me out in San Francisco, just been trying to tell me that I need to just get out and about and just see it. I had a great time. I love you, San Francisco. now, Roger, what is your risk of a week? Yeah. My real one of the week, and I'm going to do, can I do this retroactively?

Can I go back a week? It's our segment. It's our segment. You can do what we want? Yeah. Let me, can I use a Miami-Sem? You ain't said shit's licked to a can of oil, bro. Let's go.

This is going to be Ryan Reynolds, man. Okay. The actor. My man said, like, he's got to step away from acting for a while. To be a dad, dude. Yes. To focus on his biggest role, which is being a dad. And I really appreciate that.

And I think that's super real, man, because sometimes in the quest for, like, personal achievement and money and all of the things that go along with success, we forget about them little ones, you know? The ones that really need you and we're serving self. And I really thought that was dope that he said he was going to step away to focus on being a damn dad. So real one, my man, Ryan Reynolds, no doubt.

It's crazy what we think, like, you know, when we're single and when we're just kind of on the grind, we think that work is everything, right? And we think that being the best or being considered the best at your craft is everything. But no, there's real life, too. Taking care of your kids is very important, everyone out there, all my real ones, please.

No, taking care of your kids is important. And that's dope, man. It's dope to hear that, man. So, you know, that was our Thursday edition of Real Ones. Make sure you check us out every Monday and Thursday. We may or may not have a special guest coming on Monday who has a question to ask Raza, a very special question. I'm just going to let you guys marinate on that. But in the meantime, make sure you guys check out the mismatch.

Make sure you check out group chat. Make sure you check out the answer. Make sure you check out Black Girl's songbook with who, Raja Bell. Town Legend, Danielle Smith. Make sure you check out 60 songs that define the 90s of Rob Parvella. Make sure you check out R2C2 with who? Roushebel. Filo legend, crestside clown, Ccule.

Cicabia. We will see you guys on Monday. Holla.