D-Lo, Reaves, Vendo, Coach Ham x James Worthy React To Lakers/Rockets | March 15, 2023

Lakers lose to the worst team in the league. Just 24 hours after a big win in New Orleans. So one step forward take another one back second worst offensive night of the year for the Lakers, but really guys it boils down to this the effort and defense just weren't there from the jump James. Yeah, I don't own. I don't know whether they left, you know, some of their energy in their last game, but I know Houston's, you know, they're playing better than their record indicates, but I really thought this was a game that they could that they needed and because of the need of the game. I thought that they would mentally get themselves ready to you know, put up a little bit better effort. They seem a little a little maybe fatigued. I'm not really sure what it was, you know, as a back-to-back game you travel didn't really seem like they they had that energy to so it's indicative by, you know, the points in the paint and the lack of assists for the Lakers third quarter was a little bit better, but it just it was a it was an odd game and I get it one out of 82 games team. This hot just beat the Celtics. We're just more aggressive and with no paper, no rent protection. It was it was seems like it was lights out early. Yeah. I mean, I yeah, it's interesting. I feel like, you know, there's some games where you just don't feel like the other team is a threat. Yeah. So then you don't really bring like your absolute best because you you believe you probably can still win without your best. Whereas the last night in in response to losing the game Sunday versus the Knicks. I think they felt like okay. The Pelicans are a legitimate threat. They probably knew. Okay. BI is going to be in the lineup. We have to play well to beat this team and they did obviously with Anthony Davis on the floor slot easier. But tonight it yeah, just didn't seem the effort didn't necessarily match. Maybe what mentally was the like the intent. Yeah, they said the right things last night. They wanted to win this game. They felt like last night's win wouldn't mean as much without winning tonight, but it didn't the performance didn't match that didn't feel like that. No, and that doesn't mean that they weren't trying. That's we don't understand. We don't know that from this place like that. I don't think professional athletes are ever not trying but it just didn't seem to Align with the things that they said they wanted to accomplish tonight. We talked about this being a trap game in the postgame show last night. We talked about it in the pregame show tonight. We mentioned with 13 games left. The motivation should be there because of where they are in the standings. How just one loss can flip you. We also talked about for the first time in 414 days. You have a chance to be back at 500 finally, but it just didn't match up. Like you guys said and when you take someone for granted or you take someone lightly in this League, you will lose the Rockets who don't shoot the ball. Really? Well, probably saw an opportunity. No ad no Mo Bamba. No rim protection, you know, sometimes, you know, I hate it when like Kareem or when Magic was out of the game, but then I got excited and because I knew it was going to be some opportunities and I thought tonight, you know, without ad and you know, no LeBron and you know, like they did in the Oklahoma game. I thought they would find a purpose to rise up and it just didn't seem like they were able to able to match that effort. You know, I you know, I'm sure you know fish is a coach. He probably saw some things, you know, like we talked about the zone a little bit. I wouldn't mind fish talking about some of the, you know, not things that they should have done, but some possibilities that were there for them. Perhaps. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, and obviously hindsight is 2020, you know, a team that doesn't shoot the ball. Well percentage wise having difficult time stopping them from scoring in the paint, you know, throwing out some zone doing some things to mix it up. But you know, I just think Houston had, you know, they have more energy. They have more gas in the tank. The Lakers were like the physicality that normally is on the floor with LeBron and ad you could tell the Rockets just they didn't fear anything from this Lakers team. So there was just no resistance and that's difficult when you're playing against elite athletes. If they don't respect you being able to shut them down or stop them from doing what they want to do. They'll just pile on and that's that's what they did. Like I said, this is a young Rockets team. That's going to be in the lottery right now. They move ahead. So they're the second worst record. They were tied for the worst but they don't want to be the worst record in the league three years in a row. They don't want to be that team that finally does that. So they're four and three in their last seven games coming off win against Boston. Like I said, there's just a couple of stats. You can always look at to see who's winning that that game in terms of effort, right? Obviously, it's an eye test to when we watch we can tell when a team's more dialed in than the other but you look at 16 offensive rebounds that leads you to 20 points 78 points in the paint out. Rebounding the Lakers by 15 Kevin Porter jr. Going for 27 seven guys in double figures. This team was feeling good tonight beginning. Well, you don't get it. It's I mean, it's no fun being labeled the worst team in the league. It's not fun. You know, they're looking forward to next year. They're just trying to maybe show you look what's coming, you know, take us for granted, you know, I wouldn't want to be labeled the worst team and come out and get mopped up every night. So beat the Celtics, you know, you got to play them. You can't come in and take them for granted and it looks like that's what happened tonight versus the Lakers. They just look like they just didn't have that to go out and take the game away and it is March. It's late March. You got to look at the uphill battle. This team has been through. I mean, they've been having to play harder and stronger than just about any other team to try to win some games. So I'm not saying that they're they're fatigued, but you know, sometimes at this time of the year back-to-back games the end of March, no excuses, but it will subconsciously sometimes it'll just it'll get you where you can't, you know, get ready for a big game against a rocket. So hopefully snap back just some good ad back and get back on track. I only have one positive see that Austin Reeves appreciation night did not have it going from 3-1 for seven. So, you know what he did got to the free throw line got to the free throw line 13 times made 11. I'm still had 24 points impact of the game in the effort was there from from the get-go. Yeah, I've got to appreciate Austin. That's that's a guy who's undrafted and knows he's playing for a job every single night in the NBA. You gotta love it. Let's hear from Darvin Ham. He's speaking with Mike Trudeau in the media before games after games non-game days energy effort and urgency and I thought, you know coming out of the gates that kind of was non-existent. You know, I didn't see a lot of that but I saw it on their part Houston young young team, you know, regardless what their record is they came to play and we felt them. They made them made us feel them in terms of them attacking the paint them getting hits them getting offensive rebounds giving themselves extra possessions and we had to we should have been the ones playing with that type of edge, but you know, so goes the NBA you have your ups and downs, but there is no excuses. Nobody's gonna feel sorry for you, you know, no matter who's in or out the lineup. We got to come to guys who are available and capable of playing. We got to come and put our best foots forward and tonight, you know, once we did catch up, you know, they went on like a 9-0 run the Jabari hits two threes and then Christopher hits a three. So but you put yourself behind the eight ball. If you don't come out the right way, we have to be the ones to come out and establish a physicality and a competitive high competitive bar. Not sure how much of that's just going to defense versus offense put execution wise on offense. Other than Austin and Dennis getting to line up a lot. What did you see as the issues on offense struggle defensively and you're playing against a set defense offense is going to struggle. You're not going to be able to be in a good rhythm. You know, you saw against New Orleans last night. We were able to get stops and get runouts and get easy baskets and the ball start moving around exchanging hands, but that has everything to do with us being able to get stops and hold the whole teams to one possession. They had 78 points in the paint. Is that more a part of what up 80 not being there of a product of you guys just not being tough enough. The problem was not being good on the ball, you know that individual pride. It takes to keep the ball in front and guys behind you knowing that the paint is the priority this team lives in the paint Houston Rockets live in the paint and and whether it's drives whether it's you know, again, giving themselves second and third possessions on one particular play through their offensive rebounding. They live and thrive in the paint and we preach that to him before the game and it's just you know, as a matter of fact of putting your mind to it and locking in and wanting to be great on the ball. No one man has to get a stop but you do have to be the initiator of getting that stop by being great on the ball. Just more specifically into that start. I think Rockets were eight for 11 to start the game. How much was trying to just figure out the defense with Rui and Jared and sort of somewhat unfamiliar positions for them and then obviously start in the second half with Winyan. What was the thought and what did Winyan give you tonight? Winyan did a fantastic job rebounding his activity his length changing up some shots. Just again his activity defensively in the paint his ability secure defensive rebounds. We wanted to go with that and you know, give Rui a chance to come off the second half and try to make an impact when you know with the second unit, but again, you could throw all of that out rotations coverages and sometimes it just comes down to individual performance and and and guys being locked in once again and understanding the circumstances of being ready to play and the beautiful thing about again where we are is that with games still left to play and we'll have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We got to go back and fill our cups up tomorrow and get ready to take advantage of a five-game homestand. What do you see as a difference in the three-point shooting for your team between last night when you have one of the better nights as a franchise and tonight? Defense again, you get stops you create turnovers you get deflections you hold team to one possession miss shots leads to run outs run outs lead to open threes to come. That's the only difference that you saw between last night and tonight. We weren't able to get stops and then when we did they were able to collect offensive rebounds. Then we get another stop and they collect another offensive rebound. So when you when you're not when you're taking the ball out every time you're not going to get, you know, your pace shots, so to speak like when you get stops and you're able to you know, guys are sprinting to the corner guys slashing you penetrating the gaps defense is being collapsed. Then you get to kick out threes you plan to get to set defense all of that. It just makes everything that much more difficult. You know, realistically for the rest of the season whether you're on the higher end or the lower end of the standings chase, you're going to be playing these stakes of games for the rest of the season. Are you concerned just with sort of how much pressure is on each individual game? How each loss hits? I mean, is there do you feel any added weight to the games as we get closer to the end of the season? I mean, it's the NBA. You're not cut out for this. You're in the wrong business. I love it personally, which I you know, would I rather have a sound and secure spot in the postseason? Yeah, we wouldn't. But our circumstances are what they are and no way in hell. Am I going to feel sorry for myself and start looking over my shoulder and what could have should have would have been or whatever the hell. No, we you know, it is what it is. The circumstances are what they are. Our job is to attack them and attack them with with attention to detail with consistency more consistency on both sides of the ball and to make sure again, we're trying to improve every day whether it's a game day or non-game day for the duration of the season. Austin led the Lakers with 24 points. He's speaking with Mike in the media. Yes. Austin, I know you came in off the bench, but Darwin was was talking about the lack of the overall energy to start the game and understanding that ad was out. What did you see on the court? And how did you feel like that played out throughout the continuity evening? Yeah, I mean it's it's a back-to-back. It's no excuse. You know, everybody has those in the league. So you got to find something to you know, energize you it's hard sometimes but at the end of the day with where we're at in the standings and you know what we're trying to do that should be enough itself. So we as players got to do better just, you know, trying to figure out something to for the group to get going. So slow start a lot of mistakes a lot of you know, missed advantages like on our defensive end, but same time they're trying to do stuff and you know, we're human and you know, we just got to fix it. Yeah, I feel good. I mean, it's I feel great. It's part of the part of the game, you know, it's physical contact and you know, everybody gets, you know, beat up a little bit bruised up. So the end of the day, I'm alive and I'm playing basketball. So I can't complain. I thought we did good, you know, scrapping our way back even though we were not playing good. You shoot 37 from the field 25 from three. You're most times not going to win that game. So they're a very talented young ball club. That's, you know, been together for I think two years now a lot of them have and they're they're gelling well and they're you could tell that they enjoy playing with each other. So, you know, they're like I said, they're super talented. So for them to you know, go on a 9-0 run is is, you know, kind of easy for him sometimes. So that's part of the game and you know, obviously we don't want that and you know, we could have did things differently to, you know, make it harder for them, but everybody's a pro. Darnell was saying that a lot of the stops yesterday when they got in the first half kind of flowed into your offense and was part of that big shooting rally and sort of the opposite happened today. You guys don't get stops and the offense stagnates. How much do you think that is key to just finding a flow that gets you guys going as shooters? Yeah, I mean, it's a big thing, you know, when you don't get great looks, you know, out the gate or, you know, throughout the game. I remember I think it was the end of the third. There was like, felt like like four or five timeouts called back or maybe in the fourth. There was like four or five timeouts back to back to back. It's kind of hard to, you know, get a flow like that. You need to stop, you go, you stop, you go. But they, I know in the first half they killed us offensive rebounding. So that, I mean our first shot defense wasn't bad. We did, you know, kind of what we wanted to do, but, you know, failed executing boxing out. So they would, they got a lot of, you know, easy looks on offensive rebounds where they have 80 some points in the paint. So you can't really get out and run in those situations and for our ball club, you know, we like to get out and run and, you know, swing swing to, you know, bees in the corner or something like that for a high percent of shot. And that's, you know, that's where you get your feel from. When he's three, was it after the buzzer? So it's kind of a moot point, but when you end up going to the line, the point three seconds up, did you allow your mind to go there, that there was some very small shred of the possibility that you guys could somehow extend the game there? Yeah, I was, I definitely calculated it out and was, I mean, it didn't matter because I missed a free throw, but I was calculating out. If I bate both, we would have a chance, but then they put point three on the clock and I don't think it's physically possible to get a shot up at point three, but I missed a free throw. So they didn't even get there. Just six points, 14 boards for Winnie and Gabriel. He's in the locker room with Mike. Not enough of them. All right, Winnie, you know, what's the, what's the balance for you guys? And, you know, being frustrated or loss, you know, at the same time, you know, trying not to lose the momentum that you've been building since the trade deadline, especially, how do you guys handle that internally? I mean, we're also, we're definitely, you know, this loss doesn't feel good to us, but we also understand we got a big homestand coming up and we're in a position where we can get into the playoffs where we can maybe secure the sixth seed, but just taking it one game at a time, you know, there's no throwaway games and this was never a throwaway game in our mind. So, you know, we're going to have AD back and we didn't, we didn't collectively do enough to win this game today. So Darvin makes the adjustment at halftime to have you start the second half. Did he say anything specifically about in the team about why he wanted to make that move and what he was looking for from you? No, he didn't. He didn't say anything about that. He just kind of mentioned at the end of halftime that I'm going to start the second half and just told me to continue to rebound the ball. Rebounding being one part of the focus. What did you think just defensively overall from the opening tip as a team that was maybe lacking some compared to last night? I think we just allowed them to get into the paint too much too easily. We need to show more resistance. I think the numbers will tell the story there with a lot of paint points and we need to shift off of guys that are not high volume shooters more often and help each other and also just take more pride in containing the ball and pretty much that. I mean, I think that was the story right there. It's finishing the paint. You meant, just one last one. What do you think was going right when you guys were cutting it down to I think five at the closest? What was kind of flowing for you guys? Oh, we was getting stops. I mean, when you get stops, you can get out in transition and I feel like that's when we've been at our best during this last stretch that we've been in. We begin our transition and then the ball moves easier, you know, when the defense is not set and we find shots or find our shooters and their gravity gives us layups as well. So, you know, getting stops is really important even to our offense. Just what's the biggest area of focus for you guys as you think about these final few games that are coming up at the end of the month and then early April? I mean, coach has been saying the same three words for the last few months. So energy, effort and urgency and those are things where we need to continue to maintain a high level of play, but also continue with our IQ. You know, we got to play smart, play the right way and also understand that we're in a dire point in our season where we need to really lock in and taking one game at a time, you know, we've been having a great collective effort. We have a lot of energy, a lot of good energy and we need to continue to rally behind that and even after a loss like this, we got to keep that same energy, you know, LeBron for sure is going to remain mentally engaged physically, you know, he's going to put the time in in terms of rehab working on his body on and other than his conditioning and timing, you know, I think physically he'll come back. He'll be fresh and hopefully the Lakers are still, you know, within that top 10 or close enough to still have a chance to get in. All right, Jared Vanderbilt had a double-double. He's standing by with Mike. What do you think was different tonight compared to last night about the early energy? I think we just started off a little slow. We took them a little lightly and the energy just wasn't there to start the game like it was second half, but we were just fighting uphill battle at that point. And yeah, it's just hard. We played our ass off in second half, but you know, trying to come back from that deficit. It was tough. The things overall since you got here and the other guys at the trade that line it clearly been pretty positive. You've been winning games. You'll get 80 back next time, but the games are starting to run out still. But what is the kind of that sense of urgency that you guys feel right now? We just got to play the game like it's our last like, you know, we run out of time. I mean, I know we got what 12 games left. We have no more freebies, even though I mean we never had nothing to begin with but we need all these games, you know, we need to win as much as possible and especially, you know, ones like tonight, you know, against teams that aren't even fighting for playoff position and especially Western Conference teams. We need to win those games. Obviously, it's easier to play well when it feels like the tide is turning like last night in the first half. But when you look at the urgency you guys had in the first half against the Pelicans versus the urgency tonight, do you see, I mean, obviously without AD, but do you see a big difference in how you approach the games? I think tonight we started out, we didn't make shots. So, you know, it's easier to play better when shots going in. I feel like Pelicans, we started making shots early. So it's our whole defense up, everything up. So we just need to have more of a defensive approach and not allow our shot making or lack thereof to, you know, decide how we play on defense. So, like I said, I think we need to have a defensive minded approach to start the game and, you know, regardless of whether we're making shots or not. Once you all cut it to four and made play through the fourth, they went on a 9-0 run. Do you remember anything about that sequence that you wish as a team you guys could have got back? I mean, honestly, we fought back to cut it down to four. I think they kind of just, you know, they killed us on the glass a little bit. Just getting some time in the office to rebound and get a couple threes in that stretch too. That kind of hurt us. Yeah, overall. I think it was pretty much his office to rebound and it kind of killed us and it's in the paint and they made some shots as it's late. But we got to do a better job of protecting the paint and I think they had 74, 76 paint points. That's 78. I think that's just unacceptable. Like, especially a team like that. We got to protect the paint first and then, you know, worry about shooters later. D'Angelo Russell scored 18 points in the loss. He's with Mike in the media. Yeah, D'Angelo, since the trade deadline, things have been going pretty well overall for the team, you know, a couple setbacks here and there. But tonight, how do you take a game like this when the team didn't play well and Darvin mentioned the energy wasn't great. But how do you kind of understand that and then try to apply it as you go down this home stretch here? It's exactly that. Just try to wash this one down the drain. Obviously, we didn't get off to the start. We wanted, didn't own into the game plan like we wanted to. Like I said, this team's not an easy team to beat, you know. Got a lot of joy about them right now. The season's coming to an end. So, I mean, for us to come out and not do what we need to do and lose, it kind of hurts. I mean, obviously, the numbers that AD brings you guys themselves. But in terms of offense and when you're facing a half-court defense, where does, what do you kind of feel like AD's absence puts pressure on other parts of the court? I would ask you, what do you think? But I'm not going to do that. I mean, he's just, he's a player that demands so much attention and it's a lot of gravity that goes his way. And when he's on the floor, obviously, you get a lot of easier opportunities to capitalize on. And when he's not, you got to make up for it. And when you're facing a team that switches, no matter what team you're facing that switches, it makes the offense a little more stagnant. So, it has to be more ball movement, more continuity, more quick hitters in second and third option, things like that. So, like I said, we're a team that's figuring a lot of things out. So, there's holes in our system right now that, obviously, we're trying to figure out and, you know, we're not all out there. I mean, it's going to make it hard. Darwin thought that the offensives from defense not being able to create too long opportunities to get more freedom. Can you feel that out there? Like, was that, did you feel like that was part of the reason that shooting percentages were where they were? I mean, I'm not going to go against coach. I mean, he obviously sees that as well and I agree. But, you know, when, you know, LeBron's playing, we're a different offensive team. When AD's playing, we're a different offensive team. I compare it to with Kobe when he used to, he was on his way out and he didn't practice a lot. And we had a practice group in there to practice and ran the plays and we did all that. But then when Kobe would play, everything we practiced on, you know, kind of went down the drain. We had to adjust. So, it's similar to that, you know, no Bron, no AD when that's what we kind of accustomed to. You got to adjust and I think that's the first time I've seen that, that lineup with no AD, no Bron. So, obviously it was the first time for me and it was, it was a little weird, but got to adjust. Because one of the goals of me is to get to 500 and once you get there, what can that do for this group? Say that again? One of your guys goals is to get to 500. Can you keep getting close to it, but you're still two games below? Yeah. Is that one of the goals? I don't think that matters. I think one game at a time and try to win it. And then hope the teams ahead of us lose, you know, try to win the game, hope the team ahead of us lose and go from there. I don't think 500 is the number you want because 500 can still have you in whatever place in the standings. Obviously could be good, but just last year, the year before that, 500 wasn't good enough. So, now teams in the West being so stacked, 500 could be great, but I think it's just one game at a time. We got 12, 13 games left. I think every game matters. I'm just trying to get it one game at a time. I think there's a goal there, honestly.