Latest / Bleacher Report / Lakers Eliminated in 5, Where Do They Go From Here _ Inside the NBA

Transcript

Lakers Eliminated in 5, Where Do They Go From Here _ Inside the NBA · Bleacher Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Lakers one to three
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: to ninety six and take the series in five. First
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: time Minnesota's beating the Lakers in a postgame series. They
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: lost to the other one with home court and this
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: one without home court. They taken five from the Lakers.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Who do we have two k First here is JJ Riddick.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: We executed great in the fourth quarter, misshots at the rim,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: missed a bunch of threes, shot twelve to fifty two
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: for the series in the fourth quarter from three. On
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: top of that, you you lose two games in Minnesota
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: minus twelve and scoring opportunities minus thirteen, and then you
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: lose by twenty to night. You know, just too many turnovers,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: too many offensive rebounds, and you know, I I think
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: given the struggles scoring the all particularly early in the series.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: You know, the there's a trade off. There's always a
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: trade off. You could go play play a center. We
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: couldn't score, So there's a trade off to everything with this.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: But we you know, we obviously put ourselves in a
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: position to be in the game four, you know, three
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: times in the fourth quarter and just came up short
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: every time. But you know, again, the the offensive part
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: of it tonight in particular, was we I mean we missed,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: we missed wide open threes. We we missed a couple
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: of shots at the rim. We got good looks.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we will be monitoring JJ's comments. If there's anything
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: else that we'd like to bring you, we shall do that.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Lebron James five points in the fourth quarter last two games,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: scoreless in Game four in the fourth in the fourth
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: quarter for the series, Minnesota was plus forty two, kind
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: of reemphasizing the point that JJ Reddick was making about
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: how they were they had nothing going in the fourth quarter,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: and well.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: You know they should they just it was too small.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: They should have put some side like Jackson Hayes.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: I want to know what the story is with Jacks.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Like you can't put all those little guys out there
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: because it was just a free fall on the offensive
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: board and just going to the paint and listen. I
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: know he's a little sensitor right now because because of
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: the criticism he's taking. But you know, sometimes, yeah, that's
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: it is the criticism fair. You shouldn't have played the
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: forty euro guy because Lebron had nothing tonight. He was
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: just selling for jump shots. He went to the basket
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: a couple times. He was just selling for jump shot.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: I think my guy set up for a jump shot.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: That's fatigue, And you got to He didn't really play
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: his bench a little a lot. He played three guys
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: off the bench, like see, that's what I don't understand.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: He played a guy who hadn't played since January. He
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: hadn't played since January, and so he really telling those
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: other guys on the bench they suck. That's all he's saying.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: Like you get if you basically get a guy last game,
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: he says, Okay, you guys suck. I'm not gonna put
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: you in the game.
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: He sucked.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: Then he gets a guy who hadn't played since January
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: and says, I trust him, a guy who hadn't played
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: in a basketball game since January. I'd rather put him
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: in the game than you guys.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: That that is, rather than Jackson Hayes, who has been
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: a starter even though he hasn't played a lot of minutes.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: But he's he and he you're getting killed inside.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Yes, if you recall Ernie at the start of the series,
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: my fear for the Lakers, but I said they believe
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: that best lineup is when Lebron James is at the four,
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: and I don't think he can guard Julius Randall or
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: guys that way. I think his superpower, I was saying,
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: when he's at the three, because then he's still physically intimidating.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: But Julius Randall and as you move on and you'd
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: have to all of a sudden, you gotta go to
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Aaron Gordon and all these different guys that are athletic force.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: I just thought that would be too much for a
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: forty year old person because now his best attribute. Now
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: Lebron has been the best player in our generation at
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: any position, but at this stage, forty years old, he's
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: a three man that can overpower smaller threes, and you
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: put them at the four, and I thought that was
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: a disadvantage.
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: You know, they have two of the top name players
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: on their team, but let's just keep it real. They're
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: not good enough and it's unfortunately they're gonna be like
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: this for a while. They're not going to make any
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: moves this summer. Got to pay two guys fifty million up.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: So get used to this, because then when you have
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: players of that caliber, is championship for best.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: So well, that trade that did not go through in
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Charlotte Williams. That was huge for them because they would
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: have been able to possibly if you would have played them,
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: you see what it would have helped them because he
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: would have trusted So you know enough of you've seen
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: enough of Mark Williams. No disrespect to Mark Williams. You've
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: seen enough of him that he would have he would
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: have been service to the ball gets rude to go
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: bad tonight, yes, without question, without question.
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: First, well, don't act like they was throwing through the post.
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: Rudy got drop offs because people were going that Luca,
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: thank you exactly right.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: To her, Finney Smith and dropping over Austin but dropping
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: out seven foot one guy stopping dropping over. I tell
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: you you don't think the Lakers need size. They need
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: some time. But the.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: Lakers size, the Lakers move they need.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: I mean, jackon Age is a good young guy. Mark Williams,
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: you're not in a position of power.
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: You're sitting at.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: Home, relaxed, nothing of health. We don't know that I do,
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: We don't know that. Help Well, how is that working
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: out for Charlotte? Because Charlotte has holes in a lot
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: of areas. As a hole they his area he would
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: have been. Let me tell you something contributive. As I
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: told you, not good enough, them clowns on. Okay, okay,
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: them guys will be If they're not good enough, what
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: do they need they need? Number one, they got to
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: get some more athletic ability. They can't guard anybody and
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: they're going so they're gonna have to find somebody to
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: cover for Lebron and Luca cover which way defensively because
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: Lebron don't play defense anymore. Luca can't guard a chair,
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: and you're gonna have You're gonna have to have Wilt
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: Kareem and biod Russell Beckfeld blocking shot if they gonna
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: keep anybody in front of him.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: First first round elimination for the second straight season in
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: JJ Reddick's first and do not have a twenty twenty
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: five first round Hick, Luca got.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: To get in better shape too. Well, that's been a knock,
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: but you know, you know it's been a knock at
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: some point as a player, you can't have people saying
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: that about you. You're an elite player and you're getting
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: ready to get three four hundred million dollars. You can't
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: say you got to get in shape to earn that money.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: You can't get on TV every day and we all
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: do it. He can't guard anybody, well yeah, I think,
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: but you know in Dallas, you know his game hasn't
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: changed much. But what he did have is Lively and
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: back there. And I'm so glad you said that, Kenny.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: But that's what I'm saying. He had those That's what
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: That's what they were expecting Mark Williams to be. But
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: him the lob catcher, the rim protector when guys are
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: able to drive out because the trade off is you
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: might get twenty, but Luca might get four. See see
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: this is the trade. This is the point I want
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: to make about that's Dallas situation. I thought that a lot.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: A lot of the criticism for Nico I thought was
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: a little unfair because yeah, they made it to the
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: finals last year with Kyrie and Luca, but that team
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: was mediocre until Nico went out and got PJ. Gafford
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: and Lively I think, and that took him to the
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: next level. So Nico did a fabulous job last year.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: We can talk about the trade this year, but last year.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Luca's a hell of a player, Kyrie's a hell of
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: a player, but until the marriage. You go back and look,
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: they were in the bottom of the Powell until he
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: made those trades and got all those big guys. But
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: at some point you just can't go out and get
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: big guys. He can't play no damn defense. He got
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: to learn to play defense. To get in shape, I think,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: I think you can learn a lot of things, but
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: you can learn to get bigs before he had learned
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: to be a defensive stopper. Try to getting in shape first,
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: and then that would help.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves one nine six, I got some for you.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: They get either Houston or Golden State in the Western
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Conference semifinals.