Getting to know yourself can be a lifelong process, especially since you're always growing and changing.
Therapy is all about deepening that self-awareness, because sometimes you don't know what you really want until you talk things through. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive today to get 10% off your first month.
That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. Hey football fans Baldy here. I'm doing something special for this year's NFL Draft. Jason Locke and four myself for hosting the 2023 Odyssey NFL Draft show. Join us on the first night of the draft, talking with local experts from our Odyssey podcasts from across the country and leading up to the draft. Check out our podcast In The Huddle. I'm going to give you some inside scoop on the best prospects for your favorite team.
It all starts tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern on the free Odyssey app. We're pleased to welcome our friend Trevor Lane, who is a host for Lakers Nation. And when you hear Darvin Ham talk about a couple of offensive rebounds here, a moment there, it's interesting where he kind of boils it down to. This this particular moment or that one, it kind of felt like it was more of an avalanche. Trevor, what did you see in that second half with a run? Yeah, it really was an avalanche.
It was more than just a moment or two. It was a long scoring drop from the Lakers, combined with just a scoring outburst from the Grizzlies that ultimately pretty much ended the game in the third quarter. And I know that there were moments in the fourth quarter where the Lakers kind of left their starters in. We're hoping to make some sort of a comeback, but it was pretty much out of reach by the end of the third. And it was just the Lakers offense just really struggled. And the Grizzlies made some nice adjustments. They pulled Desmond, they pulled Dylan Brooks out of the game in order to create a little bit more spacing. And that worked out on the offensive end and they got red hot and then they just rode that momentum. The home crowd was going berserk.
And that's exactly what you're supposed to do at home. They were able to take all that energy and just wallop the Lakers with it and essentially ended the game right there in the third quarter. How much of a concern is it that the Lakers aren't shooting well right now from deep or maybe not just from three-point land, but in general the jump shots?
Yeah, it's definitely a concern. I mean, I just actually went through pulling all the stats on this. And LeBron in particular is really struggling. He's shooting 17% from three in the series, shot 32% from three on the season. And he's taking a high volume of shots, way more than any other Laker, from behind the arc.
So that's a lot of points that you're leaving there just due to some force shooting. LeBron, D'Angelo Russell hasn't shot as well as he did during the regular season. Malik Beasley, Troy Brown is shooting 10% from three. You expect shooting percentages to go down a bit in the postseason, particularly with a good defensive team like the Grizzlies. But still the Lakers, especially tonight, just couldn't seem to get anything to drop. That could be some heavy legs or it could mean that we've got positive regression coming on the way and they'll have a hot shooting game at some point.
But in any event, it's not good for the Lakers right now behind the arc, particularly with the Grizzlies team that's determined to pack the paint and force the Lakers to make those outside shots. Well, I'm glad you brought up heavy legs. I was going to ask you how tired they looked to you. Oh, they looked exhausted.
And that was what we expected. We set it after game four, after overtime at game four, the Grizzlies being a primarily younger team. And the Lakers outside of LeBron and Anthony Davis are a relatively young team as well. But LeBron and AD being the two main drivers for the team, we said, you know, coming into game five, it was going to be a very, very difficult task with one day off between games coming off of an overtime game for the Lakers to be able to match the energy that the Grizzlies are going to have in a do or die situation at home. So we knew that this was going to be a difficult challenge for the Lakers coming in, but they did look exhausted. LeBron looks like he doesn't have a lot of legs left, so hopefully they can try to get as much rest as they can because a big game six is coming up on Friday.
Not much time to rest between games here. Trevor Lane is the host of Lakers Nation and with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. LeBron used a word I can't use on the radio to describe how he played tonight. Was he just referring to his shooting or is there more to it? Yeah, I mean, I think that LeBron is struggling with the lack of first. Lately, we've seen that he did have that great finish over Jaron Jackson to force overtime and then has to finish on Dylan Brooks in Game four.
But those were kind of outliers. We've seen all series where when he really has to reach back and throw the fastball and push down on the gas pedal, whatever metaphor you want to use, he he can do it, but he can't do it all game. He's got to really be choosy with his moments, and that's probably a foot injury situation with that tendon in his foot. So that's been a concern.
The shooting, obviously, is something that you've got to worry about. I think defensively he's done well. He's committed himself to rebounding.
And so he's done OK there on that end of the floor. But offensively, it just seems like you're not quite getting the production that you're used to out of LeBron. I think a lot of it is he just doesn't quite have the same explosiveness now that he's he's managing an active injury. So it's it's what we're seeing out of him right now. He's having to rely a lot more on the three point shot. And as we talked about a minute ago, those shots are not falling, which has left him to be much more ineffective on the offensive end than what we're used to. When there's a twenty six to two run that takes place, it's not just about the shots that aren't falling. It's also about the inability to come up with some significant stops. Who's the guy or the guys they can turn to when they need to be able to prevent a run like that and come up with some stops?
Maybe two or three in a row. I mean, it's Anthony Davis and he's been tremendous. He's been an incredible defensive player. I think he's been the best defensive player in the series. When he got got pulled, the Grizzlies really went on the run and pushed their foot down on the gas pedal, which is what they're what they're supposed to do. But Anthony Davis has been great defensively and he's helped them out a lot in terms of making stops.
But one guy can only do too much and do so much. And the Lakers have been a good defensive team post trade deadline in general. They've been very good in that area. But they can get caught in these rotations, particularly in the non Anthony Davis minutes we've seen in this series where the Grizzlies are able to exploit them, where it's Rui Hachimura and LeBron James both at six eight as the two biggest players on the floor for the Lakers.
We saw a little bit of Wendy and Gabriel tonight. But that particular grouping, this bench unit and LeBron grouping just seems to be really struggling to get stops and contain the Grizzlies offense. And so it'll be interesting to see if Darvin Hamm mixes things up a little bit in game six, if we see some adjustments, because it was it was a big, big problem whenever Anthony Davis was off the floor on this one. Trevor Lane of Lakers Nation is with us here after hours.
CBS Sports Radio. This was just the fourth loss for the Lakers in their last 17. So we know they surged to be able to get into the play in tournament.
It's kind of interesting. I heard Eric Spoelstra talking about the heat, indicating he felt like they've won a second round series, even though it was just officially the first round against the Bucks because they had to come through the play in tournament. So you're talking about a couple of older players here with the Lakers and maybe the heavy legs, but only four losses in their last 17 games. So in posting that 3-1 lead after the play in tournament, after the surge at the end of the regular season, how close would you say they are to playing some of their best basketball of the year before tonight? Yeah, I think they're pretty close, especially because when you look at this Lakers team, everything pre-trade deadline, you almost have to just throw away. It's a completely different team.
I mean, six new players coming in. They play a different style at a different pace. Their defensive schemes are a bit different as well.
So this is a very different group. But they had moments where they were really surging and playing well after the trade deadline during the regular season. And I don't think they've quite looked as sharp, particularly with both LeBron and A.D. kind of banged up here.
But I think they're pretty close. They're playing some really good basketball right now overall. When you step back and you look big picture of what they've done since the trade deadline, they've been great. So, yeah, I think that this team is, if their two stars were completely healthy, then maybe they'd be at their peak right now.
But they're not that far off of it. They've got guys who are capable of making plays. They didn't quite come up where they needed to tonight in this game. But overall, I think they've been playing pretty good basketball with a few offensive miscues notwithstanding. Since the trade deadline, Trevor, and the changes, as you point out, they did take a little time to try to find their footing.
And then LeBron was hurt, right, until the end of the regular season. So they didn't have a ton of time together as a full group. But would you say that the personnel they have right now, along with this coaching staff, is closer to who they want to be moving forward regardless of what happens in this postseason?
Yeah, it's closer to who they want to be because it's closer to who they were. If we go back to 2020, when they won the championship, that type of roster construction, while there's some very, very key differences, it's not all that dissimilar from what they're going for here. Look, surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis with players who can defend and can make three-point shots.
And if they can do some other things, too, well, that's icing on the cake. That's kind of the concept behind the Lakers team right now. When you look at the pieces that they've added, I'm sure there's going to be some tweaks this offseason. But for a little while there, for a year and a half there, they were a big three model. Everybody else is a veteran, minimum player, and off you go.
And that clearly did not work for them. So now they've gone back to this older style of build that they had, and it just makes more sense. There's more guys who can step up and do things. If LeBron's having an off night, Anthony Davis, whatever, you have more depth on this team now. And I think that overall, as a group, well, as you said, they didn't have a lot of time to really throw this together and build chemistry. But the pieces fit together more naturally than the previous iteration of the Lakers did.
So that does help to mitigate the chemistry concerns to some degree. It'll still help them when they can get into next season and have a full training camp and all of that. But because the pieces fit together, they were able to really take off post-trade deadlines. What did you think of their rotation or the minutes for the bench tonight?
I was a little surprised. I feel like Ryu Hachimura brings some great energy and also has some skill. He didn't play a ton of minutes, but he had the most off the bench. So what did you think of their rotation?
Yeah, that was a little bit of a head scratcher with Rui. He's played really well this series on both ends of the floor. The Grizzlies did go a bit smaller. So I was looking at that too, wondering if maybe Darvin Ham just, you know, wanted to try to match up small lineup for small lineup.
And I'll need to go back and look at the tape to know for sure. But Rui is also, in the past couple of games, he's kind of been on pace for like the low 20s in terms of minutes. But the bench rotation, Darvin talked about it after the game, about how he may be limiting minutes even further. And you've got to think about Malik Beasley, you've got to think about Troy Brown Jr. Neither one of which have shot well from three in the series. Troy Brown is shooting 10% from behind the arc. Beasley is shooting 26, 20. Yeah, it's only on, I think he has 10 attempts, so he's one for 10.
But still, that's rough. For a guy who shot 38% from three on the season, that's a big, big step down. And Beasley as well has not shot well, and if he's not shooting well, he doesn't give you a whole lot else defensively, playmaking-wise, any of that.
So I wouldn't be surprised if we see a bit more of Wendy and Gabriel in the rotation, if we see Rui and Dennis Schroeder, and those three being the primary players off the bench. And that's about it in more of an eight-man rotation for the Lakers in Game 6, because the bench units are just not getting the job done. I mean, I go down the list, Schroeder, Beasley, and Troy Brown, minus 26, minus 20, minus 23 on the night. It was those lineups that got annihilated.
And Hachimura's was minus 18, so not a whole lot better there. Before I let you go, we want you, as well as our listeners, to hear what Desmond Bain had to say after the game. We got to come with the right edge and the right road mentality, but I said it out there and I'll say it again, we're going to be back for Game 7 in front of the best fans in the NBA.
What is your reaction to Bain essentially guaranteeing the series is going the distance, Trevor? Well, I mean, so far when the Grizzlies have talked, it hasn't gone so well for them. I mean, the whole poking the bear thing with Dylan Brooks and all of that, taking shots at LeBron and everything, and then when they lose, they don't want to talk to the media after the game.
They've been saying, no, no, we're not going to talk now. I'll say this, Desmond Bain, and I've talked to Des multiple times, he's a great guy, and I think he 100% should be confident in their ability to win Game 6. And if he was saying, oh, I don't know if we're going to win or not or whatever, that's not what you expect out of him. If they go as far as guaranteeing it, though, then you risk giving the Lakers more whiteboard material to fire that team up. That hasn't worked out well for them in the series, so if I was a Grizzlies fan, I probably wouldn't be thrilled that he's saying that.
But nonetheless, at least he's feeling confident, and they should be. They played really well tonight. And look, Game 6, it may come down to whoever wins Game 6 wins this series, because I have a hard time seeing the Lakers coming back into Memphis and getting a win in Game 7. That'll be tough, so Friday's game is going to be big.
We'll see whether or not the Grizzlies' youth is a help or a hurt in Game 6. So Trevor Lane on Twitter, at Trevor underscore Lane, host of Lakers Nation, as well as the Front Office show, and lots of great analysis following this Game 5 rally by the Grizzlies. Always good to catch up with you, Trevor. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes. No problem. Thank you so much for having me. And be rewarded for your generosity.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-04-27 06:23:53 / 2023-04-27 06:30:44 / 7