Lakers/Timberwolves Postgame, J.Worthy, LeBron, AD, Coach Ham Reactions | Dec 30, 2023

Lakers/Timberwolves Postgame, J.Worthy, LeBron, AD, Coach Ham Reactions | Dec 30, 2023

Guys and at the end of the day as competitors all you can hope for no moral victories but all you can hope for is a chance and opportunity depending on how you look at it it doesn’t come down I see your face right here to just one

Play throughout the course of a 48 minute game but I want to take you back to this play right here this call we all have monitors they’ve got monitors there in Minnesota as well with a Chance on his birthday to tie things up LeBron James with this shot right here it would

Eventually be ruled a long two right there it looks good that looks good to me but for what we saw there a couple times and what they saw at the game what they were looking at they’re arguably saying it was it was good but game’s

Over ah man that’s a hard one you know that’s a hard to accept because of the fact that you know like we said we’re all in here we watching the same thing it looks like that the shot should have been a three-pointer uh you don’t know exactly what the officials are seeing in

Their replays I mean obviously they feel that just a part of that toe was on that line uh nonetheless the Lakers end up falling by two in Minnesota we were talking about how good this game could be the matchup between Anthony Davis and Rudy goar and I just want to kind of from

Start to finish it was really back and forth from that second quarter on uh versus the best in the west are the Minnesota Timberwolves came in at 23-7 they were 13-1 at home you see why they’re so good in crunch times Billy Mack said they’re 10- one in said

Scenarios uh Byron I’ll start with you when you shoot 42% as a team yeah they are the best defensive team Minnesota is but just 29% from three you only got two guys in double figures though big games from LeBron and Anthony Davis I mean you think about Thursday there were seven

Guys in double figures uh it’s going to be tough to end up coming out on top but just a two-point game how does it kind of sit with you you know again I I feel good about what I saw tonight as far as you know I mean obviously we wanted to

Win the basketball game but to lose to Minnesota team when you have your two best players play well especially Anthony Davis he showed you know Rudy Gober that you you’re not the best defensive player in the league buddy you know cuz I just put numbers on you so

I’m the best defensive player in the league and then LeBron even being sick playing the way he played uh we just didn’t have anybody else really step up tonight you know and to lose this game by two points uh to that team on their floor you know I’m very optimistic about

What I saw and I feel really good about the rest of this team now my my biggest thing is I hope those guys are upset in the locker room that they didn’t win this game and they go to New Orleans and take it out on the Pelicans you know

That’s the sign of a champion when you go and you didn’t play the game or win the game that you wanted to win but you go to the next stop and you say hey you know what we still pissed off about last night so let’s take it out on them yeah

Given if if Minnesota is the best team in the west I feel pretty good about where we are and we’re not even there yet you know what I mean as far as creating the chemistry and getting the the lineup and and and the guys coming off the bench

That Darin wants consistently I think I was very impressed with the way we played Without shooting the ball well 29% from three y uh you know we did some other things had 12 steals got out on the fast break but I don’t I don’t take moral victories

But I like i’ like the way we played against the best team in the west we can you know we we couldn’t get Buckets when we needed to get Buckets we were right there the game was tied a couple times we were down two or three um but I I you

Know they they play well and I think they can take something from this game they’re going to be mad after this game uh hope so after after feeling like they got robbed on that three-point play I’m going to give you a two-part question here B I’ll come back to you on this

Because when you speak of this new lineup it debuted versus the Oklahoma City Thunder you get the W this is now the third game with that said starting lineup and it’s a two-point win or two-point loss uh though it’s against the best in the west having said that

You’re still getting that kind of per production from Anthony Davis at 33178 assists just the way he is maneuvering and producing um in that in that new role if you will but how it’s kind of translating throughout the course of a game you still liking what you’re seeing just from a perspective we

Talked about it in the pregame how it could take some time yeah I I I love what I’m seeing like they’re not not playing hard you know what I mean they’re playing hard they’re making an effort different lineups you know can sometime cause you know guys not to understand one another’s Tendencies You

Know It Takes a little time so I I think they’re right where they need to be not winning like they want to but I think they’re building something and on this rest of this road trip I think after this game I think they’re going to you

Know have a med of the minds CU they played well enough to win yeah another surreal effort by ad too Byron I mean I don’t want to take your words go for it no bra you you picked him you you were right you know about ad tonight put a

Lot of thought and uh but you know what this kind of reminds me of LeBron when he was in M when he was in Miami when he went to Miami it was kind of he was always kind of you know playing your know second fiddle to Dwayne Wade and

Dwayne finally said Braun this your team I think it’s now Braun saying to ad this is your team you know we we only going to go as far as you can take us you know I’m going to do my part and we going to have to get these other guys in there as

Well but this is your team and I think LeBron doing that with ad has given him that confidence to say you know what you know I’m I’m going to go out every single night and be aggressive on the offensive end and we we have been seeing what that has been able to accomplish

For him as a basketball player and right now I mean offensively I don’t I don’t think there’s anybody in the NBA right now that can guard him not oneon-one you’re going to have to start sending help and get the ball out of his hands and we know he’s a very good passer as

Well but I think the passing of the torch so to speak where the king is saying to ad listen you are horse we’re gonna start going to you and get you going I’ll do what I do we’ll get some of these other guys but you the man 31 a game overs last

Five yeah yeah I mean b we’re starting to run out of things to say about him you know we we’ve been saying it’s tough to talk about LeBron and and find new ways to to describe him mean AD 31 against these guys 10 days ago so nice

Job there for sure and and here’s the uh here’s what we were just talking about you’ve got ad LeBron scoring a ton of points and the rest of the team 15 for 5050 that’s a rough night for the for the other guys Nas Reed yeah over 20

Points uh the the timber wolves just rewarded him with the three-year $42 million contract extension during the off season he’s probably the best big up uh excuse me best backup big man out there in the NBA he really kept the Lakers on their toes on night what they

Really did shut down Carl Anthony towns not an easy thing to do but Nas Reed really really stuck him uh some threes and also pretty good down low too James and yeah Reed was was key and then of course the the veteran Conley hit timely three under control that team solid when they

Needed it so they’re good but I think we showed them that we’re coming Nas I think signed too early they just he could have got a threeyear $60 million contract to way he played tonight pretty phenomenal 21 for Nas as you mentioned Mike connley 154 of nine

From Deep on a night where Carl Anthony towns just three of seven on seven shots nine points uh Minnesota Timberwolves they are they’re pretty legit 14 won now at home no moral victories Lakers played good Minnesota played well enough to win uh some tough calls that you know could have

Gone either way got to move on BR head back to Minnesota here from Darin ham he’s speaking with Mike Trel in the media well Darin if if we could start on the play a lot of different angles I’m sure you’ve seen some at this point uh with LeBron’s foot what was the

Communication between the you and the referees and and what was your perspective on that well um you know the view I had I thought it was a clearcut three but obviously you know I’m I’m looking at where he stopped at you know and him just raising up and and and

Knocking it down but uh they replayed it you know we our our guys on the sideline replayed it we thought it was a good three um I just saw a Ste shot here a couple seconds ago that definitely looked like a three um but but you know

They have people in other places looking at those plays too very closely and although I disagree um you have to live with it is a interesting game just what what stood out to you between you know the lack of shot making early from your guys other than ad and then late with you

Know Minnesota scoring pretty efficiently down the stretch where did you think the the game turned I mean just you know you trying to put find a a rhythm with a collection of players that play different segments I thought we had a great start to the game um and and

Then you know getting a little loose I have to go back and watch it obviously but uh you know we had some guys that had some great looks then looks they normally knocked down that that they didn’t knock down and they had some guys that uh knock theirs down you know it’s a

Make or Miss League um you know they they were plus uh 15 from the three-point line um and then you know us just just trying to find a rhythm you know that’s what you do those first three quarters you’re trying to find a rhythm of who can play

Well together who can get stops and get you know good productive offense on that other side of the ball and uh you know as he does and the reason why he is who he is Anthony Edwards he gets going down the stretch a little bit and you know

For the most part you know you hold any team in this league to 108 points the way the game is played now that’s a pretty good defensive effort in most cases but uh you know they just happen to make more shots than we made um Miss

Some key looks and just had some things that didn’t go our way uh but you know we got fill our cups back up can’t feel sorry for ourselves and and get ready to jump on the plane and go face another tough matchup tomorrow in New Orleans

Darin um TOA toenail or not you guys still had a chance to either tie or win with 1.4 left what were you looking for out of that out of bounds play what did you see uh just trying to clear clear aside for Bron to let him get him going

Um and his whole you know not a Defender sitting in the corner just give him a whole clear side and uh he turned and went to shoot it they they had a guy that came in double late and it’s tough 1.4 seconds but at the end of the day you know he

Uh I don’t know it was a lot of it seemed to be some contact on that too like I I’ll have a confirmation or of some sort once I go back and watch it uh but from my vantage point it looked like you know some someone jumped

Early and he was in between two guys trying to get the ball up that could have easily been called a foul based on uh the way they’ve been officiating I could be wrong um but just trying to clear him aside and give him the option to go get a

Bucket it was I guess the third time you’ve had a chance to use this new lineup cuz cam missed uh the other night uh what did you think of it in the first quarter I think you built 11-point lead at one point held a two-point lead after

The first quarter as you continue to get more looks of that group what are you what are you seeing well you know obviously we have the size the athleticism the physicality on the defensive side of the ball um you know you got guys that’s still trying to you

Know work their way into basketball shape um all the while dealing with some injuries with some health issues and so just just trying to make sure we get out to a good start defensively um offensively you know just a had it going tonight early and often

Um you know obviously Bri was was sick pretty much the entire day and tried to fight fight through the bug and and you know shout out to him for making himself available through which was a tough day I’m sure for him um healthwise but just again trying to set a tone defensively I

Thought we did that early we jumped out had a double digit lead early um and and you know you in order to sustain a lead you got to make shots you got to keep playing with discipline um and we had a bunch of looks man that that we normally make that we

Didn’t speaking of lineups you played the AR DLo V LeBron ad lineup a little bit in the third quarter just just the second time that Line’s been out there is that a lineup that you want to go to more often you know it was the lineup

You guys started in the playoff run last year and I guess what’s preventing you guys from using more even since vand returned about a month ago again leaning and that’s not one of our better defensive lineups you know i’ be interested last time I checked the

Numbers it wasn’t um and we check them pretty often but um you know just just again trying to find the right mix to get in the Rhythm um we have guys that that you know are are more proficient on one side of the ball than others so you

Got to find that balance to where you’re going to be good defensively and also so be capable of putting points on the board so it’s an ongoing puzzle you know what I mean that you’re trying to put together and so it was one of them that we looked at and

Then we’ll continue to try to see uh what’s what’s you who who are our best five at different segments of the game and the totality of it you know who are our best nine that that we can have find a good rhythm with Darin how is D’Angelo

And and do you have a sense for whether he LeBron ad um um those kind of guys that have been on the injury report are are going to be available tomorrow not as of yet you know we’ll get a medical update on the plane probably and definitely for sure in the morning but

Normally we like to see how they wake up and then go from there how was D’Angelo though after um his play well he was getting worked on you know as we uh did our post game talk to the team thanks coach thank you Chris uh ad and LeBron

Were the only two Lakers in double figures tonight I was kind of how did your defense kind of limit everybody else over some of the keys that tonight well I mean it’s I don’t know how much we limited the other ones as much as I

Mean we did a good job on Reeves for sure um you know we did a good job on those other guys but the ball was in Anthony and LeBron’s hands so much you know that they were going to do their damage um and uh I think you know ad off

To a super hot start uh Rudy we were a little better on him in the second half for sure so you know what was your view of LeBron’s shot there uh did you feel feel like he was on the line the whole time or what did you see I mean they

Ruled it on the line didn’t they looked like it was on the line when he pulled up looked like it was on the line on the review so offensively um maybe kind of an up and down night for you guys uh or how did you kind of feel about how you were

On that end of the floor CU I mean it’s the same story as we we talked about before the game you know we shoot 50% um we 19 turnovers whenever we didn’t turn over we got I thought really pretty decent looks you know sometimes the switching Bo bothered us a little

Bit um decent looks you know sometimes the switching Bo bothered us a little bit um but I thought we moved it really well um and uh yeah just just turnovers continue to plague us you know so you guys have been fighting yourselves it seems for a couple of weeks at least now

Or three but you keep winning what what is it the resourcefulness is it can you pick any certain aspects of your game that have just been so reliable that you’re able to overcome this stuff um well I think a couple things one our defense has stayed consistent uh clutch shot making has

Been big you know we’ve made shots in close games um you know we’ve not been able to like uh sustain leads that we’re building whether even there seven eight you know ninepoint lead just because of the turnovers um you know we’re getting to the free throw line the ant in

Particular is getting to the free throw line at a good rate right now um so those things I think are pretty sustainable and feel sustainable right now so with cat struggling and Nas having a really good game did you any second any thoughts on uh breaking the normal

Rotation there yeah there was I mean but I figured uh you know like um you know also with foul trouble might as well eat him up you know right there too um but I was waiting to see if I could get to uh you know Kyle to close the game

Defensively and you know I think about a minute 405 or whatever we were able to do so um The Possession before cat gets fouled makes it two free throws so and with Rudy ant and Connelly all seem to you know play bigger when the stakes are higher is that I mean part of

What’s going on here I think so I mean for sure I mean a an his consistency and playing in these games has been extremely uh impressive it’s you know the the next stage of his growth everyone always ask me about you got to play you know at a high level every

Night he’s he’s certainly doing that we know he loves the moment uh he’s making a ton of the right plays for um and you know this is like uh business as usual for for Mike and and and Rudy so like you know they’re used to playing on teams that

Win a lot of games so they’re used to being in in a lot of tight games and um they’re the anchors really out there so is that a learning moment for Jaden there just about I would sure hope so I mean he’s been good for the bulk of the

Season with his emotional control but this is a in excusable one for sure the with Mike it seems like the ball in his hands like a lot of sets called late to get in good looks like did you feel like that was probably the best approach for

You guys to find a way to get ant the ball maybe not with him starting the play and just kind of creating sets for him and how did you see that played out yeah you get get the ball in Mike’s hands um get ant moving around and um

You know it’s probably the best probably the best formula for us you know so it looked like after aunt picked up that third foul just before the half you were trying to sub him off but maybe he just kind of stayed out there I guess what

Kind of happened on that yeah uh I wanted to sub him out he stayed in it’s been addressed and there’ll be no more comment about it so any other questions thanks coach thanks speaking of LeBron let’s go inside the Lakers locker room LeBron is there with Mike first of all

Uh happy birthday I’m I’m sure you felt better than in previous birthdays but on that on that play so you know some screenshots seen the replay a million times so what what were you looking at when you kind of the discussion with the refs there about where your foot was and

How do you just evaluate that play what do you mean how I mean it’s it it’s obvious a three my foot is behind the line I mean you can see the space between my my front of my foot and the three-point line you can L clearly see a

White the the wood on the floor is is a space in between my front of my foot and the three-point line so there’s no Stevie Wonder can see that champ did uh did Tony Brothers have a an explanation on the spot brothers did not but I didn’t talk to Tony Brothers I

Talked to the other ref and they said it was out of their hands the salkus whatever over there in the replay Center whatever somebody over there eating a ham sandwich or somebody made the call how do you handle that you there have been plays I’m sure that have not

Gone your way like that in the past where A Game’s been decided but how do you handle that six of them last year what’s the way to handle that that as a team nine looks stupid when they bring out the last two-minute report what did you see uh or what kind

Of look did you get on the final play of the game I I think your shot was after the the buzzer yeah um I thought I had a quick go but when I turned Rudy was right there so try to duck under it 1.4

Is a lot of time but not as much time as I thought so I kind of misread that but I do a better job I’ve been in that situation before I just got to do a better job job of knowing the time I could have caught it and shot it right

Away but a was playing on the high side and soon as when I turn Rudy was right there so that’s got to be better with that though D said he thought there could have been a Miss call on that as well um some contact there was there was

But that was they’re not going to call that at that point you know it was cl Corners right there Rudy me a right there so but there was nobody in between me and my foot in that three-point line like how frustrating is to have something like that you know it all

Lines up for you you you guys get to stop you guys were down seven a minute before all of a sudden you have the runway ahead of you you make the shot I mean it’s super frustrating in the sense of what the hell we got Replay

For what do we have Replay for if even a replay gets it wrong then it’s like like who who’s are we who’s who’s a part of the replay Center like we got robots in there that making a test us what’s going on if you don’t see that

That is clear that is clear like even if even if the shot is released and my foot is on the line afterwards it doesn’t matter it doesn’t matter once the shot is out of my hand no matter where my foot lands which from when I shut the ball

And it’s clear everyone can see it so it doesn’t make sense and that’s a tie game and we’re fighting for our asses playing the number one team in the west right now and you know that’s that’s frustrating so does have the frustration I mean knowing kind of what you had to

Go through today to even get on the court and can you kind of take us through what what’s your feeling what kind of illness you’re dealing with I didn’t get out to bed today until 4:30 so that’s super unlike me I woke up my alarm went off at

9:00 um well my alarm woke up first at 8: to go down and get treatment I couldn’t couldn’t get out the bed and then I I knew we had a 9:45 bus in my I went off again at 9:00 I couldn’t get I still was like need to get some more

Rest so I took a few more naps and then um I finally just got out of bed like at like 4:30 got a shower that helped me a little bit called the 5:00 bus and I guess felt okay to play felt like I can make some plays to help us win the ball

Game you guys play again tomorrow I back I don’t know where I’m be I don’t know you missed that opportunity last time um I mean obviously in this flight is not going to help it but let me see how I feel tomorrow when I wake up um and go

Throughout the day so me see last question have you feel about the the new Star lineup just I know it’s just the thir game you guys have play together but have you seen the team adjust that every game is an adjustment for us we we’re all trying to figure this out man

You I know we uh what we 30 33 games now 17 16 I think 33 games in and we still just trying to you know still trying to figure out lineups and rotations and you know who to have on the floor at certain moments you know in the fourth quarter

We had four or five lineups you know I’m trying to just trying to win the game so you know I don’t think it’s ever about who starts I think it’s about who finishes and how you finish the game you know um so um I I really don’t put too

Much into into starting lineups um you know you just try to figure out a way how you can always compliment each other um you know I don’t think we have enough sample size to really dictate or where we should be I think our first game was the OKC game I believe

Um so probably like four or five games of a small sample size of St lineup can be um actually it’s not even that many cuz uh ruy started last game for cam so we just we just trying to figure it out trying to figure it out but I think

That’s why it makes moments like that when as braon even mentioned you even have in replay you have a still image to see where he says you can clearly see the hardwood between his foot and the three-point line talking about people having uh some moments with ham sandwiches back in caucus nonetheless it

Matters big game and I don’t think they want to talk about it that much but I never understood why they get to make that decision when we clearly see what we see so uh that’s LeBron has a good point there it’s it’s really uh interesting how that how that how

That turns out I just love LeBron’s calmness after the game and the way he talked about the ham sandwiches and the robots and all that and why do we got instant replay if is not really doing us any good you know if you can obviously see see that he has some daylight in

Between his foot and the three-point line um you know but but but he’s right to tell the truth he he is absolutely right about you know all the things that he talked about as far as uh replay and I agree with with clev as far as you

Know when you have referees out there on the floor and they’re making a call if you go to replay and look at it yourselves and say hey you know what that is good instead of having somebody just in a in a you know in a office sitting there watching a game eating a

Ham sandwich you know make the call so again I just don’t I don’t get it you don’t want to hit a referee say out out of my hands yeah yeah so no that’s I don’t know that’s kind of weird I rather you say as a referee look man we we made

A mistake M we messed up we missed the call okay with the two-minute report tomorrow just kidding we will not go there more to come ad and the Lakers come up short time too well ad we were talking to LeBron felt clearly that his foot was behind the line there you had a

Perspective I’m sure that what how what did you see and how do you guys take that mentally yeah I mean uh just three clearcut three um put behind behind the line I mean now you know we talk to the officials and say it’s replay Center mean how many you looking at the

Replay you can go on social media you can go look at the film you can look at whatever and you can see a space between his foot and a three-point line you know you can see the floor which indicates that his foot was behind the line you know if it was

On the line as it Su you wouldn’t be able to see the floor so um it’s tough uh tough one for sure Team game but individually obviously you were effective on both ends of the court tonight when you play like that kind of to your capacity and the and the team

Loses relative to like if you play poorly in the team loes does that impact things at all um like about you being able to sleep that night um I mean anytime you lose whether I play well or play poorly um you know it’s always you know bothering um you always think about

You know especially me just now is you know I missed two big free throws uh you know and we lose by two so like that TI of game going overtime or game you know outome maybe you know happen a little differently so um anytime you

Lose how to think look back and think of what could you have done better um as a team man individually uh the first thing that comes to my just those two free throws um which is rare very rare for me so uh I mean but you know you look back

At it and just see how you can get better especially with another one tomorrow night recognizing you know some of the things have been out of your control in terms of injuries and stuff like that for sicknesses for guys but we are 33 games in and you know Darin said that he was

Trying some different lineups in the fourth quarter how do you balance the patience of recognizing that you got to get everything a look with the recognition of like yeah we got to at some point we just got to stick with something yeah I mean it’s tough when

Guys are in out of the lineup uh you know not able to play that night so you obviously got to go different lineup but you know we trying to we’re trying to build some type of consistency um cuz you’re going to need that when you’re constantly excuse me when you’re

Constantly changing lineups rotations and things like that um it’s tough to find a you know some any type of consistency and it throws players out of rhythm um so we just got to continue to try to stay as healthy as possible um you look at all the good things around

The league everyone’s healthy you know they know their rotations and um you know for us you know we’ve been up and down as far as health so once we get everybody healthy and we able to stay healthy then uh we’ll find our consistency when it comes to you getting

The ball in the places you want the rhythm you’re in offensively how are you feeling right now I feel good um trying to make plays for myself or others um trying to get other guys going you know just breeding the defense you know obviously in the second half

They they told me that they’re going to double me so uh and they did a couple times you know so it just got away from the post and start playing more picking role and you know space but I feel good defensively and and just more of an

Individual question but so goar’s on the other side obviously he’s had Defensive Player of the Year Awards you said before that’s not your main focus but defense is a main focus how do you look at a matchup like that and kind of just where where you’re at defensiv

Defensively this year relative to other bigs in the NBA uh I think I just do it all and I can play picking rooll um I guard bigs I guard perimeter uh it’s nothing I really can do defensively I mean I guard some of the top players in the league as far as wings

Um no one really tries to post me um I think I I do it all defensiv now anything that I can do defensively um so you know people take it how they want to take it and look at what they want to look at but I know for me uh

When it comes to pick and roll when it comes to oneon-one defense blocking shots rebounding anything on defensive man you name it I can do Lakers calendar look at the next five games it’s quick one back to back Sunday in New Orleans then return home Wednesday taking on the Heat match up

With John the Grizz on Friday then it’s a match up with the Clippers on the seventh followed by a date with the Raptors on the ninth

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