Level Of Concern For Lakers + OKC Statement | The Hoop Collective

Level Of Concern For Lakers + OKC Statement | The Hoop Collective

Hello welcome the hoop Collective podcast we talk about the NBA which we’re doing on Thursday afternoon joining me from New York City where he was at the Nicks Bulls game on Wednesday night and I think Philly Bulls the night before whole lot of bulls coming from this I’ll just let McMahon

Have that layan Tim bontemps hello Brian hello Tim yes I was at uh both Bulls games I saw the Knicks play the wolves on Monday and I’m GNA see the Knicks and Sixers play Friday night lot of lot of ogn and Obi this week for me and joining us from Dallas Texas where

He don’t remember who the Mavericks beat up on on Wednesday night sorry McMahon but more importantly was that maybe the game of the week one of the maybe possibly one of the games of the month if not more he in Oklahoma City to watch the Thunder beat the Celtics earlier

This week is B McMahon howdy Partners you don’t disrespect those Scrappy Portland Trailblazers like that new up wreath got ejected from the game last night all kinds of drama no not really but hey it’s good to see you Wendy I didn’t I didn’t hear you earlier this

Week everything okay no no it is not um I apologize for not having a podcast earlier this week and uh if you hear any Yelps from me during the show because I had a had a little accident on Tuesday uh I don’t know if you should phrase it that way people could take

That in a lot of directions well I don’t know what you want me to say it was I I it was a slip and fall and I uh cracked my ribs in my back my god did it hurt and does it hurt and I am coming to you from Los

Angeles where I am getting through shows on a wing of prayer and a handful of Tylenol I am not taking anything uh more sharper but man I was on vacation with my family it was on a boat the captain of the boat offered me some rum

Oh uh you knew it was bad because I broke out in a sweat oh man did did you embibe in any of the no man I I didn’t embe in anything for hours on end so I am absolutely fighting through this uh there’s nothing much you can do

If you avoid you know the CJ McCollum uh punctured lung which I did you just pretty much got a grin and Barett so that’s what I’m doing so I apologize a little bit late I was in no position to pot on Tuesday and I’m fighting through this one so um well

Wendy they’ve got these little uh dispensaries in California go in there and buy all sorts I mean you know the little gummies or they got like you know chocolate covered this that and the others man just pop a few of those dull the paint a little bit feel that California cool

Man I’m very sorry you’re not I’m very I’m very sorry you’re not feeling I’m very sorry you’re not feeling well but it’s it’s good to know that you’re doing so much strenuous work here sitting here and talking on the Pod that you know I’m sure through is fine but in in this case

It’s actually true I am sitting down in this chair took uh a pep talk so listen as if talking to bonds wasn’t excruciating enough exactly now it’s so much worse yeah I was um I was talking to Kendrick Perkins earlier I won’t tell his story mean I don’t know

If it’s public but he told me about a time where he in his career where he had broken ribs and HIIT it and I don’t know how you could hide it but uh my my respect went up um all right so I’m here in LA and um it’s sunny but uh it’s

Cloudy on the Lakers side of crypto.com Arena across the stre only cloudy yeah well there’s there’s storm clouds on the horizon too but um they lose they lost here on Wednesday night to the Heat and let me just say um after the Lakers lost the game and

Darvin ham came in and said you know look we’ve had all these injuries our lineups keep changing we have no consistency you know basically said the injuries were a big factor it was a hard sell because the Miami Heat started their 19th different starting lineup the same night the Lakers started their 10th

Not to say that the Lakers haven’t had challenges not to say that um that they’re you know not having you know that they’ve had no continuity but it’s a tough cell to say that you can’t you know that you you’re you’ve lost eight out of 10 or what is

It nine out of 11 maybe nine out of 12 now because of injuries when the team across the the court had even more injuries than they did and they handled their business um well and including Jimmy Butler being out and so when he says you know it’s tougher to have

Multiple rotation guys in and out than one big dog my thing with that is call Pat Riley and say hey give you ruy hatch mura D’Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent send us Jimmy Butler and see how fast the phone gets hung up in your face yeah um I

Mean he’s not wrong but it was just a wrong tone no no he is wrong no he is wrong it it’s a lot worse to not have Jimmy Butler no but I mean in general I mean you know he wasn’t just explaining that night he’s explaining how they’re

17 and 18 which is what they are going into this Grizzlies game on well again if we’d said before the season started that LeBron James and Anthony Davis were going to combine to play and you got it you double the games because it’s for both of them right 65 of the 70 games

That they could have been available together to play this year they’ve missed a combined five games what we had said the Lakers record was 25 and N 20 25 and 10 something like that 20 you want it 20 201 15 whatever you would have thought they were going to be

Comfortably over 500 instead they’re a game under 500 with Anthony Davis playing fantastic and being healthy and Lebron James playing fantastic and being healthy that says all you need to know about the state of the Lakers which is quite bad n no listen they already raised Championship Banner this season

Everything else is gravy all as well yeah complicates the legacy of the inseason tournament um when um the only team the Pacers can beat is the Bucks and yeah but they play day so that’s not bad that’s true um and the Lakers have been so awful since then um you know the

Thing about it is the Lakers are just a Flatout bad offensive team and they’ve been a bad offensive team now for months they’ve played 35 games they’re ranked 24th in offense they’re 28th and three-pointers made yeah they haven’t had Gabe Vincent all year yeah they’ve been out without

Hachimura for stretches but um you know the problem that they have is they have a team that went to the Conference Finals last year which they brought back almost lockstock and Barrel the only significant player who’s not back is Dennis schruder and they replaced him with Gabe Vincent and that hasn’t worked out

So okay but so they have a team that they have seen has been successful and they have that same this roster that was successful in the inseason tournament and so the difficulty for you’re Rob pinka is I built a team that I’ve seen do very well but is not performing well

In fact is performing terribly the Miami Heat played 42 possessions of Zone against the the the Lakers on Wednesday night and the Lakers scored less than 40 points in those 42 possessions 42 I mean he only Eric spoler only played eight players one of them was Kevin Love who is not is not

The world’s leading Defender one of them was Duncan Robinson not the world’s leading Defender another one was Nikola yovic who was in the G League a couple of weeks ago another one was haime hakz who’s obviously been great but is a rookie those were two of his starters my

First team all rookie but yes they played Zone 42 possessions and they shot 42% maybe 43% of the team it wasn’t like they had a hot night and they won relatively easily and so you watch that happen how do you square it if you’re Rob pinka how do you say I’ve got this

Team that I know has been successful but watch this for 35 games being healthy with your stars and by the way Austin Reeves has been healthy pretty much the whole time and D’Angelo Russell he was he was out for that concussion a little bit but he’s generally I think the those

Four guys who were for their five starters last year in the spring they’ve missed eight total games between the four Austin re Yeah Austin Reeves hasn’t missed a game and uh D’Angelo’s missed three yeah I would say that people including us we’re a little bit premature with the anointing oil on

Austin Reed he is a good player he’s not an ascending star at least he hasn’t performed as an ascending star so far this season I think there was a an anticipation that after he had a really nice playoff run that was kind of a launching pad and look I thought he was

Great in the World Cup I thought he was great you know for for what his contract is and you know forget the whole thing of a two-way guy made good for what his contract is he’s still a very good value but he’s not that oh wow they’ve got a

Legit number three guy on a really good team type of player he’s also not the reason that they’re 17 and 18 no the Danel the fact that Danel Russell’s there is a mistake by Rob pinka they got lucky last year that they were able to succeed with him it was ridiculous that

They looped Minnesota in that deal instead of just taking Mike Conley the Timberwolves are very very happy about that development um Danel Russell is not a winning player he’s never been a winning player it is what it is um and then look the other thing is they had a

Pretty fortunate run before the most competitive sweep in NBA history that has that bronze broom up in the rafs they faced the crumbling Grizzlies the Grizzlies were a complete mess when they knocked him out of the first round um cultural reasons in injury reasons with no Steven Adams etc etc and then

You know the Warriors like give them the respect that for being a team that still has the core of a dynasty in place but they get to face a six seed in the second round instead of uh instead of a three seed and then you know they faced

A when they ran into legitimate competition the old Nuggets play with their food and put them away four straight games well they also shot the lights out I mean again like ruy haimura had the greatest two month two you know six we shooting stretch of his career by a

Significant amount Austin re shot like 48% from three in the playoffs last year and and yeah they got some favorable matchups it’s not to say it was a smoke and mirrors run to the Conference Finals but when everybody was out there celebrating the greatest offseason in the history of offseasons this summer it

Was just Waltzing by the fact that this team was already clearly not good enough to play against Denver which if you have LeBron James going into his age 39 season I would think should be the barrier you’re trying to clear is getting to the NBA finals they clearly

Weren’t good enough to do that the guy who arguably might have been the best fit for them from a playoff perspective Gabe Vincent who also had a very very hot shooting uh postseason run for Miami after not hitting shots in the regular season he’s basically not played because

Of knee injuries so if you want to point to one guy and say well if gab Vincent was healthy maybe he would help some sure if gab Vincent’s the reason your team is a game under 500 in tied for 10th in the west your team’s not very

Good and ultimately this team is just not very good and frankly it’s an indictment of the way the Lakers continually have built around LeBron and AD that we’re sitting here yet again with LeBron and AD ad playing great LeBron and AD being healthy and we’re sitting here with this team a game under

500 and in danger of not even making the plan last year after the trades they were an excellent defensive team and when you are a top two or three defensive team and you have LeBron and AD you can be a good team and they were

A good team they were a good team after the trades and they were a good team in the in the inseason tournament this year there’s no doubt about that and so um now one thing that is been an issue is that Darin ham has elected not to

Play the starting lineup that they used last year which was Russell Reeves Vanderbilt playing alongside LeBron and Anthony Davis he’s only played them as of this recording three minutes the whole season um early in the year he decided that Russell and and reev shouldn’t be with each other in the

Starting lineup and he separated them and they actually started playing a lot better that was the that was the alignment that they won the End season tournament with even though Russell never really played well um for more than a game or two and so if they were back to

Defending in the top three four in the league Not only would they have more wins but I would feel a little differently about them but they just haven’t done it they just haven’t been able to do it and Vanderbilt who’s been part of that been back for a long time

He was out at the start of the season but he’s been back for over a month and they haven’t been able to they’re 10th in defense they’re you know they’re they’re better than average but they’re only slightly better than that their defense is their defense is fine they’re

A terrible offensive team because they have a team mostly full of bad offensive players around their two stars and the fact that they’re in the bottom 10 with ad and LeBron being healthy is it’s sort of amazing you could have those two guys playing at this level and your offense

Could be that bad and frankly when those guys are on the court I was looking at it today they’re under uh a point positive in net rating with Anthony Davis on the court this year and like 1100 minutes and LeBron is one and a

Half points has a has a plus one and a half net rating in like 1100 minutes this year like with those guys playing great so that tells you that the collection of players they put around them from cam reddish to D’angelo Russell to ruy haimura to torian Prince

To Jackson Hayes to Jared Vanderbilt it’s it’s just not a very good team you look at the heat who had a bunch of Christian Wood of course you look at the heat who had a bunch of guys out last night their role players are just better than the Lakers players like and they

Looked at last night well and and there’s there’s grumbling about um you know a lack of continuity and all the lineup changes and this that and the other uh to me the problem is are there five starting caliber players on the roster I think there’s three well there’s five guys who started

In the team that went to the West Conference finals last year I mean again you can slap a bunch of ases on that but they they did they won those playoff games yes they won they won those series and what you should have done is look at that and say

This was a fluky run in many senses because of the three-point shooting because of to McMahon’s point that they got very favorable matchups with a team you know Warriors team they match up great against with their size a Grizzlies team that was obviously falling apart at the seams at the time

And you should have said hey we need to upgrade this team going into next season we need to find ways to augment this roster to improve the roster instead the Lakers tripled down on what they had they brought everybody back they paid everybody to come back and then the one

I mean again you could say the one addition they added was swapping out Gabe Vincent for Dennis shuder which is more or less a like for likee swap gab Vincent’s more of an offb player than Dennis shuder but Gabe Vincent has not played and again if the whole season

Comes down to Gabe Vincent is not playing that’s a pretty flawed strategy in ter as as far as those five starters that were good enough to go to the Western Conference Finals they believed in them so much that with their season on the line trying to avoid a

Sweep uh uh Jared Vanderbilt was a dncd and Danel Russell got put on the bench and played 15 minutes in that game so that’s how much they believe in that starting lineup last year and they believed in it so much going into this season that as you said they’ve played a

Total of three minutes with that group together yeah I’m not trying to suggest that if they all of a sudden started playing that starting five that they would start winning games I was just saying that you know they haven’t used that alignment so okay we said what what’s

Going on what do they do now well I have some good news for them they got the Grizzlies in town you talk about two teams that are desperate for something good happening the the Mojo worn off in Memphis uh you know four straight when J came back in one and four

Cents um this would be a a hell of a time for a dominant ad performance against a team that has a massive hole in the middle and that he was pretty dominant against during the playoffs last year um but as far as longer term you have some ideas I don’t think Zack lavine’s

Solving all their problems I’ll say that well listen they better beat this Grizzlies team because they’ve got a home stand with Memphis then they’ve got the Clippers who are obliterating everybody and have typically played great against the Lakers kyou just named coach of the month baby well Kawhi Leonard looks amazing they’re they’re

Real quick detour the Clippers have won the last 11 games that Kawhi Leonard has played in because he hurt his hip they ended their nine game win streak went two and two in the game games he was out and they’ve won the games he’s come

Back in those 11 games as we record this pod he is averaging 29 Points on 60% from the field 50% from three and 95% at the line in 11 games that’s amazing yeah he’s he he’s looked like Prime kawhai he’s been great but they go ahead he’s looked like the Bonafide superstar that

We we’ve seen before the guy who is capable of being the best opponent championship team Harden is orchestrating everything masterfully uh you know they made the obvious but still challenging decision I would say to slash Russ’s minutes and bring him off the bench and they’ve been rolling since then and the Clippers are

Legitimate contenders yeah they’ve looked really good but so this is their stretch at home Grizzlies Friday Clippers Sunday Raptors Tuesday which we’ll talk about more later but with Emanuel quickley in the mix with Scotty Barnes and Pascal SE yakum that’s not going to be an easy game then they play the Suns next

Thursday by then we’ll see if Kevin Durant’s back and they get the Jazz who are playing much better in one game on the road then they come home on January 15th when everybody’s available again to be traded they play Oklahoma City and then they play Dallas so like that’s a

Stretch where yeah there are some winnable games in there but if this thing hits the skid here over the next 10 days you’re going to have just an absolute Avalanche of noise around this team going into that January 15th date when all these guys can be traded to

Start making moves and doing stuff and when you’re in a situation like that you tend to panic and make moves that are not great and they’ve got to be pretty careful not to do something rash over the next few weeks would would Deonte Murray be rash I don’t like the dejon Murray fit

For the Lakers I think when you look at shoting yeah when you look at when you look at where the Lakers are you’ve got Anthony Davis and LeBron James right you need to surround them with guys who can defend and guys who can shoot so can do

One of those well LaVine can do one of those and arguably Deonte Murray can do one of those I you know I think he’s a little overrated as a Defender I think he needs to get to a team where he’s going to be the point guard and have the

Ball in his hands which he’s not in Atlanta and he would not be with the Lakers it would be sort of like the Russell Westbrook fit he’s a player at this point than Westbrook but it would be a similarly clunky fit but to me that’s what the Lakers have to be trying

To do between now and the deadline is going out and finding players that can fill those three spots or if you want to say ree is is the other guy because of his ability to play off of LeBron and hit shots and he showed he could do that

In the playoffs at a high level go find two guys you can plug in in that lineup with those guys and can defend and hit shots if they do that maybe they’ve got a chance if LeBron ad stay healthy to make a little bit of a run and spin

Things around the problem is they put themselves in such a hole that if either one of those guys gets hurt which I don’t think they’re going to play 75 games each just based off of their history all of a sudden you could be looking at them not even making the plan

Like it’s they’re right on the cusp of that going sideways if either of those guys miss any time so certainly precarious situation that put themselves in here’s the thing I know that Rob pinka is a big believer in Darin ham he is it was obviously his choice to

Hire him which obviously marries you even more to a guy he gives Darin huge credit for Pila that team through the struggles of last year he gives Darin huge credit for the success that they had in Nason tournament this year and they stuck through some pretty thin time

Times last year ended up on the other side granted the circumstances were quite different but they persevered through tough times last year and ended up you know in the Conference Finals also I know that Rob pinka believes in a defensive based team built around his two star

Players and that’s the team that he built and that’s the team that I think he wants to believe in so to make any changes to those things which is what people have watched after 35 games and are either saber rattling about or outright calling for

When it comes to the head coach and to the makeup of the roster I don’t think that the general manager is going to be excited about either one of those paths especially considering what they’ve accomplished this year secondly well doing something with the coach would

Just be insane it’d be a panic move this is not this is not a dark I understand that but I’m just saying that so people have that you know have that understanding when they hear about that other stuff well I’m just saying it would be insane to do something with

Darin okay well I’m not implying that they should just to be clear I know I know you’re not um the other thing is we now have LeBron starting to have a mood he doesn’t speak to the media he has a very sort of off energy now he was

Questionable with illness so I don’t know how he was feeling but he has a very off energy performance against the Heat um that doesn’t speak to the media after the game now there are games where LeBron will skip speaking to the media when there’s not much you know to be accomplished by

Doing it typically it’s a very it’s a very rare occasion though yes and typically in a blowout win or a low stress win um yeah I think mcmah you said Luca donic didn’t talk to the media after they blew out the Blazers on Wednesday night right and I’m not saying

That Luca is perfect by those standards he has improved since early in his career but yeah like there’s an understanding when you’re the face of the franchise the occasional night off comes when it’s it’s not a night that things are going haywire when it’s not a night that that the locker room

Spokesman needs to stand up and deliver whatever messages is going to be delivered right so so make of that what you will so just you know put that on the old bulletin board or whatever tote board silence is deafening sometimes so those that’s the lay of the land there

And in terms of like jumping to conclusions on trades the Lakers have two things to trade they have Austin Reeves who is not only has a favorable Viewpoint in the league regardless of whether he’s an All-Star or not right he a player on a good contract yes other thing that they

Have to trade is their 2029 or 30 I think they can they have one first round pick to trade yes but it’s out far like when LeBron’s goingon to be gone and Anthony Davis is gonna be in his late mid mid to late 30s um so those are the two things that

They have quote unquote of value I’m not saying that they’re other players they have wouldn’t be desired in trades but in terms of you making a trade and acquiring something back of any impact those are the two things you have I mean you never know who might end up

Being available I don’t see somebody on the market now or who I think we can reasonably foresee being on the market before the deadline that I would be interested in in giving a Boston Reef to get I just because I don’t see somebody who if you’re losing Reeves and bringing

In I don’t see somebody who’s going to move the needle that much and again even though Reeves hasn’t you know his star has not necessarily continued to Rise um just the value for him on that you know he’s on a mid-level contract as a as a you know’s he’s a quality starter he’s

Not a star but he’s a quality starter well they also only have three good players trading one of them doesn’t make a lot of sense right like if you’re just if you’re just trying to get to Five Guys to have a fivan functioning lineup that you feel like can compete with anybody

Moving one of those three guys out to then try to get three guys back does not seem likely to work so well and that’s that’s why Darvin ham I think has been searching through these lineups trying to ignite somebody that they’ve got and that cycling has some of it’s been necessity

Some of it’s been just straight experimentation yeah has worn on the team you can just tell I mean they flat out even have said it I mean it’s not you don’t need Super Insight it’s worn on the team um okay well the Lakers continue to be a bit of a drama and

Sunday could get interesting if the Clippers lay one on them I could see the beginning of the news cycle on Monday well Monday is big day in football national championship and uh uh what do they call bloody Monday when all coaches and GMS get fired in the NFL um Black

Monday I believe Black Monday uh but if the Clippers laid it on them on Sunday I could see there being some interesting news cycling starting early next week um they got they they have another week until January 15th when all these guys can be traded like that’s there’s a 10-day window right now

Where they’ve got a pretty tough schedule a lot of the games at home and we’ll see where they come come out of it on the other side but if they’re sitting under 500 potentially multiple games under 500 on January 15th there’s going to be a lot of bang in the drum for go

Get Zack LaVine go get dejonte Murray go get somebody to fix this quote unquote and to McMahon’s point if they do make some move like that I don’t think that’s going to be fixing much better get the one against the Grizzlies because I don’t think you’re beating the Clippers

All right well um bontemps you did an interview today with Joe Dumars from the league and did he he was uh he was fired up fired up about something uh what was that about well the Brooklyn Nets as we talked about last week taged a game

Against the Bucks and not only have they now lost five in a row since then they’ve now lost $100,000 because of it they got fined today and was pretty obvious between the line and between Joe Dumar having a chat with me that the league was trying to send a pretty clear

Message that their player participation policy is to be taken seriously and they are not going to really stand for teams doing what the Nets did which is sit four or five players that they deem as able to play and whether it was part of the policy or not I don’t think it was

Great that they had male Bridges cam Thomas and Royce at the final three quarters of the game like that game as we talked about last week was an absolute mockery and if you go back to before the season started Joe Dumars did a conference call with me and several

Other reporters from various Outlets made it very clear and this is you know Joe Dumar is an old school guy the league you know Adam Silver had this ridiculous back to basketball slogan this year which sort of begs the question why are you having to get back to basketball you’re the commissioner of

The league but that being said the message from them has been from the beginning this is an 82 Game season we want everybody to be focused on trying to play every game as much as possible they have the inseason tournament they wanted people to play and for the Nets

To come out and just lay down and sit half their team in a game they could potentially win it didn’t sit well with them and as Dumar said if I’m just cutting to the chase if you’re going to sit out four players at one time that’s going to violate the policy and it

Violates the spirit of what we’re trying to do here I think that in a nutshell sums up why the Nets were fined and why he made it a point to speak to it on top of it I tell you what cam Thomas has not recovered from sitting out those last

Three quarters what he do he go take an ice bath the last three quarters because he has been freezing cold since then has he hit a shot since then I don’t believe he hasn’t hit many shots he certainly hasn’t hit any of the last couple games

I was gonna say I think he’s 0 for the last three games I mean he’s been he’s been over 11 near last game I mean look they’ve lost five games in a row beginning with that Bucks game you know Mel Bridges who’s played every game he’s played going back to like

Could play going back to like high school pretty publicly fought back against the idea that they should sit guys out after that Bucks game they’ve they’ve now gotten fine this way I mean it’s just been a really embarrassing week for them and now they get to come home and for the

First game since they play the Bucks they have the the the thunder coming in uh Friday night after losing um losing Wednesday night to the Hawks after that huge win on Tuesday against the Celtics Jackson says that cam Thomas is over for his last 18 18 over the last couple games the last

Couple games only two games without making a bucket for a certified bucket getter yeah so not not good times for the Nets all around but look that the league clearly made it a a focus to try to get guys to play more this year and

To try to get away from all these you know Mass resting games like the Brooklyn Nets did last year in Indiana when they sat eight guys and I believe they got fined after that too um and you know I think in general the league is happy with where the policy has gotten

To and how teams have responded to it this is the first time they find a team for it and we’re you know what two and a half months into the season so you know I suspect we’re not going to see any more things like this from teams over

The final three months of the year after this would be my guess well that’s what they’re trying to accomplish certainly trying yeah you know who’s pretty happy about the uh way things are going in Brooklyn right now the team that just beat him the old Houston Rockets oh I know it’s not a

Great draft but that pick is creeping right on up in the lottery that they owe Houston this year unprotected yeah well lot of things going well in Houston right now h of the Warriors and the Lakers and the suns in the west standings right now by

The way uh I don’t I guess those Chinese fans are still alive on the Rockets because alar and shenon got more votes for the All-Star team in the first batch of uh uh voting uh All-Star voting than Victor wanyama or Chad holgren or maybe there’s just a lot of very smart fans

Out there voting maybe maybe people are watching basketball and realiz the Allstar voting is never implied I never question the fans wisdom the fans ask y’s I thought the year that Zaza Puli almost made it was phenomenal for that first half of the Season yeah well um anyway alar shenon

Uh I’ve got more votes than Victor or uh or Chad which by the way he’s played better than Victor or Chad he’s played better than Victor Chad’s an interesting discussion but Chad’s a good he’s got a big I know well you know how I feel about Chad but you

Know he’s got a big role for them anyway um Jets and the defensive player of the year conversation for sure the Rockets are a drastically improved defense with shingun on the floor which give him credit but uh that in the floor is pretty drastic difference when it comes to drafts a

Veteran executive once told me you don’t you don’t got to get the whole draft right you just got to get your pick right so keep that in mind as you as we head down the stretch on what could be a quote unquote bad draft well we’ve also

Said a bunch of times just real quick on chingun and hren I mean there’s definitely a world where both of them could be on the same team and one of the real wh ifs in reesea memory is if the Thunder had just kept the pick that became alaran shenon and didn’t trade it

For a couple protective picks that they then turned into Usman Jen the next year in another trade and if they just had him and Chad hren together right now it it would look pretty good I agree you don’t always get everything right I’m not saying the thunder should be

And feathered it’s just a fun hypothetical to think about the the Thunder have done pretty good now we’ll see although they they had an incredible run of wins they beat the Nuggets twice beat the gri beat the uh uh Wolves beat the Celtics in a high quality game at

Home and then second night of back toback second back to back with uh some mechanical issues with the flight in between a little 5 a.m. checkin at the hotel is that right I didn’t see first few quarters yeah that’s the uh kind of information would be helpful to better not that I

Would recommend yeah I I didn’t know hear about that until after the game I tell you what though uh going down a little bit of a tangent here but uh the comeback you know they they came I forgot how much they’re down they came

Back they had a chance to tie it up at the end and the LinkedIn coach old old Mark dagal he drew up a hell of a play got Isaiah Joe pretty clean look on a corner three and uh I I like the odds of him taking that shot didn’t go in but uh

Crazy thing about that by the way Jaylen Johnson is back from his was a wrist injury right from the Hawks injury believe that’s shoulder he was hurt it was somewhere it was somewhere below the neck and above the toe but he’s he’s looked really good anyway he’s a spectacular young Talent

Um but uh on that play by the on that play by the way the Thunder threw the inbounds to the to to underneath the basket they were down by three and the Hawks elected to guard them underneath the basket which freed Isaiah Joe for the three-pointer I know we’re talking about

A shot that got missed but um it was off the good execution by one side and pretty bad on the other side yeah everything but the make uh anyway speaking of the Thunder McMahon you were up there for that game with the um with the Celtics uh High level basketball

Played that night um no shame in my view winning or losing on that one um I I still don’t think that the Thunder they don’t rebound well and I think that they you know Pat Riley always says no rebounds no rings and I Pat riy is right most of the time maybe

Not all the time but he’s right most of the time and they still have a whole lot of inexperience yes but so I don’t really think that this is their year but if you told me that that was a possible finals matchup I wouldn’t say it was impossible I should

Tried to squeeze out some answers from the Thunder about whether they think you know that that they can be that team as soon as this season and that boring ass Bunch has no intention of engaging that conversation s’s got him s’s got school yeah but it’s not even that like that’s

Not how Shay gild Alexander is wired he’s he’s he’s doing half naked uh commercials but he’s he’s not really colorful in his interviews if you ask Shay guildas Alexander about anything he’s G to talk about work ethic he’s gonna talk about work that’s what and that and you know what they’re boring as

Hell that’s not a bad thing it’s a challenge from a marketing perspective and I think it will be a challenge for the NBA because I listen they’re going to have to figure out a way to market the Oklahoma City Thunder because we’re talking about a team that is is opening

Up a window that has a chance to last by NBA standards a really long time I don’t know what all it’s going to look like around them Sam pre is pretty damn good at his job and I know Shay Gil just Alexander’s going to be there for a

While I know Chad hen’s going to be there for a while and I know uh Jay dub jayen will Willams is going to be there for a while that’s one hell of a core and you know who they are they are the anti-g Grizzlies you know the Grizzlies

And the grizzly still have a really good young core we’ll see what happens with them but you know for the last couple years they’ve been the best young Corp in the league and they’ve been the most premature celebrating team in the league they you know fine in the west and you

Know I mean they just that like it struck me the other night as I’m trying to just get Chad or Shay to say anything remotely interesting about the big picture traj trajectory of this team that is clearly ascending toward Contender status and might already be there probably a little early on that

But they might um and they are just you know in tumbleson their PR guy who Grantland rightfully ripped years ago just proud as could be about the how they’re just sitting up there drinking milk and being boring I tell you what were they really drinking milk milk no

But it might as well be it might as well be that’s the thing I couldn’t rule that out but like you could see with Chad like you there there’s a split-second thought of make but like no Chad can talk if Chad is wired I know I know

Enough to know that if Chad wants to Chad could really say some stuff but he’s a little bit he’s not interested in the media game also jayen Williams Jay dub uh he also is a thoughtful potentially loquacious guy so he both of those guys have possibilities but they but they’re they’re they’re programmed

And they’re and they’re and they’re with the program um and you know Chad’s talking about we’ve played 32 games we got 50 to go a lot of lessons to learn we had Boston I we have Atlanta tomorrow we’re focused on at land I’m like good lord it’s bichan it’s but like I

Said I I think as as much as we’re sitting there rolling our eyes thinking good Lord where’s our headline you know I like you don’t have to worry about the mentality you don’t have to worry I don’t think with this group about what’s going on after midnight like this is a

Team that is about their business and all the Cockiness and arrogance and stuff it end up blowing up in the Grizzly’s face I don’t see that coming down the uh going down that way for the Thunder and again I think that the the league and to a certain

Extent the media we G to figure out ways to Market a team that’s not interested in in saying anything I know just watch Shay gildas Alexander play he’s so smooth he’s one of these guys who’s who never looks like he’s in a hurry now but you know what’s interesting though he is

Obviously a phenomenal player I love watching him play he’s not a highlight machine though like John Mor’s an Instagram sensation because two or three times a game minimum he’s going to do stuff that is Just sh plays Blow The Rim Yeah Shay is just like you said it’s he’s a weird

Combination of smooth and Herky jerky you know and like the guy he slithers and he Slither wherever he wants to go that’s right and he can do it at 100 miles an hour he can go from 100 to zero and and you know the weight changes speed the way he finishes the I

Mean he’s his mid-range game is lethal I mean he he’s an like I love watching him play but I don’t think that he’s a I don’t think his game necessarily is super uh marketable for the Highlight no when you compare him to J certainly not not the same you know LC is gonna

Have like all the no look passes and all that stuff he’s not there’s not not a lot of Flash in his game there’s just a ton of skill and efficiency I would much rather watch sh Luka Luca there’s way too much baiting of the opponent for Luca I mean he does it he’s

Good at it listen that’s one of the things I really love about him there’s way too much baiting of the referees that’s one of the things that’s cut goes hand in hand yeah that he needs to cut back on but I a man who enjoys a

Little bit of trash talk I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed that um you’re also a man who enjoys clutch Play I Believe oh we have turned the calendar to not just a new month but a new year but you know what that means it’s time for the coones player of

The month coones Factor player of the month for December hey speaking of arrogance gone too far speaking of Trash Talk Dylan Brooks I could only get an monal mention because it was a moment in time just it was really just that one night but his return to Memphis where he

Says he never plans to lose for the rest of his career the man came in he had some kind of funky like designer mask thing going on like ski mask I don’t know what was going on with that but stunk it up in the first half scored 24

Points after halftime hit the a dag or three the exact kind of shot that Taylor Jenkins used to go crazy telling him not to take hit that to uh put the Grizzlies out of the misery that night wore a wild outfit and then like I said postgame

Said I’m never going to lose in Memphis for the rest of my career so could only get him a an honorable mention but I did want to give Dylan Brooks a shout out my pal Dylan haven’t talked to him in a while not since like Midway through that

First round series but anyways neither here nor there something else happened that first round series it got distracted yeah he he did some poking yeah and then he wasn’t as interested in chatting with with uh me in particular much of the media after that um anyways hey we

Just gushed about a gentleman named shus Alexander old SGA honestly there weren’t a whole lot of clutch moments for the Thunder because they were kind of mowing teams down last month as as they went uh 10 and three in December but they had a few and one of those was against the

Defending champions in Denver on the road SGA we talked about that lethal mid-range game baby just Rose Up Knocked Down the buzzer beater and so he’s going to get the bronze here 17 clutch points 7 of n shooting and 19 minutes they went four- one in those games that’s the

Bronze I mean listen there’s a lot of stuff going on last month you know we uh we can’t get enough of those blue CHS baby we’re just gushing about the thunder despite tumbleson just hating every every chance he gets brand.com had that right tell you that much anyways all right the silver

He making he’s making multiple grantlin references because ton hates when I do it and you know me if I if I sense a weakness next time you’re again there’s going to be a carton of milk sitting at your your table it’ll be sour won’t be cold though it’ll be

Sour I would not put it past those boys the silver you guys might be familiar with the gentleman by the name of Stephen Curry I’ve heard of him boy oh boy were the Warriors in desperate need of some clutch Ste performances how much did they need that dagger that he

Hit against the Celtics last month when dagger it was it was a I don’t even know how you describe it it was the the highest arcing shot that’s been made in the NBA this season I haven’t checked that but I’ll bet it’s still the case yes and fellas Steph led

The league in clut scoring last month Oh by a lot he had 45 nobody else had 30 45 points in 37 clutch minutes shooting splits of 524 789 in those situations and you tell me how the hell did he not win Kone Factor player of the my god well the warriors

Were only four and six in those games that’s part of it but part of it fellas Bo 10 clutch games in a month that doesn’t sound good listen it’s down in the wire every night they’re just scuffling to to you know to have a shot down the stretch but part of it

Gentlemen is uh you know coones means that mean that that can mean things ain’t going well and you you know you find a way to rise the occasion oh my God I don’t believe it I would say uh what you don’t believe what go ahead

What do you think this is no go ahead any guesses BS I I don’t have any guesses no I’m very curious to see who it’s going to be every once in a while you cover a game and at the end of the game this is who I

Thought I I can’t believe it go ahead listen every once in a while you cover a game and at the end of the game you are just sitting there staring in shock mouthing what the Hipp aop did I just watch Amazing I had one of those moments ladies and gentlemen or there’s no

Ladies here gentlemen had one of those moments well there’s no gentlemen either fellas had one of those moments in New Orleans on December 19th when John Marine just before shouting how he kept receipts as he tried it off the floor returned from his suspension and fellas I’ve got a lot of respect for

Herb Jones defensive prowess Mr Morant absolutely roasted herb Jones the entire second half of that game the Grizzlies were down 24 in the second quarter stormed all the way back and how did it end in Unforgettable fashion space the floor give ja Runway oh you think he can stop me no sir

Here’s a spin move little layup wh the first game-winning buzzer beater of John morant’s career and uh they had another comeback win few games later in New Orleans um plus 11 and 14 clutch minutes three and0 in those games 13 points five seven from the floor and one of those

Five was one of the most unforgettable shots of the Season John Mor hey and I wondered I said Can a guy be eligible for the gon’s factor player of the month if he was suspended for over half of the month and listen when the NBA gave him

Player of the week Fresh Off suspension I said you know what if they’re okay with it so am I John Morant those brass balls stuffed in the net are coming your way I’m going to Memphis next week H maybe I shouldn’t say that out

Loud and I’ll if if if we can get them in time I’ll deliver that deliver the that right there balls is a brass receipt bonts that’s right it’s it’s certainly headed to Memphis just like so many packages on FedEx headed to Memphis all I thoroughly enjoyed that presentation of the kone’s factor player

Of the month I was very impressive you seem disappointed you seem Disturbed that I would dare to give it to Mr Morant listen man it’s your award you’ve created it you can do whatever the hell you want with it that’s I just I just don’t know if I’d

Have given it to the guy who was suspended for the first 25 games of the season but to takes goone to come back from the suspension with that kind of that kind of confidence I can see right listen like you can’t argue with that you can’t argue with that all right I’m

Gonna go out there and try to score some drugs on the street just kidding dude it’s legal in California just go to got those little I know I don’t yeah but I don’t know where first off I don’t know I don’t know where to start I’m going to

Limp in there I mean what am I going to anyway give me a call I’ll walk FaceTime you I’ll walk you through it is that right I uh yeah I’m sure I’m sure I can trust you you know empirically in this one I’ll have I’ll have floating yeah you certainly will he’ll

Be trying to fly out the hotel window all right thank you for uh listening to The Hoop Collective podcast thank you to Jackson and Parker our producers and uh I’m G to try to get through the weekend we’ll see how I feel by Monday but it’s um it’s a rough go of

It thank you for your I’m sure your thoughtful uh wishes and no one will make fun of me for falling down in a boat by the way I’m just going to be honest here I was getting on the boat oh so you had the whole boat ride you’re just an excruciating

Pain I was getting on the boat what kind of shoes were you wearing it was it was not because of the shoes were they fire they were not they were not Jess was on fire because he fell into the pole is my back oh my God whatever I was getting on the boat

That’s all I’m gonna say I was not on my feet and then I was on my you know what all right thanks listen hoop Collective I’m gonna go Grunt and moan have a good weekend Lo intoo Wendy and adios amigos

Level Of Concern For Lakers + OKC Statement | The Hoop Collective
Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to talk the struggles of the Lakers, what potential trade targets may be on the table for LA, the NBA’s reaction to the Nets resting players and talk the Thunder continuing to impress with the best young core in the league before dishing out Cojones Factor Player of the Month.
#thehoopcollective #nba #espn

0:00 Intro – Storytime
4:01 Issues With Lakers’ Struggles
29:27 NBA Response To Nets
37:46 Thunder Make Statement

44:37 Cojones Factor Player Of The Month☑️ Subscribe to ESPN+: https://plus.espn.com/​​​​​
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