Lakers/Blazers Postgame Analysis, J.Worthy, Bron, AD, D-Lo, Coach Ham | Jan 21, 2024

Lakers/Blazers Postgame Analysis, J.Worthy, Bron, AD, D-Lo, Coach Ham | Jan 21, 2024

Lakers get back in the wind column uh LED wire to wire beat the Trailblazers 134 110 and not to harp on Friday too much we won’t I promise but Billy Mack just mentioned it as well after that disappointing loss to the Nets on Friday many wondered how the Lakers would

Respond tonight they did just that five Lakers and double figures led by a great offensive showing from D’Angelo Russell 34 points eight assists six of 11 from three LBJ adding 28 you turn defense into offense all night long nine steals season High 35 on the fast break to just

Six uh for Portland simply put big game you won the game that you’re supposed to win and everyone gets free tacos that is the biggest uh you know the biggest thing of the whole night is everybody’s going to get those tacos indeed uh by one point but yeah you know

Ally it was it was all about redeeming yourself at home after that disappointing loss against the Nets and to me it was all about Pace tonight it was about you know uh the 35 uh fast break points uh getting out starting to pace and then DLo you know he’s

Continuing uh you know to do what he does he’s really you know en encouraging to see his his confidence in his game and and I thought the bench came in and provided a lot too so yeah it was a good game for the Lakers they they did what

They were supposed to do at home hopefully they can you know continue to play and and get better in in some other departments yeah no you you have to it’s tough after great wins to turn the page and get focused on that next one which is basically what happened on Friday

Night but it’s it can be equally tough to turn the page from a bad loss and not let that linger and turn into a second night where things just aren’t flowing as well so it was good to see the team kind of respond as we talked about in the

Pregame when when they either choose to be at full attention or their opponent has their full attention they just play back better and tonight they played better the the spirit of what they were trying to do felt more connected um now you have to turn that into can you do it

Again on Tuesday night against a high quality opponent uh in the LA Clippers and I know we look forward not back but this one really makes you scratch your head and think had we paid attention on Friday what this would look like right now but nonetheless we go back downtown

D’Angelo Russell is with Mike trudell all right D’Angelo Russell opportunities the first one throw the ball off the ground LeBron alleyoop and the second one have the kind of nasty dribble move where you finish yourself I imagine that’s just instinctual kind of hits you with the

Moment but can you take me through those two plays just having fun um I mean that’s what we all dreamed of doing you know you go back to Growing Up you practice moves you tried things in your backyard never thought you’d actually be able to get the chance to do it never

Thought I’d be able to throw a bounce pass live to LeBron James in the game so things like that just keeps you young keep you enjoying the game just fun at what point did you know you were going to go off the ground instead

Of like off the glass or just up in the air I’m a fast thinker so it don’t matter I just kind of just thought of it right out the top seen Braun trailing was first thing that came to my mind all right makes sense so the team a pretty

Good team win from the start different lineup in this case with toan out ruy Pops in uh how do you kind of go from these couple games where you played well and then last game where you’re not able to hold on like what do you have to do

To just squeeze this in and make it more consistent I thought we did a lot of good things today offensively defensively um just all around the board I think we executed um so just finding ways to to keep that and carry it over to our next one and just how about your

Play uh you have been really consistent since you came back from that tailbone injury that cost you a couple games where are you finding your Rhythm just attack attack attack know find him um obviously like you said I’ve been inserted when I was out I got to see

What what what I was missing where I was missing so trying to find ways to just continue to capitalize and be myself all right so a couple more days at home before you hit the long road trip what’s just most important about trying to find

A way to to keep this going before you hit the East Coast trip let keep our confidence High you know um keep all of our problems inhouse you know work on it and when we’re ready to display it put it on display for the world we do that

But just got to stay tight tight neck group stay connected all right thanks D’Angelo thank you see you guys thanks so much guys D’Angelo Russell last five as Stu mentioned on the broadcast when it’s going good it’s going good and it has been for a while for D’Angelo and I

Think that’s what his teammates want out of him they’re trying to encourage him uh to continue this play so yeah he’s confident and he’s he’s getting the job done and I I thought you know the preseason and early part of the season for D’Angelo like you could tell he was

Physically in a better stronger Place uh his legs the power and his lower body started off really shooting the ball well and then it kind of dipped I feel like the the road the the the rigors of the Season really kind of cut into his energy level and power source the

Tailbone injury and being out for a little bit in my opinion not knowing I think it reconnected him to like getting back to focusing on strengthening his body and being in good physical space so that then he could go out and perform uh able to watch like you said see some

Things that he could maybe do better take advantage of and just playing great basketball right now definitely need to see the ball go in the way he shoots the basketball that helps the entire team and hopefully he can keep that going obviously the shot making is critical

And imperative but just the assist as well to go along with the the 34 points we talk about bra adding five another night where the Lakers too shy of 30 they had a streak of six games straight with 30 assists just ball hopping and moving as

This team continues to try to find its Rhythm find its way sharing the basketball but when D’Angelo Russell at that point guard position is leading the way he has been as of late how imperative is that for this squad no it’s V um the ability for someone else with

That creativity offensively is going to be vital to the Lakers success part of why we talked about Austin’s three-point percentage numbers being lower is because of how much he’s having to do off of the dribbles like this is not oh my gosh this guy is not capable of

Scoring 30 just got 30 like he can do this and you know will he get 21 field goal attempts no most likely he won’t but he is capable of being a a 20 point per night guy you start putting that next to LeBron 20 a night ad 20 a night

Austin 20 a night and then the other guys are contributing in the right ways and that that’s a powerful Lakers team speaking of LeBron 28 big game nine of 10 from the free throw line just shows you and speaks to the aggressiveness from him he had a couple of Threes

Himself subbed himself out at the end said I’m done coach it’s time to sit down uh but you mentioned it he was going to set the tone in you to just that and he did uh I think he did with the pace we talked about how he has the

Ability to get a rebound and start a oneman fast break you know hit some big threes and got guys involved and you know I think he set the tone yeah 28 points on 16 field goal attempts we talked about the inefficiency Friday night yeah nine of 24 that’s what you

Call efficiency um and that’s what allows the other guys like D’Angelo to have more field goal attempt opportunities when LeBron is that efficient then there are more opportunities for D’Angelo and other guys to get shots up uh so it is vital that the Lakers continue to find that

Offensive balance so it’s not just LeBron and ad uh that has to bring the force and the power to what the Lakers are trying to do uh on the offensive end oh by the way only seven shots for Anthony Davis four of seven but 14 and

14 he did exactly what was needed of him tonight let’s hear from Darin ham he’s speaking with the media Darin you talked about blocking out outside noise and stuff DS is is a name that’s been in virtually every trade rumor since trade season started what have you seen from his Focus here

These last five games and you touched on this the other day but what does he mean potential to this team moving forwards I mean just his skill set uh first of all you know he’s done a wonderful job you know being a pro about all of it you

Know so much stuff that we can’t control um and that said you know he’s just really locked in on his game focus on ways he can help the team uh communicating uh competing tonight you know was one of the most complete games I’ve seen him play since he’s been back

In a Laker uniform he was great on defense great with his activity uh great on and off the ball offensively uh he was huge and great way to respond and you know the Trailblazers have a certain record but at the end of the day they still got some a lot of

Firepower over there in terms of brogon and Simons and Jeremy deand Dre all of those guys so it was a great win great bounce back win for us just you know regardless of the opponent playing the way we know we need to play on both

Sides of the ball but he was right at the Forefront of that him Brian those guys the way they it was great to have Cam back ruy um all of those guys uh really pitched in it was a total team effort Darin that starting group had

Some success in both the first and the third quarter not that typical point of attack guy maybe defensively on it but other strength so what did you see from there and and does that shift in in any way kind of like the scheme or the way

You play or things like that no we just you know one of the things we talked about in the film room man was just you know being great in transition D being great um closing out the defensive possession with rebounds and felt like all five guys uh were doing that and

They did a great job of uh we did an awesome job of communicating just communicating our activity uh everybody coming into a play where they were on the ball Gardener screener just ready to guard and and everyone behind that had a couple mishaps here and there but for

The most part um 90% of the game you know we were on point so it was good to see those five out there together uh ruy stepped in and made a huge impact um he was really really good uh in his minutes obviously Bron it’s great to get ad

Under 27 minutes for the night um I don’t know when the last time that’s happened but uh and DLo had it going you know DLo was was the guy spearhead and everything so it was good it was a good good start bar starting five D’Angelo has averaging 27 points since uh being

Put back in the starting lineup five games ago and obviously he’s shooting over 50% so that’s that’s part of it um is there anything that coincided with that shift in terms of how your overall offense has been executed that has contributed to his personal success I think whenever we play with Pace

Whenever we we push the ball we we’re consistent with our running habits we’re forceful with our running habits um all types of things are going to open up um and again we stress whether you know we you you you can it’s a a multitude of ways to put pressure on a defense and

Early in transition you know really starting with great defense and and but even still the other teams make makes a field goal getting the ball out quick rushing it up the floor getting into what we need to get into in order to be able to explore multiple options and I

Think uh along with that playing with a physicality you know we talk about creating advantage through screening screening and rolling hard attacking the paint that was a focus tonight it’s a focus overall for our team trying to dominate the paint and protect the paint defensively but again offensively just

Just playing with a lot of force and physicality and and and lastly the ball movement and being shot aggressive ball movement and and once you open you know being ready to shoot as the ball is on his way to you and being shot aggressive and I think that’s that’s been the

Biggest thing he’s been very deliberate very decisive in terms of what he wants to get whether it’s to set up another teammate or to attack himself hey Darin um you intimated this last time but with all the trade rumors out there um when guys play to their potential do you

Think this roster has what it takes to accomplish the goals you want to accomplish absolutely that’s that’s why was constructed the way it was constructed um you know you go through that process of discovery and injuries illnesses what have you they tend to disrupt that and so when you constantly

Shuffling guys in and out of the lineup you know it’s it’s kind of difficult to create continuity you know we know we have a hell of a one-w punch with with with ad and Brun and um it’s just guys you know getting comfortable and being aggressive and not

Waiting for those guys to do everything you know Play Your Part you know be supportive but also be a threat yourself um to be deliberate uh be decisive uh so we can help give those guys support they need because once you know the game gets down into the waning moments they’re

Going to make plays that’s going to put us in a good position to be successful but leading up to that point different guys got to step up and not be afraid to make plays would you make a camps minutes uh in the that he was on the floor and just

Especially with the look with him and Vendo I think it was in that late first quarter early second quarter where they were just getting deflection steals just kind of just recing Havoc that’s what they do I mean it was great having them back out there you know tall long

Athletic Wing that can make plays on the drib off the dribble um and also see V you know again that quick twitch coming back more and more and more with each game just his ability to track down long rebounds loose balls get his hands on deflections Steals and the same thing for cam

Uh just those guys being aggressive and doing what they do keeping it simple and and keeping it consistent Darin uh on the 80 minutes front he came out a little bit earlier he normally plays the the whole first quarter and then only played 14 minutes in the first half did you identify this

As a matchup where maybe you could save some of his minutes a little bit or was that just kind of how the game Flow played out no it was definitely something that I told him whispered to him before the game even started um you

Know we going to try to get you a little bit early if we can um and just he’s been carrying a huge load playing a tournament has been very available and available at a high level for us so um we said the opportunity presented itself

You know we’re going to try to see if we can shave some minutes off and we were able to do that and so just happy that you know he he uh was very efficient but his minutes were very manageable and and didn’t take a turn a dark turn during the

Game d you you guys play the Clippers on Tuesday um didn’t play them that long ago what what do you guys need to take from that game um specifically into into this meeting uh I think just us again I always say it how we want to present ourselves to the other 29 teams

Regardless of who we playing you know us establishing an identity on both sides of the ball us knowing you know the type of standard that we need to set in order to be successful UC f um and that involves obviously you do your game planning and you do your scouting and

Seeing you know what these other teams specifically the Clippers our next opponent is going to try to throw at you but all in all even you know through aside from that I think the top priority for us is to really come out and start to establish uh a consistent manner of

Which in which we want to play like how we want to defend consistently night in and night out and how we want to attack offensively and keep that core those core principles on both sides of the ball intact regardless of who the opponent is thanks coach thank

You D what’s what’s going through your mind on that two on0 when you turn around and you see LeBron behind you and did you feel like kind of the plays that you guys were able to link up on tonight were big energy plays for the crowd yeah

Definitely um I was telling Mike um you grow up kind of Envision yourself doing the moves you practice and you know the moves you have fun with on the court and um that was just something I’ve practiced done a 100 times and just brought it out the bag that’s it hey do

Uh was there a conscious decision made before the game tonight that you you know you’re going to try to really fill it up or is that just within the flow of the game you you catch fire that’s never my intentions um I never come to the game saying I’m trying to score score

Score um um some mentality just having a mentality of being aggressive and um they were a little I don’t know miscommunication a lot of times where they weren’t really guard me and when I’m making shots like that I’ll shoot it from anywhere so just taking what they give me do do you think

The ball movement these past five games and and kind of the Rhythm you’ve been able to find have those two things kind of gone together do you feel like hell yeah um we hard team to guard when we move the ball you know when we when

We take you know pride in um just playing together you know all four quarters I think we’re a tough team to guard and um we did it against the Blazers tonight let’s see if we’ll do it next game I don’t know who we play but next

Game hey DLo um when you have it going the way you did tonight um and you’re like dribbling up the floor or something is there a point where you say like I’m going to pull this cuz I’m I’m feeling in the The Zone and I want to get the

Crowd going or is it just kind of you know you get close to the three-point line and have a little space and then decide or when when does that decision get made I mean I’ve always been like that you know um recognizing my superpower you know everybody in the

League has one um might be defensive or just a motor whatever may be but everybody has one and um for me just ever since I was a a young kid I always found myself you know kind of getting hot you know throughout the game where I might score five six points right away

Um maybe score 10 in a quarter or do something like that and score you know 10 12 points the last three minutes of the game you know it’s just my superpower and um when I feel that and get in that mode I definitely know that you know I’m in that

Mode DLo coach talked about you all making sure you stay true to who you are no matter who the opponent is what does that say about the respect level not just on your team but within the league damn that was nice I like the way you delivered that um

I just think you can’t this is the league that um any team can take you know take advantage of a team disrespecting them you know so trying to treat every team like they they can beat you and and score z z um no matter what

The score you know is and just you know treating all your opponents with respect in this league because it can go any way Danel when you missed those games uh after the new year when you had the Bruce tailbone and then you know you kind of recognize where the team was

When you returned to the lineup did that I guess recognition have anything to do with your uptick in play You’re averaging 27 points a game since coming back to the starting lineup definitely that’s exactly what it did um just being out I seen us you know um you know

Um trying really hard to get LeBron and AD the ball you know you find yourself dribbling off your foot or you know um looking crazy trying to force it when it’s like you got to be aggressive around these guys you know you compliment these guys by being aggressive

Not passing to him like you know like that’s easy to guard you’re easy to guard when it’s like that so just watching it watching a lot of guys on the team kind of make those decisions and just when I came back I was like I’m I’m going to be aggressive in those in

Those instance and I’ll see how it I’ll see how it um comprehends I mean I’ll see how it like it it um compliments them you know and um it’s been complimenting them so far D’Angelo maybe what you just said is part of this but Darin had hinted the

Other day that you had a chat at some point and just wondered like what what did you kind of try to communicate maybe what feedback did he did he get and then how have we seen some of that if at all these last couple games oh yeah I mean I

Was just trying to be honest you know and transparent and you know what you know what we what we see every night you know we all know that you know starts to games you know can lose you games and we don’t get off to good starts often um

Third quarters can lose you games and we’re we struggle third quarters so just communicating ways that you know I feel like I can help you know being aggressive in those areas you know and seeing what I can do to help him trust me more just being open you know and and

Um just communication was key and and he showed a lot of respect and trust in me since thing when was that specifically was it I don’t remember okay I think it was on the road I really don’t remember got you hey dowlo uh you talked about um

How how you guys are a hard team to guard when you move the ball um uh how does the team and you especially as one as one of The Playmakers on the team kind of manage uh the play calling versus freelancing offense and and does

That play a role in how much you guys are moving the ball um I think you earned those those guys trust you know and then it becomes a thing to where you know you have the credibility after you earn the trust last year I feel like I’ve earned their

Trust you know so for me to come out and pull up and transition or shoot the shots that I know I can make and they’ve seen me make I’m not looking at anybody for any reactions or validation I’m just trusting myself and hopefully it can be contagious around you know anybody that’s

Not DLo uh you guys have won five of eight and there have been a couple blowout losses and and that stretch but do you feel like you guys are turning a corner in terms of consistency right now or I don’t know I don’t really want to

Talk about that I just I know it’s going to be a headline or something and I I just rather not appreciate it brother of course sorry uh Darin mentioned how your decisiveness is really positively impacting the offense sorry I was just wondering how have you developed that skill uh just as

A player what do you do I think it’s just the confidence thing um there was a few plays tonight where Max Christie was um they went zoning he was passive and he turned it over like back to back to back times or something like that and it

Was just just confident you know so for him just trying to preach that the guys like um everything I do is with confidence if I don’t want to pass I’m not going to pass cuz I don’t have a confident and and you just got to kind

Of slow the game down and and and go about it that way and that’s how I have that approach you know just being confident trusting my skill and not looking for validation just just doing it so that’s it thank you it’s been on a roll the last five games 34 points eight

Assists tonight what are you seeing from him out there uh just being aggressive looking for a shot you know and uh you know we continue to try to you know find him especially in transition um you know where the defense is flattened and he’s like trailing but he’s shooting just

Shooting good is definitely really good for offense 35 fast break points that’s a season High how much easier does that make it for you guys well the only way to get fast break points is defend you know and uh defend without fing we did that and um you know it allowed us to

Get on a break and execute you were kind of shaking your head in I guess amazement or uh being impressed by it after DLo did that behind the back move when you running alongside him um just one um can you just rate that move uh and then just

Speak to his talent level that brings to your group skill set is obvious obvious um you know and uh his ball handing is very Shifty and very um you know nonchalant but he always trying to keep guys off balance um with his game um it’s just slow uh slow to Quick um you

Know game definitely keeps guys off balance and you know that game that that move and transition was was a pretty damn good um you know faking to behind the back um to me W it around to itself and laid it up in transition that was

One of our 35 fast break points that was that was that was dope Ron uh trance pointed out before the game that you’re leading the league in Fast Break points uh as the oldest player in the league what’s it like to know that stat um I guess you know just trying to stay

In in in in top tier shape and um you know when I’m out on the floor being able to um sorry um you know get points in transition when the defense is not set you know it’s good for our ball Club so um and I’m just trying to be

Efficient too when I’m out there you know you know SC at The Rim or whatever the case may be and um you know it definitely helps when you got guys that’s looking for you when Cam and Vando are defending the way they are especially in that second quarter what

Does that do for the team uh we we proud oursel on defense obviously um it doesn’t work out it’s playing sometime some nights but you know you have guys that’s um you know very quick with their hands and can anticipate um you know plays and keep guys in front of them

Definitely just keeps us uh very solid but those guys have great hands they able to get Steals and deflections things so um it’s it’s great for our defense after losing the other night to Brooklyn the team you’re better then what was it like tonight to come out and

Dominate and win relatively easy fashion I wouldn’t say that um you know every game has his own challenge you know and U you know for us tonight we wanted to come to uh you know try to you know play better than we did you know last game

And be better offensively not turn the ball over um not allow Second Chance points and then be very efficient offensively and uh I think we we executed that minutes tonight thank you thank you check this out LeBron with 285 and five tonight pretty impressive 14- 14

For Anthony Davis he’s with brez in the locker room ad the story of the night uh D’Angelo keeps playing high level basketball 34 points eight assists what are you seeing from him out there uh he’s playing free um he’s been dowlo I mean he I mean we know how good of a

Score he is uh you know over the past couple games four games or so excuse me he he’s been scoring at at leite level shooting the ball well um making the right plays making the right reads and um you know doing everything that you know he’s supposed to be doing

Uh to help us get wins what’ you think of that play about halfway through the fourth quarter the fake behind the back PL pass laid it up himself yeah uh it’s a great play I mean obviously everyone um you know when you see Bri running down the floor everyone you know think

The live coming so uh reminds me of the play in Atlanta uh years back in 1920 when do Ron do hit with the fake live and got the layup so um you know anytime Bron running that floor you know guys think the L is coming so it’s a good time to

You know put out your tricks what does Cam B add to you guys team and what do you lose when he’s not out there his defensive presence um you know we have Cam and TP and Vandal out there uh it’s a great group for us to um

Do a lot of great things defensively um you know can coming back putting that pressure on uh you know tonight Simons and uh Brogden you know he’s able to um you know guard at a very high level and then offensively you know attacking the basket you know you know shooting the

Ball so uh we definitely miss his president when he’s out Cam and bend as a defensive tandem just when they’re together doing what they did tonight just how much does that change things for you guys especially on that end the FL uh changed a lot um like I said when

You have those two guys who you know very Scrappy and put a lot of pressure on the uh opposing guards um it makes our job a lot easier um and you know having their backs giving them the utmost confidence to go out there and you know gamble for those steals or

Pressure the basketball knowing that we uh you know in the last line of defense to to protect them so um you know we even have a lot more confidence you know with as the back line knowing that okay uh them guys are not going to make it

Easier for the opposing guards um and now we got to do our jobs of you know when they get a good contest rebound a basketball ad there have been so many different starting lineups and of course each one is just a little bit different tonight maybe a little less point of

Attack defense but you make up for it in other ways what how does that impact kind of what you do and where where you have to um direct you know and kind of lead the the units when it’s a different Personnel like that um I think the only

Personnel was ruy and that’s just because TP didn’t play um but ruy still you know did a good job defensively uh you know and ruy a a little bigger than TP so we able to uh you know read down the line meet him and Braun you know 3

Four five so um it gives us that opportunity um but man I like uh the lineup we had today um you know really coming in place of TP and um he’s able to shoot the basketball just like TP and um you know difference you know r a little bigger

For offensive rebounds and defensive rebounding purposes so uh but it was a good lineup for sure coming up you guys just played them week week and a half ago so what can you take away from that game that you know you guys need for uh for Tuesday

Honestly I don’t remember that game we play so many games I don’t I mean we’ll go over it uh a little bit tomorrow in Tuesday and uh see how we can get another Victory you won by two or three held him to 103 that night

Pretty good defense yeah I mean I said I don’t there a lot of games going on uh you know obviously we know they’re great team um great scores and uh they can score it well but uh pretty good defensively you know with you know kawwai and Paul and you know Russ you

Know being Scrappy and uh I know zo’s out you know but you know Plumley and know everybody else so Norman so um you know we do what we you know did last game go back and look at the film see the ways we can you know get another win

Would there be any benefit to now that you 44 games in you guys it seems like you’ve had three seasons in one at this point to have that shared experience of this group and and kind of take that forward versus you know I know it’s not

Up to you but versus the front office shuffling stuff up just recognizing that you guys have you’ve been through all this and and you know maybe that would have created um deeper bonds that you could use as the you know you go on um I don’t know like I said like like

You said I have no control of what you know front office does but um we can’t worry about that in lock room you know uh you know we focus on what we have right here and try to get wins and try to you know you know win what we have um

We’ve shown that we’re capable capable of of doing that uh which is about just putting the strength bring a wins together but uh once you start you know getting to that and all the rumors and the outside noise uh it can cause some uh I want to say

Division in the locker room but uh cuz the players not really but it gets in players head who’s in the in those rumors and um just the uncertainty of what’s going to happen so um the best thing you can do is just not even worry about and just play and I think that’s

What we’re trying to do right now you guys have won five of eight do you feel like you’re starting to find that consistency that you’ve been looking for or do you still feel like you’ve got a little bit ways to go to find that um honestly I don’t know I mean

We get some good quality wins and then like I said we let the one uh you know against Brooklyn going on Friday so then we come and do what we’re supposed to do tonight so I mean um we know what it takes we just got to know put a string of wins together

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