Lakers/Pelicans Postgame, J.Worthy, LeBron, AD, Reaves, Ham Reactions | Feb 9, 2024

Lakers/Pelicans Postgame, J.Worthy, LeBron, AD, Reaves, Ham Reactions | Feb 9, 2024

This year more so than last year because he only had half a season last year but still was effective he is the key you know Reeves is going to do what Reeves does we we started out saying Reeves could be the third guy all this ruy another important factor but the way

That DLo can score I mean he can pull the trigger I said it a lot I’m not comparing him but he does have that Steph Curry effect when he’s hot he also throws those lobs to everyone so we’re 0 and five without him that’s not by accident that’s that’s saying that

Whatever he’s contributing yeah especially on the offensive end when he can score and bring you back into a game you’re down nine 12 points he can give you three quick shots and you’re back into it so every team needs that that person and he’s been that guy and he’s

Key for us uh with his contributions his talent his his quickness to to get things done on the offensive end particularly it’s key CH in their M yeah they they’ve been tested early on youf see some games that they lost and then we saw that they was they was in a lot

Of the games so as I feel like they’ve been tested and it’s just a matter of time before they catch a rhythm I didn’t they’re not going to be a second seed or third seed but they should be know fa defy right now and I think going into

The break you know if they continue to play I feel like they have been battle tested so I think they can bring that with them and that’s going to be that’s going to be a lot of experience for them going into the playoffs the DLo trade rumors started about three weeks ago

Four weeks ago so almost every time he’s spoken to the media since then it’s been hey do you hear the rumors hey you know what do you think about it to his immense credit he has pushed all that out of his mind he’s been compartmentalizing unbelievably had had

An amazing almost month now ever since that road game in Utah back in mid January and now maybe he’s even a little more free the trade deadline was yesterday he didn’t play because of of his knee today you sense maybe a freeness in DLo and by the way the the

Crowd at crypto.com Arena really embracing him during his run in the second quarter when as Mike trudell said he had about 14 points in roughly two and a half minutes I mean it’s kind of a fun good night for DLo only going to pump his confidence up that much more Ge

You know guys when you look at uh that starting five and we we we showed you that graphic um they’re obviously playing more minutes right now and roles have changed when Vando is out and cam reddish is out and now Max Christie is out you know you see ruy playing 37

Minutes and and and you would mentioned Austin Reed’s big game he’s always just going to be that guy that can play with any unit and play his role and you look at his line tonight he ends up at 27 10 to 15 zero turnovers three for four from

Three zero turnovers Gater as much as he handles the ball he’s a he’s an Ever ready battery cut the basame he just I mean we saw him a couple times going after offensive rebounds coming from the top of the key he’s just Relentless he also gambles a little bit he goes for

Steals from The Blind Side I saw last he did on he almost got it uh versus Ingram but it didn’t happen he’s a sneaky defensive player again G he’s trending he’s trending you know he’s been scoring over 25 points on a regular basis while not turning the ball over that’s that’s

Saying a lot yeah we got LeBron ad when you look at his stats I mean he’s a he’s a stat Master yeah he can play the one just as well as the two I was left after the the game the other night and I saw a couple lineups that coach H was playing

With and I thought you know he controlled the game at the one controlled it at the two you know he’s uh he’s just been very very consistent you know and um like you said he’s going to go play some golf and come back after after a little Golf and uh know take

Take get get his leg some rest and but he’s been very very consistent you got to watch Super Bowl though don’t you I mean come on take a few hours out on Sunday he’s going to watch I mean yeah for no other reason I

Mean you got to see he’s going to win a great game um the thing about Austin Reeds before the season his Camp was kind of putting out there we like to see him play a little more point guard and you know and and you can see him handle

The ball and he’s he’s good like is he a starting point guard in the league don’t know about that but he’s definitely a combo guard at this point in his he yeah depends on the team right yeah yeah yeah exactly but he he’s doing everything uh

At at the guard position he’s no longer just a shooting guard which is what he was drafted to be he has really worked on his skills and become absolutely a very good combo card yeah it’s it’s interesting when you look at the starters there I mean this this a good

Passing team I mean LeBron is one of the Great passers of all time he had 14 assists tonight but DLo moves that rock ad’s been passing great Austin Reeves I mean you’re talking about a lot of guys that are that are now playing a lot of unself selfish basket all good passers

Ru is a good passer a good finisher when he goes to the to the hoop I think ever since they you know uh put this stting lineup it’s it seems to be the one that blends together yeah defends well together and they mo mov the ball very

Well so hopefully we can go out with this one till we get some guys back 139 to 122 DLo with 30 AR 27 LeBron 21 Lakers shoot 56% from the field 14 of 31 from three let’s hear from Darin hamy speak with Mike in the media Darin we’ve seen the offense

Mostly just be on uptick for the last couple of weeks tonight obviously was a you know went beyond that what did you see that just led to that and how did it flow out of that first quarter just the ball movement um we highlighted it uh in

Our pregame film um something we’ve been talking about a ton just you know passing on time on target all back up like the pace the spacing our running habits starting there getting good screens to create an advantage and then passing ball attacking downhill making sure the ball

Touches the paint then once we get in the paint pass on time on target the defense usually tells you where the ball should go and then just guys being shot shot ready and shot a great aggressive Russell kind of typified that I think he had 14 points in about 3

Minutes in the second quarter and then he had eight more in a minute or about a minute and 7 seconds in the second half yeah how how do you see him develop and when he gets like that and and do you feel like that’s been more consistent

Even if not nuclear like that but it’s been building I mean just all of us you know encouraging him to be decisive and deliberate and aggressive as I’ve been mentioning I think I mentioned it before this game um you know those stretches we needed all of that you know I told him

He saved our ass a little bit in his own humble way you know he uh you know credited his teammates as well and everybody stepped up and had a big game I don’t know when you had a starting five here the last time have 20 plus

Points um each guy but you know he spearheaded that just his energy his his his shot aggress his shot aggressiveness all of that was on point and his teammates were looking for him and you know you know I give freedom and so some of the Walk UPS and once he has it going

Him and Brian has his stretches and AR ad whoever ruy you know we try to find those guys and we encourag those guys to to stay aggressive and um that definitely was the case with DLo tonight D I have two quick on for you um

First on DLo I think you guys are now 11- six in the last 11 11 17 games he’s played 11 know that was a number 11 I you hear that Dan 11 yeah he’s going to bring that one up again put that up there with irregardless at some point though he was

You know he was not as consistent not as reliable um at any point in this stretch did you or anyone from the team kind of reach out to him and and let him know like what you’re doing like we need moving forward and and when yesterday

Came and went was was that do you think there was a piece of mind that he he knew that he would have a a part of this team moving forward yeah man you know I I think uh a lot of times people think you’re full of is um when you’re telling

Them we have enough in the locker room we just need to get healthy and get whole um the way he’s been playing you know the way he started off the year and you know he hit a little tough patch and that every NBA player goes through that

Especially when you score in this league you’re going to hit a drought every now again but you know to his credit he kept working on his game kept working through it and uh I know I’ve encouraged him you know to stay aggressive be aggressive uh

Way asking him ways I can help you know him orchestrate what’s going on out there you know he’s calling stuff we going and play calling back and forth between Braun him myself Phil handy AR we’re all just trying to make sure we stay organized and you know I give him

The freedom he look at me give me the thumbs up you know letting me know he’s got something a play planned out already there’s a dead ball someone shooting a free throw so just giving him that freedom and and and constantly myself the staff his teammates encouraging him

To stay aggressive um I think he’s in a great place and he’s a worker and so uh the work he’s putting in I saw him just you know he didn’t soak he didn’t you know implode when he was struggling a little bit you know he just got in the

Gym before practice after prce practice before shoo around after shoo round just really working with Coach Michael fraction um doing putting in a lot of great work and and you know asking all the right questions and film and whatnot it’s you can see you know he just

Buckled down and started lean back on his work and not not felt sorry for himself and we saw Rob with not feel sorry for himself I should say we saw Rob with Spencer deny um sitting together at the game we saw Spencer outside the locker room did you have a

Chance to speak to Spencer at all and if if so what was the message I just smell some great brisket back there in our food room maybe I think he brought the sauce Darin uh you mentioned that the five starters all having 20 point uh plus points that’s rare but does that

Kind of show the offensive ceiling with that group when when you decided to to put them together for the the New York game and and just what what have you seen over these last few games from that unit together and and just how they’re jelling offensively I mean each and

Every guy being able to get a defensive rebound and push it it helps our Pace each and every guy is able to score from all three levels um that helps our attack uh you got three guys in there even DLo four guys that can post up uh all everybody

Can play Pick and rooll um you know as a Handler or as a screener um it’s just the versatility offensively the explosiveness offensively puts a lot of pressure on our opponent uh and and everybody’s competing defensively you know help communicating talking helping one another um you know obviously two areas

That you know we really want to clean up and try to be consistently good at is our defensive rebounding and and not turning the ball over and that’s something we we challenged that group with in the entirety of the team but just the explosive Ness of of that group

You know it trumps a lot of different things um it’s it’s it’s like a power five and that they all jell and play well off each other um it’s going well really well last one Darin really quickly um max was going to meet with people today um we

Saw him walk out looked like he was moving pretty good um did you guys get any further update on Max’s condition probably when I get out of here I will I’m sure there’ll be some official update tomorrow morning um for you guys to uh read and and and you know have um

You guys have and LeBron and AD two really really good scores to the best in the league but but their skills as a as passers um particularly during the stretch particularly tonight um how important is that for this group offensively moving forwards um just them as Distributors and would you like to

Continue to see them focus on that part of the game absolutely you know that’s that’s just who they are man trying to play the game the right way um it’s anything you can do I can do better type of deal like you know DLo had 14 assist in Boston I’m just looking Braun

Had 14 assist tonight um but that just they they love playmaking you know they get probably more joy out of playmaking and throwing a nice dime as they do scoring the ball and um I’m sure all of them will tell you that but just that’s another thing that this group brings is

High level IQ high level understanding of where you’re supposed to be spaced at uh what the defense is doing what schemes the defense are are throwing at us whether they heavy shifts or all out double team or two and a half guys a double team with another half guy in the

Middle of the paint they definitely know how to make their reads both Bri and AD and all five DLo Austin ruy as well so and we move you know the guys know when you’re sharing the ball they know where when and where to be in the right spot

So um it’s it’s just it’s beautiful basketball to watch when it’s moving like that thanks thank you disrespectful said something yday I like the TR kind of wear on people and sometimes it give you guys heads and stuff like that um you saw DLo tonight ruy um it seemed like you already played

With yourself like with a lot of freedom around um the Stars what did it feel like tonight in terms in of kind of the flow you guys were able to hit offensively and I don’t know just if you could speak to sort of the the Rhythm

DLo got into um at a couple different points too yeah I mean I think it was just a you know a testament to you know playing the game the right way uh we were making the extra pass we were getting wide open looks to be honest

Uh and you know when DLo sees a couple going in I mean I got about a 97% guess rate correct when he’s about to shoot it I can tell you every time and you know I love it it’s a beautiful thing to see you know you cheer for guys

Like that that you know um are good people and I think like I said it just come down to us playing the game the right way and uh you know like you said ruy was huge tonight too I feel like we just played with you know uh force and

Then we were really decisive uh on top of that okay is there anything else in your life or you’re right 97% of the time absolutely well if you ask me yes but if you ask anybody around me no uh you guys I think are like 20th in the

League and offense or thereabouts you scored 51 points in the second quarter uh which ties a franchise record I know the numbers are what they are but uh something like that um is that idence that this group is capable of more than how you’re performing yeah yeah for sure

Um I think you know as you see tonight when we get in a good Rhythm a good flow uh you know we have so many options and we have like so many ways to attack defenses because of the skill set that we have on the court um you know still somewhat

New um but we’re continuing to grow and build that chemistry on the court and feel more comfortable uh playing alongside one another um but tonight was that was you um% time but uh no I think that just shows what you know we can do as a team

Offensively and uh you know we could obviously some things up defensively but um yeah Austin uh continuing with the offensive theme all five starters had at least 20 points tonight and and this group’s only I think this was the third game you guys have started um you know

Over the last few but what are you seeing in terms of a rhythm and and just kind of how the offense is Flowing with with you five specifically together and and just all five guys can score from basically anywhere on the floor yeah I think think we played this lineup quite

A bit last year uh end of the year a little bit into the playoffs so we have kind of a good feel um you know how to play with one another and ruy gives you somebody that can you know shoot the ball but as well um if you get if you

Put a small on him uh he can go straight to the post and operate out of there and you know he made a couple really good passes tonight that uh was very inspiring um and you know obviously ad and Bron doing what they do and DLo as

Well um but we’re just looking to continue to grow that together and uh continue to get better Austin you guys lead the league at least over the last 15 games and assists um how much has that been a discussion over the past couple of weeks or has really been in discussion the

Past couple weeks that that specifically no I don’t think so I think it’s just once again playing the game the right way uh I mean you look at you know the stat she tonight you know Braun and AD only took uh or braon took 13 shots uh

Ad took 11 Braun had 14 assists ad had six and you know ad didn’t play but 29 minutes because of foul trouble um but I think like I said it’s just playing the game the right way cuz when we do that um I think everybody gets a better

Feel um and gets in a better Rhythm and settles into the game a little better thanks Austin appreciate you let’s go inside the Laker locker room LeBron James talk of Aly LeBron 119 by your starting unit which is the second most by Lakers starting unit since it was starting to

Be tracked in the early 80s what do you like about the offensive flow from the jump uh we were in a great flow I think um the ball was popping obviously DLo had it going AR I believe started the game I think seven for seven or six for

Six and uh you know ruy was one of the best offensive performances he had this year you know he was just reading the defense comut behind the defense also making get his outside shots so um good performance for us offensively you played with a variety of players

Throughout your career who can score in abundance and and find that zone what about DLo when he gets there makes him so unique um I mean when you have the ability to shoot the ball like that you can to always keep the defense that bay you know you they never know if you’re

Going to shoot if you’re going to drive whatever the case may be and his uh his range is um um is pretty uncanny it’s only a few guys obviously in our league that can come down with the dribble you know and just rise from anywhere he’s

One of those guys and once he gets going you know he can run three or four of them um in a streak together I’ve asked you this a few times this year and I’m just maybe trying to see if there’s a trend to it as another night when you

Guys look really strong offensively when you had double digit assists and is that will is that part of what you guys can unlock over the final stretch here um yeah I mean for me personally I’m always looking to give my teammates involved and you know defense shifts towards me

I’m always trying to pick apart the defense with the pass that’s just I mean that’s that is my DNA when it comes to basketball so um but obviously we got we have a lot of ball handlers too so the ball’s not always in my hands which is

Okay you know AR handles the ball DLo handles the ball ad handles the ball um you know I think you know with Sky’s minutes he been playing well he’s handling the ball too so um but tonight it worked well for us and U you know I

Was happy the guys was able to finish them Ron having a five starters and with 20 plus points is obviously pretty rare um what type of offensive Rhythm have you seen from u5 over the last few games as you kind of come together um no I can

I mean tonight was pretty good I mean last night wasn’t great offense but yeah no Dow and uh you know we had a tough one U we had we had you know a tough offensive game yesterday but uh but tonight you know we left yesterday

Where it was and left it behind us and moved on to today and you know I love the way we performed BR um it’s rare to see like kind of an open recruitment in season we saw Spen any with Rob during the game saw him back here afterwards um

He’s a free agent what do you think he could add to this team um playmaking another ball handler another shot maker I’m another guy I’m another veteran um anytime you can add a veteran that ability helps um so we see what happens thanks thanks Ron ad finished with 20 points on seven

For shooting he’s now with Ali uh we’ll start with the offense 80 87 at the the second what felt good about the offense uh we were moving the basketball sharing the ball um we were getting stopped so we were able to get out and transition get some easy ones uh know

Dowlo had it going uh think he make three straight or four straight uh threes um no really made plays uh so anytime we able to get stops and play and trans transition and play fast and Sh the basketball the way we’ve been sharing the basketball um offense starts

To click and we able to score 51 in a quarter mentioned last night that you guys have a lot to get right before you talk about the end game what do a night like tonight do for you guys in that process um well first we got you know

Dow back who missed last night um still getting guys back hopefully we get some back after um you know this three days stretch hopefully Max is okay um but um it shows the type of team that we can be uh when we lock down defensively this team is obviously a great ball Club

They’ been playing very well um you know they me are about like 30 in New Orleans so um they they’ve been hot uh but you know when we play our style of defense and we’re able to um buckle down and and play how we play offensively um then we

Can start you know correcting the little details that we have but you know we can’t tell if something work or doesn’t work you know if we not doing what we’re supposed to do so um you know a game like tonight kind of you know puts us back to you

Know our goal and and back in the win column uh what we’ve been doing the past couple games ad it’s uh pretty rare to have five starters with with 20 plus points in a game um what what type of Rhythm have you seen from this unit over

The last few games and obviously unit you guys played with last year in the playoffs and and had some success yeah like I said um all of us are just sharing the basketball uh no matter who scores um long the ball goes in the basket uh

We’ve been having a lot of high assist games so you know we’ve been moving to basketball and sharing it and uh if you’re open shoot if not you know move on to the next play so um next player so we’ve been doing a good job of uh playing together playing for each other

Um and then a result of that you know you have guys shooting the ball with confidence and playing with confidence which leads to you know five starters with 20 plus you said after the game the other night that the Trad that line can be kind of wacky on guys just because of

Rumors and just the human nature stuff um ruy and and DOW tonight both played incredibly free um do you think that’s a coin is that just coincidence or do you think that you know them like kind of having those questions settled can be good for them well we got on Ruby last

Night um about his performance uh he responded tonight with a big game uh DLo has been DLo even with all the trade rumors he’s been playing out of his mind uh past couple weeks so um I don’t know if it kind of helped but uh it’s not in

The back of your mind you know even if they probably aren’t thinking about it still you know could be in the back of your mind and um not it’s over you know like you said they able to play free and you know put up performances like they

Did today we saw Spencer talking to Rob outside the locker room just what do you think he could add to the group as a you know as a free agent yeah I mean he’s a big guard um you know shot maker um playmake obviously we’ve seen what he

Did with Brooklyn what he did with Dallas um you know making big plays for them um yeah I mean he’s he’s a well established player vet in his League Anthony you’ve always defended well without fouling tonight one of the rare times in foul Trouble Is there is there

Any lobbying or discussion about you know hey there’s three fouls up but let me get back in at a certain time how how do you what’s your philosophy on playing with fouls and that well just all depends on the floor of the game um we

Kind of had control of this of the game uh throughout most of the game uh so it’s really no need for me to come back in um you know and pick up another one so uh you know the coaches have a lot of confidence and trust in me um you know

If I say Le me in they’ll Lead Me In but um you know obviously you know Jackson been playing well uh you know we trust him um and like I said our our entire team was playing well so you know when I picked my third uh you know it was a no-

Brand just come out especially in the first half you know so uh you know it’s a conversation that is the head with you know me and and Coach am and then um you know what you figure it out from there question yeah r r said before before the season that he wants to

Improve his defense and he had some tough assignment today against Zion of Brandon Ingram uh it’s defense is a team thing but how do you think his defense has improved this season yeah he’s taking on the challenge uh we put a lot of pressure on Ruby the guard um like

Tonight you had you know Zion and bi and uh two scores and like you said it’s a team defense you know it’s not just on one guy we don’t leave one guy on the island but um we have matchups all year where you know we put him on um you know

The the other opposing team’s uh Best Wing player and uh he’s been good you know um you know he’s definitely improved we we you know Ruby is more than capable of playing defense and uh giving us what he gave us tonight on the offensive end so you know anytime we have an assignment

Um that we feel like he can he can guard you know we’ll put it on him and and make sure that you know we help him on the back side thanks C BR join us right now let’s talk a little ad and what he’s been able to do

This season and lately yeah both sides floor yeah loved them limping off the court I mean you know he’s he feels in the hip uh he got hit a few other times in the knee I mean the guy really is taken on the chin night after night

After night for this team foul trouble bothered him played only 29 minutes tonight but still you know just contributing in every possible facet with the way he’s passing great defense I still say if they were a little higher in the standings he’d probably be right up there with go bear for a defensive

Player of the year mat you know something about that award he’s he’s worthy of it but just just not enough wins uh just a great great season for him stayed healthy too he’s missed what three games very impressive so far yeah he is uh defensive player the year type

Of player an MVP type of player it’s just the team he’s on the record the team but you’re you’re right BR if he was on a better team better record we we’ll be talking to him about being know getting those accolades yeah it’s just unfortunate that you know as well as he’s playing

That the rule is that you got to be winning you know I you know I I think that’s a okay scenario to have but um if if they can win if they can get you know six and one out before the allstar break and then come back and play like they

Did last year uh he might not get the the award but he’s going to get a lot of recognition for turning the Lakers season around that that that’s a big positive right there and then they can keep going and move in that would be better then in my opinion winning the personal

Award uh which he wants but I like the wins better the game 14 threes you had mentioned that you know efficient Ball moving guys getting open looks and knocking them down they just a different team when that when that happens and and and when Dow’s on the floor they get

Better looks because you know DLo can navigate while looking away it’s a very special talent for a point guard he’s a lefty and that makes him hard to guard and and hard to recognize what he’s doing so yeah I say it again on and five without him very productive when he is

On the floor

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