Lakers/Hornets Postgame Analysis, Bron, AD, D-Lo, Coach Ham Reactions | Feb 5, 2024

Lakers/Hornets Postgame Analysis, Bron, AD, D-Lo, Coach Ham Reactions | Feb 5, 2024

Chris McGee big game James Worthy big shot Robert Ory Mike trell is out in Charlotte the Lakers pick up their third win in a row taking down the Hornets they go to 4-2 on the Grammy road trip and fellas considering where we all were in the Lakers a week ago losing

Back-to-back games to the rockets and Atlanta and a lot of chatter the Lakers end up going 4- two on this Grammy road trip they’ve now won three in a row and it’s just a different feeling James and for the first time in 2024 they’re two

Games over 500 so it’s a nice start good it does feel good to to come back uh off the road off road trip 4- two two big wins uh against Boston and New York and cl it out in Charlotte even though they fought like hell to try to get back in

The game you’d like to see you close out that last game to get home so uh successful Road maybe mentally turn themselves around to where they you know they think they can play together even though they have some injuries you know Vander bet out cam out that’s uh they’re missing

Those guys but I think they’re they’re seeing something in themselves as a team if they play defense the way they play uh and mov the ball 36 assists tonight that was big 78 points in the paint though that’s also big so uh yeah they’re starting to you know get things

Together as far as without a lot of practice time they’re starting to to jel a little bit for me the big key was that first half you know first half they were so active defensively it kind of fell off in second half due to um Bridges and

And Miller but I like the fact that they never wavered they stayed strong they stayed steady they kept playing good defense even though those guys were knocking down Jays they still was playing good defense sometimes if you take your hat off the guys who can knock down shots because there was tough shots

That Miller and bridges hit so overall this was a suful successful Road Trip the only thing is you look back we always do this every year you’re going to look at back at one of those games on that back to back against two of the you

Know not top TI teams in the league you got to get one it’ been nice but then again you had to say look at the work we put when we beat that Celtic beat that Celtic so but this to me was a really good trip for a team that’s been injury

Riddle uh let’s go back to Charlotte Anthony Davis is with Mike Chell well a big triple double for you Anthony although it was maybe that block of the bridges 3 that was the biggest play of the game as they furiously tried to come back here what did it take to

Just hold on get off of this road trip 4- two yeah man the uh you know the last game of the road trip is always the toughest um we lost control of the game they took control in the fourth quarter um the only way they get back in it is threes

And fouls and we were doing both uh you know got to line Brandon Miller Bridges played out of his mind shooting the ball you know extremely well tonight uh Brandon Miller as well and um you know our defensive intensity kind of slipped in that fourth quarter actually started

At the end of the third last couple minutes of the third uh when they went on a 60 run and cut it to 14 um you know we lost that quarter by two so 28 26 so we got to do a better job of uh closing our games but you know nonetheless you

Know we happy that we got the win it was ugly but we happy that we got it your game has been you know pretty complete for a number of years now but the growth in the passing seems to have really gone up uh this season you tie your career

High with 11 assists defenses are trapping a lot more you’re just moving the ball to the right spaces how is that evolved for you this season uh you know teams are doubling me a lot more you know and I I had to do a better job of

Just passing out a double team making the right read so just being comfortable with that um making the right reads you know I’m comfortable in every facet of the game and just reading what the defense gives me and I think I our guys are doing a great job of making shots

For me obviously but uh I think that’s the biggest growth that I had you know going into the season just being able to play make last one for you it sounds like you know three to four weeks before we find out more about Jared Vanderbilt in the meantime Ru hamur has entered the

Starting lineup you guys have won three in a row what can you take out of this trip to try and get yourself in a stronger position as you approach the playoffs um you know not telling how long vand is going to be out um you know next man up mentality we preached that

All year uh we still missing cam you know Gabe so uh there nothing new to we’ve been dealing with this all year but um I think we starting to find a way to play without some of the guyss you know uh guys are stepping up in their

Absence so you know we’re just doing a good job of of playing team basketball and uh it’s a great road trip for us you know even though you know we dropped some that we thought we should have won um you know but we end the road trip 4

And two now we got two big ones at home against Denver and New Orleans and try to take this energy and this carryover from this road trip back home are you a plain sleeper or no uh not really n me neither that sucks I’ll be up all right

Man I’m not either actually I am you are big game is not a plain sleeper either uh check out the uh Lake Show Trio The Big Three combining for 80 points LeBron with 26 DLo 28 on 10 of 21 and five of 12 and three but I want to start with a

D look at to nice game the assist that he made bringing the defense to him collapsing the defense you know finding the guys on time on target he he was really shown signs of being a complete uh assist guy now I mean he does draw a

Lot of attention so now he’s smart he’s starting to read the defense and see where the open guys are it’s just not by accident he’s he’s really done a good job of surveying the court so yeah his assist is is vital uh to their offense for me when I I I watch

Games like this it’s almost like the Lakers players say okay we can go out and score we don’t need ad and for me it been the opposite I’m like ad you’re going to take us home because there was nobody on that Charlotte team that could

Guard ad but sometimes I I think we take ad for granted and don’t use him as effective we could think about it he was 12 for 16 0 two for three so that means he was killing nobody could stop him why not utilize that more so we don’t get

Into a situation like this where we got to fight our butts off to get this win because sometimes down the stretch when you got a hor I said hor yes that’s like a horse a hor like ad you go to the block and get easy buckets that way you

Keep your lead so to me sometimes I think he goes underappreciated and not knowing the value of him offensively think we love him a lot on defense but this guy can flat out score and we need to use him more yeah I mean he ends up

With 26 12 of 16 uh pretty incredible if you got a guy like ad who can score it will in the bot but as a willing passer that makes it that much better because he can find the open guy he can drop dimes to people because he sees the

Floor especially on a team that’s short like this he can see over the top and make the easy passes you know what else too everyone we’ve seen this basically since all of January everyone’s doubling him and I mean some teams are doubling him so quick second he touches the ball

So it’s opening it up for everybody else but when he is not as involved and they’re kind of doing the wide and he’s out you know and they’re not doing picking rolls or anything then he’s then then then it’s more of an ISO style got to recognize that you have to recognize

That you know maybe he won’t get the score but if he catches it anywhere below the elbow he’s going to get some attention so yes he can score when he gets it but in a current situation you want him to touch it that’s when he’s really you know uh a dangerous because

He can pick pick people off he becomes a quarterback all of a sudden so you got to let him touch it even if he’s not going to take the shot I I totally agree you know for me when you have the talent like ad and to

Me you look at you look at MB and you look at Y is tell two of the top centers in the leag you can’t tell me ad is not as good as they got I think he’s better because he’s more efficient on the defensive end that which makes him a

Little bit better so why not put him in a situation where he is the focal point of the team where he’s going to make it easy for everybody around him because like I said he’s a awesome passer and a willing passer all right guys let’s hear from Darvin ham he’s speaking with Mike

In the media went out and ultimately did pull it out so six games 12 days to go four and two on this trip you know we’re thankful well to that point you just made you know after the back-to-back losses leaving Atlanta going into tough buildings in Boston New York uh I expect

You would take four- two you know on this trip and what do you feel like you built if anything as you head home now just that that that that trust in ourselves um that if adversity presents itself we can fight through it we won’t pack up our tent and go home like we

We’re in it for the fight um I think it brought what we were able to do coming out of those backtack losses in Houston Atlanta and what we were able to do with our two captains out in Boston was nothing short of amazing and I just think everyone

Looking at that and the way we watched the film and the way we came together to you know do the same thing in New York and then you know ultimately did become successful there in that game as well you know we want to finish the trip off

Right but just just our mental focus our passion guys just competing at the highest level and and and doing it for one another Darvin I know we’ve talked about trying to you know see the big picture um you know and not live and die with the highs and the lows of of stuff

You guys are about to have to make big picture decisions the trade deadline on Thursday um what did this road trip tell you in anything about what you have currently um and you know does any of the other information that you’ve got whether it be Vanderbilts injury or any

Of these different things do you think that alters kind of how you guys approach things Thursday well I I just just think you know a lot of that stuff is beyond our control um in terms of playing the what if game what if guys were healthy what if you had this person

On your team instead of that person I’ve been saying it all year you know we we’ve been inconsistent but what we have in our locker room currently we feel like can really compete at a high level and and when we’re right and and being right means we’re defensive focused we’re organized offensively and

Everybody to a man and collect i l is competing just just nothing else not worrying about mistakes not worrying about touches not worrying about you know rotations is just worrying about doing my part to get a win and when and I think we’ve seen that over the last

Three games and um saw it in Golden State Saturday double overtime game when we play at that level you know we we we have more than enough in our locker room and obviously you know it’s just the fact that you can’t get get your feelings involved it’s just the fact and

And the nature of the business is to try to get better when and if you can um that’s just it it’s the business of basketball but as far as where we are now what we were able to do to finish out this trip you know there no doubt in

My mind that we got pieces that that will do great things for us and play at a high level for us um to tough times make tough people a cliche but cliches become cliches because they hold conventional wisdom how confident are you that what you’ve been through as a team have made you

Guys better for it um and is there any concern that this the the tough times could be a symptom of what you guys are as a group and and just you don’t you don’t have everything together as a group I I mean that’s a great question

Dave the biggest thing is a lot of our tough times were injuries were in our injuries and um you know V him being out in back in and now out again Gabe someone who we thought would be a pillar within our our rotation five games um

Cam in and out ruy had been in and out trying to manage braon and a you know based on their wear and tear and those guys having active injury so I mean it just it it’s it’s been tough to develop continuity and cohesiveness but again you know I think

The beautiful thing that V did the way he played in Boston before he went down and the way he had been playing is a representation of what how we want to approach each and every game and approach our business as a culture um just going all out and and playing it

All on the line trying to be successful and I think the guys saw that we highlighted it in the film um we can’t control who’s available who’s this who’s that and it is what it is that’s that’s going to take care of itself uh but what we can’t control is

How we when we wake up blessed enough to God to have air in our bodies and we come to work we have to come ready to be the best versions of ourselves and not block out all the noise whatever’s saying what and it’s not fantasy basketball the only thing you have is

The reality that you’re in the midst of with your teammates your coaches that group right there as is currently constructed all we can do is try to extract the most positive production that we can out of this group until further notice last two Darin uh ruy had

A couple of of deep seals and post-ups against smaller Defenders also had that key offensive rebound late um what what have you seen since he’s become a starter over the last couple games and just the collective size and physicality of that front line of him LeBron and AD

You know he he knows he has to do a little bit of everything the little things um be a better rebounder be a better Defender um those guys are going to look for him so he’s going to get opportunities everywhere opportunities to post quick seals as you mentioned play Pick and rolls the

Screener catch and shoot threes um times where clock is going down and maybe something we wanted to run is falling apart he can go get us a bucket or get a foul or all three um or both I should say um he he’s he’s just his versatility

Comes through and they know how to exploit his versatility both Bron ad DLo AR so it’s it’s a it’s a great group the numbers reflected you know how well he does especially with those two beside him those two being Brion and ad um and he he’s learning and he’s

Flourishing question ad with the processing on some of these passes just seems like he’s doing it in a way he just did it earlier in the season just what have you seen from him I guess behind the scenes to get to this level as a playmaker watching the film talking

To his teammates talking to his coaches um again just studying the game being a student of the game watching film see how people were double teaming them uh the different schemes whether they’re blitzing from the nail blitzing on catch blitzing on dribble um on pass I should

Say or on dribble uh doubling from the Baseline and he’s seen just about everything and so just the the film study the the breakdowns we go through him being vocal him being Comm communicative and in terms of what he’s seeing and where he needs guys to be

Positioned so he can make the right reads he’s been doing all the homework he needs to do and so that’s why you see the type of results you’re getting the positive results that we’re all benefiting from thanks coach thank you after the Atlanta loss your couple of tough games ahead you know how

Do you feel like this team has evolved from that point through these three straight wins uh I think you know just our approach has been you know um what’s getting us through these games we’re getting off to silent starts and um our bench is piggybacking off the starts we get

And third quarter has been good and I think that gives us a good chance um solid road trip though solid last two games uh ru’s been in the starting lineup just what what dynamic do you guys have as a group uh now and where do you think you can build with that group

As you head home I mean we all know what ru’s capable of so um I mean in that starting lineup we might need just continuing to do the little things and and and other things and then what we know he’s capable of will flow naturally he’s been doing great you know

Continuing to offensive rebound and get get get open shots in the pocket that are there that are open throughout the flow of the game and he’s been well he’s been playing well DLo in these last three weeks has trade rumors tend to intensify um you’ve played some of the

Best basketball of your season um how have you been able to to do that and then what will the next 48 hours be in terms of do you get away from stuff even more so and the build of the deadline how do you kind of handle it I don’t care at

All show up to work that’s it um kind of piggy back in on that not just to ask the same question a different way but maybe this is a more interesting question uh you know the last six weeks since the tailbone injury you played really well uh you can’t control you can control

What you do playing right so does that give you any sort of peace of mind um as you move forward I mean I can’t control that my contract makes sense to be traded either so I mean just play can’t control that um once again I don’t care

At all just cuz you brought it up um what happened this summer like how did it become to be that your contract was able to be traded because you would have had a tacit no trade agreement in your deal uh I just thought it made sense um obviously I’ve been here before I’ve

Played for the Lakers before so I know what the requirements are to be um successful here are so um if you’re part of the future here you’ll be successful if you’re not you’ll get traded and and I’ve been traded before here so my Approach is just a little different um I

Really just genuinely humbly don’t care because I know I can’t control it one and two I just won’t allow my mind to go there um I like to focus on this and you guys see I’ve been focusing on basketball and not comments and what’s trending on social

So DLo uh feels like you and Austin have done a a really good job of trading off like one night might be one guy passing a little bit more one night might be one guy scoring a little bit more and just kind of finding that that balance in

That Rhythm um how have you guys found that since returning to the starting lineup kind of together and um and I know you get asked about him a lot but just that Synergy that you have in terms of you know when it’s maybe his night offensively or your night offensively

And just that B I think it’s just what the game uh allows you know um braon usually has the best defender on him you know ad usually has the second best defender on him and then I might have the third and then there there’s Trey young guard and Austin Reeds you know

And it’s like we we know that’s a mismatch right there respectfully so we we’re going to attack it you know um and that’s you seen him come alive in that game and and it could go either way ad and Bri might just hold it down and they

May not even need that from us so just recognizing what the game’s offering and and attacking it in that sense DLo for jayen Hino just in your your time being around him whether it be a practice whatever just what have you seen from him that makes you believe he

Can be successful long term uh just just professionalism being a young player um getting drafted into a a situation like this um you may take things for granted or you might Overlook some of the the positives that you have while you’re in it but um it’s a lot you can learn from

This you know a lot of players a lot of um you got some Hall of Famers around here too that you can just kind of pick brains of and and I think just been super professional he’s young way more professional than I was and I feel like

I was pretty successful so for him to just continue to work and keep that positive um attitude I think that’ll allow him to be um as good as he wants to be in this league thanks y thank you so I’m sure as you guys were in this league as well and

Now especially with social media guys and then just how big the trade deadline is and when it gets closer and closer if you play basketball here in Los Angeles you’re going to be a part of these rumors uh and DLo saying there’s nothing I can do about it I can’t let it affect

Me um love his answer love his answer I love the way he’s playing I love the attitude he’s taken because look when you get drafted you know get drafted you know nobody’s guaranteeing you’re going to play for the same team you got to be thinking I got drafted I’m going to play

In the NBA as long as I can if I can play for one team that’s great but I’m going to play as long as I I can not about how successful you are it’s a business at the end of the day is going to do what it thinks is is in its best

Interest so you have to you know that way and I think a right now DLo is handing the best way he can even him saying I’ve been traded before I know what the situation is yeah think about it he’s been on what six teams that’s a lot and for me I just I’m

Loving his approach to game it’s almost like good play yeah it’s almost like they should have put his name in trade rooms at the beginning of the season cuz now he’s just saying you know what I’m just going to play basketball what will be will be LeBron we’ve seen so long in

The NBA a team gets up big other other team makes a push what does it take to just kind of snuff that out and and get the win just get timely stops and execute offensively which we did and made our free throws when they had to foul after Atlanta obviously the you

Know two losses in a row heading into two tough buildings and then this game just the end of a long trip what do you feel like you saw over these three games that you can take back to California we just got to you know there games behind

Us but it was a successful trip you know for us to go four and two on this trip and you know deal with some adversity early on in the trip deal with some injuries early on in the trip uh to be able to finish the trip um like we did

Was a success but you you move on when you get home and move on to that next stage you don’t worry about what you did in the past we’ve seen plenty of groups with you know ruy next to you and AD that front line Half success what is it

About him and and kind of how does that affect things at all with him in the starting line of now very big um we have a lot of length a lot of athleticism um you know ruy works well um with us and we just try to find him you know

Especially when he’s running out U when he has early seals in the post or whatever case may be mismatches so um he works well with us when something um happens in the league like what happened in Philadelphia where you know Joel embiid is dominating and they’re towards

The top of the East and then he goes down and he’s going to be out like indefinitely what ways is that caused you to to pause and maybe think about your own situation how fragile it is to have the he of stars and um wanting to

Maximize the time while you have it I really I haven’t thought about it obviously I mean I sent my tweet out in regards to the whole situation and that’s how I felt about it but um other than that I don’t really have too much a

Thought about it but I gave my point how I felt about the situation and I was and I meant it talked about Brandon Miller’s game earlier this morning uh looks like you guys exchanged a moment after the game what was said there um you know he’s

He’s here for a reason continue to get better and better and uh you know love what I see from him you know at this at this stage in his career so he’ll continue to get better and better like you said you guys went four and two on

The trip the next time you guys will play will be after the trade deadline do you feel like as a team you guys have proven or shown why you guys should continue to I guess invest in this current group you have this is who we have so there’s nothing else to talk

About you know teams obviously play up like whenever the Lakers come to town like Charlotte wants to play their best basketball what does it bring out of you guys like as a unit are you specifically I love to compete so you know teams are always going to get up to

Play us they want to compete vers us they want to show what they’re capable of and and usually their home fans uh you know very excited to you know when we come into town they extra loud and supportive so you know doesn’t matter we just allowed to compete and uh we

Execute late in this game even when they made a run and was good to get roll in one of the the different games that ad had a big passing night we know we were uh back in home and you talked about kind of joked about it but we’re serious

You you’ve been talking about double teams What specifically has he gotten so much better at like those reads and and how clear is it to you um I mean it’s just that simple you know um teams are trying to take the ball out of his hands

Cuz he’s so dynamic in the post in the low post and they’re trying to force him to pass and you know it’s all about growth mindset he’s a student of the game he watched the film watch the clips um not quite sure what you what

You can do now you know and we all have to be in the right position to be in the right position um to have his back to have him Outlet passes uh when he is being doubled and um I mean results to tonight another triple double I think

That’s the second the season correct second yeah do you you remember when teams first started to Blitz you and I guess it probably happened pretty early but when you got down to the post more as your career evolved and and like how long took you to kind of you know hone that skill

Um to be honest I’ve i’ I’ve been having to throw out of double teams in the post’s high school so I mean you were a tough match up in high school I was okay I had a couple match I had a couple mismatches sometimes do you like the make up of

This roster do you think this is roster is good enough to win a championship or does there need to be changes made that’s not it’s not a question for me um I love what we have in the locker room and um that’s all I worry about listen

We we yeah I I can’t stand your ass um you know so like it doesn’t I don’t get caught up in that um you know we’re going to go out and prepare oursel um you know every single night no matter what it is no matter who’s out on the

Team no matter what so that’s my job and as 80s job as two two captains to make sure we keep the main thing the main thing and the main focus is now Thursday’s game at home and we look forward to that match up last question all right thank you all right

That’s it Anthony Davis got his third career triple double the first one that led to a victory here he’s now speaking in the locker you guys going go 4- two on this road trip in a pretty strange way um start with you know obviously what you

Guys did in in Golden State Blues too there’s drama drama yeah there’s tweets there’s different things that people don’t know what anything means and then you guys go into Boston you win short-handed and you close off with two more wins what did this trip tell you about this group if anything

Um when we put our mind still we can be any team in this league uh you know we lost two we feel like we should have won um that we want to that the people in Nevada thought we should lose so um you know when we buckle down

Defensively and play the right way play Laker basketball and we’re a tough team to beat and um you know we’re always want to fight you know obviously we don’t like how this one you know slipped away from us but you know we end up getting it done but uh know very

Confident in this group and you know what we able to do when we put our minds to it and the in the first half it seemed like that was you guys at quote unquote Laker basketball there stops transition highlights um when you guys hit that level how fun is it super fun

Um y are making shot we playing the right way swinging the basketball uh get stops um it’s who we are you know you know who we is who we want our identity to be uh don’t always seem to happen that way like kind of that you know end

Of the third couple minutes left in the third and you know most of the fourth quarter but when we playing freely and fun and playing with Pace um sharing the basketball then you know it’s fun um to watch on the sidelines on the bench but

Also you know fun to be on the court and be a part of it has the the amount of passing playmaking um assists that you’ve collected over I guess the last month or so has that been an evolvement of this team and its offense and does that point

Towards a direction that you guys could use in the final third of the Season as you build towards the postseason yeah um knowing that guys are going to you know double team me a lot it’s my job to playmake um out of the post um you know

Guys are doing a good job of cutting and moov without the basketball and I just got to make those reads but um we get a lot of good things uh you know when the ball goes in the post and not just me but Braun as well and even DLo at times

Ruy and when guys start a double team which is us going to be usually just me and Bri um it’s our job to make the right reads and uh the other guys got a job to to make the shots um um I’m just trying to make the right reads make the

Right plays and now don’t double then you know that’s when I try to go look to score what’s up what’s the process like you know when you’re watching film and you’re I guess evaluating like how guys are doubling you or where they come from what’s the process like when you

Actually implements it and you’re just seeing I guess passing l a couple months wor I just need to know one thing know you know each team kind of has a a scheme where they like to double whether it’s on the cat on a dribble from the feeder or like

Come from the Baseline um once I know that then I know where everybody’s going to be uh I just make the re from there on Thursday um the team is going to unveil Kobe statue outside um we play that day right you do yeah play down

After um is there a an iconic image or pose or something in your mind when you think of Kobe like that is that will be the statue yeah uh we had so many I mean I don’t know it’s kind of kind of tough to to

Kind of say I mean I know they don’t have like he wouldn’t do too much you know with a statue but I’m curious to see what what it’ll be I mean you kind of see the um when they have uh it was talking well it was just talks but it

Wasn’t a real talk from like the league about changing the logo and they had his picture or his silhouette up there so maybe it’s that I don’t I don’t know maybe it’s a turnaround maybe it’s a I don’t know I mean but knowing what he meant to you um

What’s that going of feel like being a part of this organization the day they do that uh it’s obviously going to mean a lot uh you know meant a lot to me um you know Big Brother mentor uh kind of started I guess my career alongside him you know in the Olympics

You know kind of just being under his wing um teaching me the game teaching me about life and everything and uh so it’ll be I don’t know it be cool moment you know obviously to see that but then you know kind of you know reliving it again

Uh in a sense so I don’t know how manyan emotions would be high for me for sure but uh it’ll be a cool thing for sure that have your statue outside ad how did that relationship evolved from you know Team USA to your early success in the league

And then up to the point where you’re a Laker yeah with Kobe um a lot I mean it was a stretch where he was he had this thing where he was sending God tweets I mean uh texts like MVP this year or defense player this year like he was

Doing that and um I mean one year he didn’t text me and I was like what the hell so I text him what about me and then he gave me like a a list of things um but then just come full circle you know you know playing for the Lakers

Um organization where he played for 20 years and you know legy here and being able to put on a lakeer uniform and uh kind of just be that in a sense um no it’s no better feeling I was going to ask all tce uh about ruy

And the new starting lineup it felt like he was able to get a lot of mismatches against smaller Defenders just CU they’re thr own size at you and LeBron so with that new front line what kind of challenges does it pose for defenses physicality the size yeah I mean ruy 68

Uh we can post him up he’s a good rebounder good finisher um and we try to expose that you know um they’re bigger guys why they’re going to be on like you said me and Braun and then they even try to put they’re usually a good Defender um who’s usually a bigger

Guy you know DLo in they are so R usually left with a smaller guy and we just take try to take advantage of that and have him you know post up or duck in or off the glass and um kind of get him going thanks l

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