WEBVTT

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Now Clippers tip off the regular season
tonight. Of course they're playing the Lakers,

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and like a second game, that
gives us an opportunity to welcome back

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the man who was all over the
NBA and does such a fantastic job.

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The host of Clipper Countdown the halftime
showing the postgame show but plugged in around

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the NBA. This salta Adam Auslin
and Adam another season and welcome back.

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First appearis of this young season.
It's good to be with you, guys,

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all right, good to be with
you. We were talking earlier about

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the expectations this year for the Clippers, and they've had some good teams and

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people thought they could be pretty good
if they stay healthy. I mean,

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the expectation is this year they can
win, honestly, win the NBA title.

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Does that make a different for them, Well, I think you have

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to embrace it. There's a responsibility
there when you're the favorite, and they

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know that, and they've been the
favorites. They were the favorites when they

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first brought in Paul George and Kawhi
Leonard. They flamed out in the second

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round, up three one against Denver
and the bubble. The next year they

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came back, and I think most
people would agree that if Kawhi Leonard doesn't

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get hurt, if he doesn't tear
his ACL, they would have taken down

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Phoenix. They still took him with
six games, and they would have beat

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Milwaukee. We saw a Kawhi can
do against the Honest and then Kompo before

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in the playoffs. So they've had
these expectations and they have been a championship

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contender. Things just haven't worked out
or fallen into place. Now they're hoping

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finally they can put it all together
with a team that's even more refined around

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Paul George and Kawhi Leonard with the
pieces they have. I told you guys

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before, Clipper Nation loves to call
him wingstop. While the Lakers are lacking

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wings, the Clippers have them,
they have a grip of them. It's

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unbelievable the switchability and the versatility of
this team. And I do think this

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is where the game is headed.
And it started with Golden State being the

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pioneers of three points shooting and playing
more small ball with Draymond Green at center.

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To defend that, you gotta have
guys that can switch on the perimeter.

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A lot and the Clippers do.
And that's the team you're gunning for

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this season. The Warriors are the
champs until proven otherwise they are. But

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I talked, you know, and
we saw the Warriors too. I talk

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about depth, and we are talking
about the Clippers, but seeing the Warriors

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the other night and the depth that
they have is pretty impressive as well.

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It's gonna be a dog fight in
the West, I believe. But given

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that, and I'm assuming everybody stays
healthy, Adam, how do they handle

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Kauhi this year? How do they
handle his minutes, you know, back

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to back to all those things.
Do they handle it with kid gloves or

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how do you see them handling his
playtime? Well, he's coming off an

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ACL injury in the same knee where
he had the issues a few years back

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with the San Antonio Spurs before he
was traded to Toronto. And yeah,

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you have to be overly cautious because
your championship opportunity is hinged to Kawhi Leonard.

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He's your guy, He's your number
one option. Paul George came out

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in the preseason and said he's number
one, just so there's no question about

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that. I'm the number two he's
number one or one and one A.

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And Kawhi Leonard has proven over the
years that when he is healthy, and

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he was having a phenomenal historic playoff
run before hurting the knee, fifty seven

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percent from the field, thirty eight
percent from the outside, ninety percent from

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the free throw line. He was
putting up shack numbers in that first round

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series against the Dallas Mavericks while shooting
it from ten feet away from where shack

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normally would in the restricted area.
That's how efficient he was. So it's

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all dependent on Kawhi Leonard in his
health. You have to be careful with

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him. And I saw the report
earlier today from Chris Haynes saying they're considering

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bringing him off the bench. The
Clippers haven't said that to my knowledge.

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That's coming from Chris Haynes. He's
plugged in. Who knows, Maybe he's

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right about that. A couple of
years ago. Actually it was just last

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season we saw Kevin Durant when he
came back from a hamstring injury. He

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came off the bench to start things
off so he would be more available in

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the second halves of games, in
those critical minutes down the stretch. That

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makes sense. You want Kawhi Leonard
in fourth quarters obviously, so there could

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be some logic there. But yeah, they're going to be careful with him.

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I know he wants to play.
I know he wants to play as

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much as possible. Played just two
preseason games, but look really good out

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there. So a lot of encouraging
signs with him coming back from the ACL.

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Oh when you look at the Clippers
depth, and we were kicking this

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around earlier, you're sitting me.
You forget you know, John Wall obviously,

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but then you forget guys like Norman
Powell, who's a starter anywhere else,

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and he's coming off the bench.
I mean, they literally have ten

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guys and the five that don't play
probably could start almost anywhere else. I

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think they got twelve guys. I
mean, when you're talking about Luke Kennard

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finding minutes for him, Terrence Man, you mentioned John Wall being in there,

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and we still don't know who's going
to start tonight at the point guard

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position. I thought it was Reggie
Jackson. No, coach lew Is not

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divulged that there's been a battle in
training camp between Reggie and John Wall.

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It was an open competition. I
would lean towards thinking Reggie's going to be

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the guy, just because he already
has that established continuity with Paul George and

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Kawhi Leonard and he's been there for
some time. But John Wall looked really

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good in the preseason, like real
good. Like Okay, we talked about

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it a few years ago when they
brought Jen Rondo. Could that be the

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missing piece to help facilitate and make
things easier out there for Kawai and Paul

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George. It didn't turn out to
be that, but that was still a

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team that could have won the championship
anyways regardless of that. So they have

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this embarrassment of riches where if John
Wall helps, if he adds a new

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element to their game with his downhill
attack and being able to pass and play

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make and help out Kawai and Paul
George, great, If not, they're

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still gonna be great. But I
do think John Wall is gonna be He's

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gonna work for them in ways where
John Rondo didn't, just because he's still

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explosive in the open court. And
that's the one. Did you hear him?

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That's what I say. What have
you been saying? Fred? Have

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you been telling on here? Still
hating on John Wall from years back.

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You know he never liked John Wall. He hated on he like Colin Coward.

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You didn't like him doing the douggie. Oh he's not focused, he's

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dancing out there. He didn't like
him, And I said John Wall will

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be a humongous factor for this team. I agree with you, Adam.

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I think he's found his mojo and
I think he's got a little chip on

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his shoulder. Let people know that
he ain't done. Oh he does.

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He didn't play at all last season. It wasn't because he was hurt.

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It was because US Houston's rebuilding.
They wanted to play the young guys.

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He just sat there on the bench. He wants to prove that he can

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still be an elite point guard in
this league and on this Clippers team.

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He really has that opportunity because not
as much or not as much as asked

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of him offensively. Obviously, he
doesn't have to be the number one to

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the number two options like he was
in Washington. He just has to make

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the game easier for everybody else.
So if he's coming off the bench,

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he'll push things with the second unit. If he's starting, he'll get Kawai

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and Paul George to their spots.
I think it's a perfect situation. And

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the one thing that he adds that
you could say the Clippers are missing a

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little bit. They don't attempt a
lot of free throws. He gets to

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the free throw line, he gets
downhill, he puts pressure on the rim,

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he attacks. They were bad and
transition the last couple of seasons.

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John Wall can change that for them. So they still have parts of their

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offense to unlock and john Wall can
aid them there. All right, So

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if we forecast forward now and clips
are the battle, let's say trade deadline

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years, They've got enough guys where
they can package somebody and somebody else and

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bring someone in here that could make
a difference if they need you, right,

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Yeah, when you have an embarrassment
of riches, when you have a

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team this deep, my guess is
they're going to see how things play out

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through the first forty five games or
whatever it is, until the trade deadline,

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and a lot of guys are gonna
play because Kauai early in the season

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and even Paul George may play less
minutes, and they'll ramp things up as

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they head into the playoffs, which
means you need less deaf or you don't

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need as much death then and you
could make a trade and consolidate some of

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that talent that they have. But
I don't know if that's going to be

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the case or not. Look at
what's happened the last couple of years,

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it's been survival of the fittest in
the playoffs. The healthiest teams have won.

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So you don't want to give up
too much of that strength, which

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is all world depth, like a
team maybe we've never seen in the modern

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NBA, because you never know when
you're going to need someone. But the

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good news is they have options and
they will have a decision to make it

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the trade deadline. And I think
because of that, uh, speaking of

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options or lack thereof the Lakers at
them, Oh, I mean, listen,

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I don't think they're waiting for the
trade deadline a man. I mean

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listen. I know it was Opening
Night and the rings were giving out and

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it was hyped and hoop lah,
and they were gonna going up against it.

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But and you can't read too much
into Game one of opening series against

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the NBA champs, but they're in
trouble at them, they're in trouble,

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aren't they? I mean, it
just it just it's it feels like the

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beginning of a long, drawn out, painful season for the Lakers. It's

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amazing that we're one game in and
it already feels like season on the brink.

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Things are teetering for the Lakers because
all that baggage that we talked about

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during the off season and going back
to last year with Russell Westbrook, it's

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still there. They have a new
head coach, they have some new philosophies,

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but the same problems exist. We
talked about it all offseason. We're

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the three point shooter with this team. Where are the wings? Who's gonna

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guard some of these players tonight on
the Clippers? I don't know. They

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have so many holes on this roster, and they're too dependent on one a

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guy who's turning thirty eight and Lebron
James. Two Anthony Davis who can't stay

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healthy. And even though he looked
really good in that first quarter the other

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night, he looked dominant, his
activity level slowed down as the game went

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along. He kind of faded after
that. And this is the question I've

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had about him for a couple of
seasons now because He's had so many of

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those little injuries. It reminds me
a little bit of Blake Griffin. They

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add up over time, even if
one's not major. They take something out

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of your explosiveness. And I just
wonder, for thirty eight minutes night,

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forty minutes night, whatever they would
like Anthony Davis to play out there,

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can he give them enough energy?
Can he be at his best during those

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thirty eight minutes like he used to
be. I don't know if that's the

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case anymore, But look, there's
still a dangerous team because they have two

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top fifteen players and maybe the greatest
player of all time in Lebron James.

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And there's gonna be nights where things
click in and they do look good.

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And Russ didn't look awful no other
night because when they get in transition,

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and that's what happens often against the
Golden State Warriors because they shoot a lot

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of threes, you get some long
rebounds, you get runouts. The Lakers,

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that is one of their few strengths
getting in transition with Russ and Lebron

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James. And that's something Coach lu
brought up yesterday at practice. That's the

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thing the Clippers have to watch out
for with this Lakers team. You know,

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when you talk about Russ, we
made the point. It's time to

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stop stop blaming Ross. Not Russ's
fault. Russ is here, not Russ's

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fault. They acquired somebody it didn't
really fit. Not everybody thought he didn't

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fit, but they thought he did
well. If they're two best players,

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are the ones who wanted him there. And that's what all the reports say.

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Yeah, pinning on them. Yeah, are pinning on Rob Polinka for

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not sticking his neck out and saying, no, I'm gonna put my foot

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down on this one. We're not
doing it right. But that being said,

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it's hard to blame a guy for
doing his exactly what he does.

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And because they acquired him, they
don't have the money to go out and

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get anybody that can shoot from the
wing. They don't have three points shooters.

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I don't know how you'll rectify that. They just don't have guys that

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can shoot from outside. You know
the scene in the wedding singer or John

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Lovett's like closes the curtain and says, and I'm reaping the benefits. He's

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losing his mind watching Adam Sandler singing
that song. Somebody killed me, please,

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and I'm reaping the benefits. That's
what the Indiana Pacers I think we're

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doing the other night when they saw
how bad the Lakers looked. Because now

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they can drive up the price if
you want Miles Turner, if you want

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Buddy Healed, or you're gonna have
to give us that second first round pick.

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It just feels inevitable that trade is
eventually going to go down. That's

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how I look at it right now. I don't think this is a long

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term solution. Having Russell Westbrook on
the team. Reports say that they'll give

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him twenty games just to see what
Darvin ham can get out of him,

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as opposed to Frank Vocal they'll give
him twenty games. I'm not even sure

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it will last that long, because, like I said, it already feels

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like this is turned into a downward
spiral and we're one game in in the

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drum was already. This heightened what
happens if they got blown out tonight by

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the Clippers, which could happen,
and look Patrick Beverley also, this was

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the worst sign I saw between the
Lakers and the Golden State Warriors of their

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night when Patrick Beverley is trying to
create and isolate. That's not his game,

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but he felt like he had to
because nobody else is doing anything outside

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of Lebron in a D and Russell
Westbrook here and there, Like who else

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is scoring on that team? Kendrick
Nunn, good player, Austin Reeves.

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I like the intangibles, but he's
not getting you fifteen to night. If

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Patrick Beverley feels like the onus is
on him to have to create shots from

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three, that's not his game,
that is a red flag. H Yeah,

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so you know you mentioned it may
not last twenty games. How did

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they fix it at him? How
did they even salvage It's that's the question.

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You know, give it twenty games, do you? But you already

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know that's my old thing. You
already know. Why are you giving it

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twenty games? I think it's just
doing Darvin him a favor and just seeing

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what he can do with Russ to
Westbrook. I don't understand why they wouldn't

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have made this trade this offseason.
I told you guys, I don't think

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Russ is going to be there throughout
all of training camp. I thought they

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would have already made the trade package
the two first round picks. It's a

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some cost at this point. It's
cutting your losses a little bit. It's

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trying to mask for your mistake of
bringing Russ in to begin with. But

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you have to sorry. You're admitting
your mistake. You're admitting your failure.

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Yes, and you have to get
rid of two first round picks, which

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you don't want to do because by
the time Lebron James is gone and Anthony

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Davis is gone, it's gonna be
a tough rebuild, of course, but

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you're trying to win now still because
you have those guys. So just do

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it. To bite the bullet and
trade those two first round picks with Russell

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Westbrook because I think Indiana will do
it. And look, if they got

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Buddy Heel to Miles Turner, they're
in business a little bit. Then all

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of a sudden, Okay, maybe
they could be like a fifth seed in

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the Western Conference with as talented as
it is, maybe a fourth at best

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if those two really fit well,
because Miles Turner could play more center.

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If Anthony Davis doesn't want to know
that's always the case. Those are two

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good young players that could really help
them out immediately. And as Rodney pointed

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out, you know, why wait
twenty games. Let's say the Lakers get

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out here to a bad start,
and you know, Rodney asked the other

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day, would I be surprised if
the Clippers blew them out tonight? My

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answer was no, I would not
be surprised if the Clippers blew them out

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tonight. Let's say it's a really
uneven start and you can tell it's a

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bad start before you hit twenty games, would you pull the trigger faster?

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I would? Why wait around?
You're just turning this season into watching Lebron

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James pass screen Rebdual Jabbar. Then
if you're not making a move to try

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to win, to try and compete, it's not going to be easy.

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In the West, there's at least
seven teams that are clearly better than the

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Lakers, probably more than that right
now. To me, their range is

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somewhere between seven and ten right they're
playing team and the Pelicans look really good

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last night, beating up on Brooklyn, Dallas is going to be there,

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even though they blew a game to
the Phoenix Suns last night. There are

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so many teams that are just younger
and more spry and have three point shooters

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and play modern basketball. It looks
like the Lakers are built for a different

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era. That's what it looks like
right now, and that is really confounding

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because we've known for a long time. You got us surround Lebron James with

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some shooters. That is how you
maximize his potential and create some lanes for

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him to drive down. Because he
still he goes to those spurts where I

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remember last year he shot forty percent
for a month or something like that from

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three. He's still inconsistent from the
outside. He's streaky. I don't think

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he's ever going to turn into Steph
Curry all of a sudden. So Lebron,

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he still has to get to the
basket. How are you gonna do

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that when everybody's packing the paint because
you got no shooters out there. The

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Lakers have so many problems, and
they were all foreseeable except by the guy

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who just got an extension in Rob
Polinka. I don't get it. Yeah,

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how do you figure that? Yeah? I guess it's just they're reverting

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back to what they've always been.
We're gonna get superstars and we're gonna find

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a way to win anyways, and
we just won a year and a half

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ago technically or two years ago in
the bubble, and even though then,

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they remade that team, and they
went away from what Frank Vogel wanted,

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which is kind of some Twin Towers
action and playing big like that, to

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bringing in Monchrese Harold and Dennis Shrewder. I have no idea why, you

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know, if it ain't broke,
don't fix it. For some reason,

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the Lakers thought it was broke after
winning the championship. They had to change

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things up. But they've lost a
lot of their good defenders and three point

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shooters. They could have paid Alex
Caruso, they decided not to. They

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could have kept him and Thht who's
now gone anyways, and they let Kyle

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Kuzman CACP go in the Russ trade. All right, those two guys in

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Montrese Harold, those two guys can
help you. Those two guys were actually

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really good against the Clippers. Kuzman
was probably the best defender against Kawhi Leonard,

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shockingly, but he turned himself into
a pretty good better. So there

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have been a series of bad moves
by the Lakers over the last couple of

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years. It's not just one thing, but the biggest thing, yes,

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was the trade for Russell Westbrook.
That's what's hanging over their head right now.

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Adam, appreciate you stopping in.
Good stuff, A good to be

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with you. Guys. Got the
pre game at six, Adam, we'll

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be there and then we'll have the
game from the crypt here on the radio

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station that's gonna rypt