Oh, we're joined by the salty a Adam Ausceland, host of the Clipper
Countdown, the post game show, and the Halftime Report. Happy Holidays,
Adam, Happy holidays. Who can be salty this time of the year?
Oh me, I can still do it? You question may be salty?
Ain't the way them damn Clippers have been playing? Man has nothing to be
salty about. Brother Well, I heard Fred was talking some s earlier in
the show about Kawhi Leonard. It's spreading misinformation. Yeah, a little bit.
Get him, ad him, get him? Adam Crady, what the
hell did you say about Kawhi? Don't upset me like this? Already he
was the culprit of his load management and it was all him and taking himself
out of game, didn't That was no, That was a year in Toronto
when he was laboring and lifting the whole season. Fret said it was his
choice to to not play. My point was, he said, and I
would agree he didn't play because he was hurt, not because he chose not
to play. Well, it accused him of just I'm not going to play.
I'm gonna sit it out, and uh, you know, when I
get better, I'll get in there he never played because if he was hurt,
he said not because he just took time off. That was my point.
So I don't know how it got confused. Well, you confused yourself
with the way you were just trying to explain it because we've all been kind
of a listening. Really, I don't even you jumping in here. Do
you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? Not right?
My point was if he didn't play, he was hurt. It's not like
he didn't play because he wanted to know. And I said, no,
that's what I said, and people accused him of that. That's what I
said. So when I go back to the podcast and listen, you're gonna
claim that was selective, creative editing going on by Ronnie Fossio, misconsuing your
words. Just don't put the first hour up. I know what I know
when I said it, it was an hour of misinformation. My god,
no, it's it turned into a bit of a laborious conversation because then they
pounced on me and that's not what I meant. But I know what I
meant. What can we talk about these Clippers today? Yeah, what Kawhi
Leonard has been doing yeah, let's do it beating the hell out of everyone.
Now. I know tonight could be tough because they're in OKC. He's
questionable, he's got a bruised hip at the very end of the game when
he had ten points in the span of three minutes against Dallas last night to
give them the nine point victory and make it nine straight victories for the Los
Angeles Clippers, not just that, fourteen of the last seventeen games now they
have won. And it really goes back this run by them to me,
to Russell Westbrook coming off the bench, that has been the difference. I
wasn't sure they'd be able to facilitate that or finesse that or smooth that over.
But Russell Westbrook was the one who asked to sacrifice. And since then,
it's empowered James Harden with the starters. The ball is in his hands,
Terrence Man has been doing and all the little things next to him in
the starting backcourd, and then Kawhi Leonard got comfy and he's been real comfortable
last eleven games. Freddy, are you listening. Sixty two percent from the
field, fifty two percent from the outside. Nobody has been better than Kawhi.
He's playing like a damn regular season MVP now. It has been special
to watch and those injuries and now in his second season off the ACL,
he looks as healthy as he did in twenty twenty one before tearing it,
when he was on a tear in the playoffs and was playing like the best
player in the league before that unfortunate step where he got a little shoulder shove
from from Joe Ingles of the Utah Jazz. This is the best version of
Kawhi since tearing the ACL, and it may be the best regular season stretch
of his entire career. And that is saying something. He's a top seventy
five player of all time and right now at the age of thirty two,
we're getting the best version of him. Who is the cat that within the
Golden State that he stepped on? Was it him? What? Oh with
that Zaza Pachulia back in twenty seventeen. Yeah, Zaza undercut them and they
changed the rule because of that. And you got to give guys their landing
space. I mean, it's things like that that has happened to Kawhi that
Fred didn't want to give him credit for that. It was legitimate injuries.
That was keeping him out. You know what I'm saying. And if you
doubt that, Freddy, I got something for you, Kevin. I think
the argument could be made that during the periods of time, let's saying Toronto,
even San Antonio, Uh, he'd sit out because it wasn't one hundred
percent. Buddy could have played wow wowie wow wow. Now, fred was
that was that your voice? Or was that AI? Was that the ghost
of Freddy's past? What was that? No? That was me. But
the point is this, I was saying that other people were saying that.
Oh, so you're pinning it on others, but you were the one bringing
it up. Yeah. Interesting, But that's how I prefaced the whole thing.
Is that not how it was your Rooney? Really, because I think
the first thing you said was I think the argument could be made. I
think the argument could be made. No, what would I say prior to
that when we came on the air. So you're saying that, So I'm
goin to say, this is what you said? This is me saying this.
Oh No, I didn't say that. No, No, I didn't
say that. I think you guys should start a segment because who did that
song I'm Too Sexy? Was it right? Said Fred? Fred we do
a segment called wrong, said Fred. Let's start that off in twenty twenty
four. Huh, Chuck, and we can do that wrong, said Fred.
Hey, yeah, that's actually Adam nine game run. And when you
look at this team now, and it does feel like James Harden is really
settling in with the starters. And you're right about Russ. I mean,
nobody talked about that enough because he was the one that sacrificed and everybody would
say, you know, Russ is a selfish guy. He's a selfish player,
you know, and for him to do that, which nobody expected him
to do, I don't think he gets enough credit for us. So I'm
glad you brought that up as well. But when you look at this team
now, where do you see the flaw or anything that could hurt them going
into the playoffs. If this team is as it is constructed right now,
well they've gotten back to that point where it feels like only injuries can stop
them. So that's a good thing. But they still get to build up
more chemistry. I mean, James Harden has only played I think twenty two
games with them, so far, and it's really been with this new starting
lineup where they've been thriving with him next to Terrence Man. They still don't
have Mason Plumbley back. They're going to have to reintegrate him into what's been
happening right now. It should be a smooth transition because he's very good in
the pick and roll. That should work very well with James Harden, But
you still have to build up that chemistry and continuity. No championship outside of
the n season tournament is one in December. That's how it works in this
league. So as how does they are right now, it's about building championship
habits. It's about they went from a team that you didn't know who would
show up each and every night. They were consistently inconsistent. That was their
identity to a team now that's not just taking games off anymore. Here and
there where they're playing down so their competition, they're not taking quarters off,
they're not taking possessions off anymore. That's how locked in and focused they have
looked over this run. This is the best regular season run in the two
pin to three era since Kawhi and Paul George have come over. And it's
happened just with James Harden in the starting lineup, making everyone's life so much
easier. Guys, I thought he'd be the perfect fit next to Kawhi and
Paul George. I said he would unlock the best version of them. It's
been happening, but it has to continue now. And they got a tough
game tonight and guys could be missing and there might be no Kawhi, no
Paul George. But then look, if you lose against Oka, see there's
no shame in that. They're playing great basketball, and if you're without both
your stars, that's fine. But Saturday, back home, after the three
game road trip, they're taking on the Boston Celtics. That's going to be
a measuring stick type of contest. That is when people are gonna say,
if the Clippers win that game, oh they're not just contenders, as some
have already flipped with what they were saying a month ago about them and are
saying they are the biggest threat to the Denver Nuggets. Everybody is going to
be put on notice if they take down the Boston Celtics right before Christmas.
All right, let's switch to the Lakers. Why why we got to talk
about the Lakers too. I mean, we know how good the Clippers have
been playing, Lakers have been going the opposite way after that end season tournament.
Is there anything? I'd say, there's no letdown, There's no nothing.
This is just basketball in the NBA. You don't think there's a letdown
happening right now from this squad. Lebron James would disagree with you. Yeah,
but I'm talking about the season tournament. It doesn't know if this is
the NBA. The Clippers are won nine in a row tonight, they could
win ten. Okay, cut around and lose four in a row two.
Yeah, but it's the NBA. What you're seeing right now out from the
Lakers is an emotional energy dump. That is an adrenaline dump. And Lebron
James said it last night after they lost to Chicago when they were back to
full health, that it's not just what's been happening physically to them, it's
an emotional fatigue that has taken place with this team. They got up,
they sprayed champagne in the locker room after winning the n season championship, they
raised the banner. They lose that game too, and they have lost to
some really bad teams. Chicago was eleven and seventeen. They didn't have zach
Lavine last night. They lose that Friday night game to the San Antonio Spurs
last week. I don't care who was available. The Spurs had lost eighteen
straight. How is this stuff happening? And if you look, losers of
four of their last five since the N Season Tournament, and they're basically bottom
ten offensively since then, bottom ten defensively since then, where they were top
ten throughout most of the year. Something has changed, and I think they
may have taken it a little too seriously and now they're paying the price.
It's just what it is. Look, we've never seen this N Season Tournament
before. We didn't know what effects it would have. You know what it
feels like right now, Guy goes into the home run derby and rex his
swing. That's what it feels like for this Lakers team, Like they got
up a little bit too high, They rode the emotional roller coaster a little
bit too high early in the season, and now they don't know how to
get up for games again. And they got Minnesota tonight. They got them
twice the next couple of weeks. They gotta face. Okay, see,
they have tough opponents coming up, and four of their next sixer on the
road. It's not gonna get any easier. And I'll say something else.
When you're this reliant on someone as inconsistent as D'Angelo Russell, it makes things
difficult. You shouldn't come and go or wins and losses shouldn't be as dependent
on whether or not D'Angelo Russell is having a good night. But it's been
like that going back to last season, going back to the playoffs, with
him having that stinker against the Den or Nuggets. They don't get swept if
he is just decent against them. They were in all those games in the
fourth quarter. But he's unreliable. And this team has a lot of flaws
going on because they don't have enough two way players, meaning they have a
lot of specialists who are good on one end of the court, like Torrian
Prince was with his three point shooting, but then he gets torched on the
other end by DeMar DeRozan last night who had twenty seven or whatever it was.
They have too many guys that are one dimensional out there and their flaws
are getting exposed. That's what it looks like to me with the Lakers.
Hey, so we were talking about this earlier. Earlier, Adam, do
you go ahead, you try to go and make that Zach Levine trade.
I'll say this, I don't think he cures all of what ails them,
But if they're able to get Alex Caruso back in that deal, now you're
talking if you can have Alex Caruso back on this Lakers team giving up Austin
Reeves in it. I don't think they'll have to give up Austin Reeves.
I think it'll be Ruy, Hachimora, Deans Russell, maybe a future pick,
maybe Gave Vinson who just came back, although I don't think he's eligible
yet to be traded, but I don't They're not going to give up Boston
Reeves. They're not going to make a lateral move to bring in Alex Cruz.
So if they do so, I think Hahimora has to be included in
that trade. And right now, with them being fully healthy, it also
makes things difficult in some ways. It's a blessing and a curse. How
do you figure out rotations right now? You have too many guys that have
earned minutes Cam Reddish has been really good for them. But he's really good
on the defensive end, and he struggles offensively. Last night, I think
he had thirteen points, but it took him twelve shots to get there.
So some of these guys that were in rhythm, that were feeling good about
themselves, all of a sudden, their minutes are gonna get undercut. There's
a minutes crunch. There's a numbers crunch going on with this Lakers team.
Once they get healthy, that brings new problems. You know, they were
just starting to figure things out with guys missing when they won I think twelve
of sixteen throughout that time where they won the n season turn. And now
some of these guys are back and they got to figure things out. And
it's not going to be easy moving forward, going through a stretch like this
against top level competition while there's so much uncertainty roster wise, lineup wise,
rotation wise, that's problematic for Darvin Ham and this Lakers team. All right,
well, Adam, all right, holidays. I love you guys,
and I do want to say thanks for always making me feel special coming on
here. I love you guys. I appreciate you very much. And what's
the old dad joke? See you next year? Right on, Adam,
all right, that cop pregame show tonight. And four the tip at five
against Oka. See Adam will be in the saddle.