A a pass last night?

Just based on all the injuries they've been dealing with for me personally?

No.

If you wanna go first, Max, I'll let you.

But for me, personally, I'm not giving the Lakers the past.

Not not based off of what I saw last night, Max, if you wanna go first, go ahead.

Because I got a lot to say.

But go ahead, Max.

Well, well, I would just say I mean, it makes no difference to me.

If you want to respond to it, then the answer is yes, of course they get a pass.

Of course they get a pass because this team was constructed top heavy.

They don't have a big three.

They got a big too.

Not just a big to a giant to an M V P.

Two and historically great, too.

But what that means is the rest of the roster is gonna be a little thinner than some other rosters.

Now, I know you look at when LeBron and a deer there, they don't look thin.

They have a lot of guys doing a lot of things, but the presence of those to enable those guys to do those things.

You know who else isn't there, then a shrewder.

And the thing about any team is you need, ah, several players who can do the following.

They have to be able to get you into your offense and go get their own shot.

If you if they can't create that way in those two ways combined, really?

You got a problem?

If you know team has no one like that in their offense, they wouldn't be able to play in the league.

The Lakers really have to guys like that in the offense.

LeBron and shrewder wire wise LeBron playing so many minutes because without shrewder, they got one guy and now they don't have a d.

So all those complimentary pieces, it's not the same.

You know, I love tailing Horton Tucker and he can create for himself.

But is he going to really create for others?

Everyone else is a role player toe one degree or another toe, one degree of effectiveness or another in their role, but their role players.

And so you really look at LeBron and a bunch of role players in a long season without the Onley other guy who can create and get you into the offense without the other big to on a his crime partner on a top heavy team.

And then they run into a buzz saw.

The Jazz were the hottest team in the league, playing the most perfect basketball in the league and the Lakers air on the road.

Yeah, they get a pass for last night.

I can't give them a pass, Max Kellerman, because I'm really I'm just looking at the manner in which they got destroyed and we're going to get into the Utah Jazz a little bit later.

But I will say this to America.

The Utah Jazz have hit 53 pointers in the last two games.

No team in NBA history, not even the Golden State Warriors have done that.

This team is scary and I'm not gonna lie.

Max, I didn't see it.

You know, we just had this conversation a couple of weeks ago when you were raving about the Utah Jazz.

I didn't see it.

I'm looking at Donovan Mitchell.

I said, I got to see it to believe it.

I got to see it to believe it.

I got to see it to believe it.

And I look at the Lakers last night and the reason why I don't give them a pass.

It's not just because the Jazz were making shots.

It's how little resistance they posed.

You know what?

You can struggle without Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder.

Offensively, what's the excuse defensively?

There's a Frank Fogel defensively.

Coach team.

Frank Vogel knows a thing or two about coaching defense.

That's why he got the head coaching job to begin with, even though he wasn't the Lakers first choice because of the job that he did in Indiana all of those years when they were trying to compete for in Eastern Conference crown against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat.

But Indiana I looked at the Los Angeles Lakers.

Just because Anthony Davis and Dennis Shooter is not there doesn't mean that you're supposed to get out to get out of play defense, stay in front of your man, stay with your man, not letting everybody have a damn near a dam, lay up line for crying out loud or get wide open three point shots.

Where's the defensive intensity?

The intensity?

Where's the pride?

Where's the pride and I'm not talking about LeBron James.

I'm not talking about him at all because the man shows up.

Let's give credit where credit is Dio He just didn't have any help.

I'm looking at everybody else in between.

I'm looking at the Morris.

I'm looking at the contagious Caldwell Pope.

I'm looking at an Alex Caruso.

I'm looking at all of these other guys.

I'm just saying Defense, for the most part, is about effort.

And when the date when the Jazz show up, I understand that Rudy Go Bear is a force.

I understand that Donovan Mitchell is a stud.

Mike Conley Jr didn't miss a shot in the first half.

Okay, I'm just looking at them right now through the first for the first six.

I mean, at halftime, the Utah Jazz had went six quarters, hitting 43 threes.

I understand that's a problem until I'm looking and I'm saying, Damn, how much more wide open can they be there?

There's a lot that goes into that and again we'll get into that when we get into the subject on the Utah Jazz.

But in the end, I'm gonna look at the Los Angeles Lakers, your champions and Yes, a regular season game and I'm not gonna overblow it.

I'm simply talking about if you know you don't have Anthony Davis and you know you don't have dinner shooter and Rajon Rondo is no longer there, and Dwight Howard is no longer there and develop McGee is no longer there.

I'm gonna blame one or two things I'm gonna blame Effort.

Or I'm gonna blame Rob Pelinka because you can't lose both of McGee and Dwight Howard, even though Montreal's Harold is what you added to the mix, you can't it's either effort or it's the fact that those dudes ain't there and you have no rim protection whatsoever.

It's one of the other, but either way, you slice it is good as Utah is and as good as they look.

It's about the Lakers to.

And as we sit here and talk about the Lakers, Max, that's what I walk away looking at effort or excuse me, you let two bigs get away that you shouldn't let get away.

Well, it's fair to say, Hey, guys, you got to step up.

K C P.

Caruso.

Everybody, you gotta step up, you know, especially with also intruders absence the fact is there missing two of their three best players?

If you had to take a third best player on the team, certainly their most important player.

To me, it's shrewder.

They don't have a D and they don't have shrewder.

That's one to remember what I said.

There's a There's a silver lining in a.

D s injury, provided he comes back as a D because you're right when you say he better come back as a D, they ain't gonna beat the Nets.

That's right.

But maybe not the Jazz, but provided he comes back as a d What I say LeBron in Cleveland and in Miami in recent years, Last six or seven years early in the season, he's trying to figure out what he needs to do to lead a group of guys to the promised land because he's in the finals every year, so we always figures it out.

But early on, sometimes we'll see.

Remember, back in the day the heat don't have a great record.

The Cavs don't have a great record because he's figuring it out.

He needs to know who I could rely on, like who could LeBron rely on what positions does he need to put them in?

So if they fail it, one thing they could succeeded another.

And he usually takes like it's an incubation period.

Basically, with LeBron, I think we're also seeing that he is.

There's some fatigue.

Yes, you're right.

Some guys need a little more effort would be nice.

But really, it's a D is not there.

And shrewder is not there.

And LeBron's trying to figure the rest of these guys out and they're on the road.

They ran into a buzz off Stephen A.

They get a pass from May.