So no Anthony Davis, no Dennis Schroder.

I understand that they are depleted, manpower wise, but what I saw last night from the Lakers defensively it was poop.

It was poop, Ron Burgundy.

It was poop.

It was It was a lack of effort.

And I think if there's anything you extract from that game, is that aspect of it, right?

Utah shoots 47% from the field, 46% from the three point line.

They made 20 plus threes in that game.

They made 50 threes in their last two games.

Utah is the best team in the West as of right now, but it's I don't worry about the Lakers long term, because, look, if you get a D back, you get into shorter back.

Offensively, they will be fine.

But it seemed like defensively they were a JV team last night.

I mean, I don't know how many today.

This morning, at 3.

30 in the morning, I'm watching the tape.

I saw Marc Gasol involved in so many pick and rolls and he was just taking advantage of I mean he was taking advantage of in ways that I can't even say because we RPG network.

That's what I saw last night.

And I think ultimately that lack of effort is something that LeBron James and company really need to put in check as they move forward.

Well, I don't know if it's a lack of effort as much as it is they may not fit be a good fit and matched up against the Utah Jazz with the way that the roster is constructed at this particular moment without a D in Dennis on board.

Um, like I said before, they just are not very good right now.

Let's just say that, you know, when you get run out of the building the way that they did, it's it's a little alarming.

It's a little bit, but they're not.

They don't have a full arsenal, and you start to try to figure out okay, If we had everybody, how would it look?

Would it be a little bit different?

Obviously, LeBron didn't play nearly the minutes that he was playing in the past, uh, due to play minutes because it got blown out, I would say probably due to being, you know, blown out a little bit there.

Um, so you start to just try to figure out how to fix it.

I think that you start to say, Okay, it's something setting in from a tire standpoint as a team, because you've now lost a handful of games in a row.

Does that start to wear on you?

Are you thinking mentally too much out there instead of getting back to the basics?

And and so you know, when you allow a team to shoot 40 45.8% from three, that's in your shooting 24% from three, you're not gonna win very many games.

Well, they've been shooting bad from the three point line.

That's a huge indictment on the Lakers, And that's been one of their most troubling issues in the month of February, right?

Uh, their lack of three point shooting.

LeBron talked about it in the post game, but there are things called effort defensive men.

That's one thing that travels every single day.

You can bring effort defensively to close out to shooters.

Now, with everything being said, you know what I loved about the Utah Jazz last night is that when your opponent is injured, you keep your foot on their neck and you don't let them up, no matter how hard they tried.

They put them in the dirt last night.

They buried them 20 ft under.

If there's anything that's a lingering effect for LeBron James and this Laker team, it's the way the Utah Jazz blitz them last night.

The game was over in the second quarter.

It was over in the second quarter.

If you look the way they were spacing the floor and the effort that the Lakers were given defensively, LeBron James sat out the entire fourth quarter because it was almost a 30 point lead.

So if you know we want to sit up here and say, Well, you know, are the Utah Jazz Are they for real?

Even though they won 22 out of 24 games, everybody, tonight's a statement game.

The Jazz are for real, and they proved it on the national stage last night by beating the Lakers head into the white meat key.

Well, I'm not going to say that they're not for real.

They are for real.

But in a seven game series so they for real.

One game sample size.

When a team is happy, it's not a one game sample size.

Okay, they won 22 hours, 24 games.

It's not a one game sample size, so one game sample size.

If you're trying to go at the championships a one game sample size, I mean yes, over the course of the season.

So far, they've won as many games as you just say it.

But that is not against the Lakers.

That is not against the Clippers.

They've got to get through those two teams for it to be, for for me at least, to jump on and be like Oh, yeah, they super for real.

They're getting ready to go win the championship just because they take care of business with a team that everybody has looked at as the perennial champions and saying that the Lakers are gonna do it again.

The Lakers gonna do it again, and then they're missing a couple key component off the team.

And now the first thing that we start to think is well, the Lakers are less than Utah is all of a sudden, the juggernaut of the N B a or the juggernaut of the West Conference.

I'm not ready to say that just yet.

Yeah, look, at the end of the day, you have to pay them the respect.

I mean, all the games they won by double digit.

Yes, they they have the respect, Jake, but I'm not ready to push them at the top just because just because their record indicates that I'm not saying that translates to them winning the whole thing or them coming out of the West.

At the end of the day, it's still, if the Lakers are fully healthy, the question is, will a d be available?

That's the question for the Lakers, because Dennis Schroder is not enough.

Dennis Schroder mantra is Harold not enough?

You need a D.

So if a D isn't there at the end of the day, if he tweaks that Achilles again and he happens to be out, you will see the Utah Jazz Clippers in the Western Conference finals.

I mean, clearly, if the Lakers are missing Robin, the Batman is going to be a little bit different than we saw LeBron several years ago in the East, take care of business and put a team on his back.

The West is a lot stronger, so it's Yeah, it's gonna be difficult to do.

But I'm assuming a D is going to be healthy a month from now.

A month and a half from now, you know where the Lakers will get back to where they were prior to his injury.

Here's what I'm trying to do if I'm the Lakers, because matchup wise, I'm not trying to see Utah until we get to the Western Conference finals because of the way they play.

Because a small ball and how big the Lakers are.

Marc Gasol.

Montrezl Harrell.

Even if you do have a D back, it's not a great matchup for them due to spacing in the way you talk and shoot threes.

So I'm trying to say, Hey, if I'm the Lakers like I'm trying to see the Clippers or somebody else, you know, potentially, Uh, before we get to the Western Conference finals, I don't think that's the matchup the Lakers want to see.

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