00:00And then it was the Houston Rockets, much bigger favorites than even the number one seed Detroit Pistons, much bigger
00:06favorites than, of course, the Knicks or the Nuggets in their respective series.
00:12They are down 3-0 to LeBron and the Lakers.
00:16What has been your biggest takeaway, coach, watching these three games?
00:20It's just honestly the greatness of LeBron and just the sheer, you know, let's start with LeBron.
00:29There's deeper to this. LeBron has been absolutely fantastic.
00:32He's been the best player in this series.
00:35And if the Lakers were going to win this series, you needed LeBron James to be LeBron.
00:43And he has delivered and he has delivered, you know, unreal.
00:48You know, obviously 19 points with the, you know, almost the triple double in game number one, game two, 28,
00:55game three, 29.
00:57Just phenomenal player in LeBron.
01:00But I think what needs to be talked about, Kevin, is the fact that he is really lifting this team
01:10up to get guys to play at levels that we did not know was possible.
01:16Did we think Luke Canard?
01:17We're at Kevin's wedding last weekend, and we're like, what in the Luke Canard is happening?
01:24And Stan's probably ready to kill us because we're like, yo, Luke Canard got 15.
01:29Luke Canard got 18.
01:30Oh, Luke Canard's got 23, right?
01:32So what do they do in game two?
01:34Well, now Marcus Smart shows up to the party.
01:36And they come by for about 49 points.
01:38So what do you get in game three, right?
01:40You get Rui Hachimor stepping up, right?
01:43You get other guys playing well.
01:45Marcus Smart continues to play well.
01:47Going 9-11 for the free throw line, 21 points.
01:49You get three guys with 20 or more.
01:52So there is a lot of what LeBron is doing that needs to be studied, not just the scoring, but
02:00the leadership and the lifting up of his teammates.
02:03That being said, what's going on in Houston is an absolute travesty.
02:10They're down 0-3.
02:11Nobody saw this coming.
02:13I know Durant's missed two or three games.
02:15I don't care.
02:17There's enough talent there, and there needs to be discussions about what's going on.
02:22Is it the coaching?
02:23Is it the lack of leadership by Durant?
02:26Or are we now seeing guys like Van Vliet and Steven Adams, the adults in the room, not being there,
02:34now coming to focus as we're now in the playoffs?
02:37I think with this Rockets team, if you've backed them game to game, I get it, right?
02:45Value, bounce back spot, can't look this ugly again, all good.
02:52But pre-series, the idea that this Rockets team, without home court, who have hated one another since the All
03:02-Star break, with a coach who has disliked most of them.
03:05This is just, it was clear as day at the press conference.
03:08Coach can speak to it better than I can about what Emei Odoka chose to do at the press conference
03:13at the end of game three.
03:14Nothing on him, all on the guys.
03:18And some of his words made me think, man, they must have really not executed the simple things he gave
03:25them to execute, but it wasn't a good look.
03:27My point, but I bring it up to say, the idea that this Rockets team was the size of favorite
03:33that they were, didn't reflect who they have been, I think, for most of this season, but also who LeBron
03:42James is.
03:43And the LeBron piece of it is, yes, a little tongue-in-cheek, because I'm, I mean, again, we're friends,
03:53we're having a good time with it, okay?
03:55It is remarkable.
03:57It shouldn't be possible.
03:59He is 40, he's the oldest player in the league.
04:02He's 23 seasons.
04:04And he's the best player in the series.
04:07Remove Durant for a second.
04:09How does Alper and Schengen allow that to happen?
04:12How does Eamon Thompson allow that to happen?
04:15Both of them are supposed to be better than LeBron James at this point in their careers.
04:21But comfortably, they're not.
04:25I have a crazy LeBron-Luka question that I'm not entirely sure I even want to do, because, you know,
04:31this whole thing might divulge into madness.
04:33But the level LeBron is playing at is truly, truly remarkable.
04:39But I've seen some pro LeBron guys, Coach, be annoyed at how people are talking more about Houston's mess than
04:47LeBron's credit.
04:49Look, you know, don't, LeBron will get his credit.
04:52Don't worry about that.
04:53I understand why we're talking about the Rockets' mess.
04:55They don't understand, like, rotations, basic offense, don't turn it over.
05:02Like, there's so many small things they can't seem to figure out.
05:07I mean, they went out there.
05:09They have three bench points in game number three.
05:14So, it's a Rockets team that, unless they do the unimaginable, never been done before, come back from 3-0,
05:23there's a breakup coming.
05:26Udoka being fired, Durant asking out again, Shangoon being moved on, maybe a never-saw-it-coming Amen Thompson deal.
05:34I don't know.
05:35But, Coach, this team has to win four consecutive games to have any chance of running it back next season.
05:41And certainly nobody thinks they're going to be winning four consecutive games.
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