Finally watched my first exit interview and picked Magic and Rob's. Didn't realize it was going to be 38 minutes. But it was good and I liked what I heard. One of their earlier comments that really stood out to me was their April, May and June expectations of the players .... since they are not in the playoffs. They want this time used with that kind of intensity toward their training and improvement regimens and they are going to be watching and evaluating these guys as to where they are in 3 months as the draft and then free agency come along. It will affect decisions they need to make going into those 2 strategic events. Guys have notice and they are on the clock. I've joked about Lonzo's rap tour preparation for Lithuania but he is going to have to work his a** off on his number one priority Lakers job expectations laid out for him explicitly by Magic and Rob ... and fit the other stuff in with its secondary importantance. And the before and after photo comparisons of Hall of Fame players' body transformations from rookie physiques to all NBA physiques is brilliant in my opinion. They want from everyone what Julius's body transformation gave them this year.
Glad that you or anyone else is watching them instead of just reading the quotes via twitter. I will always watch the video. You can learn a lot more by them instead of just the quotes. Tone, body language, expressions to questions, etc....
Yeah. And they mean business. Championship contention within the next couple of years or bust for these guys. (Magic and Rob)
Magic better get our kids in the gym and show them footage of Tatum and Mitchell and how good defensive effort leads to success in the postseason. If they don't go that route, then just look at what young players like KAT, Wiggins and Giannis did when they finally made it to the big show....they fizzled. The learning curve is steep, but play good defense and it won't be such a crazy climb to the top.
To be fair, our kids have given good great defensive efforts for most of the year. Especially Lonzo and Hart were great defensively, but we made a massive jump in defense this season.
Have you donated to the site? Those who have donated $100 or more don’t see any ads. I think instead of it being a one time donation, it should be annual thing though. This stuff ain’t free to host, and besides, I don’t make all those gifs for free. Allegedly.
Going from dead last to 12th overall is awesome. But our young guys need to strive for more. Kuz needs to refocus on that end. Hart needs to make it his staple and Zo & BI need to get stronger. They have to look at these playoffs and think that just getting to the playoffs isn't enough. They could bust their butt to get there but once you're there, you dictate how quickly you can develop. It can take multiple years or your can expedite the process and be legit contributors to a title contending team right out the gate. The goal isn't just making the playoffs next year... It's advancing into June. Adding a star in Butler to that young Minny team wasnt enough. These kids need to really dedicate themselves this summer so that when the stars call upon them this time next year, they can help in getting to the next level. Embiid/Simmoms, Mitchell and Tatum should have our young guys look at them as marks. They need to be gunning for these dudes.
Completely agree on the defence first mentality. We have an opportunity to make that a staple right now with these young guys while they’re still malleable. The west is so tough though! There are two teams in Hou and GSW which each have two MVP worthy franchise players leading them. Even with a Lebron + Kawhi pairing, it’s not certain we can get past them in the first year. What a strong conference when adding two MVP potential players might still have you exit in the second round.
I understand, but my point is that our kids already have that mentality. They made the switch and jumped an unlikely amount already in one season. Kuzma needs the most work defensively and I'm not sure Ball is ready for consistent Playoff basketball, but Hart is ready today I think. Ingram is close, but probably not 100% ready. I know what you're saying, but I have some solid faith that the kids already do too. I hope so anyway. We'll see how Ingram and Ball look physically when they return in a few months.
Our kids need to aim for Embiid, Simmons, Mitchell, Taytum, and JBrown or else they'll end up being in the group with Gordon, Booker and Porzingas.
