Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Lakers’ Mid-Season Turnaround Is REAL — What Changed & What’s Next? | The Post Up
8 Plays1 day ago
The Los Angeles Lakers just flipped the switch — but is this real or just a hot streak? 👀 In this episode of The Post Up, DJ Tricey Trice breaks down exactly what’s fueling the Lakers' new success: smarter rotations, role players stepping up, and a whole new defensive mindset.
✅ What’s working (finally)
✅ Who’s the unexpected hero
✅ Can the Lakers really make a deep playoff run?
This is the analysis Lakers fans need right now — so tap in, join the convo in the comments, and let’s talk real Lakers basketball.
🚨 Don’t forget to like, subscribe & share for more Lakers, NBA, and sports culture content every week on The Post Up!
📱 Hit me up on socials:
Full Video Episodes Available On YouTube: https://youtube.com/@djtriceytrice?sub_confirmation=1
Listen To The Post Up Podcast: https://pod.link/1731747072
Support My Shows On Patreon: https://bit.ly/RunningMyMouthAboutSports
Follow Me On Tik- Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@djtriceytrice
Follow Me On Instagram: www.Instagram.com/DJTriceyTrice
LiveStream Page: https://ThePostUpShow.onestream.live
📣 #Lakers #NBA #LeBronJames #ThePostUp #LakersNation #DJTriceyTrice
Recommended
Transcript
Lakers' March Performance and Trades
00:00:00
Speaker
For the first time in a long time, my heart rate is low in March because the Lakers are the number two seed in the Western Conference. LeBron just scored his 50,000th career point.
00:00:14
Speaker
Luka is going absolutely insane. I mean, what more could Lakers fans ask for at this point? I've got so much to talk about on today's episode of The Post Up.
00:00:24
Speaker
Welcome back, people of the internet. It is DJ Treacy Trece, and I am here running my mouth about sports as usual. This is another episode of The Post Up, and today I am talking all about my Lakers and how great they are doing so far this season.
00:00:39
Speaker
I'm start off with just my personal feelings. None of us knew that this is how our season would go this year, y'all. We didn't think Max Christie and Anthony Davis would get traded. We for sure didn't think we were getting Luka Doncic.
00:00:52
Speaker
But every once and again, the gods shine down on l LA and we get a generational player. I will say... I think that this was orchestrated so that Boston and the Lakers can be in the
Impact of Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving's Shutdowns
00:01:06
Speaker
finals again. The NBA sees record amounts of ah ratings and amount of ticket sales when Boston and l LA plays each other. Boston now has one championship over the l LA franchise and the NBA said enough.
00:01:20
Speaker
Pull the script. Send the kid Luca over to LA and everything has been going well since then. Before I get into all the accolades, I just want to say, listen, prayers up for Kyrie Irving. Nobody wants to see that kind of energy.
00:01:34
Speaker
We don't wish matt bad on the Mavs fans as well, y'all. All the Lakers fans, we're super appreciative of Luka, but we're not trash talking the Mavs or the Mavs organization. We know that they lost immeasurably. Anthony Davis has been shut down for the season and now Kyrie
JJ Redick's Strategies and Player Contributions
00:01:50
Speaker
as well. So they are pretty much playing for draft picks at this point.
00:01:56
Speaker
Um, which is tough to see you don't want to see a team go down like that but hey we're here this is what's happening we're gonna celebrate our wins while we got them y'all the lakers are on a seven game winning streak and i personally credit jj reddick i think he has had the plan this whole time he now has more resources um for sure but he had already had the team in working shape to have this playoff run at this point in the season now the lakers didn't get a big man We didn't get a big man at all.
00:02:27
Speaker
um we We know that we were we were hoping to to get one. Anthony Davis said that we needed a big man before he was traded away. um But Jackson Hayes is working out. I don't know if y'all been watching all the lobs that Jackson Hayes has been getting passed by LeBron, Luka.
00:02:42
Speaker
I think he got one from Jerry Vanderbilt the other day. My man just had a career high game last night. So I'm happy with Jackson Hayes' play style so far.
00:02:54
Speaker
I think he's being athletic. He knows which spots to be in at the right place. Also, defensively, he's getting some blocks. He's not fouling too much. He's being an effective big man while Luka and LeBron are pretty much running the floor.
00:03:09
Speaker
I'm loving how JJ Redick is having them start together and then staggering their performance because it just allows more bench players to get there and Luka and LeBron to not have so much duplication, right?
00:03:21
Speaker
They both are floor generals. They both have that strong sense of, okay, you go here, you go there kind of ah coaching while they're on the floor. But I'm excited that JJ is starting and finishing them together depending on how the game is going, but also allowing them to like run with almost second units.
00:03:38
Speaker
Gabe Vincent has been looking a lot better as well too because he's doing more of the catch and shoot. He doesn't have to really be on the ball that much, which frees up so much more shooting power there. Shaq Milton has been hitting shots. I mean, the whole squad just looks like they're on fire. They're excited to play. They're playing with some urgency. They want to win over and over and
LeBron's Milestones and Aspirations
00:03:58
Speaker
over again.
00:03:58
Speaker
And with a second seed, having a home court advantage in a playoff situation would be monumental, especially since the Denver Nuggets have been... beating the Lakers in the playoffs in the last two years. So I'm excited to see how this goes this year around with the Lakers being the 2C right now and Denver being the 3C.
00:04:18
Speaker
Only one game away in between the two, but I don't think the Denver Nuggets have been playing like they have been playing in the past. And those of you who follow me here know I don't like Mike Malone at all. So any Denver loss really warms my heart.
00:04:31
Speaker
Last night while playing the Pelicans, and LeBron hit his 50,000th point. He was only one point away going into it. Knocked that three down immediately so the milestone was done and he could move on.
00:04:44
Speaker
Now in these last two seasons, LeBron has passed a lot of milestones. It seems like every game he's beating Kareem and first father-son duo, 50K point, oldest person to hit ah ah have a 40 point. All these things that are happening for LeBron.
00:04:58
Speaker
And I think he's taking them really in stride. He's in grind mode. At the beginning of the season when Bronny got drafted, I told y'all that LeBron will be playing some of the most inspired basketball that we've seen in a long time.
00:05:10
Speaker
That's a direct quote. Because I knew that if LeBron could give his son the gift of an NBA championship, he would. What dad wouldn't want to do that? I know if my dad was in the and NBA, he'd be out there hooping so I could get my first ring with him too.
00:05:24
Speaker
Of course, the internet is going to drag Bronny's first ring if that's
Luka Doncic's Adjustments and Performance Critiques
00:05:28
Speaker
his first ring. And, oh, it was given to you by your dad. But I don't care about that. I think that's beautiful. I think it's amazing that LeBron is playing with his son at this point.
00:05:38
Speaker
And I think it's even more amazing that LeBron gets to reinvent himself and look youthful out there because he has the help of Luka Doncic. He calls him baby magic because Luka's passing has been blowing my mind just watching him. The timing that he plays with, all the different movements that he makes in a game makes him almost unguardable because he's very athletic, but he plays with this slow pace where he's taking his time and You don't really know when he's going to shoot or pass the ball because he's kind of doing his thing. He's looking around. He's scanning. And then he'll a last minute, boom, pass all the way across the court. And it's just it's just a beautiful thing to watch.
00:06:18
Speaker
Lakeshow basketball. i haven't even looked at the tickets to get in Crypto.com Arena because I know they are off the charts. But the games, just watching them, have been amazing. I don't think we will see anyone in our lifetime pass LeBron James at 50,000 career points, period.
00:06:33
Speaker
He came out of high school and had such great success that he didn't miss a beat. He was immediately a scoring machine. And now with people going to college and different things here, I just, I don't think that anyone could catch up to him. And if ah they did catch up to him, it would be like a phenom. And we haven't seen that in the league yet.
00:06:54
Speaker
Let's talk about the February 25th game when Luka played the Mavericks. It was his first time back playing his former team. And what does he do? He gets a triple-double.
00:07:05
Speaker
The crazy thing about that game is he wasn't really shooting really that well in the game in general and still got a triple-double. That's the magic of Luka. Even on his his bad days where the shots aren't falling, he's still creating offensive ah plays. He's been playing a lot better defense. A lot of people on the internet are talking bad about how he plays defense, his hit intensity with defense.
00:07:28
Speaker
Okay, cool. It doesn't matter, to be quite honest, because of his offensive plays. We have Jared Vanderbilt. We have all these other people who are working on the defensive side. Not that he gets an excuse to play defense because that is not going to fly in a final series and other teams can exploit that. But he's doing his offensive thing. If you're having a terrible shooting game and you still get a triple-double, come on. Let's be let's be real here.
00:07:52
Speaker
I'm glad that the Dallas Mavericks fans aren't so upset with Lakers. Honestly, they're mostly mad at the Mavericks organization. They welcomed Luka. A lot of them flew out to l LA to just watch the game and and support Luka. A lot of them are Luka fans because they've been watching him for so long.
00:08:09
Speaker
So I'm excited for that rivalry to continue, but I'm also excited to see Luka play some West Coast legends like the Suns, the Golden State Warriors.
00:08:21
Speaker
Excited to see him play against Denver. You know, he had those different pieces in Dallas, and then he had Kyrie, of course, so that was a little bit different with with having a smaller point guard, and the Lakers are a larger team, so I'm just excited to see how he plays these matchups, how he shows up in these moments.
00:08:38
Speaker
The first three or four games were a little bit slow, but he is on fire now. I would not bet the under on Luka.
Lakers' Defensive Strengths and Role Players
00:08:45
Speaker
Take it from me. I've learned from experience.
00:08:48
Speaker
Let's fast forward to Luka's birthday on February 28th when the Lakers played the Clippers. He scored 31 points and ate birthday cake in the locker room. The Dallas Mavericks wouldn't even let him have a beer. I guarantee they wouldn't give him a cake, but the Lakers definitely showed him some love on his birthday.
00:09:07
Speaker
Let's talk about why the Lakers are being successful midseason. It's not just because of the Luka trade. It's not just because of LeBron playing immeasurably well. It's also because the Lakers have really stepped up their defense. They are the number one defensive rated team right now in the NBA.
00:09:26
Speaker
And again, I credit that to JJ Redick. The guys are ready. They have schemes. He's calling effective timeouts. He's making sure that the transition defense is rock solid. With LeBron passing the Luka cross court over and over again, teams better stay ready. You better leave a man back because if you don't,
00:09:46
Speaker
And Luka or LeBron gets the rebound. They are football passing it to each other from end to end. And that could even be a Jackson Hayes. He's been cleaning up those dunks nicely as well. So defense wins championships.
00:09:59
Speaker
Wonderful. We got the defense and we got the offense. I'm really, really, really excited to see the Lakers keep their foot on the gas and take us to the finals this year with these performances that they've been having.
00:10:13
Speaker
Let's talk about our two-way players in the bench. Jemison has really stepped up to be a backup big man. He's playing a lot of defense. He's playing a lot of offense, setting good good screens, just keeping a nice pace. It's always good to have a big body on the floor there, so he's contributing to the game as well.
00:10:32
Speaker
Goodwin... He been hitting some timely threes too. Turns out the guy can shoot. So all of these role players that are kind of just stumbled into our orbit or were strategically put there because we weren't getting a big man and we needed to kind of fill a gap. They're actually contributing to the game and the Lakers success.
00:10:52
Speaker
Austin Reeves is injured, but we'll be back soon. But he has been a force to be reckoned with as well. I'm not going lie. I was a little worried when Max Christie left because we had been waiting for Max to blossom. It was finally his time. Darvin Ham wasted up all of his time. He could have been in Darvin's rotations as well, but he wasn't because we had Pat Beverly and all these other crazy people.
00:11:12
Speaker
But Austin Reeves, AR-15, he's playing good. Offense, defense, ball handling, he's making the same kind of plays. This could very well be our championship team, y'all.
00:11:23
Speaker
It looks different a lot of different ways because the Lakers have won with AD and LeBron. But Luka and LeBron and AR-15?
Championship Contention and Rival Focus
00:11:31
Speaker
That might be a mix that could win it as well.
00:11:35
Speaker
In the West, they are going to have to be OKC, who is a younger and faster team who plays at a fast pace. If we can get consistently get past Golden State, OKC and Denver,
00:11:47
Speaker
We're good. We're good. I think we can beat the Celtics in a five, maybe six game series. We are in the best possible spot for the playoffs.
00:11:59
Speaker
In the last couple of years, it's been like, oh my God, are we going to make the playoffs? Okay, the Lakers can't miss the playoffs. So we play in. Now we a play in team. And then you get through the play in, you get to round one, you get to doing all these things. And the team is tired, beat up, injured, all these things.
00:12:15
Speaker
When you start off at the number two seed, you do have to still perform, but you're not fighting your way out of the bottom of the barrel in order to get a piece of a playoff picture.
00:12:26
Speaker
And this year, I feel most confident, most calm, and I'm actually enjoying watching the games. I'm not so stressed. I'm not like, oh my God, Lakers, please win because we need to...
00:12:37
Speaker
They are playing well. They are closing games. They are starting off quick. The addition of Luka Doncic, that was the missing piece. That was the missing piece. We just needed a smaller, faster, more lean team and...
00:12:51
Speaker
That's it. And for all of these reasons, y'all, the Lakers are contenders for a 2025 NBA championship. I'm going say that one more time for the people way in the back.
00:13:02
Speaker
The Lakers are 2025 contenders for the NBA championship. The East will sort itself out. I don't know if it's going to be the Celtics or the Cavaliers. That's not for us to decide.
00:13:13
Speaker
Whoever dukes it out there and gets spit out to the NBA finals, we will worry about them then. But right now, Golden State, OKC, and Denver are our main opponents that we need to make sure we keep down and beat every single time. And I think, personally, we can beat them all in the series.
Conclusion and Upcoming Coverage
00:13:34
Speaker
Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Post Up. Y'all, I appreciate every like, view, subscribe, share, podcast feature, newsletter. Everything y'all been doing is making me feel the love on the internet.
00:13:48
Speaker
For March Madness, I will be hanging out at the Infinity TV studios every single Sunday talking about women's basketball. I'm excited for that too. I haven't really been tapped in with that. So ah just I'm just looking forward to getting caught up on the tournament.
00:14:03
Speaker
Filling out that bracket. We might do a little wager. I don't know. Y'all know where Infantity TV is. So make sure you tap in there. And I'll put the link in the description and everything. So you can follow me around the internet.
00:14:15
Speaker
If this was your first time listening. Make sure you like, share, subscribe. All the things. My name is DJ Treacy Trece. And I'll always be right here. Running my mouth about sports. On the post up.