NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS VS. NUGGETS

September 25, 2020

Frank Vogel

Los Angeles Lakers

Practice Day

Q. After Game 3, you had pointed to a couple of things that stood out that were obvious like the turnovers that led to Denver scoring and the rebounding. When you look back at Game 4 last night, in a win is it as easy to pull some things out for adjustments heading into Game 5?

FRANK VOGEL: Of course. It's best when you can teach and improve after wins. Those are best-case scenarios. We had a great film session this morning on things we can do better on the defensive end in particular. A lot of areas we can still improve and have to improve if we expect to win the series.

Q. LeBron mentioned some of the turnovers he felt that were on him in the first three games, he had three and then six and six, but he had no turnovers in Game 4. Did you notice anything about whether it was decision making or whether it was just the way that he played that helped to change that around for you and for him?

FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, I think our whole group tried to make the simple play more rather than trying to thread the needle and were a little less careless in some situations which led to some turnovers in the first couple games.

Q. You guys are 2-0 in close-out opportunities so far this postseason. Have you seen anything about a demeanor change from your group or anything like that in those games? Is there any subtle shift, anything you've noticed so far?

FRANK VOGEL: Well, it's all subtle. Our group's demeanor in all of these playoff games has been to treat every one like a must-win. I would say that same mindset has applied to the close-out games we had against Houston and Portland, and we know those are always the most difficult wins to get in a series, and we expect this to be no different.

Q. Obviously AD had that moment where he looked like he rolled his ankle and LeBron also looked like maybe after a couple lay-up attempts he was grabbing at his leg. Looks like he has some kind of wrap around his leg today. How are those two guys doing and what are the steps to get them to be able to play tomorrow?

FRANK VOGEL: Well, they'll continue to get their treatment. Both are experiencing some soreness but are good to go.

Q. With LeBron, is there a specific area that's sore or is it just --

FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, I think he got kneed in the thigh, so just some soreness.

Q. Between LeBron and AD yesterday, 28 free throws from both those players. Is it as simple as just saying that, oh, they were more aggressive last night or are there other things you look into, and when they do take that many free throws, what are some of the benefits that come with it?

FRANK VOGEL: Well, obviously the free throw is the most efficient play in a game. We want our guys being aggressive going to the basket, and I was just proud of their aggressiveness in that game.

Q. Specifically in regards to Dwight, what goes into sort of the mental balance of navigating being really aggressive out there and at the same time trying not to get too many fouls? How do you suggest walking that tightrope?

FRANK VOGEL: You know, it's one of those things that we've managed all year. I don't want to pull him back too much because his aggressiveness and physicality really sets a tone for us that I like, but obviously we as a culture are trying to be intelligent analytically, we don't want to foul. We don't want to put guys to the free throw line. The phrase "physicality without fouling" is something that we preach with Dwight and with our whole group.

Q. There's been a lot of talk today about fouls over the course of this series. Like they're actually even for both teams, but you mentioned going through the proper channels after Game 3, Mike Malone mentioned that after last night. I was just wondering if you could elaborate even just outside of the series from your experience in the NBA what does "going through proper channels" mean for people on the outside?

FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, it's very simple. We didn't file any complaint or anything like that. There's a thing called the officiating portal that you're allowed to submit calls that you think were wrong calls from the game before. We do that every game all year long, as does every team, and this series has been no different. I think it's a false narrative in terms of what you're referring to with all the talk about the fouls.

Q. I think that lineup you had with JaVale in the second quarter was a completely new lineup; they had not played together in a game yet. What gives you faith to play groups like that in very high-stakes games? And then two, is there some importance to make sure a guy like JaVale who was a critical piece of your regular season is able to see the floor and is able to be a part of this?

FRANK VOGEL: Oh, that's definitely important, and this is a flip-flop of roles. It's not one guy coming out of the rotation or anything like that. This is just -- those guys have done a great job all year of partnering up to man the center position when we need bigs out there. You know, the plan going into the season would be some would start -- Dwight would start some games and JaVale would start some games, and it would be based on matchups. When we got off to such a strong start we stayed with the rotation we had with Dwight coming off the bench full time and JaVale starting full time, but this is a matchup where it favors us to flip-flop the roles and to have Dwight starting and JaVale coming in in those minutes with the matchups with their bench. Both lineups actually favor this type of rotation. You know, it's just something that both of those guys are still every bit as important as before we flip-flopped it.