Speaker 1: The volume.
Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, welcome in some thoughts on the Lakers, Grizzlies,
Speaker 2: Nick's Calves, Warriors, Kings. Marcus Thompson, who covers the Warriors
Speaker 2: written books on Steph and k D, will be joining
Speaker 2: us in roughly twelve minutes. So my first takeaway on
Speaker 2: the Grizzlies is generally speaking, if a two seed the
Speaker 2: Grizzlies faces a seven seed the Lakers, and the series
Speaker 2: starts in the two seeds home as it should, right,
Speaker 2: you would take the two seed to win the series.
Speaker 2: But I took the Lakers to win this series because
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of fool's gold with Memphis.
Speaker 2: And I like John Morant, but I consider him to
Speaker 2: be much like Derreck Rose. And I've said this for years.
Speaker 2: I don't think those kind of players can lead you
Speaker 2: to champions. This is overwhelmingly once the playoffs start, a wing,
Speaker 2: Big League refs swallow their whistles and the physical teams win.
Speaker 2: I mean, how effective was Anthony Davis today? How effective
Speaker 2: the Knicks rebounding over the Calves?
Speaker 1: You see?
Speaker 2: How effective a Robert Williams, a marginally talented player but
Speaker 2: great defensively, how he can disrupt Atlanta's offense, wings and bigs.
Speaker 2: You say, well, what about Steph Curry. The best two
Speaker 2: Warriors teams had Kevin Durant on them, and Steph Curry
Speaker 2: realized that. And so John Morant, like Derek Rose, is
Speaker 2: spectacular and dynamic, not an elite defender or rebounder. He's
Speaker 2: not going to be a rim protector, and he's still
Speaker 2: not a great shooter. He's just explosive like Derreck Rose was.
Speaker 2: And so I like the Lakers in this series, and
Speaker 2: I don't want to hear that the injury to Jahn
Speaker 2: Morant was the difference. The Lakers had their best third quarter,
Speaker 2: perhaps the best quarter they've played against a good team
Speaker 2: on the road all season. They scored sixty nine points
Speaker 2: in the second half, and John Morant played ninety percent
Speaker 2: of it. He couldn't stop Ruey Reeves ad or Lebron.
Speaker 2: So I don't want to hear that's the difference. The
Speaker 2: Lakers had their best quarter Jahn Morant was on the floor.
Speaker 2: He'll return in the series. We're not sure about Game two.
Speaker 2: John Morant has said his availability could be in peril
Speaker 2: for Game two. I can like Steve Nash as a player,
Speaker 2: but those Phoenix teams got pushed around in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: I can like Derek Rose, I can like John Morant,
Speaker 2: it's different. And so I thought the Lakers' physicality would
Speaker 2: be the difference in this series with Clark and Steven
Speaker 2: Adams out, and it was. They mostly controlled the interior,
Speaker 2: big rebounding advantage. Eleven blocks for the Lakers and two
Speaker 2: for Memphis. And that's the series. So you're not going
Speaker 2: to get another game like that from Rui and Reeves
Speaker 2: was red hot. But I don't want to hear any
Speaker 2: excuses here. There's a reason that most people, most people,
Speaker 2: not just me, took the Lakers in this series is
Speaker 2: that Memphis was virtually unbeatable at home. Now everybody's equally rested.
Speaker 2: Rim protection defense means more in the playoffs. You see
Speaker 2: who the better team is. Jahn Morant can't play in
Speaker 2: game two of the series. I think Memphis will be
Speaker 2: very competitive because I don't think Ruy and Reeves will
Speaker 2: probably play that well. But I've thought there's a lot
Speaker 2: of fools gold here on Memphis. I've said the same
Speaker 2: with Denver is like I like Denver, but efficiency, which
Speaker 2: is Jokich's game, you got to give me more than that.
Speaker 2: I'm going to need some thirty five point games. I
Speaker 2: don't trust some of the guys on that Denver team
Speaker 2: who have never delivered in the postseason. You know, if
Speaker 2: you're a Laker fan, Lebron had twenty one points, a
Speaker 2: couple of big shots big three, but he had costly turnovers.
Speaker 2: I didn't think Lebron played great. I didn't think the
Speaker 2: Lakers played that effectively in the first half. They couldn't shoot,
Speaker 2: So you got to feel good if you're the Lakers.
Speaker 2: They completely utterly controlled the second half, out scoring Memphis
Speaker 2: sixty nine to forty seven, eleven blocks to two for
Speaker 2: the Lakers. They were the better basketball team. Doesn't mean
Speaker 2: they were in the regular season. But we've said this before.
Speaker 2: Postseason refs swallow whistles. They're gonna let you bang around more.
Speaker 2: And the dynamic, wildly vertical show stopping point guards Westbrook Walls,
Speaker 2: Derrick Rose, John Morants, Steve Nash wasn't highly vertical, but
Speaker 2: you know, two time MVP wildly effective. They don't have
Speaker 2: the impact in the postseason. So you know, you're a
Speaker 2: Laker fan, you have to feel good. Remember the Lakers
Speaker 2: are two different teams. There's the pre trade deadline deal
Speaker 2: with Westbrook, and there's this team, and this team has
Speaker 2: more shooters, has more wings, is younger, more athletic. So
Speaker 2: you have to look at the Lakers. It's like in
Speaker 2: the NFL, where sometimes you have a team the Patriot
Speaker 2: the great ones were usually Thanksgiving on was a different
Speaker 2: Patriot team than September October. This is a different Laker
Speaker 2: team right now now. I think if this series goes
Speaker 2: six or seven, maybe Jaws out for a couple of games,
Speaker 2: and it's a quick series that benefits the Lakers greatly. Lebron,
Speaker 2: you know you'd like to play him thirty two minutes,
Speaker 2: You probably have to play him thirty six minutes in
Speaker 2: the postseason, although Reeves certainly can control the offense when
Speaker 2: he's out.
Speaker 1: But the quicker this series.
Speaker 2: Goes, this is not a young team, the better it
Speaker 2: is for the Lakers in the next round. All Right,
Speaker 2: some thoughts on a series that I thought Cleveland had
Speaker 2: too many shot makers for the New York Knicks. And
Speaker 2: I also thought Julius Randall could miss the first two
Speaker 2: games of the series. That's what was reported about two
Speaker 2: weeks ago. Julius Randall played so one of the things
Speaker 2: that jumped out is not Jalen Brunson's play. He's been
Speaker 2: terrific all year. Okay, Jalen Brunson is a really, really
Speaker 2: good player. You know, your classic Villanova's second round in
Speaker 2: big national championship level games. Can defend a little though.
Speaker 2: He's small, but he's a great leader. He's just your
Speaker 2: classic point guard that can score, can distribute, excellent leadership skills,
Speaker 2: sets his guys up. And that didn't surprise me. What
Speaker 2: does Because I don't necessarily think losing Game one's the
Speaker 2: end of the series. It's not for the Warriors, but
Speaker 2: I do think there was something that was really noticeable.
Speaker 2: The New York Knicks were the second best rebounding team
Speaker 2: in the league during the regular season. I think they
Speaker 2: were tied for second best rebounding team. Cleveland was middle
Speaker 2: of the pack. How many times when Cleveland was inching
Speaker 2: back in that game did the Knicks get a second, third,
Speaker 2: and occasionally fourth look.
Speaker 1: At the basket?
Speaker 2: New York I felt like got every big rebound in
Speaker 2: the second half. And that's a problem. Evan Mobley's excellent,
Speaker 2: he's still young, he's still ascending. But if New York
Speaker 2: that's Tom Thibodeau's classic team play defense, slow it down
Speaker 2: a little bit, crash the boards, get some freebies underneath,
Speaker 2: limit the Calves to one shot. So I still like
Speaker 2: Cleveland in the series. But if that is a pattern,
Speaker 2: and remember the best coaches are in the playoffs, they
Speaker 2: make adjustments, right, They're gonna make adjustments in Cleveland. But
Speaker 2: you can rebound your way to a series win if
Speaker 2: you limit their second shots and you get yours second
Speaker 2: and third shots frequently. So you know, Jalen Brunson's been
Speaker 2: good all year. The Knicks have some interesting depth. You know,
Speaker 2: they can melt. Any Nick fan will tell you they're
Speaker 2: a team that can lose leads and melt. But I
Speaker 2: thought that rebounding edge in the second half it was noticeable.
Speaker 2: It was stark. They were controlling the glass every time
Speaker 2: they needed a rebound. So we have a real series
Speaker 2: between the Knicks and the Calves. That's fun. Thoughts on
Speaker 2: the Warriors. I had predicted last week on Fox Sports
Speaker 2: one and Premiere Radio that I thought Sacramento would win
Speaker 2: Game one and I would take the better coach, Yes,
Speaker 2: Steve Kerr four titles, the better coach, the better roster, Yes.
Speaker 2: Now that Wiggins and Gary paytnerback. It's the better, deeper
Speaker 2: roster and the more experienced Warriors to win in six.
Speaker 2: I thought it was going to be a hornet's nest
Speaker 2: in Game one. But something that really jumped out to
Speaker 2: me is that everybody likes to brag how much basketball
Speaker 2: you know on the internet. If you think Jordan Pool's
Speaker 2: a great player, just you don't know basketball when you
Speaker 2: watch him on the floor. He is so bad defensively
Speaker 2: in the second half, I thought he cost him the game.
Speaker 2: And I think on a pretty regular basis, Steve Kerr
Speaker 2: and Draymond Green call him out. And you know, Draymond
Speaker 2: Green on the volume on his podcast, you can't give
Speaker 2: Malik Monk thirty plus points. It's okay. Daron Fox is
Speaker 2: going to get his. Steph Curry's going to get his right,
Speaker 2: Jimmy Butler's going to get his in the playoffs, Donovan
Speaker 2: Mitchell's going to get his. Anthony Davis is going to
Speaker 2: get his. You can't let role players have huge, huge
Speaker 2: game games. And so I think Jordan Poole, and I've
Speaker 2: said this multiple times, it's a problem. I think they
Speaker 2: want to move him. Somebody will overpay for him, somebody
Speaker 2: will lock him into a deal. But that series came
Speaker 2: down to Jordan Pool on the floor late in the
Speaker 2: game and just surrendering too many easy buckets and momentum
Speaker 2: for the Kings. Listen, Sacramento is certainly capable of winning
Speaker 2: this series. It's going to be really hard for Golden
Speaker 2: State to win on the road. But I think everybody
Speaker 2: noticed with Wiggins now available, that gives them two wings.
Speaker 2: Wiggins and Cominga. They've only really had Cominga for a
Speaker 2: while now. Dante DiVincenzo, Gary Peyton, I'll always banged up.
Speaker 2: They got plenty of depth. Now they're fine. It's a
Speaker 2: really nice eight man rotation if Peyton is okay, he
Speaker 2: got banged up. But one of the only things that
Speaker 2: really surprised me in that game is that Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 2: was that effective. Obviously he missed, you know, most past
Speaker 2: the trade deadline. I thought he was really effective. But again,
Speaker 2: he's a super high IQ player that's been around. That's
Speaker 2: why he fits so easily is that, you know, Golden
Speaker 2: State asks a lot of its players on both ends
Speaker 2: of the floor to catch and react offense. It's you
Speaker 2: know they're going to make switches on defense. You have
Speaker 2: got to be paying attention. Jordan Poole doesn't, Andrew Wiggins does,
Speaker 2: and that's why he was so effective. I think the
Speaker 2: Warriors are going to be fine, but I had said
Speaker 2: last week the words I used, it's going to be
Speaker 2: a feisty series. If you can give Wiggins and Gary
Speaker 2: Payton real minutes, I think the Warriors are win their
Speaker 2: experience and their roster. I think what they're going to
Speaker 2: do in the next game in the series is they're
Speaker 2: going to be much more physical. Just too many easy
Speaker 2: buckets for the Kings. So I think the Warriors are
Speaker 2: going to be physical, and I think officials will play
Speaker 2: a part in this series. The dynasty gets the whistle,
Speaker 2: But overall, I thought it was a great weekend. And
Speaker 2: let's talk more on the Warriors. Bringing Marcus Thompson from
Speaker 2: The Athletic who has covered this team multiple years, part
Speaker 2: of this dynasty for many years. The NBA Playoffs are
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Speaker 2: we bring in the great Marcus Thompson. We use him
Speaker 2: as often as we can. He's a busy guy. We'll
Speaker 2: get to the Warriors in a couple of minutes. I
Speaker 2: got to tell you the end of the Sun's game
Speaker 2: was fascinating to me. First of all, Kevin Durant and
Speaker 2: I hadn't lost a regular season game since November. He's
Speaker 2: now lost seven straight playoff games. He disappeared for the
Speaker 2: last four minutes, which I don't know if it put
Speaker 2: it on KD. Maybe I should Monty Williams, Chris Paul,
Speaker 2: Devin Booker, can we get him the ball? That was shocking.
Speaker 2: So let's start with that. Who do I put the
Speaker 2: blame on for Kevin Durant not getting more looks in
Speaker 2: the last four minutes?
Speaker 1: You know he put the blame on. I got the
Speaker 1: answer for you. His name is Russell Westbrook. That's how
Speaker 1: you put the blame on. That's the one who came
Speaker 1: in and says, you know what, I'm going to take
Speaker 1: over this game all the shade. Russell Westbrook hasn't do
Speaker 1: it all these years. I mean that might that was
Speaker 1: the greatest three for nineteen playoff performance of all time.
Speaker 1: We think about you went three for nineteen and he
Speaker 1: completely dominated the game. He had he played great on
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant, turned him into a passer like facilitator. He
Speaker 1: had Russell Westbrook like, I mean, he had Devin Booker bothered,
Speaker 1: and that play at the end with the block and
Speaker 1: then throwing it off Booker and like showing the world
Speaker 1: is heard. I mean, Russell Westbrook is the blame for
Speaker 1: all of it. They had no answer for us. Can
Speaker 1: you believe it? Well?
Speaker 2: And Devin Booker's interesting because you trailed by three with
Speaker 2: seventeen seconds left a lamp? Does you no good? Shoot
Speaker 2: the three?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: And the second thing, you know, situationally, that was bizarre.
Speaker 2: And Booker complains a lot to the refs, So it's like, dude,
Speaker 2: you get your shot blocked, don't complain to the ref
Speaker 2: Finish the play like that. That is a moment that
Speaker 2: a star can't allow to happen, Like you can't be
Speaker 2: in dialogue with an official as a play late in
Speaker 2: the game is going on like, that's on book And
Speaker 2: I like him, but that that was situationally really bad
Speaker 2: basketball to That was my takeaway. And Russ deserves great credit.
Speaker 2: That was an untremendous play, But that's bad situational basketball
Speaker 2: by Phoenix, isn't it.
Speaker 1: Oh? Yeah, no question. I mean they they made some
Speaker 1: questionable decisions down the stretch. And that's I mean, that's
Speaker 1: Bookers in mo right, I mean, that's that's what the
Speaker 1: modern player does. They they stop playing to complain, right,
Speaker 1: They stopped playing to argue with the rest. We see
Speaker 1: Luca do it, we see all of them do it.
Speaker 1: But there's something about playoff basketball. You just got to
Speaker 1: play through that. You have to play through that. And
Speaker 1: the bottom line is, like you said, this is solved
Speaker 1: by getting Kevin Derrett the ball, Like that's that's that's
Speaker 1: the answer. And so if you're going to say, all right,
Speaker 1: I got this, I'm gonna take over. I got Westbrook
Speaker 1: Brunner one, I'm taking him, and it don't work out,
Speaker 1: you need to get back in place. He played great
Speaker 1: d That's the crazy part. Booker played great d. He
Speaker 1: was he was the incredible in defense. But at the
Speaker 1: end of games when it didn't go his way, it
Speaker 1: just wasn't. It was a great play by Westbrook, not
Speaker 1: a great play by Devin Booker. And I feel like
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook deserves that.
Speaker 2: Let's pivot now to the Warriors, because we're gonna get
Speaker 2: twelve to fifteen minutes with you on the Warriors. I
Speaker 2: came out last week and I thought Sacramento would win
Speaker 2: the opener. I'll take the Warriors in six. My question
Speaker 2: was how much do you get out of Andrew Wiggins.
Speaker 2: Were you surprised how effective Andrew Wiggins was having not
Speaker 2: played for three months?
Speaker 1: I was, I mean, he's such a freak athlete that like,
Speaker 1: how do you do that? He's bouncing around, he had
Speaker 1: three blocks, he's playing defense, he's rebounding, he's getting to
Speaker 1: his spots, and it looks like normal. It is even
Speaker 1: if you know, like this dude is a unique athlete,
Speaker 1: Like really he is special in a very like created
Speaker 1: in a lab kind of way. Right, he could run
Speaker 1: all day before this year, he never missed games, Like
Speaker 1: he's just a guy who could just play all day.
Speaker 1: And he looked like that. It did catch up with him, right,
Speaker 1: he was winded. I think it was one for a
Speaker 1: from three. He missed the three that would have won
Speaker 1: the game, basically wide open from the corner. So you
Speaker 1: could see like the effects of it. But man, let
Speaker 1: me let me tell you Kyler. After the game, in
Speaker 1: a loss, you could feel that they're like, oh, we
Speaker 1: got wiggants back. Oh oh okay, Like even after a loss,
Speaker 1: they were like, oh we got we got wiggts back.
Speaker 1: And that was kind of the sentiment like we're jet,
Speaker 1: we're fine, our whole squad is here, and Wiggins looks
Speaker 1: like that already, Okay, we're pretty good. That's one of
Speaker 1: the words to never get down. They very rarely get down.
Speaker 1: That's still one of the higher moments I felt in
Speaker 1: that locker room after a loss, where they felt like
Speaker 1: rooting confidence.
Speaker 2: Well, now with Kaminga and Wiggins, Peyton will get to
Speaker 2: him in a second and Dante DiVincenzo, they they do
Speaker 2: have a seven to an eight man rotation here of
Speaker 2: you know veteran players. You know a player the Warriors
Speaker 2: don't have to mention Jordan Poole by name, but it's
Speaker 2: pretty obvious Kerr and Draymond take turns, you know, firing
Speaker 2: shots at him defensively. Marcus, he's it's a problem, Like
Speaker 2: he's not engaged. I thought he had three or four
Speaker 2: lapses defensively, and I honestly thought it cost them the game.
Speaker 2: Are his minutes? I mean last year in the playoffs, Marcus,
Speaker 2: the longer they went, the fewer minutes he played like
Speaker 2: there was there. Do you think there's real concern about
Speaker 2: what he gives up on the defensive end. He's just
Speaker 2: not engaged a lot. I don't know if it matters
Speaker 2: if he's engaged or not. He's just not very good
Speaker 2: at it, so it doesn't matter at this level.
Speaker 1: Right, Like you could be as intuite as you wanted.
Speaker 1: He made a few good plays, but in the end,
Speaker 1: he's not guard Deer in Fox, so what he's not
Speaker 1: guarding Malik Monk. So the thing that is important for
Speaker 1: him is to be able to go back at you,
Speaker 1: Like they need somebody to go back at it. They
Speaker 1: don't have a guy outside of Steph Curry who can
Speaker 1: catch the ball at the three point line and end
Speaker 1: up at the rim. He's the only other guy who
Speaker 1: can do it. He's the only other guy who can
Speaker 1: dribble well enough and create, so they need him for that.
Speaker 1: But he also gives up stuff on defense, and that's
Speaker 1: kind of to catch twenty two with Jordan Poole. If
Speaker 1: he's rolling and his shot is falling, all right, you
Speaker 1: bro with him. Like there was a stretch where they
Speaker 1: couldn't score and it was him and Milik Munk going
Speaker 1: at each other and it was like, what the heck
Speaker 1: is this is this Michigan verus Kentucky? Like I know,
Speaker 1: but crunch time. You just get the sense in this series,
Speaker 1: against the most efficient offense, the team that could explode
Speaker 1: like this, he probably won't be playing down the stretch,
Speaker 1: not that much. He didn't play that much this game
Speaker 1: like he just wasn't there. And Steve Kerr is gonna
Speaker 1: lead defense, He's going to lean defense. Every time they
Speaker 1: scored one hundred and twenty three points, they should win
Speaker 1: that game. They gave up one twenty six. That was
Speaker 1: the problem.
Speaker 2: What are they going to get now from Peyton who
Speaker 2: left the game some sort of core injury. What's the
Speaker 2: latest on him?
Speaker 1: He seemed to be fine. He said he felt good,
Speaker 1: he came back in. He just you know, Peyton is
Speaker 1: one of them, dudess. He's like a football player in
Speaker 1: that sense, like a running back, Like he's all his
Speaker 1: whole body's on the line. He's running, he's jumping, he's falling,
Speaker 1: he's playing big right, and you just feel like he's
Speaker 1: got a few years of this, so you need to
Speaker 1: get him because there's always something with him, right. He's
Speaker 1: just he's so physical with the way he plays. He's
Speaker 1: a revelatory. He changes everything to them. He gives him something.
Speaker 1: I feel like he might get a lot of Pool mints.
Speaker 1: If it's not Wiggins, it'll be Gary Payton.
Speaker 2: I honest think that Peyton's a better fit. I think
Speaker 2: when I watch Pool on the floor with the Warriors,
Speaker 2: I can. I feel like Draymond's body language isn't great
Speaker 2: sometimes Kurr isn't. I feel like they hold their breath
Speaker 2: a little with Jordan Poole. They don't trust him. They
Speaker 2: know he's gifted, but they don't trust him. I think
Speaker 2: they trust Peyton though he's limited.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the problem with Jordan is he's just very young,
Speaker 1: and the mistakes and the stuff he's got to learn,
Speaker 1: there's literally no other way around it. Like he gets
Speaker 1: the ball at the end of the quarter in the
Speaker 1: game and Steph is on a court and it's Jordan
Speaker 1: Poole and he goes one on one with Fox and
Speaker 1: he turns it over and it's like, you got to
Speaker 1: get a ball to Stephan in that situation, right, But
Speaker 1: in the same vein, he's taking that play and he's
Speaker 1: gotten a bucket out of it. He just does so
Speaker 1: many things that nobody else on the team can do.
Speaker 1: So they gotta live with it. And you know what,
Speaker 1: here's the reality. They created that monster, right, They taught
Speaker 1: him out to play. So if he's taking bad shots,
Speaker 1: he watched him take bad shots. He learned from them, right.
Speaker 1: He his swagger, his confidence, they reeded it. So this
Speaker 1: is just part of it. Like it reminds me of like,
Speaker 1: you know, you're messing with a teenager, right, like you're
Speaker 1: raising a teenager. Like there's just parts of raising a
Speaker 1: teenager that are tough. You got a young dude with
Speaker 1: that much talent, that much confidence, that much arrogance, that
Speaker 1: much belief in himself and also that many flaws. You
Speaker 1: just gotta live with it because they can't without him.
Speaker 1: But also it's some things on the court that frustrates you.
Speaker 1: And they're all thirty plus years old, they've got four championships.
Speaker 1: They're veterans, right, you know, they make mistakes too, so
Speaker 1: they just have to live with it. I feel like
Speaker 1: they just have to live with it no matter what,
Speaker 1: because bottom line, if Gary Payton's out there, that's one
Speaker 1: less score, and if Clay's not making his shots like
Speaker 1: he wasn't, especially down the stretch. Now it's just all
Speaker 1: on Steph. They running a boxing one on Steph. Who
Speaker 1: creates offense at that point now is like, yo, you
Speaker 1: kind of need your pool in the game, so figure
Speaker 1: out what to do on defense. But that dude could
Speaker 1: go get a bucket.
Speaker 2: So Draymond does podcast right after the games. He did
Speaker 2: last year. You know, it's I see people take shots
Speaker 2: head him. It's not like he divulges game plans. How
Speaker 2: does it sit though with the team? I mean, Draymond
Speaker 2: gives you insight that literally nobody in basketball gives you
Speaker 2: he's off the floor for the dynasty. Does it sit
Speaker 2: uncomfortably with a team? How do they feel about it?
Speaker 1: I don't think so. Number, if there's one thing the
Speaker 1: I mean, first off, the only people who could possibly
Speaker 1: say something are like the Ogs, right, Steph Curry, Clay Thompson,
Speaker 1: Andre right, but anybody else, it probably doesn't matter what
Speaker 1: they say. Is there any team more brand conscious in
Speaker 1: the Warriors?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Is there anything that spends as much time building like
Speaker 1: who they are? I mean, Clay's riding boats to games, right, Like,
Speaker 1: he's got his whole shtick. Steph you know, has his thing,
Speaker 1: Like even andre Igodala is the super smart tech guy,
Speaker 1: right Like they look at Draymond as that's Draymond's thing.
Speaker 1: As long as he's playing, well, it's fine. I haven't
Speaker 1: heard anything negative about it, right, Like, you know, Draymond
Speaker 1: is a guy who will do some things that irritates people.
Speaker 1: The podcast ain't one of them. From what I can hear.
Speaker 1: It's just Draymond. Plus I don't know how much of
Speaker 1: this is Like, Yo, this is Draymond. We've known this
Speaker 1: dude for ten years now. Like why we get mad
Speaker 1: about the sky being blue? Like Draymond likes to talk.
Speaker 1: He's gonna talk. He's pretty smart, so he knows what
Speaker 1: he's doing. It's gonna be calculated. Why Like, why worry
Speaker 1: about it? I think the fans don't like it more
Speaker 1: than the players don't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you nailed it. I think he's very
Speaker 2: measured and calculated. He knows exactly what he's saying.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 2: I find the access fascinating.
Speaker 1: But there's like an other element too to it. I
Speaker 1: think that people should probably know, Like like he's essentially
Speaker 1: putting his team on notice, right, Like if he's out
Speaker 1: there talking, they they kind of gotta go back him up, right,
Speaker 1: And the only reason you would complain about him doing
Speaker 1: that is if you are afraid you can't back it up.
Speaker 1: And that's just not worries basketball. Right, They're gonna go
Speaker 1: into arena and they're gonna talk, and then they're all
Speaker 1: gonna back up the one who's talking. Like that's just
Speaker 1: how it is, So I do think there's a little
Speaker 1: bit of like an ulterior motives, like, all right, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna put us on notice and we're gonna have to live.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have to rise up to the occasion because
Speaker 1: nobody else on the team will do that. I do
Speaker 1: feel like this is a little bit of team chemistry
Speaker 1: situation as well. Well.
Speaker 2: You mentioned Malik Monks thirty two, which is he's right
Speaker 2: about this. You can give up forty to a Donnovan
Speaker 2: Mitchell or occur. Oh yeah, you can't give up thirty
Speaker 2: two to Malik Monk. I believe I felt going into
Speaker 2: this series that the way to win this series. I
Speaker 2: think they're going to get a little physical. I think
Speaker 2: they'll get the dynasty whistle. I think they'll get the
Speaker 2: veteran whistle. Do you think we'll see a different kind
Speaker 2: of Game two in Sacramento?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I definitely. I mean that's playoffs in general.
Speaker 1: It's gonna change a little bit. But I also think
Speaker 1: the it's gonna work the other way. Like Steph Curry
Speaker 1: got two free throws and Malik Munk got fourteen, So
Speaker 1: I think Curry's going to get to the line more, right,
Speaker 1: Like at some point you got to start saying, hey,
Speaker 1: this dude just driving a lot. I definitely think their
Speaker 1: answer is to get more aggressive, get more physical. Yes,
Speaker 1: I don't think you'll see I think you'll see very
Speaker 1: physical defenders on Deer Fox and Milik Munket. It won't
Speaker 1: be like the guys who are good stay in front,
Speaker 1: but don't make you feel them, like Dante DiVincenzo or
Speaker 1: Klay Thompson, like Gary Payton, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kaminga, like
Speaker 1: they wear on you, they physical, they foul you like
Speaker 1: you know they're there. I think you'll see that type
Speaker 1: of yeah guy. I think Trey Lyles they'll be looking
Speaker 1: for him, and mostly they feel like they got punks,
Speaker 1: like on the board, so the only way to respond
Speaker 1: is to kind of punch back. But I do I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised when somebody gets too quick fouls though,
Speaker 1: because it was too free flow and it was fun.
Speaker 1: It was exciting, like you know, you know we're gonna
Speaker 1: get that ninety five ninety seven game at some point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I thought the one, like I still
Speaker 2: think the Warriors are fine. I think Phoenix is fine.
Speaker 2: People adjust. I think the one game over the weekend
Speaker 2: that I did take a step back is the Knicks
Speaker 2: ability to dominate the glass in multiple key situations. They
Speaker 2: were the second best rebounding team in the league. They
Speaker 2: have to rebound well because I and I watched that
Speaker 2: and I thought, wow, now that's something that's repeatable.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: People are looking at Jalen Brunson. He's been great all year.
Speaker 2: We know that that I don't doubt. But the New
Speaker 2: York Knicks ability to kind of push Cleveland around and
Speaker 2: get rebounds, I'm like, wow, that are we looking at
Speaker 2: a different series here? Was there any outside of the Warriors?
Speaker 2: Was there any takeaway for you this weekend? Marcus? That
Speaker 2: was anything you took a step back and went, you know,
Speaker 2: once Giannis got hurt, it's going to be a different game.
Speaker 2: Celtics are going to dispose very quickly. Uh, Philadelphia is
Speaker 2: going to dispose of Brooklyn very quickly. Anything surprised you
Speaker 2: at all? Not necessarily surprising. I thought Memphis would be
Speaker 2: a tougher fight for the like the Lakers kind of
Speaker 2: waxed them. I mean second, it was like Rory and and.
Speaker 1: Uh re right, like they were cooking the Lakers look
Speaker 1: like uh oh, if you're reminded of the ceiling they had, right,
Speaker 1: they've played below it for so long you get they
Speaker 1: have it. But it's like, wait a second, if this
Speaker 1: thing clicks, it might click click right. They could like
Speaker 1: if Memphis doesn't put up a fight here and the
Speaker 1: Warriors Kings go six or seven of a brawl. But
Speaker 1: like the track race right now, whoever comes out of it,
Speaker 1: you got to deal with the size of physicality of
Speaker 1: the Lakers. Man. You could see this kind of kind
Speaker 1: of shaping up for them in a way that's a
Speaker 1: little bit like, wow, we would we just would have
Speaker 1: never thought this two months ago. We would have never
Speaker 1: thought this, like they would have this ride to the
Speaker 1: you know, to the Western Conference Finals. I was I'm
Speaker 1: interested in the Miami Milwaukee series. I think this was
Speaker 1: more of a blue kind of game one Like I
Speaker 1: think even without Jannis, the Bucks are so used to
Speaker 1: playing without them that they might figure something out. So
Speaker 1: I'm interested to see what they have left. I think
Speaker 1: this is a phenomenon. The team that comes in off
Speaker 1: the play in usually a little bit rolling and now,
Speaker 1: you know, I remember I think it was Memphis got
Speaker 1: Game one against Utah today. If you win two games
Speaker 1: to get into the playoffs. Your a nice little rhythm,
Speaker 1: and you're playing a team that was just sitting, was
Speaker 1: just rested. I think that's a little bit of thing.
Speaker 1: So I really want to see what Miami has. Actually,
Speaker 1: they lost one in one one, but I want to
Speaker 1: see if Miami is legit, if they could really extend
Speaker 1: a series that changes the entire East of Milwaukee's out
Speaker 1: entire East. It blows everything up. Now, another team could
Speaker 1: sneak in, like like the Knicks into the East Finals.
Speaker 2: I don't think they will, but you know, going back
Speaker 2: to what you said about the Lakers, I thought they'd
Speaker 2: beat Minnesota, and I thought they'd beat Memphis. But I
Speaker 2: did feel like the longer it goes, it's more of
Speaker 2: a disadvantage because if you could get in and out
Speaker 2: of this series with Memphis in five games and Labon
Speaker 2: gets like four days to rest, then you have a
Speaker 2: real chance to win game one against whoever you play, Like,
Speaker 2: I think, wherever you play, there is a path that
Speaker 2: the Lakers need to hit to win the Warriors, don't.
Speaker 2: You know a lot of the good teams don't the
Speaker 2: Lakers do. There's a path to success, and it's getting
Speaker 2: rid of Memphis fast.
Speaker 1: But doesn't look feasible. I mean, like even like John
Speaker 1: got hurt and this is becoming a thing. Jock gets hurt, right,
Speaker 1: this is obviously a thing where this is now the
Speaker 1: second playoffs in a row. He got hurt. And remember
Speaker 1: before they were like better without him, they like played
Speaker 1: in a way where it was like yo, they actually
Speaker 1: lock in on defense. Right, But no Steven Adams, no
Speaker 1: Brandon Clark. That that that's a problems mishus might be
Speaker 1: in trouble even if Josh somehow plays. You're down one
Speaker 1: and they've got Anthony Davis who could at any moment
Speaker 1: just drop forty on you, right, like they got the
Speaker 1: guy who can do it, Lebron can just drop forty
Speaker 1: on you and you're in trouble.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they were trailing by four. That was
Speaker 2: an offensive foul on jaw. The Lakers were getting the
Speaker 2: ball and were hot. And by the way, the Lakers
Speaker 2: had their best quarter of the season and the third
Speaker 2: quarter and John was on the floor, so he wasn't
Speaker 2: stopping anybody. I thought the Lakers got so many good looks.
Speaker 2: I mean the first half, the whole game, they got him.
Speaker 2: They just didn't hit him in the first half, but
Speaker 2: they were getting phenomenal looks. Their ball movement was excellent.
Speaker 1: That's the part though, that makes you think, Eh, how
Speaker 1: real is this? I mean, it is Ruy hitting all
Speaker 1: those the whole series. He won't. No, you know, you're
Speaker 1: not sold on the Hotchi Brewer BADWG. You're not hopping
Speaker 1: on You not ready for the twenty four average of
Speaker 1: twenty four for the series for Hotchi Borer. You ate,
Speaker 1: I'm signing up Ruy hotchiburrs average of twenty four for
Speaker 1: this entire series put me down.
Speaker 2: I got yeah, But I will say their third leading
Speaker 2: score Russell Ruy reeves. They've got a collection of guys
Speaker 2: who are all I mean, D'Angelo Russell is capable to
Speaker 2: drop twenty six.
Speaker 1: Is going to give you a game? Right? Yeah, no question,
Speaker 1: no question.
Speaker 2: He can be a little shrewder yep, Dennis shrewder By
Speaker 2: the way the play in game. Dennis Schreuder was their
Speaker 2: third guy. So they don't have a they don't have
Speaker 2: a nail down three. But I mean, listen to Celtics
Speaker 2: got to the finals last year and Marcus Smart is
Speaker 2: hot and cold. You don't know exactly what you're getting
Speaker 2: offensively from Marcus Smart. So I mean there, if you
Speaker 2: have two legitimate scorers, I mean, what's impressible.
Speaker 1: You can do the number three by committee?
Speaker 2: Right, you can kind of do it by committee. So
Speaker 2: all right, So you still feel good about the Warriors
Speaker 2: before we let you go. I still think they went
Speaker 2: it in six. I mean, this is how it played
Speaker 2: it out. Like I think they lose the first game.
Speaker 2: I just felt like Sacker BDDO was gonna make everything.
Speaker 2: This was like everybody to be like Sherman Club.
Speaker 1: Right, this is thirty five years of woning and wonting,
Speaker 1: like they've been waiting for this moment forever. I felt
Speaker 1: like they were going to make every shot, and there
Speaker 1: was a stretch when they did, and now the adjustments happened.
Speaker 1: Let's see if they can handle it. I feel like
Speaker 1: Warriors get game to hold Servant home and we go back.
Speaker 1: We either go back to Sacramento tie to too, or
Speaker 1: we go back to Sacramento with them playing for their
Speaker 1: lives to stay alive. That's how I see it shaken out.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be shocked though, if Sacramento won, because I
Speaker 1: don't know. Some bonus was kind of terrible in that game,
Speaker 1: so maybe he rebounds.
Speaker 2: All right, Marcus Thompson, the Athletic just fifteen eighteen great
Speaker 2: minutes from him. He's a busy guy. We're gonna let
Speaker 2: him go. Thanks for coming on, buddy.
Speaker 1: I'm about to write about Klay Thompson. I'm about to
Speaker 1: get my bag. Let's go.
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