Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00This idea of Jonathan Kaminga's return
00:04and sort of like what might still worry you
00:08with the Golden State Warriors,
00:12I tell you what, I've sort of,
00:15I don't wanna say become addicted to this,
00:17but I've been very wooed by this
00:19in ways that I didn't see coming.
00:21We've all watched Jimmy Butler play in the NBA
00:23for a long time.
00:24We know this guy, he's a bonafide one,
00:27he's got a nickname called Playoff Jimmy
00:29that's a pretty good nickname to have.
00:31But someone texted us a short time ago and goes,
00:35like this is a small thing,
00:36but I'm worried that Jimmy is almost too hesitant to shoot.
00:41And I look at a game like last night
00:44where a bunch of things happened
00:46that people really like in the box score.
00:48Start with, for instance, Buddy Heald
00:50hitting a bunch of three point shots.
00:52Yep, six and nine.
00:52Okay, he goes six and nine,
00:54Warriors are gonna win that basketball game.
00:56That's almost for sure.
00:58They're undefeated when he scores, I think, 17 points?
01:01Something like that, and last night he had 20.
01:03When you get, it's actually kind of a wonder
01:05why the Warriors didn't win by 40 last night
01:07when you look at the box score.
01:09If I told you before the game,
01:11Buddy Heald's gonna hit six threes,
01:13Gary Payton's gonna have his career high,
01:16Moses Moody will score 20,
01:19Quentin Post will go double-didge,
01:22and Jimmy Butler will have a triple-double.
01:24If I had said all that to you,
01:25I'd be like, Warriors minus 25 and a half.
01:29Yeah, exactly, 25 is what I was thinking, 135, 110.
01:32Man, but this is something you don't see in the NBA anymore,
01:37and this is why I don't worry about Jimmy Butler.
01:38If he's hesitant to shoot, that's fine.
01:41Check this out.
01:42How often do you see this,
01:44or how many players in the NBA could even do this anymore?
01:48He scored a triple-double, okay,
01:5015 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists,
01:54and in the line in the box score for three-point shots,
01:58he went zero for zero.
02:03Oh, yeah, yeah.
02:04Triple-double with no three-point attempts.
02:09He is a throwback in ways
02:11that I don't think I fully grasped
02:15the level of what Jimmy Butler is doing,
02:18not just for himself, but for others on a basketball court.
02:21And I do think that it's because of, in part,
02:24his basketball IQ, and he knows
02:26that the three-point shot is not his bag.
02:28So you got a team with Steph Curry on it.
02:31Well, you're not gonna shoot a lot of threes,
02:33and Buddy Heald, a guy who went hot, can shoot a three,
02:36and you mentioned GP2 in a career high.
02:39He was GP3 last night.
02:41He hit four of them.
02:42And then you got in Quentin, who had three of them,
02:44Moses with a couple of them,
02:46Draymond Green knocked down his requisite
02:48one three-pointer per game.
02:50So if you're Jimmy, you realize that not only
02:52is it not what I'm really good at,
02:54but it's also not what this team needs.
02:56So I'm not totally surprised that he had that triple-double
02:59without attempting a three,
03:00and I wouldn't mind if he didn't attempt
03:04another three this year,
03:05because watching him shoot a three
03:06is a little bit painful.
03:09It's a little bit painful.
03:10Well, okay, I mean...
03:13His shooting motion is, it's a little bit awkward,
03:17and you can tell that he's not feeling it.
03:20Usually, when he rises up to shoot a three,
03:23it's usually, well, I guess I gotta do this.
03:26I mean, he hit his only attempt in Brooklyn.
03:28He went two of four against the Pistons.
03:31I realized prior to that,
03:33three-point shots as a member of the Warriors
03:35were very few and far between,
03:39as far as Jimmy Butler was concerned.
03:42Like, actually, I'm looking at his three-point log
03:44since joining the Warriors.
03:46Yeah, 20%.
03:47Yeah, he hit one in Houston
03:50the night before the All-Star break,
03:52and then he hit one in Charlotte,
03:56that game that was a little wonky
03:57and took a while for them to brush Charlotte off,
04:00and then that's it.
04:01Then the three that he hit that I just referenced,
04:03Brooklyn and the Pistons, he hit a total of five.
04:07Yep.
04:08It's not his comfort zone.
04:09Yeah.
04:10I don't know, like...
04:11Five for 26.
04:12Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's not his thing.
04:14Yeah.
04:14But when he does it,
04:16I do feel like there's discernment.
04:18I feel like he's trying to pick his spots.
04:19Absolutely discernment,
04:20which is why I give him credit for the basketball IQ,
04:23and Steve Kerr will tell you
04:25that a shot created must be taken, and that's true,
04:28but if you're Jimmy Butler
04:30and you find your way to the three-point line
04:32with nine seconds on the shot clock,
04:34and you get the ball and it's an open look,
04:36I do think that he takes measures
04:38to see if he can then attack the basket,
04:41penetrate, and kick it out to somebody else on the team
04:44that might be better at that,
04:47and it's not to say he's scurred or anything like that,
04:49but I do think that he's so smart as a basketball player
04:53that if he gets the ball behind the line
04:55with 2.8 on the shot clock, he's gonna shoot it,
04:57and that's just what you do,
04:58but beyond that, when he gets it earlier on the clock,
05:01he still imagines that what he can do with the basketball
05:05with eight on the clock to get to the basket,
05:08get to the foul line, or create for someone else,
05:11that's a better shot, ultimately.
05:13Yeah.
05:14It's really, the more I think about this,
05:16and the two things we kind of came up with earlier,
05:18and we'll take your calls right now,
05:20what worries do you still have for the Warriors?
05:23What are they missing?
05:25What scares you the rest of the way?
05:26Because I know right now, as a Warrior fan,
05:28we've just decided they're gonna win all the games,
05:30they're gonna win every night, this is super easy,
05:32so an overconfidence angle, definitely, I feel,
05:37but that's more the fans than the players,
05:39so I don't know that that's actually a problem.
05:41For me, the issue is, and 888-957-9570,
05:46if you wanna weigh in, the issue is there is still
05:49a very high possibility that what happened earlier
05:53in the season is going to bite them.
05:56That's still a very high possibility,
05:58and that could mean a lot of different things,
06:00but there were too many losses that they should not
06:03have had earlier in the year,
06:06and that could bite them in two different ways.
06:08One, it leaves them in a spot where they are still
06:11vulnerable in the standings, as we sit here today,
06:14even with the win streaks.
06:16They are still vulnerable in the standings.
06:18The other thing that that means is that the Warriors stars
06:21are just gonna have to have their foot on the gas pedal
06:24every night for the rest of the way,
06:26and I don't think that's a good formula.
06:28You know, if you really look at the Warriors
06:31the last few years, they've actually been artists
06:34in terms of how they have done load management
06:39or even sort of like be really cautious with any injury,
06:43any ankle sprain like they did with Steph three years ago,
06:47where they ramped him right up so that he came off,
06:50rested and ready to go for the playoffs,
06:52and then off they went to win a championship.
06:55Like, they don't have that luxury.
06:58They don't have that luxury, so my concern is
07:00is that Jimmy and Steph and Draymond are gonna be playing
07:03so hard until the buzzer that they're gonna be gassed
07:06when the playoffs get here.
07:07It could be, and you hope that that's not the case,
07:09and you make a good point about 2022,
07:12where Steph was able to get the rest
07:14because of the ankle injury, and he came back fresh
07:17for the postseason run, and I think about the KD season,
07:21the first year when he came, they went 67-15,
07:25and a lot of those years and a lot of those games
07:27were three quarters of basketball,
07:30and you just blew people out.
07:31But then the novelty of KD kind of wore off,
07:34and the next year they went 58-24,
07:37and I remember that year, Mark, 2018-17-18,
07:40where the regular season was kind of an afterthought,
07:43and then the next year, the final year at KD
07:46was even more so, where it didn't even matter what they did.
07:50They kind of wanted the one seed
07:51because then you had an easier road
07:53and you had home court and the rest of it,
07:55but they weren't grinding on regular season games
07:58the way that they used to, and I do think that now
08:00that they're all older and Jimmy's here and he's older
08:03and Steph's about to be 37, they do see the value in rest
08:08as opposed to, you know, we gotta get to the five.
08:11I'm sure they're thinking,
08:12as long as we stay out of the play-in game
08:14and if we're rested and healthy,
08:16then nobody wants a piece of us.
08:18No, and I agree with that.
08:19I just, I wonder how they're gonna play it, man.
08:22I really do, because we're so, like, ramped up right now
08:27and tapped into every game and excited about it.
08:30Will it catch you off guard if next Tuesday,
08:34they're like, oh, oh, Steph's not playing against Milwaukee.
08:38Jimmy's not playing against Milwaukee, especially Jimmy.
08:41Jimmy's the linchpin.
08:42I don't even know if this is true,
08:44but the way it feels right now is if Jimmy plays, they win,
08:46and if he doesn't, they don't.
08:47It's that simple.
08:48Yeah, unbelievable, and he's missed one game
08:52and they went and gaffed one in Philadelphia
08:54against a bad team with no good players.
08:57Crazy, so I don't want him sitting out,
09:00but I also don't want them to overly exert themselves
09:05and have nothing left from playoff time.
09:07Yeah, and I think that they're in a spot right now,
09:09at least, they don't have a cushion,
09:11but they're heading toward the ability
09:13to manage it a little bit, and part of the challenge,
09:17I do think, Mark, is that the schedule,
09:19especially coming up here in this homestand,
09:21you can't just rest guys against Denver and expect to win.
09:25You can't rest against the Lakers and expect to win,
09:27and later in the year, you do have Houston
09:30and you've got Memphis, and those are games
09:32that if you want to climb out of the six
09:33and maybe get to the five or even hold on to the six,
09:37those are games that you have to take seriously,
09:39so you don't have a lot of cupcakes left,
09:42and even if you do, you mentioned Philadelphia.
09:44Just because you play a team that you should beat
09:47doesn't mean you're gonna beat them.
09:48Like Brooklyn beat you by 22 in one quarter one time.
09:52Yeah, that's the NBA, man.
09:54Surprising stuff happens or else we'd all be rich,
09:57so we look at this right now.
09:59I do, there are a lot of,
10:01I mean, I guess I wouldn't call them cupcakes.
10:03They do still have a, they got a lot of games left
10:06against the whole you should win crowd.
10:09They definitely do.
10:11They're gonna play the Spurs twice.
10:14The Pelicans.
10:15They've got New Orleans.
10:17Sure, they do go to Phoenix.
10:19Phoenix is still capable.
10:21But game 79, is Phoenix gonna be interested by April 8th?
10:26It might be interesting because it's the Warriors.
10:28It's on TNT, you know what I mean?
10:30And Kevin Durant will, he's gonna try.
10:33He always will try.
10:34You watch Phoenix of late, they lose a lot of games,
10:36but man, they're like, I watched that game.
10:40Did you watch that game last Friday night?
10:41I think it was, they're in Denver.
10:44And I'll freely admit it, I was like,
10:47I was all over Denver in that game.
10:49Anyway, I'm like, ooh, seven points.
10:51Denver's gonna beat them by double digits.
10:54Couldn't shake them.
10:55Couldn't shake them.
10:57Suns come back in the fourth quarter.
10:59They've actually got a lead.
11:01Denver hits a three-pointer with a second left to go
11:04to break the tie, and you're like, ooh,
11:07they're gonna win, but they're not gonna cover.
11:10Well, here comes Kevin Durant, the savior.
11:15He nails a three, sends it to overtime,
11:19and then Denver wins by eight.
11:20I was like, I don't know where that came from.
11:22Cash me out one time.
11:24But like, they were game, dude.
11:25They went to Denver, and they hung.
11:27Cash me out one time.
11:28They hung, so you never know.
11:30You never know.
11:31Kyle in Oakland.
11:32Hey, Kyle, thanks for calling.
11:33What's up?
11:35Hey, how's it going, guys?
11:36I just wanted to chime in about some of the thoughts
11:39about possible issues that the Warriors might run into,
11:44and I think it actually might be John DiCamillo.
11:46I mean, he's yet to play with Jimmy Butler,
11:49so where does he fit into this lineup?
11:52And when he comes back, is he gonna be hunting shots?
11:56Is he gonna be looking to get playoff ready?
11:58How are they gonna deal with that?
12:01Hopefully, he's gained some knowledge
12:03sitting on the bench watching Jimmy
12:05and even the interaction between him and Draymond,
12:08how they've played well together,
12:11and kind of kept that same mindset he had
12:13before he got injured.
12:15But I think we might run into where he has to be
12:19like he has been, coming off the bench
12:21and giving those guys rest, giving Jimmy rest,
12:23so that when we do play the Denvers
12:25and the teams where we need to play,
12:28we need to beat the Lakers,
12:30that they can go out there and do that
12:31because those are more like playoff games,
12:33which we need to have our head space in
12:36in order to really get out of the first round.
12:40I'd love to see the Warriors go to the playoffs,
12:42but I'd hate to see them lose one round and out.
12:46I wanna see them make a deep run.
12:48Finals, I'd like to believe Draymond,
12:502022, he called it, I think, too,
12:53that they're gonna win.
12:53So I'd love to see that again.
12:56Who wouldn't, Kyle?
12:57I mean, yeah, obviously.
12:59Thank you very much.
13:00I hear you.
13:01Kyle brings up, first and foremost,
13:04the thought about Kaminga.
13:06And it's like, you and I have sat here
13:07and talked this out a lot over the last week or so.
13:10I'm almost a little hesitant to do it
13:12because I know exactly where this goes.
13:15And I get branded as hating Jonathan Kaminga.
13:18And I wish I knew why you hated him so much.
13:21I just wanna say this very clearly so everyone hears me.
13:23I am predicting a massive downfall for Jonathan Kaminga.
13:26I think it's gonna be awful.
13:28I think when he goes into the game,
13:29it's almost gonna be like he's not in basketball shoes.
13:32He's gonna have blocks on his feet.
13:34I think the Warriors are gonna lose if they play him, Debs.
13:36I think they're gonna lose all the games he plays in.
13:39Mark, you out here sounding like a hater, my brother.
13:42Do we have a clean in and out for social?
13:44Try to pause.
13:45That was great.
13:46I was trying to do the same.
13:49But I think there's a lot of fair stuff to bring up here.
13:52And Steve Kerr has already brought it up.
13:54And you wanna know what's wild?
13:56My number one concern is not even about the Warriors
14:00or the X's and O's.
14:02It's Jonathan.
14:04The number one concern is how to handle
14:08all of the different little mental aspects
14:11that go into his situation.
14:13Very challenging.
14:14Incredibly challenging.
14:15Very challenging.
14:16This guy knows damn well he's walking back into a team
14:19that in some ways he has never played for before.
14:22Absolutely.
14:22He is also recovering from a major injury
14:25that has its own mental hurdle.
14:27He knows damn well he does not wanna upset the apple cart.
14:30He knows that there are only 17 games left.
14:33He knows that he is a restricted free agent
14:36and wants to put up the best version of himself out there.
14:40I mean, factor all of that into one return
14:44over a set of games over the next week and a half.
14:47That is a lot.
14:48That is a very tight rope to walk.
14:50It's an incredibly tight rope.
14:52And think about the last time he played.
14:54And I'm just looking at it to refresh myself.
14:56When they took on Memphis the night he got hurt,
14:58the Warriors started.
15:00Andrew Wiggins, gone.
15:01Dennis Schroeder, gone.
15:03Draymond Green's still here.
15:05TJD doesn't play.
15:07Buddy Heald got the start.
15:09Steph Curry was out.
15:10Lindy Waters played 28 minutes off the bench.
15:13Kyle Anderson played 21 minutes off the bench.
15:16And Pat Spencer played 12 minutes.
15:17Guy didn't play.
15:19Kavon didn't play.
15:20Quentin Post might've still been in the Netherlands
15:22for crying out loud as far as I know.
15:24But your team was Wiggins, Schroeder, TJD, Lindy, and Slo Mo.
15:30Five of them figured prominently.
15:33And all five of them no longer play basketball
15:36for the Warriors.
15:37I know TJD's allowed to.
15:38Yes, yes, yes.
15:40So now you-
15:40And did the other night.
15:41He did a couple minutes.
15:42He did a couple nice little minutes.
15:44But now you've got a team of Jimmy.
15:46And I know he played with Steph.
15:47So this is a little bit of cherry picking.
15:49But now you've got Quentin.
15:51Moses has been elevated.
15:52And Guy's kind of taken his spot.
15:54So yeah, it's like when you go on a 10 week trip
15:57and you come back in and you got two new roommates
16:00and your other roommate has a new girlfriend.
16:02It's like, wait, where the hell did all you come from?
16:05Dude.
16:06This is my room.
16:07I actually think before Coach comes on here in 20 minutes,
16:09we should have a Moses Moody conversation.
16:12I mean, fan base.
16:15You sat here for two years begging.
16:17Two years.
16:18And we're here and look at it.
16:21Look, look, look, look, look.
16:21It's pretty good.
16:23Really good.
16:23It's pretty good.
16:24I wanna know how that feels for everybody.
16:25Morgan, go ahead.
16:27I wanna hear Steve Kerr come on and thank the fans
16:30for forcing Steve to actually play the guy.
16:33Yeah.
16:34See if we can get that out of Coach.
16:35You do that one.
16:35Oh, okay.
16:36Yeah.
16:37All right.
16:38I'll see if it's on my sheet.
16:39It's on your sheet.
16:40It's on my list of questions.
16:40Well, you know, they tell us what to say.
16:42So let me go to my script here.
16:44Hey Steve, do you owe the fans a thank you
16:47for forcing you to play double M's?
16:49Or an apology.
16:50Probably both.
16:51An apology.
16:52Yep.