Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Anyway, let's go to Matt in San Rafael.
00:03Talking about what is the matchup that you think matters the most in this series.
00:09I think it's the Warriors' brains against the non-fully developed frontal cortexes of the Houston Rockets.
00:18Matt, what do you think?
00:19Thanks for calling.
00:22Hey, guys.
00:23It's been a while.
00:24The first thing I want to say is I'm glad Steven Adams is getting long in the tooth
00:28because he would be a problem for the Warriors if he was a Steven Adams that played for OKC.
00:34I think, for me, the biggest issue or the thing I'm watching the most is
00:39how the refs are going to call the defenders who are defending Steph.
00:44If they're allowed to grab, hit, and I'm not saying that the refs are against them or anything like that,
00:49but the way they call this series, if Steph gets a whistle,
00:53then I think that it's going to be really hard for Houston.
00:55The last time they played, they beat the crap out of Steph, and it was a real problem for the Warriors.
01:00So I think that how this game is officiated is going to really make a difference.
01:05Boy, Matt, I certainly hear your point, and I'm with you,
01:09and I hear what you're trying to do by not saying, like,
01:13are the refs against the Warriors or are they against the Rockets?
01:16I think officiating crews in any particular game set a tone.
01:22They set a tone by sort of, and this goes for the Warriors too.
01:27You know, like when we heard Eric Hasseltine, the voice of the Memphis Grizzlies,
01:32talk about when the Warriors had been in Memphis a couple of weeks ago,
01:36Draymond Green was setting a lot of illegal screens, but this is what players do.
01:41They're like, I'm going to do this.
01:42Oh, you didn't call it?
01:43Okay, I'm going to give you a little more.
01:45Oh, you still didn't call it?
01:47I'm going to give you a little more.
01:48No different than a toddler who's like, how far can I push mom and dad
01:52before the top of their head flies off of their body and goes through the roof?
01:56So they're going to test the refs, and the refs have to set a tone of, like,
02:01what's allowable and what's not.
02:02And I'm kind of with Matt.
02:04If they do let it get really physical off the ball, that's an advantage for the Rockets.
02:11No doubt.
02:11And that's going to be a game-to-game thing.
02:14And I'm sure not everybody realizes that every game is officiated by three different people.
02:20It's not the same crew all series long.
02:23So you're going to catch a crew that's going to be more tolerant to physicality,
02:27and you're going to catch a crew that's going to be less tolerant.
02:30And this is where it's up to the players.
02:33And this is where you might have a point about the brain of a Warrior team.
02:38And I was just running the numbers on playoff experience,
02:41and the roster of the Rockets in totality has 247 career playoff games.
02:47And a lot of those are Steven Adams, and you've got a lot of that from Jeff Green.
02:52And if you go to the Warriors, you've got Steph and Jimmy and Draymond and Kavon.
02:57And you've got a lot of guys who have almost 1,000 games of playoff experience.
03:02And so when you get into a playoff series, you get into a playoff game,
03:06you understand that this game might be officiated a certain way, and you have to react accordingly.
03:11And if it's a game where they're calling it tight, well, then Draymond Green and Kavon Looney
03:16are going to have to set really stationary, legitimate, solid picks.
03:21And if the game is not being called very tight, well, then now Amon Thompson's going to be able to grab Steph,
03:26and you're going to be able to set sloppy, loose picks and move on your screen.
03:30So you have to be able to adjust to what's going on.
03:33You like numbers?
03:34Sure.
03:35Okay.
03:36Numbers are numbers.
03:37These are my numbers.
03:38Numbers are numbers, and numbers are numbers.
03:41Okay.
03:42Then this is going to support both Matt's point, my point, your point.
03:45Check this out.
03:46We know that Steph has only played against Houston Rockets three times this year.
03:51Three times Steph has played against the Rockets.
03:53The Warriors are 3-2 against the Rockets, but Steph is 1-2 against the Rockets.
03:59Okay.
04:01The game that was just a couple of weeks ago here at Chase Center,
04:04where the Rockets defeated the Warriors somewhat handily,
04:07Steph from the free throw line was?
04:100-0.
04:110-0.
04:12Yep.
04:13All right.
04:13They lost to the Rockets, and I think this was the NBA Cup game,
04:1891-90 back on December 11th.
04:22Steph from the free throw line was?
04:250-1.
04:27Yep.
04:27He missed?
04:28He missed.
04:29Dude.
04:30Made free throws in the two losses.
04:33None.
04:34Then they beat the Rockets 105-98 in the game that was right before the All-Star break.
04:43Jimmy Butler was on the team.
04:45They pretty handily won that game.
04:47They almost coughed it up late, but they were the dominator for the majority of that basketball game.
04:52Rockets had a weird lineup that night, sat some guys in the second half, what have you.
04:56But anyway, that night, Steph was 8-9 from the free throw line.
05:02So I think that Matt is on to something here, which is if you're going to allow people to beat each other up off the ball,
05:13that affects Steph Curry the most because it's his motion, it's his style, it's the way the Warriors try to get him open.
05:19And if you're allowed to just grab him and not let him go anyplace, and you're going to trip him up and beat him up and do all those things,
05:26and there's not going to be any call, well, that's going to give the Rockets a little extra piece in the game.
05:33But if you're going to call those things, Steph's going to parade to the free throw line a lot, you're probably going to lose.
05:39You're probably going to lose.
05:39So, not the only marker, but I'm buying what Matt is saying.
05:44That is going to be a marker in each game.
05:46It's a marker, and you can look at the game from the Warrior lens, and you're right to do so.
05:51But also, if you go back to that game you referenced, 91-90, where Steph Curry shot one free throw,
05:58the Warriors shot nine free throws, Houston only shot ten.
06:01So it's not like it was slanted.
06:04No, I just, but it was allowable.
06:05If you talk about Alperen Shangun being a big physical player, it's not like that he was getting a bunch of calls
06:12and then the Warriors weren't.
06:13Understand what I'm saying.
06:14I totally understand what you're saying.
06:16It's not about Steph at all.
06:17It's about what the refs want to allow, and if they're going to allow a physical game,
06:22and you know the phrases that we use, oh, they're letting them play.
06:26All right, if you let them play, I think the Rockets get an edge there.
06:31I think they get an edge.
06:32And it's interesting because there's sort of two competing things that I think we're used to in the playoffs,
06:39and so I don't know which one's going to win out.
06:42I do think they tend to, quote, let them play in the playoffs.
06:45What else do they do?
06:47They blow the whistle for superstars.
06:49So which one of those is going to win out?
06:52Are you going to let them play?
06:53That's advantage Rockets.
06:55Are you going to whistle for the superstars?
06:57Clearly an advantage for the Warriors.
06:59Depends on how it's blown, and I'm looking at the first game that they played this year
07:04when Steph Curry did not play, and the Warriors had a 31-point lead against Houston,
07:09and Houston actually took the lead in the fourth quarter and went to overtime, and the Warriors won.
07:14And I'm just looking at the box score here.
07:17The Warriors shot 50 free throws.
07:21I'm going to say it again for effect.
07:23They shot 50 free throws.
07:25They only made 32.
07:26Yeah, this is back when they were the worst free throw shooting team in the league.
07:30They were dead last, and this is a game without Steph Curry.
07:32You started TJD and Wiggs, and you also had Lindy Waters and Kyle Anderson who played,
07:37and they're not going to play in this series, I don't believe.
07:40Houston got called for 32 fouls.
07:42The Warriors got called for 22 fouls.
07:45Pods and Draymond each fouled out.
07:48It went to overtime, and that game was officiated the way you would think that it would favor the Warriors,
07:54but in fact, because you couldn't make your free throws, it turned out to not be in their favor.
07:58Although you could argue that for much of the game, it very much was in their favor.
08:02Hell, they built a 30-point lead.
08:04Yeah, second quarter.
08:05I know that they coughed it up.
08:06Yep.
08:07But again, I think that it's fair as we look to what's about to happen.
08:12I think it's fair for a Warrior fan to hope that the whistle is tighter and not looser.
08:19And I know how I'll process that, which is don't get mad if a couple of things get called on Draymond Green.
08:27That's okay.
08:28Hey, I want the officials to call the fouls when they see them, as opposed to being like,
08:34well, we'd like to let the players decide this.
08:36Well, what a weird phrase that is, because the players can decide it a hundred different ways.
08:42And I don't think when people say, let's let the players decide this,
08:46that doesn't mean let's let Dylan Brooks throw Steph Curry into the second row
08:50and land in a popcorn box and not call it.
08:52That way, the players are deciding it.
08:54No, it's not what you want.
08:56You want a tightly officiated series where physicality, not that you can't have some,
09:05but physicality when it is over the top is not allowed and rewarded.
09:10I think if you get that more often than not, you're probably not going to get it seven times.
09:15I don't know how many games they'll even be.
09:17But if you get that in 70% to 80% of the action over the next two weeks,
09:23I think that's a huge help to the Warriors.
09:27Depending on what the whistle is like for, and you mentioned it, Draymond Green,
09:31because he's the most important defensive player on the Warriors.
09:34And if he gets a couple of, you know, tightly called calls that go against him,
09:39and now he's into foul trouble, that's going to hurt the Warriors.
09:42And I understand what you're saying about Steph Curry and freedom of movement and all the rest of it.
09:46And, you know, the game that you referenced where he had no free throws,
09:49that I think was way beyond the norm for NBA games that are officiated.
09:56And Houston saw it, and they acted accordingly.
09:58They realized that these calls were not going to be made,
10:01and so they got even more physical with Steph, and they took Steph right out of the game.
10:05And if that is going to be allowed, then the Warriors are going to have to find a way to adjust.
10:09Yeah, well, like, I can't think that that will be allowed.
10:12Maybe it will be. Maybe it will be once.
10:16Again, as you said, it's a different crew every time.
10:19But, I mean, look, I'm not an NBA conspiracy theorist.
10:25But I also know that the Rockets and Warriors are not the only two outlets that are preparing for this series.
10:32The NBA refs meet. They talk. The league talks.
10:37I don't think by any stretch the league is like,
10:39All right. Playoffs are starting. Master plan.
10:44Ready? Let's go get Steph out of these playoffs.
10:48Let's get him off of the TV.
10:51Let's let everybody beat him up.
10:53Don't let him go wherever he wants to go.
10:56As long as Dylan Brooks can get inside the shorts of Steph Curry,
11:01then these ratings are going to be great.
11:03I don't think that's going to happen, obviously.
11:05So, I don't know the way it's going to be officiated.
11:09But, as I break down and think about this series,
11:13I do think that this is going to, more often than not,
11:17be advantageous to the Warriors.
11:20Because I don't think that the officials are going to walk into the house that Steph built
11:25and let Amin Thompson and Dylan Brooks beat him to hell,
11:30throw him up against the standard underneath the hoop,
11:33you know, butt bump him into a cameraman.
11:36Like, they're not going to do that.
11:38I don't think.
11:39I would hope not.
11:40Because, as you just pointed out, this game two weeks ago,
11:43I came in the next day with face paint
11:45because they had done 3-1 in the gauntlet and I was happy.
11:48But, I also was not thrilled because of what I'd watched the night before.
11:53That was ridiculous.
11:55That was absurd.
11:56We've all watched the highlights now of what's going on off the ball.
12:00Absurd.
12:00And the league is looking at that right now as they prepare for this series.
12:04For sure.
12:05It depends on who the crew is and depends on what they decide they want to emphasize.
12:08But, I will say this, to your point,
12:12Steph Curry, for his career in the regular season,
12:14is averaging 4.3 free throw attempts a game.
12:17In the playoffs, it's 5.3.
12:19There you go.
12:19And I know it's a smaller sample,
12:21although he's played about 170 playoff games,
12:24so it's not a tiny sample.
12:25But, in the playoffs, he,
12:27and I'm going to assume that he plays largely the same way,
12:30he doesn't play a lot differently.
12:31He doesn't go to the basket more in the playoffs.
12:34More minutes, I would argue, though.
12:35Could affect that.
12:36It's probably close.
12:37You know what I mean?
12:38Like, look at the way.
12:39I mean, 37 minutes a game in the playoffs
12:42and in the regular season,
12:43he is probably, he's averaging about 35 minutes a game.
12:47Okay.
12:47So, not a dramatic difference.
12:49No, but in a small sample,
12:51not even just more minutes,
12:53it's kind of like the way they played the game against Memphis.
12:55Like, Steph and Jimmy, you get the ball.
12:58You get the ball on just like almost every possession.
13:00So, that's all.
13:0118 shots a game in the regular year,
13:0220 shots a game in the playoffs.
13:04Yeah.
13:04So, two additional shots,
13:06but I would argue,
13:07and I'd have to look at all the numbers,
13:08but I don't think that he's going to the basket anymore.
13:10I do think it's just...
13:11In the playoffs,
13:12he probably gets a little bit more of a whistle.
13:15But, yeah.
13:16Probably.
13:17But it's...
13:17I'm just thinking of things
13:19that could also affect those numbers a little bit,
13:21and Steph going to the free throw line
13:23is often not him going to the basket.
13:25It's stuff that's happening out at the top of the arc,
13:28and people are slapping on.
13:29Right, and it's fouls late in the game
13:29when he, you know,
13:30when they have the lead
13:31and you get him the ball,
13:32and all that exists in the regular season as well,
13:34and of the two additional shots
13:36that he takes per game in the playoffs,
13:381.3 of those are threes.
13:40So, in fact,
13:41he goes to the basket
13:42maybe even a little bit less
13:43in the postseason,
13:45but I do think what you're saying
13:47about him being a star,
13:48you're going to get a little bit more
13:50of a kinder whistle.
13:51Not that the league
13:52is going to meet with the refs
13:53and say,
13:54look, we need Steph and LeBron.
13:55Guys, no matter what happens,
13:57we got to make sure
13:57that the Warriors win.
13:59No, definitely not.
13:59But there's a certain amount of a nudge
14:02if it's close,
14:03like we saw with Pods.
14:04Pods goes up and blocks a shot,
14:06and it's a foul
14:07because you're a second-year player
14:09and you're Pods.
14:11If it's Draymond,
14:12it's a clean block.
14:13Totally.
14:14I also,
14:15I don't think there's,
14:16again,
14:16I'm not a conspiracy theorist,
14:18but I do believe
14:19that the league
14:20sees what happens
14:21two weeks ago,
14:22and they're like,
14:23look,
14:23what we don't want,
14:25I'm not saying,
14:26hey guys,
14:26make sure you get Steph
14:27to the next round.
14:28What I am saying is,
14:30hey guys,
14:30I tell you what,
14:31we don't want
14:32becoming a national story
14:33with Stephen A. Smith
14:34tomorrow morning.
14:36We don't want
14:37on Monday morning,
14:38Stephen A.
14:39and the rest of the NBA
14:41media
14:42freaking out
14:44with constant videos
14:45of Steph Curry
14:47being handcuffed
14:48by Rockets defenders,
14:50tripped,
14:50shoved,
14:51dragged,
14:52thrown,
14:53all of these.
14:53We do not want
14:55that video
14:55all over all the shows
14:58and a stat
14:59in a box score
15:00that says
15:00Steph went
15:01zero for zero
15:02from the free throw line.
15:03We don't want that.
15:04There's so many more
15:05eyeballs on playoff games.
15:07Nobody was paying attention
15:08to that game
15:09on Sunday night
15:10outside of this market.
15:11The Warriors had done
15:12what they needed
15:13to do that week.
15:14Yes,
15:14it was a national TV game,
15:16but it wasn't like
15:16everything was on the line.
15:18I look back at that now,
15:19there are a couple of losses
15:20at the end
15:22of this Warriors season.
15:23I'm really thankful for.
15:25One of them is that one
15:26because I think
15:27it sets the tone
15:28to swing the pendulum
15:29in the other direction.
15:30You beat him up,
15:31you never allowed him
15:32to the free throw line,
15:33it looked absurd,
15:35and that's now
15:35the backdrop
15:36for the start of this series.
15:37The other loss
15:38I'm really thankful for
15:39is the Clippers loss
15:40because if you win that game,
15:42Steph and LeBron
15:43are playing tomorrow,
15:45but they lost that game,
15:47so now you get to play
15:48Alperin Shingun.
15:50Not that he's not good,
15:51but he's not LeBron.
15:53I actually think
15:55those two losses,
15:56as nerve-wracking
15:57as this all was,
15:58it actually set
15:59the Warriors up
16:00for success
16:01to start these playoffs.
16:02Yeah,
16:02and by success,
16:04you mean you're facing
16:05a rocket team
16:06that you should be
16:07able to beat
16:08and you're favored
16:08to beat them,
16:09so absolutely,
16:10I agree with that,
16:11that part of it,
16:12and it just depends
16:13on who you end up
16:15getting as a crew,
16:17and we'll find out
16:17on Saturday.
16:18You can go to
16:19ref assignments,
16:20NBA ref assignments.
16:21They get released
16:22that day,
16:22usually in the morning,
16:23and so you can
16:24all find out
16:25for yourself
16:26what kind of a crew
16:27they're going to get,
16:27and I'll predict this.
16:29I don't know how many games
16:30will be in the series,
16:30but there'll be
16:31a game where it's called
16:33super tight,
16:34super loose,
16:35and three to five
16:36right in between.
16:37And the game
16:38that you're referring
16:39to with the Rockets,
16:41I'm looking at
16:41how many fouls
16:42were called,
16:43and they only called
16:44in that game
16:45a total of 29 fouls
16:47for the entire game,
16:49and that's not a lot.
16:50That's not a lot.
16:50And if you look
16:51at the NBA ref stats,
16:5329 is actually
16:54way below
16:55even the low
16:56for the majority
16:57of these refs,
16:58and so if you get
16:59a game like that,
17:00I agree with you
17:01that that definitely
17:02favors the NBA ref.