• yesterday
Transcript
00:00We had a caller right before the break,
00:02this is time to move on from Steve Kerr.
00:04And look, you're more than welcome to have that opinion,
00:07I personally don't share it,
00:09but to me, more important is what we're actually
00:11talking about here.
00:12Like, the suggestion there is that if you change
00:16your rotations, this will be better.
00:19And to me, that just feels like putting our head
00:23in the sand for the 800th time.
00:26It's an ostrich take.
00:27Totally, after the last two years,
00:29it's like, we have got to face the fact
00:32that this is personnel based.
00:35This is personnel based.
00:37And right now, especially with Jonathan Kaminga Hurt,
00:43when Steph Curry is looking for somebody
00:45to help him on offense, they do not have the dudes.
00:49And so if you want what feels like a fix,
00:52I kind of feel like Steph,
00:54and how you have felt for a while,
00:55I don't know that there is a great fix,
00:58but like hell I'm going to sit here and not try.
01:01The Warriors should not be waiting for the deadline.
01:05They should not be waiting for February.
01:09Make a move now.
01:11And again, the person I would love to see them have
01:14is Nikola Vujovic.
01:16He is almost seven feet, he will get double digit rebounds,
01:20he can score 20 points, he can knock down a three.
01:23The Warriors have, too often,
01:25when you watch NBA basketball today,
01:28watch the Heat last night,
01:30because we'll go, oh, Steph doesn't have a dog with him.
01:32Guess who doesn't have a dog even on their team at all?
01:36The Miami Heat.
01:37But when the ball moves around in the NBA,
01:42these teams are creating at least four people on the court
01:46that when the ball finds the open man in three point range,
01:50they have people who can knock that down.
01:52And the Warriors flat out do not have enough people
01:55on the court right now
01:56that can knock down open threes.
01:59They have a player who commands
02:01the entire defense's attention.
02:03Therefore, it should be opening up
02:05three point shots for everybody.
02:08And the Warriors have too many people
02:10who cannot consistently knock them down.
02:14That's all they have to address.
02:15It's the only thing they can address.
02:17Well, the way you can address it is not as easy
02:20as bringing in Vujovic, a guy who can shoot.
02:22He's a stretch five who can shoot it,
02:24but you brought in Buddy Heald in the off season
02:27because he was Buddy Buckets,
02:29and he sure was for the first couple of weeks.
02:31And now he is maybe the poster child
02:33for this crisis of confidence that Steve Kerr is outlining
02:38because Buddy Heald over the past month or so has been bad.
02:42Well, you had DeAnthony Melton who looked like a good fit.
02:45He got hurt, terrible injury, gone for the year.
02:48So you were able to turn him into somebody,
02:51and that somebody, Mark, in 11 games,
02:53Dennis Schroeder, he is playing 28 minutes a night.
02:57He's shooting 31% from the floor and 26% from three,
03:02and he's averaging nine and a half a game,
03:04which is about half of what he was averaging
03:06in just a few fewer minutes in Brooklyn.
03:10So Buddy Heald's gone ice cold, tundra.
03:13Dennis Schroeder, another guy who you expected
03:15to come in and help, has not fit at all in 11 games.
03:19You lose Kaminga, which was really sad.
03:21He'll be back hopefully in three to five weeks,
03:24you would hope.
03:26And then beyond that, honestly,
03:28if you want to blame Steve Kerr, you're allowed to.
03:30I get it, and he does bear some of the blame, absolutely.
03:34But for me, it's about what I've been saying all along.
03:37This roster does not have nearly the talent.
03:40So you can make a trade, two of your guys
03:43who aren't very good, and a pick for Vucevic.
03:46Do you get better?
03:47Yeah, a little bit.
03:48And you make another pick for maybe Kam Johnson.
03:52Do you get better?
03:53A little bit, but I don't think you get better enough
03:55to where you're a real factor in the Western Conference.
03:58So for me, I don't want to make any big,
04:02sweeping, dramatic moves to try to get better by February
04:07to be good enough in April,
04:08because I don't think that trade exists.
04:10Well, you may be right,
04:11and I'm not saying you get better enough,
04:13but you get better, and to me there's value in that.
04:16And number two, it's a shake-up, and they need a shake-up.
04:19Like something needs to shake them up.
04:23I thought this is a real interesting conversation
04:25you and I are having about where motivation
04:27and confidence come from, because I really do believe
04:30that it largely, in the end, comes from within.
04:34That doesn't mean that you can't be helped
04:36by people around you, saying things to you,
04:39coming up with thoughts, maybe they see something,
04:42say the right thing to you.
04:43We've all heard of people who are like,
04:46I bet Sam Darnold feels it right now.
04:48I bet he would say Kevin O'Connell
04:50instilled some confidence in me.
04:52Yes, to a degree.
04:54He said the right things, he's given you an opportunity,
04:57there's good receivers around you,
04:58but in the end, I believe you're actually confident,
05:01because you went out there,
05:02and you started completing a lot of passes,
05:04and you started winning a lot of football games,
05:06and it built something different in you.
05:08You have got to go see the ball hit the net.
05:12It's the only way that you're truly
05:14going to feel confident.
05:15So, to suggest that Steve Curry's not trying these things,
05:19I think is probably silly.
05:22Steve is not just resting on his laurels.
05:24They're practicing, they're saying all the things,
05:27they're doing it, they're trying,
05:28and so far, too many guys on this roster
05:32just have not been able to find it.
05:35And that rests with them.
05:37You can't just say stuff to Buddy Heald,
05:40and now he'll start hitting threes.
05:42Well, you can do stuff with Buddy Heald.
05:44Yes, and they have, but I'm sure they're trying.
05:47Right, but what it seems like they're doing is
05:51probably working on his shot with him,
05:53and helping to instill confidence,
05:54but he's not making his shots,
05:56and over the last 17 games now,
05:58he's averaging 8.6 points a game,
06:00and yet, he's out there playing 24 minutes the other night,
06:04and 24 minutes against Memphis,
06:06and so, that to me, if you want to talk about a shakeup,
06:10then maybe you shake it up,
06:12and you have a guy who's in a deep slump,
06:13and if you're gonna keep just rolling him out there,
06:16and hoping that the shot goes in,
06:18and that he finds his confidence,
06:19well, that's one way to go about it,
06:22but what I've seen from this team,
06:23what, they've lost 13 of 18, I think?
06:26It's been a long, long skid,
06:29and a long funk for a lot of different guys,
06:31and yet, I don't see a lot of different approaches
06:34just during the game on floor product.
06:38Like, to me, you got the most patient superstar
06:42in the history of the business,
06:44and again, this does not sound to me
06:49like a superstar who feels like the players around him
06:54have been playing great, listening, trying,
07:00doing all the, I mean, again, listen to this.
07:02How do you think this team just gets better offensively?
07:04It seems to kind of, I mean,
07:05that's two straight games under 100 points.
07:09Honestly, I have no idea.
07:11I wish I, we're gonna try to figure it out,
07:13but I don't have an answer right now on that.
07:15That is an exasperation sensation.
07:18But when you ask Steph Curry,
07:20how do you get better offensively,
07:22he's like, I have no idea.
07:24That says so much to me.
07:26That says.
07:27He knows the answer.
07:28What's the answer?
07:29Make a shot, dude.
07:31Make a shot, buddy.
07:32You're open.
07:33Here's an idea, buddy.
07:35When we're fighting back and we cut it to two,
07:38how about you don't go double through the leg,
07:40dribble, dribble, step back 20 footer.
07:42And that was a long two.
07:43It wasn't a three.
07:45It was a terrible shot.
07:46That's my point.
07:47That's my point.
07:48That's not on Kerr.
07:49No, it's on the entire construct
07:51where if buddy's gonna do that, come on over, buddy.
07:55Why don't you have a seat next to Pat and Guy?
07:57Right.
07:58And we'll get, here's an idea.
08:00Keep going out there and keep shooting.
08:02But again, that's why I'm gonna say
08:04this is personnel based.
08:05You don't, if you do that,
08:07now we really got no one on the court
08:10that can knock down a three.
08:12Well, maybe we put five guys out there
08:13who are committed to playing hard
08:15and playing the way you want them to play.
08:17I mean, what would you suggest with coming out
08:21and we're mad at buddy healed
08:24and Andrew Wiggins doesn't hit threes consistently.
08:26And he got taken out of the game.
08:28And Draymond Green is not a three point shooter.
08:30And last night was not hitting his threes.
08:33And we're interested in Trace Jackson Davis.
08:36I mean, what exactly do you want to surround Steph with?
08:39You've got to at least have people who are a threat.
08:42Right.
08:42Who might get hot and buddy is one of them.
08:45But like, that's the exasperation I'm hearing.
08:48There's like.
08:49Well, he's exasperated because he's the only one
08:52offensively who's doing anything.
08:53Right.
08:54And so you've got buddy healed
08:55who's trying to shoot his way out of it.
08:58And four of 12 last night,
09:00actually a better game for buddy than what we've seen
09:03Dennis Schroeder to me is clearly lost.
09:06Either he doesn't.
09:07I'm not that he doesn't know how to play this way,
09:09but this is not the brand of basketball that suits Dennis.
09:14And yet Steve Kerr and company don't seem
09:16like they're running a lot of plays that would fit Dennis.
09:19And Draymond said it when they acquired him,
09:21we need to change for Dennis, not Dennis change for us,
09:25but I'm not seeing a lot of actions
09:27that really compliment what Dennis Schroeder does.
09:30Well, I don't even know what the intricacies
09:32of what Draymond was suggesting,
09:34but I do know that when a player either signs a new deal
09:38or gets traded somewhere,
09:40it's probably pretty mentally tough.
09:42You want to show out and press and fit in
09:44and all those things right away.
09:46And it's not always easy to do.
09:48And it certainly looks to me like Dennis Schroeder
09:50is having a hard time with that process.
09:52I have confidence that it will get better
09:54because he's a really, really good player,
09:56but it just doesn't feel right now.
09:57That's the problem.
09:58It does not feel like there's time.
10:00It doesn't feel like there's time to wait
10:02for all the things that the Warriors need to wait for.
10:04Buddy to snap out of it,
10:05Dennis to fit in,
10:06and Kaminga to get healthy.
10:09Let's go to Rodney in Berkeley.
10:10Hi, Rodney.
10:10Thanks for the call.
10:11What's up?
10:13Hey, thank you for the time.
10:14Let me give you this.
10:17Draymond got to go and Kerr has to go.
10:20It's very simple.
10:22Draymond is guaranteed to cause PTSD and chaos
10:26during practice and throughout the season,
10:29costing multiple games.
10:32And Kerr, I could have sat there when Kerr got hired
10:35and had Klay and Dray and everybody in the beginning
10:39and got me two championships.
10:40It don't take that much.
10:43And take that from the fact that I have played
10:45high school football at Galileo,
10:47120 pound, strong safety, hit like Tatum, catch like Swan.
10:54Rodney, thank you for the call.
10:56And I take nothing away from your athletic ability
10:59in whatever year it might've been.
11:01Galileo.
11:02But like, this is what I always think of
11:05when stuff like this comes up.
11:07Like, please just don't go so far
11:10to just diminish this kind of accomplishment.
11:13If Steve Kerr was a crappy coach,
11:16then Steph Curry would have gotten rid of him
11:18a long time ago.
11:19And if you are in that headspace of Steve's got to go
11:23and Draymond's got to go,
11:24then yes, but just get rid of Steph too.
11:26Because then this is over.
11:29The whole thing is over.
11:30And I know some of you are like, yes, it is.
11:33Then fine.
11:34You're absolutely allowed that opinion.
11:37The Warriors could not be clear that they don't agree.
11:40They're not gonna go that route.
11:41It does make very poor business sense.
11:44Are we chasing ghosts?
11:46Maybe.
11:48Is there a huge reason not to right now?
11:50Personally, I don't think so.
11:52It's not like championship or championship.
11:54It's like long shot versus long shot.
11:57But the bottom line is,
11:58for everybody who's sick of Steve Kerr and Draymond,
12:02you might as well be sick of Steph too.
12:05No, you're not sick of Steph.
12:06That's how he feels.
12:07Steph is still playing at a high level.
12:09Well, but Steph, that's who Steph wants around him.
12:13That's who Steph feels can help him.
12:14Right, which is why Draymond Green got an extension.
12:17Exactly.
12:18And now you're a couple years into it
12:19and maybe it wasn't the best business
12:21and or basketball decision.
12:22But I think that when I look at this team,
12:25you are pot committed,
12:26which means you are committed to Steph and Draymond
12:30and Steve for the next, at least this year
12:33and the year after that when it comes to Steve Kerr.
12:36Whether or not Steve wants to be around
12:37or they want him to be around after that,
12:39I do think that that is the period of time
12:41where Steve is still gonna be here.
12:43Unless he decides that he wants to quit,
12:45they're not going to fire him.
12:47So Steph and Draymond and Steve,
12:49that troika is going to be here.
12:51Now, how can you build around them now
12:54and before February and in the off season?
12:58All these things for me are similar,
13:00but also very different.
13:01And I'm not of the mind where coming off this skid
13:05and what you have in the roster,
13:07if you make a bold move now for fill in the blank player
13:10who's out there,
13:11I don't think that that's a smart move now.
13:14And I don't think it's a smart move down the road either.
13:16If you're talking about Jimmy Butler or Zion or Ingram.
13:21Well, you got to do something.
13:23You have to do something.
13:24And if you don't want to do something, I get it.
13:27You might have a point,
13:28but you might as well move on from Steph.
13:31No, you don't have to.
13:32Well, you don't have to do something between now
13:35and no, you don't.
13:36Yes, you do because he-
13:37Steph is under contract for two and a half years.
13:39You don't have to just-
13:40You're not going to play Steph that way.
13:41You don't have to mortgage the entirety
13:42of your organization-
13:43I didn't say that.
13:44To bring in one guy.
13:45I didn't say that.
13:46You don't have to do anything between now and February.
13:48You have to do something-
13:50You don't.
13:51Because Steph Curry is demanding it
13:54if you're paying attention.
13:55Well, if he's demanding it, then he'll demand it.
13:58He's not demanding it.
13:59He's frustrated and he is disconsolate.
14:02You don't think that these conversations
14:03are happening behind the scenes?
14:05You don't think-
14:06Like what conversations?
14:07Okay.
14:07Like get me a star or else?
14:08This was the-
14:09What are we talking about here?
14:10This was the summer.
14:11Yes, get me a star or else.
14:12Or else what?
14:13Or do something.
14:14Then I'd like, then I want out.
14:15Well, I saw the reports yesterday
14:17of Joe Lacob and Mike Dunleavy after the game
14:19having a very serious and deep conversation-
14:22In the hallway.
14:23In the hallway in front of everybody.
14:24So what does that mean?
14:26Does that mean that they're going to call Pat Riley
14:28and say, have what you want.
14:30We want Jimmy Butler because Steph says so?
14:32I don't think so.
14:33But I'm not, again, don't zero in on this deal or that deal.
14:38I'm talking more about doing something
14:41to make Steph feel like he is supported.
14:46And if you're watching, the messaging is everywhere.
14:48The Tim Kuhn piece where he literally,
14:51hey, have the Warriors done enough?
14:52And he's like, can't answer that right now.
14:55Like, obviously the two timelines thing didn't work,
14:58but I know I want a fifth ring.
15:00Like hell, I want a fifth ring.
15:02I'm not cool just riding this thing out.
15:05Then you look at his facial expression
15:06over at the bench the other night, last night.
15:09He's staring up into the rafters
15:11looking completely despondent.
15:13Now you get this comment from,
15:16hey, how do you get better on offense?
15:18I have no idea, he says.
15:20And then we go back to the summer
15:22and his interview with Yahoo.
15:24I can clearly say I want to be a Warrior for life.
15:26It's always been my goal.
15:28And I'm saying that sitting in this chair right now.
15:30But like you said, life and especially life in the NBA,
15:34it is a wild environment and things change quickly
15:38and the league has changed quickly.
15:40So we're trying to adapt and evolve.
15:42And until that, I'll let everybody know if that changes.
15:46But right now, of course, the goal is always to be
15:49to finish my career, move on team.
15:52Yeah, the goal is that.
15:53Yeah, he'll let you know if that changes.
15:55Right, and that's what we want, but there's a but.
15:58Like I just, to me, I have no questions
16:02about what is likely happening behind the scenes.
16:04Steph Curry is uncomfortable with what is taking place.
16:08And it's because of what I've been saying
16:09for the better part of two months.
16:11This team is not good enough.
16:12And so when you ask him about how do you fix the offense,
16:17what he really wants to say is get me some guys
16:19who are actually good on offense.
16:21There you go.
16:22Because you look at his team,
16:22well, Buddy Heald was supposed to be that guy.
16:25And Dennis Schroeder is the guy who gets you 18 a night.
16:28And the rest of the team,
16:29they're not very good offensive players.
16:31Apologies to TJ Dean and his 19 point outburst,
16:35but this team does not have enough good offensive players.
16:39So how do you get this offense to be better?
16:41Well, you bring in somebody like, for example, Bradley Beal.
16:45You bring in Bradley Beal who can score,
16:47or you bring in Jimmy Butler,
16:49or you bring in somebody who's an actual scorer,
16:52and then your offense is better.
16:53I mean, that doesn't mean your team's better.
16:55I think we're saying the same thing now.
16:57Like again, this is not, to me,
16:59this is not about who you want them to trade for.
17:02This, to me, this moment,
17:05this is all about Steph Curry's comfort.
17:08And if that bothers you,
17:09if you don't want this organization to be about that,
17:12that's fine, but just know that's how they do it.
17:15And that's how it works in the NBA.
17:17It's why, if you watch the Phoenix Suns
17:19at the end of last year,
17:21you watched a GM hold an entire press conference
17:24to basically pet Kevin Durant on the head.
17:27Because then they brought everyone back.
17:29Because if the star's uncomfortable,
17:30your organization is done.
17:32It's done.
17:33It's over.
17:34You're heading to Blazersville.
17:36That's where you're going.
17:38But it doesn't mean that you have to appease him
17:40before the deadline in February.
17:42Well, it might.
17:43Well, it also might mean you wait until the summer.
17:46Maybe, but he needs to be comfortable with that.
17:49You need to have a plan in front of a star like that.
17:52So you tell him that the only way we can make
17:54one of these deals is that Draymond's
17:56gotta be involved in the deal.
17:58Well, I don't know that that's even true.
18:00Well, we don't know what's true.
18:01No, I don't know what's offered or what's available.
18:03If you're another team out there,
18:05and Wiggins is the centerpiece,
18:07or an injured Kaminga that you have to pay,
18:10I just don't think that there's a deal,
18:12a feasible deal out there with what you have.
18:14Maybe not.
18:15You've got a bunch of $9 million players
18:17who aren't very good.
18:19You've got a $26 million Wiggins who plays twice a week.
18:23You've got a Jonathan Kaminga who,
18:25if he keeps playing like this,
18:26someone's gonna have to pay him 40.
18:28And you've got an aging Draymond Green
18:31who Steph Curry does not want to leave this team.
18:35What do you have?
18:36What do you have to trade?
18:38You got no assets.
18:39It's interesting that you're saying this
18:41because this is literally what I'm telling you
18:42Steph is feeling.
18:43Right, and what I'm telling you is,
18:46what are you gonna do, Steph?
18:47Who do you want to trade?
18:48What's the deal?
18:49I mean, that kind of give up attitude,
18:53I would argue he doesn't even know what that means.
18:56So you go to him and say,
18:56hey, we can get you Vucevic and or Cam Johnson.
19:00And he goes, cool.
19:01This conversation is happening on the daily.
19:05If the bottom line is,
19:06is the players around me aren't good enough,
19:08any star, I don't know why this is even foreign to anybody.
19:12Like someone just texted in,
19:14Willard is not understanding.
19:15Steph doesn't have to go.
19:16Steph is demanding Steve to change.
19:19Respectfully, you're crazy.
19:20I don't think that's it.
19:21This is not Steph Curry talking to Steve Kerr.
19:24Steph is talking to Mike Dunleavy,
19:26Joe Lacob, the organization as a whole,
19:29the league, his friends, his boys,
19:31the other stars around the league.
19:33They conspire to win on a yearly basis.
19:36This is what happens in the LeBron James era.
19:39This is what they're doing.
19:40And this is not new.
19:42This is any sport.
19:43What do you think Tyreek Hill was doing last week?
19:45He's like, this quarterback gets concussed too often,
19:49and your backup is Tyler Huntley.
19:51I'm out, because I'm a star.
19:53I need people around me.
19:55This is what every single, Giannis, Dame Lillard,
19:58this is Anthony Davis, this is how he ended up in LA.
20:03And yes, this can happen to you too.
20:06And here we are, Bay Area,
20:08Steph Curry is sending the internal signals,
20:12I don't like what's around me.
20:15It doesn't mean I hate you, I'm not threatening you yet,
20:18but like the answer of, oh, sorry,
20:21there's nothing we can do, is not gonna work for him.
20:23Well, it's also not necessarily feasible
20:27for it to get fixed in the next four weeks.
20:29And the deadline is four weeks from tomorrow.
20:31So he understands the league more than you or I
20:34or the majority of people to where it may not be as easy as,
20:39I want a better team, and them saying, all right,
20:41we're gonna go out and get you a better team around you.
20:44They tried to do that with Dennis Schroeder,
20:46so far that hasn't really worked,
20:48because you took an injured guy who had fit,
20:51and you replaced him with Dennis Schroeder,
20:53who so far hasn't fit.
20:55And you actually went in the off season
20:56and turned Clay Thompson into multiple players
20:59that you brought in to get your team deeper and better.
21:02And it seemed like back in October and November
21:06where you were 12 and three,
21:07Steph wasn't really saying these things about the team
21:11and the offense and all the rest of it,
21:12because you were 12 and three.
21:13So tough times don't last, tough people do.
21:17And if Steph really thinks that this roster is that bad,
21:20and he can't do anything with this roster,
21:23then what happened to the 12 and three team?
21:26When everyone's riding high and you're 12 and three?
21:28I don't know, people were hot
21:29that have not been able to find it again.
21:31But I don't know, man, this is just the way
21:34that it feels like to me is obvious to read.
21:37And Steph Curry is at the podium every night now,
21:40like what was it three nights ago?
21:42As the kids say, we're mid.
21:44That's not a message?
21:46Bro, like oh my God.
21:48So he's right, you're mid, but how do you not become mid?
21:51You get different players.
21:53Right, you trade four of your guys who are mid,
21:55and another team is like,
21:56I can't wait to acquire your mid.
21:58That's not up for you and I to answer.
22:00And as you know, yes, that kind of thing can happen.
22:03Nobody understood why the Brooklyn Nets
22:05gave up an 18 point per night score for two future seconds.
22:09Why?
22:10I don't know.
22:11Maybe, like that's a little small sample size,
22:14but you understand this, this is about finances,
22:16it's about assets, it's about who's building and who's not.
22:20And you don't know, I don't know who they can get.
22:23But like why would you just sit here with this?
22:26This is not it, that I know, and so does he.
22:29I also think that sitting here with this
22:32is probably more likely gonna be what you do
22:34as opposed to bringing in,
22:36and I'm looking at an SI piece
22:38about the top 10 free agents available,
22:41and Jimmy Butler at 48, and Bradley Beal at 50 million,
22:45and some of these other, Zach Levine making 42, 43, right?
22:50The majority of these guys,
22:52not only does the trade not work,
22:54but I don't think that they make you appreciably better,
22:56so I look at this team and think
22:59they're more likely to do a smaller move,
23:02and unfortunately for Steph, it may have to be next year
23:05where you get out there and you decide what you wanna do.