• last week
Transcript
00:00Joining us to chat it out, River Island's guest line, is our good friend Larry Beal, KGO.
00:06And we haven't talked to him in a while. Hey Larry, how you been?
00:09Aloha, it's been a while. I was listening to you guys while I was driving into the city to go to
00:14work. A spirited debate about last night's game. I just want to pose, you know, one hypothetical.
00:21Yeah.
00:21Because everybody's freaking out because the Nuggets were so depleted with the Joker not
00:26playing and Jamal Murray not playing and Christian Brown not playing. If the Nuggets
00:31were at full strength and the Warriors lost the game, would you feel differently? Because
00:37obviously their effort wasn't there and their execution was even worse. So would you look at
00:43the whole situation differently? Because obviously they struggled with the Nuggets in the past.
00:48Maybe to a degree, but like the whole thing, this is for me, like last night was just a sloppy game
00:56and I think you could burn the tape on that. I was sort of more focused on what was said after
01:04the game, which is you have that kind of bad effort, you lose a huge opportunity, and now
01:11you're bringing into conversation the idea that Steph Curry is exhausted and might need some time
01:17off. To me, it's that combo that's the concern, not just the game itself. Dibbs, I don't know
01:23how you'd answer that.
01:24It's a little bit of the combo, but for me, it's more just the way they looked and the way
01:28Steph looked because this is where the debates come from, Larry, because I could see where
01:33he looked exhausted in his last five games all at home have been less than what we've
01:38seen when Jimmy had joined the team. Yeah, no, I agree totally with you and obviously
01:45if you go back to the start of the season, and I don't remember if it was a preseason game where
01:49he was reaching in on a drive and messed up his thumb, that's been an ongoing issue for months
01:55and obviously he had the problems with both of his knees. And now you can see for the end of
02:00the game that we had on the air Saturday night, he was obviously favoring his side or his oblique
02:06or his back. It's hard to tell what it is. So he's not right. He's not 100%. To me, the question is,
02:14obviously, you've got to win as many games as you can down the stretch. You've got Milwaukee
02:18tonight. If you rest, Steph, you have a chance to have him healthier for the rest of the schedule.
02:27If you just keep running him into the ground game after game because we got to win, we got to win,
02:30we got to win, then you're going to get an exhausted Steph Curry going into the playoffs
02:36and that's not ideal either. So, I mean, you know, you got to pick your poison in this case.
02:42Larry, be with us and I'm looking at your last tweet of the night when watching that game and
02:49here it is. Atrocious effort and decision-making losing to a severely short-handed Nuggets team.
03:01Well, here's the thing. This drives me insane and I talked to Steve about it,
03:08that hook pass that Steph loves to throw. Remove that from the arsenal, please.
03:16I mean, they were so careless with the ball. Not only that, I mean, while they were flinging the
03:20ball down the court and there's two Nuggets waiting to intercept it, the Warriors weren't
03:25getting back at all. I mean, it was like a layup line at the other end and you can't have both of
03:32those things. You shouldn't have either of those things happening, but you certainly can't have
03:35both. And one of the things that we've noticed here, even during the winning streak is, you know,
03:40for a while it was 12 turnovers a game and that's really their target. And then it started to pick
03:44up to 14, 15, and then we get into 17, 18, and last night was 20. We're clearly trending in the
03:50wrong direction. And I think, you know, human nature leads to complacency because you think
03:54we got it rolling, everybody's feeling good and Jimmy's here and all that. And you take your eye
04:00off the ball for, you know, for a game and hopefully it's only a game and they can get
04:05back on track. But I don't know if you've noticed this, Mark, Jimmy Butler, the past couple of games
04:11to me looks like he's trying to distribute the ball more than score. He's in the lane and he
04:20can do whatever he wants and he'll pass to the corner and maybe if it's a QP that hits a three
04:25or whatever, I want him to score. And that has to happen tonight. That has to be in my opinion,
04:31you know, because I'm undefeated at coaching in the NBA. Zero and zero. But Jimmy has to be
04:39offensive minded tonight. That's my personal feeling. Yeah, I felt like last night was
04:44closer to what you're talking about with the 16 shot attempts and he had 23 and part of that was
04:49born out of the fact that they weren't making their threes. But I look at tonight, Larry, and I
04:54see Giannis and in a different stature, Dame Lillard. And I wonder about a warrior team that
04:59couldn't guard anybody last night and really struggled on the glass. And it seemed like last
05:04night beyond Steph looking tired and you mentioned that the careless turnovers with 20 in totality
05:11felt like last night the Warriors got exposed with a couple of their weaknesses that are
05:16mostly permanent. Yeah, I mean, size is always going to be an issue and Steve believes that
05:23their best lineup is small. And so unless you can figure out how to manage that, I mean, Aaron
05:30Gordon was an absolute beast last night. I mean, 38 points and it wasn't like it was all inside.
05:36He's shooting threes from all over the place. And you know, Michael Porter Jr. is capable of
05:40getting hot. One of the things that people forget, I know like everybody's like warrior bashing and
05:45what's going on and you know, it's like panic time, all that stuff. One of the things that
05:50you got to remember is that the guys that are sitting at the end of the bench, let's say,
05:55you know, you got 15 slots, 13, 14, 15. We look at them and like, well, they're not necessarily
06:02relevant to what's going to decide the outcome of a game. Any one of those dudes, all of them
06:08probably were the best player on their college team. Any one of them could walk out onto any
06:13court in the G League and probably get 40 if they wanted to. So it's not like just like a bunch of
06:18scrubs that are sitting there. These guys are hungry because they don't get a chance to play
06:22because they're behind Jokic and Murray and all that. So these guys are, you know, they're out
06:27for blood and they got it. And I think, you know, the Warriors were like, oh, this is going to be,
06:32you know, no, no joker. We're going to, we're going to win this game. We're rolling. And then
06:38you get caught up, you know, and, and suddenly you're in a fight that you're, you're desperate
06:43to try to win. And you know, the one of, since we're talking about these turnovers and all this
06:47stuff, it drives me nuts. Um, uh, I have a, a phrase by the way, when they turn the ball over
06:53that, uh, our whole sports department, they copy me all the time. I'm not going to say it out loud,
06:58but, uh, I was screaming at the TV last night, the end of the game, uh, it's like two minutes
07:05left. Something like that. Steph has a fast break. He's going right down the lane. And instead of
07:09just floating it up with a teardrop, he tries to lob to Camingo. Who's not really expecting it.
07:16And the ball goes out of bounds and Steve spent half the night saying, we don't need home run
07:21plays. We don't need home run plays. Just make the simple pass or shoot a layup. Like, I don't
07:28know. Sometimes it just gets, you know, uh, it's perplexing. I'll put it that way. Yeah.
07:34We're we're basketball game for sure. All the way around Larry Beal KGO with us here, Willard and
07:39dibs. Glad to have him along here on the river Island's guest line. As we continue the conversation,
07:45we also have this breaking news. Brandon Pajemski is in officially tonight and in the starting
07:50lineup. So he goes right back into that spot, especially with Steph Curry out tonight, Larry,
07:56what's your take on the Warriors ability to sort of maneuver in the playoffs. If it's out of the
08:02play in tournament, how, how, how urgent is it for them to stay away from that tournament?
08:08Um, very, very, very, very urgent. Yeah. It varies right there. Yeah. Um,
08:17but I think it also depends on who you match up against. Like if they could lock down the
08:23six seat and here's the crazy thing you guys were talking about it this afternoon is, you know,
08:26if you, if you lose tonight, you can drop to eight. Anybody need the swings are crazy. If
08:32the rockets were to finish third and the Warriors were to finish six, I think golden state would be
08:37very happy with that matchup because the rockets haven't been in this situation since the hardened
08:42era. None of those players that are on the team currently have dealt with any kind of playoff
08:46pressure. So if you, you know, you, you say three, six, you know, I'll take the 16 right now.
08:51It gets a little bit more complicated and problematic. If the nuggets for the three
08:55and nobody knows where anybody's going to end up, who knows? I mean, the Clippers can go on a late
09:00run and climb up the standings. The West is just, it's a, it's a minefield to try to navigate.
09:07Yeah. And I do think that avoiding the plane would give you the one thing that you need the
09:11most and that's rest. And that's where, you know, Steph tonight, how bad the back is hopefully not
09:16that bad, but he needs a little bit of rest and you getting into the dog days of the season and
09:20all that. But if they get a top six and they avoid the play in Larry, no matter who they go up
09:26against and Mark and I both were saying Lakers and Denver, nobody wants, okay. Seeing the rest of it.
09:31Do you think that this team has a live chance at maybe doing something winning around or maybe
09:38two or more? Yes, absolutely. And, and I obviously didn't feel that way, uh, pre Jimmy Butler, uh,
09:44arriving on with the team. I think they could make it to the Western conference finals if they
09:48are healthy, if, if cominga comes along and, uh, and you know, they get favorable matchups.
09:55Certainly. I mean, that's kind of what happened in 22, but you know, as you guys know, the Warriors
10:00were extremely well-rested going into that, that playoff run because I had a bunch of guys hurt
10:05like Steph missed the last month of the season. So they were fresh. Now it feels like these guys
10:10are all on fumes and I'm not sure whether they can kind of get gas back up again in time for a
10:17deep post-season run. I think they have the potential. The one thing I do like about JK,
10:22even though he's missed so many games and I know you can, Mark is fanatical about him finishing
10:27through contact and I'm also screaming at the TV about that, but he has learned, I believe,
10:34along with Moody, they've watched Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler is a foul drawing master. Even when
10:42he has like no reasonable shot at making a basket, he is able to somehow get his arms tangled up or
10:50throw his shoulders or guy. And the next thing is shooting two free throws. Moody is doing more
10:54of that now. JK is doing a little more of that now. And if Comenda can really come on and get
10:58comfortable, I think they have a chance. I don't see this as a championship team. I still think
11:03they need at least another piece, but I don't think anybody wants to face this team in a best
11:10of seven series. I mean, they're just too scary. If Steph goes on a heater, you're in Cancun next
11:15week. Yeah, no, I think that's a very fair take, but an interesting comment that there's still a
11:20piece away. How do they get that piece with the clock ticking as quickly as it is? It ain't gonna
11:27happen this year. I mean, I think you have to look at this as it's a three-year project or
11:33two-and-a-half-year project if Steph is under contract for the next two years. Obviously,
11:37they brought Butler in, assuming that he's going to be there. You've got Steph, obviously,
11:43Draymond, and the others, the younger players. To me, I would like to see, well,
11:51like Fantasyland here, another guard who can score. And that's why the DeAnthony Melton injury
11:56earlier in the season just crushed them because he was perfect for what they do. And I would like,
12:03I know, and I've been saying this for 10 years already, a big guy, a big, like a physical big.
12:11And I love Quentin Post. I mean, he's been a revelation. The fact that they drafted him at 52
12:18and he's been this productive, nobody could have predicted that. But I would just like,
12:23you know, like the grit, the muscle, like a taller version of Draymond, if you will,
12:31without the extracurriculars. Just even somebody like, I mean, you're not going to get O.G.
12:38Ananoby, but somebody like that, a physical presence that can get rebounds when you need it
12:43and can score inside and, you know, on and on and on. But I don't see that as being feasible
12:49in the next few weeks. You're just going to have to ride with what you got. And what they're riding
12:54with right now is pretty good. I mean, you know, we have to keep it in perspective. We tend to just
12:58go bananas when they lose. But, you know, realistically, you know, they're not going
13:03to run the table. We'll see what they do tonight. I don't know. I don't know who's guarding Giannis.
13:08You know, that's that's going to be a problem. Yeah. And I do think that last night kind of
13:13shined a light for me anyway on that, where you got out rebounded by 15 and you had trouble guarding
13:18Gordon and Porter Jr. and the rest of them. But you're right, Larry. I mean, tonight's just
13:23one game. It feels like there's increased urgency with each and every game as we get further down
13:28the road. But I do think that that one piece might be Jonathan Kaminga. What have you made
13:33of his not a meteoric ascent since returning from the injury, but just how you've seen him
13:40bouncing back from the ankle after missing more than two months?
13:43I would not have imagined just by watching him in the past couple of games that he was out two
13:49months because of the ankle. To me, he looks very smooth and comfortable. And, you know,
13:56the one move that he has, he really needs to develop more in terms of his offensive arsenal,
14:01because we know he can jump out of the gym and he's a freakish athlete. He's got that one move
14:06in the lane where he turns and fades and fires, and he's pretty effective at that. But he needs
14:12to be able to do more and just be more crafty, finishing around the basket a little bit more.
14:18And if he was able to do that, you know, and also his three point shot has not been there
14:26since he's come back. That's going to take some time. He's got to get. Look, you can go out and
14:30play 20 minutes. That doesn't mean you're really in NBA shape. So you've got to get a little bit
14:35more run. But I agree with you. Coming is the giant X factor. If he plays well down these last
14:4215 and they go into the playoffs with some steam again, nobody wants to see this team in a first
14:48round matchup. Larry, you expect him to still go out there and win tonight? It would not surprise
14:55me because just, you know, two nights ago, it was two nights ago. Jordan pool hit this like
15:0135 to beat the Nuggets. And you're looking at like the Wizards beat the Nuggets. What? And,
15:08you know, it's the same thing. It's human nature. Complacency sets in. Oh, no, Steph Curry. Well,
15:13we're going to win tonight. We're going to that. Maybe that's what the Bucks are thinking. I
15:17guarantee you that Doc Rivers is right now saying just because Steph is not playing,
15:21don't think this is an automatic win because that's just human nature. So it would not shock
15:28me. I mean, they're going to have to build a wall to try to prevent Giannis from just going for 40
15:33or something like that. And Dame is Dame. But, you know, this is not the Bucks championship team
15:38from a few seasons ago. And, you know, they're gettable, but part of it depends on, you know,
15:44how do the Warriors come out? Do they come out? And is Jimmy Butler looking to attack?
15:49And and same with Moody and these other guys, knowing that you're without your star player
15:54to me last night, I would hope would be a wake up call for them to go. We've got to bring it
16:01and stop with the ridiculous, you know, Purdy like touchdown passes that keep getting intercepted.
16:09Too soon, Larry. Too soon. Wow. Caught astray out there, Brock Purdy. By the way,
16:13before you go, you want to weigh in on Niners free agency?
16:17Oh, geez. Perfect. Yeah. And that was not a bash at Brock Purdy. I'm just saying,
16:25don't you don't have to chuck the ball all the way down to the other end of the court
16:29all the time. Yeah. Yeah. And some other time we'll talk about free agents or lack thereof.
16:38To be honest, most of the guys that let go, I wouldn't be that concerned about.
16:42Regal kills me, Mason. I don't understand at all. So I'm going to be very curious to see what
16:48what Kyle and John have to say coming up towards the draft. Are we all are we all very great to
16:53have you on, man. Thank you. Yeah. See you soon. I'll see you, Chase.