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00:00I want to know when this Jimmy Butler staircase is going to end
00:05because I keep climbing.
00:07I keep finding a new level of appreciation
00:10and a new level of respect.
00:13And sure, some of that is because he now wears the jersey for which I root.
00:18I'm mature enough to notice that.
00:20But at the same time, like, I didn't know a lot of this about Jimmy Butler.
00:26I watch a ton of hoops, and I know how great of a player he is.
00:30I didn't know this.
00:32I didn't know he was this self-aware.
00:36I didn't know he was this thoughtful.
00:38I didn't know, and I mean that as a basketball player.
00:41I don't know if he sends thank you notes to people.
00:44But, like, even the way he's picked a different angle with each teammate, right?
00:51Steph, there's the ultimate respect.
00:54You're Batman.
00:56Draymond, there's almost like a, hey, man, you and me are kind of on the same level.
01:00We're going to be the tough guys on this team.
01:02Buddy, you're going to be over here,
01:04and we're going to do nothing but make fun of each other the whole time, every time,
01:08no matter what.
01:09We're going to make it sound like we hate each other even though we love each other.
01:12Quentin Post, that's my little rookie over there.
01:15That's my guy.
01:16That's my crazy man.
01:17I like Quentin.
01:18He's selected a different angle with each player,
01:22which is unbelievable leadership.
01:26Incredible leadership.
01:27In two months.
01:28In two months.
01:29Right.
01:30And they've lost nine basketball games since he got here.
01:34I don't know, man.
01:35I did not expect this from Jimmy Butler.
01:40He is so well-rounded with everything that he's doing for this team.
01:44And the point you make is an interesting one because, you know, you watch a lot of,
01:49especially college basketball players where you all have your handshake with each person
01:52and all the rest of it.
01:53And that's kind of what Jimmy Butler has brought to this team where you mentioned it.
01:57He's got his own relationship with each individual player and it's only been two months.
02:02And it's like each of these guys kind of has their own thing with Jimmy.
02:06And maybe it's not a secret handshake that they all have when they go to the bench.
02:11But Jimmy Butler is a guy who has that respect from the young guys and he's got the respect
02:16from the old guys.
02:17And he came in and he's just doing his thing, but he made it so that everybody wants to fit
02:22in with him.
02:22And he played through such pain.
02:24Yeah.
02:24I mean, it was so clear how much pain he was in, especially the first three quarters.
02:29And then somehow he was able to get through it.
02:31And whether it's been bad or even just a mild one, we've all done that.
02:36We've all landed on the tailbone.
02:38Oh, and it's brutal.
02:39It's absolutely brutal.
02:41And so every step he took last night, it was like, we all felt it.
02:46We all felt that.
02:47And you're just like, oh man.
02:49But for him to power through that and be the team's leading scorer and hit all the free
02:57throws and make all the heady plays down the stretch and sky through the air like he was
03:02Giannis for the ending rebound.
03:05I don't know, man.
03:06Wow.
03:07Wow.
03:08He has just wowed me since he's gotten here.
03:11Let's, we'd love to hear your experience.
03:13How'd you take this one in?
03:15And what was your stress level like during the game?
03:19Let's go to Zia in San Ramon.
03:22Hey Zia, what's going on?
03:25Hey guys, what's going on?
03:26Thanks for having me on.
03:27Big fan.
03:28Stress level was paramount as you can imagine.
03:32But I think, you know, midway through, I had this realization where I realized, you
03:37know, that this is actually the best matchup for us to have early on because not because
03:42of the reasons most people say, oh, the Rockets are an easier matchup than the, you
03:45know, Lakers or anybody else like that.
03:47But because I think the physicality that they bring and the way that they face card
03:51Steph and they double and triple team him and the way that they run their two big man
03:56offense or rather defense, it makes it so that we've had to get really creative and it's
04:02a grit and grind environment for us as a team to score.
04:05And I think what I realized at that point, I was thinking to myself, the way that this
04:09physicality is and the intensity is here, the future series that we may find ourselves
04:14in and we will find ourselves in, I just think that they're going to come a lot more easier.
04:18There's going to be a lot more motion and fluidity for Steph and for the team to get
04:21going compared to this series.
04:23So the stress level during the game was absolutely sky high.
04:26But at some point there was this realization that it's not that this is the hardest it's
04:32going to get, but I think this is the most physical that it's going to be right now.
04:36And I think we're going to see better and better offense going forward.
04:39Zia, thanks for the call.
04:40It's an interesting point.
04:41I don't know, though, if that's actually the case.
04:44I know it feels that way.
04:46We're in it right now if you're a Warrior fan and therefore you look at this and you're
04:51mad at the Rockets and you're like, boy, these cheap shot and they're getting under your
04:56skin and the physicality is out of control, right?
04:59All the other series feel that way about themselves, too.
05:03Chris Finch has literally actually been the one, and that's the head coach of Minnesota,
05:07who right now, the most likely scenario, has the Timberwolves and Warriors playing next
05:12if both of them can get one more win.
05:14They both play tomorrow night.
05:16With an opportunity to do it on the road.
05:19But Finch is literally the one who has publicly stated, dude, we've got to do something about
05:25the physicality in these playoffs.
05:27It's too much.
05:28And what's sort of coincidental or ironic is he coaches the team that after game one
05:33against the Lakers, J.J.
05:34Reddick came out and went, we were not ready for the physicality that Minnesota had.
05:39The Knicks and Pistons are literally brawling with one another.
05:43Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and Chris Tapps Porzingis have all been assaulted by the Orlando
05:49Magic in a series that they're kind of cruising through.
05:53So I know right now we think this is as physical as it gets.
05:57I don't know if that's the case.
05:59It's I don't know that it might just be this way the whole way, which is if you're the older
06:04team is a fearful proposition.
06:07Well, I think it's more about being the smaller team that makes it a little bit more difficult
06:11because, you know, Jimmy is six five and Draymond is six six and pods is six three.
06:16And so is Steph, maybe.
06:18And so GP two is six three.
06:20You've got a really small team compared to what Minnesota would possibly bring.
06:25And, you know, Minnesota's got so much more size with Nas Reed and Rudy Gobert and the
06:29rest of it.
06:30So I do think that part of the physicality comes from the perceived lack of size here.
06:35Let's keep going.
06:36Eight at eight, nine, five, seven, nine, five, 70.
06:38Spencer in Oakland is next.
06:40Hi, Spencer.
06:41Thanks for the call.
06:43Hey, folks.
06:43Thank you for taking my call.
06:45I the other day I called in after a loss and, you know, we had we had a lot of folks calling
06:50in that were pretty upset.
06:52And, you know, somebody didn't get minutes last night.
06:55I won't say the name, but I don't hear anybody complaining today.
06:58And I will just say that my stress level last night was through the roof.
07:04I mean, for sure.
07:05We needed that game.
07:06You don't you don't want to go back tied to two.
07:09You don't want to give up the advantage that you that you took when you won game one.
07:15And what I will say about the physicality is I do feel like the refs as a group, you
07:22know, league wide are allowing things to be more physical than we've seen in in recent
07:29years past.
07:31And I'm not necessarily against it.
07:34And I really like what I saw from Quentin Post last night.
07:38You know, when somebody's on the floor, he came up and just kind of brushed off the the
07:43Rockets player, kind of pushed him back, helped up his guy really kind of getting in the middle
07:47of things as your seven footer should.
07:49And I think we have a couple of guys like that with Loon and Quentin Post that, you know,
07:54if a forearm shiver is required, a forearm shiver can be given.
07:58I'm not saying anybody should ever hurt anybody.
08:01But the physicality, if this is the way the league wants it now, we have we have folks on
08:06our team that can hang.
08:08And, you know, I really I'm glad that Draymond did not get another tech.
08:14I'm glad that that kick was not called, although I think the first technical was definitely
08:20based on reputation.
08:22And I really look forward to them going and just just finish this thing out on the road,
08:27take it from them and and come home and get that get that nice rest for Jimmy and Steph
08:33and let him be fresh next series.
08:35Thanks for taking my call.
08:36Spencer, thanks for making it.
08:37That'd be great.
08:38That'd be great if they could do this tomorrow night.
08:40This could be hard.
08:42It will be hard.
08:43Very hard.
08:43It doesn't necessarily mean that you would get the rest that you think.
08:47And Tim Kawakami actually had a great comment on this, where if you have all these series
08:52that are ending early, like you and I talked about yesterday, how many series will go six
08:56or more?
08:57And I said maybe one.
08:58The East might be done tonight.
09:00Correct.
09:00Yeah.
09:01You've got all that that's going to be done.
09:03And if Minnesota wins and the Warriors win, well, the only one that would be more than
09:07six would be the Clippers in Denver.
09:09Six or more would be that.
09:11So if Minnesota and the Warriors both win tomorrow, memo to Warrior fans, that series starts this
09:16weekend.
09:17Yes.
09:17Not Friday, though.
09:19No.
09:19You would get multiple days off.
09:20I don't know if it would be Saturday or Sunday, but yes, they will.
09:23That's the point, though.
09:24It's like...
09:24The TV stations need the games.
09:26Correct.
09:27And so they're not going to just let everybody sit there because you earn...
09:29But if the Lakers and Rockets both win tomorrow, then that series probably won't start until
09:33Monday or Tuesday.
09:34Correct.
09:35Correct.
09:35But yeah, like...
09:37Then I'd also say the idea of the Warriors and Wolves both winning on the road tomorrow,
09:43they're both underdogs, improbable.
09:46Improbable.
09:47So we'll see.
09:48Yeah, I agree with you.
09:49Your ideal scenario is Warriors win and Lakers win.
09:53So you should be a Laker fan tomorrow night.
09:55Right.
09:55And so that series has got to keep going because that's how you would actually earn optimum rest.
10:03So we'll see.
10:04We'll see.