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00:00This has been yet another journey, and I will stand right up and raise my hand and admit to a vibe that I hate.
00:11I hate, but dude, I went home Friday night very discouraged.
00:17Yeah?
00:18Very discouraged.
00:19You were in the house, right? You and the lovely Christy.
00:21No, no, no, we went. We went to the game Friday night.
00:23That's what I said. You were in the house.
00:25Oh, I thought you meant like we were at our house.
00:26No, no, no. We went to the game.
00:28We was in the building.
00:29You went to the game, right?
00:30No, no, no. We went to the game.
00:31Went to the game.
00:32Went to the game. We're in the house.
00:35I got home like in seven minutes.
00:38What?
00:39It was an unbelievable transportation sensation.
00:42You thought it was going to be the opposite.
00:45We've right by Oracle Park Giants game.
00:48Onto the Bay Bridge.
00:50Sha-ching!
00:51Scoop through the tunnel. I got home for tip.
00:54Dude.
00:54I got home for tip.
00:55That's crazy.
00:56Wish I wouldn't have.
00:57You got home for tip?
00:58E-tip-ish.
00:59I was going to say.
01:00It might have been like two or three minutes later.
01:02Damn.
01:02It was, and I don't speed. You know me. I'm captain 10 and 2.
01:05Right, right.
01:06Like granny style.
01:08I mean, unless somebody cuts you off.
01:09Oh, then it's double fingers.
01:10Because those arms are out the window.
01:12Yeah.
01:12Only one.
01:14One hand on the wheel.
01:15Anyway.
01:15Yeah, no, that's impressive.
01:17But no, we were there, and I was prepared to faint.
01:21It was one of those games.
01:23I don't know if anybody has this experience.
01:25When I'm really intense about a game, if there's really a moment, then I will cheer in such a way
01:36where the energy and the volume is so high that I can force myself into lightheadedness.
01:42Oh, my God.
01:43I'm not proud of it, but I wanted this one.
01:46You're spending so much CO2, not enough oxygen in, CO2 out.
01:51I think there was a foul at one point called on the goon, and he had to exit the game,
01:57and I let out a massive expletive.
02:01I was hot.
02:03I had had it as my mom often.
02:07I had had it up to ear dibs.
02:08He's just a kid.
02:09I know, but you get caught up in all this stuff.
02:12No doubt.
02:13We got a seven gamer here, and I was hot.
02:17Then there's these two, and they were lovely, nothing against them,
02:20but these two ladies sitting next to us who were big Rocket fans.
02:23They might have been affiliated with someone in the organization.
02:26They kind of looked like that, where they were like, just Rocket gear,
02:30but we're not going to say anything.
02:31We're just focused solely on the game.
02:32I don't want to talk.
02:33We're not going to eat anything.
02:34We're just going to clap every time the Rockets score.
02:37We're going to call him Alpy.
02:39Come on, Alpy.
02:40Make your shots.
02:41And I'm like, you're really annoying me.
02:43Oh, no.
02:44Because I got a lot of energy for this one.
02:46I hope you cussed one of those ladies out.
02:47I did not.
02:48We did not share any thoughts at all.
02:50I was like, the way I handled that is I'm like, I'm not talking to you.
02:54I might rub shoulders.
02:56I'm going to ask you to get up when I need to go to the bathroom.
02:59But other than that, we're not talking.
03:01Christy's the complete opposite.
03:03Second, she realizes they're Rocket fans.
03:05And she just leans over and gets right in front of him and goes, oh, no.
03:09Oh, no.
03:11I didn't know you.
03:13You're rooting for the Rockets?
03:14Oh, no.
03:15That's not good.
03:17Oh, no.
03:18I have a whole conversation with him.
03:19I'm just like, I'm keeping my eyes straight ahead because I'm focused on this goon
03:23and this Dylan Brooks jerk, and we're going to get him out of here.
03:26And, Dibs, the Rockets played great and the Warriors played horrible,
03:31and I was very discouraged on the way home.
03:35I bet.
03:36And all of those thoughts about this show, this one, this show today being a funeral
03:44to the Warriors season.
03:46Dearly beloved.
03:46They all filtered into my brain.
03:50And so last night was pretty, pretty satisfying.
03:54Oh, it was pretty awesome.
03:55That was pretty satisfying.
03:56And I was telling everybody yesterday about, you know, hey,
04:00because you bump into people at the farmer's market, and they're like, you know,
04:03where are you watching the game?
04:04And it's like I'm watching it at home, and, oh, boy, geez, I hope the Warriors win.
04:09And I look at these people like, you don't understand what this means to me.
04:12Personally, I've been a Warrior fan for, oh, I don't know, almost 50 years.
04:16Right.
04:17But professionally, like, them continuing to play basketball, it's good for business.
04:23And Game 7s are good for business, but having another series is also good for business.
04:28So I got a lot of texts yesterday about, like, there you go, more content.
04:34No, it's good for business, it's good for the soul.
04:37It's good for the Bay Area, it's good for everything.
04:39Well, it's also just fun.
04:40Like, I wasn't, look, let's be real.
04:42When you go up 3-1, you start making mental plans.
04:47I did.
04:48I'm like, okay, we're going around 2.
04:51Yep.
04:52They're up 3-1.
04:53There's nothing in life that's going to happen 95% of the time that you don't start counting on.
04:58Not even a Steph Curry free throw.
05:00Right?
05:01Like, not even a Steph, great analogy.
05:03Because that's at about 91 for his career, roughly.
05:07And when he goes to the line.
05:08And he, correct me and buzz me, I know it's been a long time.
05:10When he goes to the line, I put the points on the board before he shoots it.
05:13Every time.
05:14Every time.
05:14So, I was already making plans.
05:17Yeah, 91 for his career.
05:18Yeah.
05:19Dodged a bullet there.
05:20Nailed it.
05:21Yeah.
05:21So, like, we were, you know what I mean?
05:24I'm like, we got at least a couple more weeks of basketball and this is going to be a blast.
05:28And then it feels like something got taken from you.
05:31That's how I felt Friday night.
05:33Right.
05:33It felt like something got taken from us.
05:35Yeah, that's a good way to describe it.
05:37And, you know, Friday night was one of those ones where they just could never quite get over the hump and get on top.
05:44Totally.
05:45I was looking at all these games and I'll do a deeper dive on the Minnesota experience.
05:49But the one thing I've kind of been noticing about the Warriors is when they lead early and they keep the lead, they don't lose.
05:57And I know that all the blown leads and this and that during the regular season.
06:00They've been a lot better lately.
06:01They have been.
06:02But in this game Friday night when, you know, the Warriors are in a spot where they're up 3-2 and, you know, you want to avoid going to Houston.
06:11Houston led for 43 minutes and 13 seconds of that game.
06:15Oh, they were the better team.
06:16The Warriors led for a minute 41.
06:17Yeah.
06:17It was not even a question.
06:20The Rockets were flat out a better basketball team on Friday night.
06:24Yeah.
06:25So, I don't know how the hell, I said this earlier, you can be, you can like not give up hope.
06:32That's fine.
06:33Don't give up hope.
06:34There's no way in hell you went into last night's game optimistic.
06:38Oh, yeah, they got it.
06:39No, if you felt that way, you're myopic, quite frankly.
06:43I don't know how you could feel that way going into the game.
06:45And you know, I don't do myopia, but I did text you, Jesse Jackson, keep hope alive.
06:50You said keep hope alive.
06:51Keep hope alive.
06:52And I said, yeah.
06:53Of course.
06:54But, no.
06:55Right.
06:56Yeah.
06:57And then I realized.
06:57It's not good.
06:58It's not good.
06:59And then I looked at the spread and it was two and a half.
07:02Oh, yeah.
07:02Because I did one of these gambling shows yesterday afternoon.
07:05And I did it in my garage because the baby's asleep.
07:08And we're going through it and he actually asked me, the two co-hosts, they're like, a prediction.
07:14If you had to make a prediction.
07:15And I said, well, the Warriors are my team.
07:18But if you're asking me to make a prediction, it's the Rockets.
07:21Like, the numbers indicate the Rockets.
07:24The home team wins 75% of the time in Game 7.
07:27And the Warriors have an bum thumb and a bum tailbone and an older team.
07:32The prediction, the bet, would have been the Rockets.
07:36I know your life has not gone haywire.
07:39But I will tell you, it sounds like it is when you say, so I did a gambling show in the garage.
07:46Yeah.
07:46Like, that literally, like.
07:48Oh, yeah.
07:48If somebody says that to me, I'm like, I want to check on that person.
07:52We're doing all right?
07:53We're doing great.
07:54You're doing okay with your life?
07:55Had you seen the backdrop of my.
07:58Because, you know, all these radio shows now, they want you to do video too.
08:01Of course.
08:01And so I'm like, I'm sitting out there in a folding chair.
08:04Like a shame saw behind you or something.
08:05No, it was like.
08:06Tool shed.
08:06You know, like the overhanging wood structure of a garage.
08:10And like a blank hole.
08:10Like a loft up there.
08:12A couple of rakes and a shovel.
08:14Yeah, I call my message phone.
08:16I like the under.
08:17I did like the under, at least.
08:19Yeah.
08:19And you were right.
08:20Yeah.
08:21All right.
08:21So, 888-957-9570.
08:23What's your Game 7 story?
08:24What's your takeaway from round one?
08:26Warriors moving on to round two in Minnesota tomorrow night.
08:29Idris in Hayward.
08:30Hi, Idris.
08:31Thanks for waiting.
08:31Thanks for calling.
08:32Hey, what's going on, fellas?
08:35Doing a heck of a job over there.
08:36So, my takeaway.
08:38First off, you know, shout out to Buddy Heald.
08:40But you know who really set the tone of that game?
08:43It was Draymond.
08:44He came out, had a layup, had a three.
08:47We're up five.
08:48Hit another three.
08:48I said, whoa.
08:49Okay, Draymond's here.
08:51Game 7, Dre is here, right?
08:53And then, you know, we started going well.
08:55Heald hit it.
08:55But I noticed that Steph Curry and Butler, they were struggling.
09:00They were literally keeping Houston in the game.
09:02And I know they played in the fourth.
09:03But that was because they were tired.
09:05So, what I want to talk about is how is Steve Curry going to get these guys rest on a different schedule?
09:11Because at the end of the day, I know people say you can't play your bench because we'll go down.
09:15But it shows that when our star players are tired, they play just as bad, sometimes even worse.
09:21And on the other side, Jabari Smith was killing us.
09:24And apparently, the coach didn't like him or something like that.
09:27And I'm like, I think of the whole J.K. situation.
09:29He has been playing well.
09:30But when Steve Curry throws him in in those little spurts to, like, do something, it's not.
09:35It's almost like give him, like, a quarter or something in one of these beginning games.
09:39Because we're going to need J.K. to give us some good minutes.
09:42And we need our stars to get rest.
09:43But other than that, go Warriors.
09:45You guys are doing a great job.
09:46What do you think?
09:47Idris, thanks very much.
09:48Appreciate it.
09:49Listen, okay, there's two pieces here for me.
09:54And I want to say them both, hopefully, with clarity.
09:57I agree with Idris.
09:59We are not in a spot where assessing Jonathan Kaminga in these little spurts off of weeks on the bench are fair.
10:09It's just not fair.
10:10It's not fair.
10:11So, I'm not going to look at what you see, for example, in a game like last night and say, well, now, Jonathan Kaminga sucks because of what you saw.
10:20I think it's fair to say, look, you were given a tiny little spurt and you did not do good things.
10:27You did not do what was necessary to make the team want to put you in for longer.
10:31That's just a fact.
10:33But I don't think it's fair to assess Kaminga.
10:35He's in a really, really difficult spot.
10:38But here's the other side to it.
10:41I keep hearing this and I'd like to reject it.
10:44You ready for the sentence I'm done with?
10:46Oh, yeah.
10:47We're going to need him.
10:49No, you don't.
10:51I don't agree.
10:53I don't agree.
10:53Well, they did need him when Jimmy was out.
10:57And, like, I don't think.
10:58He started, they won.
10:59He started, they won.
11:01His minutes got actually truncated based on, I think, what the plan was, which has happened pretty much every time he's gotten put in in this series.
11:08Steve praised him, especially.
11:09Of course he praised him.
11:10Because Steve does.
11:11But I did think he played good defense on Jalen Green.
11:13Played pretty good defense.
11:14And I agree that his minutes got truncated, which means limited.
11:17And I love your use of vocab here.
11:19It's SAT season.
11:20It was a truncation sensation.
11:22That's a buck and I'll pay it because you're flexing the vocab.
11:25And I love that.
11:25I do think that last night was an even bigger example of the truncation of the young man's minutes.
11:32It's just like, but I don't buy that the Warriors are going to need him.
11:38Like, take a look at what took place in the last month and a half with him not playing at all.
11:44What did the Warriors do?
11:46Hell, they went through a gauntlet.
11:47They beat Memphis and the Lakers and Denver and all of these things.
11:51And then they worked their way into the playoffs.
11:53And they went in a play-in game.
11:54And then they go to the playoffs.
11:56And they eliminate the two-seed in seven games.
11:58And they've largely done all of this without him.
12:01So I just don't understand.
12:02It's not like, I hope this doesn't sound like I'm sure it does, which is some sort of shot against Jonathan.
12:09It is that the Warriors have built what they're doing right now without him.
12:14A lot of that not being his fault because he was hurt.
12:17But they are a very good basketball team as constructed in this moment with him having not really been a significant part of it.
12:28I don't know why we're having this hard thing in the back of our minds.
12:31It's almost like it's guilt because he was hurt when Jimmy got acquired.
12:35There's this guilt in the back of our mind of we're going to need him.
12:38We're going to need him to do this if we want to advance.
12:41We're going to need...
12:41I just don't agree.
12:43They're fine.
12:44They're a very good basketball team.
12:46If they stay healthy and play great defense, this can continue.
12:50I don't know that it will.
12:51It's really hard now.
12:52These are eight really good teams.
12:55The Warriors are not significantly better than any of the others.
12:57So it's going to be very difficult to advance.
13:00But this idea that at some point he's going to have to get the ha-ha out so that we can maneuver and advance in a series, I just don't buy it.
13:09I don't buy it.
13:09They just maneuvered forward literally without him doing much.
13:13And that's with Jimmy missing two games.
13:15Right.
13:15I just don't see it.
13:16I mean, I see the idea that he may have a role.
13:21It may not be as big of a role as he used to.
13:23But they needed, quote-unquote, a lot of different players.
13:26And they didn't need him either.
13:28Quinn Post was not needed in Game 7.
13:31He was needed for a while.
13:32And then he wasn't needed.
13:33So I look at, you know, strength in numbers.
13:35Maybe this isn't that because you're probably going to go with an eight or a nine-man rotation.
13:38But over the course of a four, five, six, seven-game series, you might need a lot from a lot of different guys.
13:47You might.
13:47You might.
13:48But you really, really, truly might not.
13:51You might not.
13:52Well, I mean, look at Houston.
13:53Houston played eight guys basically the entire series.
13:55Because they didn't even go beyond the eight in any game that was meaningful.
13:59And that's just what they did.
14:00That's because they didn't have any injuries.
14:02The Warriors had.
14:03It's because they're younger, too.
14:04Right.
14:04And they can do that.
14:05But the Warriors did.
14:06The Warriors lost Jimmy Butler twice.
14:07They lost Pods once.
14:08They lost GP2 once.
14:10Like, they had injuries.
14:11That's why some of those other people, they had technicals and flagrants and just all kinds of foul trouble.
14:17Like, that's what led to those guys coming off the bench.
14:20But if everybody's healthy and cool, like, no, the Warriors can win.
14:24And they don't.
14:26They're not going to, quote, need him.
14:28Yes, he has to be ready.
14:29Of course, that's the job of anybody who's got a uniform and shoes.
14:33But, like, I don't think that he is some sort of future linchpin on what the Warriors are doing.
14:39Like, it's mid-May pretty soon here.
14:42It certainly will be by the time this series gets fully decided.
14:46Like, the Warriors are heading down toward the end of this whole thing.
14:51And he's not much a part of the rotation at the moment.
14:55You're listening to 95.7 The Game, KGMZ FM and HD1 San Francisco and Odyssey Sports Station.
15:00Always live on the free Odyssey app now coming to you live from the Laughing Monk Studios.
15:05All right, let's keep going.
15:07Mike and Hayward.
15:07Hey, Mike, thanks for calling.
15:10Hey, guys.
15:11You know, I always want to say one thing.
15:12You know, Oklahoma City and the other teams that's left in the competition are good teams.
15:20They're really good teams.
15:21But it seems like we still got a good skill set and a good mind to beat all these teams.
15:26The skill set is still there.
15:27We talk about how old these guys are, but they've got skill set.
15:31And they've got Buddy Heels coming off the bench.
15:33Any one of those guys they've got can break out like that.
15:36So, I think with the requirement of Buddy Heels, he's actually elevated everybody's game.
15:41Which makes it almost impossible for bigger than he can get on the floor.
15:46He can't even get on the floor.
15:47Because he can't.
15:48He don't have a basketball IQ to get on the floor.
15:50But what's going on now?
15:52The team's a better team.
15:53So, it's elevated.
15:54So, I got news for you.
15:56Oklahoma City and all them other teams, they're going to have hell on their hands.
16:01Mike, thanks.
16:04I don't feel as confident as Mike does.
16:07I think the Warriors are going to have hell on their hands, too.
16:10I don't disagree with Mike.
16:12But the Warrior vets, we get it.
16:15They're fantastic.
16:16They're playoff performers.
16:17Every time we think they're done, they're not done.
16:20All these things are true.
16:22I just have, dude, I have a lot of respect for the eight teams that are left.
16:27And this Final Four in the West, if you come out, not only if you make the playoffs,
16:32but if you come out of a first-round series, do you know how good you have to be?
16:38Oklahoma City is next level.
16:40Denver, full of champions.
16:42Minnesota, probably the best young player in the league,
16:46combined with a trip to the Western Conference Finals last year.
16:49Like, dude, all four of these teams are absolute hell on wheels.
16:53All of them.
16:54They're all match-up nightmares.
16:55Yeah, and just put Oklahoma City at the top of the list
16:58and realize what they did in the regular year
17:00with the best plus-minus point differential in the history of the association
17:05and the other teams on that list.
17:07Teams 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 all won the NBA championship.
17:11So in teams that win more than 67 games,
17:14they go on to win the NBA title 80% of the time.
17:17So they check two gigantic boxes in OKC.
17:20Now I know they're young and they've never done it,
17:23but you have to go through a very good Minnesota team
17:25to even have that possible conversation.
17:28Right, absolutely.
17:29And they've got their own challenge.
17:32Like, I don't care how much better you are,
17:35how much more rested you are.
17:37Playing Nikola Jokic sucks.
17:40It is so hard.
17:42He's the worst match-up in the league for anyone.
17:45He's unstoppable.
17:47He's unstoppable and he's huge, so he's exhausting.
17:50Draymond has talked about this before.
17:52Guarding that guy is a complete fork in the eye.
17:56And so Oklahoma City's going to have to do that.
17:59And I think they'll survive,
18:00but they're going to come out with some bruises for sure.
18:03I don't think they're overwhelmingly dominant
18:05in this group of four teams.
18:07I really don't.
18:08Yeah, I do.
18:09And, you know, the odds will tell you.
18:11I think they're the best one.
18:11I don't think they're dominant.
18:12They're minus 900 to win the series.
18:14I know, I know.
18:16It's just, Oklahoma City can beat you
18:17in so many different ways.
18:19They've got the great guard in Gilgis Alexander.
18:23They've got size.
18:24They've got shooting.
18:24They've got depth.
18:25They've got defense.
18:26I just, it would be,
18:28I'm not going to say a choke job
18:30if they didn't get through Denver,
18:31but when you're that big of a favorite.
18:33It would be quite an upset.
18:34It would be a huge disappointment.
18:36But it's Denver.
18:36Like, that's kind of the point.
18:38Like, you're dealing with champions.
18:39The other thing that Oklahoma City has going for them,
18:42the other team has Russell Westbrook.
18:45So there's that.
18:46Sure.
18:46Did you see him talk over the weekend about it?
18:48No, I missed it.
18:49He talked about it.
18:49You were fixated by him.
18:51Well, I can't stand him.
18:52He talked about the Russell Westbrook experience.
18:57Did he go third person?
18:58He spoke about it.
18:59He goes, when you watch me play,
19:01you're going to get it all.
19:02Like, might make a three.
19:03That's good awareness.
19:04I like that.
19:05Might miss a three.
19:06Might be a turnover.
19:07Might be this.
19:08But in the end, what he was saying is,
19:09but don't get it twisted.
19:10I'm a really smart basketball player.
19:12Oh, and I'm like, like, but lost in all this
19:18is the Russell Westbrook back at Oklahoma City angle.
19:22Yep.
19:22I'm curious to see how they respond to him.
19:26I don't think they're going to call him a cupcake
19:27like they did Kevin Durant.
19:29I don't think that they've, you know what I mean?
19:31I think they still love Russell Westbrook.
19:33I don't know.
19:33Well, how many teams removed is he now?
19:35Oh, like four or five.
19:37Yeah.
19:37He's been to a number of different places.
19:39Washington.
19:40Yep.
19:40Houston.
19:41Yeah.
19:42Wasn't he a Laker?
19:43The Lakers.
19:44He was a Clippers.
19:46Clippers.
19:46Nuggets.
19:47So that's five.
19:49Are we missing anything?
19:50Man, we're on fire.
19:52Yeah.
19:52Hard to be that angry, but I get it.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:56Yeah.
19:56Yeah.
19:56Yeah.
19:56Yeah.
19:57Yeah.
19:57Yeah.
19:57Yeah.
19:57Yeah.
19:57Yeah.