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00:00All right, 888-957-9570.
00:02Last night, I feel like a win or a loss to you.
00:05Lottie, you want to weigh in.
00:06Let's go to Spencer in Oakland.
00:09Hi, Spencer. Thanks for calling.
00:11Hey, folks. Thanks for taking my call.
00:13It definitely feels like a win.
00:16I remember in years past that we've missed stuff for a couple games and been okay.
00:22So I believe if you play defense like that,
00:27that you can scrap one or two of these.
00:30And bide your time until he gets back.
00:33Not that it's going to be easy by any means,
00:35but you hold a team under 90 points, that's saying something.
00:39And I kind of want to preface the next thing that I'm going to say
00:41with the fact that I really like Anthony Edwards.
00:44I want to see.
00:45I think the NBA could use the second coming of Michael Jordan
00:50if he's really going to be that.
00:51And I would love to see it for the league and just for the excitement of it.
00:56But those press conferences last night were a perfect example of why he's not there yet
01:02and why he's got a ways to go.
01:06You know, if he had developed and matured to the point where he was ready
01:10to kind of put that hat on,
01:12he would have showed up to that press conference after his head coach called him out,
01:17would have showed up to that press conference alone,
01:19taken responsibility, and been serious about it.
01:23But what I saw was he showed up between Nas Reed and another teammate,
01:27you know, kind of laughed it off and, you know,
01:29didn't agree with his head coach and said,
01:31no, I thought I was playing good defense and everything else.
01:34So I think that right there is another reason why the Warriors can still take this series
01:39and Steph, because he's not quite ready yet.
01:43He's still amazing, right?
01:45He'll still drop 50 sometimes,
01:46but he's just not at the level of leadership that I think that squad is going to need to win a championship.
01:53And so I think that kind of, you know, leaves us a little bit of opportunity.
01:57And, yeah, I mean, I kept yelling at the TV last night,
02:01and I'll probably yell it all series long,
02:03put a body on Nas Reed.
02:05He will shoot the lights out if you let him.
02:08And, you know, just play good defense.
02:11And I loved seeing Kaminga in the game.
02:13We're going to need him now.
02:14So he needs all the minutes he can get.
02:16So thank you for taking my call, folks.
02:18All right, Spencer, thanks.
02:20Real quick, not where we want to focus this whole thing.
02:23I actually don't know.
02:25I'm not 100% sure.
02:27We'll ask Steve at 5 o'clock.
02:28I don't know if this does open up a ton more minutes for Jonathan Kaminga for this reason.
02:35Yes, you need scoring, and at times he can provide it.
02:39But if the premise has been all along, he has a hard time being on the floor when Jimmy and Draymond are both there.
02:46I think this leads to Jimmy being out on the floor potentially even more.
02:50Like, you're leaning now so heavily on Jimmy and Draymond.
02:54I don't know where.
02:56I'm sure Kaminga is going to get into some of these games, if not all of them.
03:00Oh, yeah.
03:00But I don't think it opens up some huge runway again.
03:04Agreed.
03:04This is not his position.
03:06This is not the position that Kaminga plays.
03:09You're going to see probably, I mean, what if I asked you this?
03:13Who plays more minutes in the next three games?
03:16Oh, the answer is Pat Spencer.
03:17Pat Spencer or Jonathan Kaminga.
03:18I couldn't even wait for the question because the answer is Pat Spencer.
03:21And I thought J.K. last night was fine.
03:24He did some okay things.
03:26He had a three, he had a nice cut, and he got a pass.
03:30A handful of other plays again that made you want to just pull everything out the side of your head.
03:35A little bit.
03:36And it was a complete amalgamation sensation for the Warriors.
03:41They put everybody out there.
03:43And we can ask Steve today at 5 o'clock about, and I think Steve answered it last night.
03:48He was asked about the rotation.
03:51Did he get bigger because of Steph?
03:53And Steve said, well, yeah.
03:54When Steph went out, then now we're going to play, he played 12 guys.
03:59You've got to find buckets wherever you can get them now.
04:01Right.
04:01So going forward now, I wonder where that comes from.
04:05And I look at, you know, if you want to talk about who was the problem last night,
04:09and I don't want to dwell on this because they won the damn game,
04:12but I thought Moses Moody again was like.
04:15Moody was a concern.
04:16I mean, where are we, Moses?
04:17Yeah, no, he's.
04:18And Pods was bad.
04:20And Moody was not good.
04:22And J.K. was okay.
04:24And so as we start to look at a post-Steph Curry series, who can you play right now?
04:30Who you can actually trust?
04:31I don't know who you can trust.
04:33And this goes back to where we were last year, where you have to decide who you trust
04:37based on how they do when you stick them out there.
04:40Right.
04:40And so you're going to have to stick people out there a little bit and then see how it goes.
04:45You know, you did just mention the three players, I guess, Key Santos, too.
04:50Yeah.
04:50In a text thread last night, the idea of plus minus came up, which is a stat that gets used
04:57a lot.
04:58It's also not definitive because you're basically being individually held accountable for what
05:04all five people are doing while you're out there.
05:06So not a great stat, but you just mentioned the people who found a way in a double-digit
05:11win to have a negative plus-minus.
05:14Moses Moody, Jonathan Kaminga, and Brandon Pajemski.
05:18Now, Pods was only minus one.
05:20He was only minus one, and he had pretty heavy minutes at 29.
05:24Kaminga in 13 minutes found a way to be minus nine, and Moody in only nine minutes found
05:29a way to be minus 14.
05:30Yeah.
05:30So do whatever you want with that number.
05:34Yes, those were the guys that I thought made more negative plays than positive.
05:41That's how I'll say it.
05:41I mean, Pods, one for seven.
05:43He had eight rebounds.
05:44So that's partly why he was a minus one, and he played pretty good defense, and you look
05:49at that, and the reason why plus-minus is so deeply flawed, Quinton Post played six minutes,
05:54and he was a plus 14.
05:56Right.
05:56And he didn't shoot.
05:57And had a rebound.
05:58It was the only stat.
06:00He grabbed one rebound.
06:01So he's out there for six minutes, running up and down.
06:03He gets one rebound.
06:04He doesn't shoot.
06:05He's a plus 14.
06:06Right.
06:06So we look at that, and we say, yeah, QP, you were the key.
06:10Well, you weren't the key, but what you can say is, well, you didn't drive this thing
06:14into the ground.
06:14Yep.
06:15You were out there, and you didn't drive it into the ground.
06:18And there were moments where, you know, look, Moody's shot is lost.
06:23I don't know where it is.
06:24It shows up in garbage time.
06:26It's on a milk carton.
06:27Yeah, it shows up in garbage time.
06:28It's the only time we've seen it recently, which is unfortunate because he was becoming
06:33a special defensive player for the Warriors.
06:36And so I still think they're going to need him.
06:38Jonathan Kaminga, at times, was able to do some things on the defensive side of the ball.
06:43I think he's been way better on defense than he has on offense.
06:47I know he knocked down a shot.
06:49I know he cut to the basket, and Draymond found him beautifully for a dunk.
06:53Great.
06:54You made a nice cut, and great.
06:56You knocked down, and I think he knocked down both of his free throws, right?
06:59That he, yeah, he went to the line one time, and he knocked down both of his free throws.
07:04But it's also two turnovers in only 13 minutes and very limited touches.
07:09Like, there's a lot of mistakes going on out there.
07:12He's better on the defensive side than he is on the offensive.
07:15Yeah.
07:15That's how I see it right now.
07:16Well, I just worry about Moses and not only the 0 for 4, but the fact that he only played
07:21eight and a half minutes.
07:22Well, I didn't go back to him because he's lost right now.
07:25Right.
07:26Well, he's lost, but Steph Curry's out, and he's going to be out for game two, probably
07:30three, four, maybe game five.
07:33I don't know when Steph is coming back, and nobody really knows how he'll respond from this,
07:38but right now you look at your mainstays, and it's Buddy, and every time I say that, I
07:44have to actually pause.
07:45Buddy Heald.
07:46Dude, Buddy Blank and Heald.
07:48It's Buddy Jimmy and Draymond.
07:50Yes, it's Butters.
07:51Buddy Heald.
07:52Buddy Heald, like, Buddy Heald might be, he might be your leading scorer in this series.
07:59He might be.
08:00He's your leading scorer in the last two games.
08:02I'm Batman.
08:03He was your leading scorer again last night.
08:04Is he Batman?
08:06He's your leading scorer.
08:07Right.
08:08I cannot imagine Jimmy Butler like, okay, I'll be Robin.
08:11I mean, if he's knocking down threes, they're going to keep feeding the man.
08:14Yep.
08:15And, uh...
08:16I saved the day.
08:17Yeah.
08:18Quick math.
08:18He never gets old.
08:19Last two games, he's averaging 28 and a half a night.
08:22Wow.
08:23Right.
08:23So, you're going to ride that horse.
08:27Feed that man.
08:27That's right.
08:29Let's go to Bob in the city.
08:30Hi, Bob.
08:30Thanks for calling.
08:33Thanks for having me.
08:34Big win last night.
08:36I think a lot of it has to do with the Warriors culture.
08:40The last series, they lose games five and six.
08:42And what do the Warriors do?
08:44Internal team meeting.
08:46Steve Kerr says, I didn't have them ready.
08:49He has apparently a side conversation with Green.
08:53They come out and crush game seven.
08:55They come out in this first game and they crush it.
08:58You look at what happens to Anthony Edwards.
09:01He has a bad game.
09:02What does his coach do?
09:04Jumps on his back.
09:05I think just that by itself, showing how Kerr believes in his team and believes in his players
09:12is where that massive advantage is.
09:16Um, thanks.
09:17I'll take my reply on the air.
09:19Yeah, Bob.
09:20Thank you very much for that.
09:21I would just say this.
09:22I agree with kind of your sentiment, but I also think both coaches are playing with a
09:28completely different deck of cards.
09:30And I know Minnesota was in the conference finals last year, but when you go into a road
09:35game seven as a coach and you can lean on names like Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy
09:40Butler, as far as what to say to your team and how to get you ready for a moment like
09:46that, Finch doesn't have that.
09:48Finch doesn't have that.
09:49I don't care that Anthony Edwards is a star and he went to the conference finals last year.
09:54Like today in the film room and DiVincenzo already said nobody was safe in that film
10:00room today.
10:01Yep.
10:01Nobody was safe and he's right.
10:03You all sucked.
10:04Nas Reed, you can leave a little bit early outside of that.
10:08The rest of you all stunk buckets last night.
10:12Terrible, terrible game.
10:14So what happens in that locker room?
10:17What happens if they lose again tomorrow night or who's the one that gets a young team?
10:22And they're not all young, but some of them are who gets a young team to believe that
10:28the Warriors are still dangerous without Steph Curry.
10:31Like this is the opposite.
10:33Think how many times Steve Kerr has told us he hates it when the other team loses their
10:36star.
10:37Yeah.
10:37Because you automatically drop your shoulders.
10:40Remember when Jokic was out and the Nuggets were called, oh, they're going to beat the Nuggets
10:43without Jokic and you got ran and Aaron Gordon was amazing.
10:48Well, that's where the Warriors are now.
10:49The Warriors don't have Steph.
10:50It's going to be hard for Minnesota to not relax.
10:54Yeah, but you can look at the series score and you should be able to get motivated knowing
10:58that you dropped game one.
10:59You'd think.
11:00You would imagine.
11:01And, you know, it's interesting because your number one vet would be Mike Conley, but he's
11:06not the alpha dog in the room.
11:09And the other one would be Rudy Gobert.
11:12Well, and I just am a little bit more laissez-faire in my leadership approach.
11:16And, you know, I had a very quiet game.
11:19You know, I just did what I did and I did not look to score very much.
11:23And I rebounded when the ball came to me.
11:26But by and large, it's a long series and I feel like we will be okay.
11:31I haven't listened to enough Rudy to even know if this is a good impression, but I like
11:35it either way.
11:36Oh, it's terrible.
11:36I just know, but I just like listening to it.
11:38I appreciate it.
11:38This is fantastic.
11:39There'll be some croissant and some escargot later in the week.
11:42I'll take the croissant.
11:43Sure.
11:44Of course, we'll add that in there.
11:45Leave the escargot.
11:46We'll add that in there.
11:46Yeah.
11:47It's with all my impressions, they're mostly like caricatures.
11:52Whatever they are.
11:53You know.
11:53Whatever they are.
11:54It's funny.
11:55Appreciate it.
11:55Yeah, it works.
11:56I mean, Gobert was supposed to be this impenetrable force in this.
12:00And he was pretty ineffective last night.
12:03Rudy Gobert is an important player.
12:05He's not a great player.
12:06Nobody's ever going to mistake Rudy Gobert for a great player.
12:09There's a few aspects of what he does do really well.
12:13He can protect a rim if he really, really wants to.
12:17But, you know, I think this is, quick aside, this is kind of what Draymond's been getting
12:22at over the years.
12:23I know this is only one game, but I want you to watch those two players and you tell me
12:30which one is worthy of a DPOI.
12:34Holy hell.
12:35You've got to be kidding me.
12:37Rudy Gobert, you're just tall.
12:40You're a great defensive player.
12:42You're a big presence.
12:43And you focus on it sometimes.
12:47But you're 7-2 and you can't even average 11 rebounds in this league for a great team.
12:53Rudy Gobert is an important player.
12:55He's not a great player.
12:57My take.
12:58Well, he has four DPOIs.
13:00Exactly, which is a joke.
13:02Yeah.
13:03That's a joke.
13:04He doesn't have the technique of the other players we talk about.
13:08The Evan Mobleys, the Dyson Daniels, the Draymond Greens.
13:12He doesn't have the technique.
13:14He's just a big old dude in the center.
13:17Let's go to Jonathan in the city.
13:18Hi, Jonathan.
13:19Thanks for calling.
13:22Hey, good afternoon, guys.
13:23Oh, man.
13:24What a win.
13:25It's a win.
13:26And let's not forget, these Warriors, they're a team.
13:30They're not just, you know, we got one guy and one guy.
13:33They literally play as a team offensively and defensively.
13:38And more importantly, man, it's so glaring.
13:41Just watching the game yesterday, they really benefited from playing the Rockets.
13:47The Rockets made the Warriors a better team.
13:51They are smarter now.
13:54They're grittier.
13:55They're tougher.
13:56They are stronger.
13:58And a solid proof of that is when Looney came in the game and they couldn't handle Looney
14:04because Looney had that battle with Shane Goon and Steven Adams made him a stronger player.
14:10The problem with the teams is that the Lakers, with their lousy, lazy offense, didn't make him better.
14:19So, they're playing on a regular season level while the Warriors were, you know, like five
14:27notches above of the level of play that the Timberwolves were playing yesterday.
14:31And they didn't know when they hit them.
14:33You know, they got hit by a sledgehammer.
14:35So, what now?
14:36I mean, now, without Stepker, of course, that's not a small problem.
14:45But like I said, they're these guys.
14:47They know how to play as a team.
14:48And they're going to rally, man.
14:50And watch out for Spencer.
14:51That guy is crappy, man.
14:53I can't wait.
14:54Go Warriors.
14:54Yeah, Jonathan, thanks.
14:56I told the kids when we were watching that one.
14:59Might have been one of my favorite Warrior moments of the year.
15:02Not that Pat Spencer made the shot, but it even occurred to him to try it.
15:08He drove on Julius Randle.
15:10Let's go.
15:13Hysterical.
15:13Right.
15:14Absolutely hysterical.
15:15I love that.