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What is krack Alakin fellow thermonuclear a
efforts. I am Dan Favali, joined

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by my certified fancabulous co host,
mister Grant Hughes. Before we get started,

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just a reminder to be extra kind
to both Grant and I today because

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the Knicks and the Warriors as we
record this're facing elimination in their respective

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game fives of the second round,
and so what we're about to embark on

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for the first half of this show
is unequivocally self harm. You're welcome.

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We're making sacrifices and concessions here.
We're putting our own mental and physical well

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being on the line, more so
than Julius Randall ever has. On a

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close out. Before we actually get
started, I'd just like to remind you

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the best way to support the show
that subscribe button YouTube. Subscribe to us

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on all podcast platforms as well,
Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, where wherever

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the hell you're listening to them,
and please reviews and ratings help us out

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a ton on Spotify and the reviews
on Apple specifically, So go in there

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right nice things. Hopefully constructive criticism
is fine as as well. Five stars

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only though, of course, because
that's what this show is, and follow

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us on the socials. We're at
Hardwood Knox on Twitter and TikTok. We're

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Grant. We have over three hundred
followers, so I think we're big time.

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Now it's over. That's triple digits. And then at Hardwood Underscore Knox

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on Instagram. So before we get
before we get started a third time,

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the big question, how are you
doing, Grant? Yeah, we come

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to you from from the brink today
for both like we're we are on the

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edge. We're on the precipice of
both of our teams not getting to play

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basketball anymore. We will see if
that comes to pass this evening. But

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yeah, it's I'm doing. Okay, I do this thing where tell me

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if you do this where I'll talk
myself into and out of the Warriors like

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basically on a game to game basis, almost with some exceptions. But you

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know, so after the Lakers took
the three one lead, and we can

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get into it, but the way
that they did it felt like pretty pretty

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decisive and featured so many of the
reasons that the Warriors tend to lose and

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have lost all season that I kind
of just got to a place where you

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know, I just and I've been
there several times this year, and I've

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flip flopped away from it, but
this feels feels pretty pretty close to the

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edge, and and and so I
get to a place where it's to sort

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of prevent maximum self harm where I
just say, they just don't have it,

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you know, Okay, I accept
that. It's acceptance, That's what

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it is. It's whatever whatever stage
of grief that is acceptance, maybe the

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last one. So maybe I just
jumped to the last stage of of like

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the coping hierarchy or whatever. So
yeah, right now, mentally I feel

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okay, But it's because I have
accepted that the Warriors don't have it.

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Do you do that? And do
you feel the same way with the Knicks

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or do you even have to do
that because it's a little it's kind of

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an apples and Oranges like set of
team comparisons here. So you know how

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I say, like I actually have
a thick skin when it comes to social

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media, when I actually don't.
I'm teflon when it comes to the Knicks,

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Like they can still hurt me a
little bit, but they've just been

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incompetent for way too long, and
you're dealing with when it comes to the

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Warriors, a bigger sense of finality
to something that was like actually sustainable Versus

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with the Knicks, what's happening now
almost feels validating in a wildly unsettling way.

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And I picked them to win this
series because I was always on the

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you know, you keep it to
yourself because he's playing so well, but

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like, I'm not a Julius Randall
guy, Like I don't think this is

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someone that Nick should move forward with, and I have so many overarching concerns

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with the team. To see them
struggle is just like you were. For

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me, I was almost waiting for
it. And because there's more of a

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transience to this core and one that
I'm just not really attached to, I

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think I have an easier time dealing
with it, Whereas the Warriors, I

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would absolutely rationalize any way I could
be like, I can't let this impact

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my mood beyond watching the game and
podcasting about it. But with the Warriors,

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like you're dealing with a dynasty that
might be crumbling before your very eyes,

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and even though you kind of knew
that it was going to have to

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end at some point, and even
as people have framed it as that last

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title was just like a bonus or
brownie points because of the way it came,

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and you kind of felt like not
that the dynasty was already over,

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but they didn't. They lost that
sense of inevitability. You've lived through two

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gap ears or whatever it was.
I would imagine it's tougher for you to

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reconcile what's happening right now. Yeah, in a weird way, that last

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year's title, that title almost like
makes this worse in a way because because

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I distinctly remember multiple times over the
last how we meant whatever it's been since

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really like twenty fourteen fifteen at having
the thought of like, oh, this

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is how it ends, like for
exa, like the Draymond blow up at

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halftime. I think it was in
Oklahoma City where like Ramona Shelburn was like

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hearing him and Kurgo added and they
had to be restrained. That was way

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early on. I think they've won
one title, maybe two, and that

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was like the Oh, this is
how it's gonna end. It's gonna be

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because Draymond like can't you know,
stay under control or whatever, and then

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it wasn't. And then the Clay
injury in the finals, was like,

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oh, this is how it ends, because you know, Durant's gonna be

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gone, He's already heard anyway,
Clay's acl is done. That's like,

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this is how it ends. And
then you have those two years in the

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interim where your expectations are low.
I thought it was kind of over,

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and then last year it was like, oh no, it's not over.

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They did it again. And then
you finished last year and say, well,

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like, well, shouldn't Clay be
better next year? Aren't they gonna

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be able to have like Kminga and
Moody and Pool improve, you know,

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Wiseman might be not terrible, Like
there are all these reasons to say,

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totally plausible that they could be a
like high end contender again, and the

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oddsmakers all saw that too, And
then you have this up and down season

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that was you know, intermittently you
know, enjoyable, but then mostly disappointing

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and frustrating. And then now it's
you know, all of that has kind

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of come to a head with them
in a three one hole coming back home

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at least I guess to for Game
five. But yeah, it's it's kind

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of a bummer just because it feels
like the end of a thing, even

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though I've thought it was going to
end like half a dozen times and been

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wrong about it, you know,
over the last several seasons. It's so

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it's a little different. But yeah, you know, maybe we should start

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with the Knicks. Though, if
you're ready to kind of go there,

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I have a question for you.
Zero answers, but go ahead, right

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So, as I'm watching, certainly
in the first round against leveland and then

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so far against Miami, is it
is it as simple as because the Knicks

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with the number two offense in the
league during the year, and in neither

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of these series have they looked anything
close to that. One what made the

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Knicks offense good in the regular season
that's not happening now. And is it

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like schematic? Is it personnel?
Is it some combination of all that?

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And two? Is it just and
maybe this will just answer the question.

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Is it just as simple as they
actually just need a bunch of offensive rebounds

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to be a good offense and they
aren't getting them consistently against the heat now,

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so they're just not like what the
offense is baffling to me because they

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were an offensive team during the regular
season and they've been mostly a defensive team

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in the playoffs, and I just
have lost the pulse of this team and

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having trouble explaining like how the same
group of players looked so different during the

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year and put up such different numbers. So like, unpack that for me.

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If you have like half of an
answer for that. Yeah, and

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look there's I think they're just being
their flaws or being exacerbated more than their

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strengths, or being stopped prevented because
they're still grabbing thirty percent of their offensive

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boards against Miami. The issue is
is that Miami's actually winning the second chance

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points battle because they're not able to
keep Miami off the offensive glass. We

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saw that. I think they were
outrebounded in Game four, like seven to

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one in the fourth quarter, like
on the offensive glass. And that's just

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like, that's the fourth quarter,
your season on the line. That's not

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something you would expect from them.
But when you start to dig into just

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like I think concerns that everybody would
have had even when things are humming,

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it's okay, Like you know the
Knicks, Yeah, their offense was two,

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but they were eleventh in half court
efficiency and like you remove putbacks from

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the equation, there and they're not
going to be as strong of a team.

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Like a lot of their damage was
just done on their efficiency on putbacks

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where they were but you know,
I think they were second in frequency of

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that, and so you remove that
and there are weaker points to their half

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court offense. A lot of it
has to deal with the supporting cast.

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Yes, they got up. I
think this was lost in the plot somehow.

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I don't know if people looked at
the first two months of the season

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or a month and a half,
the nick shot threes, they were like

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eleventh and three point a tenth three. They just don't take a bunch of

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above the break threes because they don't
have guys who can hit them. They

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set up a bunch of corner threes
which are going to be dependent on your

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dribble penetration. From Jalen Brunson,
Julius Randall to a lesser extent RJ.

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Barrett, the Heat have done an
excellent job just packing the paint and taking

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so much of that away. Watching
Julius Randall go up against bam Adebayo,

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and I don't know if the ankles
hurting Julius at all, Like that's not

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someone who seems like he's gonna get
downhill a ton and so he has a

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super efficient offensive night in Game four
and just like he still don't even feel

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him, probably because he was so
bad defensively. And I think, really,

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what has happened and we've seen in
this series, but also with Cleveland,

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if you force them to go through
half court motions, like it's not

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about them operating in transition or semi
transition or getting up a quicker shot,

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and then you're able to win or
rival what they're doing on the offensive glass.

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They're They're a team that lacks a
lot of counters and I think some

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of the stuff they could improve upon. I don't think they've done a great

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job mismatch hunting. They did a
better job of that in the Cleveland series.

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And you can talk about, well, Joe Brunts is playing through injury,

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Random's playing through injury. You've gotten
probably the best version of r.

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J. Barrett that you could have
hoped for most of the series. And

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so there are things that are just
falling a different way. I think what

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we're seeing about the Knicks, and
I hope this is not an oversimplification.

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After everything I just said, they
still need a best offensive player that was

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gonna be. My next question,
are you still on that because you have

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been very consistent in that, like
basically since they got brunts in Like nice

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move makes sense. What's the bigger
plan? How do you get the guy

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that's better than everyone that we have? Right? Is that? I don't

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think that's an oversimplification, but like
you've been on that all year and that

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I would say you've been proven more
right in the playoffs because it's clear that

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as good as Brunson is and as
theoretically favorable as Randall's matchups should have been

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against the heat in particular, who
plays super small, this just they just

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need another guy, right, and
a better guy. And it's you can

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do if you want to go this
route, and maybe maybe you do,

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just because if the market, the
trade market isn't there, you can payper

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over some of these issues on a
slightly smaller scale, where it's Mitchell Robinson,

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who maybe we don't apologize to anymore, but it's just one of the

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least dynamic offensive centers in existence at
the moment, and it's just if there's

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anything resembling him needing to make a
decision after catching the ball other than placing

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it in like even asking him to
go up with it, it's like he

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already needs to be in the air
basically when he's catching it, like he

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can't. You're you're seeing that really
them with him against Miami. I think

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the other thing is too you need
caps lock shooters where it's okay, your

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volume was fine, your percentage was
passable. It has been neither. In

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the playoffs, a smaller share of
their shots are coming agains three point attempts.

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They're shooting twenty nine percent for the
playoffs. That's not even just against

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the heat. I think that's for
the entire playoffs, or they're at twenty

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eight point seven percent against the heat
specifically, they're just you can do those

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things. And like if they were
to sign or get a Gary Trent Junior,

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that very much that was someone I
wanted them to target the deadline.

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They don't have the cap space,
they'd have to be signed in trade,

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YadA YadA yah. But if you
were to get at Gary Trent Junior,

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yes, I think that could help. If you were able to change out,

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not even change out, but like
bring in a different type of five

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to where okay, it's not just
Simms Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein, and

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then of course the idea of Julius
Randall at the five, which is just

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never reality because Tims won't go to
it outside garbage time. If you were

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to bring in someone who is just
a little bit more versatile on the offensive

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end, is a five either he
spreads the floor. That's assuming Tims would

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would let them play that way,
Like you could be a better version of

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this team. But what we're seeing
right now with Miami, who I do

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think has played above their head.
I just want to make that clear for

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most of the postseason, not against
the Knicks specifically, but like when you

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go back to that Buck series,
it matters having the best player in what

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could be any given series, and
the Knicks as currently constructed, are never

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going to have that. In most
of the playoff series they go into,

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they are not going to have the
best player. There's an argument to be

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made that in a lot of series
they're not even gonna have the second best

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player because you're dealing with number two. Is when it's you know, if

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it's Yann, it's it's Drew or
Chris Middleton. It's when it's the calve,

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there's Mitchell and Garland and Mobley is
coming if he's not here already.

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Yeah, you just beat them.
I get it. Like depth isn't going

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to mean everything, especially when the
Knicks have been getting destroyed on the bench

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in this series too, and so
you can't you need that top end reliability.

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They don't have it. Jalen Brunton
large I think he's played largely good

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to great with the injury he's dealing
with. Jalen bruns is not Jimmy Butler,

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and so that's the player you're trying
to find where you're in a situation

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where I would say either Julius Randold's
off the team or your number three option,

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but Jalen Brunson is your number two. I think that's what Jalen Brunson

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has shown this season, which is
valuable information. He's capable of being a

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number two. It still means that
that he's a number two and so and

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the other thing I'll just note here
and I actually maybe I won't know it

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because I guess I deleted the pays
that I had it, so I'll come

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back to it later. But yeah, that's just That's where I'm at with

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the Knicks at this point. Is
I think that I don't know that they've

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shown us anything that their roster shouldn't
already have suggested. And that's this team.

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It's gonna have to happen via trade. Like they need a caps lock,

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they need a caps lock superstar.
They don't have one. Who do

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you think because one of the I
think I agree with what you said.

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I think they need more shooters.
They need a player that's better than anyone

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they have. I think that's clear. Who do you think is the is

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the I'll put it this way,
who are the good path on this team?

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Because that's another thing that I feel
like has been exploited a little bit,

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because you know, Randall is a
very Randall can get assists, but

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he's like kind of a mechanical I
passed as a last resort. You know,

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he's not making you know, the
read ahead of the read very often,

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and I really was struggling. You
know. The Heat and the Calves

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too, can do this to teams
because they're good defenses. Like I think

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we have to factor that into that. They've faced two really good defenses.

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So whatever flaws you have, the
Heat and the Calves are gonna you know,

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expose and and that that's largely true. Certainly, certainly the heat have

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done that. But like, who
who would you view as a good passer

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on the team like that? Because
that's another way to work around the lack

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of shooting, is you're just you
get the ball moving, you create more

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open shots, you create more high
value shots. And when you know,

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say Brunson gets doubled and has to
get off the ball or whatever. Like

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so, who would you say as
a good passer And do they have enough?

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And is that a viable workaround if
you can't get a superstar? Does

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that do anything for you? I
think Jon Brunson's a very good passer.

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I think he's hurt by his size
for certain matchups that are going to limit

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the types of pass where if he
can't, I think he's a different sort

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of passer if he's not able to
get inside the arc and create havoc with

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his just footwork and hesitations. And
you need someone who's do you need a

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better passor than Joyon Brunson? Ideally
yes, but you need someone who's an

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equal that's not Julius Randall. Maybe
it's RJ. Barrett. At some point

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talk about a player I flip flop
like it's and you have guys who can

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keep the ball moving. When you
look at Josh Harper, it's just not

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the same. They don't use Isaiah. You could say Isaiah Hartenstein's a really

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good playmaker, it just doesn't work
in that same way. I'm actually laughing

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right now. Stephens stole so much
Randall's option number nine. Maybe he should

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be, but he's most certainly not
so. But yeah, I think Brunson

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is clearly. Would you even have
a different answer to that response, No,

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that's why it's Brunson. But I
mentioned this all the time with someone

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like Darius Garland. Is that I
think Darius Island, if he was like

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two inches taller, would just be
unbelievable. But because he's so small,

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I mean, you know, he's
not tiny that we're not talking like Earl

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Boykins out there, but it's like
he is limited when he gets into the

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lane, you know, or even
just trying to throw over the top and

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make skip passes like that is a
low key just height is you know,

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you look at Yokichen Lebron and some
of these and Luca and all these guys

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that can make every pass on the
floor. Someone like Brunston just can't do

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that, not because he doesn't see
it, but because he just can't.

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He just doesn't have the physical advantage
to throw certain passes. I want.

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I wanted to get this out there
before I forget it, because I was,

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you know, as the Knicks were
just struggling and struggling to score.

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Their affective field goal percentage during the
year was fifty four percent. Not good.

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That's twentieth in the league. It's
forty nine percent in the playoffs.

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And it's just like, when you
take it just to circle all the way

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back around, that's never gonna be
good enough. And especially if you're playing

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like break even in the possession game
and especially on the offensive boards. That

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it's just like, if there's a
fatal stat for the Knicks in this in

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these playoffs, that's that's just it. They just don't make they don't create

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enough like high value shots, and
they don't make the harder ones that they

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do generate. That's it feels like
that's the issue. And I also think

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to like to change this to the
other side of the floor. There's limitations

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for them defensively as good as they
can be on that, and I think

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they've done a great job contesting Miami
shooters a lot this series. But there

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are two things that stand out of
Look, I know some of like the

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games, we are going to support
that, but Miami the share of their

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three pointers that are going contested during
this series with a defender within two feet

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so like our four feet excuse me, what's the it's the tightly contested is

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insight? So within four feet?
Yes, so, and that's including zero

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to two feet two to four feet. They're taking the largest share of their

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shots in those situations, and they're
only shooting twenty two point two percent on

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contested threes. But they know how
to put the Knicks defense in rotation and

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swing the ball around. And Jimmy
Butler's excellent at that when he's seeing double

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teams. And they just have smart
players who are going to be able to

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keep the ball moving or even when
it's not Jimmy Butler, put the Knicks,

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keep the Knicks in rotation. The
Knicks are not quick enough in those

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situations. And the other thing that
they don't do a good job of,

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and this is part I think of
Tibbs's bass scheme, Like they're not a

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team that's going to force turnovers.
They're going to play a more conservative style

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of defense that might get you through
the regular season. But the Heat have

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outscored the Knicks two to one in
points off turnovers in this series, I

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believe, unless I'm missing something like
wild there, No, they have eighty

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two points off turnovers through four games. The Knicks have forty one. That's

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just like that's a personnel. I
don't think the Knicks are I can't force

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more turnovers. Yeah, great advice, Dan, they don't have the personnel

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to do it. I want to
make that clear. That's something else they

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need to look at as well leading
into the offseason. No, that's fair.

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That's fair. Yeah, I mean
I feel like you tried to get

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there, and we should do this
more. We should just be praising the

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Heat as much as we're sort of
trying to like figure out what's what the

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Knicks are doing wrong, because a
lot of it is just the Heat are

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00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:17,480
good. They're on an absolute run
right now where they're just not the same

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team as they were during the year, and that's all part of it.

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But like it's just, you know, we probably ought to be talking about

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the Knicks and to the similar extent, the Warriors. Like while we can

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00:20:26,839 --> 00:20:30,839
because there's a good chance that the
heat and Lakers will have will give us

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00:20:30,839 --> 00:20:33,039
more opportunities to discuss them. Yeah, they're like, look, there's gonna

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00:20:33,079 --> 00:20:37,480
be an Eastern Conference Finals preview that
consists a lot of the heat, and

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00:20:37,519 --> 00:20:41,240
the next pot will probably have like
the Knicks off season like funeral, Like

313
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,039
what do we call that off season
of top seat? I will say,

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00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,319
has anything about the heat really stood
out to you? Like through this year?

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00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:55,599
I'm just I continue to marvel at
like the one Duncan Robinson not shooting

316
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,680
them all from three in this series. The Knicks are still terrified of him.

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00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,880
They're just still And first of all, he's dribble more than I've ever

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seen him ever. And I'll get
to it. We have a couple comments.

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00:21:04,839 --> 00:21:08,759
I'll try and get to those afterwards. The supporting kept Kyle Lowry has

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00:21:08,799 --> 00:21:14,039
been big, like just making huge
defensive plays and oh, he's hitting his

321
00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:18,319
threes in this series. Even Gabe
vinsit like he's not shooting well in this

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00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:21,960
series. I thought he's fought on
defense, he's been ultraed. His aggression

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00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,599
on offense, I think matters,
especially when you don't have Tyler hero or

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00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,400
for that matter of Victor Ladipo available
to you. I think Bam has been

325
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,400
able to ratchet it up at points
offensively as well, and this has nothing

326
00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:33,839
to do with how well he's done
defensively. And I think a lot of

327
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,680
the times he has thrown Julius Randall
either like getting the ball out of his

328
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,240
hands or just kind of taking away
a lot of his bread and butter.

329
00:21:42,319 --> 00:21:45,720
Kayla Martin just again he I want
to make the heat. Are not shooting

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00:21:45,759 --> 00:21:48,640
well from three this series. They're
just winning the three point battle by twenty

331
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,519
seven points over four games. Like
that's big, in addition to winning the

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00:21:52,559 --> 00:21:56,680
turnover battle, in addition to winning
the second chance points battle. Yeah,

333
00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,160
which is it's by a hair forty
nine to forty eight. That still fucking

334
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:06,119
matters because that's supposed to be the
nixt thing. They're winning the transition battle

335
00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:10,079
again thirty seven thirty flour This isn't
a transition like series really, but like

336
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:15,440
they're winning almost every single margin and
so thoroughly, and I'm just I remain

337
00:22:15,519 --> 00:22:18,039
astounded by Jimmy Butler, who,
by the way, is not hitting his

338
00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:22,279
threes either, which is weird because
it's the playoffs right now and to be

339
00:22:22,319 --> 00:22:23,519
fair, he's only taking to a
game in the series, but that's like,

340
00:22:23,519 --> 00:22:26,960
what is that quadruple what he took
in the regular season. I'm just

341
00:22:27,279 --> 00:22:32,119
there's are we going to trick ourselves
into thinking that there's more depth to this

342
00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:36,039
heat roster leading into the off season
and they're actually because like you're looking,

343
00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:37,519
And the other thing is, I'm
not trying to scale too far ahead.

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00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:42,400
Like Max Strus and Gabe Vincent are
free agents this summer. It's just like,

345
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,440
what do you sort of do here? But they've I think the thing

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00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,519
that it stood out more than anything
to me is that I don't want to

347
00:22:49,519 --> 00:22:53,279
say experience matters, but like we've
seen most of these role players come up

348
00:22:53,279 --> 00:22:56,680
big in the playoffs before, specifically
for in Miami, with the exception to

349
00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,599
maybe Kyle Lowry, but he's done
it everywhere else. He's been Toronto excuse

350
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,839
me, Like they've they're playing at
a level where, yeah, I know

351
00:23:04,839 --> 00:23:08,160
that he's shooting kind of picked up
after the All Star break, that's not

352
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:14,480
that's not what's winning them this series. They're just a really they're supporting cast

353
00:23:14,559 --> 00:23:18,559
right now is deeper than it was
in the regular season, and the only

354
00:23:18,599 --> 00:23:22,440
difference is you've thrown Kevin Love in
there, who's not been great this series

355
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:26,039
necessarily either. But oh also like
you don't have Tyler Hero Victor La Deepo

356
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:30,279
anymore to play that card. And
so it's I'm just I cannot measure how

357
00:23:30,319 --> 00:23:34,079
impressed I am with not just what
Jimmy Butler has done during these playoffs,

358
00:23:34,079 --> 00:23:37,240
the second best player, maybe a
third best behind your kitchen Devin Booker.

359
00:23:37,319 --> 00:23:41,960
Devin Booker has been the clear one
to me, but like, my god,

360
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:45,160
and so it's I don't think it's
a an insult to the it's an

361
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,960
indictment of the Knicks that they lose
to the Heat, but like, this

362
00:23:48,039 --> 00:23:52,599
is not a team that you need
to be embarrassed to actually lose by No,

363
00:23:52,920 --> 00:24:00,119
I think you just shouldn't be able
to play Cody Zeller and Haywood Highsmith

364
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:06,440
and like, honestly even guys like
Vincent and Struce who didn't have good seasons,

365
00:24:06,519 --> 00:24:08,599
but to your point, they have
contributed in big ways to teams that

366
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have made conference finals and finals,
and like that's you know that that clearly

367
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:17,000
matters, But it seems I don't
have any you know, number for it

368
00:24:17,079 --> 00:24:19,039
or whatever, and Julius Randall kind
of talked about it about like they want

369
00:24:19,039 --> 00:24:22,960
it more and we try to stay
away from that kind of analysis. But

370
00:24:22,039 --> 00:24:26,799
like when you watch the heat play, especially in contrast to the Knicks,

371
00:24:26,799 --> 00:24:30,960
it sort of feels like everybody that
that you know, takes the floor is

372
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,440
just empowered and understands what they're supposed
to do and they just do it at

373
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,880
one hundred percent. And if you
do that for an entire game, it

374
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,720
doesn't really matter who's out there.
So you know, Robinson can be missing

375
00:24:41,759 --> 00:24:44,960
threes, he's still going to shoot
him and the Knicks are going to treat

376
00:24:45,039 --> 00:24:48,039
him like he's making fifty percent of
him. Struce and Vincent have just never

377
00:24:48,079 --> 00:24:52,640
seen, you know, a tough
shot that needs to be taken that they

378
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:56,440
wouldn't take, and Butler just sort
of is the organizing principle and at all,

379
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,839
I just I don't know what it
is. It feels like a hash

380
00:25:00,039 --> 00:25:03,079
aghat culture thing where it's just like
that's real. They just they're willing to

381
00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:10,559
compete harder. I think spolstru Gets
deserves immense amounts of credit for somehow losing

382
00:25:11,039 --> 00:25:14,359
I mean, heroes no worse than
the third best offensive player on that team,

383
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,799
depending on what you think about Bam
probably the second best just pure offensive

384
00:25:17,839 --> 00:25:22,160
player and still finding ways to score. Just like they'll put the ball in

385
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,799
BAM's hands as like as like a
last resort something not a last resort,

386
00:25:26,839 --> 00:25:29,599
but like when things aren't working,
they just give him the ball and it

387
00:25:29,599 --> 00:25:33,079
pulls either Brook Lopez or Mitchell Robinson
out. They shouldn't have all these adjustments

388
00:25:33,079 --> 00:25:37,160
they can make. They shouldn't be
able to get away with playing some of

389
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:41,160
the guys they play, and they
just they just are because they're always defending.

390
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,599
They make just enough shots and they're
winning the possession battle, which against

391
00:25:44,599 --> 00:25:48,359
the Knicks is like, like you
said, a break even possession battle thing

392
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,799
for the Knicks is a massive loss
because they have to win it handily,

393
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,920
especially with second chance opportunities, and
they the heat are just I mean,

394
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,880
I don't know, like I haven't
thought at all far ahead about the conference

395
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:04,359
finals, but it's like, how
do you even how do you even evaluate

396
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,759
the heat as like, well,
these are the areas that say the Sixers

397
00:26:07,839 --> 00:26:11,039
or Celtics will need to pick at, These are the frailties, this is

398
00:26:11,079 --> 00:26:15,519
where they It's just like it doesn't
matter sometimes it feels like for the Heat

399
00:26:15,559 --> 00:26:21,920
because they just they just I don't
know that there's some unquantifiable something that they

400
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,400
flipped on. But also by the
way they lost the first playing game,

401
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,799
like and we thought one of the
worst offensive basketball we've ever seen this team

402
00:26:30,839 --> 00:26:34,440
as a joke, how are they
gonna like go forward with this core?

403
00:26:34,559 --> 00:26:38,680
It's so expensive, and like they
weren't great in the second playing game,

404
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:41,680
and then they just beat the Bucks
and they're gonna beat the Knicks, and

405
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:48,440
it's like this was so close to
just not happening. And I think,

406
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,720
above all else, it's a really
good reminder that like the fate of a

407
00:26:52,799 --> 00:26:59,039
franchise can swing on like one game, because the Heat by all rights,

408
00:26:59,079 --> 00:27:03,119
probably should not be here, and
they're probably gonna play a third postseason series,

409
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,480
you know, in a couple of
days. It's kind of wild before

410
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,519
we get onto Dubs Lakers. Stephan
says in the chat, this series makes

411
00:27:08,519 --> 00:27:12,279
me feel worse about the Calves d
Mitch joining his bro Rudy and getting sweeped.

412
00:27:14,319 --> 00:27:15,400
I don't feel worse about the Cat. We already talked about this.

413
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,079
I just can't. There are concerns, but Cores just so young and talented.

414
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:23,200
I think they underachieved relative to their
regular season, but I can't bring

415
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,400
myself to be overly concerned about No, not really. I think, yeah,

416
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,680
I don't feel any worse than I
did. You know immediately after they

417
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:36,160
lost that series. They have a
bright future. Still, what is your

418
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:42,319
biggest overarching batch of thoughts feeding into
Warriors Lakers about what we've seen, what

419
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:45,839
we're going to see. Let it, let it all out, we've done

420
00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:48,799
the next narsist. I don't feel
any better, just for the record,

421
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,359
but let it all out. No, I think I want to start kind

422
00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:57,000
of micro and credit the Lakers a
little bit, honestly, because so Game

423
00:27:57,039 --> 00:28:02,039
four, there was all there are
all these rumblings ahead of time that Gary

424
00:28:02,039 --> 00:28:07,319
Payton was going to start again and
that you know, there's there was the

425
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,039
Warriors felt good about like some of
the adjustments they were going to make,

426
00:28:11,039 --> 00:28:14,759
and the suggestion I think by Marcus
Thompson was that they might just not set

427
00:28:14,799 --> 00:28:18,119
screens and bring Anthony Davison into the
play and Curry was gonna have to beat

428
00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:22,480
guys in isolation. That's like they're
the last tier down of like they want

429
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:23,960
to play the beautiful game. And
then when that doesn't work, they run

430
00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,279
a bunch of pick and rolls with
Steph and then when that doesn't work,

431
00:28:26,599 --> 00:28:30,440
they either switched who's guarding the screener
or they just get rid of the screen

432
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,960
altogether. And they were down to
kind of the last step. The issue

433
00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:38,880
was, it was the pick and
roll was working great with Peyton as the

434
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,920
role guy and bringing Davis out to
have to you know, be away from

435
00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:48,519
the basket. But credit the Lakers
because in the second half they put Davis

436
00:28:48,519 --> 00:28:52,720
on Andrew Wiggins. And Andrew Wiggins
can do almost everything exceptionally well on a

437
00:28:52,759 --> 00:28:56,519
basketball court except make a decision on
the move, and so when you wanted

438
00:28:56,559 --> 00:29:03,559
to bring Davis up into the screening
action because he was guarding Wiggins, Wiggins

439
00:29:03,599 --> 00:29:06,680
as a screen and roll guy is
like a non starter. That's just not

440
00:29:06,799 --> 00:29:08,880
something he ever does. It's not
something he's good at. And that completely

441
00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:14,400
short circuited one of the best sources
of offense the Warriors had against the Lakers

442
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,440
in this entire series. They couldn't
run that pick and roll anymore because Wiggins

443
00:29:18,519 --> 00:29:22,039
doesn't know how to do that and
he's not good at it. So credit

444
00:29:22,079 --> 00:29:26,119
the Lakers for just making the right
adjustment, and then like we can get

445
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:32,880
into the Warriors self sabotage and particularly
Jordan Poole looking very often like he's out

446
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:37,559
there trying to do the wrong thing, just repeatedly on both ends. Like

447
00:29:37,599 --> 00:29:44,160
I was joking with some friends on
a text chain, like and if if

448
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,119
Jordan Poole were trying to lose games
for the Warriors, how different would it

449
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:53,759
look from what he's actually been doing
in this series Because all of these drives

450
00:29:53,839 --> 00:30:00,559
into traffic, all this over dribbling, all the non competitive defensive possessions,

451
00:30:00,599 --> 00:30:06,000
like it's it borders on sabotage.
I'm not saying that's what's happening obviously,

452
00:30:06,319 --> 00:30:10,480
but like it's almost indistinguishable from it. And that's why the Warriors went totally

453
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,680
away from him in the second half. You can't play him, They can't

454
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:18,720
play him. And so if you've
already decided, well we really can't.

455
00:30:18,759 --> 00:30:22,440
We're not going to play Jonathan Cominga. We don't like to play with two

456
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:27,000
bigs. Dante di Vincenzo has like
one decent offensive game every three or four,

457
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:30,920
and then that just leaves us with
like three or four guys that we

458
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,799
can trust, and that doesn't give
you enough adjustments. It doesn't give you

459
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:40,319
enough variety. It puts way too
much of an onus on Steph Curry.

460
00:30:40,359 --> 00:30:42,440
So that's why at the end of
this last game, even though the Warriors

461
00:30:42,519 --> 00:30:47,519
kind of kicked it away with bad
shot selection turnovers down the stretch of the

462
00:30:47,519 --> 00:30:49,839
game, that leaves me thinking,
like, I don't know what the fix

463
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,720
is now, just because there's not
like a guy you can pull off the

464
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:59,279
bench that's going to give you a
new dimension. You can't play Steph forty

465
00:30:59,279 --> 00:31:02,720
eight minutes because I think again I'm
rambling, But part of the is all

466
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,839
connected. Part of the reason that
he took such those two terrible threes in

467
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,119
isolation against Anthony Davis the end of
the game is because he couldn't get by

468
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,200
him. I think he was tired
because he just has to do everything if

469
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:18,799
you don't play Jordan Pool more than
like ten minutes. So I'm struggling other

470
00:31:18,839 --> 00:31:22,240
than like make more shots, try
harder, you know, to find the

471
00:31:22,279 --> 00:31:27,000
adjustment that swings this series. You
know, maybe the Warriors get I think

472
00:31:27,119 --> 00:31:32,720
the Warriors are pretty significant favorites coming
back home for Game five, but it's

473
00:31:32,759 --> 00:31:37,000
just, you know, they could
easily lose this game just because their best

474
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,000
players are worn down and there aren't
a lot of fixes for this, so

475
00:31:40,559 --> 00:31:45,640
I haven't given I guess i'd throw
to you, like if choose between the

476
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:51,000
way the Lakers have defended the Warriors, self inflicted wounds, pools, sabotage,

477
00:31:51,079 --> 00:31:55,759
like what jumps out to you,
like what is the most interesting angle

478
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,400
from this series so far? And
you can even zoom it out, like

479
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:01,960
we can even go into like not
a full post mortem, but kind of

480
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:06,960
like what do you do from here? Assuming the Warriors don't come back from

481
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:09,599
this three one hole? I don't
know yet, so I've rambled for several

482
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,960
minutes, but that's kind of my
take on it. I don't know what

483
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,000
the fix is. You shouldn't count
this team out because they've been so good

484
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,440
for so long, but it's just
difficult to sort of envision, like what

485
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,400
turning this series around even looks like? Yeah, and we don't need to

486
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:28,039
get into the actual post mortem,
although I we are going to close this

487
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:30,480
segment with a humdinger of a question. I get to ask you because I

488
00:32:30,599 --> 00:32:36,039
just something stumbled across my I found
it on Twitter that you're gonna I think

489
00:32:36,039 --> 00:32:39,640
you're gonna love it okay, But
so what stands out to me most is

490
00:32:39,759 --> 00:32:44,240
a lot of it's done with the
Lakers have been like superficty on defense.

491
00:32:44,319 --> 00:32:47,319
Even I thought so A d had
a good even number of game, which

492
00:32:47,359 --> 00:32:52,240
is great, that was huge,
but like he wasn't his best defensive self

493
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:57,359
like you would was Dennis Shrewder their
best defensive player in Game four lay like

494
00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:00,680
he was up there. And I'm
just looking at the Lakers and their ability

495
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:06,640
to sort of just like win ugly
where they're not going to have like the

496
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,799
prettiest shot profile or shooting slashes.
And then yeah, Deangel Russell has been

497
00:33:09,839 --> 00:33:14,400
good this series, but he's not
even playing during crunch time. Which aside,

498
00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:17,640
Rob Plinka is getting all this credit
for what he did at the trade

499
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:22,720
deadline. I do think he deserves
some credit, but Rui Hachimura, which

500
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:27,200
happened before the trade deadline, D'Angel
Russell, Jared Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley

501
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,720
who's just disappeared from rotation, All
four of those guys unless I was like,

502
00:33:30,839 --> 00:33:35,720
we're not playing during crunch time for
the Lakers in Game four, which

503
00:33:35,759 --> 00:33:38,000
does when we if we ever have
to talk about the Lakers off season which

504
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,799
I guess we were at some point. I do. It makes you want

505
00:33:39,799 --> 00:33:43,200
to like, are they more likely
to go in the cap space route than

506
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:49,599
we thought? Totally unrelated, but
Lebron definitely been picking and choosing his spots

507
00:33:49,599 --> 00:33:52,039
in the series on offense when he's
able to get downhill. The Warriors just

508
00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:57,079
still have no answers when the Lakers
have, like, yeah, if Deangel

509
00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,759
Russell is making making shots, if
if he Davis has like the mid range

510
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:05,200
going, or the Lakers were able
to get him in motion before he gets

511
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,119
the ball, the Warriors have had
like a tough time stopping It seems like

512
00:34:08,119 --> 00:34:13,039
stopping those plays for the Warriors specifically
what stands out to me, And I

513
00:34:13,079 --> 00:34:17,559
think people are using what happened in
Game four as proof that the Steph Curry

514
00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:25,440
on ball concept has its limitations,
and in theory it does. But this

515
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,920
isn't about when you call for Steff
getting the Baltimore's not we need forty eight

516
00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,239
minutes of Steph has to create everything
out of nothing, which is not when

517
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,639
we saw but they had to lean
on it. It felt like more unless

518
00:34:36,639 --> 00:34:38,960
I'm wrong, I need to look
at like his possession allocation data, which

519
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:42,119
I did not because I just these
are two series that I think are just

520
00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:49,159
done quite frankly up there. It's
a fundamental failure on the Warriors part because

521
00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:52,119
they did not identify this properly and
Jordan Pool's part, because he's supposed to

522
00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:57,320
be this player. When you have
no outlet, there's no one who can

523
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:02,920
help you navigate the non Steff minutes, let alone as wage the on ball

524
00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:07,400
burden. When he's on the court
right now in the playoffs, Draymond Green

525
00:35:07,079 --> 00:35:09,559
like, yeah, we know what
he can do when he's kind of like

526
00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:13,559
has space to work with or he's
coming out of the short role, like

527
00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:16,000
slowing things down, generating shots out
of nothing. That's never been him,

528
00:35:16,039 --> 00:35:20,679
That's never been Clay. It was
supposed to be Pool, and like now

529
00:35:20,679 --> 00:35:23,000
they're kind of hoping, Oh,
is it Devincenzo or is it Wiggins?

530
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:28,519
And it's like you could talk about
being disappointed in some of those players offensively,

531
00:35:28,559 --> 00:35:30,440
but like that's not supposed to be
their job. And I know Jordan

532
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:34,320
Pool is injured, he's not been
injured all year and he has not been

533
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:37,199
that player all year, And you
know what the it's not funny, Well

534
00:35:37,199 --> 00:35:43,679
it's a little funny he's never actually
been that player. It's never just been

535
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:47,559
someone who can spearhead the ship independent
of Steph Curry. It's not that you've

536
00:35:47,559 --> 00:35:51,320
always had to win in spite of
him. He's a great offensive talent.

537
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:53,719
He's a better finisher even when he's
out of control. Sometimes I think people

538
00:35:54,119 --> 00:35:58,679
realize. I don't like when people
are belittingly him saying he's not an NBA

539
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,079
player. He sucks, he sucks, he's up. But you miss identified.

540
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:05,320
And we've been on this on the
podcast or at least like if we're

541
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,960
gonna do I have, you've missed
identified what he is supposed to be,

542
00:36:09,559 --> 00:36:14,559
and now you've committed one hundred and
twenty three guaranteed million dollars to him.

543
00:36:14,639 --> 00:36:16,199
And I don't know what the path
forward is. Well, we don't even

544
00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:20,360
need to get into that, but
I don't know how you win. Do

545
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:22,920
I expect him to win Game five? I do, but like to win

546
00:36:22,039 --> 00:36:28,280
three straight kind of would run counter
to everything we've seen this season, where

547
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,719
we're just waiting constantly for the Warriors
to rattle off that stretch of dominance to

548
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:40,000
prove that they're a Italics text title
contender and Pools struggles Pools let down has

549
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,199
been the thing that stands out the
most to me. But also like,

550
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:45,719
yeah, Clay has to be culpable
here too, Like his shot has not

551
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,519
been falling at a clip that you
need it to fall. And I come

552
00:36:49,559 --> 00:36:53,360
away from this thinking to put a
bow on this. All those times we

553
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:58,000
made jokes about Steph not having enough
help, we have now reached the point

554
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,360
and I think we've been there for
some time where they've just not surrounded Steph

555
00:37:01,559 --> 00:37:07,400
with enough help. And it look
they were working within certain financial strictures relative

556
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,320
to their roster building. You could
say they should have kept Otto Porter Junior.

557
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:15,679
Look wid his season turned into they
pay in the second back and he's

558
00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:19,800
been semi important to them when he's
not vomiting on the court. So I

559
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:23,159
just I don't have any material answers, but it does not feel I'd be

560
00:37:23,199 --> 00:37:27,719
with you in saying I would be
pretty floored if this is a team that

561
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:32,400
just rattles off three straight victories,
I would too. And Stefan Stoit says,

562
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:36,119
let Pool cook at home. It
needs crowd support. I mean,

563
00:37:36,159 --> 00:37:38,239
like that'll help. Got role players
tend to play better at home. The

564
00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:42,599
Warriors, certainly we've seen all season, play better at home. But I

565
00:37:42,639 --> 00:37:46,840
want to talk I want to talk
more about Pool because I think so the

566
00:37:47,199 --> 00:37:51,159
real one of the real issues with
him. Forget the defense, Like I

567
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,760
don't know, I don't know if
I've ever seen a player do more things

568
00:37:54,800 --> 00:38:00,239
defensively on a basketball court that just
like he's like inventing ways to be bad

569
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:06,480
defensively, like these weird gambles,
these like seeking contact and strange places,

570
00:38:06,679 --> 00:38:09,199
Like if you watch enough basketball,
you start to just recognize patterns and guys

571
00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:13,639
move kind of the same way.
And if these players engage on this spot

572
00:38:13,639 --> 00:38:17,480
on the floor and this is the
action, there's like expected sequences of movement,

573
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,519
and his are just all different and
weird and like just non competitive half

574
00:38:22,519 --> 00:38:28,440
the time. So let's leave that. The role he's supposed to play offensively,

575
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,519
and you were talking about it is
super important because he's the only guy

576
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:37,079
in theory that can heat up on
his own, generate shots for others,

577
00:38:37,159 --> 00:38:42,760
kind of build a transition attack out
of nothing. And I think if you

578
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,840
want to be charitable to him,
you would say he's looking around at the

579
00:38:46,079 --> 00:38:49,519
guys he's out on the floor with
a lot of the time and thinking like

580
00:38:49,599 --> 00:38:52,079
these guys are gonna have shit,
Like, if we're gonna score, it's

581
00:38:52,119 --> 00:38:54,639
gonna have to be me doing something
spectacular. And I think it got a

582
00:38:54,679 --> 00:39:00,320
lot of positive reinforcement with that last
season, albeit in a little scale back

583
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:06,480
way where he just like the contributions
he made offensively were really difficult shot making,

584
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:12,920
you know, penetrating acrobatic finishes,
just you know, highlight level offense.

585
00:39:13,679 --> 00:39:17,039
And it looks like he's been hunting
that type of thing all season and

586
00:39:17,199 --> 00:39:20,800
when he's not, and so he's
just trying to do too much, he's

587
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:23,079
sped up. Whatever cliches you want
to use, like that is very clearly

588
00:39:23,119 --> 00:39:27,480
what's happening, where he's just trying
to get it all himself, which I

589
00:39:27,519 --> 00:39:30,920
think is sort of understandable because no
one else can do it. Here's the

590
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:37,000
problem with that is Pool has always
been better sort of as when he does

591
00:39:37,039 --> 00:39:40,559
trust other guys that don't have a
bunch of offensive skills and gets off the

592
00:39:40,599 --> 00:39:45,400
ball and maybe relocates for an open
shot or just plays within some semblance of

593
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:50,239
an offensive system that has a little
bit of organization and passing in whatever,

594
00:39:51,599 --> 00:39:54,920
when he's part of like the controlled
chaos instead of this like I've used this

595
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:59,159
sort of I don't know way to
explain it before. If he's part of

596
00:39:59,159 --> 00:40:02,760
the chaos, he's really awesome.
But if he's the guy like operating alone

597
00:40:04,079 --> 00:40:08,519
as chaos by himself, it's terrible. Like it's turnover, it's falling down

598
00:40:08,559 --> 00:40:13,760
all the time, it's driving into
traffic, it's like hopeless finish finish attempts

599
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,679
against big guys that just it's just
not gonna work. So like, I

600
00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:22,119
understand why he's trying to do too
much, but it's also we've just seen

601
00:40:22,159 --> 00:40:24,119
evidence last season of if you just
trust the rest of the guys you're playing

602
00:40:24,119 --> 00:40:29,079
with a little bit, things get
easier for everybody, and maybe those minutes

603
00:40:29,119 --> 00:40:32,679
aren't just catastrophically bad, which they
have been. So I think most of

604
00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:37,400
it's on him, except that,
like his teammate did punch him to start

605
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,480
the year. I know, it's
like we've talked about it to death,

606
00:40:40,559 --> 00:40:45,239
but it's hard for me to divorce
some of the disinterests, some of the

607
00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:50,119
frustration. You see him like,
you know, grousing when he gets pulled

608
00:40:50,159 --> 00:40:52,760
off the floor and goes to the
bench, Like, it's hard for me

609
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:57,840
to divorce that entirely from what happened
in preseason, and like, honestly,

610
00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:00,320
some of it's understandable, Like there
may have been like a real breach of

611
00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:05,920
trust and a real just you know, a line crossed whatever. That that's

612
00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:07,840
just what this is. Like,
He's like, fuck it, I'm not

613
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:12,599
a part of this team the way
I used to be. I just can't

614
00:41:12,679 --> 00:41:15,559
summon the commitment to play the way
that the coach is asking me to and

615
00:41:15,599 --> 00:41:19,840
that my teammates need me to.
I'm out like that. That really does

616
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:22,320
feel like a plausible explanation for a
lot of what's happening. Yeah, there

617
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:24,400
could be a human element to all
of this, That's what I mean.

618
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:28,920
There is a human element, Like
and I think, you know, if

619
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:30,760
you want to really go down the
rabbit hole, there's maybe a trickle down

620
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:36,679
effect that is impacting guys like Jonathan
Cominga, who I gotta believe is not

621
00:41:36,719 --> 00:41:40,679
playing because of his attitude or his
frustration or the way he's going about his

622
00:41:40,719 --> 00:41:45,679
business in reaction to not getting the
same role he had last year. Because

623
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:51,159
if you're telling me, Steve Kerr
is going to Jamichael Green as like a

624
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:54,440
fix, and it's because he can
base the floor a little bit he's got

625
00:41:54,599 --> 00:41:58,559
enough size. Like, I'm sorry, Ja, Michael Green is not gonna

626
00:41:58,639 --> 00:42:00,840
swing a series because he's gonna make
five threes a game or whatever it is.

627
00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:07,320
He's had minimal impacts a couple different
times. I just refused to believe

628
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:12,480
kaminga if left wide open, wouldn't
also make like a decent number of threes.

629
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:17,119
And then also add athleticism, defense, rebounding, hustle, like that's

630
00:42:17,159 --> 00:42:22,760
a card that a team would have
played by now unless there were something else

631
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:27,840
going on, And so I would
be willing to bet when this is over

632
00:42:28,559 --> 00:42:31,960
there will be reports coming out about
you know, and the Steph Curry speech

633
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,639
I think alluded to them. You
know, he was talking to a lot

634
00:42:35,639 --> 00:42:39,440
of the guys that imagine, by
the way, getting scolded by Steph Curry

635
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:45,280
of all people, because that's just
not his brand. We have guys who

636
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:51,440
were signed in Jamichael Green to bolster
the back end of the rotation, and

637
00:42:52,199 --> 00:42:59,800
youngsters who have not proven enough to
be a part frankly of either timeline,

638
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:04,400
who are lower maintenance than one of
the ten greatest basketball players of all time

639
00:43:04,559 --> 00:43:07,280
still in his fucking prime. Right, that's wild shit? Yeah, No,

640
00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:12,519
so that that's just I just think
there's gonna be stuff that comes out

641
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:17,719
and it's not going to reflect well
on Cominga or Pool or even know whoever

642
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:22,000
else. I think Devincenzo even got
lumped into their speculatively as someone that was

643
00:43:22,039 --> 00:43:27,239
not happy with his role. But
it's like, you know, Moses Moody's

644
00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:30,199
playing, and he wasn't playing much
during the season, and he's actually been

645
00:43:30,239 --> 00:43:34,320
okay, Like he I think,
I think they need better than okay,

646
00:43:34,599 --> 00:43:37,880
but but he, I think is
probably the guy that has accepted his role

647
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:43,840
better than some of the other lesser
used players, especially the young guys.

648
00:43:44,119 --> 00:43:46,800
And so yeah, I don't know. It's just this all goes all the

649
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:51,199
way back to the same thing we
both said, which is like, I'm

650
00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:54,960
not sure what success looks like for
the Warriors in this series. But last

651
00:43:55,000 --> 00:44:00,239
thing I'll say is we're having a
very different conversation if Lonnie Walker doesn't lose

652
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:04,639
his fucking mind for the whole fourth
quarter and win a playoff game basically by

653
00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:09,719
himself. So that was so fun. Maybe maybe not okay good I was

654
00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:13,760
missing, maybe not for you,
but that was just incredible just doing all

655
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:16,119
his damage. And then did you
see the statuo that he has twenty seven

656
00:44:16,159 --> 00:44:20,360
points over his last two games,
and Clay and pool of combined for twenty

657
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:23,519
nine over their last two. I
mean, and he was in tough shots

658
00:44:23,599 --> 00:44:27,599
like there was. Most of those
were bad shots, just like you was

659
00:44:29,119 --> 00:44:34,199
there. So yeah, credits to
him for sure, goods Like he's kind

660
00:44:34,199 --> 00:44:37,000
of I don't know why, I
just like I root for him. I

661
00:44:37,199 --> 00:44:39,880
like I've always kind of liked him. I miss his hair. I will

662
00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:43,880
say I do miss his hair.
But we're having a very different conversation if

663
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:47,119
he has like six points instead of
whatever it was fourteen in the fourth quarter.

664
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:53,519
So because you got you do look
at this series and like to make

665
00:44:53,559 --> 00:44:57,079
this more about we look, this
is another instance we're talking about the team

666
00:44:57,079 --> 00:45:00,880
that seems like they're about to get
eliminated. But like some of the storylines

667
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:06,320
or subplots of this series should be
okay. Jared Vanderbilt, just the Warriors

668
00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:07,719
aren't guarding him from me on the
arc. He's been taking them, he's

669
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:12,920
just not making them. Deangel Russell, I think he's shooting about thirty percent

670
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:16,920
from three in this series. Austin
Reeves has been relatively quiet by Austin Reeves's

671
00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:22,039
standards. Again, Lebron James even
like it's taken him. He hasn't been

672
00:45:22,079 --> 00:45:25,920
going, hasn't had his jumper going
for most of the There's so Anthony Davis

673
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:29,480
sort of on and off, and
really it was just he was only off

674
00:45:29,519 --> 00:45:32,719
in in game two. But it's
just like everything is so geared towards Is

675
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:36,639
there anything that you that stood out
to you though about the Lakers aside from

676
00:45:36,679 --> 00:45:39,360
Lonnie Walker going kaboom? That's that's
just impressed you. I mean, the

677
00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:44,239
adjustments have been one thing. I
think Darvinham deserves credit. The Warriors are

678
00:45:44,239 --> 00:45:51,000
not typically easy to scheme against.
I also think it's just Anthony Davis that

679
00:45:51,119 --> 00:45:55,280
this was gonna be an Anthony Davis
series. Stephan Story says Warriors and Cors

680
00:45:55,280 --> 00:46:00,199
scarys Wittel James Wiseman develops, Uh
yeah, you know, wait all those

681
00:46:00,519 --> 00:46:06,119
like what Gary Payton and those second
round picks that they gave up with him

682
00:46:06,119 --> 00:46:09,519
to I don't whatever. It's you
know what, it's a bad sign that

683
00:46:09,559 --> 00:46:15,199
when someone brings up Wiseman, I'm
kind of like, maybe I do wish

684
00:46:15,239 --> 00:46:17,960
he was still on the team.
No, no, I know, I

685
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,320
know it's a bad sign of being
irrational. But it's like, not for

686
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:22,760
the series, but just for like, well at least once this is over,

687
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:27,119
we'd have some like young players to
follow when they tear the team down.

688
00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:30,360
Well, I told you though,
that Moses Moody would be the only

689
00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:35,639
young star of the four, the
core four youngsters contributing during a semi finals

690
00:46:35,679 --> 00:46:37,400
playoff series. What would you have
said if I told you that in October?

691
00:46:37,639 --> 00:46:40,440
I would say, like what happened
to the higher ceiling guys? But

692
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:45,239
I will say that Moody, like
early on was he was never going to

693
00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:50,320
be a star. But it's like
he's long, he can theoretically defend and

694
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:53,280
make open threes, Like he's probably
the guy that is the safest bet to

695
00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:59,519
actually have some role. But the
ceiling high floor, low ceiling for Moody.

696
00:47:00,039 --> 00:47:01,800
But to get back to the Lakers, it's an I thought it was

697
00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:05,800
gonna be an Anthony Davis series.
I thought he was going to pose problems

698
00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:09,039
the Warriors would really struggle to solve
on both ends, and like that has

699
00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:14,199
mostly been the case. If you
don't want to look at it as the

700
00:47:14,239 --> 00:47:17,519
Warriors are screwing this up there,
you know all the self inflicted stuff.

701
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:21,760
You got to look at it as
like, yeah, Davis has just just

702
00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:24,639
been really good, and he's been
really good in a way that the Warriors

703
00:47:24,679 --> 00:47:30,039
have struggled to handle. So yeah, I don't know. I mean,

704
00:47:30,199 --> 00:47:35,039
Lebron has picked his spots. I
feel like Russell has shot it poorly overall,

705
00:47:35,079 --> 00:47:37,000
like you said, but he's had
some timely stretches where you know,

706
00:47:37,079 --> 00:47:39,679
two or three three's in a row, or like hitting a couple of pull

707
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:44,039
ups and just when the Lakers have
needed it. I don't know if timely

708
00:47:44,079 --> 00:47:47,000
shooting is really a thing, because
you know, points scored at different points

709
00:47:47,039 --> 00:47:52,239
of the game like count the same. But you know, he's been I

710
00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:55,639
wouldn't say Russell has been bad.
They're certainly not like exploiting him defensively like

711
00:47:55,679 --> 00:48:01,119
I thought maybe the Warriors might.
So yeah, I just think I've been

712
00:48:01,159 --> 00:48:05,239
impressed. I've been impressed with the
Lakers. The other thing that's happened is

713
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,320
both their best players have kind of
held up. That was a big thing

714
00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:12,679
going into this was can Davison Lebron
play at a high enough level for long

715
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:15,519
enough to compete? Like answer yes
for sure. How big was it that

716
00:48:15,519 --> 00:48:20,519
they didn't need to log a ship
ton of minutes in Game three. Yeah,

717
00:48:20,599 --> 00:48:23,280
the blowout was huge, was huge. So now it's like, now

718
00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:27,199
they only need to have one more
good game basically because they can. You

719
00:48:27,239 --> 00:48:29,920
know, you don't want to let
this get to seven if you're the Lakers,

720
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:32,639
but you know, you could lose
a game and play these guys twenty

721
00:48:32,639 --> 00:48:35,960
minutes or whatever and you still got
a great chance to win. I don't

722
00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:38,079
know what the odds are. I
imagine the Warriors are, like, you

723
00:48:38,079 --> 00:48:40,960
know, I put it at like
fifteen to twenty percent to win the series,

724
00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:45,519
which feels high. So the Lakers
just, you know, the biggest

725
00:48:45,559 --> 00:48:49,840
issue, the more I talk about
it, was can those two guys stay

726
00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:52,199
healthy and not have a bunch of
duds sprinkled in with you know, transcending

727
00:48:52,239 --> 00:48:58,000
games and other than one game for
Davis, he's been awesome, So I

728
00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:00,840
mean maybe it's that simple, right, Yeah. The biggest hat out for

729
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:02,119
me, I think has actually been
shrewder where I think we went to the

730
00:49:02,159 --> 00:49:06,360
series talking about, oh is Reeves
going to defend a bunch of Steph Curry

731
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:10,000
is Vanderbilt and they have I mean
Reeves only recently. The Dubs are averaging

732
00:49:10,079 --> 00:49:15,320
one point zero four points per possession
as a team. When Dennis Shrewder guards

733
00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:21,320
Steph Curry, that's that's low.
Yeah, that's just he's even when he

734
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:22,400
doesn't have a shot going like,
yeah, he can put, he can

735
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:27,000
scramble defenses when he gets going downhill. But even when he's not scoring,

736
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:30,199
he's been someone who is just hey, he needs he needs to play.

737
00:49:30,519 --> 00:49:35,039
Yeah, do you I find myself
watching Shrewder defend and hustle and like do

738
00:49:35,119 --> 00:49:37,639
all the role player stuff now that
he never really did, like with Atlanta

739
00:49:37,719 --> 00:49:42,039
for example, And I find myself
wondering, like, how could this guy

740
00:49:42,039 --> 00:49:44,960
have been like an All Star a
couple of times if he had this approach

741
00:49:45,079 --> 00:49:49,280
when he had, you know,
just more rope as an offensive player and

742
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:52,280
probably was a better athlete than you
know, earlier in his career, like

743
00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:55,559
he the way he's playing now,
if he had approached like his career as

744
00:49:55,599 --> 00:49:59,960
a kind of like a kind of
first option ish, you know, anyway,

745
00:50:00,119 --> 00:50:04,320
high end starter offensively like he could
have, it feels like a little

746
00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:06,400
bit of a missed opportunity for him. Good for him now, but it

747
00:50:06,400 --> 00:50:07,840
makes me wonder what could have been. I can't say I thought even a

748
00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:12,360
little bit about that but it is
a is a great point to wrap up

749
00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:16,599
this series. Is there any are
there any buttons Golden State has left to

750
00:50:16,719 --> 00:50:21,400
push here? Like what are you
looking at? Like see from them in

751
00:50:21,480 --> 00:50:25,079
game five or potentially beyond. Yeah, I mean it's nothing, nothing new.

752
00:50:25,119 --> 00:50:29,639
It's they've they've tried all. You
know, they're you know, their

753
00:50:29,679 --> 00:50:32,480
triage system of offensive approaches. They're
down to the kind of the last one.

754
00:50:34,119 --> 00:50:38,239
I think unless the Lakers put Davis
on someone that can make a decision

755
00:50:38,239 --> 00:50:44,159
as a role guy, the Warriors
will struggle to score. I don't think

756
00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:47,719
Curry isolating without a screen is viable, especially late in a series where he's

757
00:50:47,719 --> 00:50:52,039
shouldered a huge load. So you
know, it may just be as simple

758
00:50:52,079 --> 00:50:58,360
as they don't turn the ball over
a ton and you know they're they get

759
00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:01,039
decent shooting nights from Clay and Wiggins, but it's not like I don't think

760
00:51:01,079 --> 00:51:07,480
there's a tweak left, whether it's
rotation or tactically that sort of you know,

761
00:51:07,559 --> 00:51:12,239
unlocks things like saying like in Game
four against the Celtics in the finals

762
00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:15,920
last year, I don't I don't
you know, maybe this is the greatest

763
00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:17,519
reverse jinks of all time and they're
going to come up with something, but

764
00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:21,800
I don't know what that is other
than, you know, shoot better and

765
00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:24,719
maybe get a half decent effort from
from Pool and Clay you know, runs

766
00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:28,039
hot. That's that's kind of it
for me, I don't you know,

767
00:51:28,159 --> 00:51:31,480
and asking that for three games in
a row. Their margin fair has never

768
00:51:31,519 --> 00:51:35,679
been big this season, so it's
tough for me. Do you have anything

769
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:39,000
like are we we grasping at?
I have, look, so I have

770
00:51:39,079 --> 00:51:45,079
a question to propose to because it's
who says no. Colm Cowherd proposed this

771
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:53,119
trade. Warriors receive Jawen Brown and
Malcolm Brogden. The Celtics receive Jordan Poole

772
00:51:53,480 --> 00:52:00,679
and Andrew Wiggins. Hmmm, I
mean I do that if I'm the Warriors,

773
00:52:00,719 --> 00:52:05,559
I think right right, it's like, are the Celtics involved in these

774
00:52:05,639 --> 00:52:09,239
negotiations at all? Like what would
be that? Why? Why? I

775
00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:14,519
mean, I guess the concern is
Wiggins contract is probably really favorable going forward,

776
00:52:14,559 --> 00:52:16,239
and Brown You're gonna have to pay
a ton but like, okay,

777
00:52:16,519 --> 00:52:20,320
there's pool of money. There's a
chance. I don't say this lightly.

778
00:52:20,440 --> 00:52:22,800
This might be if this is a
serious trade off, it might be one

779
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:24,559
of the worst proposals of all time, and you know what this is how

780
00:52:24,599 --> 00:52:28,559
you know I can't be trusted as
I had to think about it because when

781
00:52:28,559 --> 00:52:30,039
you were trudging your face, I
was like, is he being performative for

782
00:52:30,119 --> 00:52:32,280
the camera? I hope no.
I was just kind of like, Okay,

783
00:52:32,320 --> 00:52:35,880
well know I really do like Wiggins, but no, yeah, that's

784
00:52:36,199 --> 00:52:37,880
a no brainer. You know who
I've been thinking about because you got to

785
00:52:37,880 --> 00:52:42,920
start thinking about Pool trades right for
the off season, and like, I

786
00:52:42,920 --> 00:52:45,840
have no concept of what his value
is going to be because it's well,

787
00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:50,039
it's probably never been lower, just
because he's now, he's paid, and

788
00:52:50,079 --> 00:52:52,800
he's just turning in one of the
worst playoffs we've seen in a while.

789
00:52:52,199 --> 00:52:57,679
But like Orlando needs a guard.
Can we get Can we just take back

790
00:52:57,719 --> 00:53:01,039
Jonathan Isaac, like human, human
injury risk Jonathan Isaac for Jordan Pool and

791
00:53:01,039 --> 00:53:04,679
just call it good? Can we
can we do that? And then you

792
00:53:04,760 --> 00:53:09,519
have, you know, incredibly high
risk, high reward potential, all defensive

793
00:53:09,559 --> 00:53:14,000
guy to eventually supplant Draymond. Like
I don't know, this is where I'm

794
00:53:14,039 --> 00:53:15,719
at now. I'm trying to get
Jonathan Isaac for Jordan Pool, and I'm

795
00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:20,280
not sure it can happen. It's
good. I think the Warriors do need

796
00:53:20,360 --> 00:53:24,000
more conservative authors in their their locker
room. That's definitely yeah. Are you

797
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,760
ready to take us out on that. I'm sure you're a little bit rattled.

798
00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:31,000
I'm just I am very rattled by
what we just decided Devin Booker where

799
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:35,599
he belongs in the NBA hierarchy.
Everybody, Thanks for listening, Thanks for

800
00:53:35,639 --> 00:53:37,599
your comments. What's up? What's
up Brent? We didn't say hi,

801
00:53:37,639 --> 00:53:40,920
he's been commenting. Please. As
Dan mentioned at the top, remember to

802
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:45,480
rate, review, subscribe, follow
us on our socials at Hardwood Knocks on

803
00:53:45,519 --> 00:53:51,239
Twitter and TikTok Hardwood Underscore Knox on
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804
00:53:51,280 --> 00:53:53,519
us on YouTube and you want to
be involved in live streams, subscribe there

805
00:53:54,039 --> 00:53:58,519
and let's see. Uh, tell
your friends, tell your enemies. We

806
00:53:58,519 --> 00:54:00,760
always forget to do that. I
will take us out with a shout out

807
00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:04,400
to Frank Nilikina. But as you
mentioned, I don't know who else to

808
00:54:04,440 --> 00:54:07,119
apologize to because Mitchell Robinson has not
been as great. So I'm gonna go

809
00:54:07,199 --> 00:54:12,039
back at least for today to issuing
an apology to Jaredell