April 24, 2019 • 35 mins
Doug Gottlieb explains why the Thunder are a team from a bygone era and lack the foundation to be a successful franchise. Doug thinks that this week’s draft is all about the Raiders chance to rebuild. Doug says that Magic Johnson stepping away from the Lakers doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t helping the team. Doug explains how Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard is a superstar. Plus, Ric Bucher joins the show to share his thoughts on everything NBA.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlap
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(00:21):
of the Doug got Leave Show on Fox Sports Radio.
You gotta win that game through Oklahoma City. Go in
that game. And Russell Westbrook, as much as he's part
of the solution, he's also part of the problem. And
(00:42):
he had a turnover light on a charge he drove
in and should have scored, instead passed off to Jeremy
Grant who missed a missed the layup. He missed what
would have been the game leading or game winning jump shot.
He got beat twice, but more than anything, he missed
more shots twenty than the rest of his team combined
(01:05):
nineteen and so we can talk about Billy Donovan, we
can talk about the the Sam Prestis roster that has
Steven Adams making twenty million dollars and he can't be
on the floor light the paucity of shooting that they
have as opposed to the Trailblazers who lost Yo Yoseph
Nurkitch but were able to add and his cantor late,
(01:26):
giving them more scoring. They went offense instead of defense.
Seth Curry out on the floor late because he can
really shoot. We can talk at the personnel, we can
talk at the coaching, but it starts and ends with
Russell Westbrook. Starts and ends with Russell Westbrook. This is
three straight seasons in which they've lost in the first
(01:48):
round of the playoffs, the three years in which Kevin
Durant has been gone. And you can tell me that
he doesn't have Kevin Durant around him, but he had
Victor Oladipot two years ago, and he had a George
the past two years and they didn't lose the great teams.
Damian Lillard played great, but without Nurkics, it's a two
(02:08):
man show and a bunch of shooters. That's who they are.
And he got outplayed at his own spot, just like
last year, he got outplayed by Donovan Mitchell in his
own spot. We can talk round and round, and I
don't know what you do if you're the thunder to
fix it, because the Oklahoma City Thunder are they run
(02:32):
the victim of being the second or third into the market.
And this is not the first time around. The original
flaw in Oklahoma City was they were trying to play
catch up to the San Antonio Spurs and l A Lakers,
because to beat the Lakers you had to have two
big guys, because they had Pau Gasol and they had
Uh Andrew buying him people like man I forgot Andrew
(02:55):
buying him like Andrew by him. By the way, he's
like a dinosaur, like couldn't playing today's NBA. But in
his prime before the knee injuries really set in in
his early twenties, like, he was a force down there,
and then he had Pau Gasol. You had to stop
Kobe and then you had to stop their two posts.
And that's why they made a trade and acquired Kendrick
Perkins because he needed a tough defensive player. But then
(03:19):
Kendrick Perkins was a waste all right, and they had
Serge Ibaka, so they were late into the hey, we
don't need two big guys, and they had Steve Van Adams,
who there's a big guy from a foregone era. If
you're going to be that big, you he had to
be one of two things. You either got to be
(03:39):
a great offensive player or a great defensive player, and
he is neither. He's a great quote, he's a great dude,
and in he would be an unbelievable weapon. Okay, he
can score a little bit, he can defend, he doesn't
need the basketball, and he's a great dude. And he's
tougher than a two dollar steak. But this d they're
(04:03):
late on on the Steven Adams. And then Russell Westbrook,
high volume, low efficiency, missing that many shots. He I
don't know how you fix it. Are You're like, oh,
let's trade Russell Westbrook. You think the rest of the
league wants a guy who can't shoot, doesn't know he
(04:25):
can't shoot, hard to coach, has had four knee surgeries
and it's gonna make million dollars next four years. Like maybe.
And then you got Lillard, who we need to stop
with these the most underrated player in the league. Stop it.
(04:49):
He's a perennial All Star, he's been All NBA and
while he's not Steph Curry, he's an incredible shooter and
he keeps getting better and he's seems to have no
fear of the big moment. But hell, his team got
swept from the playoffs last year too, So we can
(05:09):
make this out to be a million different things. But
I look at it and Oklahoma City has got a
Russell Westbrook problem. The personnel is gonna be really, really
hard to fix. But that game last night was was
lost by Russell Westbrook and won by Damian Lillard. Westbrook
(05:30):
played hero ball down the stretch, could not personally stop
his man, defensively, made bad decisions, didn't get the ball
to their best player, and ends up being the loser.
And I have no problem with trash talk with the
rock I don't. I don't really get the rock in
the baby thing. But if you're gonna rock the baby
(05:50):
and your teammate's gonna point to the wrist and mock
dame time, that's fine. But when you lose, we all
know how it works. The ultimate trash talk is scoreboard.
What a game last night reaffirms my belief that NBA
basketball is the best. Those guys are so much more
skilled than NBA players ever have been. And skilled by skilled,
(06:11):
I mean dribbling, passing, shooting the basketball. Yeah there's a
lot of flopping. Yeah there's a lot of flailing, But man,
those guys are so so good. I remember watching Westbrook
in person in the playoffs a couple different couple of
different times, turning to my wife and saying, look, I
I thought of myself as a borderline NBA player who
(06:31):
never made it. But I can tell you right now,
even in my athletic prime, and I was a really,
really good athlete, I have no idea how I could
guard Russell Westbrook, let alone, let alone guarding Damian Lillard.
I mean a guy who can shoot from forty ft
out and then go buy you and finish in the
lane with the lane wide open. That's it's almost impossible,
(06:55):
and it was impossible last night. I don't know how
to fix it, though. I don't know how to fix it.
The thunder are the house that you walk into and
you're like, well, maybe if we and you're just talking
yourself out of the fact that it's not about the
aesthetics of the kitchen. It's not about changing countertops and
(07:17):
knocking out a wall. It's not that foundations screwed up,
fung Su is screwed up. The kitchens in the wrong
place the entire You almost have to go down to
the studs if you truly want to fix it. And
Oklahoma City can't really go down to the studs because
the likelihood of of of getting back even to where
(07:40):
they are watchable, fun competitive in the regular season, that's
a tough pill to swallow. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Doug Dot Leaps Show weekdays at noon
eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app. It feels like what Magic Johnson
is doing with the for the Lakers is what Kelly
(08:02):
an Conway did during the election. Stick with me for
a second. This actually makes sense. So Kelly and Conway
was uh on team Trump. You know, she's upholster of
political consultant. Now she serves as counselor to the president.
She was Trump's campaign manager, but then she left the
(08:25):
campaign midway through it all right, um, and by the way,
she she initially actually endorsed Ted Cruz, but then she
became she became basically like a a a media pundit
because of her time spent with now President then Donald Trump,
(08:51):
which is what Magic Johnson seems to be doing. He
was president of the Lakers, and he was like, man,
I can't even tweet guys. I get caught tampering. And
now he's a city's cities. You know, he's a civilian,
but he's and he's not even necessarily smart enough to
do the like I got nothing to do with it.
Now he's like, I'm still kind of working for the Lakers.
Kelley and Conway was probably always working for Donald Trump,
(09:13):
but she just didn't tell anybody. She just went on
TV as a political pundit. That's all brilliant, little diebolical,
but brilliant, which is what like Magic Johnson. Almost feel
like ESPN is gonna hire Magic Johnson and he'll end
up being a Laker spokesperson even though he works for
whoever he works for in the playoffs or or or
(09:35):
or post president or maybe he's just the civilian. Maybe
it's just Magic Johnson, former Laker where you have actually
more power now because you don't have the constraints of
the office, which is a fascinating move and maybe one
that works, Like, look, he can't really recruit guys that
are under contract when he's a member of Lakers front office.
(09:58):
But if he's just Magic Johnson, you can't stop from
doing it. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug Dot Leap Show weekdays at noon eastern three pm Pacific.
I'm fascinated by this draft being the Raiders draft, right
when you have that many picks in the first two
rounds like that, this is reshaping your roster. You have
(10:19):
your three first round picks, you got a couple of
second round picks like you gotta. You got a chance
to completely reshape your roster. And then you have like
Mike Mayock going through mock draft scenarios, and I I
understand that people think it's funny. There's two stories that
have come out over the last week that make the
(10:40):
Raiders kind of look clownish, right, kind of look clownish.
Like the first part is that they sent all their
scouts home because they couldn't trust any of them. And
you know, we've kind of debunked that because you have
a new general manager, those scouts contractors up, their time
is up there. They're not part of the big board process.
(11:03):
And if if if guarding state health secrets or radar
held secrets were really important, then somebody wouldn't have leaked
it to Ian rappaport, and then it's a Mike Mayock's
going through mock draft scenarios. They all are. You absolutely
have to whether you want to call it a mock
(11:25):
draft scenario or whether or not you UM, whether or
not you want to UM simply be prepared for Plan A,
Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, Plan E, Plan F.
It's all kind of the same thing. He's not doing
anything different than any other GM in his uh in
(11:46):
his position would do. When you're new, you're bringing your
own scouts, and when you're getting ready for the draft.
This is like the you know, when guys get ready
to do the debates, or men and women get ready
to do debate the presidential debates, they have mock debates
and they have a demock debater who plays the role
of the other person. That's so different, no different at all.
(12:13):
They don't do anything that the raiders aren't doing anything
that hasn't previously been done. The only difference is you're
hearing about it now, whether you're hearing about it because
they wanted out there to create some positive attention, whether
they're here hearing about it more likely because people are
still don't love gruten whether they think he's a phony,
or his contracts too big, or his egos too big,
(12:34):
whatever it is, he's rubbed enough people the wrong way
somehow that people reporting legitimate stories in legitimate stories. But
if you could make that story about anybody. I texted
to GMS today, They're like, yeah, we we do that
stuff ourselves. We go through different scenarios, whether you want
to call the mock drafts or not. We kind of
go through, you know, and after day one, that's what
(12:56):
we do at the night of day one, like we
don't come up for air because we got a pair
and out for the next couple of days. Because things
are different, people off the board, we got to kind
of reassess where we are, where the league is. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
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s R to listen live. You can follow on Twitter
(13:18):
at Rick Buker buke um Uh. Let's let's talk some ball,
shall We did the other games even matter to you?
Do you want to talk about your kitch or should
we just concentrate on Portland? Because I have I've talked
to this Portland Ocloma City thing to death. But I'd
love your insight any of the other three games matter
to you at all in terms of what results the
(13:43):
results last night, yeah, or what it says like. Look,
we didn't expect Brooklyn to win the series, but they were,
you know, more competitive than last night. Obviously they got
their their butts swooped or whatever. Um how Russell was
exposed as it as a good player, but not an
(14:03):
All Star, not a guy. I mean, I hate the
Echo magic, but this that he is better than he
was advertised in l A. Is he a leader? Is
he a true All Star? I would stop short of that.
The stage and the moment was was clearly too big
(14:26):
for him, and that that began the unraveling. I will
say this this when it comes to Brooklyn in general,
I've never of all the expects of the results or
the what I expected. Being down three one on the road,
the lower seed, nothing nothing to lose. To see them
(14:47):
have the yips and play tentatively at that stage was
one of the most one of the more bizarre happenings
that I've seen in the playoffs. I just could not
have anticipated it that they were going to respond to
that situation in the way that they did. Why do
you think that happen? I honestly, I don't know, other
(15:08):
than their youth, I really I don't. I don't know.
I would suspect that maybe it was because they were
the story. They were the story, that the team that
everybody rooted for this year. They were a little team
that could, and suddenly they walked into a hostile environment
(15:29):
where people felt that, you know, maybe maybe they're not
maybe not, they're not all that they were cracked up
to be and enough to to change things. I say
all that only because with the beat down, and then
I feel the same way with Milwaukee over Detroit. It's
really hard to gauge how those teams are playing uh
(15:49):
at at the moment, because in this last case, Brooklyn
just didn't show up. That game was all about Brooklyn
far more than it was about Philadelphia, and in the
Milwaukee Detroit series was going to be a bad matchup
even if Blake had been healthy. I actually think there's
a parallel between this one and the Oklahoma City one
(16:12):
and yere's how um I was. I was not really
a trash talker. I would I react more to try
I was more I just had fun. I would talk
to the fans, to other coaches, to refs, so whatever
it wasn't you know, I was. I just I just
enjoyed and now. But I always always thought like, you
gotta be really careful who you talk trash too, right,
(16:33):
because and this goes back to when I was a
little kid. I grew up playing at Miles Square Park,
and I remember that, um, there was a there was
a dude who played at cal State Forton and it
was the day before my freshman year started in high
school and named Joe Small. Joe Small was cal State
Fortune's best player. And we're playing outdoor pick up okay
(16:54):
in in like early September, late August in southern California,
and I had a couple of shots and guys, all
the guys who were talking a little trash to Joe
that high school kid, lighten you up, Joe, high school
kid lighting you up? And I hit were like yeah, Joe,
and Joe Small came down the lane and saw me
there and elbowed me and there's blood just gushing out
(17:14):
of my face. And I just be very careful you
run your mouth too. I felt like the nets and
Oklahoma City be very careful you talk trash too, because
some guys react really well, some guys react poorly and
go into a show. And I felt like they tried
Brooklyn tried to be the bully. They tried to have
Jared Dudley starts something in game four and in game
five the Philadelphia seventy six years ended. It is that
(17:36):
fair at all? I think that's very fair, And I
think it's a good point in that. Like I I
like Dared Dudley. I think he brought something important to
that team as a veteran leader. But in this instance,
in the playoffs, when you're not a main player, when
you're not a main COG, you can't talk trash and
(17:56):
and and in a way it's unfortunate because you really
he wasn't talking trash as much as he was. He
was stating at truth. I mean what he said about
Ben Simmons is true. Nonetheless, even telling the truth, you
have to pick your spots is when you're going to
tell it, because it can come off as trash talk,
and it will come off as that in a situation
(18:19):
like the playoffs. Yeah, it is funny how people look
at stats with D'Angel Russell all I can tell you
is this, And I think he's matured. He's definitely improved
as a player, but I think he's matured as a guy.
I was told when they got rid of him with
the Lakers that there was a long time there's a
couple of long time coach with the Lakers, and they
said he was their least favorite Laker they had ever had,
the least favorite ever. And it wasn't just because it
(18:39):
wasn't great players, because he actually wanted to be a
leader and he would take young guys out and his
he didn't practice hard, just all the things that he
did the opposite what leaders are supposed to do. And
they had to get him out of the building. Obviously,
some of that has turned. Let's get to Oklahoma City
in Portland, um first Oklahoma City. I've heard people say, well,
(19:01):
you know, now you got to build it around Paul George.
How how are you going to do that? It's it's
Russell Westbrooks team, it's his city. Yes, they're screwed. Well,
not only that, but Paul George has to want that.
Paul George doesn't want to be in that role, and
and and other than handing him the keys to the
team in the way that they did. I mean, first
(19:23):
of all, it's just like building the building the team
around him. Look, Russ seeded to Paul this year, you're
the better player. We're going to We're gonna play through you.
There's a difference between being the best player and being
the leader of the team. I don't have I look,
(19:44):
I just think all of this is a major overreaction.
Russ has to learn not to play with rage, not
to play with his heart on his sleeve and his emotions.
I honestly, the game that he played in Game five,
if he played like that all the time, he would
learn how to handle the last four or five minutes
(20:06):
of a game better. His shooting percentage would be better,
There'll be a lot of things that would be better,
and then he would be better suited when he has
to play that role in playoff games and under pressure situation.
So I really think it's just a matter of Russell
Westbrook taking a page from this loss the way that
he did last year. You know, last year he tried
(20:27):
to single handedly carry them to to a first round
win and went down blazing but feutal And he told
people in the organization, Okay, I know I can't do
it that way. I gotta find another way. And he
tried to utilize the pieces around him this year, far
(20:48):
more than he ever has before. I think what he's
gonna learn from this series, hopefully that will make them
better next year, is don't try to make this a
personal battle. Don't try to humiliate and intimidate your opponent,
because you know what, it's not gonna work, and it's
only going to distract you from doing what you need
(21:10):
to do as far as helping the team get to
where it needs to go. But isn't that who he is? Well, look,
I would have I I still believe that he's capable
of toning it down, because he did last night. I've
seen it. I've seen it at times where he realizes, okay,
(21:31):
I need to put all the historionics aside. He made
the change this year and how he approached the game.
So I still believe that, And this really comes down
to a matter of character. Is Russ so set on
doing it his way and proving that he can do
it his way? Or is he all about trying to
(21:53):
figure out how do I win? What's the best way
for me to win? I still believe that Russ Westboro.
His heart is in the right place and he wants
to win more then he wants to be the show.
What do they do with the roster, with the coaching staff,
you know, I mean they just hate the west is
going to change, Golden State is going to be different,
(22:14):
and we're just going to continue on. Or do they
try and make a massive change I would expect or
I'm anticipating that there's gonna be a coaching change. I
was told going into this that if they didn't get
to the first round out of the first round, that
they and even if they did that there was a
potential coaching change. That the feeling is that the team
(22:35):
has not has not evolved. Um, you know my next
question was, Okay, so who do they go get? Because uh,
and I'm just I was told what they wouldn't get.
You know, they're not likely that Sam Presty is going
to go to the college ranks again. He's not going
to go for a retread that he will look for,
you know, his nick nurse, a guy who can come
(22:55):
in and persuade his stars that offensively, this is how
we need to play. And as a GM said to
me the other day, what you have to do is
you have to get somebody who comes in and it's
willing to say to Russ, Russ, you get the first
forty minutes, I get the last eight. We play the
game my way the last eight minutes. And I don't
(23:17):
know that Billy Donovan really ever asked that or felt
he was in a position to ask that of Russ.
But ultimately, that for me is what is going it's
going to take, and then we'll find out whether Russ
is amenable to doing things different. Yeah, I mean Nate Tibots,
I know he's up for one. And he said couple
of these other jobs. He used to coach their G
League team. I mean he's a guy. I don't I
(23:39):
don't know. I don't know what you do. It's a
it's a hard one because you do need some of
that he's going to respect, right and and but it's
as you know, this is a lot like the free
agency pool. It's hard to get somebody to buy into
go into Oklahoma City, not just because it's Oklahoma City,
but also because it's coaching Russell Westbruck. Yeah, I look
coaching Russell. I I don't know that that is the
(24:03):
the block blockade that people make it out to be. Uh,
look they're there are only thirty of these jobs. But
you are right in that it's not It's not an
easy solution in terms of finding somebody who has the
pedigree and then just the guts to say, hey, this
is this is ultimately the way we're gonna do it.
(24:23):
But staying the course, Look, for the last couple of years,
people have been saying the Portland Trailblazers have to you know,
they have to change it up. This isn't gonna work,
and Damian Lillard and c J. McCollum change their games.
Dammian Lillard in particular. Look, there are some parallels if
you want to go that the parallels. There was a
(24:44):
time where Damian Lillard was crying for respect and playing
like a guy who was trying to prove I'm better
than I'm getting credit for. And he said to me
at one point, because I could I noticed a change,
and I said, you know, what's the deal And he said,
you know, I got to a point where I just thought,
maybe this is just my this is my fate. You
(25:05):
know that I'm I'm supposed to be the guy who
doesn't get the credit that he deserves, and he stopped
playing with that in mind and played with the idea
of I'm just gonna try to get this Portland Trailblazers
team as far as I can go. And I think
if you look at the two game winning shots that
he took two thousand and fourteen, look how he reacted
to that popped his jersey. It was all about him
(25:26):
with this one. It was next. He also weighed goodbye.
That was I thought that was pretty god you know what,
considering all of the look, I loved it. I loved it.
Waited he waited until after. Look, Jordan talked trash too,
but he would do it after he got the job done.
(25:47):
And and and I mean when he was really over
the top about it, when he celebrated or he gestured
he gave you the the six rings. He did it
after he got the job done, not after as the
Oklahoma City Thunder did when they wanted or the or
the Philadelphia seventies six after they want a game in
the series. But we're still down overall. Yeah, speak Rick
(26:11):
Bucker joining us in the Dug Outlip Show on Fox
Sports Radio, I offered up a hypothesis on Maggice Johnson
still being involved kind of uh semi secretly, although Magic
keeps no secrets at all with with the Lakers. Is
he is he trying to do the Kelly and Conway thing?
I remember Kelly on Conway was working for the campaign,
then she leaves the campaign and works for CNN, and
(26:32):
now she's back with the campaign like she was just
a plant all along. Is that the plan? Right? Well?
I think that is the plan. But I would say this,
I mean honestly, no, no, no offense to Magic or
those who who love him. He was my favorite player
growing up. Why does it matter. It's not as if
(26:53):
he was recruiting people before, like when he was part
of the organization before. After I know, anybody who is
coming to play for the Lakers because Magic Johnson has
whispering in their ear? Certainly, Look, that wasn't what got
Lebron James here, So you know, whether he's working for
the organization or not. To me, it's more, let's just
(27:13):
make sure everybody thinks it's still copacetic. I'm still part
of Laker Nation, Genie is still my sister, everybody's everybody's
loving everybody. I think that has more than anything. That's
what this is all about I just whether Magic is
in the fold or he's not in the fold. I
don't see it as being a difference maker when it
(27:35):
comes to adding talent to this Lakers team. Okay, so
what are they doing there? And they're negotia there, They're
talking with a bunch of coaches. Is this really how
they're gonna roll? They're just gonna hire Kurt Rambis and
hire a coach and go as is I From everything
I've heard, that's how they're going. If you're waiting for
pat Riley or Jerry West or anybody like that, they
they've been told definitively that's not happening. They're not going
(27:58):
that direction. And I haven't heard anybody else's name. So yeah,
for the time being, this is the status quo. And
I think a lot of it's gonna be on on
Rob and slash Kobe to see what they're able to
do when it comes to changing this roster. Okay, how
can they do that? If has been reported and I've
I've heard this too that like Rob has trouble getting
(28:21):
getting other agents and other gms to want to buy
buy into making moves with him, and and and there's
other guys that don't want to play for Team Lebron. Yes,
those are two. Those are two impediments. I'm not really
buying the I mean, talking to agents is one thing.
Making a deal with another team other teams if they
(28:45):
if a deal makes sense, it's business, it's not personal.
So I don't see that. But you are right. Look,
I'm not saying that any of this is gonna work.
I'm just telling you that this is the approach that
the Lakers are gonna take, at least for this summer.
Breg Buker, Johnny Son The Doug out Lip Show on
Fox Sport Tradio. Both teams have to close out their
opponents tonight. But how vulnerable do you think Golden State
(29:06):
is without DeMarcus Cousins, Because I do think k D's
played better. They you finally got Clay Thompson going a
little bit. How vulnerable do you think they are against
Houston second round? I still believe that they are very
vulnerable defensively. I thought that was demonstrated in everybody made
a big deal about Katie and a number of shots
that he got in Game two. Mine thing was, is
(29:28):
anybody paying attention to the fact that they gave up
a hundred and thirty five points in a playoff game
to the Los Angels. Flippers it. Houston Rockets are infinitely
better Offensively, they present more issues, and so that's the test.
That's that's going to be the test for me. Offensively,
can they get things done, yes, But defensively are they
(29:50):
going to be able to play and sustain it? That's
that's what I need to see. And I don't you know,
I don't know if it's Houston that takes them down.
I don't know if it the next round. I just
think there's a cumulative effect here, and I've been saying
it all year. That's what makes me think that the Warriors,
these series are going to go longer than anticipated, and
(30:12):
they're going to take more and more hits, and somebody's
gonna somebody's gonna finally turn the corner on them somewhere
along the wak. I just don't think though that Portland
or Denver if they can get past Houston. I think
if if Houston would face them in the Western Conference
Finals after for example, playing in Denver where you had
to play an altitude and you lose a couple of games,
and you know, you know, I think Portland's really provides
(30:34):
them nearly the challenge that that Denver would, uh, you know,
especially without DeMarcus Cousins. But in the second round, I
don't think there's worn down as they would have been
if Houston, you know, caught them in the in the
Western Conference finals. I think that's fair. Let's see how
this round plays out. And I believe Portland's can give
(30:54):
them more issues than you do. I I believe that
just by by the s for the sake of by
the sake of familiarity, that they can do some things
and the matchups there's some matchups there that can then
acts you can work for Portland's. Great stop. Rick Buker
Fox Sports One also readers stuff in Bleacher Report. Follow
(31:15):
him on Twitter as well. Buke really appreciate you love
watching on our shows. Thanks for joining us. Thank you, Doug.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search f s R to listen live. We had some
foreshadowing of last night's shot. Excuse me, Damian Lillard hitting
(31:37):
a parking lot three to win the game against the
Oklahoma City thunder. Now, what would you have to understand
is and this is something that Steph Curry has really changed,
is that deep of a three. I remember when I
was in high school, and I know you look at
my numbers like you couldn't shoot, Like I couldn't make.
I could actually shoot. I wouldn't have been recruited at
(31:58):
this high level if I couldn't shoot. But we used
to come down to high school. Transition three is from
the volleyball line, which is like a deeper than NBA three.
Pull up and make it. And now I needed the
momentum of a transition three kind of momentum behind you
to shoot from that sort of depth. But much like
the volume of three point shots now. It's not like
(32:18):
there weren't great shooters before, but but coaches didn't embrace
it nearly as much, you know they were. It was
all about mid range, mid range pull ups. I remember
like John McLeod, who I played for my freshman year
of Notre Dame, just passed away. His funeral was yesterday,
but he was on me, was constantly on me about
working on my mid range pull up, especially going right now.
(32:38):
I was like coach, I like shooting the transition pull
up from three or just shaking place and shoot like
that's a bad shot, because back then it was considered
a bad shot. Corner three is considered a bad shot
because if you miss as a point guard or a
small guard, you can't get back defensively starts transition offense.
But Steph Curry's ability to shoot uh, not only a
(32:58):
high volume, but make a high percentage from that deep
has changed a lot of people's perspective on it. It
really has. And so what was a bad shot? Now
you could deem a marginal shot. Here's Paul George, who
guarded Damian Lillard on the shot. After the game, I mean,
that's a bad shot. Care what anybody says. That's a
(33:21):
bad shot. But okay, he made it. That story won't
be told that it was a bad shot. Who you
live with that? You love with that dug otlip show
here on Fox Sports Radio, you live with it. Here's
Damian Lillard on the shot and the series was over.
It was a great feeling when they left my hands.
(33:41):
It felt good. I felt good about it. And um,
the last five or six minutes of the game, I
just kept telling myself, like for us to to get
this game, we was gonna have to really really dig,
you know, to come out on top. So the fact
that I kept telling myself that then we came out
on the top of the shot went in, I was like, man,
it really, it really happened. You know, we really dug
and pulled it out. So, um, it was a great feeling.
(34:02):
Here's his workout coach who he actually also mentioned in
his postgame re marks, Phil Beckner, joined us last week,
I believe last week, and we talked about what's what's
allowed Dammian Lillard to go from lightly recruited high school
to guard two star in college, first round draft pick,
to now superstar in the NBA. Last summer, he was like,
(34:24):
I really wanted to increase my range, not only off
catching shoot, but off the bounce. So that was one
of our biggest emphasis with him, you know, being able
to shoot the ball from distance, and that was something
we've always done because obviously and you played, you know,
but when a point guard could shoot behind the pick
and roll or shoot from NBA three off the bounce,
it makes picking roll coverage is so much harder to guarden.
(34:45):
And now he's able to shoot that thing. Probably four
ft behind the line, and it's just opened up a
whole another area form and I think it's really given
him a chance to be special. And what most people
don't know is, you know, as much failure as he
had last year, all the things that the Trailblazers went
through in the playoffs, he knew he was gonna need
this to get really, really good. So we came up
(35:07):
with a system of foundation to really work on his
range specifically. And then the first shot, of course he
had to get the thunder in the playoffs was that
deep pull up against Paul George and he was like,
I knew I was going to get that off. He
specifically told me that we watched film. He's like, I
knew I was going to get that off. And now
he separated him so because he could make those at
a very very high level. Amazing stuff, right the expression
(35:31):
in basketball, teams are made in the winner, players are
made in the summer. That's the case of Damian Lillard.
And by the way, he was working with Phil Beckner
during the NBA playoffs. Of the work continues. Fox Sports
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports radio dot
com and within the i Heart Radio app search f
(35:52):
s R to listen live.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlap
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time, that's twelve to
three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for the Doug Gottlieb Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs R. This is the best
(00:21):
of the Doug got Leave Show on Fox Sports Radio.
You gotta win that game through Oklahoma City. Go in
that game. And Russell Westbrook, as much as he's part
of the solution, he's also part of the problem. And
(00:42):
he had a turnover light on a charge he drove
in and should have scored, instead passed off to Jeremy
Grant who missed a missed the layup. He missed what
would have been the game leading or game winning jump shot.
He got beat twice, but more than anything, he missed
more shots twenty than the rest of his team combined
(01:05):
nineteen and so we can talk about Billy Donovan, we
can talk about the the Sam Prestis roster that has
Steven Adams making twenty million dollars and he can't be
on the floor light the paucity of shooting that they
have as opposed to the Trailblazers who lost Yo Yoseph
Nurkitch but were able to add and his cantor late,
(01:26):
giving them more scoring. They went offense instead of defense.
Seth Curry out on the floor late because he can
really shoot. We can talk at the personnel, we can
talk at the coaching, but it starts and ends with
Russell Westbrook. Starts and ends with Russell Westbrook. This is
three straight seasons in which they've lost in the first
(01:48):
round of the playoffs, the three years in which Kevin
Durant has been gone. And you can tell me that
he doesn't have Kevin Durant around him, but he had
Victor Oladipot two years ago, and he had a George
the past two years and they didn't lose the great teams.
Damian Lillard played great, but without Nurkics, it's a two
(02:08):
man show and a bunch of shooters. That's who they are.
And he got outplayed at his own spot, just like
last year, he got outplayed by Donovan Mitchell in his
own spot. We can talk round and round, and I
don't know what you do if you're the thunder to
fix it, because the Oklahoma City Thunder are they run
(02:32):
the victim of being the second or third into the market.
And this is not the first time around. The original
flaw in Oklahoma City was they were trying to play
catch up to the San Antonio Spurs and l A Lakers,
because to beat the Lakers you had to have two
big guys, because they had Pau Gasol and they had
Uh Andrew buying him people like man I forgot Andrew
(02:55):
buying him like Andrew by him. By the way, he's
like a dinosaur, like couldn't playing today's NBA. But in
his prime before the knee injuries really set in in
his early twenties, like, he was a force down there,
and then he had Pau Gasol. You had to stop
Kobe and then you had to stop their two posts.
And that's why they made a trade and acquired Kendrick
Perkins because he needed a tough defensive player. But then
(03:19):
Kendrick Perkins was a waste all right, and they had
Serge Ibaka, so they were late into the hey, we
don't need two big guys, and they had Steve Van Adams,
who there's a big guy from a foregone era. If
you're going to be that big, you he had to
be one of two things. You either got to be
(03:39):
a great offensive player or a great defensive player, and
he is neither. He's a great quote, he's a great dude,
and in he would be an unbelievable weapon. Okay, he
can score a little bit, he can defend, he doesn't
need the basketball, and he's a great dude. And he's
tougher than a two dollar steak. But this d they're
(04:03):
late on on the Steven Adams. And then Russell Westbrook,
high volume, low efficiency, missing that many shots. He I
don't know how you fix it. Are You're like, oh,
let's trade Russell Westbrook. You think the rest of the
league wants a guy who can't shoot, doesn't know he
(04:25):
can't shoot, hard to coach, has had four knee surgeries
and it's gonna make million dollars next four years. Like maybe.
And then you got Lillard, who we need to stop
with these the most underrated player in the league. Stop it.
(04:49):
He's a perennial All Star, he's been All NBA and
while he's not Steph Curry, he's an incredible shooter and
he keeps getting better and he's seems to have no
fear of the big moment. But hell, his team got
swept from the playoffs last year too, So we can
(05:09):
make this out to be a million different things. But
I look at it and Oklahoma City has got a
Russell Westbrook problem. The personnel is gonna be really, really
hard to fix. But that game last night was was
lost by Russell Westbrook and won by Damian Lillard. Westbrook
(05:30):
played hero ball down the stretch, could not personally stop
his man, defensively, made bad decisions, didn't get the ball
to their best player, and ends up being the loser.
And I have no problem with trash talk with the
rock I don't. I don't really get the rock in
the baby thing. But if you're gonna rock the baby
(05:50):
and your teammate's gonna point to the wrist and mock
dame time, that's fine. But when you lose, we all
know how it works. The ultimate trash talk is scoreboard.
What a game last night reaffirms my belief that NBA
basketball is the best. Those guys are so much more
skilled than NBA players ever have been. And skilled by skilled,
(06:11):
I mean dribbling, passing, shooting the basketball. Yeah there's a
lot of flopping. Yeah there's a lot of flailing, But man,
those guys are so so good. I remember watching Westbrook
in person in the playoffs a couple different couple of
different times, turning to my wife and saying, look, I
I thought of myself as a borderline NBA player who
(06:31):
never made it. But I can tell you right now,
even in my athletic prime, and I was a really,
really good athlete, I have no idea how I could
guard Russell Westbrook, let alone, let alone guarding Damian Lillard.
I mean a guy who can shoot from forty ft
out and then go buy you and finish in the
lane with the lane wide open. That's it's almost impossible,
(06:55):
and it was impossible last night. I don't know how
to fix it, though. I don't know how to fix it.
The thunder are the house that you walk into and
you're like, well, maybe if we and you're just talking
yourself out of the fact that it's not about the
aesthetics of the kitchen. It's not about changing countertops and
(07:17):
knocking out a wall. It's not that foundations screwed up,
fung Su is screwed up. The kitchens in the wrong
place the entire You almost have to go down to
the studs if you truly want to fix it. And
Oklahoma City can't really go down to the studs because
the likelihood of of of getting back even to where
(07:40):
they are watchable, fun competitive in the regular season, that's
a tough pill to swallow. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Doug Dot Leaps Show weekdays at noon
eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app. It feels like what Magic Johnson
is doing with the for the Lakers is what Kelly
(08:02):
an Conway did during the election. Stick with me for
a second. This actually makes sense. So Kelly and Conway
was uh on team Trump. You know, she's upholster of
political consultant. Now she serves as counselor to the president.
She was Trump's campaign manager, but then she left the
(08:25):
campaign midway through it all right, um, and by the way,
she she initially actually endorsed Ted Cruz, but then she
became she became basically like a a a media pundit
because of her time spent with now President then Donald Trump,
(08:51):
which is what Magic Johnson seems to be doing. He
was president of the Lakers, and he was like, man,
I can't even tweet guys. I get caught tampering. And
now he's a city's cities. You know, he's a civilian,
but he's and he's not even necessarily smart enough to
do the like I got nothing to do with it.
Now he's like, I'm still kind of working for the Lakers.
Kelley and Conway was probably always working for Donald Trump,
(09:13):
but she just didn't tell anybody. She just went on
TV as a political pundit. That's all brilliant, little diebolical,
but brilliant, which is what like Magic Johnson. Almost feel
like ESPN is gonna hire Magic Johnson and he'll end
up being a Laker spokesperson even though he works for
whoever he works for in the playoffs or or or
(09:35):
or post president or maybe he's just the civilian. Maybe
it's just Magic Johnson, former Laker where you have actually
more power now because you don't have the constraints of
the office, which is a fascinating move and maybe one
that works, Like, look, he can't really recruit guys that
are under contract when he's a member of Lakers front office.
(09:58):
But if he's just Magic Johnson, you can't stop from
doing it. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug Dot Leap Show weekdays at noon eastern three pm Pacific.
I'm fascinated by this draft being the Raiders draft, right
when you have that many picks in the first two
rounds like that, this is reshaping your roster. You have
(10:19):
your three first round picks, you got a couple of
second round picks like you gotta. You got a chance
to completely reshape your roster. And then you have like
Mike Mayock going through mock draft scenarios, and I I
understand that people think it's funny. There's two stories that
have come out over the last week that make the
(10:40):
Raiders kind of look clownish, right, kind of look clownish.
Like the first part is that they sent all their
scouts home because they couldn't trust any of them. And
you know, we've kind of debunked that because you have
a new general manager, those scouts contractors up, their time
is up there. They're not part of the big board process.
(11:03):
And if if if guarding state health secrets or radar
held secrets were really important, then somebody wouldn't have leaked
it to Ian rappaport, and then it's a Mike Mayock's
going through mock draft scenarios. They all are. You absolutely
have to whether you want to call it a mock
(11:25):
draft scenario or whether or not you UM, whether or
not you want to UM simply be prepared for Plan A,
Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, Plan E, Plan F.
It's all kind of the same thing. He's not doing
anything different than any other GM in his uh in
(11:46):
his position would do. When you're new, you're bringing your
own scouts, and when you're getting ready for the draft.
This is like the you know, when guys get ready
to do the debates, or men and women get ready
to do debate the presidential debates, they have mock debates
and they have a demock debater who plays the role
of the other person. That's so different, no different at all.
(12:13):
They don't do anything that the raiders aren't doing anything
that hasn't previously been done. The only difference is you're
hearing about it now, whether you're hearing about it because
they wanted out there to create some positive attention, whether
they're here hearing about it more likely because people are
still don't love gruten whether they think he's a phony,
or his contracts too big, or his egos too big,
(12:34):
whatever it is, he's rubbed enough people the wrong way
somehow that people reporting legitimate stories in legitimate stories. But
if you could make that story about anybody. I texted
to GMS today, They're like, yeah, we we do that
stuff ourselves. We go through different scenarios, whether you want
to call the mock drafts or not. We kind of
go through, you know, and after day one, that's what
(12:56):
we do at the night of day one, like we
don't come up for air because we got a pair
and out for the next couple of days. Because things
are different, people off the board, we got to kind
of reassess where we are, where the league is. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
s R to listen live. You can follow on Twitter
(13:18):
at Rick Buker buke um Uh. Let's let's talk some ball,
shall We did the other games even matter to you?
Do you want to talk about your kitch or should
we just concentrate on Portland? Because I have I've talked
to this Portland Ocloma City thing to death. But I'd
love your insight any of the other three games matter
to you at all in terms of what results the
(13:43):
results last night, yeah, or what it says like. Look,
we didn't expect Brooklyn to win the series, but they were,
you know, more competitive than last night. Obviously they got
their their butts swooped or whatever. Um how Russell was
exposed as it as a good player, but not an
(14:03):
All Star, not a guy. I mean, I hate the
Echo magic, but this that he is better than he
was advertised in l A. Is he a leader? Is
he a true All Star? I would stop short of that.
The stage and the moment was was clearly too big
(14:26):
for him, and that that began the unraveling. I will
say this this when it comes to Brooklyn in general,
I've never of all the expects of the results or
the what I expected. Being down three one on the road,
the lower seed, nothing nothing to lose. To see them
(14:47):
have the yips and play tentatively at that stage was
one of the most one of the more bizarre happenings
that I've seen in the playoffs. I just could not
have anticipated it that they were going to respond to
that situation in the way that they did. Why do
you think that happen? I honestly, I don't know, other
(15:08):
than their youth, I really I don't. I don't know.
I would suspect that maybe it was because they were
the story. They were the story, that the team that
everybody rooted for this year. They were a little team
that could, and suddenly they walked into a hostile environment
(15:29):
where people felt that, you know, maybe maybe they're not
maybe not, they're not all that they were cracked up
to be and enough to to change things. I say
all that only because with the beat down, and then
I feel the same way with Milwaukee over Detroit. It's
really hard to gauge how those teams are playing uh
(15:49):
at at the moment, because in this last case, Brooklyn
just didn't show up. That game was all about Brooklyn
far more than it was about Philadelphia, and in the
Milwaukee Detroit series was going to be a bad matchup
even if Blake had been healthy. I actually think there's
a parallel between this one and the Oklahoma City one
(16:12):
and yere's how um I was. I was not really
a trash talker. I would I react more to try
I was more I just had fun. I would talk
to the fans, to other coaches, to refs, so whatever
it wasn't you know, I was. I just I just
enjoyed and now. But I always always thought like, you
gotta be really careful who you talk trash too, right,
(16:33):
because and this goes back to when I was a
little kid. I grew up playing at Miles Square Park,
and I remember that, um, there was a there was
a dude who played at cal State Forton and it
was the day before my freshman year started in high
school and named Joe Small. Joe Small was cal State
Fortune's best player. And we're playing outdoor pick up okay
(16:54):
in in like early September, late August in southern California,
and I had a couple of shots and guys, all
the guys who were talking a little trash to Joe
that high school kid, lighten you up, Joe, high school
kid lighting you up? And I hit were like yeah, Joe,
and Joe Small came down the lane and saw me
there and elbowed me and there's blood just gushing out
(17:14):
of my face. And I just be very careful you
run your mouth too. I felt like the nets and
Oklahoma City be very careful you talk trash too, because
some guys react really well, some guys react poorly and
go into a show. And I felt like they tried
Brooklyn tried to be the bully. They tried to have
Jared Dudley starts something in game four and in game
five the Philadelphia seventy six years ended. It is that
(17:36):
fair at all? I think that's very fair, And I
think it's a good point in that. Like I I
like Dared Dudley. I think he brought something important to
that team as a veteran leader. But in this instance,
in the playoffs, when you're not a main player, when
you're not a main COG, you can't talk trash and
(17:56):
and and in a way it's unfortunate because you really
he wasn't talking trash as much as he was. He
was stating at truth. I mean what he said about
Ben Simmons is true. Nonetheless, even telling the truth, you
have to pick your spots is when you're going to
tell it, because it can come off as trash talk,
and it will come off as that in a situation
(18:19):
like the playoffs. Yeah, it is funny how people look
at stats with D'Angel Russell all I can tell you
is this, And I think he's matured. He's definitely improved
as a player, but I think he's matured as a guy.
I was told when they got rid of him with
the Lakers that there was a long time there's a
couple of long time coach with the Lakers, and they
said he was their least favorite Laker they had ever had,
the least favorite ever. And it wasn't just because it
(18:39):
wasn't great players, because he actually wanted to be a
leader and he would take young guys out and his
he didn't practice hard, just all the things that he
did the opposite what leaders are supposed to do. And
they had to get him out of the building. Obviously,
some of that has turned. Let's get to Oklahoma City
in Portland, um first Oklahoma City. I've heard people say, well,
(19:01):
you know, now you got to build it around Paul George.
How how are you going to do that? It's it's
Russell Westbrooks team, it's his city. Yes, they're screwed. Well,
not only that, but Paul George has to want that.
Paul George doesn't want to be in that role, and
and and other than handing him the keys to the
team in the way that they did. I mean, first
(19:23):
of all, it's just like building the building the team
around him. Look, Russ seeded to Paul this year, you're
the better player. We're going to We're gonna play through you.
There's a difference between being the best player and being
the leader of the team. I don't have I look,
(19:44):
I just think all of this is a major overreaction.
Russ has to learn not to play with rage, not
to play with his heart on his sleeve and his emotions.
I honestly, the game that he played in Game five,
if he played like that all the time, he would
learn how to handle the last four or five minutes
(20:06):
of a game better. His shooting percentage would be better,
There'll be a lot of things that would be better,
and then he would be better suited when he has
to play that role in playoff games and under pressure situation.
So I really think it's just a matter of Russell
Westbrook taking a page from this loss the way that
he did last year. You know, last year he tried
(20:27):
to single handedly carry them to to a first round
win and went down blazing but feutal And he told
people in the organization, Okay, I know I can't do
it that way. I gotta find another way. And he
tried to utilize the pieces around him this year, far
(20:48):
more than he ever has before. I think what he's
gonna learn from this series, hopefully that will make them
better next year, is don't try to make this a
personal battle. Don't try to humiliate and intimidate your opponent,
because you know what, it's not gonna work, and it's
only going to distract you from doing what you need
(21:10):
to do as far as helping the team get to
where it needs to go. But isn't that who he is? Well, look,
I would have I I still believe that he's capable
of toning it down, because he did last night. I've
seen it. I've seen it at times where he realizes, okay,
(21:31):
I need to put all the historionics aside. He made
the change this year and how he approached the game.
So I still believe that, And this really comes down
to a matter of character. Is Russ so set on
doing it his way and proving that he can do
it his way? Or is he all about trying to
(21:53):
figure out how do I win? What's the best way
for me to win? I still believe that Russ Westboro.
His heart is in the right place and he wants
to win more then he wants to be the show.
What do they do with the roster, with the coaching staff,
you know, I mean they just hate the west is
going to change, Golden State is going to be different,
(22:14):
and we're just going to continue on. Or do they
try and make a massive change I would expect or
I'm anticipating that there's gonna be a coaching change. I
was told going into this that if they didn't get
to the first round out of the first round, that
they and even if they did that there was a
potential coaching change. That the feeling is that the team
(22:35):
has not has not evolved. Um, you know my next
question was, Okay, so who do they go get? Because uh,
and I'm just I was told what they wouldn't get.
You know, they're not likely that Sam Presty is going
to go to the college ranks again. He's not going
to go for a retread that he will look for,
you know, his nick nurse, a guy who can come
(22:55):
in and persuade his stars that offensively, this is how
we need to play. And as a GM said to
me the other day, what you have to do is
you have to get somebody who comes in and it's
willing to say to Russ, Russ, you get the first
forty minutes, I get the last eight. We play the
game my way the last eight minutes. And I don't
(23:17):
know that Billy Donovan really ever asked that or felt
he was in a position to ask that of Russ.
But ultimately, that for me is what is going it's
going to take, and then we'll find out whether Russ
is amenable to doing things different. Yeah, I mean Nate Tibots,
I know he's up for one. And he said couple
of these other jobs. He used to coach their G
League team. I mean he's a guy. I don't I
(23:39):
don't know. I don't know what you do. It's a
it's a hard one because you do need some of
that he's going to respect, right and and but it's
as you know, this is a lot like the free
agency pool. It's hard to get somebody to buy into
go into Oklahoma City, not just because it's Oklahoma City,
but also because it's coaching Russell Westbruck. Yeah, I look
coaching Russell. I I don't know that that is the
(24:03):
the block blockade that people make it out to be. Uh,
look they're there are only thirty of these jobs. But
you are right in that it's not It's not an
easy solution in terms of finding somebody who has the
pedigree and then just the guts to say, hey, this
is this is ultimately the way we're gonna do it.
(24:23):
But staying the course, Look, for the last couple of years,
people have been saying the Portland Trailblazers have to you know,
they have to change it up. This isn't gonna work,
and Damian Lillard and c J. McCollum change their games.
Dammian Lillard in particular. Look, there are some parallels if
you want to go that the parallels. There was a
(24:44):
time where Damian Lillard was crying for respect and playing
like a guy who was trying to prove I'm better
than I'm getting credit for. And he said to me
at one point, because I could I noticed a change,
and I said, you know, what's the deal And he said,
you know, I got to a point where I just thought,
maybe this is just my this is my fate. You
(25:05):
know that I'm I'm supposed to be the guy who
doesn't get the credit that he deserves, and he stopped
playing with that in mind and played with the idea
of I'm just gonna try to get this Portland Trailblazers
team as far as I can go. And I think
if you look at the two game winning shots that
he took two thousand and fourteen, look how he reacted
to that popped his jersey. It was all about him
(25:26):
with this one. It was next. He also weighed goodbye.
That was I thought that was pretty god you know what,
considering all of the look, I loved it. I loved it.
Waited he waited until after. Look, Jordan talked trash too,
but he would do it after he got the job done.
(25:47):
And and and I mean when he was really over
the top about it, when he celebrated or he gestured
he gave you the the six rings. He did it
after he got the job done, not after as the
Oklahoma City Thunder did when they wanted or the or
the Philadelphia seventies six after they want a game in
the series. But we're still down overall. Yeah, speak Rick
(26:11):
Bucker joining us in the Dug Outlip Show on Fox
Sports Radio, I offered up a hypothesis on Maggice Johnson
still being involved kind of uh semi secretly, although Magic
keeps no secrets at all with with the Lakers. Is
he is he trying to do the Kelly and Conway thing?
I remember Kelly on Conway was working for the campaign,
then she leaves the campaign and works for CNN, and
(26:32):
now she's back with the campaign like she was just
a plant all along. Is that the plan? Right? Well?
I think that is the plan. But I would say this,
I mean honestly, no, no, no offense to Magic or
those who who love him. He was my favorite player
growing up. Why does it matter. It's not as if
(26:53):
he was recruiting people before, like when he was part
of the organization before. After I know, anybody who is
coming to play for the Lakers because Magic Johnson has
whispering in their ear? Certainly, Look, that wasn't what got
Lebron James here, So you know, whether he's working for
the organization or not. To me, it's more, let's just
(27:13):
make sure everybody thinks it's still copacetic. I'm still part
of Laker Nation, Genie is still my sister, everybody's everybody's
loving everybody. I think that has more than anything. That's
what this is all about I just whether Magic is
in the fold or he's not in the fold. I
don't see it as being a difference maker when it
(27:35):
comes to adding talent to this Lakers team. Okay, so
what are they doing there? And they're negotia there, They're
talking with a bunch of coaches. Is this really how
they're gonna roll? They're just gonna hire Kurt Rambis and
hire a coach and go as is I From everything
I've heard, that's how they're going. If you're waiting for
pat Riley or Jerry West or anybody like that, they
they've been told definitively that's not happening. They're not going
(27:58):
that direction. And I haven't heard anybody else's name. So yeah,
for the time being, this is the status quo. And
I think a lot of it's gonna be on on
Rob and slash Kobe to see what they're able to
do when it comes to changing this roster. Okay, how
can they do that? If has been reported and I've
I've heard this too that like Rob has trouble getting
(28:21):
getting other agents and other gms to want to buy
buy into making moves with him, and and and there's
other guys that don't want to play for Team Lebron. Yes,
those are two. Those are two impediments. I'm not really
buying the I mean, talking to agents is one thing.
Making a deal with another team other teams if they
(28:45):
if a deal makes sense, it's business, it's not personal.
So I don't see that. But you are right. Look,
I'm not saying that any of this is gonna work.
I'm just telling you that this is the approach that
the Lakers are gonna take, at least for this summer.
Breg Buker, Johnny Son The Doug out Lip Show on
Fox Sport Tradio. Both teams have to close out their
opponents tonight. But how vulnerable do you think Golden State
(29:06):
is without DeMarcus Cousins, Because I do think k D's
played better. They you finally got Clay Thompson going a
little bit. How vulnerable do you think they are against
Houston second round? I still believe that they are very
vulnerable defensively. I thought that was demonstrated in everybody made
a big deal about Katie and a number of shots
that he got in Game two. Mine thing was, is
(29:28):
anybody paying attention to the fact that they gave up
a hundred and thirty five points in a playoff game
to the Los Angels. Flippers it. Houston Rockets are infinitely
better Offensively, they present more issues, and so that's the test.
That's that's going to be the test for me. Offensively,
can they get things done, yes, But defensively are they
(29:50):
going to be able to play and sustain it? That's
that's what I need to see. And I don't you know,
I don't know if it's Houston that takes them down.
I don't know if it the next round. I just
think there's a cumulative effect here, and I've been saying
it all year. That's what makes me think that the Warriors,
these series are going to go longer than anticipated, and
(30:12):
they're going to take more and more hits, and somebody's
gonna somebody's gonna finally turn the corner on them somewhere
along the wak. I just don't think though that Portland
or Denver if they can get past Houston. I think
if if Houston would face them in the Western Conference
Finals after for example, playing in Denver where you had
to play an altitude and you lose a couple of games,
and you know, you know, I think Portland's really provides
(30:34):
them nearly the challenge that that Denver would, uh, you know,
especially without DeMarcus Cousins. But in the second round, I
don't think there's worn down as they would have been
if Houston, you know, caught them in the in the
Western Conference finals. I think that's fair. Let's see how
this round plays out. And I believe Portland's can give
(30:54):
them more issues than you do. I I believe that
just by by the s for the sake of by
the sake of familiarity, that they can do some things
and the matchups there's some matchups there that can then
acts you can work for Portland's. Great stop. Rick Buker
Fox Sports One also readers stuff in Bleacher Report. Follow
(31:15):
him on Twitter as well. Buke really appreciate you love
watching on our shows. Thanks for joining us. Thank you, Doug.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search f s R to listen live. We had some
foreshadowing of last night's shot. Excuse me, Damian Lillard hitting
(31:37):
a parking lot three to win the game against the
Oklahoma City thunder. Now, what would you have to understand
is and this is something that Steph Curry has really changed,
is that deep of a three. I remember when I
was in high school, and I know you look at
my numbers like you couldn't shoot, Like I couldn't make.
I could actually shoot. I wouldn't have been recruited at
(31:58):
this high level if I couldn't shoot. But we used
to come down to high school. Transition three is from
the volleyball line, which is like a deeper than NBA three.
Pull up and make it. And now I needed the
momentum of a transition three kind of momentum behind you
to shoot from that sort of depth. But much like
the volume of three point shots now. It's not like
(32:18):
there weren't great shooters before, but but coaches didn't embrace
it nearly as much, you know they were. It was
all about mid range, mid range pull ups. I remember
like John McLeod, who I played for my freshman year
of Notre Dame, just passed away. His funeral was yesterday,
but he was on me, was constantly on me about
working on my mid range pull up, especially going right now.
(32:38):
I was like coach, I like shooting the transition pull
up from three or just shaking place and shoot like
that's a bad shot, because back then it was considered
a bad shot. Corner three is considered a bad shot
because if you miss as a point guard or a
small guard, you can't get back defensively starts transition offense.
But Steph Curry's ability to shoot uh, not only a
(32:58):
high volume, but make a high percentage from that deep
has changed a lot of people's perspective on it. It
really has. And so what was a bad shot? Now
you could deem a marginal shot. Here's Paul George, who
guarded Damian Lillard on the shot. After the game, I mean,
that's a bad shot. Care what anybody says. That's a
(33:21):
bad shot. But okay, he made it. That story won't
be told that it was a bad shot. Who you
live with that? You love with that dug otlip show
here on Fox Sports Radio, you live with it. Here's
Damian Lillard on the shot and the series was over.
It was a great feeling when they left my hands.
(33:41):
It felt good. I felt good about it. And um,
the last five or six minutes of the game, I
just kept telling myself, like for us to to get
this game, we was gonna have to really really dig,
you know, to come out on top. So the fact
that I kept telling myself that then we came out
on the top of the shot went in, I was like, man,
it really, it really happened. You know, we really dug
and pulled it out. So, um, it was a great feeling.
(34:02):
Here's his workout coach who he actually also mentioned in
his postgame re marks, Phil Beckner, joined us last week,
I believe last week, and we talked about what's what's
allowed Dammian Lillard to go from lightly recruited high school
to guard two star in college, first round draft pick,
to now superstar in the NBA. Last summer, he was like,
(34:24):
I really wanted to increase my range, not only off
catching shoot, but off the bounce. So that was one
of our biggest emphasis with him, you know, being able
to shoot the ball from distance, and that was something
we've always done because obviously and you played, you know,
but when a point guard could shoot behind the pick
and roll or shoot from NBA three off the bounce,
it makes picking roll coverage is so much harder to guarden.
(34:45):
And now he's able to shoot that thing. Probably four
ft behind the line, and it's just opened up a
whole another area form and I think it's really given
him a chance to be special. And what most people
don't know is, you know, as much failure as he
had last year, all the things that the Trailblazers went
through in the playoffs, he knew he was gonna need
this to get really, really good. So we came up
(35:07):
with a system of foundation to really work on his
range specifically. And then the first shot, of course he
had to get the thunder in the playoffs was that
deep pull up against Paul George and he was like,
I knew I was going to get that off. He
specifically told me that we watched film. He's like, I
knew I was going to get that off. And now
he separated him so because he could make those at
a very very high level. Amazing stuff, right the expression
(35:31):
in basketball, teams are made in the winner, players are
made in the summer. That's the case of Damian Lillard.
And by the way, he was working with Phil Beckner
during the NBA playoffs. Of the work continues. Fox Sports
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports radio dot
com and within the i Heart Radio app search f
(35:52):
s R to listen live.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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