First, Colin reacts to first round weekend NBA Playoff action, including the Lakers stealing game 1 against the Grizzlies in Memphis, the Knicks stealing the series opener in Cleveland.
Then, The Athletic NBA Writer Marcus Thompson joins Colin to discuss KD and the Suns surprising Game 1 L to Russell Westbrook and the Clippers, why Andrew Wiggins Game 1 performance has the Warriors brimming with confidence despite the loss, if the Warriors will limit Jordan Poole’s minutes due to his lackluster D, if anyone on Golden State has a problem with Draymond putting out podcasts after playoff games, how the Warriors plan to bounce back in Game 2, and if the Lakers are a serious threat to make a deep playoff run.
Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates, and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! #Herd #Volume
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hi, everybody, welcome in some thoughts on the Lakers, Grizzlies,
Nick's Calves, Warriors, Kings. Marcus Thompson, who covers the Warriors
written books on Steph and k D, will be joining
us in roughly twelve minutes. So my first takeaway on
the Grizzlies is generally speaking, if a two seed the
(00:34):
Grizzlies faces a seven seed the Lakers, and the series
starts in the two seeds home as it should, right,
you would take the two seed to win the series.
But I took the Lakers to win this series because
I think there's a lot of fool's gold with Memphis.
And I like John Morant, but I consider him to
be much like Derreck Rose. And I've said this for years.
(00:57):
I don't think those kind of players can lead you
to champions. This is overwhelmingly once the playoffs start, a wing,
Big League refs swallow their whistles and the physical teams win.
I mean, how effective was Anthony Davis today? How effective
the Knicks rebounding over the Calves?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
You see?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
How effective a Robert Williams, a marginally talented player but
great defensively, how he can disrupt Atlanta's offense, wings and bigs.
You say, well, what about Steph Curry. The best two
Warriors teams had Kevin Durant on them, and Steph Curry
realized that. And so John Morant, like Derek Rose, is
spectacular and dynamic, not an elite defender or rebounder. He's
(01:40):
not going to be a rim protector, and he's still
not a great shooter. He's just explosive like Derreck Rose was.
And so I like the Lakers in this series, and
I don't want to hear that the injury to Jahn
Morant was the difference. The Lakers had their best third quarter,
perhaps the best quarter they've played against a good team
on the road all season. They scored sixty nine points
(02:02):
in the second half, and John Morant played ninety percent
of it. He couldn't stop Ruey Reeves ad or Lebron.
So I don't want to hear that's the difference. The
Lakers had their best quarter Jahn Morant was on the floor.
He'll return in the series. We're not sure about Game two.
John Morant has said his availability could be in peril
(02:22):
for Game two. I can like Steve Nash as a player,
but those Phoenix teams got pushed around in the playoffs.
I can like Derek Rose, I can like John Morant,
it's different. And so I thought the Lakers' physicality would
be the difference in this series with Clark and Steven
Adams out, and it was. They mostly controlled the interior,
(02:43):
big rebounding advantage. Eleven blocks for the Lakers and two
for Memphis. And that's the series. So you're not going
to get another game like that from Rui and Reeves
was red hot. But I don't want to hear any
excuses here. There's a reason that most people, most people,
not just me, took the Lakers in this series is
that Memphis was virtually unbeatable at home. Now everybody's equally rested.
(03:08):
Rim protection defense means more in the playoffs. You see
who the better team is. Jahn Morant can't play in
game two of the series. I think Memphis will be
very competitive because I don't think Ruy and Reeves will
probably play that well. But I've thought there's a lot
of fools gold here on Memphis. I've said the same
with Denver is like I like Denver, but efficiency, which
(03:30):
is Jokich's game, you got to give me more than that.
I'm going to need some thirty five point games. I
don't trust some of the guys on that Denver team
who have never delivered in the postseason. You know, if
you're a Laker fan, Lebron had twenty one points, a
couple of big shots big three, but he had costly turnovers.
I didn't think Lebron played great. I didn't think the
(03:51):
Lakers played that effectively in the first half. They couldn't shoot,
So you got to feel good if you're the Lakers.
They completely utterly controlled the second half, out scoring Memphis
sixty nine to forty seven, eleven blocks to two for
the Lakers. They were the better basketball team. Doesn't mean
they were in the regular season. But we've said this before.
Postseason refs swallow whistles. They're gonna let you bang around more.
(04:15):
And the dynamic, wildly vertical show stopping point guards Westbrook Walls,
Derrick Rose, John Morants, Steve Nash wasn't highly vertical, but
you know, two time MVP wildly effective. They don't have
the impact in the postseason. So you know, you're a
Laker fan, you have to feel good. Remember the Lakers
(04:40):
are two different teams. There's the pre trade deadline deal
with Westbrook, and there's this team, and this team has
more shooters, has more wings, is younger, more athletic. So
you have to look at the Lakers. It's like in
the NFL, where sometimes you have a team the Patriot
the great ones were usually Thanksgiving on was a different
(05:04):
Patriot team than September October. This is a different Laker
team right now now. I think if this series goes
six or seven, maybe Jaws out for a couple of games,
and it's a quick series that benefits the Lakers greatly. Lebron,
you know you'd like to play him thirty two minutes,
You probably have to play him thirty six minutes in
the postseason, although Reeves certainly can control the offense when
(05:26):
he's out.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
But the quicker this series.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Goes, this is not a young team, the better it
is for the Lakers in the next round. All Right,
some thoughts on a series that I thought Cleveland had
too many shot makers for the New York Knicks. And
I also thought Julius Randall could miss the first two
games of the series. That's what was reported about two
weeks ago. Julius Randall played so one of the things
(05:51):
that jumped out is not Jalen Brunson's play. He's been
terrific all year. Okay, Jalen Brunson is a really, really
good player. You know, your classic Villanova's second round in
big national championship level games. Can defend a little though.
He's small, but he's a great leader. He's just your
classic point guard that can score, can distribute, excellent leadership skills,
(06:13):
sets his guys up. And that didn't surprise me. What
does Because I don't necessarily think losing Game one's the
end of the series. It's not for the Warriors, but
I do think there was something that was really noticeable.
The New York Knicks were the second best rebounding team
in the league during the regular season. I think they
were tied for second best rebounding team. Cleveland was middle
of the pack. How many times when Cleveland was inching
(06:35):
back in that game did the Knicks get a second, third,
and occasionally fourth look.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
At the basket?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
New York I felt like got every big rebound in
the second half. And that's a problem. Evan Mobley's excellent,
he's still young, he's still ascending. But if New York
that's Tom Thibodeau's classic team play defense, slow it down
a little bit, crash the boards, get some freebies underneath,
(07:04):
limit the Calves to one shot. So I still like
Cleveland in the series. But if that is a pattern,
and remember the best coaches are in the playoffs, they
make adjustments, right, They're gonna make adjustments in Cleveland. But
you can rebound your way to a series win if
you limit their second shots and you get yours second
(07:25):
and third shots frequently. So you know, Jalen Brunson's been
good all year. The Knicks have some interesting depth. You know,
they can melt. Any Nick fan will tell you they're
a team that can lose leads and melt. But I
thought that rebounding edge in the second half it was noticeable.
It was stark. They were controlling the glass every time
(07:45):
they needed a rebound. So we have a real series
between the Knicks and the Calves. That's fun. Thoughts on
the Warriors. I had predicted last week on Fox Sports
one and Premiere Radio that I thought Sacramento would win
Game one and I would take the better coach, Yes,
Steve Kerr four titles, the better coach, the better roster, Yes.
(08:06):
Now that Wiggins and Gary paytnerback. It's the better, deeper
roster and the more experienced Warriors to win in six.
I thought it was going to be a hornet's nest
in Game one. But something that really jumped out to
me is that everybody likes to brag how much basketball
you know on the internet. If you think Jordan Pool's
a great player, just you don't know basketball when you
(08:27):
watch him on the floor. He is so bad defensively
in the second half, I thought he cost him the game.
And I think on a pretty regular basis, Steve Kerr
and Draymond Green call him out. And you know, Draymond
Green on the volume on his podcast, you can't give
Malik Monk thirty plus points. It's okay. Daron Fox is
going to get his. Steph Curry's going to get his right,
(08:49):
Jimmy Butler's going to get his in the playoffs, Donovan
Mitchell's going to get his. Anthony Davis is going to
get his. You can't let role players have huge, huge
game games. And so I think Jordan Poole, and I've
said this multiple times, it's a problem. I think they
want to move him. Somebody will overpay for him, somebody
will lock him into a deal. But that series came
(09:13):
down to Jordan Pool on the floor late in the
game and just surrendering too many easy buckets and momentum
for the Kings. Listen, Sacramento is certainly capable of winning
this series. It's going to be really hard for Golden
State to win on the road. But I think everybody
noticed with Wiggins now available, that gives them two wings.
Wiggins and Cominga. They've only really had Cominga for a
(09:36):
while now. Dante DiVincenzo, Gary Peyton, I'll always banged up.
They got plenty of depth. Now they're fine. It's a
really nice eight man rotation if Peyton is okay, he
got banged up. But one of the only things that
really surprised me in that game is that Andrew Wiggins
was that effective. Obviously he missed, you know, most past
the trade deadline. I thought he was really effective. But again,
(09:58):
he's a super high IQ player that's been around. That's
why he fits so easily is that, you know, Golden
State asks a lot of its players on both ends
of the floor to catch and react offense. It's you
know they're going to make switches on defense. You have
got to be paying attention. Jordan Poole doesn't, Andrew Wiggins does,
and that's why he was so effective. I think the
(10:20):
Warriors are going to be fine, but I had said
last week the words I used, it's going to be
a feisty series. If you can give Wiggins and Gary
Payton real minutes, I think the Warriors are win their
experience and their roster. I think what they're going to
do in the next game in the series is they're
going to be much more physical. Just too many easy
buckets for the Kings. So I think the Warriors are
going to be physical, and I think officials will play
(10:42):
a part in this series. The dynasty gets the whistle,
But overall, I thought it was a great weekend. And
let's talk more on the Warriors. Bringing Marcus Thompson from
The Athletic who has covered this team multiple years, part
of this dynasty for many years. The NBA Playoffs are
(11:03):
upon us. Twenty teams get in all trying to get
that one crown for last minute amazing deals. To watch
your favorite NBA team. It can be the Warriors, it
could be the Kings, it could be the Sixers, it
could be the Bucks to get great last minute deals
on amazing tickets. Check out game Time, the fastest growing
(11:27):
ticketing app in the United States. It's called game Time
doesn't stop. By the way, with the NBA, they've got
NHL tickets, Major League Baseball tickets. They've also got concerts
and comedy shows game Time. Download the game Time app
and the redeem code is Colin coln twenty dollars off
(11:52):
your first purchase. Terms apply. Download the game Time app,
enter the code colin coli in for twenty dollars off.
NBA playoffs, Baseball season just starting here in April, NHL
as well. No matter where you live, get out have
some fun this week and this year. Download the game
(12:12):
Time at last minute ticket deals, lowest prices guaranteed. Now
we bring in the great Marcus Thompson. We use him
as often as we can. He's a busy guy. We'll
get to the Warriors in a couple of minutes. I
got to tell you the end of the Sun's game
was fascinating to me. First of all, Kevin Durant and
(12:34):
I hadn't lost a regular season game since November. He's
now lost seven straight playoff games. He disappeared for the
last four minutes, which I don't know if it put
it on KD. Maybe I should Monty Williams, Chris Paul,
Devin Booker, can we get him the ball? That was shocking.
So let's start with that. Who do I put the
(12:55):
blame on for Kevin Durant not getting more looks in
the last four minutes?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You know he put the blame on. I got the
answer for you. His name is Russell Westbrook. That's how
you put the blame on. That's the one who came
in and says, you know what, I'm going to take
over this game all the shade. Russell Westbrook hasn't do
it all these years. I mean that might that was
the greatest three for nineteen playoff performance of all time.
We think about you went three for nineteen and he
(13:22):
completely dominated the game. He had he played great on
Kevin Durant, turned him into a passer like facilitator. He
had Russell Westbrook like, I mean, he had Devin Booker bothered,
and that play at the end with the block and
then throwing it off Booker and like showing the world
is heard. I mean, Russell Westbrook is the blame for
all of it. They had no answer for us. Can
(13:43):
you believe it? Well?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
And Devin Booker's interesting because you trailed by three with
seventeen seconds left a lamp? Does you no good? Shoot
the three?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
And the second thing, you know, situationally, that was bizarre.
And Booker complains a lot to the refs, So it's like, dude,
you get your shot blocked, don't complain to the ref
Finish the play like that. That is a moment that
a star can't allow to happen, Like you can't be
in dialogue with an official as a play late in
(14:14):
the game is going on like, that's on book And
I like him, but that that was situationally really bad
basketball to That was my takeaway. And Russ deserves great credit.
That was an untremendous play, But that's bad situational basketball
by Phoenix, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Oh? Yeah, no question. I mean they they made some
questionable decisions down the stretch. And that's I mean, that's
Bookers in mo right, I mean, that's that's what the
modern player does. They they stop playing to complain, right,
They stopped playing to argue with the rest. We see
Luca do it, we see all of them do it.
But there's something about playoff basketball. You just got to
(14:48):
play through that. You have to play through that. And
the bottom line is, like you said, this is solved
by getting Kevin Derrett the ball, Like that's that's that's
the answer. And so if you're going to say, all right,
I got this, I'm gonna take over. I got Westbrook
Brunner one, I'm taking him, and it don't work out,
you need to get back in place. He played great
(15:09):
d That's the crazy part. Booker played great d. He
was he was the incredible in defense. But at the
end of games when it didn't go his way, it
just wasn't. It was a great play by Westbrook, not
a great play by Devin Booker. And I feel like
Russell Westbrook deserves that.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Let's pivot now to the Warriors, because we're gonna get
twelve to fifteen minutes with you on the Warriors. I
came out last week and I thought Sacramento would win
the opener. I'll take the Warriors in six. My question
was how much do you get out of Andrew Wiggins.
Were you surprised how effective Andrew Wiggins was having not
played for three months?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
I was, I mean, he's such a freak athlete that like,
how do you do that? He's bouncing around, he had
three blocks, he's playing defense, he's rebounding, he's getting to
his spots, and it looks like normal. It is even
if you know, like this dude is a unique athlete,
(16:04):
Like really he is special in a very like created
in a lab kind of way. Right, he could run
all day before this year, he never missed games, Like
he's just a guy who could just play all day.
And he looked like that. It did catch up with him, right,
he was winded. I think it was one for a
from three. He missed the three that would have won
the game, basically wide open from the corner. So you
(16:24):
could see like the effects of it. But man, let
me let me tell you Kyler. After the game, in
a loss, you could feel that they're like, oh, we
got wiggants back. Oh oh okay, Like even after a loss,
they were like, oh we got we got wiggts back.
And that was kind of the sentiment like we're jet,
(16:45):
we're fine, our whole squad is here, and Wiggins looks
like that already, Okay, we're pretty good. That's one of
the words to never get down. They very rarely get down.
That's still one of the higher moments I felt in
that locker room after a loss, where they felt like
rooting confidence.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Well, now with Kaminga and Wiggins, Peyton will get to
him in a second and Dante DiVincenzo, they they do
have a seven to an eight man rotation here of
you know veteran players. You know a player the Warriors
don't have to mention Jordan Poole by name, but it's
(17:24):
pretty obvious Kerr and Draymond take turns, you know, firing
shots at him defensively. Marcus, he's it's a problem, Like
he's not engaged. I thought he had three or four
lapses defensively, and I honestly thought it cost them the game.
Are his minutes? I mean last year in the playoffs, Marcus,
(17:46):
the longer they went, the fewer minutes he played like
there was there. Do you think there's real concern about
what he gives up on the defensive end. He's just
not engaged a lot. I don't know if it matters
if he's engaged or not. He's just not very good
at it, so it doesn't matter at this level.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Right, Like you could be as intuite as you wanted.
He made a few good plays, but in the end,
he's not guard Deer in Fox, so what he's not
guarding Malik Monk. So the thing that is important for
him is to be able to go back at you,
Like they need somebody to go back at it. They
don't have a guy outside of Steph Curry who can
(18:24):
catch the ball at the three point line and end
up at the rim. He's the only other guy who
can do it. He's the only other guy who can
dribble well enough and create, so they need him for that.
But he also gives up stuff on defense, and that's
kind of to catch twenty two with Jordan Poole. If
he's rolling and his shot is falling, all right, you
bro with him. Like there was a stretch where they
(18:45):
couldn't score and it was him and Milik Munk going
at each other and it was like, what the heck
is this is this Michigan verus Kentucky? Like I know,
but crunch time. You just get the sense in this series,
against the most efficient offense, the team that could explode
like this, he probably won't be playing down the stretch,
not that much. He didn't play that much this game
like he just wasn't there. And Steve Kerr is gonna
(19:07):
lead defense, He's going to lean defense. Every time they
scored one hundred and twenty three points, they should win
that game. They gave up one twenty six. That was
the problem.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
What are they going to get now from Peyton who
left the game some sort of core injury. What's the
latest on him?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
He seemed to be fine. He said he felt good,
he came back in. He just you know, Peyton is
one of them, dudess. He's like a football player in
that sense, like a running back, Like he's all his
whole body's on the line. He's running, he's jumping, he's falling,
he's playing big right, and you just feel like he's
got a few years of this, so you need to
(19:43):
get him because there's always something with him, right. He's
just he's so physical with the way he plays. He's
a revelatory. He changes everything to them. He gives him something.
I feel like he might get a lot of Pool mints.
If it's not Wiggins, it'll be Gary Payton.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I honest think that Peyton's a better fit. I think
when I watch Pool on the floor with the Warriors,
I can. I feel like Draymond's body language isn't great
sometimes Kurr isn't. I feel like they hold their breath
a little with Jordan Poole. They don't trust him. They
(20:19):
know he's gifted, but they don't trust him. I think
they trust Peyton though he's limited.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Yeah, the problem with Jordan is he's just very young,
and the mistakes and the stuff he's got to learn,
there's literally no other way around it. Like he gets
the ball at the end of the quarter in the
game and Steph is on a court and it's Jordan
Poole and he goes one on one with Fox and
he turns it over and it's like, you got to
(20:47):
get a ball to Stephan in that situation, right, But
in the same vein, he's taking that play and he's
gotten a bucket out of it. He just does so
many things that nobody else on the team can do.
So they gotta live with it. And you know what,
here's the reality. They created that monster, right, They taught
him out to play. So if he's taking bad shots,
(21:08):
he watched him take bad shots. He learned from them, right.
He his swagger, his confidence, they reeded it. So this
is just part of it. Like it reminds me of like,
you know, you're messing with a teenager, right, like you're
raising a teenager. Like there's just parts of raising a
teenager that are tough. You got a young dude with
that much talent, that much confidence, that much arrogance, that
(21:32):
much belief in himself and also that many flaws. You
just gotta live with it because they can't without him.
But also it's some things on the court that frustrates you.
And they're all thirty plus years old, they've got four championships.
They're veterans, right, you know, they make mistakes too, so
(21:52):
they just have to live with it. I feel like
they just have to live with it no matter what,
because bottom line, if Gary Payton's out there, that's one
less score, and if Clay's not making his shots like
he wasn't, especially down the stretch. Now it's just all
on Steph. They running a boxing one on Steph. Who
creates offense at that point now is like, yo, you
kind of need your pool in the game, so figure
out what to do on defense. But that dude could
(22:14):
go get a bucket.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
So Draymond does podcast right after the games. He did
last year. You know, it's I see people take shots
head him. It's not like he divulges game plans. How
does it sit though with the team? I mean, Draymond
gives you insight that literally nobody in basketball gives you
he's off the floor for the dynasty. Does it sit
(22:39):
uncomfortably with a team? How do they feel about it?
Speaker 1 (22:41):
I don't think so. Number, if there's one thing the
I mean, first off, the only people who could possibly
say something are like the Ogs, right, Steph Curry, Clay Thompson,
Andre right, but anybody else, it probably doesn't matter what
they say. Is there any team more brand conscious in
the Warriors?
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Right?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Is there anything that spends as much time building like
who they are? I mean, Clay's riding boats to games, right, Like,
he's got his whole shtick. Steph you know, has his thing,
Like even andre Igodala is the super smart tech guy,
right Like they look at Draymond as that's Draymond's thing.
As long as he's playing, well, it's fine. I haven't
(23:23):
heard anything negative about it, right, Like, you know, Draymond
is a guy who will do some things that irritates people.
The podcast ain't one of them. From what I can hear.
It's just Draymond. Plus I don't know how much of
this is Like, Yo, this is Draymond. We've known this
dude for ten years now. Like why we get mad
about the sky being blue? Like Draymond likes to talk.
(23:43):
He's gonna talk. He's pretty smart, so he knows what
he's doing. It's gonna be calculated. Why Like, why worry
about it? I think the fans don't like it more
than the players don't.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah, I think you nailed it. I think he's very
measured and calculated. He knows exactly what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
I find the access fascinating.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
But there's like an other element too to it. I
think that people should probably know, Like like he's essentially
putting his team on notice, right, Like if he's out
there talking, they they kind of gotta go back him up, right,
And the only reason you would complain about him doing
(24:25):
that is if you are afraid you can't back it up.
And that's just not worries basketball. Right, They're gonna go
into arena and they're gonna talk, and then they're all
gonna back up the one who's talking. Like that's just
how it is, So I do think there's a little
bit of like an ulterior motives, like, all right, I'm
gonna put us on notice and we're gonna have to live.
We're gonna have to rise up to the occasion because
(24:46):
nobody else on the team will do that. I do
feel like this is a little bit of team chemistry
situation as well. Well.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
You mentioned Malik Monks thirty two, which is he's right
about this. You can give up forty to a Donnovan
Mitchell or occur. Oh yeah, you can't give up thirty
two to Malik Monk. I believe I felt going into
this series that the way to win this series. I
think they're going to get a little physical. I think
they'll get the dynasty whistle. I think they'll get the
(25:14):
veteran whistle. Do you think we'll see a different kind
of Game two in Sacramento?
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Oh yeah, I definitely. I mean that's playoffs in general.
It's gonna change a little bit. But I also think
the it's gonna work the other way. Like Steph Curry
got two free throws and Malik Munk got fourteen, So
I think Curry's going to get to the line more, right,
Like at some point you got to start saying, hey,
this dude just driving a lot. I definitely think their
(25:41):
answer is to get more aggressive, get more physical. Yes,
I don't think you'll see I think you'll see very
physical defenders on Deer Fox and Milik Munket. It won't
be like the guys who are good stay in front,
but don't make you feel them, like Dante DiVincenzo or
Klay Thompson, like Gary Payton, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kaminga, like
(26:03):
they wear on you, they physical, they foul you like
you know they're there. I think you'll see that type
of yeah guy. I think Trey Lyles they'll be looking
for him, and mostly they feel like they got punks,
like on the board, so the only way to respond
is to kind of punch back. But I do I
wouldn't be surprised when somebody gets too quick fouls though,
because it was too free flow and it was fun.
(26:24):
It was exciting, like you know, you know we're gonna
get that ninety five ninety seven game at some point.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, I mean I thought the one, like I still
think the Warriors are fine. I think Phoenix is fine.
People adjust. I think the one game over the weekend
that I did take a step back is the Knicks
ability to dominate the glass in multiple key situations. They
were the second best rebounding team in the league. They
(26:52):
have to rebound well because I and I watched that
and I thought, wow, now that's something that's repeatable.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
People are looking at Jalen Brunson. He's been great all year.
We know that that I don't doubt. But the New
York Knicks ability to kind of push Cleveland around and
get rebounds, I'm like, wow, that are we looking at
a different series here? Was there any outside of the Warriors?
Was there any takeaway for you this weekend? Marcus? That
was anything you took a step back and went, you know,
(27:22):
once Giannis got hurt, it's going to be a different game.
Celtics are going to dispose very quickly. Uh, Philadelphia is
going to dispose of Brooklyn very quickly. Anything surprised you
at all? Not necessarily surprising. I thought Memphis would be
a tougher fight for the like the Lakers kind of
waxed them. I mean second, it was like Rory and and.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Uh re right, like they were cooking the Lakers look
like uh oh, if you're reminded of the ceiling they had, right,
they've played below it for so long you get they
have it. But it's like, wait a second, if this
thing clicks, it might click click right. They could like
if Memphis doesn't put up a fight here and the
(28:09):
Warriors Kings go six or seven of a brawl. But
like the track race right now, whoever comes out of it,
you got to deal with the size of physicality of
the Lakers. Man. You could see this kind of kind
of shaping up for them in a way that's a
little bit like, wow, we would we just would have
never thought this two months ago. We would have never
(28:32):
thought this, like they would have this ride to the
you know, to the Western Conference Finals. I was I'm
interested in the Miami Milwaukee series. I think this was
more of a blue kind of game one Like I
think even without Jannis, the Bucks are so used to
playing without them that they might figure something out. So
(28:52):
I'm interested to see what they have left. I think
this is a phenomenon. The team that comes in off
the play in usually a little bit rolling and now,
you know, I remember I think it was Memphis got
Game one against Utah today. If you win two games
to get into the playoffs. Your a nice little rhythm,
and you're playing a team that was just sitting, was
(29:13):
just rested. I think that's a little bit of thing.
So I really want to see what Miami has. Actually,
they lost one in one one, but I want to
see if Miami is legit, if they could really extend
a series that changes the entire East of Milwaukee's out
entire East. It blows everything up. Now, another team could
sneak in, like like the Knicks into the East Finals.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
I don't think they will, but you know, going back
to what you said about the Lakers, I thought they'd
beat Minnesota, and I thought they'd beat Memphis. But I
did feel like the longer it goes, it's more of
a disadvantage because if you could get in and out
of this series with Memphis in five games and Labon
gets like four days to rest, then you have a
real chance to win game one against whoever you play, Like,
(29:57):
I think, wherever you play, there is a path that
the Lakers need to hit to win the Warriors, don't.
You know a lot of the good teams don't the
Lakers do. There's a path to success, and it's getting
rid of Memphis fast.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
But doesn't look feasible. I mean, like even like John
got hurt and this is becoming a thing. Jock gets hurt, right,
this is obviously a thing where this is now the
second playoffs in a row. He got hurt. And remember
before they were like better without him, they like played
(30:32):
in a way where it was like yo, they actually
lock in on defense. Right, But no Steven Adams, no
Brandon Clark. That that that's a problems mishus might be
in trouble even if Josh somehow plays. You're down one
and they've got Anthony Davis who could at any moment
just drop forty on you, right, like they got the
(30:54):
guy who can do it, Lebron can just drop forty
on you and you're in trouble.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Yeah, I mean they were trailing by four. That was
an offensive foul on jaw. The Lakers were getting the
ball and were hot. And by the way, the Lakers
had their best quarter of the season and the third
quarter and John was on the floor, so he wasn't
stopping anybody. I thought the Lakers got so many good looks.
(31:19):
I mean the first half, the whole game, they got him.
They just didn't hit him in the first half, but
they were getting phenomenal looks. Their ball movement was excellent.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
That's the part though, that makes you think, Eh, how
real is this? I mean, it is Ruy hitting all
those the whole series. He won't. No, you know, you're
not sold on the Hotchi Brewer BADWG. You're not hopping
on You not ready for the twenty four average of
twenty four for the series for Hotchi Borer. You ate,
I'm signing up Ruy hotchiburrs average of twenty four for
(31:52):
this entire series put me down.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I got yeah, But I will say their third leading
score Russell Ruy reeves. They've got a collection of guys
who are all I mean, D'Angelo Russell is capable to
drop twenty six.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Is going to give you a game? Right? Yeah, no question,
no question.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
He can be a little shrewder yep, Dennis shrewder By
the way the play in game. Dennis Schreuder was their
third guy. So they don't have a they don't have
a nail down three. But I mean, listen to Celtics
got to the finals last year and Marcus Smart is
hot and cold. You don't know exactly what you're getting
offensively from Marcus Smart. So I mean there, if you
(32:32):
have two legitimate scorers, I mean, what's impressible.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
You can do the number three by committee?
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Right, you can kind of do it by committee. So
all right, So you still feel good about the Warriors
before we let you go. I still think they went
it in six. I mean, this is how it played
it out. Like I think they lose the first game.
I just felt like Sacker BDDO was gonna make everything.
This was like everybody to be like Sherman Club.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Right, this is thirty five years of woning and wonting,
like they've been waiting for this moment forever. I felt
like they were going to make every shot, and there
was a stretch when they did, and now the adjustments happened.
Let's see if they can handle it. I feel like
Warriors get game to hold Servant home and we go back.
We either go back to Sacramento tie to too, or
(33:15):
we go back to Sacramento with them playing for their
lives to stay alive. That's how I see it shaken out.
I wouldn't be shocked though, if Sacramento won, because I
don't know. Some bonus was kind of terrible in that game,
so maybe he rebounds.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
All right, Marcus Thompson, the Athletic just fifteen eighteen great
minutes from him. He's a busy guy. We're gonna let
him go. Thanks for coming on, buddy.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
I'm about to write about Klay Thompson. I'm about to
get my bag. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
The volume. Make sure to check out The Dream Green Show.
I brought Draymond Green into the volume because one of
the more entertaining voices in sports. Unique perspective understands behind
the rope. Also chops up with guests like Gary Payton,
Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download The Draymond Green
(34:15):
Show wherever you get your podcasts, only on the Volume
Podcast Network.
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hi, everybody, welcome in some thoughts on the Lakers, Grizzlies,
Nick's Calves, Warriors, Kings. Marcus Thompson, who covers the Warriors
written books on Steph and k D, will be joining
us in roughly twelve minutes. So my first takeaway on
the Grizzlies is generally speaking, if a two seed the
(00:34):
Grizzlies faces a seven seed the Lakers, and the series
starts in the two seeds home as it should, right,
you would take the two seed to win the series.
But I took the Lakers to win this series because
I think there's a lot of fool's gold with Memphis.
And I like John Morant, but I consider him to
be much like Derreck Rose. And I've said this for years.
(00:57):
I don't think those kind of players can lead you
to champions. This is overwhelmingly once the playoffs start, a wing,
Big League refs swallow their whistles and the physical teams win.
I mean, how effective was Anthony Davis today? How effective
the Knicks rebounding over the Calves?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
You see?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
How effective a Robert Williams, a marginally talented player but
great defensively, how he can disrupt Atlanta's offense, wings and bigs.
You say, well, what about Steph Curry. The best two
Warriors teams had Kevin Durant on them, and Steph Curry
realized that. And so John Morant, like Derek Rose, is
spectacular and dynamic, not an elite defender or rebounder. He's
(01:40):
not going to be a rim protector, and he's still
not a great shooter. He's just explosive like Derreck Rose was.
And so I like the Lakers in this series, and
I don't want to hear that the injury to Jahn
Morant was the difference. The Lakers had their best third quarter,
perhaps the best quarter they've played against a good team
on the road all season. They scored sixty nine points
(02:02):
in the second half, and John Morant played ninety percent
of it. He couldn't stop Ruey Reeves ad or Lebron.
So I don't want to hear that's the difference. The
Lakers had their best quarter Jahn Morant was on the floor.
He'll return in the series. We're not sure about Game two.
John Morant has said his availability could be in peril
(02:22):
for Game two. I can like Steve Nash as a player,
but those Phoenix teams got pushed around in the playoffs.
I can like Derek Rose, I can like John Morant,
it's different. And so I thought the Lakers' physicality would
be the difference in this series with Clark and Steven
Adams out, and it was. They mostly controlled the interior,
(02:43):
big rebounding advantage. Eleven blocks for the Lakers and two
for Memphis. And that's the series. So you're not going
to get another game like that from Rui and Reeves
was red hot. But I don't want to hear any
excuses here. There's a reason that most people, most people,
not just me, took the Lakers in this series is
that Memphis was virtually unbeatable at home. Now everybody's equally rested.
(03:08):
Rim protection defense means more in the playoffs. You see
who the better team is. Jahn Morant can't play in
game two of the series. I think Memphis will be
very competitive because I don't think Ruy and Reeves will
probably play that well. But I've thought there's a lot
of fools gold here on Memphis. I've said the same
with Denver is like I like Denver, but efficiency, which
(03:30):
is Jokich's game, you got to give me more than that.
I'm going to need some thirty five point games. I
don't trust some of the guys on that Denver team
who have never delivered in the postseason. You know, if
you're a Laker fan, Lebron had twenty one points, a
couple of big shots big three, but he had costly turnovers.
I didn't think Lebron played great. I didn't think the
(03:51):
Lakers played that effectively in the first half. They couldn't shoot,
So you got to feel good if you're the Lakers.
They completely utterly controlled the second half, out scoring Memphis
sixty nine to forty seven, eleven blocks to two for
the Lakers. They were the better basketball team. Doesn't mean
they were in the regular season. But we've said this before.
Postseason refs swallow whistles. They're gonna let you bang around more.
(04:15):
And the dynamic, wildly vertical show stopping point guards Westbrook Walls,
Derrick Rose, John Morants, Steve Nash wasn't highly vertical, but
you know, two time MVP wildly effective. They don't have
the impact in the postseason. So you know, you're a
Laker fan, you have to feel good. Remember the Lakers
(04:40):
are two different teams. There's the pre trade deadline deal
with Westbrook, and there's this team, and this team has
more shooters, has more wings, is younger, more athletic. So
you have to look at the Lakers. It's like in
the NFL, where sometimes you have a team the Patriot
the great ones were usually Thanksgiving on was a different
(05:04):
Patriot team than September October. This is a different Laker
team right now now. I think if this series goes
six or seven, maybe Jaws out for a couple of games,
and it's a quick series that benefits the Lakers greatly. Lebron,
you know you'd like to play him thirty two minutes,
You probably have to play him thirty six minutes in
the postseason, although Reeves certainly can control the offense when
(05:26):
he's out.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
But the quicker this series.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Goes, this is not a young team, the better it
is for the Lakers in the next round. All Right,
some thoughts on a series that I thought Cleveland had
too many shot makers for the New York Knicks. And
I also thought Julius Randall could miss the first two
games of the series. That's what was reported about two
weeks ago. Julius Randall played so one of the things
(05:51):
that jumped out is not Jalen Brunson's play. He's been
terrific all year. Okay, Jalen Brunson is a really, really
good player. You know, your classic Villanova's second round in
big national championship level games. Can defend a little though.
He's small, but he's a great leader. He's just your
classic point guard that can score, can distribute, excellent leadership skills,
(06:13):
sets his guys up. And that didn't surprise me. What
does Because I don't necessarily think losing Game one's the
end of the series. It's not for the Warriors, but
I do think there was something that was really noticeable.
The New York Knicks were the second best rebounding team
in the league during the regular season. I think they
were tied for second best rebounding team. Cleveland was middle
of the pack. How many times when Cleveland was inching
(06:35):
back in that game did the Knicks get a second, third,
and occasionally fourth look.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
At the basket?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
New York I felt like got every big rebound in
the second half. And that's a problem. Evan Mobley's excellent,
he's still young, he's still ascending. But if New York
that's Tom Thibodeau's classic team play defense, slow it down
a little bit, crash the boards, get some freebies underneath,
(07:04):
limit the Calves to one shot. So I still like
Cleveland in the series. But if that is a pattern,
and remember the best coaches are in the playoffs, they
make adjustments, right, They're gonna make adjustments in Cleveland. But
you can rebound your way to a series win if
you limit their second shots and you get yours second
(07:25):
and third shots frequently. So you know, Jalen Brunson's been
good all year. The Knicks have some interesting depth. You know,
they can melt. Any Nick fan will tell you they're
a team that can lose leads and melt. But I
thought that rebounding edge in the second half it was noticeable.
It was stark. They were controlling the glass every time
(07:45):
they needed a rebound. So we have a real series
between the Knicks and the Calves. That's fun. Thoughts on
the Warriors. I had predicted last week on Fox Sports
one and Premiere Radio that I thought Sacramento would win
Game one and I would take the better coach, Yes,
Steve Kerr four titles, the better coach, the better roster, Yes.
(08:06):
Now that Wiggins and Gary paytnerback. It's the better, deeper
roster and the more experienced Warriors to win in six.
I thought it was going to be a hornet's nest
in Game one. But something that really jumped out to
me is that everybody likes to brag how much basketball
you know on the internet. If you think Jordan Pool's
a great player, just you don't know basketball when you
(08:27):
watch him on the floor. He is so bad defensively
in the second half, I thought he cost him the game.
And I think on a pretty regular basis, Steve Kerr
and Draymond Green call him out. And you know, Draymond
Green on the volume on his podcast, you can't give
Malik Monk thirty plus points. It's okay. Daron Fox is
going to get his. Steph Curry's going to get his right,
(08:49):
Jimmy Butler's going to get his in the playoffs, Donovan
Mitchell's going to get his. Anthony Davis is going to
get his. You can't let role players have huge, huge
game games. And so I think Jordan Poole, and I've
said this multiple times, it's a problem. I think they
want to move him. Somebody will overpay for him, somebody
will lock him into a deal. But that series came
(09:13):
down to Jordan Pool on the floor late in the
game and just surrendering too many easy buckets and momentum
for the Kings. Listen, Sacramento is certainly capable of winning
this series. It's going to be really hard for Golden
State to win on the road. But I think everybody
noticed with Wiggins now available, that gives them two wings.
Wiggins and Cominga. They've only really had Cominga for a
(09:36):
while now. Dante DiVincenzo, Gary Peyton, I'll always banged up.
They got plenty of depth. Now they're fine. It's a
really nice eight man rotation if Peyton is okay, he
got banged up. But one of the only things that
really surprised me in that game is that Andrew Wiggins
was that effective. Obviously he missed, you know, most past
the trade deadline. I thought he was really effective. But again,
(09:58):
he's a super high IQ player that's been around. That's
why he fits so easily is that, you know, Golden
State asks a lot of its players on both ends
of the floor to catch and react offense. It's you
know they're going to make switches on defense. You have
got to be paying attention. Jordan Poole doesn't, Andrew Wiggins does,
and that's why he was so effective. I think the
(10:20):
Warriors are going to be fine, but I had said
last week the words I used, it's going to be
a feisty series. If you can give Wiggins and Gary
Payton real minutes, I think the Warriors are win their
experience and their roster. I think what they're going to
do in the next game in the series is they're
going to be much more physical. Just too many easy
buckets for the Kings. So I think the Warriors are
going to be physical, and I think officials will play
(10:42):
a part in this series. The dynasty gets the whistle,
But overall, I thought it was a great weekend. And
let's talk more on the Warriors. Bringing Marcus Thompson from
The Athletic who has covered this team multiple years, part
of this dynasty for many years. The NBA Playoffs are
(11:03):
upon us. Twenty teams get in all trying to get
that one crown for last minute amazing deals. To watch
your favorite NBA team. It can be the Warriors, it
could be the Kings, it could be the Sixers, it
could be the Bucks to get great last minute deals
on amazing tickets. Check out game Time, the fastest growing
(11:27):
ticketing app in the United States. It's called game Time
doesn't stop. By the way, with the NBA, they've got
NHL tickets, Major League Baseball tickets. They've also got concerts
and comedy shows game Time. Download the game Time app
and the redeem code is Colin coln twenty dollars off
(11:52):
your first purchase. Terms apply. Download the game Time app,
enter the code colin coli in for twenty dollars off.
NBA playoffs, Baseball season just starting here in April, NHL
as well. No matter where you live, get out have
some fun this week and this year. Download the game
(12:12):
Time at last minute ticket deals, lowest prices guaranteed. Now
we bring in the great Marcus Thompson. We use him
as often as we can. He's a busy guy. We'll
get to the Warriors in a couple of minutes. I
got to tell you the end of the Sun's game
was fascinating to me. First of all, Kevin Durant and
(12:34):
I hadn't lost a regular season game since November. He's
now lost seven straight playoff games. He disappeared for the
last four minutes, which I don't know if it put
it on KD. Maybe I should Monty Williams, Chris Paul,
Devin Booker, can we get him the ball? That was shocking.
So let's start with that. Who do I put the
(12:55):
blame on for Kevin Durant not getting more looks in
the last four minutes?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You know he put the blame on. I got the
answer for you. His name is Russell Westbrook. That's how
you put the blame on. That's the one who came
in and says, you know what, I'm going to take
over this game all the shade. Russell Westbrook hasn't do
it all these years. I mean that might that was
the greatest three for nineteen playoff performance of all time.
We think about you went three for nineteen and he
(13:22):
completely dominated the game. He had he played great on
Kevin Durant, turned him into a passer like facilitator. He
had Russell Westbrook like, I mean, he had Devin Booker bothered,
and that play at the end with the block and
then throwing it off Booker and like showing the world
is heard. I mean, Russell Westbrook is the blame for
all of it. They had no answer for us. Can
(13:43):
you believe it? Well?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
And Devin Booker's interesting because you trailed by three with
seventeen seconds left a lamp? Does you no good? Shoot
the three?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
And the second thing, you know, situationally, that was bizarre.
And Booker complains a lot to the refs, So it's like, dude,
you get your shot blocked, don't complain to the ref
Finish the play like that. That is a moment that
a star can't allow to happen, Like you can't be
in dialogue with an official as a play late in
(14:14):
the game is going on like, that's on book And
I like him, but that that was situationally really bad
basketball to That was my takeaway. And Russ deserves great credit.
That was an untremendous play, But that's bad situational basketball
by Phoenix, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Oh? Yeah, no question. I mean they they made some
questionable decisions down the stretch. And that's I mean, that's
Bookers in mo right, I mean, that's that's what the
modern player does. They they stop playing to complain, right,
They stopped playing to argue with the rest. We see
Luca do it, we see all of them do it.
But there's something about playoff basketball. You just got to
(14:48):
play through that. You have to play through that. And
the bottom line is, like you said, this is solved
by getting Kevin Derrett the ball, Like that's that's that's
the answer. And so if you're going to say, all right,
I got this, I'm gonna take over. I got Westbrook
Brunner one, I'm taking him, and it don't work out,
you need to get back in place. He played great
(15:09):
d That's the crazy part. Booker played great d. He
was he was the incredible in defense. But at the
end of games when it didn't go his way, it
just wasn't. It was a great play by Westbrook, not
a great play by Devin Booker. And I feel like
Russell Westbrook deserves that.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Let's pivot now to the Warriors, because we're gonna get
twelve to fifteen minutes with you on the Warriors. I
came out last week and I thought Sacramento would win
the opener. I'll take the Warriors in six. My question
was how much do you get out of Andrew Wiggins.
Were you surprised how effective Andrew Wiggins was having not
played for three months?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
I was, I mean, he's such a freak athlete that like,
how do you do that? He's bouncing around, he had
three blocks, he's playing defense, he's rebounding, he's getting to
his spots, and it looks like normal. It is even
if you know, like this dude is a unique athlete,
(16:04):
Like really he is special in a very like created
in a lab kind of way. Right, he could run
all day before this year, he never missed games, Like
he's just a guy who could just play all day.
And he looked like that. It did catch up with him, right,
he was winded. I think it was one for a
from three. He missed the three that would have won
the game, basically wide open from the corner. So you
(16:24):
could see like the effects of it. But man, let
me let me tell you Kyler. After the game, in
a loss, you could feel that they're like, oh, we
got wiggants back. Oh oh okay, Like even after a loss,
they were like, oh we got we got wiggts back.
And that was kind of the sentiment like we're jet,
(16:45):
we're fine, our whole squad is here, and Wiggins looks
like that already, Okay, we're pretty good. That's one of
the words to never get down. They very rarely get down.
That's still one of the higher moments I felt in
that locker room after a loss, where they felt like
rooting confidence.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Well, now with Kaminga and Wiggins, Peyton will get to
him in a second and Dante DiVincenzo, they they do
have a seven to an eight man rotation here of
you know veteran players. You know a player the Warriors
don't have to mention Jordan Poole by name, but it's
(17:24):
pretty obvious Kerr and Draymond take turns, you know, firing
shots at him defensively. Marcus, he's it's a problem, Like
he's not engaged. I thought he had three or four
lapses defensively, and I honestly thought it cost them the game.
Are his minutes? I mean last year in the playoffs, Marcus,
(17:46):
the longer they went, the fewer minutes he played like
there was there. Do you think there's real concern about
what he gives up on the defensive end. He's just
not engaged a lot. I don't know if it matters
if he's engaged or not. He's just not very good
at it, so it doesn't matter at this level.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Right, Like you could be as intuite as you wanted.
He made a few good plays, but in the end,
he's not guard Deer in Fox, so what he's not
guarding Malik Monk. So the thing that is important for
him is to be able to go back at you,
Like they need somebody to go back at it. They
don't have a guy outside of Steph Curry who can
(18:24):
catch the ball at the three point line and end
up at the rim. He's the only other guy who
can do it. He's the only other guy who can
dribble well enough and create, so they need him for that.
But he also gives up stuff on defense, and that's
kind of to catch twenty two with Jordan Poole. If
he's rolling and his shot is falling, all right, you
bro with him. Like there was a stretch where they
(18:45):
couldn't score and it was him and Milik Munk going
at each other and it was like, what the heck
is this is this Michigan verus Kentucky? Like I know,
but crunch time. You just get the sense in this series,
against the most efficient offense, the team that could explode
like this, he probably won't be playing down the stretch,
not that much. He didn't play that much this game
like he just wasn't there. And Steve Kerr is gonna
(19:07):
lead defense, He's going to lean defense. Every time they
scored one hundred and twenty three points, they should win
that game. They gave up one twenty six. That was
the problem.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
What are they going to get now from Peyton who
left the game some sort of core injury. What's the
latest on him?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
He seemed to be fine. He said he felt good,
he came back in. He just you know, Peyton is
one of them, dudess. He's like a football player in
that sense, like a running back, Like he's all his
whole body's on the line. He's running, he's jumping, he's falling,
he's playing big right, and you just feel like he's
got a few years of this, so you need to
(19:43):
get him because there's always something with him, right. He's
just he's so physical with the way he plays. He's
a revelatory. He changes everything to them. He gives him something.
I feel like he might get a lot of Pool mints.
If it's not Wiggins, it'll be Gary Payton.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I honest think that Peyton's a better fit. I think
when I watch Pool on the floor with the Warriors,
I can. I feel like Draymond's body language isn't great
sometimes Kurr isn't. I feel like they hold their breath
a little with Jordan Poole. They don't trust him. They
(20:19):
know he's gifted, but they don't trust him. I think
they trust Peyton though he's limited.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Yeah, the problem with Jordan is he's just very young,
and the mistakes and the stuff he's got to learn,
there's literally no other way around it. Like he gets
the ball at the end of the quarter in the
game and Steph is on a court and it's Jordan
Poole and he goes one on one with Fox and
he turns it over and it's like, you got to
(20:47):
get a ball to Stephan in that situation, right, But
in the same vein, he's taking that play and he's
gotten a bucket out of it. He just does so
many things that nobody else on the team can do.
So they gotta live with it. And you know what,
here's the reality. They created that monster, right, They taught
him out to play. So if he's taking bad shots,
(21:08):
he watched him take bad shots. He learned from them, right.
He his swagger, his confidence, they reeded it. So this
is just part of it. Like it reminds me of like,
you know, you're messing with a teenager, right, like you're
raising a teenager. Like there's just parts of raising a
teenager that are tough. You got a young dude with
that much talent, that much confidence, that much arrogance, that
(21:32):
much belief in himself and also that many flaws. You
just gotta live with it because they can't without him.
But also it's some things on the court that frustrates you.
And they're all thirty plus years old, they've got four championships.
They're veterans, right, you know, they make mistakes too, so
(21:52):
they just have to live with it. I feel like
they just have to live with it no matter what,
because bottom line, if Gary Payton's out there, that's one
less score, and if Clay's not making his shots like
he wasn't, especially down the stretch. Now it's just all
on Steph. They running a boxing one on Steph. Who
creates offense at that point now is like, yo, you
kind of need your pool in the game, so figure
out what to do on defense. But that dude could
(22:14):
go get a bucket.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
So Draymond does podcast right after the games. He did
last year. You know, it's I see people take shots
head him. It's not like he divulges game plans. How
does it sit though with the team? I mean, Draymond
gives you insight that literally nobody in basketball gives you
he's off the floor for the dynasty. Does it sit
(22:39):
uncomfortably with a team? How do they feel about it?
Speaker 1 (22:41):
I don't think so. Number, if there's one thing the
I mean, first off, the only people who could possibly
say something are like the Ogs, right, Steph Curry, Clay Thompson,
Andre right, but anybody else, it probably doesn't matter what
they say. Is there any team more brand conscious in
the Warriors?
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Right?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Is there anything that spends as much time building like
who they are? I mean, Clay's riding boats to games, right, Like,
he's got his whole shtick. Steph you know, has his thing,
Like even andre Igodala is the super smart tech guy,
right Like they look at Draymond as that's Draymond's thing.
As long as he's playing, well, it's fine. I haven't
(23:23):
heard anything negative about it, right, Like, you know, Draymond
is a guy who will do some things that irritates people.
The podcast ain't one of them. From what I can hear.
It's just Draymond. Plus I don't know how much of
this is Like, Yo, this is Draymond. We've known this
dude for ten years now. Like why we get mad
about the sky being blue? Like Draymond likes to talk.
(23:43):
He's gonna talk. He's pretty smart, so he knows what
he's doing. It's gonna be calculated. Why Like, why worry
about it? I think the fans don't like it more
than the players don't.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah, I think you nailed it. I think he's very
measured and calculated. He knows exactly what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
I find the access fascinating.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
But there's like an other element too to it. I
think that people should probably know, Like like he's essentially
putting his team on notice, right, Like if he's out
there talking, they they kind of gotta go back him up, right,
And the only reason you would complain about him doing
(24:25):
that is if you are afraid you can't back it up.
And that's just not worries basketball. Right, They're gonna go
into arena and they're gonna talk, and then they're all
gonna back up the one who's talking. Like that's just
how it is, So I do think there's a little
bit of like an ulterior motives, like, all right, I'm
gonna put us on notice and we're gonna have to live.
We're gonna have to rise up to the occasion because
(24:46):
nobody else on the team will do that. I do
feel like this is a little bit of team chemistry
situation as well. Well.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
You mentioned Malik Monks thirty two, which is he's right
about this. You can give up forty to a Donnovan
Mitchell or occur. Oh yeah, you can't give up thirty
two to Malik Monk. I believe I felt going into
this series that the way to win this series. I
think they're going to get a little physical. I think
they'll get the dynasty whistle. I think they'll get the
(25:14):
veteran whistle. Do you think we'll see a different kind
of Game two in Sacramento?
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Oh yeah, I definitely. I mean that's playoffs in general.
It's gonna change a little bit. But I also think
the it's gonna work the other way. Like Steph Curry
got two free throws and Malik Munk got fourteen, So
I think Curry's going to get to the line more, right,
Like at some point you got to start saying, hey,
this dude just driving a lot. I definitely think their
(25:41):
answer is to get more aggressive, get more physical. Yes,
I don't think you'll see I think you'll see very
physical defenders on Deer Fox and Milik Munket. It won't
be like the guys who are good stay in front,
but don't make you feel them, like Dante DiVincenzo or
Klay Thompson, like Gary Payton, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kaminga, like
(26:03):
they wear on you, they physical, they foul you like
you know they're there. I think you'll see that type
of yeah guy. I think Trey Lyles they'll be looking
for him, and mostly they feel like they got punks,
like on the board, so the only way to respond
is to kind of punch back. But I do I
wouldn't be surprised when somebody gets too quick fouls though,
because it was too free flow and it was fun.
(26:24):
It was exciting, like you know, you know we're gonna
get that ninety five ninety seven game at some point.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, I mean I thought the one, like I still
think the Warriors are fine. I think Phoenix is fine.
People adjust. I think the one game over the weekend
that I did take a step back is the Knicks
ability to dominate the glass in multiple key situations. They
were the second best rebounding team in the league. They
(26:52):
have to rebound well because I and I watched that
and I thought, wow, now that's something that's repeatable.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
People are looking at Jalen Brunson. He's been great all year.
We know that that I don't doubt. But the New
York Knicks ability to kind of push Cleveland around and
get rebounds, I'm like, wow, that are we looking at
a different series here? Was there any outside of the Warriors?
Was there any takeaway for you this weekend? Marcus? That
was anything you took a step back and went, you know,
(27:22):
once Giannis got hurt, it's going to be a different game.
Celtics are going to dispose very quickly. Uh, Philadelphia is
going to dispose of Brooklyn very quickly. Anything surprised you
at all? Not necessarily surprising. I thought Memphis would be
a tougher fight for the like the Lakers kind of
waxed them. I mean second, it was like Rory and and.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Uh re right, like they were cooking the Lakers look
like uh oh, if you're reminded of the ceiling they had, right,
they've played below it for so long you get they
have it. But it's like, wait a second, if this
thing clicks, it might click click right. They could like
if Memphis doesn't put up a fight here and the
(28:09):
Warriors Kings go six or seven of a brawl. But
like the track race right now, whoever comes out of it,
you got to deal with the size of physicality of
the Lakers. Man. You could see this kind of kind
of shaping up for them in a way that's a
little bit like, wow, we would we just would have
never thought this two months ago. We would have never
(28:32):
thought this, like they would have this ride to the
you know, to the Western Conference Finals. I was I'm
interested in the Miami Milwaukee series. I think this was
more of a blue kind of game one Like I
think even without Jannis, the Bucks are so used to
playing without them that they might figure something out. So
(28:52):
I'm interested to see what they have left. I think
this is a phenomenon. The team that comes in off
the play in usually a little bit rolling and now,
you know, I remember I think it was Memphis got
Game one against Utah today. If you win two games
to get into the playoffs. Your a nice little rhythm,
and you're playing a team that was just sitting, was
(29:13):
just rested. I think that's a little bit of thing.
So I really want to see what Miami has. Actually,
they lost one in one one, but I want to
see if Miami is legit, if they could really extend
a series that changes the entire East of Milwaukee's out
entire East. It blows everything up. Now, another team could
sneak in, like like the Knicks into the East Finals.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
I don't think they will, but you know, going back
to what you said about the Lakers, I thought they'd
beat Minnesota, and I thought they'd beat Memphis. But I
did feel like the longer it goes, it's more of
a disadvantage because if you could get in and out
of this series with Memphis in five games and Labon
gets like four days to rest, then you have a
real chance to win game one against whoever you play, Like,
(29:57):
I think, wherever you play, there is a path that
the Lakers need to hit to win the Warriors, don't.
You know a lot of the good teams don't the
Lakers do. There's a path to success, and it's getting
rid of Memphis fast.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
But doesn't look feasible. I mean, like even like John
got hurt and this is becoming a thing. Jock gets hurt, right,
this is obviously a thing where this is now the
second playoffs in a row. He got hurt. And remember
before they were like better without him, they like played
(30:32):
in a way where it was like yo, they actually
lock in on defense. Right, But no Steven Adams, no
Brandon Clark. That that that's a problems mishus might be
in trouble even if Josh somehow plays. You're down one
and they've got Anthony Davis who could at any moment
just drop forty on you, right, like they got the
(30:54):
guy who can do it, Lebron can just drop forty
on you and you're in trouble.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Yeah, I mean they were trailing by four. That was
an offensive foul on jaw. The Lakers were getting the
ball and were hot. And by the way, the Lakers
had their best quarter of the season and the third
quarter and John was on the floor, so he wasn't
stopping anybody. I thought the Lakers got so many good looks.
(31:19):
I mean the first half, the whole game, they got him.
They just didn't hit him in the first half, but
they were getting phenomenal looks. Their ball movement was excellent.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
That's the part though, that makes you think, Eh, how
real is this? I mean, it is Ruy hitting all
those the whole series. He won't. No, you know, you're
not sold on the Hotchi Brewer BADWG. You're not hopping
on You not ready for the twenty four average of
twenty four for the series for Hotchi Borer. You ate,
I'm signing up Ruy hotchiburrs average of twenty four for
(31:52):
this entire series put me down.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I got yeah, But I will say their third leading
score Russell Ruy reeves. They've got a collection of guys
who are all I mean, D'Angelo Russell is capable to
drop twenty six.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Is going to give you a game? Right? Yeah, no question,
no question.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
He can be a little shrewder yep, Dennis shrewder By
the way the play in game. Dennis Schreuder was their
third guy. So they don't have a they don't have
a nail down three. But I mean, listen to Celtics
got to the finals last year and Marcus Smart is
hot and cold. You don't know exactly what you're getting
offensively from Marcus Smart. So I mean there, if you
(32:32):
have two legitimate scorers, I mean, what's impressible.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
You can do the number three by committee?
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Right, you can kind of do it by committee. So
all right, So you still feel good about the Warriors
before we let you go. I still think they went
it in six. I mean, this is how it played
it out. Like I think they lose the first game.
I just felt like Sacker BDDO was gonna make everything.
This was like everybody to be like Sherman Club.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Right, this is thirty five years of woning and wonting,
like they've been waiting for this moment forever. I felt
like they were going to make every shot, and there
was a stretch when they did, and now the adjustments happened.
Let's see if they can handle it. I feel like
Warriors get game to hold Servant home and we go back.
We either go back to Sacramento tie to too, or
(33:15):
we go back to Sacramento with them playing for their
lives to stay alive. That's how I see it shaken out.
I wouldn't be shocked though, if Sacramento won, because I
don't know. Some bonus was kind of terrible in that game,
so maybe he rebounds.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
All right, Marcus Thompson, the Athletic just fifteen eighteen great
minutes from him. He's a busy guy. We're gonna let
him go. Thanks for coming on, buddy.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
I'm about to write about Klay Thompson. I'm about to
get my bag. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
The volume. Make sure to check out The Dream Green Show.
I brought Draymond Green into the volume because one of
the more entertaining voices in sports. Unique perspective understands behind
the rope. Also chops up with guests like Gary Payton,
Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download The Draymond Green
(34:15):
Show wherever you get your podcasts, only on the Volume
Podcast Network.
Host
Colin Cowherd
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.