Heading into Sunday's Game 4, Marc Stein breaks down the first three games of the third playoff installment of Mavericks vs. Clippers in the space of five years AND brings in an insider well-versed on each team -- Iztok Franko and Andrew Greif -- to look at the series from all angles.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Welcome to the Saturday Steinline with MarkStein, presented by Benini Trading Cards and
Collectibles on ninety seven to one TheFreak, the official homes all Dallas Nevericks
games, hosted by legendary NBA reporterand publisher of his substack, the Steinline.
Here's Mark Stein. It is Saturdaylunchtime everyone, and yes we are
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back with you again here on theSaturday Steinline presented by Panini Trading Cards and
Collectibles. The first round of theseNBA Playoffs, If I am being as
candid as possible with you guys,overall, it has not been the best.
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It has not been the most rivetingcollection of first round matchups, especially
out here in the West. Thegood news for NBA fans in the DFW
area, fans anywhere who love theMavericks of Dallas, you are well aware
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that this series, this one MavericksClippers. That is the exception. In
the West, Oklahoma City, Denver, and Minnesota are combined eight to o
in the playoffs thus far. Inthe other three first round series in the
West, Nuggets three to zero upon the Lakers, Timberwolves three to zero
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up on the Sun So those twoseries they're on the brink of completion.
Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriorsdid not even make it out of the
playing tournament. Lebron James and hisLakers, Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns,
those teams on the wrong end ofthree to zero deficits as we speak,
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and as my pal Tim Reynolds ofthe Associated Press he did the math
this morning. You've got to goall the way back to two thousand and
five. We're talking almost twenty years. That's the last time Lebron, kd
and Steph that trio that none ofthose three reached Round two of the playoffs.
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Lebron James was only in his secondNBA season at that point, Durant
and Curry were still in high school. But back to this series, the
series that matters most on this network, in this city, Mavericks Clippers.
These last two games we've seen Tuesdaynight in LA and then last night at
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the AAC, these are two moretrue signals that show us just how much
this team has changed since the tradedeadline on February eighth. Because I'm telling
you I was there. Game oneof this series in LA was a truly
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worrisome afternoon for the Mavericks. TheStars started the series very slowly. Multiple
newcomers on this team, they flatout did not look ready for the big
stage, and being around the team, I can tell you there was an
undeniable sense of pressure and real tensionin the wake of that Game one because
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of course, Kawhi Leonard did notplay in that Game one, and the
Mavericks knew deep down they had tocome out of LA with a split.
History tells you you really need asplit in the first two games if you're
starting on the road, because look, we can all cite examples when this
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was a true I'm sure Mavericks fanshave not forgotten the Houston series in two
thousand and five when they went downoh two at home and still won in
seven. I don't want to saytoo much about the infamous series the NBA
Finals of two thousand and six whenthe MAVs went up two. Oh.
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You guys don't even need me tofinish that thought. You know what happened.
But you know, we can citea handful of examples. But again,
history is pretty clear in this regard. There have been four hundred and
forty nine different series in League historycoming into these playoffs, that number is
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gonna rise. But coming into thisseason, four hundred and forty nine playoff
series best of seven series where oneteam went up two oh and all but
thirty three times the team that tooka two to h lead one four hundred
and sixteen out of four hundred andforty nine times. That's nearly ninety three
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percent. So the Mavericks were notin a great place after Game one.
The way this team has bounced backa tremendous team rebound. We have now
witnessed two truly steely performances winning withdefense. First last night Kawhi Leonard and
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Paul George, or even Paul Georgeit combined sixteen points, truly truly impressive
Game two in LA. I thinkif you follow this show, you already
know this. But I had theprivilege of serving as the radio analyst right
here on ninety seven to one theFreak, alongside the one and only Chuck
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Cooperstein for those first two games inLA, and during Game two, I
must have said it three or fourtimes during the broadcast. I've been around
this team and this franchise for morethan twenty five years. I cannot remember
in all that time a more impressive, engaged, intense defensive performance from a
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Mavericks team. In Game two,I was really struck. I can't I
will probably never forget just watching andbeing mesmerized by how locked in, how
hard, how much effort defensively wesaw from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in
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that game. They played as stickyas determined defense as I've ever seen either
one play with my own eyes.And then last night again, sitting clot
well last night, I was closerto the floor than I was in La
And I have to say this aboutlast night's atmosphere. You could read.
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It was unmistakable, It was tangiblein the building. There was an energy,
there was a noise, there wasan anticipation you could feel that stuck
out to me, and it wasn't. It was more than a normal Mavericks
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playoff game. And if I putmy amateur psychologists hat on, I think
the reason for that is there isa belief right now within this fan base
in the city that this team canreally do something and really achieve something memorable
in these playoffs. Now the Westcontinues to be ruled by the Denver Nuggets,
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and what they're doing to the Lakersis a classic example to illustrate why.
But the Mavericks I think are showingus. You know, there was
a lot of talk late in theseason when Dallas went on the sixteen and
two run to surge up the standingsurge up to the number five seed,
finished with fifty wins. You startedto hear talk from various pundits around the
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league that the Mavericks may the Mavericksmight represent the foremost threat to the defending
champions from Denver. They are playinglike it these last two games, finding
a way to win with defense andlook again, having finding a way to
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beat the Denver Nuggets. That's awhole nother ballgame. You see what the
Nuggets are doing. They are absolutelysnatching the souls of Lebron James and the
rest of the Lakers as we speak. But the Mavericks, they have to
back it up tomorrow afternoon. Butthey these last two games have really been
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an impressive statement from this group.And Game five or Sunday afternoon two thirty
pm local tip, this basically amountsto a back to back for Kawhi.
Leonard and Kawhi came out last nightand told us postgame that the right knee
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is just not responding how he hadhoped. And everybody knows what we always
say about Kawhi. He's a cyborg, he's a terminator, he's not of
this earth. Well, in thisseries, what we're seeing is once you
creep into your thirties and you've beenplaying on a knee that's been surgically repaired
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more than once, jumping into areally gritty physical series after three full weeks
off with no contact, it's notideal. It's not easy, not even
for Kawhi Leonard, and he basicallyconceded last night after the game. His
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options were not play or play ona minute's restriction, because again he played
in Game one and the knee didn'tbounce back the way he had hoped.
He naturally chose the latter. Butit was a very quiet twenty five minutes
from Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers.Given the age of their team, given
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the way they handle things, Imean, I don't think they will do
much of anything today and just haveto turn right around with an early tip
off to thirty local time. It'sinteresting too, if you watch Kawhi,
he's not wearing anything, no tape, no brace on his knee, and
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the Mavericks are practicing right now,and Jason Kidd just told the assembled reporters
that Luka Doncic is quote good withhis knee, because I was just literally
about to pivot to the other issuein this series. Luca in the first
quarter last night clearly hobbled after takingan apparent hit to his right knee,
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which I gotta be honest, sittingas close as I was, there was
nothing clear or apparent about when thatcontact occurred. But he had to go
to the locker room for treatment.At one point you saw him leading down
on the scores table, clear discomfort. But as we have seen more than
once with Gospod Doncic, he madea very swift return after his detour to
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the locker room. Didn't shoot itwell last night, but made it through
the whole night. Now, longafter the game, he had treatment when
he did postgame media. Not goodwas the assessment of his knee, and
in my early am checking on itthis morning, it was relayed to me
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that I picked up no grave concernabout the same situation. But what Jason
Kidd just said telling reporters you knowhe said good last night. It was
not good from Luca. This afternoonat lunch, Jason Kidd says good.
So that has to come as ahuge relief, because I don't need to
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explain why it comes as a hugerelief just to hear that Luka Doncic on
the morning after is doing much muchbetter. And the Mavericks are as we
speak, just wrapping up. Youknow, I don't expect them to go
super heavy on the practice floor todayeither, but they are at the practice
facility right now and completing there betweengames workout. And look, we have
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tons and tons of coverage for youon this show today. Lots more to
come in the next two segments ofthe show, of course, we will
be getting into so PJ. Washingtonand the series he's having. It was
an absolute struggle for Washington in Gameone, which of course was his first
NBA Playoff game, but he reboundedso well in crunch time of Game two.
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Ten points in that fourth quarter,decisive ten points for the Mavericks.
And then last night, every Mavericksfans new favorite picture PJ Washington with arms
folded, standing and facing the Clippersbench. And PJ Washington has mentioned more
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than once. Of course, hegrew up in Frisco, grew up a
MAVs fan, so he is revelingin his first trip to the playoff,
his first trip to the playoffs withthe team he grew up loving as a
youngster. And I will say though, my favorite picture from last night,
I have not posted it yet.Maybe I should, but you know I
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am not. I always say I'mabout the least capable photo journalist in the
world. Night Tony Romo was sittingright in front of me, the former
Cowboys quarterback. Of course, nowan analyst on NFL games, but he
is a he is a huge MAVsfan after all his time with the Cowboys.
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And I mean last night, he'ssitting on the table, He's sitting
literally on the court. But atone point Romo stood up to give this
team a one man standing ovation.I didn't take a picture of that,
But when Romo busted out his phoneto start filming video of Luka Doncic and
the Mavericks in the fourth quarter,I did take a picture of Romo filming
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his own MAVs highlight reel. Ithought that was pretty amusing. I have
not posted the picture again because youknow, I'm just I'm a words guy.
But who knows, Maybe I willmaybe I will throw that one into
the sub stack on Tuesday, allright. As I said, in the
next segment, we will drill downdeeper on PJ. Washington's emergence in this
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series. Other developments with the Mavericksin general, we have the one and
only is tak Franco direct from Slovenia, the d magazine contributor, will join
us in the next segment, andhe's actually working in the TV studio tomorrow
night. Of course, he'll beside by side with Luka Dantic's father Sasha.
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They are working studio on the Slovenianbroadcast of the game, and of
course they are pumped because a twopoint thirty local tip off here means it
airs at the civil hour in Sloveniaof nine to thirty PM, which is
much more doable than most Mavericks gamesare for Luca's countrymen. And in the
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third segment, we're going to getthe laview longtime Clippers reporter Andrew Griife.
He's going to join us for afew minutes as well, so we can
talk about the Clipper side of things. Has promised lots more of our comprehensive
coverage of this Mavericks Clippers series onthe Freak All that's next, You're on
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ninety seven point one. Great momentthey're captured by my Bally Sports Southwest colleague
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Abby Jones yesterday before the game JJReddick, of course working the ABC ESPN
broadcast alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke. JJ Reddick of course had a brief
stint as a teammate of Luka Doncicchere with the maps, and that was
great video work by Abby there tocapture Luka Doncic and God Sham God out
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for their pregame warmups before Game three. They spotted JJ Reddick at the broadcast
table and couldn't wait to run upto him and give him a hard time
about the speculation circulating around the leaguethat JJ Redick is in the mix for
the Charlotte Hornets coaching Vegas vacancy.So Luca and Sham had to give Reddick
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a hard time about that. Allright, let's dig back into this series.
This is always a pleasure for ushere to bring in someone who watches
the Mavericks, probably closer than anyone, even though he lives some fifty five
hundred miles away from Dallas. Youread him on d Magazine's website with some
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great insightful analytical coverage of this team, and he contributes frequently to this show.
My good friend, professor is talkFranco. Good day, Sir,
Hi Mark, Hi Mark, tellme, how did that performance from last
night look to you when you consumedit? I mean, it's crazy,
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not only last night, but thelast two games. How they're winning these
games scoring barely one hundred points orin the previous two games not even one
hundred and still winning Luca having likereally rough shooting nights, and but the
they're finding ways to win, whichis like unbelievable for this team or hasn't
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been like that anytime, And likeyou said, we've been watching it closely
in the last five six years,and it's something completely new, so uncharged
words even for me. Yeah no, I said it on the broadcast during
Tuesday night's game. In all myyears around this team, and that's more
than twenty five years, I can'tremember a better, more intense, more
committed team defensive performance than what Isaw in game two in LA. Just
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the intensity and application from Luca andKyrie. Just from those two, I've
never seen them as locked in ondefense as they were. And last night
it was defense at the rim.It was finishing at the rim, because
that's one thing the Clippers have beenable to take the lob away, at
least they did in the first twogames. It came back in a big
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way last night. Tell me whatyou're seeing from the MAVs interior play.
Yeah, last night when we didanalysis on Twitter before the game, I
said, the role players will haveto step up at home and this is
but I think it's happened. Ithink they started the game with the really
big energy and they got in transition, and transition, for example, was
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one part that was missing in thesecond game that they won. They ran
a lot, but they had alot of turnovers, a lot of mislay
ups, and they made them all. I think Luca had one incredible second
quarter and he had like some amazinglobs and passes in transition, and that
was one part. And the otherpart was Daniel Gaffort making these three first
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three buckets, I think because hewas missing those the rim early in the
first two games. So I thinkthese two things and then Kyrie, He
was able to create separation when theyput to one ball, he was still
able to drive or get James Hardenon switches and drive by him and then
find when the leitters rotate, findsLively or Gaffort or others for lobs.
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So I think last night was thefirst night that we really see this what
we've been seeing in the regular seasonoften. Yeah, yeah, I totally
agree. I mean it was,you know, the centers quietly, the
two headed monster at center quietly hada very big night in game through and
in Game three and played definitely.They were difference makers and the MAVs desperately
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needed. That is top Franco,the d magazine contributor, joining us here
on the Saturday Steinline presented by PaniniTrading Cards and Collectibles here on ninety seven
to one the Freak and PJ.Washington. There was so much curiosity coming
into this series. How would hemake the adjustment to his first ever visit
to the playoffs? And in Gameone he made his first three but then
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struggled offensively thereafter was pretty quiet,But between the fourth quarter in Game two,
the physicality showed. He showed lastnight. I mean he is he
is becoming quite quite the popular Maverick. Yeah, yeah, I think ibe
it's not fair to say it likethat, but he's everything that we kind
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of expect the grand Villiams to be, so the one will bring this toughness,
but not only toughness, I thinkalso the length and speed and athleticism
and some defense. He's just he'sbeen amazing basically since he came. But
also in this series, if youwatch Okay, we know Kauai is hobbled,
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but if you watch What's what arePaul George numbers? So I think
he and there Josh Junior han beengreat and you you got it right.
In Game two, I think itwas the crucial moment because until that fourth
quarter, the Merricks were kind ofstruggling to create anything, and he scored
I don't know, twelve or tenpoints in the fourth quarter and he was
basically besides Skyrie, look at themain reason the Merricks were able to win
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that one, and because otherwise ifit would be too oh, it would
be probably a different story. Now, when you were coming into this series,
how high on your checklist or yourconcern list was the notion that the
Mavericks do need to identify a consistentthird scoring threat, not maybe third scoring
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thread per se. But when Idid the preview, I said, okay,
there are like four reasons why theMavericks should win. The first one
is that they have Carrie now,like Luca said. The second one and
we see it now, is thatthey got bigger, more athletic, and
more physical, and we see that. We saw that on full display last
night. For one was that thedefense is legit. Again. We saw
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that and we talked about Washington andMexic Libery in game two. So the
fourth reason why, what let's sayconfidence for this was because they could play
big or small. So they wonbig last night, but they won going
small in game two. But theconcern that I had was basically shooting and
punishing help. And here is maybeit's the FIRSD guy or the combination of
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the role players. Here is wherethe Clippers had the advantage, especially shooting,
but also creating place of let's sayclose outs. But I think Kawhi's
injury kind of let's change their packin order, because all of a sudden,
now Paul George's or that's a normalpower is not creating or scoring on
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the clothesline closeouts only, but theyhave to create as well because there is
not much they are getting from Kawaii. So that part was for me the
concern. But I think PG Washingtonhas been great here. What I think
Dallas will need going forward is Danteisonagain because he was the best at attacking
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closeouts in the regular season, sothey need him as well. In this
department is Doc Franco, the dmagazine contributor, joining us here on ninety
seven to one the freak. What'sthe mood like in Slovenia right now?
And like nationally how closely? Howbig is big? Is it just country
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wide for Luca to be in theplayoffs winning the team's play well, like
how big a story is this whereyou live? I mean everybody is following
this or at least watching highlights orwatching games. We've been lucky. I'm
doing studio also for some of thesegames. That two of the games in
the series, so last Sunday andtomorrow are in this European friendly friendly time
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zone. So these are huge becausethey are on prime time on the main
television and a lot of people Iget in a lot of feedback. Everybody
is so hyped although they weren't somuch after last Sunday, but now so
Yeah, people love basketball here,especially Lucas. So he's such a star
that I think there are clips andfrom press conferences from games on the sports
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news every day, so everybody isfollowing and knows what's happening. Yeah,
nine thirty tip off tomorrow night foryou guys in your time zone. If
I did my math right, sothat's got to be. That's got to
be better than whatever last night was. For sure. For sure, this
is perfect yea, although I don'tknow how many people are watching let's say
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post game studio at one one am. In the morning. And last
thing before I let you go,what's it like to watch a game with
Luca's dad? I mean, he'shilarious, he's and also it's for me.
It's funny because I see a gamefrom such a different angle or eyes
analytical eyes, all this dissecting,and he calls it. When we talk,
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we joke around because he's really likevery approachable for some jokes A lot.
He said, analysis by paralysis.That's my part, and he's like
completely other thing. You know,he's he's looking at it from let's say
x player perspective more like psychological moments. So I really like that, let's
say that contrast, and because itgives me a different angle and how to
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look at the game and understand thegame. And also he knows Luca,
you know, he knows him sowell, so he would say when there
is a step, oh, thisone's going in, you know so,
and then it goes so he's likehe knows these small little no ones.
And we also talk because we didan offseason story about parts of the game
that they worked in the summer,like catching shoot shoot thing and I'm asking
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for like these two leg jumps thathe's not doing yet, So some of
these parts are really great just totalk to him and understand what's going a
little bit, what's going behind thescenes. Ye someday, I hope,
I hope that my Slovenian reaches thepoint that I can understand some of what
you and Sasa Doncic are talking aboutin the studio. I'm guessing it's probably
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not gonna happen, but I'm gonnakeep I'm gonna keep aiming for it.
Is talk Franco, our guest hereon ninety seven won the Freak Professor Franco.
Always great to catch up with youand everyone. I think anyone who
listens to the show already knows.But every day on Twitter, great previews
and the day after games tremendous breakdownsin small, digestible facts of what's going
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on with this team, even fromfifty five hundred miles away. My friend,
always great to catch up with you. Same you. Thanks Mark.
There he goes the magazines is TalkFranco. Stick around because we will look
at the Clippers side of the equationnext. Longtime Clippers reporter Andrew Grife will
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join me here for more Mavericks Clippersseries talk on ninety seven to one The
Free Thanks much for one last welcomeback, Derk Novitsky. Let's continue with
our MAVs Clippers coverage. I wantedto bring in a Clippers expert so we
are fully covered both sides of thisseries. He's covered this team for many
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years. This season he contributed toBally Sports coverage of the Clippers. Recently
wrote a very nice series preview forThe Ringer. Of course, before that,
longtime Clippers beat writer for the LaTimes. Welcome in now. Welcome
him in now, my pal AndrewGriffe mister Grief, thanks so much for
joining us. I know you're onthe move, I know you're traveling,
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so thanks Amil for doing this.Of course, thank you for having me
tell me what you're seeing on theKawhi Leonard front, because obviously that is
headline number one with this Clipper team. I'll be honest with you. It
surprised me when he came back forgame two with basically three weeks away and
no contact, and my read was, Okay, they're hoping that there's obviously
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going to be rust. He knocksthat rust off in game two and we
will see something closer to a fullspeed Kawhi in game three, but it
certainly hasn't played out that way.So give me your view of what the
Kawhi coaster looks like right now.Yeah. The thing that's surprised me or
has been just different from past Kawhiinjury scares or you know, injury kind
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of obvious skate where you just don'treally know what's going on, is that,
you know, last night listening tohim talk postgame. In his postgame
remarks, he acknowledged some frustration that, as he said, the knee didn't
respond the way they exactly wanted toafter the first game that he played in
the series, and that he's confidentit'll come around. But just even that
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sort of acknowledgment of a little bitof frustration and that things with the knee
aren't exactly where he wants it.That's more than he usually says about his
injuries, which gives you a littlebit of a window into sort of how
not right he is. And Ithink he was even Brian Shaw, who
said on the Ballet Sports broadcast toChristina Pink, Southern Reporter assistant Brian Shaw
had mentioned that the coaching staff feltthat he wasn't really Kawi wasn't himself in
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that first half and they noticed ittoo. And so again, these are
things that usually whenever Kawhi is hurt, it is something that has not really
talked about in details. So thefact that they are kind of peeling back
a little bit of the curtain todescribe that it is not right in fact,
is unusual. And I also I'lljust say this that Kwhi is the
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most routine oriented player I've ever coveredin any sport, have been, you
know, more or less sports ridingfor fifteen years. He is so locked
into his pregame prep. I meaneven down to like which player development coach
goes against him at certain stages ofhis warm up. So when any part
of his rhythm is disrupted, whetherit's a substitution pattern like we saw last
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night, he just only played Ibelieve, six minutes in the first half,
that's going to have I think adownhill effect or at least a cascading
effect on sort of his rhythm andthe rest of the team's rhythm too.
So any little disruption to him hasa way of spilling over and the rest
of the team. Yeah, andlike to me, now, this is
almost like a back to back witha two thirty local tip time on Sunday.
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Can't imagine the Clippers will do muchof anything today given the age of
their team. So I'm going toask you to look into your crystal ball
and maybe tell us what probably noone can answer about. What kind of
Kawhi do you think we're going tosee tomorrow in an afternoon game? Yeah,
I mean they based on the commentspostgame, they made it seem like
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they were the team was anticipating thathe would be available. The tricky thing
about the timing of how long doyou wait out to see how Kawhi is
feeling before you decide one way oranother whether to play him. Is that
obviously you want you need to holdout, you would think to the very
last moment to decide, because he'sKawhi Leonard, He's still a threat.
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You know, when he's on offense, someone still has to guard him.
Someone has to move away from thehoop to do that. Theoretically that opened
up lanes for somebody else. Butin the past, I will say that,
you know, when there was everywhen he was sort of in and
out of the lineup in previous seasonsand there wasn't much communication about when he
might play or when he might sit, it did throw the rest of the
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team off because there was really alack of information. I think about role
clarity for the rest of the teammates. What am I doing tonight? Am
I going to be asked to scoretwenty? Or am I going to be
asked to be an ancillary player onoffense like a norm Powell might think that
way. So it's in one way, you want to give the rest of
the team a clear picture of what'sgonna be expected of them, and that's
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something that was really helpful this yearwhen Kui was so healthy. They just
knew night to night exactly what wasasked of them. But you know,
the trade off is you still wantKawhi out there. The way he's played
right now, it's hard to imaginehim playing much worse. He just looked
step slow clearly, so I thinkthey would want to preserve the opportunity to
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play him, but it will comesomewhat of a cost of making sure the
rest of the team knows exactly whatthey're doing. Clippers insider Andrew Griffe here
with me on the Saturday Steinline presentedby Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles on ninety
seven won the freak. As youcan imagine. Locally here in Dallas,
there's tons of talk about how muchpressure was on this team going into the
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playoff to deliver to advance after itstrade deadline moves because the Mavericks they no
longer control their first round pick betweentwenty twenty seven and twenty thirty. That
was the cost of being able toacquire PJ. Washington and Daniel Gafford and
dramatically change this team. But nowit's got to deliver because we're in the
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playoffs. On the Clippers side ofit, how much pressure do you think
was on this team coming into theplayoffs with Okay Kawhi Leonard his contract has
been extended, but Paul George hasnot seen his contract extended yet. James
Harden will be eligible for a newdeal as well in the summertime. Just
big picture for the Clippers, allthese dynamics, how do you kind of
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size up the pressure they face toget out of this series? I mean,
there's an enormous amount of pressure becausethis seemed to be the year where
you were finally able to see inDecember and January exactly what this team could
look like when it was finally healthy. It was like the longest window anyone
had seen it for two months reallyabout thirty one games of okay, wow,
(35:07):
you know, finally there's continuity.So there was a lot of confidence
that came out of that of,hey, if we ran this thing back
next year, At least from whatI could sense internally, that the Clippers
seem to be okay with that,you know, like, hey, if
we can have a Southern California AllStar team open into a dome next year,
that is in some ways a reallygood marketing strategy and could be a
(35:30):
good basketball strategy the way they wereplaying. But the last three months have
not been as even. And Ithink that that does along with sort of
the new CBA, the second Apron, and even teams that are so rich
and like the Clippers. You know, Steve Balmer, for all he can
give them in terms of resources,he can't buy time, and this is
an old roster, and there aredecisions to make. You know, Russell
(35:52):
Westbrook will have an option this summer, Paul, of course, James.
So even the wealthiest teams in thisnew environment, this sea, they sort
of have to make decisions about howmuch you want to spend because it's not
just about how much can the ownereat in luxury tax money. It's it's
it's future draft picks, it's Ithink, assets frozen. So I do
think that however this postseason ends upwith the Clippers will dictate a lot of
(36:15):
what the difference is in terms ofthe roster on opening night and into it.
Don't great line, Not even SteveBalmer can buy time. I might
have to borrow that one from you. Excellent last thing before we let you
go, Andrew Griche, Clippers,insider here with us on the Saturday Steinline.
Last thing, this team played fantasticallywell without Kawhi in Game one.
(36:36):
How likely is it that they couldreplicate that if they have to play another
game without him in this series?Can they do that again? I do
think it comes back to role definition. When the when the Clippers have sort
of known ahead of time what exactlythe situation is and who's gonna be available,
They've played well this year. Ido think that whether or not he
plays, I'm in Game four.The thing that I think will carry over
(37:00):
is the defense. The defense hasbeen very good these first three games for
the Clippers. They you know,have've held Mavericks to I believe, one
hundred and one points or less inevery single game. The problem is that
the Clippers he cannot have a secondstar, Paul George really being foul.
Chubb's fourteen personal fouls in three games, and that's limited his impact. In
(37:22):
three straight games. James Harden hasplayed. I think it's excellent forty four
shooting from three for a guy whohas, you know, a bad playoff
rep. He's looked very good.If he eats the Zubots look very good.
But you need at least two starsto act to be able to offset
Luca and Kyrie, and they're goingto really need Paul, regardless of Kuhi
(37:42):
plays or not. You absolutely needPaul to look like the guy who was
an All Star this year and wasright on the bubble for all NBA consideration.
That's I think the determining factor hasto be Paul in the defense.
If they can get both of thoseright, which has not happened yet,
I think they're going to have areal chance to even this series. And
if not, then it could bethree to one. Yeah, I mean
(38:06):
you mentioned a couple things there.Zoobach has been fantastic a guy who has
not had the best time in thismatchup in the first two acts of the
Mavericks Clippers playoff trilogy, but he'shad a fantastic series. And yeah,
Paul George, with so much curiosityabout his free agency to come, the
Clippers certainly need more from him goingforward. Mister griff, it has been
(38:28):
great to catch up, so gladwe could do this. Thanks a mill
for being with us here to helpme set up tomorrow's Game four. Thank
you, Mark, I can't waitfor Game four. There he goes Clippers
insider Andrew Grife, all right,everybody that is going to do it for
this edition of the Saturday Steinline.I frankly don't know much more in terms
(38:54):
of information that I can add tothe various media report that I am sure
you've seen. The first one yesterdayfrom my former fellow Mavericks beat writer Richie
Wit. When I came to town. Richie was working for the Fort Worth
Star Telegram covering the team for them. I was covering the team for the
(39:14):
Mavericks. Dallas Observer. WFAA havesince weighed in about the future of ninety
seven to one the freak. WhatI can say, what I can share.
I have been told that this islikely the last time that the Saturday
Steinline in this form will be heardon these airwaves, and I just wanted
(39:37):
to say it has been an absoluteblast for me to spend every Saturday with
you. Going back to June thirtiethof last year, it was amazing to
start this show on the first dayof NBA Free Agency. Really gave it
a great lift off, and itwas my first chance to be back in
(40:01):
a radio studio, a proper radiostudio for real live radio. First time
in six years for me that Ihad been back in this kind of setting.
And look, as soon as Ican figure out where and how to
bring more of this show to youin its next form, promise you will
(40:25):
be swiftly informed via my social mediachannels and of course on my substack.
I will update you guys with thatinfo as soon as I can. I
just wanted to thank everyone so somuch for listening. Like I said,
to be in this environment again,it's a huge thrill for me. I've
(40:47):
told this story before, but I'mgonna sign off with it that you know
one tweeter years ago, and Iwish I had saved the tweet. I
can't find it, but one tweeter, unforgettably once told me, hey Stein
got a face for radio and avoice for print. But I ignore that
and keep coming back to radio becauseit really might just be my favorite medium.
(41:10):
And being in this little room withall the mics and the fancy equipment,
the on air sign lighting up rightnear the door, to do that
every week with you guys, I'veloved it, absolutely loved it. I
want to give hearty thanks to producerMaddie who helps me every week with countless
(41:34):
task to make this show happen.The tireless glue guy grooves who same thing.
For months. I've been tormenting himwith all my requests for help.
My guy's been in skin. Withoutthem, I don't know that this show
ever would have happened. But mostof all, most of all, the
heartiest, deepest, warmest thanks Igotta say to Scott Prussia and my wonderful
(42:00):
friends at Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles, because without Panini, without them,
and they have just been tremendous friendsof mine for years, without their support,
this show never would have been possible. And you know, we just
recently went out to McKinney and didthe live show at our Jay Duke's and
(42:22):
just had a blast and love beingclose again to the collectible space and working
with Panini. And as I said, I will let you guys know as
soon as I can when I havean update on when, where and how
more of this audio will be disseminated. All right, everybody that is going
(42:45):
to do it for producer Maddie andme. Remember Game four on this station
tomorrow two thirty local tip off,and of course MAV's broadcast with Chuck Cooperstein
continue here. All that next onninety seven, won the Freak
Welcome to the Saturday Steinline with MarkStein, presented by Benini Trading Cards and
Collectibles on ninety seven to one TheFreak, the official homes all Dallas Nevericks
games, hosted by legendary NBA reporterand publisher of his substack, the Steinline.
Here's Mark Stein. It is Saturdaylunchtime everyone, and yes we are
(00:30):
back with you again here on theSaturday Steinline presented by Panini Trading Cards and
Collectibles. The first round of theseNBA Playoffs, If I am being as
candid as possible with you guys,overall, it has not been the best.
(00:56):
It has not been the most rivetingcollection of first round matchups, especially
out here in the West. Thegood news for NBA fans in the DFW
area, fans anywhere who love theMavericks of Dallas, you are well aware
(01:18):
that this series, this one MavericksClippers. That is the exception. In
the West, Oklahoma City, Denver, and Minnesota are combined eight to o
in the playoffs thus far. Inthe other three first round series in the
West, Nuggets three to zero upon the Lakers, Timberwolves three to zero
(01:42):
up on the Sun So those twoseries they're on the brink of completion.
Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriorsdid not even make it out of the
playing tournament. Lebron James and hisLakers, Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns,
those teams on the wrong end ofthree to zero deficits as we speak,
(02:04):
and as my pal Tim Reynolds ofthe Associated Press he did the math
this morning. You've got to goall the way back to two thousand and
five. We're talking almost twenty years. That's the last time Lebron, kd
and Steph that trio that none ofthose three reached Round two of the playoffs.
(02:29):
Lebron James was only in his secondNBA season at that point, Durant
and Curry were still in high school. But back to this series, the
series that matters most on this network, in this city, Mavericks Clippers.
These last two games we've seen Tuesdaynight in LA and then last night at
(02:53):
the AAC, these are two moretrue signals that show us just how much
this team has changed since the tradedeadline on February eighth. Because I'm telling
you I was there. Game oneof this series in LA was a truly
(03:15):
worrisome afternoon for the Mavericks. TheStars started the series very slowly. Multiple
newcomers on this team, they flatout did not look ready for the big
stage, and being around the team, I can tell you there was an
undeniable sense of pressure and real tensionin the wake of that Game one because
(03:38):
of course, Kawhi Leonard did notplay in that Game one, and the
Mavericks knew deep down they had tocome out of LA with a split.
History tells you you really need asplit in the first two games if you're
starting on the road, because look, we can all cite examples when this
(03:59):
was a true I'm sure Mavericks fanshave not forgotten the Houston series in two
thousand and five when they went downoh two at home and still won in
seven. I don't want to saytoo much about the infamous series the NBA
Finals of two thousand and six whenthe MAVs went up two. Oh.
(04:20):
You guys don't even need me tofinish that thought. You know what happened.
But you know, we can citea handful of examples. But again,
history is pretty clear in this regard. There have been four hundred and
forty nine different series in League historycoming into these playoffs, that number is
(04:41):
gonna rise. But coming into thisseason, four hundred and forty nine playoff
series best of seven series where oneteam went up two oh and all but
thirty three times the team that tooka two to h lead one four hundred
and sixteen out of four hundred andforty nine times. That's nearly ninety three
(05:02):
percent. So the Mavericks were notin a great place after Game one.
The way this team has bounced backa tremendous team rebound. We have now
witnessed two truly steely performances winning withdefense. First last night Kawhi Leonard and
(05:27):
Paul George, or even Paul Georgeit combined sixteen points, truly truly impressive
Game two in LA. I thinkif you follow this show, you already
know this. But I had theprivilege of serving as the radio analyst right
here on ninety seven to one theFreak, alongside the one and only Chuck
(05:49):
Cooperstein for those first two games inLA, and during Game two, I
must have said it three or fourtimes during the broadcast. I've been around
this team and this franchise for morethan twenty five years. I cannot remember
in all that time a more impressive, engaged, intense defensive performance from a
(06:15):
Mavericks team. In Game two,I was really struck. I can't I
will probably never forget just watching andbeing mesmerized by how locked in, how
hard, how much effort defensively wesaw from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in
(06:38):
that game. They played as stickyas determined defense as I've ever seen either
one play with my own eyes.And then last night again, sitting clot
well last night, I was closerto the floor than I was in La
And I have to say this aboutlast night's atmosphere. You could read.
(07:00):
It was unmistakable, It was tangiblein the building. There was an energy,
there was a noise, there wasan anticipation you could feel that stuck
out to me, and it wasn't. It was more than a normal Mavericks
(07:23):
playoff game. And if I putmy amateur psychologists hat on, I think
the reason for that is there isa belief right now within this fan base
in the city that this team canreally do something and really achieve something memorable
in these playoffs. Now the Westcontinues to be ruled by the Denver Nuggets,
(07:47):
and what they're doing to the Lakersis a classic example to illustrate why.
But the Mavericks I think are showingus. You know, there was
a lot of talk late in theseason when Dallas went on the sixteen and
two run to surge up the standingsurge up to the number five seed,
finished with fifty wins. You startedto hear talk from various pundits around the
(08:11):
league that the Mavericks may the Mavericksmight represent the foremost threat to the defending
champions from Denver. They are playinglike it these last two games, finding
a way to win with defense andlook again, having finding a way to
(08:33):
beat the Denver Nuggets. That's awhole nother ballgame. You see what the
Nuggets are doing. They are absolutelysnatching the souls of Lebron James and the
rest of the Lakers as we speak. But the Mavericks, they have to
back it up tomorrow afternoon. Butthey these last two games have really been
(08:54):
an impressive statement from this group.And Game five or Sunday afternoon two thirty
pm local tip, this basically amountsto a back to back for Kawhi.
Leonard and Kawhi came out last nightand told us postgame that the right knee
(09:15):
is just not responding how he hadhoped. And everybody knows what we always
say about Kawhi. He's a cyborg, he's a terminator, he's not of
this earth. Well, in thisseries, what we're seeing is once you
creep into your thirties and you've beenplaying on a knee that's been surgically repaired
(09:39):
more than once, jumping into areally gritty physical series after three full weeks
off with no contact, it's notideal. It's not easy, not even
for Kawhi Leonard, and he basicallyconceded last night after the game. His
(10:00):
options were not play or play ona minute's restriction, because again he played
in Game one and the knee didn'tbounce back the way he had hoped.
He naturally chose the latter. Butit was a very quiet twenty five minutes
from Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers.Given the age of their team, given
(10:24):
the way they handle things, Imean, I don't think they will do
much of anything today and just haveto turn right around with an early tip
off to thirty local time. It'sinteresting too, if you watch Kawhi,
he's not wearing anything, no tape, no brace on his knee, and
(10:46):
the Mavericks are practicing right now,and Jason Kidd just told the assembled reporters
that Luka Doncic is quote good withhis knee, because I was just literally
about to pivot to the other issuein this series. Luca in the first
quarter last night clearly hobbled after takingan apparent hit to his right knee,
(11:09):
which I gotta be honest, sittingas close as I was, there was
nothing clear or apparent about when thatcontact occurred. But he had to go
to the locker room for treatment.At one point you saw him leading down
on the scores table, clear discomfort. But as we have seen more than
once with Gospod Doncic, he madea very swift return after his detour to
(11:33):
the locker room. Didn't shoot itwell last night, but made it through
the whole night. Now, longafter the game, he had treatment when
he did postgame media. Not goodwas the assessment of his knee, and
in my early am checking on itthis morning, it was relayed to me
(11:54):
that I picked up no grave concernabout the same situation. But what Jason
Kidd just said telling reporters you knowhe said good last night. It was
not good from Luca. This afternoonat lunch, Jason Kidd says good.
So that has to come as ahuge relief, because I don't need to
(12:20):
explain why it comes as a hugerelief just to hear that Luka Doncic on
the morning after is doing much muchbetter. And the Mavericks are as we
speak, just wrapping up. Youknow, I don't expect them to go
super heavy on the practice floor todayeither, but they are at the practice
facility right now and completing there betweengames workout. And look, we have
(12:48):
tons and tons of coverage for youon this show today. Lots more to
come in the next two segments ofthe show, of course, we will
be getting into so PJ. Washingtonand the series he's having. It was
an absolute struggle for Washington in Gameone, which of course was his first
NBA Playoff game, but he reboundedso well in crunch time of Game two.
(13:13):
Ten points in that fourth quarter,decisive ten points for the Mavericks.
And then last night, every Mavericksfans new favorite picture PJ Washington with arms
folded, standing and facing the Clippersbench. And PJ Washington has mentioned more
(13:33):
than once. Of course, hegrew up in Frisco, grew up a
MAVs fan, so he is revelingin his first trip to the playoff,
his first trip to the playoffs withthe team he grew up loving as a
youngster. And I will say though, my favorite picture from last night,
I have not posted it yet.Maybe I should, but you know I
(13:54):
am not. I always say I'mabout the least capable photo journalist in the
world. Night Tony Romo was sittingright in front of me, the former
Cowboys quarterback. Of course, nowan analyst on NFL games, but he
is a he is a huge MAVsfan after all his time with the Cowboys.
(14:15):
And I mean last night, he'ssitting on the table, He's sitting
literally on the court. But atone point Romo stood up to give this
team a one man standing ovation.I didn't take a picture of that,
But when Romo busted out his phoneto start filming video of Luka Doncic and
the Mavericks in the fourth quarter,I did take a picture of Romo filming
(14:39):
his own MAVs highlight reel. Ithought that was pretty amusing. I have
not posted the picture again because youknow, I'm just I'm a words guy.
But who knows, Maybe I willmaybe I will throw that one into
the sub stack on Tuesday, allright. As I said, in the
next segment, we will drill downdeeper on PJ. Washington's emergence in this
(15:03):
series. Other developments with the Mavericksin general, we have the one and
only is tak Franco direct from Slovenia, the d magazine contributor, will join
us in the next segment, andhe's actually working in the TV studio tomorrow
night. Of course, he'll beside by side with Luka Dantic's father Sasha.
(15:24):
They are working studio on the Slovenianbroadcast of the game, and of
course they are pumped because a twopoint thirty local tip off here means it
airs at the civil hour in Sloveniaof nine to thirty PM, which is
much more doable than most Mavericks gamesare for Luca's countrymen. And in the
(15:46):
third segment, we're going to getthe laview longtime Clippers reporter Andrew Griife.
He's going to join us for afew minutes as well, so we can
talk about the Clipper side of things. Has promised lots more of our comprehensive
coverage of this Mavericks Clippers series onthe Freak All that's next, You're on
(16:11):
ninety seven point one. Great momentthey're captured by my Bally Sports Southwest colleague
(16:41):
Abby Jones yesterday before the game JJReddick, of course working the ABC ESPN
broadcast alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke. JJ Reddick of course had a brief
stint as a teammate of Luka Doncicchere with the maps, and that was
great video work by Abby there tocapture Luka Doncic and God Sham God out
(17:07):
for their pregame warmups before Game three. They spotted JJ Reddick at the broadcast
table and couldn't wait to run upto him and give him a hard time
about the speculation circulating around the leaguethat JJ Redick is in the mix for
the Charlotte Hornets coaching Vegas vacancy.So Luca and Sham had to give Reddick
(17:32):
a hard time about that. Allright, let's dig back into this series.
This is always a pleasure for ushere to bring in someone who watches
the Mavericks, probably closer than anyone, even though he lives some fifty five
hundred miles away from Dallas. Youread him on d Magazine's website with some
(17:56):
great insightful analytical coverage of this team, and he contributes frequently to this show.
My good friend, professor is talkFranco. Good day, Sir,
Hi Mark, Hi Mark, tellme, how did that performance from last
night look to you when you consumedit? I mean, it's crazy,
(18:23):
not only last night, but thelast two games. How they're winning these
games scoring barely one hundred points orin the previous two games not even one
hundred and still winning Luca having likereally rough shooting nights, and but the
they're finding ways to win, whichis like unbelievable for this team or hasn't
(18:47):
been like that anytime, And likeyou said, we've been watching it closely
in the last five six years,and it's something completely new, so uncharged
words even for me. Yeah no, I said it on the broadcast during
Tuesday night's game. In all myyears around this team, and that's more
than twenty five years, I can'tremember a better, more intense, more
committed team defensive performance than what Isaw in game two in LA. Just
(19:11):
the intensity and application from Luca andKyrie. Just from those two, I've
never seen them as locked in ondefense as they were. And last night
it was defense at the rim.It was finishing at the rim, because
that's one thing the Clippers have beenable to take the lob away, at
least they did in the first twogames. It came back in a big
(19:33):
way last night. Tell me whatyou're seeing from the MAVs interior play.
Yeah, last night when we didanalysis on Twitter before the game, I
said, the role players will haveto step up at home and this is
but I think it's happened. Ithink they started the game with the really
big energy and they got in transition, and transition, for example, was
(19:57):
one part that was missing in thesecond game that they won. They ran
a lot, but they had alot of turnovers, a lot of mislay
ups, and they made them all. I think Luca had one incredible second
quarter and he had like some amazinglobs and passes in transition, and that
was one part. And the otherpart was Daniel Gaffort making these three first
(20:18):
three buckets, I think because hewas missing those the rim early in the
first two games. So I thinkthese two things and then Kyrie, He
was able to create separation when theyput to one ball, he was still
able to drive or get James Hardenon switches and drive by him and then
find when the leitters rotate, findsLively or Gaffort or others for lobs.
(20:41):
So I think last night was thefirst night that we really see this what
we've been seeing in the regular seasonoften. Yeah, yeah, I totally
agree. I mean it was,you know, the centers quietly, the
two headed monster at center quietly hada very big night in game through and
in Game three and played definitely.They were difference makers and the MAVs desperately
(21:07):
needed. That is top Franco,the d magazine contributor, joining us here
on the Saturday Steinline presented by PaniniTrading Cards and Collectibles here on ninety seven
to one the Freak and PJ.Washington. There was so much curiosity coming
into this series. How would hemake the adjustment to his first ever visit
to the playoffs? And in Gameone he made his first three but then
(21:32):
struggled offensively thereafter was pretty quiet,But between the fourth quarter in Game two,
the physicality showed. He showed lastnight. I mean he is he
is becoming quite quite the popular Maverick. Yeah, yeah, I think ibe
it's not fair to say it likethat, but he's everything that we kind
(21:53):
of expect the grand Villiams to be, so the one will bring this toughness,
but not only toughness, I thinkalso the length and speed and athleticism
and some defense. He's just he'sbeen amazing basically since he came. But
also in this series, if youwatch Okay, we know Kauai is hobbled,
(22:14):
but if you watch What's what arePaul George numbers? So I think
he and there Josh Junior han beengreat and you you got it right.
In Game two, I think itwas the crucial moment because until that fourth
quarter, the Merricks were kind ofstruggling to create anything, and he scored
I don't know, twelve or tenpoints in the fourth quarter and he was
basically besides Skyrie, look at themain reason the Merricks were able to win
(22:40):
that one, and because otherwise ifit would be too oh, it would
be probably a different story. Now, when you were coming into this series,
how high on your checklist or yourconcern list was the notion that the
Mavericks do need to identify a consistentthird scoring threat, not maybe third scoring
(23:03):
thread per se. But when Idid the preview, I said, okay,
there are like four reasons why theMavericks should win. The first one
is that they have Carrie now,like Luca said. The second one and
we see it now, is thatthey got bigger, more athletic, and
more physical, and we see that. We saw that on full display last
night. For one was that thedefense is legit. Again. We saw
(23:25):
that and we talked about Washington andMexic Libery in game two. So the
fourth reason why, what let's sayconfidence for this was because they could play
big or small. So they wonbig last night, but they won going
small in game two. But theconcern that I had was basically shooting and
punishing help. And here is maybeit's the FIRSD guy or the combination of
(23:49):
the role players. Here is wherethe Clippers had the advantage, especially shooting,
but also creating place of let's sayclose outs. But I think Kawhi's
injury kind of let's change their packin order, because all of a sudden,
now Paul George's or that's a normalpower is not creating or scoring on
(24:12):
the clothesline closeouts only, but theyhave to create as well because there is
not much they are getting from Kawaii. So that part was for me the
concern. But I think PG Washingtonhas been great here. What I think
Dallas will need going forward is Danteisonagain because he was the best at attacking
(24:33):
closeouts in the regular season, sothey need him as well. In this
department is Doc Franco, the dmagazine contributor, joining us here on ninety
seven to one the freak. What'sthe mood like in Slovenia right now?
And like nationally how closely? Howbig is big? Is it just country
(24:55):
wide for Luca to be in theplayoffs winning the team's play well, like
how big a story is this whereyou live? I mean everybody is following
this or at least watching highlights orwatching games. We've been lucky. I'm
doing studio also for some of thesegames. That two of the games in
the series, so last Sunday andtomorrow are in this European friendly friendly time
(25:21):
zone. So these are huge becausethey are on prime time on the main
television and a lot of people Iget in a lot of feedback. Everybody
is so hyped although they weren't somuch after last Sunday, but now so
Yeah, people love basketball here,especially Lucas. So he's such a star
that I think there are clips andfrom press conferences from games on the sports
(25:42):
news every day, so everybody isfollowing and knows what's happening. Yeah,
nine thirty tip off tomorrow night foryou guys in your time zone. If
I did my math right, sothat's got to be. That's got to
be better than whatever last night was. For sure. For sure, this
is perfect yea, although I don'tknow how many people are watching let's say
(26:03):
post game studio at one one am. In the morning. And last
thing before I let you go,what's it like to watch a game with
Luca's dad? I mean, he'shilarious, he's and also it's for me.
It's funny because I see a gamefrom such a different angle or eyes
analytical eyes, all this dissecting,and he calls it. When we talk,
(26:30):
we joke around because he's really likevery approachable for some jokes A lot.
He said, analysis by paralysis.That's my part, and he's like
completely other thing. You know,he's he's looking at it from let's say
x player perspective more like psychological moments. So I really like that, let's
say that contrast, and because itgives me a different angle and how to
(26:52):
look at the game and understand thegame. And also he knows Luca,
you know, he knows him sowell, so he would say when there
is a step, oh, thisone's going in, you know so,
and then it goes so he's likehe knows these small little no ones.
And we also talk because we didan offseason story about parts of the game
that they worked in the summer,like catching shoot shoot thing and I'm asking
(27:14):
for like these two leg jumps thathe's not doing yet, So some of
these parts are really great just totalk to him and understand what's going a
little bit, what's going behind thescenes. Ye someday, I hope,
I hope that my Slovenian reaches thepoint that I can understand some of what
you and Sasa Doncic are talking aboutin the studio. I'm guessing it's probably
(27:34):
not gonna happen, but I'm gonnakeep I'm gonna keep aiming for it.
Is talk Franco, our guest hereon ninety seven won the Freak Professor Franco.
Always great to catch up with youand everyone. I think anyone who
listens to the show already knows.But every day on Twitter, great previews
and the day after games tremendous breakdownsin small, digestible facts of what's going
(28:00):
on with this team, even fromfifty five hundred miles away. My friend,
always great to catch up with you. Same you. Thanks Mark.
There he goes the magazines is TalkFranco. Stick around because we will look
at the Clippers side of the equationnext. Longtime Clippers reporter Andrew Grife will
(28:21):
join me here for more Mavericks Clippersseries talk on ninety seven to one The
Free Thanks much for one last welcomeback, Derk Novitsky. Let's continue with
our MAVs Clippers coverage. I wantedto bring in a Clippers expert so we
are fully covered both sides of thisseries. He's covered this team for many
(28:47):
years. This season he contributed toBally Sports coverage of the Clippers. Recently
wrote a very nice series preview forThe Ringer. Of course, before that,
longtime Clippers beat writer for the LaTimes. Welcome in now. Welcome
him in now, my pal AndrewGriffe mister Grief, thanks so much for
joining us. I know you're onthe move, I know you're traveling,
(29:07):
so thanks Amil for doing this.Of course, thank you for having me
tell me what you're seeing on theKawhi Leonard front, because obviously that is
headline number one with this Clipper team. I'll be honest with you. It
surprised me when he came back forgame two with basically three weeks away and
no contact, and my read was, Okay, they're hoping that there's obviously
(29:33):
going to be rust. He knocksthat rust off in game two and we
will see something closer to a fullspeed Kawhi in game three, but it
certainly hasn't played out that way.So give me your view of what the
Kawhi coaster looks like right now.Yeah. The thing that's surprised me or
has been just different from past Kawhiinjury scares or you know, injury kind
(29:57):
of obvious skate where you just don'treally know what's going on, is that,
you know, last night listening tohim talk postgame. In his postgame
remarks, he acknowledged some frustration that, as he said, the knee didn't
respond the way they exactly wanted toafter the first game that he played in
the series, and that he's confidentit'll come around. But just even that
(30:18):
sort of acknowledgment of a little bitof frustration and that things with the knee
aren't exactly where he wants it.That's more than he usually says about his
injuries, which gives you a littlebit of a window into sort of how
not right he is. And Ithink he was even Brian Shaw, who
said on the Ballet Sports broadcast toChristina Pink, Southern Reporter assistant Brian Shaw
had mentioned that the coaching staff feltthat he wasn't really Kawi wasn't himself in
(30:42):
that first half and they noticed ittoo. And so again, these are
things that usually whenever Kawhi is hurt, it is something that has not really
talked about in details. So thefact that they are kind of peeling back
a little bit of the curtain todescribe that it is not right in fact,
is unusual. And I also I'lljust say this that Kwhi is the
(31:03):
most routine oriented player I've ever coveredin any sport, have been, you
know, more or less sports ridingfor fifteen years. He is so locked
into his pregame prep. I meaneven down to like which player development coach
goes against him at certain stages ofhis warm up. So when any part
of his rhythm is disrupted, whetherit's a substitution pattern like we saw last
(31:25):
night, he just only played Ibelieve, six minutes in the first half,
that's going to have I think adownhill effect or at least a cascading
effect on sort of his rhythm andthe rest of the team's rhythm too.
So any little disruption to him hasa way of spilling over and the rest
of the team. Yeah, andlike to me, now, this is
almost like a back to back witha two thirty local tip time on Sunday.
(31:47):
Can't imagine the Clippers will do muchof anything today given the age of
their team. So I'm going toask you to look into your crystal ball
and maybe tell us what probably noone can answer about. What kind of
Kawhi do you think we're going tosee tomorrow in an afternoon game? Yeah,
I mean they based on the commentspostgame, they made it seem like
(32:09):
they were the team was anticipating thathe would be available. The tricky thing
about the timing of how long doyou wait out to see how Kawhi is
feeling before you decide one way oranother whether to play him. Is that
obviously you want you need to holdout, you would think to the very
last moment to decide, because he'sKawhi Leonard, He's still a threat.
(32:30):
You know, when he's on offense, someone still has to guard him.
Someone has to move away from thehoop to do that. Theoretically that opened
up lanes for somebody else. Butin the past, I will say that,
you know, when there was everywhen he was sort of in and
out of the lineup in previous seasonsand there wasn't much communication about when he
might play or when he might sit, it did throw the rest of the
(32:51):
team off because there was really alack of information. I think about role
clarity for the rest of the teammates. What am I doing tonight? Am
I going to be asked to scoretwenty? Or am I going to be
asked to be an ancillary player onoffense like a norm Powell might think that
way. So it's in one way, you want to give the rest of
the team a clear picture of what'sgonna be expected of them, and that's
(33:12):
something that was really helpful this yearwhen Kui was so healthy. They just
knew night to night exactly what wasasked of them. But you know,
the trade off is you still wantKawhi out there. The way he's played
right now, it's hard to imaginehim playing much worse. He just looked
step slow clearly, so I thinkthey would want to preserve the opportunity to
(33:34):
play him, but it will comesomewhat of a cost of making sure the
rest of the team knows exactly whatthey're doing. Clippers insider Andrew Griffe here
with me on the Saturday Steinline presentedby Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles on ninety
seven won the freak. As youcan imagine. Locally here in Dallas,
there's tons of talk about how muchpressure was on this team going into the
(33:59):
playoff to deliver to advance after itstrade deadline moves because the Mavericks they no
longer control their first round pick betweentwenty twenty seven and twenty thirty. That
was the cost of being able toacquire PJ. Washington and Daniel Gafford and
dramatically change this team. But nowit's got to deliver because we're in the
(34:19):
playoffs. On the Clippers side ofit, how much pressure do you think
was on this team coming into theplayoffs with Okay Kawhi Leonard his contract has
been extended, but Paul George hasnot seen his contract extended yet. James
Harden will be eligible for a newdeal as well in the summertime. Just
big picture for the Clippers, allthese dynamics, how do you kind of
(34:45):
size up the pressure they face toget out of this series? I mean,
there's an enormous amount of pressure becausethis seemed to be the year where
you were finally able to see inDecember and January exactly what this team could
look like when it was finally healthy. It was like the longest window anyone
had seen it for two months reallyabout thirty one games of okay, wow,
(35:07):
you know, finally there's continuity.So there was a lot of confidence
that came out of that of,hey, if we ran this thing back
next year, At least from whatI could sense internally, that the Clippers
seem to be okay with that,you know, like, hey, if
we can have a Southern California AllStar team open into a dome next year,
that is in some ways a reallygood marketing strategy and could be a
(35:30):
good basketball strategy the way they wereplaying. But the last three months have
not been as even. And Ithink that that does along with sort of
the new CBA, the second Apron, and even teams that are so rich
and like the Clippers. You know, Steve Balmer, for all he can
give them in terms of resources,he can't buy time, and this is
an old roster, and there aredecisions to make. You know, Russell
(35:52):
Westbrook will have an option this summer, Paul, of course, James.
So even the wealthiest teams in thisnew environment, this sea, they sort
of have to make decisions about howmuch you want to spend because it's not
just about how much can the ownereat in luxury tax money. It's it's
it's future draft picks, it's Ithink, assets frozen. So I do
think that however this postseason ends upwith the Clippers will dictate a lot of
(36:15):
what the difference is in terms ofthe roster on opening night and into it.
Don't great line, Not even SteveBalmer can buy time. I might
have to borrow that one from you. Excellent last thing before we let you
go, Andrew Griche, Clippers,insider here with us on the Saturday Steinline.
Last thing, this team played fantasticallywell without Kawhi in Game one.
(36:36):
How likely is it that they couldreplicate that if they have to play another
game without him in this series?Can they do that again? I do
think it comes back to role definition. When the when the Clippers have sort
of known ahead of time what exactlythe situation is and who's gonna be available,
They've played well this year. Ido think that whether or not he
plays, I'm in Game four.The thing that I think will carry over
(37:00):
is the defense. The defense hasbeen very good these first three games for
the Clippers. They you know,have've held Mavericks to I believe, one
hundred and one points or less inevery single game. The problem is that
the Clippers he cannot have a secondstar, Paul George really being foul.
Chubb's fourteen personal fouls in three games, and that's limited his impact. In
(37:22):
three straight games. James Harden hasplayed. I think it's excellent forty four
shooting from three for a guy whohas, you know, a bad playoff
rep. He's looked very good.If he eats the Zubots look very good.
But you need at least two starsto act to be able to offset
Luca and Kyrie, and they're goingto really need Paul, regardless of Kuhi
(37:42):
plays or not. You absolutely needPaul to look like the guy who was
an All Star this year and wasright on the bubble for all NBA consideration.
That's I think the determining factor hasto be Paul in the defense.
If they can get both of thoseright, which has not happened yet,
I think they're going to have areal chance to even this series. And
if not, then it could bethree to one. Yeah, I mean
(38:06):
you mentioned a couple things there.Zoobach has been fantastic a guy who has
not had the best time in thismatchup in the first two acts of the
Mavericks Clippers playoff trilogy, but he'shad a fantastic series. And yeah,
Paul George, with so much curiosityabout his free agency to come, the
Clippers certainly need more from him goingforward. Mister griff, it has been
(38:28):
great to catch up, so gladwe could do this. Thanks a mill
for being with us here to helpme set up tomorrow's Game four. Thank
you, Mark, I can't waitfor Game four. There he goes Clippers
insider Andrew Grife, all right,everybody that is going to do it for
this edition of the Saturday Steinline.I frankly don't know much more in terms
(38:54):
of information that I can add tothe various media report that I am sure
you've seen. The first one yesterdayfrom my former fellow Mavericks beat writer Richie
Wit. When I came to town. Richie was working for the Fort Worth
Star Telegram covering the team for them. I was covering the team for the
(39:14):
Mavericks. Dallas Observer. WFAA havesince weighed in about the future of ninety
seven to one the freak. WhatI can say, what I can share.
I have been told that this islikely the last time that the Saturday
Steinline in this form will be heardon these airwaves, and I just wanted
(39:37):
to say it has been an absoluteblast for me to spend every Saturday with
you. Going back to June thirtiethof last year, it was amazing to
start this show on the first dayof NBA Free Agency. Really gave it
a great lift off, and itwas my first chance to be back in
(40:01):
a radio studio, a proper radiostudio for real live radio. First time
in six years for me that Ihad been back in this kind of setting.
And look, as soon as Ican figure out where and how to
bring more of this show to youin its next form, promise you will
(40:25):
be swiftly informed via my social mediachannels and of course on my substack.
I will update you guys with thatinfo as soon as I can. I
just wanted to thank everyone so somuch for listening. Like I said,
to be in this environment again,it's a huge thrill for me. I've
(40:47):
told this story before, but I'mgonna sign off with it that you know
one tweeter years ago, and Iwish I had saved the tweet. I
can't find it, but one tweeter, unforgettably once told me, hey Stein
got a face for radio and avoice for print. But I ignore that
and keep coming back to radio becauseit really might just be my favorite medium.
(41:10):
And being in this little room withall the mics and the fancy equipment,
the on air sign lighting up rightnear the door, to do that
every week with you guys, I'veloved it, absolutely loved it. I
want to give hearty thanks to producerMaddie who helps me every week with countless
(41:34):
task to make this show happen.The tireless glue guy grooves who same thing.
For months. I've been tormenting himwith all my requests for help.
My guy's been in skin. Withoutthem, I don't know that this show
ever would have happened. But mostof all, most of all, the
heartiest, deepest, warmest thanks Igotta say to Scott Prussia and my wonderful
(42:00):
friends at Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles, because without Panini, without them,
and they have just been tremendous friendsof mine for years, without their support,
this show never would have been possible. And you know, we just
recently went out to McKinney and didthe live show at our Jay Duke's and
(42:22):
just had a blast and love beingclose again to the collectible space and working
with Panini. And as I said, I will let you guys know as
soon as I can when I havean update on when, where and how
more of this audio will be disseminated. All right, everybody that is going
(42:45):
to do it for producer Maddie andme. Remember Game four on this station
tomorrow two thirty local tip off,and of course MAV's broadcast with Chuck Cooperstein
continue here. All that next onninety seven, won the Freak
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