Mark Willard and Eprhaim Salaam discuss NBA Playoffs and much more!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Listen Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Well, I would imagine that the last name on earth
that you want to hear tonight from Salam is Russell Westbrook.
But he's on my mind for a certain reason and
for obvious reasons based on what we just saw a
little bit over an hour ago. It is Mark Willity
from Salam. However, you're listening, whatever you're doing, bringing us

(00:25):
in here on a Sunday night with all kinds of
stuff to get to thank you very much for doing
it here on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
My dude, how are we doing tonight?

Speaker 1 (00:35):
YOA hey, hey, hey, hey, hey man, what's happening? Oh?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Man, man, I couldn't be better. I could be better.
Actually I could be.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
A little bit better. I mean well, I.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Mean this little I I'm fighting a little bit of
a cough from and I'm fighting a little bit of
a two to one laker.

Speaker 4 (00:51):
Okay, fighting a little bit of those two things. Well,
which one is worse? Fighting a little That's what I
would ask, which one is worse?

Speaker 3 (00:57):
You know what I'm gonna say this. I'm gonna say
this authentically, and you're not gonna believe me. Brother. It's
the cough.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
The cough is more worrisome right now than the two
to one lead for the Lakers. The Warriors have been
here before and and and I'm not saying that the
blow it off, They're gonna come back. I'm not saying
that at all. You know, I have a healthy belief
in either of these teams to win this series. What
I'm saying is, I think all three of these games
have gone exactly the way I thought they were gonna go.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Is that fair?

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Yeah, that's fair for you. That's fair for you.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah, that's that's yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
I thought the first game was the only tight game,
and because of the Game seven situation for the Warriors,
I thought, uh, this one could be a little bit
tough at the end. Game two, I think the Warriors
are definitely gonna win that. Game three energy Lakers adjustments,
I think they're definitely gonna win that.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Now it's game on. Now, it's game on. Really.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
I mean I've felt that maybe a little bit after
each game, but tomorrow night is where things are going
to start to to really take shape, is what I
would say.

Speaker 4 (02:05):
Yeah, I would agree with that, But what I would
say is, you know, in terms of the way these
teams are winning, now, you got to blowout wins by
each team. So what can you really take from that?
And about that? What I what I what I look

(02:26):
at is the numbers behind the numbers. Okay, when Golden
State and the Lakers played their tight game, the game won. Okay,
the Lakers dominated inside and at the free throw line,
Golden State dominated behind the arc. This is how these
two play, So you throw out the other games that

(02:48):
when it comes down to it, that's how they'll play,
and which one is sustainable over a seven game series.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
That's what I look.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
You would you would think you would think that interior
and free throw line are things you can rely on
a little bit more than three point shooting. I think
that's a little bit of a simplification of the whole process, though,
because what we're actually talking about is individuals and how

(03:18):
you defend them specifically and what that means for the
whole thing at large. In fact, why did I let's
since we're already knee deep in this push the I
got a Westbrook Harden question for you, and.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
We can get to that here in a little bit.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Let me start with this, Why is Anthony Davis so
damn inconsistent? Because as good as he's been in games
one and three. If you go through his entire playoff
run nine games, now you know what it is. It's
a yo yo Yes, good game, bad game, good game,
bad game, good game, bad game. It's been the whole theme.

(03:55):
And I'm telling you right now all kinds of awesome
that he's done to get the Lakers to this point.
If he does what he's done the whole playoffs, which
is respond to a good game with a bad one,
the Warriors are gonna win him all night, and they're
gonna end up winning the series because they're in better
shape if they do so. I wonder like that's why
Tomorrow Night looms so large. Whoever wins Tomorrow Night really

(04:18):
has what I think is potentially an insurmountable advantage, even
though it would only be too too if it's Golden State.
I know these teams can handle on the road late
in series. It's Lebron at Steph. I get it. But
but why why has Anthony Davis not been able to
string two games together the whole playoffs.

Speaker 4 (04:40):
Well through the history of Anthony Davis being Anthony Davis.
This is nothing new be labored by injury and inconsistency
when he's locked in. He's a top five player in
the NBA at any given year. Problem, right, Well, he's
been in the league too long to change his stripes.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
Okay, you are what you are. You are who you are.

Speaker 4 (05:07):
So with that said, you have to realize, Look, when
Anthony Davis is tuned in and he's going and usually
at home that happens, then he is a problem defensively, offensively, defensively,
he's giving Golden State fits and that's what he's there for. Okay.

(05:29):
The thing that concerns me with Golden State's approach to
the defending the Lakers. They're hoping Anthony Davis has an
off night. It's hard to win a series with hope
when you hope someone on the other team or the

(05:50):
other team does something that you can because well, I hear, okay,
before you push, before you look forward, promote, I'm okash back. Okay,
I would expect you to push back. This is why
I like when both of our teams are playing for

(06:11):
something against each other. Okay, because as the being and
our teams, we've looked at them objectively, subjectively, all the good,
the bad. The entire season, we've tracked what's been going on.
And so the reason I say that is when Anthony
Davis is tuned in and he's playing like he's been
playing and the two wins on the offense and defensive

(06:33):
side of the ball, there has been no answer. And
even in Game two when he had a bad game,
the shots he still got the same shots. He just
missed them. And once he misses a couple early, he
kind of tunes out a little bit. But the shots
were there. And that's the concerning part I believe Golden

(06:53):
State has. Because you can switch up the lineup, you
can put your Michael Green in, you can do all
of these things. The problem is they have zero person
on that bench that can affect him and bother him offensively.
And I think them hoping that you know he struggles
is something you can you can't bet on, you can't
depend on.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
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You're making a lot of very fair points. The word
hope is where I will push back because as much

(07:34):
as he annoys eva rebody and as much as we
hear in the Bay Area get it, I totally understand.
But we had a conversation locally here last week when
the Memphis Grizzlies publicly announced that no way, know how
will they ever allow Dylan Brooks to wear a Memphis
Grizzlies jersey ever again. I thought that was the moment

(07:56):
that could help explain to people Nash and Lee who
think that Dylan Brooks and Draymond Green are the same guy, instigator, defender, loudmouth.
I've heard that when Memphis played the Warriors in the
series last year in Round two last year, you heard

(08:17):
it all the time when Brooks broke GP two's arm. Aaron,
Oh well, now you're mad. Draymond does this stuff all
the time. Oh god, no he doesn't. Number one, and
oh god, if you think these two are in any
way similar on a basketball court, man, you got to

(08:37):
enroll in the basketball college and take a class. Because
draymondel frustrates you. Believe me, he frustrates the people who
root for him because his composure is always at risk,
always in every moment, as you can see. But the
man is a defensive genius. And if you've watched Anthony
Davis play in the Western Conference for a long time,

(08:59):
you will know that actually nobody gives him a harder time.
Nikola Jokic will tell you the same thing, despite how
much bigger those two dudes are than Draymond Green.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
So I don't think it's hope. I don't think it's hope.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
I think the Warriors have the answers the same way
the Lakers have the answers on the Warriors, which is
why I have already found this series to be a
the ultimate chess match and be a simple matter of execution.
I really do think both teams have the answers on

(09:33):
their roster to give the other team all kinds of
problems and then it's just a matter of who's going
to go out and make shots. You got to know
a from that. If you're looking at a Warrior team
that in the fourth quarter's got sixty eight points on
the board when they had thirty in.

Speaker 3 (09:49):
The first quarter, do the Lakers get some credit for that? Yes?

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Did you also have a ridiculously poor level of execution
on offense, Yes, same way the Lakers did in Game two.
So it's It's a total magic elixir that I think
both teams have, and it's just going to be a
matter of who knocks down the shots and who brings

(10:14):
the execution with composure.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
On any given night. Okay, that's what I think.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
When you when you have.

Speaker 4 (10:27):
In the balance, let's say Golden State it hits the
same number of threes, or the Lakers hit the same
number of threes Golden State does who has the advantage
in the rest of the game.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Oh God, if the Lakers hit the same number of
threes as the Warriors, we can go home at.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
Halftime, which is what happened right past game. The Lakers actually,
but they're not going to How often is that going
to happen? The Lakers are nowhere near the three point
shooting team. The Warriors are. You're absolutely right, but they
almost shoot from the three.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Point line because the Warriors completely lost their composure and
the Lakers executed at a high level.

Speaker 4 (11:05):
Yes, the Golden State Warriors are getting fewer and fewer
wide open threes because of the length and the defensive
rotation of the Lakers, which is what got them to
the play in and playing well and out of that
first round series. The length and when they all lock in,
including Lebron James, because down the stretch in the regular

(11:26):
season he was a defensive liability, right, But when it's
on the line and they're all buying in the Los
Angeles Lakers give Golden State a much more difficult time
defensively than vice versa. Now, Draymond Green, yes, Graymond Green can,

(11:47):
Yes he can guard Anthony Davis, But for how long
and how many fouls are you going to use of
great Draymond Greens on Anthony Davis.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
But see, this is what I think we do in
the playoffs. You say the Warriors are getting fewer and
fewer open shots. No, that was just yesterday, That's all.
It was just yesterday. The Game two, that wasn't the case.
They were getting more than they were in Game one.
So like all I think is they and maybe there
is a mental sort of a situation here, because let's

(12:18):
be honest, the Lakers in Round one had control of
that sucker the whole way. Yes, the Warriors did not.
The Warriors did not have control of their series the
whole way at all. And to watch to watch how little.
In fact, I'd love to ask you this question coming
up next because like to watch how little momentum meant

(12:41):
and how little the adjustment that was made in one game,
to watch how it repeatedly did not carry over to
the next game, over and over and over between the
Warriors and the Kings, to the point where you end
up like, all right, we're tied at halftime of Game seven,
and let's see who's ready, bug.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
And that's who's gonna win the series.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
And I've thought from the beginning that this is gonna
be a seven game series. I think that about this
one too, because I really do think it's just gonna be.
It's a matter of who sort of makes that adjustment
in that game and who's ready to knock down shots
on that particular night.

Speaker 3 (13:20):
If tomorrow night looks like last night.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Then I'm gonna give you the point in this discussion.
But I have a feeling tomorrow night's not gonna look
like last night.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
I think it will. I really do.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
I think the Lakers in terms of the adjustments that
it need to be made and have been made in
this series. I think because it's an effort thing. If
you run Steph and Clay off the three point line,
which they're doing, Yep, there's no place. How many blocks

(13:57):
have the Lakers got on Steph or on Clay in
the lane? Tons, It wasn't like that for San Francisco.
That's why Steph Curry can pump fake and go to
the lane and score fifty. That is not an option.
That's not an option. So now you're kicking the ball out. No,
but it's not because.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
There's a defense. It's a real defensive.

Speaker 4 (14:20):
Presence in the middle, That's what I'm saying, right right,
But they're not in the middle.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
If somebody else is out there shooting threes, all it takes,
that's all it takes.

Speaker 4 (14:28):
Third person, will we will bet our money on Jordan Poole.
We will put all our money in on Jordan Poole
to be that guy. Jamichael Green. We will put it
all on them, just not Stephan Clay. And that's what
the defensive assignment has been. That's what it's been.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
Of course, the same way the Warriors are going to
do that to the Lakers, and typically in home games
that you.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
Need a better Warriors needed game two.

Speaker 4 (14:53):
Let's talk. We got we got listen. Look, the red
light is flashing. We're like a comedian on stage. No, okay,
we don't.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
Have to rush you.

Speaker 4 (15:03):
Okay, we got no, we don't three hours of this
glorious glorious well yeah, converse for hours and four minutes
forty four minutes, yes, all right, well okay, yeah, and
but I do have.

Speaker 3 (15:18):
Some KD. Harden Westbrook things.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
We'll do it all too well.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
I was very, very impressed, in fact, in this series
by James Harden, because the series is over, by the
way without him. It's already over without him, and I
think that deserves a mention, So we'll get to that
as well. That's evehrom salam' Mark Weather. This is Fox
Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Bally Foosco here with Tony Fosco.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yo.

Speaker 5 (15:41):
Of course you know us as the host of the
number one rated show and all the sports doc The
Paully and Tony Fosco Show. If you're hearing this promo
right now, it means you're listening to some other show.

Speaker 6 (15:52):
Well, why the hell are you doing that?

Speaker 1 (15:55):
Get your priorities straight.

Speaker 5 (15:57):
Well, maybe Tony, they listened to this week's episode.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
Ready, I don't care listen to it again.

Speaker 6 (16:03):
Yeah, great point that, Dony.

Speaker 5 (16:04):
Anyway, so you're listening out there, make sure and go
do that and listen to the fally In Tony Fusco
Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get
your podcasts.

Speaker 6 (16:16):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 3 (16:27):
All right, that's it from Salam. I'm Mark Willard.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
At the end of your first year, Discover credit cards
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out for yourself at Discover dot com. Slash match. Hey,
real quick aside. Then we'll get back to what we
were talking about. And I don't know if every single

(16:52):
one of our affiliates heard this, but the Dan Patrick
promo that was just running talking about odds for Dylan
Brooks's next team. Can I run this at you real quick.
I don't understand why there will be a next team.
Can you help me with this? Oh yeah, I can't. Like, Okay,
maybe maybe someone can be like, all right, one year deal,

(17:17):
let's see if you can fix your act. But similar
to what I said to you all year long about
any general manager that's going to acquire Russell. Westbrook, to me,
doesn't understand how to win basketball games. And I know
that Russ ended up having some moments in the playoffs,
he very much turned into old Russ because like Kawhi's out,

(17:40):
Paul's out, and he can put up all kinds of numbers,
but he can't win. Why on earth would you want
Dylan Brooks on your basketball team?

Speaker 3 (17:49):
I don't get it.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
You know why?

Speaker 3 (17:52):
Why?

Speaker 4 (17:54):
Conventionally he's a three and D guy. He had a
terrible series. He let his pride, his ego in his
mouth right checks that he couldn't cash. Okay, because there's
no leadership there. If you put Dylan Brooks on the
Phoenix Suns, he's going to be a problem.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
You see what I'm saying. There is a I see
what you're saying. It's a leadership quality there.

Speaker 4 (18:21):
If you put Dylan Brooks on the Miami Heat, he's
going to be a problem.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Why a problem? What are the skills that he's bringing
that would make him a problem. What I'm saying, there's
no leadership thing. It's a leadership thing, and there's no
pressure on them. Focus on defending the wing and hit
the open three. We don't need you to talk. We
don't need you to be our tough guy. We don't
need you to be any of that. He has learned
a valuable lesson. Right now, you want to talk about

(18:50):
Humbo pie, Right, This younger generation doesn't get it until
they get it. Look at the Memphis Grizzly star, who
they conveniently have deflected the blame of the series on
Dylan Brooks, right, not the dysfunction from the top of

(19:12):
the pyramid.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
Right.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
Look, I'm not a Dylan Brooks fan because he's all bark,
no bite, not enough bite for me. But if you
put Dylan Brooks with his skill set, because it is there,
it was diminished because his mouth put all the focus
on him and so you got a diminished return there.

(19:36):
But last year Dylan Brooks was tremendous for them. You
look at the numbers, you look what he was able
to do. He regressed because it was more focused on
poking bears and being the bad guy. The problem with
that is, you can't be Dennis Rodman unless you're Dennis Rodman.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
Right. You can't be Draymond Green unless you're Draymond Green.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Yeah, you need to be getting fifteen to twenty boards
at night.

Speaker 3 (20:01):
I get it.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
It also sounds to me, though, like you're kind of
making it about this series, and I think it was
the whole year. Of course, I think it was the
whole year. I think there were many, many, many more
decisions that were poor. And again, as I put it
to you a week or two ago, I think, and
this isn't just sports.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
When any time your name.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
Value, the loudness of what's going on around you out
ways the actual talent or substance that you have to
provide that's not lasting.

Speaker 3 (20:37):
It just won't.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
It's like now, sometimes it can be just a game
like LaVar Ball. LaVar Ball played a game sort of
maybe kind of worked for a couple of his sons,
probably sold another one down the river. But he played
a game. But you knew it wasn't lasting because the
name value was so much bigger than what he had

(20:59):
to All of that was tangible.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
Same thing here, same thing here.

Speaker 4 (21:05):
Well, he did get both of his sons in the
league and another one playing overseas. Yeah, I get it,
I understand it, I get it. I understand. But it
made it a thing though, right like her, he created
a brand, a thing that's just what it was, and
he successfully was able to do that, and so did

(21:29):
it did it not work? You know, Lonzo ended up
being an All Star and you know a bunch of money.
His young son, if he can stay healthy, is going
to be tremendous. Is nobody got a handle and a
flare like he does? Like if you, if you, if
he was in La or on New York or something
like that, he'd be musty TV. It's just not gonna

(21:51):
happen in Charlotte, right, I wish.

Speaker 2 (21:53):
And again it's it's not that it was a terrible thing,
but again, as I sayss not.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
Last, it's not lasting.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
You knew, you knew, you knew the right the buzzer
was gonna go off on the whole right, big baller brand.

Speaker 3 (22:05):
The buzzer was always gonna he tried. It just went
pretty quick.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah, yeah, he didn't.

Speaker 4 (22:09):
He didn't have the structure the infrastructure to make it
makes sense, right, But he had the idea. But sometimes
you don't have, uh the leg work that it takes
to to make a good idea, uh a fulfilled idea.
And in terms of Dylan Brooks, Dylan Brooks can play basketball.

(22:30):
He became a comic book character. This year, he became
something that he thought the team needed. And it doesn't work.
Sports don't work like that, man, not at this level.
And it's all good and all great, but we talked
about this, uh you know a lot in the last series,
but all year they've been misbehaving badly the whole right, Like,

(22:55):
so when leadership, when when when you're leader is a
goofball for lack of a better term, then you can't
be surprised when people under him become goofballs.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
Right, Like, that's fair, that is, this is, this is
what it is.

Speaker 4 (23:14):
And so if you take him his antics, right and
you coach it out of him, and and it's just
with a group that that is, it's not happening, right
you get in with Chris Paul or Kevin Durant, Devin Booker,
that's not hey, bro, no, no, no, no, we're not doing that.

(23:35):
You get him with even even if you put him
in Denver, right, even you you put him somewhere where
there's uh leadership, And we don't need we don't need
him at the Lakers. We don't need another head case.
We don't we don't need to. You know, we're not
trying to do any of that. But there are several
teams out there that have strong leadership in Lockow. You

(23:57):
put them in Miami, guess what you wouldn't be hearing
from him and that that and that leadership starts at
the top in the front office with pat Ryley, right,
So you could you can put him on that Miami
team and he'd be a different player. But that's what
I'm talking about. It's this report. His reputation is not

(24:18):
going to precede him if he goes to the right fit. Now,
he did cost himself some money. Now, he cost himself
quite a bit of money.

Speaker 3 (24:25):
Oh yeah, and some years.

Speaker 4 (24:28):
Yeah, definitely had some years. But you know who who
hasn't cost themselves money? In fact, his bag is overflowing, right,
And that's our very own Steven the bag to say, Steve.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
Going with Joy.

Speaker 7 (24:44):
I'm not sure about the money part.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Yeah, I bet I bet Steve would challenge the whole
major bag alert.

Speaker 3 (24:51):
Thing that just happened. That's just my guess.

Speaker 7 (24:54):
But anyway, Hi, Steve, Hello, and got a good stat
on what you were talking with the up and down
and any Davis in the postseason that I found last night.
He has had two good games in a row, by
the way, the last two of the first round. It's
just that nobody needed to be on the court that
long when you win by forty in the clincher against Memphis.
But he did have fourteen rebounds in twenty eight minutes
in that game, after a great game couple nights before.

(25:16):
But how about this from the folks at stat muse
this postseason in the odd numbered game of the series,
Davis averaging twenty eight points, seventeen rebounds, fifty seven percent
shooting even number games thirteen points, ten rebounds, only forty
percent shooting well.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
And remind me, I always forget I mixed this up?
Is for an even number or an odd number? Yes,
I struggle with this. I'm not great at math.

Speaker 7 (25:44):
Late tomorrow night, Lakers host Golden State again, with LA
up two games to one, coming off a blowout victory.
A great item from AP that it's not that common
obviously under Steve Kerry's Golden State coach, that the Warriors
have been losing a playoff game by at least twenty
or thirty for that matter. But the last five times

(26:05):
it's happened, they've come back with a victory. Including against
Memphis a year ago and also tomorrow. By the way, Miami,
leading two games to one, will be hosting New York
again to the NBA playoff game tonight. S Denver, top
seed in the West, is up thirty four to thirty
two at Phoenix at the end of the first quarter.
Devin Booker thirteen points in the opening period for the Suns.
Veteran guard Chris Paul is out again with a strain groin.

(26:28):
Philadelphia in overtime beat Boston today one sixteen one fifteen.
James Harden forty two points, including the go ahead three pointer.
The had nine assists in just one turnover as well.
That series is tied at two games a piece. Joel
Embiid scored thirty four points, Marcus Smart of Boston twenty
one points, but his three at the end came after

(26:48):
the buzzer. He also missed a three at the end
of regulation. Stanley Cup playoffs New Jersey and eight to
four winner against Carolina right now early third period, Toronto
tied two to two at Florida. Allas at Seattle will
be the late game in about an hour. Denny Hamlin
won the NASCAR race at Kansas, bumping by Kyle Larson
on the final lap. Wyndham Clark took the PGA event

(27:10):
by four strokes in Charlotte. Sunday night ballgames in San Diego,
Padres are leading two nothing over the Dodgers, bottom of
the fifth LA with just one hit in twelve innings
to start the day. The Braves won three to two
over the Orioles, and Philadelphia beat the Red Sox six
to one. A sad note from the NBA family that
Nick Gilbert passed away, son of the Cavs owner, died

(27:31):
at the age of twenty six. He often represented the
Cavaliers at the Draft lottery. Nick battle tumors his whole life.
His funeral will be Tuesday in Michigan.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
Pete all right, thank you very much for that, Steve,
and our condolences to the whole NBA family with that
very difficult news to process. Mark Willard Ephram Salam with
you here on Fox Sports Radio and the ti IRAQ
dot com studios. Okay, the question was that you threw
out who's got the better We're talking Lakers versus Warriors.

(28:02):
We're gonna get to some Sixers and Celtics here in
just a little bit.

Speaker 3 (28:05):
But who's got a better bench.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
I feel like I can jump ahead because I know
where this conversation is going to end up. It's the
conversation we have here all year long in the Bay Area,
and that is whether you want to applaud Jordan Poole
or ring his neck. And Warrior fans cannot figure out
which one is the right answer to that because they
cannot win without him playing well, and sometimes you cannot

(28:30):
stomach watching him play basketball. So that might be where
this conversation ends. But I'd love to hear you answer
your own question. I love Hachimura. I think that's a
really good player. Shrewder is a smart player. Sometimes he
can shoot, sometimes he can't. The Warriors have a defensive
rotation that I guess in this series includes Keban Loony,

(28:54):
who was a twenty board guy in the King series.
I think this is a difficult matchup for him for
some clear reasons because he doesn't offer outside shooting, which
is what the Warriors need to pull the Lakers away.
So it's I don't know, it's an evolving answer, but
I'd love to hear yours first.

Speaker 4 (29:13):
Okay, So real bench players for Golden State, uh de
Vincenzo Jordan Poole and.

Speaker 1 (29:23):
GP two GP two.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
And Moody has earned himself in Green.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
Depending on if Green or Rooney is either Green or Looney?

Speaker 3 (29:33):
Well, yes, en it was. He was a d NP
guy for the last two.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
Months, right right, He's only he's in there because he
can shoot three.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
Trying to switch it up. They're trying to stretch the
Floyd and I get it. Yes, So with that said,
your real guys are Gary Payton, Devincenzo and Jordan Poole.
Those that's your core bench. Okay, you put Looney back
in the starting line up. Jamichael Green what, I don't
know what you I don't know where you classifying because

(30:04):
he wasn't playing. But we've seen the minutes from Moody,
shrink kaminga. He's only gonna get in and lamb all
those guys they're not getting in the game.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
That's garbage.

Speaker 4 (30:15):
Like three minutes is not a bench Okay, you need guys,
bench guys. Twenty plus minutes. That's a real true bench guy.
You get in the game twenty plus minutes, then you're
a bench guy because that's extended period of time. So
when you look at the Lakers in their bench, it's Rory,
It's Shrewder. It's a combination. What it was, what's the

(30:44):
It was Lonnie Walker and either it was yes, it
was brown, it was Brown. But he's because he can't
the d His defensive rotations were off. And we saw
that in Game two and I was like, Oh, that's
that's about to be it for him. Its Lonnie Walker,
it's Dennis Shrewder, it's Rory Hotchamour. That's pretty much the

(31:06):
core of the Lakers bench. Those guys come in and
not only do they give you scoring, but they give
you defense.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
And I think that's the difference you.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
Got and Tante Devincenzo don't give you defense. They give
you defense. They do give you defense. But who so
Devincenzo in terms of playing defense, who like GP two?
It is a bona fide defensive guy.

Speaker 1 (31:32):
Period.

Speaker 4 (31:33):
He gonna dunk on you. He can hit the open three.
Occasionally Junior plays Devincenzo. Yeah, we're just gonna take him
right down to the post and it's gonna be what
it's gonna be.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
He plays his size right. He plays are big. The
Lakers are big.

Speaker 4 (31:53):
So when Rory comes in and he's long, when when
Walker comes in, He's long, Dennis Ruder. You want to
talk about a defensive specialist, goodness gracious to be as
small and as and as thin as he is. He
is relentless on the defense and he's okay with that.

(32:14):
So to me, when I look at that, and when
that second group comes in, when Kurt when when when
when Curry sits on the bench, everybody holds their breath?

Speaker 1 (32:26):
Am I? Right?

Speaker 4 (32:27):
When Curry sits down, everybody holds it. Can they hang
on to the lead or keep it from getting out
of hand with Curry sitting down?

Speaker 2 (32:37):
Absolutely? And that all comes down to can they still score?
And that comes down to Jordan Poole, Because if you're
gonna sit here and talk about the defense that the
Lakers bench offers, I would offer to the Warriors bench
offers a lot more offense dot dot dot some times.

(32:58):
And in theory, there's something else I need to fill
the in that plank.

Speaker 3 (33:03):
And that's why.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
That's why, and this is a terrifying thought for Warriors fans,
But that's why so much of the season comes down
to Jordan Poole, not even in this series, but the
whole ar Yeah, like why are they forty four?

Speaker 3 (33:19):
And thirty eight.

Speaker 2 (33:20):
Why are they struggling playing from behind in every series?
The question is what's different this year? Well, there you
have it. The role is bigger off of the bench
for Jordan Poole. He's now the supposedly experienced guy coming
off the bench. And I'll tell you why coming up next.
That's a big problem beyond the obvious, especially in this

(33:44):
matchup against the Lakers. They offer something that's difficult for
him and length is not what I'm gonna say. More
on that coming up in a bit. That's he from
Salama Mark Weatherden. This is Fox Sports Radio Okay Live
Tyraq dot Com Studios. That seem from Salama Mark Willard
my man. So, do you remember last week? I think

(34:07):
we were talking about this series getting started, and I
said to you, this is a matchup of what I
think are the NBA's two smartest teams, and you look
at who they just both got rid of, the Lakers
and the Warriors. The Lakers got rid of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
We done already talked that out.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
And the Warriors got rid of the Sacramento Kings, which
I do not think that they are in any stretch
a dumb team. I think they're an inexperienced team. And
so what you have here is two teams that are
just overloaded with players who have been there, seen it all,
see things before they happen on the floor. Just very

(34:53):
very smart. I would like to find a kind way
for me to state and I don't think that that
bodes very well for Jordan Poole. This is not a
player who lacks talent. My gosh, he can be so dynamic.
I've watched him countless times take over a basketball game. Hell,

(35:17):
I watched a regular season game live just a boy. Now,
it's probably only about a month, month and a half ago.
Down the stretch in the regular season came they were struggling,
Joel mb just went off. He came to Chase Center
and he was his MVP self, and Jordan Poole took
over the game in the fourth quarter, won that game

(35:39):
for the Golden State Warriors. He will do this, but man,
when you ask him to make the right decision at
the right moment, who that's tough.

Speaker 3 (35:51):
That's tough.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
And watching him, for instance, drive the lane when Lebron
James is standing right there in the box. Do you
remember that play yep, where I'm like, Pool's got a
wide open corner three, and something in his brain goes.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
Now, I'm gonna go drive that at the King and
I think that this's gonna work out well.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
And I'm like, it's not gonna work out well, and
and that shot got so embarrassingly blocked. Jordan hadn't even
tried to start what was gonna happen, and Lebron had
already taken the ball out of his hands. This is
where right now the Lakers have an advantage. Is I'll
take when you ask your question about bench, I'll take

(36:32):
the Lakers decision making over the Warriors decision making with
that group.

Speaker 4 (36:38):
That's that's the most paramount part. That's why it you know,
it didn't work with Russell starting or coming off the bench,
because someone has to make the right decisions for the
second group. Right, So, Jordan Poole signed his four year,
one hundred and twenty eight million dollar contra track with

(37:00):
one hundred and twenty three fully guaranteed. He makes an
average of thirty two million a year he comes off
the bench, right that.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
Is starting next year. Yes, So that we've got that all.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Kind of what I'm saying, it's making three million this year.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
We got it.

Speaker 4 (37:18):
You're right, we understand, We understand. But that's a lot
of money, right, and a lot of hope and a
lot of responsibility. You're giving someone who hasn't shown that
he can handle that. Now, Jordan Poole averaged about thirty

(37:39):
minutes a game in the regular season. He averaged about
twenty points a game. Right, He shot eighty five percent
from the free throw from the free throw line and
thirty six percent from the from three pointers.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
Forty three field goal Right.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
Normally what happens to players are good players when they
get into the postseason, those numbers tick up because there's
more responsibility and more minutes and more minutes. So he's
averaging eleven points a game, that's nine points less than
the regular season. He's shooting twenty eight percent from the three,

(38:21):
and he's shooting only seventy five percent from the free
throw line. Now, not the Golden State is going to
the free throw line. They're design not the NBA or
the refs. It's hard to go to the free throw
line shooting thirty seven footers twenty four footers?

Speaker 3 (38:38):
Do you agree like I'm not ament right?

Speaker 4 (38:42):
The Lakers play inside out that's why they draw more contact.
They're aggressive down below. Kevon Looney gets the rebound, he
doesn't go up to dunk the basketball. He kicks it
back out twenty seven feet. This is how they drive
to the hole, jumping the air and fling the ball
back out twenty seven feet. That's how they play basketball.

(39:05):
Hard to draw fouls on that. Klay Thompson draws a
lot of fouls because he will pump fake. Get into
the middle of the key and he'll pump fake against you.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
Again.

Speaker 4 (39:13):
He's the master of drawing contact on jump shots because
he just pump. He'll pump fake you to death. Now,
with that said about Jordan Poole, those aren't numbers that
can sustain you against a team like the Lakers. You
cannot come to the series with eleven points a game
when Golden State's relying on at least twenty at least

(39:38):
and at least shooting forty.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
Percent from the field.

Speaker 4 (39:44):
That's where we are, and that's that's where the problem.
I believe Golden State is gonna have to finish this series.

Speaker 2 (39:55):
Yeah, no, these are these are fair points right now,
no question about it. The Lakers are going to shoot
more free throws in this series that has already been decided,
and that has nothing to do with whether the refs
are doing a.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
Good job or anything like that.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
All Right, much more on this, plus James Harden's series
and why it.

Speaker 3 (40:16):
Is more impressive than you think, coming up next.

Speaker 6 (40:19):
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 3 (40:30):
Yeah, NBA questions and NBA answers.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
All through the night here on Fox Sports Radio, broadcasting
live from the ti Raq dot com studios. Tyraq dot
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Speaker 3 (40:48):
Tyraq dot com the way tire buying should be.

Speaker 2 (40:53):
That's right, It's going to be a deep dive all
night long on Lakers and Warriors because you got two
people who are deep into the series, no doubt. But
I do not want to let the evening get away
Ephraim without calling out, shouting out James Harden, who has
saved this series for the Philly Sixers.

Speaker 3 (41:12):
And two thoughts come to mind.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
Number One, I was having a conversation with a friend
of mine who said, you know, in the NBA these days,
I don't and this is him talking, I don't believe
your best player, your go to guy can be a sinner,
which is relevant for both the Philly Sixers and the

(41:36):
Denver Nuggets.

Speaker 3 (41:37):
So let's start there.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
And obviously James Harden what he adds to Philly, it
has kept them alive. Maybe they are still contender. But
what's your response to that. The idea that the Sixers
and the Nuggets by extension are essentially in a little
bit of a bad spot because their go to guy
is seven feet tall.

Speaker 4 (42:00):
Well that's not necessarily true. It depends on how skilled
that seven feet tall guy is. The thing that you
bring to the table is your ability to be able
to score multiple ways inside out, which a lot of teams,
a lot of NBA teams don't have. Right now, we
just got through talking about that.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
Right.

Speaker 4 (42:17):
The thing about a seven game playoff series is there
will be adjustments, there will be things done, defense is played.
You have to be able to maximize an advantage having
someone is skilled as the joker or jewel Embiid the
last reigning MVPs, the last two MVPs. You want to

(42:41):
talk about a commodity because it puts you in a
situation defensively as an opposing team that you're not used to.
There are not a lot of centers that good. Think
about the last three years the MVP of a three
point shooting league has been centers yep. The year before that,
the two years before that is basically a sinner who

(43:04):
could bring the ball up in Giannis, right. These guys
play inside out, So you mean to tell me the
last five years the league's MVP have been big guys
who play inside out. So there's no value there. Someone
hasn't been watching out. Somebody hasn't been watching enough NBA.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
Man, Well, hang on, hang on, don't get too excited
about the MVP.

Speaker 3 (43:31):
That's not what we're doing here.

Speaker 4 (43:32):
I understand we're trying to win championship years championships.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
Okay, And I know Yannis got his, but he is
also now the owner of a very surprising, disappointing second
round exit in five games at home. And I know
he missed a game and a half in the series,
but come on, that's uh that, that's that's brushing it off.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
I think a.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Little bit too easily and jo kich mb injuries around them.
I understand, but MVPs are not what we're doing here,
and the teams that.

Speaker 3 (44:06):
Are holding parades are are.

Speaker 4 (44:08):
Usually not those teams from Well you would look out
and the only team that would have been would have
been the Warriors, correct, right?

Speaker 2 (44:19):
I mean, look, and I know you count the bubble
chip right there with any any championship.

Speaker 4 (44:26):
Well, who wouldn't we count the champion? Do we count
the ninety nine championship as a championship? I don't want
to get y'all triggered. No I'm not, But honestly, I'm
want you said, who would I'm not trying to gas
last year. I'm telling you right now.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
I am.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
I am that guy, and you can get all mad
at me, and you can accuse me of being a
barrier guy. And it's because the l A teams won
that year. No, it's not.

Speaker 3 (45:00):
They're not the same thing.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
I'm not saying they're not great accomplishments, but it's they're.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
Not the same thing. How on earth?

Speaker 2 (45:08):
Like, honestly, just here, can I rally back with this?
Just take baseball?

Speaker 3 (45:14):
How on earth? Can anyone tell me? Nope?

Speaker 2 (45:18):
Yep, same thing I know they only played sixty games.

Speaker 3 (45:22):
Same thing, it's not the same thing. You can be
impressed by it.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
You could put a ring on it, you can dance
around and hold a parade, and that's fine. It can
be great. I didn't say it wasn't great. I said
it's not the same thing. You cannot tell me nothing
that is as third, as long as all of the
others is.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
The same thing. It just isn't. Right.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
If I give you a banana Aphraim and a little
mini banana like you get on Halloween, right, or let's
use Halloween that little TwixT that I stick in your
bag on Halloween at my door, that's not the same
thing is when you go to the store and get
the Kingside.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
It's not the same thing.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
It can still be delicious, you can love it, you
can call it the best candy ever.

Speaker 3 (46:06):
But it's two bites and it's not the same thing.

Speaker 4 (46:11):
So let me ask you this, good I'm glad. Do
you know how many games the NBA play.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
Fewer?

Speaker 4 (46:24):
You know it's eighty two games in the regular season, right, Yes,
the NBA played seventy five games, right, So when you
when you're telling me that it's no fans. Yeah, no road,
but we're talking about basketball. It's right, we're talking about
the number, but you're talking about so fewer games in baseball,
they only played sixty and they missed the hundred and whatever.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
Right, I get.

Speaker 3 (46:47):
It with that example. That was that example. In the NBA.

Speaker 2 (46:51):
I do not find basketball that is not played home
and road to be the same thing. The problem is
when you have this conversation, and the reason so many
people shut down when I say what I'm saying is
because they think that what I'm saying is diminishing an
accomplishment as opposed to shining light on the fact that

(47:13):
it's a different accomplishment.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
Because it sounds.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
That's that's fine. It can sound however it says.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
It is. It is a different accomplishment. In the NBA,
the home team wins much more than fifty percent of
the time. Removing home court advantage from the process.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
And you make everything equal. No, it makes it different. No,
not because you've got every home court advantage is the same.
But I get it. You don't have travel, and you
don't have fans for everybody.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
Not just correct.

Speaker 4 (47:54):
Don't say well, because Golden State has the greatest fans
and we didn't get the experience.

Speaker 3 (47:58):
I didn't say that, But you're necessarily Golden State, would
you know it?

Speaker 2 (48:01):
Not?

Speaker 1 (48:01):
Because Golden State, like.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
Golden State, was a non factor at that Yes, the
Warriors were a complete non factor. So this has nothing
to do with them. And again, I'm gonna give it
one more shot. It's a great accomplishment. It's a different accomplishment.
It's a different accomplishment. That's all I'm saying. It's not
bad if you want to make it. I've heard people go, oh, hey,

(48:25):
it's even harder.

Speaker 3 (48:26):
Great.

Speaker 2 (48:27):
We were all coughing, everybody had masks on, people were
rubbing their groceries whatever.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
It was different.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
Everything that happened for those two years, in my opinion,
on our whole globe, was different.

Speaker 3 (48:42):
Than everything else. And I'm sorry, I'm taking that one
with me to do great.

Speaker 4 (48:47):
Take it, hate it. I'm just what we won't take
to the grave. The banner hanging up in the raptors.
That one doesn't go to the grave. That one goes
up in the raptors for all to say.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Well, it's funny though, because it has a name, doesn't
that in and of itself give you pause. They don't
call anything else a bubble chip. They call that a bubble.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
Who calls it the bubble?

Speaker 4 (49:10):
Who gave it the Wait a minute, the NBA didn't
call it the bubble chip.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
Do you know what I'm talking about? What I'm talking about?

Speaker 4 (49:21):
The entity itself didn't call it the bubble chip. No,
you can't. You but you can't. You can't give something
the name from home and make it be what that's
what it is.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
Right, Lebron James did it to himself. He called him
the King. The league didn't do that. But you know
what I'm talking about when we say it, don't you know?

Speaker 1 (49:42):
They they all called him the king.

Speaker 4 (49:44):
He was the king before he was even before he
even played the chosen one, sitting on the throne. All
of that King James, before he stepped foot in the NBA.
He didn't come out and be like, I'm the King,
my name is the King James. They gave him that.
The league, the league, hungry them, didn't do The league
what you you don't think.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
I forget you think that David Sterton held a press conference.

Speaker 4 (50:07):
You don't, But you don't think they saw what was coming. Oh,
the league, they they're hoping.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
They thought something was coming when Darko was coming to
but somethinge coming.

Speaker 4 (50:20):
They know now if they, if they trust me, they
didn't think that with Darko. I could promise you that
you want to talk about one of the biggest blunders
in all of.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
Sport across the board? Good lord, Piston.

Speaker 3 (50:33):
That one, That one's my favorite.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
It is.

Speaker 2 (50:36):
It is because we had like three highlights. We had
three clips of Darko. Like that was the great thing.
When they did that draft profile, it was like you
you had to watch the same shots ye over the time.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
Yes, they only had the.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Three shots, and I'm like, damn, he's never missed. He
made you just made them. He made those three And
everyone's like, okay, number two picking the draft, Wow, ridiculous
passing up on some real.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
We don't want Carmelos, we already have wings.

Speaker 4 (51:05):
What excuse me, we don't want Chris Bosh because we
already have a say what now?

Speaker 1 (51:14):
Good lord? That was dumb?

Speaker 4 (51:17):
Okay, anyway, yes, yes, yes, so anyway, moving forward, there
were seventy five games played played there. Okay, the season
was already past the All Star break when the world
turned off and they shut down. Okay, they put it
together that the bubble actually you know, kept people from

(51:40):
jumping out the windows. Man, I mean we were in
think about how much we wanted something, right, we needed something.
So instead of people talking about how unworthy it was,
just remember what it meant to society. And I'm talking
about the world, not just the you know, the NBA.

(52:01):
I'm talking about the world. Being able to turn on
the television and watch live basketball games at a time
where the world had turned off its light switch was tremendous. Absolutely,
So you know, for me, look, we're gonna count it
as number seventeen. We about to try to get this one,

(52:24):
all right, make it eighteen. The Warriors are in the
way right the series is two to one, Lakers. Can
the Warriors, who've had a history this year of struggling
on the road, can they muster up enough to be
a Los Angeles Laker team at home?

Speaker 1 (52:45):
Now?

Speaker 4 (52:46):
They did it in Sacramento twice. This not Sacramento. No,
it's not right. This not Sacramento. And we don't have
we don't have a bunch of No it's not we
don't have a bunch of young cats right out here,
just like you know, no, no, no, can you get
it done in in l A hard place to play

(53:09):
and win in the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (53:11):
Well, obviously they're going to have to no, no, no
doubt about it. They got two more shots, they got
to get one and handle their own at home or
else it all comes to an end.

Speaker 4 (53:21):
That should be the most totally dropping these games at
home because it's hard to play in the Bay in
the especially in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (53:31):
Right, that's hard. It's tough.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
It's tough.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
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Progressive dot Com. All right, there was the second hardened
question that I have for you, which we will do
coming up next on Fox Sports Radio. Okay, these yearthetyraq

(53:58):
dot com Studios' from Salam and Mark Weard here on
on Fox Sports Radio. You know what I loved about
Harden so far in this series, z from is the
fact that it feels like someone who's kind of found himself.

Speaker 3 (54:16):
I always think it's difficult.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
Professional athletes are at the top of this list, but
maybe it's anybody for that matter. I always feel like
it's difficult for people to realize that when they need
to just take a step back or take a step
down in life, that's actually when they're going to find
their sweet spot. And I think this is true for

(54:40):
a lot of people. And it's not meant it's for
some reason it's taken that way. It's not meant to
be some sort of criticism. But James Harden is almost
now taking a front seat because he took a back seat,
and I love that he did that this year, had
the awareness to do that this year. There are examples

(55:02):
all over the NBA of guys who fit better as
a two or a three. Look what Wiggins has done
with the Warriors. I guess even you look at the
pairing of Lebron and Anthony Davis, like, I don't even
know which one you would put the one label on.

(55:22):
But when guys realize that, you know what, a I
can't do it all by myself, or I shouldn't do
it all by myself, or that's not how it works anyway,
that sort of realization. And I'm not saying I think
Philly's gonna go all the way this year, because I
don't think that but I do think they are. They're
a much better product with this pairing and the understanding

(55:48):
from each one of them as far as what their
role is.

Speaker 1 (55:52):
Yeah, I agree on that.

Speaker 4 (55:53):
I think the only way Philly has a chance, and
it's evident is James Harden Rekindle. What made him the MVP,
what had Golden State on the ropes when he was
in Houston, his abilities. I think what we saw in

(56:15):
game two was him wishing and hoping for a call,
which he's got into the habit of doing because he's
been a master manipulator when it comes to driving to
the hole and getting the calls. Well, what happened was
after his MVP season, the refs started changing the way

(56:36):
they called that when the offensive player initiates the contact
going up to the basket, it becomes a no call.
It's taken him a long time to adjust to that
because it's been part of his game. YEP, blow value
at the three point line. Instead of looking for the basket,

(56:57):
he looks for the contact and the basket becomes secondary. Well,
in the playoffs, they're not going to call that, so
his focus has shifted and now he's looking for the
basket if the contact comes. It comes what we've seen
from him the last game, the first game without Embiid,

(57:19):
and then today.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
He doesn't care. Here. He put his.

Speaker 4 (57:26):
Hair back, put his beard back, and he just became
an assassin. He's going to attack, attack, attack, attack. And
what happens is he led the league and assists this
year because so much attention is drawn to him once
he gets past his defender. In Game two, he couldn't

(57:48):
get the ball up on the glass, end up on
the rim because he was looking for the contact. And
that's not what we saw today. If he continues to
play like this as well, Joel Embiid, you know, got
twenty six shots right right, thirty four points, forty two points.

(58:09):
Neither one of these teams use their bench really. They
have an eight player rotation rotation, and Malcolm Brogden is
the only one that really really is a bench player
with any sustainable He plays thirty six minutes right.

Speaker 1 (58:27):
For the Celtics.

Speaker 4 (58:28):
For Philly, Melton, Shake gets twenty five minutes, name gets nineteen.
That's that's all we that's all you got. So it's
basically a seven man rotation. So what you ask yourself
is the youth of Tatum and Brown, Can it outlast Embiid,

(58:55):
the injury of Embiid, and the the the of James Harden,
Because when you look at this, MBD played forty six,
James Harden played forty seven. Right, you look at Tatum
forty seven, you look at Brown forty four. The bench
isn't coming in when you when you when you talk

(59:17):
about bench advantage, it's Brocken him because he comes in
and he can play starter minutes.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
So that's a plus.

Speaker 4 (59:27):
So the onus now in order for Philly to close
out this series is going to be the war of attrition.
Can Joel and bed with that, Knie's brain be healthy enough,
consistent enough, and can James Harden bottle Games one in
games four moving forward?

Speaker 3 (59:51):
I mean the answer is probably not.

Speaker 4 (59:54):
That's a difficult film, right, That's that's hard to do.

Speaker 2 (59:58):
That's a hell of an ask. Yes, I mean, I
think I said this a week ago. We're getting to
the point and this may be unfair, but man, the
avenue is there for the Boston Celtics.

Speaker 3 (01:00:10):
Yes, Like I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:00:13):
Having a hard time with them having a two to
one lead and home court advantage at that point in
the NBA Finals last year and to have Steph do
what he did on their floor game four, never win
another game, then have the Eastern Conference start to fall
the way that it's falling this year. I don't know, man,

(01:00:34):
We're starting to run out of excuses real quick.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
Yeah, you are. They have it.

Speaker 4 (01:00:40):
They have the youth, they have the skill, they have
the length defensively, they got front court, backcourt, defensive players.
They got a killer six men of a year coming
off the bench.

Speaker 3 (01:00:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
They they can't get it.

Speaker 4 (01:00:52):
Together, which I'm okay with as a fan because I'm
a Laker guy. But as a basketball fan, it doesn't
make sense to me. It doesn't make sense.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
Well, a lot in the Eastern Conference doesn't make sense.
I mean, what do you make of the Miami Heat
right now? Hey man, I don't even know what to
do with this, because what the hell is going on?
If the Heat play the Lakers in the finals, Oh
my god, I.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
Can't wait on earth. Oh please let that happen again.
We'll take that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
Well, first of all, it'd be a great story combined
with an advertisement for for load management and the playing
Tournament and all of these things that a lot of
fans don't like.

Speaker 4 (01:01:37):
Yeah, yeah, the Miami Heat they have some something.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
Called the Butler. The Butler did it?

Speaker 3 (01:01:44):
Okay, my gosh, he's unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (01:01:46):
You can't. You don't want to run into him in
a playoff series. You don't want that, Like you, no
matter what you I don't care what you think their
team has or doesn't have. You don't want to run
into this man in the playoff series because he's unworldly
when it comes to that, and that is that's something
that you can't quantify, you can't explain. You just can't

(01:02:12):
do it, and you don't want it. If whoever, if
Miami makes it out of this, whichever team plays them
in the Eastern Conference Finals are in trouble. That's just
the way I see it. They're in trouble. It's no
telling them what this dude, what Jimmy Butler is gonna do?
You know who else on our team is like that

(01:02:33):
when we show up to the radio station, when we
when we show up here and this guy steps into
the door, we know, we know we have a chance
to win because him showing up is an instant W
And that's Stephen W the Sega.

Speaker 7 (01:02:54):
Good evening, gentlemen, and you mentioned the Miami Keith. They
lost their playing open a see Atlanta. Let's not first
team exactly had to beat Chicago to stay alive.

Speaker 1 (01:03:04):
Yep.

Speaker 7 (01:03:05):
Miami's record to start April was forty and thirty seven,
and now Miami, leading two games to one, hosts New
York again tomorrow. By the way, for the Knicks last game,
the eighty six points was their fewest in a game
since November, and it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:18):
Comes against the Heat.

Speaker 7 (01:03:18):
The Heat's record against the East in the regular season
was twenty four and twenty eight. The only playoff team
with a losing record in conference in the East. Lakers
host Golden State again late tomorrow night. With LA up
two games to one. Philadelphia is even two games a
piece in its second rounder after the overtime win against
Boston won sixteen one point fifteen James Harden forty two points,

(01:03:40):
including the go ahead three pointer. He had nine assists,
one turnover. Harden was sixteen for twenty three shooting from
the floor. Remember the previous two games combined, he made
five shots five five of twenty eight. Joel Embiid thirty
four points. Marcus Smart at Boston twenty one points, but
his three at the ind came after the buzzer he
missed a three at the end of regulation as well.

(01:04:01):
Jason Tatum started oh of eight shooting from the Florida today.
He finished with twenty four points eighteen rebounds in defeat
Jalen Brown and the Celtics twenty three points. Nuggets one
seed in the West, currently leading two games to one
and leading tonight mid third quarter seventy seven to seventy
five at Phoenix. Nicola Jokic with thirty one points for

(01:04:22):
the Phoenix Suns, twenty five for Devin Booker, twenty one
points for Kevin Durant. Chris Paul out again with a
string growing. Game five of this series will be in
Denver late Tuesday. Stanley Cup Playoffs, Florida has just won
in overtime three to two over two seed Toronto. That
means the Florida Panthers are up three games to none
now in this second round series, with Game four in

(01:04:43):
Florida Wednesday. New Jersey was an eight to four winner
against Carolina today. Game four in New Jersey Tuesday. Hurricanes
still lead the series two games to one. The late
game back to get underway Dallas at Seattle. That series
even at a game apiece Sunday night, Baseball top of
the eighth inning at Santa and Diego Padres two to
one over the Dodgers, and among the other games earlier,

(01:05:05):
Red Sox actually lost at Philadelphia phil six to one.
That was going on roughly the same time Boston against
Philadelphia as the NBA Boston at Philadelphia, Atlanta Braves in
twelve innings beat the Orioles three to two, Blue Jays,
a ten to one winner at the slumping Pirates, Raise
one again eight to seven, a comeback against the Yankees,
and Garrett cola tenanting win for Tampa Bay Raise record

(01:05:28):
twenty eight and seven. Denny Hamlin took the NASCAR Race
at Kansas, bumping by Kyle Larson on the final app
And by the way, the NBA released the award schedule for.

Speaker 1 (01:05:37):
The coming week.

Speaker 7 (01:05:38):
We'll find out daytime tomorrow the All Rookie Team, daytime Tuesday,
the All Defensive Team, and pregame Wednesday night will find
out the All NBA Team.

Speaker 2 (01:05:48):
Back to you, all right, Steve great stop at the
end of your first year, cover credit cards automatically to
all the cash back you've earned.

Speaker 3 (01:05:59):
That's right, you've doubled. Seriously see terms and check it out.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
For yourself at discover dot com slash match. Hey, the
Suns and Nuggets. They've tied things up, erom So I
don't know which way this is going to go. Maybe
it's gonna be a two to two series here in
another hour and a half or so. But I think
fair to ask this question. And Durant looks fine tonight.

(01:06:24):
He's seven for fourteen, twenty three points. But I feel
like when he was acquired it felt like okay, and
we talked about it so much, the Dallas acquisition, the
Phoenix acquisition. You were going to get overwhelmed offensively by
this team and it's still Booker's team. And I guess

(01:06:44):
that's fine, But how would you answer that? Why do
you think Durant doesn't look like we thought Durant was.

Speaker 1 (01:06:52):
Gonna look well?

Speaker 4 (01:06:53):
For first off, you know, he hasn't played a lot
of basketball this year. He hasn't played a lot of
basketball this year for this team. But secondly, they're not
allowing him to do that. In that first series, they
had made a conscious effort to double and get try
to get the ball out of Durant's hand. That's why

(01:07:15):
Devin Booker went bananas, right, So teams are more afraid
of Kevin Durant than they are of Devin Booker, and
Devin Booker is taking advantage of that fear. Right, this
is what Kevin Durant felt like playing in Golden State

(01:07:37):
when Steph was a two time MVP. Teams were so
hyper focused on running him off the three point line,
getting the ball out of his hand. Kevin Durant was open.
He never had been that open in the life in
the NBA. Yep, it's easy to score thirty one you're

(01:07:58):
one on one, and that's what we're seeing. We're seeing
teams running at Kevin Durant, forcing Booker to have those
one on one coverages, and he's taking advantage of it.
So it's not so much that I mean Kevin Durant,
he has twenty three points, he's only taking fourteen shots.

(01:08:19):
He's seven for fourteen, shooting fifty percent from the field.
And these aren't layups. These are all jump shots. So
it's not like he has the volume shots. He's shooting
the ball twenty three thirty times, and he's not putting
up the numbers. No, you know, he's you know, he's

(01:08:41):
deferring to Devin Booker number one, Devin Booker's younger got
more juice, got more gas. Right, all of this happens
what we're seeing in these playoffs. We're seeing these older players, right,
the ebbs and flows of a season and then the
second season in terms of the playoffs, right, Chris Paul

(01:09:04):
has already gone down, right, These are soft tissue injuries,
the growing right. He didn't break anything or twist or spring.
It's it's a growing right. So this is really going
to be you know, which team with an older star

(01:09:26):
like we're seeing can handle it that James Harden, the
Lebron James right, like the two The only team really
with young the young two young stars are the Celtics,
which is why there's such an enigma.

Speaker 2 (01:09:42):
Yeah, but you brought up Brockton, and it's an interesting
point because when I look at what happened Dallas and
when I look at what's happening to Phoenix, I'm reminded
of the lack of depth that they have. You know,
we started off the talking about bench versus in the
Lakers Warriors series. The Phoenix Suns are offering almost nothing.

(01:10:05):
They have zero off of their bench, right because they
gave it all the way for Kevin Duram and I
just I'm not saying that that was a bad move,
but it's such a cautionary tale I think for teams
out there who are ready to give up their depth
for one star, because I really don't know if that's
as good of a bet as people think it is.

Speaker 4 (01:10:25):
It'll get you to the postseason, but it'll make it
more difficult for you to push through. Right when you
look at their bench now, their bench has played a
total of thirty four minutes, no, twenty four minutes, twenty
eight minutes, and they've given you seven points. Yep, we're

(01:10:50):
in the third quarter with four minutes left. That is unsustainable.
It is it's just you will wear down because guess
what if you move to the next series, it's just
gonna be harder when you move to the finals. If

(01:11:11):
who somebody has to help. Somebody has to help. That's
the reason the Lakers were able to take hold of
that young Memphis Grizzly series. Rory Hachimora came in. It
was crazy. Austin Austen reeves with nuts. The other guys,

(01:11:32):
Dennis Shrewder, look at what D'Angelo Russell did yesterday. The
others are allowing our older guys and are often hurt
guys to only play thirty four minutes a night. If
you can do that and get and maximize their efforts

(01:11:52):
on the defensive end of the court, then you got
a shot. If you don't have that guy to come
in or those guys to come in and take minutes
where you don't fall apart.

Speaker 1 (01:12:03):
Man, it's gonna be tough. It is gonna be really,
really tough.

Speaker 2 (01:12:08):
I'm glad you brought up D'Angelo Russell because I would
like to bring him up in a completely different tone.
There was something you said about James Harden and I'd
like to know if you believe it also applies to
di'angelo Russell and things we've seen in the first three
games of this series against Golden State. So we'll do
that coming up next along with e from Salam Mark Willard,

(01:12:29):
It's Fox Sports Radio. Okay, we are live in the
ti iraq dot Com studio. Is Mark Willerty from Salam
Fox Sports Radio. Okay, my man, I gotta get my
qualifiers out first.

Speaker 1 (01:12:42):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
I ain't mad at the refs. I'm not mad at
the refs. It's not their fault and I'm only gonna
use D'Angelo Russell in this particular case as an example.

Speaker 3 (01:12:56):
He is far from alone. Hell.

Speaker 2 (01:12:58):
One of the reasons I think Chris Paul gets hurt
in the playoffs every year, it's because of karma. Honestly,
there's something, there's something I hate in the NBA, and
there's no team that is immune.

Speaker 3 (01:13:11):
So I'm just gonna use Russell as an example here.

Speaker 2 (01:13:14):
I think there's been a little bit from Draymond in
this series in this sort of same area. Certainly other
players have gotten away with it. Shrewder with a terrible
flop earlier in this series. But you brought up something
about James Harden. Instead of looking for contact right he's

(01:13:36):
looking for the shot. And I'm sure you've noticed this
maneuver that DiAngelo does, and I think it works a
because he's got a little bit of an awkward style
and b because he's left handed.

Speaker 3 (01:13:48):
So dudes just aren't ready for it. But he's got
the ball in his left hand, and if he.

Speaker 2 (01:13:53):
Finds your arm in a vulnerable spot, he will immediately
bring the right arm up to the ball and suddenly
act like he was going to shoot a shot, which
he wasn't gonna do and he draws the foul. Here's
the bigger issue. I listen, if it works, you do it.
I get it. But there's there's one thing that a

(01:14:16):
lot of NBA players do, and it makes me have
a hard time watching those NBA players, And when it's
it's when they play from a game of trying to
get the ref to think something happened that didn't happen.
That that's what That's what I find so difficult, and

(01:14:38):
I wish there was a.

Speaker 3 (01:14:40):
Different way to go about this. And I really think from.

Speaker 2 (01:14:45):
The age of review is offering the answer. If we're
going to go review everything to see if it was
a flagrant, if we're going to go review everything when
there's a challenge, then there needs to be something coming
back in the other direction. If I review it and
it turns out you flopped, it's not a no foul,

(01:15:07):
it's a foul on you. It's a foul on you,
or something to that effect. A few years ago, they
decided they were going to start finding guys for flopping,
and guess what happened with that idea. It flopped. They
stopped worrying about it. They're not doing it anymore. It's
time to bring it back well.

Speaker 4 (01:15:28):
In the NCAA, if you flop, then it's a technical.
It's not a personal file or anything. But you you
you shoot a technical foul. Three second defensive three seconds
is a technical as it should be. Take file is
a technical. Let's go right, one shot and continue on.

(01:15:50):
So if that's something that you you know it would
it would be that you or willing to sacrifice a
point for it. So it has been. I mean, James
Harden made that what it is. He made it prevalent.
Who's scoring thirty six points a game and shooting twenty

(01:16:14):
free throws a game? Right, because you take an unnatural
shooting motion. Remember Kevin Durant made the rip through famous.
They stopped giving free throws to that because all you
would do is just rip through and go up for
like a shot, and you go into the free throw
line for three free throws.

Speaker 2 (01:16:36):
To me, this looks like almost the exact same thing. Yeah,
it's the exact same thing. It's tangling up arms on
purpose to get a foul at an odd time that
is not when you were going to shoot a basketball.

Speaker 3 (01:16:52):
And it's just it's weak. It's just weak.

Speaker 1 (01:16:55):
Sauce.

Speaker 2 (01:16:55):
I don't know, any other way to say it. It's
not a basketball play. It's not a good play. And
too many of the guys that I just threw out
on this list, they're too good, quite frankly, for this.

Speaker 3 (01:17:07):
They're too good. You're too good of a scorer to
resort to that.

Speaker 4 (01:17:14):
Yeah, I agree, but it's become part of the fabric
of the game, right kids are doing it in aau.
This is you know, this is what that's what happens,
and so you know, at some point the refs have
to take a stand, but it won't happen until that happens,

(01:17:41):
you know. I just you know, basketball is ever changing
every years. It's just it's changing, and you know, it
is what it is.

Speaker 1 (01:17:53):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:17:53):
I'm just sitting here watching Kevin Durant and Devin Booker
just go ham right, Devin Booker is thirty six, Kevin
Durant twenty seven. They're both shooting over fifty percent from
the field.

Speaker 1 (01:18:11):
You know, but how long can they they last.

Speaker 2 (01:18:14):
Doing this well, and they're only up by six as
they start the fourth quarter. Yeah, like Denver, Denver's still
right there. Yokis is going crazy tonight. He's got forty
two and uh and this is this is one of
those games. I mean, Phoenix has got absolutely got to
have it. So they're gonna play with a desperation here,

(01:18:35):
and you know, you have to like their chances. But
I didn't see anything in the games in Denver that
would suggest to me that Phoenix is gonna win a
game in Denver.

Speaker 1 (01:18:46):
No.

Speaker 4 (01:18:46):
No, it's hard to play up there, man, that altitude
to jump on you, and along as a series goes,
the harder it is to play. What I will say,
I'll say this, whoever wins this series, I don't think
they can be.

Speaker 1 (01:19:00):
The Lakers are Golden State.

Speaker 4 (01:19:01):
So just in terms of style of play, depth, all
of that, I just don't see it.

Speaker 2 (01:19:10):
That's an interesting statement and definitely a first time statement
coming out of a six slash seven series. Yeah yeah,
I mean one on Earth. But I'm not sure that
I disagree with you. The Lakers and the Warriors and
the experience and the calm under pressure that they offer

(01:19:31):
right now seems to kind of rule the day. However,
especially since you said that, we also know this as
a series draws on the eyeballs on officiating only grow.
So this is the question that I asked you coming
up next, Ephraim is they love the Lakers versus the Warriors.

(01:19:53):
But which team would the league love to see move
on more? That's what we're gonna get to coming up next.

Speaker 6 (01:20:01):
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 2 (01:20:13):
Is this better or worse? I'm not sure. We'll put
it to eat from here. In just a second, we
are broadcasting live ty rack dot com studios. Tyrack dot
com will help you get there an unmatched selection of fast,
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Tyrack dot com the way tire buying should be. I

(01:20:34):
got to get to that Laker Warrior question in just
a second, but I also notice this, and I wonder
what you think. All the way back to the days
of Charles Barkley saying that a jump shooting team will
never win a championship, and then it became a T
shirt when the Warriors first won one. But you look
at it right now, the Nuggets in the suns. Here,

(01:20:55):
we are just outside of seven minutes to go in
the game. At a total a total of forty three
three point attempts have been made in this game.

Speaker 1 (01:21:06):
That's crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:21:06):
That's why both teams combined. The Warriors would have shot
more than that by themselves at this point, which is
a problem. They lean a little bit too much in
that direction. I mean, they've shot over fifty in a
lot of games in these playoffs, so I'm not saying

(01:21:27):
that's the end all be all, But in the age
of analytics, where it seems like most people are like, well,
I may not be great at math, but it seems
to me that three is more than two, and that
seems to be the way people go about planning out
their offense.

Speaker 3 (01:21:43):
What to you, and I know obviously it has to
do with who's.

Speaker 2 (01:21:46):
Your personnel, But what's a sweet spot about how many
per game?

Speaker 1 (01:21:51):
I say, if you can get away.

Speaker 4 (01:21:55):
With shooting right around thirty the thirty two threes a game,
and if you're hitting forty percent of those, I think
that's the sweet spot. Because technically, roughly a team will

(01:22:15):
get about anywhere between eighty five and ninety field goal
attempts shots per game. Yeah, shots per game, So if
you could do a third there, then I think that

(01:22:37):
that would bold well, that means you're you're balanced and
you're not relying heavily. That Remember, that's the reason Golden
State dismantled Houston that they shot they missed twenty six
threes in a row. Well, I know it's a bad
shot when it doesn't go in, right, but but these
these are highly missed that many. Yeah, it's high. These

(01:22:59):
are high efficient shooters. So you don't expect that you're
going to miss, right. You're not gonna you're gonna miss
twenty seven in a row, right right now, every shot
you take that's an open three, you feel like it's
going in. But when it's not, Like the Lakers were
able to win Game one and they shot abysmals. Lebron

(01:23:22):
James himself was one for eight, right, I think they
I think they only made four threes to Golden States
twenty one, but they also shot twenty five free throws.
So the balance there. Now, Golden State historically is one
of the best shooting three point shooting teams of all time,

(01:23:47):
of all time, it's not even close. So they're gonna
live by it and die by it because their team
is built like that. Everybody else isn't built life like that,
So what do you do? How do you adjust?

Speaker 1 (01:24:04):
Right? If you have embiid or if you have Joker,
or if you have.

Speaker 4 (01:24:10):
Anthony Davis, then I'm like, hey, hey man, y'all need
to come on now, cut all that out now, right right,
Like if you have a at tangible bucket getter who
can go free throw line extended down, then yeah, man,
that's where you want to live, because what that does

(01:24:31):
is it draws the defense in and now those very
same threes become even more open. Now there's balance. Do
you double on the on the big If you do,
someone's gonna be wide open for the three? Or are
you just coming off screens hoisting up you know, threes.
There's a different way to get to the three and

(01:24:54):
normally putting pressure inside And I'm not talking about this
new age of driving to the basket, jumping up to
the rim and catapulting the ball back out because you're
essentially not putting any pressure in. You're just driving to kick,
You're not driving to score. And I think the way
the reason Miami has the success they have even with

(01:25:15):
one of their best shooters out with the broken hand
and hero, is because Jimmy Butler drives to score. Jimmy
Butler goes to the hole to score, and I think
Lebron James goes to the hole to score. Anthony Davis

(01:25:35):
goes to the hole to score. We saw D'Angelo Russell
running off the three point line going to the hole
to score, and I think that's a difference. I think
it brings a different element to the game, and I
think it's difficult to uh to guard that.

Speaker 2 (01:25:50):
All right, since we're back on that series, first and foremost,
at the end of your first year, Discovered credit cards
automatically double all the cash back you've earned.

Speaker 3 (01:25:57):
That's right, everything you've earned doubled.

Speaker 2 (01:26:00):
Seriously see terms and check it out for yourself at
Discovered dot.

Speaker 3 (01:26:03):
Com slash match. How would you answer that question.

Speaker 2 (01:26:07):
I'm not sure necessarily what its relevance is because I'm
not necessarily a buyer into all of the NBA conspiracy theories.
But who do you think the league wants to move on?
Between the Lakers and the Warriors. I think it's a
toss up. I think you get exactly what you need

(01:26:29):
and what you want from either team. The Golden State
Wards are defending champions. They have SUREFI Hall of Famers
have the greatest shooter on the planet Earth, the most
relatable team in NBA history in the Golden State Warriors.
And then you have the lineage of Lebron James. You

(01:26:50):
have the cachet and the greatness of one of the
you know, your storied franchises. Golden State has won seven
NBA championships as well now, So I think either way,
the NBA wished this could be the Western Conference final.
That's what the NBA really wanted.

Speaker 4 (01:27:12):
Well, of course, because either when you get whatever team
that came out of that and want to represent the
Western Conference in the finals, you won, you won. So
for me, I don't think the league is leaning either way.
I know people are like, oh, they want Lebron James
to get his name. Yeah, but Steph Curry's one of

(01:27:32):
those guys on that Mount Rushmore as well. Now they
both moved the needle. So you know, looking at you know,
who do you think you know the league?

Speaker 2 (01:27:47):
One?

Speaker 4 (01:27:48):
I really don't. I really can't. I would love to
say the Lakers because I'm a Laker guy. But if
Golden State continues on they're defending champions, that in itself
is the store.

Speaker 2 (01:28:01):
The box office. Those are we talked about it last week.
These are the one in the two seed in NBA
and maybe even sports entertainment right now in terms of
box office Steph Curry and Lebron James. So this series
is perfect from that standpoint. As far as where it
goes next, I mean maybe with the league. You know,

(01:28:24):
as you said, it can't be the Western Conference finals.

Speaker 3 (01:28:26):
So what it can be though is long. They can
be a long series.

Speaker 2 (01:28:31):
Yeah, And again, I know a lot of people believe
in this stuff and a lot of people don't.

Speaker 3 (01:28:36):
I tend not to. But I also think somewhere.

Speaker 2 (01:28:40):
Along the line, there is a humanness to when one
team is upset at the end of a game and
they are pointing to certain things that have happened with
officiating or a certain player, and social media gets a
hold of that and starts a top talk about it

(01:29:00):
a lot for forty eight hours. I think there's a
there's a sending of the energy in the other direction
that tends to show up in the next game. And
maybe that's something that will help this series kind of
keep going back and forth because I sort of get
the feeling that that's what it's going.

Speaker 4 (01:29:18):
To do well. And you're talking in terms of the
disparity in files. Right, well, yes and no.

Speaker 2 (01:29:25):
I mean the Lakers, as you've said, and I agree
with you, they're built to end up at the free
throw line a lot more than the Warriors are, and
they will.

Speaker 3 (01:29:33):
And that does not mean.

Speaker 2 (01:29:34):
That the fouls are out of whack or the officials
are doing something wrong.

Speaker 3 (01:29:39):
I think.

Speaker 2 (01:29:41):
There's a line to this, But the Lakers are going
to get fouled more than the Warriors, and that's not
a mystery. The Lakers are going to the basket. The
Warriors don't go into the basket as much. It's pretty
simple a to b But I do think that when
you're looking at certain things. For instance, Steve Kurtz press
conference today, it's all about officiating. It wasn't Steve saying it.

(01:30:03):
It was all the questions. Steve kept saying, why are
we talking about the refs? We lost by thirty? The
refs are not the reason that the Warriors lost the game.
And he's right, But why are all the reporters asking
Because there's a perception when you come out of the
game that the losing team, if they've got certain things
they're pointing to that they don't like the refts are

(01:30:26):
going to have that in their heads, whether they try
to block it out or not.

Speaker 4 (01:30:32):
Yeah, it's there. But Golden State's not going to change
the way they play. So if you're looking for the
calls to be so would question are you asking for
there'd be less calls called, you know, on Golden State,

(01:30:53):
because I don't think that's what they're asking for. No,
it's not even yeah, they're style. A play doesn't warrant
them getting more calls.

Speaker 3 (01:31:03):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:31:04):
I don't think there's a specific label to it. I
think there's just a perception in every NBA game when
you walk away from it, there's one side that's kind
of like that didn't feel so good. It's obviously usually
the losing team. But let's be real, when that losing

(01:31:24):
team is the Warriors or the Lakers or the Celtics
or whatever those big brands, there tends to be a
corrective aspect in the next game.

Speaker 3 (01:31:40):
It's just the way it is.

Speaker 2 (01:31:41):
When the Kings came to San Francisco up two games
to none the very first time out, where they're doing
the miked up situation with Mike Brown the very first
time out, you hear him yelling at his team he goes,
I told you the reps weren't going to give you
any calls tonight, right right. Why are you thinking that
they're gonna get you calls? Of course they're not. That's

(01:32:04):
not the way this works. That doesn't mean the league
was favoring the Warriors. It's just the natural flow of
a series.

Speaker 4 (01:32:14):
Yet, you know, playoff series are are are more physical
than the regular season. We know that the team gorse,
the team that initiates the physicality that bowls well for them.
The Lakers are a physical team, always have been. Shout

(01:32:36):
out to the Dodgers. Woof Okay, all right, right top
of the tenth, okay, all right, all right my Dodgers. Well,
I wouldn't. I wouldn't say you're Padres because you're you.

Speaker 2 (01:32:51):
Know, no, I knowed Ted Lightner, He's no, yes.

Speaker 4 (01:32:56):
I know, yes. But you know, physicality is something the
Lakers do well. They're long, they're aggressive, they're challenging shots.
How many teams have a shot blocker? How many teams
has somebody who's gonna go up and block shots, literally,

(01:33:20):
a rim protector. There are very few of those, we know,
Joel and be right. Ye, so yeah, Steph Curry's not
going to get those layups, so those float there. You
can have someone who's really gonna block a shot or
attempt to block a shot without filing you, because that's
what they practice. They practice on that right, they practice

(01:33:45):
on going to reach the ball.

Speaker 1 (01:33:47):
At it's tied. Lebron James is chasing block, chasing people
down again.

Speaker 3 (01:33:52):
He's unbelievable, man, I just did you.

Speaker 1 (01:33:54):
See that effort he gave on the defensive end.

Speaker 2 (01:34:00):
Is an inch away from being right next to Tom
Brady in terms of agelessness.

Speaker 3 (01:34:05):
I don't even get it.

Speaker 2 (01:34:06):
Which actually it leads to a cool question about him
and Brawny, which, now that he has declared for USC,
i'll ask you about that.

Speaker 3 (01:34:15):
Coming up next. That's THEE from Salam. I'm Mark will It.

Speaker 2 (01:34:18):
This is Fox Sports Radio Okay Live, Tyraq dot Com Studios,
Mark Willardy from Salam. Before I get to that Lebron thing.
Right now, the win percentage for the Suns is at
ninety two and a half percent, so it's.

Speaker 3 (01:34:33):
Not over yet. They lead by five.

Speaker 2 (01:34:38):
With under twenty seconds to go, and actually now it's
moving up the board as Joki misses a shot. So
in anticipation of a two to two series tie. How
do you see it now?

Speaker 4 (01:34:53):
I still think the home team has the advantage. You know,
you gotta win. I just having home court advantage is
so big. And in these playoffs obviously we can see
what's what's happening here.

Speaker 1 (01:35:15):
Wow, that's something you don't see much of Jokic. You're
missing a point blank shot.

Speaker 4 (01:35:20):
But hey, man, when you play, when you play all
of the men.

Speaker 2 (01:35:27):
Yeah, the man scored fifty one, so you know, we'll
give him a break on one shot.

Speaker 4 (01:35:32):
It's it's gonna take that level for him and for
them to win this. But playing in that altitude gives
them a distinct advantage at home. It is tough to
play up there. Brother, for someone who played there basketball,
you running up and down that court and you remember like, oh,
well they're in shape.

Speaker 1 (01:35:53):
It's just a different type of shape.

Speaker 3 (01:35:55):
It's different.

Speaker 4 (01:35:56):
And that that in itself is a tremendous home court
advantage because now there are elements that you know, it's
not the crowd when you can't feel your lungs, and
as we've already stated, they don't play a lot of

(01:36:17):
people on their bench.

Speaker 1 (01:36:20):
I think they found something in Shama today.

Speaker 4 (01:36:26):
He came out, he's played thirty minutes and he was
on fire, especially in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (01:36:32):
Yeah, hit five threes, ended up with seventeen points. That's
the kind of thing though that you know, maybe they
found something and maybe they was just a thing, right,
Like maybe somebody came out and hit five threes.

Speaker 3 (01:36:45):
Like these bench players, you can't depend They got the
ability to do that, right, and they do it a
lot at home and they tend to not do it.

Speaker 1 (01:36:52):
On the road.

Speaker 4 (01:36:53):
So I would give the advantage to Denver Steel. Look
they're doing with on that know what they're supposed to do, right,
you gotta one on your home court.

Speaker 2 (01:37:05):
The other thing I want to ask you about Lebron
with with the you know, Bronni was in the building yesterday,
and you know you look at the USC news and
and Lebron obviously has has made it very well known
that he'll retire once he's had one year to play
with Bronni, I wonder, just as you're watching this now,

(01:37:26):
and I know you're a Laker fan, that's in the moment,
but as I even go back a few years when
it took a while for the Laker fan base to
really accept Lebron because for whatever reason people made this
about Lebron or Kobe or if somehow this was challenging
the Kobe news of everything. It was a little bit odd,

(01:37:50):
I think from from the outside. But when you now
look at a guy that's here now and he's going
to try to try to make another run here in
a Laker uniform, but is also letting you know that
for the future, his allegiance is whatever team ends up
with his son, not the Lakers. I just I wonder

(01:38:10):
how this all sits with you.

Speaker 4 (01:38:12):
It's fine, man, Lebron James been twenty years in NBA, right,
his son is not in my opinion. You know, next
season will be twenty one, So in season twenty two,
I think that's where he's talking about playing with Bronni
yep and I meet personally. Don't believe his son is

(01:38:34):
a one and done player. Now the James name may
make that happen, and the team draft him in the
late first maybe, you know, second round, whatever that is.

Speaker 1 (01:38:47):
Okay, but I don't.

Speaker 4 (01:38:49):
I mean, Bronney James is ranked the fifth point guard
in his class, and I think the twenty first player
overall in the class of twenty twenty three. So that
doesn't scream one and done to me? No, So like

(01:39:11):
the kid who's going to SC with him is the
number one recruit that screams for one and done? Right,
Like that may be the kid that comes out of
SC after after one year? Is Bronnie James gonna start?

Speaker 2 (01:39:32):
Well, you got to think about it this way too.
Now you got to understand, and I know you do,
where this story is going to go. If you're a
team that let's say you know, after you watch let's
say Bronnie does fine, it's not amazing, but he has
his freshman year and then he applies for the draft,

(01:39:52):
and like you're saying, you're late in the first round,
and you're sitting there going, well, we're not just drafting Bronnie.
We're essentially assuring that we're gonna get Lebron as a
free agent for a year. There might be a few
teams where that's pretty attractive.

Speaker 4 (01:40:10):
Yeah, yeah, but that's not gonna happen early in the draft.
You know, like having a Lebron in year twenty now,
having a Lebron in year twenty two is not having
Lebron even in year twenty.

Speaker 1 (01:40:26):
Right, You're not gonna get this Lebron.

Speaker 4 (01:40:28):
You're not gonna get last year's Lebron or any year previous.
You're gonna get Lebron who can come in, who can
still play. But you'll be hard pressed if he's averaging
twenty five points a game playing those type log in
those types of minutes. We're seeing the wear and tear
of it right now, we're watching that happen. You see

(01:40:52):
Lebron lebrin. You see Lebron go sit down on the
bench and he is exhausted, exhaust He's eating whatever that
orange slices of orange, whatever he's eating to get whatever
that energy boost right in the in the tougherware, to

(01:41:12):
get him that that boost.

Speaker 1 (01:41:15):
And you know it's like in two more years, what
are we what are we talking here? Father with?

Speaker 4 (01:41:25):
One thing we do know is Father Time's undefeated. Now
Lebron James is holding them off. He's holding him at
Bay better than any other player in the history of
basketball has done.

Speaker 1 (01:41:37):
But guess what this man is still undefeated.

Speaker 4 (01:41:40):
Lebron's commercial campaign this year was Father Time Him versus
Father Time. So I think if a team, especially a
small market team, right a small market team were to
draft after Bronnie James and get lebron James. I think

(01:42:04):
market wise, I think it'd be amazing. I think it'd
also be very propos if he it was Cleveland, right,
Oh goodness, So you know, third times of Charm, So
you know it. Unless Bronnie comes out and he's just

(01:42:27):
sensational and he takes and he's one of the reasons
that se makes a deep turning run, then that's a
different conversation. Now we're having a different conversation. But that's
a lot to put on a young man. You know,
that's a lot. You want to talk about pressure, that's
a lot of pressure to put on a young player

(01:42:50):
who may or may not be able to live up
to that. And Bronnie's and he's gotten better every year,
he's gotten better. He works, got the best trainers, best regiment,
best nutrition is all, all of that makes his own
money already, like all of these things are in his favor. Well,
one thing you can't hide behind when you step on
that court. They don't care who your daddy, your cousin, uncle,

(01:43:11):
they don't care who that is. You got to stand
on your own. And so we'll see if he's able
to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:43:25):
When you talk about that kind of pressure. We usually
save that for the veterans, people like Steve de Sager.
People like Steve de Sager. Let's find out what's trending tasty.
It's one of our veterans, Steve de Sager.

Speaker 7 (01:43:39):
Hell we gentlemen, you gotta be said again, out loud.
Nikola jokicch had fifty three points and they lost. Phoenix
has tied two games apiece in their second round NBA
playoff series after a home win against one seed Denver
one twenty nine, one twenty four. Jokich with fifty three
points on twenty of thirty shooting from the floor. Devin

(01:44:00):
Booker of the Suns thirty six points, twelve assists. He
was fourteen of eighteen shooting for the floor. Each club
shot about fifty six percent. Sunsguard Chris Paul was out
again with a strain growing Kevin Durant thirty six points
Game five in Denver late Tuesday. In the East, Philadelphia's
tied two games apiece after the overtime home victory against

(01:44:20):
Boston Today. James Harden forty two points, including the go
ahead three pointer. Hardin had nine assists just one turnover.
He was sixteen of twenty three from the floor. This
after just five field goals made in the last two
games combined.

Speaker 1 (01:44:34):
In this series.

Speaker 7 (01:44:35):
Joel Embiid scored thirty four points. Marcus Smart of Boston
had twenty one points, but his three at the end
came after the buzzer. He missed a three at the
end of regulation as well. Game five will be Tuesday
in Boston. We know there's a Game six. It's in
Philadelphia on Thursday. The Lakers hosts Golden State again. Late
tomorrow night, Miami hosts New York again Tomorrow. Stanley Cup Playoffs,

(01:44:57):
Florida's up three games to none after the overtime on
win against Toronto three to two, New Jersey eight to
four over Carolina. Today, Hurricanes lead the series two games
to one now scoreless end of one Dallas at Seattle.
That second round series tied at a game apiece. Monday night,
Vegas plays at Edmonton. Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR race
at Kansas, ending a thirty three race drought. Wyndham Clark

(01:45:20):
took the PGA event in Charlotte by four strokes. The
NFL schedule for the coming season reportedly will come out
this Thursday. We'll find out all the particulars, including which
Kansas City home game will be the league's season opener.
They are due to play Philadelphia this season, just saying
Dodgers winners in ten innings at San Diego tonight five too.

(01:45:41):
Mookie bets the tying solo homer with two outs in
the top of the ninth. It came off closer Josh Hater.
Texas was a sixteen to eight winner at the Angels.
White Sox seventeen to four winners at Cincinnati, Atlanta in
twelve atged Baltimore three to two Tampa Bay and ten
innings edge the Yankees eighth Tampa Bay Razer nineteen and

(01:46:01):
three at home, and Miami in fourteen innings, won five
to four at the Cubs. Red Sox had won eight
straight games, but lost at Philadelphia six to one. Kansas
City beat Oakland five to one. Kansas City Royals record
nine and twenty six, A's record eight and twenty seven,
and a guy who pitched for both of them passed away.
Former Rays pitcher Vita Blue died at the age of

(01:46:24):
seventy three, A guy who had nearly a decade with
the Oakland A's, starting as a teenager and his career
ERA with them was two point nine to five. Then
he got traded to the Giants, wound up being an
All Star three times on one side of the Bay
and three times on the other side. Vita Blue, gentleman,
at the age of twenty two, was not only cy

(01:46:46):
Young winner in the American League nineteen seventy one, he
was MVP in the league that year thirty nine starts,
era one point eight two. Again Vita Blue was seventy three.

Speaker 1 (01:46:58):
Back to dear.

Speaker 2 (01:47:00):
Thank you for that, Steve. Rest in peace, Vida Blue.
That's a nice man. That's a nice man. I have
the pleasure of meeting and talking to Vida a time
or two, and certainly have plenty of old baseball cards
sitting around us in a closet somewhere. But rest in peace,
the great Vity. That is a very very nice man.

(01:47:23):
Mark Wellerty from Sala, I'm glad you are with us tonight,
getting everybody ready for the series that has certainly had
the majority of our attention on this show tomorrow night,
the what I.

Speaker 3 (01:47:35):
Call pivotal Game four.

Speaker 2 (01:47:39):
I get into a very silly, repetitive argument sometimes with
some of the people I host with here in the
Bay Area and even some friends. We always refer to
the game three is well, that's pivotal, right when the
series is tied one one, it's like, no, it's not,
because whoever wins the other team can just go win

(01:47:59):
it right back. Pivotal pivotals the even numbered games. That's
when you can make some hey man, that's when you
can take off and take a big lead. The Lakers
can take a huge lead in this series tomorrow, while
the Warriors can actually regain the advantage with a win tomorrow.
But Steve Kerse said one thing I agree with, and
I wonder if you do too normally the phrase must win,

(01:48:23):
which we do throw around a little bit, and everybody
gets to define it as whether they mean that in
a mathematics sort of a way or an emotional sort
of way. I think there are games that where that
are not elimination games, but you have to refer to
them as a must win.

Speaker 3 (01:48:39):
I would have.

Speaker 2 (01:48:40):
Called what the Suns just executed as a must win,
because the Lakers and Warriors are who they are. I
don't think that exists in this series. There are no
must wins until you're facing elimination. I could absolutely see
obviously the Lakers won't fall down three games to one.

(01:49:01):
But I, like I do not find tomorrow to be
a must win for either team. I think whoever wins,
it's got a big edge in the series going forward.
But I don't think must win exists until you're actually
facing elimination in this series.

Speaker 4 (01:49:18):
Well, and that's and that's a good point because you know,
for for for the Lakers, you know, being up to one,
they stole a game, can they hold serve and even
if they were to win Game four, which I suspect
they will tomorrow at home, of course. I mean just

(01:49:43):
looking at the history of Golden State on the road
the Lakers at home, it you know, this is not
a young team. This is an experienced team.

Speaker 1 (01:49:53):
So I see that.

Speaker 4 (01:49:57):
But going into game what five, I would suspect Golden
State win that at home? Right, So given the Lakers
two games to win one and you know, closing them
out in six, like, I like that. That's what my

(01:50:20):
prognostication was, Lakers and six, right. So Stephen Curry, Chicken Curry,
it don't matter, no worry, Lakers and six. Right, So
you know, Golden State eliminate, uh fruitcake Lakers and six, whatever, whatever,

(01:50:44):
whatever it is. I picked the Lakers in six because
I knew this was going to be a really tough game.
Especially when the Lakers won that first game, it immediately
gave them the upper hand, the advantage in this series
because it's hard to beat Golden State there. And if

(01:51:07):
the Lakers hold hold court tomorrow, that is going to
that's you know, then they'll probably rest up for that
game six, similar to what they did in the Memphid series.

Speaker 2 (01:51:22):
Listen, they may well have the Warriors kryptonite. I can
see that the same way you can. And actually there's
one other clue that is in the lakers favor in
this series that is a little bit more tangible, if
you will, than our opinion, and I'll let you know
what that is. Coming up next. It's Mark Willin and

(01:51:43):
E from salam on Fox Sports Radio. To beat guarded
by Tatum, left Tandrible into the lane at the dotted circle.

Speaker 1 (01:51:50):
Double team got the heart. Three point shot for the
lead is good.

Speaker 6 (01:51:53):
Harden converts eighteen seconds to go Chames Harden for three.

Speaker 1 (01:51:58):
He's got forty two.

Speaker 2 (01:52:00):
We are live in the tirag dot Com studios. Credit
WPE N ninety seven five the fanatic seventy six ers
radio network and a call that really kept it together
in a big moment. By the way, that is the
Progressive Play of the Day, brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
Progressive makes bundling easy and affordable. Get a multi policy

(01:52:22):
discount by combining your motorcycle, RV, boat, ATV and more
all your protection in one place, buttle and save at
Progressive dot com. Aphraim, I'll give the Lakers this. This
is one big difference that I wonder if people are
aware of, even if you are someone who who.

Speaker 3 (01:52:41):
Speaks Vegas, if you will.

Speaker 2 (01:52:44):
The Warriors, though trailing two games to none to the
Sacramento Kings in round one, the Warriors as soon as
they came back and one game three, those still trailing
two games to one and did not have home court advantage,
they remained the favorite in that series. That's obviously because

(01:53:08):
of the King's inexperience and the Warrior's pedigree. But Vegas,
for whatever reason, looked at that and never really bought
Sacramento as the favorite in any of those key pivotal games,
even sometimes when they were at home. If they did,
the Kings would be favored by like one one point

(01:53:30):
maybe or be a Pickham and the Warriors remained the
series favorite, and the Warriors remained one of the Western
Conference favorites throughout and then they succeed well. Compare that
with what we're seeing on these numbers now. The Lakers
are favored by three tomorrow, and the Lakers are favored

(01:53:51):
in this series at minus two ten versus the Warriors
being plus one eighty. Those are pretty significant numbers. Those
are pretty significant for those who understand what's going on.
Put it this way, I've never seen the Warriors get
a number like that in a situation where Tomorrow night

(01:54:13):
they could go out there win the game, and in
theory they've got home court back, and who wouldn't favor
them in a best of three scenario with two games
at home. I think very few people would. They are
only one game away from that being the case. However,
Vegas sees them as a pretty significant underdog in the series.

Speaker 1 (01:54:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:54:36):
I think styles make fights, and I think this is
a style that favors LA because of the physicality of it.
Like I said, losing that first game at home really
changed Golden State, right, and the odds and all of

(01:55:02):
that because of the history trouble they've had this season on.
They've won eleven regular season row games, and I know
this is the playoffs, but this isn't a young team.
This isn't a Sacramento team who just got back into
the playoffs after seventeen years. This is a story franchise
who three years ago won a championship, whether it be

(01:55:24):
in a bubble or whatever you want to call it.
With the same two core pieces in Anthony Davis and
Lebron James, they've gotten better since the trade deadline. They've
had the best record, the highest defensive efficiency since adding

(01:55:44):
the new pieces, and they just present problems for Golden State.
So I think that's why Vegas looks the way it looks,
because conventional wisdom says the Lakers will hold court and
win tomorrow. Oh now you go back to Golden State

(01:56:04):
down three to one, and the Lakers have, you know,
essentially two games or three games to win one.

Speaker 1 (01:56:15):
That's a problem.

Speaker 4 (01:56:18):
And I think that's why the odds have shifted the
way they have because the Lakers style of play doesn't
make for a very good fight for Golden State. Now,
if everybody's on and I'll say this, and the reason
I think it's like that is because their three shooters

(01:56:40):
have phenomenal games. The first game, it was the first
time in NBA history, I think in the playoffs where
a team had three players hit six threes. I mean,
that's crazy. They've had twenty one threes and they still lost.
They were down at half and they lost. It's the ballgame,

(01:57:01):
and it took a miraculous fourteen old run at the
end of the game to get them in position to
have Jordan Poole smoke it at the end. Right, But
looking at that, it's like, Okay, that's a problem because
they were on in game one at home, and yes,

(01:57:23):
they came off a tough seven game series with Sacramento,
and yeah, we know they're tired and all that, but hey,
no one cares.

Speaker 2 (01:57:33):
Well, they were on, but so was Anthony And for me,
he's honestly, let's be real, he's the key.

Speaker 1 (01:57:40):
Yeah, he's the key to this series.

Speaker 2 (01:57:42):
And it's going to be interesting to see if he
can get more consistent, if he's gonna play like he
did in Game one and go thirty points and twenty
three boards and be that kind of guys that physical presence.

Speaker 3 (01:57:57):
Right, Well, I'm not gonna call it a round real
damn tough because he doesn't know. But he doesn't do
that yet.

Speaker 1 (01:58:07):
Right, You're right, he doesn't do that.

Speaker 2 (01:58:09):
He doesn't do that every night, and and so I
don't know which way it's gonna go. And I know that,
I know that plenty of Laker fans feel one man
has made life tougher on him than anybody else in
the Western Conference. And uh, and that's Draymond Green. So
we'll see, we'll see. I've gotten pretty used to the

(01:58:31):
Warriors having the answer when they're in this position. I'm
not saying tomorrow night's gonna be that night again, but
I've gotten pretty used to it with pretty good reason.

Speaker 4 (01:58:41):
Yeah, yeah, and you're not wrong. We've seen him time
and time again be able to be able to weather
this storm. But uh, this this, this may be a
tough one.

Speaker 2 (01:58:52):
This may be tough on It could be. And I'll
tell you where I'm most impressed. You talk about how
the Lakers rebuilt themselves at the deadline.

Speaker 3 (01:59:00):
I don't know how.

Speaker 2 (01:59:02):
This team looks so jelled so quickly. I get the
Davis and Lebron that's their core, but Russell and Vanderbilt
and Hachimura with half of their top six are brand new.

Speaker 3 (01:59:18):
Yeah. Yeah, that's the most impressive thing for me.

Speaker 4 (01:59:20):
And I think because they're role players, right, and role
players can come in and fit their role. They didn't
get a bunch of superstars. They got guys who can
come in to help, not to come in and take
over and lead. And I think that that is the key.

Speaker 2 (01:59:38):
My man, enjoy it. I'll send you a text, oh
please do. I'll send you a couple of texts if
it goes the right way. I promise that, please, please do.

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