June 2, 2018 • 44 mins
Subscribe here to the All Ball with Doug Gottlieb Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-ball-with-doug-gottlieb/id1358843497?mt=2. All Ball with Doug Gottlieb is part of the Colin Cowherd Podcast Network. All Ball is an unfiltered podcast covering the biggest stories in college basketball and the NBA. Join Doug as he brings his unique perspective as an TV analyst and radio host. In this episode, Doug gives his take on Game 1 of the NBA finals. He's joined by guests Ryan Hollins and Ethan Strauss. Follow Doug on twitter at @GottliebShow and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, it's stuck Goli and welcome into All Ball, All basketball,
all the time. Thanks so much for listening. Don't forget
to download, to rate, and to subscribe to this podcast.
You can catch it weekly and sometimes bi weekly as well.
We'll lead you up to the NBA Draft. I do
have some nuggets from some players that have pulled out
(00:26):
of the NBA Draft. There's a lot of big news,
a lot of big news in college basketball. I'll kind
of run down some bullets here later on on the show,
but let me get to what we saw last night
Game one NBA Finals. If you listen to my radio show,
which you can listen to nationally three to six Eastern time,
twelve and three Pacific, Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Radio
(00:46):
dot Com, you can download that as well. You would
note that ever since the Eastern and Western Conference Finals ended,
I predicted that this would be a much more competitive
series than the rest of the world. At My logic
behind it was the Warriors are three on five on offense,
and once you get to the bench, boy, now a sudden,
(01:07):
it becomes they're just they're just plugging holes, especially with
that Andregodala. Additionally, uh Lebron's awesome. The way the league
is officiated, the way this team up, the team is
set up to spread it completely out around him, gives
him a chance, gives him a you know, a puncher's
chance if he's making his jump shots, making the shots,
(01:29):
if they hit shots on kickouts. I think you can
be you can be competitive. And even though the Calves
are a bad defensive team throughout the entire regular season,
you don't have to guard Draymond, and I thought they
do exactly what they did, which is putting Lebron on
Draymond so he can he can rest and uh, then
(01:50):
you can put Tristan Thompson on whoever that fourth starter is,
or put you and try and put Kevin Love, although
Kevin Love was awful defensively, but what they're doing very
simply is basically playing three on five defense, three on
five on three defensively, and then you want to run
Golden State off the three point line, chase him into
where the help is, and make them pass the basketball
(02:14):
to their fifth best offensive player or weapon on the floor.
That's why Sean Livingston had ten points. Kevon Looney had
a couple of looks, something he made, something he missed,
so why Draymond Green was so wide open, and and
seeing that, I thought we would have a series and
at least one game in we do. There's a bunch
of things to get to. Let me let me tell
(02:35):
you what I saw, and then we'll get to the
couple of the calls down the stretch and to overtime.
First thing, Um, something's wrong with Kevin Durant Now? Do
I think it's frustrating to be told to move the
ball when sometimes guys aren't open all of a sudden.
The officiating is different when you're getting grabbed and held
(02:55):
and bodied up too and there's another man in the
lane and there's not the same spacing that you came
to Golden Aid for. Absolutely, but he seems to be
a little bit lost offensively and defensively. He was getting
lit up last night from by Lebron. Some of it's
not his fault, like he's trying to cover for staff
and not have to switch every time on a ball screen.
But he just has to be better about it. He
(03:16):
has to be more physical about it. The physicality of
the postseason is really really reckon Havoc on his game,
and mentally he just kind of seems out of it.
I mean the block charge call they got, that got changed,
got overturned UM call aside. That's just a simple bounce
pass for him to Draymond Green and Draymond Green lays
(03:37):
the ball in or dunks the basketball and Draymond lays
the ball. And let's be honest, right, but he doesn't.
I mean just he's not playing smart, he's not playing
within himself, he's not showing great toughness. And then the
you know, the the offensive rebound he gave up to
j R. Smith. That was Kevin Durant's man, that was
his box out. And it's it's interesting because I think
(03:59):
all of us thet because he played so well in
the finals last year, especially in the fourth quarter. That
all right, once you get that monkey off your back,
you're just gonna take off and you'll be great. And
he's been worse, not better. So let's start with Kevin Durant.
And look, I'm not a huge killer of all stats
or plus minus, but he was a plus seventeen. I
know they they won by ten, which was not indicative
(04:21):
at all of how close that game was. So some
of it takes into account overtime. Um. Look, steps still
a defensive liability. But he is playing pretty hard. He's
just not physical enough to keep up with Lebron James.
It's a really weird thing that that steff Is. He's
so slight in comparison to Lebron, and he can't keep
(04:43):
Lebron from driving on him. He can't make Lebron make
jump shots. Of course, yesterday Lebron was making a bunch
of jump shots, especially early. But I did think that Steph,
you know, the and one late. He's shown that he'll
mix it up. He'll shown that he'll finish in traffic.
He's clearly continue to work on his finishing. Shots were
kind of s floaters. He still misses far too many,
but steff Is is reading what the defense is doing
(05:05):
and he's reacting better than somebody like him and Durantis.
Draymond can't make shots, and yet he made two yesterday.
We'll see if that propels him because he's being left
wide open un seemingly every possession. Also, the flopping when
he goes to the basket. He just he has such
such a hard time finishing that he falls down, falls
down constantly. And when he falls down constantly, he's not
(05:27):
going to get any calls. And then you have Clay,
who I thought played pretty well last night, although defensively
he's not He's not imposing his will nearly as as
well as much as he should. It wouldn't surprise me
if they do some creative switching on those high ball screens,
(05:49):
if they run Clay up there and drop and drop
Steff kind of quickly to kind of continue to hide
and cover staff late in shock clocks. Wouldn't surprise me
if they start double teaming Lebron. James is making you
give the ball up because the way in which they're
playing it now, and this is part of the genius
to how Cleveland's playing is they're setting ball screens pretty
early in the possession, they're generating wait until they can
(06:11):
generate a switch. When they get the switch, and they're
spacing and moving without the basketball and getting ready to
shoot and then letting Lebron do his thing, and Lebron
just finds him off of penetration. The sight lines for
passing are pretty clear and pretty open, not just because
he's six ft eight six ft nine and he's a
very good passer, but because of the spacing and the angles.
He knows where everybody is and where everybody's supposed to be.
(06:34):
So I think there's a there's a lot to why
Cleveland is going to be competitive. But when the when
all three of the Big three are playing three on five,
it makes it more difficult. Whereas even though it feels
like one on five with Lebron, he's got enough shooting
around him or the threat of shooting around him, which
spaces out the court. So then you have Uh, then
(06:57):
you have we talked about Draymond, and then you have
the starter. Jordan Bell still looks lost. He competes defensively
but has very little offensive value. Keivon Looney sometimes he
catches a lot of times, he's out of place. Uh,
he does a decent job defensively. Swaggy p offers nothing
for me. He just does nothing for me. Quinn Cook.
They knew they couldn't play in that game as long
(07:18):
as Lebron James's is in the game, and that and
that's why they they went with Pat McCaw and that's
why they tried to do everything they could to hide
their defensive weaknesses. And Lebron still had a shot. So
as for Lebron, he was spectacular, really really good in
a rhythm. He's obviously improved. Um the fact that when
(07:41):
he's left open, he doesn't he doesn't rush it, and
he doesn't take too much time. It's just the right
amount of of rhythm of timing so that open shots
become made shots. Now he did go through such he stopped.
He didn't make any jump shots, I believe at all
after midway through the third quarter. Remember he went on
(08:02):
that run, he made a couple of threes, made a turnaround,
and then he didn't make any jump shots. But here's
where Lebron is different, and maybe part of it is
the setup of this team is different. And now he
started driving the basketball and he didn't settle. Whereas you
look at the Spurs series and some of the other
series that he would have a tendency. Even last year
with the Warriors, he'd have a tendency to settle occasionally.
And when you settle and you're not super confident and
(08:24):
you're shooting midrange eighteen footers like he did at times
against Boston, UM, those are inefficient shots. Now he's taking
much better, much more efficient shots, having much more patience,
and then he's able to pace himself defensively because he
doesn't guard. He doesn't guard Raymond Green. So look, I
think there's a path there for the Calves to win
a couple of games. And if you can win a
(08:46):
game two, you can win the series. You can't. You
got all you gotta do is win a game too.
You're better at home than you win a game three.
And now of a sudden, you have a ton of
pressure on Golden State and Kevin Durant hasn't played bone
under pressure. This team has a bunch of flaws and
not easy to think they can win this series. Not
crazy at all? How could that be? Well? The differences.
Everybody wants to point out a Golden States won seventy
(09:08):
three games and then they added Kevin Durant, but we
forget that they had to shed a bunch of salary,
reconfigure themselves, and they became, instead of strength and numbers,
kind of a top heavy team. Three greade scores, two
role players, and the bench is kind of a mishmash.
That's really what they have when they go to that
death lineup. And I just think this roster is far
(09:29):
weaker after the top three than anybody will ever give
her credit. And that the includes Draymond who I like,
and I think it's a great role player, but if
you've watched enough basketball, you know he is not. He
just he lacks so much of the offensive skill it
takes to be considered a true superstar. He's a superstar
role player and a perfect fit for what this team needs.
(09:50):
I feel like they're one shooter away, one defender away.
Iguadaala is a defender, not the shooter, from being a
perfectly put together team. But it's not a perfectly put
together team. And I think they even know that. Astrol,
Bond and Lebrati, a lot of you at will ask
me like, well, now do you put in with Jordan's
Let's just remember that this is different. It's almost a
(10:12):
different sport. There's not only no power forwards and Lebron's
built like a power forward, there's no centers, so you
can get right to that. You can get right to
the cup when you drive by guys. And if you
want to say, well, Michael Jordans couldn't wouldn't of whatever,
well he would be just like Steve Kurry said, Hey,
players have evolved. You mean tell me that Jordan would
(10:32):
evolve into a better three point shooter. And with no
open lane, who's gonna keep Michael Jordan out of penetration.
He was strong enough where you've put a hand on
him and go buy you back. In the hand checked generation,
he's always been quick and explosive enough he would get
to the cup and he was an incredible finisher. And
he's also a very good passer off penetration. That's why
they won so many titles, because he found out he
(10:53):
was willing to become a good passer off penetration. But
it's just hard to compare the two. Here's I'll say
about Lebron. He looked confident, he looked elegant, he didn't
look arrogant, and he looked like the best player of
this generation by a mile. Going back to last night.
Part of that is Katie didn't look particularly good. Part
(11:14):
of it is this team has been built around his likeness,
and part of it is, hey, we you've been to
eighth strade finals and you're playing with house money. You
can play with supreme self confidence because you literally have
nothing to lose. Nothing. As for the game, UM, I
didn't like the original block called at original charge call.
I don't like per se going back to replay and
(11:37):
kind of fudging while you're going back to replay to
review the call. But I do think they ended up
getting the call right, which is really the intent of
replay no matter how you get there right. I do
think they ended up getting it right. And then, um,
what's lost in that discussion was though it felt like
that could have ended the game, it didn't. Each team
(11:59):
had a couple more possession The Warriors couldn't get stops.
Steph got an and one that put him up one.
Let's not let George Hill off the hook for choking
that free throw. And there's a difference between missing a
free throw round and out back rim um, just getting
unlucky and making your first one. The second one was
(12:19):
a good foot short, right, it's fifteen ft from the
backboard to the free throw line, um, And so with
those with with the dimensions of an NBA court, it's
fifteen ft from the backboard to the free throw line,
just so you're aware. So that makes it like a
thirteen nine shot, thirteen six shot to the front of
(12:42):
the to the middle of the rim. That was That
was a twelve ft nine free throw. That's how short
that one was. So the pressure clearly got the most
of George Hill shooting that free throw, I don't think
anybody would argue otherwise. And with that in mind, a
guy who career wise a very very good shooter and
(13:06):
very good free throw shoot, let's let's not let George
Hill off the hook for missing a shot that could
have forever changed uh this NBA NBA Finals. And then
let's also not let somebody like Kevin durrandolf the hook
for not boxing out on that play. As for j R. Smith,
(13:27):
I would love to say that I'm surprised, I'm shocked,
I'm stunned, but I also know it's j R. Smith right.
J R. Smith is exactly the type of guy who
would not know if you were up one or down
one when securing a big offensive rebound. And I also
I hate the fact that he lied about it afterwards,
saying he thought the time out was coming, saying he
(13:50):
thought they were in a tie game, when we can
read his lips which he said I thought we were
up one where I thought we were up It's it
is totally human to air, but to lie about it,
especially when we have video evidence that you can't do
the Eddie Murphy wouldn't be It just doesn't work. I
(14:13):
understand why Lebron appeared disheartened and lacked the energy in overtime.
I hope that's not the case in game too, I
really hope. But that was an amazing game. Incredible turns,
incredible twists. Um Jr. Was bad, Kevin Love couldn't make
shots yet. Nineteen offensive rebounds, nineteen two, nineteen four offensive rebounds,
(14:38):
like that's the story of it. They beat them up
on the boards. They were a more physical team. They
took exactly what Houston did defensively, and they just they
tweaked it a little bit where they wanted to run
Kevin Durant, run Clay Thompson, runs Steph Curry off the
three point line when they come off those high ball screens,
pressure up and make them go into the middle lane,
(14:59):
make them shoot mid rangers, or make or funnel them
to Tristan, funnel them to Jeff Green, funnel them to
Lebron James, whoever was on the back line of that defense.
And it works some, it works some, and I think
it will continue to befuddle this team, especially as long
as Kevin Rant his head is up his wrectum. But
(15:20):
it was I thought a very well coached game. By Tyler.
Do I think they got screwed by the officials? Like my,
my honest thoughts is that the reason they went to
check if Lebron James was outside the semi circle was
because those officials two of them probably had blocks. Right,
(15:42):
one official had a charge, the other two like, yeah,
I got a block of that one. And so by
rule they can go and check for the semi circle.
But they probably went to go check so that they
could see if he was set or even close to
being set, and he wasn't. Now here's one idea for
replay and is I got a Buddy's name is Ryan Hoover.
(16:03):
Ryan was a great shooter at Notre Dame, played overseas
for like a decade. He now is part of a
company that the NBA uses. Lots of NBA teams, college
teams used to track your your shooting. Uh they put
they put they have all these cameras and that that
keep stats trackers that keep stats for players shooting and
(16:24):
practice players shooting in games. Um, but they use it
more for practice in the NBA, so you know where people,
how many shots guys took, where they took him from
all this different statistical analysis anyway. Who's idea, which is
a pretty good one, is, look, there's nothing wrong with replay,
but when they watch replay, you gotta watch it in
regular motion. If you can't tell from the replay in
(16:48):
regular game speed, why do you need super SlowMo. I
guess maybe for out of bounds plays you want to
see exactly who it went off of. But other replay
watching at full speed, and if you can't tell it
full speed, well then you can't tell. But last night
was a loss for replay. I don't think there's any
doubt about it, even though I believe they got the
call ultimately right, the process by which at the fact
(17:09):
that so many of us didn't know the rule, um
I thought that made it end, and how long it took,
how confusing it was, you know, overturning a call which
is supposed to be a judgment call. All of these things.
It was not great, and it feels like a little
bit too much used to replay. Let's welcome in Ryan Hollins,
(17:31):
who played for a decade in the NBA. You see
him on our network, you see him on ESPN as
well covering the NBA. Ryan, what's let's let's start with
the block charge. Was that absolutely the deciding play in
the game. No, No, that wasn't Cleveland getting robbed the
two plays prior against the Stack Golden State team was
(17:54):
the decider in the game. And interesting enough is that
Kenny was on that baseline and he knew it was
a block, but he tried to give Doug and you
know this, we've had it happened all the time since
youth basketball. A makeup call, you give a makeup call
back on the other way. And when he attempted to
do the makeup call, they overruled it because he knew
(18:15):
how he knew, he knew he had the angle. People
gotta understand, there's three referees. Every referee has a different angle,
Every referee has a different story. Okay, So he tried
to help clean the game up, Kenny on that base
fiine and he couldn't do it, and then the rule
came in place, and that's why everybody's upset. And it
(18:36):
shouldn't even have been revealable. Wait, what what play are
you talking about? A couple of plays before there is
a blatant foul, a play before and then Kevin Durrant
goes out abound. So when You're Cleveland, that's given every
every little mustard. I hope you got a right to
be able to beat Golden State. You know, Listen, offense
(19:01):
is a struggle, and they could not bounce back from that,
and they worked the ball around a month. You couldn't
have had a better possession, and then they arrived. What's
the matter with d Listen when I say this, Cleveland
now actually has a guy available to guard Kevin Durant,
a guy available. Can Lebron James card guard Kevin Durant, Yes, clearly,
(19:26):
but he's got the role on his flate. You gotta
score fifty one points and he would have had a
triple double if the if these guys could have made
an open three point shot, okay, or if he wasn't
fouled every time that he passed the ball out that
wasn't called. Jeff Green, former teammate of Kevin Durant, has
a size and athleticism and obviously it feels just like practice.
He's a guy who can actually guard Kevin Durant. And
(19:47):
when you put him in a screening situation, he and
Lebron switched several times that game. But Yeunt Katie's probably
a little tired. I'm sure everybody's tired at this point,
but they actually have a match up to same f him,
you bringing former teammate to mind. Man, he's I mean,
that's he's just the heck of a defender. No, not
just that, but the other part is it Lebron guarding
(20:08):
Draymond gives him the opportunity with the exception when he
screens for Kevin Durant to catch a break, you know,
to catch his breath defensively so that offensively he can
show his superpowers. You know, they're they're playing kind of
three on five on offense, and they smartly put Lebron James,
you know, Lebron James and Draymond who I know he
hit two last night, one and overtime, but for the
most part doesn't want to look at the basket. The
(20:32):
Draymond and Green has been passing up more shots than
his rookie year and his rookie here. He passed them
up because he couldn't shoot. I'm not sure what's going
on with Draymond, but he hasn't even been looking at
the room. And yeah, one of my keys to the game,
my two keys to the game, which is disappointing for
Cleveland was pace and physicality. They beat them up off
(20:55):
the offensive boards. And when I say pace, playing in
Cleveland's face, not Golden States. And you have a lebron
that's able to rest, that's that's a key to the game.
That is a that is a blessing. That's something that
he couldn't do the last time. It's a great point.
Ryan Hollands joining us on the doug Otlip Show, Um,
what do you think on the I mean, look, j R.
Smith he can say afterwards he thought it was tied,
(21:17):
but I mean we all read his lips. He didn't
know the score. He thought they he thought they had
to lead, right. So just as basic as this, the
team Cleveland got cheated yesterday. Those guys are upset and
they essentially they're sticking together. They're they're banding together, and
they're not going any knowledge with Jake Now internally he's
(21:40):
getting slapped in the back of the head a couple
of times, okay, and he's kicking himself harder than anybody else.
As j R. Smith is that type of guy. What
the the Jr? That you see and you think you
know who he is on the court, Man he's one
of the most humbled down earth guys I've I've ever known,
I've ever been around. Okay, but he's kicking himself in
the back of the head. But I applauded Cleveland because
those guys are having his back and sticking together, and
(22:01):
they've made a choice not to acknowledge what happened. That's
not important in Lebron. Let me give this to you, Doug.
You want the psyche of the game. Lebron pulled this
when they were down three one. He actually responded to Draymond,
got in Draymond's face, I want to say, almost pushed him.
And Draymond gets to tech down three one game series play,
(22:23):
game changing play last night. And every time I've compete
against Lebron and we we said things to him, We've
hit him. Well, I didn't say things, so we hit him,
done everything to try to knock him up the game,
and it didn't work at the end of the game.
One of those in the first in the first excuse
me in the in game one and Lebron doesn't respond.
(22:45):
And at the end of the game Lebron started that
whole scuffle. That was Lebron doing that, and he knew
that he needed to overshadow what had happened. He knew
he had to overshadow Jr's mistake. I say, guys, well
let's fight, let's come together. And that's what you saw
Ron James do. There was no accident. That is probably
(23:06):
one of the most intelligent moves you ever saw it
because he knows he needs Jr. And j R. Loves
to fight, and everybody's gonna have Lebron's back. So how
likely are we to have a series? You're very likely.
You're very likely because Golden State only did what they
were supposed to do, going right, doun. Golden State did
(23:29):
what they were supposed to do, and yesterday Lebron rallies
troops again, and there's a lot of holes in that
Golden State teams. I don't know if Clay Thompson plays
the next game. Don't be surprised if he shows up
on that injury report, all right, not even to play.
I haven't I don't know how he got back in
that game. Okay, so Eagle Dona, I thought he comes
(23:52):
back firing on all cylinders. I thought a lot of
whole we're able to execute their game plans and if
a couple of guys on the league, not that a handful.
I completely agree with you. You know, I've I've heard
(24:13):
people and it's it's almost it hurts my brain sometimes
it's like, well, look at all these things that that
had to happen, and and Golden State still beat them.
I was like, dude, Golden State shot fifty one thirty
six and miss one free throw the entire game played
at home, how to run at the start of the
third quarter, and still needed a crazy sequence of events
(24:36):
in the fourth quarter just to, you know, just to
beat um, just to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game one.
I'm with you. I thought it was a series before
the series, and I think it's a series now. You
gotta be physical with them, and I think the space
around them. They last year they had a bunch of
dudes they can throw out Lebron James to guard him. Now,
the best guy they have to guard him is Kevin
(24:58):
Durant and clear really he's struggling with it. It wears
him down offensively, and without Iguadala, they have no spacing.
They don't have a guy to keep on Lebron. They're
all screwed up right now. They're not to mention Kevin
Durant had to start on Lebron, and now Katie's worrying
about defense and scoring, and nobody wants to give up
a bucket. You know what I'm saying, You give up
(25:20):
a bucket morale boost a morale loss on the other side.
And you know Lebron is not the guy you kind
of talked mess to. When he can, when he can
put you in the rim, it's it's gonna be it's
gonna be fascinating to see Doug gotlip show. Ryan, thanks
so much for joining us, my mayor. Let's welcome to
(25:41):
Ethan Strouss, who joins us from the Athletic Ethan, I
know you haven't been listening. You've got a bunch of
other stuff you're doing. Do an outstanding job covering the NBA.
Um My thoughts, let's start with the call. My thoughts
in the call was like, look, I actually think they
got it right, and I think the reason, the true
reason they reviewed it is one official had it as
(26:02):
a charge and he made a big show of it.
The other guys are like, I had a block on
that one, and this is just a way to get
to catch a breath and to get and to to
to let you know, New York in on making the
final call on such a call. Is that Is that
a reasonable way of looking at Yeah, And I think
you're you're right on the money with that, and you're
(26:24):
probably showing your playing experiences something that one out that
there is some old school reffing that. Then they retroactively
say it's according to rules section A slash B that
you know it has something to do with the restricted area. No,
they just thought maybe they botched that one. They had
an excuse to go and look at it and then
they could retroactively correct it. And look, I'm against free
play review in general. I think it's it's bad. It's
(26:46):
perfect is the enemy of good, right uh. And people
want to get the call right, but in doing that
they're screwing up the flow of the game. And then
there's this controversy over is it enough to overturn? And
I like the nineties, man, I like the nineties. Back
in the day, there are some calls and we all
lived with it and we learned how to deal with it.
Um And I don't think that this is the best
(27:06):
way to go about it. But under the rules as
they are written, Um, and as we have them, then
I don't see what the big controversy is. Right, it
was a boxed call, it was a block, and so
it eventually got called a block. Then then let's get
to the miss free throw four seconds remaining, four seconds
remaining in the game. Um, you know, like two guys
who escape criticism, George Hill, who's a very good free
(27:30):
throw shooter. And there's there's a difference between missing a
free throw. Hey, you miss one around and out hits
the back rim. You know, it looks like it's right
to leave it that short after making your first one.
That's a that's pressure, that's that's a choke job. And
then Katie doesn't box out. Now Katie said, like I
need to do a better job rebounding or try and
box out at all. Um. But uh Jr. Trying to
(27:54):
convince the world that he thought of the time. There's
not a the treator in America who thinks he said
I thought it was tied. Well, that's it's it's a
situation where the more interesting mistake, the more inexcusable mistakes,
then gets conflated with the uh, the more damaging mistake.
(28:14):
But when you look at it. What's more damaging. What's
more damaging is George Hill, who could win the game
right there. He could win the game of the free
throw missing the free throw. Jr. Smith is a terrible
shooter within the paint, He's not good. If he had
known the actual score, then he's coming back up with it,
and Kevin Duran at seventh ft tall is either going
to block, everybody's gonna miss. So, yeah, it was inexcusable.
(28:37):
It was basketball negligence, and so we're all going to
make him the goat and mock him rightfully. So, but
it didn't actually matter. I would contend it didn't actually
shift the probabilities that much of the game. And yeah,
you could say Lebron was open, But let me tell you,
if if j R. Smith knew the score of the game, uh,
he wouldn't have even gotten out there and seeing Lebron.
He only saw Lebron because he ran away from the
pain because he thought that he thought the game was
(28:59):
he thought that the Yeah, he clearly clearly did. Um Okay,
let's get to the actual gameplay. I thought I thought
the game plan was a masterpiece from Tyler right, be
super super physical with the three scores, and then whoever's
guarding the fifth guy for the Warriors, you're in help.
(29:19):
And then put Lebron James and Draymond Green and dare
him to shoot the basketball. You're in help. It allowed
Lebron to catch his breath defensively and allowed and really,
you know, ran Golden State off the three point line.
I thought the game plan was really good. I guess
the question becomes, is that replicable going forward in the series.
It was. It was a really good game plan. I'm
(29:40):
sorry that my infant son is taking any weird noises
in the background. It's actually it's actually amazing. What's his name?
His name is Asher? And how old's Asher? Asher? Seven
weeks old? So I between this, oh nine weeks my
wife just corrected me, well, now in trouble. Uh, he's
(30:01):
nine weeks old. So between the the NBA Finals and this,
I'm not getting a lot of sleep. But it's all right.
It's honestly, it's pretty sweet because then you're like, no,
I'll do the late night feedings, no problem. You go
to bed. Meanwhile, you're watching the gate exactly exactly well
on the game plan. Uh yeah, I think that it's replicable.
In some ways. I gotta say the Calves played really well.
(30:23):
Their shot quality those fancy metrics we have for how
how the quality of shots versus did you make them?
They got quality shots. They're offense did really well and
I sometimes wonder if they're a little underrated. I think maybe,
in order to burnish Lebron's legacy, were exaggerating the extent
to which this team is bad. It's a lot like
the old Calves team that we've seen in this matchup.
(30:44):
Instead of having a Kyrie Irving an offensive guy, you've
got a defensive guy and George Chill And yeah, I'd
rather have the Kyrie Irving iteration, but it's not altogether
that much different. Uh So, I thought it was a
good game plan. It's a solid team at the team
that gives the Warriors problem because they beat him up.
And also on the other side, I think the Warriors
don't know quite what to do on pick and roll
(31:05):
action with Lebron. They love switching everything, but you can't
really switch everything against Lebron on the way you can
against the Chris baul Or or a James Harden. It's
just too much for Steph Curry to deal with and
so that aspect is also replicable where I'm not sure
how the Warriors are going to solve that particular issue.
I think it's I think it's fascinating. I thought it
was going to be a close series. I still thought
(31:26):
the Warriors would win. Um, what do you think you know?
Coming in? What did you think? I thought everybody was
talking five games, and my suspicion was more towards six games.
I mean, I try not to do, you know what,
I try not to do predictions. I try to be
like Brian Windhorse, because here's the thing, we writers, We
have such little esteem in the eyes of the fan.
(31:48):
Why give them something tangible to bash us with? Right?
Why give them just a tangible You predicted this and
it was actually that to hit us over the head with.
So I normally try to evade it. But my sin
of things was more in line with you, in part
because I know people will hammer home before All Stars
for All Stars were all Stars. But Andre Goodala is
a really good and he's be very important to the team.
(32:11):
And this is a team that, yes has an embarrassment
of riches as far as talent goes, but the whole
is not greater than the sum of its parts, it's
never really cohered in the way maybe people thought it would.
So not having I Goodala there does make a difference,
especially since he's the best defensive guy on that lebron
James Fellow, who is quite important in this whole rick
(32:31):
of hole of the series. I think the other part
is how does how does Cleveland bounce back from this? Right?
Like I'm I'm reading this is a pretty good two
little tweets here and essentially says what I've been saying
the entire show. Ethan Strauss is our guest from the
Athletic does a great job, and he's also bouncing his
young baby Asher on his knee. Uh you know, put
(32:51):
post post feeding. It's the dog at the show. So
Roussilo says, I think when he said, uh, I think
the horrible things that people are pointing out. The call
is the only reason the Calves lost. Make a free throw.
Try not to forget the score when playing in the game.
Bill Simmons adds on, don't give up an easy three
point play the staff up to in the last thirty seconds,
(33:11):
make the go ahead free throw, remember the score, and
don't completely cave in in overtime. So I guess the
question is, if you feel like you had one and
then you gave it away, how do you bounce back
from it? Um Man, Maybe you could better answer that one,
because we've seen teams remember that Clippers Spurs series or
the Clippers had just these devastating losses in that series,
(33:35):
and uh, they had that DeAndre Jordan's gaff right there
was almost similar to the j R. Smith gaff where
Chris Paul screaming at him. But they did come back
and they won that series. Because maybe you're inspired by
that frustration, um and that pain, and you still have
a chance to correct things. So we've seen that, we've
seen such things happen. Now, what I would be a
little bit worried about from a Cleveland keyler's perspective is
(33:57):
that I think that the Warriors were seen enough evidence
that Mike causing to go away from some of the
lineups that don't work and start using a lineup to
do work. They got an object lesson in you know
what works, uh the overtime with Sean Livingston and de
Andre Goodala little you know it doesn't work. Kavon Looney
in that role in the fourth quarter. I think that's
gonna be a lot tougher for the has to deal
with going forward, and they got their shot against soft
(34:19):
the lineups last night. I attend to great, what's what's
going on with k D Man. That's a great question, now,
isn't it. He has these games where it's just perplexing.
I in the game six against the Rockets of the
Warriors one. Yeah, the Warriors eventually ran away with that one,
but I ended up writing just on the book fuggling
first half word, he wasn't playing defense and where you
(34:41):
might have attributed five three pointers from the Rockets, just
fully on Kevin Durant not matching up with guys, not
getting back in transition and and just doing the basics
of the job. And it is completely confounding. And you know,
I'm glad he admitted to it on the on the rebound,
but that that's happening in general. Where's getting put and
around on rebounds. I know he said during the Rocket
(35:02):
series that that p J. Tuckerton's to elbow him in
the back, and that's that's part of it. But you
would just expect better as far as doing the things
you almost take for granted. He's not doing the things
that you take for granted the superstar, uh does. And
I thought that he did a very good job last
Finals when he was guarding Lebron. But I don't think
he did a good job in defense last night. Some
of that might be the pick and roll coverage that
(35:24):
they're sussing out and let's not switch everything and they
have to figure out the communication. But I don't have
a good theory for you on why he's not doing
what he should be doing. But he's not doing it. Yeah.
My My theory is, Look, they're being people are being
allowed to be really physical with him. I also think, um,
I think you know, Ryan Hollands joined us earlier and
I said this, Uh, look, they got some better matchups
(35:44):
this year. Last year, Lebron had to guard him because
of their personnel. This year, you can put Jeff Green
on him, You can put Nance on him a little bit,
you know, you can put you can put Tristan on him. Um,
and and then Lebron king guar him as well. So
you have it's a lot like what the Calves had
last you, which was a lot more guys that could
guard Lebron. They have they have a lot more guys
that can guard him and our physical and Jeff Green
(36:05):
obviously knows this game. Yeah, this is one like this
is this is good, but you actually notice and you
know the game, and you're not just going by reputation.
It's funny you would think, oh, you wouldn't want Lebron
to Garden. He completely torched Lebron last year in the finals.
You look at his highlight reel. It's coming at the
expensive Lebron and it's not an indictment of Lebron. It's
just Lebron cannot do everything on offense while also playing
(36:26):
defense at this at this particular age. So I almost
wonder if to get to get Katie going, if they
don't want to run more pick and roll and try
to get Lebron switched on to him. I know that
might sound crazy, h to the casual fan, that you
would want Lebron guarding you, but I think there could
be a benefit to getting Grant going and also tiring
out Lebron. Yeah completely, And then yeah, and then I think,
(36:52):
you know, and then I think off, I think that
will help them on on defense as well. And I
think they're they're gonna have to start double teaming Lebron
at different points in time or to get the ball
out of his hands, make somebody else make a play,
not just you know, not just make a shot. He
obviously will will pass into a shooter. But but they
gotta they gotta occasionally blitz him and get the ball ahead.
They got to vary some of their coverage because it
(37:13):
becomes all too predictable. I I completely agree they need
need to vary it, but they also need to know
what they're doing when they vary it. Um. That's that's
more or less the key, the key for them beause
they were not on the same page last night. In
a lot of possessions. I entered the series. I entered
the series thinking, you know, I heard Mike wilbon Um
(37:34):
with Dan Patrick and he said, hey, you know, unless
you know, something crazy happens, there is no real takeaway
if they lose this series. Because they he expects it
to lose the series. I have a completely different level
of respect for Lebron and kind of the zen by
which he's playing the development of his offensive game. His
(37:54):
jump shot the first three chords last night was great.
I think there's a ton to take away from this
win or lose based upon how he plays and how
his game has evolved. Last night was a was the
type performance I haven't seen since Jordan's What are your
thoughts on how we can change how we view Lebron
based upon how he's played, not just the fact that
(38:16):
he might lose to a superior team. I think there's
something to that, and it also might just speak to
the era that we're in where we we have more
of a sense now that you can play really well
and lose, that you can win the CSI on without
winning a bunch of games in baseball just based on
your d r A. So there's a lot to be
gained from actually coming out and performing, and we're not
(38:38):
just going to hang it around your neck that you
lost the theories so reputationally, Lebron could find himself in
a situation where he might win finals MVP even if
he loses the series. That nearly happened when you could
all have one finals MVP in and I think that would, uh,
that would be pretty good for him in the in
the grand scheme of things, And he's kind of in
a good position. It's not a good position for winning
(38:59):
the series, it's in a good position where it's all
upside where uh, you will be credited for exceeding expectations
and not blamed if the calves are down in flames. Okay,
a couple of things I need to get to. Um,
how happy is Javelle McGhee that j R. Smith pulled
the Javelle McGhee because otherwise replaying Javelle McGee's miss dunk
over and over and over again. Oh man, it was
(39:22):
just it's so funny with those two guys that what
happened was almost a satire of who they are, and
with JaVale it was going so well. That was the
other thing I was saying. I was watching in the
media area behind the court, Um, and I was I
just kept saying to the guy next to me, Uh,
this has found money. Steve's got a pull them. Steve's
got a pull them. He's got a pull them. And
(39:42):
I didn't expect it. Hey, I think you might have
been plus eight on the game, or you might have
had a pretty good run in there despite that humiliating
dunk that me was was that was that fatigue possibly
that could have been fatigued in away or just I
just think he got lost. I just think he got
lost as to where he was in the court. I
mean I think, I think it happens. I just think
get you know, it just happened to happen to to
Javel McGhee. Um, do you have any idea what's going
(40:06):
on with Kevin Love's hair? Because that is can can
we have formed some sort of investigation? What is that
is that? Hey? Man? For all I know, that's cool.
I mean it was that A cross said, what do
we what do we call that? It might be cool?
For all I know, I'm a dad now, I don't
know what's cool, So I don't want to hate on it. Yeah,
I felt it felt like either a flow by or
(40:27):
kind of like, yes, maybe went flow by. Maybe he
just like, hey, I was bored in the hotel room.
He's he's watched everything he could possibly watch on Netflix
and Amazon Prime and Hulu, and so he just started
just kind of going to work on his own hair,
and he's like, damn, I have no idea how to
fade it. So I'm not even gonna try. I'm just
shocked about the flow By reference. I I might my
(40:47):
dad bought a flow be back in the day. I
had a few Floby haircuts, and you know what that
might even be an insult with the flow but you
might get sued by the makers of flow By because
of the haircut that Kevin Love has, So uh yeah,
you know, shout out flow By. I hope they're still
going strong. And as far as what Kevin wants to
doing with this there, I guess just keeping it interesting. Okay,
so you started the series, um, without really a prediction.
(41:11):
What do you think now? I still I still don't
necessarily have a prediction because I'm trying to be coy
and I'm trying to be cool like that. Um, But
as far as what I think now, I think the
Warriors dodged the bullet. I think they're very happy to
have won a lucky one. Sometimes it's better to be
lucky than good. And I think, hey, beyond just winning
(41:33):
a game, it's I think it was good for the
Warriors in the sense that they when I talked to
them after the game, the coaches were actually i'd be happy.
Usually they're they're mad when they messed around. They they
they squander opportunities. But they had a sense of the
first games of feel Out Game, we didn't have our
coverages right. So I think it's ultimately better for the
(41:53):
Warriors beyond just winning the game. At the same time,
I might have a little bit more respect for Lebron
the Cat's chances in this the most people as do.
So I'm hedging like crazy. I'm giving you a very
unsatisfying answer, and I apologize for that. No, I'm you're
you're leaving it up to Hey, there's a lot of
bast like we all think that every basketball game is
going to be the same, and we all completely forget that.
Even last year there were some very very close games,
(42:15):
even at the final, even at the final score was
four games to one. Within the context of the series,
it wasn't necessarily wasn't every they win every game by
twenty points. We seeing in sports where we conflate probability
with inevitability. I don't know why, but we just skip
ahead that if somebody has an eight percent chance of
doing something, we act as though twenty is impossible. And
(42:36):
I'm just not of that mentality. Really, you know, I
think that the Calves are a long shot, but a
long shot doesn't mean that it's apport conclusion. And I
think if you look at the ratings for this one,
America agrees. America is into the series. Even a lot
of the sports writers boo boo it great stuff. Ethan Strouss,
get back to caring for young Asher. Congratulations to your wife.
She did all the work for the last eleven twelve months.
(42:57):
Now since it's nine weeks and you you butchered that.
Thanks for joining us. She's the same. Thanks for having
me by, all right. I hope you really enjoyed the
All Ball Podcast. Remember, I believe this is gonna be
a good series. I just do. I think there are
matchup problems for the Golden State Warriors in that you know,
(43:19):
you can only can't hide Staff and you can't hide
Kevin Kevon Looney. I think they'll change some of the rotations.
There'll be times in which they double team and try
and uh and try and trap Lebron James and make
other people handle the basketball and like, look, Draymond's gonna
have to step up and take some more shots because
playing three on five is really really hard. There will
be some other actions that they put in, but this
is the same a similar defensive philosophy. He saw to Houston,
(43:42):
make make two guys beat you that can't score, And
you know, Looney made a couple of layups and dunks
about Livingstone game a good little lift. But those guys
are scoring for a reason. That's almost a win for
for the Calvs. When other guys score, Kevin Durant's gonna
have to play better, gonna have to be tougher. I
think he's a little bit tired, not just from the
previous series, but playing this much defense and the physicality
(44:05):
of a guy like Jeff Green. As you've heard several
of our guests talk about, the Calves have better matchups
this year for Kevin Durant than they had going back
to last year. The opposite is true for Lebron James.
Last year, the Warriors had more guys to match up
with Lebron than they have this year. And of course
he continues to exploit when Steph Curry guards it's gonna
(44:29):
be interesting. I still think the Warriors win the series,
but I think it's gonna be a harder series than
most people let on before it ever began. I hope
you enjoyed All Ball. Make sure you download, you subscribe,
you rate, and you tell a friend about coll
Hey, it's stuck Goli and welcome into All Ball, All basketball,
all the time. Thanks so much for listening. Don't forget
to download, to rate, and to subscribe to this podcast.
You can catch it weekly and sometimes bi weekly as well.
We'll lead you up to the NBA Draft. I do
have some nuggets from some players that have pulled out
(00:26):
of the NBA Draft. There's a lot of big news,
a lot of big news in college basketball. I'll kind
of run down some bullets here later on on the show,
but let me get to what we saw last night
Game one NBA Finals. If you listen to my radio show,
which you can listen to nationally three to six Eastern time,
twelve and three Pacific, Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Radio
(00:46):
dot Com, you can download that as well. You would
note that ever since the Eastern and Western Conference Finals ended,
I predicted that this would be a much more competitive
series than the rest of the world. At My logic
behind it was the Warriors are three on five on offense,
and once you get to the bench, boy, now a sudden,
(01:07):
it becomes they're just they're just plugging holes, especially with
that Andregodala. Additionally, uh Lebron's awesome. The way the league
is officiated, the way this team up, the team is
set up to spread it completely out around him, gives
him a chance, gives him a you know, a puncher's
chance if he's making his jump shots, making the shots,
(01:29):
if they hit shots on kickouts. I think you can
be you can be competitive. And even though the Calves
are a bad defensive team throughout the entire regular season,
you don't have to guard Draymond, and I thought they
do exactly what they did, which is putting Lebron on
Draymond so he can he can rest and uh, then
(01:50):
you can put Tristan Thompson on whoever that fourth starter is,
or put you and try and put Kevin Love, although
Kevin Love was awful defensively, but what they're doing very
simply is basically playing three on five defense, three on
five on three defensively, and then you want to run
Golden State off the three point line, chase him into
where the help is, and make them pass the basketball
(02:14):
to their fifth best offensive player or weapon on the floor.
That's why Sean Livingston had ten points. Kevon Looney had
a couple of looks, something he made, something he missed,
so why Draymond Green was so wide open, and and
seeing that, I thought we would have a series and
at least one game in we do. There's a bunch
of things to get to. Let me let me tell
(02:35):
you what I saw, and then we'll get to the
couple of the calls down the stretch and to overtime.
First thing, Um, something's wrong with Kevin Durant Now? Do
I think it's frustrating to be told to move the
ball when sometimes guys aren't open all of a sudden.
The officiating is different when you're getting grabbed and held
(02:55):
and bodied up too and there's another man in the
lane and there's not the same spacing that you came
to Golden Aid for. Absolutely, but he seems to be
a little bit lost offensively and defensively. He was getting
lit up last night from by Lebron. Some of it's
not his fault, like he's trying to cover for staff
and not have to switch every time on a ball screen.
But he just has to be better about it. He
(03:16):
has to be more physical about it. The physicality of
the postseason is really really reckon Havoc on his game,
and mentally he just kind of seems out of it.
I mean the block charge call they got, that got changed,
got overturned UM call aside. That's just a simple bounce
pass for him to Draymond Green and Draymond Green lays
(03:37):
the ball in or dunks the basketball and Draymond lays
the ball. And let's be honest, right, but he doesn't.
I mean just he's not playing smart, he's not playing
within himself, he's not showing great toughness. And then the
you know, the the offensive rebound he gave up to
j R. Smith. That was Kevin Durant's man, that was
his box out. And it's it's interesting because I think
(03:59):
all of us thet because he played so well in
the finals last year, especially in the fourth quarter. That
all right, once you get that monkey off your back,
you're just gonna take off and you'll be great. And
he's been worse, not better. So let's start with Kevin Durant.
And look, I'm not a huge killer of all stats
or plus minus, but he was a plus seventeen. I
know they they won by ten, which was not indicative
(04:21):
at all of how close that game was. So some
of it takes into account overtime. Um. Look, steps still
a defensive liability. But he is playing pretty hard. He's
just not physical enough to keep up with Lebron James.
It's a really weird thing that that steff Is. He's
so slight in comparison to Lebron, and he can't keep
(04:43):
Lebron from driving on him. He can't make Lebron make
jump shots. Of course, yesterday Lebron was making a bunch
of jump shots, especially early. But I did think that Steph,
you know, the and one late. He's shown that he'll
mix it up. He'll shown that he'll finish in traffic.
He's clearly continue to work on his finishing. Shots were
kind of s floaters. He still misses far too many,
but steff Is is reading what the defense is doing
(05:05):
and he's reacting better than somebody like him and Durantis.
Draymond can't make shots, and yet he made two yesterday.
We'll see if that propels him because he's being left
wide open un seemingly every possession. Also, the flopping when
he goes to the basket. He just he has such
such a hard time finishing that he falls down, falls
down constantly. And when he falls down constantly, he's not
(05:27):
going to get any calls. And then you have Clay,
who I thought played pretty well last night, although defensively
he's not He's not imposing his will nearly as as
well as much as he should. It wouldn't surprise me
if they do some creative switching on those high ball screens,
(05:49):
if they run Clay up there and drop and drop
Steff kind of quickly to kind of continue to hide
and cover staff late in shock clocks. Wouldn't surprise me
if they start double teaming Lebron. James is making you
give the ball up because the way in which they're
playing it now, and this is part of the genius
to how Cleveland's playing is they're setting ball screens pretty
early in the possession, they're generating wait until they can
(06:11):
generate a switch. When they get the switch, and they're
spacing and moving without the basketball and getting ready to
shoot and then letting Lebron do his thing, and Lebron
just finds him off of penetration. The sight lines for
passing are pretty clear and pretty open, not just because
he's six ft eight six ft nine and he's a
very good passer, but because of the spacing and the angles.
He knows where everybody is and where everybody's supposed to be.
(06:34):
So I think there's a there's a lot to why
Cleveland is going to be competitive. But when the when
all three of the Big three are playing three on five,
it makes it more difficult. Whereas even though it feels
like one on five with Lebron, he's got enough shooting
around him or the threat of shooting around him, which
spaces out the court. So then you have Uh, then
(06:57):
you have we talked about Draymond, and then you have
the starter. Jordan Bell still looks lost. He competes defensively
but has very little offensive value. Keivon Looney sometimes he
catches a lot of times, he's out of place. Uh,
he does a decent job defensively. Swaggy p offers nothing
for me. He just does nothing for me. Quinn Cook.
They knew they couldn't play in that game as long
(07:18):
as Lebron James's is in the game, and that and
that's why they they went with Pat McCaw and that's
why they tried to do everything they could to hide
their defensive weaknesses. And Lebron still had a shot. So
as for Lebron, he was spectacular, really really good in
a rhythm. He's obviously improved. Um the fact that when
(07:41):
he's left open, he doesn't he doesn't rush it, and
he doesn't take too much time. It's just the right
amount of of rhythm of timing so that open shots
become made shots. Now he did go through such he stopped.
He didn't make any jump shots, I believe at all
after midway through the third quarter. Remember he went on
(08:02):
that run, he made a couple of threes, made a turnaround,
and then he didn't make any jump shots. But here's
where Lebron is different, and maybe part of it is
the setup of this team is different. And now he
started driving the basketball and he didn't settle. Whereas you
look at the Spurs series and some of the other
series that he would have a tendency. Even last year
with the Warriors, he'd have a tendency to settle occasionally.
And when you settle and you're not super confident and
(08:24):
you're shooting midrange eighteen footers like he did at times
against Boston, UM, those are inefficient shots. Now he's taking
much better, much more efficient shots, having much more patience,
and then he's able to pace himself defensively because he
doesn't guard. He doesn't guard Raymond Green. So look, I
think there's a path there for the Calves to win
a couple of games. And if you can win a
(08:46):
game two, you can win the series. You can't. You
got all you gotta do is win a game too.
You're better at home than you win a game three.
And now of a sudden, you have a ton of
pressure on Golden State and Kevin Durant hasn't played bone
under pressure. This team has a bunch of flaws and
not easy to think they can win this series. Not
crazy at all? How could that be? Well? The differences.
Everybody wants to point out a Golden States won seventy
(09:08):
three games and then they added Kevin Durant, but we
forget that they had to shed a bunch of salary,
reconfigure themselves, and they became, instead of strength and numbers,
kind of a top heavy team. Three greade scores, two
role players, and the bench is kind of a mishmash.
That's really what they have when they go to that
death lineup. And I just think this roster is far
(09:29):
weaker after the top three than anybody will ever give
her credit. And that the includes Draymond who I like,
and I think it's a great role player, but if
you've watched enough basketball, you know he is not. He
just he lacks so much of the offensive skill it
takes to be considered a true superstar. He's a superstar
role player and a perfect fit for what this team needs.
(09:50):
I feel like they're one shooter away, one defender away.
Iguadaala is a defender, not the shooter, from being a
perfectly put together team. But it's not a perfectly put
together team. And I think they even know that. Astrol,
Bond and Lebrati, a lot of you at will ask
me like, well, now do you put in with Jordan's
Let's just remember that this is different. It's almost a
(10:12):
different sport. There's not only no power forwards and Lebron's
built like a power forward, there's no centers, so you
can get right to that. You can get right to
the cup when you drive by guys. And if you
want to say, well, Michael Jordans couldn't wouldn't of whatever,
well he would be just like Steve Kurry said, Hey,
players have evolved. You mean tell me that Jordan would
(10:32):
evolve into a better three point shooter. And with no
open lane, who's gonna keep Michael Jordan out of penetration.
He was strong enough where you've put a hand on
him and go buy you back. In the hand checked generation,
he's always been quick and explosive enough he would get
to the cup and he was an incredible finisher. And
he's also a very good passer off penetration. That's why
they won so many titles, because he found out he
(10:53):
was willing to become a good passer off penetration. But
it's just hard to compare the two. Here's I'll say
about Lebron. He looked confident, he looked elegant, he didn't
look arrogant, and he looked like the best player of
this generation by a mile. Going back to last night.
Part of that is Katie didn't look particularly good. Part
(11:14):
of it is this team has been built around his likeness,
and part of it is, hey, we you've been to
eighth strade finals and you're playing with house money. You
can play with supreme self confidence because you literally have
nothing to lose. Nothing. As for the game, UM, I
didn't like the original block called at original charge call.
I don't like per se going back to replay and
(11:37):
kind of fudging while you're going back to replay to
review the call. But I do think they ended up
getting the call right, which is really the intent of
replay no matter how you get there right. I do
think they ended up getting it right. And then, um,
what's lost in that discussion was though it felt like
that could have ended the game, it didn't. Each team
(11:59):
had a couple more possession The Warriors couldn't get stops.
Steph got an and one that put him up one.
Let's not let George Hill off the hook for choking
that free throw. And there's a difference between missing a
free throw round and out back rim um, just getting
unlucky and making your first one. The second one was
(12:19):
a good foot short, right, it's fifteen ft from the
backboard to the free throw line, um, And so with
those with with the dimensions of an NBA court, it's
fifteen ft from the backboard to the free throw line,
just so you're aware. So that makes it like a
thirteen nine shot, thirteen six shot to the front of
(12:42):
the to the middle of the rim. That was That
was a twelve ft nine free throw. That's how short
that one was. So the pressure clearly got the most
of George Hill shooting that free throw, I don't think
anybody would argue otherwise. And with that in mind, a
guy who career wise a very very good shooter and
(13:06):
very good free throw shoot, let's let's not let George
Hill off the hook for missing a shot that could
have forever changed uh this NBA NBA Finals. And then
let's also not let somebody like Kevin durrandolf the hook
for not boxing out on that play. As for j R. Smith,
(13:27):
I would love to say that I'm surprised, I'm shocked,
I'm stunned, but I also know it's j R. Smith right.
J R. Smith is exactly the type of guy who
would not know if you were up one or down
one when securing a big offensive rebound. And I also
I hate the fact that he lied about it afterwards,
saying he thought the time out was coming, saying he
(13:50):
thought they were in a tie game, when we can
read his lips which he said I thought we were
up one where I thought we were up It's it
is totally human to air, but to lie about it,
especially when we have video evidence that you can't do
the Eddie Murphy wouldn't be It just doesn't work. I
(14:13):
understand why Lebron appeared disheartened and lacked the energy in overtime.
I hope that's not the case in game too, I
really hope. But that was an amazing game. Incredible turns,
incredible twists. Um Jr. Was bad, Kevin Love couldn't make
shots yet. Nineteen offensive rebounds, nineteen two, nineteen four offensive rebounds,
(14:38):
like that's the story of it. They beat them up
on the boards. They were a more physical team. They
took exactly what Houston did defensively, and they just they
tweaked it a little bit where they wanted to run
Kevin Durant, run Clay Thompson, runs Steph Curry off the
three point line when they come off those high ball screens,
pressure up and make them go into the middle lane,
(14:59):
make them shoot mid rangers, or make or funnel them
to Tristan, funnel them to Jeff Green, funnel them to
Lebron James, whoever was on the back line of that defense.
And it works some, it works some, and I think
it will continue to befuddle this team, especially as long
as Kevin Rant his head is up his wrectum. But
(15:20):
it was I thought a very well coached game. By Tyler.
Do I think they got screwed by the officials? Like my,
my honest thoughts is that the reason they went to
check if Lebron James was outside the semi circle was
because those officials two of them probably had blocks. Right,
(15:42):
one official had a charge, the other two like, yeah,
I got a block of that one. And so by
rule they can go and check for the semi circle.
But they probably went to go check so that they
could see if he was set or even close to
being set, and he wasn't. Now here's one idea for
replay and is I got a Buddy's name is Ryan Hoover.
(16:03):
Ryan was a great shooter at Notre Dame, played overseas
for like a decade. He now is part of a
company that the NBA uses. Lots of NBA teams, college
teams used to track your your shooting. Uh they put
they put they have all these cameras and that that
keep stats trackers that keep stats for players shooting and
(16:24):
practice players shooting in games. Um, but they use it
more for practice in the NBA, so you know where people,
how many shots guys took, where they took him from
all this different statistical analysis anyway. Who's idea, which is
a pretty good one, is, look, there's nothing wrong with replay,
but when they watch replay, you gotta watch it in
regular motion. If you can't tell from the replay in
(16:48):
regular game speed, why do you need super SlowMo. I
guess maybe for out of bounds plays you want to
see exactly who it went off of. But other replay
watching at full speed, and if you can't tell it
full speed, well then you can't tell. But last night
was a loss for replay. I don't think there's any
doubt about it, even though I believe they got the
call ultimately right, the process by which at the fact
(17:09):
that so many of us didn't know the rule, um
I thought that made it end, and how long it took,
how confusing it was, you know, overturning a call which
is supposed to be a judgment call. All of these things.
It was not great, and it feels like a little
bit too much used to replay. Let's welcome in Ryan Hollins,
(17:31):
who played for a decade in the NBA. You see
him on our network, you see him on ESPN as
well covering the NBA. Ryan, what's let's let's start with
the block charge. Was that absolutely the deciding play in
the game. No, No, that wasn't Cleveland getting robbed the
two plays prior against the Stack Golden State team was
(17:54):
the decider in the game. And interesting enough is that
Kenny was on that baseline and he knew it was
a block, but he tried to give Doug and you
know this, we've had it happened all the time since
youth basketball. A makeup call, you give a makeup call
back on the other way. And when he attempted to
do the makeup call, they overruled it because he knew
(18:15):
how he knew, he knew he had the angle. People
gotta understand, there's three referees. Every referee has a different angle,
Every referee has a different story. Okay, So he tried
to help clean the game up, Kenny on that base
fiine and he couldn't do it, and then the rule
came in place, and that's why everybody's upset. And it
(18:36):
shouldn't even have been revealable. Wait, what what play are
you talking about? A couple of plays before there is
a blatant foul, a play before and then Kevin Durrant
goes out abound. So when You're Cleveland, that's given every
every little mustard. I hope you got a right to
be able to beat Golden State. You know, Listen, offense
(19:01):
is a struggle, and they could not bounce back from that,
and they worked the ball around a month. You couldn't
have had a better possession, and then they arrived. What's
the matter with d Listen when I say this, Cleveland
now actually has a guy available to guard Kevin Durant,
a guy available. Can Lebron James card guard Kevin Durant, Yes, clearly,
(19:26):
but he's got the role on his flate. You gotta
score fifty one points and he would have had a
triple double if the if these guys could have made
an open three point shot, okay, or if he wasn't
fouled every time that he passed the ball out that
wasn't called. Jeff Green, former teammate of Kevin Durant, has
a size and athleticism and obviously it feels just like practice.
He's a guy who can actually guard Kevin Durant. And
(19:47):
when you put him in a screening situation, he and
Lebron switched several times that game. But Yeunt Katie's probably
a little tired. I'm sure everybody's tired at this point,
but they actually have a match up to same f him,
you bringing former teammate to mind. Man, he's I mean,
that's he's just the heck of a defender. No, not
just that, but the other part is it Lebron guarding
(20:08):
Draymond gives him the opportunity with the exception when he
screens for Kevin Durant to catch a break, you know,
to catch his breath defensively so that offensively he can
show his superpowers. You know, they're they're playing kind of
three on five on offense, and they smartly put Lebron James,
you know, Lebron James and Draymond who I know he
hit two last night, one and overtime, but for the
most part doesn't want to look at the basket. The
(20:32):
Draymond and Green has been passing up more shots than
his rookie year and his rookie here. He passed them
up because he couldn't shoot. I'm not sure what's going
on with Draymond, but he hasn't even been looking at
the room. And yeah, one of my keys to the game,
my two keys to the game, which is disappointing for
Cleveland was pace and physicality. They beat them up off
(20:55):
the offensive boards. And when I say pace, playing in
Cleveland's face, not Golden States. And you have a lebron
that's able to rest, that's that's a key to the game.
That is a that is a blessing. That's something that
he couldn't do the last time. It's a great point.
Ryan Hollands joining us on the doug Otlip Show, Um,
what do you think on the I mean, look, j R.
Smith he can say afterwards he thought it was tied,
(21:17):
but I mean we all read his lips. He didn't
know the score. He thought they he thought they had
to lead, right. So just as basic as this, the
team Cleveland got cheated yesterday. Those guys are upset and
they essentially they're sticking together. They're they're banding together, and
they're not going any knowledge with Jake Now internally he's
(21:40):
getting slapped in the back of the head a couple
of times, okay, and he's kicking himself harder than anybody else.
As j R. Smith is that type of guy. What
the the Jr? That you see and you think you
know who he is on the court, Man he's one
of the most humbled down earth guys I've I've ever known,
I've ever been around. Okay, but he's kicking himself in
the back of the head. But I applauded Cleveland because
those guys are having his back and sticking together, and
(22:01):
they've made a choice not to acknowledge what happened. That's
not important in Lebron. Let me give this to you, Doug.
You want the psyche of the game. Lebron pulled this
when they were down three one. He actually responded to Draymond,
got in Draymond's face, I want to say, almost pushed him.
And Draymond gets to tech down three one game series play,
(22:23):
game changing play last night. And every time I've compete
against Lebron and we we said things to him, We've
hit him. Well, I didn't say things, so we hit him,
done everything to try to knock him up the game,
and it didn't work at the end of the game.
One of those in the first in the first excuse
me in the in game one and Lebron doesn't respond.
(22:45):
And at the end of the game Lebron started that
whole scuffle. That was Lebron doing that, and he knew
that he needed to overshadow what had happened. He knew
he had to overshadow Jr's mistake. I say, guys, well
let's fight, let's come together. And that's what you saw
Ron James do. There was no accident. That is probably
(23:06):
one of the most intelligent moves you ever saw it
because he knows he needs Jr. And j R. Loves
to fight, and everybody's gonna have Lebron's back. So how
likely are we to have a series? You're very likely.
You're very likely because Golden State only did what they
were supposed to do, going right, doun. Golden State did
(23:29):
what they were supposed to do, and yesterday Lebron rallies
troops again, and there's a lot of holes in that
Golden State teams. I don't know if Clay Thompson plays
the next game. Don't be surprised if he shows up
on that injury report, all right, not even to play.
I haven't I don't know how he got back in
that game. Okay, so Eagle Dona, I thought he comes
(23:52):
back firing on all cylinders. I thought a lot of
whole we're able to execute their game plans and if
a couple of guys on the league, not that a handful.
I completely agree with you. You know, I've I've heard
(24:13):
people and it's it's almost it hurts my brain sometimes
it's like, well, look at all these things that that
had to happen, and and Golden State still beat them.
I was like, dude, Golden State shot fifty one thirty
six and miss one free throw the entire game played
at home, how to run at the start of the
third quarter, and still needed a crazy sequence of events
(24:36):
in the fourth quarter just to, you know, just to
beat um, just to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game one.
I'm with you. I thought it was a series before
the series, and I think it's a series now. You
gotta be physical with them, and I think the space
around them. They last year they had a bunch of
dudes they can throw out Lebron James to guard him. Now,
the best guy they have to guard him is Kevin
(24:58):
Durant and clear really he's struggling with it. It wears
him down offensively, and without Iguadala, they have no spacing.
They don't have a guy to keep on Lebron. They're
all screwed up right now. They're not to mention Kevin
Durant had to start on Lebron, and now Katie's worrying
about defense and scoring, and nobody wants to give up
a bucket. You know what I'm saying, You give up
(25:20):
a bucket morale boost a morale loss on the other side.
And you know Lebron is not the guy you kind
of talked mess to. When he can, when he can
put you in the rim, it's it's gonna be it's
gonna be fascinating to see Doug gotlip show. Ryan, thanks
so much for joining us, my mayor. Let's welcome to
(25:41):
Ethan Strouss, who joins us from the Athletic Ethan, I
know you haven't been listening. You've got a bunch of
other stuff you're doing. Do an outstanding job covering the NBA.
Um My thoughts, let's start with the call. My thoughts
in the call was like, look, I actually think they
got it right, and I think the reason, the true
reason they reviewed it is one official had it as
(26:02):
a charge and he made a big show of it.
The other guys are like, I had a block on
that one, and this is just a way to get
to catch a breath and to get and to to
to let you know, New York in on making the
final call on such a call. Is that Is that
a reasonable way of looking at Yeah, And I think
you're you're right on the money with that, and you're
(26:24):
probably showing your playing experiences something that one out that
there is some old school reffing that. Then they retroactively
say it's according to rules section A slash B that
you know it has something to do with the restricted area. No,
they just thought maybe they botched that one. They had
an excuse to go and look at it and then
they could retroactively correct it. And look, I'm against free
play review in general. I think it's it's bad. It's
(26:46):
perfect is the enemy of good, right uh. And people
want to get the call right, but in doing that
they're screwing up the flow of the game. And then
there's this controversy over is it enough to overturn? And
I like the nineties, man, I like the nineties. Back
in the day, there are some calls and we all
lived with it and we learned how to deal with it.
Um And I don't think that this is the best
(27:06):
way to go about it. But under the rules as
they are written, Um, and as we have them, then
I don't see what the big controversy is. Right, it
was a boxed call, it was a block, and so
it eventually got called a block. Then then let's get
to the miss free throw four seconds remaining, four seconds
remaining in the game. Um, you know, like two guys
who escape criticism, George Hill, who's a very good free
(27:30):
throw shooter. And there's there's a difference between missing a
free throw. Hey, you miss one around and out hits
the back rim. You know, it looks like it's right
to leave it that short after making your first one.
That's a that's pressure, that's that's a choke job. And
then Katie doesn't box out. Now Katie said, like I
need to do a better job rebounding or try and
box out at all. Um. But uh Jr. Trying to
(27:54):
convince the world that he thought of the time. There's
not a the treator in America who thinks he said
I thought it was tied. Well, that's it's it's a
situation where the more interesting mistake, the more inexcusable mistakes,
then gets conflated with the uh, the more damaging mistake.
(28:14):
But when you look at it. What's more damaging. What's
more damaging is George Hill, who could win the game
right there. He could win the game of the free
throw missing the free throw. Jr. Smith is a terrible
shooter within the paint, He's not good. If he had
known the actual score, then he's coming back up with it,
and Kevin Duran at seventh ft tall is either going
to block, everybody's gonna miss. So, yeah, it was inexcusable.
(28:37):
It was basketball negligence, and so we're all going to
make him the goat and mock him rightfully. So, but
it didn't actually matter. I would contend it didn't actually
shift the probabilities that much of the game. And yeah,
you could say Lebron was open, But let me tell you,
if if j R. Smith knew the score of the game, uh,
he wouldn't have even gotten out there and seeing Lebron.
He only saw Lebron because he ran away from the
pain because he thought that he thought the game was
(28:59):
he thought that the Yeah, he clearly clearly did. Um Okay,
let's get to the actual gameplay. I thought I thought
the game plan was a masterpiece from Tyler right, be
super super physical with the three scores, and then whoever's
guarding the fifth guy for the Warriors, you're in help.
(29:19):
And then put Lebron James and Draymond Green and dare
him to shoot the basketball. You're in help. It allowed
Lebron to catch his breath defensively and allowed and really,
you know, ran Golden State off the three point line.
I thought the game plan was really good. I guess
the question becomes, is that replicable going forward in the series.
It was. It was a really good game plan. I'm
(29:40):
sorry that my infant son is taking any weird noises
in the background. It's actually it's actually amazing. What's his name?
His name is Asher? And how old's Asher? Asher? Seven
weeks old? So I between this, oh nine weeks my
wife just corrected me, well, now in trouble. Uh, he's
(30:01):
nine weeks old. So between the the NBA Finals and this,
I'm not getting a lot of sleep. But it's all right.
It's honestly, it's pretty sweet because then you're like, no,
I'll do the late night feedings, no problem. You go
to bed. Meanwhile, you're watching the gate exactly exactly well
on the game plan. Uh yeah, I think that it's replicable.
In some ways. I gotta say the Calves played really well.
(30:23):
Their shot quality those fancy metrics we have for how
how the quality of shots versus did you make them?
They got quality shots. They're offense did really well and
I sometimes wonder if they're a little underrated. I think maybe,
in order to burnish Lebron's legacy, were exaggerating the extent
to which this team is bad. It's a lot like
the old Calves team that we've seen in this matchup.
(30:44):
Instead of having a Kyrie Irving an offensive guy, you've
got a defensive guy and George Chill And yeah, I'd
rather have the Kyrie Irving iteration, but it's not altogether
that much different. Uh So, I thought it was a
good game plan. It's a solid team at the team
that gives the Warriors problem because they beat him up.
And also on the other side, I think the Warriors
don't know quite what to do on pick and roll
(31:05):
action with Lebron. They love switching everything, but you can't
really switch everything against Lebron on the way you can
against the Chris baul Or or a James Harden. It's
just too much for Steph Curry to deal with and
so that aspect is also replicable where I'm not sure
how the Warriors are going to solve that particular issue.
I think it's I think it's fascinating. I thought it
was going to be a close series. I still thought
(31:26):
the Warriors would win. Um, what do you think you know?
Coming in? What did you think? I thought everybody was
talking five games, and my suspicion was more towards six games.
I mean, I try not to do, you know what,
I try not to do predictions. I try to be
like Brian Windhorse, because here's the thing, we writers, We
have such little esteem in the eyes of the fan.
(31:48):
Why give them something tangible to bash us with? Right?
Why give them just a tangible You predicted this and
it was actually that to hit us over the head with.
So I normally try to evade it. But my sin
of things was more in line with you, in part
because I know people will hammer home before All Stars
for All Stars were all Stars. But Andre Goodala is
a really good and he's be very important to the team.
(32:11):
And this is a team that, yes has an embarrassment
of riches as far as talent goes, but the whole
is not greater than the sum of its parts, it's
never really cohered in the way maybe people thought it would.
So not having I Goodala there does make a difference,
especially since he's the best defensive guy on that lebron
James Fellow, who is quite important in this whole rick
(32:31):
of hole of the series. I think the other part
is how does how does Cleveland bounce back from this? Right?
Like I'm I'm reading this is a pretty good two
little tweets here and essentially says what I've been saying
the entire show. Ethan Strauss is our guest from the
Athletic does a great job, and he's also bouncing his
young baby Asher on his knee. Uh you know, put
(32:51):
post post feeding. It's the dog at the show. So
Roussilo says, I think when he said, uh, I think
the horrible things that people are pointing out. The call
is the only reason the Calves lost. Make a free throw.
Try not to forget the score when playing in the game.
Bill Simmons adds on, don't give up an easy three
point play the staff up to in the last thirty seconds,
(33:11):
make the go ahead free throw, remember the score, and
don't completely cave in in overtime. So I guess the
question is, if you feel like you had one and
then you gave it away, how do you bounce back
from it? Um Man, Maybe you could better answer that one,
because we've seen teams remember that Clippers Spurs series or
the Clippers had just these devastating losses in that series,
(33:35):
and uh, they had that DeAndre Jordan's gaff right there
was almost similar to the j R. Smith gaff where
Chris Paul screaming at him. But they did come back
and they won that series. Because maybe you're inspired by
that frustration, um and that pain, and you still have
a chance to correct things. So we've seen that, we've
seen such things happen. Now, what I would be a
little bit worried about from a Cleveland keyler's perspective is
(33:57):
that I think that the Warriors were seen enough evidence
that Mike causing to go away from some of the
lineups that don't work and start using a lineup to
do work. They got an object lesson in you know
what works, uh the overtime with Sean Livingston and de
Andre Goodala little you know it doesn't work. Kavon Looney
in that role in the fourth quarter. I think that's
gonna be a lot tougher for the has to deal
with going forward, and they got their shot against soft
(34:19):
the lineups last night. I attend to great, what's what's
going on with k D Man. That's a great question, now,
isn't it. He has these games where it's just perplexing.
I in the game six against the Rockets of the
Warriors one. Yeah, the Warriors eventually ran away with that one,
but I ended up writing just on the book fuggling
first half word, he wasn't playing defense and where you
(34:41):
might have attributed five three pointers from the Rockets, just
fully on Kevin Durant not matching up with guys, not
getting back in transition and and just doing the basics
of the job. And it is completely confounding. And you know,
I'm glad he admitted to it on the on the rebound,
but that that's happening in general. Where's getting put and
around on rebounds. I know he said during the Rocket
(35:02):
series that that p J. Tuckerton's to elbow him in
the back, and that's that's part of it. But you
would just expect better as far as doing the things
you almost take for granted. He's not doing the things
that you take for granted the superstar, uh does. And
I thought that he did a very good job last
Finals when he was guarding Lebron. But I don't think
he did a good job in defense last night. Some
of that might be the pick and roll coverage that
(35:24):
they're sussing out and let's not switch everything and they
have to figure out the communication. But I don't have
a good theory for you on why he's not doing
what he should be doing. But he's not doing it. Yeah.
My My theory is, Look, they're being people are being
allowed to be really physical with him. I also think, um,
I think you know, Ryan Hollands joined us earlier and
I said this, Uh, look, they got some better matchups
(35:44):
this year. Last year, Lebron had to guard him because
of their personnel. This year, you can put Jeff Green
on him, You can put Nance on him a little bit,
you know, you can put you can put Tristan on him. Um,
and and then Lebron king guar him as well. So
you have it's a lot like what the Calves had
last you, which was a lot more guys that could
guard Lebron. They have they have a lot more guys
that can guard him and our physical and Jeff Green
(36:05):
obviously knows this game. Yeah, this is one like this
is this is good, but you actually notice and you
know the game, and you're not just going by reputation.
It's funny you would think, oh, you wouldn't want Lebron
to Garden. He completely torched Lebron last year in the finals.
You look at his highlight reel. It's coming at the
expensive Lebron and it's not an indictment of Lebron. It's
just Lebron cannot do everything on offense while also playing
(36:26):
defense at this at this particular age. So I almost
wonder if to get to get Katie going, if they
don't want to run more pick and roll and try
to get Lebron switched on to him. I know that
might sound crazy, h to the casual fan, that you
would want Lebron guarding you, but I think there could
be a benefit to getting Grant going and also tiring
out Lebron. Yeah completely, And then yeah, and then I think,
(36:52):
you know, and then I think off, I think that
will help them on on defense as well. And I
think they're they're gonna have to start double teaming Lebron
at different points in time or to get the ball
out of his hands, make somebody else make a play,
not just you know, not just make a shot. He
obviously will will pass into a shooter. But but they
gotta they gotta occasionally blitz him and get the ball ahead.
They got to vary some of their coverage because it
(37:13):
becomes all too predictable. I I completely agree they need
need to vary it, but they also need to know
what they're doing when they vary it. Um. That's that's
more or less the key, the key for them beause
they were not on the same page last night. In
a lot of possessions. I entered the series. I entered
the series thinking, you know, I heard Mike wilbon Um
(37:34):
with Dan Patrick and he said, hey, you know, unless
you know, something crazy happens, there is no real takeaway
if they lose this series. Because they he expects it
to lose the series. I have a completely different level
of respect for Lebron and kind of the zen by
which he's playing the development of his offensive game. His
(37:54):
jump shot the first three chords last night was great.
I think there's a ton to take away from this
win or lose based upon how he plays and how
his game has evolved. Last night was a was the
type performance I haven't seen since Jordan's What are your
thoughts on how we can change how we view Lebron
based upon how he's played, not just the fact that
(38:16):
he might lose to a superior team. I think there's
something to that, and it also might just speak to
the era that we're in where we we have more
of a sense now that you can play really well
and lose, that you can win the CSI on without
winning a bunch of games in baseball just based on
your d r A. So there's a lot to be
gained from actually coming out and performing, and we're not
(38:38):
just going to hang it around your neck that you
lost the theories so reputationally, Lebron could find himself in
a situation where he might win finals MVP even if
he loses the series. That nearly happened when you could
all have one finals MVP in and I think that would, uh,
that would be pretty good for him in the in
the grand scheme of things, And he's kind of in
a good position. It's not a good position for winning
(38:59):
the series, it's in a good position where it's all
upside where uh, you will be credited for exceeding expectations
and not blamed if the calves are down in flames. Okay,
a couple of things I need to get to. Um,
how happy is Javelle McGhee that j R. Smith pulled
the Javelle McGhee because otherwise replaying Javelle McGee's miss dunk
over and over and over again. Oh man, it was
(39:22):
just it's so funny with those two guys that what
happened was almost a satire of who they are, and
with JaVale it was going so well. That was the
other thing I was saying. I was watching in the
media area behind the court, Um, and I was I
just kept saying to the guy next to me, Uh,
this has found money. Steve's got a pull them. Steve's
got a pull them. He's got a pull them. And
(39:42):
I didn't expect it. Hey, I think you might have
been plus eight on the game, or you might have
had a pretty good run in there despite that humiliating
dunk that me was was that was that fatigue possibly
that could have been fatigued in away or just I
just think he got lost. I just think he got
lost as to where he was in the court. I
mean I think, I think it happens. I just think
get you know, it just happened to happen to to
Javel McGhee. Um, do you have any idea what's going
(40:06):
on with Kevin Love's hair? Because that is can can
we have formed some sort of investigation? What is that
is that? Hey? Man? For all I know, that's cool.
I mean it was that A cross said, what do
we what do we call that? It might be cool?
For all I know, I'm a dad now, I don't
know what's cool, So I don't want to hate on it. Yeah,
I felt it felt like either a flow by or
(40:27):
kind of like, yes, maybe went flow by. Maybe he
just like, hey, I was bored in the hotel room.
He's he's watched everything he could possibly watch on Netflix
and Amazon Prime and Hulu, and so he just started
just kind of going to work on his own hair,
and he's like, damn, I have no idea how to
fade it. So I'm not even gonna try. I'm just
shocked about the flow By reference. I I might my
(40:47):
dad bought a flow be back in the day. I
had a few Floby haircuts, and you know what that
might even be an insult with the flow but you
might get sued by the makers of flow By because
of the haircut that Kevin Love has, So uh yeah,
you know, shout out flow By. I hope they're still
going strong. And as far as what Kevin wants to
doing with this there, I guess just keeping it interesting. Okay,
so you started the series, um, without really a prediction.
(41:11):
What do you think now? I still I still don't
necessarily have a prediction because I'm trying to be coy
and I'm trying to be cool like that. Um, But
as far as what I think now, I think the
Warriors dodged the bullet. I think they're very happy to
have won a lucky one. Sometimes it's better to be
lucky than good. And I think, hey, beyond just winning
(41:33):
a game, it's I think it was good for the
Warriors in the sense that they when I talked to
them after the game, the coaches were actually i'd be happy.
Usually they're they're mad when they messed around. They they
they squander opportunities. But they had a sense of the
first games of feel Out Game, we didn't have our
coverages right. So I think it's ultimately better for the
(41:53):
Warriors beyond just winning the game. At the same time,
I might have a little bit more respect for Lebron
the Cat's chances in this the most people as do.
So I'm hedging like crazy. I'm giving you a very
unsatisfying answer, and I apologize for that. No, I'm you're
you're leaving it up to Hey, there's a lot of
bast like we all think that every basketball game is
going to be the same, and we all completely forget that.
Even last year there were some very very close games,
(42:15):
even at the final, even at the final score was
four games to one. Within the context of the series,
it wasn't necessarily wasn't every they win every game by
twenty points. We seeing in sports where we conflate probability
with inevitability. I don't know why, but we just skip
ahead that if somebody has an eight percent chance of
doing something, we act as though twenty is impossible. And
(42:36):
I'm just not of that mentality. Really, you know, I
think that the Calves are a long shot, but a
long shot doesn't mean that it's apport conclusion. And I
think if you look at the ratings for this one,
America agrees. America is into the series. Even a lot
of the sports writers boo boo it great stuff. Ethan Strouss,
get back to caring for young Asher. Congratulations to your wife.
She did all the work for the last eleven twelve months.
(42:57):
Now since it's nine weeks and you you butchered that.
Thanks for joining us. She's the same. Thanks for having
me by, all right. I hope you really enjoyed the
All Ball Podcast. Remember, I believe this is gonna be
a good series. I just do. I think there are
matchup problems for the Golden State Warriors in that you know,
(43:19):
you can only can't hide Staff and you can't hide
Kevin Kevon Looney. I think they'll change some of the rotations.
There'll be times in which they double team and try
and uh and try and trap Lebron James and make
other people handle the basketball and like, look, Draymond's gonna
have to step up and take some more shots because
playing three on five is really really hard. There will
be some other actions that they put in, but this
is the same a similar defensive philosophy. He saw to Houston,
(43:42):
make make two guys beat you that can't score, And
you know, Looney made a couple of layups and dunks
about Livingstone game a good little lift. But those guys
are scoring for a reason. That's almost a win for
for the Calvs. When other guys score, Kevin Durant's gonna
have to play better, gonna have to be tougher. I
think he's a little bit tired, not just from the
previous series, but playing this much defense and the physicality
(44:05):
of a guy like Jeff Green. As you've heard several
of our guests talk about, the Calves have better matchups
this year for Kevin Durant than they had going back
to last year. The opposite is true for Lebron James.
Last year, the Warriors had more guys to match up
with Lebron than they have this year. And of course
he continues to exploit when Steph Curry guards it's gonna
(44:29):
be interesting. I still think the Warriors win the series,
but I think it's gonna be a harder series than
most people let on before it ever began. I hope
you enjoyed All Ball. Make sure you download, you subscribe,
you rate, and you tell a friend about coll
Host
Doug Gottlieb
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.