May 30, 2019 • 38 mins
Doug tells you why Draymond Green did a great job putting the "Warriors are better without Kevin Durant" narrative to rest. He also thinks the Rockets new owner is tired of losing in the playoffs, and that's why they aren't extending head coach Mike D'Antoni beyond next season. Plus, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts joins the show to discuss their hot start to the season and if teams need to do more in order to protect fans from foul balls.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve to
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for The Doug Gottlieb Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
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Radio app by searching fs R. This is the best
(00:21):
of the Doug Gotlip Show on Fox Sports Radio. Boom,
What Up America, Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. It's
sunny outside, summer's here, so too? Are the end be
a finals? I know you're like Toronto, kind of hard
(00:43):
to get behind Toronto, but maybe they can eat the Warriors.
You're either love staff or you hate the Warriors. Right,
That's that's kind of kind of where where we are. Um.
You know, it's interesting. I've been on this fight. I've
been on this um uh, I've been I've been taking
(01:03):
this stand against what I think is a I like
the word used. The word silly. Silly makes people less
defensive than stupid. Right, nobody must to be called stupid.
You go like, silly, silly is what you It's a
word you use with kids. But I have friends that
will say silly. I'll say, have friends that say rad. Now,
(01:24):
have you noticed that rad's come back in? Maybe it's
just where I live in Orange County, California. A word
that we that people used to use when I grew up,
and they're like, yeah, that was really rad. Did you
just say rad? I did. I don't know if I'm
super comfortable with it or not comfortable at all with it.
Just moving on anyway. I like the word silly I've
(01:45):
been using. It's a silly argument because when you say maronic, idiotic, stupid,
people get really defensive. I say, it's a silly argument.
Wait to hear what Draymond Green says is a uh
about about the same argument. But we'll get to that
in a second. That I got show was brought to
you by Farmers. At Farmers, we've seen almost everything, so
(02:07):
I cover almost anything. When it's game time, have an
experienced player help you stay here the game, put their
experience in a play at Farmers dot Com. Tonight is
the NBA Finals and among the narratives that will be
established and like, look, could I give you a prediction?
I could, but I honestly have no idea if and
(02:28):
when Kevin Durant will play, and if and when Kevin
Durant will play, how will he look. DeMarcus Cousins has
been activated, kind of like some Jerry Curls in coming
to America, right, little soul glow. So he's available, but
we don't know if he'll play and how he'll look. Right,
(02:49):
So it's very difficult to determine. If the Warriors were
at full strength, I would favor them. I would favor
them to win in five games maybe, But even within
those predictions of games, I don't know how those games
will go. Now you factor in, I don't know if
Cousins plays, I don't know how he's used, I don't
know how healthy is, I don't know how many minutes
(03:09):
he can play, and I don't know about Kevin Durant.
Like that changes things. So instead of giving you these
predictions as to what will happen, we kind of talked
about that the last couple of days. I can predict
that there is basically one of three narratives that will
take place. Kawaian Leonard is the best player on Earth
(03:30):
if he dominates and they win, and then from the
Warrior's perspective. Either they don't or do need Kevin Durant, Right,
that's it. If they win, they don't really need him.
He didn't make them better. If they lose, you know what,
they really need Kevin Durant. Steps not that good. Here's
(03:51):
what Draymond Green had to say in regards to playing
without Kevin Durant. There's so much noise that calls a
bottle like, oh, are they better or worse with Kevin?
Like can we stop the conversation because it's do we
play a different brand of basketball with Kevin's not out there? Absolutely,
but you'd be idiotic to think that we shouldn't. That's
where all the noise come from. And so it's like, oh,
(04:12):
y'all need to keep covering apart of well, I disagree
with that because Kevin is a part of this. He's
been a part of this, and everybody else kind of
creates the narrative like it's us and then it's Kevin,
or it's the Warriors, and then it's the Warriors with
Katie know, it's still the same team. He went on
and this is a really thoughtful interview with Rachel Nichols.
(04:34):
I have to be more of a scoring threat. When
Kevin's not out there, I have to really try to
push the pace when he's not out here. When Kevin's
out there, we have the luxury of just saying okay,
that's that didn't work. We still got this guy who
just throw it to anyway and get out of the way.
The luxuries and there anymore. I also think with Kevin
being out, we're trying to make up thirty seven points. Again,
(04:56):
We're not gonna make those thirty seven points. I'm just
walking the ball up the floor thinking we have to
have the same trust, in the same set as if
Kevin was on the floor. So how do you make
up those points? Get extra possessions, get the pace where
you want, get some easy buckets. That's how you make
it up. This is an extremely high basketball i Q conversation.
(05:16):
And if you don't get it, that's okay. I would
consider you a civilian. All right. We call it, my friends,
we call civilians. Don't worry. But I actually I got
called on the carpet a little bit because I said
last week I thought that we hadn't we need to
stop the idioc And it wasn't directed at any one
(05:36):
individual person. This isn't a conversation that people in the
media have had. It's it It defies logic because it's
not actually true. Is it possible that you're better at
times without a star player. Yes, But in the case
of Kevin Durant and the Warriors, just like you didn't
actually watch the success with them, and I understand that
(06:01):
you can point out, look at the record without him,
would they be better? Of course they wouldn't the thirty
two and one in a small sample size. Who did
they play and who was who is maybe most importantly,
who's Steph Curry's backup? Look, look, this is not a
shot at Quinn Cook. He is living every point guards
(06:21):
dream of making it to the NBA after winning a
national championship in college. But it was a G League
player going back to last year. Because of what what
he's done to the salary cap. I mean, he'd been
signing Kevin Durant frankly Steph Curry's new contract. Their bench
is extremely limited. Where it's not limited is in hybrid forwards.
(06:45):
They still have a couple of hybrid forwards that are
a higher level and we focus on things we also
don't know who they've played well, they beat Portland's Like, dude,
they beat They smack Portland when Kevin Durant was playing.
And you know what they did do trail by seventeen
or more points in three consecutive games to end up
with three or more wins. Well, you look at everybody's
(07:07):
points are up, of course because they have more opportunities
because there's a guy who scores thirty a night that's
not there. And the reason that do they play differently? Yes,
this is you don't have to move the ball and
you slide a hand and try and space the floor.
What I like to see them do more. Yeah, they
(07:28):
actually did that at the end of the season. Like
Kevin Rand's numbers weren't gret because he didn't play that
as many minutes this year because he tried to operate
within their system more. But Draymond understanding what his role
is and how it changes based upon who he's playing
(07:48):
with only shows what in a ridiculously high level of
basketball like you he has and frankly, most guys in
the NBA have most two It's funny. I have this
conversation with my son. I said, look, when you play
on n j B is like wreck basketball. When you
play on this NJB team, I want you to be
(08:09):
like James Hart. You can't shoot too much, you can't
handle the ball too much because you're at a much
higher level than everybody else around you. And I'll try
and create a mismatch and then you just go. When
you play on our normal travel team, you know, you
look to score some, you look to pass some. You
do a little bit of everything. And sometimes I don't
even play with point guard because I have another guy
(08:30):
who's frankly a little bit more solid at point guard
at this age. And then when I play him against
older kids, like, look, you just stay out there and survive.
Guard your guy, don't lose the ball. You're open, shoot it,
but just keep the ball moving and if you're wide open,
then you make a play. There's different roles based upon
who you're playing with. That's basketball. I tell people all
(08:51):
the time, like, don't invite me to play a pickup
game where you expect me to be your best player.
But I also don't enjoy being the worst player. Like
I can't go over to u c l A And
play with the pros because I'm just not any good.
If I'm somewhere between the fifth and the seventh or
eighth best player in the court. I'm good even eighth
or ninth or tenth, I'm okay. Like I just when
(09:12):
I'm when I'm a substantial notch below, it's not a
not a fun feeling, not a fun feeling. But you
also have to read the chord. That's part of sport.
What is my role on this team? Do I have
to be a vocal leader? So I do think there's
(09:32):
going to be discussion about and it's an end all
be y'all if they get smashed, and I'd be like, man,
they need Kevin Durant back, and if they win, and
I was like, they don't need Kevin Durant, of course,
they're better with a You know, it's really funny. I
think Kevin Durant still listened at six ft nine and
most people believe he's over seven ft tall, But whatever,
(09:55):
um a seven ft one two three four who can
guard all those positions, has was the most dominant score
in the playoffs this year, is a good passer, is
a very good rebounder, and has become a good defender
and a good rim protector. If you don't think they're
(10:17):
better with Kevin Duran is a two time consecutive finals
m v P. I can't really help you, but that's
what people are going to talk about based upon the
result tonight. It's just easier because it's less it's less
thinking involved. We're so sports are really process oriented. And
(10:40):
if you think the process was easy against Portland's, you
didn't watch the same game I watched. It was fun,
like how many points can they spot them before they're
gonna come back? And here they come. That was fun,
but the process was much more difficult, even if the
(11:00):
result was four wins and no losses. And Draymond Green said, well,
you gotta be an idiot to think of He said, idiotic.
Let's just let's go as silly for whatever reason, it
puts people as less defensive. It's a less terse word.
(11:24):
And uh, it's a little childish. But so too is
the argument that Kevin Durant, who won two finals m
v P, that a team that swept in the NBA
finals last year with a sweet last year. Yeah, last year,
he swept right, swept last year in the finals. They
were sixteen and one the year before. Somehow is worse
(11:47):
off with him than they are without him. But that's
going to be based upon again, not based on the game,
not by how it's played, on the result of tonight.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug dot
Leap Show weekdays in noon eastern three pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. The
(12:08):
guy who's managed his team to the World Series both
in the past two years is our guest. He's the
skipper of the first place l A Dodgers. He's Dave Roberts.
He joins us on Fox Sports Radio Skip. How are you, Doug.
I'm doing well, man, Thanks for having me on. And uh,
we had a good one last night. But it's good
catch up with you. Yeah, I'll get to last night
(12:29):
in a second. You guys. Are you Guys been great
out of the box this year. Um, whereas last year,
coming off the World Series, there was a substantial hangover.
Why do you think it's different? Yeah, I don't know, UM,
And I think that coming out of spring training in
both years, I felt good about our our club and
the focus and it just kind of tale of two starts,
(12:52):
and UM, you know, fortunately we're putting up more wins
and losses this year. But honestly, I think that every
there's injuries that every team has to go through. So
that's not the reason. And I always guard against saying
World Series hangar, but I guess there might be something
to it. All. Right, Well, last night felt like I
felt like two years ago, right, two years ago was
all the comeback wins. You put four on the board
(13:14):
against Edwin Diaz to come back for a huge win
late into the night. What were your thoughts, honest opinion,
going into the ninth inning, You're down a couple of runs,
what are your thoughts in the likelihood they're like, You're like,
this thing's over. Yeah, I mean I think that you
know when it turned. I think he was in the
seventh inning. I think I was getting ready to take
(13:34):
Justin Turner out of the game just to get him
off his legs, and we're down five. At that point,
you got a two out base hit, drove in a run,
and then I kept him in the game. And then
so you get to the to the ninth inning, and uh,
with Edwin Diaz, he's actually been used a lot lately
as workload, but this guy is still throw ninety nine
and nine miles an hour. So it was a tall,
(13:56):
tall order, tall task. But then that Jack Peterson that
that he put put on was pretty impressive and taking
some balls down below his own and got a ball
out over wrote it out hit a homer, and then
I was like, we might be able to do something,
specially at worst case just kind of stressed him a
little bit, so'd be down for tonight's game. And then
you see what Max Munty didn't. And just right then,
(14:17):
at that point in time, after Max Summer, I thought
we're gonna get him. You know, the Jock thing is incredible,
right Like there was some there was some thought at
a point last year that you guys had kind of
moved on from Jock, like, you know, we gotta go
outen and outfielders, let's kind of move on. And and
yet here he is. He's already got sixteen home runs
on the year. Um, and he just he just he
(14:39):
just battles um. Kind of impressive, like his own personal
fortitude to stay in this thing and to have this
start absolutely and I think that Jock, you know, it
is hard on himself, like most great baseball players are
athletes and and expects a lot and he's really I mean,
he's playing all star caliber baseball right now, Doug really
(15:00):
and uh, you look at the Homer's OPS as a
stat that I value on base plus slug and just
a competitive a facities have and every yet that seems
to be quality. And he's staying in the strike zone,
hitting velocity, getting on base for us, playing a really
good left field for us, and uh, he's a big
part of what we're doing. And it feels good to
run run him at the top of the order. Okay,
(15:22):
the OPS of Cody Bellinger is one point two two four.
I mean it's and obviously he he wasn't gonna hit
home runs at the rad he was hitting early in
the year, but he's on base at four sixty four
is his his on base percentage? I mean, it's what
is It's as simple as he wanted to play every day.
What has changed so much with Cody Bellinger? Well, No,
(15:42):
I think that there's a little bit of you know,
when you have some struggles, Uh, there's an opportunity for growth.
And I think that you look at the last couple
of post seasons and even last year at the start
of the season, where he wasn't swinging at that well,
wasn't syncd up mechanically, and so he took to a
new hitting guy, hitting guys and just really uh, was
(16:05):
open to getting better. And so you're talking about approach, mechanics,
all that stuff, and and now it's a commitment to
to be consistent with how you prepare each night. And
so to Cody's credit, we want him to be an
everyday player. I mean that was our goal, you know,
because we see the talent and what he can do defensively.
So now you still have to go up there and perform.
And he's really taking that challenge and run with it.
(16:27):
Doug Alive Show on Fox Sports, Trader Dave Roberts is
our guest. Um. Scary you've seen this before at Dodger
Stadium obviously, uh and a scary incident in Houston last
night where a little girl got hit by by a
foul ball. Do we have to extend the nets more? Um?
Do we have to? And we were discussing this before
you joined us, like you have to almost do the
(16:48):
emergency road discussion right where you Hey, if you're gonna
sit in this section, you have to know that flying
objects can come at you. What what what? What can
be done? Because fans that their favorite part is to
catch a foul ball. On the other hand, that comes
and it's a family sport, right, a family you want
to bring your kids to a game. How do you
navigate those waters? If somebody asked the manager of the
(17:09):
ELI Dodgers, yeah, I I think for me and Doug,
I heard about it. Um, I read about it. I
didn't see the video. I just didn't have the heart
of the stomach to put eyes on it. Um. You know,
I know I'm more obviously very emotional and understandably so
for me to your question, I do think that the
net should be extended in every ballpark. Um. I think
(17:31):
that you look at the most premium the premium seats
at a major league ballpark, there's a screen, um, and
those are the ones behind on plate. So that's you know,
ten pitches in, you don't even notice the screens there.
And to your point about it's a family event, people
are talking, chatting a young kids and they just can't
appreciate the speed of the game. And so just to
(17:53):
put them in harm's way or to increase any or
decrease any chance of of injury, UM, I'm all in favor.
And you can still get a pop up foul ball.
The ball that has some air under it. So I
know that major League baseball is gonna look long and hard,
and we've made adjustments over the last couple years as
far as putting in the nets. But I do think
extending him makes a lot of sense. Let me ask
(18:13):
you a couple of your pictures. Walker viewer wasn't great
last night? Got hit? Did did he have better? Did
he have better stuff? Then the results would tell you
or was something off? I don't think that he was on.
I think the stuff when you're looking at the radar
gun and some characterists of the breaking ball um that stuff.
But as far as command that Walker we expect from Walker,
(18:33):
he expects himself, wasn't there. You're talking about fastball command
that the fight, sharpness of the break and stuff to
change up in the strike zone then out bottoming out.
It just wasn't there. Um. So he's still grinding, and
he was one pitch away from really putting up a
quality outing um and even with the lack of command
that he had. Uh Alonso, this young player who this
(18:56):
is the first time we've seen him, really physical guy.
You know, he is victim of two Alonso homers. So
outside of that, he competed, battled, and the line score certainly, uh,
you know, didn't reflect the stuff, but the command it
definitely did. Yeah. It's interesting because my son and I
were watching the game, um and he's like, he's a
ten year old left hand pitcher. And I was telling,
(19:16):
you know, Walker Bueller's their their best pitching. Although you
got you going, who has been your best pitcher so
far this year? Um? And and he was why is
he throwing so much, you know, so much offspeed stuff
early in the game. And I said, well, I think
I think he's missing with his fastball more than more
than he wants. Yeah, I mentioned you he's been unbelievable
this year. What what adjustments is he made? Yeah, well,
I think that the last couple of years, Uh, he's
(19:39):
had a healthy Winner where he wasn't in rehab mode
and so he got to break camp healthy as a
regular player. And last year he was off to a
great start as well, then he had the growing injury
and came back and pitch well for us at the
end of the season. And this year again just going
into the Winner and and coming into the spring just
feeling healthy and active participant, regular participant, And how you
(20:00):
layer in the field of the four pitches, the confidence
that he has being healthy and a hundred is an outlier.
Now you're talking about stuff and looking at the radar
gun after every pitch where this guy is going to
pitch at command. All quadrants work to hit her front
to back. So he's really fun to watch it. Just
kind of a tactician, you know, on the mound and
(20:23):
take these aggressive Mets hitters. It's gonna be a phone
one tonight. Yeah, he's he's basically he should be an
All Star, But do you want him to be an
All Star? Light? Right? You mentioned how health is so important,
Like you want your guy to be repert You want
your guy to be rewarded, But do you want your
guy to actually go and do that instead of taking
the time off? I do. I do, And I think
that that's a debate certainly. And I think if you're
(20:45):
looking at just as a you know, the manager of
the Dodgers, the rest is nice, but part of it
also is that these guys work hard to get team
accolades and championships. Were also the individual also notoriety that's
a feather in their cap as well. So for him
to represent the Dodgers himselfish family. I think that you know, Korea,
you know, a country, a fan base. I think that
(21:07):
would be a great moment for him. Still fun on
those comeback wins we win on a walk off as
that still does still have the same exealer like look.
You've played in bigger games that mattered more, even against
obviously uh even against the Mets that mattered more. Still
still still as much fun as it used to be. Absolutely,
those those walk off wins never get old. You know,
I can only take so many of those. I'd like
(21:28):
to just uh you know, not have to hit in
the ninth dining at home. But that's okay. Yeah, well
it was a good one last night. Best of luck tonight,
uh at Chevezervine, thanks so much for joining us on
Fox Sports Traded Dave, alright, dog take it easy. That's
the best, Dave. Dave Roberts showing us on the Doug
Gotlip Show. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug Dot Leaps Show week days in noon eastern three
pm Pacific. The Houston Rockets essentially fired all their assistance, right,
(21:53):
and so it was almost one of those deals to
where wait are they trying to they trying to get
Mike D'Antoni to leave. This is fascinating what's taken place here. Fascinating,
uh in that you know, here's D'Antoni, who you know,
he's he's never been in an NBA finals, but he's
(22:15):
had incredible regular season success in Phoenix and in Houston.
And you know, in Phoenix you could say they were
that one suspension of of what Boris d l and
Amari Stottom are away from taking down the Spurs, but
they could never get past the Spurs. And now they
can never get past the Warriors. And I just and
(22:40):
we've focused so much on the Lakers being a mess,
but wow, what's going on in Houston right? I mean, look,
I hate to say I told you so, but I
told you so. If you can't beat the Golden State Warriors,
forget about Game seven on the road, maybe you're tired.
(23:03):
Forget about Game seven at home last year when you
don't have Chris Paul. Game six at home, there's no
DeMarcus Cousins, there's no Kevin Durant and you lead and
you get outscored by ten in the fourth quarter. If
you can't beat them, then you're never going to beat them.
You're just not a championship team. And this is this
(23:25):
is a team that dos and has said that is said,
we are obsessed with beating the Warriors. They were put
together for one purpose to beat the Warriors, and even
when the Warriors are down their best players, you still
can't beat them. I gonna make any sense or the
(23:48):
sense that it makes to Tillman Fatina is like, Hey,
we're obsessed and we're gonna heads are gonna roll. And
Mike D'Antoni clearly did not like whatever tone of contract extension.
And by the way, D'Antoni kind of put it out
there like he wanted to kind of I want to
coach three more years. Whatever they're like, So what happens now?
(24:13):
The problem with doing this is what is your next option?
Who is out there? You know, who is out there
who can coach? James Harden can operate within the confines
of what Darryl Morey wants to like the idea that
(24:36):
there's an answer out there for them. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch
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R to listen live. Tom Habitstrow is an NBA in
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do at Tom Habitstrow. That's h A B E R
(24:56):
S t R O H. Check out the latest piece Steph.
He's chased for perfection in the wide world of shot analytics. Um,
you had you had a number? Was what twenty five
point six? Is that? Right? Point four? You just you
almost had it? And the more important thing, Doudge, is
that you nailed my last name, the spelling of it.
So I don't really mind, all right, Um, for people
(25:19):
don't know what twenty five point four is? What is it?
In regards to Steph Curry? That is his scoring average
in the NBA Finals over his career. Uh And the
only guy who's ever scored or averaged over twenty points
a game in the finals without a finals MVP and
multiple championships is Dave Cowen's with the Celtics there, and
there's just not really a precedent for a guy playing
(25:41):
this well in the finals without a finals MVP. And
I think a lot of the narrative around Steph Curry
is that he craters in the finals because of what
happened in But overall his numbers are incredible and you
look at it, twenty five point four points per game.
That's better than Dirk Naviski's. That's better than Kobe Bryant,
better than Dwayne Wade, better than Koree, better than Larry
(26:02):
Bird in the NBA finals. But um, you know, you
get caught up in the noise around Steph Curry and
his performance in the finals. You would have thought he's
chopped liver. But the only guys who have ever averaged
six and six in the finals like Steph Curry is
Michael Jordan and Lebron James. That's pretty good company, does
it is pretty good company. But if we if we
(26:25):
look back the first time they're in the finals, um,
great game one where Kyrie was playing well, he gets hurt,
they went in overtime, and then Delhi gave him trouble.
You know, there was thought Deli was too physical, he
was people thought he was dirty. But Delhi game trouble
for a couple of games. You and then of course
you know that you mentioned two thousand sixteen, and then
(26:46):
when he had Durant the first couple of games he
hasn't put up nearly the numbers were been nearly as
efficient as he traditionally is. How do you, uh, how
do you explain that? Like, I get the gross stats
and I that there have been some explosive games, but
it does feel like early in the NBA Finals series
he struggled to adjust a little bit. Yeah, totally. I
(27:08):
think his his percentages go from insane to uh, you know,
normal for a star player. You know, his efficiency numbers
are uh not not what it used to be in
the regular season, but I think a lot of that,
uh is is attributed to you know, he's passing out
of those double teams and he's making place for other guys,
(27:28):
and that hurts his scoring averages. That hurts his uh
you know efficiency when they're throwing two guys at him
every time and he's gonna make that pass um so
on the times that he does shoot, he's being double
team and and you know this is Steph Curry. He's
he has set the bar for himself where he makes
four hundred three pointers in a regular season and anything
below that, uh, you know, he's gonna be judged harshley.
(27:51):
I think a lot of people would have voted for
uh Steph Curry and know multiple people did vote for
Steph Curry as the finals MVP and over Andre gundala Um.
But I think that this is his time. I think
this is his time to prove that he can win
a finals MVP. You know, Kevin Durant is injured. He
might not play in this series, or at least if
he does play, he will be limited. And against the
(28:13):
Toronto Raptors, they don't have an elite, elite defender to
guard him forty eight minutes out of the game. So
I think it's going to be an interesting series for
Steph Curry because he does have that demon, you know,
that thing that's chasing him that he hasn't won a
finals MVP, and as you correctly point out, he's had
some tough games, but he's also had some really good
games in the finals, and I think those numbers twenty
(28:36):
five six and six six speak to that. Yeah, yeah,
I mean, like, look, I I agree with most everything
you said. It should be pointing out that even with
those great games, you know, for example, this year three
point shot, it's that the percentages go down, and which
were so accustomed to the shots going in as they
did at the end of the Houston series, um, and
(28:56):
and and in so many big moments in the Portland
series that we we don't we when we look at
the at the the stats are a little bit lower,
which are still ridiculous in comparison to most other people.
And that's what we struggle to adjust to. Tom have
a stro joined us on the Doug Gotling Show here
on Fox Sports Radio. Um, what about the pushback to
the analytics crowd with the re emergence of the mid
(29:19):
range game in the playoffs? Like, well, look, sure Kawai
can hit the three now, but he's a mid range guy,
and all those analytics guys can can can chew on
that for a second. I don't think analytics guys would
argue with the fact that Kawhi Leonard shooting mid range
shots is a bad idea. That is a great idea. Um,
you know that percentages on average across the league. It's
(29:42):
a bad shot. But of course there are some anomalies
to that. Kevin Durant is an excellent mid range shooter,
Klay Thompson excellent mid range shooter, Kawhi Leonard excellent mid
range shooter. And I think the interesting thing here is
a lot of the guys like Chris Paul when they
go to Houston. He's still an elite and a fficient
shooter in the mid range. You know, if you're shooting
(30:02):
from the mid range, that's a good shot. It's just
that the more often you look at the rest of
the league, you find out that they're shooting thirty percent
in the mid range and a high volume. And you know,
as well as anybody, Dug like you don't get fouled
on those mid range jumpers. You don't. You're you're often
shying away from contact, doing fadeaway. And so it's not
(30:25):
so much about the fact that you have a low
fuel goal percentage. It's also you never get to the
line and and you don't get if you get fouled
on that jumper, Dug, you're not going to the line
for three. And that's I think that's another thing in
this conversation is when you look at Steph Curry and
James Harden and these guys who are amazing three point shooters,
a lot of it is also the ability to draw
foul on those shots. However ugly it is. Uh. You know,
(30:47):
when you're watching the game, there is that added value
there that you don't get in the mid range a lot.
So I think Kawhi, Leonard, Kevin Durant, Clay Thompson, those
guys can shoot in the mid range all day. But
don't forget they're says efficient and more efficient from three
point land. And I think that's smart is to take
a lot of those three pointers and keep those mid
(31:07):
range jumpers to a minimum compared to three pointers. Just
because you get more points, you get more fouls, and
it's better for your offense. Yeah, Tom habittro joining us
in the Doug Otlip Show on Fox Sports Radio. I'm
sure you've heard this news out of Houston. Like first,
you know, Tillman for Tita after the game, you know,
basically said it was unacceptable if they lost Game six.
(31:28):
And then you see that Houston gets rid of their
assistant coaches. Then yesterday we read that Houston has basically said, hey,
you make a sn offer, you can pretty much have anybody,
with exception maybe of James Harden. Mean, who wouldn't want
them to take that Chris Paul contract off their Chester,
off their off their books, or maybe to cling Capella
contract off their books. But still considering their success the
(31:52):
past couple of years and the idea that there's gonna
be a breakup of some sorts in Golden and gold State. Surprising.
Then today contract extension talks ended between UM, between the
Rockets and Mike D'Antoni. What do you make of what's
going on in Houston. It's hard not to read this
(32:13):
as a new owner syndrome. You know, you buy the
team and you want to make it your team and
kind of redo everything in your image and your ideal. UM.
And I think this is one of those instances where
Mike D'Antoni has proven he got a Coach of the
Year award. Uh, he won more games than anybody just
a year ago. UM. And the problem is they ran
(32:35):
into the Golden State Warriors stream. That happens to a
lot of teams. He's they've broken up a lot of teams.
And that's not a testament to a poorly run front
office or a poorly coached team. I think it's just
that this is an all time great dynasty. We're watching
the Golden State Warriors with the highest win percentage over
a five year span of any team since the sixties Celtics.
So like this is a once in you know, a
(32:57):
fifty year a half century team and you don't have
to destruct everything, you don't have to completely tear it down.
And it seems like this is an overreaction to what was,
you know, a competitive series and a heartbreaking loss. You
watched and the sidelines, Uh, next to Jay Z and
Beyonce watching Game six, I I was feeling that there
(33:18):
might be just too many raw emotions here, Doug where
it just was such a dramatic loss. The fact that
they created there at the end in the game six,
you gotta wonder if this is just an emotional response
to the end of the season. I think Mike D'Antoni
is an excellent coach, an elite coach, and I think
he'll be scooped up right away if the if the
(33:38):
Rock has decided to part way is it's a shocking
development in the last couple of weeks. Yeah, I I
get it, like right, and and analytics has no emotion, right,
It's like, hey, we don't have emotion. This is the
numbers and it's it's interesting the numbers got and Houston
has been But but I do understand here's the two
points of the Houston. I understand they have said openly
(34:01):
said der moy said, we are Uh, what what what
was the term they were using? Um, they're basically hyper
focused on one team beating one team, and that's the
Golden State Warriors. They couldn't do it when the Warriors
are down two starters. And then, you know, I frankly
think that losing at home again is extra embarrassing, right,
Like it's one thing to lose, anybody can lose Game seven,
(34:24):
but to lose again at home, this is like four
years in a row. That that, And then I don't
think they did themselves any um, any favors with not
just the league, but especially their owner when uh, when
they have the analytics department go back and review Game
seven and the miss calls, Like, I get it, you
felt like you got screwed, but the timing and releasing
(34:46):
of that report like that just like he's a results
guy and you're telling us, yeah, those are results, but
here's what really happened. And I think he's had enough.
I do agree it's new owner syndrome, but I think
that's the logic behind it. And I think that analytics
report or the referee report that they sent in a
lot of teams do that kind of stuff. A lot
(35:06):
of teams do that analysis. I mean if if if
fans knew how often teams submit referee complaints to the
league office and what they think is wrong or how
how they've been you know, wronged by referees, I don't
think fans would like the game anymore because this is
teams they're trying to get an edge anywhere they can.
So the fact that the the actual analysis was done,
(35:29):
I don't think it's a huge deal. This happens all
the time in the NBA circles from what I know.
But the thing that that happened, and what's different is
they leaked it. They leaked it to the press. And
that's the thing that it strikes up a lot of
you know, uh, you know, a complex for for the
Rockets where you know that they've been screwed out of
winning a championship. And I think that's the issue. Is
(35:50):
leaking it to the press. I think is a bad
look for the organization. I don't know where it came
from directly, um, but I think that's not a good
look and I would I would hold back on the
whole analytics thing, that the Rockets are too analytically focused
and that's the reason for their demise. Mike D'Antoni is
a huge proponent of of taking threes over mid range cheese.
(36:12):
That's not from Darryl Morey. That's that's from Mike D'Antoni
way back with the Phoenix Suns. Yeah. Um, all right,
last thing, do you believe that the Warriors are better
without step without Kevin Durant, Not without Steph Curry, Now,
no Kevin Durant. It's so it's so interesting from what
(36:32):
you hear with Draymond Green and Steph Curry, they're saying
all the things that point to yes, they're better without
Kevin Durant. Like Draymond Green said it today or yesterday
in his press conference based it was yesterday actually, he
was like, Yeah, we play with more fire, we play
with more speed, with more pace, I score more, and yes,
(36:52):
we have more fun when we play without Kevin Durant.
Um are they better? The numbers say they might be
definitely Defensively, they lock in a lot more defensively. It
might be complacency. Uh, they're still really good with both
both guys. They're still really good with one of those guys,
Steph Curry versus Kevin Durant. I would say that thirty
one and one is too much of a number thirty
(37:15):
one and one with Steph Curry in the lineup and
Kevin Durant out of the lineup. Uh to say that,
you know this isn't something real. We've played basketball before, Doug,
you know how it is. It's a team sport. Chemistry matters,
and I think Clay Thompson, Draymond Green and Steph Curry
just simply played better and more aggressive without Kevin Durant.
It's no distant Kevin Durant. It's just they played much
(37:35):
better and more aggressive, isn't it? Though? Doesn't it say
more about their replacements? Like Quinn Cook was a ge
League guy, right, and that's who replaces Steph Curry when
he's out, as opposed to whether it's Andrew Goodala has
replaced him in the starting lineup tour recently now Kevon
Looney has replaced him. And it brings a big guy
on the floor, doesn't on at least some level, in
(37:56):
addition to the emotion and the fact the ball moves
and there's fun, and it doesn't on some level point
out the inadequacies. And then you know, like, look, if
you have Quinn Cook, who's even behind Quinn Cook when
when he's not in, when you don't have Steph curt Yeah, Well,
the thing is is Draymond Green is really the point
guard on that team, you know, and I think a
(38:17):
lot of the ball handling duties fall onto him, uh
and Clay Thompson. But but your point is sound, is
that the backups have just as much to do with
that that record as anything. And Kevin Durant, Look, he's
he's potentially a great defender when he wants to be
a great defender. But I think without him they lock
in defensively. He's never been a defensive Player of the Year,
(38:38):
he's never been on the All Defense team. And I
think that's the big difference, is they lock in defensive
without Kevin Durant for whatever reason. Tom Habastro check out
his work on Twitter at Tom Havastrow I told you
how to spell it once before, and check out his
latest piece, Steph Curry's Chase for Perfection and the Wild
Wild World of Shot Analytics. Tom great stuff is always
thanks for joining us. Thanks th
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve to
three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for The Doug Gottlieb Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs R. This is the best
(00:21):
of the Doug Gotlip Show on Fox Sports Radio. Boom,
What Up America, Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. It's
sunny outside, summer's here, so too? Are the end be
a finals? I know you're like Toronto, kind of hard
(00:43):
to get behind Toronto, but maybe they can eat the Warriors.
You're either love staff or you hate the Warriors. Right,
That's that's kind of kind of where where we are. Um.
You know, it's interesting. I've been on this fight. I've
been on this um uh, I've been I've been taking
(01:03):
this stand against what I think is a I like
the word used. The word silly. Silly makes people less
defensive than stupid. Right, nobody must to be called stupid.
You go like, silly, silly is what you It's a
word you use with kids. But I have friends that
will say silly. I'll say, have friends that say rad. Now,
(01:24):
have you noticed that rad's come back in? Maybe it's
just where I live in Orange County, California. A word
that we that people used to use when I grew up,
and they're like, yeah, that was really rad. Did you
just say rad? I did. I don't know if I'm
super comfortable with it or not comfortable at all with it.
Just moving on anyway. I like the word silly I've
(01:45):
been using. It's a silly argument because when you say maronic, idiotic, stupid,
people get really defensive. I say, it's a silly argument.
Wait to hear what Draymond Green says is a uh
about about the same argument. But we'll get to that
in a second. That I got show was brought to
you by Farmers. At Farmers, we've seen almost everything, so
(02:07):
I cover almost anything. When it's game time, have an
experienced player help you stay here the game, put their
experience in a play at Farmers dot Com. Tonight is
the NBA Finals and among the narratives that will be
established and like, look, could I give you a prediction?
I could, but I honestly have no idea if and
(02:28):
when Kevin Durant will play, and if and when Kevin
Durant will play, how will he look. DeMarcus Cousins has
been activated, kind of like some Jerry Curls in coming
to America, right, little soul glow. So he's available, but
we don't know if he'll play and how he'll look. Right,
(02:49):
So it's very difficult to determine. If the Warriors were
at full strength, I would favor them. I would favor
them to win in five games maybe, But even within
those predictions of games, I don't know how those games
will go. Now you factor in, I don't know if
Cousins plays, I don't know how he's used, I don't
know how healthy is, I don't know how many minutes
(03:09):
he can play, and I don't know about Kevin Durant.
Like that changes things. So instead of giving you these
predictions as to what will happen, we kind of talked
about that the last couple of days. I can predict
that there is basically one of three narratives that will
take place. Kawaian Leonard is the best player on Earth
(03:30):
if he dominates and they win, and then from the
Warrior's perspective. Either they don't or do need Kevin Durant, Right,
that's it. If they win, they don't really need him.
He didn't make them better. If they lose, you know what,
they really need Kevin Durant. Steps not that good. Here's
(03:51):
what Draymond Green had to say in regards to playing
without Kevin Durant. There's so much noise that calls a
bottle like, oh, are they better or worse with Kevin?
Like can we stop the conversation because it's do we
play a different brand of basketball with Kevin's not out there? Absolutely,
but you'd be idiotic to think that we shouldn't. That's
where all the noise come from. And so it's like, oh,
(04:12):
y'all need to keep covering apart of well, I disagree
with that because Kevin is a part of this. He's
been a part of this, and everybody else kind of
creates the narrative like it's us and then it's Kevin,
or it's the Warriors, and then it's the Warriors with
Katie know, it's still the same team. He went on
and this is a really thoughtful interview with Rachel Nichols.
(04:34):
I have to be more of a scoring threat. When
Kevin's not out there, I have to really try to
push the pace when he's not out here. When Kevin's
out there, we have the luxury of just saying okay,
that's that didn't work. We still got this guy who
just throw it to anyway and get out of the way.
The luxuries and there anymore. I also think with Kevin
being out, we're trying to make up thirty seven points. Again,
(04:56):
We're not gonna make those thirty seven points. I'm just
walking the ball up the floor thinking we have to
have the same trust, in the same set as if
Kevin was on the floor. So how do you make
up those points? Get extra possessions, get the pace where
you want, get some easy buckets. That's how you make
it up. This is an extremely high basketball i Q conversation.
(05:16):
And if you don't get it, that's okay. I would
consider you a civilian. All right. We call it, my friends,
we call civilians. Don't worry. But I actually I got
called on the carpet a little bit because I said
last week I thought that we hadn't we need to
stop the idioc And it wasn't directed at any one
(05:36):
individual person. This isn't a conversation that people in the
media have had. It's it It defies logic because it's
not actually true. Is it possible that you're better at
times without a star player. Yes, But in the case
of Kevin Durant and the Warriors, just like you didn't
actually watch the success with them, and I understand that
(06:01):
you can point out, look at the record without him,
would they be better? Of course they wouldn't the thirty
two and one in a small sample size. Who did
they play and who was who is maybe most importantly,
who's Steph Curry's backup? Look, look, this is not a
shot at Quinn Cook. He is living every point guards
(06:21):
dream of making it to the NBA after winning a
national championship in college. But it was a G League
player going back to last year. Because of what what
he's done to the salary cap. I mean, he'd been
signing Kevin Durant frankly Steph Curry's new contract. Their bench
is extremely limited. Where it's not limited is in hybrid forwards.
(06:45):
They still have a couple of hybrid forwards that are
a higher level and we focus on things we also
don't know who they've played well, they beat Portland's Like, dude,
they beat They smack Portland when Kevin Durant was playing.
And you know what they did do trail by seventeen
or more points in three consecutive games to end up
with three or more wins. Well, you look at everybody's
(07:07):
points are up, of course because they have more opportunities
because there's a guy who scores thirty a night that's
not there. And the reason that do they play differently? Yes,
this is you don't have to move the ball and
you slide a hand and try and space the floor.
What I like to see them do more. Yeah, they
(07:28):
actually did that at the end of the season. Like
Kevin Rand's numbers weren't gret because he didn't play that
as many minutes this year because he tried to operate
within their system more. But Draymond understanding what his role
is and how it changes based upon who he's playing
(07:48):
with only shows what in a ridiculously high level of
basketball like you he has and frankly, most guys in
the NBA have most two It's funny. I have this
conversation with my son. I said, look, when you play
on n j B is like wreck basketball. When you
play on this NJB team, I want you to be
(08:09):
like James Hart. You can't shoot too much, you can't
handle the ball too much because you're at a much
higher level than everybody else around you. And I'll try
and create a mismatch and then you just go. When
you play on our normal travel team, you know, you
look to score some, you look to pass some. You
do a little bit of everything. And sometimes I don't
even play with point guard because I have another guy
(08:30):
who's frankly a little bit more solid at point guard
at this age. And then when I play him against
older kids, like, look, you just stay out there and survive.
Guard your guy, don't lose the ball. You're open, shoot it,
but just keep the ball moving and if you're wide open,
then you make a play. There's different roles based upon
who you're playing with. That's basketball. I tell people all
(08:51):
the time, like, don't invite me to play a pickup
game where you expect me to be your best player.
But I also don't enjoy being the worst player. Like
I can't go over to u c l A And
play with the pros because I'm just not any good.
If I'm somewhere between the fifth and the seventh or
eighth best player in the court. I'm good even eighth
or ninth or tenth, I'm okay. Like I just when
(09:12):
I'm when I'm a substantial notch below, it's not a
not a fun feeling, not a fun feeling. But you
also have to read the chord. That's part of sport.
What is my role on this team? Do I have
to be a vocal leader? So I do think there's
(09:32):
going to be discussion about and it's an end all
be y'all if they get smashed, and I'd be like, man,
they need Kevin Durant back, and if they win, and
I was like, they don't need Kevin Durant, of course,
they're better with a You know, it's really funny. I
think Kevin Durant still listened at six ft nine and
most people believe he's over seven ft tall, But whatever,
(09:55):
um a seven ft one two three four who can
guard all those positions, has was the most dominant score
in the playoffs this year, is a good passer, is
a very good rebounder, and has become a good defender
and a good rim protector. If you don't think they're
(10:17):
better with Kevin Duran is a two time consecutive finals
m v P. I can't really help you, but that's
what people are going to talk about based upon the
result tonight. It's just easier because it's less it's less
thinking involved. We're so sports are really process oriented. And
(10:40):
if you think the process was easy against Portland's, you
didn't watch the same game I watched. It was fun,
like how many points can they spot them before they're
gonna come back? And here they come. That was fun,
but the process was much more difficult, even if the
(11:00):
result was four wins and no losses. And Draymond Green said, well,
you gotta be an idiot to think of He said, idiotic.
Let's just let's go as silly for whatever reason, it
puts people as less defensive. It's a less terse word.
(11:24):
And uh, it's a little childish. But so too is
the argument that Kevin Durant, who won two finals m
v P, that a team that swept in the NBA
finals last year with a sweet last year. Yeah, last year,
he swept right, swept last year in the finals. They
were sixteen and one the year before. Somehow is worse
(11:47):
off with him than they are without him. But that's
going to be based upon again, not based on the game,
not by how it's played, on the result of tonight.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug dot
Leap Show weekdays in noon eastern three pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. The
(12:08):
guy who's managed his team to the World Series both
in the past two years is our guest. He's the
skipper of the first place l A Dodgers. He's Dave Roberts.
He joins us on Fox Sports Radio Skip. How are you, Doug.
I'm doing well, man, Thanks for having me on. And uh,
we had a good one last night. But it's good
catch up with you. Yeah, I'll get to last night
(12:29):
in a second. You guys. Are you Guys been great
out of the box this year. Um, whereas last year,
coming off the World Series, there was a substantial hangover.
Why do you think it's different? Yeah, I don't know, UM,
And I think that coming out of spring training in
both years, I felt good about our our club and
the focus and it just kind of tale of two starts,
(12:52):
and UM, you know, fortunately we're putting up more wins
and losses this year. But honestly, I think that every
there's injuries that every team has to go through. So
that's not the reason. And I always guard against saying
World Series hangar, but I guess there might be something
to it. All. Right, Well, last night felt like I
felt like two years ago, right, two years ago was
all the comeback wins. You put four on the board
(13:14):
against Edwin Diaz to come back for a huge win
late into the night. What were your thoughts, honest opinion,
going into the ninth inning, You're down a couple of runs,
what are your thoughts in the likelihood they're like, You're like,
this thing's over. Yeah, I mean I think that you
know when it turned. I think he was in the
seventh inning. I think I was getting ready to take
(13:34):
Justin Turner out of the game just to get him
off his legs, and we're down five. At that point,
you got a two out base hit, drove in a run,
and then I kept him in the game. And then
so you get to the to the ninth inning, and uh,
with Edwin Diaz, he's actually been used a lot lately
as workload, but this guy is still throw ninety nine
and nine miles an hour. So it was a tall,
(13:56):
tall order, tall task. But then that Jack Peterson that
that he put put on was pretty impressive and taking
some balls down below his own and got a ball
out over wrote it out hit a homer, and then
I was like, we might be able to do something,
specially at worst case just kind of stressed him a
little bit, so'd be down for tonight's game. And then
you see what Max Munty didn't. And just right then,
(14:17):
at that point in time, after Max Summer, I thought
we're gonna get him. You know, the Jock thing is incredible,
right Like there was some there was some thought at
a point last year that you guys had kind of
moved on from Jock, like, you know, we gotta go
outen and outfielders, let's kind of move on. And and
yet here he is. He's already got sixteen home runs
on the year. Um, and he just he just he
(14:39):
just battles um. Kind of impressive, like his own personal
fortitude to stay in this thing and to have this
start absolutely and I think that Jock, you know, it
is hard on himself, like most great baseball players are
athletes and and expects a lot and he's really I mean,
he's playing all star caliber baseball right now, Doug really
(15:00):
and uh, you look at the Homer's OPS as a
stat that I value on base plus slug and just
a competitive a facities have and every yet that seems
to be quality. And he's staying in the strike zone,
hitting velocity, getting on base for us, playing a really
good left field for us, and uh, he's a big
part of what we're doing. And it feels good to
run run him at the top of the order. Okay,
(15:22):
the OPS of Cody Bellinger is one point two two four.
I mean it's and obviously he he wasn't gonna hit
home runs at the rad he was hitting early in
the year, but he's on base at four sixty four
is his his on base percentage? I mean, it's what
is It's as simple as he wanted to play every day.
What has changed so much with Cody Bellinger? Well, No,
(15:42):
I think that there's a little bit of you know,
when you have some struggles, Uh, there's an opportunity for growth.
And I think that you look at the last couple
of post seasons and even last year at the start
of the season, where he wasn't swinging at that well,
wasn't syncd up mechanically, and so he took to a
new hitting guy, hitting guys and just really uh, was
(16:05):
open to getting better. And so you're talking about approach, mechanics,
all that stuff, and and now it's a commitment to
to be consistent with how you prepare each night. And
so to Cody's credit, we want him to be an
everyday player. I mean that was our goal, you know,
because we see the talent and what he can do defensively.
So now you still have to go up there and perform.
And he's really taking that challenge and run with it.
(16:27):
Doug Alive Show on Fox Sports, Trader Dave Roberts is
our guest. Um. Scary you've seen this before at Dodger
Stadium obviously, uh and a scary incident in Houston last
night where a little girl got hit by by a
foul ball. Do we have to extend the nets more? Um?
Do we have to? And we were discussing this before
you joined us, like you have to almost do the
(16:48):
emergency road discussion right where you Hey, if you're gonna
sit in this section, you have to know that flying
objects can come at you. What what what? What can
be done? Because fans that their favorite part is to
catch a foul ball. On the other hand, that comes
and it's a family sport, right, a family you want
to bring your kids to a game. How do you
navigate those waters? If somebody asked the manager of the
(17:09):
ELI Dodgers, yeah, I I think for me and Doug,
I heard about it. Um, I read about it. I
didn't see the video. I just didn't have the heart
of the stomach to put eyes on it. Um. You know,
I know I'm more obviously very emotional and understandably so
for me to your question, I do think that the
net should be extended in every ballpark. Um. I think
(17:31):
that you look at the most premium the premium seats
at a major league ballpark, there's a screen, um, and
those are the ones behind on plate. So that's you know,
ten pitches in, you don't even notice the screens there.
And to your point about it's a family event, people
are talking, chatting a young kids and they just can't
appreciate the speed of the game. And so just to
(17:53):
put them in harm's way or to increase any or
decrease any chance of of injury, UM, I'm all in favor.
And you can still get a pop up foul ball.
The ball that has some air under it. So I
know that major League baseball is gonna look long and hard,
and we've made adjustments over the last couple years as
far as putting in the nets. But I do think
extending him makes a lot of sense. Let me ask
(18:13):
you a couple of your pictures. Walker viewer wasn't great
last night? Got hit? Did did he have better? Did
he have better stuff? Then the results would tell you
or was something off? I don't think that he was on.
I think the stuff when you're looking at the radar
gun and some characterists of the breaking ball um that stuff.
But as far as command that Walker we expect from Walker,
(18:33):
he expects himself, wasn't there. You're talking about fastball command
that the fight, sharpness of the break and stuff to
change up in the strike zone then out bottoming out.
It just wasn't there. Um. So he's still grinding, and
he was one pitch away from really putting up a
quality outing um and even with the lack of command
that he had. Uh Alonso, this young player who this
(18:56):
is the first time we've seen him, really physical guy.
You know, he is victim of two Alonso homers. So
outside of that, he competed, battled, and the line score certainly, uh,
you know, didn't reflect the stuff, but the command it
definitely did. Yeah. It's interesting because my son and I
were watching the game, um and he's like, he's a
ten year old left hand pitcher. And I was telling,
(19:16):
you know, Walker Bueller's their their best pitching. Although you
got you going, who has been your best pitcher so
far this year? Um? And and he was why is
he throwing so much, you know, so much offspeed stuff
early in the game. And I said, well, I think
I think he's missing with his fastball more than more
than he wants. Yeah, I mentioned you he's been unbelievable
this year. What what adjustments is he made? Yeah, well,
I think that the last couple of years, Uh, he's
(19:39):
had a healthy Winner where he wasn't in rehab mode
and so he got to break camp healthy as a
regular player. And last year he was off to a
great start as well, then he had the growing injury
and came back and pitch well for us at the
end of the season. And this year again just going
into the Winner and and coming into the spring just
feeling healthy and active participant, regular participant, And how you
(20:00):
layer in the field of the four pitches, the confidence
that he has being healthy and a hundred is an outlier.
Now you're talking about stuff and looking at the radar
gun after every pitch where this guy is going to
pitch at command. All quadrants work to hit her front
to back. So he's really fun to watch it. Just
kind of a tactician, you know, on the mound and
(20:23):
take these aggressive Mets hitters. It's gonna be a phone
one tonight. Yeah, he's he's basically he should be an
All Star, But do you want him to be an
All Star? Light? Right? You mentioned how health is so important,
Like you want your guy to be repert You want
your guy to be rewarded, But do you want your
guy to actually go and do that instead of taking
the time off? I do. I do, And I think
that that's a debate certainly. And I think if you're
(20:45):
looking at just as a you know, the manager of
the Dodgers, the rest is nice, but part of it
also is that these guys work hard to get team
accolades and championships. Were also the individual also notoriety that's
a feather in their cap as well. So for him
to represent the Dodgers himselfish family. I think that you know, Korea,
you know, a country, a fan base. I think that
(21:07):
would be a great moment for him. Still fun on
those comeback wins we win on a walk off as
that still does still have the same exealer like look.
You've played in bigger games that mattered more, even against
obviously uh even against the Mets that mattered more. Still
still still as much fun as it used to be. Absolutely,
those those walk off wins never get old. You know,
I can only take so many of those. I'd like
(21:28):
to just uh you know, not have to hit in
the ninth dining at home. But that's okay. Yeah, well
it was a good one last night. Best of luck tonight,
uh at Chevezervine, thanks so much for joining us on
Fox Sports Traded Dave, alright, dog take it easy. That's
the best, Dave. Dave Roberts showing us on the Doug
Gotlip Show. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug Dot Leaps Show week days in noon eastern three
pm Pacific. The Houston Rockets essentially fired all their assistance, right,
(21:53):
and so it was almost one of those deals to
where wait are they trying to they trying to get
Mike D'Antoni to leave. This is fascinating what's taken place here. Fascinating,
uh in that you know, here's D'Antoni, who you know,
he's he's never been in an NBA finals, but he's
(22:15):
had incredible regular season success in Phoenix and in Houston.
And you know, in Phoenix you could say they were
that one suspension of of what Boris d l and
Amari Stottom are away from taking down the Spurs, but
they could never get past the Spurs. And now they
can never get past the Warriors. And I just and
(22:40):
we've focused so much on the Lakers being a mess,
but wow, what's going on in Houston right? I mean, look,
I hate to say I told you so, but I
told you so. If you can't beat the Golden State Warriors,
forget about Game seven on the road, maybe you're tired.
(23:03):
Forget about Game seven at home last year when you
don't have Chris Paul. Game six at home, there's no
DeMarcus Cousins, there's no Kevin Durant and you lead and
you get outscored by ten in the fourth quarter. If
you can't beat them, then you're never going to beat them.
You're just not a championship team. And this is this
(23:25):
is a team that dos and has said that is said,
we are obsessed with beating the Warriors. They were put
together for one purpose to beat the Warriors, and even
when the Warriors are down their best players, you still
can't beat them. I gonna make any sense or the
(23:48):
sense that it makes to Tillman Fatina is like, Hey,
we're obsessed and we're gonna heads are gonna roll. And
Mike D'Antoni clearly did not like whatever tone of contract extension.
And by the way, D'Antoni kind of put it out
there like he wanted to kind of I want to
coach three more years. Whatever they're like, So what happens now?
(24:13):
The problem with doing this is what is your next option?
Who is out there? You know, who is out there
who can coach? James Harden can operate within the confines
of what Darryl Morey wants to like the idea that
(24:36):
there's an answer out there for them. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch
all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com
and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f s
R to listen live. Tom Habitstrow is an NBA in
center for NBC Sports. You fall m on Twitter, I
do at Tom Habitstrow. That's h A B E R
(24:56):
S t R O H. Check out the latest piece Steph.
He's chased for perfection in the wide world of shot analytics. Um,
you had you had a number? Was what twenty five
point six? Is that? Right? Point four? You just you
almost had it? And the more important thing, Doudge, is
that you nailed my last name, the spelling of it.
So I don't really mind, all right, Um, for people
(25:19):
don't know what twenty five point four is? What is it?
In regards to Steph Curry? That is his scoring average
in the NBA Finals over his career. Uh And the
only guy who's ever scored or averaged over twenty points
a game in the finals without a finals MVP and
multiple championships is Dave Cowen's with the Celtics there, and
there's just not really a precedent for a guy playing
(25:41):
this well in the finals without a finals MVP. And
I think a lot of the narrative around Steph Curry
is that he craters in the finals because of what
happened in But overall his numbers are incredible and you
look at it, twenty five point four points per game.
That's better than Dirk Naviski's. That's better than Kobe Bryant,
better than Dwayne Wade, better than Koree, better than Larry
(26:02):
Bird in the NBA finals. But um, you know, you
get caught up in the noise around Steph Curry and
his performance in the finals. You would have thought he's
chopped liver. But the only guys who have ever averaged
six and six in the finals like Steph Curry is
Michael Jordan and Lebron James. That's pretty good company, does
it is pretty good company. But if we if we
(26:25):
look back the first time they're in the finals, um,
great game one where Kyrie was playing well, he gets hurt,
they went in overtime, and then Delhi gave him trouble.
You know, there was thought Deli was too physical, he
was people thought he was dirty. But Delhi game trouble
for a couple of games. You and then of course
you know that you mentioned two thousand sixteen, and then
(26:46):
when he had Durant the first couple of games he
hasn't put up nearly the numbers were been nearly as
efficient as he traditionally is. How do you, uh, how
do you explain that? Like, I get the gross stats
and I that there have been some explosive games, but
it does feel like early in the NBA Finals series
he struggled to adjust a little bit. Yeah, totally. I
(27:08):
think his his percentages go from insane to uh, you know,
normal for a star player. You know, his efficiency numbers
are uh not not what it used to be in
the regular season, but I think a lot of that,
uh is is attributed to you know, he's passing out
of those double teams and he's making place for other guys,
(27:28):
and that hurts his scoring averages. That hurts his uh
you know efficiency when they're throwing two guys at him
every time and he's gonna make that pass um so
on the times that he does shoot, he's being double
team and and you know this is Steph Curry. He's
he has set the bar for himself where he makes
four hundred three pointers in a regular season and anything
below that, uh, you know, he's gonna be judged harshley.
(27:51):
I think a lot of people would have voted for
uh Steph Curry and know multiple people did vote for
Steph Curry as the finals MVP and over Andre gundala Um.
But I think that this is his time. I think
this is his time to prove that he can win
a finals MVP. You know, Kevin Durant is injured. He
might not play in this series, or at least if
he does play, he will be limited. And against the
(28:13):
Toronto Raptors, they don't have an elite, elite defender to
guard him forty eight minutes out of the game. So
I think it's going to be an interesting series for
Steph Curry because he does have that demon, you know,
that thing that's chasing him that he hasn't won a
finals MVP, and as you correctly point out, he's had
some tough games, but he's also had some really good
games in the finals, and I think those numbers twenty
(28:36):
five six and six six speak to that. Yeah, yeah,
I mean, like, look, I I agree with most everything
you said. It should be pointing out that even with
those great games, you know, for example, this year three
point shot, it's that the percentages go down, and which
were so accustomed to the shots going in as they
did at the end of the Houston series, um, and
(28:56):
and and in so many big moments in the Portland
series that we we don't we when we look at
the at the the stats are a little bit lower,
which are still ridiculous in comparison to most other people.
And that's what we struggle to adjust to. Tom have
a stro joined us on the Doug Gotling Show here
on Fox Sports Radio. Um, what about the pushback to
the analytics crowd with the re emergence of the mid
(29:19):
range game in the playoffs? Like, well, look, sure Kawai
can hit the three now, but he's a mid range guy,
and all those analytics guys can can can chew on
that for a second. I don't think analytics guys would
argue with the fact that Kawhi Leonard shooting mid range
shots is a bad idea. That is a great idea. Um,
you know that percentages on average across the league. It's
(29:42):
a bad shot. But of course there are some anomalies
to that. Kevin Durant is an excellent mid range shooter,
Klay Thompson excellent mid range shooter, Kawhi Leonard excellent mid
range shooter. And I think the interesting thing here is
a lot of the guys like Chris Paul when they
go to Houston. He's still an elite and a fficient
shooter in the mid range. You know, if you're shooting
(30:02):
from the mid range, that's a good shot. It's just
that the more often you look at the rest of
the league, you find out that they're shooting thirty percent
in the mid range and a high volume. And you know,
as well as anybody, Dug like you don't get fouled
on those mid range jumpers. You don't. You're you're often
shying away from contact, doing fadeaway. And so it's not
(30:25):
so much about the fact that you have a low
fuel goal percentage. It's also you never get to the
line and and you don't get if you get fouled
on that jumper, Dug, you're not going to the line
for three. And that's I think that's another thing in
this conversation is when you look at Steph Curry and
James Harden and these guys who are amazing three point shooters,
a lot of it is also the ability to draw
foul on those shots. However ugly it is. Uh. You know,
(30:47):
when you're watching the game, there is that added value
there that you don't get in the mid range a lot.
So I think Kawhi, Leonard, Kevin Durant, Clay Thompson, those
guys can shoot in the mid range all day. But
don't forget they're says efficient and more efficient from three
point land. And I think that's smart is to take
a lot of those three pointers and keep those mid
(31:07):
range jumpers to a minimum compared to three pointers. Just
because you get more points, you get more fouls, and
it's better for your offense. Yeah, Tom habittro joining us
in the Doug Otlip Show on Fox Sports Radio. I'm
sure you've heard this news out of Houston. Like first,
you know, Tillman for Tita after the game, you know,
basically said it was unacceptable if they lost Game six.
(31:28):
And then you see that Houston gets rid of their
assistant coaches. Then yesterday we read that Houston has basically said, hey,
you make a sn offer, you can pretty much have anybody,
with exception maybe of James Harden. Mean, who wouldn't want
them to take that Chris Paul contract off their Chester,
off their off their books, or maybe to cling Capella
contract off their books. But still considering their success the
(31:52):
past couple of years and the idea that there's gonna
be a breakup of some sorts in Golden and gold State. Surprising.
Then today contract extension talks ended between UM, between the
Rockets and Mike D'Antoni. What do you make of what's
going on in Houston. It's hard not to read this
(32:13):
as a new owner syndrome. You know, you buy the
team and you want to make it your team and
kind of redo everything in your image and your ideal. UM.
And I think this is one of those instances where
Mike D'Antoni has proven he got a Coach of the
Year award. Uh, he won more games than anybody just
a year ago. UM. And the problem is they ran
(32:35):
into the Golden State Warriors stream. That happens to a
lot of teams. He's they've broken up a lot of teams.
And that's not a testament to a poorly run front
office or a poorly coached team. I think it's just
that this is an all time great dynasty. We're watching
the Golden State Warriors with the highest win percentage over
a five year span of any team since the sixties Celtics.
So like this is a once in you know, a
(32:57):
fifty year a half century team and you don't have
to destruct everything, you don't have to completely tear it down.
And it seems like this is an overreaction to what was,
you know, a competitive series and a heartbreaking loss. You
watched and the sidelines, Uh, next to Jay Z and
Beyonce watching Game six, I I was feeling that there
(33:18):
might be just too many raw emotions here, Doug where
it just was such a dramatic loss. The fact that
they created there at the end in the game six,
you gotta wonder if this is just an emotional response
to the end of the season. I think Mike D'Antoni
is an excellent coach, an elite coach, and I think
he'll be scooped up right away if the if the
(33:38):
Rock has decided to part way is it's a shocking
development in the last couple of weeks. Yeah, I I
get it, like right, and and analytics has no emotion, right,
It's like, hey, we don't have emotion. This is the
numbers and it's it's interesting the numbers got and Houston
has been But but I do understand here's the two
points of the Houston. I understand they have said openly
(34:01):
said der moy said, we are Uh, what what what
was the term they were using? Um, they're basically hyper
focused on one team beating one team, and that's the
Golden State Warriors. They couldn't do it when the Warriors
are down two starters. And then, you know, I frankly
think that losing at home again is extra embarrassing, right,
Like it's one thing to lose, anybody can lose Game seven,
(34:24):
but to lose again at home, this is like four
years in a row. That that, And then I don't
think they did themselves any um, any favors with not
just the league, but especially their owner when uh, when
they have the analytics department go back and review Game
seven and the miss calls, Like, I get it, you
felt like you got screwed, but the timing and releasing
(34:46):
of that report like that just like he's a results
guy and you're telling us, yeah, those are results, but
here's what really happened. And I think he's had enough.
I do agree it's new owner syndrome, but I think
that's the logic behind it. And I think that analytics
report or the referee report that they sent in a
lot of teams do that kind of stuff. A lot
(35:06):
of teams do that analysis. I mean if if if
fans knew how often teams submit referee complaints to the
league office and what they think is wrong or how
how they've been you know, wronged by referees, I don't
think fans would like the game anymore because this is
teams they're trying to get an edge anywhere they can.
So the fact that the the actual analysis was done,
(35:29):
I don't think it's a huge deal. This happens all
the time in the NBA circles from what I know.
But the thing that that happened, and what's different is
they leaked it. They leaked it to the press. And
that's the thing that it strikes up a lot of
you know, uh, you know, a complex for for the
Rockets where you know that they've been screwed out of
winning a championship. And I think that's the issue. Is
(35:50):
leaking it to the press. I think is a bad
look for the organization. I don't know where it came
from directly, um, but I think that's not a good
look and I would I would hold back on the
whole analytics thing, that the Rockets are too analytically focused
and that's the reason for their demise. Mike D'Antoni is
a huge proponent of of taking threes over mid range cheese.
(36:12):
That's not from Darryl Morey. That's that's from Mike D'Antoni
way back with the Phoenix Suns. Yeah. Um, all right,
last thing, do you believe that the Warriors are better
without step without Kevin Durant, Not without Steph Curry, Now,
no Kevin Durant. It's so it's so interesting from what
(36:32):
you hear with Draymond Green and Steph Curry, they're saying
all the things that point to yes, they're better without
Kevin Durant. Like Draymond Green said it today or yesterday
in his press conference based it was yesterday actually, he
was like, Yeah, we play with more fire, we play
with more speed, with more pace, I score more, and yes,
(36:52):
we have more fun when we play without Kevin Durant.
Um are they better? The numbers say they might be
definitely Defensively, they lock in a lot more defensively. It
might be complacency. Uh, they're still really good with both
both guys. They're still really good with one of those guys,
Steph Curry versus Kevin Durant. I would say that thirty
one and one is too much of a number thirty
(37:15):
one and one with Steph Curry in the lineup and
Kevin Durant out of the lineup. Uh to say that,
you know this isn't something real. We've played basketball before, Doug,
you know how it is. It's a team sport. Chemistry matters,
and I think Clay Thompson, Draymond Green and Steph Curry
just simply played better and more aggressive without Kevin Durant.
It's no distant Kevin Durant. It's just they played much
(37:35):
better and more aggressive, isn't it? Though? Doesn't it say
more about their replacements? Like Quinn Cook was a ge
League guy, right, and that's who replaces Steph Curry when
he's out, as opposed to whether it's Andrew Goodala has
replaced him in the starting lineup tour recently now Kevon
Looney has replaced him. And it brings a big guy
on the floor, doesn't on at least some level, in
(37:56):
addition to the emotion and the fact the ball moves
and there's fun, and it doesn't on some level point
out the inadequacies. And then you know, like, look, if
you have Quinn Cook, who's even behind Quinn Cook when
when he's not in, when you don't have Steph curt Yeah, Well,
the thing is is Draymond Green is really the point
guard on that team, you know, and I think a
(38:17):
lot of the ball handling duties fall onto him, uh
and Clay Thompson. But but your point is sound, is
that the backups have just as much to do with
that that record as anything. And Kevin Durant, Look, he's
he's potentially a great defender when he wants to be
a great defender. But I think without him they lock
in defensively. He's never been a defensive Player of the Year,
(38:38):
he's never been on the All Defense team. And I
think that's the big difference, is they lock in defensive
without Kevin Durant for whatever reason. Tom Habastro check out
his work on Twitter at Tom Havastrow I told you
how to spell it once before, and check out his
latest piece, Steph Curry's Chase for Perfection and the Wild
Wild World of Shot Analytics. Tom great stuff is always
thanks for joining us. Thanks th
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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