May 31, 2019 • 44 mins
Doug tells you why the Warriors dropping game 1 to the Raptors shows you why they obviously needed Kevin Durant this entire time. He’s also not surprised the Rockets new owner is tired of the coming up short in the playoffs and putting head coach Mike D’Antoni on the hot seat. Plus, NBA Champion Caron Butler joined the show to discuss the Warriors and if they can still come back and win the title without Kevin Durant.
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 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlip
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 Gotlieb Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the I Heart
Radio app by searching FSR. This is the best of
(00:22):
the Doug Godleive Show on Fox Sports Radio. Boom, What
Up America? Doug godleave Show, Fox Sports Radio. The Day
of Doug continues. I'm just out of your hosting shows,
trying to make a buck. What's up, folks? Howre you doing? Yeah?
I haven't been on in at least fifteen minutes. I
(00:43):
hope you're having a great day. I know I am.
It's Doug Gotlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. It is proudly
brought to you by Farmers. At Farmers, we've seen almost everything,
so we know how to cover almost anything. When it's
game time, haven't experienced player help you stay ahead of
the game. Put their experience and play at Farmers dot com.
We are now. One game is a small sample size.
(01:09):
Small sample size, so when I tell you that Yesterday
was a formation. It is conformation when I tell you
that yesterday only proved my point that it's just silliness,
the idea that the Warriors aren't better with Kevin Durant
(01:30):
as opposed to without Kevin Durant. And I get it.
You had you had those stats at one point in time,
they're thirty two and one or whatever. Now thirty two
and two, and I with that when Kevin Durant doesn't play,
and Steph Curry does, I get it. You look at
final output, you look at final numbers, you look at stats,
(01:53):
and you think, okay. Gottlieb always tells us it is
about you play sports. Two wins words and they win
at a higher percentage clip when Katie doesn't play. But
here's the thing, this is really really important one. You
(02:16):
cannot fool players. It's always been something that I've believed.
And while sometimes players will be disingenuous with things and
say things about their coaches, their teammates, their families which
are not always accurate, when enough of them say the
exact same thing, start to nod your head and go okay.
(02:41):
And the Warriors have been telling us, dude, you just
get a trust us we know how good this guy is.
We know how much better he makes us. That's why
he went and got on a plane and fled out
to the Hamptons on the fourth July. Right. The second
part is that the playoffs are all about matchups. The
reason that they were able to come from behind and
(03:02):
beat the Portland Trailblazers in those last three games is
quality matchups. Right, matchups. It's a good matchup. They beat
the they beat the pants out the Blazers with KD.
They beat the pants out. They came back and beat
the Blazers without Kady. There is a good matchup for
Steph Curry and Clay Thompson and Draymond Green. There's nobody
(03:23):
that matches up to them. Last night is a bad
matchup when you have uh, Pascal Siakum, he's just too
too long, too athletic, he's too big. Remember Draymond Green,
he might be six five. He looked tiny in comparison
to Siam. This is a deep athletic team. And and
(03:48):
what and what the ball movement does, what ball screens do,
what all this stuff does is it creates better positive
matchups for Steph Curry. Right, That's and you have to
and the reason that they have to move it less
and have to do less and may not be as
(04:09):
by some people's estimation as enjoyable to watch when Katie
plays is he almost always has a positive matchup. There
just aren't a lot of dudes that are seven ft
tall with long arms that can handle the ball and
playing the post, or can guard a guy handling the
ball and playing in the post at his size. He
is a matchup nightmare. He is a matchup breaker. He
(04:34):
is what the NBA folks say is hey, good defense
is solved by better offense. So then I read this
from Ramona Schoulburn. The Warriors have been reminding anyone who
would listen how much they needed to rant over the
past three weeks. But that concerted charm, uh concerned charm
offense wasn't lip service. Privately, the Warriors had been concerned
(04:56):
about their chances to be Toronto or Milwaukee in the finals.
Durant wasn't a play. They knew they needed him as
a sale fail safe, not just on offense but the
defensive end to match up with Janice and Kauai. Andrew
Goodala told Rick Buker before Game one when Kauai isn't
out there, we axcume. When k D isn't out there,
(05:17):
we know we have to work harder. So it's a
different type of thing. We've had success, and it's like,
see what happens when Katie is not there. Now, I
came out of that Houston series, No Katie was there,
stress on my body, and now something flares up. That's
because KD wasn't there. But nobody's gonna say that. I'm
playing forty minutes of game versus Houston and then hobbling
around on one leg in the next series, I miss
(05:37):
k D. We win four. Oh, but no one's thinking
about that. But you can't fool players, says, aren't just
saying it because they want k D to stay there.
They're saying it because it's the truth. He makes life easier.
He takes stress off of staff, offensively, off of Clay,
off of all these guys defensively as well, and he
(05:58):
creates positive matchups where they didn't previously exist. And those
things are irreplaceable. Now, does a small sample size one
game mean they can't be Toronto? No? No, doesn't mean
they were as bad defensively as at times they looked.
Absolutely not. No, they're not. Pascal Siakam is not gonna
(06:22):
have over thirty I don't think marcasoul is gonna hit
that many jump shots. I do think Kawai Leonard being
injured his an issue. I don't think that Fred van
Bleet is going to continue to be able to contain um,
to be able to contain Steph Curry. You know, and
(06:43):
and we're making a big deal about how Steph Curry
didn't make field goals like he had thirty four. He
got to the free throw line of ton. They were
doubling him on ball screens and making him go at
the ball and he still managed to have uh managed
to get to the free to the line. Which have
you guys seen the stat? This is the most remarkable
stat I've ever heard. We had Tom Habstrow on yesterday.
Here's the stat. Steph Curry swishes eighty four percent of
(07:07):
his free throws. Is that crazier? What swishes? So look,
the series isn't over. It's only game one. The Warriors
didn't play great. Draymond was just okay. He got into
a little kerfuffle with Drake. Will play for you what
what he thinks of Drake. Later on the show, But
(07:30):
today is a win for logic, right, and another loss
for some sort of analytics. Because look, I've had people
come on even our show yesterday, Tom Habitstrow come, well,
I just tell you, the analytics tell you they're better
without Kevin Durant. You know what, that's great. The logic
tells me that when you have the best player in
(07:50):
the NBA, who is who is a willing passer, a
versatile defender, a versatile offensive player, he has competed and
played at his best in big games, logic tells me
they're better with Kevin Durant and it gives them more
favorable matchups. And that logic came out and played last night.
That doesn't mean that analytics is crap and that it
(08:11):
never has any effect or that doesn't. But you know,
it has to has to be a balance, and the
balance was on full display yesterday as we're watching the
Golden State Warriors struggle to make field goals, struggle to
get into their offense, struggle to look sound not turn
the basketball over. This is a long, active, younger, hungry
(08:34):
Toronto Raptors team. And even though even though it's only
one game and it was a home game and We're
told by anyone who will listen. Anyone who will listen.
You know, an NBA series doesn't start until the road
team wins a game. That's true. Anyone who will listen
will tell us that that. Um. The truth is that
(08:59):
last night there was a home win for Toronto and
a need to win, and they got a couple of
calls because Game one is one in which they were
more arrested the Warriors, and it's a game traditionally the
road team can steal. I thought the series began last night,
and we find out this weekend. We find out Sunday
how much counterpunching there is at the hands of the
(09:20):
Golden State Warriors. So I don't hate to say I
told you so, because I did tell you so. They're
better with Kevin Durant than they are without Kevin Durant.
And now we wait, can they win without him? Can
he come back at full strength? And if they do
(09:42):
come back, it doesn't And if he does come back,
can they do they have enough time enough games to
win the series? And if he's the reason they come
back and win, does that change? Does he reflect upon
how much he's needed in Oakland? Let's get you some
breaking news. Your eyes are glowing across breaking news from
(10:02):
Fox Sports, Good Afternoon, Doug. On Tuesday, Clippers head coach
Doc Rivers appeared as a guest analyst on an NBA
Finals preview show, where he was asked about Kauai Leonard
and said the following, like, Jordan's that what we've seen, Like,
there's a lot of great players. Lebron is phenomenal. K
is phenomenal, but when not that he is Jordan or
(10:24):
anything like that, but he's the most like him. The
breaking news is that the NBA has just find the
Clippers fifty thousand dollars for those remarks for violating the
league's anti tampering rule. To find in response to those
comments made about Kawhi Leonard by Doc Rivers and a
related story, I'm trying to find out if David Stern
(10:46):
has pulled off a coup in his back in power
running the NBA back to you. Yeah, it's Look, it's
a really really hard one. It's a it's a really
hard one. You know, it's a it's a difficult thing
for anybody too uh to figure out. Is um, how
do you have Doc Rivers on the show, They ask
(11:07):
you about a player. You just say something nice and
now you get fined. Did he go a little over
the top. Yeah. And by the way, comparing him to
Michael Jordan is in fact ridiculous. He's not the closest
thing to Michael Jordan's. Kobe Bryant is the closest thing
because Kobe Bryant actually talked like Jordan's, walked like Jordan's,
played the same position as Jordan's. His moves were the
(11:28):
same as Jordan's. Our our quest for the next Jordan's
We we missed it. I didn't say Kobe was as
good as Mike, but you want a guy that played
like Mike, his name was Kobe Bean Bryant. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Doug Dot Leap Show
week days in noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. The Rockets
(11:52):
and Mike D'Antoni have broken off contract extension talks. Here's
their owner, Tilman for Tita. I'm just gonna tell you
what I think from an owner's perspective. Okay, I don't
know what Lane Duck means because he's under contract. I
think his agent did me a favor Okay, because if
for some reason we had a horrible year and we
thought we needed to make a coaching change, we just
(12:14):
got through paying off one of the other coaches, I believe.
So if I hope we win a championship and Mike
comes and puts a gun to my head, yeah, it's
a very matter of fact way of looking at something
that that frankly, I've never I've kind of never understood,
which is this idea that well, you know, you gotta
have you gotta have a couple of extra years in
(12:36):
your contract. Like no, you don't, No, you really don't.
You know, maybe one specific guy wants to play one
specific style. Like yeah, it's not really how it works
in the NBA. You don't need to have no lane
duck contract year. It's just like a player player as
a year left and his deal, you play it out
and then at the end of it you end up,
(12:57):
you know, using your success as your leverage. You can
go somewhere else. I actually don't think it's crazy. I
don't think it's crazy. Why should I have to pay
you for two moneys? I'm I'm paying you. I can
always give you a new contract and as much as
you could say, well, look, when you're young and you
(13:18):
have a family and you need that's that's different. That
is not the state that Mike D'Antoni is in. Mike
D'Antoni is in the poop or get off the pop stage.
He's sixty eight years old. He's coached in Denver, he's
coached in UH Phoenix, he's coached in Italy. He's coached
now in New Way. So it's in LA, in New York,
in Phoenix, and in Houston, Hey. He's and he has
(13:43):
not won a championship. But he's made most of those teams,
all of them watchable, most of them successful, and been
a whiskers a whisker away from the finals with two
different teams, with Phoenix one year and with Houston last year.
But he hadn't gotten there. And so why if I'm
an owner, do I have to feel compelled to give
(14:03):
a guy, you know, three four more years when I
don't want to, when I don't want to. I want
to see exactly what we got and exactly how he
you know, works and improves with what we got. I
don't think any of that's crazy, I really don't. So
(14:23):
part of this is this is maybe a new owner
with a new way of doing things. Part of this
is this is just a new owner who wants to
see some success and wants to see how a coach
figures it out. You know, they talked Jeff Bezdelic out
of retirement and then they went and retired him again,
got rid of him. But I, you know, I see it.
(14:47):
I don't think any of us are sitting there going like,
I don't know what he's doing now. He's frustrated, and
so too so too must Rockets fans, and I'm sure
Darryl Moore's frustrated, and Mike d'antony is frustrated to get
that closed that many times and to feel like you
have the right and then you get a little bit
lucky and you have just enough injuries, all of those
(15:11):
things and you can't get it done. I don't. I
don't think frustration is something that we should be surprised
by in any way. I really don't. I don't. I
frankly think i'd be You'd be frustrated too, if that
was you, you would be frustrated to the point of
being livid. And for Tita was livid. He's made some changes,
(15:34):
He's made some statements he's talked about a He's probably
told Darryl Moury everybody is available, although you know, I
wouldn't trade James Harden and let's tweak that coaching staff.
It doesn't feel like panic. It feels like you're being
very reasonable and firm. And there's a difference between the two.
(15:56):
There's a difference between being focused and being neurotic. There's
a difference between being motivated and being uh and being
super super nervous over the outcome. And I think, you know,
(16:17):
I think for Tita has a pretty good feel on
his level of emotions and what he wants. And it
does kind of make sense, like, at what point in time,
what point in time are we going to you know,
are we gonna make Mike D'Antoni stop telling us he's
pregnant and show us the baby. That's really what it
(16:37):
comes down to. He's been good for a long time,
good for a long time, but he has not come through,
or his teams have not come through. And some of
it is through no fault of his own, and some
of it he is through fault of his own. You know.
The the the m O on Mike D'Antoni was ways
(17:00):
he didn't care about defense. And then he found Jeff
Bezdelic as his defensive coordinator, and they also tinkered with
some of the roster and they were better. And yet
some of it is you can't you gotta tip your
captain Steph Curry in the shots that he made. Some
of it was the adjustments that they didn't make defensively
down the stretch when Golden State changed with their approach.
(17:23):
And while you can't change the outcome of a Steph
Curry thirty footer in your eye fade away three, you
can definitely change the outcome or the um the process
of getting to that outcome if you didn't like the
lack of defensive adjustments when Golden State really ran the
same play for the last five minutes of the game,
over and over and over and over again. Be sure
(17:46):
to catch live edition so the Doug Dot Leaps Show
weekdays at noon eastern three pm Pacific. Gran Butler has
got a new juice business, Juice Buds bu d Z.
It's getting back to the basic raw cole press fruits
and vegetables. Uh. It's out here in the Valley Sherman Oaks,
Canoga Park. Juice Buds dot com. You can also visit
the online store hashtag Taste the Wellness. Uh, he's he's
(18:08):
he's living that California lifestyle and dream working for every
different network and starting up juice franchises. Karen, how are you?
I'm doing great, bro, Thanks for having me on. All right,
I need to I need to I need to get
down the meal plan. Um, let's start with last night?
How is Page? How is how is Pascalcia? I'm able
to get off. Hey, listen, I think he did a
(18:30):
remarkable job of just taking advantage of the situation. Every
time that you played in the playoff series or any
game prior to the game, you have a scheme, and
the scheme was to allow him to beat you. And
if he's able to beat you, you took your hat
off to him and you you say, look, great job.
And that's exactly what happened. He capitalized on the opportunity
(18:51):
is making shots. He did a remarkable job and running
the floor being extremely efficient. He had opportunities, but he
was efficient in those opportunities. And that's why the Toronto
Raptors gotta quality win at home. Yeah, yeah, it's it
was a little bit and grant it is only one game,
but a little bit of that Andrea Go Dolla when
he was the m v P during their first championship,
you know where where the Calves said hey, well let's
(19:13):
make Andrea Delabidos, and Andrea Dolla did in fact beat him. Yeah,
that's pretty much exactly what happened. And whenever you're go
into a playoff series, you want to take away something,
but when you take away something, you give away something else.
Prior to the last series, the Toronto Raptors realized that
Jana's was a problem, so you had to stop him
from going downhill. You put your best defender on him,
(19:34):
Kawhi Leonard, and you built the wall and you force
you know, guys like Malcolm Broaden and specifically Eric Blesso
to beat you, and he wasn't able to knock down
for him their shots. Therefore it cost him the series. Now,
this series that we're talking about now to go to
Stay Warriors did a remarkable job of, you know, trying
to corral for Wirelander as much as possible, but that
left opportunities up for Van Fleet Marcosol that have perimeter
(19:57):
shots and opportunities, and there was a fishing in that
space and that's the reason why they got the quality win.
Corn Butler joining us on the Doug out Lip Show
on Fox Sports Radio. How much of that was one game?
How much of that is just matchups and the issues
they're gonna have without without Kevin Durant. Look, I think
it's more than just one game, and I'll tell you why.
(20:17):
Like I look at the course of the game, and
I look at the series between these two teams. You know,
even in the regular season. You know, it's obviously a
different season. But at the same time, the Rappers had
a ton of success. From a pay standpoint, you look
at the league changes in this game, it wasn't many. Uh,
the Warriors never got a cushion in this ball game.
(20:40):
And let's just face that Clay Thompson played solid basketball.
Steph Curry was himself and other guys. I just don't
know where that third scoring punch or fourth scoring punch
is gonna come from. Draymond is gonna have his hands
for and sometimes your best offense is your defense, and
Septen is gonna keep him occupied, so he's not gonna
be as efficient as he was in the last series
(21:03):
versus to Portland. Trailblazers before the game, Were you one
of those guys that thought they were better without Kevin Durant?
Come on, man, that's foods go right there. Like, I
think that when you add a guy like Kevin Durant,
a future Hall of Famer, a guy that you cannot
tell the story of basketball without mentioning he's an m
v P, you've got two m vps in their prime
(21:25):
and him and Steph Curry playing on the same basketball team.
They're unstoppable their pro stars. But when you take one
of those guys off, they're different, and they're fun to watch,
but they're I don't think that they're just a clear
cut favor to win because Kevin Durant is a guy
that can offset two or three All Stars on the
(21:45):
opposing end of the floor, and I just don't think
they have that threat no more so now they almost
have to play perfect basketball otherwise you have situations like
you had a game one. I totally agree with you.
You think he when do you think he comes back
in place? And like, and I don't think, I don't
know you know more people, uh and too closer to it,
(22:06):
but I mean, calf strains are hard. You can feel
like you're fine and then all of a sudden you
feel it pull again. What what what's your best guess? Look,
I think Game three, But it's it's it's one of
those situations like is he healthy enough to play in
the NBA Finals. You know, you don't want him to
come out and not be himself, and therefore he's hindering
(22:26):
the team because he's not himself and he's not able
to do some of the things that you need him
to do. But you know, sixt Kevin Durant, as long
as he's not damaging himself from a physical physical standpoint
even further, is better than you know, some guys at
full speed a hundred and ten percent. So I'll take
(22:47):
that any day. But the same thing. I look at
the regular season, Kevin Durant average shot fifty percent from
the field, fifty three from the three, and the rapp
is still one. So he has to come back extremely
efficient and that's still may not be enough in this series.
If the Raptors are clicking, why do you think is
(23:09):
it because they haven't been here before? Why do you
think that the Raptors don't get the respect that you're
giving them? Look, I think a lot of people just
feel like one of the things you just touched on
because they haven't been here before, or you haven't paid
a ton of attention to the Raptors all season long.
Now being on this side of the field, you know,
I'm a basketball head and I love the game of basketball,
(23:32):
and I love what they do. I love the style
that they played. People don't understand that Pastal is probably
the most improved player in this league. And the reason
why ce Dave Miles is not there is because the
development of him, you know, over the course of this season.
They had to make a trade because this guy just
you know, exceeded all expectations in the matter of a
(23:53):
couple of months. So I think that this team is
a force to be reckoned with. Uh. They did a
remarkable job of acquiring good All. Van Fleet is just
playing lights out after the birth of his child, and
it's remarkable to watch. And I think they clicked right
at the right time. And if Kawhi Leonard stays healthy,
I've seen him hobbled a little bit. It looked like
he slowed up a little bit since the last series.
(24:14):
But if he stays healthy and he can be a
threat on the offensive end, in the defensive end, they
have a realistic shot at winning the championship. I don't
think there's any doubt about it. What's the what's the
latest word on on on on a guy like Kyrie,
like he's a he's a different cat now. Um, you know,
we've had people say, sudden, Brooklyn's in the mix. What
(24:37):
are you hearing? I always heard that it was Brooklyn
Brooklyn and then all of a sudden, now the dark
Forces the Los Angeles Lakers, and for numerous reasons, and
I would love to see that happen. I think that
I think the championship in Cleveland and him and Lebron
united and figuring it out was like one of the
best stories and basketball history, you know, and in the
(25:00):
championship to Cleveland. So if they reunite in Los Angeles,
and if you're able to acquire a guy like Jimmy
Butler and free agency or Bradley Bill via trade or
something like that, and if you still have the talent
that you have when the roster already in Kyle Kuzma
brandon Ingram and possibly lines the ball, but somebody got
(25:20):
to go. If you're gonna acquire Bradley Bill via Trade.
I think that's a great foundation. I think you can
make a lot of noise. If Lebron James stay healthy,
you're gonna be somewhere between three and five in the
Western Conference and I'll take that if I'm the Los
Angeles late. How much does all of the noise of
the exit of Magic Johnson, the recent report, how much
(25:43):
does that affect guys? I mean, I don't think it
affect guys. I think you know, like pretty much, where
there was smoked, there was fired, and now you know
the reason why there was smoke and why it was
a fire that you know was trying to be put
out on the fly. During the course of the season,
you heard rumblings. Now you just got the real story
in his own words, and now it's something that everybody
(26:05):
moved past. I think that it was important to make
sure that you had a coach in place for free agency,
for all the things, and make sure that you know
Jenny Buss, Lebron James and the coach all the line.
And it seems like they are and they're trying to
move forward, you know, and attack the draft process and
free agency and a respective mena. What what do you
(26:30):
think of this, uh, the Houston thing. Houston loses and
they offered really an incentive laden deal to Mike D'Antoni
and so now he's he's got one year left. They
fired a couple of his assistants and and everyone sept
for James Harden is available for trade. What do you
think of Houston's reaction to losing the Golden State again, Well,
(26:51):
I think that any any other situation where have you've
seen Mark Jackson in the past or um other coaches
that done the stream me, well, when the expectation is
to win the championship and that's the ultimate goal. When
you don't exceed or meet that expectations, you're you're on
the hot seat. You're in a situation that you fell
(27:12):
short of the destiny with the talent that you had assembled.
And I don't understand why would it be different with
D'Antoni and any other some of the household names. You
look at guys like Brad Stevens. He's done a remarkable
job at the University of Butler. He was the coach's dream,
but some of the some of that expectations and hardship
got to fall on him too. They felt a little short.
(27:32):
Why wasn't he able to get Gordon to Hayward acclimated?
Why wasn't he able to assist Kyrie Irvan? Why wasn't
he able to structure some of the talent in a
reasonable way on the fly? Brett Brown the same way
with the Philadelphia seventy six ers. They fell short, but
he said the expectations wasn't to go to the championships
and that there was a year or two still away.
But you acquired all this talent. It seemed like everybody
(27:53):
was all in. So look, I think everybody needs to
be held accountable. And when they fall short of expectations,
dislike player is when they get traded, they ought to
be on the hot seat also, and expectations need to
be placed upon them. Great stuff. Um, when am I
getting something? One might try some of the buds juice, Man,
you gotta make sure you try it. Man when I
(28:13):
come through, Man, next time we do this, next hit man,
I'm gonna slide through and drop off a couple of boxes.
Two you, Doug, I got you. I'm in all in,
Karen Butler, tough juice. Check out buds that's bu d
z bu d z. Of course you could order it online.
Thanks so much Joint for joining us. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch
all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com
(28:37):
and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f s
R to listen live. Chris Bruce Sard is a long
time NBA insider. Now he's a radio host and opinion
is you see on all our shows on Fox Sports
one year here him on The Odd Couple, which is
an outstanding radio shows seven o'clock Eastern, four o'clock Pacific
alongside crazy Uncle Rob Parker. Um, is it as easy
(28:58):
as now? Like you, I just get to run. My
mouth's exactly right right. You've had opinions on stuff for
a long time. Now you get to show them. Uh
is it now? Before last night, were you, uh, you
know they might be better without Kevin Durant guy? No, No, no,
I I did think it was a legitimate question. I
(29:20):
thought everybody you know killing it like, oh, that's ridiculous. No.
I thought it was up for debate. I felt they
were better with Durant. Obviously they're different, but I felt
with the record we've seen in the regular season, obviously
they were playing well in the postseason. They have won
a title and you know if every three games without him.
(29:40):
So I didn't feel like it was ridiculous to wonder
like a lot of people were, and uh, I just
felt it was an open, open question, Like, for instance,
if you added James Harden to Golden State, certainly talent
wise they be much better, but would they actually be
a better team. I think we both probably say no,
(30:02):
just because of fitting all those pieces together. So I
thought it was a legitimate question. And that's one of
the things that I'm really excited about watching in this series.
It looks like Durant may end up coming back, but
I really was intrigued to see can they win it
or or not without him? Like I really wasn't fully
either way, because it doesn't matter, it doesn't affect how
(30:24):
great Durant is individually. But I did want to see
can this team actually win a title without him? Or
are they not good enough without him to win it?
It does feel like this could be It actually could
set up really well for Kevin Durant, right, like if
everything we've been told is true, which is end of
the day, that guy just wants to be respected um
(30:47):
as the best player in the game, and now of
a sudden if if they fall down two games done
and he comes riding in his white horse and they
win the series, won't he get the respect that he's
felt like he deserves. Oh, I'm totally with you. I
mean that that would be magical for Kevin Durant, whether
it's two oh to one, you know, if they look
(31:07):
like they're hanging on for dear life and he comes
back and it is Kevin Durant plays his normal game
and leads them to the championship, probably would be a
finals m v P. Again, that whole narrative about they
didn't need him and all that dies, you know, because
even you know, if they couldn't beat Kauai and the
(31:28):
Raptors without him a lot, you know, the assumption is
gonna beat what they wouldn't have beat Lebron. It's certainly
not Lebron and Kyrie without him, especially those two had
beaten him before. So I think that entire narrative dies.
And what I would say to Durant in that situation,
it's stay, Like if his main reason for considering leaving,
(31:50):
as you said, is just respect validation, then stay. If
you if that scenario played out, stay go for your
fourth straight ring, which none no one's done of it
than Bill Russell, and I know, uh Steph would have
for as well, and he would, you know, have one
more than Durant overall, but it would clearly be Durant's
(32:11):
the best player and they can't win it without him.
Uh So you know, start the new Arena in San Francisco,
like there'd be every reason to stay, especially does because
considering this as well, he could stay, win one more
or or lose it. Whatever happened would happen next year,
and then he could still leave as a free agent
in you would get to see where does Kyrie go?
(32:34):
How did the Clippers look? You know, does Anthony Davis
wind up in New York? Maybe I go there? Like
you could actually step back and watch free agency play
out and then maybe even have a better barometer of
where you may want to go if, if, indeed you
ever want to leave Golden State. It's an interesting point. Um,
it feels like Hawai is not right? Am I wrong? Yeah?
(32:58):
I mean, look, I want to give the I do
think one of the things that Golden State did well
last night. Obviously they struggled in a lot of areas,
but I thought they're playing against Kauai. You know, IgA
Dollar first give him credit individually. Then they obviously doubled
Kauai Ali got the ball out of his hands, and
he clearly didn't have his typical game. Yeah, I mean
(33:19):
he so I don't know if it was all their decense,
he just had a bad night, or was it the injury. Um,
you know that tendonitis which is what everybody's saying he
has that can just come and go, you know, and
at times that can really bother you. You come down
the wrong way, you kind of forgot it was there,
and now it's it bothers you again. So that's probably
(33:42):
what's going on, and it's flaring up here and there
and bothering him at time. And obviously that is huge
because I would expect Pascal Siakam to play even close
to the way he did last night every game and
so they're gonna need Kauai to be much better to
to in this series. So that's a huge thing to watch.
(34:03):
What's going on? What is um what's going on with
with Houston? Yeah? Look this owner and I think I
heard you saying it on the herd, and you're right
on the money, because I've talked to some people and
hurt the owner. Uh for Tyler, he he is not Uh,
he's not there to just have a nice little run.
(34:26):
You know, he is there to win. I've heard that
Darryl Morey while, you know, since he's been in Houston,
he's been giving cart Blinch to do whatever he wants
and he's done a solid job obviously, But this guy's like,
look when like I'm hearing that, Maury is I don't
want to say on the hot seat, but the pressure
(34:46):
is on this owner. You know, he just paid. Look,
we all knew, Doug, it's ridiculous to pay Chris Paul
four years, hundred and sixty million at his age, with
his injuries and so on and so forth. And they
went ahead and did it because obviously that was part
of the deal when he decided to get trade and
you know he wanted to go there. But it was
(35:06):
a bad, bad move, and it's it's for time and
for Tita's money. So he he wants championships and they're
all feeling the heat. I don't like the fact that
they allowed it to leak, whether it was them or
other teams that you know, everybody on the roster is available.
I don't think that's gonna sit well with Chris Paul.
And people might say, so what, But the fact that
(35:28):
you're probably not gonna be able to train Chris Paul
and that being unlikely, I think you gotta keep that
stuff a lot quieter because it could be disruptive in
your locker room. But um, you know, I don't want
I like the fact of bringing Dantoni back for at
least one more year, give him a chance to see
if he can tweak that office change and get more
(35:51):
player ball movement, less hard and centric, and if he can't,
you go in a different direction after that. But I
don't think he should be fired, like some people have
been saying, yeah, But then you look at Toronto and
they fired their coach, and like, so, you know, granted
D'Antoni has been you know, been here longer and and
(36:12):
one elsewhere. On the other hand, what assistant would even
take over? Right? Well? And and that's the thing, like,
who are you looking at? They've had other coaches Michale
that have had you know, moderate success there. And here's
the thing with Chris Paul and Harden. I'm sure you
were thinking the same thing as me when you're watching
Chris Paul play in Houston. I'm sitting there watching especially
(36:36):
this year, and saying, he has voluntarily turned himself into
a role player for James Harden and the hope of
winning the championship. And I give him credit for that,
because he's been a ball dominant guard, he's been the
number one guy and you know, always directing traffic and
(36:57):
in control. And so I give him credit for giving
that up to try to win a ring. But when
you don't win a ring, when you do get beat
earlier than you think you should in the playoffs, now understandably,
Chris Paul is like, hey, uh, I'm not I gave
it up. I I sacrifice. But if we're not gonna win,
(37:18):
then let's play a different way. Let's get me more involved,
let's get other guys more involved. And the question, Doug
is ken Harden played differently at this point. There's no
doubt he could have at one time, you know, when
he came off the bench and okay, see, he was
a playmaker, you know, obviously accepted his role. When he
(37:39):
first went to Houston, he played differently, but after a
few years of just carte blanche to do whatever the
heck you want everything is based on you. You're getting
incredible accolades, one m VP maybe another one. You know,
you're being mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan,
Wilt Chamberlain and challenging their records and stuff. I can
(38:00):
go back to being a part of a system rather
than the entire system and average maybe twenty six points,
twenty seven points, twenty five points versus the thirty five
and thirty six he's been averaging lately, so that that's
a big question in my mind as well. Um, what
(38:20):
what's the latest on the reaction to the latest Lakers story?
Like Magic keeps trying to put out the fire and
yet uh, it's it's like trying to put out a
grease fire. Um with with water. It doesn't seem to
be working. It may actually be making it worse. Now,
are you referring to Josh Hart was on the podcast
with Dandy Green and he said, the only two players
(38:44):
that weren't on the trade market where Lebrin and KCP.
Are you referring to the big story that indicted everyone, Magic,
Palinka Rich, Paul, Genie Buss, Like what I mean, there's
so many things wrong with the Lakers like which which
specifically what part do you refer to? Well, most specifically
(39:05):
magic going on ESPN, right, Like he goes on and yeah,
the Baxter home story that was this week, and then
he comes out and he says, you know, basically, none
of it's true from him on all the rest of
it might be true. None of the stuff that's negative
towards him is true, and you know, in the process
continues to throw everybody under the bus. Does is this
(39:26):
going to affect who they get? If they get somebody
in the off season, Well, I think the Anthony Davis
obviously is their dream. I don't think any of this
affects him, um, because he still wants to go there.
So if they can get him. And Alvin Gentry does
like the Lakers young players, specifically Linzo and Brandon Ingram.
(39:50):
Anybody also likes Kousman and all their young guys, and
he does have some sway. I know, David Griffin really
respects Gentry and this basketball knowledge. So there's that. And
if they really like somebody at number four, Cam Reddish,
you know, Darris, you know, Garland the point guard out
of Vanderbilt, or somebody else, then they could look at
(40:13):
that as a nice package. And with the Knicks, there
was a report today that they're talking to Atlanta about
moving down from number three to you know, get I
think it was eight and tens. Uh. That would indicate
that the Knicks are not they know, like they've had
discussions with New Orleans and they're not gonna be able
to get uh Anthony Davis for their number three pick
(40:34):
and whatever other pieces were in the package. So if
that's the case, maybe they could get Anthony Davis and
all of a sudden everything becomes great for the Lakers,
at least on the court. Um. So, but look the
front office, you got a few guys that are willing
to go there, and then you got guys and would
(40:56):
would be open to it or at least hearing about
the Akers and listening to them. Those are the guys
that I think this is going to impact because I
don't see any way outside of Lebron that the Lakers
can can sell themselves better than the Clippers or Brooklyn,
you know, from just a strictly front office organizational standpoint,
(41:22):
and that's where this stuff will hurt them. But you know,
if they can get their dream guying Cindy Davis then
all of a sudden, this stuff in his back. All right,
let's get back to the NBA Finals. Best guess when
does Kevin Durant play? You know, part of me thinks
that this could they could really be overly cautious or
(41:44):
maybe getting back a little earlier, depending on how this
series goes. If they're up to one, I don't think
he's coming back for game three. I think it's gonna
be Game four at the earliest. But if they're up
to one, do they, you know, risk it? And does
he want to risk it? Because you know this charist
(42:04):
and I mean, there's nothing to play with. So I
think that if they're up to one, they may prolong
and you know, as long as they can up three
one prolong and again. Um. But if they're down to one,
then I think you could see him in game four. Uh.
So I know they'll deny that it has to do
with where they're at in the series. But don't you
(42:27):
find it interesting that this story comes out the night after,
right after the loss, Like there was when you read
that story, there was nothing in there. By Chris Hayes
of Yahoo, there was nothing in there that was like
late breaking, like oh something happened during the game, something
happened right before the game. In fact, he said he
(42:48):
had been doing on court stuff earlier in the week,
so there really was nothing new to say. He'll definitely
be back, you know, in this series. So it was
it was the timing of it. And that's one thing
that makes me wonder if it could be related to
how well they do or don't do in these first
few games. Chris Bruce are so okay, you think you like, remember,
(43:13):
like we all think a guy comes back and he's
immediately the guy who was before he gets hurt, and
that we don't know best guess. And that's the thing too,
Like if I'm Durant or even I mean, I guess
maybe Golden State, you obviously could use a Kevin Durant.
Um he's better than a lot of other players around
the league. But if I'm Durant, I don't know that
(43:36):
I'd be willing to Should you risk that, you know,
with this type of injury, obviously you could be going
into free agency. Um, I don't. I that's a tough question.
And I know he wants to play, but you gotta
be careful with that type of injury, especially when you
could be going into free agency, So I think that's
(43:57):
something he's really got to look at. And I don't
like I saw Steve Kers here to day if he
If Durant comes back, it's not gonna be a limited role.
It's not gonna be a Boogie Cousins or even anything
close to that. And I agree with that, Like, I
can't imagine Kevin Durant coming back as a role player,
a space filler. It's certainly not off the bench. So
(44:20):
if he comes back, he's gonna start. He's gonna be
the main guy, and so they gotta make sure he's
ready for all that. Chris brus Sorry, check him out
on The Odd Couple, which uh follows this show in
about an hour and a half on Fox Sports Radio
all of our affiliates, seven o'clock Eastern for o'clock Pacific,
along with Rob Parker, Stevie. Thanks so much, all right,
(44:42):
do
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlip
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 Gotlieb Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the I Heart
Radio app by searching FSR. This is the best of
(00:22):
the Doug Godleive Show on Fox Sports Radio. Boom, What
Up America? Doug godleave Show, Fox Sports Radio. The Day
of Doug continues. I'm just out of your hosting shows,
trying to make a buck. What's up, folks? Howre you doing? Yeah?
I haven't been on in at least fifteen minutes. I
(00:43):
hope you're having a great day. I know I am.
It's Doug Gotlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. It is proudly
brought to you by Farmers. At Farmers, we've seen almost everything,
so we know how to cover almost anything. When it's
game time, haven't experienced player help you stay ahead of
the game. Put their experience and play at Farmers dot com.
We are now. One game is a small sample size.
(01:09):
Small sample size, so when I tell you that Yesterday
was a formation. It is conformation when I tell you
that yesterday only proved my point that it's just silliness,
the idea that the Warriors aren't better with Kevin Durant
(01:30):
as opposed to without Kevin Durant. And I get it.
You had you had those stats at one point in time,
they're thirty two and one or whatever. Now thirty two
and two, and I with that when Kevin Durant doesn't play,
and Steph Curry does, I get it. You look at
final output, you look at final numbers, you look at stats,
(01:53):
and you think, okay. Gottlieb always tells us it is
about you play sports. Two wins words and they win
at a higher percentage clip when Katie doesn't play. But
here's the thing, this is really really important one. You
(02:16):
cannot fool players. It's always been something that I've believed.
And while sometimes players will be disingenuous with things and
say things about their coaches, their teammates, their families which
are not always accurate, when enough of them say the
exact same thing, start to nod your head and go okay.
(02:41):
And the Warriors have been telling us, dude, you just
get a trust us we know how good this guy is.
We know how much better he makes us. That's why
he went and got on a plane and fled out
to the Hamptons on the fourth July. Right. The second
part is that the playoffs are all about matchups. The
reason that they were able to come from behind and
(03:02):
beat the Portland Trailblazers in those last three games is
quality matchups. Right, matchups. It's a good matchup. They beat
the they beat the pants out the Blazers with KD.
They beat the pants out. They came back and beat
the Blazers without Kady. There is a good matchup for
Steph Curry and Clay Thompson and Draymond Green. There's nobody
(03:23):
that matches up to them. Last night is a bad
matchup when you have uh, Pascal Siakum, he's just too
too long, too athletic, he's too big. Remember Draymond Green,
he might be six five. He looked tiny in comparison
to Siam. This is a deep athletic team. And and
(03:48):
what and what the ball movement does, what ball screens do,
what all this stuff does is it creates better positive
matchups for Steph Curry. Right, That's and you have to
and the reason that they have to move it less
and have to do less and may not be as
(04:09):
by some people's estimation as enjoyable to watch when Katie
plays is he almost always has a positive matchup. There
just aren't a lot of dudes that are seven ft
tall with long arms that can handle the ball and
playing the post, or can guard a guy handling the
ball and playing in the post at his size. He
is a matchup nightmare. He is a matchup breaker. He
(04:34):
is what the NBA folks say is hey, good defense
is solved by better offense. So then I read this
from Ramona Schoulburn. The Warriors have been reminding anyone who
would listen how much they needed to rant over the
past three weeks. But that concerted charm, uh concerned charm
offense wasn't lip service. Privately, the Warriors had been concerned
(04:56):
about their chances to be Toronto or Milwaukee in the finals.
Durant wasn't a play. They knew they needed him as
a sale fail safe, not just on offense but the
defensive end to match up with Janice and Kauai. Andrew
Goodala told Rick Buker before Game one when Kauai isn't
out there, we axcume. When k D isn't out there,
(05:17):
we know we have to work harder. So it's a
different type of thing. We've had success, and it's like,
see what happens when Katie is not there. Now, I
came out of that Houston series, No Katie was there,
stress on my body, and now something flares up. That's
because KD wasn't there. But nobody's gonna say that. I'm
playing forty minutes of game versus Houston and then hobbling
around on one leg in the next series, I miss
(05:37):
k D. We win four. Oh, but no one's thinking
about that. But you can't fool players, says, aren't just
saying it because they want k D to stay there.
They're saying it because it's the truth. He makes life easier.
He takes stress off of staff, offensively, off of Clay,
off of all these guys defensively as well, and he
(05:58):
creates positive matchups where they didn't previously exist. And those
things are irreplaceable. Now, does a small sample size one
game mean they can't be Toronto? No? No, doesn't mean
they were as bad defensively as at times they looked.
Absolutely not. No, they're not. Pascal Siakam is not gonna
(06:22):
have over thirty I don't think marcasoul is gonna hit
that many jump shots. I do think Kawai Leonard being
injured his an issue. I don't think that Fred van
Bleet is going to continue to be able to contain um,
to be able to contain Steph Curry. You know, and
(06:43):
and we're making a big deal about how Steph Curry
didn't make field goals like he had thirty four. He
got to the free throw line of ton. They were
doubling him on ball screens and making him go at
the ball and he still managed to have uh managed
to get to the free to the line. Which have
you guys seen the stat? This is the most remarkable
stat I've ever heard. We had Tom Habstrow on yesterday.
Here's the stat. Steph Curry swishes eighty four percent of
(07:07):
his free throws. Is that crazier? What swishes? So look,
the series isn't over. It's only game one. The Warriors
didn't play great. Draymond was just okay. He got into
a little kerfuffle with Drake. Will play for you what
what he thinks of Drake. Later on the show, But
(07:30):
today is a win for logic, right, and another loss
for some sort of analytics. Because look, I've had people
come on even our show yesterday, Tom Habitstrow come, well,
I just tell you, the analytics tell you they're better
without Kevin Durant. You know what, that's great. The logic
tells me that when you have the best player in
(07:50):
the NBA, who is who is a willing passer, a
versatile defender, a versatile offensive player, he has competed and
played at his best in big games, logic tells me
they're better with Kevin Durant and it gives them more
favorable matchups. And that logic came out and played last night.
That doesn't mean that analytics is crap and that it
(08:11):
never has any effect or that doesn't. But you know,
it has to has to be a balance, and the
balance was on full display yesterday as we're watching the
Golden State Warriors struggle to make field goals, struggle to
get into their offense, struggle to look sound not turn
the basketball over. This is a long, active, younger, hungry
(08:34):
Toronto Raptors team. And even though even though it's only
one game and it was a home game and We're
told by anyone who will listen. Anyone who will listen.
You know, an NBA series doesn't start until the road
team wins a game. That's true. Anyone who will listen
will tell us that that. Um. The truth is that
(08:59):
last night there was a home win for Toronto and
a need to win, and they got a couple of
calls because Game one is one in which they were
more arrested the Warriors, and it's a game traditionally the
road team can steal. I thought the series began last night,
and we find out this weekend. We find out Sunday
how much counterpunching there is at the hands of the
(09:20):
Golden State Warriors. So I don't hate to say I
told you so, because I did tell you so. They're
better with Kevin Durant than they are without Kevin Durant.
And now we wait, can they win without him? Can
he come back at full strength? And if they do
(09:42):
come back, it doesn't And if he does come back,
can they do they have enough time enough games to
win the series? And if he's the reason they come
back and win, does that change? Does he reflect upon
how much he's needed in Oakland? Let's get you some
breaking news. Your eyes are glowing across breaking news from
(10:02):
Fox Sports, Good Afternoon, Doug. On Tuesday, Clippers head coach
Doc Rivers appeared as a guest analyst on an NBA
Finals preview show, where he was asked about Kauai Leonard
and said the following, like, Jordan's that what we've seen, Like,
there's a lot of great players. Lebron is phenomenal. K
is phenomenal, but when not that he is Jordan or
(10:24):
anything like that, but he's the most like him. The
breaking news is that the NBA has just find the
Clippers fifty thousand dollars for those remarks for violating the
league's anti tampering rule. To find in response to those
comments made about Kawhi Leonard by Doc Rivers and a
related story, I'm trying to find out if David Stern
(10:46):
has pulled off a coup in his back in power
running the NBA back to you. Yeah, it's Look, it's
a really really hard one. It's a it's a really
hard one. You know, it's a it's a difficult thing
for anybody too uh to figure out. Is um, how
do you have Doc Rivers on the show, They ask
(11:07):
you about a player. You just say something nice and
now you get fined. Did he go a little over
the top. Yeah. And by the way, comparing him to
Michael Jordan is in fact ridiculous. He's not the closest
thing to Michael Jordan's. Kobe Bryant is the closest thing
because Kobe Bryant actually talked like Jordan's, walked like Jordan's,
played the same position as Jordan's. His moves were the
(11:28):
same as Jordan's. Our our quest for the next Jordan's
We we missed it. I didn't say Kobe was as
good as Mike, but you want a guy that played
like Mike, his name was Kobe Bean Bryant. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Doug Dot Leap Show
week days in noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. The Rockets
(11:52):
and Mike D'Antoni have broken off contract extension talks. Here's
their owner, Tilman for Tita. I'm just gonna tell you
what I think from an owner's perspective. Okay, I don't
know what Lane Duck means because he's under contract. I
think his agent did me a favor Okay, because if
for some reason we had a horrible year and we
thought we needed to make a coaching change, we just
(12:14):
got through paying off one of the other coaches, I believe.
So if I hope we win a championship and Mike
comes and puts a gun to my head, yeah, it's
a very matter of fact way of looking at something
that that frankly, I've never I've kind of never understood,
which is this idea that well, you know, you gotta
have you gotta have a couple of extra years in
(12:36):
your contract. Like no, you don't, No, you really don't.
You know, maybe one specific guy wants to play one
specific style. Like yeah, it's not really how it works
in the NBA. You don't need to have no lane
duck contract year. It's just like a player player as
a year left and his deal, you play it out
and then at the end of it you end up,
(12:57):
you know, using your success as your leverage. You can
go somewhere else. I actually don't think it's crazy. I
don't think it's crazy. Why should I have to pay
you for two moneys? I'm I'm paying you. I can
always give you a new contract and as much as
you could say, well, look, when you're young and you
(13:18):
have a family and you need that's that's different. That
is not the state that Mike D'Antoni is in. Mike
D'Antoni is in the poop or get off the pop stage.
He's sixty eight years old. He's coached in Denver, he's
coached in UH Phoenix, he's coached in Italy. He's coached
now in New Way. So it's in LA, in New York,
in Phoenix, and in Houston, Hey. He's and he has
(13:43):
not won a championship. But he's made most of those teams,
all of them watchable, most of them successful, and been
a whiskers a whisker away from the finals with two
different teams, with Phoenix one year and with Houston last year.
But he hadn't gotten there. And so why if I'm
an owner, do I have to feel compelled to give
(14:03):
a guy, you know, three four more years when I
don't want to, when I don't want to. I want
to see exactly what we got and exactly how he
you know, works and improves with what we got. I
don't think any of that's crazy, I really don't. So
(14:23):
part of this is this is maybe a new owner
with a new way of doing things. Part of this
is this is just a new owner who wants to
see some success and wants to see how a coach
figures it out. You know, they talked Jeff Bezdelic out
of retirement and then they went and retired him again,
got rid of him. But I, you know, I see it.
(14:47):
I don't think any of us are sitting there going like,
I don't know what he's doing now. He's frustrated, and
so too so too must Rockets fans, and I'm sure
Darryl Moore's frustrated, and Mike d'antony is frustrated to get
that closed that many times and to feel like you
have the right and then you get a little bit
lucky and you have just enough injuries, all of those
(15:11):
things and you can't get it done. I don't. I
don't think frustration is something that we should be surprised
by in any way. I really don't. I don't. I
frankly think i'd be You'd be frustrated too, if that
was you, you would be frustrated to the point of
being livid. And for Tita was livid. He's made some changes,
(15:34):
He's made some statements he's talked about a He's probably
told Darryl Moury everybody is available, although you know, I
wouldn't trade James Harden and let's tweak that coaching staff.
It doesn't feel like panic. It feels like you're being
very reasonable and firm. And there's a difference between the two.
(15:56):
There's a difference between being focused and being neurotic. There's
a difference between being motivated and being uh and being
super super nervous over the outcome. And I think, you know,
(16:17):
I think for Tita has a pretty good feel on
his level of emotions and what he wants. And it
does kind of make sense, like, at what point in time,
what point in time are we going to you know,
are we gonna make Mike D'Antoni stop telling us he's
pregnant and show us the baby. That's really what it
(16:37):
comes down to. He's been good for a long time,
good for a long time, but he has not come through,
or his teams have not come through. And some of
it is through no fault of his own, and some
of it he is through fault of his own. You know.
The the the m O on Mike D'Antoni was ways
(17:00):
he didn't care about defense. And then he found Jeff
Bezdelic as his defensive coordinator, and they also tinkered with
some of the roster and they were better. And yet
some of it is you can't you gotta tip your
captain Steph Curry in the shots that he made. Some
of it was the adjustments that they didn't make defensively
down the stretch when Golden State changed with their approach.
(17:23):
And while you can't change the outcome of a Steph
Curry thirty footer in your eye fade away three, you
can definitely change the outcome or the um the process
of getting to that outcome if you didn't like the
lack of defensive adjustments when Golden State really ran the
same play for the last five minutes of the game,
over and over and over and over again. Be sure
(17:46):
to catch live edition so the Doug Dot Leaps Show
weekdays at noon eastern three pm Pacific. Gran Butler has
got a new juice business, Juice Buds bu d Z.
It's getting back to the basic raw cole press fruits
and vegetables. Uh. It's out here in the Valley Sherman Oaks,
Canoga Park. Juice Buds dot com. You can also visit
the online store hashtag Taste the Wellness. Uh, he's he's
(18:08):
he's living that California lifestyle and dream working for every
different network and starting up juice franchises. Karen, how are you?
I'm doing great, bro, Thanks for having me on. All right,
I need to I need to I need to get
down the meal plan. Um, let's start with last night?
How is Page? How is how is Pascalcia? I'm able
to get off. Hey, listen, I think he did a
(18:30):
remarkable job of just taking advantage of the situation. Every
time that you played in the playoff series or any
game prior to the game, you have a scheme, and
the scheme was to allow him to beat you. And
if he's able to beat you, you took your hat
off to him and you you say, look, great job.
And that's exactly what happened. He capitalized on the opportunity
(18:51):
is making shots. He did a remarkable job and running
the floor being extremely efficient. He had opportunities, but he
was efficient in those opportunities. And that's why the Toronto
Raptors gotta quality win at home. Yeah, yeah, it's it
was a little bit and grant it is only one game,
but a little bit of that Andrea Go Dolla when
he was the m v P during their first championship,
you know where where the Calves said hey, well let's
(19:13):
make Andrea Delabidos, and Andrea Dolla did in fact beat him. Yeah,
that's pretty much exactly what happened. And whenever you're go
into a playoff series, you want to take away something,
but when you take away something, you give away something else.
Prior to the last series, the Toronto Raptors realized that
Jana's was a problem, so you had to stop him
from going downhill. You put your best defender on him,
(19:34):
Kawhi Leonard, and you built the wall and you force
you know, guys like Malcolm Broaden and specifically Eric Blesso
to beat you, and he wasn't able to knock down
for him their shots. Therefore it cost him the series. Now,
this series that we're talking about now to go to
Stay Warriors did a remarkable job of, you know, trying
to corral for Wirelander as much as possible, but that
left opportunities up for Van Fleet Marcosol that have perimeter
(19:57):
shots and opportunities, and there was a fishing in that
space and that's the reason why they got the quality win.
Corn Butler joining us on the Doug out Lip Show
on Fox Sports Radio. How much of that was one game?
How much of that is just matchups and the issues
they're gonna have without without Kevin Durant. Look, I think
it's more than just one game, and I'll tell you why.
(20:17):
Like I look at the course of the game, and
I look at the series between these two teams. You know,
even in the regular season. You know, it's obviously a
different season. But at the same time, the Rappers had
a ton of success. From a pay standpoint, you look
at the league changes in this game, it wasn't many. Uh,
the Warriors never got a cushion in this ball game.
(20:40):
And let's just face that Clay Thompson played solid basketball.
Steph Curry was himself and other guys. I just don't
know where that third scoring punch or fourth scoring punch
is gonna come from. Draymond is gonna have his hands
for and sometimes your best offense is your defense, and
Septen is gonna keep him occupied, so he's not gonna
be as efficient as he was in the last series
(21:03):
versus to Portland. Trailblazers before the game, Were you one
of those guys that thought they were better without Kevin Durant?
Come on, man, that's foods go right there. Like, I
think that when you add a guy like Kevin Durant,
a future Hall of Famer, a guy that you cannot
tell the story of basketball without mentioning he's an m
v P, you've got two m vps in their prime
(21:25):
and him and Steph Curry playing on the same basketball team.
They're unstoppable their pro stars. But when you take one
of those guys off, they're different, and they're fun to watch,
but they're I don't think that they're just a clear
cut favor to win because Kevin Durant is a guy
that can offset two or three All Stars on the
(21:45):
opposing end of the floor, and I just don't think
they have that threat no more so now they almost
have to play perfect basketball otherwise you have situations like
you had a game one. I totally agree with you.
You think he when do you think he comes back
in place? And like, and I don't think, I don't
know you know more people, uh and too closer to it,
(22:06):
but I mean, calf strains are hard. You can feel
like you're fine and then all of a sudden you
feel it pull again. What what what's your best guess? Look,
I think Game three, But it's it's it's one of
those situations like is he healthy enough to play in
the NBA Finals. You know, you don't want him to
come out and not be himself, and therefore he's hindering
(22:26):
the team because he's not himself and he's not able
to do some of the things that you need him
to do. But you know, sixt Kevin Durant, as long
as he's not damaging himself from a physical physical standpoint
even further, is better than you know, some guys at
full speed a hundred and ten percent. So I'll take
(22:47):
that any day. But the same thing. I look at
the regular season, Kevin Durant average shot fifty percent from
the field, fifty three from the three, and the rapp
is still one. So he has to come back extremely
efficient and that's still may not be enough in this series.
If the Raptors are clicking, why do you think is
(23:09):
it because they haven't been here before? Why do you
think that the Raptors don't get the respect that you're
giving them? Look, I think a lot of people just
feel like one of the things you just touched on
because they haven't been here before, or you haven't paid
a ton of attention to the Raptors all season long.
Now being on this side of the field, you know,
I'm a basketball head and I love the game of basketball,
(23:32):
and I love what they do. I love the style
that they played. People don't understand that Pastal is probably
the most improved player in this league. And the reason
why ce Dave Miles is not there is because the
development of him, you know, over the course of this season.
They had to make a trade because this guy just
you know, exceeded all expectations in the matter of a
(23:53):
couple of months. So I think that this team is
a force to be reckoned with. Uh. They did a
remarkable job of acquiring good All. Van Fleet is just
playing lights out after the birth of his child, and
it's remarkable to watch. And I think they clicked right
at the right time. And if Kawhi Leonard stays healthy,
I've seen him hobbled a little bit. It looked like
he slowed up a little bit since the last series.
(24:14):
But if he stays healthy and he can be a
threat on the offensive end, in the defensive end, they
have a realistic shot at winning the championship. I don't
think there's any doubt about it. What's the what's the
latest word on on on on a guy like Kyrie,
like he's a he's a different cat now. Um, you know,
we've had people say, sudden, Brooklyn's in the mix. What
(24:37):
are you hearing? I always heard that it was Brooklyn
Brooklyn and then all of a sudden, now the dark
Forces the Los Angeles Lakers, and for numerous reasons, and
I would love to see that happen. I think that
I think the championship in Cleveland and him and Lebron
united and figuring it out was like one of the
best stories and basketball history, you know, and in the
(25:00):
championship to Cleveland. So if they reunite in Los Angeles,
and if you're able to acquire a guy like Jimmy
Butler and free agency or Bradley Bill via trade or
something like that, and if you still have the talent
that you have when the roster already in Kyle Kuzma
brandon Ingram and possibly lines the ball, but somebody got
(25:20):
to go. If you're gonna acquire Bradley Bill via Trade.
I think that's a great foundation. I think you can
make a lot of noise. If Lebron James stay healthy,
you're gonna be somewhere between three and five in the
Western Conference and I'll take that if I'm the Los
Angeles late. How much does all of the noise of
the exit of Magic Johnson, the recent report, how much
(25:43):
does that affect guys? I mean, I don't think it
affect guys. I think you know, like pretty much, where
there was smoked, there was fired, and now you know
the reason why there was smoke and why it was
a fire that you know was trying to be put
out on the fly. During the course of the season,
you heard rumblings. Now you just got the real story
in his own words, and now it's something that everybody
(26:05):
moved past. I think that it was important to make
sure that you had a coach in place for free agency,
for all the things, and make sure that you know
Jenny Buss, Lebron James and the coach all the line.
And it seems like they are and they're trying to
move forward, you know, and attack the draft process and
free agency and a respective mena. What what do you
(26:30):
think of this, uh, the Houston thing. Houston loses and
they offered really an incentive laden deal to Mike D'Antoni
and so now he's he's got one year left. They
fired a couple of his assistants and and everyone sept
for James Harden is available for trade. What do you
think of Houston's reaction to losing the Golden State again, Well,
(26:51):
I think that any any other situation where have you've
seen Mark Jackson in the past or um other coaches
that done the stream me, well, when the expectation is
to win the championship and that's the ultimate goal. When
you don't exceed or meet that expectations, you're you're on
the hot seat. You're in a situation that you fell
(27:12):
short of the destiny with the talent that you had assembled.
And I don't understand why would it be different with
D'Antoni and any other some of the household names. You
look at guys like Brad Stevens. He's done a remarkable
job at the University of Butler. He was the coach's dream,
but some of the some of that expectations and hardship
got to fall on him too. They felt a little short.
(27:32):
Why wasn't he able to get Gordon to Hayward acclimated?
Why wasn't he able to assist Kyrie Irvan? Why wasn't
he able to structure some of the talent in a
reasonable way on the fly? Brett Brown the same way
with the Philadelphia seventy six ers. They fell short, but
he said the expectations wasn't to go to the championships
and that there was a year or two still away.
But you acquired all this talent. It seemed like everybody
(27:53):
was all in. So look, I think everybody needs to
be held accountable. And when they fall short of expectations,
dislike player is when they get traded, they ought to
be on the hot seat also, and expectations need to
be placed upon them. Great stuff. Um, when am I
getting something? One might try some of the buds juice, Man,
you gotta make sure you try it. Man when I
(28:13):
come through, Man, next time we do this, next hit man,
I'm gonna slide through and drop off a couple of boxes.
Two you, Doug, I got you. I'm in all in,
Karen Butler, tough juice. Check out buds that's bu d
z bu d z. Of course you could order it online.
Thanks so much Joint for joining us. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch
all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com
(28:37):
and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f s
R to listen live. Chris Bruce Sard is a long
time NBA insider. Now he's a radio host and opinion
is you see on all our shows on Fox Sports
one year here him on The Odd Couple, which is
an outstanding radio shows seven o'clock Eastern, four o'clock Pacific
alongside crazy Uncle Rob Parker. Um, is it as easy
(28:58):
as now? Like you, I just get to run. My
mouth's exactly right right. You've had opinions on stuff for
a long time. Now you get to show them. Uh
is it now? Before last night, were you, uh, you
know they might be better without Kevin Durant guy? No, No, no,
I I did think it was a legitimate question. I
(29:20):
thought everybody you know killing it like, oh, that's ridiculous. No.
I thought it was up for debate. I felt they
were better with Durant. Obviously they're different, but I felt
with the record we've seen in the regular season, obviously
they were playing well in the postseason. They have won
a title and you know if every three games without him.
(29:40):
So I didn't feel like it was ridiculous to wonder
like a lot of people were, and uh, I just
felt it was an open, open question, Like, for instance,
if you added James Harden to Golden State, certainly talent
wise they be much better, but would they actually be
a better team. I think we both probably say no,
(30:02):
just because of fitting all those pieces together. So I
thought it was a legitimate question. And that's one of
the things that I'm really excited about watching in this series.
It looks like Durant may end up coming back, but
I really was intrigued to see can they win it
or or not without him? Like I really wasn't fully
either way, because it doesn't matter, it doesn't affect how
(30:24):
great Durant is individually. But I did want to see
can this team actually win a title without him? Or
are they not good enough without him to win it?
It does feel like this could be It actually could
set up really well for Kevin Durant, right, like if
everything we've been told is true, which is end of
the day, that guy just wants to be respected um
(30:47):
as the best player in the game, and now of
a sudden if if they fall down two games done
and he comes riding in his white horse and they
win the series, won't he get the respect that he's
felt like he deserves. Oh, I'm totally with you. I
mean that that would be magical for Kevin Durant, whether
it's two oh to one, you know, if they look
(31:07):
like they're hanging on for dear life and he comes
back and it is Kevin Durant plays his normal game
and leads them to the championship, probably would be a
finals m v P. Again, that whole narrative about they
didn't need him and all that dies, you know, because
even you know, if they couldn't beat Kauai and the
(31:28):
Raptors without him a lot, you know, the assumption is
gonna beat what they wouldn't have beat Lebron. It's certainly
not Lebron and Kyrie without him, especially those two had
beaten him before. So I think that entire narrative dies.
And what I would say to Durant in that situation,
it's stay, Like if his main reason for considering leaving,
(31:50):
as you said, is just respect validation, then stay. If
you if that scenario played out, stay go for your
fourth straight ring, which none no one's done of it
than Bill Russell, and I know, uh Steph would have
for as well, and he would, you know, have one
more than Durant overall, but it would clearly be Durant's
(32:11):
the best player and they can't win it without him.
Uh So you know, start the new Arena in San Francisco,
like there'd be every reason to stay, especially does because
considering this as well, he could stay, win one more
or or lose it. Whatever happened would happen next year,
and then he could still leave as a free agent
in you would get to see where does Kyrie go?
(32:34):
How did the Clippers look? You know, does Anthony Davis
wind up in New York? Maybe I go there? Like
you could actually step back and watch free agency play
out and then maybe even have a better barometer of
where you may want to go if, if, indeed you
ever want to leave Golden State. It's an interesting point. Um,
it feels like Hawai is not right? Am I wrong? Yeah?
(32:58):
I mean, look, I want to give the I do
think one of the things that Golden State did well
last night. Obviously they struggled in a lot of areas,
but I thought they're playing against Kauai. You know, IgA
Dollar first give him credit individually. Then they obviously doubled
Kauai Ali got the ball out of his hands, and
he clearly didn't have his typical game. Yeah, I mean
(33:19):
he so I don't know if it was all their decense,
he just had a bad night, or was it the injury. Um,
you know that tendonitis which is what everybody's saying he
has that can just come and go, you know, and
at times that can really bother you. You come down
the wrong way, you kind of forgot it was there,
and now it's it bothers you again. So that's probably
(33:42):
what's going on, and it's flaring up here and there
and bothering him at time. And obviously that is huge
because I would expect Pascal Siakam to play even close
to the way he did last night every game and
so they're gonna need Kauai to be much better to
to in this series. So that's a huge thing to watch.
(34:03):
What's going on? What is um what's going on with
with Houston? Yeah? Look this owner and I think I
heard you saying it on the herd, and you're right
on the money, because I've talked to some people and
hurt the owner. Uh for Tyler, he he is not Uh,
he's not there to just have a nice little run.
(34:26):
You know, he is there to win. I've heard that
Darryl Morey while, you know, since he's been in Houston,
he's been giving cart Blinch to do whatever he wants
and he's done a solid job obviously, But this guy's like,
look when like I'm hearing that, Maury is I don't
want to say on the hot seat, but the pressure
(34:46):
is on this owner. You know, he just paid. Look,
we all knew, Doug, it's ridiculous to pay Chris Paul
four years, hundred and sixty million at his age, with
his injuries and so on and so forth. And they
went ahead and did it because obviously that was part
of the deal when he decided to get trade and
you know he wanted to go there. But it was
(35:06):
a bad, bad move, and it's it's for time and
for Tita's money. So he he wants championships and they're
all feeling the heat. I don't like the fact that
they allowed it to leak, whether it was them or
other teams that you know, everybody on the roster is available.
I don't think that's gonna sit well with Chris Paul.
And people might say, so what, But the fact that
(35:28):
you're probably not gonna be able to train Chris Paul
and that being unlikely, I think you gotta keep that
stuff a lot quieter because it could be disruptive in
your locker room. But um, you know, I don't want
I like the fact of bringing Dantoni back for at
least one more year, give him a chance to see
if he can tweak that office change and get more
(35:51):
player ball movement, less hard and centric, and if he can't,
you go in a different direction after that. But I
don't think he should be fired, like some people have
been saying, yeah, But then you look at Toronto and
they fired their coach, and like, so, you know, granted
D'Antoni has been you know, been here longer and and
(36:12):
one elsewhere. On the other hand, what assistant would even
take over? Right? Well? And and that's the thing, like,
who are you looking at? They've had other coaches Michale
that have had you know, moderate success there. And here's
the thing with Chris Paul and Harden. I'm sure you
were thinking the same thing as me when you're watching
Chris Paul play in Houston. I'm sitting there watching especially
(36:36):
this year, and saying, he has voluntarily turned himself into
a role player for James Harden and the hope of
winning the championship. And I give him credit for that,
because he's been a ball dominant guard, he's been the
number one guy and you know, always directing traffic and
(36:57):
in control. And so I give him credit for giving
that up to try to win a ring. But when
you don't win a ring, when you do get beat
earlier than you think you should in the playoffs, now understandably,
Chris Paul is like, hey, uh, I'm not I gave
it up. I I sacrifice. But if we're not gonna win,
(37:18):
then let's play a different way. Let's get me more involved,
let's get other guys more involved. And the question, Doug
is ken Harden played differently at this point. There's no
doubt he could have at one time, you know, when
he came off the bench and okay, see, he was
a playmaker, you know, obviously accepted his role. When he
(37:39):
first went to Houston, he played differently, but after a
few years of just carte blanche to do whatever the
heck you want everything is based on you. You're getting
incredible accolades, one m VP maybe another one. You know,
you're being mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan,
Wilt Chamberlain and challenging their records and stuff. I can
(38:00):
go back to being a part of a system rather
than the entire system and average maybe twenty six points,
twenty seven points, twenty five points versus the thirty five
and thirty six he's been averaging lately, so that that's
a big question in my mind as well. Um, what
(38:20):
what's the latest on the reaction to the latest Lakers story?
Like Magic keeps trying to put out the fire and
yet uh, it's it's like trying to put out a
grease fire. Um with with water. It doesn't seem to
be working. It may actually be making it worse. Now,
are you referring to Josh Hart was on the podcast
with Dandy Green and he said, the only two players
(38:44):
that weren't on the trade market where Lebrin and KCP.
Are you referring to the big story that indicted everyone, Magic,
Palinka Rich, Paul, Genie Buss, Like what I mean, there's
so many things wrong with the Lakers like which which
specifically what part do you refer to? Well, most specifically
(39:05):
magic going on ESPN, right, Like he goes on and yeah,
the Baxter home story that was this week, and then
he comes out and he says, you know, basically, none
of it's true from him on all the rest of
it might be true. None of the stuff that's negative
towards him is true, and you know, in the process
continues to throw everybody under the bus. Does is this
(39:26):
going to affect who they get? If they get somebody
in the off season, Well, I think the Anthony Davis
obviously is their dream. I don't think any of this
affects him, um, because he still wants to go there.
So if they can get him. And Alvin Gentry does
like the Lakers young players, specifically Linzo and Brandon Ingram.
(39:50):
Anybody also likes Kousman and all their young guys, and
he does have some sway. I know, David Griffin really
respects Gentry and this basketball knowledge. So there's that. And
if they really like somebody at number four, Cam Reddish,
you know, Darris, you know, Garland the point guard out
of Vanderbilt, or somebody else, then they could look at
(40:13):
that as a nice package. And with the Knicks, there
was a report today that they're talking to Atlanta about
moving down from number three to you know, get I
think it was eight and tens. Uh. That would indicate
that the Knicks are not they know, like they've had
discussions with New Orleans and they're not gonna be able
to get uh Anthony Davis for their number three pick
(40:34):
and whatever other pieces were in the package. So if
that's the case, maybe they could get Anthony Davis and
all of a sudden everything becomes great for the Lakers,
at least on the court. Um. So, but look the
front office, you got a few guys that are willing
to go there, and then you got guys and would
(40:56):
would be open to it or at least hearing about
the Akers and listening to them. Those are the guys
that I think this is going to impact because I
don't see any way outside of Lebron that the Lakers
can can sell themselves better than the Clippers or Brooklyn,
you know, from just a strictly front office organizational standpoint,
(41:22):
and that's where this stuff will hurt them. But you know,
if they can get their dream guying Cindy Davis then
all of a sudden, this stuff in his back. All right,
let's get back to the NBA Finals. Best guess when
does Kevin Durant play? You know, part of me thinks
that this could they could really be overly cautious or
(41:44):
maybe getting back a little earlier, depending on how this
series goes. If they're up to one, I don't think
he's coming back for game three. I think it's gonna
be Game four at the earliest. But if they're up
to one, do they, you know, risk it? And does
he want to risk it? Because you know this charist
(42:04):
and I mean, there's nothing to play with. So I
think that if they're up to one, they may prolong
and you know, as long as they can up three
one prolong and again. Um. But if they're down to one,
then I think you could see him in game four. Uh.
So I know they'll deny that it has to do
with where they're at in the series. But don't you
(42:27):
find it interesting that this story comes out the night after,
right after the loss, Like there was when you read
that story, there was nothing in there. By Chris Hayes
of Yahoo, there was nothing in there that was like
late breaking, like oh something happened during the game, something
happened right before the game. In fact, he said he
(42:48):
had been doing on court stuff earlier in the week,
so there really was nothing new to say. He'll definitely
be back, you know, in this series. So it was
it was the timing of it. And that's one thing
that makes me wonder if it could be related to
how well they do or don't do in these first
few games. Chris Bruce are so okay, you think you like, remember,
(43:13):
like we all think a guy comes back and he's
immediately the guy who was before he gets hurt, and
that we don't know best guess. And that's the thing too,
Like if I'm Durant or even I mean, I guess
maybe Golden State, you obviously could use a Kevin Durant.
Um he's better than a lot of other players around
the league. But if I'm Durant, I don't know that
(43:36):
I'd be willing to Should you risk that, you know,
with this type of injury, obviously you could be going
into free agency. Um, I don't. I that's a tough question.
And I know he wants to play, but you gotta
be careful with that type of injury, especially when you
could be going into free agency, So I think that's
(43:57):
something he's really got to look at. And I don't
like I saw Steve Kers here to day if he
If Durant comes back, it's not gonna be a limited role.
It's not gonna be a Boogie Cousins or even anything
close to that. And I agree with that, Like, I
can't imagine Kevin Durant coming back as a role player,
a space filler. It's certainly not off the bench. So
(44:20):
if he comes back, he's gonna start. He's gonna be
the main guy, and so they gotta make sure he's
ready for all that. Chris brus Sorry, check him out
on The Odd Couple, which uh follows this show in
about an hour and a half on Fox Sports Radio
all of our affiliates, seven o'clock Eastern for o'clock Pacific,
along with Rob Parker, Stevie. Thanks so much, all right,
(44:42):
do
Host
Doug Gottlieb
Popular Podcasts
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.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!