- 7 hours ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00The Draymond thing. Here's what I would say. Two things about Draymond Green. Part of this is just
00:07right now circumstantial. I do think that it's interesting to treat Draymond Green a little bit
00:16like bench energy. Doesn't mean you actually have to bench him because it doesn't matter to me who
00:22starts, quite frankly. It is more important who finishes and it is more important how many total
00:27minutes you play. So if you still want him to be in the starting lineup and have him come through the
00:32tunnel and everybody, that's fine. Don't worry about that. But I would, I would lower the minutes
00:38and start tinkering with him coming off of the bench as an energy defensive kind of stabilizing
00:47guy. I would, I would experiment with that. The other thing I'll say though, is this may be over
00:53in one more game. And actually it might already be over because circumstantially tomorrow is San
01:00Antonio and Draymond has a wonderful history this year in frustrating Victor Wembenyama defensively.
01:07And then when they next play after the all-star break, Steph and Porzingis might both be on the
01:14floor with that. I think totally changes the calculus for Draymond and makes him a lot more
01:19playable again. Agreed. And I think the Steph piece is the big one because we know how he plays
01:24with Steph and you would figure that he can play with Chris Stapps as well. A guy who's a veteran
01:28and knows exactly how to play basketball. But that is what kind of struck me last night. Not all the
01:34turnovers are created equally, but he's playing with, you know, younger players who he's not used
01:38to playing with. Probably Pat was out there a lot. He was in the starting lineup and he's a guy getting
01:43more minutes than he normally would. D'Anthony Melton. He's only played with D'Anthony Melton really
01:48just this year and, you know, a touch last year. So there's still some of that. Quinton Post was out
01:54there as well. So I think that Draymond is at his best when Steph is there. And when Steph is not,
02:00maybe he tries to do too much. You said something earlier about older players and what I'm seeing
02:05from Draymond, and I'm going to ask Steve if he agrees and sees this too, but he's trying to take
02:09too many shortcuts with his passes where he gets the ball. And there was one turnover yesterday where
02:15he got it in the backcourt and he threw a long 50 foot diagonal pass and it was easily intercepted.
02:22And those are the plays that I think when you get older, you start to look for shortcuts in your
02:27game. And I'm seeing that from Draymond. Probably. I mean, I still, and Randy, maybe you could help us
02:32remember. What was the game where Draymond did that? Like just we Ferris wheel pass to Quinton
02:39Post. It was like five, six games ago. And like, he just, he grabbed the ball on defense and then
02:46it was like hooked at the length of the court. And it was easier than a Joukowsky tart. Like it was
02:53just, was that in Dallas beginning of the road trip a couple of weeks ago? Sounds right. Yeah.
03:00Sure. I, I know that it was about five or six games ago. I know that Quinton Post was the intended
03:06target. And I know that it was my least favorite pass of the entire year. Right after Jimmy went
03:10down. I think it was the second game they played without Jimmy. Okay. Yeah. Let's go with that.
03:15And that sounds actually similar to the one that you just described. Yeah. Same thing. It's like,
03:20dude, what are you doing? Yeah. Like you're way too, dude, you're brilliant. He's brilliant on the
03:26floor. He knows basketball better than some of the coaches in this league, but you said it already.
03:30And you're right where your mind is still working a thousand miles an hour, but your body's moving
03:35at about a hundred miles an hour. So you see something and you're used to being able to do
03:38something, but now the body's not cooperating like it used to. And I do think that you start to,
03:43to cheat a little bit and you start to take shortcuts. And that's where long passes against
03:49younger players. And almost everyone's younger than Draymond. Now it's going to be dangerous.
03:54Um, basketball savant in Danville. I wonder if this is Draymond himself. Um, hello, basketball
04:01savant. What are you doing? Hey guys, I'm just driving home right now, but I had to talk about
04:07Draymond because I love Draymond, but I know how upset fans are with him right now. And I think what
04:13we need to do is we need to play him in shorter spurts. Like you said, if you're giving them, you
04:18know, 30 minutes a game, don't cut it in half, but maybe down to 20. And if, if, if, if you treat him
04:26like a rookie, not, not like a complete rookie, but if you treat him like Jonathan Kamingo, where
04:32every time he made a mistake, you get them out of the game, maybe he would get his head out of his,
04:38you know, what? Wow. Um, risky. I think basketball savant, you can even hear it in your voice as
04:45you're saying that that's just a, that's not doable. And, and, and be the warriors would
04:50completely, I don't want to start this argument, but the warriors would completely disagree with you
04:55that that's how they treated Jonathan Kamingo. I know that that's the narrative that many want
05:00to leave with, which is that Jonathan would constantly get punished for mistakes and get
05:05pulled out of the game. I think it goes way deeper than that. And it's much more conceptual.
05:12If you watch warrior basketball, they, they turn the ball over 23 times. They're all making mistakes.
05:18They're all making tons of mistakes. Um, but what are they attempting to do? What stylistically
05:25what decisions are they making in that process? Again, is how the warriors would answer, uh, with
05:34regard to why the Kamingo thing went the way that it did. And, um, boy, it would be awesome if we
05:41could just fast forward another few months so that that's not where all roads lead. Yeah. Um, but you
05:46can't, you like, you can't treat Draymond Green like a brand new baby because he's not. So you just,
05:52you just can't, but you can start to limit him a little bit. And I think you're seeing it now.
05:57And I'm just looking at the third quarter last night, he played five and a half minutes. He had
06:02four turnovers in those five and a half minutes. And that was it. He came out of the game and you
06:07tried him again in the fourth quarter and he played about four minutes and it wasn't working
06:12and you took him out again. So I think that Steve Kerr and the coaching staff, they're now looking at it
06:17like not as a punishment or we need to limit Draymond. If you don't have it, you don't have
06:22it. It's like a starting pitcher. If you go out there and you're Logan Webb and you give up six
06:28runs and it's the top of the third and nobody's out, you're coming out of the game. Well, I think
06:33it also just, you got to go with circumstances and matchups tomorrow night might be a game that
06:38Draymond does finish if it's close because he has done well with Victor Wembenyama, um,
06:45defensively. It's kind of like if Denver were in town and if we're close tomorrow night,
06:49I think that he has more know-how in defending Jokic than anybody, quite frankly, maybe even in
06:55the league. But when you get one of these games where it's like, all right, we're playing a team
07:00where nobody's heard of anybody. Like these are the Portland's of the world, the Memphis's of the
07:05world. You got a bunch of six, eight, six, nine lanky, long 23 year olds running around and,
07:13and they can jump and they're not like a finished product. You can tell it's a young team. Like
07:20I think Memphis is closing lineup. Nobody had turned 26 yet. Wow. So like that, when that's
07:26all, but that also means they've got a lot of athleticism. They're moving fast. They're
07:32unpredictable. That's not Draymond's jam. That's when I'd be like, get him out of there,
07:37get him out of there. Draymond can play on the thinking man's games, but when, when Portland
07:44and Memphis and whoever else, all of these young teams, yeah, like pull back on the Draymond.
07:51Yes. And they have pulled back on the Draymond. I think if you look at his like game log, as
07:57far as minutes and even his season minutes this year, they're down. They're not down as considerably
08:01as some would like. They're always going to continue to play Draymond some because he
08:06is a stabilizing force. He is a good defender and quietly he's knocking down threes. He's
08:12averaging 11 points a game this year, which is the highest it's been in about a decade.
08:17So I know he's been needed to score more, but the three ball actually has been quietly kind
08:23of a positive for him. You can't remove that from last night's conversation. You can't make
08:27it all negative. Yeah. He was how many threes he hit for? Yep. Yeah. I mean, they don't
08:32win that game without him doing that either. But seven turnovers is seven turnovers. Rob
08:39Fort Costa. What's going on, Rob? Thank you for calling. Hey, how you guys doing? What's
08:45up? Hey, so my whole thing with Draymond and I'm going to piggyback off what you were saying
08:51where you're, you're kind of talking about how, when they're playing these teams that are young
08:55in whatever. It's like, he's, it's not that he, it's that they have length and they're
08:59excited. He's just disinterested. And if you have a guy that's refusing to play because
09:03he's disinterested, you can't play him. He's especially, you can't start him in a small
09:08ball lineup. It's just, it's, it's, it's Steph's not there and they're playing what they consider
09:14a poor team. He, he, he hot dogs it. I mean, there were plays last night. He didn't even
09:19come back to play defense. Disinterested is a, Rob, I'm not saying you're wrong. That's
09:26a big word though. That's it. Like, if you want to have that conversation, we can have
09:31it. You actually think that Draymond is disinterested? I'll tell you this. Just watch how he plays
09:37against the Spurs and he has women Yama to play on this next game and then rewatch the
09:42last game where he doesn't have something like that to get up to. It's like he, he picks
09:47and chooses what he really wants to, what he really wants to go at it. I mean, I'll
09:50say this in, in your favor, Rob, thanks for the call. Like he has openly admitted to stuff
09:57like this before. Like remember back when the Warriors were better and he talked about how
10:02difficult it was in February on a Tuesday or whatever I got to get up for. So sure. Um,
10:09again, I think disinterested is a, is a big word. I think Draymond would be offended by
10:13it, but it also doesn't mean it's wrong. Um, Draymond does get everything all going. Carl
10:20Anthony Towns is in town and now Draymond's arms are flailing around and he's thrusting
10:25his hips and he's getting up to defend that. When you haven't heard of the opponent, he
10:30does have a way of sort of just disappearing a little bit more. Yeah. And he certainly made
10:35an imprint in that he had seven turnovers in the game, but the game before against LA at
10:40LA and he played 33 and a half minutes and he was a positive 11, even though they lost
10:46the game by six, he was not the problem game before that at Phoenix. He played 24 minutes.
10:52He was a minus one. He was largely a non-factor. So off the floor at the end. Right. And you
10:57know, against Philly, his bobblehead night against Detroit, he played 33 minutes. He got teed
11:01up and, uh, he had only two points in a loss. And so I do think the caller's right to the extent
11:07of he's not always revved up, giving it his all. And Draymond Green is one of the smartest
11:13basketball players in the history of the association. And he knows who they are and where
11:18they are and who they are is the nine seed and where they are is probably in the play
11:24in game, no matter what. So do you really want to go complete basket balls to the wall all
11:29game, every game? It probably not. Probably not. And no Jimmy and no staff. Yeah. And if
11:34you're again, if you're not him, maybe like that, that's why, you know, I don't think we're, uh,
11:41we're gravitating to Pat Spencer and Guy Santos because they're, they're so amazing. We're gravitating
11:47to them because of the energy that we feel from them when they play. And that energy comes from
11:53the fact that those two dudes felt like roster filler a year ago. And now they're solidifying
11:59their NBA careers. Like they're going to be rotational players for the rest of their lives.
12:04I, you know, and Pat's been around for a while. He's, he's, he's well into his twenties, but he is
12:10still a young player. These guys are solidifying their spot in this league. And so that that's why
12:16they're playing so damn hard. And that's why we gravitate to it right now. Um, Draymond,
12:21I don't want to say it doesn't need to do that because people will be like, yeah, you do. You
12:26need to like, but right. It doesn't, it doesn't usually work that way for players who have been
12:33around the block this many times. And if you go back to Draymond second year, I just was glancing
12:38at it to see, and he played in all 82 and he played with that same hair on fire, Santosian energy
12:45because he quote had to second round pick second year in the league. You had to show that you were
12:51the real deal. And so he played every game and he played, you know, more than 30 minutes, a lot
12:56down the stretch. He became a starter. They made the playoffs and the rest we know is history. So
13:00it's hard to ask a vet without your two best players, make it your three best players. If you
13:05add Chris taps in. So you're supposed to be equally motivated in year 14 to go out against Memphis
13:11on a Monday night. Well, you can't be, and that's human, right? Like I'm actually not
13:15bothered by that. You, you can't be, you cannot be as hungry as the rook, right? You've made
13:23$250 million. You've got four titles and you're going to the hall of fame, right? And that's
13:29why I don't mind the way Steve Kerr is quote handling the situation. I mean, at six o'clock
13:35I'm going to be hungry. I'm going to be hungry at six o'clock. You always are hungry. I'm not
13:39going to be as hungry as like, I'm not going to want it like somebody who has a hard time
13:45getting their next meal. Correct. It's a good way to put it. It's just, it's not, it's not
13:49human. I think that's, that's a part of what we're talking about with Draymond. And his
13:53basketball hunger, he'll, it'll kick in in April in the play-in games. If you know, they
13:59still are in the play-in and I was looking at the standings earlier and it's almost impossible
14:02for them to fall to 11. So you get to April, he'll be hungry and Steph will be hungry because
14:07he loves to compete. They want a series and hopefully Chris Stapps is there. Whatever.
14:11The young guys right now, they're straight hungry. Their NBA hunger is real because, you
14:17know, Pat Spencer just got a contract and Guy Santos wants to stick and stay in this league,
14:22you know? Yep. Yep. I mean, that is at the core. I'm so sorry to bring it up again. I mean,
14:27that's at the core of what happened even in the Jonathan conversation, the guy, the guy,
14:33no, but he wants to, like, that's why it gets so emotional. He wanted, he wants to make
14:39an imprint. He wants to solidify his place in, in this league. And that is, I think for
14:46all athletes, I boy, fans sometimes have a hard time with this. That's emotion. Number
14:52one, it's not winning a ring. It's solidifying your place in the league. Self-preservation.
14:59That's number one. Number one, I want, I want to do this for a living. I want to make as
15:04much money as I can. You know, this whole thing where, oh, we play for the fans. Sure
15:09you do. You want a contract. Then you want a ring. Then you want all the other stuff that
15:16comes with it. And yes, you would like to connect with your audience. Sure. But number
15:21one, I want this job and I want this job for 15 years.
15:26Right. And Guy Santos is making $2.2 million, which is not chicken scratch. Good, good salary.
15:32Nice little salary. But you look at some of your teammates and Moody's making 11.5. He
15:37got three years and 39. So if you're Guy and you're 23 years old, and this is the last year
15:42of your deal, you're thinking, okay, Warriors, you're going to want me. You're going to want
15:46to keep me. If not a other team, I'm worth probably between seven and 12 million a year.
15:51It's no different than any other company. Guy is sitting there making $2 million. And
15:56you're like, that's great money. And he's looking at one of his teammates who made $2 million
16:01both just this week. That's Steph Curry.
16:05Four games.
16:05Yeah. Well, hmm. Yeah, exactly. Actually, even a little bit less, right?
16:11I apologize. He makes about 800K games.
16:13Second quarter of that fourth game. He's like, yeah, we're there. We're there. We're home.
16:16Big Jay in Oakland. Hi, Big Jay. Thanks for calling. What's up?
16:21Hey, you guys. I think you do with Draymond what Steve Kerr did with him last night, which
16:26is bench him. I think about a month and a half ago, Draymond said in a press conference,
16:34he's going to throw those passes no matter what happens. He's kind of dissatisfied with
16:39the group that he's playing with. And they're young and they don't understand how he plays.
16:43So he doesn't care. He's just going to make the passes anyway. And I think that sort of
16:48approach and attitude is a little bit poisonous for the team. So, you know, in the long run,
16:54I appreciate more of the effort that the young guys are making. And of course, everyone's
16:59going to make either incidental turnovers or bonehead turnovers. And I think Draymond
17:04is just consistently making more bonehead than incidental. And it's kind of costing the team
17:09in close games. Interesting. Big Jay, thanks. I always bristle at the idea of the B word.
17:15Well, and I bet Steve Kerr would say I didn't. He was like, do what you did last night. Bench
17:20him. He's like, I didn't bench him last night. He just went with other guys. I subbed him
17:23out. Right. Yeah. And, you know, to me, a benching is when you give a guy a DNP CD. That's
17:29a benching. Like Kaminga was benched. You don't get to play for about a month. That is what
17:34a benching is. This is just, look, you don't have it tonight, kid. We're going to go with
17:38other players and see if we can win. And they did.
17:40Your earlier point about like shortcuts is a really interesting one when you look at
17:47Draymond's box score last night, because even him making four threes, he shot the ball seven
17:52times, six times from beyond the three point arc. And I would argue that if that's what
17:58you're doing, I could also make the case that you're settling. Like a three point shot takes
18:04no effort. The ball just moves around. And if it gets to you when you're open,
18:08you fire, it's, it's a little bit of a settle. It's also today's game. Yes. But Draymond
18:13scored 14 points last night. And we've also brought up the seven turnovers. Well, here's
18:19the other part. He often gets a lot of rebounds and a lot of assists. Last night, four rebounds,
18:27two assists. Draymond's box score would suggest that he didn't really fit. Yeah. I'm not saying,
18:35but I'm just looking at the numbers. Looks like he didn't want to move last night.
18:40I, if you wanted to put the name buddy healed next to that box score, I believe it. That
18:46was a buddy healed game. It was hot from three and didn't do a ton else. Although buddy would
18:50never have seven turnovers. Jimmy wouldn't allow it. That's true. He would get benched after about
18:54four.
Comments