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00:00And out to the River Islands guest line, we go to talk to one of the heroes from last night,
00:05Guy Santos. Hey, Guy, how you doing? Welcome to the show.
00:09Hello, guys. Thank you for having me. I'm doing good. How are you guys doing?
00:12We're doing fantastic, man. And I just got to tell you, you probably hear this a lot,
00:17but my gosh, you are a sight for sore eyes. You are just, you have such a fresh sort of
00:23way of presenting yourself and your game to fans. And I'd love to know to what level
00:31is that just you or is there something sort of strategic about how you have built the way you
00:39go about playing? Man, it's a little bit of everything, you know, like, of course,
00:47like all my teammates, you know, all the coach staff, they've been trusting me a lot these couple
00:53last games. So that, of course, helped me on a court, you know, the confidence to attack the
00:58rim, the confidence to make the right play every time. So I think like, of course, I work a lot.
01:04I do all this stuff, but mainly the guys from the team, the coach staff, they've been giving me a
01:09lot of confidence. And more confidence now because it's not just hustle plays and, you know, doing
01:15the right thing for small bursts. Now you're getting real minutes and seven straight games and double
01:20figures. How much has this boosted your confidence over the last couple of weeks?
01:25A lot. There's a big boost in my confidence because, you know, like when you start playing
01:31consistent minutes every night and you just like perform, you know, well, you help the team to get
01:39some wins that we were not expecting, you know. So it's always, always great to have this type of
01:44game time. I just type, you know, like the team playing together, everybody playing hard fight.
01:51We know that we don't have staff now. We don't have for zinc now with us, but even without them,
01:56we keep playing hard and we keep playing, you know, like against good teams and we'd be making
02:02great, great games against these teams.
02:04Guy Santos with us on Willard and Dibs. Guy, I want to ask you the same question that Moses has answered
02:09many times. Now departed, Jonathan has answered many times. What, what has been your journey as a
02:16young player through this system to try to get minutes?
02:21So this, one of these days, Raymond has a great interview answer about that. So for me, I knew
02:29that I would just get minutes, you know, the short birth minutes. If I was a guy that was bringing a lot
02:35of energy, the guy that was getting offense, rebound, extra possessions for us. So I really
02:40logged in on there for my first two years. And, you know, I, most of the people don't know, but when
02:47I came here, when I was playing Brazil, I was playing as a point guard. So when I got here, it changed
02:52completely my game. I was learning how to play without the ball and just being a guy that played
02:59really hard, a guy that's going to be there to do whatever I want to, whatever I need to do to make
03:04the team win. So that was a big thing for me to keep my minutes, you know, to like trying to get
03:10some more and more minutes. But now that I'm having these minutes, I can show a little bit more. I can
03:16show that I still being the guy that can, you know, dribble the ball a little bit more to find
03:21the teammates, make the right play every time. And without losing the thing that I have to bring
03:27you to the team, you know, the energy, the, the, the crashing on the offensive boards, the extra
03:32possessions, the defense and all that. But now I'm able to show a little bit more.
03:37That's fascinating. I don't think a lot of us knew that. Guy Santos, the point guard. So how would
03:42you describe your game in Brazil? And have you given Steph Curry any pointers?
03:49So my game in Brazil was basically like a point guard, man. I was just bringing the ball all the
03:54time, playing pick and roll, winning all possessions. I was the guy that had the ball in my hand a lot,
03:59you know? So when I moved to America and I moved to like, yeah, I got drafted by the
04:04Warriors. I knew that we have the best player in the world. You can have Steph in, you know,
04:09like we have Steph playing point guard, playing pick and roll. So I knew between me and him,
04:15of course, he's going to play more pick and roll. He's going to have the ball. So I said,
04:18okay, so I need to change it. I need to play. I need to start playing without the ball. And that's
04:23what I did. I worked a lot with all the staff down in Santa Cruz for my first year. And then when I got up to
04:29San Francisco next to the Golden State, that was different. They were like always saying to me
04:36the same thing to keep playing hard, keeping doing the small things that it's not everybody that does
04:41that's going to give me minutes on the court. And you've gotten minutes and you've earned them.
04:45And I don't think many people realize that you are now eight years into professional basketball.
04:50Tell me about life as a 16-year-old making his debut in the NBB.
04:54Oh, yes, yes, that's true. I started playing pro when I was 15 to 16. And you know,
05:03like I was playing, usually when you're like 16, you play with guys in your age here in America.
05:10But I was playing with guys 30. You know, I was playing with guys 10 years older than me.
05:15Some guys were even 20. I don't know if you guys remember Leandro Barbosa, but my first year
05:23playing pro, he was one of my vets in Brazil. We were playing the same team. So I think in my first
05:31bucket that I have as a pro, he was playing. So we were winning the game by 20. And he called the coach
05:37and said, coach, put the game in my place. And I started playing well. I started scoring my first
05:43bucket. So yeah, that's my eighth season playing as a pro. I never played college, you know.
05:49I came straight from the pro league in Brazil to the G League, spent a year there. Then,
05:54yeah, I'm up here now with the Warriors.
05:56At what point did a life in the NBA become realistic to you and a real goal?
06:05I think when I was 16, when I met Leandro, because I was asking him a lot about NBA, you
06:12know, NBA always being a goal for all the kids that play basketball. But when you're born in
06:18Brazil, when you're born in another country, that's make it harder, you know, because we
06:23don't have that much resource that, you know, you guys have here. Because there, we don't
06:31have a great court. We don't have great basketball, all that. So it's kind of tough for us to make
06:38sure. But when you see and you look back, you see that all the work you put in, all the
06:43stuff that you did for, you know, to make sure that you go to the NBA work. But when I was
06:4916 and I have LB there, I was already, I was already thinking about any game, but that
06:56was a goal that I see. But at the same time, it was very, very far from me.
07:01Guy Santos here on 95.7 The Game. How would you categorize the Pro League in Brazil? Is it
07:08as good as the G League here? Is it more like upper level college ball? How would you rate
07:14the Brazilian Pro League? I think it's tough to compare with the, you know, the basketball
07:20here because the basketball here is so fast. The guys are so athletic. And when you go back
07:26to basketball in FIBA, we don't play that fast. The FIBA basketball is a lot of IQ, you know,
07:31everybody's so smart. Everybody's really thinking about the next play. The court is like looks
07:37small. You don't have the three seconds defense, you know, defensively. So that's a completely
07:45different game for me because, you know, it's harder. It's harder to score. You don't see
07:50as many guys doing 50 points, 40 points. It's not because they cannot do it. It's just because
07:55when you look like to the physicality, they allow way more physicality when you're on defense.
08:01You can grab, you can push, you can do like, you know, more, uh, more than you can do in
08:07the NBA. So I will compare that. It's like, it's tough kind of like college, but at the
08:13same time, we bring more, uh, you know, we call more plays with, uh, it's kind of tough
08:19to compare it.
08:21Guy, would you take everybody sort of inside the vibe of the locker room right now? Like
08:26these wins, the one last night, the one in Phoenix, like I'm mindful of the embrace
08:31that you and Steve Kerr had right after the final buzzer last night. Like everyone's aware
08:37you guys are really, you're really climbing uphill right now. How's everybody handling
08:43that? And, and what are these wins feel like when you don't have some of your top guys out
08:48there?
08:50Yeah. So that's been the, I think the last two weeks has been tough week for us, you
08:56know, first we lost Jimmy. Uh, that was one of the top dogs that we had. We lost him
09:01for, uh, and, uh, season injury. And then right after we had the trade deadline, you know,
09:09like everybody, it's, it's, it's kind of like a tough moment, you know, during that week
09:14because, uh, you don't know your life can change completely, completely. So you just, uh, be
09:20thinking about it. And the first wind that we have in, in, uh, Phoenix was great for us
09:26because I was kind of like, everybody was so worried about a lot of stuff that was going
09:33on, you know, like feeling bad for Jimmy and all the trade stuff. And we have that win.
09:38We put the, put the, the team together back in the, you know, in the right track. And yesterday,
09:44same thing, man, we were down 17 in the fourth quarter. Uh, one of the coaches talked to us
09:51and he was like, come on, man, we, nobody's going to feel sorry for the Warriors. We got
09:54to go there. We got to play harder. We got to play with heart. That's the only way for
09:58us to win this game. And we just lucked in and we start playing with like that. And we won
10:03the game. Take me through that final sequence. You see your 40 year old teammate wrestling on
10:07the ground with the ball. And you're just, you're just standing there hoping and waiting for him
10:12to pass you the ball from his butt. What happened? So when I saw him there on the ground and fighting
10:20for the ball, the first thing that I was looking at is the baseline, because when he felt he was,
10:26uh, his back was very close to the baseline. So I was like, Oh yes, he didn't touch the baseline.
10:32But as soon that I saw it, I tried to relocate myself to a spot that he could pass the ball,
10:37you know, because that was three guys grabbing him, following him. And I was just there in the
10:42right spot in the right moment. And he saw me and he told me I could pass for me to, you know,
10:48uh, get creative under the rim and, uh, got us the layup to win. And you got fouled too. I saw you
10:54asking for the end one and then you realized, Oh, I should probably go play defense.
10:58Exactly. So, uh, automatically in the NBA, you know, when you pump fake and a guy jumped
11:06and you like jumped on him and he touched you that, uh, I think that's a foul. That's what
11:12I was asking for the referee at that time. I was like, he's like, he's made my arm, but
11:17that's not a foul. But at the same time I was like, okay, we need to get a stop. The game
11:21is not done. Come on, let's go back. Let's go back.
11:23But at checkout, it's the queen, uh, quick thing, you know, like, yeah, I got to go back
11:28to the defense. I got to make sure that we get it up. So my, my bucket really make us
11:34win the game. Um, you're, you're not wrong. That is a foul, but sometimes you, uh, you,
11:39you don't get the call going your way. Guy Santos is with us here. Big bucket, big game last
11:44night for the Warriors right here on Willard and Dibbs 95, seven, the game. He is so interesting
11:49to hear you talk about your, your upbringing, your background, what, what brought you here?
11:56Can you take us through that transition? Like once the Warriors draft you, is that your first
12:03time in California? You go to Santa Cruz, like what, what kind of culture shock, what are you
12:09thinking and experiencing at that time?
12:12So that was a big shock for me. That was a big difference, you know, like, uh, because I
12:17left home when I was 14 to leave in another, uh, another state in Brazil. It was like two
12:24hours from my hometown flying. And when I got here and I got dressed, I felt the same thing,
12:31but at the same time, you know, like the food was not like the, the food in Brazil, uh, like
12:37the people here, like, I would say like the American culture is a little bit more, uh, I would
12:44say cold, you know, because in Brazil, if you don't know anybody and you go to the street
12:49and you just start talking with somebody by the end of the day, you're going to be in
12:53their house eating dinner together. And that's, that's kind of like how it works there. So
13:00here, everybody, when I got here, I thought that everybody was mad at me. You know, everybody
13:05was like, Oh, I don't think these guys like me, but, but after a time, I understand how it
13:11works, you know, it's, uh, it's just how the culture is here. But my first year when
13:17I was in the, in the, in the G league was a great year for me. I love Santa Cruz. Santa
13:22Cruz is a, uh, really, really special place for me because they, they had me well, you
13:28know, all the community there, they, they, they make me feel a little bit more close to
13:33Brazil. So I think Santa Cruz was really special for me. And after when I moved here, I had the
13:40opportunities, you know, to play with stats, to play with Draymond, uh, Chris Paul. Uh, we had,
13:46uh, Clay, you know, like a lot of big names. We had Jimmy, all these guys are going to be
13:52hall of famers for sure. So all these opportunities that I had it, I'm just glad, man. I'm just glad
13:58to be here.
13:59All right. So Guy, San Francisco loves to think of itself as a pretty cool food city. Are you
14:04telling me right now that Brazil's food is better?
14:08I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna say that.
14:11You can, it's okay.
14:14No, but for me, you know, because I grow in Brazil, uh, I, I used to be eating a lot of
14:20Brazilian food for me. I miss the Brazilian food a lot. We have some great spots here,
14:24you know, some barbecue, Brazilian, Brazilian steakhouse spots. And when I miss home, I just
14:31go to these spots, but I also like the, the food here in San Francisco because you can
14:36fight everything, man. Anything you want, you can find it here.
14:39All kinds of cuisine. No doubt. Guy Santos here on 95.7, the game this summer, you know,
14:44it's coming. It's the world cup here in the U S and Canada and Mexico. Are you sticking around
14:49for the summer? And are you going to go try to go out and see your Brazilian team, try to
14:54emerge at a group D?
14:55So in Brazil, when we had the workup, we always like, it looks like it's, uh, uh, nobody goes
15:05to work, you know, everybody stay at home, all the family together, everybody doing barbecue
15:10in the backyard. So I'm, I'm going back to Brazil. I'm going to spend the time in the summer
15:15there with my family, watch the games, uh, on TV, you know, and all the, uh, Timo's fair
15:22they're going to be in Brazil, going to be amazing. So I will make sure that I'm going
15:26to be in Brazil too. So I can enjoy it together with my family.
15:29Speaking of other sports, did you watch the Superbowl?
15:34I'm not going to lie. I'm not into, I'm not into, uh, uh, American football. I'm more like
15:41a soccer guy, but I did watch it for a little bit, especially the halftime show.
15:46Okay. And the halftime show, your thoughts?
15:51Yes. Uh, man, for me, that was big time, you know, like, uh, especially being from Brazil.
15:57Uh, the, the things that bad money brought into the show was nice. Like that's, that was
16:02a, uh, a great, uh, representative for all the, you know, Latino America people, South America.
16:10And I love the message that he brought for the, for the show.
16:14I love it. I love it. Hey, uh, Guy, before you go, can you say for all of us your full name?
16:23Oh, there you go. So my full name is Guilherme Carvalho dos Santos.
16:31Okay. Uh, how did we end up with Guy out of that? Like, I would love to know,
16:38cause there's, there's a lot of choices there. How did you get to Guy?
16:43So, yeah, yeah. It's really, uh, it's really, uh, common in Brazil when everybody that's called
16:48it like Guilherme, like me, we just call them Guy. That's like abbreviation, you know? So,
16:53uh, that's how it starts. Like in Brazil, everybody's just Guy. Nobody say Guilherme,
16:59just my mom when she's mad at me, you know? But yeah. So everybody just started calling Guy
17:07and my dad and my mom both had Santos in a name. So I just started like Guy Santos because of that.
17:14But as we know here, normally like Brazilian soccer players, it's just a one name thing.
17:19Neymar and all the rest of them. Can we just go with Guy? Can we just put Guy on the back of
17:23your jersey now and go with that? I would love it. I would love it to have it. When I play for the
17:30national team, usually I put Guy Santos, both, you know, because, uh, I like that a lot. So maybe,
17:36maybe in the future. I'm thinking Warriors team store. I think you could sell some Guy jerseys.
17:42I'm just saying. I would love it. Um, you are, uh, you're a ton of fun. Yeah. Uh,
17:50thank you so much. Thank you so much for, uh, for stopping by. And, uh, I mean, I don't know if
17:56this feels like the right word, but, but congratulations, man. Like you're really
18:00solidifying your NBA career here. Oh, thank you, man. I appreciate you so much.
18:06Um, thank you, Guy. Appreciate it. We'll talk to you again.
18:10All right. Thank you for having me. Have a great, have a great one.
18:13You too. You too. There he goes.
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