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00:00Senor Sisig.
00:02Okay.
00:02Yeah.
00:03Sometimes you go there because work calls and we're doing a show there.
00:09Other times and other people, they just go there to eat.
00:13And that's where I ran into Nick Fidel after knockout yesterday.
00:16Okay.
00:17He just like, I'm going to go get some food because practice is over.
00:21And I just watched a bunch of terrible basketball players,
00:24huck free throws at the rim and I need to get me some food and get over it.
00:28That's a good choice.
00:28And that's what Nick Fidel did yesterday.
00:32Let's go out to the River Island's guest line because on the line is Odyssey
00:35Sports NBA insider Nick Fidel.
00:37Insider calls are brought to you by Hyundai and the all new Hyundai Palisade
00:40hybrid.
00:41I suggest the Crunchadilla whenever I go to Senor Sisig.
00:46What did you order, Nick Fidel?
00:48I got the Cali style burrito, my friend.
00:52I need a few more of those in time.
00:56Or some people would say, I don't need more of those.
00:59My mom would be first at the top of that list, but we'll save the getting in shape portion
01:05of the program for about three weeks from now.
01:08I tell you what, I know, I know mom's been telling you to hit that salad bar in the media
01:13room at Chase Center, but we already know your thoughts on that.
01:16Uh, no touch in the media room for me ever again.
01:21No, it will not happen.
01:24Fair enough.
01:25Fair enough.
01:25Um, okay.
01:27Let's talk about, um, the last four regular season warrior games, which now sort of kind
01:34of, I know there's some math out there or whatever, but like this, the, the, the outcomes
01:38of the game doesn't matter as much.
01:41It's just about getting anybody healthy in the right spot.
01:43So what do you think their, their game plan is how the week will play out to get ready
01:49for the middle of next week?
01:50This is the Steph show, Mark.
01:52And it always is.
01:54I mean, let's be real.
01:55This is, it's always when Steph plays, it is the Steph show, but especially in this last
02:00week, it's all about getting him comfortable, getting him ramped up.
02:04So he's hopefully around 30 minutes or so in the plan, wherever it may be next week.
02:12But if you take Steph and you get him out there and let's see how many of these Porzingis is
02:18going to play, but you want him to get some reps and have them work together.
02:23Al Horford appears to be on track to play maybe in one or two of these down the stretch.
02:29The other parts of this is what game will they sit Steph out in the back to back and how
02:36will
02:36they stagger everybody else?
02:38Because I think you nailed the, the key part of this is they can't move.
02:43I mean, they're 10th.
02:44They are, they are 10th.
02:46They have got to just treat these as preseason games, as far as minutes going and getting
02:54everybody else back healthy.
02:56But that is the key.
02:57You, you rest the guys that need a break.
03:00You pick your spot with Steph in one side or the other of that back to back.
03:06And then you feel like you find your rhythm going into wherever you land in that nine,
03:1210 game.
03:12And as part of the staggering affected by Chris Stapp's Porzingis, do you think the team
03:18still wants to see more of Steph and Chris Stapp's together, meaning that those two likely
03:23would sit the same game in that back to back?
03:26I would think so, Mr. Dibbs, especially because you wanted to see it a little more the other
03:31night.
03:32And Porzingis probably had his worst game of his Warriors tenure.
03:35I mean, five fouls in the third, I think it was, he was just bad.
03:41He didn't play well at all.
03:42So that is the combo that everybody's kind of keeping their eye on.
03:47It would surprise me if they sat one but didn't sit the other.
03:51But I know that's what both of those guys want to see as well.
03:54They want to see just how well it works.
03:57And it's like anything else.
03:58They need time.
03:59And there's just not a lot of it to go around.
04:02But the hope certainly is that you'll have as fully loaded as you can be if you're the
04:08Warriors going into next week.
04:10And as we know, when you put Steph on the floor, it just changes all of it.
04:16And Mark, we were talking about this at the burrito spot yesterday.
04:20But you can feel the difference not only in the arena, but in the locker room.
04:24These guys are looking around going, hey, we got Steph.
04:27We got a chance.
04:29And when you put him out there, no matter who is with him, it lifts up the entirety of
04:35the organization.
04:36What kind of a chance do you give them to actually make the playoffs?
04:41I think they can win both of them.
04:43I really do.
04:45The key will be, can the defense hang in there?
04:49What kind of performance are you going to get on that side from Draymond?
04:54Because for all the vitriol he faces from fans and the clear fall off he's taken this
05:01year at times, the other night was a perfect example.
05:04When you get Draymond locked in defensively, I mean, we always talk about Steph and we should
05:10because he changes it all.
05:12But on that end of the floor, when Draymond is motivated and he is focused, there are a handful
05:21of guys maybe that you would even take above him.
05:25And there's only one guy at this point that even jumps to mind always, and it's Wemby because
05:29he's unlike anybody we've ever seen.
05:32But I think they can win both of them.
05:34I really do.
05:35And it's going to be Steph carrying them, certainly offensively, because they're out
05:41so many different weapons.
05:43But I think that's what they've all geared up for.
05:46Hey, let's go win these two games next week.
05:49And we play OKC and let's see where the chips fall and give them a little bit of a scare.
05:54But if we were trying to take a flyer on whatever the odds may be, Mark, it is a flyer
06:01I'd be
06:01willing to take because Steph is so motivated to continue the season a little bit longer.
06:08What do you think would be the most favorable one-two step that the Warriors could navigate?
06:15Dibs, at this point, I don't even think it really matters because I know they haven't
06:19played very well against Portland.
06:21I mean, Portland has had their number all year long.
06:24The Clippers aren't exactly a great matchup for them.
06:28Kawhi, when he's out there, just dominates.
06:31I know Phoenix is a possibility, but I say all of that, it's Steph.
06:39And until proven otherwise, if you have Steph Curry walking into any of these games, even
06:47at 38 years old, I mean, this is like the end of that scene in Top Gun Maverick when
06:55Tom Cruise is like, oh, you know, the end is there for you guys.
07:00Your time is coming.
07:01And he's going, well, it might be happening, but it's not happening today.
07:05Steph is still the baddest dude on the block.
07:08He still makes everybody feel invincible when they're out there.
07:12And when he gets rolling, Dibs, in a one-off playoff game, I don't care who the other team
07:18is.
07:19They don't want to see that guy.
07:21The question is, will he be able to get enough help, even in smaller doses, to carry them
07:27through whomever those matchups may be.
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07:37You know what I hadn't really been thinking about?
07:39Because we always look at this through the team's perspective that we follow.
07:43So I know there's been a lot of talk about, boy, you know what, it might be better for
07:47the Warriors to just get knocked out of this playing tournament, see if they can get themselves
07:50in that lottery.
07:51It's a great lottery.
07:52It's 15 players deep.
07:54How motivated are the Blazers and Clippers to, and I mean this not player-wide, but like
08:02organizationally, how motivated are these teams?
08:04The Clippers, I mean, they gave away some of their best players at the deadline.
08:10On top of the fact that nobody's really talking about it right now, Mark, but we still don't
08:14know what the hell's going on with Aspiration and all the tree-planting BS that occurred.
08:20And Kawhi's contract, yeah.
08:22Yeah, Kawhi's contract.
08:23Will he be even a Clipper here in a few months?
08:27There are so many questions we don't know.
08:30How I would answer your question is, if you're one of these teams, aside from pride, what
08:37is keeping you in this really motivated to keep going?
08:41Because when you look at the setup, you are going in there, assuming that you play OKC,
08:50to just get annihilated.
08:52That team is a machine.
08:54They are better than everybody else.
08:56They're my pick, certainly, to go win another title.
08:58But if you're the Clippers, for what?
09:02You know, the Blazers have had a hellacious year with the start, with all the Chauncey
09:08stuff.
09:09I mean, I guess pride, and you can sell to season ticket holders.
09:13We're trying to make a step.
09:15Phoenix, certainly.
09:17Nobody expected them to do anything this year.
09:20So the fact that they're even in this conversation in general, cool.
09:25But it's another reason why, guys, I think the league should just punt the play-in.
09:30I mean, there are so many different issues with the NBA on the whole.
09:34But like, who is really excited about one extra game, potentially?
09:39That's why, in so many ways, this sets up perfectly for the Warriors, at least in the
09:43context of our conversation.
09:45Steph wants to play in big games.
09:47Draymond still wants to prove he's a really, really great defensive player, and he has
09:54the pride of the standard that they've set for so many years.
09:57This is set up for the Warriors to win these two games and get to this next point.
10:03The question is, can they?
10:04But I just don't get the sense anymore that these lower-seeded playoff teams have a lot
10:12of excitement to even be in the dance, aside from always the business aspect, which is
10:18if you get a couple home games, that's a couple extra million dollars for your team.
10:22Yeah, and it's an interesting one with this veteran group because, you know, Steph Curry's
10:26got this year, next year, maybe another one after that.
10:29And so, swings at it are probably more important to him than others.
10:33Just hearing you talk, Nick, and Mark's question was a good one, not a great one, but Portland's
10:38pick is lottery protected.
10:41So, if they land in the lottery, they keep the pick in a very good draft.
10:45The Clippers pick?
10:46Well, it's going to Oklahoma City.
10:48So, no matter what, the Clippers don't have a pick.
10:51Portland only keeps it if they're in the lottery.
10:53So, might that be some secondary motivation for these teams to, you know, especially
10:59Portland, if you're on Portland and you want to get better, then you want to be in the
11:03lottery.
11:05Div, what is echoing in my head as you say that is the old adage in the league that players
11:12don't tank, front offices do.
11:16And when you're in these type of settings, you know that players want to try and win.
11:22And again, they're going to get a little extra money if they go to the postseason.
11:25So, ideally, I'm sure Portland, the front office, is saying, hey, guys, hey, we never
11:30thought you'd even get into the play-in conversation with the way this started.
11:34Good for you that you got there, but we wouldn't mind at all if you just kind of rolled out
11:39and
11:39faded to Steph and company if that ends up being a matchup here.
11:44But this is, again, a much larger issue for the league.
11:48Aside from the fact that Steph is back and maybe there's a little magic in there for
11:54an end of season, I hesitate to say run, but again, get into the playoffs, who is really
12:01excited about the play-in?
12:03Hey, you made the play-in and you won a game or two and you go play the Thunder.
12:10We, like, come on.
12:12This is why the league has real, real problems, but specific to the Warriors, they want to
12:19be there.
12:20They want to play in the big games.
12:21Winning these two games next week would do that for them.
12:24Insider calls are brought to you by Hyundai and by the all-new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid.
12:28Learn how it makes everyday epic at HyundaiUSA.com.
12:31You are listening to 95.7 The Game, KGMZ FM and HD1 San Francisco and Odyssey Sports Station
12:37and the home of the Golden State Warriors and Valkyries.
12:39Always live on the free Odyssey app and coming to you live from the Laughing Monk studios.
12:43And right now we're hanging out with our buddy, Nick Friedel and talking Warriors.
12:46Okay, we've arrived at that question.
12:50And so here it is.
12:52On this show, a lot of times recently, Dibs and I have kind of done little thought exercises
12:59with our listeners with regard to opinions that we in the media hear a lot, but we're actually
13:05not sure if that's just the echo chamber and social media or if a lot of people out there
13:12in this sports world actually feel that way.
13:16The whole Brandon Pajemski dynamic that has been created is one of those topics where I
13:22think a lot of us think that, boy, yeah, go on Twitter and everybody hates Brandon Pajemski,
13:30but that can't be real life.
13:32And Lucas even said to me earlier, like, that lives on social media.
13:36And my immediate question was, then how did it get to the Giants game on Friday night?
13:42Because that's not social media.
13:44So you're in there.
13:46I want to know basically two things.
13:48What is your perspective on how this fan base actually collectively feels about the guy
13:54and how does it affect him?
13:58How they feel about the guy, Mark, is I would say that Pajemski just isn't very popular within
14:05the fan base.
14:06And I know what you said yesterday was very well put in that I think the fan base has
14:13it wrong because Pajemski represents something to them that Kerr puts him on a pedestal and
14:19has given him too many chances.
14:21And he's just not a very good player.
14:24That's wrong.
14:26Pajemski is a good young player who continues to get better.
14:30What really hurt Pajemski was some of the stuff that he said publicly in interviews.
14:37I know people say, well, you were talking to him.
14:41And yeah, I was surprised that he said that he could have been a white Shohei Ohtani in baseball.
14:48But at the same time, I respected his confidence.
14:52I think that the fact that he said that and he absolutely believes it shows you just how
14:59much talent he thinks he has within.
15:01I would also tell you, Mark, in the context of this conversation specifically, I think
15:07that confidence hurt him sometimes inside the locker room because I think some of his
15:13veteran teammates were like, hey, we believe in the confidence.
15:15But you don't have to say it when asked.
15:18But let's be real here.
15:19The thing that upset the fan base the most is the soundbite or the meme or the quote chart
15:29that pops out when Pod says, I think I can be better than Steph Curry.
15:34And for like the 10th time, can I please repeat the context of how that happened?
15:41He gave a good answer.
15:43Insane in the preseason.
15:45A lot of people want to be like Steph Curry, but they don't want to put the work in to
15:51be
15:51Steph Curry.
15:52And so a reporter in the press conference says, well, do you want to be as good as Steph Curry?
15:58Now, what Brandon Pajemski should have said in that moment was, there's only one Steph Curry.
16:04I'm going to work as hard as I can to get to that point.
16:08But I know that there's only one of those guys and he's a hell of a role model for me.
16:13Instead, what he said was, of course, I want to be better than Steph.
16:17You know, that's my goal.
16:18And people took off and ran, ran away with it with no context.
16:24And it was really upsetting to see.
16:28I was sitting at that Giants game, Mark, the other night.
16:32And when they put him on the screen and I started to hear that, I was with a couple of
16:36my friends
16:36and we all shook our heads like, man, this is this is too far.
16:40OK, how would you how would you describe it?
16:42Because we've got no video of this.
16:43Randy was there.
16:45He texted us.
16:46How would you put into words what you heard?
16:49Awkward as hell.
16:51It was very, very awkward because Will Richard and Pods go up on the screen and Pods is wearing
16:58the Valkyries jersey.
16:59He is very much a supporter of that team.
17:03I think he very much respects the idea that he represents the Bay.
17:08And you heard a couple of boos and then you heard a couple more boos.
17:11And it wasn't like it was drowning in boos.
17:14I also don't think it should be painted that way.
17:17But it was certainly more boos than cheers.
17:20And you just went, are you kidding me?
17:23Like this guy has played, I think, every game.
17:26Yep.
17:27He's played as hard as he can.
17:30Do I think that what he says rubs fans the wrong way sometimes?
17:34Yes.
17:35Do I think what he says has rubbed teammates the wrong way?
17:39Absolutely.
17:40Do I think that this guy is somehow a bad guy who doesn't care about winning?
17:46Absolutely not.
17:47I think it has gone so far over the edge of what Pods represents to the fan base that it's
17:56really sad.
17:57Because I know just in my own time growing up as a fan, I always appreciate anybody that was out
18:03there and trying as hard as they could.
18:05And no matter what you think about Brandon Pajemski or what type of player he can be in the future,
18:11that guy goes out there every night, he works hard, and he's trying to get better.
18:16And I respect that on a baseline level.
18:19And I think it is a joke that in real life, at a Giants game, he's getting booed in any
18:27fashion.
18:27It's crazy.
18:28And I mean, I'm glad you were there to actually be able to report on, it wasn't everybody booing, but
18:33it was obviously enough to where it's a thing.
18:36And so Pods is getting some of this treatment.
18:39Most of it he doesn't deserve.
18:41Do you think it has gotten to or might get to a point where he doesn't want to be a
18:46Golden State Warrior when he can leave?
18:49Absolutely, Dibs.
18:50I mean, at this point, Pods is confident as hell.
18:53But, you know, Mark, I was a little long-winded there, and I apologize.
18:58No.
18:59You know, you were saying, do you think that this is impacting him?
19:02Absolutely, I do.
19:03And I would tell you anecdotally, if you talk to anybody, and I obviously reappeared this year, having been away
19:10for a few years,
19:12Pods was one of the most affable guys to talk to in the locker room, just kind of shooting the
19:18stuff with.
19:19And you're going, all right, this dude, he understands.
19:23Ever since the backlash early in the season to some of those comments, for months, Pods was like a mute
19:30in there.
19:31He didn't talk to anybody.
19:33He certainly didn't say much to the media because he didn't want the backlash of everything that was coming back
19:41his way.
19:41And it's just, it's sad.
19:44So, Dibs, to your question, do I think that he's going to sit there and go, man, do I really
19:48want to be out here?
19:49Do I really want to be within a fan base, at least partially, that does not like me no matter
19:54what I do?
19:55Hell, yeah, I think he's going to think about that.
19:58I think in the end, it's going to depend on what the money looks like.
20:03It always does for anybody.
20:04I'm sure that's going to factor in.
20:07But again, no matter what you think of a dude, if he's out there and he's trying as hard as
20:13he can,
20:14and he's still trying to get better at such a young age, I just thought that was such a bad
20:20look
20:20for at least a portion of the fan base that's sitting there going, ah, I don't like this guy.
20:26I don't like what he says.
20:28Look at what he does.
20:29I mean, he's out there every night trying to win games in a year when so many guys have gotten
20:35hurt.
20:36I think he's going to grow from this.
20:38I absolutely think he should learn from this.
20:40And there are things you say, and there are things you don't say publicly.
20:44But absolutely, I think this whole year is going to have an impact on him because he's going to sit
20:52there and go,
20:52all right, do these people really want me to do well, or are they all wanting me to fail
20:59after I've done everything I can to help this team through the years?
21:03Nick, real quick, because we've got to scoot.
21:05Do you think that the Warriors enter into extension conversations this summer or hold?
21:11I think they absolutely will.
21:13I mean, Mark, if you have that type of young player and you want to make him a priority,
21:20absolutely those conversations will happen.
21:24The question is, what is he looking for?
21:27And is he still comfortable being in a region playing for a fan base
21:33that hasn't really had his back at times throughout the season?
21:37We'll see.
21:39Nick, great stuff.
21:40And, yeah, hair looks great.
21:42And we'll see you at the game tonight.
21:45Hey, Mark, I'll leave you with this real quickly.
21:48And I can't stress this enough.
21:50On a side note to all the pods conversation,
21:53if you're lucky enough to get the chance to watch Steph right now, you take it.
21:58Because what's happened in the last week, especially listening to him,
22:01you mentioned the new normal.
22:03And I think he knows that there are chances where he is just not going to be able to go
22:08some nights.
22:09That knee is going to hurt.
22:10And it may not happen for months.
22:11And he may not get into next year.
22:13And, you know, a night happens and the knee just doesn't feel good.
22:18Steph Curry is unlike any other player we've ever seen.
22:21If you get the chance to go out and see him, you should take advantage of it every single time.
22:27And boo him.
22:28Yeah.
22:28Yes.
22:29And make sure you boo him.
22:30Make sure you boo him.
22:31Because that's what we do.
22:32No.
22:34A bunch of us are going tonight.
22:36And that is one of the big reasons we're doing it.
22:39Nick, thank you, my friend.
22:40Thanks, Nick.
22:41Always enjoy, guys.
22:42See you.
22:42All right.
22:43Talk to you soon.
22:43Odyssey Sports NBA insider Nick Friedel.
22:46Insider Calls are brought to you by Hyundai and the all-new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid.
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