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Derek Fisher and Cody Decker relive the epic clash between Victor Wembanyama's Spurs and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
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00:00my god d fish that was an all-timer last night that was one of the best forget basketball games
00:07forget playoff games that was the bet one of the best games of any kind all the way from the
00:13nba
00:14to hungry hungry hippos i have ever watched in my life my guy that was astonishing and if you die
00:20if you guys are casual fans and you don't know about wemby your ass better know about when me
00:25now uh yeah you you should know wimby is short for victor wimby yama alien uh not not the most
00:36valuable player in the league yet based on the award but he is becoming possibly a perennial
00:44mvp in this league just the way he dominates the game and we saw it in full display last night
00:50man
00:51offensively defensively to have a 40 and 20 game your first time playing 20 in the conference finals
01:00is insane like it was it was so good just the competitiveness both teams multiple players it
01:08wasn't just wimby it wasn't just shea gil just alexander i mean it was everybody tried to find
01:15a level in order to win this game and it was just great to watch just as a fan and
01:21also it does still
01:24tie back to la because if you're watching that those are the two best teams in the western conference
01:29my god i watched that going we are miles behind dude we are never going to win the west ever
01:37we
01:37spent how many hours yesterday talking about well lebron and what if we move if we moved off to
01:42austin reeves and you know luca wants austin we're going all these ideas of where we could possibly go
01:47as lakers it don't matter where we go i'm seeing this right here good lord my guy yeah i just
01:55i i
01:55can't believe what i was watching last and you know what it was i i can't decide which was the
01:59most
01:59important impressive thing that he did throughout the night um but that logo three in ot yeah that was
02:06that was special to tie it up just ice in the veins i i i i got exhausted at that
02:13time too as he's going up to
02:14shoot the ball i'm thinking these this last couple minutes like he has gassed himself to utter exhaustion yeah
02:23and here's uh here's some of that wemby three highlights we were talking about spurs got numbers
02:28hungry now behind the plate five on four webby's gonna pull a deep three oh oh my goodness oh a
02:39logo shot
02:4028 footer ties to the 108 timeout thunder i mean reggie was losing his mind last night
02:52reggie like we might have broken something in reggie miller last night i mean i'm telling you
02:58like the courage the audacity to take that three and transition at that time even the gall on him to
03:07have that type of confidence to throw that up unbelievable man i was just so great to watch
03:12that's that's what sports is all about right there like last night it it should not have mattered it does
03:18matter but it should not have mattered where you're from what your favorite team is your favorite
03:23player who you thought should have won what award that was just great sports television it was
03:30unbelievable like the clutch factor of it all the i still i i've watched that logo three like
03:35five 15 times and yeah you're right you could see it on him he was exhausted it seemed like he
03:39was
03:39exhausted for both ot's let alone let alone the entire fourth quarter and he was just i mean it's 122
03:46to
03:46115 the thunder go down in their first game i believe correct me wrong is that the thunder's
03:51first loss this playoffs by the way it is yes first loss so what do you think as a team
03:56like this like
03:57we all agree that the thunder are just ridiculous but on the season now if we count playoffs and
04:02regular season they're fought they're one and five against the san antonio spurs listen i'm not
04:09going to sit here and pretend and say out loud or even think that the stirs spurs are necessarily
04:13better than the oklahoma city thunder but they got their number you know what that's like when
04:17you've got a team that you're like they're not better than us why do they keep beating us
04:21yeah i mean in this situation i mean they just have one player that i mean the amount of plays
04:28at the rim that he either prevents from happening because he actually blocks the shot or he alters it
04:36with with the 10 feet wingspan when he puts his arm up but also like the amount of times that
04:44guys are
04:44driving and have two feet in the paint and just decide you know what i'm not going to go this
04:51way
04:51i'm just going to dribble the ball back out i'm not even going to try to shoot the ball at
04:55the basket
04:56when this guy's standing there that is what alters i think the thunders you know ability
05:05to like just obliterate opponents like normally what they do is is they turn teams over which they
05:12actually did last night because the spurs which we haven't even gotten to dearon fox their starting
05:17point guard wasn't even in the game i would be by the way when i saw that i i think
05:22i said out loud
05:22oh yeah it was disappointing to to see that news break right before the game but the thunder
05:29normally turn teams over in particular live ball turnovers and then they just they are parading
05:35to the front of the rim layups dunks you know you're having to rotate to the rim to prevent layups
05:41and dunks and that's where they're getting the spray out threes and when benyama just takes so much
05:47of that production away from them that it makes the game significantly harder for okc compared to
05:54anybody else that they play so yeah the spurs have their number because of number one yeah yeah sure
06:02the there's other guys playing really good basketball stefan castle oh he had a night yeah
06:06devin vassell like harper had like seven seven steals yeah it's it's not it's not to say the
06:12rest of the team is not really freaking good uh they have some really good young players kelton
06:16johnson's a veteran guy that's contributing devin vassell as well but the production they're getting
06:22from carter bryant and dylan harper as rookies but it's it's number one that has the thunders number
06:27that's the number that they have no question no question uh on the flip side okc who stood out to
06:34you on the okc side because i gotta tell you i i really don't like alex caruso wait wait wait
06:40wait
06:40it's not because i don't like him personally he's like he drives me insane is what he does
06:45for what reason because he's good and i i don't like how good he is specifically on the okc thunder
06:53okay he's like a he's like a gnat you just can't get rid of him and he keeps doing these
06:58unbelievably
06:59clutch moves also listen there's some good acting in there by caruso every once in a while can we not
07:03pretend that's not the case sometimes sometimes most of the time no there's a couple last night
07:10i was like i don't know about that one the wendy shoulder and caruso acted as though he he was
07:16obliterated uh was pretty impressive yeah no he was he timed that up pretty good uh he timed it up
07:21pretty good there was contact there there was a lot of physicality on some of the possessions before
07:26uh no alex caruso man i know you know lakers fans listening i i think you know they still
07:34kind of rule the day yeah that uh you know the lakers had to move on from from alex caruso
07:39but uh his performance last night you know there are stretches during playoff runs where
07:47you need your your role players glue guys others to have one of those nights where
07:54not that they perform at a level they're not capable of because he's capable of doing what he did last
07:59night he just doesn't have to do that regularly he doesn't need to do it in order for the team
08:04to win
08:04but you need guys to have those type of performances in order to win games in the postseason and the
08:13type
08:13of performance he had last night it's a shame that thunder didn't figure out a way to win the game
08:18because alex caruso on both ends of the floor not just the threes and making shots on the offensive end
08:24but defensively just some of the plays that he made on the ball off the ball the energy it took
08:30to play
08:30in that game uh he was phenomenal so you know he can back it up in terms of impact i
08:37don't know if he
08:38needs to back it up scoring 30 points the thunder will have somebody else that can score for them
08:42but they have to figure out how to get more points at the rim which is going to be a
08:47nightmare against
08:48the spurs yeah and by the way speaking of guys scoring more points jaylen williams coming back
08:5126 points what are your thoughts on his game i i will say like we're talking about wemby being
08:55looking tired at the end of the everyone was tired at the end of that game i was actually kind
08:59of also
09:00equally as impressed with jaylen williams who also looked winded at the end of that game still
09:04draining clutch threes as well i was this game was just back and forth this was everything you could
09:09want in a playoff game yeah the positives of of you know jaylen williams j dub because there's two
09:15jaylen williams on the thunder so j dub is the smaller shorter guy uh the the all-star player uh
09:22if
09:23that makes sense he uh he played really good like for a guy that hasn't played in the game in
09:28in a
09:28month and clearly he had been scrimmaging and playing five on five you know with the team uh and
09:34was probably ready to come back before last night uh but he looked great he moved well uh he attacked
09:41the basket he got out in transition and ran the floor really well uh i the negative of how good
09:48he
09:48played though was that aj mitchell who arguably has been their second best player throughout this
09:56postseason was limited in his production and impact in the game just due to the fact that
10:02j dub was back in the lineup and those offensive opportunities that go j dub's way had been going
10:10to aj mitchell and he just wasn't as effective not because he didn't play well necessarily but his
10:17volume the opportunities the rhythm which probably impacted his confidence on top of the fact that the
10:22spurs have good perimeter defenders as well but that's what the thunder are going to have to figure
10:27out is yes j dub is back and he's going to play at an all-star level but we can't
10:33exchange entirely
10:35j dub's production and eliminate aj mitchell's production because i do think aj mitchell gives
10:42them an edge that they need in order to win this series and ultimately win the championship by the way
10:47you
10:47are listening to derrick and decker right here on the fan la our phone number 855-97-LA-FAN that's
10:54855-975-2326 also on top of that you can watch us live right now on twitch twitter and youtube
11:02and
11:03you better believe the chat is going on right now uh bubba actually makes a pretty good point here and
11:08i'd actually like your opinion on this uh derrick and bubba right now on on youtube um amazing all these
11:14former lakers making contributions in the playoffs what what are your thoughts on former lakers like
11:20out there in the playoffs making serious contributions to not the lakers at this point
11:25uh give me more examples than caruso for well let's just stick let's just stick specifically with
11:30caruso specifically like was that just a miss on the lakers part no i don't think so it's some
11:36your your personnel decisions are not always based on whether or not you think the player can help
11:43you um you're making calculated gambles and risks um on what the team needs now how the team is going
11:51to be positioned in the future financially and if at that time if you if you sign alex caruso to
11:58a
11:59contract extension or new contract what does that mean for year two or year three when lebron is a free
12:04agent or when someone else in the league is a free agent because you're also looking ahead at
12:09you know when other guys around the league are going to be free agents and you know the lakers
12:15being historically a destination city and organization you know there there have been
12:21guys that you can get to to sign and come to la and free agency and so i don't think
12:26it was a miss
12:27i just think it was what they felt was needed at that time course and that would also position them
12:34better over the next few years financially to not be hamstrung from a salary cap and luxury tax position
12:42and yeah sometimes you have to make those choices the oklahoma city thunder are going to have to start
12:47making some of those choices in the next couple years the contract extensions for sga chet holmgren
12:53and jdub are going to kick in and then decisions around other guys that have team options are going
13:00to have to be released and let go and they're going to have to move on and that's the only
13:06way sometimes
13:06to keep your star players together and then you have to build around those guys with who you can find
13:12but
13:13it's part of the business it is it just sucks to see a guy that you know was on your
13:17team and you
13:19know helping other teams around the league well especially a team that's called the oklahoma city
13:23thunder on top of that what what about all right i'll throw another name that another name how
13:27about josh hart yeah josh hart another one of those guys been an engine for the next timing wise you
13:33know
13:33josh hart you think about julius randall you know just young guys brandon ingram you know those are
13:40the choices you have to make uh when when lebron comes when anthony davis comes in and you're and
13:47you're you're basically trying to hit that home run and win the lottery and win a championship
13:52basically which is when i say win the lottery winning a championship in the nba uh you're
13:58deciding whether or not you have the time for younger players that need a little more seasoning
14:05and development uh to to get to that point or do you owe it to a player like lebron that
14:15comes to la
14:17you don't have three or four years to wait for like josh hart the version of who he is he
14:22just
14:22wasn't ready yeah it's very different than who he was on the lakers not because he wasn't good then
14:27but but he's even formed and evolved into a really well-rounded basketball player does a lot of
14:33intangible things shooting the ball better etc uh and so you're making that choice of like now we need
14:40guys that can help us win against you know denver now minnesota now san antonio now like those are
14:47the choices you're making and you know championship teams historically have not had the pleasure of
14:55allowing young guys to develop over time um you know we were lucky in la because kobe was very young
15:02when he came in uh but we also lost in the playoffs for three years before we got a new
15:08coach and we
15:09won a title and multiple titles like but that took three or four years i don't know if you could
15:14convince
15:15a superstar player now to wait for a young guy that you just drafted to get better three or four
15:23years
15:23from now that makes it's just it's tough we're seeing it like every sport now it's a very much win
15:28for me now type of league unless you're you know one of those teams that are quote unquote you know
15:32you know not load management what's the word i'm like oh tanking i'm sorry unless you're a tanking team
15:37which again i also understand the plight of teams that need to tank the system kind of
15:42needs you to tank if you how else are the san antonio spurs ever gonna end up with a wemby
15:47in this situation i mean wemby stefan castle like the guys that they've drafted in the last couple
15:53years carter bryant uh dylan harper like those are all draft picks but they were bad for a few years
16:01which landed them those picks to your question bubble the lakers aren't we like the lakers don't
16:09go through the bad years yeah that's just dr bus has built an organization that is not interested in
16:15having top five picks like magic johnson might be the last number one pick the lakers and then uh
16:21james worthy like those and then that's it like once showtime 80s happened and that became the
16:28standard then you're not going to have four guys that are all top five picks on the team at the
16:34same
16:34time playing for the lakers most likely and so you are missing out it is about when now uh the
16:42amount
16:42of money that's being invested in in the contracts of the players uh the commitments you're making to
16:47head coaches that you feel are wired to help your team win titles now the fact the prices that you're
16:54asking fans to pay to come to the game you ain't lying especially here in la then no you don't
16:58get
16:59to wait four years to put a championship product out there uh and and that's part of why you're seeing
17:04a lot of turnover in pro sports as well absolutely uh by the way there's a great question in the
17:09chat
17:09by jeets over here derrick would your early 2000s lakers match up better with okc or san antonio
17:30i mean we we had the trump card of all trump cards or if you're like card games when i'm
17:36in
17:37and what i mean by that is is you know shaquille o'neal was yeah like it doesn't matter who's
17:44on
17:44the other team like nobody could guard shack nobody so the reason why i'd say you know yeah
17:53either one of them let's go san antonio for conversation purposes because that's actually
17:59who we had to battle for many years in order to get out of the west all right boy boy
18:02do i remember
18:03i'm the san antonio spurs and here they are again um yeah shock was the ultimate guy like the matchup
18:10nightmare for everybody yeah and so even in today's game the volume of threes that all teams are
18:17shooting it comes from the threat of teams being able to get points at the rim because those are
18:22still the most efficient shots in basketball get two points for layups and dunks most of the time
18:28layups and dunks are not heavily contested and so you get two points right at the basket
18:34then you go to free throws then you go to threes
18:38shack allowed us to get points at the rim and at the free throw line
18:42ad nauseum at any level we wanted we could get points at the rim and we got to the free
18:48throw line
18:4830 plus times a game and then that's where the threes come from so when you think about today's nba
18:55game
18:55it's all about the threat of getting to the basket that opens up threes and we had a guy that
19:00would
19:01always create a threat at the basket so we could get threes against anybody we wanted to yeah and we
19:06were going to get it was it was ridiculous so so in in today's game like obviously we look at
19:12the alien and like how shack was such a unicorn in his own right like who would be like today's
19:18modern version of shaquille o'neal a guy who was just unstoppable in his role
19:25i mean yokich comes to mind in terms of yokich is a much more like skilled outside of the paint
19:34player than shaq i mean the multiple finishes the push floaters uh but the passing like shaq didn't
19:42make it look like yokich in terms of how he does it but shaq was a unbelievable passer like elite
19:49passer um and then he also was a great rebounder i mean you talk about you know wimby having 40
19:55and 20
19:56last night those were shaquille o'neal playoff numbers like we kind of almost expected that
20:01because he was that dominant um but yeah yokich comes to mind in terms of just like no matter what
20:06your defense did or does like he's just going to find a way to get it done love it god
20:11i love watching
20:12yokich play mainly mainly because it looks like he's playing in slow motion yet no one can stop him
20:18anyways it's just there's something about it it's like watching it's like watching water flow yeah
20:22it's wild to me he's special
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