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Willard and Dibs preview Warriors vs. Rockets tonight from Houston and debate if the Warriors, who have won eight games in a row, are legitimately good in the Western Conference.
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00:00The game is coming up here in less than three hours, 6.30 tonight, Warriors at Houston Rockets.
00:07And for me, and maybe I shouldn't do this because it's one night.
00:11I mean, Cosell literally just said to us, you're not one of these people that thinks a team is bad
00:15if they have one bad game, right?
00:18Right, Greg, that's not me, and it's not.
00:21At the same time, this game's a big deal.
00:24I think this is a big deal tonight because what we're looking for is sort of like corroboration, if you
00:31will.
00:32It's usually a term that we hear on, like, Law and Order late at night on TNT.
00:37But the Warriors have won eight basketball games in a row.
00:41But you can check through each of them and go, like, so they win at Denver.
00:48Let's go through it.
00:48They win at Denver, and you're like, ooh, I didn't see that coming.
00:52Great win.
00:53It was a great win.
00:54And Yaxel just, like, he's trucking Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic.
01:00But then you go, okay, Gordon got thrown out, and actually maybe is Denver not that good this year?
01:06Is that a possibility?
01:06Not as good.
01:07Yeah, sure.
01:08Two days later, they beat Minnesota.
01:11Good win.
01:12No Anthony Edwards.
01:14Fine.
01:14Then they come home for the Lakers.
01:17Everybody's all turned up.
01:18They played their worst quarter of the year, and it wasn't close.
01:21They're down 38-15 at the end of one.
01:25And then the game is tied at halftime.
01:27They won 38-15 in the second quarter.
01:29Exactly.
01:30Which is crazy.
01:31Just beyond.
01:32They go on to win that game.
01:34They were ultra hot from three, and you go, okay.
01:37They started off the homestand.
01:39Everybody was all turned up about Luka.
01:41Steph Curry went off.
01:42All right.
01:43Nice win.
01:45Then they win five more home games against, let's be real, not great teams.
01:52The Clippers came in having won one game.
01:55Phoenix came in, I believe, having won one game.
01:59Which was against the Warriors.
02:00Correct.
02:01Which I think was the second half of a back-to-back.
02:03It still counts, but those are two teams that were struggling.
02:06You beat Miami that's found its footing now, but they weren't necessarily playing well
02:11at the time.
02:12And had played overtime the night before.
02:14The night before, back-to-back.
02:15Back-to-back, and it was an overtime game.
02:17And these are not to discount wins, because winning is hard.
02:20Like, wins, you, that, I've always said this, the mark of a good team is the team that beats
02:25the bad teams.
02:26You beat Orlando, which was two and seven when they came in, and then you beat the Pelicans.
02:30Right.
02:31Which had the most wins of any team you've beaten in this eight-game stretch outside of
02:35Minnesota-Denver.
02:36But sat all of their players.
02:37Right.
02:37And just, so, it's an eight-game win streak, and it's an eight-game win streak.
02:43Boy, I do not want to sound like I'm diminishing an eight-game win streak.
02:46There's no such thing.
02:47That is hard in the NBA.
02:50But, yeah, it took a multiple 20-point comebacks.
02:54It took an overtime against Orlando.
02:56Some things have gone their way.
02:58Don't you want to see, like, okay, now do it in Houston.
03:04And so, to me, and I'm not off their scent if they lose tonight, but if the Warriors win
03:11tonight, this is a significant development.
03:16It is a nine-game win streak, and you're taking it on the road against one of the teams we
03:22know
03:23is one of the best teams in the NBA and is healthy and playing at a very high level and
03:28gets up for Steph Curry and all of the history between these specific players.
03:35If they win tonight, that's a game-changer with regard to how I view this season.
03:41I think that's how I would say this.
03:43Wow, that's putting more stock in this game than I am, because I've already changed sort of my,
03:49and it's not expectations, because we always do this thing about expectations.
03:52I mean, if they lose the next five, are we suddenly back to hoping to be a play-in team?
03:58I think this team, as it's comprised, is good enough to be a top-six team, and then all bets
04:03are off when you have a championship-caliber team in the playoffs.
04:06But tonight, to me, is a good test.
04:08It's not the ultimate test, and, you know, it's a chance to play against a team that's
04:13on equal rest.
04:14They have an advantage because they played at home on Monday.
04:17Tuesday, you are not in a spot where you've been on the road for almost a couple of full weeks.
04:23You are mostly healthy with the key guys you need healthy, and you're playing great.
04:27So go out there and compete.
04:29If you lose, no big deal.
04:31I would be a little bit crestfallen if they go out there and they just get absolutely crushed.
04:37That's what I'm saying.
04:38There's three things tonight.
04:39There is win the game.
04:40That's incredible.
04:42There is lose a close game.
04:44Okay, brush your shoulder off.
04:46There is lose by 28.
04:49Ah, damn it.
04:51Maybe there is something to the fact that they had a homestand against the correct six teams.
04:57Five of them weren't very good.
04:59And so that's kind of how I look at it.
05:02But, look, I'm with you.
05:04My outlook on this season has already changed as well.
05:07I don't know how it couldn't.
05:08Forget my outlook on this season.
05:10My outlook on the entire organization has changed.
05:12They drafted a star.
05:13I mean, we know what NBA stars mean.
05:19There's not that many of them.
05:21And this league is based on them.
05:23And you win because of them.
05:26Like, they drafted a star.
05:28If this is what he looks like now, I can only imagine that he's on his way to being a
05:34significant player in this league for a long time.
05:37He has changed everything.
05:39He's changed the way you look at this season.
05:42He's changed the way you look at the rest of Steph Curry's career.
05:46He has changed the way I would think other players view this organization as viable in terms of joining them.
05:54He has changed the fan base for sure.
05:58He is the shot in the arm that everybody needed.
06:01And you and I have just had this conversation for five minutes without even using his name, which tells you
06:06how significant he is.
06:08And you only need to use his first name.
06:11And you could just say Yaks.
06:12I mean, it's getting to the point where just Yaksal, that's it.
06:16Lendenborg is also a great part of a great name, but just Yaksal.
06:19And so you look at the draft and the majority of those rooks who come out, they mostly look really,
06:26really good among the lottery picks.
06:28But he looks a little bit extra good for a couple of reasons.
06:31One, he's older.
06:32And two, what he means to this team, because this team needed a big, scorable, score all three levels, wing
06:40somebody who can get to the rim and defend.
06:42And his defense will continue to get better.
06:44This team really, really needed that.
06:47Like, Acuff might wind up being Rookie of the Year because of the numbers he'll put up.
06:51But they need Acuff and about five other players in Sacramento.
06:55They're 1-10.
06:56They're 1-10.
06:57And he's been really, really good.
06:58Yeah.
06:59Shaky early, shooting in a lot.
07:01He's a flat-out scorer, but they're 1-10.
07:03The Warriors are good, and they got a guy who is right there for Rookie of the Year.
07:08It's changed everything.
07:09No doubt.
07:10Okay, so what's the ceiling now?
07:12For this year?
07:13Yeah, and it's too early to have, like, a great answer.
07:17I understand that.
07:18It's too early for us to have, like, a truly, like, intelligent conversation about where this can go.
07:25Because, A, you're only 11 games in of an 82-game schedule.
07:30B, this roster, one way or another, is going to be a completely different animal in the second half of
07:36the year.
07:37Is there a trade?
07:38Are there multiple trades?
07:39Is it just that Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are back on the team?
07:44And then recalibrate also what other injuries are still around the corner?
07:48Like, the Warriors have been blessed with relative health.
07:51Guy Santos dealing with some stuff earlier.
07:54Brandon Williams is now out for a week and a half, at least.
07:57That is significant.
07:58He's been one of their scorers.
08:00It's really Steph.
08:02Right.
08:02Stephanie Axel.
08:03Relative health so far.
08:05And so, that's great.
08:07And all the optimism can reign.
08:10I don't even like talking about championship contention when you are, whatever, where are we at?
08:16About 13% of the way through the season?
08:1911 down, 71 to go.
08:21Yeah.
08:21So, like, that's, I don't even want to get into that.
08:24So, it's not about championship or bust.
08:29I get it.
08:29It's not about, like, the window.
08:32It's not about, it's just like, okay, we all have to totally redo what we thought about this season based
08:43on one eight-game win streak.
08:44Don't we?
08:45I know I did.
08:46For the most part, and I do this seemingly every year, and I know I did it last year, and
08:50I always give you the over-under on how many playoff wins.
08:55Are we doing it already?
08:55Well, I'm only saying this because I usually set it at four and a half, which means will this team
09:01win a series and not get swept?
09:02And so, if I would have thrown this out after they started 0-3, it would have been an obvious
09:07slam dunk under.
09:08I would have been booed off the set because they might not even make it in the plan, for God's
09:12sakes.
09:13But here they are, eight-game win streak, and you talked about recalibrating what you think, and it's obviously way
09:19too early to tell what they're going to be in April.
09:22But this team, playing the way they are, granted against a lot of bottom feeders, it feels like a team
09:28that could at least win a series, if not two.
09:31Okay, I'd love to get into this, because for me, it's much more of an emotional experience than the X's
09:40and O's.
09:40I agree with that.
09:41And I don't mean that like anybody's laughing or crying.
09:44That's not what I mean by that.
09:45But real quick, you're listening to 95.7 The Game, KGMZ, FM, and HC1 San Francisco, and Odyssey Sports Station,
09:51and the home of the Golden State Warriors and Valkyries.
09:52Always live on the free Odyssey app.
09:54Coming to you live from the Laughing Monk Studios.
09:57I like what you're saying about the emotions of it, because let's just say you get to April, and they're
10:02whatever and whatever.
10:04Is Jimmy back? Is Moses back?
10:05Did you get something for Chris Stapps?
10:07Did you make another different move?
10:08There's so much we don't know about who they will be then.
10:11So when you look at what they are now, and what they are now is fun.
10:15It's a fun watch, and yes, it's more fun to win than lose, but they're a fun team to watch.
10:21They are.
10:23They're a show.
10:24There is hope, whether Steph is on the floor or not.
10:28There is intrigue to the whole thing.
10:31It is a revitalization sensation.
10:34Cha-ching!
10:34There's no question.
10:36So that...
10:37Cha-ching!
10:38When someone says, all right, let's dream for a minute, where could this go?
10:43My mind goes to kind of an abstract place.
10:47It's too early for me to be like, Western Conference Finals, or like, second round, or one of the top
10:56six seeds.
10:57It's too early for all that.
11:00My mind goes to, all right, let's dream.
11:02What is this?
11:04And it's kind of what you said.
11:06It goes to fun.
11:08It goes to watchability.
11:10It goes to, I want tickets.
11:12It goes to, I'm looking a week ahead at the schedule.
11:17Like, what night are the games?
11:18What night are not the games?
11:20The nights that have the games are better nights than the nights that don't have the games.
11:25That was all gone.
11:28Like, let's be honest and talk about this.
11:31Like, when they were 0-3, I have the receipts to prove it.
11:35People were like, well, I mean, like, let's have fun with the Niners, and I don't know what the hell
11:42we're all going to do in February.
11:44Baseball's going to be in a lockout, and the Warriors are going to be 11-48.
11:49Like, that's what it felt like.
11:51Just go to last year, when you had Jimmy Butler get hurt, Steph had the runner's knee, and we've always
11:57joked about, and I hate to always throw in Omer Yurt-Saven, but he was a guy.
12:02And Pat Spencer, Pat was cooking.
12:04Remember that week that Pat cooked?
12:06He is that mother jumper.
12:07And you've got Leon's, and you've got Cryer, and all these other guys we were just kind of getting to
12:12know.
12:12And it was fun to the extent of, man, this team, I've never heard of them, but this is a
12:18whole other level of fun.
12:19Well, see, there's two, to me, it's twofold.
12:22Check this out.
12:23So, they're 0-3, and then even when they, so they win in Denver.
12:27They get their first win of the year, and Yaxo has a night, like a freaking night, right?
12:32And I think for a Warrior fan, you looked at it and you went, oh, this changes everything.
12:37But all it really did was it was like, well, you wanted to watch Yaxo.
12:41Right.
12:42It didn't mean that they were going to rattle off seven more in a row.
12:44You just wanted to follow Yaxo.
12:47Now, you're following Yaxo, and it combines with wins.
12:51Eight in a row.
12:52You can't scoff at eight in a row in the NBA.
12:55I don't care who the hell you played and in what building.
12:57You know the last time they won, eight in a row?
12:59That was a good question.
13:00I don't.
13:01Randy knows.
13:02I could guess.
13:03I know it wasn't last year.
13:04You know what happened at the end of that season when they won eight in a row?
13:06They won a championship.
13:07You're damn right they did Willard.
13:09Yeah.
13:09So four years ago.
13:11So they're going to win the title this year.
13:12There's your dream.
13:13Kukush.
13:14Every time they've won eight games in a row under Steve Kerr, they've at least gone to
13:17the finals.
13:18There you go.
13:19That's even more fun.
13:20Make your plans.
13:21Seriously.
13:22June.
13:23June's going to be busy.
13:24You talked about recalibrating, and I was trying not to make it about like, oh, Western
13:28Conference Finals or NBA Finals, but can this team be playing basketball in the month
13:34of May?
13:34Which would mean you win a series.
13:36Sure.
13:37I mean, it's possible.
13:38Right.
13:38It's more possible now than it was two weeks ago.
13:41But like, I guess, okay, here's the other piece of it, though.
13:45If step one was Yaxl against Denver, and step two is, ooh, they've won a bunch of games
13:52in a row, isn't tonight step three?
13:56That's, I guess, what I'm saying.
13:58It's not a linchpin to anything.
14:01I'm not going to be a mopey donkey if they lose this game tonight.
14:05They're supposed to lose this game tonight.
14:08They are the underdog.
14:10But to me, that's step three.
14:12Step one was, oh, man, Yaxl's really good.
14:15Step two was, hold on a second.
14:17Are the Warriors going to win a lot more games than we thought this year?
14:20Step three is tonight.
14:22And I'll even make it or Friday.
14:25Not and Friday, or Friday.
14:28If you can do tonight or Friday and be nine and four with a win in your hip pocket on
14:36the
14:36road at one of the Texas teams, then I'm going to look at this team and legitimately say a
14:44top six seed is, that's a conversation.
14:49It's a conversation that I didn't think we were going to have.
14:53And somebody just texted in about house money and you're spot on.
14:56You know, I was in Vegas last weekend.
14:59Las Vegas.
15:00I was there.
15:02Like, how different do you bet when you have chips that they gave you?
15:08As opposed to the ones like, there's the chips.
15:10You put your cash out and then they give you chips and then you double your chips.
15:13Well, how do you bet with those chips?
15:16You bet completely differently.
15:17It should be exactly the same, by the way.
15:19If you're approaching it the correct way.
15:21But human nature, I get it.
15:23Well, but that depends on the way you bet in the first place.
15:27You don't want it to stay the same if you're a bad bettor.
15:30I mean, in theory, the book will tell you if the table is hot, you should try to get more
15:35money on the table.
15:36Or you might double down in some situations, right?
15:41If you're playing with house money, we all like it.
15:43Might be more aggressive.
15:44I get it.
15:44Correct.
15:45Trying to strike.
15:46What's the worst that could happen?
15:48What's the worst that could happen?
15:49Right.
15:49For me, it's not even about the next two games.
15:52I think the real look for me is over the next five because of the five games you have
15:57coming up, you've got four teams that are either ahead of you or in the mix with you.
16:03In the standings, you've got four eight and threes in the West and a couple of seven and
16:07threes.
16:08The Lakers are 10 and two.
16:09The Spurs are nine and two.
16:10So you're playing the other so far really good team.
16:14So it's not even about the next two games.
16:17It's about the next five.
16:18You've got a back to back.
16:20It's a five game trip against all Western opponents.
16:23So if you go on five, it doesn't mean I give up.
16:25If you go five and oh, it doesn't mean we're getting the parade route set.
16:29But I do think the next five games on the road, give you a real look at early on.
16:35Is it real?
16:36Are you, are you really remember you eight and three caliber good?
16:40What was our question last week?
16:41Are they good?
16:42Are they good?
16:43And I think I gave you the, yeah.
16:45Right.
16:46So tonight and Friday are an opportunity for you to stop through that nose crinkle thing
16:52that you just did when you said yes.
16:54And the noise too.
16:55Yeah.
16:56Yeah.
16:57Win tonight or win Friday.
16:59The answer is yes.
17:00I do.
17:01I do.
17:02Wednesday and Thursday, like Dallas is good and Memphis is amazing early in the year.
17:06Sure.
17:06But I mean, this, this next week plus is hard.
17:09I'm not like, I'm not even going to be discouraged if they go two and three, but what I want
17:14to see
17:15is, um, a difficult win or two.
17:18And, um, and I want to see competitive basketball, even in the losses, if there are some, and I'm
17:24assuming there will be, I will predict right now that this win streak will not arrive at
17:2813.
17:29You already nailed it.
17:30That it would get to eight.
17:31Does it get to nine?
17:32Well, it got to eight because I arrived at a spot where I went, I think they're better
17:36than those teams, but are they better than these teams or are they on the level of these
17:41teams?
17:42I think they're on the level-ish.
17:43I don't know if they're on the level with San Antonio because they, they could be the
17:47best team in the NBA.
17:48Although are they on the level with the Lakers?
17:51Lakers have lost twice.
17:52And one of them was to you.
17:53One of them was to you.
17:54So, but, but listen to the conversation we're having.
17:57This was ludicrous 10 days ago.
18:00Yeah.
18:00It was ludicrous.
18:02They would have fired us if we had said this 10 days ago.
18:06I mean, probably not.
18:08Guys, you're too positive.
18:09You lose in credibility.
18:12The Lakers have two losses.
18:13One of them is you.
18:14The T-Wolves have three.
18:16One of them is you.
18:18And, you know, that's pretty much the list of the rarity of these teams and their losses.
18:23Real quick, Manny in Union City.
18:25Hi, Manny.
18:26Thanks for calling.
18:28Hey, guys.
18:29Thanks for taking my call, man.
18:30I just wanted to chime in.
18:31You know, I was skeptical about this win streak that the Warriors had when we were in Friday.
18:35And when they barely beat Orlando, I was like, yep, my fears are realized.
18:41Because we choked away a 60-point lead when Steph stepped off the floor.
18:45Then we played the Pelicans.
18:47Now I'm going to be all gas, no bricks.
18:49With this yak attack, I'm going to call it yak attack.
18:52Just like we had shack attack, I'm going to call it yak attack.
18:54Man, I have nothing but good vibes against, you know, good vibes going into the rest of this season.
19:00If the Spurs are on a nine-game win streak and the Warriors are on an eight-game win streak
19:05and the Spurs are the Spurs and the Warriors are the Warriors, man, the ceiling has just –
19:12we're going to hit the ceiling, right?
19:15Or we're going to break through the ceiling.
19:17I got nothing but good vibes.
19:19I see good things.
19:20Guys, man, this is going to be the second coming of the Splash Brothers, man.
19:26I can feel it in my bones, just like what you guys had mentioned.
19:30The last time the Warriors were this hot, we had a ship.
19:35Oh, did he say ship?
19:37I thought he said ship.
19:38Ship?
19:39Yeah.
19:40Well, it was time to go anyway.
19:41Thank you, man.
19:42It was borderline call.
19:45I'm going to throw the red egg.
19:45Better to be safe than sorry.
19:47You're going to throw the red egg.
19:48It's like, what does it catch in the NFL?
19:50Like, you got ship and ship and Casey Schmidt.
19:54There's a lot in there.
19:56He brings up the Spurs have won nine in a row.
19:58They're in Chicago tonight.
20:00The Warriors have won eight in a row.
20:02They're in Houston tonight.
20:03If they both win, they play each other Friday as winners of nine and ten in a row, respectively.
20:10Damn.
20:11Well, double damn is the fact that that's an NBA Cup game.
20:15Oh.
20:17Boosh.
20:18Is the floor going to be effervescent?
20:22Is it going to be an effervescent floor?
20:24I'll look into it.
20:25Strobe lights.