Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Alright, this is a track that is worthy of our next guest.
00:03Big Pimpin'?
00:04Well, I mean, Big Frank, Frank Isola, big voice, big presence in the NBA, been doing
00:12it for a long, long time, and he joins us on the River Islands Guest Line as we're still
00:16talking out these new-look Warriors, what Jimmy Butler has done for Steph Curry.
00:22Frank was in the building last night to watch the Comfort Behind win over the Brooklyn Nets.
00:26Frank, thanks for coming on.
00:27How you doing?
00:28Good.
00:29I like that, so that's my walk of music.
00:31People say when I walk, I walk with like a bit of a, like a pimpin', so that would, that
00:35song would actually go with kind of the way I walk.
00:37Yeah, exactly.
00:38It's not like a Stephen A. Smith white suit thing, it's a little more subtle, but it's
00:42still, you know what I mean?
00:43It still hits.
00:44Yeah, I think, at one point I heard like my, I think it was like a muscle in my leg, so
00:50I was really, it was exaggerated.
00:54Some like physical trainer, one of the teams saw me, they go, you got like an issue with
00:57like your leg, it has been killing me for about two years, and then he kind of corrected,
01:01so my tipping is more subtle than it used to be.
01:05It's funny, because I'm about the same age as you, Frank, and it's a fine line between
01:08the pimp and the limp at our age.
01:11Well, I play soccer every Saturday morning, we have this like organized pickup game, full
01:16field, we play all winter long, too, and a few, like, first of all, we play at 7.30 in
01:22the morning, so you can't go out drinking the night before, which is good, and then
01:25by like 1 o'clock in the afternoon, I can't bend down anymore, I'm in such a, it's just
01:31a phenomenal pain.
01:32Agony, no doubt.
01:33Well, if you're still playing, you're doing something right, and obviously the team that
01:38you watched last night is doing a bunch of things right, too.
01:40Would love just your general take, Frank, on where these new-look warriors now sit in
01:47the whole landscape of the NBA.
01:49You know, I thought it was interesting, because Steph put on a show for the fans, as you guys
01:53know, before and during, even after the game, and he was a minus 17, so, you know, with
02:00him off the court, they actually did better, and I thought Jimmy Butler, you know, he hasn't,
02:06it's been a small sample size, but I'm sure that was one of his better games that he's
02:09had, and they started the second quarter with, you know, Jimmy Butler out there, along with
02:14the kid, Quentin Post, and then the lacrosse player, Pat Spencer, and their kind of energy
02:19got the team back into it, so I thought Jimmy Butler last night was really, really good,
02:26and you know, the Warriors, you know, they're down 27-5, they're complaining to the refs,
02:31you guys have seen this before, you know, Draymond starting him with Billy Kennedy,
02:34you know, almost as soon as the game starts, Steph was upset, he knocked Keon Johnson to
02:38the floor, because the vets were picking him up for court, as soon as Golden State had
02:42the ball, Steve Kearns getting a technical foul, but I thought that was a really good
02:46one.
02:47I also think they were kind of inspired by the crowd, it was a pretty heavy Warriors
02:52crowd, because they've been that way for over a decade now, mostly because of Steph and
02:56how great they are, and I kind of felt like they fed off the crowd last night, and that's
03:03a pretty good one.
03:04And think about it, look at it this way, too.
03:07The game starts, they're already, what, 4-1 on the road trip, Steph's struggling, he can't
03:11like get open, the nets are, you know, all over him, it's so easy for a guy of his age
03:17and everything that he's done to say, you know what, it's not going to happen tonight,
03:20you know, we've had a successful road trip, instead what makes, you know, guys like him
03:26and the Warriors so great is that competitive fire that they have.
03:29The battle for it, I know it's only the Brooklyn Nets, but the Nets have had some good results
03:33this year, they beat the Warriors in San Francisco, what was that, back in November, so I actually
03:37thought overall, considering the way the game started, that was a pretty good win by the
03:40Warriors.
03:42They were actually to be down 27-5, and we've seen them this year pack it in like you're
03:45talking about, Frank, in many of those situations, but they didn't, and I wonder, with your eyes,
03:50how much that is the Jimmy Butler factor, and just what is that essence that he brings
03:56to this team that allows them to play with a certain level of an edge that they haven't
04:00had before?
04:01I think it's a great point, and you know, Jimmy Butler, you think about a lot of these
04:05great players, and you know, Luke is kind of like this, too, where the game is played
04:10at their pace, and when Jimmy's in there, he doesn't seem to really be doing anything
04:15that quick or fast, but he just is in complete control, and he's a very physical player,
04:21and getting a guy like him that gets into the paint, jumps off two feet, is very physical,
04:27you know, he's not very vocal, you know, Steph seems more vocal out on the court, and obviously
04:31Draymond is really vocal, but you could tell that they really enjoyed playing with him.
04:36I thought that one sequence that Steph had at the end of the first half, where he hit
04:40the two transition threes, and then he had that beautiful, you know, when he thread the
04:45needle on that one long outlet pass to Jimmy Butler, I always say this about great players,
04:50they always figure out how to play with each other.
04:52You know, it is only basketball, we're not asking them to fly to Mars or to split an
04:56atom, and I think the great ones realize, you know, they understand the other players'
05:01strength and weaknesses, and you could tell, you know, you look at them play, and especially
05:06last night, it looked like Jimmy Butler, Grandmont Green, and Steph Curry had played
05:09together for five years, it didn't look like it's only something that started happening
05:13in February.
05:14Frank Isola with us here on Weatherden Dibs, and Frank, you've been around the league so
05:18long, I wonder what your thought is on this, because it'll be no surprise to you, everybody
05:24out here is just in love with the Jimmy Butler acquisition.
05:29But we also know that there have been issues in multiple places where he's gone.
05:34How sustainable is the honeymoon?
05:36Oh no, it's eventually going to end badly, if we just go by history.
05:40It's probably going to end badly, it ended badly for Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia,
05:44Miami, but he's also going to have some really good moments, so, you know, the honeymoon
05:49period could be two years.
05:50So I don't think he's going to go south anytime soon, I think he's going to play really well,
05:55I think he's going to be locked in, I think when you're playing around legendary great
06:00players, I think you do feel that sense of responsibility to kind of fit in, and I think
06:06anybody that plays with Steph knows that, I think it's the same thing if guys go play
06:10with LeBron James.
06:11So I think from that standpoint, it's been a great addition, and they're going to get
06:15obviously Jonathan coming back.
06:18The one thing that would worry me is the size of the Warriors, and you know, come on Looney
06:24man, he really struggles to finish at the rim, my god.
06:27But I like the kid, Post, I thought he was really good, his ability, you know, Quentin
06:31Post, his ability to kind of spread the force, certainly last night, he did it, but I'm not
06:36worried about Jimmy Butler right now, I'm worried about it maybe two years from now,
06:39but two years from now, you know, who knows where, what would Steph be by then, 39 and
06:43probably maybe ready to walk away, so I think you're going to get the best of Jimmy Butler
06:48for a while.
06:49Yeah, funny you mention the kid Quentin Post, he turns 25 next week, he spent a whole, like
06:54half a decade in college thanks to COVID and other factors.
06:58Frank, when you look at this team and the top of the West, do they have enough to really
07:03be a factor come April, May, and maybe even into June?
07:07I still worry about like, you know, having enough defense at the rim, but you know, if
07:13those guys are playing at the top of their game, especially Jimmy Butler and Steph, and
07:19we know what Draymond can do in the play, he's such a good defensive player, he's very
07:22good with the ball and the set, Kamenga could be a huge addition, like you keep wondering
07:25like what they're going to look like, well, they're going to add a really good player
07:29at some point, and you know, I think there'll be a tough team to knock out, but you know,
07:33you look at the West now, I always thought that Dallas would make a run, but obviously
07:36that's, I was talking about Dallas with Luka being on the team, that's not going to happen,
07:40I mean, obviously Oklahoma City is a terrific team, the Lakers are really good, I think
07:45Denver is going to be tough, along with the Golden State Warriors, but after that, you
07:49know, maybe Minnesota, so I think the Warriors have a chance, a lot could depend on matchups,
07:54can they win three playoff series in the West, I'm not so sure about that, but I remember
07:59when they lost to the Nets back in November, and I was, and that's, remember, that was,
08:04they had just gone on a really long winning streak, they lost to the Spurs, they blew
08:08a double-digit lead, then their next game was against the Nets, and they blew a double-digit
08:11lead, and I remember telling my radio partner, Brian Scalabrini, who knows the league as
08:15well as anybody, I said, I gotta be honest, I'm not really impressed with them, that's
08:19not, that team's missing a lot, so for them to make that trade when they did, I think,
08:24you know, I think they got lucky there, that, you know, that Phoenix couldn't make a deal
08:28with Miami, so I think they could be dangerous, whether or not they can win three playoff
08:33rounds, it'll probably depend on, A, matchups, and sometimes you gotta be a little bit lucky,
08:38who gets, maybe there's a player hurt on another team, let's face it, that happens during the
08:43playoffs.
08:44Earlier in the year, were you of the opinion that Steph Curry was on a pretty steep decline,
08:50and, and, you know, and what's your take on how he looks now that Jimmy Butler's on the
08:56team?
08:57Yeah, you know, I think what hurt Steph was, was it four years ago, or maybe eight years
09:02ago, whatever it was, when he was gonna play for the Olympic team, and he got hurt, so,
09:07you know, I thought it was, I think it was important for his, kind of, career to add
09:11that to his resume, to have a gold medal, so the fact that he played all summer, you
09:16know, it just, it's not even a physical toll, but it's a mental toll, because, you know,
09:20these guys, at some point, need a break, so I think it takes them a long time, like, you
09:25know, when veteran teams show up in October for training camp, you know, the regular season,
09:30it must feel like 182 games, forget 82 games, and I think for teams that are champions,
09:35it feels like that, and, you know, even for the Celtics, who have a lot of young players,
09:39so, with a guy like him, because he keeps himself in such unbelievable condition, and
09:45he's always gonna be a great shooter, and he, I mean, you talk about guys that make
09:49players better, look how many open shots guys get because of him, you know, they're, every,
09:55you know, everyone on the court, you know, the opposing team, all five guys are kind
09:58of focused in on where Steph Curry is at all times, so, you know, if guys on the Warriors
10:03can make shots, he's always gonna be effective, so I'm not buying the decline, I think, for
10:08a lot of players, and I think Steph, this would be the case for him, I think it's the
10:11case with LeBron, it seems like maybe they would lose it, the love and the passion for
10:16the game mentally, before they would lose it physically, so, you know, I'm not buying
10:22it, I think the guy still is an ultimate competitor, I thought last night was like a pretty good
10:26example of it, he's just gonna say, you know what, it ain't gonna happen tonight, fine,
10:30I'll play Saturday against Detroit, we've won four games on the trip, and the guy, you
10:34know, he made big shots, he put on a show, he's, like I was saying after the game last
10:38night, he's everything that's right about the NBA, you know, the worst, the dumbest
10:42debate in sports now is, you know, who's gonna be the face of the league, well, guys, the
10:46face of the league, if the NBA players wanna know how you do that, it's besides the fact
10:50that you're great, besides the fact that you win, look at the way that the guy connects
10:54with the fans, at all, in every arena, he's not arrogant, he's not obnoxious, he's incredibly
11:00likable, and he's had incredible success, and we know everyone changes a little bit,
11:05but he's still a really likable player, he connects with the public, so, you know, these
11:10guys that, like, are kind of standoffish, like, great players, like, you know, Tatum's
11:14a great player, Kevin Durant is a great player, like, you don't have to be Steph Curry, maybe
11:19you don't wanna connect with the fans, that's fine, but don't complain when you're not that
11:23guy, Steph Curry puts a lot into it, and, you know, it's awesome, you guys are lucky,
11:28you're there, you get to see him play all the time, you know, he comes to New York,
11:31he plays two games, and it's awesome to see him in the building, it's like, it really
11:35makes you appreciate greatness, it makes you appreciate the sport, and it makes you appreciate
11:41the fact that this guy wants to put on a show, like, Joe DiMaggio, a famous, the guy from
11:46Northern California, I think he was the first guy to say it, I'm gonna play today, you know,
11:50I'm gonna go out and perform, because somebody might be seeing me in person for the first
11:54time, and I feel like Steph Curry lives by that motto as well.
11:57It's a great answer, Frank, yeah, really good stuff, thank you so much for hopping on for
12:02a few today.
12:03Alright, gentlemen, take care, have a good weekend.