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00:00Let's go right to the phones.
00:01You want to go to the phones?
00:02Yeah, a little self-exploration here.
00:04Because I wanted to be like,
00:05okay, Memphis, bleep you, here we come.
00:09And I'm like, dude, are they ready for this week?
00:14You know, like why, why are they winning most of their games
00:18yet something in my core is like,
00:21ooh, this, this week looks hard.
00:26Because it is hard.
00:27It looks hard.
00:28Even if they were winning all their games,
00:30and they're not, two and two in their last four,
00:33but they've been great since Jimmy came.
00:34And now that they're totally whole,
00:36this week still looks hard.
00:38And, you know, Brankin is coming off a 7-3 game
00:42and you absolutely motorboated San Antonio,
00:45which is great and nice,
00:47but no matter how you would come into this stretch,
00:49it still is a gauntlet.
00:51So I don't think you're wrong to feel that way
00:54because you look at the standings,
00:56you play the five seed, then the four, then the three,
00:59then the two in six days.
01:01In succession.
01:035-4-3-2, road, road, home, home.
01:06It's a gauntlet.
01:07Yeah, in six days.
01:08Right.
01:09In six days.
01:12All right, Fred in Richmond.
01:13Hi, Fred, thanks for calling Willie and Dibby.
01:16What are you doing?
01:18Willie and Dibby, how y'all doing?
01:20I'm just listening to the show on the radio
01:22on my way home from work.
01:24And basically, I believe, you know,
01:27Memphis might be having some trouble with their own.
01:31They just lost their coach.
01:32They played Boston tonight.
01:34I think Boston is going to motorboat them
01:36and we get them on a back-to-back tomorrow.
01:38I think the hardest game of this stretch
01:42could possibly be that Denver game,
01:43just because I think it's about time
01:46that we show the Lakers that we, you know,
01:49we are a different team
01:51from what they have seen in the past.
01:53Definitely earlier in the season,
01:54we played them like three times
01:56in the first two months.
01:57So, you know, the team just wasn't
01:59as jailed as they are now.
02:01I kind of think Quentin Post is going to be
02:03an X factor in that Lakers game.
02:05And you got to remember, we own the Rockets.
02:08I understand the Rockets are the two seed right now,
02:11but we got about 17 in a row on the Rockets.
02:14It just, I think we have a number overall.
02:18It's a young team.
02:19I'm pretty sure Fred and Dylan Brooks
02:21would be prepared,
02:23or try to get that team prepared.
02:24But overall, a nice three-in-one stretch.
02:28And we might be the five seed
02:30by this time next week.
02:31Maybe the four.
02:32You just never know.
02:33No, you don't.
02:34They will be the five
02:36if they can pull that off, Fred.
02:37I'm telling you right now,
02:38when I hear you say three-in-one,
02:41I can't even, I'm terrified
02:44to think what I'll sound like on Monday's show
02:47if they go three-in-one this stretch.
02:49I will paint my face blue and yellow
02:52for that show if they go three-in-one.
02:56That's how amazed I would be.
02:59That's how impressed I would be, Fred.
03:02Impressed because next Monday,
03:04at the same time I'm going to call you,
03:06the Warriors will be three-in-one.
03:08Okay, I hope you're right.
03:09I love it.
03:10Oh, here comes Matt.
03:11Yes, I actually will.
03:12I'll paint my face blue and yellow
03:14for Monday's show.
03:16Blue and yellow, blue and yellow, blue and yellow.
03:18Very good.
03:18I like it.
03:19Thank you, Fred.
03:19We'll get blue on your right side.
03:22See, I was thinking blue on the left.
03:23I don't know why.
03:24Well, for me, looking at you all day,
03:27the blue would have to go that way,
03:28but it's not about me.
03:30I can adjust.
03:31Whatever you want to do.
03:32I don't care.
03:33We'll get the art department
03:34to paint you up real nice.
03:36It'll be great.
03:36What's happening on Monday?
03:39What's happening on Monday?
03:40I'm just trying to work my way through this.
03:42Okay.
03:42It is...
03:42The Warriors.
03:43Oh, right.
03:45National championship game.
03:46That's right.
03:47National championship game.
03:49The Warriors will be on a flight due for Phoenix.
03:51Okay.
03:52They play the Suns the next night.
03:53They still have to go there and play that game?
03:55Yeah, that game's getting easier by the minute.
03:57It kind of is.
03:57The Suns don't look like they care,
03:59and Kevin Durant is...
04:00Out for a week.
04:01Which is...
04:02That's eight days from now.
04:04So maybe he plays in that one.
04:05Maybe he doesn't.
04:06Well, maybe they're in a spot
04:07where he's out for the rest of the year
04:09if he doesn't feel like playing anymore.
04:11Well, the Suns right now have built themselves
04:14a nice little game and a half hole
04:16between them and the 10 seed.
04:18So now Durant out for a week.
04:21You might be right.
04:23They may be a couple of losses away
04:25from being like,
04:26mail it in, kids.
04:27This thing's over.
04:28Yeah.
04:28They're not even going to make the play-in.
04:30Yeah.
04:30Which is crazy.
04:32Well...
04:32Good lord.
04:34And they just cratered.
04:35And this is now, what, three straight seasons
04:38of them just completely falling short of the bar.
04:41But that's their problem, not ours.
04:44I'm just focused on what the caller was saying
04:46about Memphis
04:47because that is a tough one
04:48where you go from Boston, then Golden State
04:51on the second half of a back-to-back
04:53and the Warriors are already comfy cozy in Memphis
04:56to get a chance to watch that game
04:58and they're all settled in
04:59and Memphis has to go out there
05:01and dribble, dribble, shoot tonight.
05:02They should go to the game.
05:04That'd be cool.
05:04They should go to the game.
05:06You know how like, right?
05:08College basketball is in town.
05:09If you got a night off,
05:11the guys will all show up at the game
05:12or like the way the Niners sometimes show up
05:14at the Warrior game.
05:15That'd be incredible
05:16if the Warriors just bought out half of the first row
05:20for the game tonight.
05:21Everybody dressed in green.
05:23Just go out there.
05:24Just root for Draymond.
05:25Draymond dressed like a leprechaun.
05:27Yeah, Draymond just dressed in green.
05:29He's like, that's my last name.
05:30But that would be, God, why don't people do that?
05:34They should do that.
05:35Yeah.
05:35Get in them.
05:36That would be pretty funny.
05:37That'd be amazing.
05:40Lucky is on Highway 29.
05:42What's up, Lucky?
05:44Hey, what's up, Mark?
05:46What's up?
05:46How you guys doing?
05:48Lucky, doing great.
05:52You know, sorry, man,
05:52because I'm actually driving up
05:54to go get me some relaxation sensation
05:56at Cookies and Napa.
05:58There you go.
05:59But you know what, Dad?
06:00It's actually going to be an inhalation sensation
06:03if you're going to Cookies.
06:05Exactly.
06:07Mark, I want to say this, man.
06:10I hear that you're having a confidence problem.
06:14Am I hearing about our team?
06:16Now, I want to say this, man.
06:21You have confidence in waking up,
06:23buttoning up your shirt, coming in the show,
06:25speaking your piece, and giving us there
06:27and your fans what you want to hear.
06:29So why would you doubt our team
06:31when they are connected now?
06:33Well, we are polled to do something
06:35that nobody is expecting.
06:38Yeah.
06:38Am I right?
06:39Yeah.
06:39Do you feel that way at the moment, Dad?
06:40Well, OK, but see, it's interesting
06:42the way you phrased that, Lucky.
06:43You asked why, and that's,
06:46you're just kind of mirroring my question back.
06:49The interesting thing, and I don't want to get
06:51too like all in the woo-woo here,
06:54but confidence to me is such an interesting thing.
06:58I'm always fascinated by confidence
07:00because I don't think you can fake it.
07:03You either have it or you don't.
07:05And my brain wants to look at this week
07:09and be like, you are lucky.
07:11Oh, we got this.
07:13People around me know that I use that phrase
07:15all the time.
07:16That's how I try to approach life.
07:18Whatever is coming at us.
07:19We got this.
07:21It's all good.
07:22What I'm trying to figure out, though,
07:24is why, forget my brain, my heart, my belly, my gut.
07:29Why do they feel the way they do?
07:31Why is there still something
07:34about this Warrior team that is not convincing?
07:41That's what I'm trying to figure out,
07:42and I'm wondering if there are other Warrior fans
07:44out there who feel that way.
07:47But I'll say this to that.
07:51I'm confident and I am nervous,
07:53just like you at the same time.
07:54But that nervousness is confidence in your team,
07:59but scared to see them lose, right?
08:01That's basically what your gut and your heart is saying.
08:04I want them to win.
08:05That's what your mind is saying.
08:07But your heart and your gut is like,
08:08oh, I don't know if they're going to do it.
08:10They are.
08:11They're built for this, Mark.
08:12They're built for this, Mark.
08:15I want you to be right, Lucky.
08:19Look, Mark, you're saying the best case scenario,
08:22and you and Dyrus both said two and two.
08:25The other guy said three and one.
08:27Why not four and oh?
08:28Why not eight and oh?
08:29Why not seven and two?
08:30Why not seven and one?
08:32Yeah.
08:33You're going to make me use my favorite line, Lucky.
08:37They're allowed to.
08:38They're allowed to.
08:40I don't think that they will,
08:42but they're allowed to.
08:42We weren't saying that two and two is best case scenario.
08:45We thought that was the most likely scenario
08:48was that they went two and two over the next four.
08:50Best case, obviously four and oh.
08:52And I do look at this Memphis matchup tomorrow
08:55as an interesting one because they've got
08:58one thing that you really struggle with,
08:59and that's size.
09:00And not only Jaron Jackson Jr.,
09:02but Zach Eady, who's had himself a pretty good rookie year.
09:06So I do think that Memphis can be a tough matchup
09:09for Golden State,
09:10but you are benefiting by the fact
09:11that they will have played tonight.
09:13Um, man.
09:15There's this aspect of it too.
09:17I also look at it this way.
09:19You're literally about to get a little preview.
09:23Like, let's say things do go well
09:25and the Warriors make the playoffs
09:27as one of the top six seeds.
09:29Well, guess what's going to happen immediately?
09:31You will immediately be matched up
09:33against one of these teams.
09:36So this is a little preview of sorts to see,
09:39I like your words,
09:40some measuring stick this week
09:43to see where the Warriors actually stand
09:47in the Western Conference picture.
09:49It doesn't mean we can take everything out of it.
09:51That's too small of a sample
09:52because the Warriors are at the end of a road trip
09:55and they're only getting each of these teams one time.
09:57But this is rubber meat in the road.
10:00Conversation that we've been having
10:02since Jimmy Butler arrived.
10:03There are a fair number of fans who have said,
10:06well, this is less about Jimmy Butler
10:09and it's more just about the way the schedule fell.
10:11Jimmy Butler arrived right at a time
10:13when the Warriors had their easiest run on the schedule.
10:17And that is by data factual.
10:20I think that's a weak take
10:22because I don't think that's the way
10:23professional sports works.
10:24I don't think you just suddenly become devastatingly good
10:28because things get a little weak.
10:30They've had some good wins, but this is it.
10:34This is sort of the last chapter of the book
10:37for the regular season.
10:39The one thing that you haven't done yet
10:42since Jimmy Butler arrived
10:44is beat a Western Conference playoff team.
10:47So here you go.
10:49Here's all of them.
10:50Right.
10:50Here's all of them.
10:52All but one.
10:52And one of them is going to be, again,
10:54this is under the premise that you make it.
10:57One of them is going to be your opponent.
11:00So there's also the psychological aspect of this.
11:04My God, they have got to beat the Lakers.
11:09You cannot go 0-4 against the freaking Lakers.
11:13They're not that good.
11:16I know it's a tough matchup,
11:18but watch them play right now.
11:20They're not that good.
11:22They're okay.
11:23They've been struggling, to be honest with you.
11:26So I throw that into this week, too.
11:30They've got to start getting a psychological edge
11:32on some of these teams.
11:33They're probably going to see one of them
11:35in a couple of weeks.
11:35And Denver's the other one.
11:36Denver's beaten you nine straight times
11:39in the regular season,
11:40and that's going back a few years now.
11:42So there's that mental block.
11:44And you mentioned the Lakers,
11:45who knocked you out of the playoffs
11:46a couple of years ago,
11:47and they've beaten you all three times this year.
11:50So I think that there's a lot to that.
11:52And I also look at the Houston matchup,
11:55where you're going to play the Rockets
11:56for the fifth time this year.
11:58You're 3-1 against Houston.
12:00You feel like you kind of have ownage over Houston.
12:03So you want to make sure you get this one,
12:05because that would basically be a best of seven,
12:08and you would have eliminated them in five.
12:10This would be the fifth time you play them this year.
12:12Memphis is a little bit different
12:14because they now have all their horses back
12:17for the first time,
12:18and you've got your full squad,
12:20but they will be coming off a back-to-back.
12:22So for me, the Memphis and the Houston games
12:24look like the most likely wins.
12:27Can you steal one of the other two?
12:29If so, you get face paint.
12:31You'll be painted up.
12:33Dude, I'd be happy to do it.
12:34I'd be happy to do it.
12:36I'll go to Michael's and do the shopping myself
12:38on Sunday afternoon.
12:40Well, I may not know until Monday,
12:42maybe Monday morning.
12:44I'll do it.
12:45You know, the other thing, though,
12:46we keep talking about this,
12:48like, oh, what have they done against those teams?
12:51And they lead the Rockets 3-1,
12:53and the Lakers, they've got the season series 3-0.
12:56Do you know what it dawns on me?
12:58Do you know the last time they saw any of these teams?
13:01I mean, I know they saw Denver, right?
13:03With that weird game right before the end of the homestand
13:08where Gordon just went off.
13:10No Jokic.
13:11Right, no Jokic.
13:12Outside of that,
13:13you saw the Lakers back on February 6th.
13:16Jimmy Butler watched from the bench.
13:19That was the night the trade got approved.
13:22And, but he didn't play.
13:24So that's pre-Jimmy Butler.
13:27The last time they saw Memphis was here at Chase Center
13:33on January 4th, okay?
13:36And the last time they saw Houston, February 13th,
13:42right before the All-Star break.
13:44And that was that weird game
13:45where they sort of played their people for half the game.
13:48And Jimmy was in that game.
13:50But can I, is it fair for me to throw this into conversation?
13:55If everybody's going to tell Jonathan Kaminga
13:57for a month and a half,
13:59well, you're rejoining a completely different team.
14:02Well, then I don't care what you did
14:04about any of these teams before
14:05because you're a completely different team.
14:07You're facing a completely different team.
14:09Which is, I think, a good thing
14:11because it's a better team.
14:12But I don't know from matchup to matchup.
14:15They certainly didn't look any better against Denver.
14:17They looked awful.
14:19Yeah.
14:19So there's a lot that goes into this week.
14:23And I think a lot of questions
14:24that still need to be answered,
14:25even for a team that's winning at a very high clip.
14:28Yes, and I do think you have to look at it
14:29in terms of matchups, like you were saying.
14:31And Andrew Wiggins, for example,
14:33when he was here and you faced the Lakers,
14:36well, they had Anthony Davis
14:37and they didn't have Luka, they had LeBron.
14:40And Wiggins was the guy who could guard LeBron.
14:42I don't know what your LeBron approach is now.
14:45Do you put Jimmy Butler on him?
14:47What if Kaminga's not playing yet?
14:49Right.
14:50Well, he should be playing.
14:50I would hope he's playing.
14:51I don't know, just because he's questionable
14:53doesn't mean guys get named questionable
14:56and then they're out.
14:57Well, and Steph had two games he missed
15:00with that same contusion.
15:01Exactly, and that same tag, by the way.
15:03Exactly.
15:04So maybe Kaminga isn't ready
15:06by the time you gear up for a Thursday game.
15:08But just starting to think about matchups
15:10and particularly with Memphis tomorrow,
15:12and they've got not one but two seven-footers,
15:15including, you know, Zach Eady,
15:17who goes about seven-three.
15:19And I just wonder what the Warriors do
15:21against such a big front line.
15:22I mean, I think this is probably,
15:24of everything I've heard today,
15:26the most under-discussed thing yet
15:29is the fact that Gary Payton II is out
15:31and the guy that Steve Kerr said
15:33we are handpicking to be his defensive replacement
15:36is now hurt too.
15:38Who the hell's doing this?
15:39Yeah.
15:40Who's guarding Ja?
15:42Who's guarding anybody?
15:42Who's guarding LeBron?
15:44Who's guarding these people?
15:46Who's guarding Desmond Bayne?
15:48Who's guarding Jaron Jackson Jr.?
15:50Right.
15:51Who's guarding Jalen Green on Sunday?
15:53Now, maybe it is Jonathan.
15:55Grandy brings up a good point, though.
15:57Steph missed two games with this,
15:58but the schedule was very spacey at that time.
16:02Steph sat out an entire week.
16:04If Jonathan sits out an entire week,
16:07that's all four games.
16:08That's right, yeah.
16:09That's all of them.
16:10Now, I don't know.
16:10I know nothing about the level of contusion.
16:14But it looked pretty damn similar.
16:16Yeah.
16:17It was big man, fall hard, stay down.
16:20That's what it looked like.
16:22That's what it looked like with Steph.
16:23It's what it looked like with Jonathan.
16:25So that's my biggest question.
16:27I love what Moody is doing out there,
16:29and I believe still in Jimmy, the defender.
16:31But you're starting to get real low
16:34on players who can go out on a wing
16:36and guard a star NBA player.
16:40Yeah, I mean, Moses can do it,
16:41but he's not as good as GP2.
16:44And, you know, Kaminga gives you athleticism and length.
16:46And Guy Santos now is going to have to play more minutes.
16:49He's going to be back in that heavy rotation
16:52if Kaminga, in fact, is out tomorrow,
16:53which is kind of the expectation.
16:55I know he's questionable,
16:56but I'd be surprised if he took a fall yesterday
17:01and couldn't return to the game.
17:03And he's listed as questionable.
17:04Feels to me like a stretch to think
17:06that he'd be able to play tomorrow.
17:08I agree with that.
17:09I mean, I don't know.
17:10I mean, just because he never came back in the game.
17:12Never came back in the game.
17:13And Steve Kerr after the game,
17:16like just the sound of his quotes,
17:18when he's kind of like,
17:19gosh, yeah, I just feel terrible for Jonathan
17:22because he was just starting to get those legs back
17:25and, you know, back from injury already.
17:27When a coach sounds like that,
17:29it makes you feel like he's going to miss some time.
17:31But then again, we've got the confusion of
17:34the report goes out from Warriors PR
17:37and it goes out all over social media
17:39that Jonathan's got an ankle problem
17:42with the same ankle that caused him to miss two months.
17:45And then today they're like,
17:45no, nevermind, it's fine.
17:47Well, wait, what happened there?
17:51We're not talking about, you know,
17:54that game you used to play in kindergarten
17:56where you pass the message around the room and see if it's,
17:58you know, we're not doing,
17:59this is the golden state Warriors.
18:02What do you mean he has an ankle problem?
18:03And then you come out the next day and be like,
18:05nope, he doesn't have an ankle problem.
18:07It's a contusion of his pelvis.
18:10What?
18:10That couldn't be more different.
18:12So I don't know what Jonathan's feeling,
18:15but I'm with you.
18:16If I had to guess right now based on nothing,
18:19I would think that he doesn't play tomorrow night.
18:21That's probably true.
18:23So then you look at the defense,
18:25as you were talking about with GP2 out indefinitely
18:29and no Kaminga,
18:30and you start to really run out of wing defenders pretty fast.
18:33Jimmy Butler, great defender.
18:35Steph, not a terrific wing defender.
18:38And Draymond can guard just about anybody,
18:40but you have a lot of weapons with Memphis
18:43that you have to deal with.
18:44Size and length.
18:45Yes, you really, really do.
18:47You really, really do.
18:49You know, you brought up Bane.
18:50And by the way, I do think Memphis,
18:53I'll see, actually should check out right now
18:55what their injury report is for tonight's game.
19:00Because again, they're hosting the Celtics tonight.
19:03I think that for the first time in quite some time,
19:07I think Memphis is good to go.
19:09Yeah, they are, dude.
19:10They're fine.
19:11Jha will play.
19:12I mean, again, let's see them play tonight.
19:14What happens?
19:15But Jha is in, and Jaren is in,
19:18and Desmond Bane is in,
19:20and Zach Edie, and Aldama,
19:22and the whole gang is ready to go.
19:25So you do the math.
19:28Who's guarding who?
19:29It is very, very challenging.
19:31And so yeah, like I'm not trying to sound an alarm today.
19:36I'm almost just, it's really a journey of curiosity
19:40because you watched them play last night.
19:42They looked fantastic.
19:44All the ball movement.
19:46The ball movement was chef's kiss.
19:49And that's when I think the Warriors are at their best.
19:52But then we get to today and I just looked at it all
19:56and I'm like, oh God, like this just doesn't,
19:59this doesn't feel like they are ready for this
20:04because I just don't know if last night means
20:07they're back in their humming
20:09or were they just playing a minor league team?
20:11I think the latter.
20:12They're not back in their humming,
20:14but they did go out and look better and they played better.
20:17The New Orleans game was a head scratcher
20:19and you guys were pointing out the 14 to two deficit,
20:22which was really frustrating to think that
20:25after back-to-back losses, that's what you came out with.
20:28And then you eventually woke up and won the game.
20:30And yeah, yesterday you looked much better.
20:32You were against an over-matched opponent.
20:34And so now you face a healthy Memphis team
20:37that's going to be hungry
20:39because they want to make sure
20:40they stay out of a play-in jeopardy.
20:42For sure.
20:43And I'm looking at the basketball reference
20:45playoff probabilities that I've referenced many times.
20:48What do we got?
20:49Right now they have a 19% chance to be the six.
20:53The Warriors.
20:54Yeah, Minnesota is at 31%.
20:57The Clippers are at 15.5%.
21:00Oh, that's interesting.
21:02And then the seven seed, the Clippers have a 33% chance.
21:06The Warriors have a 25% chance.
21:09So the numbers are indicating
21:11the Warriors might be looking at the eight seed.
21:14And they also estimate what they'll do
21:18with the remaining games.
21:19And they have the Warriors going four and four
21:20the rest of the way.
21:21And that's probably going to be the eight.
21:23That'd be my guess.
21:24If you go four and four.
21:25Depending on if whether or not
21:27when you play the Clippers a week from Sunday,
21:29is that a win or a loss?
21:30Exactly.