The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - De'Aaron Fox & Kings take down Warriors, Jalen Brunson leads Knicks over Cavaliers | Hoops Tonight

Episode Date: April 16, 2023

Jason Timpf reacts to the De'Aaron Fox and Sacramento Kings beating Steph Curry, Draymond Green & the Golden State Warriors 126-123 in game 1 of the NBA playoffs. He discusses the adjustments the Warriors need to make to get back into this series & if the Kings have a shot to beat the defending champs. Later, he talks Jalen Brunson & the New York Knicks 101-97 upset victory over Donovan Mitchell & the Cleveland Cavaliers. #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith ruling. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at The Volume. Happy Sunday, everybody. I hope all of you guys are having a great weekend. Round 1 NBA playoff coverage on Hoops tonight is brought to you by Chase Freedom Unlimited. How do you cash back? We had a jam-packed, highly entertaining day of playoff hoops. I was traveling out of the country. My wife is turning 30 this week. And our favorite thing to do is ski.

So we're celebrating with a ski trip up in Whistler that I'm very, very excited about. But so I apologize that you guys had to wait a little bit longer, but I'm recording this after 2.30 a.m. here in Vancouver so that our staff can get it up for you guys bright and early tomorrow morning. We're just going to focus on Warriors Kings tonight and Knicks Cavs. The Celtics and Sixers also notched very impressive wins. But just for the sake of the situation that I just laid out,

we're going to hit them a little bit later on. in this week. So you guys know the drill before we get started, subscribe to the volumes YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LTs. You guys don't miss any show announcements. And if for whatever reason you guys miss one of these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish, don't forget, you can find them wherever you get your podcasts under hoops tonight. All right, let's talk some basketball. So it's so funny when you start watching a playoff series, you could start to see these little matchup things start to play out. And you can tell that's going to be the story of the series. And it's clear to me,

already through one game that the story of the series on the warrior's side of things is going to be, can they contain Deere and Fox and Malik Monk off the dribble? That was the vast majority of their defensive breakdowns tonight was just dribble penetration, and that's going to be a battle that they're going to have to figure out. And then on the other side of things, on the King's side, where they particularly struggled, they defended the three-point line really well, and they forced the Warriors into a lot of tough shots. there was some impressive shot making from Stefan Clay and we'll get a little bit deeper into that, but they didn't defend the rim well. As a matter of fact, the Warriors shot 68% on twos in this game.

So if the Warriors adjust their shot selection and start to play more Warriors basketball and get more aggressive to try to generate rim pressure, they could be in some trouble. So those are going to be the two major matchups that we're going to be looking at. Looking at the perimeter defense element, we talk about this a lot on this show, but I look at perimeter defense like the offensive line, defensive line dynamic in the NFL. That push and pull ends up kind of going on underneath the radar a lot of the times because we focus on skill players. It's just the natural, you know, inclination we have as fans to focus on the more exciting things that are happening. But the reality is whether or not you, you know, get a good push up front when you're trying to run the ball is going to make a lot bigger difference than anything involving the running back,

correct? And whether or not you can protect the quarterback, usually is going to go a long way towards giving your quarterback time to make reads and make the right reads and move the ball down the field through the air, right? So you just absolutely have to have quality line play. And the same concept takes place in basketball. I don't care how well you communicate. I don't care how well you rotate. I don't care how athletic you are. If you're constantly in rotation, you will severely struggle to get stops, as opposed to if you can flatten out drives and force guys to, you know, it kind of goes even further to the way that your help defenders operate. If your help defender can just kind of sort of dig at the basketball, but stay with his man,

as opposed to having to outright leave his man to hard help, that makes a world of difference to, you know, whether or not guys are in passing lanes, whether or not you can force turnovers, as opposed to a wide open shooter standing on the perimeter. That push-pull dynamic of perimeter defense means everything. Now, the encouraging part from the warrior standpoint is I do think they have the personnel to do so. Some of their problems they had down the stretch of this game was, you know, getting beat in transition and leading to cross-matches. Or they spent a good amount of the time with Clay Thompson on Deere and Fox at the end of that game. I'm not sure if that's a matchup they'll be able to stick with through the whole series. They might have to try to keep

Gary Payton on the floor longer or, you know, but here's the problem. Like even Andrew Wiggins was struggling a bit with containing Malik Monk off the dribble. So, you know, and again, like, Obviously, he hasn't played a lot lately, so conditioning can play a role in that. Defensive rhythm can play a role in that, but it is what it is. And by the time this series is over, if the Warriors are going to advance, they're eventually going to have to figure out how to contain Deer and Fox and Malik Monk off the dribble. This is a consistent kind of like theme that you see in the NBA playoffs. We're going to talk about it a little bit more with the Knicks and Cavs here in a minute involving Chetty Osmond,

and their decision to play him over Isaac Kokoro down the stretch in the way that opened up a matchup for Jalen Brunson to attack. They were attacking Clay at the end of this game. Now, I want to give Clay the benefit of the doubt. This is a one game sample, and we can even look back to the NBA finals last year, and if you watch the film of the first three games of that series versus the last three games of that series, and you look at the difference in the way that guys like Clay Thompson were defending, guys like Andrew Wiggins, guys like Gary Payton, and then you look at the second half of that series and how they just locked everybody down. One of the most underrated plot lines of that NBA final series was Clay Thompson locked down Janeland Brown down the stretch of that series. And so

that battle is something that he can win in the long run. They just have to do a better job. It's less about schematics. I mean, maybe Steve Kerr has to get involved if you get deeper into the series and consistent matchups are getting beat. But a lot of times it's just do better. You know, Clay's got to slide his feet better. Guys got to get back in transition better. On the offensive end for the Warriors, you know, and I want to credit the Kings, a great deal here because again when you are in a drop coverage which is the vast majority of what you're going to see in situations where subonis is involved in a screening action right and it's technically not a drop coverage because he's coming up high out of his drop but the semantics are

unimportant whoever's guarding the screener whether he's up at the level of the screen or he's back subonis is just not bothering a lot as as shooters are coming up over the top you saw step Steph Curry hit a few shots in his face as he was coming over the drop coverage in the fourth quarter. But the guard has a very important job there. His job is to provide what's called a rearview contest or to provide back pressure, whatever you want to call it. He's got to chase over the top. And there was a little stretch there in that fourth quarter where Steph and Clay got obscenely hot

and they made some incredibly difficult shots. I think the three that Steph hit in the corner on that like one-timer catch and release from behind the backboard, that was ridiculous. There was that crazy step back you hit on Deer and Fox with like a minute and a half left that got it back within one. That was ridiculous. They hit some tough shots. Clay Thompson hit a couple of tough ones. But surrounding that were some ones that they missed.

And again, this is where you have to separate process from results. I'll give you an example. Towards the end of the game, there was a play where Andrew Wiggins with one, it was that final possession with like 20-something seconds left. Warriors are down one. And the warriors actually get downhill. and create triple penetration, get a paint touch, and they kick to Andrew Wiggins in the weak side corner, and he misses the shot. And I get it. Like, Steph Curry's hot. You're thinking, get the ball to Steph, but that's a great shot for a good shooter, right? Whereas even the ones that

Steph and Clay were making in that fourth quarter, if you asked them, they'd probably say, you know, those are tougher shots in our shot diet, shots that were capable of making, but ideally we'd want to get something better. I felt like Steph and Clay were playing a little bit of home run ball there in that fourth quarter. And again, like that's where we have to separate process and results. They made a few of those, but then they kept trying to do that and it wasn't working, right? And there was no rhythm and flow on their offense. And then they did finally generate a wide open shot for Wiggins and he missed it. So I do believe that over the course of the series, the pathway to victory for the Warriors is figuring out how to contain the basketball on the defensive end of the floor and then improving their

offensive process. Don't play home run ball. The Kings are defending the three point line really well. The pain opportunities are there. They can't protect the rim. That's your opportunity to attack, finish at the rim when you have the opportunity to, and generate higher quality three point shots on the perimeter that are off the catch or your stand still facing the rim either wide open or a close out coming that you can attack, right? Like, shot quality is going to bear out over a seven game series. In a one game sample, size anything can happen. There was a really tough shot that Harrison Barnes hit down the stretch of that game like a pound dribble step back pull up three. Really tough shot. Tip the cap, one game

sample that like that can happen. But if you don't solve the shot, the shot quality dynamic, then over seven games, that's not going to work out in your favor. I just rewatched, I watched the fourth quarter of Kings Warriors at a bar in Los Angeles, at an airport bar in Los Angeles while we were waiting for our flight. And I rewatched it just now and just kind of looked at all the offensive possessions there in that fourth quarter. And like look at the king's shots. Like there's, there were a couple tough ones in there, right? Like the Harrison Barnes one was tough. That there was a step back from Deeran Fox over Dremont Green that was tough. But outside of that, it's a lot of like Deer and Fox getting tons of separation into a floater, getting all the way to the rim trying to

dunk on people. Malik Monk getting in. into the lane and drawing fouls and getting to the rim and transition, just beating guys off the dribble and getting incredibly high-quality shots. The two threes that Deeran Fox hit in the fourth quarter, like, yeah, he's not the same type of shooter as Steph Curry, but he's pretty damn open. Those are good looks for a guy who's having a really good shooting season and has been one of the best players in the league this year. So again, like the series won't flip until they flip the shot quality dynamic. From the standpoint of the Kings, I was just generally impressed with their effort. We talked in our series preview about how they might need to balance out the dynamic of shot

creation versus defensive personnel. We saw a lot of Davion Mitchell in this game. He did a really nice job defending Jordan Poole. That's going to be a dynamic. They're going to have to continue to figure out over the course of the series, especially since Malik Munk in particular can run a little bit hot and cold. And there's no guarantee that he'll continue to shoot that well throughout the series. A lot of good if you're a Kings fan. Your guards seem to be defending well. Sabonis didn't play very well. You have to think that he's going to play better over the course of the series. Malik Monk in his game translating to the playoffs, lots and lots of good and a lot to be excited about if you're a Kings fan. That said, you know, the Warriors have a championship

pedigree. I do believe that they can improve some process things that will help them particularly on the offensive end of the floor. And then on the defensive end of the floor, look, like we were looking after game three against Boston, like they can't guard these guys. And then you know what? Suddenly they guarded those guys. And I talked a lot about this before, but when you stand eye to eye with a ball handler and he starts to make moves on you, it might work one time, it might work 10 times. once it gets up to 20, 30, 40 times, you've seen that same dribble combination. You've seen that same move. You've seen that same body language.

You start to solve the offensive player. And that's where over the course of a series, like only the truly great players continue to create advantages. And you hope that that starts to swing in your favor in the long run. But big time win for the Kings, warriors are still in this. That was an incredibly exciting first game of that series. And I think we all figured that that would be the most entertaining game in the first round. And it definitely lived up to the hype.

But good start for the Kings. Warriors need to contain the basketball better and stop going for home runs on offense, play some Warriors basketball. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say. Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that

not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, let's move on to Knicks Cavs.

So when I picked the Knicks to beat the Cavs, there were a couple of specific reasons that I was looking at. One, I thought that Jalen Brunson would be able to. able to hold up well in the matchup with Donovan Mitchell, primarily as a decision maker, right? I thought that bared out today. Donovan Mitchell had put on a ridiculous show. Just like the level of shot making, there was that wild stretch in the fourth quarter. It was like steel bucket, steel bucket, steel bucket, like he, Donovan Mitchell's insane. But here's the problem. He can also kind of go through these extended stretches where he just tries to shoot himself out of every situation, right? It's like just that tiny bit of Westbrook that he

has in him. And I thought you saw that a little bit at the end of the third quarter when the Knicks were going on their run. And Jalen Brunson, he doesn't have the athletics healing that Donovan Mitchell has. He doesn't have the ability to get separation against superior athletes the way that Donovan Mitchell does, but he's just a little bit more measured in his approach. He's much more methodical and he's a better playmaker. And so, like, I thought that would just be able to bridge that gap. And you know what? Like, Jalen Brunson had a little bit of a rough night in the early portions of the game. He was struggling a bit with Isaac Oro, and then he kind of picked his spots, right? Like, right there at the end of the third, and then right there at the end of the fourth quarter,

he just knew his time to get involved offensively. And again, when you spam high pick and roll all game long, the way that Donovan Mitchell does, eventually, and again, what did I say in the series preview? the Knicks guards are the strength of their defense. And so if the Knicks guards get an extra 30, 40 reps guarding the same high pick and roll offense that the Cavs run every single time, they're just going to figure out how to get good contests on Donovan Mitchell. And I don't care how talented he is, those pull up contested jump shots are going to be missed more than half of the time, which means you can go through cold spells. And that's exactly what happened, especially when they need.

baskets towards the end of the game. I thought one of the most interesting matchup things in this series. I talked a lot about this in the series preview again was can the calves keep Isaac Koro on the floor when he's clearly their best perimeter defender, but he's one of the worst spot-up players in the league. I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head, but Isaac Akoro is converting spot-up possessions at an extremely low rate, despite the fact that he's shooting the three-ball well, although he did not shoot the ball well in this particular game. I said, Isaac Okoro needs to shoot in the 40s from three to keep him on the floor for his defensive impact.

They ended up going with Chetty Osman instead, and Jalen Brunson just picked on him at the end of that game, getting him on switches, beating him off the dribble for easy shots. And again, that's the thing. Donovan Mitchell can make the most amazing shots in the world because he's one of the most gifted athletes in the world. He's one of the best basketball players in the world. But he doesn't have that methodical surgeon approach that Jalen Brunson has. where he's just picking on your worst defender and getting easy shots.

And that's what separates him. And that's why I believe, even though Donovan has that higher upside, that Jalen can outplay him in this series. You saw Julius Randall just bring that different, like, that versatility element that I talk about all the time, winning the game with physicality. It's clear that as talented as Evan Mobley is, he's just a little too thin for Julius. He's struggling to contain him in boxouts. He's struggling to stop him from getting to his spots.

That's not going to change over the course of the series. In fact, that might get worse. Not only as Julius gets in better shape, but he's the bigger, stronger player. He's not going to wear down the way that Evan Mobley does. You know, I said this going into the series. The Knicks were, what, 17th in defense during the regular season, but the thing I said was they defend the calves well. And you know what?

They defended the calves well again tonight. I would honestly, I would consider just going with Isaac Coro anyway, even if he's not playing well enough offensively, embrace the rock fight. In general, they need to compete better physically. Like, Mowgli and Allen just got bullied on the front line. The Nix guards bullied the Cavs guards to rebounding position as well. The offensive glass was a huge factor in this game. What did I say in the preview? I said, Josh Hart's winning impact would scream off of the screen. When you watched that game today, did it feel like Josh Hart's winning impact would scream off the screen. Again, it's just one game. It's a long series. The Cavs were favored for a reason.

They're a good team. They have a lot of talent. They absolutely can come back and win this thing. But the concerning thing for the Cavs is all of these specific matchup pieces that I saw as advantages for the Knicks going into the series have played out as advantages for the Knicks early in the series. They have to find a way to flip that on their head. Find some diversity offensively mix things up. Don't attack the same exact way every single time. You have to play defensive personnel that can switch because Jalen Brunson is going to attack you throughout the game. You have to compete more in the physicality areas of the game. They simply have to play better. I think that was probably the most disappointing thing for the Cavs is they would get some stops

towards the end of the game and then here would come another offensive rebound just to suck the life out of their sales. But yeah, a very entertaining first day. We will be going, I'm not sure if we're going live or covering the games just through a video upload to YouTube. That entirely depends on my Wi-Fi situation when we get to Whistler tomorrow. But just keep an eye on my Twitter feed at underscore Jason LT. That's where I'll kind of post show announcements and keep you guys posted as to how everything's

going. I apologize again for the delay on this video. But hey, it's a happy. Happy birthday present to my wife. I appreciate you guys, and I will see you. The Volume. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.