The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Draymond Green Show - Warriors-Nuggets Game Three, Celtics-Nets & Grizzlies-Timberwolves Predictions + Injury Bug

Episode Date: April 22, 2022

On 'The Draymond Green Show' Dray breaks down the Warriors big win over the Nuggets in game three including his game-sealing steal on Nikola Jokic. Then he goes into the other playoff series' and gives his adjustments that he thinks each team should make. Finally he talks about the playoff injury bug that's going around and how it might affect the outcomes. #Herd Produced by: Jackson SafonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. The Draymond Green Show is presented by Fanduil Sportsbook. There's no better place to bet the action than on Fandul Sportsbook during the football season. It's easy to use. It's safe and secure. You get payouts in as fast as two hours. There's so many bet types. My favorite same game parlay bets.

There's live betting, player props, futures. If you're new, just download the Fandual Sportsbook app. To get started now, sign up. Please use the promo code Colin C-O-L-I-N. Fandul, Sportsbook, makes it easy. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Dremont Green Show. Like we said earlier this week, there would be no guests during the playoffs,

but we are going to try and do two shows a week so I can keep you updated on my thoughts about the playoffs, so on including our series as well. we are actually recording this right after game three, which you could probably see I still can't stop sweating it. But let's get into it, man. I mean, game three, takeaways from game three. Jordan Poole like that. Jordan Poole is the most improved player in the NBA.

I'm going to keep saying that until they get sick of me saying it and actually change the way the voting is because it's absolutely ridiculous, the voting system. and if you don't think it's ridiculous, then look no further than Jordan Poole, who was on all-NBA third, excuse me, was on all-NBAG League third team last year.

And now he's the leader's scorer to go to state warriors in the playoffs, championship contender. I'm still waiting on someone to show me who improved more than that. So my fight is one of two things. or maybe even both. Number one is change the voting system.

Number two, change the name of the award or add a criteria to what actually makes someone most improved player or what makes someone the MVP or what makes someone a defensive player at a year. Let's just identify what exactly that is because it's ridiculous. So, yeah, I'm talking about Jordan Poole. again. And if you're watching basketball, you would be talking about them too. Or if you knew what you were

watching, some people out there, not everybody. But, you know, there's a lot of people out there that think they know this game of basketball. And it's just not the case. So, and again, we can see that because Jordan Poo is not the most improved player. Jordan Poole is not even the most improved player of the player finalists. So when I say people don't know basketball, look no further than that. Joker had a big game tonight. I told y'all after game one, he was trying to go for, he was going to try to go for 40, 20 or 40, 15 and 15. He almost did it tonight.

I mean, didn't get the assist, which is important. You know, you don't want all the other guys getting off. And, you know, tonight they had Aaron Gordon had his best game of the series, which was big for them, which was a huge part of the reason, you know, the game was that tight down the stretch. But Joker was amazing, man. I thought they did a great job of playing in space with him, picking and popping.

He did the great job attacking clothesouts. My clothesouts were terrible. Coach Kerr got at me when he called that time out when Joker pump faked me with like three minutes to go, got down in laying and got the layup. He called a time out and got at me. Like, stop jumping off your feet. I had done it like four or five times. And I went back at coach a little bit.

I'm like, well, I'm getting drug all the way down the floor. And it's an impossible close. out. You're like, well, make him hit the shot. I'm like, well, he already hit two of them. Two for three. Well, he's going to get a layup if you keep doing that. And so we had a little moment. Nothing like the moments used to be. It's just him challenging me. And I asked a question that he say this and then I say this and then, you know, coach get the final say. And that was that. He tried to change the coverage. I told him no. Don't change the coverage. I'll figure it out. And was able to get some stops down the stretch, come up with a big steal. You know,

That's still, he took the first dribble. And once he took the first bounce, he hit me and I still had inside position. So once I realized I still had inside position, my mind immediately turns to see the ball. And so on the second bounce, it was like away from his body. And so that's advantaged me because I can use my quickness and I can use my length. I got pretty long arms, seven, two wingspan at six, five, and three quarters. that's pretty solid. So I knew that that was to my advantage.

So I'm like, okay, now I'm thinking if he takes one more dribble like this, I'm a stab at it. And if I get it, great. But what I'm thinking is I know I can either get it or just take a swipe at it and not foul because he had the ball so far away from his body. And I just took a stab at it. I got a good hit on the ball.

And you know you get a good piece of the ball when you knock the ball away and it like spin to you. When it take that spin, sometimes you knock the ball away and it just go straight out the guy run back and get it. But I knocked it away and it took that backspin on me. I said, oh, yeah, got this one. But, I mean, the reality is he had got the better of me all night. And, you know, he had won the match up for tonight.

I thought I wanted a match up in the first two games. But he had one to match up tonight. And, you know, I've always said it's going to be some nights like that where he's getting off and, you know, you just try to make it tough. and there's really just nothing you can do. However, I think I definitely aid it in him getting off. Now, take that the wrong ways, an absolutely great player. But I thought I left my feet way too much on shot fakes.

I thought I gave him way too many angles to score, and I took my body off of him way too much. Now, you ask yourself why? Number one, that Denver altitude ain't no joke. That Denver altitude is serious. Ohio City for a reason. You go to breathing. And so, excuse my bad breathing, but that's how you feel on the basketball court in Denver.

I mean, and so kudos the Joker, man. He showed up like an MVP would. One thing we do know about him is he's not soft. He's not shined away from no wreck. You know, he won't a wreck. And he carried his team tonight. Down the stretch, we made plays that we needed to make Steph Curry is absolutely incredible. the way Steph Curry bounces back from injuries is like,

like dude don't miss a beat. Like maybe in the first, you know, when he step out on the court, the first time he's back out there, it's like getting a field. But look no further than that first stint because he does not miss a beat. And I'm not saying this after this series. I'm not saying this just tonight.

Like we've seen this over and over again. And playoff time. I know y'all remember that game three in Portland, where he came back. and we won that thing in a single or double overtime. And Steph Curry took over the fourth quarter in overtime. I think he might have had 30 points in fourth quarter and overtime. Like, Steph's no stranger to this.

We're no stranger to this with Steph, but the way he bounced back from injury, I mean, it is absolutely insane. One of the reporters asked me tonight, like, so how do you compare the way Steph Curry comes off of injury and the way you come off of injury? Well, he's just only the best shooter to ever live. and that's clockwork.

You know, now, I don't know why I can't. I'm a rhythm player. I'm a field guy. I need that feel. Steph's just kind of go. Like, he ain't looking for no feel. He's just kind of going and taking what the defense's giving him and making the defense give him stuff.

So Steph's been incredible. We spoke about Jordan Poole. Clay Thompson, not only did Clay Thompson shoot the ball well, and I'm going to tell you a very deceiving stat. And if you don't believe it's deceiving, go back and watch the game and pay attention. Clay Thompson battled with Joker

down the stretch on rebounds after I got switched off for different things and Clay got his hand on every rebound down the stretch. He only had one rebound for the game which was very shocking to me because it does not tell the story

that he does not tell the story of him on the boards. Andre Goddala, Bigman has come up with some big Boers Guard, Joker, Garden, DeMarcus cousins. dunked on Will Barton, turned back to hand of time.

Oh, man, you know, it's always good to see Dre take off like that, but Drey was huge down the stretch. And then Wiggins was out of the game, comes back in the game, hits a big three, gets an offensive rebound, gets a stop on Joker. Like, those are the plays that win championships.

It's not what everyone thinks. Everybody just comes down and shoot threes. Those are the plays that wins games, wins you championships. and kudos to Wiggins, the guy who's been drugged through the mud where everybody say the guy don't show up. He only had nine points. I hope everyone can see past that and see the game.

Guys playing big time basketball in the first three games of this series. We expect nothing less and we expect them to keep it going. And then Gary Payton, man, GP came out fire and hit three-threes in the first quarter, which was great for us. You know, when you're coming on the road, the one thing we expected coming into this game where they were going to be super physical. You can see Aaron Gordon climbing and the guys right from the gate. Now, you know, you do that and, you know, guys go by you and it gets tough. But their mindset was exactly what we thought it would be. They took on the personality of their

head coach, very hard nose, you know, he's going to come with it. They came with it and you got to get him credit. But that is the ultimate gut punch. When you go on the road up to and a team is giving you their best shot in game three. And you can take those punches and come out with the win and set yourself up for a suite. Put yourself in position for a suite. That's the ultimate gut punch. And there's no better feeling than walking off a court

and you can hear a pin drop. It doesn't get better than that when you go on the road in the playoffs. I mean, that is like that's the ultimate feeling as an athlete. I enjoyed that one, man, and I hope everyone else enjoyed it. You know, game four going to be tough. Those boys just not going away. I ask you a question.

Absolutely. You had five fouls for the majority of the end of that game, and you're obviously a very physical defender, and you know Yoko is trying to get into your body. So what's your thought process when you have five fouls or guarding a guy like that, A, for the entire last few minutes of the game, but especially on that last possession when you're going for that. steal, like what is going through your mind? Are you trying to defend him differently?

What are you doing differently or not differently when you have five thousand guarding a player like that with that in the fourth quarter especially? I had a, that play was actually kind of deja vu for me. I had a play like that some years back against New Orleans in the playoffs. And Anthony Davis right on that same side. And if I'm not mistaken, I may have had five foul in that game too. I think the way I look at that one is on the still in particular, that is a very calculated risk. Like, I'm not, I see where the ball is. I'm reaching out, you know what I'm saying?

I'm not like trying to get through his body to get the ball. I'm just reaching and slapping at the ball. And so that one is a very calculated risk. And saying that, five fouls or four minutes to go, if I file out, then guys just got to pick up the slack. But I can't play the last four minutes worried about picking on my six file because guess what he's going to do? He's going to take advantage thinking he got five files.

He's not trying to file again. Well, that's not me. I'm going to play defense. I'm going to keep my hands out, try to make sure I don't get any tic-tack files. But ultimately, if he makes a great move and he make me file him, he's a great player. That happens sometimes. And so I didn't think much about the five files at all. I thought more about the four files when I picked up that four.

or early, I thought more about that one than the fifth file. The fifth one, four minutes to go, you're just going to have to file me out right there, champ, because what I can't do is just give up buckets trying to stay in the game. If I'm going to just give up buckets, I might as well go sit down. So for me, the mindset don't change with five files with under four minutes to go. The mindset is still the mindset. You got to get stops and we're going other way. Man, as we talked about before, that Celtics Net series is absolutely incredible.

You got the nets up 17 points, everything going. their way. And let's talk about something else that happened last night with that game that most people don't know is really a thing, but it's a real thing. The emotions of someone receiving a big award before the game is it takes the emotions of a team everywhere. I've been a part of a couple of Steph Curry moments that he gets the war, one for myself. And I would love to know what actual winning percentage the team has after a guy receives a big award. It is very hard. Like, when you're a part of these teams, you go through these seasons and you grow so tight with guys and you have to be tight in order to win. And when you see one of your brothers get

a big time award, like you feel like you got that award. And then boom, it's time to play a game. The emotions that you still have from that award, it's hard to flip to that game. But you know who flips right to the game? That team that's watching you get that award. And last night, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irwin took full advantage of that, I mean, the Nets, obviously. But they took full advantage of that to start that game. And then Boston found their legs.

They found their feet. They got going. And then the game was back and forth. Celtics took the league. Nets took it back. And then ultimately the Celtics took the league back. But, I mean, you have to give Boston a lot of credit on the way. they defended Kyrie and KD, but in particular KD.

Kay just looked like he couldn't find the rhythm. Now, I was very shocked that they had him bringing the ball up so much because guys were just getting into him at half court climbing into his treble. And it looked to make him a little uncomfortable. Now, I wouldn't expect that if I'm Boston going into the next game. You know, you get one, but you ain't locking that guy down for an entire series.

and they've done a very good job these first two games. I mean, you got guys flying at him left and right. Every time he shoot the ball is two guys contesting his shot. One, coming from the review, a guy in front. You got guys on the side of him contesting his shot. I mean, the defense boss in his plan is absolutely incredible. I expect Brooklyn to put KD in more pin down to where he's catching the ball like at the free throw line at the elbow area

because good luck stopping them with those. So I was a little shocked by how much he handled the ball. I thought one good sign for Brooklyn was Bruce Brown, Goron, and those guys playing as well as they played on the road, because role players typically don't play great on the road. Now, Dragha just been here. You know, we know Draghi's track record. We know he shows up in big games.

But for Bruce Brown to go have the games that he had was absolutely incredible. and now he's going home. I don't know if people aren't expecting it, but you should be expecting him to have a huge game going back home. And so if he can continue to play that way, you get some of the other guys going. Seth Curry, you know, he's playing through injury and going through all of those things.

Ben Simmons is expected to return in game four. I'm not sure how I feel about that. to miss the entire season of basketball and then going to game for, which could possibly be a close-out game, could be a possible tie, a game to tie it up. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

And I know he's getting pressure from that way, that way, that way, and that way. But the reality is to not play in a game. And the Nuggets have been talking about this with Jamar Murray. And I'm just like, to not play in a game all year and then go right into a playoff game, I worry about that.

I mean, just keep up with that intensity. Like, I worry about that. So, I mean, we'll see what happens. Maybe they'll pull it back. Hopefully they will pull it back. But I don't quite love that one. And, you know, you bring a guy back after missing the entire season. Like, is, are you expecting him to be the savior?

I don't honestly think Brooklyn needs saves. I mean, they had game 1-1 and was up 17 in game 2. Now, you got to close the games out and stuff, but I'm a little worried about Ben Simmons coming back. I mean, we'll see what happens, but I worry about that one. But with all the pressure that's coming from every angle, I doubt that they'll pull back on it,

but that's something to watch. And, you know, these guys have never played with him. It's not even like he's returning to the same team. That kind of knows, I don't know, man, we'll see. But I was a little shocked by that one. So we'll see. But I would definitely be tuned into that game three because that series is amazing.

You got great scores on both sides. Boston Celtics defense is absolutely incredible. E-May Udoka's doing a great job. Mark is smart as being a true point guard. I mean, Jalen Brown is taking better and better shots. J.T. took a couple questionable shots in that third quarter. I was actually about to text J.T. and say, hey, man, you're playing a little soft right now, J.T.

But just like any great player does, he had a little moment where he had a couple of turnovers, then he had that side step on the left wing. Tough one after he just had babbled the ball when they threw the pass over the top. He bumbled it and missed. Like, he was having a rough stretch. And I was about to text when I said, I'm going to hold off. And then he did what J.T. does. Down the stretch, put them away.

Draggage was ready to contest that dribble. Uh-uh. I'm bigger than you. I'm just bigger than you. I'm going to raise up. And he raised up. Candle boys sent them back to Brooklyn. But now they got to go into Brooklyn.

and I think that's going to be tough. So I'm looking forward to how Katie and Kyrie going to respond. I've played years with Kevin, played against Kyrie a bunch of years. You don't keep guys like that down. So I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond and how Brooklyn respond. But that series is far from over. So game three is going to be very exciting. And then Memphis and Minnesota, I don't even know what to say about that game.

Minnesota built up two seasons. separate 22 plus point leads. Two separate leads. Now, like, the lead didn't get cut to 16 and they took it back to 25. The league got cut to five, and then they took it back to 26. Then they lost the lead.

But how many times have you seen a team get up 22 points and 25 points at separate times and not score 100 points? That's interesting. that's very interesting and there are some things to take away from that one that mean Memphis went on some huge scoring droughts as did Minnesota um but some huge scoring droughts and two how do you how do you get up that much and not even break a hundred twice you got up that much that's mind-boggling to me and I was watching this game in the locker room before our game so I am I know exactly what was

and I was watching it. Carl Towns three for four from the field. I'm sorry. Filed trouble or no foul trouble. Carl Towns can't go three for four from the field. And you actually still should have won the game. Carl Towns has to take more than four shots. And I think this is, I mean, this is maybe the second time

in the last four games that he's taking seven shots or less. That's your best player. That's your all-star. Carl Towns has to shoot the ball. If Minnesota is going to have a chance to even, this series upheaded back to Memphis, Carl Towns has to shoot 15 plus shots. Carl Towns has to take advantage, full advantage of his game,

three, block, whatever. Carl Towns has to shoot the ball more. If I'm Minnesota, if I'm Memphis, and Patrick Beverly wants to ISO-Jive replay, you have to live with that. See, Patrick Beverly got it going early, and he finished with 14 points, and he was in attack the whole game,

but he finished five for 13. If you're Memphis, that's exactly what you want. Because if Patrick Beverly is attacking Jaya replay, that means DeAngelo's not shooting. That means Anthony Edwards is not shooting. That means Carl Towns, who is three for four from the field, is not shooting the basketball. So if I'm Minnesota, I'm not sure exactly what I want is what Patrick Beverly did.

Now, we all know Pat Bev and, you know, he's a dog. He's going to get with it, and he's going to try to show guys up. That's what he do. but if I'm the Minnesota Timberwolves, as much as you love what Pat was bringing to the game, you got to get the ball to the guys that scored the points. And that didn't happen. So, you know, when Patrick Beverly, now you're Memphis,

you don't want Jock getting in foul trouble. So that's tough. But if Patrick Beverly just wants to ISO-Jarmerant, if I'm the opposing team, I'm living with that. You have to live with that because, again, that's taking the ball out of your best scoreers' hands. So we'll see what that adjustment will be. Will Patrick Beverly be as aggressive as he was? I think the aggression is great, but I thought it got a little carried away because, again, Carl Towns was three for four.

So Anthony Edwards didn't shoot it as well as he's been shooting it this game. So if you're Minnesota, what are your takeaways from that game? We know we can build a lead. We know these guys aren't going away. What do we have to do in order to actually win these games? See, down the stretch, I know Carl Thomas went in the rhythm, but the gravity that he pulls, I got to get him the ball on the post. They're not playing Stephen Adams anymore.

So now you should be going to the post. The advantage of early in the series was on the wing. Now the advantage is in the post They're not playing their biggest guy So guess what? You go to the post, you take advantage of those guys in the post What are they going to do?

They're going to say, oh, you kill us in the pros We bring Stephen Adams back. All right, then you mosey on back to the perimeter. You got to play the game within the game. So I was very shot that Carl Towns is still catching the ball at the top of the key, man. He should be getting post touches, especially with them going with the smaller lineups.

So I think that'll be one of Minnesota's adjustment and look for Carl. Charles to come out extremely aggressive to start that game for. And if I'm, if I'm, if I'm, if I'm, if I'm, if I'm Memphis, I'm probably throwing double teams at Carl Towns to start that game for it because he's going to come out aggressive. And you get him going, then he's starting to kick out to those other guys. All of a sudden it's not Patrick Beverly, Isle and Joss. Patrick Beverly getting open corner threes because there's so much help has to come.

So, uh, we'll see, man. And then lastly, before we get out of here, the injury bug, we have been hit with the injury bug all year, so we know how it goes. But you got Chris Middleton, who will be re-evaluated in two weeks. That's a huge blow for Milwaukee. Going into Chicago, tied at one-to-one, missing. See, Chris Middleton is Milwaukee's closer.

Like, they don't go to Yonis down the stretch to get a bucket. They put Yonis and Chris Middleton in picking rolls, and then Chris Middleton makes the play. So that's a huge loss. I expect Drew to be way more aggressive, how to ball a lot more. But, I mean, we'll see what happens with Chicago. If they can keep taking advantage of, you know,

the way they did the other night, Vucevich was incredible. DeMar de Rosen. Demar got it going. DeMar said, I'm not, I won't shoot five for 26 again. He did not shoot five for 26 again. 40, had a 40 ball.

was one of three players in Chicago, well, the last three players for certain in Chicago to score 40 ball with the playoffs was your erroneous, Michael Jordan, the man himself, MVP D. Rose, and DeMarge Rosen. I mean, absolutely incredible game by Demar said, you know what, I'm going to just get to my spot, I'm going to raise up.

And he did that all night. And then to lose the lead, up three, go straight at Yonis, take the contact with the finish, Got to get that man all the credit. He told you all what he was going to do, and he went out there and did it. D. Book goes out with a hamstring injury. And I think the thing to watch with D. Book's hamstring injury is this isn't

Book's first hamstring injury. You know, like this is maybe Book's fifth or sixth hamstring injury. And so you have, that's not like, I spraying my ankle, which I did tonight, by the way. That's not like I spraying my ankle. Let's tape this up and let's give it a go. Hamstring, you got no. explosion and you can't move. And so that's a big

loss for Phoenix. That loss gives New Orleans the two best players on the court, which is hard to overcome. Now, no disrespect to CP. CPS 37. I don't personally think C.P. is going to give you

all of that for 48 straight minutes. At this age, he can give it to your stretches, but to carry the low for 48 straight minutes, game after game after game, that is a very tough thing to do. So we know CP's capable, but that's very, very, very hard to do.

And you got to guard guys on the other end. It's not like C.P. can just go sit on somebody and take a break. He got a guard on the other end. And so New Orleans is in a great position, head of home up one to one. I know nobody expected this, but that is the playoffs.

Things happen, injuries happen. That is all a part of the game. That is all a part of winning championships or not. And it's unfortunate you hate to see guys out, but, you know, that's the hand that Phoenix was dealt. Now, they have great depth. They've used that debt all year. Again, you're removing the best player in the series, so that's tough. But we'll see if they can rely on that depth.

We got Lucas still out, Miss Game 3, but Dallas, Jalen Brunson is playing incredible. Jesus Christ, he's playing incredible. And all the other guys are playing well. They seem to be taking advantage of Rudy Goldberg, space on the floor, and, you know, he collapses in. That's a very normal thing for a big man. You put them out in space, their natural instinct is going to be to retreat to the rim.

That's what you've been taught your whole life. And they're taking full advantage of that. They're two to one without their star. I don't think Luca comes back game four. Why would you even bring him back game four? You got a free swing. At worst, you bring them back game five if it's two to two. If it's three to one, you still bring them back in game five

because you want to get yourself the best chance to close the series. That's if he's healthy. If there's any shot of a doubt, you just keep pushing it back. But you got to get those guys' credit the way that they're stepping up. Jay Kidd is doing a great job. And Jared Dudley, this game plan that Dallas has going on, has Jared Dudley's name written all over it. Does come up with some crazy schemes.

And I think that I think that game plan has his name written all over it. But get those guys credit. And then last team hit with the injury bug, young fella Scotty Barnes, the Toronto Raptors. Scotty Barnes is day-to-day with a foot injury. It's a big dude. He's a lot bigger than most people think. So foot injuries can be tricky.

Down 3-0. Do you rush him back on a foot injury? injury, probably going to get swept. I'm not sure I rushed back my young fellow to get swept anyway. So we'll see what happens with that, man, but I'm wishing all those guys good health. You never want to see anyone get hurt. And, you know, this is what we do. And I always say, you don't lead a court and not live that injury. You live that every second of the day. So I wish those guys well and getting back healthy. And, you know, we'll see. We'll see. what happens and how this affects these series

because injuries is a part of it, but it definitely affects outcomes. Before we get out of here, do you see the the warrior stat that's going around released by Warriors PR? I have not seen the Warriors stat. What is that? The Warriors have won at least one road game in each of their last 24

playoff series, an NBA record streak that began with the road victory in Denver, first round of the 2013 playoffs. Hey now, deja vu. You know what? Raymond Ritter told me right out of the game. He said, up, yeah, up, bang. You want a road game in every series, you guys right here. So, I mean, I always say, you know, even if you got home court advantage, you don't want

to be that team that's just trying to win home games. That's so much pressure. If you can go take one in the world, you go take one. Now, we did that. I'd like to get greedy and get two on the row. So that's the goal from here. You know, guys got to stick with it. We got, I think we got to do a better job executing the game plan.

We didn't do that today, and that starts with me. I was terrible executing game plan, so we got to do better. Road wins are hard to come by, but it was ugly, but we pulled it out. Got to come back Sunday looking to pull the brooms out. That's what it's all about. You got to get greedy. That's what we spoke to our guys about. Get greedy.

Don't settle for one. I thought watching that Minnesota-Mefice series last game before tonight in game two, I thought Minnesota looked like, God, we're going back home, we did our job, and then you lose one at home. You got to take advantage of those opportunities. So that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to come out in game four in this series,

not give them any life, not give them any hope. But that's a wrap from this episode of the Dremont Green Show. I will talk to y'all hopefully after we close this series out on Sunday, pop back next week. Until then, Dremont Green Show. It's a wrap. Peace.