The Ringer NBA Show - Ep. 3: 'NBA Show' With Bill Simmons and Tate Frazier

Episode Date: May 6, 2016

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons grabs Tate Frazier on a Friday morning to figure out who's winning OKC-Spurs, whether Kyrie's latest hot streak is legit, why Atlanta and Toronto's backcourt are sputtering, how to beat the Curry-less Warriors, and whether Warriors-Cavs is just plain inevitable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, everyone, it's Friday morning, West Coast time. We're doing a quickie NBA pot. I had a lot of thoughts. I didn't want to just tweet all this stuff. I thought it would be more fun to just put this on a podcast. This is presented by the Ringer Podcast Network. Don't forget to check out the BS podcast, Channel 33.

The watch and keeping it 1,600. We are spinning off onto their own feeds next week and Shackhouse as well. Anyway, NBA playoffs. So here are my thoughts. Tate Frazier is with me. Hey, Bill. I'm just going to throw stuff at you and you beat my straight man for all my random thoughts. And then I'm going to let you do your Kyle Lowry.

Okay. First of all, Atlanta. Yeah. I'm very disappointed in them. And I have noticed that, you know, obviously my team was playing them in round one. Jeff T got hurt during that series. Yep. And he's a shell of himself.

And I looked up his stats. And he is nine for 30 in the last three games, 70 minutes total. Horford, 54 points total in his last six games. And Millsap had 45 points in game three of the Boston series. 74 total in the other seven games. So here's my first question, I guess, is, is Cleveland that good? Or is Atlanta just shitting the bed? It feels like it's more shitting the bed.

Yeah. Right? It feels like they're, like, facing their own demons of being swept from last year. And they play so far off LeBron. Yeah. It just looks like he has a field day, and they just like pass it around the perimeter and hit threes. J.R. Smith looks like one of the best three points years in the NBA in the series. Well, so two things with the calves.

One, Kyrie is playing like a madman. Yeah. This is the – Kyrie comes in waves, and like he had a great wave last year, like, around February, March, 2015, where it was like, oh, my God. Yeah. What would he have 60 points? Yeah, he had – was it 63, right in that one day? Yeah, yeah. So he's 25 and 5.

the playoffs he's making his three he's taking like seven threes a game he's making over 50% of them and he's starting to look like the kairi we've been waiting for for a year now flip side of this he's going against detroit reggie jackson yeah he's going against injured jeff teague and shruder uh are you buying kairi or selling i'm selling selling selling well is it just because you hate duke no it's not because of that but i think that at the end of the day delvedova is the one that is going to be like their guy. Like I think LeBron and the pick and roll with Delvedova is more important to the Cavaliers

than Kyrie having like, you know, his big performances. I disagree. I think they need Kyrie to be awesome to beat the Warriors because if you think about what is the Warriors, I know you love the Warriors. It's one of your 19 favorite teams. If you think about the Warriors Achilles' heel, it's stopping people exactly like Kyrie Irving.

Yeah. It's stopping the point guard that can score. Yeah. It's stopping the point guard ranging from like 5-9 to 6-foot-2 who can get into the paint and shoot threes. They don't really have anyone on their roster to guard that guy. Yeah. So if I'm a Cavs fan, and the Cavs fans think I hate Cleveland, whatever, I don't know what to tell you.

They think everybody hates Cleveland. Yeah, you think everyone's against you. That's fine. I don't blame me. I want to tie it on 52 years. I would totally be that way as well. If I'm a Cavs fan, Kyrie is my hope.

LeBron is LeBron. LeBron never gets hurt. He's going to give you the 27, 8, and 8 every single game. And he's in the last five minutes a game, he's going to be able to put his head down and get shots and get to the rim and get fouled and he'll get LeBron calls. And you know what you have on LeBron. Yeah.

Love comes and goes. I noticed love in the last, there was a big Kevin Love Renaissance conversation. Last three games, he's 10 for 44. He got left out of the three-point shot party in game two. Yeah. Kyrie is the guy for them because ultimately whether Love plays well or not, they can throw Thompson in, they can go small with LeBron at the four, all that stuff. But they need Kyrie.

And I don't know if I trust him. And I don't know why I would have a reason to trust him. I don't think that he's proven that he can be trusted. But he has the talent, right? You wouldn't be shocked if he just was hot the rest of the way. No, I wouldn't be shocked if they were playing a series. And it's Kyrie. And he puts himself on that stage and is like, I'm this guy.

I can be that guy. But he hasn't done it. Right. And I think Delvedova has done more on that big stage and he has. Like I trust Delvedova to take a big charge to be handsy with Steph. Like I trust him to guard Steph and to disrupt Steph more than I trust Kyrie to be the primary score on offense. I don't think that's like. But I don't think they can be Golden State with Deli.

Yeah. I think they have to have Kyrie. Yeah. Kyrie is their guy. Yeah. I looked up LeBron. We just forget how unbelievable. Lebronis.

Yeah, he's a machine. Lebron has played 184 playoff games in the last 11 years. He's averaging 42.4 minutes per game in those 184 playoff games, which is fucking insane. Yeah, it's insane. I don't remember him missing a playoff game. No, he hasn't. I was racking my brain. I was like, has LeBron ever, like, had a sprained ankle, pulled hamstring?

I don't think so. No. He had the one, he had the cramps in the 2012 finals. Yeah, but that was like more of, I don't know. That was like the AC going out. That was more of a spectacle, I think, than anything. Oh, you think that was his version of the Jordan Flu game? Yeah.

I think he wanted to overcome like a big obstacle in a big moment. It's a hot take. Yeah, no, I mean, whatever. So 184 playoff games, he's putting up a 28, 9, and 7 every game. Yeah, he's incredible. And he's 27.4 PR and 42.4 minutes a game. And he's a machine. You know what you're getting with LeBron.

Yeah. Kyria is the X factor for them. And I'm not breaking. I'm not breaking news by saying that. But if they can keep him going in this Atlanta series, which they should, because the matchup is so favorable to them. And then next round, I think Miami's going to win. That series is a train wreck, but I'm assuming Miami's going to win. Yeah.

They don't really have anybody to guard Kyrie either. No. It's not going to be going to Dragget. Well, you can put it. I mean, if they trust Richardson to basically go out there and try to guard Kyrie and just do it with energy, that's the only way. That's a pretty big stage for rookies. Yeah, exactly. I'm seeing Winslow's starting to feel it, which I know you love.

Yeah. But Richardson's playing more than Winslow is, which I was surprised by. I think he right now is more polished than Winslow. Like Winslow is still trying. You can still, he takes bad shots sometimes that you don't need in a play. Like you don't need him pulling up mid-ranger driving to the basket and not getting a foul, you know, and missing a layup. Right. He doesn't try.

I still, I'm buying Winslow stock. Yeah, he's good. Yeah, I like how he's carried himself, but that stage gets bigger and hotter every round. Yep. And if I'm a heat fan, I'm worried about, first of all, counting on rookies to especially like to have to handle Kyrie because I don't think Dragage can do it. Wade's had some great moments and some good alpha moments. Like some good old school, oh, this is what, you know, we grew up at the last 30 years,

like the old school alpha moments. But the same time, like missed a lot of shots in game two against Toronto, let them off the hook a little bit in game one. And I just think he is what he is at this point. He's a 20 points-of-game guy. Occasionally he'll rise to the occasion. I do wonder, like, if they're going toe-to-toe with Cleveland in round three,

they're going to have the one awesome dragage game. They'll have the one awesome Wade game. How are they winning those two other games? I mean, the only X-factor that they have is, I mean, as crazy as it sounds is White Side, you know? You don't know how, but you can't rely on White Side. but like say White Side does something freakish and they somehow win a game

where he has like 20 points, 21 rebounds and 10 blocks. So you're saying like the White Side 20, 20, 10 games. Exactly. So now that gets me to a game 7. Yeah. And then the Caps might get tight in a game 7 maybe. Or LeBron's emotions come into play.

I think the Caves are just the best team. I don't even think it gets to a game 7. I want the heat to be good. Like I just, I want it just because I want Caves heat and I like the frame. It's like this old school framework. of the kind of playoff team I like watching with the traditional point guard, the traditional point guard,

Joe Johnson and Dang is the traditional perimeter guys, rookies off the bench, whiteside. I've been more fun of Bosch was in there, obviously, but I, the Toronto Miami series of freaking rock fight. And I have never seen, I'm sure it's happened. I just, I can't remember, recent memory. Like, I voted Lowry, I think, for second team all NBA. Yeah.

second or third team. And those plays in game one when he was driving to the basket and had open shots and was trying to throw these sideways alley-ups so he wouldn't have to shoot. Yeah. That was insane. That was like watching like a ninth grader in high school who was like too big of a stage. It's like the first game in JV when you go up to varsity and you start driving in the basket and everyone's moving a little bit quicker to like cut the headlights.

And then you just don't want to get blocked in front of everybody so you just kick it out. This guy's one of the best 15 players in the league. Yeah. Do your Kyle Lowry hot take theory. My Cal Lowry hot take, I guess we could say, is basically Cal Lowry's been like a regular season like stalwart for what the past two, three years. Like especially slim Kyle Lowry this season.

He's an all-star. But when the playoffs start, like you can tell. I mean, people play defense at a different level. People are going to try to go for steals more. People are going to try to get in your head more. People are going to trap you. And when Lowry's in those moments and he has to take the big shot, it looks like it's too big of a moment for him.

So you're saying he's playing at all Madden speed during the regular season. He's going to 100%. Yeah. He's going 100%. But now in the playoffs it goes to All Madden and he's already there. He has no other gear to go to because he had already set his settings at all matter. The gears are, he's already full throttle throughout the season. So when you get to the playoffs, I think Atlanta has a little bit of a problem with this too,

where during the regular season, they're just rolling. They're trying hard every night. They're trying to get wins. They're trying to get the seed. Then when they get the playoffs and you can sort of excel, all these other teams have ramped it up a gear and you know, you just kind of hit him on that different wavelength. The Celtics were like that too, by the way. Yeah. And I think Portland's like that to some degree too.

Although they can have the Lillard. Yeah. You know, Boston occasionally we'd have the Isaiah game. Yeah. But he got hurt. And he got hurt. I blame Al Horford's butt. Yeah.

Boston wasn't very good. And Atlanta really struggled for four and a half games to figure out how to beat them. Boston without Bradley was a six-man team. And Teague had a huge, like he had some huge games in that series when he was hitting those threes and everything. And Schroeder looked terrible for a lot. Sure, it was awful. The Bosch thing, just quickly on that, being in Boston in 93 when Reggie Lewis went down. And I was at the game when he collapsed and then didn't play again in that series.

And then it became a big thing about whether he should be clear to play or not. Celtics couldn't find a doctor. They had a dream team of doctors. It ended up, he went outside that, got an opinion from another doctor, and then he died that summer. And when I was reading the Chris Bosch stuff, it reminded me a little of that story, which scared me. Because when you're searching around for the medical opinion that confirms your

desire to play, that's not a place you want to be as an athlete or an organization. And I was excited and happy and relieved that they all decided. hey man let's let's step back on this let's uh let's let's take a breath and uh you know he's a great guy i think he's going to have an awesome post playing career if he decides to retire and if they figure out a way for him to play that's safe i think that would be great but it would have i would have been so nervous if he came back is he a top 50 guy because that's like his uh he's he's been about he's been harping all that since he was at georgia tech like when he left earlier from Georgia Tech to go to the league.

He said, like he stated then, it was like, one of my goals is to be, like, considered a top 15 NBA player. No way. Yeah. And I think that's, like, what's driving his motor still, which is why he wants to play, which is admirable. But the same time, like, health is the most important thing. It's bigger than basketball.

It's bigger than basketball. And he shouldn't fuck around with it. And he's made a lot of money. For Miami, it's, you know, if he decides to retire this summer, all of a sudden that makes them a major player in the Durant sweepstakes. And I still think they're the sleeping giant for that. But I just hope he takes it super slow. And he should go research the Reggie Lewis situation because that was terrible.

And you don't want to start searching for medical opinions that confirm what you want to do. You want to get the best opinions. With Miami, White's kind of got his ass kicked by Jonas a little bit down the stretch in these games. I like Jonas. Yeah. Jonas? Jonas. Jonas?

Is he a Jonas or Jonas? He's a Jonas. Yeah, yeah. I call him Jonas, but I think I'm doing the right thing. Yeah. I like that guy. Yeah, he's good. I don't know.

I'm not positive. They use him correctly all the time. It's a banger. He's tough. It gets big tip-ins and traffic and stuff. I think he's been one of the big winners. Another big winner, Lamarcus, Aldridge, who absolutely kicked O'KC's ass for two straight games. And they committed 50 foul.

on him in game two and it still didn't matter. He got his 43. They were mauling him. Yeah, it's like the kids like slapping the big guy, the big kid that is playing with him and he just scores regardless and just runs back on defense. It reminded me how Shaq used to get defended in the 1990s when the reps were like, just do whatever. He's too big.

Just knock him around. He was incredible. And I got to say, I was disappointed in Kauai. Yeah. I voted Kauai, I think, second MVP. And he was like the fourth best player in those first two games. which was really disappointing. They rely on market.

LaMarcus is the guy for the Spurs. I meant game two, he was the fourth best part. Yeah. Like Lamarcus, Durant, and Westbrook all went up from intensity, everything. And Kauai couldn't totally match. I didn't feel like, right? I think it's just such a tough matchup for Kauai because guarding, just having to guard Durant on defense,

like I'm sure that's like the most taxing thing ever and having to worry about helping off on Russ. I mean, I think it's mentally like just taxing. And when you get on offense, like I said, it's like exhaling on offense. It's like, whew, I can take a break. Well, the other thing was then they were moving him on Westbrook. Yep. Yeah.

And they had Danny Green on Durant. And in the last minute of that game, they had Danny Green guarding Durant, which I didn't agree with. I just think he's too short. Well, and the steal that green got, I mean, it was a terrible in-bounds passed by waiters. And that's why Danny got the steel. That's horrible. Yeah. But, like, that almost sets it up for, like, Pop to rely on Green to guard the, you know,

like you have a big moment like that. He's like, I, you know, I can rely on Danny to make the play. Durant got a super easy basket to play before that. Yeah. The, uh, that play, which we've never talked about, at least on my podcast, uh, I'd never seen an elbow. I mean, everyone said that. Never seen the inbound guy elbow. Yeah. Green fouled Durant to get the ball. And then Green, the two people that got the all-time free passes of that play, Green made one of the worst passes in the history of basketball. He had two wide open guys. I like to do is throw a bounce pass to one of them and he threw this like weird lob pass. He like shortchanged it. Yeah, it was like he short-armed it.

And then Patty Mills missed the three by five feet. Yeah. Which I think Stephen Adams, the ground that he covered to get out there to contest that shot was incredible. Stephen Adams was, that was the first time where I was like, you know what, maybe the James Hardin Trade wasn't the biggest disaster of the century. Yeah. Stephen Adams was awesome in that game. And he committed 100 fouls. Yeah.

I swear to God, he's watching Andrew Bogot tape. to see how to screen and elbow people. He's an enforcer. What I like about him, when it became clear, the refs were just going to let him play. Adams was like, this is great. And he just did Stephen Adams things. And, you know, I'm not complaining about the officiating.

That's what you got to do. If the refs are going to check out, then Stephen Adams, do your thing, man. Yeah. Dang the hell at Aldridge. Did you notice the Parker and, and Genoblee, their speed of the speed of the game. Yeah. Versus what they could do.

They seemed to step slow to me. And I thought it was glaring. Yeah, you brought this up. I was watching Parker just because I just have a keen, like, thing to pick up on, like, when Parker seems to, like, take a step down. Because that mean Patty Mills had to step up, and that's like something to look for. Yeah. You can't really rely on that.

You're not winning the title. Yeah. But what was Geno? What do you? I didn't really see Genoble. as much as Parker. Genoblee wasn't bad in that game. I noticed there was a couple times.

The great thing about OKC and the reason why they can't be counted out is there's a, there's a gear they can go to when they have Durant and Westbrook and Adams and Roberson out there all at the same time. Yeah. And then Deanne Waiters is a cardboard cut up in the corner. But there's a speed that they can get to that's really kind of frightening. It's like a LeBron-Kawai level speed. And Kauai was able to match it.

and Aldridge was able to match it. And Mills, even though he's not that good and Danny Green, they can get there. Parker definitely couldn't match it. No. Parker five years ago would have loved it. He would have like, this is great. But I thought, and he's been terrible in the playoffs. That's his layup.

That passed the Danny Green throw up. That's like the sneaky Tony Parker where even though it was a bad pass, he somehow slither to the basketball, lays it in and they win the game. Yeah, yeah. And it's almost like, wow, I can't believe Tony Parker was able to get that easy layup off that shitty pass. But Mills was too big of a moment almost. Yeah, and Kauai I mean we've seen Kauai

Get to that speed Yeah I thought the physicality of the game Kind of threw him off offensively Because this is the first year From a transition Of here's it's your team now When he has to create stuff

At the top of the key And they were being so physical Like him coming around picks They're chipping him every time I thought it threw him off And it didn't matter Because Aldridge was so incredible Yeah

I don't see any scenario Where they stop Aldridge series. I don't think he's going to score 40 a game. I really feel like this is like in 05 when Amari just destroyed San Antonio for six games, but San Antonio beat them anyway, five or six, whatever it was. I just don't think they're going to be. I don't think O'Kiz's going to be able to stop him.

I don't think it's going to be a thing where Lamarquez is getting stopped. He's too good on offense. Too good, too physical. I can say, I'm really reevaluating how I feel about Abaca. Are you? I think he's gotten worse. The leg surge. I felt like he was like a top 20, top 25 guy potentially.

Yeah. And now he's just this guy that he's irrelevant offensively. Just irrelevant. Yeah. And then defensively, I don't feel like he has the same kind of high-flying impact. And I mean, you play hoops. When you just don't get the ball ever. Yeah.

How do you stay engaged in a game? I don't think he's totally engaged. No. I feel like he comes and goes. But I just feel like he, you know, that's a guy. would trade. Like if I'm Minnesota, I'm just, here's my number six pick in the draft for search. Here's, I'll give this to you right now. And like they tried to stretch him out. Like he had that little mid-range, like that little corner jumper that he always could rely on. Then he tried

to stretch that out to the three-point line. And then when that didn't really have a place in the offense, it seemed like he sort of was like stumbling to figure out where to go on the floor. A lot of times he gets stuck on the outside, just watching Durant, Westbrook drive to the basket. I believe that their best lineup is Durant at the four. to beat the spurs. Yeah. And either you pick between a Bacca and Adams, you play Westbrook, you probably play Roberson, even though he can't shoot.

Yeah. He's like Cephalotia 2.0. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you can only have one of them, right? Like if you play Roberson and Adams, now you're three out of five offensively. Now you have the Russell Westbrook 25 foot pullups. Waiters, I don't understand it. They ran an out-of-bounds play for him, and he made like the bigger.

three of that game, which obviously they trust them. But it's crazy that he was the guy that took the biggest shot for them, like in that moment. Like that, you know, like, and that they wanted him to. Yeah, exactly. Like, they didn't want to have to deal with the fact of like the Russ KD, who's the guy. Like, let's just let Waiter take the three. Well, they should really, whoever Kauai isn't guarding, that guy should just be attacking the basket.

Yeah. And if it's, if they're going to put, I couldn't believe they put Kauai on Westbrook. I just don't understand it. Yeah. I think it's. I want to take out Duran. I want, don't you want Westbrook to shoot? Exactly.

Like you pulled that stat when you told me that he was, what, the seventh worst three-point shooter? Fourth. The fourth worst three-point shooter ever. Yeah. And it's just like, you talk about playing off the ball in LeBron. Like, Russ doesn't have the same, like, sort of like vision that LeBron has to make those passes when you play off of him. Yeah. Just stand back.

Like, almost pull like an old Rondo sort of thing. Like, I dare you to pull up from there. That's how the Celtics guarded Dr. J. 35 years ago. Yeah. Maxwell was just, like, standing in the foul line. Dr. J was at the three-point line. They were like, go ahead, take it. Yeah.

Take anything from 18 feet back. That's your shot. And if you make it, like, congrats to you, we're going to go play, you know? I bet that's what they do. I personally think they're just better. And I think the refs let that game get away. And it really helped OKC. And it really helps somebody like Westbrook, the speed that he plays at.

It was great for Adams. Yep. And I thought it threw off Kauai and Parker just seemed like he couldn't match it. Yeah. And, I mean, big picture. I don't think San Antonio can beat Golden State with the way their guards are playing. I don't think you can beat, I don't think he can beat Golden State with poor offensive guards, which is what they're getting.

I think the best chance that they have is if you get Danny Green to play the best defense of his career against Curry. That's the thing. Danny Green's, he's a little like Kyrie in that he has these ebbs and flows. And if you get great Danny Green, now I'm more bullish on it. Yeah. And he, like, in Danny, like, Danny played against Curry in college. like Danny's guarded Curry before. Like there's a little bit of a history there.

Like I don't think Danny's afraid of him. Like he's like when you know someone, it's like Jared Jack playing the Warriors. You know, like he's not afraid of those guys. He knows like he's seen them in 2009 to 2012, whatever it is. Like he has an idea of who they are as a basketball player. He knows what their little Knicks are or whatever they're going to do. So I think Danny's like the key if he can guard Curry. That's not a guy.

When you're relying on old Tony Parker and Danny Green is your two keys, that makes me nervous if I'm a Spurs fan. And they don't have game seven at home. Yeah. And you're saying that they have to play their absolute best. When you say that someone has to play their absolute best to win, then that's not really a good place to start. On the flip side, Curry still hasn't come back and we don't know if he's 100%.

I wouldn't play him the whole round one. Fuck it. Yeah. No. Yeah. Why? Just throw away game three. Give him two more days.

You're going to win game four because you're better. And just finish it in game five. Yeah. No brainer. Yep. This is why I voted for Sean Livingston, for third place. is six man, by the way. And he's, I mean.

He can come in and you're not, it's not a disaster. It's so fun to watch him just be able to post up Lillard or like whoever gets switched on him in the post, like he just literally goes up and throws that little hook in and it's just like two points back on defense. Right. It's just easy. The only other thing I have is I don't understand when Curry's not out there why teams just don't take out Clay.

Yeah. Or make him get his own shot. Yeah. How about this? He dribble. He dribbles his head down. Just shadow him everywhere he goes. The guy, for such a great player, I voted him, I think, second team all NBA.

He can't really dribble. No, he dribbles with his head down. It's incredible. I've never seen. Why is he in open space? Yeah. I've never seen. I have somebody next to him that Mo Harcris should be like, Mo Harcassus, if you're more than

three feet from him ever, you're getting benched. Yes. Don't worry about any other player on the court. You have to be within three feet of Clay Thompson at all times. All the time. Like, hold down his jersey. Just like, and if he does get the ball and he has to dribble, I give him space to dribble.

I want him to try to drive past me. Right. Like he does not have the vision off the dribble like Draymond does when he's coming down the lane to find somebody. He doesn't. Either he's going to get a bailout foul call, which like you take your chances with that. Or you get a steal and a strip and you get a fast break opportunity. And you have Damien Lillard and C.J. McCall, who can speed things up. Here's what you don't want to do.

You don't want to guard Sean Livingston with Damien Lillard. Yeah. Because he's going to post them up and he's going to be able to create shots and do stuff. What I don't get with Draymond, why aren't teams, pressing him more when he's 25 feet from the basket. Why are you so afraid to get up on him? He's similar to LeBron. He has a vision and if you aren't in his airspace. Yeah. The way to be Golden State without Curry is to make them do things that they don't want to do. And if I'm going state, I don't want Dremont to do too much. I don't want him dribbling every time and trying

to get into the paint and being a slashing kick guy. I want him standing there atop of the key and just finding people and doing Draymond things and I don't want anybody to bug Clay Thompson. Yep. So do both of those things. Yeah. And you just got to hope that Iguodal and Livingston. Good. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. See, I was saying to, I was saying somebody, I would put McCollum on Draymond Green. Yeah. And be like, look at this. You should post them up. Almost like Jedi Mind Trick, Draymond.

Small guy messing the house because you know what I want to do? if I'm playing Golden State, have Draymond Green post up. I don't want him 25 feet from the basket. Yep. I don't want Livingston posting up because he's going to hurt me. Every time that they put Lillard on him, he passed him up. I don't want Clay Thompson posting up because every time he remembers he can post up, he gets easy baskets. Those easy little bank turnaround jumpers every single time.

Yeah. I haven't liked the way they've coached this series. That game, too, was so winnable. Yeah. Golden State was just flat. They're up 11. They get a three-pointer coming into the fourth quarter. order and then they just shit the bed.

Bothered me. What do you think about them not showing their hand? Do you think they're just trying to play the standard way just to not give like any sort of leeway to what sort of lineups they're going to run against the Spurs or the Thunder? Gold State? Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, do they have enough foresight, you know? Because like it looks like they're just running the standard. I mean, like Ian Clark's getting a lot of minutes. I mean, they, I mean, they should never lose more than one game to put on. What's interesting is they've already lost a playoff game. Yeah. The Bulls, the 96 Bulls lost three. Yeah.

The 86 Celtics lost three. So just throwing that out there historically. You don't want to lose a game around because they're going to lose at least one or two to the Spurs. Yeah. I still think it's going to be Warriors Cavs. I think so too. I think unless, you know, Kyrie's fragile. Just throwing that out there.

Let's see that guy play for two straight months and hard playoff games. Yeah. He was incredible at Duke until December 1st. Oh, I need you had to get one. All right. That's it for our quickie NBA playoff podcast. I am super excited for game three tonight. The only prediction I would make is I think Durant's going to go off tonight.

I'm calling that right now. I think this is like a Durant 17 for 26, 7-3s type game. I want to see it. Like I miss seeing Kevin Durant take over a game like that. And they win this game. they win game three puts an incredible amount of pressure on the spurs in game four not to sound like generic ESPN uh talking head guy but you have to win tonight if you want to win this series you have to win game three because what you're not going to do is beat them three out of four times

with two of the games in san antonio it's not happening you have to win game three yeah and i don't think anybody other than golden state could beat the spurs three out of four times yeah so you have to win this game. It's a must-win game. The crowd's got to show up. Yep. And how they call it is going to be really interesting. If they're calling Adams on little minor pushes in the back of Aldridge and stuff like that, that really helps the spurs. Yeah. And if they lose this game and it turns back on the spurs and you're relying on Marcus Audridge to sort of carry that, you know, to be that guy to turn things around, that's, you know. Not a ton of experience for him. Exactly. That's a, it's a new experience for him. And even Kauai, not being able to rely on young Tony Parker and Genobley and Duncan and that whole

core to carry him. Yeah, as great as Kauai is, I still don't feel 100% confident when he's trying to create stuff with seven seconds left in the shot clock. It's a very small list of guys I feel good about and he's not quite on it yet. Yeah. And he's still like, when you watch him, it's like he's trying to get to a spot. And I don't like whenever a guy like that, like you watch Harrison Barnes is a good example. Like people like that where they're trying to get to a spot, you can tell like in their

head they're trying to get to a spot. That's not always the best case scenario. Well, that's a good way for us to end. I think Harrison Barnes gets 140 million from the Lakers, and then I think they trade the second pick in the draft for DeMarcus cousins. Cup check. Giving him the big contract. Boogie.

Harrison Barnes, Clarkson, Russell, and Randall. Yeah. And Azeli. And his best as Azeali. Yeah, they'll overpay him too. Yeah. It's a good prediction. All right, Tate, this was fun.

Don't forget, next week on Channel 33, we are moving, keeping it $1,600, and the watch. off the channel 33 feed. We are moving them to their own feeds. You can subscribe to them there. Don't forget to subscribe to the Ringers NFL pod. And this, of course, is the Ringers NBA pod, which you can also subscribe to. Thanks, Tate Frazier.

Thanks, Bill Simmons. All right.