Joe Shasky is all in on the Warriors' title chances.
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00:00Well, I was thinking about last night's game, Warrior Suns, and it's just like you're watching the team that the Suns trotted out there and you call it a team that was just a collection of players.
00:10I think I wouldn't call that a team. Okay. No, no, I wasn't. I wasn't poking fun of you. I'm like that is a collection of players. Tyus Jones.
00:17I know. I don't know how many casual NBA fans know who he is. I knew Devin Booker, Bradley Beal. Exactly. In that starting lineup and Ryan Dunn because just the name and Tyus Jones.
00:27Ryan Dunn nothing, but yes. Yeah, exactly. So like, this isn't about the Suns and this isn't about the Warriors beating the Suns last night.
00:36It's more about like, look around the league. A lot of these teams beat themselves before you even face them.
00:41Yeah. You know, Denver firing Mike Malone earlier in the day. Memphis firing their coach a week ago. Phoenix. I don't even know what that is.
00:49Trying to make trades, not making trades, whatever. It's a disaster. Denver. Obviously we referenced them. They fired their coach.
00:56Dallas making crazy trades. Okay. Now they look nowhere near what they were just a couple months ago.
01:02They want to fire their GM. The T-Wolves. They lose last night. They had Carl Anthony Towns. They traded him away.
01:08I don't know what they're doing. Saving a few bucks on payroll. I don't even know.
01:13The Kings. They've all of a sudden become the Chicago Bulls of Northern California.
01:18Yeah. It's, you don't have to beat every one of these teams all at once or all in a row.
01:26They're beating themselves. And if you look at where the Warriors are at right now, yes, they're a half game out of being in the play-in.
01:33I understand that. They just handled business for these last three games.
01:37I got a feeling they're going to be in that 4-5 matchup. And they'll probably end up facing the 1-8 later.
01:43Could you imagine if they get the home, real quick, could you imagine if they get a home court playoff series where we were a couple of months ago?
01:51They were a 10th spot, maybe. And then from going all the way there to the 4th in the West? That's insane.
01:57It's insane. Things happen quickly. Three weeks ago, Denver, oh my God.
02:02But today, I'm like, ah, we'll see. There's clearly a lot of stuff going on.
02:05Let it be known, I never feared the Nuggets. I just wanted to put that in the cap. I never feared that.
02:09I think a lot of Warrior fans did.
02:10They were, and I was telling them you shouldn't fear them. But continue.
02:13We'll see where Jamal Murray's at. Stuff's going to happen between now and the end of the year.
02:17And it could happen to the Warriors. Someone's going to go down.
02:19I'm not wishing injuries, but we know, like, every year, things happen.
02:23And a team that you thought was going to kick everyone's butt ends up losing or losing a player or whatever, and it happens quickly.
02:31The year the Warriors won it all in 2022, Phoenix had the best regular season record.
02:37Phoenix did.
02:37Yep.
02:38Now, remember what happened to them. They lost in one of the worst Game 7s any of us has ever seen.
02:43Weren't you there?
02:44No, that was the next year.
02:45Okay, that was the next year.
02:46When they did the mid-season trade for KD.
02:48Okay.
02:49We act like the Warriors have to beat OKC, and then they have to beat the Rockets, and then they have to beat the Lakers, and then they have to beat the Nuggets, and then they have to beat the Clippers, and then they got to beat the...
02:58No, no. You only have to face one team at a time.
03:01These other teams will take care of themselves, whether it be in the matchup they're in or self-destruction and detonating themselves from within.
03:09Well, that's the thing.
03:11Are the only team... Is the only team that can beat the Warriors the Warriors?
03:15That's where I'm going with this.
03:16Can they only beat themselves at this point?
03:18It's not going to be easy.
03:20I truly believe, and I'm not just saying this, I truly, in my heart of hearts, think that this Warrior team is going to win the championship this year.
03:29And people can disagree, and they're saying, I'm crazy.
03:31And I know.
03:32They're on the precipice of being a playing team, and they're also on the precipice of being a No. 4 or No. 5 seed.
03:37All right?
03:38It's going to take a leap of faith for some people to meet me there.
03:41You've got Steph Curry.
03:43What about Bible references to him?
03:44Continue.
03:44I would argue you've got, in the game today, one of the top seven or eight closers in Jimmy Butler for a playoff game that you would want around the league.
03:54All right?
03:55And you've got the best defensive big left in the dance in Draymond Green.
04:01Do you hear Steve Kerr, after that first time out for TNT, just waxing poetically about the greatness that is Draymond Green defensively?
04:08This is the greatest defensive player he's ever seen.
04:10You've also got a Hall of Fame four-time championship coach who's got an excellent staff.
04:16You've got a bunch of hungry, young players who are sneakily more battle-tested than we give them credit for.
04:23We'll see.
04:24Again, this is going to be their first real cup of coffee for Pods, for Kaminga, for Quentin Pose, for Moses Moody.
04:32Have they been playing playoff basketball for two months?
04:33No, but that's different.
04:34Did Kaminga play playoff basketball last year?
04:37How about the year before?
04:38Was yesterday a playoff basketball game?
04:40No, yesterday might not have been, but there have been moments in the last couple of months, for Podsjemski in particular, because he didn't get a great taste of it.
04:47Moody has had opportunities.
04:49Yeah, no, no.
04:50Kaminga has had opportunities.
04:51Moody, I will give, has had moments in that championship run.
04:53He had some moments.
04:54Right.
04:55Kaminga, not as much.
04:57But, again, we'll see.
04:59It's different when the lights are bright.
05:00What about Kavon Looney?
05:01What about GP2?
05:03These are key contributors.
05:04I'm not talking about them.
05:05I'm talking about Quentin Post.
05:06I'm talking about Brandon Podsjemski.
05:07But I don't need all of them firing on all cylinders.
05:09No, but I need a couple of those guys doing that.
05:11Sure, sure.
05:11And, look, from game to game, one guy might be hot, the other guy might not.
05:15And that's going to happen.
05:16I know what I'm getting from Kavon Looney in a playoff series.
05:18Yeah.
05:18I know what I'm getting from GP2.
05:20Now, you also have wild card players.
05:22Buddy Heald is a wild card player.
05:24Yeah.
05:24On any given day, he can explode.
05:27It's not going to be easy.
05:28I'm telling you, I have never felt this good about the Warriors winning the title until the last, like, week or two.
05:34Where just all these teams around him are self-imploding.
05:37Joe Shasky is saying it right here.
05:38I believe it.
05:39I sincerely believe it.
05:40I'm not just, this isn't me just trying to get aggregated.
05:43I'm not trying to, like, do something that I don't.
05:45I sincerely believe this Warrior team is the team that's going to represent the Western Conference in the finals.
05:51Joe Shasky is taking the Warriors to win the West.
05:54Are you taking them all the way to win it all or just win the West?
05:57Well, let's, if it's Boston, I think that that would be, wow.
06:01I don't, I know.
06:02I probably wouldn't take them against Boston.
06:04I'm giving respect to them.
06:05Even Cleveland, because they do something very unique if they can play with the two bigs that would just decimate the Warriors.
06:11I'm giving them better than that.
06:13But you don't have to face both of them.
06:15No, you don't.
06:15It's one or the other.
06:16Yep.
06:16And we don't know what their path, maybe it's another team, we don't know what the path looks like.
06:20I'm going to keep it a buck.
06:21If it is the Cleveland Cavaliers and you're trying to give them respect, there's no chance in hell I'm taking a Donovan Mitchell-led team with Evan Mobley over Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green in that scenario.
06:32But they have to get there.
06:33And Joe Shasky truly believes that the Warriors are going to win the West.
06:37Do you believe?
06:38888-957-9570.
06:41Let's go out to Oreo Cookie.
06:42Go for some Oreo Cookies right now.
06:44What's up, man?
06:46Joe and Joe.
06:48So nice.
06:49We got to hear it twice.
06:50What up, fellas?
06:51What's up, dog?
06:52What up, brother?
06:52Hey, man.
06:54Hey, so I come on here a lot, man, and I give Kurt a lot of heat, man.
06:59Even on wins, I call it, and I complain about Kurt.
07:03But you know what?
07:04I got to give him his props when he's doing right.
07:06He found a starting lineup, man, that we just lost against Houston, and that was our historic lineup.
07:13I can call it what you want, but it was.
07:15So I want to give him his props for that.
07:17He's also calling timeouts on a timely basis.
07:21No longer is he letting us play through our mistakes.
07:25But I do want to do one more thing with Butler.
07:29When we're having back-to-back turnovers, I want the ball in his hands.
07:34You know, he's very poised.
07:36He doesn't seem to get rattled and always makes the right plays.
07:40So I'm with you, Shasky.
07:42I believe, baby.
07:43We're about to do this thing.
07:44The West is in trouble.
07:46That's Oreo with them.
07:47I'm with Cooke in Oakland.
07:48Are the Warriors winning the West?
07:49Joe Shasky believes so.
07:51After everything that's taken place these last few weeks, the shambles, the turmoil in Denver now
07:56with firing of their GM and head coach.
07:59The Grizzlies have an interim head coach.
08:00The Lakers, we'll see.
08:02You just handled the Lakers pretty much last week.
08:05It's LeBron.
08:05It's Luka.
08:06But you know what?
08:07I'm taking Steve Kerr over J.J. Redick at the end of the day.
08:09Mark Dagnall and the Oklahoma City Thunder with Shea Gilchrist-Alexander who's probably going
08:13to win the MVP.
08:13You got to show me.
08:14The Rockets, they're young.
08:16Again, the Clippers, you'll see them on Sunday.
08:18And I guarantee you this, you beat the Clippers on Sunday, the fear factor for them, if there
08:22is any at all, it's gone for me.
08:24But here's the best part about it.
08:25If you can get up into the 4-5, you're not playing all of those teams in a row.
08:29Exactly.
08:29That's the thing.
08:30Exactly.
08:31And so one of those teams is going to take out somebody else.
08:34Now, if you have some question marks about this team still, I would like to hear it.
08:38888-957-9570.
08:40I think it's going to come down.
08:42Do I sound absurd?
08:44No, because I feel kind of the same that I don't fear anyone, but the Warriors still
08:49have to show me.
08:50I got to see it.
08:51I get it.
08:52The young guys.
08:53Pajemski's been, thank you Missouri, shout out Guru, who's not from there.
08:56He's from Union City, but I love you, Gil.
08:59Pajemski's got to show me in the playoffs.
09:01Post, who's been great at times, has to show me in the playoffs.
09:04Moses Moody, who's been struggling a little bit to score the ball.
09:06Got to show it to me in the playoffs.
09:07Kaminga, what am I going to see here?
09:09Buddy Heald.
09:09There's still a lot of question marks for those guys that have to be difference makers, but
09:13the big three, as you mentioned, Steph, Jimmy, and Draymond, of course I got all the faith
09:18in the world in those guys.
09:19I'll say this though, and we were talking about it yesterday, and I didn't want it to come
09:23off as negative, and I was trying to be very clear about that.
09:26Jimmy being a number two, and Eddie Johnson, who joined us yesterday, obviously pre and post
09:30game for the Phoenix Suns, their broadcaster there, former Sixth Man of the Year, have
09:35a tremendous respect for Eddie Johnson.
09:37You know, can Jimmy Butler have these type of games in the playoffs, and if they don't
09:43win, are we going to be circling back and be like, ah man, can Jimmy do more?
09:47Is he not scoring enough?
09:48I'm very curious to see if this is the same Jimmy Butler that we're going to see in the
09:53playoffs, because everyone keeps talking about, and I do too, playoff Jimmy.
09:56But that was when he was a number one.
09:58How will number two Jimmy Butler look in the playoffs?
10:01Is that going to be good enough?
10:02That's a big question mark for me still.
10:04I know they've been having the regular season success.
10:07Playoffs are a different beast, and in a given series, the matchups are going to matter
10:10a lot, and can he be a bona fide number two?
10:13And at times, will he have to be a number one if Steph doesn't have it going?
10:17That's still a question I have for Jimmy.
10:19I think it's fair.
10:20888-957-9570.
10:22Bob and Reno must actually pick up that conversation, as I was just alluding to.
10:26Bob, what's going on, man?
10:27You're on Spadoni and Shasky in the morning roast.
10:29How's Reno?
10:31Hey, Reno's beautiful.
10:33It's going to be a nice 60s today, but this is my first time calling in, guys, so thank
10:37you so much for taking my call.
10:39Of course, man.
10:40What you got?
10:42Okay, so look at this.
10:44The last 10 games, we look at Podstat.
10:47I can't lie.
10:47He looks like a number two guy right now.
10:49Now, I do understand where you guys are coming from.
10:51He needs to prove in the playoffs.
10:52I think every young guy needs to prove something in the playoffs.
10:56I mean, but 18.8 points per game.
11:00He's shooting over 50% from three-point land.
11:0252.
11:0450.
11:05He's shooting.
11:06I don't mean to interrupt you.
11:0719 a game.
11:09Six rebounds.
11:10Three and a half assists.
11:11Shooting 52% from three-point land.
11:15That's probably not sustainable, but his floor game has been unbelievable.
11:19It's not sustainable.
11:20No, but he's been great.
11:22The shot selection.
11:23He's getting great looks because they're sagging off him.
11:25Someone's going to get those looks.
11:26There you go.
11:27Continue, Bob.
11:29No, and I just want to know your guys' opinion.
11:31Like, does that not prove he's kind of been a number two as of late?
11:35Like, I'm not saying he's been a number two all season, but I'm not.
11:37No, here's what I would say to you.
11:38I loved him, and Jimmy's been great.
11:39He's actually been there quite at three.
11:41He's been the Jordan Poole.
11:42As a scorer.
11:43He's been there, Jordan Poole.
11:44Yes, thank you, Bob.
11:45Yeah, no, no.
11:46As a scorer, as of late, he's been that guy.
11:49He's been great.
11:50Like, number two overall player in the hierarchy?
11:52No, it's still Jimmy because, you know, there's this other side of basketball called defense,
11:56and that's Pods.
11:57He's been okay.
11:58That's not his strong suit.
11:59But, again, if you're just scoring, if I'm getting that, you saw it in that Lakers game.
12:03If I get that Pajemski, that level of swagger, like, they were panning to the Lakers bench
12:10and like, really?
12:11This guy's doing that to us?
12:12They were dejected.
12:14That's what could be the difference when those role players step up on the road and that
12:18confidence level starts going to Kaminga, who you saw being confident in that game, to
12:23Moses Moody, to Quentin Post, who wasn't backing down, talking trash to LeBron in that game.
12:30Yeah, that is for real.
12:32Now, can I, the consistency is going to be the question there, and he's been great.
12:35He's had one, two, three, four, five of his last six games have been unbelievable scoring
12:41the ball.
12:42Is that going to keep up?
12:44I don't know, but it's been great.
12:46It's been great.
12:46But what is sustainable in his game?
12:48Hustle?
12:49Yes.
12:50Energy?
12:51Yes.
12:51He can control those things.
12:52Exactly.
12:53And so, like, there are things that he brings to the table that I can just, you just pencil
12:58them in every night.
12:59GP2.
13:00There are certain things that he does that you can just pencil in every single night.
13:04And that's, I love the nucleus of this team, because you've got the headliners, and then
13:08you've got the glue guys.
13:10And I don't think you need Pods to be a consistent third scorer every single night, because you
13:16got a Buddy Heald, you got a Moses Moody, you got a Quentin Post, who on any given night
13:20can give you 15 to 20.
13:21It's a good point.
13:22And Steve Kerr was reiterating what you were saying yesterday after the game, talking about
13:26Pods' three-level scoring.
13:28It's changed everything.
13:29You know, just the last month or so, knocking down the threes, feeling so confident back
13:34there.
13:35But the way he can get to the rim, uses Eurostep, the way he runs through the catch against closeouts
13:43and breaks the defense down and either scores or finds somebody else for an open shot.
13:47Brandon is generating a ton of offense for us.
13:50Hey, Steve, do you think Pods has taken that next step?
13:54I do, yeah.
13:54He's definitely taken a leap the last month.
13:56And, you know, it's really coincided with Jimmy's arrival.
13:59The two of them have this great connection.
14:01Brandon solidified his spot as a starter.
14:04You know, I've always felt when you can stack together a lot of high IQ players, the game
14:10becomes easier for everyone.
14:12And that's what I'm seeing right now between Jimmy, you know, BP, Draymond, Steph.
14:17It's really fun to watch them all click.
14:19And I think that's ultimately what it comes down to, that term you just used right there,
14:22Team IQ.
14:23If you're trying to sell me on the Warriors winning the West at 888-957-9570, if you're
14:28just joining us, Joe Shasky believes, truly believes, this is some shtick.
14:33I think they're the team to come out of the West.
14:35Warriors are winning the West.
14:36You heard it there from Joe Shasky.
14:37Are you buying or selling that 888-957-9570?
14:43The team IQ, the collective IQ of this team is something I would definitely hang my hat
14:49on if I was making that argument, because I look at the rest of the West, I'm taking
14:53this team IQ from Jimmy, Steph, and Draymond, and the head coach over whatever the Thunder
14:59have, whatever the Rockets have, whatever the Lakers have, whatever the Clippers have.
15:03Nuggets, they don't even have their head coach anymore.
15:05Grizzlies, T-Wolves, Kingsmen, it doesn't matter.
15:07I'm taking the team collective IQ of the Warriors over anyone else in the West.
15:11Not even close.
15:11So, I understand people being skeptical on Pajemski scoring.
15:15Like, I do.
15:16I acknowledge, like, it's 11 games.
15:18It's an eighth of the season, right?
15:20It's not a large sample size.
15:24But we knew one of the things that he did really well coming out was shooting.
15:30And at times last year, I think it was, you know, he's a rookie and playing with some
15:34clunky lineups.
15:35It didn't really mesh well.
15:38Why am I encouraged that this is more real than people want to give it credit for?
15:42Because even in games where he hasn't shot well, they've gotten great looks.
15:45Great looks.
15:46These aren't, like, fadeaway threes, contested.
15:49When Steph's on the floor, he will always command a double team.
15:52When Jimmy Butler's on the floor, he will always command multiple eyeballs near the paint.
15:57Quinn Post, Moses Moody, Pajemski are getting cleaner looks now than they've ever gotten.
16:02Buddy Heal's been talking about this for about three weeks.
16:04I get great looks.
16:05I just need to knock them down.
16:07And now they're starting to hit shots.
16:09At the beginning of the year, when his shot wasn't falling, he was wearing a mask.
16:14Pajemski broke his nose.
16:16He also...
16:16There's been a lot of Batman masks on this team this year.
16:18EP2, another one.
16:19He also had, like, legit dizziness.
16:22And I think that there was a confidence factor, and then it's a psyche factor on top of the physical stuff.
16:28And he got off to a horrible stretch.
16:31He has been playing great basketball for multiple months.
16:34And to me, it's shot selection.
16:36If you take good shots, you will always have a bad shooting night.
16:39But if you take good shots, nine times out of ten, and you're a good shooter, you're going to reap the rewards of that.
16:45And other players are going to have to start honoring you from farther away, which is going to open up his playmaking ability for the Kamingas, for the Draymons underneath, for the Kavon Loonies, the Quinton Post, the Jimmy Butlers.
16:57The Jimmy Butlers, which he spoke to yesterday, Joe.
16:59Pods asked after the game about Jimmy's passing.
17:02And he says him and Steph have been trying to get Jimmy going a little bit more offensively.
17:07This is interesting. Take a listen.
17:08I mean, I think everybody knows Jimmy as playoff Jimmy.
17:11The guy that scored 50 in the finals, all that type of stuff.
17:14But I think so far, sometimes he almost passes to a fault.
17:18And we want Jimmy to be ultra-aggressive, I think.
17:21I mean, I talked to Steph before the game when tip-off started.
17:23We just tried to get Jimmy the ball as much as we could to start the game, to try to get him in the rhythm.
17:27And even though he only shot four shots a night, he made the right play over and over again.
17:31But I know when playoffs are around and it's time, Jimmy will be there.
17:34Did that, real quick, that was interesting.
17:40Steph and Pods talking before the game to get Jimmy going offensively.
17:45He had to reference playoff Jimmy from his Miami days.
17:49So, it's not just something we're talking about, like being a little bit concerned about him scoring outputs in the playoffs.
17:56The players are talking about it, too.
17:58It's not something we're just manufacturing and trying to find faults.
18:00No, I think it's a legitimate question mark if we're talking about this team making a deep run in the West.
18:06It's Jimmy Butler's scoring.
18:08But also, his play—
18:09That is something we have to be talking about, people.
18:11Steph's not going to have it every single night.
18:13He's just not.
18:14No, but I think that what they're referencing—
18:15And I can't bank on Brandon Pajemski, a second-year player in his first-ever playoff series.
18:19I can't bank on that.
18:20I don't think it's about scoring, per se.
18:22I think it's about tilting the floor.
18:23Because where does Jimmy like to operate?
18:25I do think it's a little about scoring.
18:27He can't be—10 points isn't good enough in a playoff.
18:28Let me ask you, where does he like to operate?
18:31The mid-range game, like the mid-post, yeah.
18:33Mid-block, low-block, et cetera.
18:35Sometimes he likes to catch the ball in the wing, and he'll dribble drive into the lane, leave his feet,
18:40as two bigs come at him, and you'll see that either bounce pass to the corner or that swing—
18:45And he likes to cherry-pick a little bit, yeah.
18:46You'll have two guys, one guy in the corner, one guy on the top of the wing, elbow extended from the three-point line.
18:51And he does this thing where he leaves his feet, pretends to pass one way, and throws to the other guy.
18:56The amount of open looks your offense gets early in the game to get others involved,
19:02because Jimmy is getting forced the issue of throwing him the ball, it isn't about him scoring.
19:09To me, it's about opening things up for others.
19:11Can he get fouled, go up with it in the lane?
19:14Yes.
19:14Is he your best back-to-the-basket player?
19:16Probably.
19:17Do you want him to score a little?
19:19Yes.
19:19But it's also about getting wide-open looks for the others.
19:22And when that ball starts hopping, and you have teams doing scramble defense and help defense,
19:27who always benefits from that?
19:29Steph Curry.
19:29Steph Curry.
19:30I mean, Steph Curry.
19:31Who spoke after the game yesterday on a walk-off, the sound courtesy of TNT,
19:35talking about Jimmy, and tells people not to focus on the stat sheet.
19:39Just another guy that just brings presence.
19:42Like, you have to watch the game to understand what he does.
19:45Like, I know he's had his moments, and, you know, he's carrying teams to the finals and all that.
19:52But a game like tonight, the stat sheet won't say what he means.
19:56It's just his presence, his ability to control the tempo offensively,
20:00be another, you know, Swiss Army knife on the defensive end.
20:03And he's made everybody else's job a little bit easier.
20:06So, we've got to be able to carry that influence, and just keep playing at a high level.
20:10Steph Curry yesterday after the game.
20:12When he said you have to watch the games, when you command multiple people to leave the guy that they're guarding
20:19and come over just a step or two, because in the NBA, like the NFL, a step is you're open.
20:25The difference between a closeout with a guy in your face and having a wide-open look is a microsecond.
20:31And Jimmy forces off-ball defenders to take a step toward him when he puts it on the floor.
20:37He just does.
20:39And he opens the floor up for others.
20:40And when you don't do it, what does he do?
20:42He exploits the mismatch, because usually they try to put either a bigger or a smaller player on him.
20:47Bigger guy he wants to go around, smaller guy he's going to back down.
20:50His IQ is unmatched.
20:53I'm not questioning the IQ in him as a playmaker.
20:55I'm not.
20:55I'm questioning, am I going to be able to rely on him as Steph Curry's not scoring the ball?
20:59He can pick up that slack.
21:00That's literally what I'm questioning.
21:01That will have to materialize at some point.
21:03That has to.
21:03That's why I'm talking about it.
21:04I like to say it.
21:05I like to say it.
21:05I like to say it.
21:05I like to say it.
21:06I like to say it.
21:06I like to say it.
21:06I like to say it.
21:06I like to say it.
21:06I like to say it.
21:07I like to say it.
21:07I like to say it.
21:07I like to say it.
21:08I like to say it.
21:09I like to say it.
21:09I like to say it.
21:10I like to say it.
21:11I like to say it.
21:11I like to say it.
21:12I like to say it.
21:13I like to say it.
21:14I like to say it.
21:15I like to say it.
21:15I like to say it.
21:16I like to say it.
21:17I like to say it.
21:18I like to say it.
21:19I like to say it.