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00:00Dub Nation, it's the voice of the Warriors, Tim Roy.
00:03You're listening to Willard and Dibs on 95.7 The Game.
00:07Well, we don't need a recorded Tim. We got live Tim right now.
00:11I love live Tim.
00:12Yeah, let's go to the River Islands guest line.
00:14Big night in Portland. We especially appreciate it on a game night.
00:18Tim Roy joins us live on Willard and Dibs.
00:21Hey, Tim, what's going on?
00:23Not much, guys. How are you? Just getting ready for the game.
00:25Yeah, I bet you are.
00:27And no, we're doing great.
00:30I think we've appropriately had enough time away from Wednesday to regain perspective.
00:36But what was your takeaway from that one?
00:39Is that, you know, you don't want to play a team that not only has, you know,
00:44they're playing with house money, but they're also playing with purpose.
00:47And by that, I mean that they have really nothing to play for except their pride.
00:51And that's a franchise that has traditionally, you know, not, you know, as, you know, much as they've, you know, tanked in past years and gotten three incredible draft picks.
01:03But they still have a culture of playing hard.
01:06And that's what they ran into the other night.
01:09I thought they, again, it's not an excuse, but I do think there has been a toll taken by that stretch of games that they went through.
01:21The two-week road trip followed by the, you know, they write the four-game gauntlet right at the end of it, which included a couple of home games.
01:28And so I think there is a, maybe not much a physical toll, but a psychological toll.
01:33I think, I think mentally they were tired in the fourth quarter.
01:37Is it tough in those spots for teams to still get up for an opponent that doesn't have Wenbanyama and doesn't have De'Aaron Fox?
01:44And much like tonight where, you know, Portland's going to be missing a small handful of players.
01:49Or is a team at this point able to still be motivated knowing it's the penultimate game?
01:54Well, just, you know, you know, you're playing in the park and you got a guy that you know you can beat.
02:00You know, you're not as intense as a guy that, oh, I better, I better lace him up here.
02:04I got to play my best to beat this guy.
02:06That's it's human nature, I think, to occasionally look past an opponent.
02:11And that's why they call them trap games because, you know, you're, you try to convince yourself mentally, okay, I'm ready for this game.
02:17We're going to do it.
02:18But deep, deep, deep inside your psyche and in your heart of hearts, you're going, okay, we play, okay, we'll win this game.
02:25And so that's what I think you have to face in the NBA a lot of times is facing that kind of a mental hurdle.
02:35And so I think that's what they faced in those couple of games.
02:39And, again, I give credit to San Antonio.
02:42I thought they played really hard and really well.
02:44Tim Roy with us, voice of the Dubs on Withered and Dibs.
02:47Tim, when you prep for a game, when you go into a game, like, what's the thing or two that you look at and go, if the Warriors do this, they'll win?
03:00Well, in years gone by, when they had their great teams, it was always turnovers.
03:05You know, if they don't turn the ball over, they're going to give themselves a chance to win because they have all that tremendous firepower.
03:11In this particular edition of the Warriors, turnovers are always a key, obviously, but they really haven't turned the ball over at an alarming rate this year.
03:20They're right in the middle of the pack, which for them is really good.
03:24But I think the thing for the Warriors, just getting good shots and not passing up good shots.
03:32Their offense hasn't been as great as it's been in the past.
03:35It's really sort of a middle-of-the-pack offense.
03:38Their defense has been good all year long, top 10 all year, and really good since Jimmy Butler arrived.
03:45So I'm not as concerned about that.
03:47I do get concerned about the offense sometimes when it tends to bog down, and they tend to really struggle to get a good look at the basket.
03:54When you think about this being a make-or-miss league, and you've got Steph Curry, who is the greatest shooter of all time,
04:01when you look beyond that, is it as simple as, well, Pods and Buddy and everybody else, they have to be able to make threes,
04:09or else this team is in some real trouble?
04:11Yeah, I think at times they've relied a little too much on it, but I think it'll be different in the playoffs.
04:22I'll tell you why.
04:24By all accounts, playoff Jimmy Butler is a real deal, and then teams are going to run Steph off the three-point line.
04:31So I think in the playoffs, you'll see this team more looking for twos than threes.
04:36I think they'll be getting more twos than threes.
04:39I think teams will try to keep Buddy Heald, you know, Steph Curry, Pajemski, Moses Moody in the corner,
04:46try to keep them from getting into a groove there.
04:49And so I think you'll see the Warriors having to come off the line and maybe pull up for a two.
04:54So I think in the playoffs, I think they'll be shooting a lot more twos than they did in the regular season.
04:59Tim, obviously, get in and you get what you get.
05:02I understand that's job number one.
05:05But are there any Western Conference opponents that you see as potentially more difficult than others for the Warriors?
05:13Well, you know, first and foremost, Oklahoma City is better than anybody else in the West.
05:18You know, they're the best team.
05:20You don't want to play them if you can help it.
05:22But, you know, personally, I think the matchups for them are better against teams not from L.A.
05:30I just think I think the Clippers are a tough matchup for them because Kawhi Leonard is healthy.
05:37And when he's healthy and playing well, he's one of the best players in the game.
05:42And he does it without the fanfare or the look at me stuff.
05:45And he's just and they've got Norman Powell back now.
05:49So that team scares me.
05:51And the Lakers scare me because, you know, you never know when you're going to run into a quarter where they're going to shoot, you know, 20 free throws.
05:58And so that's that's a big concern for me.
06:01No, I will say that the last game the Warriors played against the Lakers, the matchups weren't nearly as extreme because they don't have Anthony Davis anymore.
06:10And when Jackson Hayes went off the floor, the Warriors got to the rim whenever they wanted.
06:15So I think that that matchup is curious if they do end up playing them in the in the first round.
06:21I'm really curious to see those matchups because I think they're a little more favorable for the Warriors, even though they have Luca, who's unguardable at times.
06:29But I think that the the the fact they don't have the dominating inside presence, I think, would really help Golden State.
06:37That was a weird game because it felt like the Lakers were a little bit out of sorts until the fourth quarter.
06:42And I thought, Tim, that that was one of the higher level fourth quarters of NBA that I've seen this year.
06:48And Austin Reeves suddenly woke up and it was a back and forth affair.
06:52When you look at a game like that in a matchup like that, is it one where the Warriors are going to favor more of an uptempo style to beat a team like L.A.?
07:01I think I think the Warriors would again going back to shot selection.
07:05I think any time they can push the pace is better because they get into early offense.
07:09Teams aren't able to set up their offense and and you get a better shot that way.
07:15And usually you do. And so I think, yeah, I think playing uptempo against, you know, any opponent will favor Golden State, especially the opponent like L.A.
07:23Tim, we talked to Steve Kerr yesterday and we certainly asked, right, we asked him how Jonathan Kaminga was doing as far as kind of getting acclimated with the Jimmy Butler group and what this would mean for the playoffs.
07:37We want to play this for everybody. Let him hear it. And then I would love to ask you something about it.
07:41Here it is.
07:42You know, Jimmy's arrival took away a lot of Jonathan's minutes at the four.
07:47You know, there's no doubt that, you know, as soon as Jimmy arrived and we started winning, we leaned into lineup combinations that enhanced Jimmy because we were winning.
07:57And Jonathan was out for that whole stretch. We went like, you know, 17 and three or something.
08:02So we're going to keep doing what's been winning. But the lineup with Jimmy, Jonathan and Draymond doesn't fit real well, frankly.
08:10It just doesn't. We need we need more spacing. We've found other lineups that have clicked.
08:15And it's just part of part of the deal, you know, being in the NBA and and you got to adapt to whatever, you know, whatever's happening with the team.
08:23Jonathan's done a great job of that. He's working hard. He's playing well when he's out there.
08:27But I'm just going with the lineup combinations that I think are going to give us the best chance to win.
08:33And he there's going to be nights where he's absolutely part of that, like the Laker game.
08:38And then there's there's going to be nights where I go to Buddy or Moses or Peyton.
08:43It just it just changes every every game based on what's happening.
08:47And I have to read that as a coach.
08:48OK, so what do you think that means for Jonathan's role in the postseason?
08:53I just think he's probably going to play more with Steph Curry on the floor.
08:57That that's that's what it sounds like to me, that that way, if Curry's off the floor and they're playing Jimmy Butler with Draymond, like that group that starts the second quarter.
09:06I think I think he's also pointing out that's why Quentin Post is is a key for that group, because he provides them with spacing because they have to honor Quentin at the three point line.
09:19If you don't, he's got to knock down. He's got to keep shooting him till he knocks down a couple.
09:22So so that's what I'm looking at.
09:26I think I think you'll see a job that's missed be more with Steph on the floor than, say, with Jimmy.
09:32And when you look at Jonathan on the floor and, you know, Mark and I were talking about this a little bit during the break.
09:36And is he a three? Is he a four? Is it more positionless with Jonathan?
09:40And if so, with whom does Jonathan fit the best when he's out there for those 20 or so minutes?
09:46Again, I think that's something that they're going to they're going to find out.
09:51I think I think you could play with Draymond and with Steph because there's better spacing there.
09:56So I think and of course, don't forget that as we head to the postseason, those rotations will get shortened a little bit because, you know, you can't there's nothing to there's no back to backs.
10:06There's no three games in four nights. You'll have rest between games.
10:09And so it's time to play your best people in your best combinations.
10:12But I think there will be a role for Jonathan.
10:15I just think that, again, it's going to be one where, you know, he's going to find his way.
10:20But I think, again, I go back.
10:21It's going to be with with Steph Curry, maybe with Draymond.
10:24Maybe they bring Quentin Post out to play with Jonathan and stuff.
10:28You know, these are all possible combinations that they could use.
10:32Do you have any secrets you want to tell us about the availability of Quentin Post in GP2 tonight?
10:36Last I looked, they were questionable on the injury report, but I haven't checked it for a few hours.
10:44Yeah, no.
10:45Did you see Quentin Post and was he sneezing or coughing, Tim?
10:49No, I did not see Quentin face to face.
10:53So I can neither confirm nor deny that.
10:56Okay.
10:56All right.
10:56They do both remain questionable at this hour.
11:01Hey, what do you see with Moses Moody?
11:03Is this just, hey, got to see one go in and then everything's okay?
11:08Or is there more to work on?
11:10Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment because, you know, if you look at his track record this year, you know, he's been really consistent.
11:19And I think he's hit kind of a rough patch, lost a little bit of his confidence.
11:23And so I think, you know, if he sees a couple go down tonight, that would really help him.
11:27And I think, you know, to get back to that consistent, you know, 10-point-a-game guy and, you know, going back to the San Antonio game,
11:34if you have games where, you know, Kaminga doesn't play great and Pajemski didn't have a great night, Moody didn't have a great night,
11:40if those guys don't have, you know, collectively all don't play well, that's going to be a tough night for Golden State
11:46because they need those extra points, they need those extra right decisions and good plays to help them and to help their big three.
11:56So, you know, again, I think Moses has been very consistent this year, you know, since about mid-season.
12:03So I'm not really super worried about him right now.
12:07And he is kind of an unflappable kid.
12:10I don't think pressure really gets him.
12:13Now, you know, confidence, that's another thing.
12:14He needs to see a couple of them go in.
12:16No doubt.
12:17And I think that outside of staff, they all need a couple of them to go in because they shot 48 the other night and they went 16-48.
12:23And as I was pointing out to Mark before, 33% from three is kind of the line of demarcation where if they're at that or below, they lose two of every three games.
12:33I wonder what your thoughts are, Tim, about fatigue and just overall fatigue and how important it is for this older team to avoid the play-in tournament.
12:42Well, I think any time you get a couple of days off at this time of the year is really good.
12:47It's really helpful because, you know, you get all those, you know, aches and sore ankles and sore backs and everything else.
12:56And you also get a little bit of a mental break.
12:59So I think staying out of the play-in.
13:00And then the other fact, you know, we've seen this with the Warriors in the past.
13:04You weren't up against a team that, you know, all of a sudden, you know, the Grizzlies that one time, everybody's hitting threes.
13:11They had guys parked out in the corner who usually don't take threes.
13:14They were knocking down threes.
13:16You know, LeBron James banked in a shot in a big moment in a play-in game against the Warriors, and he banked it in.
13:22And from three, from straight out, you know, anything can happen in those games.
13:28And you could play well and lose if the other team plays great and gets lucky.
13:32So you desperately want to stay out of that scenario because you never know what's going to happen.
13:37I mean, I think it's been great for the league.
13:39You know, we had all this positioning, you know, drama going on the last two weeks of the season because of the play-in game.
13:47But I think if you're a team, you want to desperately stay out of that if you can.
13:51Yeah, I think that's pretty good analysis, Tim.
13:53Thanks so much, and have a great call.
13:55We'll be hearing a lot from you shortly.
13:58And, Dibs, I really was hoping Steve would say yes to your suggestion of sitting in the third row.
14:04I was looking forward to seeing you down there in sweats.
14:06Yes, and I was hoping the same thing.
14:08And I offered that up to the YouTube audience.
14:11And, you know, Steve would know that if I was there, it would be a collaboration sensation, Tim.
14:16Oh, there you go.
14:18See, I can throw a lob pass.
14:20Unbelievable.
14:21A 48-hour setup.
14:23I can throw a lob pass.
14:24Yeah, a 48-hour setup just for that, Tim.
14:27All right, guys.
14:30Enjoy your Friday, and enjoy the weekend.
14:33Should be fun on tonight and Sunday.
14:35Yeah, absolutely.
14:36Have a great call.
14:37Thanks, Tim.
14:38There, yeah.
14:39All right.
14:39All right.