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00:00We're super excited to go out to the River Islands guest line and talk to our friend, Bob Fitzgerald, TV voice of the dubs.
00:07Hey, Bob, what's going on?
00:09What's up, guys? I mean, multiple sponsorships, like for the guests, for the studio. You guys are on fire right now.
00:15Yeah, what would you like written on the back of your neck so that you can keep coming on the show?
00:20We'll get you sponsored here, Bob.
00:23You know, decent guy, lots of friends, loves Notre Dame football, you know, something like that.
00:30Just put a big shimrock on your forehead. That'll work.
00:38Oh, man. Hey, so what'd you think? What was your big takeaway from game one?
00:45Well, I went with the boxing analogy a little bit towards the end of the game.
00:49And one of my favorite kind of matchups was Roberto Duran versus Sugar Ray Leonard.
00:55And I loved Sugar Ray because he was such a great boxer and Olympics and the whole bit.
01:00And Duran just mauled him and mugged him and got him in the corner.
01:04And, you know, and Duran won that first fight.
01:06And then Sugar Ray boxed him in the, you know, the no moss fight where Duran basically quit.
01:12Well, the Warriors just played the Duran fight and beat Houston at their own game.
01:19And that's what's very exciting because the Warriors can play better.
01:22But 95-85 with 22 offensive rebounds and huge physicality and Stephen Adams tossing bodies all over the place.
01:32Like, that's a Houston type of game because they're an amazing offensive rebounding team, the best in the NBA.
01:37And they're an excellent defensive team.
01:39But the Warriors beat them, you know.
01:41And so if this moves to 120-115 or 110-105, that's going to favor the Warriors.
01:49So, you know, you played Houston style and it credits the Rockets for imposing their will on that, except the Warriors won the game.
01:56So that's kind of my takeaway from game one.
01:58And then, you know, at practice today, I was kind of there to see if the vibe is, you know, hey, they got the split and that's what you want and this and that.
02:07The attention to detail and the level of, you know, just kind of the Warriors getting after it was very encouraging for game two.
02:14I mean, they're, I think they're like, hey, every playoff game, there's no, hey, we're happy, we got a split.
02:20But it does bring up that out of 30 playoff series with Steve Kerr, Steph, and Draymond, they won at least one road game in 29 of those 30 series, which is just remarkable, remarkable amongst this team.
02:33Yeah, especially when you take game one.
02:35And you're right, there's the mentality to think house money.
02:38But I don't believe that this team will, pondering what it would be, what it would mean rather to go up 2-0.
02:44And Mark and I were talking, Fitz, about what kind of a game can Houston actually win?
02:48If they can't win a 95-85 Leonard Duran slugfest, does it have to come down to Houston just having an epic shooting night to be able to win a game?
02:59Well, I wouldn't say epic shooting night.
03:01You know, when you see Van Vliet 4-of-19 and 2-of-13 on threes, Van Vliet's capable of a 30-point night.
03:08I mean, he's championship experience and doesn't turn it over and, you know, is a better shooter than 2-of-13 on threes, you know, certainly.
03:16Now, he has not had a great shooting year.
03:18The other one is Jalen Green.
03:20You know, if you look at how can Houston win, look at their win at Chase Center, you know, in their last meeting there.
03:26That was the best Houston could do.
03:28They bottled up Steph, they were amazing on the glass, they were good defensively, but Van Vliet had a night, and Jalen Green had a night, and Dylan Brooks had a night.
03:37Dylan Brooks is a 38-percent three-point shooter, you know, and he had 11 points and he was 3-of-9 for the game.
03:43So, I wouldn't say epic shooting night, but you're right.
03:46I mean, Houston has to shoot the ball.
03:47I mean, all the defense, all the rebounding, all the toughness, all the run-jump athletes, all the depth.
03:53The ball must go through the basket at some point.
03:55And the Warriors have more guys that can do that, I think, than the Rockets do.
04:01Bob, you've obviously watched so much in terms of Warriors playoff performers over the last decade and a half,
04:08and I wonder how you would now fit Jimmy Butler into that conversation.
04:13What was your sort of first impression and how he compares to what other top Warrior offensive players have done in the past in the playoffs?
04:21You know what's weird is you see, Mark, where there's some Iguodala in his game, there's some Klay Thompson in his game,
04:32not from the three-point shooting, but that Klay would show up offensively a lot in the playoffs.
04:38And so, Jimmy, to me, there's a little Iguodala and a little Klay in terms of past Warrior playoff performers,
04:44but this guy's the real deal, man.
04:46I mean, 42 minutes, 25 points, you know, seven boards, six assists, five steals.
04:53Like, my goodness, what a tremendous player.
04:58And with Draymond and with Steph, and then you have GP2 and you've got Looney out there,
05:03and here's Moses Moody and Pajemski making plays in the fourth quarter,
05:07because this series and any other future series are all going to tip on what does Moody do,
05:13what does Pajemski do, what does Quentin Post do, what does Buddy Heal do?
05:17Like, the ancillary guys.
05:19Those are the guys that are going to tip you.
05:21I know what Steph and Draymond and Jimmy are going to do.
05:24I feel very good about what they're going to do.
05:26But it's the other guys, when they play well, that's when the Warriors are at their very best.
05:33And I thought Moody, pull-up jumper, big corner three, Pajemski driving by Dylan Brooks
05:37and laying it in at the end and being plus 17, the ice plus minus on the team
05:43in his very first playoff game.
05:45Like, that stuff makes you feel pretty good about where the Warriors are right now.
05:48You think about the bench and, you know, GP2, almost 16 minutes, and he was a minus 10.
05:53And some of that was circumstance where, you know, Houston made their run after being down 23.
05:58But, you know, Buddy, if he's not shooting, Quentin looked a little bit like he was in the deep end.
06:04And beyond that, not a ton of bench help.
06:06Is there a chance that Steve either alters the rotation or changes what he's trying to do with that next five?
06:14Well, I think the thing is that, you know, Steve has said, and he said it with you guys,
06:17he had a great conversation, I think, last week when he talked to him, kind of, you know,
06:21what is the thought process on some of the bench roles?
06:24And I think he knows the main sled dogs, but it's going to be different guys at different times
06:30and different groupings based on how they play.
06:33You know, like you said, Quentin Post, that was his very first playoff game.
06:37He got in there and went, oh, my God, this is the deep end of the pool.
06:40Steven Adams and Shangoon, you know, and I like Quentin's fight.
06:45He was in the fight, but, you know, he didn't make, he missed both his threes.
06:48And, you know, he looked like, you know, a first guy, that's fine.
06:52But Guy Santos, in six and a half minutes, had five points and, you know, committed one foul,
06:58had a rebound, hit a three, made a cut, got fouled, hit both free throws.
07:02Like, you know, that's going to be it sometimes, too, where you're playing kind of hit or miss on the bench.
07:07The one thing that makes you another Warrior encouraging point is the Warrior bench has been amazing all year,
07:13and they didn't have a great bench night.
07:15So I feel good that down the road in this series that the bench will be even more productive.
07:20Imei Udoka won eight guys.
07:22I mean, Tari Eason, Steven Adams, and Jabari Smith were the only guys that came off the Rockets bench.
07:26Now, this Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, that's plenty of time for everybody.
07:32That's why Steph played 40 minutes, and Butler played 42 minutes, and Van Vliet played 40 minutes.
07:38But after Saturday at Chase, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday,
07:42like, real quick and fly back and forth.
07:46Houston isn't close to the Bay Area.
07:47Like, you're going to need more bodies if the series starts going longer and longer,
07:53and that's where Steve and Imei Udoka will have to start to look at, okay,
07:57who will I roll out there, who's fresher, and who is playing well?
08:00Because sometimes you get dudes that are really, they find it.
08:04You know, they find a hot streak, and you've got to ride that.
08:07That's in a game as well as in a series.
08:09Bob Fitzgerald joining us here on Withered and Dibs 95.7, the game.
08:13Speaking of the Warriors bench, Bob, with how much you watch,
08:16what is your drink of choice to help you stay calm after watching Buddy Heald make decisions?
08:23Oh, you mean like on a two-on-one?
08:25You're throwing a lot more.
08:26Sorry.
08:26Just in general, like, we love him, but sometimes you need a drink.
08:33That's how I describe Buddy.
08:35Sometimes I go to, you know, I'm a big Seinfeld fan,
08:39so there's always a Seinfeld line for everything.
08:42And I think it's Kramer in the episode where his skin and everything was terrible because of smoking,
08:48and he was like, look away, look away.
08:51You know, sometimes I get in that mode like, oh, God, look away.
08:58You know?
08:59Yeah.
09:00But it does, like, it's funny, but it's also on a serious thing.
09:03The decision-making against the Rockets matters so much because it's not just an empty possession.
09:11Hey, it's a turnover.
09:12But 23 points off of those turnovers, like, that fuels their whole offense.
09:18Like, you know, Draymond had a great rebound on a stop and went to an outlet.
09:22It was deflected.
09:23All of a sudden, it's being laid in.
09:24Like, that's what fuels them.
09:26And so, you know, hit singles.
09:29You hear Steve say it all the time.
09:30Like, you don't need doubles and triples and homers.
09:33Hit singles to not give away possessions and not give the Rockets life because, man,
09:39when they turn you over and they get running back on you, I mean, they're ferocious.
09:44And that is a big part of their DNA.
09:46And so you just got to take it away from them a little bit.
09:49Especially when you look at the Rockets in the half court, they're not that efficient.
09:53They don't shoot the three great.
09:55Shingun can get a bucket, but outside of that, they don't have much else.
09:59And I'm looking at earlier in the year when Houston won the NBA Cup game
10:02and the Warriors had 22 turnovers and the Rockets only won by one point.
10:06So is it just as easy as that fits to distill this down to
10:10Warriors take care of the ball, Warriors win?
10:15Well, you're right on the mode there, Dibs, is that you have – it's a possession game.
10:21Turnovers for you, offensive rebounds for them.
10:24So then you can figure out the possessions.
10:26Like, the Rockets took 87 shots, Warriors took 76.
10:30So they were plus 11 in shot attempts.
10:33And then you start to look at free throws.
10:35Okay, 20 to 14, they got to the line more than you.
10:37But they're not a great free-throwing team.
10:39Warriors with Jimmy are much better.
10:41But it really, like, if you tell me right now,
10:44how many offensive rebounds are the Rockets getting tomorrow
10:46and how many turnovers are the Warriors committing,
10:48we can do that math equation and come up with a win or a loss.
10:51Like, because, you know, and I'm not assuming some shooting variance
10:55where the Rockets shoot, you know, 58% from the field in a game.
10:57Because the most underrated thing with the Butler acquisition
11:02and people that look at the Warriors tangentially is that
11:05they're a great defensive team.
11:07The Warriors with Jimmy Butler are one of the top three defensive teams
11:11in the whole NBA.
11:12And it never gets talked about.
11:15I mean, it really does.
11:16They're staff shooting, which is remarkable, you know,
11:19and like, oh, what about the young guys and the depth
11:21and Jimmy can get to the line.
11:22These are all fine.
11:23But the Warriors are a rock-solid defensive team.
11:28And so that gives them a chance in all these games.
11:32And so, like you mentioned, the regular season game,
11:34which was ugly, 91-90, you lose by a point.
11:38But you held the Rockets to 90 in their own,
11:41or 91 in their own billing.
11:42You held them to 85.
11:44Like, don't overlook that.
11:45Like, that has a lot to do with Ron Adams and Jerry Stackhouse
11:49and Chris DeMarco and Steve Kerr and Draymond and Jimmy
11:52and GP2 and Looney.
11:54Like, there's a lot of defensive minds
11:56and a lot that goes into the Warrior defense
11:58that is brushed aside sometimes.
12:00A lot like the Niners Super Bowl teams.
12:03You know, we'll talk about Montana and Steve Young and Rice.
12:05And this, you know, what about Ronnie Lott and Keena Turner
12:08and so many of these great Niner defenders
12:10that those Niner teams also were great defensively
12:12and almost never brought up.
12:14Yeah, and they were fantastic in game one yet again,
12:16especially in the half court.
12:18Bob Fitzgerald with us.
12:19Fitz, before we let you go,
12:21I wonder if you have any reaction to anything else
12:25that has unfolded in the Western Conference so far.
12:31Well, I mean, you gotta look at that Denver Clippers series
12:35and you gotta look at and get excited for Minnesota Lakers.
12:39Like, the Denver Clippers series, it's great.
12:43I mean, is Kawhi Leonard the first AI basketball player?
12:48Like, this guy might be like a cyborg.
12:52He was so good last night.
12:56God, I mean, he was so good against the Warriors
12:58in the final game of the regular season.
12:59Man, healthy Kawhi?
13:02Wow, is he a great player.
13:04He's something else.
13:05And then you look at Denver, Jokic with seven turnovers.
13:09Like, that was a weird game,
13:11and they're relying a lot on Russell Westbrook making big shots.
13:15So, I mean, that series is probably right where it should be at one and one.
13:18And, you know, that could go 11 games.
13:21They won't even decide it probably after seven games.
13:23But, you know, and then the Lakers in Minnesota,
13:27Lakers better have a bounce back because as good as they are,
13:30I don't think they want to go down 0-2
13:32and having, you know, spit away two home games.
13:34So, those two series are kind of amazing.
13:37And then, you know, OKC, they're doing what they're doing
13:41because they're a machine,
13:43which I'm not unhappy that the Warriors are not in the OKC bracket
13:48until if you saw them, it'd be the Western final.
13:51Other than that, let somebody else get in front of that train.
13:54Yeah, no doubt, Fitz.
13:55Only four teams have ever come back from 0-2 down
13:58after losing the first two at home.
14:00So, that's what the Lakers would be facing.
14:02But, I want to ask you about Kawhi Leonard.
14:05Is he the most underrated superstar that you've ever seen
14:09in your time in the association?
14:11You know, it's always weird, Dibs,
14:13when you think like rated, underrated, this and that.
14:15I think the issue with Kawhi, it centers on one thing.
14:21Nobody doubts he was amazing in San Antonio.
14:24Nobody doubts he was amazing in Toronto.
14:26Nobody doubts when he plays with the Clippers.
14:28He has the highest win-loss percentage of any active player, by the way.
14:33You know, when he plays, he wins.
14:35It's all durability.
14:37It's all just games missed.
14:39You know, and that's just injuries are what they are.
14:42But for greatness and to be rated, or overrated, underrated,
14:48you've got to be there all the time.
14:51And that is a big, that's the amazing part of LeBron James.
14:5422 years in, always being there.
14:56You know, that's why we loved Cal Ripken, because he was always playing.
15:02And so, I mean, people love Gale Sayers, people like me, but he played six years.
15:07You know, he didn't play 12, 13 years.
15:09And that's where you get into Tom Brady, Joe Montana.
15:12I mean, I love Joe Montana.
15:14You know, if I had my life depended on him, he'd be my quarterback.
15:16But look at Brady's longevity.
15:18And so, that's part of sports, is being there all the time,
15:22and accumulating all those seasons, all those numbers.
15:25Kawhi is incredible.
15:28But injuries have robbed him of a lot of time.
15:31And people forget, he should have been on this Olympic team in Paris.
15:34What about Kawhi the other night, playing on that Olympic team?
15:37With LeBron and KD and Steph?
15:40Like, I don't know if we would have had many nail-biters in that Olympics
15:43if Kawhi Leonard was playing there.
15:45So, you know, just whatever physical maladies he's gone through
15:49have robbed some of the, you know, the full-on accolades.
15:53But, God, that guy is an incredible basketball player.
15:58Incredible.
15:58God, he was so good last night.
16:00That was just a performance to behold.
16:02Yeah, no doubt.
16:03That series has been just absolutely rock solid
16:06and so tight the whole way.
16:07Fun to watch.
16:08All right, Bob, thanks so much for coming on, man.
16:10Really fun to have you.
16:12What city should I have Steph shooting a three from tomorrow night on the broadcast?
16:17I had one three from the Woodlands, which is a suburb here in Houston.
16:21Any other Texas city, if you throw one out, I will mention it just for you guys.
16:26I went to College Station to watch an A&M game with my old neighbor.
16:31That's about 100 miles away now, but we did fly into Houston,
16:35and you drive about 90 minutes away to College Station, home of A&M.
16:39So, that's about all I have for you, Bob.
16:41Apparently, oh, go ahead, Bob.
16:44Go ahead.
16:45No, I was kidding.
16:46Go ahead.
16:47I mean, I got a College Station to watch this.
16:49What do you got, Mark?
16:49Well, apparently, AI says there is a city in Texas called Bug Tussle.
16:57Bug Tussle?
16:57Get out of here.
16:58Bug Tussle.
16:59And so, that has my vote.
17:02That's the winner.
17:03Deep three from Bug Tussle.
17:05That is coming tomorrow night.
17:06I don't know when it will be coming, but when it does, you can have a little smile.
17:10That was a Mark Willard, Dan Dibley production.
17:13I have never been more excited for a basketball game in my life.
17:16I just hope he makes a three.
17:17Yeah, exactly.
17:18Well, here's the thing is, if it's super long,
17:22I might have it from Bug Tussle whether it goes in or out.
17:26Population of 15, by the way, Bug Tussle.
17:29So, you'll make 15 people very happy.
17:32All right.
17:32Well, Bug Tussle just made the broadcast, and people are like,
17:35it's that same idiot talking on the radio that was calling the game.
17:38It's Matt Fitz, guys.
17:39It's that guy.
17:40It's that guy.
17:41All right.
17:41I can't wait for him.
17:42Bob, thanks, man.
17:44All right.
17:44Great hearing your voice.
17:45It was made by Dave.
17:46Appreciate it.