Latest / The Right Time with Bomani Jones / Bruce Bowen on Wemby’s Playoff Reality Check, Knicks best player debate, James Harden's disappointing effort | 05.27

Transcript

Bruce Bowen on Wemby’s Playoff Reality Check, Knicks best player debate, James Harden's disappointing effort | 05.27 · The Right Time with Bomani Jones

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Wave.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Right Time, a Wave
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: original presented by FanDuel Predicts. My name is Bobani Jones.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us,
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: give us five stars. You only give us four stars.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. It is
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: that time of week where we have a guest join
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: us coming to us live from San Antonio. It's Just
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Like Compton. Bruce Bowen, what's going on, man?
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Come on, man. Just Like Compton?
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: No, it's not. Oh, man, come on. You act like
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: you don't know about Just Like Compton.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Oh, man. Well, I do know a lot about Compton,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: but that's neither here nor there, Beaumont. How are you
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: doing this fine morning, brother?
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Dude, man, I'm good. Look, it has been, even with
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: that sweep, I feel like it's been a great conference
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: finals because when the Knicks swept through them, at least
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: they play it well. We'll get to them in a second,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: but we just, we're coming off OKC up 3-2 now
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: against San Antonio. It looked, and you tell me if
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: I'm wrong here, Victor Wimbanyama, and we had talked a
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: lot coming into this about whether experience in the playoffs matters, right?
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: And the idea that, hey, these teams, we don't have
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: like the dynasty saga anymore. So you don't have these
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: teams that have just been there forever. But the bottom
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: line is the playoffs are different than the regular season.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: And Victor and his boys looked exhausted in game five.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: You know, Bomani, I'm going to say this because they
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: are a young group. I love this group. I love
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: what they've done for the city. And unfortunately, you cannot
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: speed up the process of experience. They are playing last
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: season's champions. And I think so many times we forget
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the fact that they are the last season's champions. They
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: have been through different hurdles to get there. And so
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: when you're talking about what's transpiring, some people are saying,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: is it the fatigue factor? You know, I love how
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Victor continues to stand even after all the physical play.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: And then we look on the flip side, and if
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: one of the Spurs wing players sneezes on one of
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: their guards, it's a foul. So, you know, I have
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: a little issue with how certain things are coming about
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: and what's being said. You can't just blame it on fatigue.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: You can't blame it on other. OKC is a very
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: good basketball team. But at the same time, in order
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: for you to get to the top of the mountain,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: you have to go through the trials and tribulations of
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: altitude and what the adjustment is in the air to
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: get to that so-called goal of what you want.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And I got to think. no matter how much
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: we kind of reduce this to an analytical sort of game,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: there's some basic fundamental stuff that comes to this, right?
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: Like I saw Perk on TV today and he made
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: the point, he was like, In 2010, remember, he tore
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: his ACL in the 2010 finals in game six. So
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: he's there watching in game seven. And he said it
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: was from watching there. It's almost like if you've ever
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: been in a situation where your car breaks down on
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: the freeway and you got to wait in the car.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: And that's when you realize how fast them cars are going.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Like, you know, like when you in it, you don't
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: think about it, but you sit there in the car, man.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: And that thing starts shaking side to side. You're like, oh,
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: it's a whole nother vantage. And he said for him,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: what he saw was like, dude, nobody has anything left
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: and everybody is just willing their way through it, right?
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Like you reach a point where you've never worked this
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: hard before at anything, right? And for Victor, and I'm
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: curious your take on this, I, like most of the world,
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  Speaker 2: is like, how about you get a little bit closer
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  Speaker 2: to the basket? But the argument that you hear back
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: from people around the team is, it's still really exhausting
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: and grueling for him to get closer to the basket, right?
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Like we've seen him shoot fewer threes in the regular
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: season as he's gotten stronger because the thought was it
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  Speaker 2: was just too grueling for him to get there. But
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  Speaker 2: he looked sluggish. Like at 22 years old, he looked
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  Speaker 2: sluggish because that is what the playoffs are.
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  Speaker 1: That is what the playoffs are, Bomani, to your point,
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  Speaker 1: but also the physicality of what he's experiencing. He didn't
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  Speaker 1: experience his physicality during the course of the regular season.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Every single time you look at, they make it a
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: point to bump, to impede his progress of wherever he's
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: trying to go. So now we know that Victor is slim,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: but at the same time, do you want him to
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: exert energy, let's say four seconds to get to a
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: certain spot on the floor, and now he finally gets there,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: he's worked so hard to get there, now does he
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: have the full capacity to execute a move with the
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: big guys that they have being physical with him. I
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: don't think it's just that, Bomani. I think we are
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: minimizing how good sometimes OKC is. They are averaging as
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a team bench points, 60 points a game. That has
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: little to do with just one individual on the floor. Yes,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Victor covers a lot of ground when we're talking about
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: the defensive aspect of things, but now it's They're learning.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: I think our young guards are learning how important details are.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: I got to get to this guy. Caruso is experienced
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: at being in these positions, being a willing participant, spot up, rip, attack,
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  Speaker 1: or shoot the three. He's been there before. Williams knocking
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: down the threes, being able to stretch the floor. All
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: these different things go into all the stuff that we're
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: talking about. And sometimes we solely focus on, well, Victor
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: didn't have a demonstrative game. Well, he still got to
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: the line. I think if he doesn't get to the
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: free throw line, you still have to deal, you have
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  Speaker 1: even more that you could talk about. But he's still
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  Speaker 1: doing what he does. And it's not about deviating from
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: what they've done throughout the season. It doesn't just change
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  Speaker 1: like that. You have to continue the process of what
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: you've done prior to and just kind of get even
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: more in tune to what you do during the course
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: of the postseason now. But again, you have to give
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: credit to OKC and how they're doing what they do defensively.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, wearing down, wearing down, making sure someone's bumping him,
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  Speaker 1: making sure. And look here, we have Harper, we have
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  Speaker 1: Carter Bryant, rookies who have to have a huge impact
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  Speaker 1: on this group. So what I look at in that
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: is the best thing for me is it's the experience
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: that they're gathering right now because it's with that experience.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: It took me back to 2001, 2002. We play the Lakers.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: We beat them in game one or was it game?
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: I think it was game one or two, but we
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: stole one there. And we're feeling like, ooh, yeah, now
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: this is what it is. The Lakers went to another
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: level after that because they got punched in the mouth.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: but they knew how to respond because they had the
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: experience of being in the finals, being in the playoffs,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: understanding what's necessary, breaking down film to the point to realize,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: we need to get better here. We got a little
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: lackadaisical there. And then we see the energy go up.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: A lot of times people don't understand that. They just say,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: what's the adjustment? It's not just about adjustments. You make adjustments,
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  Speaker 1: but you have to have the heart and passion behind
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: it as well.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like I call the thunder OKC Blue Devils. And
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: I hate Duke. So this is not a... It is
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: a begrudged compliment, right? I don't like they get down.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: I don't like flopping on one end, fouling on the other.
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  Speaker 2: I don't really like that. But also, I think we're
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: underestimating just how good they are, right? And that seems
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: kind of crazy to say, but they are down Jalen Williams,
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  Speaker 2: like a dude that can give you 40 in the
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: playoffs if you need it, right?
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: A.J.
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  Speaker 2: Mitchell, who may wind up being next year's Jalen Williams
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  Speaker 2: because they're so deep and they have two of them.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Both of those guys are out, which basically leaves them
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: with one guy you can trust to get his own
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  Speaker 2: basket because say whatever you want about Victor, he is
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: rendered chet.
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  Speaker 1: Useless.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Chet just out there, right? And the Thunder's still up 3-2, right?
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  Speaker 2: Like without those dudes out there, they are still up
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  Speaker 2: 3-2 with once, and by the way, with a superstar
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  Speaker 2: caliber player who I don't think is playing nearly as
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: well as they would have expected in this postseason. And
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: they still here.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Look, Bomani, you said something very key there. A superstar
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  Speaker 1: player that's not playing as we've seen him play. And
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: all I say to that is, You have to give
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  Speaker 1: credit to who's guarding him. You have to give credit
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: to the process of what's transpiring. Yeah, they're making shots
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: very difficult for him. And there's this stat that I
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: saw not too long ago. It said that SGA is
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: falling on the floor 16% of the time when he's
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: making moves, 16%. Now, some of those people are considering like,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: was that really a foul or not? But it was
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: interesting to me because then they brought up Victor and
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: they said Victor falls 6%. But in essence, Victor has
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: more reason to fall than SGA does. And so a
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: lot of people are going to say, well, that sounds
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: like you're nitpicking, Bruce. Well, it's not that I'm nitpicking,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: but we used to talk about James Harden and his
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: selling of fouls. We're talking about an MVP right now.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I remember when Tim Duncan... when he would go up
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: for plays and they just said things like well you're
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: MVP you have to play through it well where's that
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: other thought process when it comes to watching the reviews
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: and things like that and you still come up with
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: something completely different I'm looking at the moments of the
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: game yesterday it's just unfortunate moments And Bomani, this is
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: where I feel like this is where the character building
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: happens when there is a missed call. I'm not blaming
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: the loss on a missed call, but I do believe
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: that that's character building because you can't go back and
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: change it. I would have thought that with Mitch doing this,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: calling a timeout or what have you, they would have
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: honored that. But all of a sudden, the officials, they
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: had nothing. They didn't see it. Again, character building, because
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: you know what? Life goes on. The game goes on.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: And if you ever get into a scenario where coaches
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: are starting to say things like, well, you know, I
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: think the whistles were unfair. You won't ever win in
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: anything in life. But when you look at the fact
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: that OKC had 26 second chance points, that's pursuing of
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: the basketball. That's where you've done part of your job,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: but you complete the job with the rebound. You know,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: to have 40 bench points last night, that means you
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: have to pay more attention to detail. We have to
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: do a better job of getting to the shooters. We
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: have to run them off the line. These are moments
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: where I think, as I said, character building, but these
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: are moments where guys are starting to truly learn that
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: basketball is so much more than just a shot and
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: a box out. It's execution, a wide open shot. It's
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: box out finishing it with a rebound at the end
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: of the moment.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: So I want to ask you this about like the
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: physical play from the Thunder because they're not playing like
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: the 89 Pistons, right? Like I don't like it's not.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: When in my mind I think of physical play, I
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: think of something that has more impact. They're not playing
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: the brand of basketball you see if you go back
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: and watch 1970s and 1980s basketball. When dudes get hit,
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: they get hit. It's more that these guys seem like
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: they're just being annoying. Hardenstein's like, I'm going to hold
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: your arm. I'm going to wrap you up. We're going
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: to stop you from going up. But In my mind,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: that feels like it would have a much different impact
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: than the basketball that I was talking about. But at
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: the same time, San Antonio still looks worn down.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: And that's what happens when you're turning the ball over.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Some of those turnovers in transition had nothing to do
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: with a check or a grab or a hold. That
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: was just, hey, slow down a little bit. This is
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: the part of inexperience, Bomani. The inexperience where I come
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: down and I get a quick shot. There is one
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: period where We took three threes in our trips down
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the floor and no one attacked the basket. The wide
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: open shot, and this doesn't just happen at the highest level.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: This happens in elementary and middle school as well. If
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: a kid is open, they say, oh, I'm going to shoot.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: If it's a zone, they say, oh, I'm going to shoot.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Even with the zone, the concept is still attack the basket.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: attack gaps. And that's where you put the pressure on
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the defense. You have to be relentless in that. This
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: is where Manu Ginobili was truly special because Manu wasn't
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: going to settle. Tony Parker wasn't going to settle. They
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: understood that if I continue to add pressure, now I
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: get a chance of stoppage of the clock, going to
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: the free throw line, and drawing fouls. It is one
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: of those things that is a constant reminder, especially with
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: youth during the course of a game that, hey, we
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: got to keep attacking. And I think in these moments,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the film session that they will see is going to
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: be so much to the point where the guys are
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: going to want to get on the floor tonight because
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: they want to redeem themselves of what they did last
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: night as far as the careless turnovers or the quick
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: threes and not attacking the basket.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Yo, that's something to give. You mentioned Tony Parker. You
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: give Tony Parker that open jump shot, he wouldn't follow
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: for that trick.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: See, but see, Bomani, I don't think people truly understand
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: how much, how your basketball IQ is as that, well,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: if they can't stop me here, let me eat up
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: that space that they're giving me so I can get
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: ahead of steam and get to the cup. Again, all
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: this is character building for this young Spurs team. I
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: love this group, man. I mean, they're everything you want.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: They look at you in the eyes when they talk
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: to you. They are sitting there receiving anything you want
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: to say to them when it comes to helping them
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: to be a better version of themselves. So it's not
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: about a negative group. It's not about a team that
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: doesn't like being around each other. These are moments where
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: you have to go through the growing pace, but at
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: the same time, you weren't in the playoffs last year.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: or the previous three years, or multiple years, and now
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: you're in the Western Conference Finals, it's not over with
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: just yet. But at the same time, these types of
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: situations just don't happen overnight.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Now, what's your read on Castle? Because he has done
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: better with the ball since he had those 20 turnovers
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: in the first two games. He is so physically talented,
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: but also... that ability to just teeter out of control
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: just a little bit.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: And shouldn't he be a senior right now in college?
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: If not junior.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, okay, okay. So this is my thought process. He
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: had those turnovers, but he's continued to get better. You're
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: talking about someone in a moment where you're in the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Western Conference Finals. This boy, I told him, I said, boy,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: you got my feet dancing the way you guarded Shea
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: during the course of this game. And again, paying attention
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: to detail, watching what he wants to do, just being
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: a deterrent. I mean, every time Shea goes up for
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: a shot, he got a hand up. There is no,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: you know, Shea got all kind of space and just
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: got this wide open shot. It takes a lot of
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: film study. and retention of what the coaches are constantly
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: telling him. I love his upside, Bomani. Yes, he had
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: those turnovers, but there is some dog in him that
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: you just have to accept those turnovers when they happen
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: because you're putting him in a situation that's new to him.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: The biggest thing I think sometimes for Mitch is making
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: sure to control him to a point when someone scores
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: on him, he wants to score back on him. And that's,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: you know, Not everybody can accept that, especially when they
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: have as much talent as he has. I mean, he's
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: a top five pick. Come on. There is a reason
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: why he was drafted at the level he was as
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: soon as he was drafted. So I love his center
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: of balance, though. You never see him necessarily off balance.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: When he drives, he punishes you when he's making that drive.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: So yeah, you can't guard him with just a single individual.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: You have to have help. because he dominates from a
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: physical standpoint of getting to the cup. And as he
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: continues to broaden his range as far as him shooting
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: the ball, it's becoming just such a pleasure to see
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: what he's doing, Bomani, from the standpoint of always having
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: the top guy to guard.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: So what's the adjustment for the Spurs now?
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: I mean... It's always funny when we talk about, okay,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: what's the adjustment? Oh, we just have to make a
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: few adjustments. You know, sometimes it's just, okay, we see
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: what it is. You know, turnovers got to take care
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: of the basketball. You got to take care of the basketball.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: You got to defend the way that we're capable of defending,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: meaning we got to get to these shoots. We can't
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: give up open shots. There is one play, and this
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: is someone who I think has been very consistent throughout
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: the playoffs is Vassell. What he's been able to do
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: defensively has been special. Now, when young players start to
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: lose or win over a miss or make, that's where
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: they have to get back to the point. If you
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: miss a shot, get back on defense. There is one
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: shot that Vassell missed. It was a left-hand layup. He
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: makes that any other time, but he missed it this
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: time And he kind of powdered just a little bit. Just,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: oh man, disappointed about the miss. They went in transition.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: He got back late and I believe McCain got a
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: three because of that. See, to me, that's not an
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: adjustment of, hey, we're going to switch this guy here
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: and do this guy there. That was, hey fellas, stay
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: the course. I know you missed the shot. I know
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: you wanted to make the shot, but stay the course.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: We got to get back on defense and hope that
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: we have another opportunity on offense to have that same shot.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: So now it's more of the coaching up to building
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: up of younger players and saying, hey, even if you miss,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: I need you to get back. I don't want you to,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: oh man, I missed that shot. I missed the shot.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: I'm back on defense. I make the shot. I'm back
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: on defense. It's more of a changing of the mindset
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: And understand. that, hey, by me taking time to, you know,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: react to whether the ball went in or not, that
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: allowed them to get a wide open three. So now
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: it's now that little thing of I make the shot.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I'm back. I missed a shot. I'm back with purpose.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: That moment that Mitch Johnson had with Carter Bryant where,
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: you know, he had a couple tears come down. The
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: boy was kind of struggling a little bit. I saw
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: people referring to that as hard coaching, and I didn't
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: think that was hard coaching at all. I just thought
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: the boy was having a moment.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you this. So Pop has made
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: this joke with me. He says, Carter Bryant is so
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: much better than you. And I said, and he can
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: jump higher, too. And that just fell out laughing at that.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: But the reality, this young man is talented, 19 years old,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: playing in the Western Conference Finals, trying to be the
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: best he can be each and every time, is willing
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: to take on that moment of, you say I'm guarding
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: the top guy? Okay, I'm all in. Now, with that,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: when things don't go well for a 19-year-old, a lot
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: of times they put even more pressure on themselves. When
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: I spoke to Carter, I said, Carter, man, Do you
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: know how many times Pop chewed my tail out on
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: national television? Even after the cameras, we thought the cameras
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: were off and he was still going. I said, it's
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: to make you better. And he had no problem with that, Bomani.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: His thing was he wasn't playing well and he wants
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: to play well. I take that from a young man
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: that wants to be the best version of himself. But
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: two years ago, he was in high school. Think about that.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: That's what we minimize so much today. We look at
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: the talent of a young man and we say, oh man,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: he's this, he's that. But we never say, you know what?
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: He's still developing.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: He's still 19.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: He's still 19. Look here, man. When I tell my
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: 14 year old to do something, he looks at me
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: and he has a crazed look. And I'm like, Do
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: It's part of that frontal lobe, bruh. And we tend
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: to forget that because of what we do, or I
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: should say, media's looking at things and immediately they're like, oh,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: look at here. Did you see this? Did you see that?
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: He's 19. He loves where he is. He continuously works
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: hard to be the best version of himself. And we're
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: going to go back in time one day and say, hey,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: you remember this moment? What was going on with you?
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: And he's going to say, I was a young man
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: at that time. And because of that moment, it's allowed
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: me to get to where I am today. And just
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: another note, Bomani, I utilized that clip to send to
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: my 14-year-old parents that I coach their kids. And I said,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: because there's moments where I speak loudly to their kids.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: And some of those kids, they get into their feelings.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: And I said, look at what a top 10 pick
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: in the NBA draft, is dealing with. Now, I have
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: this group called Bowen Select, not Bowen Elite, because I've
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: told all our kids, none of y'all are elite. Elite
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: is 6'8, 2'10, and I just give him the ball,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: he makes all y'all better. We have the type of
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: kids that are selected that could play with the elite
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: and allow them to continue to be elite, but we
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: add to being nice additions to an elite player. So,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: I got A bunch of responses from some of the parents. Oh, yeah,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: great coach, great, great, great. But I wonder how they're
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: going to respond when we play next weekend.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Look, I got two questions for you about Oklahoma City
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: before we go to the break.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: First one, and I've asked this many times, but it
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: still hits me. Can you believe that they got Jared
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: McCain for a bottle of Gatorade and a bucket of
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: range balls?
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Were they Pro V1s ratings balls? No, but you know what?
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Bomani is all about making the most of opportunities. You
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: look at how Sam Presi has done that there. Now,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Sam has learned a valuable lesson when he had KD, Harden,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: and Russell Westbrook. He had three future Hall of Famers.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: They left. Now he has a chance of reconstructing something
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: similar to that. You see him being diligent in utilizing
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: kids that are hungry and really understanding how to make
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: talent work with one another, creating a culture where they
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: want to be around one another and not a culture of, well,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: I'm the man. No, I'm the man. No, I'm the man. No,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: we have a man that's been an MVP. And you
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: look at how the MVP treats his teammates. I mean, like, oh,
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: my goodness. Now, Tim gave us stuff. But this is
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: a different day and age. I mean, he's giving out
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: time pieces, not watches, not watches, time pieces. These things
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: can be passed down in your generations and continue to
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: retain value. But I say all that in a fun way,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: but this is what Tim did. We created an environment
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: that guys enjoy being around each other, even though we
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: had people with certain pecking orders. So I love what
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: he has done, Sam Presley, that is, as far as
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: being able to build that group the way he has.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, it's learning through the experiences
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: that you've had. They were rolling at one time. Now
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: he got them rolling again. He wants to continue to
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: have that rolling. And it's about getting key additions, sliding
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: in guys, and understanding that, hey, Each and every one
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: of you, you have to bide your time because who
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: knows what may happen during the course of a season, i.e.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: right now. Guys are having a chance to step in
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: and play at a high level and display their talents
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: all because they've been prepared for this.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: All right. Now you talk about Bowen Select, you know,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: showing them boys the film. How much of that Oklahoma
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: City film you're going to show them so they can
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: work on some of the, you know, Bow and select techniques.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? Like, I feel like you
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: might be a little bit torn when you're watching Oklahoma City.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: What happened with your elbow right there when you did that?
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was just kind of, you know, a little tug.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: A little tug. A little shiver.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Sometimes in this game, you got to do a little tug.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: You got to do a little shiver.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: I'm just saying, like, I feel like you be watching
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: the Thunder. You don't want to root against them, Bruce.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: You know you don't. You know deep down you don't
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: want to do that.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Man, look here. Yes, I do. And I have no
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: problem doing it. Now, with that, that's why I say,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: you know, I've been coached by some greats. And I
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: said with Pop, he never, again, he never, ever said
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: the officials. And there was moments I remember in 2003,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: we're playing the Dallas Mavericks and we're up 20 in
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: the first half and we end up losing that game.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: And he had the clip on. He said, let's watch this.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: And he showed our energy when we were up 20.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: And even when we got fouled and nothing happened, then
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: he showed our energy when Dallas ramped up their energy.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: And now those calls that we were cheering, we're no
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: longer giving. Now we want to say that it's their fault.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: I say it's character building because there comes a time
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: where you have to play through madness. And playing through
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: that madness sends more of a message to your opponent
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: than anything else. that you're not going to allow any
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: call to sway my judgment of how I approach the
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: game and how aggressive I'm going to be. Count it
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: a joy that someone feels like they may have to tug,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: they may have to elbow, because if it was about
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: just guarding straight up, maybe they couldn't do that. So
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: now once you get to that point, that thinking, you
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: become unstoppable, Bomani. It really does happen that way. But
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: you can't ever allow your feelings or your thoughts to
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: ever lean towards the officials are doing this. Now, with
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: that being said, I will say there has been a
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: lot of hilarious things going on on this doggone AI
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: and stuff on the social media when it comes to
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: the series and how it's going. So I say more
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: than anything else, There is a time where I remember
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: teams would send film in and to the league and say, hey,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: can you guys review this? And I thought you said this.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: I thought you said that. It's no need to. If
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: we want to be champions, we have to play above
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: all the other stuff. And when I say 60 points
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: from the bench, averaging 60 points, that has nothing to
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: do with the physicality of the game. Points off turnovers.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Last game, it was 26. Or I should say it
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: was 20. But it was 26 second chance points. That
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: has nothing to do with someone grabbing or anything. That
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: has more to do with, and second chance points has
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: more to do with you going to get a rebound.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: And when you tally up all those points, Bomani, you
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: start to say, well, no, it got nothing to do
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: with the whistles. It got more to do with the
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: product on the floor.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but now I want everybody that Bruce Bowen ever
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: guarded to know what he just said. He was just
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: trying to flatter y'all. back then.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: No, I didn't say that.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: He was just letting y'all know that that's what it,
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: you know, you good. That's respect that he was showing you.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: You know what? I was getting ready to take my vitamins,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: but now I ain't going to take the vitamins because
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: you tend to do these things. These things. This is
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: so unnecessary. Flattering? I'm flattering somebody? I was trying to
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: stop them. That's what I was trying to do.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: Not flatter them. There you go. Flatter them. There you go. Oh, oh.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: Hey, hey. He got 40. Oh, man. I hope he
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: feels good. My job is at stake. What you think?
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Pop going to sit up there, keep me out there,
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: and he keep on getting 40? Trash.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: No, he's not.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: Coming up next.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: We're going to talk about the ease of Bruce Bowen.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: You can predict the playoff action all the way to
• 30:18
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• 30:21
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• 31:14
  Speaker 2: hyphen offer hyphen terms. We back with Bruce Bowen. You
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: know what I'm saying? There you go. Woosah, big dog. Woosah.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? That's right. That's right. Multiple time,
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: all defensive team. Retired jersey. You know what I'm saying?
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: Big enough man that he even let somebody else wear
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: it for a little while, but I bet he ain't
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: going to do that shit again.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: I just wish America understood what you do when you
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: do what you do. He's building me up, y'all. Because
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: something's coming. Something's coming. Because I know it didn't end
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: last segment. But something is coming.
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: Nope. That right there was me making sure everybody understand
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: that you are a man worthy of our respect.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: See, boy, I'm telling you, man, you got a gift.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: You got a gift.
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: Hey, man, let me ask you this. The Knicks look
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: like they've had what might have been the best month
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: of basketball that any team has ever played. And I
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: have a hot take that people are going to be
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: surprised to hear from me on this one. Becky Hammond
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: has been getting a lot of hell because a couple
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: years ago, maybe it was last year, she said, you
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: can't win with Jalen Brunson as your best player because
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: he's just too small. Which, by the way, there's decades
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: of NBA history to support that sort of perspective. It's
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: looking shaky to people right now, obviously, because the Knicks
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: are in the finals. But... are we being honest with
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: ourselves about who the Knicks' best player has been in
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: this postseason? Because, and it's going to sound crazy coming
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: from me, I think it's been Carl. Carl has been
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: unreal in every advanced metric for the playoffs across the
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: board saying that the best player in this postseason has
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: been Carl Anthony Towns. And I cannot believe I lived
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: long enough to say that.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Well, I think it's the dynamics of the game, Bomani.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: It's truly about Back in the day, okay, obviously we've
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: changed the way the game is played, but you went
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: through your big man. Your big man created different things
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: for you. And you talk about the usage last season
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: of going through Jalen. You know, it gets taxing. I
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: think he's just more fresher now. You look at Tim
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: Duncan was our best player, obviously, but you– saw how
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Manu finished games. You saw Tony finish games, even in
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: pick and rolls, the balls in their hand, and they're
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: able to make the right plays. I don't think Jalen
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: has ever felt like, hey, this is my team and
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: you guys better do what I want. I don't think
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: that was ever the case. I think you had a
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: player that plays lights out and can play above the moment,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: but it was never about him. So when You have
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: these things transpire the way they have. You have a
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: coach now in Mike Brown who understands the game, who's
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: been a veteran assistant coach. He's been a head coach.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: He's been to the finals. He's won in the NBA
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: finals as an assistant. Mike Brown has knowledge beyond what
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: people may understand. For him to understand what's necessary with
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: this group, with this team. He did a fantastic job
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: of allowing the guys to understand that, hey, it's about accountability.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: I have to hold you accountable in order for you
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: to be the best version of yourself. As a coach,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: I am to put you in the best position for success.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: The guys bought in. Even early in the season when
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: people were talking about firing Mike, It was about him
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: setting the tone, creating the culture. This culture is a
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: different culture than it's been in the past. And that's
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: not against prior coaches. This is just a different philosophy.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: One that he has seen starting in San Antonio. One
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: he has seen with a tremendous guard in Golden State.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: All these things Mike has continued the process of keeping notes,
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: keeping notes. Now, Mike's my guy. All I wish is
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: that he would wear some fresher sneakers on the floor
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: and stop wearing that white t-shirt underneath his zip up.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: You know, come on, Mike, put a college shirt on.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: That's what those things are for. Don't get me started
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: on that. looking like an AAU tournament in the NBA.
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: Like I get it in the bubble, man. They was
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: working from home in the bubble. They not working from
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: home right now. You understand what I'm saying?
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: Like- You say NBA, I mean, AAU had a little
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: more swag. That's fair, that's fair. But no, all jokes aside,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: what he's done in New York, where when he makes
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: a substitution, you have someone like, do I think that
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: was a great substitution? I look at Jordan Clarkson right now.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: Jordan Clarkson can put that ball in the basket. He
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: can put the ball in the basket with the best
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: of folks. But even now, he's supporting, he's learning, he's
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: being held accountable. And so when you have this, it
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: just leads to a different brand of basketball. But it's
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: not by accident that they're doing what they're doing. You
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: change things up a little bit. Now the focus, let's
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: go through Cat. Now, Cat, I don't want you doing
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: guard stuff all the time. I want you to get
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: down on the block. I want you not to settle
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: for the jumpers. And because of that, you see success.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: I used to say this that, because I learned this
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: from coaches, that you take away two of your fourth
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: bad shots, two of them. You take two away. it
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: adds a greater percentage to your basketball shot selection. And
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: when guys start to understand that, it becomes a different
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: game because they can get any shot they want. But
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: does it help the team? Does it put the team
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: in defensive transition? You know, did you miss someone that
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: was wide open that don't create for themselves? You look
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: at the way their wings are playing. They're playing lights
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: out basketball because they're getting touches when they're open. It's
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: not just everyone stand around and watch someone else. They
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: are participating in the process of where they are right now.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: And Vinny Goodwill reported this, that, you know, what happened
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: after game three? And the answer was, Mike Brown in
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: the film session called Carl Towns out and said, you're
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: the one that's got to step it up and you're
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: the one that's got to play different. And he did, right?
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: Like everything, it is rare to me that you see
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: a team that hasn't won something before look like they
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: could just turn a switch. And the switch hasn't stopped.
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: It's been a month.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: So you talk about that switch. I don't think it's
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: the switch. I think part of it now is true accountability. Now,
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: you look at every other place that some of those
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: players have been, they may or may not have had accountability.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: They may not have had a coach say to them, hey,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: I need you to be better. Or if they did,
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: it was behind closed doors, just those two. Hey, hey,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: I need you to play better because, you know, the
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: guys see it. No, but when you do it in
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: front of everyone and when you have to now go
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: back to when you were held accountable, and I say
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: this with all the Villanova guys, because when they were
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: At Villanova, Jay held them accountable. So now you're getting
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: that accountability back, and now it's kind of like, oh, whoa, man,
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: I'm being coached again. I'm not questioning things that may
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: have gone on before. I am receiving what's being said.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: And I'm going to say this to you, Bomani, whenever
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: a coach holds a player accountable in front of the
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: other players, it does something to the other players as well.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: It sends the message that, oh, man, if he's getting
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: on him, I better strengthen up my game. too because
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: i can easily be that person just as he's going
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: at the top dog on the.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: Team yeah now uh speaking of accountability It is rare
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: that a team performs so poorly in the conference finals,
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: a conference finals that they had not been to before,
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: that they had taken the next step to get here.
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: And they played so badly that it feels like the
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: only option they have is in one form or another
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: to tear it down. That was what happened with Cleveland
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: in that series. I thought Donovan Mitchell played well. I
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: didn't think that he was the problem. And I thought
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: that he showed a lot in the postseason in terms
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: of what they could be with him as their guy.
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: I've always said their guys are tall guys, not big guys.
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: And you can't have both of them at the same time.
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: But the issue is the one that's better is obviously Mobley.
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: But that means he's the one that you can get
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: the most for. If you feel like you need to
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: turn this over and you're stuck with Jim Harden because
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: you decided to make that trade for him. And obviously
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: it was implicitly at the very least implicitly said that
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: we'll extend you if you come here. And he was
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: very much part of the problem and not part of
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: the solution.
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: It's a situation when it comes to the game of basketball.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: Even as we get older, Bomani, we want to make
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: sure that we are still doing certain things differently. that
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: allows us to be successful on the floor. Maybe being
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: successful on the floor is showing more effort defensively or
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: showing effort, period. What I'm getting ready to talk about
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: now has very little to do with the skill, but
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: it has more to do with desire and effort. Because
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: when players understand that I'm watching someone that's a future
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, from what some people say, I'm watching him,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: but if I don't see effort from that person, what
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: is the message that I receive in that? A younger
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: player on the bench. So when a coach says, come on, guys,
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: we got to get after it. The first thing a
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: lot of those players are thinking, well, coach, he doesn't.
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: So why are you getting upset at me when that
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: guy over there is not doing it? And I say
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: it from the standpoint of basketball. Yeah, he's not the
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: scorer he used to be, but he still has a
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: high IQ. But it's just the willingness, the effort. Hey,
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: I'm going to try to guard a little bit more.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: When they were up in game one and all of
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: a sudden they start picking on James, it felt like
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: James was, again, I don't know if this was the case,
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: but it felt like from what I saw, like, well,
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: you know, they're picking on me. My thoughts are get
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: after it a little bit more. At least show effort,
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: even if it's not successful for you. Show effort because
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: it's necessary in the process of what you show others
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: coming behind you. I remember Steve Smith, there would be
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: moments where Steve was like, boy, I was watching you
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: slide your feet. I know I don't slide my feet,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: but I was trying to give you a little bit
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: of help. Just that. People understand that that's necessary. you're
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: teaching others how to be professional as well. It's not
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: solely about the coolness of the game, but it's about
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: what you bring to the game even when the game
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: has surpassed the physical limits of what you can do.
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: You still have to be something where the guys can
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: learn something from.
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: By the way, Steve Smith, all-time sneaky funny guys. What?
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: All-time quiet, like don't have to, like gets more funny
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: per word.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: No, but it's... And I felt bad for the bench,
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: for the young guys, because I think they need role
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: models in this game, too. You may not be able
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: to shoot it or score like Harden did, but Harden
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: has to show an effort, a desire. Like, I'm watching
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: in the series against Detroit, there was a turnover that happened,
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: and this may sound picky, but James had no desire
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: of getting back in transition because he turned.
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: The ball over.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: It was just like, well, let him score. We'll get
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: it back. That's not the attitude that you want to
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: have when it comes to building a culture and making
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: sure it succeeds. You want that person, you know what,
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: doggone it, I turned that ball over. Let me sprint
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: back because that's the least I can do because I
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: turned it over.
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: Well, how hard is it? And I mean, and I
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: ask this not even rhetorically, but to keep that going
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: in those series when you're down, because one thing that
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: is interesting about that Spurs run is there's a lot
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: of championships and also some series where you guys took,
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: you took some bad ones, right? How hard is it
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: to keep dialing it up at the end? Like take 0-1,
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: for example, against the Lakers.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: It's one of those things, Bomani, you have to, this
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: is what you live for. It's your passion. And it's
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: something that I truly love. So it's not hard for
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: me to get up for something that I truly love.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: I'm going to give you this one. When we go to,
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: I think it's 08, we go to game seven in
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: New Orleans. Now, we had a belief because they were
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: up and coming. Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler at the rim.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: You know, that group, they were good. And there were
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: moments where we're like, we did all that. We got
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: to find something. And it just got to the point
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: where it's like, hey, let's make sure no matter what,
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: we leave it all out on the floor where at
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: the end of the day, we win, great. We lose,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: we're happy with how we play. No one can rewind
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: this and say, oh, look at here. Tony didn't even
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: go after that ball like he could have. The only
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: part that I will say, was a sham was the
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: fact that we had to sleep on the plane after
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: that game because all of a sudden we couldn't get
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: to LA and get our rest and things. But that
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: sounds like I'm making an excuse. So I'm still dealing
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: with a little trauma with that. I wish, I wish
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: we could have gotten out of town and gotten a
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: proper five-star hotel rest as compared to the first class
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: on the plane rest.
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: Let me tell you something. I understand the point you're
• 46:17
  Speaker 2: making right there. And I also understand the audience believes
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: that that is the most 1% response ever that they've
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: ever gotten, right? But that plane sleep don't be the
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: same no matter what the plane is.
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: Man, we ate good. We ate good. We had some
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: restaurant from New Orleans. So we ate good. but we
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: slept on the plane. Then we leave early in the morning,
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: get to LA in that late morning. It is one
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: of those things that it's a great problem to have.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: I'd rather be on that side of it as compared
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: to on the Hornet side. But again, you just have
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: to get up for those things and make sure you
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: exhaust all possibilities. And you know what, Bomani, this may
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: be an issue too is that Maybe James hasn't been
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: held accountable. So he doesn't know that he's not getting
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: back in transition. That could be a situation too.
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: Man, I want to ask you one last thing before
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: we get out of here. Back to Spurs Thunder. Do
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: you think the Spurs can dial it up and at
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: least push it to seven?
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: Yes, I do. You come home. I don't want to
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: take care of business and all that. No, but again,
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: The numbers don't lie. Bench points, 60 points a game.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: They're averaging 60 points per game. Game five, the bench
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: did not have the impact that they've had throughout this series.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: So that, take care of the basketball. Got to take
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: care of the basketball. And we still haven't put together, Bomani,
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: a game where we are scrambling, getting here, getting to
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: that shot, getting to that shot, and then the shot
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: goes up and going to get the rebound. We still
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: haven't had that type of game yet where it's multiple
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: times where we're getting stops and going down on the
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: other end and scoring. We haven't had that complete game
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: just yet, and that's why I'm optimistic. I know this
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: young group. I know how they bounce back, and I'm
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: thrilled about it. I mean, I'm excited, Bomani. I see
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: these guys, man. I'm like, Y'all don't know how proud
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: a lot of the old heads are of y'all. And
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: I look forward to continuing the process of sharing, hey,
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: you guys are doing such a tremendous job, but you
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: got to go through these growth moments. It doesn't feel good,
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: but you have to receive what's going on right now
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: because it definitely is going to make you a better individual.
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: Tell you, man, this has been the series I'd waited
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: for all year long. And it has been, like, even
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: the games that haven't been closed, every game has been
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: worth watching. And these boys are going hard, and they
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: clearly don't like each other very much.
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say I wouldn't say don't like each other.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: I think that's a narrative that people always want to
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: put when it's great competition, where there is nobody backing
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: down from one another. It's not, it's not, see, this
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: is what I'm accustomed to. You know, this with, with Kobe,
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: Kobe didn't care for me on the floor. I didn't
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: care for him, but we respected one another because of
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: the craft. And now after the game, after the series,
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: we can dap it up. And yes, somebody is going
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: to be a little more disappointed because one's moving on
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: and others not. But we still have respect. And now
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: you take me to this, Bomani. You owe that to
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: the game. When you are competing against the best in
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: the world, you owe it to the game to give
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: your all. It ain't about, all right, dog, go ahead. Oh,
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: that was a nice move. Uh-uh. No. You get to
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: that spot and you take the hit with your chest.
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: And then you go ahead and you attack. You know, again,
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about Steph now. castle, he going up vertical,
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: taking in the check, and he get a foul called
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: on him. And what does he do? He just gets stronger.
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: He doesn't back off. He doesn't, well, you know, they
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: called a foul on that one. Now I have to, no,
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: he makes sure he does his work a little earlier.
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, give me that
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: each and every day, because I understand the culture of
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: what this Spurs group is. That's why I rock with them.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: I don't know the culture of OKC. I've seen what
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: they've done. I respect what they've done. But I know
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: the culture here. It's just like back in the day,
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: someone said, oh, Bruce, would you rather have a Key
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: or Alonzo or Tim? Give me Tim all day, every day.
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: You know why? Because we won championships together, number one.
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: But number two, I know how he operates in the
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: midst of tough times. I know how he centers himself.
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: I know how he goes. And now you know you're
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: going to get about 25 and 15. I know that.
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know what others do. I don't know that
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: for others. So, you know, people call me Homer and
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: all that good stuff. Say what you want. Sticks and
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: stones may break my bones, but your words will never
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: hurt me.
• 51:41
  Speaker 2: That felt very personal when you did the pointing and
• 51:44
  Speaker 2: said your words. That felt very much directed.
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: Was that a little aggressive?
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: It felt pointed. You understand what I'm saying?
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: You received it. It was meant for you. This is
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: where sometimes I have to be better. That's why I
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: go to therapy.
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: It was received. I got it right here. I had
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: to get my hands up to stop it from hitting
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: me dead in the chest, but I got it. It
• 52:07
  Speaker 2: had a little heat on it, but it was a completion.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Back up then.
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: Back up. You back up. That's what I thought. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey,
• 52:24
  Speaker 2: that is Bruce Bowen, the coach of Bowen Select. Not
• 52:28
  Speaker 2: to be confused with Bowen Elite, because y'all ain't got
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: it like that. That's what that man told them, my brother.
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it, man.
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, brother. All right, man.
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here
• 52:41
  Speaker 2: on The Right Time. We do this four days a week.
• 52:44
  Speaker 2: Ryan Brumley handling everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir.
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: Hit the voicemail line 323-596-7767. Remember, follow The Right Time. Subscribe, like,
• 52:53
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• 52:56
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• 52:58
  Speaker 2: a hater. And I'll talk to you guys in a
• 52:59
  Speaker 2: couple of days. Take it easy.