Reaction to Pacers up 3-1 on Knicks, Wolves-Thunder + 2016 Warriors & Game 6 Klay Thompson stories

Tyrese Halliburton is like, "Yo, I got a chance to put these boys away in the Garden, like with spikes in there." What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show with my brother BD. What's happening, my dog?

Lost my voice, bro. How you doing, my bro?

I'm good, brother. You know, I'm just, I'm chilling, taking the off-season in. Got to, you know, get up there and get a little bump with the Inside the NBA guys. It was always, always fun to get up there, man. Them guys so legendary. So that was fun. Checking these series out, bro. You know, nothing much, man. I'm good, bro. But since you wanna get into your Knicks take, I quite honestly think the series is over. How about you?

Man, I still got hope. Look, I'm a firm believer is one game at a time. You're going back to the Garden. You've been in all these games. You let two of them slip away. So you can't rely on nothing on the past. You just, you gotta come out and dominate at home. And I, and I haven't seen the Knicks do that yet for a full 48 minutes. I do like, uh, the substitution with Mitchell Robinson. And, uh, Josh Hart, I don't like the timing of it, but from a matchup standpoint, I think it saves Josh Hart some minutes, which makes him a little bit stronger. And it also gives Mitchell Robinson some minutes that he can get off to a good start, get them some easy buckets. The way you have to look at it at this point is we going home, we gotta win game 5.

That's it. You mentioned twice going home to the Garden, it's kind of just a feeling I've had playing there. I don't think, and you played there, so maybe you could say differently, but I personally don't think going to the Garden serves, you know, like it does you any justice. Because does the Garden get loud? Yes, of course. Like the fans, the Knicks fans are dying for success. So of course it gets loud.

Yeah.

But I personally just don't think there's much of a home court at the Garden. And the reason I feel that way is not because where most teams have like issues or a lot of, some teams have issues where, you know, if the Warriors are in town, it sound more like a Steph Curry home game than it does a road game. Or like, you know, Lakers fans travel, right? Like some fan bases travel, the Knicks fans travel, right? So like, Not even from that standpoint of the fans, but the Garden is such a show. Like, it's the mecca, it's the Garden. When I step in the Garden, I'm like, oh, it's like, this is it. Like, I'm putting on a show. So you're almost not even fazed by the crowd or how loud it can get because you so into the moment, into the stage. Like, the Garden is like one of a couple arenas where you can't see the crowd. Like if you look out into the crowd, it's dark. The spotlight is on the court and, and you feel that and you going to put on the show and you know the celebrities are there. So I don't think they get much of a boost by going, but just going back to the Garden because guess what? Tyrese Halliburton is like, yo, I got a chance to put these boys away in the Garden, like with Spike's in there. And so you kind of get that same boost from playing at the Garden that the home team can get, in my opinion.

Yeah, I mean, most of it I agree with. Just looking, when I went to the Garden, it was always like, "Hey man, this is Broadway." You get that level of confidence, that level of showmanship, right? But as a Knick, you playing in the Garden, you get to hit first. It's a hit-first mentality. And so a lot of times when people living in, that essence, if you come out aggressive, you have to establish your level of aggression. And I think that is advantageous to the Knicks because if you look at overall physicality in the series, they've been kind of bullied, so to speak. And the retaliation when the Knicks make a comeback is the Knicks start bullying, start playing bully ball. But I think what's holding the Knicks back— Yeah. Is the silliness, right? The unnecessary fouls, the getting in the bonus early, right? Allowing Indiana to get in the bonus early, but the silly fouls, off-ball fouls, boxing out fouls, and then the turnover. So hopefully, hopefully both teams get to feel that Broadway essence and that Broadway presence. I think the Knicks coming out— Mm-hmm. With a hit-first mentality and a do-or-die mentality on their home floor should be advantageous to them with the crowd behind them.

I think all that's great, but it gets to a point to where you have to try different things. It's the moment. But you keep doing what you're doing, you gonna keep getting what you're getting. So when I take a step back and I look at the Knicks team, like they made substitution adjustments. Outside of that, they haven't made many adjustments this series offensively or defensively. Like, I don't see many adjustments that they've made. Like, maybe it's like, yo, we going into the post more. Because if you look at the Knicks from a post backdown standpoint, right? Carl Anthony Towns should have the advantage.

He should.

For posting up Pascal Siakam, right?

Yep.

All right, so you go advantage just from, I'm not saying overall player, just from a post-up standpoint.

Yeah, just from in the block.

Yes, Karl-Anthony Towns should have that advantage.

Karl-Anthony Towns can't catch the ball in the block. That's the problem, man. He getting pushed all the way out the post. And so you really don't have a block advantage 'cause when Karl-Anthony Towns make a good move, it's 1, 2, 3 dribble spin, layup. He not catching it in the post, drop step, jump hook, drop step, get inside for the layup. It, it has to be on him creating space for himself because he getting pushed all damn near all the way 20 feet from the basket when he post up.

Okay, so again, it go, I'm going to go back to coaching. So as the coach, yep. Then I have to run some things to get him closer to the basket.

More touches. Meaning, right?

Like, Maybe it's an old school guard, big cross screen. And he, you know, he getting a better catch there, right? Like as the coach, that's on me to figure out how to get him closer to the basket. Because I think on a 1-2 dribble spacing, like necessary spot catch from Karl-Anthony Towns, he should have the advantage on Pascal. He got streamside. All right. OG Anunoby should have the advantage on Nimhard, correct?

Right.

All right, so there's those two. Mikal Bridges should have the advantage from a post-up standpoint on O'Hally, correct?

Yep.

All right. Mitchell Robinson and Miles Turner. Mitchell Robinson, we not posting him up, so we'll throw that one out the window. And then Jalen Brunson, He's very good in the post actually. Like that's kind of his game. Will he be able to pull that on Kneese Smith? Kneese Smith got the size advantage. I don't know. But anyway, if you just slow the ball down and post it up, and again, this is the playoffs, this is not regular season basketball. This is not—

Right.

Oh man, the game has changed. This is how can I win this series? What looking at some of those matchups in the post do is, it can cut down on some of the turnovers because you can see the pictures develop easy, right? Like you got the ball, if you double team come, you can see it, you get it outta there. Like you can see the pictures develop easier. It also slows down the Indiana Pacers from two standpoints. A, it can slow their breakdown because you get them in foul trouble. You saw what Jalen Brunson kept getting to the line last night.

Mm-hmm.

It slowed the Pacers down. Now you gotta run a, a half-court offense the whole time. That's not quite where they excel, right? So it slows them down from that standpoint, but it also slows them down because now you got those guys guarding the post that's taking them legs away a little bit more. It's not as easy to run, you know, and, and just push the tempo. But with the Knicks just trying to push the tempo and them trying to push the tempo, it don't make sense. So then you end up like the Knicks are playing into their hands because they're better at pushing the tempo than the Knicks. And so I just think there needs to be some adjustments offensively. There needs to be some adjustments defensively that I quite frankly don't think they've done. Like if you start switching 5, right? Like we've seen teams try to switch 5 with Halle and, and the Pacers and Halle has given some, some of these teams fits throughout the course of these playoffs. However, is Halle beating you one-on-one to where you say, I don't care if this guy goes nuts on that one-on-one matchup all night.

Mm-hmm.

But I'm not helping, right? So like say he get to switch with Mitchell Robinson and he wants to go Mitchell Robinson. If he get a half a step on Mitchell Robinson going towards the rim, hey everybody, you stay home. We wanna see him beat us getting layups over Mitchell Robinson. Number one, Mitchell Robinson gonna make up some of that at the rim. And then if Halle gonna hit, beat us with step-back threes over Mitchell Robinson, you kind of gotta pick something that you gonna live with.

You gotta live with that.

But him driving and kicking and him, them playing pick and roll coverage and him coming off picking their pick and roll coverage apart. That's not gonna work. We know that's not gonna work. So I just think at some point, man, some adjustments gotta be made. You can't just keep doing the same thing.

I agree. I would say on the defensive end, what I watched last night's game, every time the Knicks got into a pick and roll situation, and never knew what they were doing. And that is not a good look. I'm talking about 1-3, 2-1-2, 1-4. It was just ultimate confusion. Right? So you gotta do something because you're not getting overscreens, underscreens. You just getting confused. And really what I hate saying, like everybody's pointing. And then when you look on the Indiana side, it's mano a mano pressure, get over there, to screen, make 'em work, make 'em take tough shots. I think Indiana has taken what the Knicks need. And if the Knicks slow themselves down and play their style of basketball, if you can slow Indiana down, make them play half court, then like you said, take advantage of the post situation. You're not gonna outshoot these guys.

You're not gonna— But they do.

Yeah, you're not gonna outrun 'em. Right? You're not gonna outplaymake them as a team. And then Halliburton, you know, you gotta pay attention to this man. He is their engine. So the start of the game, him getting those first 4, 5, 6 assists and not even looking to score, like you playing into his hand. Oh, let me get Miles Turner a few. Oh, let me get Nembhard a couple. Let me get Pascal. He just coming to the game to make sure everybody, you know, got they coffee, they eating, you know, they in the flow, and then everything starts to just open up. So you gotta make him pick one way he's gonna play. Either you gonna beat you on the points, or you just gonna make him pass and make somebody else become the playmaker.

Exactly. But 32, 12, and 15.

Come on, man.

15 assists.

That's BD numbers.

That's crazy. 4 steals, 0 turnovers. That is BD number. BD, you had a game like that in your career.

Yeah.

0 turnovers, 2 steals. I mean, Holly had the edge. 2 steals, Holly had 4.

Yeah.

10 assists, you had, Holly had 15. 14 rebounds, you had, Holly had 12. You got Holly there.

Yeah.

You had 33, Holly had 32. You got in there. You remember that performance?

I hit the game winner that day, and that is the sole reason why we have replay.

They called it off?

They waved him off.

That's crazy. Man, you, hey, so it wasn't no replay to confirm that?

Man, he called it off before I even released the ball. It was 0.7, 0.8 seconds. He went to the replay, doubled down. It was like, no way he got it off.

Who's the official?

What was his name? Bernie Fryer, maybe?

Oh, okay.

I can't remember his name. Maybe. He waved it off. We wound up going to overtime against Orlando. But then in that same, I think playoffs, Derek Fisher hit, remember the shot against San Antonio?

44.

Yeah. And then that's when they came with the replay. Oh, we gonna have to start, going to the replay to see if these shots work or not. 'Cause how could Derrick Fisher's shot count and mine not?

That's crazy.

So a little taste of history. NBA history, man. History of the game. But shout out to Halliburton.

That's dope.

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It's like they give him so much space and his shot takes a little time to load it up anyway. And they give him so much space and he just like, get it loaded.

Yeah, nobody's putting pressure on him. I mean, he's a great guard. And you gotta like, once again, pick your poison. But nobody has challenged him. Nobody's challenged his handle, challenged his ability to create his shot off the bounce. They just let him set, he just set 'em up.

He's genius. He do?

He's genius.

He do?

He has set you up.

For sure. But BD, I was talking to Travis the other day about this Strive. I was like, man, is De'Aaron's handle like that? And I'm telling you, the reason they don't pressure him like that though, is how he handle is very underrated.

Yeah.

And sneaky. And all them boys know at different points when they tried to press him, he'll ba-ba. He hit Mikal Bridges with one at the end of the game. The play where he got past, got to Mitchell Robinson and ran back. If you watch that play, he ba-ba.

Oh, he turned him around.

Oh, crazy.

No, he spun him around.

And so I think all of those guys also know that if they try to pressure him, he'll, bop they ass so fast and they know that. But it don't look, if you're watching the TV, it don't look like his handle like that. But I'm telling you, man, when you get in front, it's like Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving, their ball handling starts when it appear to you that they've lost the basketball because you think they've lost it and they got it so crazy on the yo-yo where as soon as you go to reach, you so outta position and they didn't call and you so outta position that there's no way you could catch up. Halle got some of that where it's deceiving. Like you, the ball look like it's there and before you know it, you go to reach and bop bop. And Halle's 6'7". So whereas Kyrie and Steph make it up in like herky-jerking, like just the— Halle also like he bop bop you, he's 6'7". His stride, he gone, you know? And so it's very interesting to watch because looking at it on TV, it don't look, it don't appear. That his handle is like that. When you play him, his handle, it's way tighter and nicer than it may appear. And I think those guys know that. That's why they not pressuring him like that. But you gotta, you can't just, he too good to just let him see the court and pick you apart.

Yeah, he's shifty. He's shifty. His is like body movement. Like he's trying to keep you off balance, keep you guessing. And it's not necessarily like attack at you, it's to keep you moving side to side and guessing. If you do wanna press, he go. If you don't press, he stepping back. So just great sign of a point guard of knowing, you know, your space out there on the floor and your space, your defender space, and being able to control the game. Yeah. By keeping your defender off you. And if they come up on him, he been getting to the hole too. So you gotta figure out something.

Yeah. I mean, also he had Pops back in the building. Shout out to that. Shout out to Commissioner Adam Silver getting that done. I think that's fire. I think the only thing now is like, they gonna be going on the road. Like, let Pops go on the road. You still gotta sit and sweep Pops. I'm not in the business of wanting guys to get punished and like, wanting guys to get suspended and losing money. I think that shit's whack. And so I, I never like to see that. But in this situation and what happened with Holly Pops and, and the punishment and all that, and everybody like, oh man, he shouldn't get special treatment. Like, yes he should because his son is, is Tyrese Halliburton. And just say what you want in life. Like different people get different treatment. That's just what it is. Like, We can all sugarcoat it and be like, oh, like everything should be the same. That ain't how this world work. It's just not. And so he should get special treatment. He should be at them games. Granted, he shouldn't be courtside. He should be in the suite. I think he should still be able to be in the suite at Madison Square Garden, right? Like, Holly gotta pay for it. So that's your punishment, right? Pops come to the game, you end up, you gotta buy a suite somehow. I don't think Holly tripping over that punishment. I'm sure he want Pops at all these games, right? Like, And so I just think like, find a way, man, for that man to be in the building. This don't happen often. Like his son is on the verge of taking the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals to possibly win a championship. Let them experience that. Did he have a fucked up moment with Giannis? Absolutely. Giannis said he moved on. If Giannis moved on, y'all move on. Everybody move on, right? And so let that man be in the building at all them games. As someone who's been in the position, it's nothing like it. Like, and you don't get these, like these moments just don't come back around. I was fortunate enough to be in the moment over and over again, but it just don't happen like that all the time, man. And so let Pops be at all the games. Make Holly Ash spend some of that supermax money he got and buy them suites at the road games too. But let Pops be at all them games. It's dope. And shout out to Hallie for responding the way he did with Pops in the building, making it a memorable performance having his pops back in the building. I thought that was super dope. So shout out to them, man. And I got them closing out the Knicks in 5.

Knicks in 7.

What Shannon Sharpe say? A tick, a big, Knicks, Pacers in 5.

Hilarious. Knicks in 7, we still got hope.

Oh no, it is over, chat. It's a wrap.

We'll see.

It's a wrap. It's a wrap.

We'll see.

I mean, it is wrap city in the basement.

We'll see. Knicks win game 5 just because of Draymond Green.

I'm just telling you, man, them Pacers ready to move on.

They balling now.

They definitely putting it together, man. But remember to subscribe to the Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis so you don't miss any episodes.

And don't forget to follow us on all social media @DraymondShow. We are recording this episode before Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. Will the Thunder win tonight?

Yeah, I think it's over, man. I just think, you know, with the Thunder, like I've seen some stuff coming from the Timberwolves that it's hard to rally around. You know, like Ant-Man press conference last game saying he didn't get enough shots. Like I wanna see Ant-Man just own that moment. You know what I'm saying? Like, nah, I wasn't good enough. You know, because saying I ain't get enough shots, like you got the ball. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So if Ant-Man shoot 25 times, his coach ain't gonna sit on him. So you kind of gotta go make that happen. I told y'all earlier in the series, I also didn't like benching Julius Randle in the fourth quarter in the game that he's having the first bad game he's having in the playoffs. And you, he get like benched in the fourth quarter. Like they haven't been through enough together to do stuff like that. You know where—

Right.

Steve Kerr,— in game 3 or 4, where I got benched kind of in the 4th quarter, and then we started doing the offense-to-defense sub. It was game 3, actually. For me, it was different because it had never happened before. But we had such a foundation to stand on. We had multiple championships that we had won already to stand on, to where Steve know, like, I can make this decision. And I'm not going to lose my guy by making this decision because I've won 3 championships with this dude. We've been through numerous series that has called for adjustments to be made. He knows how this works, right? And like, fine, like I bounce right back, come back game 4, incredible game 5, incredible game 6, right? Like, but again, there was a foundation built. For us to stand on.

It was a trust.

Chris Finchman, Julius Randle coached for like 50-some games.

Yeah.

Because Ju missed a large chunk of the season with injury. So he's coached him like 50-some games. I'm not sure they have the foundation to stand on and, and like bench him in the fourth quarter for his first bad game. So when I saw that, right? Like when I say I've seen things come from them, that I really don't like. Like, let's face it, OKC's the better team, no question. But just because you're the better team don't mean that you win. But when you are facing a team that's better, all of those things have to be right. And if those things aren't right, then you have no chance. And so I think those things catch up to you, right? Like benching Julius Randle, then he come out, he have a, he having a bad game. Last game is mentally he like, man, I'm gonna come out. Like I know I'm, I'm, I'm about to get subbed out, right? Like I can't make a mistake, you know? And so there's just different things, man, that coming outta that series, like looking, watching that series that I see coming out that I noticed because I've been through it. And those are things that you play on in a playoffs when you're facing those guys. I don't really, I just don't think they've put themselves in position throughout this series to take it. Now, as you know, it, it always, it only takes one game to change a series, but I just don't see tonight being that night. Like, I, I think OKC, they coming out, they wanna finish their breakfast.

All right, so since you got the Pacers winning the East, OKC closing this out, why should fans be excited for a Thunder versus Pacers Finals?

I'm not one to get, get ahead of myself because I think, um, I know better. I've, I've come back from down 3-1 and won a series. I've lost a series being up 3-1. So I, I'm not one that's saying this is happening because these two teams still gotta win it. And, and saying that I'm not even going to break down that series or even say why people should be excited because I, I think you gotta finish your breakfast first. This is the playoffs. Anything can ha— anything can happen. Yeah. So whereas I think the Knicks is done, whereas I think Timberwolves is done, you got, you got that last game is the toughest one. Yeah, you got a COVID. Both of those teams coming out free swinging because they know like, yo, I ain't got nothing to lose. This is it. This is our last one if we lose. So I'm gonna give everything I got. I'm throwing every haymaker I got. And by the way, both of those teams have multiple guys that can beat you and take over a game. Julius Randle can, obviously Ant-Man can, KAT can, Draymond Green, both of those teams have guys that can beat you. So I'm not going to get into which one of those, how that series, or being excited about it until it's time because you got to close them boys out and it ain't always that easy.

Speaking of which, you being down 3-1 on this date, In 2016, the great Klay Thompson put a remarkable performance together, scoring 41 points, hitting 11 3-pointers in Game 6 against the Thunder. In the Western Conference Finals, y'all were down 3-2 playing in OKC. What was that like? That was one of my favorite games to watch.

You know what's crazy with that series? So if you go back and watch that series, to start that series, we outsmarted ourselves. What we did was we did not guard Andre Roberson at all. Literally didn't guard him. The guy that helped on KD and Russ who was guarding Andre Roberson and literally left him wide open. And it's a gimmick, right? We actually did it the year before to Tony Allen in a different way though, where we put me on Marc Gasol and I guarded him straight up. We put Harrison Barnes on, in 2015, we put Harrison Barnes on Z-Bo and just all out front no matter where he goes. And then we put Bogut literally behind Z-Bo to help Harrison. And kind of play Tony Allen off the floor. Once we played Tony Allen off the floor from the offensive end, their defense couldn't survive because Tony would just, Tony would just fuck your whole offense up. Like Tony Allen, one of the best defenders that I've played against in my time in the league. Tony Allen's insane. Facts.

Chilling. Facts.

Oh my God. And so, we used the offensive end of Tony's game lack of ability to shoot it, to force them to have to take 'em off the floor because they couldn't score enough. And then, then they couldn't beat enough defensively against our, our offense. And so that's how we end up coming back from down 2-1 in that series and winning. Fast forward to this year, 2016, one year later, we're playing against OKC. We don't guard ropes and it works. And then they figure it out 'cause it's a gimmick and, and it doesn't work anymore and they figure it out. And so, Now we roll into game 5 and we like, yo, it's 3-1, we going home for game 5. What, like, what we gonna do? And we all were, from Steve down, Steph, myself, we're all like, yo, let's just guard them straight up. Make Russ and KD beat us and take everybody else away. Because when we've played this team and we've made Russ and KD beat us, and take everybody else away, it's hard.

Yeah.

Like, so we gonna make Russ, like we guard, we gonna guard him straight up. We gonna put Klay back on Russ. We gonna put Andre on KD and we just gonna guard them straight up and they gotta beat us. And we won game 5. Comeback game 6, back against the wall. And Klay, bro, the whole day Klay like, Draymond, I got us. Like, there's no chance we losing this game, bro. You know, Klay get this little twitch, like start twitching the shoulder. Like, "I got us, Draymond." "No way." Like you could see it in his demeanor, walk, the whole thing, shoot around. "No way we losing this game, bro. I got us." We down 15. And outta nowhere comes Klay Thompson. 3, 3, caught the ball at his foot, one of 'em shot it, 3. And he's like, "I'm telling you, we not." And so then from that point on, we realize, "Oh, we coming back, we taking this game." But now at that point, you know you got the series because They not coming back to San— no, Oakland, the Oracle. They not coming back to Oracle and beating us in Game 7, right? So we came back in that series and I remember like it was yesterday. It was crazy. That's a crazy year, man. You think about all the things that happened in basketball history in 2016. That series was crazy. Obviously we lost in the Finals, 3-1 lead. That was crazy. 2016, that's also the year that like Steph hit that crazy shot in OKC. We had on those gray sleeve jerseys. And that's like, that shot was kind of like Steph's like, yeah, it's really me, I'm really him, it's really it.

Yeah.

And then history happens. It's crazy. But like, that's all that year with that series with Klay. Just coming back from 3-1, it was insane. So, you know, everything that I said before this about a 3-1 and living through that and being a part of that, there's no way I could count either one of these teams out. Get ready for more must-watch TV from Vice Sports. Introducing "The Grudge," a new series that will relive and unpack many of sports' most intense personal and team rivalries, exploring the egos, history, and high-stakes drama that turn ordinary interaction into unforgettable battles.

Delivering something for everyone, each controversy-laced episode of "The Grudge" digs into the grievances between teams and the top sports personalities in football, basketball, MMA, baseball, hockey, golf, and more.

Narrator Will Compton, former NFL linebacker and co-host of "Bustin' with the Boyz," will be joined by a cast of personalities, including retired NFL wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., 4-time Stanley Cup champion Darren McCarty, former MLB player and manager Bobby Valentine, and renowned NBA journalist Howard Beck, and others who tell the stories of these animosities.

You'll also see nostalgic archival footage from witnesses, fans, players, and coaches closely connected to that week's story. The Grudge premieres Wednesday, March 26th at 10:00 PM Eastern time with the new episodes every Wednesday, only on Vice TV. Go to vicetv.com to find your cable channel. Okay. Agree or disagree. We've seen a few conversations around the league online. That we want to adjust. So during this segment, we will simply agree or disagree with certain trending basketball topics. All right, you ready? Agree or disagree?

Yes, sir.

Let's do it. The first one, Giannis just got his 6th straight All-NBA selection. Fans are debating whether Giannis is the best power forward of this era. Agree or disagree?

Do I get to explain why I agree or disagree? Agree or disagree?

No, no, no. Yeah, of course.

Okay. I'm gonna disagree. And the reason I disagree is this. Giannis has played in an era where it kind of became positionless basketball and I don't necessarily quite think that Giannis is a power forward and has been throughout this whole becoming of Giannis. And so in saying that, that's why I disagree with that because Giannis is one of the greatest players of this era. And the game was kind of positionless. What made people start calling Giannis a power forward is because you had to start putting power forwards and centers on Giannis. The team that you build around Giannis because his skillset was so great in driving, or still great driving and getting downhill, is you put a lot of shooting around him. So then when people look at the game, they're like, oh well, Drew Holliday must be this position and Chris Middleton must be this position and that guy must be this position. Brook Lopez is a 5. All right, great. So Giannis is a power 4, right? And that's why I think people start saying that Giannis is a power 4. Because Giannis is what his attributes, he's 6'11", 250-some, 60-some pounds, strong as an ox, fast as a gazelle. Because of those attributes and his downhill prowess, the way teams had to start matching up on Giannis was putting power forwards and centers on him. Because when he was, when you were putting guards on him because he handled the ball so much, They were way too small. And so in turn, I think people start matching up with Giannis, putting bigger guys on him because there was just no way you can guard him at the rim. So, and so then people like, oh, he's a power forward. But if you look at the great power forwards, Giannis don't play like Tim Duncan. Giannis don't play like Kevin Garnett. Right. And so I think, people are being lazy and/or, and/or just don't understand what they're looking at when they're like Giannis, like pigeonhole him into the power forward position. I don't think that's accurate. And I, I just don't think that's very accurate. But we had to guard him because of his skillset and how great he is at it with power forwards and centers. That gives you the best chance at trying to contain him getting downhill and at the rim. That's what people did. And so I disagree because I think he's just one of the greatest players. And I think it's lazy or lack of knowledge if people's just like, yeah, he's a power forward. I think you're doing him a disservice in, in his greatness.

All right. Giannis is the best power forward of this era. I would say I agree. Starting at power forward. Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Yeah, I don't think they say starting at power forward. They say at forward.

Oh, they do say at forward.

Giannis Antetokounmpo.

They don't say power forward.

At forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In the hierarchy of basketball structure, if you picking a team, usually you'll pick Giannis to be a forward.

But here's the thing though, BD, because of the way he plays, under no circumstance is anyone ever gonna say Giannis is a better power forward than Tim Duncan.— you just not gonna see him.

No, no, we not comparing him to— we saying in this era of his era, like the 10 years that he been rocking, like the last 10 years.

But again, but if he's a power forward in his era, then that also puts him in the power forward, power forward of all time era. And I just don't think people ever give him a fair shot at passing Kevin Garnett, at passing Tim Duncan, because you're not gonna see him with that same eye.

He passed Kevin Garnett.

He passed Kevin Garnett as an overall player, but nobody's ever gonna just be like, as a power forward, look at what he— As a power forward.

I just don't think people are gonna give him that due. I will.

I just don't believe that. Like, you've never mentioned Giannis Antetokounmpo and Karl Malone in the same sentence. You never done it. That's my point. Like, he's never gonna be mentioned with the great power forwards when you're having that conversation. Because it don't even fit. He's so much, like what he does is so much different than those guys that you've never heard Giannis be mentioned with Charles Barkley. You've never once heard anybody say it. That's what I'm saying. So you're not gonna get anybody that's gonna be like, yeah, he's better than Barkley, he's better than these guys because it don't even register that like, look at how this dude play, that he's the same as them. That's not a thing.

Well, it's not happening.

I just disagree with it.

But I would just say he's a one of one at his position, right? 'Cause if you look at somebody like Dirk Nowitzki, he's a power forward. He's not the traditional power forward, but he is—

He's not, but we mention him when we talk of power forwards because he played on the block against those power forwards. He wasn't dribbling the ball up the court going coast to coast. He wasn't like, he wasn't doing that stuff. The only thing Dirk did different, than most power forwards to shoot the ball.

Yeah, Giannis has more—

You know, he get to his spot.

Yeah.

But like Giannis just do something different. He's a hybrid.

He's a hybrid forward, I would say. But power forward—

Hybrid hat forward, Giannis, Antetokounmpo.

He gonna have to guard somebody and somebody gonna have to guard him. And if you saying power forwards and centers guard him, then I gotta say he's a power forward.

Yeah, but then, so what about the night where the coach gets smart and they put a smaller guy on him, like Alex Caruso? Then, so now he being guarded by Caruso. Then what?

That happens.

Then what?

That happens.

Now the power forward ain't guarding him no more. So, so because it's all about your makeup of the opposing team's team. So then now we have a team that feels it's better suited if we put Alex Caruso on Joker. Does that make him now a power forward still? Because Alex Caruso ain't no power forward.

It's matchup. It is a matchup.

But, but that's what I'm saying though. But he's kind of been called—

I think Marcus can be, dude. Does that make him a power forward?

Well, you just said he get guarded by power forwards, so that make him a power forward. I think people has done that.

Yeah, people have to put power forwards and centers on him, which to me—

Yeah, but that don't make him a power forward or a center because that's the only— yeah, I disagree.

He's a big man.

LeBron James came into the league as a point guard.

Uh, no, kind of.

These are facts.

Kind of.

LeBron James came into the league as a point guard.

Kind of.

And because of then you saw—

Kind of. Giannis came into the— They played Giannis at point guard when he first, when Jason Kidd took out—

Absolutely. I agree they did. Just like Ben Simmons came into the league as a point guard.

So let's make him a point guard.

So then you put, you put what fits.

Let's make him a point guard.

You put what fits in, right? James Harden came into the league as a 2-guard. People still mention James Harden with Dwyane Wade. Nobody be mentioning him with Steph Curry and Chris Paul.

Yeah, they do.

These things don't make sense. They have to.

No way. He's a point guard.

Why you people mention James with this?

All right, BD. He's a point guard, is he not? Or he's a hybrid guard.

That's what I'm saying. He a guard. I don't know, man. I just, again, you see what the skill sets are.

Giannis at the end of the day, we're arguing over how many roses we're giving Giannis at this point. So we agree and disagree, but we both agree that he's a one of one.

1000%. That's why I don't think pulling him into the Power Four conversation, I think is a disservice to him.

Yeah.

Just my opinion.

I, I, we'll do our fantasy, all-time fantasy draft and see if you draft Giannis, where would you draft him?

I draft him as a 3. Okay.

Second, the asshole, second one, Paul George says the days of lockdown defenders are gone.

Ooh.

And that you can't do anything against players in the league today. So you know our league, The days of stoppers, those are pretty much gone. The Tony Allen, the TAs, Tony Allen types, you know, even myself, I call myself a defender. There are guys that I can't do anything with. I just have to hope I'm there enough for this to be a tough shot for him. He might make the shot, but I did all I could to make it a tough possession for him. He just got it. Yeah. Tip your hat. Agree or disagree?

I disagree. I completely disagree.

Yeah.

Um, has he seen A'Man Thompson play basketball?

Yeah, that's what I'm saying, man.

I, I completely disagree. I think—

Have you seen Naismith?

Naismith? What's his name?

Naismith?

You seen him hoop? Well, I, I, I completely disagree. I think When I look at the Thompson twins, those guys alone just kills that narrative. Now I also think Paul George making a huge mistake putting himself in the category with Tony Allen.

I was just about to say that Paul George is not, not a lockdown defender. He has never, not at all. He has never been considered a lockdown defender, a two-way player.

Ever.

Yes. But that's different. That's not lockdown. That's— that means you play offense good and you got deep, you got good defense awareness and you're a good defender. But he's never been a lockdown defender to really speak from that perspective. You know, he's a— he's a— he's an offensive guy. And so I think that the fact that people say he's a two-way defender and maybe he pride himself on defense, which you have to be anyway. But it's some young dogs in this league that's just coming out to lock people up.

Has he seen Toumani Camara?

That dude could play some defense.

So don't tell me these types of guys are, are not around anymore. They young. And I think when you look at the NBA, you're starting to see the tide turn. Like, yeah, it is. We're about to have an NBA Finals with Somebody new is winning the NBA Finals that's never won before. Last 7 years.

Last 7 years.

Right, like, so you're starting to see a tide turn. Cool, like, so yeah, you gotta give these young guys the chance to actually become Tony Allen, right? Like that takes time. Tony Allen wasn't Tony Allen in Boston, right? Tony Allen in Boston was building to where guys like, yo, this dude unbelievable defender. And then he starts showing this wreck, you know what I'm saying? He's showing it against Kobe and then he became Tony Allen. Draymond Green, right? Like, so you gotta give these, these guys time to actually do it. But by no means are they not there. Like, they're there. Maybe Paul George can't identify them because he ain't never been that. And, and that's okay. But to think that they're not there or say they're not there is disrespectful to these young guys that I see coming. They'll possibly turn out to be lockdown defenders that in 15 years, guys that they play with like, man, I played against A-Man Thompson, I played against Toumani Camara. And them guys like the Tony Allen of our, you know, when we coming through and—

Yeah, it's not fair, fair. Yeah, it's not fair. I disagree.

I completely disagree. And I, you know, I would just say to PG, don't, Don't sleep on these young boys, they coming for you. Don't do that, don't. Paul George is a lot of things. First ballot Hall of Famer is one of them. He ain't Tony Allen. Ain't never been, ain't never gonna be. We ain't gonna do that one. But will be a first ballot for sure. Anybody who wanna question that, I'll make the argument for on his behalf. He ain't Tony Allen. Don't do that, PG. That's crazy. Hey, so we all make mistakes, but owning up is the right thing to do. You know Degree Cool Rush deodorant? Well, last year they changed the formula and it did not go well with their fans.

Degree's whole thing is it turns up the sweat and odor protection when you turn up the effort. And good thing it does because Cool Rush fans really turned up the effort to bring back the original formula. One guy even started an online petition.

And Degree listened. They admitted they fucked up and are bringing the original Cool Rush scent back. And it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp, and fresh. It's back in Walmart, Target, and other stores now for under $4.

There's a reason why it's been the number one men's antiperspirant for the last decade. It's the same reason why people were not happy when it changed. So if you never tried it, it might be a good time to see what the fuss is about.

Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG Degree Cool Rush for yourself.

Before we get into our next segment of the show, I'm gonna answer some of your questions in a segment called Bet with BD. All lines and odds we discuss today are subject to change, courtesy of DraftKings. First question. Barrett, do you buy into the zigzag theory of the NBA playoffs? In your career, did you ever come off a game 1 win and think, we're definitely losing game 2? Heck no. You think, I'm gonna get another steal. If you're on the road, you figured out a way to beat 'em, but you know that that team is gonna make adjustments. So you're definitely not thinking like, oh, we're gonna lose game 2. You thinking like, hey, this is an opportunity to get up 2-0. So that's it. That's really not the mentality. I don't think anybody has. Next up, Baron, what stats or trends do you look at when betting on the NBA? Does it differ if you're betting in the regular season versus the playoffs? I would say for me, you looking at games at home, games on the road, the last 5 games, minutes and touches. That's how I would measure anywhere when you're looking for people, if you betting on, you know, lines about people scoring. Scoring or rebounding, you always want to take the last 5 games and then look at their playing time too to see how much time have they been getting consistently. Is it increasing or is it decreasing? Is the coach looking at different lineups, uh, for that matter? And then I say in the playoffs, you know that the coach is probably going to play a tighter rotation, so you just really should—

Yeah.

Look at, you look at the regular season numbers versus the playoff numbers. Certain players have a magic for showing up and overperforming in the playoffs, but that's usually gonna be your superstars or one or two guys on your team that's gonna be, uh, relied upon. And usually that's somebody that people are not paying attention to. And if you take, uh, a look at these, this year playoffs, it's been a lot of the 3, 4 guys who will be coming up with explosive games as well. Final one. Baron, when do you prefer to place your bets? Early in the week when the lines are open or closer to tip-off? I say for me, I would place one earlier in the week because it just kind of relieves the stress and the pressure. And then if I need to double down or move something, then I'll make another bet closer to tip-off. You know, it could be based on injury or based on, like I said, a lineup adjustment or something that comes in from the news later in that, in that week or closer to tip-off. I appreciate y'all chiming in. That was our segment, Betting with BD, sponsored by DraftKings.

We got one get at me question for our fans. What do you think about the Dallas Mavericks getting the number 1 pick in the NBA draft? What message does that send to tanking teams?

Don't tank. Don't tank. It's not gonna work out. Hey, man, for Dallas, I mean, I've traded in the European actor for the great American hero. In Dallas, in Texas, I mean, come on, man. And this kid is probably the missing link in the trade for Luka that you get in addition to AD. So the great American hero, G.I. Joe, uh, Cooper Flag. Cooper Flag is like a G.I. Joe type of brand. We need like Cooper Flag type of figurines. Dallas, the South, Texas. Come on, he gonna have some dogs around him. And his versatility, that's a win. Dallas wins.

Golly, that's some incredible luck there. One message that's sent to the Tank continues from me, that shit don't work anyway. Anytime you trying to lose, that ain't never worked in your favor. Stop it.

Okay, who created the 4-ring handshake you do with Shaq?

Oh man, it just kind of, So Shaq, you know, would be able to do it. And there was always the pick on Charles moments up there. It's so fun picking on Charles. And Chuck's such a good sport about everything, and funny as hell that he get crazy comeback. So it was just always annoying. And so Shaq going around, "I got 4 rings." Kenny, when I was— One of my first couple times on the set, "Kenny, how many rings you got?" "Kenny got 2 rings." "Yeah, Draymond, how many rings you got?" I mean, this is actually, I had 3, but then I ended up getting 4. He like, "Oh, 4? And you do the bump?" You know, Kenny do his too, you know? Like Charles. We ain't gonna talk to him. And so that's just how it kind of came about. That's too funny. Me and Shaq throwing up our 4s and boom. So that's our thing, you know, 4 rings, baby.

Hey, y'all leave OG Chuck alone, man. Chuck is the legend, stall him out.

Chuck is a legend, you know, but Chuck talk a lot of shit. He did a lot of shit. So it's always fun getting that Chuck. Chuck, one of the best though, man. I've been so fortunate to be around those guys, talk basketball with those guys. I'm extremely grateful. TNT, Craig Barry, Tara August, who was there when I first came on.

Yep, all good people, man.

All great people. So I've been, Very fortunate to be with that crew, man. But it's gonna be a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show with the legend, my brother Baron Davis.

There it is.

We will chop it up with y'all after some of these games, after what I think will be after the series.

Knicks in 7, let's go baby.

They don't even believe it. I don't even think the Knicks believe that. Until next time, that's a wrap. Peace. Peace.