THE HERD | Colin Cowherd SHOCKED, Golden State Warriors Put On A MASTERCLASS To WIN Series | NBA

THE HERD | Colin Cowherd SHOCKED, Golden State Warriors Put On A MASTERCLASS To WIN Series | NBA

win by Golden State. It was not a great first round for old guys. The old Lakers lost. The old Bucks lost. The Clippers were older than Denver and lost. But then their staff, Steve Kerr, Draymond Green, and the Warriors surviving. Steve Kerr pulled all the levers and had to. They had no bench. It was a starting five and Kavon Looney. They’re going to a 13-1 zone. Uh Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green were very good, but they had to do a lot of it, not just in the box score. Buddy Healed and Pods because, you know, Steph gets doubled so often. Buddy Healed and Pods got great looks and Buddy hit a ton of his. The Warriors had no bench, no depth. Think about that. An old team on the road playing six guys because they tried to play Jonathan Kaminga twice. And you can see Steve Kerr’s frustration. It doesn’t work. He he’s he’s he’s like the kid at the playground none of the kids will play with. It just doesn’t work. When Jonathan Kaminga is in there, he gets the hook. And so here’s Steve Kerr. They score 103 points. 100 of their 103 come from their starters. You’re on the road. The other teams got more length and size and depth. So you had to pull all these levers. And then there’s Steph Curry. And the gravity of Steph was on display. So, I mean, when you pick him up at half court and you’re doubling him and trapping him, it leaves Buddy Healed open and it gives Jimmy Butler more breathing breathing room. And eventually in the fourth quarter, Steph hits five of six. He’s the hammer. Houston’s the nail and he finishes it off. But what Golden State really did yesterday is they said, “Daymond Green, shut down Shenon. Just shut him down. Get into his feet. push him around. He did and that was everything because then you’re basically Jaylen Green you can’t trust. Amen Thompson’s excellent but not doesn’t have a three-point shot yet. So Draymond closes down the middle and I I was looking at the numbers. The Rockets were five for 21 if Draymond Green was guarding you. And this is what Draymond does in big series. He may be old. He doesn’t play old. So he shut down the middle and he he’s the best defensive player I’ve ever seen and can also be an offensive catalyst. But then Fred Van Vleet, they threw bodies at him. He didn’t play particularly well and all that rocket size and all that rocket athleticism, it just didn’t matter because Houston has a bunch of guys who are great athletes but don’t know how to play. That’s why it’s so obvious Kaminga should be a Houston Rocket, right? He doesn’t work with Golden State. They have six guys and they all know how to play. And the key is they all know how to play with Steph Curry. And so basically, very smartly, Golden State and Curry just said, “You shut Draymond, shut down Shenon. We’ll switch it to bigger and smaller guys. That’s the primary deal.” He took him out of the game and it forced Houston to play half court basketball. And I’ve been saying this for years. Kaminga didn’t go to college basketball. Jaylen Green didn’t go to college basketball. They went got some dough, went to the G-League. Neither one knows how to play. Okay. Well, we’re still missing the real point here. Okay. This game was very simple because the Warriors made it so and actually know how to play basketball. Let’s not compare them to the older Lakers or the older um you know uh the older Clippers or the older um uh Milwaukee Bucks. Let me know when they accomplish anything that the Golden State Warriors have accomplished in the last decade. Let me know when Steph and Draymond and Steve Kerr are part of those franchises because last time I checked they’ve done essentially nothing. Okay. um relative to what the Warriors have accomplished. So just because some ages are similar that that doesn’t make them similar by any stretch of the imagination. Um this was a clinic a clinic by Steve Kerr and High IQ Basketball. Everyone and their mother thought that this game was going to needed to be won by Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry, right? You’re thinking, “Okay, Steph Curry’s gonna have to go for 50. He’s gonna go off, etc., etc., etc.” And that’s what the Rockets thought, too. And you could see all the energy is on Steph. And you have Buddy Healed in that lineup. You have him right there. And you empower him to be a big time player in a big time moment. And everybody was on board with it. Everybody was on board. Draymond, Jimmy, Steph, heck, Clay, even in Dallas was like, “Yeah, it’s a great idea. Go do that.” I mean, everyone understood the assignment. Everyone. And when you actually have, this is game seven, so the refs are going to not blow the whistles every 5 seconds. And this is what I had been saying before where a game where they’re not doing all these bootleg tickytack fouls actually help the Warriors because when they’re blowing the whistle a lot, they still don’t blow the whistle for Steph Curry. Steph Curry is beingounded. He’s not just being doubled. He’s beingounded. They are hugging him and slapping him nonstop no matter what. So if they’re blowing the whistle every 5 seconds, they still don’t call that on Steph. So it it it’s a disadvantage because then they’re calling all the tickytack fouls when Steph is playing defense, when Draymond’s playing defense, Jimmy Butler, etc. But so now when a in a in a physical game where they’re not pulling the now allows Jimmy Butler to be physical, now that allows Draymond Green to be physical. Now they can stop Shenon. So it so it all comes together and Steph Curry understood, listen, they’re going all in to stop me. I’m not going to force shots. I’m not going to get frustrated. They’re going to foul me nonstop. I’m not going to go into this game thinking that I have to put up 45 points to win the game. So every time that I don’t get a shot off, it’s frustrating me. It’s upsetting, etc., etc. It’s empowering everyone else to get the job done. And they did. from Pods, from Draymond, from Jimmy, from Steph, obviously, from Buddy Heield. I mean, this was just a big big big time performance. So, that’s why don’t compare them to the Clippers. Don’t compare them to the Milwaukee Bucks. Don’t compare them to the Lakers because this team is a team and they did everything that all those other teams could not do. This was a coaching clinic and a basketball clinic. the ball movement, the shot making, understanding what your opponent is trying to do, playing hard physical defense. Steph wasn’t getting a lot of points off and people were kind of like, “Oh, he’s not. What is this?” You know, he only has three points, but he’s doing everything else on the court. Everything else. I mean, it it was just it was a master class. It was an absolute master class. And you look at the rest of those Rockets players and they I mean they they they they they couldn’t handle it. They were like, “Oh, what what what’s this?” When when when the whistle’s not helping us out every 5 seconds, what what what do we do here? What do we do? And now they’re home. Dylan Brooks, see you. Van Bleet, see you. Thompson, see you. Green, see you. You may see you. I mean, they even tried to get a a few cheap shots in last second when Dan Glee tried to push Jimmy Butler. Not tried to successfully push Jimmy Butler, which was the was the perfect encapsulation of this series. Was was perfect quite frankly. But yeah, I mean that was an awesome game seven. Game sevens are always so exciting. But this was 100% all about the Warriors and Steve Kerr playing high IQ experienced veteran basketball. And I am happy Kuminga got in because I’ve been saying this Kaminga it’s he doesn’t know how to play part of this team. He doesn’t know how to play like Buddy Heield even. He doesn’t know how to play like Moody. He doesn’t know how to play like Kavon Looney. He doesn’t know how to play like you know obviously Steph Draymond etc. Because there’s moments when you’re just like, “Oh, you want that athleticism. You want that youth. You want that speed, but he doesn’t know how.” And there’s times that he’s standing around and it’s like, “What are you doing standing around, bro? You’re the one with all the energy and the youth in your legs. You should be the one that’s the Energizer Bunny. What are you doing?” And then there’s times that he wants to try to make a play and then he can’t. So then it’s like, “Dish the ball back out. just get the ball back. Look for Draymond. Look for Steph. Look for anyone. But he like doesn’t do that. Like he kind of like panics and it’s like, “Okay, you felt like you were going to be able to get to the to the rim. You couldn’t. No big deal. No big deal. You don’t have to force it. Just kick the ball back out. It’s not that big of a deal.” And you can tell that Jimmy Butler’s not 100%. He had he hadn’t been ever since he came back because he can’t play as physical defense as he wants to. and his shooting like you you can tell he wants to drive but he can’t really do the he doesn’t want to hit the ground because it obviously is so painful. So he like can’t if if the layup isn’t really there for him. He doesn’t force the issue. So he keeps driving to the basket kind of comes to a stop doesn’t really have the shot. Can’t really get the lift to be able to pull up. So it’s like he he’s kind of like so you couldn’t really rely on him to have a big def, you know, offensive game either to really just impose his will. So much of Jimmy Butler’s game is to like impose his will. Play off Jimmy. He can’t do that right this second. Hopefully in another couple days because he’s getting better and better and better, but like you you can tell there’s times that he’s he’s been giving up a lot of open shots because he just he just can’t get that lift. He can’t get that lift. can’t play physical defense and he can’t be physical, you know, with with with his like kind of uh signature like physical layups and it’s, you know, it’s it’s a problem quite frankly. But they worked around it. They actually understood it. They diagnosed it and understood, okay, this is we’re going to need to to prioritize Buddy Healed. We’re going to need to prioritize pods. And again, that that’s all Steve Cerr and Steph Curry, Draymond, and Jimmy Butler understanding. Buddy Hill talked about how Jimmy Butler, Steph, and Draymond had a team meeting. And you know, and and and Buddy Hill knew kind of like from that point forward like what needed to be done. And I guarantee you in that meeting, they were talking to the other guys saying like, “This is what we need from you. This is what we need from you.” Because those three guys are the leader. I mean, not like they they don’t need to inspire themselves. Like they’re they’re going to pause. They’re going to Buddy Heield and saying, “Guys, it’s time. You you you need to step up. You need to hit big shots. You need to be there. You need to be focused. And you can’t be surprised that you’re in this moment right now. You can’t be surprised.” And then, of course, Steph just goes, “I mean, Steph just goes off.” When there starts to be a glimmer of hope for the Rockets, Steph’s like, “Bro, is this your first time playing basketball? Oh, is this your first time in the playoffs? Do you do you not understand how this works? Oh, I just start to hit every single shot and just take all the we we go up by 20 when when before it felt like you were just a shot away from taking the lead by one and now your fans are all leaving. That’s how this works. That Oh, this is your first time playing in Houston. Yeah. Yeah. No. No. The the fans they they go for the exits. Yeah. That’s how this works. You thought like, oh, it’s going to be our year. We’re going to win. We’re going to be dirty. No. No. I know a lot of Warriors haters were getting excited to be like, “Oh, they lost game six and oh, game seven, it’s going to be physical. It’s going to be home for Houston. They can’t do this. Steph can’t go off.” Well, the Warriors know how to play basketball. They know how to play team complimentary basketball. Something that really, really only the Celtics truly know how to do at this point. outside of the Warriors obviously because none of the other teams seem to step up and rise to the occasion when it matters. Now they just knocked out a young physical fast two seed and now they’re on to Minnesota which is going to be a brutal series. Absolutely no denying that it’s going to be so fascinating to see. Now, we’ll talk about this later, but it’s going to be so fascinating to see the Minnesota Timberwolves take on the Warriors because we saw them go up against the Lakers, and the Lakers are a dysfunctional team, quite frankly. I mean, they just are. And, you know, I already unpacked all of that. So, it’s hard to really gauge because if the Timberwolves played as great as they did against the Lakers, it’s going to be so hard for the Warriors to win. But again, I don’t, you know, really respect the Lakers and what they were able to do throughout that series. So, and JJ Reic for that matter. So, it’s going to be fascinating to see what this series actually looks like. It’s a winnable series, but it’s it’s going to be harder than this series, and I believe that. And this series has been seven. The benefit is is that the Minnesota Timberwolves aren’t dirty. They’re physical, they’re strong, they’re fast, they’re big, they got the size, and Rudy Goar is going to be tough. Um, but uh he’s typically not an offensive dog except he was against the Lakers. So, it’s going to be interesting. He’s not Shenon, but then you have to deal with Ant obviously and Julius Randle. So, like there’s real people you got to deal with, Nas. Um, you know, no no mistake about that. But they’re they’re physical and and good defensively, but they’re not dirty. So, that is what’s going to add another layer for this. The Rockets are are just legitimately dirty. There’s no It’s like it’s it’s like that’s just a fact. It’s just it’s just a it’s just a it’s like a an undeniable measurable fact. Like you you can see it on full display. On full display and you can see that their agenda to try to beat the Warriors was just like we’re just gonna try to beat you up. I mean, go watch that first half and see how many times Steph is just like being like just I mean, like they’re just bear hugging him at times, which is why when they’re not blowing the whistle, it benefits the Warriors because when they are blowing the whistle, Steph still does not get those calls. So, it’s a massive, massive, massive disadvantage. But if they’re going to blow the blow the whistle and they actually blow it equally for both sides, well then it’s going to be a benefit for the Warriors because obviously they they got the shot makers. But it’s going to be interesting to see how the Timber Wolves game is actually officiated. There’s it’s there’s zero way to predict. I assume the first game is going to be physical because I feel like that’s the way it’s been in a lot of these series um over the last few years that they let like game one almost be like game seven where they just they let the players decide and then game two they’re like, “Okay, game one was a little out of control. Now we’re going to blow the whistle every five seconds. It disrupts the flow of the game. So, it’s just like it’s a shame that we have to try to predict how the game’s going to be called. It should just be, you know, more consistent. But, we’ll find out in a couple days. But, those are just my thoughts. I’d absolutely love to hear yours. What do you guys all think about the Golden State Warriors? Shockingly surprising people, even though nobody should be surprised about the Warriors winning uh this series. Let me know in the comments below. I read every single comment. So whether you agree with me or disagree with me, either way, let’s get in some discussions, let’s get in some fights, but ultimately let’s just have some fun. And please do consider subscribing. We are building an amazing community here and absolutely love to see you part of it. I want to build something that we all genuinely feel connected to, something that we’re really excited to be part of. I think we’re on our way to doing it. And please don’t forget to give this video a thumbs up as it really does help the visibility and the algorithm. Thank you so much. See you next time.

THE HERD | Colin Cowherd SHOCKED, Golden State Warriors Put On A MASTERCLASS To WIN Series | NBA
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