They're tuned into Heat Check.
But just a quick on this episode of the Heat Check, we answer a very important question, what is happening with our dubs? Our dubs are in pre fall right now, and I need to know what is going on folks. So yeah, it's a Golden State episode. We break down everything. Not only do we get into my opinions, but we also are joined by two special guests, The light Years Boys, two of the hottest podcasters on these blue wire streets.
I think they're honestly probably the best follow on Twitter for a team duo, like somebody that covers an NBA team. Their engagements through the roof. They're funny as fuck. They're not afraid to say what truth it is, and so we.
Get to the truth. What's happening with our dubs?
So much to get into Nick drop that beat by now you probably know you probably know the truth about what's going on with the Golden State Warriors. But if you're living under a rock right now, Warriors as we sit are six and nine. It's bad and oh and eight on the road, oh and eight on the road, losing to teams like the Detroit Pistons, like the Orlando Magic like the Charlotte Hornets without LaMelo, the worst start ever in history for any defending champion ever, that's a stat.
So what's going on?
Well, well, things are not going as well as they thought. Things started about as bad as possible before the season even began.
As we all know.
If you don't know this, I don't know, you must not be following the game.
Uh.
The Warriors got involved with what Steve Kerr called the greatest crisis in his time with the team, The punch heart around the world. Draymond Green cold cocked Jordan Poole and knocked him smooth a fuck out, and then the video was leaked, and then that was even worse. The Warriors had to go into full crisis mode. Draymond is going to be suspended. They're finding in somebody who's they're running an investigation, who's the one who leaked the video
and sold it to DMZ? And you know what, nothing's really ever been good since. Like Jordan Poole, the guy who got cold cocked, he hasn't been the same. He's not starting. He was six Man of the Year of Canada. He hasn't been good. The whole season has been one long crisis after crisis. But it all comes to a head last night, two nights ago, because you're probably listening to this on Friday, absolute ass whooping by the Phoenix Suns one thirty to one nineteen, and what's stepf do
on that night? Check's notes had fifty.
Put up fifty points a fifty.
Nugget piece, and you know what, he didn't seem happy. Think of that a historic night for Steph and the team basically still.
Got blown out.
Before last night, Steph had fifty or more ten times in his career. Think about that, actually, for just one second. Steph Curry has had fifty points or more ten.
Times or more. That's crazy.
They've only lost twice in those ten times. This is the bottom line about this loss. If Steph Curry puts up thirty a normal thirty point night, which is what he's averaging right now, this team loses by thirty one points. Pretty much how the game felt not close. Mikal Bridges absolutely sunned Klay Thompson on the bench, splashing a three and then throwing the three fingers in Clay's face to essentially Clay for throwing up four for four rings just like three more points and you guys face.
I'd say it's rock.
Bottom right now for our dubs. Right now, our dubs are in peril. We need to support them, and we need to identify what's going wrong, and we need to really sort of analyze and diagnose how it gets better. The Light Years boys called it the worst loss of the year by far. So what is wrong in Golden State? I have five things that I think are wrong. One, no depth or veteran role players. Two claim is booboo right now. Three they have a bottom three defense in
the league. Trash defense the thing that the Warriors do really well, they suck at. Four young guys that are supposed to step up not performing in some ways regressing.
And five the vibes are bad. It's bad vibe.
All the things you think of when you think of the Warriors, the shimmying the night night, the pretending to boo boo on the court, None of those things, yeah he does that. None of those things are happening right now. Nothing not the three turn around look at the crowd. Not a smile, not a wink, not a laugh. So first and foremost, let's talk about the no depth, none for a team that was rolling twelve deep last year. The guys off the bench this season have largely been on milk cartons.
Let's be honest.
Here are the players off the championship team who are no longer with the Warriors. Naman be A Lecha. I think Damian Lee, Gary Payton is Second, Otto Porter, Juan Toscano, Anderson Jta, Quinn Weatherspoon, and Chris Chiosa. Like, maybe you don't think this is like a good role player. Maybe this like this doesn't move you. But if this doesn't move you, let me introduce you to the role players now,
because it's really bad. None of those guys, with the exception of Gary Payton the second is really known to any non Warriors fan. But you take him as a whole, and they all play well. They all know their role. Damian Lee was really really good. Anno Porter was a plus fourteen in the nineteen playoff games last year and a plus one ten overall for the playoffs. That's pretty good for a guy off the bench. Gary Payton was a combined plus thirty five in his final five games
against the Celtics. Damian Lee spent four years in the Warriors system. Toscano Anderson three those guys knew the ropes, they knew what Warriors basketball look like. They replaced those vets with Jamichael Green and Dante DiVincenzo, two players with zero experience playing in the Golden State system. So is it a shock that the Warriors are falling apart when the second unit is on the floor. And now you've got Jordan Poole that has to be the floor general.
Sorry, they don't call.
It a pool pool regiment.
They call it the pool party. You know what I mean.
They call it the pool party. Pool Jordan Pool wants to come in and get buckets. It's not, uh, the pool orchestra, you know, it's the pool party. We're getting fucking lit, you know what I'm saying. And now Jordan Poole has to be the guy that runs this ship. I don't They don't call it the pool pilot. No.
Number two. Clay Clay top is just terrible. Just said bad. It's booboo right now. And I hate to say.
I love Clay Thompson. Clay Thompson grew up in Portland. You have a special love for Portland guys. John Hollinger said this, and I was like, damn, damn, it's so true, and it's such a shot, it's like a it's like a knife to the heart. John Hollinger said, quote, I didn't think I'd have Klay Thompson turning into Russell Westbrook on my bingo card. But here we are. Problem is that savage statements kind of true. Is not Clay is He is in a slump. He's in a terrible shooting slump.
He is not himself.
And this is, let's be honest, it's hurting the Warriors, hurting the Warriors in every single facet of the game. And he's one of the best shooters of our generation. And what his shooters do when they're in a slump, they fucking keep shooting.
That's what they do. Have you seen Russell Westbrook, That's what he's doing. And he's not even a shooter. And the Warriors.
Problem with that little mentality is the Warriors are losing games because he's chucking from the logo and he's bricking and everyone knows, his teammates included, no, that's shit's not going in soon.
As as soon as he lets it fly, everyone starts.
To look the other way, to go back on defense, and not because he's gonna make it, not because he's gonna make it.
He's had exactly one.
Twenty point scoring game this year. He has had eight games with five or more mysteries. He is shooting an atrocious thirty five percent from the field, not from three from the field this year, and worse, everything is drawing the front of the rim. He's got no lift in
his legs. We'll get into that. But it all came to a head last night because not only was Klay Thompson two nights ago, not only was he terrible six for seventeen from the field, three for nine from three, but it was just the teammates looking at him like, dude, what the fuck are you doing? Steph just looking resigned, like like, Steph, if you look back at the tape, because I did this afternoon. He's Steph's just like he's
got his hands in the air. As soon as Clay lets it fy Jordan Poole, he puts his.
Hand on his head.
Who does that. He's like, oh no, yes, Draymond shaking his head, just ugh, yuck. Three seconds into the shot clock. Two seconds into the shot clock, chuck, chuck. Very crucial point in time too, in the third quarter, when is the last ask mean, riddle, mean this, when is the last time you have ever seen Steph Curry look absolutely exasperated by Klay Thompson like this fucking guy?
Never never? Now?
The answer is now only. So this is and Clay Clay wasn't bad in the finals or in the playoffs because a lot of people are like, oh, he's never gonna be the same again. He's not at full strength. That injury really fucked him up. And to that, I say, yes, he's not gonna be twenty nineteen Clay again. However, he averaged nineteen four.
And two in the playoffs. It's pretty good.
He averaged seventeen three and two in the finals. That was five months ago. So why is he so bad right now? This is what I think happened. I've been doing some thinking. I put my thinking cap on and trying to get into the Claye Thompson soul. One. I mean, he played great, and then you go into an off season and you've been partying and celebrating and now you
need to get back into it. But what happened the last time you were in an off season where you weren't just rehabbing or rehabbing and rehabbing, because let's be honest, Clay Thompson wasn't able to play pickup games last summer.
No, he wasn't.
He was in a pt room, stretching out his acl doing work on his achilles, doing mobility stuff, doing strength work. He wasn't up and down at Lifetime Fitness with Devin Booker. No, so this is the first year he was able to really do those off season runs that they talk about, five on five drills all that stuff. So what does he do. He's like, no, I'm good, I'm not gonna do that because that's where I pop my achilles last time.
So he stays away.
There's articles written about Klay Thompson is not doing pickups, he's not doing scrimmages, none of that. His training camp he comes in late and he's out of shape. I mean not out of shape for you and me, but out of shape for an NBA player, and his conditioning
has declined. And thus, when he starts playing games, when your conditioning isn't right and your legs don't have lyft because you're not strong or you know, endurance, which only comes from playing basketball, not from doing anything else, you can only do it by playing basketball when that conditioning is not up to par and you're playing thirty minutes a game. Now you're hitting the front of the room in your threes. Now you don't have lyft. Now you're not able to sustain a full game and play at
that level. So now your performance is declining. And now what happens me Shannon Sharp, Skit Bayless, Steve all these.
Pundits are who else?
Charles Barkley, Clay's not the same, Clay's washed. Something's wrong with Clay. I don't know, man, he shouldn't be on this team. He's never gonna return back to where he was. And Clay's like, dude, I'm still getting back to where I'm supposed to be. I didn't play any basketball this offseason. You're bad, Clay. But also I get it. That's what trauma does, that's how mental anguish works.
He's got his.
Own stuff to work out, and then what happens when the world comes after him emotionally. It's the first time that Clay physically isn't able to do what he wants and everyone has expectations that he will, and emotionally that shit has a toll. And now he's fighting with Ronnie two qu over his rating and he's calling him a clown, and he's popping off at Devin Booker getting ejected from games.
And now he's doing articles with Ramona Shelbourne on his sailboat, and now he's doing one on ones with Chris Haynes. And now you're like, I think Clay's in his feelings. I think Clay. Now he's saying, listen, just remember I was a part of those four championships. Never forget that shit. I'm still that guy. And it's like, Yo, Clay, nobody ever said you weren't a part of those four championships. We're just saying you're boo boo right now.
And I think that.
Steve Kurz comments show that this theory has some truth to it.
It took a lot of quick shots.
You know.
Clay continues to come down and try to shoot his way out of an early season slump every night, and he's he's pressing, and he's pressing tonight. And the guy's got a lot of weight on his shoulders with the injuries and where he feels like he is right now where he wants to be, you know, So we have to help Clay, help him get out of his own way.
And when he get out of his own way, get.
Through his frustration, the game will come to him and he'll be He'll be fine, and he's going to play at a really high level because he's still got it. Clay still got it. But right now he's he's playing in a frustrated manner. It's leading to a lot of quick shots and he knows that, and we've got to help him through that. And we know how much Clay has done for this franchise and and our city, the Bay Area, So we're going to help him, help him through it, and he's going to get there.
Support Clay, support him. So I don't think that this is a long term problem. I think he just needs to get back in a condition he eventually will be himself. He's never gonna be twenty nineteen Clay again. But that pure shot doesn't go away. But in the present, like I said, he's had not one but two interviews dropped this week, one from Chris Haynes, one from Ramona Shelburne,
and they feel very email. Honestly, he's trending right now on Twitter at this very moment, and Clay returning to some version of at least where he was in the playoffs last year is absolutely critical, and if he doesn't, it's night Night's sleep mask for them.