May 16, 2024 • 36 mins
Jason and Mike are joined by NBA Insider Marc Stein for all things Playoffs, LeBron James and the latest on the Lakers head coaching search. Does the NBA have a real playoff problem? And Tom Thibodeau is a bargain at $10M a year to stay with the Knicks!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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Speaker 2 (00:22):
Please give this part you're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Greetings, Welcome inside hour three of The Jason Smith Show
with my biz Friendmike Hardin, live from the ti Iraq
dot Com studios tirack dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I hope you get there.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
An unmatched selection, fast, free shipping, free roadhazard protection at
over ten thousand recommended installers tyraq dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
The way tire buying should be well. Both games in
the NBA put to bed. The Celtics move.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
On to the Eastern Conference Finals, taking care of the
Cavaliers one thirteen to ninety eight. A few moments ago,
it was Dallas out lasting Oklahoma City, a game they
kept control of throughout most of the second half, winning
one oh four ninety two. Lukadantic with a great game
thirty one, eleven and ten coming off a poor Game four,
(01:13):
So now the Mavericks go for the closer at home
in Game six. Joining us now in the hot line
for more in the NBA playoffs NBA correspondent check them
out and sub stack on Twitter at the Steinline.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
It is Mark Stein, Mark, what's happening man?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
How are you guys? I'm good? How are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Hating? Thanks?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Hey, I'm feeling good. We beat the Pacers by thirty
last night. I'm feeling pretty good the next couple of days.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Mark the vital Jason Smith contributions.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
To that win.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yes, the emotional investment I make, I can say we
I investors.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
From three miles away. They felt no doubt.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Exactly, I could say, I can send you the video
of this guy. I think you put.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Delete it, delete it off your phone.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Lead well save myself.
Speaker 5 (01:59):
As a I can't say that he exerted about as
much energy as anybody could have into a game.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
I exerted more energy than the Pacers in game that's
for sure. Right, So let's start there. We have a
couple of nights off before Game six with the Knicks
and the Pacers.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Did you see anything last night took you by surprise?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Look after Game four, looked like the Knicks were tired,
but here they come out thirty point burial of Indiana.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Going now now, going into Game six on Friday.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
I wouldn't say surprised, no, because you know, Rick Carlisle
actually said it when the Pacers were rolling, and it's
really you know, it applies every year, but it's really
been applicable in this second round, in these playoffs that
you know, momentum has just been really hard for anybody
at Boston to sustained, and there's been injuries galore all
(02:51):
over the NBA map, and Carlisle basically said every game
this time of year, it's like a one game season,
and I think there is some truth to that. And
so you know, the Knicks gets such a charge and
a lift from that crowd, which you know, I've always
said that's my favorite place to watch a game, cover
a game. It's just it's magical and it's you know,
(03:12):
it's it's a place where, you know, MSG is one
of those arenas that you can feel it through the TV.
You can feel it sitting in your studio three thousand
miles away, like you can actually it actually translates on television.
What an amazing atmosphere MSG can be. So look the Knicker.
We know how short handed they are. I mean it's
(03:33):
basically just some guards and heart and seen at this point,
and you know that crowd gave them a huge lift.
And look the Pacers were shockingly as well as shockingly
flat as well as they played in game four. But
you know, let's see how they rebound. Let's see if
you know it's it's Haliburton. I mean, he just was
(03:54):
so cured. You know, I think after Game three and four,
a lot of people around the league, how this is
a Halliburton we saw pre groin injury. This was first
half Halliburton who looked like such a revelation, and then
he just receded to such a non aggressive outing in
game five. So let's see particularly it's got to start
(04:16):
with him. But you know this, I mean you see
those and then you see afterday and you see those
pictures of all the Knicks of the Paths who are
going to these games right now, and Patrick Ewing and
free Well and Bill Bradley are all huddled along the
sideline with an other guys. I mean, I mean, you
have a right as a Knicks fan to be quite giddy.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I see the classic Knicks.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, yeah, the classic Knicks are that Starks and marbur
looked like they wanted to play. I think John Starks
wanted to inbound the ball in the fourth quarter on
one play.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
And I will tell you and concede that. I mean
Bernard King in high school was my favorite player I loved.
My team was the Buffalo Braves, so they didn't make
it past my extreme youth. So in high school I
really grab it hated to players because my favorite team
was no longer with us. And man that I love
Bernard King and so just even seeing him around mean
it's been Yeah, I mean it's it's quite a ride.
(05:11):
And if the Knicks can finish this thing, and if
we get Celtics Knicks in the conference finals, yes it's
a diminished version of the Knicks. And yes, Christops Porzingis
is still out indefinitely, but just just seeing the Celtics
and the Knicks on that kind of stage again would
be something.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
When we look at Yeah, I'm a bullsk guy, so
nineteen ninety eight's a long time ago too, but what
a glorious run it was when we look at it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Going back to the statement, you.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Brought up the Carlisle point that game the game lack
of momentum is that good for the game?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Well, you know what it is too though, There's so
many more shows like what we're doing right now. There's
just so much more pre and postgame programming. And I
always say this, like, we we fall into this trap
in the NBA where we an we want to draw
conclusions from single games, and that's just really dangerous and
(06:15):
risky to do. This is not the NFL, it's not
a seventeen game season, and any time you you know,
I mean, how many people. Now, I certainly said the
Nuggets were in trouble and then you know, you know,
it was a dire situation. But I certainly wasn't going
to say, oh my god, the Wolves are going to
sweep this thing.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Now.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I mean, you know, you had to think that the
champions were going to go to Minnesota and win at
least one, given what they've achieved last season. And like
I said, I just I just think we are we
are prone in the NBA to weigh over react these things.
And even Mavericks thunder tonight is a great example. Like
(06:55):
the Mavericks Game four loss was horrendous is they completely
unraveled in the fourth quarter on their home court with
a chance to go up three to one, and on
the outside so many times the instinct is to say
they'll never recover from that, that choke job, it's over
like the thunder, you know, the thunder. And these NBA
(07:17):
teams like they have a great capacity to forget, not forget,
but just to bounce back from lows that we think
will be fatal. And we're seeing it in more than
one series in this round.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
You know, I hear you on that, and it makes
me think of what I heard from Minnesota last night
after losing to Denver. And you know, look, I get
Jokic's the MVP. We all seem doing credible things. But
when I see the Timberwolves and Anthony Edward saying, what
can you say?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Man? I'm giving his flowers. He's the MVP. Have you quit?
Are you done?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Like I don't want to. I want to hear we
got to find a way to stop this guy. When
I see, hey, we're shrugging our shoulders. What can we do?
The guy's the best player in the game. I wonder,
are are you mentally still in the series? Like are
the Timberwells still mentally in this series at this point, Like,
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Well, I guess that's another I guess that's another one
of my pet peeves because like I don't want to read,
I don't want to overreact too much to what said
in the emotion of a postgame press conference. So like,
Anthony Edwards is the last guy on that team that
I think is just going to back down and surrender.
I mean he Also, you know, somebody who was you know,
I think Ben Goliver, my pal from the Washington Post,
(08:26):
said that, you know, Anthony Edwards made sure to tell
a ball boy on the way out, you know, see
you back there for Game seven.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So I.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Anthony Edwards ain't going anywhere. That's not their problem, their problem,
I think. Also, you know, they, you know, Karl Anthony
Towns had a really poor Game five and they missed
Mike Conleys. Like you know, Tuesday, I had just posted
a story where I just listed all kinds of injuries.
There's a good friend of mine named Jeff Stotts who
(08:58):
runs in Streak, which is just an amazing database that
keeps track of every injury in the NBA, And I
asked him, just can you make me a simple lift
of every player who has missed at least one game
starting in the play and round. It's more than fifty players,
And so I just highlighted ten key ones, and literally
(09:19):
less than two hours after I hit send on that story,
the Wolves are announcing that Mike Conley has a CAF
string and he's such a crucial organizer for.
Speaker 6 (09:28):
Them that that's you know, they've already lost the momentum
in the series, and now to play without such a
key cool head gonna make the job even tougher.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
But again, as bad as you know the Wolves have
lost three in a row, are you really going to
be shocked if they find a way to take this
thing to seven? I don't think we should be shocked.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Mark was lebron in Cleveland on a recruiting mission, or
he just needs someone to cheer for him.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
I look, he is calculated, and he does know what
he's doing, and he knows that making that kind of
appearance is going to get all of us in the
media to react and project and try to dissect what
it all means. But I've been saying this for years
and I'm sticking with it. I don't see a third
(10:18):
marriage with the Calves as any kind of future possibility.
The Calves they want to move on and keep building
this post Lebron team. You know, obviously they they're eliminated tonight,
They're knocked out of the playoffs. There's all kinds of
questions about JB. Bickerstaff's job security, but to be honest,
(10:38):
those questions have been swirling since last summer when Jason's
Knicks beat them in the first round. So the questions
about the coach's future are really nothing new. They've lingered
over the whole season, and they've got some major questions
to answer about Donovan Mitchell's future. But they just they
won around. They won around in these playoffs. It was
the first time they've won a series without Ron James
(11:00):
and uniform in more than thirty years. You got to
go all the way back to ninety three for the
last time Cleveland did that. And you know, I don't
think they're looking to bring Lebron back, And to be honest,
I don't think Lebron is looking to go back to
the Cabs for a third marriage. So he and his
wife were both home for Mother's Day. They obviously wanted
(11:22):
to be in close proximity to Chicago to be able
to watch Bronni in the pre DAFT pre draft combine,
which you know, Lebron made an appearance there today and
the camera has never left him there either. This is
just the way it is. If Lebron shows up anywhere,
it's going to be, you know, twenty four to seven
CNN style coverage. That's just the way it will always
(11:43):
be wherever he goes.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Now, Mark, lastly, you got a lot on what's going
on in the steinline on substack with the Lakers coaching search.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Basically, they're going to talk to everybody.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
They have carte blanche across the league to start talking
to people. As you've talked to people you talk to,
what you think what are the names are going to
rise to the top of this list for the Lakers
in some kind of orderly fashion.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Well, look, if you had to say, if you guys
said you cannot hang up this phone without giving us
an early favorite, the early favorite would be JJ Reddick.
And I think that is the way that most people
in coaching circles see it going into the interview process.
But you also have to remember here, Doc Rivers was
(12:29):
the splashy addition to ESPN's broadcast team this season, Mike Breen,
Doris Burke, Doc Rivers. That was supposed to be their
A team for at least this season, and Doc Rivers
didn't even make it to February before he got another
coaching job. They elevated JJ Reddick into doc spots. ESPN
(12:50):
wants JJ Reddick to do the finals. I you know,
the working assumption I think around the league is that
there's no way Redik is going to be available to
the Lakers before the finals end. ESPN cannot lose another
star analyst from its A team before the finals, So
(13:10):
that really gives the Lakers. You know, it's still mid May,
the Finals are going to run, you know, into late June.
That gives the Lakers a lot of time to survey
the field, interview a lot of people, and really make
sure that if they do decide it is JJ Reddick,
that he is the right choice. But look, I think
(13:32):
Sam Passell is going to be a factor in the search.
Sam Cassell a Boston Celtics assistant this season. Frankly, he
is overdue for a head coaching shot, and I think
it's important to note, you know, he is represented by
Clutch Sports as well if you want like to follow
those things, and that's of course the agency that represents
both Lebron and Anthony Davis. I think James Barrego, the
(13:55):
associate head coach in New Orleans, I think he's going
to be a factor. He has a history, a brief one,
but he does have some history working with Anthony Davis.
So the Lakers are going to look at a lot
of different coaches. They don't have to rush. The only
other opening in the league right now is Washington. The
Wizards are rebuilding, they're not really competing with the Lakers
(14:16):
for candidates, So the Lakers have the ability to slow
play this and talk to a lot of people and
make sure that they choose the best candidate for the job.
But if you're forecasting it from now, for you know,
how it looks on is today May fifteen, How it
looks on May fifteenth, you know, I think the early favorite,
(14:37):
you would say, is JJ Reddick. But there's a whole
interview process for everyone to go through.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
He's on Twitter at the Steinline, that is at the Steinline.
Check out his latest on Substack all about the Lakers
now nationwide head coaching search.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Mark has always appreciate your time, my friend. We'll talk
to you soon.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
All right, guys, be good.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Thanks, Mark appreciated it, goes Mark Stein.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I feel like this is like the Lakers search is
like when you hear in radio when when hey looking
for our next afternoon drive star and we're having a
nationwide search for our next great place.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Like, that's what the Lakers are doing. We have a
nationwide search.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
We're gonna talk to one thousand people because we really
have no idea what we want.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
We're gonna talk to everybody about this job. That's fine
as long as it's not Doc. Oh, you know Doc
is in there. Come on, he's gonna shut your mouth.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
You know he's gonna he's gonna show up on the
day they interview Reddick and go, oh.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I didn't know you were here. Oh yeah, well no, no,
I just came over to say hi. Yeah, no, you
going to talk to him.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I'll see you later. He's gonna wait and hang out
and go, Hey, everybody's here. You just talked to JJ. Hey,
come talk to me. I'm here to talk to you.
You guys are all in the room, right, I'll come in. Look,
I got my power point ready, I'm all set to go.
Let me come in, let me talk to you guys.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
You saw how Doc went in to tear him down,
saying the best numbers of your life came with me
as your coach.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
So don't go trying to talk on my name.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
So you got that and didn't ESPN dude, dream job
a long time ago?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Isn't that kind of what this is? Turning?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
And do?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Sure? That's what Mike Hall was your first dream? Drop?
Way you go? Yes, that's funny. Show at my best friend.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Mike Carmon live from the Tyraq dot com studios. Coming
up next as we get we talked with Mark Stein.
The NBA has a playoff problem. That's coming up next.
Right here, we break it down. Jason and Mike. This
is Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (16:36):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller.
Would mean a lot to have you join us on
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(16:59):
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Speaker 1 (17:06):
Live from the Tirack dot com studios and uh NBA
action in the books for tonight, Celtics eliminate the Cavs
one thirteen ninety eight, Dallas over Oklahoma City one oh
four ninety two. And it's time to get something a
little serious here about the NBA playoffs because there's a
(17:30):
lot that's led up to this. But the NBA has
a playoff problem because too many series end like Boston
Cleveland and kind of go like Dallas Oklahoma City. Right,
we watch Boston b Cleveland in four games, and no,
you can't do anything about about blowout games, but there's
way too many of them, and these series end with
(17:54):
more of a whimper than a bang. Right, Like, here's
the Celtics eliminating the Cavaliers and Dotovan Mitchell doesn't even
play in the last two games, right, how injured is he?
He's dinged up? But the guy finishes Game three, but
he can't play and game for it. It's just we
see this way too often, and for a sport that
needs to be putting its best product out there in
(18:15):
the playoffs, the NBA does not. There's too many blocks,
there's too many injuries, and NBA playoffs go down this
path and have this result way too often. Right, Like
not to make this about the Knicks and the Pacers
or the Knicks and the Sixers would have been the
most entertaining two round two playoff series so far. Nick
(18:35):
Sixers Knicks Pacers. Why because Number one, you know how
bad each team wants to beat the crap out of
the other. You look for all the fun. I make
a Rick Carlyle with he's crying about no we did
small market teams. I know how bad Rick Carlile wants
to win. I know how bad Indiana wants to beat
the Knicks. I know how much they hate each other.
I know how much Tyres Max he wanted to win
(18:58):
that series. When he's taken over game through with all
these these threes, that he's throwing up from thirty five
feet away. I know how bad those are. Entertaining games,
even when they're blowouts, they're entertaining storylines. These series used
to be the norm in the NBA playoffs, like Nick Pacers,
like this is what a normal series would be like.
Now it's the it's the outlier instead of what we
(19:20):
normally get, because this is kind of just how the
NBA is, and it's it's it's it's it goes much
deeper than just well, they play too many games and
there's too many, yes, I get it, but overall, you
have seen a stagnancy in ratings in the NBA. And
it's one reason why the NFL has come after Christmas
Day and why the NFL has got two games on
Netflix on Christmas Day because they know they'll double the
(19:42):
NBA ratings. NBA used to own Christmas Day, but now
they have a product situation. They have a product issue,
and they have a playoff product issue right now. Because
when you have stagnancy in ratings, you need to do
things to try to figure that out. And you know,
here here comes the nd season tournament to try to
make that happen a little bit and now is a
decent idea, but overall, you know, I look at what's
going on right now, and I say, how many of
(20:04):
these series can you say are really entertaining? All these
games are? They're big blowouts and stars missing games.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
All the time.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
We just talked to Mark Stein who said fifty players
have missed at least who play have missed at least
one game in the NBA playoffs so far, and a
lot of them are star players and they don't make it.
And as he talked about, hey, listen, Mike Conley Jr.
Boy do they miss him so much? Out how big
a deal he is. There's just too many series that
go this way with blowouts game to game and players
(20:34):
who miss and series end with okay, I don't even
know if anybody's watching the end of these games because
they're blowouts and stars aren't playing.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
The NBA has a.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Real playoff problem that they got to solve at some point,
because if you're not growing your game, if you're not
growing the rate, you're not growing things, you're getting passed
by everybody else because everybody else is finding a way
to grow ratings again and get bigger and bigger. I
thought the NBA has kind of been spinning their wheels
a lot the last few years.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
And when you get to the playoffs, when.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
It's really always about blowouts and who's missing games, Yeah,
you got a big playoff problem.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Well, the difficulty becomes, you know, the the extra part
is no longer is it? I'll sit through because I'm
gonna have inside the NBA that's potentially going away, Right,
I mean, how many people do you know?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
I mean, how many people do you do?
Speaker 6 (21:20):
You know?
Speaker 5 (21:20):
That that site that as maybe the best part of
their NBA viewing night, right, is the back and forth
there some analysis of the game, et cetera. Right, the
fact that you had Charles and Shack missing the other
day to do the upfronts, had people you know, writing
five thousand word thought pieces of Wow, they've got to
(21:40):
bring in the big guns to go and sell to advertisers,
which is why you've seen, you know, some some shuffling
of who's in the in those seats. But for the games, Yeah,
it becomes difficult because the playoffs expanded. This is where
a lot of the handwringing goes when we start talking
about the college football expansion, right, was, well, we're gonna
(22:02):
get less competitive games. Or we talk about the NCAA
tournament every year, it's, hey, be careful how many, how
adventurous you get with your upsets, and you better hope
that they don't come through because the games later on
are gonna suck, right, I mean, it's that kind of thing.
And I wonder if in basketball, when we when we've
got in the NBA, you know, NHL still still works
(22:23):
best of seven and guys beating the hell out of
each other, you don't see as many blowout situations. Usually
we're in the final minutes and waiting for some dramatic end.
But in the NBA, yeah, the live to fight another day.
Yeah it's a thirty point burial. We'll see it for
Game five. You know, is a whole other thing. Not
to mention the invisible hand of the NBA, not to
(22:44):
get too deep into it, but you mentioned, you know,
as we talk with Mark Stein, you know, you get
back into Jamal Murray being able to play Game three
and everything else. Like you know, if you choose not
to decide, you still have made a choice, as Rush
taught us all those years ago. So we look at
where the games are now and it's it's tough. Right,
(23:05):
you gravitate towards towards one series, and we still celebrate
the highlights and low lights of those games.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I mean, it's what we do.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
But I can understand for a general viewer that doesn't
have a skin in the game, i e. They don't
have a bet, or they don't really give a damn
about either of the teams, how it's easy to walk away.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Look, the other part of it is this, right, because
this is this is a big part and maybe this
is a big factor for the NBA and.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Why they have this playoff problem is that no.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Sport has outgrown its rules and gameplay like the NBA has.
Like look, you look at them. You look at baseball
and football and hockey, and how okay, whenever there's something
that needs to change, yeah, they figure out a way.
But you know what, guys have always thrown in the
(23:58):
high nineties and base and guys still top out around
one hundred miles an hour, Right, that doesn't change.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Right. In football, guys have four three four four speed.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Right, that hasn't really changed once, while guy run four
point twenty nine or whatever. It is the rules of
the sports and how things have been have gone for
the past. You know, thirty forty fifty years, they've been
easily adapted to. The NFL has adapted to changes they
needed to make. Baseball's adapted to changes they needed to make.
The NBA hasn't. The players have gotten too big and
(24:28):
too strong for the court, and they play a lot,
and they still play back to backs, and they still
do things they probably shouldn't. The game has gotten way
more physical. If there's less space on the floor and
we're talking about ninety four feet, it's not like an
NFL field. You know, yes, players have gotten bigger since
the seventies, but with fifty three yards, were sideline to
sideline one hundred yards. I think you're okay. But the NBA,
(24:50):
it's different. When everybody is packed in, there's gonna be
more injuries's gonna be more wear and tear. You're gonna
see more teams that just decide, hey, it's not our night,
we're sitting it out. We're gonna we're gonna get blown
out and come back in the next game. The NBA
needs to adjust to who they have playing the game
now and if they could find a way to do that,
and again, it requires some vision and Adam silver is
not the biggest visionary.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
He's hey, way, the.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Nd season tournament's going to be one, Oh god, that's
great n season tournament.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
But overall, you need.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
To make some bold strokes if you're going to fix
this issue. Because this is a this is a playoff thing.
This is not a brand new thing. This is like
you're looking the last three four years in the playoffs,
like since since the COVID season, the Lakers championship, it's
been about players who are hurt and blowouts every single night, right,
and and it's really tough to get into a great
playoff and go all right, I'm stoked to get in
(25:38):
front of the TV every single night. Right, If you're
an NBA fan this playoff, at what point, because I'm
sure everybody gets that point. At what point have you said,
you know, I don't need to watch, I'll check in
if this game is close late, right, like after the initiatives, right,
but after the excitement the first couple of games of
the first round of the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
When when do you do that?
Speaker 1 (25:59):
When do you say, no, I got to see this
game from beginning and there's not a lot you'll all
check in later.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Oh, it's a blow out. I'm not gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Like the NBA needs to find a way to combat that,
and and the the players have outgrown the game and
the way that it's that it's being adjudicated and the rules.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
There needs to be.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Some sort of change going on because this is just
how the playoffs is going to go, blowouts and injuries. Blogs.
We say it all the time. Who's gonna win. The
team that's healthiest is going to win. I'll tell you
right now, the nick sain't win in the championship because
they ain't healthy with these five guys they got, They're
not They're only gonna go so far. But who's moving
on the rest of the teams. They're all healthy. All
the teams with injuries, they're all having trouble. So, I mean,
(26:36):
this is this is something that it's it's a big
picture thing for the NBA to look at. But there's
no way they can look at their playoffs and go, hey,
we're happy. There's no way they can look at these
flat ratings and say hey.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
We're happy.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
I mean, they need they need some kind of hey,
bold initiatives and an nd season tournament isn't gonna do
it By itself.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Yeah, and I know there's been some some pushback, and
and we see the numbers on socials or whatever, and
those are fine and good, and the revenue keeps going up, right,
because we're talking about live sports as the last bastion
where folks are are going to tune in. You see
what Netflix is doing. You saw Disney Plus start getting
in with the w NBA. Right, So all the ratings
(27:17):
off Caitlin Clark's debut on ESPN two, Well, what were
the Disney Plus numbers to roll into that? Right? That's
what I want to know, Like, let's let's start piecing
those togethers and figure out where we are. And for
the NBA, it's the same thing, right, trying to figure
out those avenues and where you're gonna find eyeballs. But
as much as we've had advancement in training philosophy, and
(27:39):
obviously some guys like Lebron James, you know, defying father
time and just athletically ridiculous on a whole other level
deep into the thirties, we know the stress that that
takes on a body, right, Bigger, faster, stronger, also means
the joints are being taxed. It is not kind going
(27:59):
up and down the court. Even if you're taking easy
as Rick Buker termed it, Lebron minutes along the way,
I mean, you're still getting beat up, right, You still
got a lot of work in the paint, even if
the game has changed, even though we've seen a throwback
to it a little bit in that Indiana New York
series and at times other teams adopting a little more
(28:21):
of that physicality, and certainly the playoffs lend to that.
But Jason, you know, we we try to figure out
the angles. Like, they're not gonna cut back games because
they have to give up money. They're not gonna change
the court dimensions to free up space because you'd have
to get rid of all those front row seats and
move all your knicks, you know, the classic knicks would
(28:42):
be another few feedback. I don't know that that can work.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Pal Well, No, look, it's it's not as simple as hey,
we need to, you know, just play less games. I mean,
there's gotta be okay, let's have big changes to the
season where we're not missing any kind of revenue. Let's
have big changes to the postseason where we're getting the
best out of all the players and guys like Donovan
Mitchell aren't sitting out the last couple of games.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Right, that's the question.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
How hurt must he exactly? Or did he just you know,
tap out?
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I don't know. I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
After them he put up there, you're just raising your
hand and you want to give everybody the benefit of
the doubt.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
But right like like that one just as odd.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Oh look I want to do that too. But then
you watch games where I go, oh, so and so
is so injured and playing on one foot. If Joel
Embiid was that injured, he wouldn't score thirty nine. Oh
look at Luca, he's so banged up. Luca just went
for a triple double with thirty five and thirteen and ten.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
You can't saw that graph that injured man. You saw
the graphic they put up.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
It was like the wacky doctors game operation of all
the parts you had to take out his damn body.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Don't touch the sides.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Coming up next, we like to talk about players that
are gonna get paid.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Well.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
According to one NBA insider, this NBA head coach is
about to get paid. That's next, right here, Jason and
Mike Fox.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific, Fox.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with My best friend
Mike Harmon.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Congratulations, you played yourself.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
We're live from the tire rack dot Com studios. We
got something big out of the NFL coming up in
ten minutes. It was schedule release day for the NFL.
And I know there's a lot of people up in
arms about all the streaming, but this big story out
of the NBA today. According to Shamscerania, who did an
interview a couple hours ago, the New York Knicks want
(30:40):
to keep Tom Thibodeaux so bad. He says, hey, look,
could be an extension as much as eight figures, which
would be ten million dollars a year to keep him
as the Knicks head coach.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
And look, I see this.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Of course, it's a great idea for whether I'm a
Knicks fan or not, it's a great idea because this
is the best the Knicks have been in twenty five years.
I mean, first of all, come on, they're young, all right,
and no team in the NBA is more of an
extension of their coaches philosophies and personalities more than the
(31:15):
Knicks are right. Hey, Tibbs has them playing tight defense.
TIBs has them one game away from the conference finals, playing.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
With five guys.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I mean, really, I mean, is there is there any
money you wouldn't give him to stay? Are you really
gonna make him play out one more year left in
his contract? Are you gonna say, dude, you're here, you work,
it's New York. Here's what you need in ten million
dollars a year. It's a bonus to keep you here
in New York. Of course that's what they should do well.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
But that's the thing, right At no point has it
ever been Tom Thibodeau can't coach because I've seen some
of those narratives, like you guys never realized, no, no, no.
The only thing was that there's an expectation that you're
going to play thirty minutes of hard basketball or forty
minutes or whatever your work cload is that some guys
(32:03):
may not buy into.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
And right now you've developed a culture.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
You've got guys that that's their identity, and you've brought
How sustainable is it long term?
Speaker 3 (32:12):
I don't know, but I sure as hell want to
see it right.
Speaker 5 (32:16):
I want to see what Hartenstein, Hart and Brunson look
like as a nucleus for the squad going forward.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
It's a fun watch.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
And he's a guy that you know, has gotten a
city and enthralled about a squad that's been, let's face it,
kind of dead for two plus decades.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
Look and for you and you got the guys locked
up for the next couple of year.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
Now.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Hartenstein's gonna be a free agent. Obviously he wants to stay.
He's a big part of what the Knicks are doing now.
But your Nova Knicks that you got a couple of
years for all of them. You sign heart, you signed
Evincenzo Brunson's got two more years. Although it wouldn't surprise
me if they said, look, do we love, We're gonna
rip up your deal and give you more money because
you've been everything. But this they're staying together. They're not
(32:57):
going anywhere. And what's the biggest part. What surprised me
is that Tibbs is not worn out as welcome yet
because that's been the one thing about him throughout his
career is that, hey, he goes places and he succeeds,
but sometimes the style greats on you. He's got a
love hate relationship with a lot of his players, just
as Jimmy Butler, and so I thought, okay, by year three,
year four in New York, as Tim's really gonna be there,
(33:20):
and no, this is as stronger as they as as
they've ever been, and the best they've ever been. So yeah,
I mean there is there is nothing that should be
any sort of question about this. Now it is James
Dolan and who the hell knows. But I would just
do like I don't know, I would just kind of
slip a new contract in the paperwork he's got to
sign every day and just yeah, sign here.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
This is the this is the to.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Get the bathroom's redone in the third concourse. Okay, great,
yeah here. Oh this is for the the high school
band that's coming to play next week, right, okay, this
is this is just.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
A parking permit.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah great, Okay, thanks, And that then that's Timodew's contract. Hey,
we just signed it for four years and forty million.
They told me that was a They told me that.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Was a parking lot thing.
Speaker 5 (34:02):
Oh no, you're going back to all those old tropes
and TV shows and movies where they couldn't get someone
to finalize divorce proceedings, so they try to sneak a
random page and a stack of documents, or hey, can
you autograph this?
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Tell me he wouldn't fall for that. Tell me that's
not something James Dollan would fall was there?
Speaker 5 (34:22):
Hey, you're gonna buy uh you know you're gonna beat
out ersay for this?
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Uh limited edition Elton John music.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
Oh yeah, hey on, it'll go into your collection. But
we need we need this check side. Now, we gotta
do this right now. This was the other red piano.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Wait, I thought it was the on You know what, Hey,
someone go buy a red piano somewhere for a couple
of grand get it, deliverpoole, tell them it'sself.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
May get shiny.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Wait, but why are we doing that? Because we had
to do that to get tips. Just don't worry about it.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
I got it. I figured everything out. It's okay, it's
all right.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Like they have to go through the assistant in the
officer is really running the knicks, like the first that's
really sharp.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
The man or the woman like, listen, I understand what
we need to do here. Don't worry. We'll get guys
signed we'll keep tips. Just give me the paperwork.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
I'll make sure he signs it before he leaves for
the day, and everything will work out.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
This happens, don't worry about it. I got it. I
got it. Okay, it's gonna work out.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
The Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Carbon
Live from the tirec dot Com Studios.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I mean even if it's twenty million a year. Yeah,
I mean, no, it's not my money. But is there
really any number, a realistic number.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
You would say? Oh? No, man, the Knicks can't pay
Tims that. I mean really in.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
God, man, there'd be no more irreplaceable coach in the
NBA than.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Timss Right now? Who that Now there's a hot take? Yeah,
well right now in the playoffs? Who Who's who? You
counting on? Bigger?
Speaker 5 (35:50):
Well, I will say this, his countenance doesn't change. No, no,
no planes. Carlisle complains, they get out of character, and
Tim's always looks like he's mad, and that there's a
bad Stenchi in the here and.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
It's the same sweatsuit, the same.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
We get back into the biggest NFL story of the day,
and we stream right into it.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
See what I did there? That's next, Fox,
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Foxsports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every night on the
iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Please give this part you're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Greetings, Welcome inside hour three of The Jason Smith Show
with my biz Friendmike Hardin, live from the ti Iraq
dot Com studios tirack dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I hope you get there.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
An unmatched selection, fast, free shipping, free roadhazard protection at
over ten thousand recommended installers tyraq dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
The way tire buying should be well. Both games in
the NBA put to bed. The Celtics move.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
On to the Eastern Conference Finals, taking care of the
Cavaliers one thirteen to ninety eight. A few moments ago,
it was Dallas out lasting Oklahoma City, a game they
kept control of throughout most of the second half, winning
one oh four ninety two. Lukadantic with a great game
thirty one, eleven and ten coming off a poor Game four,
(01:13):
So now the Mavericks go for the closer at home
in Game six. Joining us now in the hot line
for more in the NBA playoffs NBA correspondent check them
out and sub stack on Twitter at the Steinline.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
It is Mark Stein, Mark, what's happening man?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
How are you guys? I'm good? How are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Hating? Thanks?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Hey, I'm feeling good. We beat the Pacers by thirty
last night. I'm feeling pretty good the next couple of days.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Mark the vital Jason Smith contributions.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
To that win.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yes, the emotional investment I make, I can say we
I investors.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
From three miles away. They felt no doubt.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Exactly, I could say, I can send you the video
of this guy. I think you put.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Delete it, delete it off your phone.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Lead well save myself.
Speaker 5 (01:59):
As a I can't say that he exerted about as
much energy as anybody could have into a game.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
I exerted more energy than the Pacers in game that's
for sure. Right, So let's start there. We have a
couple of nights off before Game six with the Knicks
and the Pacers.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Did you see anything last night took you by surprise?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Look after Game four, looked like the Knicks were tired,
but here they come out thirty point burial of Indiana.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Going now now, going into Game six on Friday.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
I wouldn't say surprised, no, because you know, Rick Carlisle
actually said it when the Pacers were rolling, and it's
really you know, it applies every year, but it's really
been applicable in this second round, in these playoffs that
you know, momentum has just been really hard for anybody
at Boston to sustained, and there's been injuries galore all
(02:51):
over the NBA map, and Carlisle basically said every game
this time of year, it's like a one game season,
and I think there is some truth to that. And
so you know, the Knicks gets such a charge and
a lift from that crowd, which you know, I've always
said that's my favorite place to watch a game, cover
a game. It's just it's magical and it's you know,
(03:12):
it's it's a place where, you know, MSG is one
of those arenas that you can feel it through the TV.
You can feel it sitting in your studio three thousand
miles away, like you can actually it actually translates on television.
What an amazing atmosphere MSG can be. So look the Knicker.
We know how short handed they are. I mean it's
(03:33):
basically just some guards and heart and seen at this point,
and you know that crowd gave them a huge lift.
And look the Pacers were shockingly as well as shockingly
flat as well as they played in game four. But
you know, let's see how they rebound. Let's see if
you know it's it's Haliburton. I mean, he just was
(03:54):
so cured. You know, I think after Game three and four,
a lot of people around the league, how this is
a Halliburton we saw pre groin injury. This was first
half Halliburton who looked like such a revelation, and then
he just receded to such a non aggressive outing in
game five. So let's see particularly it's got to start
(04:16):
with him. But you know this, I mean you see
those and then you see afterday and you see those
pictures of all the Knicks of the Paths who are
going to these games right now, and Patrick Ewing and
free Well and Bill Bradley are all huddled along the
sideline with an other guys. I mean, I mean, you
have a right as a Knicks fan to be quite giddy.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I see the classic Knicks.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, yeah, the classic Knicks are that Starks and marbur
looked like they wanted to play. I think John Starks
wanted to inbound the ball in the fourth quarter on
one play.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
And I will tell you and concede that. I mean
Bernard King in high school was my favorite player I loved.
My team was the Buffalo Braves, so they didn't make
it past my extreme youth. So in high school I
really grab it hated to players because my favorite team
was no longer with us. And man that I love
Bernard King and so just even seeing him around mean
it's been Yeah, I mean it's it's quite a ride.
(05:11):
And if the Knicks can finish this thing, and if
we get Celtics Knicks in the conference finals, yes it's
a diminished version of the Knicks. And yes, Christops Porzingis
is still out indefinitely, but just just seeing the Celtics
and the Knicks on that kind of stage again would
be something.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
When we look at Yeah, I'm a bullsk guy, so
nineteen ninety eight's a long time ago too, but what
a glorious run it was when we look at it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Going back to the statement, you.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Brought up the Carlisle point that game the game lack
of momentum is that good for the game?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Well, you know what it is too though, There's so
many more shows like what we're doing right now. There's
just so much more pre and postgame programming. And I
always say this, like, we we fall into this trap
in the NBA where we an we want to draw
conclusions from single games, and that's just really dangerous and
(06:15):
risky to do. This is not the NFL, it's not
a seventeen game season, and any time you you know,
I mean, how many people. Now, I certainly said the
Nuggets were in trouble and then you know, you know,
it was a dire situation. But I certainly wasn't going
to say, oh my god, the Wolves are going to
sweep this thing.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Now.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I mean, you know, you had to think that the
champions were going to go to Minnesota and win at
least one, given what they've achieved last season. And like
I said, I just I just think we are we
are prone in the NBA to weigh over react these things.
And even Mavericks thunder tonight is a great example. Like
(06:55):
the Mavericks Game four loss was horrendous is they completely
unraveled in the fourth quarter on their home court with
a chance to go up three to one, and on
the outside so many times the instinct is to say
they'll never recover from that, that choke job, it's over
like the thunder, you know, the thunder. And these NBA
(07:17):
teams like they have a great capacity to forget, not forget,
but just to bounce back from lows that we think
will be fatal. And we're seeing it in more than
one series in this round.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
You know, I hear you on that, and it makes
me think of what I heard from Minnesota last night
after losing to Denver. And you know, look, I get
Jokic's the MVP. We all seem doing credible things. But
when I see the Timberwolves and Anthony Edward saying, what
can you say?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Man? I'm giving his flowers. He's the MVP. Have you quit?
Are you done?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Like I don't want to. I want to hear we
got to find a way to stop this guy. When
I see, hey, we're shrugging our shoulders. What can we do?
The guy's the best player in the game. I wonder,
are are you mentally still in the series? Like are
the Timberwells still mentally in this series at this point, Like,
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Well, I guess that's another I guess that's another one
of my pet peeves because like I don't want to read,
I don't want to overreact too much to what said
in the emotion of a postgame press conference. So like,
Anthony Edwards is the last guy on that team that
I think is just going to back down and surrender.
I mean he Also, you know, somebody who was you know,
I think Ben Goliver, my pal from the Washington Post,
(08:26):
said that, you know, Anthony Edwards made sure to tell
a ball boy on the way out, you know, see
you back there for Game seven.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So I.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Anthony Edwards ain't going anywhere. That's not their problem, their problem,
I think. Also, you know, they, you know, Karl Anthony
Towns had a really poor Game five and they missed
Mike Conleys. Like you know, Tuesday, I had just posted
a story where I just listed all kinds of injuries.
There's a good friend of mine named Jeff Stotts who
(08:58):
runs in Streak, which is just an amazing database that
keeps track of every injury in the NBA, And I
asked him, just can you make me a simple lift
of every player who has missed at least one game
starting in the play and round. It's more than fifty players,
And so I just highlighted ten key ones, and literally
(09:19):
less than two hours after I hit send on that story,
the Wolves are announcing that Mike Conley has a CAF
string and he's such a crucial organizer for.
Speaker 6 (09:28):
Them that that's you know, they've already lost the momentum
in the series, and now to play without such a
key cool head gonna make the job even tougher.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
But again, as bad as you know the Wolves have
lost three in a row, are you really going to
be shocked if they find a way to take this
thing to seven? I don't think we should be shocked.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Mark was lebron in Cleveland on a recruiting mission, or
he just needs someone to cheer for him.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
I look, he is calculated, and he does know what
he's doing, and he knows that making that kind of
appearance is going to get all of us in the
media to react and project and try to dissect what
it all means. But I've been saying this for years
and I'm sticking with it. I don't see a third
(10:18):
marriage with the Calves as any kind of future possibility.
The Calves they want to move on and keep building
this post Lebron team. You know, obviously they they're eliminated tonight,
They're knocked out of the playoffs. There's all kinds of
questions about JB. Bickerstaff's job security, but to be honest,
(10:38):
those questions have been swirling since last summer when Jason's
Knicks beat them in the first round. So the questions
about the coach's future are really nothing new. They've lingered
over the whole season, and they've got some major questions
to answer about Donovan Mitchell's future. But they just they
won around. They won around in these playoffs. It was
the first time they've won a series without Ron James
(11:00):
and uniform in more than thirty years. You got to
go all the way back to ninety three for the
last time Cleveland did that. And you know, I don't
think they're looking to bring Lebron back, And to be honest,
I don't think Lebron is looking to go back to
the Cabs for a third marriage. So he and his
wife were both home for Mother's Day. They obviously wanted
(11:22):
to be in close proximity to Chicago to be able
to watch Bronni in the pre DAFT pre draft combine,
which you know, Lebron made an appearance there today and
the camera has never left him there either. This is
just the way it is. If Lebron shows up anywhere,
it's going to be, you know, twenty four to seven
CNN style coverage. That's just the way it will always
(11:43):
be wherever he goes.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Now, Mark, lastly, you got a lot on what's going
on in the steinline on substack with the Lakers coaching search.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Basically, they're going to talk to everybody.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
They have carte blanche across the league to start talking
to people. As you've talked to people you talk to,
what you think what are the names are going to
rise to the top of this list for the Lakers
in some kind of orderly fashion.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Well, look, if you had to say, if you guys
said you cannot hang up this phone without giving us
an early favorite, the early favorite would be JJ Reddick.
And I think that is the way that most people
in coaching circles see it going into the interview process.
But you also have to remember here, Doc Rivers was
(12:29):
the splashy addition to ESPN's broadcast team this season, Mike Breen,
Doris Burke, Doc Rivers. That was supposed to be their
A team for at least this season, and Doc Rivers
didn't even make it to February before he got another
coaching job. They elevated JJ Reddick into doc spots. ESPN
(12:50):
wants JJ Reddick to do the finals. I you know,
the working assumption I think around the league is that
there's no way Redik is going to be available to
the Lakers before the finals end. ESPN cannot lose another
star analyst from its A team before the finals, So
(13:10):
that really gives the Lakers. You know, it's still mid May,
the Finals are going to run, you know, into late June.
That gives the Lakers a lot of time to survey
the field, interview a lot of people, and really make
sure that if they do decide it is JJ Reddick,
that he is the right choice. But look, I think
(13:32):
Sam Passell is going to be a factor in the search.
Sam Cassell a Boston Celtics assistant this season. Frankly, he
is overdue for a head coaching shot, and I think
it's important to note, you know, he is represented by
Clutch Sports as well if you want like to follow
those things, and that's of course the agency that represents
both Lebron and Anthony Davis. I think James Barrego, the
(13:55):
associate head coach in New Orleans, I think he's going
to be a factor. He has a history, a brief one,
but he does have some history working with Anthony Davis.
So the Lakers are going to look at a lot
of different coaches. They don't have to rush. The only
other opening in the league right now is Washington. The
Wizards are rebuilding, they're not really competing with the Lakers
(14:16):
for candidates, So the Lakers have the ability to slow
play this and talk to a lot of people and
make sure that they choose the best candidate for the job.
But if you're forecasting it from now, for you know,
how it looks on is today May fifteen, How it
looks on May fifteenth, you know, I think the early favorite,
(14:37):
you would say, is JJ Reddick. But there's a whole
interview process for everyone to go through.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
He's on Twitter at the Steinline, that is at the Steinline.
Check out his latest on Substack all about the Lakers
now nationwide head coaching search.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Mark has always appreciate your time, my friend. We'll talk
to you soon.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
All right, guys, be good.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Thanks, Mark appreciated it, goes Mark Stein.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I feel like this is like the Lakers search is
like when you hear in radio when when hey looking
for our next afternoon drive star and we're having a
nationwide search for our next great place.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Like, that's what the Lakers are doing. We have a
nationwide search.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
We're gonna talk to one thousand people because we really
have no idea what we want.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
We're gonna talk to everybody about this job. That's fine
as long as it's not Doc. Oh, you know Doc
is in there. Come on, he's gonna shut your mouth.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
You know he's gonna he's gonna show up on the
day they interview Reddick and go, oh.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I didn't know you were here. Oh yeah, well no, no,
I just came over to say hi. Yeah, no, you
going to talk to him.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I'll see you later. He's gonna wait and hang out
and go, Hey, everybody's here. You just talked to JJ. Hey,
come talk to me. I'm here to talk to you.
You guys are all in the room, right, I'll come in. Look,
I got my power point ready, I'm all set to go.
Let me come in, let me talk to you guys.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
You saw how Doc went in to tear him down,
saying the best numbers of your life came with me
as your coach.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
So don't go trying to talk on my name.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
So you got that and didn't ESPN dude, dream job
a long time ago?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Isn't that kind of what this is? Turning?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
And do?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Sure? That's what Mike Hall was your first dream? Drop?
Way you go? Yes, that's funny. Show at my best friend.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Mike Carmon live from the Tyraq dot com studios. Coming
up next as we get we talked with Mark Stein.
The NBA has a playoff problem. That's coming up next.
Right here, we break it down. Jason and Mike. This
is Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (16:36):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller.
Would mean a lot to have you join us on
our weekly auditory journey. You ask, what in God's name
is the Fifth Hour? I'll tell you it's a spin
off of it. Ben Maler Show, a Colt hit overnights
on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture if you will
a world will We chat with captains of industry in media,
sports and more every week explore some amazing facts about
(16:59):
human ature, sure and more. Listen to the Fifth Hour
with Ben Maller or the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or
wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Live from the Tirack dot com studios and uh NBA
action in the books for tonight, Celtics eliminate the Cavs
one thirteen ninety eight, Dallas over Oklahoma City one oh
four ninety two. And it's time to get something a
little serious here about the NBA playoffs because there's a
(17:30):
lot that's led up to this. But the NBA has
a playoff problem because too many series end like Boston
Cleveland and kind of go like Dallas Oklahoma City. Right,
we watch Boston b Cleveland in four games, and no,
you can't do anything about about blowout games, but there's
way too many of them, and these series end with
(17:54):
more of a whimper than a bang. Right, Like, here's
the Celtics eliminating the Cavaliers and Dotovan Mitchell doesn't even
play in the last two games, right, how injured is he?
He's dinged up? But the guy finishes Game three, but
he can't play and game for it. It's just we
see this way too often, and for a sport that
needs to be putting its best product out there in
(18:15):
the playoffs, the NBA does not. There's too many blocks,
there's too many injuries, and NBA playoffs go down this
path and have this result way too often. Right, Like
not to make this about the Knicks and the Pacers
or the Knicks and the Sixers would have been the
most entertaining two round two playoff series so far. Nick
(18:35):
Sixers Knicks Pacers. Why because Number one, you know how
bad each team wants to beat the crap out of
the other. You look for all the fun. I make
a Rick Carlyle with he's crying about no we did
small market teams. I know how bad Rick Carlile wants
to win. I know how bad Indiana wants to beat
the Knicks. I know how much they hate each other.
I know how much Tyres Max he wanted to win
(18:58):
that series. When he's taken over game through with all
these these threes, that he's throwing up from thirty five
feet away. I know how bad those are. Entertaining games,
even when they're blowouts, they're entertaining storylines. These series used
to be the norm in the NBA playoffs, like Nick Pacers,
like this is what a normal series would be like.
Now it's the it's the outlier instead of what we
(19:20):
normally get, because this is kind of just how the
NBA is, and it's it's it's it's it goes much
deeper than just well, they play too many games and
there's too many, yes, I get it, but overall, you
have seen a stagnancy in ratings in the NBA. And
it's one reason why the NFL has come after Christmas
Day and why the NFL has got two games on
Netflix on Christmas Day because they know they'll double the
(19:42):
NBA ratings. NBA used to own Christmas Day, but now
they have a product situation. They have a product issue,
and they have a playoff product issue right now. Because
when you have stagnancy in ratings, you need to do
things to try to figure that out. And you know,
here here comes the nd season tournament to try to
make that happen a little bit and now is a
decent idea, but overall, you know, I look at what's
going on right now, and I say, how many of
(20:04):
these series can you say are really entertaining? All these
games are? They're big blowouts and stars missing games.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
All the time.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
We just talked to Mark Stein who said fifty players
have missed at least who play have missed at least
one game in the NBA playoffs so far, and a
lot of them are star players and they don't make it.
And as he talked about, hey, listen, Mike Conley Jr.
Boy do they miss him so much? Out how big
a deal he is. There's just too many series that
go this way with blowouts game to game and players
(20:34):
who miss and series end with okay, I don't even
know if anybody's watching the end of these games because
they're blowouts and stars aren't playing.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
The NBA has a.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Real playoff problem that they got to solve at some point,
because if you're not growing your game, if you're not
growing the rate, you're not growing things, you're getting passed
by everybody else because everybody else is finding a way
to grow ratings again and get bigger and bigger. I
thought the NBA has kind of been spinning their wheels
a lot the last few years.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
And when you get to the playoffs, when.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
It's really always about blowouts and who's missing games, Yeah,
you got a big playoff problem.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Well, the difficulty becomes, you know, the the extra part
is no longer is it? I'll sit through because I'm
gonna have inside the NBA that's potentially going away, Right,
I mean, how many people do you know?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
I mean, how many people do you do?
Speaker 6 (21:20):
You know?
Speaker 5 (21:20):
That that site that as maybe the best part of
their NBA viewing night, right, is the back and forth
there some analysis of the game, et cetera. Right, the
fact that you had Charles and Shack missing the other
day to do the upfronts, had people you know, writing
five thousand word thought pieces of Wow, they've got to
(21:40):
bring in the big guns to go and sell to advertisers,
which is why you've seen, you know, some some shuffling
of who's in the in those seats. But for the games, Yeah,
it becomes difficult because the playoffs expanded. This is where
a lot of the handwringing goes when we start talking
about the college football expansion, right, was, well, we're gonna
(22:02):
get less competitive games. Or we talk about the NCAA
tournament every year, it's, hey, be careful how many, how
adventurous you get with your upsets, and you better hope
that they don't come through because the games later on
are gonna suck, right, I mean, it's that kind of thing.
And I wonder if in basketball, when we when we've
got in the NBA, you know, NHL still still works
(22:23):
best of seven and guys beating the hell out of
each other, you don't see as many blowout situations. Usually
we're in the final minutes and waiting for some dramatic end.
But in the NBA, yeah, the live to fight another day.
Yeah it's a thirty point burial. We'll see it for
Game five. You know, is a whole other thing. Not
to mention the invisible hand of the NBA, not to
(22:44):
get too deep into it, but you mentioned, you know,
as we talk with Mark Stein, you know, you get
back into Jamal Murray being able to play Game three
and everything else. Like you know, if you choose not
to decide, you still have made a choice, as Rush
taught us all those years ago. So we look at
where the games are now and it's it's tough. Right,
(23:05):
you gravitate towards towards one series, and we still celebrate
the highlights and low lights of those games.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I mean, it's what we do.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
But I can understand for a general viewer that doesn't
have a skin in the game, i e. They don't
have a bet, or they don't really give a damn
about either of the teams, how it's easy to walk away.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Look, the other part of it is this, right, because
this is this is a big part and maybe this
is a big factor for the NBA and.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Why they have this playoff problem is that no.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Sport has outgrown its rules and gameplay like the NBA has.
Like look, you look at them. You look at baseball
and football and hockey, and how okay, whenever there's something
that needs to change, yeah, they figure out a way.
But you know what, guys have always thrown in the
(23:58):
high nineties and base and guys still top out around
one hundred miles an hour, Right, that doesn't change.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Right. In football, guys have four three four four speed.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Right, that hasn't really changed once, while guy run four
point twenty nine or whatever. It is the rules of
the sports and how things have been have gone for
the past. You know, thirty forty fifty years, they've been
easily adapted to. The NFL has adapted to changes they
needed to make. Baseball's adapted to changes they needed to make.
The NBA hasn't. The players have gotten too big and
(24:28):
too strong for the court, and they play a lot,
and they still play back to backs, and they still
do things they probably shouldn't. The game has gotten way
more physical. If there's less space on the floor and
we're talking about ninety four feet, it's not like an
NFL field. You know, yes, players have gotten bigger since
the seventies, but with fifty three yards, were sideline to
sideline one hundred yards. I think you're okay. But the NBA,
(24:50):
it's different. When everybody is packed in, there's gonna be
more injuries's gonna be more wear and tear. You're gonna
see more teams that just decide, hey, it's not our night,
we're sitting it out. We're gonna we're gonna get blown
out and come back in the next game. The NBA
needs to adjust to who they have playing the game
now and if they could find a way to do that,
and again, it requires some vision and Adam silver is
not the biggest visionary.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
He's hey, way, the.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Nd season tournament's going to be one, Oh god, that's
great n season tournament.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
But overall, you need.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
To make some bold strokes if you're going to fix
this issue. Because this is a this is a playoff thing.
This is not a brand new thing. This is like
you're looking the last three four years in the playoffs,
like since since the COVID season, the Lakers championship, it's
been about players who are hurt and blowouts every single night, right,
and and it's really tough to get into a great
playoff and go all right, I'm stoked to get in
(25:38):
front of the TV every single night. Right, If you're
an NBA fan this playoff, at what point, because I'm
sure everybody gets that point. At what point have you said,
you know, I don't need to watch, I'll check in
if this game is close late, right, like after the initiatives, right,
but after the excitement the first couple of games of
the first round of the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
When when do you do that?
Speaker 1 (25:59):
When do you say, no, I got to see this
game from beginning and there's not a lot you'll all
check in later.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Oh, it's a blow out. I'm not gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Like the NBA needs to find a way to combat that,
and and the the players have outgrown the game and
the way that it's that it's being adjudicated and the rules.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
There needs to be.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Some sort of change going on because this is just
how the playoffs is going to go, blowouts and injuries. Blogs.
We say it all the time. Who's gonna win. The
team that's healthiest is going to win. I'll tell you
right now, the nick sain't win in the championship because
they ain't healthy with these five guys they got, They're
not They're only gonna go so far. But who's moving
on the rest of the teams. They're all healthy. All
the teams with injuries, they're all having trouble. So, I mean,
(26:36):
this is this is something that it's it's a big
picture thing for the NBA to look at. But there's
no way they can look at their playoffs and go, hey,
we're happy. There's no way they can look at these
flat ratings and say hey.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
We're happy.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
I mean, they need they need some kind of hey,
bold initiatives and an nd season tournament isn't gonna do
it By itself.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Yeah, and I know there's been some some pushback, and
and we see the numbers on socials or whatever, and
those are fine and good, and the revenue keeps going up, right,
because we're talking about live sports as the last bastion
where folks are are going to tune in. You see
what Netflix is doing. You saw Disney Plus start getting
in with the w NBA. Right, So all the ratings
(27:17):
off Caitlin Clark's debut on ESPN two, Well, what were
the Disney Plus numbers to roll into that? Right? That's
what I want to know, Like, let's let's start piecing
those togethers and figure out where we are. And for
the NBA, it's the same thing, right, trying to figure
out those avenues and where you're gonna find eyeballs. But
as much as we've had advancement in training philosophy, and
(27:39):
obviously some guys like Lebron James, you know, defying father
time and just athletically ridiculous on a whole other level
deep into the thirties, we know the stress that that
takes on a body, right, Bigger, faster, stronger, also means
the joints are being taxed. It is not kind going
(27:59):
up and down the court. Even if you're taking easy
as Rick Buker termed it, Lebron minutes along the way,
I mean, you're still getting beat up, right, You still
got a lot of work in the paint, even if
the game has changed, even though we've seen a throwback
to it a little bit in that Indiana New York
series and at times other teams adopting a little more
(28:21):
of that physicality, and certainly the playoffs lend to that.
But Jason, you know, we we try to figure out
the angles. Like, they're not gonna cut back games because
they have to give up money. They're not gonna change
the court dimensions to free up space because you'd have
to get rid of all those front row seats and
move all your knicks, you know, the classic knicks would
(28:42):
be another few feedback. I don't know that that can work.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Pal Well, No, look, it's it's not as simple as hey,
we need to, you know, just play less games. I mean,
there's gotta be okay, let's have big changes to the
season where we're not missing any kind of revenue. Let's
have big changes to the postseason where we're getting the
best out of all the players and guys like Donovan
Mitchell aren't sitting out the last couple of games.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Right, that's the question.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
How hurt must he exactly? Or did he just you know,
tap out?
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I don't know. I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
After them he put up there, you're just raising your
hand and you want to give everybody the benefit of
the doubt.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
But right like like that one just as odd.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Oh look I want to do that too. But then
you watch games where I go, oh, so and so
is so injured and playing on one foot. If Joel
Embiid was that injured, he wouldn't score thirty nine. Oh
look at Luca, he's so banged up. Luca just went
for a triple double with thirty five and thirteen and ten.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
You can't saw that graph that injured man. You saw
the graphic they put up.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
It was like the wacky doctors game operation of all
the parts you had to take out his damn body.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Don't touch the sides.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Coming up next, we like to talk about players that
are gonna get paid.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Well.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
According to one NBA insider, this NBA head coach is
about to get paid. That's next, right here, Jason and
Mike Fox.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific, Fox.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with My best friend
Mike Harmon.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Congratulations, you played yourself.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
We're live from the tire rack dot Com studios. We
got something big out of the NFL coming up in
ten minutes. It was schedule release day for the NFL.
And I know there's a lot of people up in
arms about all the streaming, but this big story out
of the NBA today. According to Shamscerania, who did an
interview a couple hours ago, the New York Knicks want
(30:40):
to keep Tom Thibodeaux so bad. He says, hey, look,
could be an extension as much as eight figures, which
would be ten million dollars a year to keep him
as the Knicks head coach.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
And look, I see this.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Of course, it's a great idea for whether I'm a
Knicks fan or not, it's a great idea because this
is the best the Knicks have been in twenty five years.
I mean, first of all, come on, they're young, all right,
and no team in the NBA is more of an
extension of their coaches philosophies and personalities more than the
(31:15):
Knicks are right. Hey, Tibbs has them playing tight defense.
TIBs has them one game away from the conference finals, playing.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
With five guys.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I mean, really, I mean, is there is there any
money you wouldn't give him to stay? Are you really
gonna make him play out one more year left in
his contract? Are you gonna say, dude, you're here, you work,
it's New York. Here's what you need in ten million
dollars a year. It's a bonus to keep you here
in New York. Of course that's what they should do well.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
But that's the thing, right At no point has it
ever been Tom Thibodeau can't coach because I've seen some
of those narratives, like you guys never realized, no, no, no.
The only thing was that there's an expectation that you're
going to play thirty minutes of hard basketball or forty
minutes or whatever your work cload is that some guys
(32:03):
may not buy into.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
And right now you've developed a culture.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
You've got guys that that's their identity, and you've brought
How sustainable is it long term?
Speaker 3 (32:12):
I don't know, but I sure as hell want to
see it right.
Speaker 5 (32:16):
I want to see what Hartenstein, Hart and Brunson look
like as a nucleus for the squad going forward.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
It's a fun watch.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
And he's a guy that you know, has gotten a
city and enthralled about a squad that's been, let's face it,
kind of dead for two plus decades.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
Look and for you and you got the guys locked
up for the next couple of year.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
Now.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Hartenstein's gonna be a free agent. Obviously he wants to stay.
He's a big part of what the Knicks are doing now.
But your Nova Knicks that you got a couple of
years for all of them. You sign heart, you signed
Evincenzo Brunson's got two more years. Although it wouldn't surprise
me if they said, look, do we love, We're gonna
rip up your deal and give you more money because
you've been everything. But this they're staying together. They're not
(32:57):
going anywhere. And what's the biggest part. What surprised me
is that Tibbs is not worn out as welcome yet
because that's been the one thing about him throughout his
career is that, hey, he goes places and he succeeds,
but sometimes the style greats on you. He's got a
love hate relationship with a lot of his players, just
as Jimmy Butler, and so I thought, okay, by year three,
year four in New York, as Tim's really gonna be there,
(33:20):
and no, this is as stronger as they as as
they've ever been, and the best they've ever been. So yeah,
I mean there is there is nothing that should be
any sort of question about this. Now it is James
Dolan and who the hell knows. But I would just
do like I don't know, I would just kind of
slip a new contract in the paperwork he's got to
sign every day and just yeah, sign here.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
This is the this is the to.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Get the bathroom's redone in the third concourse. Okay, great,
yeah here. Oh this is for the the high school
band that's coming to play next week, right, okay, this
is this is just.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
A parking permit.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah great, Okay, thanks, And that then that's Timodew's contract. Hey,
we just signed it for four years and forty million.
They told me that was a They told me that.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Was a parking lot thing.
Speaker 5 (34:02):
Oh no, you're going back to all those old tropes
and TV shows and movies where they couldn't get someone
to finalize divorce proceedings, so they try to sneak a
random page and a stack of documents, or hey, can
you autograph this?
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Tell me he wouldn't fall for that. Tell me that's
not something James Dollan would fall was there?
Speaker 5 (34:22):
Hey, you're gonna buy uh you know you're gonna beat
out ersay for this?
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Uh limited edition Elton John music.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
Oh yeah, hey on, it'll go into your collection. But
we need we need this check side. Now, we gotta
do this right now. This was the other red piano.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Wait, I thought it was the on You know what, Hey,
someone go buy a red piano somewhere for a couple
of grand get it, deliverpoole, tell them it'sself.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
May get shiny.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Wait, but why are we doing that? Because we had
to do that to get tips. Just don't worry about it.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
I got it. I figured everything out. It's okay, it's
all right.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Like they have to go through the assistant in the
officer is really running the knicks, like the first that's
really sharp.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
The man or the woman like, listen, I understand what
we need to do here. Don't worry. We'll get guys
signed we'll keep tips. Just give me the paperwork.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
I'll make sure he signs it before he leaves for
the day, and everything will work out.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
This happens, don't worry about it. I got it. I
got it. Okay, it's gonna work out.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
The Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Carbon
Live from the tirec dot Com Studios.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I mean even if it's twenty million a year. Yeah,
I mean, no, it's not my money. But is there
really any number, a realistic number.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
You would say? Oh? No, man, the Knicks can't pay
Tims that. I mean really in.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
God, man, there'd be no more irreplaceable coach in the
NBA than.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Timss Right now? Who that Now there's a hot take? Yeah,
well right now in the playoffs? Who Who's who? You
counting on? Bigger?
Speaker 5 (35:50):
Well, I will say this, his countenance doesn't change. No, no,
no planes. Carlisle complains, they get out of character, and
Tim's always looks like he's mad, and that there's a
bad Stenchi in the here and.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
It's the same sweatsuit, the same.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
We get back into the biggest NFL story of the day,
and we stream right into it.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
See what I did there? That's next, Fox,
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