February 8, 2019 • 41 mins
RJ Bell, Jonas Knox, Steve Fezzik and Brad Powers debate whether or not the stunning victory by the Lakers over the Celtics on Thursday night saved L.A.’s season. The guys weigh in on the arms race in the NBA’s Eastern Conference and tell you why it isn’t a foregone conclusion that the Warriors will win the 2019 NBA season. RJ and the crew have your Saturday Night Action and make their best bets for Friday!
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Don't listening to Fox Sports. This is straight out of Vegas.
With the Voice of Vegas, your host r J Bow,
collect the pregame show. America has always won it from
(00:40):
the veggat trip. Here's r J Bow. You heard it.
I'm r J Live Coast to coast, six o'clock Eastern,
three o'clock here in Vegas. We've got an action packed
our for you on Friday. Biggest game maybe of the
college basketball season goes tomorrow Vegas Preview. There also Lakers,
(01:03):
a lot of debate, Probably gonna have Peasic going against
another pro Brad. It looks like here in a few minutes. Also,
we've got something about Golden State that everyone is wrong about.
And I weigh in on the Tom Brady versus Michael
Jordan's debate. We talked about the pros who know Brad powers,
(01:26):
Steve Ezik. Sports bettors listen for the money. Sports fans
listen to no more than their buddies. My personal promise,
we will deliver the Vegas truth to you. But you
can't have pros without Joe's. He is Joe, and it's
not always good to be here on a Friday. R
J Here on Fox Sports radio and on Straight out
(01:47):
of Vegas Today we start in the NBA where the
Lakers beat the Celtics one on Thursday night in Boston
on the buzzer beater by former Celtic Ray gen Rondo. So,
r J, what is the Vegas perspective on what we
saw last night? And being town, I'm gonna let Fesik
take the lead here. He had a strong opinion fist pounding,
(02:10):
give us a twenty second recap. What did you feel
like the Lakers mindset would be entering the game last night?
Fest I thought they were a likely dead team r J.
And the rationale being rationale being the trade didn't get done.
All the players the youth felt they were expendable, not
valued by the organization. Okay, now we've got your theme music.
(02:30):
When you try to explain away a bad take, or
you could just say, man, I was wrong. I was
not wrong. The Lakers were beyond fortunate last night. They
are a poor three point shooting team. There twenty seven
in the league are j They shot fifty four percent
from three point land last night. The very best team
(02:52):
in the NBA only shoots. They were a luck box.
They just kept throwing in threes, and that's why they
won this game. Now, what was the line? Line? Was nine?
Now I'm gonna agree with you specifically, but disagree with
you generally. So let's agree specifically. If you have the
(03:12):
best three point shooting team, the Lakers, and they shoot
better than the best team typically does, they don't usually
do that. That's an exception. And that's something about basketball
that's different than football. And football flukey games tend to
happen cause the fumbles, turnovers, in game injuries. But in basketball,
(03:34):
teams are just hot or not from three from anywhere.
And if you look at what a season averages for
the team shooting compared to how they're shooting a given game,
if that difference is drastic, it's usually a sign, Hey,
they got hot or they weren't, and it doesn't tell
you as much. I agree with you that making all
(03:56):
those threes didn't tell us a ton about the Lakers.
But here's what I think did. How would you consider
the effort level in the game? But maybe even more importantly,
after that game winning shot, did it seem like a
team that was apathetic, indifferent, We don't care. We were
(04:17):
treated like a commodity, and you know, like the snowflake
millennials and they got melted and now there's no way
for it to be put back together again, you know,
kind of like on Frosty. Remember Frosty got melted, but
then Santa came in and Frosty came back spoiler alert. Well,
(04:37):
to me, I think you thought, you know, being moving
towards sixty quickly as you are, I feel like you
felt like all those millennials could never get put There
is no you know, there there's no way for the
millennials to get put back together again. Boy, at the
end of that game, they seem like a team. The
Lakers seemed like a team. There's no question that Frosty
(04:59):
got fully put it back together, all hugs and smiles,
a celebratory mood until the next time the Lakers get down,
in my opinion, and then they go back into a greenhouse.
So what you're at So what you're saying is that
all that team, all that celebration was Hey, everything looks
good now, so we're fine. But when the trouble starts
with the Lakers, they're gonna be thinking of resentment and
(05:22):
oh yeah, we just lost three in a row and
I forgot for a while, but did they try to
trade me. I'm mad at Magic, that's what you're saying.
I am, all right, Brad, you disagree, and this is
our crossfire theme music. You guys are gonna go at it.
I think, yeah. And here's the I do disagree with
you fast. I agree with you. Just twenty four hours ago,
(05:43):
I was willing to fade the Lakers for the rest
of the season. I wanted to. I thought there was
more value playing against the Lakers. And that's clear. You
were pretty Brad Powers, you were pretty bold. You said,
if I could bet it no big the rest of
the season against the Lakers, I would. I hood, That's
what I said. But no longer am I saying that.
I'm not saying that I'm automatically gonna be on the
(06:05):
Lakers now, I'm just saying I'm neutral. Not only the
way that game played last night, the fact that it
went down to a final second shot. They're celebrating like
they won the national championship. But today reports are Magic
Johnson flying across the country, gonna meet with the team
in Philadelphia, that's the next place in their next game,
and it's gonna be an open forum between him, Magic
(06:27):
Johnson and the players, specifically about the Anthony Davis saga.
So the players can speak their minds, their concerns, team
bonding building. Uh possibly for Lakers. Yeah, I'm I'm coming
off that strong stance I had yesterday. All this is
gonna do is try to minimize the damage that's been done.
These players feel they're expendable. Let's face it, freeze at
(06:48):
two point seven seconds last night, loose ball, it gets
bounced around. The Lakers are gonna lose the game. The
season's gonna be lost in just because it happens to
go to Rondo and he puts it in all of
a sudden, this is gonna be a completely different team.
What happens when they go to Philly on Sunday and
they get whacked, I think they go right back to
feeling expendable. See. I think that's where you're wrong. I
have seen individual games in college football change entire programs.
(07:10):
Penn State Ohio State a few years ago. Penn State
loses that game, their coaches fired everything. Next thing you know,
Penn States in the roads ball. You're underestimating what one
game can do, specifically the way that one went down.
This is not an eleven game season. This is an
eight two game season. We're gonna see the longer. That
seems like when in an a two game season, that
there's gonna be more abbs and flows, and you've got
to kind of deal with the ebbs and the flows.
(07:33):
Here's what I would say. I agree with Brad in
the following way. Imagine if the Lakers had and I
think the Lakers benefited greatly from Rondo going back to Boston,
because the sense was they had just been historically beat
by forty plus. So you even said you didn't like
(07:54):
enough the Celtics to bet them, you leaned you felt
like Lakers might have a little fight in them because
they were just so embarrassed. Yes, all right, so let's
give you credit there, and then you add in the
whole Rondo factor wanting to win one for Rondo. I
think they did play hard. Maybe at the beginning. If
they of the game, if they had been in Denver
the Lakers and the game was on local TV only
(08:16):
and somehow they got ran out of the gym again
and and lost by forty, the season could have been over.
I think this gives the team a chance to stay together.
And I agree with Brad. I'm not sure that they're
gonna play super hard the rest of the year. But
I think this idea that, oh, it was such a
disaster what happened with this failed trade, this season was dead.
(08:38):
I don't agree with that anymore. So I think it's
gone from really negative for the Lakers too, maybe neutral weight.
And see I'm r J. Bell straight out of Vegas.
Great debate between the boys about the Lakers, and now
let's talk a little more n b A and we
go to the Eastern Conference. There were moves made to
strengthen rosters around the Eastern Calm Prince. We saw marcasoul
(09:01):
Head to the Toronto Raptors. We saw Mirror Titch to
the Bucks. We sought Tobias Harris to the seventies sixers.
R J. What do we now make though, moving forward
of the Eastern Conference, down the stretch in the NBA season? Competitive? Competitive?
There's a sports book in Las Vegas, the west Gate.
(09:22):
These are the odds to win the East, to win
the East Raptors plus two twenty five And what does
that mean? That means a hundred wins to twenty five
if they win the East Celtics plus two Bucks plus
two twenty five sixers plus two four way tie, four
(09:44):
way tie to win the East right now, Toronto, Boston, Milwaukee,
seventies sixers. WOWSA. That's interesting, Fez. If you got if
we were doing a draft and you got first pick,
who you take it. I'm taking Boston because the Brad
Stevens and the coach advantage. I'm taking Boston. I think
they have the most depth out of any of the
(10:05):
four contenders, the most experience, and Brad Stevens. I kind
of think I'm taking the Sixers. Here's why I feel
like that. In the NBA, you always wonder about what
the stakes are. And to me, if you ask the Celtics,
do you have a better chance to win this year
or next year win the title, what do you think
(10:26):
they would say next year? I agree? If you have
to ask the Sixers, what do you think they would
say this year? Yeah? I think that steaks are really
high for Philly. They've They've made a lot of all
in tight trades, and I think that's a sign they
internally believe they can make the finals. Speaking of the finals,
(10:48):
when we come back, I'm gonna tell you something the
most of you believe about Golden State. That's just playing wrong.
That's coming up next to He's r J. Bell, I'm
Jonas Knocks. Is the pregame show you always wanted right
here on Fox Sports Radio. Be sure to catch live
editions of Straight Out of Vegas weekdays at six pm
(11:09):
Eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app. I'm r J. Bell, we are
Straight out of Vegas and I'm Jonas Knox, Voice of
you the fan, coming up here in just a couple
of moments. The truth according to Vegas on the Golden
State Warriors this season. No no, no, no, no, John,
not according to Vegas. According to r J. Bow Well,
(11:33):
I mean, since you're the voice of Vegas, I just
figured exactly. I'll accept that. It's it's a strong voice.
We have fun bringing the fun of Vegas straight to
you each weekday. Right now on the Las Vegas Strip,
it is fifty one degrees and the neon is flowing,
so r G. There is a narrative surrounding the Golden
State Warriors and this season in the NBA by many
(11:55):
in sports media that it's a foregone conclusion Golden State
is going to hoist another banner at the start of
next year. They're gonna take home to Larry O'Brien Trophy
in June. It is a rap. The Golden State Warriors
are your NBA champions yet again. But you disagree. I do,
and I think this is what Vegas does better than anybody.
(12:19):
And a couple of years ago, I had the honor
of speaking of south By Southwest, and my topic of
my solo presentation was how sports betting odds are the
context in which all of sports has discussed. You know,
my grandfather just passed away a few months ago, was
ninety five. He grew up during uh you know, it
(12:43):
was in World War Two. Grew up at a time
when there was a lot of Italian immigrant a lot
of gambling. But he was never a gambler. He would say, oh,
I'd go to the joints and watch everything, but I
didn't gamble, never bet sports. But when I was a
kid in the eighties and we were watching TV, he'd
walk in, look at the TV for a minute or two,
(13:03):
turn back to us and say, who's favored David and Goliath.
Think about it. It's all about who's supposed to win,
and we don't have to debate the odds of Golden
State winning projected right now, what the odds are? We
got them. Now. You can go to one sports book,
(13:24):
you can go to another sports book. You can look
at future odds, you can look at yes, no props.
We're gonna simplify all that, right, We're gonna keep it
simple like we always do, which is that at best,
the most optimistic assessment about Golden State is they have
a two and three chance to win the title. I
(13:45):
think it's last. A lot of the markets think it's last,
but two and three is at best. Now, I gotta
tell you something. If something happens one out of three times,
I'm not necessarily thinking, oh my gosh, that would be insane. Right,
So it strikes me if I say, Brad, pick a nut.
(14:08):
Let's let's do this live to understation's Coast to coast,
pick a number one through three. No, No, I was
gonna say, you pick the knob. No, this is live, baby,
You pick a number silently, and I'm gonna guess it. Okay,
but I'm not gonna guess it. But if I got
it right, would everyone go oh my oh mg? No,
it would be like wow, one in three. So to
(14:30):
me it's just laziness from the media, especially, there's a
lot of lazy thinkers in the media. I'll be candid,
and our job is to help you understand. If you
do bet and you're lazy, you lose. If you're lazy,
you lose. And for the half of you that listeners
straight out of Vegas that don't bet, then it's even
(14:54):
better as a sports fan to know more than your bodies.
It's even better not to be easy. We will not
be lazy because it costs us money. So Fez, do
you feel like, first of all, you agree with me
that that the market at best says Golden State is
two out of three to win it. I agree. Now,
(15:15):
what do you think Golden State's odds are. I actually
think it's slightly higher than two out of three are
really and it's all about the West being so down
this year. You look at the five best teams. Wait
a minute, I heard for so long how up the
West it was, and now that four of the best
five teams are in the East. So the path to
the finals is so clear for Golden State right now? Okay,
(15:37):
Denver plays later or Denver plays tonight in the Big
ESPN Game, we'll be breaking that down. Second best record
in the West. Going to be interesting to hear your
take on that game, you know. To me, I think
my last point would be this, in the n B
a seven game series, the better team wins more often
(15:59):
than any other sport, and I think Golden State should
be a clear favorite. And let's not forget even sixty
is historically good. No team other than Golden State in
the last couple of years has ever been this big
of a favorite at this point of the season. Michael
Jordan and the Bulls in their heyday, We're not this
(16:19):
big of a favorite at this point of the season.
So it shows you. On one hand, everyone thinks it's
nine percent, but even at two out of three, it
is historic how big of a favorite Golden State is.
And only these Warriors and prior years have been in
that range one game. If we played them ten times,
(16:39):
they might win nine. But not this game, not tonight.
You know, r J. You just mentioned a couple of
moments ago the name Michael Jordan, and that name is
being brought up again because everyone considers him possibly the
greatest athlete of all time. But the debate is now
Tom Brady versus Michael Jordan. Where does R. J. Bell
(17:01):
the voice of Agastan on the Brady versus Jordan comparisons? Well,
jonas well, I think you and I should do this
socratic dialogue style. I'm gonna ask you a few questions
and as a fan, and I think your answers are
going to lead the way with my take on this. So,
if we forgot about titles, if we forget about wins
(17:23):
and just looked at stats, right, passing stats, because what
is the complaint of the supposedly really intelligent uh sports intelligentsia.
It's like quarterbacks can't dictate if they win or lose.
So you know, the fact that Bradshaw has four titles
(17:43):
doesn't mean Bradshaw was a good quarterback. Blah blah blah. Okay,
let's assume there's some truth to that. And we're just
looking at the passibility to throw the ball, which is
what a quarterback mostly does. Right, is Tom? How does
Tom Brady rate against Peyton Manning? And let's accept the
fact it's hard to compare ears. I mean, just since
(18:07):
two thousand eleven, two eighteen to two thousand and eleven,
seven short years, the average passer rating has gone up
fifteen points. So let's agree that if you look at
stats like Matthew Stafford stats look so much better than
let's say, Archie Manning or Burt Jones or Terry Bradshaw.
(18:28):
But I don't think many people think that Stafford's a
better quarterback. In fact, Stafford stats make you want to
give up stats. I think like renounce them, you know,
Charles Barkley style. But if we just look at the
era that Brady and Manning played together, you know, at
the same time, how would you compare their their stats
(18:50):
are ability to pass? Peyton Manning had better stats? Okay,
so you're saying Peyton Manning was better at what is
what a quarterback does? You can make that case, yes, well,
how would you make a counter case? Well, are you
saying just statistically right now, Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady.
(19:11):
Statistically Peyton Manning was better? Okay? And what out? So
do you think stats lie? No? So that then why
wouldn't Peyton Manning be better? And I think the only
rationale would be well, in the big games, Tom Brady
stepped up right, and I think that's true. And I'm
actually not one of the hardest core math guys that
(19:31):
say there is no clutch, there is no hot hand.
You know, all this talk about hey just averages out
in the end. I don't believe that. I'm gonna believe.
I've been in super high pressure situations. I mean, not
like a Super Bowl something, and I know that that
performing or not performing it was not the same thing.
Right when I ten years ago I went a Sports
(19:52):
Center for the first time, live with the Tim donahey
stuff where I was breaking some news and I had
never been on television. Like the first time was on
Sports Center. I can promise you it wasn't like as
comfortable as I'm talking now. Pressure matters, and if it
all wants to come down to, hey, Brady handled the
pressure better, then I think that's a reasonable conversation. But
(20:16):
I think we've proven at this point that you could
make the case that Brady isn't that much better than
Peyton Manning, even if we gave you all of the
advantages of saying, yeah, there is pressure, Yeah, playoffs are different, Yeah,
count the rings. Brady and Manning aren't that far apart.
(20:37):
Does everyone agree with that as you're not on the
race regular season? No full all the time? Oh, I
gotta take a second look at Manning and his stats
in the playoffs. Yeah, so you're gonna say over a
handful of games, not that many postseason games, you're gonna say, well,
Brady did better there to give him the edge. I
agree with that. Fine, Fine, Now, who's the second best
(20:59):
coach of the last and open, open question of this
century of the Manning and Brady era? Is it Andy Reid?
It has to be right if you take the Philadelphia
successes with Andy Reid. Okay, here we go. Let's do
a mental exercise, close your eyes unless you're driving, and think, Okay,
(21:26):
so we got Brady and Manning, we got Belichick and
Andy Reid. Imagine that it's Brady and Andy Reid since
two thousand together on one team, and it's Peyton Manning
and Bill Belichick together on one team. Peyton Manning greatest
of all time. I mean, think about it, think about it?
(21:49):
What would to me? I think the distance from Brady
to Manning is so much smaller than the since between
Belichick and Andy Reid or any coach number two? Does
anyone disagree with that? How could you so? If Tom
(22:11):
Brady is almost the same as Peyton Manning, and I'm
not saying even the Payton Manning is better. I'm saying
the distance is so small, and with Ballotchick, the distance
is so big. And you've got six titles for Brady
and two titles for Manning. Boy, it seems like the
(22:35):
real question should be is Ballot check better than Jordan?
Which I guess doesn't really made the conversation. But boy,
oh boy, and listen, I hear you. Oh wait a minute,
Bill Belichick, when when he was in Cleveland, Look how
bad he was when he had you know, Bernie Kozar
And oh, by the way, when before Tom Brady, how
(22:58):
good was beout? I get it. Let's agree to the following.
You can't win a bunch of titles in the NFL
without an elite quarterback, and you can't win a bunch
of titles in the NFL without an elite coach. Agreed,
But there's five, four or five quarterbacks that I think
(23:19):
could have won four of the six titles with Belichick.
You know, like, who else would be on that list?
How many titles will Drew Brees have with Belichick? Would
four seem crazy? No? No? Right? Aaron Rodgers? Yeah, So
Aaron Rodgers with Belichick. How many titles do you think?
(23:40):
But now you imagine putting Brady with the fifth best coach,
you know, maybe let's say Drew Brees is fifth in
this year or fourth in this era. I'll tell you this,
I would make a major bet if we had one
of those simulations that would run ten thousand times. I
would make a major bet that whoever, if Belichick has
a top five quarterback with him and Brady has a
(24:03):
top five coach with them, who out there would bet
Brady's gonna win more titles with that fifth coach. And
if the distance between Brady, Manning, Breese Aaron Rodgers is
so modest, then who what can it be other than Balochick?
(24:27):
What do you think, Jonas? I would think that you
have to also factor in some other things as well,
to Manning playing in New England in that weather, Drew
Drew Brees not playing in a dome all those years.
I don't know that it's just a simple apples to
apples comparison. No, And I'm accepting the fact that Brady's
the best. I'm just saying that distance from his competition
(24:51):
looks like, oh my gosh, he's the goat and it's
not even a debate is about those six titles? Yeah,
it's it's a it's a it's a better debate tap
and I think people are willing to have right now.
They're just caught up in the moment. And to me,
when I look at Michael Jordan's, if you think about
Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan's and now you give Jordan
(25:11):
another good coach and give Phil Jackson, you know, let's
just say, Utah, if you take Jerry Sloan and put
him over in Chicago and you bring Phil Jackson over
with Stockton and alone, I think Michael still has six titles. Yeah,
does anyone debate that one? He might only have five?
Al right, maybe five? So the Michael variants is down one,
(25:34):
and the Brady variance is down from six to maybe
two with another coach, right, because maybe about as many
as Peyton Manning hat. I wish Fez would have said
he might have five point five. If he would have
just said that, that would have been better. Well, he listened,
he would have explained why it was right if he did.
In just one minute, we're gonna break down Vegas style
the biggest college basketball game. Not only are the weekend.
(25:57):
Maybe at the season that's coming up next. For all
the latest from around the world of sports, it's Steve
de Sager. No ranked teams playing in college hoops to
I just won NHL games. Plenty of football items to
pass along. Quarterback Justin Fields transfer from Georgia has been
granted immediate eligibility at Ohio State. The Redskins hired Tim
Ritta from Louisiana Tech as quarterbacks coach. Kevin O'Connell was
(26:18):
promoted offensive coordinator in Washington. Jim Bob Couter X of
Detroit is now the Jets running backs coach, one of
thirteen new assistants for Adam Gates. They're including defensive line
coach Andre Carter. The Vikings hired Rick Denison as offensive
line coach. He's worked with new assistant head coach with
the Vikings, Scary Kubiak for nearly twenty years. Carl Durrell
is wide receivers coach for the Dolphins for new head
(26:39):
coach Brian Floras. Jim Caldwell officially as Miami's quarterbacks coach
and assistant head coach, and Dolphins safety Reshad Jones recovering
from shoulder surgery for a torn labor He's due to
earn over thirteen million dollars next season. Indian short Stuff, Francisco,
Lindor and All Star the past three seasons will miss
about two months with a strain calf. Opening day is Marchy.
Phil Mickelson shot a second round sixty eight and a
(27:01):
five way tie for the lead right now at Pebble Beaches.
Play was suspended late in round two by rain, and
there's a chance of rain all weekend in northern California.
Coming up at the top of the hour, three NBA
games begin, including Denver at Philadelphia, Joel and Beat to Philly,
and All Star was listed as questionable due to illness.
New York losers of fourteen straight play at Detroit. The
Pistons are close to signing veteran guard Wayne Ellington. Cleveland
(27:23):
could get Kevin Love back tonight. He was called a
game time decision this morning by his coach. Foot surgery
was the problem in November. He's close to returning. Calves
are at Washington later on. It's Golden State first in
the West playing at Phoenix. The Sons have lost twelve
in a row. We'll be back to the show in
ten seconds, but first, a word from farmers, from a
dog accidentally flooding a living room to a dog taking
(27:44):
a joy ride, and we've covered it. Talk to farmers.
We know a thing or two because we've seen a
thing or two. We are farmers under written my Farmers
Truck Fire Insurance Exchange then affiliates products unavailable in every state. Guys,
Jonas back to you. Thanks Steve, straight out of Vegas
here on Ox Sports Radio. Coming up in about twelve
minutes from now here on fs ARE, we will have
best bets, your chance to make a little bit of
(28:05):
coin as we head into the weekend. I'm Jonas Knocks
voice of you the Fan. He is the voice of
Vegas R J. Bell. I tell you I love recapping
and finish enough football. But boy, I mean, we're not
that far from March Madness. It is March Madness, and
it is one of the biggest college basketball games of
(28:27):
the season and it goes down on Saturdays time. To
get some Saturday night action in It's a six Eastern
(28:50):
time tip off in Charlottesville, Virginia. It's number two Duke
at number three Virginia. We got Brad Powers all the
college knowledge Duke, how good are they They're the best
team in the country most believe. Give me some historical context.
So in the last decade of college basketball, Duke right now,
as far as title lots to win it, Duke has
(29:12):
the second short astids at plus one eighty of any
team in college basketball the last decade. And it was
what that Kentucky team right started undefeated, So the second
biggest favorite at this time of the year in a decade, Duke. Now,
where's Virginia ranked this season? Virginia is right around three,
tied for third and future something too. So this is
(29:33):
almost one verses two, almost one versus to Virginia Duke.
So hey, Duke must be favored, no believe it or not.
Virginia right now is a around a two point favorite. Okay,
So this game is in Virginia, so home field in
college basketball about four points for George points and the
line is Virginia favored by two. So they're saying Duke's
(29:56):
about two points better than Virginia. And that's exactly what
my power writings say, right So you think the power
ratings line up that lines correct? Lean or like in
the game, I'm gonna lean on Duke plus two and
here's the number one factor for me. We have a
key injury that's not being that's being undervalued in the marketplace,
and the injury being Virginia's point guard, Tie Jerome, who's
(30:17):
got a back problem. He's a top five, top twenty
five player nationally worth about three points all week long.
Beat writers are pretty much saying Tie Jerome questionable. This
line right now, saying Virginia is favored by two is
saying Tied Jerome is a d percent. He's got up
play tomorrow, so to me, and he's gonna play. The
assumption is and not be hindered, not be limited at all.
(30:41):
So that's interesting. So think about this. You're saying in
some scenario it's possible that he isn't limited, that yeah,
he's questionable, but he's fine, and that you know, maybe
they're trying to fool people. Who knows, right and if so,
lines right, Yep, Virginia is not as good as Duke,
but they're at home favored by two. It's about right.
Your theory is there's a real chance the point guard
(31:04):
for Virginia is limited, so you lean towards Duke because hey,
in that case, Duke's probably a pretty good bet. What
stops you from betting Duke? Then? Why is it just
the lean? Because I mean, this is Virginia's biggest home
game probably in the last decade. They have revenge. Virginia
just lost by two on the road a few weeks
(31:25):
ago at Duke, So the revenge just keep me off
having a big play on Duke. I'm r J bow
straight out of Vegas breaking down the biggest college basketball
game of the weekend, Virginia Duke. Last question, Brad Powers.
Virginia is a team that's famous for overperforming during the
regular season but then falling short in the tournament. In fact,
(31:46):
very much so recently. What happened last year? Yeah, Virginia
became the first ever team as a one seed to
lose to a sixteen All my trends, I had a race,
a bunch of stuff, put a little one instead of
a zero. There one versus sixteen. Finally a loss for
loss for the number one. Why? First of all, why
has that been? It wasn't just last year? Why is
(32:08):
Virginia underperformed in the tournament? So Virginia, unlike these other
teams like North Carolina, do Kentucky, haven't had that second
gear come the month of marks, particularly on the offensive
side of the ball, Virginia just stays the same. They
don't have that second gear this year, so they're super consistent,
which helps them cover the spreads in the regular season.
But they don't have a Their ceiling is low. They're
(32:31):
playing closer to their ceiling, almost like the Spurs did
for a long time. That's a great analogy. R J. Guys,
we talked about the Warriors historic NBA title odds just
a few minutes ago here on Fox Sports Radio. You
just mentioned Duke's near historic title odds. Earlier in the season,
the Rams had historic odds, Alabama had historic National championship odds.
Is that just coincidence? Are these all time great teams?
(32:54):
Or is the market kind of skew because so many
people are getting into the betting game. You know, I
don't think this is a five and a half months
into the show. I am so proud of Jonas. I
don't think I've ever said this before. I don't know
the answer, and I'll be honest with you, I've thought
about this a little bit physic though I never wanted
(33:15):
to say he doesn't know has a thought. Well, I
think it's all the Golden States impact that Golden State
became a minus two, minus two fifty favorite, and then
they won three out of four titles, and that has
opened the public's eye up to hey, you can have
these prohibitive favorites and they can still be correctly priced.
I totally disagree. I think a vast majority of people
(33:36):
bet in the NFL have no idea what Gold State
was favored last year. What percentage of the people that
bet the NFL do you think even knew what the
title was for gold State was last year? Probably not
that many. So how could it affect the NFL on well,
because you look at the dominant NBA team and they
should have said Your response would have been they can't, can't.
(33:58):
But you know something, Jonas, it's really something to think about,
and I'm gonna do that and ask around. This will
be kind of a tease into the spring. We're gonna
figure this one out because if anything, you think it
went the other way that, especially in college where all
these teams are getting TV time now, and it just
makes back in the day in the seventies, you went
(34:18):
to Ohio State, you went to Alabama, There's only Oklahoma.
Now there's a lot of places to go. The fact
that Gonzaga can be a top ten team so often
proves that. So how is there so many dominant teams?
I just don't know. I do know this. We've got
some big games coming up tonight and this weekend, and
we got picks on those games that's coming up next
(34:39):
to use r J Bell, I'm Jonas knocks this at
the pregame show You Always wanted and it's money making
time next year on Fox Sports Radio. Be sure to
catch live editions of Straight Out of Vegas weekdays at
six pm Eastern, three pm Pacific. I'm r J. Bell.
We are Straight out of Vegas and I'm Jonas Knocks
Voice of You the Fan. We've got a double header
(35:00):
in the NBA on ESPN. Things get started a little
over ten minutes from now in Philly, where the seventy
sixers are a five point favorite hosting the Denver Nuggets.
Philly fez a lot of all in a lot of trades.
Who do you like in this game? I leaned to Philly.
R J. It's all about Denver and their struggles on
(35:20):
the road. Denver is currently on a two twelve and
one against the spread run on the road, and this
is their fourth road game and seven nights. So think
about this. The market does price the fact, hey, Denver
is on the road, but when you got to play
all these road games back to back to back to back,
I don't feel the market properly prices the team's fatigue
from a long road trip. Now you listen, you flew
(35:41):
into Atlanta for the Super Bowl Wednesday morning, right yes Wednesday,
about ten o'clock at night. Your eyes couldn't focus. I
mean seriously, Like Fezig doesn't have a lazy eye, but
it's like his one eye was drifted off to the right.
He was so tired by Friday. When you got back
to Karen here in Vegas, it was like seventy two hours.
(36:02):
You were like hardly lifting your feet off the ground.
You were like shuffling through the airport. So imagine these guys.
I'm like not going for the baggage claim. I'm just
going towards another terminal. Argi's like, yet, Feza mountain dew,
He's not gonna get home. I mean it was, I
gotta be honest, it was. It was discouraging his lack
of energy. But I gotta be honest. I disagree with
(36:24):
you here. So your rational is that Denver's road situation
is so bad that the markets so under accounting for it.
It trumps the fact that Philadelphia is getting so much love.
They've surged more in odds than any team agreed or
not in the last week. And everyone's like Philly, Philly, Philly, Oh, Danver,
(36:45):
they're not that good, you know, they're I don't know
much about them. I'll tell you right now. I think
the integration time it takes for the Sixers to get
all these new parts in means Philly's in a bad
spot here. I know it's just the Lean, but I'm
gonna put a little challenge because we like to bet here.
Let's do it. Beat. I'll take because I don't love
it either. You lean, Eileen, I'll take Denver plus five.
(37:08):
You take Philly. You just said you lean. You bring
up some good points, but let's do it. R J.
So what do you mean I bring up some good points,
but you still want to bet against him? Yes, I
want to bet against this on the road because you
think your points are better. Yes, well, that that's on
straight out of Vegas. That means this auto hundred dollar
bat we'll be celebrating my victory on Monday right here,
six o'clock Eastern guys, after they go final in Philly.
(37:30):
We've got the Timberwolves and the Pelicans right now on
pregame dot com. The Pelicans are a six point favorite, obviously, fas.
The question is how does Anthony Davis respond? Yeah, and
it's a big unknown for me, r J. He's missed
nine games, he had a hand injury. Is he gonna
be a little rusty? What's his attitude going to be?
(37:51):
I'm really not sure about Anthony Davis, but I do
know this. I want to fade Minnesota here. Minnesota tough
schedule spot third game and four nights, and the US
fell out of the playoff race. So I'm leading define
that fell out of the playoff race. Yeah, Minnesota is
currently twenty five and twenty nine to three games out
of the number eight spots. So they're out now. They
can't they can't make that unlikely that they can make
(38:12):
them really three games out with how many games to go,
twenty eight left. I gotta be honest with you, there's
nothing more sad, sadder than a handicap trying to act
like something's true when it's not so fell out. So
that means you should probably be willing to give me
ten to one. No problem, right, I'll give you five
to one. No, but the one doesn't seem like fell out.
(38:33):
Fell Out is probably the wrong usage of words. Let's
say it's unlikely they make the playoffs, so they be unlikely,
so just to say it's nothing about motivation. I think
they know that it's likely they're not making the playoffs
and it's going to impact their performance. But I don't
know about Anthony Davis's performance. Hey guys, I'm r J
(38:56):
straight out of Vegas. Here's what you know. I'm your advocate.
I'm here for you. Fesik has won two super contests,
he has a mansion in a yacht from all his
great betting. But when he doesn't make sense, I'm not
gonna let it go for you, for the country, for
the kids. Fez real quick though, whatever you're convoluted logic,
(39:17):
you're lean. Here is lean just toured New New Orleans?
Your strange. That's it. We're turning your mic out the
rest of the show. Guys, it is college hoops on
Saturday in the Big Ten. It's a New and Eastern
time tip off on Fox, and it's also Brad Power's
biggest college basketball bet of the weekend. Go Brad, go Yeah.
(39:39):
Michigan best bet on the Wolverines minus the five and
a half. This might sound square, but this is one
of the top five revenge games of the rest of
the regular season. Michigan just a few weeks ago was
riding a thirty one game regular season winning streak. Who's
the team that upset that and stopped that streak? It's
(39:59):
West Wson. On top of the revenge factor, Michigan much
better situational advantage, awful blowout win with extra rest compared
to Wisconsin team, back to back road games and a
very close road win just the other night. I like Michigan.
Best bet Michigan minus five and a half. Wow, that's strong.
Here's the little background. Brad's a young guy relatively, you know,
(40:21):
early thirties. Fez is moving towards sixty fast, and but
Fez is icon just featured in ESPN the magazine with
his two super contest imprint right now featured. But Brad
wants to take down the champion. This is the drop,
he says, Archie just played this one now and again.
Please it around until I showed up. See Brad's taking
(40:45):
him down, and now Fez your mics off, trying to
talk into the mic. Fez, no one can hear you.
Your voice has been taken. Brad. I'm giving hey, Brad,
you've got ten seconds. Give it to Fesz fest I really,
he just cried, Jonas, what do you think, Brad or Fast?
Who you got? I'll go with Brad because Bez can't
(41:06):
defend himself and I feel, yeah, I'll just pile on.
Why not that that's a good handicap. Now, by the way,
if you missed the moment Fez got his mike turned off,
you can listen to the podcast at Fox Sports Radio
dot com. We are straight out of Vegas. We're back
on Monday, six pm Eastern Time, three o'clock Pacific right
here on Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the
(41:32):
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within
the I Heart Radio app search f s R to
listen live.
Don't listening to Fox Sports. This is straight out of Vegas.
With the Voice of Vegas, your host r J Bow,
collect the pregame show. America has always won it from
(00:40):
the veggat trip. Here's r J Bow. You heard it.
I'm r J Live Coast to coast, six o'clock Eastern,
three o'clock here in Vegas. We've got an action packed
our for you on Friday. Biggest game maybe of the
college basketball season goes tomorrow Vegas Preview. There also Lakers,
(01:03):
a lot of debate, Probably gonna have Peasic going against
another pro Brad. It looks like here in a few minutes. Also,
we've got something about Golden State that everyone is wrong about.
And I weigh in on the Tom Brady versus Michael
Jordan's debate. We talked about the pros who know Brad powers,
(01:26):
Steve Ezik. Sports bettors listen for the money. Sports fans
listen to no more than their buddies. My personal promise,
we will deliver the Vegas truth to you. But you
can't have pros without Joe's. He is Joe, and it's
not always good to be here on a Friday. R
J Here on Fox Sports radio and on Straight out
(01:47):
of Vegas Today we start in the NBA where the
Lakers beat the Celtics one on Thursday night in Boston
on the buzzer beater by former Celtic Ray gen Rondo. So,
r J, what is the Vegas perspective on what we
saw last night? And being town, I'm gonna let Fesik
take the lead here. He had a strong opinion fist pounding,
(02:10):
give us a twenty second recap. What did you feel
like the Lakers mindset would be entering the game last night?
Fest I thought they were a likely dead team r J.
And the rationale being rationale being the trade didn't get done.
All the players the youth felt they were expendable, not
valued by the organization. Okay, now we've got your theme music.
(02:30):
When you try to explain away a bad take, or
you could just say, man, I was wrong. I was
not wrong. The Lakers were beyond fortunate last night. They
are a poor three point shooting team. There twenty seven
in the league are j They shot fifty four percent
from three point land last night. The very best team
(02:52):
in the NBA only shoots. They were a luck box.
They just kept throwing in threes, and that's why they
won this game. Now, what was the line? Line? Was nine?
Now I'm gonna agree with you specifically, but disagree with
you generally. So let's agree specifically. If you have the
(03:12):
best three point shooting team, the Lakers, and they shoot
better than the best team typically does, they don't usually
do that. That's an exception. And that's something about basketball
that's different than football. And football flukey games tend to
happen cause the fumbles, turnovers, in game injuries. But in basketball,
(03:34):
teams are just hot or not from three from anywhere.
And if you look at what a season averages for
the team shooting compared to how they're shooting a given game,
if that difference is drastic, it's usually a sign, Hey,
they got hot or they weren't, and it doesn't tell
you as much. I agree with you that making all
(03:56):
those threes didn't tell us a ton about the Lakers.
But here's what I think did. How would you consider
the effort level in the game? But maybe even more importantly,
after that game winning shot, did it seem like a
team that was apathetic, indifferent, We don't care. We were
(04:17):
treated like a commodity, and you know, like the snowflake
millennials and they got melted and now there's no way
for it to be put back together again, you know,
kind of like on Frosty. Remember Frosty got melted, but
then Santa came in and Frosty came back spoiler alert. Well,
(04:37):
to me, I think you thought, you know, being moving
towards sixty quickly as you are, I feel like you
felt like all those millennials could never get put There
is no you know, there there's no way for the
millennials to get put back together again. Boy, at the
end of that game, they seem like a team. The
Lakers seemed like a team. There's no question that Frosty
(04:59):
got fully put it back together, all hugs and smiles,
a celebratory mood until the next time the Lakers get down,
in my opinion, and then they go back into a greenhouse.
So what you're at So what you're saying is that
all that team, all that celebration was Hey, everything looks
good now, so we're fine. But when the trouble starts
with the Lakers, they're gonna be thinking of resentment and
(05:22):
oh yeah, we just lost three in a row and
I forgot for a while, but did they try to
trade me. I'm mad at Magic, that's what you're saying.
I am, all right, Brad, you disagree, and this is
our crossfire theme music. You guys are gonna go at it.
I think, yeah. And here's the I do disagree with
you fast. I agree with you. Just twenty four hours ago,
(05:43):
I was willing to fade the Lakers for the rest
of the season. I wanted to. I thought there was
more value playing against the Lakers. And that's clear. You
were pretty Brad Powers, you were pretty bold. You said,
if I could bet it no big the rest of
the season against the Lakers, I would. I hood, That's
what I said. But no longer am I saying that.
I'm not saying that I'm automatically gonna be on the
(06:05):
Lakers now, I'm just saying I'm neutral. Not only the
way that game played last night, the fact that it
went down to a final second shot. They're celebrating like
they won the national championship. But today reports are Magic
Johnson flying across the country, gonna meet with the team
in Philadelphia, that's the next place in their next game,
and it's gonna be an open forum between him, Magic
(06:27):
Johnson and the players, specifically about the Anthony Davis saga.
So the players can speak their minds, their concerns, team
bonding building. Uh possibly for Lakers. Yeah, I'm I'm coming
off that strong stance I had yesterday. All this is
gonna do is try to minimize the damage that's been done.
These players feel they're expendable. Let's face it, freeze at
(06:48):
two point seven seconds last night, loose ball, it gets
bounced around. The Lakers are gonna lose the game. The
season's gonna be lost in just because it happens to
go to Rondo and he puts it in all of
a sudden, this is gonna be a completely different team.
What happens when they go to Philly on Sunday and
they get whacked, I think they go right back to
feeling expendable. See. I think that's where you're wrong. I
have seen individual games in college football change entire programs.
(07:10):
Penn State Ohio State a few years ago. Penn State
loses that game, their coaches fired everything. Next thing you know,
Penn States in the roads ball. You're underestimating what one
game can do, specifically the way that one went down.
This is not an eleven game season. This is an
eight two game season. We're gonna see the longer. That
seems like when in an a two game season, that
there's gonna be more abbs and flows, and you've got
to kind of deal with the ebbs and the flows.
(07:33):
Here's what I would say. I agree with Brad in
the following way. Imagine if the Lakers had and I
think the Lakers benefited greatly from Rondo going back to Boston,
because the sense was they had just been historically beat
by forty plus. So you even said you didn't like
(07:54):
enough the Celtics to bet them, you leaned you felt
like Lakers might have a little fight in them because
they were just so embarrassed. Yes, all right, so let's
give you credit there, and then you add in the
whole Rondo factor wanting to win one for Rondo. I
think they did play hard. Maybe at the beginning. If
they of the game, if they had been in Denver
the Lakers and the game was on local TV only
(08:16):
and somehow they got ran out of the gym again
and and lost by forty, the season could have been over.
I think this gives the team a chance to stay together.
And I agree with Brad. I'm not sure that they're
gonna play super hard the rest of the year. But
I think this idea that, oh, it was such a
disaster what happened with this failed trade, this season was dead.
(08:38):
I don't agree with that anymore. So I think it's
gone from really negative for the Lakers too, maybe neutral weight.
And see I'm r J. Bell straight out of Vegas.
Great debate between the boys about the Lakers, and now
let's talk a little more n b A and we
go to the Eastern Conference. There were moves made to
strengthen rosters around the Eastern Calm Prince. We saw marcasoul
(09:01):
Head to the Toronto Raptors. We saw Mirror Titch to
the Bucks. We sought Tobias Harris to the seventies sixers.
R J. What do we now make though, moving forward
of the Eastern Conference, down the stretch in the NBA season? Competitive? Competitive?
There's a sports book in Las Vegas, the west Gate.
(09:22):
These are the odds to win the East, to win
the East Raptors plus two twenty five And what does
that mean? That means a hundred wins to twenty five
if they win the East Celtics plus two Bucks plus
two twenty five sixers plus two four way tie, four
(09:44):
way tie to win the East right now, Toronto, Boston, Milwaukee,
seventies sixers. WOWSA. That's interesting, Fez. If you got if
we were doing a draft and you got first pick,
who you take it. I'm taking Boston because the Brad
Stevens and the coach advantage. I'm taking Boston. I think
they have the most depth out of any of the
(10:05):
four contenders, the most experience, and Brad Stevens. I kind
of think I'm taking the Sixers. Here's why I feel
like that. In the NBA, you always wonder about what
the stakes are. And to me, if you ask the Celtics,
do you have a better chance to win this year
or next year win the title, what do you think
(10:26):
they would say next year? I agree? If you have
to ask the Sixers, what do you think they would
say this year? Yeah? I think that steaks are really
high for Philly. They've They've made a lot of all
in tight trades, and I think that's a sign they
internally believe they can make the finals. Speaking of the finals,
(10:48):
when we come back, I'm gonna tell you something the
most of you believe about Golden State. That's just playing wrong.
That's coming up next to He's r J. Bell, I'm
Jonas Knocks. Is the pregame show you always wanted right
here on Fox Sports Radio. Be sure to catch live
editions of Straight Out of Vegas weekdays at six pm
(11:09):
Eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app. I'm r J. Bell, we are
Straight out of Vegas and I'm Jonas Knox, Voice of
you the fan, coming up here in just a couple
of moments. The truth according to Vegas on the Golden
State Warriors this season. No no, no, no, no, John,
not according to Vegas. According to r J. Bow Well,
(11:33):
I mean, since you're the voice of Vegas, I just
figured exactly. I'll accept that. It's it's a strong voice.
We have fun bringing the fun of Vegas straight to
you each weekday. Right now on the Las Vegas Strip,
it is fifty one degrees and the neon is flowing,
so r G. There is a narrative surrounding the Golden
State Warriors and this season in the NBA by many
(11:55):
in sports media that it's a foregone conclusion Golden State
is going to hoist another banner at the start of
next year. They're gonna take home to Larry O'Brien Trophy
in June. It is a rap. The Golden State Warriors
are your NBA champions yet again. But you disagree. I do,
and I think this is what Vegas does better than anybody.
(12:19):
And a couple of years ago, I had the honor
of speaking of south By Southwest, and my topic of
my solo presentation was how sports betting odds are the
context in which all of sports has discussed. You know,
my grandfather just passed away a few months ago, was
ninety five. He grew up during uh you know, it
(12:43):
was in World War Two. Grew up at a time
when there was a lot of Italian immigrant a lot
of gambling. But he was never a gambler. He would say, oh,
I'd go to the joints and watch everything, but I
didn't gamble, never bet sports. But when I was a
kid in the eighties and we were watching TV, he'd
walk in, look at the TV for a minute or two,
(13:03):
turn back to us and say, who's favored David and Goliath.
Think about it. It's all about who's supposed to win,
and we don't have to debate the odds of Golden
State winning projected right now, what the odds are? We
got them. Now. You can go to one sports book,
(13:24):
you can go to another sports book. You can look
at future odds, you can look at yes, no props.
We're gonna simplify all that, right, We're gonna keep it
simple like we always do, which is that at best,
the most optimistic assessment about Golden State is they have
a two and three chance to win the title. I
(13:45):
think it's last. A lot of the markets think it's last,
but two and three is at best. Now, I gotta
tell you something. If something happens one out of three times,
I'm not necessarily thinking, oh my gosh, that would be insane. Right,
So it strikes me if I say, Brad, pick a nut.
(14:08):
Let's let's do this live to understation's Coast to coast,
pick a number one through three. No, No, I was
gonna say, you pick the knob. No, this is live, baby,
You pick a number silently, and I'm gonna guess it. Okay,
but I'm not gonna guess it. But if I got
it right, would everyone go oh my oh mg? No,
it would be like wow, one in three. So to
(14:30):
me it's just laziness from the media, especially, there's a
lot of lazy thinkers in the media. I'll be candid,
and our job is to help you understand. If you
do bet and you're lazy, you lose. If you're lazy,
you lose. And for the half of you that listeners
straight out of Vegas that don't bet, then it's even
(14:54):
better as a sports fan to know more than your bodies.
It's even better not to be easy. We will not
be lazy because it costs us money. So Fez, do
you feel like, first of all, you agree with me
that that the market at best says Golden State is
two out of three to win it. I agree. Now,
(15:15):
what do you think Golden State's odds are. I actually
think it's slightly higher than two out of three are
really and it's all about the West being so down
this year. You look at the five best teams. Wait
a minute, I heard for so long how up the
West it was, and now that four of the best
five teams are in the East. So the path to
the finals is so clear for Golden State right now? Okay,
(15:37):
Denver plays later or Denver plays tonight in the Big
ESPN Game, we'll be breaking that down. Second best record
in the West. Going to be interesting to hear your
take on that game, you know. To me, I think
my last point would be this, in the n B
a seven game series, the better team wins more often
(15:59):
than any other sport, and I think Golden State should
be a clear favorite. And let's not forget even sixty
is historically good. No team other than Golden State in
the last couple of years has ever been this big
of a favorite at this point of the season. Michael
Jordan and the Bulls in their heyday, We're not this
(16:19):
big of a favorite at this point of the season.
So it shows you. On one hand, everyone thinks it's
nine percent, but even at two out of three, it
is historic how big of a favorite Golden State is.
And only these Warriors and prior years have been in
that range one game. If we played them ten times,
(16:39):
they might win nine. But not this game, not tonight.
You know, r J. You just mentioned a couple of
moments ago the name Michael Jordan, and that name is
being brought up again because everyone considers him possibly the
greatest athlete of all time. But the debate is now
Tom Brady versus Michael Jordan. Where does R. J. Bell
(17:01):
the voice of Agastan on the Brady versus Jordan comparisons? Well,
jonas well, I think you and I should do this
socratic dialogue style. I'm gonna ask you a few questions
and as a fan, and I think your answers are
going to lead the way with my take on this. So,
if we forgot about titles, if we forget about wins
(17:23):
and just looked at stats, right, passing stats, because what
is the complaint of the supposedly really intelligent uh sports intelligentsia.
It's like quarterbacks can't dictate if they win or lose.
So you know, the fact that Bradshaw has four titles
(17:43):
doesn't mean Bradshaw was a good quarterback. Blah blah blah. Okay,
let's assume there's some truth to that. And we're just
looking at the passibility to throw the ball, which is
what a quarterback mostly does. Right, is Tom? How does
Tom Brady rate against Peyton Manning? And let's accept the
fact it's hard to compare ears. I mean, just since
(18:07):
two thousand eleven, two eighteen to two thousand and eleven,
seven short years, the average passer rating has gone up
fifteen points. So let's agree that if you look at
stats like Matthew Stafford stats look so much better than
let's say, Archie Manning or Burt Jones or Terry Bradshaw.
(18:28):
But I don't think many people think that Stafford's a
better quarterback. In fact, Stafford stats make you want to
give up stats. I think like renounce them, you know,
Charles Barkley style. But if we just look at the
era that Brady and Manning played together, you know, at
the same time, how would you compare their their stats
(18:50):
are ability to pass? Peyton Manning had better stats? Okay,
so you're saying Peyton Manning was better at what is
what a quarterback does? You can make that case, yes, well,
how would you make a counter case? Well, are you
saying just statistically right now, Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady.
(19:11):
Statistically Peyton Manning was better? Okay? And what out? So
do you think stats lie? No? So that then why
wouldn't Peyton Manning be better? And I think the only
rationale would be well, in the big games, Tom Brady
stepped up right, and I think that's true. And I'm
actually not one of the hardest core math guys that
(19:31):
say there is no clutch, there is no hot hand.
You know, all this talk about hey just averages out
in the end. I don't believe that. I'm gonna believe.
I've been in super high pressure situations. I mean, not
like a Super Bowl something, and I know that that
performing or not performing it was not the same thing.
Right when I ten years ago I went a Sports
(19:52):
Center for the first time, live with the Tim donahey
stuff where I was breaking some news and I had
never been on television. Like the first time was on
Sports Center. I can promise you it wasn't like as
comfortable as I'm talking now. Pressure matters, and if it
all wants to come down to, hey, Brady handled the
pressure better, then I think that's a reasonable conversation. But
(20:16):
I think we've proven at this point that you could
make the case that Brady isn't that much better than
Peyton Manning, even if we gave you all of the
advantages of saying, yeah, there is pressure, Yeah, playoffs are different, Yeah,
count the rings. Brady and Manning aren't that far apart.
(20:37):
Does everyone agree with that as you're not on the
race regular season? No full all the time? Oh, I
gotta take a second look at Manning and his stats
in the playoffs. Yeah, so you're gonna say over a
handful of games, not that many postseason games, you're gonna say, well,
Brady did better there to give him the edge. I
agree with that. Fine, Fine, Now, who's the second best
(20:59):
coach of the last and open, open question of this
century of the Manning and Brady era? Is it Andy Reid?
It has to be right if you take the Philadelphia
successes with Andy Reid. Okay, here we go. Let's do
a mental exercise, close your eyes unless you're driving, and think, Okay,
(21:26):
so we got Brady and Manning, we got Belichick and
Andy Reid. Imagine that it's Brady and Andy Reid since
two thousand together on one team, and it's Peyton Manning
and Bill Belichick together on one team. Peyton Manning greatest
of all time. I mean, think about it, think about it?
(21:49):
What would to me? I think the distance from Brady
to Manning is so much smaller than the since between
Belichick and Andy Reid or any coach number two? Does
anyone disagree with that? How could you so? If Tom
(22:11):
Brady is almost the same as Peyton Manning, and I'm
not saying even the Payton Manning is better. I'm saying
the distance is so small, and with Ballotchick, the distance
is so big. And you've got six titles for Brady
and two titles for Manning. Boy, it seems like the
(22:35):
real question should be is Ballot check better than Jordan?
Which I guess doesn't really made the conversation. But boy,
oh boy, and listen, I hear you. Oh wait a minute,
Bill Belichick, when when he was in Cleveland, Look how
bad he was when he had you know, Bernie Kozar
And oh, by the way, when before Tom Brady, how
(22:58):
good was beout? I get it. Let's agree to the following.
You can't win a bunch of titles in the NFL
without an elite quarterback, and you can't win a bunch
of titles in the NFL without an elite coach. Agreed,
But there's five, four or five quarterbacks that I think
(23:19):
could have won four of the six titles with Belichick.
You know, like, who else would be on that list?
How many titles will Drew Brees have with Belichick? Would
four seem crazy? No? No? Right? Aaron Rodgers? Yeah, So
Aaron Rodgers with Belichick. How many titles do you think?
(23:40):
But now you imagine putting Brady with the fifth best coach,
you know, maybe let's say Drew Brees is fifth in
this year or fourth in this era. I'll tell you this,
I would make a major bet if we had one
of those simulations that would run ten thousand times. I
would make a major bet that whoever, if Belichick has
a top five quarterback with him and Brady has a
(24:03):
top five coach with them, who out there would bet
Brady's gonna win more titles with that fifth coach. And
if the distance between Brady, Manning, Breese Aaron Rodgers is
so modest, then who what can it be other than Balochick?
(24:27):
What do you think, Jonas? I would think that you
have to also factor in some other things as well,
to Manning playing in New England in that weather, Drew
Drew Brees not playing in a dome all those years.
I don't know that it's just a simple apples to
apples comparison. No, And I'm accepting the fact that Brady's
the best. I'm just saying that distance from his competition
(24:51):
looks like, oh my gosh, he's the goat and it's
not even a debate is about those six titles? Yeah,
it's it's a it's a it's a better debate tap
and I think people are willing to have right now.
They're just caught up in the moment. And to me,
when I look at Michael Jordan's, if you think about
Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan's and now you give Jordan
(25:11):
another good coach and give Phil Jackson, you know, let's
just say, Utah, if you take Jerry Sloan and put
him over in Chicago and you bring Phil Jackson over
with Stockton and alone, I think Michael still has six titles. Yeah,
does anyone debate that one? He might only have five?
Al right, maybe five? So the Michael variants is down one,
(25:34):
and the Brady variance is down from six to maybe
two with another coach, right, because maybe about as many
as Peyton Manning hat. I wish Fez would have said
he might have five point five. If he would have
just said that, that would have been better. Well, he listened,
he would have explained why it was right if he did.
In just one minute, we're gonna break down Vegas style
the biggest college basketball game. Not only are the weekend.
(25:57):
Maybe at the season that's coming up next. For all
the latest from around the world of sports, it's Steve
de Sager. No ranked teams playing in college hoops to
I just won NHL games. Plenty of football items to
pass along. Quarterback Justin Fields transfer from Georgia has been
granted immediate eligibility at Ohio State. The Redskins hired Tim
Ritta from Louisiana Tech as quarterbacks coach. Kevin O'Connell was
(26:18):
promoted offensive coordinator in Washington. Jim Bob Couter X of
Detroit is now the Jets running backs coach, one of
thirteen new assistants for Adam Gates. They're including defensive line
coach Andre Carter. The Vikings hired Rick Denison as offensive
line coach. He's worked with new assistant head coach with
the Vikings, Scary Kubiak for nearly twenty years. Carl Durrell
is wide receivers coach for the Dolphins for new head
(26:39):
coach Brian Floras. Jim Caldwell officially as Miami's quarterbacks coach
and assistant head coach, and Dolphins safety Reshad Jones recovering
from shoulder surgery for a torn labor He's due to
earn over thirteen million dollars next season. Indian short Stuff, Francisco,
Lindor and All Star the past three seasons will miss
about two months with a strain calf. Opening day is Marchy.
Phil Mickelson shot a second round sixty eight and a
(27:01):
five way tie for the lead right now at Pebble Beaches.
Play was suspended late in round two by rain, and
there's a chance of rain all weekend in northern California.
Coming up at the top of the hour, three NBA
games begin, including Denver at Philadelphia, Joel and Beat to Philly,
and All Star was listed as questionable due to illness.
New York losers of fourteen straight play at Detroit. The
Pistons are close to signing veteran guard Wayne Ellington. Cleveland
(27:23):
could get Kevin Love back tonight. He was called a
game time decision this morning by his coach. Foot surgery
was the problem in November. He's close to returning. Calves
are at Washington later on. It's Golden State first in
the West playing at Phoenix. The Sons have lost twelve
in a row. We'll be back to the show in
ten seconds, but first, a word from farmers, from a
dog accidentally flooding a living room to a dog taking
(27:44):
a joy ride, and we've covered it. Talk to farmers.
We know a thing or two because we've seen a
thing or two. We are farmers under written my Farmers
Truck Fire Insurance Exchange then affiliates products unavailable in every state. Guys,
Jonas back to you. Thanks Steve, straight out of Vegas
here on Ox Sports Radio. Coming up in about twelve
minutes from now here on fs ARE, we will have
best bets, your chance to make a little bit of
(28:05):
coin as we head into the weekend. I'm Jonas Knocks
voice of you the Fan. He is the voice of
Vegas R J. Bell. I tell you I love recapping
and finish enough football. But boy, I mean, we're not
that far from March Madness. It is March Madness, and
it is one of the biggest college basketball games of
(28:27):
the season and it goes down on Saturdays time. To
get some Saturday night action in It's a six Eastern
(28:50):
time tip off in Charlottesville, Virginia. It's number two Duke
at number three Virginia. We got Brad Powers all the
college knowledge Duke, how good are they They're the best
team in the country most believe. Give me some historical context.
So in the last decade of college basketball, Duke right now,
as far as title lots to win it, Duke has
(29:12):
the second short astids at plus one eighty of any
team in college basketball the last decade. And it was
what that Kentucky team right started undefeated, So the second
biggest favorite at this time of the year in a decade, Duke. Now,
where's Virginia ranked this season? Virginia is right around three,
tied for third and future something too. So this is
(29:33):
almost one verses two, almost one versus to Virginia Duke.
So hey, Duke must be favored, no believe it or not.
Virginia right now is a around a two point favorite. Okay,
So this game is in Virginia, so home field in
college basketball about four points for George points and the
line is Virginia favored by two. So they're saying Duke's
(29:56):
about two points better than Virginia. And that's exactly what
my power writings say, right So you think the power
ratings line up that lines correct? Lean or like in
the game, I'm gonna lean on Duke plus two and
here's the number one factor for me. We have a
key injury that's not being that's being undervalued in the marketplace,
and the injury being Virginia's point guard, Tie Jerome, who's
(30:17):
got a back problem. He's a top five, top twenty
five player nationally worth about three points all week long.
Beat writers are pretty much saying Tie Jerome questionable. This
line right now, saying Virginia is favored by two is
saying Tied Jerome is a d percent. He's got up
play tomorrow, so to me, and he's gonna play. The
assumption is and not be hindered, not be limited at all.
(30:41):
So that's interesting. So think about this. You're saying in
some scenario it's possible that he isn't limited, that yeah,
he's questionable, but he's fine, and that you know, maybe
they're trying to fool people. Who knows, right and if so,
lines right, Yep, Virginia is not as good as Duke,
but they're at home favored by two. It's about right.
Your theory is there's a real chance the point guard
(31:04):
for Virginia is limited, so you lean towards Duke because hey,
in that case, Duke's probably a pretty good bet. What
stops you from betting Duke? Then? Why is it just
the lean? Because I mean, this is Virginia's biggest home
game probably in the last decade. They have revenge. Virginia
just lost by two on the road a few weeks
(31:25):
ago at Duke, So the revenge just keep me off
having a big play on Duke. I'm r J bow
straight out of Vegas breaking down the biggest college basketball
game of the weekend, Virginia Duke. Last question, Brad Powers.
Virginia is a team that's famous for overperforming during the
regular season but then falling short in the tournament. In fact,
(31:46):
very much so recently. What happened last year? Yeah, Virginia
became the first ever team as a one seed to
lose to a sixteen All my trends, I had a race,
a bunch of stuff, put a little one instead of
a zero. There one versus sixteen. Finally a loss for
loss for the number one. Why? First of all, why
has that been? It wasn't just last year? Why is
(32:08):
Virginia underperformed in the tournament? So Virginia, unlike these other
teams like North Carolina, do Kentucky, haven't had that second
gear come the month of marks, particularly on the offensive
side of the ball, Virginia just stays the same. They
don't have that second gear this year, so they're super consistent,
which helps them cover the spreads in the regular season.
But they don't have a Their ceiling is low. They're
(32:31):
playing closer to their ceiling, almost like the Spurs did
for a long time. That's a great analogy. R J. Guys,
we talked about the Warriors historic NBA title odds just
a few minutes ago here on Fox Sports Radio. You
just mentioned Duke's near historic title odds. Earlier in the season,
the Rams had historic odds, Alabama had historic National championship odds.
Is that just coincidence? Are these all time great teams?
(32:54):
Or is the market kind of skew because so many
people are getting into the betting game. You know, I
don't think this is a five and a half months
into the show. I am so proud of Jonas. I
don't think I've ever said this before. I don't know
the answer, and I'll be honest with you, I've thought
about this a little bit physic though I never wanted
(33:15):
to say he doesn't know has a thought. Well, I
think it's all the Golden States impact that Golden State
became a minus two, minus two fifty favorite, and then
they won three out of four titles, and that has
opened the public's eye up to hey, you can have
these prohibitive favorites and they can still be correctly priced.
I totally disagree. I think a vast majority of people
(33:36):
bet in the NFL have no idea what Gold State
was favored last year. What percentage of the people that
bet the NFL do you think even knew what the
title was for gold State was last year? Probably not
that many. So how could it affect the NFL on well,
because you look at the dominant NBA team and they
should have said Your response would have been they can't, can't.
(33:58):
But you know something, Jonas, it's really something to think about,
and I'm gonna do that and ask around. This will
be kind of a tease into the spring. We're gonna
figure this one out because if anything, you think it
went the other way that, especially in college where all
these teams are getting TV time now, and it just
makes back in the day in the seventies, you went
(34:18):
to Ohio State, you went to Alabama, There's only Oklahoma.
Now there's a lot of places to go. The fact
that Gonzaga can be a top ten team so often
proves that. So how is there so many dominant teams?
I just don't know. I do know this. We've got
some big games coming up tonight and this weekend, and
we got picks on those games that's coming up next
(34:39):
to use r J Bell, I'm Jonas knocks this at
the pregame show You Always wanted and it's money making
time next year on Fox Sports Radio. Be sure to
catch live editions of Straight Out of Vegas weekdays at
six pm Eastern, three pm Pacific. I'm r J. Bell.
We are Straight out of Vegas and I'm Jonas Knocks
Voice of You the Fan. We've got a double header
(35:00):
in the NBA on ESPN. Things get started a little
over ten minutes from now in Philly, where the seventy
sixers are a five point favorite hosting the Denver Nuggets.
Philly fez a lot of all in a lot of trades.
Who do you like in this game? I leaned to Philly.
R J. It's all about Denver and their struggles on
(35:20):
the road. Denver is currently on a two twelve and
one against the spread run on the road, and this
is their fourth road game and seven nights. So think
about this. The market does price the fact, hey, Denver
is on the road, but when you got to play
all these road games back to back to back to back,
I don't feel the market properly prices the team's fatigue
from a long road trip. Now you listen, you flew
(35:41):
into Atlanta for the Super Bowl Wednesday morning, right yes Wednesday,
about ten o'clock at night. Your eyes couldn't focus. I
mean seriously, Like Fezig doesn't have a lazy eye, but
it's like his one eye was drifted off to the right.
He was so tired by Friday. When you got back
to Karen here in Vegas, it was like seventy two hours.
(36:02):
You were like hardly lifting your feet off the ground.
You were like shuffling through the airport. So imagine these guys.
I'm like not going for the baggage claim. I'm just
going towards another terminal. Argi's like, yet, Feza mountain dew,
He's not gonna get home. I mean it was, I
gotta be honest, it was. It was discouraging his lack
of energy. But I gotta be honest. I disagree with
(36:24):
you here. So your rational is that Denver's road situation
is so bad that the markets so under accounting for it.
It trumps the fact that Philadelphia is getting so much love.
They've surged more in odds than any team agreed or
not in the last week. And everyone's like Philly, Philly, Philly, Oh, Danver,
(36:45):
they're not that good, you know, they're I don't know
much about them. I'll tell you right now. I think
the integration time it takes for the Sixers to get
all these new parts in means Philly's in a bad
spot here. I know it's just the Lean, but I'm
gonna put a little challenge because we like to bet here.
Let's do it. Beat. I'll take because I don't love
it either. You lean, Eileen, I'll take Denver plus five.
(37:08):
You take Philly. You just said you lean. You bring
up some good points, but let's do it. R J.
So what do you mean I bring up some good points,
but you still want to bet against him? Yes, I
want to bet against this on the road because you
think your points are better. Yes, well, that that's on
straight out of Vegas. That means this auto hundred dollar
bat we'll be celebrating my victory on Monday right here,
six o'clock Eastern guys, after they go final in Philly.
(37:30):
We've got the Timberwolves and the Pelicans right now on
pregame dot com. The Pelicans are a six point favorite, obviously, fas.
The question is how does Anthony Davis respond? Yeah, and
it's a big unknown for me, r J. He's missed
nine games, he had a hand injury. Is he gonna
be a little rusty? What's his attitude going to be?
(37:51):
I'm really not sure about Anthony Davis, but I do
know this. I want to fade Minnesota here. Minnesota tough
schedule spot third game and four nights, and the US
fell out of the playoff race. So I'm leading define
that fell out of the playoff race. Yeah, Minnesota is
currently twenty five and twenty nine to three games out
of the number eight spots. So they're out now. They
can't they can't make that unlikely that they can make
(38:12):
them really three games out with how many games to go,
twenty eight left. I gotta be honest with you, there's
nothing more sad, sadder than a handicap trying to act
like something's true when it's not so fell out. So
that means you should probably be willing to give me
ten to one. No problem, right, I'll give you five
to one. No, but the one doesn't seem like fell out.
(38:33):
Fell Out is probably the wrong usage of words. Let's
say it's unlikely they make the playoffs, so they be unlikely,
so just to say it's nothing about motivation. I think
they know that it's likely they're not making the playoffs
and it's going to impact their performance. But I don't
know about Anthony Davis's performance. Hey guys, I'm r J
(38:56):
straight out of Vegas. Here's what you know. I'm your advocate.
I'm here for you. Fesik has won two super contests,
he has a mansion in a yacht from all his
great betting. But when he doesn't make sense, I'm not
gonna let it go for you, for the country, for
the kids. Fez real quick though, whatever you're convoluted logic,
(39:17):
you're lean. Here is lean just toured New New Orleans?
Your strange. That's it. We're turning your mic out the
rest of the show. Guys, it is college hoops on
Saturday in the Big Ten. It's a New and Eastern
time tip off on Fox, and it's also Brad Power's
biggest college basketball bet of the weekend. Go Brad, go Yeah.
(39:39):
Michigan best bet on the Wolverines minus the five and
a half. This might sound square, but this is one
of the top five revenge games of the rest of
the regular season. Michigan just a few weeks ago was
riding a thirty one game regular season winning streak. Who's
the team that upset that and stopped that streak? It's
(39:59):
West Wson. On top of the revenge factor, Michigan much
better situational advantage, awful blowout win with extra rest compared
to Wisconsin team, back to back road games and a
very close road win just the other night. I like Michigan.
Best bet Michigan minus five and a half. Wow, that's strong.
Here's the little background. Brad's a young guy relatively, you know,
(40:21):
early thirties. Fez is moving towards sixty fast, and but
Fez is icon just featured in ESPN the magazine with
his two super contest imprint right now featured. But Brad
wants to take down the champion. This is the drop,
he says, Archie just played this one now and again.
Please it around until I showed up. See Brad's taking
(40:45):
him down, and now Fez your mics off, trying to
talk into the mic. Fez, no one can hear you.
Your voice has been taken. Brad. I'm giving hey, Brad,
you've got ten seconds. Give it to Fesz fest I really,
he just cried, Jonas, what do you think, Brad or Fast?
Who you got? I'll go with Brad because Bez can't
(41:06):
defend himself and I feel, yeah, I'll just pile on.
Why not that that's a good handicap. Now, by the way,
if you missed the moment Fez got his mike turned off,
you can listen to the podcast at Fox Sports Radio
dot com. We are straight out of Vegas. We're back
on Monday, six pm Eastern Time, three o'clock Pacific right
here on Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the
(41:32):
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within
the I Heart Radio app search f s R to
listen live.
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