Fox Sports Radio's Countdown Presented by BetMGM

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Fox Sports Countdown. We're setting you up for
the sports weekend and covering all the action from the
stadiums to the arenas.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
This is this.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Is Fox Sports Countdown, brought to you my MG the
Sports beforn in Vegas. The Countdown starts not live from
the Fox Sports radio studios. Here's Brian no, Rich Hornberger
and Jared Smith.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Oh, good morning everybody.

Speaker 4 (00:34):
Happy Saturday, till you hope your days off to a
fantastic start.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Hopefully we can connad to it, scruits it up, we
can make it come to life.

Speaker 4 (00:44):
Call that good stuff as we prepare for a game
seven tomorrow night.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Good morning, Rich, Good morning, Jared mor On my right
sock here, I got my left sock on. I did
not have my right sot Now my right sock is off, but.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Thank god it's a radio.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
Yeah yeah, well, and also I was just thinking, you
have you have right and left socks, like specifically for
your right foot left foot, like shoes or where you
just yeah, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
You're just wing it, just wing it.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
It's funny you said that because as I'm putting them on,
I'm like, I'm pretty sure they're exactly flip flopped. You know, yeah,
you have like the the little standard big toe hole.
You know, I think the standard big toe hole is
where the pinky toe is today, you know what I mean.
So we're switching them around here. But how about Game

(01:36):
seven tomorrow night? How did we even get here?

Speaker 6 (01:39):
Right?

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Like you think about and.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
This is you know, we all felt this way, Jared,
but you mentioned it a couple of times last week
where we're going into the parlay platter and it's like, hey, this.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Is our last you know, big bang.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
This is like the grand finale where we each come
up with two legs for the mega parlay because we're
probably not going to have a Game seven and we're
not going to have a game to preview, and lo
and behold here we are previewing at Game seven.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
How did we even get here?

Speaker 6 (02:09):
Man? How did we get here? Well?

Speaker 7 (02:12):
Look, I guess in general answering the question more vaguely
and following sort of what I've learned and known about
sports my entire playing career as a high school athlete,
collegiate athlete, and a professional and then also as a viewer, broadcaster.

Speaker 6 (02:32):
A fan of sport.

Speaker 7 (02:34):
It takes health, it takes durability, It takes belief.

Speaker 6 (02:39):
It takes luck.

Speaker 7 (02:40):
All of those things are mixed together in the cauldron
when you have, especially what we're seeing in this NBA final,
which is two small market teams who in a league
with a salary floor and salary cap, things like this
should be possible. You know, two of these smallest markets

(03:04):
represented by the twenty seven markets that the NBA exists
in because obviously certain cities double up, these are two
of the smallest, and the fact that they're able to
battle each other to see who's going to take the
championship is kind of fun and unique and.

Speaker 6 (03:24):
How sports are supposed to look and be.

Speaker 7 (03:27):
But if you want me to answer it more specifically,
it's because Indiana felt the desperation in Game six that
OKC just simply could not manufacture. That's the shortest answer
I can give you for how we got to a
Game seven.

Speaker 8 (03:44):
Yeah, I think if you were going to ask me
before both playoff series started NHL NBA in the finals,
what are the odds that the NBA goes to a
Game seven and not the NHL. I mean they they
definitely would have been a long shot. Game six was awesome,

(04:07):
like you got to and I know our first instinct
is to be negative. Oh the thunder weren't ready, they
weren't prepared, or you know, turnovers.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Blah blah blah.

Speaker 8 (04:17):
I think I give the credit to Indiana. I think
the one thing we haven't done in this postseason is
recognize their ability to defend and recognize their ability to
rise to the moment.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
I think we've actually established that they can do that.

Speaker 8 (04:32):
In fact, I think of all of both of these teams,
I actually think Indiana is mentally maybe the more grittier team. Right,
They're very comfortable being uncomfortable. But Oklahoma City has been
very resilient this year. They haven't lost after a loss.
Six and zero coming off of a loss in this
postseason not as great against the number for just four

(04:53):
and two, but when they when they lose a game,
they have bounced back very strong.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
In the this postseason, they won.

Speaker 8 (05:01):
Two straight, right, they won Game four, one, Game five,
and then all of a sudden in Game six. They
I don't want to say they didn't play their best game.
I just think in Niana really outplayed them, and it
will be very fascinating to see if Oklahoma City can
continue to bounce back. But I think we just have
to keep giving flow. This has been a very flowery Finals.
I think okay See deserve their flowers for Game four,

(05:23):
and I really think in Niana deserved their flowers last
night or for Game six.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, yeah, how we even got here?

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Man?

Speaker 4 (05:29):
It's like, I just look at the Pacers, who are
They've been the zombies of this entire NBA season, And
I mean that as a compliment. You know the movies
where the zombies are just kind of like slowly walking
after you and you're like, we're good, Like they're never
gonna catch us, And that's something happens. You turn around,
they're like they're kating ground, like they're right here.

Speaker 6 (05:51):
Man.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
That's the Pacers.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
If you look at the regular season, this team started
out eighteen and eighteen like they're a five hundred team
in early January and they're going into Game.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
Seven of the freaking Finals. It's crazy.

Speaker 4 (06:07):
And I agree with you, Jared where I think if
you just look at the Pacers defense, I think there's
a tendency. There have been a couple of games where
the Pacers have turned it over like crazy, and there's
a tendency to give OKC their props defensively because they're fantastic.
They've been the best defensive team all season long, regular
season end, postseason, and so when the Pacers get turned

(06:31):
over a ton, we're like, man, okay C's defense. But
then you look at Game six where OKC got turned
over a ton, and there's a tendency to be like man,
OKC was really sloppy with the ball, and some of
that's true, but the other part of that is that
Indiana can get after you defensively as well, they just
don't get the same type of props. It seems more like, okay, see,

(06:55):
they just were so sloppy, where if you look at Carlisle,
he's made some really good defense of adjustments in this series.
There be a couple of games where Andrew Nemhart is
picking up SGA full court and SGA's tongue is hitting
the floor because he's tired, you know. And the last
game it was more of a doubling type effort. He

(07:16):
switched up the defensive game plan. So you got to
give Carlisle some credit. But I think that you got
to give the Pacers. They're just due. And it's funny, right, like,
I'll compare them to a college football team, a little
bit later this hour. But it's funny where there's a
tendency where you look at Game six and you're like, man, Pacers,

(07:36):
really impressive, really impressive, really impressive for.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
What they've done all series long. Then it's Game seven.

Speaker 4 (07:42):
And it's like, I gotta go Loksey, you know, like
you give them their flowers and then you immediately.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
Doubt them in the next game. It's just funny.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
It's played out the entire series, the entire season, but
here we are again with the Pacers.

Speaker 6 (07:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (07:57):
Yeah, the Pacers are that kind of team. That's Zo
B team you're talking about up against who is the unkillable,
you know, spirit of Oka Seejared, I think that stat
would have come up later in the show. For certain
I knew it would at some point that Oka See
has only come back after losses in the postseason this

(08:20):
year with win and it's a it's an important stat
to to fire off, because that's how you win championships
by not allowing yourself to get down and out after
a loss in series, not allowing one loss to turn
into two and getting yourself into an enormous hole, you know,

(08:40):
where you know you're sort of backing up the truck
and thinking like, well, one more loaded dirt and that'll
be it. No, you know, okay, see that's a young
group of fighters. But I'll go back to something I said,
and I've been thinking about a lot, and it's that
feeling when you know you're good, when you know you're even,

(09:01):
but you're having a hard time pretending times are desperate
enough to.

Speaker 6 (09:08):
Put on the cape, you know, And I think there.

Speaker 7 (09:12):
I don't want to take anything away from the Zombie Pacers,
and I don't want to say that they don't deserve
the credit and the love and all.

Speaker 6 (09:20):
Of it, because they do. They absolutely do.

Speaker 7 (09:23):
In fact, I believe that the Pacers can win this championship.
I honestly do. But there was this feeling of there
was something missing from OKAC and it was the fact
that the Pacers knew if we lose, we go home,
and OKC knew that they had the backstop of Game
seven to help them out one last time. It's like

(09:47):
they had one last wish in the Genie lamp and
they knew they could.

Speaker 6 (09:51):
Bail themselves out one last time.

Speaker 7 (09:54):
And they've done it, as mentioned six times over postseason,
lost and come back and won. So hey, do we
got one more rabbit left in the hat? Do we
have one more rub of the magic rabbit foot? Do
we have one more wish left in the genie lamp?
Whatever cliche you want to use. It felt like that's

(10:15):
what Okase was playing like at a certain point in
that game, and the Pacers said, no, no, no, no, no,
We're playing for our lives here, and okaysee, just could
not manufacture that level of desperation. And here we are,
we arrive on the doorstep of a Game seven and
we're still talking about the NBA Finals, And I think
in part due to the mindset of the Thunder.

Speaker 8 (10:36):
I mean, let's just think about this for a minute.
If Oklahoma City does not win Game seven, they would
lose back to back games for the first time in
the postseason. Yeah, and it took all the way to
the final game for that to happen. I mean, that's

(10:59):
just in saying to me, because think about it. Even
the Cavs Warriors right come down back from three to one,
Caves lost two straight in that series. I don't know
if they lost two straight earlier in the playoffs, but
for that to happen, it like, let's just live in
that reality for a minute. Indiana goes into ok See
tomorrow night and slays the Dragon for the first time

(11:21):
in the entire postseason. They would have handed the Thunder
two consecutive losses and it was in Game six and
Game seven of the finals. Like, just wrap your head
around that reality for a minute. That would be one
of the most improbable ends endings to a finals I
think maybe ever because of how big right that Calves

(11:43):
Warrior series was relatively even in terms of the odds,
Like it wasn't a massive favorite in one direction for
Golden State. I think Cleveland was a dog, but not
a huge dog. They had Lebron James and Kyrie Irving
like in their prime. On the other side of the coin,
you have this unbelievable juggernaut that was a minus seven
hundred favorite to win the series pre flop. They were

(12:04):
minus two thousand to win the series up three to two. Like,
I just it's just an insane It would be probably
one of the most improbable championship rounds that I can
remember in terms of the comeback, in terms of what
the odds were before the series, with the odds were
in the middle of the series and then the fact

(12:26):
that Oklahoma City the entire postseason, had not lost two
consecutive games until the last two games. You really can't
write the script. The NBA does have an NC state
kind of situation brewing here, like if if Indiana does
pull this off, it will be one of the most
unforeseen championships in our generation.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
Yeah, and to add to it a little bit, this
that blows my mind. So this is okase, their point
differential in the postseason right on the road, their minus
sixty seven this year. Wow, at home, they're plus two
forty seven. And you know how many teams have been

(13:10):
at least plus two hundred in the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
That would be nobody.

Speaker 4 (13:16):
This is the first time any team, unless they lose
by forty eight tomorrow night, it's the first time any
team has been plus two hundred at home during the playoffs.
And so when you have that in your back pocket, like,
that's what the Pacers are up against, and that's.

Speaker 3 (13:33):
Why I can't help but doubt them again, I'm not okay,
see written all over it.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
It was awesome what the Pacers were able to do
to win Game six at home Halliburton with the stran calf,
he drops fourteen points and makes an impact in twenty
three minutes. But now we're going on the road and
doing this in Okay. See to your point, Jared, if
they pull it off, this is one of the more
stunning upsets in NBA playoff history.

Speaker 8 (13:59):
Yeah, that's what they go back and look at that
Cass Winner series. I forget what the odds were with
the what the pre flop odds were for Cleveland. I
think Golden State was the favorite, but I forget.

Speaker 4 (14:08):
Oh absolutely, But yeah, you'd have to go back to
I think it was the four Pistons. The pre flop
were like a comparable underdog, and they took down the
Lakers that year, you know, and in a gentleman sweep
if memory serves, But as Gary Payton and you know,
Karl Malone were on the Lakers and.

Speaker 8 (14:29):
They were the Warriors were minus two ten in that series,
So it wasn't even cluse what the what ThEC favorite was? No,
and then after Game two, Warriors were minus one thousand,
and then after Game four, when they were up three
to one, they were minus twenty five hundred. So that
was kind of on par with what OKC was after
they were up three to two.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah, that's pretty wild.

Speaker 6 (14:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (14:51):
Yeah, Game six though, if if what we see in
game six occur in game seven for the Indiana Pacers,
meaning look out the gate. The opening moments of the game,
you could have probably felt like, oh wow, the Thunder
are gonna close this one out. This is the Pacers
were ice cold, they were missing shots. Thunder looked more

(15:12):
composed in the opening moments, and then all of a sudden,
that defense that you were talking about, Brian Carlisle, they
really sort of I'd settled in. They started guarding the
Thunder tough. They went on a twenty four to seven
run that took control of the game twenty six seventeen,

(15:32):
and they.

Speaker 6 (15:33):
Never gave the lead back.

Speaker 7 (15:34):
In fact, by halftime it was sort of all punctuated
with the Siakam dunk, where I mean it's what was
it sixty four to forty two at the half, and
you just felt like, oh, oh, there's there's no way
the Thunder are coming back in this game. And so
I look, you know it, it feels like a fado

(15:57):
complete talking about talking about this final being over because
of the staggering stats that we're staring down with the
Thunder defending their home court, the postseason, how it's rolled
so far, all the stats we have because we rely
on those so much and so often in this society

(16:20):
now because algorithmically, I mean we live our life by stats.
I mean stats are telling us where to drive, essentially
when we get in the car, triangulations of sations. You know,
stats are telling us you know what's in certain ways,
you know what's the best bet You know what I
mean like and I don't just mean like in in betting,

(16:42):
but I also mean in relationships. I mean in expiration
dates on food. Yeah, like we're always running things through
a risk assessment.

Speaker 6 (16:51):
But when you look at when you look at.

Speaker 7 (16:54):
What you've watched so far with the Indiana Pacers and
some of the human element of this series so far, Man,
I'm having a hard time. I'm having a hard time
finding reasons why they can't.

Speaker 6 (17:07):
You know, I can't.

Speaker 4 (17:08):
I can't find about when they can't. It's they can,
it's they won't. Right, There's a big difference. There's a
big difference between. That's why it's a betting show. We're
telling you what's gonna happen. They absolutely can, I just
don't think they will, yeah, right, right.

Speaker 7 (17:25):
And I That's That's where I'm having the issue, because
it it is hard to count out a team that
has shown what the Pacers have shown so far. And
again I'm I'm blaming the Thunder for some of their
loss as opposed to giving as much credit as I
want to to the Pacers for their winning Game six,

(17:46):
because again, I don't think that they were able to
manufacture the same level of desperation that the Pacers were
able to show up on the court for in Game six.
So I feel like we're going to see a very
different Thunder team in Game seven. However, there's this sneaking
suspicion that what we saw in Game six could be

(18:06):
a little bit of a peekable, a little bit of
a preview to what we're gonna see in Game seven,
and at very least it'll be a much harder fight
for the Thunder than many feel that they're in for.

Speaker 8 (18:19):
Yeah, which team do you think has more pressure? Is
that an obvious answer? Oklahoma City? Like, I think Oklahoma
City early will have more pressure, But if they get
off to a good start.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I think it flips very quickly. Do you guys agree
with that?

Speaker 6 (18:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (18:32):
I do, Yeah, I think it can change real fast. Yeah,
Like all of a sudden, you're down by eight, you're
down by ten on the road in game seven, It's like, yeah,
that shifts real quick.

Speaker 8 (18:42):
Yeah, but early first quarter, tense moments, first quarter tip off.

Speaker 7 (18:47):
Yeah, all the pressure's on. Okase, I wonder agree with that?

Speaker 3 (18:51):
Yeah, all right, we're often running.

Speaker 4 (18:54):
We've got rich oorn Berger, Penn State All American, Jared
Smith FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
I'm Brian No.

Speaker 4 (18:59):
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(19:20):
don't win your first bet.

Speaker 3 (19:22):
All right, coming up next.

Speaker 4 (19:23):
Some of these arguments make sense, but they lose a
lot of theme when the opinions are completely self serving.
We'll get to this right around the corner. It is
Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 4 (19:52):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM.

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live bets, and so much more. By the way, I
don't know if that's a shout out from Chris to
my girl, e'l say all about the freaking cranberries, my
gosh and zombies.

Speaker 6 (20:25):
Yeah, that was good.

Speaker 4 (20:27):
I I picked up on that, Chris. That was It's
so funny. Some of the references are right in front
of your face, and I'm like, I have something to
do with hate a peanut butter and Jelly said which
last night?

Speaker 3 (20:41):
Is that what it is?

Speaker 6 (20:41):
Cranberry's right band though, no very good.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
I'm not talking trash.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
I've just heard them a lot, a lot, Okay, So
Lebron James, Lebron James is bemoaning ring culture. Okay, so
a couple of quotes hear from King James. So this
was on his Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash.

(21:07):
You know, JJ Reddick got upgraded to Lakers head coach,
so inslides in Steve Nash as the co host of
Mind the Game with Lebron. And so one of Lebron's
quotes is talking about how we're just fascinated with how
many rings a player has won. And so Lebron's look
at his outlook is trying to nitpick an individual because

(21:29):
he was not able to win a team game or
a team match, or whatever the case may be.

Speaker 3 (21:34):
I don't know where it started, but it's a long.

Speaker 4 (21:36):
Conversation, especially when it comes to me individually.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
It's so weird. It's never enough.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
There's another quote that actually is laid out pretty well,
but let's hone in on this one for a second,
because he's talking specifically about himself, and that's what this
is all about. Lebron is looking out for himself. Do
you think if Lebron had let's just say, seven rings
he's been in the finals ten times. Let's say he
has one more ring than Jordan, He's got more championships

(22:07):
than Jordan. Do you think he'd be bemoaning? Hey, man,
like judging players in their careers based on how many
rings they've won, that's pretty freaking weird.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
There's no way Lebron.

Speaker 4 (22:20):
Would even come close to saying the slightest critical thing
about ring culture, and that, to me is where the
argument loses a lot of steam. It loses a lot
of punch when it's completely self serving.

Speaker 3 (22:33):
It's like the.

Speaker 4 (22:33):
Big Ten arguing about automatic qualifying spots, where it's like
Ryan Day, this is so self serving, dude, I could
see right through every one of these arguments. That's what
I think when I hear Lebron say these things about
ring culture.

Speaker 7 (22:49):
Yeah, it would be weird if he was like, let's
flip it around like it. Imagine Lebron James arguing the
opposite that, hey, you know, we shouldn't just rate players
based on their individual accomplishments, but how many championships that

(23:09):
they've they've achieved, because let's be honest with each other,
Like that's what everybody's vying for when they're a professional athlete.
Anyways as championships and so yeah, gosh, I mean, you
could score as many points as you want or be
the greatest individual player you want to be. But at
the end of the day, aren't we all chasing the ring?
Like imagine if he made that point, here's the problem

(23:32):
with that point. The follow up question is, well, then
didn't you just sort of admit that Jordan's the greatest
player of all time?

Speaker 6 (23:41):
Didn't you sort of.

Speaker 7 (23:43):
Just tell us that you're your inferior to Jordan based
on your own summation. So he can never make that argument.
In fact, he has to live in the antithesis of
that argument until he has collected more rings than Jordan.
Otherwise otherwise it's it's all, it's all already done.

Speaker 6 (24:05):
You know, if if if the the.

Speaker 7 (24:08):
One person that there, there will be many voices defending
Lebron as the greatest.

Speaker 6 (24:13):
Of all time for years and years and years to come.

Speaker 7 (24:15):
Maybe maybe another few decades, maybe it'll be in maybe
it'll be a century before we see a talent as
good as Jordan or Lebron. Again, I don't know. All
I know is we're very fortunate to have them overlap
briefly and have this you know, the scepter be passed
from one to the next so seamlessly that we can

(24:36):
have even a debate alive in actuality because Jordan was
so dominant, and then you look at what Lebron's done,
and he's been so dominant. But there's one glaring comparison
that you cannot overcome if you are in this in
this debate, and it's the fact that he doesn't have
as many championships as Jordan, he doesn't have the winning

(24:58):
percentage that Jordan has as in the finals. And so
it's the one argument that Lebron absolutely can't make, and
very predictably he didn't. In fact, he argued the opposite,
and so let's just let's categorize it right there. It's
just very predictable. Jared, Well, here's the thing about podcasts.

(25:21):
You know, we have one here, We do one every week.
I mean, I know it's a show, but you know
it turns into podcasts.

Speaker 6 (25:27):
One.

Speaker 8 (25:27):
I'm listening to the podcast. By the way, it's on
all your iHeart podcast applications. But now that we're in
this culture, speaking of ring culture, how about podcast culture.
Podcast culture in sports today is it's like mutated into
this crazy thing. And obviously we're trying to do a

(25:50):
show every week. We're trying to put our best takes
out there, We're trying to be right with our picks
every week. We're all of these things like this is
as a broadcast right with the broadcast school with trying
to you know, be have journalistic integrity and try to
be you know, straightforward and not biased to one side.
The athletes don't have this when they do their podcasts.

(26:11):
The athlete and again I've been on this ship. I've
said this before. I appreciate and respect the athletes that
come out, especially.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
During their career. Some one thing to do with after
career is over. Labron's still playing basketball.

Speaker 8 (26:24):
During your career, to come out and be open and
honest about what's going on with you with the team
behind the scenes. That helps me get inside your head.
It helps me handicap sports better. I appreciate that. I
respect athletes. That's why you know, we talk a lot
of smacked Aaron Rodgers because he's out there, but at
least he's out there. Might not agree with him, but
at least he's out there. The problem here is not

(26:48):
everyone is good at broadcasting and podcasting and giving takes.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
A lot of times people say the.

Speaker 8 (26:54):
Quiet part out loud, and a lot of times people
are not honest with themselves about what they're really feeling,
and they say what they think people want to hear
because it's what they want to hear.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
It's what their inner voice is telling them.

Speaker 8 (27:10):
And that's what you're seeing here with a lot of
these professional athlete podcasts. In this particular situation, Lebron's kind
of telling you the quiet part out loud. He's kind
of telling you how he feels behind the scenes about
himself and his situation. And he doesn't want to be
judged based off of rings because of what Rich said.
If you judge him based off of rings, then he

(27:31):
doesn't hold a candle in the goat debate. But at
the end of the day, is that really how basketball
players are judged? Lebron knows basketball better than I would
say anyone. If he really searched deep down and really
tried to get to the truth of how basketball players

(27:53):
in the NBA are judged, he would realize that he's
wrong about the stake. But I think the athletes sometimes
are more self serving with their podcasting needs than trying
to actually give the truth to their audience, and that
I think is the downside to having all of these
athlete podcasts. They're not really broadcasters, they're just athletes that

(28:18):
want attention and want to be out there, and I
think sometimes it e skews the message. It makes the
message very blurry, and this message was very contradictory.

Speaker 4 (28:29):
Well, it's one of those deals where I'll give you
the one statement where it's a good argument, but it
loses theme because it's completely self serving. So again it's
on the mind the Game podcast, Lebron talking about how
we're oh, this guy's got five rings, well he's better
than the guy with four rings, like that sort of thing. Right,
he's pushing back on that. He said, I don't know

(28:50):
why it's discussed so much in our sport and why
it's the end all be all of everything, Like, Okay,
you weren't a great player because you never won a championship,
or if you won one, you can't be in the
same conversation with this person, said you sit here and
tell me. Ellen Iverson and Charles Barkley and Steve nash
Efing weren't unbelievable, like, oh, they can't be talked about

(29:13):
or discussed with these guys because this guy won one
ring or won two rings. It's just weird to me,
Like it's a legit argument. But again it's completely self
serving because he's basically saying, Hey, I've scored.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
The most points in NBA history. Look at what I've done.

Speaker 4 (29:27):
Like defensively, I don't have the championships, but that's kind
of weird when you start and stop and think about it, right,
Like to me, it's one of these deals where there
are only a few exceptions where it's okay and it's
worked to give yourself a nickname, you know what I mean.
Like I don't know if anybody called Kobe the Black
Mamba or he just branded himself that way. Every now

(29:49):
and then, you can give yourself a nickname and it works,
it's rare, but you can't give yourself goat status. And
that's basically what Lebron is done. He's done that before.
He sat down in one of these podcasts like Situations
and said, hey, after the three to one comeback against
the Warriors, I said, right there, that made you the
goat and he's just hoping it was a Jedi mind trick,

(30:10):
and everyone was like, ah, he is, he is the goat,
and it's like, no, man, it doesn't work like that.
You can't just bestow you can't knight yourself the goat
of the NBA, you know. And that's what he's trying
to do, is trying to flip the argument in his favor.
And it is at times a good argument, but it's

(30:31):
it's totally for his own benefit. And it's like, we
see what you're doing. Man, you see right through it completely.

Speaker 7 (30:40):
I just I hope that everybody sees through it, because
it is Jared, You're one hundred percent right when you
say that there are certain people who are obviously they
go through whatever qualifications or.

Speaker 6 (30:57):
Riggers to be broadcasters, and that's great. I think that.

Speaker 7 (31:02):
I think that you can you can get to a
level where you have your own show and you have
your own little microphone and your own little zoom camera,
and you can you can sometimes amass a tremendous following
if you're saying interesting things, you know what I mean?

Speaker 6 (31:18):
Yeah, I think.

Speaker 7 (31:19):
There there's no one route that is better than any
other to becoming whether it's fame you're chasing or popularity,
if to become popular, whatever it is that you're looking
forward to doing or looking for just being interesting. Let's
let's put it there now. Lebron has built in interest
because obviously he's Lebron James.

Speaker 6 (31:41):
He's one of the either he's either the.

Speaker 7 (31:43):
Best or the second best basketball player to ever walk
the planet. So immediately, anything he says on any podcast,
let alone his own that he co hosts, is going
to be something of interest.

Speaker 6 (31:56):
I just hope people are able to read.

Speaker 7 (31:58):
Past the headline and say to themselves, yeah, even though
it came from a critical source, we have to be
ittic goal of that very important source it came from. Like,
you can't take what Lebron just said there at face value,
because if you take it at face value and you say, okay, yeah,
you know what, coming from one of the best basketball

(32:19):
players to ever live, maybe that is how I should
adjudicate things. Maybe that is how I should look at
this debate between he or any player and any other players.
You know, Let's look at their individual metrics. Let's compare
them and contrast them that way. Let's remove the team element,
even though they both play a team sport, right, So

(32:40):
it just it's too beneficial of a statement. It would
be inadmissible as evidence. If this was a court case,
you could not use it. So it's just look, you know,
I mean, we are doing our best to you know,
assuage the obvious, which is to have the Goat conversation,
which is long and bore and just opinion based.

Speaker 6 (33:01):
So we're doing a good job there.

Speaker 7 (33:03):
What I will say is anything that Jordan says about
himself or the Goat conversation, and then also anything that
Lebron says about himself or the Goat conversation cannot be
applied to the conversation of who's the greatest of all time?
Well that needs to be decided by the independent arbiters

(33:26):
who will.

Speaker 6 (33:27):
Write that history.

Speaker 4 (33:29):
Well it's I'll say, real fast air and you can
go last word if you want, but sure, it just
makes me think of you know when you talk about
rich when Lebron makes the statements about the Goat conversation
and Michael Jordan throws in his he never does when
has Jordan ever said anything about it might happen.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
Soon now that he just got that job on NBC.

Speaker 4 (33:51):
Right, But it's that old is that the Walter Payton
saying I can't remember who said it, but It's like,
when you're good, you tell everyone.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
When you're great, everyone tells.

Speaker 8 (33:59):
Yes, good, you tell everyone. And that goes back to
what Rich was talking about. It the people that are
in the podcasting space for the sole reason to chase fame,
fortune and attention are the people that you need to
mute and ignore. Like I didn't get into broadcasting to

(34:22):
become famous, why did I get into sports?

Speaker 2 (34:24):
Sports broadcasting specifically?

Speaker 8 (34:26):
I grew up loving sports and I wasn't good enough
to play it, and this was the best way that
I could stay close to the game. When I was
after my high school days, when I was in college
of Penn State.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
Rich was the one on the field.

Speaker 8 (34:37):
I wish I was with Rich on the field, getting
the snap from him and throwing the ball.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
But I wasn't good enough. But what was I good
enough to do?

Speaker 8 (34:45):
Communicate what was happening on the field honestly and accurately
to the audience.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
That was my skill.

Speaker 8 (34:51):
Being able to take information, regurgitate it, absorb it, and
then send it back to the audience in an entertaining way.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
That was my skill.

Speaker 8 (34:57):
I was not big enough, fast enough, or strong enough
to play, so I went in another direction.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
There are people today.

Speaker 8 (35:03):
TikTok generation, the podcasting, all this stuff. Their sole purpose
in life is to get attention.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
Those are the people you should ignore.

Speaker 8 (35:13):
The people who just want to do their job and
give you their opinions and then you can do whatever
you want with it.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
Are the people that you actually should be listening to.
But the people that are chasing the fame.

Speaker 6 (35:24):
Right.

Speaker 8 (35:24):
We talk about this with Ryan Day all the time.
He has to keep telling us how tough his team is.
His team's probably not. I'm not saying a lot to
say it's not tough. But when you keep saying something,
don't talk about it, be about it. And when Lebron
James continues and this is listen, I think this is
gonna be a thing.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
You want to talk about?

Speaker 8 (35:41):
The goat wars between Lebron and all the players that
he played with.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
How about the broadcasting wars.

Speaker 8 (35:46):
We're about to have Lebron James and Michael Jordan both
in major broadcasting roles over the next decade.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
That's the next goat debate we're gonna have.

Speaker 4 (35:54):
Yeah, well that'll be fun. That will actually be a debate,
the actual goat debate. It could be baseline is my mind,
is made up. If you believe in Jordan, nothing is
changing your mind like Lebron.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
No Jordan guy heard Lebron's.

Speaker 4 (36:08):
Recent argument that we're talking about here and said, you
know what, ring culture is a little bit too highly.
I'm gonna go with Lebron. Everyone's mind is made up.
There's not an argument out there that's gonna sway anyone.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
All he did was chase rings. It's so hypocritical. He
chased rings of Miami. Cleveland's all over right.

Speaker 4 (36:24):
Yeah, We've got rich oron Berger, Penn State, All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Be sure
to check out the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel. Just
search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and you'll see a
whole bunch of video highlights from our shows. And be
sure to subscribe to you always have instant access to
our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube. Coming up next,
the parlay Platter. My gosh, we do have a Game

(36:48):
seven to parlay together. We'll get to that. It's Fox
Sports Radio's Countdown, presented by BETMGM.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
radio dot Com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR
to listen live.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
It is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown, presented by Bett MGM.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
No time to waste, We dive right on in to this.

Speaker 4 (37:16):
Okay, it is the parlay platter, it's not the Mega
parlay platter. But ah, how would you describe this one, Jared?
And what's the theme for us?

Speaker 6 (37:24):
Buddy?

Speaker 8 (37:24):
Well, obviously it's gotta be Game seven. Even though I
think I reversed jinx us last week I said we're
not gonna have a Game seven to talk about next Saturday.
This will be the last NBA parlay platter of the
of the postseason, and just like many other parlay platters before,
I was wrong on that prediction.

Speaker 2 (37:39):
So we do this. I promise you this will be the.

Speaker 8 (37:42):
Last NBA parlay platter of the postseason. I feel confident
in that Obi Toppin was fantastic In Game six, he
became the first bench player in the NBA Finals with
a twenty point five rebound, two steel shooting two steel
showing excuse me, And he's been fantastic shooting it in
the series alternating games.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
He has not had consecutive games.

Speaker 8 (38:06):
Of good shooting performances, so we're gonna go Obi toppin
under one and a half may threes in this game.
I think unders we've already seen the total drop. I
think unders in general in game seven make a lot
of sense, and I think Obi Topa will not have
another game a second consecutive good shooting game under one
and a half may threes.

Speaker 2 (38:22):
First leg of the playoff, it's.

Speaker 7 (38:25):
Okay, very good in Game seven with the Cavs strain
still compromising his play and facing a defense from Okase
that's keyed on limiting his offensive game plan, I think
it's highly probable Haliburton falls below the five and a
half point prop line. So tyrese Haliburton under five and

(38:47):
fifteen and a half points in Game seven against Okase.
He's underperformed that prop line. I believe it's the past
two outings against Okase. I still don't think he's right,
especially after wimping off the court in Game five.

Speaker 6 (39:02):
Yeah, so give me the under there.

Speaker 4 (39:05):
Okay, I'm gonna have to pivot over here because I
was also targeting.

Speaker 9 (39:10):
Out a couple of Haliburtons from Yeah, I know this
is not gonna be parlayable, you know, because I'm looking
at Halliburton under twenty two and a half.

Speaker 3 (39:21):
Yeah, I just I think both are gonna be difficult.

Speaker 4 (39:25):
I think it's gonna be hard for him to score,
and I think it's gonna be hard for him to
set up teammates. And also he's gonna have a couple
of good passes, as he always does.

Speaker 3 (39:33):
But maybe you're a little tight in a game seven
and a quality.

Speaker 4 (39:37):
Look from three just goes clang.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
And there's no assist right there, So.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
Just go under assist under six and a half.

Speaker 6 (39:43):
Sis, you can do that.

Speaker 4 (39:45):
I could do that, and I might do that, but
I'm gonna I'm gonna go to a team total over you.

Speaker 6 (39:50):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (39:51):
It's been a consistent theme for the Pacers, and I
don't look for it to change change in Game seven.
The Pacers have not scored over forty five points in
the first half in any road game against Okase. They've
been a lot healthier in the second half. We'll discuss
this in greater lengths a little bit later in the show.

(40:14):
But I'm gonna go under. And it sounds gross. You
gotta plug your nose, but I'm gonna go under fifty
and a half points in the first half. Team total
for the Pacers under fifty and a half. They've gotten
out to slow starts. I don't see how all of
a sudden they're just flowing in the first half. They
haven't done it one game. They're gonna do it in
game seven. I'm skeptical. I'll take the underdeck all right.

Speaker 8 (40:35):
How about this mini mega Let's add OKAC money line
to the parlay under Haliburton points, under top and threes
under Pacers team total four to one on MGA.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
I am all for it. Let's do it. Let's spruce
it up. Oh, what is going on? We bit you
a fantastic Saturday morning. Huh?

Speaker 4 (40:55):
I feel like I should do that in an English accent,
you know, bidding you a fantastic Saturday morning. Hey, be
sure to check out That's right. My English accent is
good for about three words and then it just completely slides.
Be sure to check out the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and you'll see

(41:15):
a whole bunch of video highlights from our shows. Be
sure to subscribe so you always have instant access to
our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube. Okay, so a
lot of people have been subscribing to Indiana Fever highlights
because it was just a few days ago where.

Speaker 3 (41:34):
There was drama, drama, drama.

Speaker 4 (41:37):
And it has carried over like these highlights do not
die on x and social media platforms of Caitlin Clark
going toe to toe with the Connecticut's Sun collectively as
numerous players went over to challenge Caitlin Clark.

Speaker 3 (41:56):
It happened where j. C.

Speaker 4 (41:59):
Sheldon, she's a rookie for the Connecticut Son she was
swiping down on the ball and actually swiped down, accidentally
swiped down on Caitlyn's face, in particular her eyeball, you know.
And so Caitlyn staggering around like, oh, you just hit
me in the eye, and jac kind of like you know,
bodies up to her, and so Caitlyn pushes her away,

(42:20):
like I just got hit in the eye. Can you
give me a second? And then Marina Maybray came in
and just sort of bumped into her. So Caitlyn hit
the floor as a whole thing. And then later in
the game, Sophie Cunningham got some payback. There was a
fast break from J. C. Shelton again that rookie that
hit Caitlyn, and Sophie Cunningham pretty much went WWE on

(42:44):
Jce Shelton on a fast break, and there have been
highlights galore, like I look at my social media feed
and it is just Sophie Cunningham, Sophie Cunningham, Here's Caitlyn,
Here's Sophie. It's drama sells man, and this has been
fantastic for the WNBA. Maybe the league would love if
it was like, oh, here's a dazzling three pointer from

(43:07):
Caitlin Clark and that's what gets a million views and
that helps the ratings get even better. If I'm the WNBA,
whatever gets you in the tent, I'm all for. If
it happens to be drama and some soap opera stuff
and these players taking the cheap shots at Caitlin, so
be it, man, But I think it's great for the WNBA.

(43:29):
Whoever gets more interested and whoever samples it more due
to whatever reason, I think is good for the WNBA.
And listen, man, we love our drama mixed with sports. Otherwise,
these videos of Caitlin against the Sun or Sophie Cunningham
on a fast break opportunity like decleting someone, they'd get
seventeen views. They get millions of views, so we're eating.

Speaker 3 (43:52):
This stuff up. We can't get enough.

Speaker 7 (43:56):
You know what, I I'll disagree politely because I do
understand what you're saying, and I do in some ways
completely agree with what you're saying, Brian, Like, yeah, in
order to get an attention in a very split attention
economy that we have in this world now, not just
in this country, because obviously all these sports leagues can

(44:19):
can be h can garner world acclaim on social media
or regular transmitted media. I do look at what the
WNBA is doing, specifically with Kaitlyn Clark, and I admonish them.
I really do. I think they've they've bungled this from

(44:40):
the start. This has been an embarrassment. Caitlin Clark deserves better.
The league and its players deserve better. I mean, some
of the players, frankly are to blame for some of this,
There's no question about it. But Caitlin Clark is a
generational talent and they're treating this like she is.

Speaker 6 (45:02):
A professional wrestler, you know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (45:05):
Like, the most amount of attention that the WNBA has
been able to garner since Caitlyn Clark has joined their
ranks is by posing villain after heel after you know, weird.
You know, this should be called the ww WWEBA, it's

(45:31):
the Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment Basketball Association.

Speaker 6 (45:35):
Because nobody's talking about the basketball.

Speaker 7 (45:38):
Everybody's talking about the rivalry between Angel Reeves, who, as
it turns out, is a pretty bad basketball player, and
Kitlyn Clark last year. And now this dust up between
the Connecticut Sun and the Fever. It's all just nonsense.
It's all just noise, it's all just drama. Kaitlyn Clark, meanwhile,
is one of the best talents in basketball, period, full stop,

(46:00):
and we're getting mixed up with this crap.

Speaker 6 (46:03):
That's what it is.

Speaker 7 (46:04):
It's crap, it's popcorn, it's it's what you chew on
while you're watching the main event. It's all nonsense. They
can't find a way to practically market her, so what
they're doing is they're making a side show out of her,
and it's an embarrassment. It's an embarrassment to her talent,
it's an embarrassment to the w NBA that they haven't

(46:26):
found a better vehicle to market her talents. Instead, they're
marketing drama. They become pedlars of this nonsense in filth,
and frankly, I'm not interested in it. I'm tuning in
to Game seven of the NBA to see the drama
of basketball. Okay, doesn't matter men's or women. I'm tuning

(46:46):
in to see the drama of basketball, to see the
drama of sport. If a fight breaks out in the
middle of that, that's a side story to the drama
and the prestige it that we all bear witness too.
The WNBA has completely missed the mark with this whole
Caitlin Clark culture that they've created, and it's nauseating and

(47:08):
it's a bunch of people trying to claw at fame
alongside of her by taking Potch's They should be embarrassed.

Speaker 8 (47:17):
Yeah, my opinions on this story have kind of changed
over the last few days. Like when you first watch it,
I had Rich's reaction, like, I can't believe the WNBA
is continuing to mishandle their star.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
Why is she not getting more protection?

Speaker 8 (47:33):
Why did not like the Maybury girl that bumped her,
Like I thought the foul where she got swiped in
the face like that was just like a flagrant fowl
and I think it should have been adjudicated as such.
I thought the bump afterwards where Maybury came in and
just gave her the old chest bump and then she
fell to the floor, that should have been an ejection
immediately way after the play, completely uncalled for. It was

(47:54):
obvious that Maybury, who was kind of a journeyman, journey
woman veteran, you know, taking her shot at the New
Star like that, Like it was obvious what that was.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
That should have been an injection.

Speaker 8 (48:04):
And then I had a chance to kind of marinate
on the story, and then the Sophie Cunningham angle emerged,
and I started to similar to how I did Game
six Pacers Thunder. My first initial reaction was, man, the
thunder really late in egg tonight negative? And then I
was like, well, maybe I should be talking about Indiana's
amazing defensive performance. And now Mark Dagnall said after the

(48:25):
game or in a halftime, they're guarding us at a
level we've never seen before.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
We're gonna have to adjust.

Speaker 8 (48:31):
Then I look towards the Sophie Cunningham angle and I
started to find that silver lining. Finally, the Indiana Fever
hired a coach and put some players around Caitlyn Clark,
where at a rich's point, the basketball might be better,
Like the Fever are one of the best teams in
the league this year, they might be in the finals
and then we're going to get a chance to watch
them on that big stage. Sophie Cunningham coming to the

(48:54):
aid of Caitlan Clark turned her into an overnight sensation.
She's now the second most popular player in the sport.
She has over a million followers on TikTok. She gained
over five hundred thousand followers in forty eight hours from
that moment. So yes, I agree on the surface level
where no, like there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
I hear that all the time.

Speaker 8 (49:16):
I think there's a limit to that, and we're getting
to that limit where we need to clean up what's
happening in the WNBA and we need to protect Caitlyn
Clark a little bit. But there's also this angle of
new emerging star on this elite team with Let's be honest,
is anyone more marketable? Is anyone more popular or famous
in all of sports right now than Caitlin Clark. She

(49:37):
might be the most famous athlete on the planet. And
I think if we can continue to build around her
like a Pippin, like a Rodman, right, like a Phil Jackson,
and all of a sudden.

Speaker 2 (49:48):
You build this team.

Speaker 8 (49:49):
Maybe in a few months, when we get to the
WNBA finals, we will be talking about the basketball. But
right now, I agree Rich, it is kind of it's
kind of like a soap opera, and I do think
we are building a story that might have a very
exciting ending in a few months.

Speaker 4 (50:05):
I'm going to disagree with the disagreement respectfully, of course,
with Rich pushing back of me, which is fine. It's
not the WNBA that's just fanning the flames and all
the drama you just look at, just go through WNBA
on X. It's not like, oh, look at this highlight,
look at Sophie Cunningham, shove this girl to the floor.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
You know, oh look at this.

Speaker 4 (50:29):
We got some drama between Caitlin Clark and the Connecticut son.

Speaker 3 (50:33):
It's not the.

Speaker 4 (50:33):
WNBA that's like shoving it in our faces and like, oh,
you're eating this up. We'll give you more, we'll give you.
It's them promoting the sport of basketball. But here's the thing,
no one cares we're about the drama. We're like, oh,
give us more. Oh, you see Sophie Cunningham. No one's like, yeah,
I don't care about that. Let me see a fifteen

(50:53):
foot mid range shot from Sophie. That's what I'm in
the market for. Like, no one's going out there for that.
But to the WNBA's credit, if you want to look
at it like that, if you're against the so called
popcorn the drama, they're not putting it out there left
and right. It's if you just pay attention to who's
putting out the videos. It's a bunch of like media

(51:17):
guys and fans that are like, oh did you see that?
It's not the WNB WNBA that's doing that. So if
anybody's to blame for the drama, it's the player's one
hundred percent. And I don't know what you would want
the league to do about it. It goes back to even
last year, right, like the comments against Angel against Caitlin Clark.

Speaker 3 (51:42):
This was Angel Reese last year, last June. This is
over a year ago.

Speaker 4 (51:46):
Talking about why people watch the WNBA.

Speaker 3 (51:50):
Just listen to this real quick.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
I'll look back at twenty years and be like, yeah,
the reason why we watching women's basketball is not just
because of one person.

Speaker 6 (51:56):
It's because of me too, And I want you to realize.

Speaker 4 (51:58):
That that is going how so many players in the
WNBA feel where it's like, it's not just Caitlyn, it's
also me.

Speaker 3 (52:07):
It's also recognized me, give me some attention. I need attention.
I want attention to That's what it is. And you
hit on that rich where it's a.

Speaker 4 (52:17):
Bunch of girls that want that shine, that are trying to,
you know, maybe forearm shove Caitlin to the floor and
maybe get a little bit of that shine. And it's ridiculous,
but it's not the WNBA that shoving it into your face.

Speaker 3 (52:33):
If you want to blame the WNBA, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (52:35):
Maybe they could police it a little bit more where
like Jared said, Marina Maybrey gets ejected right away, or
you find a player or two that says something critical
about Caitlin. You can't even really do that though, So
I don't think the WNBA is to blame at all.
It's that there are a bunch of jealous players that
want the attention Caitlyn gets. It couldn't be more obvious.

(53:00):
That's what's going on here, and that's what fans the
dramatic flames. That's where it comes from.

Speaker 7 (53:05):
Yeah, inarguably accurate that part of it. There's no doubt
people eat this stuff up. It gets people talking, there's
no question about that. But where the WNBA is compliant
and responsible in some aspects for what's happening to Caitlin

(53:26):
Clark and I do mean what's happening to her is
in my opinion, she's being targeted, just like you said,
just like anybody who's been watching these games. And by
the way, I don't watch WNBA games. It's not all
that interesting to me. In passing sometimes I have this on.
I see the clips, just like most people absorb the WNBA.

Speaker 6 (53:46):
Their ratings aren't good.

Speaker 7 (53:48):
And frankly it's because it's not a very polished product.
Yet it's on its way. I'll tell you right now
it looks better than.

Speaker 6 (53:56):
It used to.

Speaker 7 (53:57):
And the Caitlin Clark era I thought was going to
drum up a lot more interest, and I think they've
completely mishandled it. And I think part of the reason
is exactly what you said. Angel Rees has targeted her.
Now you're seeing it happen on different teams. You're seeing
other players realize, oh, here's a good strategy for me
to go bonkers viral on social media. Let me put

(54:19):
a forearm on her neck, let me knock her over,
let me poke her in that, let me get in
her face, let me try to get my shine by
trying to rub off some of hers. It's an embarrassment,
and you're right, the WNBA should step in. That's the
way they get involved. Okay, Look, we all complain about it.

Speaker 6 (54:38):
In other sports.

Speaker 7 (54:39):
There's these protected calves, you know what I mean, Like
you look at you, and I'm talking about you know,
obviously using a religious reference to Buddhism, like you know,
the sacred cows, like you have. You have this situation
where Lebron James gets every single call when he drives
the lane and he's he's the flo and everybody complains

(55:01):
about that, but guess what, he's box office and the
league knows it. The same happened for Kobe James. Harden
literally won an MVP off of four point plays because
he was bumping into people on purpose.

Speaker 6 (55:14):
And scoring three pointers. You know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (55:17):
I mean before that, in the nineties, it was hack
a shack that the w or excuse me, that the.

Speaker 6 (55:23):
NBA got rid of you know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (55:25):
They realized, Hey, Shaquille O'Neil's terrible foul shooter, let's just
foul the living dog bleep out of him and let's
get him to the line. It made for boring basketball.
It affected the competitiveness of the league. So the league
stepped in and said, Hey, next person who fouled shack
like that, we're going to give you personals. We're gonna
get you ejected from the game. We're going to put

(55:47):
you in foul trouble. We're gonna put you in the box. Okay,
that's how you handle situations like that. You don't just
let it continue on. Eventually, what's going to happen is
Caitlin Clark is going to get shoved to the court.
She's gonna fracture her patella, and she's gonna be out.
And then what are you gonna do? Don't cry boohoo
tears to meet WNBA when you star player gets bodied

(56:10):
by somebody who's looking for some of the social media
shine that now two players have gotten from roughing her
up like hockey goons and complain to us about how
nobody's tuning in.

Speaker 6 (56:23):
It's just nonsense. They've completely mishandled this.

Speaker 7 (56:26):
Instead of leaning into the brilliant, talented player that she is,
they have gone the opposite. They've turned this into a
wrestling side show, and it's an embarrassment. You either protect
Caitlin Clark, you do a better job of marketing her talents,
or you get to have the business of running a
league all together. Just fire everybody and start from scratch

(56:48):
at the league office level.

Speaker 8 (56:50):
It's terrible. It's a bad product. It definitely is a
tough watch. And we thought Brian were hanging out last night.
By the way, Shoutoutcavin on Rich twenty years. We're hanging
out with them last night. They had an awesome party.
Congrats on a great career for them that's still going.

Speaker 2 (57:07):
The It's a tough watch. The reason why I watch
it is because I bet on it.

Speaker 8 (57:12):
It's not something that I enjoy doing because it can
be a little rough around the edges and it's not
you know, it's a game that's played below the rim.
I just don't know what else the league is supposed
to do outside of the refs.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
Being very tight with the whistle.

Speaker 8 (57:28):
I think that's what will happen eventually, Like maybe should
have been tossed from that game period.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
End of story.

Speaker 8 (57:34):
Yeah, that that is why it got out of hand,
because then Sophie Cunningham felt the need to respond because
the refs did not respond, and again credit to Sophie.
I think that's the silver lining of this entire story
is Sophie Cunningham is now the second brightest star in
the sport because she was the first person willing to

(57:57):
come to the aid of the brightest star. Smart move
by her, because she's getting the attention for a positive reason,
whereas some of the other players like Angel Reaes and
Marina maybe are getting attention for negative reasons.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
That comes off as jealousy.

Speaker 8 (58:11):
What Sophie did was it came off as like a
lot of people related to that. That's why her TikTok
took off. That's why she is now going to probably
get a ton of endorsement deals and a ton of
attention because people relate to that. People relate to, Hey,
they're picking on my little sister. I'm gonna go shove
this person in the playground because I'm standing up for

(58:34):
my people.

Speaker 2 (58:35):
People relate to that.

Speaker 8 (58:36):
That is a human story that took place on the court,
and I think those are the kinds of stories, albeit
originating from a negative place, that can help move the
needle in favor of the WNBA. It's insane. The ratings
drop fifty percent without Caitlin Clark. We've never seen anything
like this, And I got pushed back, well, MJ had

(58:57):
the same thing.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
He had the MJ rules when he was coming up.

Speaker 8 (59:00):
When MJ missed the game, the ratings didn't drop fifty percent.
The NBA was already an established product when MJ was
in the league. Yes, he took it to a new level,
but there was Bird and Magic and Kareem and Will
and Bill Russell, like there were stars in the NBA.

Speaker 2 (59:15):
That took it to a high level. And then MJ
raised it. When he missed the game, the Bulls ratings
didn't drop fifty percent.

Speaker 8 (59:23):
I mean, they might have dropped, but that is an insane,
insane decline for one player. Like I said earlier, there
is not a person on the planet right now that
moves the needle more than Caitlin Clark in the athletic space.
I don't want to go into the politics or news
or anything like that. She is the most influential athlete
on the planet, A female basketball player. Those are the

(59:45):
facts I think, and maybe you can debate them. But
I think the way that we continue to move the
needle in forward of the WNBA is just to keep
the conversation going. Yes, we need to keep it under control.
We can't have roller Derby breaking out, which is why
Mabors should have been tossed from the game. But I
do think some of this friction is good for the

(01:00:06):
sport net positive.

Speaker 4 (01:00:07):
Oh absolutely, it sells. I do think it's good overall
for the sport. And that's the wild thing to me
is I've never seen a league, and I'm not talking
about rich Is holding the w NBA kind of bow.
I don't nearly as much as I do the w
NBA players. I've never seen a league take it superstar

(01:00:29):
completely for granted, until now with Caitlin Clark and the
other players in the league, where there's nothing even comparable
to it. She's the Golden Goose and they act like
she's just this I don't know, this, like nose hair
they can't get rid of, Like oh my gosh, this
freaking thing, like it's right at the back.

Speaker 6 (01:00:52):
It's like the one gray hair they're trying to pluck.

Speaker 7 (01:00:55):
You know what I mean, Like they just catch it
in the mirror in a certain light and they're like,
is is there any way we can get rid of
our what an annoyance? And it's like no, no, no, no, no, no, Yeah,
that's the shine you've been searching for this whole time.

Speaker 4 (01:01:08):
And that's the difference. Is No one's saying treat with
kid gloves. No one's saying don't foller hard, like compete.
But there's a line that's been crossed time and time again.

Speaker 2 (01:01:18):
Maybrey just that was the line. Maybrey crossed the line.

Speaker 4 (01:01:23):
All right, So we've got rich Heidberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR, betting analyst.

Speaker 3 (01:01:28):
I'm Brian No.

Speaker 4 (01:01:29):
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(01:01:51):
main man, Seamus McGee. He'll get you all set for
Game seven and beyond, maybe the Club World Cup. Maybe
you'll have a soccer player for you as well.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
We'll see her now.

Speaker 4 (01:02:01):
Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by Bet MGM. It is
Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by Bett MGM. And it
is time right now, boys and girls, for the tire
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Speaker 3 (01:02:15):
Swung on crushed what field? This is on its way?

Speaker 6 (01:02:18):
It is gone out of the ballpark. Cal Rally has
done it.

Speaker 8 (01:02:25):
He stands alone the most first half home runs for
a catcher in baseball history.

Speaker 3 (01:02:33):
I have a confession. I'm such an idiot man.

Speaker 4 (01:02:36):
I thought for a second that Korn was playing at
the game because Chris turned it down so much. I'm like,
holy cow, that's Korn was playing in the Mariners all right, No,
it's just Chris. Those compliments of Mariners Radio Network. Cal
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Speaker 3 (01:03:10):
And we go right from that to this. Let's dive in.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Follow the money, real good money.

Speaker 4 (01:03:15):
All right, Our good friend Seamus McGee, team lead of
sports Trading, joins us here. He's from BETMGM joins us
on countdown. Okay, good morning Seamus, Hope all as well
with you game seven tomorrow night. What's the first thing
that you have circled in terms of how you approach
this game from betting standpoint side total prop What are

(01:03:37):
you thinking here?

Speaker 10 (01:03:39):
Hey, guy's going to be back as always, and I
think you can shut a look at the spread off
the open. I mean this opening up as high as
nine and a half with us briefly that before being
sharply bent down to the current seven and a half
right now. So I think that definitely sticks out the
most as far as the total goes. You do have
we haven't moved that much by some spots to open

(01:04:01):
like a two thirteen and a half. A few spots
are two fifteen. We're still on a two fourteen and
a half at minus one fifteen to the over. But
I think that the side does you know, it is intriguing.
There is some interest on the Pacers, and certainly from
our book standpoint, there is. We're taking a lot more
money on the Pacers on the money line, and so
far we're getting a little lopsided on the Pacers sprint.

Speaker 9 (01:04:22):
Hmmm.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
Wow.

Speaker 8 (01:04:24):
That kind of scares me, though, if I do want
to bet Indiana that, you know, a public dog in
game seven is definitely something to.

Speaker 2 (01:04:33):
Keep your eye on.

Speaker 8 (01:04:34):
I mean, to be honest with you, the way I
see it, Jams, if we get a seven that flashes
and I see one of them out there here in Vegas,
but MGM is still at seven and a half, you
would imagine at some point, I mean, the Thunder had
been eight, nine, ten, eleven. They were I think an
eleven point favorite in Game two at home. They've been
almost double digit favorite at home almost every game in

(01:04:55):
the postseason. You would imagine if we see a seven,
which is I think a second very key in the NBA,
We're going to see some pretty heavy Thunder money come
in at some point, right.

Speaker 10 (01:05:05):
I think you're right, especially with the you know, concerns
about Halliburton's need, So I think we I personally don't
think we're going to see this move anymore. I think
this is the lowest you'll see it go for the
exact reason you just said. I feel like that would
be a pretty overstated move in my opinion.

Speaker 7 (01:05:26):
Yeah, you mentioned Haliburton with the lower body injury. How
much has his injury situation affected props and specifically people's
willingness to take props on Haliburton or have the unders
flourished as a result.

Speaker 10 (01:05:46):
The best part about you know, sports betting here is
you know, it's pretty young in the States, and as
the more you know sports betting growth, people realize it's
an opportunity when a guy like Halliburton is a little
banged up. That's why we're seeing a lot of money
come in on TJ mcconnells score tens plus points in
this game seven Obi toppin. We're starting to see him

(01:06:08):
get a lot of action on his points. Prop Nemhard
He's seen some action as well, So that's definitely where
we're starting to see some of the money go. Because
the haliber and prop is definitely it's not like it's
getting slammed with under money. It's just hasn't really been
touched very much by the public so far.

Speaker 4 (01:06:25):
You know, Seamus, when you look at Just Game seven individually,
it can differ for you guys at at MGM what
you're looking at from a futures market standpoint, right, So,
is there a way for you guys.

Speaker 3 (01:06:37):
To thread the needle ever so carefully.

Speaker 4 (01:06:40):
Where you just come out smelling like a rose on
both ends in terms of Just Game seven and also
the futures market, we're already looking great.

Speaker 10 (01:06:48):
I mean, like I said last week, we took a
lot of money over the counter in our retail spots
on the Thunder to really really put us in a
great futures position here. Even the Thunder, even like the
Pacers money line being a you know, a negative outcome
on the game book, we make enough back on the Pacers'
futures book that we're really just hoping we see a

(01:07:12):
really high handle for this game. And uh, you know,
we get a Sunday night tip. So I think it
should be a really really nice looking book for us.

Speaker 2 (01:07:20):
Come tip off, Seamus.

Speaker 8 (01:07:22):
We're just having a pretty in depth discussion on the
WNBA and and where things land with the Caitlin Clark drama.
Have you noticed an increase in handle this week? On
w NBA games based off of what we saw the
roller derby that took place between Clark and the Connecticut
Sun the other night.

Speaker 10 (01:07:38):
And we're starting to get to that place already in
the season where you know, Hopey's over NBA. There's just
one game a week, so people turn their schedules to
the w NBA. And it's definitely in the case the
last two years. Really we saw our WNBA book really
take off last year and this year is no exception.
I think a couple of weeks Clark missed with our injury,

(01:08:00):
we definitely saw you know, less interest. But this week
definitely it's it's a lot of it. It's a lot
more money than we're used to seeing on the WNBA
pour in and you know, WNBA executive probably don't think
it's great that, you know, there's all these you know,
technical files and Slager valves being the subject of the game,
but it's certainly drawing eyeballs and it's certainly drawing Betty Handle.

Speaker 7 (01:08:22):
Yeah, you know, that's an interesting take that I never
really considered him And like Jared pointed out, we were
just chewing it up over you know, the treatment of
Kaylin Clark and the attention the WNBA is getting. Is
it positive as a negative? But you just you just
opened my mind to something I was not thinking about.
The window when certain sports seasons and an interest. I mean,

(01:08:48):
obviously we live in an attention economy needs to be
drummed up somewhere somehow for sport that is, you know,
entering into the prime time of its season.

Speaker 6 (01:08:57):
We see this with golf, like all of a.

Speaker 7 (01:08:59):
Sudden, there's the stirring controversy between a couple of players
leading into a major, or you know, there's big news
about you know, a massive trade you know just steeped
in the middle of the NBA postseason. I mean, we
just had we just had a little bit of that.
Do you do you think do you think sports leagues

(01:09:19):
and I mean this sounds a little too calculated, but
or do you think sports writers may be or is
there any I don't want to call it a conspiracy,
but is there any effort to push things into the limelight,
to get the handle up at some of these books,
to get interest up on some of these sports at
different windows of time during the the I guess the

(01:09:41):
collaboration of sports seasons.

Speaker 10 (01:09:45):
He listen, We're we got fives and ears. Just like
everyone else. You know what people are watching, we know
what they're reading, we know what the big stories are.
And of course when you get to the summertime, it's
WNBA on every day. You know, I come on the
radio and I try to tell you guys to on
under twenty one soccer every week. But yeah, like it's

(01:10:06):
this is the thing that we have to keep track of.
We can't just post you know, college football mac win
totals on the homepage every week just so people want to,
you know, tie their money up on the Buffalo Bulls
over seven and a half wins very month. A lot
of people they want something to bet on today. And
you know this is this is the hand where Dell

(01:10:28):
and the WNBA is really starting to get some attention.
A lot of us to do with Katelin Bark and
the Indiana fever.

Speaker 4 (01:10:34):
Absolutely all right, Well, you kind of tease us with
under twenty one, So I don't know if that's where
you're taking us for the shame as special today.

Speaker 3 (01:10:42):
What do you have for.

Speaker 10 (01:10:43):
Us, guys? There's a very finely curiated play today, hours
of research into this pick. But there's this guy. He
plays baseball out in Los Angeles. People are going to
crucify for you. This I'm letting account of the bag.
But this guy show, Hey, Otani, I've heard of him.
That's good for you. He's gonna he's gonna hit a

(01:11:03):
home run tonight plus what best on? So I I
do think he is going to go yard tonight for
the Dodgers.

Speaker 8 (01:11:11):
Wow, all right, fair enough, Producer Benson would love that
you've got.

Speaker 3 (01:11:16):
You've gone from metal underground.

Speaker 4 (01:11:18):
To like, I don't know, like swift right now. Yeah,
nothing wrong with that, Seamous, and keep us guessing, man,
But hey, always good to catch up with you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:31):
Hope you have a great day. We'll catch you soon.

Speaker 10 (01:11:32):
Man, A man of taste over here. Guys, have a
good weekend, love it.

Speaker 3 (01:11:37):
Man, you too.

Speaker 4 (01:11:38):
There he is Seamous McGee, team lead of sports trading
at bet MGM.

Speaker 3 (01:11:43):
Good stuff. Hey.

Speaker 4 (01:11:44):
By the way, you know, uh, while we're talking about
like the w n b A the Caitlin Effect ratings,
it made me think of the Stanley Cup final.

Speaker 3 (01:11:54):
And this is I don't know how to.

Speaker 4 (01:11:55):
Discuss this without making it sound like we're, you know,
dropping the people's elbow on hockey as a whole. But
the ratings were freaking brutal.

Speaker 3 (01:12:04):
Have you seen this the.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
Game later in the series.

Speaker 4 (01:12:08):
The later games were rough, but yeah, I don't see
how you had what three overtime games?

Speaker 2 (01:12:14):
Yeah, early on they were great.

Speaker 3 (01:12:16):
They were unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (01:12:18):
Three of the first four games were off the charts
and uh the average was two point five million viewers
on TNT and the the series clinching game six win
for the Panthers two point eight million people tuning in.
It's like the NFL would start cutting themselves if the

(01:12:39):
draft ratings looked like that. This is the Stanley Cup
freaking final over here. And the thing, I'm not trying
to like talk trash about hockey.

Speaker 3 (01:12:48):
I'm just thinking, like, as a sports fan.

Speaker 4 (01:12:53):
I'm not a big hockey guy, but I was watching
the Stanley Cup Final a lot. It's like, as a
sports fan, how are you just complete letely Like, yeah, no,
completely tuned out. I just don't understand that, especially if
you start seeing some highlights or whatever social media starts seeing.
Look at this goal with twenty seconds left to force overtime, Like,

(01:13:13):
how do you not catch wind of that and tune
in for a little bit? It blows my mind. I
don't get it.

Speaker 7 (01:13:20):
It is the lack of market interest. I mean, really,
you know, the NBA is struggling with similar problems, not
the same. Obviously they're better ratings, but not when you
compare it to other sports leagues, and not when you
compare it to other markets who have been represented in
NBA finals and recently. I mean, the problem with an

(01:13:40):
OKCE Indiana Pacers' final is the market size. Even with
great interest in these market markets, you could you could
have poor interest in an LA market just La. I'm
discluding an opponent, and it would trump the type of
ratings that you're getting overall in these finals. And that's

(01:14:05):
an enormous problem with sports now. You obviously want a
cater tall fans. You want to have a parody in
a league where a small market team with a lower
you know, with a lower level of national interest can
have a chance to win a championship. And I think
the NBA has done a pretty nice job of that overall,
I really do. But the unfortunate reality that you will

(01:14:28):
suffer occasionally is where you get two smaller market teams
not drumming up the type of national interests you were
hoping for. When you have the culmination of your league's efforts.
And yeah, the Stanley Cup Final and the NBA Finals,
the ratings are going to be historically low as a result.

Speaker 8 (01:14:47):
How about this June fourteenth, Indiana fever, Caitlin Clark's return
against the New York Liberty TV ratings on ESPN two
point two million, And you said the Stanley Cup fin
the clinching game from two point eight two point eight.

Speaker 2 (01:15:04):
Wow, there's your perspective right there.

Speaker 10 (01:15:07):
Man.

Speaker 4 (01:15:08):
Yeah, to Rich when you threw that out there about
just like say the LA market, if they're just like
not into it. I used to think that you're kind
of just doing it wrong.

Speaker 3 (01:15:18):
And then I.

Speaker 4 (01:15:18):
Learned, like I did radio in upstate New York all
but in New York, great area, great.

Speaker 3 (01:15:23):
Sports town, they don't care about college football.

Speaker 4 (01:15:26):
I remember one of the costs when I got there,
They're like, yeah, they really don't care about college football.
And I remember thinking you must not be talking about it, right,
There's no way, And then I quickly found out like, yeah,
he's right, they don't care.

Speaker 3 (01:15:38):
It was unbelievable, Like.

Speaker 2 (01:15:41):
They don't care about bills.

Speaker 8 (01:15:43):
Yeah, they don't care about it all Portland, you know,
it blow my mind right.

Speaker 4 (01:15:48):
I'd go in after the college football National Championship game
the night before and people are like, yeah, I didn't
see it.

Speaker 3 (01:15:56):
I'm like, what you didn't? You didn't so are you
doing your hair?

Speaker 6 (01:15:59):
What were you?

Speaker 2 (01:16:00):
The regional bias about sports is real. It is real.

Speaker 4 (01:16:04):
It's it's amazing, man, it really is. But I learned
that there's nothing you can do. Sometimes there's literally nothing
you can do. Hey, we've got rich oron Berger, Penn
State All American, Jared Smith, FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 3 (01:16:14):
I'm Brian.

Speaker 4 (01:16:15):
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Speaker 3 (01:16:23):
And that's not all.

Speaker 4 (01:16:24):
Sign up with BETMGM today and you'll have access to
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live bets, and so much more. All right, coming up next,
prop it up? That is right, the prop betting waters.
Let them soothe you. We'll compare notes right around the corner.
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It

(01:16:46):
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM. Used
code countdown at betmgm and receive up to fifteen hundred
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Speaker 3 (01:16:56):
When you're registered with.

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Speaker 3 (01:17:12):
All right, let's do this.

Speaker 1 (01:17:15):
Prop it up the player plays.

Speaker 4 (01:17:18):
Alrighty the betting market. Jared, we start with you. What
is something you have circled in baseball today? I'm kidding
you can.

Speaker 2 (01:17:25):
Talk about I will have some baseball props at some
point this summer.

Speaker 8 (01:17:30):
Oh maybe some WNBA props, maybe over technical fouls for
the game Caitlyn Clarks plays in next.

Speaker 2 (01:17:35):
That'll be fun if they ever gave us that market.

Speaker 8 (01:17:37):
All right, I'm gonna do something I haven't done in
a few weeks, which is not give you. Jalen Williams
over four and a half asays, I've lost two straight
games with this one, and I think in general, Jalen
Williams becoming more of a score frankly than a distributor
in the later.

Speaker 2 (01:17:49):
Parts of this series.

Speaker 6 (01:17:50):
That could flip back.

Speaker 8 (01:17:51):
In Game seven tomorrow night, but I think that number
has been priced correctly.

Speaker 6 (01:17:54):
Now.

Speaker 8 (01:17:55):
I'm not as bullish on over four and a half
as I have been in games past. Here's what I
am bullish on SGA in a bounce back game. We
mentioned the thunder of six and zero straight up following
a loss in this postseason. In those six games, SGA
averaging almost thirty four points per game. In five of
the six he scored thirty four or more. He had
one outlier game twenty five points Game four at Denver,

(01:18:18):
but Oklahoma City only scored ninety two in that game,
so he still accounted for almost thirty percent of the
team scoring.

Speaker 2 (01:18:23):
So here's what I'm gonna do.

Speaker 8 (01:18:24):
SGA to score thirty and the thunder to win. That
is minus one thirty over at bet MGM. So it's
a little bit of a mini parlay platter. But SGA
bounce back game thunder win and he gets to thirty
points or more right.

Speaker 6 (01:18:38):
I like that out of a lot.

Speaker 7 (01:18:40):
Okay, a little bit of a correlated play here on
the parlay platter, I gave you under fifteen and a
half from Tyrese Haliburton, so correlated to that Obi toppin
I think he's going to go over ten points. He's
done so in the past three games against Okay See
his last performance obviously with twenty So give me Topping

(01:19:02):
over ten points. I think this is a steal. I
think the ball has to be distributed elsewhere. If you
think Tyresee is gonna be slowed by his injury, and
I do.

Speaker 4 (01:19:13):
Yeah, I'm thinking along the same lines Rich where I'm
looking at Halliburton. I like a combo prop under twenty
two and a half points and assists You like the
actual combos. I would go like Pepperoni pizza flavored with
one of my favorites, but big go combo over here
where I think that Halliburton's going to struggle doing both.

(01:19:34):
I think okc's defense is going to be a.

Speaker 3 (01:19:37):
Royal pain in Game seven, and so.

Speaker 4 (01:19:41):
I think scoring is going to be problematic for Halliburton,
and I think distributing is not gonna be easy either,
because you I'm sure he's gonna have some nice passes,
but maybe it's for a makeable three you know, good
look and it just rims out.

Speaker 3 (01:19:56):
It's game seven. It's tougher to make these shots.

Speaker 4 (01:19:59):
So I think that Halliburton under twenty two and a
half points and assists is a solid play. I'm really
curious how many minutes he gets. You only got twenty
three minutes last game. In Game six, they didn't play
much in the second half, which made sense they had
such a big lead. But I wonder if Carlisle's able to,
like what's maxing out Halliburton in minutes. I really don't

(01:20:21):
know how much he has in the tank with the
strain cap. So I'll take under twenty two and a
half points in assists.

Speaker 2 (01:20:26):
I like that angle right there.

Speaker 4 (01:20:28):
We've got to be a lot more on Game seven
around the corner.

Speaker 3 (01:20:32):
I'm glad you're on board.

Speaker 11 (01:20:33):
Very nice like it.

Speaker 3 (01:20:35):
What's the formula to win it all? Oh, good morning, Helpe.

Speaker 4 (01:20:42):
Your Saturday is off to a fantastic start. What does
college football have to do with Game seven of the
NBA Finals.

Speaker 3 (01:20:51):
You might say nothing.

Speaker 4 (01:20:53):
I'd say something. I say something. I'll throw that your
way in just a couple of seconds. Hey, you can
stream the show and all of our Fox Sports radio
shows live twenty four to seven in the new and
improved iHeartRadio app. Just search Fox Sports Radio in the
app to stream us live. And one of the newest
features in the app is that you can select Fox
Sports Radio as one of your presets, just like the

(01:21:13):
presets on a radio dial.

Speaker 3 (01:21:15):
So be sure to preset Fox Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:21:17):
Radio in the iHeartRadio app and it'll always pop up
top of your screen.

Speaker 3 (01:21:22):
Beautiful right there.

Speaker 4 (01:21:23):
Okay, so before we get to the formula, the formula
to win it all, Patty was mocking my teas.

Speaker 3 (01:21:31):
A little bit right there.

Speaker 4 (01:21:32):
A trusted producer is like, you know, who's gonna I'm
like curveball. It's not who's gonna win it all in
game seven, it's who's gonna win it all? Making an
award winning keish. You know, you didn't even realize that's
where we're going. We go cur now, I'm just kidding.
We'll get to the formula to win game seven momentarily.
But a lot of people they're like me with eating.

(01:21:55):
I don't like my food to touch. I eat like
a you know, a two year old. All right, well
that's a little young, like a seven year old. I
don't like things touching. A lot of people feel like
that about their sports, especially sports comparisons. I love making
comparisons all the time. Some people will rage against multi
sport comparisons, you know, where they're like, priban college football

(01:22:18):
has nothing to do with the NBA.

Speaker 3 (01:22:20):
And vice versa. I don't agree at all.

Speaker 4 (01:22:22):
I'll give you a comparison who The Pacers remind me
of just how they have gone about their business this
season and the playoffs in particular, and the reaction to that.
They remind me so much of the twenty fourteen Ohio
State Buckeyes. Remember the team Urban Meyer was still there.

(01:22:44):
Their starting quarterback goes down and it might have been
their second stream quarterback went down, and then here we
get card Ale Jones and they go on this magic
carpet ride and win a championship. But what was interesting
about them and how it relates to the Pacers. I
think that we gush about their most recent win and

(01:23:04):
then we immediately doubt them in the next game. You know, like,
if you think about Ohio State, it was are they
really gonna win the Big Ten championship game with their
third string quarterback?

Speaker 6 (01:23:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:23:14):
They beat Wisconsin fifty nine to nothing. And we're like,
what a performance. Wow, are they really gonna beat Alabama
in the College Football Playoff?

Speaker 3 (01:23:22):
It's like, that's not gonna happen. Then they beat Alabama
and we're like, Wow, they took down Saban and Bama.

Speaker 4 (01:23:29):
Wow, are they gonna beat Oregon really in the title?

Speaker 3 (01:23:33):
Right?

Speaker 4 (01:23:33):
That's the vibes I get with the Pacers at least
heading into Game seven.

Speaker 3 (01:23:38):
And I'm going right back to the well.

Speaker 4 (01:23:41):
Just as I doubted Ohio State and was proven wrong,
I'm still doubting Indiana going into Game seven. You're gonna
have Okacs defense cranked up to the gills.

Speaker 3 (01:23:53):
It's gonna be very, very.

Speaker 4 (01:23:55):
Difficult to win a Game seven on the road for
the Pacers. But Hey, just like the twenty fourteen Ohio
State buck guys who were doubted each step along the way,
they proved us wrong. And I'd have to say, at
least the Pacers are capable of proving the doubters wrong,
me included.

Speaker 3 (01:24:13):
But I got to see it to believe it.

Speaker 7 (01:24:16):
Yeah, and throughout the entire show, because there's a mirrored
effect on my camera here. For those who don't know,
we broadcast over Fox Sports Radio and the app on
iHeart and we podcast every day.

Speaker 6 (01:24:30):
You can find us there.

Speaker 7 (01:24:32):
But also we have a social media presence right next
to me on this.

Speaker 3 (01:24:37):
Yeah, stop it.

Speaker 2 (01:24:41):
I had to maximize my zoom window to see this.

Speaker 7 (01:24:46):
And backwards because again my camera flow that's pretty good.
Backwards now I've been I've been sleeping on that h
on that little Easter egg for the entire sh But
I cannot let this Pacers slander continue.

Speaker 6 (01:25:04):
Here's I don't have a.

Speaker 7 (01:25:06):
Dog in the fight. I don't have a dog in
the fight. But I'm so glad you brought up the buck, guys,
And I'm so glad.

Speaker 6 (01:25:11):
You brought up what heat does. What pressure does.

Speaker 7 (01:25:16):
Yeah, sometimes it makes teams fold, and sometimes it can
create beautiful things.

Speaker 6 (01:25:22):
It can create.

Speaker 7 (01:25:23):
It could create situations where, look, not every rock you know,
or carbon composite is going to turn into a diamond.
But the special amount of pressure, the special amount of heat,
the temperature rises to a certain temp, you know what
I mean, and all of a sudden, it produces something
that is brilliant and if cut with you know, the

(01:25:45):
correct the number of facets catches light and glitters and
we call that a diamond.

Speaker 6 (01:25:51):
And and yeah, it sounds really.

Speaker 7 (01:25:54):
Cliche to discuss the cauldron, the pressure cooker, use it.
But but the fact it, the matter is the Pacers
are here for the reason. We've arrived at the doorsteps
of Game seven for a reason. And okay, see, for
the entirety of the season, has been lauded as the
best team in basketball, and they are statistically and they've
played heroic basketball in their home court all throughout the postseason.

(01:26:17):
And we know the stat that you Jared two hours
ago mentioned the fact that they for every loss they've
had in the postseason, it's been filed directly by a win. However,
they find themselves in this pickle. They're playing against a
team who, with their backs up against wall, absolutely dominated
them in Game six, and they could not create the

(01:26:38):
intestinal fortitude, the emotional intelligence to close out the Pacers
in Game six. Now, very different story defending your home
court and all the things that we've already talked about
and discussed about. Ok see, but there is a special
intangible quality to a team that has been forged in fire,
has battled back the a Sayers time and time again,

(01:27:03):
like the Indiana Pacers, where special things can and do happen.
And I have an abundance of belief in the fact
that that narrative has not ended with a great win
in Game six. I think it can carry over into
game second, into Game seven, and I'm.

Speaker 6 (01:27:18):
Excited to see what Indiana does.

Speaker 7 (01:27:20):
There's a lot of faith in the play that we saw,
especially defensively shutting down a lot of what OKC has
successfully tried to do and have done all postseason long
in Game six. So I'm not as I'm not as
far down this thunder can't be beat in Game seven
trail as many of the Vegas betters.

Speaker 2 (01:27:39):
Are are on. I love it.

Speaker 8 (01:27:42):
First of all, that screenshot will live on forever. We're
gonna we're gonna photoshop random things throughout the season, throughout football, take.

Speaker 2 (01:27:53):
The we'll take facers and seven out.

Speaker 8 (01:27:55):
We'll put something that's stupid out there, like Mahomes isn't
the best quarterback in the sport. We're just gonna go
crazy with the shockport.

Speaker 6 (01:28:04):
Opinions. I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:28:05):
It's awesome. That's why I love this show so much.

Speaker 8 (01:28:08):
I've got back and forth on what vibe I think
this game will take on. Like every game in this
series has kind of had its own personality to it.
For example, I thought Game four, right, okay, see.

Speaker 2 (01:28:22):
Down two to one on the road.

Speaker 8 (01:28:24):
You don't want to go down three to one, even
though they are capable of winning three straight. But I
thought that game had a Game seven field to it.
So if you want to take the six games in
the series and analyze them and say, okay, of the
six prior matchups we've had, which game, which vibe, which
personality is going to mirror what we're going to see

(01:28:46):
tomorrow night, I would pick Game four. I think that's
the game that will have the closest vibe to what
we're going to see. I think you can throw games
one and two out. Honestly, I would not analyze games
one and two and take anything from that and bring
it to game seven.

Speaker 2 (01:29:01):
Why Game one was crazy.

Speaker 8 (01:29:03):
Oklahoma City had a huge lead, they blew the lead late,
something they never do, and Indiana hit a big shot
at the buzzer to win it. I think you throw
that out. Game two was like the most obvious handicap
maybe in the entire postseason.

Speaker 6 (01:29:16):
It was.

Speaker 2 (01:29:16):
That's why the number was I think closed eleven.

Speaker 8 (01:29:18):
It was one of the highest numbers we've seen Oklahoma
City close at home in this postseason, it was obvious
that they were going to bounce back and win. Indiana
got their game in Game one, and it was to
me a very easy handicap this series. Kind of then
we went from the muff and stump and then we
started to turn into the muff and top in games
three and four. I thought Game four was the juiciest,

(01:29:39):
the most exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:29:40):
I love that. I love that analogy.

Speaker 8 (01:29:42):
I thought Game four was the best game of the series.
Like I thought, it was the most intense, It was
the most in terms of If Indiana won that game,
I thought they were going to win the series. If
Oklahoma City won that game, I thought they were going
to win the series. To me, that was the decisive
game where it was kind of on the ninth Indiana
had home court, they had to lead in the series, but.

Speaker 2 (01:30:03):
They couldn't close the job.

Speaker 8 (01:30:04):
And I think that is where I'm leaning in Game seven,
I think Indiana's got a puncher's chance. They believe, they
deserve to believe, They've been there every step of the way.
Bino's calling them a zombie. I agree with that assessment,
but I think at the end of the day, Oklahoma
City's got that extra Championship fiber in them because of
the bounce back nature and because of just how deep

(01:30:26):
and talented they are.

Speaker 2 (01:30:28):
And I think in the end they will win. Will
they cover seven? Probably if they win.

Speaker 8 (01:30:32):
I'm not as bullish on that, but I do think
if you want to look at a game in this
series that will mirror what we will see on Sunday night.
I think the way Game four started and finished, where
Indiana thought they were gonna win that game and Oklahoma
City just found that extra gear late and they were
able to get across the finish line.

Speaker 3 (01:30:50):
Okay, so I'll try to make this.

Speaker 4 (01:30:52):
I'll try to say this where it makes sense, where
I think that going into a game, you can look
at a team just from one perspective, right, and then
after the game, if it goes a different way, your
perspective can change sometimes a lot. I'll give you an example.
Think of the Chiefs. Okay, we'll apply this to the

(01:31:13):
Pacers in a second. But think of the Chiefs heading
into the most recent Super Bowl. They had won the
previous two in a row. You got Andy Reid, you
got Mahomes, you got Spags, you got a proven you know, greatness,
and going up against the Eagles like we saw the Chiefs.
A lot of people who were backing the Chiefs saw
it from one perspective and it was hard to see

(01:31:34):
it from another perspective. But after the game, after a
disastrous first half and the Eagles did their thing, you
look at the Chiefs differently and say, well, you know,
you look at the regular season, they're barely winning a
lot of game right, your perspective changed a lot. So
ask yourself the question if OKC wins Game seven and

(01:31:54):
wins fairly convincingly, how would your perspective of the Pacers change? Like, really,
try to put yourself in that world. Let's say the
Pacers went the Pacers lose by ten points in Game
seven and they're not really threatening to win the game.
How would you then look back at the Pacers road

(01:32:15):
to Game seven to the finals, Right, your perspective might
shift to the point where you're like, well, the Bucks
were banged up, right, Dame missed most of that series. Yeah,
the Pacers smacked around the Calves, but we were never
convinced they were world beaters. Right, They had a bunch
of regular season success, that doesn't mean anything for the postseason.

(01:32:37):
The Pacers had this dramatic series against the Knicks. But
do we really think the Knicks are this upper echelon team.
Most people don't, and so, like you start thinking, and
then you play this out with the OKC series, maybe
that changes your perspective a little bit. But I think
it's an interesting exercise because the Pacers deserve all the

(01:32:58):
props they've gotten to this point, getting to a game seven.
I'm just saying it's very easy to look at them
just from that perspective of they deserve their flowers. But
if they lose Game seven, it's something to think about
before Game seven happens, how you would really think of
the Pacers a lot differently. So I would do that

(01:33:19):
exercise before you place your bet on game seven, because
it could shift that way.

Speaker 6 (01:33:26):
Look, history is written by the victors.

Speaker 7 (01:33:30):
That's the reason why when we reminisce about you know,
the turn of the clock from BC to eighty, we
talk about the Greeks and the Romans, you know, we
talk about cultures that conquered great territories, the Persians obviously,
like when we reflect on history, we were always looking

(01:33:52):
at it, always viewing it through the lens of the conqueror,
you know, We're not talking about the Germanic tribes that
faced off against the Roman legions.

Speaker 6 (01:34:03):
We're not talking about.

Speaker 7 (01:34:04):
The Galls because they lost because they their libraries or
scrolls were burned to the ground, as were their villages.
That's how society operates.

Speaker 6 (01:34:16):
That's it.

Speaker 7 (01:34:17):
So you're one hundred percent right, Brian, Like, if OKC
goes out there and absolutely destroys the Pacers, it will
rewrite the history because we will look at it through
a pro oka see lens.

Speaker 6 (01:34:29):
We just will.

Speaker 7 (01:34:30):
That's just how that's just how we operate as human beings.
Who the victors go the spoils, and so the same
reason why nobody is looking through the historic lens of
the Galls or really can have much perspective outside of
what we can glean from the writings of the heroes
of the Roman legions who conquered those areas, and try

(01:34:54):
to flip the perspective and look at it through that lens.
That's the way we'll look at Okay, See, we'll look
at them as the best team in basketball that regular season,
and we'll look at them as a team that went
through the postseason with.

Speaker 6 (01:35:06):
Some level of ease.

Speaker 7 (01:35:07):
Yeah, they lost them, but they bounce back and won
every game after a loss.

Speaker 6 (01:35:11):
Yeah, yeah, the Pacers.

Speaker 7 (01:35:12):
Force them in the Game seven, but let's be very honest,
it kind of felt like they were toying with them
a little bit in Game six, giving them false hope,
and then they just stomped them out at home at Okay, See,
they got to celebrate in front of their fans. It
felt like the right thing to do. Yeah, like, that's
how we'll look at it. You're one hundred percent right now.

(01:35:32):
Does it take anything away from the Pacers' effort throughout
this postseason, especially doing what they did, undaunted by the naysayers,
working their way through the rigors of a postseason, facing
off against teams down one of the best players on
their team, certainly one of the emerging stars of the league,
and Tyrese Haliburton.

Speaker 6 (01:35:53):
Yeah sure, yeah, credit kudos.

Speaker 7 (01:35:54):
Flowers to them, but it's not going to be as
flowery as if they win, because we don't look at
it through the eyes of the defeated. We'll look at
it through the eyes of the conquerors, just like we
do all of history, whether we're talking about sports or
world history.

Speaker 8 (01:36:09):
And let's be honest, would any of us be surprised.
If Voklahoma City won this game by thirty I.

Speaker 4 (01:36:15):
Would be surprised, but be surprised. I would be surprised.
I think the Pacers are too feisty. But I hear
you right, Like, if they wait whatever the number is by,
what do you think.

Speaker 2 (01:36:25):
About the Nuggets with the Nuggets feisty?

Speaker 3 (01:36:28):
The Nuggets were feisty.

Speaker 8 (01:36:29):
Yeah, they won by thirty two at home in Game
seven with an eight and a half point spread.

Speaker 3 (01:36:33):
They weren't Pacers. Yeah, zombie like different.

Speaker 2 (01:36:37):
Level of zombie. Yeah, No, I mean, I don't know,
looks like a zombie most nights.

Speaker 7 (01:36:42):
Let me answer your question before you go on, Jared,
because I do want you to have this context. Also,
it wouldn't I don't think it would shock me. I
really honestly, I could. I could see a number of
different outcomes, including the Pacers getting absolutely mopped.

Speaker 8 (01:36:57):
Yeah, because I think and I think we've discussed this
before and it kind of ties into the vibe we
feel on both of these teams. Oklahoma City is the juggernaut.
When they win, they win big. For example, they beat
Denver by thirty two in that Game seven. They beat
Minnesota by thirty in the clinching Game five in.

Speaker 2 (01:37:16):
The Western Conference Finals.

Speaker 8 (01:37:17):
They were eight and a half points spread in that
game two, so kind of similar to what the number
is in Game seven tomorrow too. Thirty plus wins. In general,
this NBA postseason, the series clinching games have been hillatious
blowouts nineteen and a half point margins on average. In
those games, We've had four clinching games decided by thirty plus.

(01:37:41):
One of them was fifty plus. Cleveland beat Miami by
fifty five in the clinching game of the first round.

Speaker 2 (01:37:46):
Now I know that's a long time ago.

Speaker 8 (01:37:48):
But my point is these clinching games, if they do
skew in one direction, they tend to skew very hard. Indiana, though,
to me, is more of the tight team. They're the
team that likes to play in those tight conditions. I
think they are more comfortable being uncomfortable. My point being,

(01:38:10):
if Indiana wins, I think the game is gonna be close.
I don't think anyone thinks Indiana's gonna win by twenty
or thirty. I think that would be an insane result.
Indiana wins, I think they win close. Oklahoma City wins,
I think they win big and cover the spread. That's
why I'm actually comfortable laying to seven tomorrow night. And
you'll hear that again in a few minutes when we
do rapid fire.

Speaker 2 (01:38:29):
Probably.

Speaker 8 (01:38:30):
But when I look at this game, it does feel
like they're obviously a million different outcomes, but the two
most likely outcomes to me, Oklahoma City wins big, Indiana
wins close. I don't really see a lot of scenarios
where Indiana pulls out a you ten, double digit plus

(01:38:52):
win or Oklahoma City wins at the buzzer, Like, if
this game's tight late, we feel more comfortable with the Pacers, right.

Speaker 4 (01:39:00):
At least what this postseason has proven. Yeah, yeah, you
would have to feel more comfortable with the Zombies. They
just have a knack for that. And listen, the OKC
had the biggest point differential of any team in any
season in NBA freaking history. They won by almost thirteen
points on average each night, so they don't have nearly

(01:39:20):
as much experience in those closer games. So yeah, you
would have to favor the Pacers in a closer one.
All Right, We've got Rich Heronberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 3 (01:39:30):
I'm Brian No.

Speaker 4 (01:39:31):
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(01:39:54):
debut of coach Ornberger, the debut of coach Smith and
the debut of coach No. Let's go right, we might
have different who's the players coach of this bunch? Is
it Ornberger?

Speaker 3 (01:40:09):
Ornbergers? He's a Benoy?

Speaker 2 (01:40:11):
The answer is not Brian.

Speaker 11 (01:40:13):
And guys like you drop the winning touchdown, great it happens,
you know, like, we'll get him next, bet I We'll
do that next.

Speaker 4 (01:40:25):
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Speaker 3 (01:40:42):
And that's not all.

Speaker 4 (01:40:43):
Sign up with bet MGM today and you'll have access
to countless basketball betting options, including new look, same game parlays, teasers,
live bets, and so much more. Okay, first things first,
I move around a lot. It's staggering how I don't
have access to just ordinary things, okay, like like a marker.

(01:41:05):
They have a sharpie around, like a pen, like a
writing pen.

Speaker 3 (01:41:11):
Nothing we got that.

Speaker 4 (01:41:13):
I wanted to write ingest a counter sign to Rich's
Pacers Pacers in seven. I just wanted to write riches high.
I wanted riches high in the background. No access to
writing of any kind of whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:41:31):
I don't know. I don't know. I'm going to get
markers today. I can't live in a.

Speaker 2 (01:41:34):
World with this thing called Amazon where you pay.

Speaker 3 (01:41:38):
It's unbelievable. Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:41:40):
So the debuts of coach Ornberger, Coach Smith, and coach
Now this is what I want to know. The formula
for a thunder game seven win, the formula for a
PACER's game seven win.

Speaker 3 (01:41:56):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:41:57):
So now now think of this in terms of if
your coach Dagnault. If you're coach Carlyle, what are you emphasizing?
What are you really pointing to? Like, guys, we gotta
get on the glass, We gotta you know, think about
it along those lines. I think the first thing that's
more than obvious. Both teams have to do a good
job of limiting turnovers. This has absolutely bitten the Pacers

(01:42:21):
in multiple games in this series. They can't just start
feeding playing into Okc's hand by turning the ball over
left and right. And the most recent game we saw
OKC was the team that did that twenty three turnovers
in Game six that led to thirty two Pacer points.
That's the first thing, Okay, Coach Ornberger, what else would
you like to emphasize to either of these two teams?

Speaker 7 (01:42:45):
I mean, the most important thing I would emphasize if
I were in a locker room, for example, right before
we're going out for warm ups or before tip off,
right before team announcements, it would just be listen, we're
here for a reason. The whole thing is energy, the
whole thing is belief. I mean, obviously both of these

(01:43:08):
teams belong here. I mean the Pacers. We've talked about
this at nauseam, the fact that they've had the intestinal
fortitude to battle through what they've been able to battle
through this season. The I mean, remember, like, what was
it three weeks ago when we were talking about the
Tyrese Halburton underrated conversation, you know, And here we are today,

(01:43:31):
We've arrived at a game seven of the NBA Finals.
Look at Okac and Okasee, who seemed to be this
regular season juggernaut, has continued on that path throughout the postseason.

Speaker 6 (01:43:42):
It would be a slight shift.

Speaker 7 (01:43:44):
In tone if I was speaking to Okasee as a
head coach versus the Pacers, but both would land at
the same place. If you're going to achieve anything in
this life, it starts with belief. It starts with seeing
the end goal before tipoff. It starts with seeing yourself
hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy before you even take the floor,

(01:44:05):
before you even lace up your basketball shoes. If you
don't believe today, Teday, after everything you've been through, you
don't belong here, you don't belong to you don't deserve
to win.

Speaker 6 (01:44:17):
So you gotta believe in yourself. That's it.

Speaker 7 (01:44:19):
That's the final thing I would say before anybody's hitting
the floor.

Speaker 8 (01:44:23):
I love this because I've been thinking about this a
lot lately because if you for those of you who
don't know, I'm now coaching youth football twelve and under
Bishop Gorman. Shout out to the junior Gaels. I am
the new quarterback coach for them having a blast by
the way, it is awesome to reconnect with football and
to be on the field and to just be part
of that. I would say I would steal a phrase

(01:44:48):
from the Lion King.

Speaker 6 (01:44:50):
Remember who you are?

Speaker 8 (01:44:53):
That's what I would say to the Thunder if I
was Mark Dagnault right before. And I like the vibe
of what would you say to the team right before
they take.

Speaker 2 (01:45:00):
The floor, Remember who you are? I think they forgotten.

Speaker 8 (01:45:04):
Game six, I think they forgot and again you credit Indiana.

Speaker 2 (01:45:08):
They played defended their.

Speaker 8 (01:45:10):
Asses off in that game, and I don't know if
they're gonna be able to bring that level of intensity
in Game seven. They better because I think what we've
seen from the Thunder in this postseason, after they do drop.

Speaker 2 (01:45:21):
A game, they remember who they are.

Speaker 8 (01:45:24):
And they play outside of their skull in the following game.
And I think like that's the vibe for me, that's
the way I see this game playing. I think the
first quarter is going to be nervy. I'd lean first
quarter first half under. In fact, I was actually surprised
that they didn't shade the first half under more is
the game Unders, you know, pretty low. It's like two fourteen.

(01:45:45):
The totals have been in the two twenties for pretty
much the entire series. We saw two thirty in game one.
Usually they will shade the first half total, not a
possession or two more, you know, fewer points than the
actual half, right, because the second half you get a
little bit of.

Speaker 2 (01:46:01):
Fouls in the end.

Speaker 8 (01:46:03):
I figured you'd get a little extra shading going on
in a Game seven first half, but no, it's pretty
much split. It's about a possession less than half of
the total. I think it's around one oh five total
two fifteen, so half of that would be one oh
seven and a half. So it's again it's about two
and a half points less than what half of the
total is. So I think it's gonna be a nervy start.
But I think the Thunder need to remember who they are.

Speaker 2 (01:46:26):
I can't do it.

Speaker 8 (01:46:26):
James Earl Jones voice, I wish I could, but that
to me, would be my final message to the Thunder
before they take the floor.

Speaker 4 (01:46:33):
If we're talking about messages, I think what's really important
for Rick Carlisle, if I were him, I would be
preaching to the Pacers we gotta play fast.

Speaker 3 (01:46:43):
That's when they're at their best. Like this half court.

Speaker 4 (01:46:48):
Oftentimes, how Game seven plays out, like the shot clock
is running down, that that's not who the Pacers are.
They got to do a good job of playing fast
and still limiting mistakes. It's not easy to do, but
they've got to live on that edge because that's what
makes them special. And I think if you look at

(01:47:08):
these games for the Pacers on the road against OKC,
they've started slowly in the first half. I don't think
you can do that in Game seven and expect to win.
If you look at games one, two, and five, those
are the road games in this series for the Pacers,
first half points forty five, forty one, forty five.

Speaker 3 (01:47:29):
They've done a great job in the second half against OKAC.

Speaker 4 (01:47:32):
I don't know what happens where it just flips and
they start playing faster. But second half on the road
against OKC, for the Pacers sixty six points, sixty six
sixty four. It's like twenty plus points on average better
in the second half than the first half.

Speaker 3 (01:47:49):
Individually for the Pacers, you.

Speaker 4 (01:47:51):
Got to play faster this half court, you know, like
slow it down, revaluing every possession. I think that's gonna
get the Pacers all know, twisted around in this game
tomorrow night. So if I'm Carlisle, I'm like, push it
moving quick, fast, you know, just don't turn the ball
over left and right, because that's what really fuels okay see.

(01:48:13):
And I think, man, okay sees main focal point is defense.
Let's do what we do best. Were the number one
defense all season long in the playoffs. Let's turn them
over like crazy. Let's get in transition. Let's fuel our offense.
I think it all starts with their nasty defense. So
I think those are the two things. Pacers play fast,

(01:48:35):
okay see, turn them over. So that's the challenge for
the Pacers. Play fast and don't turn it over. Easier
said than done, but they have had success doing exactly
that at times in this series.

Speaker 7 (01:48:48):
Yeah, I would say the biggest tweak I would make
to the thunder ahead of Game seven, like you know,
again a very similar message to both teams.

Speaker 6 (01:49:00):
You know, and and not to say that it's easy
to coach.

Speaker 7 (01:49:02):
It is, and it's I'm not saying it's easy to motivate,
it's not, especially when you're dealing with a locker room
filled with alphas who are self confidence or self confidence.
They have their own way of motivating themselves and you
have to reach people where they are. So a one
size fits all message is very hard to populate when
you're thinking about all the diverse opinions and personalities in

(01:49:25):
the room. But yet, if I were going to break
it down foundationally for each team, for the Thunder, I mean,
remember who you are is a really really good point shared,
because the truth is the Thunder they're they're They're poor
at very few things. They play suffocating defense when they

(01:49:46):
want to. They're good outside shooters when they want to be.
They draw hard fouls and light fouls when they want
to drive the rain lane. When when when the reigning
MVP get just Alexander wants to drive the lane, he
can get those facts.

Speaker 6 (01:50:03):
I mean, they're good at everything.

Speaker 7 (01:50:06):
So I would just say play to the caliber of
a team that you have been this entire season and
you will win this game hands down. For the Pacers, man,
I would say this, you got to own every single
opportunity given. So if you're the Pacers and you are
decided underdog and you have the world rooting against you, well,

(01:50:26):
I shouldn't say the world rooting against you, but you
have a lot of push in the opposite direction that
this is going to be a successful outing for you.
You got to take advantage of the opportunities. It's you
against the world kind of mentality.

Speaker 6 (01:50:40):
When you hit that.

Speaker 7 (01:50:41):
Court, if you get a turnover, you got to turn
it into points. If you get an offensive board, you
got to turn it into points.

Speaker 6 (01:50:48):
You gotta capitalize.

Speaker 7 (01:50:50):
So I would say more of the desperation needs to
be poured onto the Indiana Pacers in the locker room.
You need to make sure they understand the value of
those moments, those turning point moments in the gaming to capitalize,
because there are going to be fewer of those for
you then there will be for OKAC.

Speaker 2 (01:51:09):
All right, let me do another Disney quote. I guess
actually have two Disney quotes.

Speaker 8 (01:51:12):
Yeah, let's so aligned with this where it's a Disney
theme show. The only way to achieve the impossible is
to believe it is.

Speaker 2 (01:51:22):
Possible, Alice in Wonderland. No, that's how That's what I
to me. That's the Pacers right there.

Speaker 6 (01:51:28):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:51:28):
The only way that you can believe that.

Speaker 8 (01:51:30):
This actually is possible is to or believe the impossible
is to believe that this is possible.

Speaker 6 (01:51:38):
Like that.

Speaker 8 (01:51:38):
Like that's a good Rick Carlisle message, like believe, right,
we hear that all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:51:42):
It's the Ted Lasso quote.

Speaker 8 (01:51:44):
You have to believe because we continue to doubt even
though they really handle it outplayed. Okay, see in game six,
an elimination game backs against the Wall, we still think
Oklahoma City is gonna win, except for Rich because he's
got it on his board right now that Pacers aren't
gonna be in seven. So the only way to achieve
the impossible is to believe it is possible. And here

(01:52:06):
is the last quote from one of my favorite movies, Frozen,
let it Go. That's what like to me, the Pacers
just need to get this kind of Brian's point, like
just play fast, let it go, let it rip. Yeah,
like that that really is the vibe. So Oklahoma City
is the juggernaut. They need to remember who they are

(01:52:26):
they need to play like that, whereas Indiana needs to
just play like they have the entire postseason, which is
no fear, achieving the impossible, to believe.

Speaker 2 (01:52:35):
It is possible, and to let it go.

Speaker 3 (01:52:37):
Baby Listen.

Speaker 4 (01:52:39):
There's some definite Pacer vibes, you know, from either the
Talking Heads fans in general, based on the last game
in particular, you just saw the Pacers walk all over Oksey.
You know our producer Patty Sweka, who's in with us today,
He's like.

Speaker 3 (01:52:56):
I'm feeling the Pacers. You that I'm feeling.

Speaker 4 (01:52:59):
I'm like, okay, all right, Rich is you know, he's
just all in.

Speaker 3 (01:53:03):
He's all in on the Pacers. I just think this.

Speaker 4 (01:53:07):
I think that it's not just about the Pacers looking
great in game six. I look at OKC enjoying some
of the same advantages in Game seven as the Pacers
did in Game six, right, Like what turned into an
advantage for the Pacers in Game six it was an
elimination game. I think Rich just said it backs against

(01:53:29):
the wall, right, Well, that's the same thing with the
Thunder now and then obviously home court like that was
a mad house in Indianapolis in Game six.

Speaker 3 (01:53:39):
You don't think Game seven is going to be exactly
like that. Oka See.

Speaker 4 (01:53:43):
Would have to be ice cold down by twenty for
it not to be a mad house. You know, it's
going to be crazy. That's what the Pacers are going
up against. So I think that, Listen, I get it.
I get that there's this reaction after seeing you saw
in Living color the Pacers look that dominant. I can't
fault you for still going off of the last thing

(01:54:05):
you saw, but I'm just here to say that I
think that the ingredients of the last thing you saw
are going to flip to the other side in game seven.
That's what I'm back in Oka See. I think they
have a lot of advantages in that game, and I
think they take advantage of their chance. I don't see how.

(01:54:27):
I don't want to make them sound like they're this unbeatable,
Like they've never been unbeatable. They just were huge favorites,
and some people have mistaken them as this unbeatable force.

Speaker 3 (01:54:39):
They're clearly beatable.

Speaker 4 (01:54:41):
They've been beaten three times this series, so we got
to get that out of the whole conversation. But I
just I don't see them missing out on this opportunity.
I don't, but Hey, we got one more segment left,
and we got a chance to put our money where
our mouth is right. With the picks that we have
to make, We've got rich On and Penn State, all American.

(01:55:01):
I wonder if it's gonna be Pacers all across the board,
you know, according to the sign, it could be you
might sneak Coastal Carolina in there.

Speaker 3 (01:55:09):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:55:09):
Oh, we've got I don't know. We've got Jared Smith
FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian. No score bigger at BETMGM.
When you win with boost tokens, odds, boost tokens and more.
Even if your bet doesn't hit, we've got you covered
with no sweat tokens.

Speaker 3 (01:55:22):
And that's not all.

Speaker 4 (01:55:22):
Sign up with BETMGM today and you'll have access to
countless basketball betting options, including new look, same game parlays, teasers,
live bets, and so much more. All right, come it
up next. It is rapid fire, the moment of truth.
We make our picks and we share them with you.
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It

(01:55:44):
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM. Props
to the crew Patty sweeka in Today doing a fantastic
job producing this fine program. Our technical producer extraordinary, Chris Purfett,
Pride of Detroit podcast. Check it out on digital shout
out to our guys Sager posting our clips cutting everything up.

(01:56:07):
You can see it on social media. By the way,
follow Fox Sports Radio on x you can see all
of our picks, all of our videos. You can see
riches sign you know, promoting the Pacers in seven tweeting
we need documentation top of the hour up on Game
TJ Hushman's Out of Plexico Burst. They've got you covered
in less than ten minutes, and we want to remind

(01:56:29):
you shortly after the show, our podcast will be going up.
If you missed anything on today's show, be sure to
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Speaker 3 (01:56:45):
All right, we've got some picks to make.

Speaker 6 (01:56:47):
Let's do it rapid fire.

Speaker 3 (01:56:52):
Okay, Jared, we start with you.

Speaker 4 (01:56:54):
I'm just curious how many picks we're going to share
in this edition here.

Speaker 3 (01:56:57):
What do you have for it?

Speaker 8 (01:56:58):
Probably not many because I'm kind of going off the
beaten path with my first one. We've got one baseball,
two basketball. Let's start with the baseball Mariners Cubs. We're
going over twelve.

Speaker 2 (01:57:07):
Yes, that's correct. Twelve is the total at Wrigley Field today.

Speaker 8 (01:57:10):
Why well, the wind is blowing out at twenty miles
an hour and the temperatures ninety five degrees. There have
been zero games at Wrigley Field over the last ten
years with ninety plus tempts and the wind blowing out
at more than fifteen miles an hour. Emerson Hancock, Kate
Horton today, and obviously conditions at Wrigley Field are ripe
for offense. Over twelve runs Seattle Chicago at Wrigley will

(01:57:32):
go the SGP I gave you and prop it up.
I really like this a lot. SGA to score thirty
and the thunder to win. This is minus one thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:57:39):
Over at bet mgm OKAC is six to zero off
a loss in the postseason.

Speaker 8 (01:57:43):
In those six games, SGA's averaging thirty four points per game.
He scored at least thirty four in five of the
six games. His prop for the game is thirty three
and a half. I like the over there as well,
but we'll give you that SGP SGA to score thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:57:56):
Thunder win and the thunder minus.

Speaker 6 (01:57:57):
Seven and a half.

Speaker 8 (01:57:59):
I've been feeling with talking about this for the entire show.
I think okay See bounces back, and I think it
is a longer margin than expected.

Speaker 7 (01:58:09):
All Right, I'm gonna start this rapid fire and close
it the same exact way Pacers in seven.

Speaker 6 (01:58:15):
So let's talk about it.

Speaker 7 (01:58:16):
I'm gonna hedge my risk a little bit with a
higher upside payout. Take the point seven and a half
points given to the Pacers in the NBA Finals, and
then go ahead tag that with the money line plus
two sixty odds if you win on both, which I do,
think it's gonna be a close game all of a sudden,
you hedge a little risk if they lose. Okay, moving

(01:58:37):
on to the rest of my rapid fire, the total
OKC versus Indiana. If I believe in the Pacers, I
also believe that I think it's gonna be a low
scoring game. I think it has to be for them
to win on Okac's floor, So I'll take the under
two fourteen and a half Pacers in seven.

Speaker 4 (01:58:58):
No hedging from me, none, And I'm we'll see if.

Speaker 3 (01:59:03):
That works out or not.

Speaker 4 (01:59:04):
But I think OKAC starts fast. I think they start
furiously right. You see, you don't need to know that
I did right there. But I'm kind of embarrassed I
even went down that road. But yeah, I think they're
gonna be a complete pain in the bootoah to start
off the game. They just got smacked in the face
royally in Game six. So I've got OKC first quarter

(01:59:27):
line minus three and a half. I'm gonna take OKAC
first half line minus four and a half. And again
the theme of no heading just what the little you know,
the little devil on my shoulder. It's like, hey, you
know what, why not a Pacers team total under? Hey
why not WNBA today? You know you got that? Hey

(01:59:48):
how about uh, you know, college World Series. There are
so many different directions I want to go in, but
I'm going fastballs right down the heart of the plate.
I'm a role just Chapman over here. Give me OKAC
minus seven and a half. They're the better team, they're
more talented, they've got a better defense, They're at home
it's game seven. They've outscored opponents at home by two

(02:00:09):
point forty seven in the playoffs, nobody's been plus two hundred.

Speaker 3 (02:00:13):
They're too much. They get it done, they take.

Speaker 4 (02:00:16):
Care of business. They're your champions this year. That's how
I see it.

Speaker 7 (02:00:21):
Thunder and sevens Yo, Yeah, let's go.

Speaker 3 (02:00:26):
There's almost like a Mayo bet in the air between me.

Speaker 7 (02:00:29):
Oh no, all right, no more Mayo

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