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Brian Noe, Rich Ohrnberger, and Jared Smith talk about Ace Bailey's disappointment in going to Utah, some cruel reality in the NBA, Justin Tucker's 10 game suspension, Rodgers says this is probably his last season, and more! 

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Episode Transcript

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. This is this is Fox Sports
Countdown rot MG the Sports beforn in Vegas. The Countdown

(00:23):
starts not live from the Fox Sports radio studios. Here's
Brian no Rich Hornberger and Jared Smith.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Oh what is going on?

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Happy Saturday to you. Hope your days off to a
fantastic start.

Speaker 4 (00:37):
We can add to it. Good morning, fellas.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
We got a Jared Smith, Rich Hornberger here, how you
fellas doing everything?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Good? Life good? One is good.

Speaker 5 (00:47):
Well, I will say this life is good for us.
Life life isn't great.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
For the Indiana Pacers. Well that was uh, that was
not I would say it's finish.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
I think obviously there were a lot of people who
are vetting.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Okay, see the whole way they were due.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
To win a finals if you listened to all the
experts talking about the metal, all of them, but a
chorus of experts talking about them leaving the regular season
into the postseason bracket. And there were some twists and turns,
but they ultimately won it all. The Indiana Pacers put
up one hell of a fight, But that injury to
Haliburton in the first quarter and then everything that really

(01:33):
exceeded that is what proved to us all along that
our eyes were not lying to us. That OKAC was
a dogged, smart, talented team and Indiana was as well.
They just didn't have enough on the night that it
mattered the most.

Speaker 6 (01:52):
Yeah, I feel bad for Haliburt.

Speaker 7 (01:54):
I know we're going to talk about it later, and
he probably shouldn't have played in Game six. I'm assuming
if it was any other situation, he would not have
played in that game.

Speaker 6 (02:03):
And then you saw.

Speaker 7 (02:04):
I mean to be fair too, man Achilles Tendons in
the postseason just didn't didn't agree Tatum, Lillard, Halliburton. I mean,
it was a very difficult postseason to watch for injuries.
But you credit okay See. They were They were the
better team over the long haul. Maybe they weren't the
best team in that series at times, and they didn't

(02:28):
look like a champion at times in that series, But
the NBA postseason is freaking long, and the regular season
is even freaking longer, and I think it's fair to
say over that long period.

Speaker 6 (02:41):
Of time, okay See was the best team in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Well, listen, first thing that's odd is that all three
guys that you mentioned, Jared with Achilles Tears, they all
wear number zero.

Speaker 6 (02:54):
That's also weird, right wow?

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, or twilight Zone they used to say, with the
Blazers wearing the letter oh Damian Lillard. So I don't
know if Tatum and Halliburton think of it as the
letter Jaron Fears.

Speaker 6 (03:08):
Just picked that number for New Orleans zero fears. How
about that?

Speaker 8 (03:11):
For ah?

Speaker 3 (03:12):
That's pretty cool, but slogan. We do have a couple
of gems from game seven. I mean, this is glass
half full here because Jared, we do have this in
our arsenal going forward.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Pacers in seven.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
We do have that. I kind of like this because
he punches the p.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
He punches the P in this other one, here.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
You go, Pacers in seven.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
That sounds a little bit dramatic with the music and
it kind of like dies when he's at Pacers and
the music's like whoa, whoa, not the thunder Pacers. Here
you go one more time.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Pacers in seven.

Speaker 6 (03:48):
That should be your fantasy football name this year.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Rich the Pacers in seven.

Speaker 5 (03:53):
Right now, you'll see it when when Bo gets back
into the main studio and connects me to our our
our zoom calls, so that our friends from across.

Speaker 7 (04:02):
You Oh yeah, we we We've got a new one.

Speaker 5 (04:10):
And it says I was wrong about Indy.

Speaker 7 (04:15):
You're not trying to like Catfish US or Gaslight US.
This is what we love about this show. There's always
audio evidence of everything that happens.

Speaker 5 (04:24):
Well, go ahead, yeah, really quick, Brian, and I'll tell
you. You know, one of the things. One of the reasons
why the sign says I was wrong about Indy there
it is, is the fact that we talked about it
last week. The narrative is always written by the victors.

(04:45):
You don't get to write the narrative if you lose.
You don't get to tell everybody how good you are
if you lose. It's even runners up, even even the
second place team.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Doesn't get to beat their chest.

Speaker 5 (04:59):
And so oh, when I say I was wrong about
in Indie, yeah, well obviously I was, I.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Said Pacers in seven.

Speaker 5 (05:06):
But beyond that, I was also wrong about a lot
of the things I said about the Pacers.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
You know, a lot of the.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
Way I felt about the Pacers going into Game seven.
There were a lot of things they aren't and they
couldn't really be that I was trying to then, I
was trying to push onto them, and I said it
to you the day that I guess it was a
week ago today, I said the exact words.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
I said.

Speaker 5 (05:35):
I will feel differently about them a week from today
if they lose versus if they win, and so will
everybody else, because look, that's just like I said last week.
The Romans wrote history because the Romans conquered lands for
over a thousand years. You know, we don't know much
about the Gauls that they conquered. We don't know a

(05:56):
ton about the Germanic tribes that they conquered. Because they lost,
the Romans get.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
To write history.

Speaker 5 (06:02):
The Greeks get to write history because they were the
more powerful warring people during that time. You know, everything
else gets forgotten, but the winners and the champions get remembered.
And so I was wrong about Indy.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Well, hey, you know it happens, that's right. Let someone
who has not gotten any sports prediction wrong cast the
first you know, yeah, yeah, we'll get back to the finals.
But I want to hold in on the draft here
because there's a storyline that is very interesting now and

(06:40):
going forward that would be the Utah Jazz drafting Ace
Bailey fifth overall.

Speaker 4 (06:47):
So the backstory, this is all you have to know.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
Ace Bailey is like, I do not want to go
play for the Utah Jazz, and the Jazz are like,
who cares, let's draft them anyway. So like that's the question,
is this a good or a bad decision by the
Utah Jazz. A little more context, Ace Bailey did not

(07:09):
initially fly to Utah after the draft. Typically, like you
saw the press conference with Cooper Flag number one pick.
He's over there at Dallas headquarters. They have the whole layout.
He's speaking to the media and answering questions and all that.
So most teams do that. The Utah Jazz do not
require that. Their other first round pick, Walter Clayton Junior,

(07:31):
he was there. Ace Bailey was not. However, he is
expected to report today. He will suppose he will probably
be there on Monday when their training camp begins. So
although he's doing his Steve Francis, it's sort of like
rolling his eyes. I don't want to play for Vancouver,
But it looks like Ace Bailey is going to eventually

(07:54):
report and play ball and all those good things. So
do you think it's a good or a bad move
by Utah drafting a guy who initially had no interest?
And before I handed off to you, Rich, I was
thinking about this before the show. What comes close in
life to this whole thing playing out? It would be

(08:15):
to me like a girl has zero interest in you.
You know, It's almost like the scene in Dumb and
Dumber where you're like, I'm gonna hang out at the
bar and put out the vibe. You go gauge interest
and your buddy comes back and he's like, she's not
interested at all. She's like, I'd rather have a root
canal than be with your friend. And instead of asking

(08:37):
her out, you just go there and say be ready
at seven, wear nice clothes, bring a swimsuit, see you
at seven.

Speaker 4 (08:44):
And that's it.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
Like, who would have the nuts to do that? But
that's exactly what the Jazz just did with this draft
pick of Ace Bailey. Your thoughts on this, Rich, You
think this is smarter dumb by them?

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Okay?

Speaker 5 (08:58):
The meme it reminds me of is the Father's Day
meme that goes around every year now where it says
you have to thank your father because your.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Mom probably wasn't in the mood. Here's the deal.

Speaker 5 (09:11):
Sometimes pursuit leads to the greatest gifts in.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Life, you know.

Speaker 5 (09:17):
I And it's funny, like, yeah, maybe the Utah Jazz.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Maybe the Utah Jazz.

Speaker 5 (09:25):
Are a little over their skis here because Ace Bailey
could pull some stuff. Now And you mentioned that little line,
and I saw the ESPN article where it says he's
expected to report Saturday, or the source report says, you know,
the Jazz want everybody know that he wasn't expected to
report right after the draft, even though it's customary because

(09:48):
most of the time draft picks are really excited to
go see the facilities at their new team. You know,
most of the time when you get taken in the
first round, especially, you're like, man, this is the happiest
day of my life. I can't wait to go and
meet my coach, talk to the front office, meet some
of my teammates, see where my locker is gonna be
get my number, see what my jersey looks like. Man,

(10:12):
maybe even step into the arena if they take me
over there, take some pictures, take some photos, bring some
family members.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
But instead Ace was like, nah, I'm good.

Speaker 5 (10:24):
So the only reason why we know that it isn't
an expectation of the Utah Jazz for draft picks to
report immediately is because Ace didn't.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
You know.

Speaker 5 (10:36):
But again going back to my original point, it takes
two to tango.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
You know.

Speaker 5 (10:41):
There ain't no baby without mom and dad, you know.
So if there's interest in pursuit on one end, and
you have a party that can be convinced, well then
let's get it on, so to speak. I mean, Ace
Bailey may may have felt leading up to the draft,

(11:02):
I don't want to go to Utah. I don't want
the Jazz to draft me. All indications were pointing to
them taking him. If he feels differently now and it
all works out in the end, don't the ends justify
the means, I would say yes.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
I would say yes.

Speaker 6 (11:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (11:20):
I First of all, I plaud the Ange brothers, Danny
and Austin running the show there in Utah. I think
they stood firm and that is commendable. We'll see if
it works out for them, but it was at least
a commendable stance because if you look at the top
of the draft, right, I think it was obvious that
the first two picks were kind of locked in and

(11:42):
there was no chance as Bailey was going to go
one or two like obviously Cooper flag one that's been
cemented in Stone for months now. And then during the process,
Dylan Harper really emerged as that number two guy. And
so the first opportunity for Bailey to be selected was three,
and we were hearing three, we were hearing five, and

(12:03):
those were kind of the two spots, you know, Cannipple
to Charlotte the Duke, you know, Carolina connections. We heard
Charlotte was really hot on Cannipple for most of the process.
So even if Bailey was available at four, which he was,
we were pretty confident that Kinnipple was going to go four.

Speaker 6 (12:17):
So we were looking at two landing spots.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Right.

Speaker 7 (12:20):
He didn't want to work out for Philly. He didn't
like the situation in Philly. Okay, you like the situation
in Salt Lake City. Because the where my brain goes
with this, if your Ace Bailey, if you're any prospect,
drafted or not drafted, your goal is a second contract.

Speaker 6 (12:38):
That's when you make the most money in the NBA.

Speaker 7 (12:40):
What's your opportunity to make the most money, Like if
I was Ace Bailey's agent, and I was like, dude,
listen here, the teams one and two are not taking you.
Three With Philly, they're interested, you want to work out
for them? No, five, Utah, you want to go to
Salt Lake City. No, you examine those two situations. In Philly,
you got to deal with Paul, George and Maxie and

(13:01):
all these other really great pieces. In Utah, go look
at the Jazz roster. I mean, you might be the
best player on the team right now outside of Llrie Marketing.
So you want to talk about runway and getting a
chance for a second contract to cash in for life.
The Utah Jazz are your best opportunity. Then be gold

(13:23):
in them hills in Salt Lake. You go out there
and you perform for a couple of years, you're gonna
get paid. So I don't understand it from Ace Bailey's side,
Why would you be hesitant to go to Salt Lake City?

Speaker 6 (13:36):
What you don't like the mountains? You're gonna be on
the road half the year, bro.

Speaker 7 (13:39):
Like, it just doesn't make sense if you're trying to
get that second contract, which is all of these kids' goals.
And that's where I'm looking at this situation. I you know,
whether it works out for the age brothers, we'll see.
But I don't understand it from Ace Bailey side. You
should be thrilled that you're going to Salt Lake City.
You've got a chance to be the number one option

(14:02):
day one, And he's I guess.

Speaker 6 (14:06):
Not as excited about it as I am.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
Well, that's true, But to me, it's a tomato tomato thing.
You know, I might love. It's funny. I'm rewatching the
Last Dance. I'm a couple of episodes in and I
loved living in Nashville. I think Nashville is a tremendous town.
And they just showed Rodman in episode two or three
I can't remember, and he's signing autographs for fans and

(14:31):
someone's like, hey, you're gonna come to Nashville, and Rodman's like, no, no, noo, noop,
not doing the Nashville thing. And I was like, wow,
Rodman's not a fan of Nashville. You know, So it's
tomato tomato. What I think is a great town, you
might think sucks and vice versa, and uh, listen, it's
not exactly culturally diverse over there in Utah. You know,

(14:53):
maybe that's a drawback for Ace Bailey. It's not like
a free agents are itching to go to UTI, you know.
So he's not the only one who might feel that way.
So I mean, listen, I think Utah just showed, hey,
we're gonna call your bluff and if you don't want
to be here, we think you're gonna warm up to it.

(15:14):
That's a big gamble. What Utah is basically saying is
we had the worst record, and not only did we
not get the first pick or the second pick or
the third pick, we got the fifth pick. So we're
gonna bet big on a guy that most perceived to
be a top three talent in Ace Bailey and hopes
that he's gonna come around. I'll tell you the thing
that I thought of it was just staring at me

(15:37):
in the face because we just had the NFL Draft
and people were bent about Shadeur Sanders.

Speaker 6 (15:45):
Yeah, and how.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
He reportedly approached pre draft meetings, and there are all
these reports that he disrespected the draft process.

Speaker 4 (15:53):
And in some of these meetings he was.

Speaker 3 (15:55):
Arrogant and disinterested in all these things, which may or
may not have been true.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (16:01):
Wasn't there but Ace Bailey for sure was all of
these things. He's the only US player to not privately
work out for any team. He's the only guy he
did not show great interest in the Utah Jazz, didn't
even show up right after for the ceremony and all.

Speaker 4 (16:18):
That good good stuff in Salt Lake City.

Speaker 3 (16:21):
It's verified with Ace Bailey and more or less it
was a shoulder shrug. I'll tell you, if Shador Sanders
did the exact same things that Ace Bailey just did
before the NFL Draft, critics would have lost their collective minds.
If Shador did that, it does show you the difference
between playing football playing quarterback, and if your name is Sanders,

(16:46):
it would have taken the outrage to another level.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
Such a good point. It is such a good point.

Speaker 5 (16:52):
And it's a very similar story, right because easily pre draft,
a lot of analysts could have seen Shud or Sam
there's going third or fifth, you know what I mean,
like high in the draft, in the top ten for sure.
And then there were a couple of voices that said, no,
I could see him dropping. And you know, count me
among them, because there were plenty of times where I

(17:15):
said that guy could fall to the second round. We've
seen this before. But the truth is he's a supreme
talent in college football. He was rated to be I've
ver at least rated to be a high round draft pick.
And when you look at and when you look at
some of the attitudinal reports pre draft, if he was

(17:38):
in the NBA, all of what we saw leading up
to the draft and afterward would be completely acceptable. In football,
your behavior matters when you're a quarterback. Everything matters in basketball,
which is inarguably a more selfish sport. You know, it's
more about me than we in certain cases. Is Yeah,

(18:01):
it's a very different vibe. It's a it's a really
good point.

Speaker 7 (18:05):
By the way, I misspoke earlier Age Brothers Austin as
Danny Sun. I knew that the Age family running the
show in Utah. But yeah, it's it's a really it's
a really difficult situation for both parties. I think I
think a's this is a learning opportunity. That's the only
way that I can really frame it. There's a there's

(18:28):
an opportunity for growth here because if he shows up
and regardless of what took place during the pre draft process,
same thing with Shador the pre draft process.

Speaker 6 (18:39):
It was in the past you have to move forward.

Speaker 7 (18:42):
Unfortunately, Shador was moving forward a little bit too quickly.

Speaker 6 (18:46):
If you've been reading the reports from Cleveland over the
last few weeks about.

Speaker 7 (18:49):
Is driving maybe moving a little bit too fast. Forward,
Slow down, Shador.

Speaker 6 (18:55):
You're gonna be okay. But just slow down, Bud.

Speaker 7 (18:58):
But with A's like, if you shows up and he
plays well, this will all be forgotten.

Speaker 6 (19:04):
We will not be talking if he shows up.

Speaker 7 (19:06):
Unlike Shador Sanders, I do think Ace Bailey is going
to start the season as a prime role player, maybe
even the star of.

Speaker 6 (19:16):
This jazz team. Are they gonna win a lot of games?
Probably not. But if all of a sudden first few
weeks of the season he's.

Speaker 7 (19:26):
Averaging a double double and he's playing up to expectation,
lofty expectation based off of his athleticism and all of
those great.

Speaker 6 (19:34):
Things, I don't think we're gonna be talking about this anymore.

Speaker 7 (19:38):
I think this is an opportunity for him to learn,
and based on what I've gleaned from everyone who's played,
or at least a lot of the people that have
played in Salt Lake City, we're talking. I was doing
another show yesterday. I was talking to an NBA insider,
and they said, yeah, everyone loves Salt Lake City. Everyone
thinks they're not gonna like it, and they go there

(19:58):
and they're like, oh, this isn't so bad.

Speaker 6 (20:00):
So I don't.

Speaker 7 (20:01):
Understand why sight unseen, he's like, no, I don't want
to go there because of all of the teams that
were drafting in the top five, outside of maybe Charlotte,
this is the best opportunity for him to play and
get reps and improve and get that second contract, and
then you can go anywhere you want. You can go

(20:24):
anywhere you're a free agent. Then you can sign with
any team you want. Age you can work out for
whoever you want. But the way it works in the NBA,
you're drafted by who you're drafted by. You go play
and you hope things go well. But of all of
those teams in the top five, the best situation for
him to be a star from day.

Speaker 6 (20:43):
One is the team that took him.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
I don't know why I didn't grab the audio, said
he was talking to like the Utah Jazz reporter right
after he could tell it's kind of like the website,
social media type thing that the background was there, and
she's like, why Are you so excited to be a
part of the Utah Jazz It's like, uh, you know,

(21:08):
like the mountains and you know everything else. Yeah, with
associated with this franchise, which was like read between the lines,
I'm not interested in being with.

Speaker 6 (21:21):
It was tremendous.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
All right, we're off and running.

Speaker 3 (21:23):
We've got rich Oronberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith,
FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Use Code Countdown at
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Again, use Code Countdown and you'll get up.

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To fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if you
don't win your first bet. Coming up next, it's cruel
injury and a cruel reality for these two players. It's
Fox Sports Radios Countdown, presented by BETMGM.

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(23:03):
so a cruel injury and a cruel reality for two players.
One would be Tyrese Haliburton, Rich This was top of
mind to begin the show. Just cruel sometimes what happens
in sports last week last Sunday, actually, Tyrese Haliburton was
crushing it in the first quarter, hit three three pointers

(23:25):
and then started to drive to the basket and there
goes the Achilles, and there goes next season entirely, which
is just a bitter pill man.

Speaker 4 (23:36):
And it really reminded me of Kevin Durant.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
How could it not remember the final series against the
Toronto Raptors where KD had the calf injury. Similarly crushing
it in the first quarter. What do you have like
twelve first quarter points? He was killing, He was dicing
up Toronto, and the next thing you know, he starts
to drive and there went the Achilles. What's different to
me between KD and Tyre is just their styles. They

(24:03):
play the game much differently. You look at KD, and
he was never a guy that just relied on raw athleticism.
It was just attacking the racket, you.

Speaker 2 (24:12):
Know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
Like he was just a guy where after an achilles tear,
he was gonna be just fine. There are some people
like I don't know Achilles. I'm like, dude, he's a
seven footer that can just drain Jays all day in
your face. His game is gonna translate to old just fine.
Tyrese Haliburton. He relies on athleticism a lot. It's a

(24:34):
big part of his game, driving to the basket, getting
to the paint, looking to create for himself or kick
it for an open shot. Like that's a big part
of his game. And so if he doesn't have that
for a little bit of time, he's gonna have to
adapt and change the way he approaches basketball a lot.
That's that's what's so cool.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Man.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
It's one thing to lose Game seven, but when you're
losing an entire season on top of that, man, that
is a tough blow right there.

Speaker 5 (25:02):
It's a tough blow unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you
look at it for betters who had the unders on props,
which our parlay platter hit as a result.

Speaker 2 (25:18):
It is what it is.

Speaker 5 (25:19):
You know what I mean it like you can, Here's
what I'll say to your comparison. If Tom Brady blows
out his achilles, he's gonna come back and be just fine.
If Lamar Jackson blows out his achilles, yeah, there's major
concern about not only Lamar's future, but the future of

(25:41):
the Baltimore Ravens. Everything goes under the microscope like this
is so unfortunate for so many reasons. But one of
the main through lines, one of the main storylines that
we will follow into next season and beyond, is will
Tyrese Burton ever be the same basketball player again? And

(26:04):
the answer, unfortunately most likely is no, because complete achilles
ruptures and repairs. While they're better than they've ever been,
oftentimes the athlete when they come back, they're at further
risk of having reinjury to that same that same achilles,
but also they're at a higher risk of rupturing. There

(26:26):
are other achilles they're at higher risk of injuring themselves,
you know, other you know, lower body load, load bearing
joints giving out on them. I mean, this could set
off a daisy chain of events for him personally.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
And that's the part of this story.

Speaker 5 (26:44):
That sucks the most is he he went into this
postseason trying to defeat the moniker overrated and he almost
did it, and instead he gets to watch basketball next season.
My stomach turns over for him.

Speaker 7 (27:01):
Yeah, Pacers in general, I mean, it's just it's a
tough you know, you make it all the way to
the end of the rainbow, like literally the last breath
of the season, and losing the game is hard enough.
I mean, it's one thing just to get to Game
seven of the Finals and lose. It's another thing to
get there, lose and then lose your your.

Speaker 6 (27:22):
Star player in the process.

Speaker 7 (27:24):
I'll take a page out of his colleague Jason Tatum's book,
who doesn't tweet much, but in the last couple months,
he's posted two.

Speaker 6 (27:35):
Tweets since his injury.

Speaker 7 (27:39):
Twenty five days after he posted day twenty five days
starting to get a little easier, then yesterday he posted
day forty five.

Speaker 3 (27:49):
This is some bleep.

Speaker 6 (27:51):
I can't say it on the air, yeah, you know,
Like and.

Speaker 7 (27:55):
Now we're just at day six for Tyrese, right, Like,
at least Tatum had a couple of months head start
on this, because you know, Boston was knocked out pretty
early in the postseason. Tyrie's I mean, this is tough.
This is probably the I can't think of a worst

(28:15):
case scenario, like I honestly can't, other than losing Game seven.
Like that's worse enough that I wouldn't wish that upon
anyone getting to a Game seven, especially for a team
that hasn't won it before and a franchise that has
never won an NBA title, another one, an ABA title,
never an NBA title. You get that close to touching

(28:36):
greatness and then you fall short. But in the process,
you also lose one of your stars for another season,
and it impacts not only this year, but the next year.
And I would argue that we saw this with Denver.
We've seen this with championship teams that have to go
through the grind of the postseason year after year after year.

(28:59):
The NBA postseason is really long. It takes its toll,
even if you're healthy. I think it bleeds into the
next year. And now you've got this situation with that,
I mean, it's really tough. I honestly, I sound super
selfish when I say this because it helped us win
bets last Sunday, But I can't grasp it from the

(29:22):
perspective of Tyrese and his teammates having to go through that.
It is an incredibly calcifying and I mean, I'm sure
it'll bring them together because you know, obstacles, anniversary and
those types of situations always do.

Speaker 6 (29:34):
But it's a really tough pill to swallow.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
Yeah, it's brutal, man. And that's the thing is, you
don't want to win bets like that exactly. It's you
should feel dirty if you're doing like a Tiger Woods
fist pump because the bet cash is and Halliburton's on
the shelf for over a season, you know, like that's
and that's the thing is, it's the layers of suck,
as I would put it right, like, you lose Game seven,

(29:57):
you lose Haliburton for the next season. Then you have
to wonder, what if what if he didn't get hurt,
even if he's not one hundred percent, the Pacers are
still live in that game in the second half, right
at e lite at halftime, what if Halliburton is still
draining shots throughout the evening, you might have won win
the game.

Speaker 6 (30:16):
Frankly, you might have won.

Speaker 3 (30:18):
And I also think the mental hurdles anybody who's been hurt,
especially in the professional ranks, it is a whole mental
battle when you're going through rehab, and there are a.

Speaker 4 (30:29):
Lot of players that they just feel worthless.

Speaker 3 (30:31):
They feel like I'm supposed to be contributing, I'm here
just taking up space on the sideline or the bencher.
It's a whole identity blow, like a blow to your
I'm known as I'm a guy who's a star basketball player,
star football player, and I'm not out there contributing. It's
a whole thing. And so it's not just the physical part.

(30:51):
It's the whole mental part, and it's just starting for Tyrese.
It sucks. That's heartbreaking, but that's the reality of sports man.
These injuries are. I'll tell you what. There's another cruel
reality for another player. I thought of Josh Giddy. So
he used to play for Oklahoma City.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yeah, he was.

Speaker 3 (31:10):
With the Thunder when they were a young team and
going through all their growing pains. He started eighty games
for OKC two years ago and then heading into you know,
last June before this last season, okay see traded him
for Alex Caruso straight up, and so Josh Gitty was

(31:31):
there for all the rough times. No champagne, no championship celebration,
gets traded to the freaking Bulls, who are a disaster
right now. Like I had to think about Josh Giddy
as OKAC was pulling out Game seven and then doing
the championship celebration celebration that is a cruel reality for
Giddy as well.

Speaker 5 (31:53):
Yep, well, I think he's due for a big paycheck
in Chicago.

Speaker 2 (31:58):
But I do agree with you.

Speaker 5 (32:00):
I mean, you know, from a personal standpoint, he'll he'll
earn his money in this league and and he'll he'll
accomplish a lot of the things in life. You know,
when when your parents, uh, when they when they look
at your future and they just have all these hopes
and dreams for you. If you think about, like even
imagining that your son could have a successful NBA career

(32:23):
that secures him and his family and his family's family
for life. Man, that's that's you're winning. Man, You are
winning the lottery of life. But when you start, when
you start down that path and you're an athlete, and
you start collecting some near misses where like, ah, we're
this close and we lost in the playoffs, you know

(32:45):
that Game seven or ah, you know I was on
the team that went to the finals.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
I was.

Speaker 5 (32:52):
I was on the team two years before they traded
me away.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
Ah.

Speaker 5 (32:58):
Like, when you start collecting those little could as should
have wood as, man, those sting when you retire, I
have to admit, because I look back on what by
all measures is a successful NFL playing career. You know,
I spent six years in the league. I got drafted
by the New England Patriots when the dynasty was going on.

(33:21):
You know, there's a lot to feel good about about
my playing history. But there are so many moments I
went to I played for two teams that went to
the postseason. I went to the postseason four times. I
don't have a Super Bowl ring. You know, there's there's
those moments, and there are moments in those games, and

(33:41):
some of those moments aren't even your fault.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
Some of those moments throughout.

Speaker 5 (33:45):
The season you have nothing to do with, but you
still look back and you just remember the sting. And
so unfortunately for Josh Giddy, this is just another one
of those moments.

Speaker 7 (33:54):
Yeah, I don't feel as bad for Josh because it's
not like he is there all year and then you
know it happened late. So I don't feel as bad
for Josh because you're right, Rich nailed it, like he
had a really good.

Speaker 6 (34:09):
Year with Chicago. Actually, yeah, that's some really fun moments.

Speaker 7 (34:12):
He'll probably get a nice payday, but yeah, it's you
definitely think what if. I mean, we're all on this path,
like we all make these decisions that impact the next
thing and the next thing and the next thing, and
it's like every moment is like a million different alternate
realities with every passing second. Like when I said the
Age Brothers, you know, I'm sure there was someone listening

(34:34):
that was like, this guy's a freaking idiot. And maybe
if I would have said Danny Ainge and his son
Austin this, you know, I would.

Speaker 6 (34:40):
Have had a fan for a lot.

Speaker 7 (34:41):
You just never know, But it's just you just go
through this life and you just have to, you know,
catalog all of these things that happen, and you think
why why this?

Speaker 6 (34:52):
Why?

Speaker 2 (34:52):
Mean?

Speaker 7 (34:52):
Like I'm sure and Tyrase and even Jason Tatum they
have a lot of time on their hands. Probably over
the next few weeks they're probably thinking why me, what's
the lesson here? And you just have to look inward
and find that strength to come back. And I honestly
think this silver lining in all of this is when
Tyrese Haliburton does come back, I think that will be

(35:15):
a galvanizing force for the Pacers. And I do think
Indiana is young enough at their core that they'll be back,
and they've got a really good coach who I think
that's the thing about the Pacers run that I didn't expect.
I know, Rick Carlisle is a good coach. I thought
he out coached that no for a good portion of

(35:36):
that series. I mean, that's not why they lost. So
I was very impressed with everything Indiana did during this run.
And I think Halliburton, we wish him the best, and
if and when he comes back, I do think Indiana
will have a chance to make another run.

Speaker 3 (35:51):
Yeah, that's the crazy thing with tyrese Man, like after
the initial part of it wears off, where you know,
the ig post goes up and there's all these well
wishes that goes away in its months and months yep
and months seemingly endless of rehab to get back on
the court. That's brutal. And the thing for Josh Gitty,

(36:12):
I just I just picture someone coming up to Josh like, hey, okay,
see you want to ring right. No, I was traded
in the offseason before.

Speaker 4 (36:21):
They won their first one.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
Like even the intro, like they showed the the pregame intros,
they introduced all the players the last two games in
ok See, they showed that and I thought they left
Josh Giddy in the like the Jumbo Tron highlight reel.
Oh there's an undrafted rookie out of Utah, Brendan Carlson.
I went back and watched because I'm like, I swear

(36:44):
that's Skiddy, like similar flowing locks of hair. No, it's
a different guy, but it looks just like I thought
they left them in the thing.

Speaker 6 (36:52):
I'm like, Wow, all right, we've.

Speaker 3 (36:53):
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.

(37:15):
We each have one selection. We pull it together for
a greater payout. We will put our brains together. Coming up,
it's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It is
Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by Bett MGM. No time
to Wastelet's dive right into this.

Speaker 1 (37:35):
Check this out parlay Flatterer.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
Yes, it is the parlay platter, a cappella parlay platter
right there. For a second, we've got one selection for everybody.
We pull it together for a greater payout shared. We
start with you for the theme and the first selection here.

Speaker 6 (37:54):
Yeah, we'll obviously switch gears. We go away from the
NBA and I.

Speaker 7 (38:00):
Think for at least the next few weeks dog days
of summer, we will go to the Baseball Vibe. So
each of us one pick from the diamond and hopefully
three winners. I'll start in Cincinnati, a place where we've
all been before, to this ballpark. We've done a show
from this ballpark before, the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
Let's let's give you the nerfee in San Diego and

(38:22):
Cincinnati today.

Speaker 6 (38:24):
I am not overly enthused with the weather report.

Speaker 7 (38:28):
It looks like wind blowing out and a pretty hot
day in the Ohio region. However, the pitching matchup is
also very hot. Andrew Rabbit fifteen consecutive nurfees.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
How about that?

Speaker 7 (38:38):
He has had an unbelievable string of nerfees yea and
Randy Basquez on the other side for the Padres five
straight not bad thirty and eleven in his career, and
he's never faced Cincinnati before.

Speaker 6 (38:47):
First look through a fresh lineup.

Speaker 7 (38:49):
I always give the advantage to the pitcher, and overall
Cincinnati has been a nerfy team this year. The weather
is telling me runs today. The total is elevated, but
that's why we're getting a decent alright, So I'll go
nurfy San Diego and Cincy.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
All right.

Speaker 5 (39:05):
Shohei Otani has been on an absolute.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
Streak right now.

Speaker 5 (39:10):
The hits runs Ribby's stat line has been filled up
two point five is where the line's at. He's pitching
today against the Royals. First pitch is gonna be one
ten West Coast tign four to ten East Coast time.
Give me the over on the hits runs Ribby's because
he's tearing the cover off the baseball, and I think this,

(39:32):
being only his second start, isn't going to slow that down.
In fact, I think he shines when the pressure is
mounting the hottest. So over on the runs hits Ribbies
two and a half.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
I like it, all right. I'll go simple here. The
Brewers have been playing really good baseball for the last
month plus. They're twenty one and eight since May twenty fifth.
It's pretty good twenty one and eight, and the Rockies
not as good, not as good. So Brewers hosting the
Rockies today. I'm taking Milwaukee on the run line. So
it's minus a dollar fifteen, close to even money, and

(40:07):
the Brewers are facing Senzatela, who, if you're not familiar,
is stinking it up royally this year.

Speaker 4 (40:14):
He's three and ten as era.

Speaker 3 (40:16):
Is six forty eight, and he does have one start
against Milwaukee earlier this year. And now that start he
gave up eight hits and eight earned runs in four
and a third. So let's go Brewers run line today.
Gotta win by at least two. I'll back to Milwaukee.

Speaker 6 (40:34):
I like this a lot, guys.

Speaker 7 (40:35):
I was thinking about an Otani home run prop so
and so Rich kind of piggybacked off of that, and
you're right baiting the Rockies.

Speaker 6 (40:43):
A great idea.

Speaker 7 (40:44):
Plus five ninety six for this. I think this thing's cashing, guys.
I think we're cashing. Go bet this at bet MGM.

Speaker 6 (40:50):
Right now.

Speaker 3 (40:51):
We're hot.

Speaker 6 (40:52):
Yeah last week, Yeah, we've.

Speaker 3 (40:55):
Hit some planters here, so let's keep it going, all right?
Coming up next, is this how you would behave if
you really were telling the truth. The whole time we
dive in.

Speaker 2 (41:06):
Next.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
Oh, good morning, Happy Saturday to you. The actions do
not support the words. We'll get to that in just
a few seconds. Want to remind you 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. Be sure to
subscribe to you always have instant access to our Fox

(41:27):
Sports Radio videos on YouTube. All right, So, kicker, Justin Tucker,
he has been suspended for the first ten weeks of
the twenty twenty five regular season. And we get to
the nuts and bolts of this whole story here, right,
And Tucker was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by sixteen

(41:53):
Baltimore area massage therapists. That's from eight different spas. The
alleged incidents dated back to twenty twelve. Now, Justin Tucker
has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He's called the allegations unequivocally false.
He has said that throughout. And then we get to

(42:13):
this ruling by the NFL. You're suspended for ten games.
Tucker's agent said that he advised Tucker to accept the
suspension quote in order to put this difficult episode behind
him and get back on the field as soon as possible.
End quote. Now here's my question. If Justin Tucker's telling
the truth, these sixteen women from these eight different spots,

(42:35):
they're making all of it up, unequivocally false, never did
anything that they've alleged I've done. Are you then just
saying after all of the unequivocally false, all these words
the actions are yeah, I'll just take the ten game suspension.

Speaker 4 (42:50):
Let's just put this behind us.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
Dude, if you're completely innocent, there is no way you
would accept this, no chance you would. So the actions
show what's really going on here. There's no way that
you wouldn't fight this if you were truly innocent.

Speaker 5 (43:07):
I have no idea what I would do if I
was completely one hundred percent innocent and I was being
blamed of the sort of things that.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
He's being blamed of.

Speaker 5 (43:25):
Like, I mean, just like, try to imagine that scenario,
Like there is a conspiracy against you, right, Like you're
a good person, You're going through your life and you're
a professional athlete, and all of a sudden, allegations start
getting lobbed against you, you know, at first privately, but

(43:46):
then it goes public and you're caught up in this
swirl of controversy and you're like, I can't believe what's
being reported, none of this is true. Like, actually, I
will say this though, if I were innocent, I know
I wouldn't be doing this the way he's going about it.

(44:09):
I promise you it would look different. So I hate
to say it because, look, I do believe in due process.
I do think that as a society we are a
jump to conclusion society. But a lot of times where
there's smoke, there's fire, And when there's a lot of smoke,

(44:30):
like sixteen allegation smoke, like when there's a lot of smoke,
like in the case of Deshaun Watson, when there's like
over sixty women who have come out, whether it be
through the courts or just made their story publicly known
because they wanted their voices heard too.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
When there's a lot of smoke, it's.

Speaker 5 (44:51):
Really hard to believe that there's complete innocence.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
Now, again, I believe in due process.

Speaker 5 (44:57):
I believe everybody's I should be concerned innocent until proven guilty,
But this one stinks, and I'm I'm pretty sure if
I was completely innocent, I wouldn't have accepted the terms
that have been laid before me.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
If I'm Justin Tucker.

Speaker 6 (45:15):
Yeah, there are no winners here.

Speaker 7 (45:17):
I know we usually do winners losers, you know, of
the segment, there's just losers. I guess they're the only
winner is Whoever's gonna take Justin Tucker's job in Baltimore.
That's really the only winner in this situation. But even
that is you know, it's like winning a bet when
the guy gets hurt. It's just like you just kind
of backed into it. We were already seeing the physical

(45:40):
decline on the field last year. And I'm not a psychiatrist,
but I think it's pretty obvious.

Speaker 6 (45:47):
We all are human beings.

Speaker 7 (45:49):
Things that happen in your personal life when you have
a high profile job where you're under pressure a lot,
and then you have something happening behind the scenes in
your person life. We were not privy to this, not
all of the details last year during the season, But
when you look back at his season, which the greatest

(46:11):
most accurate kicker of all time, maybe outside of anavan
TERI just all of a sudden falls off the map,
can't make a kick. You're like, is it the yips? Like,
what's going on here? And then we get the details
of all of this mess that is starting to build
up behind the scenes, and you're like, okay, that makes sense.
Why all of a sudden he just couldn't make a kick?

(46:33):
You know, And kicking is such a mental game. It's
it's kind of like golf, like there's no one out
there but you. The ball gets down and you got
to make the kick, like that's it. And I don't
know what the end result here is. My guess is
Justin Tucker. And actually I feel pretty comfortable saying this.
I don't think Justin Tucker will ever kick again in

(46:54):
the NFL.

Speaker 6 (46:55):
I just don't.

Speaker 7 (46:56):
Think at this point because of the position that he
plays and his declining production. For a team to take
on this type of distraction for a kicker, I just
don't see it happening. So yeah, I mean, innocent until
proven guilty. We're not, you know, casting guilt on him.

(47:17):
But the pieces add up, like, you know, at all,
Like the case is pretty strong against him, and accepting
the suspension I think is kind of the cherry on top.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
Well, he missed eight kicks last year alone.

Speaker 6 (47:32):
That's a lot.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
That's a career worst season, and we'll see going forward.
I would guess that a team would take a shot
on him and see if it does work out. And
if he's you know, now that all of this is
in the past, maybe you know, to your point, Jared,
maybe he's better a kicking going forward.

Speaker 6 (47:53):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (47:53):
Maybe.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
But the thing I think of is we do this
a lot, and I'm not saying we're doing the wrong thing,
but for a second, we always make it about the athlete. Right.
This is sports talk show, right, this isn't a life show.
It's a sports talk show. So we're going to lean
on the sports side of things more times than not.
But for a second, we got a pause and instead

(48:14):
of like, hey, Justin Tucker, does he keep back on
the field, does he not? Like what do you think
he's going to look like? It's imagine for the victims
for a second here, like some of these details and
some of the allegations are true, And imagine if you're
one of these massage therapists and you you went to
a lawyer, you told your story, and the next thing

(48:36):
you have to hear after going through this whatever, it was,
maybe some pretty shady stuff that you were not signing
up for went down, And the next thing you have
to hear is justin Tucker denying it unequivocally false, never happened,
like you had to live it once. And then hear
him say never happen before. And then we just go

(48:58):
on to hey, man, maybe it's at week twelve. Maybe
they need a kicker, you know, maybe their guy's stinks
and they need time.

Speaker 2 (49:04):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (49:05):
Imagine if one of the victims just turns on sports
talk radio and it's hearing these things. It's layers, right
like we were. It's a weird comparison. We're talking about
the layers of Halliburton's injury. And it's not just losing
Game seven, and it's not just missing the next season.
It's the months and months of rehab and the mental hurdles.
It's a whole thing. You imagine this for the victims

(49:28):
and what they originally went through, and then all the
other things on top of it, where the guy that's
doing these things like that never happened, she's making it
up for this story and for any story to have
to go through that. Man, my heart goes out to
any of the victims they have to go through stuff
like that.

Speaker 5 (49:48):
It's uh, it's a good comparison, even though it feels
like a loose thread you're pulling there, Brian, because.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
You know you understand what I'm saying. I'm not saying
it's apples to apples. I'm just saying, no, you have
to think the whole thing, the whole ripple effect of this.

Speaker 5 (50:03):
Look, I was talking to somebody last night who's grieving
a loss, and when you lose somebody close to you,
you're recovering from an injury. You don't look at it
that way because you didn't sprain an ankle, you didn't
twist up your knee. But a broken heart is an injury,
you know what I mean. And it's an emotional injury,

(50:25):
and it takes time to rehab from that injury. And
like a sprain ankle, you could take twenty steps down
the road and nineteen of them went great because you're
about three weeks out from the initial injury. But that
on that twentieth step, you didn't take it that step
any differently, but for whatever reason, you just felt it again,
like it just reaggravated.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
That's how grief works, you know. Grief It comes in waves.

Speaker 5 (50:52):
You know, it hits you at different points and you
don't see it coming, and it's an injury that you
have to recover from, you know, and you don't get
to just put in a box and set it on
a shelf and say like, all right now I've grieved
that loss and I'm moving on.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
I'm going to just live the rest of my life.

Speaker 5 (51:07):
No, it's scars over and that skin's a little bit shinier,
a little bit you know, more sensitive or a little numb,
you know, compared to your other skin.

Speaker 2 (51:16):
It feels different, but you carry that scar with you.

Speaker 5 (51:19):
Well, look, I've also been close to a victim of
sexual assault in my life, and those people are grieving too.
Like the reality is it's a loss of innocence. It's
something's taken from you that you don't get back, and
it wasn't on your terms. And so you're one hundred

(51:39):
percent right like the Jared, what you said is Ryan, Brian,
what you said is right, Like, there.

Speaker 2 (51:45):
Are only losers here.

Speaker 5 (51:47):
This is such a crummy situation if allegations are true.
Because yeah, just like I was talking about grieving the
loss of a friend, grieving that loss of innocence is
something these people, if what is being alleged is true,
are going to carry with them for the rest of
their lives. And it will get easier over time because

(52:08):
you know, wounds heal, but they'll carry that scar with them,
and unfortunately, there are going to be plenty of reminders
along the way because of how public in nature this
person is of what happened. And so, yeah, if what's
been alleged is true, you know, the only thing anybody

(52:29):
should care about are the victims, and I sincerely hope
that whatever cosmic justice can be served will be done
and those whoever perpetrate things like this learn their lessons
because it's one of the worst things you can do.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
It just is, it's one of the worst things you
could do.

Speaker 7 (52:53):
Yeah, I applaud you, Brian for taking the time to,
you know, use that narratives as a talking point, because
you're right, like the victims and there's molt it's not
just one like, there's multiple and I'm sure there are.
If I was one of those victims, I would not
be able to listen to the you know, the sports

(53:14):
talk chatter about this because it would probably bring up
some pretty tough memories. But I'm sure it's hard to
completely disengage from it because it's everywhere, like every every
grocery store, every you know, bar you walk into, there's
a ESPN, there's all these networks on they're all talking
about stuff. So it's it's probably hard to just completely
detach from it, and you know, unless you just lock

(53:34):
yourself in your room and just never go anywhere, and
then there's other issues that you have. But there's definitely
a element to this where you your heart goes out
to those victims.

Speaker 6 (53:46):
I just hope.

Speaker 7 (53:48):
Everyone learns from this and we don't have I mean,
I know we're gonna have situations like this in the future.
I'm sure there always is in the NFL and then
the NBA. I mean, there's always bad actors everywhere going on,
and you just hope that, you know, each situation provides
a learning point where you can move forward from it,
and you know, hopefully we don't have situations like this
happen again. It's just so weird because it's a kicker,

(54:10):
and I think that's that to me, That is why
I don't think Justin's going to play in the NFL again.
It's not because he's not talented enough, and there isn't
a need for it, but you have to look at
it from the perspective of a general manager like Ray
Rice never got another chance, and he plays running back
like I just don't understand why, of all the kickers

(54:33):
that you could possibly choose from to bring in to
help your team, is justin at this stage of his
career that much better than everyone else to where you're
willing to take on that distraction. And I think the
answer is no. I'm wrong a lot, but I think
the answer to that question is n.

Speaker 3 (54:52):
Well, yeah, he certainly wasn't better last season, There's no
doubt about that. So we'll see going forward. But in
any event, you guys said, hopefully everybody learns from this,
and you know you don't want to see any of
this happen in anywhere in any aspect of sports or beyond,
but man, some crazy stuff goes on from time to time.

(55:12):
There's no doubt. We've got rich Oornberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian. No use code
countdown at bet MGM and receive up to fifteen hundred
dollars back in bonus bets if you don't win your
first bet. When you're registered with bet MGM, you'll get
instant access to a variety of parlay selection features, live
betting options, signature bets, and the best daily promotions in

(55:33):
the business. Again, use code countdown and you'll get up
to fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if you
don't win your first bet. Coming up next, our main man,
Seamus McGee. He gets us all set for life after
the NBA playoffs, right like a little baseball, little WNBA,
maybe a little NFL. Look forward to the season coming up,

(55:53):
so we'll get Seamus's view on everything. And is Shamus special?
That's right around the corner. It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown
presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented
by BETMGM. 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 4 (56:16):
That's not all.

Speaker 3 (56:17):
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, let's do
this but follow the money, real good money. We are
following the money with our good friend Seamus McGee, team
lead of Sports Trading at BETMGM.

Speaker 4 (56:37):
Good morning, Seamus, Hope all is well with you.

Speaker 3 (56:41):
I'm just curious, now that the NBA NHL Finals, the
playoffs are behind us, what's drawing the most betting interest?
And you could be you can take that in general
and you could be more specific, like if you say, hey,
baseball is driving it specifically the Dodgers or whatever it
happened happens to be. What are we looking at now?

(57:02):
Is this baseball? Is it WNBA? What's driving a lot
of betting interest for you guys at bet MGM.

Speaker 9 (57:09):
Yeah, it's great to be back. Yeah, it's it really
is baseball season now, getting close to the All Star breaks,
so hopefully we'll see some action on stuff like the
home run Derby, which is usually you know, that's a
pretty cool thing for people to beut on. But the
WNBA is definitely, you know, noticeable, It's definitely a sport
that more people are taking an interest to now a

(57:30):
because you have the story lines going on with some
of the players on WNBA and it is adding just
you know, a different sport other than baseball just doesn't
have to be the MLB for a lot of people.
So WNBA definitely drawing some attention as well.

Speaker 7 (57:43):
You read my mind, Shamus, because I'll be honest, as
much as I love betting baseball, the nurpees and all
that fun stuff, I have taken an increased interest in
the w because not only, as you mentioned, the calendar
kind of gives me the time, but also it's becoming
an interesting product. And I think the MVP it is
really interesting because when you look at the odds right
now and the Fisa Collier of the Minnesota Lank she's

(58:05):
a fantastic player. She's the favorite right now. Caitlyn Clark
is the second favorite, which is kind of befuddling because
she's missed a ton of games. She's not having a
great season statistically. My guess is the exposure to her
is just so crazy that you've got to shorten her
number considerably.

Speaker 6 (58:25):
Is that true?

Speaker 7 (58:26):
And if so, how much exposure are you really seeing
on Caitlyn Clark in the w NBA MVP market.

Speaker 9 (58:32):
Yep, he hit the nail on the head. It's really
a lot of one way traffic on Kaitlyn Clark and
you know, Collier definitely is, you know, the best player
in the league. But there was an injury scare for
her recently too, which saw that clark numbers shorten up
a little too. But again, Clark is in struggling a
little bit with some injuries, and then you have a
few players on a liberty getting up there. But yeah,

(58:55):
it's it's just the Kaitlyn Clark show as far as
the MVP voting, their betting is going. So you'll see
us in some other books just shortened up just because
the exposure to to get so wild. And she does
have the ability to probably get there. I mean she
can come back and stay healthy and like lead this
team to the playoffs. She'll have an argument.

Speaker 5 (59:16):
Yeah, yeah, you know, stars drive ratings. Obviously, they drive
revenue to sports leagues. There's no questioning Titlin Clark's presence
on the sports books when it comes to the w NBA.
How about sho he Otani, Like, since he's really splashed
on the scene in Major League Baseball, have you guys

(59:36):
seen a surge in the prop betting market. I know
that for our parlay platter, I took the over on
the hits runs RBIs today. We actually got a pretty
good little platter going here, Seamus wim.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
I fill you in on that a little bit later.
Run but.

Speaker 5 (59:52):
Has show a has he moved the needle from Major
League Baseball and their betting?

Speaker 9 (59:58):
How could he not? You have got like me who
bet anything and everything under the sun. And I come
on the radio last week in my bet is that
he's going to hit a home run. I forgot about it,
which he did not, which we won't talk about.

Speaker 6 (01:00:12):
He's gonna hit one, Yeah, gonna kick uh.

Speaker 9 (01:00:15):
Yeah, I definitely. I mean, you see the memes people
have online where it's like a big news event and
it's like, oh my god, they're still doing it. It's
shoe Otani is up in three at bats. I mean people,
I mean he is. He is an anomaly. And it
also I give Aaron Judge right now, who's doing great things.
Kyle Rally is like an awesome story this year. So,

(01:00:39):
I mean the MLB, it's definitely getting more interested, like
some of these cooler players getting up there now.

Speaker 3 (01:00:46):
Seam as if you were granted two wishes. Okay, fur
bet MGM. One of what's going to happen in the MLB. Season.
The other what's going to happen in the w NBA
season that would specifically benefit you guys within reason? Right Like,
what would you choose for each sport?

Speaker 9 (01:01:06):
The w n B A would comfortably be the Visa
Collie Airwin's MVP for the regular season, and for the MLB,
it's it's still really early anyone, but the Detroit Tigers
win the World Series right now, We'll go with that
one right now. The Cal Raleigh liability is starting to

(01:01:28):
creep up there for the AL MVP, just because Judge
got so short, which gave Raleigh like a really decent number.
But I mean the Tigers number is not great. The
Mets I surprised. You think it'd be worse with all
the hype they got this season, but there's still not
a bad number right now. I think a Subway series

(01:01:52):
would be you know, long term, it'd probably be bad
for our AL and NL markets, but a Subway series
would be a handle dream. I think it would get
a ton of action, So that would be pretty cool
to say.

Speaker 7 (01:02:05):
Yeah, I live through one of those, Seamus. I would
love to see another one. I just don't know if
we're going to I just there's something about this Mets
team that just rubs me the wrong way.

Speaker 6 (01:02:16):
Especially Yeah, we had another picture go down.

Speaker 9 (01:02:18):
As a Yankee fan. I preferred it when I was
five years old and it was the first time I
was really watching baseball and I didn't know any Mets fans.
It was great. But now I don't know if I
could even go out to watch the games with any
people if it happened.

Speaker 7 (01:02:30):
Yeah, it's a different climate today. People don't remember, you know,
in two thousands happened. There's no social media, like it
was just like such a weird time, you know, it
just you don't realize twenty five years for us, like
we live through it. But the climate, the culture of
America is just so different now. We are not even
to the All Star break yet. I know we're about
halfway through the All Star breaks later in the baseball calendar,

(01:02:53):
it's not halfway, so we're more than halfway through the
season for all these teams. However, when you look at
the awards markets, it feels like almost every market's kind
of an open and shut case. I mean, I guess
you could make the case that the al Cy Young
with schoogle is starting to kind of creak open Hunter
Brown's been great. You know, Crochet's had his moments, and
School's kind of come back down on Earth a couple

(01:03:13):
of starts, But I still think he's the guy skiings
in the NL, like, you know, someone has to reach up.

Speaker 6 (01:03:19):
And grab it from him.

Speaker 7 (01:03:20):
The MVP markets, I mean, goodness gracious, like I've tried
in the in the NL, Shamus, I tried with Soto,
I tried with Akunya. I think both of those guys
are gonna be, you know, the bride'smaids here and not
the bride. Is there a non like if you had
to pick up the four markets, a l N L
m VP A l NL cy Young, is there a
non favorite that is going to win one of those

(01:03:42):
awards right now?

Speaker 9 (01:03:46):
I under voter fatigue for both MVP markets is having
an incredible year. I think cal Rawley probably has the
best chance. I mean, other wise it is the case
at plus three seventy five, I mean Croche plus three fifty,
but I really do see sull All running away with that.

(01:04:09):
I feel like this year they'll definitely give the nlcim schemes,
even though I feel like you should have won a
last year, but this year, I mean cal Rally is
such a fun story. I feel like you are going
to see people in the media really really try to
make this a really close race. So I would say
the al MVP with cal Raley, I think you're gonna

(01:04:31):
need to see Judge his average dip below three point thirty.
I don't know if that's gonna happen. He's not gonna
hit four hundred this year.

Speaker 6 (01:04:38):
It's still a year for Judge, though.

Speaker 9 (01:04:40):
It would be insanity if Judge hits north of three
fifty and has fifty home runs and doesn't win MVP,
it would be insane. But you know, cal Rally there
with this Stety is the most home runs by a
catcher before the All Star Break. I think, yeah, that's
apparently only Griffy's.

Speaker 3 (01:05:04):
All right, Seamus, it's that time the Shamus Special. No
no pressure, but we've got a nice little parlay cooking up,
and if you provide a winning leg, you're probably gonna
get us in the ten to one range, you know,
So no pressure.

Speaker 6 (01:05:19):
What do you have a mega platter?

Speaker 9 (01:05:21):
Yeah, try this on for size, guys. I really like
this one. I am a little biased here, but this
guy's red hot right now. I like jazz chisholm over
one and a half hits runs RBIs okay got the
athletics at home. I think he can get two hits
or you know over what behalf of that? I think

(01:05:41):
I think it's a good bet.

Speaker 3 (01:05:43):
All right, well, we appreciate that. Thank you for the
two cents there, Seamus, and we always love talking to you.
Thanks for making some time today, and we'll catch up
with you soon. Man, have a good day.

Speaker 9 (01:05:53):
Always a pleasure to have a good weekend.

Speaker 6 (01:05:55):
Guys.

Speaker 2 (01:05:55):
All right, you too.

Speaker 7 (01:05:56):
There.

Speaker 3 (01:05:56):
He is Seamus McGhee, team lead of sports trading at
bet MGM. Okay, guys, now, I would to a pretty
a game, right like we played games every now and then.
So Oklahoma City they just want a championship. And it
was a mega quick turnaround, Jared, you like to do
the mega parlays every now and then. It was a
mega quick turnaround for ok See. Do you realize two

(01:06:19):
years ago their record was forty and forty two. They
were sub five hundred two seasons ago. Now they're NBA champions.
So they took the speed pass. You ever go to
the amusement park and you can get the speed pass
right to the roller Yeah, that's what they just did.

Speaker 4 (01:06:36):
So the pop quiz is without cheating.

Speaker 3 (01:06:40):
Who are the two NBA teams that went forty and
forty two this past season?

Speaker 2 (01:06:48):
Forty and forty two?

Speaker 3 (01:06:50):
Yeah? Can you come up with it off the top
of your head?

Speaker 5 (01:06:55):
Oh man, I'm trying to think of teams that have
like a hot start and then really tailed off.

Speaker 2 (01:07:03):
I'm Jared, you got anything.

Speaker 5 (01:07:08):
Specifically that record to teeth landed on that exact record right.

Speaker 7 (01:07:12):
On the Both of the teams were likely in the
play in based off of their record, right and ye
where I remember the standings to be?

Speaker 6 (01:07:21):
Yeah, so Chicago, Atlanta?

Speaker 7 (01:07:25):
Chicago sounds right, Miami, m I'll say Atlanta since.

Speaker 5 (01:07:33):
No, no, no, I'll say he's right about Miami. I
would say Chicago and Miami.

Speaker 6 (01:07:39):
I'll say Atlanta, You're.

Speaker 3 (01:07:40):
Right about Atlanta.

Speaker 7 (01:07:41):
Jared, Woo, give me a buzzer, give me the ding, Chris, Yeah,
you need like you need more than the ding.

Speaker 6 (01:07:49):
You know you need?

Speaker 3 (01:07:50):
There you go, there you.

Speaker 2 (01:07:53):
Go, you know you another one.

Speaker 5 (01:07:57):
Hang on Memphis, Memphis, because that's a team that had
a hot start and then they, I mean they fired
their coach.

Speaker 2 (01:08:06):
Were they playing team though?

Speaker 3 (01:08:07):
I forget they in the neighborhood. You know, cheat, since
I can cheat, I'll look at this.

Speaker 7 (01:08:13):
It wasn't the Lakers weren't in the plane. No, they
weren't in the plane.

Speaker 3 (01:08:17):
Yeah, Memphis was. They were a lot better though. Memphis
was forty eight and thirty four. They were eight.

Speaker 2 (01:08:23):
Got it over there, Okay, okay.

Speaker 7 (01:08:25):
Yeah, how about this, Brian, give me the four teams
that were in the plane in the West.

Speaker 6 (01:08:30):
Okay, give us a multiple choice.

Speaker 3 (01:08:32):
So there's Warriors, Grizzlies, Kings, Mavericks.

Speaker 6 (01:08:37):
Well you already said it wasn't the Grizzlies, so that
was easy. So we have a three chance Mavericks, Warriors
or Kings.

Speaker 3 (01:08:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:08:47):
Boy, I'll guess Sacramento.

Speaker 4 (01:08:50):
You guys think this seriously.

Speaker 6 (01:08:52):
I like it.

Speaker 7 (01:08:52):
You know, we're not going to these games. I'm a
creature of a pavement.

Speaker 4 (01:08:58):
I love the competitiveness.

Speaker 3 (01:08:59):
I'm this way.

Speaker 4 (01:09:00):
Yes, you're right. Is the Sacramento key?

Speaker 3 (01:09:03):
That's right?

Speaker 4 (01:09:04):
DJ Airhorn that.

Speaker 6 (01:09:07):
Of getting it right?

Speaker 7 (01:09:08):
Yeah, it's nice to go, Chris, but but pretty good.

Speaker 3 (01:09:12):
The whole point of this is do you see the
Atlanta Hawks winning a title two years from now? Can
you see the Sacramento Kings turning it around and winning
it all to Atlanta. Yes, I mean I traded for Skorzingis.
You know, maybe we'll get to New Orleans.

Speaker 6 (01:09:31):
Yeah, that's what I'm gonna Say're gonna have it. They
might have the number one pick in the draft next year.

Speaker 3 (01:09:34):
New Orleans traded an unprotected pick.

Speaker 4 (01:09:36):
We'll crush them next out.

Speaker 7 (01:09:38):
Oh my god, that's the craziest thing that happened on
Draft night the Atlanta And I'll say it right now,
on June twenty eight, the Atlanta Hawks might have the
number one pick in the draft next.

Speaker 6 (01:09:46):
Year, regardless of what the record is.

Speaker 3 (01:09:47):
That's insane, absolutely insane, it really is. But it really
is to show how quick of a turnaround this was
for Oka. See, because I would bet heavily on the
Hawks and the King to not sniff an NBA championship
two years from now.

Speaker 4 (01:10:04):
And okay, see just did it.

Speaker 3 (01:10:06):
They just pulled off that two year turnaround from a
sub five hundred team to NBA champs. That's insanity. Are
you ready for a no rant? Would you like a
little no rant here? I think you'll probably be on
board this one.

Speaker 5 (01:10:20):
Okay, Okay, you and I we we find each other.

Speaker 6 (01:10:23):
Just yeah, I don't think Richard, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:10:28):
Rich chops.

Speaker 3 (01:10:29):
By the way, side, note, I am doing crack research
on the NFL seating. You know, Jared is thrown it out.

Speaker 4 (01:10:38):
They're like, I hate and just just a quick day.

Speaker 3 (01:10:42):
I hate that a wild card team with like a
better record by like four wins is on the road
to a division winner that's like five hundred or barely above.
I've been going year by year crack freaking research how
many times this has happened in NFL playoff history. So
give me a little bit of time and I'll bear

(01:11:02):
out your findings. Okay, So here's the no rant. I'm
curious if you guys are on board or not. So
while we're speaking of Okac, something has to stop immediately.
I've read it time and time again. I've heard it
time and time again. This hesitancy to say man, okay,
see is gonna be a problem for years and years.

(01:11:24):
They're young, they're really good, Their core guys aren't going anywhere.
They have this treasure chest of draft picks that who
knows what they're gonna do with those. Okay, so he's
gonna be a real problem for a long time. It's
like all this hedging happens where it's like, well, I mean,
nothing's for sure. And remember what happened with the Kevin

(01:11:45):
Durant and Russell Westbrook era. And we thought they were
gonna be unbelievable and they weren't. YadA YadA, Like we
don't do that with any other team. I mean, just
think about this. Go to the NFL. Does anybody hedge
with the Eagles? Hey, the Eagles gonna repeat as champions?

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
Ah?

Speaker 3 (01:12:04):
Well, remember the Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid era. You know,
like nothing is promised, nothing is for No one thinks
like that. Why is it just with OKC. I want
to screen from the mountaintops. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant
have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with OKAC. Now, stop

(01:12:27):
dragging them in as if they do. They don't apply anymore.

Speaker 5 (01:12:32):
So I'll tell you the reason why. It's it's a
biased based response. It's because nobody really cares about OKAC.
So nobody really knows about OKAC. It's a small market team.
What does that mean? There's only limited regional interests. There
isn't national interest in the thunder And when that happens,

(01:12:54):
like I'll give you a comparison, like if a lone
number of television sets tuned in for just Los Angeles,
if say the Lakers made the finals. Is if just
ten percent of the televisions in Los Angeles tuned in
to watch the Lakers in the finals, it would have
trumped If a third of the TVs in each of

(01:13:15):
the markets in Okasee and Indie turned on their televisions
combined to watch the finals. That's how many more people
there are in Los Angeles than the combined markets in
Indianapolis and Oklahoma City.

Speaker 2 (01:13:30):
It's just a small market team.

Speaker 5 (01:13:32):
So nobody knows about OKAC, So nobody cares about OKAC.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
So nobody is you know, all.

Speaker 5 (01:13:39):
That enthralled or enraptured with the idea that Okayse's gonna
be good for a long while. That's that's the quickest
response I can give you. That's the reason.

Speaker 2 (01:13:49):
Brian M.

Speaker 6 (01:13:50):
Yeah, Rich's point makes sense.

Speaker 7 (01:13:52):
I think human psychology also factors in, right, it's the
gamblers fallacy. Oh my god, the roulette wheel has spun
black eight consecutive spins. No way it's gonna go black
for the next spin. Well, actually, the odds of it,
you know, either being black or red are fifty to fifty.
I guess I know there's the zero and the triple zero,

(01:14:12):
but you get the point, right, Like coin Flip's the
better analogy, right, coin Flip's gone heads five, six, seven
straight times.

Speaker 6 (01:14:18):
It has to go tails on the next flip, right, No,
it's fifty to fifty.

Speaker 7 (01:14:23):
OKC is the favorite to win next year, significant favorite,
Like it's not even close. Their odds of winning next
year are not impacted at all by what happened last year,
that is the gamblers fallacy. This year, their odds will
be impacted by injuries, luck, you know, the normal things
that take place during a season. But if you played

(01:14:45):
out the season based on what the odds are telling
us a gajillion times, Oklahoma City would win more than
any other team.

Speaker 2 (01:14:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:14:53):
I just think the previous KD.

Speaker 3 (01:14:56):
Westbrook era, there were such high hopes the Beard, right,
James Harden was there. There were such high hopes that
they were gonna win titles, and they didn't. So I
get it, like there's this it's in the front of
your forehead and you can't get away from it, and
you think it applies to the hero and now, but
it really doesn't.

Speaker 4 (01:15:14):
It doesn't apply to the hero.

Speaker 3 (01:15:15):
And now, if you go through NBA history, think how
ridiculous it would sound looking back when the Bulls finally
want a championship in ninety one, if anyone was like,
whoa who, let's settle down, let's pump the brakes on
this being a dynasty. Remember the Bob Love era in
the seventies. So let's calm it down a little bit.

(01:15:36):
And they rattle off, you know, six of eight championships.
I'm just telling you, Okac is young, really good. Their
core isn't going anywhere. We got all these draft picks,
They're just gonna add to it. They are a major, major,
major problem going forward. It would not shock me at
all if they turn out to be a dynasty. But
what I do know is that Kevin Durant and Russell

(01:15:59):
Westbrook and that era has nothing to do with the
here and now, Absolutely nothing when you stop and think
about it. But I hear it and read it time
and time again as if it does apply, and it
just flat out doesn't. All Right, We've got rich Oronberger,
Penn State All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst, I'm
Brian no use code countdown at BETMGM and receive up

(01:16:21):
to fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if you
don't win your first bet. When you register with betmgm,
you'll get instant access to a variety of parlay selection features,
live betting options, signature bets, and the best daily promotions
in the business. Again, use code countdown and you'll get
up to fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if
you don't win your first bet. All right, coming up next,

(01:16:42):
prop it up. That's right, the prop betting market. Man,
I might just keep picking on one particular guy here.
Going forward, we'll see what the Jared and Rich have
for us as well. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown
presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented
by Bett MGM. And it's time for the Tiraq Play

(01:17:04):
of the day. Puh one.

Speaker 2 (01:17:05):
That's I'll ball out to deep ride field. Does it
have en up on it? It does?

Speaker 5 (01:17:11):
Into the seats, a two run homer for Gunner Henderson,
his ninth of the season.

Speaker 2 (01:17:17):
Hey, the Orioles now.

Speaker 5 (01:17:19):
Have a ten spot over the Rays eighteen to eight.

Speaker 3 (01:17:24):
That's a courtesy of WBAL Oreos Radio Network. How about
that Orioles were trailing the Rays six nothing. They won
the game twenty two to eight. Think about if you're
betting on that and you're down six nothing, You're like,
I'm an idiot, Why would I back the He won
twenty two to eight. Everything out fine. For over forty years,

(01:17:44):
Tiraq has been helping customers find the right tires for how,
what and where they drive. Ship fast and free back
by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like
mobile tire installation tirack dot com. The way tire buying
should be right. Let's do this.

Speaker 1 (01:18:03):
Prop it up player plays.

Speaker 3 (01:18:06):
Alright the prop betting market. Jared, we hand the baton
to you first. What do you have for us today?

Speaker 6 (01:18:14):
Let's go to the w We have one game on
the card tonight.

Speaker 7 (01:18:17):
It's an intriguing game. Mystics and Wings game will be
later tonight. I'm gonna go Page Beckers over seventeen and
a half points.

Speaker 6 (01:18:24):
She has been an absolute rock star.

Speaker 7 (01:18:26):
She had twenty six last night against the Fever so
second of a back to back, but the minutes have
been there, averaging thirty six minutes per game, averaging over
eighteen points per game, and she's facing a Mystics team
that's allowing eighty per game.

Speaker 6 (01:18:38):
So I think the matchup makes a whole lot of sense.
The usage makes sense.

Speaker 7 (01:18:41):
Dallas a high scoring team. I actually kind of like
Washington in the game. They'll get to that later.

Speaker 6 (01:18:46):
But I'll balance my action a little bit.

Speaker 7 (01:18:48):
I'll give you Page Beckers over seventeen and a half
points minus one fifteen your price at bet MGM.

Speaker 5 (01:18:54):
Okay, So the MLB I go, and it's the same player,
but it's a different position. Show Heyotani again, but this
time from the mound. In its first start, he didn't
have any strikeouts. He threw the ball twenty two times,
obviously on a pitch count. His second start, he threw
I believe he was sixteen pitches struck out too.

Speaker 2 (01:19:17):
Show Heyotani is going to be eased into his pitching routine.

Speaker 5 (01:19:22):
He is not even close to a finished product coming
off injury, and Dave Roberts has not put a pitch
count limit on him, but he said if he gets
to the second eating, we're gonna consider that a bonus.

Speaker 2 (01:19:34):
I'm gonna consider it done.

Speaker 5 (01:19:36):
One and a half strikeouts from the mound, take over
I believe in show. Heyotani, he's a star, he's a stud.
I think he's finding his rhythm, he's finding his stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:19:48):
So give me the over one and a.

Speaker 3 (01:19:49):
Half pitcher strikeouts for show, Hao tan, I all right,
you have good reason to believe in Otani.

Speaker 4 (01:19:56):
I have good reason to not believe in Antonio.

Speaker 3 (01:19:59):
Sends it to he is a rocky starting pitcher, and
it's been rough, nothing personal, but his record is three
and ten as Thera is six forty eight, and the
last time he faced the Brewers who he faces today
on the road. The last time at home, Senzatela gave
up eight hits and eight earned runs in four and
a third, So not grace. I'm gonna go over two

(01:20:19):
and a half earned runs given up by Sensatela against
the Brewers team that's hot twenty one and eight since
May twenty fifth. So I hate to be a broken record,
but I see value here in fading Sensatella.

Speaker 4 (01:20:33):
So I'm just gonna keep going to the well.

Speaker 3 (01:20:35):
Here and hope that the brew crew their offense is
clicking today. And I think three earned runs is not
asking for the sun to moon and the heavens over
here against sensatella, So I'll roll with that, all right.
Coming up next to me, this is the most fascinating
NFL team for the upcoming season. We'll share that with you.
Coming up right around the corner. Oh, welcome in Happy

(01:20:58):
Saturday to you. We will get to the most fascinating
NFL team this season just a couple of seconds. Hey,
you can stream this show and all of our Fox
Sports Radio shows live twenty four to seven in the
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(01:21:20):
like the presets on a radio dial. So be sure
to preset Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app. Then
it'll always pop up at the top of your screen. Okay,
the most fascinating team, at least to me is the
Minnesota Vikings. Fellas, you can push back in standard Ornberger fashion.

Speaker 7 (01:21:40):
Have you.

Speaker 3 (01:21:43):
I put the Vikings at the top. Yeah, because listen,
this team went fourteen and three last season, and there's
season win total right now at BETMGM is eight and
a half.

Speaker 4 (01:21:56):
Now, it's juice to the over it's minus a.

Speaker 3 (01:21:58):
Dollar forty five, So you would have to risk one
hundred and forty five dollars to win one hundred dollars.
You don't have to risk that. It's just that's the
you know, that's the exchange rate, if you will, the
under is plus one twenty. And if you look at
the Vikings, another market here, all right, so their season
win total is eight and a half. That's just five hundred, right,

(01:22:22):
just over five hundred to get to nine to eight
fourteen and three last season. So Vegas is like, eh,
I don't know about this Vikings team with this new quarterback.
The Vikings to make the playoffs, yes, is even money.
It's plus one hundred, No is minus one twenty. So
I just think the cliffs Notes version with JJ McCarthy

(01:22:44):
taking over as a first year starter, I cannot wait
to see how it plays out, because to me, it's
the gift and the curse. The supporting cast is a really,
really good supporting cast that the Vikings have offensively around
their quarterback, defensively, just the roster in general. Kevin O'Connell,
you gotta support system in place. As the first year

(01:23:06):
starter with JJ McCarthy, it is Chief's esque right when
Mahomes took over a lot of firepower Andy Reid's bags.
That's a great supporting cast. JJ McCarthy has a lot
around him, so that's a good thing. That's the gift.
The curse is you better hit the ground running. This
is a fourteen win team from last season, high expectations,

(01:23:29):
super Bowl aspirations. The Vikings have even come out and said, hey,
the reason we didn't go with Rogers. We're on a
three year super Bowl plan with JJ McCarthy. So the
curse is the treadmill is on ten miles per hour,
you know, and you're supposed to hop on that thing
and start sprinting right away and producing immediately. Sam Darnold

(01:23:50):
threw thirty five touchdown passes last season, So if the
production takes a step back, if the wins take a
step back, that's a lot of heat on JJ McCarthy
in his very first NFL start, So we'll see if
he can live up to it or not.

Speaker 2 (01:24:05):
I love this. I love this.

Speaker 5 (01:24:06):
I completely agree that the Vikings are among the most
interesting teams in.

Speaker 2 (01:24:13):
All of sports right now.

Speaker 5 (01:24:14):
If you look at Kevin O'Connell, who I know, well,
he was a teammate of mine in New England. He
lived in San Diego and was an analyst on the
same television station that I am, a current.

Speaker 2 (01:24:29):
Football analyst on NBC San Diego. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:24:31):
I mean, so there's been a lot of crossover and
through lines throughout our career, and every once in a
while still keep in touch and drop him a note.
He is a tremendous person before he is a tremendous coach,
and he is both. He's a good leader, he's a
good communicator. He's uh, he's gonna get the very best

(01:24:55):
out of JJ McCarthy. There's no doubt in my mind
every quarterback he's worked with, he's gotten the very best
out of. There's no doubt in my mind that the
Vikings are going to be a contender in that division
or a very least make noise in the Wildcard. But
the team I'm going to point this conversation toward is
actually the team where myself and Kevin O'Connell first met,

(01:25:18):
the New England Patriots. I mean, how could you not
you have Mike vrabel brand new coaching staff when I
was drafted by the Patriots.

Speaker 2 (01:25:25):
The legacy was already set. The culture was in place.

Speaker 5 (01:25:30):
It was the Patriot way, was Belichick's way, and they
went on to have a tremendous amount of success after
I left New England. I mean, it was twenty years
of dominance and then all of a sudden.

Speaker 2 (01:25:43):
Brady leaves.

Speaker 5 (01:25:44):
It all fall falls apart and they hire Girod. Mayo
as the heir apparent to Bill Belichick. That was a
one year unfortunate disaster. Because I played with Draft as well.
I really respect him I think he's a tremendous person too.
It just didn't work out as a head coach. And
now you look at Rabel, who's a tremendous coach with

(01:26:07):
an improving roster with a real quarterback. I think Drake
may is a real quarterback. And this is for the
first time in his head coaching career that.

Speaker 2 (01:26:15):
He's paired with a real quarterback. Think about it.

Speaker 5 (01:26:17):
The best quarterback Mike Rabel has ever coached.

Speaker 2 (01:26:21):
With is is Tannehill. I mean like and he's done
so much.

Speaker 5 (01:26:28):
So I look at the mixture of Drake may The
improvements on the offensive line is Stefan Diggs can get
his head straight and his acl right. Improvements elsewhere on
this roster and a similar win total in Vegas for
the Patriots as being the most interesting team heading into
the twenty twenty five season.

Speaker 7 (01:26:49):
So I don't think I can pick a most interesting team.
I think all the NFL teams are like Las Potato chips.
You can't eat just one. So what I'll do, I'll
analyze the two teams that you guys gave me, and
we'll try to find some middle ground. I already bet
Minnesota Week one breaking news. I've already made multiple Week

(01:27:12):
one bets. One of them was Minnesota plus one and
a half at Chicago Week one. Monday Night football should
be a fantastic game. Gonna be an awesome Monday Night.

Speaker 5 (01:27:19):
I love how your brain works, Jared. You are ten
steps ahead of the rest of the world.

Speaker 6 (01:27:25):
Well, here's the thing, Like.

Speaker 7 (01:27:29):
JJ McCarty's like Schrodinger's cat, like we don't know. He
could be the next coming of Peyton Manning, like he
very well could be. He could be the next to
Marcus Russell, like you know, it could be either or
I would lean towards the positive because of what you said,
Rich the coach, the supporting cast, which is what Brian mentioned.
Like all of those things, I think are very positive

(01:27:52):
for McCarthy and O'Connell. This is a very good Vikings team.
Their schedule is very interesting. I think Minnesota, I'll leave
it at this, they have a very interesting schedule. Week
one at Chicago Monday Night, a lot of Kleb Williams
hype of course with Ben Johnson and all that fun
stuff happened in Chicago. Then another primetime game the next
week against Michael Pennix and a very interesting, uh, you know,

(01:28:13):
a mixed bag with what Atlanta's doing. I think the
Falcons are very live to win the NFC South. Then
they play Cincinnati with an MVP candidate and a defense
that we're not sure about. Then they go overseas back
to back games Ireland and London, Pittsburgh, Cleveland. So those
first five games, by the way, they're favored in four

(01:28:33):
of the five, and the Minnesota Chicago game Week ones
to pick them, I mean, they very well could be
three and two four and want to start. And then
they go to their by obviously after the two games overseas,
and they face the Eagles, the Chargers, the Lions, the Ravens.
So those first nine weeks for Minnesota up till week
ten are just a roller coaster ride. You're going overseas,

(01:28:55):
you're facing divisional opponents, you're facing the defending champs, you're
facing a team that had the best record in the
league last year. Like, it's just you got a lot
on your plate those those first nine weeks. For New England,
it's the opposite. The expectations are super high, but last
year wasn't good. So it's like Minnesota great year last year,

(01:29:16):
expectations medium this year, New England last year terrible. Now
expectations sky high. Like, I think both teams are probably
gonna land somewhere in the middle there. I would probably
lean to the under on New England just because I
worry about a team that barely could win a game
last year. Now they're expected their favored in a bunch

(01:29:36):
and they're expected to win like nine ten games, whereas
Minnesota still kind of flying under the radar, which is
exactly where they were last year when they went total
was six and a half and they won fourteen. So
if you ask me of those two, which one I'm
more bullish on this year, I think it'd be Minnesota.

Speaker 3 (01:29:54):
Well, I just I'll say, if you compare the two quarterbacks.
Think about Drake May, who is the third overall pick
last year, and he was not expected to hit the
ground running. It's not like the Patriots had these sky
high expectations, you know what I mean. They were coming
off a fourteen win season the year before, and now

(01:30:14):
it's like, all right, Drake May, there's a standard here.
You got to produce out of the shoot. You know
we got we need wins, we need production individual numbers
from me. It wasn't like that at all. And all
things considered, Drake May played pretty well, but his expectations,
like people weren't sitting there with their arms folded, skytl
on their face, like dude, you better start performing right now.

(01:30:37):
But that's the way it's gonna be with JJ McCarthy.
That's why the Vikings are so fascinating to me. And
the McCarthy dynamic, it's just it's different, Like Cam Woard
the number one overall pick. We're not gonna expect him
to just hit the ground running. It's not like they
won fourteen games. They lost fourteen games last season, you know.
So it's just such a different dynamic for McCarthy than

(01:31:00):
the other quarterbacks. That's why I'm fascinated one other thing
to throw out. If you look at division odds, they're
all out. If you look at the AFC West, oh boy,
Chiefs have won it the last nine years in a row.
Andy Reid has done it seven years in a row
with Mahomes. He did it the two prior years with

(01:31:21):
Alex Smith. Andy Reid has won it for almost a decade.
If they win it this next year, it will be
a decade. The Chiefs are minus one twenty five to
win the AFC West, and I'm like, wow, really, that's
that's it? So would you make that bet? Or would
you go in the three to one ish range? The

(01:31:43):
Chargers are plus three thirty three, Broncos are plus three fifty.
So if you bet one hundred bucks on on the Broncos, say,
you would win three hundred and fifty dollars compared to
if you bet those one hundred dollars on the Chiefs,
you're winning less than one hundred dollars.

Speaker 4 (01:31:58):
That's how big of a difference it is.

Speaker 3 (01:32:01):
But I don't know how you you don't make that
wager on the Chiefs like their talent is still there.
They addressed the offensive line, and this might sound weird.
I think they're even more dangerous coming off a Super
Bowl loss than they would be had they three peted
like they just got punked on the biggest stage. And

(01:32:24):
you're not telling me they aren't bent heading into this
season and ultra focused throughout. I just Jim Harbaugh year
two it was specially in San Francisco. Maybe it's special
And with the Chargers, Broncos real defense that the top
three teams played real defense last year, all of them
were in the top five. But man, I love the Chiefs.

(01:32:46):
You like them with minus won twenty five to win
the West.

Speaker 2 (01:32:49):
Rich all right, So.

Speaker 5 (01:32:53):
Yes, to answer your question, you a single word, yes,
And they're favored for a reason and gave all the reasons.
So I'll give you the reason why. I think there's
value with the Broncos, with the Chargers, and even the Raiders.
Now hang on tight because I know you're like, what
well even mentioned the Raiders?

Speaker 2 (01:33:12):
What is your deal here?

Speaker 5 (01:33:14):
So look, there's only a handful or so really special
coaches in the NFL. Right, there's only a handful or
so really special quarterbacks in the NFL. You know, I mean,
we could start splitting hairs around, you know, quarterback number
six or seven. Same thing with the head coaches. But
I mean, like you know, you start naming them. We've

(01:33:36):
named a couple of them, Kevin O'Connell, Rabel, there's four
of them in the AFC West, Reid Harbaugh, Peyton Carroll.
There's four of them in the AFC West. And then
you go, okay, well, I mean, surely all four of
them cannot possibly have a quarterback that's ranked in the
top ten.

Speaker 2 (01:33:56):
And then all of a sudden, you go, well, hang
on a second, Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 5 (01:34:00):
Justin Herbert bo Nix is flirting with top ten, and
Gino Smith has performed over the past handful of years
like a top ten quarterback at times throughout the first
season where we really burst on the scene in Seattle.
So yeah, listen, I can see the value. Well, I
would rather take the favorite in this discussion. I can

(01:34:23):
completely see the value in putting a little money, putting
a little scratch on the Chargers. If you're a big
believer in Harbaugh on the up and coming Broncos, if
you're a big believer in the Peyton Knicks era, I
can see the value there.

Speaker 7 (01:34:44):
So I think it's either Chargers or Chiefs. I don't
think Denver's ready yet, just based off of my initial evaluation.

Speaker 6 (01:34:53):
Obviously Vegas.

Speaker 7 (01:34:54):
Don't get me wrong, I would love to see the
Gino Smith experiment turn.

Speaker 6 (01:34:58):
Into then the Gold and Nim Hills, but I don't.
I don't think it's gonna happen.

Speaker 7 (01:35:04):
The reason why I would be willing to bet the
Chiefs look at the Week one game, right. The Chargers
gave up their home game to play the opener in
Brazil against the Chiefs the Friday night game, and the
Chiefs are favored in that game by three points.

Speaker 6 (01:35:20):
So the money line is going to be hired the
minus one twenty five.

Speaker 7 (01:35:23):
If you think the Chiefs are winning Week one, why
would you bet the Chargers to win the division.

Speaker 6 (01:35:28):
In Week one or before Week one?

Speaker 7 (01:35:31):
You're gonna get a better number after that game, right,
So that you have to ask yourself that question first,
don't worry about the division odds. Week one, Kansas City
LA on a neutral in Brazil, Chiefs favored by a
field goal, who wins? We all pretty much think the
Chiefs are going to win that game. I mean that

(01:35:52):
there's your answer right there. So yeah, I did this
last Remember I did the Division winners parlay, which hit
last year. I think it was like ten to one.
I did it the week or two weeks before the
season started. The Chiefs were one of those teams. They
were in the division parlay for the AFC West. Probably
going to be in there this year because if I
think the Chiefs are winning Week one in Brazil, which
I do, can't take the Chargers at least not yet.

Speaker 3 (01:36:15):
Yeah, man, minus one twenty five almost seems too good
to be true. I saw that, and I was like,
the Chiefs. Yeah, I realized there's some legitimate competition minus
the Raiders, but I still I'm not making a bet
on those other two teams.

Speaker 6 (01:36:32):
Yeah, fifty on the money line week one before I'm betting.
There's your price difference right there.

Speaker 3 (01:36:37):
Yeah. Hey, if you got like crazy gamble in you,
maybe you back the Chargers after they lose Week one.

Speaker 6 (01:36:43):
Shit, no time to bet la, right right?

Speaker 3 (01:36:46):
All right, We've got rich John Berger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian. No use code
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(01:37:09):
to fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if you
don't win your first bet. All right, coming up next,
We've got two trades to discuss, but only one of
them actually makes a shred of sense. That's only the way.
It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It is
Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. Score bigger at
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(01:37:32):
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basketball betting options, including new look same game parlays, teasers,
live bets, and so much more. So a breaking news,
we actually have three trades to discuss over there. So
how about this The Calves just traded for Lonzo Ball.

Speaker 6 (01:37:55):
Don't hate it?

Speaker 2 (01:37:56):
Wow?

Speaker 3 (01:37:57):
Lonzo Ball going to the Calves, and hey, good for him, right,
like Lonzo Ball is, it's been pretty good. It's just
the injuries. The injuries have been such a setback for him.
But going to a team that had the best record
in the East, like legitimate chance to get some minutes
be on a really, really good team. Can't say the

(01:38:17):
same for the playing for the Bulls these days, and
the Calves give up Isaac Ocoro. But interesting move for
the Calves to go out and get Lonzo Ball where yeah,
he's got high upside, but the injury issues are obvious.
But kind of like a whoa, okay, Calves targeting Lonzo Ball.

Speaker 4 (01:38:37):
Okay, it's like a oh, yow, all right.

Speaker 5 (01:38:41):
I think they have belief in the structure, in the
system they built. Obviously a playoff team this year, obviously
a young team, inexperienced team. He's now a veteran in
this league and high upside on this trade. If he
can stay healthy, he can be a contributor in Cleveland.
There's no doubt about it.

Speaker 6 (01:39:01):
I'll be honest, I kind of like it.

Speaker 7 (01:39:04):
I mean, they had the best record in the East
this year, couldn't get past.

Speaker 6 (01:39:09):
The second round.

Speaker 7 (01:39:11):
Obviously, Indiana ended up, you know, looking a lot better
than we expected.

Speaker 6 (01:39:14):
You know, a team that knocked out Cleveland.

Speaker 7 (01:39:15):
But I I think I think you spice it up
a little bit, right, Like that's kind of what they're missing,
is this spicy score who can do a whole bunch
of different things. You know, isn't afraid of the moment.
It feels like an intriguing trade where I actually kind
of like Cleveland a little more now.

Speaker 3 (01:39:36):
Hmm, yeah, I just you gotta wonder if he's gonna
stay healthy. Obviously absolutely two seasons, like two and a
half seasons due to injury. So man, that's well, see
it's always I'll say this, it's really interesting to see
how these teams are tinkered with. Think about Oka, see right, Okay,
see went and traded Josh Gitdty for Alex Caruso. They

(01:39:59):
went and they got Isaiah Hartenstein, and both of those
guys contributed in big ways. That worked out for Sam Presty.
So I mean this is not a blockbuster trade, but
in terms of being a role player getting minutes, you know,
like getting Lonzo Ball, he's gonna be expected to be
one of their contributors. So interesting one. Now here's a

(01:40:21):
trade that makes not a whole lot of sense at
all considering the risk factor. The New Orleans Pelicans, Oh
my goodness, Joe Dumars, who's new in town. He's like,
I'm wheeling and dlan on draft night. So this was
a round one and Joe Dumars, he traded up ten
spots to get Derreck Queen, who was a really good

(01:40:44):
freshman for the Crab five over there at Maryland, had
the game winning shot against the Sparti right. Some said
it was a travel, but the official said it was
the gather and then the two steps, so we're all good.
A huge shot nevertheless, But Derreck Queen, he gets drafted
by the Pelicans. They move up ten spots. All it
cost them was their unprotected first round pick. Next year.

(01:41:08):
New Orleans went twenty one and sixty one. They had
the fourth worst NBA record last season. If the ping
pong balls go a little bit differently, if they're in
the twenty one ish win range, this could literally be
the number one overall pick that New Orleans just traded
away next year. It's like, listen, Derek Queen might end

(01:41:31):
up being a good NBA player. That is way too
big of a risk for Derek Queen. That's you can't
spend one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars on a
Nissan Ultima. It's just not worth it, right Like, And
even though Queen might be good, I just think that
is as way too big of a risk for New

(01:41:52):
Orleans who's trying to rebuild, and they might have just
sent away one of their key rebuilding chips in this treis.

Speaker 5 (01:42:02):
What's weird about it is the attached value, like the
added value and the added pressure when you make a
move like this. So this is obviously for for all
the reasons you just laid out a highly criticized trade.
There are some people calling this the dumbest trade in
a decade. And by the way, that's on the heels

(01:42:25):
of the Luka Doncic trade.

Speaker 2 (01:42:28):
Okay, so.

Speaker 5 (01:42:30):
This this isn't good. I'm talking about just optics. It
isn't good for Dumars.

Speaker 2 (01:42:37):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (01:42:37):
So then you hear his defense. His rationale is, I
believe in Queen, He's going to be a cornerstone to
this franchise. And then you know, the naysayers continue and
he doubles down. He says, no, they don't know what
they're talking about I do well. Look in poker, this

(01:42:58):
is the all in moment, you know what I mean.
This is when you take your chips, you slide them
to the middle of the Bible and you say, my
hand's better than than your hand. And who's gonna blink first?
You fold in or you hold him. Let's go. So
we're about to find out whether or not du Mars
is keeping his job. That's basically what this comes down to.
Because you can't gamble two first round draft picks in

(01:43:21):
the NBA on a player and miss.

Speaker 2 (01:43:22):
You just can't do it.

Speaker 6 (01:43:24):
You guys watched Seinfeld back in the day. Jackie childs, It's.

Speaker 7 (01:43:28):
Preposterous, it's ludicrous, it's asinine, it's idiotic.

Speaker 6 (01:43:33):
Like I just I can't but I like it. But I.

Speaker 7 (01:43:37):
Can't think of a of an adjective more uh apropos
than than those.

Speaker 6 (01:43:43):
I let's just break it down, right.

Speaker 7 (01:43:46):
You take Jeremiah Fear's seventh overall defensive questions under size guard,
huge upside to the offense for sure. You've already got
Zion Williamson on your team. You got Jordan Poole on
your team. You've got Sadik Bay coming off a knee injury.
You've got a lot of defensive liabilities, and then you
trade up for a player that Listen, I think Derek

(01:44:08):
Queen has a chance to be a good player, But
the biggest question mark we had on him going in
was not a great defensive player for a big So
you're basically building an entire roster of suspect defensive players
and you had a bad year this year. I don't

(01:44:28):
think they're that much better to where you are ticketing
them for a top six seed this year, So likely
that is going to be a lottery pick next year.

Speaker 6 (01:44:39):
Maybe it's not the number one pick. We've seen how
we've seen.

Speaker 7 (01:44:43):
How the draft lottery kind of rewards certain teams and
penalizes others. So maybe the lottery gods will not bestow
a number one pick.

Speaker 6 (01:44:53):
To New Orleans next year if they have a bad record.
But this is a risky move.

Speaker 7 (01:44:58):
Yeah, this is really ski and maybe Joe Dumars is
drinking the you know, the Cajun gumbo down there in
New Orleans.

Speaker 6 (01:45:06):
But I just I wouldn't have made this move.

Speaker 7 (01:45:09):
However, I do think Derek Queen's gonna be a good player,
and I love the fact that the first thing he
did after he got drafted was he updated his LinkedIn.

Speaker 6 (01:45:15):
Profile, which was hilarious to me.

Speaker 7 (01:45:18):
Hey, I'm congratulations, I'm now a professional basketball player in
the NBA.

Speaker 6 (01:45:21):
Like, I don't know if I would do that if
I was in the NBA. But hey, he's just like us,
and it's just it's just a risky move. That's so
risky way to describe it.

Speaker 3 (01:45:29):
Yeah, some take it for what it's worth. Some had
Derek Queen rated outside the top thirty. They didn't have
him rated as a first round pick, and Dumer just
made that trade.

Speaker 6 (01:45:40):
That's wow.

Speaker 3 (01:45:41):
That is a double eyebrow razer. That's a you to
brow raiser. Everything's raised on that.

Speaker 6 (01:45:46):
Wow for Repelican Anthony Davis Brow.

Speaker 4 (01:45:48):
Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 3 (01:45:49):
All ties in. Okay. One other to discuss, how about uh,
Kevin Durant. He's heading to the Houston Rockets. So the
Suns they get Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks to overall pick
in this year's draft, and five second round picks for
Kevin Durant and listen, man, this is a really interesting
thing with Kevin Durant because I love him as a player,

(01:46:14):
but he's kind of like in the Yeah, but territory
right now, right where he's thirty six years old.

Speaker 4 (01:46:19):
He is a living legend. He's a walking bucket.

Speaker 2 (01:46:22):
Still.

Speaker 3 (01:46:23):
He's averaged twenty seven points for his entire career, just
scored under twenty seven last season, a scoch over twenty
seven the year prior with the Suns. So he's a
walking bucket. He can score for you. But you know,
I told you I'm rewatching the last dance. And there
was a line from Jordan, and I can't help but

(01:46:44):
think of Kevin Durant differently, Like here, listen to the
line of what Jordan said about his approach when he
was on the basketball court.

Speaker 1 (01:46:51):
Here you go, every time I step on that basketball court,
my focus is to win a game.

Speaker 2 (01:46:56):
It drives me insane when I can.

Speaker 3 (01:46:59):
Okay, now, think about that as it relates to KD.
I look at some of the greats like Jordan, it
killed him to lose, Kobe, it killed him to lose.

Speaker 4 (01:47:09):
It does not kill Kevin.

Speaker 3 (01:47:11):
Durant to lose. And that's the thing where I think
sometimes we just look at stats and individual numbers and
KD has them. But in terms of just like driving
the bus, the engine, you know, what I mean, And
I'm not saying he's not a competitive player. Kevin Durant
is competitive, but it's not this you know, fierce it

(01:47:34):
kills me to lose. It's not like that with him.
So I think on paper KD is a really nice
addition for the Rockets, But in actuality, does he get
them in range to seriously challenge for a title? I'm
here to say I don't think he does. And I
love him as a player, but I just don't think

(01:47:55):
he does at this stage. Am I wrong here?

Speaker 5 (01:47:58):
I don't get wrong necessarily. I do think it could
pan out for them, and I understand Houston's rationale. You know,
they finished second in the West. They they look at
this and they say to themselves, how do we build
for the now? Whereas the Suns it's a complete change
of direction, building around a younger star and getting much

(01:48:22):
younger with the draft capital they received. And now, you know,
let's just focus on Durant himself for a second. This
is his fifth franchise he's played for now. It's kind
of weird when you think about his path from the
Thunder to the Warriors, to the Nets, then the Suns
and now onto the rockets. His legacy is set, but

(01:48:45):
I think he's kind of nomadic and if there's something
that's sort of I don't know when I think of
Kevin Durant. When I think about him, it's like a
rolling stone gathers no more.

Speaker 2 (01:49:01):
I don't have anything.

Speaker 5 (01:49:02):
I don't have anything bad to say about him, other
than at times maybe he allowed the media to bother him.
The media snipes that he red and he was barbed
by to bother him a little too much. But other
than that, isn't it weird when there's a nondescript champion,

(01:49:23):
like you know what I mean? Like I feel that
way about Kawhi Leonard, and I don't feel that way
about Kobe. I don't feel that way about Shaq. I
don't feel that way about Jordan or Pippen. I don't
feel that way about Draymond or Steph or Clay. But
I do feel that way about Kevin Durant.

Speaker 2 (01:49:42):
I don't know why.

Speaker 5 (01:49:43):
I think there's like a strange aloofness that he has
about his career, and I think he takes himself a
little too seriously on social media and it's kind of
been a distraction. Like you said, he's even as a
older player, he's a walking bucket. I think his veteran
experience can lend leadership to Houston. I think they could

(01:50:06):
be a much better team with him. But when you
hear Kevin Durant's name anymore, it doesn't have the same
I don't know, it doesn't deliver with the same gusto
it did when he left the Thunder for the first
time to join the Warriors.

Speaker 7 (01:50:22):
Yeah, that's fair. I mean, five teams in ten years.
You know, that's a new team every two years. You know,
that's pretty that's pretty nomadic even in today's sports society.

Speaker 6 (01:50:33):
I think.

Speaker 7 (01:50:36):
The market really likes this deal. I mean, Rockets are
now the second favorite to win the NBA title. So wow,
that's how much weight Kevin Durant gets in the market.

Speaker 6 (01:50:45):
And Brian, I think your point was probably the one
that hit home the most.

Speaker 7 (01:50:50):
Like on paper, right, the market loves this deal, like
Rockets are right there with the Thunder. I think the
Thunder deserved to be the favorite peer, but Houston getting
a lot of love. Kevin Durant still takes a lot
of weight when you have to guard him and you
have to plan for him. In that Rockets lineup, right, Shangoon,

(01:51:12):
look great, they got the veteran point guard, Van Fleet,
they got the up and coming wing player and Amen Thompson,
like they got all the pieces in a vacuum. This
should be a team that's ready to roll. But to
your point too, like that fire, do you have the
ability to live up to.

Speaker 6 (01:51:32):
The expectations he has in the past.

Speaker 7 (01:51:35):
This is a new fresh start like the Phoenix chapter.
Like of all the chapters that KD has had, right,
won the title with the Warriors, got close with the
thunder disaster in Brooklyn with Harden, and then he goes
to Phoenix, like the it feels like we've gone down

(01:51:55):
the ladder with each move. Okay, see you had this
bright young star and then he goes to Golden State
and it's awesome, and then Brooklyn kind of you know,
a chip off the legacy and then Phoenix couple chips
you know off the legacy.

Speaker 6 (01:52:11):
Now, you know, how does it end?

Speaker 7 (01:52:12):
Because I think we can all agree that this probably
is the last stop you would think, but I think
you've got to have a positive moment here because the
last two stops for KD have been very negative.

Speaker 4 (01:52:25):
Yeah, that's the thing, is I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:52:28):
I go back to what you said, Jeredy mentioned the Suns,
and I don't want to put everything at Kd's feet
because Bradley Beal is stealing money, right He is stealing
a lot of money right now. He's just not producing.
Bradley Beal is not a good player at all anymore.
And they didn't have any bench. You have Devin Booker

(01:52:51):
and a collection of dudes if you're looking at it
from kd's vantage point, right, So I don't want to
put everything on KD.

Speaker 4 (01:52:58):
But I still go back to Jordan Kobe.

Speaker 3 (01:53:02):
If you put them on that same Phoenix team, is
there record what it was with KD. Wait, well, I
don't know if they go that much, but they're better
just based on sheer will, you know what I mean?
Like just sheer fire. There's no way they're going down
like that. The Sons were thirty six and forty six.

(01:53:23):
They were thirty two games back of OKC, like and
that's the thing where I just look at KD and
although he's a walking bucket, to make this trade and
to give up that young talent and all the picks,
I just I want more fierceness.

Speaker 6 (01:53:43):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:53:43):
I want more dog.

Speaker 4 (01:53:45):
I don't want just numbers.

Speaker 3 (01:53:47):
I want someone that is fierce about winning, that is
just an absolute dog and will chew your ears off
to win. And that's just not where KD is at
this stage. And I'm not saying he isn't competitive. He is,
but it's not this insatiable thirst I have got to
at all costs. That's the way it was with Jordan
some other greats. It's just not with KD. And that's

(01:54:08):
why I think he got to go beyond the numbers
when it comes to dealing for KD right now. And
I get it. For Houston, I get why they did it.
I'm just saying I wouldn't all of a sudden think,
oh man, it's gonna bear all kinds of fruit immediately.
I think he's a huge name in his game. His
game isn't on par, his impact isn't on par with

(01:54:30):
his name anymore. Is what I would say about KD.

Speaker 5 (01:54:35):
I don't disagree. I don't think you're gonna find much disagreement.
The only thing I'll push back on is you don't
have to necessarily win the regular season.

Speaker 2 (01:54:45):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (01:54:46):
I think it's a kind of a beauty pageant like
who looks the best heading into the postseason. That's what
the regular season is now in the NBA, because it's
so diluted. I mean, ten teams get an opportunity from
each conference to win an NBA title every year. So
with that dilute of a field, all you got to
do is get your ball on the roulette wheel to

(01:55:09):
see if you can fare the best in the postseason.
So even though they may drag behind, Okay, see's still
in the West, I think adding Durant gives them a boost.
And like you said, Jared, clearly Vegas feels the same.

Speaker 4 (01:55:22):
Yeah, yeah, no, interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:55:24):
All right, that's rich Orenberger, Penn State All American Jared
Smith with us FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Shortly
after the show, our podcast will be going up. If
you missed anything on today's show, be sure to check
it out. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get
your podcasts, and be sure to also follow, rate and
review it again. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you
get your podcasts, and you'll see the show posted right

(01:55:45):
after we get off the air. All right, Coming up next,
Rapid Fire The Moment of Truth. Three selections for each
of us. We shall compare notes and see who the
best man is. On June twenty eighth, Fox Sports Radios
Countdown presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown

(01:56:05):
presented by BETMGM. Score bigger at bet MGM 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. And that's not all. 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. Hey props to the crew our trusted

(01:56:26):
producer Bo Benson the Dodger Zone Pod. Check it out
our trusted technical producer Chris Purfett Pride of Detroit Pod.
And shout out to our guy Sager on digital posting
our clips on social media. Appreciate its hard work. Top
of the Hour up on game, LaVar Arrington, TJ. Hushman, Zada, Plexico, Burus.

(01:56:47):
They are warming up in the bullpen. They will be
ready to throw fire right down the middle of the plate.

Speaker 4 (01:56:54):
They're not scared.

Speaker 3 (01:56:54):
Less than ten minutes from now, keep it locked right
here on Fox Sports Radio. All Right, we got some
picks to make. Let's rapid fire.

Speaker 4 (01:57:06):
Okay, Jared, we start with you.

Speaker 2 (01:57:07):
What do you like?

Speaker 7 (01:57:08):
Well, I'll be honest, we're in the dog days right
now because usually I've got, you know, new picks that
I didn't give out earlier in the show.

Speaker 6 (01:57:14):
This is a tough day to bet only one WNBA game.

Speaker 7 (01:57:16):
I know baseball's you know, front and center, but there's
this not a whole lot on the board I like,
So I'm gonna do some recycled picks.

Speaker 6 (01:57:22):
We gave this one earlier. I really like it though.

Speaker 7 (01:57:23):
Padres Reds Nerfy minus one oh five over at at MGM.

Speaker 6 (01:57:27):
This is pretty much a coin flip.

Speaker 7 (01:57:28):
Andrew Rabbit, though, has not been a coin flip fifteen
consecutive Nerfy's. He's got good numbers against his Padres lineup,
and Randy Baska.

Speaker 6 (01:57:34):
Has been pretty good too this year.

Speaker 7 (01:57:36):
Cincinnati win blowing out today at the ballpark, but I
think we get that first inning scoreless sluggle Nurfy in
Padres Reds, I gave you Page Beckers over seventeen and
a half points.

Speaker 6 (01:57:45):
I really like this.

Speaker 7 (01:57:46):
She is the best scorer on this Dallas Wings team,
and she has been fantastic this year. They're facing the
Mystics tonight. I think this is going to be a
high scoring game. Total is in the one sixties, but
I think the Mystics also get the win. So I'll
go minus two and a half. Why Washington over Dallas.
This Mystics team, youngest team in the league, They're covering
a bunch of numbers. The market really hasn't caught up

(01:58:06):
to Washington yet, and Wings playing second of a back
to back.

Speaker 6 (01:58:10):
They lost to the Fever last night.

Speaker 7 (01:58:11):
So Albo Padres, Reds nrfy Mystics minus two and a
half at the Wings.

Speaker 6 (01:58:14):
And Pagebackers over seventeen and a half points.

Speaker 2 (01:58:18):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (01:58:18):
Dodgers at Royals today. Freddy Freeman has scored a run
in four of his last five road games against right
handed starting pitchers, So give me Freeman over half a
run in this one. I'm also on Reds Padres today.
Give me the Reds minus one and a half, give
me the over on the nine and a half. There's

(01:58:40):
a lot of analysts will say there's no play on
either the spread or the UH or.

Speaker 2 (01:58:46):
The run total today, which tells me to.

Speaker 5 (01:58:49):
Go with my gut, and so we are, uh, we're
gonna take We're gonna take those Reds minus one and
a half. We're gonna take the over on that nine
and a half run with the win. Blow over at
the the America's Ballpark there in Cincinnati.

Speaker 3 (01:59:05):
Okay, slight disagreement, although it still we could thread the
needle and both be right. But I'm looking at this
Padres at Reds game. Andrew Abbott has been fantastic. Give
me under three and a half, under two and a
half earned runs against the Padres. A couple of reasons
Padres are tied. They're twenty second in runs scored this year,

(01:59:27):
They're not scoring runs left and right. And Andrew Abbott
has only given up at least three earned runs twice
this year in thirteen starts, and a nice little tie
in two thirteen is a song from Slayer. So how
could you not like the under in this situation here,
I'll roll with Abbot under two and a half earned runs,

(01:59:49):
give me over eight and a half. Marlins at the
d Backs Sandy Alcandre. His era is six sixty nine.
Brandon fa he is. I call him the Jr. Smith
of pitchers. Remember the streaky shooter JR.

Speaker 2 (02:00:05):
Smith.

Speaker 3 (02:00:05):
That'spot as a pitcher is era is five forty nine,
sometimes on point, sometimes he's not. It's actually ticked up
to nine. You can still go on the totals tab
on BETMGM. You can still take it at eight and
a half. Go over eight and a half. It's minus
a dollar thirty. Not crazy juice. I like you over
there and give me Giants White Sox under eight runs.

(02:00:25):
Robbie Ray has had a really good year. Adrian Hawser
quietly has been respectable in all six starts for the
White Sox. All of his games, by the way, have
been under eight runs collectively, So I like that as well. Done,
give me under eight for Giants White Sox. Giants are
offensively challenged anyway. Hey, good stuff today, guys. Everybody. Enjoy

(02:00:48):
your day.