Steve Hartman and Rich Ohrnberger talk NBA Playoffs, Lakers, and Clippers!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Please, you're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio Live the
dream once again here on a fully loaded sports Sunday.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
This is Fox Sports Sunday and we are broadcasting live
from the ti iraq dot com studios.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Ty rack dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
We're gonna help get you there and on Matt's selection
fast reshipping free road has a protection over ten thousand
recommended installers. Tie iraq dot com the way tire buying
should be. Well, Richie, here we are on a Sunday,
the NBA playoffs or underway. I got a lot of
thoughts on this year's NBA playoffs to share with you

(00:33):
and everyone else. And of course we are counting down
to the NFL Draft, which comes up on Thursday. And
before we get to what's going on with these NBA plus,
a quick note here because we're gonna have a lot
of draft talk today with the big day coming up
just four days away. But is it just me, Richie,

(00:55):
or have things been at least compared to last year
at the time a little quiet leading up to this
NFL Draft, because last year just seemed like there was
all kinds of stories floating right up until the final
you know, gun to start the draft and then, of course,
all that noise turned out to be a big bunch

(01:15):
of nothing. And now I'm thinking the opposite this year,
like it's been strangely quiet outside of you know, where's
JJ McCarthy going. And I don't know, maybe maybe it's
like the quiet before the storm.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
I hope.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
I would love to see all kinds of shenanigans explode
on Thursday. I'm getting this gut feeling that that might
be the case.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
Yeah, I agree with you.

Speaker 5 (01:39):
I feel like there are enough teams that had bad
enough records at the top of the draft, who don't
have need at quarterback, who are sitting on a pick,
who are going to move They're just looking for the
best possible deal. And I've always said this about contract
negotiations and situations like this. You know, where teams are

(02:02):
negotiating terms of a trade. You know we're gonna trade down.
We're gonna give Minnesota the fifth overall pick if you're
the Chargers. Well, people don't make decisions. Deadlines make decisions,
and whether those are perceived deadlines or they are actual
real deadlines, like the draft starting and a team being

(02:23):
on the clock. If there is a team motivated enough
to trade up to Arizona's pick because they're sticking with
Kyler Murray, or to the Chargers pick because they're sticking
with Justin Herbert. Well, that deadline of the ticking clock
in the background of the NFL Draft is going to
force a decision. And that's the reason why I think

(02:44):
it's been a little quiet. I think a lot of
these teams are sitting on the capitol and they're waiting
for the best possible deal, and that best possible deal
probably won't be consummated until the night up.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
So understand this.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
The boards have been set for all thirty two NFL
teams for a while now. There hasn't been a lot
of movement on boards. And when you hear stories like
let's use the Chargers because obviously a lot of people
are looking at the Chargers at number five because they
don't need a quarterback as a prime move up position.
And Hortiz, their general manager, new general manager spent all

(03:16):
those years with the Ravens in the player of personnel department,
is saying, yeah, you know, I really need something dynamic
to happen.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
We haven't really gotten any offers. Well, that's that's not true.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
In fact, most of the teams that are interested in
moving up to whatever spot it may be, have made
some kind of contact at least get a feel of, like,
all right, where do you guys really stand. Maybe obviously
no decisions have been made, we would have heard about that,
or maybe there have been decisions made that they're just
waiting until draft day. So the idea that everything just

(03:51):
sort of happens at the last second. Now, once the
draft starts, then moves can be made. Because I look
at it this way. If I were an NFL general manager,
this is the way I would operate. So I look
at my board and I say, all right, we have this.
This is the order of the players that we have listed,

(04:12):
and especially when we're talking about the first round, and
maybe we do have a position of need. But I
am a big believer in taking the best man on
the board. If you got to go. If you're sitting
at let's say number twenty and a guy you have
projected in the top tennis on the board, regardless whether
it's a need position, you take that guy. The other
thing I looked at, though, is let's say, and we

(04:36):
were Chris and I were talking about his Detroit Lions. Right,
they're sitting at twenty nine, and I asked him, what
you know, what kind of need do you? Guys say, well,
we could look at corner. Okay, let's say you have
a corner projected in the top twenty to be gone,
and all of a sudden, twenty one, twenty two, he's
still on the board. Then I'm thinking, okay, maybe we

(04:57):
can make a deal to move up to get him.
So that's pretty much how I would operate a draft.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
What say you, So, here's the deal.

Speaker 5 (05:08):
You could go in with whatever philosophy you want, not
knowing who's going to be there when it's your time
to select, and all of that can go out the
window because the reality is maybe you think you're going
to be trading your pick, but all of a sudden
somebody falls to your draft position where you go, oh,
there's no way we could trade out of the first round.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
We need this guy.

Speaker 5 (05:30):
Or frankly, what happens a lot to teams like I'll
give you an example. Micah Parsons fell to eleven. The
Cowboys needed a linebacker. They were sitting at I think
it was fourteen, the year that Micah Parsons was taken
out of Penn State. They traded up a couple of
spots to get Michael Parsons because they realized the value. Yes,

(05:50):
they said, hey, we'll get rid of, you know, a
couple of mid round picks to trade up a few
slots to get this generational talent on the defensive side
of the ball. And that's exactly what they did. So
my point is this, you could have an overarching philosophy
or a thought process about the way your draft is
going to go, or about the way you like to draft,

(06:12):
but the truth is you really don't know how you're
going to react until those bullets are flying for real
and come draft night.

Speaker 4 (06:19):
So many things occur in such a short.

Speaker 5 (06:22):
Amount of time that I imagine most of these, you know,
general managers or player personnel directors who like to wax
poetic about the things that they'd like to do or
the way that they generally like to draft, a lot
of that probably gets thrown at the wayside because you
really don't know who's going to be available when the

(06:43):
time comes.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, and that's that.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Like I said, you can have all the perfect plans
leading up to draft day and you start seeing the names.

Speaker 3 (06:52):
Come off the board. All right, we thought that wet
uh oh yeah, where that one come from?

Speaker 4 (06:56):
Yeah? Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
And then then what happens is a lot of times
is we'll get a run on a position because one
guy suddenly leapfrogs to a position knowing it projected him at.
And I mean it could be wide receiver, it could
be edge guys. There's a lot of different positions where
suddenly there's an unexpected run. And that's where certain players,

(07:22):
especially quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
We've seen this before, start falling down the board.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
And so I've said this many times and it's so
such a big part of the draft is not one
hundred percent who you draft, it's when you draft hump.
So you're getting draft value. And this is why when
teams reach and you say, well he was a good player, yeah,

(07:48):
but not at that spot. If you played your cards right,
you might have gotten him back a few spots and
maybe saved a draft pick or two, because every draft
pick has value. Which I want to go go back
to the two thousand and nine NFL draft. It was
a historic draft because it featured a third team AP

(08:08):
All American by the name of rich Ormberger, the pride
of East Metal High School.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
And to show you how significant that draft.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Was Yeah, not only was anyone associated with the Ornberger
family shut down on that day, his high school, East
Metal High School was.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
Shut down on that day.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
In fact, Penn State University, I understand, was shut down
as well.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
So, boy, let me ask you this before we even
get to that historic draft.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Right at what age did you first think about the
possibility or the so called dream of playing in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (08:53):
I know the exact moment, so I remember, and it's
so odd that I got drafted by the Patriots, but
I remember I was watching a Patriots game my first
year playing football. I had never played football until eighth grade,
and it was that fall that I began watching a

(09:14):
lot more professional football. Because I was a lacrosse player
and a basketball player growing up on Long Island, New York,
and so I had no inkling or desire whatsoever to
really play or watch football until I started playing it myself.

Speaker 4 (09:29):
A couple of coaches wanted me to join the team.

Speaker 5 (09:31):
I was nervous about it, decided to do it, and
so I remember falling in love with the sport immediately
because I enjoyed the violence and the aggression of the game.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
I enjoyed hitting people.

Speaker 5 (09:42):
I mean, it was part of the reason why I
liked lacrosse so much was they gave you a stick
and they said go run around and hit people with it.

Speaker 4 (09:48):
I thought that was cool. Man.

Speaker 5 (09:49):
So playing football it was, you know, just lawlessness for
three hours and you never got in trouble for beating
people up, and it just felt cool.

Speaker 4 (09:58):
And so I remember watching a Paytriots game.

Speaker 5 (10:01):
It was a Sunday afternoon, and I walked into my
living room and there was a close up of the
offensive lineman. I played offensive line in middle school and
defensive line in high school as well.

Speaker 4 (10:13):
You know, I played both ways.

Speaker 5 (10:15):
And I'm watching this game, this close up of this
Patriots games and on the back of the jerseys it
was Matt Light and it was Dan Copen and it
was Russ Hawk sign and there were a bunch of
these German last names, and my last name is Ornberger.
And so I'm thinking to myself, like I could see
I could see Ornberger in a Patriots jersey playing with

(10:36):
these other guys. And by the way, I'm not like
really into my German heritage or anything, but it was
just the first time I even thought to myself, like,
oh yeah, I could I could maybe one day do that,
and then sure enough, the majority of those guys I
just mentioned were on the team still when I was
drafted by the Patriots ten years later. It was bizarre.

(10:58):
Matt Light was still the left tackle, Dan Copen was
still the starting center. As a matter of fact, Russ
heikes Hachstein he was traded that camp to the Denver
Broncos because they brought in three drafted offensive linemen and
he was the odd man out.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
It was bizarre, But yeah, I remember that.

Speaker 5 (11:17):
Moment for whatever reason, it sticks out in my head
in my childhood, and sure enough it came true.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well, speaking of the draft, be sure to catch Fox
Sports Radio's Draft Night Live throughout the first round of
the Draft this coming Thursday, beginning at eight pm Eastern,
presented by Express Pros, the official employment agency of Fox
Sports Radio's draft coverage insider Jay Glazer, former Cardinals GM,
Steve Kine, college Football Hall of Famer our Buddy LeVar Arrington.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
Where do you go to college?

Speaker 2 (11:46):
At?

Speaker 4 (11:46):
Ten State? Were we are?

Speaker 2 (11:48):
And Big Newton Kickoss rob Stone will have pick by
pick predictions and reactions to every first round pick. That's
Thursday at a pm Eastern throughout the entire first round
of the draft live right here on Fox Sports Radio
on the Heart app presented by Express Pros. Will continue
on with the historic two thousand and nine NFL Draft,

(12:08):
of which the name Rich Ornberger emerge as the headline
name in that draft.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Also coming up.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
I'm gonna give I have a huge question about this
year's NBA Playoffs and the one thing that is missing.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
Stay with us. This is Fox Sports Sunday.

Speaker 6 (12:28):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot Com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
Two NBA Insiders podcasting twice a week to plug you
right into the NBA Grape five.

Speaker 7 (12:47):
All happening in only one place. This League Uncut, the
new NBA podcast with Me.

Speaker 4 (12:53):
Chris Haynes and me Mark Stein.

Speaker 7 (12:56):
Join us as we team up to expound on everything
we're covering and Chason.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haynes and Mark Stein.

Speaker 7 (13:05):
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcast.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
Steve Harvin, Rich Hornberger Fox Sports Sunday. We are live
from the Tyraq dot com Studios. Now, remember after the show,
the podcast goes up. If you miss any of today's show,
be sure to check out the podcast. Just search Fox
Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Be sure to follow, rate and review the podcast.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Again, just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts,
and you'll see this show posted right after we get
off the air halftime. And Boston is expected with a
big lead sixty to forty five over the Heat that
got off to a seventeen to two start. So we'll
get into what's going on in this first round of
the NBA playoffs. Also, we're going to get into more

(13:49):
depth of what's happening in the twenty twenty four NFL Draft.
But I wanted to take time to go back to
the historic two thousand and nine NFL Draft.

Speaker 3 (13:58):
Fifteen years ago.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Rich fifteen years ago, as we entered into the fourth
round of the draft, when there was a stunning announcement
that a trade had been made.

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Let me let me play it back for you.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
Okay, so this is this again, is the trade that
happened back in the two thousand and nine NFL Draft
in the fourth round, the Baltimore Ravens have traded its
fourth round and sixth round picks in the two thousand
draft to the New England Patriots for two fifth round selections.

(14:39):
So this was a stunning trade. It just sort of
rocked the entire NFL world.

Speaker 4 (14:43):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
And now with the one hundred and twenty third pick
of this two thousand and nine NFL Draft, the New
England Patriots select Rich Ormberger guard Penn State. Now there
was an eruption obviously in the Ormberg Ormburger House. There

(15:04):
was an eruption at East Meddle High School, there was
an eruption on the Penn State University campus, and an
eruption in that draft room of the New England Patriots
because they got the guy they needed in that two
thousand and nine draft. But that aside, I want to
go back to what was going through your head when
you realized and heard the name rich Ormberger announce as

(15:28):
being drafted into the National Football League.

Speaker 4 (15:32):
Oh, it was surreal, man.

Speaker 5 (15:34):
And I knew so little about the NFL that I
didn't even know who I was talking to.

Speaker 4 (15:40):
When Robert Kraft got on the phone with me.

Speaker 5 (15:44):
I remember him introducing himself and I was like, yeah,
I'm telling my family afterwards, I was like.

Speaker 4 (15:48):
They were like, so what did they say? What did
they say?

Speaker 5 (15:50):
You know, because my name came up on the television
as my phone was ringing, So I'm running out of
the living room to answer the phone. I didn't even
get to see what aired on the NFL network or
whatever channel we were watching because I was running to
get on the phone so I could I could actually
hear what was being said. And I spoke with Bear's

(16:13):
Nigerian who is Bill Belichick's assistant, and then I spoke
to Robert Craft, and then I obviously spoke to Bill Belichick,
and then it was a quick phone call and it
was done. And I remember I remember telling my parents.
I'm like my family, my wife was there, my friends
from high school, and I'm just like yeah. I was like,
you know, I spoke with Bill, and there was a

(16:35):
guy named Robert on the phone too, and somebody goes, yeah,
that's Robert Craft, he owns the Patriots.

Speaker 4 (16:42):
I was like, that's the guy.

Speaker 5 (16:44):
He was on there, and we had a quick chat
and they're really excited about drafting me, and they said
we'll see you soon. And they're like, so when do
you got to go do you have to go like
right now, I'm like, I don't know, I don't think
so I didn't ask.

Speaker 4 (16:57):
And then they said, did they say anything else? I
was like, not really.

Speaker 5 (17:02):
They just kind of said, we're excited for you, and
I said, well, I'm excited too, and then that was
it and they were like, so are they going to
like email you. I'm like, I'm gonna wait for I'm
going to say the balls in their court now. Like,
in the meantime, let's party. So that's exactly what we did.
My high school head coach. He threw a barbecue at

(17:23):
his house and we went over to Vinnie Massia's house
and we you know, drank and we ate and we
celebrated all night long. And Yeah, to answer your original question,
what what did it feel like? It was positively surreal.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
Well, and as we now know with the emergence of
rock Party as mister Irrelevant now one of the premier
quarterbacks in the National Football League all two hundred and
fifty seven picks and this year's NFL draft matter to
all two hundred and fifty seven players that hear their
name announced, Oh yeah, whether it's Kayleb Williams at the
top of the draft. Wherever is the next rock party

(18:00):
at the bottom of the draft at two fifty seven,
hearing their name announce is being drafted into the NFL
matters From that point on, It's up to them.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
How much work you know, right place, right time. There
are so many things to play into those players that
fall by the wayside that you never hear from again,
and those that emerge sometimes at the back of the pack,
into everyday names that we learn in the National Football League.
So we're going to get much more obviously into what's
going on with this twenty twenty four NFL draft. Like

(18:31):
we say, it's been strangely quiet, but that doesn't mean
there's not a lot of noise going on behind the scenes.
I do want to switch gears for a second, though.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
I got a question for you because Rich you know,
you and I have talked about this at nauseum, but
I think it bears fruit in this year's and an
NBA playoffs. Sure, So, whether it's an individual sport or
a team sport.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
Rivalries matter.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
Rivalries matter and can be based on a long history
or they can be short term. But as I look
at this twenty twenty four NBA Playoffs potential. And I
was asking this of Aaron Torres and Carrie Rose as
they came on before us today.

Speaker 4 (19:16):
Sure, is there.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
A must watch potential matchup in this year's NBA playoffs?

Speaker 4 (19:28):
Wow? That's a great question.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Is there a rivalry in the moment that you're like,
I definitely want to see because it could be within
the conference?

Speaker 4 (19:39):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (19:39):
I mean you go back in the day Pacers, Knicks
that was remember the Lakers King's early two thousands. I mean,
these are matchups within the conference that we must watch.
Obviously with the NBA Finals, we had four straight years
of Lebron and the Cavs going.

Speaker 3 (19:54):
Against Golden State.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
But in twenty twenty four, I'm talking just NBA Finals,
I'm talking within the conferences themselves.

Speaker 4 (20:04):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
Is there any potential matchup that you say, yeah, that
to me is a must watch matchup in this year's playoffs?

Speaker 5 (20:13):
All right, Well, look Boston and New York that that
can become something out of the East that that there's
always the Embers burning. That's such a heated fan base rivalry.
Whether we're talking Yankees, Red Sox or Knicks Celtics. That

(20:33):
less so in basketball, but it is there's there's.

Speaker 4 (20:37):
Something to that.

Speaker 5 (20:37):
You know, the New York Jets and the New England Patriots,
they share a division in the AFC East, So I
mean typically New York fans hate Boston fans, So there's
intrigue there from the standpoint of geographical location. This is
the final season that the Clippers and the Lakers will
share Crypto dot com. So if we see the final

(21:03):
ever playoff series where it's possible that both teams claim
home court to the same court during a Western Conference playoff,
there's intrigue there between the Lakers and Clippers in the West,
and then I guess it's conceivable that we could see
a rematch in the finals. I don't know how many

(21:27):
people are all that interested in a rematch from last
year's final, and how much bad blood or animosity there
is between the Heat.

Speaker 4 (21:35):
Fans and the Denver fans.

Speaker 5 (21:37):
But I get I mean, to answer your question, I
think more of the actual rivalries are going to occur
within the conference playoffs before heading to the finals than
than a finals rivalry because.

Speaker 4 (21:53):
I don't really see I don't really.

Speaker 5 (21:56):
See like like there being that heated matchup like Celtics
that's burning bright right now because there's just no juice
there right right now.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
Well, and that's the point. First of all, Geography does
not make a rivalry. History makes a rivalry, and it
could be a brief history, you know. Like I go
back to that Lakers Suns matchup in the early two thousands,
there was like a two three year window. Yeah, there
was some genuine animosity between those franchises, and you just
feel it.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
I mean, and I don't feel any of that. And
and the big problem for.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
The NBA is what we're where we find ourselves right
now in Lackey. Of an intense rivalry between teams is
the constant movement movement of its star players, yep. And
so there's nothing there anymore. I mean, we had Lebron
versus the Warriors four straight years in the NBA finals.

(22:51):
Everything sort of leading up to it was just, you know,
can we get to the finals. And even then we
got to the finals, and the Cavaliers might have had
some injuries and everything else, but it was a sellable matchup.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
I don't see that now.

Speaker 2 (23:04):
Like I was talking to the guys before the show,
they said, what about Kevin Durant versus Lebron James Suns Lakers. Well,
first of all, you just said it there, Durant versus Lebron.
What I'm talking about it this is a team sport well,
and I don't see that right now. Now, some there
could be a series that emerges in this playoff. Sure

(23:24):
that sets something in Moultion for the few that possible.

Speaker 5 (23:28):
That happened with the Knicks and the Hawks right this
about two years ago, but Trey Young was a rookie
and I remember they had a couple of regular season
games and it got heated and then I can't remember
if it was a player or if it was actual
a playoff round.

Speaker 4 (23:47):
But that was like a fun watch there.

Speaker 5 (23:49):
Like you said rivalries, they can start fast and burn
hot for a short time.

Speaker 4 (23:54):
You mentioned Lakers' suns.

Speaker 5 (23:56):
Like that, that can happen, and it can happen within
one playoff series. All of a sudden in Game one
or a game two gets super chippy and then all
of a sudden, there's a lot of interest to see
if this powder keg is gonna explode night in, night out,
And it seems like the players are playing for a
little bit more than just advancing. They're they're playing to

(24:16):
humiliate their opponent. And those rivalries are important. And we
saw that with bird Magic, we saw that with I mean,
I remember growing up with the pat Riley New York
Knicks playing out of New York, and I was a
Bulls fan.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
I was a Michael Jordan.

Speaker 5 (24:31):
Fan, and I remember those were vicious Eastern Conference regular
season game.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
I mean the Knicks, Pacers, Nick.

Speaker 4 (24:41):
Stars, pat Riley. I mean, like you, you got to
really see some now.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
I'm a West Coast guy and I could not wait
to see those matchups. Yeah, because I knew there was
genuine animosity. That's as a fan like you say, you
have passion, and you hope that that passion, that hatred
you have for that other team carries over with the
players on your team.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
And then that's a matchup. Pacers, Nicks, Woolf Hey, no prisoners.

Speaker 2 (25:08):
All right, much more on the matchups we have right
now in this NBA first Round, But first let's find
out what is trending right now? And oh a sudden,
I look up and Kevin Wired have you left? I mean, yeah,
You've been here constantly.

Speaker 8 (25:22):
Never feels like I live here.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
Sometimes you were here yesterday and I look up and
Wired is here again.

Speaker 3 (25:28):
Incredible. What we do have a lot of score.

Speaker 9 (25:30):
Oh yeah, lots of going on. Today is probably one
of the best times of the year in sports. My
personal favorite is October, but I think April, like mid
March of the end of April is a close second.
With what we have sports wyse A.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
We're gonna have the Stanley Cup playoffs starting, so yeah.

Speaker 8 (25:45):
It's already underway, actually, Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Speaker 9 (25:47):
The Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning in action right now
down in.

Speaker 8 (25:52):
Sunrise, Florida.

Speaker 9 (25:53):
Seventeen forty six to go in the third period and
the Panthers have a two to one lead over the Lightning,
Game one of that first round Eastern Conference matchup.

Speaker 8 (26:03):
In the NBA, we've.

Speaker 9 (26:05):
Got a blowout going on in Boston, seventy four fifty seven.
The Celtics lead over the Heat as they've got four
eighteen to go in the third quarter. Jason Tatum having
an outstanding game so far for Boston seventeen points, ten rebounds,
also has seven assists, so he very well could be
on his way to a triple double. Christophs porzingis with

(26:27):
thirteen points and Sam Hauser four to six shooting from
beyond the three point line. Coming off the bench as
he has twelve points. Bam Outebayo at the top of
the score sheet for Miami, He's got fourteen points on
five of eleven shooting.

Speaker 8 (26:42):
Coming up at three.

Speaker 9 (26:43):
Thirty, Mavericks and Clippers out in Los Angeles. Tyler ruling
out Kawhi leonard A for their matchup with Dallas later today,
So there was increasing doubt that he would play yesterday
after he did not face contact in practice, and now
it is official he will not be suiting up four
the Clippers later tonight at seven. Painters and Bucks up
in Milwaukee. The night cap will feature the Pelicans in

(27:05):
thunder squaring off in Oklahoma City. Major League Baseball several
games underway right now, Red Sox and Pirates in the
third inning, with Boston leading it two to one. Philly's
on top of the White Sox three two. They're in
the top of the third, Nationals leading the Astros three
to nothing. They are in the bottom of the third inning.
Yankees with a one nothing lead against the Rays. They're

(27:27):
in the third inning, Angels, Red scoreless. At the end
of the second, Guardians with an early one nothing lead
over the Athletics Orioles Royals are scoreless. Tigers lead the
Twins in the first inning, one nothing, Brewers, Cardinals just
getting started.

Speaker 8 (27:39):
They are scoreless.

Speaker 9 (27:40):
Same for the Marlins and the Cubs, and coming up
in the next thirty minutes Mariners and Rockies, first game
of a day night doubleheader out in Denver.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
Back you guys, all right, Kevin, Thank you so much.
We'll check in with you a little bit later on.
Once again, this is Fox Sports Sunday, Steve Harbin and
Rich Ornberger with you as we'd get all these playoffs
underway and baseball is rolling, and yeah, we got the
NFL Draft coming up on Thursday, so we got a
lot of ground to cover today. So I'm watching that
Lakers game last night against the Nuggets, and it looked

(28:11):
like every other game we've seen over the last two
years between these two teams were At times, it looks
like the Lakers are very much on equal footing with
the Nuggets. They could definitely play and win these games, yep,
until they can't because in crunch time they just seem
to wilt every single time agree against this Nuggets team.

(28:32):
And whether it's I mean, Murray did not have a
great game for the Nuggets, until the end, all of
a sudden, he's making shots. And Jokich is Jokic. I mean,
he is the guy. But I'm watching this Laker team
thinking to myself last year when they were matched up
in the Western Conference finals was sort of the emergence
of Austin Reeves. And I'm watching the game last night, like,
is he on the court? Is he going to shoot

(28:53):
the ball? And D'Angel Russell was shooting. He was just
bricking everything. And in the end, the Lakers wasted again
top level performances by Lebron and ad in the come
up short.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Against the Nuggets.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
And so now I'm thinking to myself, all right, because
I thought if they win the first game, and I
thought they really had a chance.

Speaker 3 (29:13):
You know, they had some moment at the end, they
look at.

Speaker 5 (29:15):
The halftime score and you're feeling pretty good about that thought.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yeah, I mean, and they were up by double digits
in that first half, so you're thinking, Okay, maybe they
could steal that first game. Now, the idea of them
winning four of the next six games against the Nuggets
doesn't seem very likely. So the Lakers are going to
be most likely. I will never say it can't happen,
but just say most likely first round fodder for the Nuggets,

(29:40):
and that leaves the Lakers with some big decisions. And
Lebron James has a player option for next year, so
he has a player it's his decision whether or not
to exercise that option to stay with the Lakers. I
don't know if he saw this, but he was sort
of throwing out his love affair with Dan Hurley, the
Yukon Code coach, on social media because I gotta believe

(30:04):
Darvin ham is in dangered specie if they lose in
the first round.

Speaker 3 (30:08):
To this Nuggets team.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
But the idea of the Lakers moving forward under the
control of Lebron James, and we knew this was going
to happen. This is already six years in six years
in Yes, they did win a championship in the Bubble
in twenty twenty, but now we go into year seven
of Lebron James in charge of this organization.

Speaker 3 (30:32):
I mean, basically, he's saying, who's going to be the coach,
who's not going to be the coach? What is going
to be the makeup of this roster?

Speaker 2 (30:40):
YEP, if you're a Laker fan, is that a healthy
situation moving forward for one of the most esteemed along
with the Celtics organizations, in the history of the NBA.

Speaker 5 (30:53):
I'm not a Lakers fan, so I can't answer the
question for you, but I can answer this more analytically
and from an outsider looking in standpoint. I mean, if
you analyze the Lakers' best chance to a championship as
it stands right now, it's with Lebron James. Lebron James

(31:13):
is still nearing forty one of the best basketball players
on the planet, certainly one of the best ten playings
still in the league at very least, and so when
we're talking about the best ten basketball players on the planet,
we're talking about Rarefied Air. We're talking about a real
shot to win a championship. And then when you pair
him with another superstar like Anthony Davis, well you have

(31:37):
an even more increased chance. And as long as Lebron's there,
unless the relationship sours or if he wants the team
to move on from Anthony Davis, Anthony Davis is gonna
stay there too. So I guess my point is, from
the outside analyzing this, with Lebron James, you have a
good chance or a very least eight chance of winning

(31:59):
a championship, So the Lakers are smart.

Speaker 4 (32:01):
To keep Lebron happy.

Speaker 5 (32:04):
The other side of that coin, though, is with Lebron
James comes Lebron James, and Lebron James is all encompassing,
and so you don't just get the player. You get
the general manager, you get the coach, you get the
personnel decision maker, you get the guy who, by and large,
by the way he plays ball and it seems like,

(32:24):
you know, he'll show up to practice and he'll do
the things that are asked of him. It'll be a
good role model, an example amongst his teammates in the
locker room. But if Lebron has another project he's working on,
or if he needs a night off to go visit
his son at college, or anything like what Lebron wants,
Lebron gets now, fortunately for the Lakers and fortunately for
the league. His focus has almost solely been on building

(32:47):
up his basketball career and building up you know, the
teams that he's played on, and so I think that
you know, those allowances when they are asked of the
teams he's played for in the past, they're grant without
even batting an eye because he's one of the most
dedicated individuals ever.

Speaker 4 (33:04):
But you do sign up for a lot when you
sign up for Lebron.

Speaker 5 (33:07):
And when you sign up to be his head coach,
and whether your name is Frank Vogel or Eric Spolstra
or Darvin Ham or you know.

Speaker 4 (33:17):
Tylu, you know what you're signing up for.

Speaker 5 (33:21):
It's your way until Lebron speaks up, and then it's
Lebron's way because no coach is going to have more
power in this dynamic than Lebron James. So again, I
don't know if Laker fans are tired of this. I
don't know if Laker fans want to see change with
their organization. But if I were you, and this is

(33:42):
speaking again from an outsider position, the grass is not
always greener, So I would do it Lebron's way as
long as Lebron was cool with doing it in LA
because it's your best chance of winning a championship.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Well, based on what happened last year with them making
an unexpected run to the Western Conference finals, they locked
everybody up. Hatchamura, Reeves, Gay Vincent, who they acquired Vanderbilt,
All these guys are under lock and key for the
next two seasons.

Speaker 4 (34:11):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
The only people that are not are D'Angel Russell, who
has a player option that's a low.

Speaker 3 (34:17):
Ball number at eighteen million.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
So I mean, based on what he did for most
of this year, even if he has a subpar playoff,
I'm gonna guess that he's gonna opt out. And I
don't know if the Lakers have any room to keep
D'Angelo Russell and then Lebron. And so the idea with
Lebron is are you going to extend his contract?

Speaker 3 (34:38):
Are you going to roll the dice.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
As he picks up his player option because he's making
it pretty clear he wants to stay a Laker? Are
you gonna extend the deal beyond that? So a lot
of questions facing that organization. On the other side, I
want to get to another organization that has a lot
less pedigree than the Lakers, that are firmly under lock
and key by one player. Who is that team? You'll

(35:03):
find out. This is Fox Sports Sunday, Steve Harvein, Rich Arnberger,
Fox Sports Sunday. We're live from the Tairaq dot com studios.
So we talked about Lebron's obvious influence on the future
of the Lakers. There's another player like that that has
total control of an organization, and that would be Kawhi
Leonard with the Los Angeles Clippers are a steam producer.

(35:27):
Bo Benson announced a week ago do not expect to
see Kawhi Leonard suit up again this season for the Clippers,
and it is official that he will be out of
their Game one matchup against the Dallas Mavericks. Here's the
problem moving forward for the Clippers. And this seems ironic

(35:48):
because when your owner is worth one hundred billion dollars,
which Steve Bomber is, he's one of the ten wealthiest
people on the planet. He has enough money to literally
change the NBA into the NBA as a National Bomber Association.
He could buy every team in the league three times over.
And he is being held hostage by his own decision

(36:12):
to move forward with Kawhi Leonard after that great run
with Toronto to win the championship in twenty nineteen, they
traded all their future draft capital to secure his rights
because he said, I will sign with you and not
the Lakers if you get me Paul George, which he did,
and I'm looking at their numbers right now and The

(36:32):
fact remains is that they have.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
Kawhi Leonard on a contract for the next three years.
The rest of the team, well, Paul George has got.

Speaker 2 (36:41):
A player option coming up this year, and of course
James Harden, who they picked up, is a walk away
free agent after this season.

Speaker 3 (36:49):
Now, you could make.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
The argument, well, you're moving into a new arena next
year and you need Kawhi Leonard. Well, yeah, you need
Kawhi Leonard on the court. It's one thing to just
say Kawhi Leonard. And he did play the majority of
the regular season this year, maybe more so than he
was capable of because now as they head to the playoffs,

(37:10):
his future at least this season is very much in doubt.
But how do you build around Kawhi Leonard. How do
you how do you get big name free agents or
other talent to say, yeah, I want to hitch my
wagon with Kawhi Leonard in search of winning an NBA championship.
To me, that seems like a really hard sell right now.

Speaker 5 (37:33):
Well, you can't sell Kawhi the person or the star,
because look, the the person is is somebody who is
singularly motivated by being great at basketball, Like he doesn't
he doesn't really care about much else. And this is

(37:53):
you know from interviews I've heard about him from former.

Speaker 4 (37:58):
Teammates of his.

Speaker 5 (38:00):
I was listening to a podcast recently where Patrick Beverley
was talking about Kawhi and he's stoic.

Speaker 4 (38:06):
Kawhi is stoic.

Speaker 5 (38:08):
He says exactly what he means. He doesn't mince words.
He's his effort at practice or in games is to
be the best player he can be in play with
the best players available for him to play with. He
doesn't care about politics. He just wants to win basketball
games and play great basketball. And so there was I
don't know, some on court situation where Patrick Beverley and

(38:31):
him there on the court, and you know, the coach
said something like, well, blah blah blah. You know, we
gotta switch that Kawhi. He's like, because we don't want
that player guarding that player. And he goes, well, then
why is he on the court. And it was that simple,
and then all of a sudden that guy was out
of the starting rotation.

Speaker 4 (38:50):
That was it. You know. So, so Kawhi has a
lot of poll in this organization.

Speaker 5 (38:55):
He has a lot of poll as a player, and
he's well respected, but you can't sell Kawhi.

Speaker 4 (39:01):
You gotta sell the idea of Kuhi.

Speaker 5 (39:03):
You gotta sell the idea of playing with a great
player in the second biggest media market in a brand
new arena with a fan base who's super excited to
see the new place, with all the bathrooms that Steve
Balmer put in there and the new JumboTron.

Speaker 4 (39:18):
And you know that's why you gotta sell. You're not selling.

Speaker 5 (39:21):
You're not selling Kawhi Leonard the Superstar because you can't
sell Kawhi Leonard the Superstar. So you're selling everything around
Kawhi and everything about Kawhi.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
This team has been an idol forever. I mean, you
go back to when Vinnie Del Negro was the coach.
They were a fifty win team. Then they brought in
Doc Rivers because of his championship pedigree with the Celtics,
they were still a fifty win team, not getting to
the finals. And now Tyler is one of the better
coaches in this league, another guy with championship pedigree. But

(39:54):
for whatever reason, why I know the reason, they just
they can't seem to get everybody to play at their
highest level when the games matter most in the postseason.
So year after year after year, this team is a
fifty plus win team that just can't get it done
in order to get to the NBA Finals under potential

(40:15):
NBA Championship. By the way, if this Boston Miami game
is any indication, can we just cancel the rest of
the Eastern Conference half of the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (40:24):
Ninety six sixty two.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
This is the reigning Eastern Conference champion Heat getting annihilated,
embarrassed by the Celtics. All right, coming up on the
other side, we're gonna get to this NFL draft. Any
surprises at the top will break it down. This is
Fox Sports Sunday rolling along here on a very very
busy sports Sunday, Fox Sports Sunday broadcasting live from the
ti rack dot Com studios ty rack dot com. We're

(40:47):
gonna have get you there and unmatched selection, fast reshipping
free road has a protection over ten thousand recommended installers
ti rack dot Com. The way tire buying should be
coming up in our next hour, our dear, and John
Paul Morosi's going to be joining it. He's got a
lot of baseball to talk about. Also, we'll get his
prediction on which teams will be matched up in the

(41:08):
Stanley Cup Final. He is mister hockey as well, So JP,
John Paul Morosi, Johnny is coming up in our next hour.
All right, so let's let's get back to this NFL draft,
and it has been eerily quiet, certainly compared to last year.
I mean, remember all the will Levis, you know, NonStop

(41:29):
will Levis. I mean, boy, he's rocketing up the charts,
and he was sitting there with that girlfriend of the moment,
you know, as she kept looking into the camera waiting
for her shot, her beauty shot, and then as his
name just continued to drift down the list. As it
turned out, he wasn't even picked in the first round.
This year, to me just feels entirely different, because, okay,

(41:52):
we know the Bears are gonna take Caleb Williams at
number one. There's not going to be any last second shocker.
Caleb Williams will He'll be the first pick in this
draft and he will go to the Chicago Bears.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
But from that point on, I think all bets are off.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
I want to skip over the Commanders and go to
your team that of course made the big pick fifteen
years ago. To change the direction of that organization forever
by trading two fifth round picks to move into the
fourth round to take one Rich Ornberger out of Penn State.
But let's talk about the Patriots. They hit rock bottom.

(42:29):
I mean, you can make the argument right now of
the weakest rosters in the league. Cardinals are certainly in
the conversation. I mean, the Patriots have some talent on
the defensive side, but offensively, wow, I mean, you don't
know where to begin, but I guess the best place

(42:50):
to begin is quarterback. So if you're sitting there at
number three right now, and we got some new faces
making decisions now that the Belichick era is a officially
over and the Patriots have made it clear that they're
willing to listen at number three overall, well, I think
most people seem to agree that the top three quarterbacks

(43:13):
in this draft are Kayleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake May.
And the last time I checked, the Patriots don't even
have a quarterback to speak of.

Speaker 5 (43:22):
So do you, well, well, hang on, belly Zappy Jacoby Brissett,
remember those names?

Speaker 3 (43:28):
All right?

Speaker 2 (43:29):
Well, I'm look at forget Zappy, but I mean I
look at it. I'm not I don't think Brissett is awful.
I think Brissett has shown that he is capable, but
not as a franchise quarterback. So all right, so you're
you're you're there, You're getting the phone call, okay, and
they're going to lean on one of the most esteemed
names in organization history, and they'll say, rich Ornberger, you've

(43:53):
been around.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
This game a long time, long time.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
You know, you played in this game, You've you've played
with and against the Patriots, and obviously you've been a
master broadcaster ever since you went into that field.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
So what are your thoughts?

Speaker 2 (44:11):
Should we keep this pic take the quarterback, whether it's
Jaden Daniels or Drake may or JJ McCarthy, or should
we explore the possibility of adding additional picks and trading down?

Speaker 3 (44:25):
Which direction do you think we should go? Rich Ornberger?

Speaker 4 (44:29):
Boy? Oh boy? So this sounds like such a cop out.

Speaker 5 (44:34):
So I apologize to anybody who is waiting for some
earth shattering of philosophy that is going to break the
code that has flummixed many many franchises for many years
and sometimes has resulted in mass firings.

Speaker 4 (44:53):
You know you missed too bad.

Speaker 5 (44:55):
On even one draft, and that could be that could
be the trigger for regime change. And we've seen that
happen immediately. So I mean, look no further than Carolina
Panthers this past season. They draft Bryce Young and they've
cleaned house, so it can it can be that quick,
all right. So here's here's the advice I would give

(45:17):
to the Patriots. If you are in love with the
quarterback available at your slot, draft that quarterback, you know,
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
You you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
You don't you don't don't ask too many questions. If
the quarterback you fell in love with during the pre

(45:39):
draft process, and if that quarterback meets this very specific criteria,
this quarterback is going to be our franchise quarterback for
the next five years. Like you close your eyes and
you picture five years from now that quarterback still playing
at a high enough level in the NFL that he
will be the He will be what you're building your

(45:59):
organization around.

Speaker 4 (46:01):
Draft that man. Don't think about it, just do it.

Speaker 5 (46:05):
So that's my advice to every team, but specifically, when
you have a high draft pick, you don't have to
overthink it.

Speaker 4 (46:11):
You just need to do it. Now.

Speaker 5 (46:12):
If you're trying to convince yourself that the quarterback available
at that spot is just as good as the quarterback
you really wanted, then trade down or pick the next
best player on your board that isn't going to be
completely overvalued if you.

Speaker 4 (46:33):
Draft them at that spot.

Speaker 5 (46:35):
You know, So if it's a receiver who you think
really can help you and you can you know, flourish
as a franchise with that receiver or an edge rusher
or an offensive tackle, and the value is there, take
that man in the draft.

Speaker 4 (46:48):
But do not try to force a square peg in.

Speaker 5 (46:52):
A round hole because, like we know, you know, what's
gonna happen is either you're going to ruin the hole.
You know, the corners of the square peg are just
gonna scratch it up and it ain't gonna fit right
and it's never gonna feel right. Or you're gonna have
a situation where whatever peg you're trying to eh, you know,
now you got chipped corners. Now everything's screwed up. So
it's not gonna be the benefit of the team receiving

(47:14):
the player or the player himself. So that's my advice
to the Patriots unless you are absolutely in love with
the player who you're gonna draft at that position, then
move on, trade down, or find a different guy worth
the value of a third overall pick.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
If the Patriots keep the third pick, you have to
take a quarterback. He can't say the New England Patriots
with a third pick, select Joe Alt offensive tackle, Notre Dame.
You can't do that because you could have gotten Joe
auled if you move down in the draft a few picks.
If you're gonna keep the third pick, you have to
take a quarterback because there are enough teams there that

(47:52):
are anxious to get into the mix as far as
the quarterbacks are concerned. Right, let's talk about Jade and
Daniel versus Drake May and forget all the noise that
we're hearing about. You know, maybe Drake May is moving
down a notch, Jade and Daniels is moving up. Let's
just go back on to where they come out in college.

(48:13):
Because Jade and Daniels was at Arizona State for three years.
I saw a lot of Jade and Daniels. At no
point during his run at Arizona State did I say, oh, yeah,
that guy's going to be a top three pick in
the draft. At no point he had promise, he had versatility,
but I never looked at Jade and Daniels as that

(48:34):
level of quarterback. And then he goes to LSU where
he's blessed with neighbors and some talent that they didn't
have at Arizona State, and all of a sudden he's
winning a Heisman Trophy and being projected as a top
level guy. Keep in mind, again, he's been in college
for five years. And then he got Drake May who

(48:54):
had an insane red shirt freshman year at North Carolina
and wasn't as good the next year. So he's been
in college three years, really played two years, as Jade
Daniels has five years. And this has been sort of
the big question now with these guys who have these
extended careers. You know, whether it was Bo Nicks or

(49:16):
Michael Pennix junior, have they have they reached their peak?
Because that's a lot of drafting. Is all right, we
know where they are now, but you've got to be
able to project three five years down the road how
much ceiling is there in their game?

Speaker 3 (49:31):
All right, So between those two.

Speaker 2 (49:33):
Guys, I want to get your thoughts of Jaden Daniels
versus Drake May in terms of rich Ornberger's thoughts in
terms of their future in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (49:43):
I really like Jaden daniels game, and I understand that
he had really one superlative year in college football, and
I understand how that may look to some.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
And by the way, that was Joe Burrow as well.

Speaker 4 (49:56):
That was Joe Burrow, that was Josh Allen.

Speaker 5 (49:59):
In fact, Josh had his best year of football when
he was a year away still from declaring himself eligible
for the draft. So actually he had a worse final
season in college football than the year that preceded it.
And the Bills took him, and he was a bit
of a project out of Wyoming, but they sculpted him

(50:19):
into a franchise quarterback, and so by year two you
could already see the light. By year three, it just
was very obvious that the Bills had made one of
the best decisions with their franchise in the history of
their franchise in drafting.

Speaker 4 (50:34):
Him when they did. Jaden Daniels, to me, is that
type of player. He is a great athlete.

Speaker 5 (50:41):
He could take any run to the house at any
given moment. He's an effortless athlete, meaning when you watch
him run, it kind of looks like he's gliding, like
he's ice skating on the grass. He can throw any
throw in the NFL. That's requisite of a quarterback at
that level. He's a great deep ball thrower. So that's
the thing about him that I don't think it's enough

(51:03):
talk or credit is how accurate he is with the
football downfield and how important that is for so many
teams now at the NFL level connecting with these star
receivers who seem to be getting pumped out of the
draft year after year. If you don't have a quarterback
who can connect with them, and that isn't immediately obvious,
like a CJ. Stroud, for example, then you've got to

(51:26):
find a new quarterback because that is the best way
to threaten a defense in a league that is becoming
more and more difficult to play past defense. All the
NFL wants is more touchdowns scored through the air, not less,
and so if you don't have a good deep ball thrower,
then you should probably move on. So I watch Jayden

(51:48):
Daniels and I think to myself, like, well, well, there's
a guy who can not only hurt you as an
athlete and from the dual threat zone read RPO game,
but then when required to throw the ball downfield, he
can hurt you there as well.

Speaker 4 (52:06):
So this is a unique talent coming out of the
draft this year.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
All right, on the other side, I want to get
into the JJ McCarthy debate on just how good he
is and what is his draft value because his numbers
don't match up with some of these other quarterbacks. But
there are reasons behind that, and so I will give
other examples of quarterbacks who didn't have huge numbers coming

(52:31):
out of college, but if you looked at the numbers
that actually mattered most, their success really was already in
the books.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
We'll explain.

Speaker 2 (52:40):
This is Fox Sports Sunday, Steve Harbin, rich Ronberger, Fox
Sports Sunday. We are live from the tairaq dot Com Studios.
Things getting a little chippy here at the end of
the Celtics heat game. Game is a no doubt Celtics
right now with a nineteen point lead with thirty two
seconds left, but a hard foul against Jayson Tatum. So

(53:01):
this is what I'm talking about. You had to get
things heated up a little bit, get me into these
playoff series. So a heater are going to go down
big in Game one. We'll see how Game two goes.
Three more games coming up here in the NBA. As
we get the first first round underway in the NBA,
we're talking though about the NFL Draft, which is just
four days away. I'm going to throw a couple of

(53:23):
names out at you, Tom Brady and Joe Montana.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
I mean, you could make an argument.

Speaker 2 (53:29):
I think those are the two most successful quarterbacks, certainly
in terms of Super Bowls, tom Brady winning seven and
of course Joe Montana perfect four for four. Now that
one was projected to be any kind of superstar at
the NFL level because you didn't see their names on
any All American lists during their college days. In fact,

(53:49):
they had very similar college careers where they shared quarterback
duties for much of their time, Tom Brady at Michigan
and Joe Montana at Notre Dame. And then finally they
were able to set as starters in their senior year.
But I always go back to their final games, final
games of their collegiate career. Joe Montana's final game of

(54:13):
his collegiate career was the Cotton Bowl game against the
University of Houston. Notre Dame was trailing thirty four to
twelve going into the fourth quarter, and they won twenty
three unanswered points to pull the game.

Speaker 3 (54:27):
Out thirty five thirty four.

Speaker 2 (54:31):
Tom Brady's final game at michiem was the Orange Bowl
against Alabama game. They were down fourteen points twice in
that game and Tom Brady, with a career high three
hundred and sixty nine yards passing four touchdowns, let a
come from behind overtime victory in that game. So these
are two of the greatest quarterbacks in the history NFL

(54:53):
in terms of winning games that seemingly are lost. In
other words, playing at the highest level when it matters
the most. And they actually showed that in their college years,
which brings me to JJ McCarthy. So this Michigan team
this year pretty much blew out everybody, yep. But when

(55:14):
they needed him the most was that semi final game
against Alabama when Nick Saban, the genius that he is,
was going toe toe for toe with that Michigan team
leading late in that game, and at that point Michigan
needed JJ McCarthy to step up, and he did. He

(55:35):
tied the game, they won the game, in overtime. He
ended up with two hundred and twenty one yards passing
three touchdowns, no picks against that outstanding Alabama defense. And
so when I look at JJ McCarthy, I know Chris
here dismissing him like any team would make a huge
mistake and drafted. Am I right, Chris that any team

(55:56):
that would use a premium pick on JJ McCarthy or.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
Move up in the stress stake would be making state.
So you're just desperate. You're just desperate at that point.
You do you just see a quarterback and we played
at Michigan. You don't see anything he actually did in
this case, what he didn't do.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Okay, So Chris has been very consistent with it. But
I don't know, I'm not as quick to dismiss the
idea that McCarthy maybe the real deal, much as Joe
Montana and Tom Brady proved if you had watched them
in their biggest games of their collegiate career, there was

(56:35):
a magic, there was a special there was something that
in factor that we constantly talk about.

Speaker 3 (56:40):
Rich does he have the if factor? Whatever that might be.
They actually showed it. People ignored it.

Speaker 2 (56:46):
I mean, Joe Montana was a third round pick, and
of course famously Tom Brady was a sixth round pick.

Speaker 3 (56:51):
I think that I think McCarthy might have it.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
You're leaving out dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens
of guys who guys, like you have said had the
if factor and didn't show it. I don't remember saying
anything like that before. But like, this is this is
a high this is a this is a control group.
Here you've named two guys that have dozens of other
guys that people through the years say, oh, he has
the in factor, he just needs a chance, and they

(57:15):
get the chance, and what they're bumps. They're bumps, that's
who they were.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
So I've been doing draft talk on radio for over
thirty years and I have never missed on a single prediction.

Speaker 4 (57:25):
That's right, that's not I can attest to that. I've
done about ten years of this with Steven.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
I could tell you just like I said, Josh Rosen
may not have been great at UCLA, but you watch,
you watch when he gets to the NFL. All right,
So are you are you at least on the fence
of McCarthy or are you with Chris.

Speaker 3 (57:44):
That if that if you move up in this draft.

Speaker 2 (57:47):
If you move up like the Vikings or the Broncos
or the Raiders or teams that are looking for a quarterback,
you know, moving out of your slot all the way
to three, four or five in this draft to take
JJ McCarthy, you're making a mistake.

Speaker 5 (58:00):
Look, this is no offense to Chris, who watches a
ton of football, especially at the NFL level his Detroit Lions. You.
This is no offense to anybody who speaks with certainty
this time of year. I promise you this is gonna
sound offensive to people who think they know what they're
talking about when it comes to draft analysis. But this

(58:21):
is a blanket statement. So I'm not attacking any individual,
but anybody speaking with certainty this time of year.

Speaker 4 (58:28):
Cannot be trusted. You just can't be.

Speaker 5 (58:31):
Because there is no certainty in the NFL draft. I
played against guys and with guys who are bums in
college who I thought up and down just could not play.
And then they got to the NFL and they figured
it all out, and sometimes it clicked in immediately and
I was just like, wow, who is this guy? And

(58:51):
certain guys it took time and they were on the
practice squad and maybe they started taking the sport more seriously,
and then all of a sudden, I see him down
the r and I'm like, well, this guy, all of
a sudden is playing like a pro bowler, you know.
And then vice versa. I played with guys who are
all everything. In college. They looked like they were gonna
go to the National Football League because they had every

(59:12):
intangible covered. They were great at the sport, they were
great athletes, they were great students, they were great in
the community, they were great leaders, and they got to
the NFL and for whatever, for whatever reason, it just
didn't work.

Speaker 4 (59:26):
You know. The stage was.

Speaker 5 (59:27):
Too big, the pressure was too much, too many injuries
once they got there.

Speaker 4 (59:31):
You know.

Speaker 5 (59:32):
So luck plays a role obviously also, and that can't
be predicted.

Speaker 4 (59:36):
But man, oh man, anybody who speaks.

Speaker 5 (59:39):
With certainty right now about JJ McCarthy or any of
these quarterbacks, you have no idea what you're talking about,
because it has happened literally every year, every single year,
somebody surprises us. And it's either a good surprise or
a bad surprise, but somebody surprises us.

Speaker 4 (59:57):
I mean CJ.

Speaker 5 (59:59):
Stroud, for Crime Out Loud, was the second overall draft pick,
and it was still surprising how effective he was and
how much he lifted up that football program with the
Houston Texans. Because remember it's not just that CJ. Stroud
got drafted to a bad franchise. This is a franchise

(01:00:20):
that looked like they were left for dead. They had
a revolving cast of characters on the offensive line who
were bad when they were healthy. He had a bunch
of receivers. When we started this season, We're like, who's
he thrown to? It was ridiculous, and the guy still
had the talent to elevate that program. So even as
a second overall draft pick, CJ. Stroud was a surprise.

(01:00:42):
It happens every year, and sometimes guys surprised you in
the opposite direction where you say, oh wow, this guy
was supposed to be something and he got drafted by
the wrong franchise at the wrong time, with the wrong
set of coaches, or did not have the talent that
is requisite to have a success at the NFL level,
and we're surprised in a bad way. So, yeah, this

(01:01:04):
is no offense to Chris or anybody who thinks that
JJ McCarthy can't play at the next level. All I
simply say to you is you have no idea because
he hasn't played a snap at the NFL level.

Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
Josh Allen, to me, is the prime example my thought
about Josh Allen as imposing a physical figure as he was.
This guy can't even complete sixty percent of his passes
in the Mountwest Conference, That's right. How is he going
to do that at the NFL level? Steve and he
was such sixty.

Speaker 5 (01:01:36):
So Josh Allen is the reason why I've adopted this opinion,
I promise you, okay. I was on live television one
night and I was talking about Josh Allen.

Speaker 4 (01:01:46):
He's struggling his rookie year.

Speaker 5 (01:01:48):
I said, the problem for Buffalo is they have a
tight end masquerading as a quarterback and he's not even
going to be a particularly good tight end in the NFL.
That was my thought process on Josh Allen, the prospect
coming from Wyoming into the NFL, and what a bag

(01:02:09):
of whatever you call it that I was fighting, you know,
the dude, I eat my hat. I tip that same
cap to Josh Allen because he is the reason why
I don't speak with certainty about prospects anymore. Because if
you're speaking with any certainty about prospects, whether we're talking
about stocks or we're talking about the business world with

(01:02:31):
IPOs or startups. You know, I mean, look, you know Instagram.
It's one of the biggest social media platforms in the world.
It belongs to Meta, one of the biggest tech companies
the world has ever seen. One of the biggest companies
the world has ever seen, started as a bourbon tasting
app where people took pictures of their favorite whiskeys and

(01:02:52):
posted them online Instagram. Right, So, you never know when
the next great idea, the next great player is coming along.
And anybody who is speaking with certainty about prospective things,
they haven't been burned enough, or they've stepped on that
rake in the front lawn and they keep doing.

Speaker 4 (01:03:10):
It and they haven't learned their lesson yet.

Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
I also went throw a bajillion dollars at every idea
that comes along, too. I don't I don't know if
he will be great or not. All I will know
is that I'm not going to be a first spending
a first round pick on it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:22):
Okay, and you may be proven wrong.

Speaker 5 (01:03:24):
Look that that's my point is you you can say
that and you can speak with certainty, right now and
sound like you know what you're talking about, because the
draft hasn't happened yet. We haven't seen JJ McCarthy play
it down at the NFL level. But the problem is,
all of a sudden, JJ McCarthy can ball, and you
want him.

Speaker 4 (01:03:42):
To play for the Lions.

Speaker 3 (01:03:43):
Yeah, it's like you do imagine? Can you imagine?

Speaker 2 (01:03:48):
Because obviously the Lions are very much a contender these days.
If they were to actually get in the Super Bowl
and they play against a team that's led by JJ
McCarthy and McCarthy, your Lions are standing there stunned on
the sidelines.

Speaker 8 (01:04:04):
It just that won't happen.

Speaker 10 (01:04:06):
It just matters so much where and when he gets
taken right exactly if he goes third over all to
the Patriots throwing to like what the shell of Hunter
Henry and whoever else they have out there, Like, he's
obviously not going to succeed.

Speaker 1 (01:04:17):
But I've heard all of these same arguments about mac
Jones if he go to right place, have the time.

Speaker 10 (01:04:22):
Okay, but like that is actually true.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
And by the way, Mac john never had the talent
his well junior year is last year at Alabama. Remember
he set the national record for completion percentage that year.

Speaker 10 (01:04:34):
If JJ McCarthy somehow falls to like eleven to Minnesota,
that's a much better spot for him to be, and
the Vikings would have no issue taking him at eleven.

Speaker 3 (01:04:43):
Well, it's exactly what the question is.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
The Vikings at eleven, the Broncos at twelve, the Raiders
at thirteen. Right, they're all in the mix for a quarterback.
Are any of those teams comfortable with the idea that
he could be sitting there?

Speaker 3 (01:04:56):
Then?

Speaker 4 (01:04:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
I mean, well, say no, it's the Vikings. They will
absolutely not sit him. They need him to play. Right now, Well,
that does sound like a truth there.

Speaker 5 (01:05:04):
You know that I could agree with if you start
the season with Sam Donald.

Speaker 4 (01:05:09):
Even if you start the.

Speaker 5 (01:05:09):
Season with Sam Donald, the chance is that he's your
starting quarterback for the entirety of the season. Here in
twenty twenty four, I would say, are slim at best.
I would say if you draft a first round quarterback,
most likely in Minnesota, he is going to get at
very least some, if not the majority, of the playing
time this season. Because Sam Donald many times over now

(01:05:33):
it has appeared like it's not working for him as
an NFL quarterback. Now again, we go back to conversations
about other players who have had a long wait and
then figured it out.

Speaker 4 (01:05:45):
That is a short list.

Speaker 5 (01:05:46):
But Kurt Warner comes to mind the season that Gino
Smith had recently with the Seattle Seahawks two seasons ago.
Now that was a breakout year for him, earn him
a huge contract. You know, it can happen where a
guy can have that special moment where it all comes
together for him later in his career. But my guess
is if JJ McCarthy is drafted by the Vikings, he's

(01:06:07):
going to be foisted into action sooner rather than later.

Speaker 2 (01:06:11):
Vikings are a very intriguing team for a number of
fronts going into this draft. We'll get into why they are,
but first let's find out what is trending right now.
And the scoreboard has been lighting up in multiple sports today,
mister Kevin Wire.

Speaker 9 (01:06:25):
Yeah, we got so much going on right now. NBA playoffs,
NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, Major League Baseball, just a full
day of sports and I'm.

Speaker 8 (01:06:33):
Here for all of it.

Speaker 9 (01:06:34):
It just finished in at Boston, the Celtics running away
with it against the Miami Heat, won fourteen ninety four.
It was kind of expected it was a fourteen and
a half point line in favor of Boston going into
this game because Jimmy Butler not playing and he's expected
to be out multiple weeks with his MCL injuries, So
it was gonna be a tall task for Miami to
be able to beat Boston, and it just was not

(01:06:55):
in the cards.

Speaker 8 (01:06:55):
Today.

Speaker 4 (01:06:56):
The postseason will.

Speaker 5 (01:06:57):
Begin with a twenty point one the finals score in
Game one, Boston war fourteen Miami ninety.

Speaker 9 (01:07:03):
Four Celtics Radio Network. There with that final call. Jason
Tatum a triple double in this game. He had twenty three,
ten and ten, also had himself a couple of steals
as well an outstanding performance. Six guys for the Celtics
in a double figures for the game. Christops Perzingis had
eighteen points. You had Derek White with twenty, Jalen Brown

(01:07:26):
had seventeen, Sam Houser twelve off the bench, Al Warford
man turning back the clock, he had himself ten points
on four of eight shooting. As for the heat, Bam
out of Bayou the top of the score sheet there
twenty four points. He finished ten of seventeen shooting, also
at himself six rebounds and three assists as Boston takes
a one nothing series lead in this best of seven

(01:07:48):
contest coming up in the next few minutes about to
tip off any moment.

Speaker 8 (01:07:52):
Mavericks and a Clippers.

Speaker 9 (01:07:53):
And stop me if you've heard this before, but Kawhi
Leonard not going to appear in a playoff game four,
the Clippers Tyler ruling him out and yesterday practice he
didn't even face contact, so it wasn't even looking likely
leading into this matchup that he was going to play,
and he is going to be out as the Clippers
face a Mavericks team with Luka Doncic. I just saw
a stat he has either scored or assisted for an

(01:08:14):
average of fifty seven point two points per game this season.

Speaker 8 (01:08:17):
That is the most in NBA history.

Speaker 9 (01:08:20):
So Luka Doncic chopping at the bit to get this
series started. At seven o'clock would be the Bucks and
Pacers in Milwaukee. The nightcap at nine thirty Pelicans and
Thunder out in Oklahoma City. Stanley Cup Playoffs, first Round
Game one in the Eastern Conference, an all Sunshine State
affair between the Panthers and Lightning as Florida wins it
three to two. Next game coming up just got started

(01:08:43):
actually out at Madison Square Garden. They are in the
first period A. Capitals and Rangers are scoreless. Major League
Baseball several games in action right now as we speak,
and the Orioles two nothing over the Royals. They are
on the top of the six inning, Guardians leading the
Athletics three two in the seventh, red shutting out the
Angels three nothing in the seventh, Yankees on top of

(01:09:06):
the race five to one in the seventh. In the
eighth inning, it's the Nationals over the Astros sixth to nothing,
Phillies leading the White Sox seven to two and of
the sixth inning, and the Red Sox leading the Pirates
four to one in the in the eighth inning. Fifth inning,
it's scoreless between the Brewers and the Cardinals. Also in
the fifth inning in Minneapolis, Tigers leading the Twins for nothing,

(01:09:27):
Marlins on top of the Cup's four to three in
the fifth and in the second inning, scoreless matchup game
one of a doubleheader between the Mariners and the Rockies,
and coming up in about half an hour. We've got
three more games diving Backs and Giants in San Francisco,
met some Dodgers out in Los Angeles Blue Jays will
face the Hadres in San Diego.

Speaker 3 (01:09:45):
Back to you guys, Hi, Kevin, thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (01:09:48):
By the way, I never thought we would ever see
ball hoggery to a higher level than we saw back
in the day with James Harden when he was a
Houston Rocket, until I watch Doncic with the Alice Mavericks.
You talk about a guy that dominates the basketball. I
mean it's like, wow, you remember Hardened with the Rockets.
It was ridiculous. I mean, he had the balls seemingly.

(01:10:10):
I remember you remember they actually had a stat. I'd
hate to be the stat guy that had to do this.
Which player in the league dribbled the ball more? You
imagine being the guys like they had a stat, like
somebody's got to count dribbles. And Harden's number was double
like any other player in the league. And I thought, well,
you just never ever see that level of monopolizing a

(01:10:34):
basketball as we saw with Harden with the Rockets. Doncic
is at even another level. I mean, I mean it's
seemingly when you watch the Mavericks play, the ball is
in its hands constantly.

Speaker 9 (01:10:48):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:10:48):
And you talk about a guy I know that and
Yoga should be the league's MVP and expected to be
the MVP for the third time in four years. But
when you look at Doncic led the league in scoring
almost thirty four points a game, rebounds, tenn assist, pretty
ridiculous numbers.

Speaker 4 (01:11:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:11:05):
Yeah, most likely he'll finish second of the voting.

Speaker 2 (01:11:08):
So it's gonna be an interesting matchup, most definitely with
the Clippers and Mavericks, although it seems likely the Clipper
is going to have to do it without Kawhi Leonard.

Speaker 5 (01:11:19):
Yeah, what's fascinating is the fact that he is on
the same team with one of the NBA's best dribblers.

Speaker 4 (01:11:30):
Yeah, Like, you know, so if you.

Speaker 5 (01:11:31):
Think about it, the domination that you know of the
amount of time he has with possession of the basketball. Like, meanwhile,
inarguably the best ball handler in the league. And I'm
pretty sure if you pulled every single player in the
NBA is also plays with the Mavericks and it's Kyrie Irving.
So it's it's an interesting situation. But that goes to
show you, Look, I mean, this is a star driven

(01:11:54):
league and Kyrie had his time when he was playing
Robin to betman out in Cleveland, where it appeared he
was an emerging star, and he you know, went off
on his own.

Speaker 4 (01:12:08):
He separated himself. He you know, came out from under
the wing.

Speaker 5 (01:12:12):
I think his first stop was in Boston, right with
the Celtics, and that didn't work there. And then it
was the super team that was supposed to be in Brooklyn,
and that didn't work out there. And you know, here
he is in Dallas, and I think he's back in
a role which makes a lot of sense to Kyrie
in terms of his career trajectory, which is to kind

(01:12:32):
of play sidekick to a superstar.

Speaker 4 (01:12:34):
And that's what's happened with Luca.

Speaker 2 (01:12:36):
If you're just talking pure basketball talent, Kyrie Irving is
on a very short list. Yeah, I mean, if you're
just talking about basketball skills, Kyrie Irving is one of
the top five players in this league in terms of skills. Now,
there's a lot of components into what makes you a

(01:12:58):
great player. He is a legitimate All Star, he's an
NBA champion, but on this team, I mean, again, it's
amazing that he averaged over twenty five points a game
when he got Danci on the same team all right
on the other side, I would do want to get
to this Minnesota Vikings team because of all the teams
going into this draft, to me, they have the most

(01:13:20):
weight in terms of what are they going to do
getting into this draft. We'll break it down. This is
Fox Sports Sunday, Steve Harvey, Rich Hornberger here, Fox Sports Sunday.
We are live from the ti iraq dot com studios.
I want to make a quick mention here. As you know,
my partner, Rich has wearing many hats these days, multitude

(01:13:43):
of talents in the broadcast industry, and it was just
announced that he and a very dear friend of ours
will team up as the broadcast team for San Diego
State football for the twenty twenty four season. John Schaefer, Yeah,
the pride of your state and of course of Lower
mary In high school where at one point he was

(01:14:05):
in the same high school as a guy named Kobe Bryant.

Speaker 3 (01:14:07):
At the same time, a couple of years behind Kobe.

Speaker 2 (01:14:10):
He will replace an absolute San Diego legend and Ted
Leitner as the voice of the ad Tex Big Shoes
to fill for John. But of course you, John and
I actually did a show together for a while in
San Diego, so I did text John and congratulated him.

Speaker 3 (01:14:27):
His responses, who are you?

Speaker 2 (01:14:30):
No, he does he Actually we had this legendary story
about when John first came to our radio station.

Speaker 3 (01:14:36):
He would like say hey you to me, and I
was like, please you tell me. You don't know who
I am? You know, And it was start of ongoing joke.
He was very excited to hear from me.

Speaker 2 (01:14:46):
But anyway I'm looking forward is hopefully I'll have a
bounce back year for the ad TECs this year.

Speaker 5 (01:14:52):
Yeah, looking forward to a better season on the football field.
But in terms of the broadcast situation, which isn't something
that often makes news. But yeah, look Ted Lightner, I
can't say enough good things about him. Yeah, Ted, like
you mentioned and appropriately so, is a legend. He his

(01:15:12):
voice is has lent soundtrack to some of the greatest
moments in San Diego sports history.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
Forty years with the Padres broadcast team. I mean, wherever
you're listening from right now, you know, these broad the
local broadcasters that are around forever and ever, really become
the voice of a city, yep.

Speaker 4 (01:15:29):
Yep, And that is Ted Lightner.

Speaker 5 (01:15:31):
And I also learned a tremendous amount from a personal
standpoint from working with him. He's one of the greatest
characters in broadcasts that you'll ever come across. YEP, and
also possess his great characters. So I'll miss him in
the booth, but I am thrilled to be joined by
John and that's gonna be a lot of fun because

(01:15:52):
you know, how do.

Speaker 3 (01:15:53):
Two Penn State guys end up at San Diego State?

Speaker 4 (01:15:56):
I do you? Who knows the world is so crazy?

Speaker 2 (01:15:59):
And to talk to g there, does he understand what
you just s? You have two Penn State guys in
the booth doing San Diego State.

Speaker 5 (01:16:06):
What's so funny is yeah, like this collection of characters,
like the athletic director has a Southern accent. You have
two Penn Staters calling your San Diego State Aztecs football games,
and you just moved on from the longtime voice of
the San Diego State ass Sex football team who was
born in Queens, New York.

Speaker 2 (01:16:26):
Right West coast guys. So yeah, yeah, here's the bottom line.
Who doesn't want to live in San Diego?

Speaker 4 (01:16:31):
All right?

Speaker 3 (01:16:31):
So that's the bottom line there, all right. I want
to get to the vikings right now.

Speaker 2 (01:16:35):
So I still believe they were one hundred percent blindsided
by the kirk Cousins situation. I don't think in their
wildest streams they ever thought that an offer like what
the Falcons gave kirk Cousins was going to be on
the table.

Speaker 4 (01:16:46):
But now they have to move on.

Speaker 2 (01:16:48):
So here you are the Vikings. You have the eleventh
pick in the first round. You have the twenty third
pick in the first round. You have no second round picks,
you have no third round picks. So those two picks
are premium picks for a team that I still thinks
they're a playoff contending team. They were in the playoffs
two years ago. Obviously it was a miracle year eleven

(01:17:11):
to zero run in one score games. That wasn't going
to happen again. But they need a quarterback again. Sam Darnold, unfortunately,
is the turnover machine at the pro level that he
was at least his last year at USC.

Speaker 3 (01:17:25):
So what do you do if you're the Vikings?

Speaker 1 (01:17:27):
Do you?

Speaker 4 (01:17:28):
I mean?

Speaker 2 (01:17:28):
Because in order to move up into that let's say third,
fourth or fifth spot in the draft to get the
quarterback you want, you may have to give up both
those picks eleven and twenty three, and you might be
sitting there twiddling your thumbs until the third day of
the draft, with no picks on Day two, Are you

(01:17:48):
willing to take that risk to take one of these
quarterbacks in the draft?

Speaker 5 (01:17:53):
It's man, I'll tell you. If you stand pat, it's
going to be difficult to get a quarterback. I believe
it would be difficult to get a quarterback with great
value where you sit. But if you trade up, like
you said, you are leveraging a lot to get to
where where you're even potentially seeing good value. So man alive.

(01:18:17):
Like the Vikings are stuck between a rock and a
hard place. The one benefit they have is Kevin O'Connell
is a tremendous offensive minded coach, and I do think
that he could get a lot out of Sam Darnold.
I don't know how much, but I do think that
he If there's anybody who can sort of squeeze the

(01:18:39):
sponge and get what's left out of a quarterback who's
at a rocky road, I think it's koc. I think
he's I have a huge belief in his usage of
formation and motion and offensive shifts and personnel groupings. It's

(01:18:59):
a lot of this same things that he did when
he was with the Los Angeles Rams working under Sean McVeigh,
and he's instituted it in Minnesota, and I think, I, well,
I know, the reason why Kirk Cousins is arguably coming
off of two of his best seasons is has a
lot to do with him seeing the game through the
eyes of a quarterback.

Speaker 4 (01:19:19):
Kevin O'Connell was. You know, we're just talking about San
Diego State.

Speaker 5 (01:19:22):
He was a great, one of the greatest quarterbacks ever
come out of San Diego State. Had a short stint
in the NFL as a player. He was a backup
his whole career and then graduated to the coaching circuit
where he was tied to some of the most successful
coaches in our lifetime. So this is one of those

(01:19:44):
areas where I think the I think the Minnesota Vikings
could punt in terms of picking a quarterback on this
year's draft and still have something that resembles a successful
season and then go back to the draft next year
and see what they can see what they can do there.
I think they have the benefit of time, and the
only reason why is because of the coach that they

(01:20:07):
were able to procure two years ago.

Speaker 2 (01:20:09):
I agree one hundred percent. If I'm the Vikings stay
with those two picks in the first round. Yeah, if
a quarterback falls, do you want?

Speaker 4 (01:20:17):
Great?

Speaker 2 (01:20:18):
But here's the thing. Whatever quarterback you have has the
best receiver in the league in Justin Jefferson.

Speaker 4 (01:20:22):
Yes he does.

Speaker 3 (01:20:23):
He is the best wide receiver in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (01:20:26):
That could be a big difference for a guy like
Sam Darnold to maybe get back into the mix as
a quarterback. All right, coming up in the next hour,
we got much more on these NBA players, more NFL
draft talk. This is Fox Sports Sunday. Just a very
very busy time in the world of sports. We're trying
to bring it all to you as much as we
can here on Fox Sports Radio once again, broadcasting live

(01:20:48):
from the ti rag dot com studios, ti rack dot Com.
We're gonna help get you there on that matched selection,
fast free shipping, free road azer protection, over ten thousand
recommended installers, tire rack dot com, the way tire buying
should be Right now. Clippers leading the Mavericks twenty four
to eight. Team as are actually three and a half
point favorites going into this game with Kawhi Leonard on

(01:21:10):
the bench. Zubots eight points. Who would I mean if
you're the Clippers without your superstar. And believe me and
I thought that our dear friend Monci Belogna is my
Saturday broadcast partner now diehard Clippers fan. She said it
right when she says Kawhi Leonard is the best player

(01:21:33):
on the court when he wants to be in any game.
And we've always seen that from Kawhi Leonard. There's a
no question of how great a player Kawhi Leonard is.
But if you're the Clippers right now and you're saying, well,
Paul George is going to have to do it or
James Hard No, no, no, no, somebody's going to have
to jump out out of nowhere. And so far it's
been zubots eight points early on. Clippers lead the Mavericks

(01:21:56):
by score of twenty four to a team. John Paul
Morosi's going to be Johnny Us coming up here in
about twenty minutes to give us his predictions on the
Stanley Cup playoffs.

Speaker 3 (01:22:07):
And we got a lot of Major League Baseball to
get to as well.

Speaker 2 (01:22:11):
And by the way, Rich, I do want to remind
everyone that you can catch Fox Sports Radio's Draft Night
live through the first round of the draft this Thursday,
beginning at eight pm Eastern, presented by Express Pros, the
official employment agency of Fox Sports Radio's draft coverage insider
Jay Glazer, Former Cardinals GM, Steve Kim, College Football Hall

(01:22:32):
of Famer LeVar Arrington, Big Newton kickoffs. Rob Stone will
have pick by pick predictions and reactions to every first
round pick. That's Thursday, eight pm Eastern, throughout the entire
first round of the Draft, live right here on Fox
Sports Radio and the iHeart app, presented by Express Pros.
You remember that year that you and I did the
Draft show that I think we were on the air
for what was it six hours something like that. Yeah,

(01:22:56):
remember we are at that.

Speaker 4 (01:22:57):
I think it was sports far more than I think
it's close to seven hours. Steve.

Speaker 2 (01:23:01):
Yeah, we just went on and on and on and on.
I mean, what's gonna happen on Thursday. There's not gonna
be any surprise with the first pick in the draft.
The first pick of the draft is gonna be Caleb Williams,
And you know, the Bears are gonna just sit there.
The clock's gonna be running and running and running, and like, come.

Speaker 3 (01:23:21):
On, it's gonna day forever.

Speaker 2 (01:23:23):
Just say it Kayleb Williams quarterback University of Southern California.

Speaker 3 (01:23:28):
But that's not how they operate.

Speaker 2 (01:23:30):
And I and I really think once we get after
the first pick, I think I think even the Commanders
at too. I mean, everyone seems to think they're gonna
take jayde and Daniels. Ultimately, I think that's going to
be the case. But if you're the Commanders, I you know,
somebody's gonna get desperate. That's why we were talking about
the Vikings on the other side. Don't get desperate Minnesota, No,

(01:23:51):
dabt keep the eleventh and twenty third picks. You're gonna
get some good players. They're gonna help you out at
those picks. If you draft right, using both those picks
to move up for JJ McCarthy or Drake May No, no, no, no,
no no, it doesn't make sense. In fact, yesterday I
was talking to Adam Kaplan our Fox Sports Radio NFL Insider,

(01:24:12):
and if you look at his mock draft, he doesn't
have any trades none.

Speaker 3 (01:24:18):
I said, Do you don't think there he goes? Of
course there will be, but I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:24:21):
I don't do a mock draft based on trades, right,
you know, because a lot of times trades come from
teams that no one projected to make a trade.

Speaker 3 (01:24:31):
That happens every year.

Speaker 5 (01:24:32):
Oh yeah, well, and what's what's fascinating is we've have
had years recently, in fact, where there were no trades
in the first round.

Speaker 4 (01:24:41):
So yeah, it's often that you see trades.

Speaker 5 (01:24:44):
It's rare that you see a full first round without
any but but yeah, it has happened before, so it's
difficult to predict. And it also, again, it all comes
down to value. It comes down to if there is
a team on the clock who perceives that the value
of a player where they're available at superseds their desire

(01:25:08):
to have later round draft picks where they got to
package a couple.

Speaker 4 (01:25:12):
Of picks together and move up and go and get
that guy. And we've seen that many times.

Speaker 5 (01:25:17):
We've seen Look, we've seen that many times where it's
worked out, like for example, the Kansas City Chiefs moving
up a couple of picks to grab Patrick Mahomes where
he was available because remember he didn't fall to them.
The Chiefs went up and got him, and they had
a franchise quarterback in Alex Smith. They were paying him
like a franchise quarterback. He was playing like a franchise quarterback.

(01:25:37):
He was getting them to the playoffs every year. The
problem was Alex Smith had a ceiling and they looked
at a player like Patrick Mahomes, especially where he was
available falling in the first round, and they said, we
got to go up and get this guy before somebody
else does because we fell in love with him, and
we said, if he falls to this certain level of
the first round, we're gonna go get him.

Speaker 4 (01:25:59):
But we don't. I think he will.

Speaker 5 (01:26:00):
And here he is, so fellas, let's get on the
phone and let's let's make a trade. And that's exactly
what happens. So it has worked out before where teams
have had great successes. And then obviously we've seen, you know,
players like Mitch Trubisky where you know a team will
move up in the draft, like Chicago will to go
and get Mitch Trubisky who played a single season at

(01:26:22):
Duke and then went on to kind of flame out
with the Chicago Bears, and.

Speaker 4 (01:26:27):
You know, now he's a backup in the league. So
it happens both ways.

Speaker 2 (01:26:30):
You know, history is a big part of the draft
in terms of the perspective of certain teams of certain
schools producing great players at a certain position. Let me
l's use a prime example of this, right, So, you
had Joe Burrow that seemingly came out of nowhere to
have still the greatest single season of any quarterback in

(01:26:51):
college football history what he did with LSU undefeated national
champions and he was thrown to a couple guys named
Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson who have been every bit,
if not better than advertise at the NFL level. And
now you have almost a repeat situation with the same school.
Have Jaden Daniels out of nowhere having this super superstar

(01:27:11):
year to win the Heisman Trophy, and its wide receivers
Malik Neighbors and Brian Thomas Junior are now both projected
by many to.

Speaker 3 (01:27:19):
Be top ten picks on the coattails of their quarterback.
Do you buy into that?

Speaker 2 (01:27:25):
I mean we When you think about Penn State right
linebacker university and they've had so many great linebackers that
have gone down into great success at the NFL level,
do you buy in that when you look at these
receivers out of LSU saying, wow, we've seen you know,
Jamar Chase and we've seen justin Jefferson. Now Neighbors and
Thomas are going to be just like them. You got

(01:27:46):
to be that, you know, because they played at LSU
and they know how to produce wide receivers.

Speaker 4 (01:27:51):
I think it can.

Speaker 5 (01:27:53):
I think typically. I think typically it happens for two reasons.
One because because there is a moniker that is used
as a recruiting tool. Like forever, Penn State has been
referred to as LBU linebacker, you, LeVar Arrington, Paul Pazlesni,

(01:28:15):
most recently Micah Parson.

Speaker 2 (01:28:17):
Let's go back to the origins of jack Ham. Jack Ham,
you know, way back in the day. I mean yeah,
I mean they've always produced these great linebackers. Shane Conlin.

Speaker 5 (01:28:26):
Shane Conlin another great example, like so you've had you've
had this rich history that I promise you it's used
as a recruiting tool because it was used on some
of my best friends on the football team.

Speaker 3 (01:28:38):
Wasn't there a guy named Navarro Bowman?

Speaker 5 (01:28:40):
Navarro Bowman who I think should be a Hall of Famer.
I don't know if he ever will get well.

Speaker 3 (01:28:45):
He had four unreal seasons, dude.

Speaker 5 (01:28:48):
And I mean one of the most dominant linebackers. He
and Patrick Willis with the San Francisco forty nine ers.
But so the list of great linebackers out of Penn
State goes on and on and on, and the point being,
you know, there is a reason that they keep going
to Penn State because it's a self fulfilling prophecy.

Speaker 4 (01:29:07):
You get to recruit that. You get to go to these.

Speaker 5 (01:29:11):
Living room couches and talk to parents and say, look
how many first rounders at linebacker. Look how many Pro
Football Hall of Famers at linebacker? Look how many College
Football Hall of famers at linebacker. We have come to
Penn State. We're going to make your son a college
football Hall of Famer. You know, same thing with LSU
with their receivers.

Speaker 4 (01:29:29):
You know, same thing with Frankly USC with quarterbacks.

Speaker 5 (01:29:33):
I mean, I'm not saying many USC quarterbacks have had
a tremendous amount of success at the NFL level, but
how many of them have gotten drafted over the years
or one Heisman's over the years? You know. So there's
certain programs that do a good job of lowering a
certain position positional talent to their program because history helps

(01:29:55):
them recruit those positions.

Speaker 2 (01:29:58):
Yeah, I look at I I buy into these receivers.
I mean, forget which school they play for. Both these guys,
Thomas and Neighbors are are big time town. We could
see as many as four wide receivers taken in the
first ten picks of this draft, and that's certainly a
sign of where this league is coming. All right, On
the other side, we're going to catch up with one

(01:30:19):
of our favorite people in the world, talking not only
Major League Baseball, but his predictions on the upcoming Stanley
Cup playoffs. A great John Paul Morosi joins us. This
is Fox Sports Sunday. So, Chris, you have no idea
that this music you're playing right here.

Speaker 3 (01:30:35):
I'm more of a word.

Speaker 2 (01:30:36):
It was the background music for a sponsor that I
had for many, many years. I will not mention them
right now where I would sing to this music a
pitch for them. Well, now that you told me this,
it's going to play every show you Now in my head,
I almost want to break out in song, but I can't.

(01:30:57):
You're not a sponsor here with you really want to
break out?

Speaker 4 (01:31:02):
All right?

Speaker 2 (01:31:03):
Once again, this is Fox Sports Sunday. You can take
it music video catch music.

Speaker 3 (01:31:07):
To certain moments in your life. Or people in your life.
But in this case, I actually attach it to a
long time sponsor.

Speaker 1 (01:31:13):
I attached to Christopher Walkin once again.

Speaker 2 (01:31:17):
We are live from the Tairaq dot com studios and
the Clippers are looking really good right now.

Speaker 4 (01:31:24):
I'll put it this way.

Speaker 3 (01:31:25):
They're up forty to twenty three on the Mavericks.

Speaker 2 (01:31:27):
The Clippers are shooting fifty nine percent and the Mavericks
are shooting twenty eight percent in this game right now.

Speaker 3 (01:31:38):
So so far, so good for the Clippers.

Speaker 2 (01:31:42):
And actually they've been showing literally after every Clippers basket,
they've been showing Kawhi.

Speaker 4 (01:31:50):
On the bench, isn't it.

Speaker 11 (01:31:53):
You know?

Speaker 2 (01:31:54):
This is when we talk about the idea of sort
of rallying the troops when the big gun is down.

Speaker 3 (01:32:02):
There's something to be said about that. So we'll keep
eye on that guy.

Speaker 2 (01:32:05):
Speaking of big guns, we got the biggest joining us
right now to cover everything on the Major League Baseball front,
and eventually he'll be giving us his prediction on the
upcoming Stanley Cup Finals. The Great John Paul Morosi is
joining us JP. I would start with hockey, but I
want to start with a little baseball right now, or
leave the hockey predictions to the end. So yesterday the

(01:32:28):
Dodgers lost for the sixth time in eight games on
their homestand. And yes, the reason I talked Dodgers is
this is a team that invested over one point three
billion dollars in new contracts in the offseason, so they
have relevance. But the top three guys in the lineup,
Mookie Bets, show Hey Otani and Freddie Freeman combined, we're
four for seven.

Speaker 8 (01:32:48):
With eight walks.

Speaker 2 (01:32:50):
The rest of the Dodgers lineup was two for twenty
four with thirteen strikeouts, and they went down to defeat.
It'll be the first time they've had a nine game
homestand in which they lose all three series since two
thousand and five. So it looks like the Mets have
found a formula for others to follow. Don't throw Mookie

(01:33:12):
or show Hey or Freddie as strike unless you have to,
because the rest of the lineup is worthless. Do the
Dodgers have problems right now or is this just an
isolated bad stretch.

Speaker 11 (01:33:25):
Well, first of all, good afternoon. Always love our conversations.
But my answer to you on that one is there
are some concerns with this team. I would stop short
of saying that it's a panic moment. I would stop
short of saying they have to dramatically reshape the roster.
But what is clear to me is that if people

(01:33:47):
expected this to be one hundred and ten wins juggernaut
and just plow right through the National League all season long,
that's not happening. They're a good baseball team. They are.
They're a good team, but they are not yet a
historically great team or even a great team.

Speaker 4 (01:34:03):
Yet.

Speaker 11 (01:34:04):
They're a good baseball team, and they're running close right
now to where the Podres are. They're a solid ball club.
But where the Dodgers I believe have come up short
is in a few different ways. Number One, Freddie Freeman
hasn't hit a ton yet that I think has been
even within that Big three. Mookie's numbers are great. Show

(01:34:25):
his numbers are great, with the exception of, obviously the
conversations surrounding him in runners of scoring position situations, Freeman's
been okay to start this season. Will Smith has been solid,
but you're right after will Smith, the production drops off substantially.
And part of the issue there is that with the

(01:34:46):
opposition pitching feeling comfortable in how they approach the second
half of the Dodger lineup, they're not as stressed when
the top is up that they're able to really conserve
their energy and approach the top three hitters with all
their energy. And then now that they're coasting in the
second half, but it's an easier part of the lineup
to pitch two and the rotation. They've had some injuries

(01:35:08):
there and they have not been able to win a
lot of super low scoring games where where show Ay
or Mookie could get a big hit and it's going
to stand up in a two to one game. So
they're a good team. They're a good team, they're not
a great team. And so this is going to feel
for the Dodgers much more like a regular season that

(01:35:29):
has its ups and downs, as opposed to a glide
path to October that some were expecting.

Speaker 4 (01:35:36):
JP.

Speaker 5 (01:35:36):
I read a stat last weekend after we had interviewed,
and I saved it for this week. At the start
of plays of as of Sunday last week, there had
been two hundred three total games played and during those
two hundred three total games, four hundred and twenty two
home runs, which is a rate of just above two

(01:35:58):
per game.

Speaker 4 (01:36:00):
Through April fourteenth.

Speaker 5 (01:36:01):
Last season, there had been two hundred and seven games
and there was a rate of two point three seven
homers per game, which is a twelve.

Speaker 4 (01:36:09):
Percent decrease year over year.

Speaker 5 (01:36:11):
Now, normally we make excuses beginning of the season, there's
always a slow stretch because obviously the chillier weather in
a lot of these markets. But this is year over year,
and it's the exact same timeframe, almost the exact same
number of games. And then you add to that the
fact that there's a lot of top level ace pitchers
who are on the il this year. So do you

(01:36:32):
have an explanation for maybe the slowdown in homers this
year compared to last.

Speaker 11 (01:36:37):
Yeah, it's a great question, and I think, to me, Rich,
the answer is the same one that explains the amount
of injuries that we're seeing for pitchers right now, which
is the chase for velocity this is and the amount
of power stuff. I had a longtime manager tell me recently, John,

(01:36:57):
it is harder to hit now than ever, and much
harder to hit than during this manager's playing career. And
I think that as a result, you're just seeing twofold
number one, these pitchers who are running it into the
red with their velocity all the time and throwing ninety
mile an hour sliders. They're breaking down. But guess what,

(01:37:19):
there's another cadre of pitchers, maybe not with the same
name recognition, but with similar stuff filling in right behind them,
with also ninety eight mile an hour fastballs and eighty
nine to ninety mile an hour sliders. It is still
really hard to hit. Pitch design, the way that game

(01:37:40):
plans go still are all in favor of, I think,
advantaging pitchers, and offensively, we still have not seen that
many guys able to adjust to the adjustments and find
additional ways to elevate the ball. Now, listen, there's still
plenty of guys that have having great starts of the season.

(01:38:01):
There are some tremendous starts to the year. Look at
Josh Naylor, what he's done with Cleveland. He's off to
a phenomenal start. So there are a lot of still
a lot of good hitting But I think to your
point Rich that the marginal players. There's a lot of teams,
and I know we talk a lot about the Dodgers,
and we should, but look around baseball, a lot of
teams have second half of the lineups that look like

(01:38:23):
the Dodgers second half of the lineup, and I just
think the pitching continues, continues to outpace the hitting, and
even with the ban on shifting and other elements in
the game right now, they have not done enough to
help a lot of the hitters put the ball and
play more often.

Speaker 2 (01:38:39):
The Yankees are sitting in first place and the fans
are booing Aaron Judge, let me ask you this. Obviously,
he's off to a rough start, certainly in comparison to
Juan Soto, who has been like an MVP so far
for this Yankees team. Do you think that the great
success of Soto out of the box has had the

(01:39:00):
adverse effect on Aaron Judge, who's been the man in
this Yankees lineup for obviously the last decade or so.

Speaker 11 (01:39:08):
No, I really don't think so. And Judge, to your point,
he hasn't had a great start to the year. He
did get a hit today, he's you know, his average
is still below two hundred. I get it. I understand
the pressure, but with him, this is not like the
Jose Breky situation, which where he looks so lost. I
think Judge is having a slow start. I believe he'll

(01:39:30):
get out of it. I'm not gonna predict that he's
gonna get sixty two homers again, but he'll be better.
And I do not think that Judge in any way
is pressing because Soda has played well, or that it's
in some way impacting the way that he's gone about
things because Wan is in the lineup. But I think
Judge will come around. And part of the reason why
I do think he'll come around is that the environment

(01:39:53):
around him is conducive to him figuring it out. I
think that maybe there is a bit of adjustment on
his part about our pitchers approaching him differently because he's
following Soto. Maybe maybe there's a little bit of a
change there. But I think he'll get there. And the
important thing for the Yankees, they won another one run
game today. They're winning close games, they're playing good baseball,

(01:40:17):
and they're getting back to being the team that we
thought they were going to be last year. So I
think by and large, while yes, there have been some
booze for Judge, I think overall it's been a phenomenal
start to the year for the Yankees, especially when you
consider that Garrett Cole is not yet back on the
active rosters. This is all very good news for the Yankees,
and certainly congratulations to John Sterling. What an amazing career

(01:40:39):
and run for him calling the Yankees games. I'm going
to miss seeing him in the press box, all the
great conversations we've had over the years. But it's just
been all I think overall, pretty emotional and productive start
to the year there in New York.

Speaker 5 (01:40:50):
Hey, are the Kansas City Royals a real contender this season?
I mean they were a train wreck last year. One
hundred and six losses I believe was the final tally,
But I mean early on.

Speaker 4 (01:41:02):
You're starting to see a little life out there in Case.

Speaker 11 (01:41:05):
Yes, I'm a believer in Case. I think that, you know,
early on in the season. I was a big believer
in my hometown Tigers here, but I actually think that
the Royals have a bit more going for them right
now than Detroit does. Bobby wit Junior is one of
the best five players in the game, dynamic player, and
he's probably the single best player right now in terms
of what he can do in every facet of the

(01:41:26):
game in the entire division. Jose Ramirez has been the
best player for a long time. I think that Bobby
might have just a little bit more explosiveness right now,
maybe a bit more dynamic, But Hose I still love
watching him play. And Nayler has been great too in
Cleveland certainly as well. And then the Royals lineup, I
think that are their rotation with Lugo and Waka Reagan's.

(01:41:48):
They've got a really good group of pitching. Brady Singers
there has pitched well, so I'm on board. I think
that the Royals right now are building a team that
is certainly fit in my opinion, to be a postseason
in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 2 (01:42:01):
Well again, when we're talking baseball, there's only like one
hundred and thirty nine games left, so I mean, you
know we're coming down the stretch. Not in baseball, but
we are now into playoff time in the National Hockey League.
Trying to translate regular season versus postseason success in every
sport can be dicey, but no sport more than the NHL,

(01:42:25):
no question about that. I mean, a year ago, obviously,
the Brewers had a historic regular season. They went belly
up in the first round of the playoffs. So trying
to predict, you know, which team ultimately emerges into the
Stanley Cup Final. Which teams will be there is impossible, unless,
of course, you're talking to the one and only John
Paul Morosi.

Speaker 3 (01:42:45):
So we have that opportunity.

Speaker 2 (01:42:48):
Now that the playoffs are underway, give us your predictions
on which two teams will match up in the Stanley
Cup Final.

Speaker 11 (01:42:56):
I'm going for a rematch of the ninety four Cup
five Rangers versus Canucks, but this time Vancouver wins it
and Canada gets his first Stanley Cup since nineteen ninety three. Wow,
it's going to be a big Cup win for Canada.
But remember a lot of Americans on that team as well,

(01:43:18):
Quinn Hughes, They're wearing the Sea JT. Miller, So you've
got a lot of American talent on the Canucks to season.
I believe they find a way to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup.

Speaker 2 (01:43:28):
Canadians don't win over the Kings in ninety three without
the curve stick controversy arnament.

Speaker 11 (01:43:33):
Sly Mary Melrose. I think Vinnie don Fouss was on
that team there for the Halves back in the day.
He has some good memories there. Back in nineteen ninety three,
that was the last time a Canadian team won the
Cup that spent thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:43:46):
One long years, and I kept saying, how do you
get Patrick Wall out of Patrick Roy?

Speaker 4 (01:43:51):
I don't get it.

Speaker 3 (01:43:52):
I still never figured that one out.

Speaker 4 (01:43:54):
How about you?

Speaker 11 (01:43:55):
Now he's now coaching the Islanders, and so if we
see the Island going a nice little playoff run, you
got a chance to ask him him on the show.

Speaker 3 (01:44:01):
Yes, I was known as the Gretzky hater back in
those days.

Speaker 4 (01:44:05):
Shocking, I mean shock.

Speaker 2 (01:44:08):
I was like, he comes to the Kings and I'm like,
where's the Stanley Cups? Man, Messy's winning cups? You're not,
what's the deal? And then and then I then I
had a meeting with Gretzky and I found out, God,
he's in the nicest guy.

Speaker 4 (01:44:20):
In the planet.

Speaker 2 (01:44:21):
I regret every negative thing I said it to him face.
I said anything I did you ever heard me say?
He's like, I don't care, Steve, I really don't. I
have enjoyed your show over the years. I'm like, oh God,
I willn't any worse about being bad to you. Nothing
bad to say about this man. He is simply the
best of the best. JP Everything's underway, man. We got

(01:44:42):
the NBA Playoffs, got the Stanley Cup playoffs. We've got
Major League Baseball it's all good, and the draft as
well coming up, so uh a.

Speaker 3 (01:44:49):
Lot to cover down the road.

Speaker 4 (01:44:50):
JP.

Speaker 3 (01:44:51):
We always appreciate the time.

Speaker 11 (01:44:53):
Love it, my friends. I look forward to this conversation
every single week and can't wait for next Sunday as well.
All the best. Have a great week, guys.

Speaker 2 (01:44:59):
There is alright, John Paul Morosi joining us. There are
Fox Sports Radio MLB Insider great stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:45:04):
All right, let's find out what is trending right now.

Speaker 2 (01:45:07):
He has been the busiest man here today trying to
keep track of this lighting up scoreboard.

Speaker 9 (01:45:13):
This is a lot going on. But as a sports fan,
really does it get any better than this? I mean,
this is exactly what you want on a Sunday. Is
just a day full of games. Perfect if you're on
the couch, just chillin' enjoying the day off work. And
we got a lot of exciting action in the NBA playoffs.
The only thing I want to ask is Kawhi? Who
the Clippers? Are they better without Kawhi today? Apparently they

(01:45:36):
are because the Clippers are leading the Dallas Mavericks fifty
to twenty eight, and James Harden a big reason why
he's got twenty points off of four four to three
point shooting six of eight overall from the field, the
Clippers as a team shooting seven to twelve from beyond
the three point line. In in addition to Harden, if
he's to Zobots getting it done, George.

Speaker 3 (01:45:56):
Trying to turn it on down the left outlet exactly
what be signed seeing double.

Speaker 2 (01:46:00):
Turn goes up in playing one over Poper Herman big
throw with a double by Sipflix.

Speaker 9 (01:46:07):
That was the Clippers radio network there with the call
Zubots as five to six shooting, he's got himself ten
points along with six rebounds and an assist. As everything
going right for the Clippers and the Mavericks struggling mightily
nine to thirty three shooting at two fifteen from beyond
the three point line. Luka Doncic the only Maverick who

(01:46:28):
is in double figures, as he's got eleven points on
four to twelve shooting, eight rebounds to assist, but getting
absolutely no help from anyone else.

Speaker 8 (01:46:36):
PJ.

Speaker 9 (01:46:36):
Washington does have six points. Kyrie as six points, but
really that's really all the help he's gotten so far
from his teammates. Heaton Celtics, it's Boston winning this one
going away one fourteen to ninety four, and it was
kind of expected. A fourteen and a half point favorite
going into the game were the Boston Celtics since Jimmy
Butler expecting to be out several weeks with his MCL injury,

(01:46:59):
so it's gonna be a to task for the Heat
to make this a series. And with the way Boston played,
Jason Tatum a triple double twenty three points, ten rebounds,
ten assists. We also saw Derek Whitewood twenty points on
four of eight three point shooting six to ten from
the field, Jalen Brown seventeen points, Sam Howser at twelve
points off the bench. Out Orford even got himself involved

(01:47:20):
and got ten points on four of eight shooting. So
everything going right for the Boston Celtics in that game.
If Bam out of Bayue doing all he could, it
just wasn't enough. He had twenty four points and six
rebounds For the game. Coming up later, it'll be the
Bucks and Pacers tip off of that game set for
seven o'clock over in Milwaukee, and the nightcap will feature
of the Pelicans and Thunder over in Oklahoma City. Tip

(01:47:41):
off set for nine thirty Eastern time. In the NHL
Stanley Cup Playoffs, Game one in the Eastern Conference first Round,
Capitals and Rangers, and it's the Rangers winning this one
handily three nothing. There in the middle of the second
period out at Madison Square Garden in a battle of
the Sunshine State, Panthers edge the light three to two,
although it was a three to one late and the

(01:48:02):
Lightning able to get a Lake goal to make it
closer three to two. The Panthers win to take a
one to nothing series lead. Later tonight, seven o'clock Jets
and Avalanche in Winnipeg, Game one of that series. Canucks
and Predators, Game one in a Vancouver pup drops at
ten o'clock Eastern time. Major League Baseball, we've had several
games already go final Guardians over the Athletics six to two,

(01:48:24):
Reds shut out the Angels three nothing, Yankees over the
Rays five to four, and the National shutout the Astros
six nothing. Phillies over the White Sox eight to two,
Red Sox top the Pirates six to one.

Speaker 8 (01:48:35):
We have a few games in action.

Speaker 9 (01:48:36):
Mets and Dodgers scoreless out in Los Angeles end of
the second inning. Padres and Blue Jays tied at one
in the second. Mariners Rocky scoreless in the fifth inning,
first game of a doubleheader there In Denver, Giants and
Diamondbacks also score the second inning. In San Francisco, Brewers
and Cardinals. They're in the eighth inning in Milwaukee, clinging
to a two to nothing lead, but the Cardinals do

(01:48:58):
have runners on first and second will with wand out
trying to get back in this game. Tigers and Twins,
it's Detroit leading at six nothing. They're going to the
bottom of the ninth inning. So of this game all
but over. Oils and Royals. It's four nothing in favor
of Baltimore as the Orioles looking to when fourteen of
their first twenty one games. A much hype team, and

(01:49:19):
they certainly seem to be living up to it as
they have their final at back.

Speaker 8 (01:49:23):
Royals have one more chance coming up in the bottom
of the ninth inning.

Speaker 2 (01:49:26):
Back to you, guys, Kevin. Somebody just texted me. They
said they just tune in. Could you repeat all those
scores for them?

Speaker 4 (01:49:32):
Man?

Speaker 1 (01:49:33):
Yeah, just a quick twenty minutes, man, Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:49:38):
Unbelievably busy day in the world as sports, Kevin the
great job as always, Hey, I want to ask you
something rich. The Golden State Warriors got blown out in
the play in Tournament by the Sacramento Kings, and unfortunately
for Klay Thompson, it could not have been a worse day.

(01:49:58):
Zero for ten, every shot, zero points in the game.
His contract is up, he's a free agent. Made forty
three million dollars this year. This is the same Clay Thompson,
of course, one of the greatest shooters in the history
of the NBA, part of four championship team, set out
two full years and then came back a couple of
years ago to help the Warriors win that fourth championship.

Speaker 3 (01:50:22):
He is a true Warriors legend. Obviously, with Draymond and
Steph and now the question is what do you do
if you're the Warriors? Do you blow this whole thing up?

Speaker 2 (01:50:33):
I mean, obviously Steph is there, Draymond's got some years left.
But the idea of re signing Clay Thompson out of
loyalty or into just an acknowledgment that you're one of
the greatest players in franchise history. You're going to go
in the Hall of fame as a Warrior, you deserve
to play out your career as a Golden State Warrior,

(01:50:57):
or do you decide, Hey, Clay, if you want to
continue playing, it's gonna have to be with someone else.
We've got to recognize the fact that we are a
long way away from where we were just a couple
of years ago.

Speaker 3 (01:51:10):
How do you handle that? If you're the Warriors organization, Boy.

Speaker 5 (01:51:14):
I don't envy them, because I like, you watched Warriors
games this season and saw a different looking Klay Thompson.
And this is somebody who's obviously close to you as
you worked many years with the color analysts for the
Los Angeles Lakers.

Speaker 4 (01:51:30):
Michael his father. You knew Clay since he was a kid. Yep.

Speaker 5 (01:51:35):
But like all athletes, they say you die to deaths
as an athlete, and they're one hundred percent correct, because
at some point you realize you don't have it anymore,
or you're too riddled with injuries, or you realize nobody
wants you and it's time to lay down the sword.

(01:51:55):
And sometimes you don't have to make that choice. You
want to make that choice, and it's first proposed to
you with a with a request to take less, you know.
So I think that's probably gonna be the first of
the conversations and probably the many conversations the Warriors have

(01:52:16):
with Clay where they're going to say, hey, man, like
we love you, you know that, but if you're gonna
play here.

Speaker 4 (01:52:23):
It's not gonna be on the same amount of money.

Speaker 5 (01:52:25):
So you could go off elsewhere and you could chase
a bigger contract, and we promise you whenever the day
comes that you want to hang it up for good,
you can sign a one day contract and you can
retire a Golden State Warrior. But you and and this
isn't sane like you're you're out, You're gone. We're just saying,
if you want to stay, you got to help us

(01:52:46):
out here. And so I think that's probably going to
be the decision that the Warriors have to make, is
how much less do we want to offer Clay, you know,
how much loyalty to use your or fidelity do you
want to show Clay and everything he's done for the
organization while making a decision that can help improve this

(01:53:09):
team and impact the future favorably from a salary camp standpoint.
So this is a tough spot, but it's a spot
that happens in every player's career, and I think that's
exactly going to be the first salvo.

Speaker 4 (01:53:23):
It's going to be the Golden State Warriors offering less.

Speaker 2 (01:53:26):
I believe, First of all, he can still play. I
mean this year he shot thirty nine percent three, so
he's still an elite three point shooter. He average eighteen
points a game. I led the league in free throw
percentage ninety three percent. Doesn't shoot a lot of free throws,
but led the league in free throw percentage. He's he's
a guy off the bench. I mean, if I were
the Lakers right now, I would be tripping over myself

(01:53:48):
to add him to our bench.

Speaker 3 (01:53:49):
Well, and I mean, he's one of those guys that his.

Speaker 4 (01:53:52):
Dad played for the Lakers, win championships with the Lakers.

Speaker 2 (01:53:55):
But I mean, just that aside, the fact is he's
still a guy at this point of his I mean,
look at Russell Westbrook right So Russell Westbrook is only
making like four million dollars right now, extending his NBA
career as a guy coming off the bench for the Clippers.
If Klay Thompson wants that role on a franchise like
the Lakers, and obviously his father played for the Lakers.

(01:54:18):
His father a broadcast with the Lakers when he and
his family first moved from the Portland area to Los Angeles.

Speaker 3 (01:54:24):
I'm sure he was a Laker fan, so I think
it would be a nice fit for him.

Speaker 2 (01:54:29):
On the other hand, he does feel loyalty, and you know,
his teammates expressed their appreciation of Clay and made it
clear their sentiment to the organization. He cannot play for
somebody else, right, he can't. If he wants to continue
to play, It's going to have to be in a
Warriors uniform. So big decision down the road for Klay

(01:54:50):
Thompson in his future. All right, Coming up on the
other side, ultimately, what do you think we're going to
see on Thursday with the NFL Draft.

Speaker 3 (01:54:57):
We'll tell you. This is Fox Sports Sunday.

Speaker 2 (01:55:00):
Steve Harbin and Rich Armberger here Fox Sports Sunday Live
from the tire rack dot Com studios. Want to thank
the crew today, Kevin Wired exhausted after every single update,
a lot of scores today, Great job, keV. Chris on
the board, warning again, do not move up in this

(01:55:20):
draft to draft JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 4 (01:55:23):
Do not do it.

Speaker 3 (01:55:24):
If he falls in your lap, and you want to
roll the dice on the guy, he falls in your lap.

Speaker 1 (01:55:28):
I'm just saying, like this idea we're going to trade
up for him feels like a genuine rate waster resources.

Speaker 2 (01:55:32):
And then of course bo who got excited because the
Mets threw a strike to show hey o Tani and
he just hit an absolute bomb into the right field
pavilion at Dodgers Stadium. Dodgers trying to make something out
of this disastrous home stand by it two and six?
Are you worried about this Dodgers team bow or what's
what's the day?

Speaker 4 (01:55:53):
April?

Speaker 10 (01:55:53):
It's April?

Speaker 3 (01:55:54):
Oh, okay, okay, fair enough.

Speaker 4 (01:55:58):
I don't know what Billion three's on that.

Speaker 10 (01:56:00):
I mean, like the last four or five years, the
team that's ended up winning the World Series has not
been good the first half of the season, so right, like,
the Nationals were the worst team in baseball I think
before the trade deadline in twenty nineteen, and the Braves
were not good until they made the three trades at
the deadline to win the World.

Speaker 2 (01:56:17):
So maybe actually what the Doctors need to do is
win less than one hundred games, because every time they
win a hundred games, he goes a big nowhere in
the post or something to ye. Yeah, so they could
struggle and you know, have a ninety wins. You may
only need ninety wins to win the National League West.
I mean, they're all seem to be about the same
right now, except for the Rockies, who are absolutely terrible.

Speaker 10 (01:56:39):
All right, so good pilots though.

Speaker 2 (01:56:42):
All right, well, Richie, Thursday is the NFL Draft. It's
always amazing to me the growth of this league, going
from my stone age days of the Raiders. I can
still remember. My job is sort of like the media
relations director. Like I'd be in the draft room. You know,
Davis would be there and Tom Floor's Ron Wolf who

(01:57:03):
was our all these Hall of famers. Right then they
make a pick and then I would come out and
write it down on a board like handwrite it like
the names on a board.

Speaker 4 (01:57:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:57:13):
Yeah, So you know the media people following the draft,
I mean ESPN was doing their stuff at that time,
but not a lot of people were watching.

Speaker 3 (01:57:19):
Now it's it's a whole show.

Speaker 4 (01:57:21):
Oh, it's everything.

Speaker 5 (01:57:22):
Well, because what sports are and I mean I don't
want to break it down to you know, the elemental
level of why we're interested in sports.

Speaker 4 (01:57:31):
That's boring.

Speaker 5 (01:57:31):
But what you are is your your your hawkin' faith,
your hawking belief. There's every single spring when your team,
you know, as bad as they were a season ago.
If you're a Cleveland Browns fan, typically obviously they made
a playoff run with Joe Flacco because he's elite. You know,

(01:57:53):
if you're a Houston Texans fan from a year ago
and you saw them take you know, CJ.

Speaker 4 (01:57:59):
Stroud and Will Anderson Junior, and you're thinking, as you know,
that's what we needed.

Speaker 5 (01:58:03):
And now we're gonna go out there and we're gonna
contend for a playoff season. And sure enough c J.
Stroud and his compatriot on the defensive side, they did
just that. So that's what this time of year is
all about. It's about faith and belief and excitement. And
the NFL, like no other sports league, has created a

(01:58:26):
monopoly on their draft day like nothing we've ever seen before.
It's it's it's excitement. People can't contain themselves. The numbers
go up every year.

Speaker 2 (01:58:35):
All right, I'm gonna give one advice to one team
and that's the Chargers. Okay, okay, it's personal with me
with the Chargers as you know. But here's here's my
advice to them. With the fifth pick in the draft.
You say, well, I mean Marvin Harrison Junior neighbors one
of these great receivers.

Speaker 3 (01:58:49):
We're gonna put him in with Justin Herbert.

Speaker 2 (01:58:51):
And not look back, and I'm like, you got too
many holes. The fact is, Keenan Allen had a Pro
Bowl season last year and you were five and twelve.

Speaker 3 (01:59:00):
It's not just about wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (01:59:02):
Basically, taking a wide receiver at five, even as great
as Marvin Harrison Junior might be, is not going to
fix the problem.

Speaker 3 (01:59:09):
This team needs to trade down.

Speaker 2 (01:59:12):
If there's if there is any team desperate to move
up to get a quarterback, call the Chargers at five
or tease their new general manager make the trade. They
got holes everywhere, they need more players. So that's that's
one team to me that would make sense to trade

(01:59:33):
down in this draft. Add some picks, because this is
not gonna be a quick fix for the Chargers. They
were every bit of five and twelve team. I love
Jim Harbaugh. I like the new direction of the organization,
but it's gonna take time. They need bodies trade down.

Speaker 4 (01:59:47):
If I'm gonna offer them advice.

Speaker 5 (01:59:49):
I would say, do the entire draft, general managers, player personnel.
I mean even you know, the select coaches, assistant coaches
who are going to be involved on the day, the owner, everyone.

Speaker 11 (02:00:02):
Do it.

Speaker 4 (02:00:02):
From Jim Harbough's r V, yeah, I mean look good
or bad. At least you got a beautiful view of
the ocean on a very busy day of sports.

Speaker 3 (02:00:11):
So much more to come. Keep it right here. This
is Fox Sports Radio.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Fox Sports Radio News

Host

Jonas Knox

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

The Breakfast Club

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Steve Hartman and Rich Ohrnberger talk NBA Playoffs, Lakers, and Clippers!