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February 10, 2019 45 mins

Bernie Fratto gives you the Vegas perspective on the the NBA trade deadline with the best from this past week’s Straight Outta Vegas. Bernie discusses all of today’s college basketball action and why he wasn’t impressed with Virginia. Bernie puts a final bow on the Super Bowl and tells you why the Rams probably won’t be back in the Super Bowl next year. Plus, Bernie explains why running back position in the NFL has been marginalized. 

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Your host r jabs me and he's managed. You are

(01:31):
now about to witness the strength of street knowledge. Lie
from the Veggat strip, the pregame show America has always wanted.
With r J. Bell out, here's Bernie Freddo. We are
thirty six days away from selection Sunday. Super Bowl fifty
three is in the books, March madness is right around

(01:53):
the corner, and yes, football is over. But this was
not a slow news week at all. In fact, the
NBA tread line is coming gone. And yes, the Lakers
actually made a big deal. Yep, they acquired Reggie Bullock. Well,
what the damn do? They might have been better off
with Sandra Bullock as far as I'm concerned. Now, I
know it can shoot threes, Relax, I get it, But boy,

(02:13):
don't we have some college basketball games to recap tonight,
not the least of which we're du Virginia and Michigan Wisconsin.
And yet some big Sunday games to preview as well,
including best bets. But we've got a lot more than
that too, So don't go anywhere you're You're gonna go
on this roller coaster ride with us as we take
you up to midnight and the Jonas Knock Show. And
on that note, welcome back to another edition of Straight

(02:36):
out of Vegas. R J. Bell is out and about.
I'm Bernie Fratto. We're coming to you live from the
Geico Fox Sports Radio studios, where fifteen minutes could save
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Geico dot com for free raid quote. This is the
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(02:58):
eight three three to four pm Pacific, six to seven
pm Eastern with r J. Bell, Steve Ezec, Brad Powers,
and Jonas Knocks. And as we transition from football season
into the spring and beyond. While we will still break
down games from all sports, we're gonna emphasize many more
storyline based content issues as well, all designed to fill
your plate with information so you can use it to

(03:20):
your best benefit. But know that, regardless of the season,
our promise, as r J says, we are going to
deliver the Vegas truth. This is straight out of Vegas,
the pregame show you always wanted. By the way, yes,
at the bottom of the art we will have an
inside of the Frattle House commentary. You want to hear that.
But boy, were there there were some sleepy four great games.

(03:41):
We're gonna break down today, and I want to start
with Duke Virginia very anticipated. Uh, both these teams top
five and offensive and defensive efficiency when it tipped off
and honestly felt like a Final four game. And you know,
obviously three weeks ago Duke beat Virginia seventy two to

(04:02):
seventy r J. Barrett thirty points. Duke got the win,
Virginia got the cash. They covered. Today, would Virginia get
their revenge? I mean that pack line defense up until today,
it's been tougher than a night in jail. They're giving
they're only allowing fifty two points per game. But Duke

(04:23):
came in and they absolutely set the tone early. They
shot fifty in the first half from behind the yard. Now,
Duke the rate for eleven from three point land. Duke
is not a good three point shooting team. Sleep he had.
You know, before today's game they were thirty one from
behind the ark. That's good for ranking Division one basketball.

(04:44):
But today, nope, thirteen of one. Plus I thought Duke
was amazing and transition, they'd get a rebound, they get
out on the break. They had a ton of fast
breakpoints and oh yeah, r J. Barrett twenty six points
today it's just for is five threes. Meanwhile, Virginia, up
until today's game, Sleepy, they only allowed defensively from behind

(05:09):
the ark. The most points stayed allowed all year was
seventy two. That was at Duke on January. Today they
allowed eighty one. Now, look, I think Tony Bennett's done
a whale of a job prior prior to today, they
were had a very gaudy twenty and one against the
spread achievement as it were. And you know at Duke,

(05:32):
Virginia shot fifty, but they were only three or seventeen
from behind the yark. Virginia was eight and three against
the spreadheading into today's game when they were playing from
the comforts of John Paul Jones Arena. But when you
add it all up, Duke gets the money. They beat
Virginia eighty one to seventy one. Of these were two

(05:53):
powerhouse teams combined. They were forty and three heading into
today's game, and I think you have to credit their
pesky defenses and very active hands. But I gotta tell you,
I gotta say I have some really not flattering takeaways
about Virginia sleepy as we head into the tournament. You
can still get Virginia and seven and one. I think
you have to be nuts. Dukes plus one seventy five,

(06:14):
what did you see today? I thought the story of
the game was an inability of the Virginia offense not
getting to the free throw line today, just seven free
throw attempts for them, But Duke had twenty three. Duke
just nine fouls all game. Virginia ended up with like seventeen. Again, Bernie,
you know this Duke team, they're not going to kill
themselves even on the road. As you said, R. J.
Barrett played a great game. He was a lead today.

(06:35):
That was really the difference maker for me in the game. Look,
Virginia's defense is regarded as the best in the nation.
I don't think anybody can debate that. But Barrett and
Williamson for the second straight time. They're just they were
just too overpowering for Virginia. And these are my quick
takeaways on this game, because, as I mentioned, you know,
five weeks from tomorrow, March Badness and all. By the way,

(07:00):
the committee today released the top four seats for each region.
They well, they're not giving the region, but we're gonna
get to that in a second, because some interesting in
one particular conference really fared well. These are my quick
takeaways from today. And these are gonna bother me if
I think about backing the Virginia Cavaliers when the tournament starts. Uh,

(07:20):
in terms of my bracket that I fill out, in
terms of the kind of points I want to late
number one, I do think Virginia lacks that extra gear.
I just do sleepy. They've underachieved and past tournaments, we
saw it happen against Maryland Baltimore County last year. Virginia
was very much on my short list to win it all.
This year, I'm pulling back from that. I don't think
they'll win it all this year. I don't even know
if they'll get to the final four. I don't want

(07:42):
to jump to too many conclusions. Maybe I'm a prisoner
at the moment, recency bias, wherever you want to call it,
practice ramagis psychology on me. I was disappointed in Virginia's
performance at home to there. I think they lacked that
extra gear which they've showed in the tournament in recent years.
Number two, I think the moment was too big for them.
I just do reason. I think that Virginia did so
well at Cameron Indoor three weeks ago because they weren't

(08:04):
expected to. I don't think they handle expectations well. By
the way, Sleepy, what if I told you that against
top three opponents, Virginia under Tony Bennett's only four and seventeen.
And by the way, there's three and eleven against Duke
in their last four team. Not impressed with the Virginia today.
I'm not throwing them under the bus, just calling it
as I see it. I don't think they're going in
the National Championship. Let's moved ann Arbor, where I worked

(08:26):
in radio right outside for w t K A ten
fifty for many years. Michigan hosted Wisconsin again. Another chance
for a revenge situation, UM Wisconsin. By the way, a
great week They're very quietly moving up the charts. As
it were, they were too o last week at a
quality road win over Nebraska and a nice home win

(08:49):
against Maryland last Saturday, and let's not forget three weeks ago.
Today they beat Michigan by ten in Nicole Center at
home in Wisconsin. Now, for what it's worth, Michigan is
only two and fourteen at the Coal Center in their
last sixteen there. Meanwhile, Michigan look they they needed to

(09:11):
really heading into this game. The notes I took where
I wanted to see how Michigan would recover its shooting
touch after throwing up a bunch of bricks against Iowa
last week. The Wolverine shot just from the field and
eight for twenty three from the three point line against Iowa.
Last week. However, the Wolverines were fourteen knows straight up

(09:31):
at home in the Chryst Luri and a Michigan but
only six and eight against the number when playing at home.
So something had to give today. One of the things
I think that helped Michigan a lot today, Sleepy was
ethan half. Wisconsin's big man got three files early in
the second half and had to sit for an extended

(09:53):
period time. But beyond that, I thought Michigan was sluggish.
I thought was constance. Perimeter defense was outstanding. Uh, they
contested every shot. They didn't give any free catches in space.
They were very active. They moved extremely well without the
ball communicating switch. In the end, Michigan gets the money
to fifty two, but they covered late. They weren't hanging

(10:14):
that number till twenty three seconds to go in the game. Yea,
as you and I talked about, you know, we both
thought that Wisconsin had a decent shot to go ahead
win that game. You know, I had the under I
thought we'd see a lot of defense. But one thing
I didn't expect the Michigan Charlie Matthews. Wow, he played
well once he had confidence, he was just shooting the
ball and he was hot, and Wisconsin really didn't have
an answer for him. So I really think he was

(10:35):
the player of the game that really decided the outcome
at the end of that one great call on Charles
Matthews sleepy And I'll tell you why, because there was
a lot of pressure on that young man today. He
had a really rough gaming in Styla. He was two
of twelve and this is a guy who's the third
leading score on the team, averages thirteen points per game,

(10:56):
and his his success, as it were, is a barometer
for Michigan. When Charles Matthews plays well, Michigan plays well,
good quality, because they got a good game out of him. Now,
Michigan fifteen and o at home. They managed to stay
on top of the Big Ten race. In spite of
the fact I buried the lead here. Michigan shooting woes

(11:16):
did not get fixed today. They were only four or
seventeen from behind the yard. That's not gonna get it
done in tournament time. By the way, going forward, right now,
you can get Michigan at ten to one to win
it all. But if you're feeling saucy, you can get
Wisconsin at six one. That will give you some great
hedge opportunities. When the tournament starts, Michigan goes to twenty

(11:40):
one and two overall, ten and two in the conference,
and what arguably now, I don't know, some people might
argue the A C C. I think the Big Ten
might be the best conference. One of the games I
was really looking forward to today, Sleepy, was the Villanova
Marquette game. Uh. I am a big Jay Wright fan
the man is a cover machine. Uh. In their last
ninety nine games before today, they were sixty three and

(12:02):
thirty six against the number forty two and seventeen in
the last fifty nine, nine and two in their last eleven.
He's doing it without superstars. They're the defending champions. They're
twenty five to one right now. Um. Actually, in terms
of points per game, Villanova might be the number one
defense in the country, only allowing fifty two points per game,

(12:23):
and they basically were on cruise control in the Big
East nine at all. Right, they've also got the most
efficient offense in the Big East because they're shooting fifty
seven percent from the field. They got some big guns
now Marchette though, under uh, they'll be sleepy. I just

(12:44):
had a brain cramp. Marquette their coach, Oh, their head coaching.
I'm gonna wear their coaches. Sorry, sorry I brought it up.
Let's move forward. The bottom line is Marquette at home
has been really terrific this year. They're limiting their opponents
effect a few legal percentage defense tremendous, only allowing field

(13:05):
goal percentage at home from behind the arc. This is
one of those classic games now, by the way, at
the beginning of the year, Marquette was two one to
win it all. Now they're forty to one, and so
again a team you want to take a look at
at home. They've been pretty good. Now. This is one

(13:25):
of those classic games where you got as Steve our buddy,
Steve Feze always says, it's all about getting the best
of the number, because if you laid the two when
it opened up, you lost today Marquette one, but it
closed to minus one. You always want to get the
best of the number. Anyway, Bernie, his name is Steve.

(13:46):
I'm not going to try to pronounce his last name,
but they call him Wojo. Yes, yes, yes, forget me,
folks for having that brain cramp. There go ahead. Big
game from Marquet Jr. Guard Marcus Howard six rebounds. That's
a concerned for me, though, Bernie. With Marquette, he took
almost of the shots today and he's been taken like
the shots game after a game. That's not going to

(14:08):
get it done. This is you know, you can't just
play one on five basketball. Eventually, that's gonna go ahead
and catch up to him. I really like Marquette, but
I mean the guy can't have one guy doing all
the work for that team right now. Well, once again
spot on on Marcus Howard. Remember they're coming off a loss.
Chris Mullen and St. John's got Marquette Tuesday night seventy nine,

(14:28):
and Marcus Howard had a very poor night. Now he's
averaging almost twenty five points a game, but he only
had seventeen that night against St. John's. He was a
very inefficient five of seventeen from the floor. By the way,
he was only one of nine inside the arc. Not good.
You know, Marquette. They scored the ball pretty well. Their
thirty seven in the country the average Suday nine points

(14:50):
a game, But if Marcus Howard doesn't show up, they suffered.
The last game that we want to cover today that
left an impression was Kentucky heading down to Mississippi State,
where Ben Holland has done a fabulous job with the
Mississippi State Bulldogs. There six and five overall the SEC.
This is the best the SEC has ever been in basketball.

(15:11):
But the Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs. And by the way,
they called Stark Vegas down there. If you if you
head down to Mississippi State, they call it Stark of Vegas.
Now Kentucky beat Mississippi State in Lexington January seventy six
to fifty five in Kentucky very quietly get him an

(15:32):
eight to one right now, they're now nineteen three overall,
eight and one in their conference. And by the way,
Kentucky very good on the road. They beat Florida by
eleven on the road last Saturday. There now seven and
one against the spread Kentucky in their last seven road games.
Kentucky gets it done today sixty seven. They cash if

(15:52):
you had them, they were laying three. Prior to that.
Mississippi State was three and one against the spread in
their last four home games against Kentucky. Not today, Yeah,
Kentucky again whins assist battle Wildcats team. They're just getting
so much better right now, getting themselves better looks. I
think this is a part of the game that they
struggled with early in the season, really showing themselves growing
up right now. Assisting is seriously helping out this Kentucky team,

(16:14):
a team to be reckoned with. Really great to see
that college basketball is front and center now and that
will be our primary topic. But we've got much much more.
He's sleepy J I'm Bernie Frett. We're coming to a
lion from the get Go Fox Sports Radio Studios. This
is a pregame show you always wanted, so don't go away.
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(16:36):
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(17:19):
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We are back on Straight out of Vegas, the pregame
show you always wanted. I'm Bernie Freddo Comedy Alive from
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(18:23):
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Discover dot com. Slash match limitations apply. All right, The
Super Bowl is a distant memory, but there is one

(18:45):
final capra that's been a huge talking point this past week,
and we're gonna put our final exclamation point on it.
And I'm gonna give it some context too, because I'm
gonna tie it into the fact that NFL Futures came
out this week. And so these two go hand in hand.
And in his cut, Colin Coward, R. J. Bell, and
Steve fsig all Way in regarding the ongoing mystery as

(19:07):
to what the hell happened to Todd Gurley. Now in
the two thousand and eighteen season, the rams were nine
and old when Gurley had fifteen carries or more, and
the guys speculate on his bizarre absence as it were,
and offer multiple theories and deductive reasoning as to why
his season ended the way it did, especially when you
consider he wasn't even listed on the NFL injury report

(19:29):
forty eight hours before the Super Bowl kick off. Let's
take a listen. Todd Gurley is a top ten NFL
player when he had eighteen plus touches, the rams were
nine and oh Super Bowl early part of the game plan.
So either McVeigh should get crushed for not giving him
the ball or the rams, and McVeigh should get torched
for lying about it. Boy, that is just exactly right.

(19:52):
Think about it. Tell me a third scenario. Scenario one,
there's an injury, they're lying, and now it gets into
the whole NFL policy, the whole there's billions literally being
bet on the Super Bowl? Can you lie about that
without having a fiduciary responsibility when there's public betting marketplaces.

(20:13):
It's gonna be interesting to see it tried and core,
because I'm sure it will be in the next couple
of years. Or if it's he he's a dent, and
it's one thing. If his contract was up, you know,
as much as Butler the d back for the Patriots,
we could say, oh, it was horrible Belichick didn't play him,
and look how bad the Patriots defense was against the Eagles.

(20:34):
But that was his last game with the Patriots regardless,
so there certainly was no sense of even if you
were you could almost make the case sometimes, oh maybe
he's a slight net negative to playing, but least he
keeps his confidence for next year. What rationale could it
be not to play your franchise player. He's the highest

(20:54):
paid offensive player girly and it's not even close for
the Rams. He just signed a contra tracks so good
that Levion Bell wouldn't sign his tag offer with the
Steelers because he thought, Wow, that's what a team does
when they really appreciate somebody. And now this guy doesn't play.

(21:15):
I don't think I think this is kind of a
false choice. I think he's a hundred percent limited, not
a limit. It's certainly somewhat limited. And that's I don't
know if it's mental, emotional, physical, as you talked or Brad,
you talked about it when it came to some tape guys,
to all twenty two guys, I call him what they

(21:35):
saw when it came to girlies running and when it
came to the sideline, at the sideline, cutting in the hole.
Girly hasn't looked the same the last four or five
games compared to what he did earlier on in the season.
All right. For the record, Girly rushed ten times for
thirty five yards and caught one pass for minus one
yards in the Super Bowl. Actually it's minus one yard.

(21:56):
There's no plural there. And mcvain, but coach mc the
rams said he was going to give her Girly a
chance to have a big game and Actually, he did
give Gurly more touches than anyone else on offense in
that game for the Rams. But we're talking about the
guy who was the two thousand seventeen NFL Offensive Player
of the Year. He couldn't get anything going and as

(22:17):
a result of that, no one on the Rams could
get anything going on offense, which led to three points
that the Rams could muster three final, the lowest scoring
Super Bowl in NFL history. Now people have asked me,
I've made phone calls. I'm gonna give it a shot. Frankly,
what I was told is Girly was simply worn out.

(22:37):
Bad knee, bad hip, and in reality, he was just
so tired and beat up from the rigors of the
full season he just couldn't go. And let's face it,
during the season, the Rams wrote him like sea biscuit,
But everybody said he was fine going into the game. Guys,
I on the record, guys off the record, And one
thing I was told is his lack of playing time
in the Super Bowl was completely unrelated to what happened

(22:59):
in New Orleans. And if you remember in New Orleans,
he was really accused about his focus or lack thereof
at the beginning of the game, that interception that bounced
off his hands. He had another drop ball as the
Rams we're going in for a touchdown. He could have
caught it about the fifteen yard line and they didn't
call it a benching. But it was pretty evident in
the In the game against New Orleans in the NFC

(23:19):
Championship game, uh Sean McVeigh, Lunch just simply lost faith
in him and he got comfortable with the way C. J.
Anderson was playing. Now, all I wanna know is what
happened to Todd Gurley after the Dallas game. Because against
the Cowboys in the Divisional playoff game, Gurley carried the
ball sixteen times for a hundred and fifteen yards, But

(23:42):
cumulatively in the Saints game and in the Super Bowl,
he only carried the ball a total of fourteen times
for a total of forty five yards. Now, this is
going to play into my inside the front House commentary.
I'm gonna give on the other side because, in case
you haven't been paying attention, in the running back position

(24:02):
has been marginalized in the NFL. All right, I don't
think that's good for girly. I don't think it's good
for Levy on Bill. But what I really wanted to
talk about. The reason I even you know, wasted any
time on this subject, aff it's already been beaten to
death for a week, is because it ties into the
Rams future beat next year. Now you all know what
futures bets are. They place odds, like if you think

(24:24):
the Arizona Cardinals can win the Super Bowl next year,
you can get him at a hundred of one, right now.
Good luck with that, by the way. But the Rams
are seven to one, and I saw that number, and
it's an incredible head scratcher to me because as Girly goes,
the Rams go, and I have indelible images of players
that ended seasons poorly the year before, and it can

(24:44):
carry over. I'm not predicting that, but I am predicting that.
I don't think the Rams are gonna have a great
year next year, and I don't think I think this
was a bit of a Haley's comment year for starters,
They've got twenty two free agents, including guys like in Dominican,
sux c g Anderson LaMarcus join Or. They've got some
real issues to settle when it comes to their roster

(25:06):
because they loaded up this year with guys and the
hopes that they might get it done. There's seven to one.
Seattle is thirty to one. The forty Niners, who I
think will be markedly better, are forty to one. You
tell me the Ramsies have to show up, turn on
the lights, put on their jock straps, and they're gonna
win the NFC West. Now they might, but I think

(25:28):
there's gonna be a bit of a gauntlet in that division.
That division I think is actually improving, and I thought
Pete Carroll had one of his best coaching jobs last year.
So you take the Seahawks and thirty to one, you
can hatch that back as the season goes on. You
can do the same with the Niners. I think it's
the Rams are fools gold next year, just my opinion.
But I don't think they'll be back. I don't for sure.

(25:49):
I don't think to be back in the super Bowl.
I'm not even sure if they'll be back in the playoffs.
And until this girly thing gets straightened out, I will
tell you your guests is as good as anybody's, and uh,
so far all the guesses aren't so great. When we
come back, we're going to have inside the Frettle House,
and I want to go over the first pass committee
releasing of march Manness Top Seeds, Top four seeds, and

(26:12):
we've also got to get to some NBA stuff. You know,
there was a trade deadline this week. But first let's
go to the man who correctly predicted that Rob Gronkowski
would have his hand over his heart during the Super Bowl.
That would be Ralph Irvan with the latest. Well, thank
you very much, Bernie. And actually they made sure to
show him during uh God Bless America to just so

(26:33):
in case there was double bets on that they got
Gronk on the screen both times. We start with the NBA,
where Oklahoma City overcame quite the deficit. They were twenty
six point down, twenty six points down at Houston and
came back to win one Russell Westbrook He's ninth straight
triple double that does tie an NBA record. And even

(26:53):
bigger comeback going on in Boston where the Clippers were
down twenty eight points and they beat the Celtics one three,
one twelve, Donovan Mitchell twenty three points, Rudy Gobert rebounds
and Utah ran away from the Spurs one, one oh five,
Milwaukee's the top team in the East. They didn't have
Jannis in the lineup, and they lost to Orlando one
oh three eight three. Toronto. Getting a little bit closer,

(27:16):
they debuted their new center marcusoul He scored seven, and
the Raptors cruised past the Knicks one oh four to
ninety nine. Online car shopping, you'll be confusing not anymore
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On the College Hardwood, Number one Tennessee moved to twenty

(27:36):
two and one with a seventy three six win over
Florida number two. Duke Impressive over number three Virginia seventy
nine easy win for number four Gonzaga over St. Mary's
number five, Kentucky six, Nevada seven, Michigan number eight, North
Carolina nine, Michigan State number ten, Marquette. We're all winners.
Back to you if you're a learned man, a thinking man,

(27:58):
I'm gonna reference Leavy Bill on my inside the Frattle House.
And given the fact that the running back position, I
believe has been marginalized. Would you want Levian Bill on
your team? Do you think he's a missing link to
a super Bowl? It depends the time and place. If
he's a mid season acquisition, absolutely, If you want me
to take him in the preseason, no way. In no way,

(28:20):
no way. If he comes in a good season, he
knows what his role is, He's not gonna expect anything.
He's gonna want to come in and dominates. That's a
very thoughtful answer. I'm gonna have to start thinking these
questions through before I ask you and Vince fancy, why
don't you win on this as well? So on a
personal standpoint for my team, I would say no, But

(28:41):
that is because that is because we have Adrian Peterson
and Darius Guys on the team. I would if I
just in general, I would probably take him on my team.
That I do agree with Ralph. It wouldn't be more
of a mid season know your role kind of thing.
All right, well, good stuff, guys. I was fascinated that
they kept telling us that C. J. Anderson was sitting

(29:04):
on the count cheating cheetos, and the next days in
the NFL, iways Felip wondering how the Cheetos. Folks felt
about that. Good good on them. But that sets me
up for this week's Inside the Friday House. So wake
the kids, Alert the neighbors, Crampa, put on pants. Here
we go, another rising edition of Inside the Friuda House.
You know what do you? Allen said it best success
is just showing up? And I wonder if he was

(29:25):
referring to Levian Bell and Kisse you missed it. Bell
didn't show up, but people are telling me he won.
Does that mean he had success by not showing up?
What did he win? Let's unpack this first. Let's agree
Levian Bell is a brilliant running back, an elite talent,
and let's agree he's gonna get paid by somebody, and
had he showed up, the Steelers might have made the
playoffs or not. The reality is will never know. You see,

(29:49):
life is vexing enough without asserting hypothetical situations and making
decisions about them as if they were real. I don't
think that's a good strategy. Case in point, what were
we told what if leave On Bell came back and
got hurt? Did he'd be screwed? Right? Well, he only
would have been guaranteed twenty at May and so man,
what would he do then? Spoiler alert, NFL players get hurt.

(30:10):
It's a professional features high speed collisions every forty five seconds.
Bell knew that going in when he chose football. No
one made him play football. It was his choice. He
could have gotten a job settling insurance, much safer, less lucrative.
But why would he do that when he's a world
class athlete. He wouldn't and he didn't. But I think
his decision to sit out was based on faulty logic,

(30:31):
back to the injury fears. When you create problems that
don't exist yet and then you make lifetime career decisions
that affect your future, is if those problems had already occurred,
I think you do yourself a great injustice. Not what
about his teammates in Pittsburgh. Didn't he have an obligation
to that organization, the coaches, the fans. Apparently he didn't care,
and frankly, that's his right. No one will take up

(30:52):
a collection plate for Levan Bell if he goes south.
But we all know the running back position in the
NFL has been marginalized. The Rams hitched their wagon to
Todd Gurley and gave him eighty million reasons to lead
the ramps of the Promised Land and bring home the hardware?
How did that work out? Stay tuned in a few months,
we'll see the next chapter in Levy on Bell's life.

(31:14):
All right, let's flip to the NBA with a busy
week the Sixers made where they were very active, the
Philadelphia seventy Sixers, and in this cut, the guys discussed
the anatomy of a trade, the motivations, the expectations, and
you know the six Ers because they were so active
last week and made a move involving several players. Interestingly enough,
r J is particularly critical of this move. Did Philly

(31:35):
really get back like value? Does this move really make
the Sixers better in the short term or the long term?
Let's give it a listen. I think everyone agrees this
is a bad trade for the Sixers. And if there
were some prop how many titles are the Sixers gonna
win in the next seven seasons? Now that prop doesn't exist,

(31:57):
but if that prop did exist, I think the odds
worsened for the Sixers a grief as I agree, Boy,
you seem tight on that one. Everyone that knows the
NBA at the player leavel was like, Wow, they gave
up too much. Yeah, they did give up too much.
That so how couldn't you agree that? Is that starting
five is so good right now for Philadelphia They had

(32:18):
the second best starting five in the NBA right now.
And that seguays to what we're betting right now, which
is how good are the Sixers today? Literally if they
gave up a hundred years of draft choices. Und I
don't think that's legal, but let's say we're a hundred
years to get the ninth man, whoever their ninth man is.

(32:41):
Let's say they traded for van Vleet. Imagine that as
you love van Vleet, I do. I mean, it's I mean,
it's like weird, Like he's what on the bench? What
number player is he? He's the first guy off the bench,
he's he's number one amongst the people. Don't actually start.
I mean he loves them that much that he found

(33:02):
a way to say that he's number one. Imagine if
they traded a hundred first round picks for Van Vleet
to come off the bench. Now, does that help the
Sixers long term? No? But doesn't it help the Sixers
this year? Of course, can give up anything for the

(33:22):
smallest thing, and it helps you this year. Now, the
one caveat could be, oh, the psychology of the team
goes out the window because they don't have a future,
though you could almost say okay, that's fine. That means
it's all in now. So in general, make sure you
define how you're grading these games. If you're or these transactions.

(33:44):
If you're grading them as a fan, maybe thumbs down
for the Sixers. If you're grading them for the team
this season, across the season, I think it's a clear
thumbs up. They are a better team. Keep in mind
it trade doesn't always mean you simply acquire a shiny
new object that's going to magically get you a pot

(34:05):
of gold. The reality of the Sixers trade is this,
we're in the salary cap era and as such all
roster compositions have to take that into account. So therefore
it's clear to me what the Sixers motivation was here.
This is what my moles told me. They want to
clear cap space so they can lock up their version
of the Big Four. Ben Simmons, Joel Embiide, Tobias Harris
and Jimmy Butler. They believe that's the foundation that's going

(34:28):
to enable them and their franchise to grow and compete
for many years to come. And along those lines, Physic
this week weighed in on the parody in the Eastern Conference.
He's a very matter of fact. Steve Physick was here
when he gives a brief synopsis about the state of
the Eastern Conference in the NBA. Now that a certain
player has quote headed West, young man, let's give it

(34:49):
a listen. The parody of the East is unprecedented. Right
now in the NBA Golden States. The best team, well,
the second, third, fourth, and fifth best teams are all
on the East. When was the last time we said that?
R J and they're all close together in terms of
title odds. Boston, Philly, Toronto, Milwaukee. I gotta tell you,
I think Boston is the best of the four, but

(35:09):
it's really close, as close as as I've ever seen
a conference. Top four teams look on paper, this conference
is wide open. Until these teams get on the floor
and somebody has to beat their opponent four times over
a two week period, we don't know who's gonna rise
to the ocation. Could it be Boston with Brad Stevens?
Can they finally get to the promised Land. What about Toronto?
Kawhi Leonards stays healthy? The Raptors are dangerous. Might Russell

(35:31):
Westbrook and Paul George finally a conference thing that's eluded them.
By the way, I haven't even mentioned Milwaukee. They're ten
games over a five on the road. They look pretty good. Sleepy. Yeah,
you know, I disagree with Fez with Boston. I like Philly.
I just bet them actually two to one to go
and win the Eastern Conference. I think this team, Bernie,
with the addition of Butler and Harris, has been built
to improve their defense and to grind you down. As

(35:53):
you just said, seven games series. That's what I think
Philly is gonna do when they get into the playoffs.
I really like Philly. I think they are the best team,
second best rotation in the Lake. Nice little teaser because
in our next segment you'll have a little synopsis about
Twomorles national TV game featuring the Lakers at Philadelphia. Believe
Philly is currently a seven point favorite. By the way,

(36:14):
before we're going any further, I really want to thank
my guys back in l A. They do such a
terrific job. Vince Close, Iowa, Sam Ral Irvan. Obviously we
could not do the show without you. Guys. You're the
glue that keeps us together and of course sleeping my
man here in Vegas. He's worth his weight in gold.
I'm Bernie Frado. We're coming to you live from the

(36:35):
Gecko Fox Sports Radio Studios. When we come back, lots
more to get to. This is the pregame show you
always wanted, so don't go away. You're listening to Straight
out of Vegas, Vega. Be sure to catch live editions
of Straight Out of Vegas weekdays at six pm Eastern
three pm Pacific. We're back on Straight out of Vegas,
the pregame show you always wanted. I'm Bernie Fratto, coming

(36:56):
to you live from the Getico Fox Sports Radio Studios.
It's easy to say or more on contrance with Geico.
Go to Geico dot com or call eight seven Auto
A U T U. The only hard part figuring out
which way is easier. There was a fairly significant event
that took place in a college basketball game last week,

(37:18):
and in this cut, Brad Powers takes a deep dive
into the situation where a referees decision led to a
buzzer beater that shouldn't have counted. But even though it
didn't affect the outcome of the game, it affected the
point spread. Let Brown explain this. I think you'll get
his drift. Take a listen, all right, So the major
college basketball controversy this week actually surrounding Vegas, a Vegas

(37:42):
angle to the college basketball story. There was a pair
of national TV games this week ref by the same guy,
Roger Ayres. Both games ended up in controversy as far
as the point spread goes. So here's the situation. On
Monday night, Iowa State leads Oklahoma by four points. Iowa
States favored by three. Oklahoma hits a three at the

(38:04):
buzzer shouldn't have counted. Replays will show that the baskets
shouldn't accounted, wouldn't never affected the game as far as
who won the game or who lost the game, but
obviously affected who bet the game, as those Oklahoma backers
ended up catching their tickets when they shouldn't have. Then,
just a couple of nights later, Villanova, right around a
nine point favorite games in overtime, Villanova leads by nine

(38:28):
crighton even a more blatant uh it hits a buzzer beater.
That shouldn't have counted. So again that the outcome of
the game's not affected as far as who won are lost,
but anyone that was betting the game obviously had to
say so. The n C Double A rules pretty much
state that, you know, the referees, it's at their discretion

(38:49):
and they don't need to review any of those plays
that that really don't have an outcome of the game.
On Thursday, the n C Double A, because there's a
lot of backlash going on throughout the week, they said
no review all shots made at the buzzer as necessary
in interest and this is a direct quote in the
interests of accuracy of score and team and player statistics.

(39:09):
And even that's even if the outcome isn't riding on
the officials calls. So that was major news, the fact
that the n C Double A would be willing to
change mid season a rule that they'll read, you know,
read they'll look at buzzer beaters, even if they don't
have an impact on who won or lost the game,
but obviously would impact possibly you know who want to

(39:31):
cover the game. I thought that was stunning, to be
honest with you guys. However, on Friday and typical n
C Double A fashion. The n C Double A released
a statement saying, now we're gonna just gonna have a
committee review whether or not it needs to start reviewing
the calls. So, uh, it would have been a landmark
decision for the n C Double A to change their

(39:52):
rules on the fly in a couple of week period.
On Friday, it was announced that's not the case. Here's
the major takeaway here. I mean, the end C Double
A needs to be proactive here, whether it happens this
year or not. You look at the overall how big
is March Madness? Well, I mean the American Gaming Association
estimates that about ten billion, not million, billion dollars or

(40:14):
bet on the n C Double A tournament. So if
the n C Double A is gonna be crying about
integrity and all the fees and whatnot, they need to
make sure that they get the score right and we'll
see what ends up happening. I have my doubts on
whether or not it will happen this year, but the
n C Double A needs a type of rules change
here and they need to review these calls and get

(40:34):
the score right. We're gonna be on the up and
up when it comes to gambling. If anybody doesn't think
sports betting hasn't gone mainstream officially. When the n c
A gets involved in the middle of the season as
a result of a nondescript game and the fact that
I had a bearing on the point spread, well I
don't need to spell it out for you. This is
big business and no one they don't want anybody to
suffer loss due to an egregious era. All Right, several

(40:56):
best bets we've got for tomorrow slate and if you're
new or a TV, the Sixers will host the Los
Angeles Lakers. I understand that Magic Johnson Sleepy flew into
Philadelphia to get the team a pep talk. It's kind
of a debrief after what happened this last week. Yeah,
my best bet tomorrow obviously Lakers Sixers under two thirty

(41:16):
four NBA Prime time TV Sunday games. Bernie seemed to
have a tax attached to the over Lakers Sixers they
just played two weeks ago. They scored two d twenty
six points combined in that game. But I think this
Philly team has been put together now to improve that defense.
I think they will with the addition of Tobias Harris,
Lakers in a tough spot here, Philly is gonna come
with the defense. I'm gonna go ahead. I'm gonna take

(41:36):
my best bet for tomorrow, Lakers sixers under two thirty four. Yeah.
I thought I was looking at that as well. And
the Lakers had a Brazilion three pointers. You got to
night the one of the worst three Yeah, I like
that story, Sleepy with the under in tomorrow's Lakers sixer game.
My best bet tomorrow also involves an NBA game the Mavericks.
The new look Mavericks, even though Persis won't play all year,

(41:58):
hosting Portland's Now Portland is four and twenty two straight
up and five and twenty one against the spread when
they go on the road after facing the Spurs. Who
knows why. But here's the bigger thing. They have a
big revenge game coming up the next night after as
they got Oklahoma City on deck. So I like Dallas tomorrow.

(42:20):
They'll be a short favorite, and I think Dallas wins
by double digits. There's another game I like. Monday, North
Carolina will hosts Virginia. North Carolina has owned this series
the tar Hills eighteen and one straight up at home
in this series. And Virginia, well, I think they're reeling
after today. There twenty one or excuse me, twenty and

(42:41):
one against the number heading into today's game. Obviously they
didn't get the cover. Virginia didn't. But here's what the
thing about North Carolina. Amazingly, they're they're flying under the
radar thanks to the exploits of Tennessee, Duke, Virginia and Kentucky.
No one has noticed that North Carolina is ten and
one straight up and nine and two against the spread recently,
and it's been overlooked. So I like those two games.

(43:04):
By the way, the committee put out the first pass
of the top seeds if the tournament were to start, Duke, Michigan, Marquette, Iowa.
Excuse me, let me try that again in English. Duke, Kennessee, Gonzaga,
and Virginia are all your number one spread uh, number
one seeds. The Big Ten got five teams UH in

(43:24):
the top four, with Michigan, State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue also
joining the ranks. We're gonna delve more into that next
week because we're on the road to March Manness, folks,
and believe me, it's gonna be here before you know it.
All right, that's gonna do it. For this week's edition
of Straight Out of Vegas, I'm Bernie Fratto. He's sleepy
j but don't go anywhere. Up next, a man who

(43:48):
was elected mayor of Cancun and he went in a
landslide even though he never even campaigned. Yep, it's my man.
Jonas knocks nagat Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
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(44:09):
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