May 6, 2025 • 39 mins
Ben Maller reacts to the upset in OKC as SGA and the Thunder defense let the Nuggets take Game 1. Ben hears silence from Boston after the Knicks comeback win in Game 1. Plus, another edition of Maller to the 3rd Degree and Maller’s Mountain of Money
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Mahler
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
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Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So our lead this hour A pretty decent night, pretty
decent night. Not a bad night. You know, normally come
in here complain we cavet you'all that's terrible. It sucked garbage.
I can't say that. Can't say that. Normally we often
have a psa on the show that we watched the games,
(00:51):
so you would not have to. But this was a
pretty good night, pretty good night. We'll start out in
the dust bowl.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I was not planning on starting out in the dust ball.
I was like, Ah, that's that's not gonna be that
good a game. And here we are. Here we are
discussing as Oklahoma the stage game number one, Game one
Western Conference semi Finals. Nicola Jokic leading the Nuggets into
(01:20):
ok c for a matchup with Shae Julius Alexander and
the Thunder, And that was the nightcap after the Boston
Celtics gagged at home against the Knickerbockers in overtime to
a twenty point lead in the final minutes of that
game to lose in overtime. So I said, okay, that'll
(01:41):
be the lead. And then no, no, no, no. The
Nuggets and Thunder got together and upset City as Nikola
Jokic had forty two points, twenty two rebounds, a partridge
in a pear tree and Aaron Garden from downtown n
dagger the three point shot and the closing seconds and
(02:02):
the Nuggets with a mind blowing one is that two
dramatic mind blowing They win by two. They come back
over the top seeded Thunder there in the late game
on Monday night. So Oklahoma City was out of timeouts
after Gordon hit the three point shot, they missed a
desperation heave as time expired, turn out the last. The
(02:27):
party's over, just like that. And so Gordon at twenty
two points, fourteen rebounds, that's a decent I'd rather lose
on a three point shot than a dunk. Like the
Clippers lost to the Nuggets on right at the buzzer,
but Gordon the game winner again. Jamal Murray, who was spotty,
was spotty in this game at twenty one points. And
(02:48):
so the four seed the Nuggets get home court. Game
two will be on Wednesday, back in the sooner state.
I know you're excited about that, but the better store
is in the losing lock. So that is where we
will begin this rant and rave in the knight. So
let us discuss the question, despite dropping thirty three points
(03:10):
thirty three, how much of the blame does shake gilgis
Alexander deserve for OKC in this one? So I've got
Planet Fitness, CDC approved, and West Virginia and we will
combine all of these things together, and we are going
(03:31):
to make some blooney, because the thunder were full of
blooney the way they played in the final minutes of
this particular game. So the anatomy of a rally, I've
often pointed out that most games are lost, not one.
So to answer the question, despite having thirty three points SGA,
(03:53):
how much of the blame does he deserve? Quite a bit,
quite a bit of the blame blooney quite a bit
of the blame for Oklahoma City. You're the headliner, you're
the face of the franchise. Blah blah blah blah blah,
da de facto MVP. Right, he's gonna win the MVP Award.
Be very surprising if he doesn't win the MVP Award.
Here for the regular season, and all of that stuff
is deserved, All of it is deserved. That a fine
(04:16):
year was great, Oklahoma City won a bunch of games
and all that. But in this moment, I learned this
from Stanley. You've got to go Spider Man. With great
power comes great responsibility. And if you're all that good stuff,
you're the MVP or the face of the franchise. YadA YadA,
YadA YadA. That means in the final minutes, you get
(04:38):
it done, you get the job done. Did he do that? No,
he did not get the job done. You put you
don't put the team on your back, and you're gonna
get called out on it. And he didn't shake yogas
Alexander in this particular situation, did not step up and
crunch time instead of going out to Planet Fitness and
lifting weights and putting the team on your back. All
(05:00):
that stuff. He's like, you know what, I'm gonna go
hit the hay and take a snooze. I'm gonna catch
some z's is what I'm going to do. Now, what
is my evidence? Down the stretch? If you look at
the final part of the game, SGA took six shots.
Now the game was blown in the final six thirty
nine or so of the game as Denver was able
to outscore the opposition to close the game and they
(05:25):
was going to buy fifteen down the stretch. It was
a domination situation to close out the game. So the
question becomes, Okay, you're Shagios. Alexander the Thunder as a
team shot twenty eight percent. But he was He's the MVP, right,
he's the guy he had nine points but got outscored
by his rifle. I know they play a different position,
(05:48):
but the Joker nikoley Jokich had sixteen and so you're
you're minus seven in the head to head MVP MVP
guy and so you lose by two. You can do
the math on that. You don't need me to do
the male of math. Denver also shot sixty two percent
to close out the game, and it was a collective
(06:08):
suck though, to be totally fair, Shaye deserves the Lions
share of the blame because he's supposed to be the
greatest player in basketball this year. I needn't play like it.
But you look around and the other suck bag players
for Oklahoma City. You've got Chet Holmgren, who was like
a Walmart greeter, leaving the door open for Denver as
(06:30):
he missed not one, but two big free throws. Nobody
guarding you, there's no one guarding you. Has to play.
Anyone that can make It's the only play I can
think of in team sports that anyone can can do
at a professional level. Make a foul shot in a game.
There's no one that's going to block you. No one
(06:51):
is going to take the ball from you. You stand
at the line, everyone's standing around watching you. You just
hold the ball, dribble, dribble shoot in this case, dribble
dribble clank, clank, clank, clank me. So that that allowed
as the Walmart greater Chet Holgen, that allowed the Nuggets
to get the ball out. And then the game winning
(07:14):
shot at the end by Aaron Gordon, so that that
allowed it at the bitter end there and the thunder
who were either number one or number two in just
about every defensive category in pro bouncy ball this year.
How do they play in the second half. Let's see
here a Denver shot fifty percent in the second half
(07:35):
and scored seventy one points in the final twenty four minutes.
Outstanding defense, boys, way to go, way to shut him down.
Good job by you. Yikes. All right, now, what does
this win go to the other side? Page two? What
does this win now do for the Nikola Jokic Nuggets
as they get the game one wins the best of seven.
(07:58):
It's only one game and all that stuff, But you
obviously set the tone doesn't guarantee anything. There is no
such thing as momentum. It's not like now Denver is
gonna win the next three games in oh they have
all the momentum. That is bull crap. You know it's
bull crap, So you don't have to worry about that. However,
it gives you the upper hand, and especially in a
series like this, well, you've got one team that has
(08:18):
players that have had success in the playoffs, and you've
got another team with a bunch of your bronis in
Oklahoma City. When it comes to the playoffs, and so
it's a CDC approved booster shot for Denver, right. A
booster shot helps keep the immunity level up. And more importantly,
what it does is it is not so much the confidence.
(08:39):
I don't think Denver needs any confidence per se. They're
a proud, hearty bunch and all that stuff. But what
this does is mess with the mojo of OKAC And
that's the key here, right. Many have pointed out that's
a fragile team. That is a team that has been
lampooned by many Oklahoma City as a paper tiger. They're
(09:03):
a paper tiger, right, They're just a bit of a
fraud regular season team, not built for the big moment
and all that. And in Game one of this series,
they absolutely proved that. They absolutely proved that is the case.
And so you can expect that Oklahoma City, what are
they gonna do. Now They're gonna have to go back
and the coach is gonna start tinkering a little bit,
(09:26):
say what did we do wrong? Who aft up? And
now they have that extra pressure but a capital P
and oh man, Now it has been said by many
that pressure is a privilege, right, and that is true.
It is also a double edged sword. It is a
double edged sword. And it's one of the fun things
about the plaus We don't really care much about the
regular season in the NBA, but in the playoffs in
(09:47):
all sports, it's whose rises to the occasion. Right, it
doesn't matter what you've done in the past, is what
you do in that moment and rising the pressure of
the moment. And it's one of those things, right, you
talk about the pressure, capital p and all that, and
pressure has as we've talked about in recent days. Pipe
pipes burst from pressure. Right, pipes burst kaboom from pressure. Also,
(10:10):
diamonds are made from pressure. So will you be a
diamond or will you be a pipe? And at this
moment we do the show right now tonight, at this moment,
the thunder are the pipe, and Denver is the diamond
at this particular moment in time. And as far as
the the bigger story just side by side for the Nuggets,
(10:34):
is it the Nicole Jokicic forty two point twenty two
rebound performance or is it the clutch Aaron Gordon game
winning basket. So I have an unpopular opinion. As good
as Jokic was, he set the Nuggets up, but without
the final dagger, it doesn't work out. Without the shot,
the game winning shot, obviously, the the math doesn't work out,
(10:58):
and the Nuggets would have lost. And so yochis played
as well as you could possibly playing, Denver still lost
the game.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Boohoo.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
If that's a brick house, We're in a parallel dimension.
We're doing a much different mallor monologue about how lucky
Oklahoma City is that they won this game, and how Denver.
We know what would have been said if that shot
had been missed. We know how that would have gone. Well,
it's because of fatigue. They were exhausted. Give the Nuggets
a break. I would like to address that pet peep.
(11:26):
I realized that I'm wired a little differently than a
lot of the other gas bags and blowhards. But this
is a pet peep. So I'm watching all these games.
I'm sitting on my ass, should be doing something more productive,
but it's part of the job. So fine, I'm watching
these games. And we are three games in now to
the second round of the NBA plus And if you've
paid any attention, there is a common theme that has
(11:47):
taking place early on in every one of these games.
You got Cleveland, Boston, and Oklahoma City who all lost,
all of them losing at home. Right. And the other hand,
you've got Indiana, New York, and Denver with little rest,
with little time off, and they are all in the
(12:09):
winners circle, all of them. Right. So does this postseason
prove does it prove that that extra rest is a killer,
because in these broadcasts they were all laying it on extra,
extra surupy, extra surupy. But does this postseason, three games
into the second round prove that the extra rest in
(12:32):
the NBA kills the mojo, kills it when you need
it most. So I think this is a lame conversation.
I will engage in it mainly to goof on the
common theme among NBA broadcasters very small sample size, Right,
that's important to mention, very small sample size. And this
(12:54):
changes by the year. We've had this conversation. In the
baseball playoffs, we've had this conversation that would you rather
have the top seed and have that first round by
or would you rather be in the wildcard round? And
typically it's one of those self fulfilling prophecies where if
a team does well when they have played in the
wild card round, and not had time off. You say, well,
(13:15):
that's what you want. You want to know time off,
and then if a team on the other side does
well with the rest, you say, okay, Like the Dodgers
last year and the Yankees both had time off and
they both got to the World Series. Dodgers end up
winning the World Series in baseball. But this NBA conversation
the broadcasters, I wanted to throw something at my TV. Now.
(13:36):
The only broadcast I always mute is the Doris Burke broadcast,
So whatever game she's doing, I mute. But other than that,
I normally have the audio up. Sometimes I turn it
down a little bit. But the theme was, oh man,
these Pacers and the Knicks and the Nuggets, the teams
that were playing on short rest. It was like they
were in West Virginia and they were working in coal
(13:57):
mines back in the seventies in West virgin Right cue
the John Denver song take Me Home Country Roads. Right
as I heard that, I was like, oh my god,
these guys, it is oppressive. It is like there is
some kind of slave labor camp. They're playing in the
NBA and they only had less than forty eight hours.
Oh my god, Nightmere oh, holy fatigue, batman. It's like
(14:22):
you can see the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah River,
just like the John Denver saw, Like, what is going
on here? Somebody get these guys some oxygen in an IV.
These NBA players, God forbid you play it forty eight
minute game. It takes two and a half hours because
every five minutes the damn referees are going over to
check out the damn replay to look at something. Who cares.
(14:43):
That's the NBA, right, that's going on no clear path foul. Okay,
that does not rise to the level of a flagrant.
Thank you, Thanks for taking seven minutes of my life
to decide that. God Anyway, here's the way it works
in the NBA. There is an excuse. Every night, every
single game, there's an excuse. And since the home teams
(15:07):
this season of all lost, and Golden State will test
the final leg of this theory. The Warriors, off short
rest will take on Minnesota, which had a little extra time.
So if the Warriors win, all man, be prepared. Be prepared.
But since the home teams so far have all lost,
I can gar wrong take guarantee that, since this is
(15:30):
after the fact, every excuse Maker is gonna pivot. They
instead of the storyline which was supposed to be all
I can't believe it. It's unreal, all of this time
with these teams rested, and since the teams that were
rested lost, they're gonna pivot and say it's not right.
Russ Russ Rouss for Russ makes me want to puke
in my mouth.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
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Speaker 1 (16:30):
So our lead this hour is from the Eastern Conference
NBA game. We go to Boston and this was projected
to be a blowout. I got an email from one
of our listeners that listens on the sports hub in Boston,
who said, Ben, all the local guys are convinced this
is gonna be at most a gentleman's sweep. Four games
(16:50):
should be all the Celtics need to take care of
the Knicks, and they're already projecting who they're gonna play
in the NBA Finals. Now, I don't know if that's
true or not. I'm sleeping during that. I don't know
what those guys are happing. But one game, one game
into the Eastern Conference semi finals, and things have gone
upside down. Top s Turvy Jalen Brunson leading the upstart
Knickerbockers playing with house money into the Commonwealth for a
(17:14):
hoe down with Jason Tatum and the heavily favored Celtics.
Were you watching? Were you watching this game? No, of
course you were. No. Well, Jalen Brunson and og Anenobi,
may the Force be with you. They scored twenty nine
(17:35):
points in this game, and the Knicks leaving the Celtics
dazed and confused as they win it in overtime. New
York oneh eight, Boston one oh five. So Game one
goes to the team from the big Apple Carl Anthony Towns,
who was okay. He had fourteen points thirteen rebounds. It
wasn't a dominating performance by any means. But the Knicks
(17:58):
had lost all four games games against Boston during the
regular season, which again, that is what has happened, not
is what's going to happen, as they lost all four
games during the regular season, and that's why they play
the games. But New York was down by twenty points
in the second half of this game. The Boston Celtics,
(18:19):
the reigning champions of the NBA, coughed up a fur ball,
a big one. Now Game two, we'll be back on
the Parque floor. That'll be on Wednesday night. Jason Tatum
and Jalen Brown both had twenty three points for the Celtics,
who taken on the chin in game number one. The
(18:41):
better story is in that locker room, that is the
losing locker room. So that is where we will direct
our attention to the question for the esteem panel here,
who's the fall guy. Who's the fall guy for the
Jason Tatum Celtics. So I've got air force in and
out and robust DNA and we will combine all of
(19:04):
these things together, and we're going to make Boston cream pie,
which is what the Celtics got. A face full. Boston
cream pie is what they got, all right, So number why,
I said, Number why, there's a lot of shame and
blame to go around. We'd like to shame and blame.
It's fun to do here. So Boston was up seventy
(19:26):
five to fifty five with less than six minutes to
go in the third quarter. The game's not over at
this that point. Obviously it's not over. You still got
a quarter and a half to go with the final
seventeen to eighteen minutes of the game or so. If
you just merely take care of your business and don't
(19:47):
have any major screw ups, you're going to win the game.
And as the late great Dennis Green, who worked at
Fox Sports Radio for about a month before he got
a TV job, said, if you want to crown them,
then crown their asses. But they are who we thought
they were. And the Celtics let him off the hook,
and that's what happened. Now. The issue for Boston in
(20:10):
this game down the final eighteen minutes or so of
the game. It is a King of Pop classic. The
Man in the mirror. That is what did in the
Celtics in this game. The man in the mirror, Jason Tatum,
and much of the same conversation we had in a
previous hour we thought about Shay Jilgis Alexander and his
shortcomings at the end of the game. Well, the same
(20:32):
concept applies here. It's not brain surgery. Were just merely
talking about sport. Would you look at it? Jason Tatum
is supposed to be the franchise player. Close game right now.
It wasn't even a close game. It should not have
been a close game, but it did turn out to
be a close game. And the reason is because the
way that you close the game. Jason Tatum, who to
(20:54):
my knowledge has no military experience, but he looked like
he was in the Air Force and he was a
piloting the vomit comet to close out the game. How
bad was it? I'll tell you so, Jason Tatum. The
eyeball test, you knew it wasn't good. But then to
close the game, Jason Tatum. Over the final twenty minutes,
(21:14):
including overtime, Jason Tatum shot three of twelve from the floor.
He took twelve shots. He only made three of them,
and we're sitting in here where he's supposed to be
the franchise player, and we're in here talking about a
crap performance by Jason Tatum. The three headed monster of
the Boston basketball team turned out to be a three
(21:36):
headed Garden slug. In this particular game, you had Jason Tatum,
Jalen Brown, and Derek White, who has been marvelous. But
in the end of the game, up twenty to losing
in overtime, Tatum, Brown and White combined to shoot twenty
percent twenty point eight percent from the floor in that stretch,
and that's how you blow a twenty point lead. And
(21:58):
the Celtics as a team, the number that stood out
here the forty five missed three point shots, which is
an appalling amount of missed three point shots. But the Celtics,
just in the time they went up twenty to close
the game, they attempted twenty eight to three point shots
in that stretch. They only made six of them from downtown.
(22:18):
So that is the ingredient that will lead you to defeat.
So Jason Tatum's gotta wear that now. Page two, and
this is a deeper philosophical look at things here. So
where is the Celtics panic level? Where's the Celtics panic
level after dropping Game one? Is this a mild concern
(22:41):
for the Boston basketball team or a full blown crisis?
Full blown crisis. So, after a thorough Mallard deliberation and
contemplation about the New York Knickerbockers, we have this as
a mild concern. As a mild concern, it is a
(23:02):
wake up call that you should not have needed. You
should not have needed a wake up call in game
one of a series. And the question must be asked,
did the Celtics underestimate the Knicks? Did they start buying
into all the social media chatter that this would be
no series, this would be no contest? What is that
(23:23):
you're up twenty and you take a little siesta at
that that particular point. Now, Joe Missoula, a couple of
years ago we nicknamed him, Let him play Joe, Let
him play Joe. And in this particular game, Joe mazoul
did he make any adjustments? Maybe he did, I just
didn't notice it. Did you notice anything that he did?
Things were not going right for the Celtics. Did he
(23:44):
ever say, hey, maybe we shouldn't shoot three point shots
every effing time down the cart Did he ever say that?
Let him play, Joe, I didn't notice any adjustment. I'm
not a big coaching matter guy. The Denver Nuggets don't
have a coach and they just want a game on
the road in the second round of the end NBA Playoffs.
But the reason I am only at a mild concern,
and trust me, you know, doing talk radio, it'd be
(24:05):
much more fun, full blown five alarm fire for the Celtics,
and we will be def Con one if Boston loses
on Wednesday. But Game one now, we're not going to
go there, not yet, cause Madison Square Gardens not tough.
A bunch of teams go in there and win. They
just it's not like the Knicks have any real home
(24:26):
court advantage at Madison Square Gardens, so you lose the
next game. And again that's a different conversation. But every
extra game, every extra game the Celtics play, the chances
of injury go up, the chances of heartbreak hotel go
up even more. And then the other question that must
(24:49):
be asked is do these Celtics get a pass? Do
they get a mulligan? Because the Unicorn hardly play and
if you saw the game, you know what I'm talking
about here, So that would be as the great judge
on a reality TV show, Randy Jackson back in the
day said that would be a no for me. Dog, No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
No.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Chris tops porzingis played only thirteen minutes. He did not
get into the game after halftime because he had an illness.
He had the creeping crud or whatever he had. We
don't know. He was out. So here's the issue. Boston,
even though they didn't have the top record in the East,
they are perceived to be the top team. Is that
a fair statement. I believe it is. Cleveland had the
(25:33):
top record, but most most pundits believe that these Celtics
are the better team. So you go into this, You're
supposed to be the big bad Beast of the East
and you're the Boston Celtics. And you think of this
like In and Out Burger. Now I know there's no
In and Out Burger in Boston, but just work with
me on this. So they have the secret menu at
In and Out Burger and very popular animal style fries,
(25:57):
very popular. People love that. Some people like that fly Dutchman,
but those are all extra items. You don't need those
things to be good to have a good meal. You
don't need those things to have a good meal. You don't.
And so it's good enough. And the Celtics are good
enough without Porzingis. And if Porzingis is the key player,
come on, now, the Celtics took so many three point
(26:19):
shots they always do. The difference is they were able
to win a game. Remember the Orlando game in the
opening round. They won a game the Celtics, and they
didn't play very well, they did not do well from
three point range, but they won that game. They're playing
in the Orlando Magic Knicks are a better team obviously
than Orlando. But still all right now, final point, So
(26:40):
question is this knicker Bocker team for real? Should we
revisit the analysis leading into the series? Are they for real?
Or was this just a case where they they fell
behind by twenty New York and then they caught Boston
just kind of lollygagging around having an off end of
the game. They just thought the game was over. They
(27:00):
assumed the Knicks would give up. That's what NBA teams do,
like the Clippers and other teams, when they fall behind,
they just quit. There are a bunch of gutless quitters. So
that's the question. So the errow on this one is
pointing more towards just lollygagging up twenty lolligagging around again
until we see this happen a second consecutive game and
the heavy underdog, the Knicks are playing with house money,
(27:23):
absolute house money. Now that being said, if the game
is close, if the Celtics do not have a comfortable
advantage in these games and it's coming down the stretch,
who would you rather have in a three or four
point game in the final ninety seconds. I'd rather have
(27:45):
the Knicks. But mainly because of one guy, right, mainly
because of one guy. And that's the interesting thing here
that one guy who you know who I'm talking about
here has robust DNA. He was not the reason that
the Knicks won this game. And overtime done about Jalen Brunson.
And Jalen Brunson who clearly has the optimal genetic makeup
(28:07):
for big moments in basketball games, but he didn't score
in overtime. He was over four from the flour in overtime,
missed a tear drop that should have won the game
in regulation, and it still didn't matter, So he got
a dud out of the way. Jalen Brunson down twenty
the New York Nation, and that the reason they got
(28:29):
back in the game was in part because of Brunson
down twenty. They cranked on the old Phil Collins tune
there thunder and lightning, because you had not only Jalen
Brunson during the regulation part, but Og and Abe getting
it done in a large way. Anonobi. He had the
clutch gen on this night, big time, big time. Seven
(28:51):
of eleven down from down twenty, he made seven of
eleven shots and four of seven, four of six, four
of six from three point range, and including a big
overtime as well. I mean, it was just his night
to dominate the Celtics who struggle to make the three
point shot throughout the game. And so the Celtics all
(29:13):
of a sudden don't turn to garbage, right, This is
not a garbage situation. They just don't regularly perform close games.
Most of the games are lopsided for the Celtics. So
and the problem with Jason Tatum, as great as Jason
Tatum has been, he didn't have that dog get him.
I need dogs, not cats. I need dogs doesn't have it,
(29:37):
haven't seen it. You trust Jalen Brown more than you
would trust Jason Tatum, and that's the real kick to
the nuts for the Celtics. So they're down three at
the end of the game. You saw what happened to
you're watching or you're listening to it. They're down three.
The Celtics have the ball, a chance to take a
three point shot to tie the game. Jalen Brown, who
normally is the guy you want with the ball in
(29:59):
your hand at the end of the game, he couldn't
even get a shot off because Michel Bridges came over
and ripped the ball out of his hands. He stole
the ball. There was robbery on the court, so the
sellers didn't even get a game time shot up in overtime.
You're talking about a masculation situation. What's going on with that?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Here we go, Here we go, mall how about that?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
To the third degree? This is one gets great lead
a laugh.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
What do we got? Late third Ramjam.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
At thirty seven years old, Matthew Stafford signed a deal
today with the Rams giving him forty four million dollars
this year and impossible forty million dollars guaranteed next season
if he's on the roster, which would make him the
height earner an NFL history. Ben and Stafford worth that
title and will even be on the roster now.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
When I was told, when I once negotiated a contract,
you are worth what you can get. So I'm worth peanuts.
He's worth what he can get, So yeah, I mean sure,
why not. I'm I'm not a huge Stafford fans. He's
a middle of a road quarterback. He's right in the middle,
slightly above that. And as as long as he's healthy,
he'll get the money. I don't see any reason he
won't get the money. They don't even replace him.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Next Maler Masteria.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
Today, President Trump, Roger Goodell, and Commander's owner Josh Harris
announced that the twenty twenty six NFL Draft will take
place from the National Mall between the US Capitol and
the Washington Monument, anticipating over one million fans flooding the mallow.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Do you buy it?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
No?
Speaker 1 (31:28):
The Land of make Believe is Disneyland and NFL math.
They always embellish the amount of people that attend these events.
I never believe the amount of attendant. There's a lot
of people that go to these things, but there's not
as many as the NFL says. Next musical chairs have
a musical lockers.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer announced that he's going to
be making a practice the shuffle locker remplacement, as well
as where players sitting team meeting, saying there's a method
to his madness. Ben, does Schottenheimer's madness bring clarity to Dallas?
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Or is it all to do about No? No, it's gonna
be great because you're gonna have Dak Prescott and Michael
Parson's trading notes on how they wrote the vomit comment
together on defense and offense. It's ridiculous. How do we
do beautiful? A plus? What do you say? I won
the rite up? I want the job. Then I won?
Oh my god, I won.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
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. Now Naylor's Mountain of Money? Do you have
what it takes to get to the top?
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Probably not alright, Suett, Robin Kentucky, are there, Rob, I'm here,
I'm here, He's still there. And Tyler in Boston with Lee.
Are you there? Tyler?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Absolutely all right?
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Everyone? Good job you now you hung off? Unbelievable. Okay,
the category we're doing here, it is? What is it again?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Lee?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
What's your edition is this year?
Speaker 4 (32:59):
This is the Mike Dirt edition Green Day's bassist. He
turned fifty three today.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Okay, and Rob, you picked basket case. These athletes are
all on the spectrum. Shall we say a little crazy?
So crazy? All right? All right, put forty five seconds
on the clock. We need the first and last name, Rob,
and good luck. You're on your way. Known as the
Worm in the nineteen eighties NBA, Yes, beast mode for
(33:25):
the for the Seattle Seahawks running back, Yes, wide receiver,
played for the forty nine ers. He was a Hall
of Fame receiver. Also Cowboys, a bunch of different teams. Yes,
not Red Sox Star, not David Ortiz, but his Yes,
(33:50):
female skater. She put a hit out on another skater. Yes.
The male tennis player in the eighties screamed a lot.
Yes closer bearded closer for the Giants twenty ten World Series.
Oh all right, that was no, it was it was
Brian Wilson.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
I was good.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
You did a good job though, you did all right,
good job by you. Look at you, Rob all right,
very good. You're up.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Leave.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
What's category you've got? Holiday? Category three?
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Holiday?
Speaker 1 (34:20):
These athletes all had big performances on a holiday. Okay,
boss the category? Tyler? You there, Tyler, ready to go? Okay,
forty five seconds. You're on your way and go.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
Famous laker died in a helicopter crash, number eight and
twenty four. Famous wide receiver for the Vikings number eighty four,
also played for Tom Brady, killed his wife. Famous running
back just recently died. Biggest famously was in a black
and white photo holding up the number one hundred. Famous
(34:56):
laker just recently got kicked off of his kicked off
of his team of the of the of the Ravens.
Uh for uh uh okay. This guy was nicknamed Berger
for because of his last name. He scored sixty points
on a Christmas Day game he played for the Knicks.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
It is a hard one. Uh okay.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
Moving on Mets Astro's relief pitcher Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
All right, uh Okay, what was that you didn't get
Bernard Berger King. Yeah, we met the two and Billy Wagner.
You didn't really get the clue out on Billy Wagoner
and I should have moved faster. But that's all right.
Bernard King was hard, Yeah it was. Yeah, if you're
it depends how old you are. But yeah, that's a.
Speaker 4 (35:45):
Name, that's one.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
So that means myself and Rob are ahead. So that
that means then that Lee needs to go again. And
Tyler which catter you got, good riddance and Boulevard of
Broken Dreams, good ridden all all right, all right there
(36:09):
forty five seconds Lee and Tyler, you're on your way
and go.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
Famous Vikings running back bald head just has a lot
of yep. Also famous Uh did stuff with dogs, also
played for the Falcons, and Michael Vick number ninety nine
for the Buccaneers had a lot of Big guy had
a lot of Uh beat up his girlfriend in an
(36:35):
elevator for the running back for the Ravens. Uh brought
guns to the locker room. Basketball player shot his girlfriend
and killed her in South Australia, has no legs and
a swimmer that got in trouble in Brazil. I believe,
(36:55):
not the not Phelps Boom.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
That's all right. We're gonna beat your ass. It doesn't matter,
that's my god. All right, Yeah, all right, shut up,
everyone's shut up. Hey listen, Rob, you gotta run the
board here, Rob, you win the game. You run the board,
you win the game. You r on the board. You ready, Rob?
Speaker 2 (37:14):
I don't thank you to do.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Oh shut up, I don't even think you need it.
You know you didn't even need to run the board. No, no,
because you got too wrong the first one. So we
aren't even on the board. See what happens is time?
All right, God, I'll tell you turn them off. This
guy's trying to put he's trying to put the win.
He's trying to put the wammie on Rob. Rob Boulevard
and broken dreams. These athletes all had careers derailed by injury.
Are you ready?
Speaker 4 (37:38):
I'm ready?
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Forty five seconds on the clock.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Only man who win the Heisman Trophy twice in uh
in college football at Oklahoma. No oh no, he no,
he won played with the Lions. He's a running back.
Not not Archie Griving. That was wrong. You know this
guy played for the Oklahoma Sooners when the Heisman seventy eight,
was the number one pick in eighty for the Lions,
suffered an injury. Yes, all right, known for the shuffle,
(38:03):
Bengals running back known, he did the shuffle in the Yes,
the big redhead he just passed away not that long ago,
Yes he did. Yes, uh, running back. And he was
a baseball player for the Royals and the Raiders. Yes. Uh,
Chinese basketball player for the Rockets. Yes. What else do
(38:25):
we have about? All right? I think that's enough.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
No, that is enough.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
That is enough. That is enough. He got Billy Sims,
he got.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Get Brandon Royd and to get there, he only got forty.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
But you didn't know. You didn't win because you got
you try to screw me over. You see what you're doing. Loreno, no, no,
that is a that's a win for me.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
That is a win tie Rose to me.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
But he would have gotten Billy Wagner if I got
the clue out. Well, you didn't get it out. You
got to get it out in forty five. Say that's
how it worked. We went, I got get away too
good Ruins, So I'm runs. I'm the winner. Robbie won,
rob We won the game in your face lead, We won.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Mahler
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
from two to six Eastern eleven pm to three am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and to find your local
station for the Benmalers Show at Foxsports Radio dot com.
You can find it there or stream us live every
night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So our lead this hour A pretty decent night, pretty
decent night. Not a bad night. You know, normally come
in here complain we cavet you'all that's terrible. It sucked garbage.
I can't say that. Can't say that. Normally we often
have a psa on the show that we watched the games,
(00:51):
so you would not have to. But this was a
pretty good night, pretty good night. We'll start out in
the dust bowl.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I was not planning on starting out in the dust ball.
I was like, Ah, that's that's not gonna be that
good a game. And here we are. Here we are
discussing as Oklahoma the stage game number one, Game one
Western Conference semi Finals. Nicola Jokic leading the Nuggets into
(01:20):
ok c for a matchup with Shae Julius Alexander and
the Thunder, And that was the nightcap after the Boston
Celtics gagged at home against the Knickerbockers in overtime to
a twenty point lead in the final minutes of that
game to lose in overtime. So I said, okay, that'll
(01:41):
be the lead. And then no, no, no, no. The
Nuggets and Thunder got together and upset City as Nikola
Jokic had forty two points, twenty two rebounds, a partridge
in a pear tree and Aaron Garden from downtown n
dagger the three point shot and the closing seconds and
(02:02):
the Nuggets with a mind blowing one is that two
dramatic mind blowing They win by two. They come back
over the top seeded Thunder there in the late game
on Monday night. So Oklahoma City was out of timeouts
after Gordon hit the three point shot, they missed a
desperation heave as time expired, turn out the last. The
(02:27):
party's over, just like that. And so Gordon at twenty
two points, fourteen rebounds, that's a decent I'd rather lose
on a three point shot than a dunk. Like the
Clippers lost to the Nuggets on right at the buzzer,
but Gordon the game winner again. Jamal Murray, who was spotty,
was spotty in this game at twenty one points. And
(02:48):
so the four seed the Nuggets get home court. Game
two will be on Wednesday, back in the sooner state.
I know you're excited about that, but the better store
is in the losing lock. So that is where we
will begin this rant and rave in the knight. So
let us discuss the question, despite dropping thirty three points
(03:10):
thirty three, how much of the blame does shake gilgis
Alexander deserve for OKC in this one? So I've got
Planet Fitness, CDC approved, and West Virginia and we will
combine all of these things together, and we are going
(03:31):
to make some blooney, because the thunder were full of
blooney the way they played in the final minutes of
this particular game. So the anatomy of a rally, I've
often pointed out that most games are lost, not one.
So to answer the question, despite having thirty three points SGA,
(03:53):
how much of the blame does he deserve? Quite a bit,
quite a bit of the blame blooney quite a bit
of the blame for Oklahoma City. You're the headliner, you're
the face of the franchise. Blah blah blah blah blah,
da de facto MVP. Right, he's gonna win the MVP Award.
Be very surprising if he doesn't win the MVP Award.
Here for the regular season, and all of that stuff
is deserved, All of it is deserved. That a fine
(04:16):
year was great, Oklahoma City won a bunch of games
and all that. But in this moment, I learned this
from Stanley. You've got to go Spider Man. With great
power comes great responsibility. And if you're all that good stuff,
you're the MVP or the face of the franchise. YadA YadA,
YadA YadA. That means in the final minutes, you get
(04:38):
it done, you get the job done. Did he do that? No,
he did not get the job done. You put you
don't put the team on your back, and you're gonna
get called out on it. And he didn't shake yogas
Alexander in this particular situation, did not step up and
crunch time instead of going out to Planet Fitness and
lifting weights and putting the team on your back. All
(05:00):
that stuff. He's like, you know what, I'm gonna go
hit the hay and take a snooze. I'm gonna catch
some z's is what I'm going to do. Now, what
is my evidence? Down the stretch? If you look at
the final part of the game, SGA took six shots.
Now the game was blown in the final six thirty
nine or so of the game as Denver was able
to outscore the opposition to close the game and they
(05:25):
was going to buy fifteen down the stretch. It was
a domination situation to close out the game. So the
question becomes, Okay, you're Shagios. Alexander the Thunder as a
team shot twenty eight percent. But he was He's the MVP, right,
he's the guy he had nine points but got outscored
by his rifle. I know they play a different position,
(05:48):
but the Joker nikoley Jokich had sixteen and so you're
you're minus seven in the head to head MVP MVP
guy and so you lose by two. You can do
the math on that. You don't need me to do
the male of math. Denver also shot sixty two percent
to close out the game, and it was a collective
(06:08):
suck though, to be totally fair, Shaye deserves the Lions
share of the blame because he's supposed to be the
greatest player in basketball this year. I needn't play like it.
But you look around and the other suck bag players
for Oklahoma City. You've got Chet Holmgren, who was like
a Walmart greeter, leaving the door open for Denver as
(06:30):
he missed not one, but two big free throws. Nobody
guarding you, there's no one guarding you. Has to play.
Anyone that can make It's the only play I can
think of in team sports that anyone can can do
at a professional level. Make a foul shot in a game.
There's no one that's going to block you. No one
(06:51):
is going to take the ball from you. You stand
at the line, everyone's standing around watching you. You just
hold the ball, dribble, dribble shoot in this case, dribble
dribble clank, clank, clank, clank me. So that that allowed
as the Walmart greater Chet Holgen, that allowed the Nuggets
to get the ball out. And then the game winning
(07:14):
shot at the end by Aaron Gordon, so that that
allowed it at the bitter end there and the thunder
who were either number one or number two in just
about every defensive category in pro bouncy ball this year.
How do they play in the second half. Let's see
here a Denver shot fifty percent in the second half
(07:35):
and scored seventy one points in the final twenty four minutes.
Outstanding defense, boys, way to go, way to shut him down.
Good job by you. Yikes. All right, now, what does
this win go to the other side? Page two? What
does this win now do for the Nikola Jokic Nuggets
as they get the game one wins the best of seven.
(07:58):
It's only one game and all that stuff, But you
obviously set the tone doesn't guarantee anything. There is no
such thing as momentum. It's not like now Denver is
gonna win the next three games in oh they have
all the momentum. That is bull crap. You know it's
bull crap, So you don't have to worry about that. However,
it gives you the upper hand, and especially in a
series like this, well, you've got one team that has
(08:18):
players that have had success in the playoffs, and you've
got another team with a bunch of your bronis in
Oklahoma City. When it comes to the playoffs, and so
it's a CDC approved booster shot for Denver, right. A
booster shot helps keep the immunity level up. And more importantly,
what it does is it is not so much the confidence.
(08:39):
I don't think Denver needs any confidence per se. They're
a proud, hearty bunch and all that stuff. But what
this does is mess with the mojo of OKAC And
that's the key here, right. Many have pointed out that's
a fragile team. That is a team that has been
lampooned by many Oklahoma City as a paper tiger. They're
(09:03):
a paper tiger, right, They're just a bit of a
fraud regular season team, not built for the big moment
and all that. And in Game one of this series,
they absolutely proved that. They absolutely proved that is the case.
And so you can expect that Oklahoma City, what are
they gonna do. Now They're gonna have to go back
and the coach is gonna start tinkering a little bit,
(09:26):
say what did we do wrong? Who aft up? And
now they have that extra pressure but a capital P
and oh man, Now it has been said by many
that pressure is a privilege, right, and that is true.
It is also a double edged sword. It is a
double edged sword. And it's one of the fun things
about the plaus We don't really care much about the
regular season in the NBA, but in the playoffs in
(09:47):
all sports, it's whose rises to the occasion. Right, it
doesn't matter what you've done in the past, is what
you do in that moment and rising the pressure of
the moment. And it's one of those things, right, you
talk about the pressure, capital p and all that, and
pressure has as we've talked about in recent days. Pipe
pipes burst from pressure. Right, pipes burst kaboom from pressure. Also,
(10:10):
diamonds are made from pressure. So will you be a
diamond or will you be a pipe? And at this
moment we do the show right now tonight, at this moment,
the thunder are the pipe, and Denver is the diamond
at this particular moment in time. And as far as
the the bigger story just side by side for the Nuggets,
(10:34):
is it the Nicole Jokicic forty two point twenty two
rebound performance or is it the clutch Aaron Gordon game
winning basket. So I have an unpopular opinion. As good
as Jokic was, he set the Nuggets up, but without
the final dagger, it doesn't work out. Without the shot,
the game winning shot, obviously, the the math doesn't work out,
(10:58):
and the Nuggets would have lost. And so yochis played
as well as you could possibly playing, Denver still lost
the game.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Boohoo.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
If that's a brick house, We're in a parallel dimension.
We're doing a much different mallor monologue about how lucky
Oklahoma City is that they won this game, and how Denver.
We know what would have been said if that shot
had been missed. We know how that would have gone. Well,
it's because of fatigue. They were exhausted. Give the Nuggets
a break. I would like to address that pet peep.
(11:26):
I realized that I'm wired a little differently than a
lot of the other gas bags and blowhards. But this
is a pet peep. So I'm watching all these games.
I'm sitting on my ass, should be doing something more productive,
but it's part of the job. So fine, I'm watching
these games. And we are three games in now to
the second round of the NBA plus And if you've
paid any attention, there is a common theme that has
(11:47):
taking place early on in every one of these games.
You got Cleveland, Boston, and Oklahoma City who all lost,
all of them losing at home. Right. And the other hand,
you've got Indiana, New York, and Denver with little rest,
with little time off, and they are all in the
(12:09):
winners circle, all of them. Right. So does this postseason
prove does it prove that that extra rest is a killer,
because in these broadcasts they were all laying it on extra,
extra surupy, extra surupy. But does this postseason, three games
into the second round prove that the extra rest in
(12:32):
the NBA kills the mojo, kills it when you need
it most. So I think this is a lame conversation.
I will engage in it mainly to goof on the
common theme among NBA broadcasters very small sample size, Right,
that's important to mention, very small sample size. And this
(12:54):
changes by the year. We've had this conversation. In the
baseball playoffs, we've had this conversation that would you rather
have the top seed and have that first round by
or would you rather be in the wildcard round? And
typically it's one of those self fulfilling prophecies where if
a team does well when they have played in the
wild card round, and not had time off. You say, well,
(13:15):
that's what you want. You want to know time off,
and then if a team on the other side does
well with the rest, you say, okay, Like the Dodgers
last year and the Yankees both had time off and
they both got to the World Series. Dodgers end up
winning the World Series in baseball. But this NBA conversation
the broadcasters, I wanted to throw something at my TV. Now.
(13:36):
The only broadcast I always mute is the Doris Burke broadcast,
So whatever game she's doing, I mute. But other than that,
I normally have the audio up. Sometimes I turn it
down a little bit. But the theme was, oh man,
these Pacers and the Knicks and the Nuggets, the teams
that were playing on short rest. It was like they
were in West Virginia and they were working in coal
(13:57):
mines back in the seventies in West virgin Right cue
the John Denver song take Me Home Country Roads. Right
as I heard that, I was like, oh my god,
these guys, it is oppressive. It is like there is
some kind of slave labor camp. They're playing in the
NBA and they only had less than forty eight hours.
Oh my god, Nightmere oh, holy fatigue, batman. It's like
(14:22):
you can see the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah River,
just like the John Denver saw, Like, what is going
on here? Somebody get these guys some oxygen in an IV.
These NBA players, God forbid you play it forty eight
minute game. It takes two and a half hours because
every five minutes the damn referees are going over to
check out the damn replay to look at something. Who cares.
(14:43):
That's the NBA, right, that's going on no clear path foul. Okay,
that does not rise to the level of a flagrant.
Thank you, Thanks for taking seven minutes of my life
to decide that. God Anyway, here's the way it works
in the NBA. There is an excuse. Every night, every
single game, there's an excuse. And since the home teams
(15:07):
this season of all lost, and Golden State will test
the final leg of this theory. The Warriors, off short
rest will take on Minnesota, which had a little extra time.
So if the Warriors win, all man, be prepared. Be prepared.
But since the home teams so far have all lost,
I can gar wrong take guarantee that, since this is
(15:30):
after the fact, every excuse Maker is gonna pivot. They
instead of the storyline which was supposed to be all
I can't believe it. It's unreal, all of this time
with these teams rested, and since the teams that were
rested lost, they're gonna pivot and say it's not right.
Russ Russ Rouss for Russ makes me want to puke
in my mouth.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
It's me Rob Parker.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker, for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk, featuring the
biggest names of newsmakers in the sport.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Whether you believe in analytics.
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Or the ie test, We've got all the bases covered.
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Speaker 1 (16:24):
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iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
So our lead this hour is from the Eastern Conference
NBA game. We go to Boston and this was projected
to be a blowout. I got an email from one
of our listeners that listens on the sports hub in Boston,
who said, Ben, all the local guys are convinced this
is gonna be at most a gentleman's sweep. Four games
(16:50):
should be all the Celtics need to take care of
the Knicks, and they're already projecting who they're gonna play
in the NBA Finals. Now, I don't know if that's
true or not. I'm sleeping during that. I don't know
what those guys are happing. But one game, one game
into the Eastern Conference semi finals, and things have gone
upside down. Top s Turvy Jalen Brunson leading the upstart
Knickerbockers playing with house money into the Commonwealth for a
(17:14):
hoe down with Jason Tatum and the heavily favored Celtics.
Were you watching? Were you watching this game? No, of
course you were. No. Well, Jalen Brunson and og Anenobi,
may the Force be with you. They scored twenty nine
(17:35):
points in this game, and the Knicks leaving the Celtics
dazed and confused as they win it in overtime. New
York oneh eight, Boston one oh five. So Game one
goes to the team from the big Apple Carl Anthony Towns,
who was okay. He had fourteen points thirteen rebounds. It
wasn't a dominating performance by any means. But the Knicks
(17:58):
had lost all four games games against Boston during the
regular season, which again, that is what has happened, not
is what's going to happen, as they lost all four
games during the regular season, and that's why they play
the games. But New York was down by twenty points
in the second half of this game. The Boston Celtics,
(18:19):
the reigning champions of the NBA, coughed up a fur ball,
a big one. Now Game two, we'll be back on
the Parque floor. That'll be on Wednesday night. Jason Tatum
and Jalen Brown both had twenty three points for the Celtics,
who taken on the chin in game number one. The
(18:41):
better story is in that locker room, that is the
losing locker room. So that is where we will direct
our attention to the question for the esteem panel here,
who's the fall guy. Who's the fall guy for the
Jason Tatum Celtics. So I've got air force in and
out and robust DNA and we will combine all of
(19:04):
these things together, and we're going to make Boston cream pie,
which is what the Celtics got. A face full. Boston
cream pie is what they got, all right, So number why,
I said, Number why, there's a lot of shame and
blame to go around. We'd like to shame and blame.
It's fun to do here. So Boston was up seventy
(19:26):
five to fifty five with less than six minutes to
go in the third quarter. The game's not over at
this that point. Obviously it's not over. You still got
a quarter and a half to go with the final
seventeen to eighteen minutes of the game or so. If
you just merely take care of your business and don't
(19:47):
have any major screw ups, you're going to win the game.
And as the late great Dennis Green, who worked at
Fox Sports Radio for about a month before he got
a TV job, said, if you want to crown them,
then crown their asses. But they are who we thought
they were. And the Celtics let him off the hook,
and that's what happened. Now. The issue for Boston in
(20:10):
this game down the final eighteen minutes or so of
the game. It is a King of Pop classic. The
Man in the mirror. That is what did in the
Celtics in this game. The man in the mirror, Jason Tatum,
and much of the same conversation we had in a
previous hour we thought about Shay Jilgis Alexander and his
shortcomings at the end of the game. Well, the same
(20:32):
concept applies here. It's not brain surgery. Were just merely
talking about sport. Would you look at it? Jason Tatum
is supposed to be the franchise player. Close game right now.
It wasn't even a close game. It should not have
been a close game, but it did turn out to
be a close game. And the reason is because the
way that you close the game. Jason Tatum, who to
(20:54):
my knowledge has no military experience, but he looked like
he was in the Air Force and he was a
piloting the vomit comet to close out the game. How
bad was it? I'll tell you so, Jason Tatum. The
eyeball test, you knew it wasn't good. But then to
close the game, Jason Tatum. Over the final twenty minutes,
(21:14):
including overtime, Jason Tatum shot three of twelve from the floor.
He took twelve shots. He only made three of them,
and we're sitting in here where he's supposed to be
the franchise player, and we're in here talking about a
crap performance by Jason Tatum. The three headed monster of
the Boston basketball team turned out to be a three
(21:36):
headed Garden slug. In this particular game, you had Jason Tatum,
Jalen Brown, and Derek White, who has been marvelous. But
in the end of the game, up twenty to losing
in overtime, Tatum, Brown and White combined to shoot twenty
percent twenty point eight percent from the floor in that stretch,
and that's how you blow a twenty point lead. And
(21:58):
the Celtics as a team, the number that stood out
here the forty five missed three point shots, which is
an appalling amount of missed three point shots. But the Celtics,
just in the time they went up twenty to close
the game, they attempted twenty eight to three point shots
in that stretch. They only made six of them from downtown.
(22:18):
So that is the ingredient that will lead you to defeat.
So Jason Tatum's gotta wear that now. Page two, and
this is a deeper philosophical look at things here. So
where is the Celtics panic level? Where's the Celtics panic
level after dropping Game one? Is this a mild concern
(22:41):
for the Boston basketball team or a full blown crisis?
Full blown crisis. So, after a thorough Mallard deliberation and
contemplation about the New York Knickerbockers, we have this as
a mild concern. As a mild concern, it is a
(23:02):
wake up call that you should not have needed. You
should not have needed a wake up call in game
one of a series. And the question must be asked,
did the Celtics underestimate the Knicks? Did they start buying
into all the social media chatter that this would be
no series, this would be no contest? What is that
(23:23):
you're up twenty and you take a little siesta at
that that particular point. Now, Joe Missoula, a couple of
years ago we nicknamed him, Let him play Joe, Let
him play Joe. And in this particular game, Joe mazoul
did he make any adjustments? Maybe he did, I just
didn't notice it. Did you notice anything that he did?
Things were not going right for the Celtics. Did he
(23:44):
ever say, hey, maybe we shouldn't shoot three point shots
every effing time down the cart Did he ever say that?
Let him play, Joe, I didn't notice any adjustment. I'm
not a big coaching matter guy. The Denver Nuggets don't
have a coach and they just want a game on
the road in the second round of the end NBA Playoffs.
But the reason I am only at a mild concern,
and trust me, you know, doing talk radio, it'd be
(24:05):
much more fun, full blown five alarm fire for the Celtics,
and we will be def Con one if Boston loses
on Wednesday. But Game one now, we're not going to
go there, not yet, cause Madison Square Gardens not tough.
A bunch of teams go in there and win. They
just it's not like the Knicks have any real home
(24:26):
court advantage at Madison Square Gardens, so you lose the
next game. And again that's a different conversation. But every
extra game, every extra game the Celtics play, the chances
of injury go up, the chances of heartbreak hotel go
up even more. And then the other question that must
(24:49):
be asked is do these Celtics get a pass? Do
they get a mulligan? Because the Unicorn hardly play and
if you saw the game, you know what I'm talking
about here, So that would be as the great judge
on a reality TV show, Randy Jackson back in the
day said that would be a no for me. Dog, No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
No.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Chris tops porzingis played only thirteen minutes. He did not
get into the game after halftime because he had an illness.
He had the creeping crud or whatever he had. We
don't know. He was out. So here's the issue. Boston,
even though they didn't have the top record in the East,
they are perceived to be the top team. Is that
a fair statement. I believe it is. Cleveland had the
(25:33):
top record, but most most pundits believe that these Celtics
are the better team. So you go into this, You're
supposed to be the big bad Beast of the East
and you're the Boston Celtics. And you think of this
like In and Out Burger. Now I know there's no
In and Out Burger in Boston, but just work with
me on this. So they have the secret menu at
In and Out Burger and very popular animal style fries,
(25:57):
very popular. People love that. Some people like that fly Dutchman,
but those are all extra items. You don't need those
things to be good to have a good meal. You
don't need those things to have a good meal. You don't.
And so it's good enough. And the Celtics are good
enough without Porzingis. And if Porzingis is the key player,
come on, now, the Celtics took so many three point
(26:19):
shots they always do. The difference is they were able
to win a game. Remember the Orlando game in the
opening round. They won a game the Celtics, and they
didn't play very well, they did not do well from
three point range, but they won that game. They're playing
in the Orlando Magic Knicks are a better team obviously
than Orlando. But still all right now, final point, So
(26:40):
question is this knicker Bocker team for real? Should we
revisit the analysis leading into the series? Are they for real?
Or was this just a case where they they fell
behind by twenty New York and then they caught Boston
just kind of lollygagging around having an off end of
the game. They just thought the game was over. They
(27:00):
assumed the Knicks would give up. That's what NBA teams do,
like the Clippers and other teams, when they fall behind,
they just quit. There are a bunch of gutless quitters. So
that's the question. So the errow on this one is
pointing more towards just lollygagging up twenty lolligagging around again
until we see this happen a second consecutive game and
the heavy underdog, the Knicks are playing with house money,
(27:23):
absolute house money. Now that being said, if the game
is close, if the Celtics do not have a comfortable
advantage in these games and it's coming down the stretch,
who would you rather have in a three or four
point game in the final ninety seconds. I'd rather have
(27:45):
the Knicks. But mainly because of one guy, right, mainly
because of one guy. And that's the interesting thing here
that one guy who you know who I'm talking about
here has robust DNA. He was not the reason that
the Knicks won this game. And overtime done about Jalen Brunson.
And Jalen Brunson who clearly has the optimal genetic makeup
(28:07):
for big moments in basketball games, but he didn't score
in overtime. He was over four from the flour in overtime,
missed a tear drop that should have won the game
in regulation, and it still didn't matter, So he got
a dud out of the way. Jalen Brunson down twenty
the New York Nation, and that the reason they got
(28:29):
back in the game was in part because of Brunson
down twenty. They cranked on the old Phil Collins tune
there thunder and lightning, because you had not only Jalen
Brunson during the regulation part, but Og and Abe getting
it done in a large way. Anonobi. He had the
clutch gen on this night, big time, big time. Seven
(28:51):
of eleven down from down twenty, he made seven of
eleven shots and four of seven, four of six, four
of six from three point range, and including a big
overtime as well. I mean, it was just his night
to dominate the Celtics who struggle to make the three
point shot throughout the game. And so the Celtics all
(29:13):
of a sudden don't turn to garbage, right, This is
not a garbage situation. They just don't regularly perform close games.
Most of the games are lopsided for the Celtics. So
and the problem with Jason Tatum, as great as Jason
Tatum has been, he didn't have that dog get him.
I need dogs, not cats. I need dogs doesn't have it,
(29:37):
haven't seen it. You trust Jalen Brown more than you
would trust Jason Tatum, and that's the real kick to
the nuts for the Celtics. So they're down three at
the end of the game. You saw what happened to
you're watching or you're listening to it. They're down three.
The Celtics have the ball, a chance to take a
three point shot to tie the game. Jalen Brown, who
normally is the guy you want with the ball in
(29:59):
your hand at the end of the game, he couldn't
even get a shot off because Michel Bridges came over
and ripped the ball out of his hands. He stole
the ball. There was robbery on the court, so the
sellers didn't even get a game time shot up in overtime.
You're talking about a masculation situation. What's going on with that?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Here we go, Here we go, mall how about that?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
To the third degree? This is one gets great lead
a laugh.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
What do we got? Late third Ramjam.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
At thirty seven years old, Matthew Stafford signed a deal
today with the Rams giving him forty four million dollars
this year and impossible forty million dollars guaranteed next season
if he's on the roster, which would make him the
height earner an NFL history. Ben and Stafford worth that
title and will even be on the roster now.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
When I was told, when I once negotiated a contract,
you are worth what you can get. So I'm worth peanuts.
He's worth what he can get, So yeah, I mean sure,
why not. I'm I'm not a huge Stafford fans. He's
a middle of a road quarterback. He's right in the middle,
slightly above that. And as as long as he's healthy,
he'll get the money. I don't see any reason he
won't get the money. They don't even replace him.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Next Maler Masteria.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
Today, President Trump, Roger Goodell, and Commander's owner Josh Harris
announced that the twenty twenty six NFL Draft will take
place from the National Mall between the US Capitol and
the Washington Monument, anticipating over one million fans flooding the mallow.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Do you buy it?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
No?
Speaker 1 (31:28):
The Land of make Believe is Disneyland and NFL math.
They always embellish the amount of people that attend these events.
I never believe the amount of attendant. There's a lot
of people that go to these things, but there's not
as many as the NFL says. Next musical chairs have
a musical lockers.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer announced that he's going to
be making a practice the shuffle locker remplacement, as well
as where players sitting team meeting, saying there's a method
to his madness. Ben, does Schottenheimer's madness bring clarity to Dallas?
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Or is it all to do about No? No, it's gonna
be great because you're gonna have Dak Prescott and Michael
Parson's trading notes on how they wrote the vomit comment
together on defense and offense. It's ridiculous. How do we
do beautiful? A plus? What do you say? I won
the rite up? I want the job. Then I won?
Oh my god, I won.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
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. Now Naylor's Mountain of Money? Do you have
what it takes to get to the top?
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Probably not alright, Suett, Robin Kentucky, are there, Rob, I'm here,
I'm here, He's still there. And Tyler in Boston with Lee.
Are you there? Tyler?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Absolutely all right?
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Everyone? Good job you now you hung off? Unbelievable. Okay,
the category we're doing here, it is? What is it again?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Lee?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
What's your edition is this year?
Speaker 4 (32:59):
This is the Mike Dirt edition Green Day's bassist. He
turned fifty three today.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Okay, and Rob, you picked basket case. These athletes are
all on the spectrum. Shall we say a little crazy?
So crazy? All right? All right, put forty five seconds
on the clock. We need the first and last name, Rob,
and good luck. You're on your way. Known as the
Worm in the nineteen eighties NBA, Yes, beast mode for
(33:25):
the for the Seattle Seahawks running back, Yes, wide receiver,
played for the forty nine ers. He was a Hall
of Fame receiver. Also Cowboys, a bunch of different teams. Yes,
not Red Sox Star, not David Ortiz, but his Yes,
(33:50):
female skater. She put a hit out on another skater. Yes.
The male tennis player in the eighties screamed a lot.
Yes closer bearded closer for the Giants twenty ten World Series.
Oh all right, that was no, it was it was
Brian Wilson.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
I was good.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
You did a good job though, you did all right,
good job by you. Look at you, Rob all right,
very good. You're up.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Leave.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
What's category you've got? Holiday? Category three?
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Holiday?
Speaker 1 (34:20):
These athletes all had big performances on a holiday. Okay,
boss the category? Tyler? You there, Tyler, ready to go? Okay,
forty five seconds. You're on your way and go.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
Famous laker died in a helicopter crash, number eight and
twenty four. Famous wide receiver for the Vikings number eighty four,
also played for Tom Brady, killed his wife. Famous running
back just recently died. Biggest famously was in a black
and white photo holding up the number one hundred. Famous
(34:56):
laker just recently got kicked off of his kicked off
of his team of the of the of the Ravens.
Uh for uh uh okay. This guy was nicknamed Berger
for because of his last name. He scored sixty points
on a Christmas Day game he played for the Knicks.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
It is a hard one. Uh okay.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
Moving on Mets Astro's relief pitcher Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
All right, uh Okay, what was that you didn't get
Bernard Berger King. Yeah, we met the two and Billy Wagner.
You didn't really get the clue out on Billy Wagoner
and I should have moved faster. But that's all right.
Bernard King was hard, Yeah it was. Yeah, if you're
it depends how old you are. But yeah, that's a.
Speaker 4 (35:45):
Name, that's one.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
So that means myself and Rob are ahead. So that
that means then that Lee needs to go again. And
Tyler which catter you got, good riddance and Boulevard of
Broken Dreams, good ridden all all right, all right there
(36:09):
forty five seconds Lee and Tyler, you're on your way
and go.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
Famous Vikings running back bald head just has a lot
of yep. Also famous Uh did stuff with dogs, also
played for the Falcons, and Michael Vick number ninety nine
for the Buccaneers had a lot of Big guy had
a lot of Uh beat up his girlfriend in an
(36:35):
elevator for the running back for the Ravens. Uh brought
guns to the locker room. Basketball player shot his girlfriend
and killed her in South Australia, has no legs and
a swimmer that got in trouble in Brazil. I believe,
(36:55):
not the not Phelps Boom.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
That's all right. We're gonna beat your ass. It doesn't matter,
that's my god. All right, Yeah, all right, shut up,
everyone's shut up. Hey listen, Rob, you gotta run the
board here, Rob, you win the game. You run the board,
you win the game. You r on the board. You ready, Rob?
Speaker 2 (37:14):
I don't thank you to do.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Oh shut up, I don't even think you need it.
You know you didn't even need to run the board. No, no,
because you got too wrong the first one. So we
aren't even on the board. See what happens is time?
All right, God, I'll tell you turn them off. This
guy's trying to put he's trying to put the win.
He's trying to put the wammie on Rob. Rob Boulevard
and broken dreams. These athletes all had careers derailed by injury.
Are you ready?
Speaker 4 (37:38):
I'm ready?
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Forty five seconds on the clock.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Only man who win the Heisman Trophy twice in uh
in college football at Oklahoma. No oh no, he no,
he won played with the Lions. He's a running back.
Not not Archie Griving. That was wrong. You know this
guy played for the Oklahoma Sooners when the Heisman seventy eight,
was the number one pick in eighty for the Lions,
suffered an injury. Yes, all right, known for the shuffle,
(38:03):
Bengals running back known, he did the shuffle in the Yes,
the big redhead he just passed away not that long ago,
Yes he did. Yes, uh, running back. And he was
a baseball player for the Royals and the Raiders. Yes. Uh,
Chinese basketball player for the Rockets. Yes. What else do
(38:25):
we have about? All right? I think that's enough.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
No, that is enough.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
That is enough. That is enough. He got Billy Sims,
he got.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Get Brandon Royd and to get there, he only got forty.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
But you didn't know. You didn't win because you got
you try to screw me over. You see what you're doing. Loreno, no, no,
that is a that's a win for me.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
That is a win tie Rose to me.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
But he would have gotten Billy Wagner if I got
the clue out. Well, you didn't get it out. You
got to get it out in forty five. Say that's
how it worked. We went, I got get away too
good Ruins, So I'm runs. I'm the winner. Robbie won,
rob We won the game in your face lead, We won.
Host
Ben Maller
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