May 7, 2026 • 38 mins
Brian Noe fills in for Big Ben and talks about the latest in the NBA Playoffs including the Knicks taking a 2-0 series lead over the 76ers, the Spurs evening up their series against the Timberwolves, the hype surrounding Kyler Murray with the Vikings, and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Maler
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 3 (00:32):
Start with oops tonight, couple of NBA playoff games, and
some interesting things to take away from what happened on
Wednesday night. That would be first off, the Knicks beating
the Sixers. So the Knicks take a two zero series lead,
and the Sixers just absolutely fell apart in the fourth quarter.
It was disgusting. Can I whine Malard militia right from
(00:54):
the get go? I need to get something off my
chest because normally I wait until a little bit into
the show to whine about bets that should have cashed
but did not cash. Let's just check that box while
we're at it here, you know, let's just get a
bunch of stuff here, go in here off the jump here.
(01:16):
So I had a team total, I had the Sixers
reaching at least one hundred and four points tonight, I
should say Wednesday night. Right, if you're on the East Coast,
you're like, wait a minute, what night? Wednesday Night? Game two?
I had the Sixers getting to at least one oh four,
had to go over one oh three and a half.
(01:38):
They had ninety points heading into the fourth quarter. So
you're doing the math. You're like, they're averaging thirty points
per quarter. They just need fourteen points in the fourth quarter.
They should be able to do that, right.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Wrong.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
They only scored twelve points in the entire fourth quarter
and the Sixers just fell apart man turnovers, couldn't hit
a three tired legs. So the big news and not
to bury the lead, is no joe El Embiid. They
didn't have Embiid for Game two, so what they did
(02:15):
was really smart. In the early going, they're just playing
up tempo basketball, fast, quick, look for a shot. They
look like the old Phoenix Suns seven seconds or less, right, like,
just let's move it, let's play with some pace, Let's
get some buckets in transition. Let's if you're open, just
shoot it. Man, let's go, let's run up temple move,
move move. That was great for the first three quarters,
(02:36):
and they just hit a wall. They hit a wall.
They were exhausted, They're making tired mistakes. All their shots
are short. You know, they just can't buy a three.
They were doing their Celtics in pressure. Actually I played
the Celtics. Now they think about it. I think the
Celtics stupid ways rubbed off on the Sixers. The Sixers
(02:56):
just beat the Celtics in the first round, and I
think the the idiocy of the Celtics just jacking up
three after three, after three after three, it rubbed off
on the Sixers and they're like, you know what, we're
not hitting our threes in the fourth quarter, Let's just
shoot more of them. Let's just shoot more. And they
couldn't make any of them, and it just they crashed
(03:18):
and burned down the stretch. Only twelve points in the
fourth quarter. So yeah, that bet crashed and burned. Good news.
Not to make this all about me, but it was
a winning night. I hit with VJ. Edgecombe going over
his point total. I hit with Karl Anthony Towns for
can I talk to the degenerate gamblers just for a
second here, my fellow degenerates this Carl Anthony Towns assist
(03:42):
prop is the gift that keeps on giving. This guy
thinks he's Magic Johnson. Now like he's he's doing a
great job running point forward where it's really a smart
tweak that the Nicks have made where they run the
offense through. They'll give the ball to cat along the
(04:03):
perimeter right he's beyond the three point line, and he'll
just like a Harlem globetrotter, palm the ball and like
hold it as far out as he can so the
defender has no chance of getting the ball, and he'll
just hold it there. He'll wait for three to five seconds.
He'll just wait for a cutter. He'll wait for someone
to go back door or wait for someone to get open,
(04:25):
and he's like, oh, there's a guy, and he'll throw
it right to him. It's as Cis City left. He
had seven. His prop was four and a half in
game two. It's been three and a half for all
the other games. You know, in the first round there
they're hardly adjusting this. It was plus money on the
over four and a half. Just ride that train until
(04:48):
something weird happens. He was in foul trouble on Wednesday
night too. He barely played any of the second quarter.
The stupid files that Karl Anthony Towns picks up, it's astounding,
man him. And you know again, I'm on his assist
over and I look up and it's like, that's Carl Anthony,
Karl Anthony Town's third file. I'm like, cat you, what
are you doing? Buddy? So he's gonna have to sit
(05:11):
down for the rest of the second quarter. It just started,
so uh, it's like what And he's still got there
with these, So just just hop all over that.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Man.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
It's probably gonna be four and a half again, the
juice is gonna be a little bit different. It's not
gonna be higher than four and a half. Just take
the over. It's the gift that keeps on giving. And
it's a smart strategy by the Knicks because it really
cuts down on the wear and tear in the physical
load for Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brunton is magnificent. He's a
(05:42):
walking bucket. But the amount of energy that guy expends
on a nightly basis is absurd. The way the offense
used to be a lot of it for the Knicks
was just give brunts in the ball and let him
dribble around for twenty seconds like a maniac trying to
create a shot for himself or find somebody else. And
(06:03):
he's just dribbling it into the floor to death. And
it's like go left, go right, spin move all right, Nope,
that's not an open shot. Let's pivot left, let's go right,
let's euro Steblin. It's just energy being expended left and right.
And so when they give it to Kat and he
just stands there and waits for someone to get open.
(06:24):
Sometimes it's Brunson. It makes life so much easier for
Jalen Brunson, and he's fresher at the end of these games.
So it's really worked out very, very well for the Knicks.
And that's the thing with these Knicks, man, They've been
on a winning streak in the playoffs here, So we're
going back. What this is five in a row for
the Knicks won the last three of the Hawks series.
(06:45):
They were down two one, won three in a row
to win that series. They won the first two of
the series against the Sixers, and they they had a
streak that was broken. So the Knicks heading into Game
two on Wednesday night. Right their previous three games, they
became the first team in NBA playoff history to win
three straight games by at least twenty five points. So
(07:08):
they crushed the Hawks the last two games of that series,
and then they crushed the Sixers in Game one, won
by what thirty nine points? It's insane. So they had
a measly six point win on Wednesday night, but they
take a two zero series lead. They're doing fine. Life
is good for the Knicks right now, and we'll see
what Embiid's status is. But now we don't know if
(07:30):
Embiid's gonna be able to go the next game, the
next four games. At least, the Sixers are hoping they're
at least four more games, right They're hoping that Embiid
is healthy and ready to go. But we have no idea.
He missed Wednesday night with ankle and hip injuries. And
this is an insane stat This stat doesn't even seem real.
(07:54):
Joelle Embiid hasn't played six games in a row since
twenty twenty three. That is insanity right there. That is
a guy who is a walking medicine cabinet who's been
dealing with a lot of injuries for a long time
and also lude management right, trying to manage the wear
(08:14):
and tear on Embiid, which does make some sense, but
we're not talking about you know, twenty five straight game.
We're talking six games. Embiid hasn't played six games in
a row since twenty twenty three. That is that's insanity
right there, and it does it does make you think
(08:35):
of a guy like Lebron. You know, we'll get to
the Lake Show and how they're Oh man, this is
looking as bleak as bleak gets here in this series
against OKC. But you do have to take your hat
off to Lebron. You look at some of these injury
issues with some of these guys in the playoffs. Embiid,
it's a great, you know example of this where again
(08:56):
hasn't played six games in a row since twenty three.
Lebron hasn't missed one playoff game in his entire NBA career.
That's remarkable, and that guy's played so many playoff games,
it's like the equivalent of three and a half NBA seasons.
He's played a ton of playoff games, hasn't missed one.
(09:19):
I heard that stat today and the first thing I
thought of I am a Bulls fan. I say it
a little bit quieter these days. I'm like, I'm a
Bulls fan. Yeah, still still still hanging with him. I'm
not jumping ship, but I don't say it with the
same pizaz. You know. It's kind of like, yeah, I'm
a Dolphins fan. I am. They've got Malie Willis, but
(09:39):
that's gonna be a long rebuild, very long. Your voice
just goes down. I'm almost Verry White now with my
favorite teams. But I have a Bulls fan. I remember
when Lebron was playing a playoff series against the Bulls
and I don't know whose foot he stepped on, but
he stepped on a Bulls player's foot. And I'm not
kidding that's a grocery or anything. He steps on this
(10:01):
guy's foot. And then Lebron's ankle fully rolled. You know,
I'm taking my right foot as if I'm stepping on
a foot, and then I'm just rolling it all the way.
His ankle touched the floor. I promise you it did.
And I'm watching this live in a sports bar and
I'm like, oh, he's done. There's no way. Next thing.
(10:24):
I know, Lebron's just like let me just tighten my
shoe a little bit tighter here, and he was back
in the game. I can't remember for sure, but it
might have been the same game he had a game winner.
It very well might have been. But he didn't miss
a game. I can't believe he didn't miss a game.
He's got bionic ankles, I'm convinced. But for Lebron to
not miss a game, just look at what we've seen
(10:45):
in these playoffs right where I know Tatum was coming
back from the calf or from the Achilles injury, and
then in Game six against the Sixers, he had calf
tightness that he was dealing with, and so you're like,
oh gosh, what's the status for Game seven? Gonna be
calf tightness, calf soreness. Not good. It's the gateway drug
(11:07):
to another Achilles injury. We don't want that if we're
the Celtics over here. And so he didn't play Game seven,
and the Celtics said it was a knee issue. It's like, wait, what,
So it's what are we doing here. Kevin Durant played
one game in Houston series against the Lakers. It was
(11:28):
a six game series. He played one. I'll tell you this, man.
I try not to call out dudes because I don't
know the severity of a lot of these injuries. Okay,
but I do know this. If Lebron James had the
exact same injuries plural as Kevin Durant KD was dealing
(11:51):
with an ankle and a knee. If Lebron had the
same issues, there is no way that dude is only
playing one game in a six game series. There is
no chance that's the case. And so I listen with
Embiid KD Tatum with the knee. Listen. I just know
(12:13):
that not all things are equal, you know, like Lebron's
body is not the same as Embiid's body. You know,
like the the stress on say a hip or an
ankle for Embiid is different than the stress on a
hip or an ankle for Lebron. Right, it's not apples
to apples. So it's dangerous to play this game all
(12:36):
across the board. But listen, if you don't get caught
up in the you know, the minutia and the very
small differences. A lot of this comes down to will.
A lot of this comes down to how bad do
you want it? Can you play through pain? Are you available.
Lebron's always been available, and there are guys like Embiid
(12:58):
that just haven't been some that is not Embid's fault.
I want to make that perfectly clear. I don't want
to make it sound like he's only had injuries that
he could gut through, but he doesn't gut through. That's
not been the case. He's had legitimate injuries where it's like, well,
anybody would be on the shelf with this injury. But
he's had a couple injuries where you're like, there's no chance,
(13:24):
no how you can play. Anthony Edwards was playing again
on Wednesday night. Anthony Edwards in the first round, he
went up. I think he went up for a layup
and he came down and his knee hyper extended in
a way where you're like, oh gosh, how long is
he gonna be out? That looked funky and weird and
(13:45):
all sorts of bad. He mist like two games. He's
played both games in this second round against the Spurs. Now,
the bad news for the timber Wolves is they got
punched in the mouth royally on Wednesday night. It was ugly.
These Spurs destroyed them one thirty three to ninety five.
That's right, thirty eight point win by the Spurs, so
(14:07):
that series is tied one game apiece. But Anthony Edwards
is out there. He's gotten through it. He was very
effective and in game one coming off the bench. The
game just got completely out of hand on Wednesday night
in game two, but ant is out there, He's right
out there. So I don't know, man, I can't be
the only one who I think the best way to
(14:31):
put it is Lebron wouldn't be missing all of this
time with the exact same injuries that some of these
other guys are missing time for. That's just the truth
of it, and I think that's a better way to
put it than if you're just like, come on, Tatum,
get out there. It's again, I don't know the severity
(14:52):
of that injury. The Celtics said it was a knee.
He had calf tightness and soreness, calf tightness and soreness
in games, and then somehow it turned into a knee
issue in game seven. I don't know what's going on
there exactly, but you know, the KD thinks probably the
best example, there's no way Lebron is like KD played
(15:13):
one game that's the crazy thing here. He played Game two.
He wasn't good, got off to a great start in
the first half, nine turnovers in the game, was not
brilliant by any stretch, but he played the game, and
then he didn't play another one. Can you like really
close your eyes and think of a scenario where Lebron
(15:34):
he's dealing with, let's say it's ankle and knee issues,
just like KD was dealing with, and Lebron is able
to play Game two and be pretty effective. He looks
really good in this set in the first half. He
turns the ball over a little sloppy, but you know
there's some rust he's got to work off. So he
plays Game two and then that's it. He doesn't play
(15:57):
games three, four, five, or six. That would never happen,
says would never happen.
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Speaker 3 (17:16):
So Jalen Brown, star player for the Celtics, he raised
some eyebrows. So the Celtics, they had a commanding three
to one lead against the Sixers in the first round
of the NBA playoffs, and well they kicked it away.
They lost three straight games, lost the series again a
first round series, and Jalen Brown immediately afterwards, like the
(17:40):
next day, he does this twitch thing. He gets on
there with his buddies talking about a range of things,
says that embeat is a flopper, flopping is ruining. The
NBA had a couple other hot takes, and then this
one really caught a lot of attention. He was talking
about this Celtics scene and he had this to say, I'm.
Speaker 6 (18:01):
So proud and it was my favorite year of my
basketball career.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Okay, so favorite year of his basketball career is what
happened this past season with the Celtics. So if we
start doing the math on this thing, it's like, all right,
this isn't that hard to figure out. What he's really
saying is it was great being the main guy. And
(18:29):
I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily. He wants
to be the man. He doesn't want to be the
co pilot. He doesn't want to be Robin. He wants
to be Batman. He wants to be the guy. And
he showed throughout the time without Jason Tatum during the
regular season he's more than capable of carrying that burden.
(18:53):
He was fantastic. He had a great season. He was
a legitimate MVP candidate, and if you look during the season,
he had a couple of posts that were interesting now
looking back, but so obvious with him saying this latest
thing that he enjoyed being the main guy. He loved
being the number one option. He didn't want to play
(19:13):
second fiddle. He didn't want to watch Jason Tatum to
dribble around for twenty seconds and jack up a shot, right, Like,
he liked being the guy. And so that's what he's
really saying. You could really get off track with this,
like whoa dude, what a loser mentality? He got bounced
in the first round and this is his favorite season.
(19:33):
He won a title, he was finals MVP. Are you
kidding me? It's not about that. It's just he wants
to be the main guy. He doesn't want to play
like the one B role or the two A role.
He wants to be one A. He wants to be
the man. That's I don't have a problem with that.
But that's what he's really saying. But it goes a
(19:55):
little bit deeper than that. So this is Tracy McGrady.
Tracy mcgrady's an analyst with NBC. He does this Cousin's
podcast with Vince Carter, And this is what Tracy McGrady
had to say. About Jalen Brown and his frustration with
the Celtics organization.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
Here you go, his frustration lies deeply within the organization
and other things that of course, of course we don't
really have the tails too. There's just been a lot
of stuff, you know that I've been hearing just going
on with the Boston organization with JB.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
You know.
Speaker 6 (20:33):
So, I think part of him is like I showed
you guys more of who I am as a basketball player,
not only just you know, what I did on the
basketball court, but the leadership that I displayed within you know,
this team, and you've seen that not having our you know,
best player in JT. You've seen the different side of
(20:56):
me and what I I'm able to bring to the
game of basketball. So all that stuff, you know, I
think just came in to play with him and his frustration.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
M Okay, So Tracy McGrady says he's pretty frustrated with
the organization. Now the Celtics preys over here. Brad Stevens,
he He's like, I don't know what he's dying about.
Here's what Brad Stevens has to say about this perceived
frustration from Jalen Brown. Check this out.
Speaker 7 (21:27):
I talked to Jalen Monday a little bit after. He
just real quickly and was nothing but positive. He has
not expressed those frustrations to me.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Okay, so depends on who you believe. Could it be
that there's a little bit of truth with both of
those guys, Yeah, could be. Is it possible that Tracy
McGrady knows Jalen Brown pretty well and he's been able
to gather that he's not feeling the organization for this
reason or the next reason or yeah, or he's just
ticked off with this or that. Yeah, that's true. That
(22:00):
could be possible. Is it possible that Brad Stevens did
bump into Jalen Brown and they talked for a little
bit and Brad Stevens didn't pick up on any frustration.
Jalen Brown wasn't like, Yo, dude, we gotta talk man.
I don't know what is going on xyz. It's possible
that there's truth with both of them. I think this.
(22:21):
I think that it goes back to my original thought.
Jalen Brown wants to be the guy. He doesn't want
to be like second fiddle to Jason Tatum, and so
that might be where some of the frustration stems from
I would be I'd be frustrated with numerous things if
I'm Jason Tatum. The main thing I'd be frustrated with
(22:42):
is the head coach, Joe Mizzoula. Why are we jacking
up a million threes a game? It's just a silly
way to approach basketball. I like, I don't know. Jalen
Brown has actually gone on record saying I wish we
would have leaned into that even more, that style of play,
So maybe he isn't from frustrated with that at all.
I don't know. I'm just saying what I would be
(23:03):
frustrated with if I were Jalen Brown. We're gonna shoot
a million threes, and if we're ice cold, we just lose.
If we're shooting under thirty percent, we just lose. It's like,
why don't we have a plan B. Why don't we
I don't know, shoot twos. Maybe we could make them.
It's like, hey, man, we're ice cold. Just imagine the huddle.
(23:24):
They should have it miked up on NBC or ESPN,
whoever's doing the telecast. Hopefully it is not Prime. Gosh,
I hate the NBA and Prime. They do a great
job I just hate finding it. I hate going to
an app on my TV. I hate that. But anyway,
if they haven't miked up, and it's just Joe Mizzoula
and he's all right, guys, guys, we can't buy a three,
all right. We can't make it three to save our lives,
all right. But here's what we do. We're gonna keep
(23:46):
keep shooting them, just keep letting them fly. I know
we're ice cold, we're like twenty eight percent right now,
but just trust me. Let's come on, guys, focus, keep
keep letting them fly. How dumb would that sound? It
would sound completely because it is. It is idiotic. It
makes no sense to play that style of basketball. That's
(24:06):
what sports is all about. Adjustments. I don't care what
sport it is. It's football. It's like, hey, our passing
game is fantastic, but guess what. It's raining sideways today
and it's really not working that well. But you don't
just air it out like it's eighty degrees and not
a cloud in the sky. You adjust. Maybe you run
(24:29):
the ball if you're gonna throw it. Maybe you throw
some short passes. You're not trying to throw post patterns
and fly patterns or right, like, you change it up,
you adjust. It's crazy to me that the Celtics have
no ability to adjust whatsoever. I would be so frustrated
with that if I were Jalen Brown. It doesn't sound
(24:50):
like he is. So that's the crazy thing to me,
the one thing in my mind he could clearly be
frustrated with. It doesn't sound like he is. Yes, So
that's the next question is, well, then, what is he
frustrated with Tracy McGrady? What is it exactly? It's just,
you know, oh, he's he's very frustrated with what with
(25:13):
What My guess is he just doesn't want to be Robin,
you know, But I could be wrong. I don't know.
That's my read on it. To me, it's just two
plus two equals four. If you get bounced in the
first round and you blow a three to one series lead,
and afterward the next day you're like, that was my
(25:35):
favorite year in the NBA, and it's like, you've won
a championship, dude, you were finals MVP. How is this
the best season of your career? Your favorite season? And
that's why I was gonna say earlier, earlier in the year,
he had posted some things on social media where he's
comparing the Celtics record last season to the Celtics record
(25:57):
this season. There were a couple of stats and everything
was very similar. The Celtics had way more success this
season than pretty much anybody saw coming. They just thought, hey,
it's a lost year. They lost Jason Tatum most likely
for the entire season with an achilles injury. There's no Porzingis,
there's no Drew Holliday, all these changes, right, like, the
(26:20):
Celtics are clearly taking a major step back. They're not
title contenders. And then lo and behold, they're the two
seed in the East and they were one of the
favorites to come out of the East. And Jalen Brown
was posting things like, yo, check it out. Pretty good
record right, pretty good with scoring, pretty good with this
(26:40):
we match up just like last season. He's like, lost season.
This is a gap season, right, That's what everybody says.
He's like, gap season, My ass, this is a good
season right now, look at it. You don't think we
can function with me? He took it personally. It was
the old Jordan thing, and I took that personally. He
took the whole gap year thing personally, and he responded,
(27:01):
he played great and that has to be the major
reason why he he thought that this season is his
favorite season. He considers it his favorite season has to be.
I don't know how it could be something other than that.
You know, like actions speak louder than words. Okay, and
(27:22):
and Jalen Brown made it clear he was like, Yo,
this was not a diss of Jason Tatum. When I'm
posting our record this season, our stats this season compared
to record and stats last season, this is not a
dig at Jason Tatum. He did come back and say that,
which I believe that's the case. I think that can
(27:43):
absolutely be the case. I don't think it was. You know,
Jason Tatum is holding us back. That's not how I
took it. I took it as, hey, you got a
real player here in me, right like, I can shoulder
the load here. I'm a guy that if we lose Jason,
tainment doesn't mean our season is a catastrophe where we're
(28:05):
gonna win like forty games and not even be a
playoff team, right Like, it doesn't mean that at all.
That's how I took it. That's how I truly believe
that's what it was, but your actions show that you
take pride in that. You take pride in being the
main guy leading the team to exactly where they were
(28:27):
after losing a superstar player. You should take pride in that.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
The NFL quarterback who reminds me of an old MTV show.
Remember the old show Pimped My Ride. Someone would go
into this car place with this dilapidated car and it's
in horrible condition, and then the crew they're like, Oh,
we're gonna do all this great stuff and make your
(28:57):
car look great again. And the guys like, all right, cool, yes,
signed me up. Sounds good, and they really did. They
did an awesome job time and time again. It was
a fun show. But it reminds me of Kyler Murray. Okay,
so the new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Randy Moss, former great
NFL wide receiver, obviously started his career with the Vikings.
(29:20):
He said, I'm excited because Kyler Murray has quote something
to prove, which he absolutely does. Completely agree that Kyler
Murray has a lot to prove, but there's so much
optimism when it comes to Kyler Murray, and I'm like,
I don't get why. It's almost like universal optimism. And
(29:43):
I'm not trying to rain on the parade, but I
think he gotta just pause for a second and consider.
Maybe Kyler Murray isn't exactly he's set to kill it
with the Vikings. Maybe that's the possibility we're looking at here,
because I haven't heard much of that. It's just, Oh,
Kyler Murray with Justin Jefferson in a real offense and
(30:05):
koc we got Kevin O'Connell over there, and oh getting
away from the Arizona Cardinals. And it's like it reminds
me of Pimp My Ride, because all this offseason has
been is like take your pick. It's either pimp my resume,
pimp my potential. It's just like that's what it is
with Kyler Murray. All of a sudden, Kyler Murray became
good in one NFL off season. He hasn't been good
(30:29):
in seven years. He's been good like one off season,
like pimped everything. It's just like that old show. It's
like he took his dilapidated car slash NFL resume and
he just went to the body shop and they're like, oh,
bells and whistles, we'll give you Justin Jefferson. Well, you know,
we'll give you a Kevin O'Connell boom. All of a sudden,
(30:53):
it looks much better now. It's like if you look
at Kyler Murray. So just a couple of things in mind,
Kyler Murray the most touchdown passes he's thrown in a
single season. Take a guess. You got a number in mind? Okay,
you got it, lock it in m you got a number.
I'm gonna go with twenty four. It's pretty good. Guess, Coop,
(31:18):
you want to guess here? How many touchdown passes peak
Kyler Murray in seven years? What's the most?
Speaker 4 (31:22):
He's wrong, actually, like I'm just I'm still stunned at
how like Ann Hathaway, No, no, Lorena's guess being like
an actual like feasible.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yeah, yess that's uh wow, thanks, yeah right. Uh.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
I was gonna say twenty but I think I might
think it adds to actually more than that. But but
go ahead, go ahead, let us know.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
It's twenty six. Okay, prize to Lorraine. Oh I am
so close. Yeah, you're right, there, So like we'll just
go in highest to lowest right for Kyler Murray per
season touchdown throws twenty six, twenty four, twenty one, twenty fourteen,
(32:10):
ten six. Right now, injuries have come into play, which
is also the point, you know, you just discount injuries.
It's been a big part of the formula with Kyler Murray.
All of a sudden, it's like injuries don't are the
possibility with the Vikings, It's like he's got Justin Jefferson,
all is great, He's fine. Now it's like, this dude
(32:30):
is passer rating for his career? Should we do? This
is a guessing game. This this is way more challenging.
Like we would say one hundred is is really good?
You get into triple figures. Now you're talking really really good.
So if you have that as a barometer, right, where
do you think Kyler Murray has been for his career?
(32:52):
You want to take a guess, Loraina. Now I'm Alex Trebek,
I have I'm the answers are right in front of me.
I don't even know what I would guess if you
just threw that question my way, So don't feel bad
either way, But what you guess is Kyler Murray's career
passer rating. That might be my sports green, but I
told you one hundred is like really really good. So
(33:13):
if Kyler Murray isn't killing it with you, let's go.
Let's go fifty seven. Okay, Coop, there's no way it's
that bad. It's not that bad. I'm gonna go eighty. Okay,
Coop wins this one. Lorena, I'm sorry. But ninety two
point two, Okay, that's been his career passer rating. Now,
(33:36):
this is what I get, a lot better than I
thought I would. That's too bad, that's way higher. Yeah,
I guess. But it's all how you look at it.
So if you look at the NFL, now, this is
what I like to do, so what he's given you
for seven years. If you just look at quarterback ratings
last season passer rating we're not talking QBR, the ESPN
stat passer rating. Okay, c J. Stroud last season, right,
(33:59):
didn't kill it, wasn't crushing it. Last season.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
C J.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Stroud was at ninety two point nine. That's higher, and
Kyler Murray's at ninety two point two for his career.
You know who's just lower just last season only is
Daisy Fresh Giants rookie Jackson Dart. He was at ninety
one point seven. So Kyler Murray is in between last
(34:24):
season C J. Stroud and Jackson Dart. That's what he's
given you for seven years. That's the type of production
he's given you for seven years. That is not good
enough for a former number one overall draft pick. And
I'm supposed to believe just because he's in purple, all
is great now he got something to prove, and he's
(34:47):
got one of the best receivers in the game. And
what he's just gonna unleash. Hell, I don't buy it.
I don't buy it. I'm not rooting against him. I
think that he's got a lot of talent. He's got potent.
It just hasn't been realized and like everything has just
been wiped away. Remember how we were clowning Kyler Murray
(35:10):
when he signed his contract in the Arizona Cardinals put
a stipulation in this contract because he's on the sticks,
he's playing video games. They're like, yeah, we need you
to study, and I don't know, like be an adult,
can you do that? Like they put a stipulation in
his contract. I'm paraphrasing, but that's what it boiled down to.
(35:32):
It's like all of that doesn't even exist anymore. He's
with the Vikings. All is great. I just I don't.
I gotta see it to believe it. Like, we got
multiple hurdles to jump over for Kyler Murray to realize
his potential. One, he's got to stay healthy. That's a
(35:53):
big hurdle for him to jump over. Two, he's got
to be very productive. With the supporting cast that he
has and the head coach that he has, he should
be very productive, like to make good on this deal
and the way he's being talked about. Man, Like any
(36:13):
pay attention, just going forward, whether you're listening to me,
you're listening to whatever show on Fox Sports Radio, you're
listening to anything anywhere. It's TV, it's whatever, it's first take,
it's you know, first things first, and whatever show your listening.
Just pay attention whenever they talk about Kyler Murray, and
(36:35):
I'll tell you ninety five to ninety nine percent of
the time, it's gonna be something positive. It's like, oh,
he's got a lot of talent to work with. Now,
he got a lot of potential. Man, this guy's one
of the most talented quarterbacks. I know, I know. Put
the resume on this side, one of the most talented
quarterback bad but bad but bad. But this guy has
maxed out at twenty six touchdown passes in a single season.
(36:57):
Twenty six. That's nothing to write home about. You can't
have a passer rating for seven years that would slot
in between the production last season of c. J. Stroud
and Jackson Dart. That's just not good enough. It isn't.
And let's not act like he's had nothing to work with.
I know he's with the Arizona Cardinals, but Trey McBride
(37:19):
is one of the best tight ends in football, right like.
It's not like he's had nothing and the cupboard is
completely and utterly bare, nothing to work with. That's not
the case now. Obviously the Vikings offensively much better situation,
much more talent. So we'll see, we'll see if he
can make good and all of a sudden the production
(37:41):
goes north and he makes you know, he makes great
strides going forward. But I gotta see it to believe it.
And I'll tell you what, man, I haven't seen this before.
I have not seen one off season completely revamp. How
we think of a quarterback, we're just clowning him for
not being dedicated enough, and you know, playing video games
(38:04):
when he's when he's in Arizona, and that's all been forgotten.
It's all been wiped away, just totally washed away. Oh
this guy, I'm expecting big things. Kyler Murray. You watch Kyler.
He's got something to prove. Kyler Murray. He's gonna be
he gonna be really really good. Where does he rank
in the hierarchy of NFC North quarterback So well, he's
one of the top ones. It's like, what what are
(38:25):
we are we talking about right now? He's dead last,
is what he is. He's dead last. I hope you
realize that he's not better than Jared Goff. He's not
better than Jordan Love, He's not better than Caleb Williams.
He is dead last in his division. Let's not make
stuff up now. Listen, If he all of a sudden
(38:47):
is healthy, productive winning games like this is all subject
to change, But as of right now, he is dead last.
Make no mistake about it.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Maler
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 Benmatherlers 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 3 (00:32):
Start with oops tonight, couple of NBA playoff games, and
some interesting things to take away from what happened on
Wednesday night. That would be first off, the Knicks beating
the Sixers. So the Knicks take a two zero series lead,
and the Sixers just absolutely fell apart in the fourth quarter.
It was disgusting. Can I whine Malard militia right from
(00:54):
the get go? I need to get something off my
chest because normally I wait until a little bit into
the show to whine about bets that should have cashed
but did not cash. Let's just check that box while
we're at it here, you know, let's just get a
bunch of stuff here, go in here off the jump here.
(01:16):
So I had a team total, I had the Sixers
reaching at least one hundred and four points tonight, I
should say Wednesday night. Right, if you're on the East Coast,
you're like, wait a minute, what night? Wednesday Night? Game two?
I had the Sixers getting to at least one oh four,
had to go over one oh three and a half.
(01:38):
They had ninety points heading into the fourth quarter. So
you're doing the math. You're like, they're averaging thirty points
per quarter. They just need fourteen points in the fourth quarter.
They should be able to do that, right.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Wrong.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
They only scored twelve points in the entire fourth quarter
and the Sixers just fell apart man turnovers, couldn't hit
a three tired legs. So the big news and not
to bury the lead, is no joe El Embiid. They
didn't have Embiid for Game two, so what they did
(02:15):
was really smart. In the early going, they're just playing
up tempo basketball, fast, quick, look for a shot. They
look like the old Phoenix Suns seven seconds or less, right, like,
just let's move it, let's play with some pace, Let's
get some buckets in transition. Let's if you're open, just
shoot it. Man, let's go, let's run up temple move,
move move. That was great for the first three quarters,
(02:36):
and they just hit a wall. They hit a wall.
They were exhausted, They're making tired mistakes. All their shots
are short. You know, they just can't buy a three.
They were doing their Celtics in pressure. Actually I played
the Celtics. Now they think about it. I think the
Celtics stupid ways rubbed off on the Sixers. The Sixers
(02:56):
just beat the Celtics in the first round, and I
think the the idiocy of the Celtics just jacking up
three after three, after three after three, it rubbed off
on the Sixers and they're like, you know what, we're
not hitting our threes in the fourth quarter, Let's just
shoot more of them. Let's just shoot more. And they
couldn't make any of them, and it just they crashed
(03:18):
and burned down the stretch. Only twelve points in the
fourth quarter. So yeah, that bet crashed and burned. Good news.
Not to make this all about me, but it was
a winning night. I hit with VJ. Edgecombe going over
his point total. I hit with Karl Anthony Towns for
can I talk to the degenerate gamblers just for a
second here, my fellow degenerates this Carl Anthony Towns assist
(03:42):
prop is the gift that keeps on giving. This guy
thinks he's Magic Johnson. Now like he's he's doing a
great job running point forward where it's really a smart
tweak that the Nicks have made where they run the
offense through. They'll give the ball to cat along the
(04:03):
perimeter right he's beyond the three point line, and he'll
just like a Harlem globetrotter, palm the ball and like
hold it as far out as he can so the
defender has no chance of getting the ball, and he'll
just hold it there. He'll wait for three to five seconds.
He'll just wait for a cutter. He'll wait for someone
to go back door or wait for someone to get open,
(04:25):
and he's like, oh, there's a guy, and he'll throw
it right to him. It's as Cis City left. He
had seven. His prop was four and a half in
game two. It's been three and a half for all
the other games. You know, in the first round there
they're hardly adjusting this. It was plus money on the
over four and a half. Just ride that train until
(04:48):
something weird happens. He was in foul trouble on Wednesday
night too. He barely played any of the second quarter.
The stupid files that Karl Anthony Towns picks up, it's astounding,
man him. And you know again, I'm on his assist
over and I look up and it's like, that's Carl Anthony,
Karl Anthony Town's third file. I'm like, cat you, what
are you doing? Buddy? So he's gonna have to sit
(05:11):
down for the rest of the second quarter. It just started,
so uh, it's like what And he's still got there
with these, So just just hop all over that.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Man.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
It's probably gonna be four and a half again, the
juice is gonna be a little bit different. It's not
gonna be higher than four and a half. Just take
the over. It's the gift that keeps on giving. And
it's a smart strategy by the Knicks because it really
cuts down on the wear and tear in the physical
load for Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brunton is magnificent. He's a
(05:42):
walking bucket. But the amount of energy that guy expends
on a nightly basis is absurd. The way the offense
used to be a lot of it for the Knicks
was just give brunts in the ball and let him
dribble around for twenty seconds like a maniac trying to
create a shot for himself or find somebody else. And
(06:03):
he's just dribbling it into the floor to death. And
it's like go left, go right, spin move all right, Nope,
that's not an open shot. Let's pivot left, let's go right,
let's euro Steblin. It's just energy being expended left and right.
And so when they give it to Kat and he
just stands there and waits for someone to get open.
(06:24):
Sometimes it's Brunson. It makes life so much easier for
Jalen Brunson, and he's fresher at the end of these games.
So it's really worked out very, very well for the Knicks.
And that's the thing with these Knicks, man, They've been
on a winning streak in the playoffs here, So we're
going back. What this is five in a row for
the Knicks won the last three of the Hawks series.
(06:45):
They were down two one, won three in a row
to win that series. They won the first two of
the series against the Sixers, and they they had a
streak that was broken. So the Knicks heading into Game
two on Wednesday night. Right their previous three games, they
became the first team in NBA playoff history to win
three straight games by at least twenty five points. So
(07:08):
they crushed the Hawks the last two games of that series,
and then they crushed the Sixers in Game one, won
by what thirty nine points? It's insane. So they had
a measly six point win on Wednesday night, but they
take a two zero series lead. They're doing fine. Life
is good for the Knicks right now, and we'll see
what Embiid's status is. But now we don't know if
(07:30):
Embiid's gonna be able to go the next game, the
next four games. At least, the Sixers are hoping they're
at least four more games, right They're hoping that Embiid
is healthy and ready to go. But we have no idea.
He missed Wednesday night with ankle and hip injuries. And
this is an insane stat This stat doesn't even seem real.
(07:54):
Joelle Embiid hasn't played six games in a row since
twenty twenty three. That is insanity right there. That is
a guy who is a walking medicine cabinet who's been
dealing with a lot of injuries for a long time
and also lude management right, trying to manage the wear
(08:14):
and tear on Embiid, which does make some sense, but
we're not talking about you know, twenty five straight game.
We're talking six games. Embiid hasn't played six games in
a row since twenty twenty three. That is that's insanity
right there, and it does it does make you think
(08:35):
of a guy like Lebron. You know, we'll get to
the Lake Show and how they're Oh man, this is
looking as bleak as bleak gets here in this series
against OKC. But you do have to take your hat
off to Lebron. You look at some of these injury
issues with some of these guys in the playoffs. Embiid,
it's a great, you know example of this where again
(08:56):
hasn't played six games in a row since twenty three.
Lebron hasn't missed one playoff game in his entire NBA career.
That's remarkable, and that guy's played so many playoff games,
it's like the equivalent of three and a half NBA seasons.
He's played a ton of playoff games, hasn't missed one.
(09:19):
I heard that stat today and the first thing I
thought of I am a Bulls fan. I say it
a little bit quieter these days. I'm like, I'm a
Bulls fan. Yeah, still still still hanging with him. I'm
not jumping ship, but I don't say it with the
same pizaz. You know. It's kind of like, yeah, I'm
a Dolphins fan. I am. They've got Malie Willis, but
(09:39):
that's gonna be a long rebuild, very long. Your voice
just goes down. I'm almost Verry White now with my
favorite teams. But I have a Bulls fan. I remember
when Lebron was playing a playoff series against the Bulls
and I don't know whose foot he stepped on, but
he stepped on a Bulls player's foot. And I'm not
kidding that's a grocery or anything. He steps on this
(10:01):
guy's foot. And then Lebron's ankle fully rolled. You know,
I'm taking my right foot as if I'm stepping on
a foot, and then I'm just rolling it all the way.
His ankle touched the floor. I promise you it did.
And I'm watching this live in a sports bar and
I'm like, oh, he's done. There's no way. Next thing.
(10:24):
I know, Lebron's just like let me just tighten my
shoe a little bit tighter here, and he was back
in the game. I can't remember for sure, but it
might have been the same game he had a game winner.
It very well might have been. But he didn't miss
a game. I can't believe he didn't miss a game.
He's got bionic ankles, I'm convinced. But for Lebron to
not miss a game, just look at what we've seen
(10:45):
in these playoffs right where I know Tatum was coming
back from the calf or from the Achilles injury, and
then in Game six against the Sixers, he had calf
tightness that he was dealing with, and so you're like,
oh gosh, what's the status for Game seven? Gonna be
calf tightness, calf soreness. Not good. It's the gateway drug
(11:07):
to another Achilles injury. We don't want that if we're
the Celtics over here. And so he didn't play Game seven,
and the Celtics said it was a knee issue. It's like, wait, what,
So it's what are we doing here. Kevin Durant played
one game in Houston series against the Lakers. It was
(11:28):
a six game series. He played one. I'll tell you this, man.
I try not to call out dudes because I don't
know the severity of a lot of these injuries. Okay,
but I do know this. If Lebron James had the
exact same injuries plural as Kevin Durant KD was dealing
(11:51):
with an ankle and a knee. If Lebron had the
same issues, there is no way that dude is only
playing one game in a six game series. There is
no chance that's the case. And so I listen with
Embiid KD Tatum with the knee. Listen. I just know
(12:13):
that not all things are equal, you know, like Lebron's
body is not the same as Embiid's body. You know,
like the the stress on say a hip or an
ankle for Embiid is different than the stress on a
hip or an ankle for Lebron. Right, it's not apples
to apples. So it's dangerous to play this game all
(12:36):
across the board. But listen, if you don't get caught
up in the you know, the minutia and the very
small differences. A lot of this comes down to will.
A lot of this comes down to how bad do
you want it? Can you play through pain? Are you available.
Lebron's always been available, and there are guys like Embiid
(12:58):
that just haven't been some that is not Embid's fault.
I want to make that perfectly clear. I don't want
to make it sound like he's only had injuries that
he could gut through, but he doesn't gut through. That's
not been the case. He's had legitimate injuries where it's like, well,
anybody would be on the shelf with this injury. But
he's had a couple injuries where you're like, there's no chance,
(13:24):
no how you can play. Anthony Edwards was playing again
on Wednesday night. Anthony Edwards in the first round, he
went up. I think he went up for a layup
and he came down and his knee hyper extended in
a way where you're like, oh gosh, how long is
he gonna be out? That looked funky and weird and
(13:45):
all sorts of bad. He mist like two games. He's
played both games in this second round against the Spurs. Now,
the bad news for the timber Wolves is they got
punched in the mouth royally on Wednesday night. It was ugly.
These Spurs destroyed them one thirty three to ninety five.
That's right, thirty eight point win by the Spurs, so
(14:07):
that series is tied one game apiece. But Anthony Edwards
is out there. He's gotten through it. He was very
effective and in game one coming off the bench. The
game just got completely out of hand on Wednesday night
in game two, but ant is out there, He's right
out there. So I don't know, man, I can't be
the only one who I think the best way to
(14:31):
put it is Lebron wouldn't be missing all of this
time with the exact same injuries that some of these
other guys are missing time for. That's just the truth
of it, and I think that's a better way to
put it than if you're just like, come on, Tatum,
get out there. It's again, I don't know the severity
(14:52):
of that injury. The Celtics said it was a knee.
He had calf tightness and soreness, calf tightness and soreness
in games, and then somehow it turned into a knee
issue in game seven. I don't know what's going on
there exactly, but you know, the KD thinks probably the
best example, there's no way Lebron is like KD played
(15:13):
one game that's the crazy thing here. He played Game two.
He wasn't good, got off to a great start in
the first half, nine turnovers in the game, was not
brilliant by any stretch, but he played the game, and
then he didn't play another one. Can you like really
close your eyes and think of a scenario where Lebron
(15:34):
he's dealing with, let's say it's ankle and knee issues,
just like KD was dealing with, and Lebron is able
to play Game two and be pretty effective. He looks
really good in this set in the first half. He
turns the ball over a little sloppy, but you know
there's some rust he's got to work off. So he
plays Game two and then that's it. He doesn't play
(15:57):
games three, four, five, or six. That would never happen,
says would never happen.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Mellor
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Speaker 3 (16:15):
Steve Gott's here.
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I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow, and
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My wife wanted to kick me out of the house.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
It's called ste Gotson Company Live, which is available in
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Some of the biggest names in sports. A lot of
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A lot of interact sit guys not taking themselves too seriously.
Those are just some of the things that you could
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listen to Steve Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
Please subscribe, rate and reviews and company and God Bless football.
(17:02):
Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it Today and you
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Speaker 3 (17:16):
So Jalen Brown, star player for the Celtics, he raised
some eyebrows. So the Celtics, they had a commanding three
to one lead against the Sixers in the first round
of the NBA playoffs, and well they kicked it away.
They lost three straight games, lost the series again a
first round series, and Jalen Brown immediately afterwards, like the
(17:40):
next day, he does this twitch thing. He gets on
there with his buddies talking about a range of things,
says that embeat is a flopper, flopping is ruining. The
NBA had a couple other hot takes, and then this
one really caught a lot of attention. He was talking
about this Celtics scene and he had this to say, I'm.
Speaker 6 (18:01):
So proud and it was my favorite year of my
basketball career.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Okay, so favorite year of his basketball career is what
happened this past season with the Celtics. So if we
start doing the math on this thing, it's like, all right,
this isn't that hard to figure out. What he's really
saying is it was great being the main guy. And
(18:29):
I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily. He wants
to be the man. He doesn't want to be the
co pilot. He doesn't want to be Robin. He wants
to be Batman. He wants to be the guy. And
he showed throughout the time without Jason Tatum during the
regular season he's more than capable of carrying that burden.
(18:53):
He was fantastic. He had a great season. He was
a legitimate MVP candidate, and if you look during the season,
he had a couple of posts that were interesting now
looking back, but so obvious with him saying this latest
thing that he enjoyed being the main guy. He loved
being the number one option. He didn't want to play
(19:13):
second fiddle. He didn't want to watch Jason Tatum to
dribble around for twenty seconds and jack up a shot, right, Like,
he liked being the guy. And so that's what he's
really saying. You could really get off track with this,
like whoa dude, what a loser mentality? He got bounced
in the first round and this is his favorite season.
(19:33):
He won a title, he was finals MVP. Are you
kidding me? It's not about that. It's just he wants
to be the main guy. He doesn't want to play
like the one B role or the two A role.
He wants to be one A. He wants to be
the man. That's I don't have a problem with that.
But that's what he's really saying. But it goes a
(19:55):
little bit deeper than that. So this is Tracy McGrady.
Tracy mcgrady's an analyst with NBC. He does this Cousin's
podcast with Vince Carter, And this is what Tracy McGrady
had to say. About Jalen Brown and his frustration with
the Celtics organization.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
Here you go, his frustration lies deeply within the organization
and other things that of course, of course we don't
really have the tails too. There's just been a lot
of stuff, you know that I've been hearing just going
on with the Boston organization with JB.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
You know.
Speaker 6 (20:33):
So, I think part of him is like I showed
you guys more of who I am as a basketball player,
not only just you know, what I did on the
basketball court, but the leadership that I displayed within you know,
this team, and you've seen that not having our you know,
best player in JT. You've seen the different side of
(20:56):
me and what I I'm able to bring to the
game of basketball. So all that stuff, you know, I
think just came in to play with him and his frustration.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
M Okay, So Tracy McGrady says he's pretty frustrated with
the organization. Now the Celtics preys over here. Brad Stevens,
he He's like, I don't know what he's dying about.
Here's what Brad Stevens has to say about this perceived
frustration from Jalen Brown. Check this out.
Speaker 7 (21:27):
I talked to Jalen Monday a little bit after. He
just real quickly and was nothing but positive. He has
not expressed those frustrations to me.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Okay, so depends on who you believe. Could it be
that there's a little bit of truth with both of
those guys, Yeah, could be. Is it possible that Tracy
McGrady knows Jalen Brown pretty well and he's been able
to gather that he's not feeling the organization for this
reason or the next reason or yeah, or he's just
ticked off with this or that. Yeah, that's true. That
(22:00):
could be possible. Is it possible that Brad Stevens did
bump into Jalen Brown and they talked for a little
bit and Brad Stevens didn't pick up on any frustration.
Jalen Brown wasn't like, Yo, dude, we gotta talk man.
I don't know what is going on xyz. It's possible
that there's truth with both of them. I think this.
(22:21):
I think that it goes back to my original thought.
Jalen Brown wants to be the guy. He doesn't want
to be like second fiddle to Jason Tatum, and so
that might be where some of the frustration stems from
I would be I'd be frustrated with numerous things if
I'm Jason Tatum. The main thing I'd be frustrated with
(22:42):
is the head coach, Joe Mizzoula. Why are we jacking
up a million threes a game? It's just a silly
way to approach basketball. I like, I don't know. Jalen
Brown has actually gone on record saying I wish we
would have leaned into that even more, that style of play,
So maybe he isn't from frustrated with that at all.
I don't know. I'm just saying what I would be
(23:03):
frustrated with if I were Jalen Brown. We're gonna shoot
a million threes, and if we're ice cold, we just lose.
If we're shooting under thirty percent, we just lose. It's like,
why don't we have a plan B. Why don't we
I don't know, shoot twos. Maybe we could make them.
It's like, hey, man, we're ice cold. Just imagine the huddle.
(23:24):
They should have it miked up on NBC or ESPN,
whoever's doing the telecast. Hopefully it is not Prime. Gosh,
I hate the NBA and Prime. They do a great
job I just hate finding it. I hate going to
an app on my TV. I hate that. But anyway,
if they haven't miked up, and it's just Joe Mizzoula
and he's all right, guys, guys, we can't buy a three,
all right. We can't make it three to save our lives,
all right. But here's what we do. We're gonna keep
(23:46):
keep shooting them, just keep letting them fly. I know
we're ice cold, we're like twenty eight percent right now,
but just trust me. Let's come on, guys, focus, keep
keep letting them fly. How dumb would that sound? It
would sound completely because it is. It is idiotic. It
makes no sense to play that style of basketball. That's
(24:06):
what sports is all about. Adjustments. I don't care what
sport it is. It's football. It's like, hey, our passing
game is fantastic, but guess what. It's raining sideways today
and it's really not working that well. But you don't
just air it out like it's eighty degrees and not
a cloud in the sky. You adjust. Maybe you run
(24:29):
the ball if you're gonna throw it. Maybe you throw
some short passes. You're not trying to throw post patterns
and fly patterns or right, like, you change it up,
you adjust. It's crazy to me that the Celtics have
no ability to adjust whatsoever. I would be so frustrated
with that if I were Jalen Brown. It doesn't sound
(24:50):
like he is. So that's the crazy thing to me,
the one thing in my mind he could clearly be
frustrated with. It doesn't sound like he is. Yes, So
that's the next question is, well, then, what is he
frustrated with Tracy McGrady? What is it exactly? It's just,
you know, oh, he's he's very frustrated with what with
(25:13):
What My guess is he just doesn't want to be Robin,
you know, But I could be wrong. I don't know.
That's my read on it. To me, it's just two
plus two equals four. If you get bounced in the
first round and you blow a three to one series lead,
and afterward the next day you're like, that was my
(25:35):
favorite year in the NBA, and it's like, you've won
a championship, dude, you were finals MVP. How is this
the best season of your career? Your favorite season? And
that's why I was gonna say earlier, earlier in the year,
he had posted some things on social media where he's
comparing the Celtics record last season to the Celtics record
(25:57):
this season. There were a couple of stats and everything
was very similar. The Celtics had way more success this
season than pretty much anybody saw coming. They just thought, hey,
it's a lost year. They lost Jason Tatum most likely
for the entire season with an achilles injury. There's no Porzingis,
there's no Drew Holliday, all these changes, right, like, the
(26:20):
Celtics are clearly taking a major step back. They're not
title contenders. And then lo and behold, they're the two
seed in the East and they were one of the
favorites to come out of the East. And Jalen Brown
was posting things like, yo, check it out. Pretty good
record right, pretty good with scoring, pretty good with this
(26:40):
we match up just like last season. He's like, lost season.
This is a gap season, right, That's what everybody says.
He's like, gap season, My ass, this is a good
season right now, look at it. You don't think we
can function with me? He took it personally. It was
the old Jordan thing, and I took that personally. He
took the whole gap year thing personally, and he responded,
(27:01):
he played great and that has to be the major
reason why he he thought that this season is his
favorite season. He considers it his favorite season has to be.
I don't know how it could be something other than that.
You know, like actions speak louder than words. Okay, and
(27:22):
and Jalen Brown made it clear he was like, Yo,
this was not a diss of Jason Tatum. When I'm
posting our record this season, our stats this season compared
to record and stats last season, this is not a
dig at Jason Tatum. He did come back and say that,
which I believe that's the case. I think that can
(27:43):
absolutely be the case. I don't think it was. You know,
Jason Tatum is holding us back. That's not how I
took it. I took it as, hey, you got a
real player here in me, right like, I can shoulder
the load here. I'm a guy that if we lose Jason,
tainment doesn't mean our season is a catastrophe where we're
(28:05):
gonna win like forty games and not even be a
playoff team, right Like, it doesn't mean that at all.
That's how I took it. That's how I truly believe
that's what it was, but your actions show that you
take pride in that. You take pride in being the
main guy leading the team to exactly where they were
(28:27):
after losing a superstar player. You should take pride in that.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
The NFL quarterback who reminds me of an old MTV show.
Remember the old show Pimped My Ride. Someone would go
into this car place with this dilapidated car and it's
in horrible condition, and then the crew they're like, Oh,
we're gonna do all this great stuff and make your
(28:57):
car look great again. And the guys like, all right, cool, yes,
signed me up. Sounds good, and they really did. They
did an awesome job time and time again. It was
a fun show. But it reminds me of Kyler Murray. Okay,
so the new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Randy Moss, former great
NFL wide receiver, obviously started his career with the Vikings.
(29:20):
He said, I'm excited because Kyler Murray has quote something
to prove, which he absolutely does. Completely agree that Kyler
Murray has a lot to prove, but there's so much
optimism when it comes to Kyler Murray, and I'm like,
I don't get why. It's almost like universal optimism. And
(29:43):
I'm not trying to rain on the parade, but I
think he gotta just pause for a second and consider.
Maybe Kyler Murray isn't exactly he's set to kill it
with the Vikings. Maybe that's the possibility we're looking at here,
because I haven't heard much of that. It's just, Oh,
Kyler Murray with Justin Jefferson in a real offense and
(30:05):
koc we got Kevin O'Connell over there, and oh getting
away from the Arizona Cardinals. And it's like it reminds
me of Pimp My Ride, because all this offseason has
been is like take your pick. It's either pimp my resume,
pimp my potential. It's just like that's what it is
with Kyler Murray. All of a sudden, Kyler Murray became
good in one NFL off season. He hasn't been good
(30:29):
in seven years. He's been good like one off season,
like pimped everything. It's just like that old show. It's
like he took his dilapidated car slash NFL resume and
he just went to the body shop and they're like, oh,
bells and whistles, we'll give you Justin Jefferson. Well, you know,
we'll give you a Kevin O'Connell boom. All of a sudden,
(30:53):
it looks much better now. It's like if you look
at Kyler Murray. So just a couple of things in mind,
Kyler Murray the most touchdown passes he's thrown in a
single season. Take a guess. You got a number in mind? Okay,
you got it, lock it in m you got a number.
I'm gonna go with twenty four. It's pretty good. Guess, Coop,
(31:18):
you want to guess here? How many touchdown passes peak
Kyler Murray in seven years? What's the most?
Speaker 4 (31:22):
He's wrong, actually, like I'm just I'm still stunned at
how like Ann Hathaway, No, no, Lorena's guess being like
an actual like feasible.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yeah, yess that's uh wow, thanks, yeah right. Uh.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
I was gonna say twenty but I think I might
think it adds to actually more than that. But but
go ahead, go ahead, let us know.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
It's twenty six. Okay, prize to Lorraine. Oh I am
so close. Yeah, you're right, there, So like we'll just
go in highest to lowest right for Kyler Murray per
season touchdown throws twenty six, twenty four, twenty one, twenty fourteen,
(32:10):
ten six. Right now, injuries have come into play, which
is also the point, you know, you just discount injuries.
It's been a big part of the formula with Kyler Murray.
All of a sudden, it's like injuries don't are the
possibility with the Vikings, It's like he's got Justin Jefferson,
all is great, He's fine. Now it's like, this dude
(32:30):
is passer rating for his career? Should we do? This
is a guessing game. This this is way more challenging.
Like we would say one hundred is is really good?
You get into triple figures. Now you're talking really really good.
So if you have that as a barometer, right, where
do you think Kyler Murray has been for his career?
(32:52):
You want to take a guess, Loraina. Now I'm Alex Trebek,
I have I'm the answers are right in front of me.
I don't even know what I would guess if you
just threw that question my way, So don't feel bad
either way, But what you guess is Kyler Murray's career
passer rating. That might be my sports green, but I
told you one hundred is like really really good. So
(33:13):
if Kyler Murray isn't killing it with you, let's go.
Let's go fifty seven. Okay, Coop, there's no way it's
that bad. It's not that bad. I'm gonna go eighty. Okay,
Coop wins this one. Lorena, I'm sorry. But ninety two
point two, Okay, that's been his career passer rating. Now,
(33:36):
this is what I get, a lot better than I
thought I would. That's too bad, that's way higher. Yeah,
I guess. But it's all how you look at it.
So if you look at the NFL, now, this is
what I like to do, so what he's given you
for seven years. If you just look at quarterback ratings
last season passer rating we're not talking QBR, the ESPN
stat passer rating. Okay, c J. Stroud last season, right,
(33:59):
didn't kill it, wasn't crushing it. Last season.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
C J.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Stroud was at ninety two point nine. That's higher, and
Kyler Murray's at ninety two point two for his career.
You know who's just lower just last season only is
Daisy Fresh Giants rookie Jackson Dart. He was at ninety
one point seven. So Kyler Murray is in between last
(34:24):
season C J. Stroud and Jackson Dart. That's what he's
given you for seven years. That's the type of production
he's given you for seven years. That is not good
enough for a former number one overall draft pick. And
I'm supposed to believe just because he's in purple, all
is great now he got something to prove, and he's
(34:47):
got one of the best receivers in the game. And
what he's just gonna unleash. Hell, I don't buy it.
I don't buy it. I'm not rooting against him. I
think that he's got a lot of talent. He's got potent.
It just hasn't been realized and like everything has just
been wiped away. Remember how we were clowning Kyler Murray
(35:10):
when he signed his contract in the Arizona Cardinals put
a stipulation in this contract because he's on the sticks,
he's playing video games. They're like, yeah, we need you
to study, and I don't know, like be an adult,
can you do that? Like they put a stipulation in
his contract. I'm paraphrasing, but that's what it boiled down to.
(35:32):
It's like all of that doesn't even exist anymore. He's
with the Vikings. All is great. I just I don't.
I gotta see it to believe it. Like, we got
multiple hurdles to jump over for Kyler Murray to realize
his potential. One, he's got to stay healthy. That's a
(35:53):
big hurdle for him to jump over. Two, he's got
to be very productive. With the supporting cast that he
has and the head coach that he has, he should
be very productive, like to make good on this deal
and the way he's being talked about. Man, Like any
(36:13):
pay attention, just going forward, whether you're listening to me,
you're listening to whatever show on Fox Sports Radio, you're
listening to anything anywhere. It's TV, it's whatever, it's first take,
it's you know, first things first, and whatever show your listening.
Just pay attention whenever they talk about Kyler Murray, and
(36:35):
I'll tell you ninety five to ninety nine percent of
the time, it's gonna be something positive. It's like, oh,
he's got a lot of talent to work with. Now,
he got a lot of potential. Man, this guy's one
of the most talented quarterbacks. I know, I know. Put
the resume on this side, one of the most talented
quarterback bad but bad but bad. But this guy has
maxed out at twenty six touchdown passes in a single season.
(36:57):
Twenty six. That's nothing to write home about. You can't
have a passer rating for seven years that would slot
in between the production last season of c. J. Stroud
and Jackson Dart. That's just not good enough. It isn't.
And let's not act like he's had nothing to work with.
I know he's with the Arizona Cardinals, but Trey McBride
(37:19):
is one of the best tight ends in football, right like.
It's not like he's had nothing and the cupboard is
completely and utterly bare, nothing to work with. That's not
the case now. Obviously the Vikings offensively much better situation,
much more talent. So we'll see, we'll see if he
can make good and all of a sudden the production
(37:41):
goes north and he makes you know, he makes great
strides going forward. But I gotta see it to believe it.
And I'll tell you what, man, I haven't seen this before.
I have not seen one off season completely revamp. How
we think of a quarterback, we're just clowning him for
not being dedicated enough, and you know, playing video games
(38:04):
when he's when he's in Arizona, and that's all been forgotten.
It's all been wiped away, just totally washed away. Oh
this guy, I'm expecting big things. Kyler Murray. You watch Kyler.
He's got something to prove. Kyler Murray. He's gonna be
he gonna be really really good. Where does he rank
in the hierarchy of NFC North quarterback So well, he's
one of the top ones. It's like, what what are
(38:25):
we are we talking about right now? He's dead last,
is what he is. He's dead last. I hope you
realize that he's not better than Jared Goff. He's not
better than Jordan Love, He's not better than Caleb Williams.
He is dead last in his division. Let's not make
stuff up now. Listen, If he all of a sudden
(38:47):
is healthy, productive winning games like this is all subject
to change, But as of right now, he is dead last.
Make no mistake about it.
Host
Ben Maller
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