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November 8, 2017 46 mins

Doug tells you why the NBA regular season is entertaining, even if you might know how it all ends. He explains why Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones might be getting ready to take down Commissioner Roger Goodell and other NFL owners. Plus, the longest tenured LA Ram, Rodger Saffold joins the show to talk about how they’ve turned things around after last year’s disappointing season.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show on
Fox Sports Radio Boom, What Up America, Doug Gottlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio, Live and Direct from the City of
Angels where. Uh, I don't really understand the NBA's scheduling
this year. We'll get to that in just a second.
We got news from the Minnesota Vikings. Why I believe

(00:21):
we have seen the last of Sam Bradford as an
NFL starting quarterback? Yep, what um? And I'm a Sam
Bradford fan. I've been a Sam Bradford defender. We'll get
to that. We have some college football news as we acted.
Oh humpole that was released last night in ESPN. But

(00:42):
let's start with the association. Jana's drops forty, but the
Calves dropped the bucks um, the Oklahoma City Thunder are
below five, and the New York Knicks one again in
our two games better than the Oklahoma City Thunder. Like oh,
a issue by subtraction. Hey who used to play for
the Nicks and who now plays for the Thunder. But

(01:07):
I don't want to freak out about the NBA. I
just I don't want to freak out about the fact
that the Calves aren't playing nearly as well as you
think they should because right now there without two of
their five starters, that's their starting lineup. That's a lot.
That's a lot. But what what is important is that

(01:32):
we we do realize we know how this barring massive injury,
which is a possibility, is the possibility of the Cleveland
Cavaliers barring injuries to important positions. And like, look, if
you want to trace, what are the Chives playing better.
They don't have Tristan Thompson, they don't have Isaiah Thomas.
Those are two of their five best players. Whether or

(01:55):
not Tristan is a starter off the bench whatever they
need him. He's their most important defensive player outside of Lebron.
But but barring injury to one of the stars, to
the Golden State Warriors, barring injury to one of the
litany of big name players, or god forbid an injury

(02:15):
to Lebron James, who was spectacular last night, this is
this is like watching Apollo thirteen. This is like watching Titanic.
By the way, Cam Newton might want to listen. We
all actually know Titanic. The boat sinks. Cam. Anyway, what's

(02:37):
interesting about Apollo thirteen was not. That is not what happened.
Like we know Apollo thirteen, they got back, okay, we
just didn't know all the things that went wrong or
how they fixed it to get back to Earth. We
knew that the Titanic sunk. I mean again, nine percent

(03:00):
of us no Titanic sunk. But what was interesting was
the other stories this. You have big name actors in
both movies. You have interesting side plots and storylines, many
of which are true, some are embellished because it's Hollywood.

(03:24):
And so even though you knew Titanic sunk, even though
you knew Apollo thirteen, wait, they were okay for two
hours or three hours, you submitted yourself to watching the
movie because everything else was super interesting, Which is really

(03:45):
what's happening with the NBA. Like I would love to
tell you that the Celtics without Gordon Hayward are going
to beat the Calves, but they're not not in the playoffs,
not saving seven games. The Raptors aren't, the Wizards aren't,
the Knicks aren't. Clearly the Bucks aren't. Granted they'll get

(04:07):
Eric bledsoe they might be a little bit better, but
they're they're not beating they're not beating the Cleveland Cavaliers,
at least not this year. And though the Houston Rockets
have gotten different and they'll be formidable when they get
Chris Paul, dude, they're not beating the Warriors. The Warriors
are healthy. I think the thunder are gonna get better.

(04:30):
I think they'll figure out how to play with one another.
I think it will get better defensively, their shots, like
you gonna get better. Russell Westbrook shot poorly last night
and shot a ton. Karlo Anthony shot poorly last night
and shot a ton. And they lost to a bad
team in the Sacramento Kings, but one that got up
for them and one that does. Zach Randolph showed us
some of the Zach Randolph of Old and Buddy Healed

(04:51):
had twenty one points, like these things are interesting, these
side notes, side stories are interesting, whether it's Titanic with
uh with the the love story with Leo, or some
of the interactions between the captain and other people up

(05:11):
in his first mate up on the top deck, like
those things are we know? Again, Cam Newton aside, we
all know Titanic sunk, But what did it look like?
What did it feel like? What did it smell like
I don't know, like did they nail? Is that exactly?
Did the boat actually go like perpendicular to the water man?

(05:34):
I think that's actually what happened, was the was the
violinist where they actually playing as the ship sunk like
I don't know, but that's super interesting to me. Just
like tonight's Celtics Laker game, it's kind of interesting to me.
I mean, the Celtics are gonna win, but how it

(05:56):
goes down, how Alonso plays against Kyrie, how Alonso plays
with this they're getting arrested for shoplifting in China. Um,
I don't know. There's lots of like the the actual
game itself or the eight two games, if you just
you know how it's going to end, okay. It's that's

(06:17):
what's kind of different about the NBA to the NFL.
Like I don't think I have any idea who's gonna
win the NFL? Do you? I really don't, um, But
but the individual games feel the kind of one kind
of runs into the other and they don't feel as
meaningful or as interesting. This year's NBA, we still we

(06:43):
know what the answer is. And this is like if
you're taking a math test. Remember you just have answers
into the back of the book, and the teachers like
show your work, Like, oh, I gotta show my work.
That's where it's really interesting. UM. I do think that
the Calves, how they've played to their level of competition

(07:04):
tells you all you need to know about their level
of motivation. They aren't healthy, they do have new pieces.
It is going to be interesting to see if you
can get star players to buy into being star role players.
I think the Thunder will eventually be better, but let's
not kid ourselves. There is something to the fact that
the Nicks seemed to be having fun moving the ball

(07:24):
and playing around Porzingis and and he's better than he
was last year. And it's early, and he's worn down
both of the past two seasons. But not having mellow
and being a better team is about as believable as
anything you'll ever read. Yep, that makes sense addition by subtraction.
But the Knicks at the end of the day aren't
going to be better than the Thunder, nor are they

(07:45):
gonna be better than the Calves and the Celtics. No
matter how many games to win the regular season, nobody
thinks they're gonna better in the postseason than the Cleveland Cavaliers.
We saw that last year. But the fact that the
Celtics and why do they play the Lakers in on
like a random November Thursday night, Wednesday night? Does that

(08:07):
seem weird to anybody else? Like Lakers Celtics is one
of the historic rivalries in the NBA. And though no
one thought the Lakers were gonna be all that good,
everybody thought they'd be watchable. That's why they're on ESPN tonight.
It feels like this is a game that should be
played on a different night and a different kind of slot,

(08:29):
different time of year. And to those of you who
want to point out that at Cleveland just lost the
Hawks arguably the worst team in the NBA, some of
it is the human reaction to players when we iterate

(08:51):
and reiterate how much the NBA season doesn't matter. There's
gonna be games to which are like, it doesn't matter
a Sunday game in Cleveland when they're worrying about their
fantasy team. We're worrying about our fantasy team. It's it's
like it's like when you go down and you sit,
Remember when you sit in a class and the teacher
would tell you the percentage of your final grade, like, well,

(09:12):
you know, your final grade is based upon your final
um of your grade is based upon all of the
all of the work that you turn in and the
ten and the test pop quiz makes up like five
percent of your grade in total, and there's a pop
quiz every week, and then there's some other stuff that

(09:35):
end up filling it up to and so then you
get a pop quiz and you blow the pop quiz
and the teachers like, yo, you don't even pay, Like
you got one out of ten, right, Like that's five
percent of the grade. It's hard to tell players and
for players to be smart and know that each game
doesn't really matter all that much, and so they play

(09:56):
on a Sunday when everything's covered up by the by
the NFL and don't take it all that seriously for
half the game, and the other team comes in head
hunting because they have a bunch of star players that
they want to show that they're better than it's hard
to take a little seriously. But I do think the
NBA is much more interesting in the regular season because

(10:18):
of the players, because of the storylines. Even if we
know what the end with the with the end of
the story, looks like that Apollo thirteen did not explode
upon impact upon re entry, that the Titanic did end
up at the bottom of the ocean. It was like
the Sully Sellenberger movie. Anybody see it? Like, why would

(10:40):
I see it? I know how he landed the plane.
Like what about the backstory, backstory to all the pastors,
backstory to what it was like, what he actually said.
All we've heard is what we saw on TV. This
is all of the actual details of how it went down,
what that day was like. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Doug gott Leaps Show weekdays at three

(11:00):
pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app. But here's what you need to
know about the vikings. They they put uh Sam Bradford
on the i R. Now, when he put a guy
in the i R, he has to sit for at
least eight games eight games in the season in a
sixteen game season, that means he's done for the year.
And this is freshops Sam Bradford, who just had his

(11:22):
knee cleaned up by Dr. James Andrews. And they found
no structural problems. But they did, had to had to
clean it up. On the exact same day, at the
exact same moment, they activated Teddy Bridgewater, who had his
own catastrophic knee injury and of course has fought back
and rehab back, and now he's the backup quarterback to

(11:45):
Case Keenan, who's playing some great football. And the Vikings
are the favorite to win the NFC North in spite
of the fact that Sam Bradford, who's their starting quarterback,
has only has only played and has only completed one
game as their starter. That that's really remarked Will stuff, Um,
it's weird, what medical Like, there's just I asked this

(12:07):
question of Scott Brooks last week. I asked it of
who joined his sister. Frank Vogel joined us yesterday, right, like,
what is the limit to how many threes you can
take in a game? The NBA average right now is
thirty three's in a game, And he was like, I
don't know, Like, look, Houston took fifty four a couple
of nights ago, so it's obviously fifty four is not

(12:30):
the limit. I bring up limits because as much as
modern science and medical science has has improved, it's remarkable.
I mean, what happened to Teddy Bridgewater. A catastrophic knee injury,
which is his kneecap dislocated and everything was shredded. That's

(12:50):
the type of injury that you go back to the
eighties and maybe even nineties, you never played football ever again.
Mitch cup Check. If you gets shore where Mitch cup Check,
everybody remembers as the now now former general manager of
the l A Lakers, Mitch cup Check once upon time
was a great player in North Carolina. He was an

(13:10):
l A Laker, and he had that type of catastrophic
knee injury and he was never the same. Could barely
play after that because they used to have these huge
zippers on their knee. So what's interesting is that a
catastrophic knee injury, for the most part now is not
a career ender. On the other hand, once you've had

(13:32):
two and I just I feel like that's probably the
last we see of Sam Bradford. And here's the reason why. Now,
could Bradford be a consummate backup? Yes, but how are
you going to make Sam Bradford your starter when he
only really started one game and there wasn't any contact
that led to his his knee hurting, and if if

(13:53):
you heard the cut from Mike Zimmers, like, well, we
thought it was one week, then it was two. Next
thing you know, he's out for the year. Like, you
can't do that to us. Started, you can't do that
if you're a starting quarterback. You can't sign Sam Bradford
go like he's our starter, but he may only play
for a week and then have to take five or
six weeks off. Like, we just can't do it. Can't
depend on that. You have to be dependable. And as

(14:18):
much of the crazy part about it is as much
as science shows us or medical science shows us that
Teddy Bridgewater can come back, it also on the same
day shows its limitations on a guy who's had two
knee injuries. So um. And the other part that's interesting

(14:41):
about it is in this year in which we've seen
or been told this is the year the quarterback in
the NFL draft. I know it's been their knees, but
isn't it at least interesting to anybody else that the
quarterback that we were worried about their stature. I remember

(15:03):
with Sam Bradford was drafted out of Oklahoma, everybody was
worried about his body type. He's so thin. He just
remember he got hurt in college. He's bad sprain of
the A C joint. Same thing with r G three.
He had had uh an a C L tear going
back to college, has had Deshaun Watson who retore his knee.

(15:25):
And of course the Sam Bradford tail is the cautionary
tale for anybody who thinks that Deshaun Watson's just gonna
get surgery, come back and be fine. That didn't happen
with Sam Bradford. He tore his tweet, he tour his
twice and now has like shrapnel in his need that
he had to have cleaned out yesterday. But the thing
that we heard about Bradford, the thing that we heard
about r G three, the thing that we heard frankly
about uh Teddy Bridgewater is their body type. Like just

(15:51):
something about guys that are wiry and lanky and thin
that it doesn't stand up to the punishment of the
national football at the quarterback position. Fox Sports Radio has
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at Fox sports radio dot com and
within the I Heart Radio app. He's the longest tenured
RAM currently on the Rams roster. How long is that tenure?

(16:14):
That's two thousand and ten. Remember there was a time
in which I think it was three years ago. He
actually signed with the Raiders, then they got into like
a weight clause deal. Then he resigned instead back with
the Rams. Remained as a Ram. Rams move, Raiders are
gonna move. I guess everybody he wants to play for
is gonna move. But he's only played for the Rams,
so I kind of think he's a perfect Roger Staffeld

(16:36):
is a perfect guy to have on to discuss the
change in the Rams, which has happened so rapidly in
football seasons, but seems to have been slow in its
progression in terms of when they tore it down to
when they built it up. Roger Staffeld joined us in
the Doug Gottlieb Show. Uh, he's allowed only ten sacks
through eight games the unit. Excuse me, the offensive line

(16:57):
is allowed only ten sacks through Roger viewed lad tense.
Actually wouldn't on the phone with me and you'd be
on out of out of a job. The offensive lines
only allowed ten sacks. That's a huge part of how
you guys have been able to be successful. But I
was watching Sunday's game and I was like, wait, last
year the Giants were the Rams and the Rams were
the Giants last time. Last year, you guys are a
mess and the Giants were a playoff team. How has

(17:18):
this changed so quickly? I just think it's a new mentality. Uh,
you know, everybody has become completely accountable for one another,
and you could just see it working on and off
the field. I think that we're winning games based on
the work we're doing for the week. When when they
hired McVeigh, how long did it in all honesty, how

(17:39):
long did it take you to where you're like, all right,
this dude gets it, because I mean he's not much
older than you, right, and he comes in and he's
got a ton of energy. I know, and he's like,
oh we do this, we do that. But coaches talk,
everybody talks. It sounds like a good game plan. How
long did it take you, personally, a really smart guy
who's playing this like a long time to think this
is going to work. Honestly, it was the first time

(18:01):
that I talked to him. Um, you know, I was
out of town when everybody first got to meet him.
So as soon as I got back in the town.
I got the chance to talk to him, uh, and
I just love the way that he communicates with his
players and now everybody's on the same page, and how
hoping he is. The new ideas and new ways to
kind of you know, produce on the offense and pretty
much is just create a team that is uh you know,

(18:22):
sound completely in offensive the defense and special teams. Um.
So from the first time I talked to him, I
got excited. After seeing our dish are new addishes, we
got even more excited. Uh, you know before they picked
up you know, Whitworth, they called and let me know.
So I just feel like that's just huge on their
part with the communication and it just I just knew

(18:43):
this was going to be a complete football team. Yeah,
that's that's It's honest. It's interesting to me, um that
they called you because like, look to me, that sounds
like really good management, right, Like they understand that you're
a leader and Whitworth is a leader. We want to
clear with you, We want to get your blessing. That
doesn't normally happened the NFL doesn't. No, no, not at all,
not at all. Usually it's a surprise whenever it happens,

(19:05):
and then you know, you just hope that you're able
to create a good relationship on your way in. And
I feel like we were able to create a relationship
with me at Whitworth before he even came down to
UH to l A. Roger Saffil joining us in the
Doug Gottlieb Show. Now, look, some have had a problem
with the term owner, but you are in fact an
owner of your own team. Right You own a uh

(19:25):
call of Duty team, right Rise Nation. You bought that
in two thousand fourteen. Actually I created it back in
two thousand and fourteen, and uh it's expanded to more
than just Call of Duty. Uh, it's expanded to see
us go, um, it will expand it to Overwatch and
expand it to uh to like street Fighter, all these
fighting games and things like that. So we've basically been

(19:47):
growing ever since two thousand and four team. Okay, so
what when you like create a team? Like? Are you like,
how do you find players to play on your team?
How does it? Actually Roger Saffeld join us. By the way,
if you don't know, Rogers started eight ninety one games
his career, played all over the offensive line, and the
offensive line is a big part of the story this
Rams turnaround season. But he's an owner of a call
of duty team called Rise Nation, co founded the sports team. Okay,

(20:11):
so when you start a team, how do you find
players for your team? Uh? Well, you know, a lot
of times I was playing with guys that were in
the pro circuit as is UM, so we already established
a relationship with that circle. Uh, and then it just
came down to who wanted to join the team. We
built a good roster and then the first year we
ended up going to the World Championship, which was which
was amazing, a lot of fun actually out here in

(20:32):
l A. So UM. You know, through doing that, you know,
we were able to just continue to grow and I
think that just the learning experiences put us in a
position to to make some great changes in the future.
It's crazy. So, who's the youngest member of the team. Uh.
One of my youngest members is eighteen, and you know,

(20:54):
it's kind of hard going going with the young guys.
And then I also have older guys are you know,
close to thirty um, which really just are supermature and
just have a great vision of what they want to
see happen with their career and U with the organization
as a whole. So it's it's great, Like who knew
you were playing video games? That I you and you're
a football player and you're like you could turn that

(21:15):
into like a post career or second job like that.
That's the craziest stuff ever. Like I went to Okloma
State House basketball player. I remember we play NFL. Uh
we play what was the NFL Blitz? I got? Man,
if they had an E sports team for NFL Blitz,
I would be I would be on it. It's crazy
to go from like college athlete, that's what you do,
you hang out and play video games, to turn that

(21:36):
into like a second career. Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. You
know what. I'll started off as a hobby and then immediately,
you know, we end up just seeing so much success.
ESPN recognized as the sport as a sport, and that's
when all the sponsors start coming in, and that's where
the money starts coming in. Yeah, Turners got Turners got
the sports as well. UM golf struggled so much last year.

(21:56):
Um I think that the hard knocks stuff didn't help him.
The offense didn't help him. Not having the weapons, not
having the offensive line, wasn't it You guys weren't as
good last year. Let's just nothing was as good last year.
How how difficult was it for him to kind of
gain the respect considering how much he had struggled and
how many questions there were about him? How hard was
it for him to kind of gain that respect to

(22:17):
where you guys believed in him. Well, honestly, I think
that it's just him tuning and out, you know, all
of that frustration, you know, failure, difficulty, UM, and just
going out and trying to be the best player that
he can. Throughout the offseason, working with you know, coach
McVay tirelessly UH to the point where he has been
able to make great reads UM that you know, Coach

(22:40):
Wevey has been able to put him in great situations
with great play calling UM. And I think that just
giving him the confidence to be able to sit back
there and make a good throw knowing that he's got
protection for himself, has really brought a lot of confidence
to him. And even if he doesn't see anything down
the field, he's able to, you know, use his legs
and he's showing that he's mobile. So all those changes

(23:01):
just came over time and it's all been done an
off season. Last thing. You're an Ohio kid, right, played
in the Midwest in the Big Ten, and and like, look,
you've played games in cold weather. But I experienced this
yesterday for the first time. Like I was living in
Connecticut for uh for twelve and last fourteen years. Moved
out to southern California where I grew up about six
months ago, and I went back to the cold for

(23:21):
one day. It hit me and I was like, dude,
I hate cold, I just as I just hated it.
So you've been out here for a year and a half,
and I know you spend time going kind of back
and forth to other spots. How long did it take
you before to where your blood got thin to where
you're like, man, I don't even like playing football in
the cold anymore. Oh Man, you know it's it's it's
kind of change here and there. But as a as

(23:41):
a man over three at a pound, you know, normally
you still get hot no matter what climate it is.
Uh So, honestly, I haven't even really felt it as much.
And because we're in such hot weather, as you know,
it's been over a hundred degrees here sometimes it's nice
to be able to get in those colder games. Yeah, well,
you're not gonna get one this week end at the Colisseum,
supposedly going to be a sellout taking on the Texans

(24:03):
fresh off laying fifty one on the Giants. Your eyes
offensive line is doing a great job. Congrats on the
success in e sports as well as on the actual
playing field in the National Football League. Roger, thanks so
much for joining us man as Roger Staffill joining us
on The Doug Gotlip Show. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Doug gott Leap Show weekdays at three
pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the

(24:25):
I Heart Radio app. When I say go to the mattresses,
if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need
to do some Godfather review Sunny, we are to hear
what they have to say. No no, no, no more,
not this time constantary nor more meetings, normal discussions, normal
Silazo tricks. You're give him one message. I want the

(24:46):
other families wan'ts it still? Hey, hey, father would want
to hear this is business, not personally. Shot My father
Your father was business, not personal, Sonny. Well, in business
will have to suffer, all right, and business will have
just his business, not personal. Go to the mattresses is
going to war. I'm gonna bring a chick flick into here.

(25:08):
I I'm listening. Um, I'm sorry. Rom com rom com
is like rom com is really chick flick? Right, romantic comedy?
So you got mail? Um? I believe? Is it considered
part of the Sleeps in Seattle family? Is it considered

(25:29):
a continuation of Sleeps since Seattle? Have to look it up?
But it's pretty good movie. You guys are looking at
me like, now that one you've never seen, you'll get
a pass for having never seen. You've got mail if
you haven't seen, You've got mail. But there was this
mean the uh Tom Hanks and um, what's her name?

(25:52):
From Sleeps in Seattle with the Meg Ryan? Remember when
Meg Ryan was like the hottest girl next door in Hollywood.
You have to go back mid nineties to early two thousand's,
like Meg Ryan was the pin up girl next door type.
What are you saying? Ryan? No, listen, you can't you

(26:12):
have a microphone in front of still No, no, no, no,
she's had some she's had some facial work done. Ladies,
never have your work your your your face, your worked,
your face worked on. Just don't just don't. She looks
like an alien, Meg Ryan. She looks like you know
what she looks like. Do you remember you go to
like you still go now if you go to a
carnivore fair. You have people that make those caricatures. You know,

(26:35):
you have a huge head and every different Like if
your nose is big, it's made even more bigger. If
your eyes are big, even bigger. Right, you have this
little body in this huge head and all these huge features.
That's what she looks like. Now. Meg Ryan was beautiful
because she was kind of normal looking, but in a
beautiful sort of way. And now she's no, don't touch

(26:59):
your face, ladies, don't touch your face anyway. I remember
this part. They're going they what they are is this
is back in the was it a O. L? Mess
I think back in the A O. L. Messenger days?
They're flirting on a OL Messenger even though they're actually business.
Actually there are two businesses. Tom Hanks owns like a

(27:21):
mega bookstore, and she owns the bookstore called the Bookstore
around the corner, little mom and pop shop that her
mother used to run. He's trying to buy up all
the bookstores, and she's trying to They didn't She didn't
even know that their business competitors. Meanwhile, they're online lovers.
Here's Tom Hanks's advice at the time. The answer to
your question is go to the mattresses. Of the mattresses.

(27:43):
You're at war. It's not personal, it's business. It's not personal,
it's business business. Recite that to yourself every time you
feel you're losing your nerve. Jerry Jones is going to
the mattresses. This from the New York Times. Only he
picked up the phone and called the NFL's compensation committee

(28:04):
because the NFL compensation Committee was working on the details
of Roger Goodell's new contract with the league get an
extension to a deal that runs uh through two eighteen.
In addition, he hired this attorney, David Boyce, to go
and find the dirt on Roger Goodell. Right, this feels

(28:31):
rather personal. Maybe it's just business because Roger Goodell has
done a poor job of handling the NFL flag protests.
I mean, it's pretty obvious that Jerry Jones seems to
be open to suggestion. Right, Like the president picks up
the phone tells him to get these guys to stop kneeling.

(28:52):
Then all of a sudden, next thing, you know, he's
telling his guys to stop kneeling. That this becomes bad leadership,
the bad leadership narrative. That's that missed That Papa John
CEO or the Papa John's guy says, oh, this is
all bad leadership, And of course he's friends with Jerry Jones,
and Jerry Jones now wants the poor leadership guy Roger

(29:12):
Goodell out like, Look, I don't know Roger Goodell personally.
You know, I don't think Tom Brady should have been
suspended for four games. I have no idea if Ezeki
Elliott hit his ex girlfriend. It sure seems like there's uh.
It sure seems like there's a lot of questions in
her story, even though he's made to look rightfully, really

(29:34):
really bad if he did hit her, I have no
problem with with the suspension. But if she's lying, she's
making it up as Jerry Jones thinks she is, uh,
then it is a bit of a miscarriage of justice.
But it should be pointed out that while Jerry Jones

(29:57):
can claim responsibility for the team or teams in l
A that was under Roger Goodell's watch, the move to
put two teams in l A, the move to put
a team in Las Vegas, which will happen with the Raiders.
Do you know what that's worth? The league two over
two billion dollars? Roger Goodale got that concussion lawsuits settled

(30:17):
for under one billion dollars. There flush with cash, playing
games in China, playing games in Mexico City, playing games
in London, getting a new Thursday Night package, then splitting
the Thursday Night package between NBC and CBS, all while
keeping the Thursday Night package for the NFL network, which
is owned by the league, thus owned by the owners.

(30:39):
Like from a business standpoint, business is good. The streaming
package is ridiculously bound bountiful. Now do I think Adele's
compensated above his actual value? I do? I do, And
you could nickel and dime him, You could grind him
to hey, man, we think the AB is worth five

(31:00):
million dollars, and we could find somebody else to do
it for five million dollars. Five million dollars. It's not
a thirty a forty twenty million dollar job. It's not.
But he's going to the mattresses man He's going to
war over this flag thing, over the ratings, and over frankly,
the ezekiel A thing, which feels kind of personal, which

(31:21):
goes against the idea of going to the mattress. It's business,
it's not personal. He's not Vito cor Leone. Could be
that Jerry Jones is really Sonny cor Leone. Remember that
Sonny's voice you're hearing. Sonny was the weaker of the brothers.
Sonny was the hothead. Sonny was the one who sorry
spoiler alert, got shot and killed. That kind of feels

(31:46):
like who Jerry Jones is. The owners are like, hey,
this ain't personal, it's just business. Business is good. We
we keep the commissioner. Jerry Jones Like, I want to
go to the mattresses. I don't care business will have
to suffer. I want this dude out. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch

(32:07):
all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com
and within the I Heart Radio app. Um Lakers Celtics
on a Wednesday early in November. Like I understand, they're
still working through how to figure out this new NBA schedule.
It seems like a weird day to have this game yeah.
Well now with the with esp and having games on
you know, Wednesday nights, so I like it. I mean

(32:29):
it's a it's a nice way to spice up you
know what, otherwise might be a dead Wednesday night. So
I think everybody wants to see if Kyrie really puts
Lineso on skates and um see if lines goes up
to the challenge of playing with him. I think, you know,
you've got a lot on his mind. Obviously with his
brother that could contribute to it. So it might be

(32:51):
a tough night for Lineso. Uh, I was I was
thinking about this, Christ actually thinking about you because you
don't have so many great insights into the NBA. What
are people in the NBA saying about lons Because I'll
tell you, like the guys I know with the Lakers,
they're privately a little bit frustrating, a little bit bufuddled
by Alonzo. They love him as a kid, and they

(33:13):
know he's got a lot of things to work on,
but it's the idea of just some days he's so
passive and uh, they have to encourage him. It's not
even about a number of shots, it's about trying to
make plays. They're a little kind of buffuddled by it.
What's the league's reaction to a Lonzo ball so far?
Let me ask you this because I'm hearing this from
a number of guys, and I wonder if you haven't

(33:35):
heard it from anybody with the Lakers. But I'm wondering
if you have. Um A lot of guys that watch
him are telling me they think he's out of shape.
I know we heard that in the draft around the draft.
Are you hearing that from people inside the Lakers? No,
not as much, not not as much out of ship.
What they have what they have said, is like, look,
his body needs a lot of work, right like Like

(33:56):
the things that people are critical about his dad about
are about the boast. What they should be critical about
the dad is he didn't put him with somebody who
knows that got him in They got him in great shape,
but also that refined his skill. He's never done pick
and roll. I didn't do pick and roll in high school,
didn't really do it in college. Obviously they knew they
had to fix his shot, but I think they were

(34:16):
a little bit may be surprised by his lack of
refinement as a player. Outside of just the shooting, there's
a lot of things he hasn't done. And like, look,
if his his dad is a former player, should know better.
And if he doesn't, he's got to get his hands
off and get him with guys that know what they're doing.
And he hasn't done that. Yeah, and talking to guys,

(34:38):
um Alice, just talking to one Scott about this the
other day. He said he thinks he thinks will be fine.
You know, he's young, Um hill improve, but he thinks
it's ceiling or he thinks what he'll end up being
is a is a good starter. He doesn't think he'll
be a core guy, like a part of a big three.

(34:58):
Like if you've got a big three, he's not gonna
be part of it. Um, he thinks he's a good starter. Um.
You know I've said before I think he's Jason Kidd.
But I've gotten some pushback on that from people around
the league who say, man Kid was such a competitor.
He was so you know, fiery and in your face. Defensively,

(35:18):
he wasn't a vocal player, but defensively he got after it. Offensively,
he was more aggressive. And they think that's a difference
right now, at least with Lionzo. Um. I think that
you saw him at U C l A. He is not.
We're used to the point guards nowadays dribbling a lot,
dominating the basketball. And let's say you get a pass

(35:42):
at the three quarter court outlet pass. Most guards nowadays
especially are gonna push it all the way to the
free throw line, if not deeper, and make a play LIONSO.
It's not he's in most times, he's gonna get it
and pass it ahead. And then in the half court
he's not gonna dribble a light that you said it

(36:02):
he does. He's not great in the picking roll. Looks
like he hasn't had a lot of experience in that,
which is completely unusual for today's guards point guards, and
so he is a ball mover. I think his great
value is and will be kind of culture changing, uh,
that unselfishness. And I do feel like when I look

(36:23):
at the Lakers, I do feel like a little of
his unselfishness has rubbed off and guys are making extra
passes where they might not have before. But he's a
ball mover. He's not gonna dribble it a lot, even
in the half court um. And then I think, finally,
his inability to finish because as you said, it's lack
of strength, and then the mid range just nothing in

(36:44):
the mid range, maybe a little if he's going left.
I think that makes him more passive than he naturally is,
because if if I penetrate and I know I can't
pull up for a little jumper, I'm not gonna finish
when there's traffic in there, then I'm hesitant. And so
I think that also is leading to him being more

(37:05):
passive than he probably naturally is. Um. I've heard Marquelle
Folts is now shooting left hand jump shots because his
shoulders are so bad. Like what what is going? Like? Mark?
There was nothing wrong with his shot and now all
of a sudden he shot look all jacked up. Was
it the injury that led to it being jacked up?

(37:26):
Or was it jacked up that led to it being hurt?
Like what what happened to Marquelle Folts? From what I understand,
I think it was more the injury. Um. And I've
talked to some people and I thought this too just
watching him. But some some people I trust in the
league long time, you know, talent evaluators, they said they
like his game. I mean, obviously the shot is wrecked

(37:47):
and you gotta fix that. But outside of that, you
know the way he's getting up and down the floor
handling it, you know, the energy to aggressive the guys
like that, so I think he'll be. It bothers me
a little cause you wonder where the guy is that
mentally when your shot is so you know you're changing
it all the time. But hopefully for him it is

(38:10):
indeed related to the shoulder, because if it's an injury
causing you to do it, you can overcome it. But
if it's in your mind and you're just not sure
how you want to shoot it back to me, could
be even more problematic going forward. But you know, look,
we know it. They don't need him, I know, I mean,
I know we like big threes nowadays, but if him
being in Simmons stay healthy, they don't need him to be,

(38:33):
you know, a typical number one pick star. I mean,
if he's pretty good with those two, I think Philadelphia'll
be fine. What's amazing is nobody's been talking about the
fact Joltile Ogleford played three minutes last night three three
like incredible. I mean, like like Simmons is. Simmons is

(38:53):
everything I thought he'd be. And then some he's still
not a great shooter, but he just he's so he's
he's a combos the whole. He's a terrible shuiting. He's yeah,
you know, look he's he's well, he's magic. He's magic
when Magic first came out. Magic and lamar Odom and
a little bit of lebron like that style of that

(39:13):
style of game, a little better defensively than I thought
it'd be. And then you have embiid and and you know,
JJ reddicks fit with. What's amazing about it is the
seventies sixers have won when they won five in a row,
and they've done so without Marquel Folds, without Marquel Folds,
and they don't even play Jelo ocal for right, Like
it's just it's a numbers thing in terms of tanking
and getting these picks, and eventually they hit. Chris Brusard

(39:35):
joins us. Check out his show Saturday afternoon Saturday evening,
depending on where you are in the country. Of course,
you'll see him on all of our Fox Sports one
TV shows. Uh, let's let's get to the Boston Celtics.
Eleven new guys in roster. They lose Gordon Hayward in
the first quarter, of the first game, and here they
are in first place. I I understand it's early and
some of these fifty games they're going to lose, but

(39:59):
it sure feels like Kyrie Irving was trying to do
it kind of one on one, and he's still doing
it one on one, but it's more waiting for the
mismatches that Brad Stevens creates. And Jason Tatum Jalen Brown
far further along than we thought. What's your reaction to
Boston playing so well so early. Yeah, I really like
him now like everybody else. I thought when Hayward went

(40:19):
down they were in trouble. But obviously Tatum, if you know,
he's adjusting a lot quicker than we expected. I love
Jalen Brown. I think Jaylen Brown can be a future
two way star in this league. Obviously they got the
best defense in the league right now. I talked to
some people close to Kyrie this morning. They said he
is overjoyed to be in Boston. Um just and not

(40:43):
just because he's away from Lebron and all that, but
because he's getting to two things. One, he's able to
play the way he wants to play. He wanted to
be a point guard, handle the ball, run, ticket, roll
and all that. And also, and he kind of alluded
to this with a quote a few days ago, he
is enjoying the way Brass Stevens coaches kind of like

(41:06):
you said, you know, finding mismatches and stuff, but just
cutting moving without the ball, UM, the passing that the
team is encouraged to do. UM. He's really having a
great time. And I think that where it's showing offensively,
he is doing what he's always done. But I think
where it's really showing his defensively. He hasn't been bad

(41:26):
defensively this year. I'm not saying he's Patrick Beverley, but
the effort has been there. He's the point of attack,
and they got the best defense in the league, so
I think they're legit. Now I'm still gonna go with
Cleveland and the East. I think Cleveland is four and
old against Boston Milwaukee twice in Washington, so I think
they're showing that when they really want to get up

(41:48):
for kind of a big opponent, they can and they
will UM. But Boston, I think is a definitive second
best team, like at the end of the day, so
get best team in the league, which I wasn't so
sure they were heading into the season. Bradd Stevens is tremendous.
You know, what's gonna be interesting. I mean, if they

(42:09):
really going to have a great year, you know, it'll
be interesting to see when Hayward gets back, because obviously
Tatum and Brown are just gonna get better. I mean,
maybe they go with a really small lineup and Hayward's
in there with them. Um, but this is a team
that probably next year we're talking about them as a

(42:29):
real legitimate contender. Yep. Which is which was a fit
along their timeline? Right, that's what That's what. That's what
they said about Gordon Hayward when they signed him, what
they said about Kyrie Irving when they traded for him.
And it does make a ton of sense. Chris Bruce
are joining us. Um, the Nicks have a better record
than the Thunder. Can't put everything on mellow, but it's
fun to put some on mellow. The Thunder have played

(42:52):
really well at times and at times look like it's
a team take them, right, you take them? I take them?
You know, we we kind of passed a sound. How
fixable are these issues with okay? See, I think they're fixable.
I I think that the I I said they'd be
the second best team in the West. You know, Houston
looks good obviously, but you know, I'll stick with that.

(43:13):
I think they'll join the Rockets and Spurs at near
the top of the West before it's all said and done. Um,
this is not unprecedented. You know, You've got three isolation players,
all of whom except maybe Westbrook, who we call the
one A for all of his career, but Mellow and
George were number one their entire career. Used to take

(43:34):
in a lot of shots. Um, So I think it's
gonna be in a judgment. I mean Miami, and when
they first came together was nine and eight, So this
isn't shocking. Um. And what I see, if you know,
they all have exactly two hundred and one points this
year and they're all taking seventeen shots a game. Um,

(43:56):
what I see is, like you said, when Melo gets it,
it's going up. When George gets it, it's going up.
Westbrook has actually shown the most restraint and change the most. Um.
But then I think when they get behind, he kind
of takes over at times, which has been good for him,
and that's where he gets his shots. But I believe
Mellow and George their shots are more wide open than

(44:20):
they have had in years, because think about it, they
have been the really that only offensive star on their
teams for the past several years, and so they were
getting doubled even when they were single coverage and be
the man they got the defenses, you know, leaning towards them,
So there's always helped there, and I think now they're

(44:41):
getting open looks. And what do you do when you're
a shooting in the score for your entire career, When
you're open, you shoot it. And that's why I think
they're doing taking the quick shots because they're like, man,
I'm wide open. The guys four feet away and they're
putting them up. They're not hitting them at the rate
they like. But I think that's why the offense looks
so much like it's just guys shooting quickly. And maybe

(45:05):
there's also an element I'm not sure, but of I
gotta get it up so I you know, I may
not touch it the next couple of times down, so
I'm putting it up now. That's how Clay Thompson did
that last year with Golden Stay. Earlier in the year,
he was just putting it up whenever he got it um.
So I think there's an adjustment. Part of me would
like to see a little more offensive sophistication from Donovan,

(45:30):
But then again, you're talking about isolation players. I don't
know how much you can do with those types of
guys um in terms of real a lot of player
and ball movement, but they gotta find a happy medium
because they're so predictable right now and there's just no
fluidity to the offense. Yep, Christmas are great stuff like

(45:51):
look just to be a fun night. Timberwolves taking on
the Warriors is the nightcap. Of course, you've got Lakers
and Celtics. You'll see Chris Boshard on Fox Sports one
of course, here about Fox Sports trading on the weekends
on his own show. Chris, thanks so much for joining us.
All right, my man, pleasure is totally mine.
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Host

Doug Gottlieb

Doug Gottlieb

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