January 17, 2018 • 50 mins
Doug thinks the Celtics were trying to do a nice thing honoring both Paul Pierce and Isaiah Thomas on the same night but in the end they are making Pierce look bad. He also explains why it's no surprise the Steelers let offensive coordinator Todd Haley go even though they had a great offense. Ric Bucher from Bleacher Report joins the show to give his insight on the discussions around the NBA about Lonzo and LaVar Ball.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the best of the Doug Gottlip Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Boom, What Up America? Doug got Leave
Show Fox Sports Radio Today, Coming to you from the
Treasure Valley. Man, you say treasure value like I'm in
Where is that Boise, Idaho? Where you can hear our
(00:22):
show daily on Sports Radio six. Story of the Fan
Poise special. Thanks to everybody here who has laid out
the red carpet. There's literally red carpet here. I don't
know if there was a dead body or what, but
there's a big red, red carpet. Blood stain all over
this carpet. Welcome in. Speaking of blood, there blood blood
on the hands of Ben Roethlisberger, even though he doesn't
(00:42):
want blood on his hands. Daniel Jeremiah from the NFL
Network will join us upcoming in fifteen minutes. Uh. We
got a ton to get to, ton to get to
We got the Pittsburgh Steelers getting rid of Todd Haley,
which I hate to say, I told you I don't
really hate to say. I told you so. I told
you so, and I told you so and it was
not a surprise. But there's a there's a lot to it.
(01:04):
Could Bruce Arians be brought back. Is that that crazy
to think of? UM? Anyway, so we got some football
to discuss, plus games that are upcoming. But I wanted
to get to this topic to begin. So Paul Pierce's
number is going to be retired by the Boston Celtics,
and kudos to the Celtics were retiring Paul Pierce's number. UM.
(01:28):
I don't know if I've shared this fact with you guys,
but Pierce was actually my roommate at abc D camp
back when Peregrine I a kid in four summer nineteen four.
Paul Pierce, who had beaten my team. He was a sophomore.
People didn't know him. He was a center. He's kind
of chubby anyway, he played for Inglewood High School. By
(01:49):
the time we were entering our senior year, he was
one of the top ten players in California. UM. And
then by the time after we got done with this camp,
this abc D camp, which used to be that Nike
camp with the two biggest camps, UM, he became one
of the top ten players in the country. And I
remember I was his roommate and he would talk about
(02:11):
himself and he and he was kind of half sark
he was sarcastic, but you know, with sarcasm is like
there's always a good portion of it which he believes
to be the truth, right, And he said, I'm one
of the great I'm gonna be one of the greatest
players to ever play in the NBA. And you know, look,
do I put him in the Kobe variety? No? But
(02:32):
do I do I put him in? Obviously not in
that Lebron and Magic and Michael and but or no
to the Kobe, but like, to be an all time
great with the Boston Celtics is a pretty supreme honor. Um.
So the Boston Celtics are going to retire his number
number thirty four on February eleven, that just so happens
(02:56):
to coincide with when they play the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now,
they planned to show a brief video tribute to Isaiah
Thomas uh in like the in the introductions to that game.
Of course, Thomas was traded in the off season. As
you guys know, he played u two and a half
(03:18):
seasons with the Boston Celtics. His best season of his
career last year twenty nine points a game. They had
the best record in the Eastern Conference. Of course he
got hurt or his hip was so bad he couldn't
continue in the Eastern Conference Finals, and then he was
summarily traded before the season began. You guys know this story.
So in an effort to make Paul Pierce or an
(03:41):
effort to honor Paul Pierce by retiring his number, which
is the most supreme honor that any sports team, any
sports franchise can give you. And then you're talking about
the Boston Celtics. That's Bob Couzy, that's Bill Russell, that's
John havel check, right, that's Larry Bird, that's Robert Parrish. Like,
(04:05):
that's Kevin McHale, Like you you're that's basketball royalty. They
have what do they have? Seventeen NBA titles? Seventeen NBA titles.
Paul Pierce's number is going to hang from the raptors
at Boston Garden, kid from Inglewood High School who didn't
start his sophomore year, was playing center and made himself
(04:25):
into one of the great players ever at Kansas and
one of the greatest ever Boston self. He's like, that's
an amazing story. In an effort to honor him, they've
actually kind of made him look like a d bag.
That's true. That's because he's come out and some of
the people he's played with have come out and uh
(04:46):
and said some things that he believes to be true,
and he is honest about in terms of honoring him,
giving him a night and giving a video tribute to
Isaiah Thomas in the same night. He said this yesterday,
Danny and I talked about it for forty minutes. He
told me this is what we planned. At the end
(05:06):
of the conversation, he said, if you don't want us
to do Isaiah, we won't. So I told him I
really don't and that was it. That's how he left it. Um.
Isaiah Thomas took to Twitter and said, I'd like to
thank the Celtics for their gracious offer to play a
video tribute on February eleven, celebrating my three years in Boston.
But since it appears that this has caused some controversy
(05:27):
with Paul Pierce's night, I'd ask the Celtics instead to
focus all their attention on Number thirty four's career. Pierce
went on, Thomas had a shot at being honored. You
can't you came to Boston, whether you're playing or not
you should have had your tribute then. I just don't
see how if someone is having a jersey retirement, they're
(05:48):
going to be running other tributes to other players. Danny
tried to sell me on it, but I told him
he had his shot. Danny and he punked punked, uh,
punked you on it. He pretty much dictated everything. They
let it happen because they felt sorry about how the
trade to Cleveland went down. It's guilt, that's what it is.
Ain said yesterday that Thomas intended all along to bow
(06:10):
out of the video tribute once he learned of Paul
Pierce's reservations. Okay, look, I'm calling bs on what Isaiah
Thomas did. KG slammed in. Paul Pierce slammed it. But
this makes Paul Pierce look small, doesn't he? Like? You know,
you can't share the spotlight for a little one and
a half two minute tribute to a guy that played
for the Boston Celtics. But it's his Night's Paul Pierce night. Now. Look,
(06:38):
could Isaiah Thomas say the same thing? Look, you could
have said you didn't want to be traded when they
traded you in one of the great all time heist trades.
They traded you Kevin Garnett and Jason Carried to the
Brooklyn Nets for a treasure trove of of draft micks.
You could have said that absolutely would have been well
within inbounds for you to say that, uh um Gen
(07:02):
Rondo came out, What has he Thomas done? Oh? That
will we celebrate around here? When he was told he
took him to the Eastern Conference finals. This is the
Boston Celtics. This isn't the Phoenix Suns. No disrespect to
any other organization, but the Celtics don't hand don't hang
conference title banners. Wow. Now, look, if it's if I'm
(07:26):
Paul Pierce, the advice I would have given to him,
and I know he's in the media, and Paul has
never been shy with his feelings. And one of the
things that makes Paul great is he just says what
he thinks. But he should have allowed Rondo and KG
and anyone else to fight his battles, and he should
have been at least outwardly gracious whatever they want to do.
I'm just honored to have my jersey number retired. But
(07:47):
the true villain, and this is the Boston Celtics. How
could you have not seen this to be a problem,
you know, I mean it's this is a lot like, uh,
you you're asked to come speak at your high school,
and you know Tony Robbins is also speaking, Like we
(08:07):
want you to be the keynote speaker. We do have
another speaker. You get there, like, we do have another
speaker on the docket. Who is it Tony Robbins? How
am I gonna compete with Tony Robbins? This is Paul Pierre.
I don't I actually don't blame Paul Pierce. It is
his night, Like if if you think enough of me
(08:29):
to give me my own night and to pre plan
it and to make it against the Calves, which is interesting, right,
Like I I get the idea. I kind of like
the idea of it because you know it would be
nationally televised and Lebron there in the place being packed,
like all of that stuff would will will work? Um
And maybe you know he didn't play his entire career
(08:51):
with just one team. He actually end up playing with
four teams, finished up with the Clippers after a stint
with the Wizards, and then the Nets before that. But
this is this is one of those things to which
the opposite of the intended consequences take place. This is
not the law of unintended consequence, is the actual opposite
(09:11):
of the intention of the Boston Celtics was only to
honor Paul Pierce. That's it. There is no greater honor
in sports than having your number retired, none more so
than even Hall of Fame. I mean that that no
one in that organization can wear my number. That's pretty cool.
(09:33):
And yet the Celtics like, hey, by the way, we
want to run a little video trip. Like, no, dude,
I brought every family member, every friend, any person that
at my high school. Coach Roy Williams will probably be there.
He'll bring everybody there. That's my night, right by night.
This is when I have a friend who he'll remain nameless.
(09:56):
But I remember, you know, sometimes people in my industry
we get asked to do too MC events. And he
was m seeing Providences preseason basketball banquet, and the banquet
was about Providence basketball and they said, hey, listen, we
need you to be here an hour early. He was
a little bit late, so you could kip it with people,
(10:17):
shake some hands, kiss some babies, and then we need
you know, a thirty second to sixty two intro video.
He brought with him a five five minute highlight tape
of his career at a different university. It was just awkward.
It didn't take away from the Providence Friars being recognized.
But what it was was it made it about him
(10:37):
for at least a short period time. And that's the
whole lack of that thought wasn't the attent of the night.
And so now when I when I read you what
Paul Pierce is saying, man, he had, like Paul Pierre
said a little bit of nonsense. He had his chance,
he dictated his terms whatever. Like, Look, he's not totally wrong.
I mean, it was Isaiah Thomas who chose not to
(10:59):
play in the Eastern Conference Finals because his hip was
just too painful. Right, He could have kind of gritted
it out and played through it, but he wanted to
protect the future of his career. I can't totally blame him,
but you know, he did not play actually in those
East in the last two games the Eastern Conference Finals,
and like a regular season accomplishment, I'm not really sure
(11:21):
what that matters. Like everything worked out perfectly for him.
He's gonna make more money in this offseason than anyone
ever could have thought possible for Isaiah Thomas an NBA uniform,
even though he's struggling with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and all
of that said, Isaiah Thomas didn't want to play last
time around because it was his second game back, and
he chose to take that day off. So they didn't
(11:41):
do a video tribute the first time. They tried to
sneak it in this time. And he's a guy who
didn't play form the last two games of his career
because his hip hurt. But I read you those quotes
and Paul Pierce kind of sounds like a dB. And
yet if you actually think of it, if it's a
night dedicated to you, why do you got to spend
a couple of minutes putting a video onto somebody else.
(12:04):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug gott
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Drew Brees a free agent, and he came out and
said that he doesn't want to be anywhere else. Now,
if you think that what these guys say, it's what
they actually mean. I give you Ben Roethlisberger, who everyone everyone,
(12:28):
I believe, wanted Todd Haley out. He and Todd Haley
didn't get along for a while, and though at times
it was a relationship to which they could function, when
things went badly, Haley's out of a job and bending up.
Roethlisberger has already said he's coming back, but Big Ben
said two days ago, Hey, I don't really want any
(12:48):
I don't think we should make any changes, So the
team fires Todd Haley. If you think that's if Ben
really meant that. Do you think for a second that
if Ben Rothsburg really wanted Todd Haley as his offensive coordinator,
he wouldn't still be his offensive coordinator, right to come on?
Come on? Um. Drew Brees actually a free agent at
(13:12):
the end of this season, which is now obviously, he
had this to say yesterday as to where he'll play
next year two days ago, the same where twelve years ago.
That is that I'll be here as long as they'll happen.
Hopefull I'll be here as long as they'll have me.
But he is a free agent, and who wouldn't I mean, like, look,
(13:35):
there's Arizona out there. Um, the Giants could be out there.
The Jets need a quarterback, the Browns need a quarterback.
I mean you kind of go through this list and
you're like, wow, there's a lot of teams that could
that could use it. His most recent one year contracts
(13:55):
extension was worth twenty four point to five million dollars,
was the fourth average salary in the NFL this year.
So he'd been getting paid and the Saints are like, look,
we'd love to have you, but probably gonna have to
value back. Some probably gonna have the value back. So
there's multiple places that he could go. I mean, how
(14:17):
he could go to Minnesota and they get rid of
all three of those guys, he go to Minnesota next year.
So Drew Brees a free agent. But the problem with
the idea of Drew Brees going elsewhere is it's tricky.
It's tricky for the Saints because they can't they can't
give him a huge, long term deal. He's small, there's
some limitations to him, he doesn't play as well outside. Um,
(14:44):
you know, they're just how long a deal you're going
to give him? How much money are you going to
give him? Because at some point he will start to
fade if he didn't. If they didn't kind of protect
him this year, he may have already faded already. And
yet you can't embarrass him, you aunt low ball, and
you can't give him such a little money that you
don't recognize him as Drew Brees. Do. I think it
(15:05):
gets worked out. I do, And that's because first, Breeze
is in a tough spot, right, Breeze is one of
these guys. It's like you've been married a long time
and the girl that you always wanted to ask, always
wanted to take out in uh in high school has
just now become available. But like, dude, you're in a relationship. Yeah,
(15:26):
relationship is not going great. That's okay, You're in a relationship.
You just can't. You can't. So you can't galivant around
the country going to Arizona. You can't go to Denver
and say hey, what if you can't go to the
Jets and say how much would it be worth to you?
You can't go to Cleveland and and put yourself out there.
(15:48):
You just can't. Can you? Sure you can? Like, I
mean there's married guys out there that they're they flirt
and they're just like, hey, I'm just being friendly. I'm
just flirting. End of the day, I'm coming back. Um,
But make no mistake about it. He wants to get paid.
And while Kirk Cousins is much younger than him, there's
(16:09):
twenty nine, Teddy Bridgewater is only Sam Bradford did have
a great game, Matt Moore, Brian Fitzpatrick, Case Chase Chase,
Daniel brock, Oswallow. These are the guys he's competing against
in free agency. So he is the biggest, boldest name
(16:32):
outside of Garoppolo, who we know well either be franchised,
will be signed for a long term deal. And what
the Saints do, Like, Look, I think Breeze is Um,
he's forever, forever tied to the Saints. He's their greatest
ever player, right Like, Look, could you imagine this scenario
(16:53):
which he goes elsewhere, He goes to Arizona and reinvents himself,
or he goes to Denver with that defense, Yeah I could.
I could see it, and you bring it. Maybe then
the Saints trade for Eli Manning and bring Eli home
for his last couple of years. Yeah, I could see it.
I can see it, um, But um, what I can't
(17:20):
see is the reality of him leaving New Orleans as
their greatest ever football player. 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. Here's the guy you can
follow on Twitter at uh Dan Orlovsky seven at Dan
(17:42):
Orlovski seven Like, oh I remember Dan Olavsky. Uh yeah,
longtime quarterback in the National Football Eight kind of have
to join some join us and uh give us some
analysis in the quarterback position? Uh? Dan, were we all
wrong about portals? Or did he just play out of
his mind on Sunday? I think it's the ladder. I
think he played out of his mind. You know, he's
(18:05):
got this defense that can play at such a high
level that he doesn't have much pressure on him. So
you can go be a little bit more aggressive of
a little bit more free with this play because he knows. Man,
if I've turned it over, my defense has got my back.
The defense is getting them turnovers an opportunistic situations and positions.
So yeah, I think they're utilizing your talent pretty good
(18:26):
and personnel and they're running the ball letter which makes
it easier obviously on the corner quarterback, I don't anticipate
him to go up to you know, Gillette this weekend
and light the world on fire. But you know, I
just think it's it's a product of his defense being
so good that he's allowed to play a little bit freer,
and sometimes that leads to pretty good play, and sometimes
that leads to you know, bigger mistakes, and it's kind
(18:47):
of that roller coaster ride for him. Yeah. I mean, like, look,
the week before he ended up kind of winning the
game with his feet running the football when he threw
the ball so poorly, seemed to lose a lot of
confidence even in this throwing, whereas this past week he
kept taking some shots down the field and finally hit
some That's where had his confidence. Um confidence a just
a huge part. Give me your sense. I look the
(19:08):
past defense not great against the past, not great against
the run. It feels like they short but they shorten
the game. Try to give it to Leonard four Nette,
get get him into third and manageable, and then you
decide if you're gonna let let him loose. Is that
probably the game plan? Well, you know, knowing having played
against Belichick and kind of knowing the storyline of him,
I don't anticipate Belichick going, Okay, well we're gonna, you know,
(19:32):
figure out a way to get them in the third
and short. I think he's gonna obviously go okay, Leonard Fournette,
you're doing nothing against us and working to test and
challenge Blake Bortles to push the ball downfield. You know.
Lastly against the Steelers, Jacksonville did a really good job
of early on kind of keep doing some naked and
getting the ball out of Blake's hands and situations early
(19:52):
on with easy throws. I don't anticipate in New England
allowing him to do that either. So the thing that
I think Jacksonville has is and they showed it once
last week. They had this kind of trick play, you know,
where they faked an inside run down in the red
zone and he blest the fullback on the linebacker and
he goes down the middle of the field. You know.
In the NFL, coaches have these trick plays that they
(20:14):
practice all throughout the year, and they have this kind
of bag or three or four or five of them,
and they always want to call them if the situation
throughout the season presents itself, and Jacksonville really hasn't had
many of them this year, just because the situation probably
hasn't presented itself. I think that if Jacksonville really wants to,
you know, breed some confidence into their team, into their offense,
(20:35):
I'm unloading the bag of tricks that I have early
on because my best chance to go up there and win,
especially offensively, is to try and jump up early on them.
And I don't anticipate them doing this methodical stuff as
an offense going first down, second and seven, third and four,
and I don't think Belichick is gonna allow him to
do it. So that is, you know, I think it's
the best way to get Borders to go play well.
(20:57):
Danilobski joining us in the Doug Gotlib Show. What about
what about Tom Brady and his matchup against the Jags defense?
Right Like, all we've ever been told is if you
can get pressure up the middle, get him off his spot,
he can. You can manage him as a quarterback, you can.
He'll miss on some throws. We saw it last year
in the first half of the Super Bowl against the Falcons,
first three quarters. Really, we saw it against Miami couple
(21:19):
weeks ago. Does Jacksonville's defense, especially they're front forward they
fit the blueprint for what it takes to force him
off that spot. Oh they're the one team in the
NFL that fits it, you know. I mean, like you said,
the narrative is rush four, get home with those guys
and cover with seven. Everyone knows the formula, but very
few people have the ability to actually go execute. Very
(21:41):
few people. You know, teams don't have the humans to
go do it. It It sounds good until the whistle blows.
So those bots up incredibly well, you know, topped the
bottom there. Fun is incredibly athletics, fast and big. They've
got linebackers. You know, Newington obviously loves to use their
backs well. Telvin Smith and Myles Jacker is athletics as
any linebacker duo in the league. So they match up
(22:02):
there well. On the outside, they've got the physical corners
that could go and get in your face. They've got
could safeties, you know. The matchup for me, you know,
I think New England is probably gonna try and play
with tempo like they do. They'll spread them out quick
throws with Brady and play with tempo with Jacksonville. I
don't think Jason has nothing to lose, and so I
think defensive because they're gonna go, Okay, well, if that's
(22:24):
the game you guys want to play, let's do it.
And they're gonna get up in their faces that their
receivers and get physical. The variable that I think Jacksonville
really can benefit from his so many teams question of
how are we gonna treat Grounk? No one has a
Damn Ramsey And he's right now, head and shoulders, the
best corner and really back end player in the NFL
(22:45):
right now, and he's a guy that you know, Jacksonville
really wants to go, Okay, we're not gonna let Gronk
beat us. I see them putting Jalen Ramsey on Gronk
as much as they can and man and man situations
because you know, Gronk do is such a good job
of getting open because he's got those little nuances that
receivers do. He can use his elbow and create space.
He'll lean on guys and create space. And it's either
(23:08):
a safety is too little to do it or a
linebacker is too big to kind of run with them. Well,
Jalen is big enough to handle that stuff, and he's
smart enough to know, okay, his stem on his route
is trying to get open this way, or he's trying
to lean on the this stuff. So I think that's
gonna be in Jackson's Lille's favor and they just match up, well,
they have the formula to do it, and then they
(23:28):
have the ability to go execute the formula. It's gonna
be a good matchup. Yeah, it's interesting the ground thing.
Everyone's saying, put Jalen Ramsey on him, But isn't there
a doesn't that doesn't that in any way take away
from who Jacksonville is, especially considering gront can line up
uh as a tight end. You know, he can be
in motion in the backfield, he can split out wide
(23:49):
like they can move him around. Can't that screw up
the rest of the Jags defense? Well, you have a
rule where hey, if he's ever in the backfield or
if he's extended, Jalen, you've got him. If he's on
the line of scrimmage, then you have a backer cover them.
But here's the thing, so New England always, you know,
every coach in the NFL says, you know, during the
regular season, well, this is a process. We want to
(24:09):
trust the process and we want to get better. And
then they get into the the postseason and then it's
listen we known more is that our narrative. Our narrative
is to figure out an exact game plan of how
to execute and goin. And if you watch them in Tennessee,
they moved Gronk around. They got Gronk in some crazy matchups,
and I wish more teams had that mindset in the postseason.
(24:31):
So if I'm Jacksonville, I'm gonna listen, this is the
best way for us to match up. And if Jalen
can cover Gronk, if Brady's gonna throw at fifty times
and Jalen Ramsey's on Gronk to forty of them, does
that give us our best chance to win against the Patriots.
It may not work against other teams, and it may
have to change a little bit of who we are,
but to beat the Patriots, you need to because the
(24:51):
Patriots of the team who beats everybody else because they
change a little bit of who they are in the playoffs.
And I wish teams kind of took that. You know,
that simplistic approach is there. Okay, this, We've gotta change
a little bit who we are because the team that
we're playing does it themselves, and they're so good at it,
so I know that kind of changes their their foundation.
But I'm not gonna let Gronk beat me. If I
(25:11):
get beat by a Mendola, I get beat by a Mendola.
But I'm certainly not gonna let the best player on
their team and the best tight end in the league
do it. Dan Orlovski joining us in the Doug Gotlip Show.
This is like every backup quarterbacks dream uh for in
Philadelphia and in Minnesota. It's not just the opportunities that
they both have, but they both have outstanding defenses, they
(25:33):
both have good run games. Uh. They both are very
well coached the offensive side of the ball, right. I mean,
you know, Philadelphia's head coach is a you know, former
quarterback in his own right and a good play caller. Uh.
Pat Schirmer obviously is going to get a head coaching job,
probably with the Giants here. So like, you're well coached,
surrounded by good players, and your defense is gonna give
you a plenty of opportunities to win the game. Uh,
this is a backup quarterbacks dream. Let's start with Nick Foles. Uh,
(25:57):
they had plenty of time to prepare tweaked their off
and now what they put in is on tape. Give
me your sense of how Hill fare against against Minnesota. Yeah,
you know, I get a little bit confused with the
whole narrative behind Nick Boles because everyone talks about him
like he's just some you know, bomb who's never had
success in the NFL. I mean, if you take away
(26:20):
the Dallas game this year, which was basically Week four
the preseason for them, when he threw like ten passes,
and I know he struggled against Oakland, but he played
good in l A when he had to come in.
He played good against the Giants, and he played really
well last week. So the there's kind of this perception
out there that he's he's just this guy and just
because he's in a backup role. So you know, he
executed a game plan against Atlanta, and people say, well,
(26:42):
he get to push the ball downfield. Well, advantis defensive
structure doesn't allow you to the That's how guys at
that position make mistakes. So I thought he just executed
really well and Doug Peterson called a fantastic game. You
know this week. Minnesota allows you to push the ball
down field more because they play more in your face,
car Rick. Now, the way to attack them is you
(27:02):
really have to send crossers across the field, like two
or three guys is flooding the zone. The benefit for
Folds is if you watch tape on him, that's by
far his best throw is like an eighteen to twenty
two yard kind of crossing the field throw. If if
Philly can kind of manipulate some stuff to get guys
flooded into zones and dropped back and then in some
(27:23):
play action stuff, I think both can have some success
in New Orleans. Did it last week just not enough,
So I think he can have some success. And I
like you and mentioned his coaching staff is so good.
They've got three guys un their staff and Peterson, frank
Reich and d Flippo that really really understand the position
and how to attack defenses. So I think Folds is
(27:45):
set up to have another good game as long as
he just goes and executes the offense. What about Keenam,
You know, cases kind of has he has this narrative
around him like he's checked down Charlie right and just
dinking dunk. But if you really watch him, he's ultra
aggressive with the football, he's you know, he's been playing
(28:05):
quarterbacks since he was a kid, and he's always had
this arm that was incredibly accurate and could throw his
timing anticipation, but not big, and so he's finding an
offense that really shoots those fates and when plays are called,
you know, I referenced that like when Tiger Wood stands
on number one in Augusta, he'll always feel good about
it because it matches his eyes. And I think that's
(28:26):
what's happened with Keenum is he's when he's hearing his
play calls, it's where he's been running and comfortable with
his whole life. And it's got a lot of you know,
the the verbage is different than what he did in college,
but a lot of the spacing and the timing of
it is similar. So he feels incredibly comfortable about it.
So I think that what you're seeing as a guy
that's just ultra confident and comfortable. Now, for all that
(28:47):
being said, and and for how smart he's played, he
gets reckless with the football for two or three times again,
which kind of like head scratches because he's so smart
and you know, he did it three times against New
Orleans last week twice it you know, it worked out
for me through back across his body late to ceiling
and then once just kind of scrambling through and up
in the air to ceiling. And another time it was
(29:07):
picked off. So New Orleans really only capitalized once on
the the three kind of really really, you know, bone
Hill he did careless place. So you know, if he
can minimize that successful against the Eagles defense, but he
hasn't shown to do it. He's done it a lot
this year, and so the Eagles. The Eagles want to win,
they've got to capitalize on that stuff. But cases playing
(29:29):
at such a good, consistent level, it's you know, both
those guys, it's a credit to them for kind of
sticking with it and playing at a high level. Alright,
last thing you tweeted out about Mike Munchak getting fired,
dani Roulovsky joining his fam on Twitter has verified accounts
at dani Ulovsky seven. I'll quote see Mike Mike Malarkey.
I'm sorry, I was Mike mclarkey got fired in in
(29:50):
uh in Tennessee, and you put, I hate to see
when good people get fired. To think of finding somebody
to just have Mario to run the ball is the
answer is the disaster he'll last or games he would survive,
he would thrive in a similar offense to Jared Goff.
So if it is Brayble and it's been rumored to
be vable as their head coach, can he get an
oc who runs that sort of scheme? Dn you you
(30:13):
know guys that scheme that way. Is there somebody that
you would hand pick for a young quarterback like Marcus
Mariota to be uh to be in his ear and
teaching him a new offense. Yeah, So there's a guy
that I was, you know, Matt Lafleur I had with
the Rams. I was in Houston. Yep, he's the offensive
coordinated with the Rams. I had him maybe seven or
(30:34):
years ago. Is a quality control guy with the Houston
Texans when I was down there and he was just
learning his way through the system and built his career
up and then went to Atlanta and had some success
with the Rams last year. And I know Sean McVeigh
was really the guy. But at some point Sean McVeigh
got his opportunity, and at some point Matt Laford needs
(30:55):
to get his opportunity. He he really this is his
strength he understands how to attack defenses. Now, you never
know how good of a play caller a guy is
until he actually has to do it. But I would
say this, if you no under if you know how
to understand, if you understand and know how to attack defenses,
and you come from if you come from good teaching
(31:15):
and how to be dynamic and creative, which is you
know what I think Mariota needs. He needs this. You know,
I kind of liken him to like a next level
Jake Plumber, a more dynamic Jake Plumber where you get
him on the edges of bunch, But it's not it's
it's more more creative than just springing him out and
running two routes. You know, just as dynamic and creative
as you can be with some ball fakes and play
(31:36):
actions and pocket movement stuff. So La Floor is the
one guy that I go that I know at least
that I've been around and going, well, that guy understands
how to attack defenses, you understand how to be creative.
And he's also watched for a couple of years of
college Shanahan and Sean McVeigh doing it at the highest level.
So you know that's the question that I have is
if it's bradle can brable? Can he get someone like
(31:57):
that for Marcus? I would guess that there's some sort
of package deal, right like you can't uh there there.
You know, you don't get a job like that unless
you have an answer to that very question. We'll see
what that answer is, Dan or last, Dan, great, great job,
Thanks so much for joining us and giving us your
perspective in the NFL. Yeah, thank you for hearving me man,
I truly appreciate it. Be sure to catch live editions
(32:17):
of The Doug gott Leap Show weekdays at three pm
Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I
Heart Radio app. He's got his own radio show on
Sirius xm uh. He of course, writes for Bleacher Report.
He is a A A A A pot pourri of
knowledge of Smorgasborg of wisdom. He is Rick Buker from
Bleach Report. He joins us on the Doug Gottleap Show.
(32:40):
Uh Bukle, Let's let's start with the alonzo and LaVar stuff.
It is curious that a lonzo, I know he sat
out last game against Memphis, gonna sit out the night
against Oklahoma City but he's been playing better with his
dad out of the country. Do you think there's a correlation.
I don't know. Probably. I also find it interesting that
(33:01):
since the last salvo with regarding Luke Walton, the LaVar
has been relatively quiet. I haven't heard him say anything. Additionally,
and well, I'm not convinced that Alonso has said anything
to him, and I don't know that the Lakers can
say anymore than they already have. I wonder whether at
this point the league has stepped in and said, you
(33:22):
want your kid to be part of our you know,
the promotions that we have on a national basis, you
want us to consider, uh, Alonso is for for the
commercials that we do, or we use all the top players.
You need to stop doing what you're doing because you're
hurting the Lakers. And if you're hurting the Lakers, you're
hurting our product and we're not going to have you
(33:43):
do that. Yeah. Look, I think part of it is
Jeff Goodman. Isn't there anymore right that ESPN pulled him
off that that that so, so there's no there's no
real outlet to get his to get his message back. Um,
and uh, I think that's probably the biggest thing what
UM is is that act is LaVar act. Do you
(34:05):
think that would hinder the chances of the Lakers landing Lebron?
I think it could. I think it's a factor. I
think it's a consideration. UM. There's obviously gonna be a
number of things that go into that. But look, Alonzo's ability,
the way, the shape of that team, who the coaches, UM.
I would say all of those elements are going to
(34:27):
be greater factors. But imagine that when there's a conversation
between Lebron and Rob or Rich Paul, who may be
having this conversation right now in Rob Blinka's office, probably
know because he stopped by regularly having contagious called woll
Pope on the team. At least that's what I've heard, Uh,
that that conversation about you know what, what? Where? Where's
(34:51):
LaVar going to sit in this universe? I mean, as
we know, Lebron and LaVar have already exchanged words and
uh and opinions, and they weren't kind ones. I don't
know that it's anything. I can't look at it as
something that would stop Lebron, but it would be certainly
something that he would want addressed before he signed on
the dotted line, what have you heard about the state
(35:13):
of the calvs locker room after the final score? And
the look the game was tied the fourth quarter, but
it didn't. It wasn't as close as the score would
tell you, right, it felt it felt like cat playing
with mouse a little bit. What have you heard about
what's really going on inside that Cleveland locker room? It's
kind of that's what the Warriors have been doing all
year long. Then. I don't know that they've played great basketball,
(35:35):
but they just have a starting four that when they're
on the floor unhealthy, uh, and the and the familiarity
that that team has. They're just they're they're they're hard
to beat, and they're not they're not playing great basketball.
And I questioned, I think they're vulnerable too. But to
answer your question, UM, they're simply Um, I don't think
(35:56):
it's I think it's being blown a little out of proportion.
But the chemistry there, and this started from the very
beginning of the season. In the composition of this team.
You brought in, uh some really uh distinct personalities that
the guys that were there and won a championship with
Lebron we're going to have to move over and make
(36:17):
room for and uh and guys that are signing one
year deal. So from the beginning, UH, there was an
impetus for this thing to be successful and successful right
from the start, to keep everybody on the same page
and interested. And I'll and I'll put it this way
for for you, for you, Doug, or for anybody out there.
(36:37):
You're on a you're you're on a one year deal,
you're on a you're you're on the last year of
your contract, and you're looking at the possibility of going
someplace else. Um, if if things are not going well,
you're gonna be looking, You're gonna be spending a little
more time, a little more thought on where's my next move?
(36:58):
What am I doing next? And there's some of that
from what I understand, that's creeping in to the calves
right now, which is like, uh, you know, that's derec
Rows being hurt and he's trying to figure things out.
Isaiah Thomas, you know, I thought this was gonna be
an issue from the very beginning. He's a free agent
this summer. He wants to get paid, he wants to
prove that his hip is okay. He's not thinking first
(37:21):
and foremost, how do I fit in with Lebron? And
and you know, what's my role on this team? It's
kind of like, how do I prove to everybody that
I'm a player? You can do that on certain teams
and be okay, but with this one with Dwyane Wade
trying to find his place, j R. Smith trying to
find his place next to Dwyane Wade, Tristan Thompson trying
to figure out how he fits in, Kevin Love trying
(37:43):
to figure out the center positions, and then people are
talking about they're gonna make another move to add another
different piece to this. I just don't see any easy solutions.
And and honestly, you know where it all starts, the
fact that Lebron. You don't know what Lebron is doing
next year. I mean, nobody's committing long term, nobody's mentally
thinking we're all in. Everybody was like, I don't have
(38:03):
anything better. I got a chance of a ring, Let's
give it a shot. It's only one year, but Lebron.
The uncertainty surrounding Lebron is there's no doubt that that's
impacting people. Whether it's subliminally over or or overtly with
that entire Calves organization. Rick Bucker joining us from bleacher Report.
(38:24):
Also Serious Sex M Bleacher Report Radio. It's Doug Otlip Show,
Fox Sports Radio. Okay, so uh this is a continue
to be fascinating to me. The lebron things and too
many specialists on that team. But one thing that I
think might you might have mentioned that people missed you
mentioned starting four, Like the Warriors aren't They don't appear
(38:46):
to be as that bench is not as good as
it has been. Okay, and I think people are like
kind of given a pass and like, look, they did win,
but Draymond didn't hit a shot and with all the
with all the tussling between players and referees, like he's
just one, you know, one nasty looking against the ref
(39:06):
to getting the technical getting ejected for the big game.
Are they in the market to go to go make
an addition here late in the season. I haven't heard
that from the Warriors, but I've heard from around the league,
and I've been asked by people around the league because
they believe that the Warriors have to be But the
Warriors need to go out and get a dynamic player
and you're a hundred percent right. I heard somebody saying
(39:28):
last night that the Warriors were better than you know,
better than they were last year, and I couldn't couldn't
disagree with that more. Uh. Andrea I Gudala has fallen
off and shooting from three point range. Sehn Livingston doesn't
look the same. And his demeanor, I don't know what
it is. His demeanor just hasn't been the same. He's
usually a really bright, uh personality in the locker room.
(39:48):
He hasn't. He hasn't been that. Jordan Bell is demonstrating that, Uh,
you know, the stage right now, this stage, the regular
season stage is sometimes too big for him. You can't
out that that he's going to be able to deliver
in the postseason and play a meaningful role. Uh. Nick
Young hasn't been you know, has been. Nick Young hasn't
(40:09):
hasn't stepped forward. Um. No, I think they're I think
they are vulnerable, um as much as I think that
the Calves are vulnerable for different reasons. Uh. That first
four has to be healthy at the end of the year,
and they have to be, you know, all hands on
deck for if this Warrior's team is going to is
(40:29):
going to get it done, and they can um if
those first four are there, but the margin of air
has certainly been minimized. Bucau I said this. Look, I
think the Celtics meant well by by having a video
Frisiah Thomas, I really do. I think they felt bad
and I think they meant well to to Paul Pierce
for having his jersey retirement night, you know, not on
(40:52):
on a night in which you play the Hawks, right,
having on a big night when you play the Calves.
So the place is full and there's some juice, and
it's on Ashton TV. Like all all of that sense.
Stuff makes sense. But and look, and some of this
is on Pierce because he said some things that I
know he felt and then a lot of people felt.
But you don't have to be the one let KG
say the bad thing, right. Let I know he's always
(41:18):
been that guy. But I feel like, in an effort
to make everybody happy, Boston has made Paul Pierce look
really really small in this thing, and that was not
their intent. No, I agree, I agree with that, But
like this is this has been Paul's whole career. He's
always been the salty dude who says something and you
and you and you look at it and you go,
(41:39):
you know what, He's right, But God, did he have
to say it? Did he have to say it now?
And did he have to say it this way? I mean,
this is this is why I can't I can't be
that mad about it, because Paul is just being through
to who he's been from the very beginning, and it
does make things awkward. I will go back to Isaiah,
(41:59):
you're coming back to first time. They want to do
a video tribute to you. You're not even playing, which
is an advantage because now you don't have the the
emotional tumult of having this video and whatever you're feeling
about the Celtics organization. And then you have to go
on the floor and play. It's clean. You just you
get the video tribute, You get the way to the crowd,
(42:19):
you get appreciated, and then you have to deal with
anything else. And that he would say no, that he
would say no to a video tribute, That's that's where
it all starts from me, Like, come on, man, it's
you weren't there that long. They appreciate what you did,
what you went through, that you were you know, you
(42:40):
pulled on on heart strings in Boston. They want to
acknowledge that, and then you're gonna kind of get you know,
choosye and say, you know what not tonight. I just
that's that's where I think this whole thing went wrong.
I tend to agree with you um my thoughts on
these the fights and the meet me outside stuff is
(43:01):
while it's entertaining, right, uh Like, at some point Adam Silver,
who everybody likes, has to be more respected, right Like, again,
I don't. You don't have to be David Stern and
be heavy handed and and be abrupt right and do
things just just for the sake of being being nasty.
On the other hand, like, look, somebody gets into a
(43:22):
fight and breaks a hand, breaks an eye socket, or
you know, a fan gets involved, it just turns ugly.
Everything about the league is pointing upward, like upward trajectory
and revenue and in spirit, and everybody loves the league.
Am I wrong to think that these are signs? And
then you have the players and the officials and some
of and and how and the relationship between the two,
(43:44):
and how nasty that's gotten in your mind? Is it
time for Adam Silver to step in and tell people
enough is enough just go ahead and play basketball and
have a good time. Yeah, I think there is some
of that. I think there's coming down hard in this
situation because while the personalities involved weren't going to take
it too far. Uh. In another instance, if you don't
really crack down hard, then you have some other guys
(44:06):
that are going to the other locker room and um
and and and they are going to do something uh
and and something's going to get out of hand. So
you want to send the message don't even think about
doing this and sending the message to the teams that
if you have a guy that you think might be
headed to the other locker room, you need to get
everybody on board and play red rover, red rover. He's
(44:27):
not getting through uh, which you know in this case,
I don't think anybody anticipated that the Trevor Trevor was
going to head over to the other locker room and
uh and that was you know, ultimately a mistake. He
shouldn't have gotten should have try not to let him
out of the locker room. Uh. So I do think
that he has to send a message. I think also, look,
I appreciate the players feel more empowered than they ever
(44:50):
have before, and they're using their voices in a variety
of ways that they didn't previously. And I applaud all
of that. I'm happy to see it. But as a result, um,
I think they're using it in ways that damage the
private that can be negative as well. And this comes
especially with the referees. I don't I don't know about you.
(45:12):
I don't notice anything distinctly different about the referees, what
they're doing and how they're dealing with guys. Uh, that's
distinctly different. The numbers say there aren't more technicals, there
aren't more objections. I find it interesting that it's the
the Kevin Durance and Chris Paul's who previously didn't have
(45:33):
a high tech number or objection number, that these these
are the guys that are are are feeling it. And
I think in some ways, and Katie said this to
me in a piece I did earlier in a year,
like they are feeling more empowered. He said, you know,
we've reached a place where we we have a platform
and we feel like our voices not only can be heard,
but should be heard. And I think they're taking that
(45:55):
to the referees, and I think there has to just
be a Honestly, there's the broadcast crews meet with the
coaches before the game. I wish you'd have the officials
sit down for five ten minutes with the coaches and
the captains before games and have a conversation about how
the games, you know, what they're anticipating, what they'd like
to see, etcetera. And you have that communication and people
(46:18):
understand what the you know, what the the refs have
on they're played on their end, and the and the
refs have a little better understanding of what the where
the players and the coaches are. I think a lot
of this would go away. Yeah, but I do think
it needs to go go away. I really really do.
Uh look like so many good things going on the league. Yeah,
I don't think it's about like I don't think things
(46:40):
are you know, Haywire. But as you said, the league
is looking so good right now. Why you know why
muddy the Waters was something that that honestly could be
taken care of, uh, rather simply because I'm just not buying,
you know, I'm not buying. Do do certain referees you know,
are their personal classes? Yeah, that's going all the way
(47:02):
back to Charles Barkley. And Mike Mathis. I mean that's
probably that's just human nature that those things are going
to exist. In reference to Draymond Green, but that the
that the referees are like out to get guys, or
that they're you know, that they're they're officiating the game
in some distinctly different way. I'm just not seeing it.
I'm with you. Rick Buker from Bleacher Report readers work
(47:25):
on LaVar and Lonzo ballm what people around the NBA
are saying, great stuff, Thanks for joining us. 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. Todd Haley
is out as out as offensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Stealers.
(47:46):
That like, that's like the worst camp secrets in the
NFL was that Haley and Big Ben didn't get along.
But but you know, part of it. What what's amazing
about it. What's amazing about it is I get that
that life is in fact a popularity contest. It just
is alright, like you can fudge numbers to be whatever
you want, and like, look we can sit here and go, well,
(48:08):
you know, Todd Haley is really hard to work with,
and he's this, and he's that, and boy he had
Levy on bell split out wide. First series of the game.
Didn't they score forty two points? Right? Like they scored four?
They did? Music checked the score. I believe the final
score was forty forty two when in Jacksonville beat the
Pittsburgh Steelers two? Is that correct? Uh? Doug? That is correct? Okay?
(48:33):
And and then when they when they lost to Jacksonville
at home, did Todd Haley throw five interceptions or did
Ben Roethlisberger throw five interceptions last time? I my stats
say that it was Ben Roethlisberger. This just in, Doug,
that is confirmed. It was Ben Roethlisberger. I appreciate that,
thanks for looking that up. That is our crack staff team,
not our staff team that's on crack. Although there was
(48:55):
that one time in college to where music was experiment.
This just send Doug back on the crack. Okay, back
on the crack. The point is that like we can
crush Todd Haley, and everyone knew that he was gonna
get fired. And I told you, I told you last week.
We put it on Twitter. Music has nothing to do
on the weekends, doesn't pay attention to his girlfriend. He
tweeted it out on our account. Uh during the game, like, hey,
(49:18):
they go, they go down, heads are gonna roll because
that's how little people think. Frankly at Blake Portles. But
Blake Portles lights them up. They gave up forty five points. Really,
they gave up what thirty five? Thirty five points because
Big Bend fumbles and it was a run back for
a touchdown. Pittsburgh score forty two points and their offensive
coordinator gets fired. Like that's remarkable. I mean, look, I
(49:44):
saw what we saw it coming. And um, you know,
Todd Haley is a guy I don't even you guys know.
He played golf in college and then coached golf after
college at North Texas and North North Florida. Excuse me,
His dad was a front office guy with the Giants,
got him his first job, worked his way up head
coach at kans City, got fired Kana City. But he
(50:04):
grew up in Pittsburgh. That's how he got this gig.
It was never a great fit, but still like there
was a lot of points put up on the board
for a guy to get fired. There was more to
it than that. But isn't it interesting that if you
don't think life is a popularity contest, Matt Patricia is
gonna get a job. He's the defensive coordinator of the
(50:26):
New England Patriots. The Patriots have the twenty ninth ranked
defense in the league. Right Todd Haley just got fired
his offensive coordinator. His team put up forty two points
in his last game. Is offensive coordinator against arguably the
best defense, or one of the top two or three
defense in the NFL. Now we saw it coming. I'm
(50:48):
not saying I'm stunned, but I'm just telling life, my friends,
is a popularity contest.
This is the best of the Doug Gottlip Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Boom, What Up America? Doug got Leave
Show Fox Sports Radio Today, Coming to you from the
Treasure Valley. Man, you say treasure value like I'm in
Where is that Boise, Idaho? Where you can hear our
(00:22):
show daily on Sports Radio six. Story of the Fan
Poise special. Thanks to everybody here who has laid out
the red carpet. There's literally red carpet here. I don't
know if there was a dead body or what, but
there's a big red, red carpet. Blood stain all over
this carpet. Welcome in. Speaking of blood, there blood blood
on the hands of Ben Roethlisberger, even though he doesn't
(00:42):
want blood on his hands. Daniel Jeremiah from the NFL
Network will join us upcoming in fifteen minutes. Uh. We
got a ton to get to, ton to get to
We got the Pittsburgh Steelers getting rid of Todd Haley,
which I hate to say, I told you I don't
really hate to say. I told you so. I told
you so, and I told you so and it was
not a surprise. But there's a there's a lot to it.
(01:04):
Could Bruce Arians be brought back. Is that that crazy
to think of? UM? Anyway, so we got some football
to discuss, plus games that are upcoming. But I wanted
to get to this topic to begin. So Paul Pierce's
number is going to be retired by the Boston Celtics,
and kudos to the Celtics were retiring Paul Pierce's number. UM.
(01:28):
I don't know if I've shared this fact with you guys,
but Pierce was actually my roommate at abc D camp
back when Peregrine I a kid in four summer nineteen four.
Paul Pierce, who had beaten my team. He was a sophomore.
People didn't know him. He was a center. He's kind
of chubby anyway, he played for Inglewood High School. By
(01:49):
the time we were entering our senior year, he was
one of the top ten players in California. UM. And
then by the time after we got done with this camp,
this abc D camp, which used to be that Nike
camp with the two biggest camps, UM, he became one
of the top ten players in the country. And I
remember I was his roommate and he would talk about
(02:11):
himself and he and he was kind of half sark
he was sarcastic, but you know, with sarcasm is like
there's always a good portion of it which he believes
to be the truth, right, And he said, I'm one
of the great I'm gonna be one of the greatest
players to ever play in the NBA. And you know, look,
do I put him in the Kobe variety? No? But
(02:32):
do I do I put him in? Obviously not in
that Lebron and Magic and Michael and but or no
to the Kobe, but like, to be an all time
great with the Boston Celtics is a pretty supreme honor. Um.
So the Boston Celtics are going to retire his number
number thirty four on February eleven, that just so happens
(02:56):
to coincide with when they play the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now,
they planned to show a brief video tribute to Isaiah
Thomas uh in like the in the introductions to that game.
Of course, Thomas was traded in the off season. As
you guys know, he played u two and a half
(03:18):
seasons with the Boston Celtics. His best season of his
career last year twenty nine points a game. They had
the best record in the Eastern Conference. Of course he
got hurt or his hip was so bad he couldn't
continue in the Eastern Conference Finals, and then he was
summarily traded before the season began. You guys know this story.
So in an effort to make Paul Pierce or an
(03:41):
effort to honor Paul Pierce by retiring his number, which
is the most supreme honor that any sports team, any
sports franchise can give you. And then you're talking about
the Boston Celtics. That's Bob Couzy, that's Bill Russell, that's
John havel check, right, that's Larry Bird, that's Robert Parrish. Like,
(04:05):
that's Kevin McHale, Like you you're that's basketball royalty. They
have what do they have? Seventeen NBA titles? Seventeen NBA titles.
Paul Pierce's number is going to hang from the raptors
at Boston Garden, kid from Inglewood High School who didn't
start his sophomore year, was playing center and made himself
(04:25):
into one of the great players ever at Kansas and
one of the greatest ever Boston self. He's like, that's
an amazing story. In an effort to honor him, they've
actually kind of made him look like a d bag.
That's true. That's because he's come out and some of
the people he's played with have come out and uh
(04:46):
and said some things that he believes to be true,
and he is honest about in terms of honoring him,
giving him a night and giving a video tribute to
Isaiah Thomas in the same night. He said this yesterday,
Danny and I talked about it for forty minutes. He
told me this is what we planned. At the end
(05:06):
of the conversation, he said, if you don't want us
to do Isaiah, we won't. So I told him I
really don't and that was it. That's how he left it. Um.
Isaiah Thomas took to Twitter and said, I'd like to
thank the Celtics for their gracious offer to play a
video tribute on February eleven, celebrating my three years in Boston.
But since it appears that this has caused some controversy
(05:27):
with Paul Pierce's night, I'd ask the Celtics instead to
focus all their attention on Number thirty four's career. Pierce
went on, Thomas had a shot at being honored. You
can't you came to Boston, whether you're playing or not
you should have had your tribute then. I just don't
see how if someone is having a jersey retirement, they're
(05:48):
going to be running other tributes to other players. Danny
tried to sell me on it, but I told him
he had his shot. Danny and he punked punked, uh,
punked you on it. He pretty much dictated everything. They
let it happen because they felt sorry about how the
trade to Cleveland went down. It's guilt, that's what it is.
Ain said yesterday that Thomas intended all along to bow
(06:10):
out of the video tribute once he learned of Paul
Pierce's reservations. Okay, look, I'm calling bs on what Isaiah
Thomas did. KG slammed in. Paul Pierce slammed it. But
this makes Paul Pierce look small, doesn't he? Like? You know,
you can't share the spotlight for a little one and
a half two minute tribute to a guy that played
for the Boston Celtics. But it's his Night's Paul Pierce night. Now. Look,
(06:38):
could Isaiah Thomas say the same thing? Look, you could
have said you didn't want to be traded when they
traded you in one of the great all time heist trades.
They traded you Kevin Garnett and Jason Carried to the
Brooklyn Nets for a treasure trove of of draft micks.
You could have said that absolutely would have been well
within inbounds for you to say that, uh um Gen
(07:02):
Rondo came out, What has he Thomas done? Oh? That
will we celebrate around here? When he was told he
took him to the Eastern Conference finals. This is the
Boston Celtics. This isn't the Phoenix Suns. No disrespect to
any other organization, but the Celtics don't hand don't hang
conference title banners. Wow. Now, look, if it's if I'm
(07:26):
Paul Pierce, the advice I would have given to him,
and I know he's in the media, and Paul has
never been shy with his feelings. And one of the
things that makes Paul great is he just says what
he thinks. But he should have allowed Rondo and KG
and anyone else to fight his battles, and he should
have been at least outwardly gracious whatever they want to do.
I'm just honored to have my jersey number retired. But
(07:47):
the true villain, and this is the Boston Celtics. How
could you have not seen this to be a problem,
you know, I mean it's this is a lot like, uh,
you you're asked to come speak at your high school,
and you know Tony Robbins is also speaking, Like we
(08:07):
want you to be the keynote speaker. We do have
another speaker. You get there, like, we do have another
speaker on the docket. Who is it Tony Robbins? How
am I gonna compete with Tony Robbins? This is Paul Pierre.
I don't I actually don't blame Paul Pierce. It is
his night, Like if if you think enough of me
(08:29):
to give me my own night and to pre plan
it and to make it against the Calves, which is interesting, right,
Like I I get the idea. I kind of like
the idea of it because you know it would be
nationally televised and Lebron there in the place being packed,
like all of that stuff would will will work? Um
And maybe you know he didn't play his entire career
(08:51):
with just one team. He actually end up playing with
four teams, finished up with the Clippers after a stint
with the Wizards, and then the Nets before that. But
this is this is one of those things to which
the opposite of the intended consequences take place. This is
not the law of unintended consequence, is the actual opposite
(09:11):
of the intention of the Boston Celtics was only to
honor Paul Pierce. That's it. There is no greater honor
in sports than having your number retired, none more so
than even Hall of Fame. I mean that that no
one in that organization can wear my number. That's pretty cool.
(09:33):
And yet the Celtics like, hey, by the way, we
want to run a little video trip. Like, no, dude,
I brought every family member, every friend, any person that
at my high school. Coach Roy Williams will probably be there.
He'll bring everybody there. That's my night, right by night.
This is when I have a friend who he'll remain nameless.
(09:56):
But I remember, you know, sometimes people in my industry
we get asked to do too MC events. And he
was m seeing Providences preseason basketball banquet, and the banquet
was about Providence basketball and they said, hey, listen, we
need you to be here an hour early. He was
a little bit late, so you could kip it with people,
(10:17):
shake some hands, kiss some babies, and then we need
you know, a thirty second to sixty two intro video.
He brought with him a five five minute highlight tape
of his career at a different university. It was just awkward.
It didn't take away from the Providence Friars being recognized.
But what it was was it made it about him
(10:37):
for at least a short period time. And that's the
whole lack of that thought wasn't the attent of the night.
And so now when I when I read you what
Paul Pierce is saying, man, he had, like Paul Pierre
said a little bit of nonsense. He had his chance,
he dictated his terms whatever. Like, Look, he's not totally wrong.
I mean, it was Isaiah Thomas who chose not to
(10:59):
play in the Eastern Conference Finals because his hip was
just too painful. Right, He could have kind of gritted
it out and played through it, but he wanted to
protect the future of his career. I can't totally blame him,
but you know, he did not play actually in those
East in the last two games the Eastern Conference Finals,
and like a regular season accomplishment, I'm not really sure
(11:21):
what that matters. Like everything worked out perfectly for him.
He's gonna make more money in this offseason than anyone
ever could have thought possible for Isaiah Thomas an NBA uniform,
even though he's struggling with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and all
of that said, Isaiah Thomas didn't want to play last
time around because it was his second game back, and
he chose to take that day off. So they didn't
(11:41):
do a video tribute the first time. They tried to
sneak it in this time. And he's a guy who
didn't play form the last two games of his career
because his hip hurt. But I read you those quotes
and Paul Pierce kind of sounds like a dB. And
yet if you actually think of it, if it's a
night dedicated to you, why do you got to spend
a couple of minutes putting a video onto somebody else.
(12:04):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug gott
Leaps Show weekdays at three p m. Eastern noon Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
Drew Brees a free agent, and he came out and
said that he doesn't want to be anywhere else. Now,
if you think that what these guys say, it's what
they actually mean. I give you Ben Roethlisberger, who everyone everyone,
(12:28):
I believe, wanted Todd Haley out. He and Todd Haley
didn't get along for a while, and though at times
it was a relationship to which they could function, when
things went badly, Haley's out of a job and bending up.
Roethlisberger has already said he's coming back, but Big Ben
said two days ago, Hey, I don't really want any
(12:48):
I don't think we should make any changes, So the
team fires Todd Haley. If you think that's if Ben
really meant that. Do you think for a second that
if Ben Rothsburg really wanted Todd Haley as his offensive coordinator,
he wouldn't still be his offensive coordinator, right to come on?
Come on? Um. Drew Brees actually a free agent at
(13:12):
the end of this season, which is now obviously, he
had this to say yesterday as to where he'll play
next year two days ago, the same where twelve years ago.
That is that I'll be here as long as they'll happen.
Hopefull I'll be here as long as they'll have me.
But he is a free agent, and who wouldn't I mean, like, look,
(13:35):
there's Arizona out there. Um, the Giants could be out there.
The Jets need a quarterback, the Browns need a quarterback.
I mean you kind of go through this list and
you're like, wow, there's a lot of teams that could
that could use it. His most recent one year contracts
(13:55):
extension was worth twenty four point to five million dollars,
was the fourth average salary in the NFL this year.
So he'd been getting paid and the Saints are like, look,
we'd love to have you, but probably gonna have to
value back. Some probably gonna have the value back. So
there's multiple places that he could go. I mean, how
(14:17):
he could go to Minnesota and they get rid of
all three of those guys, he go to Minnesota next year.
So Drew Brees a free agent. But the problem with
the idea of Drew Brees going elsewhere is it's tricky.
It's tricky for the Saints because they can't they can't
give him a huge, long term deal. He's small, there's
some limitations to him, he doesn't play as well outside. Um,
(14:44):
you know, they're just how long a deal you're going
to give him? How much money are you going to
give him? Because at some point he will start to
fade if he didn't. If they didn't kind of protect
him this year, he may have already faded already. And
yet you can't embarrass him, you aunt low ball, and
you can't give him such a little money that you
don't recognize him as Drew Brees. Do. I think it
(15:05):
gets worked out. I do, And that's because first, Breeze
is in a tough spot, right, Breeze is one of
these guys. It's like you've been married a long time
and the girl that you always wanted to ask, always
wanted to take out in uh in high school has
just now become available. But like, dude, you're in a relationship. Yeah,
(15:26):
relationship is not going great. That's okay, You're in a relationship.
You just can't. You can't. So you can't galivant around
the country going to Arizona. You can't go to Denver
and say hey, what if you can't go to the
Jets and say how much would it be worth to you?
You can't go to Cleveland and and put yourself out there.
(15:48):
You just can't. Can you? Sure you can? Like, I
mean there's married guys out there that they're they flirt
and they're just like, hey, I'm just being friendly. I'm
just flirting. End of the day, I'm coming back. Um,
But make no mistake about it. He wants to get paid.
And while Kirk Cousins is much younger than him, there's
(16:09):
twenty nine, Teddy Bridgewater is only Sam Bradford did have
a great game, Matt Moore, Brian Fitzpatrick, Case Chase Chase,
Daniel brock, Oswallow. These are the guys he's competing against
in free agency. So he is the biggest, boldest name
(16:32):
outside of Garoppolo, who we know well either be franchised,
will be signed for a long term deal. And what
the Saints do, Like, Look, I think Breeze is Um,
he's forever, forever tied to the Saints. He's their greatest
ever player, right Like, Look, could you imagine this scenario
(16:53):
which he goes elsewhere, He goes to Arizona and reinvents himself,
or he goes to Denver with that defense, Yeah I could.
I could see it, and you bring it. Maybe then
the Saints trade for Eli Manning and bring Eli home
for his last couple of years. Yeah, I could see it.
I can see it, um, But um, what I can't
(17:20):
see is the reality of him leaving New Orleans as
their greatest ever football player. 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. Here's the guy you can
follow on Twitter at uh Dan Orlovsky seven at Dan
(17:42):
Orlovski seven Like, oh I remember Dan Olavsky. Uh yeah,
longtime quarterback in the National Football Eight kind of have
to join some join us and uh give us some
analysis in the quarterback position? Uh? Dan, were we all
wrong about portals? Or did he just play out of
his mind on Sunday? I think it's the ladder. I
think he played out of his mind. You know, he's
(18:05):
got this defense that can play at such a high
level that he doesn't have much pressure on him. So
you can go be a little bit more aggressive of
a little bit more free with this play because he knows. Man,
if I've turned it over, my defense has got my back.
The defense is getting them turnovers an opportunistic situations and positions.
So yeah, I think they're utilizing your talent pretty good
(18:26):
and personnel and they're running the ball letter which makes
it easier obviously on the corner quarterback, I don't anticipate
him to go up to you know, Gillette this weekend
and light the world on fire. But you know, I
just think it's it's a product of his defense being
so good that he's allowed to play a little bit freer,
and sometimes that leads to pretty good play, and sometimes
that leads to you know, bigger mistakes, and it's kind
(18:47):
of that roller coaster ride for him. Yeah. I mean, like, look,
the week before he ended up kind of winning the
game with his feet running the football when he threw
the ball so poorly, seemed to lose a lot of
confidence even in this throwing, whereas this past week he
kept taking some shots down the field and finally hit
some That's where had his confidence. Um confidence a just
a huge part. Give me your sense. I look the
(19:08):
past defense not great against the past, not great against
the run. It feels like they short but they shorten
the game. Try to give it to Leonard four Nette,
get get him into third and manageable, and then you
decide if you're gonna let let him loose. Is that
probably the game plan? Well, you know, knowing having played
against Belichick and kind of knowing the storyline of him,
I don't anticipate Belichick going, Okay, well we're gonna, you know,
(19:32):
figure out a way to get them in the third
and short. I think he's gonna obviously go okay, Leonard Fournette,
you're doing nothing against us and working to test and
challenge Blake Bortles to push the ball downfield. You know.
Lastly against the Steelers, Jacksonville did a really good job
of early on kind of keep doing some naked and
getting the ball out of Blake's hands and situations early
(19:52):
on with easy throws. I don't anticipate in New England
allowing him to do that either. So the thing that
I think Jacksonville has is and they showed it once
last week. They had this kind of trick play, you know,
where they faked an inside run down in the red
zone and he blest the fullback on the linebacker and
he goes down the middle of the field. You know.
In the NFL, coaches have these trick plays that they
(20:14):
practice all throughout the year, and they have this kind
of bag or three or four or five of them,
and they always want to call them if the situation
throughout the season presents itself, and Jacksonville really hasn't had
many of them this year, just because the situation probably
hasn't presented itself. I think that if Jacksonville really wants to,
you know, breed some confidence into their team, into their offense,
(20:35):
I'm unloading the bag of tricks that I have early
on because my best chance to go up there and win,
especially offensively, is to try and jump up early on them.
And I don't anticipate them doing this methodical stuff as
an offense going first down, second and seven, third and four,
and I don't think Belichick is gonna allow him to
do it. So that is, you know, I think it's
the best way to get Borders to go play well.
(20:57):
Danilobski joining us in the Doug Gotlib Show. What about
what about Tom Brady and his matchup against the Jags defense?
Right Like, all we've ever been told is if you
can get pressure up the middle, get him off his spot,
he can. You can manage him as a quarterback, you can.
He'll miss on some throws. We saw it last year
in the first half of the Super Bowl against the Falcons,
first three quarters. Really, we saw it against Miami couple
(21:19):
weeks ago. Does Jacksonville's defense, especially they're front forward they
fit the blueprint for what it takes to force him
off that spot. Oh they're the one team in the
NFL that fits it, you know. I mean, like you said,
the narrative is rush four, get home with those guys
and cover with seven. Everyone knows the formula, but very
few people have the ability to actually go execute. Very
(21:41):
few people. You know, teams don't have the humans to
go do it. It It sounds good until the whistle blows.
So those bots up incredibly well, you know, topped the
bottom there. Fun is incredibly athletics, fast and big. They've
got linebackers. You know, Newington obviously loves to use their
backs well. Telvin Smith and Myles Jacker is athletics as
any linebacker duo in the league. So they match up
(22:02):
there well. On the outside, they've got the physical corners
that could go and get in your face. They've got
could safeties, you know. The matchup for me, you know,
I think New England is probably gonna try and play
with tempo like they do. They'll spread them out quick
throws with Brady and play with tempo with Jacksonville. I
don't think Jason has nothing to lose, and so I
think defensive because they're gonna go, Okay, well, if that's
(22:24):
the game you guys want to play, let's do it.
And they're gonna get up in their faces that their
receivers and get physical. The variable that I think Jacksonville
really can benefit from his so many teams question of
how are we gonna treat Grounk? No one has a
Damn Ramsey And he's right now, head and shoulders, the
best corner and really back end player in the NFL
(22:45):
right now, and he's a guy that you know, Jacksonville
really wants to go, Okay, we're not gonna let Gronk
beat us. I see them putting Jalen Ramsey on Gronk
as much as they can and man and man situations
because you know, Gronk do is such a good job
of getting open because he's got those little nuances that
receivers do. He can use his elbow and create space.
He'll lean on guys and create space. And it's either
(23:08):
a safety is too little to do it or a
linebacker is too big to kind of run with them. Well,
Jalen is big enough to handle that stuff, and he's
smart enough to know, okay, his stem on his route
is trying to get open this way, or he's trying
to lean on the this stuff. So I think that's
gonna be in Jackson's Lille's favor and they just match up, well,
they have the formula to do it, and then they
(23:28):
have the ability to go execute the formula. It's gonna
be a good matchup. Yeah, it's interesting the ground thing.
Everyone's saying, put Jalen Ramsey on him, But isn't there
a doesn't that doesn't that in any way take away
from who Jacksonville is, especially considering gront can line up
uh as a tight end. You know, he can be
in motion in the backfield, he can split out wide
(23:49):
like they can move him around. Can't that screw up
the rest of the Jags defense? Well, you have a
rule where hey, if he's ever in the backfield or
if he's extended, Jalen, you've got him. If he's on
the line of scrimmage, then you have a backer cover them.
But here's the thing, so New England always, you know,
every coach in the NFL says, you know, during the
regular season, well, this is a process. We want to
(24:09):
trust the process and we want to get better. And
then they get into the the postseason and then it's
listen we known more is that our narrative. Our narrative
is to figure out an exact game plan of how
to execute and goin. And if you watch them in Tennessee,
they moved Gronk around. They got Gronk in some crazy matchups,
and I wish more teams had that mindset in the postseason.
(24:31):
So if I'm Jacksonville, I'm gonna listen, this is the
best way for us to match up. And if Jalen
can cover Gronk, if Brady's gonna throw at fifty times
and Jalen Ramsey's on Gronk to forty of them, does
that give us our best chance to win against the Patriots.
It may not work against other teams, and it may
have to change a little bit of who we are,
but to beat the Patriots, you need to because the
(24:51):
Patriots of the team who beats everybody else because they
change a little bit of who they are in the playoffs.
And I wish teams kind of took that. You know,
that simplistic approach is there. Okay, this, We've gotta change
a little bit who we are because the team that
we're playing does it themselves, and they're so good at it,
so I know that kind of changes their their foundation.
But I'm not gonna let Gronk beat me. If I
(25:11):
get beat by a Mendola, I get beat by a Mendola.
But I'm certainly not gonna let the best player on
their team and the best tight end in the league
do it. Dan Orlovski joining us in the Doug Gotlip Show.
This is like every backup quarterbacks dream uh for in
Philadelphia and in Minnesota. It's not just the opportunities that
they both have, but they both have outstanding defenses, they
(25:33):
both have good run games. Uh. They both are very
well coached the offensive side of the ball, right. I mean,
you know, Philadelphia's head coach is a you know, former
quarterback in his own right and a good play caller. Uh.
Pat Schirmer obviously is going to get a head coaching job,
probably with the Giants here. So like, you're well coached,
surrounded by good players, and your defense is gonna give
you a plenty of opportunities to win the game. Uh,
this is a backup quarterbacks dream. Let's start with Nick Foles. Uh,
(25:57):
they had plenty of time to prepare tweaked their off
and now what they put in is on tape. Give
me your sense of how Hill fare against against Minnesota. Yeah,
you know, I get a little bit confused with the
whole narrative behind Nick Boles because everyone talks about him
like he's just some you know, bomb who's never had
success in the NFL. I mean, if you take away
(26:20):
the Dallas game this year, which was basically Week four
the preseason for them, when he threw like ten passes,
and I know he struggled against Oakland, but he played
good in l A when he had to come in.
He played good against the Giants, and he played really
well last week. So the there's kind of this perception
out there that he's he's just this guy and just
because he's in a backup role. So you know, he
executed a game plan against Atlanta, and people say, well,
(26:42):
he get to push the ball downfield. Well, advantis defensive
structure doesn't allow you to the That's how guys at
that position make mistakes. So I thought he just executed
really well and Doug Peterson called a fantastic game. You
know this week. Minnesota allows you to push the ball
down field more because they play more in your face,
car Rick. Now, the way to attack them is you
(27:02):
really have to send crossers across the field, like two
or three guys is flooding the zone. The benefit for
Folds is if you watch tape on him, that's by
far his best throw is like an eighteen to twenty
two yard kind of crossing the field throw. If if
Philly can kind of manipulate some stuff to get guys
flooded into zones and dropped back and then in some
(27:23):
play action stuff, I think both can have some success
in New Orleans. Did it last week just not enough,
So I think he can have some success. And I
like you and mentioned his coaching staff is so good.
They've got three guys un their staff and Peterson, frank
Reich and d Flippo that really really understand the position
and how to attack defenses. So I think Folds is
(27:45):
set up to have another good game as long as
he just goes and executes the offense. What about Keenam,
You know, cases kind of has he has this narrative
around him like he's checked down Charlie right and just
dinking dunk. But if you really watch him, he's ultra
aggressive with the football, he's you know, he's been playing
(28:05):
quarterbacks since he was a kid, and he's always had
this arm that was incredibly accurate and could throw his
timing anticipation, but not big, and so he's finding an
offense that really shoots those fates and when plays are called,
you know, I referenced that like when Tiger Wood stands
on number one in Augusta, he'll always feel good about
it because it matches his eyes. And I think that's
(28:26):
what's happened with Keenum is he's when he's hearing his
play calls, it's where he's been running and comfortable with
his whole life. And it's got a lot of you know,
the the verbage is different than what he did in college,
but a lot of the spacing and the timing of
it is similar. So he feels incredibly comfortable about it.
So I think that what you're seeing as a guy
that's just ultra confident and comfortable. Now, for all that
(28:47):
being said, and and for how smart he's played, he
gets reckless with the football for two or three times again,
which kind of like head scratches because he's so smart
and you know, he did it three times against New
Orleans last week twice it you know, it worked out
for me through back across his body late to ceiling
and then once just kind of scrambling through and up
in the air to ceiling. And another time it was
(29:07):
picked off. So New Orleans really only capitalized once on
the the three kind of really really, you know, bone
Hill he did careless place. So you know, if he
can minimize that successful against the Eagles defense, but he
hasn't shown to do it. He's done it a lot
this year, and so the Eagles. The Eagles want to win,
they've got to capitalize on that stuff. But cases playing
(29:29):
at such a good, consistent level, it's you know, both
those guys, it's a credit to them for kind of
sticking with it and playing at a high level. Alright,
last thing you tweeted out about Mike Munchak getting fired,
dani Roulovsky joining his fam on Twitter has verified accounts
at dani Ulovsky seven. I'll quote see Mike Mike Malarkey.
I'm sorry, I was Mike mclarkey got fired in in
(29:50):
uh in Tennessee, and you put, I hate to see
when good people get fired. To think of finding somebody
to just have Mario to run the ball is the
answer is the disaster he'll last or games he would survive,
he would thrive in a similar offense to Jared Goff.
So if it is Brayble and it's been rumored to
be vable as their head coach, can he get an
oc who runs that sort of scheme? Dn you you
(30:13):
know guys that scheme that way. Is there somebody that
you would hand pick for a young quarterback like Marcus
Mariota to be uh to be in his ear and
teaching him a new offense. Yeah, So there's a guy
that I was, you know, Matt Lafleur I had with
the Rams. I was in Houston. Yep, he's the offensive
coordinated with the Rams. I had him maybe seven or
(30:34):
years ago. Is a quality control guy with the Houston
Texans when I was down there and he was just
learning his way through the system and built his career
up and then went to Atlanta and had some success
with the Rams last year. And I know Sean McVeigh
was really the guy. But at some point Sean McVeigh
got his opportunity, and at some point Matt Laford needs
(30:55):
to get his opportunity. He he really this is his
strength he understands how to attack defenses. Now, you never
know how good of a play caller a guy is
until he actually has to do it. But I would
say this, if you no under if you know how
to understand, if you understand and know how to attack defenses,
and you come from if you come from good teaching
(31:15):
and how to be dynamic and creative, which is you
know what I think Mariota needs. He needs this. You know,
I kind of liken him to like a next level
Jake Plumber, a more dynamic Jake Plumber where you get
him on the edges of bunch, But it's not it's
it's more more creative than just springing him out and
running two routes. You know, just as dynamic and creative
as you can be with some ball fakes and play
(31:36):
actions and pocket movement stuff. So La Floor is the
one guy that I go that I know at least
that I've been around and going, well, that guy understands
how to attack defenses, you understand how to be creative.
And he's also watched for a couple of years of
college Shanahan and Sean McVeigh doing it at the highest level.
So you know that's the question that I have is
if it's bradle can brable? Can he get someone like
(31:57):
that for Marcus? I would guess that there's some sort
of package deal, right like you can't uh there there.
You know, you don't get a job like that unless
you have an answer to that very question. We'll see
what that answer is, Dan or last, Dan, great, great job,
Thanks so much for joining us and giving us your
perspective in the NFL. Yeah, thank you for hearving me man,
I truly appreciate it. Be sure to catch live editions
(32:17):
of The Doug gott Leap Show weekdays at three pm
Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I
Heart Radio app. He's got his own radio show on
Sirius xm uh. He of course, writes for Bleacher Report.
He is a A A A A pot pourri of
knowledge of Smorgasborg of wisdom. He is Rick Buker from
Bleach Report. He joins us on the Doug Gottleap Show.
(32:40):
Uh Bukle, Let's let's start with the alonzo and LaVar stuff.
It is curious that a lonzo, I know he sat
out last game against Memphis, gonna sit out the night
against Oklahoma City but he's been playing better with his
dad out of the country. Do you think there's a correlation.
I don't know. Probably. I also find it interesting that
(33:01):
since the last salvo with regarding Luke Walton, the LaVar
has been relatively quiet. I haven't heard him say anything. Additionally,
and well, I'm not convinced that Alonso has said anything
to him, and I don't know that the Lakers can
say anymore than they already have. I wonder whether at
this point the league has stepped in and said, you
(33:22):
want your kid to be part of our you know,
the promotions that we have on a national basis, you
want us to consider, uh, Alonso is for for the
commercials that we do, or we use all the top players.
You need to stop doing what you're doing because you're
hurting the Lakers. And if you're hurting the Lakers, you're
hurting our product and we're not going to have you
(33:43):
do that. Yeah. Look, I think part of it is
Jeff Goodman. Isn't there anymore right that ESPN pulled him
off that that that so, so there's no there's no
real outlet to get his to get his message back. Um,
and uh, I think that's probably the biggest thing what
UM is is that act is LaVar act. Do you
(34:05):
think that would hinder the chances of the Lakers landing Lebron?
I think it could. I think it's a factor. I
think it's a consideration. UM. There's obviously gonna be a
number of things that go into that. But look, Alonzo's ability,
the way, the shape of that team, who the coaches, UM.
I would say all of those elements are going to
(34:27):
be greater factors. But imagine that when there's a conversation
between Lebron and Rob or Rich Paul, who may be
having this conversation right now in Rob Blinka's office, probably
know because he stopped by regularly having contagious called woll
Pope on the team. At least that's what I've heard, Uh,
that that conversation about you know what, what? Where? Where's
(34:51):
LaVar going to sit in this universe? I mean, as
we know, Lebron and LaVar have already exchanged words and
uh and opinions, and they weren't kind ones. I don't
know that it's anything. I can't look at it as
something that would stop Lebron, but it would be certainly
something that he would want addressed before he signed on
the dotted line, what have you heard about the state
(35:13):
of the calvs locker room after the final score? And
the look the game was tied the fourth quarter, but
it didn't. It wasn't as close as the score would
tell you, right, it felt it felt like cat playing
with mouse a little bit. What have you heard about
what's really going on inside that Cleveland locker room? It's
kind of that's what the Warriors have been doing all
year long. Then. I don't know that they've played great basketball,
(35:35):
but they just have a starting four that when they're
on the floor unhealthy, uh, and the and the familiarity
that that team has. They're just they're they're they're hard
to beat, and they're not they're not playing great basketball.
And I questioned, I think they're vulnerable too. But to
answer your question, UM, they're simply Um, I don't think
(35:56):
it's I think it's being blown a little out of proportion.
But the chemistry there, and this started from the very
beginning of the season. In the composition of this team.
You brought in, uh some really uh distinct personalities that
the guys that were there and won a championship with
Lebron we're going to have to move over and make
(36:17):
room for and uh and guys that are signing one
year deal. So from the beginning, UH, there was an
impetus for this thing to be successful and successful right
from the start, to keep everybody on the same page
and interested. And I'll and I'll put it this way
for for you, for you, Doug, or for anybody out there.
(36:37):
You're on a you're you're on a one year deal,
you're on a you're you're on the last year of
your contract, and you're looking at the possibility of going
someplace else. Um, if if things are not going well,
you're gonna be looking, You're gonna be spending a little
more time, a little more thought on where's my next move?
(36:58):
What am I doing next? And there's some of that
from what I understand, that's creeping in to the calves
right now, which is like, uh, you know, that's derec
Rows being hurt and he's trying to figure things out.
Isaiah Thomas, you know, I thought this was gonna be
an issue from the very beginning. He's a free agent
this summer. He wants to get paid, he wants to
prove that his hip is okay. He's not thinking first
(37:21):
and foremost, how do I fit in with Lebron? And
and you know, what's my role on this team? It's
kind of like, how do I prove to everybody that
I'm a player? You can do that on certain teams
and be okay, but with this one with Dwyane Wade
trying to find his place, j R. Smith trying to
find his place next to Dwyane Wade, Tristan Thompson trying
to figure out how he fits in, Kevin Love trying
(37:43):
to figure out the center positions, and then people are
talking about they're gonna make another move to add another
different piece to this. I just don't see any easy solutions.
And and honestly, you know where it all starts, the
fact that Lebron. You don't know what Lebron is doing
next year. I mean, nobody's committing long term, nobody's mentally
thinking we're all in. Everybody was like, I don't have
(38:03):
anything better. I got a chance of a ring, Let's
give it a shot. It's only one year, but Lebron.
The uncertainty surrounding Lebron is there's no doubt that that's
impacting people. Whether it's subliminally over or or overtly with
that entire Calves organization. Rick Bucker joining us from bleacher Report.
(38:24):
Also Serious Sex M Bleacher Report Radio. It's Doug Otlip Show,
Fox Sports Radio. Okay, so uh this is a continue
to be fascinating to me. The lebron things and too
many specialists on that team. But one thing that I
think might you might have mentioned that people missed you
mentioned starting four, Like the Warriors aren't They don't appear
(38:46):
to be as that bench is not as good as
it has been. Okay, and I think people are like
kind of given a pass and like, look, they did win,
but Draymond didn't hit a shot and with all the
with all the tussling between players and referees, like he's
just one, you know, one nasty looking against the ref
(39:06):
to getting the technical getting ejected for the big game.
Are they in the market to go to go make
an addition here late in the season. I haven't heard
that from the Warriors, but I've heard from around the league,
and I've been asked by people around the league because
they believe that the Warriors have to be But the
Warriors need to go out and get a dynamic player
and you're a hundred percent right. I heard somebody saying
(39:28):
last night that the Warriors were better than you know,
better than they were last year, and I couldn't couldn't
disagree with that more. Uh. Andrea I Gudala has fallen
off and shooting from three point range. Sehn Livingston doesn't
look the same. And his demeanor, I don't know what
it is. His demeanor just hasn't been the same. He's
usually a really bright, uh personality in the locker room.
(39:48):
He hasn't. He hasn't been that. Jordan Bell is demonstrating that, Uh,
you know, the stage right now, this stage, the regular
season stage is sometimes too big for him. You can't
out that that he's going to be able to deliver
in the postseason and play a meaningful role. Uh. Nick
Young hasn't been you know, has been. Nick Young hasn't
(40:09):
hasn't stepped forward. Um. No, I think they're I think
they are vulnerable, um as much as I think that
the Calves are vulnerable for different reasons. Uh. That first
four has to be healthy at the end of the year,
and they have to be, you know, all hands on
deck for if this Warrior's team is going to is
(40:29):
going to get it done, and they can um if
those first four are there, but the margin of air
has certainly been minimized. Bucau I said this. Look, I
think the Celtics meant well by by having a video
Frisiah Thomas, I really do. I think they felt bad
and I think they meant well to to Paul Pierce
for having his jersey retirement night, you know, not on
(40:52):
on a night in which you play the Hawks, right,
having on a big night when you play the Calves.
So the place is full and there's some juice, and
it's on Ashton TV. Like all all of that sense.
Stuff makes sense. But and look, and some of this
is on Pierce because he said some things that I
know he felt and then a lot of people felt.
But you don't have to be the one let KG
say the bad thing, right. Let I know he's always
(41:18):
been that guy. But I feel like, in an effort
to make everybody happy, Boston has made Paul Pierce look
really really small in this thing, and that was not
their intent. No, I agree, I agree with that, But
like this is this has been Paul's whole career. He's
always been the salty dude who says something and you
and you and you look at it and you go,
(41:39):
you know what, He's right, But God, did he have
to say it? Did he have to say it now?
And did he have to say it this way? I mean,
this is this is why I can't I can't be
that mad about it, because Paul is just being through
to who he's been from the very beginning, and it
does make things awkward. I will go back to Isaiah,
(41:59):
you're coming back to first time. They want to do
a video tribute to you. You're not even playing, which
is an advantage because now you don't have the the
emotional tumult of having this video and whatever you're feeling
about the Celtics organization. And then you have to go
on the floor and play. It's clean. You just you
get the video tribute, You get the way to the crowd,
(42:19):
you get appreciated, and then you have to deal with
anything else. And that he would say no, that he
would say no to a video tribute, That's that's where
it all starts from me, Like, come on, man, it's
you weren't there that long. They appreciate what you did,
what you went through, that you were you know, you
(42:40):
pulled on on heart strings in Boston. They want to
acknowledge that, and then you're gonna kind of get you know,
choosye and say, you know what not tonight. I just
that's that's where I think this whole thing went wrong.
I tend to agree with you um my thoughts on
these the fights and the meet me outside stuff is
(43:01):
while it's entertaining, right, uh Like, at some point Adam Silver,
who everybody likes, has to be more respected, right Like, again,
I don't. You don't have to be David Stern and
be heavy handed and and be abrupt right and do
things just just for the sake of being being nasty.
On the other hand, like, look, somebody gets into a
(43:22):
fight and breaks a hand, breaks an eye socket, or
you know, a fan gets involved, it just turns ugly.
Everything about the league is pointing upward, like upward trajectory
and revenue and in spirit, and everybody loves the league.
Am I wrong to think that these are signs? And
then you have the players and the officials and some
of and and how and the relationship between the two,
(43:44):
and how nasty that's gotten in your mind? Is it
time for Adam Silver to step in and tell people
enough is enough just go ahead and play basketball and
have a good time. Yeah, I think there is some
of that. I think there's coming down hard in this
situation because while the personalities involved weren't going to take
it too far. Uh. In another instance, if you don't
really crack down hard, then you have some other guys
(44:06):
that are going to the other locker room and um
and and and they are going to do something uh
and and something's going to get out of hand. So
you want to send the message don't even think about
doing this and sending the message to the teams that
if you have a guy that you think might be
headed to the other locker room, you need to get
everybody on board and play red rover, red rover. He's
(44:27):
not getting through uh, which you know in this case,
I don't think anybody anticipated that the Trevor Trevor was
going to head over to the other locker room and
uh and that was you know, ultimately a mistake. He
shouldn't have gotten should have try not to let him
out of the locker room. Uh. So I do think
that he has to send a message. I think also, look,
I appreciate the players feel more empowered than they ever
(44:50):
have before, and they're using their voices in a variety
of ways that they didn't previously. And I applaud all
of that. I'm happy to see it. But as a result, um,
I think they're using it in ways that damage the
private that can be negative as well. And this comes
especially with the referees. I don't I don't know about you.
(45:12):
I don't notice anything distinctly different about the referees, what
they're doing and how they're dealing with guys. Uh, that's
distinctly different. The numbers say there aren't more technicals, there
aren't more objections. I find it interesting that it's the
the Kevin Durance and Chris Paul's who previously didn't have
(45:33):
a high tech number or objection number, that these these
are the guys that are are are feeling it. And
I think in some ways, and Katie said this to
me in a piece I did earlier in a year,
like they are feeling more empowered. He said, you know,
we've reached a place where we we have a platform
and we feel like our voices not only can be heard,
but should be heard. And I think they're taking that
(45:55):
to the referees, and I think there has to just
be a Honestly, there's the broadcast crews meet with the
coaches before the game. I wish you'd have the officials
sit down for five ten minutes with the coaches and
the captains before games and have a conversation about how
the games, you know, what they're anticipating, what they'd like
to see, etcetera. And you have that communication and people
(46:18):
understand what the you know, what the the refs have
on they're played on their end, and the and the
refs have a little better understanding of what the where
the players and the coaches are. I think a lot
of this would go away. Yeah, but I do think
it needs to go go away. I really really do.
Uh look like so many good things going on the league. Yeah,
I don't think it's about like I don't think things
(46:40):
are you know, Haywire. But as you said, the league
is looking so good right now. Why you know why
muddy the Waters was something that that honestly could be
taken care of, uh, rather simply because I'm just not buying,
you know, I'm not buying. Do do certain referees you know,
are their personal classes? Yeah, that's going all the way
(47:02):
back to Charles Barkley. And Mike Mathis. I mean that's
probably that's just human nature that those things are going
to exist. In reference to Draymond Green, but that the
that the referees are like out to get guys, or
that they're you know, that they're they're officiating the game
in some distinctly different way. I'm just not seeing it.
I'm with you. Rick Buker from Bleacher Report readers work
(47:25):
on LaVar and Lonzo ballm what people around the NBA
are saying, great stuff, Thanks for joining us. 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. Todd Haley
is out as out as offensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Stealers.
(47:46):
That like, that's like the worst camp secrets in the
NFL was that Haley and Big Ben didn't get along.
But but you know, part of it. What what's amazing
about it. What's amazing about it is I get that
that life is in fact a popularity contest. It just
is alright, like you can fudge numbers to be whatever
you want, and like, look we can sit here and go, well,
(48:08):
you know, Todd Haley is really hard to work with,
and he's this, and he's that, and boy he had
Levy on bell split out wide. First series of the game.
Didn't they score forty two points? Right? Like they scored four?
They did? Music checked the score. I believe the final
score was forty forty two when in Jacksonville beat the
Pittsburgh Steelers two? Is that correct? Uh? Doug? That is correct? Okay?
(48:33):
And and then when they when they lost to Jacksonville
at home, did Todd Haley throw five interceptions or did
Ben Roethlisberger throw five interceptions last time? I my stats
say that it was Ben Roethlisberger. This just in, Doug,
that is confirmed. It was Ben Roethlisberger. I appreciate that,
thanks for looking that up. That is our crack staff team,
not our staff team that's on crack. Although there was
(48:55):
that one time in college to where music was experiment.
This just send Doug back on the crack. Okay, back
on the crack. The point is that like we can
crush Todd Haley, and everyone knew that he was gonna
get fired. And I told you, I told you last week.
We put it on Twitter. Music has nothing to do
on the weekends, doesn't pay attention to his girlfriend. He
tweeted it out on our account. Uh during the game, like, hey,
(49:18):
they go, they go down, heads are gonna roll because
that's how little people think. Frankly at Blake Portles. But
Blake Portles lights them up. They gave up forty five points. Really,
they gave up what thirty five? Thirty five points because
Big Bend fumbles and it was a run back for
a touchdown. Pittsburgh score forty two points and their offensive
coordinator gets fired. Like that's remarkable. I mean, look, I
(49:44):
saw what we saw it coming. And um, you know,
Todd Haley is a guy I don't even you guys know.
He played golf in college and then coached golf after
college at North Texas and North North Florida. Excuse me,
His dad was a front office guy with the Giants,
got him his first job, worked his way up head
coach at kans City, got fired Kana City. But he
(50:04):
grew up in Pittsburgh. That's how he got this gig.
It was never a great fit, but still like there
was a lot of points put up on the board
for a guy to get fired. There was more to
it than that. But isn't it interesting that if you
don't think life is a popularity contest, Matt Patricia is
gonna get a job. He's the defensive coordinator of the
(50:26):
New England Patriots. The Patriots have the twenty ninth ranked
defense in the league. Right Todd Haley just got fired
his offensive coordinator. His team put up forty two points
in his last game. Is offensive coordinator against arguably the
best defense, or one of the top two or three
defense in the NFL. Now we saw it coming. I'm
(50:48):
not saying I'm stunned, but I'm just telling life, my friends,
is a popularity contest.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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