February 27, 2025 • 37 mins
Doug compares Paul George's situation to his own as George told his podcast listener he is going to pause his podcast for now to focus on playing basketball to further avoid bad optics. Doug welcomes FSR NBA Insider Marc Stein onto the show to talk about the Mavericks, Popovich and all of the major headlines around the NBA. Plus, Dan Beyer takes Doug through a game of "I Feel A Draft".
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
Doug Gottlieb Show, Fuck Sports.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Radio Coming to you from the tyrack dot com studios
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Speaker 2 (00:24):
What'll you get there?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Unmatched selection pass, free shipping, free road as a protection,
over ten thousand recommended stallars. Tyrack dot com, Sway tire
buying should be Hey, welcome in. I hope you're having
a great day. It's a game day here in Green Bay, Wisconsin,
and what has been a spring week suddenly looks a
little bit like winter as snow's coming out.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'm sure weather.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It's exceptionally nice in southern California for Dan Byer and
Jason Stewart and.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Big Apple Sam.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
And you know, sometimes the topic just falls in your
lap and it kind of fits, and I thought this
was this was one of them.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So the.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Philadelphia seventy six er season has not gone as planned.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Is that fair? Right?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Not gone as planned and they're struggling, and Paul George
has his own podcast, and so he gave into the
masses yesterday. And by masses I mean I don't know
smattering of people who are like, you shouldn't do.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
A podcast and play basketball.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And here's Paul George making his announcement on that podcast
that he won't be doing the rest of the season.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Fellas.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
It's no secret this season is up to this point, man,
it hasn't been what we envision. I know my goal
when I first signed with Philadelphia was to bring a
championship to these amazing fans here. I still remain positive
about that and that is still the case and where
I'm coming from. With that being said, though, I want
to let the podcast Pee family know that after today's
(01:54):
episode with Dwight, I plan to take a break from
the pod just to focus on getting my body right,
getting mental right, and you know, help this squad make
a push towards our goal to finish the season. I'll
give ourselves a chance to be in contentions to compete
for a championship.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And that sounds good.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
It's like, oh, he's focused, now, he's focused and the
thing about a podcast, and remember we do a podcast,
which you can download at the end of the show.
Type in Doug otleb your podcast. We do a live
radio show. A podcast is far less limiting.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Than a radio show.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
A radio show like, hey, no, no matter where I am
between three and five Eastern, this is where you'll hear
my voice. Right, podcast you can kind of set your
own schedule. So I don't know, do do people. I'm
not a I'm not a fanboy, right. I don't actually
(02:52):
think I'm a fan of anybody other than I love
watching Jalen Brunson play in the NBA. Obviously, watching step
for Curry move and shoot the basketball is incredible.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I've always been in.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Awe of Luca since he was, you know, playing in
Spain at such a young age. But I can't tell
you that I'm like a fan. I don't know the
jersey of anybody. I don't have season tickets. I'm not
a fan. I'm a fan of players, but not so
much that I follow there. On the other hand, as
now a coach and a former player, I guess and
(03:23):
and obviously some of it comes from the fact that
this is what I do myself. Is I don't understand
the mentality of some that believe that that's bad, optics
that it looks bad, that somehow your attention. Wane's like,
do people understand what it means to be an NBA player?
(03:47):
Like the easiest example is Will Chamberlain had time to
sleep with allegedly ten thousand women.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Imagine if like, did anybody say like, hey, well, you know,
slowly down a little bit, you could be a better player.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
We don't. We stay.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
We just say it about things that make no sense,
like a podcast.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I don't. I don't understand it.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Because what happens with ninety nine point nine percent of
coaches and players in basketball and football and baseball. You
can't live at a gym. There is a such thing
as practicing too much, thinking too much?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
There actually is.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And if you make your podcast conversational or like a
meeting with basketball friends, I'll give you an example. Yesterday
I record a podcast with with a gentleman who is
incredibly successful as a head coach, and uh, we're gonna
(04:50):
put it out of my All Ball. His name is
Lance Leopold Lances, the head coach at Kansas. He played
at Wisconsin Whitewater. He was a longtime head coach at Whitewater.
They won a ton of games. Then he went to
Buffalo and after a couple of years kind of flipped
that thing. And then he's been at Kansas and Kansas
is now a super respectable program that went nine games
two years ago in the Big Twelve. And so for me,
(05:10):
that hour conversation was like a coaching clinic and him
talking me through all the things that he went through.
So I again, maybe I process things way differently than
other people. Let me start with you, Jason, what is
the what's the point? Why does he need to not
(05:32):
do his podcast?
Speaker 5 (05:34):
I think that there's everything you just said. I understand
your point of view on this is very much close
to home to you, which is why I wanted to
talk about it today. I think, what could we talk
about why bad optics exist? Like, if you're the mayor
of a city that goes up in flames and you're
(05:55):
in Ghana, that's bad optics. It wouldn't be bad optics
if the city wasn't on fire. In other words, something
has to go wrong for it to be considered bad optics.
And Paul George, whether it was his bosses or the followers,
or fans, somebody got into his ear saying that these
(06:15):
are bad optics. No matter how less time or a
few hours you put into this podcast, it doesn't look good.
And in like your situation, right, you've been hearing it
online as well. In the day and age of social media,
when people have unprecedented access to public figures, optics have
(06:40):
to be considered from a PR standpoint, And in my view,
if you're not considering bad optics and being completely dismissive
of them, that's just not good business from a PR standpoint.
So I agree with Paul George's decision to do it,
and I think that if you're not considering about optics,
(07:01):
you're not giving into the cliche that perception is reality.
Perception very much in this day and age is reality.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, I think there's a couple of parts to it, obviously.
So we've done the local CBS followed me around for
a day and that won't be released until March.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
We have a docu series that we've done as well.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
CBS Sports followed me around, the athletic followed me around,
and what everyone's.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Takeaway is like, it's literally it's.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Like a nothing burger in my day, right, it's just
not It's kind of how I'm It feels like no
one even recognized, nor did I broadcast that last Friday
was a game day.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I took the day off.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I took the day off, and I didn't do it
because for optics. I did it to see how it
felt to spend a little bit more time with the guys,
a little bit more time, rest, a little bit more time,
you know, kind of getting focused on the game. And
I gotta tell you, I didn't see much of a difference.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I just didn't.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
There's other things that I've kind of adjusted and found.
You know, if I work out the day of the game,
I always feel better at night. If I don't, I
lay in bed, then I feel like I've laid in
bed all day and I kind of feel worthless.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Again.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I'm wired a little bit differently. But the other part too.
It is why I understand. I think for a player
to not do it is fine. I think for me
it's different. And here's why.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
My job.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
The truth of my job as a head basketball coach. Okay,
in addition to trying to win games and trying to
get kids to graduate, make me go to class, do
all the right things, represent the university. Is I am
the most known spokesman for Wisconsin Green Bay. At the
end of the day, my salary is based upon my
ability to generate attention, positive attention to the university. That
(09:01):
compensates me. And I think I accomplish that on a
daily basis, Like this story, like, look, obviously we haven't
won games this year. Like, I'm not an idiot. I
know all the things that have gone on. I know
the injuries, the difficulty to schedule, the misperception of how
we've done things or whatever. It's fine because I talk
to people that actually matter, Like your team's getting better.
They clearly want to win, whether it's for each other
(09:23):
or for you whatever. Like they represent you, the school,
the program, the right way. That's really what matters. Do
you want more wins, yes? But do you want them
to win more games and not represent the right way?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
No?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
But you know, for me, I think that a lot
of people that are critical don't get it right, don't
get it. And every day I'm on the radio, every
day you turned on every article you see and it
mentions Fox Sports Radio or mentions Green Bay. We're getting
attention that no one had ever been possible to get
(09:57):
at this school in this position, even the radio show, right, Like,
I'm fully aware that this is a this is an
incredible time slot. But we've had some huge names at
Fox Sports Radio in this same time slot that I
didn't know.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
And I'm in the damn business. Why is that?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Because there's no promotion. It's not your classically promoted time
of day. And we achieved that by coaching basketball, and
Green Bay achieved that. Now, do you want more wins? Yes,
I just I don't understand what is the sam maybe
you or buyer? What are what buyer? What are the
(10:42):
bad optics.
Speaker 6 (10:44):
That you're being distracted by another job that could have
been the energy could have been put in to the
team in terms of maybe maybe watching.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
More film or you know, going over stuff with coaches
maybe stuff like that.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Yeah, and the losing, right if you were no question,
if you win, wouldn't be.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Optics, right of course, of course, but.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
You were asking like, what could you do with these
three hours if you weren't doing a radio show? That's
what you were asking, right.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, yeah, well no, I mean, I I guess like
I'm just I'm interested in when people go, hey, it's
bad optics, Like what are bad optics like? Again, they
don't realize that I can watch Synergy during the breaks
all day in my bed when I'm watching games whatever,
and Synergy is a program where you can watch literally
I watch every possession of every opponent we play. And
it's not even my scout, But I still do the
(11:39):
scout because I think that's my job is to without
overstepping my bounds, allowing my assistant coach to coach. I
got to know what's on the test as well to
help provide the players with the answers.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
And I think I think bad optics like from this standpoint,
this is just I'm making this up. Okay, So bad
optics are are fine when it's just stays in the
space of social media and haters, right, those those bloggers
that don't like you anyways. But is there not a
concern that maybe the parent of or a future recruit
googles your name and all they read is that you're
(12:13):
distracted with a radio job, or if someone higher up
in the university buys into the bad optics, then that
becomes uncomfortable for you.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Sure, if somebody hire up at the university. But the
response that I get from parents I'll give you an example.
I can't mention you can't mention recruits name, but I
was what day was? That must have been Saturday. So Saturday,
I made a bunch of recruiting calls, and I talked
(12:44):
to parents. And there's one parents like your famous. That's awesome.
I want my son to make the NBA. I think
it'll help. That was his Now again, I don't know
if it. I kind of just think, hey, your kid's
good enough. That's kind of how it works. But if
(13:05):
that works for you, great. You know that people they
are paying attention, so I the response you get from
actual people is different. And part of it is they
asked my players like that. You do understand a head
coach is not in the player's business twenty four to seven.
(13:26):
You know, it's it's honestly crazy, but that it's only
crazy to me because I'm here because I know, and
that's why I try and let people in to see
like there's nothing nefarious going on. It's run just like
any other basketball program. If anything, I have more interaction
with my players than most people. And and yeah, this
(13:50):
is year one, it'll it'll get turned.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Where are you going to say, Dan?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, I was good.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
I was just going to say two things because there
was something that you said super Bowl week, and I
think it's the point that people bring up. You said
when you went to New Orleans, and we're criticized for that.
You said, I'm missing a top high school prep game,
you know that was in the area.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
It was two guys.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
That was the two teams that were playing that were
top teams in Wisconsin that you were missing. And I
think from Jason's point of the bad optics that is
that even if it's just one game, you may say
it's just one game, I think the other side of
the coin says, that's the biggest game of the year,
you know, or that's the biggest game of the season.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
And I think that's also.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
Where it can kind of where it can appear that
you're not necessarily all in in that situation.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I mean, again, we don't share that, you know when
I go to other places and recruit, and I say.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Correct, But this is the optics point.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Well, I understand, I understand, And the other part too,
it is you know, the other part two. It is
like the best player on one team is going to
Iowa State. The best player in their team is going
to Wisconsin. That actually isn't anybody on those rosters for
us to recruit. And we're done recruiting high school players
for twenty five anyway, right, So that's where just people
have zero idea, like no idea, just for people to
(15:06):
understand all the high school recruiting, like there's one twenty
twenty six week off for the scholarship too.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I've been to his high school game.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I didn't go last night, not because I was doing
anything else, but because again I know, Dan, you're talking
about just optics. But this is where people don't understand,
like all the recruiting now is done honestly, like for
junior college, where I have assistant coaches, that's their job.
I've gone to some junior college as well. And then
the portal, which is kind of a guessing game now,
(15:36):
and all you can do is sit around and watch
people play basketball and use all your sources and connections
and call agents and wonder kind of allowed who's going
to be in the portal, Like that's really how it
works anything.
Speaker 6 (15:50):
I think this is a way to educate, and I
think that if your ad knows that, then he understands that.
But again, it goes back to the optics and the masses,
where perception is reality. Where when if there's thousands of
thousands of people who don't necessarily know that, they just
see on the surface of what is happening. And I
think that's the point where Paul George is at with
(16:12):
his deal and what we're talking about with the optics
of it. All of that is legit and real, but
if the deception is a certain way, there's nothing that
you can do about it.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Unfortunately, even with facts.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
No, my biggest problem with the perception of it is
is one it's only based upon negative results.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
It has nothing to do anything else.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Like if you don't think somebody should do a podcast,
it shouldn't matter if they're winning or losing. But we
don't think Paul George to a podcast is because he's
not playing well because the Sixers aren't any good.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
That's dumb result based you know. So again, I guess.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I'll wait next year we start winning, you know, with
older team, easier schedule and actually sort of positive luck.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
And is are the are the optics still gonna be bad?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
When we're warning team no, and Dan, I'm not pushing
back on what you're saying I'm pushing back on the
idea of optics being process related than result.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Really, I'll say this about.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Being a player real quick, Dan, let's get it, okay,
is having been a professional basketball player. Okay, In Europe
you have less time because you practice twice a day.
In America, you have so much time on your hands,
so much time in your hands. You can't practice all
(17:37):
the time when you're playing eighty two games, even on
days off, Like, oh, you need to go get working, Like, yeah,
you go work out. You work out for forty five minutes,
You lift weights for like forty five minutes. Okay, then
you want to get a massage, right, then you want
to work on different parts of your body, like have
somebody go do body work. Like it's if you sleep
eight hours a day, which is a healthy night's sleep.
(17:59):
Most people don't sleep. You sleep eight hours a day
in a twenty four hour day, you have sixteen hours
to figure out what you want to do with the
rest of your day. There is so much time, and
to me, sitting around talking about sports with your buddies
is of the things that an NBA player could be doing.
It's like the best possible option because you're actually engaged
(18:20):
in a conversation, you're engaged in sports. You know, we
know what I don't know. And I actually think Paul
George is pretty interesting guy. So I find the whole
thing fascinating. Like, no one said that about Draymond Green
when he was hurt and he was wor going T
on T did they? No one said that about Greg Olsen.
Greg Olsen was a player with the Carolina Panthers. Player
(18:44):
with the Carolina Panthers. He gets hurt and one time,
I think it was just during a bye week and
he goes and calls the game for Fox. There wasn't
one person. So all you're doing is reacting to two things.
Somebody that you don't like, or you think you don't like,
or or their results are not good.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And and greg Olsen, by the way, when late in
his career and he was hurt and then he went
and did Fox games, the Panthers weren't good, but nobody
laid that on Greg Olsen because they just weren't any good.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
But to your point, you had a decade in the game,
Like I think that's that's another portion of it.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Paul George has how long in the NBA decade. Okay, yeah,
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
I'm telling you, without any question, we listened to people
who don't matter.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
They don't matter.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Okay, and all of you idiots on social media, you
don't matter. Sorry, We tried to open up the world
and interact with you. Twitter was awesome when it first
came out. I lost my mind. I'd watch a game,
I'd flip open. They used to have a tweet deck, right,
and it was just all kinds of lines, and you
get people and you're it's you're like at a bar
with a bunch of people and your buddies who work whatever,
(19:59):
and they tweet.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
It's like an ongoing conversation that you.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Can have about Oh, it's like me and Dan having
a conversation about uniforms, and then we veer off, you know,
off to the off ramp of like remember this uniform,
Remember that uniform, Remember this guy, remember that guy?
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
It was awesome, But now you get idiots that don't
know anything about anything, and all they want to do
is pick out, hey, something's not going good or somebody
they don't like, and let's find something to make them
feel bad about themselves and find a way to get
them to not do something which is just a great opportunity.
(20:32):
That's why there's a column of CBS Sports And I
don't know if it came out the way I wanted
to come out, whatever, but I can't deal with people
who don't like my path.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
I make no apologies none.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I've worked my ass off for anything I've ever gotten.
And Paul George was a lightly recruited player who went
to Fresno State, who blew up after Fresno State and
became a perennial All Star, are an All NBA level guy.
And look, he's at the tail end of what is
a spectacular career.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
And you can say it's not a spectacular career because.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
He hasn't won NBA championship, but he's got two hundred
and fifty million dollars to tell you it's a spectacular career.
He never cheated anybody. And by the way, no one
has ever pointed out, hey, the Clippers were smart to
not give Paul George an extension this past summer. No
one says any of that. The only thing they say
is Sixers aren't winning. Paul George needs to stop his
podcast or jewel Embiid's knee.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Is hurt when you.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Take out arguably the best or second or third best
player in the NBA and he's in now the lineup,
and you're constantly putting together a new team, and Paul
George is not who he used to be. Nobody is
when they get to the mid thirties. This is what happens.
We make it about a podcast. We'll make it about
a pod.
Speaker 7 (21:53):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific on
Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
It's Doug Otlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio. And
let's catch up with the Steinline. Mark Stein joined us
longtime NBA insider published us a substack called the Steinline,
and he joins us. Okay, Mark, you were mister Maverick
as you told us last time. Hey, I'm not as
close with these Mavericks as it was with old Mavericks.
(22:24):
Now the new Mavericks match up with the new Lakers
with Luca. Of course, they don't have a d Luca
has triple double, doesn't play great. Lebron plays really well
in the fourth quarter. Now we're a couple weeks into
this thing, what's the temperature around Dallas post trade.
Speaker 8 (22:42):
Well, look, I mean it's still very, very tense. There's
no way to describe it otherwise. I Mean, the interesting
thing is the team has actually played very well now
throughout the Cleveland game when they were very shorthanded and
(23:04):
got destroyed, right you know, hours after the trade became
public knowledge. But apart from that game, despite the fact
that they have no bigs and they're incredibly shorthanded, I mean,
all their centers are out injured right now except Dwight Powell,
who just came back from a sixteen game absence, they've
played pretty well. But I mean, look, none of that
(23:24):
is really going to calm anyone. You know, They've got
to get ad back to you know, they so people
can see what this group is capable of at it's
mac and the reality is they just they still don't know.
I mean, March sixth is the day that Anthony Davis,
(23:46):
Daniel Gafford, Derek Lively. There will be updates on the
timetables for those players, but that doesn't mean any of
them are actually back March sixth. So I mean, the whole,
the whole idea from the Mavericks side, you know, their
belief was get Anthony Davis, play him at all times
(24:07):
next to Lively or Gafford, and you have a jumbo
size defense, you know, you know, team built around interior defense.
But we've only seen that for three quarters. You know,
Anthony Davis had that amazing first half in his Mavericks
debut and then got the adductor strain. So they've played well.
They're actually not in a terrible position when you look
(24:29):
at the standing. But again, we you know, we need
to see their team whole before anybody is going to
think about changing the subject. And nobody can really tell
you how soon that's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
All right, what about the uh what about the Lakers?
Obviously early on there was a couple of losses. Now
they beat the Nuggets in Denver, they beat the Mavericks
at home. Lebron's playing well, are you buying that this
team now is a contender?
Speaker 8 (25:00):
I mean, look, they're very small, so it's you know,
much like Golden State. For them to do anything in
the playoffs, they're going to have to overcome the fact
that you know, they really don't have size. Now now
they are, you have to say, offensively, they can cause
you a lot of problems because if you've got Luca
and Lebron and Reeves in the game, that's three guys
(25:21):
who can really make something happen with the ball. The
obvious flip side is defensively in the playoffs. How is
that going to work if those are your three best players?
But look, I'm such a Doncic fan that, like, I
know the natural question. The Lakers have won fifteen of nineteen,
and they've been playing really good defense over that stretch.
(25:44):
Now a good portion of it that they still had
a D four, But you know, the rush to kind
of grade them now and assess them now. Like, I'm
not so wrapped up in that, because like the trade
is not even a month old, it's like three weeks
and change old. But like they now have a runway,
(26:07):
a future that they didn't have a month ago, sure
to be able to build around Luca. So it's like,
I'm not so worried about the now because they didn't
have a future before. I mean, they were living on this.
You know, Lebron is forty, Aby is in his early thirties.
We have to win now? Do we have enough to
(26:27):
win now? They don't face that pressure now the pressure
they face is you know, getting Luca re signed and
building around him. But you know, if I'm the Lakers,
I'm really feeling good about Those are my main quests
and priorities right now.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Stuck Gottleib show here on Fox Sports tradi that's a
voice of Mark Stein. Check out the sub set called
the Stein Line. Of course, he's a legend in covering
the NBA as an insider. Greg Popovich, what's the likelihood
that he coaches again?
Speaker 8 (27:00):
Look, I really I'm not in a position to gauge it,
except you know, he put out a statement today he
met with his team today for the first time since
he suffered the stroke in early November. So I mean,
just to be able to get in front of his players.
You can only imagine what that conversation and what that
meeting was like. And you know, in Pop's own words,
(27:22):
he says, I'm going to keep working to put myself
in position because I hope I can come back to coaching.
So you know, if he's going to try, the man
has done everything there is to do in the coaching profession.
If he wants to keep working to try to get back,
obviously that's what's going to happen, and you know, only
(27:42):
only he and the people treating him know how realistic
that is. But you know, I've I basically started covering
the league, you know, just a couple of years before
Pop became a head coach, so I've covered his whole
head coaching career. And you know, he is synonymous with
the San Antonio Spurs. You would say the same for
(28:04):
Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and Manu Genobli, but Pop.
You know, Pop is synonymous with the Spurs, and it
is It is hard for someone like me, who has
seen it start to finish, to imagine him not being there.
So I really hope if this is what he wants,
if he wants to make it back, you obviously cross
(28:25):
your fingers and hope that he can. He has nothing
left to prove. I mean, he has had a ridiculously
good coaching career and he's always said it. He was
a Division three coach who won the coaching lottery to
have the opportunities he had, not just to become the
first coach to send the coach all the players he's coached,
But you know, I would obviously take it as a
(28:46):
hopeful sign reading you know, seeing what he said in
a statement today that he hopes he's going to find
a way back.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
What about Wenby?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
You know, like they put out the statement that this
is isolated, it's just a shoulder deep vein thrombosis, no
cause for concern, But the people you talk to, you're like, Okay,
who's most at risk.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
With deep bane thrombosis? Right?
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Tall athletes, people who travel a lot, like whoa, that's
Victua webin Yama. And obviously none of us have seen
a seven foot seven dude who moves like that at
his age, and we just wonder if the body can
stay together. Is there any concern long term in terms
(29:29):
of webin Yama?
Speaker 8 (29:31):
Look, I don't know that they're going to come out
and say that and state it that clearly, but obviously
anything with Wenby your concerned because he is such a
special talent, and I mean this there's you know, this
is a very scary situation for him to just abruptly
have to be shut down for the rest of the season.
(29:53):
You know, San Antonio, they're going to operate as as
cautiously as any team him on the map. You know,
we've seen this happen before. But look, you know, I
am certainly not the medical expert you need to ask
on this stuff, but I mean we've seen it with
different players and there's different situations here. Brandon Ingram dealt
(30:17):
with this five six years ago, missed the last nineteen
games of a season and was able to come back
and hasn't had an issue with it since. But you know,
is it the same precise pace? I mean, you know,
I don't know that we can pinpoint it that clearly.
So the Spurs, you can rest assured they're going to
(30:38):
be very, very very cautious with Victor woman Yama because
he was I mean, and you saw this season he
was he took such a leak. He was already a
huge factor as a rookie, but just how well he
played this season, I mean, he was, you know, headed
for all NBA status. I mean, he's already one of
(30:58):
the fifteen best players in the league and still at
such an early stage of his development. So, I mean,
it is undeniably scary, but I think all we can
do is hope for the best.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Do people in the NBA believes the thunder can be
as good in the postseason as they've been in the
regular season.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
The past two years.
Speaker 8 (31:19):
Yes, I think in the West they are the team
that everyone fears the most, you know, because they're so
good defensively, and you know, they've added significant size. You know,
they when when they have their full complement of players,
they present a lot of problems. Now, you know, do
(31:43):
they have the shooting that's going to hold up in
the playoffs? You know, maybe that's a concern. You know,
we just saw Minnesota come back from azillion points down
and zone them up and cause them a lot of
problems with the zone. But you know that's that's a
one off, crazy game, crazy be come back. I mean,
the Thunder has been so impressive. The Thunder have been
(32:06):
so impressive this season. I don't know how they're not
your favorites in the West, but if you you know,
I Denver to me has looked more like the Nuggets
that we expect. And you know, Jokic just having an
MVP season and Jamal Murray has been a lot better
since Christmas. Russell Westbrook has had an impact there. So
(32:26):
I still think the Nuggets are going to have something
to say about who comes out of the West. But
I mean the Thunder, Yeah, I mean, I think the
competition sees them as quite real and quite dangerous.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Mark Stein. Check out the styleline. It's a substack.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
I encourage you to follow on social media as well,
signing you the best, thanks for joining us Bud Talk.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Soon.
Speaker 7 (32:45):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Stug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio, coming to you from
the tire rack dot Com studios right here, Yeah, I
can identify it. Come on every day at this time,
that Doug got Liab Show. We turned over Dan Buyer.
We say Dan play a game.
Speaker 7 (33:18):
This is game time on the Doug gottlab Show.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
All right, Doug. The game today on this Thursday.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Is I feel a draft?
Speaker 3 (33:32):
All right?
Speaker 2 (33:32):
This is an only.
Speaker 6 (33:33):
Buddy Goodie hodly but of Goodie bringing it back because
I don't remember what the results were the other time
we did this. But we're about to wrap up the
month of February tomorrow. You know what happens that on
Saturday with Jason Stewart. Guys, let's draft your favorite months
in the twelve month calendar. Doug, you pick first, Jason,
your second, Sam is third, and then I will pick fourth,
(33:56):
and we will snake it in reverse in the second round.
Your favorite month, you're on the clock.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Heck, my favorite month is October. I'm not gonna lie
to here.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
I knew it, I was gonna say it.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Wow.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
He loves Halloween. He also loves college, the start of
college hoops. It's when you get really into the thick
of it. Basketball, fall, football, so much going on. October
we love, first of all, I love fall. I love fall,
even California fall, which is kind of fakeball. You get
a little bit of fall, but everywhere else. October is
full fall. Right, you get the meat of college football,
(34:35):
you start to get real NFL games, you get postseason baseball, right.
Postseason baseball is amazing, and you get the start of
all the winter sports as well.
Speaker 9 (34:45):
But it's glorious.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go. Uh October. I
know it's a surprise to people who know I love basketball.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Jason, you're up at number two.
Speaker 5 (34:55):
I mean, he just took the month of my birth.
It's I should have I should have the rights to
a month I was born in.
Speaker 9 (35:02):
He took my month.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
The weather in October is outstanding. It's just getting cool. Oh,
I love October.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
You should have traded up.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
I should have. So I'm just gonna go the next
best thing, November. It's officially cool, the weather, the we're
gonna turn back the clock, which I like, like shorter days.
I know it's not a popular opinion. November. I'm gonna
go with November.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Wow, Iowa, Sam, you're up at number three.
Speaker 9 (35:31):
I'm gonna take the month of May.
Speaker 10 (35:33):
It's, you know, growing up in the Midwest, it's finally spring,
it's getting warmer, there's leaves on the tree trees. You also,
you're you're getting closer to ending your school year or
your summer's on the horizon.
Speaker 9 (35:47):
So I'm gonna go with May.
Speaker 6 (35:48):
Wow, I've been left with some really good picks, really good,
I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go with April. Really not
only is it my son's birthday, it's the birthday month,
it's the Masters, yes, but you also have in that month.
Get this, You've got Final Four, next weekend Masters, next
(36:10):
weekend NBA Playoffs, next weekend NFL Draft. Very difficult to
top that. Then I'm going to go off the board
July smack dab in the middle of the summer. I
have appreciated summer so much more in the last ten years.
Give me July at five. You like July's out here.
It's pretty hot, though, Hey, the hotter, the better to
jump into the pool. July's in the Midwest, are I think?
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (36:34):
I think July in the Midwest is awesome because it's
just a different vibe in the summer.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
Yes, no, magnificent, it's incredible.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Okay, ahead, do you.
Speaker 9 (36:42):
See people's pale legs? Hope brings shorts.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
What do you got, Sam?
Speaker 10 (36:50):
I have September. When I was a kid, I did
not like September because it was the start of the
school year. But as an adult, September is still summer.
You have college football in the NFL starting, the weather's fantastic.
Speaker 9 (37:03):
Uh, days are still long September.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Do you remember.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
You're up at number seven.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
I was just singing something on a perfect D minor
and you cut me off.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Thanks Dan.
Speaker 5 (37:19):
I'm just gonna go with August Love August, August.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
March, come on, you guys left March from me?
Speaker 3 (37:26):
Yeah? March good Mone.
Speaker 11 (37:28):
Well, it's someome baby walks. You got Championship Week where
the truth is.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
The NCAA tournament starts a week before champions A week
your boys, the Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
We keep winning, we keep playing right.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
That's game time.
Speaker 11 (37:41):
Oh it's phenomenal, fantastic. Let me tell you about Dan Bye.
We'll look back in nineteen eighty six. Next time, it's
Ausode
Thanks for listening to The Doug Gotlieb Show podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday three to five,
twelve two Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for the Doug Gottlieb Show at Foxsports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app
by searching app as car but Up America.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Doug Gottlieb Show, Fuck Sports.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Radio Coming to you from the tyrack dot com studios
tyrack dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
What'll you get there?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Unmatched selection pass, free shipping, free road as a protection,
over ten thousand recommended stallars. Tyrack dot com, Sway tire
buying should be Hey, welcome in. I hope you're having
a great day. It's a game day here in Green Bay, Wisconsin,
and what has been a spring week suddenly looks a
little bit like winter as snow's coming out.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'm sure weather.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It's exceptionally nice in southern California for Dan Byer and
Jason Stewart and.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Big Apple Sam.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
And you know, sometimes the topic just falls in your
lap and it kind of fits, and I thought this
was this was one of them.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So the.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Philadelphia seventy six er season has not gone as planned.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Is that fair? Right?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Not gone as planned and they're struggling, and Paul George
has his own podcast, and so he gave into the
masses yesterday. And by masses I mean I don't know
smattering of people who are like, you shouldn't do.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
A podcast and play basketball.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And here's Paul George making his announcement on that podcast
that he won't be doing the rest of the season.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Fellas.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
It's no secret this season is up to this point, man,
it hasn't been what we envision. I know my goal
when I first signed with Philadelphia was to bring a
championship to these amazing fans here. I still remain positive
about that and that is still the case and where
I'm coming from. With that being said, though, I want
to let the podcast Pee family know that after today's
(01:54):
episode with Dwight, I plan to take a break from
the pod just to focus on getting my body right,
getting mental right, and you know, help this squad make
a push towards our goal to finish the season. I'll
give ourselves a chance to be in contentions to compete
for a championship.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And that sounds good.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
It's like, oh, he's focused, now, he's focused and the
thing about a podcast, and remember we do a podcast,
which you can download at the end of the show.
Type in Doug otleb your podcast. We do a live
radio show. A podcast is far less limiting.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Than a radio show.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
A radio show like, hey, no, no matter where I am
between three and five Eastern, this is where you'll hear
my voice. Right, podcast you can kind of set your
own schedule. So I don't know, do do people. I'm
not a I'm not a fanboy, right. I don't actually
(02:52):
think I'm a fan of anybody other than I love
watching Jalen Brunson play in the NBA. Obviously, watching step
for Curry move and shoot the basketball is incredible.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I've always been in.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Awe of Luca since he was, you know, playing in
Spain at such a young age. But I can't tell
you that I'm like a fan. I don't know the
jersey of anybody. I don't have season tickets. I'm not
a fan. I'm a fan of players, but not so
much that I follow there. On the other hand, as
now a coach and a former player, I guess and
(03:23):
and obviously some of it comes from the fact that
this is what I do myself. Is I don't understand
the mentality of some that believe that that's bad, optics
that it looks bad, that somehow your attention. Wane's like,
do people understand what it means to be an NBA player?
(03:47):
Like the easiest example is Will Chamberlain had time to
sleep with allegedly ten thousand women.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Imagine if like, did anybody say like, hey, well, you know,
slowly down a little bit, you could be a better player.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
We don't. We stay.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
We just say it about things that make no sense,
like a podcast.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I don't. I don't understand it.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Because what happens with ninety nine point nine percent of
coaches and players in basketball and football and baseball. You
can't live at a gym. There is a such thing
as practicing too much, thinking too much?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
There actually is.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And if you make your podcast conversational or like a
meeting with basketball friends, I'll give you an example. Yesterday
I record a podcast with with a gentleman who is
incredibly successful as a head coach, and uh, we're gonna
(04:50):
put it out of my All Ball. His name is
Lance Leopold Lances, the head coach at Kansas. He played
at Wisconsin Whitewater. He was a longtime head coach at Whitewater.
They won a ton of games. Then he went to
Buffalo and after a couple of years kind of flipped
that thing. And then he's been at Kansas and Kansas
is now a super respectable program that went nine games
two years ago in the Big Twelve. And so for me,
(05:10):
that hour conversation was like a coaching clinic and him
talking me through all the things that he went through.
So I again, maybe I process things way differently than
other people. Let me start with you, Jason, what is
the what's the point? Why does he need to not
(05:32):
do his podcast?
Speaker 5 (05:34):
I think that there's everything you just said. I understand
your point of view on this is very much close
to home to you, which is why I wanted to
talk about it today. I think, what could we talk
about why bad optics exist? Like, if you're the mayor
of a city that goes up in flames and you're
(05:55):
in Ghana, that's bad optics. It wouldn't be bad optics
if the city wasn't on fire. In other words, something
has to go wrong for it to be considered bad optics.
And Paul George, whether it was his bosses or the followers,
or fans, somebody got into his ear saying that these
(06:15):
are bad optics. No matter how less time or a
few hours you put into this podcast, it doesn't look good.
And in like your situation, right, you've been hearing it
online as well. In the day and age of social media,
when people have unprecedented access to public figures, optics have
(06:40):
to be considered from a PR standpoint, And in my view,
if you're not considering bad optics and being completely dismissive
of them, that's just not good business from a PR standpoint.
So I agree with Paul George's decision to do it,
and I think that if you're not considering about optics,
(07:01):
you're not giving into the cliche that perception is reality.
Perception very much in this day and age is reality.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, I think there's a couple of parts to it, obviously.
So we've done the local CBS followed me around for
a day and that won't be released until March.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
We have a docu series that we've done as well.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
CBS Sports followed me around, the athletic followed me around,
and what everyone's.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Takeaway is like, it's literally it's.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Like a nothing burger in my day, right, it's just
not It's kind of how I'm It feels like no
one even recognized, nor did I broadcast that last Friday
was a game day.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I took the day off.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I took the day off, and I didn't do it
because for optics. I did it to see how it
felt to spend a little bit more time with the guys,
a little bit more time, rest, a little bit more time,
you know, kind of getting focused on the game. And
I gotta tell you, I didn't see much of a difference.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I just didn't.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
There's other things that I've kind of adjusted and found.
You know, if I work out the day of the game,
I always feel better at night. If I don't, I
lay in bed, then I feel like I've laid in
bed all day and I kind of feel worthless.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Again.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I'm wired a little bit differently. But the other part too.
It is why I understand. I think for a player
to not do it is fine. I think for me
it's different. And here's why.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
My job.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
The truth of my job as a head basketball coach. Okay,
in addition to trying to win games and trying to
get kids to graduate, make me go to class, do
all the right things, represent the university. Is I am
the most known spokesman for Wisconsin Green Bay. At the
end of the day, my salary is based upon my
ability to generate attention, positive attention to the university. That
(09:01):
compensates me. And I think I accomplish that on a
daily basis, Like this story, like, look, obviously we haven't
won games this year. Like, I'm not an idiot. I
know all the things that have gone on. I know
the injuries, the difficulty to schedule, the misperception of how
we've done things or whatever. It's fine because I talk
to people that actually matter, Like your team's getting better.
They clearly want to win, whether it's for each other
(09:23):
or for you whatever. Like they represent you, the school,
the program, the right way. That's really what matters. Do
you want more wins, yes? But do you want them
to win more games and not represent the right way?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
No?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
But you know, for me, I think that a lot
of people that are critical don't get it right, don't
get it. And every day I'm on the radio, every
day you turned on every article you see and it
mentions Fox Sports Radio or mentions Green Bay. We're getting
attention that no one had ever been possible to get
(09:57):
at this school in this position, even the radio show, right, Like,
I'm fully aware that this is a this is an
incredible time slot. But we've had some huge names at
Fox Sports Radio in this same time slot that I
didn't know.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
And I'm in the damn business. Why is that?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Because there's no promotion. It's not your classically promoted time
of day. And we achieved that by coaching basketball, and
Green Bay achieved that. Now, do you want more wins? Yes,
I just I don't understand what is the sam maybe
you or buyer? What are what buyer? What are the
(10:42):
bad optics.
Speaker 6 (10:44):
That you're being distracted by another job that could have
been the energy could have been put in to the
team in terms of maybe maybe watching.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
More film or you know, going over stuff with coaches
maybe stuff like that.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Yeah, and the losing, right if you were no question,
if you win, wouldn't be.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Optics, right of course, of course, but.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
You were asking like, what could you do with these
three hours if you weren't doing a radio show? That's
what you were asking, right.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, yeah, well no, I mean, I I guess like
I'm just I'm interested in when people go, hey, it's
bad optics, Like what are bad optics like? Again, they
don't realize that I can watch Synergy during the breaks
all day in my bed when I'm watching games whatever,
and Synergy is a program where you can watch literally
I watch every possession of every opponent we play. And
it's not even my scout, But I still do the
(11:39):
scout because I think that's my job is to without
overstepping my bounds, allowing my assistant coach to coach. I
got to know what's on the test as well to
help provide the players with the answers.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
And I think I think bad optics like from this standpoint,
this is just I'm making this up. Okay, So bad
optics are are fine when it's just stays in the
space of social media and haters, right, those those bloggers
that don't like you anyways. But is there not a
concern that maybe the parent of or a future recruit
googles your name and all they read is that you're
(12:13):
distracted with a radio job, or if someone higher up
in the university buys into the bad optics, then that
becomes uncomfortable for you.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Sure, if somebody hire up at the university. But the
response that I get from parents I'll give you an example.
I can't mention you can't mention recruits name, but I
was what day was? That must have been Saturday. So Saturday,
I made a bunch of recruiting calls, and I talked
(12:44):
to parents. And there's one parents like your famous. That's awesome.
I want my son to make the NBA. I think
it'll help. That was his Now again, I don't know
if it. I kind of just think, hey, your kid's
good enough. That's kind of how it works. But if
(13:05):
that works for you, great. You know that people they
are paying attention, so I the response you get from
actual people is different. And part of it is they
asked my players like that. You do understand a head
coach is not in the player's business twenty four to seven.
(13:26):
You know, it's it's honestly crazy, but that it's only
crazy to me because I'm here because I know, and
that's why I try and let people in to see
like there's nothing nefarious going on. It's run just like
any other basketball program. If anything, I have more interaction
with my players than most people. And and yeah, this
(13:50):
is year one, it'll it'll get turned.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Where are you going to say, Dan?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, I was good.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
I was just going to say two things because there
was something that you said super Bowl week, and I
think it's the point that people bring up. You said
when you went to New Orleans, and we're criticized for that.
You said, I'm missing a top high school prep game,
you know that was in the area.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
It was two guys.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
That was the two teams that were playing that were
top teams in Wisconsin that you were missing. And I
think from Jason's point of the bad optics that is
that even if it's just one game, you may say
it's just one game, I think the other side of
the coin says, that's the biggest game of the year,
you know, or that's the biggest game of the season.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
And I think that's also.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
Where it can kind of where it can appear that
you're not necessarily all in in that situation.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I mean, again, we don't share that, you know when
I go to other places and recruit, and I say.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Correct, But this is the optics point.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Well, I understand, I understand, And the other part too,
it is you know, the other part two. It is
like the best player on one team is going to
Iowa State. The best player in their team is going
to Wisconsin. That actually isn't anybody on those rosters for
us to recruit. And we're done recruiting high school players
for twenty five anyway, right, So that's where just people
have zero idea, like no idea, just for people to
(15:06):
understand all the high school recruiting, like there's one twenty
twenty six week off for the scholarship too.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I've been to his high school game.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I didn't go last night, not because I was doing
anything else, but because again I know, Dan, you're talking
about just optics. But this is where people don't understand,
like all the recruiting now is done honestly, like for
junior college, where I have assistant coaches, that's their job.
I've gone to some junior college as well. And then
the portal, which is kind of a guessing game now,
(15:36):
and all you can do is sit around and watch
people play basketball and use all your sources and connections
and call agents and wonder kind of allowed who's going
to be in the portal, Like that's really how it
works anything.
Speaker 6 (15:50):
I think this is a way to educate, and I
think that if your ad knows that, then he understands that.
But again, it goes back to the optics and the masses,
where perception is reality. Where when if there's thousands of
thousands of people who don't necessarily know that, they just
see on the surface of what is happening. And I
think that's the point where Paul George is at with
(16:12):
his deal and what we're talking about with the optics
of it. All of that is legit and real, but
if the deception is a certain way, there's nothing that
you can do about it.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Unfortunately, even with facts.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
No, my biggest problem with the perception of it is
is one it's only based upon negative results.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
It has nothing to do anything else.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Like if you don't think somebody should do a podcast,
it shouldn't matter if they're winning or losing. But we
don't think Paul George to a podcast is because he's
not playing well because the Sixers aren't any good.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
That's dumb result based you know. So again, I guess.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I'll wait next year we start winning, you know, with
older team, easier schedule and actually sort of positive luck.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
And is are the are the optics still gonna be bad?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
When we're warning team no, and Dan, I'm not pushing
back on what you're saying I'm pushing back on the
idea of optics being process related than result.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Really, I'll say this about.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Being a player real quick, Dan, let's get it, okay,
is having been a professional basketball player. Okay, In Europe
you have less time because you practice twice a day.
In America, you have so much time on your hands,
so much time in your hands. You can't practice all
(17:37):
the time when you're playing eighty two games, even on
days off, Like, oh, you need to go get working, Like, yeah,
you go work out. You work out for forty five minutes,
You lift weights for like forty five minutes. Okay, then
you want to get a massage, right, then you want
to work on different parts of your body, like have
somebody go do body work. Like it's if you sleep
eight hours a day, which is a healthy night's sleep.
(17:59):
Most people don't sleep. You sleep eight hours a day
in a twenty four hour day, you have sixteen hours
to figure out what you want to do with the
rest of your day. There is so much time, and
to me, sitting around talking about sports with your buddies
is of the things that an NBA player could be doing.
It's like the best possible option because you're actually engaged
(18:20):
in a conversation, you're engaged in sports. You know, we
know what I don't know. And I actually think Paul
George is pretty interesting guy. So I find the whole
thing fascinating. Like, no one said that about Draymond Green
when he was hurt and he was wor going T
on T did they? No one said that about Greg Olsen.
Greg Olsen was a player with the Carolina Panthers. Player
(18:44):
with the Carolina Panthers. He gets hurt and one time,
I think it was just during a bye week and
he goes and calls the game for Fox. There wasn't
one person. So all you're doing is reacting to two things.
Somebody that you don't like, or you think you don't like,
or or their results are not good.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And and greg Olsen, by the way, when late in
his career and he was hurt and then he went
and did Fox games, the Panthers weren't good, but nobody
laid that on Greg Olsen because they just weren't any good.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
But to your point, you had a decade in the game,
Like I think that's that's another portion of it.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Paul George has how long in the NBA decade. Okay, yeah,
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
I'm telling you, without any question, we listened to people
who don't matter.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
They don't matter.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Okay, and all of you idiots on social media, you
don't matter. Sorry, We tried to open up the world
and interact with you. Twitter was awesome when it first
came out. I lost my mind. I'd watch a game,
I'd flip open. They used to have a tweet deck, right,
and it was just all kinds of lines, and you
get people and you're it's you're like at a bar
with a bunch of people and your buddies who work whatever,
(19:59):
and they tweet.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
It's like an ongoing conversation that you.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Can have about Oh, it's like me and Dan having
a conversation about uniforms, and then we veer off, you know,
off to the off ramp of like remember this uniform,
Remember that uniform, Remember this guy, remember that guy?
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
It was awesome, But now you get idiots that don't
know anything about anything, and all they want to do
is pick out, hey, something's not going good or somebody
they don't like, and let's find something to make them
feel bad about themselves and find a way to get
them to not do something which is just a great opportunity.
(20:32):
That's why there's a column of CBS Sports And I
don't know if it came out the way I wanted
to come out, whatever, but I can't deal with people
who don't like my path.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
I make no apologies none.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I've worked my ass off for anything I've ever gotten.
And Paul George was a lightly recruited player who went
to Fresno State, who blew up after Fresno State and
became a perennial All Star, are an All NBA level guy.
And look, he's at the tail end of what is
a spectacular career.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
And you can say it's not a spectacular career because.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
He hasn't won NBA championship, but he's got two hundred
and fifty million dollars to tell you it's a spectacular career.
He never cheated anybody. And by the way, no one
has ever pointed out, hey, the Clippers were smart to
not give Paul George an extension this past summer. No
one says any of that. The only thing they say
is Sixers aren't winning. Paul George needs to stop his
podcast or jewel Embiid's knee.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Is hurt when you.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Take out arguably the best or second or third best
player in the NBA and he's in now the lineup,
and you're constantly putting together a new team, and Paul
George is not who he used to be. Nobody is
when they get to the mid thirties. This is what happens.
We make it about a podcast. We'll make it about
a pod.
Speaker 7 (21:53):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific on
Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
It's Doug Otlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio. And
let's catch up with the Steinline. Mark Stein joined us
longtime NBA insider published us a substack called the Steinline,
and he joins us. Okay, Mark, you were mister Maverick
as you told us last time. Hey, I'm not as
close with these Mavericks as it was with old Mavericks.
(22:24):
Now the new Mavericks match up with the new Lakers
with Luca. Of course, they don't have a d Luca
has triple double, doesn't play great. Lebron plays really well
in the fourth quarter. Now we're a couple weeks into
this thing, what's the temperature around Dallas post trade.
Speaker 8 (22:42):
Well, look, I mean it's still very, very tense. There's
no way to describe it otherwise. I Mean, the interesting
thing is the team has actually played very well now
throughout the Cleveland game when they were very shorthanded and
(23:04):
got destroyed, right you know, hours after the trade became
public knowledge. But apart from that game, despite the fact
that they have no bigs and they're incredibly shorthanded, I mean,
all their centers are out injured right now except Dwight Powell,
who just came back from a sixteen game absence, they've
played pretty well. But I mean, look, none of that
(23:24):
is really going to calm anyone. You know, They've got
to get ad back to you know, they so people
can see what this group is capable of at it's
mac and the reality is they just they still don't know.
I mean, March sixth is the day that Anthony Davis,
(23:46):
Daniel Gafford, Derek Lively. There will be updates on the
timetables for those players, but that doesn't mean any of
them are actually back March sixth. So I mean, the whole,
the whole idea from the Mavericks side, you know, their
belief was get Anthony Davis, play him at all times
(24:07):
next to Lively or Gafford, and you have a jumbo
size defense, you know, you know, team built around interior defense.
But we've only seen that for three quarters. You know,
Anthony Davis had that amazing first half in his Mavericks
debut and then got the adductor strain. So they've played well.
They're actually not in a terrible position when you look
(24:29):
at the standing. But again, we you know, we need
to see their team whole before anybody is going to
think about changing the subject. And nobody can really tell
you how soon that's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
All right, what about the uh what about the Lakers?
Obviously early on there was a couple of losses. Now
they beat the Nuggets in Denver, they beat the Mavericks
at home. Lebron's playing well, are you buying that this
team now is a contender?
Speaker 8 (25:00):
I mean, look, they're very small, so it's you know,
much like Golden State. For them to do anything in
the playoffs, they're going to have to overcome the fact
that you know, they really don't have size. Now now
they are, you have to say, offensively, they can cause
you a lot of problems because if you've got Luca
and Lebron and Reeves in the game, that's three guys
(25:21):
who can really make something happen with the ball. The
obvious flip side is defensively in the playoffs. How is
that going to work if those are your three best players?
But look, I'm such a Doncic fan that, like, I
know the natural question. The Lakers have won fifteen of nineteen,
and they've been playing really good defense over that stretch.
(25:44):
Now a good portion of it that they still had
a D four, But you know, the rush to kind
of grade them now and assess them now. Like, I'm
not so wrapped up in that, because like the trade
is not even a month old, it's like three weeks
and change old. But like they now have a runway,
(26:07):
a future that they didn't have a month ago, sure
to be able to build around Luca. So it's like,
I'm not so worried about the now because they didn't
have a future before. I mean, they were living on this.
You know, Lebron is forty, Aby is in his early thirties.
We have to win now? Do we have enough to
(26:27):
win now? They don't face that pressure now the pressure
they face is you know, getting Luca re signed and
building around him. But you know, if I'm the Lakers,
I'm really feeling good about Those are my main quests
and priorities right now.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Stuck Gottleib show here on Fox Sports tradi that's a
voice of Mark Stein. Check out the sub set called
the Stein Line. Of course, he's a legend in covering
the NBA as an insider. Greg Popovich, what's the likelihood
that he coaches again?
Speaker 8 (27:00):
Look, I really I'm not in a position to gauge it,
except you know, he put out a statement today he
met with his team today for the first time since
he suffered the stroke in early November. So I mean,
just to be able to get in front of his players.
You can only imagine what that conversation and what that
meeting was like. And you know, in Pop's own words,
(27:22):
he says, I'm going to keep working to put myself
in position because I hope I can come back to coaching.
So you know, if he's going to try, the man
has done everything there is to do in the coaching profession.
If he wants to keep working to try to get back,
obviously that's what's going to happen, and you know, only
(27:42):
only he and the people treating him know how realistic
that is. But you know, I've I basically started covering
the league, you know, just a couple of years before
Pop became a head coach, so I've covered his whole
head coaching career. And you know, he is synonymous with
the San Antonio Spurs. You would say the same for
(28:04):
Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and Manu Genobli, but Pop.
You know, Pop is synonymous with the Spurs, and it
is It is hard for someone like me, who has
seen it start to finish, to imagine him not being there.
So I really hope if this is what he wants,
if he wants to make it back, you obviously cross
(28:25):
your fingers and hope that he can. He has nothing
left to prove. I mean, he has had a ridiculously
good coaching career and he's always said it. He was
a Division three coach who won the coaching lottery to
have the opportunities he had, not just to become the
first coach to send the coach all the players he's coached,
But you know, I would obviously take it as a
(28:46):
hopeful sign reading you know, seeing what he said in
a statement today that he hopes he's going to find
a way back.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
What about Wenby?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
You know, like they put out the statement that this
is isolated, it's just a shoulder deep vein thrombosis, no
cause for concern, But the people you talk to, you're like, Okay,
who's most at risk.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
With deep bane thrombosis? Right?
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Tall athletes, people who travel a lot, like whoa, that's
Victua webin Yama. And obviously none of us have seen
a seven foot seven dude who moves like that at
his age, and we just wonder if the body can
stay together. Is there any concern long term in terms
(29:29):
of webin Yama?
Speaker 8 (29:31):
Look, I don't know that they're going to come out
and say that and state it that clearly, but obviously
anything with Wenby your concerned because he is such a
special talent, and I mean this there's you know, this
is a very scary situation for him to just abruptly
have to be shut down for the rest of the season.
(29:53):
You know, San Antonio, they're going to operate as as
cautiously as any team him on the map. You know,
we've seen this happen before. But look, you know, I
am certainly not the medical expert you need to ask
on this stuff, but I mean we've seen it with
different players and there's different situations here. Brandon Ingram dealt
(30:17):
with this five six years ago, missed the last nineteen
games of a season and was able to come back
and hasn't had an issue with it since. But you know,
is it the same precise pace? I mean, you know,
I don't know that we can pinpoint it that clearly.
So the Spurs, you can rest assured they're going to
(30:38):
be very, very very cautious with Victor woman Yama because
he was I mean, and you saw this season he
was he took such a leak. He was already a
huge factor as a rookie, but just how well he
played this season, I mean, he was, you know, headed
for all NBA status. I mean, he's already one of
(30:58):
the fifteen best players in the league and still at
such an early stage of his development. So, I mean,
it is undeniably scary, but I think all we can
do is hope for the best.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Do people in the NBA believes the thunder can be
as good in the postseason as they've been in the
regular season.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
The past two years.
Speaker 8 (31:19):
Yes, I think in the West they are the team
that everyone fears the most, you know, because they're so
good defensively, and you know, they've added significant size. You know,
they when when they have their full complement of players,
they present a lot of problems. Now, you know, do
(31:43):
they have the shooting that's going to hold up in
the playoffs? You know, maybe that's a concern. You know,
we just saw Minnesota come back from azillion points down
and zone them up and cause them a lot of
problems with the zone. But you know that's that's a
one off, crazy game, crazy be come back. I mean,
the Thunder has been so impressive. The Thunder have been
(32:06):
so impressive this season. I don't know how they're not
your favorites in the West, but if you you know,
I Denver to me has looked more like the Nuggets
that we expect. And you know, Jokic just having an
MVP season and Jamal Murray has been a lot better
since Christmas. Russell Westbrook has had an impact there. So
(32:26):
I still think the Nuggets are going to have something
to say about who comes out of the West. But
I mean the Thunder, Yeah, I mean, I think the
competition sees them as quite real and quite dangerous.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Mark Stein. Check out the styleline. It's a substack.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
I encourage you to follow on social media as well,
signing you the best, thanks for joining us Bud Talk.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Soon.
Speaker 7 (32:45):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Stug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio, coming to you from
the tire rack dot Com studios right here, Yeah, I
can identify it. Come on every day at this time,
that Doug got Liab Show. We turned over Dan Buyer.
We say Dan play a game.
Speaker 7 (33:18):
This is game time on the Doug gottlab Show.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
All right, Doug. The game today on this Thursday.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Is I feel a draft?
Speaker 3 (33:32):
All right?
Speaker 2 (33:32):
This is an only.
Speaker 6 (33:33):
Buddy Goodie hodly but of Goodie bringing it back because
I don't remember what the results were the other time
we did this. But we're about to wrap up the
month of February tomorrow. You know what happens that on
Saturday with Jason Stewart. Guys, let's draft your favorite months
in the twelve month calendar. Doug, you pick first, Jason,
your second, Sam is third, and then I will pick fourth,
(33:56):
and we will snake it in reverse in the second round.
Your favorite month, you're on the clock.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Heck, my favorite month is October. I'm not gonna lie
to here.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
I knew it, I was gonna say it.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Wow.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
He loves Halloween. He also loves college, the start of
college hoops. It's when you get really into the thick
of it. Basketball, fall, football, so much going on. October
we love, first of all, I love fall. I love fall,
even California fall, which is kind of fakeball. You get
a little bit of fall, but everywhere else. October is
full fall. Right, you get the meat of college football,
(34:35):
you start to get real NFL games, you get postseason baseball, right.
Postseason baseball is amazing, and you get the start of
all the winter sports as well.
Speaker 9 (34:45):
But it's glorious.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go. Uh October. I
know it's a surprise to people who know I love basketball.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Jason, you're up at number two.
Speaker 5 (34:55):
I mean, he just took the month of my birth.
It's I should have I should have the rights to
a month I was born in.
Speaker 9 (35:02):
He took my month.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
The weather in October is outstanding. It's just getting cool. Oh,
I love October.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
You should have traded up.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
I should have. So I'm just gonna go the next
best thing, November. It's officially cool, the weather, the we're
gonna turn back the clock, which I like, like shorter days.
I know it's not a popular opinion. November. I'm gonna
go with November.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Wow, Iowa, Sam, you're up at number three.
Speaker 9 (35:31):
I'm gonna take the month of May.
Speaker 10 (35:33):
It's, you know, growing up in the Midwest, it's finally spring,
it's getting warmer, there's leaves on the tree trees. You also,
you're you're getting closer to ending your school year or
your summer's on the horizon.
Speaker 9 (35:47):
So I'm gonna go with May.
Speaker 6 (35:48):
Wow, I've been left with some really good picks, really good,
I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go with April. Really not
only is it my son's birthday, it's the birthday month,
it's the Masters, yes, but you also have in that month.
Get this, You've got Final Four, next weekend Masters, next
(36:10):
weekend NBA Playoffs, next weekend NFL Draft. Very difficult to
top that. Then I'm going to go off the board
July smack dab in the middle of the summer. I
have appreciated summer so much more in the last ten years.
Give me July at five. You like July's out here.
It's pretty hot, though, Hey, the hotter, the better to
jump into the pool. July's in the Midwest, are I think?
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (36:34):
I think July in the Midwest is awesome because it's
just a different vibe in the summer.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
Yes, no, magnificent, it's incredible.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Okay, ahead, do you.
Speaker 9 (36:42):
See people's pale legs? Hope brings shorts.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
What do you got, Sam?
Speaker 10 (36:50):
I have September. When I was a kid, I did
not like September because it was the start of the
school year. But as an adult, September is still summer.
You have college football in the NFL starting, the weather's fantastic.
Speaker 9 (37:03):
Uh, days are still long September.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Do you remember.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
You're up at number seven.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
I was just singing something on a perfect D minor
and you cut me off.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Thanks Dan.
Speaker 5 (37:19):
I'm just gonna go with August Love August, August.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
March, come on, you guys left March from me?
Speaker 3 (37:26):
Yeah? March good Mone.
Speaker 11 (37:28):
Well, it's someome baby walks. You got Championship Week where
the truth is.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
The NCAA tournament starts a week before champions A week
your boys, the Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
We keep winning, we keep playing right.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
That's game time.
Speaker 11 (37:41):
Oh it's phenomenal, fantastic. Let me tell you about Dan Bye.
We'll look back in nineteen eighty six. Next time, it's
Ausode
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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