May 22, 2025 • 48 mins
Colin discusses Tyrese Haliburton's ridiculous night at the Garden and whether the Knicks choked away Game 1. Colin also talked about SGA's first MVP award. NBA Champion Channing Frye broke down the big Pacers win and told Colin wakes makes Tyrese Haliburton so special
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three eastern nine am to
noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oh wow, it's a Thursday show. We are live. It's
the Herd wherever you may be and however you may
be watching or listening. That was an all timer last night.
Epic is overrated. It was that plus jet fuel. It's
the Herd. That is one of the great playoff games,
not just played in New York. Hi, I gotta tell
(00:50):
you something. I'm sitting there watching it, and I'm the
first half, Like, at one point both teams were shooting
like sixty five percent in the half. I'm like, blood
am I watching of AAU basketball? Nobody wanted to d up.
And then in the second half Jmack when they were
ding up, it didn't matter. The Pacers caught fire. It's
(01:12):
It's one of the craziest things I've ever seen one.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Yet certainly an all time great playoff game in the
NBA and Tyrese Halibert and Colin.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Is he a top ten player at this point?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
With this guy just doesn't miss in the kluts.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
He's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, So the Knicks had a fourteen point lead, wasn't
much time left, and they lost in overtime. But I'm
gonna defend the Knicks. They did not choke. The Knicks
had three baskets and two free throws in the final
three minutes. They scored enough. Now, they had some bad turnovers,
but they scored enough. The story of the game is
give the Pacers credit. That was insane. They couldn't miss
(01:47):
in the last six minutes. They shot over seventy percent
and they were hard shots. Aaron Nesmith six straight threes,
three in the final minute. Now, this team plays with
pace and tempo, so they score fast. We know that
they've done it all and they're a great clutch team
because of Halle. They're thirty one and two when they
score one hundred and twenty points or more. So you
(02:07):
do not want to get into a track meet with
the Pacers. That's Milwaukee tried it, Cleveland tried it, The
Knicks tried it. Don't they never get tired. I'm like
watching ninth graders, like they never get tired. Charles Barkley
said it at halftime. This pace totally favors Indiana. And
what's remarkable about Haliburton and Indy is they play at
(02:29):
this pace and they don't turn it over. Then seven
turnovers on the road against the Knick size and the
Knicks tenacity. Seven turnovers Jalen brunts and a loan ad
seven So what you wanted last night? And I said,
I think Indy's gonna win the series. This is this
is what they did the Milwaukee, this is what they
(02:50):
did the Cleveland. They're controlling the tempo. Listen, give the
next credit Nix to have one. They shot fifty one percent.
They got a bad bounce, And I think last night
New York Beach, everybody in the league except Halliburton, the
Pacers and maybe Okac. Halliburton got the bounce. Nie Smith
was unbelievable. How about the gone Zaga kid, Nemhart multiple
threes late, Obi topping. I mean, it's just everything worked
(03:13):
for them late. But I'll tell you Halliburton is amazing
because he reminds me of Steve Nash. Steve Nash won
an MVP averaging fifteen a game. The next year he
won another MVP, averaging eighteen a game. But Steve Nash,
one of the smartest athletes I've ever met, had unbelievable
(03:36):
self awareness. And that's Halliburton. What do you need all provide?
The guy plays with zero fear, but his self awareness
he knows what the clock is is uncanny. The choke signed,
I love it, bring it on, But he is an
all timer man. He is the aggressor. He can play
with physicality and again we can bang on the next
(03:57):
But in the last six minutes of the fourth overtime
they scored twenty four points. The Pacers scored forty four
on seventy two percent shooting. That is unheard of. The
Knicks should have won. Now, the Knicks had too many turnovers,
But I think I think this comes down to Halliburton
and the Pacers play with the aggressiveness that I think
(04:20):
Celtic fans wish Tatum and Boston did, like they just
played Downhill and Lamar Jackson could throw forty eight times
a game and win. But that's not how Lamar and
the Ravens are built. They're a power football team with
Derreck Henry. The Knicks stayed in this game, shot fifty
(04:41):
one percent. But this is going to be a six
or seven game series. This is not what the Knicks are.
And yesterday on this show, I kept saying over and
over the Pacers play the fastest pace in the league.
What a perfect name for a team. Last three years,
Knicks are the slowest team. That's not a bad thing
for the playoffs. Half court offen is great. They played
the slowest pace. Whoever wins the pace will win this series.
(05:07):
And the Knicks almost pulled it off. But if you
remember last year when these two teams played, what happened.
Indiana played really really quick, up tempo and over time
the Knicks swore wore down. They didn't have the body.
So in these got more bodies. They're built for this.
Their guys are in their prime. Halliburton controlled it like
(05:27):
he did against Cleveland, like he did against the Bucks.
The Knicks almost pulled it off. But here's Halley after
Basketball's fun.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
They all winning his fun And uh, you know, I'm
so proud of the resilience of this group.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
We're showing it all year. We had to win in
so many different.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Random, unique ways i'd today.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
We just kept kept going, kept fighting, and uh man,
that's that one.
Speaker 6 (05:52):
There.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
There's Halliburton's is a lot like Steve Nash, and that
everybody that played with Steve Nash was at their best.
He'd give you fifteen, but he elevated everybody. James Harden
scored a lot of guys that score Halliburton. This is
a one star team with a bunch of B plus players.
But what's amazing is the B plus players for Indiana.
(06:14):
Because of Halliburton and self awareness and movement and pace,
they're all playing at an a level like all of
Indiana's players are rising to the moment. This is not
about the Knicks not playing well. This is about Indiana
being on fire and making a remarkable number of big shots.
If you did not hear the final call, we'll give
(06:36):
it to you from the Pacers Radio network.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Halliburton driving, he's in the lane, he nearly lost, and
he backs up and unloads a three.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Beck.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Did not happen.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
It hit the back of the rim, It popped high
into the air, and it dropcutely through the net and
the Pacers and the scoreboard chills one twenty five. I
have one twenty five.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
It's called a two point shot.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
So it's just it's an incredible moment. And I'll get
to two things that worry me about the Knicks going forward.
Let's now talk about Brunson. So Jalen had forty three
points and you say to yourself, that's a great night.
But he had seven turnovers. Why because he's playing faster
than he's used to. That's the most turnovers Jalen Brunson
(07:27):
has had all season. And he also got into foul trouble. Again.
We're asking somebody who can type forty words a minute
to type sixty. You know, it's just this isn't what
he's built for. Brunson and Haliburton are two very different players.
Brunson's a score, small, strong. He uses, you know, his leverage,
(07:47):
He uses his hips, he does that mid post game.
He just plays way bigger than his height. But he
is a scorer and a finisher. He sometimes is plotting.
He wants to get you in that half court. He
wants to work you. He's gonna work his shoulders, he's
gonna work his hips. Halliburton's different. He's long, gangly, herky jerki.
(08:12):
It's kind of awkward. He's strong and can use it
a couple of times on occasion. But what he is,
he's the pace car. He is the guy that's gonna okay,
I'm going to tell you how fast we're all gonna play,
and you can't stop him because he's just so long
and gangly. He's a very awkward player. He's hard to defend.
The two things that worry me about New York after
(08:34):
last night, First of all, Karl Anthony Towns. That's about
as good as he can play in the playoffs. He
was efficient. He's not always efficient. He hit his threes,
he didn't get in foul trouble. You know, Kat gets
in foul trouble. Kat does dumb fouls. He's a really
good offensive player, but through his career he drives you nuts.
I thought Kat last night was spectacular. I don't know
(08:55):
if he can duplicate that. I just don't know if
he can play any better than that. It was fun watching.
The second thing is Brunson gonna say, hey man, I
got forty three. I'm gonna play this temple. We're scoring.
We should have won the game. They could talk themselves
into that. So but again, I'll say it last year
when these two teams played in the end of the series.
(09:16):
I mean, Brunson last night, because of foul trouble, played
the fewest minutes of any New York Knicks starter. That
is not what you want. I don't care if he
scored forty three points and to lose in overtime when
you have the shorter bench game one, you blow a
pretty big lead at that pace. I didn't love it.
(09:37):
That's a game it feels like for the road team
to win that game and control the tempo. Didn't love
it for New York. Here's Brunson after give.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Them a lot of credit.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
They closed the game out like they've been doing the
all playoffs.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Just not really good on our part.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
For all the players, and I know it wasn't a
huge number, but for the players that said Haliburton is overrated.
Check yourself, because when I'm watching and we were sitting
there TI, I mean, I look at all I look
at the box score, and the difference is Knicks had
twice as many turnovers and a couple of costly ones
in overtime. That's your ballgame. But I'm gonna push back.
(10:19):
I'm gonna push back on the choke thing. The Knicks
scored six minutes left, they scored twenty four points. That's enough.
And by the way, you have turnovers when you're playing
above your tempo. But I think what you're seeing with
Halliburton here, and I don't know if it's an eight.
I don't know if you're born with it. But there
(10:40):
are some people that not only does he rise in
the moment, but he elevates all his teammates in the moment.
I mean, I got nothing against the Pacer squad. It's
a really good team, but there's a lot of b
guys right now that are playing an a level on
the road in New York against the really well coached team.
What you're watching with Indiana is we just got to
(11:01):
give them credit. We can blame the Knicks on this.
You got to give Indiana credit. They are really, really
and we said this, j Mac, you called it. You
picked them over Cleveland. And one of the reasons you did.
You fell in love with Halliburton last year. Last year
on the show, folks, if you didn't listen, he went
crazy on Halliburton. He basically called in the next magic
(11:23):
Johnson and I don't think that's his style. But I
do see a lot of Steve Nash. He can score,
he can take the foot off the gas, he can play.
But Nash just will you watch Steve Nash? How did
Steve Nash win the MVP at fifteen a game? Because
he controlled the basketball game? Steve Nash literally controlled every
game he was in. People were like, how can you
win MVP? You had to watch the Sons play. What
(11:43):
Indiana's doing and you caught onto it last year is
they are between Caitlin Clark and the Pacers. They are
so much to me fun to watch.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Yeah, I love the Halliburton story.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
You know, Midwest kid grew up under recruited, the big
colleges didn't want him. I love this stories of these
underdogs coming out of nowhere. Colin he's emerging right now,
honestly as one of the most clutch players.
Speaker 6 (12:05):
In the league.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
And I mean, I don't see how he's not like
an All NBA guy, how he's not like a top
ten player. He does everything and like you said, makes
everyone around him better.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Think about that much like Nash. Last two years, we've
talked about the Sixers and the Celtics. And we've talked
about all these teams, Pacers back to back, back to
back Eastern Conference Finals.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Well, let's be real, the Knicks are not in that
much trouble. It took six threes from Nie Smith in
the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's I believe, an NBA record.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Like, listen, we're not gonna see that again. However, the
choke by my Knicks has me a little nervous because
you know, they go in to Game two, can't blow
game two, and Pacers have sown a propensity.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
They stole Game two in Cleveland. Yeah, I mean, the
thing about India is they're completely fearless. Homer away doesn't matter,
and I think some of that is it's almost like hockey.
It's when you play fast the road crowd, you're flying
by the crowd. This is not a plodding half court
(13:10):
offense where the fans are on you. They're just up
and down the floor. It's hard to get your arms
around Indiana. They're just breakneck.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
I'm not comparing them in any way to the Showtime Lakers,
but the Celtics could do more half court. The Lakers
were up and down the floor. Nash's sons were up
and down the floor. Jordan's Bulls could do a lot
of half court stuff. So it's just it's they just
watching Indiana. I you know. I obviously the New York
crowd's insane and wonderful. You can't tell where they're playing.
(13:43):
Every time the Pacers play, it looks the same that
they're a tempo team more than anything else.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Easter non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
You're now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible
Great rates none of the Bowl. So let's get to
the choke gesture. We talked about it regarding the WNBA
yesterday in the day before. Is there is a performative
nature to sports. Trash talking, taunting, within reason, flaunting. I'm
okay with it. I thought it was funny that Haliburton
(14:21):
did the choke signal he thought he'd won, so did I.
By the way, it's hard to sometimes relate to six
foot nine, six foot ten basketball players, but that was
a relatable moment. We've all done that right in the playground.
Chest out. Sports makes you feel something, and I don't
think it's fair to ask these athletes to train for
(14:42):
years to do something, then surround them with twenty thousand people,
and then, in the biggest shot in the world at
that moment, to ask an athlete to be subtle and nuanced.
I watched that last night, and I'm like, here we go.
If you didn't see the Reggie Miller Spike Lee moment
that got a thirty for thirty and Reggie Miller last
(15:04):
night is laughing watching Haliburton. You can say what you want.
It's iconic. It got documentaries. Even Bill Belichick, as grumpy
as he can be. I can remember watching a story,
a documentary on Belichick. Belichick used to say, guys, celebrate
this stuff is hard. Scoring touchdowns is hard. Celebrate. Belichick
was furious when you didn't pump your fist, when you
(15:26):
didn't play with emotion. So I mean, listen, the choke
sign is universal. Sometimes it feels like it's warranted, it's personal.
Reggie Miller laughing about it on TV. But I just
thought the whole thing, the shot, the moment, the sign,
I thought it was all time stuff. Here's Hallie.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
In the moment. I mean, I wasn't like plotting out
in or anything.
Speaker 6 (15:48):
I just everybody wanted me to do it, like last
year at some different point. But it's just gotta feel right,
and it felt right at the time.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
If it would have been, if.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I would have known it was, it too, would not
have done it.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
So I think I might have wasted it.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
He's having a remarkable postseason. So he's averaging nine and
a half assists a game, leads the NBA in the
playoffs six games with ten plus assists, and he's a scorer,
and by the way his clutch time points, it's really remarkable.
There's a fine line between being confident and arrogant, and
I think he's an incredibly likable confident player. I don't
(16:27):
think it veers into arrogant. I think it's just really confident.
They have four wins now trailing. Think about this this postseason.
They have four wins when trailing by seventeen points, and
I think a lot of it's Haliburton, but I also
think it's their pace. When you play fast and you're
not sloppy. They're not sloppy. So when you pay play fast,
(16:50):
seventeen points feels like you're down nine. You know, the
Knicks get down seventeen points the way they play a
more plotting style. It feels like it's over. But Steph
Curry got down seventeen. The Steve Nash teams got down seventeen.
It's different. You're always within a punch and so they're
very unique team when being down does not mean being out.
(17:12):
I still like Indiana to win this series. I thought
the Knicks played well enough to win, and I'm not
sure anybody but the Pacers and maybe OKC he could
have beaten the next last night in Madison Square.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern nin am Pacific.
Speaker 7 (17:27):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 8 (17:32):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (17:39):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 8 (17:41):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well other shows don't seem to have the
time to discuss.
Speaker 8 (17:54):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right.
Speaker 7 (17:58):
So check us out, like to get you involved, to
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on planetar. Be sure to
check out Cavino and Rich live on Fox Sports Radio
and the iHeartRadio app from five to seven pm Eastern
two to four Pacific, And if you miss any of
the live show, just search coven on Rich wherever you
(18:18):
get your podcast, and of course on social.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Media that's Cavino and Rich.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
In just three days, it's the biggest day in motorsports,
as the greatest spectacle in racing, the one hundred and
ninth Indy five hundred comes to Fox with Joseph Newgarden
going for a historic threepeat. Coverage begins at ten am
Eastern Sunday on Fox.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
We are fired up for the race.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
We got an authentic Indy five hundred driver helmet and
an Indy.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Five hundred milk jug.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Of course, the winner Sunday will continue the tradition of
drinking milk in Victory Lane.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
So SGA won the MVP this week. I would have
voted him MVP. It's a regular season award, and I
do think how your team finishes matter. Jokicic's Nuggets weren't
as good in the regular season. I think Jokich is
the best player in the world. But Michael Jordan did
not win, nor did Lebron or Magic in his prime.
(19:17):
They didn't win the MVP every year. A lot of
it is how is your team doing an SGA's team
won by an average of twelve point nine points. They
were a blizzard, a hot knife through butter of this league.
So and he's a remarkable player. But the other thing
is he now is eligible for three hundred and eighty
million dollars with the new CBA, and I would have
(19:38):
no problem writing that check. Unlike Luca, I don't question
his fitness. Unlike Giannis, I want him to have the
ball with two minutes left. He'll hit the free throws.
Unlike Kawhi r MB, there's no load management. I like
Donovan Mitchell, I don't think he elevates teammates quite as
much as SGA does, even for billionaire owners. The new
(20:02):
CBA makes you pause. You have to consider everything seventy
six million dollars per season. If you're just dropping thirty
he used to be in the NBA. Get buckets, you'll
get your max. Nope, nope, not interested. That's why Laker
fans now see watch every night. You really know a
(20:24):
player when he's yours. He's on your team. Otherwise, nobody
outside of okc's watching OKAC every night. They are in okacs.
So you know of SGA. You get the whistle, you
get elevation. There's no load management. He gets you buckets.
He's great in clutch time. That's the easiest check in
the league to write. After Jokic, that's the easy one.
(20:45):
A lot of these guys that like Jamal Murray. I
like Jamal Murray. He plays himself into shape. I'm not
signing that check. I'm not giving you three hundred million
dollars Luca. That was the concern in Dallas. He's playing
himself into shape. Those are the guys that get hurt
more so. I think now that you have this, you
have this new CBA, if you miss on a player
(21:07):
like Trey Young gets buckets. I like Trey. I'm not
paying that money for Trey. I didn't play defense. I
don't know if he's a leader. I don't know if
he elevates teammates. He gives you some assists, and I
like Trey Young, but I think all the stars thought, oh,
this new CBA is great. But I'm a billionaire. It's
one thing. Paying Lebron thirty eight million in this prime.
I'll sign that check. I'll pay Lebron's seventy six million
(21:29):
in this prime. But Kevin Durant was a little flaky.
Kevin Durant had a few injuries. I'm on think about it.
And that's why I said, if Nico Harrison would have
gotten three firsts and Austin Reeves with a D, I
would have defended the move. I'm not sure I would
have made it. I would have defended it. Like I
get Jannis. He's had some injuries. You don't want him
(21:52):
with the ball late, he's bad at the free throw
line like that doesn't mean he's not a star. But
three hundred and eighty million dollars you get into that. Ara,
I have to consider everything, and it's just an incredibly
putative new CBA. And so it's just not about getting
buckets anymore. Here's Sga on winning the Award.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
I always thought that I could be a really good
player because I had seen, like what just putting your
head down and working and controlling what you can control
can do for you.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
I dreamt about as a kid, but it's like an
you know, as a kid, it's a fake dream.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
But to as the days go on and you realize that,
like you get closer to your dream, it's hard to
like not freak out. It's hard to like not be
a six year old kid again. And I think that's
what's allowed me to achieve it.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
You know, I got to tell you right now. With
the NBA, between SGA, Tyrese Halliburton and Jalen Brunson, I'm
not sure there ever been three more relatable NBA stars.
I mean again, NBA guys are six eight. I remember
going to the SPS and you know, athletes are big,
(23:04):
but they looked like human beings. And then you watch
the NBA guys coming in their tuxes and they're seven
to two. They don't look like the rest of it.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Teddy Bruski I worked with. He was a great, fearless linebacker.
After he retired, he carried a briefcase. He looked like
the company's accountant. You couldn't tell. So I just find
that SGA is just such a relatable dude Halliburton and Brunson.
It's really cool. So we talked about this yesterday. I said,
(23:34):
I thought that Jason Kelsey, with his inspirational speech to
the owners, got the tush push barely. Now, I'll say this,
it was a twenty two to ten vote against the
tush push. Let's not make it sound like people were
in favor of it. The league didn't really want it.
(23:57):
The Health and Safety Committee didn't want it, the Rules
Committee didn't want it, and twenty two owners didn't want it.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
But you needed.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Twenty four to get it banned. So the NFL, as suspected,
asked the packers to propose a failed push push. That's
been reported so the league did not want it. The
league didn't want it. The vote led to a according
to stories here, multiple heated exchanges. So this is one
(24:25):
of these things where I said this yesterday. I think
it's Jason Kelcey and Jeffrey Lewie And this is the
thing about the NFL, and I guess this is the
same with every league, but there are certain owners in
the NFL that have a lot of pull. And it's
not Michael Bidwell, Okay, it is. Jerry Jones wanted an
(24:45):
NFL team in Vegas. There's an NFL team in Vegas.
Jerry Jones wanted the Rams to go from Saint Louis
to Los Angeles. They went from Saint Louis to Los Angeles.
Robert Kraft has always handled I'm not sure if he
still does. For years he handled all the TV deals.
He would collectively talk to all the owners and then
(25:07):
he would go call Fox and CBS and NBC and ESPN.
So Jeffrey Lurie of Philadelphia got a lot of smoke.
Stan Kronk's one of the richest. Arthur Blank, the Hunt family,
they've earned it craft, Jerry Jones. You know Detroit's owners,
Cleveland's owner, Chicago's owner, Arizona's owner. Either they don't have
the money, they don't have the wins. I think people
(25:28):
look at Philadelphia. I don't think I think if twenty
five teams were doing the tush push, it would be banned.
I think it is allowed because it's Philadelphia and Jeffrey
lury and I think there's only about four to five
owners that would get this thing pushed through. A Steve
Bushatti of Baltimore maybe gets push gets it pushed through.
(25:50):
But Philadelphia is iconic. They arguably have the most passionate
fan base. They're a blue blood that's incredibly important for
the league. Jeffrey Lourie is a a creative, progressive owner.
Howie Roseman has built the best roster. They're good for
the league. I mean, I've said this about all pro
sports in America. You could drop six to eight NHL teams,
(26:13):
Nobody would at ninety nine percent of you don't know
the arena the Saint Louis Blues playing. You could drop
eight baseball teams. You could drop about five to six
NBA teams, Nobody would care. It's the same in the NFL.
I got news for you. You could erase about six
NFL teams. Nobody would care. Philadelphia is one of those
four foundational teams. To me, like Philadelphia, the Niners out
(26:37):
West Philadelphia, the Green Bay Packers' there's just a handful
of teams. Dallas Cowboys obviously they just matter a lot.
So I think I think this comes down to Jeffrey Lowie, Philadelphia.
They're standing in the league. Jason Kelsey or this thing
again the vault was twenty two to ten, if it
(26:57):
was twenty four to eight, ban and you know, people
are upset with it. I do think. I do think
the one thing that you know, for years and years
Phil Jackson ran, they called it the triangle offense. And
you're like, why didn't everybody use the triangle offense? And
my argument would be because you didn't have Michael Jordan
(27:19):
and Kobe the triangle offense. Yeah, lamar Odin was kind
of a clever player that it worked with. It worked
mostly because the Kobe and Michael Jordan. This tush push
works because it's the biggest offensive line in league history,
and it works because Jalen hurts squats six hundred pounds
and he's small. I mean you would if I would
have told you you'd never seen the tush push, because
(27:41):
Tom Brady in his era was a tall guy that
was kind of lanky and was the best quarterback, sneak guy.
If I would have told you you'd never watched the NFL,
I'd say, there's this team. All you knew is you
kind of had a sense to the league. I said,
there's this team that invented this play. It's a one
yard play, who do you think runs it? You would
(28:03):
have guessed like, oh, Lamar Jackson could always get a yard,
or oh Josh Allen or Herbert they're huge, they can
get a yard. You know, you look at the big guy.
I said, No, it's Jalen Hurts. Second round Jalen Hurts,
small squad, six hundred and fifty pounds behind the biggest
offensive line in league history. So it's a lot of
Jalen Hurts this even with that old line. It doesn't
(28:24):
work with Jared Goff. Okay, it's not gonna work. It's
not working with Rock Perdy. It's probably not working with
Joe Burrow. It works with Jalen Hurts. So I do
think Philadelphia's argument is A, there's no data that people
are getting hurt, and B we've got unique personnel. Don't
punish us for being the deepest offense in the league.
(28:45):
Two receivers, two tight ends, star quarterbacks, star back, four
all pro level alignment. Don't punish us for that. I
think that's the best argument I've had. Philadelphia fans say,
you're punishing us. We created something. It's a good argument. Now,
now the defensive shift in baseball was created by Joe
Madden down in Tampa, and the problem was everybody started
(29:10):
using it right. That wasn't really player specific, and it
made the game slower. You did not want Bryce Harper
lining out. You wanted Bryce Harper and the hair and
the look. You wanted it on base So that was
so easy to duplicate it became bad for the league.
Just like Adam Sober right now doesn't love all the
three point shots because you can find three point shooters.
(29:31):
What Philadelphia is doing is hard to duplicate, and so
it's not all through the league. You only see it
about four times a game from one team, so the
unique flavor of it actually works to Philadelphia's favor. If
twenty two teams were using this eleven times a game,
it would get banned because what the owners really care
(29:52):
about is the entertainment value. But one team does it
well and use it four to five times a game.
It's their thing. It's their thing. J Mack, great first
hour on a Friday. We got Channing Fry and Paul
Pierce stopping by today on Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
I guess some good news for you. The numbers on
the brock Pretty contract, that granular.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Numbers are coming out. I'll send them to you during
the break.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Okay, you're gonna love it. Our one down on a Thursday,
Our two next in Chicago. It's to her.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and Neon Easter not a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
And with that, Channing Fry, who started his career in
New York for the Knicks, is now joining a fly
a man thirteen years in the NBA. That was I
don't even know, It's just crazy. So how do you view?
Like I said, I think basketball players are artists, Like
I've always said, you all got your quirky mannerisms and
(30:49):
idiosyncratic styles. What do you make a HALLI Burton in
the Choke.
Speaker 6 (30:55):
First of all trees is one of the nicest human
beings ever. I think when I think when he got
voted most overrated person, I think that was a problem.
There was There was a time when the Pacers were
playing the Calves and that the crowd started chanting overrated, and.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
Donovan Mitchell was telling them be quiet, like the players
like stop it, and he went off. I text Tyrese
and I said, hey, you are garbage.
Speaker 6 (31:24):
The first three quarters and then all of a sudden,
you go into the phone booth and come out like Superman.
It's unbelievable. The plays that he does. I wouldn't have
never had to wherewithal you know, most players in that
situation would take the two because they're like, oh, I.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Just want to you know, we'll tie the game up.
Speaker 6 (31:44):
He had a wide open layup, turned his back, looked
at the other clock, found the three point line sort of,
and then shot a three over Mitchell Robinson, who's a seven.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Foot dude who has the longest arms. You know, it
looked like this is the layup right here, and he.
Speaker 6 (32:02):
Goes nope and shot that for game. It's like, you
cannot make this up. I played with a lot of
great players. I don't know four of the greatest players
that I played with that would have shot that shot.
But like the belief that he has in himself and
his team that they have. I thought the Pacers in
that fourth quarter they dismantled the Knicks by being a
(32:25):
better team, where the Knicks had a better player in Brunton, right,
I think Og was the only one who shot a
shot in the last five minutes of that fourth quarter.
In the overtime, where the pacers. Everyone had to play
Obie Toppen Nie Smith went.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
Absolutely who was that?
Speaker 6 (32:44):
Was that?
Speaker 4 (32:44):
Nisan Curry like it was? But it was? It was
so good, so good Canning?
Speaker 1 (32:52):
You know who he does remind me of I said
this an hour ago. His self awareness, his ability to
score but elevate others. He reminds me of a guy
who played with Steve Nash. Nash won an MVP, averaging
fifty in a game, came back the next year won
another MVP averaging eight. Everybody's like, well, wall wait, you
can't win. No, no, no, yes you can. Everybody played their
(33:13):
best ball. But Nash, Who's one of the smartest guys
I've ever met. I mean, like in or out of sports,
Nash had the self awareness. Nash had this, I know
he can drive people crazy. He had the self awareness
to know the temple to score, who was weak, who
was in foul tra It was like a good quarterback.
He knew your soft spot and he would attack it.
And so I to me, Hallie's got a little Nash
(33:36):
in him.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
I think he has a lot. I think he has
a lot.
Speaker 6 (33:40):
I think he is the only star in our league
that can be a star and score ten points a game.
Like he can have ten points and he can dominate
the whole game. I think he's the only one like that.
He is a true past first point guard. And if
he wasn't that way, the Pace would not be who
(34:01):
they are. Like if the Pacers had Brunson, I don't
think they would be the Pacers. The fact that everyone
of their starters scored in that fourth quarter and over time,
the fact that everyone when they go on a run,
everyone knows where the ball's going. They believe in their culture.
The fact that they stood pat really didn't bring anyone
(34:23):
in last year or this year and just said, hey,
we went to the Eastern Conference finals, let's run his back.
Their belief in each other is crazy. It is because
Halliburn is never playing with his ego. He's playing with
the fire to win games. So like there are games
where sometimes he's gonna have two points. Now, is that
a bad game for him, for sure, But they could
still win with him scoring two points because he's doing
(34:47):
this all game. He's not pressuring, but when it's time
to win, they all look to him to make a play.
And I think we no one brought this up, but
like even when they beat the Bucks. You know there's
no way Tyre's Halliburton, I texted, I told him this
on the phone. I said that a week old left
to right crossover shouldn't have got past nobody. And you
(35:09):
go pass Janis and to Takoumpo and lay that ball
up in his face for game Jannis is a top
five defender in the league. And how does you with
no muscles, a weird looking jump shot get by him
and do this? He goes, I don't know, man, I
just be. I just gotta do what I gotta do.
And so you know, for me, I think there's gonna
(35:29):
be a great series. Obviously, the game one was nuts.
It's gonna come down to the Knicks defense. And can
the Pacers continually.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Play that pace? Well, look at that paces, play the
pace in this series. I'm curious to see the changes
the Knicks make the next game.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Yeah, I said, last night, Brunson has forty three, but
he had seven turnovers and he got in early foul trouble.
And I said, it's almost like being a typist that
types fifty words a minute. And Halliburton made Brunson type
seventy words a minutes and he he was. I felt like,
even though he got the points, I don't think it's
one of the great Jalen Brunson games because he had
(36:08):
more turnovers last night than he had all year. And
I really thought the story of the game is that
it was Indy five hundred and that's not the Knick style.
And I Indy got them to play exactly like they wanted,
and Brunson kind of said, Okay, I'll do this. Maybe
it's vanity ego, I get it, but like I'm like, Okay,
if you're gonna play that way, then you have to
win that game in regulation in New York. You can't
(36:29):
lose that game.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
I think one thing we're not taking into account is
what's that fourth quarter? They started double team Brunson aggressively.
Remember he got trapped in the back court and he
just threw the ball. If Siakam was in the right place,
that would have been a turnover. They double teamed him,
but he fell down, he got a foul. When he
gets double teams, he is very uncomfortable in these situations.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
And look how many players they put like.
Speaker 6 (36:55):
That, that's a simple double team. Look at this another
double team. So like, to me, their offense stalled out
in that fourth quarter. And here's the real coming to
Jesus moment. They are hunting hunting him and Cat in
screening rolls. It is wild to watch. You look at
the clip every time Nie Smith made a three, it
(37:16):
was except for one at the end of the game
with Josh Smith and Mitchell, which they should have switched,
which is a stupid mistake. A dude who has seventeen
points and they're running a specific play for him.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
Switch, Let Obi Toppen shoot a three. Anybody else with
the dude who's hot, so like that was a mental error.
Speaker 6 (37:33):
But they are going at Cat and I don't know
if you saw the clip of Og yelling at Cat
after you know he just laid on that screen.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
That's going to be a problem because.
Speaker 6 (37:43):
Now the three things the Pacers did that game is
they found out runs it, gets in foul trouble, and
turns the ball over when you aggressively double team one.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Two Kat does not want to move his feet end
of game. He's exhausted.
Speaker 6 (37:58):
Three If you go at Hunsen, he stalls the offense
out in that fourth quarter because they can't run a
screen and roll with him anymore.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Because he's uncomfortable getting double team.
Speaker 6 (38:08):
So if you notice those clips, he's going one on
one in Nie Smith and Nemhard and Shepherd and Ali
Burdon and Siakam all those dudes are.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Taking turns guarding him.
Speaker 6 (38:19):
So at six on one, yeah, he's exhausted and no
one else is.
Speaker 4 (38:24):
Touching the ball.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
They need to play him as Steph Curry in the
fourth quarter instead of Brunson. So he's throw the ball
the cat run some away screens get him to run
towards the ball. But is he comfortable doing that? And
can the next win play in that game?
Speaker 4 (38:40):
We'll see. I'm very curious to see how it works.
You know.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
It's so chanting. Fry joining us for already audience, one
of my favorite people that covers this league and talks
about it. So in New York is fascinating. Jordan had
some of his best games there, Kobe had some of
his best games there. I mean, Halliburton is having the
time of his life. New York's a weird place that
it inspires the great players, even though it's a home
court advantage. You started your career there. Take my audience too.
(39:08):
I remember watching Big East games there and I'm like,
this is crazy. Tell me take my audience to playing
as a Nick as an opponent in Madison Square Garden.
It feels different to me.
Speaker 6 (39:22):
So, you know, the college experience is that when you're
a really good player or a really good team, the
opposing team booju.
Speaker 4 (39:31):
The whole time.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
When you go to the garden, it's like being in
a center of like you you're a gladiator.
Speaker 4 (39:37):
You're winning the crowd over and that's the problem.
Speaker 6 (39:41):
That's the problem because if you start hooping, they the
oohs and ohs are like it gets you even more adrenaline.
And the Knicks fans have so much basketball knowledge that
if you do some good they'll be like, dang, that's
a good job.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Man, that's tough.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
Where other fans are like boo whatef you and you suck.
They're not saying that. So if you start doing well,
it's a problem because all of a sudden, you're feeding
on their adrenaline. You're feeding on shutting them up. And
as a Knicks player, you have to each game when
the fans back over. So it's not like you could
(40:21):
just walk on the court and be loved. It's you
could walk on the court, miss you first four and
Tracy Morgan's like, stop shooting the ball, your big dummy.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
You're like, wait, I just had forty last game.
Speaker 6 (40:32):
So to me, it is the greatest place to play basketball.
And I promise if anyone has an opportunity to go
watch basketball or even you know, hockey there.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
It is so historic, so beautiful, but.
Speaker 6 (40:44):
Yet it's not a regular arena you are playing like
at the park where they may talk crap to you.
You could talk crap to them, but if you start cooking,
look at think about what Tray Young, Trey Young pokes
at them all the time, and they react.
Speaker 4 (40:59):
To it because it's a it's a movie, it's theater.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
It's yeah.
Speaker 6 (41:03):
It encompasses like the New York attitude of who's.
Speaker 4 (41:07):
Gonna give me the best show.
Speaker 6 (41:09):
They dimmed the lights on the in the in the
stadium so you just focus on the court.
Speaker 4 (41:15):
It's it's a it's you know, I'm getting goosebumps talking
about it. It is such a great opportunity to play there.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Well, it starts with Rucker Park, it goes to Broadway,
it goes to the Big East Tournament, it goes to
New York, New Yorkers are very well versed on great
and they appreciate it. Oh listen, I always said about
New York. I didn't love the traffic, I didn't love
the weather. I loved the people. The people are seven.
Speaker 4 (41:37):
Different people.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Pizza or who they love their Okay, let's go, Let's
go to Minnesota. Ok See, like like like, here's the
thing with Aunt, and I think this is a reality
of the modern player, Like there was never a timement
with Michael Jordan. I can remember the Utah Finals. Mike
shot like thirty three times, made seven. Mike went down swinging,
(42:00):
like sometimes with Tatum or sometimes with Ant. I'm like, bro,
thirteen shots. What's going on? I think the modern player,
they're all rich and it's a more collaborative world. And
sometimes like when the shots don't fall, like guys are like, okay,
I'm not gonna and I just I grew up with
Michael and it says like now Michael didn't have that
he was going to take the shots. Kobe was gonna
(42:21):
take the shots. Could I argue with Aunt that he's
not force full enough at times?
Speaker 4 (42:30):
No, I think the rules are different.
Speaker 6 (42:32):
When Mike won the ball back in the nineties, the
three seconds they he could go play one on one
and if he missed, he miss. Now, if you notice
okay C's defense, they basically put their best on ball defenders,
so they're up in ants joshtrap.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
They force him to drive into help. Look at this.
Look how many people are technically guarding him on that
play alone? He had four different people. Look what does
he see? Right there? He what does he see?
Speaker 6 (43:02):
Look, he's being double team triple teams. Like this is
what I think people don't understand about. Okay see double
teams Right there? They are making him. They do such
a good job of making players have early pickups and
throw the ball these lot passes while guys are just
shooting passing lanes.
Speaker 4 (43:20):
It's absolutely gorgeous to watch them play.
Speaker 6 (43:23):
I think Aunt doesn't want to settle for threes because
that's the only thing they're giving up.
Speaker 4 (43:28):
They're like, we'll give you threes. We've seen you go
zero for eleven.
Speaker 6 (43:31):
And for him, he doesn't have lanes until his others
win a game. Ant is going to have problems finding
lanes to attack the rim, so he wants to play
good basketball. Okac is forcing him to trust his teammates, right,
and this is the attitude that I've seen in the
first game. There's one player on Minnesota that can beat us,
(43:55):
and we're not gonna let you play basketball. Anybody else
could try and beat us, but we believe in our
others more than your others.
Speaker 4 (44:01):
And it worked. And so Aunt, let's say he does
shoot thirty times, how many of those are.
Speaker 6 (44:06):
Gonna be near the rim? Not very many, They're gonna
be twenty nine threes. He just he just It's like
in today's game, if you don't have movement, if you're
a great one on one guy the way OKAYC plays defense,
you're not comfortable.
Speaker 4 (44:22):
You're not getting to your spot.
Speaker 6 (44:24):
Because even if one guy gets foul trouble, Oh oh
Lou Dort gets in foul trouble. Oh, here go Caruso,
Here go Isaiah, Joe, he goes Ga, he goes Look
how many different people and like even this play right here,
the wherewithal for that team to stay to fan out
right not help and let check play that one on
one is just they're one conscious mind and one.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Thing to notice for the next game or tonight.
Speaker 6 (44:51):
Watch how many guys when big men are around, you know,
hour guards usually go over the top. Watch how many
times they swipe down and don't go for the block.
They allow Hartenstein and Chet to be tall while they
swipe the ball and make the guy don't have a
straight line to go shoot. And I'll give you an example.
It's like, remember when Jr. Or swiped at Andre Guodala
(45:14):
so he didn't have a dunk during the twenty sixteen
finals and he had to go shoot that layup. So
he knew not to foul, but he just wanted Andre
to you know, kind of avoid him, and it gave
Lebron an opportunity to get that block.
Speaker 4 (45:25):
They do this all game long.
Speaker 6 (45:27):
It is like such a mind meld to see their
discipline on defense.
Speaker 4 (45:33):
I mean, Okac is my pick to win it all.
Speaker 6 (45:36):
I just don't see anybody that has a big man
that can take advantage of them inside and then kick
out with threes.
Speaker 4 (45:44):
Is really don't wait to beat him.
Speaker 6 (45:46):
But you know, like Lord had mercy, poor poor Minnesota,
there are others that were gonna need to shoot the ball.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
All right, let's end with this. Clippers are a well
run organization. Lawrence Frank is a smart guy, but Sam
Presty stole SGA from them. I remember when he was
in Kentucky and came out. I didn't think he was
the best Kentucky player. He's a combination of like eight
percent Keiky vandaway nine percent Alex English. You know, we
he's a different player that initiates contact contact. He doesn't
(46:14):
have like a loophole move like James Harden. He just
he's just one of these guys that may not jump out.
I mean, obviously he's a great player, but I mean
Sam Presty kind of stole him. Are you surprised by
how dominant he has become? Did you see it seven
years ago?
Speaker 6 (46:33):
Man, when he was on the Clippers. I remember being
in the back going, yo, that dude is good. Well
he gets his opportunity. I thought he'd be a perennial
All Star. But what Shaye does that is great. And
people take this, don't take this into account. Watch how
many times he puts two feet in the paint, so
like his aggression is so constant and continuous, Like every
(46:57):
single one of these clips, he puts two feet in
the paint and gets look at look at his aggression.
So we're clipping saying, oh he's foul bating. Who goes
to the hole more than him. I don't know very
many people that constantly go to the hole as much
as he does. So let's say he goes to the
whole one hundred times, he gets fouled twenty, where other
people go the whole twenty times they get fouled five.
Speaker 4 (47:18):
It's just the.
Speaker 6 (47:20):
Way their system is, the way that they have shooters,
they spread the floor. But he's a willing passer and
they have good shooters. So like his job is to
just get to the paint, Just get to the paint.
And man, he just looks at the game so specifically
he works on a certain part.
Speaker 4 (47:38):
Does his shoulders get a little bigger so now he
can bump better?
Speaker 6 (47:41):
Is his footwork better? Is this, you know, right to
left better? Does he like to go left? Does he
like to go right? He's looked at this every single
year and dissected his game. And so you know, you're
talking about hoopers and guys who are psycho. He is
psycho and that's why he's MVP.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Yeah, he's a bit obsessed. I mean I always say
this about Brady. He was the best quarterback mechanically I've
ever seen, and it allowed Brady to be the best
cold weather snowthrower I've ever seen. Wasn't because he had
the biggest arm. His mechanics were impervious to weather. His
literally is torque, his shoulders, his feet. I mean, Tom
was obsessed. He practiced falling instead of getting sacked. And
(48:18):
that's as Jay watching. You're watching an artist who has
honed his craft. That's that's what he's done. Okay, now,
Channing Fry, you're so good at this, my man. You
gave us twenty minutes.
Speaker 4 (48:29):
Oh, thank you. I appreciated him, and you didn't have to.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
We're gonna have you back soon, buddy.
Speaker 4 (48:35):
Anytime you want. Man, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
You have a good day, all right, Channing Fry, great stuff. Yeah,
I mean when you watch SGA, that's a pro.
Speaker 4 (48:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
You could be a landscaper, you could be a quarterback,
you could be an attorney. That is a pro. That
is a guy has worked meticulously on his game, and
Channing Fry really breaks it down well
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three eastern nine am to
noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oh wow, it's a Thursday show. We are live. It's
the Herd wherever you may be and however you may
be watching or listening. That was an all timer last night.
Epic is overrated. It was that plus jet fuel. It's
the Herd. That is one of the great playoff games,
not just played in New York. Hi, I gotta tell
(00:50):
you something. I'm sitting there watching it, and I'm the
first half, Like, at one point both teams were shooting
like sixty five percent in the half. I'm like, blood
am I watching of AAU basketball? Nobody wanted to d up.
And then in the second half Jmack when they were
ding up, it didn't matter. The Pacers caught fire. It's
(01:12):
It's one of the craziest things I've ever seen one.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Yet certainly an all time great playoff game in the
NBA and Tyrese Halibert and Colin.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Is he a top ten player at this point?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
With this guy just doesn't miss in the kluts.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
He's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, So the Knicks had a fourteen point lead, wasn't
much time left, and they lost in overtime. But I'm
gonna defend the Knicks. They did not choke. The Knicks
had three baskets and two free throws in the final
three minutes. They scored enough. Now, they had some bad turnovers,
but they scored enough. The story of the game is
give the Pacers credit. That was insane. They couldn't miss
(01:47):
in the last six minutes. They shot over seventy percent
and they were hard shots. Aaron Nesmith six straight threes,
three in the final minute. Now, this team plays with
pace and tempo, so they score fast. We know that
they've done it all and they're a great clutch team
because of Halle. They're thirty one and two when they
score one hundred and twenty points or more. So you
(02:07):
do not want to get into a track meet with
the Pacers. That's Milwaukee tried it, Cleveland tried it, The
Knicks tried it. Don't they never get tired. I'm like
watching ninth graders, like they never get tired. Charles Barkley
said it at halftime. This pace totally favors Indiana. And
what's remarkable about Haliburton and Indy is they play at
(02:29):
this pace and they don't turn it over. Then seven
turnovers on the road against the Knick size and the
Knicks tenacity. Seven turnovers Jalen brunts and a loan ad
seven So what you wanted last night? And I said,
I think Indy's gonna win the series. This is this
is what they did the Milwaukee, this is what they
(02:50):
did the Cleveland. They're controlling the tempo. Listen, give the
next credit Nix to have one. They shot fifty one percent.
They got a bad bounce, And I think last night
New York Beach, everybody in the league except Halliburton, the
Pacers and maybe Okac. Halliburton got the bounce. Nie Smith
was unbelievable. How about the gone Zaga kid, Nemhart multiple
threes late, Obi topping. I mean, it's just everything worked
(03:13):
for them late. But I'll tell you Halliburton is amazing
because he reminds me of Steve Nash. Steve Nash won
an MVP averaging fifteen a game. The next year he
won another MVP, averaging eighteen a game. But Steve Nash,
one of the smartest athletes I've ever met, had unbelievable
(03:36):
self awareness. And that's Halliburton. What do you need all provide?
The guy plays with zero fear, but his self awareness
he knows what the clock is is uncanny. The choke signed,
I love it, bring it on, But he is an
all timer man. He is the aggressor. He can play
with physicality and again we can bang on the next
(03:57):
But in the last six minutes of the fourth overtime
they scored twenty four points. The Pacers scored forty four
on seventy two percent shooting. That is unheard of. The
Knicks should have won. Now, the Knicks had too many turnovers,
But I think I think this comes down to Halliburton
and the Pacers play with the aggressiveness that I think
(04:20):
Celtic fans wish Tatum and Boston did, like they just
played Downhill and Lamar Jackson could throw forty eight times
a game and win. But that's not how Lamar and
the Ravens are built. They're a power football team with
Derreck Henry. The Knicks stayed in this game, shot fifty
(04:41):
one percent. But this is going to be a six
or seven game series. This is not what the Knicks are.
And yesterday on this show, I kept saying over and
over the Pacers play the fastest pace in the league.
What a perfect name for a team. Last three years,
Knicks are the slowest team. That's not a bad thing
for the playoffs. Half court offen is great. They played
the slowest pace. Whoever wins the pace will win this series.
(05:07):
And the Knicks almost pulled it off. But if you
remember last year when these two teams played, what happened.
Indiana played really really quick, up tempo and over time
the Knicks swore wore down. They didn't have the body.
So in these got more bodies. They're built for this.
Their guys are in their prime. Halliburton controlled it like
(05:27):
he did against Cleveland, like he did against the Bucks.
The Knicks almost pulled it off. But here's Halley after
Basketball's fun.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
They all winning his fun And uh, you know, I'm
so proud of the resilience of this group.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
We're showing it all year. We had to win in
so many different.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Random, unique ways i'd today.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
We just kept kept going, kept fighting, and uh man,
that's that one.
Speaker 6 (05:52):
There.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
There's Halliburton's is a lot like Steve Nash, and that
everybody that played with Steve Nash was at their best.
He'd give you fifteen, but he elevated everybody. James Harden
scored a lot of guys that score Halliburton. This is
a one star team with a bunch of B plus players.
But what's amazing is the B plus players for Indiana.
(06:14):
Because of Halliburton and self awareness and movement and pace,
they're all playing at an a level like all of
Indiana's players are rising to the moment. This is not
about the Knicks not playing well. This is about Indiana
being on fire and making a remarkable number of big shots.
If you did not hear the final call, we'll give
(06:36):
it to you from the Pacers Radio network.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Halliburton driving, he's in the lane, he nearly lost, and
he backs up and unloads a three.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Beck.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Did not happen.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
It hit the back of the rim, It popped high
into the air, and it dropcutely through the net and
the Pacers and the scoreboard chills one twenty five. I
have one twenty five.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
It's called a two point shot.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
So it's just it's an incredible moment. And I'll get
to two things that worry me about the Knicks going forward.
Let's now talk about Brunson. So Jalen had forty three
points and you say to yourself, that's a great night.
But he had seven turnovers. Why because he's playing faster
than he's used to. That's the most turnovers Jalen Brunson
(07:27):
has had all season. And he also got into foul trouble. Again.
We're asking somebody who can type forty words a minute
to type sixty. You know, it's just this isn't what
he's built for. Brunson and Haliburton are two very different players.
Brunson's a score, small, strong. He uses, you know, his leverage,
(07:47):
He uses his hips, he does that mid post game.
He just plays way bigger than his height. But he
is a scorer and a finisher. He sometimes is plotting.
He wants to get you in that half court. He
wants to work you. He's gonna work his shoulders, he's
gonna work his hips. Halliburton's different. He's long, gangly, herky jerki.
(08:12):
It's kind of awkward. He's strong and can use it
a couple of times on occasion. But what he is,
he's the pace car. He is the guy that's gonna okay,
I'm going to tell you how fast we're all gonna play,
and you can't stop him because he's just so long
and gangly. He's a very awkward player. He's hard to defend.
The two things that worry me about New York after
(08:34):
last night, First of all, Karl Anthony Towns. That's about
as good as he can play in the playoffs. He
was efficient. He's not always efficient. He hit his threes,
he didn't get in foul trouble. You know, Kat gets
in foul trouble. Kat does dumb fouls. He's a really
good offensive player, but through his career he drives you nuts.
I thought Kat last night was spectacular. I don't know
(08:55):
if he can duplicate that. I just don't know if
he can play any better than that. It was fun watching.
The second thing is Brunson gonna say, hey man, I
got forty three. I'm gonna play this temple. We're scoring.
We should have won the game. They could talk themselves
into that. So but again, I'll say it last year
when these two teams played in the end of the series.
(09:16):
I mean, Brunson last night, because of foul trouble, played
the fewest minutes of any New York Knicks starter. That
is not what you want. I don't care if he
scored forty three points and to lose in overtime when
you have the shorter bench game one, you blow a
pretty big lead at that pace. I didn't love it.
(09:37):
That's a game it feels like for the road team
to win that game and control the tempo. Didn't love
it for New York. Here's Brunson after give.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Them a lot of credit.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
They closed the game out like they've been doing the
all playoffs.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Just not really good on our part.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
For all the players, and I know it wasn't a
huge number, but for the players that said Haliburton is overrated.
Check yourself, because when I'm watching and we were sitting
there TI, I mean, I look at all I look
at the box score, and the difference is Knicks had
twice as many turnovers and a couple of costly ones
in overtime. That's your ballgame. But I'm gonna push back.
(10:19):
I'm gonna push back on the choke thing. The Knicks
scored six minutes left, they scored twenty four points. That's enough.
And by the way, you have turnovers when you're playing
above your tempo. But I think what you're seeing with
Halliburton here, and I don't know if it's an eight.
I don't know if you're born with it. But there
(10:40):
are some people that not only does he rise in
the moment, but he elevates all his teammates in the moment.
I mean, I got nothing against the Pacer squad. It's
a really good team, but there's a lot of b
guys right now that are playing an a level on
the road in New York against the really well coached team.
What you're watching with Indiana is we just got to
(11:01):
give them credit. We can blame the Knicks on this.
You got to give Indiana credit. They are really, really
and we said this, j Mac, you called it. You
picked them over Cleveland. And one of the reasons you did.
You fell in love with Halliburton last year. Last year
on the show, folks, if you didn't listen, he went
crazy on Halliburton. He basically called in the next magic
(11:23):
Johnson and I don't think that's his style. But I
do see a lot of Steve Nash. He can score,
he can take the foot off the gas, he can play.
But Nash just will you watch Steve Nash? How did
Steve Nash win the MVP at fifteen a game? Because
he controlled the basketball game? Steve Nash literally controlled every
game he was in. People were like, how can you
win MVP? You had to watch the Sons play. What
(11:43):
Indiana's doing and you caught onto it last year is
they are between Caitlin Clark and the Pacers. They are
so much to me fun to watch.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Yeah, I love the Halliburton story.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
You know, Midwest kid grew up under recruited, the big
colleges didn't want him. I love this stories of these
underdogs coming out of nowhere. Colin he's emerging right now,
honestly as one of the most clutch players.
Speaker 6 (12:05):
In the league.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
And I mean, I don't see how he's not like
an All NBA guy, how he's not like a top
ten player. He does everything and like you said, makes
everyone around him better.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Think about that much like Nash. Last two years, we've
talked about the Sixers and the Celtics. And we've talked
about all these teams, Pacers back to back, back to
back Eastern Conference Finals.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Well, let's be real, the Knicks are not in that
much trouble. It took six threes from Nie Smith in
the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's I believe, an NBA record.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Like, listen, we're not gonna see that again. However, the
choke by my Knicks has me a little nervous because
you know, they go in to Game two, can't blow
game two, and Pacers have sown a propensity.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
They stole Game two in Cleveland. Yeah, I mean, the
thing about India is they're completely fearless. Homer away doesn't matter,
and I think some of that is it's almost like hockey.
It's when you play fast the road crowd, you're flying
by the crowd. This is not a plodding half court
(13:10):
offense where the fans are on you. They're just up
and down the floor. It's hard to get your arms
around Indiana. They're just breakneck.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
I'm not comparing them in any way to the Showtime Lakers,
but the Celtics could do more half court. The Lakers
were up and down the floor. Nash's sons were up
and down the floor. Jordan's Bulls could do a lot
of half court stuff. So it's just it's they just
watching Indiana. I you know. I obviously the New York
crowd's insane and wonderful. You can't tell where they're playing.
(13:43):
Every time the Pacers play, it looks the same that
they're a tempo team more than anything else.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Easter non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
You're now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible
Great rates none of the Bowl. So let's get to
the choke gesture. We talked about it regarding the WNBA
yesterday in the day before. Is there is a performative
nature to sports. Trash talking, taunting, within reason, flaunting. I'm
okay with it. I thought it was funny that Haliburton
(14:21):
did the choke signal he thought he'd won, so did I.
By the way, it's hard to sometimes relate to six
foot nine, six foot ten basketball players, but that was
a relatable moment. We've all done that right in the playground.
Chest out. Sports makes you feel something, and I don't
think it's fair to ask these athletes to train for
(14:42):
years to do something, then surround them with twenty thousand people,
and then, in the biggest shot in the world at
that moment, to ask an athlete to be subtle and nuanced.
I watched that last night, and I'm like, here we go.
If you didn't see the Reggie Miller Spike Lee moment
that got a thirty for thirty and Reggie Miller last
(15:04):
night is laughing watching Haliburton. You can say what you want.
It's iconic. It got documentaries. Even Bill Belichick, as grumpy
as he can be. I can remember watching a story,
a documentary on Belichick. Belichick used to say, guys, celebrate
this stuff is hard. Scoring touchdowns is hard. Celebrate. Belichick
was furious when you didn't pump your fist, when you
(15:26):
didn't play with emotion. So I mean, listen, the choke
sign is universal. Sometimes it feels like it's warranted, it's personal.
Reggie Miller laughing about it on TV. But I just
thought the whole thing, the shot, the moment, the sign,
I thought it was all time stuff. Here's Hallie.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
In the moment. I mean, I wasn't like plotting out
in or anything.
Speaker 6 (15:48):
I just everybody wanted me to do it, like last
year at some different point. But it's just gotta feel right,
and it felt right at the time.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
If it would have been, if.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I would have known it was, it too, would not
have done it.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
So I think I might have wasted it.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
He's having a remarkable postseason. So he's averaging nine and
a half assists a game, leads the NBA in the
playoffs six games with ten plus assists, and he's a scorer,
and by the way his clutch time points, it's really remarkable.
There's a fine line between being confident and arrogant, and
I think he's an incredibly likable confident player. I don't
(16:27):
think it veers into arrogant. I think it's just really confident.
They have four wins now trailing. Think about this this postseason.
They have four wins when trailing by seventeen points, and
I think a lot of it's Haliburton, but I also
think it's their pace. When you play fast and you're
not sloppy. They're not sloppy. So when you pay play fast,
(16:50):
seventeen points feels like you're down nine. You know, the
Knicks get down seventeen points the way they play a
more plotting style. It feels like it's over. But Steph
Curry got down seventeen. The Steve Nash teams got down seventeen.
It's different. You're always within a punch and so they're
very unique team when being down does not mean being out.
(17:12):
I still like Indiana to win this series. I thought
the Knicks played well enough to win, and I'm not
sure anybody but the Pacers and maybe OKC he could
have beaten the next last night in Madison Square.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern nin am Pacific.
Speaker 7 (17:27):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 8 (17:32):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (17:39):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 8 (17:41):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well other shows don't seem to have the
time to discuss.
Speaker 8 (17:54):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right.
Speaker 7 (17:58):
So check us out, like to get you involved, to
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on planetar. Be sure to
check out Cavino and Rich live on Fox Sports Radio
and the iHeartRadio app from five to seven pm Eastern
two to four Pacific, And if you miss any of
the live show, just search coven on Rich wherever you
(18:18):
get your podcast, and of course on social.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Media that's Cavino and Rich.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
In just three days, it's the biggest day in motorsports,
as the greatest spectacle in racing, the one hundred and
ninth Indy five hundred comes to Fox with Joseph Newgarden
going for a historic threepeat. Coverage begins at ten am
Eastern Sunday on Fox.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
We are fired up for the race.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
We got an authentic Indy five hundred driver helmet and
an Indy.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Five hundred milk jug.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Of course, the winner Sunday will continue the tradition of
drinking milk in Victory Lane.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
So SGA won the MVP this week. I would have
voted him MVP. It's a regular season award, and I
do think how your team finishes matter. Jokicic's Nuggets weren't
as good in the regular season. I think Jokich is
the best player in the world. But Michael Jordan did
not win, nor did Lebron or Magic in his prime.
(19:17):
They didn't win the MVP every year. A lot of
it is how is your team doing an SGA's team
won by an average of twelve point nine points. They
were a blizzard, a hot knife through butter of this league.
So and he's a remarkable player. But the other thing
is he now is eligible for three hundred and eighty
million dollars with the new CBA, and I would have
(19:38):
no problem writing that check. Unlike Luca, I don't question
his fitness. Unlike Giannis, I want him to have the
ball with two minutes left. He'll hit the free throws.
Unlike Kawhi r MB, there's no load management. I like
Donovan Mitchell, I don't think he elevates teammates quite as
much as SGA does, even for billionaire owners. The new
(20:02):
CBA makes you pause. You have to consider everything seventy
six million dollars per season. If you're just dropping thirty
he used to be in the NBA. Get buckets, you'll
get your max. Nope, nope, not interested. That's why Laker
fans now see watch every night. You really know a
(20:24):
player when he's yours. He's on your team. Otherwise, nobody
outside of okc's watching OKAC every night. They are in okacs.
So you know of SGA. You get the whistle, you
get elevation. There's no load management. He gets you buckets.
He's great in clutch time. That's the easiest check in
the league to write. After Jokic, that's the easy one.
(20:45):
A lot of these guys that like Jamal Murray. I
like Jamal Murray. He plays himself into shape. I'm not
signing that check. I'm not giving you three hundred million
dollars Luca. That was the concern in Dallas. He's playing
himself into shape. Those are the guys that get hurt
more so. I think now that you have this, you
have this new CBA, if you miss on a player
(21:07):
like Trey Young gets buckets. I like Trey. I'm not
paying that money for Trey. I didn't play defense. I
don't know if he's a leader. I don't know if
he elevates teammates. He gives you some assists, and I
like Trey Young, but I think all the stars thought, oh,
this new CBA is great. But I'm a billionaire. It's
one thing. Paying Lebron thirty eight million in this prime.
I'll sign that check. I'll pay Lebron's seventy six million
(21:29):
in this prime. But Kevin Durant was a little flaky.
Kevin Durant had a few injuries. I'm on think about it.
And that's why I said, if Nico Harrison would have
gotten three firsts and Austin Reeves with a D, I
would have defended the move. I'm not sure I would
have made it. I would have defended it. Like I
get Jannis. He's had some injuries. You don't want him
(21:52):
with the ball late, he's bad at the free throw
line like that doesn't mean he's not a star. But
three hundred and eighty million dollars you get into that. Ara,
I have to consider everything, and it's just an incredibly
putative new CBA. And so it's just not about getting
buckets anymore. Here's Sga on winning the Award.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
I always thought that I could be a really good
player because I had seen, like what just putting your
head down and working and controlling what you can control
can do for you.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
I dreamt about as a kid, but it's like an
you know, as a kid, it's a fake dream.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
But to as the days go on and you realize that,
like you get closer to your dream, it's hard to
like not freak out. It's hard to like not be
a six year old kid again. And I think that's
what's allowed me to achieve it.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
You know, I got to tell you right now. With
the NBA, between SGA, Tyrese Halliburton and Jalen Brunson, I'm
not sure there ever been three more relatable NBA stars.
I mean again, NBA guys are six eight. I remember
going to the SPS and you know, athletes are big,
(23:04):
but they looked like human beings. And then you watch
the NBA guys coming in their tuxes and they're seven
to two. They don't look like the rest of it.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Teddy Bruski I worked with. He was a great, fearless linebacker.
After he retired, he carried a briefcase. He looked like
the company's accountant. You couldn't tell. So I just find
that SGA is just such a relatable dude Halliburton and Brunson.
It's really cool. So we talked about this yesterday. I said,
(23:34):
I thought that Jason Kelsey, with his inspirational speech to
the owners, got the tush push barely. Now, I'll say this,
it was a twenty two to ten vote against the
tush push. Let's not make it sound like people were
in favor of it. The league didn't really want it.
(23:57):
The Health and Safety Committee didn't want it, the Rules
Committee didn't want it, and twenty two owners didn't want it.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
But you needed.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Twenty four to get it banned. So the NFL, as suspected,
asked the packers to propose a failed push push. That's
been reported so the league did not want it. The
league didn't want it. The vote led to a according
to stories here, multiple heated exchanges. So this is one
(24:25):
of these things where I said this yesterday. I think
it's Jason Kelcey and Jeffrey Lewie And this is the
thing about the NFL, and I guess this is the
same with every league, but there are certain owners in
the NFL that have a lot of pull. And it's
not Michael Bidwell, Okay, it is. Jerry Jones wanted an
(24:45):
NFL team in Vegas. There's an NFL team in Vegas.
Jerry Jones wanted the Rams to go from Saint Louis
to Los Angeles. They went from Saint Louis to Los Angeles.
Robert Kraft has always handled I'm not sure if he
still does. For years he handled all the TV deals.
He would collectively talk to all the owners and then
(25:07):
he would go call Fox and CBS and NBC and ESPN.
So Jeffrey Lurie of Philadelphia got a lot of smoke.
Stan Kronk's one of the richest. Arthur Blank, the Hunt family,
they've earned it craft, Jerry Jones. You know Detroit's owners,
Cleveland's owner, Chicago's owner, Arizona's owner. Either they don't have
the money, they don't have the wins. I think people
(25:28):
look at Philadelphia. I don't think I think if twenty
five teams were doing the tush push, it would be banned.
I think it is allowed because it's Philadelphia and Jeffrey
lury and I think there's only about four to five
owners that would get this thing pushed through. A Steve
Bushatti of Baltimore maybe gets push gets it pushed through.
(25:50):
But Philadelphia is iconic. They arguably have the most passionate
fan base. They're a blue blood that's incredibly important for
the league. Jeffrey Lourie is a a creative, progressive owner.
Howie Roseman has built the best roster. They're good for
the league. I mean, I've said this about all pro
sports in America. You could drop six to eight NHL teams,
(26:13):
Nobody would at ninety nine percent of you don't know
the arena the Saint Louis Blues playing. You could drop
eight baseball teams. You could drop about five to six
NBA teams, Nobody would care. It's the same in the NFL.
I got news for you. You could erase about six
NFL teams. Nobody would care. Philadelphia is one of those
four foundational teams. To me, like Philadelphia, the Niners out
(26:37):
West Philadelphia, the Green Bay Packers' there's just a handful
of teams. Dallas Cowboys obviously they just matter a lot.
So I think I think this comes down to Jeffrey Lowie, Philadelphia.
They're standing in the league. Jason Kelsey or this thing
again the vault was twenty two to ten, if it
(26:57):
was twenty four to eight, ban and you know, people
are upset with it. I do think. I do think
the one thing that you know, for years and years
Phil Jackson ran, they called it the triangle offense. And
you're like, why didn't everybody use the triangle offense? And
my argument would be because you didn't have Michael Jordan
(27:19):
and Kobe the triangle offense. Yeah, lamar Odin was kind
of a clever player that it worked with. It worked
mostly because the Kobe and Michael Jordan. This tush push
works because it's the biggest offensive line in league history,
and it works because Jalen hurts squats six hundred pounds
and he's small. I mean you would if I would
have told you you'd never seen the tush push, because
(27:41):
Tom Brady in his era was a tall guy that
was kind of lanky and was the best quarterback, sneak guy.
If I would have told you you'd never watched the NFL,
I'd say, there's this team. All you knew is you
kind of had a sense to the league. I said,
there's this team that invented this play. It's a one
yard play, who do you think runs it? You would
(28:03):
have guessed like, oh, Lamar Jackson could always get a yard,
or oh Josh Allen or Herbert they're huge, they can
get a yard. You know, you look at the big guy.
I said, No, it's Jalen Hurts. Second round Jalen Hurts,
small squad, six hundred and fifty pounds behind the biggest
offensive line in league history. So it's a lot of
Jalen Hurts this even with that old line. It doesn't
(28:24):
work with Jared Goff. Okay, it's not gonna work. It's
not working with Rock Perdy. It's probably not working with
Joe Burrow. It works with Jalen Hurts. So I do
think Philadelphia's argument is A, there's no data that people
are getting hurt, and B we've got unique personnel. Don't
punish us for being the deepest offense in the league.
(28:45):
Two receivers, two tight ends, star quarterbacks, star back, four
all pro level alignment. Don't punish us for that. I
think that's the best argument I've had. Philadelphia fans say,
you're punishing us. We created something. It's a good argument. Now,
now the defensive shift in baseball was created by Joe
Madden down in Tampa, and the problem was everybody started
(29:10):
using it right. That wasn't really player specific, and it
made the game slower. You did not want Bryce Harper
lining out. You wanted Bryce Harper and the hair and
the look. You wanted it on base So that was
so easy to duplicate it became bad for the league.
Just like Adam Sober right now doesn't love all the
three point shots because you can find three point shooters.
(29:31):
What Philadelphia is doing is hard to duplicate, and so
it's not all through the league. You only see it
about four times a game from one team, so the
unique flavor of it actually works to Philadelphia's favor. If
twenty two teams were using this eleven times a game,
it would get banned because what the owners really care
(29:52):
about is the entertainment value. But one team does it
well and use it four to five times a game.
It's their thing. It's their thing. J Mack, great first
hour on a Friday. We got Channing Fry and Paul
Pierce stopping by today on Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
I guess some good news for you. The numbers on
the brock Pretty contract, that granular.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Numbers are coming out. I'll send them to you during
the break.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Okay, you're gonna love it. Our one down on a Thursday,
Our two next in Chicago. It's to her.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and Neon Easter not a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
And with that, Channing Fry, who started his career in
New York for the Knicks, is now joining a fly
a man thirteen years in the NBA. That was I
don't even know, It's just crazy. So how do you view?
Like I said, I think basketball players are artists, Like
I've always said, you all got your quirky mannerisms and
(30:49):
idiosyncratic styles. What do you make a HALLI Burton in
the Choke.
Speaker 6 (30:55):
First of all trees is one of the nicest human
beings ever. I think when I think when he got
voted most overrated person, I think that was a problem.
There was There was a time when the Pacers were
playing the Calves and that the crowd started chanting overrated, and.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
Donovan Mitchell was telling them be quiet, like the players
like stop it, and he went off. I text Tyrese
and I said, hey, you are garbage.
Speaker 6 (31:24):
The first three quarters and then all of a sudden,
you go into the phone booth and come out like Superman.
It's unbelievable. The plays that he does. I wouldn't have
never had to wherewithal you know, most players in that
situation would take the two because they're like, oh, I.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Just want to you know, we'll tie the game up.
Speaker 6 (31:44):
He had a wide open layup, turned his back, looked
at the other clock, found the three point line sort of,
and then shot a three over Mitchell Robinson, who's a seven.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Foot dude who has the longest arms. You know, it
looked like this is the layup right here, and he.
Speaker 6 (32:02):
Goes nope and shot that for game. It's like, you
cannot make this up. I played with a lot of
great players. I don't know four of the greatest players
that I played with that would have shot that shot.
But like the belief that he has in himself and
his team that they have. I thought the Pacers in
that fourth quarter they dismantled the Knicks by being a
(32:25):
better team, where the Knicks had a better player in Brunton, right,
I think Og was the only one who shot a
shot in the last five minutes of that fourth quarter.
In the overtime, where the pacers. Everyone had to play
Obie Toppen Nie Smith went.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
Absolutely who was that?
Speaker 6 (32:44):
Was that?
Speaker 4 (32:44):
Nisan Curry like it was? But it was? It was
so good, so good Canning?
Speaker 1 (32:52):
You know who he does remind me of I said
this an hour ago. His self awareness, his ability to
score but elevate others. He reminds me of a guy
who played with Steve Nash. Nash won an MVP, averaging
fifty in a game, came back the next year won
another MVP averaging eight. Everybody's like, well, wall wait, you
can't win. No, no, no, yes you can. Everybody played their
(33:13):
best ball. But Nash, Who's one of the smartest guys
I've ever met. I mean, like in or out of sports,
Nash had the self awareness. Nash had this, I know
he can drive people crazy. He had the self awareness
to know the temple to score, who was weak, who
was in foul tra It was like a good quarterback.
He knew your soft spot and he would attack it.
And so I to me, Hallie's got a little Nash
(33:36):
in him.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
I think he has a lot. I think he has
a lot.
Speaker 6 (33:40):
I think he is the only star in our league
that can be a star and score ten points a game.
Like he can have ten points and he can dominate
the whole game. I think he's the only one like that.
He is a true past first point guard. And if
he wasn't that way, the Pace would not be who
(34:01):
they are. Like if the Pacers had Brunson, I don't
think they would be the Pacers. The fact that everyone
of their starters scored in that fourth quarter and over time,
the fact that everyone when they go on a run,
everyone knows where the ball's going. They believe in their culture.
The fact that they stood pat really didn't bring anyone
(34:23):
in last year or this year and just said, hey,
we went to the Eastern Conference finals, let's run his back.
Their belief in each other is crazy. It is because
Halliburn is never playing with his ego. He's playing with
the fire to win games. So like there are games
where sometimes he's gonna have two points. Now, is that
a bad game for him, for sure, But they could
still win with him scoring two points because he's doing
(34:47):
this all game. He's not pressuring, but when it's time
to win, they all look to him to make a play.
And I think we no one brought this up, but
like even when they beat the Bucks. You know there's
no way Tyre's Halliburton, I texted, I told him this
on the phone. I said that a week old left
to right crossover shouldn't have got past nobody. And you
(35:09):
go pass Janis and to Takoumpo and lay that ball
up in his face for game Jannis is a top
five defender in the league. And how does you with
no muscles, a weird looking jump shot get by him
and do this? He goes, I don't know, man, I
just be. I just gotta do what I gotta do.
And so you know, for me, I think there's gonna
(35:29):
be a great series. Obviously, the game one was nuts.
It's gonna come down to the Knicks defense. And can
the Pacers continually.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Play that pace? Well, look at that paces, play the
pace in this series. I'm curious to see the changes
the Knicks make the next game.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Yeah, I said, last night, Brunson has forty three, but
he had seven turnovers and he got in early foul trouble.
And I said, it's almost like being a typist that
types fifty words a minute. And Halliburton made Brunson type
seventy words a minutes and he he was. I felt like,
even though he got the points, I don't think it's
one of the great Jalen Brunson games because he had
(36:08):
more turnovers last night than he had all year. And
I really thought the story of the game is that
it was Indy five hundred and that's not the Knick style.
And I Indy got them to play exactly like they wanted,
and Brunson kind of said, Okay, I'll do this. Maybe
it's vanity ego, I get it, but like I'm like, Okay,
if you're gonna play that way, then you have to
win that game in regulation in New York. You can't
(36:29):
lose that game.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
I think one thing we're not taking into account is
what's that fourth quarter? They started double team Brunson aggressively.
Remember he got trapped in the back court and he
just threw the ball. If Siakam was in the right place,
that would have been a turnover. They double teamed him,
but he fell down, he got a foul. When he
gets double teams, he is very uncomfortable in these situations.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
And look how many players they put like.
Speaker 6 (36:55):
That, that's a simple double team. Look at this another
double team. So like, to me, their offense stalled out
in that fourth quarter. And here's the real coming to
Jesus moment. They are hunting hunting him and Cat in
screening rolls. It is wild to watch. You look at
the clip every time Nie Smith made a three, it
(37:16):
was except for one at the end of the game
with Josh Smith and Mitchell, which they should have switched,
which is a stupid mistake. A dude who has seventeen
points and they're running a specific play for him.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
Switch, Let Obi Toppen shoot a three. Anybody else with
the dude who's hot, so like that was a mental error.
Speaker 6 (37:33):
But they are going at Cat and I don't know
if you saw the clip of Og yelling at Cat
after you know he just laid on that screen.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
That's going to be a problem because.
Speaker 6 (37:43):
Now the three things the Pacers did that game is
they found out runs it, gets in foul trouble, and
turns the ball over when you aggressively double team one.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Two Kat does not want to move his feet end
of game. He's exhausted.
Speaker 6 (37:58):
Three If you go at Hunsen, he stalls the offense
out in that fourth quarter because they can't run a
screen and roll with him anymore.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Because he's uncomfortable getting double team.
Speaker 6 (38:08):
So if you notice those clips, he's going one on
one in Nie Smith and Nemhard and Shepherd and Ali
Burdon and Siakam all those dudes are.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Taking turns guarding him.
Speaker 6 (38:19):
So at six on one, yeah, he's exhausted and no
one else is.
Speaker 4 (38:24):
Touching the ball.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
They need to play him as Steph Curry in the
fourth quarter instead of Brunson. So he's throw the ball
the cat run some away screens get him to run
towards the ball. But is he comfortable doing that? And
can the next win play in that game?
Speaker 4 (38:40):
We'll see. I'm very curious to see how it works.
You know.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
It's so chanting. Fry joining us for already audience, one
of my favorite people that covers this league and talks
about it. So in New York is fascinating. Jordan had
some of his best games there, Kobe had some of
his best games there. I mean, Halliburton is having the
time of his life. New York's a weird place that
it inspires the great players, even though it's a home
court advantage. You started your career there. Take my audience too.
(39:08):
I remember watching Big East games there and I'm like,
this is crazy. Tell me take my audience to playing
as a Nick as an opponent in Madison Square Garden.
It feels different to me.
Speaker 6 (39:22):
So, you know, the college experience is that when you're
a really good player or a really good team, the
opposing team booju.
Speaker 4 (39:31):
The whole time.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
When you go to the garden, it's like being in
a center of like you you're a gladiator.
Speaker 4 (39:37):
You're winning the crowd over and that's the problem.
Speaker 6 (39:41):
That's the problem because if you start hooping, they the
oohs and ohs are like it gets you even more adrenaline.
And the Knicks fans have so much basketball knowledge that
if you do some good they'll be like, dang, that's
a good job.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Man, that's tough.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
Where other fans are like boo whatef you and you suck.
They're not saying that. So if you start doing well,
it's a problem because all of a sudden, you're feeding
on their adrenaline. You're feeding on shutting them up. And
as a Knicks player, you have to each game when
the fans back over. So it's not like you could
(40:21):
just walk on the court and be loved. It's you
could walk on the court, miss you first four and
Tracy Morgan's like, stop shooting the ball, your big dummy.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
You're like, wait, I just had forty last game.
Speaker 6 (40:32):
So to me, it is the greatest place to play basketball.
And I promise if anyone has an opportunity to go
watch basketball or even you know, hockey there.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
It is so historic, so beautiful, but.
Speaker 6 (40:44):
Yet it's not a regular arena you are playing like
at the park where they may talk crap to you.
You could talk crap to them, but if you start cooking,
look at think about what Tray Young, Trey Young pokes
at them all the time, and they react.
Speaker 4 (40:59):
To it because it's a it's a movie, it's theater.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
It's yeah.
Speaker 6 (41:03):
It encompasses like the New York attitude of who's.
Speaker 4 (41:07):
Gonna give me the best show.
Speaker 6 (41:09):
They dimmed the lights on the in the in the
stadium so you just focus on the court.
Speaker 4 (41:15):
It's it's a it's you know, I'm getting goosebumps talking
about it. It is such a great opportunity to play there.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Well, it starts with Rucker Park, it goes to Broadway,
it goes to the Big East Tournament, it goes to
New York, New Yorkers are very well versed on great
and they appreciate it. Oh listen, I always said about
New York. I didn't love the traffic, I didn't love
the weather. I loved the people. The people are seven.
Speaker 4 (41:37):
Different people.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Pizza or who they love their Okay, let's go, Let's
go to Minnesota. Ok See, like like like, here's the
thing with Aunt, and I think this is a reality
of the modern player, Like there was never a timement
with Michael Jordan. I can remember the Utah Finals. Mike
shot like thirty three times, made seven. Mike went down swinging,
(42:00):
like sometimes with Tatum or sometimes with Ant. I'm like, bro,
thirteen shots. What's going on? I think the modern player,
they're all rich and it's a more collaborative world. And
sometimes like when the shots don't fall, like guys are like, okay,
I'm not gonna and I just I grew up with
Michael and it says like now Michael didn't have that
he was going to take the shots. Kobe was gonna
(42:21):
take the shots. Could I argue with Aunt that he's
not force full enough at times?
Speaker 4 (42:30):
No, I think the rules are different.
Speaker 6 (42:32):
When Mike won the ball back in the nineties, the
three seconds they he could go play one on one
and if he missed, he miss. Now, if you notice
okay C's defense, they basically put their best on ball defenders,
so they're up in ants joshtrap.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
They force him to drive into help. Look at this.
Look how many people are technically guarding him on that
play alone? He had four different people. Look what does
he see? Right there? He what does he see?
Speaker 6 (43:02):
Look, he's being double team triple teams. Like this is
what I think people don't understand about. Okay see double
teams Right there? They are making him. They do such
a good job of making players have early pickups and
throw the ball these lot passes while guys are just
shooting passing lanes.
Speaker 4 (43:20):
It's absolutely gorgeous to watch them play.
Speaker 6 (43:23):
I think Aunt doesn't want to settle for threes because
that's the only thing they're giving up.
Speaker 4 (43:28):
They're like, we'll give you threes. We've seen you go
zero for eleven.
Speaker 6 (43:31):
And for him, he doesn't have lanes until his others
win a game. Ant is going to have problems finding
lanes to attack the rim, so he wants to play
good basketball. Okac is forcing him to trust his teammates, right,
and this is the attitude that I've seen in the
first game. There's one player on Minnesota that can beat us,
(43:55):
and we're not gonna let you play basketball. Anybody else
could try and beat us, but we believe in our
others more than your others.
Speaker 4 (44:01):
And it worked. And so Aunt, let's say he does
shoot thirty times, how many of those are.
Speaker 6 (44:06):
Gonna be near the rim? Not very many, They're gonna
be twenty nine threes. He just he just It's like
in today's game, if you don't have movement, if you're
a great one on one guy the way OKAYC plays defense,
you're not comfortable.
Speaker 4 (44:22):
You're not getting to your spot.
Speaker 6 (44:24):
Because even if one guy gets foul trouble, Oh oh
Lou Dort gets in foul trouble. Oh, here go Caruso,
Here go Isaiah, Joe, he goes Ga, he goes Look
how many different people and like even this play right here,
the wherewithal for that team to stay to fan out
right not help and let check play that one on
one is just they're one conscious mind and one.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Thing to notice for the next game or tonight.
Speaker 6 (44:51):
Watch how many guys when big men are around, you know,
hour guards usually go over the top. Watch how many
times they swipe down and don't go for the block.
They allow Hartenstein and Chet to be tall while they
swipe the ball and make the guy don't have a
straight line to go shoot. And I'll give you an example.
It's like, remember when Jr. Or swiped at Andre Guodala
(45:14):
so he didn't have a dunk during the twenty sixteen
finals and he had to go shoot that layup. So
he knew not to foul, but he just wanted Andre
to you know, kind of avoid him, and it gave
Lebron an opportunity to get that block.
Speaker 4 (45:25):
They do this all game long.
Speaker 6 (45:27):
It is like such a mind meld to see their
discipline on defense.
Speaker 4 (45:33):
I mean, Okac is my pick to win it all.
Speaker 6 (45:36):
I just don't see anybody that has a big man
that can take advantage of them inside and then kick
out with threes.
Speaker 4 (45:44):
Is really don't wait to beat him.
Speaker 6 (45:46):
But you know, like Lord had mercy, poor poor Minnesota,
there are others that were gonna need to shoot the ball.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
All right, let's end with this. Clippers are a well
run organization. Lawrence Frank is a smart guy, but Sam
Presty stole SGA from them. I remember when he was
in Kentucky and came out. I didn't think he was
the best Kentucky player. He's a combination of like eight
percent Keiky vandaway nine percent Alex English. You know, we
he's a different player that initiates contact contact. He doesn't
(46:14):
have like a loophole move like James Harden. He just
he's just one of these guys that may not jump out.
I mean, obviously he's a great player, but I mean
Sam Presty kind of stole him. Are you surprised by
how dominant he has become? Did you see it seven
years ago?
Speaker 6 (46:33):
Man, when he was on the Clippers. I remember being
in the back going, yo, that dude is good. Well
he gets his opportunity. I thought he'd be a perennial
All Star. But what Shaye does that is great. And
people take this, don't take this into account. Watch how
many times he puts two feet in the paint, so
like his aggression is so constant and continuous, Like every
(46:57):
single one of these clips, he puts two feet in
the paint and gets look at look at his aggression.
So we're clipping saying, oh he's foul bating. Who goes
to the hole more than him. I don't know very
many people that constantly go to the hole as much
as he does. So let's say he goes to the
whole one hundred times, he gets fouled twenty, where other
people go the whole twenty times they get fouled five.
Speaker 4 (47:18):
It's just the.
Speaker 6 (47:20):
Way their system is, the way that they have shooters,
they spread the floor. But he's a willing passer and
they have good shooters. So like his job is to
just get to the paint, Just get to the paint.
And man, he just looks at the game so specifically
he works on a certain part.
Speaker 4 (47:38):
Does his shoulders get a little bigger so now he
can bump better?
Speaker 6 (47:41):
Is his footwork better? Is this, you know, right to
left better? Does he like to go left? Does he
like to go right? He's looked at this every single
year and dissected his game. And so you know, you're
talking about hoopers and guys who are psycho. He is
psycho and that's why he's MVP.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Yeah, he's a bit obsessed. I mean I always say
this about Brady. He was the best quarterback mechanically I've
ever seen, and it allowed Brady to be the best
cold weather snowthrower I've ever seen. Wasn't because he had
the biggest arm. His mechanics were impervious to weather. His
literally is torque, his shoulders, his feet. I mean, Tom
was obsessed. He practiced falling instead of getting sacked. And
(48:18):
that's as Jay watching. You're watching an artist who has
honed his craft. That's that's what he's done. Okay, now,
Channing Fry, you're so good at this, my man. You
gave us twenty minutes.
Speaker 4 (48:29):
Oh, thank you. I appreciated him, and you didn't have to.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
We're gonna have you back soon, buddy.
Speaker 4 (48:35):
Anytime you want. Man, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
You have a good day, all right, Channing Fry, great stuff. Yeah,
I mean when you watch SGA, that's a pro.
Speaker 4 (48:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
You could be a landscaper, you could be a quarterback,
you could be an attorney. That is a pro. That
is a guy has worked meticulously on his game, and
Channing Fry really breaks it down well
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!