May 10, 2024 • 40 mins
Longtime NBA reporter Rachel Nichols joins the show in studio to tell Colin what's next for the Suns after firing head coach Frank Vogel after only one season
Caitlin Clark is a next level talent who generates a ton of money
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 Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon 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 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, here we go, it's our two. We're live
in Los Angeles. It's The Herd. Wherever you may be
and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us
part of your day. Rachel Nichols covered the NBA since
ninety three. Friend of the show FS one is joining us.
I just found out, so I did something last night
that I don't do a lot of. But Rachel not
going to go too far into the family history here,
(00:48):
but she is. Her brother's a big shot in Los
Angeles in the culinary industry, which is I have at
least been to every one of his restaurants once and
they're all amazing.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
That's very heay.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
This this is great.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
This means that finally I can hook you up with
something as opposed to usually where you're you're spreading the
red carpet.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
For all of us.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
He the restaurant group he's with his phenomenal but it
was you know, you have to travel a lot, and
I try to eat right, but it's hard. And so
last night I went with the kids and so.
Speaker 6 (01:19):
What exactly what did you in? What part of the
meal did you in?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Well, instead of just ordering like an entree, the kids
all wanted like twelve different plates and shareable. And I've
discovered that doesn't work for my body. I can't do
key lime pie in front of ribs and then noodles
and rice and then a cocktail. And I woke up
this morning and I'm like, I felt like I went
(01:44):
sparring last night my body, and the food was phenomenal.
I won't I don't want to give away anything, but
I just say the food was phenomenal. But I have
found I'm a very simple man, intellectually, emotionally and now
in a culinary fashion. I need this this that I'm
out all right.
Speaker 7 (02:02):
All right?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
So I won't bring you Keilan pineks week when I
come on again.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Probably not best for me. So first of all, the
Suns are going to hire Mike Budenholzer. That's the report. Yeah,
what went wrong with Vogel. I had gotten a source
last night that said, you know, some of the players,
it's hard. You didn't get all buy in. You have
three stars, you got to get buy in from at
least two. Is that what you're hearing?
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Sure, but I mean no losing team has buy in
from everyone. That's what happens, right, Winning papers over everything,
losing shows all the seams. To me, this is a
bit of moving deckchairs around. I'm not going to call
the Suns the Titanic. I would not go that far,
but there is a little bit of like, we can't
really do anything else. They have one draft, one first
round draft pick for the next six years, just one
(02:50):
this coming year and this summer, and that's it. So
they don't have roster flexibility. They've got these three huge contracts.
They don't really have the ability to make a lot
of changes to the supporting cast. You're not going to
fire the owner that just came in and as the
one behind all these changes, And it's not really fair
to fire the front office because James Jones didn't make
those trades. I mean he physically made them and he
(03:11):
facilitated them, but it was that the owner's directive so
really the only guy to make a change is in
the coach's seat. I do not think Frank Vogel deserved
to be fired. This is a championship coach, and I
think it's going to be a mistake. But then again,
Mike Butnenholzer is a very good coach. I just don't
see him being able to do more than Frank Vogel
did in this situation. If the Sons have better health
(03:33):
next year, that will certainly help them. So that's something
they can do without having to make any roster changes.
Speaker 6 (03:39):
But they're still stuck with an.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Extremely top heavy team and at least one aging superstar.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
We say this all the time, is that you people
want to hold you to a level of perfection. NFL
general managers who are great miss all the time. Yes,
And what you can't do is double down on wrong.
The Giants on Daniel Jones probably a reach, which don't
double down on it. I think you'd be doubling down here.
They don't have a point guard. The Beal thing's not working.
(04:07):
I think you can get a ton for Booker, draft picks, capital,
get younger around Kevin Durant Beale. You can't move bial
as contract ye. To me, this feels a little New
York Giant where it's yeah, the construction doesn't work, let's
fire the coach and double down on it. I don't
think this team when I watch Minnesota play and okay,
(04:28):
see play and Dallas playing better than you think and Denver,
this doesn't feel like a championship team.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
I to me, if you're going to make a big move,
it's Kevin Durant who I would move if I were
in that front office. And I'm sure that Kevin doesn't
want to be moved again after all of the moving
around he's done and the criticism he.
Speaker 6 (04:45):
Gets for that.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
But Devin Booker is still a star in the prime
of his career. Yes, And I'm not sure you're getting
anyone better than him. I'm not sure you're going to
develop anyone better than Devin Booker has already developed into.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
So why not keep.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Him and then moves of the other big, big pieces around.
And unfortunately, Bradley BeOS you point out it has a
no trade clause. It's not wrong and no real trade
value right now, and for what you get for him.
And so I think, if you are going to make
a huge move, if I were in the front office,
it would be Kevin Durant, but I don't anticipate them
doing that. They've really signaled that they're going to stay
with those three guys and see what else they can do,
(05:20):
and I guess one of those things is changing the
voice in the locker room. And if they have better health,
Mike budenozerill look like a genius. But I don't expect
them to win a championship with this roster that's so
top heavy.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
So if you're the New York Knicks, there are two
avenues that are interesting. First of all, Boston looks infinitely,
if not beatable, you can compete with them.
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Yes we didn't think they don't look invincible.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
That's right. And the other thing is the East is
going to get better next year. Dame and Yannis should
be healthy, Philadelphia's got a ton of cap room and
draft picks. Boston will still be good. Or Land Mayata piece.
So you can look at the Knicks and go, this
is the beginning, or you can say the East is
(06:07):
going to get better. It's it's really weak this year.
So I think they're fascinating Rachel because there is an
almost a collegiate feel to them. There is a culture.
We talk heat culture, but it's Tibb's culture. You gotta
be careful who you bring in. Yes, now, Booker I
think works, but Phoenix doesn't want to move him. Durant,
(06:30):
I'm not sure it. What what do you make of
the Knicks going? We know they're competitive, now we don't
think they're a title team. Now they're all beat up.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
I was gonna say it's hard right now because there's
just so many guys worked.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
But they're the talk of the league.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Oh, they're thrilling to worry. I mean literally thrilling to
watch play. And I don't care who you are unless
you're a fan of the other team that's currently playing them.
You're having fun watching this Nicks because they're not only winning,
they're so scrappy.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
They're playing basketball. I want people to play basketball. They're
tough as nails, they're rebounding.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
You know, Josh Hart has played more minutes in playoff
games than any.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Other player in forty five years. That's the stat.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
It's been forty five years since the mergers doubled, and
by the way's probably before that too. But I'm just
going since the ABA murder, no one else has played
more per game.
Speaker 6 (07:21):
Than he has.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
So look, you love to watch them play, but you
do think that they need deeper, They need a little
bit more. If they just got their players back, by
the way, I think that they could make a run
to the finals this year, right, if they had Julius Randall,
if they had Ojananobi, who looks like we're not going
to see him in the next game. You know, if
they had full health, I would put them up against
anyone in the Eastern Conference this year. But they will
(07:45):
have room to make some moves. Unlike the Suns, they're
not hamstrung, and it is interesting to.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
See who's going to go.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
I think that they would be better off making a
smaller move like the murder Rosen has been bandied about.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Right, doesn't need the ball in his hands, doesn't need
the ball.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
As opposed to bringing in some big, flashy player. Now,
for Kevin Durant's story, I always thought that Kevin Durant
should have gone to the knicks instead of the nets.
So for me watching Kevin Durant, I'd like to see
him kind of write that wrung a great story, but
I don't know if that's what's best for New York.
I just think that that would be great for Kevin
Durant's story. I do know that Kevin Durant just wants
(08:20):
to play basketball, and that is the common denominator in
that Knixt locker room. And it will be interesting to
see not only who they bring in this summer, but
where they end up this time in this series. I
still don't know what's going to happen in this PACER's
NIXT series. The Pacers keep seeming like they're being handed
health advantages and yet they're not coming through.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And it was so crazy to me that Rick Carlisle
went after refs and small markets when Brunson and Og
were hurt, Randal Mitchell Robinson gone. It was there for
the taking and that was the easy win of the
first two.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Look, look, I do think that some calls have gone
against the Pacers more so than the next in the
first couple of games ye have. I mean, you can
just look at the funnel in the NBA's own final
two minute report, those kinds of things, But that is
never the reason that you win or lose playoff games
in the aggregate. Maybe one game somewhere, one time with
one bad call in the final few minutes.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
We saw that earlier this playoffs.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
But overall, when you're talking about there's seventy eight calls
or whatever it was, that's not what makes the difference
over a course of a series. What makes the difference
is if you take advantage of your opportunities, and we're
going to have to see the Pacers buckle down and
do that at home, otherwise they're cooked.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
The reality with American sports is the NFL is pushing
its product globally but gets its employees domestically. Yes, whereas hockey, baseball,
in the NBA especially basketball increasingly is becoming European based. Now,
it's good for the talent and skill level. Hockey's never
(09:50):
been faster, baseball's never been deeper, Basketball's never had seven
footers all hitting threes. But it's not always great in
terms of domestic ratings. Well, the NBA is going to
get their money. It's got stars, it's fast paced, young
people like at apparel company. It's gonna get s money.
But I do think it's it needs a face. I
think Aunt Edwards and I didn't think this a year ago.
(10:13):
I think he I think his game is more refined.
I think his ability to go to KD and say,
trash talk just enough. I wonder if NBA is pretty
good about five. You know, they didn't do it with
the honest they put his playoff games on NBA TV.
It does feel like we're watching the next face and
(10:35):
this is like the opening chapter and twenty years will
go remember the Denver sus absolutely, man, is that what
you see?
Speaker 4 (10:41):
So?
Speaker 7 (10:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:42):
I like he's got the chrisma off the charts right,
and the way he plays is so engaging. He brings
you in every time he goes up to the basket.
He's got no fear. He's just an exciting player to watch.
The shoe I think he's got the number one selling
shoe in America. The commercials are good. I mean it's
a lot of that. You know, we make these early
Michael Jordans comparisons, and he said the other day I
(11:02):
can never have the career of Jordan, and I think
that is correct. I think to your point about the
international game, it is a different deeper league.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
No question.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
When look at the number of guys who coming from
other countries who are winning MVP, who are in the
MVP race. Shakekills was Alexander, by the way, its from Canada,
even he's not American. So by the way, you are
getting just a deeper pool of talent to compete with.
It's not the league where mj won six. It's not
the league even where Kobe won five, and so I
don't think anyone can have that career again. But we
(11:31):
are seeing a guy who looks like Michael Jordan looked in.
Speaker 6 (11:34):
His early years. No question, that is undeniable, right.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
And it's not just on the court, although it is
on the court, it's everything else that you're talking about.
He is a star in the old fashioned sense, and
it's really exciting to watch.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
We'll see, you know, I will say this. Here's the
other advantage, Michael, it took a while to get the
right coach. It feels like Aunt has his. Also, the
celt and the Pistons were living, breathing dynasties. There is
no one in the West. We thought Denver could be it,
and it looks like Denver is, you know, a Raptor story,
(12:10):
closer to a Raptor story than a Warrior's dynasty. I
think they're better than that. But they could be a
one and done or maybe a two title team. So
that's the advantage. It took Jordan, you know, he spent
a lot in college and then it it was I mean,
you forget when you watch the documentary is a long road.
There's a lot of getting tackled by the pistons. So
the advantage this kid has is, oh, he could be
(12:32):
good like if he won this year. Wow, Now you're
ahead of Michael Hunch, just significantly ahead.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
And by the way, if I were any of these
younger players, if I was Luca, if I was a Aunt,
I would get my winning in now. Because I am
still going to sit here in this chair every week
and tell you I think that Victor weben Yama is coming.
I think he is going to end up again health injuries.
We don't know what happens. But if all goes as expected,
a top five to ten player of all time, and
so would I would get my titles in now. And
(13:01):
I think that Aunt Edwards certainly has a chance to
do that. He's got a great team around him too,
and he's got the advantage of that. And we can't
forget that he's got a coach that he really responds to.
He's got Karl Anthony Towns, he's got an upcoming four
time Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 6 (13:15):
I mean the whole concept.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
You've got a great bench, he's got Mike Conley, who's
been one of the best playoff performers, and just teammates
and leaders that we've had in the last two decades.
So he's got every advantage and then he's taking advantage.
And I think that those two things combined is we're
seeing a winner.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
This kid's at winner.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Finally, my opening rant about an hour and a half
ago was that we may be in an era in
the NBA which I grew up with, the seventies Sonics,
Blazers Warriors. They were called the Bullets back then, Elvin Hayes,
West Unseld, Kevin Greevy. The teams were very good. They
weren't great, Yeah, and I think we're staring at a
(13:52):
bunch of very goods. I think all of us felt
like Boston could be the one great and then I
watched them content get whacked at home. They have a
five hundred hole that's historically bizarre as a dominant team.
They're five hundred at home. All dynasties roll at home,
and I think, you know what, in an era of good.
(14:16):
They're very good, but losses like last night are adding up, Rachel,
and I'm like, maybe we have put them at about
to be great, and maybe they have two players that
are closer to Pippen than Kobe and Michael and they're
gonna win a title. But have we gone like we
do with the Cowboys every year we've ratcheted up this
(14:37):
when they're just very good.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
I mean, I'm very curious your take on the mental
aspect of this team because you have seen it. It's
not just in basketball, right, so you've watched it across
sports teams that have almost gotten there and not and
what that does to you. Because the Boston Celtics, let's
not forget, have made the conference finals five of the
last seven years.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
That's spectacular. Yes, I mean, that's incredible.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Think about the franchises around the NBA who've had so
much hope and promise and thunder and noise and media
attention and haven't been able to match anywhere near that.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
However, they haven't been able to get it done.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
They only advanced to the finals once out of all
those times, and they completely fell apart at the end
of that.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Vera really control of the series through about three games
and then fell apart.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Right, So what mental effect does that have on the
team and what effect does it have on the fans.
I mean, Jason Tatum got up on the podium after
last night's game and he goes, I know, we're expected
to be perfect or some version of that, and I'm
sure it feels that way to him because here they
are a team that's made the conference finals five of
the last seven years, and every time they lose the game, people, oh, see,
the Celtics aren't for real. But the problem is when
you don't get the ultimate goal done, even the middle
(15:40):
part starts to feel sometimes a little bit squishy, and
I think they are feeling the loss of Kristaps Porzingis,
and Mobiley took advantage of that last night. Donovan Mitchell,
who is a star, had a fantastic second half, and
they're gonna have to work for it in this series
because Kristaps is not expected to be back. I mean,
that's what we're seeing in the Denver series too. By
the way, I think that Nikola jokicch does have the
(16:02):
medal to lead Denver to be a dynasty, except for
he's got to have someone like Murray next to him,
and Murray is clearly hurt. So is Kristaps being hurt
in this Celtics series? Is that what is going to
do the Boston in or are they going to be
able to get through here and maybe get him back
in the conference finals if they get there again.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Let's button it up with this. So Byron Scott is
viewed as part of the Laker family. Sure, he coached,
he played. It's a very much a small business. Genie
runs like a small business. And if your family your family.
Norm Nixon's part of it. Worthy, I mean, Kobe's agent
became GM. That's what the Lakers are. And Byron Scott says,
(16:41):
just make Lebron the coach. I'm like, well, that's a
family member. Now it may be a second cousin, yes,
but it's a family member former coach too.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
As you said, he's.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
More that job. What'd you make of that comment?
Speaker 4 (16:52):
I look, you know, an off handed comment. I would say,
we haven't seen that in the NBA quite some time.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
We have seen it before, but Lenny Wilkins or Bill Russell.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeahl Russell, So there you go.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Like to me, the Lakers problem was also not a
coaching problem. I put that in the same frank vocal camp. Now,
if you lose both stars. Both Lebron James and Anthony
Davis made it clear that that Darvinham had lost them,
and then it is hard to bring him back. However,
the Lakers have had six coaches in thirteen years, and
my hope with whoever they do bring in next is
(17:27):
that they back him for the long haul, because there
will always be bumps in the road. There will be
always times when your stars don't completely buy in to
what you are doing. It's natural players get frustrated. High
talented players who know what they can accomplish get frustrated,
and then they should and you need not only a
guy who can bring it all together, but an organization
who backs him. And my hope is that whoever they
(17:48):
find for this job is someone that the organization feels
it can stand behind, so that even in those rough
moments sometimes you need the front office to stay to
the star, Hey work it out, because this guy's here
and we think that he's I thought that, and we
don't think he's the problem.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
Well, but that's not as the Lakers are set up, which.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Is kind of how you end up with six coaches
in thirteen years, and I do wonder if they can
bring someone in who is good enough to merit that
from the front office, because I do think stability. Now
they're in another position where they've got to find someone
who I don't think you want a first time head
coach in that situation, and the other guys are getting
snapped off the board. You know, Jason Kidd has to
(18:26):
write Lebron a thank you note because he just got
a contract extension that was pretty much a result of
the fact that the Lakers are looking for another coach.
Tyler is going to get a very hefty contract extension
that will be in part because you know, the amount
of it, not that he's getting it, but the amount
of it will come down to the fact that the
Lakers are sitting there definitely coveting him as well. So
who are you getting to fill that job? Who is
(18:48):
going to give you something that Darvenham didn't give you?
Speaker 5 (18:51):
And I'm curious who it's going to be.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
I can't pick a name out there and say I
think Mark Jackson is interesting. I think Scottie Brooks is interesting.
But I do wonder who it is who they think
is interesting, and then they can really stand behind because
there will be more ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
That's just what's going to happen. Well, the Lakers roster
construction is ruey, and d Lo can be inconsistent, and
then you get inconsistent performance because you have inconsistent players,
and Darwin gets blamed. Thanks for carrying me today, Rachel Nichols.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Please.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
So I had a flu at a cigar flu game
on Tuesday that Jason had to carry me.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Okay, So this is the key lime Pie game.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
This is the key Lime Pie most people, it's a
night out in the town key Lime Pie and half
a cigar knocks me out there. You go, I'm a
weak man. Now I know support, Now we know, Now we.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Know one more Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours
a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app.
Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 8 (19:48):
Tomorrow on Fox, it's the game of the Year in
the UFL as the five and one Saint Louis BattleHawks
take on the undefeated Birmingham Stallions. It all kicks off
tomorrow at four Eastern and on Fox.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Rating is a victim for that you've seen her. Not
that America pays much attention. We pay attention to that stuff.
I've been pretty good. J Mack with the news, the news.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
This is the herd Line news.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Well, lots of.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Breaking news of the NFL.
Speaker 8 (20:20):
On a Friday, it was just announced, gourd the Bears
have named Caleb Williams QB one. Matt Eberflus took to
the podium and said, no conversation, he is the starter.
Here's zebra Flus talking about Caleb Williams starting for the Bears.
Speaker 9 (20:37):
Obviously, you have goals that you set for yourself right
in a moment.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Also you have goals in the future, so that's important.
Speaker 9 (20:43):
But also understanding the moment that that we're in and
being in that moment is is really important. I would
say taking this step at a time, handling it, handling
it the way that needs to be handled and being
a professional is really important. So all of those going
one and so I would I would definitely say for
sure of being in the moment, like I said, taking it,
taking one set at a time.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Kill Williams hat forwards looking good, looking like ranchized quarterback
to me leader, is that a thing?
Speaker 2 (21:11):
I would call it?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Quarterback, yel. I like my presidents to be presidential, my
quarterbacks to be quarterback yell. And I think he looks
the part. To turn your life around, you gotta start
with that hat getting turned around.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Well wait a minute, he hadn't shaved there. Did you
notice a little scruffiness that is going on? That doesn't matter?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Okay for the hated player record on game day, I
don't want my guys clean shaven. They're going to battle.
Oh I want. I don't want a razor in the
facility three days before I want. I want guys that
looked like they just came out of the forest carrying timber.
Don't I don't even care if they bathe Like two
(21:49):
days before, I would say, showers don't work. No razors
in the facility. I want wolverines walking out onto the field.
Hats totally different. You're all face.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
I will say, I got more texts from friends about
the hat backwards thing than basically any topic you rented
on in the last week months.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Andrew luck neck Beard, I supported it.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
He looked like a Civil War captain. You know, there's
like that thing.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Think I honestly think that, like when I go if
I'm going to go do something that's physical, like go
work out. I don't shower, I don't shave on the weekends.
I'm all scruffy. You're gonna go be physical, gonna look
the part, gonna feel emotionally the part. I like my
players to be a little scruffy going into a game,
(22:38):
going into hockey guys, I want clean shaven hockey guy.
I want you to look like you haven't you haven't
seen a blade outside of the hockey stick in a month.
That's how I view the world.
Speaker 8 (22:49):
J Max.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
Some week for you.
Speaker 8 (22:50):
Cowherd, maybe Scott Van Pelt will take another shot at
and that was hurtful.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
That really was no good. Let's move on.
Speaker 8 (22:58):
The Eagles hired Kelly and More to be their new
offensive coordinator. He's got a new scheme he's installing, and
he more talked to reporters about what things will look
like in Philly next season.
Speaker 7 (23:11):
I think everyone's got their different flavor from a systematic approach.
I think our real focus here as we've gone through
this process is, you know, we got a lot of
good going on, and we can lose the good and
the reps that you know, Jalen and aj have developed
and Dallas has developed this offensive line of developed and
how can we build off of those things and really
connect the whole thing. And so that's been a really
(23:32):
fun process. You know, they'll be tweaks, they'll be changes,
everything's constantly evolving. That that's part of this whole off
season program.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
We like him, do we? Yeah? You don't like him.
Speaker 8 (23:44):
Well, when he was in Dallas he was the next
big thing according to Jerry Jones.
Speaker 5 (23:48):
Then he goes to the Chargers. We bought in for
that hook line and sinker.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Well, first of all, everything with the Chargers everything went
down really good players had average years of coach there.
They always say in baseball, a manager, a good manager
gives you four wins, they can ruin a locker room,
they're not gonna help that much. But in an NFL
locker room, if you don't get the coach right, it
can sink everything. I mean, go look at Michigan football
(24:13):
pre Harball. Michigan football swaths of empty stands, Harball eventually
Natty so and when you get these great I mean
Alabama Nick Saban resurrected it, it was a mess. So
coaching in football, that's the question with Philadelphia Sirianni, do
you buy him or not?
Speaker 8 (24:34):
Yeah, I think it's TVD on more from me.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
We'll see.
Speaker 8 (24:38):
The one thing is he had a lot of familiarity
in the division when.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
He was in Dallas for so many years. Now there's
been some turnover.
Speaker 8 (24:45):
Among teams defensively, but I think more will probably be fine.
I think the Eagles do have some interesting questions, Colin.
I mean gutting the staff when they started ten to one.
I think the head coach, you know, he's probably on
the hot seat.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
That's interesting.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
Now, no fire, the coordinators bring in new ones.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
So momentum is a real thing. So they had a
great system and a great staff. They replaced it, and
that momentum carried him to a hot start for three
months and then they fell apart. You see this all
the time in college football, where they get the loyal,
longtime assistant takes over for the legendary coach, and for
like two years, fans are like, hey, nothing's new, and
(25:25):
then by like the end of year two they get
routed once or twice. Year three, the wheels come off.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
And so with.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Philadelphia, a lot of it was they didn't get it
right with Hurts until Shane Stikeen took over the play calls.
They took Steichen's great momentum for about three months for
the next season, but in the end they fell apart.
So I mean, I think I say this, I don't
know what Jalen Hurts is without Shane Stikeen, because the
(25:51):
proof so far is not pretty. It's a lot of
turnovers and average. That's why this year is so bad.
I think he's it. I mean, I'm seventy thirty. Yeah,
but it is interesting. Here's some doubt number. After the
Super Bowl, it was like, Jalen Hurts is the guy.
Remember you're I'm not taking a call like so much
about him off the field, the podium stuff, the leadership.
(26:12):
But there I do look and think, what if he
starts slowly?
Speaker 5 (26:15):
Yeah, well, I mean, listen, let this be a lesson.
Speaker 8 (26:18):
You can look smart Siriani bringing in Shane Stikeen, but
when you get in a great, great number two, you
gotta hold on to him.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Like grim Death, he lost Stikeen and lost a lot.
I mean, listen, well, Stikeen was not he was gonna
get a head coaching job. You know, there's a little
parallel to this show right here. I could be your
Shane Stichen. Yeah, that's right, and you might lose me
somewhere else. That's a good point, you know, And all
of a sudden, this thing looks good for a month
or two that you're on the hot seat, then crashes.
Then I got the owner on me. Don't go anywhere,
(26:47):
j Mac.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
We'll see uh.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
Next final story Jalen Brudson and the Villanova Nicks. They've
been the best story of the NBA postseason. Apologies to
the Wolves. They're gonna look to extend their series leads
and I it's going to be very tough in Andy.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
They're huge dogs.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
In a podcast appearance, former Nova coach Jay Wright talked
about his former players and revealed he did not expect
to star power from Brunson.
Speaker 10 (27:11):
I didn't think he'd be this good. I thought he
would be a point guard on an NBA championship team
because he's such a winner. I thought he would get
with a Luka Doncics, like I thought that was a
great situation for him. I thought he'd get with a
Luka Dancic and lead a team to an NBA playoff.
(27:33):
Maybe a more talented player might be the leading scorer,
but he would be the leader, and when that talented
player got hurt sometimes and he needed to score, he'd score.
That's what I thought his NBA career would be.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
So, you know, everybody wants to tell you they know
nobody in the world knows more about Jalen Brunson other
than Jalen Brunson than Jay Wright. It's also a top
five college basketball coach. Probably of my adult life. Saw
him every day at practice, and Jay Wright didn't know.
(28:09):
So everybody on the internet's a genius, especially all the
anonymous guys nobody knows. That just goes to show you.
Jay Wright was like, yeah, I thought he was. He's
gonna be really good player. I think he's gonna be this.
So you just don't know what's in somebody's soul, their heart,
the hard work. You just don't know. The stuff isn't exact.
I talk. I have several friends that are executives in
(28:31):
the NFL, and they're like, man, all the measurables, all
the traits, and then you just get a guy and
he just doesn't love it. That's been the knock, by
the way, on Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville. Yes, is that
what I've heard from people I trust is he's not
defined by football much like Andrew Locke. He'll probably retire
(28:52):
fairly early. He really really likes playing football, really really
good at it, but he doesn't have that like Base
Brady obsessed. And by the way, he's probably a better
human for them. Yeah, but I've heard that, not even
the criticism. People just say, you know, I don't know
if he lives for it. Andrew Luck didn't. Andrew Luck's like,
(29:13):
I got my book club, my kids, my wife, I'm
out and I want my health. I totally respect that.
But it is this all this stuff about talent evaluation,
you uge, it's there's a reason they call it an
inexact science. Even doctors have a doctor practice. Doctors don't
know everything. You find stuff out all the time, and
(29:33):
you're gonna watch AI through the rest of our lives.
One of the the amazing thing about AI is stuff
we haven't seen yet, is that what it's going to
do to medicine in the world. It's going to solve
so many cancers, cure so many cancers because it can
do so much, so much faster than our research can.
That's what's great about AI, ending disease building up walls
(29:57):
for things that you know ended people's lives. But it's
this stuff. This talent evaluation is so hard.
Speaker 8 (30:05):
Would you say, there's a whiff And I'm just saying
a whiff of Steph Curry. In the Brunson story, undersize
guard whose dad played in the NBA, people thought, oh,
he's a really nice college player. Well almost see what
he can do in the pros. And he is just
hitting the league like a comment final. Remember it took
Curry like.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
A few years. There is some of this because he
was doubted. Now Curry got drafted higher, but Dallas doubted
his greatness and Steph Curry very early. I think it
was Monte Ellen Montellis Yep, the Warriors moved off a
much more athletic player. Montelle's Warrior fans did not like
the move. So there was absolute doubt in the building
(30:43):
or maybe out of the building about Steph Curry. So
I think that I don't think, I mean could be
I don't see him being Steph Curry. But he starts
scoring forty forty forty forty forty and everybody in the
building knows you're the offense. Pretty impressive, And just.
Speaker 8 (30:58):
To be clear, if they lose this series to the Pacer,
and they might, Anarnobe is out tonight and it doesn't
sound like he's gonna be able to go in Game
four Sunday. Even if they lose the series, it does
not diminish what Brunson and the Villanova Knicks to a compas,
because they're clearly here and they're gonna be around for
the next few years in the East. Challenging Boston probably
colin over anyone else.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
What it does, it does when you watch Boston, they
don't look, as Rachel said, they don't look as invincible
as we thought two months.
Speaker 5 (31:25):
Ago they were a three point machine.
Speaker 8 (31:27):
They're either going to hit or miss, and in the playoffs,
and when they don't hit, it's kind of bleak. I'll
just say I would right now buy Boston and then
the Knicks next three years over the Sixers. I know
everybody loves embad and.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
CAP's face, no, I think the interesting team and you're
probably right. I keep your eye on Orlando. We'll see
the Bonkaro looks like he's a year away or from
twenty one. Yeah, so I think they've got sugs going right.
If they could land like a Paul George kind of player.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
That'd be nice.
Speaker 8 (31:58):
But you know, we were talking with Rachel during the
break about a landing spot for Paul George.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
We'll save that for next week.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
That was interesting, was it not.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
I wish I had had it today for headlines. I
have him going somewhere else. But that's a that's called
the teas.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
By the way, third hour in the industry. Why Shane
Steiken nailed it? Jade back with the news.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Well that's the news and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line news.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
See that Caitlin Clark crowd exhibition exhibition. Is she gonna
outdraw the Pacers next year?
Speaker 8 (32:33):
By the way, we have secured as a family tickets
to Caitlin Clark versus the Sparks out here in LA.
It's been moved to Crypto now. Tickets went on sale.
I think they sold out in like under two hours.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
What if they outdraw the Pacers? Pacers attendance has never
been great. TV ratings locally aren't great.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
Did a bigger story than the Pacers? Sorry, even if
the Pacers beat the Knicks. I think Caitlin Clark's a bigger.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Story next year. I mean that did the season start Tuesday.
Speaker 8 (32:57):
Yeah, By the way, for fun, Caitlin Clark do win
the MVP in the league as a rookie, it would
be unfathomable.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
She's got the third highest odds.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Call wow, It's fun.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 11 (33:20):
Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball.
We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's
more about the stories about what made these people love
their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way.
Speaker 10 (33:33):
We talked to.
Speaker 11 (33:34):
Coaches, we talked to players, We tell you stories.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
You download it, you listen to it.
Speaker 5 (33:39):
I think you like it.
Speaker 11 (33:41):
Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Very rarely. It may only happen a couple times three
times a decade. Like next Generation hype. And I know
there was a president who said fake news most of
the time. If we proclaim in the media, this is
next generation stuff. And I'm not talking your random number
one pick in the NBA draft, Wemby came in many
(34:09):
saying the best prospect ever. He more than delivered. Lebron
more than delivered. Bryce Harper delivered, Connor McDavid delivered, Andrew
Luck actually delivered. If you go back and look at this,
before he got hurt, he went eleven and five, eleven
and five, eleven and five with an awful roster. Tom
Britty couldn't do that. I don't think Mahomes could do that.
That roster was bad. He got to an AFC championship
(34:32):
with a bad roster. The media doesn't miss on the
all time stuff, not very I can't think of the
last one Tiger hit, Lebron hit, Lionel Messi was a
child prodigy hit a Sidney Crosby and Hockey hit, Serena hit.
Steven Strasburg was a World Series MVP. Again, his arm,
(34:54):
you know, fell apart. So it's not that he couldn't play.
And I'm not talking just you know, regular number one pick.
I think Caitlin Clark is next level. I think Caleb
Williams is being called like most talented five tool guy
in a long time. So, I mean last night, in
a Thursday night preseason game, they got thirteen thousand, so
(35:17):
here's where she's not busting merch sales, ticket sales, TV rating.
She's an absolute home run, and she didn't play particularly
well last night. She's a shooter. She had an off night,
but generally speaking, it's hard to find. Again, don't confuse
you know, Andrew Luck with your typical number one draft pick.
(35:38):
Caleb Williams. I think rises We've been talking about him
for a year. Tiger Woods at twelve thirteen, fourteen years old,
Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby. Yeah, here's Caitlin after last night's
home debut.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
This is a preseason game on a Thursday night and
there's thirteen thousand people here, Like, I think that just
shows you know what it's going to be like for
us all season, and it's gonna help us. You know,
these are gonna be games at home that you're gonna
need to win. So I'm excited for a home opener.
I think it's going to be a packed house obviously
versus a really great team, and yeah, it's pretty incredible.
Thirteen thousand at a preseason game is pretty unheard of.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Yeah, that's I do wonder the Indiana Pacers average about
sixteen thousand. They've never had good home TV ratings or
home or TV ratings locally in attendance, They've always been
near the bottom of the league. I think they're going
to outdraw. I think a w NBA team in the
same town, same city will outdraw the NBA team. I
absolutely believe that. And it's not like Indiana's should be disbanded.
(36:40):
Like they're a playoff team, and they've got some good players.
They're fun to watch, not as fun as the Knicks,
but they're fun to watch. So it's really something. I mean,
it's we're getting into territory. It's like, WHOA do.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
You think people think that's a hot take? Colin?
Speaker 1 (36:55):
I don't know, I think it. I mean, if you're
getting thirteen thousand, the season doesn't even start. When's the
last NBA exhibition that Indiana hosted that got thirteen thousand?
That seems like a lot for any NBA teammate. Do
the Nuggets get thirteen thousand for a preseason NBA game
they have like a five to six eight game preseason whatever,
(37:15):
that seems like a lot.
Speaker 8 (37:16):
Well, you saw the news this week about the chartered
flights for the WNBA. They haven't had those and now
they have them.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
The NBA literally spent twice as much on a two
year deal on chartered flights than they do for the
entire league's payroll. So I think it's smart they're figuring
it out like that.
Speaker 5 (37:31):
The WNBA was not a cash cow. People need to
understand that.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Like, no, no, I don't know if it is now.
In fact, it's.
Speaker 8 (37:38):
Going to be thanks to Caitlin Clark, that's my guess
within a couple of years.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Don't you think, well, yeah, we've talked about the growth
of women's basketball. I would call it the improvement of
women's basketball is undeniable. The growth was steady. This is
not growth, This is an explosion. This is what the
WNBA needed this. They were playing in some second tier arenas.
It's like, no, no, Now they're gonna play in bigger arenas.
(38:04):
And I mean, I always felt golf had Greg Norman,
but I felt like, as Jack Nicholas aged, you know,
golf was kind of an old guy's sport. I always
felt that, and all of a sudden, Tiger came around.
I wasn't somebody I had watched Jack and Arnie a
little bit. I like Greg Norman, but I wasn't golf
didn't get me to a TV much and here comes
Tiger and with Phil Mickelson on his side, and it
(38:27):
just changed it. It changed my TV viewing habits. I
will watch a WNBA. I haven't watched five, but if
it's on, I mean not Race Home, but if it's on,
I'd sit there for an hour and watch it Like that.
That's you went to Taylor Swift concerts.
Speaker 5 (38:40):
Oh, my gosh's greatest thing ever and listen.
Speaker 8 (38:42):
I don't want to get too excited, but my wife
literally during the commercial break, was like, oh, if we
are in Europe this week, Taylor Swift at a concert,
what do you think about going? And I'm like, guys,
we already we already saw Kaylin Sorry, Taylor Swift here
in America.
Speaker 5 (38:54):
Why do we need to see her again?
Speaker 8 (38:55):
And it's you get one of those blank stares like
are you really asking what we need to see another
Taylor's concert. Same deal with Caitlin Clark. We saw her
in the tournament Colin, and now we want more.
Speaker 5 (39:04):
We want to see her.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Man, if you go back and look at the ratings
in the women's tournament, didn't she get like was it
sixteen million views? If you take out the NFL that
crushes everything, World Series, NBA Finals crushes it. That's an
insane number for a sport that's got a dynasty, that
(39:27):
never loses. I mean, it's like, it's not like Iowa
had a big brand in college basketball. Yukon has a
huge brand for a while, Tennessee women's basketball, huge brand.
Stanford women's basketball. You're like, no lives Iowa.
Speaker 8 (39:42):
You could make an argument that her going to Indiana
is better than say, go on to the New York
team or the LA team.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
I think it is. It's it's her brand. Eighteen point
seven million people watch the women's college basketball final is
a I know people don't care about TV ratings. That's
this is insane. That's what a first round NFL playoff
game gets.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
It's a big deal.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
You can put the Buffalo I don't know, put the
Buffalo Bills on against you know whoever. The Titans done
un Peacock. No, I'm just kidding. Bye, nineteen million people.
What I mean the NBA Finals will get like nine million?
Speaker 8 (40:17):
Well depending, I mean, if it's Minnesota versus you may
get six Boston.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
I don't know. No, I mean, if you got if
you got Boston bought New York, would get a bigger number.
If you got Boston against Minnesota, OKC, you're probably getting
eight and a half, so you're getting Hey, the way
Cleveland looked last night? Stop, how about Calves, t Wolves?
Pinch me? That would get six. And I'm not I
(40:42):
think Minnesota is a fun watch. But I that number
nineteen million, that is in our industry. That is what
our three J Mac Tomorrow Headlines Today by Shane Steichen
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon 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 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, here we go, it's our two. We're live
in Los Angeles. It's The Herd. Wherever you may be
and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us
part of your day. Rachel Nichols covered the NBA since
ninety three. Friend of the show FS one is joining us.
I just found out, so I did something last night
that I don't do a lot of. But Rachel not
going to go too far into the family history here,
(00:48):
but she is. Her brother's a big shot in Los
Angeles in the culinary industry, which is I have at
least been to every one of his restaurants once and
they're all amazing.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
That's very heay.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
This this is great.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
This means that finally I can hook you up with
something as opposed to usually where you're you're spreading the
red carpet.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
For all of us.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
He the restaurant group he's with his phenomenal but it
was you know, you have to travel a lot, and
I try to eat right, but it's hard. And so
last night I went with the kids and so.
Speaker 6 (01:19):
What exactly what did you in? What part of the
meal did you in?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Well, instead of just ordering like an entree, the kids
all wanted like twelve different plates and shareable. And I've
discovered that doesn't work for my body. I can't do
key lime pie in front of ribs and then noodles
and rice and then a cocktail. And I woke up
this morning and I'm like, I felt like I went
(01:44):
sparring last night my body, and the food was phenomenal.
I won't I don't want to give away anything, but
I just say the food was phenomenal. But I have
found I'm a very simple man, intellectually, emotionally and now
in a culinary fashion. I need this this that I'm
out all right.
Speaker 7 (02:02):
All right?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
So I won't bring you Keilan pineks week when I
come on again.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Probably not best for me. So first of all, the
Suns are going to hire Mike Budenholzer. That's the report. Yeah,
what went wrong with Vogel. I had gotten a source
last night that said, you know, some of the players,
it's hard. You didn't get all buy in. You have
three stars, you got to get buy in from at
least two. Is that what you're hearing?
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Sure, but I mean no losing team has buy in
from everyone. That's what happens, right, Winning papers over everything,
losing shows all the seams. To me, this is a
bit of moving deckchairs around. I'm not going to call
the Suns the Titanic. I would not go that far,
but there is a little bit of like, we can't
really do anything else. They have one draft, one first
round draft pick for the next six years, just one
(02:50):
this coming year and this summer, and that's it. So
they don't have roster flexibility. They've got these three huge contracts.
They don't really have the ability to make a lot
of changes to the supporting cast. You're not going to
fire the owner that just came in and as the
one behind all these changes, And it's not really fair
to fire the front office because James Jones didn't make
those trades. I mean he physically made them and he
(03:11):
facilitated them, but it was that the owner's directive so
really the only guy to make a change is in
the coach's seat. I do not think Frank Vogel deserved
to be fired. This is a championship coach, and I
think it's going to be a mistake. But then again,
Mike Butnenholzer is a very good coach. I just don't
see him being able to do more than Frank Vogel
did in this situation. If the Sons have better health
(03:33):
next year, that will certainly help them. So that's something
they can do without having to make any roster changes.
Speaker 6 (03:39):
But they're still stuck with an.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Extremely top heavy team and at least one aging superstar.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
We say this all the time, is that you people
want to hold you to a level of perfection. NFL
general managers who are great miss all the time. Yes,
And what you can't do is double down on wrong.
The Giants on Daniel Jones probably a reach, which don't
double down on it. I think you'd be doubling down here.
They don't have a point guard. The Beal thing's not working.
(04:07):
I think you can get a ton for Booker, draft picks, capital,
get younger around Kevin Durant Beale. You can't move bial
as contract ye. To me, this feels a little New
York Giant where it's yeah, the construction doesn't work, let's
fire the coach and double down on it. I don't
think this team when I watch Minnesota play and okay,
(04:28):
see play and Dallas playing better than you think and Denver,
this doesn't feel like a championship team.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
I to me, if you're going to make a big move,
it's Kevin Durant who I would move if I were
in that front office. And I'm sure that Kevin doesn't
want to be moved again after all of the moving
around he's done and the criticism he.
Speaker 6 (04:45):
Gets for that.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
But Devin Booker is still a star in the prime
of his career. Yes, And I'm not sure you're getting
anyone better than him. I'm not sure you're going to
develop anyone better than Devin Booker has already developed into.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
So why not keep.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Him and then moves of the other big, big pieces around.
And unfortunately, Bradley BeOS you point out it has a
no trade clause. It's not wrong and no real trade
value right now, and for what you get for him.
And so I think, if you are going to make
a huge move, if I were in the front office,
it would be Kevin Durant, but I don't anticipate them
doing that. They've really signaled that they're going to stay
with those three guys and see what else they can do,
(05:20):
and I guess one of those things is changing the
voice in the locker room. And if they have better health,
Mike budenozerill look like a genius. But I don't expect
them to win a championship with this roster that's so
top heavy.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
So if you're the New York Knicks, there are two
avenues that are interesting. First of all, Boston looks infinitely,
if not beatable, you can compete with them.
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Yes we didn't think they don't look invincible.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
That's right. And the other thing is the East is
going to get better next year. Dame and Yannis should
be healthy, Philadelphia's got a ton of cap room and
draft picks. Boston will still be good. Or Land Mayata piece.
So you can look at the Knicks and go, this
is the beginning, or you can say the East is
(06:07):
going to get better. It's it's really weak this year.
So I think they're fascinating Rachel because there is an
almost a collegiate feel to them. There is a culture.
We talk heat culture, but it's Tibb's culture. You gotta
be careful who you bring in. Yes, now, Booker I
think works, but Phoenix doesn't want to move him. Durant,
(06:30):
I'm not sure it. What what do you make of
the Knicks going? We know they're competitive, now we don't
think they're a title team. Now they're all beat up.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
I was gonna say it's hard right now because there's
just so many guys worked.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
But they're the talk of the league.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Oh, they're thrilling to worry. I mean literally thrilling to
watch play. And I don't care who you are unless
you're a fan of the other team that's currently playing them.
You're having fun watching this Nicks because they're not only winning,
they're so scrappy.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
They're playing basketball. I want people to play basketball. They're
tough as nails, they're rebounding.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
You know, Josh Hart has played more minutes in playoff
games than any.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Other player in forty five years. That's the stat.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
It's been forty five years since the mergers doubled, and
by the way's probably before that too. But I'm just
going since the ABA murder, no one else has played
more per game.
Speaker 6 (07:21):
Than he has.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
So look, you love to watch them play, but you
do think that they need deeper, They need a little
bit more. If they just got their players back, by
the way, I think that they could make a run
to the finals this year, right, if they had Julius Randall,
if they had Ojananobi, who looks like we're not going
to see him in the next game. You know, if
they had full health, I would put them up against
anyone in the Eastern Conference this year. But they will
(07:45):
have room to make some moves. Unlike the Suns, they're
not hamstrung, and it is interesting to.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
See who's going to go.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
I think that they would be better off making a
smaller move like the murder Rosen has been bandied about.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Right, doesn't need the ball in his hands, doesn't need
the ball.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
As opposed to bringing in some big, flashy player. Now,
for Kevin Durant's story, I always thought that Kevin Durant
should have gone to the knicks instead of the nets.
So for me watching Kevin Durant, I'd like to see
him kind of write that wrung a great story, but
I don't know if that's what's best for New York.
I just think that that would be great for Kevin
Durant's story. I do know that Kevin Durant just wants
(08:20):
to play basketball, and that is the common denominator in
that Knixt locker room. And it will be interesting to
see not only who they bring in this summer, but
where they end up this time in this series. I
still don't know what's going to happen in this PACER's
NIXT series. The Pacers keep seeming like they're being handed
health advantages and yet they're not coming through.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And it was so crazy to me that Rick Carlisle
went after refs and small markets when Brunson and Og
were hurt, Randal Mitchell Robinson gone. It was there for
the taking and that was the easy win of the
first two.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Look, look, I do think that some calls have gone
against the Pacers more so than the next in the
first couple of games ye have. I mean, you can
just look at the funnel in the NBA's own final
two minute report, those kinds of things, But that is
never the reason that you win or lose playoff games
in the aggregate. Maybe one game somewhere, one time with
one bad call in the final few minutes.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
We saw that earlier this playoffs.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
But overall, when you're talking about there's seventy eight calls
or whatever it was, that's not what makes the difference
over a course of a series. What makes the difference
is if you take advantage of your opportunities, and we're
going to have to see the Pacers buckle down and
do that at home, otherwise they're cooked.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
The reality with American sports is the NFL is pushing
its product globally but gets its employees domestically. Yes, whereas hockey, baseball,
in the NBA especially basketball increasingly is becoming European based. Now,
it's good for the talent and skill level. Hockey's never
(09:50):
been faster, baseball's never been deeper, Basketball's never had seven
footers all hitting threes. But it's not always great in
terms of domestic ratings. Well, the NBA is going to
get their money. It's got stars, it's fast paced, young
people like at apparel company. It's gonna get s money.
But I do think it's it needs a face. I
think Aunt Edwards and I didn't think this a year ago.
(10:13):
I think he I think his game is more refined.
I think his ability to go to KD and say,
trash talk just enough. I wonder if NBA is pretty
good about five. You know, they didn't do it with
the honest they put his playoff games on NBA TV.
It does feel like we're watching the next face and
(10:35):
this is like the opening chapter and twenty years will
go remember the Denver sus absolutely, man, is that what
you see?
Speaker 4 (10:41):
So?
Speaker 7 (10:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:42):
I like he's got the chrisma off the charts right,
and the way he plays is so engaging. He brings
you in every time he goes up to the basket.
He's got no fear. He's just an exciting player to watch.
The shoe I think he's got the number one selling
shoe in America. The commercials are good. I mean it's
a lot of that. You know, we make these early
Michael Jordans comparisons, and he said the other day I
(11:02):
can never have the career of Jordan, and I think
that is correct. I think to your point about the
international game, it is a different deeper league.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
No question.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
When look at the number of guys who coming from
other countries who are winning MVP, who are in the
MVP race. Shakekills was Alexander, by the way, its from Canada,
even he's not American. So by the way, you are
getting just a deeper pool of talent to compete with.
It's not the league where mj won six. It's not
the league even where Kobe won five, and so I
don't think anyone can have that career again. But we
(11:31):
are seeing a guy who looks like Michael Jordan looked in.
Speaker 6 (11:34):
His early years. No question, that is undeniable, right.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
And it's not just on the court, although it is
on the court, it's everything else that you're talking about.
He is a star in the old fashioned sense, and
it's really exciting to watch.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
We'll see, you know, I will say this. Here's the
other advantage, Michael, it took a while to get the
right coach. It feels like Aunt has his. Also, the
celt and the Pistons were living, breathing dynasties. There is
no one in the West. We thought Denver could be it,
and it looks like Denver is, you know, a Raptor story,
(12:10):
closer to a Raptor story than a Warrior's dynasty. I
think they're better than that. But they could be a
one and done or maybe a two title team. So
that's the advantage. It took Jordan, you know, he spent
a lot in college and then it it was I mean,
you forget when you watch the documentary is a long road.
There's a lot of getting tackled by the pistons. So
the advantage this kid has is, oh, he could be
(12:32):
good like if he won this year. Wow, Now you're
ahead of Michael Hunch, just significantly ahead.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
And by the way, if I were any of these
younger players, if I was Luca, if I was a Aunt,
I would get my winning in now. Because I am
still going to sit here in this chair every week
and tell you I think that Victor weben Yama is coming.
I think he is going to end up again health injuries.
We don't know what happens. But if all goes as expected,
a top five to ten player of all time, and
so would I would get my titles in now. And
(13:01):
I think that Aunt Edwards certainly has a chance to
do that. He's got a great team around him too,
and he's got the advantage of that. And we can't
forget that he's got a coach that he really responds to.
He's got Karl Anthony Towns, he's got an upcoming four
time Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 6 (13:15):
I mean the whole concept.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
You've got a great bench, he's got Mike Conley, who's
been one of the best playoff performers, and just teammates
and leaders that we've had in the last two decades.
So he's got every advantage and then he's taking advantage.
And I think that those two things combined is we're
seeing a winner.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
This kid's at winner.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Finally, my opening rant about an hour and a half
ago was that we may be in an era in
the NBA which I grew up with, the seventies Sonics,
Blazers Warriors. They were called the Bullets back then, Elvin Hayes,
West Unseld, Kevin Greevy. The teams were very good. They
weren't great, Yeah, and I think we're staring at a
(13:52):
bunch of very goods. I think all of us felt
like Boston could be the one great and then I
watched them content get whacked at home. They have a
five hundred hole that's historically bizarre as a dominant team.
They're five hundred at home. All dynasties roll at home,
and I think, you know what, in an era of good.
(14:16):
They're very good, but losses like last night are adding up, Rachel,
and I'm like, maybe we have put them at about
to be great, and maybe they have two players that
are closer to Pippen than Kobe and Michael and they're
gonna win a title. But have we gone like we
do with the Cowboys every year we've ratcheted up this
(14:37):
when they're just very good.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
I mean, I'm very curious your take on the mental
aspect of this team because you have seen it. It's
not just in basketball, right, so you've watched it across
sports teams that have almost gotten there and not and
what that does to you. Because the Boston Celtics, let's
not forget, have made the conference finals five of the
last seven years.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
That's spectacular. Yes, I mean, that's incredible.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Think about the franchises around the NBA who've had so
much hope and promise and thunder and noise and media
attention and haven't been able to match anywhere near that.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
However, they haven't been able to get it done.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
They only advanced to the finals once out of all
those times, and they completely fell apart at the end
of that.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Vera really control of the series through about three games
and then fell apart.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Right, So what mental effect does that have on the
team and what effect does it have on the fans.
I mean, Jason Tatum got up on the podium after
last night's game and he goes, I know, we're expected
to be perfect or some version of that, and I'm
sure it feels that way to him because here they
are a team that's made the conference finals five of
the last seven years, and every time they lose the game, people, oh, see,
the Celtics aren't for real. But the problem is when
you don't get the ultimate goal done, even the middle
(15:40):
part starts to feel sometimes a little bit squishy, and
I think they are feeling the loss of Kristaps Porzingis,
and Mobiley took advantage of that last night. Donovan Mitchell,
who is a star, had a fantastic second half, and
they're gonna have to work for it in this series
because Kristaps is not expected to be back. I mean,
that's what we're seeing in the Denver series too. By
the way, I think that Nikola jokicch does have the
(16:02):
medal to lead Denver to be a dynasty, except for
he's got to have someone like Murray next to him,
and Murray is clearly hurt. So is Kristaps being hurt
in this Celtics series? Is that what is going to
do the Boston in or are they going to be
able to get through here and maybe get him back
in the conference finals if they get there again.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Let's button it up with this. So Byron Scott is
viewed as part of the Laker family. Sure, he coached,
he played. It's a very much a small business. Genie
runs like a small business. And if your family your family.
Norm Nixon's part of it. Worthy, I mean, Kobe's agent
became GM. That's what the Lakers are. And Byron Scott says,
(16:41):
just make Lebron the coach. I'm like, well, that's a
family member. Now it may be a second cousin, yes,
but it's a family member former coach too.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
As you said, he's.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
More that job. What'd you make of that comment?
Speaker 4 (16:52):
I look, you know, an off handed comment. I would say,
we haven't seen that in the NBA quite some time.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
We have seen it before, but Lenny Wilkins or Bill Russell.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeahl Russell, So there you go.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Like to me, the Lakers problem was also not a
coaching problem. I put that in the same frank vocal camp. Now,
if you lose both stars. Both Lebron James and Anthony
Davis made it clear that that Darvinham had lost them,
and then it is hard to bring him back. However,
the Lakers have had six coaches in thirteen years, and
my hope with whoever they do bring in next is
(17:27):
that they back him for the long haul, because there
will always be bumps in the road. There will be
always times when your stars don't completely buy in to
what you are doing. It's natural players get frustrated. High
talented players who know what they can accomplish get frustrated,
and then they should and you need not only a
guy who can bring it all together, but an organization
who backs him. And my hope is that whoever they
(17:48):
find for this job is someone that the organization feels
it can stand behind, so that even in those rough
moments sometimes you need the front office to stay to
the star, Hey work it out, because this guy's here
and we think that he's I thought that, and we
don't think he's the problem.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
Well, but that's not as the Lakers are set up, which.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Is kind of how you end up with six coaches
in thirteen years, and I do wonder if they can
bring someone in who is good enough to merit that
from the front office, because I do think stability. Now
they're in another position where they've got to find someone
who I don't think you want a first time head
coach in that situation, and the other guys are getting
snapped off the board. You know, Jason Kidd has to
(18:26):
write Lebron a thank you note because he just got
a contract extension that was pretty much a result of
the fact that the Lakers are looking for another coach.
Tyler is going to get a very hefty contract extension
that will be in part because you know, the amount
of it, not that he's getting it, but the amount
of it will come down to the fact that the
Lakers are sitting there definitely coveting him as well. So
who are you getting to fill that job? Who is
(18:48):
going to give you something that Darvenham didn't give you?
Speaker 5 (18:51):
And I'm curious who it's going to be.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
I can't pick a name out there and say I
think Mark Jackson is interesting. I think Scottie Brooks is interesting.
But I do wonder who it is who they think
is interesting, and then they can really stand behind because
there will be more ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
That's just what's going to happen. Well, the Lakers roster
construction is ruey, and d Lo can be inconsistent, and
then you get inconsistent performance because you have inconsistent players,
and Darwin gets blamed. Thanks for carrying me today, Rachel Nichols.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Please.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
So I had a flu at a cigar flu game
on Tuesday that Jason had to carry me.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Okay, So this is the key lime Pie game.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
This is the key Lime Pie most people, it's a
night out in the town key Lime Pie and half
a cigar knocks me out there. You go, I'm a
weak man. Now I know support, Now we know, Now we.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Know one more Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours
a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app.
Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 8 (19:48):
Tomorrow on Fox, it's the game of the Year in
the UFL as the five and one Saint Louis BattleHawks
take on the undefeated Birmingham Stallions. It all kicks off
tomorrow at four Eastern and on Fox.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Rating is a victim for that you've seen her. Not
that America pays much attention. We pay attention to that stuff.
I've been pretty good. J Mack with the news, the news.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
This is the herd Line news.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Well, lots of.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Breaking news of the NFL.
Speaker 8 (20:20):
On a Friday, it was just announced, gourd the Bears
have named Caleb Williams QB one. Matt Eberflus took to
the podium and said, no conversation, he is the starter.
Here's zebra Flus talking about Caleb Williams starting for the Bears.
Speaker 9 (20:37):
Obviously, you have goals that you set for yourself right
in a moment.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Also you have goals in the future, so that's important.
Speaker 9 (20:43):
But also understanding the moment that that we're in and
being in that moment is is really important. I would
say taking this step at a time, handling it, handling
it the way that needs to be handled and being
a professional is really important. So all of those going
one and so I would I would definitely say for
sure of being in the moment, like I said, taking it,
taking one set at a time.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Kill Williams hat forwards looking good, looking like ranchized quarterback
to me leader, is that a thing?
Speaker 2 (21:11):
I would call it?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Quarterback, yel. I like my presidents to be presidential, my
quarterbacks to be quarterback yell. And I think he looks
the part. To turn your life around, you gotta start
with that hat getting turned around.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Well wait a minute, he hadn't shaved there. Did you
notice a little scruffiness that is going on? That doesn't matter?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Okay for the hated player record on game day, I
don't want my guys clean shaven. They're going to battle.
Oh I want. I don't want a razor in the
facility three days before I want. I want guys that
looked like they just came out of the forest carrying timber.
Don't I don't even care if they bathe Like two
(21:49):
days before, I would say, showers don't work. No razors
in the facility. I want wolverines walking out onto the field.
Hats totally different. You're all face.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
I will say, I got more texts from friends about
the hat backwards thing than basically any topic you rented
on in the last week months.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Andrew luck neck Beard, I supported it.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
He looked like a Civil War captain. You know, there's
like that thing.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Think I honestly think that, like when I go if
I'm going to go do something that's physical, like go
work out. I don't shower, I don't shave on the weekends.
I'm all scruffy. You're gonna go be physical, gonna look
the part, gonna feel emotionally the part. I like my
players to be a little scruffy going into a game,
(22:38):
going into hockey guys, I want clean shaven hockey guy.
I want you to look like you haven't you haven't
seen a blade outside of the hockey stick in a month.
That's how I view the world.
Speaker 8 (22:49):
J Max.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
Some week for you.
Speaker 8 (22:50):
Cowherd, maybe Scott Van Pelt will take another shot at
and that was hurtful.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
That really was no good. Let's move on.
Speaker 8 (22:58):
The Eagles hired Kelly and More to be their new
offensive coordinator. He's got a new scheme he's installing, and
he more talked to reporters about what things will look
like in Philly next season.
Speaker 7 (23:11):
I think everyone's got their different flavor from a systematic approach.
I think our real focus here as we've gone through
this process is, you know, we got a lot of
good going on, and we can lose the good and
the reps that you know, Jalen and aj have developed
and Dallas has developed this offensive line of developed and
how can we build off of those things and really
connect the whole thing. And so that's been a really
(23:32):
fun process. You know, they'll be tweaks, they'll be changes,
everything's constantly evolving. That that's part of this whole off
season program.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
We like him, do we? Yeah? You don't like him.
Speaker 8 (23:44):
Well, when he was in Dallas he was the next
big thing according to Jerry Jones.
Speaker 5 (23:48):
Then he goes to the Chargers. We bought in for
that hook line and sinker.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Well, first of all, everything with the Chargers everything went
down really good players had average years of coach there.
They always say in baseball, a manager, a good manager
gives you four wins, they can ruin a locker room,
they're not gonna help that much. But in an NFL
locker room, if you don't get the coach right, it
can sink everything. I mean, go look at Michigan football
(24:13):
pre Harball. Michigan football swaths of empty stands, Harball eventually
Natty so and when you get these great I mean
Alabama Nick Saban resurrected it, it was a mess. So
coaching in football, that's the question with Philadelphia Sirianni, do
you buy him or not?
Speaker 8 (24:34):
Yeah, I think it's TVD on more from me.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
We'll see.
Speaker 8 (24:38):
The one thing is he had a lot of familiarity
in the division when.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
He was in Dallas for so many years. Now there's
been some turnover.
Speaker 8 (24:45):
Among teams defensively, but I think more will probably be fine.
I think the Eagles do have some interesting questions, Colin.
I mean gutting the staff when they started ten to one.
I think the head coach, you know, he's probably on
the hot seat.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
That's interesting.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
Now, no fire, the coordinators bring in new ones.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
So momentum is a real thing. So they had a
great system and a great staff. They replaced it, and
that momentum carried him to a hot start for three
months and then they fell apart. You see this all
the time in college football, where they get the loyal,
longtime assistant takes over for the legendary coach, and for
like two years, fans are like, hey, nothing's new, and
(25:25):
then by like the end of year two they get
routed once or twice. Year three, the wheels come off.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
And so with.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Philadelphia, a lot of it was they didn't get it
right with Hurts until Shane Stikeen took over the play calls.
They took Steichen's great momentum for about three months for
the next season, but in the end they fell apart.
So I mean, I think I say this, I don't
know what Jalen Hurts is without Shane Stikeen, because the
(25:51):
proof so far is not pretty. It's a lot of
turnovers and average. That's why this year is so bad.
I think he's it. I mean, I'm seventy thirty. Yeah,
but it is interesting. Here's some doubt number. After the
Super Bowl, it was like, Jalen Hurts is the guy.
Remember you're I'm not taking a call like so much
about him off the field, the podium stuff, the leadership.
(26:12):
But there I do look and think, what if he
starts slowly?
Speaker 5 (26:15):
Yeah, well, I mean, listen, let this be a lesson.
Speaker 8 (26:18):
You can look smart Siriani bringing in Shane Stikeen, but
when you get in a great, great number two, you
gotta hold on to him.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Like grim Death, he lost Stikeen and lost a lot.
I mean, listen, well, Stikeen was not he was gonna
get a head coaching job. You know, there's a little
parallel to this show right here. I could be your
Shane Stichen. Yeah, that's right, and you might lose me
somewhere else. That's a good point, you know, And all
of a sudden, this thing looks good for a month
or two that you're on the hot seat, then crashes.
Then I got the owner on me. Don't go anywhere,
(26:47):
j Mac.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
We'll see uh.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
Next final story Jalen Brudson and the Villanova Nicks. They've
been the best story of the NBA postseason. Apologies to
the Wolves. They're gonna look to extend their series leads
and I it's going to be very tough in Andy.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
They're huge dogs.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
In a podcast appearance, former Nova coach Jay Wright talked
about his former players and revealed he did not expect
to star power from Brunson.
Speaker 10 (27:11):
I didn't think he'd be this good. I thought he
would be a point guard on an NBA championship team
because he's such a winner. I thought he would get
with a Luka Doncics, like I thought that was a
great situation for him. I thought he'd get with a
Luka Dancic and lead a team to an NBA playoff.
(27:33):
Maybe a more talented player might be the leading scorer,
but he would be the leader, and when that talented
player got hurt sometimes and he needed to score, he'd score.
That's what I thought his NBA career would be.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
So, you know, everybody wants to tell you they know
nobody in the world knows more about Jalen Brunson other
than Jalen Brunson than Jay Wright. It's also a top
five college basketball coach. Probably of my adult life. Saw
him every day at practice, and Jay Wright didn't know.
(28:09):
So everybody on the internet's a genius, especially all the
anonymous guys nobody knows. That just goes to show you.
Jay Wright was like, yeah, I thought he was. He's
gonna be really good player. I think he's gonna be this.
So you just don't know what's in somebody's soul, their heart,
the hard work. You just don't know. The stuff isn't exact.
I talk. I have several friends that are executives in
(28:31):
the NFL, and they're like, man, all the measurables, all
the traits, and then you just get a guy and
he just doesn't love it. That's been the knock, by
the way, on Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville. Yes, is that
what I've heard from people I trust is he's not
defined by football much like Andrew Locke. He'll probably retire
(28:52):
fairly early. He really really likes playing football, really really
good at it, but he doesn't have that like Base
Brady obsessed. And by the way, he's probably a better
human for them. Yeah, but I've heard that, not even
the criticism. People just say, you know, I don't know
if he lives for it. Andrew Luck didn't. Andrew Luck's like,
(29:13):
I got my book club, my kids, my wife, I'm
out and I want my health. I totally respect that.
But it is this all this stuff about talent evaluation,
you uge, it's there's a reason they call it an
inexact science. Even doctors have a doctor practice. Doctors don't
know everything. You find stuff out all the time, and
(29:33):
you're gonna watch AI through the rest of our lives.
One of the the amazing thing about AI is stuff
we haven't seen yet, is that what it's going to
do to medicine in the world. It's going to solve
so many cancers, cure so many cancers because it can
do so much, so much faster than our research can.
That's what's great about AI, ending disease building up walls
(29:57):
for things that you know ended people's lives. But it's
this stuff. This talent evaluation is so hard.
Speaker 8 (30:05):
Would you say, there's a whiff And I'm just saying
a whiff of Steph Curry. In the Brunson story, undersize
guard whose dad played in the NBA, people thought, oh,
he's a really nice college player. Well almost see what
he can do in the pros. And he is just
hitting the league like a comment final. Remember it took
Curry like.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
A few years. There is some of this because he
was doubted. Now Curry got drafted higher, but Dallas doubted
his greatness and Steph Curry very early. I think it
was Monte Ellen Montellis Yep, the Warriors moved off a
much more athletic player. Montelle's Warrior fans did not like
the move. So there was absolute doubt in the building
(30:43):
or maybe out of the building about Steph Curry. So
I think that I don't think, I mean could be
I don't see him being Steph Curry. But he starts
scoring forty forty forty forty forty and everybody in the
building knows you're the offense. Pretty impressive, And just.
Speaker 8 (30:58):
To be clear, if they lose this series to the Pacer,
and they might, Anarnobe is out tonight and it doesn't
sound like he's gonna be able to go in Game
four Sunday. Even if they lose the series, it does
not diminish what Brunson and the Villanova Knicks to a compas,
because they're clearly here and they're gonna be around for
the next few years in the East. Challenging Boston probably
colin over anyone else.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
What it does, it does when you watch Boston, they
don't look, as Rachel said, they don't look as invincible
as we thought two months.
Speaker 5 (31:25):
Ago they were a three point machine.
Speaker 8 (31:27):
They're either going to hit or miss, and in the playoffs,
and when they don't hit, it's kind of bleak. I'll
just say I would right now buy Boston and then
the Knicks next three years over the Sixers. I know
everybody loves embad and.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
CAP's face, no, I think the interesting team and you're
probably right. I keep your eye on Orlando. We'll see
the Bonkaro looks like he's a year away or from
twenty one. Yeah, so I think they've got sugs going right.
If they could land like a Paul George kind of player.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
That'd be nice.
Speaker 8 (31:58):
But you know, we were talking with Rachel during the
break about a landing spot for Paul George.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
We'll save that for next week.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
That was interesting, was it not.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
I wish I had had it today for headlines. I
have him going somewhere else. But that's a that's called
the teas.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
By the way, third hour in the industry. Why Shane
Steiken nailed it? Jade back with the news.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Well that's the news and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line news.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
See that Caitlin Clark crowd exhibition exhibition. Is she gonna
outdraw the Pacers next year?
Speaker 8 (32:33):
By the way, we have secured as a family tickets
to Caitlin Clark versus the Sparks out here in LA.
It's been moved to Crypto now. Tickets went on sale.
I think they sold out in like under two hours.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
What if they outdraw the Pacers? Pacers attendance has never
been great. TV ratings locally aren't great.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
Did a bigger story than the Pacers? Sorry, even if
the Pacers beat the Knicks. I think Caitlin Clark's a bigger.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Story next year. I mean that did the season start Tuesday.
Speaker 8 (32:57):
Yeah, By the way, for fun, Caitlin Clark do win
the MVP in the league as a rookie, it would
be unfathomable.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
She's got the third highest odds.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Call wow, It's fun.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 11 (33:20):
Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball.
We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's
more about the stories about what made these people love
their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way.
Speaker 10 (33:33):
We talked to.
Speaker 11 (33:34):
Coaches, we talked to players, We tell you stories.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
You download it, you listen to it.
Speaker 5 (33:39):
I think you like it.
Speaker 11 (33:41):
Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Very rarely. It may only happen a couple times three
times a decade. Like next Generation hype. And I know
there was a president who said fake news most of
the time. If we proclaim in the media, this is
next generation stuff. And I'm not talking your random number
one pick in the NBA draft, Wemby came in many
(34:09):
saying the best prospect ever. He more than delivered. Lebron
more than delivered. Bryce Harper delivered, Connor McDavid delivered, Andrew
Luck actually delivered. If you go back and look at this,
before he got hurt, he went eleven and five, eleven
and five, eleven and five with an awful roster. Tom
Britty couldn't do that. I don't think Mahomes could do that.
That roster was bad. He got to an AFC championship
(34:32):
with a bad roster. The media doesn't miss on the
all time stuff, not very I can't think of the
last one Tiger hit, Lebron hit, Lionel Messi was a
child prodigy hit a Sidney Crosby and Hockey hit, Serena hit.
Steven Strasburg was a World Series MVP. Again, his arm,
(34:54):
you know, fell apart. So it's not that he couldn't play.
And I'm not talking just you know, regular number one pick.
I think Caitlin Clark is next level. I think Caleb
Williams is being called like most talented five tool guy
in a long time. So, I mean last night, in
a Thursday night preseason game, they got thirteen thousand, so
(35:17):
here's where she's not busting merch sales, ticket sales, TV rating.
She's an absolute home run, and she didn't play particularly
well last night. She's a shooter. She had an off night,
but generally speaking, it's hard to find. Again, don't confuse
you know, Andrew Luck with your typical number one draft pick.
(35:38):
Caleb Williams. I think rises We've been talking about him
for a year. Tiger Woods at twelve thirteen, fourteen years old,
Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby. Yeah, here's Caitlin after last night's
home debut.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
This is a preseason game on a Thursday night and
there's thirteen thousand people here, Like, I think that just
shows you know what it's going to be like for
us all season, and it's gonna help us. You know,
these are gonna be games at home that you're gonna
need to win. So I'm excited for a home opener.
I think it's going to be a packed house obviously
versus a really great team, and yeah, it's pretty incredible.
Thirteen thousand at a preseason game is pretty unheard of.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Yeah, that's I do wonder the Indiana Pacers average about
sixteen thousand. They've never had good home TV ratings or
home or TV ratings locally in attendance, They've always been
near the bottom of the league. I think they're going
to outdraw. I think a w NBA team in the
same town, same city will outdraw the NBA team. I
absolutely believe that. And it's not like Indiana's should be disbanded.
(36:40):
Like they're a playoff team, and they've got some good players.
They're fun to watch, not as fun as the Knicks,
but they're fun to watch. So it's really something. I mean,
it's we're getting into territory. It's like, WHOA do.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
You think people think that's a hot take? Colin?
Speaker 1 (36:55):
I don't know, I think it. I mean, if you're
getting thirteen thousand, the season doesn't even start. When's the
last NBA exhibition that Indiana hosted that got thirteen thousand?
That seems like a lot for any NBA teammate. Do
the Nuggets get thirteen thousand for a preseason NBA game
they have like a five to six eight game preseason whatever,
(37:15):
that seems like a lot.
Speaker 8 (37:16):
Well, you saw the news this week about the chartered
flights for the WNBA. They haven't had those and now
they have them.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
The NBA literally spent twice as much on a two
year deal on chartered flights than they do for the
entire league's payroll. So I think it's smart they're figuring
it out like that.
Speaker 5 (37:31):
The WNBA was not a cash cow. People need to
understand that.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Like, no, no, I don't know if it is now.
In fact, it's.
Speaker 8 (37:38):
Going to be thanks to Caitlin Clark, that's my guess
within a couple of years.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
Don't you think, well, yeah, we've talked about the growth
of women's basketball. I would call it the improvement of
women's basketball is undeniable. The growth was steady. This is
not growth, This is an explosion. This is what the
WNBA needed this. They were playing in some second tier arenas.
It's like, no, no, Now they're gonna play in bigger arenas.
(38:04):
And I mean, I always felt golf had Greg Norman,
but I felt like, as Jack Nicholas aged, you know,
golf was kind of an old guy's sport. I always
felt that, and all of a sudden, Tiger came around.
I wasn't somebody I had watched Jack and Arnie a
little bit. I like Greg Norman, but I wasn't golf
didn't get me to a TV much and here comes
Tiger and with Phil Mickelson on his side, and it
(38:27):
just changed it. It changed my TV viewing habits. I
will watch a WNBA. I haven't watched five, but if
it's on, I mean not Race Home, but if it's on,
I'd sit there for an hour and watch it Like that.
That's you went to Taylor Swift concerts.
Speaker 5 (38:40):
Oh, my gosh's greatest thing ever and listen.
Speaker 8 (38:42):
I don't want to get too excited, but my wife
literally during the commercial break, was like, oh, if we
are in Europe this week, Taylor Swift at a concert,
what do you think about going? And I'm like, guys,
we already we already saw Kaylin Sorry, Taylor Swift here
in America.
Speaker 5 (38:54):
Why do we need to see her again?
Speaker 8 (38:55):
And it's you get one of those blank stares like
are you really asking what we need to see another
Taylor's concert. Same deal with Caitlin Clark. We saw her
in the tournament Colin, and now we want more.
Speaker 5 (39:04):
We want to see her.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Man, if you go back and look at the ratings
in the women's tournament, didn't she get like was it
sixteen million views? If you take out the NFL that
crushes everything, World Series, NBA Finals crushes it. That's an
insane number for a sport that's got a dynasty, that
(39:27):
never loses. I mean, it's like, it's not like Iowa
had a big brand in college basketball. Yukon has a
huge brand for a while, Tennessee women's basketball, huge brand.
Stanford women's basketball. You're like, no lives Iowa.
Speaker 8 (39:42):
You could make an argument that her going to Indiana
is better than say, go on to the New York
team or the LA team.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
I think it is. It's it's her brand. Eighteen point
seven million people watch the women's college basketball final is
a I know people don't care about TV ratings. That's
this is insane. That's what a first round NFL playoff
game gets.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
It's a big deal.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
You can put the Buffalo I don't know, put the
Buffalo Bills on against you know whoever. The Titans done
un Peacock. No, I'm just kidding. Bye, nineteen million people.
What I mean the NBA Finals will get like nine million?
Speaker 8 (40:17):
Well depending, I mean, if it's Minnesota versus you may
get six Boston.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
I don't know. No, I mean, if you got if
you got Boston bought New York, would get a bigger number.
If you got Boston against Minnesota, OKC, you're probably getting
eight and a half, so you're getting Hey, the way
Cleveland looked last night? Stop, how about Calves, t Wolves?
Pinch me? That would get six. And I'm not I
(40:42):
think Minnesota is a fun watch. But I that number
nineteen million, that is in our industry. That is what
our three J Mac Tomorrow Headlines Today by Shane Steichen
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.