June 3, 2025 • 33 mins
JMac reacts to the BREAKING NBA NEWS: The Knicks have fired head coach Tom Thibodeau following their run to the Eastern Conference Finals
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 3 (00:26):
Back here on The Herd, listen Kevin Durant.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
I have a checkered relationship with him. He's thirty six,
turning thirty seven. He's kind of near the end of
his prime. I mean, you can still get you a bucket.
I don't know what else he could do, but there's
a lot of chatter right now. An article just dropped
about the potential for him going to Houston the New
York Knicks. So we're bringing in Christian Winfield of the
New York Daily News covers the Knicks beat writer.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Christian.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Listen, man, it's Kevin Durant stuff.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I know it's exciting, but I gotta be honest, I
don't know how how realistic it is for him to
end up with the Knicks.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
What are you hearing on your end here?
Speaker 6 (01:06):
Well, you got to remember I got a chance to
cover Kevin Durant for four years while he was a member,
while he was the leader of that Brooklyn Nets team.
And one thing he's going to do as soon as
he walks through the door is raised the level of
everyone that's around him. That's just the championship pedigree. That's
the Hall of Famer pedigree that he brings. That being said,
you hit the nail on the head. He's going to
be thirty seven years old in September. We know in
(01:26):
terms of just injury history, it's been checkered. And on
top of that, the asking price. This guy's making more
than fifty million dollars and then you're probably gonna have
to sign him to an extension after that. Just what
does that look like at this stage of his career.
It's hard for me to see the Knicks, especially concerned.
They don't really have any draft assets after he gave
up five for Michale Bridges to make this deal happen,
let alone what they'd have to give up to get him.
Speaker 7 (01:48):
I don't see it happening.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It feels like a pipe dream. But let's turn back
the clock.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
So you covered that Durant Nets team, which was basically
the Titanic, right, I mean with Kyrie Irving, James Harden,
you know, the stage in the locker room and James Harden.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
One of the things Durant didn't do was be a leader.
I'm just curious. He's often talked to, Hey, I just
want to who I don't want to be a leader?
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Is there a world where he becomes one at this
stage of his career because he hasn't won anything since
the Warriors.
Speaker 6 (02:17):
You know, I think it's depending on what your definition.
Speaker 7 (02:20):
Is of a leader.
Speaker 6 (02:21):
Right, if you ask the guys that are in that
locker room, Kevin Durant is the type of guy who
leads by his actions. He's someone who's coming in early,
getting his work, and he's set in the standard of
excellence and showing guys what it takes to perform at
a certain level. Now, if you're talking about leader on
the floor, being the guy who can make every decision
with the ball for a team, kind of like Lebron,
kind of like what we're seeing with Luca che along
(02:41):
those lines, then maybe that's not your guy in terms
of the number one person that you can have to
win a title, but in terms of just locker room
present in term of raising the IQ and just the
overall ability of everyone in the locker room. Kevin Durant
is most certainly a leader. It just depends on what
a team needs. And you know, in Brooklyn, I mean
there were more things could have gone wrong other than
(03:01):
Kevin durrect. Kevin Durro is probably the most consistent in
terms of what you were getting from every single day.
I don't think he was the problem there.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Yeah, I am curious. Do you think he fits with Brunson?
I know it's easy to say Durant fits anywhere. He's
a bucket guy. He just shoots, shoot the ball.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
You could argue he hasn't worked with Devin Booker, who
doesn't have us I have a usage rate as Brunson.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
But do you think this would be like an easy partnership.
Speaker 6 (03:25):
I don't know, because with the Knicks already right now,
you have two issues on defense, and at this point
in Kevin Durant's career, especially dealing with the injuries and
then at age thirty seven, to have another pressure point
on the defensive end would be a pretty tough sell. Offensively,
I think KD is a bucket no matter thirty seven,
forty seven, fifty seven. He's gonna be money from that
mid range. He's gonna be money in clunch, in crutch
(03:47):
time moments, no matter how old he is. It's really
just on the defensive end right now where there are concerns.
And then his durability, of course, especially if you're talking
about playing Kevin Durant under Tom Thibodeau. I mean, how
many minutes can he play before he starts to wear down?
So I think fit in terms of that will be
a question. But offensively, you put them next to anybody,
he's going to find a way to be effective.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
So we know the vibes that the Garden were incredible
during that Pacer series. You know, Timothy shallow May rolling
up with the jeneror sister.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
It was just amazing.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
But for whatever reason, just because they lost the series,
all Knicks fans.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Are like, all right, how do we fix this? How
do we blow it up? This was their best season
this century, I believe. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
I'm under the impression they should probably just tinker with
the bench, and I'm okay with keeping TIBs, but where
are you on the whole run it back versus let's
go get this guy, blah blah blah.
Speaker 6 (04:38):
Well, when you look at the two teams that are
representing both conferences in the NBA Finals, you've got two
teams that are not afraid of playing ten players, that
have played ten players in a rotation regularly throughout the season.
I think that's going to be the new standard. If
you're going to be a team that's going to compete
for a title, you've got to have a deep bench.
And when you look at the Knicks, things get shaky
outside of the next outside of the top seven to
(04:59):
eight play you don't have that reliable eighth or ninth
guy off the bench that you know can fill in
and play quality minutes. And by the time the Knicks
found them, which was Landry Shaman and Dylan right in
the conference finals, it was too late. They hadn't been
tinkering with a lot of these lineups. So to your point,
I think bench DEPP is something they have to target.
I think back up point guard is something they absolutely
have to target.
Speaker 7 (05:19):
When you consider the difference between TJ.
Speaker 6 (05:20):
McConnell for the Indiana Pacers and whoever was stepping up
behind Jalen Brunson, you get a quality backup point guard
in there, you're able to maybe preserve Brunson in some
of these minutes down the stretch where he's otherwise tired.
Speaker 7 (05:31):
Right.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
So there's those two parts of it, and then the
big part is how can this team kind of maximize
the pieces that they already have. You stacked that starting
five up against a lot of these other teams in
the conference, and you've got a team that should be
winning a lot of these games. The issue is, you know,
you've got the ball being stuck in Brunson's hands at times,
You've got the ball not getting the towns for the
stretches at a time. And then you've got players like
(05:52):
oh Giannanobia, Michale Bridges who've shown they can carry scoring
loads that just aren't getting utilized to their biggest potential. Right,
how do you maximize these guys? How do you, you know,
get better bench scoring? The Nicks had the worst bench
andol of basketball for in terms of production scoring. And
then how do you just make all the pieces fit.
That's something that we had We didn't see from this
team making the pieces fit, putting together complete forty eight
(06:15):
minute games. But I think the Knicks have what it
takes in terms of their core just have to bolst
of that bench a little bit.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
So it's interesting you you know, you made it sound
like you have some question. Is Thibodeau the guy to
navigate that whole We gotta play bench guys, you know,
like Tyler Kohlik. I mean, I don't know what casual
fans are, like, who the hell is that? That kid
was a stud at Marquette. You know, I'm a fan
of his work. I don't understand why he was pinned
to the bench. I like McBride, I thought he showed well,
(06:43):
Like shouldn't those guys have played more in the regular
season so they were ready in the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (06:47):
That is one big criticism here of Tom Thibodau was
not having guys that you draft now having players like
pop Holm Da Dyer. You know, you signed pressure at
you to a six million dollar deal in the offseason
as one of your main off season additions, or being
able to just use him in terms of cap space,
being able to retain him and you don't play him
that much, if at all during the regular season. Playoffs
(07:07):
come around and he's pinned to the bench. So that
is a question here. Will Tibbs utilize the bench. Will Tibbs,
you know, developed younger players towards the beginning of the
season so that they're serviceable at the end, you know,
And also Will Tibbs put together an offensive plan that
isn't just isoball have Jalen dribble the ball and make
a player right. There were too many stretches where Cat
isn't getting touches. There were too many stretches where Mikhale
(07:29):
or og are just not getting used to the best
of their abilities. That being said, you know, this is
back to back fifty win seasons. This is conference finals
conference with This is two second round exits and then
a conference finals appearance. You know, the data shows that
since Thibodeau has taken over, the Knicks have gone up.
So you kind of can't just throw that out the window.
But we've seen teams make coaching changes that were unpopular
(07:51):
because they couldn't get over the hump.
Speaker 7 (07:52):
What did the Knicks do this offseason? Will have to
stick stay tuned.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Yeah, you go back to the Warriors with Mark Jackson.
You know, it felt like they hit a seal to
put in Steve Kerr. He makes the switch and they
make the jump to light speed. But I don't know
the way you just frame the knicks, it's like they've
had three good seasons.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
I don't know. Is this a version of Damian Lillard
and CJ. McCollum and Portland.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Hey we're gonna win forty five fifty fifty two inch
games every year.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, we ain't winning the title.
Speaker 7 (08:19):
I wouldn't go that far.
Speaker 6 (08:20):
Just yeah, Remember this is the first seat the first
season of this new look group, right, And then you
consider Towns gets traded here in the middle of training camp,
runts and misses, a month of time, guys are in
and out of the lineup, you know, mid season trade,
moving Jericho Sims out.
Speaker 7 (08:32):
You know, there's a lot of moving pieces here.
Speaker 6 (08:34):
I think a full training camp, I think a full
year under this team's beat. And I really just think
the sting of losing in the conference finals when you
were that close to the NBA Finals can help improve
this team. But at the same time, there's just some
glaring shortcomings with this roster in terms of how do
you get Jalen and Carl on the same page. Defensively,
that's a big thing when you look at the stats
from these conference finals alone. It's hard to find lineups
(08:56):
with Towns and Brunting on the floor that we're a
net positive against this pacer team. Towns with a bunch
of good defenders around him. Good lineup Brunts in with
good defenders around him, good lineup Towns in Brunson. Negative
lineup is not a good solution right now, and some
of that might have to include trading a guy.
Speaker 7 (09:11):
You know.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
It might be Josh Hard, it could be you know,
Mitchell Robinson, it could be Miles McBride. The Knicks are
gonna be open for business when you consider the salary
cap situation they're in, They're not gonna have many mechanisms
to add players and free agency, so you're looking at
potentially a lot of wheeling and dealing in a way
to try to improve this roster.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern a em Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
All right, Christian, we could wrap up with a two
parter on the NBA Finals. Listen.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I'm a big hoops guy on playing men's leagues and stuff.
I'm not super geeked about this finals. A are you
gonna watch it or are you going vacation now because
you're done cover the Knicks and then be do the
Pacers have any shot here to to beat Okase.
Speaker 7 (09:57):
I'm definitely gonna watch it. Listen.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
I think that in terms of playstyles, you've got two
teams that are gonna defend, that are gonna play a
lot of players and that gonna They're gonna play with
a lot of pace. And I do think the Pacers
have a shot because we saw Pascal Sia come step
up and play championship level basketball against the Knicks. The
Knicks had no answer for him, just in terms of leakouts,
just in terms of one on one defense, they just
couldn't stop them. Now, OKAC is a completely different animal.
(10:21):
They're a buzz saw on both ends of the floor.
I still think the Thunder win this series. But I
think you've got two polarizing, fun players in Shay Gildis
Alexander and Tyrese Halliburn. You've got two two deep rotations.
You've got two really high caliber coaches and Rick Carlisle
and Mark Deagnold as well, So I think it'd be
a fun series. Obviously, these are small markets, OKC in Indiana.
(10:42):
You know, if I'd had to go to OKAC, I
don't know what I would have done for five days
of my time.
Speaker 7 (10:45):
But at the end of the day, you're getting two
high quality teams.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
Two teams are gonna play fun, up tempo basketball. I
think it'd be fun to watch. But I've got OKC
in five or six. I think the Pacers can get one.
It's just gonna be tough when when OKAC is gon
to just keep coming at you and they've got the
size advantage. Hartenstein is gonna be a big difference in
the series because the Pacers had no answer for Mitchell Robinson.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
You you mentioned Oka.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
See I've never been there, but I guess you went
on the next road trip there.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
What's this? What is there to do in Oklahoma City?
Speaker 4 (11:13):
I saw her the forty seventh largest TV market or
something like that.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
Oh no, you're asking the wrong person. I've never been.
I didn't go for the real game. I was dreading
if the Knicks actually made the fires. I was like,
where am I Am I going to stay at the
Haunted Hotel?
Speaker 7 (11:26):
Like, what are we gonna do? Yeah, I was actually
looking into it.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
I was thinking, but then the issue becomes if I
go stay at the haunted hotel, then we might not
have a Knicks beat right anymore.
Speaker 7 (11:34):
So I don't know. Next time next season, maybe I'll
go try to find some food. I'll have a food
recommendation for you.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
That's the highlight of Okac a haunted hotel.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Okay, all right, it sounds like an awesome city, cultural crossroads,
Christian great stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Thanks a lot, and enjoy the off.
Speaker 7 (11:47):
Season, buddy, Thanks for having me anytime.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
All right, Haunted hotels in okac, Alex.
Speaker 8 (11:54):
That's the thing because I was on the road with
the Angels and the Kings for ten years and there's
a lot of cities that i've very well known haunted
hotels that teams stay in.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Wait, hold, do you believe in ghosts?
Speaker 8 (12:05):
Yeah? I've seen them. I'm one of those.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Come on, let's go to Alex Curry with the news.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
No.
Speaker 9 (12:12):
No, yes, wait, now you're gonna get them, just confirming
you admitted on National TV you believe in ghosts.
Speaker 8 (12:22):
Yeah, spirits like energy.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
So are they moving stuff like no? Or are you
just appearing?
Speaker 8 (12:28):
No?
Speaker 3 (12:28):
It's yeah, that's what I love. Ghosts.
Speaker 8 (12:32):
Yeah, Like, you've never been in a situation where you've had, dude,
that's why there's these haunted places. There's places where like
you can feel an energy and you can feel that
there's an outside energy and things happen and things move
or lights change, or I've seen like a little figure like, yeah,
the parents house growing up was haunted.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
So excuse me one.
Speaker 8 (12:52):
More time yet. My parents' house I grew up in
was haunted. So that's why it's Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
So like you saw some things you talk about like
an there, I've been in like a spring break in Acapulco,
and there's energy in the club every place.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 8 (13:08):
With different yes, yeah, good, all right.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
So the staff tells me there's something called the Scurving
Hotel in Oklahoma City.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, voted most haunted hotel in the country.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
Oh no, it's crazy. There's also one. When you play
the Tampa Bay Rays, you don't stay in Tampa Bay,
you stay in uh I forget where you say. It's
this pink hotel and it's very well known all the players.
It was my first time on the road trip. They
tried to put me on the haunted floor and in
the haunted room, and I was like in tiers. Yeah,
I was in tiers in the front desk, like you
(13:39):
can't do this to me, Like, please, don't do this to.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Me, Like I won't sleep.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Ghost guy, I know, but I just have to ask
them what are the ghosts? What are they doing moving
stuff in the room and scaring you.
Speaker 8 (13:51):
No, it's more like you just feel it and you
see it. It's an energy, all right.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
So now the staff is looking up the haunted hotels
and like testing me.
Speaker 8 (13:59):
It is a thing. Let's get into it, Okay, let's
get started. In the NBA, the price for Kevin Durant
is going down. Suns have pitched Durant to the Rocket
several times, according to a report from The Athletic, and
that report says that over the course of several calls,
the Suns have gradually lowered their asking price. Now you
(14:21):
have to remember, like, prices are pretty skewed right now,
with the last two big trades. You had Milik Bridges
last season go for four first round picks and a
first round pick swap. But then you had Luca this
season go for basically ad and Smax Christy. So you're
kind of I thought they were going to be at
a holding pattern. To see what Jannis where he went
(14:44):
and what his asking price was going to be. But
it kind of sounds like the Sons are trying to
offload Katie before that, so they're not set kind of
in whatever Yannis sets the market price at.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah. So, for instance, you know, all these tariffs that
are coming for the I think they're goofy and a
terrible idea.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
But nevertheless, I talked to some people who were like, yeah, man,
I got the new iPhone.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
I went and got a new car.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah, I gotta get the scrap to get it now
before this stuff hits and the prices are jacked up insane.
It almost feels like the Suns are saying, holy cow,
we better get off KD quick. Let's just not pennies
on the dollar, but let's move fast, because it's kind
of been all over the place the last two big
trades we've seen.
Speaker 8 (15:25):
But because they're both most likely going to be moved
this offseason, they're gonna have similar asking prices. And if
you honest goes first and he gets all.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
He's younger, I think he's gonna fetch more.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
But like, huh, that's interesting. Yeah, you know, I probably
in the new market for a new iPhone. I'm waking
up in my batteries being at like sixty.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Percent and I charge it.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Maybe it's a ghost Alex that's draining my battery over night,
and I am.
Speaker 8 (15:53):
Just waiting for you to now get honted.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
It's gonna be.
Speaker 8 (15:55):
It's gonna be a beautiful thing. You're gonna wake up,
You're gonna cry. I'm gonna get a phone call. You
were right, Curry, I have a pride.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Maybe it's coming.
Speaker 8 (16:03):
All right, let's go to New York and your knicks
are stuck between a rocket a hard place. Right now,
New York traded for first round picks and a pick
swap firm Bridges, and now he's up for a massive
four year, one hundred and fifty six million dollars extension. Now,
Bridges struggled in the playoffs, shooting thirty three percent from
three in the playoffs. So the question is do you
(16:23):
pay him or not. You gave up a lot to
get him. He wasn't bad. He was a plus defender
and needs to be a better offensive player. But as
you said, you've kind of stuck to this this week
and since the next lost. Is he one of the
pieces you move or do you pay him because you
said you don't. You don't think you need to do
any big changes.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
I like a nick, I like Bridges a lot. The
problem is I'm doing some map quickly in my head.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, that's like twenty six million dollars a year for
your fourth best player og Towns and Brunson. I don't
think that's a sustainable model. Could you offlow to sign
and trade with Bridges to a team where he's going
to be their third best player and you get say
two guys in return, so you've got a deeper bench,
which is what they need.
Speaker 8 (17:08):
One hundred and fifty six million dollars over four years.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, so that's like smart. It's oh did I not
do the math?
Speaker 10 (17:14):
Good?
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I swear I was good at math back in the day. Okay, yeah,
so what is the number?
Speaker 8 (17:19):
Do the math?
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Look one fifty six by four?
Speaker 8 (17:21):
Well you said, wait, twenty five is going to be
one hundreds.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
So oh yeah, that was a god math by me.
Speaker 8 (17:28):
Okay, holy yeah, thirty nine thirty nine a year.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Yeah, well that's embarrassing. We delete that. Oh no, we're live. Damn,
that's my bad. Anyways, that's way too much money for.
Speaker 8 (17:38):
A lot of money. Also, if somebody shoot shooting thirty
three percent from three in the biggest game.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Yea, No, I like again, I like bridges, but I
don't think you can pay your fourth I mean that's
some reasons. The third best guy making like fifteen million
a year, that's a great deal. Your fourth best guy
at thirty something.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Million a year?
Speaker 8 (17:54):
Will he be? Will he be on the next next year?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I was thinking, heart in the bench. Yeah, you can't
give up five first round picks and bail.
Speaker 8 (18:05):
So I would yet like or you could, like, you know,
just admit your losses. Like, okay, maybe you're at the.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Poker table, you're down, yead it? Just here's my car,
here's my watch.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
Put what are you gonna do?
Speaker 4 (18:18):
My phone will not stop buzzing because I can't do math.
I can already I sense the text. Maybe it's a
ghost texting me.
Speaker 6 (18:24):
Oh j Mac.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
All right, let's stay in New York.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
Your Jets have had a revolving door at offensive coordinator
in the last twenty years, and you're breaking in a
new one with Tanner extra and new quarterback. Justin Fields
though is very high. I'm a new coach.
Speaker 11 (18:41):
Just talking to him, you can just tell he's really smart.
He knows what he's doing, so you know, I think
he's very detailed with you know, installing the plays and
stuff like that, especially in the limited time that we
have now. So, like I said, he's putting a lot
on you know, the guy's play our plate. But I
think in the long run it'll help us.
Speaker 8 (19:00):
Ten different offensive coordinators in the last twenty years, the
last time they made a play the playoffs were in
twenty ten. So what are your expectations for the Jets
offense this year? The new new offensive coordinator? They're ten
twenty years.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
They look at that list, Look at that list on
the screen. I know it's I think any of those
guys going on to anything. And no, that's not looking for.
Speaker 8 (19:24):
The plafsch that's more than two seasons.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
I mean, Brian Schottenheimer's currently the Cowboys coach. But after that,
Tony's Berno, Marty Morning wig Chan Gaily, I mean this
is John Morton, Jeremy Bates.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Anyways, Jets have a new quarterback OC coach? Yes, GM, Yes,
how's that for continuity?
Speaker 8 (19:50):
We think it's going to be get I mean, look
what the commanders did. They had all that last year they.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Did, they had Jayden Daniels. We have Justin Fields on
his one two thirty.
Speaker 8 (19:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah, I'm not feeling great, Alice damn.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Yeah, but thanks for wedging and negative Jets news at
the end of the show to really make me feel what.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
You what's he wearing? Does Fields have a GoPro in
the front of his camera there?
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
That looks cool?
Speaker 7 (20:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Anyways, all right, Alex with the news.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The
Heard Line News.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
All right, coming up next, we just got a hold
of some awesome video of Travis Hunter today defensively at
JAG's practice, and we'll have a former NFL defensive back
in studio to help us break it all down.
Speaker 7 (20:34):
That's next.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 12 (20:41):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 12 (20:55):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
So check us out.
Speaker 10 (21:14):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up.
Speaker 12 (21:18):
As they say, I'd say, the most interactive show on
Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth.
Be sure to check out Cavino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covin on
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on social.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Media that's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Back here on the Herd, we have a great guest
at the moment, but a holy cow huge NBA news.
A couple days after the Knicks had their best season
this century, they just fired their head coach Tom Thibodeau.
He has been relieved of his duties. According to a report,
Team president Leon sitting on this grenade clearly for owner
(22:03):
James Dolan, who got intoxicated, This is my guess, obviously
intoxicated by their best season in decades, celebrity row filled
up great TV ratings, Nicks are a huge story around
the league. They're back, baby, let's fire the coach. I mean,
that's just the height of insanity.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Listen. I know I was.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
This was like a month ago when things were sputtering
before the Celtics.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I was like, hey, listen, maybe we gotta go get
Michael Malone.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Tims isn't working. And then Timms found his groove. How
Tom got his groove back? You know, takes down Detroit,
takes down the defending champion Celtics, and then I know
they lost to the Pacers and they were favored, but
still really firing Thibodeau. So I'm gonna be honest, guys,
this puts a lot of stuff at Jeopardy because Thibodeau
(22:51):
was just defended by Jalen Brunson. In the exit interview,
He's like, is that a real question?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Fiing Thibodeau? So that's Brunson's guy.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
What is this that's hold for Karl Anthony Towns uh
Mihale Bridges we just talked with Alex Is he going
to get an extension? Oh my gosh, let's let's play
the Brunson sound real quick. When asked about Tibodau's future
with the Knicks.
Speaker 13 (23:13):
That's like, nobody takes more criticism than Tom and this
team obviously has turned around during his tenure, So you
kind of feel that going forward, he's the same guy
to fifty guys, the rest of the life at next level?
Speaker 10 (23:27):
Is that a real question right now?
Speaker 7 (23:29):
I mean, epicenter, he just asked me.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
I believe that if he's the right guy.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Yes, thanks, Guys's fobny.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
I mean, we have multiple guests on the show since then,
one like thirty minutes ago, Christian uh from the New
York Daily News.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
It's like, you know what, they just had an amazing season.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
They keep accelerating around here, conference finals, and you fire
the coach.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
I don't know, guys.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
I mean again, it just happened literally three minutes ago.
So I'm a little shook embarrassed that yesterday I said, hey,
let's do nothing, kind of a WHI there by J Mack.
But holy hell, the New York next fire their coach,
and you know, I guess Michael Malone's gonna be on deck.
Maybe they go out of pocket. You know, I'm just
gonna put this out there. Lebron got did a podcast
(24:20):
with JJ Reddick, and next thing you know, JJ Reddick
is the head coach of the Lakers. So you know
who Lebron's doing a podcast with now.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Right, Steve Nash.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
And I know Nash sometimes lives in my area, but
his family really likes it in New York because he
was the Brooklyn Nets coach and Steve Nash was run
out by Kyrie Irving, who was an absolute jerk to him.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Steve Nash next coach of the Knicks, I don't know,
we'll see. Oh my gosh, that would take you out
of the running for Kevin Durant. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
I mean, this is exciting. Hey, Coward's on vacation. We'll
do a lot of Knicks for the rest of the week.
Tom Thibodeau out as the next coach. All right, let's
bring in our guest. He played in the NFL, his
dad played in the NFL, his brother played in the NFL.
Brock Veren studio and football analyst for Big Ted Network. Brock,
(25:10):
you're an NBA fan obviously, any thoughts on Dimitdell getting fired.
Speaker 10 (25:15):
I'm shocked, and quite honestly, I'm shocked that Kat has
gotten any of the blame.
Speaker 5 (25:19):
I expect him to get more of the blame.
Speaker 10 (25:22):
But at the same time, when your two best players
can't be on the court at the same time, what
do you expect to happen? Right, Something needed to change,
and I think the head coach would be the change.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 10 (25:34):
But when your two best guys making all that money,
doing everything, the faces of your franchise, when you're at
your best, and one of them is on the bench,
it's an issue.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
Now, why I'll always defend.
Speaker 10 (25:43):
Cat is because if you get a different version of
the guy that you signed, that's one thing. But this
is the same Cat We've seen his entire career. It's
not his fault that he's played the same his entire career.
So if you thought you were going to get more
out of him, that's one thing. But for every complaint
that has come against Cat in the past couple of weeks,
(26:03):
they were the same complaints in Minnesota.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
Kat's Kat. I don't like any of the blame going.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
To Yeah, this is it's gonna be a big story
the rest of the week. But hey, you're here to
talk NFL. Let me ask you, Brock. So you're a
draft pick of the Bears, I'm assuming you feel a
connection to them. This Caleb Williams stuff, you know, up
and down. First year, they get Ben Johnson. Then the
report comes out that, hey, Caleb Williams didn't want to
go to Chicago.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
What do you make of all this?
Speaker 10 (26:26):
Well, first things first, everything that Caleb was afraid of
and nervous of happen he was right.
Speaker 7 (26:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (26:33):
So whether you agree with him saying that information or
his dad saying that information, fair, but he was right
about everything. Now Ben Johnson coming in, what does that change?
He can learn to play on time. The biggest issue
with Caleb Williams, even with the Heisman year, in the
year after was he was he was at his best
off script.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
That's not good.
Speaker 10 (26:54):
Yeah, and college is fine because an athletic quarterback in
college can outrun a defensive end, can out run a
defensive tackle, can out run most linebackers. You're not out
running Andrew van Ginkle, You're not out running Aden Hutchinson.
So what can Ben Johnson do? He can get him
to play on time. The talent is there, there's no
question of the talent. It's between the ears. It's making
sure that internal clock remains calm, it doesn't panic. It's saying, Caleb,
(27:18):
I understand, up to this point, you've been at your
best outside of the pocket. We need to rein that
in and let me scheme things up for you. I
will tell you where the ball needs to go and
then naturally that athleticism can come out. But that's the
biggest issue with Caleb right now.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
So we had Albert brier on earlier and I asked him, Hey,
rank the quarterbacks in that tough division, NFC North.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
You got a guy JJ McCarthy has yet to play
an NFL game.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
We haven't seen him throw a football pass and for
real since January of twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
But go ahead, rank the quarterbacks in that division. I
don't know that if there's a lock number one, but
let's hear what you got.
Speaker 7 (27:54):
JJ.
Speaker 10 (27:55):
Of course has to be four. I'll put Caleb at three.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Number one. Put in Jordan Love. Whatch you mean, Jared Goff?
Is that too?
Speaker 10 (28:04):
I'm a big Jordan Love guy. I'm a massive Jordan
Love guy. I don't see last year as a step back.
I just see it as he didn't take the leap. Right, Okay,
you have one year of real starting experience. What happens next.
The second year for any quarterback is always where that
big jump comes. So it was delayed for Jordan Love
because he sat for a little bit. No, he didn't
make that massive leap. I'm a massive Jordan Love guy.
(28:25):
I would take his crop of wide receivers over any
anyone else's, even Minnesota, even with the changes that Chicago
has made. I understand what's going on in Detroit. But
the fact that Green Bay does not have a true
number one, I feel is their benefit. And that's why
Jordan Love is so great. He can trust anyone On
(28:45):
third and five, where's the quarterback going to throw the football? Right?
As a dB, that's the first thing you're thinking. Who
is favored here? No one's favored, and that's gonna benefit
Jordan Love. Everyone is always open because no one is favored.
Massive Jordy Love season in coming.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Jordan Love over Jared Goff. That qualifies as the hot take.
Well done now not by a wide margin, but a
firm margin. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, obviously you were
a defensive back and this play just happened today at
practice Jacksonville Jaguars and their top pick, Travis Hunter making
a pretty phenomenal play.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Let's get it on the screen, Travis Hunter. And we
think he caught this, Oh we caught that for sure?
We don't know.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
Hey, listen, we don't know what a catch is in
the NFL. Stir but amazing tip. And this is why
we're talking about him as a two way player. Athleticism,
I mean, he is, he's a phenomenal talent.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
Do you think he should be playing two ways?
Speaker 4 (29:38):
I mean when you were drafted, you know there's a
steep learning curve for defensive back.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
And he's only in half the meetings.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
The other time he's in the offensive meetings where they
really want him to shine. And frankly, you get paid
higher or a larger contract, second contract if you're a receiver.
Speaker 10 (29:54):
They're doing it perfectly. Offense is a steeper learning curve
than defense. Why because his defense, there's only so many concepts, right,
Travis knows what cover two is, Travis knows what cover
three is, Travis knows what man is. As a wide receiver,
you have to know what the other wide receivers are thinking,
you have to make sure you guys are seeing the
coverage the same way that your quarterback is. There are
(30:15):
so many adjustments and calls that immediately affect what you're doing.
So yes, they start him on offense, and don't let
it get past you that he was the best receiver
in this draft. If he did not play cornerback, he
would be the number one receiver taken. So you look
at the quarterback position, he's more natural at it.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
He is a natural corner. He is a natural ballhawk.
Speaker 10 (30:35):
His skill set offensively leaks to the defensive side. His
skill set defensively leaks to the offensive side. But because
of that steeper learning curve offensively, they're handling it perfect.
As they start the season, he'll probably start on offense.
They can get a little creative on offense, put him
in the backfield, put him at the slot, put him
at the wide out, and in order to do all
of those things, he needs to start there immediately, whereas
(30:56):
defensively coming on third down and then maybe week six,
week seven, we'll see if we can put more on
your shoulders.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
My big question with the two way for Travis Hunter
is like, hey, man, go tackle Derrick Henry and you
come off the field and now go run routes on
a drive like that.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
He's gonna be nearly impossible, isn't.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
But he's done his whole life right.
Speaker 10 (31:14):
If this was the situation where say Dion wanted to
get creative and his last season at Colorad, hey Travis, way,
don't you play both ways?
Speaker 5 (31:24):
That's one thing.
Speaker 10 (31:25):
He's always done this, so there's really no comparison. I know,
we we compare it to Champ a little bit. We
call him Otani here and there, but he's been doing
this his entire life at a high level, at the
highest of levels on both sides of the football. There
really is no comparison for Travis. He's gonna be fine,
He's gonna excel.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Do you think this if you were advising him, would
you say, hey, man, you should play both ways? Or
why don't you just get down the wide receiver first?
Then maybe year two you can add that on your plate.
Or do you think, hey, go for it.
Speaker 10 (31:54):
If they didn't need help in the defensive backfield, that'd
be one thing. But the team he is on needs
help on both sides of the football.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
So you bring up the money standpoint.
Speaker 10 (32:03):
Yes, wide receivers at the top end get paid a
lot more than DBS. Well, I'm thinking if he can
even contribute minimally on defense, which I don't think will
be the case. I think will be a starter on
both by the end of the year. But imagine what
that contract negotiating is gonna look like. Hey, what's the
number one cornerback getting paid. What's the number one wide
receiver gonna get paid? Let's combine those numbers and see
what it does to my bank account.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
That would be amazing. All we got about thirty seconds left.
I got to ask you.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Your brother Shane played for Belichick. You know again, we
only got thirty seconds. But what do you make of
this whole Belichick North Carolina. I didn't ask about her,
I didn't ask about the twenty.
Speaker 10 (32:38):
Yeah, I would love to see if Bill Belichick coach
college ten years ago when it was a marathon, when
you could bring in a one star, two star develop them.
That's where Belichick shined, right, finding late round Tom Brady
making him one of the best, helping him make one
of the best, finding Julian Edelman a seventh round quarterback,
letting him play offense defense, then develop him.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
College football is.
Speaker 10 (32:59):
A sprint now. I don't know how it'll go, but
he's at the perfect place. North Carolina says, just have
a winning record, beat the rivals and we're happy and
he can.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
Do that great stuff. Brock Green, we are back tomorrow.
Probably gonna talk a little Nicks.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (33:11):
Maybe
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 3 (00:26):
Back here on The Herd, listen Kevin Durant.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
I have a checkered relationship with him. He's thirty six,
turning thirty seven. He's kind of near the end of
his prime. I mean, you can still get you a bucket.
I don't know what else he could do, but there's
a lot of chatter right now. An article just dropped
about the potential for him going to Houston the New
York Knicks. So we're bringing in Christian Winfield of the
New York Daily News covers the Knicks beat writer.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Christian.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Listen, man, it's Kevin Durant stuff.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I know it's exciting, but I gotta be honest, I
don't know how how realistic it is for him to
end up with the Knicks.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
What are you hearing on your end here?
Speaker 6 (01:06):
Well, you got to remember I got a chance to
cover Kevin Durant for four years while he was a member,
while he was the leader of that Brooklyn Nets team.
And one thing he's going to do as soon as
he walks through the door is raised the level of
everyone that's around him. That's just the championship pedigree. That's
the Hall of Famer pedigree that he brings. That being said,
you hit the nail on the head. He's going to
be thirty seven years old in September. We know in
(01:26):
terms of just injury history, it's been checkered. And on
top of that, the asking price. This guy's making more
than fifty million dollars and then you're probably gonna have
to sign him to an extension after that. Just what
does that look like at this stage of his career.
It's hard for me to see the Knicks, especially concerned.
They don't really have any draft assets after he gave
up five for Michale Bridges to make this deal happen,
let alone what they'd have to give up to get him.
Speaker 7 (01:48):
I don't see it happening.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It feels like a pipe dream. But let's turn back
the clock.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
So you covered that Durant Nets team, which was basically
the Titanic, right, I mean with Kyrie Irving, James Harden,
you know, the stage in the locker room and James Harden.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
One of the things Durant didn't do was be a leader.
I'm just curious. He's often talked to, Hey, I just
want to who I don't want to be a leader?
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Is there a world where he becomes one at this
stage of his career because he hasn't won anything since
the Warriors.
Speaker 6 (02:17):
You know, I think it's depending on what your definition.
Speaker 7 (02:20):
Is of a leader.
Speaker 6 (02:21):
Right, if you ask the guys that are in that
locker room, Kevin Durant is the type of guy who
leads by his actions. He's someone who's coming in early,
getting his work, and he's set in the standard of
excellence and showing guys what it takes to perform at
a certain level. Now, if you're talking about leader on
the floor, being the guy who can make every decision
with the ball for a team, kind of like Lebron,
kind of like what we're seeing with Luca che along
(02:41):
those lines, then maybe that's not your guy in terms
of the number one person that you can have to
win a title, but in terms of just locker room
present in term of raising the IQ and just the
overall ability of everyone in the locker room. Kevin Durant
is most certainly a leader. It just depends on what
a team needs. And you know, in Brooklyn, I mean
there were more things could have gone wrong other than
(03:01):
Kevin durrect. Kevin Durro is probably the most consistent in
terms of what you were getting from every single day.
I don't think he was the problem there.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Yeah, I am curious. Do you think he fits with Brunson?
I know it's easy to say Durant fits anywhere. He's
a bucket guy. He just shoots, shoot the ball.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
You could argue he hasn't worked with Devin Booker, who
doesn't have us I have a usage rate as Brunson.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
But do you think this would be like an easy partnership.
Speaker 6 (03:25):
I don't know, because with the Knicks already right now,
you have two issues on defense, and at this point
in Kevin Durant's career, especially dealing with the injuries and
then at age thirty seven, to have another pressure point
on the defensive end would be a pretty tough sell. Offensively,
I think KD is a bucket no matter thirty seven,
forty seven, fifty seven. He's gonna be money from that
mid range. He's gonna be money in clunch, in crutch
(03:47):
time moments, no matter how old he is. It's really
just on the defensive end right now where there are concerns.
And then his durability, of course, especially if you're talking
about playing Kevin Durant under Tom Thibodeau. I mean, how
many minutes can he play before he starts to wear down?
So I think fit in terms of that will be
a question. But offensively, you put them next to anybody,
he's going to find a way to be effective.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
So we know the vibes that the Garden were incredible
during that Pacer series. You know, Timothy shallow May rolling
up with the jeneror sister.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
It was just amazing.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
But for whatever reason, just because they lost the series,
all Knicks fans.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Are like, all right, how do we fix this? How
do we blow it up? This was their best season
this century, I believe. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
I'm under the impression they should probably just tinker with
the bench, and I'm okay with keeping TIBs, but where
are you on the whole run it back versus let's
go get this guy, blah blah blah.
Speaker 6 (04:38):
Well, when you look at the two teams that are
representing both conferences in the NBA Finals, you've got two
teams that are not afraid of playing ten players, that
have played ten players in a rotation regularly throughout the season.
I think that's going to be the new standard. If
you're going to be a team that's going to compete
for a title, you've got to have a deep bench.
And when you look at the Knicks, things get shaky
outside of the next outside of the top seven to
(04:59):
eight play you don't have that reliable eighth or ninth
guy off the bench that you know can fill in
and play quality minutes. And by the time the Knicks
found them, which was Landry Shaman and Dylan right in
the conference finals, it was too late. They hadn't been
tinkering with a lot of these lineups. So to your point,
I think bench DEPP is something they have to target.
I think back up point guard is something they absolutely
have to target.
Speaker 7 (05:19):
When you consider the difference between TJ.
Speaker 6 (05:20):
McConnell for the Indiana Pacers and whoever was stepping up
behind Jalen Brunson, you get a quality backup point guard
in there, you're able to maybe preserve Brunson in some
of these minutes down the stretch where he's otherwise tired.
Speaker 7 (05:31):
Right.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
So there's those two parts of it, and then the
big part is how can this team kind of maximize
the pieces that they already have. You stacked that starting
five up against a lot of these other teams in
the conference, and you've got a team that should be
winning a lot of these games. The issue is, you know,
you've got the ball being stuck in Brunson's hands at times,
You've got the ball not getting the towns for the
stretches at a time. And then you've got players like
(05:52):
oh Giannanobia, Michale Bridges who've shown they can carry scoring
loads that just aren't getting utilized to their biggest potential. Right,
how do you maximize these guys? How do you, you know,
get better bench scoring? The Nicks had the worst bench
andol of basketball for in terms of production scoring. And
then how do you just make all the pieces fit.
That's something that we had We didn't see from this
team making the pieces fit, putting together complete forty eight
(06:15):
minute games. But I think the Knicks have what it
takes in terms of their core just have to bolst
of that bench a little bit.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
So it's interesting you you know, you made it sound
like you have some question. Is Thibodeau the guy to
navigate that whole We gotta play bench guys, you know,
like Tyler Kohlik. I mean, I don't know what casual
fans are, like, who the hell is that? That kid
was a stud at Marquette. You know, I'm a fan
of his work. I don't understand why he was pinned
to the bench. I like McBride, I thought he showed well,
(06:43):
Like shouldn't those guys have played more in the regular
season so they were ready in the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (06:47):
That is one big criticism here of Tom Thibodau was
not having guys that you draft now having players like
pop Holm Da Dyer. You know, you signed pressure at
you to a six million dollar deal in the offseason
as one of your main off season additions, or being
able to just use him in terms of cap space,
being able to retain him and you don't play him
that much, if at all during the regular season. Playoffs
(07:07):
come around and he's pinned to the bench. So that
is a question here. Will Tibbs utilize the bench. Will Tibbs,
you know, developed younger players towards the beginning of the
season so that they're serviceable at the end, you know,
And also Will Tibbs put together an offensive plan that
isn't just isoball have Jalen dribble the ball and make
a player right. There were too many stretches where Cat
isn't getting touches. There were too many stretches where Mikhale
(07:29):
or og are just not getting used to the best
of their abilities. That being said, you know, this is
back to back fifty win seasons. This is conference finals
conference with This is two second round exits and then
a conference finals appearance. You know, the data shows that
since Thibodeau has taken over, the Knicks have gone up.
So you kind of can't just throw that out the window.
But we've seen teams make coaching changes that were unpopular
(07:51):
because they couldn't get over the hump.
Speaker 7 (07:52):
What did the Knicks do this offseason? Will have to
stick stay tuned.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Yeah, you go back to the Warriors with Mark Jackson.
You know, it felt like they hit a seal to
put in Steve Kerr. He makes the switch and they
make the jump to light speed. But I don't know
the way you just frame the knicks, it's like they've
had three good seasons.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
I don't know. Is this a version of Damian Lillard
and CJ. McCollum and Portland.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Hey we're gonna win forty five fifty fifty two inch
games every year.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, we ain't winning the title.
Speaker 7 (08:19):
I wouldn't go that far.
Speaker 6 (08:20):
Just yeah, Remember this is the first seat the first
season of this new look group, right, And then you
consider Towns gets traded here in the middle of training camp,
runts and misses, a month of time, guys are in
and out of the lineup, you know, mid season trade,
moving Jericho Sims out.
Speaker 7 (08:32):
You know, there's a lot of moving pieces here.
Speaker 6 (08:34):
I think a full training camp, I think a full
year under this team's beat. And I really just think
the sting of losing in the conference finals when you
were that close to the NBA Finals can help improve
this team. But at the same time, there's just some
glaring shortcomings with this roster in terms of how do
you get Jalen and Carl on the same page. Defensively,
that's a big thing when you look at the stats
from these conference finals alone. It's hard to find lineups
(08:56):
with Towns and Brunting on the floor that we're a
net positive against this pacer team. Towns with a bunch
of good defenders around him. Good lineup Brunts in with
good defenders around him, good lineup Towns in Brunson. Negative
lineup is not a good solution right now, and some
of that might have to include trading a guy.
Speaker 7 (09:11):
You know.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
It might be Josh Hard, it could be you know,
Mitchell Robinson, it could be Miles McBride. The Knicks are
gonna be open for business when you consider the salary
cap situation they're in, They're not gonna have many mechanisms
to add players and free agency, so you're looking at
potentially a lot of wheeling and dealing in a way
to try to improve this roster.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern a em Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
All right, Christian, we could wrap up with a two
parter on the NBA Finals. Listen.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I'm a big hoops guy on playing men's leagues and stuff.
I'm not super geeked about this finals. A are you
gonna watch it or are you going vacation now because
you're done cover the Knicks and then be do the
Pacers have any shot here to to beat Okase.
Speaker 7 (09:57):
I'm definitely gonna watch it. Listen.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
I think that in terms of playstyles, you've got two
teams that are gonna defend, that are gonna play a
lot of players and that gonna They're gonna play with
a lot of pace. And I do think the Pacers
have a shot because we saw Pascal Sia come step
up and play championship level basketball against the Knicks. The
Knicks had no answer for him, just in terms of leakouts,
just in terms of one on one defense, they just
couldn't stop them. Now, OKAC is a completely different animal.
(10:21):
They're a buzz saw on both ends of the floor.
I still think the Thunder win this series. But I
think you've got two polarizing, fun players in Shay Gildis
Alexander and Tyrese Halliburn. You've got two two deep rotations.
You've got two really high caliber coaches and Rick Carlisle
and Mark Deagnold as well, So I think it'd be
a fun series. Obviously, these are small markets, OKC in Indiana.
(10:42):
You know, if I'd had to go to OKAC, I
don't know what I would have done for five days
of my time.
Speaker 7 (10:45):
But at the end of the day, you're getting two
high quality teams.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
Two teams are gonna play fun, up tempo basketball. I
think it'd be fun to watch. But I've got OKC
in five or six. I think the Pacers can get one.
It's just gonna be tough when when OKAC is gon
to just keep coming at you and they've got the
size advantage. Hartenstein is gonna be a big difference in
the series because the Pacers had no answer for Mitchell Robinson.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
You you mentioned Oka.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
See I've never been there, but I guess you went
on the next road trip there.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
What's this? What is there to do in Oklahoma City?
Speaker 4 (11:13):
I saw her the forty seventh largest TV market or
something like that.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
Oh no, you're asking the wrong person. I've never been.
I didn't go for the real game. I was dreading
if the Knicks actually made the fires. I was like,
where am I Am I going to stay at the
Haunted Hotel?
Speaker 7 (11:26):
Like, what are we gonna do? Yeah, I was actually
looking into it.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
I was thinking, but then the issue becomes if I
go stay at the haunted hotel, then we might not
have a Knicks beat right anymore.
Speaker 7 (11:34):
So I don't know. Next time next season, maybe I'll
go try to find some food. I'll have a food
recommendation for you.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
That's the highlight of Okac a haunted hotel.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Okay, all right, it sounds like an awesome city, cultural crossroads,
Christian great stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Thanks a lot, and enjoy the off.
Speaker 7 (11:47):
Season, buddy, Thanks for having me anytime.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
All right, Haunted hotels in okac, Alex.
Speaker 8 (11:54):
That's the thing because I was on the road with
the Angels and the Kings for ten years and there's
a lot of cities that i've very well known haunted
hotels that teams stay in.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Wait, hold, do you believe in ghosts?
Speaker 8 (12:05):
Yeah? I've seen them. I'm one of those.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Come on, let's go to Alex Curry with the news.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
No.
Speaker 9 (12:12):
No, yes, wait, now you're gonna get them, just confirming
you admitted on National TV you believe in ghosts.
Speaker 8 (12:22):
Yeah, spirits like energy.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
So are they moving stuff like no? Or are you
just appearing?
Speaker 8 (12:28):
No?
Speaker 3 (12:28):
It's yeah, that's what I love. Ghosts.
Speaker 8 (12:32):
Yeah, Like, you've never been in a situation where you've had, dude,
that's why there's these haunted places. There's places where like
you can feel an energy and you can feel that
there's an outside energy and things happen and things move
or lights change, or I've seen like a little figure like, yeah,
the parents house growing up was haunted.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
So excuse me one.
Speaker 8 (12:52):
More time yet. My parents' house I grew up in
was haunted. So that's why it's Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
So like you saw some things you talk about like
an there, I've been in like a spring break in Acapulco,
and there's energy in the club every place.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 8 (13:08):
With different yes, yeah, good, all right.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
So the staff tells me there's something called the Scurving
Hotel in Oklahoma City.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, voted most haunted hotel in the country.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
Oh no, it's crazy. There's also one. When you play
the Tampa Bay Rays, you don't stay in Tampa Bay,
you stay in uh I forget where you say. It's
this pink hotel and it's very well known all the players.
It was my first time on the road trip. They
tried to put me on the haunted floor and in
the haunted room, and I was like in tiers. Yeah,
I was in tiers in the front desk, like you
(13:39):
can't do this to me, Like, please, don't do this to.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Me, Like I won't sleep.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Ghost guy, I know, but I just have to ask
them what are the ghosts? What are they doing moving
stuff in the room and scaring you.
Speaker 8 (13:51):
No, it's more like you just feel it and you
see it. It's an energy, all right.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
So now the staff is looking up the haunted hotels
and like testing me.
Speaker 8 (13:59):
It is a thing. Let's get into it, Okay, let's
get started. In the NBA, the price for Kevin Durant
is going down. Suns have pitched Durant to the Rocket
several times, according to a report from The Athletic, and
that report says that over the course of several calls,
the Suns have gradually lowered their asking price. Now you
(14:21):
have to remember, like, prices are pretty skewed right now,
with the last two big trades. You had Milik Bridges
last season go for four first round picks and a
first round pick swap. But then you had Luca this
season go for basically ad and Smax Christy. So you're
kind of I thought they were going to be at
a holding pattern. To see what Jannis where he went
(14:44):
and what his asking price was going to be. But
it kind of sounds like the Sons are trying to
offload Katie before that, so they're not set kind of
in whatever Yannis sets the market price at.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah. So, for instance, you know, all these tariffs that
are coming for the I think they're goofy and a
terrible idea.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
But nevertheless, I talked to some people who were like, yeah, man,
I got the new iPhone.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
I went and got a new car.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah, I gotta get the scrap to get it now
before this stuff hits and the prices are jacked up insane.
It almost feels like the Suns are saying, holy cow,
we better get off KD quick. Let's just not pennies
on the dollar, but let's move fast, because it's kind
of been all over the place the last two big
trades we've seen.
Speaker 8 (15:25):
But because they're both most likely going to be moved
this offseason, they're gonna have similar asking prices. And if
you honest goes first and he gets all.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
He's younger, I think he's gonna fetch more.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
But like, huh, that's interesting. Yeah, you know, I probably
in the new market for a new iPhone. I'm waking
up in my batteries being at like sixty.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Percent and I charge it.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Maybe it's a ghost Alex that's draining my battery over night,
and I am.
Speaker 8 (15:53):
Just waiting for you to now get honted.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
It's gonna be.
Speaker 8 (15:55):
It's gonna be a beautiful thing. You're gonna wake up,
You're gonna cry. I'm gonna get a phone call. You
were right, Curry, I have a pride.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Maybe it's coming.
Speaker 8 (16:03):
All right, let's go to New York and your knicks
are stuck between a rocket a hard place. Right now,
New York traded for first round picks and a pick
swap firm Bridges, and now he's up for a massive
four year, one hundred and fifty six million dollars extension. Now,
Bridges struggled in the playoffs, shooting thirty three percent from
three in the playoffs. So the question is do you
(16:23):
pay him or not. You gave up a lot to
get him. He wasn't bad. He was a plus defender
and needs to be a better offensive player. But as
you said, you've kind of stuck to this this week
and since the next lost. Is he one of the
pieces you move or do you pay him because you
said you don't. You don't think you need to do
any big changes.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
I like a nick, I like Bridges a lot. The
problem is I'm doing some map quickly in my head.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, that's like twenty six million dollars a year for
your fourth best player og Towns and Brunson. I don't
think that's a sustainable model. Could you offlow to sign
and trade with Bridges to a team where he's going
to be their third best player and you get say
two guys in return, so you've got a deeper bench,
which is what they need.
Speaker 8 (17:08):
One hundred and fifty six million dollars over four years.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, so that's like smart. It's oh did I not
do the math?
Speaker 10 (17:14):
Good?
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I swear I was good at math back in the day. Okay, yeah,
so what is the number?
Speaker 8 (17:19):
Do the math?
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Look one fifty six by four?
Speaker 8 (17:21):
Well you said, wait, twenty five is going to be
one hundreds.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
So oh yeah, that was a god math by me.
Speaker 8 (17:28):
Okay, holy yeah, thirty nine thirty nine a year.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Yeah, well that's embarrassing. We delete that. Oh no, we're live. Damn,
that's my bad. Anyways, that's way too much money for.
Speaker 8 (17:38):
A lot of money. Also, if somebody shoot shooting thirty
three percent from three in the biggest game.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Yea, No, I like again, I like bridges, but I
don't think you can pay your fourth I mean that's
some reasons. The third best guy making like fifteen million
a year, that's a great deal. Your fourth best guy
at thirty something.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Million a year?
Speaker 8 (17:54):
Will he be? Will he be on the next next year?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I was thinking, heart in the bench. Yeah, you can't
give up five first round picks and bail.
Speaker 8 (18:05):
So I would yet like or you could, like, you know,
just admit your losses. Like, okay, maybe you're at the.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Poker table, you're down, yead it? Just here's my car,
here's my watch.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
Put what are you gonna do?
Speaker 4 (18:18):
My phone will not stop buzzing because I can't do math.
I can already I sense the text. Maybe it's a
ghost texting me.
Speaker 6 (18:24):
Oh j Mac.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
All right, let's stay in New York.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
Your Jets have had a revolving door at offensive coordinator
in the last twenty years, and you're breaking in a
new one with Tanner extra and new quarterback. Justin Fields
though is very high. I'm a new coach.
Speaker 11 (18:41):
Just talking to him, you can just tell he's really smart.
He knows what he's doing, so you know, I think
he's very detailed with you know, installing the plays and
stuff like that, especially in the limited time that we
have now. So, like I said, he's putting a lot
on you know, the guy's play our plate. But I
think in the long run it'll help us.
Speaker 8 (19:00):
Ten different offensive coordinators in the last twenty years, the
last time they made a play the playoffs were in
twenty ten. So what are your expectations for the Jets
offense this year? The new new offensive coordinator? They're ten
twenty years.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
They look at that list, Look at that list on
the screen. I know it's I think any of those
guys going on to anything. And no, that's not looking for.
Speaker 8 (19:24):
The plafsch that's more than two seasons.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
I mean, Brian Schottenheimer's currently the Cowboys coach. But after that,
Tony's Berno, Marty Morning wig Chan Gaily, I mean this
is John Morton, Jeremy Bates.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Anyways, Jets have a new quarterback OC coach? Yes, GM, Yes,
how's that for continuity?
Speaker 8 (19:50):
We think it's going to be get I mean, look
what the commanders did. They had all that last year they.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Did, they had Jayden Daniels. We have Justin Fields on
his one two thirty.
Speaker 8 (19:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah, I'm not feeling great, Alice damn.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Yeah, but thanks for wedging and negative Jets news at
the end of the show to really make me feel what.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
You what's he wearing? Does Fields have a GoPro in
the front of his camera there?
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
That looks cool?
Speaker 7 (20:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Anyways, all right, Alex with the news.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The
Heard Line News.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
All right, coming up next, we just got a hold
of some awesome video of Travis Hunter today defensively at
JAG's practice, and we'll have a former NFL defensive back
in studio to help us break it all down.
Speaker 7 (20:34):
That's next.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 12 (20:41):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 12 (20:55):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
So check us out.
Speaker 10 (21:14):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up.
Speaker 12 (21:18):
As they say, I'd say, the most interactive show on
Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth.
Be sure to check out Cavino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covin on
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on social.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Media that's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Back here on the Herd, we have a great guest
at the moment, but a holy cow huge NBA news.
A couple days after the Knicks had their best season
this century, they just fired their head coach Tom Thibodeau.
He has been relieved of his duties. According to a report,
Team president Leon sitting on this grenade clearly for owner
(22:03):
James Dolan, who got intoxicated, This is my guess, obviously
intoxicated by their best season in decades, celebrity row filled
up great TV ratings, Nicks are a huge story around
the league. They're back, baby, let's fire the coach. I mean,
that's just the height of insanity.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Listen. I know I was.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
This was like a month ago when things were sputtering
before the Celtics.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I was like, hey, listen, maybe we gotta go get
Michael Malone.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Tims isn't working. And then Timms found his groove. How
Tom got his groove back? You know, takes down Detroit,
takes down the defending champion Celtics, and then I know
they lost to the Pacers and they were favored, but
still really firing Thibodeau. So I'm gonna be honest, guys,
this puts a lot of stuff at Jeopardy because Thibodeau
(22:51):
was just defended by Jalen Brunson. In the exit interview,
He's like, is that a real question?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Fiing Thibodeau? So that's Brunson's guy.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
What is this that's hold for Karl Anthony Towns uh
Mihale Bridges we just talked with Alex Is he going
to get an extension? Oh my gosh, let's let's play
the Brunson sound real quick. When asked about Tibodau's future
with the Knicks.
Speaker 13 (23:13):
That's like, nobody takes more criticism than Tom and this
team obviously has turned around during his tenure, So you
kind of feel that going forward, he's the same guy
to fifty guys, the rest of the life at next level?
Speaker 10 (23:27):
Is that a real question right now?
Speaker 7 (23:29):
I mean, epicenter, he just asked me.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
I believe that if he's the right guy.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Yes, thanks, Guys's fobny.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
I mean, we have multiple guests on the show since then,
one like thirty minutes ago, Christian uh from the New
York Daily News.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
It's like, you know what, they just had an amazing season.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
They keep accelerating around here, conference finals, and you fire
the coach.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
I don't know, guys.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
I mean again, it just happened literally three minutes ago.
So I'm a little shook embarrassed that yesterday I said, hey,
let's do nothing, kind of a WHI there by J Mack.
But holy hell, the New York next fire their coach,
and you know, I guess Michael Malone's gonna be on deck.
Maybe they go out of pocket. You know, I'm just
gonna put this out there. Lebron got did a podcast
(24:20):
with JJ Reddick, and next thing you know, JJ Reddick
is the head coach of the Lakers. So you know
who Lebron's doing a podcast with now.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Right, Steve Nash.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
And I know Nash sometimes lives in my area, but
his family really likes it in New York because he
was the Brooklyn Nets coach and Steve Nash was run
out by Kyrie Irving, who was an absolute jerk to him.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Steve Nash next coach of the Knicks, I don't know,
we'll see. Oh my gosh, that would take you out
of the running for Kevin Durant. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
I mean, this is exciting. Hey, Coward's on vacation. We'll
do a lot of Knicks for the rest of the week.
Tom Thibodeau out as the next coach. All right, let's
bring in our guest. He played in the NFL, his
dad played in the NFL, his brother played in the NFL.
Brock Veren studio and football analyst for Big Ted Network. Brock,
(25:10):
you're an NBA fan obviously, any thoughts on Dimitdell getting fired.
Speaker 10 (25:15):
I'm shocked, and quite honestly, I'm shocked that Kat has
gotten any of the blame.
Speaker 5 (25:19):
I expect him to get more of the blame.
Speaker 10 (25:22):
But at the same time, when your two best players
can't be on the court at the same time, what
do you expect to happen? Right, Something needed to change,
and I think the head coach would be the change.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 10 (25:34):
But when your two best guys making all that money,
doing everything, the faces of your franchise, when you're at
your best, and one of them is on the bench,
it's an issue.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
Now, why I'll always defend.
Speaker 10 (25:43):
Cat is because if you get a different version of
the guy that you signed, that's one thing. But this
is the same Cat We've seen his entire career. It's
not his fault that he's played the same his entire career.
So if you thought you were going to get more
out of him, that's one thing. But for every complaint
that has come against Cat in the past couple of weeks,
(26:03):
they were the same complaints in Minnesota.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
Kat's Kat. I don't like any of the blame going.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
To Yeah, this is it's gonna be a big story
the rest of the week. But hey, you're here to
talk NFL. Let me ask you, Brock. So you're a
draft pick of the Bears, I'm assuming you feel a
connection to them. This Caleb Williams stuff, you know, up
and down. First year, they get Ben Johnson. Then the
report comes out that, hey, Caleb Williams didn't want to
go to Chicago.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
What do you make of all this?
Speaker 10 (26:26):
Well, first things first, everything that Caleb was afraid of
and nervous of happen he was right.
Speaker 7 (26:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (26:33):
So whether you agree with him saying that information or
his dad saying that information, fair, but he was right
about everything. Now Ben Johnson coming in, what does that change?
He can learn to play on time. The biggest issue
with Caleb Williams, even with the Heisman year, in the
year after was he was he was at his best
off script.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
That's not good.
Speaker 10 (26:54):
Yeah, and college is fine because an athletic quarterback in
college can outrun a defensive end, can out run a
defensive tackle, can out run most linebackers. You're not out
running Andrew van Ginkle, You're not out running Aden Hutchinson.
So what can Ben Johnson do? He can get him
to play on time. The talent is there, there's no
question of the talent. It's between the ears. It's making
sure that internal clock remains calm, it doesn't panic. It's saying, Caleb,
(27:18):
I understand, up to this point, you've been at your
best outside of the pocket. We need to rein that
in and let me scheme things up for you. I
will tell you where the ball needs to go and
then naturally that athleticism can come out. But that's the
biggest issue with Caleb right now.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
So we had Albert brier on earlier and I asked him, Hey,
rank the quarterbacks in that tough division, NFC North.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
You got a guy JJ McCarthy has yet to play
an NFL game.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
We haven't seen him throw a football pass and for
real since January of twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
But go ahead, rank the quarterbacks in that division. I
don't know that if there's a lock number one, but
let's hear what you got.
Speaker 7 (27:54):
JJ.
Speaker 10 (27:55):
Of course has to be four. I'll put Caleb at three.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Number one. Put in Jordan Love. Whatch you mean, Jared Goff?
Is that too?
Speaker 10 (28:04):
I'm a big Jordan Love guy. I'm a massive Jordan
Love guy. I don't see last year as a step back.
I just see it as he didn't take the leap. Right, Okay,
you have one year of real starting experience. What happens next.
The second year for any quarterback is always where that
big jump comes. So it was delayed for Jordan Love
because he sat for a little bit. No, he didn't
make that massive leap. I'm a massive Jordan Love guy.
(28:25):
I would take his crop of wide receivers over any
anyone else's, even Minnesota, even with the changes that Chicago
has made. I understand what's going on in Detroit. But
the fact that Green Bay does not have a true
number one, I feel is their benefit. And that's why
Jordan Love is so great. He can trust anyone On
(28:45):
third and five, where's the quarterback going to throw the football? Right?
As a dB, that's the first thing you're thinking. Who
is favored here? No one's favored, and that's gonna benefit
Jordan Love. Everyone is always open because no one is favored.
Massive Jordy Love season in coming.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Jordan Love over Jared Goff. That qualifies as the hot take.
Well done now not by a wide margin, but a
firm margin. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, obviously you were
a defensive back and this play just happened today at
practice Jacksonville Jaguars and their top pick, Travis Hunter making
a pretty phenomenal play.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Let's get it on the screen, Travis Hunter. And we
think he caught this, Oh we caught that for sure?
We don't know.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
Hey, listen, we don't know what a catch is in
the NFL. Stir but amazing tip. And this is why
we're talking about him as a two way player. Athleticism,
I mean, he is, he's a phenomenal talent.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
Do you think he should be playing two ways?
Speaker 4 (29:38):
I mean when you were drafted, you know there's a
steep learning curve for defensive back.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
And he's only in half the meetings.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
The other time he's in the offensive meetings where they
really want him to shine. And frankly, you get paid
higher or a larger contract, second contract if you're a receiver.
Speaker 10 (29:54):
They're doing it perfectly. Offense is a steeper learning curve
than defense. Why because his defense, there's only so many concepts, right,
Travis knows what cover two is, Travis knows what cover
three is, Travis knows what man is. As a wide receiver,
you have to know what the other wide receivers are thinking,
you have to make sure you guys are seeing the
coverage the same way that your quarterback is. There are
(30:15):
so many adjustments and calls that immediately affect what you're doing.
So yes, they start him on offense, and don't let
it get past you that he was the best receiver
in this draft. If he did not play cornerback, he
would be the number one receiver taken. So you look
at the quarterback position, he's more natural at it.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
He is a natural corner. He is a natural ballhawk.
Speaker 10 (30:35):
His skill set offensively leaks to the defensive side. His
skill set defensively leaks to the offensive side. But because
of that steeper learning curve offensively, they're handling it perfect.
As they start the season, he'll probably start on offense.
They can get a little creative on offense, put him
in the backfield, put him at the slot, put him
at the wide out, and in order to do all
of those things, he needs to start there immediately, whereas
(30:56):
defensively coming on third down and then maybe week six,
week seven, we'll see if we can put more on
your shoulders.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
My big question with the two way for Travis Hunter
is like, hey, man, go tackle Derrick Henry and you
come off the field and now go run routes on
a drive like that.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
He's gonna be nearly impossible, isn't.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
But he's done his whole life right.
Speaker 10 (31:14):
If this was the situation where say Dion wanted to
get creative and his last season at Colorad, hey Travis, way,
don't you play both ways?
Speaker 5 (31:24):
That's one thing.
Speaker 10 (31:25):
He's always done this, so there's really no comparison. I know,
we we compare it to Champ a little bit. We
call him Otani here and there, but he's been doing
this his entire life at a high level, at the
highest of levels on both sides of the football. There
really is no comparison for Travis. He's gonna be fine,
He's gonna excel.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Do you think this if you were advising him, would
you say, hey, man, you should play both ways? Or
why don't you just get down the wide receiver first?
Then maybe year two you can add that on your plate.
Or do you think, hey, go for it.
Speaker 10 (31:54):
If they didn't need help in the defensive backfield, that'd
be one thing. But the team he is on needs
help on both sides of the football.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
So you bring up the money standpoint.
Speaker 10 (32:03):
Yes, wide receivers at the top end get paid a
lot more than DBS. Well, I'm thinking if he can
even contribute minimally on defense, which I don't think will
be the case. I think will be a starter on
both by the end of the year. But imagine what
that contract negotiating is gonna look like. Hey, what's the
number one cornerback getting paid. What's the number one wide
receiver gonna get paid? Let's combine those numbers and see
what it does to my bank account.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
That would be amazing. All we got about thirty seconds left.
I got to ask you.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Your brother Shane played for Belichick. You know again, we
only got thirty seconds. But what do you make of
this whole Belichick North Carolina. I didn't ask about her,
I didn't ask about the twenty.
Speaker 10 (32:38):
Yeah, I would love to see if Bill Belichick coach
college ten years ago when it was a marathon, when
you could bring in a one star, two star develop them.
That's where Belichick shined, right, finding late round Tom Brady
making him one of the best, helping him make one
of the best, finding Julian Edelman a seventh round quarterback,
letting him play offense defense, then develop him.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
College football is.
Speaker 10 (32:59):
A sprint now. I don't know how it'll go, but
he's at the perfect place. North Carolina says, just have
a winning record, beat the rivals and we're happy and
he can.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
Do that great stuff. Brock Green, we are back tomorrow.
Probably gonna talk a little Nicks.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (33:11):
Maybe
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.