July 8, 2026 • 39 mins
With Colin Cowherd out, Jason McIntyre steps in ready to talk all things World Cup. JMac begins by discussing Argentina & Lionel Messi’s historic comeback to advance to the quarterfinals and how Messi continues to add his lore as the greatest player ever at 39 years old.
Jason also discusses the Lakers and their pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga and why that's actually smart for Los Angeles.
Plus, former USMNT player Dax McCarty joins the show to give his thoughts on Messi’s greatness and the state of US soccer.
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Episode Transcript
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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 noone Pacific. Find
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dot com, or stream us live every day on the
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for listening to The Herd podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello and welcome to the Herd.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's me Jason McIntyre in for a sick Colin Cowherd.
He had his flu game yesterday, folks, and take it
today off. You'll be back Moniana when the soccer resumes.
It's a glorious Wednesday out here in Los Angeles. I'm
joined by Rachel Nichols. We are both enjoying the World Cup.
(00:47):
We are enjoying the NBA.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Rachel. How's your summer going so far?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
It's going well, Jas. I mean, you know, I'm trying
to get over Monday night. I feel like I'm finally
ready to move on. Pick a new team. Are you
gonna advise me?
Speaker 5 (00:59):
I'm welly yay, that's what you have to do, right,
You have to be like this is like March madness,
all right?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
My number one pick you know. Obviously tem Usa.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
Never one in my heart, didn't advance, and so now
I need a new team. Are you gonna give me
some options over the course of the show.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
At the top of next hour, I'll break down the
bracket and my team is winning it all. Obviously. Listen,
we got a loaded show. There's a big rumor right
now hot that the Lakers rachel are chasing a former
Golden State Warrior. I think we're gonna have a big show.
But let's get started with Leo Nell Messi. Folks, I'm
sure you guys like I did yesterday, watched in amazement,
(01:36):
jaw on the floor watching the greatest to ever do
it display all the grit that the.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
USA didn't show.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
On Monday, Messi carries Argentina on his back from down
to nil.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
They rally to stun Egypt three to two.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
They're calling this the greatest comeback in World Cup history
because no team had ever rallied from down to this
late in the game to win in regular and Messi
did that with an assist and then a goal. And listen,
I'm consuming all of the content of course Instagram, there's
all these edits of Messi. You know, Messi gets sad
his PK is denied. Then he narrowly misses a free
(02:14):
k free kick, and then Messi just puts the team
on his back, goes as they like to say, god mode,
you know, and Argentina wins it.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And then he's crying on the pitch after the game.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Folks, I've watched this replay a billion times, and here's
Dereck ray on the call to get fired up. Messi's
goal to tie it.
Speaker 6 (02:34):
Leonel Messi deflection there on the way through, unturn the line.
Something up here. Argentina fucks good check sleel mersay the
savior for Argentsita I come back when they needed it.
Engineers bad, the man regarded by so many, that's the
(02:56):
tritus of the ball. From the tips of despair Argentina celebrights.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I mean, honestly, I'm obsessed with the World Cup. You
guys know, soccer was my top sport growing up. I
was a pretty good player. My family had some pretty
good players back back in the day. I'll just say that.
And the World Cup is something like we never see
that's what every four years.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
And Messi's kind of leading Argentina on this old man renaissance.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I'm sure you guys have seen this in sports.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Messi's thirty nine years old, okay, and he's carrying Argentina.
He's one of the best players on the pitch at
the World Cup at thirty nine. I was told for
the longest time growing up, yep, sports are a young
man's game. Yet here's Tom Brady at forty four winning
a Super Bowl. Here's Matt Stafford at thirty eight winning
the MVP last year. Here's Lebron at forty one shattering
(03:48):
every NBA record that matters because he's still playing at
such a high level. Folks, we've never seen this stuff before.
I remember in two thousand and twenty two, it was December,
Messi thirty and Argentina plays that epic World Cup final
against France, and folks, Messi had two goals in that game.
They win in penalty kicks and at the end they
(04:10):
carry Messi off the field.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They're throwing him in the air.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
He's got the World Cup trophy and we're saying this
is this is John Elwait times ten. Remember Elway wins
the Super Bowl and walks off into the sunset. He's done,
and everybody thought Messi was it's over. You go out
like that with a World Cup at thirty five, the
last award he needed to sinch himself as the goat.
And here he is four years later at thirty nine,
(04:34):
doing other worldly things. I'm personally as a guy who's
aging hopefully gracefully. I love this old man renaissance. I mean,
Messi is bending free kicks. He's still just such a
sharp player at this age.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
He is starting this new.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Thing that he's been doing for a while now where
he just walks a lot to conserve energy, walks and
walks and then in a moment, boom, he pops.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Here's Brad Friedel talking.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
About Messi and this god mode that he could go
into and take over games.
Speaker 7 (05:04):
This guy, Lionel Messi, we talk about him all the time.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I mean, being down two nill against.
Speaker 7 (05:10):
Seventy eight minute he blew by a guy at his age.
I mean he get isked stat sports. Once I was
around them and they were at Barcelona. I said, what's
he got? I know he's great and the skill and
all that, what's he got? And they said, he gets
up to full pace and about a step and a
half to two steps. I mean, it's just it's remarkable
this guy, and he's a leader, and he's humble, and
(05:30):
he's a driven winner.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
It's really incredible what he's doing.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
I'm sure you guys have heard of the joke because
forever there was this Cristiano Ronaldo versus Messi thing, who's
better And there's a lot of Ronaldo fans, a handsome guy,
chisel dads like the ladies love him. And the joke was,
Christiano Ronaldo is the best soccer player ever. That's because
Leonel Messi is not human. He's not from this earth.
I mean what we're seeing from this guy. Look at
(05:56):
the stats on the.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Screen, folks.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Number one in goals at the World cupffected goals, goal
and goal involvements, shots, shots on target. We've never seen
anything like this. And a lot of people think Argentina's
gonna win it. You know, I built this gambling model.
They think Argentina has value currently. I don't know that
they're going to push through. But at the top of
next hour, I will break down the brackets and give
(06:18):
you my winner. Let's go from leon Al Messi, the
greatest to ever do it, and Argentina, the defending champs,
to Team USA, which fell flat on its face Monday,
losing to Belgium.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
For one, it's not embarrassing or.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Bad that we lost to Belgium, guys, that's not the problem.
The problem is how we lost. It was a gutless effort.
I mean, we saw no grit, no heart. You know,
you get punched in the mouth, you fall behind early
and you don't rally at all.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It was embarrassing. It really hurts. And frankly, we looked
so good our starters did in the three games. We
give up one goal to Paraguay, Australia Bosnia like Paraguay's
nothing to Scotfat they showed well after we kicked their
butts right, knocked out Germany.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
We're kind of nipping talk with France.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Even though you know, France had that game and control
one nothing and that's not bad. And where was our grit?
Why didn't we see any of that? That's what really hurts.
And you've got all these columnists and these talking heads
parachuting into soccer right and they're doing their think pieces
and their crisis management.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Oh my gosh, we're never going to be on.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
The on the level of the greats and it's the
same nonsense every four years. Well, if we could only
get the best players in America to play soccer, the
best athletes, imagine if the NBA, and it's the same dumb,
lazy nonsense. I'm really sick of it. As a soccer
guy myself, I think it's just lazy.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
And here's the reality.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
We watched a Mexico team, right, Mexico's been down bad.
We've been better than Mexico for it for a close
to a decade. Now, okay, we watched Mexico fall behind
two nothing to England Jude Belling and goals like, oh wow,
it is over. Mexican fought like hell. They refuse to die.
They came back. That was a game until the end.
They lose three to two. Nobody in Mexico's disappointed that
(08:11):
they lost. How they lost. Obviously, you want to win
the game. But they fought like hell. They were excellent.
You know there was grit there. We just watched Argentina
yesterday down to nothing seventy eight minute. Oh my gosh,
it's over. Heart of a friggin champion. Messi put the
team on his back. Erling Holland, Norway against Brazil zero zero.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Oh well, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Brazil's got so much talent. Holland just says, I'll take this. Thanks,
bang bang, two goals.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
It's over.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
And that's really the thing I didn't see from the
Americans that pissed me off on Monday. You know, you
fall behind one nothing, our whole team teams rattled at
the back. We didn't meet the moment, as they say
in sports. You know, there was a bit of a
distraction if you maybe heard about it in the forty
eight hours leading up. I don't know if that was
a factor, but I mean Reim was victimized on four
(09:01):
straight goals.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
You know, Listen, I don't want to say I was
right on ring, but I told you guys for months
leading up on.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
This show at Tim reeen, that's a concern of mine.
Then he shows well against Paraguay. I said, hey, Tim,
Tim showed up. You know he's solid against Bosnia. Well,
you know, you step up in class against Belgium and
you get worked. So here is Landon Donovan going after
our star. I've been reluctant to go after Polisic. Yet
here's Landon Donovan. And listen, this is critical and this
(09:28):
is the treatment we give American stars, and you know
soccer's arrived in this country. When Landon Donovan is dropping
bombs like this on Polisic.
Speaker 8 (09:36):
He is who he is at this point, right, and
we want him to be more because we see the
time I've been on here talking about seeing him in
person against Bosnia, the way he moves in the way shore.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
But that was an easy game.
Speaker 8 (09:50):
He came out of a World Cup knockout game at
home with his leg still intact. Because I'm saying this
to you, Tim, you know it, because you played with me.
You would have had to drag me off the field
and I would have punched the doctor in the face
and said, you're not taking off the field. Put whatever
you need to put in me, and I'm just staying
(10:11):
on the field.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
He's not wrong, guys, He's not. And listen, I'm not
here to bash Polisic. But the reality is when you're
in every commercial during the World Cup alongside Messi and
all the greats.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
You got to deliver and show up. And I think Stu.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Holden had the stat my guy, Stu Holden first five touches,
Pulisic had three turnovers.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
He did not have it and again to go back
to England.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Yeah, Jude Bellingham said, I got this boys two goals.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
He was extraordinary.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Tracking back on defense, he cries after the match, like,
I get okay, Jason, you're being too harsh. Pulisic is
not Jude Bellingham, guys.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
And that comes to this talent question. So Sportico, which
is a really good.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Respected business sports business outlet, they came out with this saying, hey,
the US doesn't have elite talent.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Hang and I see this headline, I'm like, that's crap.
First of all, you know.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
There's what sixteen teams listed here. We're right there in
the top sixtyed in the world. That's obvious, okay. And
I won't point out that Brazil and Portugal are near
the top of that list, and they haven't done Jack
squat in the World Cup in the last like five cycles,
so I don't want to four cycle, so I don't
want to hear it. Okay, we have the talent. And
again to just look at the list of leagues around
the world. You know the US had from the Belgium
(11:26):
match three starters in the EPL. We got two guys
in the top league in Italy, top league in Germany Netherlands.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
We got dudes. Now. It doesn't help that of.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
The three MLS players, one of them was Freeze, who
had probably the most embarrassing goal giving up in this
World Cup. I don't know what the hell he was doing,
Harvard guy. Not a smart move there, buddy. And then
Tim Reim, who I'm not going to pile on. He's
thirty eight years old. But those are two MLS guys
and they got exposed against Belgium. But to say we
don't have talent, Belgium has five.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Starters in the EPL.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Where they've got us is depth they're coming off the
bench with.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
They didn't even play Kevin de Bruyna.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
If you know anything about soccer, that guy over the
last fifteen years has been one of the greatest players
in the world. They didn't even use him against US.
So like they've got the depth, we just don't have
that yet. But Landon Dono wom Will backed me up here,
Stu Holden will. We have more talent on the US
team now than we've ever had. We've got players all
around the globe in top leagues. The talent is there.
(12:26):
Sometimes you've been the players. Sometimes you blame the coach.
I'm blaming it on grit and heart again. I watched
that match. The first minute there was a ball that
kind of was spinning out and desk was screening their
offensive player, screening to.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Let it go out. The ball goes out.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
And it's Belgium's ball in the first minute, and that
was when you could tell, is our head in the game?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
What the hell is that?
Speaker 3 (12:47):
How is nobody communicating, Hey, that's our ball?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Play it upfield.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
From that moment, it was like, oh, geez, Freeze had
to make a great save and we just spiraled. We
got punched in the mouth and there was no response.
The first time we trailed in the World Cup was
against Belgium, and we responded so poorly that you kind
of got to blame the players. I think the talent
is there. The issue was we just didn't show up
in the moment that counts. But the good news is
(13:12):
there's Copa America, there's Gold Cup. We will be back,
I think with a vengeance. In twenty thirty. All right,
we got a monster show ahead. Go to a little
Lakers talking and people are way down on the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Two teams better than in the West. I can't find
a third.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
There's some Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum murky stuff. Somebody in
the morning meeting said, is this the new Westbrook Durant.
I was like, oh, fire takes, so he got a
great show coming up here on the Hurt.
Speaker 9 (13:41):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern not am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same tired narratives.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Down your throat every day.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook, and all the best guests. Do yourself a
favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, I need
to talk about the Lakers for a minute. Yes, it's
been a summer of soccer.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
We haven't done a lot of Laker talk, but there
was a report today that the Lakers are heavily pursuing
free agent Jonathan Kaminga. And I know there's some eye
rolling in the audience right now. I'm aware of that, guys.
I want to remind you guys, Jonathan Kaminga is a
free agent.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Though Warriors gave up on him, he goes to the Hawks.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
He had a pretty damn good run. Look at how
explosive and bouncy he is.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Just look at Jonathan kuminga sword to dunk over Mitchell Robinson.
This guy's exactly what you'd want in a three and
D wing. Now he's still young guy.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
I think he has these Jalen Brown itis where he
thinks he wants to go somewhere and be the.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Man and that's not happening.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But apparently according to this report, and we'll have a
Laker guest on here shortly to talk about it. But
JJ Reddick got on the phone trying to talk to Kamena. Hey,
it sounds like they're selling him on a starting role
right now, the small forward spot.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Is kind of sort of open.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Sorry, it ain't gonna be Jake Larevia, I'm extremely bullish
on the Lakers. Now here's the thing. They're getting beat
up because they overpaid for Walker Kessler. Was it an
overpaid yes, period that being said, did you look at
the center market, guys? I know Colin's hot for Nick Claxton,
but let's settle down on Nick Claxton. Okay, Walker Kessler
(15:47):
played five games last year, so that's not great.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
He was hurt.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
He's had a bit of an injury bug. We need
to give him healthy. Yes, there is injury concerns with
the Lakers. Can Austin Reeves stay healthy? Can Lucas stay healthy?
Blah blah blah, Yes, that's all true.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
I don't know what you want to do. It's weird.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Luca's played more games than Jiannis in the last four years,
yet Luca is the one always unhealthy.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Where's the honest criticism in Miami? Is he gonna be healthy?
I don't hear that.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
It's because it's a selective outrage against the Lakers. Anyway,
here's the truth on Walker Kessler. What the Lakers did get.
He's gonna be about the eight or ninth highest paid
center in the league.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I'm not mad at that.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Was it an overpay for somebody who hasn't proven anything yet? Certainly,
but you had to do it because you have proof
of concept with what works for Luca. A big guy
on the interior, blocking shots, getting dunks and easy putbacks
on the inside. Whether it's gafferd or Lively, you get
that in Walker Kessler. You have to give up a lot,
(16:41):
but you know what, he was the guy you needed.
There was really no other options out there at center.
And I will remind people what was Daniel Gafford before
Luca made him in Dallas? Made him like an attractive
piece and he's getting paid, Teams are interested. Daniel Gafford
like has a market all the time because of Luca.
And I'll remind you at the same time, what was PJ.
(17:02):
Washington before Luca made him in Dallas? Lucas said, Hey,
play defense, be my three and D guy, and then
go in the corner and I'll get you threes.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And PJ.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Washington was like the third best player on our team
and went to the finals.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
So all this like overreaction. Oh Lakers, Oh my gosh.
They lost Lebron, they lost Ruey. I didn't love losing Ruie.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
They lost Luke Canard, they lost Marcus Smart, they lost Ayton. Guys,
I'm just telling you, the Lakers are winning fifty or
more games, and the only two teams better than them
for sure right now in the West are the Thunder
and the Spurs.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I know the starting lineup change is a little shifty,
and obviously not having Luca in the playoffs hurt you, guys.
Remember he's a great player. He's one of the five
best players in the league, undeniably. Obviously Austin Reeves a
great creator.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Quentin Grimes, We'll see. I like him.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I think Comenga starts over him. Sandro is he the
next RUI? I don't know, man, I gotta played ignorance
on the on the big guy Sandro who who barely
could get.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
On the court in Toronto. We'll see. But I just
need you guys.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
To remember Luka Doncic elevates everyone to the level that
Lebron did in his day. Luca is a few years removed,
goring to the finals with PJ. Washington, Derek Jones, Tim Hardaway,
you know, Kyrie.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Irving, like Luca can carry a team.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
And I'm looking around the West and I'm like, Minnesota,
are they better LaMelo ball? LaMelo ball versus Anthony Edwards
in the back court. It's gonna be fun. Sure, there'll
be a lot of dunks and exciting alley oops, there's
gonna be a lot of wins in the playoffs. I mean,
I love Chris Finch, but is that guy pulling his
hair out knowing that he's got he's got to work
with LaMelo ball and losing not or nos reed, they
(18:45):
got no depth on that team at all.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I don't know. I don't think Minnesota's betting the Lakers
right now.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
And then you're like, oh, well, Denver all right, I mean, listen,
Tim Hardaway was like their fourth or fifth leading scorer
in the playoffs. Jamal Murray, it sounds like he's on
his being salary dumped after next year.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You think he's feeling great about himself.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
And now they're going to overpay for Peyton Watson, who,
by the way, always injured, just like all the Lakers.
So is Denver better? They have, they have yo kids,
but are they better? And you look around like the
Warriors are not better. I don't even care if Lebron
goes there. They're not better pay per clips, they're rebuilding.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So what are we looking at? Phoenix? They're not better.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
They might beat the Lakers in the regular season, those tryhards,
but are they better than the Lakers. No, So you
look at it, it's Spurs, Thunder and Lakers. And now
you're talking like, Okay, we win fifty four games, we
host a playoff series, and then maybe you catch a
break and you know, an SGA breaks down in the
playoffs or something happens to Wemby, who, by the way,
has had injuries.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And a blood clot. I'm not rolling the lakers out
of anything yet.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Okay, maybe I'm being a little optimistic, but they get
Kaminga's game on.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Boys, Let's go to Rachel Nichols with the news.
Speaker 6 (19:54):
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Turn on the news. This is the herd Line News.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
To compete for Jonathan Kaminga. Apparently Cleveland's interested in him.
The Sacramento Kings are interested in going there.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
He likes Kenny Atkinson. I don't know.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
We'll see, We'll see what happens. Klaker's got a sweet
in the offer.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Jeez, Lravia, you could have take Laavia. I'll drive him
to the airport.
Speaker 8 (20:19):
Ja.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
Let's talk a little bit about the pairing Jason that
has just broken up, like Kobe and Shaq, like Tom
Brady and Bill Belichick, there is no more Jason Tatum
and Jalen Brown. And just like with those ex couples,
everyone's still talking about this.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
This story is not dying.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
There's a new report that Jason Tatum's camp has been
expressing to others around the league that they weren't happy
with Jaln Brown's demeanor over the past year, especially his
repeated assertion that this was his favorite season. Now, if
that's true, Jason Tatum didn't say so.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
When he was asked about it yesterday.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
He was actually at a book signing and he said
that when he heard the news, it was quote tough,
and that he said that this was still a successful
pairing even though it ended abruptly. What do you think
about this idea? Is this just we're all trying to
uncover rocks because the trade was so shocking in the
way it went down, or do you think.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
They're truth to this?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Yes? I don't know, Rachel.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
This is weird, So in the absence of actual information,
I think people just run wild with whatever conspiracy they got.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Oh, suddenly Brown or Tatum hate each other. Maybe did
Jason Tatum run off Jalen Brown because he was jealous
of him and people are sending me. Not that Instagram's
are sourced, but these old videos of like Tatum and
Smart kind of like, I don't know about this Jalen Brown, guy,
was it advanced stats? Well?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Did something happen?
Speaker 3 (21:47):
And you know there's all these conspiracy theories about well,
Jalen Brown's very vocal about worldly issues and Celtics.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Front off and they didn't love that. I mean, we
don't know. Is it the salary thing? It could be
all of them.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Rachel called me crazy, but I think both teams are
going to be okay, both players. But if you had
to ask me, who's got a better shot of getting
to the finals in the East Sex year out of
these two, not the Nicks, I would say Celtics. I
think the Celtics are going to be just fine with
their system and their stats, and I think they've got
a better system than Philly.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
Jason, I want to affirm for you Instagram is not
a source.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
So let's just know that going forward.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Look, I don't can't imagine that Jason Tatum was happy
with hearing over and over again from Jalen Brown. He
didn't say it just the once, he said it multiple times,
this was my favorite season.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I don't know that.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
I haven't talked to Jason about it, but there's been
hints if you were looking for them. Drew Hanlon, Jason's
very long time friend and trainer, had some critical tweets.
There's just some tweets that I'm sorry. They weren't outwardly critical.
They were underlying critical. Basically talking about how Jason Tatum's
usage had to go up and guess who that would have.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
To come from. Jalen Brown.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
You hear over and over this my favorite season. This
is my favorite season.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
When I'm not playing with you.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
This is my favorite season over when we won the
championship together. Because his usage is higher, because he gets
to do whatever he wants.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
And it's not just hearing that.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
If you're Jason Tatum from a basketball standpoint.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
That must be hard.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
If you are rehabbing from one of the worst injuries
in sports, that is one of the most brutal rehabs.
You are lonely, You're away from the team a lot,
you have to do so much work. Think about what
Jason Tatum had to do just to get back as
early as he got back. That required so much from him,
so you are sweating and bleeding for this, and you
(23:39):
hear from this other guy. I am so happy with
the way things are working out right now. Again, Jason
Tatum will never tell us what you heard from him
from that book signing yesterday is all you're ever going
to get from him. He is a more introverted guy.
He's never going to cause trouble, but it would rub
me the wrong way.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
I don't know about you.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Yeah, Well, they're also different people, right.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
I know Brown's twenty nine. I think Tatum's twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
But like Tatum has two young kids, you know, and
that changes things.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Jayalen Brown had children.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Well, no, no, no, hold on, So Jalen Brown does
not the best of my knowledge, he doesn't have kids.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
He hangs out with a lot of it.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
He's like a young guy still like trying to date,
you know, influential influencers or whatever, and he's like a crew.
Tatum's more of like a I'm staying at home kind
of guy. Right, So you got two different people and
they're kind of maybe growing apart. Does that happen sometimes?
Speaker 5 (24:26):
I mean sure, they've always been very different personalities. I
think when we look at why did Boston make this
trade with Philly. Why trade to an arrival that's right
there next to you that you're definitely going to see
many times a year and probably in the playoffs. Why
take the deal that you took and take on Paul
George's contract.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
They made a statement.
Speaker 5 (24:45):
The owner and the general manager got up in front
of the entire Boston media the other day and said,
this was not financial.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Well, if it's not financial.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Which I kind of agree it wasn't when you look
at Paul George's contract.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
If it's not financial, it must.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
Be because they decided that this coming fall was going
to ignite the kind of dumpster fire that would be
bad for their team.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
The usage rate, it is.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
A boring thing to talk about in the summer, but
if you look at what Drew Hanlin, the trainer, tweeted.
He said, oh, you know, the Celtics win when Jason
Tatum's usage rate is thirty three percent or higher. Guess
what it wasn't when he came back after Jalen Brown
had been running things this past season, and to get
it back to that point, Guess Who's usage was going
to have to go down? Jalen Brown's and Jalen Brown
(25:31):
does not see himself as a one B or whatever
you want to call it anymore.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
He thinks he is the one A.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
And when you have that disconnect between what a guy
thinks he is and what the organization and other players
on the team might think he is, you are headed
toward trouble. And that is the best explanation to me
about why they made this trade.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah. I like the Boston system. It works.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Hey, we're driving kick, We're threes in layups. I know
not everybody loves watching that. Tatum has a better handle,
a better as sister turnover ratio, and Brown drives into
the lane and takes a lot of bad is shots.
Speaker 9 (26:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
I don't know, man, I'm not banging on Jaylen Brown,
but I.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Do think to your point about the trade to the rival,
I think Philly could is gonna implode.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I don't know when.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
I think They're gonna win a bunch of games, right,
and there's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
A honeymoon period, but eventually Brown's gonna.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Want to get his Maxi's gonna want to get his
Maxie average twenty one shots a game in the playoffs
against I think it was the Celtics in that series,
there's no way he's getting that many shots with.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Brown or not healthy and beef. It's just not happening.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
And at some point somebody's gonna pop off, and I
don't think it's gonna end well this year for Phillip Well.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
We'll talk about a little later in the show.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
But Sixers would also like to add Lebron and not
growing aggressively after him, so well, we'll talk about how
many basketballs might be necessary there.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Let's stick with the NBA.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
It turns out Jason Jalen Brunson is even more of
a superhero than we thought. According to reports, Brunson had
been playing through the postseason.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
With a left wrist injury and.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
Still manage to pick up a Finals MVP lead the
Knicks to their first NBA championship since nineteen seventy three.
Brunson underwent successful surgery yesterday and the expectation is he
will be able to return to basketball activities this summer.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
Be fine for training camp. Now, Jason, I like how.
Speaker 5 (27:16):
You just tried to save face because to the public,
you just said, Hey, who's more likely of these two teams,
the Celtics and the Sixers to.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Get further in the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (27:27):
This morning, in the morning meeting, Jason, you just said,
who do you think is going to be better in
the East to come out first in the East. You
forgot about your supposed New York Knicks.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
The Knicks are going to be fine. I do.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I think that Mitchell Robinson loss is huge for them,
and the rest of their bench has a couple question marks,
But yeah, I love the Knicks. Now, I will say
Karl Anthony Towns is the name to watch. You know this, Rachel,
We'll see what happens this owner.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Dolan all what do you think is going to happen?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
We'll see Is he going to get paid?
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Is Brun's he going to get paid? Brunson took less earlier.
Eventually they're going to have to make good on Brunson.
Can they make good on Brunson and Towns?
Speaker 5 (28:07):
I mean, look, they are already having different players on
that roster come back for less money than they could.
Who saw it with Landry Shammitt, Who saw it with
Jose Alvarado.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
So I don't know if it's sort.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Of what Jalen Brunson has injected into the team culture,
but there's definitely a belief around that locker room with
some people that hey, we're all going to take a
little less so this team can stay together. Because the
greatest death of championship teams. The reasons we don't have
dynasties in this era right now is the rules of
the CBA changed and it's very hard to keep the
championship team together. So we're seeing guys make those sacrifices.
(28:40):
We'll see what happens with Kat.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (28:42):
Are you ready to sit here and tell me you
think the next are coming out of the East next
year and are going to win the title again.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
It's July eighth time. I might go im, I might
pick the Pacers. I don't know, or your wizard's not
just kidding. But the only reason I say that is
because this summer what Kawhi changed teams, Ron will be
on a different team.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Jayleen Brown Giannis, I know what to say, Like, that's crazy,
how could that happen? It's the NBA. Wacky stuff happens
all the time.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
I'm just saying true fans always believe their team's going
to win a title. So we'll talk about this. Let's
go over to the NFL Cowboys fans very happy to
hear this. Ceedee Lamb, who, as we know, missed three
games last season that.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
High ankle sprain.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
He also exited a bunch of games early and finished
with a career low three te touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Entering this season, Ceedee Lamb is telling.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Other players this is the best he has felt in years.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Jason.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
So, if Ceedee Lamb doesn't miss three games, if he
doesn't exit those other games early with nagging different injuries,
I don't know. You look at him and George Pickens
out there.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
That is just devastating.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
How do you feel their offense is going to match
up with the rest of the NFC East and is
it going to be enough? I mean, they're the biggest
threat to Philly, I think, right. I mean, we're not
talking about my Commanders.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
But Colin likes the Giants. You like the Commanders. I
have division.
Speaker 5 (29:58):
I like the Commanders because, unlike you, I'm not a
fair weather fan. Oh so I'm going to always believe
that my team will do well. But yeah, I have to,
you know, just objectively tell you that the Cowboys and
the Eagles are certainly the favorites in that division.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Do you think Ceedee Lamb saying he's going to be
healthier this year. Do you think that pushes them up more?
Speaker 3 (30:18):
I mean, talk is cheap, you know, I mean, come on,
I don't. I don't think it really elevates them. I
think they're could be good. You know, nine wins, does
that get to the playoffs?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Something like that.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
I mean, look, they did.
Speaker 5 (30:29):
You know, all the math guys are in there and
they're saying, well, if Ceeddee Lamb played as well this
past season as he did during the quarters that he
was healthy, he would have had fifteen hundred yards as
it was. I think he had about twelve hundred yards.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
It's tough.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
So it's just you're looking at an upgrade. I mean
it's not a small thing. If he is able to
play throughout the whole season in a way he didn't
last year, we'll have to see.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
I mean he got road trips to La Seattle. That
schedule is brutal. They mean Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
Yeah, I'll let me adjust eight and nine eight and
nine for Dallas today a subject to change in a
few weeks when we host together.
Speaker 9 (31:05):
So be sure to catch live editions of the Herd
weekdays and noon Easter. Not a em Pacific. This is
Colin Soccer Spotlight. It's brought to you by Haleon, the
official partner of US Soccer and the maker of Censdine, Toms,
voltairean Advil and Centrum, the brands behind your everyday wellness
wins because every goal starts with an assist on and
(31:26):
off the field. Learn more Haleyanassist dot com slash iHeart.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
All right, let's bring in Dex McCarty, former US national
team player. Last scene crushing it on First things first
throughout the World Cup decks.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Great to have you on.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I'm just curious since you actually played at a high
level in qualifies for qualifiers for the US, when you
watch our performance against against Belgium, Like, there's no shame
in losing to a good team like Belgium, world class players,
but the way we lost, are you just like ooh, guys,
come on, yeah.
Speaker 10 (31:59):
That's easily the most disappointing aspect of not just losing
in a World Cup, but in a home World Cup.
The fact that this US men's national team, they really
galvanized the entire country behind them, not just people who
love soccer or people who work in soccer, but maybe
people who don't care as much for soccer. They really
(32:22):
got involved in behind this team because of the way
that they had played throughout the tournament.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
They won the.
Speaker 10 (32:29):
Games they were expected to win, but it was also
the performances that were really inspiring. The way that you
were dominating teams, scoring goals, the way you were setting records.
It was a team that you could really get behind
and really root for and really start to believe that
they could do something special. And so to go out
on the field against Belgium and really not even get
(32:51):
off the bus, you don't even give yourself a chance
to win the game because of the lack of energy,
the lack of enthusiasm that you started the game with. That,
for me, is going to be a lasting impression and
a lasting memory on a team that I really wanted
to remember as galvanizing this country to believe in soccer
as we do every four years. But it was a
(33:11):
really disappointing way to go out.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
So I could take this fifty different ways, but like,
how does that kind of thing happen? Like, usually if
you consistently perform bad out of the gate, hey, it's
probably a coaching game plan issue. Do you think the
Balligan controversy in the forty eight hours leading up. Do
you think that had anything to do with the mindset?
I mean, if the guys were on their phones, this
was like the number one story in the country, above
(33:34):
everything else.
Speaker 10 (33:36):
Yeah, j Mac, I think you have to look at
the situation and say, it would be almost impossible for
this not to be some sort of distraction for the
US men's national team.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Going into the game.
Speaker 10 (33:47):
And I'm not saying that's the reason why they started
the game so poorly, but it certainly was a distraction
because everywhere you looked, whether on social media, whether their
phone's getting texts from people in their close circles, whether
you looked on major news outlets, that was what was
being talked about, and so it certainly was a part
of it. It certainly motivated Belgium a little bit more
(34:09):
than I think they otherwise would have been if the
Balligain red card suspension would have been upheld. They said
as much after the game, But it still does not
excuse the US men's national team for starting the game
the way they started it. It looked to me like
there was a lack of energy. I don't even want
to say arrogance. I want to say, maybe a little
bit of overconfidence because of the way that they had
(34:31):
been playing in the tournament, but also the way that
Belgium had been playing in the tournament. And I'm guilty
of this just as much as the next fan or analyst.
I think I over indexed how well the US men's
national team had played in this World Cup in the
group stage, and then how poorly I thought Belgium had
played in their group stage games and against Senegal. That
(34:52):
kind of went out the window when both of these
teams met, and Belgium has a ton of quality players.
They have world class players all over the field, coached,
and they were highly motivated. So yes, a little surprising
the way the US started the game and played the game.
The performance was unacceptable, but not really all that surprising
that Belgium one.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
All right, a lot of post mortem nonsense about, oh,
the US, we just don't have the talent. I kind
of push back on that, DAXI, you played at a
high level. You look at this roster that we have,
and you look at every World Cup roster the last
thirty years.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
We've never had this much talent.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
We've got guys epl Germany, Netherlands, two guys in natle
all top leagues around the world. We have the talent.
I don't would you agree that talent is an issue.
Speaker 10 (35:38):
I don't think talent is an issue. I do believe
that there is some merit to the fact that a
lot of our really talented players they don't play really
regularly for their club teams.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
You say five or six guys.
Speaker 10 (35:54):
Play regularly for their club teams, Christian Pulisic at a
Simlan Weston mckinne at Uventis, Chris Richards Crystal Palace, Tyler
Adams at Bournemouth. But I look at also a couple
of other players on the periphery of the team. Sergenio
Desk had just recovered from a major injury. Gio Reina
has all the talent in the world, and he barely
played in the Bundesliga.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
This past year.
Speaker 10 (36:15):
Malik Tillman, who I believe was our best player in
this World Cup, alongside Weston McKinney.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
He was a reserve for a big portion of the.
Speaker 10 (36:22):
Last couple of months for bayer Leverkusen. So you go
up and down the line of the players and you
look at our starting eleven specifically that played a majority
of this tournament, and they're all really talented players, some
of them are very special players. But I look at
the consistency with which they played with their club teams,
and I look at that and say, yes, they played,
some of them didn't play as consistently, But who was
(36:44):
really relied on to be a very important piece of
their club team. It might be two or three guys
at most. So while we do have talent, while we
may have the most talent that we've ever had in
our player pool, I still believe that there's something to
be said forget that experience being accounted on leader at
your club teams to come into the national team and
(37:05):
carry that form over. And I also think Jmack that
we weren't as deep as maybe a lot of people
thought we were going into this tournament, and I think
the performance against Turkey a kind of showed that.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Well, Okay, one more before a MESSI question, so do
you think the move is for a lot of these
guys who were playing in top leagues but maybe not
starting or being a leader a captaineah? Do you think
the move has come back to the MLS or playing
like a second division like what's the move.
Speaker 10 (37:29):
Not necessarily, I think each individual player has to determine
what is best for them in their career. If a
player is motivated by family, if a player is motivated
motivated by finances, if a player is motivated by playing
at the highest level possible. Well, I played in MLS
my entire career. I love MLS. I think MLS is
a burgeoning league that's getting better every year. But I'm
(37:50):
not going to sit here and argue that I think
are best players that if they still have the capability
and quality to play at the best clubs in Europe,
I still think they should stay there.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
It has to make.
Speaker 10 (38:00):
Sense for them. From a playing time standpoint. I would
much rather have a Malie Tillman play at a slightly
smaller club than Bayer Leverkusen. But if it means he's
going to be a massive part of that club and
play Europa League minutes, play Champions League minutes, I think
that is much more valuable for players than not playing
at the biggest clubs in the world. I think playing time,
(38:22):
over everything else, is more valuable.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Gotcha, all right, we got a minute left, Leonel Messi.
I'll just wind you up. Man, go love it.
Speaker 10 (38:31):
Yeah, Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time,
and he is still showing the world that he is
one of the greatest players.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Of all time.
Speaker 10 (38:40):
Still, even at this World Cup, a lot of people thought,
you know, Lionel Messi came to Major League Soccer, that
one is an acknowledgment that he was going to ride
off into the sunset. Question marks about would he play
for Argentina, would he not play? I think that he
has completely buried all of those concerns, all of those fears.
He has been the best player at this World Cup.
He is gal quite frankly, an Argentina team that hasn't
(39:02):
looked all that dominant by his otherworldly displays. There's really
no other adjective you can use to describe him. It's unfathomable,
it's unthinkable.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
He is a genius.
Speaker 10 (39:12):
He potentially is an alien, that is how fantastic he
has been at this tournament. And while I think France
and Spain have probably looked like the more dominant teams,
they have been looked more like the teams that I
think can go on and win this tournament. You can
never count out Argentina and Lionel Messi
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 noone Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks
for listening to The Herd podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello and welcome to the Herd.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's me Jason McIntyre in for a sick Colin Cowherd.
He had his flu game yesterday, folks, and take it
today off. You'll be back Moniana when the soccer resumes.
It's a glorious Wednesday out here in Los Angeles. I'm
joined by Rachel Nichols. We are both enjoying the World Cup.
(00:47):
We are enjoying the NBA.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Rachel. How's your summer going so far?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
It's going well, Jas. I mean, you know, I'm trying
to get over Monday night. I feel like I'm finally
ready to move on. Pick a new team. Are you
gonna advise me?
Speaker 5 (00:59):
I'm welly yay, that's what you have to do, right,
You have to be like this is like March madness,
all right?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
My number one pick you know. Obviously tem Usa.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
Never one in my heart, didn't advance, and so now
I need a new team. Are you gonna give me
some options over the course of the show.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
At the top of next hour, I'll break down the
bracket and my team is winning it all. Obviously. Listen,
we got a loaded show. There's a big rumor right
now hot that the Lakers rachel are chasing a former
Golden State Warrior. I think we're gonna have a big show.
But let's get started with Leo Nell Messi. Folks, I'm
sure you guys like I did yesterday, watched in amazement,
(01:36):
jaw on the floor watching the greatest to ever do
it display all the grit that the.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
USA didn't show.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
On Monday, Messi carries Argentina on his back from down
to nil.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
They rally to stun Egypt three to two.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
They're calling this the greatest comeback in World Cup history
because no team had ever rallied from down to this
late in the game to win in regular and Messi
did that with an assist and then a goal. And listen,
I'm consuming all of the content of course Instagram, there's
all these edits of Messi. You know, Messi gets sad
his PK is denied. Then he narrowly misses a free
(02:14):
k free kick, and then Messi just puts the team
on his back, goes as they like to say, god mode,
you know, and Argentina wins it.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And then he's crying on the pitch after the game.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Folks, I've watched this replay a billion times, and here's
Dereck ray on the call to get fired up. Messi's
goal to tie it.
Speaker 6 (02:34):
Leonel Messi deflection there on the way through, unturn the line.
Something up here. Argentina fucks good check sleel mersay the
savior for Argentsita I come back when they needed it.
Engineers bad, the man regarded by so many, that's the
(02:56):
tritus of the ball. From the tips of despair Argentina celebrights.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I mean, honestly, I'm obsessed with the World Cup. You
guys know, soccer was my top sport growing up. I
was a pretty good player. My family had some pretty
good players back back in the day. I'll just say that.
And the World Cup is something like we never see
that's what every four years.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
And Messi's kind of leading Argentina on this old man renaissance.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I'm sure you guys have seen this in sports.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Messi's thirty nine years old, okay, and he's carrying Argentina.
He's one of the best players on the pitch at
the World Cup at thirty nine. I was told for
the longest time growing up, yep, sports are a young
man's game. Yet here's Tom Brady at forty four winning
a Super Bowl. Here's Matt Stafford at thirty eight winning
the MVP last year. Here's Lebron at forty one shattering
(03:48):
every NBA record that matters because he's still playing at
such a high level. Folks, we've never seen this stuff before.
I remember in two thousand and twenty two, it was December,
Messi thirty and Argentina plays that epic World Cup final
against France, and folks, Messi had two goals in that game.
They win in penalty kicks and at the end they
(04:10):
carry Messi off the field.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They're throwing him in the air.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
He's got the World Cup trophy and we're saying this
is this is John Elwait times ten. Remember Elway wins
the Super Bowl and walks off into the sunset. He's done,
and everybody thought Messi was it's over. You go out
like that with a World Cup at thirty five, the
last award he needed to sinch himself as the goat.
And here he is four years later at thirty nine,
(04:34):
doing other worldly things. I'm personally as a guy who's
aging hopefully gracefully. I love this old man renaissance. I mean,
Messi is bending free kicks. He's still just such a
sharp player at this age.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
He is starting this new.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Thing that he's been doing for a while now where
he just walks a lot to conserve energy, walks and
walks and then in a moment, boom, he pops.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Here's Brad Friedel talking.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
About Messi and this god mode that he could go
into and take over games.
Speaker 7 (05:04):
This guy, Lionel Messi, we talk about him all the time.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I mean, being down two nill against.
Speaker 7 (05:10):
Seventy eight minute he blew by a guy at his age.
I mean he get isked stat sports. Once I was
around them and they were at Barcelona. I said, what's
he got? I know he's great and the skill and
all that, what's he got? And they said, he gets
up to full pace and about a step and a
half to two steps. I mean, it's just it's remarkable
this guy, and he's a leader, and he's humble, and
(05:30):
he's a driven winner.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
It's really incredible what he's doing.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
I'm sure you guys have heard of the joke because
forever there was this Cristiano Ronaldo versus Messi thing, who's
better And there's a lot of Ronaldo fans, a handsome guy,
chisel dads like the ladies love him. And the joke was,
Christiano Ronaldo is the best soccer player ever. That's because
Leonel Messi is not human. He's not from this earth.
I mean what we're seeing from this guy. Look at
(05:56):
the stats on the.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Screen, folks.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Number one in goals at the World cupffected goals, goal
and goal involvements, shots, shots on target. We've never seen
anything like this. And a lot of people think Argentina's
gonna win it. You know, I built this gambling model.
They think Argentina has value currently. I don't know that
they're going to push through. But at the top of
next hour, I will break down the brackets and give
(06:18):
you my winner. Let's go from leon Al Messi, the
greatest to ever do it, and Argentina, the defending champs,
to Team USA, which fell flat on its face Monday,
losing to Belgium.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
For one, it's not embarrassing or.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Bad that we lost to Belgium, guys, that's not the problem.
The problem is how we lost. It was a gutless effort.
I mean, we saw no grit, no heart. You know,
you get punched in the mouth, you fall behind early
and you don't rally at all.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It was embarrassing. It really hurts. And frankly, we looked
so good our starters did in the three games. We
give up one goal to Paraguay, Australia Bosnia like Paraguay's
nothing to Scotfat they showed well after we kicked their
butts right, knocked out Germany.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
We're kind of nipping talk with France.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Even though you know, France had that game and control
one nothing and that's not bad. And where was our grit?
Why didn't we see any of that? That's what really hurts.
And you've got all these columnists and these talking heads
parachuting into soccer right and they're doing their think pieces
and their crisis management.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Oh my gosh, we're never going to be on.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
The on the level of the greats and it's the
same nonsense every four years. Well, if we could only
get the best players in America to play soccer, the
best athletes, imagine if the NBA, and it's the same dumb,
lazy nonsense. I'm really sick of it. As a soccer
guy myself, I think it's just lazy.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
And here's the reality.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
We watched a Mexico team, right, Mexico's been down bad.
We've been better than Mexico for it for a close
to a decade. Now, okay, we watched Mexico fall behind
two nothing to England Jude Belling and goals like, oh wow,
it is over. Mexican fought like hell. They refuse to die.
They came back. That was a game until the end.
They lose three to two. Nobody in Mexico's disappointed that
(08:11):
they lost. How they lost. Obviously, you want to win
the game. But they fought like hell. They were excellent.
You know there was grit there. We just watched Argentina
yesterday down to nothing seventy eight minute. Oh my gosh,
it's over. Heart of a friggin champion. Messi put the
team on his back. Erling Holland, Norway against Brazil zero zero.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Oh well, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Brazil's got so much talent. Holland just says, I'll take this. Thanks,
bang bang, two goals.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
It's over.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
And that's really the thing I didn't see from the
Americans that pissed me off on Monday. You know, you
fall behind one nothing, our whole team teams rattled at
the back. We didn't meet the moment, as they say
in sports. You know, there was a bit of a
distraction if you maybe heard about it in the forty
eight hours leading up. I don't know if that was
a factor, but I mean Reim was victimized on four
(09:01):
straight goals.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
You know, Listen, I don't want to say I was
right on ring, but I told you guys for months
leading up on.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
This show at Tim reeen, that's a concern of mine.
Then he shows well against Paraguay. I said, hey, Tim,
Tim showed up. You know he's solid against Bosnia. Well,
you know, you step up in class against Belgium and
you get worked. So here is Landon Donovan going after
our star. I've been reluctant to go after Polisic. Yet
here's Landon Donovan. And listen, this is critical and this
(09:28):
is the treatment we give American stars, and you know
soccer's arrived in this country. When Landon Donovan is dropping
bombs like this on Polisic.
Speaker 8 (09:36):
He is who he is at this point, right, and
we want him to be more because we see the
time I've been on here talking about seeing him in
person against Bosnia, the way he moves in the way shore.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
But that was an easy game.
Speaker 8 (09:50):
He came out of a World Cup knockout game at
home with his leg still intact. Because I'm saying this
to you, Tim, you know it, because you played with me.
You would have had to drag me off the field
and I would have punched the doctor in the face
and said, you're not taking off the field. Put whatever
you need to put in me, and I'm just staying
(10:11):
on the field.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
He's not wrong, guys, He's not. And listen, I'm not
here to bash Polisic. But the reality is when you're
in every commercial during the World Cup alongside Messi and
all the greats.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
You got to deliver and show up. And I think Stu.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Holden had the stat my guy, Stu Holden first five touches,
Pulisic had three turnovers.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
He did not have it and again to go back
to England.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Yeah, Jude Bellingham said, I got this boys two goals.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
He was extraordinary.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Tracking back on defense, he cries after the match, like,
I get okay, Jason, you're being too harsh. Pulisic is
not Jude Bellingham, guys.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
And that comes to this talent question. So Sportico, which
is a really good.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Respected business sports business outlet, they came out with this saying, hey,
the US doesn't have elite talent.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Hang and I see this headline, I'm like, that's crap.
First of all, you know.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
There's what sixteen teams listed here. We're right there in
the top sixtyed in the world. That's obvious, okay. And
I won't point out that Brazil and Portugal are near
the top of that list, and they haven't done Jack
squat in the World Cup in the last like five cycles,
so I don't want to four cycle, so I don't
want to hear it. Okay, we have the talent. And
again to just look at the list of leagues around
the world. You know the US had from the Belgium
(11:26):
match three starters in the EPL. We got two guys
in the top league in Italy, top league in Germany Netherlands.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
We got dudes. Now. It doesn't help that of.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
The three MLS players, one of them was Freeze, who
had probably the most embarrassing goal giving up in this
World Cup. I don't know what the hell he was doing,
Harvard guy. Not a smart move there, buddy. And then
Tim Reim, who I'm not going to pile on. He's
thirty eight years old. But those are two MLS guys
and they got exposed against Belgium. But to say we
don't have talent, Belgium has five.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Starters in the EPL.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Where they've got us is depth they're coming off the
bench with.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
They didn't even play Kevin de Bruyna.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
If you know anything about soccer, that guy over the
last fifteen years has been one of the greatest players
in the world. They didn't even use him against US.
So like they've got the depth, we just don't have
that yet. But Landon Dono wom Will backed me up here,
Stu Holden will. We have more talent on the US
team now than we've ever had. We've got players all
around the globe in top leagues. The talent is there.
(12:26):
Sometimes you've been the players. Sometimes you blame the coach.
I'm blaming it on grit and heart again. I watched
that match. The first minute there was a ball that
kind of was spinning out and desk was screening their
offensive player, screening to.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Let it go out. The ball goes out.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
And it's Belgium's ball in the first minute, and that
was when you could tell, is our head in the game?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
What the hell is that?
Speaker 3 (12:47):
How is nobody communicating, Hey, that's our ball?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Play it upfield.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
From that moment, it was like, oh, geez, Freeze had
to make a great save and we just spiraled. We
got punched in the mouth and there was no response.
The first time we trailed in the World Cup was
against Belgium, and we responded so poorly that you kind
of got to blame the players. I think the talent
is there. The issue was we just didn't show up
in the moment that counts. But the good news is
(13:12):
there's Copa America, there's Gold Cup. We will be back,
I think with a vengeance. In twenty thirty. All right,
we got a monster show ahead. Go to a little
Lakers talking and people are way down on the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Two teams better than in the West. I can't find
a third.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
There's some Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum murky stuff. Somebody in
the morning meeting said, is this the new Westbrook Durant.
I was like, oh, fire takes, so he got a
great show coming up here on the Hurt.
Speaker 9 (13:41):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern not am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same tired narratives.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Down your throat every day.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook, and all the best guests. Do yourself a
favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, I need
to talk about the Lakers for a minute. Yes, it's
been a summer of soccer.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
We haven't done a lot of Laker talk, but there
was a report today that the Lakers are heavily pursuing
free agent Jonathan Kaminga. And I know there's some eye
rolling in the audience right now. I'm aware of that, guys.
I want to remind you guys, Jonathan Kaminga is a
free agent.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Though Warriors gave up on him, he goes to the Hawks.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
He had a pretty damn good run. Look at how
explosive and bouncy he is.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Just look at Jonathan kuminga sword to dunk over Mitchell Robinson.
This guy's exactly what you'd want in a three and
D wing. Now he's still young guy.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
I think he has these Jalen Brown itis where he
thinks he wants to go somewhere and be the.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Man and that's not happening.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But apparently according to this report, and we'll have a
Laker guest on here shortly to talk about it. But
JJ Reddick got on the phone trying to talk to Kamena. Hey,
it sounds like they're selling him on a starting role
right now, the small forward spot.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Is kind of sort of open.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Sorry, it ain't gonna be Jake Larevia, I'm extremely bullish
on the Lakers. Now here's the thing. They're getting beat
up because they overpaid for Walker Kessler. Was it an
overpaid yes, period that being said, did you look at
the center market, guys? I know Colin's hot for Nick Claxton,
but let's settle down on Nick Claxton. Okay, Walker Kessler
(15:47):
played five games last year, so that's not great.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
He was hurt.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
He's had a bit of an injury bug. We need
to give him healthy. Yes, there is injury concerns with
the Lakers. Can Austin Reeves stay healthy? Can Lucas stay healthy?
Blah blah blah, Yes, that's all true.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
I don't know what you want to do. It's weird.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Luca's played more games than Jiannis in the last four years,
yet Luca is the one always unhealthy.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Where's the honest criticism in Miami? Is he gonna be healthy?
I don't hear that.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
It's because it's a selective outrage against the Lakers. Anyway,
here's the truth on Walker Kessler. What the Lakers did get.
He's gonna be about the eight or ninth highest paid
center in the league.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I'm not mad at that.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Was it an overpay for somebody who hasn't proven anything yet? Certainly,
but you had to do it because you have proof
of concept with what works for Luca. A big guy
on the interior, blocking shots, getting dunks and easy putbacks
on the inside. Whether it's gafferd or Lively, you get
that in Walker Kessler. You have to give up a lot,
(16:41):
but you know what, he was the guy you needed.
There was really no other options out there at center.
And I will remind people what was Daniel Gafford before
Luca made him in Dallas? Made him like an attractive
piece and he's getting paid, Teams are interested. Daniel Gafford
like has a market all the time because of Luca.
And I'll remind you at the same time, what was PJ.
(17:02):
Washington before Luca made him in Dallas? Lucas said, Hey,
play defense, be my three and D guy, and then
go in the corner and I'll get you threes.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And PJ.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Washington was like the third best player on our team
and went to the finals.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
So all this like overreaction. Oh Lakers, Oh my gosh.
They lost Lebron, they lost Ruey. I didn't love losing Ruie.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
They lost Luke Canard, they lost Marcus Smart, they lost Ayton. Guys,
I'm just telling you, the Lakers are winning fifty or
more games, and the only two teams better than them
for sure right now in the West are the Thunder
and the Spurs.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I know the starting lineup change is a little shifty,
and obviously not having Luca in the playoffs hurt you, guys.
Remember he's a great player. He's one of the five
best players in the league, undeniably. Obviously Austin Reeves a
great creator.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Quentin Grimes, We'll see. I like him.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I think Comenga starts over him. Sandro is he the
next RUI? I don't know, man, I gotta played ignorance
on the on the big guy Sandro who who barely
could get.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
On the court in Toronto. We'll see. But I just
need you guys.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
To remember Luka Doncic elevates everyone to the level that
Lebron did in his day. Luca is a few years removed,
goring to the finals with PJ. Washington, Derek Jones, Tim Hardaway,
you know, Kyrie.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Irving, like Luca can carry a team.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
And I'm looking around the West and I'm like, Minnesota,
are they better LaMelo ball? LaMelo ball versus Anthony Edwards
in the back court. It's gonna be fun. Sure, there'll
be a lot of dunks and exciting alley oops, there's
gonna be a lot of wins in the playoffs. I mean,
I love Chris Finch, but is that guy pulling his
hair out knowing that he's got he's got to work
with LaMelo ball and losing not or nos reed, they
(18:45):
got no depth on that team at all.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I don't know. I don't think Minnesota's betting the Lakers
right now.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
And then you're like, oh, well, Denver all right, I mean, listen,
Tim Hardaway was like their fourth or fifth leading scorer
in the playoffs. Jamal Murray, it sounds like he's on
his being salary dumped after next year.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You think he's feeling great about himself.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
And now they're going to overpay for Peyton Watson, who,
by the way, always injured, just like all the Lakers.
So is Denver better? They have, they have yo kids,
but are they better? And you look around like the
Warriors are not better. I don't even care if Lebron
goes there. They're not better pay per clips, they're rebuilding.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So what are we looking at? Phoenix? They're not better.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
They might beat the Lakers in the regular season, those tryhards,
but are they better than the Lakers. No, So you
look at it, it's Spurs, Thunder and Lakers. And now
you're talking like, Okay, we win fifty four games, we
host a playoff series, and then maybe you catch a
break and you know, an SGA breaks down in the
playoffs or something happens to Wemby, who, by the way,
has had injuries.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And a blood clot. I'm not rolling the lakers out
of anything yet.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Okay, maybe I'm being a little optimistic, but they get
Kaminga's game on.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Boys, Let's go to Rachel Nichols with the news.
Speaker 6 (19:54):
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Turn on the news. This is the herd Line News.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
To compete for Jonathan Kaminga. Apparently Cleveland's interested in him.
The Sacramento Kings are interested in going there.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
He likes Kenny Atkinson. I don't know.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
We'll see, We'll see what happens. Klaker's got a sweet
in the offer.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Jeez, Lravia, you could have take Laavia. I'll drive him
to the airport.
Speaker 8 (20:19):
Ja.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
Let's talk a little bit about the pairing Jason that
has just broken up, like Kobe and Shaq, like Tom
Brady and Bill Belichick, there is no more Jason Tatum
and Jalen Brown. And just like with those ex couples,
everyone's still talking about this.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
This story is not dying.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
There's a new report that Jason Tatum's camp has been
expressing to others around the league that they weren't happy
with Jaln Brown's demeanor over the past year, especially his
repeated assertion that this was his favorite season. Now, if
that's true, Jason Tatum didn't say so.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
When he was asked about it yesterday.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
He was actually at a book signing and he said
that when he heard the news, it was quote tough,
and that he said that this was still a successful
pairing even though it ended abruptly. What do you think
about this idea? Is this just we're all trying to
uncover rocks because the trade was so shocking in the
way it went down, or do you think.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
They're truth to this?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Yes? I don't know, Rachel.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
This is weird, So in the absence of actual information,
I think people just run wild with whatever conspiracy they got.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Oh, suddenly Brown or Tatum hate each other. Maybe did
Jason Tatum run off Jalen Brown because he was jealous
of him and people are sending me. Not that Instagram's
are sourced, but these old videos of like Tatum and
Smart kind of like, I don't know about this Jalen Brown, guy,
was it advanced stats? Well?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Did something happen?
Speaker 3 (21:47):
And you know there's all these conspiracy theories about well,
Jalen Brown's very vocal about worldly issues and Celtics.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Front off and they didn't love that. I mean, we
don't know. Is it the salary thing? It could be
all of them.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Rachel called me crazy, but I think both teams are
going to be okay, both players. But if you had
to ask me, who's got a better shot of getting
to the finals in the East Sex year out of
these two, not the Nicks, I would say Celtics. I
think the Celtics are going to be just fine with
their system and their stats, and I think they've got
a better system than Philly.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
Jason, I want to affirm for you Instagram is not
a source.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
So let's just know that going forward.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Look, I don't can't imagine that Jason Tatum was happy
with hearing over and over again from Jalen Brown. He
didn't say it just the once, he said it multiple times,
this was my favorite season.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I don't know that.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
I haven't talked to Jason about it, but there's been
hints if you were looking for them. Drew Hanlon, Jason's
very long time friend and trainer, had some critical tweets.
There's just some tweets that I'm sorry. They weren't outwardly critical.
They were underlying critical. Basically talking about how Jason Tatum's
usage had to go up and guess who that would have.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
To come from. Jalen Brown.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
You hear over and over this my favorite season. This
is my favorite season.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
When I'm not playing with you.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
This is my favorite season over when we won the
championship together. Because his usage is higher, because he gets
to do whatever he wants.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
And it's not just hearing that.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
If you're Jason Tatum from a basketball standpoint.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
That must be hard.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
If you are rehabbing from one of the worst injuries
in sports, that is one of the most brutal rehabs.
You are lonely, You're away from the team a lot,
you have to do so much work. Think about what
Jason Tatum had to do just to get back as
early as he got back. That required so much from him,
so you are sweating and bleeding for this, and you
(23:39):
hear from this other guy. I am so happy with
the way things are working out right now. Again, Jason
Tatum will never tell us what you heard from him
from that book signing yesterday is all you're ever going
to get from him. He is a more introverted guy.
He's never going to cause trouble, but it would rub
me the wrong way.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
I don't know about you.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Yeah, Well, they're also different people, right.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
I know Brown's twenty nine. I think Tatum's twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
But like Tatum has two young kids, you know, and
that changes things.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Jayalen Brown had children.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Well, no, no, no, hold on, So Jalen Brown does
not the best of my knowledge, he doesn't have kids.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
He hangs out with a lot of it.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
He's like a young guy still like trying to date,
you know, influential influencers or whatever, and he's like a crew.
Tatum's more of like a I'm staying at home kind
of guy. Right, So you got two different people and
they're kind of maybe growing apart. Does that happen sometimes?
Speaker 5 (24:26):
I mean sure, they've always been very different personalities. I
think when we look at why did Boston make this
trade with Philly. Why trade to an arrival that's right
there next to you that you're definitely going to see
many times a year and probably in the playoffs. Why
take the deal that you took and take on Paul
George's contract.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
They made a statement.
Speaker 5 (24:45):
The owner and the general manager got up in front
of the entire Boston media the other day and said,
this was not financial.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Well, if it's not financial.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Which I kind of agree it wasn't when you look
at Paul George's contract.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
If it's not financial, it must.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
Be because they decided that this coming fall was going
to ignite the kind of dumpster fire that would be
bad for their team.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
The usage rate, it is.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
A boring thing to talk about in the summer, but
if you look at what Drew Hanlin, the trainer, tweeted.
He said, oh, you know, the Celtics win when Jason
Tatum's usage rate is thirty three percent or higher. Guess
what it wasn't when he came back after Jalen Brown
had been running things this past season, and to get
it back to that point, Guess Who's usage was going
to have to go down? Jalen Brown's and Jalen Brown
(25:31):
does not see himself as a one B or whatever
you want to call it anymore.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
He thinks he is the one A.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
And when you have that disconnect between what a guy
thinks he is and what the organization and other players
on the team might think he is, you are headed
toward trouble. And that is the best explanation to me
about why they made this trade.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah. I like the Boston system. It works.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Hey, we're driving kick, We're threes in layups. I know
not everybody loves watching that. Tatum has a better handle,
a better as sister turnover ratio, and Brown drives into
the lane and takes a lot of bad is shots.
Speaker 9 (26:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
I don't know, man, I'm not banging on Jaylen Brown,
but I.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Do think to your point about the trade to the rival,
I think Philly could is gonna implode.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I don't know when.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
I think They're gonna win a bunch of games, right,
and there's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
A honeymoon period, but eventually Brown's gonna.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Want to get his Maxi's gonna want to get his
Maxie average twenty one shots a game in the playoffs
against I think it was the Celtics in that series,
there's no way he's getting that many shots with.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Brown or not healthy and beef. It's just not happening.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
And at some point somebody's gonna pop off, and I
don't think it's gonna end well this year for Phillip Well.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
We'll talk about a little later in the show.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
But Sixers would also like to add Lebron and not
growing aggressively after him, so well, we'll talk about how
many basketballs might be necessary there.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Let's stick with the NBA.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
It turns out Jason Jalen Brunson is even more of
a superhero than we thought. According to reports, Brunson had
been playing through the postseason.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
With a left wrist injury and.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
Still manage to pick up a Finals MVP lead the
Knicks to their first NBA championship since nineteen seventy three.
Brunson underwent successful surgery yesterday and the expectation is he
will be able to return to basketball activities this summer.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
Be fine for training camp. Now, Jason, I like how.
Speaker 5 (27:16):
You just tried to save face because to the public,
you just said, Hey, who's more likely of these two teams,
the Celtics and the Sixers to.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Get further in the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (27:27):
This morning, in the morning meeting, Jason, you just said,
who do you think is going to be better in
the East to come out first in the East. You
forgot about your supposed New York Knicks.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
The Knicks are going to be fine. I do.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I think that Mitchell Robinson loss is huge for them,
and the rest of their bench has a couple question marks,
But yeah, I love the Knicks. Now, I will say
Karl Anthony Towns is the name to watch. You know this, Rachel,
We'll see what happens this owner.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Dolan all what do you think is going to happen?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
We'll see Is he going to get paid?
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Is Brun's he going to get paid? Brunson took less earlier.
Eventually they're going to have to make good on Brunson.
Can they make good on Brunson and Towns?
Speaker 5 (28:07):
I mean, look, they are already having different players on
that roster come back for less money than they could.
Who saw it with Landry Shammitt, Who saw it with
Jose Alvarado.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
So I don't know if it's sort.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Of what Jalen Brunson has injected into the team culture,
but there's definitely a belief around that locker room with
some people that hey, we're all going to take a
little less so this team can stay together. Because the
greatest death of championship teams. The reasons we don't have
dynasties in this era right now is the rules of
the CBA changed and it's very hard to keep the
championship team together. So we're seeing guys make those sacrifices.
(28:40):
We'll see what happens with Kat.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (28:42):
Are you ready to sit here and tell me you
think the next are coming out of the East next
year and are going to win the title again.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
It's July eighth time. I might go im, I might
pick the Pacers. I don't know, or your wizard's not
just kidding. But the only reason I say that is
because this summer what Kawhi changed teams, Ron will be
on a different team.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Jayleen Brown Giannis, I know what to say, Like, that's crazy,
how could that happen? It's the NBA. Wacky stuff happens
all the time.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
I'm just saying true fans always believe their team's going
to win a title. So we'll talk about this. Let's
go over to the NFL Cowboys fans very happy to
hear this. Ceedee Lamb, who, as we know, missed three
games last season that.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
High ankle sprain.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
He also exited a bunch of games early and finished
with a career low three te touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Entering this season, Ceedee Lamb is telling.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Other players this is the best he has felt in years.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Jason.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
So, if Ceedee Lamb doesn't miss three games, if he
doesn't exit those other games early with nagging different injuries,
I don't know. You look at him and George Pickens
out there.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
That is just devastating.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
How do you feel their offense is going to match
up with the rest of the NFC East and is
it going to be enough? I mean, they're the biggest
threat to Philly, I think, right. I mean, we're not
talking about my Commanders.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
But Colin likes the Giants. You like the Commanders. I
have division.
Speaker 5 (29:58):
I like the Commanders because, unlike you, I'm not a
fair weather fan. Oh so I'm going to always believe
that my team will do well. But yeah, I have to,
you know, just objectively tell you that the Cowboys and
the Eagles are certainly the favorites in that division.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Do you think Ceedee Lamb saying he's going to be
healthier this year. Do you think that pushes them up more?
Speaker 3 (30:18):
I mean, talk is cheap, you know, I mean, come on,
I don't. I don't think it really elevates them. I
think they're could be good. You know, nine wins, does
that get to the playoffs?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Something like that.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
I mean, look, they did.
Speaker 5 (30:29):
You know, all the math guys are in there and
they're saying, well, if Ceeddee Lamb played as well this
past season as he did during the quarters that he
was healthy, he would have had fifteen hundred yards as
it was. I think he had about twelve hundred yards.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
It's tough.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
So it's just you're looking at an upgrade. I mean
it's not a small thing. If he is able to
play throughout the whole season in a way he didn't
last year, we'll have to see.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
I mean he got road trips to La Seattle. That
schedule is brutal. They mean Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
Yeah, I'll let me adjust eight and nine eight and
nine for Dallas today a subject to change in a
few weeks when we host together.
Speaker 9 (31:05):
So be sure to catch live editions of the Herd
weekdays and noon Easter. Not a em Pacific. This is
Colin Soccer Spotlight. It's brought to you by Haleon, the
official partner of US Soccer and the maker of Censdine, Toms,
voltairean Advil and Centrum, the brands behind your everyday wellness
wins because every goal starts with an assist on and
(31:26):
off the field. Learn more Haleyanassist dot com slash iHeart.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
All right, let's bring in Dex McCarty, former US national
team player. Last scene crushing it on First things first
throughout the World Cup decks.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Great to have you on.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I'm just curious since you actually played at a high
level in qualifies for qualifiers for the US, when you
watch our performance against against Belgium, Like, there's no shame
in losing to a good team like Belgium, world class players,
but the way we lost, are you just like ooh, guys,
come on, yeah.
Speaker 10 (31:59):
That's easily the most disappointing aspect of not just losing
in a World Cup, but in a home World Cup.
The fact that this US men's national team, they really
galvanized the entire country behind them, not just people who
love soccer or people who work in soccer, but maybe
people who don't care as much for soccer. They really
(32:22):
got involved in behind this team because of the way
that they had played throughout the tournament.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
They won the.
Speaker 10 (32:29):
Games they were expected to win, but it was also
the performances that were really inspiring. The way that you
were dominating teams, scoring goals, the way you were setting records.
It was a team that you could really get behind
and really root for and really start to believe that
they could do something special. And so to go out
on the field against Belgium and really not even get
(32:51):
off the bus, you don't even give yourself a chance
to win the game because of the lack of energy,
the lack of enthusiasm that you started the game with. That,
for me, is going to be a lasting impression and
a lasting memory on a team that I really wanted
to remember as galvanizing this country to believe in soccer
as we do every four years. But it was a
(33:11):
really disappointing way to go out.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
So I could take this fifty different ways, but like,
how does that kind of thing happen? Like, usually if
you consistently perform bad out of the gate, hey, it's
probably a coaching game plan issue. Do you think the
Balligan controversy in the forty eight hours leading up. Do
you think that had anything to do with the mindset?
I mean, if the guys were on their phones, this
was like the number one story in the country, above
(33:34):
everything else.
Speaker 10 (33:36):
Yeah, j Mac, I think you have to look at
the situation and say, it would be almost impossible for
this not to be some sort of distraction for the
US men's national team.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Going into the game.
Speaker 10 (33:47):
And I'm not saying that's the reason why they started
the game so poorly, but it certainly was a distraction
because everywhere you looked, whether on social media, whether their
phone's getting texts from people in their close circles, whether
you looked on major news outlets, that was what was
being talked about, and so it certainly was a part
of it. It certainly motivated Belgium a little bit more
(34:09):
than I think they otherwise would have been if the
Balligain red card suspension would have been upheld. They said
as much after the game, But it still does not
excuse the US men's national team for starting the game
the way they started it. It looked to me like
there was a lack of energy. I don't even want
to say arrogance. I want to say, maybe a little
bit of overconfidence because of the way that they had
(34:31):
been playing in the tournament, but also the way that
Belgium had been playing in the tournament. And I'm guilty
of this just as much as the next fan or analyst.
I think I over indexed how well the US men's
national team had played in this World Cup in the
group stage, and then how poorly I thought Belgium had
played in their group stage games and against Senegal. That
(34:52):
kind of went out the window when both of these
teams met, and Belgium has a ton of quality players.
They have world class players all over the field, coached,
and they were highly motivated. So yes, a little surprising
the way the US started the game and played the game.
The performance was unacceptable, but not really all that surprising
that Belgium one.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
All right, a lot of post mortem nonsense about, oh,
the US, we just don't have the talent. I kind
of push back on that, DAXI, you played at a
high level. You look at this roster that we have,
and you look at every World Cup roster the last
thirty years.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
We've never had this much talent.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
We've got guys epl Germany, Netherlands, two guys in natle
all top leagues around the world. We have the talent.
I don't would you agree that talent is an issue.
Speaker 10 (35:38):
I don't think talent is an issue. I do believe
that there is some merit to the fact that a
lot of our really talented players they don't play really
regularly for their club teams.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
You say five or six guys.
Speaker 10 (35:54):
Play regularly for their club teams, Christian Pulisic at a
Simlan Weston mckinne at Uventis, Chris Richards Crystal Palace, Tyler
Adams at Bournemouth. But I look at also a couple
of other players on the periphery of the team. Sergenio
Desk had just recovered from a major injury. Gio Reina
has all the talent in the world, and he barely
played in the Bundesliga.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
This past year.
Speaker 10 (36:15):
Malik Tillman, who I believe was our best player in
this World Cup, alongside Weston McKinney.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
He was a reserve for a big portion of the.
Speaker 10 (36:22):
Last couple of months for bayer Leverkusen. So you go
up and down the line of the players and you
look at our starting eleven specifically that played a majority
of this tournament, and they're all really talented players, some
of them are very special players. But I look at
the consistency with which they played with their club teams,
and I look at that and say, yes, they played,
some of them didn't play as consistently, But who was
(36:44):
really relied on to be a very important piece of
their club team. It might be two or three guys
at most. So while we do have talent, while we
may have the most talent that we've ever had in
our player pool, I still believe that there's something to
be said forget that experience being accounted on leader at
your club teams to come into the national team and
(37:05):
carry that form over. And I also think Jmack that
we weren't as deep as maybe a lot of people
thought we were going into this tournament, and I think
the performance against Turkey a kind of showed that.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Well, Okay, one more before a MESSI question, so do
you think the move is for a lot of these
guys who were playing in top leagues but maybe not
starting or being a leader a captaineah? Do you think
the move has come back to the MLS or playing
like a second division like what's the move.
Speaker 10 (37:29):
Not necessarily, I think each individual player has to determine
what is best for them in their career. If a
player is motivated by family, if a player is motivated
motivated by finances, if a player is motivated by playing
at the highest level possible. Well, I played in MLS
my entire career. I love MLS. I think MLS is
a burgeoning league that's getting better every year. But I'm
(37:50):
not going to sit here and argue that I think
are best players that if they still have the capability
and quality to play at the best clubs in Europe,
I still think they should stay there.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
It has to make.
Speaker 10 (38:00):
Sense for them. From a playing time standpoint. I would
much rather have a Malie Tillman play at a slightly
smaller club than Bayer Leverkusen. But if it means he's
going to be a massive part of that club and
play Europa League minutes, play Champions League minutes, I think
that is much more valuable for players than not playing
at the biggest clubs in the world. I think playing time,
(38:22):
over everything else, is more valuable.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Gotcha, all right, we got a minute left, Leonel Messi.
I'll just wind you up. Man, go love it.
Speaker 10 (38:31):
Yeah, Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time,
and he is still showing the world that he is
one of the greatest players.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Of all time.
Speaker 10 (38:40):
Still, even at this World Cup, a lot of people thought,
you know, Lionel Messi came to Major League Soccer, that
one is an acknowledgment that he was going to ride
off into the sunset. Question marks about would he play
for Argentina, would he not play? I think that he
has completely buried all of those concerns, all of those fears.
He has been the best player at this World Cup.
He is gal quite frankly, an Argentina team that hasn't
(39:02):
looked all that dominant by his otherworldly displays. There's really
no other adjective you can use to describe him. It's unfathomable,
it's unthinkable.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
He is a genius.
Speaker 10 (39:12):
He potentially is an alien, that is how fantastic he
has been at this tournament. And while I think France
and Spain have probably looked like the more dominant teams,
they have been looked more like the teams that I
think can go on and win this tournament. You can
never count out Argentina and Lionel Messi
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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