December 1, 2022 • 39 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon discuss the crazy events that surrounded the World Cup and explain to you how Mexico got eliminated despite a valiant effort against Saudi Arabia. Jason and Mike also discuss the CFB Playoff expansion to 12 teams in 2024 and react to Russell Wilson’s big birthday bash!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:44):
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the way tire buying should be. I've always hated Grayson Allen.
Never liked the kid, never liked him at all, didn't
like especially don't like him now after the tide breaking
three he makes to give the Bucks the win over
the Knicks in the final thirty seconds, everything was going
fine and Grayson Allen makes a three and the game
(01:06):
is over and we lose mix. Yo, It's okay, buddy.
You were destined to lose that game. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's true. Honest. Thirty seven, thirteen and seven, Holiday had
his big day and we can say Holiday Holiday, Holiday
would say it thrice, so nice. Uh. He was one
(01:26):
of four was Grace and Allen from three point range
tonight just made that one, that's all he made, said one. Yeah,
what's up Frost Park. If only the Nicks played their
best game tonight, man, they could have pulled it out. Dude,
you're really gonna run this from last night with soccer?
Are you really gonna run it the ground? Yo? Hey?
You know, just like yeah, hey, listen, we're ten and twelve.
(01:48):
Everything is fine. You know, we'd be in first place
in the Western there yelling run it back? What's the
Lakers record? Let me look and see her. There are
they ten and twelve? The Lakers? Are they the Lakers
in twelve? Or the Lakers has more double doubles than
in and out? I'm sorry, they're seven and twelve. I'm sorry.
So there three, I'm sorry they're there. There two games
(02:09):
out of last place in the Western Conference. Okay. Just
wanted to make sure we're but they just got flux
in the Sunday night. They yeah, they they they took
the Chargers out and they put in the Lakers on
Sunday night. Uh No. You know. The funny thing is,
you know you mentioned the World Cup, and I was
thinking about this today, Mike. Obviously there's some crazy ass
stuff going on today in the World Cup. But this
high breakers firings, you name it. Oh yeah, Look, the
(02:30):
mec Mexico wins, but they don't make it to the
to the knockout round. So the coach gets fired and
he you know, falls on the sword. It's my fault
that we have lost this. This is the horrendous outcome.
It's like when coaches get fired in soccer. It's like
they're giving their final, their final addressed to everyone before
they get shot off into space and we're never gonna
(02:51):
see them again. It is my fault. I I presided
over this and this is absolutely unacceptable. And then that's
kind of how it goes. It's not like in the
NFL or Major League Baseball, where well, you know, maybe
the rebuild need a little bit longer than I thought.
A couple of things happened outside my control. No, no, no, no, no, no,
no no. You get stuff in soccer like I fully
(03:11):
assume responsibility for this great failure, right, which is what
dot martin exact quote. I'm sitting there. I want an
autograph card or this guy, so if someone could find one,
I'm putting him on my wall because this guy took
full responsibility. Quote. My contract ended as soon as the
referee blew the final whistle, and there's nothing more to
be done. They were taking all Mexico gear off of him. Hey,
(03:34):
give me all your Mexico your contracts up. Now, give
me the terraway we bought to shoot. Let's go. Give
me all this. Yeah, this suit is ours. I'm sorry.
You know I keep the shirt. We don't want you
to walk off with those shirt on. Keep this your
give us the suit, give us the suspenders, anything Mexico
you have. I'm sorry, that's that's coming with us. And
your cab is right outside the stadium. I just getting
right outside there. Yeah, that'sating quickly. What would have been
(03:56):
even worse, snow as if it had gone to the
next time breaker, which was yellow cards. I'll see that's
great about if you went out because of yellow cards.
Now look now, that was the big yellow right the Mexico.
The Mexico's group Group C stands for chaos, right, that
was a big thing. Today Argentina wins to move on,
and Mexico and Poland potentially we're coming down to a
(04:18):
tiebreaker to move on. And the tiebreaker they would have
gotten to would have been whoever had the fewest yellow cards,
So sportsmanship would have decided who moves on. Now, it
didn't wind up getting there because there was a couple
of goals that were scored. But for a long time
it looked like it's gonna be yellow cards. It's gonna
be which would take us back to the most pure
thing of sports. Right, Oh, it's sportsmanship that decides how
(04:40):
to move on. And and Poland would have fewer yellow
cards in Mexico, So this is what would be the big,
the big tiebreaker, And I love that. I thought, if
this happens, this would be the greatest thing in the world,
because when I can sit here and think about the
NFL going, how about if we break tiebreakers for playoff spots.
You got two teams tied at nine and eight, do
you have a tiebreaker head to head? No? Not applicable,
Still a tiebreaker, tiebreaker for the conference schedule. No, not applicable.
(05:02):
What is applicable? Fewest penalties on the season, so we
give the best sports, but you whoever committed the fewest
penalties moves onto the playoffs. I would have dug that
that would have been a fun thing to do. Is
it all penalties or do we just make it pre
snap because then you you should lose because you were dumb?
Or do you want to make it personal foul penalties?
How we can do that too? Like that? Would you know?
(05:24):
Because yet because the foul is a foul, but you
get a yellow car? Yeah, okay, okay, so you need
you need to ampen up a bit. It would need
to be he can't just do penalty. It would need
to be like personal foul fifteen yard penalties. That would
be what what would do it that? That's the equivalent
of see problem solving? I like that right there, and
don't forget Hey the Jets. The Jets only have eleven
personal foul penalties this year and the Chargers have forty six,
(05:47):
So hey, they that tiebreaker the Jets really had. They
gotta work cut out four if they're gonna want to
get to that forty six. That would be great. By
the way, at the end of the World Cup, I
don't think they hand out any uh golden balls like
the Lady Bag Trophy. Okay, uh win and you're the
best player and that's it. Yes, So the sportsman ship thing,
(06:07):
I don't know. It's subjective. Yeah, Soccer is not really
a sport where you think about sportsmanship. If you think
all that's great, I don't think about soccer sportsmanship. It's not.
I do not. Wow, look at you did you? You really? You?
You lost money on the Unity You really bet Iran
to win. You in the Iron Cheek bet Iran to
beat the United States. You've been bitter about this. United
(06:29):
States went for like I'm gonna come to your house
with the Iron Cheeks clubs. You've been so but you
know about this World Cup right that. This is where
I'm at after today and you saw some crazy results.
Tunisia beats France one nothing in a shocker, right, Mexico
is just a goal right at the end. Yeah, it
(06:51):
was the final minute from France. The guy did the
penguin walk and everything and then they took it away.
It's been insane, right, Argentina was in trouble or early.
You know, the biggest upset in World Cup history. You know,
Mexico is out there not advancing to the knockout round
for the first time in forty four years. I'm telling you,
and this is why. Another reason why I love where
the United States is because the theme of this World Cup,
(07:14):
the theme of this World Cup at this point for
the teams of the knockout round is why not Us?
This is not a World Cup where normally you look
up and go, man, how are we gonna beat Germany?
How are we going to beat the Germany's not Germany
is not unbeatable. The Netherlands is that the Netherlands from
fifteen years ago. There's nobody at the top where you go, boy,
good luck getting by them. There are no teams that way.
This World Cup is so wide open that needs to
(07:36):
be the mantra why not Us? And that's why you
can buy In certain years. It's tough. I get it
because you're saying, how are we gonna beat Brazil? How
are we gonna beat them? How are you gonna be?
How I understand? How are we gonna beat France? France
is so good. There's three or four teams at the
top that are just better than everybody else and it's
gonna be impossible. Not this year? Telling you why not us?
That should be the theme for all the teams and
knocketting round of the World Cup because you really can
(07:58):
be why of us? Because you can make cases for
a lot of tames. Hey, how many of these teams
can make it to the final four? A lot of
them can? The United States beats Netherlands, they might get
a great draw getting getting past that next game and
into the final four. So it's there, it's there for everybody.
I'm telling you why not us? That should be the
whole thing for the World Cup this year. Yeah, people
do that every Friday Saturday night. They get together with
(08:19):
their jackass buddies and they're gonna go try to find
themselves some good times and loving and they say, why
not us? I just wanted Wow, I didn't know. I
didn't know. That's where you're going with that. Who was saying? Man?
Was that harmon in college? He's playing music, it ready
to go out? Why not me? Might have been Monday night? No,
(08:41):
not this bladder bust I'm going to is gonna be
the best bladder bust ever? Why not me. I can
hold it in for a long time. Why not That
Judd had a huge hit called why not Me way
back in the day. Look it up. But the idea, um, uh,
just that you got through the regular the knock out.
You're into the knockout rounds, right, so you go through
(09:02):
group play and you wonder on some level, And this
is me with my cautiousness, right, the fiscal conservative conservatory
kind of thing, conservatism where you say, did did teams
just decide to get through and and then now we
unleash hell right, sitting players down or or substitutions or
(09:26):
strategies or whatever. It's like, now that's we we get
through that what we'll be able to get through? And
now we get to the knockout round and it's like,
all right, different teams. That's my only fear in this process,
particularly when the United States struggles to score, Like that's
that's my biggest They got through and you you move on,
it's they where are you gonna find goals? That's it?
(09:48):
And here comes back. But sometimes you only need one.
Sometimes you only need one, buddy, only need one to
find the back of that. And you only need one. Yeah,
assuming you're getting to at least see you look what
you're doing already going into penalty shots. Buddy, Come on, buddy,
when the game in regulation, Buddy, I'm taking the strategy
Iran took yesterday where in the first minute you knew, Hey,
(10:10):
we're just playing to tie this game, all right, we
don't we don't need to take this free kick we're
getting in the first twenty seconds. We're gonna wait. That
was good that we don't really wanted to make sure
he spun it perfectly. Uh. On the I don't know
what the conversation those two guys were having, though I
would have loved them to be miked up. Can we
get a hard knocks on that? I'm sure it was this.
It was, Hey, do you think coach is gonna be happy?
(10:31):
We're wasting a lot of time. But yeah, we're already
a minute and we had eighty nine more minutes left
of a tie. Yeah, let's just stay here for until
they make us kick it. Yeah, how long do you think?
I don't know a little while it almost worked like
but one of those like five six minutes in, they
had that one barrage. I'm like, this is all going
down right here? And then I and then the United
States finally cleared the zone. But it was the moment
of wow, they have now put seven eight balls in
(10:55):
towards the net. All right, blocked away whatever, but it's
still pressure and you can see the eyes widening, like wow,
we got ourselves Sicanta. And then they backed off from there.
I'm like, all right, you had you had a big
moment and then you backed off. What are you doing?
You play to win the game? Twitter and out about
(11:15):
a Fresca, Mike and Swollen down The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harmon. It is the Fox Sports Radio Tailgate
presented by the Big Green Egg. Nothing beats the flavor
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(11:39):
Frost and Nick's got cooked on one the night? Uh yeah,
the next it was tough. It was tough night tonight.
I I really thought that all they're gonna pull this off,
and they're gonna pull it. The knicks are gonna pull
this off. We're gonna do it. They're gonna pull us off. There.
But and now they didn't pull it off. It didn't happen.
Didn't happen. But that's that's where it goes sometimes, right,
That's that's where it goes some some sometimes you times
you don't win, right that that's what it is for
(11:59):
the nixt But I mean, what's his name? And Megan
Markel there right, yeah, yeah, but Prince Harry, Megan Market
were there, Prince Harry, Sorry, Prince you know, I'm watching them.
They're not really they're not really up to that yet
in the crowd. They're not wasting time. Come on, it's crazy.
(12:23):
Actually read that they were in Boston's. I remember reading
that earlier to Trip. Yeah, from like nineteen seventy six,
something like that, conflating my dual screen experience. Yeah. Well,
and I will say this, and I will say this
because you mentioned they mentioned the world. This season of
The Crown so far is really boring. It is. It
is the first two seasons are so unbelievably good. The
(12:45):
second two seasons you get one good season out all
the episodes, right, the episodes are all hit and missed.
But some great ones and this season right now, I'm like,
I am just bored to tears with with the crowd,
I am bored to tear. It's so much okay, yes,
just sitting around and looking and people staring long lee
out windows. There's just a lot of long lea staring
out windows of Buckingham Palace. Man. Be sure to catch
(13:07):
live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harman
weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific, Fox Sports Radio.
Welcome inside our to The Jason Smith Show with my
best friend Mike Harman, broadcasting live from the tire Irac
dot com studios. Tirect dot com will help you get
there an unmatched selection, fast, free shipping, free road hazard protection,
(13:29):
and over ten thousand recommended installers. Tire rac dot com
the way tire buying should be. We got Rick Buker
come in your way. In about twenty minutes, all the
biggest news from the NBA, including Devin Booker. Fifty one
points night for the Suns through three quarters. Early in
the fourth the Suns have an eighteen point lead, so
maybe Booker is done for the night, But fifty one
(13:51):
points through three quarters for Devin Booker. Maybe the Sons
are getting back to being the Sun. It looked like
they were the Sons, then they struggled. Now that we
back to being the Suns again, is up. It was down,
they became on their way back up. Devin Booker, fifty
one tonight. Really nice of you to not punctuate, and
it's coming against the bulls. I I see, But buddy,
I I did that for you. I just got left
(14:13):
it up. As he's got this monstrous game as if
we're playing on a nerve hoop on the back of
his door in his dorm room. No, no, no, he's
beating up on professionals at home. And you look at
a one two game entertaining twenty five from the field.
How the hell is a shooting guard defense? Tom Tabenneau
(14:35):
used to have him running around there and six or
seven from three point range. The fact that he's only
taken six free throws, Run out and hit him, get
him out of his comfort zone? What are we doing here?
So we'll have more on this game and more with
Rick Buker from the on the NBA coming up in
about twenty minutes. But when this story broke today, it
(14:56):
became a really big deal right away. Jeff al who
was a long time Patriots insider, covers a team for
The Athletic, wrote this on Wednesday about what Tom Brady
could do for next year in the NFL. He says, quote,
don't ever write off the Patriots, as he and Bill
(15:16):
Belichick still have an abundance of respect for one another,
and that Brady could go back to New England for
next year and it would mean a domino effect of
things like Matt Jones being traded or maybe Matt Jones
sits behind Tom Brady. It would be certain negotiations would
have to be okay in advance, that Brady would be
okay going year to year or the contract not wanting
(15:38):
all kinds of money upfront, not wanting a long deal.
So there would be some stuff they would have to
be figured out, but not what you would but not
what you would think about. All. They gotta get over
their egos and their clashing. Brady back to New England
can happen. Now. Look, we've told you for a long time,
Brady is gonna continue to play. Right he got divorced.
The whole big thing of him not playing football and
(16:00):
more was being with his family. Now he's divorced, and
he's gonna be able to play. He wants to play
till he's fifty. You know, he doesn't want to leave
after this year. He's going to play somewhere next season,
guaranteed not gonna be in Tampa because Tampa is not
a team that's suddenly, hey, we're in one off season
away from revamping and reloading. No, this Tampa team has done.
Brady needs to go someplace else. New England has a
(16:21):
lot of money to spend. Other teams have money to
spend as well. Maybe at San Francisco. He's playing somewhere.
But let's have a real conversation about why Brady can
go back to New England. Because for all of the
reasons about why Brady could go back, people are gonna
focus on the field on the field, on the field,
And I'll tell you why I can see Brady going
back to New England, Mike, And it's much more human
(16:42):
and much more personal than that. What did Tom Brady
do in the last couple of years, Right he was
in New England? New England was his home right for
how long? Twenty years? He's the patron saint of Boston.
Everything that the guy. The guy's a legend everywhere, but
specifically in Boston's where he It's where he came in
after college, where he lived, It's where he got married.
He's got kids, he's raising a family in Boston. What happens,
(17:05):
Things get weird with New England and they want to
push him out, So he leaves for Tampa Bay, goes
to Tampa, relocates his family to Tampa and they're kind
of still all over the map and moving between Tampa
and Boston. And what happens. He plays a couple of
years and he winds up getting divorced. So now his
whole family life has been uprooted. And now he's divorced
(17:25):
and he's a single dad, and he's gotta figure out
time with his kids. From a human standpoint, now we
talk about him, you know, Oh he's a superstar, but
just like any divorced dad, he's got to figure out
his life. And what am I gonna do? Am I
gonna stay in Tampa where I really don't have the
roots that I had in Boston? I'm gonna stay here?
Am I gonna? Am I gonna go someplace else? Am
(17:46):
I really gonna go? Be? Okay? If I go back
to San Francisco. Am I gonna be three thousand miles
away from the rent? Am I gonna really do that?
This is why New England makes sense, because it's Brady
going home to something familiar when his life is in
a period of upheaval. He's going through a divorce. What
do you do when when big things like this happen
in your life? People move home? Right, It's like a
(18:07):
Hallmark movie, like a Hallmark Christmas movie. Somebody gets divorced,
they move home, they reconnect with the person they dated
in high school who was now the town doctor, and
she helps him plan a fall festival and they fall
in love. And that's how it goes. Right. He really
gotten sucked into all those Christmas movies pretty fast. It's
what happens. Brady's the quarterback who has a life change.
(18:29):
He moves back home and he reconnects with his high
school sweetheart who is a veterinarian, and they have this
big thing where they save a lot of dogs. They
plan a Christmas festival, and that's how. That's how the
movie is. Just how they never go home and find
someone just living in their parents basement. Oh no, no, no, no,
that never happens and become a you know, just kind
(18:49):
of wandering hippie or something. Now there's always the doctor,
the vet D you know, mogul. What are you been
up to, Matt? Nothing man, Just still living in my
parents basement, still working in the movie theater. Yeah, I
get free tickets. I get to go movies all the time. Man,
it's great, all right, So yeah, yeah, I get thirty
hours a week and I got fifteen years in there. Now, Man,
it's all you wanna come to the movie sometime. It's
gonna be great. I mean that that's that's what happens.
(19:11):
And you know, maybe because it's it's the holidays now,
and I think about the Hallmark movies and Brady moving.
Forgot about a d for Brady. You could be the
hall the Hallmark movie for Brady. But still going back
home is going to be a grounding thing and a
settling thing. Okay. Now I'm back in Boston, close enough
to New York where ever we wind up settling. It's
easy to get back to your old life, where your
kids were, where who they were friends with, and back
(19:32):
with the old family. It's an easy thing to do.
And going through a divorce is a real traumatic time
for anybody, much less a guy that had to live
it through the New York Post for the past five months. Right,
this is what's going on. Giselle and him are upset.
Gisell's always had a bit of a temper, and this
is not the first time it's happened. They really had
a big blow up and all these things. I thought,
(19:53):
oh man, you gotta see this all the way through
in the newspaper every single day and online every single day.
The grounding going back to what's familiar is a huge pole.
For that reason alone, I can see Tom Brady going
back to New England just for that. Okay, here's where
I was successful. I'm comfortable here. I can hit the
ground running and we can win, right, I have one
(20:13):
here before the Patriots are going to spend more money,
have like a hundred million dollars of salary cap money
to spend next year, thinking they can start spending again.
Hopefully the guys spend it better than he did two
years ago and Brady left. But you know, the possibility
of winning is there. So it's not like Brady's gonna
show up and play for a couple of years. Team
is gonna stink. No, he wants to win, but that
that pole going back to New England. Yeah, I can
easy see that happening specifically for that because when you
(20:36):
have a big life change like that with a divorce,
especially as high profile as it is there, and you're
trying to figure out coast to coast and everything else,
and you gotta see pictures online of is this your
wife's new boyfriend? Like a month after you guys are divorced,
is it? Uh? Yeah, going back to something familiar is
a really popular thing. It's a big poll to go do. Yeah.
I think when we look at the larger picture, right,
(20:58):
he did his Let's Go podcast other day and was
kind of talking about it from the week to week
finish the season and about his noncommittaled to things football team.
So it's kind of an interesting piece because I think
part of it is in the background. You know what's next.
We've watched what Tampa is and look how old you've
become applies to him to a degree, right, because he's
(21:21):
missing some throws and the timing isn't there. That would
normally be part of that being the shoddy work of
the offensive line up until the last couple of weeks,
the ineffectiveness of the run game, guys in and out
of the receiving corps, et cetera. But when we look
at the season as a holder's still potential to to
do some damage in the NFC. All wishing, wanting and hoping,
(21:44):
but going forward, right, how real was the flirtation and
the stuff going ammy versus Hey, it's two guys hanging
out out a yacht. Yeah, I know that's founds sounds
funny to hear, and it was funny to say it.
That's why I did. Two guys hanging out out a yacht, uh,
talking about their futures. But if he goes back to
New England, you talk about familiarity, You talk about Bill
Belichick and a guy that they had that professional relationship. Yeah,
(22:07):
you're gonna butt heads time to time. But if it works,
it works. And that's in any type of business than
any type of relationship. It's not always gonna go swimming lee,
but you know, oftentimes you water or the other has
to just shrug and go all right, there's other stuff
to worry about and you move forward. Now. Some will
just say all right, this is the end of it,
and we can get into his personal life as it's
(22:28):
been transcribed us through the newspapers and tabloids, as much
as you want to believe all the details there or
how much he's worried in the photo section of page
six about what Giselle is doing right now? It's that
guy a trainer? Is it a friend? Because you know,
men and women can be friends, folks, But the go
(22:48):
on down to like shocking. I know, but you still
have to live that. You still have to live with
everybody thinking heyd and you have to live with your
teammates walk look at you going, dude, Man, she's with
the trainer, with the guy that was teaching her jiu jitsu. Dude,
what's going on? I mean, you still have to live
with that, you know, sure or not? It's here's these
pictures that are out there. That's okay, How are they explained?
Are they? And sometimes people don't care about here in
(23:10):
the explanation They just want to look at the salaciosist
of the story. And you have to live with that. Jason,
I like how you called it jiu jitsu? Was that
what it was? What what did he teacher? Was it
jiu jitsu? Was? What was he teaching her sure you
sure you care, no, but that but that well, okay,
that was legally or that was the story that what
he was teaching. Okay, very yeah. Anyway, the the idea
(23:34):
being that you want that familiarity from a football perspective,
and with a hundred million to spend, your damn right,
he's gonna have more input on how it's spent. Because
in Tampa, did we really get the sense that he
got to direct traffic that way. Maybe a little bit,
but not to the level that perhaps he was comfortable with.
And certainly super Bowls isn't Uh, he's if he's not
(23:57):
gonna trust him in the final minutes to be able
to make a row down the field, call a time out, etcetera. Again,
it goes back to the Tom Brady should have called
the time out and then if Bulls wanted to fight
about it, uh, then they could have had it out
on the sideline. Going back to my Aaron Rodgers Matt
Lafleur thing of well, the game against the Buccaneers a
couple of years ago. But for for Brady now, it's
(24:18):
what's the next phase that's gonna make him happy? If
he's gonna play another year or two and going back
where the terminology, the working relationships, and everything are clean
and well established. Who knows, if things go really badly,
Josh McDaniels might be back again. To be sure to
catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven pm Pacific on
(24:41):
Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app The
next come close, can't make free throws? They fall to
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on the hotline nobody better to break it down? Fox
Sports One NBA Insider extraordinaire. Check out his On the
Ball podcast as well. He's on Twitter at Rick Buker.
(25:03):
It is the aforementioned Rick Buker. What's happening, buddy? How
are you man? What is happening? Happy Holiday? You gentlemen?
Is that was? Is that? Is that a shot at
me tonight? Because Drew Holiday had a big night against
the next Is that? Are you doing this already already?
To me? Happy Holiday? You met to me? Well? Who
else would do it to you? Damn right? I mean
(25:29):
I had It's been a couple of weeks. I think
since we have met here at our appointed hour, and
and I figured, you know, it was about time somebody
needed to come around, and Drew helped me out. He
set me up, so here we are. He did you
could have mentioned Grays and Allen. I can't even that question, really, really,
(25:51):
I mean you laid it up and he dunked it.
And then Rick, Rick was hanging on the rim. He
got his technical and then he still smiled and waved
at the reft. It's all good, exactly, slap the backboard
and here we go. Let's go. You would be I think, Rick,
I think you are that guy who would hang on
the rim, get the tea and let go and go.
What what? I wasn't hanging on the rim? I think
(26:12):
you would do that. There was a guy under me.
What do you mean I would do that? In various
forms throughout my life I have done that, may not
have had may not have involved the backboard in the rim,
but I trust you I've done the wrong thing. And
then set somebody down and said what what. He's now
(26:32):
added a small nerve backboard on the set of all
TV shows he will do from now on, And after
he makes a point, Rick dunks it stairs all right,
So let's let's start here before we get into individual teams,
because I know you're you've been hot on this is
the Western Conference really good and deep or is it
just not very good? It's kind of hard to tell
(26:53):
right now. Yeah, yeah, no, it's it's it's muddled, for sure.
And I don't I a great question because I've been
talking to a lot of g ms and scouts and
people around the league with December fifteenth coming up in
the possibility of you know, we're a quarter of the
way into the season, and so this is a time
where teams sort of have a sense of who they
(27:15):
are and are they are? Are they who they thought
they hoped they would be, and if not, we need
to make a move. And I think one of the
reasons why you're not hearing a whole lot in terms
of teams making moves because if you look at the
Western Conference, it is so muddled. Nobody feels like they're
breaking away from the pack or meaning of the Lakers
(27:36):
for where they are, they're what five games out of
first place, so they can live by I think it
would be an illusion. But but the idea that hey,
we're really not that far out of it and so,
but I don't think. I think the class of the
league right now, without questions, is in the Eastern Conference.
The Phoenix Suns have been very good, uh clearly the
(27:58):
best team in the West, but we still have questions
in terms of what they're going to be without Chris Paul.
And I know they've done a lot of this without
Chris Paul. But I mean as far as the playoff team,
the teams that I think are for real and are
demonstrating that they are for real are in the Eastern
Conference with the Milwaukee Bucks in the Boston Celtics. Right now,
I think the West is is wide open, but it's
(28:20):
wide open because, um, every team has a flaw of
some kind and it's just a matter of whether it's
going to show up or when it's going to show up.
Well to that in that vein, let's stay in the
Western Conference with the Warriors. Like so many teams sitting
around five hundreds now just behind the once hot and
sizzling Utah jazz As. Look at the standings, but are
(28:45):
they fixable without having to make a larger move With
those young guys, They're not giving them the minutes you
would expect so many weary miles on those older legs.
Yeah no, and and I just don't know where they're
going to get the bench if they don't develop those
young guys. If cominga uh Wiseman's now with the G League,
(29:06):
the cominga moody like you can't. Somebody said to me
at the beginning of the year that for the Warriors
to have a chance to repeat, they needed one of
those guys to have like a Jordan Pool breakout year
in terms of what Pool became last year, and we
certainly have not seeing that. I would say that Cominga
(29:26):
is showing flashes of being able to do that. But
the bigger issue for me is that they are just defensively,
They're nowhere close to what they used to be. I
think we always think of them as being this offensive juggernaut,
but they were number one in the league in defensive
rating last year and that's been a hallmark of all
(29:49):
of their championship teams. And right now, I think the
last night checked they were twenty two and that was
an improvement over four or five games ago. And it's
not just the young guys. It's the fact that Clay
Thompson is I mean he made his name being one
of the best two way players UH wing players in
(30:13):
the league and being the guy who took the tough
defensive assignments, so that because so that Steph didn't have
to well Clay Clay is a shadow of what he
once was defensively. I mean, teams go at him at
will and score, and then you don't have Andrea I
Guadala and there anymore. He was another defensive stopper. And
(30:34):
Draymond Green can still get it done, and he can
get it done in spurts and so, and then Jordan
Pool is not a defender at all, does not even
attempt to be a defender. So you're looking at a
team that used to have like all of these stout
wing defenders. Now they're at a deficit. And I don't know,
(30:54):
like Cominga can be a very good defensive player, Um moody, Okay,
I just don't know how you replace what they've lost
in Clay Thompson not being the same and andre Iguadala
not being available at all. I think we lost Jason
he is is dipped away. Uh James Smith Show with
Mike armend Here, Fox Sports Radio, Rick Buker on the
(31:16):
Hot line with us here follow him on Twitter as
you do at Rick Bucker joined us. I'm here. Tom
Thibodeau just texted me saying he wanted you wanted Rick
Buker to call him after after is it with us?
I had to return that text real fast. That's what happened.
Is he gonna he is he gonna make a deal
for Clay Thompson or get somebody to cover Grayson Allen? Yeah?
(31:39):
Too soon to him hit him where it hurts? Yeah, Hey,
so Rick, you know, I know it's it's it's very
difficult to say this because everything we've seen for the
past eight bunths says no. But are the Lakers getting
a little bit better? Are they getting? I mean with
a B and how good is he's been? It's been awesome.
Are are they getting? Is this just they've won a
(32:01):
couple of games? How do you see them right now? No?
I I think what you said is exactly right. They've
gotten a little bit better. There are there are winning
game They're beating teams that they should beat. Now, Antonio, Uh,
we have to look at who else they played recently.
I mean, they should beat Indiana and they did. They
(32:22):
did not that hurts Um. So they are you know,
Rus coming off the bench and doing what he's doing,
a d being available, Lebron being available, Like they're playing
a little bit better. Is it enough for them? Because
we immediately go from they're playing a little bit better,
or they could be in the playoff picture, Lakers fans
(32:44):
immediately go to, oh, we just were one move away
from being title contenders. Again, they're not that and and
and they sort of have the opposite issue that the
Warriors have, which is the Lakers simply are so poor
to sending the three and shooting the three, and there's
no getting around that, Like that's such a big element
(33:07):
of the game now and they don't have the requisite
pieces or talent on that team to change that. And
so can they be a little bit better, yes, But
are are they going to like move up into the
top four or five teams in the West? As muddled
(33:27):
as it is, every team that I look at, I
can say, well, there's reasons to believe they're going to
get better. Either they're young and they or they have
new pieces, or there's some element where you say they're yeah,
they're kind of muddling. They're clippers. For example, the Clippers
are just kind of muddling along. They're not healthy and
(33:49):
shows the depth that they have that they're still still
have a winning record. Um, Like, what what do I
look at to say the Lakers can take yet another
step from what they've already done from the beginning of
the year that I'm just just being realistic here, Like
(34:11):
what I think A D and Lebron are are playing
very efficient, effective basketball. Are you going to ask them
at this point that they have to go to get
another level? And is that going to make a difference.
I just don't see how Rick earlier, you alluded to
the Celtics as one of the teams standing above everybody
(34:33):
in the Eastern Conference started the season four and three, uh,
and have since lost once. As you flow through this, uh,
do they have enough depth on this squad because I
look at most nights it's the starting five dominant, dominating,
and maybe one guy off the bench like tonight. Yeah, yeah, No,
it's a fair question. I think getting Robert Williams back
(34:54):
is a big piece there. Their lack of sties once
we get two matchups in the postseason, UM is potentially
an issue if Robert is not healthy and available. But uh,
you know. Overall, I just you know, Peyton Pitcher doesn't
(35:15):
get consistent minutes, but when he does, he's able to contribute.
They have a number of guys who had the opportunity
to show what they could do in the postseason last year.
So we may not be seeing it right now, but
I think there's enough depth there for the for them
to come through. And the biggest thing is just you
can't tell me that Jayson Tatum, looking at the way
(35:36):
he's playing now versus the way he played in the
finals against the Warriors, was not dealing. I don't remember
it was a shoulder injury or what it was, but
he clearly was not because he played with nothing close
to the aggression that he's playing with now, particularly when
it comes to attacking the rim and defensively. Um, I
(35:57):
feel like he's taken another step forward, and Marcus smart
teams to have I don't know, you know, I don't
know whether he's taking what's there. There's the calm app,
like the meditation app. I think Marcus may have subscribed
to that because, um his efficiency has has gone another level.
(36:19):
I just there's two ways the teams can go when
they lose in the finals. They can either feel like
we got to the top of the mountain and we
didn't finish the deal, and that exhaustion can just take
them under and they can think we missed our best chance,
or it can light a fire under them. They can
just say we we missed an opportunity and we're going
(36:41):
to get back there, like the Spurs did against the
Miami Heat. Um, we're motivated by missing out, and I
feel like that's what's happened with the Boston Celtics, and
I gotta give a lot of credit to the Bazola
in picking up um where his predecessor left off and
(37:02):
that he had he didn't allow that the clouds surrounding
the team as a result of Emaodoka like he hasn't
changed anything, but in some ways it's it's it's good
he's he's like he's just steadied the ship and kept
them going with with what they had and allowed the
players to shine. And so I'm I'm really excited and
(37:25):
loving everything that I'm seeing from from the Boston Celtics.
I think they're for real. Rick. Lastly, is Tatum the
m v P right now? Is it Luca? Is it future?
Nick Shy Gilchris Alexander, Like, who's the m v P
right now, Anthony David, Well, it can't be. It can't
be Luca just because of the record, Like the numbers
(37:48):
are good, but I'm watching him. I mean, I gotta
give it to Janice before I would give it to Luca.
I just saw those two go head to head and um.
You know what I love about Tatum is he does
it at both ends of the floor. Joannice does it
at both ends of the floor. If you want to
give it to Tatum right now or make him the
you know, put him in the pole position, I have
(38:09):
absolutely no problem with that. I would say for me
between uh, it's between Janice and Tatum and whoever else
you want to fill out. Um, feel free. Some people
want to put Devin Booker in there. I would not,
but um, but for me, yeah, it's it's Tatum and
Jannice at the top. How about this one for my
(38:29):
own personal giggles. Last two games sixty eight points, twenty
three rebounds. Unfortunately on one thirteen, one o seven lost
to Brooklyn tonight. How much do the Knicks miss Chris
stops porzingis right now, jerk, You know Chris tapped. Every
he does this, it's it's um, he's somewhere. He's a
(38:50):
cross between a unicorn and a Hailey's comment, Like he's
a unicorn like on in Leap Years or something. Every
once in a while, so give you one of those performances,
go oh yeah, man, that guy could be really good.
But the problem is that it's just not consistently there.
So once you know, there aren't a whole lot of things,
(39:12):
as we all know, there aren't a whole lot of
things that the Knicks have done right, but moving off
of Kristops was certainly one of them. He is our
own Hailey's Comment unicorn. It's Rick Buker. He's on Twitter
at Rick Buker. Check out his on the Ball podcast
as well. Uh latest episode. Can James Wiseman be what
the Warriors need him to be? In time? That's at
(39:33):
Fox sports dot com. Rick is always buddy, appreciate your time.
My friend will talk to you next week. Cam Reddisio
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Carmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two a m.
Eastern seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
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(00:22):
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Greetings and welcome inside. Happy Wednesday, The Jason Smith Show
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(00:44):
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the way tire buying should be. I've always hated Grayson Allen.
Never liked the kid, never liked him at all, didn't
like especially don't like him now after the tide breaking
three he makes to give the Bucks the win over
the Knicks in the final thirty seconds, everything was going
fine and Grayson Allen makes a three and the game
(01:06):
is over and we lose mix. Yo, It's okay, buddy.
You were destined to lose that game. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's true. Honest. Thirty seven, thirteen and seven, Holiday had
his big day and we can say Holiday Holiday, Holiday
would say it thrice, so nice. Uh. He was one
(01:26):
of four was Grace and Allen from three point range
tonight just made that one, that's all he made, said one. Yeah,
what's up Frost Park. If only the Nicks played their
best game tonight, man, they could have pulled it out. Dude,
you're really gonna run this from last night with soccer?
Are you really gonna run it the ground? Yo? Hey?
You know, just like yeah, hey, listen, we're ten and twelve.
(01:48):
Everything is fine. You know, we'd be in first place
in the Western there yelling run it back? What's the
Lakers record? Let me look and see her. There are
they ten and twelve? The Lakers? Are they the Lakers
in twelve? Or the Lakers has more double doubles than
in and out? I'm sorry, they're seven and twelve. I'm sorry.
So there three, I'm sorry they're there. There two games
(02:09):
out of last place in the Western Conference. Okay. Just
wanted to make sure we're but they just got flux
in the Sunday night. They yeah, they they they took
the Chargers out and they put in the Lakers on
Sunday night. Uh No. You know. The funny thing is,
you know you mentioned the World Cup, and I was
thinking about this today, Mike. Obviously there's some crazy ass
stuff going on today in the World Cup. But this
high breakers firings, you name it. Oh yeah, Look, the
(02:30):
mec Mexico wins, but they don't make it to the
to the knockout round. So the coach gets fired and
he you know, falls on the sword. It's my fault
that we have lost this. This is the horrendous outcome.
It's like when coaches get fired in soccer. It's like
they're giving their final, their final addressed to everyone before
they get shot off into space and we're never gonna
(02:51):
see them again. It is my fault. I I presided
over this and this is absolutely unacceptable. And then that's
kind of how it goes. It's not like in the
NFL or Major League Baseball, where well, you know, maybe
the rebuild need a little bit longer than I thought.
A couple of things happened outside my control. No, no, no, no, no, no,
no no. You get stuff in soccer like I fully
(03:11):
assume responsibility for this great failure, right, which is what
dot martin exact quote. I'm sitting there. I want an
autograph card or this guy, so if someone could find one,
I'm putting him on my wall because this guy took
full responsibility. Quote. My contract ended as soon as the
referee blew the final whistle, and there's nothing more to
be done. They were taking all Mexico gear off of him. Hey,
(03:34):
give me all your Mexico your contracts up. Now, give
me the terraway we bought to shoot. Let's go. Give
me all this. Yeah, this suit is ours. I'm sorry.
You know I keep the shirt. We don't want you
to walk off with those shirt on. Keep this your
give us the suit, give us the suspenders, anything Mexico
you have. I'm sorry, that's that's coming with us. And
your cab is right outside the stadium. I just getting
right outside there. Yeah, that'sating quickly. What would have been
(03:56):
even worse, snow as if it had gone to the
next time breaker, which was yellow cards. I'll see that's
great about if you went out because of yellow cards.
Now look now, that was the big yellow right the Mexico.
The Mexico's group Group C stands for chaos, right, that
was a big thing. Today Argentina wins to move on,
and Mexico and Poland potentially we're coming down to a
(04:18):
tiebreaker to move on. And the tiebreaker they would have
gotten to would have been whoever had the fewest yellow cards,
So sportsmanship would have decided who moves on. Now, it
didn't wind up getting there because there was a couple
of goals that were scored. But for a long time
it looked like it's gonna be yellow cards. It's gonna
be which would take us back to the most pure
thing of sports. Right, Oh, it's sportsmanship that decides how
(04:40):
to move on. And and Poland would have fewer yellow
cards in Mexico, So this is what would be the big,
the big tiebreaker, And I love that. I thought, if
this happens, this would be the greatest thing in the world,
because when I can sit here and think about the
NFL going, how about if we break tiebreakers for playoff spots.
You got two teams tied at nine and eight, do
you have a tiebreaker head to head? No? Not applicable,
Still a tiebreaker, tiebreaker for the conference schedule. No, not applicable.
(05:02):
What is applicable? Fewest penalties on the season, so we
give the best sports, but you whoever committed the fewest
penalties moves onto the playoffs. I would have dug that
that would have been a fun thing to do. Is
it all penalties or do we just make it pre
snap because then you you should lose because you were dumb?
Or do you want to make it personal foul penalties?
How we can do that too? Like that? Would you know?
(05:24):
Because yet because the foul is a foul, but you
get a yellow car? Yeah, okay, okay, so you need
you need to ampen up a bit. It would need
to be he can't just do penalty. It would need
to be like personal foul fifteen yard penalties. That would
be what what would do it that? That's the equivalent
of see problem solving? I like that right there, and
don't forget Hey the Jets. The Jets only have eleven
personal foul penalties this year and the Chargers have forty six,
(05:47):
So hey, they that tiebreaker the Jets really had. They
gotta work cut out four if they're gonna want to
get to that forty six. That would be great. By
the way, at the end of the World Cup, I
don't think they hand out any uh golden balls like
the Lady Bag Trophy. Okay, uh win and you're the
best player and that's it. Yes, So the sportsman ship thing,
(06:07):
I don't know. It's subjective. Yeah, Soccer is not really
a sport where you think about sportsmanship. If you think
all that's great, I don't think about soccer sportsmanship. It's not.
I do not. Wow, look at you did you? You really? You?
You lost money on the Unity You really bet Iran
to win. You in the Iron Cheek bet Iran to
beat the United States. You've been bitter about this. United
(06:29):
States went for like I'm gonna come to your house
with the Iron Cheeks clubs. You've been so but you
know about this World Cup right that. This is where
I'm at after today and you saw some crazy results.
Tunisia beats France one nothing in a shocker, right, Mexico
is just a goal right at the end. Yeah, it
(06:51):
was the final minute from France. The guy did the
penguin walk and everything and then they took it away.
It's been insane, right, Argentina was in trouble or early.
You know, the biggest upset in World Cup history. You know,
Mexico is out there not advancing to the knockout round
for the first time in forty four years. I'm telling you,
and this is why. Another reason why I love where
the United States is because the theme of this World Cup,
(07:14):
the theme of this World Cup at this point for
the teams of the knockout round is why not Us?
This is not a World Cup where normally you look
up and go, man, how are we gonna beat Germany?
How are we going to beat the Germany's not Germany
is not unbeatable. The Netherlands is that the Netherlands from
fifteen years ago. There's nobody at the top where you go, boy,
good luck getting by them. There are no teams that way.
This World Cup is so wide open that needs to
(07:36):
be the mantra why not Us? And that's why you
can buy In certain years. It's tough. I get it
because you're saying, how are we gonna beat Brazil? How
are we gonna beat them? How are you gonna be?
How I understand? How are we gonna beat France? France
is so good. There's three or four teams at the
top that are just better than everybody else and it's
gonna be impossible. Not this year? Telling you why not us?
That should be the theme for all the teams and
knocketting round of the World Cup because you really can
(07:58):
be why of us? Because you can make cases for
a lot of tames. Hey, how many of these teams
can make it to the final four? A lot of
them can? The United States beats Netherlands, they might get
a great draw getting getting past that next game and
into the final four. So it's there, it's there for everybody.
I'm telling you why not us? That should be the
whole thing for the World Cup this year. Yeah, people
do that every Friday Saturday night. They get together with
(08:19):
their jackass buddies and they're gonna go try to find
themselves some good times and loving and they say, why
not us? I just wanted Wow, I didn't know. I
didn't know. That's where you're going with that. Who was saying? Man?
Was that harmon in college? He's playing music, it ready
to go out? Why not me? Might have been Monday night? No,
(08:41):
not this bladder bust I'm going to is gonna be
the best bladder bust ever? Why not me. I can
hold it in for a long time. Why not That
Judd had a huge hit called why not Me way
back in the day. Look it up. But the idea, um, uh,
just that you got through the regular the knock out.
You're into the knockout rounds, right, so you go through
(09:02):
group play and you wonder on some level, And this
is me with my cautiousness, right, the fiscal conservative conservatory
kind of thing, conservatism where you say, did did teams
just decide to get through and and then now we
unleash hell right, sitting players down or or substitutions or
(09:26):
strategies or whatever. It's like, now that's we we get
through that what we'll be able to get through? And
now we get to the knockout round and it's like,
all right, different teams. That's my only fear in this process,
particularly when the United States struggles to score, Like that's
that's my biggest They got through and you you move on,
it's they where are you gonna find goals? That's it?
(09:48):
And here comes back. But sometimes you only need one.
Sometimes you only need one, buddy, only need one to
find the back of that. And you only need one. Yeah,
assuming you're getting to at least see you look what
you're doing already going into penalty shots. Buddy, Come on, buddy,
when the game in regulation, Buddy, I'm taking the strategy
Iran took yesterday where in the first minute you knew, Hey,
(10:10):
we're just playing to tie this game, all right, we
don't we don't need to take this free kick we're
getting in the first twenty seconds. We're gonna wait. That
was good that we don't really wanted to make sure
he spun it perfectly. Uh. On the I don't know
what the conversation those two guys were having, though I
would have loved them to be miked up. Can we
get a hard knocks on that? I'm sure it was this.
It was, Hey, do you think coach is gonna be happy?
(10:31):
We're wasting a lot of time. But yeah, we're already
a minute and we had eighty nine more minutes left
of a tie. Yeah, let's just stay here for until
they make us kick it. Yeah, how long do you think?
I don't know a little while it almost worked like
but one of those like five six minutes in, they
had that one barrage. I'm like, this is all going
down right here? And then I and then the United
States finally cleared the zone. But it was the moment
of wow, they have now put seven eight balls in
(10:55):
towards the net. All right, blocked away whatever, but it's
still pressure and you can see the eyes widening, like wow,
we got ourselves Sicanta. And then they backed off from there.
I'm like, all right, you had you had a big
moment and then you backed off. What are you doing?
You play to win the game? Twitter and out about
(11:15):
a Fresca, Mike and Swollen down The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harmon. It is the Fox Sports Radio Tailgate
presented by the Big Green Egg. Nothing beats the flavor
of live fire cooking on a Big Green Egg. It's
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home delivery, Big green egg dot com. Yeah, what's up?
(11:39):
Frost and Nick's got cooked on one the night? Uh yeah,
the next it was tough. It was tough night tonight.
I I really thought that all they're gonna pull this off,
and they're gonna pull it. The knicks are gonna pull
this off. We're gonna do it. They're gonna pull us off. There.
But and now they didn't pull it off. It didn't happen.
Didn't happen. But that's that's where it goes sometimes, right,
That's that's where it goes some some sometimes you times
you don't win, right that that's what it is for
(11:59):
the nixt But I mean, what's his name? And Megan
Markel there right, yeah, yeah, but Prince Harry, Megan Market
were there, Prince Harry, Sorry, Prince you know, I'm watching them.
They're not really they're not really up to that yet
in the crowd. They're not wasting time. Come on, it's crazy.
(12:23):
Actually read that they were in Boston's. I remember reading
that earlier to Trip. Yeah, from like nineteen seventy six,
something like that, conflating my dual screen experience. Yeah. Well,
and I will say this, and I will say this
because you mentioned they mentioned the world. This season of
The Crown so far is really boring. It is. It
is the first two seasons are so unbelievably good. The
(12:45):
second two seasons you get one good season out all
the episodes, right, the episodes are all hit and missed.
But some great ones and this season right now, I'm like,
I am just bored to tears with with the crowd,
I am bored to tear. It's so much okay, yes,
just sitting around and looking and people staring long lee
out windows. There's just a lot of long lea staring
out windows of Buckingham Palace. Man. Be sure to catch
(13:07):
live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harman
weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific, Fox Sports Radio.
Welcome inside our to The Jason Smith Show with my
best friend Mike Harman, broadcasting live from the tire Irac
dot com studios. Tirect dot com will help you get
there an unmatched selection, fast, free shipping, free road hazard protection,
(13:29):
and over ten thousand recommended installers. Tire rac dot com
the way tire buying should be. We got Rick Buker
come in your way. In about twenty minutes, all the
biggest news from the NBA, including Devin Booker. Fifty one
points night for the Suns through three quarters. Early in
the fourth the Suns have an eighteen point lead, so
maybe Booker is done for the night, But fifty one
(13:51):
points through three quarters for Devin Booker. Maybe the Sons
are getting back to being the Sun. It looked like
they were the Sons, then they struggled. Now that we
back to being the Suns again, is up. It was down,
they became on their way back up. Devin Booker, fifty
one tonight. Really nice of you to not punctuate, and
it's coming against the bulls. I I see, But buddy,
I I did that for you. I just got left
(14:13):
it up. As he's got this monstrous game as if
we're playing on a nerve hoop on the back of
his door in his dorm room. No, no, no, he's
beating up on professionals at home. And you look at
a one two game entertaining twenty five from the field.
How the hell is a shooting guard defense? Tom Tabenneau
(14:35):
used to have him running around there and six or
seven from three point range. The fact that he's only
taken six free throws, Run out and hit him, get
him out of his comfort zone? What are we doing here?
So we'll have more on this game and more with
Rick Buker from the on the NBA coming up in
about twenty minutes. But when this story broke today, it
(14:56):
became a really big deal right away. Jeff al who
was a long time Patriots insider, covers a team for
The Athletic, wrote this on Wednesday about what Tom Brady
could do for next year in the NFL. He says, quote,
don't ever write off the Patriots, as he and Bill
(15:16):
Belichick still have an abundance of respect for one another,
and that Brady could go back to New England for
next year and it would mean a domino effect of
things like Matt Jones being traded or maybe Matt Jones
sits behind Tom Brady. It would be certain negotiations would
have to be okay in advance, that Brady would be
okay going year to year or the contract not wanting
(15:38):
all kinds of money upfront, not wanting a long deal.
So there would be some stuff they would have to
be figured out, but not what you would but not
what you would think about. All. They gotta get over
their egos and their clashing. Brady back to New England
can happen. Now. Look, we've told you for a long time,
Brady is gonna continue to play. Right he got divorced.
The whole big thing of him not playing football and
(16:00):
more was being with his family. Now he's divorced, and
he's gonna be able to play. He wants to play
till he's fifty. You know, he doesn't want to leave
after this year. He's going to play somewhere next season,
guaranteed not gonna be in Tampa because Tampa is not
a team that's suddenly, hey, we're in one off season
away from revamping and reloading. No, this Tampa team has done.
Brady needs to go someplace else. New England has a
(16:21):
lot of money to spend. Other teams have money to
spend as well. Maybe at San Francisco. He's playing somewhere.
But let's have a real conversation about why Brady can
go back to New England. Because for all of the
reasons about why Brady could go back, people are gonna
focus on the field on the field, on the field,
And I'll tell you why I can see Brady going
back to New England, Mike, And it's much more human
(16:42):
and much more personal than that. What did Tom Brady
do in the last couple of years, Right he was
in New England? New England was his home right for
how long? Twenty years? He's the patron saint of Boston.
Everything that the guy. The guy's a legend everywhere, but
specifically in Boston's where he It's where he came in
after college, where he lived, It's where he got married.
He's got kids, he's raising a family in Boston. What happens,
(17:05):
Things get weird with New England and they want to
push him out, So he leaves for Tampa Bay, goes
to Tampa, relocates his family to Tampa and they're kind
of still all over the map and moving between Tampa
and Boston. And what happens. He plays a couple of
years and he winds up getting divorced. So now his
whole family life has been uprooted. And now he's divorced
(17:25):
and he's a single dad, and he's gotta figure out
time with his kids. From a human standpoint, now we
talk about him, you know, Oh he's a superstar, but
just like any divorced dad, he's got to figure out
his life. And what am I gonna do? Am I
gonna stay in Tampa where I really don't have the
roots that I had in Boston? I'm gonna stay here?
Am I gonna? Am I gonna go someplace else? Am
(17:46):
I really gonna go? Be? Okay? If I go back
to San Francisco. Am I gonna be three thousand miles
away from the rent? Am I gonna really do that?
This is why New England makes sense, because it's Brady
going home to something familiar when his life is in
a period of upheaval. He's going through a divorce. What
do you do when when big things like this happen
in your life? People move home? Right, It's like a
(18:07):
Hallmark movie, like a Hallmark Christmas movie. Somebody gets divorced,
they move home, they reconnect with the person they dated
in high school who was now the town doctor, and
she helps him plan a fall festival and they fall
in love. And that's how it goes. Right. He really
gotten sucked into all those Christmas movies pretty fast. It's
what happens. Brady's the quarterback who has a life change.
(18:29):
He moves back home and he reconnects with his high
school sweetheart who is a veterinarian, and they have this
big thing where they save a lot of dogs. They
plan a Christmas festival, and that's how. That's how the
movie is. Just how they never go home and find
someone just living in their parents basement. Oh no, no, no, no,
that never happens and become a you know, just kind
(18:49):
of wandering hippie or something. Now there's always the doctor,
the vet D you know, mogul. What are you been
up to, Matt? Nothing man, Just still living in my
parents basement, still working in the movie theater. Yeah, I
get free tickets. I get to go movies all the time. Man,
it's great, all right, So yeah, yeah, I get thirty
hours a week and I got fifteen years in there. Now, Man,
it's all you wanna come to the movie sometime. It's
gonna be great. I mean that that's that's what happens.
(19:11):
And you know, maybe because it's it's the holidays now,
and I think about the Hallmark movies and Brady moving.
Forgot about a d for Brady. You could be the
hall the Hallmark movie for Brady. But still going back
home is going to be a grounding thing and a
settling thing. Okay. Now I'm back in Boston, close enough
to New York where ever we wind up settling. It's
easy to get back to your old life, where your
kids were, where who they were friends with, and back
(19:32):
with the old family. It's an easy thing to do.
And going through a divorce is a real traumatic time
for anybody, much less a guy that had to live
it through the New York Post for the past five months. Right,
this is what's going on. Giselle and him are upset.
Gisell's always had a bit of a temper, and this
is not the first time it's happened. They really had
a big blow up and all these things. I thought,
(19:53):
oh man, you gotta see this all the way through
in the newspaper every single day and online every single day.
The grounding going back to what's familiar is a huge pole.
For that reason alone, I can see Tom Brady going
back to New England just for that. Okay, here's where
I was successful. I'm comfortable here. I can hit the
ground running and we can win, right, I have one
(20:13):
here before the Patriots are going to spend more money,
have like a hundred million dollars of salary cap money
to spend next year, thinking they can start spending again.
Hopefully the guys spend it better than he did two
years ago and Brady left. But you know, the possibility
of winning is there. So it's not like Brady's gonna
show up and play for a couple of years. Team
is gonna stink. No, he wants to win, but that
that pole going back to New England. Yeah, I can
easy see that happening specifically for that because when you
(20:36):
have a big life change like that with a divorce,
especially as high profile as it is there, and you're
trying to figure out coast to coast and everything else,
and you gotta see pictures online of is this your
wife's new boyfriend? Like a month after you guys are divorced,
is it? Uh? Yeah, going back to something familiar is
a really popular thing. It's a big poll to go do. Yeah.
I think when we look at the larger picture, right,
(20:58):
he did his Let's Go podcast other day and was
kind of talking about it from the week to week
finish the season and about his noncommittaled to things football team.
So it's kind of an interesting piece because I think
part of it is in the background. You know what's next.
We've watched what Tampa is and look how old you've
become applies to him to a degree, right, because he's
(21:21):
missing some throws and the timing isn't there. That would
normally be part of that being the shoddy work of
the offensive line up until the last couple of weeks,
the ineffectiveness of the run game, guys in and out
of the receiving corps, et cetera. But when we look
at the season as a holder's still potential to to
do some damage in the NFC. All wishing, wanting and hoping,
(21:44):
but going forward, right, how real was the flirtation and
the stuff going ammy versus Hey, it's two guys hanging
out out a yacht. Yeah, I know that's founds sounds
funny to hear, and it was funny to say it.
That's why I did. Two guys hanging out out a yacht, uh,
talking about their futures. But if he goes back to
New England, you talk about familiarity, You talk about Bill
Belichick and a guy that they had that professional relationship. Yeah,
(22:07):
you're gonna butt heads time to time. But if it works,
it works. And that's in any type of business than
any type of relationship. It's not always gonna go swimming lee,
but you know, oftentimes you water or the other has
to just shrug and go all right, there's other stuff
to worry about and you move forward. Now. Some will
just say all right, this is the end of it,
and we can get into his personal life as it's
(22:28):
been transcribed us through the newspapers and tabloids, as much
as you want to believe all the details there or
how much he's worried in the photo section of page
six about what Giselle is doing right now? It's that
guy a trainer? Is it a friend? Because you know,
men and women can be friends, folks, But the go
(22:48):
on down to like shocking. I know, but you still
have to live that. You still have to live with
everybody thinking heyd and you have to live with your
teammates walk look at you going, dude, Man, she's with
the trainer, with the guy that was teaching her jiu jitsu. Dude,
what's going on? I mean, you still have to live
with that, you know, sure or not? It's here's these
pictures that are out there. That's okay, How are they explained?
Are they? And sometimes people don't care about here in
(23:10):
the explanation They just want to look at the salaciosist
of the story. And you have to live with that. Jason,
I like how you called it jiu jitsu? Was that
what it was? What what did he teacher? Was it
jiu jitsu? Was? What was he teaching her sure you
sure you care, no, but that but that well, okay,
that was legally or that was the story that what
he was teaching. Okay, very yeah. Anyway, the the idea
(23:34):
being that you want that familiarity from a football perspective,
and with a hundred million to spend, your damn right,
he's gonna have more input on how it's spent. Because
in Tampa, did we really get the sense that he
got to direct traffic that way. Maybe a little bit,
but not to the level that perhaps he was comfortable with.
And certainly super Bowls isn't Uh, he's if he's not
(23:57):
gonna trust him in the final minutes to be able
to make a row down the field, call a time out, etcetera. Again,
it goes back to the Tom Brady should have called
the time out and then if Bulls wanted to fight
about it, uh, then they could have had it out
on the sideline. Going back to my Aaron Rodgers Matt
Lafleur thing of well, the game against the Buccaneers a
couple of years ago. But for for Brady now, it's
(24:18):
what's the next phase that's gonna make him happy? If
he's gonna play another year or two and going back
where the terminology, the working relationships, and everything are clean
and well established. Who knows, if things go really badly,
Josh McDaniels might be back again. To be sure to
catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven pm Pacific on
(24:41):
Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app The
next come close, can't make free throws? They fall to
the Bucks? Are things getting better for the Lakers? Will
things ever get better for the Warriors? Joining us now
on the hotline nobody better to break it down? Fox
Sports One NBA Insider extraordinaire. Check out his On the
Ball podcast as well. He's on Twitter at Rick Buker.
(25:03):
It is the aforementioned Rick Buker. What's happening, buddy? How
are you man? What is happening? Happy Holiday? You gentlemen?
Is that was? Is that? Is that a shot at
me tonight? Because Drew Holiday had a big night against
the next Is that? Are you doing this already already?
To me? Happy Holiday? You met to me? Well? Who
else would do it to you? Damn right? I mean
(25:29):
I had It's been a couple of weeks. I think
since we have met here at our appointed hour, and
and I figured, you know, it was about time somebody
needed to come around, and Drew helped me out. He
set me up, so here we are. He did you
could have mentioned Grays and Allen. I can't even that question, really, really,
(25:51):
I mean you laid it up and he dunked it.
And then Rick, Rick was hanging on the rim. He
got his technical and then he still smiled and waved
at the reft. It's all good, exactly, slap the backboard
and here we go. Let's go. You would be I think, Rick,
I think you are that guy who would hang on
the rim, get the tea and let go and go.
What what? I wasn't hanging on the rim? I think
(26:12):
you would do that. There was a guy under me.
What do you mean I would do that? In various
forms throughout my life I have done that, may not
have had may not have involved the backboard in the rim,
but I trust you I've done the wrong thing. And
then set somebody down and said what what. He's now
(26:32):
added a small nerve backboard on the set of all
TV shows he will do from now on, And after
he makes a point, Rick dunks it stairs all right,
So let's let's start here before we get into individual teams,
because I know you're you've been hot on this is
the Western Conference really good and deep or is it
just not very good? It's kind of hard to tell
(26:53):
right now. Yeah, yeah, no, it's it's it's muddled, for sure.
And I don't I a great question because I've been
talking to a lot of g ms and scouts and
people around the league with December fifteenth coming up in
the possibility of you know, we're a quarter of the
way into the season, and so this is a time
where teams sort of have a sense of who they
(27:15):
are and are they are? Are they who they thought
they hoped they would be, and if not, we need
to make a move. And I think one of the
reasons why you're not hearing a whole lot in terms
of teams making moves because if you look at the
Western Conference, it is so muddled. Nobody feels like they're
breaking away from the pack or meaning of the Lakers
(27:36):
for where they are, they're what five games out of
first place, so they can live by I think it
would be an illusion. But but the idea that hey,
we're really not that far out of it and so,
but I don't think. I think the class of the
league right now, without questions, is in the Eastern Conference.
The Phoenix Suns have been very good, uh clearly the
(27:58):
best team in the West, but we still have questions
in terms of what they're going to be without Chris Paul.
And I know they've done a lot of this without
Chris Paul. But I mean as far as the playoff team,
the teams that I think are for real and are
demonstrating that they are for real are in the Eastern
Conference with the Milwaukee Bucks in the Boston Celtics. Right now,
I think the West is is wide open, but it's
(28:20):
wide open because, um, every team has a flaw of
some kind and it's just a matter of whether it's
going to show up or when it's going to show up.
Well to that in that vein, let's stay in the
Western Conference with the Warriors. Like so many teams sitting
around five hundreds now just behind the once hot and
sizzling Utah jazz As. Look at the standings, but are
(28:45):
they fixable without having to make a larger move With
those young guys, They're not giving them the minutes you
would expect so many weary miles on those older legs.
Yeah no, and and I just don't know where they're
going to get the bench if they don't develop those
young guys. If cominga uh Wiseman's now with the G League,
(29:06):
the cominga moody like you can't. Somebody said to me
at the beginning of the year that for the Warriors
to have a chance to repeat, they needed one of
those guys to have like a Jordan Pool breakout year
in terms of what Pool became last year, and we
certainly have not seeing that. I would say that Cominga
(29:26):
is showing flashes of being able to do that. But
the bigger issue for me is that they are just defensively,
They're nowhere close to what they used to be. I
think we always think of them as being this offensive juggernaut,
but they were number one in the league in defensive
rating last year and that's been a hallmark of all
(29:49):
of their championship teams. And right now, I think the
last night checked they were twenty two and that was
an improvement over four or five games ago. And it's
not just the young guys. It's the fact that Clay
Thompson is I mean he made his name being one
of the best two way players UH wing players in
(30:13):
the league and being the guy who took the tough
defensive assignments, so that because so that Steph didn't have
to well Clay Clay is a shadow of what he
once was defensively. I mean, teams go at him at
will and score, and then you don't have Andrea I
Guadala and there anymore. He was another defensive stopper. And
(30:34):
Draymond Green can still get it done, and he can
get it done in spurts and so, and then Jordan
Pool is not a defender at all, does not even
attempt to be a defender. So you're looking at a
team that used to have like all of these stout
wing defenders. Now they're at a deficit. And I don't know,
(30:54):
like Cominga can be a very good defensive player, Um moody, Okay,
I just don't know how you replace what they've lost
in Clay Thompson not being the same and andre Iguadala
not being available at all. I think we lost Jason
he is is dipped away. Uh James Smith Show with
Mike armend Here, Fox Sports Radio, Rick Buker on the
(31:16):
Hot line with us here follow him on Twitter as
you do at Rick Bucker joined us. I'm here. Tom
Thibodeau just texted me saying he wanted you wanted Rick
Buker to call him after after is it with us?
I had to return that text real fast. That's what happened.
Is he gonna he is he gonna make a deal
for Clay Thompson or get somebody to cover Grayson Allen? Yeah?
(31:39):
Too soon to him hit him where it hurts? Yeah, Hey,
so Rick, you know, I know it's it's it's very
difficult to say this because everything we've seen for the
past eight bunths says no. But are the Lakers getting
a little bit better? Are they getting? I mean with
a B and how good is he's been? It's been awesome.
Are are they getting? Is this just they've won a
(32:01):
couple of games? How do you see them right now? No?
I I think what you said is exactly right. They've
gotten a little bit better. There are there are winning
game They're beating teams that they should beat. Now, Antonio, Uh,
we have to look at who else they played recently.
I mean, they should beat Indiana and they did. They
(32:22):
did not that hurts Um. So they are you know,
Rus coming off the bench and doing what he's doing,
a d being available, Lebron being available, Like they're playing
a little bit better. Is it enough for them? Because
we immediately go from they're playing a little bit better,
or they could be in the playoff picture, Lakers fans
(32:44):
immediately go to, oh, we just were one move away
from being title contenders. Again, they're not that and and
and they sort of have the opposite issue that the
Warriors have, which is the Lakers simply are so poor
to sending the three and shooting the three, and there's
no getting around that, Like that's such a big element
(33:07):
of the game now and they don't have the requisite
pieces or talent on that team to change that. And
so can they be a little bit better, yes, But
are are they going to like move up into the
top four or five teams in the West? As muddled
(33:27):
as it is, every team that I look at, I
can say, well, there's reasons to believe they're going to
get better. Either they're young and they or they have
new pieces, or there's some element where you say they're yeah,
they're kind of muddling. They're clippers. For example, the Clippers
are just kind of muddling along. They're not healthy and
(33:49):
shows the depth that they have that they're still still
have a winning record. Um, Like, what what do I
look at to say the Lakers can take yet another
step from what they've already done from the beginning of
the year that I'm just just being realistic here, Like
(34:11):
what I think A D and Lebron are are playing
very efficient, effective basketball. Are you going to ask them
at this point that they have to go to get
another level? And is that going to make a difference.
I just don't see how Rick earlier, you alluded to
the Celtics as one of the teams standing above everybody
(34:33):
in the Eastern Conference started the season four and three, uh,
and have since lost once. As you flow through this, uh,
do they have enough depth on this squad because I
look at most nights it's the starting five dominant, dominating,
and maybe one guy off the bench like tonight. Yeah, yeah, No,
it's a fair question. I think getting Robert Williams back
(34:54):
is a big piece there. Their lack of sties once
we get two matchups in the postseason, UM is potentially
an issue if Robert is not healthy and available. But uh,
you know. Overall, I just you know, Peyton Pitcher doesn't
(35:15):
get consistent minutes, but when he does, he's able to contribute.
They have a number of guys who had the opportunity
to show what they could do in the postseason last year.
So we may not be seeing it right now, but
I think there's enough depth there for the for them
to come through. And the biggest thing is just you
can't tell me that Jayson Tatum, looking at the way
(35:36):
he's playing now versus the way he played in the
finals against the Warriors, was not dealing. I don't remember
it was a shoulder injury or what it was, but
he clearly was not because he played with nothing close
to the aggression that he's playing with now, particularly when
it comes to attacking the rim and defensively. Um, I
(35:57):
feel like he's taken another step forward, and Marcus smart
teams to have I don't know, you know, I don't
know whether he's taking what's there. There's the calm app,
like the meditation app. I think Marcus may have subscribed
to that because, um his efficiency has has gone another level.
(36:19):
I just there's two ways the teams can go when
they lose in the finals. They can either feel like
we got to the top of the mountain and we
didn't finish the deal, and that exhaustion can just take
them under and they can think we missed our best chance,
or it can light a fire under them. They can
just say we we missed an opportunity and we're going
(36:41):
to get back there, like the Spurs did against the
Miami Heat. Um, we're motivated by missing out, and I
feel like that's what's happened with the Boston Celtics, and
I gotta give a lot of credit to the Bazola
in picking up um where his predecessor left off and
(37:02):
that he had he didn't allow that the clouds surrounding
the team as a result of Emaodoka like he hasn't
changed anything, but in some ways it's it's it's good
he's he's like he's just steadied the ship and kept
them going with with what they had and allowed the
players to shine. And so I'm I'm really excited and
(37:25):
loving everything that I'm seeing from from the Boston Celtics.
I think they're for real. Rick. Lastly, is Tatum the
m v P right now? Is it Luca? Is it future?
Nick Shy Gilchris Alexander, Like, who's the m v P
right now, Anthony David, Well, it can't be. It can't
be Luca just because of the record, Like the numbers
(37:48):
are good, but I'm watching him. I mean, I gotta
give it to Janice before I would give it to Luca.
I just saw those two go head to head and um.
You know what I love about Tatum is he does
it at both ends of the floor. Joannice does it
at both ends of the floor. If you want to
give it to Tatum right now or make him the
you know, put him in the pole position, I have
(38:09):
absolutely no problem with that. I would say for me
between uh, it's between Janice and Tatum and whoever else
you want to fill out. Um, feel free. Some people
want to put Devin Booker in there. I would not,
but um, but for me, yeah, it's it's Tatum and
Jannice at the top. How about this one for my
(38:29):
own personal giggles. Last two games sixty eight points, twenty
three rebounds. Unfortunately on one thirteen, one o seven lost
to Brooklyn tonight. How much do the Knicks miss Chris
stops porzingis right now, jerk, You know Chris tapped. Every
he does this, it's it's um, he's somewhere. He's a
(38:50):
cross between a unicorn and a Hailey's comment, Like he's
a unicorn like on in Leap Years or something. Every
once in a while, so give you one of those performances,
go oh yeah, man, that guy could be really good.
But the problem is that it's just not consistently there.
So once you know, there aren't a whole lot of things,
(39:12):
as we all know, there aren't a whole lot of
things that the Knicks have done right, but moving off
of Kristops was certainly one of them. He is our
own Hailey's Comment unicorn. It's Rick Buker. He's on Twitter
at Rick Buker. Check out his on the Ball podcast
as well. Uh latest episode. Can James Wiseman be what
the Warriors need him to be? In time? That's at
(39:33):
Fox sports dot com. Rick is always buddy, appreciate your time.
My friend will talk to you next week. Cam Reddisio
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Mike Harmon
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