Best of the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon

Jason and Mike debate if last year’s KAT/Randle/DiVincenzo trade is the best trade for both teams in the last 20 seasons. NFL players will be allowed to compete in Flag Football at the Olympic Games in 2028. We pay our respects to Bob Swerski. And Ant Man NO Shows for the T-wolves in the 4th Q!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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 am Eastern
seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find
your local station for The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is the best of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Hello, greetings and salutations, Happy Tuesday, The Jason Smith Show
with my base friend Mike Harmon. For over forty years,
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(00:52):
the way tire buying should be.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Well. Here we are halftime of.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
The game one of the Western Conference Finals, third period,
Game one of the Eastern Conference Finals in hockey. Not
happy with that, but I got a lot going on
the Mets to that, I got the next Now the
baseball baseball listen, I know all we'll get to the
Sodo stuff and all that, but really, baseball, I'm sorry,
it's gonna take a back seat for the next seven

(01:19):
to ten days. It's it's got to. I mean, I got,
I got two teams in the Eastern Conference Finals. It's
may okay. I mean there's a big stuff with Sodo,
big stuff going on to the Mets, get it and
they all stink, But there there's I got, I got
bigger stuff going on right now.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
I'm gonna got to prioritize well.

Speaker 4 (01:33):
But can basketball and the hockey bridge you to the
opening of any offseason workouts for the Jets? Oh no,
we got I got no matter what the record of
the Mets is right now, it's still you know, like
the Dodgers.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff swirling and a lot
of unrest.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
But I got, I got time for the It's okay,
I got time. I mean, I got big stuff, right,
I got, I got, I got the West Eastern Conference Finals.
Stard that I'm already locking in for. I've already told
my wife you listen tomorrow. I'm not gonna be any use.
But can we go to Costco tomorrow? Maybe May? I
don't know, depends how early of the day, like maybe
eleven thirty. Yeah, but once we get to like one
two o'clock like no, no.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
Well, no, you got to go at opening. So they
get to go to the food court. You can get yourself,
you know, stuffed, and then you'll be ready to go.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
So I'm not going matter early, like if you want
to do one thing, yeah, okay, so we go ten thirty,
eleven o'clock, we go.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
You know, it's it's fine.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Let the initial luna sego because folks that need stuff
for their their food trucks or their restaurants to let
them stock up, and.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Then you come in in the second wave.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
I just you know, I got the next tomorrow, right,
you know, I got the Now, I'll put the schedule
up on the fridge.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
Nick's hurricanes, Nick Hurricanes, I'll put it up. It's coming
towards the end here, Zoe has up that I don't
care the Nicks and the Cave.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
I mean, I'm really locked in. Don't ask me to
make any big life decisions over the course of the
next week because I'm too locked in.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
What does that mean? It means I can't.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Really do anything else because I'm just I'm gonna be
you know, like where I'm kind of like now when
I say I'm locked in, it's kind of like a
zombie movie where the zombie when when when when the
when the the person gets bit and they don't tell anybody,
and they're they're starting to turn, but they want to
keep it as suit because they don't want to get killed.
Starting to get a little purplish around. Something will happen,

(03:14):
will find something I don't. But you can see their
behaviors getting a little weird twitch. Yeah, Like that's kind
of where I'm at. And I'm kind of like in
the just bit phase and now I want to I'm gonna,
you know, put a put a hoodie on or something,
show people I'm not bit. And but but it's gonna
just eventually get to that point.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, that's I thought you were gonna go in a
completely different direction of Hey, you know, it's like when
you have to have a medical procedure and they tell
you you can't sign anything right, no important paperwork, no
important decisions for the next twenty four hours because you're
not gonna be with it. So it's all, you know,
the circle of trust, whoever who's looking out for you.
That's something important. Isn't putting in their hands where suddenly

(03:52):
they can fleeceh you I.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Would I could just say no, by my wife, she
takes you out. I don't make it. That's fine, I'll
be fine. You're good with that making important? Yes, yes, yes,
it's the daily important decisions that I'm really that that
I'm in on, that I that I'm really that's that's
you gonna take me out of the big long term
and she can handle right, it's fine, does she handles it?
But the daily stuff, okay, the stuff that I'm really
good at. Yeah, no, you can't bring me into that

(04:15):
because you gotta understand making making. I'm really good at that.
I'm so good at that. I am so good at
sitting in front of the TV. And here's here's how
good I Here's how I've watched a lot of losses.
But here's how good I am. Is that my dog Benny? Right,
And you know dogs, when you when they lay in

(04:36):
your lap and you move too much, they get up
after a few minutes, you're pissing them off, right, But
Benny can say, like, I'm so good no matter what
happens in the game, that he's good laying in my
lap for however long, like.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
Make a good couple of hours now just no, he
likes to go.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
He'll give you a little like blank you dad, Okay,
all right, you get up.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
No, but he's good.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
He's like hel He puts his puts his uh, puts
the bottom his head on my leg and he lays there.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
He closes his eyes. He's all comforble.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
Like.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Does he have a Pacers pillow?

Speaker 6 (05:07):
Nah?

Speaker 3 (05:07):
No Pacers.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
Although I could I put of it, I don't think
that would be a great video to put up on
the internet. Him him, you know, partying with a PACER's pillow,
And I don't think so. If he goes to the
bathroom on.

Speaker 4 (05:18):
I was gonna say, it depends what partying with a
PACER's pillow means.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
That can mean a lot of stuff. So we're waiting
for that game.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
Meanwhile, we are just at the start of the third
quarter of the Tea Wolves and the Thunder. It is
a fifty to forty nine lead for Minnesota. Okay, not surprising,
This is a pretty even series. What's surprising is who
has been carrying the Minnesota Timberwolf so far. Tonight Well
and Edward No Okay, well, Rudy go Bett. No, well,

(05:45):
Jada mcdebt, No, it is all Julius Randall. Twenty points.
He's got five threes, six out of eight from the floor.
He is absolutely carrying the Tea Wolves on his show
in this game and now pretty much the big question
you have to say is and you answer, I'll give
you a hot take. The Julius Randall Dante DiVincenzo for

(06:09):
Carl Anthony Towns trade last year maybe the best overall
trade in twenty years in the NBA. Not sure, Not
from a team where we made a great trade and
we didn't give up anything, because that's a bad trade
for somebody, right. Obviously, if you give up nothing, it's
a great trade, view brand. But where this trade now?

(06:29):
Both teams in the final four in the NBA, both
teams in the conference finals did not get there last
year with what they had knew they needed to improve
and of some kind of different energy. Carl Anthony Towns
has clearly worked with the New York Knicks. He's been
able to fit in and Julius Randall and Dante DiVincenzo,
especially Randall. Over the course of this season, he has

(06:50):
become that great complimentary one b Ish type piece.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
Riley.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
He's definitely one a to Ann Edwards, but he has
really slid in and he has his games where he
has big games but is not relied on to always score,
which is the big thing with the Knicks.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Is that?

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay, so it's you and Jalen Brunton. I don't need
to watch Julius Randall again try to io up against
two defenders when he can't dribble the ball more than
once before he gets it taken away. He's not that
kind of player, but to get his chances within the offense,
that's a little bit deeper than it was last year
when when Randall was healthy. Yeah, this trade has worked
immensely well. This may be the best NBA trade when

(07:27):
you talk about what both teams have been able to
do accomplish off of this in twenty years. Both teams
would say would you do that trade again? They would
both say one hundred percent, not thinking about no. I
would never think twice about it. The Tables wouldn't think
twice about trading away Karl Anthony Towns, and the Knicks
wouldn't think twice about trading away Devincenzo and Julius Randall,
they would both do it over again. Both teams are
in the conference finals. I mean, I'm trying to find

(07:48):
another trade where it's worked out that great for both teams.
I don't know that it's there.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah, it's the top of my head.

Speaker 4 (07:53):
I mean, we'd have to get our crack research staff
and by that I mean my fat fingers working over
the course of the night to come up with something better.
But for the Timberwolves, they've at least run back to
where they were a year ago before falling to the
Dallas Mavericks, so it's at least as good. And Julius
Randall with some style points. We had a moment in

(08:13):
the first half where he left the court and started
walking towards the locker room. Never found any reason why
because we didn't enough sound up right, We're conversing and
we've got the Canes game on, and we looked at
each other's like why is he leaving? He's like, oh,
because he's scorching hot and they have to cool him down.
That's why five three porters in the first half. But
it freedom up right where it's not the same style

(08:39):
of flow and offense, and what was crazy in the
first half. Is how deep both rosters getting their workouts
in early because you went nine to ten deep early on.
But yeah, your Nicks have obviously moved on to the
next round, led in large part by the Heroics and Bronson.
But your guy Cat is as hailed as a hero

(09:01):
wherever he shows up. Just put him on a video board.
You don't even have to be in the crowd. Just
put him up on the video board. People start to
scream in next train arriving at you know, Penn. Nah,
it doesn't matter. There's a picture of Juliet of Karl
Anthony Towns gets everybody fired up like goad. The trade's
gonna be the late two hours, doesn't matter. Just keep
showing Nicks up there. That's how excited the city is.

(09:23):
But thinking about trades I made a lot of it
becomes the immediacy of it too, right because it's the
next season, not a Hey, you got three draft picks,
and what it becomes, right.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Let's wait and see and he got a sea did
you draft? Well, where did this guy turn into?

Speaker 4 (09:37):
Yeah, because we got the the NFL one that obviously
gets thrown back up again today and over the last
forty eight hours. You go back to the twenty seventeen draft,
the Mitchell Trubisky right because it hits home because oh,
you could have drafted Mahomes.

Speaker 3 (09:50):
No, they wouldn't have drafted Mahomes.

Speaker 4 (09:51):
They would have you know, gone and drafted Deshaun Watson
based on what he did in college.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
If you could buy, you could, if you could do
that trade. Now, yes, then you take Patrick Mahomes, but
no was taking him back.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
But in all of it, now you've got a would
be Hall of Famer and Fred Warner who was the
fourth round pick that came back from the Bears.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
Right that first round guy was Solomon Thomas.

Speaker 4 (10:09):
He ended up having a cup of coffee, played for
the Raiders, did whatever, you know, a Jag offensive lineman
Alvin Kamara was a fourth round pick conferred to New
Orleans and all of that. You know, he's had a
fantastic career for the Saints and for fantasy owners.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
But now it's Fred Warner is the lynch of that.
Oh yeah yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:29):
But at the time it was like, all right, good player,
we'll see what he becomes. And now he signs this
monster deal. It's like, see, the forty nine ers were
the smartest guys. No, no, no, we can't keep doing that.
And he can't relitigate it eight years later.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
It doesn't. This guy, I can, and it's that's what
we do.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Doing draft picks is tough because okay, you got these
draft picks, but then you turned them into So this
wasn't player X for player Y and player Z. Right
here are the players coming in and a first round
pick was thrown in there, right, Oh, don't forget that
first repid. But this deal, I mean, this was This
was shocking when it was because it was close to
the beginning of the season, right like the Knicks moved
around and they went out and got Michel Bridges and

(11:06):
all these things, and then and then end of September,
right like they're coming to camp soon and suddenly it's yep,
we got it done. Karl, Anthony Towns, Julius Randal, Dante
Di Vincenzo, and I remember when that trade happened. What
did I say, Knicks t Wolves in the NBA Finals
next year. I'm ready for it, and here we are
this close to it. Like that's a great, big, bold
prediction that I want to start bringing up again because
we're so close. I don't want to go crazy with

(11:28):
it because it has to get here. But then in
case it doesn't get here, I want to be able
to talk about a little bit. So I got to
kind of got a back door bring that up right here.

Speaker 4 (11:34):
So well, some of it was also, I mean, you're
an eight Knicks fandom, so you were going to pick
them to go to the finals every year?

Speaker 3 (11:40):
Anywow?

Speaker 1 (11:40):
No, no, no, no, no, come on, i'n't picked them to
go to the finals until last year and then this year,
well really this year.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
I didn't pick them to go to the finals last year.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
No, no, I did not, No, I definitely you're not
here before that, I didn't pick them to go to
the finals life.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
I picked them to go to the finals this year.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
And then when they made the Carl Anthony Towns trade,
absolutely hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (11:55):
But really, this is this worked.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
I really, it's it's so rare that trade works that
this fast, right, Like not not just it worked, but
it worked this fast for both teams. Not hey, it
took a player a player X a season and a
half to get comfortable and they became a really good
point at he came in right away like they need
like like the the te wolf Saw. Okay, you know what,

(12:18):
we're deeper than we need to be. And Karl Anthony Towns,
for whatever reason, it's just not working with him. We
have him, we have Gobert. It's too difficult. And Karl
Anthony Towns obviously is going to bring a lot more
in trade value because Gobart is getting older, so okay,
and he's not the offensive player.

Speaker 4 (12:33):
Town is right, so he can argue about defensive because
go Beart is a guy that folks try to chip
away at his accolades.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
He won the awards. Yeah, sorry, I'm sorry, you're mad.

Speaker 1 (12:44):
They had an odd fit and okay, and bringing in
Randall who could fit into the offense and sometimes be
the number two guy, sometimes number three, because that was
the best thing about him was that when he was
forced to be the one A, one A guy with
the Knicks, it got to a point where the league
sort of figured him out a bit, and he would
still take bad shots.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
It would still be very difficult. Possession.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Possession is enough for difficult for the Knicks at the
end of games anyway, when Jalen Brunst holds the BA
all the time. Now we had Brunson and Julius Randle
holding the ball.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
But that worked.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
And now the Knicks, I said, okay, we need that
big in the middle that's going to be able to
make us go right because Randall's not going to fit there.
We had an odd, odd fit. The Knicks had a
great positionless team, but they needed something a little bit more,
especially to get through the East. And it, I mean
really it worked and right away it was you can
tell with both of these teams. Took the Tea Wolves
a little bit, not too much longer, but they were

(13:32):
playing great basketball the last half of the year. And
it's this fast for both like this is this is
where you examine this trade and go, I don't know
both gms, both teams deserve all their flowers for making
trades to get them this far. And as you see
this fast from it from a trade that happened just
a few months ago, we're not even the we're not
even moving up on the cow one year marking this trade.

(13:54):
Weren't like the eight month the seven month mark of
this trade.

Speaker 4 (13:57):
Yeah, but we still need the truth serum to Tom Thibodeau,
how do you get Karl Anthony Towns to commit to
playing some defense and moving his feet.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
Okay, Well they're gonna wait and do that at the
end of games. Do we need to wait the end
of their season, end of games?

Speaker 3 (14:11):
No, No, end of games. End of games will be fine.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
He's playing bad, they're playing better defense in the fourth's
defense at the end.

Speaker 4 (14:16):
But is this something we have to wait till lead
to see how the story ends?

Speaker 2 (14:20):
No?

Speaker 4 (14:20):
Story four, I get to ask that question. We're sweeping
the pacers. You could ask that question after that. Plus
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dot com. Well, we'll have more on this coming up next.

(14:43):
A big game, Game one of the Western Conference Finals.
Minnesota leads Oklahoma City sixty to fifty eight, about six
and a half left to go in the third quarter.
But we got some big NFL stories to break down
with you coming up next.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
A huge one involving gold Not straight ahead right here,
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(16:02):
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Speaker 3 (16:10):
Harmon What's that last number seven. Fox.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
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(16:45):
So a little bit of reversal of fortune, t Wolves
and the Thunders. A two point lead for the Timberwolves.
They had led throughout this game pretty much. Now make
it a six point Thunder lead. Sixty six to sixty
shake Gildess Alexander now with eighteen, Williams fifteen and Knicks
legend Isaiah Hartenstein now with twelve and five rebounds. He

(17:08):
is six out of eight from the floor. It's the
Knicks Final four. The Knicks, they're big a long time.
So it's like the Globetrotters and the Generals. You have
the Knicks and the Pacers you have Randall and de Vincenzo,
you got Isaiah Hartenstein.

Speaker 3 (17:20):
Like this, maybe last year's Knicks.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
Team was the best team in the NBA. We should
take the Larry O'Brien Trophy from the Celtics. Give it
to them, because clearly last year's Knicks team has the
most talent that's still out there here a year later
in the league.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
Well, that means they grossly underperformed and should be relegated.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
How about that. I remember everybody got hurt. We didn't
have anybody at the end.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
Well, what's funny is Burks was playing big minutes in games.
That Berks is one of the finest outfielders we'd seen.
He teamed with those guys in Colorado. Damn, that was
a line.

Speaker 1 (17:56):
It's loud the nineties. We're getting Cecil Fielder in the shows.
We're getting Ellis Burks in the show.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
No, we're good, Oh absolutely, But yeah, to your point,
I mean, how many times have you seen the graphic.

Speaker 3 (18:05):
Here's what the Knicks did.

Speaker 4 (18:06):
They xcized three fifths of their starting five, and now
they're in the Eastern Conference Final.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
We're even better.

Speaker 4 (18:15):
Sucker, faster, stronger, good things for the think about that,
thundertaking care of business ten oh run the last three
minutes plus and doing it by attacking the rim, just
saying all right, you got files to give, We're gonna
make it. Commit all of them and keep wearing you down.
Live at the free throw line, but an inordinately a
low number of three point shots relative to what the

(18:37):
Timberwolves have tried in this game.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
And well, here we go in the final throws of
the third period.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
Just under four minutves left to go six point lead.
Thunder lead at sixty six to sixty. So we'll have
more NBA on the waist. You will have more details
on this game and what's trending in a few minutes.
But big story out of the NFL today as a
players are going to get to win gold medals. As
flag football has been okayed for the twenty twenty eight Olympics.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
Jet's have been playing that for years. Dude, we couldn't
even win in flag football. You kidding.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
We couldn't find we would get a quarterback in flag football.
It turned out to be like the guy that said
he was better than Mahomes. It can't even throw like
that's what we would get. Now, that's who might not
be in our guy Justin Jefferson said today, Hey did
the Olympic gritty dance as he left the lectern today
talking about he's been a big proponent of trying to
get flag football into the Olympics in twenty twenty eight,

(19:30):
and now the NFL owners vote thirty two zero to
unanimously approve the proposal. So now you're gonna have NFL
players playing in flag football in the Olympics. This is
gonna look like the very first dream team. Okay, first
of all, say this, remember the very first dream team
in nineteen ninety two that was Jordan and Bird and Ewing,
and it was like every game they're beating Angola like

(19:50):
one twenty eight to thirty. Sure, that's what this is
gonna look like. That's exactly what this is gonna look
like flag football.

Speaker 4 (19:57):
The question you know that it begets is you want
to be in the room where it happens and get
access to the spreadsheets that have been generated off of
this stuff.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
Right in terms of.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
What is the economic window and the ceiling I should
say for the NFL and allowing this change, because I
got to think coach to coach when you start thinking
about players that might be inclined to want to throw
their hat in the ring.

Speaker 3 (20:25):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (20:25):
I'm looking at say John Harbaugh because he said this
back in March quote, I'm afraid I have a quarterback
that'd probably be pretty good at it. So no, I'm
not that excited about it. In all honesty, I believe
in America I want gold medals. But and that's kind
of where I sit, and a lot of this and go,
all right, this is good in theory, right, and you're
expanding the game and obviously flag football, generating a whole

(20:48):
new generation of players and finding talent and creating a
whole new marketplace. Right, Because now you figure out, all right,
how do we monetize that it's running joke and a
lot of the the opens that we have for the show,
if you or I kind of joking out, how do
I make money on this? Well, that's what the NFL
is trying to figure and about thirty two nothing vote

(21:10):
would indicate to me they figured out at least the
cursory part of that in terms of generating revenue.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
It's because it's worldwide publicity. And here's the thing, forget
about money. Even have the money part it's Oh, we
have our stars on display on a world statem where
we're trying to grow the game. That's why they voted
thirty two zero because of wait we are We've been
trying to find a way to grow the game globally
and slowly we're adding more international games? Are seven this year? Oh,

(21:37):
how do you mean we can have the NFL on
display in the summer of twenty twenty eight all the
biggest stars in the game and we'll have it'll be
Mahomes or Justin Fields. I mean he maybe the quarterback then,
I don't know, but like, we'll have all our big
stars out there.

Speaker 3 (21:51):
What are you doing?

Speaker 1 (21:51):
Hey, Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson will have you and
they'll be missing and they'll be one player. And that's
the rule one No more than one player from every
team unless another nation. Right, you can play for other day,
but but one for the team USA. One team, one
player per team.

Speaker 4 (22:05):
I don't know, twenty three and me getting a lot
of that right now?

Speaker 3 (22:08):
Sure? Hey, what else you got in the blood?

Speaker 1 (22:10):
How many are is it gonna be like the WBC
where like players who like I remember when what was it?
Where are the Olympics when Piazza wasn't good enough to
play for Team USA anymore, and he just preemptively said,
I might play for Team Italy because you know that's
where I'm from. Oh, you're just not good enough to
start for Team USA anymore. So yeah, you're preempting. Like
how many people are gonna go?

Speaker 3 (22:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, I mean, I know, I'm probably one of the
top ten wide receivers in the game, but I'm not
gonna play if for the United States, but I could
play for Canada, but then I could play for you know,
wherever I could come from there one hundred Yeah, well.

Speaker 4 (22:41):
Look at you all, embiid he had multiple opportunities and
fights at the Apple for the Olympics.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
Oh, he would abolutely do that. In four years, he's
absolutely doing that. He's not he's not even gonna mess
around with Team US. But you know what I mean though,
like this time, he had the opportunity.

Speaker 4 (22:54):
And for the NFL players, certainly, where guys can go
in and take a look at their ancestry and maybe
have that opportunity, it'll be there. It'll just be the
curiosity of you know, from a marketing perspective, and certainly
the players themselves going to the all right, benefit versus.

Speaker 3 (23:15):
Risk reward kind of thing.

Speaker 4 (23:16):
Well, it's not quite the old you know, saying football
games that we'd have at the Yeah, but but it's
still in that same veino. Look, it's an event, it's
one of our events, but it's really not our event.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
Let's finish the good part of it. Yeah, right, it's
good for the it's great for the NFL. It's all
sorts of publicity. They're going to be the dominant story
of the Olympics. I mean, obviously basketball is going to
be big, track and field will be big, but having
the best stars in the NFL, especially here in the
United States where we're in local time across the country,

(23:52):
it's going to be incredibly huge.

Speaker 5 (23:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:54):
Unless they bring break Dancing back, that would be the
only thing that could take it down.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
No, no, no, they'd have to bring Reagun back. Like
you can't just bring break Dancing back. You'd have to
bring ray Gun back. She's retired, She'll come out of retirement. Yeah, you,
Ray Gun would be like Ray Gun coming back would
be like Trey Young. If the Knicks called to say

(24:20):
we want to trade for you, Yeah, of course I'll
go there. I love the Knicks.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
Yeah, no, one hundred percent, that's absolutely gonna happen. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Now that's all the good, right, it's all the good
it's all the good things. I want everything, all good things,
all good things, all good things, all good things. Because
I want to say this, don't take any players from
my favorite team.

Speaker 3 (24:38):
I want no jets on that team.

Speaker 1 (24:40):
Not that you have to worry about that, but I
want zero jets because I don't want my guys getting hurt.
I don't want my guy getting hurt in a in
a in an event that you don't need him for.
That's a made up thing for the Olympics. I don't
want one of my best players getting hurt because I
still have the have the aftershocks and the fallback to
what's going on with Edwin d from two years ago

(25:00):
on the WBC, and he's just getting back to normal now,
Like yes, oh, but the WBC means so much. No,
it means a lot to the rest of the world.
It doesn't mean as much to to us here in
the United States. Yes, it's fun to watch, and it
was fun to watch Trout and Otani, but it means
much more to the world than it does here.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
What did I have to watch in a celebration mound.

Speaker 1 (25:20):
I watched Edwin Dias terror's achilles and he's done, and
he's done for the year, doesn't throw a pitch for
the Mets, and they just gave him a hundred million
dollar contract, right, so I know this, right, that's why,
don't take any Jets again. Not that you would not
not that they would be at the top of the list,
or they would even be on a list right now.
For course, maybe maybe what I mean, maybe maybe they're
on the maybe list, or maybe they're on that you
got a couple after list, or you'd have to put

(25:41):
that list together. But don't take any take any anybody
you want. Don't take any of my players. I love it,
but don't take anybody from the Jets. Takes out you
want to take me, I'll give my I'll give my
pick to the Bills. I'll give my pick to the
Dolphins or the or the Patriots. I get you take somebody,
I'll give you that. Don't take my players because I
don't want my guys.

Speaker 4 (25:58):
There The other thing that comes out of it when
you're talking about just straight up injuries and now now
we're getting into as we watched the NBA and the
proliferation of Achilles injuries and everything that we're trying to get.
The Commission started to figure out exactly why, how and
in this day of training and preparation and metrics that

(26:19):
you have so many injuries. Where we we talk about
the international appeal of getting these guys out there and
expanding your brand.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
You also are looking at a football game.

Speaker 4 (26:28):
I don't know that there's a lot of standing around
and just you know, being the slack jawed yokel thing
that was going on globally for the dream Team.

Speaker 3 (26:38):
I think by then folks are going to be ready
to play. And it's football, which takes out a hole.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
It's flag football where they're stopping fast and cutting and
jumping and anything a.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
Guy that's a bit out of control and all of
a sudden you're bodied up in a non context more, I.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
Think, got it, Think out it, Think about it like this, right,
think about an injury like this. This will break it
down for you. Okay, let's just say that that's over. Okay,
we have justin fields. Now, we have a good quarterback
that's gonna run for twelve hundred yards and throw for
twelve hundred yards.

Speaker 3 (27:09):
Why just watch it just because it's done. Is the deepest,
it's over. We hurt the most.

Speaker 4 (27:15):
He's gonna the one, the one that happened on that fourth.

Speaker 3 (27:19):
Lots of lots of snaps, lots of that was a
double snap. Lots of snaps, lots of snaps. Uh. So
I'll say this right. Last week we had to.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
Get the the spring in our garage door replaced right
because it snapped right so we couldn't close the door.
So we called flashbacks to Rogers no, no, no, no no,
flashed back to Edwin dis no. So the the it snapped,
and and and Pam was like, what do you think happened? Look,
I said, well, this thing is not connected anymore, so
I assume whatever that is snapped. Okay, So we called

(27:50):
and the guy came to to do the spring right.
It says, okay, great, how often do you come in
and out of the garage?

Speaker 3 (27:55):
We go, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
We usually leave the garage, like you know, I don't
know half the I don't know, four times a day, three.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
Four times today.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
He goes, Okay, he goes just to let you know, look,
you'll be good for a long time. But usually these
springs they got about ten thousand closes in them and
then that then they're gonna snap. I'm like, oh okay,
all right, great, So now I'm like, okay, we're not
leaving the garage anymore. We're not opening the door. We
had ten thousand closes, right, And my wife says, I
wish she had never said, I wish you would.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
An umpire clicker.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
I wish I wish you would never heard that, because
now you're gonna say you don't go out the girl?

Speaker 3 (28:22):
What are you doing?

Speaker 1 (28:23):
We've going on in the garage six times today? How
close we're getting the ten thousand? Like I need that
clicker that goes from ten thousand click ticking down. So
now you have the pace today till you're marked for death. Right, Yeah,
you're backing out ten thousand.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
You want to go out of the garage again? You
see her? Right now?

Speaker 1 (28:36):
We have eighty four hundred and twenty one closes left.
We just had this guy come and do this like
four months ago. So because I'm actually counting in my head,
like okay, so if we go out six times a
day after you know, okay, so how long one hundred days?
Like what does this mean? Like how long is this
going to go? And my wife is like, I really,
I can't believe. I wanted him to take the words
back as soon as he said that to you, because

(28:58):
I knew you were going to obsess over this. Right,
you have to do a press conference at the first
hundred days. Yeah, yeah, we're really using a lot. We
use it eight times the other day and now it's
this and uh, just just because it's more convenient for
us to go out to our car, but we could
go out the front door. We've been going out the
front door more. I'm like, we're going out the front door.
M not open in the garage again because you know
the closes so and so that's the thing is like, Okay,

(29:21):
an injury or something's bound to break down the more
you use it. And what you're doing is you're adding
these reps to a player who's going to play without equipment,
with not knowing what it's going to be like, to
really protect himself because he's never done anything like this before.
You don't know how many other nations are going to say, oh,
I want to take a shot at this guy. It's
justin Jefferson's the best receiver in the NFL. Okay, let's see,

(29:44):
let's see how great a receiver he is. Or you
come down because you're jumping for a ball that you
normally wouldn't be doing in practice, but you come down
on somebody's ankle and it's a sprained ankle and you're
out for eight weeks. Like, there's lots of things that
can happen because you're going hard in something that's a experience.
It's like, oh, I've never done that before. And it's
the same thing for the WBC and that Okay, players

(30:05):
know how to ramp up to get ready for the
beginning of the regular season. Right, players come to Okay,
I don't I don't care that I'm not hitting the
ball right now.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
This is how I do it.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
I work on things I need to be at my
best when I'm getting ready for opening day.

Speaker 3 (30:17):
Right.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
Pitchers don't care if they give up six to seven
runs their first three starts. They're just extending themselves getting
ready for opening day.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
Right.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
So it's it's in the WBC, it's about we're going
too hard too early. So you see injuries because of
that because now suddenly middle of Februares, you got to
be ramped up and ready because we're playing so but
whenever there's more reps for something like this, there's more
that can go wrong, and I know for my team
it will go wrong. Oh yeah, So that's why don't
take any jets. Take everybody else, anybody else wants to go,
take no jets. I guess not that you're gonna take any.

(30:45):
But in two years, you never know, maybe we have
a really good player. I woke up today. I don't
get all the buzz with this. This, this has been
approved for years, this has been happening, right, but now
it's called the Pro Bowl. Fair very good for Rostburg.
Very good, very good, very good. I actually think this
is gonna be a little bit more, uh more intense
than the Pro Bowl.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
Now a little bit possible that they can take that. Well,
you gotta wake up as long as you look, as
long as.

Speaker 4 (31:13):
The check clears, am I getting credit for showing up
as a pro bowler and does my my spot bonus clear?

Speaker 3 (31:20):
Beyond that, I'm good.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
Time not again, take don't take any of my players.
Let's find out what's trending in the wide world of sports.
From a man who has started the first flag football
Fantasy league.

Speaker 3 (31:30):
He's the commissioner.

Speaker 6 (31:31):
It's Steve de Sega, and I will take Tyreek Hill
and Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson.

Speaker 3 (31:36):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (31:37):
You imagine that offense in flag football on the field,
it's a five on five format, and have about a
defense with like Travis Hunter and Patrick Sertan and Micah
Parsons for the US man bring it on.

Speaker 4 (31:49):
And Will Levis with that cannon of an arm throwing
it to all those wide receivers.

Speaker 6 (31:54):
We might have other quarterback candidates in the United States.
I'll just say that out loud, but yes, NFL teams
will allow players to compete in flag football at the
LA Olympics in twenty twenty eight. The owners voted unanimously
for it. Today, the NFL Spring meeting concludes tomorrow in Minnesota.
The league is expected to vote on playoff seating, which
reportedly does not have enough support to change that. They'll

(32:17):
be voting on the Tush push play apparently as well.
The Bears gave former Chiefs guard Joe Tune a two
year extension. Seattle signed rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe. The Bears
and Jets started ota offseason workouts today. Dallas and some
other teams started yesterday. Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons did attend.
Minnesota Timberwolves are at Oklahoma City in Game one of

(32:38):
the NBA's Western Conference Finals. Bad third quarter for the
visitors to start the fourth. Ok See in the lead
now seventy six sixty six. Shake Ilgers Alexander was two
of thirteen shooting from the floor in the first half,
but he's up to twenty three points now. Julius Randall
of the Timberwolves had twenty points in the first half,
none in the third quarter, and the rest of his

(33:00):
team is shooting just fifteen for fifty three from the floor.
In the WNBA, Atlanta a winner at Indiana, ninety one
to ninety Kaitlin Clark twenty seven points, eleven assists in
defeat about five minutes to go. In the NHL game
at Carolina, it's now Florida five to one in the
lead over the Hurricanes. In Game one of the East Final,
the Boston Bruins gave general manager Don Sweeney a two

(33:22):
year extension. The Orioles have lost again. Milwaukee beat him
five to two. Baltimore has dropped eight games in a row.
The White Sox have lost five straight, but they're winning
against the Mariners one nothing in the top of the
sixth inning. Just two hits for Seattle so far. Philly's
up seven to one in the seventh at Colorado. Cubs
won fourteen to one at Miami. Dodgers scoreless with Arizona

(33:45):
in the third, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh with home wins.
Yankees as well. Yankees beat Texas five to two. Aaron
Judge with his sixteenth homer. He's betting four to oh
three and it was Boston over the Mets two nothing.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
Back to you.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
Eventually the Mets will score again. Today is not that day.
Be sure to check out the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube. You'll see a
whole bunch of video highlights from our shows. Be sure
to subscribe so you never miss our very best Fox
Sports Radio videos on YouTube. Ten point lead for the
thunder early in the fourth quarter. Coming up next, we
got the play of the day coming your way, and

(34:19):
we remember an absolute legend that we lost today. That's next,
Jason to Mike Fox Sports Rate.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific, Fox.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with My best friend
Mike Harmon.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
Eleven point lead.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
For the Thunder over the Tea Wolves, eight minutes to
go in the fourth quarter, eighty six seventy five. Minnesota
has stopped hitting from three to this half, although Devincenzo
finally hit one.

Speaker 3 (34:49):
Hey, congratulations.

Speaker 4 (34:50):
Yeah, what he's like three of ten or three of
eleven on the night.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
Well, he's not playing the Lakers anymore.

Speaker 1 (34:56):
Yeah, he's all good. Yeah, Yeah, it's a lot more
difficult now lost his mojo. Speaking of basketball, that brings
us to the play of the day. For over forty years,
tire Rack's been helping customers find the right tires for how,
what and where they drive. Shipped fast and free, backed
by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like
mobile tire installation. Tirerack dot Com is the way tire

(35:18):
buying should be. Well, the game of the night in
basketball come down to the final possession. Caitlin Clark and
the Fever with a chance to go to two and
oh to beat the Dream. Clark with twenty seven points,
eleven assists, five rebounds, did she have enough or did
one of her teammates have enough for one final basket?

Speaker 3 (35:41):
So that is the reset.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
Timeouts, a lot of contact underneath Clark's gotta get it in.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
She lobs it up for Howard.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
Howard had it.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
Blocked at the rim.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
Howard pulls it down, Howard shot his shorts, rebound Atlanta.

Speaker 3 (35:56):
The Fever up to foul here and they won't get
it foul away.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
I will escape with a victory.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
So the Fever dream not going well for Indiana TJ.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
And just up there on a tea, wasn't it NBA
TV on the call?

Speaker 1 (36:12):
So maybe maybe we tapped the brakes a little bit
on Hey, the Fever going to roll to the WNBA title.
I mean, look the dream where they're really Look, they
weren't great last year. They didn't score a lot of
points last year, and they're one of the worst offensive
teams in the game. And here are the new Fever.
Their defense is really good. All the change they made.
I said, Oh, man, if I'm going to Vegas on

(36:33):
this game, yeah, lay the points, take the under nope,
nope dream, come out ninety one ninety over the Fever.

Speaker 4 (36:38):
Yeah, this game played out a lot like we're anticipating
the pacers and knicks. Not a lot of contribution from
anybody off the bench, a lot of your starters taking
care of business. Grinder with twenty one and eight in
this one you had nineteen twenty sixteen twelve nine was
the edge and bench scoring. But the Dream took an

(36:59):
eleven point lead into the fourth quarter. So even with
a little bit of a feverish run down the stretch,
not enough. The Fever needed more cow Bell. Really, had
they just explored the room, it would have been great.
I'm telling you, fellas, really don't. Don't be afraid to.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
So there's your play of the day. We'll have more
on Caitlyn Clark's game tonight. Again a great game for individually,
but the Fever fall to one and one. We talked
basketball there, I mean, what are we doing. Usually WNBA
conversations aren't about basketball. That was pretty good. I liked
that it was usually not about basketball. But now this
is about basketball. That's good. Not not saying that, not

(37:38):
saying it's gonna change it all of a sudden, but
this was about basketball. It's a good conversation. I had
a tear to my eye, huh, speaking a tear to
your eyes.

Speaker 3 (37:47):
That look.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
The biggest story today George went passes away at the
age of seventy six, one of the funniest comedic actors
in the history of television, who created a role that
people still cite and still know. Now we'll talk about
fifty years from now. Uh Look, but you know, obviously
the bulls in SNL was a big thing for him
coming off of Cheers. But you know, look, Norm Peterson,

(38:11):
he's in the pantheon in the Hall of Fame of
Television Characters. He's one of those unanimous guys. Even the
guy that didn't vote for eachro would vote for Norm
to be in the Television Hall of Fame at the top,
the top level of the Hall of Fame. Not just
a guy getting in hey after a bunch of years
on the Seniors committee. No, No, he's in the very

(38:32):
top because again he's on that short list of Greatest
Television Characters of All time eleven years as Norm, six
Emmy nominations started in. I mean, he's Chicago guy, so
it hits you know, and obviously Jason sudeikis his nephew
and all of that family ties to all of that stuff.

Speaker 4 (38:49):
But it's just an amazing run. I watched the full
eighteen minutes of Entrances. My brothers sent me it almost immediately.
It's like, here, watch this.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
He's like no coach, selling the.

Speaker 4 (39:01):
Hell out of Sure, sure, but you know, just all
the responses and the one liners and and everything through it.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
I've recently found it in streaming.

Speaker 4 (39:10):
Obviously it's been on in syndication forever, but when you
can just sit and binge watch, That's one of those
shows that I think the next generation like needs to
discover that like this discovered the Office and the Office
guys all kinds of new popularity now because generations he
discovered extream back, right, but they were the whole big thing.
Oscar Nunez is going to be in it, right, Dominic

(39:32):
man handle, Don Hall Gleason, who is gonna be He's.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
Yeah, he's gonna play the guy from the first order.
So I cheers.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
One of those that I think that I wish gen
Z would rediscover because like today, like I had a
conversation with my dad and Fabiano, who are the other
biggest my wife and I and my dad Fabiano biggest
cheers fans. Right, it was the defining sitcom of of
me growing up right from the mid eighties to the
mid nineties, and we're just going over our favorite norm

(40:00):
One liners, right, and we're laughing tears because, hey, you
forget about this one, forget about this one, forget about
this one, right, Like I said, I said, okay, I said, Dad,
here here's my favorite.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
And I said, favorite this one.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
He walks in what he says, draw your beer, mister Peterson,
and he goes, I already know what they look like.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
What he just pour it from me?

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Right, So he's laughing like tears in our eyes because
we're each Oh, I forgot about that one. I forgot
about that one is And I mean, I don't know
how you come up with because he had one an episode. No,
it's just like twenty two entrances for eleven, you get
three hundred entrances, you know, with a Norman.

Speaker 3 (40:31):
There's a big one liner that he had.

Speaker 4 (40:33):
It's a doggy dog world and I'm wearing milk bone underwear. Oh,
it's dawn down the line Today the thirty second anniversary.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
Of the finale How, which was viewed by eighty two
million was the estimate.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
And he was in the very the very last scene
was him and Sam so good. The very last scene
was the two of them. I always come back to
what you love. George went an absolute legend, passed away
earlier today in his sleep at the age of seventy six.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
Exit. How about a fri esca exit Swallen Dome.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Carmon Live from the
Fox Sports Radio Studios. We got more from the NBA
coming up next, a bigger lead for Oklahoma City. Plus
we have to have the non hustling conversation because that's
taken over.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
This is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with my best
friend Mike Harmon. Yeah, Live from the Fox Sports Radio Studios,
where we just watched the Thunder just pull away from
the Timberwolves in the second half of this game one
four team to eighty eight the final score. T Wolves
led the entire first half out of forty eight to
forty four lead at the break. However, in the third quarter,

(41:50):
Thunder flipped the script turned a four point deficit into
a ten point lead and basically the game was over
from there on out. Tea Wolves never threatened in the fourth.
So it's a one game to none lead for Oklahoma
City over Minnesota. Now this is where I get to play.
I hate to say I told you so, but last
night when we picked this series, right, you picked the Thunder.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
From the beginning.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
You picked the Tables from the beginning the playoffs. You're
sticking with them. I picked the Thunder beginning of the playoffs.
I'm sticking with them. The reason I went with is
two reasons. One was I like the Thunders defense a
little bit more clearly, we saw that on display tonight.
But mainly I said, I have more confidence that we're
gonna get a consistently great series from Shay Gildess Alexander,

(42:31):
then you're gonna get a consistently great series out of
Van Edwards.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
Right.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
It just even when SGA starts out slowly, started out
really slow tonight, right, he was terribly started two of
eight from the four, but guess what the finishes with
thirty one and nine assists and five rebounds When they
needed him in the second half, he was terrific. Right,
So even a bad start, he turned into a great finish, right,
you would forget about that bad start. He still finds

(42:56):
a way to play great even when the first half
of the game does and go his way. I know
we're gonna get a great consistent series out of SGA,
but with Ann Edwards, I'm not. There's a couple of
times a series where he has games where he needs
to be more, whether it's more leadership, more shots, more confidence,

(43:17):
he needs to be a little more. He blends in
a little too much sometimes and a couple of times
in a series is all it takes for you to
go home. Now, it's happened a couple of times, but
they've been the better team overall. They've been were peaking
coming into the playoffs. But this is where it comes
down into bites you in the ass because you're playing
the best team in the playoffs that you have faced
so far. The Thunder have been far and away better.

(43:38):
They've been the best team in the playoffs so far
in general.

Speaker 4 (43:40):
Well, that's the thing, right, Even going back to last series,
even though it ends up getting stretched out to seven games,
you had very long stretches like Wow, they're dominating, right,
They're just absolutely taking the nuggets up and down the court,
failer to post, and then you'd have a stretch where
suddenly nothing went right and we've got ourselves games and
you have the dramatic finishes that we saw for a

(44:03):
couple of the w's with Aaron Gordon and the chaos
that ensued. But you watched it here. It's ball hawking
and early on you're not relying on the three point shot.
You're being aggressive attacking the rim, and we saw that
that was the constant. Right, you had a lot of
the Timberwolves possessions and a lot of empty possessions. First

(44:23):
quarter should have been a blowout, big lead for the
Tea Wolves, but they had seven turnovers. Right, the attacking
style of the Thunder defense, they fill the passing lanes,
long arms, keep at it and aggressive, and then you
start getting into some of those questions of you know,
early whistles affecting things. Gobert was called for two files

(44:45):
pretty fast. The second one was just a dumb reach
in and push what he didn't need to concede that
you missed the layup and move on, which forces you
to the bench. And we had to start seeing a
deeper rotation but all of that to say, you know
your point about SGA. He stayed aggressive two of thirteen,
but he lived at the fall line and continued to

(45:06):
live at the fall line as the night wore on,
and you saw no answers outside of the early heroics
from Julius Randall you couldn't buy a bucket from the
outside and Edwards five points in the third quarter when
a four point lead, went to a four point lead,
went to a ten point deposit, zero points in the
fourth zero zero zero. When his team needed him, when
he needed to be more, he disappears. Can you sing,

(45:29):
Randy Van Warmer forty too?

Speaker 3 (45:30):
Just when I needed you most?

Speaker 1 (45:33):
Five out of thirteen, he took thirteen shots tonight. He
took one shot in the fourth quarter. He took thirteen shots.
One when you're down ten going to the fourth quarter,
one shot. He can't take over with the consistency that
SGA and other players take over, right. He can't take
over like SGA does. He can't take over like Jalen Brunson.
He has moments and he has games where wow, he's

(45:54):
the best player on the floor. He does and he
is feeling it. But the thing is is he's got
to have it. When you're not feeling it, you still
gotta find a way. Right, you're the best player on
the team. If you're not feeling I'm sorry, you got
to find a way. Whether it is getting to the
free throw line, whether it's hey, I'm not gonna take threes, right,
it's not my night from three, whatever it's going to be,
you have to find a way. And and Edwards just

(46:15):
has games where he just doesn't try to do that.
And this is a game where down by ten going
to fourth, yeh, Julius travel did all he could. He
scored twenty points in the first half, he got you
up by four, you had five threes. That's not gonna continue.
And yet he became too much, too much of a wallflower, right,
I mean, this is this is why Ann Edwards everyone
wants to a crown of always a next Michael Jordan. No,

(46:38):
he has stretches where he is terrific. He has games
where he's unbelievable, but it's not consistent enough. And he
needs to be more consistent. And this is why I
picked the Thunder because I said, you're gonna get a
more consistently great series from SGA than An Edwards. This
has come up in the playoffs before. Remember it was
just ten days ago in the last series where the
tea waves were a little upset and Chris Finch was

(46:58):
upset with the effort he got from Ed Edwards in
an early long remember here, Oh you're not hustling on
that grounder. This was Chris Finch about a week and
a half ago, early on in the Nuggets series, say hey,
I need a little bit more out of you.

Speaker 5 (47:11):
What is there to talk about. I mean, you're they're
they're the leader of the team, and you got to
come out and set the tone. You know in all
ways that that happens. And if it's if your SHOT's
not going like you you still have to carry the energy,
you know. So I don't think there's if I got
to talk to guys about having the right energy coming
into opening around game, opening the second round game, then

(47:35):
you know we're not you know, we're not on the
same page.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
So I mean that's that was from ten days ago,
and that's what you say tonight. Setting the tone being
a leader, being the guy to say we're gonna win
on my shoulders, Like he doesn't do that with the
consistency everybody knows it's his team. Julius Randall's not going
to get upset. Okay, Rudy Gobert is not going to
get upset if this happens. Right, it's your team. Hey,

(47:58):
you gotta be the guy to do it your best play.
If you're gonna win in the playoffs for anything, your
best player needs to be your best player.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
Well, it's like we talked about when the Warriors went down.

Speaker 4 (48:08):
There was no fight out of Jimmy Butler, right, a
guy that you were expecting playoff Jimmy didn't appear, and
he's leaving games with eight shots, ten shots. No, he's
supposed to be the guy with Steph Curry sideline that
he's going to pick it up.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
With Anthony Edwards.

Speaker 4 (48:23):
Curious here do we get any update because he did
have the ankle issue earlier in this game, but he
played thirty seven minutes, so you can only you know,
put a small asterisk next to anything as we try
to await anything there. But he's what two of five
in the third quarter and then zero for one in
the fourth, still logging thirty seven minutes. You had for

(48:47):
his shots of the night, he's five of thirteen Julius
Randall goes nine to thirteen. Most of that damage done
in that first quarter, and then de Vincenzo was three
or fourteen. His jump shot was absolutely broken because he
had a lot of wide open looks. Because that's the
other part of this. Will you shoot his poorly?

Speaker 3 (49:04):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (49:05):
You've got guys closing out and attacking, and I get
that they shot thirty four point nine percent from the
field and a lot of those.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
Shots wide open looks.

Speaker 4 (49:15):
So will it go the other way and you get
some normalization maybe? But the Anthony Edwards thing you can't
solve no like that is that is the biggest enigma
in sports right now is to game the game, which
type of effort you're going to get? Your best player
has to find a way to affect the game even

(49:36):
when it's not his night.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
And it's not that.

Speaker 1 (49:39):
If Ann Edwards was five out of twenty four, I
would say, you.

Speaker 3 (49:43):
Know what, go down, swing not as night?

Speaker 1 (49:44):
Right, If Dante DiVincenzo is five to twenty four, it's dude,
you need to shoot last. Come on, But here's your
best player, right. It's almost like when I look at
a night like this from Edwards and see how passive
he was and not sending tone doing all of this,
like there's not being able to affect game and there's
basically holding back from trying to affect the game. When
you're down ten going to the fourth quarter, this is

(50:06):
where Ann Edwards has to say, you know what this is? Now,
I got this, I got this. Now I'm gonna bring
us back. It was because this game was there for them, right.
You can only give away, you know, so many games
in a series, and really at this point you can't
give away any but this game was there for Minnesota
because a four point lead at halftime and An Edwards
hadn't played his best basketball, So okay, it's there for you.

(50:27):
It's and then instead in and in the second half
five points like it was. It was a gift and
I'm only going to take a handful of shots.

Speaker 4 (50:34):
Well what we talk about first half, you had the
big stats from Julius Randall, I think Steve had the
the rest of the t Wolves where it combined nine
to thirty five. And then it got worse, Yes, it
got worse, seventy to forty year outscored in the second half,
an eighteen point third quarter and then an absolute disappearing

(50:54):
act from Edwards in the fourth as you just saw
passing lanes filled, great work up and down the court
by that Thunder defense. Seventeen turnovers doesn't seem like that's enough.
I think they stopped counting at some point in this game.
You'ven had twelve offensive boards for the Timberwolves, but did

(51:15):
not get the putbacks, did not get those those finishes
that you expected for the Thunder. They end up shooting
fifty percent from the field for the night, a judicious
and efficient eleven of twenty one from three point range.
Way too passive.

Speaker 1 (51:32):
You're just passive at that point, and you're gonna look
back at this series when the Thunder win. Look in
the Thunder. This is why it's such a big deal,
because beating them four times, I mean, I don't know, man.
I mean, I'll tell you this. If the Knicks get
by the Pacers, which are we gonna sweep him? But
if the Knicks get by the Pacer, well, I'm just
saying because I want to, because I'm gonna, you know,
think about it. Can you beat them four times? I
mean maybe you get like, you find a way the

(51:54):
matchups work for you, but you can't give away games.
And this was we're up by four at halftime in
game one and no matter where you are, things are
getting real serious now. So maybe just maybe, hey, we're
up four, this is a game we can steal and
steal home court advantage back and not not with what
we saw in the second half there. That was that

(52:15):
was a business was the tea We'll saying, Hey, we
were happy to be up four at halftime, and now
we're going, you know, we're down one's in.

Speaker 4 (52:22):
Yeah, And to put it back right, we talk about
the defense, and certainly Alex Caruso's name is gonna come
up a ton. We watched what he did, right, I mean,
look the bulls miss him too, you go all the
way through just one of those glue guys. And I
think the reputation is now you can do whatever you
want defensively as Alex Caruso, as we've watched him against superstars,

(52:43):
Like should Alex Caruso not be called for the body falls,
Well he's not. Suddenly he's getting superstar calls based on
a bit of reputation as a defensive stopper. So you're
getting to see him be aggressive at the point of attack.
Which is which is very interesting to watch from a
guy who was an also Ran ancillary part for years

(53:06):
and just a fan favorite to he's a guy that's
helping lead you to a Western Conference title.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
Suddenly Game two is the series and you you feel
like the Tea Wolves are are are now reeling because
you just basically showed them in the second half. We
have an extra gear that you don't have. And now
that if you're in Minnesota, you had the questions in
the last series, you're able to get through it, right,
You're able to get through it okay, But this is
a this is a different animal. Julius Randall's not hitting

(53:37):
five threes in the first half. Again, that's not gonna happen,
right that This is a huge missed opportunity for the team.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
One hundred percent right.

Speaker 4 (53:44):
You didn't play great basketball, Like I said, seven turnovers
in that that first quarter, which is again when they
get to seventeen, I think they stop counting.

Speaker 3 (53:52):
But you look at his shooting, the.

Speaker 4 (53:55):
Passivity of an ineffectiveness of your rest of your shooters.
Shake Gilgers Alexander with that rough start to kind of
maybe balance that a little bit. So you knew he'd
be better, but that he would keep attacking. Right, that's
the one thing that we can say we've figured out
in his MVP season. Why they still haven't crowned, I
don't know. But all of that to say for the Timberwolves,

(54:20):
a lot of introspection coming out of this one, because
you had, at least at halftime, you had to feel
pretty good about your chances. You hadn't been run out
of the gym yet, you hadn't played your best basketball. Yes,
Julius might not hit, but de Vincenzo maybe finds his
shot or Aunt has a little bit of a takeover,
and instead it was more passivity and you got run
off the court.