Hour 2 – LUKA MAGIC + NBA Playoff Goodness with Ric Bucher

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
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Speaker 1 (00:29):
Greetings, Welcome in side hour two The Jason Smith Show
with my best friend Mike Harmon. Do live from the
tire rack dot com studios. It is now the season
finale of Inside the NBA had a good run. Ernie
Johnson is about to give the Western Conference Championship trophy
to a very deserving owner, Michael Finley.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
To come on now look at him?

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Uh you think he's gonna end with in blank you.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
NBC dear zzlaf beat it.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
We're live fro the tirack dot Com Studios tirec dot com.

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Speaker 2 (01:11):
Why'd you say that?

Speaker 4 (01:12):
Wrong.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
It was run, run, stopping run.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
One twenty four to one oh three is your final?
A game that was never close? Remember the live spread
I gave it never close? Oh it's twenty one and
a half. Yeah, oh wow, Because I would have taken
the Mavericks on that twenty one you offered me twenty
one and a half, I did twenty seven point lead.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
I would have taken that. In a second, yep, I wrote, Wow, Wow,
I would have taken that.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
How about that? Baby, come on now wow.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
But that's why they get you, That's why they build
those giant, fancy buildings. Entry telling me, so, boy, Vegas
really knows what they're doing.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah, of course, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Yeah. So Look, it's a big day obviously for Kyrie
and Luca. They both score thirty six points thirty six,
almost have identical lines, both made fourteen shots from the floor,
both with five assists. They do everything tonight to beat
the Tea Wolves again, one twenty four to one oh three.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Gate.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Look, it was Dallas outclassing them from the start. And
now we're already looking ahead to the NBA Finals with
all kinds of great storylines coming up. But let me
just say this, right because clearly the Anthony Edwards face
and the league story's gonna.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
Take a bit of a back seat. Now, hang on,
hang on a second, and maybe it's not Anthony Edwards
and look for Anthony Edwards.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Let me just say this, the new face of the
league thing for Edwards the best or fairest way to
describe him. Now that the Tea Wolves have lost. People
want him to be better or more ready to be
a superstar than he is. And I don't mean he's
not good, but you can see the desire to anoint
him as the next face of the league was greater

(02:51):
than the level he really is at right now, because
maybe he's on his way, like maybe he's on his
way to be in that guy. But he's very athletic,
and everybody's all, look, he does a lot of Jordan
like things. He looks like Jordie explodes like Jordan didn't. Okay,
but he's a talker. But you could see he's not ready.
Turnovers in the final minutes of games, a lack of
interest in taking game winning shots, did not respond to

(03:13):
the pressure.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Right, he's still kind of figuring it out. Well, he's
a kid, right exactly it is. I mean he's twenty
two years old. I me, look, maybe he's on his
fatigue thing. I think people use that as more of
a crutch than maybe it should have been at times.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, but everybody else is playing that the thing. But
everybody else is playing hey, well why are you? But
I'm tired? Oh the other guys aren't.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
I will say that.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Sorry, I'm sorry to though I do appreciate the fact
that he just said, look, I didn't have the right energy.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, no, that's so like he As much as I
want to cut him.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
For being like, hey, you're twenty two, get over it
and pogo stick your way back into another game, it's
also the how often do we get guys that are
real like that was one of the things. That's where
we defended your guy last night, right, a visceral thing.
Not wise to say any of it.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
I playing the team in Major League Baseball playing like
they're the worst team right now. But that's the thing
about Anthony Edwards.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
That's the fairest way to say is maybe he can
be the face of the right but they wanted to
make Look, they Mac Jones him way too much. Look, howdy,
and you saw in this series, Wow, he really wasn't ready,
but we put it in the micro Now really wasn't ready,
especially when Lebron and Steph and k D and Harden
and keep going on down the line.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah it is, and all the guys that you have
anointed and ain't there for you. But here's what you
need more.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Guys, I get it. But let's use your microwave analogy.
I could put Anthony Edwards in the microwave, in the
Vinnie Johnson microwave.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Now is there any glass doesn't heat, but in this case,
it doesn't blow it up?

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Uh, and and you might you know, put that in
the microwave and it takes an hour to heat up.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Right, Okay, how long is.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
It's going to take you a while for Anthony Edwards
to be the player you're looking for the next the NBA.
I got news for you, man. If the Mavericks win
the NBA Finals, you're looking at the guy who's the
next face in the league, and that's Luca. One hundred percent.
Luca is the guy that we should be talking about. Hey,
this is the new face. Remember after last year, everybody
wanted to bury him. Ah, you know, he's not getting

(05:16):
it done. He's not getting over he's out of shape,
he doesn't care enough. He and Kyrie it's never gonna work.
Blah blah blah. He's not a leader, he's a cry baby,
he doesn't work hard enough. He's twenty five and there
everybody was already turning the page on him. It's like, oh,
you know, he had a shot.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
He's done.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
You know, we said before the playoffs there was nobody
with more pressure on him this year than Luca, because
the Mavericks have not been on an upward path to
success where a franchise player like Luca would normally have
his team like Giannis. It was this build of Giannis
to get the Bucks into a into a conference power,
and then they won the NBA title, and that's kind

(05:54):
of what you've seen. But the Mavericks, it's, yeah, some
years they win fifty games, some years they don't. Some
years they lose the first round, some years they lose
in the second round. There was so much pressure because
this was final of the year. The quote they got
it right, Hey, he's got the right.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Guy next to him in Kyrie Irving, and this should
be a year and instead it was, well, they won
fifty games.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
A point. There's a lot of.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
Other teams in the Western Conference that are good. But
this was his year and he has proven and silenced
all the doubters, and and now if he wins, yeah,
he's the face of the league. Like you were talking
about all these other guys. It's really Hey, this is
a guy that's been pretty good for the last five
or six years. It can do it all, can hit
big threes, it can get to the lane and can
and is fun and interesting enough. This is the guy

(06:35):
like you all keep waiting, await, Oh, we're pointing.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
We're pointing when it's very organic that if Luca wins
a title of twenty five and he's just entering the
real big prime of his career, guess what, he's the
face of the League's not Anthony Edwards.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
He has to have time to grow into it.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
Because you saw over the course of this series who
was more ready for the moment, Edwards or Luca.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
Luca was, And so that happens, it's it's Luka Donsi.
Even if Kyrie Irving could play right, Hey, he's the
reason why they know Luca would be the face of
the NBA if they win. No, that's just it we're
looking for now. We're looking for next and Luca's a
guy that's had a lot of heat for years and
we've been waiting for him to get over and put
a performance like this. You add the fire and the

(07:15):
thing we like and have to you know, caution him
on with Edwards is the same thing that drives Luca, right.
He's very blunt in his assessment of his play, his
teammates play, and where they're at, and getting.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Into it with officials. It's part of the superstar culture, right,
That's where we're at.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Every guy that's gotten over in the NBA, they all
get on the officials to a point. He may be
a little more demonstrative, but he's also more entertaining and
engaging with it, which is why they keep the camera
on it. Sure as you've got the big arms flapping
around plead, not just you know, walking up and kind
of go that calls sucking. No, no, no, he's loud,
he's after it, and then he gets into it with fans.

(07:58):
He takes it personally right, he's doing the full Michael
Jordan thing. All right, I'm focusing on you. You were
a jerk to me, or you were a jerk to
my family and I'm going in and we can buy
into that, right, We root for that to a degree
until we don't. Because it's like with the Warriors.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
We love the Warriors.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
Remember they were changing the game, and then about eighteen
months later everybody hated him. This game sucks because nobody
plays on the block anymore, and all these guys that
can't shoot worth a lick are now floating beyond the arc.
Every game is one thirty to ninety two. I don't
like it anymore. I'll shooting seventy three pointers a game.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
But if I will say the one thing about Luca, right,
because this is where he's at now with this kind
of performance that now the Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
Uh, the only thing I can say, you know what.
We talk a lot about his trash talk. His trash
talk is kind of weak, right because every time he
talks trash, he is always talking to the back of
someone's head, or to the bench, or to fans as
he's backing away back down the floor. And I'm like, dude,
if you're really like, like there's much you want to
say about Draymond Green, he will get in you face

(09:00):
until you want it.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
That's trash.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Talk, Luca is like, yeah, I'm yelling as I'm running away,
and it's like he's the kid that wants to start
the fight, and then when the fight looks like it's
gonna start, he runs behind his friends who hold him
up like like, you know, yeah, okay, if you like
to talk trash and say certain things, you can't guard
me all this. Say it when they turn around to
your face, because I have yet to see him do that. Right,
If Rudy Gobert turned around when he hit that big

(09:22):
jumper and he yell, you can't blank and guard again,
so I was cursed against Slovenium. If Rudy Gobert turned
stared at him, Lucas not saying anything. He's not getting
in his face yet, Luca is a when your back
is turned, I will talk.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
No, see that That is the one instance I would
disagree because that was the shot that was a dagger.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah. And Rudy Gobert, I mean there's a guy people
have a real liking problem.

Speaker 5 (09:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, going back to the COVID microphones, going back to
him winning a bunch of awards and then not playing well,
So like, why did I vote for this guy? A
lot of voter remorse related did Rudy Gobert perhaps more
than anything I've ever seen as we talk about the NBA.
So yeah, that would be the one instance I would
say in that moment, I think he would have actually

(10:08):
been ten feet tall in bulletproof and stood in against Gobert,
who's a fake tough guy himself. Yeah. Oh look look right, look, hey,
look look. The NBA is filled with fake tough guys, right,
I mean, Draymond Green is a real tough guy, and
I've been when you are talking smack, Yeah, you getting
somebody's face when you say it, going away like that,
I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
I looked at and I go okay, And then he
won't even say what he said. What'd you say?

Speaker 3 (10:31):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (10:31):
I didn't say anything. No, because you always say it
when you're running away from somebody. I want you to
get in somebody's face and say that to them. You
don't make a bit because that because that's what the
real trash talkers do. You really want to be a
trash talker. That's the only thing I can say is
I watch when I go He's never gonna get in
anybody's face in yell. He's only going to do it
when he's walking away. I mean, look all the shots
you see of him talking although he's getting into with

(10:52):
a fan. He's even getting into with a fan as
he's running back out. Yeah, but he just hit a
shot and he's mocking you. He can't stop playing.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, what am I gonna do? Because when he does
the most muscular pose, it's terrible.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
Oh well he's not muscular. Yeah, you know, like when
guys do that, it's like you gotta at least have
a little you gotta go, you gotta have that. Yeah,
that's why whenever I do my posing, I make sure
I show my triceps.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, that's my best. If you're gonna, you know, preen
and flex, I mean, don't set then my best, feed
my tru my triceps.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
Triceps are great.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Are you nuts? Smack him on my try?

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Can you know how many people would would would stream
our videos or best of videos of all I did
was just if it was just me and my triceps.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Forget it and why are we not doing it?

Speaker 3 (11:36):
Forget it if you want because that hangs because I stop.
I do not because I'm about we're content people, We're
not just be buying.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
No, No, I look on my candy.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
We're content people. Come on, man, if you really want
to be eye candy, you would wear those jaunty hats more.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
But you don't.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
You stop wearing. You stop to get him over the
top of the head set. And oh, I'm sorry. You
can't buy an extra large headset that goes over your
jaunty hat, that goes over the feather that sticks out
of your fedora.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Got to work.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
Really, I do have a couple of good spring summer
jaunty hats. I mean, look just like Jimmy jam and.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
And and the others.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Uh as they're they're they're front and center for these
finals games. Yeah no, I okay, we'll bring it back
either way. Let's start peacocking. Come on, there's greatness ahead.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
But that's the only thing I can say for a look,
when when you talk smack, don't don't do it as
you're running away.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
Do it. Do it in somebody's to do it to
somebody's face, and do it like the pros.

Speaker 6 (12:34):
Do it.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
Do it like the great guy like Paul Pierce and
KG and all the do it how they do it,
do it? How Draymond doesn't. Yeah, don't do it when
you're walking away, someone's back all the time. Yeah, but
Draymond is then going to complain about the finds. He gets, well,
it's okay.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Your I was a tough guy. Why they take my
hundred grand?

Speaker 3 (12:52):
Well, because you got called for how many technical files
and how many guys did you mouch in the face
and whatever else. So Luca's a little smarter than right.
It's not costing him anything. Okay, Yeah, but still in
the you'll have to fight another day. But on the streets, man,
you already gotta get the street out on the streets,
gotta get street cras on Adam Silvers Street and DJ,

(13:13):
he's walking along the lonely street of dreams saying, here
I go again to the NBA Finals.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
DJ The Jason Smith Show with Mike Carmen Love from
the Tirec dot Com Studio. So, yeah, Luca, this is
the guy who will be the face of the league,
and now he's shipping up to boss.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
There it is.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
But coming up next, will Luca and the MAVs be
able to pull this off? Could Jason Tatum end up
being the face of the league? Rick Buker, Yeah, let's
go stops by with us next to break it all down,
Jason and Mike. This is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
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Speaker 3 (13:55):
Two NBA Insiders podcasting twice a week to plug you
right into the NBA Great Five.

Speaker 4 (14:01):
All happening in only one place. This League Uncut, the
new NBA podcast with Me Chris Haynes and Me Mark
Stein join us as we team up to expound on
everything we're covering Hearing and Chason.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haynes and Mark Stein.

Speaker 4 (14:20):
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.

Speaker 5 (14:25):
The horn sounds for the third time in Dallas Mavericks
franchise history, spanning forty four years. The Mavericks will play
for the NBA Championship, winners of the Western Conference and
winning it convincingly tonight in Game five one twenty four to.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
One to three.

Speaker 3 (14:47):
Mavericks Radio Network on the call. Yes, it was that
kind of a blowout, a game.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
That te Wolves never threatened despite the fact they promised, Hey,
we'll see you back here for game six.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Oh wow, well does that make them liars?

Speaker 6 (15:00):
Wow?

Speaker 3 (15:00):
Well, well if they perpetrate a fraud? He did they
in America?

Speaker 2 (15:03):
They lied?

Speaker 1 (15:04):
Jorge Lopez said, the Timberwolves, that's the worst blanket team
and all of that. The Wolves don't really show up.
The Mavericks show up, especially Kyrie and Luca thirty six apiece.
As the MAVs head to the NBA Finals, What to
expect now with forty four days off in between games?
Joining us now the hotline nobody Better? Fox Sports one

(15:25):
NBA insider, host of the On the Ball podcast. You
can follow him on Twitter at Rick Buker. It is
the aforementioned Rick Buker. Bud, what's happening?

Speaker 3 (15:34):
Man?

Speaker 6 (15:35):
What is happening? We've got the finals, We've got some
time and then we've got the finals. How good is that?

Speaker 4 (15:41):
I know?

Speaker 2 (15:41):
Are you going on vacation for a week and then
come back for the file?

Speaker 6 (15:43):
Like?

Speaker 2 (15:44):
What are you gonna get to do?

Speaker 6 (15:46):
I've got I've got a few other things that I'd
like to get done, so I can use this little respite.
But I will not I will not be going away.
I might I might hit the golf course once or twice.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Okay, all right, now before you end of the game,
now tell us it said, don't don't save this for
Colin show. What are we what are we going to
get from lebron James in the next week to grab
hold of the news cycle?

Speaker 2 (16:09):
What's he going to do? What are we going to get?

Speaker 6 (16:12):
I don't know, but it's going to be something that's
a very it's very good of you to point that out.
Of course, you know he and Bronnie the plans in
terms of they're gonna open it up that they're gonna be,
They're gonna have They're gonna have the Summer of lebron too.

(16:34):
It's gonna be Summer of Bronnie. They're going to allow
teams to come in and interview them to see who
they might be willing to go play for next year,
much like he did, uh with the decision. We're gonna
have the decision to how about that?

Speaker 2 (16:50):
Oh all right? I like that, man?

Speaker 4 (16:52):
I like that.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Who's going to host this one?

Speaker 3 (16:55):
Doctor JJ Reddick do it and then announce himself as
coach afterwards?

Speaker 6 (16:59):
Or what?

Speaker 3 (17:00):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (17:01):
What is there? A? Is there a I don't know whatever.
JJ Reddick's favorite boys and girls clubs that's where they're
That's that's where they're gonna host it.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
Look there you go. See.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
Like the fun part of the draft, though, is Bronnie
not going back to college. I mean, it gives a
month of speculation and everybody to throw a dart on
a board as to where he is in terms of
number of prospects. And for me, I can keep trying
to put the spike pick into existence that some other
team that he has no desire to go to does
it out of spite.

Speaker 6 (17:33):
Yeah, I think the most exciting part of this is
that we're going to see teams battling for like the
fifty fourth or fifty in the draft in order to
I can't even make I can't even make fun of
it at this point. This is this is the most

(17:54):
hilarious sort of browsing at the mouth over a guy
who averaged four points for a really bad USC team.
And I don't, honestly, I don't see lebron going anywhere,
but I do see this as leverage for him. What

(18:15):
I see all this as is he knows that the
Lakers have a few more assets in the cupboard, and
he wants to make sure that they utilize all of
those in trying to make this team as good as
as it can be for the next for the next
three hundred and sixty five days or so. I just

(18:37):
I don't see him signing any place else. It's also
his way of making sure that they're gonna they're gonna
hand him the max contract that that he can be handed.
This is just leverage building. I just don't see any way.
I mean, the idea of him going anywhere to First
of all, he's gonna have to play for what's forty
fifty million dollars less, and that's just not happening. The

(19:01):
amount of money that he'd have to give up, I
know he's made it to a lot amount of money'd
have to give up. The amount of influence and control
that he has with the Lakers, Like giving all of
that up just to go someplace else makes absolutely no sense.
But we'll see if the Lakers call his bluff or
whether they just hand him the keys to everything. As

(19:24):
I'm sure that he's leveraging to do well.

Speaker 3 (19:26):
Because that's what I keep coming back to, Rick, is
this good for the company? I'm going full office space
here right. Obviously they make a lot of money with
Lebron there and star power, et cetera. Whatever, But at
some point, wouldn't you take a little bit less in
a loaded Western conference to maybe not tempt fate that
he's going to play seventy plus games again.

Speaker 6 (19:49):
So we're saying that the Lakers, that the Lakers look.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
At it and say, you know what the business is,
Lebron is not our business anymore.

Speaker 6 (19:58):
Yeah. I if it was any other franchise, it was
any other situation, you might get that sort of level
headed thinking. Our power and the fact that they can't
replace him with anything. I just I do not see
that happening. He's still going to sell tickets. I think

(20:18):
they're hanging on to the making sure that they are
in the Lebron Farewell tour business, and so I don't
see them going that direction. I would imagine that they're
going to do whatever they need to do to keep him,
and He's going to make sure that they do everything
that they're capable of doing to keep them.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
All right, Rick, Now, when the finals do begin on
the fourth of July, we have so many great storylines
coming in. You know, it's Kyrie playing Boston and here's
Porzingi's playing Dallas. But I look at this I know
we spent a lot of time early anointing Anthony Edwards
as the face of the league. But if the Mavericks
win this, Luca is the face of the league.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
I mean, I don't think.

Speaker 3 (21:01):
I don't think that's going to be something that can
even be debatable at this point.

Speaker 6 (21:05):
Yeah, you know what's is, I've had this conversation with
the Speak crew and various people and and raising the
question are we ready to have an international player be
the face of the league because it's never happened that
most people are thinking it never could happen. I think
that's why there was such a heavy push to try
to annoint Anthony Edwards ahead of his time. But yeah,

(21:29):
I mean, for my money, I don't I don't think.
I think we're in a different place when it comes
to fans and NBA fans. I do think that the
league's push to be global and and our I think
the way our viewfinders have opened up to international play.

(21:52):
You know, you can watch the English Premier League. The
number of fans that I know are Americans who are
fans of English Premiere League teams and watch it devotedly
is a new phenomenon and it doesn't matter like, uh,
you know, Litel MESSI huge draw here in in in

(22:12):
soccer in the United States. I just think we're at
a tipping point now where, yeah, I would say that
we're ready for that to happen. And I'm expecting Luka
Dosts in the Dallas Mavericks to win the finals. So
we'll be you know, obviously it depends on how this unfolds.

(22:32):
But because Kyrie Irving may sneak in there and have
a say, but I don't. I think he's still too
polar rising to be to be the faith of the league.
Not even asked to be on the US national team.
I think that's a that's a signal because the NBA
has a hand in deciding who's going to be on
that team. So uh yeah, I think we are. I

(22:56):
think we're on the cusp of that happening, and it
has weapons. Who knows when the next American is the
face of the league again, because we got Victor Webman
Yama coming too, and we have Nicolai isn't going anywhere, right.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
So Jalen Brunson, Jalen Brunson, don't forget how dare you
not say, Jalen Brunson.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
How dare you? How dare you?

Speaker 4 (23:17):
Sir?

Speaker 6 (23:20):
I don't you know what Jalen Brunson is like. He's
the little photo in the corner. He's not the like,
he's not the big banner photo. He's the little guy
in this in the corner where he's recognized. But yeah,
I don't.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
No, you're gonna be banned from MSG like Charles Oakley.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
Watch out.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Wow, that escalated quickly.

Speaker 6 (23:47):
Badge of honor, especially if you've seen where they see
the media. I'm mnus who you can't tell the difference
where the media people see that, you might.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
As well be outside of Madison Square, right, Rick Buker
with us here The Jason Smith Show with Mike Carlin.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
All right, so you got the first prediction out there,
you like Dallas over Boston wide.

Speaker 3 (24:16):
I just.

Speaker 6 (24:18):
One. I just from what we've seen in terms of closing,
there's a couple of things here. Number One, it's really
hard to get a read on the Boston Celtics and
how good they are right now because they're in the
Eastern Conference. Their record against the top four in the
Western Conference during the regular season, small sample size, it
was three and five. So I'm not sure that I
fully buy in to their league leading records, and then

(24:42):
I look at who they have to go through, like
it doesn't the teams that they had to knock off
to get here in no way compare to what the
Dallas Mavericks had to go through beating Oklahoma City Thunder
number one team in the West in particular, and a
very tough top Minnesota Timberwolves teams with I believe as

(25:04):
good as Boston is defensively, like Minnesota has great wing
defenders and they have great wimp rim protectors to the
level that Boston doesn't. Now, if Christos Perzingis comes back
and he's all that Christops Perzingas can be, that I
think is a really interesting series. But if Christops isn't
one hundred percent or doesn't play, then I just al

(25:29):
Horpod's going to have is with Derek Liveley and Daniel Gaffer,
He's going to have his handsful. And now you've got
Maxi kleeber who if you want to stretch, you want
to stretch five, You've got that. And then I just
look at the way that Luca, Luca and Tyrie have
found a way to play together in one and a
half seasons in a way that Jalen Brown and Jason

(25:52):
Tatum have yet to find for however many seasons they've
been together and at the heart That's why I just
I lean Dallas in terms of the role that they're
on the thew how hard they've had to play to
get here. I just think they are far more tested
than the Boston Celtics at this point.

Speaker 3 (26:14):
Certainly we look at that last series and the number
of missteps down the stretch from the Pacers along the way.
Let me circle back to the Western Conference here for
a second. How different is this Minnesota team looking?

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Is cat gone? Are we talking trades like how do
they or do they try to bring back the base?

Speaker 6 (26:35):
Honestly, I would I would. I know There's been so
much talk about Karl Anthony Towns, and I don't know
what their financial situation is in terms of, you know,
paying the you know, getting past the second apron and
paying as much tax as they're going to have to
pay to keep this team together. But I think that
the biggest missing element to this team was just maturity.

(27:00):
The Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, Jade McDaniels in particular,
they all just need to grow off, like whether it
was how they ended the previous series when they beat Denver,
mocking the Denver fans and and the bounce dunk that
Jade McDaniels attempted like, I didn't like that, and I

(27:20):
and I you know, we got we got a lot
of SoundBite of Anthony Edwards talking and saying things and
and labeling that as leadership. Leadership is what Luka Doncic did,
followed by Kyrie Irving tonight, and leadership is not what
Anthony Edwards did tonight, which is his whole thing. Was

(27:41):
I just I don't want to be swept. Okay, great,
that way to set that mindset.

Speaker 3 (27:47):
Okay, Hey, the long road starts with that first step, Brick.
It was it was a competitive non sweep, though it
was competitive. That's a new name now, rick, if you
get swept, it's is it a competitive sweep?

Speaker 2 (27:58):
That's all you need.

Speaker 6 (28:00):
I mean it just so, I just think there's a
lot of growing up to do with this team.

Speaker 3 (28:05):
But I I.

Speaker 6 (28:08):
Would, I mean honestly, I would run it back and
I want to. But I want to see who Anthony
Edwards is when he comes back next year, because just
listening to his post games, he didn't really know why
they lost, Like he doesn't know what he thinks. You
know what, we just didn't We didn't make the shots
we made in the last in the last series. Yeah yeah,

(28:31):
but maybe because you were up against a different opponent
and you didn't figure out what it is that you
needed to do. And one of the things was Anthony Edwards,
you need to attack Luke A. Dantic every opportunity you have.
You have to be an attack mode. You have to
make better decisions. And honestly, I thought one of the

(28:53):
things that disappointed me the most is when the Dallas
Mavericks picks on Rudy Gobert, and there was nobody who
stood up for Rudy. There was nobody who went back
at Dallas. There was nobody who got in Dogge's face.
There was like, and I know, Rudy is the biggest guy,
defensive player of the year, all of that stuff. Look,
he's French and he's kind of an eccentric big I

(29:17):
needed other Minnesota Timberwolves, the guys who were the leaders
on that team, to step up and say you're not
going to dog our big man like that. And I
didn't see any of that and if they were going
to have championship medal, then that's one of the things
that they're going to have to develop them.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
Well, it'll be different next year when they have Julius Randall.
The Knicks either have Karl Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert.
It'll be a little bit different for them next year.

Speaker 6 (29:43):
Rick, you know that I thought we put that drum away.
I thought we lost that drum up in the band room.
How did you get that back out?

Speaker 3 (29:54):
We got because it's where the drummer is, right next
to where the media sits. An MSG, I'll tell you
where it went. His Mets season has gone crashing to
the fifth ring of Hell. So now it's back on
to the Knicks immediately because he can't get to the
Jets yet. It's still ninety nine days before the first game, Rick,
so that's where we're at.

Speaker 6 (30:12):
So it's actually the New York Mets drum and he
just relabeled it and brought it over.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
That's right, he's perpetrating a fraud.

Speaker 6 (30:21):
I got it.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
He's on Twitter at Rick Buker. That is at Rick
Buker Fox Sports.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
One checkout is on the Ball podcast The Latest all
about the Knicks off season needs. It's an hour and
a half long. It's a great listen. Check out Beyond
the Wall podcast all the details on rick Twitter page. Again,
had Rick Buker likes a bunch of Always Buddy, we'll
talk to.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
You next week.

Speaker 6 (30:41):
What about my off seasoned Joe.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
Swing him, hit him along and straight Rick there, he's
got the Mavericks. I wanted to follow up on the
draft stuff.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
It's like, how soon does Brownie's name show up in
the best of bail available be scroll at the bottom.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
It'll be beginning of the draft best I house brought
there next to.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
Every name like it's an invisible ink put to see,
like we're contractually obligated to put in here.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
Coming up next after what we just saw with Luca
and the Mavericks qualifying for the NBA Finals, we are
two games away from the greatest sports story of the year.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
What is it? Snaxt right here Jason and Mike.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific, Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
The Jason Smith Show with My best friend Mike Harmon,
Live from the tirag dot com studios, where now with
the Mavericks win, they move on to the NBA Finals.
We are now two games away from the greatest sports
story you can imagine, two games, two games, two hockey
games away. Wait what two hockey games away from the

(31:56):
greatest sports story imaginable?

Speaker 2 (31:58):
Okay, And this is.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
Every Dallas area team in the last season they have
played making their sports finals except the Cowboys.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
We are we are two games. Please make that happen,
just so I can watch Jerry Jones react to this.
The question is are we going.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
To get that?

Speaker 3 (32:22):
I just when we get someone in the family that
surreptitiously just follows him and has a camera, It's like,
what's that light, what's that light on me?

Speaker 2 (32:31):
Nothing? Nothing, Grandpa, You're all good?

Speaker 1 (32:34):
You think you think Jerry Jones is walking around Dallas
right now wearing a Connor McDavid Jersey.

Speaker 2 (32:38):
Gotta have gotta have it.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Come on, God, gotta represent, got to come on, gotta represent.
I can't have every team besides the Cowboys making the finals.
We've been building for thirty years, haven't made the Super Bowl.
These teams have been around for about five minutes. They
got brand new stars like a year and a half ago.
It's been a thirty year process.

Speaker 5 (32:59):
Jerry.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
It's not going to be a.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
Good look if you're walking around Dallas wearing an Edmonton
Oilers jersey. No, it's okay because what I can say
is it's oil, right, That's where rich people get the
money from.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
It's oil.

Speaker 3 (33:08):
It's just because I'm where I'm wearing a wearing an
Edmonton oil Is jersey. I'm just I'm pro oil, right,
what's the oil we're making money? Well, i'd sign the
McDavid kidd give him more money. You know, he only
makes like seven million dollars a year. That's like you
think about it, Al is just the Canadian Texas. Yeah.
Oh hey, hey it's a god So go that's a
good one right there, Chris, I'm gonna use that one. Uh, Steven,

(33:28):
write that down so I could use that. Yeah, it's
like quarterback Dak and go let's go skate for Dallas team.
Working out one of the things we could have really
approached with with Rick Buker who just joined us. You know,
you asked the question about what's Lebron Do the hell's
Jerry Jones do? Now do we get a random sign like,
say this happens and we get the Stars, do we

(33:51):
suddenly have Jerry Jones?

Speaker 2 (33:52):
Here I am novelty check and this is CD big
press conference. Here's what it is.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
Here's one hundred million dollar check. And what now has
to happen is DAK and CD are gonna fight over it. Guys,
go get it.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
He breaks a pots, You and a half says, make
it quick. Hey, who wants to see him make a
pencil disappear?

Speaker 5 (34:10):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yeah, yeah joke. Hey, just have it right now. That
would be pretty good.

Speaker 3 (34:15):
But yeah, it's it that would becomes he. I really
wish we had a Jerry Jones. Oh, he would be
ninety nine days from the start of the regular season.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
We talked about something.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
Lebron will do something to grab the spotlight in the
next and next week and Jerry Jones depending on how
these last two games of the Stars go against the
Edmonton Oilers. Hey, Jerry Jones is right there too, but does.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
He do something?

Speaker 3 (34:38):
Also in response to the Jalen Wattle, is it Ceede
Lamb or is it Dak? Oh, they had to give
that guy the money. They gave the Wattle kid money.
CD's not gonna be happy about that.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
He didn't. He didn't see that one coming.

Speaker 3 (34:49):
He'd be, uh, hey, how about you, We'll take it, kid,
and then you can take CD and then we're built. Look,
we won't pay him either. Well, we're in the same problem.
Both of them are gonna sit out. They're gonna go
hang out with Micah Parsons and watch games. So he
will do something.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
There will be some kind of crazy move that Jerry
Jones will do to try to win, like an off
season championship for the Colby.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
He announced is an expansion and random like wrestling event
that's gonna show up. No, no, it's got to be
cowboy centric, man, it's got to be cowboy centric. Is
there anybody he's on the outs with, like Dolan, with
Oakley that he brings back into the.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
Hole, Probably on the outs with a lot of players
that he had not gonna pay money to that want money.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
He's on the outs with Dak.

Speaker 3 (35:32):
I'm just talking about guys from the past that you
can say, hey, here's our reconciliation. Hey, Jerry, there's all
three of the two. Have you seen Roger Stawback is back?
Because you already got to bring him on to everybody
This is too bad for him because that Jimmy Johnson
thing was like the ace in the hole, like the
whole time.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
Oh what maybe if he.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
Hey, hey, Mike McCarthy, I know I was giving you
an extra year, but I'm bringing I'm bringing the Johnson kid.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
Now we're talking. There we go. Jimmy's gonna come back
and coach. That's it. It's like me want and pat
Riley dag the Lakers, let's go.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
Can't have this hat can't have every other sports team
in Dallas looked like the owner knows what he's doing
more than me.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
Can't have that again, We just can't.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
I remember how tough it was in twenty eleven when
the Dirt Kid won for the mad That was difficult.
Man Cuban's giving me voicemails and text messages all the time.
Ah spray painting MAVs were ruling my car.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
I didn't like it. Didn't like it.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
And the one with the big steer on the front too,
didn't like it. I had to get that all painted
over again.

Speaker 6 (36:26):
Didn't like it.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
Now have this picture of Martin Cuban running around with
two cans of spray paint, cackling like a Madman as
he goes up on that Dallas Cowboys bus.

Speaker 1 (36:38):
Coming up next, we'll give you our picks for the
NBA Finals. We'll get him on the record first, Jason
and Mike Fox