Thursday, May 2, 2024 I Full Show

The Tigers yesterday, we want to criticize coaches while the NBA is a players league, and who’s the best architect in Detroit sports. The Red Wings need certain pieces. The NHL and NBA playoffs from last night, and James Edwards III from The Athletic on PistonsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

(00:16):
Where are we at in society today? Come after me. I'm a man,
I'm forty. Go ahead, makemy day every single week. I
put my freaking heart and soul intothis. I don't go out there and
laugh. It's not funny. Nothing'sfunny to me. I don't want to
go out there and get embarrassed onMonday night football for everybody. I think
that at the beginning of a beautifulfriendship. So I ain't nothing changed from

(00:40):
yesterday. Still the same person Iwas yesterday, and I got the same
thing for you that I had yesterday. You know why I'm here. You
play to win the day. Youdon't play to just play it. That's
a great thing about sports. Youplay to win, and I don't care

(01:00):
if you don't have any wins.You go play to win. When you
start telling me it doesn't matter,per retire, get out for the mat
Hey good way to start this Thursday. Welcome everyone, Bexes and bros.
Monday through Friday, six until ninethroughout the great state of Michigan. Matt

(01:25):
Shephard, that's our producer. Youcan call him on the Meyer Hotline eight
sixty six eight three eight forty eightforty three Tigers, who winning yesterday four
to one. They win this seriesfor the Cardinals. That is four straight
series wins for Detroit. Now,we focus a lot of people focus a

(01:47):
lot on the negative, unfortunately bothersomesometimes for me too. But that's what
it's about. Baseball is about gonnawin every game. You should know that.
You do know that. There arejust certain times where you look back
and you're like, that's the onegame you let get away, first game

(02:08):
at the doubleheader two days ago.Right, okay, But it's about winning
series. If you can win series, you're in great shape. You're gonna
win your divisions as simple as that. You're gonna win the more series wins
you have. I'm not talking games, I'm talking about series wins. That's
the goal. You beat Cardinals ina series, you beat the Royals in

(02:30):
a series, you beat the Raysin a series, and you feel pretty
good about yourself, and you should. You also beat the Twins in a
series. So the last series losswas to the Rangers. Now, the
Twins have played really good ball asof late. They've won ten in a
row. Detroit's seventeen wins entering Mayis the second most in franchise history.

(03:02):
Only the eventual World Series champions.Nineteen eighty four World Series Tigers were better.
They were eighteen and two. What, yeah, I know, eighteen
and two. Yes, that's thefamous thirty five and five. Remember though,
that team won its first seventeen roadgames. Those are a couple of

(03:27):
things. I don't think we'll beduplicated last year to give you, to
give you a perspective, last year, Detroit was ten and seventeen entering May.
Now. Granted, I mean it'sMay second, so yesterday was May
first. But I'm just you know, we haven't really been able to dive

(03:49):
into May just yet. So there'syour situation right there. Kentamaieta got his
first win as a Tiger. Fourhits over six innings, pretty solid.
Veerling had three RBIs. Detroit haskind of owned Saint Louis in Inner League

(04:12):
play. I told you yesterday anytimethe Tigers take on the Cardinals, or
maybe it was two days ago,I think it was yesterday. I think
of World Series because they've met inthe World Series three times, with Saint
Louis winning too out of the three, but Detroit has owned them. They're
thirty one and sixteen against Saint Louisall time in interleague play. Now they're

(04:38):
off to New York to take onthe Yankees, and looks it's a Yankees
team that is has shown to besomewhat vulnerable at times eight and five at
home. They've come back down toearth a little bit. They split their
last ten games. They're twenty andtwelve on the year. After winning Baltimore

(05:01):
yesterday, We'll see what happens withthat. I don't know if that's the
measuring stick, but I will tellyou this, we're thirty one games deep.
You're getting a little bit closer torecognizing who your team truly is.
Detroit will have today off while theYankees play in Baltimore. Carlos Rodan throws

(05:29):
for the Yankees here today. Gameone tomorrow against New York. Resolson against
Marcus Stroman. That's the scheduled starteranyway on Saturday, So it's a good
weekend to be in the Big Apple. On Saturday, Casey Mize against Clark
Schmidt, and then the wrap uphas Trek Scoubel against Nestor Cortes. Then

(05:55):
it's off to Cleveland, who islead the division. And again it's early,
but at some point and I saythat quite a bit. I used
to say it. We'll call ingames, and I think a lot of
people say that it is early.You play one hundred and sixty two games
and you're only thirty one games deep. It is early. However, at

(06:17):
some point you and I are goingto stop saying it's early. When that
is is up to the individual.What did Sparky Anderson used to say?
Give me forty games and then yougot a better idea. Now there are
exceptions to the rule, right,Houston two thousand and six, I think,

(06:39):
struggled and then reach the World Series. But the point is you're starting
to see this team and it lookspretty good at times. Right. The
pitching is definitely keeping them in it. And it's funny how a series win
can kind of change your mood alittle bit, because yesterday we're talking about

(07:00):
missing an opportunity in Game one.Then you score eleven runs, you feel
like, oh, okay, notbad. Don't let victories or even losses.
Don't let either one cloud your judgmenton what you think is happening or
question certain things. It's all right, Still, eight hits isn't a ton,

(07:26):
Okay, you got to give somecredit work where credit is due.
Saint Louis played halfway decent two.How good are the card I don't know.
We don't know yet. We knowthere are three games under five hundred,
but we're just not sure. AndI would guess people in Saint Louis
are saying the same thing about Detroit. Now you lost to a pretty good

(07:47):
team, are they? We don'tknow yet. We do think, and
I think it's important here. Wedo think that we've got some some off
issues that need to be figured out. But it's a pretty cool moment for
Matt Vierlin, who picked up histhird home run of the season, a

(08:09):
two run blast of the third offMiles Michelis, to do it against his
hometown team. He was a fifthround draft pick out of Notre Dame but
grew up in Missouri and Saint Louiswas his hometown team. So it's a
it's that's kind of a neat moment. A couple of days ago we had

(08:31):
win Silperez had his first two homerun game. That was a neat moment.
There are certain things that take placeduring the season you're like, oh,
this is really cool. I likeit. Memorable stuff in the NHL
last night, Stars beat the VegasKnights three too. It's the first time
the home team has won a gamein the series and they lead the series

(08:56):
by that three to two score.Oilers over the Kings. Edmonton win the
series and eliminates LA for a thirdstraight year. Leon Drivesidel had two goals.
Connor McDavid had a couple of assistseleven in the series for McDavid,
most in franchise history, which surprisedme. And then Boston is in Toronto

(09:18):
tonight. The lease Leafs get this. They have lost six straight home playoff
games. The Bruins, in themeantime, have lost five consecutive series clinching
games, which tells you what theOak cliche. Go ahead, something's got
to give. NBA Finals from lastnight, and don't forget speaking to the
NBA. James Edwards of the Athleticis going to join us. We'll talk

(09:41):
Pistons and the NBA coming up hereon a Thursday morning edition of Exus and
Bros. Stay with us. We'reback with more after this across the great
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(10:01):
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Look for the Flying Ace Whiskey bottleneckerson bottles all across the state of Michigan
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(11:48):
hour. Welcome Back Acts Bros.Monday to Friday six and till nine Here
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(12:09):
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(12:35):
seven NBA from last night. Celticsled wire to wire. They post a
one to eighteen eighty four win toeliminate the Heat. Jaylen Brown Derek White
each had twenty five Boston that canplay either Cleveland or Orlando. And then
this is a little bit of asurprise. Maybe it's because in basketball,

(12:56):
probably more than any other sport,home court. I don't know. It
just seems like more home court advantagethan home ice, more home court advantage
than home field in baseball or football. That's that would be my guess without
really looking up the percentages, andsometimes those can be skewed. But Dallas

(13:18):
a one twenty three ninety three winnerover the Clippers, largest loss in playoff
history for La Luka Doncic and he'sbeen hurt with a bad right knee thirty
five points, ten rebounds, twentyof his thirty five game in the second
half. mAbs lead that series threegames to do. You would expect them
to go home and wrap things up. How you do that is similar to

(13:43):
you if you had a chance towatch Boston at all. Boston just dominated
Miami from the very get go.Look, they're a better team than Miami,
There's no question about that. Miamiwith a couple of big pieces,
really big pieces, and Rosier andobviously Jimmy Butler. So Celtics should get
that done right. But that doesn'tmean it always happens. I mean,

(14:03):
look what Milwaukee did the Indiana theother day, and they did it without
Ante Tekumpo, and they did itwithout Lillard. So you just never know.
I think you know this, thishappened yesterday. Mike Trout is out
for a good part of this season. He'd be lucky to play I don't
know, ninety five games or so. He's got to have surgery. We

(14:26):
mentioned this yesterday. I think thereare some people starting that they're not questioning
whether or not he's a Hall ofFame player. There's no doubt he is.
There's no doubt, all right,he's the best player of his generation.
And if you can't give him that, one of them. The injuries
are troublesome. Thirty six games intwenty twenty one one and nineteen games the

(14:52):
year next, eighty two games lastyear. Let's say he plays ninety five
this year. For as durable ashe was early on in his career,
playing at least one hundred and fiftyseven games in each of his first four
seasons. He has struggled since withinjuries. Why that is, I don't

(15:13):
know. People speculate. I'm notgoing to go there. We do know
this in his career, he's athree hundred hitter two ninety nine. If
you'll allow me to round up,he's gotten much better defensive lane wins above
replacement is really big for a lotof people. And he's fifth all time

(15:39):
amongst center fielders. You know who'sbetter Willie Mays, the Tigers, Ty
Cobb, Tris Speaker, and MickeyMantle. Mays's war, just so you
know, one hundred and fifty sixpoint two. That's nuts. It's absolutely

(16:03):
crazy. Speakers at one thirty fivepoint two, cob Is at one point
fifty one point four. You're notthere's no way you're you're surpassing that,
all right. Trout's War is aboutfourteen over the last few years. It's

(16:23):
pretty damn good. I don't knowif you've ever done this. Go to
Baseball Reference dot com and it's easyto access, and they have a baseball
grid that you can play. I'veplayed it quite a bit and my son
and I, my oldest son andI play it quite a bit and then

(16:47):
we kind of compare, and weplayed it yesterday and it's just a cool
little grid where you'll say it.You'll say like the Times at the top
and then on the left it willbe Saint Louis. So they want you
to fill in. Give you aplayer who's played for the Tigers and the
Cardinals. Every actually, basketball doesthis, football does this, hockey does

(17:11):
it? They all have this grid, Ben, have you ever? Have
you ever played that? By chance? No, it's really cool. It
really tests you, okay, andwhat you try to do. The easy
thing to do, you know,it would be like Jack Flaherty for Tigers
and Cardinals. You don't want todo that because the percentage is probably very

(17:32):
high. So you want to findsomebody who has played for both. But
it's a rare combination. It's notsomeone most people would think of. Okay.
So for example, you know,my son put in Edgar Renteria that

(17:57):
was his for the Cardinals and theTigers. That's a good one. Or
a Cardinal or Tigers and White Soxwas next. So down the left side
you had Cardinals and you had WhiteSox and you had another category, and
then you have something along the topthree. All right, So for example,
Tigers, White Sox, who wouldyou put? So A lot of

(18:17):
people immediately go, oh, chetLemon. I put Steve Kemp, And
the percentage for Steve Kemp was pointthree percent. In other words, point
three percent of the people got SteveKemp. Another one was three hundred home
runs for a White Sox player.I put Frank Thomas my Son, put

(18:40):
Paul Konerko. Those are the onlytwo of hit three hundred homers. You
don't want to go look it up. That's kind of cheating, but you
want to figure it out. Youput a MVP, all right, who
was a Tiger's MVP? They hadthat down left side? Was most Valuable
Player? And then the category isMVP. So I had Hank Greenberg because

(19:07):
I figured a lot of people putMiguel Cabrera, right, I put Hank
Greenberg. Anyway, the rarity Igot was sixty six, which is pretty
I was pretty happy with. MikeTrout will be in that discussion down the
road. But one of them wasa six war. Did you have a

(19:30):
who had a six war and anMVP season? Because six Wars was pretty
good, I put Carl Yastrimsky.But just to give you an idea,
what made me think of it was, you know, the wins above replacement,
Trout posting about fourteen war since thestart of twenty twenty. So he's

(19:53):
not catching any of those guys.He's not catching Cob, he's not catching
May's, he's not catching Speed.Probably won't catch Mickey Mantle, who's at
one hundred and ten point two.And then people wonder about the homers and
the RBIs and the hits and soand so. I don't think Mike Trout's
getting three thousand hits, He's sure. I don't think he's getting five hundred

(20:15):
homers. You'll get four hundred easies. He's the three hundred and seventy eight
right now. The RBIs, youknow, okay, and runs those are
those to me, the RBIs Ithink are important. But look, this
is a good excuse me. Thisis a guy who drives in what can

(20:37):
easily he'll easily average eighty five RBIs, ninety RBIs, but he hasn't had
more than eighty since twenty nineteen.You know, MVPs all that stuff.
No doubt he's the first ballot Hallof Famer. It just here's the thing
that differentiates them. Will he becan Sittered one of the greatest of all

(21:00):
time in center field if the injuriescontinue, if he does, if he's
not playing games, it's hard todo that. It's hard to think that
now when you've got so many others. Our phone number, by the way,
on the Meyer Hotline eighty sixty six, eight three eight forty eight forty
three. James Edwards of the AthleticWe'll join us at eight thirty five.

(21:26):
It's a little bit later on hereon Exis and Bros. On a Thursday
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(23:14):
five after the hour. A couplehours from now, we'll talk with James
Edwards of The Athletic. If youmissed any of our conversation yesterday, remember
the conversation with Ben Raven from Mlive. We'll play that about an hour from

(23:37):
now. Okay, we'll do thatbecause it was an informative one. So
seven thirty five Ben Raven from Mlivea replay and then eight thirty five James
Edwards from the Athletic. I wantedto ask people about covering games. I've

(24:00):
read some things recently. We're moreand more broadcasters are calling out umpires.
It happened the other day in theTwins broadcast Byron Buxton was injured and one
of the umpires was telling telling him, in so many words, let's hustle

(24:23):
it up, okay, to getoff the field. He wasn't feeling really
good all right. So Rob Drakewas the first base umpire and kind of
was a little upset with Buxton's paceand wanted him to hurry to get off

(24:45):
the field. And well, theBally Sports North crew didn't like it too
much, La Troy Hawkins, Coreyprovis So they were critical of him,
which is, you know, that'sfine. Same thing happened in the Baltimore
game Baltimore Orioles, I forget who. I don't know if it was Gunner

(25:07):
Henderson at the plate, but ofcourse, who do you have behind the
dish? Cebe Buckner, who's youshouldn't know? Umpires names, you shouldn't
know, referees names you were.I mean, those are the people who
are supposed to be silent but helpthe game along. It's not a good

(25:32):
thing if you're recognizing umpires on aregular basis. Oh boy, we got
Angel Hernandez. Oh boy, wegot Cebe Buckner. Uh oh, we've
got Teddy Valentine. Those are notgood things. TV ted is what they
call them. He embraced that stuffin college basketball. Cebee Buckner behind the

(25:53):
plate calls a strike three that wasclearly low. It was gunner head,
Yeah, thank you. And JimPalmer just says, you know what,
he shouldn't be umpiring, and heis and they know it. There's two
different situations where they are calling outthe people who are policing their game.

(26:25):
Do you remember, before the playoffsbegan in the NBA, Anthony Davis called
out the league itself. Do youremember this at all? Anthony Davis said,
Remember the three players announced for DefensivePlayer of the Year, Anthony Davis

(26:48):
is not one of them. Itwas Rudy Gobert. It was Bam Autebayo
from Miami, and it was ofcourse Victor Webbin Yama. And it won't
surprise me if Weben Yanama women winsit. Even though he's a rookie.
There is no Anthony Davis, andAnthony Davis came out and said, quote,

(27:10):
I'll never get Defensive Player of theYear. They're not giving it to
me. The league doesn't like me. I'm the best defensive player in the
league. I can switch one throughfive, I can guard the pick and
roll the best in the league.From a big standpoint, I block shots,
I rebound. I don't know whatelse to do. I'm over it.
I'm done with accolades and individual awards, done with winning a championship too,

(27:33):
because the team was eliminated. Butyeah, that's more and more teams
or players, I should say,And more and more announcers are feeling comfortable
about calling out either players or leagues. Charles Barkley did it. Charles Barkley

(27:55):
said, for all you punks andidiots and jackasses on other networks who want
to be who want to be mediaand want all the players to like y'all,
do your damn job. The Lakerssuck and the sun suck because of
the players. This goes back towhat I was saying earlier on the show.
Not this morning, but in thepast. We want to criticize coaches,

(28:21):
and for good reason. I'm notsaying there they don't deserve any blame.
But you and I both know.You and I both know the NBA,
for example, is a players league. We see these great shots of
team huddles. Let's go full soundup with the players listening to the coach

(28:44):
and the coaches miked up. Let'sgo inside the huddle and hear what Manty
Williams has to say. Give methe dry erase board and drop up a
play. That's great stuff, andit is. It's good access. I
love it. You should love ittoo. But for the most part,
for the most part, that isit's a player's league. We say it

(29:07):
all the time. The only timewe criticize coaches is in losses wins we
credit the player. Look, Idid it too, I said it this
morning. Luka donciz thirty five andten. How come we're not getting any
throwing any flowers at Jason kids feet? Charles Barkley said last night in the

(29:33):
postgame Boston in Miami, they're ravingabout what the Celtics did. He goes,
I'm not going to give them anyflowers. I'm not giving them any
candy. They should have blown themout. He's right, He's absolutely right.
This is what's become though I don'tknow where it started, or when

(29:56):
it started, or who it startedwith, but there is the fear that
you're not going to get your exclusiveYou're not going to be able to sit
a guy down, You're not gonnabe able to talk to him in an
extended interview because he holds the powerTiger Woods, Lebron James whatever. Have
you ever noticed that if you criticizecertain individuals, they hold it against you,

(30:23):
And that's what's happened. But thoseare good examples right there of broadcasters
Bill and willing to say, youknow what, this guy's he's not very
good. He hasn't done a goodjob. I've done that in the past.
I think you have to pick yourspots, and I think you have
to be careful with it. CharlesSparkley doesn't have to worry about it.

(30:45):
He doesn't have to face the sameteam every single day, he doesn't have
to travel with that team. He'sbeing honest, he should be. He
doesn't take friendships into his job.It's part of the reason he is so
effective at what he does. Idon't think he's I don't think he's a

(31:07):
great analyst. I don't think he'dbe a really good court side analyst.
Of course, they do have stanVan Gundy for crying out loud DNT.
Why doesn't that ever get brought upjust out of curiosity? Remember when Matt
Millan was the second analyst on Fox. It was John Madden and then it

(31:29):
was Matt Millan. Matt Millan wasreally good. He becomes the general manager
of the Detroit Lions and proceeds tostink just awful, goes back to the
booth and it's primarily Big ten networknow and people just don't want to hear
it. People are like, giveme a break, this guy was so
bad, so on and so forth. Okay, hurt the reputation, I

(31:52):
understand it. How come I done? Happened with stan Van Gundy? Like
people go to seek out his advice. I mean he literally said not too
long ago. The problem I thinkfor Detroit is what are you going to
do with your cap space? Whereare you going to try and win.

(32:15):
My guess Tom Gores wants to getthis thing done quickly, not sit around
and wait on a young core.I think that's probably the right approach.
You screwed this franchise and you've gotmembers of the media seeking your advice.

(32:36):
What would you do now for thePistons when he was in charge of the
Pistons? How absurd is that weblame so many people we blame This is
so hypocritical in the media. Weblame so many people for so many different
things, different walks of life,avenues. Doesn't have to be the sports

(33:02):
while they're doing it. Then whenthey're done, we all, hey,
let's let's get their advice. Whatdo you think you'd do. Man,
here's a guy who says, you'regonna have to supplement as you go along.
They've got good pieces. Durren Thompson, Sasser Ivy, he's naming Kid
Cunningham. He's name in five sixguys for a team that won thirteen fourteen

(33:25):
games this year. Thanks Stan,who in their right mind goes to him
and says, I got an idea. I want to do an interview.
Let's bring on Stan van Gundhy andask him, what would you do with
the Pistons. Are you flipping kiddingme? That's ridiculous. But those same

(33:53):
people who do that, what dothey do. They'll go out and they'll
criticize this and criticize that. Butthey were good friends with stan Van Gundy
while he was here in Detroit.So let's ask him what he would do
in free agency or to rebuild thisteam. Didn't you already ask him what
you would do to rebuild this team? And all he did was sink it

(34:15):
further into the toilet. Well that'sJames Edwards at eight thirty five. See
if he's got a thought on that. I do want to ask him because
there was a podcast out there.I didn't listen to it, but they
actually had stan van Gundy on andasked them asked him his opinion of what

(34:37):
he would do with the Pistons.It's laughable. But the same person who
had that podcast, what are theygonna do. They're gonna go out there
and they're going to criticize this personand that person and so on and so
forth. I mean, oh mygod, the hypocrisies. But we don't
say anything about it. Nobody saysa thing about it. It's maddening,

(35:00):
absolutely maddening. Meyer hotline is eightsixty six eight three, eight forty eight
forty three. The text line isSports Radio twenty one thousand. That's how
you can jump on board. Speakingof getting something together and being an architect,

(35:20):
whether it's Matt Millan and stan VanGundy blowing up their franchises, or
is it Brad Holmes who has hadan unbelievable run with the Detroit Lions.
Who's the best architect in Detroit?Slash the state of Michigan history. Brad

(35:44):
Holmes is getting all kinds of flowersright now, and for good reason.
It's been incredible. His moves forthe most part a right, not just
the drafts. I'm talking about hismoves overall. I think really good general
managers they have to decide, theyhave to recognize when things go awry,

(36:08):
what's working and what's not working.Cut bait if you will. I can
think of probably two others. Look, Scott Harris is trying to do this.
Troy Weaver is trying to do thisto no avail. Steve Eisaman is
trying to do this. Who arethe best architects that Detroit has ever had?

(36:37):
Jack McCloskey of the Pistons. Imean, he's the one who drafted
Isaiah Thomas. He's the one whodrafted Joe Dumars and John Sally and Dennis
Rodman. He's the one who tradedfor Vinnie Johnson and Bill Lambier and Mark
Aguire and Rick Mahorn and Adrian Danley. You can't you can't deny that he

(37:00):
got championships out of it. BillLejoy, he's the one who built the
eighty four Tigers. And look,I don't think it's just an architect of
a championship team. Dave Dombrowski waspretty damn good. Did he set the

(37:21):
organization back to quote unquote go forit by trading a lot of young talent.
A lot of that young talent wasn'tvery good, So that's the downside
of his tenure in Detroit. Buthe did make them extremely competitive. If
you don't think Joe Dumars was areally good architect, you haven't paid attention.

(37:42):
Look at how good the Pistons were, not just with the one championship,
but contending regularly in the Eastern Conferencefinals, regularly in the postseason,
and of course Jimmy Devellano. JimmyDevellano is probably the best architect. How

(38:04):
do you deny that? And I'mnot picking just one guy from each team
because I said Bill Joy and DaveDombrowski. You don't have to go to
from just one team. I saidJoe Dumars and Jack McCloskey. Now,
granted, except for Dombrowski, itended up in a World championship. Tigers

(38:25):
should have had I think two WorldSeries championships under Dombrowski. I think they
should have won in two thousand andsix when losing to the Cardinals, and
I think two thousand, what wasit thirteen when they lost to the Orioles
his mistake bringing in Brad Ostmas ortwenty sixteen? Is that what it was?

(38:47):
I forget which was here? Thatwas because they lost to Boston in
one of those years? Was thattwenty thirteen? Okay, either way should
have had it right, the JoaquingBen Wah giving up the Grand Slam to
David Ortiz, losing to Baltimore.I'm not counting the San Francisco. The
Giants were just better that year periodtwenty twelve. Anyway, those architects,

(39:13):
these are the art that's who BradHolmes is trying to be. Brad Holmes
will probably if if the Lions everwin that Super Bowl. And Ben Raven
is a guy we talked to yesterday. Well replayed that at seven thirty five.
He covers the Lionsfranlive dot com.We asked him about Brad Holmes.
If he does, he'll probably viewedas the greatest architect this city has ever

(39:36):
had because the Lions have never doneit. Because the Lions were so bad,
the other guys inherited just as badsituations. When Jimmy Devellano took over
the Red Wings, they were horrid, you know the stories. They were
called the Dead Wings. They weregiving away cars once in a while just

(40:00):
to get people into the building.And it started with what the key piece
for Devil Lano, It was draftingSteve Eisman, It was the start.
Took a while to get there,but it was the start. For McCloskey,
was drafting Isaiah Thomas. Took awhile to get there, but it

(40:21):
was a start. For l Joy, it was multiple players. It was
the drafting of Trammel and Whittaker,first round pick of Kirk Gibson, so
on and so forth. You know, the stories. I don't need to
rehash it for you. For Dumars, it was overcoming some of his mistakes,

(40:45):
but bringing in guys. His wasn'tas much drafting. I don't think
his was more about trading for BenWallace, trading for Richard Hamilton, acquiring
Rashid Wallace, bringing in Chauncey Billups. That wasn't a home grown team.

(41:07):
Phone number on the Meyer hotline eightsixty six eight three, eight forty eight
forty three. We'd text to theshow sports Radio to twenty one thousand or
exes and bros throughout the great stateof Michigan. The Huge Show a little
bit later on today from three untilsix, right here on the Michigan Sports
Network, stay with us. We'reteaming off our tenth here at the Meyer

(41:30):
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June thirteenth through the sixteenth at BlakefieldCountry Club for fabulous food, discoveryland for
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(41:52):
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on the east side of the state, and Josh Garvey is a managing shareholder

(42:34):
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see the new Dorn Mayhew sign.You can find out more just google Dorn
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(42:57):
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(44:00):
People are upset about the Old Valleysituation with Exfinity, aren't they. Somebody
tweeted the other day they said,it's time to do right by your fans,
especially those depending on DEALI Sports liftthe blackouts already. It's a blackout

(44:21):
with Exfinity. The contract is withExfinity. That's part of the issue.
And then there's others who just think, well, I'm not in TV,
I know how to handle this.Here's what you do. Just put them
on regular television. That's not theway it works. Man. Sounds just
simple as just well, let's justflick a switch. They can't put put
on there, so let's go broadcaston Channel four in Detroit or Channel eight

(44:46):
and Grand Rapids Nope, it's notthe way it works. Man. It's
surprising to me that people are inthis business and they just don't get it.
Welcome to the second hour of Exusand Bros. Here on the Michigan
Sports Network throughout the great state ofMichigan. Bottom of the hour, we

(45:07):
will replay our interview with Ben Ravenfrom m Live. In case you missed
it, he joined us yesterday.We'll play it again today for those of
you who didn't get a chance tolisten in and at eight thirty five,
James Edwards of the Athletic will joinus as well. In case you missed
it. Last night, Dallas beatVegas on ice three to two. They

(45:29):
lead that series, and Edmonton eliminatedthe Kings for a third consecutive season four
to three, the final there infavor of the Oilers. We know already
that Tampa has been eliminated from theStanley Cup playoffs. The question is down
in Tampa, at least while they'retalking hockey anyway, what do you do

(45:52):
with Captain Stephen stamcos he has spentsixteen years in Tampa. He will be
a free agent right now this summerand will get no doubt a ton of
interest from other teams. How wouldhe fit with the Red Wings? I

(46:15):
think it's a fair discussion. Notsure how many people want a thirty four
year old he can still play,man, he can still play. Where
would he fit well? Toronto Maybelieves are a team for sure Florida.

(46:39):
If he wants to stay in Floridaand not and Tampa isn't the right fit
for him, then that's a possibility. And people have speculated Detroit and for
good reason. See others have said, well, maybe Utah is a good
fit. I don't know. Man, he wants to win. Who gives

(47:04):
them a chance to win? Maybethis is home cooking on my part,
Completely open to that criticism because Ithink the Red Wings should have made the
playoffs this year, and I thinkthey're on that bend if they stay healthy
to do just that. Do theyneed certain pieces? Yes? Is Steven
Stamcos one of those pieces. Youcould always use more scoring, But you'd

(47:28):
rather them focus on the blue lineor in net, wouldn't you. Absolutely.
I'm not saying they're going to goout and get Connor Hollibuck, but
they need somebody who can stop thepuck a little bit more consistently. Anyway,
I read an article the other dayabout this, and here's what they
had to say about the Red Wingschances. It said projected cap space twenty

(47:51):
nine million, which surprised me becauseI didn't think it was quite that high.
Anyway, they said, Steve Eisaman'steam just narrowly missed the playoffs,
and this upcoming offseason seems like apivotal moment for the Red Wings rebuild.
Bringing in Stamcos would help infuse achampionship culture into a locker room that hasn't

(48:13):
seen the postseason since twenty sixteen.So let me just stop right there for
a moment. Infuse a championship culture. I've talked about this before. There
are guys who have played on championshipsOlimana, Patrick Kane this past year,

(48:36):
and guys who've made the playoffs plenty. It's not a championship culture necessary.
That's missing. It's talent on theblue line and defensive talent up front too,
because, as we all know,it's defense isn't only by the two
defensemen who are on the ice atthe time. It continued and said stamp

(49:01):
Coos could also add some offensive popthat was lacking at the top of Detroit's
lineup in twenty twenty three to twentyfour, with the exception of a few
key players. Fair enough. Ithink that's an excellent point. They still
need to score goals, we think, not necessarily you. I'm just I

(49:23):
use we as a generality here.Okay, First of all, can Steven
Stamkos let's address you know, onething at a time? Here? Can
Steven Stamkos still score you? Damnright? He can't without a doubt.
He's still especially on the power play. Now. Is he Nikita Kutcherov on

(49:46):
his team? No, but Kutcheroffwon the scoring title. Is he bredon
point? Not quite. He's stillpretty damn good. He still had eighty
one points. He still had fortygoals year. Forty goals would have led
the Red Wings, for crying outloud. So he can still play now

(50:09):
the ice time. Yeah, that'sup to coach Laan to figure that out.
And he's familiar with him, sothat's a plus. Right. So
the question is, look at agethirty four, you guy's got to be
committed, and he sure seems likehe would be committed. Absolutely, So

(50:30):
it makes a ton of sense.I think can he still get goals,
no question about it. Does thisteam need goals, no question about that
either. We think, based onthe regular season numbers from based from up
from a year ago, that thisteam is a really good offensive team.

(50:52):
And they are they finished what tophalf? They're not Colorado, They're not
Toronto. Toronto could be a eleminatedtonight. Colorado's advanced. Dallas is leading
Edmonton, is there? Tampa,Vancouver, New York, Carolina, All
those teams better in goals four duringthe regular season than the Red Wings all

(51:16):
in the playoffs. Now here's whatyou might say, Well, wait a
minute, shot, Nashville, Florida, Boston, Vegas, Jets, Kings
all right behind Detroit, and theydidn't make the playoffs fair enough defensively or

(51:36):
maybe special teams wise, Like,what do you think the difference between the
Oilers and Kings series was. I'lltell you what it was. It was
special teams. And Edmonton had anotherpower play goal last night. They had
nine overall in the series. Butwhen I bring up those teams Winnipeg,
La, Florida, Boston, knowthis, All those teams led by Florida

(52:01):
best in goals against Detroit's bottom half. There no team below Detroit in goals
against made the postseason. Tampa wasbarely above them and they made the playoffs.

(52:27):
So does Detroit need it? Yeah, you can always use Like I
said, you can always use morescoring. But defensively, that's where they
have to get better. Is StevenStamco's viewed as a better defensive forward than
a lot of guys that they havenot really anyway, So the article continued
and said, this potential marriage maycome down to the length of the contract.

(52:51):
That's always key. How much you'rewilling to give him and over how
many years. That's the hard withteams who haven't made the playoffs for eight
years and many who feel like they'renot ready to turn the corner yet attracting
a guy like that. That's whatthey mean by overpaying. It's not always

(53:12):
in money, it's in years.Two. What would you give a guy
like Steven Stamkos number one, numbertwo? If you're willing to give it
to him? Why not? Whynot? Patrick Kine? Those guys want
multi year deals, and I don'tblame him. Are you willing to commit

(53:36):
a long term deal to a thirtyfour year old forward or a short term
deal? What do you consider ashort term deal two years, three years.
Guys in hockey can play a longtime if they can stay healthy.
And stam Cooast has had some injuries, what would be the max that you

(53:59):
would give him? Meyer hotlines openfor you eight sixty six, eight three
eight forty eight forty three. Youcould TECHT Sports Radio to twenty one thousand.
Bottom of the hour, we'll replayour interview from yesterday with Ben Raven
eight thirty five. James Edwards fromthe Athletic joins us to talk Pistons and
NBA, on x'es and bros.Throughout the great state of Michigan on the

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(55:16):
At seven eighteen on this Thursday,bottom of the hour, venravenplive dot com,
who joined us yesterday, will replaythat interview from yesterday in case you
missed it. Meanwhile, at eightthirty five, James Edwards of the Athletic
will join us. We'll talk Pistonsand NBA here on ex'es and bros.

(55:38):
We're open to any conversation you'd likeon the Meyer hotline eight sixty six eight
three, eight forty eight forty threeto the phone lines. Ben, who's
waiting for us? Yeah? Wegot Kenan Burton, Hi, Ken,
how are you today? Happy Thursdayto you? Happy Thursday to you?
Shep now, shep. When youwere a basketball announcer for University of Michigan,

(56:00):
was Dave Brandon The Athletic directors init started with Bill Martin, and
then it went to David Brandon,Yes, which one hired John Beeline Bill
Martin. Bill Martin did, Okay. The reason I'm calling is and I
hope I'll try to talk as fastas I can so I can quicker than

(56:22):
I can take your time my friend, my lifetime best friend passed away of
cancer in two thousand and thirteen,and we were I was a Michigan season
ticket holder and my friend was aMichigan fan. And I wrote Dave Brandon

(56:43):
a long letter on email and askedwe were having an outing form to raise
money because he was a self businessowner and he was hiring a hard time
making a living. And Dave wasnice enough to send a hat signed by
him he sent. I asked himif he could send the picture, and

(57:04):
he sent the picture with his signatureon, and we had a frame and
a couple other things like a Tshirt and stuff, and I of course
sent them back and thanked them foreverything well. And then I sent him
also back after the outing was overwas and thanked them again an email.
And I could tell these were hisemails because he wasn't been like me.

(57:25):
He had a hard time sleep inthe middle night. They were like two
thirty three thirty at night. Andso when my friend passed away in twenty
thirteen, two years later, Iwrote again to Dave and thanked him for
all he did and sent him anice card thanking him and told him my

(57:49):
friend had passed away. And hewrote me two or three more times on
email and told me he was acancer survivor. And I knew that because
he's about three or four years youngerthan me, and I remember him when
he played foot Bowl because I couldback in them days when I had more
of a mind than I do now, I could remember every player on the

(58:09):
team. And what I'm trying tosay that he got such a bad rap,
especially from the guys at WTKA,and I won't mention the names.
Everybody knows who they are. AndI wrote them with a letter to saying
what he did for my friend andmyself as a friend. And they're trying

(58:30):
to tell me that I didn't knowthe whole story, and I probably don't
know the whole So all I knowis the man was nice to me,
and I would I would speak goodabout him the rest of my life.
And I know you probably know him. I don't really know him personally.
I just know him as somebody thatwrote me back at two three thirty in
the morning and made a way outof it being friendly to me. Yeah,

(58:51):
well forgive that from him. Yeah, Well that's Look, this is
what happens anytime you come in contactwith person. That's why I was just
talking about this with somebody yesterday.They were talking about certain race car drivers.
They were asking you about athletes andwho athletes make an impression on you
and how do you form those impressions. And we have had a pretty deep

(59:13):
conversation. We have to remember sometimeswhen we run into athletes or general managers
or coaches or managers whomever, sometimescelebrities, we may be catching them at
an off day. It's tough tobe on all the time. You know,
it's tough to be the person youwant to be all the time because
things happen in people's lives that we'rejust not always familiar with. Obviously,

(59:36):
he's made an impression on you becausemore than once, so that tells you
something about the man, at leastwhen it comes to your situation. I
don't blame you. I'm not goingto try and change your opinion, even
if I had a different opinion aboutDavid Brandon to you, because first of
all, it's not fair. Secondof all, you have this impression,

(01:00:00):
and it's a rightful impression because ofwhat he would the time he took for
you, and I would say thisand thanks for the phone call. I'm
sorry you lost your best friend.That's heartbreaking. I would say this to
anybody. I say this to mykids all the time too. Time is

(01:00:22):
very valuable in anybody's life. Youtake that. This is why it's important
for us. This is much smallerscale. I get it, it's just
a talk show. But you takethe time to call. That's taking time
out of your day to listen tous and have the guts to call in

(01:00:44):
and express your opinions. You deserveto be heard. I'm not going to
rush you off the phone. It'snot fair, it's not right. Dave
Brandon took the time to email youmore than once, the time to actually
heed to what you had requested foryour friend. I would never forget that

(01:01:09):
either, And to me, ifI were in your shoes, I would
always feel obligated and honored in thatsituation, because not everybody does that.
Do you remember when you were akid, Well, this is dating myself.
When I was a kid, Iused to write letters to certain players

(01:01:32):
because they were my favorite players andI wanted something from them. I didn't
care what it was, whoever thatplayer may have been. If they sent
something back, all that does isendear you. More to the person who's
making the request. It's not thathard, you know. I've been fortunate.

(01:01:55):
There's a lot of people who havesent me letters and send it to
Komerica Park always wrote him back.Have to really important. It's just the
right thing to do. Sometimes there'sjust the right thing to do. Sometimes
I think we've lost that in oursociety. It's just a nice and the
right thing to do. You can'tI get guys like guys who are superstars,

(01:02:22):
guys like Mike Trout for example,Guys like Show ayo time they get
it all the time. It's almostimpossible. You've got to have somebody to
actually do that for you because you'retrying to, you know, play a
baseball game every single day. It'simpossible to do that, it really is.
But a guy like David Brandon inyour situation, yeah, I mean,
that was the right thing to do, and kudos to him. Not

(01:02:45):
everybody has the same experience, Noteverybody knows him the same way. That
doesn't make him a bad guy ifit comes in a different form of a
relationship. I can't say that Ihad that same experience, that same relationship

(01:03:07):
with David Brandon. We knew eachother obviously, but I enjoyed my time.
There are certain certain things that happenwith athletic directors that kind of stick
out with you, as you know, a representative of a university. So

(01:03:30):
I'll just give you a quick thought. We were at the Big Ten Tournament
and we're getting ready to do abroadcast. Usually, I mean Bill Martin
would always come up, how youguys doing, always always say hello,
right or manually did the same thingwhen he was when I was calling games

(01:03:51):
at Michigan and he was in charge, David Brandon didn't do that. We're
at the Big Ten Tournament and you'regoing, wait a minute, you're talking
to everybody butt your home broadcasting team, which was a little surprising. And
Mark Hollis and Michigan State, whowas actually at the tournament. He's the

(01:04:12):
one who came over and said helloto us, Michigan State eighty, which
was a little surprising to us.When we come back, Ben Raven of
m Life joined us yesterday to talkLions at NFL. We'll replay that conversation
for you in case you missed it, and then bottom of the eight o'clock
hour, James Edwards from the Athleticjoins us here on Exis and bros across
the great state of Michigan. Staywith us Huge here for my good friend

(01:04:34):
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(01:05:41):
gives. Get ready for the bestwho are yet to help neighbors in need
while enjoying golf, food and familyfun. Join us June thirteenth through the
sixteenth at Blakefield Country Club for fabulousfood, discovery land for kids, and
of course, elite women golfers fromaround the world competing to help feed our
neighbors. Your tickets now admire LPGAClassics dot com. Get some facts and

(01:06:17):
come back and seebe. Get somefacts and come back and cev. Don't
throw out salaries or other things.Get some facts and come back and Seebee.
You can't handle the true now toldour players you need a bit more
like a dog. We don't needa bunch of cats in here. Looking
in the mirror, I look good. I got my extra bands on,
I got my other shoes. Bea doll. We don't need no meals.

(01:06:42):
We don't need no cats. Weneed more dogs. How you wanted
to train? Are you not atocay? We weren't good. There's no
sense of asking me things about thegame. I'm telling you we laid an
egg, so I'm not gonna breakit down for you. He sucks,
He sucked. He laid an egg. That's all I have to say.
Guys, I'm sorry. I'm notgoing to break it down for you.
Nothing went well for us. It'son us. We have to figure it

(01:07:04):
out. And we went eighth.Dad Platalauer of the show here on XIS
and Bros. Throughout the Great Stateof Michigan. Matt Shepard, we'd have
been our producer. You can callhim on the Meyer hotline eight sixty six
eight three, eight forty eight fortythree. You can always text the show
as well. Sports ready to twentyone thousand James Edwards from the Athletic joints

(01:07:28):
us at the bottom of the hourif you missed it. Tiger is a
four to one winner yesterday over SaintLouis. They win two out of the
three games. Yes, most ofus feel like they should have swept them,
but let's be careful. There fourstraight series win for Detroit and there's
seventeen wins entering this month of May. The eighteen wins overall second most in
franchise history. Only the eighty foureventual World Series champions were better at eighteen

(01:07:53):
and two. Remember they won seventeenstraight road games to start the year.
That's unheard of. Last year,this team was ten and seventeen entering the
month of May. They had adecent month of May and a good September.
That's about all they had a yearago, But there's optimism there.
Matt Verling, with a two runhomer yesterday propelled Detroit to the four to

(01:08:14):
one win. They have today off. They are in New York for a
weekend series against the Yankees, andthen they go to Cleveland. Cleveland atop
the division, Minnesota charging hard.The Twins won their tenth in a row
yesterday. Byron Buxton was hurt oris hurt? I should say? And
I think he's a really good exampleof a really talented player who just can't

(01:08:43):
seem to stay healthy. I don'tknow what it is. I really don't.
I mean, this is a guywho you talk about talent. He's
got a ton of it. Hewas recruited as a wide receiver to Georgia.
I like him a lot. I'vehad the opportunity to talk to him
a number of times, do interviewsat his doll He's a really welcoming and

(01:09:06):
a really easy dude to like.The problem is, you know, he
just can't stay healthy, right kneeinjury a year ago, limited to eighty
five games. When he's in thelineup, Minnesota's numbers are incredible compared to
when he's not in the lineup.He's that much of a difference maker.

(01:09:29):
But it's interesting there's a national broadcasterwho has a talk show host on a
four letter network who came out andwas just criticizing Mike Trout, why can't
you stay healthy? He doesn't saythat about, you know, Zion Williamson
for some reason. He doesn't saythat about Byron Buxton. Byron Bucksin is
one of those guys who as acenter fielder, just like Mike Trout,

(01:09:53):
although Minnesota wanted him use him asmore as a designated here a year ago.
Those are two guys. They puta lot of force on their body
with how they play the game.It's always a really tough discussion when you're
talking with players or coaches or managerson how to reel a guy in,

(01:10:14):
Like I think it was Jim Lelandwho wants it. You don't want to
take the mustang out of the horse. If he's if that's who he is,
let him be that player. Whena guy goes diving for a ball,
in left center field and lays outto make the catch in early May.

(01:10:40):
People will say, Oh, youcan't make that play, and you
can't. You can't do that inMay. You do that later in the
season. What do you mean doit later in the season. Those games
later in the season might not beworth it. Damn if you're not making
those plays innerly May. I don'twant a player to be different and play
timid. Don't go crashing into thewall. You don't want him to make

(01:11:00):
the catch. He doesn't do that. You know what you're going to say.
You got to go all out tomake that catch. How do you
let that fall? How do youlet that hit off the wall? Why
don't you try? Why don't yougive your a effort. I'm not making
I'm not trying to change players.Man. The reason you got to where

(01:11:21):
you are is because of who youare and how you play. I want
that in them. It comes withthe price sometimes, and for Buxton and
Minnesota it's absolutely come with the price. It's the hell of a player.
You just wish he could stay healthy. And that's where not load management in

(01:11:45):
baseball. You're playing, but youcan do other things instead of being out
there in center field every day youcan be the DH. So maybe early
in the season this is simplicity,I know, but early in the season
maybe you're playing him defensively once ina series and he's DH and two other
times. A lot of guys don'tlike that. Buxton hated it. He

(01:12:05):
wanted to be out there every daybecause you feel like you can be a
difference maker even if you're not hittingthe ball. But Minnesota charging hard.
They've won ten in a row.NHL Stars beat Vegas three to two.
That's the first time the home teamhas won a game in the series.
They leave that series three too.Is a really good game. Last night

(01:12:25):
watch that and then I watch alittle bit of the start of the Oilers
Kings game. Edmonton wins at fourto three. They eliminate LA for a
third straight yearly On Recitle had twogoals. Connor McDavid had a couple of
assists eleven assists in the series overall. They move on to the second round.
Will play either Nashville or Vancouver,who play tonight. Boston will play

(01:12:45):
in Toronto tonight. Celtics led wireto wire they eliminate the Heat one eighteen
eighty four. Jaylen Brown Derek Whiteeach with twenty five. Boston's going to
play either Cleveland or Orlando. Theyplayed an and Dallas went into LA and
handed the Clippers their worst playoff lossin history, one twenty three to ninety

(01:13:06):
three. Luka Doncicz had thirty fivepoints ten boards. Twenty of his points
came in the second half. TheMAVs lead that series three games to two.
Speaking to the NBA, we willtalk with James Edwards of the Athletic
at eight thirty five, so hopeyou can stick around and join us for
that. Yesterday and we just playedthe interview with Ben Raven from m Live.

(01:13:30):
We were talking about the Lions obviouslyin the draft and so on and
so forth. This is what theNFL does so very well, right,
I mean, it's it's amazing howthey can go draft and then you got
or you have the combine before thedraft, and you get the draft,
then you got OTA's and then yougot you know, rookie camps, and
then you've got training camp, andthen you've got the season, and after
the season and after the Super Bowl. Nobody cares about the Pro Bowl,

(01:13:53):
but then you've got the combine.I mean, they just keep you engaged
all the time, and writers areinstantly giving you something to think about as
well, like Jeff kerrvcbssports dot comranking the NFC teams following the draft.

(01:14:14):
You and I both know this isjust filling up space. And I'm hypocritical
right now because I'm sitting here talkingabout it, but it does peak your
interest. I'm just wondering what theythink of my team filling the blank.
San Francisco reached the Super Bowl ayear ago? Would they be the favorite?
According to him, they are,but the Lions are right behind him.
Here's what he writes about the Lions. The draft is where the Lions

(01:14:38):
shine. They hit a home runby selecting Terry on Arnold in the first
round. Should be a Week onestarter and a playmaker in this Rake Straw
fell to number sixty one in thesecond round, giving the Lions needed depth
at the corner position as well.Cione Vaki, who can play running backers
safety which again that to me isirrelevant, appears to be playing the former

(01:15:02):
for Detroit, giving the lines moredepth behind David Montgomery and Jamier Gibbs.
Detroit Eddi Kevin Zeitler. Then hegoes into you know, for Jonah Jackson,
a'man Ross Saint Brown with a massiveextension Jamie Wims. They don't mention
anything about Penney Seool. He justbasically tells you why he thinks they're the
number two seed. And in thewords of Bob Seeger Blank, I've known

(01:15:26):
that for a long time. He'sgot the Eagles three, Packers, four,
Cowboys five, Rams six, Tampaseven, and Chicago eight. Interesting
that three of the top teams inthe conference, three of the top sixteen
teams in the conference are in theNFC North A Bottom of the hour,

(01:15:51):
James Edwards joins us from the Athleticwill talk NBA and more, your phone
calls and your texts. On theother side on Exis and Bros. On
the Michigan Court tell with Dan Dickerson, step up to the play that Eagle.
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couple of years ago. Wincil Perezis that player, and he's doing something
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(01:16:55):
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Welcome back XS and Bros. Mondaythrough Friday six till five. We're all
throughout the Great State of Vision inTraverse City from Kutowski and Charlie Boy Run
in Midland, Sagota, on BayCity at Graving at Gaylord, run in
Cadillac and Flint and Grand Rapids.Of course, we're glad you've taken time
out of your Thursday to spend sometime with us here on Axes and Bros.

(01:18:16):
The Meyer Hotline eight sixty six eightthree eight forty eight forty three.
A reminder, if you want tocall it, it doesn't require what we're
talking about. If there's something youhave had on your mind, something you
noticed last night that we may havemissed, something that took place during the
day, a story you want toshare. That's what we're here for The

(01:18:38):
Meyer Hotline eight six eight three eightforty forty three. Or you could text
us Tech Sports Radio to twenty onethousand. Ben. I know we had
a caller earlier couldn't hold through thebreaks, right, what's on their mind?
Are people complaining about Trout because ofhim getting hurt or because of his
contract and that's Breton Grand Rapids.That's a great question. That is a

(01:18:58):
great question. The bigger contract youhave the more is expected, So are
you getting your money's worth? Excellentquestion, don't know the answer to it
really is up to you to decideon whether or not that place a factor.
I think you'd be lying to yourself. And I like Mike Trout a

(01:19:20):
lot. I think he's an incredibleplayer. I think, look, the
numbers speak for itself. Sometimes Idon't even get involved in the All Star
stuff because it's oftentimes a popularity contractcontest. But if you're a three time
MVP, you're a nine time SilverSlugger, you're a two time All Star

(01:19:43):
Game MVP, you're a Rookie ofthe Year, you're the Player of the
year, you lead the league inall those categories, and so on and
so forth, you're a hell ofa player. I bet you. Bret
will say that too. He bringsup a very valid point, though.
When you're making thirty seven million dollars, I think is what he's making a

(01:20:03):
year, right, and he's goingto make that until twenty thirty. Yeah,
I know I feel the same way. I'm shaking my head too,
right along there with you. He'sthirty two right now, They've got him
until he's thirty eight. It's MiguelCabrera type situation, and remember it can

(01:20:29):
go, it can go quickly.You see what happens with jose A Brahu.
Did you see what they did?They pulled with him? What they
what Toronto did with Alec Manoa.Manoa started the All Star Game a couple
of years ago, and then whathappened he was he was sent down,

(01:20:51):
and you're sent down because you're strugglingto the Complex League. That's what happens
to Josea brew They optioned him tothe Florida Complex League after an April that
saw him hit below one hundred andhe's thirty seven. I'm not saying that's

(01:21:16):
going quickly. I'm just telling youthings. Those things happen, and when
it comes and it comes quickly,you're just like, oh man, that's
not how I want to see himend his career. Jose bra you third
all time in Chicago White Sox historyin home runs. This is a guy
who is He's an absolute hell ofa player. He's been a hell of
a pro. But it's gone,at least for now it is. I

(01:21:44):
don't think that's Mike Trout yet,but I love that perspective from Brent Yeah,
thirty seven million bucks. You expecthim to be out there more often
than he is. I think that'sfair. Got another caller, Yeah,
we got a Paul and gr Allright, Hey Paul, how are you
today? Hey? What's up?Chap? How are you? Good man?

(01:22:04):
Hope your Thursday goes well? What'sup? Oh? You you as
well. First of all, Iwant to give a big shout out to
Friday the Pizza Man three one threeon Twitter. I went to his pizza
joint yesterday and man, it isthe best pizza I've had my ever had
in my life. And I've beento Italy. So I just want to
give a big shot out of thatguy. He I know he's a fan

(01:22:26):
of the show. I know hecalls in all the time. I want
him to know I appreciate it.That's really cool, that's really cool of
you. He's got great I mean, I think his food is outstanding.
I just got back from Italy inthe fall. I just got back from
Italy in the fall. The foodthere in Italy best food I've ever had
in my life. But I lovegoing to Freddy's place because he's got great

(01:22:47):
stuff. You're right, good foryou, Thank you for that go ahead.
I still think his pizza is betterthan the stuff in Italy, But
I digress. So, yeah,I just want to talk a little Tigers
man. I think they they looka lot better than what I expected this
year. You know, I figuredwe'd be pretty good. I figured.
I think I still think we're gonnawin the Central. But I mean,

(01:23:09):
it's so exciting and it's so niceto finally just see it come together,
you know, And yeah, wellwhy they why are they better than you
thought? What I mean, I'minterested to know what you're what you thought
they were going to be number oneand number two? Where are they better?
In what regard? Uh? Thebullpen is is so good, and

(01:23:32):
you know, Riley Green up tothis point is doing much better than I
actually thought he would. I mean, dude, he's already got seven home
runs. And you know, we'reseeing guys like once Gio Orchella comes back.
He was a nice addition by ScottHarris. I really love Mark Canna,
and not only like you know hehas He's just a professional hitter.
You know. He every single atbat from Mark Canna seems like a professional

(01:23:55):
at bat. And it seems likethe younger guys are learning from that.
Karen Scoogle, I mean, man, he is good. He's I figured
he would be in the running forthe cy Young this year, but man,
I didn't know he was going tobe this good, Like he is
best in the MLD good right now. And you know, we got we
just got a dominant Moulten and Ifigured we'd be around five hundred you know

(01:24:17):
the rest, you know, forApril and May. But you know,
five games over five hundred is awesome. So, you know, I think
they're I don't think they're overperforming.I think they're They're right where they should
be. Yeah, you think thisis who they are, This is who
they are right now. Interesting.Okay, that's great, love it,

(01:24:40):
go ahead? Oh yeah, sorryman, Sorry, so yeah, I
know right now. I still thinkthey're going to win the Central this year.
Yeah, I agree with you,you know, and thank thanks for
the phone call. Sorry, we'realmost up against it and James Edward's going
to join us. I'm with youon that. I said when I started
doing this show, I said beforethe season, they should win the Central

(01:25:02):
period and that was my expectation.So I'm sure not surprised at the back
end of the Bullpen or the bullpenin general. It was really good a
year ago. I am still worriedabout the offense. They still don't score
enough runs for me anyway, butit'll come as the weather heats up.

(01:25:26):
I'm sure that will come all right, because I think Spencer Torkolsen is not
going to be this kind of hitterright now at June nineteen or whatever.
I think Cole Keith will get adjusteda little bit, so I'm with you
on that. I think they coulduse another stick. Quite honestly, I
still don't think they have the homerun power that I would like to see,

(01:25:46):
and I am slightly concerned about thedefense. But I do like their
pitching an awful lot, and Ilove their bullpen. Despite what happened with
Shelby Miller the other day, Ithink they're the best team in the division,
and I think Tigers fans should behave that expectation. And I don't

(01:26:08):
think there's anything wrong with that.Ben. We got a text or two,
I believe, before we get toJames Edwards from the Athletic Yeah,
Ken Griffy Junior is a better centerfielder than Mike Trout in my opinion,
it's not even close. Get ridof both players' injuries and if they never
missed a game, it still wouldn'tbe close. And Trammell got robbed of
the MVP in nineteen eighty seven,right George Bell was the MVP that year.

(01:26:34):
That was super frustrating. Never saidthat Mike Trout was better than Ken
Griffy Junior ever, Nope, KenGriffy Junior is one of the greatest players
of all time. Smooth, fluid, phenomenal player. Ten gold gloves.
You know you have as many goldgloves as al Kline. You know you're

(01:26:56):
saying something there because that's incredible.Yeah, I didn't think so. I
was just using that as a perspective, So I hope that wasn't misleading in
any way. I was just bringingup certain names that Mike Trout was on
track for with war wins above replacement, because that is a that is a

(01:27:25):
I really believe that is it's astatistic that more and more people are especially
voters for the Hall of Fame.Look at now they if they did,
they would they would pay more closerattention to to Lew Whittaker because he should
be there. But Ken Griffy Jr. Like I said, is to me

(01:27:47):
one of the greatest players of alltime. His war wins above replacement is
right around eighty four. All right, it's at eighty three point eight.
Mike Trout's got a higher WAR.That doesn't make him a better player.
I'm giving you a perspective there,so when you say it's not even close.
Mike Trout led the league in warfor five consecutive years. He led

(01:28:16):
the league in offensive war five consecutiveyears, and seven out of eight he
had some of the more dominating seasonsin history. Quick time out and when
we come back. James Edwards fromthe Athletic joins us on Exus and Bros.
After this, we're teaming off ourtenth year at the Meyer LPGA Classic

(01:28:41):
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(01:29:18):
the hour he's as good as itgets and what he does, James Edwards
writes for The Athletic you can fallhim on x at J L. Edwards
the third he writes about the Pistons, about the NBA and there's a lot
to write about going on right nowafter some finals in the NBA Playoffs that
we'll get to coming up at.James Edwards joins us here on Xes and

(01:29:39):
Bros. Across the great state ofMichigan, throughout the state of Michigan and
the various markets Flint and Cadillac,Grand Rapids, Grayling, Gaylord, Midland,
Saginaw, Bay City, Pataski,Charlevoy, Traverse City. That's where
we are and that's where we canbring you this coverage of a little NBA
talk with James Edwards. James,good to have you, buddy. Glad
that we're back talking again about thePistons a little bit and as we look

(01:30:02):
forward to the NBA Draft, itseems like we say this an awful lot.
Tell me where you think this franchiseis in. If you want to
call it a rebuild, go ahead, But where are they in the process
of trying to get better in yourmind? Good to hear from you too,
Matt, appreciate you having me on. I think they're in a vulnerable
state. It's a situation that Idon't think anybody could have imagined. Whether

(01:30:30):
that's the fans, whether that's theplayers, the front office, the ownership,
the coaches. It is a veryvulnerable state, and usually out of
vulnerability, big decisions are made.And I think this team has to do
something of great significance. They cannotafford to allow all of these young guys

(01:30:54):
to continue to develop and hope thatthey get better. They tried that last
year. It very clearly presented theworst season in franchise history. So I
think they're at a very vulnerable andalmost franchise altar in summer, and I
think they're going to have to shakethings up across the board in order to
try to one try to build backoptimism within the fan base, and two

(01:31:19):
to get back on track in thisrebuild and show that there is progress and
that these things aren't always linear.What's an example of shaking things up?
Yeah, I mean, I don'tthink they can afford kind of as I
mentioned, like, I don't thinkthey can afford to have as many young
guys as they have you look acrossthe NBA, and you look across you

(01:31:42):
look at these teams that are contendingand in the second round or still fighting
in the first round. The majorityof them have made moves that made a
trade or two that gave up youngplayers to get better players. You look
at Minnesota with Rudy Gobert, youlook at somebody like Denver gave up picks
and Gary Harris to get Aaron Gordona few years ago. You look at

(01:32:03):
Boston and the moves that they've madethroughout the years to try to build this
roster. Obviously, all that stuffstarts with drafting well and getting a guy
or two that you can build around. I think credit to Detroit, like
I think Kate is that guy,and the hard part is done. You've
got a guy that got better inthe midst of the worst season ever while

(01:32:28):
coming off season ending injury with ametal rodney his leg, and he walked
away. I think if you didn'tbelieve that Kate was the guy, I
don't see how you don't walk awayfrom that. Now, despite the records,
I don't think a lot of itwas his fault. So they got
the hard part done. They gotthe guy to build around and how it's
time to go build around him.I just think that they should highly consider

(01:32:49):
moving on from one or two youngguys. Joins us here on Exis and
Bros. You can fall him onTwitter on x JL Edwards the third.
I'm with you on that, especiallywith the young guys you've mentioned teams getting

(01:33:09):
better. Og On and ob goingto New York is a really good example
of that too. I continue tobe amazed by a guy like Jalen Brunson.
I could talk to you all dayabout this, but I mean a
second round pick and how good hehas been. When you say shake things
up, I'm with you on that. Does that mean I don't want to
read too much into it? SoI want clarification. Would you not take
advantage of the top five pick yourdue in the upcoming draft? What if

(01:33:32):
you got number one overall? Orwould you trade that to try and get
a stabilized veteran force that might helpsome of these young guys along. I'd
trade it. I would trade itif it's one, two, three,
four or five, whatever it endsup being, I would trade it.
You talk to people around the league, this draft is not a desirable draft

(01:33:54):
at the top Obviously, every yearthere are Hall of Famers or as soon
to be Hall of Famers selected drafts, So there will be one in this
draft. Don't get me wrong,like that's just the way things shake out.
But talk to everybody across the league, and they don't know where that
player will be picked. That playercould likely be picked at seventeen like he's

(01:34:14):
picked at one. I've been toldthat there are executives in the league that
think picks one through three could havesome value in a trade. But I
think a lot of teams would probablybe afraid to have the number one or
two pick in this draft because thereis a little bit more margin for error
in comparison to previous years in previousprospects. So I think there is value.

(01:34:36):
I think, and I had apiece of scuz last week or earlier
this week where talk to my colleagueSambasini, who is massive in draft coverage
and one of the best, Anda lot of teams also see the number
one pick this year as like fouror five, six in a normal draft.
So I caution fans that if thePistans gets the number one pick,

(01:34:58):
don't think that this is like Lebronor Victor Winbinyamo or even Kid. This
is more like I would say,like Anthony Bennett type stuff. So I
would one hundred percent tury to pick, and I'd even package it with a
young player or two to try toget because I don't know how much value.
I don't know if those a coupleof young guys like an Ivy or

(01:35:19):
during if they're peak value right nowafter this season. But if you have
the number one pick to that,it can kind of enhance that and you
could probably get a good piece ortwo or three from a team that's maybe
looking to get a little bit younger. One hundred percent agree, one hundred
percent with you. I'm so gladyou said that. But a couple of

(01:35:39):
other things you bring up Kid Cunningham, and for good reason. I think
he's a solid ball player, Ireally do. What kind of leader do
you think he is? Because Ithink sometimes we get that thrown around an
awful lot. It can be challengingfor a young guy to lead a team,
especially through navigating these difficult waters likehe's had to you, what kind

(01:36:00):
of leader? How would you describehim as such? Yeah, I think
is a legitimate leader. I knowit's probably hard for people to see that
just giving their record. But youknow, I hear stories about him talking
to halftime, stepping up and speaking. I hear stories about him at practice.
I hear stories about him sitting withguys on the plane to talk.

(01:36:23):
This guy is somebody that all ofhis teammates respect. I think one thing
that's important to remember is Cade wasthat guy coming up through the high school
and college ranks. So all ofhis teammates who are similar in age are
very very familiar with him, andthey all saw him as the guy as
such, and there's a big respectfor what he did and who he is

(01:36:45):
as a player, and even moreso now as their teammates, for him
as a person. I think peoplewho haven't been around Kate, I think
the best way to describe him islike you could just tell he was raised
right, like his parents did agreat job. He's very polite, he's
very just aware, he's not there'sno diva to him. I think he's
very real, and I think itcomes across with his teammates. I think
they genuinely appreciate that. I alsothink that you hear stories like for somebody

(01:37:10):
like Simone Fantechio as soon as hegot to Detroit there in the middle of
a West coast trip and we're outthere and he tells the story of Kate
comes up to him. They've nevermet, and he's like, where do
you like the ball? Where canI get you the ball? And Simona,
He's like, nobody's ever asked methat before. And you hear anytime
Simone talks about him, it's asglilling as it gets. So I think
he just handles people the right way. I think he speaks up in an

(01:37:33):
aggressive way when he needs to,but I think he also just leads by
example, and I think he hasgreat respect in that locker room, and
I think he also has great respectfrom some of the star players in this
league. Yeah, thanks for sharingthat. I think those are important anecdotes.
I know you've written it before,but it's still worth mentioning because not
everybody knows that. It's a greatexample of what kind of person, not

(01:37:54):
just a player, but kind ofperson. Kid Cunningham truly is you mentioned
the draft now. I was talkingabout this yesterday because Tyres Maxie went off
for forty six the other day.You saw it the most points by as
tied for the most points by anopposing player in a playoff game at Madison
Square Garden. Ever with Michael Jordan. That says something. He was in

(01:38:16):
the same damn draft as Killian Hayes. Everyone talks about Tyreus Haliburton and I
loved Haliburton coming out of Iowa State, but MAXI was taking twenty first overall.
Another miss by stan Van Gundy andthe Pistons. So many foreign players,
James, that one that are mentioned, right, what's that? That
one was actually Troy? That wasTroy's first draft? Well was that Troy's

(01:38:39):
I'm sorry, you're right, Troy, but there are so many foreign players
who are viewed near the top andnot as many college players. And this
is tough for you because you seeall these guys and you write it,
but so many fans and usual membersof the media. We don't watch guys
play in France. Okay, wedon't know who a lot of these guys
are. Why do you think Ithink the league shift might be the run

(01:39:01):
word, but has seen so muchof an influx on young players from foreign
lands rather than college players. Arethe college players just not as good as
we think when we watch them inthe NC Douale League tournament. What's your
belief on that. It's a goodquestion. I think that some of it

(01:39:23):
is intrigued, right, Like it'shard to equate their leagues to the NBA,
while I think historically the natural comparisonfor the NBA has always been the
college game, so there's some ofthat. I also think that the Spurs
and what they did early in thelate nineties and early two thousands, with

(01:39:44):
the likes of Tony Parker and Montagnobili, started to have teams look more European.
And I mean, if we're beinghonest, the best players in the
league are not from here right now, Jokic, Luca Jannis. I mean,
you make a top seven list,those three are in there, embeed,
so there's four. I think thereis a it's just been an untapped

(01:40:05):
historically, hasn't been as tapped datingback like twenty ish years as it is
now. And I think they're justtrying to find diamonds in the rough and
they're trying to the game has justexpanded so much globally. And I also
think, like I said, there'sintrigue, like we're so able to watch
available college games that I think evenscouts are like Okay, well, I've

(01:40:29):
watched this guy since he was twelveyears old. Let me let me see
what I can see over here inthese in these European state air countries,
and see how I feel that thisequates to our game. So I think
there's a little bit of it.I also think, like I said,
there's been a lot of talented playerscoming from overseas and it. But I

(01:40:49):
think primarily it's the intrigue in theability to not necessarily know how it will
translate. But you see these sets, and I also do think European players
are more fundamentally sound in most cases, but that is that is something that
plays into it, for sure.That's interesting. You talk You've been in

(01:41:12):
every NBA arena, every NBA city, talk to just about every NBA player,
I would guess. Do you thinkthere is a growing concern from American
based basketball players and who want toplay in the NBA and realize that they're
you know, there's only sixty fourtimes sugar sixty four spots to get drafted.
Do you think in general they're worriedabout the security that America has in

(01:41:35):
that regard with more Americans playing inthe NBA. I've never heard that personally.
I've never posed the question either,But I mean, you hear a
lot of players talk about players likeyou don't find too many that don't love
Jokic, that don't love Giannis andLucas. So I mean maybe guys that
are fringe roster guys maybe have concerns. They probably also have concerns about the

(01:41:58):
the age limit in the NBA.But yeah, I haven't heard that directly.
Yeah, fair enough. James Edwardsjoined to share on Exus and Bros
fall him on Twitter. J L. Edwards third team president. Why is
it needed and what type of criteriadoes that person need to possess in order
to get the job. I thinkthere's a couple of things. I think

(01:42:18):
one that they just need a funnelingof leadership. It needs to be one
person who is everybody knows who theyreport to, everybody who knows that they
are directed to, everybody, somebodythat can make the right play or the
right call, the right shot.It's all about having one voice be the

(01:42:40):
final say. It's a position thatthe Pistons ever had since twenty eighteen.
It is a common position an NBAfranchise. I know a lot of people
like to say that there's too manycooks in the kitchen. I understand that
that critique and what it is.But if you look around most NBA front
offices, there's owner, there's ateam president, there's maybe a vice president,

(01:43:03):
there's a GM, and then acoach. So there's usually three or
four solid voices in an organization.It's just a matter of making sure that
everybody knows who's getting the final say, and who everybody is, who everybody's
direct what's the sort of looking fordirect talk, who they're directly talking to,

(01:43:25):
and who they're directly reporting to.I think that's of great importance.
And then also I think, yeah, there just needs to be a little
bit more structure. I think thereneeds to just be a different voice and
team building. I think those arethe big things that they're looking for,
and I think there's some big namesthat they're going to go after. Some
of those guys are in the postseasonnow, which is why if there are

(01:43:45):
people who think that this hobo searchhas gone on too long, it's really
only been two weeks. But thereare protocols in place where if they want
to go get one of the bestguys, and one of those best guys
are they have a team still playing. They got to kind of wait out
that process. So it's certainly it'sa moving target. Currently, you're not

(01:44:06):
just a basketball fan and a basketballwriter who covers the Piston that you're also
a Detroit sports fan. You seethe symmetry that the Lions have built that
has made them so successful under BradHolmes. Compare that symmetry to the symmetry
in the Pistons front office, ifthere is one, and how far they

(01:44:26):
need to go? Can you?I think that there, I think it
seems like Dan Campbell and Brad Holmesare more on the same page then I'd
say even a lot of president andhead coaches, not even in the city,
but in the league. I thinkthat's a big thing. I think
that I think that's the big thing. I think that those two really seem

(01:44:51):
to value the same type of players, the same type of the character.
It's the one thing that sticks outto me about them. And while I
think in the NBA you can havedifferent visions of how NBA you can play
different styles in basketball football you can, but at the end of the day,
it's still quarterback, drop back,handoff, Like it's still this it's
pretty universal, but basketball there canbe different styles. Whether or not a

(01:45:15):
style is outdated or not, that'sanother conversation. But I do think that
in terms of how a team shouldbe built, there seems to be a
little bit of a disconnect there withthe Pistons and maybe Steven Alliance. All
Right, lastly, before I letyou go, and I appreciate the time
Monty Williams, how can he bebetter in year two along the Pistons bench

(01:45:36):
and how much, say, willhe have in personnel with this team moving
forward? Yeah, if he's backnext year, I think one way you
can get better is is I thinkshortening the rotation, depending on what they
do this offseason, if they're ableto add two or three legitimate NBA players,

(01:45:59):
maybe keep that tation down to nineto eight. I think that's one
way. I think maybe being alittle bit more emphasizing the development. Obviously,
he comes from a program where hewas coaching veteran players and and and
maybe had a different type of emphasis. I think obviously this team is young
and has some young players, andthat needs to be the focal point.

(01:46:23):
But yeah, I think just certainlylike how many players he plays, trying
to understand who he has as aas a rotation and if he needs has
to whittle it down to try togive this team the best chance to win.
I think that should be the case. But yeah, if he is
back next year, he'll have somethings to clean up himself. All right,
you said that twice. Then ifhe's back next year, why wouldn't

(01:46:43):
he be Why wouldn't he be?Yeah, they just won fourteen games.
There's a change. Definitely a chance. I think I think it'll be interesting
to see. I don't I don'tthink it's as likely as people also,
that's people think very interesting. We'llbe watching and we'll be reading The Athletic

(01:47:04):
with James Edwards. Thank you,my friend, great stuff as always,
appreciate your time very much and yourfriendship. Take care of Thank you.
You got all right, James Edwards. Follow him on Twitter. Jay Edwards,
the third rights for the Athletic.Fantastic stuff. If you missed any
of that, We'll play tomorrow sixthirty five. Really enjoyed that conversation.

(01:47:25):
Could have gone on a lot longerbecause there's a lot of different things that
we wanted to hit on. Butmaybe we'll do it at another time with
James and Talking Pistons and the NBAthanks to Ben our producer, are thanks
to you for your text your phonecalls and James Edwards for his time.
Hope you can join us again tomorrowhere on exes and bros. Have a
great rest of your Thursday. Everybodyenjoy We're teaming off our tent here at

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