Balls, Bats, and Bets -- 5/12/23

Tim O'Keefe recaps a painfu #Sixers Game 6 missed opportunity, breaks down the #Eagles schedule, and has Friday night plays.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
For national winners. From a localperspective, you're in the right place.
It's balls, bats and bets withTim O'Keefe right here on the Gambler.
I'm pretty sure that's the sentiment rightnow of most of Philadelphia after which just
happened last night to our Sixers.Welcome in everyone, It's balls, bats

(00:22):
and bets. I'm Tim O'Keefe,your host is always. You can follow
me at t KO Underscore Picks onTwitter, and I mean what else I
like, I'm gonna say a lotabout it, but man, this this
team, this freaking team. Theybuild you up and then tear you right

(00:46):
back down. And now, Ilast night was an embarrassment. I don't
think there's any other way around it. It's an embarrassment. You're at home
with a chance to go to aplace that this team hasn't been since two
thousand and one and over two decadessince we saw the Eastern Conference Finals,

(01:07):
and you show up and put outthat garbage performance at home in front of
your fans, which which now,according to the odds, says that was
the last time you play in frontof your fans this season. That's what
the odds say. I I mean, wow, statue. Like, let's
just looking at the statue from lastnight and Beat and Maxie show up with

(01:32):
twenty six points each. Admittedly,I do expect more from embiid here the
MVP. I'm you at. Heaveraged thirty three a game. I think
like I expect thirty plus. Butlook, low scoring game. He got
twenty six. I can live there. They were okay, Maxie was good
and Bead was okay. Harden thirteenpoints, seven assists, They're sorry,

(01:57):
seven rebounds, nine assists. That'snot of scoring. It's just not I
know, I want him to bethat balanced guy across. I'm all for
that, but thirteen is not enough. And over six from three that's sure
as hell is not going to getthe job done. It's just not You've
got to hit some of these TobiasHarris. I'm like, I'm a Toby

(02:19):
defender. Throughout the course of theyears, I've always seen myself as a
Toby defender. But hey, it'sit's not his role to be that top
scorer on this team. It's justnot right. He's the fourth option,
and I fully get that, buttwo points, two points, that's just
utterly unacceptable. How many mens dohe played forty one minutes two points?

(02:47):
Are you kidding me? Are youkidding me? Come on, man?
And then the whole bench got elevenpoints from the bench total. You got
six from the Yang who at twothrees? You got Game five's hero Daniel

(03:07):
House Junior has three. And thenJade Springer had garbage time two points.
D' anthony Melton, Paul Reid,Jane McDaniels. Reed only played five minutes
day mcdann's actually only played also one, so limited minutes. Really, I
guess might complain? Is Daniel orsorry? Yeah? Yeah, d' anthony
melton. Excuse me, d' anthonymelton, nothing squad? I mean,

(03:31):
where was me? What's happening here? This team just died on its home
court? And now, yeah,I guess what are we done? No,
we're all gonna get amped up.Have you have a shot? You
have a Game seven in Boston threethirty on Sunday. But there's so many
things that are just making me somad about last night's game. Credit to

(03:53):
uh to slash here in the station. I saw this, He tweeted this
out. I didn't realize that Iknew it was bad, but I didn't
really just bad. Zero field goalsin the last seven minutes of the game
for the Sixers. You're telling meno one made a basket while the ball
was live. We scored some freethrows, no one scored one damn basket.

(04:15):
It's it's absolutely ridiculous. This teamhad a real shot. We were
the favorites in the East, andnow you put out that performance and seven
point dogs going into Game seven.I don't think that's wrong at all.
I all the momentums back with Boston. They're at home, they've they've won

(04:38):
this round before. We haven't.It's can you say that pressures on them?
I guess, but I think there'stons of pressure on our guys,
and we all know because we're puttingit on them rightfully, So we're not
wrong for putting pressure on them.This team has been built to win and
it just hasn't. Absolutely disgusting,awful game last night. I'll also say
this, and I know Doc's gettinga lot of love recently. Um,

(05:00):
not after the last night, ofcourse, but in general. Doc's been
kind of grown on people, andmyself included. I've kind of been like,
yeah, you know what, that'sall right, It's all right,
Doc, you know, it's he'sgetting a little better with the media.
He's having some decent commentary. ButI'll say this, Nobody blows a lead
like Doc Rivers, Nobody like he'sall time known the thing, guess.

(05:23):
But he has had another three twolead, right. I think he's most
famous for his blown three one leads. But he had a one oh lead
and he's had a three three twolead in this series. And now you're
seven point dogs at home and he'sblown. Let's say I'm trying to find
him live right now. I'm notgonna be able to get this live.
Um. But the man blows leadis like no other in the playoffs.

(05:46):
It's just a fact, historically bad. And it looks like we're about to
do that again at Les according tothe odds. Again, I'm gonna watch
on Sunday. I'm gonna be allin him. At some point over these
next whatever forty we have less thanforty eight or still he played, don't
we you know it's call it fortyhours. Over these next forty hours,
I'm sure there's gonna be some pointwhere I talked myself into, hey,

(06:08):
we're gonna figure this out. We'regonna get there, but in my heart
of hearts, I don't. It'stough for me. It's tough for me
to believe it. It just isthe main reason. Really on the Boston
side, Jason Tatums hasn't He hasn'tplayed well in my opinion, he has
not had a good series. Hescored thirty only twice, and he's just

(06:28):
not hitting at an efficient rate.He's really he had one he had,
he had a couple of good games. He had the one game he had
the eighteen boards. I get he'sI'm not saying he's been awful, but
he's not an MVP caliber player.Like look, he finished fourth and MVP
voting. He has not been dominant. And then all of a sudden towards
the end of last night's game,Grant, he only finished the thing with
nineteen points, but you let himbuild up momentum. He was in single

(06:49):
digits I think until until the fourth, and you let him build up momentum
for a game seven, he hehits those two threes pretty much back to
back. That were the daggers inour in our hole, in our in
our hearts last night, and Iyeah, it's just trending. I feel

(07:11):
very again, if you're into playerprops and I'm not gonna I'm not gonna
do this because I'm just I'll feelsick to my stomach. Even if I'm
right, I think Tatum's gonna gooff in Game seven. That's just seems
to be where this is going tome. It's like, hey, he's
been a little bit down all seriesbuilds to a Game seven where he just
is a sniper and he takes careof business. That's just where this seems
to be building. And it's veryfrustrating. It's extremely frustrating. I don't

(07:36):
know how it is to put it. Um, it's the lot, all
right, I'll talk about last nightfor one more thing. The the defense
was great, Like, if Ineed to take one positive way, the
overall team defense, you held theCeltics under ninety five till under one hundre
points, held him to ninety five. That's pretty good. I mean,

(07:56):
that's damn good. And Joel didhave a lot of impact on that end
of the court. I want togive him it on that he did.
The team defense was great. Theeffort also, this is the problem until
until the last couple of minutes,where we did see a lack of effort.
First for that one run down thecourt from Harden and Embiid. The
effort throughout the night was there,it was I do think that team was
going balls to the wall, youknow, everything, everything going, and

(08:20):
it just wasn't enough. And atsome point, I guess what, guys,
I know, we all love youlove like the the underdog stories where
you know it's I don't know whythis one came at him first, but
he got Rudy, you got dJ. McConnell playing the guys that don't
have enough talent but just try sohard they're able to make a difference and
they get some value out of them. That's great. Those are awesome stories.

(08:43):
Those don't win your titles. Theydon't. You need to just have
pure elite talent at times step upand carry you to the victory. And
I don't know if we have enoughof it. I just don't. We
haven't shown it. We haven't shownit at all, and it's extremely frustrating.
It is extremely extremely frustrating for theSixers. I see it as there's

(09:11):
two things that are the key togame sevens to game seven, and they're
very obvious there. It's James Hardenand Jewel Embie. Let's start with Wyn
Harden. The Sixers are two andoh this series. When Harden scores twenty
points or more. You heard me, You're right, they're two and oh
when he scores twenty points or more. Granted, both of those times he

(09:33):
ended up scoring in the forties,but in the other four games he has
not scored twenty points. This thingabout that, this is a guy who
is an all time score in theNBA, Like historically he is an all
time score, one of the best, you know, a top I'm not
gonna go throw the RECs. Atop fifteen score all time, maybe ten,

(09:56):
like the guy in his prime wasdominant. And I get it.
He's not in his prime anymore.But he still clearly has it in him
where he's dropped forty twice in theseries. He can do it. He
just vanishes at times. And Iget it. I want that balance.
I do want to be a balancedplayer, like I'm fine, like near
trible doubles and the rebounds and theassist I get it. He's not gonna

(10:16):
be dropping thirty five at night likehe was in Houston. I fully get
that, But damn if in theplayoffs, you don't show like I need.
I need you to have a twoin front of your scoring bare minimum,
because it guess what if we don'tget it, if we don't get
twenty points out of James Harden.I grant I know we won one game
when he didn't score twenty. Thisseries, I am extremely struggling to see

(10:39):
how we won this game if wedon't get twenty out of James Harden.
I just damn if unless you're gonnaget fifty from Embad and thirty from Maxie.
I like, I really struggled tosee that. I struggle to see
how you're gonna get here without JamesHarden putting up at least twenty for a
guy who's getting looking for that Maxcontract again, who is an all time

(11:03):
score in the league, and look, this is his shot. It's like
this is potentially his last shot atthe title, depending on what happens if
he goes back to Houston after this. Houston's while they look, they're rebuilding,
they're they're far away. This isit, Hardened. This is your
game seven to show up and tryto get yourself that title. You better
drop me at least twenty freaking points. That's not a lot to ask.

(11:24):
And you better hit me multiple three. You can't be going over six from
three. You've got to be hittingthem next. Yeah. As I mentioned,
Joel Embiid and Bead is the bestplayer in the league. In my
opinion, I stand behind that.What the man does. He has unparalleled
scoring ability as a big man andis such an elite defender. But that

(11:50):
being said, Joel Embid, inthe five games he's played in this series,
he's only plus. His plus minusis only positive in one of them.
That means in five games with JoelEmbiid, the Sixers have only won
the time that he's on the court. So if we just isolated games to
win Jowells in the court, wewould be one and four. How the

(12:15):
hell that's possible. I don't know. You're the MVP. I get the
knee, fine, you know,I guess what. We're tired of the
excuses. You're playing. I'm sorry, man, I get your power in
through it and I appreciate that,But you're playing. You're the MVP.
If you're ever going to take thisdown to a title, I can't keep
giving you the excuses with the injuries. I just can't because then at some

(12:37):
point you'll have to move on.And I'm not saying I'm not a guy
that wants to move on from JoelEmbiid, even if we lose on Sunday.
I'm not saying to move on fromJoel Embid that is crazy. But
you have to try something else.You've got to figure something else out with
this. You can't have your MVPbeing on the court and that's the time
that the Celtics are winning games.You just can't. So my staff for

(13:01):
Joel Embiid, it's really simple.We have to be net positive when joe
El Embiid is out on the courtat a bare minimum. Really, I
think I probably need it, youknow, more than just plus one,
but let's put that at a bareminimum. If we're gonna win this game,
I need Joel Embiid to be positivein plus minus when he's out on
the court, and obviously a lotthat I would be contributed by him scoring

(13:24):
plenty. I also say I feellike I need thirty points, but plus
minus is attatumtent a jumps o becausehe does have such an impact on the
defensive end. We've seen that sincehe came back in this series where Boston's
whole game plan of going inside inGame one, they had to adjust and
go outside for the rest of theseries. He has such an impact on
that end of the court that plusminus is the big staff for me.
But he's negative in three of them, neutral in one and positive in one,

(13:50):
and the positive in one I thinkwas the game four, or sorry,
game five, which was the smoothestgame. Every other game it's been
a mess. It's been a mess. We've been He's been negative twenty three
in one of the games, negativefour, which isn't that big. But
he's the MVP, and I'm tiredof this stupid Al Horford and Robert Williams
being kryptonite to Joel and beat superman. Joel, I I get it.

(14:16):
They are they're they're good defensive centers. You're the MVP. You're the best
player in the damn like, figureit out. You have so much more
athletic ability than both of them,so much more skill. You've got to
be able to figure it out andbully that thirty seven year old Al Horford.
You just can't have that br holdup. If that's the thing.

(14:39):
If Joel does not have an MVPlike game on Sunday again. I already
I just said we're not moving all. But it's it's a it's a it's
a staying on the resume. Itjust will be. It's this is a
series. This is a chance totake advantage because you see the path right
you're playing either the Knicks or theHeat, and next round you see the

(15:01):
path due to the finals, toyour shot at glory. You need to
step up in this game seven havea very high plus minus and really the
one that everyone's gonna look at.You probably need to score at least thirty
points. You do. And that'sit. And guys, I can't tell
you I feel confident going into Gameseven. I can't. But what I
will say is we do know thisseries has been twist and turn, twist

(15:24):
and turn it pretty much every gamethat you expected the Sixers to win they
lost, and everyone you expect himto lose they win literally Game one,
no Joel, they win Game five, two two. Going back to Boston,
they were seven point dogs, theywon. There's something to that.
So let's hope that the Craziness hasone last game in it and that the

(15:48):
ball bounces the right way for ourSixers and we hit to get to the
Eastern Conference Finals. But as weall know, it's going to be,
it's going to be a very intenseMother's Day, three thirty on Sunday.
All right, I'll take a quickbreak after this from I'll come back.
Eagles release their schedule. I dowant to do a little bit of walk
through on that twos a few othertopics that we'll get to here on balls,

(16:11):
bats and bets on Fox Sports.The Gambler. You can wager on
it. We're talking about it.It's the Gambler. All right, everyone,
welcome back to balls, beats andbets. Um, we're gonna we're
gonna take a break from from mysixers ranting um because I'm sure, but
I think all of us could usea little bit of a break from it.

(16:33):
Um. Then we're gonna look atanother thing that happened this week.
NFL schedule release. Um, Eagleschedule comes out to come out with let's
see let me double check these uh, let's see one, two, three,
four, five primetime games for theBirds coming up to season, which
is which is nice um home openeron a Thursday night against the Vikings.

(16:56):
Uh, and then also a coupleof their Sunday night football games at home
are actually only one other Sunday ina football game at home, and then
the rest of their primetime games areon the road, So lots going on
there, and obviously, like someof those can get flexed out their new
rules and stuff like that. Butoverall, I was a little nervous about
the Eagle schedule coming to the yearbecause it is it's definitely gonna be a
much harder schedule than last year.We all know that it's going to be

(17:19):
challenging compared to last year when honestly, like we all know, we had
a pretty smooth schedule last year.Not saying the team wasn't great, the
team was great, been the teamalmost got to the almost grabbing Lombardi right
fully deserving, so they came reallyclose. But this year's this year you're
playing a first place schedule. It'sgonna be tougher. It just is.
It's going to be a tougher schedule. But that doesn't mean that they can't

(17:41):
have success. And obviously the waythe Chips fell, I kind of really
liked the way it went for theEagle. So what we're gonna do.
We're gonna do this live and I'mjust you know, I have I should
say I took a kind of acouple of thoughts. But I'm gonna do
the live breakdown of the Eagle scheduleas we go through, and look,
it's way too early, it's waytoo early, but we're gonna have fun
with it. That's what we dohere on the Gamblers. So Eagle schedule

(18:04):
starting off at New England, NewEngland and me, I think is in
for a really bad year. Ithink it's I think it's like the Belichick
without Brady is starting to show colors. Honestly. I know it's been a
couple back on a prior show,I had broken it down like, ah,
you know what they was they wereboth great, and they both are
great. Belichick's maybe the one of, if not the best coach of all

(18:26):
time. But man, he's startingto show some true colors here if he
can't get him a little more success, whether it's a a mac Jones or
that defense, it's I don't know. I just don't think New England is
that good at this point, honestly. And the Eagles have gotten done nothing
but get better. Wow, Ishouldn't say nothing might get better. They
have made moves like losing Javon Hargraveas a negative, and there's other negatives.

(18:48):
But I think the Eagles are avery very good spot. I expect
to win opening week, I do, even though it's up up in Fox
Barrow. I'll go with the Eaglesthere, so I'll want to know Eagles
on that one. Vikings at homeon Thursday and football short week always helps
the home team my opinion, andalso guess why I think we're the superior
team. Vikings are in a littlebit of a unique spot. I still

(19:11):
like them. I know the Lionsare getting a ton of love, and
I do love the Lions. Iam all in on them, but I
guess maybe I'm not all in.I kind of still think it's the Vikings
division. I do. The Packersare now gone like they're gonna They're in
a retoo year in my opinion.Bears are up and coming, but still
too far away. I do thinkthe Vikings are a good team. But
back to the way the schedule breaksdown for the Eagles, we're the better

(19:33):
team short short week home opener.Give me the Birds at home over the
Vikings. So now we're at twoand now Bucks, the Bucks are gonna
be bad. Baker Mayfield quarterback,old roster breaking down. They did win
their division last year with Brady,but barely. I think it's an easy
one, even though down in Tampa. There's no way I can predict than

(19:55):
this to be anything but a Birdswin. So three and now Commanders at
home, Commanders gonna be an interestingteam, that's it. I mean they
got Sam Howe a quarterback. Ican't be that intimidated by that, so
especially at home. Eagles four andOh, getting that easy schedule to start
is huge in the NFL. Itreally is, because all of a sudden,

(20:18):
if you have a rough schedule andthere, that could have been the
way that's broke down. Like everyonewas talking, Hey, it could have
been Chief's Eagles Week one and thenoh do you throw them? You know,
it could be like the Vikings withthe Bills or some of the Week
two and like, it could havegotten ugly quick. The Eagles were very
beneficial to have this early, nice, pretty reasonable schedule. Week five at
the Rams. Yeah, I'm notscared by the Rams' just not. Matthew

(20:41):
Stafford is probably back this year,which should make them a better team.
I think they're old. They wentall in on their one season and they
got their championship. And good forthem, they got their championship. But
I'm struggling to see that. I'mstrying to see how I cannot pick the
Eagles to win that one. Iam. So that puts a five and

(21:02):
oh heading into Week six at theJets. I'm anna call us is our
first loss. I am. Iam big on the Jets this year.
I think that team is an elitedefense. And Aaron Rodgers, he's say
what you want about him, Iguess that the wording I'll use. But
Aaron Rodgers is a much better quarterbackthan what the Jets had last year.

(21:22):
And the Jets were a decent teamlast year. And you're going from Zach
Wilson to a multiple MVP winner twoout of the last three seasons. So
I am struggling to see how theJets aren't going to be a much better
team this year. Going on theroad the Eagles, they're gonna they're gonna
lose one at some point. Ithink they lose that one there, so
I think at the Jets is wherethey falter. Then they got the Dolphins

(21:45):
at home on Sunday Night football quiteFrankly, I think it's a bad matchup
for us. The Dolphins weapons onthe outside are so fast. Our cornerbacks
are a little bit older. Again, I'm happy with them. I'm glad
we got Sleigh and bradbreak back.I am. I do think we can
get exploited a little bit in thismatchup for our lack of being able to
cover elite speed. I hate TyreekHill, I do. I do not

(22:07):
like him as a person with allthis stuff off the field, but he's
an elite receiver. Jal and Waddlealso an elite receiver. There's great weapons
down there. Two. We'll seehow he comes back after the injuries last
year. But I expect the Delviousto be a pretty good team. And
I'm not always won as a lossfor the Birds, and that's our first
loss at home, so that wouldput us at five and two after Week
seven at the Commanders. Sorry,I can't pick a team that's likely gonna

(22:30):
have Sam how a quarterback to takedown the Eagles. It's just not in
my blood. So I'm gonna havethem win at the Commanders and then you
have the Cowboys at home before youend into the buye week. I know
a lot of people. You can't. Everyone gets their blood boy. And
when you say Cowboys, I thinkwe pretty much each year, maybe I
should. Most years I end uppicking the Eagles to split with the Cowboys,

(22:51):
and this year's not comma any different. I do think the Cowboys are
a good team. Dack's a goodquarterback, they have a lot they have
a very solid defense. I thinkthe Eagles win. They're one at home.
Spoiler alert, I'm gonna have themprobably, I'm gonna have them losing
on the road. I'm sure lateron, but I'll say the Eagles get
the win at home right before thebye week. So then heading into the
bye week, that makes our birds. Let's see, they have two losses

(23:11):
seven and two, seven and twoheading into the bye week of week ten,
which is I'll sign up for thatright now. I'm all right with
that coming off the bye, whichI almost because we're coming off the bye,
I was almost ready to say,hey, the Birds can do this.
At the Chiefs, I can't.I can't do it going into Arrowhead.
Chiefs are the Super Bowl champs,they have Patrick Mahomes. I'll take

(23:34):
the Chiefs there. So now itputs us at seven and three then two
big games at home back to back. You got the Bills and the forty
nine ers. Bills are up first. I think it's a down year for
the Bills. It's a little weird, I'm starting to think. And Josh
Allen's still an elite quarterback. Ithink he's going to be good for a
long time. The way that team'sbuilt, I'm starting to think their windows

(23:56):
closing faster than they realize. LikeStefan Diggs is an elite receiver. Stefan
Diggs is now let me check thatage. Let's double check that real quick,
just to make sure I'm not awfuon this. But I think he's
getting up there. Let's see.So Stefan Diggs is twenty nine, right,
So twenty nine that you're usually good. The thirties the mark for a
receiver where you usually start seeing thatdegrade. I don't know. He's such

(24:19):
a big part of what they do. They have other great pieces around Josh
Allen. I get it, butthere it's it's not a young team.
I'm certainly they missed their window.I think it's a down year for the
Bills, especially with a really toughdivision. I think the Eagles win and
the Eagles win that one at home. Now jumping into the NFC title rematch
with the forty nine Ers, thisone, it was tough for me because
the the Eagles are still a betterteam in my opinion. I do believe

(24:44):
that. I think the Eagles arebetter on paper, especially with the edge
of quarterback we have with Jail andI think that's just a huge thing.
But the forty nine Ers do haveall that hate and rev like anger revved
up inside them from that that theywe all know how much they kept complaining
after that NFC Title game last year, so they are absolutely gonna be amped
up. But I do think Ithink Sirianni's gonna be able to get his
team amped up for this as well. You're at home. This is a

(25:07):
game that really is going to havea big impact potential on who's hosting the
NFC Title Game potentially, at least, I think the Eagles pull that one
off. I think they pull itoff at home. I think they beat
the forty nine Ers, which putsus at what would that be nine and
three? Nine and three? Ibelieve now here we go coming down the
stretch at Cowboys, I think afterthose two big games at home to go

(25:32):
to Dallas. I think we splitany we're el split with Das and let's
call that one a loss. Ithink Dallas gets that win at home,
beating the Eagles. That puts thatnine and four. Now moving into a
game at Seattle. Now we're abetter team than Seattle, but you know,
there's always gonna be games. Everyteam in the NFL comes up to
bite someone at one point or another. That's that's the league and that's why
it's an incredible league. I thinkwe lose that one. I think that's

(25:56):
a sneaky game that ends up catchingus. I'm not even saying I expec
see I'm going to be as goodas they were last I don't if they're
a playoff team, but I thinkthey're sneaky enough where a rough after building
up for Cowboys weekend, still comingoff. Remember look at the stretch leading
into the Seahawks Chiefs Bills forty nineErs Cowboys. It feels like a trap
game. It really does feel likea trap game. I'll be going with

(26:18):
the Seahawks there. So now Igot the Eagles at nine and five,
Giants at home, and then wehad two out of our last three year
against the Giants. Giants at home, I'm going to give us the win.
Daniel Jones a quarterback. I thinkhe's better than a lot of people
think, but he's definitely not upto the level to beat the Eagles at
home. He's just not. TheGiants are a decent team, but I

(26:40):
don't think they're beating the Eagles athome. So it puts US at ten
and five. Cardinals garbage team.Don't think they're gonna be very good.
Bump it up to eleven and five, and then at Giants. I'm actually
like a loss. I do thinkthe Giants. Like I said, I
think the Giants are a decent team. There'll be at home. I think
the Giants might be fighting for aplayoffs about that point. Dable, to
me is a very solid coach,a little bit under appreciate. Not underappreciated,

(27:03):
I mean he was, he's verywell appreciated. But um, I
think you get that one done.So I'll say I think that I think
they lose that one. Again,breaking down game by game, I believe
my math puts me that puts meat eleven and six for the Birds.
It's probably not number one seed.It's just not again it's a tough,
tough schedule, um, the AFCEast. Like one, you're already playing

(27:25):
a first place schedule, but thenyou have to play the AFC East,
which I think is making it mightbe my best division in football. I
truly believe that. I think whenNew England is your worst team in that
division, that's that's a damn gooddivision, right, So I think that's
that's really tough when you're going againstthe AFC East. Um. And then
yeah, you have first place schedules, like you know, you run into

(27:45):
the Chiefs. Because of that,you run into um oh who's out of
the ball of Bucks? And theBucks I'm not that scared of. But
overall, I think it's a veryI think it's a good year for the
Birds. I think eleven eleven's mynumber. That's what I'm doing with.
Everyone has their number. Eleven isgoing to be my number. Last year
their total was nine and a half. I've smashed the over to seem very

(28:07):
obvious to me. This year.I think I saw it was ten and
a half, or it's eleven anda half. I forget and I'm right
around it. So it's not asnot gonna be as easy a win in
my opinion, for the Birds toget there. Best destinations out there.
For me, I wasn't Seattle lastyear. Everyone look at Seattle was awesome,
really cool time. I did notgo to the football game, actually
with a baseball game, but Seattle'sa really cool town. Tampa always beautiful

(28:29):
weather, Love Tampa, love Clearwater, going down their Philly spring training awesome
area. La La is probably alittle bit busy for me personally, but
I see the attraction. I getit, Arrowhead. I've heard nothing but
great things about the stadium itself.Kansas City. I've heard it's all right,
a great barbecue, right, yougot great barbecue. And in New
England, New Englands another one I'veheard the stadium is a mess to get

(28:51):
to. But early, if you'reever going to go up towards Boston in
that area, that is absolutely thetime to do it, because it's just
just absolutely is the right time todo it. You don't want to have
to go to Boston in December.It's a lot easier in Boston in September.
So very interesting schedule. Obviously we'regonna keep I'm sure well other people
are gonna break this down as weget closer, but it's us fun.

(29:12):
Schedule came out, I have phonewith it. We dove in eleven and
six as of now is my officialprediction for the Birds. I have the
right to change it until we getto week one that'll be our final.
But right now, starting off ateleven and six, and I don't really
say seeing it shift more than maybea game or two, depending on how
things shape up as we get throughtraining camping into the regular season. All

(29:33):
right, with that one, takeanother quick break. We gonna come back.
We're gonna talk some rest of NBAplayoffs, excluding the six or series,
and just like overall, what's goingon out West, what's going on
in the other series in the East, who can win there? And then
also diving in a little bit onour phillies as we look into it.
We'll be back on balls, batsand Bets right after this. You can
wager on it. We're talking aboutit. It's the Gambler. Welcome back

(29:56):
to our final segment here on balls, bats and bets. And I did
want to spend some time looking throughthe rest of the playoffs, and we
spent a lot earlier on in thatsix ers, which as we should,
but I do want to look throughoutthe NBA playoffs right now, only one
team locked into the conference finals,and that's your Denver Nuggets. Not your

(30:17):
Denver Nuggets guy. Sorry, that'sa stupid phrase, but that's the Denver
Nuggets who beat the Suns. Youknow, all that talk when they got
Kade mid year, I like,I almost say, I don't give myself
some props. I never bought inthat the Suns we're gonna be able to
be a title contender this year.It was just they didn't have enough time
to gel. They really didn't.They have their four stars on Phoenix where

(30:40):
if you want to do Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Kadi and Eaton if
you want to count Eaton, Yeah, they could not handle the Nuggets.
The Nuggets are a very solid team. They want They were the best team
in the West for a reason.They have home court advantage for a reason.
They're very solid, They're well built. Um, I'm not going to
go into the Yoka Verson bead thing, but we can all agree Yokih is

(31:00):
a very very elite player, right, I'm not gonna go back and forth
with him and ebiad I would takein beat but Yokis is an elite player
in this league. He is fantastic, and the Nuggets are set up very
well. I think I think they'regonna The Lakers and Warriors, where I'm
gonna go next, are battling itout in a longer series. Both those
teams are a little bit older thanthe Nuggets. It's a little bit a

(31:22):
little and they're gonna be less freshand the Nuggets coming into it. I
think it's shaping up very well forthe Nuggets to advance to the title.
And honestly, at this point,if you made me call it, they
might be my pick. I hateto say, I think the Nuggets would
be. They're at plus two thirtyto win it. I don't love those
odds if I should be getting alittle more juice than that, but I

(31:45):
do think that would be my Thatthat's my pick. That's who I see
right now cutting down the nets.Well, that's a college thing, but
you got you all get it outthere. Jumping over to the other Western
Conference series, it's still going Lakersand Warriors. I mean, look,
two of the all time greats,Steph Curry, Lebron James, going back
and forth. Lebron has him upright now, Lakers up three two,

(32:06):
they'll see afy thing close out tonight. I'll be honest, the Lakers,
this might be the best shot thatLebron is to win a title for the
rest of his career. I thinkthis is like you don't want to kind
of at least with Lebron being theguy. All Right, it's been now
three years, I think if yehthree, this is the third season since
they won it in the Bubble,and he hasn't really been closed since then.

(32:29):
And remember before the Bubble, therewas a couple of years where he
wasn't there, so or at leastone year a father time's undefeated. Right.
Of course, Lebron could be againgreat next year, and he probably
will still be great, you know. It's just he doesn't have enough to
actually carry home a title. There'sanother question, and we'll find out on
that. We're gonna find out.I with the Lakers being up three two,

(32:53):
I have to take the Lakers inthe series. But I will say
I do like the Warriors, andI know they've struggled on the road.
I do, And I'll get tothe picks in from it. But actually
we'll save the picks. We'll savethe picks. What I didn't have one
here? I want to talk aboutbriefly. And I know this is a
topic talked ad nauseum, but ifLebron somehow does end up getting another title

(33:15):
here and put some on ring numberfive gets the one from a thumb,
I'm not saying he's not Jordan forme yet, but it's now. It's
obviously close, and it's ever beenif that happens, but he's I've always
been a Jordan's above Lebron, andI'm not that close. That makes it
really close for me, It justdoes. Lebron's been such an elite player.

(33:39):
I get he doesn't have that andhe's been clutch, but he's not
as perceived as clutch as Michael Jordanwas or have that same mentality. And
I can go back and forth onthis. We can go into Jordan Lebron
all day. Maybe we'll do asegment on that, depending on if Lebron
wins the actual wins the title ornot. But I think it cements him
as the clear number two all times. Some people are like, well,

(33:59):
if course he is, and otherpeople out there, you know, they're
not saying that. A lot ofpeople have stole it down Lebron comparatively to
some of the other all time greats. I'm not Lebron's my number two,
and it's getting really close to beinga one A one b if Lebron's able
to pull this title. Similarly,Steph Curry, if him and the Warriors
can pull out another time and grantthey're down three to two in this series,
you gotta come back and win.But if Steph Curry can pull out

(34:22):
another title here, I mean,now, now we're talking Steph top's.
I think he's top ten at thatpoint, easily, maybe getting borderline top
five all time because of what he'sdone the game and revolutionizing it. He
has been fantastic. It's gonna bean interesting series. That's the game on
late tonight, and I do havea same game parlay coming up for that

(34:43):
one for anyone interesting. Take holdthat for a second. Next question I
have on here, does the winnerof the heat Nick series really have a
shot to come out of to comeout of the East, Like, really,
they're gonna play either the six Ers, Celtics, whoever wins this heat
Knicks series, And a lot ofpeople are just writing it off like,
hey, it's the sixers Celtics isreally the Eastern Conference Finals. It's just

(35:07):
around early. I don't think that'snecessarily the case if the Heat win.
I think the Heat, even thoughI know they're the lower seat. The
Heat, to me, are builtas a team that can make the finals
and win the finals. They haveelite scoring outside, where with Tyler Hero
and Kylis not elite score anymore,but elite perimeter guard play. They have

(35:29):
an elite score and wing defender inJimmy Butler. Playoff, Jimmy's a top
five player in the league, notsaying he is on the regular season.
Playoff Jimmy's the top five player inthe league. And then bam Adebayo in
the middle is a very solid beingman they have. I like the way
their team's built, and they weresuper deep. They have a lot of
depth coming off that bench where itseems that they're always someone's coming off and

(35:50):
being able to hit a three atany given moment. I love the way
they're built. The Knicks. Ilike the way that I like the n
It's a great year for the Nicks, and the Knicks could win this series.
I think Miami closes it out tonight. The Knicks could win this series.
But that being said, the Knicksto me, if they win,
I think it's I think whoever winsSix or Celtics is the one that goes
on. Like, I don't reallybuy in that the Knicks can win the

(36:14):
East. I mean the factor is, look at the odds right now,
there's sixty five to one to winthe NBA title, and yet they're only
what would it be ten games away, the ten wins away because we need
two in this round four and fourand they're sixty five to one, Like
that's that's TELLNNI all you need.I can't imagine the Knicks making the finals.
I could very easily imagine the Heatwinning the finals. And honestly,

(36:35):
the Heat are at seventeen to oneto win a title. That's good value.
I really believe that's good value becauseI could easily see the Heat beating
the Celtics or the six or I'mnot saying that would be the favorite or
that I would say, hey,you know, fifty fifty odds that I
would take them to win that,but I can certainly see scenarios where Jimmy
Butler carries a team because he's doneit before. We've seen it. He
can certainly do that, and thenI like, I buy in the he

(36:57):
could win a title. I fullybelieve in that. That would be really
interesting for a team that's coming outof the play in tournament to win the
title. But it would actually reallythe NBA would probably love it because it
would give some legitimacy to the playin tournament. Not that's not legitimate.
Alrighty, it's fine. It's ait's a gimmick. It's okay. I'm
not a gimmick comes off as abad word. I'm just I'm yeah,
it's okay. I'm not not inlove with it. I don't hate it.

(37:20):
That's why I'm in about playing game. But all of a sudden,
if you have a champion come outof the playing tournament. Yeah, now,
all of a sudden, you gota lot of people's attention. You
really do, um phillies. Iknow we didn't touch on them a lot.
Tonight, do quick two minutes seriesin Colorado coming up this weekend.
Offense should be ignited. You knowcourse field, Um, it's it's known,

(37:40):
it's known for what it's known for. There's gonna be runs. I
really hope that offense keep sparking,especially at good series. Good sweep over
Toronto, good two games, sweep. Um the offense in the second game,
little little lockluster, But that's allright, that's okay um, And
I fully buy in that the Philliesoffense is gonna wake up in where is
this series? You gotta take twoout of three. You gotta take two

(38:02):
out of three from the bad teams. The Rockies are a bad team.
If not sweep if it's gotta wakeup, and hopefully that starts off with
a big win tonight. Yeah,we'll see Jose Alvarado going on the eye
out. Not good. Obviously,it's been our elite, most elite reliever
this year. But hopefully the otherguys can step up and fill in.

(38:22):
And we need to get a coupleother guys back from injury. Still,
but this team, Phillies are bouncingout get into a decent spot. I
feel all right. The Braves arerunning away with the division at the moment,
but it's a long season and guesswhat, the Braves are an elite
team. If you lose the divisionto the Braves, I can't be upset,
but I need to be in theplayoffs. You gotta give me that
wildcard slot. After that, Igot a couple picks for us into the

(38:44):
Night's game. It's going over someof the later ones, so that way
we can get that coverage out startingoff because it's coming up quicker, if
not already started. Cubs Cubs overTwins money line. Drew Smiley has been
a very solid pitch or so farthis year for the Cubs. I do
know Sunny Gray has been great fourminutes Soda, he has been elite.
Sonny Gray does have these up andas he goes through good stretches, goes

(39:04):
through bad stretches, and they're very, very quick to turn. I kind
of a feeling this Cubs team mightjump up in Bite Minnesota and night on
the road. So Cubs plus onethirty five money line, another play Late
Night Baseball Dodgers Padres. I'm gonnago in the over and that one obviously
one of the better rivalries that wehave in the league at this point.
There is some true bead blood betweenthese two teams, and I think that

(39:28):
the offenses end up getting the betterend edge and this Blake Snell going for
San Diego has not been good thisyear. Ear up near five whip it
over one five. He can't lookhe has talent, he could get there,
but I don't really buy into aDustin May's having a pretty good year
young pitcher for the Dodgers. ButI also think that Padre's line of has
something to prove stepping up, especiallywith guys like Machado and Sodo who really

(39:50):
needs to step up and show himselfand Zander Bowers think there's gonna be some
run scored. I don't think eitherof these pitchers are gonna going to be
able to contain the other's offense.So give me the over nine in that
late night game. And then lastly, I kind of teases a little bit
earlier, same game parlay, I'mgonna go under two hundred and twenty and
a half and the Warriors money linein Warriors Lakers. I think Warriors do

(40:12):
get it done on the road.I know it's been an Achilles heal for
them this year, but I thinkthis is going to go to a game
seven. I think Stephan Company endup forcing it, especially with ad play.
It sounds like he's gonna play,but you know, not one hundred
percent there, And I think it'sa low scoring game. I think these
two are. It's a very verytightly contested battle elimination games in the NBA.
We know unders are very much hit. So you parlay that money line

(40:35):
Warriors under two twenty and a halfand you get plus three thirty on the
same game parlay. I think that'sreally good value to night getting in.
That's getting some juice heading into theweekend. That's all I got, folks.
Thanks for tuning into balls, batsand bets as always on Fox Sports
The Gambler. I'll be back withyou next week and Fridays going forward.
As always, tune into all thegreat stuff we got in the station.

(40:55):
You have to divide live great guys, love them Baseball Brunch on Sunday.
Love Chris Sack and Greg Murphy whatthey do. They're fantastic. And then
you have the show's weekly Sean Bracon, the Daily Ticket, John Jansen,
the line changed. So many goodthings going on the station, so make
sure you keep it tuned here.I'll be back next week, talk to
you all soon. So