2pm Padres Season Preview

Padres Season Preview. Are the Lakers tough enough?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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In NBA News, the NBA Players Association is calling for
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(00:46):
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(01:07):
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Speaker 4 (01:39):
Hi, San Diego Sports seven sixty on this Tuesday afternoon,
John Schaeffer and Sammy Long Prince Berry as well.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
We're with you for the next four.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Hours until six pm, and there is a lot to
react to. We're forty eight hours down obviously from opening day,
which is kind of incredible, and as we get closer
to this, a lot to obviously die. Same with the
Padres as they get ready for this twenty twenty six season.
Kevin Acy was on with you guys earlier today. He
was on with us obviously yesterday as well. And yeah,

(02:10):
I mean, Hay's in the barn so to speak. Right,
it's like you leave Peoria and basically the team you're
bringing with you have now.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
You're never a finished product this time of year.

Speaker 4 (02:20):
I think this is the time of year, Sammy where
people oftentimes are like, oh my gosh, like what about
their fifth starter or what about their bench or is
this player going to I mean, the thing's going to change,
is the point, And that's okay. I don't think any
roster's probably finished. Some are probably further along than others.
And it'll be interesting out of the Gates. Again, we'll
overreact to Thursday, and we'll probably overreact to every game

(02:43):
the first handful of games of the year. I went
through this yesterday actually doing a wrap up show, Like
the out of the Gates schedule is somewhat challenging. He's Detroit,
was Scooble and Valdez, and you have the Giants who
are expected to be similar to the Padres. You go
to Boston and where else, you go somewhere else in there.
But those first twelve games, like it's not easy. You
eventually get the Rockies in there. But like last year

(03:04):
they started fourteen and three, they don't have to start
fourteen and three. You just want to see them hopefully
play well out of the Gates, which again is easier
said than done against teams like Detroit, San Francisco and Boston.

Speaker 5 (03:14):
Well, I think Detroit's also an interesting team to start
with in that it's a team that among a lot
of possible teams. The Tiger strength is pitching, and we've
talked about a lot of the starting pitching staff for
the Potters. It kind of exposes that immediately in that
they kind of they have a pitching disadvantage in every matchup.
I mean, so far this weekend, you would you would

(03:36):
look at not that the Potterys can't obviously compete in
that regard. Yeah, they are because remember that fourteen three
start last year, they played a lot of teams below
five hundred, and now that so early in the season,
it's hard to tell who's blow five hundred or not.
But Boston's a fun team with a lot of young
talent Roman Anthony. It'll be fun to see the Giants
because the Giants are a team that kind of feel
like with the Potter's there's a lot of question marks

(03:58):
but also a lot of talent there. Yeah, I'm sure
we'll obviously be overreacting to every game, but I'm I'm
just curious for Thursday to get here because there's been
so much made about the fourth and fifth starters, and
to your point, we won't really have answers to that
until months into the season. But we see all the
city connect jerseys and stuff left and right. It's like

(04:18):
we're ready for like actual baseball to be getting played
on Thursday.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, it is interesting.

Speaker 4 (04:22):
Funny you mentioned city connect because when I think about
the offseason, is it fair to say in general it's
just been relatively quiet.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
I mean that there's been.

Speaker 5 (04:31):
Right outside the one weekend where they signed like five players.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
And even that, I mean those signings I think around
baseball and baseball circles weren't seen as sizeable moves. I
mean locally, they're going to draw attention because the Podgers
are popular, but you know, Herman Marquez and Walker Bueller.
This isn't you know, twenty twenty for example, So there
these are like, you know, just flyer deals essentially, or
adding Ty Frands. I love Ty Friends who played San

(04:55):
Diego State. I think is a very good player. But again, Nashally,
I don't think you're getting buzz for an addition like that.
Their whole offseason for me was basically resigning Michael King
in terms of like the flashy marquee move Michael King
three or seventy five million dollars and then the rest
of the off season is about this ownership move. But
in terms of like what the Padres did this offseason.

(05:16):
I mean, I wouldn't classify it as them doing a
ton certainly, No.

Speaker 5 (05:20):
And this is what kind of makes it a little
bit interesting in that, again, you point out we're gonna
react to games in I mean the large but you
go in five game losing streaks because the MLB season
is so long, it doesn't bury you. But this time around,
because of the lack of depth, the Pottery's weaknesses, lack
of depth after the top three. I mean, know, Muscove's
not around right now, so the first couple weeks of

(05:43):
the season might be a lot more crucial than other
pottery seasons because knowing that injuries are gonna happen, they're
gonna happen to every team in Major League Baseball. The
fact that this team is fully healthy right now, and
the division you feel like is gonna be so tight
outside of the Dodgers likely winning it, and the Diamondbacks,
Giants and the Potters, you feel like the start to

(06:05):
this season could really set a tone because I feel
like the Potter's when they send their opening day roster
out and everyone's healthy, can compete with a lot of teams.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
But I think you worry about the depth.

Speaker 5 (06:15):
I worry about the depth a little bit, especially if
that's starting pitching staff. So when everyone's quote healthy minus
Joe Musker right now, the first couple weeks of the
season might meet a lot more than in previous years.

Speaker 4 (06:25):
Yeah, that is It's an interesting way to look at it,
and I do think at the end of the day,
sport like baseball is about having like the Cavalry, like having.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Enough to overcome.

Speaker 4 (06:35):
I guess football is similar to that, yet they don't
play near as many games, but you have to overcome
injuries in order to have a good year. I guess,
you know, maybe you say that with basketball, though, I
feel like it's way more overcomeable, so to speak, in basketball,
but in baseball, like you can't just say I got
I got this five man rotation and I'm good.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Like that's as hard as a forecast.

Speaker 4 (06:54):
Is their team in baseball that's only going to use
five or six pitchers or starters, Yeah, probably, But there's
another team it's going to use ten or twelve over
the course of a year or so, and their starting
rotation is just tenuous to me heading into the year.
It's just whether it's even king coming off injury or
asking Vasquez to be the guy ever who hopes he
is with a higher velocity, and then Bueller and Marquez

(07:16):
is just it sounds good. We've said this a lot
this offseason, Like a lot of this sounds good on paper.
I say the names Walker, Bueller and Herman Marquez and
Michael King, and yeah, sounds pretty good. And then you
actually get into it and what does it look like?
And we talked about this a little bit yesterday. It's like,
can you ride this fantastic bullpen? How far can you
take a fantastic bullpen when your rotation is only an

(07:37):
average one? And maybe they're not maybe it'll be better
than an average rotation, or maybe it won't. It'll be
much worse than an average rotation. But like, what is
the value of a bullpen? I feel like we're going
to find that out as we navigate through this season.

Speaker 6 (07:49):
Right.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
You brought that point up yesterday in that historically that's
not how you win Big Gate or you know, teams
that go win World Series are not relying on their bullpen. Now,
I think a j Preller is smart that he's playing
to his strengths and that he recognizes that Hey, we'd
rather have her mom Marquez or Walker Buller pitching, or
we'd rather have a collection of pieces in our bullpen

(08:10):
that we feel very confident with in the amount of
depth that they have there. I mean, I'm curious this
this year because when we talk about this pitching a
lot and this the the the power last year was
also not really there, and that was an underrated storyline
that they were in the I believe the bottom third
in terms of home runs hit.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
They did not hit for a lot of power.

Speaker 5 (08:33):
It didn't make a lot of sense because Tatis power hitter,
Machado power hitter, Bogart supposed to be a power hitter.
I mean, you got now Loreano for a full season hopefully,
Jackson Merrill, We're all going to focus on Monday after
we watched his first weekend in games and talking about
how did how did the pitching look?

Speaker 2 (08:48):
How did that look?

Speaker 5 (08:49):
But I feel like it's just as equal of importance
that they started hitting the ball over the wall. And
that sounds kind of simple, like, obviously you can do that,
but it can't always be that you're batting of one
around the bass pass. It can't always be that difficult
and I'm curious if we see a little positive aggression
in terms of they were so underperforming in that category
last year that maybe they're just automatically better, or is

(09:11):
this a concern going forward with the core collection of
guys they have.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, I mean I like that point.

Speaker 4 (09:16):
And I don't know if you talked to Kevin about
this today, but I referenced yesterday with him Many Machado
and the plan for Machado because man In Machado is
such a lightning rod, because of course you're better with
him on the field. I mean, you don't even have
to say that. But you also can't be your own
detriment if you're man In Machado. So you can't run
yourself into the ground, so to speak, and play one
hundred and sixty two straight days and play like you're

(09:38):
a twenty two year old when you're actually, you know,
thirty three or thirty four year old. So that to me,
when you talk about depth, like you have to have
scheduled off days in that for Many Machado, you have
to get him off his feet. And he's not gonna
be playing third base as much in the second half
of his career as he played in the first half
of his career. But in terms of it's interesting the
power conversation pacifically, it's like, well, hold on, a lot

(10:02):
of these pieces are just returning, Like Macha's not younger,
Bogart's isn't younger, is Tatis better? Maybe we'll see is
Meryll better, Maybe we'll see Ramon and Loriano for a
full year. That's encouraging. Freddy for me, potentially for a
full year, that's encouraging. But it's not like they went
out and just added that forty eight home run threat

(10:23):
in their lineup.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
They didn't do that.

Speaker 4 (10:24):
They're basically saying, to your point, let's just run it
back and maybe we'll just be better. I believe in that,
Like I don't even think it's a regression, Like it's
almost like a return to the Yeah, like a return
to forms. So, yeah, they were twenty eighth in home
runs hill last year. You think they could just do
the same thing over again and be better than that.
But the question is how much better? Because they they

(10:46):
they've invested in their lineup, but their lineup has improven
to be this ridiculous power hitting group collectively, and I
wonder how much improvement we see out of that.

Speaker 5 (10:56):
I'm also curious with the Machana conversation. That's where Craig Stammon,
being a first year manager, we're really gonna be able
to assess if he's doing a good job or not.
Because you know, it's one thing when Bruce Bochie walks
in and says, you're not playing tonight.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
I don't care who you are.

Speaker 5 (11:10):
People are gonna listen because of the respect that someone
has for just throwing names out there. Bruce Bochi, hell,
Dave Roberts can do that, even though Dave Roberts has
been killed for years.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
He's World Trade, World Championships.

Speaker 5 (11:21):
This is where Craig Stammon and there's been a lot
of positive you know, per reports. Tatis is a big
fan of him, Machada is a big fan. Everyone loves him,
and that's great. But I was equate this to the Lakers.
This is the same concern people have with J. J.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Reddick. Was he just gonna be Lebron's puppet? Was he
gonna be.

Speaker 5 (11:37):
Able to lay the hammer down when they needed to?
And I think to this point he actually has done
a good job of that. But that's an interesting kind
of storyline to watch, is when it comes in that
it's easy when things are going well, but in the
middle of July when you need to tell many Machado
that he needs to sit down on a Tuesday, and
he goes, no, are you gonna be the friend the
former teammate or you're gonna be the manager. And that's

(11:59):
where when you have ownership who's in the middle of
a sale, they're not really concerned with the day to
days of the lineup. This is where I want to
see if craigstam And can actually play the manager role
or if this is more of, I don't want to say,
a mouthpiece for the team, but more of he's in
charge when it's really the players who are in charge.

Speaker 4 (12:16):
It's funny because oftentimes we see the manager and we say, well,
they don't have the same role today as they had
maybe twenty five years ago.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
There's no double switching.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
For example, in the National League, there's a lot of analytics.
Lineup cards oftentimes maybe are written by front offices, so like,
is your job most important when the teams are playing
between the white lines or is your job most important
when the teams are outside the white lines? And just
managing personalities like a manager yeah, has to manage the
intricacies of a game, but also has to massage egos

(12:47):
right know, when is the right time to interject or not.
I mean it's a little bit of a delicate dance.
It's a song and a dance, And specifically with the Padres,
it's just a challenge. I mean they've had so many
managers for many Michabo he's clearly not the easiest quote
unquote leader to manage. Not to put it all on him,
but there's no one that would say, oh, Manny Machado,

(13:09):
if that's exactly who I'd want to manage as a
player for his entire career. And he's gone from you know,
Andy Green to Jayce Tinler to Bob Melvin to Mike
Shilt now Craig Stammon. It's like again, I think for
the Padres specifically, it's less about, hey, he made the
right decision in the sixth thinning. Every manager is going
to make mistakes someone with their bullpen, including Craig Stammon.

(13:31):
It's less about oh, he slotted Tatisa in and as
the leadolf hit or not the three hole hitter. How
could he have done that? I mean, some of that
stuff is over even his pay grit and might be
written by someone else. It's more about how do you
deal with these like type of a characters.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
Well, and this is what I remember.

Speaker 5 (13:46):
We had the conversation and remember Philip Rivers interesting coaching
the NFL, right or Jeff Saturday Brent, we were talking
about it when he was on PTI was like, there's
a lot more than just calm place Philip Rivers can
talk with anyone about, you know, where he should be
throwing the ball on a read. But it's about telling
your star receiver who you know, Aj Brown for the
Eagles going on live streams talking crap out the team.

(14:09):
How do you manage stuff like that? And to the
point you were making about outside the White Lions, that's
why I'm Stephen Craig Stamon this year because there are
a lot.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
Of big egos on this team.

Speaker 5 (14:19):
There's a lot and rightfully so, a lot of these
guys have done a lot in the major leagues over
the year the years, but that isn't always the easiest
thing to manage, especially when you were a former teammate
with some of these guys and they saw you as
a teammate versus just a manager type role in them.
Knowing that this is your first time really doing this.
I'm curious the first time we get a little bit

(14:40):
of a crossroads a team and you know, a player
on the team in Stammon has a has a disagreement.
If that kind of gets put out there or if
it's very much in house.

Speaker 4 (14:49):
What does ESPN have to say about the Padres. They've
got their season preview out. Is this a playoff team
or not? Is this a division contending team or an
NL contender. We have what ESPN has to say about it,
and we'll discuss that. On the other side, we also
have tickets to give away today, very popular giveaway yesterday
slightly stupid tickets Shoon thirteenth at Petco Park. Tickets are
available at ticket Master down on the free iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
San Diego Sports seven sixty high Heart radio station guaranteed human.

Speaker 4 (15:29):
All right, San Diego Sports seven sixty, We do have
March Madness action for you this Thursday and Friday, four pm.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
When the Sweet sixteen gets underway.

Speaker 4 (15:37):
You can hear all the action right here on your
home for March Madness in San Diego. San Diego Sports
seven sixty. John Schaeffer, Sammy Long, Brent Sperry with you
all right? So ESPN has its win totals out for
the upcoming season that kicks off actually tomorrow, as we
touched on a little bit yesterday between the Giants and
the Yankees. So they rank all thirty teams. And did

(15:58):
they put them in tears?

Speaker 3 (16:00):
Right?

Speaker 4 (16:00):
Were you saying, yeah, put them in tears? But the
Padres tiers? Yeah, the Padres are just like they're in
the tier, like everything has to go right, right, everything
has to go right. This is what they project for
the Padres eighty three wins, so in eighty three and
seventy nine record according to their projections, a thirty seven
percent chance of reaching the postseason, a one percent chance,

(16:23):
a one in one hundred chance of winning the World Series.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
They say the good.

Speaker 4 (16:28):
Essentially Fernando Tazzis junior, he could make the best argument
to be an MVP. Their bold prediction is about the
bullpen being their strength, no surprise, And how can they contend.
They need to have guys bounce back Joe Musgrove and
again get good years from Marquez, Bueller, Griffin Canning, the Castianos,

(16:49):
Gavin Sheets.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
So I mean ESPN is saying, you know what.

Speaker 4 (16:51):
I've noticed this happens a lot in sports with projections.
It's like when you watch on Sunday morning on CBS
it's before the NFL and they do or on ESPN
before college games like college game Day, and they're like
Lsu ole Miss, and they all pick Lsu and ole.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
Miss wins the game. It's like group think.

Speaker 4 (17:11):
It's like sometimes you don't want to go astray from
what everyone else is saying, so you're not gonna hear
people say, well, the poddres are gonna go sixty and
one oh two. Trust me, they're trash or the opposite,
they're gonna go one and two and sixty. Trust me,
they're gonna have this amazing breakout season. Don't believe the
projections or the pundits. It feels like to me, everyone's
just grouping them in the exact same space, which is

(17:32):
like I don't have a good feel for them, so
they're just gonna win like eighty three games.

Speaker 5 (17:36):
Right, there's so much unknown because it's what we're talking
about earlier, Ken Machado, Tatis and these guys bounce back
and they had for more power is Joe Muscow gonna
be healthy. He thought he was all of a sudden,
he's on the il right now, but they're saying that
that's not gonna be anything. So there's just so many
unknowns with this team that I'm with you. I think
you could see people just like, all right, let's put

(17:57):
him in the middle now. In that article, they did
have them above. The Giants were at seventeen, the Diamondbacks
were at nineteen, so they actually had them second in
the NL West. But I think like, because there was
the we did this a little bit earlier on the
the biggest threats to the Dodgers, like the Mariners, Cubs, Yankees, Mets,
Phillies and someone else, they had that Like, I agree

(18:20):
keeping the Potterys out of that tier because right now
they're just so untrustworthy. It feels like, yes, it can
be true that they give the Dodgers some problems at times,
and they're not scared of the Dodgers, and they have
a really talented roster, but it also feels like maybe
the whole this whole collection of guys people because for

(18:42):
a while in the last couple of years, people have
picked the Potterys that the Potters have been the sexy
sleeper team heading into the postseason. I feel like this
year is a little bit more of a wait and
see because they didn't dramatically upgrade. They just kind of
took everyone back and are improving on the margin. So
I think that ranking them at sixteen is probably fair
right now.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
Yeah, I mean, listen, putting the Dodgers in their own
tier is completely fair, although again it's not a for me.
Even by doing that, it's not Dodgers or the field
for me, as in the Dodgers don't have a fifty
one percent chance of winning the series. But yeah, are
they the favorite of course, you know around baseball, like
you mentioned, whether it's like Mariners, Blue Jays, Yankees, all

(19:21):
teams in the American League or in the National League,
teams like the Phillies, the Mets for example, or from
the Cubs, you know, it'll be it'll just be interesting.
Like Seattle last year had this unbelievable year, but this
isn't who they've been, you know, so it's like to
go replicate something like that. It's like the Padgers coming
off twenty twenty two and they made the Nationalge Championship Series,
like well, that they've won soda for the full year.

(19:42):
They just inevitably fought about it at that level that
didn't happen. You know, not to say that's necessarily going
to be the Seattle Mariners in twenty twenty six, but
you know, it's just going through this like sometimes you
think you know more than you actually do. To your point,
it's like nobody really has a good feel because it's
murky with the San Diego Padres, like at their best,

(20:03):
we've seen what they're capable of. I've watched this version
of the Padres have fourteen and three stretches over seventeen
games or win playoff series. Essentially, this version of the
Padres we've seen play really good baseball. We've also seen
this version of Padres struggle at times to get to
the postseason over the last three or four years, and
the unknown of Craig Stalmon as their manager as well
to kind of guide them along the way. I personally

(20:25):
would be surprised. And I don't know if we'll make
official predictions here or not. Maybe that's more for tomorrow.
You know, I still think they have a better than
handshake shot of getting to the postseason. I'd still put
it at fifty one forty nine as opposed to forty
nine to fifty one.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
I think it's more likely than not they make.

Speaker 4 (20:40):
It to the postseason, but I do recognize that it
might be like it's gonna be a challenge, like there's
gonna be rough waters potentially ahead.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
This isn't gonna be smooth sailing with the Potters.

Speaker 5 (20:48):
It just feels like if they're fully healthy, I think
they'd be much higher on that list. But when you're
accounting for a baseball season where you know injuries play
such a major role in who's healthy at the end
of the season, I just don't know that Potteri's have
the depth right now.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
And that's why I'm kind of with you.

Speaker 5 (21:04):
I'm with I think it's a fifty shot they make
the postseason, because the concern I would have is that
the Diamondbacks and Giants got better. That's why I think
the fangraft drops in the seventy nine. I don't think
it's about the Potterys. The Potteris are just fine, feel
good about the roster they're sending out there on Thursday
against the Detroit Tigers. But at some point it is

(21:25):
like the Diamondbacks really unperformed last year feel like they're
picked for a bounce back. This team was in the
World Series a few years ago in the Giants, I
think addressed some of their problems, especially in terms of say,
you know they got that big time outfield of prospect
coming up, you gotta rise. So I mean, the Potterys
have as good a shot as any at least to
make the postseason. But it is I think, especially with

(21:47):
baseball being such a regional sport and a regional coverage
of the sport, the Potteris didn't make any splash headlines
to where it's like that's the team I'm picking, right,
that team's going to the postseason. So it's very like,
I think us watch them every night kind of can
see the improvement on the margins, But I don't know
that some person who's a writing punted for ESPN and
Milwaukee is sitting there going, oh, Pottery's got Nick Castiano's

(22:09):
look out for him.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
It's a great point.

Speaker 4 (22:11):
And then the other side of that conversation is sometimes
you do win the off season and it doesn't necessarily
translate like they've had big, splashy moves. They've had Machado
signings and Bogart's signings and trays for Dylan Ceas, and
some of them work better than others. But just the
flashy move alone into sport like baseball isn't the difference
in success and failure can be for the right organization.

(22:33):
It's like, don't get me wrong, the Dodgers signing show,
how Tani It's paid massive dividends, but it's not always
as simple as that. We'll switch gears. Are the Lakers
tough enough to win the West? Colin Coward weighing in
with Nick Right, you'll hear what they had to say
on the other side. Plus, if you missed our conversation
with Kevin ac yesterday on the show, you'll hear that

(22:54):
conversation coming up. And we're giving away tickets.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Don't miss the.

Speaker 1 (22:58):
Action up TVA Thursday night, in fact every week on aMCI.
For showtimes and more information, visit TNA wrestling dot com.
Diego Sports No.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
To Support is sponsored by Anderson Plumbing, Heating and Air.
In NBA news, the NBA Players Association is calling for
the change to the sixty five game rule change, which
says that if players don't play at least sixty five
games in the season, and they are ineligible for postseason awards.
Hall of Famer Frank Thomas has filed the civil lawsuit

(23:34):
against the White Sox, Nike, and Fanatics over what he
alleges his unauthorized use of his likeness on uniforms. Thomas
is seeking an excess of fifty thousand dollars. His complaint
stems from the team sale of Cityneck two point zero
jerseys last season with his name and number thirty five
on the front end.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
Back with Nike and White Sox logos.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
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Speaker 4 (24:17):
All Right, San Diego Sports seven sixty, John Shaeffer, Sammy Long,
Brent Sperry.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
Lakers winning streak is over now.

Speaker 4 (24:24):
They've played really well, and it came down to the
final moments against Detroit YEP last night. But they had
won nine straight and they were beating really good teams.
You know it better than I do, so all of
a sudden, they're like kind of in the thick of it.
In terms of the conversation in the West, they're not
gonna win the Western Conference, but they could win it
once you get into the postseason. Obviously, the conversation and

(24:45):
correct me if I'm wrong the first half of the
year was well, their record is good, but they're not
beating good teams. And now I think the conversation the
second half of the year is their record is good
and they're going through good teams, and you do have
Lebron and Lucan the postseason like you're gonna have a
shot in a long series. So is that where we
stand right now? Like they've been good enough that they've

(25:05):
all of a sudden entered that like contender conversation, Have
they not?

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yes? They So your harp sat right. The first half
of the season.

Speaker 5 (25:12):
The Lakers were beating up on teams below five hundred
before about two and a half weeks ago, when the
Lakers beat the Knicks on a Sunday afternoon game. Okay, yep,
Before that, the Lakers record against teams above five hundred
was about four and twelve. They and two of those
wins cames against came against the Toronto Raptors, won against
the Spurs early in the year and the sixers, so

(25:33):
they weren't really every time wins, right, every time they
played Detroit, Oklahoma City, they get shlacked and it wasn't
even close. They they would get blown out a lot
of those games. And yeah, O the last couple weeks,
I mean they beat Houston twice, Denver once, Minnesota, New York,
Orlando and Miami are all playoff teams. So I think
the biggest thing, and I know they Colin was talking

(25:56):
about him, we're going to thok to that, but was
toughness because so the first half of the season, the
team was not really tough, and every time they played
a team that was physical, physical in like Detroit, like
the Knicks, Oklahoma City, that really imposes their will defensively,
the Lakers want to know part of it. In the
last couple of weeks has really changed, I think just

(26:17):
due to the to the roster finally kind of being healthy,
in figuring out this Lebron role as the third, as
the third taking a backseat and playing that kind of
third role behind Austin reason Luka Doncic, I think it's
taking the team to another level.

Speaker 4 (26:31):
All right, So listen to Colin with Nick Rai. This
is earlier Today and the Herds. You can hear it
weekdays on San Diego Sports seven to sixty from nine
to noon. This is the conversation from earlier today.

Speaker 5 (26:42):
La is pretty, they're finesse, they're gifted offensively, you push
them around.

Speaker 6 (26:47):
A little g leaguer dropped thirty on the Lakers last night.
I totally disagree with you the idea that the way
you're gonna beat a team led by Luka Doncic, who
is a tank and le Bron James, who is still
one of the most physically imposing athletes in the league
is by pushing them around. I just flatly disagree with you.

(27:09):
They played high quality opponents and beat them. The Lakers
this year, Colin have the best record in the league
when leading entering the fourth They have the best record
in clutch situations, and the best record in one score games.
That is a recipe of a real contender.

Speaker 4 (27:26):
All Right, So, I mean we would both be based
on everything that we're saying. I mean we're more in
the camp of Nick Wright than like Colin's saying, like
it's too easy to be like they're finos, they're Hollywood.
You can say that about the history. I mean, that's
the easiest thing to say. They played Sony outside Oklahoma City,
it's snowy. I mean, okay, whatever, what does that have
to do with basketball. It feels like the Lakers have

(27:49):
turned a corner and now we'll see how much it
pays off in the postseason.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
I think they're the best team in the West, not
name Thunder and in San Antonio. Those two teams have
all season long played the best basketball. They're elite offensively,
and they have excellent defensive on ball defensive players Oklahoma
say that's our secret, Sauce, mean, you got guys like
not Jalen Williams, the other Jalen Williams, Alex Crusoe, guys

(28:14):
that Lou Dort. They can just take your best players
and try to take them out of the game. But
I think what the Lakers have shown is Denver is
extremely flawed defensively. They give up the one of the
worst defenses in the league, about one hundred and twenty
one points per game given up. Houston literally does not
have a point guard. I mean Fred Van Vlie getting hurt.
They do not have a player that can run the offense,

(28:36):
which is why Reed Shepherd and Kevin Durant has to
do it. And I think Minnesota Anthony Edwards needs a
running mate because Julius Raynelds a very good player, but
I don't know that he's the number two that's gonna
get you the NBA Finals. So I think that leaves
the Lakers as the best that's not the Thunder in
the Spurs. In Do I think that they beat those
teams in series. No, But I do think that if

(28:57):
I'm the Thunder or the Spurs, if I got to
pick a team that I didn't want to play, it
would be the Lakers because on any given night, Reeves,
Luca and Lebron can just outscore you. And that's what
we've seen the last couple weeks, despite them being better defensively.

Speaker 4 (29:11):
Here's maybe one of the issues. It's not because all
that matters the postseason. The Lakers are like Kentucky. You know,
nobody saying, oh, they won the SEC. No one cares that, right,
They're not in the business of, oh, look at our
how many two seeds we've have in the West.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Nobody cares.

Speaker 4 (29:26):
They need to win. I mean, they need to get
to an NBA finals. They need to win NBA Finals
with Lebron and Luca. I think the issue they're going
to run into, to your point, is you're not just
playing the Spurs or the Thunder, You're playing both, Like,
tell me the other path, the Thunder not losing to
the Trailblazers. Okay, now, could they lose to a Nuggets
to Wolves, Yeah they could. There were seven games series

(29:48):
last year, right, so okay, maybe, Okay.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
That's but that's good fortune. That's out of control.

Speaker 4 (29:53):
It's like when you're the twelve seed and you beat
the five and you benefit from the four losing to
the thirteen and that path of the Swiss season, but
you don't control that destiny. And then at best of
seven it's not the college basketball tournament.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
It's harder to get lucky because some mill beat them
over a series.

Speaker 4 (30:07):
So yeah, are they capable, of course, to your point,
are they likely going to beat a team like the
Rockets or the Suns or them ever? Yes, But then
it's like, now you don't have home court against San Antonio.
If you get through that, now you don't have home
court against Oklahoma City.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
It's just like a tall order, right.

Speaker 5 (30:23):
I think the one hundred PC I think that the
three seed is the best spot for the Lakers in
that could you'd have to go through San Antonio in
the second round. But to your point, I think the
Nuggets could give Oklahoma City problems. I'm not saying they're
gonna win, but you could see the injuries over the
NBA playoffs maybe if the Lakers are getting very lucky,
but even getting through the Spurs is going to obviously

(30:45):
be a tall task. I'm just the one thing the
Lakers have going for him, and Nick Wright mentioned it
in that in that SoundBite is the clutch time scenarios,
and it's it's over a pretty good sample size there.
They're twenty two and six or twenty two and seven
now in close games, clutch time games where it's within
five points and under five minutes. The funny thing about

(31:05):
Oklahoma City in San Antonio, they don't play in a
lot of close games because they win them all. And
we saw that a little bit in the playoffs with
Oklahoma City last year where remember the Pacers down the
stretch completely beat them in close games. Denver in close
games beat them down the stretch. So that is something
that I think when you're just beating everybody in the NBA,

(31:25):
you're kind of on cruise control because you're at the
top of the Western Conference of the Eastern Conference and
not playing in tight scenarios. Some of those teams do
have Who's getting the ball? Is a Shay is it
Jayalen Williams, is a chet Holmgren Or is it Wemby
or Stefan Castle, Darren Fox?

Speaker 2 (31:41):
Like who is taking the last shot?

Speaker 5 (31:43):
And I do think the Lakers feel confident in close games.
And one of the weird stats is their defense was
bottom third in the league for a large portion of
the season. Now it's improving to like middle of the pack.
They have like the best clutch time defense in the league.
So the Lakers play defense when they to. It's just
do they do it for a full forty eight minutes,
not only when they want to. It's like when you

(32:05):
have winning DNA. It's like these players have won at
such a high level. I mean, nobody's won more in
general than Lebron James. I mean his winning percentage in
his career regular postseason is going to be up there obviously,
So like he's been through it so much that you're
trustworthy of him in those spots Now again, that'll be
interesting against a team like San Antonio that hasn't really

(32:25):
been through that scenario the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
So everyone's it's like a little bit of a break.

Speaker 4 (32:30):
Point and okay, see they have been through it, but
again nobody's got the Well listen, lucas an experienced player,
like it's not his second year in the league. He's
played in the NBA finals too, He's been in the
postseason a lot, and I'm with you on okay, see,
I think a lot of people, including myself, I thought
it would be a little bit.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
Of a coronation cake walk. Last year. It wasn't. It wasn't.
To their credit, they didn't sweep a single series, and now.

Speaker 4 (32:53):
To their credit, they managed to win win or go
home games, which is easier said than done. Now they
also benefited from Tyres Haliburn's injury, and if it never happens,
we have no clue if they win that series or
their NBA champs. I could easily argue Indiana wins that
series easily. One hundred century never happened. I think you
brought one of the thunder. The thunder and the Dodgers

(33:13):
were tying this.

Speaker 5 (33:14):
Baseball and basketball are very interesting that they deserve to
be the favorites, but.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
It wasn't It's not easy.

Speaker 5 (33:19):
It's not easy, And everyone talked the Dodgers on the
ropes to the Blue Jays last year. Potter's the year
before the thunder. Your point you bring up about Tyres Haliburn.
He had twelve points in the first four minutes of
that game. He was as who knows what happens in
that game. Also, the Denver Nuggets took them to seven games. Now,
I know Oklahoma City blew them out in that game,
but this was not a I was going back to
Kobe and Shack run where they went sixteen to one

(33:41):
and in Alan Iverson had to score fifty points on
the row one loss, right, I mean for to to
give one one out of the Lakers. So I think
this NBA postseason is actually going to be a lot
more continuity up in the air.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
Then then people give it credit for it.

Speaker 5 (33:59):
I think we're we are going to see some upsets,
certainly in the first couple of rounds.

Speaker 4 (34:03):
Now we've talked our way through it and we're not
that far off. There's maybe ten ish regular season games remaining.
I am intrigued about the idea of seeing Wemby with
the Spurs for a first time, but also the Lakers
in these matchups like young versus old Lakers Spurs or
Lakers okay see or even okay Ce san Antonio. I
think that's really good theater, all right. On the other side,
a legend returning tonight? Does it count as such? Is

(34:27):
that what we're calling it is a legend returning?

Speaker 1 (34:29):
Tonight's exclusive home of the NCAA Men's basketball tournaments, San
Diego Sports seven sixty America is fine a Sports d.

Speaker 4 (34:47):
San Diego Sports seven sixty, John Shaffer, Sammy long bred Sperry.
We are giving away tickets to see Slightly Stupid and
that's coming up June thirteenth at Petco Park. We'll do
that coming up on the show here today. You're to
hear from Kevin ac coming up as well in about
fifteen minutes. So we all have had interesting reactions to

(35:07):
this officially tonight, let me see how this is worded. Tonight,
Tiger Woods is returning to quote unquote professional golf. Now
he's appearing in the TGL, which is televised simulated golf

(35:27):
in some like fake arena in Jupiter, Florida. That I
think is actually gonna tee off t off t off, Yeah, PM,
So like, does this count as now he hasn't appeared
in a PGA event I think since March of twenty
twenty five.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
They said, this has been about a year.

Speaker 4 (35:45):
Is this the equivalent of my like, would we say
Michael Jordan's returning to professional basketball if he played three
on three or in the No? No, So this isn't
like is this really professional golf or is this made
for television? Is this is this how you get to
the Golf Hall of Fame by winning the TGL.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
This would be like saying Tom Brady is coming back
and he's gonna play Team No. And he's going to
play in Arena of Football because he's coming back to
football sort of. But it's not the NFL. And you know,
this isn't golf. This is like Caddy Shack three type stuff,
and no, there isn't a Caddy Shack three.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
John.

Speaker 5 (36:25):
It's kind of disappointing because we talked about on the
show the other last week. The big story was they asked, Tiger,
are you coming to play the Masters in what April eleventh,
I believe is the Masters?

Speaker 2 (36:36):
So like two and a half weeks.

Speaker 5 (36:38):
And didn't give it infinitive answer, but kind of poured
cold water on it. Mike, if we want to see
Tiger Woods, I prefer to see Tiger Woods on the
biggest golf weekend of the year or some of these
majors versus I mean the TGL, which I haven't seen
the ESPN ratings on TGL, but I'm assuming it's not
the Masters.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
Here's the thing, here's what I would say. That's all
you need to know.

Speaker 4 (37:01):
You can't call a professional golf And now this is
a whole other conversation obviously, but like if you can't
appear in the Masters, but you can't appear in the GGL,
that's all you need to know, Cause like it's a
golf simulator. You're playing a golf simulator in front of
a live studio audience that is not playing golf on

(37:22):
an eighteen whole course. I mean, obviously we all understand this.
It's made for it's made for TV. But when they
hype it up like it's this big return, Like, no,
this isn't a big return. You know what his big
return is. You're right to either a PGA Tour event
doesn't have to be the Masters. Masters would be preferred,
but we'll take it to Pharmer's Insurance open. It's see

(37:42):
Torrey Pines where you've won like seven or eight times
over the years. So that to me is your return.
Anything else is like you're not telling the whole story.
They don't need to give me on the bottom line
right now, Tiger Woods to return to professional golf tonight.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
Well, and to.

Speaker 5 (37:57):
Think about what makes we We've seen Freddy Couples last
year at the Master. Was Freddy Couples like seventy four
years old is old? He said something like that. I
could be wrong, so don't call me on that, but
he was having a successful day one and day two.
Why Freddy Couples isn't winning the Masters at his age
sixty six? Okay, all right, Asian may years. Sorry Freddy Couples,

(38:19):
but Freddy Couples having a good day one day too.
We've seen a lot of guys way past our Primes
have great opening rounds at Augusta and some of these tournaments.
The problem, though, is the stamina of Saturday in Sunday
walking the chorus, your back holding up. That is why
I mean Tiger Woods. If they were playing a in

(38:39):
a studio like this, he could be up there with
Scotty Cheff.

Speaker 2 (38:43):
I mean maybe not now in terms of Scotty Scheffer,
but but you're right, because all you have to do
is swing right right.

Speaker 5 (38:48):
I mean Tiger Woods knows how to swing a club. Yeah,
put the ball where every once. It's about the stamina
of playing eighteen holes over four days and walking the
course in the sun and the conditions and all that.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
That's what is professional golf.

Speaker 5 (39:02):
So when you don't have those elements, a aid's definitely
we're expanding the truth a little bit.

Speaker 4 (39:09):
I feel like we're at this time right now where
we're blurring lines on everything like flag football, for example.
They're going to sell us on these flag football leagues
and these accomplishments and like Lamar Jackson has more flag
football touchdown throws than anyone in flag football history.

Speaker 2 (39:28):
Like yeah, but they're like they're different.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
It's not to say there's a time to place like
the TGL that's fine, but just say what it is.
It's made for TV sheer entertainment. Shoot, you could probably
take some random dude off a golf course in San
Diego right now with some of the best golfer as
amateur golfers in the country, and they could probably hang
on the TGL, but I don't know if they could
actually hang on the.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
Actual RYGA Tour.

Speaker 4 (39:51):
So I just feel like we're getting into this, like
I don't know, this new world where everything is made
for TV, and it's like, I don't know, we're supposed
to be.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Like, well, flag football. It's just like the It's just
like the NFL is just right, No, it's not.

Speaker 4 (40:04):
It's flag football is not like the NFL, and golf
simulator is not the same as professional golf.

Speaker 5 (40:09):
There's a reason why the UFL doesn't have the same
ratings since the NFL. Right in in the tgo, Yeah,
it's I mean, it's just like I get it. If
Tiger Woods was on my network signe, I probably in.

Speaker 2 (40:21):
The heck out of it because of course, of course, but.

Speaker 5 (40:24):
It is like, yeah, when you're talking about professional golf again,
this is a we've seen, you know, the great Like
if you're taking sports with solo people, we've seen no
name amateurs beat top tennis players. But that doesn't mean
that when they're playing at the US Open final or
they're playing in you know, at Wimbledon. They're beating them
on center court. Like there's a very different pressure than

(40:47):
just hey, we're lining up at the local YMCA and
and chopping it up and.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
You already know how this is gonna be packaged.

Speaker 4 (40:52):
It's not a direct shot at ESPN, but they pay
for the rights. They right to your point, They're going
to publicize Tiger Woods appearing in it, but then we're
going to lead Sports Center with his return. Like so
like you are, you're writing the script and then you're
like rewriting, You're you're it's a complete sale job. It's
like you're packaging it, you're producing it, and then you're

(41:14):
reacting to something that you packaged and producing. And like
Tiger Woods finished second okay, Like I didn't even know
that there was a second place to finish in in
the TGL. I feel like ultimately something like this. The
reason they hype it up like this is that it
like they're in bed with the TGL. I think ESPN
literally financially they started the TGL, Like they have their

(41:37):
own ESPN studio, like as part of this operation. It's like,
you know, they have to make it succeed essentially.

Speaker 3 (41:44):
Well, they're ratings they get about Lettle over half.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
A million people.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
Yeah, we saw that that one non Tiger related stuff everything.
But when no, that's without Tiger, with Tiger playing in it,
they get about a million.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
Okay, so it'll talk about half a million people difference.

Speaker 4 (42:03):
That makes sense, and maybe tonight even more because he
hasn't appeared.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
I just a year.

Speaker 5 (42:08):
We'll see if Tiger's you know, playing him three weeks
from now at Augusta will be like, oh great, maybe
he's trying to get himself back into form of some
competitive competitive golf.

Speaker 2 (42:18):
But I feel like I'm not going to selight Tiger.

Speaker 5 (42:21):
Obviously, all these injuries he's had, and he had you know,
one of the great what was it twenty seventeen and
he came back and won the Master's mean, that was
iconic sports moment that we all just got to witness.
So not Tiger's fault, but it would be disappointing if
we're seeing him playing in this which is made for entertainment,
and you know, the the the one weekend a year
where golf takes center stage above anything else.

Speaker 2 (42:43):
He can't go. He can't go.

Speaker 4 (42:45):
I mean, I've said this and and you know, we
got a lot of pushback on this show is I'm like,
just hang it up, like you're you can't. You can't,
And it's hard for me to say that, you know
what I mean. It's listen, I respect his career, but
I'm at the point where it's like, you can't compare
Tiger Woods from any point moving forward exactly to the
player that he was, and.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
That's that's inevitable over the I'm surprised.

Speaker 5 (43:08):
There was pushback on that because we want to remember
Tiger Woods.

Speaker 2 (43:12):
That's my point.

Speaker 4 (43:13):
It's like, you can't go twenty years of like, he's
nine years since the twenty seventeen Masters. Was it twenty seventeen?
I believe he was twenty seventeen later than that?

Speaker 1 (43:21):
Was it?

Speaker 2 (43:21):
We looked that up again.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
I think he's one of Masters later than that tiger
Woods last Masters when.

Speaker 5 (43:28):
But we want to see these guys twenty nineteen, twenty nineteen, okay,
twenty nineteen, I mean that's seven years ago, seven years ago.
And you see this again in solo sports, like in fighting,
you see guys like Oscar Dale, hoys like I want
to come back and fight. No, we want to remember
you for the pre fights that you had in the nineties,
in the two thousands. We don't want to see you
as a shell yourself in tiger woods, Like we want

(43:49):
to remember tiger Woods for the greatness that he is
rather than wasting away on the PGA tour where whereas
he was, you know, winning term and something right now,
him making the cut is a very big deal for
tiger Woods.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
And it's like, do we want to see tiger.

Speaker 5 (44:04):
Woods trying to make cuts or do we want to
see tiger woods when he was ripping off majors like
it was nothing left and right.

Speaker 4 (44:10):
It's kind of an interesting conversation. Where do you land
on that?

Speaker 2 (44:12):
Seven zero four seven zero started with the word