Martin Weiss & Zach Harper Talk Grizzlies Firing Taylor Jenkins, Tanking in the NBA, Russ to the Giants & More!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Don't listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
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Martin Wise joined here with Zach Harperzak. How you doing today, Pal?

Speaker 3 (00:23):
I have been so unproductive today, it is insane.

Speaker 4 (00:28):
Like I woke up.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
I'm like, I'm gonna do a lot today. I'm gonna be,
I'm gonna clean, I'm gonna write, I'm gonna, you know,
get ready for radio. I'm gonna get ready for radio
tomorrow because I'm doing serious sex m NBA radio tomorrow morning.
I did almost nothing. Honestly, I support it.

Speaker 4 (00:43):
I'm very rested. I support it. Let's do it.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
We got three hours, and I'm glad to hear your energized,
rested see it.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
So that the day's been open. So you were locked
in on this, I'm sure absolutely all right.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
So the news this happened over we had just hosted
the show last week and the quarterback carousels had not
quite stopped spinning. Now we have Russell Wilson and Jameis
Winston in the New York Giants quarterback room. I made
a joke earlier said there's gonna be a lot of
thanking God for those six to seven wins between the

(01:15):
two of Russell Wilson and Jamis Winston. But Todd McShay,
not formerly of ESPN, works for The Ringer. He's really
into this drafts off really big into how he made
his name, and now that he's kind of working at
the Ringer, he's not necessarily held to the same FCC
standards as he once was, and he's kind of, to me,
in my opinion, taking his coverage up and not. So
if you want to check him out, I would recommend it.

(01:37):
But this is what he had to say about the
timing of the signing that the Giants made.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
I thought it was very interesting. Sodor's there at three.

Speaker 5 (01:46):
He's a really good player. He's got a chance to
develop into a really good starter in the NFL. But
if you're gonna do what's best for this organization and
you have a head coach who can develop quarterbacks, there's
a couple other guys that the grades aren't that far
off on and I can do it with Abdul Carter
or with Travis Hunter.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
So the first thing that McShee had said in that
we ran the order backwards. But the first thing that
miche had said was that the fact that Russell Wilson
signed within a day of watching of everybody going down
to cam Ward's private workouts in Miami, the fact that
he signed, that the Giants offered him, the contracts signed,

(02:26):
the contract signed Jamis and all of that it says
to him that Tennessee is not is not moving out
of one.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
They're taking cam Ward right.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
So now we're at now they're at at a position
where you're looking, okay, should Door will be left at that,
you know, and then you have every other quarterback right,
And mcshaye says that his grades are close to everybody else's,
like the Jackson Darshad Door's grades, not that far apart
when you consider even know they're being mocked, kind of
far apart. So that he suggests that the New York

(02:59):
Johnians who at Brian Dabo is a history of drafting corps,
of building up quarterbacks, Like you said in the clip
suggests they like, pass on your door at three, go
get one of these other young guys like Jackson Darter
or Tyler shar or somebody like that in their in
their rooms as a way to basically try to do

(03:20):
both things at once. Stabilize your team and also give
you a shot to shoot for the future, because if
you miss on this quarterback, at least you have rush
to get to do this year.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
Maybe to me, if if Abdul Carter falls to three,
you you you join Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson in
praising God every five seconds.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
That monster.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
I was gonna say that, man, that monster falls to three,
you have to take him. You're trying to win anyway,
right like, like there's been a lot of pressure on
this organization, Like, all right, we've messed up Danny Dimes.
Wasn't it all this stuff? Wasn't it right?

Speaker 4 (03:59):
You? Obviously you let Barkley go.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
And what happens when the Eagles happens with the Eagles
and everyone's saying, all right, you guys gotta win, like
what like you gotta go out there and put a
product on the floor or on the field, and and
so Abdul Carter is going to be.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
A monster in this league.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
I think he's I think he's by far the best
prospect no offense to Travis Hunter or anybody else. Like
I would take him number one. It's crazy to me
that that the Titans aren't taking up number one. I
know they need a quarterback and everything. Go sign somebody,
Go sign somebody next year.

Speaker 4 (04:27):
I don't care.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
Go draft somebody in the second round, third round, it
doesn't matter, Like, go get this guy if he's if
he falls to three, you have to take him with
your the Giants. And then yeah, like you have two
viable quarterbacks to help you win. I guess maybe stabilized. Yeah,
like you're not gonna go out there and like win
the division.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
But I can't imagine that Rush or Jamis is gonna
come out here and be top five in any passing cat.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
But can they do enough to like make it not
look bad, to make it look like you're progressing?

Speaker 2 (04:58):
And I think you know it's it's very much it's
like guard play in the NBA or watching Marts Madness Tournament.
You got to have at least stability at that position
because that's a guy handling the ball the most.

Speaker 4 (05:09):
And you look at what Daniel Jones was able.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
To do in his time in New York, and I
think that he was at what the thirty fifth best
quarterback available at all times?

Speaker 4 (05:19):
Do you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Maybe like a high level backup even at his heights.
Right as we're looking at you're looking to improve off
of that. So I see that. I mean they want
a playoff game, you know, with Daniel Jones and his
whole fifteen passing touchdowns, I think you can scheme around
this type of thing. And I think that if you
have Russ and Jamis, then it gives you the opportunity
to draft because I don't think if this was last year,

(05:42):
and I know it's not, but if it was, and
I think it matters that Shador wouldn't even be considered
in the top three or four quarterbacks out there. They're
all going into the same league. I understand this class
is individual, but they're all going into the same league, right,
so that's who he's competing against when you go in
to this. To me, it's like, I get that you
gotta have a quarterback the same way you gotta have

(06:04):
a good ball handler and are but like investing too
much on the wrong one is what will kill you.
And we've seen the Cleveland Browns do that already. Like
so I like the fact, like what doing this for
the Giants. What it does is it allows them not
to have to try to reach in this draft. And
when your two guys and Joe Shane and Brian Dayball,

(06:25):
who jobs are I mean, the seat is very hot,
especially when you consider the hard knocks of last offseason. Right,
you gotta have some levelist to Bill. You can't come
if you could, you come out one in five, you're
not gonna be there anymore. You come out two and four,
you're not gonna be there anymore. You gotta build a
respectable product on the field.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
I mean, Okay, let's say let's say they love Shador
right and he is there at three and they take him. Okay,
So now you've got Russ Jamis and Shador on the
roster next season. Why it's bad? Why it's bad? Roster man?

Speaker 2 (07:00):
Even though Damis Jamis, I think it makes four million guarantees. Well,
if you get signed by another team, it had to
be for at least one point five So all in all,
Jamis is not going to be expensive to move.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Off of them, you need to three quarterback, like, but
he ultimately you didn't have to move off, right, like
you didn't have to sign them exactly, Like I just don't.
I don't understand the logic there.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
Like to me, you're you're you're half drunk playing a
video game franchise motive, you know, two am like trying
to like, oh my god, I didn't know this guy
was available. Let me go draft him, let me sign him,
like it just it doesn't make sense to me, whereas
you or let's say, let's say Travis Hunter's there at
three and they're like, you know what, we cannot miss
on either that weapon or that defender. What However, however

(07:41):
they think they're going to use him in the NFL,
whether they think he's a receiver or cornerback. I don't
think he's both, but whatever they decide, whatever a team
decides to use him as.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
Okay, even if you think.

Speaker 3 (07:51):
That's the guy, I would rather hit high on that
that pick where that that's Carter or Hunter and then
try to make a Jackson Dart or Jal Milroe or
whoever like later in the draft with less pressure, less
money like that. You know, it's a bad or. It's

(08:11):
not a great example because it's so rare, but I
think brock Perty at least showed you, hey, you can
get guys later, like obviously Tom Brady, he's not the
first one, but.

Speaker 4 (08:23):
I'll give you a Russell Wilson.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Russell Wilson was a later draft pick, I remember, and
they had signed Matt Flynn to be a starter and
then Russ beat him out in camp Vin Seattle.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
Like there isn't there. This isn't a great quarterback draft,
but I think there are some guys that are worth
at least investing in a little bit later on in
the draft instead of reaching high in the draft.

Speaker 4 (08:44):
Absolutely, and that to me, we talked about it off
the air.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
My draft strategy is like I'm looking for if there's
unicorns out there, I'll miss them. I'm looking for horses.
I'm looking for horses that I know can run this race.
And Obdual Carter to me is Alysdale, we're talking like
I'm looking at I feel like I'm watching Michael Parsons
in college. If I can draft that guy right and

(09:08):
I can get him bending the like bending the edge.
I know the foot concerns on and so short all right,
So it's foot hurts. So what that's looking at You're
looking at thirteen sacks, right, you know what else is
gonna hurt the opposing quarterback? Exactly, That dude's gonna hurt.
So and if you especially in today's league, where you know,

(09:28):
we call guys like Joe Burrow pocket passers, Joe take
off and run. The idea of the guys just a
statue back there retired with Tom Brady right now.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
Guys have movement, have ability.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Even old ass Aaron Rodgers is talking about he's trying
to get out there and run around a little bit.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
Kirk Cousin's still a.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Statue, but that may be the last man standing in
terms of who's that guy. So I need a defensive
end that can run around a little bit. I need
a defensive end that's able to break down and not
let a quarterback, you know, you know, do a fake
step and all of a sudden, my defense and grabbing
that air.

Speaker 4 (10:02):
I need somebody who could tackle in the open field.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, I mean, we just we see it in every
big playoff game. You see it in every big moment.
If you can break down that offensive line and you
put pressure on a quarterback. You force them into mistakes,
right or you or you force them and they end
up being a hero. But you have to you can't
just let them sit back and pick you apart.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
And I do wonder with Travis Hunter because I think
I think that if I was the GM or head
coach of the team, right whoever takes. He seems to
me to be a guy who is willing to work,
and I'm not. That doesn't seem like that's a question, right,
But I wonder if you've had a guy who's been
told every step of the way, you're not really gonna

(10:44):
be able to do this at the next level, and
then you tell them the same thing, if how that
how he responds to that, how it plays, because it
may just be something like where do you have to
give him reps to almost prove that this is not
a good idea? Right when the guy's been doing it
so long. He's like, no, no, no, you can't tell me

(11:04):
I can't play ninety five plays. I played ninety five
plays every game in college. I know, but this is
the pros I did in high school too, I know,
but this is the pro He's like, I've heard all
of these.

Speaker 6 (11:13):
Negative being issue is injuries, right.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Right, But injuries and then the other thing that I
think too, that teach. I think teacher who's fas automate
this point. He's like, you know how hard it is
to get open in the NFL consistently?

Speaker 4 (11:24):
I had to practice every.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
Single day, you know what I'm saying on all of
the like just the broad like amount of time that
he's not gonna be able to do working on his
technique and fundamentals to be able to bacter. So that's
why I say, like, I don't get me wrong, Travis
Hunter is an amazing football player.

Speaker 4 (11:41):
Sure, I just don't know how I deploy him in
my team.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
Now.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
If he felt to me, I figure it out.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
Oh if I had my number one pick of all guys, yeah,
give me Carter. I know exactly what I'm gonna do
with him. Go right there, hit that guy.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
Give me Carter all day. Yeah, absolutely, Yeah. I think
for Hunter, you have to look at that as I
think that's actually a good idea of like, all right, season,
you want to check that out, you want to see
what that looks like. You want to like you had,
you know, Deon Sanders kind of did a little bit
of both right, for a little while. Charles Woodson was
a guy that was gonna do a little bit of both.
They ended up just being corners, right, Hall of Fame corners.

Speaker 6 (12:14):
If I could play Devil's advocate to you guys really quick,
Just like for sake of argument with Travis Hunter, what
if I were to say you were to draft him
second over all to the Browns. Okay, line them up
at corner full time, and that's the plan. But you
have packages for him on offense. You're not going to
play him full time corner, full time receiver, but you
have certain packages on offense where you can bring them

(12:35):
onto the field, play them out of the slot or
something like if there's legitimate value to get out of
him up, I think.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
But that's not playing ninety snaps a game, right, That's
not what he was doing at college, you know what
I'm saying. Like, that's now you are a bit player
on offense. You are a third or fourth receiver on offense.
Travis Hunter was why receiver one at cornerback one, and
it it feels like it probably expects to have a
similar output.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
In the NFL.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
Now we're talking fifty to fifty five snaps a game
right ninety which yeah.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
Which is still which you're still insane. Yeah, your body's
still hurting. Still. It's like playing forty seven minutes. It's
like playing for Tom Thibodeau. You were in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (13:09):
You were getting you were getting in a car wreck
forty times a game.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
You're getting run right, But the fifty that's where, like,
to me, it has to start right and fifty something
snaps being the third wide receiver in red zone packages,
are on third down packages or something like that, or
even you know what, you're gonna be our kicking punt
returner as a and you know, so we're gonna get
the ball in your hands, pal, but you you're not

(13:35):
blocking all run plays, dude, No, like saying I'm not
sending you out there. That's the till right he comes in.
They're passing.

Speaker 6 (13:42):
So that does make it a little tougher. It's like, oh,
Travis Hunters and he's getting the ball.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
But so you see, that's where I say, how as
a team, it's gonna take and it's a really good player,
so coaches should be able to do it, but it's
gonna take a lot of maneuvering, a lot of you know,
and she I don't want to paint the kid like
a big ego or something like that, but that's gonna
be something that's gonna have to be an adjustment, both
mentally and physically.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah, I don't think it's ego. I think it's confidence
that's a bit of this, right, which is a good thing.
But also like you do have to temper that because
it is a health issue. It is a recovery issue.
It is it is something that like it's the human body.
The human body is not meant to play football anyway,
and let alone twice in the same game.

Speaker 6 (14:23):
And it's not like you look at him and you're like,
this guy's body is capable of holding up more than
any other human we've seen, Like, no, you know, I've
think the biggest guy.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
I think Dk Metcalf would do it if you could
do it right, Like I don't even know that he'd
be a good corner, but you'd be like, well, that
guy's built to do it.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
Do it right. Somebody who actually looks bulletproof without a shirt, Yeah,
he could definitely tackle somebody.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
All right.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Coming up next, people have it saying this year long
tradition has been boring and I'm just here to tell you.

Speaker 4 (14:50):
Shut up complaining. Stop it.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
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(15:16):
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Speaker 7 (15:35):
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Speaker 2 (15:47):
Fox Sports Radio Martin wife Zach Harper coming to you
live from the tire IRAQ dot com studios. If you
want to join the conversation, you can. I'm at Martin Wise,
Zach is at Talkhoops. You can get us on Twitter
or Sky wherever you want to. Go ahead and let
your let your opinions be known. And as we're shitting
here watching Walter Clayton Junior just shit, put on a

(16:09):
show like, put on a show onions. Like we both
sat back here during the commercial break and hit one
three and we were like, oh, that's a good shot.
Then he hit this last three to give Florida seventy
eight to seventy seven League with twenty one point nine
seconds left in the game, and we looked at each
other like, Yo, this kid, this kid is different Stones,
And you know what would have happened. You know, if

(16:31):
Yukon had won, I guess it would have been a
great tournament, knocked this team out, not this great game
that we're watching, this eleven point comeback that we watched
from Florida's eleven point run in the last three minutes.
It must stink, Zach. It must stink because they're the
one seed and we're still playing.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
It's the one seed, so it's not fun that they're
up seventy eight to seventy seven on an eleven zero
run to come back, and you know these last twenty
one point nine seconds. They'll only be fun if the
you know, the three seed wins.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
Because the complaint of this turnament has been there's no
up sets, there's no Cinderella.

Speaker 4 (17:03):
Oh look what nil has done to my beloved march madness.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
Guys, whether or not you believe Derek Queen traveled, that
was an upset right there.

Speaker 4 (17:12):
You didn't travel. I don't think he did either. I
know I didn't know the rules. We are in agreement,
but what I'm saying we were one call away.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
Let's just say that, say that shot hits off the
front rim, then we have a twelve seed in the
Sweet sixteen. Welcome Cinderella. And I think the problem with
it's very there's an NBA argument that says everybody takes
too many threes. Sure, it's really there's too many empty possessions, right,
that's what it is. What this is is like there's
an this argument there's no Cinderella's Well, really, what people

(17:41):
are arguing are saying, there's nobody that I'm being exposed
to for the first time here because Calipari and Arkansas
were technically a Cinderella. They're a ten seed that with
just used to seeing John Calipari. You see what I'm saying,
Like we had moments that like we had the Colorado State,
we had McNeice.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
Well we know who mcniee is.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
You know that upset Like so like we know who
Will Wade is, I should say, so there's no like, yeah,
the kid Doug Addert from Saint Peter's and Shaheen Holloway
we had never heard of before writing Doug Ederts had
never heard of since I don't know where he is,
probably working as an accountant or somewhere.

Speaker 4 (18:19):
You know, Good for him his tax season.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
But you know, but like that's what we're talking about
here when we talk about there's no Cinderella is it's
there's nobody that looks like you and me out here
who we know in six months is going into another
field of work, who are like knocked off Goliath. That's
all that we're talking about. But there's been upsets in
this turn. Yeah, there's been upset.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:38):
I guess the only version of that that you're talking
about is the team manager for McNee state. That's the
that's the only one we've gotten here. But yeah, like
I mean, the basketball has been good. I don't understand
the problem. Like it's just complaining to complain, and it's
complaining about nil to complain about that. But the basketball
on the court has been fantastic. Like that game between

(18:59):
Arizona and Duke the other night, it was great. That
was great. That game between Auburn and Michigan last night
was a fun comeback and yeah it got a little
out of hand at the end, but man, like Auburn
buckled down and played great basketball this game at first
thirty five minutes of that game. We're really fantastic. Yeah,
Like this game has been incredible, Like we're getting great games.

(19:20):
The reason that we get chalk is because everyone's got
twenty four year old players. We have old people in
terms of college basketball on the court at all times.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
And that's the thing that like I think that people miss.
It's like when these guys are like some of these
guys like a year away from being able to rent
a car, you know what I'm saying, Like, like we're
real adults here.

Speaker 3 (19:42):
In fact, they're almost off their parents' car insurance.

Speaker 4 (19:45):
I like I'm thinking about it.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
There are players in college basketball right now who probably
have voted in two presidential elections at least, right, and
that's where that's where their problem lies.

Speaker 4 (19:55):
Like and in the time they've been in college have.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
Voted in two presidential elections depending on how the I'm
played out, So like that's where all of this.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
Comes from in my opinion.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
You look at Auburn's team, they're older on an average
basis then the Oklahoma City thunder right, who lead the West.

Speaker 4 (20:11):
You know what I'm saying, They're they're like as a
team older.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
So what we have right now, there's a lot of
grown men playing college basketball who won't be next year
because there won't be that that COVID year will have
finally expired.

Speaker 4 (20:24):
Because at this point you could have played for.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
Six seasons, yeah, you know, because you could have red
shirted one year, COVID another year, and then you have
four regular ones.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
Haley van Lift made the Elite eight today for TCU.
It's the fifth time in her career she's made the
Elite eight. That's a lot. That's a lot.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
I'll say this, no offense, that's too many, that's one
too many. You know what, I mean one too many times.

Speaker 2 (20:48):
Just like that's good, but you know, LSU and it
just butll like that's nuts. And that's what we're seeing.
That's the we are seeing the final stage of that. Yeah,
and so everybody calmed down. Everybody, don't worry. Next year
there will be a thirteen seed or a twelve seed
that gets to this weekend and then gets their head

(21:10):
kicked in because they're going to be playing a one
seed So we'll all have our sacrificial lamb on Sweet
sixteen Elite eight weekend. Do you know what everybody be saying, then,
Zach oh Man, why can't these guys compete?

Speaker 4 (21:22):
You know?

Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, but hey, we're the blue We're the blue collar
blue chipper organization. Right where are those we need? We
need the we need the blue bloods, that's what we need. Yeah, Yeah,
I want to see Duke Carolina, Carolina.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
Kentucky, U C l A, Kansas, You see Santa.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
Barbara at this stage of the game. Let's kick it
over to Steve the Seger. Uh, we get to go there.
It's five thirty, it's a thirty.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
It's time for the update for Steve the Saga in
just the moment here as Florida looks like they are
going to advance.

Speaker 4 (21:57):
Oh, actually, you know what, I may have said that
three point four second too soon, Steve, you're up.

Speaker 8 (22:02):
It is eighty two to seventy nine Florida over Texas Tech.
Haley van Lidz, by the way, three different schools making
runs five times in the NCAAs because she started at Louisville.
And you reference the close game that the Florida Gators
played on the men's side last weekend. That was such
an impressive comeback because a lesser team would not have

(22:22):
won that game. There were so many times in the
second half last weekend where the Gators, instead of being
down three to five points, would have been down seven
or more and the game's starting to slip away, and
they came up with one great offensive possession after another,
led by their All American from Iona Walter Clayton Junior.
Thirty points right now in this game, including at the

(22:43):
line thirteen of fourteen. The free throwing has been superb
for the Gators in what has turned into an incredibly
close game. Florida at the line is twenty five of
twenty seven, Texas Tech just seven of thirteen from the stripe.
It is eighty four over Texas Tech, as Florida's just
hit a couple free throws with three point four seconds

(23:06):
to go. The Gators are that close to the Final four,
that close to winning the West Region Final in San Francisco,
the Gators record would go to thirty four and four.
They had a key sixteen to two run late in
the game. Texas Tech was leading the number one Seeds
with five and a half minutes to go, seventy one

(23:27):
to sixty one inbounds pass stolen Gators win. It is
a final eighty four seventy nine. Texas Tech is out
and finishes its season at twenty eight and nine. Coming
up in roughly half an hour the East Region Final
in New Jersey, one seed Duke against two seed Alabama.
It's due to tip just before nine pm Eastern time.

(23:49):
The Final Four is next weekend in San Antonio. At
the women's Sweet sixteen. Of course, USC without superstar Juju
Watkins out for the year due to injury, They're in
the second quarter sixteen to sixteen, with Kansas State sc
shooting twenty four percent from the floor six of twenty
five Kansas State six of twenty one shooting, Yukon got

(24:11):
forty points from Page Beckers and beat Oklahoma eighty two
to fifty nine. Victories for Texas and TCU and the
women's Sweet sixteen. The first NBA final of the night
went to Orlando easily passed Sacramento one twenty one to
ninety one. The Wizards, with a record of sixteen and
fifty seven, are tied in the third quarter at home
against the Nets, sixty one all Celtics lead at the

(24:35):
end of one thirty six twenty seven at the Spurs,
Ja Morant has return playing for the Grizzlies. Its Lakers
up at Memphis late first quarter thirty to twenty three.
NHL Saint Louis won its ninth straight game, two to
one at Colorado. Miami's Marlins have won in twelve innings,
five to four over Pittsburgh and the Yankees. Aaron Judge
had three home runs in a twenty to nine victory

(24:57):
against Milwaukee. Nester court te As, the guy who in
relief for the Yankees gave up the World Series Grand
Slam to Freddie Freeman last year, starts at Yankee Stadium
in a Milwaukee uniform today, gives up a home run
on the first pitch, and then a home run on
the second pitch, and then Judge steps up home run
on the third pitch.

Speaker 4 (25:17):
Of the game.

Speaker 8 (25:18):
In all, four home runs in the first inning against him,
eventually nine home runs for the Yankee lineup today twenty
to nine, the final. Again, the Florida Gators have advanced.
Duke versus Alabama coming up in men's basketball.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Back to you, thanks Steve Martin, wis Zach Harper, coming
to you live from the tire iraq dot com svidios
for the best pregame show every weekend, be sure to
tune into Fox Sports Radio's Countdown, presented by bet MGM,
every Saturday and Sunday morning from nine to noon Eastern
six to nine Pacific. We'll count you down to all
the biggest games. There's no better place to prime you
for the tournament games than right here. Tune in Accountdown,

(25:53):
presented by bet MGM, every Saturday and Sunday morning right
here on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. You
heard Steve say just a minute ago, first quarter of
this Lakers Grizzlies game winding down, John Morant back in
the lineup, returning to Memphis, but Taylor Jenkins not. He
will not be returning to them. He is out of
there after six seasons. And I believe I read the

(26:15):
winningest the highest winning percentage in Grizzly's history for a coach.

Speaker 4 (26:20):
We saw him. This team was in the dold rooms a.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
Few years ago, reached as high as I believe, the
two seed in the West at certain points in time,
had a few playoff runs with the Warriors. But now
saw you know, climbing, and the Grizzlies front office said,
Taylor Jenkins, thanks for the memories.

Speaker 4 (26:37):
Yeah, this was this.

Speaker 3 (26:38):
The writing on the wall was there for I don't
know about probably nine months to a year. You know,
this has been brewin for a little while. They fired
his assistant staff and he didn't get to hire a
new one.

Speaker 4 (26:50):
That's usually a bad sign.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
They hired this new guy, I think I'm saying his
name right, Tumas Lesalo, this finish coach. They threw a
lot of money at him to get him away from
Europe to come in. They had another coach, another assistant coach,
La Roach, come through and install a new offensive system
that is not something Taylor Jenkins was, you know, necessarily,
his style of basketball yeah, and and early on the

(27:13):
you know, the results were great. Memphis off to a
great start, but they also like kind of had an
easy schedule and they're beating up on some teams that
you know, may be easier to beat up on with
this new system. As things started to you know, maybe regress,
and they had a couple of a couple of injuries
and everything, they got to the you know, right before
the playoffs here with nine games left when the firing happened,
and they just said.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
Yeah, we're not gonna do this, which I mean the timings,
the timing wildest part when you think about it. Also
just a note, I have never seen this collection of
owls before.

Speaker 4 (27:48):
It's crazy. It ain't.

Speaker 2 (27:51):
My man's name is spelled t U O M A
S Toomas maybe Thomas. That looks it's like a different,
like a tweak on Thomas. I can tell you I
have been. I'm on like a three hundred and ninety five,
three hundred ninety six day streak on duo lingo of Swedish. Okay,
and this does not make sense to me as a

(28:13):
finish name right now. I've not taken finish, But I
got to assume there's some kind of you would think similarity, yeah,
and then back to back eyes in the last name.
I don't think I know anybody with two eyes in
it anyway. Uh NBA hiring and firing of coaches does
seem to be kind of almost like happenstance. And you
see oftentimes like after a guy gets fired, the coaching

(28:38):
fraternity will then speak at their postgame press conferences about
how ridiculous this was and.

Speaker 4 (28:43):
And all of that.

Speaker 2 (28:43):
But like to your point about the riding being on
the wall fire and the staff they did they would
have eight in eight and twelve in the last twenty
games or something like that. I think they've lost their
last games where I averages seventeen points per so they
were kind of getting worked by certain teams and what
And this is Austin Rivers was actually talking about this.

(29:05):
I saw it a couple of days ago. This is
kind of it seems to me the curse of being good, right,
Like you're not great at Memphis, right, but you're not terrible, right,
but you're good enough to where you feel like you
should be able to win some playoff series. You're good
enough to feel like you should be able to make
some noise where the guys on the talking head shows
are saying, no, no, no, the.

Speaker 4 (29:23):
Memphis is a contender right up there with Okac and
so on.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Right, that's not the case, right, And so I think
that's what Also you see a little bit of that.
It's like, man, we got a B minus, maybe here
can we improve to what a mine?

Speaker 4 (29:35):
Right? And I think that's something you see how happened
often in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
Yeah, and you look at this team, like their sixth
in offense, their eleventh in defense, that's great, Like those
those are good numbers. They've got a good record, they've
got a good star, they've got a you know, defensive
player that you're candidate, and Jaron Jackson junior John Morantz obviously,
you know, one of the you know, sort of faces
of the league. All that kind of went a couple
of years ago for obvious reasons. But like every they

(29:58):
check a lot of boxes. But the other concern is
Taylor Jenkins is not a good playoff coach. He's had
he's had some rough ones, like even that series they
won a couple of years ago against Minnesota on both sides,
that was and I like, I'm trying to say this
in a nice way. The dumbest playoff series I have
ever seen from two teams, Like both teams played the

(30:21):
dumbest basketball I've ever seen in an NBA.

Speaker 4 (30:23):
So let me let me ask you this, what is it?

Speaker 2 (30:26):
How would you if you had to say, like in
a tweet, what makes a good playoff coach?

Speaker 3 (30:31):
It's gotta be adjustments from game to game, Like in
game adjustments like, yeah, you need to be able to
you know, make the right substitutions, and you got to
be able to draw stuff up for timeouts and everything like, yeah,
that stuff matters. What matters more is the adjustments from
game to game on like, all right, how are we
gonna try to take away this star player? How are
we gonna try to throw different coverages at him to

(30:52):
to make them adjust with with you know, either zones
or double teams or whatever like and that stuff. Memphis
really struggled on and the really struggled offensively, Like even
these numbers this year, no one's really buying them as
an offensive juggernaut, right right, And they're sixth in the
league in an offensively charged league, But no one's looking
at like how do you stop Memphis in the playoffs? Right, No,

(31:12):
one's looking at that. Yeah, I tend to agree with that.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
Like I'm looking here the Lakers, Memphis is above the
Lakers and the standings. This is a seven game series.
I'm taking purple and gold every day. Jerry Jackson Junior.
Like you said, Defensive Player of the Year candidate. We'll
talk about that at the top of next hour. The
Defensive Player of the Year of voting Zach Rden article
for The Athletic. You can check that out as well

(31:37):
on the Defensive Player of the Year and how all
that goes. Victor Winbinyama was shoeing. Then they got that
pesky sixty five game rule. You know, Pesky's a nice
way of saying stupid. That's stupid sixty five game rule
that is really ruining a lot of award stuff.

Speaker 4 (31:54):
And you know, we will get to that at seven.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
Was it I was doing the math room. We'll get
to that at nine. There you go, We'll get to
that at nine eastern sixth Pacific. We'll talk about that
in just a moment. We're coming up next. It's the
drama that has swept sports talk everywhere. And you know
what my fiance told one day that all these shows,

(32:19):
all it is is just real housewives for men, the
real housewives of Beverly Hills.

Speaker 4 (32:24):
And so on and so forth.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
Well, we'll take a we'll take a detour into the
real house husbands of the NBA. Coming up next to
Martin wife, Zach Harper, Fox Sports Radio. Don't listening to
Fox Sports Radio Radio coming to your life and you
tire erect dot com Studios.

Speaker 4 (32:41):
Martin Weiss is Zach Harper. So Zach uh.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
You know, it's another episode in the in the drama
between steven A and Lebron. They hare the Lebron versation
on Pat McAfee's show, which to me, honestly as a
way more interesting on the sports media side of things
as a guy who's.

Speaker 4 (33:05):
I dive into that.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
You know, you know, Andrew Marshan Junior is what they
call me in terms of guys.

Speaker 4 (33:10):
Really, that's what they call you. Wow, Noah.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
But in terms of the dynamics of the network and
all that very very interesting when you consider it. I know,
steven A is sleeping on a bet of money, so
he's not too worried about it, but he is seemingly
very worried about what Lebron James had to say about
him going so far to take the next show and
go ahead and address all of it. I think the
only person who came out looking clean in this Brian

(33:34):
Windhorst after getting the shot from Lebron, after the way
he handled it and saying, look, uh, I owe a
lot to Lebron in my career, and I'm happy that
he was able to cover him in so many words,
and he's said like the best friend thing.

Speaker 3 (33:47):
I don't know what that's about, but yeah, that was
a weird shot by like I know Wendy, Like he's
about as professional and great as it gets, Like he's
not someone who is riding coattails and all that stuff.

Speaker 4 (33:59):
Like yeah, Like it helps.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
That they grew up in the same area of Ohio,
I guess, and they came up like he was coming
up as a journalist. Lebron becomes the biggest star in
the NBA, and like, yeah, he was covering him and
that helps. But Wendy has separated himself long ago from
Lebron's story, So it was just a weird, Like Wendy's
not the type of guy who's like, yeah like me
and Lebron, like he's never been like that. It was

(34:23):
just a weird shot at him. That was the biggest
thing where I'm like, what are you doing? Yeah, it's
like Lebron was over there. Just go after steven A.
Go after steven A like that. You know, he's going
after your your parenting and all that stuff that, Like, yeah,
I get that, But here's the here's my issue with this.

Speaker 4 (34:38):
All right.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
I get that it's wrestling, and I get that it's
too too you know, very successful, wealthy men with incredible
egos and their bombastic and all this stuff, and they're
gonna try to go over the top on all this stuff. Right,
I get all there at a certain point, and I
this is more towards stephen A than is Lebron because

(35:02):
as like steven A is the quote unquote journalist involved here, right,
big quotes, big quotes. Yeah, Like he's a media personality.
He's not really a journalist anymore. He's a media personality.
I at so many points in this in the last
few years, I look at the journalism landscape and I
go I look around, and I'm like, no one's gonna

(35:23):
do anything about this, Like, I like, am I gonna
have to be a standard here? I'm the one that
makes dumb jokes all the time. Yeah, I wear sweats
ninety percent of the day. I can't be a standard here.
That's not on me. No one's gonna say anything, no
one's gonna do anything. This is just what it is.

Speaker 4 (35:44):
Now. We're just gonna accept this like we're gonna have
this circus here.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
You know what that, honestly, the blessing of it all was.
It's that Lebron hit that game winner, that game winning
tip in. Yeah, because lord, haven't mer I have goosebumps
on my arm right now imagining what would have happened
if Friday Night's game, or say, if Thursday night's game

(36:09):
was the Chicago Thursday night if that had happened the
day of the McAfee interview where Lebron gives up the
corner three turns over the inbound and then takes Josh
Getty right in the nose from half court.

Speaker 3 (36:24):
Oh, steven A comes riding the ball into first take,
And yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 4 (36:28):
It would have been.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
Honestly, it's honestly and steven A's best interest that that
didn't happen, because it really is, because there's really no
win here anymore.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
No, it's so the whole thing's so corny, like that's
the thing is like at first, like all right, we
get the video and we get the whole like I
wasn't gonna talk about this, but I'm like, okay, you
were always gonna talk about this. But that's fine. And again,
I don't have a problem with stephen A. I don't
really consume the stuff because I'm more interested in like
talking about actual sports, sharing the conversation of sports. But

(37:05):
but all right, whatever, like that's that's a lane that
plenty of people like, go for it. When when Lebron
then goes on McAfee and I'm like, okay, like whatever,
we'll see what stephen A responds. And then he responds
in a weird way, and I was like, okay, can
we be done with this? That was the thing, you know.
I'm just like this has gotten weird. This isn't like
a good back and forth. This isn't a rap battle,

(37:27):
this isn't a roast.

Speaker 4 (37:28):
None of this.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
Is where I'm like, oh my god, who's what's he
gonna say next.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
I'm like to respond like this isn't. This isn't this isn't.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
Kendrick and Drake, this isn't like this isn't anything. If
like this is this is two people who are super successful,
I'm like, you should be pat like you guys had your.

Speaker 4 (37:48):
Little round move on. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
I think that's why I think Windhors came out the cleanest,
because absolutely, as a journalist, you are not supposed to
be the story. And stephen A was inserted in. I'm
not saying, okay, take everything. Let's say it all starts
when Lebron approaches him. Right at that point, you're in
the story now, so tell you're part of it.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
But then that's all you have to do.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
I don't believe that the Lebron versation happens in the
same way if like he said it, if he hadn't
going on the Taylor Swift level tour talking to everybody
about this thing then and I got like, to your point,
I get it, ratings, clicks, so on and so forth.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
But for business, for him, right, for his business.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
But we have reached a point where like when you're
considering that, like what multi millionaire, probably billionaire in all assets,
Lebron James is going to hit anyone much less you
in front of forty thousand people, Like, it's just not happening.

Speaker 4 (38:50):
It's not right and the idea that it would is.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
A fantasy land in general, and that's where he ends
up to being like, Okay, we have really lost the plot.

Speaker 3 (39:00):
That's the thing is like we've gotten to a point
before where like I'll criticize a player or whatever on
social media and some fan will be like, you wouldn't
say that.

Speaker 4 (39:08):
It was like, I've never tweeted anything.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
I wouldn't I wouldn't say to a player's face, right,
I've never And they're like, well, I'm like, these aren't
like uncontrollable people who are just gonna swing on you.
They will disagree with my criticism, but they're also not
going to risk it, Like they're not gonna swing Like,
none of that's gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
They are adults, adult with each other, right, they don't
fight with each other end games and the heat of competition.

Speaker 4 (39:31):
The most that's happened is Joel Embiid pushed the shoulder
of a reporter recently. That's God forgot about that.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
I would have loved to, but that's because he invoked
the name of his dead brother, right.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
It was something that had very little to do with basketball,
well outside of the fact that Joel Embiid is a
basketball player. Also, what I like to see in the
push and just how much of a push it was, Well,
because it was assault and then it was a push,
and then it was like, oh, that got walked back
very quickly. About an hour later, it felt like it
might have been it. This is a slight tap on
the back and be like, hey, buddy, I can of

(40:05):
get your attention here please. Draymond Green's been getting attention
both for headlines and he might win this award. What
Zach Harper think about it? We'll get to that coming
up in just a minute. Martin whit Zach Harper, Fox
Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (40:21):
That's right, and we're broadcasting lie from the tire rack
dot Com studios.

Speaker 4 (40:25):
Tire rack dot com.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
Well up, you get there with an unmaxed election, fast
free shipping, free road has a protection and over ten
thousand recommended this dollars tirerac dot com.

Speaker 4 (40:33):
It's the way that tire buying should be.

Speaker 2 (40:36):
As Cooper flag knocks down his first shot of the
day and first shot of the game, three nothing, Duke
three nothing flagged against everybody else, Zach, we were talking
about Cooper flag earlier today this quickly, what team do
you think you know in the lottery that he could
come in and make a I won't say. Obviously, we

(40:57):
kind of feel the same way about him, so I'm
not trying to put him in a bad spot, but
fit well initially, like with their roster is currently constructed.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
I think the two spots I would want to see
him the well, three spots I would want to see
him the most. I would want to see him obviously
San Antonio, that would be the fun one. With Wemby,
I'd want to see him in Washington next to sar
I actually think that would be fun. I like a
lot of their young guys. They need a guy.

Speaker 4 (41:19):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
I'd want to see him in Utah, not just for
like the whole white joke thing. Sure, Like I think
like with the players they have put in him, you
could put him next to market In and Walker Kessler
and that's a good front court, Like it's big. Yeah,
they unique guards. Still, I don't know if Conte George
is going to develop the way they want him to.
I don't know if Collier is gonna develop the way
they want him to. But I just think like that

(41:41):
that level of Battle of Front Court with the how
big they are, the skill set and everything that intrigues me.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
Yeah, he's definitely obviously intriguing NBA prospect. We'll talk about him,
you know, at nine forty five, actually talk about what
we feel about him in that at the next level.

Speaker 4 (41:56):
But I think we both have a little surprising.

Speaker 2 (41:59):
I think by most people's standards opinions on what Cooper
Flag is.

Speaker 4 (42:02):
Going to be. By the way, he just double dribbles. Listen, listen.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
I saw it and I was gonna mention it to
you afterwards, because all right, you know what.

Speaker 4 (42:12):
I'm telling the whole story.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
No, because I think the kid's name is Grant Nelson,
who plays for Alabama. But that's the white guy at Alabama.
It was a TV and Zach looks at me. He says,
no way, that guy works at the Ricord.

Speaker 4 (42:22):
There's no way. It's the college basket. He's got the
mustache for it.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
And I said, you know, I one hundred percent agree
with you. And earlier we were talking about Cooper Flag
and so we're concerned about his ball handling. Brant Nelson
beat him to the spot of it and pick up
his dribble and it was very much par for the
course that we have been discussing prior.

Speaker 4 (42:40):
This dude is a killer, though, Knupple, I don't like him.
You don't like him.

Speaker 3 (42:43):
He's six six sixty seven. He plays like a six
y to two.

Speaker 4 (42:46):
Oh, that's what I don't like.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
If he played, if he played like he was a wing,
I'd be in because he could shoot, like, yeah, I'm
really sniper.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
Yeah, all right, let's go to a guy who can't though,
Draymond Green. Draymond Green is a new betting favorite for
a defensive Player of the Year. Zach Harper. You wrote
an article about this for The Athletic titled NBA Awards Watch,
Draymond Green takes Defensive Player of the Year lead.

Speaker 4 (43:13):
But should he?

Speaker 2 (43:15):
Now, don't spoil it? Yeah, but should he? I will
spoil it? Okay, because spoile it does spoil it.

Speaker 3 (43:21):
But you should still subscribe to the Athletic because I
keep me employed.

Speaker 4 (43:25):
Big fan of jobs here, big fan of jobs here. Uh.

Speaker 3 (43:29):
Look, nobody was talking Draymond Green for Defensive Player of
the Year when the Warriors were twenty five and twenty
six and they had a great defense and they didn't
have Jimmy Butler. Yet nobody was doing that right. I
didn't hear his name in any of it. It was
obviously Wemby before he went down, it was Heavin Mobley
was in the mix Jared Jackson Junior.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Nobody meant Dyson Daniels also in the mixer. I feel
like Dyson Daniels was like the hipster pick. Yeah, if
you really watched the NBA, you know Diyson Daniels has
three steals a game.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
He sure does. He's also on the Hawks. Like, it's
just it's not gonna happen. But also that's a lot
of people are betting on him now and that's moving
the odds. But Draymond Green, like and again, Draymond Green's
had a great defensive season. He has been fantastic. That
defense has been good. The only reason he became the
favorite is because the Warriors started winning. And to me,

(44:20):
consistency matters in this. Once Wenby went down, it was
between Jaron Jackson Junior and Evan Mobley. Then Jaron Jackson
Junior went down for a few games, and to me,
just Evan Mobley like, we keep I feel like the
betting nods and the conversations just keep trying to not
give it to Evan Mobley for some reason. I don't
know why he's the defensive player of the Year. He's

(44:43):
been great, he has been consistent all season long. I
think so too. I'm with that.

Speaker 2 (44:49):
I don't think that as as good as Draymond has been,
I don't think it's like we're talking about the best, yeah,
the of the.

Speaker 4 (44:59):
Year, like the umber one guy.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
And to me, I thought that Evan Mobley honestly had
a better case against Wemby than people were giving him
credit for it, in part because of team success matters
to me a lot in these things, like it really
unless you're doing Rookie of the Year type thing. Team
success really matters to me when I'm looking at defensive

(45:21):
players like to point a, Dyson Dames been on the Hawks, Okay,
he's got three seasonle game, how many of them are
coming when against the backup point guard because team's up
to thirty. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, how
many of those are coming? Like, and I'm not knocking it,
that still matters. But when I'm looking at a guy
who's anchoring one of the best defenses in the league,
one of the best teams in the league. That gives

(45:42):
a bump that matters to me even over more at
some of your raw number counting numbers.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
And so yeah, even like even when Wemby was active
right before the blood clot, Like I looked at that
as Wenby was the heavy favorite. I mean, he was
running away with it because of the block shots, right,
because he had cool stats. Not that he wasn't deserving.
He was absolutely if you had number one in your
rankings for the award, I don't think it's wrong, but
to me, Evan Mobley was right there. The thing about

(46:08):
Wemby is like you would watch games and he had
these moments like he didn't really get back on defense,
he was slow to rotate. Why because he's a kid, right,
he's figuring out he's twenty. Yeah, like he's gonna have
moments where he's not you know, he doesn't have the
motor yet to be in shape to play hard for
thirty eight minutes on every possession, where like it just

(46:29):
doesn't happen.

Speaker 4 (46:29):
Everywhere with the with the thrombrosis.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
Yeah, like that seems to be something like is that
it's not unreasonable to think that that could have been
impacting the way he was moving or.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
Yeah, I guess I don't know when, but like, because
so you could maybe wrap some of that in short, absolutely, yeah,
if that was part of it, then then yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 4 (46:47):
But to me, either way, what you were seeing on.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
The court, the peaks were the best, the absolute best,
but he had some lows, whereas Mobiley was so consistent
across the board.

Speaker 4 (46:57):
I'm like, if you, if.

Speaker 3 (46:59):
You valued consistency versus the highs and lows, I would
also accept that. That's to me, they were even. So
I'm with you, Like I thought Evan Moby was getting
a raw deal. Then he becomes the favorite, you know,
kind of by default because Wenby goes down for the
rest of the year and and Draymond. Like to me,
I don't think it would be wrong if Draymond won it,

(47:19):
but I also kind of think it would be a makeup, like, hey,
you only have one for your career, here's another one, yea,
and that should not be the reason you win it.

Speaker 4 (47:27):
I wholeheartedly agree.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
Now, one of the things that the reason why this
conversation is a conversation is because of the sixty five
game limit, which I called I forget pesky or something
like that.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
You said, that's the best word for stupid. Stupid. So
talk about why you think that's a.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
Stupid limit, because I sort of a sixty five is tough,
but I agree with the concept in general.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
I don't know if people know why we have this rule.
The reason we have this rule is not because of
load management. It's not to get players on the court.
It's because we were trying to sell TV rights as
a league.

Speaker 4 (47:59):
Okay, that's what happened.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
Because if you're gonna pay billions of dollars to broadcast
as a national partner, whether you're Amazon or NBC or
re upping as ESPN or your TNT trying to keep
it or whatever, if you're gonna pay billions of dollars
for this thing over the next seven to ten years,
however long that deal is, you want to know that
the stars are gonna play. So it's loosely tied to
load management. But it wasn't to actually correct it. It
was to show good faith of hey, we're gonna correct

(48:23):
this problem right once that deal got signed and nobody
cares about that. The money's there, Yeah, the money's there,
and so you did this to show good faith to
get the money and all this stuff in my opinion,
and now you have players missing out on all these opportunities,
like here's here's a dumb part of the rule, Ti Jerome, right,

(48:44):
and no one's gonna care about this out outside of
Cleveland or maybe Virginia because you played there, Ti Jerome,
I care you, and you next to me. TI Jerome
should be one of the Most Improved Player candidates. Yeah,
he's not eligible even though he will have played sixty
five games. Why because he has so many games where

(49:04):
he hasn't played twenty minutes in those games. That's an
other part of the rule. You have to play twenty
minutes for a certain number of those games. That like,
that's part of the rule. And so you're ineligible for
MVP Defense Player of the Year, Most Improved All NBA
All Defense because of the stuff.

Speaker 2 (49:21):
And to why I think that because I do fundamentally
I kind of agree with the TV right side of
this thing. Where I turn on the game, there should
be a reasonable expectation agree that the stars are going
to play absolutely.

Speaker 4 (49:37):
Now, the issue I have.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
With the sixty five is I think that there is
what's only seventeen so games you can miss, which Duken
miss seventeen games in a year very easily. You don't
have to get hurt. I mean, you like ankle here.
I don't know how many I put it like this.
I think Steph is taking with two or three games
off this year. The rest have been do to some ailment, right, Like,

(50:01):
but Steve Kurt actually came out and said we're resting
him and it's only been one or two games this
year that he's done that. And he's one of the
oldest players in the league. Yeah, So I just feel
like it should there should be some level because I
think what bother me is when you have guys who
play fifty or play forty five games in a year,

(50:22):
and then you have another guy plays eighty two and
that guy gets the All NBA nod.

Speaker 4 (50:25):
Yeah, like you know what I'm.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
Saying, Well, maybe if he had played the other thirty
five games, he would have stunk.

Speaker 4 (50:30):
This is the thing.

Speaker 3 (50:31):
There was like a three year run where and I'm
lucky enough I have a vote. I'm one of the
voters for the awards, and I didn't vote Lebron two
out of three years for All NBA, right, even though
his numbers are great and everything, because he played like
fifty two games and fifty four games and the other
guys were like in the sixties or whatever, and some
Lakers fan was like, you're clearly by us. I'm like, no,

(50:52):
he didn't play like he didn't play compared to the
other guys. If you give me ten more games of this,
I'm in. But we should value the games. So I
think that shouldn't be something that rules you ineligible. It
should be something that, like you consider in the voting.
By the way, like four of the last ten defensive
player of the years would be ineligible with this rule,
and so.

Speaker 4 (51:12):
Like I I think.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
That's I just think sixty five is too punitive. Yeah,
I think it's too puny. I agree, because I guys
are gonna you have to have guys are gonna get hurt,
Like I would even maybe if you wanted to take
it from sixty five games to maybe like ten games
of rest designation, right or something like that, I know
they would just play with the injury report and so on,
and I know they kind of do that in this moment.

Speaker 4 (51:34):
They do it anyway.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
Yeah, but I like, I feel the fact that there
should be some level of standardization across this, Like when
you're talking about the NFL MVP.

Speaker 4 (51:44):
But guy got hurt in week ten. He's not in
the conversation at all.

Speaker 6 (51:48):
But does there have to be an exact number at all?

Speaker 2 (51:50):
So that's producer Ian. I think that's the thing I'm
trying to get to here with that. Ian is like
more of a I don't say it's more of a
field thing, right, but.

Speaker 4 (51:58):
Like, well, everything I really do.

Speaker 6 (52:00):
Everything else about not everything, but a lot of a
lot else about the MVP award is just off of feel,
you know. It's not like everything about who gets the
MVP award is like, Okay, we have to really figure
out how to balance he averaged the most points, he
played this amount of games, Like, no, it's just who
we the viewers watch and say, yes, that guy's the
most valuable player.

Speaker 3 (52:19):
They make it intentionally ambiguous.

Speaker 4 (52:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (52:21):
Absolutely, Like I've talked to voters before who have said, oh,
this guy didn't show up in the playoffs. Again, I'm
not voting for him next year. I'm like, and I'm like,
you can't vote that way that Like, it's my vote,
I can do what I want. I'm like, it should
just be about that season. Like I very much believe
in that. I don't believe in voting fatigue at all.
If the guy is the MVP for nine straight years,

(52:44):
he's the MVP for nine straight years.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
I will say this as I peruse this column. I
have one issue.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
I have two issues, two issues, but one massive issue.
But it was flawless. I mean it's close, only.

Speaker 2 (52:59):
Two not a third, uh, but the one's massive. So
the first issue to me, JB. Bicker Staff should be
the head the coach of the year. You have Kenny
Atkinson here. I think JB should be the coach of
the year. I wrote about that a couple of weeks ago.
It was like, all right, what improved should it be about?
Surprise or the actual actual coach of the year?

Speaker 3 (53:19):
Is it harder to go from the worst team to
a good team or a good team to an elite team?
And I and I don't know, Like I I'm up
in the air on that.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
I feel like worst team to a good team. But
I understand your point. That's where the NFL gives it out.
Like Andy Reid only has like one or two Coach
of the Year awards despite being Belichick. I think as
like four, you know, or two or three despite being
obviously one of the best coaches for twenty some years
in the league.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
A couple of weeks ago, by the way, I had
bigger staff. Number one, Cleveland lost their stuff.

Speaker 4 (53:49):
Really, they were real mad.

Speaker 3 (53:50):
They're like, you just did this to like get noticed.
I'm like, I don't think you're getting hot. Take clicks
of the year.

Speaker 2 (53:56):
That's the way to do it if you want, if
you want to really drive the online traffic, pick the
versus Cleveland against each other. Cleveland is an interesting They
seem to campaign for these awards in a way that
its like, was it DeAndre Hunt.

Speaker 4 (54:09):
Was the sixth man?

Speaker 2 (54:10):
For DeAndre Hunter, He's like, oh, you know, you got
Ty Jerome on the roster.

Speaker 3 (54:13):
It's so funny. There just all of a sudden they're like, oh,
he's got to be six man. He got there a
week ago.

Speaker 4 (54:17):
But here's the beef.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
I have the number one beef ironic that it's number one,
because how in the world can the guy who's the
most improved player also have been the number one overall pick.
I don't like, it doesn't jive with me, doesn't sim Well, he.

Speaker 4 (54:32):
Was supposed to be really good. That's why they picked
him number one.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
In Kate Cunningham and I get that he's had he's
really stepped his game up, Yes, but I mean the
most improved player being the number one overall pick. It's
like when they did it with Jah and when they
had John Moran. When he gave it to Desmond Bane,
I feel like that's Desmond Baine is the type of
guy who qualifies for mi IP. Who do you think
has that trophy right now? I know Jaw doesn't have it.

(54:56):
I assume that Desmond Bane. It has Jaw's name on it.

Speaker 4 (54:58):
Good point. Why would he have that?

Speaker 7 (55:02):
Here's the thing.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
Here's the thing about kid cunning, him being the most improved.
Those stats last year were meaningless. Sure, they were absolutely meaningless.
And he was how do I say this? He was
so scared of fourth quarters. He wasn't even taking shots.
And this is like they're like nineteen straight losses into
this twenty eight game losing streak and he's just giving

(55:25):
the ball j and Ivy and stand in the corner
and I'm like, what are you doing? I would rather
you go zero for twelve and keep losing, then go
one for three and just not even run anything. And
it's not like, oh, I'm setting guys up like he
was just not doing anything. This year, he is trying
and it's been better, and he's better defensively. Like I
think he actually has led his team to stuff this year,

(55:47):
like led them to where this stuff matters. And I
do think that matters. I don't think it's just about numbers.
I think making the numbers in the defense matter. I
just I understand. I understand conceptually.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
Daniels to me feels like yeah, because he was, but
he also just didn't.

Speaker 4 (56:04):
He didn't play.

Speaker 2 (56:05):
True all right, So going, let's say moving forward, this
team signed a guy. This is the thing how the
NFL works. Like a lot of times we'll see, oh, man,
can you believe they're moving on from.

Speaker 4 (56:17):
This guy or that guy?

Speaker 2 (56:19):
But oftentimes is it a name that we know or
a player that's going to contribute. Team just made a
big move for their young quarterback. We're trying to figure
out name or contributor. We'll get to that coming up next.
Martin White, Zach Harper, Fox Sports Radio coming to you
a lot from the tire rack dot Com studios. You

(56:39):
can hit us up on Twitter with your two cents.
I'm at Martin Weiss, I'm joined here with Zach Harper,
at tak hoops like Gus Williams, George Sands. George Sands,
Zach is a trivia monster, tweets us trivia all the time,
says Gus Williams won the NBA Comeback Player of the
Year award spite sitting out the previous season on a

(57:02):
contract dispute.

Speaker 4 (57:03):
That's just a fun fact.

Speaker 3 (57:04):
That is a fun fact. I wish they had the
Comeback Player of the Year award. They got rid of it.

Speaker 4 (57:09):
That's you know what. They don't have that in the NBA,
in the NFL. Why not the NBA, I don't know.
Gotta wonder about that. Who'd win it this year? Ben Simmons,
That's what I'd vote for. Ben Simmons.

Speaker 3 (57:20):
Don't.

Speaker 4 (57:21):
I don't.

Speaker 3 (57:21):
I don't think I actually believe that. I just want I'll.

Speaker 2 (57:23):
Tell you what, I have never really had the belief
I'm better at anything that a professional athlete does at
their job.

Speaker 4 (57:30):
Then you know what, and than they are.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
Except I can shoot free throws better than Benson, Oh
for sure. I can shoot free throws better than Vincent.
If you put me in an NBA game today, I
could make.

Speaker 3 (57:43):
Crowd out there, You're good.

Speaker 4 (57:45):
I could make at least one out of four free throws.

Speaker 2 (57:48):
I feel confident in You think he's going over for well, well, yeah,
I don't have to. I could make at least one
out of four free throws now now and then could
I get open?

Speaker 4 (58:02):
Hell? No, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
Anything else that happened in that moment was because they
wanted it to for me. You know what I'm saying,
as soon as anybody cared, it'd be over. But I
could make as a seventy eight percent free throw shooter
in high school, I could make one free throw.

Speaker 4 (58:16):
Okay, seventy it's not bad. I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
Oh yeah, you know, fourth quarter, you get in there, kid.
You gotta go make your free throws.

Speaker 4 (58:23):
You gotta go whin. It's the game. Did you every
so often? Okay? You know say pro merchant?

Speaker 6 (58:28):
Wow?

Speaker 2 (58:29):
Because all I could do was run and shoot. I
couldn't dribble at all.

Speaker 3 (58:32):
Hey, you want a crazy stat, real quick, go for it.
The last two seasons Joel and Bead fifty eight games,
Ben seven sixty.

Speaker 4 (58:40):
Wow. How about that.

Speaker 3 (58:42):
That's tough, that's Reckley, that's incriminating. I saw that from
stat Muse yesterday this morning. Yeah, that's beautiful. So Stefan
Diggs sons with the Patriots. It's a three year, sixty
nine million dollars deal.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
I believe, which you know sometimes pro football talking Mike
Floyd don't do the best, but he does real God's
work with this stuff. When he actually really breaks down,
the contract turns out is like a one year deal
with twenty three million dollars guaranteed, with two team options
and so on and so forth.

Speaker 4 (59:11):
But this is what I was talking about.

Speaker 2 (59:12):
Were talking about name verse production, right, Stefan Diggs was
a very very big name in Buffalo, goes to Houston.
Nico Collins has the Pro Bowl year, right, and Dick's
terrs is acl And now he goes to the Patriots team,
which is to say, devoid of weapons. I put it
like this, that's probably the safest team. Like if weapons

(59:34):
are dangerous, the Patriots are the safest team out there, right, yeah, exactly.
So add Stefan dis to this, I think more of
a name. But what do you expect to see Diggs
in New England? And how it works with Drake May?

Speaker 3 (59:50):
I mean, first and foremost, I'm not a big Drake
May believer, Okay, but that also like I like he
was whatever in college.

Speaker 4 (59:58):
I wasn't.

Speaker 3 (59:58):
I wasn't like you've got to get this, And then
I wasn't super impressed.

Speaker 4 (01:00:02):
His rookie year.

Speaker 3 (01:00:03):
But also like like you said, there's no weapons, he
didn't have a lot to work with just in terms
of like protection and weapons and everything. So I don't
know that he even got a fair chance to show
anything good or bad. But yeah, I mean, Diggs is
a start, I guess. I don't think he's gonna go
out there and catch a hundred passes and you know,

(01:00:25):
get sixteen hundred yards or anything like that, but it's
at least like if they can get a little bit
of protection for Drake, Like I don't know, I mean,
is he a number one? I know by default he is,
but at.

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
This point he's the number one, and it's more like
he's the number one because that's the only option there
right right, And when you consider viable NFL leven NFL
talent level wide receivers, I think a lot of those guys,
you know, probably could be doing something else in a
few years, not necessarily playing in the league this though.

Speaker 4 (01:01:02):
The interest I have here though, is if the it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
Travis Hunter If I'm the Patriots, That's why I'd be
going after Yes, I'd be trying to get to Travis Hunter.
And I wonder if the Giants are like because they
signed the quarterbacks like Michee was talking about, they're not
probably going to draft the quarterback in round one. I
wonder how much it's worth to them to get another weapon,

(01:01:28):
right They signed to cornerbacks this offseason, drafted neighbors last year.
Do you want to add another receiver on the other
side of that? Do you want to add a cornerback
to that room however you view Travis Hunter? Or do
you try to move out of that spot, get more
picks and have somebody else Because I think if you're
New England you're devoid of offensive talent like that.

Speaker 3 (01:01:49):
That's that's your option, right if you believe in Drake May,
you have to go get that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:53):
You better believe in Drake May if you took that,
if Mike Abel, if you take that job, you don't,
then I'll tell you, well for sure, Yeah, I mean,
we definitely think it's going quarterback quarterback one too, right.

Speaker 4 (01:02:06):
Well, I think I actually think I actually am not sure.

Speaker 2 (01:02:09):
What Cleveland's gonna do with the second overall pick, and
that's got to be on the move. It's either we'll
talk about it at the top of the next hour,
talk about at ten o'clock.

Speaker 4 (01:02:17):
How that pick moves.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
But I don't I say like this, if Shador Sanders
is not drafted in the top three picks, I don't
think you'll be drafted in the top fifteen picks.

Speaker 3 (01:02:27):
Oh yeah, I think that's probably right. Yeah, I mean,
I think if you're New England, it only benefits you
to try to move up to at least three. Maybe
you try to move up to two, just to make
sure if cam Ward goes one, Hey, we need to
go get this guy, because I think, you know it,
really it falls on it falls on New York how

(01:02:51):
they feel about them.

Speaker 2 (01:02:51):
But if you're telling me, I got Digs, and I
got Travis Hunter playing now the offensive snap, and you
got Hunter Henry right now now, I'm interested. Now I'm
interested this basketball game. Alabama not shooting quite the clip
they had been prior. But Steve the Seger will update
you on that and everything else going on in the
world of sports. Steve, you're up.

Speaker 8 (01:03:13):
They are down double digits to Duke. By the way,
I love the stat that Ben Simmons has actually played
more NBA games the last couple of years than Joel
and believe and beat at the foul line. Also hard
to believe a seven footer at eighty three percent on
free throws for his career. Ben Simmons theoretically a guard
under sixty percent on free throws for his career, although
as a Clipper he is six of seven for the stripe.

(01:03:35):
That's by far the best free throw shooting we've ever
seen from the band. So stay tuned as far as
the Clippers. By the way, Kawhi Leonard will not play
Sunday due to knee injury management. The Pistons Caid Cunningham
with the sore cafe doubtful for Sunday. He could sit
out a fourth straight game. Zion Williamson of New Orleans,
with a bruise back, is out for Sunday, missing a
fifth straight game. John Moran had missed six games with

(01:03:58):
a hamstring injury. His coach got fired yesterday and Moran
is playing tonight, but the Lakers are leading, holding on
eighty four to eighty at Memphis mid third quarter. John
Morant so far five of fifteen, shooting thirteen points eight assists.
Lakers have eighteen points each from Lebron James and Austin Reeves.
Luka Doncic with seventeen points. Currently, Oklahoma City's winning again

(01:04:22):
in the third quarter seventy one fifty five the lead
over the Indiana Pacers, and OKC win would put their
record at sixty two and twelve. Just final Brooklyn wins
at Washington one fifteen to one twelve. Now to the
college shops, I mention the double digit lead for Duke.
It's thirty five twenty two over Alabama under seven minutes
to go first half in New Jersey of the East

(01:04:44):
Region final. The final four is next weekend in San Antonio.
We know Florida will be there. More on that in
the moment. Duke so far in the first half shooting
sixty one percent.

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
From the floor.

Speaker 8 (01:04:54):
Meanwhile, Tide star Mark Sears ozo of three shooting, he
is scoreless with three to tw turnovers. Florida a one seed,
comes out of the West Region, winning that regional final
in San Francisco with a Lake comeback of sixteen to
run beating Texas Tech eighty four seventy nine. So this team,
the Gators will be facing either Auburn or Michigan State

(01:05:17):
next weekend in a national semifinal. All American Walter Clayton
with thirty points in the women's sweet sixteen Texas and
TCU with wins Yukon as well. Connecticut beat Oklahoma eighty
two to fifty nine, Page Beckers forty points. Usc is
playing without injured superstar Juju Watkins, and they're actually winning
now end of three forty eight to forty five over

(01:05:40):
Kansas State, each team shooting around forty percent from the floor.
Among the eleven NHL games. Saint Louis, winners of nine straight,
got a two to one victory at Colorado to Major
League Baseball in his home debut, Roki Sasaki on the
mound at Dodger Stadium. He was down two to nothing quickly.
Freddie Freeman has homered. It is Detroit two to one

(01:06:00):
over LA in the bottom of the first inning, and
on Fox TV for part of the country, Houston holding
on against the Mets two to one over New York
bottom of the eighth inning. Miami in twelve beat Pittsburgh
five to four. Cleveland Guardians star third baseman Jose Ramirez
is day to day with the spraying risk. Cleveland lost
four to three at Kansas City. The Angels were one

(01:06:20):
nothing winners at the White Sox today. The save to
ken Lee Jansen and the Yankees got three home runs
from Aaron Judge and beat up Milwaukee twenty to nine.
The Yankees as a team hit nine out of the park,
including four homers in the first Back to.

Speaker 2 (01:06:34):
You, thanks Steve Martin Wise Zach Harper comings you live
from the tierraq dot com studios. Make sure to check
out our YouTube channel, the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel
tun of great videos from all of our shows. You
can search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and you'll see a.

Speaker 4 (01:06:48):
Whole bunch of video highlights from our shows.

Speaker 2 (01:06:50):
To subscribe to get the instant access that I know
you are desperately craving for our Fox Sports Radio videos
on YouTube. So the NBA, Zach, seems to take more
criticism than any league out there, And we kind of
talked about this prior.

Speaker 4 (01:07:07):
It's almost by default, right.

Speaker 2 (01:07:09):
We care enough about the NBA to watch it, but
also to critique it. Adam Silver spoke on this topic
a couple of days ago. I forget exactly when it was,
but this is what the Commissioner of the NBA had
to say.

Speaker 9 (01:07:22):
We're a particular sport in which that kind of debate
seems to be part of the DNA of this league.
And I'm jealous sometimes it seems that in other sports
that I'm a fan of, and when I watch the coverage,
particularly around the games, it seems to be more celebratory
often than it is in the NBA.

Speaker 4 (01:07:44):
So what was your take on that? What's your initial
read there?

Speaker 3 (01:07:48):
I agree with him, it is criticized more than any
other league. I mean, baseball is not in the spotlight.

Speaker 4 (01:07:54):
Anymore, right, in the same way.

Speaker 3 (01:07:56):
Yeah, And they've done a lot to kind of change
the product in a way that I think I think
is mostly good, but they're just not It's not the
national pastime it used to be hockey. It is what
it is like. You either love it or you don't
pay attention to it in at least the United States, right,
So I don't think that's really enough in the spotlight.
The NFL doesn't really seem to care when they get

(01:08:18):
criticized because they can always just say, we've got the
most money in the highest ratings, what are you gonna do?

Speaker 2 (01:08:24):
And that's what I don't understand about the NBA. Like, obviously,
I grew up loving both of these sports, basketball and
football and enjoying all of that, and probably honestly as
a kid, enjoying the NBA more than the NFL. Yeah,
and that's switched now. But I think a lot of

(01:08:46):
the reason why is in the last ten years, it
seems that the cart leads the horse a lot in
the NBA constantly where there are complaints and then responses
to those complaints, whereas the NFL, for good or for bad,
you don't like what they're doing, they don't care.

Speaker 4 (01:09:05):
They just keep it pushing. They will keep it pushing.

Speaker 2 (01:09:08):
And so like to me Adam Silver this year talking about,
oh the NBA too many threes, I would have never
even given it in an the air. We don't shoot
too many threes. Watch our product, it's amazing. Some of
our best player I would be like, look at our MVP,
Shake Gildish, Alexander, he look at any threes he shoes.
Look at our other side, Yoki's Giannis. The best players

(01:09:30):
in the league don't shoot threes. Now what say something else? Oh,
the ratings are down. Guess what champions an election? Everybody's
ratings are down, you know, what I'm saying, And it's
like the the idea that we're changing quarter sizes, are
adding a four point.

Speaker 4 (01:09:42):
Shot, So it all went away. If when Luca got
traded to the Lake exactly, it all went away.

Speaker 2 (01:09:48):
You know why because people like, we're talking about the
actual what was happening on Tuesday night and Thursday night
and Sunday afternoon.

Speaker 4 (01:09:54):
When the games were being played exactly.

Speaker 3 (01:09:56):
Like that's the thing. Is the NBA for bet or
well for worse now they embrace social media too much.
It was good as a marketing tool forever and then
they but they kept caring about what was being said
on social media. It's like criticism, and then that leaked
into how coverage happened with league partners and what's on

(01:10:16):
ESPN and what's on TNT and you know, what's being
said on pregame shows and halftime shows and all this stuff.
Like they focus so much on that where I'm with you, like, hey,
the league shooting too many threes? Oh yeah, we have
Steph Curry. That's what I would have said. One of
the biggest stars in the world, Steph Curry. You think
he shoots too many threes? Hey, the ratings are down

(01:10:37):
Oh yeah, we just signed that seventy two billion dollar deal.
Do you feel like ratings are down? Do we think
we care? Like I just there's a point where you
just have to make it about and yet, and yet
we seem to thrive, like, yes, these things happen, but
we don't care. The league continues to move forward. And
the thing that drives me crazy the most about this

(01:10:59):
is all these extraneous conversations could just be replaced with,
like you said, Luca gets traded, Hey, let's watch some basketball.
See what happens.

Speaker 4 (01:11:10):
Right, Could we just talk about basketball. I don't care
that there's a lot of threes.

Speaker 2 (01:11:14):
We see this in political discourse all the time. The
conversation changes all of a sudden. You're talking about two
plus two equals four, and now it's two plus two
equals oranges, right, Like it's like Terrence Howard.

Speaker 4 (01:11:31):
But that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (01:11:33):
If I was Adam Silver, I would be saying, you're
telling me, oh, too many threes, ratings, Yeah, billion dollar deal, oranges,
you deal with it.

Speaker 4 (01:11:40):
You know what I'm saying, I don't care what your
math is telling me. I got oranges. Like that's what
I would be saying, look at we have some of
the we are one of.

Speaker 2 (01:11:49):
Our best players like we have Oh you have to
we have too many foreign born players.

Speaker 4 (01:11:53):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:11:53):
Did you watch the NBA Finals in which aau products
Jason's headiman Jayalen Brown ran through that Eastern Europe being
Luka Doncic exactly?

Speaker 4 (01:12:01):
Like like that's what like that's and.

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
I don't understand And you were talking about it off
there a little bit. How David Stern wouldn't be like,
would be framing this narrative in a different way. And
that's the way the NFL they frame their own narrative.
The NBA allows their narrative to be framed for themselves.

Speaker 3 (01:12:17):
David Stern had a lot of had a lot of problems, right,
like there were issues with certain things, and there's certain
things as society has evolved or devolved, however you want
to say that is it's adjusted like maybe wouldn't fly today.

Speaker 4 (01:12:28):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (01:12:28):
One of my favorite stories is as they are letting
cameras into locker rooms for pregame stuff and everything, there
is a meeting between David Stern and the coaches and
Scott Skyle says, I don't want cameras in my locker room.
That's a sacred area that is private. We're not doing that.
And David Stern says, I understand, on the one hand,
we have your concerns. On the other hand, we have

(01:12:48):
all this bleeping money from our broadcast partners. I think
we'll go with the money, right, because that's what it is.
The business is thriving. We're good because that's what the
NFL does. There are times that football sucks, there are
times of product is terrible.

Speaker 4 (01:13:07):
They don't care.

Speaker 6 (01:13:08):
You want to know what the perfect microcosm is because
this is what you guys saying. This makes me think
that Pro Bowls, the Pro Bowls versus All Star games
every year, Like nobody watches the Pro Bowl in the
same way that nobody likes the All Star Game anymore.
But the thing is, people have all this stuff to
say about the All Star Game. We have stuff to
say about the Pro Bowl games too, about how bad
it is now. But the NFL doesn't care, that's the thing.

(01:13:28):
But the NBA. Meanwhile, I was trying to add, you know,
tournament style, maybe if we do a draft format and
all this, it's like, just follow the NFL. They don't care.
And it's working for them.

Speaker 3 (01:13:37):
By the way, they got rid of that already the
tournament because you know why, because NBC said, we don't
want that, right and we.

Speaker 4 (01:13:42):
Got the also game. We don't want that. Yeah, don't
give us to the US versus the International. We don't
want that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:48):
It was it was NBA All Star And that's one
thing I used to DVR, Like I remember recording on
a VHS tape and waking up to see Vince car
To do the It's Over move in.

Speaker 4 (01:13:59):
The contest as a kid. Now I couldn't care. You
know what.

Speaker 2 (01:14:04):
They lost me when they started changing the color out
of court. I can't even see this. What is this
Neon Green balk to you by stars.

Speaker 6 (01:14:11):
In season tournament?

Speaker 3 (01:14:12):
You blame you blame you blame AAU, and you blame
NBA two K because that they're just trying to get
kids to watch it, like, oh, well, they're weird colors
on the court and those things, Like, I guess we
gotta do that for kids.

Speaker 4 (01:14:23):
You know what.

Speaker 2 (01:14:24):
Once I had to record a mixtape to play my
player on two K, I was like, I'm done with
this too. Coming up next, we'll play a game of
who you got Producer you had.

Speaker 4 (01:14:32):
That little tease. Who think, what's the category here?

Speaker 6 (01:14:34):
Well, we're on NBA again. I figured with Zach back,
might as well stick to the basketball for the NBA.
Doesn't get it too quick, because you know.

Speaker 4 (01:14:41):
Who knows you.

Speaker 2 (01:14:42):
We'll see, we'll see coming up next, We'll do that,
Martin White, Zach Harper, Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 4 (01:14:48):
Coming to you a lot at the tiereck dot Com Studios.
I'm Martin Wise, join here with Zach Harper, and it's
time for a game of who you got?

Speaker 6 (01:14:56):
Okay, who you got? We're back, So just a quick
refresher here for the listeners and for Zach as well. Uh,
the way this game goes is, I'm thinking of a player,
any player in NBA history is fair game, and I
have a series of clues here. Each clue is supposed
to make it a little bit easier. And as you
guys come up with guesses, just just shout him out
to me and I'll let you know if you get
it right or wrong. Pop Eye Jones nor wrong. Charles

(01:15:19):
Shackelford No, no, so just just shooting blankly, No so,
Rod Strickland, Nope. First clue here. This guy was a
first round draft pick. Taken in the top fifteen picks.

Speaker 2 (01:15:32):
Okay, first round, top fifteen, Brandon Jennings Nope. Deon Waiters Nope.
One of my all time favorite players to watch. I
never he never played on the team.

Speaker 4 (01:15:44):
I oh, there you go.

Speaker 6 (01:15:45):
Yeah, he's played in the NBA for eleven seasons, and
I won't tell you if he's still active or not.

Speaker 2 (01:15:52):
Oh, okay, eleven years in the NBA, his first round, sixteen,
sixteenth pick.

Speaker 4 (01:15:59):
Eleven years in the league. Like that, I'm gonna say
a Mecca Okaper, No, I can't imagine he's in the league.
Kemba Walker Nope, watching this March Magiest Tournament.

Speaker 6 (01:16:14):
Next clue. He was the eleventh overall pick and he
was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Speaker 4 (01:16:21):
Brandon Roy Nope, No he was.

Speaker 3 (01:16:24):
He was like sixth, eleventh to the Blazers. Played eleven years.
He was a top fifteen pick. Oh yeah, he was eleventh.

Speaker 4 (01:16:36):
Oh ye, lady, go Martin oh Man the clue.

Speaker 3 (01:16:42):
Yeah, because everything everyone I'm thinking of is top ten
right now?

Speaker 4 (01:16:45):
All right?

Speaker 6 (01:16:45):
He remains the all time steals leader for a team
that did not draft him.

Speaker 2 (01:16:51):
Steals leader for a team that did not draft him,
So I feel like he's gotta be either a guard
or a wing because that's he's going to be having
the opportunity needed to steal the ball away. This feels
like a guy got traded immediately as he got drafted.
Ian loves doing that. Something drafted by this team, like
he was actually drafted by the show the Hornets and

(01:17:12):
then oh that Kobe Bryant.

Speaker 6 (01:17:14):
Nope, Alvin Robertson No, okay, two not bad guesses though
the next one. He's made two All Star Games throughout
his career and made All NBA Second Team once.

Speaker 4 (01:17:29):
So this guy's a real uh real killer.

Speaker 6 (01:17:31):
I see, never made first team, but he made All
NBA second team.

Speaker 4 (01:17:35):
Got a lot of steals. Drafts eleventh to Portland. That's
the part that's tripping me up. I have no idea
where Gary Payton was drafted, but was he Gary Payton?

Speaker 3 (01:17:45):
Gary Payton's drafted second to the Sonics?

Speaker 4 (01:17:48):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:17:49):
Uh two All Star games?

Speaker 4 (01:17:55):
Oh Gary Payton made?

Speaker 3 (01:17:56):
Yeah, definitely more all the be a second team. Latrell
Spree will no.

Speaker 6 (01:18:01):
No, He's in the top fifteen all time for career
triple doubles. The numbers forty.

Speaker 4 (01:18:08):
Three he's had his forty three career triple doubles. He
had a ton of steals. Drafted by the Trailblazers, just
a by the Trailblazers. That's the part that tripped me
up forty three triple doubles.

Speaker 2 (01:18:23):
Rondo was drafted by the Celtics, right yeah, oh no,
but but he was drafted like twenty seven.

Speaker 6 (01:18:29):
Okay, I can give you the year he was drafted
the year. The year was nineteen eighty two, and he
was drafted out of Arizona State, Arizona State eight two.

Speaker 4 (01:18:44):
This is gonna drive me insane.

Speaker 6 (01:18:47):
This was this next clue might help, So yeah, I'm
gonna hold off this.

Speaker 4 (01:18:52):
Oh my god, No, I'll give me the next one,
all right.

Speaker 6 (01:18:56):
He goes by a nickname, which came from his little
brother's ability to pronounce his real name.

Speaker 2 (01:19:02):
As a kid goes by a nickname his little brother
couldn't pronounce his actual name.

Speaker 4 (01:19:11):
It's a nickname, but.

Speaker 2 (01:19:14):
It feels like a nickname has got to be like
a juju or something similar to that, because why, you know,
because he couldn't pronounce Julian.

Speaker 6 (01:19:21):
Well, I'll give you what his real first name was,
because it's not what he goes by his real first
name is Lafayette Fat Lever.

Speaker 4 (01:19:30):
That is correct, there is.

Speaker 6 (01:19:31):
I had one clue left, which is the all time
steals leader for the Nuggets.

Speaker 3 (01:19:35):
Now that's so frustrating. That's spent a few years with
the Blazers.

Speaker 2 (01:19:40):
I tell you what, you could have gone off a
whole bunch of I wouldn't have got that unless you
said his first his nickname.

Speaker 6 (01:19:47):
Is what his name carries a lot of weight.

Speaker 4 (01:19:52):
Yeah, I didn't know he wants a triple double machine.
It was back in the day.

Speaker 2 (01:19:57):
That's where I remembered his name coming up is from
when ru Westbrook was running through those triple double runs.

Speaker 6 (01:20:03):
However, in the old two K, like all time teams,
he was always the point guard for the.

Speaker 2 (01:20:07):
Next Absolutely, there you go, Fat leave point guard for
the Douglas.

Speaker 4 (01:20:11):
What do you think about the Nuggets?

Speaker 2 (01:20:13):
Well, you know what, we'll do that in just a
minute because we are just about out of time. Also,
Kirk Cousins to the Browns makes way too much sense.
We'll get to that next.

Speaker 1 (01:20:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:20:26):
That's run we're broadcasting live from the tire rack dot
Com studios. Tire rack dot Com well up, you get
there with an unmaxed election, fast free shipping, free road
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tire rack dot com.

Speaker 4 (01:20:39):
It's the way that tire buying should be.

Speaker 2 (01:20:41):
Martin Weiss and Zach Harper here, third hour of a
three hour show. Jason Martin and Aaron Torres will be
taken over for us in about an hour. They got
the best college sports recap show out there, So I'll
be all over this college basketball. We're gonna take a
look at the NFL right now though, because you know, Zach,
when else Garrett was prior to being signed. I want

(01:21:04):
to win super Bowls. I will never come back to Cleveland.
Get me out of here, Get me out of here.
Nothing could keep me here.

Speaker 4 (01:21:12):
Well, something could.

Speaker 2 (01:21:13):
And that was all that guaranteed money, Oh yeah, that
he ended up signing for. But there was a a
thing that Andrew Siciliano did with him.

Speaker 4 (01:21:21):
This was tweeted out from the official Brown's account.

Speaker 2 (01:21:24):
Andrew Siciliano asked him about the plans that quarterback after
signing this deal, because that was obviously in Cleveland. The
quarterback situation is a quandary at best. Right it's it's
very very ft up.

Speaker 3 (01:21:38):
Right, quandary is a nice way of putting that. Yeah, trying,
It's not pretty.

Speaker 2 (01:21:43):
So you think generally quarterback was an important position in sports.
Maybe Myles Garrett want to go somewhere with a really
good quarterback. So why'd you come back to Cleveland? Essentially
what Siciliano asked him. This is the whole exchange in
all serious Do you know who the quarterback is going
to be? I mean, do you have an idea?

Speaker 4 (01:22:01):
After conversations?

Speaker 1 (01:22:02):
I do have an idea.

Speaker 4 (01:22:03):
Do you like the idea?

Speaker 2 (01:22:05):
I like it enough to be here smiling in front
of you because I think we have a good chance
of that happening and making the most out of it.

Speaker 4 (01:22:12):
Can you tell us who it is? Miles? You know
I can't do that now.

Speaker 2 (01:22:18):
He obviously can't tell us who it is, in part
because we don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:22:20):
Who it is. You know what I'm saying? Like, there
are options.

Speaker 2 (01:22:23):
If cam Wore doesn't get picked number one, then I
think the whole board opens back up.

Speaker 4 (01:22:27):
Right, But.

Speaker 2 (01:22:29):
If you so, I'm thinking about this, right, does this
happen a couple of days after he signed his contract extension?

Speaker 4 (01:22:36):
Right for them to have a solid plan.

Speaker 2 (01:22:40):
They don't have the number one overall pick, so they
do not have their pick up the litter right in
terms of anybody from his class, they have the two pick.
They haven't been in or really gone after the Russell
will sends the Aaron Rodgers is those guys right. But

(01:23:01):
for Miles Garrett, who was smiling in this moment, it
don't get me wrong, I'd be smiling to if they
made me the highest paid non quarterback in football. But
ask this question particularly, he smiled and as you know,
at first you're thinking, you know, my first read on
it was okay, they're going to get your door, right,
that's what he's happy about. What kind of thought about
it again and said, if it's about either winning or money, right,

(01:23:25):
because I think that's what it came down for Miles Garrett.
He took the money. It's now gotta be about how
good individually can I be?

Speaker 4 (01:23:33):
Sure? Right?

Speaker 2 (01:23:35):
And because in the NFL, it's not the NBA where
if you're getting numbers on a bad team, like they
won't be like defensive end with twenty five sacks on
our twenty sacks on a team that has three wins,
He's gonna get consideration he's gonna be talked about it.

Speaker 4 (01:23:48):
They're gonna put that up there regardless.

Speaker 2 (01:23:50):
So I thought, Zach, what if I'm Cleveland and I
want Miles Garrett to stay?

Speaker 4 (01:23:57):
Sit him down.

Speaker 2 (01:23:58):
I say, Miles, look, we're gonna take the best pass
rusher in this draft with the second overall pick. Guess
what those double teams you see now gone? Well, you know,
cutting half? You know what I'm saying, cutting half because
that kid over there is gonna be a problem.

Speaker 3 (01:24:11):
Or that kids could get all your sacks, right, I.

Speaker 4 (01:24:15):
Would leave that part out of the negotiations, all right.
I'd be like, we're gonna draft Carter.

Speaker 2 (01:24:20):
Yeah, you'll have one on one at least ten snaps
of game in which you will have three sacks, right.

Speaker 4 (01:24:27):
Or tackles for loss.

Speaker 2 (01:24:30):
Then we're gonna trade for Kirk Cousins with our second
or third round pick because Kirk.

Speaker 4 (01:24:35):
Cousins has a no trade clause, right, which is the
craziest thing of good Lord. I would never ever, he's
gonna have the best agent, the best.

Speaker 2 (01:24:46):
But you know, so he can veto any trade that
you know essentially puts them in this boties in.

Speaker 4 (01:24:52):
Now, if you.

Speaker 2 (01:24:54):
Go to Cleveland, if kirk Cousins is traded to Cleveland.
Atlanta's gonna eat the money. So it's still a cheap on, right,
And you can sell that better to me to a
player of Miles Garrett Stature. Hey, we're gonna be able
to at least try to compete for this division. Then
a rookie quarterback who may or may not even be

(01:25:15):
good Kirk Cousins, we know what he is, for good
or for bad.

Speaker 4 (01:25:18):
That to me is something I think you can sell
along with on that paper.

Speaker 3 (01:25:23):
Look, I mean, look, it's not It's not like kirk
Cousins was getting out and moving before, right, right, But
he was bad last year. He was he was bad
last year. Now he was coming off in Achilles, and
I think you expect that to be a frustrating process.
And even in the pocket, Like he still has to

(01:25:43):
move in the pocket, right, he still has to shift,
he still has to get away from the pressure. Is
it collapses and everything. So it's not about getting out
and running. He's just got to be you know, not mobile,
but nimble, right, right. Do we think that that's like
he can get back to enough of that to still
put up numbers.

Speaker 4 (01:26:02):
I think that he I mean you have.

Speaker 3 (01:26:05):
I've also never thought he was good.

Speaker 2 (01:26:06):
I am with you. You had one playoff win in
his career. So I'm not saying that he is changing
the fortunes of every team.

Speaker 3 (01:26:15):
He's just not Deshaun Watson exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:26:18):
But when we're looking at the options of the last
few years, Joe Flacco, Dorian Thompson, Robinson, PJ.

Speaker 4 (01:26:26):
Walker, Deshaun Watson, Marten, this is.

Speaker 3 (01:26:28):
The most Cleveland Browns crap ever. Is like, well, it's
Kirk Cousins, but it's not Deshaun Watson. This is I mean,
this could not be more Cleveland Browns.

Speaker 2 (01:26:37):
And so I think, but I if I'm Miles Garrett
along again, this all of this comes, all of this
medicine comes with this very big sugar pill of that contract,
right yea, So the spoonful of sugar is more like
a truck load of sugar is making this medicine go down.

Speaker 4 (01:26:54):
But I could see it.

Speaker 2 (01:26:56):
I could see that selling point We're gonna have. We Look,
we are in a division vision with three cyborgs at quarterback, right,
you know what I'm saying. We talk about we got
our tool too, and then whoever the Steelers figure out
whatever they do, but to insistently Pittsburgh has been really
really good better than us.

Speaker 4 (01:27:14):
Over the last ten years.

Speaker 2 (01:27:16):
Right, they consistently are in the playoffs. Now we'll worry
about what they do in the dance later. But you
got to make you had to have the ticket to
even go, Brow Burrow and Lamar So Miles Garrett Dual
Carter Hey, that maybe will win some of these games
twenty one to seventeen, sure, as opposed to what Cincinnati
is going to try to do, which is won all
these games forty four to forty one.

Speaker 4 (01:27:36):
Right, So that's crazy. It look, it's not.

Speaker 3 (01:27:41):
It's not a good strategy, but for what Cleveland usually
has to deal with, it's progress question mark.

Speaker 2 (01:27:51):
Maybe I think, yeah, I think at least here, I
think though the gap between horrendous quarterback play in bad
quarterback play, yeah, is the biggest gap in sports. Yes,
I'd like and I think like the gap between like
mid quarterback play and really good quarterback plays is really

(01:28:14):
smaller than that.

Speaker 3 (01:28:15):
You know, do you think because the league has changed
enough over the last ten to twenty years, right, do
you think competent quarterback play is enough anymore?

Speaker 4 (01:28:30):
Like?

Speaker 3 (01:28:30):
I because I would qualify a Granted I'm a little
biased here because I am a forty nine Ers fan,
but like, I think Brock Purty is more than competent
quarterback play. I don't think he's elite. I think he's
played great compared to what you expect. But I don't
look at him as like competent. I look at him
as pretty good, Okay, right, I think back in the day,

(01:28:52):
you could have a Brad Johnson and a Trendill for whatever,
with an elite team around him, or in today's salary
cap situation, you hope that you have a solid young
quarterback before they get paid, and you put the team
around them like Jared Goff with the Rams and everything,
right like, and then you get to that point and
then hopefully you win a Super Bowl or you get
there or whatever. So I wonder, though, if competent is

(01:29:17):
and not even just for the Browns in general, right,
like I'm talking about just the league, is that enough? Like,
as a veteran like, can can someone like that? Can
a situation like that be a good sell anymore?

Speaker 2 (01:29:28):
So? I remember when the Colts signed Philip Rivers. Yeah,
I was talking to a guy who worked there at
the time, like, and I was explain this to me, right,
make this make sense? Because Philip rivers is was done
five years ago. Why are you signing Philip Rivers now?
And because I'm looking strictly at ability, right. And the

(01:29:51):
thing that he told me I'll always remember is you
don't see the plays that get called that phil saves
us from right audible into a run Audi, you know
what I'm saying, Audible into a short pass that of
this play because he sees this in the defense and
he says, this is what's gotta happen. That's so I
think that when like, but to me, that also plays

(01:30:13):
into competency, you know what I'm saying. So it's like
when I'm looking at a Kirk Cousins, I think that
he plays a competent level because he will see, hey.

Speaker 3 (01:30:22):
At minimum at the line, Hey we're going to change this,
and that's going to save you fifteen times a game
what would have been a disaster. Yeah, I'm not that's
a great run.

Speaker 2 (01:30:31):
I'm not running this bootleg because they got nine in
the box, right, I'm doing something.

Speaker 4 (01:30:34):
That's on Kirk Cousins. I'm not running bootlegs.

Speaker 2 (01:30:37):
I'm not doing this because they got fence there's three
deep safeties.

Speaker 4 (01:30:40):
We got to call something else here. Right, That's a
great point.

Speaker 2 (01:30:43):
And I don't think I think we undervalue the quarterbacks
ability to do that. And I think when you have
a guy who's been playing so long, they get you
in the right spots. And if you're a team like
Cleveland who just a few just a short season ago, Right,
this year was terrible, but two years ago, Joe f

(01:31:03):
I was in Vegas watching Joe Flacco lead them in
a playoff game.

Speaker 4 (01:31:06):
Now, you didn't lead them very far, but he was there.

Speaker 2 (01:31:09):
They were in the postseason with a guy who had
been driving carpool earlier that year.

Speaker 4 (01:31:14):
You see what I'm saying. Yeah, So, like I think competency.

Speaker 2 (01:31:18):
Now, if you are a team like you know that's
devoid of talent, then like if you're the Giants, for example,
I don't think competent quarterback play can get you to
the wild card.

Speaker 4 (01:31:30):
I think, but like, if you're Cleveland, got a really good.

Speaker 2 (01:31:33):
Defense, you know, say has had a really good defense consistently,
they were losing games like twenty to ten last year.

Speaker 4 (01:31:38):
Like, if you can hold a team under twenty points
in the NFL, we got some weapons, right, like they got. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:31:43):
Yeah, so I think they probably have to look at
a replacement running back with the Chubbs knee and all that.

Speaker 3 (01:31:48):
But it's not a team. The roster is solid. Yeah,
they're not devoid of talent.

Speaker 2 (01:31:52):
Yeah, roster is solid, man, And if you have competency
at that position, I think it can elevate to where
you can, like I think Pittsburgh has gotten off for
ten years with having solid rosters.

Speaker 4 (01:32:07):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying, just good coach. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:32:11):
Now, I think where you come into like is competency enough.
It's when you want to make the next step right,
like when you we in the forty nine Ers to
me are the number one example because if you those
plays come down to Jimmy Garoppolo missing Emmanuel Sanders in
the end zone by a step and a half and
that changes the future of the franchise. It comes down

(01:32:33):
to brock Perty not being able to step around Chris
Jones on that last where ayuquals wide opening the end zone.
That's the type of thing that like, that's where it
helps to have that Cydeboard Glamarrow, Josh Allen who then
can take you to that. So that's why I think
it's like, if you're just looking to be respected, yeah
you can. You can get into the like you can

(01:32:54):
win a super Bowl that way, you can really win
a super Bowl with that cyborg, right, But like yeah,
and also we're talking about the Browns. Just you gotta
just anything that gets you away from Deshaun Watson, it
gets you more towards competency at that position. And to
the point, eating the dead money for the Shawn now

(01:33:15):
or whatever.

Speaker 4 (01:33:16):
Like eighty one. It's just crazy. It's eighty one, eighty
one million dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:33:20):
But you know, you know what though, Denver Broncos just
last year wild Card team eighty five million dollars to
tell Russ thanks for the memories. Right, So it's like
it can be done in the NFL with good coaching.

Speaker 4 (01:33:33):
And the right roster. And you know, you make some terrible.

Speaker 2 (01:33:35):
Mistakes and Deshaun Watson a mistake, Russell Wilson contract a mistake,
you can pivot if you have the right foundation, which
is why I think even more so than anything, Well,
I was trying to cook this up with Ian.

Speaker 4 (01:33:47):
A producer like three or four weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (01:33:49):
About these they can't afford to take a rookie. They
have to get they have to have somebody in there
with some and I think the same same we deal
with the giants, these guys whose hot seats may or
may not be hot, especially when you have signed quarterbacks
like Deshaun or Daniel Jones who felt like more of
an owner thing than GM thing. Somebody's gonna get fired

(01:34:13):
here unless you turn this thing around. The best way
to turn it around. Again, we're talking about two options
that suck. But the option that sucked less, yeh is
the vet. Yes, yeah, because otherwise it's just but just
you know, just a little bit of advice. I know
you spend a lot of money on this franchise. If
you're the owner, get out of the way, let the
let the front office people do their jobs. I agree wholeheartedly,

(01:34:36):
and we'll go take your except for Jerry Jones.

Speaker 3 (01:34:39):
That's hilarious every time Jerry.

Speaker 2 (01:34:41):
I mean, people talk about Jerry bad like he's a
gift that keeps on giving. All right, coming up next though,
talking about teams and owners in front offices. Everybody should
be competing to the n right right right.

Speaker 4 (01:34:54):
We'll break that down next. Martin White, Zach Harper, Fox Sports.

Speaker 2 (01:34:57):
Radio, Fox Sports were Martin Weiss is Zach Harper come
into your live from the tire iraq dot com studios.
You can stream this show and all of our Fox
Sports Radio shows live twenty four to seven and the
new and improved iHeartRadio app. Just search Fox Sports Radio
in the app to stream us live. And one of
the newest features in the app, you can select Fox
Sports Radio as one of your presets, just like on

(01:35:19):
a radio dial.

Speaker 4 (01:35:20):
So be sure to pre set Fox.

Speaker 2 (01:35:23):
Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app and it'll always pop
up at the top of your screen. Or even better yet,
never change the channel. It'll pop up as soon as
you open up the iHeartRadio app every single time. So
Adam Silver was talking to the media on Thursday, touched
a bunch of different topics. One of them was tanking,

(01:35:44):
said teams fighting for the bottom as they search for
better draft ottery lot lottery odds. As we look at
the presumptive number one overall Pick and his team Duke
and Cooper flag as there you.

Speaker 4 (01:35:56):
Go, conking up with playing six to two right there, I.

Speaker 2 (01:36:00):
Mean, as they lead Alabama fifty four to forty six
with just about fifteen minutes left in the first app
but Cup, I'm Cooper. Flag will likely be the number
one overall pick in this draft. And as a result,
we've at least heard of teams m trying to lower
for Flag. I'm trying to think of a oh uh,
fail for flag, you know, crush it for Cooper, fail

(01:36:22):
for flag, and anyway you get the general just general point.

Speaker 4 (01:36:26):
But Zach Harper says he has a plan.

Speaker 3 (01:36:29):
I don't understand why the league does well. I do
understand why the league doesn't do this, but this The
fix for tanking is simple. Unweight the lottery. You miss
the playoffs, you have a one in fourteen chance of
getting the number one pick, and you just do it
for the top three picks, right right, one and fourteen chance. Now,

(01:36:49):
the reason they won't do that is because the fear
is someone might tank out of the playoffs, so they
get a chance. Right, You know what teams are not
going to do give up any amount of playoff revenue,
any chance of a Cinderella thing for a seven point
one percent chance to get the number one pick.

Speaker 2 (01:37:11):
And I think when you say teams, the thing is
important to specify because I know exactly what you're talking about.
But like ownership, right, like these things that like, these
mandates come on from on high.

Speaker 3 (01:37:22):
You the front office has to get ownership to be
on board for this.

Speaker 4 (01:37:27):
That is how that happens.

Speaker 2 (01:37:29):
And when we're talking about these teams, who would be
And that's well, the part of the problem is when
you're thinking about tanking out. So I would say this,
playoffs are play in. Well that that changed. No, if
you missed the if you miss the playoffs, you're in
the lottery, right, So if you're and you miss it,
you're you're in the lottery.

Speaker 4 (01:37:48):
Like see, because that that's my.

Speaker 2 (01:37:52):
That Actually I love it because people may feel it
radical or whatever. But all of these other distance sentimizations
of tanking are all like they all punish losing instead
of like rewarding winning, right, do you know what I'm saying,

(01:38:13):
Like instead of reward like instead of like you get
fined because they feel like you may have lost this
game as opposed to you got this win. So there's
some benefit to it. So to your point, there's no
benefit in that in that space to be a sixteen
win team. No, there's no benefit at all.

Speaker 3 (01:38:30):
Now some people would argue, yeah, but this helps the
really bad teams have a chance to be good. I'm sorry,
don't be really bad. Try that, right, Try being better
at your job as a front office. Like I don't
understand this thing, and it's the whole thing. Like I
think parody is for losers. I will say this forever.

(01:38:50):
Parody is for losers. It should be hard to run
an NBA team. It should be hard to win basketball games.

Speaker 4 (01:38:56):
It just should. It's pro sports.

Speaker 2 (01:38:58):
It's I put it like, they don't need to make
it any easier.

Speaker 3 (01:39:02):
No, they don't, right, And so one in fourteen chances
you missed the you missed the playoffs, one and fourteen
chance at number one pick? Fine, why is it, like,
why does it need to be any more beneficial for
a team that is sixteen and sixty six versus team
that went thirty and fifty two.

Speaker 2 (01:39:18):
And especially when you consider, like I've I've heard enough
guys say it to where I believe it true. Players
are not tanking, right, No, So, like guys are going
out there, and there's enough player of podcast out there
where you could tell a guy he's like, you know,
this time of the year, especially this March period and time,
you're not necessarily looking at all.

Speaker 4 (01:39:38):
The stars the guys who are locked up.

Speaker 2 (01:39:40):
This is when guys are out there trying to make
sure they have a job next year, right, yeah, a
job two years from now. So there's like people are
They're still going out there and going at it. That's
why you end up with the team like the Bulls winning.
Oh they're eight and two in their last ten. Yeah right,
they didn't great, you know they're but like to your
point of trying to stay out of the you know,

(01:40:00):
would you tank for like would you try to tank
out of the ten spot if you're in Chicago like
in this spot, or Miami if you're in this spot?

Speaker 4 (01:40:08):
Like, No, No, I don't think anybody would.

Speaker 2 (01:40:09):
Realistically try to do it because the chances that you
get it, it's not so they flattened them for the
first three, right, so the first three of fourteen percent? Yeah,
but if to your point, if it goes down to
one point four percent, you're legitimately playing for you know,
you they're playing to make the playoffs because you have
no benefit of getting the number one overall pick. And

(01:40:30):
the thing here, there's I don't think it exists in
the NBA. Are these in today's league where you can
draft one player and that player now immediately turns the
franchise around from an eighteen win team to a forty
win team.

Speaker 3 (01:40:50):
Wemby is one of the greatest rookies we've ever seen.
They won twenty two games last year.

Speaker 2 (01:40:54):
You see what I'm saying Like that, It's not like
in the NFL where you can make like the Patriots,
where it won four games last year. Right on paper,
right now, depending what to do with the draft, I
might pick them to make the wild card, right you know,
cause that that but that turnarounds not crazy. Houston won
three games drafts DJ Strouds making two three moves boom,

(01:41:16):
We're in the playoffs consecutive years. That's not happening, for example,
to the New Orleans Pelicans this year.

Speaker 3 (01:41:21):
No, the problem, like, okay, let's say a team does
decide to do that, that is going to be so
few and far between. It's not going to be a trend.
It's not going to be an epidemic of teams trying
to get out of the playoffs and making a mockery
of this thing. That's not going to happen. People, they're
making a mockery of it now. The product in March
is bad it's bad, Like it's really bad right now.

(01:41:44):
All that oh they're shooting too many threes in October, November, December,
all that crap is nothing compared to what fans are
paying for to go to games now. So that's the
issue that was asked.

Speaker 2 (01:41:55):
If you was in Washington last week, Oh, you watched
the team put up one hundred and six two points
in regulation.

Speaker 4 (01:42:02):
On your squad.

Speaker 2 (01:42:03):
One hundred and sixty two in regulation. It's a game
that had me looking up the highest score ever, which
is now No.

Speaker 4 (01:42:09):
One hundred and eighty six. Yeah, they were knocking on.

Speaker 3 (01:42:11):
The door at three point, right, but that was an overtime, right,
that wasn't a regulation.

Speaker 2 (01:42:17):
So it's like, I wholeheartedly agree, And it's just the
weirdest thing to me that like that like the league
in itself, that this is this tanking has been a
thing forever. Yeah, like conceptually has been a thing forever, to.

Speaker 4 (01:42:37):
The point where we had a team saying we're.

Speaker 2 (01:42:39):
Gonna like employ the process of doing this, like it's
something that's always happened. And but I honestly feel like
it's a little bit like it's it might be better
than it's been because if we're looking at a Cooper
flag twenty years ago, which you know was Lebron, right,
the super hyped prospect to like everybody was trying to

(01:43:04):
get it Lebron. You know what I'm saying, Like I'm
looking at teams. You know, obviously you look at the
very bottom, but teams like the Raptors, the Heat they
could be going in and like really starting two way
guys right now.

Speaker 3 (01:43:14):
To the league's credit, a big thing that helped was
the playing tournament. That did help teams remain competitive because
and you've seen the Heat go to the finals. You've
seen the Lakers get to the conference finals. Like you've
seen teams be in the playing tournament find success and
have a deep playoff run. That was something that kept
more teams competitive throughout the end of the season. So

(01:43:35):
that's helped it. But you said get like you saw
a team give up one hundred and sixty two points.
Oh to your point about the play in too, It
also for Memphis the year before. I think Memphis the
first year they were in the play in then took
a shot up to the top of the standings. Right,
Minnesota was in a playing game. Then they take a
shot to the top of the standings. It's almost like

(01:43:57):
and Houston didn't make a playoff game last year. I'm
not in game, but they were in the mix until
like the last week of the season, and then boom.

Speaker 4 (01:44:05):
You see, so it's a thing Portland. Portland will be
that team next year. R Portland's been going for it.

Speaker 2 (01:44:09):
Building, yeah, building on something, and then boom, all of
a sudden, are you know, hey, you know, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:44:14):
Maybe Josh Getty keeps sitting half court shots. It might
be Chicago.

Speaker 2 (01:44:19):
Let's kick it over to Steve de Seger right now,
new coach, same result it looks like for Memphis. But
I'm sure you have a ton of stuff going on, Steve.

Speaker 8 (01:44:27):
What you got well, everything just about is final in
the NBA.

Speaker 6 (01:44:31):
We'll get to that.

Speaker 8 (01:44:32):
Duke lead still double digits over Alabama was an under
twelve minutes to go right now, But Lakers are up
seven with about ten seconds left at Memphis, and yes,
he is playing tonight. John Moran had missed the last
six games with a hamstring injury. Memphis head coach Taylor
Jenkins was just fired yesterday. Morant on the court as

(01:44:53):
a starter tonight. Twenty two points tennis.

Speaker 4 (01:44:55):
It's nine of.

Speaker 8 (01:44:56):
Twenty three shooting from the floor. Lakers lead late one
thirty four to one twenty seven. They were up twenty
in the first half of this game, by the way,
thirty one points for Austin Reeves now twenty nine points
for Luka, Doncic Lebron James with twenty five Anthony Davis
for the MAVs seven of twenty three shooting from the

(01:45:16):
floor eighteen points in a Dallas victory at Chicago won
twenty eight to one nineteen. That ends the Bulls four
game winning streak. Boston won its eighth in a row
one twenty one, one eleven at San Antonio. Jason Tatum
with twenty nine points. He also had ten rebounds, eight assists,
just one turnover. Oklahoma City won its ninth straight game,
one thirty two to one eleven over Indiana. Shay Giljos

(01:45:39):
Alexander thirty three points. He had no turnovers. Miami got
thirty points from Tyler Hero in a win at Philadelphia,
won eighteen ninety five. Philly has lost seven straight. Brooklyn
ended a six game losing streak with a win at
Washington won fifteen one twelve. The Nets trailed with under
ten seconds left. Washington's record now sixteen and fifty eight.

(01:46:00):
In Orlando today rip Sacramento one twenty one to ninety one.
It is now a Laker final one thirty four to
one twenty seven at Memphis. Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers
will not play Sunday due to knee injury management. Update
on the Duke Blue Devils, one seed in the East
winning the regional final against two seed Alabama fifty nine
forty eight with under twelve minutes to go. Duke still

(01:46:22):
shooting fifty percent from the floor. Bama star Mark sears
two of nine shooting. He has five points, three turnovers.
One seed in the West Region, Florida advanced out of
San Francisco, winning that regional final, eliminating Texas Tech eighty
four to seventy nine. Florida had trailed by ten with
five and a half minutes left, then All American Walter

(01:46:42):
Clayton made three three pointers in the next four and
a half minutes. Clayton finished with thirty points. The Final
four is next weekend in San Antonio. To the women's
Sweet sixteen usc still alive. The top seeds won without
injured star Juji Watkins tonight sixty seven sixty one OHO
Kansas State. Yukon got forty points from Page Beckers and

(01:47:03):
beat Oklahoma eighty two to fifty nine wins in Birmingham
for TCU and Texas. Among the NHL games, Saint Louis
won it's ninth in a row, two to one at
Colorado Arena. Sabalanca took the tennis final in Miami. The
Yankees hit nine home runs in a win at home
over Milwaukee today twenty to nine. The final Aaron Judge

(01:47:23):
three homers, eight RBIs Miami in twelve innings edge Pittsburgh
five to four. Padres won nothing over Atlanta. Padres or
three and zero. Arizona's a Heenneo Suarez has homered in
all three games so far they see young season, but
the Diamondbacks are trailing the Cub's bottom of the nine
four to three Chicago good start for show to Imanaga.
He went seven innings. It was Houston over the Mets

(01:47:45):
two to one. Currently, it's the A's leading two to
one at Seattle in the fourth and the Tigers and
Dodgers are tied two to two. In the bottom of
the fifth, it was Roki Sasaki of La making his
home debut. He was out after an inning and two
thirds two runs, giving up four walks, a wild pitch,
sixty one pitch is thrown in an inning and two thirds.

Speaker 4 (01:48:05):
Back to you, thanks, Steve.

Speaker 2 (01:48:07):
You see that a robbery job last night and a
Chavez ravine. When they reviewed that, I'll say, oh, the
play at the plate, they play at the plate.

Speaker 8 (01:48:17):
Well, it didn't help that the Tigers runner who initially
was called safe in lunging for the plate, he curled
his back leg up right into the catcher's mitt.

Speaker 1 (01:48:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:48:27):
Well if his legs had just been out straight as
you dive face first toward home plate.

Speaker 3 (01:48:33):
See this is why you have to follow Willie Mays
Hayes in Major League two. You say, I'm coming right
through you, right, I'm on right through, and then catchers
sets up for a collision. I know it's not allowed anymore.
He sets up for glision. You jump right over him.

Speaker 8 (01:48:49):
And some people are faster rounding third than others. I'll
just say sure, yeah, yeah, issue getting the full spring
training trying to come home on that one. He wasn't
quite as bad as the World Series last year, when
Gincarlo Stanton was rounding third and it looked like NFL films.

Speaker 3 (01:49:06):
He's still he still has he still hasn't got there, like.

Speaker 2 (01:49:10):
The autumn Wednesday, one month out from the NFL draft
and things, you know, obviously flying right, all types of takes.
You know, guys are falling down the draft board, which
is you know, you gotta love that. It's like the
weather man predicting rain and being mad when it's Sonny.

(01:49:32):
You know, it's the biggest joke to me. But we've
seen what six quarterbacks go first round last year, which
was incredible, six in the first what was Nick's the
twelfth pick, first fifteen picks and six quarterbacks taken. So
I asked you this, and this year was the kind

(01:49:55):
of the renaissance of the running back, right, Ray Kwan
went nuts, Derek Henry went nuts. Even Josh Jacobs in
Green Bay had a great year. A lot of these
free agent running backs had great years. And it's kind
of changing the attitude of like, you know, what turns out,
maybe we could run the ball running backs actually good?

Speaker 4 (01:50:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:50:14):
Uh, So I asked you which one do you find
to be more likely three running backs drafted in the
first round, because we have one for sure, yeah, and
I think we have a possible gent's going to be.

Speaker 3 (01:50:25):
A first round Yeah, yeah, Well what about Hampton? I
think I think he's so.

Speaker 2 (01:50:30):
I think we're like you know, says think we have
two yeah, or three quarterbacks taken in the first round.
They got one that's a lock. Who's the and cam Ward?
I mean who the door.

Speaker 4 (01:50:41):
Feels like he's definitely gonna I think, right is a
question of where Jackson Dart.

Speaker 6 (01:50:46):
There's a lot of noise about Dart in the first round.
I have I would not.

Speaker 2 (01:50:50):
But the reason I think I think that there are
going to be three quarterbacks taken in this draft in
the first round. Like when we all are looking at
the line the one through thirty two Thursday night, we're
gonna be sitting up there and be like, I can't
believe the Steelers actually drafted Jaling Mirroe twenty one.

Speaker 4 (01:51:06):
All right, I can't believe the Steelers. I can't.

Speaker 2 (01:51:08):
I can't. There's so many good teams in this league
that are just lacking at quality quarterback, Like teams that
have rosters that are solid that are just lacking at quarterback.
To where Kirk Cousins is getting one hundred million dollars
guaranteed a sight unseen off of ACL tear.

Speaker 3 (01:51:28):
Yeah, do you see what I that's the Falcons.

Speaker 2 (01:51:32):
The Falcons have a take like the Falcons have a
team legitimately in a division that's been won by nine
game winning Tampa Bay.

Speaker 4 (01:51:39):
The last two or three years. You see what I'm saying. Yeah,
you cant like these things. It feels open, it does. Yeah, yeah,
it is open.

Speaker 3 (01:51:47):
I just man, I look at that, and I'm like,
and maybe he'll maybe he'll end up being good Jackson Dart,
that's gonna be the kid.

Speaker 2 (01:51:56):
I if I had to stake my claim on a guy,
it would be Jaylen Miller.

Speaker 4 (01:52:01):
I like him.

Speaker 2 (01:52:02):
I've liked his game a lot. Yeah, I think he
is high level at His deep ball is very high level,
his speed is elite, and I think we can figure
the rest out in the right scenario.

Speaker 3 (01:52:16):
Yeah, I guess my question would be with him, what
does it look like if you don't have great weapons? No,
I mean you know which, which I guess you could
say about any the college quarterback coming in, But it
like if he's I guess he wouldn't be going towards
the top of the draft, So you're probably going to

(01:52:36):
a better team. Sure, so maybe that's not such an issue.

Speaker 4 (01:52:39):
But to your.

Speaker 2 (01:52:40):
Point, yeah, because that's the same thing we're dealing with,
like and to be fair, still don't know the answer
for Joe Burrow may never right. We won't answer with
Joe Burrow, so sometimes it doesn't matter, right, Because that
was the big knock going on Joey coming.

Speaker 4 (01:52:53):
I was like, well, what's he gonna look like?

Speaker 6 (01:52:55):
He's always to start with wide receivers. Guess was a
rookie only had t Higgins right look pretty good that year.
Went to the second year.

Speaker 4 (01:53:03):
He got hurt four games into his rookie season.

Speaker 6 (01:53:05):
It was Jamar, do they go to the super Bowl?
Jamar's rookie year?

Speaker 2 (01:53:09):
Jamar sat out COVID College and good Man maybe it
was his first or second year. Could do the first
second year because I know Jamar sat out twenty twenty
and then people were worried about him coming into the
draft because he had had some drops in the preseason.

Speaker 3 (01:53:25):
This is such a tangent though, my bad ah No
I like it though, I man, we I now that
we're talking about it. Jackson darts one hundred percent go
in the first round. That feels like such a first
round pick.

Speaker 2 (01:53:36):
Like I would go with mil Row, but I've seen
enough people who know what they're talking about that like
watch his under pressure tape and so on, it's like
this guy could brut.

Speaker 6 (01:53:44):
Up Todd McShay early. Yeah, I think I think it
was like yesterday or the day before. He said, if
you take Jackson Dart, there's cutups you can watch when
you watch these guys tape. If you watch his only
under pressure, it's like elite, but you know, you got
to you.

Speaker 4 (01:53:58):
Gotta filter and everything else.

Speaker 6 (01:54:00):
It's not you know, has a guy in his face,
but you know that alone there's something to work with.

Speaker 4 (01:54:03):
But it's also it's much better than that.

Speaker 2 (01:54:05):
And if watches under pressure tape, but he looks like
he's you know, blind right right.

Speaker 3 (01:54:11):
Or or peeing himself, like I want to see that.

Speaker 6 (01:54:14):
The concept that you play better when someone's about to
white you up is kind of funny.

Speaker 4 (01:54:17):
I kind of like that, though. I wouldn't mind that.

Speaker 3 (01:54:19):
It's like the whole idea that like you need someone
to punch in the face to feel alive, you know, Like, yeah,
I don't mind that, I get it.

Speaker 4 (01:54:25):
I like that.

Speaker 3 (01:54:27):
The running back though, I wouldn't mind a run on
running backs. Look, and there's some that like there's some
real talent in the draft.

Speaker 2 (01:54:36):
Because this is the thing and like the draft nerds
of the world and you analytics losers and you're graphing calculators. Uh,
I don't know, okay, but that's what That's what I
think of every time. Is the t I eighty three,
which you know, I yeah, but the taking her running
back in the first round is not a problem. It

(01:54:59):
is a missing on a running back in the first
issue is the issue, which is just a sub section
of the issue of missing on any first round pick.

Speaker 4 (01:55:08):
Socks.

Speaker 2 (01:55:08):
Right, Like, if you miss on any first round pick
is gonna have a major impact, is gonna really set
you back.

Speaker 4 (01:55:14):
But like the Lions, Jamier Gibbs, they do that ten
out of ten times.

Speaker 2 (01:55:18):
You know why because he's the second best player or
best player on their offense.

Speaker 3 (01:55:22):
Right know who I blame Trent Richardson, you know, not
a bad take. That's that's who I think ruined it
for everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:55:28):
I think real quick, and I know, I know, we
gotta go. Trent Richardson went the third of our pick.
That really messed a lot of stuff up.

Speaker 6 (01:55:34):
Leonard Fournette too.

Speaker 2 (01:55:35):
I wouldn't say I said Leonard Fournette was his first
couple of years was good. Jerry mess the lot up
paying Zeke the money afterwards, like paying Zeke like he
was the top back. And but the number one guy
I give the running backs don't matter. Blame to is
Adam Gaze. Le'Veon Bell sat out that whole year and
then when he played for the Jets, just didn't use

(01:55:55):
him right, just didn't.

Speaker 4 (01:55:57):
I was like, you know, we had this high paid
running back, you know he just rather no, no, you
use it.

Speaker 6 (01:56:01):
Just just just HB dive.

Speaker 4 (01:56:05):
All he's doing. And all of a sudden, everybody's like, oh.

Speaker 6 (01:56:08):
The worst player that it carries to Frank Gore too,
that's the good.

Speaker 2 (01:56:13):
So I and then you know, you look at where
Adam Gase has been exactly, So I blame Adam Gase
has a lot to do with that.

Speaker 4 (01:56:20):
But coming up next to everybody says this is can't miss.
Is it true?

Speaker 2 (01:56:26):
We'll get to that and just the moment Martin Wiss
and Zach Harper, Fox Sports Radio coming to you line
from the Tirereck dot Com Studios. Martin Wiss, Zach Harper
keeping the seats warm for Aaron Torres and Jason Martin.
They'll be breaking down all of the college basketball action.

Speaker 4 (01:56:42):
Both male and female.

Speaker 2 (01:56:43):
You know, Hailey van Lyz set a record for TCU
player points score in a tournament for so good for her.

Speaker 3 (01:56:49):
And apparently Elite eight appearances.

Speaker 4 (01:56:52):
I hope it's a record, right, I hope it's a record.
If you've been to six, I don't have to tell you,
but she has been to five.

Speaker 2 (01:56:57):
And of course Duke right now playing Alma Florida the
first team to advance thus far. But you know, we're
seeing how this all plays out. But looking at Cooper Flag,
he's pretty much I mean, you know, we can come
up with all the acronyms or sayings or whatever, but
the people he's been the number one overall pick in

(01:57:17):
this draft for the last two years. Zach, What if
anything do you think could hold him back from reaching
his uh? What the media at least are people talking
about him think could be his true potential?

Speaker 4 (01:57:29):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:57:30):
I think I think the coverage of him has actually
been a disservice to his NBA potential because they're looking
at him as like a franchise savior and the problem is,
and look, he's gonna he is the number one pick,
and he should be and he's going to be an
excellent NBA player. He can't really dribble, Like that's the problem. Like,

(01:57:51):
like he's he's gonna be a great defender at the
NBA level. He's super athletic. He's gonna be a good rebounder.
He can hit spot of jumpers, so like I think
it jumpers pretty good. I think he'll be fine at
the NBA level. It needs to improve, but it's it's
in a good spot. But to be able to create
your shot consistently, his dribbling is not good enough. Like

(01:58:11):
it's not strong. It's to dribble into creating a shot,
into the gathering everything. It's not strong enough. We see
time and time again. He's just all over the place
at the college level. And that's all fine, Like he's eighteen, right,
Like it doesn't he doesn't have to be a finished product.
But if you're expecting him to go out there and
drop twenty a night by creating and having a bag

(01:58:32):
and all that stuff, like he doesn't have that.

Speaker 2 (01:58:34):
Yeah, that's the thing that I think I've seen more
and more as I watch him I'm reminded of a
clip DeMarcus Cousins was asked how he got the nickname Boogie,
and he got it like in college, right, Rod Strickling
gave it to him because he's going through the drills
and he's seven feet tall. But he's like, man, you
got a lot of wiggle, you got a lot of
boogie in your dribble. I'm trying to think of another guy, like,

(01:58:55):
for example, Kawhi Leonard doesn't right, he's trying straight through,
straight on it down, but he's lead what he does
when he's able to get out there. But when I'm
looking at a guy who I want to consistently be
able to make their own.

Speaker 4 (01:59:05):
Shot, you got to get open, and you gotta get.

Speaker 2 (01:59:07):
Open with your dribble. That's something that to me, we've
seen it a few times in this game. He's gotten
cut off at the baseline. He's gotten cut off at
the block trying to get to the rim because he
doesn't necessarily have the faith in his dribble and his
ability to explode through that.

Speaker 3 (01:59:21):
And we know it's not an athleticism thing. He's quick,
he's super quick, but it's the dribbling. Like I like
him to it, liking it to a young Paul George, right,
Like Paul George could not dribble early on in his career.
I told you earlier before, like it looked like he
was dribbling a football half the time. And I think
that's the problem with Cooper. And again, this is all fixable.
You get with skills, coach, you figure it out, you

(01:59:42):
get in the gym, he'll fix it. But don't expect
him to come in here and look like Larry Bird
or look like you know, any of these guys, Like,
it's not going to be that.

Speaker 2 (01:59:50):
Like a good example to me of a guy I
think can use his dribble and honestly does it a
little too much for my liking, but use his dribble
to get open jump shots.

Speaker 4 (01:59:59):
Is Jayson Tatum?

Speaker 2 (02:00:00):
Yes, right, He's figured out how to sell a little
shoulder fake and then all of a sudden has a
step back and now he is somehow but booty open
for three, yes, right, Like.

Speaker 4 (02:00:10):
That's not what Cooper Flagg's got.

Speaker 2 (02:00:12):
And I think for in order for him to reach
the potential that people are talking about him to reaching,
that's got to be next. Because I think he's got
a lot of the other stuff. He's not got visions
almost everything else really good. Passer size is crazy be
able to fit in the league. So but I do
think that ball handling is going to be the number
one thing. Aaron Tauris, Jason Martin up next.

Speaker 4 (02:00:33):
We're out.

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