Fox Sports Radio's Countdown Presented by BetMGM

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio. Oh, welcome in.
What is going on?

Speaker 2 (00:07):
My goodness?

Speaker 1 (00:08):
We've got NBA playoff action in full theme over here.
What do the NBA Playoffs and Al Michaels, the legendary
broadcaster have in common? We'll tell you in just a
couple of seconds. Hey, we are live coming at you
right now. Be sure to check out the Fox Sports
Radio YouTube channel. Just Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and

(00:31):
you'll see a whole bunch of video highlights from our shows.
Be sure to subscribe to you always have instant access
to our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube. Good morning, fellas,
Jared and Rich All good with you? Everything good here.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Buddy, Everything is great. You have a tale to tell.
I saw the posts on X and I hope you're
all right. Everybody was concerned and we're very glad. I
had to have your voice here and your your face
on a Zoom call.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
How are you doing, Brian?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Pretty good?

Speaker 4 (01:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:07):
I gotta get zoom fired up right here. First things first,
I don't know what was going on. I was silencing
my alarm like there wasn't a morning show today, you
know what I mean. I kept hitting snooze and in
the back of my head, I'm like, why is my
snooze going off a million times in a row here?

(01:29):
And it never dawned on me, like, dude, get up,
it's time to roll. Like I I was having some
crazy I was betting, you know, Japan Basketball Live late
last night and getting ready for the show this morning.
So it was it was a quick turnaround for me.
But yeah, what you're alluding to, Rich is this was insane,

(01:49):
like we'll get to the playoff hoops here in just
a second. But you know, I uh well, the quick
version of the story is I took a a hot
shower last Sunday, right, I always take these insane hot showers,
and at the end of this one last week, I
just felt woozy and I never felt faint like that.

(02:13):
After a shower, I saw him like something's weird. So
I know, sat down for a little while, you know,
drank something ate. Something felt a lot better and then
but not quite all the way better. And then the
next day I was with crack. I was with Bill Krakenberger,
who's on Countdown tomorrow. He invited me over in Vegas.

(02:36):
It was this you know, little get together for lunch
and so I went there and I kept telling my girl,
I'm like, my left arm is just heavy on what's
going on? And then my left hand was starting to
cramp up. And we went to men's warehouse. We're in
the parking lot because I had to grab a couple
of shirts and my left leg was weird too. It's

(03:00):
just like super weak. I'm like, I got to hit
up Christy. Yeah, it's my sister, and I told her
all my symptoms and she's like, you need to go
get checked out right away. I'm like, all right, cool,
So I went in there. I went into an urgent
care and this dude I think his name is Patrick
shout out to Patty Sweeka, who's in with us this morning?

Speaker 4 (03:21):
Right?

Speaker 1 (03:21):
But Patrick aka Patty, this dude knew his stuff at
urgent care and he told me it was funny. He
told me at first he was like, could be this
could be that you know, you need to get your
blood work done so you need a family doctor. Like
the funny thing. I guess it's ironic. I always double

(03:43):
check my work. The great Tom Loney has hit me up.
Not to be meandering here, but Tom Luney has hit
me up and made sure I'm okay.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
It used to be with.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Fox Sports Radio legendary guy, and he is always preaching
that's not ironny, you know what I mean, Like, yeah,
it's the opposite of what you expect. That's ironic.

Speaker 5 (04:04):
And so like.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
This Urgent Care doctor, he said, you know, you need
to get your blood work done. The irony is I
don't have a family doctor because I'm typically in great health.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
I don't even have one.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
He's like, you need a family doctor so they can
draw your blood and then they can tell exactly what's
going on. And I'm like, okay, I can do that.
And he said this. I'm there at Urgent Care and
he's like, yeah, don't worry about ER. If you step
foot in there, it's a thousand dollars, you know, And
so I don't think it's that.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
And then it's funny.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
He came back in the room and he's like, you know,
let me do a couple other tests, and he totally
changed his tune.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
I should have known then. He was like, yeah, go
to ER right now.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Just go there, because to get a family doctor it
might take weeks, might take a couple of months. It's
better to know just right now. If you're planning on flying,
you know, just just no right now.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
And so we're like, okay, we go to the er and.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
They're checking me out and one of the the er
guys goes, yeah, Urgent Care just send us a message
saying he's having a stroke. And they're looking at me
and they're like, Urgent Care doesn't know what they're talking about.
He's clearly not having a stroke. And then long story short,
if there is such a thing, it wasn't that long

(05:26):
later where that's exactly what was happening. Wow, and yeah,
that's what ended up happening. I did have a stroke.
And they're still trying to figure out why. They don't
quite understand why. It felt made me feel good rich
because they kept on saying, they go, you're so young,
and I'm like, right, that's what I'm saying. It's so young.

(05:49):
How how in the world can we even begin to
explain this? But they kept on saying that, right, like
so young, Yeah, right on, man, spring chicken over, how
could this happen? But yeah, it had happened, and luckily
I went in right away. That gave me something. I

(06:10):
don't even know what it was, but it kind of
counteracted what was going on, and they caught it pretty quickly,
so everything seems to be good.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
No long term effects, thank god.

Speaker 4 (06:20):
My goodness, my goodness.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Well well, I thank you for sharing the story. And man,
I'm glad you're back. I'm glad you're healthy. I'm glad
you're feeling yourself again. That's a scary situation and it's
a it's just a good warning to everybody. The signs
can be pretty subtle, like you were describing, just heaviness
in an arm, like a little cramping in your hand,

(06:43):
maybe a little less action to one of your limbs,
your lower extremities, and that could I mean, that could
just be that could be it. Then that's all you
get in terms of a sign of a stroke. But man,
I'm glad you're okay. I really am.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
No, thanks man, Yeah, it's crazy that was anywhere on
the bingo card. I didn't think for a second, I
knew something was wrong. I just felt odd. I don't
know how to explain it, just this weird feeling like
I could pass out. So I'm like, I got to
hit up Christy, like this is not common, right, Like

(07:17):
this is not normal?

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yeah, but I was thinking about this.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
You know if you're looking at the NBA playoffs, Rich,
and I think you've got Jared with us now too.

Speaker 4 (07:26):
But yeah, he's up.

Speaker 5 (07:29):
Good morning guy, he's.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Got what's up, Jared?

Speaker 4 (07:31):
How are you doing?

Speaker 5 (07:32):
But how are you feeling?

Speaker 4 (07:33):
Bud?

Speaker 1 (07:34):
Not bad. Rich was just like, man, you got a
tale to tell, and I was like, yeah, let me
take eight minutes to tell.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
I didn't mean to take that law apologize for that.

Speaker 4 (07:47):
I was hanging on. I'm sorry.

Speaker 5 (07:49):
I'm just glad you're okay.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
But yeah, what happened was a little connection speed bump.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
What was going on over there?

Speaker 6 (07:56):
No, I just you know, you know how it is.
On the back end of the morning, I was too big.
Is he handicapping nurfies for today?

Speaker 4 (08:02):
Dude? I was betting?

Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah, I appreciate.

Speaker 4 (08:07):
I was.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
I was betting Japanese basketball late last night and looking
at NBA lines, so I yeah, that was crazy. The
alarm clock was coming from outer space, you know what
I mean. And that finally dawned on me, Wait a minute,
it's time for countdown. And I did a mad dash
in here. So it was this a little rocky, but

(08:29):
we're rolling here. This is why I wanted to throw
out you real fast. So here, let me grab this
where we're looking at these playoff games and the insanity
that's going on here. It made me think of al
Michaels last night because this typically happens in an NFL season,
right where al Michaels after an insane week, all the

(08:51):
things we know are somehow disproving, like all the good
teams are losing, all the bad teams are winning, and
al Michaels will say we know nothing, right Like, That's
what the NBA playoffs remind me of.

Speaker 2 (09:03):
Right now, Think about Denver, think about the Nuggets.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
So the Nuggets last night, Game three, they have a
big surprise upset win. Game one, they had a big
surprise upset win, and sandwiched in between Game two.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
They lost by forty three.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, right, Like go figure, and you could go series
by series. Boston loses twice at home to the Knicks,
so forth and so on. So I guess the first
question is what do we really know at this point
as these series are playing mind games with us right now?
What's something concrete that you guys can cling on to
right now in terms of what you think is going

(09:41):
to end up happening I.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Think one of the things that's gonna end up happening
is the Celtics will get knocked out. I don't think
they're as good as they were last year. I think
they've ran into a real hornet's nest. With this New
York Knicks team obviously trailing. It's not a death knell,

(10:04):
but it isn't a fortuitous start for Boston and I
just I just look at this, this scrappy Knicks team.
I don't even want to call them scrappy. That's probably
too underwhelming of a of an assessment. I think that
it's possible for them to lose here or potentially be

(10:24):
beaten up enough during the course of this series that
it will affect their standing in the East moving on.

Speaker 6 (10:33):
Yeah, I'm not sold that it's over yet.

Speaker 5 (10:37):
On Boston, I think you.

Speaker 6 (10:39):
Don't sound like a Knicks fan, Jared, What's I know?
I know, and trust me, trust me. This has pained
me over the last two days because all I can
think about is Nicks Pacers Eastern Conference Finals reboot from
the nineties and thirteen year old Jared and nineteen ninety

(11:00):
nine watching Larry Johnson hit a four point play and
go nuts in a bar in South Florida, hanging out
like that's It's the only thing running through my mind
over the last two days. But then I have to
take a step back and say, the Celtics are still
favored to win the series. And that is the part
where you're like, Okay, obviously the market is giving a
lot of respect like Boston. No matter what happens tonight,

(11:23):
even if they lose tonight, they're gonna be favored in
Game four again on the road. They're favored tonight. They're
gonna be favored again in Game four. They're gonna be
favored in Game five. They'll be fake.

Speaker 5 (11:34):
They'll definitely be.

Speaker 6 (11:35):
Favored if it keeps pushing further and Boston keeps winning games, Right,
if we get to a six seven, that means Boston
won't one of you.

Speaker 5 (11:42):
They're gonna keep being favored.

Speaker 6 (11:44):
And if they can figure out this mental block of man,
we just can't make a shot, they're gonna be fine.
Like I and I hope I'm wrong about this take,
but I think Boston goes into the garden tonight and
I think they they lay away.

Speaker 5 (11:59):
I don't want to say woodshed, but I think they.

Speaker 6 (12:01):
Play significantly better at least what we saw in the
second half. And I also think the day off really
favors the Celtics, which if you would have asked me
going into the series, I would have said the extra
day favors the Knicks because of their style. But I
think the Celtics needed the extra day and they needed
to get out of the Boston garden and go on
the road, because that's usually when teams that are playing poorly.

(12:24):
You get out of the home environment, you change, you know,
your perspective, and then you go on the road in
a hostile environment, you play better. So I think the
Knicks are gonna I think the Knicks are in for
a struggle tonight.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
You could be right.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
And that's the thing is, I got into this debate
with one of my good friends who's a Knicks fan,
and I swear Knicks fandom will cloud your judgment, you.

Speaker 4 (12:45):
Know, like bing bong is.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah. He was telling me it's like, oh, the Knicks
are playing good and great three point defense in the
fourth quarter, and I'm like, you're drunk. What are you
talking about That Celtics are missing wide open shot on
the regular. That's not great defense, you know. So that's
the thing with Boston. I think this happens with NBA

(13:08):
players in general, where it messes with you. If you're
wide open, you got to take the shot, and if
you're missing them. It's a blend of I don't really
want to take the shot, but I kind of have
to because I'm wide open. So it messes with your rhythm,
it messes with your confidence, it completely disrupts your flow.
I remember there way back when these teams would just

(13:31):
like sag off of Lebron so much where it messed
with him right, like it angered him that you're not
showing me enough respect and I'm gonna hit the shot
in your face and then you would miss it, and
then he's just in his own head. And I think
you're seeing some of that with Boston. But to your point, Jared,
it's almost like the Calves formula, right. The Calves lost

(13:53):
two games at home, did not play up to their
standards and capabilities, and they smacked around the Pacers pretty
good yesterday. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if
you see that with the Celtics. I'll tell you one
thing that I know. I know that OKC is a
young team, incredibly talented last night. Great example, Isaiah Hartenstein

(14:15):
is taking three shots in overtime in missing three shots
in overtime. Yeah, and it's like, why is Hartenstein the
guy taking shots?

Speaker 2 (14:22):
How is this happening?

Speaker 1 (14:23):
How is Sga on the floor who's gonna be named MVP?
How is he not taking the shots or setting up
someone that's more offensive oriented, we'll say, than Hartenstein to
take these shots in overtime. OKC scored two points in overtime.
So it doesn't mean they're gonna lose to Denver. It

(14:44):
doesn't mean they're not going to win a championship. It
just means that they're very young and it could lead
to both of those things happening.

Speaker 4 (14:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Yeah, it's it's interesting when you see more veteran teams
and the problems they show up with versus teams that
are a little bit younger, a little bit less experience
in the postseason, and how they react to certain circumstances.
The second round of the playoffs in the NBA this

(15:11):
year is a strange one to handicap or to predict
because of what's happened at these home arenas. You know,
we have some absurdly lopsided records, so far through the
first nine or ten games, I think it's nine games
we've seen play was it two to seven for home
teams wins versus losses at home? I mean, that's that's craziness. Normally,

(15:38):
comebacks huge, Yeah, especially fourth quarter comebacks because you think
about home floor advantage normally means a lot in the
playoffs because it's such a closed environment and gets so loud,
especially for teams where you're not seeing that level of
passion night in, night out basis in the NBA, so's

(15:58):
it's amped up to level. But for whatever reason, these
home teams have lost. So look, one of these home teams,
or I should say teams with home court advantage, they're
gonna screw it up.

Speaker 4 (16:11):
I don't know if it's gonna be Boston.

Speaker 3 (16:12):
But my feeling, my gut is leading me to believe
that it's gonna be a shorter runway for them this
year in the postseason because of some I don't know,
some calm hiccups. But but something's up with the Celtics,
and we'll see, we'll see if any of these other
teams with home court advantage are flummoxed by what they're
seeing in the second round.

Speaker 4 (16:31):
As well.

Speaker 6 (16:32):
I really hope I'm wrong about this take, but I
really thinks are gonna lay a whooping today.

Speaker 5 (16:38):
I hope I'm so wrong.

Speaker 6 (16:40):
Come on next week, you'll be like Jaredy, that was
one of the worst takes you've ever given your life.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
Never be happier, you know, Yeah, yeah, I'll be honest.

Speaker 6 (16:50):
I might give out the Celtics to win the series
a rapid fire today just because I just I just
want them to want them to lose, you know, I
honestly might, so I just up.

Speaker 5 (17:00):
These are the team.

Speaker 6 (17:01):
This is the last This is the last ten years
of teams that have been up two to oh in
a series and have lost.

Speaker 5 (17:08):
The list is it's pretty long.

Speaker 6 (17:11):
The Knicks last year against the Pacers, now, very different scenario.

Speaker 5 (17:15):
They had like no team left by the end. There
you had O g Ananobi basically walking around on one leg.

Speaker 6 (17:21):
The Warriors against the Kings right two years ago when
they went down two oh and they won in Game seven.
Member they went on the road and won in Game seven.
It'll be a different scenario for Boston this year. The
Mavericks did it against the Suns in the second round
a couple of years ago.

Speaker 5 (17:33):
Actually, in twenty two.

Speaker 6 (17:34):
And then the big one, of course, is in the
NBA Finals, right the Bucks were down two oh to
the Sons came back and won.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
Soh yeah, I think it went ballistic.

Speaker 6 (17:43):
And they won four straight like that was it was over.
They were down two oh and that was it.

Speaker 4 (17:49):
It was done.

Speaker 6 (17:49):
Giannis went into god mode. So I think it depends
live by the three, die by the three. The Celtics
are the closest thing I think we have in this
NBA to a college team that is so driven by
the three point shot.

Speaker 5 (18:02):
We see it a lot in the mid major ranks.

Speaker 6 (18:04):
Right in the NCAA tournament, these teams come in, they
make a million threes, they beat everybody. I obviously Boston
is the significant favorite. They're not a mid major, but
that just makes them that much more scary because we
know how good they are. They're just not playing to
that potential. It's I really think the day off in
the road environment like it's gonna be nuts tonight in
the garden, it is going to be absolutely insane. I'm

(18:27):
fascinated to see how they feed off of that environment.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
I just want to confirm that we're pretty good friends
before I say this, shared like you and I we're.

Speaker 6 (18:37):
Always but no matter what you say, and also I mean,
you can, you know, chalk it up to your condition
and you're fine. There you go, matter what you said, like,
oh yeah, it was just feeling weird this week, Jared.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
You can sort of bookend it with the Bulls being
down two against your Knicks in around like ninety three
or so. Remember Starks goes baseline with.

Speaker 4 (18:58):
The dunk gosh. Yeah, yeah, And I.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
Believe it was the same series that Charles Smith was
blocked four times in a row and the Bulls ended
up winning that series in six.

Speaker 6 (19:08):
I think that's all right, right, I have to go.
I mean, there's been a lot of instances of teams
coming down. There's been thirty four instances of teams coming
down two in the last yeah, basically fifty years.

Speaker 5 (19:20):
So it's happened a decent amount.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Happened with Barkley a couple of times.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
I love how they'll go in the hot tub time
machine every now and then on TNT and Chuckster you've
got experience doing this, He's like, yeah, you know, they'll rattle.
One time was the best of five series, remember that
with with Chuck and gosh, they were going.

Speaker 5 (19:40):
In the finals back in twenty sixteen.

Speaker 1 (19:42):
Oh yeah, wow yeah, and then it was three to one,
so sure it makes sense. Wow craziness. All right, sorry
about story time. We're a little late here, but you know,
hopefully time we'll spend. Yeah, all right, We've got Rich
hon Berger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith FSR, betting analyst.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
I'm Brian No.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
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(20:22):
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Speaker 7 (20:36):
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(21:08):
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Speaker 4 (21:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
Hey, props to Alex ty Shirt in with us this morning.
And uh, Chris our guy. I don't know that he
left copious notes. If he did, I hope he would
have added played lots of you know that. That's that's right,
knew that. He probably just knew that on his own,

(21:35):
That's right. Alex is a player like that. He's like,
I know the drill here, we'll play some payback and
let's play you know, killing fields and all this ridiculous
stuff for no.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
You know, that's how beautif the drops going, he's on
his game.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
Oh, he's ready, he's ready here all right, So big
trade this week?

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Huh.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
George Pickens traded from the Steelers to the Cowboys, and
I want to play a game here momentarily. All right,
there's gonna be voting involved, extensive process, but let's start
off this way. Do you like the trade better for
the Cowboys or for the Steelers? Right, that's a simple question, Rich,

(22:15):
Which do you like better? Do you like it for
Pittsburgh or for Dallas.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
Here, Well, first, I want to start with one of
the best tweets I read about this whole situation. It
was man, George Pickens went from a team that's gonna
easily lose in.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
The playoffs with a quarterback.

Speaker 3 (22:33):
With no arm to a team that's gonna easily lose
in the playoffs with a quarterback with no arm. But
he'll play at four point thirty on Sundays because that's
the time the Dallas.

Speaker 4 (22:44):
Cowboys always play in that time zone. Hey, look, here's
the deal.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
Whether you're you're getting more primetime games and that's a
booie to your confidence, or you're playing opposite Cede Lamb
and that's a booye to your confidence, or you know
you think more highly of Dak Prescott than you do
the couple quarterbacks, or I should say the few quarterbacks
who have thrown to George Pickens now over his short

(23:10):
career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think this is a
better move for Dallas. I also think it may have
been the only move for Pittsburgh. For Pittsburgh, look, it's
sort of like the fallacy of some costs that were
that would keep them involved with George Pickens. He was
clearly unhappy. He wanted out. He's very talented. You want

(23:33):
to keep talent, but you can't have talent play for
you that does want to play for you, So you
have to at some point assess the value he's worth
in trade and then pull that trigger if it is
what's best for your team. So I think the Pittsburgh
Steelers probably got better here because they unhitched their wagon

(23:54):
from a guy who did not want to be with
the team. But if we're talking about dollars and cents,
if we're talking about who benefits more from this trade,
it really does feel like the Dallas Cowboys got much
more dynamic offensively.

Speaker 6 (24:07):
Agreed, I don't really think there's anything to analyze on
the Pittsburgh side. Jet they're getting back draft picks and
we have no idea who's playing quarterback for them? Like
Pittsburgh is just the enigma wrapped in a riddle, like
we think it's like Aaron Rodgers is the riddler, like
giving like the Steelers clues, Hey, I might come here,
I might come there. You never know, like Gotham is

(24:29):
just is up for grabs.

Speaker 5 (24:30):
Here in this situation.

Speaker 6 (24:31):
I know last year obviously was the year that he
actually was in Gotham, but it just feels like he's
holding the Steelers hostage like it honestly at this point,
and it makes sense why he would wait until after
the schedule release. Now, I know the schedule has been
pretty much set for a while, so even if he
announced it today, I doubt the NFL gurus that create

(24:54):
the schedule. I'm convinced it's like three brains in a
room somewhere that are, like, you know, moving all these
pieces together.

Speaker 5 (25:01):
They're not just gonna magically change it.

Speaker 6 (25:03):
Maybe they will, But the reason why I think from
what I've heard, that he wants to wait till after
the schedule release, and why the Steelers maybe want to wait,
is because they don't want to be saddled with like
nine primetime games.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
The biggest death blow.

Speaker 6 (25:17):
For a season. And Rich, you can attest to this
or not. Everyone loves to play Sunday at one o'clock.
Like it's consistent, you're on schedule. The practice schedule is
the same every week. If you go from playing Thursday
to Sunday night, then you play Monday, then you play Thursday,
then you play Saturday.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
You have all these primetime games. It makes it a
lot more.

Speaker 6 (25:36):
Difficult I think to manage the day to day of
the schedule.

Speaker 4 (25:39):
Rich, do you agree with that, Yeah, I do.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
I think that when you have a little bit more consistency,
when there's a little bit more I don't want to
say expectation, but when there's a little bit more of
a expected routine that's.

Speaker 4 (25:56):
The word I'm certain for routine.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
Then all of a sudden, sudden, you find yourself getting
into a groove a little bit faster during the course
of a season. And then also, you know, this doesn't
always impact a coastal team, but depending on schedules, you know,
there are certain times where it's Seattle, or it's Pittsburgh,
or it's New England, or it's Buffalo or it's La

(26:19):
one of the LA teams where it's.

Speaker 4 (26:20):
Like man, did you see how many miles they had.

Speaker 3 (26:23):
To travel over the course of this stretch of their season.
It was like ten thousand miles in a month. And
it's like, yeah, well, you don't really have those problems
when you're in Dallas versus when you're in Pittsburgh because
you're in the middle of the country. Every flight is
like two hours, So even little things like that crossing
time zones isn't as big of a deal. Even little

(26:45):
things like that, when there's more routine and you're a
finely tuned athlete, typically there's better results.

Speaker 6 (26:53):
Yeah, and I think Pittsburgh doesn't want to deal with
that this year. So if all of a sudden they
don't wait, they wait till after the schedule leads to
announce Rodgers and they just get their normal games, they'll
probably have significantly fewer prime time games. That's just a hunch,
just a hunch.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
That's interesting. I'll say real fast, because I have no choice.
I look at I think the Cowboys got the better
end of the trade here for a couple of reasons. Yes, yes,
George Pickens, incredibly talented, has to mature a ton. We
all know this. That's the obvious truth. With George Pickens

(27:28):
where he's put up numbers, He's just been a hothead.
Can't control his temper right, can't control his emotions. So, yes,
you've got the baggage part of it. It's not just
the talent for the Cowboys. The baggage comes along with
it unless he matures immediately, which is a lot to ask.
But even with that said, I just look at the
Steelers here and to me, you guys, correct.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
Me if you think I'm wrong.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
I think the only time the addition by subtraction thing
works for a team is if that team has superior
talent in the first place. You know, like, it's not
like the Steelers are oozing with talent left and right
all over that roster. You know, we don't even know
who's playing quarterback for them. Do they have superior talent
then the Chiefs, than the Bills, than the Bengals, then

(28:12):
the Ravens teams in their they probably third just in
terms of talent in their own division. So I don't
see how addition by subtraction puts you over the hump
of those teams that are all in your way. So
I think that it's the Steelers that come out on
the losing end of this. Okay, now here's the game
I want to play, all right, winners and losers. We

(28:35):
got to go fast, Okay, the rapid fire style. A
couple of comments will move it along. We'll just go
with certain figures, right, and you tell me based on
the trade, was he a winner or a loser?

Speaker 2 (28:48):
Right?

Speaker 1 (28:49):
Let's start with the obvious, George Pickens getting traded from
the Steelers to the Cowboys. Does he win with this
trade going down?

Speaker 3 (28:57):
I think he does, yes, and for the s I
already described, but I'll add one more. I think he
hasn't unlocked his true potential because the position he plays
his incumbent upon having a talented quarterback. And I don't
think he's played with an overwhelmingly talented quarterback yet. And

(29:17):
I think Dak Prescott can be a top ten quarterback
when he's playing at his best.

Speaker 6 (29:21):
Bingo and now he is legit r WR two where
CD lamb like he's the He's the Robin to the
Batman for sure, and he also plays indoors. Now, I
actually absolutely think it's a win for George Picks.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
I do too, so it's a clean sweep. You know,
majority rules here, the three of us vote. You know,
whatever the majority is on, that's what it'll be, you know,
and it's set in stone like no one can disagree
with that. I think he's a winner real fast because
of a couple of things where what you guys mentioned,
he's got Daks' quarterback, he's on the same field as

(29:54):
CD Lamb. You can do a whole lot worse than
that in terms of matchups, the coverage that you're going
to see. Are you gonna see doubles? Not routinely when
Cedee Lamb is on the field, you know, so you
can eat. You can put up some numbers over here.
And I also think fit. You guys might push back
on this, but think about it. If you think a
fit Mike Tomlin is no nonsense and that and the

(30:16):
Steelers really, if you think about it, they are too.
It's the standard is the standard, it's lunch pale, let's
line up and smack you around here. That's the Steelers, okay,
And that's really not George Pickens. And I'm not blaming
the Steelers for him being immature, but sometimes fit has
something to do with how comfortable you feel. And I
don't think George Pickens was a great fit for Pittsburgh.

(30:38):
I know he wasn't. And the Cowboys they're looney tunes.
I don't know if it's gonna work out where. This
could be the rare time where a wacky environment could
help a player, or it could go the other way.
It's a it's an immature guy, it's an immature surrounding
way you think is gonna happen. The immature guy's gonna
be even more immature. It could work out that way.

(30:59):
But I do think I think going back to Pittsburgh,
square peg, roundhole, it just wasn't a good fit. Yeah,
And so I think he's a winner moving on and
getting traded here. How about Mike Tomlin does the Steelers
head coach? Is he a winner or a loser with
this transaction?

Speaker 3 (31:16):
I think he's a winner as well. I do view
this more win win win all the way across the board.
And here's the reason why. Because I think Mike Tomlin
had a problem, and I think you perfectly perfectly described it, Brian.
He was relying on a wide receiver two to be
a wide receiver one. And I don't think George Pickens
in that environment had the maturity and the personality to

(31:41):
handle that responsibility. I think he is going to be
better casted as a batman to somebody else's robin, excuse me,
a robin to somebody else's batman than the other way around.
I think we're gonna see better results from him with
less responsibility and unless eyes and attention being placed on

(32:03):
his antics, you know, Ceedee, Lamb is the guy until
proven differently, right, So he's going to be chasing what
eighty eight is doing out there on.

Speaker 4 (32:11):
The football field.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
And I think that I think that Tomlin kind of
felt that he knew that the maturity issue was there,
and this is a better deal for the Pittsburgh Steelers
as well.

Speaker 4 (32:20):
So yeah, I think Tomlin's a winner here too.

Speaker 6 (32:23):
So I'll read you some of Mike Tomlin quotes that
confirm he's a winner. Obviously, the one we all know
is the standard is the standard.

Speaker 5 (32:30):
That's one of my quotes.

Speaker 6 (32:32):
Ever, another one that I like is I want volunteers
not hostages.

Speaker 5 (32:37):
I think that applies.

Speaker 6 (32:39):
Pretty well to the situation here. And then the final
one that I think is the cherry on top as
to why Mike Tomlin's a winner here, I expect routine
catches to be made routinely again. Tomlin is one of
the best equips quotes in the NFL. Right now, Those
three I think are perfectly sum up why.

Speaker 5 (33:02):
He is a winner in this situation.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
You know, it's a tricky one for me.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
I'm going to say he's a winner, but there's some
fine print, you know where George Pickens did not fit
Tomlin's whole approach.

Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah, did not fit at all.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
Tomlin is no nonsense, Let's get after it, you know,
and George Pickens is, yeah, I don't know. I'm feeling
irritated that I didn't put the ball on third and three,
and I want to let the world know right now,
and it just I could you could tell Mike Tomlin
is like, oh this freaking guy again. My gosh. The
reason I say that he's a winner is what I

(33:40):
just explained, Like, Pickens never fit in and you did
pick up DK Metcalf. You know, it's not like the
cupboard is bear. So I think that's a big deal
as far as that goes. Okay, we'll do one more
real fast. How about Aaron Rodgers. He's gotta be a
loser in this, gotta be What is Rodgers care about

(34:01):
drama and antics and oh I didn't get the ball.
And Rogers wants talent, like as much talent around him.
So if he does go to the Steelers, he's equipped
with enough firepower to do some damage and go far
in the playoffs and make some noise and get some headlines.
What does he care about George Pickens not fitting into
the culture, being a diva at times?

Speaker 2 (34:22):
He probably doesn't care at all.

Speaker 4 (34:24):
Yeah, yeah, I get what you mean.

Speaker 3 (34:28):
However, I still feel like Rogers is a winner, really,
because here's the thing. His signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers
is still an if you know, we're not one hundred
percent sure there, and so wouldn't you rather have more
information than less? If he would have signed a week

(34:49):
ago with the Steelers and all of a sudden they
trade away one of the more dynamic pass catchers in
the league. I mean, if I'm Rogers, I'm throwing my
hands up, like, are you kidding me? Timings everything in
this world. This must have been on the back burner
the whole offseason, and now they go and do it,
you know, days after I signed.

Speaker 4 (35:07):
With the team.

Speaker 3 (35:08):
So I feel like with now he pretty much has
the full information on what the offensive side of this
roster is going to look like moving into the regular season.
It's more and better information to make his decision with
whether or not he wants to sign up and play
for the Steelers this season.

Speaker 6 (35:26):
So there, he went there, and he convinced me. I
was gonna say Rodgers is a winner, but I actually
agree or excuse me, he as a loser, but I
actually agree with Rich. I think the more information Aaron
has the better, and I think that now he has
more of a set lineup, he can make a better decision.

(35:47):
Now that doesn't mean it's a good decision, but I
think Aaron Rodgers now has more Right, Like, if we're
making a bet, I want all the information before I
make my bet, I want to know who's playing.

Speaker 5 (35:57):
I want to know the lineup and all that. So, yeah,
I agree, Right, that's a good point.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
You had the swaying vote, Jared, How do you know
what a sorry? How can Rogers be a winner? He
just lost a dynamic wide receiver who, yeah, is immature
and tough to deal with, but so is he He's
just not a wide receiver. It would be two peas
in a pot if he's teaming up with George Pickens.

Speaker 6 (36:22):
You know, two negatives make a positive. I guess maybe maybe.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
All right, we've got rich Oinnberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
I'm Brian No.

Speaker 1 (36:31):
Use code Countdown at bet MGM and receive up to
fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if you don't
win your first bet. When you're register with bet MGM,
you'll get instant access to a variety of parlay selection features,
live betting options, signature bets, and the best dayly promotions
in the business. Again, use code countdown and you'll get
up to fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if
you don't win your first bet. All right, we've got

(36:53):
the par lay platter on deck. Jared will lay out
the theme as he always does, and we will get
to it.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
That's on your on the way.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
Next, it's Fox Sports Radios Countdown, presented by betmgmh.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
You Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 7 (37:07):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. Use
Code Countdown at betmgm and receive up to fifteen hundred
dollars back in bonus bets if you don't win your
first bet. When you register with BETMGM, you'll get instant
access to a variety of parlay selection features, live betting options,
signature bets, and the best daily promotions in the business. Again,

(37:40):
use Code Countdown and you'll get up to fifteen hundred
dollars back in bonus bets if you don't win your
first bet. All right, let's dive into this.

Speaker 7 (37:51):
Check this out our late letter.

Speaker 1 (37:53):
Hi, Yes, the platter over here, Jared, mister theme man,
what are.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
We doing over here?

Speaker 5 (37:59):
Well, the theme today.

Speaker 6 (38:00):
We're gonna stick with NBA Props for at least another
couple of weeks as we kind of, you know, sift
our way through the rest of the NBA postseason. So
let's get to a guy who I think is actually
very undervalued in this series between the Timberwolves, and I
would say it's Julius Randall. So Julius Randall to me,
rebound prop is one that I'm looking at today over

(38:20):
six and a half rebounds. So he is a guy
that is usually priced in the seven and a half range.
He averages about seven point.

Speaker 5 (38:28):
Two during the regular season.

Speaker 6 (38:29):
We've seen that number come down a little bit in
the postseason, but he finally broke out against the Warriors
the other night with seven rebounds and eleven assists and
twenty four points. Again, this is one of the best
games I think Julius Randall's played in quite some time,
the all around game kind of coming to the forefront.

Speaker 8 (38:43):
Now.

Speaker 5 (38:43):
He's only gone over this number in two.

Speaker 6 (38:45):
Postseason games so far, but it just feels like on
the road, the Warriors offense is kind of, you know,
in shambles right now. There's gonna be more misses and
that means more rebounds. I really think Julius Randall, Guys,
I don't want to say Minnesota is going to be
a favorite going forward. They're obviously a favorite in this series.
They're probably gonna be a dog against either Denver or OKC.
But I think Randall's going to be a big key

(39:07):
to this series. We'll go over six and a half rebounds.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
All right, Jalen Brunson over six and a half assist
against the Celtics. The Seeds, they're going to try to
continue to keep the ball out of his hands, which
means he's going to look for some dimes when he
can't cash in himself. So give me Jalen Brunson over
six and a half assists.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
All right, this is a pick a little bit based
on principle, because I knew it would be orange and
blue skies with you guys, you know, So give me
og Ananobi under fifteen and a half points and listen,
it's been feaster fam in the first two games with
og twenty nine points in game one, only five points

(39:46):
last game. So the zig zag would make you think, hey,
maybe over. But he does such a great job defensively,
and it's been a common theme against the Celtics. He's
gone under his point total because he really does buy
in defensivelace. I'll go under fifteen and a half coming
up next. Defense is often rewarded. Okay, we will get

(40:09):
to bad defense often gets rewarded in this sport. Momentarily,
hope your Saturday is off to a great start. Be
sure to check out the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and you'll see
a whole bunch of video highlights from our shows. Be
sure to subscribe to you always have instant access to
our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube. All right, so

(40:31):
can we get back to my crazy NIX friend, This guy,
Bruce Love, this guy we work together in New York,
and he's just hitting me up with all these ridiculous knxstakes.

Speaker 8 (40:42):
You know.

Speaker 4 (40:46):
That might be.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah, he was like, Oh, our fourth quarter three point
defense has been good and great at times, and I'm like,
you're drunk, what are you talking about. I sent him
a YouTube clip. I just on to YouTube video where
they're showing highlights of the fourth quarter, and I'm like,
just watch the first three minutes. You see Peyton Pritchard

(41:08):
wide open three. You see Al Horford wide open three,
no one near him. Okay, Like, that's not good to
great three point defense by the Knicks. It's just not
Here's the reality in basketball that's fascinating. Oftentimes bad defense
gets rewarded.

Speaker 6 (41:25):
I know.

Speaker 1 (41:26):
It's kind of like, how how can that be. It's
called a rim. Okay, it's called the hoop. You can
play bad defense, not challenge a shot, not rotate, not
move your feet, not do anything well, and the Celtics
just miss an open shot and it looks great in
the box score. You know, it looks like the Knicks
are really they're playing some championship tea.

Speaker 2 (41:48):
No they're not.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
They're not at all. It's what happens often is, especially
in the playoffs, bad defense gets rewarded. That's foreign in football.
That does not happen in football. I think about it
like bad defense the defensive line is just getting knocked
off the line of scrimmage. Well, they're gonna run the
ball down your throat. It's not like they somehow screw

(42:11):
that up. Or if you have wide open, wide receivers,
I guess there's a chance you get a Tim Tebow
esque throw from time to time, you know what I mean,
Like Anthony Richardson says, hey, my guy's wide open oops
and airmails. It will happen from time to time, but
not as common as basketball. It is common in basketball

(42:31):
where bad defense will get rewarded, often with just missed
open shots. And we've gotten a steady dye of that,
especially in Game one for the Celtics, who are what
fifteen of sixty from three point range. There were so
many good looks that they're just clanging. That's not good defense.
Don't confuse it for good defense.

Speaker 3 (42:51):
I agree with some of what you're saying. I will
say the Knicks are playing a bigger role in this
series than you're giving them credit for it, because I
think TIB's system, Tom Thibodeau's system demands elite effort on defense,
and I think that's the reason why he can clash
with certain professional locker rooms, because not everybody wants to

(43:14):
work as hard on one side of the court as
they do on the other. And I think we know
what the other side is. It's the offensive side. Everybody
wants that. Everybody wants, you know, the riches and the
spoils that come with being a great offensive basketball team.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
However, not everybody wants to put in the work.

Speaker 3 (43:32):
But I think he's found a group, especially around Heart,
who I would say is one of their more exceptional defenders,
and Ananobe, who is very, very talented, and I would
say those are their two dogs. And then you know,
you look beyond there. They have rim protection and then
they're playing with this insane playoff intensity right now that

(43:57):
I don't know if the Celtics has quite frankly matched yet.
That could shift, you know, the Celtics could extinguish some
of this excitement going into Madison Square Garden as this
series moves to New York, and they are now looking
staring down dropping three to the next year in this series,

(44:17):
So things can change. I'm not saying they won't. I'm
saying it's a possibility for the Celtics still. But I'm
seeing things, especially on the defensive side of the court,
that really do that really do inspire me to believe
that not only are the Knicks one of the sweet
surprises out of the East this year, but potentially one

(44:38):
of those teams based on how good they look defensively
and then how good they can score, that they could potent.

Speaker 4 (44:48):
I don't even want to get caught.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
Up saying this because this is coming from like a
recovering Knicks fans from the John Starks, you know, Anthony Mason,
Patrick Ewing days, Like I love those teams growing up,
and I steered away from them. I was always a
Bulls fan when they played against the Bulls because everybody
was a Jordan fan.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
But I grew up in New York.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
So it's hard for me to say this with a
full chest and a lot of confidence in bravado, But
the Knicks are team that if they continue playing the
way they've played through the first two games or improve potentially,
this is a team that could take home a title,
that's getting very far down the road or crazy. But
I do I do love. I do love the effort

(45:32):
they're playing with defensively.

Speaker 6 (45:34):
What did Paul Pierce say if if all right Celtics won,
if the Celtics didn't win Game two, he'd.

Speaker 4 (45:39):
Walk to work? Yeah? Did, and he did.

Speaker 5 (45:43):
If the Knicks win the.

Speaker 6 (45:44):
Title, I will go to La and I will do
the show on Saturday morning from the studio.

Speaker 5 (45:53):
I will walk through the debt. And I'm just kidding.
I will not do that Vegas to La.

Speaker 1 (45:58):
Yeah for a second, I'm like, wait a minute, where
are you right now? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (46:03):
Attempted the posts have attempted a hundred. I can't I
can't even imagine what kind of walk that would be.
I'd have to leave like that before.

Speaker 2 (46:13):
It would be a rough walk.

Speaker 6 (46:14):
If the Knicks win the title, I will do something grandiose.

Speaker 5 (46:19):
Well, let's get to the finals.

Speaker 6 (46:21):
First, and then we'll and then we'll cross the briefly
come to it, as my mom said. But the Celtics
have attempted one one hundred three point shots in two games.
What what's the what's the all the you know the
viral uh, you know talk these days?

Speaker 5 (46:36):
One hundred men versus one gorilla?

Speaker 6 (46:39):
Yeah, one hundred three point shots versus five Boston Celtics.

Speaker 5 (46:44):
Can we figure out a way to get across the
finish light here with some of these shots?

Speaker 6 (46:48):
Like, it's it's insane the volume of shots that they've taken.
And you would think, right, the definition of insanity is
doing the same thing over and over again and expecting
a different result. That's how this series has been for
Boston so far. Now, I think the shots are going
to start falling at some point. The law of averages

(47:08):
say they have to. But I kind of hope it's
not tonight because if it is tonight, Like, how does
our perception of this series change if the Celtics shoot
forty percent from three tonight and win by twenty Yeah,
all of a sudden, it's like, well, Boston's going to
win this series. Like that's how quickly I think things

(47:31):
can change.

Speaker 5 (47:31):
And all it takes is a few shots to go.

Speaker 1 (47:33):
Down, Absolutely no doubt about it. Because let's not forget
and it doesn't mean everything. But at the beginning of
the series, the Celtics were what minus nine hundred to
win the series, Like, you'd have to risk nine hundred
dollars just to win one hundred dollars. That's how big
of a betting favorite the Celtics were to beat the
Knicks in the second round. And so, yeah, to your point, Jared,

(47:56):
it takes one good game. It takes one win, and
especially if it's impressive and most of the reaction, well
is what we expected.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
Here come the Celtics. You know, they're just better.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
And that's the thing, Rich is I think two things
can be true at the same time. Yeah, the Knicks
play with effort defensively, they buy in, they compete. That
doesn't mean they're incapable of allowing open shots, and they have.
They've allowed a lot of them. They just haven't been
falling for the Celtics. So I don't you know, TIBs,
I love him and he absolutely preaches defense and the

(48:33):
Knicks they typically play good defense.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
And Anobe is a good defender.

Speaker 1 (48:38):
You know, he can go out and challenge shots with
the best of them. Bridges, Yeah, they pick up another wing.
So they specifically built to compete against the Celtics. You
gotta have wings against Tatum and Brown just have to.
But even a team that competes hard is capable of
giving up open shots routinely. And they have, They absolutely have.

(49:00):
The proof's in the pudding. They can just put on
a clip and just watch the fourth quarters and it's
like open three, open three.

Speaker 2 (49:07):
Just count the open threes.

Speaker 9 (49:08):
Yeh.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
Their quality looks.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
It's not like there's a hand in their face every
single time, and you're like, wow, man, that's just championship
defense right there. That's not what's going on, all right.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
I agree with everything you said. I'll just add this context.
It is very easy to make an open three in
an empty gym. It is very easy to make an
open three, you know, in minute one of the first quarter.
It's very difficult when you're playing against a team that's
breathing down your neck, that is posting and posing a

(49:42):
real offensive threat on the opposite side of the court,
and then wearing you out defensively, where you're trying to
hit that three, even if it's an open look, huffing
and puffing because this team's got your running ragged. Like
Thibodeaux wants his opponents to run against teams that he's
fielding that he's putting on the court. It's a lot

(50:03):
harder to bang those threes, you know. So conditioning comes
into play when you're playing against a Tom Thibodeau group,
and this truly is a Tom Thibodeau group. This is
a team that's in better shape than most of the
opponents that they've played this season. They're wearing out the Celtics.
You've seen it on their home floor. It feels like
a lot of those fourth quarter misses where the Celtics

(50:25):
have been so clutch in the past, is because it's
harder to concentrate when you feel your heartbeat and your eyeballs,
you know, because you've been you know, you've been gassing
out for you know, some part of thirty six minutes
on the hardwoods. So I'll say this, I think that
you're You're both right. I do think that on paper,

(50:46):
the Celtics are a better team. But I don't want
to hand them their flowers yet because frankly, they haven't
earned them in this series yet. They've looked in those
clutch moments where if they've looked so so much better
in the regular season and in the past playoff a
recent past playoffs that they haven't sold me yet, not
in this series. I need to see them win Game
three in order for my opinion to even start to change.

(51:10):
I need to see them win pretty convincingly in game
three from my opinion on this series to start to change.

Speaker 5 (51:16):
Heartbeat in your eyeballs.

Speaker 6 (51:18):
That sounds like what I'm gonna be doing later tonight
in Vegas, going out hitting the club scene, going.

Speaker 5 (51:25):
My heart beat my eyeballs tonight, let's go.

Speaker 6 (51:29):
I think what I think what Rich is referring to
is the phenomenon known as TSS tightsphink their syndrome of
a bad.

Speaker 5 (51:38):
Case in it right now. Yeah, these are open looks
that they're just bricking and.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
They're wide open shots.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
Yeah, yeah, I.

Speaker 6 (51:47):
Think the I think the I think the day off,
and I know I said this in the first hour,
I'll harp it again. I think the day off, and
I think the change in venue. You would think like
if you just if you asked me before the series,
and you're like, oh wow, the Knicks get an extra
day off to rest those weary legs that Tibbs has
been running into the ground for the last eighty two

(52:08):
plus games, and they get to go home to the
garden that's gonna be rocking. These are advantages for the Knicks.
I actually think they are advantages for the Celtics. And again,
I know that sounds crazy, but when you handicap this situation,
Boston right now is beleaguered, you give them that extra
day to clear their mind and you get to change

(52:29):
the venue. I think that actually galvanizes this team. And
I think that hostile environment right Rich, again, you could
speak to this more than I can. Sometimes, when you're
struggling and things aren't going well and then you get
out of your element, you get into a road environment,
everybody hates you, The Knicks fans are going to be
at full throat the whole game. Sometimes that actually crystallizes

(52:51):
your purpose, right.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
It can, It absolutely can.

Speaker 3 (52:54):
And Brian, I mean you've watched more playoff basketball than
the two of us combined.

Speaker 4 (53:00):
I think I think.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
When I watch when I watch the NBA these days,
what what I see as a game where the good
usually out does the bad, you know what I mean?
Like just because of even even though officials they they refs,
they'll swallow the whistle more in the postseason, but this
is this, this game still skews.

Speaker 4 (53:21):
Way more offensive.

Speaker 3 (53:22):
So the more complete offensive team usually does prevail, even
even now and in today's NBA where where they're they're
trying to bring back some of the luster and a
lore from yesteryear, uh, allowing more to go. I think
I think still, yeah, man, Like the emotional part of

(53:44):
the game that you brought up, it factors and sometimes
when you can get out of your element and get
out of your head a little bit, it can have
a big impact. So I'm not I'm helping your argument,
both of your arguments here that the Celtics are the
better team, and they they're more fortified team, but I
need to see them play like the Celtics in Game
three because they haven't played like themselves.

Speaker 4 (54:06):
In the first two games of this series.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
That's fair, all right, let me throw this at you
real fast and we'll move it along.

Speaker 2 (54:11):
But I think a couple of things.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
I said this a little bit earlier, but I really
do think it's part of this series where the Celtics
are just in their own heads. You know, they one
of the quarters in Game one. They missed nineteen of
twenty shots from three, you know what I mean? Like, yeah,
and a lot of those are quality looks. And so
as an NBA guy, you're kind of messed up where

(54:37):
I'm open, this is what we do, let it fly,
and you miss it, and now you're second guessing yourself,
like should I have taken that shot? But it was
a quality look like it just didn't drop. But what
And you're kind of just messed up. You're out of
your rhythm, you're thinking too much. That's what I see
from the Celtics. They're not playing free, you know, so
I think the mental part of it kicks in. And

(54:59):
I also think this, I think the Celtics are a
lot like my Miami Dolphins. And hear me out on
this because the Dolphins they're just a little bit too pretty,
and hear me out because the Celtics they do have
the ground and pound element. But if you think about
the Dolphins, that's why they went offensive and defensive line

(55:21):
in the draft, Like they're just not line up and
just knock you off the line of scrimmage. That's just
not them. Unfortunately, it's timing, its precision. It's pretty, it's
pretty when the offense is functioning, but that raw power,
it's just they don't rely on that as much or
they don't have that aspect. I think that the Celtics
just don't rely on that aspect as much. Where if

(55:44):
you think about it, it's not as if they don't
possess it. You've got Tatum and Brown. They're physical players.
You're not gonna just push them around. You know, they're
imposing wings. True Holiday is one of my favorite people
on Earth. True Holiday is strong enough to guard centers,
you know, like Drew Holliday is a man, you know.
So I'm not calling them soft. I'm calling their style

(56:06):
soft where they have offensively less ground and pound less. Okay,
our shots aren't falling, That's cool. We're just going to
attack the rim and there's nothing you can do about it.
They're just like, well, I guess we're just gonna settle
for jumpers and hopefully they fall right Like that, that's
more of a softer approach offensively, and so I wish

(56:27):
that they had a little bit more edge to them
and a little less pretty to them, because they can
play a physical style, they just oftentimes don't rely on
it as much as they should.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
In my opinion, I think that's at play.

Speaker 3 (56:40):
Also, I'll be super quick here, I one hundred percent
agree with what you're saying about the Dolphins and the
Celtics both.

Speaker 4 (56:48):
However, I will say this, your.

Speaker 3 (56:50):
Opponent can also impose a factor on the conversation. And
I even though those are some wide open threes that
the Celtics haven't cast in on, and some good looks
from the field in general, you know, inside of the arc,
I still think that the in the imposition of the

(57:10):
New York Knicks defense and the conditioning that they've faced
in this series has had an impact on some of
those offensive misses. You know, everything happens in context. Nothing
happens in an empty, empty gym, nothing happens in a vacuum.

Speaker 4 (57:26):
In the postseason, your.

Speaker 3 (57:28):
Last defensive effort has an impact on your next offensive effort.
And you know, the two hundred plays that have occurred
before the final shot you take matter.

Speaker 4 (57:39):
So that's that's all I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (57:41):
I think the Knicks deserve a little more credit for
the failure of the Celtics offensively then we're giving them.

Speaker 1 (57:48):
Yeah, I you know.

Speaker 9 (57:50):
We're just gonna agree to disagree on this because I'm
just not buying that there might be open jumpers because
the Knicks are competing so hard, and that's I think
a lot of it really is that the Celtics now
they the Knicks finally have their attention now that they're
down oh two, Because honestly, after being down one, you
think the Celtics are panicking like, oh my gosh, we

(58:12):
missed all these threes and we're playing the Knicks like
we could be had here.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
I think they're like, yeah, we missed some shots were good,
and I think now down oh two, it's kind of like,
all right, let's go time, man. We can't drop the
third game in a row. So I think that, like
the Celtics are defending champs, you think they're panicking after
being down oh one to the Knicks. I think they're
a little bit too full of themselves. That's part of
it too. So all right, we've got rich oron Berger,

(58:39):
Penn State All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
I'm Brian No. It's time for the tyrack play of
the day.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Loose Baul comes down at Jamal Murray.

Speaker 4 (58:48):
He's got door to beat, lay up, God tied out thunder.

Speaker 3 (58:54):
That's open up a seven point lead and overtime, let's
go yay, let's.

Speaker 1 (59:02):
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Speaker 4 (59:31):
All right.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
Coming up next our main man, Seamus McGee. He drops
on by to talk some playoff action and bets. Of course,
it is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. Score bigger
at BETMGM when you win with boost tokens, odds, boost

(59:52):
tokens and more. Even if your bet doesn't hit, we've
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Speaker 2 (59:57):
And that's not all.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
Sign up with BETMGM today and you'll have access to
countless basketball betting options, including new look, same game parlays, teasers,
live bets, and so much more. All right, let's do this.

Speaker 7 (01:00:11):
Follow the money, real good money.

Speaker 4 (01:00:14):
Ah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
Yes, we are following the money with our good friend
Seamus McGee, team lead of sports Trading at bet MGM.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
Good morning to you, Seamus.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
So we're knee deep in the playoffs. Man, are you uh?

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
Are you betting more puck or more hoops?

Speaker 4 (01:00:28):
Here?

Speaker 2 (01:00:28):
What have you had more success with?

Speaker 8 (01:00:31):
Hey, guys, always great to be back. I mainly hockey
for me. I feel like I'm I'm better understanding hockey.
I think I'm more you know, fluid with the markets there,
So I've been betting more. Howky, I enjoy the sport
more than I enjoy the NBA, So definitely more hockey
for me.

Speaker 4 (01:00:48):
That doesn't surprise me.

Speaker 6 (01:00:50):
I honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if you said
college hockey instead of the NHL. Well, based off of
what we've been in the vibes of the Shamous Special
over the years, all right, I guess we'll just dig
into the game's NBA first, as we kind of go
in chronological order, I would assume the Celtics are a
pretty popular bet today, although Shamus, maybe maybe the public's

(01:01:13):
going to see that plus nine next to the Knicks
and be like, oh, they're up to Oh maybe we
just want to cash in on new York here. But
what are the odds telling you with this early game
today in the NBA.

Speaker 8 (01:01:23):
No, it's like everyone's betting with tomorrow's newspaper. Everyone seems
to be thinking the Celtics are just going to easily
cruise by this one. We're pretty lopsided on the spread
and the money line here, so I think we're gonna
need the dogs to bark both NBA games here. I
mean lots of money coming in on the Celtics. I mean,
if any knicks money's coming in, I'm seeing it mainly
on you know, some some player props like Brunson, maybe

(01:01:46):
just score thirty. But you know, Nick's bets few and
far between right now.

Speaker 3 (01:01:51):
Yeah, Yeah, I gave Brunson over six and a half
assists earlier because I do think the Celtics are going
to try to get the ball out of his hands.

Speaker 4 (01:01:59):
But I agree with you.

Speaker 3 (01:02:00):
I think that a lot of people are going to
the window with yesterday's news and they're not looking at
this series. So I don't know, maybe that's a little
too much hope mix into this equation. Hey, Seamus, we're
bouncing around a little bit, going from hockey to postseason basketball.
I want to ask you a question about football? All right,

(01:02:20):
how do you handicap this? Aaron Rodgers? Like, if you're
going to put a number on the chances that he
signs with the Field versus the chances that he signs
with the Pittsburgh Steelers, what kind of numbers are we
looking at here?

Speaker 8 (01:02:38):
You have to think Steelers are just a huge favorite.
It feels like they're the only team that's coming up.
Feels like everyone else's QB situation is pretty much made
like it almost even say Rogers to this. If he
signs anywhere and doesn't retire Steelers, you have to think
of like almost minus five hundred at the very least.
That's if he signs and you know, doesn't sit out
a here or retires.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
I agree, interesting, we're covering everything. Do we have any
cricket questions for.

Speaker 4 (01:03:05):
Champions League this week?

Speaker 8 (01:03:08):
He just had to suspending in the Premier League?

Speaker 6 (01:03:11):
Just oh my god, Premier League. Get to mention on countdown?
I did not put that on the Bengal cart today.

Speaker 4 (01:03:19):
Well, I've been following the I.

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
P L for a very long time, sham, so I'm
so glad to have one of my own here.

Speaker 4 (01:03:25):
What do you think about No, I'm kidding, I have
no idea.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
What are you going to I'll throw.

Speaker 8 (01:03:32):
This at you miss the BENMGM trading room. We're bet
on anything to get our hands on here. A lot
of early mornings in the office here in Jersey City,
no doubt.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
How about both home dogs, right, we're talking about the
Nix plus five and a half the Warriors at home
also five and a half? Which home dog do you
think is better value in this spot?

Speaker 8 (01:03:51):
Good question, and there's no there's no curry. You've got it.
It have to be the next In my opinion, I
think the Garden is going to be going absolutely listic today.
I know, to getting price is high, but no matter
how high the prices, the real fans still show out
there in the garden. It's going to be a crazy atmosphere.
And I mean, you know a lot of people are
saying obviously the Celtics have not you know, shot very

(01:04:14):
well at all. But you know, neither of the Knicks.
Like the knicks ceiling on offense is a lot higher
than what they've shown in the first two games. In
my opinion, so I still think there's another level the
Knicks can reach on offense and with the Warriors and
no Curry, I think you'd have to be more leaning
towards the Knicks for an upset.

Speaker 5 (01:04:31):
Today, Seamous, You're gonna get me stirred up here with.

Speaker 8 (01:04:35):
The took place with this team.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
I've been trying my hardest to convince Brian and Jared that.

Speaker 5 (01:04:44):
And I'm a Knicks fan, and I still can't.

Speaker 4 (01:04:46):
I know, well, you sound like a Knicks map.

Speaker 7 (01:04:49):
I know.

Speaker 6 (01:04:50):
I think I've been scarred too many times by this team.
Really was that Hawks playoffs series a few years ago
when they finally made it back to the playoffs and
then you know, Trey Young came in and just.

Speaker 5 (01:04:58):
Wiped the floor with them.

Speaker 6 (01:05:00):
All right, speaking of getting the floor wiped with, we
saw okay See bounce back in a big way in
Game two. But last night Denver, you know, I don't
want to say coaching doesn't matter, but obviously having Nicola
jokicic matters a lot more than having your head coach
Michael Malone.

Speaker 5 (01:05:15):
Is Denver just.

Speaker 6 (01:05:16):
More pois like better playoff ready than Okay See? Or
do we think the Thunder still have some fight left
in him?

Speaker 8 (01:05:24):
I mean it's certainly looking like that right now. The
Thunder definitely do. I mean, they won sixty eight games
for a reason this year. The Junkets, though, I mean,
they're getting some pretty big performance guy like Aaron Gordon,
who hasn't really been like this prolific of a jump
shooter his all career, and he's like forty five percent
right now from three. I mean, they're getting a lot
of really key guys to start stepping up. It's gonna

(01:05:47):
be a real test of adversity here for the Thunder,
because you have they breezed through that opening series really easily.
Now they're getting touched in the face a little bit here,
so we'll see how they respond.

Speaker 3 (01:05:58):
I haven't looked at to say you truth, so I
don't know, really quick, Brian, really great, I want to
see you.

Speaker 4 (01:06:03):
I haven't looked at the future, so I don't.

Speaker 3 (01:06:05):
Know what what what their odds are to win the East.

Speaker 4 (01:06:10):
But if the Celtics drop.

Speaker 3 (01:06:12):
Three games to none to the New York Knicks, where
do you handicap the future in the East? Do you
think do you think there's another team? Is it the
Knicks or is it somebody else that has real chance
of representing the East in the championship game or are
we still coordinating the Celtics even if they drop down
into a three to zero hole, Well, I.

Speaker 8 (01:06:32):
Still think the Calves still had That was a huge
win for the Calves last night if they show you
what they can do fully healthy against the Pacers. So
I think it's something on three to oho you almost
have to put the Calves as as a very slight
favorite and probably just in front of the Knicks just
a three to er league. No one's ever come back
from that. I've had the worst day of my life

(01:06:54):
was walking to school after the Yankees blew with three
ll leader in the Red Sox. I don't know how
I would behave as an adult if the Knicks did
that to another, to the Celtics, I don't know what
I would do.

Speaker 5 (01:07:04):
But if.

Speaker 8 (01:07:08):
Nix would be the second favorite behind the.

Speaker 1 (01:07:10):
Caps, Okay, all right, Samus s. What is the same
as special?

Speaker 5 (01:07:16):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:07:17):
If it just sounds like orange and blue Skies something
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:07:20):
I did Knicks win by twenty five? What is it today?

Speaker 4 (01:07:23):
I'm sure.

Speaker 8 (01:07:25):
I've been a Knicks man my entire life. Never in
my life when I put my bed of the day
on the New York Nicky yeah, but the uh you know.
First off, real quick, I do want to wish a
happy thirtieth birthday to my best friends Kegan and Kinlin
here in Hoboken, New Jersey. Happy birthday to them. And
for the pick of the day, we're going to the

(01:07:45):
Diamond today. We'll going with a J. Smith shawver over
four and a half k's against the Pittsburgh Pirates about
minus one forty. I think this is good up to
about minus one sixty why one sixty five?

Speaker 1 (01:07:57):
I love it all right, perfect, The more random the better, Seamous,
we love it, man appreciately here. That's right. I always do, man,
I always.

Speaker 2 (01:08:08):
I always love talking to you.

Speaker 3 (01:08:09):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
Hope you have a great day. Aside from a Knicks win,
I'm not hoping for.

Speaker 8 (01:08:13):
That, come on, man, no more.

Speaker 1 (01:08:20):
Yeah, same, But aside from that, I hope you have
a fantastic day. Seamous, We'll catch you next week, buddy.

Speaker 4 (01:08:25):
Thanks.

Speaker 8 (01:08:26):
Guys, have a good one.

Speaker 4 (01:08:27):
Good stuff though.

Speaker 1 (01:08:28):
There he is you too, Seamous McGee, team lead of
sports trading at bed MGM. Okay, I hate to be
so anti Knicks here, but like I'm pro truth, I'm
not anti Knicks. The distinction. I would like to make
I am pro truth, not anti Nicks, Like I'm not

(01:08:49):
gonna give him credit for this swarming defense when they're
allowing wide open threes. I'm not giving them credit for that.

Speaker 2 (01:08:56):
Sorry.

Speaker 1 (01:08:56):
And the basketball fan in me, I would like to
see a series. It's not that I want to see
the Knicks crash and burn. I want to see a series.
So that means the Celtics winning today. And one thing
I'll say this does sound anti Knicks. It's really not
something that Seamus said where the Garden will be rocking.
There's no doubt it will. And for anybody who says

(01:09:19):
the NBA is better when the Knicks are good, is
absolutely right.

Speaker 2 (01:09:24):
It's so much better.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Like the electricity, the chance of defense. It cannot be mimicked.
And it's something Steph Curry said earlier this year. He
was like, it always delivers. The atmosphere is second to none.
It is like, it's not hyperbole, it's awesome for the
NBA when the Knicks are good. You can't recreate that atmosphere.
But I will say this, and this is the potential

(01:09:47):
anti Knicks thing that could be misinterpreted. That atmosphere is
oftentimes a benefit to.

Speaker 2 (01:09:54):
The road team.

Speaker 1 (01:09:55):
Yep, we're acting like, oh, this is great for the
Knicks home court advantage. Like, really stop and think about this.
How many performances have we seen from top basketball players
throughout the years at the Garden, Like we see Lebron
routinely go ballistic in the Garden. We saw Jordan do
that time and time and time again, legendary playoff moments,

(01:10:17):
the double Nickel game. The list goes on and on.
Steph Curry right, Like Steph Curry he broke the three
point record in the Garden, right, yep, Like he loved
that atmosphere and routinely had great games. So I just
don't want this idea of that electric atmosphere is automatically

(01:10:38):
a benefit to the Knicks. It's not always like that.
Like sometimes and you could attest to this rich Sometimes
that atmosphere, like that raucous home atmosphere, that can actually
be good, believe it or not for the road team,
And we've seen that time and time again against the Knicks.

Speaker 3 (01:10:56):
I grew up a train ride away from Adams in
Square Garden. It was the first the sight of my
first ever pro basketball game that I ever took in.
It is, as advertised, an electric environment and postseason basketball
to your point, much to the chagrin of New Yorkers
and New York fans, has seen some of the most

(01:11:18):
incredible performance of performances ever delivered by opposing superstars.

Speaker 4 (01:11:25):
It has been it has been a haul of.

Speaker 3 (01:11:29):
Horrors at times for Knicks fans. And then I'll again,
I hate to lend credence to your point, but I
will echo your sentiment and add to it because there's
also an aspect of okay, So check this out. The
cheapest ticket at Madison Square Garden for this game. I

(01:11:50):
believe it has already been bought out, but it was
like eight hundred dollars for the cheapest ticket available. This
was as of yesterday morning. The crazy thing about those
kind of numbers is not all those fans are that
died in the wool Knicks fans who have been there
all season long. These are corporate buyups where all of

(01:12:12):
a sudden, you got a client in town from Iowa
who you really want to impress because he's been meeting
with your Wall Street firm. We're sending him to see
Nick Celtics Game three tonight. He doesn't have a dog
in the fight. He's just there to see exciting playoff basketball.
So sometimes in a crowd in a city, like you
know the Knicks crowd in that city, it's a melting

(01:12:33):
pot where you don't know who's rooting for who, and
how many of those types of fans are in those seats.
Is it thousands? The answer is probably. And that can
really turn when an opponent comes onto your home court
and starts playing out of his mind, because I've seen
that before too, where it feels like it's almost like
a bowl game instead of a home crowd.

Speaker 6 (01:12:56):
Yeah, and the crowd turn quick. That's the thing that's
just me. That first quarter is gonna be huge. If
the Celtics come in, hit a bunch of threes and
they're up fifteen, twenty points at halftime, all of a sudden,
that crowd gets restless. We just saw this with the Knicks,
like in two games of the Piston series, they lost
two out of the three games at home and against

(01:13:19):
the Pistons.

Speaker 5 (01:13:21):
Against the Pistons, they couldn't protect the guard.

Speaker 6 (01:13:23):
In the playoffs, so I and I know they went
on the road and won three, which is awesome.

Speaker 5 (01:13:27):
I mean, that's what you want to do. But also
that's the Detroit Pistons. So man, I I just I
want to get there so bad. But I've know you
do this story before.

Speaker 6 (01:13:38):
It is Jason, I'd tell them left right and center.
Today I think.

Speaker 1 (01:13:42):
It's it sounds like Rich is the devil on your shoulder, Like,
come on, man, feel the flow here the Knicks, let's
go your heartbeat. Oh this is it, you know. But
I'll tell you what. I'll give the Knicks credit here
for something that you pointed out.

Speaker 5 (01:13:58):
Rich.

Speaker 1 (01:13:59):
Normally those kind of prices will price out the just
die hard. You know, we're just like they're spit or
frothing at the mouth, you know, like living and dying
with the Knicks. It's a little bit like the Warriors.
I'll talk trash about the Warriors to give props to
the Knicks here. Remember when the Warriors had a closeout

(01:14:20):
game at home, Game six against Houston, and Doris Burke
is on the call and she's like, it's silent in here.
That would never have happened in the previous place in Oakliff,
no chance, no chance. But now it's a little more corporate,
Little bougie, we're at the Chase Center. We're pricing out
some of our rabid fan base. I'll give the Knicks

(01:14:41):
fans credit. Man, you just pointed out the prices, Rich
those are some high dollars. It's not like you're gonna
be like, Man, that's pretty much a corporate crowd. It's
not gonna resemble a corporate crowd at all. I swear
there's like an entrance entrance exam where even if you
fork out the eight hundred bucks, it's like, all right,
deep passed the test, yelled Nick at the top of
your lungs, like you're screaming Slayer right now. No, you

(01:15:04):
don't pass until you're out. Get out, Get out of here.
We don't want you like that's what it feels like. Man,
that atmosphere is unbelievable. Can't wait for it, Man, can't wait?
All right, We've got rich oron Berger, Penn State, All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst, I'm Brian. No score bigger
at BETMGM when you win with boost tokens, odds, boost
tokens and more. Even if your bet doesn't hit, We've

(01:15:26):
got you covered with no sweat tokens.

Speaker 2 (01:15:28):
And that's not all.

Speaker 1 (01:15:29):
countless basketball betting options, including new look, same game parlays, teasers,
live bets, and so much more. All right, coming up next,
prop it Up we pay, We compare copious notes in
the prop betting market. We have a lot of plays
for you, so we'll share them with you. Next, it's

(01:15:50):
Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It is Fox
Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. Score bigger at BETMGM
when you win with boost tokens, odds, boost tokens and more.
Even if your bet doesn't hit, we've got you covered
with no sweat tokens. And that's not all. Sign up
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(01:16:12):
betting options, including new look, same game parlays, teasers, live bets,
and so much more. All right, let's do this.

Speaker 7 (01:16:21):
Prop it up player plays?

Speaker 2 (01:16:25):
All right, Jared, we start with you. What's something that
you like?

Speaker 6 (01:16:28):
Well, I'm on the Jason Datum bandwagon today. I think
I was just figuring out the best way to play it.
Here's how I'm gonna play it. So his prop total
on the point side is twenty seven and a half
juice to the over. His rebounding prop is ten and
a half, pretty much flat on both sides, a little
slight juice to the under. I actually think both bets
are relatively good individually. But the beauty of BETMGM is

(01:16:51):
I could kind of buy a half a rebound, I
could buy a bucket, and then I could smush them
together and create a parlay.

Speaker 5 (01:16:58):
So that's what we're gonna do.

Speaker 6 (01:16:59):
We're gonna create a Jason Tatum SGP. We're gonna go
twenty five plus points, So we're buying basically two and
a half points and we're gonna go ten plus rebounds,
and we're gonna smush that together. And because it's very
correlated to the Celtics winning the game, we're gonna throw
Boston on the money line as well on top of it,
plus one ninety five for that SGP again, Tatum twenty
five points, ten rebound, Celtics win plus one nine to five.

Speaker 1 (01:17:24):
Mayo or no.

Speaker 5 (01:17:27):
May May Okay, for the love.

Speaker 3 (01:17:29):
Of Godo, nobody wants Mayo. Trust me, I'll take I'll
take Tatum on rebounds. That's the same same part of
that part of Jared's parlay is uh, Jason Tatum over
ten or ten and a half depending on what book
you look at. His His shooting has been called twenty

(01:17:52):
eight plus percent from the field over his first two
games in this series.

Speaker 4 (01:17:56):
Not great.

Speaker 3 (01:17:57):
However, he's been doing well on the boards, pulling down
thirty over these two games here, So I think he'll
sail past the ten rebound mark. Give me Jason Tatum
for over ten or ten and a half rebounds in
this game three against the Knicks.

Speaker 1 (01:18:16):
I'll give you a Tatum play just to be cool
like you guys, and now I'll go down to Tatum.
But one that's routinely cashing and it's hit in two
straight games in this series. Is Tatum over rebounds and assists.
He's been a rebounding machine and I don't look for
that to change here. So I like what you guys
are thinking in terms of boards. So over sixteen and

(01:18:38):
a half, you know, he's like giving you the same
amount of rebounds as cat As Karl Anthony Towns. You know,
they both have thirty rebounds so far in this series.
So I think he's going to do his thing on
the glass and he's good for a handful of assists
as well. This is this is a prop you know
the rebounds and assists for Tatum that consistently goes over.

Speaker 2 (01:19:02):
So I like that one.

Speaker 1 (01:19:03):
If you're looking for a Tatum play, I'll give you
another one tomorrow. I got my eye on Aaron Neismith
of the Pacers. So he struggled last yesterday in what
game three? But game four could be a different animal.
So Aaron Neismith, he's gone over his points prop in
six of the eight playoff games this year. He's routinely

(01:19:25):
going over. So this is a good zigzag spot if
you believe in that approach where he was down last
game only seven points. I like over in this next
game because let's be honest, Cleveland's not playing lockdown defense, right,
They're just defensively challenged at times. I do like what
they do in the paint, but they allow a lot
of open looks, so I look for Nie Smith to

(01:19:46):
get some open looks. And also territorial about your playing
time got cut into by Mathren in the fourth quarter
before garbage time, so I think he brings it coming
up next. Do these teams have inflated credentials?

Speaker 4 (01:20:02):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (01:20:02):
What is going on?

Speaker 1 (01:20:03):
I hope your Saturday is off to a fantastic start.
And we just contribute to it in a major way
this final hour. Hey, shortly after the show, our podcast
will be going up. If you missed anything on today's show,
be sure to check it out. Just search Fox Sports
Radio wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to
also follow, rate and review it again. Just search Fox
Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts, and you'll see

(01:20:25):
the show posted right after we get off the air.

Speaker 2 (01:20:27):
So some breaking news.

Speaker 1 (01:20:29):
How about Saints' former quarterback Derek Carr calling it a career,
had this major shoulder injury and now he's walking away
from football. And you know, I was thinking of what
Derek Carr is. I think he's the nickelback of NFL quarterbacks,

(01:20:50):
you know, like everybody just loves to dump on this guy.
And this is one of the Uh, this is a
take that will never be understood or supported, you know
what I mean. But I think it's the truth with
Derek Carr. The funny thing is if you look at
Derek Carr, his career passer rating is ninety two point eight. Okay,

(01:21:12):
ninety two point eight just for context, If you look
at the league average passer rating last season in the NFL,
it was ninety two point three, So I mean, like,
essentially this changes from year to year, but just in general,
Derek Carr over eleven years played average football, like the

(01:21:36):
definition of average football. And the take that never computes
and is never supported is that Derek Carr was better
than he was ever given credit for. You know, like
people are just like, what does that even mean? So
you're saying he's great.

Speaker 2 (01:21:52):
Like no, no, no, he's.

Speaker 1 (01:21:53):
Just better than I don't know, there's got to be
some sort of comparison, Like I don't know, there's a
food that everybody talks about and you're like, it's actually
a little bit better than its reputation.

Speaker 2 (01:22:03):
Like I think that's Derek Carr.

Speaker 1 (01:22:05):
And I guess the pushback or the reaction could be, well,
what does that really mean? Nothing? Really, you know, he's
just he's a little bit better than he's ever given
credit for. But at the end of the day, he
was still the definition of average. I hate that he
had the shoulder injury and he walks away prematurely. He
had the you know, it's almost like a what could
have been career where he had the the MVP caliber

(01:22:29):
season with the Raiders and he broke his leg remember that.
I think it was against the Colts, and it's just
it's broke. It's broke, it's broke. Yeah, man, look at
Alex ty shirt you talk about that was an impressive
on the ones and twos right there. Look at that.
Let's let's test him again. I'm looking for what's the

(01:22:52):
man in finance for anything with anything with the movie
Training Day, Denzel, Ethan Hawk, anything, Shan. It's actually Alex
sometimes use myself.

Speaker 3 (01:23:09):
That's awesome, that's even better, right, Crazy thing is this
is like the movie inception now because that is a
pre recorded drop of Alex Tischer.

Speaker 5 (01:23:19):
Doing Denzel and Training Day.

Speaker 4 (01:23:21):
Incredible right there.

Speaker 1 (01:23:25):
What do you think though, Rich, what's your first reaction
to Derek Carr calling it a career.

Speaker 4 (01:23:32):
Man?

Speaker 3 (01:23:32):
Okay, first and foremost, you know, to sort of spell
it out. This is a objective decision between himself and
the medical staff and his representation, you know.

Speaker 4 (01:23:47):
So the Saints are on board with this.

Speaker 3 (01:23:49):
This is they looked at his shoulder after they picked
up the volume, him throwing the football for the first
time in earnest since his last surgery, and he structural
issues with his shoulder that they're not sure can be
resolved and would have major impacts on the twenty twenty
five season. So the first thing I'll say is this

(01:24:11):
is the right decision. When you are constantly injured, and
you are constantly getting surgeries, and you're constantly recovering from surgeries,
it is exhausting. And as much as you love the sport,
and I know Derek Carr loves this sport, it drags
you into a pretty dark place sometimes where you feel

(01:24:34):
useless because you feel like the only thing you're good
for is playing the sport you love and then damaging
yourself playing that sport you love, and then putting the
pieces back together, and you have no time for family,
You have no time to.

Speaker 4 (01:24:49):
Like to escape.

Speaker 3 (01:24:52):
Your life is just committed to either playing the sport
or recovering from the brutality of the resport. And it
is a vicious cycle. It's one that I was trapped in.
And by the way, no complaints. I love the fact
that I was able to play football at the highest level,
But for virtually my entirety of my six year NFL career,

(01:25:13):
I was either damaging my body to the point where
I needed surgery or recovering from a surgery, or a
major injury every single offseason.

Speaker 4 (01:25:23):
That's just how my career went.

Speaker 3 (01:25:24):
My body held up until I was twenty two years old,
and then the wheels started falling off. Derek Carr has
had a better run than that, but these past handful
of years have been marred by.

Speaker 4 (01:25:35):
Injury after injury after injury.

Speaker 3 (01:25:38):
So it's good timing and it's a good decision now
in terms of what it means for the Saints, Well,
it's showtime, Tyler's shower.

Speaker 1 (01:25:47):
It's Tyler shut.

Speaker 3 (01:25:49):
Yeah, yeah, it's the shut show down there in New Orleans.
It's uh, look, I don't think when they drafted him
they were thinking they were going to be handing the
keys to the family car as quick as it's going
to be now. I'm fairly certainly to do what you
did there the car, uh huh, fairly certain that they
they figured they would have a more reliable driver in

(01:26:11):
the captain's chair for a little while longer. So we'll
we'll see how he performs with a shortened on ramp
keeping the puns fallowing here.

Speaker 4 (01:26:20):
But we'll see, we'll we'll see, we'll see what happens.

Speaker 3 (01:26:24):
I I think I think it's it's probably too much
too quick. But but again that division there there are
there are a couple of really talented quarterbacks. But it's
you can compete in the NFC South, There's no question.
You just have to put together something, you know what
I mean, to be competitive in the NFC South, because

(01:26:45):
you're going against the likes of Carolina and we know
that the Buccaneers are the best of the bunch. But
put together something and you might be able to squeak
out some wins in the vision and who knows, who knows.
But I don't think it's a great thing for the
New Orleans Saints. I think it expedites a couple of
timelines that they had further down the road.

Speaker 6 (01:27:06):
Yeah, I think I'll push the Saints angle of it
to the side for a minute. I'll start by saying
I wish Derek and his family the best.

Speaker 8 (01:27:14):
I know.

Speaker 6 (01:27:14):
He is a man of faith. I'm sure this was
not an easy decision, and I hope that he recovers
fully from his injury. Now let's get into the nuts and.

Speaker 5 (01:27:24):
Bolts of this.

Speaker 6 (01:27:25):
This might sound crazy. I don't think Derek Carr is
going to stay retired forever. Well, I think part of
this move, I think Derek knows he's not going to
have a productive season based off of his injury this year,
and I think the Saints know that as well. You
look at his contract situation and you think to yourself, Man,

(01:27:47):
if New Orleans could just get out from under this
thirty million dollar hit that he's owed this year and
it's a seventy million dollar cap hit over the next
two years, it turns New Orleans into a much more
attractive situation to be able to manage the cap. The
only way that they can get out from under that
is if Carr retires.

Speaker 4 (01:28:08):
Now.

Speaker 6 (01:28:09):
By retiring, he also might forego the roster bonus and
the signing bonus. But Ian Rappaport tweeted thirty minutes ago
that car is going to keep that roster bonus, a
ten million dollar roster bonus. The Saints won't seek reimbursement,
and by retiring, he foregoes that thirty million dollar guaranteed

(01:28:31):
hit this season, which means the Saints are about to
save a boatload of money.

Speaker 5 (01:28:35):
Derek Carr's thirty four years old.

Speaker 6 (01:28:38):
I find it hard to believe that he has done
playing football forever. I feel like this is a situation
where both sides benefit from him. Quote unquote, I'm doing
the air quotes for the radio audience, retiring, wiping the
slate clean. He's obviously not worth seventy million over the

(01:28:59):
next two years, garantaranteed. Now you wipe this late clean,
you give him a ten million dollar roster bonus for
his troubles, and then Derek Carr can recover naturally from
his shoulder injury, maybe not have surgery, and then come
back h thirty five thirty six and be able to
sign with whoever he wants at whatever price is deemed fair.

(01:29:19):
I know that sounds crazy, but this feels more like
a money transaction than a life transaction.

Speaker 5 (01:29:27):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:29:28):
I'm just looking at this where it's just funny the reaction,
how it differs from quarterback to quarterback. Where if you
think about a guy like Geno Smith, I'm just looking
at quarterbacks from last season, who's passer rating last year
is comparable to Derek Carr's career passer rating. Okay, just
as an entry point, just as okay, let's get in

(01:29:48):
the ballpark of production.

Speaker 2 (01:29:50):
Take a guy like Geno Smith.

Speaker 1 (01:29:52):
So Geno Smith's passer rating last year was ninety three
point two it's just, you know, a little bit above
league average. But the general vibe when it comes to
Geno Smith is so much more positive than the general
vibe for Derek Carr, you know. And it's just funny
to me. Where Geno Smith the second round pick, right,

(01:30:15):
just like Derek Carr did nothing for the Jets, it
was awful, six seasons not starting, then goes to Seattle,
revives his career. Maybe it's the comeback story, but we're like, Geno,
let's go all right, this is beautiful. They wrote me off,
but I didn't write back, you know, and we're like,
what a line this? Put that on a T shirt.
We're loving the Geno Smith thing and Derek Carr no love.

(01:30:37):
It's just funny how that differs so much. I know,
bo Nicks was just a rookie and you have to
take that into account. But bo Nicks had a successful
rookie season last year, and his passer rating ninety three
point three, that's in the neighborhood of what Derek Carr
did for eleven seasons on average, right, Like, do you
think if the Broncos had ten more years of what

(01:31:00):
bo Nicks did last season, would they be pleased? With that,
I'd say, yeah, they would, And it's just funny that
no one says a halfway positive thing about Derek Carr, like, yeah,
he could have been a whole lot better, and I
think a lot of his career is what could have been.
But it's like we act like the dude did absolutely nothing,

(01:31:22):
Like remember the Raider fans booing him and throwing stuff
at him in his final game with the Raiders.

Speaker 2 (01:31:28):
It's like, what is happening right now?

Speaker 1 (01:31:30):
I just I'm trying to wrap my mind around why
Derek Carr was so disliked and just the assessment of
him was, I think, far worse than the reality.

Speaker 2 (01:31:43):
I don't quite understand why.

Speaker 1 (01:31:47):
It's not like he came into the league a top
five pick and we're always looking at what he should
be and what he should have accomplished in this.

Speaker 2 (01:31:54):
He's the second round pick.

Speaker 1 (01:31:56):
He didn't walk in with these huge expectations because he
wanted now national title with a powerhouse program or something,
you know what I mean. We act like those were
the expectations, and that makes sense why our reaction is
the way it is, But that's not what happened.

Speaker 2 (01:32:11):
So I don't know why the reaction is what it is.

Speaker 3 (01:32:14):
I'm going to grab the wheel and turn it toward
a different set of circumstances that I don't think many
people's brains are turning to yet, because this is breaking
news that Derek Carr has retired from the NFL. But
all of a sudden, it's making a lot more sense
to me that Aaron Rodgers hasn't signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Speaker 6 (01:32:34):
Hmm.

Speaker 3 (01:32:35):
Like the fact the fact that this has been discussed
between Derek Carr's representation and the New Orleans Saints for
I'm sure weeks now, if not longer, And the fact
that Aaron Rodgers went unsigned all the way through the
NFL Draft and now hereafter, and the Steelers have made

(01:32:59):
some trades and maybe, like, for example, the George Pickens trade,
doesn't make all that much sense when you think about
feathering the bed or fluffing the pillows for Aaron Rodgers,
But it does now because if the ship sailed on Rogers,
because the Steelers know that that that Rogers representation are
in deep talks with the Saints, and there's a potentiality

(01:33:21):
that the Saints will have room in their in their
quarterback room for Aaron to sign with them, and money
to spend on Aaron Rodgers and potentially more than the
Pittsburgh Steelers are willing to offer him. I'm just saying
that the dominoes are starting to line up where Rogers
playing for the Saints makes a lot of sense to me.

Speaker 1 (01:33:44):
How about this, though, Rich, You know, if that's true,
the Steelers would have to know that. You know, it's
cooling down in terms of Rogers being a Steeler? Why
are they rocking Mason Rudolph and a sixth round Will
Howard right now? Why is that the depth chart?

Speaker 3 (01:34:00):
Well, this could be information. You only can operate with
the information you have. So I mean, as we know
OTAs and official like your official capacity with your team
really starts for the veterans after the draft, So all
of that information with could have, or i should say,

(01:34:22):
with the Saints could have started tumbling out after the draft.

Speaker 4 (01:34:25):
Like, hey, yeah, it's a good thing.

Speaker 3 (01:34:27):
The Saints drafted a quarterback in round two and it's
a good thing.

Speaker 4 (01:34:30):
Well, good thing.

Speaker 3 (01:34:32):
It's because they knew you know, it's because they had
some inkling and then the more they invested in, you know,
kicking the tires on Derek Carr and maybe there was
some waffling going on the more the phone started ringing
to I'm sure the available free agent quarterbacks, and there's
really only one that can step into a situation at

(01:34:53):
this point and booie.

Speaker 4 (01:34:55):
Your roster, and that's Aaron Rodgers. So I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:34:59):
It just sort of lines up too perfectly for me
not to mention it at this juncture. I know it
sort of feels like we're in a rush, throwing dirt
on the casket of Derek Carr's career and moving on
to Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 4 (01:35:10):
But it's the fact is this.

Speaker 3 (01:35:14):
The ball continues to roll like the Saints now are
in hurry up and get better mode after they've lost
their starting quarterback for the twenty twenty five season.

Speaker 6 (01:35:25):
Well, it's a market moving thing, right Like I think
now that Carr retires, I think it turns New Orleans
into like the worst team in the NFL in terms
of probably their win total.

Speaker 5 (01:35:35):
It'll probably bump that down.

Speaker 6 (01:35:38):
But then it also sets up a potential insane buying
opportunity if Aaron Rodgers does end up signing with the Saints.
I have no knowledge or information if that is going
to happen. I will say this though there was zero
chance it was going to happen unless Derek Carr retired
and forfeited his thirty million dollar guaranteed salary this year. Right,

(01:35:59):
I know there's rules in the NFL salary I don't
even know what it's called these days, where if you retire,
you give up the money. Where if you just are
sitting out injured, Like that's the part about this retirement
that doesn't make sense. And I'm not saying that it's
like this scheme or this plot, but what if you're
Derek Carr, why would you retire and give up that Bundy?

(01:36:21):
Like it just doesn't make sense unless you have some
kind of under the table deal with New Orleans.

Speaker 5 (01:36:25):
It says, we'll give.

Speaker 6 (01:36:26):
You your roster bonus, we'll give you this little severance package,
but if you retire, you are saving us a boatload
of money over the next two years, and then we
get to go out and sign Aaron Rodgers because now
we have thirty million to play with. Like that's why
a the timing of this be the retirement vibe at

(01:36:46):
thirty four, Like, and I know he's banged up, but
I just I don't get this vibe that he's gone
and done forever, Like I think this is a transaction
to get his salary off the books and now New
Orleans can move forward as a franchise. That's that's just
my initial gut reaction. I'm wrong a lot.

Speaker 5 (01:37:02):
That's just how I feel about this situation.

Speaker 1 (01:37:06):
You're right a lot too, though.

Speaker 5 (01:37:07):
I am right a lot.

Speaker 6 (01:37:08):
But you know, I'm talking about someone's life here. I
don't want to make it like it's this game of monopoly, right, No,
that kind of is what it feels like.

Speaker 4 (01:37:16):
Dude.

Speaker 1 (01:37:16):
I'll say this like Derek Carr is not going to
be a saint, Like this roster is not good enough
for him to be like, oh yeah, let's let's go
NFC South.

Speaker 2 (01:37:26):
Here we come.

Speaker 1 (01:37:27):
Maybe you know, like they're not good enough. I appreciate
where you're coming from, Rich, and I do love the
idea of connecting the dots. And I absolutely smell what
you're cooking over there. I get how about this too?

Speaker 6 (01:37:38):
Can I just can I say one more thing? If
you're Aaron Rodgers, would you rather play in the NFC
South or the AFC North.

Speaker 4 (01:37:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:37:46):
Well, I mean there's a better path than the NFC South,
But at some point. You just look at the limitations
of the roster. It's obvious with the Saints, it's so
limited right there in terms of overall talent on a roster.
So I just I can.

Speaker 6 (01:38:03):
I don't think you're winning a super Bowl in either location.
I think Aaron Rodgers just wants a soft landing.

Speaker 1 (01:38:10):
Yeah, who knows what the guy wants.

Speaker 6 (01:38:13):
It's crazy, man, I want to know as aahuasca in
the jungles.

Speaker 1 (01:38:18):
Yeah, I think it's what is it like the wine
appetite with the beer wallet.

Speaker 2 (01:38:24):
I think that's what we're looking at.

Speaker 6 (01:38:26):
My mom say, beer beer bank roll on a champagne
taste on a beer bankroll.

Speaker 1 (01:38:30):
There you go. Yeah, yeah, it's like he wants a
wine roster and we're looking at beer right here.

Speaker 5 (01:38:37):
Man, we're looking but we're looking at beer.

Speaker 1 (01:38:41):
We're looking at Schlitz with the Saints, and we're looking
at what's the Steelers. I don't know, like a BBR.

Speaker 2 (01:38:50):
Makes sense?

Speaker 5 (01:38:50):
Roll with that, all right?

Speaker 1 (01:38:51):
We got rich Oroiberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith,
FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No use code countdown at
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Speaker 2 (01:39:13):
Again, use code countdown.

Speaker 1 (01:39:14):
And you'll get up to fifteen hundred dollars back in
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coming up next after the breaking news, we'll get back
to this. Do these teams have inflated credentials? We'll compare
notes on that. It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM.

Speaker 6 (01:39:31):
It's broke, It's broke, It's broke, it's broke, It's broke,
It's broke.

Speaker 1 (01:39:37):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It's
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(01:39:59):
and so much more. I'm never gonna listen to Angel
of Death the same way anymore, Alex, who's in for
Chris today? He said, Alex, this is Derek Carr when
he broke his leg, like the beginning of the Wow.
I'll never hear that the.

Speaker 2 (01:40:15):
Same way again.

Speaker 1 (01:40:16):
Unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (01:40:17):
What a line right there, all right?

Speaker 1 (01:40:19):
So I was thinking about this, What is uh what
does Will Ferrell say in Anchorman, I'm gonna throw something
out there, you don't like it, throw it right back.
So Rich and Jared, this applies to you, guys. So
I think that the last two champions in the NBA

(01:40:40):
have a lot in common. If you look at the
Denver Nuggets, they want it two years ago. And if
you look at their path to a championship, not Murderer's row.
If you look at the Celtics last season, not Murderer's
row and root to a title. And I'm just throwing
a theory out that maybe their credentials are a bit inflated. Okay,

(01:41:05):
I'm not saying they're complete fools gold, but that's the
main part of why they were so highly thought of
going forward. You want a championship. You're officially knighted. You know,
we knight you. You're in the NBA, you know, fraternity.
But if you look back, think about this with the

(01:41:25):
the Nuggets. Okay, so we go back to when they
won a title in the twenty twenty two to twenty
three season. Okay, so their path to a title. They
played Minnesota in a one versus eight matchup. Minnesota was
forty two and forty that season. Okay, so Denver moved
right on. Gentlemen sweep. They beat Phoenix in six, they
won the close out game by twenty five points. Look

(01:41:47):
at what Phoenix is now, right KD. Booker and what
you know? Then the Nuggets two years ago, they swept
the Lakers because the Lakers were completely overmatched. And that's
what the Lakers do. They fizzle out in the playoff
and then in the finals it was a gentlemen's sweep
for Denver against the eight seeded heat who ran out
of gas. So the Nuggets they faced both eight seeds

(01:42:11):
Phoenix and swept the Lakers.

Speaker 4 (01:42:14):
That was it.

Speaker 1 (01:42:14):
That was their path to a title. Not short changing them,
not saying they don't deserve to win, nothing like that.
It's Okay, we're like, we put you on a pedestal
because you won a championship, But should the pedestal be
as high as we think it is based on the
root right, the path to a title. Play the same
game with the Celtics. Last season, gentlemen sweep against who

(01:42:38):
the eight seeded heat right, like Heat love that eight seed.
Then it was they got by the Calves in five,
and the Calves they really went into supercharger mode this year. Right,
they're sixteen wins better this season. They won forty eight
games last year, so they didn't win fifty games. And
then the Celtics they beat the six seeded Pacers and

(01:43:04):
then they beat the five seeded MAVs in five. So
you face an eight seed, a six seed, a five seed,
like a six seed in the Eastern Conference finals, five
seed in the finals. Yeah, like that's not Murderer's row.
So the question is did those teams have inflated credentials

(01:43:25):
based on winning a title but not facing the stiffest competition.
I say they do.

Speaker 4 (01:43:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:43:32):
Here's here's the way I look at the NBA postseason,
and it's a little bit different now because you don't
have those legacy stocks anymore, because I'm going to compare
it to the stock market, Like typically you have those
trustworthy legacy stocks in the NBA postseason, where there's enormous

(01:43:54):
superstars attached to some of these brands and they're well
coached or not, but that doesn't really matter because you
know they're consistent. You know that they're going to find
their way to the finals or very at very least
find their way to.

Speaker 4 (01:44:08):
Their conference finals.

Speaker 3 (01:44:10):
And that was like Lebron with the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know,
recently with the Warriors, when it was Steph and it
was Clay and it was Durant and it was Draymond.
Like those felt like legacy stocks. And then there are
certain stocks where it's like, ooh, this is a weird riser,
we better buy low because Toronto just got Kawhi and

(01:44:32):
that just throws a weird dynamic in here.

Speaker 4 (01:44:36):
And you know, are we gonna buy low on Raptor stock?
You know?

Speaker 3 (01:44:39):
I mean they look like they could be a contender
and then you see what they do. But it doesn't
feel like it feels like it's more of a pump
and dump. It feels like those those feel more like
you're gonna get in you're gonna ride it, and then
you're gonna get rid of the stock at its height
because Kawhi leaves town, Canada becomes an afterthought basket boweyes

(01:45:00):
for a little while, and everybody moves on with their life.
But the unfortunate reality for the NBA, and maybe it's
not unfortunate because playoff ratings have been pretty high this season,
but the reality for the NBA is there's a lot
more parody now, so it doesn't feel like there are
any of those legacy stocks. So I look at the Nuggets,
even though they've had recent success. I look at the Celtics,

(01:45:22):
even though they have recent success, and I don't look
at them like I looked at the Warriors when it
was Dre and Clay and Steph and Durant. I don't
look at either of those teams like I looked at
the Cleveland Cavaliers when Lebron the kid from Akron, was
trying to make things happen. I look at them far
or when Lebron was with the Heat. I look at

(01:45:43):
them as beatable. And I'm not sure if it's because
I'm not seeing the forest before the trees, but I
just don't trust Joki with this Denver Nuggets team the
same way I did Lebron with the Heat. I don't
trust Katum with this bust in Celtics team the same
way I did Steph with those Warriors teams when they

(01:46:04):
were popping off.

Speaker 4 (01:46:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:46:05):
There, there's definitely the parody in this in this season
has been more pronounced in the playoffs, and I'm usually
I am usually a very anti NBA person, Like you
won't hear me talk about too much.

Speaker 5 (01:46:20):
I know, I know, I know, you know you are
the NBA, like you are the NBA.

Speaker 6 (01:46:24):
Guru on this show, no doubt about it. It's not
a league that I feel like I have a grasp
on from night to night.

Speaker 5 (01:46:32):
And it's not because I don't like watching it.

Speaker 6 (01:46:33):
I love watching good basketball, especially college basketball.

Speaker 5 (01:46:36):
But I love watching good basketball.

Speaker 6 (01:46:38):
The reason I struggle with the NBA a lot of
it is just the timing of the season, right. It
starts during football. Football is my main focus. It ends
usually in the summertime when people aren't paying that much
attention to you know, pretty much anything besides hey, when's
football gonna start?

Speaker 5 (01:46:54):
And then you get this like weird in between where.

Speaker 6 (01:46:56):
The regular season just has lost a lot of luster,
but I have been very much on the bandwagon of
this NBA postseason has been fantastic. I still think the
NHL playoffs it's like a nose in front. But I
honestly believe this NBA postseason has been really good because
of your points that there isn't that usually in the NBA.

(01:47:17):
It's we already know with the favorites, Let's just get
Lebron and Steph Curry in the finals so we can
end this thing and figure out who's gonna win.

Speaker 5 (01:47:23):
That's not the vibe this year.

Speaker 6 (01:47:26):
I honestly, of the eight teams remaining, I maybe can
make a case for all eight of them minus the Warriors,
without Steph winning the title. I like, you can make
a case I think for all eight of these teams.
I think the Pacers is probably the biggest long shot
of the bunch. But I still feel like because the
East and what we've seen with Boston and the Pacers

(01:47:47):
played Boston in the Eastern Conference finals last year, like
I can make some kind of argument for all eight teams.
I don't know if I could have ever done that
in recent history with the NBA, And that's what make
this year very exciting. I do think it's gonna end
up being Boston in Okay. See, I still think it's
gonna be Boston. Okay, See, I honestly do until proven otherwise.

(01:48:10):
I'm on the Boston train, maybe until they lose today.
But yeah, the parody has definitely been the vibe of
this NBA postseasons, making it for very exciting games.

Speaker 1 (01:48:21):
Well, there's parody, but there's there are also differences as well.
I'll put it this way. If if you could name
your next opponent, like let's say, hey, Nix, right, you
somehow win the second round series, or even the Celtics
you win the same series, you can name your next opponent.
Are you choosing Cleveland or are you choosing Indiana? You'd

(01:48:45):
probably rather face Indiana.

Speaker 4 (01:48:47):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:48:47):
Now, granted there's parody with what you explained, But the
Cavs been a better team all season long. Okay, Like
your odds of advancing to the finals are better against
Indiana than they are against Cleveland. So yeah, while exists,
there are tiers right to the top teams, the lesser teams,
so forth, and so on. Now there are surprises, but

(01:49:10):
in terms of what's our best chance to move forward, like,
there are preferences. And that's why I circle back to
when the Nuggets won a title. Just the seeds they
faced in Root to a Title. Okay, an eight seed,
a four seed, a seven seed, and another eight seed.
That's a very favorable path. Yeah, the path last year

(01:49:33):
for the Celtics eight seed, four seed, six seed, five seed.
Neither team faced a three seed or above. Not a three,
not a two, not a what. None of them the
last two champions faced the top three seed. So like
in the Nuggets last year, they beat the Lakers in

(01:49:54):
five because again that's what the Lakers do.

Speaker 2 (01:49:55):
They crash and burn.

Speaker 1 (01:49:57):
And then the next series they lost game seven at
home to the Timberwolves. And at the time we're like, whoa,
what just happened to the Nuggets? They lost game seven
at home. They're defending champs. How could this be? It's like,
because they're not that good.

Speaker 2 (01:50:13):
It's like, that's the truth.

Speaker 1 (01:50:15):
They didn't have a gauntlet in Root to a Title,
and that's what their credentials are built on. They won
a championship. So in our eyes we hear the Gregorian
chant like oh when Jokic walks in, We're like, this
team look at all their strengths, and they have obvious
flaws and weaknesses, but we overlook a lot of that

(01:50:36):
stuff because they were knighted and won championships. I'm just saying,
for the here and now, look at the path of
them when they when they were solidified and won a championship,
it wasn't the toughest path to a title. Yeah, I
don't short change them for that title. But I'm gonna
look suspiciously at them going forward, like, is this legitimate

(01:50:58):
twenty four?

Speaker 2 (01:50:58):
Here at Gold? You know, we got some.

Speaker 1 (01:51:03):
Get this gas is watered down over here?

Speaker 6 (01:51:06):
You know?

Speaker 8 (01:51:06):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:51:07):
Is there some lead mixed into the goal? I don't know,
I don't know it. Is there pirite? We'll see.

Speaker 3 (01:51:13):
I'll say this though, I think the Thunder, and we
talked about this a little bit earlier talking about this series.
Now Nuggets dvantage to one over the Thunder, but I
look at the Thunder as having some of what the
Nuggets may be missing in terms of talent, and in

(01:51:35):
certain cases you maybe some of that youthful aggressiveness that
you're you're hoping to see out of a squad, a
hungry squad. But then again, the Nuggets, you know, they
finished them off and overtime in game three, you know,
so having that experience matters too. And even if it
is maybe a schedule they ran through on their way

(01:51:55):
to a championship last time, they still lived that life.
They still advanced, They survived and advanced. And yeah, here's
the thing. Are the Nuggets potentially overrated?

Speaker 4 (01:52:09):
Yeah? Potentially?

Speaker 3 (01:52:10):
And I think maybe a bell weather to the fact
that that is Jokic.

Speaker 4 (01:52:14):
I don't think is.

Speaker 3 (01:52:14):
Playing or even acting characteristic in this series. I think
he's he's being forced to do too much. I look at,
for example, even Pregame, the fact that he showed up
to the arena wearing a joker outfit.

Speaker 4 (01:52:31):
That's not his style.

Speaker 3 (01:52:33):
He's not fashion forward guy who was wearing a purple
cumber bunt for crying out loud, you know, So.

Speaker 1 (01:52:40):
He dressed his joker and played like the penguin last night.

Speaker 4 (01:52:46):
There you go.

Speaker 3 (01:52:47):
Yeah, I'm very curious to see how this series goes,
because I do think I do think the Nuggets have
been They've been taken out of their element a little bit,
and I think djok is being spread too thin. And
I don't know, I think the Thunder have them probably
beat around a couple of different corners that Denver isn't

(01:53:09):
expecting and then throw on top of it what you
said to start the postseason, Brian, and maybe factoring you know,
they're a little bit leaderless because they made a decision
at coach at head coach down the home stretch of
the regular season.

Speaker 6 (01:53:23):
What goes back to our argument about how meaningless coaches
are in the NBA, right, I mean, get I don't know.
I was kidding, They're not meaning But I do think
like when you get to the playoffs, the best players
tend to rise to the occasion. I think that's the
part of this Oklahoma City Denver Nuggets series that is

(01:53:44):
the most unique. Like I think most people would agree
that in terms of their players, Like I know, Oklahoma
City has had an unbelievableeason. I want to I don't
want to think anything away from them, but SGA and
Jalen Williams and Lou Dort Okay, Nikole Jkic, Jamal Murray,

(01:54:05):
Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Junior. Like I think the players
just individually, I think it's a pretty even the match series.
Like I think Jokic and SGA kind of cancel each
other out, But who's the Jamal Murray on OKAC? Like
it's Jalen Williams. And don't get me wrong, I love
Jalen Williams. I bet his props like every game in
the playoffs last year. But Jamal Murrays won a title,

(01:54:26):
he has a nickname, like, he has this pedigree, and
in the playoffs sometimes that experience matters a little bit
more than the goodyear that you've had. And I do
think the Nuggets maybe they're they have better players, and
that's what we've seen through the first three games. They
went into OKAC, they stole game one, and they protected
home court in Game three. I mean that game was

(01:54:46):
a battle. I bet the under in that game and
I thought, oh, this is a lock in the second half,
and then it went to overtime and it still stayed
under by like ten to fifteen points. That's how much
of a grinder that game was last night. And you
give credit to Denver. Denver gave up what one fifty
two nights prior. They come back home and they give.

Speaker 5 (01:55:07):
Up one oh four in overtime.

Speaker 6 (01:55:09):
Like I think this Nuggets team, I do think there
is a level of rising to the occasion that isn't
necessarily baked into the prices that we see every night.
With Oklahoma City favorite on the road, something I get
the vibe that Denver might just make a run here,
and Denver, in a year where there's a lot of
parody in the NBA.

Speaker 5 (01:55:31):
Maybe Denver's best player.

Speaker 6 (01:55:33):
Who let's be honest, I know everyone's SGA and I
get it, you had best plus minus in the NBA
this year, deserves to win MVP. But is there any
doubt that Yokich is still kind of the best player
in the sport now?

Speaker 4 (01:55:44):
He is?

Speaker 1 (01:55:45):
He didn't play like it last night, and that's what's crazy.
He is eight for twenty five, oh for ten from
three and they still won in overtime. It's like, wow, right,
So I'll put a bow on it this way. I
do think that the Nuggets and the Celtics have inflated
credentials after winning a championship like going forward, because we think,

(01:56:06):
oh man, they're legit, they're bonafied, and they're not as
legit or bonafide as we think because the path was favorable.
I do believe that. But with that being said, does
that mean that they're absolutely destined to crash and Burn,
that Denver has no chance against OKC, that Boston has
no chance to come back and win the series against
the Knicks. Absolutely not. There are no certainties here. But

(01:56:29):
I do think their credentials are inflated from their title years.
I do think that's at play here. But hey, we'll
see where it goes from here. Because it's been wild
and wacky. His buckle up, man. You could go in
a number of different directions. We've got Rich Hornberger, Penn
State All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst, I'm Brian.
No score bigger at BETMGM when you win with boost tokens, odds,

(01:56:51):
boost tokens and more. Even if your bet doesn't hit,
we've got you covered with no sweat tokens.

Speaker 2 (01:56:55):
And that's not all.

Speaker 1 (01:56:56):
countless basket betting options, including new look, same game parlays, teasers,
live bets, and so much more. All right, coming up next,
rapid fire. Put the heavy emphasis on rapid. Okay, we'll
have some picks for you. We'll share them with you.
That's coming up. It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by
bet MGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by

(01:57:21):
Bet mgm. Hey, our props to the crew, our producer
Patty sweeka in for Bow today. Love hanging out with Patty,
great energy, good dude. Technical producer Alex ty Shirt. It's
been a metal fest here this morning. It's been amazing
having him in here. Love Alex Tye Shirt crushing it
on digital our guys. Sager posting our clips does an

(01:57:43):
amazing job.

Speaker 2 (01:57:45):
Hey.

Speaker 1 (01:57:45):
Top of the Hour up on game LaVar Arrington, TJ.
Hushman's out of Plaxico Burus. They have got you covered
in seven minutes from that. Holy hell, we got a
hustle here. Let's get to this.

Speaker 7 (01:57:59):
Rapid fire.

Speaker 1 (01:58:01):
All right, Jared, we start with you and props to you.
You gave a sovereignty last week. You know what here
before you go, I gotta I gotta.

Speaker 2 (01:58:08):
Throw this out.

Speaker 1 (01:58:09):
It will take five seconds here, but listen to what
Jared did last week.

Speaker 2 (01:58:12):
Listen to this.

Speaker 1 (01:58:13):
They you make money of the old fat.

Speaker 2 (01:58:15):
Oh that's the wrong one.

Speaker 4 (01:58:15):
Here you are.

Speaker 5 (01:58:16):
I'm put a bonus pick for the derby.

Speaker 4 (01:58:18):
Yeah, so let's hear it.

Speaker 5 (01:58:19):
Sovereignty.

Speaker 1 (01:58:20):
How about just threw out the derby winner? Like yeah,
here's your bonus gym. All right, we got a minute,
so go fast. Jared, what do you have for us?

Speaker 6 (01:58:26):
But yeah, buckle up, baby, saddle up. Padre's team total
over six and a half the Rocky stink. This is
an easy one. Julius Randall over six and a half rebounds.
I gave this out during the platter. It's the highest
probability per my NBA prop model.

Speaker 4 (01:58:40):
Today.

Speaker 6 (01:58:41):
I think rand Will gets some boards and I gotta
do it. It's it's a delayed gratification. Bet Celtics to
win the series against the Knicks. It's minus one twenty
wowow we.

Speaker 4 (01:58:49):
Go, yeo.

Speaker 3 (01:58:52):
Give me New York Knickerbockers plus six against Boston Celtics.
Give me gsw take down the Timberwolves. I'll take the
plus points plus five and a half there, and also
give me the over on the total at the garden.
Nick's Celtics two. Oh wait, I'll take the over.

Speaker 1 (01:59:12):
All right, So give me Celtics minus six and a half.
Give me Celtics minus two and a half in the
first quarter. Wow, give me Derek White over three and
a half threes.

Speaker 6 (01:59:22):
Good Celtics first half too, with clean sweep.

Speaker 1 (01:59:30):
You know it was tough as splitting hairs,

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