Fox Sports Radio's Countdown Presented by BetMGM

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
College hoops fans, welcome to the best basketball coverage on
the radio. Hey dude, Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Tipoff is.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
On what quarter three?

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Pop it down and it's presented by bet MGM, the
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
Stoopid lay up, and the buzzer is pure.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
This is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to tip Off. Here's
Brian No, former Penn State All American, Rich Ornberger and
FSR betting analyst Jared Smith.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Oh, good morning to you. Happy Saturday day is off
to a fantastic star. There we go. That's great, that's awesome.
Good way to start.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
All right.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
So we got drama in the NBA playoffs, maybe a
little drama in puck as well. But how about these
Indiana Pacers taking a two to zero series lead, adding
insult to injury. Basically, after the soul crushing Game one
comeback win against the Knicks, they doubled down.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
Huh.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
They get Game two, they get greedy last night and
they show zero fear. Pascal Siakam thirty nine points in Indiana.
They take two games on the road and the Knicks
are in an O two hole. My goodness, if you
would have told me that the with like three minutes
to go in Game one, that the Pacers were gonna

(01:27):
win Game one. End Game two, I'd be like, what
are you watching right now? And that's exactly where we are.
I don't know how the Knicks respond from this. This
is looking like a series that's dead before it begins.

Speaker 5 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean really, when it comes down to it,
the Pacers just simply out executed and out fox and
out played the New York Knicks.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
In every direction you look.

Speaker 5 (01:51):
You looked at Pascal Siakam, who led the Pacers in
double figures with thirty nine points, who was fifteen twenty
three shooting. The Knicks just couldn't stop what's been the
best remaining offense in the postseason.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
And I don't know.

Speaker 5 (02:09):
I mean, I'm I'm a fan of good basketball, I'm
a fan of aggressive basketball.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
I feel like the.

Speaker 5 (02:17):
Pacers are an imposition on the rest of this postseason field.
I don't necessarily think that's exactly what the NBA wants.
I think the NBA would rather a large market advance.
But the Pacers are legit and they're playing like it.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, this series is over.

Speaker 6 (02:36):
I mean I don't I wish I could we could
do like a mulligan on Game one and figure out.
I mean, there's just so many things that had to
happen in Game one for it to go the Pacers' way.
Game two is a completely different story. Game two the
next got out played period, end of story. They were
fortunate to be up at the half. Indiana didn't play

(02:58):
a great first half, and then in the second half
the adjustments were were fantastic. I mean, when you watch
the Knicks, and again, Bino, you watch a lot more
of these games than I do. I haven't watched the
Knicks a lot this year. I obviously have over the
last few weeks in the playoffs. But when I watched
the game last night, like when you watch Game one,

(03:19):
there was not one moment, even during the comeback, even late,
I was like, the Knicks.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Are gonna pull this out, like they're gonna pull it.

Speaker 6 (03:26):
Out, and they didn't. And then you watch game two
and I didn't see right. We talk about this all
the time to zig Zag, I didn't see that fire
from the Knicks last night. They were very much outplayed.
The Pacers are an incredibly gifted offensive team. Their motion,

(03:48):
the way that they flow with and without the basketball,
while the Knicks looked very stagnant on offense, especially in
the second half. I mean, it was just Jalen Brunton
bail us out. There was nothing that really cemented that
momentum because usually when you want, I don't know, I'm

(04:09):
just I'm at a loss with what happened in Game one,
and they just couldn't respond in Game two. And now,
let's be honest, the series is over.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
It really is.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yeah, man, that Game one loss for the Knicks was
just as brutal as it gets, and you thought that
you'd probably see some more fight. There are a lot
of people that backed the Knicks. Yeah, with the zig
zag theory, that whole approach it works a lot of
times in the NBA playoffs. Didn't work in Game two
for the Knicks, but a lot of people thought that
they would come out show a lot more fight and

(04:39):
it just they didn't execute as well as the Pacers did.
And that was the crazy thing with the Pacers the
first half. No one showed up outside of Siakam. Siakam
had a great first half. Tyrese Haliburton talked about it
with the TNT guys after the game, and Barkley asked
them about what happened in the locker room. What did
you guys say, because you guys were asleep at the

(04:59):
wheel the first half, and Tyrese Haliburton was basically like,
we just said to Pascal, like thanks, p thanks for
being the one guy that showed up, and hopefully we'll
join the party here. But that's it. That's all the
Pacers did was siakam in the first half. They were
trailing by three. And that was one thing that Halliburton
said was a shot in the arm was they played badly.

(05:20):
They played their worst half in the playoffs, and they
were only down by three at halftime, and they came
back and won, just out executed them. But you look
at this Pacers team, there's six and one on the
road in these playoffs, six and one on the road,
and they played the team with the best record in
the East, with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They smacked Cleveland around.

(05:42):
They're ten and two overall in these playoffs. That's what
the Pacers are right now. That's that's pretty impressive. And
I mean I go back to this was last year
when the Pacers lost, they got swept in the Eastern
Conference Finals by the Celtics and Jalen Brown, who was
the MVP of that series, he gave the Pacers some

(06:03):
major props, and at the time, you're kind of like, Okay,
we get it, Like it's the opponent you just beat.
It's kind of like boxing, where wherever you defeat is
like the toughest fighter on on planet Earth, you know,
And we're kind of like, Okay, yeah, the Pacers. But
looking back now at what we've seen with the Pacers
in this postseason, if you look back at Jalen Brown's words,

(06:27):
they carry a lot more weight. Check this out.

Speaker 7 (06:29):
You have credit to Indiana. You know, they they played
us tough. I know, like people think that Indiana wasn't
a good team or whatever the case mean. I mean,
I thought they were tough as anybody we played all season.
I remember physical, they were fast, They put a lot
of pressure on us. So shout out to them and
respect to them.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
I mean, look at back on that, it's like, yeah,
you look at Indiana a lot different leaks. They have
real depths, they have a real pace that is so
difficult to keep up with, and the Knicks have a
short rotation, you know, and I think they're just getting
warned down. So gotta give the Pacers a lot of props.
I thought it was weird that Tibbs benched Karl Anthony
Towns and face. So Robinson was just a bad decision

(07:10):
man that that didn't make any sense at all.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Got coach circles around by court Carlisle last night.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yeah, that was rough.

Speaker 5 (07:16):
And also, like the Knicks, they're so known for playing,
you know, full court defense and wearing out opponents in
certain situations. The Pacers, they they lead them fifty one
to twenty six and transition points over two games. I mean,
it's just efficiency. When you see the Pacers going down court,

(07:38):
they look so composed. If the ball's loose, if there's
a rebound with an outlet pass, all of a sudden,
everybody knows where to be and they're they're not getting
ran down. And when you're able to get easy labs, Yeah, okay,
it's just two points, but then it's four points in
the second quarter, and then it's six points in the third,
and then it's ten, ten points, or maybe it's a

(08:00):
thirteen point fourth quarter because somebody hits a three or
a couple of threes on transition. Like you gotta look
out for those easy buckets and everybody's looking for him.
The teams who hustle the hardest get them and the
Pacers have really done a great job in that category.

Speaker 6 (08:17):
How about this stat The Indiana Pacers are six and
oh this postseason when trailing at the half.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (08:25):
I will repeat that again for those who maybe just
wiping the krusty out of their eyes early this morning.
The Pacers are undefeated this postseason when trailing at the half.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
No fear. And you said it perfectly, Brian.

Speaker 6 (08:40):
I'm glad you played that clip from Jalen Brown last
year because I think in life and in sports, and
definitely in basketball, you have to fail before you can succeed.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
We're seeing it with the Thunder.

Speaker 6 (08:53):
They failed last year, didn't play well, lost in the playoffs,
probably were a step.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Away, and now you see the ascent. Same thing with Indiana.

Speaker 6 (09:05):
I mean, how close was Indiana to beating the Celtics
And I think two out of the four games that
they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, if
I recall, they had a ninety percent win probability in
the final two minutes in two of those four games
and they blew them.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Similar to what the Knicks did in Game one.

Speaker 6 (09:24):
And now you see the flip side of it, right,
they went through the failures, the adversity.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
They almost got to the top of.

Speaker 6 (09:32):
The mountain the Eastern Conference Finals against the defending champions.
They weren't the defending champions at the time. They were
about to become the champions after they beat the Pacers.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
And then they come back the.

Speaker 6 (09:43):
Following year and they had a good regularly it's not
a great regular season, a good regular season, and then
they get to the playoffs and they use all of
that failure from last year as fuel. And you're gonna
see Listen, it's not gonna be the sexiest ratings Oklahoma City, Indiana,
but it is going to be I think, pretty good basketball.

(10:03):
Like I honestly think those are the two best teams remaining.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, right, Like if that is the matchup,
that's a pretty good matchup. Yeah, and yeah, there are
a bunch of jokes going around X last night of
you know, executives at ABC and ESPN realizing, oh man,
it might be Pacers Thunder in the finals, and it's
just like, oh, they much rather have the New York market,

(10:28):
And yeah, we get it, but it is a really
good basketball matchup, if indeed that's what we get. I'm
just thinking to your fellas, it sounds like a silly question,
but which is more alarming for the Knicks and also
more just like impressive for the Pacers. We get what
happened in game one, that's crushing for the Knicks. But

(10:50):
game two, like, after game one happens, you think, Okay,
the Knicks, they're going to fight back here, and it
did not go their way at all, and instead the
Pacers they didn't get you know, they didn't get complacent there, like,
you know, we got our split at worst, you know,
let's just go back home. We're tied one one. That's
that's good enough. You know, they went and they got

(11:11):
another game. So I mean, I just think with the
Knicks the way they fell apart in game one, I
think you can argue for the series it might be
even more alarming that they lost Game two the way
they did after that collapse, Like that's the spot where
you're thinking, all, right, zig zag city, baby, this team's

(11:31):
coming back. This is New York. We're we're not going
down without a fight, And the Pacers just easily out
executed them in Game two. I think that could be
as alarming as Game one. Is that crazy?

Speaker 4 (11:44):
No, No, it's it's not crazy.

Speaker 5 (11:46):
And and I will say that the Pacers found something
though targeting brunting defensively, like going after Mitchell Robinson in
some of their pick and roll half off or half
offensive sets, I don't think was a strategy that was
really effective.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
You look at a you look look.

Speaker 5 (12:07):
At brunts, and I wouldn't say his liability defensively, but
there's definitely been a path, especially that appeared in Game two,
where attacking brunts in has led to more success, and
so I'm expecting to see a continuation of that, plus
those transition buckets we were talking about earlier. It's there's

(12:28):
there's a lot left to this series.

Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, And like.

Speaker 5 (12:33):
I, but I think the Pacers unlock something in game two,
and I don't think they're done.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
I find it hard to believe that the Knicks can
come back from this. And I know two oh is
not three to oh. I get it.

Speaker 6 (12:46):
Yeah, I just I just think the deeper the series goes,
it continues to favor the Pacers because of how deep
they are. The Knicks needed to win this series in
five games. I think six games anything to say, like six,
obviously anyone can win and then get to a Game seven,
anyone can win. And I actually, I'll rephrase it this way.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
If the Knicks can get it to a game seven,
anything's possible.

Speaker 6 (13:11):
But odds are they're going to be facing elimination on
the road in Game six.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Odds are if they make it that far unless they
win three straight.

Speaker 6 (13:19):
If they win three straight, then I'll eat my words,
and I'll be thrilled to be wrong. No one will
be happier to be wrong about this take than me.
I will come out here next I don't know when
the games are, but I'll come on the show next Saturday,
and I won't eat Mayo, but I'll eat Crow because
I will be thrilled that the Knicks are alive and well.

(13:41):
But my guess is, as I pull up the schedule
right now, Game six will be next Saturday. Okay, so
if the game, if the series is still alive next
Saturday when we are on the air for game six,
it will be before game six obviously in the more,
and the Knicks are up three to two in the series,

(14:04):
then I'll be I will.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Be over the moon thrilled.

Speaker 6 (14:08):
My guess is the series will be over, or they'll
be down three to two and they'll have to go
to Indiana and win. And it's just I feel like
this is this is the Pacers time. The Knicks haven't
been to this spot, They've never tasted this failure. The
Pacers were in this spot last year and they were

(14:28):
right there and they couldn't finish the job against Boston.
They had game one and I think it was Game
three one and they squandered it away and they're not
going to do I think the best motivation of Rich
you can allude to this because you've probably been in
these situations before, when you lose in those late rounds

(14:50):
and you're basically a runner up, a bride'smaid, not a bride.
That's got to be the best best motivation possible for
when you get back.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
And the Florida Panthers are perfec with example this.

Speaker 6 (15:00):
They lose to Vegas and the Cup two years ago,
come back last year, get to a Game seven, they
don't lose like it. That's gotta be the best motivation
is when you're right there on the precipice and you falter,
and then you get back the next year. There ain't
nothing that's gonna stop you from winning it after you
figured out what losing felt like the prior year.

Speaker 5 (15:20):
Yeah, it's funny, man, militating it can it can't, it can,
but it can also be a motivation. Brian, what do
you got because it can't That door can swing both ways.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
Well, I was just gonna say that. It's funny you
mentioned later rounds and I hear you on the depth,
the lack of depth for the Knicks. They remind me
a little bit of Mike Tyson the Knicks, where hey,
if Tyson could knock you out in the early rounds,
that's his strength. But if this is gonna be a
you know, this match is going the distance, that's not
good for Mike Tyson.

Speaker 6 (15:51):
You know.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
And that's why I think with the Knicks, if they
can if they can hit you, you know, they can hit
you with an upper cut, you know, a left hook
and turn your lights out, and that's their strength. But
if you're asking them to go in a best of
seven series, they're gonna go to Game seven against the
team like the Pacers with real depth and a real pace,
just playing one hundred miles per hour. That is not

(16:14):
what they want to do. That's not it, and that's
what they're gonna have to do. You have to win
four out of five. It's a bad matchup. It's just
a bad matchup for the Knicks.

Speaker 4 (16:23):
It is. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
And one other thing that you mentioned, Jared in passing
was like eating mayo. I do have my supplies to
pay my debt. Yeah, have time, we can do the
rapid Fire society. I might just might just whip it
up in a break. You know, I do have the
squeezable Mayo. I lost rapid fire what was it last

(16:45):
football season? Came in dead last? So the steaks are
you have to drink mayo with your coffee? A lah
will levis.

Speaker 4 (16:54):
So I do have.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
I've got a cold coffee. I've got my squeezable Mayo.
You don't have hold coffee?

Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh wow, I was gonna say hot. Probably better it
melts the mail a little bit.

Speaker 4 (17:03):
But listen, It'll just I've been through this, Bru've been.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
Through I haven't been Who am I to speak? I'm well,
here's the problem.

Speaker 5 (17:14):
I promised that I would pay off my bet from
the twenty twenty four NFL season. When you paid off
your bet from this past season.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
I got interest to pay on the mail.

Speaker 5 (17:24):
Yeah, so so I hate that you brought that up.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
I thought I thought that you would forget or going
to rig.

Speaker 6 (17:30):
One of the tournaments. So I lose one of these years,
one of these years, you're gonna rig it.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
It's gonna be rigged.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
I feel like I got to pay off this debt
because you never know. I'm gonna leave it at that,
you know, like, oh stop, nothing is promised though I
don't want to hot.

Speaker 6 (17:47):
You know, maybe the mayl is well finally cut with
you over the head.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
That's true, That's possible, absolutely possible. We've got Rich Joornberger,
Penn State All American, Jared Smith, f USR betting analyst.
I'm Brian No. Use Code Countdown at BETMGM and receive
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(18:13):
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this team is the greatest threat to our long term enjoyment.
Details around the corner. It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented

(18:34):
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(19:11):
All right, So, broadview of this OKC series where they
lead the t Wolves two games to nothing, we'll get
we'll hone in on the nuts and bolts in a
second here of the series, But broadview, I think the
team that threatens our long term enjoyment is gotta be

(19:31):
the Oklahoma City thunder right. Think about it. With the
the NBA in particular, we're like, oh, look at all
this parody. We're gonna have a champion, a new champion
for the seventh straight season. And you're like, well, this
is good. We don't have all right, wake me up
when it's Cabs Warriors in the finals, like that was
never a fun time to be an NBA fan. When
it's wake me when we know these two teams are

(19:53):
gonna be in the finals. And if you look at
OKC amongst all this talk about parody and all this stuff,
they fly right in the face of that where they're
showing real dynasty type potential where it's not just their talent,
it's also the picks that they have. And imagine if
they have this all in move right where they get

(20:17):
a player like Yannis, so they get a superstar to
go along with SGA, like they have so many draft picks.
Imagine if Sam Presty gets really aggressive and makes an
all in move while they might already win a championship
this season. Yeah, that's the interesting part is it is
it better for OKC to win a championship this series

(20:37):
as is, or or better that they lose and maybe
go all in and get a superstar, Like if you
want parody. It's probably better that they win and they're
less likely to make an all in move, although they
could win and still make an all in move. But
I think if you're a fan of parody, OKC is

(20:57):
a major threat to that.

Speaker 5 (21:00):
I agree, But I don't think they have to lose
in order to have that feeling.

Speaker 4 (21:05):
And here's why.

Speaker 5 (21:06):
And actually it's going to tie in nicely to the
point I was going to make, but I want to
respond to what you said. The Warriors were a championship
caliber and championship winning team and then they added Kevin Durant.
They didn't need the durantulay. They beat Lebron, they did it,

(21:27):
but they want to get even better. They tasted what
the Mana of the Heavens was like atop the apex
of the NBA and said, let's double down and let's
do this maybe a couple more times. And so they
bring in Durant and it's even better. So when you
have a Steph Curry, a La Sga on OKC, your

(21:52):
MVP playing like said mvp, I mean right before game
two he hoisted that trophy and then he went out
and dropped thirty eight eight assists and had three steals.
So there is a rubric for success if you want
to double down, and it is the Golden State Warriors,
and they've done it recently. So I don't think that

(22:16):
the Thunder have to stop after winning a championship improving
this roster. They can use some of that draft capital
and still add a Jannis or a superstar playmaker that
compliments Sga well and go out there and continue dominating
in the upcoming basketball season after this postseason has put

(22:36):
to bed.

Speaker 6 (22:38):
Yeah, it was kind of funny because I think a
lot of people thought Hartenstein was kind of that addition
this year, right, Like he had a very successful campaign
within his I'm not comparing Hartenstein to Jannis, but my
point being, it was a very successful campaign for the Thunder.
They made it to the second round of the playoffs
or a young team exciting, everyone loves them, they're improving,

(22:58):
they have all these great young players that should.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
Continue to improve.

Speaker 6 (23:03):
And then they went out and they signed, you know,
someone who was a big piece literally and metaphorically speaking
on another team from last year that made a good
playoff run, like the Knicks had a decent playoff run
last year, fell short against the Pacers, in seven in
that second round, and they couldn't keep their big man
seven footer to pair with chet Holmger who's another seven footer.

(23:26):
So it's kind of funny that they already are showing
you the ability to add free agents to what is
a very good roster, and a roster that Sam Presti
has just I mean, he's absolute wizardry to build the
roster the way that he did. So I don't think
the Thunder need to go out and get someone like

(23:48):
Giannis and it might actually end up being a detriment,
you know, to throw off the chemistry of this young team.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
But if they do, I mean, goodness, cracious, lookout.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
I know, saying to even think about and some of
the moves that Sam Presty made, you're right here and
think about Alex Caruso or it's a guard who's ding
up Jokic and making life difficult like that's that shouldn't happen.
And Caruso has done a very very nice job, especially
defensively in the playoffs. And that's the thing. If you

(24:19):
look at the series, man, they're smacking around Minnesota pretty good.
It's wild to see OKC struggle the way they did
against the Nuggets and the Nuggets lack of depth, and
it goes to a seventh game, and then they turned
on the after burners in the in the seventh game
against Denver, and now they're just smacking around the Timberwolves,

(24:39):
who are a really good team. But two games in
this is there's a beatdown for OKC, and I was
just thinking about that too. What has impressed you the
most about OKAC thus far? It's either a who or
what question?

Speaker 4 (24:54):
Right?

Speaker 3 (24:55):
It could be their defense collectively. It could be a who.
It could be SGA could be Jalen Williams could be
an individual player. SGA has been fantastic. He's looked like
the MVP. Two games in. I would, personally, I would
go with their defense. When you're holding Minnesota to eighty
eight points in the first game and then a bucko
three in game two, when you're packing the paint and

(25:18):
you're forcing outside shots left and right, it's I'm impressed
with their defense, and they've played this quality of defense
all season long. It's just I don't know, maybe off
the heels of the Denver series where they didn't look
nearly as good defensively at many times in that series
to see them do what they've done two games in

(25:38):
against Minnesota, that's what's impressed me the most. But I
don't know if there's a wrong answer here. Maybe if
you're like, I'm most impressed with Isaiah Joe, Okay, that's
a wrong answer.

Speaker 4 (25:48):
But but I mean.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Wallace has been really impressive off the bench, but you.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
Can be impressed with their depth. Their death is very
impressive also, So yeah, there are a lot of ways
you could go with that.

Speaker 5 (25:59):
Yeah, I think that's actually where I'm at. I think
from a depth perspective, the bench for OKC is so
much better than the bench bench depth that the.

Speaker 4 (26:12):
T Wolves have.

Speaker 5 (26:13):
I mean, if you look at the margins, the margins
are what speak to me the most right now, through
back to back blowout losses. The Thunder is beating the
Tea Wolves in this series by forty one. I mean
that like a combine, a combined margin of victory of

(26:34):
forty one.

Speaker 4 (26:35):
That's not just the stars showing up.

Speaker 5 (26:38):
That's your bench players getting off of the bench, coming
into the game cold and playing great defense. I mean,
they're quick, they're aggressive, they've been stifling Edwards. I mean,
he's a reliable scorer, but He's not the only one.
I mean, the t Wolves have some offensive depth. I
mean they can look elsewhere for shots. But like you said, Brian,

(26:58):
they're doing a nice job of stopping the easy buckets.
They're forcing the basketball outside. The t Wolves are not
hitting perimeter shots consistently, and many of them are being
contested because they're playing great wing health defense and things
like that. And so when you're able to, in sort
of like a methodical fashion, shut down what an offense does,

(27:21):
and they don't have answers through two games, it's gonna
look like this.

Speaker 4 (27:24):
It's gonna look like blowout city. And okay, see.

Speaker 5 (27:29):
I mean unless unless the Timberwolves have some some serious
answers in game three, unless they change some things in
game three. Okay, SE's gonna march the finals and it's
it's it's not even gonna look particularly close.

Speaker 6 (27:45):
Yeah, they're gonna be a big favorite in the finals too.
Because and I was thinking about this last night. I
before Game two, I put in a future's bet on
Oka see because I thought, if they won Game two,
and if the Pacers won Game two in New York,
like the markets just because obviously the Knicks were power
ratings wise higher than Indiana. I think now looking back

(28:07):
on that, we maybe might want.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
To flip it.

Speaker 6 (28:10):
But power ratings wise, Indiana was number four of the
four teams remaining. I guess maybe Minnesota was probably you know, four, A,
four B, but it was clear the power rating structure.
OKAC was a dominant one, the Knicks were second, and
then the two other teams were kind of below them.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
If you get a.

Speaker 6 (28:29):
Okac Thunder or oka See Pacers finals, okay See is
going to be a massive favorite, and it's gonna take
a because when I when I analyze that matchup, it
feels like, and you know, you can correct me again
because you've watched a lot more than me this year,
it feels like Indiana is like a poor man's thunder,
like they kind of want to do the same thing.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
They want to get out and run.

Speaker 6 (28:50):
I think Okaysee's defense is better, but both teams are
incredibly deep, and both teams are relentless. But I just
think Oklahoma City's got better players, you know, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
Like maybe you want to say Halliburton and SGA are
kind of relatively comparable, even though I think SGA is
better once you get past that, and you start comparing
Jalen Williams and Hartenstein and Homegrim to the bigs of Indiana,

(29:14):
Like it's just I think, okay, SE's just bigger, better, faster, stronger, deeper.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
Like, I don't see that series being competitive, do you?

Speaker 3 (29:22):
It'd be tough. I mean I could see, I could
see a competitive series due to the pacers pace and
they have real depth. But yeah, I mean, okay, see,
You're right, They're just on another level. That's the thing
right where I go back to the beginning of the
playoffs where Oka see is the best point differential in

(29:42):
the history of the NBA. Like they're beating things by
an average of thirteen points. Like all these teams that
had great point differential in that neighborhood all won championships,
every one of them, you know, and they've got the
okay see as the best in NBA history. Think about that,
to win by an average of roughly thirteen points per night, Like,

(30:04):
there are games that you'll lose that goes right against
your average of winning by thirteen points. You're blowing teams out.
It speaks to your defense, your depth, your front end talent,
all of that stuff. It is hard to maintain an
average like that, and they did. So that's what the
Pacers or any team would be up against. That's not
easy at all.

Speaker 5 (30:23):
And I mean when you have a star playing like
a star, even when he's being relied on SGA, Shake Gilders, Alexander,
he's been playing like the MVP like. That's the other
thing is we know who he is. We know that
he was up for the award a year ago. This

(30:43):
is no shock that he got one of these in
his back pocket now, but it is. I don't want
to say it's good because that really I mean, I'm
searching for the right ward. It's excellent, it's impressive, it's
perfect when not only do you have a star, but
you also have a star who knows what it means

(31:05):
to deliver and crunch time. And that's what we're seeing,
even when it's a blowout, he's not done working.

Speaker 4 (31:12):
Edwards.

Speaker 5 (31:12):
I think he's suffering the fake fate of somebody who's
been forced into a roll of over usage in this
in this postseason matchup, I think that it's kind of
all on him. It's either him or they're going to lose,
and it's like it's like him dropping fifty or they're
gonna lose because of how good Okayse's defense has been playing.

(31:34):
So it's it just is what it is for the
Tea Wolves, and Okayse is just it's they're just that dominant.
I don't want to call this series over the same
way I don't really want to call the Pacers series over.
But it does feel like we're in a little bit
of an inevitable slog to a finals matchup that we

(31:56):
can already predict.

Speaker 6 (31:57):
Yeah, I mean, Edward's are thirty two points in game two,
the rest of the starters combined thirty eight exactly.

Speaker 4 (32:03):
Crazy.

Speaker 6 (32:04):
I mean, if you just can't you just can't compete
with that. Like that's the difference between OKAC and Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
That's why that series is definitely over.

Speaker 6 (32:14):
Like I mean, I think the Knicks, because of just
their their fight, I do think will continue to battle.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
Minnesota looked resigned.

Speaker 6 (32:23):
To their fate in the last two games, like they
look like they were going They looked like they were
bringing a knife to a gunfight. Like it just they
just don't have the firepower to withstand that. Especially if
Julius Randall's gonna look like the way he did in
game two. They need really what it is they know
what they're getting from Edwards. He's gonna give you thirty

(32:44):
most nights. They need Julius Randall to give them thirty two.
Like that's the only way that And when Julius Randall
was playing at a high level, well, t Wolves ran
through the first two rounds against Golden State in LA
and now he's kind of coming back down to earth.
To be fair, he had twenty eight and eight in
game one, they still lost by thirty, Like.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
It's just like, what else can you do?

Speaker 6 (33:09):
Like, I think that is where I'm at with this
with this te Wolves team. I think Minnesota is just
so reliant on Edwards. It's really hard for them to
get other people involved.

Speaker 2 (33:22):
Rant like and maybe the role players play better at home.
That is a thing in the NBA.

Speaker 6 (33:27):
Maybe a guy like Alexander Walker comes out tonight, makes
a bunch of threes. McDaniels, you know, Devincenzo has a
chance to pop off for twenty twenty five. Like they're
gonna need multiple role players, and they've been shooting a
gajillion threes. You would think one of the games they
will hit and have a forty three point night. And

(33:49):
shoot fifty of them and they'll win one of these games.
But I just don't think that's sustainable for a seven
game series.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
Right, Yeah, That's the thing is you're living and dying
by threes, and a lot of times that's by design. Like, okay,
so he's packing the paint. Anthony Edwards talked about that,
and it's like, all right, this is the best shot
we can get. And if nas Reid is just can't
buy a shot at all from outside, it's like, that's
what's gonna happen. You're gonna lose these games. The one thing,

(34:17):
and you alluded to this jeared that's maybe like, okay,
that does It's one thing in our favor that the
Timberwolves have that the Knicks don't is Okay, we're going
home like the Knicks. We're like, okay, we're going on
the road now down to nothing. That's that's not nearly
as comforting as the Timberwolves. So we'll see what they

(34:38):
do tonight at home. You know, they get a push
from their crowd and maybe the shots are falling a
little bit more from outside and it's a more competitive
game three, it's possible. Hey, 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. We should have subscribed. You
always have instant access to our Fox Sports Radio videos

(34:59):
on YouTube. We've got Rich Ornberger, Penn State, All American,
got Sjared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No coming
up next. Wow, it is time for the platter. Already
we each have one selection. We pool everything together for
a greater payout. The parlay Platter comes your way. Next,
it's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It is

(35:22):
Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM. 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're registered 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, use

(35:44):
Code Countdown and you'll get up to fifteen hundred dollars
All right, let's do this.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
Check this out parlay letter.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
Ah, yes, the parlay platter. Wach have one selection for you.
We pull it together for greater payout. Jared, we start
with you for the theme and your first selection.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
Yeah, we'll keep the theme simple.

Speaker 6 (36:06):
Again, we do have NBA that is still relevant and
very important as we get through the conference finals, so
we'll stick with the NBA SGP theme or maybe even
a little SGP plus as we look ahead to Game
three of the Pacers Knicks on Sunday, But I will
stick to tonight Game three thunder t Wolves back in Minneapolis.

(36:28):
I'll go Isaiah Hartenstein over seven and a half rebounds.
This has been a consistently priced prop throughout the postseason.
He's only averaging twenty three and a half minutes per
game through the first two games of this series, down
from twenty seven minutes per game in the last series.

Speaker 2 (36:44):
So volume I would expect we'll pick.

Speaker 6 (36:46):
Up at some point. I don't think he's a twenty
minute per game guy. He seems more in the high twenties,
and hopefully if the games are closer, maybe he'll get
a little bit more time in the fourth quarter. He's
averaging over eight per game in the playoffs. He's averaging
over ten rebounds per game in the regular season.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
The model tonight has him at nine.

Speaker 6 (37:05):
To get that nice cushion, you'llly need eight to cash
this bet. So over seven and a half rebounds for
Isaiah Hartenstein tonight Game three thunder two Wolves.

Speaker 5 (37:14):
Okay, I'm gonna go with Anthony Edwards on the over
twenty eight points.

Speaker 4 (37:19):
And here's why game two he went off. He would think, Oh.

Speaker 5 (37:22):
Man, okay see, is they're gonna respond They're gonna respond
to that.

Speaker 4 (37:26):
No, they're not.

Speaker 5 (37:27):
No, they're not because they dominated in game two even
though amp Man went off, And the reason is because
they limited the scorer from the other starters and the
bench for the t Wolves. So I think it's second
verse same as the first, or really, in this case,
third verse same as the second. Let an eat, take

(37:47):
care of the rest and dominate again in game three.

Speaker 4 (37:51):
Okay see will do just that.

Speaker 5 (37:53):
So amp Man going over twenty eight, I think he'll
probably sail past that, and okay, se could still win
by a large Mark Jim, So yeah, Anthony Edwards over
the twenty eight points.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
I'm gonna look to tomorrow Night's Eastern Conference Finals Game
three matchup. I got my I got it, circled Karl
Anthony Town's over twenty one and a half points.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
I thought it was.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
Dumb that he wasn't playing in the fourth quarter. For
most of the fourth quarter while Mitchell Robinson was out there,
made no sense. I don't know what Tims is doing there.
It was like, I don't know, maybe three minutes to go,
you had Mitchell Robinson like awkwardly going down the lane
trying to get a shot to go in. It's nowhere close,
and it's like, maybe a big man with skill would

(38:37):
have been better in that situation. And then they hacked
Mitchell Robinson and he's a horrible free throw shooter. It
just made no sense whatsoever. So I think Kat's minutes
go up. He's certainly gonna be out there in the
fourth quarter, and he's given the Pacers problems scoring wise
in this series. So give me Kat over twenty one
and a half another one that I like, maybe I'll

(38:58):
I'll get to that and it up. But how about
Mitchell Robinson under seven and a half rebounds. That's a
little bit dicey, But think of this, he twisted his
ankle a little bit. Reggie Miller talked about that a
big man that has any sort of like twisted ankle
that's different than a guard with as much weight as
they're carrying. And I think, as minutes go down a

(39:19):
little bit off the heels of game two, how could
they not. So if Robinson isn't out there for as
long of stretches and deep into the fourth quarter, then
I think under seven and a half is absolutely live.
I actually like that play, so I might squawk more
about that and prop it up. But give me Kat
over twenty one and a half.

Speaker 6 (39:39):
Plus four point fifty four for the SGP plus. So
we got Hartenstein, we need eight rebounds, We need twenty
nine points from Edwards to cash. We need twenty two
points from Kat in game three tomorrow night. I actually
like the Edwards prop a lot. I think three point
yeah makes to be my prop it up theme when

(40:02):
we get there in the next hour. To your point
on Mitchell Robinson b not like it was. I bet
the over last night on his rebounds at six and
a half, and obviously he got a booze for what
happened in that game. But usually when they bump up
the number, that's when you look to bet the other side.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
So yeah, it'll be interesting.

Speaker 6 (40:19):
I do think that the twin Tower lineup when they
have Cat and Robinson on the floor is effective.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
But we'll see how Tibbs plays it.

Speaker 4 (40:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
Absolutely looking forward to it, and hopefully we cash. That's
what I'm looking forward to them.

Speaker 4 (40:33):
The same.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
All right, come it up next. College football just figured
it out. So why can't the NFL ball on the brain?
Right around the corner? Oh, what is going on? Happy
Saturday to you. I hope your day is off to
a tremendous start. We have got ball on the brain,
that is right. Why can't the NFL be more like

(40:54):
college football? We'll get to that here momentarily. 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. Okay, so college football
changing things up for the twenty twenty five season. Seating

(41:16):
will be different. Seating will be based on record and
on the selection committee's final rankings, not the conference champions,
and those teams are seeded one through four. It's like
you actually have to be ranked in the top four
to get a buy like a top four team. You know,
crazy how that works. I love the change. I think

(41:38):
it makes a whole lot of sense. The days of
a team ranked like twelfth or sixteenth and getting a
first round by as if they're ranked one through four.
Those days are over. And who knows what this format
is gonna turn into after next season, Right, We're gonna
get sixteen teams and things are gonna change and keep
changing and keep changing, because that's the way it goes

(41:59):
in college foot But at least for the twenty twenty
five College football Playoff, the seeding has been tweaked, which
I liked. Are we all in favor of this?

Speaker 4 (42:07):
Right?

Speaker 3 (42:08):
Who's against this?

Speaker 2 (42:12):
Makes sense to me? Do we lose?

Speaker 4 (42:14):
Rich?

Speaker 2 (42:15):
I'm back?

Speaker 4 (42:16):
Oh, I'm back. I missed what Brian said college football? Okay?

Speaker 3 (42:23):
Yeah, where you getting mao together? What's going on?

Speaker 4 (42:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (42:27):
Sorry, I was on Mars for a second there, but
now I'm back from.

Speaker 4 (42:32):
The the outer spirit. Jared, you go first and I'll
catch up.

Speaker 6 (42:37):
Well, I think so when this story broke where I
wasn't surprised, Like there was no surprise, like this is
an obvious thing. College football needed to change this. We
can't have Arizona State and Boise State getting buys into
the quarterfinals. We can't have Oregon as the number one
team facing a team that everyone thinks is the number

(42:59):
one team, Ohio State in their first playoff game.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
We needed reform.

Speaker 6 (43:04):
We needed to figure out a way to get the
best teams into the best slot. Now there's always a
light and a dark to every story. The light is
finally we have a system, or at least a seating system.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
That makes sense.

Speaker 6 (43:19):
The dark side of this it continues to devalue the
conference championship games, and it will continue to devalue them.
And I think we are now on a path. And
I've said this, We've done this show.

Speaker 4 (43:32):
Now.

Speaker 6 (43:33):
This will be the fourth college football season coming up
this fall that we've done this show.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
So you're no stranger to this take by Now.

Speaker 6 (43:40):
We need I think two conferences is enough. I would
be fine with one, one Mega conference with thirty ish teams,
just like the English Premier League.

Speaker 2 (43:53):
We promote teams into the Mega Conference.

Speaker 6 (43:56):
We can relegate teams out of the Mega Conference if
they perform poorly. All of these teams play each other
during the regular season, Alabama doesn't play Sacramento State in
late November to get ready for the Iron Bowl.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
No more of that. And that's just the direction I
think we're going.

Speaker 6 (44:14):
And I think two conferences AFC, NFC, right, Like, I
think that's fine too, and all those teams play each other,
but we continue to devalue the conferences by moving in
this direction, and I think that's okay, Like, I'm fine
with change, but we just need to be real and
honest about what's happening. The more we step towards seeding

(44:36):
it in this way and making the playoff significantly more
important than the conferences, we continue to devalue the conference
championship games.

Speaker 5 (44:46):
Yeah, And to be perfectly honest with you, I don't
know if it's a better system because I think a
lot of the same old arguments that we've always heard
will not dissipate with change.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
Now.

Speaker 5 (45:01):
The bye weeks being awarded to conference champions that was
a wrinkle, and that obviously upset a lot of people.
But can't you see, I know, I can a situation
where two one loss teams or maybe dare I say
a two loss team and a one loss team is
seated higher than two undefeated teams come the end of

(45:23):
the season, and it's all based on strength to schedule.
Because the committee says that two loss SEC team and
that one loss Big ten team are better than the
two undefeated ACC teams.

Speaker 4 (45:38):
I could see. I could see it now.

Speaker 5 (45:40):
I'm not saying it's the two undefeated teams will necessarily
come out of the same conference, but I'm just trying
to prove the point that there will still be controversy,
that they are still so far from creating the perfect mousetrap.
This is going to bother people. It's going to annoy

(46:00):
many sports fans, let alone college football fans, let alone
the college football fans who are directly affected by the
decision making of the committee. I don't like when a game,
or a sport or a league is so subjectively evaluated

(46:23):
to determine the postseason. It feels dirty, it feels anti sport.
It's like a popularity contest to a certain extent over
a meritocracy. And that's sort of the beautiful thing about
sport in the first place. It's why we love sports
is that, well, the cream rises to the top. Well,
unless the cream plays in a certain conference that gets

(46:47):
a certain amount of public interest, that gets a certain
amount of exposure that we feel a certain way about.
And then really, even if you are the cream that
should be floating to the top of this whole, you know,
swirling coffee cup cauldron of the postseason, that may not necessarily.

Speaker 4 (47:07):
Worked out for you.

Speaker 5 (47:08):
And that's where that's where I hate the direction college
football is heading in and has been in over the past.

Speaker 4 (47:14):
I mean, we're closing in on a decade now.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
Well, I would say it isn't perfect, but it's better,
you know, I get that. It's it's kind of weird
that you get a committee that's you could say, hand
picking or hand ranking the teams, and whoever's won through four,
those are the four teams that get to buy. They
get a first round by. That's valuable, it's that perfect,
But it's better than what we had because it's just

(47:39):
we can all agree. It's just dumb that it seemed
like Boise State or Arizona State get a first round
by when they're nowhere near ranked in the top four.
That just makes no sense. So I think it's a
step in the right direction. I like it, and again,
it's not perfect to your point, Rich, but it's better
than what we had, because we're here squawking about it

(48:01):
last year, like, how in the world can Arizona what
was Arizona State ranked, like twelfth, somewhere around sixteenth or something.
You can't be ranked near the teams and get a
first round by as if you're a top four team.
That's crazy. So I get that you don't love that
the committee is choosing who gets a first round by,
and that's very valuable. But I would argue that the

(48:24):
teams are choosing who. The top four teams are way
more now in this system compared to last year's system.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
Totally agree.

Speaker 6 (48:32):
I think last year the committee probably wishes they could
have done this, and the matchups would have been significantly
better in the first round. I mean, if you go
back and you look at what the matchups actually were,
I think it was like Tennessee SMU would have been
one of the matchups. I think Indiana would have played
Boise That would have been a good matchup.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
Like it, It just makes those matchups so much better
for the long haul.

Speaker 6 (48:58):
And I don't really care what would have happened last year.
It's not as important as what will happen this year,
which is you now get at least, to Brian's point,
a system that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
At least it makes sense. Maybe the committee gets it wrong.
That is very possible that we have.

Speaker 6 (49:15):
This great new seating system in place and the committee
looks at the teams and they're like, I'm gonna go
with this team, and everyone's like, no, that's not the
right team. That absolutely a It probably will happen in
some capacity because we just love discourse in this society.
But at least now the committee can make their own

(49:36):
choice and it's not being chosen for them. That's what
the big gripe was last year. Everyone was like everyone
with eyeballs that watches football was like, yeah, Boise and
Arizona State are not top four teams period.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
They're not like, they're really good teams.

Speaker 6 (49:53):
Ashton Gent is a great player, Arizona State's super spunky,
and they're on the rise, but they're not one of
the best four teams. It was obvious to every single
person that watches the sport, and yet the committee was
powerless to do anything about it. That is what needed
to change, and now that has been changed.

Speaker 5 (50:11):
Yeah, I feel very similarly to everybody who watched the
postseason last year. That I mean, the system that existed
jobbed certain teams in a big way and it.

Speaker 4 (50:25):
Had to change.

Speaker 5 (50:27):
I don't disagree with any of that, but I change
for change sake, or change to something that is obviously
inherently broken like out the Gates doesn't feel great either.

Speaker 4 (50:39):
So I do I think it'll be better? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (50:42):
But do I think it solves the majority of the
problems that everybody seems to have with college football and
the way their postseason is structured.

Speaker 4 (50:49):
Absolutely not.

Speaker 5 (50:51):
And this sport makes enough money and they have enough
decision makers and they have enough cachet I think to
take bigger swings than they are. If there's one thing
I've always said I've appreciated about the NFL is their
ability to be flexible, even though they're behemoth. The NFL,
like no other league, I feel like, flexes and changes

(51:15):
and adapts with the cultural moment better than almost any league,
and is willing to admit when they screw something up.

Speaker 6 (51:22):
I e.

Speaker 5 (51:23):
The New Orleans Saints Rams NFC Championship game pass interference,
no call that could have changed the outcome of league history.
And they go and they put their heads together and say, well,
we're gonna make it so PI is reviewable. And they
did it for a season and they went, this is
absolutely garbage.

Speaker 4 (51:44):
We're going to.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
Take that rule away.

Speaker 5 (51:46):
And I thought, great, well, so okay, in two ways,
that's great. One, you're listening to your fans, and the
fans are what's keeping the lights on at all those stadiums,
keeping those billionaire owners pockets full, and keeping those millionaire
players on the field. So listen to your fans. Good
check that box. Great job. Secondarily, good on you for realizing, oh,

(52:08):
this is a garbage rule change. We were too reactionary,
we overstep the bounds of what really should have happened here,
and we're.

Speaker 4 (52:17):
Gonna go back and we're gonna tinker with it again.

Speaker 5 (52:20):
I love that. I love that adaptability. The NFL is king,
and I understand it's good to be king, and you
can make decisions and some of them are ugly and
you have to fix them later, and you may have.

Speaker 4 (52:30):
Room to do that.

Speaker 5 (52:32):
Well, guess what right behind the NFL in this country
is college football. They are printing money right now. So
go and act like the NFL.

Speaker 4 (52:42):
Don't.

Speaker 5 (52:42):
Don't be afraid to take big swings, because even if you, miss,
You're probably gonna still land in Valhalla. I mean, you're
still going to make a ton of money. You may
piss off a lot of people doing it, but you're
still gonna make a.

Speaker 4 (52:56):
Ton of money. And then just fix it. Then just
fix it.

Speaker 5 (52:59):
But if this isn't a big enough swing to me,
I think the playoffs are still inherently broken even with
this rule change.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
You know what the irony is.

Speaker 6 (53:08):
So I just pulled up what the bracket would have
been from last year. Here's what the bracket would have
been if this rule change was in place. I guess
I do care about hypotheticals, because, let's be honest, it's
the radio show.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
We love hypotheticals.

Speaker 6 (53:19):
Clemson would have played Notre Dame, Boise State, Indiana, Arizona State,
Ohio State, SMU Tennessee in the first round. Your top
four seeds would have been Oregon, Georgia, Texas, Penn State.
Odds are you would have gotten Notre Dame against Penn State. Oh,
that sounds familiar. Odds are you would have gotten Ohio

(53:40):
State against Texas in the quarterfinals. Well, that sounds familiar.
Like you would have still gotten a lot of these
similar matchups.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
If seating holds in.

Speaker 6 (53:49):
Terms of who the projection, not the seeds, but the
projected teams would have been, it would have probably been
Oregon Notre Dame in the semis Georgia versus Ohio State,
and your championship game would have.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
Likely been Notre Dame versus Ohio State.

Speaker 6 (54:07):
You could make the argument Organs better than Notre Dame,
but that's basically a coin flip, and Ohio State would
have obviously been a favorite over Georgia, so you might have.

Speaker 2 (54:16):
Gotten the same result.

Speaker 6 (54:18):
Even if we had it seated this way, you still
might have gotten Ohio State versus Notre Dame. Anyways, even
if the seating was shifted to the current format that
we now are operating under. That's not to say that
it wouldn't have been different, but the projections say that
it was still a likely outcome. You would have gotten

(54:39):
Notre Dame versus Ohio State, which is kind of funny
if you think about it.

Speaker 3 (54:43):
Yeah, listen, there are some things that would have maintained
and there are things that would have changed drastically. Like Oregon,
for instance, they were the number one team, they were
the number one seed, and they got Ohio State for
their first game, right, Like that would have been a
lot different and the Ducks are raising the arms like
we would have signed up for different, you know. Like

(55:04):
so it does change things. And that's the thing. Like
to Jared's point, maybe the committee they put the fifth
ranked team what we perceived to be the fifth ranked
team fourth, and that team gets a first round by,
and we're like, what's going on with that? It's not
gonna be as bad as it was this past year.
Arizona State was ranked twelfth and they got a first
round by. They were seated fourth. The Committee's not doing that.

(55:26):
The Committee's not putting the twelfth ranked team and seeding
them fourth. They're not doing that. But that's the way
it was with the old system. And that's the funny
thing to me, too, is college football figured out something
that the NFL should do. I've been yelling about this
for years, but college football effectively just said, hey, it's
great that you won your conference. You get a seat

(55:46):
at the table. You might not be getting a bye
as if you're a top four team. That's kind of crazy.
Just because you win your trash conference doesn't mean you
get a first round by. And I don't know why
the NFL looks at it differently. Where the NFL should
look at it and say, oh, you want your trash
AFC South Division, Houston, and you have a worse record

(56:06):
than the Chargers. Guess what, you don't get a home
playoff game. You got to earn it. You have a
better record. But they don't. The NFL does not look
at it the way college football does. I think college
football has this right. I think the NFL has it
dead wrong. You can't tell me it makes sense in
any world to have four fewer wins as a division

(56:27):
winner than the wildcard team and you're hosting that wildcard
team that's four wins better than you. It makes no
sense at all. But the NFL they're gonna roll with that.
They might always roll with it that way. The owners
don't want to give up the home game.

Speaker 5 (56:41):
Yeah, and you know what, I appreciate it because to me,
having multiple routes, as long as it makes sense and
it feels equitable, multiple routes to get to a postseason,
I'm alright with it.

Speaker 4 (56:55):
The problem I have.

Speaker 5 (56:56):
With college football is how diverse these conference are, how
lopsided and imbalanced they are from a talent and a
competitive competitiveness standpoint, Like in the NFL, every division has
two teams that could potentially make a.

Speaker 4 (57:15):
Lot of noise in the postseason.

Speaker 5 (57:16):
I mean there are years where obviously certain divisions are
playing underperforming in a gigantic way, and you can make
an argument against the point I just made, but overall, that's.

Speaker 4 (57:28):
Typically how we feel about it. So it doesn't matter
where you look.

Speaker 5 (57:31):
Amongst the thirty two teams, there's about sixteen who have
a real case, and so yeah, you're right, maybe a
team who has three fewer wins than another is seated higher.
But it's never bothered me because it's felt like an
equitable system, whereas in college football, none of it is factual,
none of it's logic. Everything is subjective and opinion based.

(57:56):
To me, that's a dirtier way to do business. I
it's very simple.

Speaker 4 (58:01):
In the NFL.

Speaker 5 (58:01):
It's cut and dry. You're playing in a division of
four teams. You're gonna play each of those teams twice,
so that's six games that you really got to hone
in on and focus on and win those games. And
then it goes to record and all those other things
that we know, heads up performances against like competitors, things
like that get factored in, but it's all very logical.
That's the reason why in my brain the piece is

(58:22):
fit with college football. It's never seemed logical since they
on the dawn of this playoff system, and they've continued
down that path even.

Speaker 4 (58:31):
Faster, and it's made them a ton of money.

Speaker 6 (58:33):
So I don't blame them. I'm just saying it's broken. Yeah,
we can get into the NFL stuff if you want.
I mean, I think there's good arguments for both sides.
I know Brian's very he's very conservative in his NFL
approach with this, Like he is very much in one corner.
I see, I see why you should be rewarded for

(58:54):
winning your division, Like there should be some reward for
winning your division, even if your division is tracked. I
still think you should get something like they're going to
the postseason kind of incentive you get to the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
I I don't know.

Speaker 6 (59:09):
I mean, well, the other argument too, is how much
is home field really worth these days?

Speaker 3 (59:15):
Would you rather have it than not?

Speaker 6 (59:17):
Yes, I agree that it's worth something, but I don't
think it is worth as much as it was five
ten years ago, especially twenty years ago, Like when was
this postseason rule put in place? Like the value of
home field now is significantly, not significantly, it's let's just
call it less, maybe a point less.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
It used to be three points.

Speaker 6 (59:41):
Every odds maker would give most teams three points for
being at home. Maybe the really good home fields Kansas City,
Green Bay, Minnesota would get maybe three full three, and
then everyone else would get two and a half. Now,
from what I'm hearing, it's like one and a half and.

Speaker 3 (59:57):
Maybe one and a half in your favor than not.

Speaker 4 (01:00:00):
I agree.

Speaker 6 (01:00:01):
I agree that I would rather have it, and that's
why I am on your side with this argument.

Speaker 2 (01:00:05):
But I'm not like.

Speaker 6 (01:00:07):
Screaming it from the mountaintops that this is the most
unfair system ever that a team that wins their division
gets one home game one home game, like I think,
I think in general, I think, in general, there are
other things in the NFL that we could fix. For example,
I think your argument about the touchback thing with the

(01:00:27):
fumbling at the one that, to me is significantly more
unfair than a team that goes nine and seven or
I guess ten and seven now and they get a
home game over a team that goes eleven.

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
And six, Like, to me, that's not egregious.

Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
About how about the fighting? How about the Vikings fourteen
wins they're on the road against the Rams ten wins
out How does that make any sense?

Speaker 6 (01:00:53):
That does make sense, But it's also an outlier, and
it doesn't happen if.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
It's not an outlier. It's happened many times where I
could go back to what the how many Saints happened?

Speaker 6 (01:01:02):
Like, I'm honestly curious, I don't know, I'm curious how
many times it has happened. I'd be willing to bet
it's happened less than ten times, and almost and almost.

Speaker 5 (01:01:11):
Like, look, I understand how that that looks on paper,
But then but then, I mean, if you're going to
trust subjectively college football, then you need to go a
little bit deeper than surface level records.

Speaker 4 (01:01:23):
Brian.

Speaker 5 (01:01:23):
You have to look subjectively at the fact that the
Rams also have a Hall of Fame quarterback, you know
what I mean, Like they have a potential Hall of
Fame coach.

Speaker 4 (01:01:32):
I mean, like, if you're only going.

Speaker 5 (01:01:34):
To lend context and subjectivity to one side of the debate,
you're missing the whole point. Like the Rams had a
very good season, Yeah, they're hosting a team who has
three more wins than them in a postseason, and that
doesn't make sense on paper.

Speaker 4 (01:01:49):
But when you look deeper at it, it makes a
lot of sense.

Speaker 3 (01:01:52):
Okay, it makes sense because they have a Hall of
Fame quarterback and a notable head coach who and they
still had four fewer wins. How what are we doing here?
We're making something so simple, way too complicated. Yeah, but
you have more wits. What was more impressive was it
the Vikings in the NFC North as a wildcard team
winning fourteen games, right alongside the Lions, alongside you know,

(01:02:19):
the Packers. Those are double digit win teams. More impressive
what the Vikings did last year fourteen and three or
the Rams ten and seven?

Speaker 4 (01:02:25):
Like, how did anybody a postseason?

Speaker 5 (01:02:28):
Briand the Rams almost white the Eagles.

Speaker 2 (01:02:32):
They were the only team they were right there.

Speaker 3 (01:02:34):
But that's not the point. We're talking about their resume
in the regular season.

Speaker 4 (01:02:39):
I don't subjectivity to one side. The Vikings looked like
trash in the postseason.

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
It doesn't matter.

Speaker 8 (01:02:46):
It doesn't matter what their rectivity matters in college foot
arguments that on paper, records only matter in the NFL
then your argument is moot.

Speaker 4 (01:02:57):
It makes no sense.

Speaker 3 (01:03:00):
You don't make any sense at all.

Speaker 4 (01:03:02):
Done zero.

Speaker 3 (01:03:06):
Okay, So we can play a game with college football
and look at their records and look at what they
did in the postseason. Look at the Oregon Ducks, the
number one team in the country got crushed by Ohio State.
Did they not deserve to be a number one seed?
Should they have been ranked twelfth based on what they
did against Ohio State? That makes no sense at You're

(01:03:27):
not making a shred of sense right now.

Speaker 5 (01:03:29):
No, No, What makes no sense is arguing a point
for one side and then arguing a completely different point
for the other side, which is what you're doing in
this argument.

Speaker 3 (01:03:38):
No, what are you talking about. It doesn't make sense
that college football. It makes sense that college football has said, Okay,
it's not good enough just to win your trash conference.
You don't automatically get a top four seed. You have
to have a record that's great. You have to play somebody,
beat somebody. Okay. And the NFL they don't do it

(01:03:58):
that way. They're like, oh, okay, you won your division,
step right up, who cares bigger?

Speaker 5 (01:04:03):
Every division is good. And that's the truth because in
college every conference isn't good.

Speaker 3 (01:04:09):
And you know NFC South is good. The NFC South
is good. What are you talking?

Speaker 5 (01:04:13):
Every year every division has two teams that can that can,
that can make serious noise in the postseason.

Speaker 4 (01:04:18):
And you know it, don't college each conference is even equitable.

Speaker 3 (01:04:23):
And that's the that is that's not true in the NFL.
And you know that's true. All right, we're so late
right now, we'll get to uh. We got Rich Orenberger
making no sense today, but he is a Penn State
All American. We've got Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm
Brian know coming up next. Seamus McGee, team lead of
sports Trading for bet MGM, gets the all set for
playoff action and beyond. It is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown

(01:04:46):
presented by bet MGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown
presented by bet MGM. Score bigger at bet MGM when
you win with boost tolkens, odds, boost Tolkens and more.
Even if your bet doesn't hit, we've got you covered
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(01:05:08):
live bets, and so much more. All right, let's do.

Speaker 1 (01:05:11):
This follow the money, real good money.

Speaker 4 (01:05:16):
Ah.

Speaker 3 (01:05:16):
Yes, we welcome in our good friend, Seamus McGee, team
lead of sports Trading at bet MGM. Good morning to you, Seamus. Okay,
so four games in I guess to the conference finals
in the NBA Playoffs in both series are two to oh.
Is this a good outcome or a bad outcome for
the book?

Speaker 9 (01:05:36):
Yeah, Gritzie back, you know, it comes both ways. I'd
say that we love seeing the Thunder up two to
oh in this series. The Timberwolves to win the West
and win the finals is not a great result for
our book. So we're really happy to see how that
series is going right now. And honestly, we'd really prefer
the Nicks get into the finals. A. It's a better

(01:05:57):
result for the book and B. I think a Knicks
Thunder series would definitely cruse a better handle. But it's
not like we've been getting you know, crushed on these
first two games in the Eastern Conference series. So right
now everything's looking.

Speaker 6 (01:06:08):
Okay, seam, it's what's your thought on the NFL seating
when it comes to Division No, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 2 (01:06:14):
We're not gonna get that.

Speaker 9 (01:06:16):
I'm gonna tread lightly on that one.

Speaker 2 (01:06:21):
You'll get kicked off.

Speaker 4 (01:06:22):
The show is a huge Minnesota Vikings face.

Speaker 3 (01:06:26):
I'm pro logic. If you're anti logic, we got issues here.

Speaker 2 (01:06:31):
We can't go down that road right now.

Speaker 6 (01:06:33):
We were still cooling off after what was a fun
segment in our last segment. All right, I think the
overall vibe for the Knicks, and again, I know you're
a Knicks fan and Knicks fan series over right, Like
it's done, You're going back to Indiana down two? Oh
you just you can't seem to figure out a way
to push the right buttons against this Pacers team.

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
It looks like they're a step ahead of every move.

Speaker 6 (01:06:55):
TIBs is putting in Mitchell Robinson off the bat, who
knows we might even get to see you know, some
other and the player off the bench in game three.
But sell me on a positive spin for the Knicks, Like,
what does need to happen? Because I know sports and
random anything can happen. What needs to happen? What adjustments
can TIBs make? Is there anything that can slow down
the Spacers team? Like, sell me positively on how the

(01:07:17):
next thing, get back in this series.

Speaker 9 (01:07:19):
There you think the series is, this is crazy, tell
you what, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:07:23):
Think it is over.

Speaker 9 (01:07:24):
I'm boots on the ground in Indianapolis right now. I'm
doing the Bricks and Knicks. On Sunday, we're doing the PROD.

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
We're going to.

Speaker 9 (01:07:30):
Indie Game three. I'm gonna make a difference. I'm gonna
take matters of the mine own hands, and I'm going
to get a Nick win for New York. Love that,
But you know, in all seriousness, the first thing Tims
has to do is, in my opinion, he realizes far
too much on this starting rotation that is statistically the
worst for the worst uit they have. I think Dudas

(01:07:53):
McBride probablys to play more. He could have played, I
think a little better, especially in that second half. I
don't know what to do with campaign because you got
to rotate guys in. But he did not have a
good game at all last night. And I think I
think this queak to make as you move mentioned the
starting lineup, Josh Hard and the bench off the take
them off the bench. I think that's the movie you
gotta do. But you know, we'll see The Knicks could

(01:08:14):
very easily be up two zero in this series. They're
two very close losses. They choked game one, so we'll see.
I mean this could easily two oh Nicks.

Speaker 5 (01:08:22):
Right now, Which underdog would you be most comfortable playing
placing a futures bet on to win the finals?

Speaker 4 (01:08:29):
Knicks or t Wolves nixt.

Speaker 9 (01:08:32):
I think that Thunder are if it isn't like ice
as a Knicks fan, I think that Thunder are just
that good. They finally, I think down their stride after
you know, you know, if they got to the conference finals,
that they weren't really you know, paying the thunder basketball
we were accustomed to in the regular season. This is
a team that is the best point differential in the
history of the of the NBA right now this season.
So I definitely feel more comfortable if I was back

(01:08:54):
in the Knicks, then it would be back in the
Timberlves in the opps say so, I think the Knicks
are four hundred plus four hunds down two oh, and
I think we have eleven to one on the Timberwolves
to come back.

Speaker 3 (01:09:05):
Are there any prop bets in terms of handle that
has caught your attention where it's like, wow, Holy cow,
the public they're just crushing Karl Anthony Towns over points
or anything like that in these first two series. Here
in the conference finals.

Speaker 9 (01:09:20):
I think you just see some more you know, elevated
handle in some popular props like Brunton to score thirty plus.
It gets hit every day. Frankly, it's kind of a
point where his you know, main line is sitting thereund
thirty and a half every game. You have the three
point shots, I mean we everyone loves betting the first
basket scores. We even have a bunch of like pretty

(01:09:41):
niche you know stuff round three pointers, like anyone who
hit a forty foot or forty five foot three pointer
you can bet on that. So we have a lot
of really cool quick hitter markets too on the site.
I think everyone should go check out.

Speaker 6 (01:09:52):
I loved it because I gave out on one of
the other bet MGM shows last week. I said brunts
in to score forty at any point in the series
was mispriced at plus one thirty, and game one, boom,
we hit it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:04):
I think the way that you guys price a.

Speaker 6 (01:10:06):
Lot of those specials are very intriguing because you would
think on paper, wait, really plus one thirty, Like at
some point Brentston's gonna score forty.

Speaker 2 (01:10:16):
He did it against the Pacers last year.

Speaker 6 (01:10:17):
So I encourage everyone to go to to BETEMGM and
don't just click on the props, like go to all
the special pages. Go to every you know, no stone unturned,
because you're gonna find some interesting props there.

Speaker 2 (01:10:29):
In the NHL side, we don't talk about Puck.

Speaker 6 (01:10:31):
A lot on the show, but we're getting to that
point where we're gonna discuss it a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:10:36):
Is it inevitable?

Speaker 6 (01:10:36):
I know, you get you know, you know, you get
a two to zero Panthers Hurricanes, even though a lot
of people thought Carolina was maybe the better team anything
tonight in Game three, Caroline is about a plus one
thirty dog. Do we think that they are live in
this series? Down two oh or as Florida just too big,
too strong, too fast.

Speaker 9 (01:10:54):
The betting public so far seems to think that the
Panthers are gonna go up three. We're pretty so far,
pretty lopsided on the Panthers' money line. We'll see with
the money lands by Puck trop But yeah, it's just
been all Panthers. I really didn't see this coming. I
thought if there was going to be a year for
the Hurricanes, It's probably gonna be this one. But the
Panthers have just been, you know, on fire against this team,

(01:11:15):
and the betters have started to take notice on the Panthers.

Speaker 10 (01:11:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:11:19):
I mean, we got plenty of action on a race
day weekend and then obviously two different postseasons going on.

Speaker 4 (01:11:26):
But we know NFL is king.

Speaker 5 (01:11:27):
I'm curious if there's much action on MVP futures based
on schedules coming out.

Speaker 4 (01:11:34):
Lamar Jackson is the favorite. Do you guys, when do
you see the flurry of.

Speaker 5 (01:11:39):
Futures in the NFL come for individual individual awards and
things like that.

Speaker 9 (01:11:46):
I think you really start seeing it around training camp
when guys start coming in and all the beat reporters
start pounding the drum for certain guys, Like I remember
Lamar's first MVP run, like he didn't look that great
throwing the ball his rookie year. But then you know,
all this stuff was coming out of Ravens camp about
how great he looks at and you know, you see
a ton of money coming in. That's just like one example,

(01:12:06):
and I think you'll see it even more, Like I
watched Caleb Williams just pick up a lot of steam
during training camp for MVP.

Speaker 3 (01:12:13):
Yeah all right, Seamus, it's time for your seamous special.
What do you have for us today?

Speaker 9 (01:12:20):
We're gonna go back to the Diamond and we're gonna
go to the Summit League Baseball Championship. We're gonna take
North Dakota State over Oral Roberts in a big upset,
and they're gonna go dance on. If they're gonna go,
they're gonna have a shot to go to Omaha.

Speaker 5 (01:12:35):
When you said the Diamond, I'm figuring we might get
like a Cubs game, a run line.

Speaker 4 (01:12:39):
No, we're going Oral.

Speaker 2 (01:12:42):
ORALI on the show.

Speaker 9 (01:12:45):
God, oh right around the corner, guys, you gotta.

Speaker 3 (01:12:48):
Get rid there it is, I like you, you're you're already, man,
you're tailgating already. Guys. Okay, so, uh, bricks and knicks,
Do you have any uh you know, eighty five hundred
insight for us before you go?

Speaker 9 (01:13:01):
I have absolutely none. You know, I brought myself. I
know a lot about sports. I can't name you a
single driver that's gonna be on.

Speaker 2 (01:13:07):
The rid tomorrow. How about the bet MGM three hundred
in NASCAR?

Speaker 4 (01:13:11):
Later today?

Speaker 6 (01:13:12):
How about that we get the bed MGM three hundred.
Is it a big weekend for NASCAR at the book?

Speaker 9 (01:13:18):
I think it should be, especially in Indiana, Like we
get some decent action out of here. It's a big
great say, like we got you know, the Exfinity today,
Tomorrow we got the Indy five hundred, and then he's
going into that and we have the Coca Cola six hundred.
So it should be a really good racing handle this weekend.
We're looking forward to it.

Speaker 3 (01:13:32):
I love it all right, Seamus, great stuff as always. Man,
hope you have a fantastic weekend. We'll catch you soon. Thanks, guys,
have a good weekend you too.

Speaker 2 (01:13:42):
There.

Speaker 3 (01:13:42):
He is Seamus McGee, team lead of Sports Trading at
BET MGM.

Speaker 4 (01:13:46):
I love the honesty.

Speaker 3 (01:13:47):
Is like I can't name one driver, but I'm going
I'm gonna have a great time.

Speaker 6 (01:13:50):
It's gonna be make and Nick No, It's fantastic, fantastic, Yeah, idioms.

Speaker 3 (01:13:56):
I'll tell you a very quick story. So I was
doing some fill in for an Indianapol the station. I
still do, but it was a couple of years ago
when we got to interview two of the drivers that
were going to be in the race, and so I
got to go to the race that year, and I'm
walking up there and I'm thinking, all right, I'm gonna
put one hundred bucks on each of these two drivers
I interviewed, and then I looked at one of the odds.

(01:14:16):
It was forty to one, and right before I hit er,
I'm like, I'm just throwing two hundred dollars away.

Speaker 4 (01:14:21):
Why would I do that?

Speaker 3 (01:14:23):
And then one of those guys won the race. I
would have won four thousand dollars, but I didn't. Joseph
Neugarten won the race, and I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:14:29):
Like, unnoingable New Garden.

Speaker 3 (01:14:32):
Yeah, yeah, it's great, you know, pass and turned four
and want it in thrilling fashion. I'm like, I that's
my money right there, right right in front of me,
is turns right in front of me. Have you guys said, no,
I don't have four thousand dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:14:47):
Have you bet it before? I used to bet it back?

Speaker 9 (01:14:49):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:14:50):
Absolutely?

Speaker 2 (01:14:50):
Anymore?

Speaker 4 (01:14:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:14:51):
I used to, but yeah not right now? Used to
though for sure. Hey we've got rich oron Berger, Penn
State All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No.
It is time for the Tire IRAQ Play of the day.

Speaker 4 (01:15:04):
Attleburt with the left hand.

Speaker 10 (01:15:05):
As we move inside of four minutes, let's one fly
cold blooded, A three right through the middle. He's got
fourteen one, three minutes and forty two seconds remain in.

Speaker 4 (01:15:18):
The fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (01:15:20):
Cold blooded.

Speaker 4 (01:15:21):
I like that.

Speaker 3 (01:15:22):
That's compliments of the Pacers Radio Network. For over forty years,
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Speaker 4 (01:15:42):
I like that, all right?

Speaker 3 (01:15:43):
Coming up next, prop it up. Yes, we need to
bond over here. The prop betting market will help us.
We'll compare notes. Coming up. It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown
presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented
by bet MGM. Use code countdown at betmgm to receive

(01:16:04):
you don't win your first bet. When you're registered with
bet MGM, 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, use code countdown
and you'll get up to fifteen hundred dollars back in
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Speaker 4 (01:16:21):
All right, let's do this.

Speaker 1 (01:16:24):
Prop it up player plays.

Speaker 3 (01:16:28):
All right, the betting market, Jared, we start with you
with something you have circled.

Speaker 6 (01:16:33):
Well, I think it's obvious to me what the strategy
is from Minnesota in this series. And maybe they're being
four sped these three point shots, but they have attempted
ninety three point shots through the first two games of
this series, fifty one in game one, thirty nine in
game two. It kind of reminds you of what the
Boston Celtics did in their series against the Knicks.

Speaker 2 (01:16:51):
Now Boston is a three point shooting team.

Speaker 6 (01:16:53):
I think Minnesota's hand is being forced by what has
been a great thunder defense so far, at least a
great defense strategy. But when you're at home, I think
that's when the shots might start falling. So let's target
two role players and maybe one star for our three
point market tonight. I'm gonna bet all three of these.
All three are at plus money. Nikhil Alexander Walker over

(01:17:15):
one and a half three point makes. He's averaging six
and a half attempts per game in the series. Had
two makes in game one, three makes in game two.
Jaden McDaniels over one and a half. He has eleven
attempts in two games. Again, you're anny plus money on
guys that are attempting four or five six threes per game.
You only need him to make two, and then Anthony
Edwards plus money on over three and a half three

(01:17:35):
point makes. I don't have to tell you the volume
with eight with ant Man, he has just been jacking
up shots from all.

Speaker 2 (01:17:40):
Over the yard.

Speaker 6 (01:17:41):
So I think two, maybe all three of these guys
are gonna attempt at least six seven eight threes tonight,
and I think the numbers are relatively fair for you
to bet over on some of the t wolves in
the three point market tonight.

Speaker 5 (01:17:54):
Give me Julius Randall and give me him over the
eighteen and a half points on the prim Here's the
reason why. In Game two was his Pever playoff choker
six points.

Speaker 4 (01:18:05):
That's not who he is.

Speaker 5 (01:18:06):
He averaged over eighteen points all regular season one. He's
been solid in terms of an offensive performer in the Postseacon.
I'm gonna say, game two, you can set that one
aside and you can look forward to a game three
where he's effective and he has to be.

Speaker 4 (01:18:25):
And also there's a little bit of the pressure valve. Op.

Speaker 5 (01:18:28):
I mean, you're already in a two to zero hole.
It feels like an inevitability is here and it's okay. See,
I think he's gonna get his points. Give me the
over on the eighteen and a half for Julius Randall.

Speaker 3 (01:18:42):
Okay, I like a couple of fades. I like what
both of you guys are thinking, by the way, but
a couple of fades here. I mentioned this earlier in
the show. Mitchell Robinson of the Knicks under seven and
a half rebounds. This is risky because he's been a
rebounding machine so far in this series, and he got
more minutes last game, but he rolled his ankle a
little bit, you know, and Regie Miller talked about this

(01:19:04):
big man with a lower body injury. See how he
responds the next game. And also with Tibbs giving him
major minutes in the fourth quarter and it not working
out whatsoever, I expect his minutes to go down a
little bit. So Mitchell Robinson in terms of rebounds this series.
Eight in game one, nine in game two, and we're

(01:19:25):
going under seven and a half. So I get it's
a little risky, a little dicey, but I think it's
minutes go down. I think Kat plays more and I'm
gonna take Mitchell Robinson under seven and a half rebounds. Also,
it's kind of correlated with what you're thinking Rich with
Julius Randall. It look for him to get back to
his scoring ways. He's hit twenty points in nine of

(01:19:47):
twelve playoff games this year. That's pretty good. He's off
a colossal stinker. So the good zig zag spot. How
about fading his assists? This is plus money on under
four and a half. You know how many assists he's
had through two games one he's had one assist. And
if he's looking to score more, probably not looking to
pass first. So I think under four and a half

(01:20:10):
for plus money is a decent wager.

Speaker 4 (01:20:12):
I like that a lot. I like that a lot. Man.
It might be it might be the same game, parlay
on the same player.

Speaker 3 (01:20:19):
You go there, you go right, yeah, sgp it with
the same guy, no doubt, all right, come it up?
Next is this the craziest of the crazy you've ever seen?
Was this the craziest of the crazy? We'll dive into
that momentarily. Hey, you can stream the show and all
of our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty four to
seven in the new and improved iHeartRadio app. Just search

(01:20:42):
Fox Sports Radio in the app to stream us live.
One of the newest features in the app is that
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your screens.

Speaker 4 (01:20:59):
Hope.

Speaker 3 (01:20:59):
Uh, your Saturday is off to a great start. So
game one. We go back to Game one of the
Eastern Conference Finals when the Pacers had that insane comeback
against the Knicks. The Knicks reportedly had a ninety nine
point seven percent chance to win the game. That's how
likely it was they're gonna win. This is actually pretty funny.

(01:21:21):
I'll bring BETMGM into the equation here, But you know
these cash out options that they provide. One of my
live bets on the Pacers to win the game was
looking so bad. It was just a little Pizza money.
Bet I took Pacers to win the game. I just
put twenty five bucks on it. It looked so bad.
Bet MGM offered me a cash out for three cents.

(01:21:45):
That's what they were offering me, Like, hey, you can
cash out and save three cents. That's how bad it
looks right now. And the Pacers won that game. Just insanity.
The Haliburton shot to tie the game looked like it
was a game winner. It was a two point shot,
so it tied. It forced overtime. It was insanity. And this,
I mean, we bring in Korean TV to really set

(01:22:07):
the scene here, right so on s p O TV.
I'm guessing I don't know, apologies if that's wrong. This
is how it sounded that Halliburton shot that forced overtime.

(01:22:33):
That's that's beautiful. I don't know what they're saying, but
they're excited about Haliburton hitting the shot. So the question is,
was that the craziest game you've ever seen? And if
it's not, what else do you have on the short
list of just mind blowing either endings or games in general.
Where do you put that on your list?

Speaker 4 (01:22:52):
Rich? I mean, it was pretty mind bending.

Speaker 5 (01:22:56):
I don't know where it lands on the list because
I haven't really given it much the but I guess,
I guess, given that the stakes weren't unbelievably high in
the moment, you know, it gets shuffled down a few pegs,
But what a performance, what a finish, and then you know,
you fast forward to where we're at now, and again,

(01:23:18):
like the inevitability we're talking about in both of these
conference finals, that obviously lended itself to that picture becoming
much much clearer, especially after Game two.

Speaker 6 (01:23:30):
Yeah, I'll give you some that I was thinking about
this week because we did a segment on another show
about crazy comebacks and what were the what was the
most crazy, like the craziest comeback you've seen recently?

Speaker 2 (01:23:43):
One of them that came to mind.

Speaker 6 (01:23:44):
Well, actually, it's funny because I think there's two Chicago
games that come to mind.

Speaker 2 (01:23:50):
You have the Bears Commanders.

Speaker 6 (01:23:52):
That one always sticks out to me, right, the Stevenson
play where he's you know, the hail Mary where he's
looking at the.

Speaker 2 (01:23:58):
Crowd and then and then you I mean that's just
that one is just insane.

Speaker 6 (01:24:03):
And then the other one is a doink, right, the
double doink with Cody Parky because you know, the Halliburton
shot was was a doink shot, So you know, I
was thinking about what other doinks have been just insane
over the last decade or so.

Speaker 2 (01:24:20):
That one really sticks out. I think what other comebacks
I think stick out?

Speaker 9 (01:24:24):
You know what?

Speaker 4 (01:24:25):
That one?

Speaker 2 (01:24:26):
Oh go ahead, real quick, good one. It's a different sport.

Speaker 5 (01:24:29):
But I again, because like this, I get we're talking
postseason versus regular season, but you know, because we're not
talking about a game seven, we're not talking about.

Speaker 4 (01:24:38):
A series clinching moment. Do you remember it was?

Speaker 5 (01:24:43):
Man, it was right after the pandemic, so maybe it
was the twenty twenty two season, twenty twenty three season,
but either way, in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings fell
behind the Colts thirty three, oh yeah halftime and came
all the way back to win that game.

Speaker 2 (01:24:59):
Kirk Cousins, Yeah, I just remember thinking in.

Speaker 5 (01:25:03):
That moment, like we're we're just never gonna see something
like that again. And I guess, yeah, that's that's where
this one sort of lands. In that realm of I
don't know if we'll ever see that level of a comeback,
in that spirited of a fashion in a game that
really matters the way that Patriots.

Speaker 2 (01:25:22):
I got wonder, how about the Dodgers the Yankees in
the World Series. Oh, good one, Yeah, when the Yankees
had that big lead and yeah and Aaron Judge dropped
the ball.

Speaker 3 (01:25:33):
I you know, I would throw out the Patriots coming
back against the Falcons when it was twenty eight to
three at that stage, I'm like, this is beat down
city and all of a sudden the Patriots come all
the way back forth over time, that that was the
one that blew my mind the most, because, yeah, I
think you have to think about the stage and look, man,

(01:25:54):
Game one of the Eastern Conference Finals is a big stage.
It's not the super Bowl stage. Because we've seen crazy comeback. Gosh,
you could go back to the regular season in the
NBA this year where the Timberwolves came back against OKC
on the road. OKAC was leading by i want to say,
about twenty two points in the fourth quarter, something insane

(01:26:16):
like that, and the t Wolves came all the way
back won that game. So we've seen wild stuff like that,
but just the way that unfolded, I'd say in the
postseason this year as well in the NBA, where there
were a couple of games with the Knicks against the
Celtics where they're down by twenty and I remember Game
two on the road, and it's like, Okay, they hit

(01:26:38):
a couple of shots. That's nice, that's cute. Like they're
only down by seven and you're not even really watching,
thinking they're live to win this game, and lo and behold,
they did that. So there have been some wild ones,
but man, that Pacers one with Nie Smith catching fire
and the Halliburton shot and the history with the choke sign.

(01:27:00):
That's it had every if that I'll put it this way,
if that's a movie, you walk out saying these writers
need to be fired immediately. That's the dumbest scripts. And
it happened. It was real life. It's crazy, and I
was a.

Speaker 2 (01:27:15):
Fan of the team that was on the ass end
of it, So put yourself in that mindset. I was
sitting there. I was sitting there. I was stunned.

Speaker 6 (01:27:25):
I was I tweeted out speechless, and I'm rarely you
guys know me, I'm rarely speechless. I had no words
because they're really even up until the moment that that
shot went in, I was still thinking to myself, it
was really the miss free throws. That when I was
even when the Pacers were coming back, I was like,
the Knicks are gonna pull this out, Like the Pacers
are gonna make it close. I feel bad for anyone

(01:27:47):
who late four and a half are gonna lose, but
the Knicks are gonna win this game. And then they
started missing the free throws. Cat an og both miss
free throws, and I'm like, all right, I guess now
it's kind of live. And then even when the ball
was off the back rim and went it went like
ten feet up in the air off the rim.

Speaker 2 (01:28:05):
I was like, all right. And then the way you
know is.

Speaker 6 (01:28:08):
Because you know and you're watching on TV, the depth
perceptions off the way that you know that the ball
has a chance to go in. All of the players
underneath the basket, instead of jumping to try to get
the rebound, they just look up and then you're like,
uh oh.

Speaker 2 (01:28:20):
This one might go in.

Speaker 6 (01:28:21):
And it goes right down in and I thought the
game was over. And here's the worst part about it.
This is the worst part about it. I had a
ticket on Tyres Halliburton over four and a half May
threes at.

Speaker 2 (01:28:34):
Seven to one, and so I thought all right, Well,
the Knicks lost the game.

Speaker 6 (01:28:39):
Yeah, but at least at least I won the Halliburton
seven to one ticket because he just hit a dagger
three to win the game, and then it wasn't a three,
it was a two. And then he didn't hit a
three in overtime, and I lost not only the Knicks
but also the Haliburton bed.

Speaker 2 (01:28:51):
It was just the comedy of errors.

Speaker 8 (01:28:53):
Man.

Speaker 5 (01:28:54):
Wow, Now when you explain what was behind that tweet, speechless,
it all makes perfect because because there are no words
for that level level you know it is. It is true,
you said, Brian about the stage because game one. As

(01:29:14):
we all know of any of these seven game series,
whether you're talking basketball or baseball, I mean, they can
be so integral to the outcome of the series.

Speaker 4 (01:29:23):
Sometimes not.

Speaker 5 (01:29:24):
You know, obviously we've seen deficits erased. And when we're
talking about one game deficit, you're not talking about much
when we're really panning out and looking at the entirety
of the remainder.

Speaker 4 (01:29:37):
Of a series.

Speaker 5 (01:29:38):
But it can set the tone and and or it
can ignite a flame. In the case of the Knicks
and Knicks fans, the sincere hope was a flame would
have been ignited. For the Pacers, I think it imbued
them with the confidence that they played with. It carried
over into Game two, and now it feels like we're

(01:30:02):
seeing this play out before it actually plays out. So
what a win for the Pacers. What a Game two
for the Pacers? You know, to talk about another win.

Speaker 4 (01:30:12):
I'm very curious how the rest of this series goes.

Speaker 5 (01:30:15):
I think everything we've said to this point is pretty
accurate about this series. The only thing I'll add, you know,
just to mix it up a little bit, is if
the Knicks somehow force this into an even series, which
I don't forecast, but if they somehow win too straight here,

(01:30:37):
I mean, you have to make an argument that the
Knicks they could potentially win the finals. And this is
the argument I made in I think it was the
early portion of their second series in the postseason, and
I remember the two of you were.

Speaker 4 (01:30:49):
Like, what are you talking about? But here they are
in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Speaker 5 (01:30:54):
It sort of proves the point that anything really is
anything really is possible in this year's postseason because there's
been so much parody this year.

Speaker 3 (01:31:04):
I agree, man, well, hey it's it's possible, But they
are up against it. You know that that pace of
the pacers, the depth of the pacers that I think
that what you're laying out though, is it's like the
mental battle. If you're a Knicks player, you really have
to look at this as an opportunity and not like, man,

(01:31:25):
we're in an O two hole and we should be
up to nothing, you know what I mean, Like those
mental games that you play with yourself matter a ton,
and that is tough to wrap your mind around. Hey,
this is a golden opportunity because right now it feels
like we let such an opportunity already slip through our fingers.
And the one thing I'd throw out there that was

(01:31:46):
interesting in that crazy comeback that you know applies to
all games in the NBA going forward, is the way
Rick Carlisle used his challenges because think of this, So
the Knicks are up by five late and the Knicks
got fouled, and Rick Carlile challenged the call and it

(01:32:08):
was overturned. Where Siakam went and challenged the shot and
it was a clean block, and all of a sudden,
that file gets overturned. So instead of the Knicks going
to the free throw line up five with a chance
to be up by seven. The Pacers got the ball
and hit a three, cut it to a two point lead.
And so what's interesting is you see this all game

(01:32:29):
long in the NBA. It could be the first two
minutes of the game and someone's like, challenge it, challenge it,
like twirling their index finger, and it's like, yeah, you
might win that challenge, but best case scenario, you have
one challenge left for the entirety of the game, and
it might not be worth it to win that challenge
that early on. And so I thought that was really

(01:32:52):
really interesting where Carlile did a great job of And
there have been times where I remember Neath Smith is
like challenge it, challenge it, and Carlisle's like, yeah, we're
not gonna do that. We would just have possession in
the second quarter, like let's hold on to it a
little bit. But I think that, you know, that mindset
and net approach is really interesting because there are teams

(01:33:14):
that are like, hey, we're gonna win it. We've got
a one hundred percent chance of winning it. Why wouldn't
we challenge it? And it's like, well, that's an example
why you don't, because you've got to have a challenge
left for a situation like that.

Speaker 9 (01:33:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:33:25):
And more to the point that you've made often on
this show, especially this basketball season because of the firings
that happened in quick succession leading up to the postseason
with Memphis and Denver both. Uh.

Speaker 4 (01:33:38):
This is where coaching does matter.

Speaker 5 (01:33:40):
This This is that like that the gamesmanship and the
strategy went to use timeouts when to use challenges those
sort of things. The veteran head coaches who have more
playoff experience, or the veteran head coaches who have had,
you know, a tremendous amount of game experience as players
who are now transitioning to being coaches in the NBA,

(01:34:02):
and they can sort of see the forest before the trees.
They have an idea of what the whole picture looks
at looks like as opposed to reacting to scenarios as
they come. That is to the benefit of teams with
better coaches. And I agree with you on the front,
on the Carlisle front, that that shows patience and it shows.

Speaker 4 (01:34:25):
A willful.

Speaker 5 (01:34:27):
Obligation to not just the now, but to the future,
even if you're talking about the same game, because you
can be haunted by decisions in you know, the first
and second quarter, throughout the game or early in a half,
throughout a half.

Speaker 6 (01:34:41):
Yeah, there's a lot of good things that Rick Carlile
has done in this series that I think maybe goes
without saying. But the biggest thing has been how he's
used the bench and the rotation and the buttons. He's
pushed with the players in the game. The thing that
makes Indiana so tough, And this is what makes okay
See so tough.

Speaker 2 (01:35:02):
Who do you? Who do you double?

Speaker 6 (01:35:04):
You double Haliburton, who's actually a true point guard and
wants to get everyone else involved. Well, if you double Halliburton,
you're gonna have an open shots by the rest of
the team all night. You double Siakam, well then you're
gonna give Haliburton open shots. And all of a sudden,
Nie Smith gets hot, Well, now you have to double
it one now, Like there's there's not a number one option.
They're all really balanced, and that's what makes okay See

(01:35:27):
really tough too. Obviously sg A is the is the
ace of that staff, but they have multiple other guys.
Jalen Williams is kind of a point forward. You get
the bigs with homegron Hertenstein, Like they're just so balanced
you can't take one thing away, whereas Minnesota, for example,
or the Knicks you take Jalen Brunson away.

Speaker 2 (01:35:47):
All Right, what else is really gonna beat you?

Speaker 5 (01:35:49):
Like?

Speaker 6 (01:35:49):
They don't have They're they're just they're just so deep
and and there's not that number one guy that they're
unselfish enough to allow other players.

Speaker 4 (01:35:59):
Win on it.

Speaker 2 (01:36:00):
To give a night Game one, it was Nathan Nie Smith.
Last night it was Siakam.

Speaker 6 (01:36:03):
Halliburton's been kind of the trigger man throughout this series,
hitting the big shot obviously that sent it to overtime,
but I think he is much more comfortable in the assistro.

Speaker 2 (01:36:13):
I think he's had eleven assists in both games. So
it just it's a really tough cover.

Speaker 6 (01:36:18):
And Rick Carlisle's done a good job pushing all the
buttons and getting all the guys in. You see Obie
top and coming late in games like It's just it's
a really difficult, uh, you know, stretch to try to
scout because who do you take away?

Speaker 3 (01:36:32):
Yeah, well that's the thing is, it's while you're explaining that,
I had flashbacks to the four Pistons.

Speaker 9 (01:36:38):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:36:39):
Chris Purfett, or technical technical producer, would love this where
it's it really is a compliment to the Pacers. It's
not gonna sound like it, but they really don't have
a player that you need to double, right. They just
collectively are so good and they move the ball really well,
and they play at such a pace where they get
great shots time and time again, where it's like those

(01:37:00):
O four Pistons where just collectively with Chauncey and Rip
Hamilton and Tayshaun and Rashid Wallace and the list goes
on and Ben Wallace, like they had some really really
good players, but they didn't have superstars. The Pacers don't
have any superstars. Siakam is a really really good player,
high level player, all star guy. Halliburton's really good, but

(01:37:20):
they don't have a superstar type player. They don't have
a player that's getting MVP votes, you know, So they
don't have that guy that's like, man, we just can't
let this dude kill us. You don't have to that
guy on the on the Pacers, But they make it
work with their depth and pace And I'll tell you
what with Rick Carlisle and his substitution patterns, it's so
different than some of these other teams, Like you get

(01:37:41):
so used to it. With Denver, it's like, okay, yok
it's gonna sit for the first couple of minutes in
the fourth quarter. This is where he gets his rest,
and you kind of have a feel like Indiana watch
their games. You're like, it's like shift changes in hockey
right where it's like, holy, he's in the game right now.
You know he was just in for a couple of minutes.
Now he's out, let's go it. It's just wild, but

(01:38:03):
they make it work and they're two games away from
a finals appearance.

Speaker 4 (01:38:07):
It's wild.

Speaker 3 (01:38:07):
We got rich Oronberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith,
FSR betting analyst, I'm Brian No. 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're registered 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, use

(01:38:31):
code countdown and you'll get up to fifteen hundred dollars
All right, coming up next the formula not for success,
maybe for the baby steps towards success that comes your way.
Right around the corner, it is Fox Sports Radios Countdown
presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented

(01:38:53):
by BETMGM. Shortly after the show, our podcast will be
going up. If you missed anything on today's show, be
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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
this show posted right after we get off the air. Okay,
so steps to success, we would like to see that

(01:39:15):
in the Conference finals in the NBA. Hey, you could
throw in the Carolina Hurricanes if you want. Here we
hit a path towards success. We're getting crushed right by
the Florida Panthers. It's two nothing and the Hurricanes have
been outscored ten to two in the first two games.
How about this. The Hurricanes have lost fourteen straight games

(01:39:38):
in the conference finals, They've gotten swept three times in
a row, and they're off to an O two start
in this current conference finals matchup. So I'll listen to
anything you have to say. For the Hurricanes, for the Timberwolves,
for the Knicks, where does it start? Like a formula
for baby steps towards success. I think one of them

(01:39:59):
is Julius Randall's got to show up. He's been a
big asset for them throughout the playoffs. Obviously, you can't
have a six point game and expect to beat a
team as talented as Okay see. And for the Knicks,
I think it's your star's gotta shine and keep keep
pounding them on the glass. That's one of your biggest advantages.

(01:40:20):
You know, keep out rebounding the pacers, and I mean
hopefully Karl Anthony Towns you get a little bit more
from him and and you're able to, you know, make
the Pacers look a little bit more mortal. Offensively, I
think the Knicks defense really has to step up more
than they have thus far. And that's easier said than done.
With the pace and the depth, that's not an easy task.

(01:40:41):
But you gotta get the Pacers to score closer to
you know, like one oh five instead of one to fifteen.

Speaker 5 (01:40:48):
That's a big part of the Knick success. I feel like, I,
you know, I guess to answer the question fully, it
doesn't matter which sport we're talking about, hockey or basketball.
When you're in a deficit in a series, or when
you're down bad in a in a postseason game. In

(01:41:12):
the sport that I hail from, football, what it takes
to turn things around, honestly, is having a short memory.
The best players I've ever played with are guys who
can keep their composure, and it seems so much easier
than it actually is. Composure means the ability to eliminate

(01:41:34):
even your own mistakes from the record and just start
over every play. You know, it always bugs me when
I see a coach or a player jawing out a
ref and there's another play about to start, or you know,
like whether it's in basketball and you see a player
pleading his case to the official or the referee, well

(01:41:56):
the player is on the opposite side of the court,
or there's you know, there are things happening in a
game that you miss. There's subtle, nuanced you know, maybe
if you were locked into the game, you would see
a weakness in the defense, or you would see, you know,
sloppiness somewhere that you could take advantage of. But getting
your head outside of what the actual task is is

(01:42:17):
so detrimental. And I think that's what happens to even
good teams, even great teams. Sometimes they become flustered and
they lose composure. The best teams even when the chips
are down. You mentioned the twenty eight to three disparity
that the New England Patriots were facing in the Super
Bowl all those years ago, Brian. You know, we discussed

(01:42:38):
the Dodgers Yankee series, Jared, Like, when it feels like
the chips are stacked against you, even in a single game,
you have to find the fortitude to say, all right,
that happened, and now what you know, like just completely
deleted from your memory because it's the past doesn't serve
you in that moment. It just doesn't because guess what,

(01:43:02):
you either win or you go home. Moving forward, So
what are you gonna do with the next play? What
are you gonna do with the next minute, What are
you gonna do with the next substitution? What are you
gonna do with with the next time? The ball's in
your hand? If the players and the teams that are
able to erase deficits are the players and teams that
can show the most composure and so it's hard advice,

(01:43:25):
but you have to if you're the Knicks, or if
this is hockey, or if this or if you're the
t Wolves, you have to eliminate what's happened to this
point and pretend like you're starting.

Speaker 4 (01:43:36):
This is over.

Speaker 6 (01:43:37):
It's the only way, in the great words of Ted Lasso,
be a goldfish. Why is the goldfish the happiest of
animals is because he has the shortest memory, seven second memory.
And sometimes that's even in the way that the Pacers
are playing offense. That even might be they might beginning
head shot up.

Speaker 2 (01:43:56):
In six seconds. You might have had a six second
memory when you're facing this pace team with the two wolves.
It's a very simple approach. Just make shots, dude. That's it.

Speaker 4 (01:44:05):
You make shots.

Speaker 2 (01:44:06):
You're gonna win one of these games at home.

Speaker 6 (01:44:08):
You make a lot of shots, you might win both
games at home, and then you've got yourself a series.
I don't think that's gonna happen. I think they'll make
shots in one of the games.

Speaker 2 (01:44:17):
I think Game four would be the more likely of
the two.

Speaker 6 (01:44:19):
I was actually surprised when I saw the thunder laying
almost three tonight. The market's not giving Minnesota any respect
for home court, and I think OKC is now reached
peak pricing. I think if you're laying three points with
OKAC tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:44:33):
You're not making a great bet. Could they win by thirty? Absolutely?
Are they the best team in the NBA.

Speaker 6 (01:44:38):
Yes, But usually you're paying attacks on the home team
side when you're down two to zero in a series,
like home team down two zero in a series, typically
the market will shade that price towards the home team,
just like they were shading the price towards the Knicks
last night. Knicks were a four point fav in Game

(01:45:00):
one lose, their six point favorite last night lose. So
the premium price that you're paying is actually on Oka
see tonight, which kind of tells you everything you need
to know about how the market feels about the Thunder
and the Tea Wolves.

Speaker 2 (01:45:14):
However, as we've alluded.

Speaker 6 (01:45:16):
To on this show and many other times, especially during
the college basketball season, three.

Speaker 2 (01:45:19):
Point shot, live and die by the three.

Speaker 6 (01:45:21):
I think Minnesota will split these two games at home,
but I think Oklahoma City gets it done tonight. I
think they go up three to zero.

Speaker 3 (01:45:31):
Interesting, Yeah, so what's your play? Are you laying it
with OKC.

Speaker 2 (01:45:36):
No, it's a bad bet.

Speaker 6 (01:45:38):
I honestly think it's not a great bet. I mean,
you know, Oklahoma City was a what eight point favorite
in game two. I mean, I guess you could kind
of make the case they deserve to be a three
point favorite because they continue to increase their rating as
Minnesota's rating decreases. But if you flip it points and

(01:46:01):
that's assuming three points for home court, this game should
be closer to a pick them tonight. And I think
now that we're up in that three point like you
got like Oklahoma City's gotta win by three in order
for you to win your bet, And now we're getting
closer to three right now minus doing a half minus fifteen,
So it just feels like you're now again Okama City
win by forty and no one blink an eye. But

(01:46:23):
it just feels like you're paying now the thunder premium,
where typically in these spots you pay the premium on
the home team down to oh gotcha.

Speaker 3 (01:46:30):
That's interesting because I'm not fighting you. It's just uh,
because we're not talking about NFL seating, so this is
a safe zone. But uh, it's just interesting to me
because you like OKAC to win tonight. But I get
it you're looking at it from a value perspective, and
you don't see with everything you explain they were a dog.

Speaker 6 (01:46:48):
I'd bet Okay see if it was a pick them,
I bed Oka see. But I think Oka See laying
a full possession, like they've got to win by three.
And my guess is when we get closer to game time,
it might be three. It just it feels like it's
just hair heavy for me.

Speaker 3 (01:47:01):
Hey, no, no, no worries with that. I just I
think that's interesting, uh, you know, with because it's important
for betters to know right, like you might like a side,
but you don't like the number. You know, you're betting
numbers here, so.

Speaker 6 (01:47:15):
Yep, but yeah, that seems always even though the NBA
is weird with the numbers, like none of these games
have fallen anywhere close to the number.

Speaker 2 (01:47:22):
Like Indiana as a dog won both games.

Speaker 4 (01:47:25):
Outright high and highly variable.

Speaker 6 (01:47:29):
Yeah, and the and the thunder of course blew out
both games was like a seven eight point favorite.

Speaker 2 (01:47:33):
So it's just I can say this in okay seq
why forty and again none of us will be surprised.

Speaker 5 (01:47:40):
Well, and and also like that's that is the effect
of parody, you know, that is the effect of of
of well. And I mean I realized that the the finals,
the conference finals have lacked what feels like parody. But
I think the fact that this postseason in general, you know,
you're you're having a heart time tracking. It's because when

(01:48:04):
teams are more evenly matched, it's harder to determine outcomes.
And that's maybe what's best for the books because then
you have the ability to make money no matter where
you handicap, as long as you're close somewhere. I look,
I like props better in the NBA than I do,

(01:48:24):
you know, spread or totals, because it's it's really highly
variable on a night in, night out, basis what five
players plus bench steps are going to do in totality.
Whereas you get sort of focused in based on the
way series are progressing, especially in the postseason, you know,

(01:48:45):
because you're getting to see the same teams play against
each other, It's like, Okay, what do I think is
going to be maybe the zag effect from the zig
we just saw And so if a player goes off,
do we really think that that was a problem, Like
for example, Anthony Edwards. The reason why I would take
over on a points prop for Game three is because

(01:49:06):
I don't think they look at Anthony Edwards as the
big problem. Let him eat, take care of the rest
of the starters, and you have a winning formula if
you're facing the Tea Wolves, And that's what occurred in
Game two. So I kind of feel good about that
in Game three, whereas there are other superstars where teams
defensively need to statistically limit if they're going to have

(01:49:28):
a chance at survival.

Speaker 4 (01:49:31):
I'll Jalen Brunson, you know, in some of these series.
So it's it's.

Speaker 5 (01:49:37):
Props feel easier to track in the NBA postseason than
spreads your totals.

Speaker 4 (01:49:41):
But maybe that changes when we get to the when
we get to the finals.

Speaker 5 (01:49:45):
I don't forecast it, because it's been pretty even, pretty
even goings through the postseason so far this year.

Speaker 4 (01:49:53):
Well, it's funny.

Speaker 3 (01:49:54):
The movie Rounders just popped into my head because I'm
thinking about what was the quote from Doyle bru The
key to Texas hold them is making your opponent, like
forcing him into a decision for all of his chips.
Like apply that to sports in general. But we'll say
the NBA playoffs right here, think about Okac's defense. They're

(01:50:15):
packing the paint and they're like, we're gonna live without
outside shots. And so what Minnesota has to do is
they have to make enough outside shots to force Minnesota
to force Okac to possibly change, to force them to
make a decision for all of their chips, you know
what I mean. Like, imagine if Game three tonight, Minnesota
is just they're bombing threes. They're hitting threes at a

(01:50:38):
high clip. Now all of a sudden, Okac is forced
with the decision do we stick with this, do we
still just pack the paint and live with these outside shots,
or do we start extending our defense and start guarding
the three point line and maybe we're a little more
vulnerable for Anthony Edwards to just attack the rim. But
Minnesota hasn't made enough outside shots to force Okac to adjust.

(01:50:58):
And that's a big part of the layoffs. You have
to force your opponent to adjust. And that's the big
test for Minnesota. They have to make enough threes, enough
outside shots to force Okay okay see to possibly adjust.
They haven't done that yet, So I think that's the key.
Like Nasried just can't come off the bench and start

(01:51:19):
bombing misses, you know what I mean, Like Anthony Edwards
gotta start making more threes. He's made a lot of
threes in the first two series. So we'll see if
Minnesota can hit some outside shots. You start to see
the beginning of OKA see possibly needing to adjust. But
you haven't seen that yet. But something keep in mind.
By the way, are you guys a fan of cringe

(01:51:41):
worthy audio? I've got some ever ringe audio for you.
So this is Aaron Rodgers. Okay, this is not gonna
be painful. Hopefully this is enjoyable cringe worthy audio. Okay,
So he dropped a major hint of he might be
playing in the NFL this next season, so he is funny.

(01:52:04):
Pro Football Talk had this story he recently sat down
with Joe Rogan for about three hours. No hints, no
clues about his football future. Nothing. Then this random video
surfaced from last weekend. This is in Austin, Texas. There's
this random Q and a Aaron Rodgers is on stage.

(01:52:25):
He's one of the people being asked questions from fans
and attendance. Apparently he was on stage with a friend
of him of his who's a rapper by the name
of Mike Studd. So it's Rogers. It's Mike Studd. The
people in the crowd are asking questions in Austin, Texas,
and all of a sudden, Rogers drops a hint which

(01:52:46):
is cringe worthy. Here check this out.

Speaker 5 (01:52:48):
Will Aaron Rodgers ever go to the Bears?

Speaker 9 (01:52:52):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:52:52):
Boy, and security get her on here.

Speaker 1 (01:52:55):
He's a security.

Speaker 2 (01:52:57):
He's take it easy on her.

Speaker 4 (01:52:58):
No, but I believe there is a team that might
play in Chicago this year my road trip.

Speaker 2 (01:53:05):
I don't know. We sure got to check it out.
Are you speaking in code?

Speaker 4 (01:53:09):
I love Chicago though, way more than they love me.

Speaker 2 (01:53:14):
It's been a great relationship all one way.

Speaker 3 (01:53:17):
Okay, So it was fast in there. But he mentions,
I believe there's a team that might play in Chicago
this year on a road trip.

Speaker 4 (01:53:26):
So think of this.

Speaker 3 (01:53:27):
He's dropping a clue to the good people in Austin,
Texas who might not have the Bears home schedule memorized.
And so it's just like right over the head, It's like, oh, okay,
what was he referring to over here? It's the Steelers.
So here's the Bear's home schedule, and you tell me
if these teams are in the market.

Speaker 2 (01:53:47):
For Rogers.

Speaker 3 (01:53:48):
There's the Vikings are on the Bears home schedule, right,
Cowboys Saints. Richie had Aye had a thought on that, right, Giants, Steelers, Browns.
The Browns need another quarterback, right. The Packers and the line,

(01:54:08):
Oh my gosh, can you imagine the Packers are kicking
Jordan Love to the curb. They're bringing back Rogers.

Speaker 2 (01:54:15):
What is he on the Packers?

Speaker 1 (01:54:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:54:19):
No, no, it's the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (01:54:21):
But what.

Speaker 3 (01:54:23):
Is this is just so tiring here He's dropping hints
in a q and a stage appearance in Austin, Texas.

Speaker 6 (01:54:31):
What does he do with I listen to that full
three hour podcast with Rogan. By the way, it was
not one ounce of football was mentioned. I was hoping
something was gonna get mentioned.

Speaker 2 (01:54:39):
Not one thing mentioned.

Speaker 3 (01:54:40):
Nothing.

Speaker 4 (01:54:41):
I think that I'll be quick here. I think that
I think that he likes to stay relevant.

Speaker 5 (01:54:47):
He obviously likes to keep his star shining, and he'll
polish it even if he's outside of the football season,
like we've seen him doing for the past half decade
or longer. I I also think that he is gonna
sign until he sufficiently threw his offseason regime of ayahuasca
trips or whatever else, so that there's no hubbub or

(01:55:09):
kerfuffle over him taking time off from mandatory OTAs this
time around, and so once he's won hundred percent ready
to fully commit himself to the football team he signs with,
I think he's gonna stay away from football, and I
think there's gonna be a team, whether it's the Saints
or the Steelers, who is game to wait for Aaron
Rodgers to be ready.

Speaker 2 (01:55:29):
I said it a month ago he was going to
the Steelers. I still feel that way now. Nothing's changed.
I called it the day before the draft or the
week of the draft.

Speaker 6 (01:55:38):
Aaron Rodgers is going to be a fantastic content creator
one day, professional like full time. He still is straddling
the line between professional content creator and professional football players.
Really hard line to straddle, and it's frankly, there's not
enough time in the.

Speaker 2 (01:55:54):
Day to do both jobs. He's going to be a
great podcast host one day.

Speaker 6 (01:55:58):
I just don't think he cares as much about being
a quarterback anymore as he does about his voice and
his brand and his platform. That's I think whichever team
he signs with is gonna feel the front.

Speaker 3 (01:56:08):
Of that he is dating football and he is married
to himself. Like, that's where we're at with Aaron Rodgers Man.
That's if you cut to the chase, that is it.
We've got rich Oronberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith
FSR betting analyst, I'm Brian No. Score Bigger at bet
MGM when you win with boost tokens, odds, boost tokens

(01:56:29):
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 with BETMGM today and you'll have access to
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live bets, and so much more. All right, coming up
next Rapid Fire, which have a bundle of picks for you.
We'll throw him at you next. It is Fox Sports

(01:56:49):
Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM. It is Fox Sports
Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM. Score Bigger with bet
MGM when you win with boost tokens, odds, boost to
howls and more. Even if your bet doesn't hit, We've
got you covered with no sweat tokens. That's not all.
Sign up with bet MGM today and you'll have access
to countless basketball betting options including new look, same game parlays, teasers,

(01:57:12):
live bets, and so much more. Hey, props to the crew,
our trusted producer, Bo Benson, the Dodger Zone Pod technical
producer extraordinary, Chris Purfett, Pride of Detroit Pod and on
digital shout out to our guys Sager post our clips
on social media does a great job. Top of the
hour up on Game LaVar Arrington, TJ Hushman, Zada, Plaxico Burrs.

(01:57:36):
They have got you covered in about eight minutes from now.
Keep it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio. All right,
we got some picks to make. Let's do it.

Speaker 4 (01:57:47):
Rapid fire.

Speaker 3 (01:57:50):
All right, Jared, we start with you.

Speaker 4 (01:57:51):
What do you like.

Speaker 6 (01:57:52):
I'll be brief. Baseball is top of mind today. It's
going to be the vibe for the rest of the
summer for the most part. With these rapid fire plays.
I'll go Pirates on the first five money line, laying
about thirty five cents. Here, you're facing Quinn Priester today
for the Brewers, and you get Mitch Keller on the mound.

Speaker 2 (01:58:09):
So I like that matchup.

Speaker 6 (01:58:10):
In the first five for Pittsburgh, We'll go Jack Lighter
over fifteen and a half outs. He gets to face
the White Sox today, which is essentially facing a triple
A lineup lighters. Pitched into the sixth inning in three
straight starts, we only need one out in the six.
Speaking of one out in the six, Michael King from
Rich's Heavenly fathers.

Speaker 2 (01:58:27):
Over fifteen and a half outs.

Speaker 6 (01:58:29):
Not over this in seven of eight games, and has
thrown at least ninety pitches in all eight of his
last eight starts. Padgers boll play a little gas coming
off that Toronto series too, so Michael King goes deep
into again.

Speaker 4 (01:58:40):
All right, I got three NBA props ahead of Game three.

Speaker 5 (01:58:45):
SGA Shay Gilgess, Alexander lives at the foul line, will
continue to I'm taking over ten free throw attempts. He's
average fourteen. I believe in the first two games, nas
Reed under twenty points rebounds. This when can Gobar avoid
foul trouble? That's less opportunities and also the perimeter defense

(01:59:07):
has limited three point looks. Give me Nazried under the
twenty points rebounds assist and then Jellen McDaniels over six rebounds.
Throughout the postseason. So far, he's been a rebounding machine.
I think the line's low, so give me the over
six rebounds.

Speaker 3 (01:59:22):
Okay, I'm going props NBA, and then a little puck love.
Give me Anthony Edwards over three and a half threes
at plus money. It's plus one twenty not bad. So
he had eight three point attempts in Game one, he
made three of them, not bad. Had nine three point
attempts last game. So he's getting the attempts. And in
these playoffs he's hit at least four to three pointers

(01:59:43):
in six playoff games. So that's six of the twelve
that he's played. I like his chances of getting the
threes up, and I think they're gonna fall at home.
Give me over three and a half threes. I'll take
Julius Randall to come back to his scoring ways over
eighteen and a half points. Great zig zag spot terrible
in game two. He's reached twenty points in nine of

(02:00:03):
twelve playoff games this postseason. And hey, in hockey, you
take the losing team to score first, except when it's
the Carolina Hurricanes. Give me Bob, give me the Panthers.
They score first. That's minus a dollar thirty five. Enjoy
the day

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