Brian Noe & Ephraim Talk Coach K, Lakers, Nets & Bengals

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Don't listening to Fox Sports. Yes, what's going on everybody?
Hope you enjoying your Saturday evening. Man, we've got action.
Coach K in his home uh finale. I almost said debut.
That would be the opposite of this is home finale
here at Cameron Indoor and the Dukies finally getting going

(00:23):
over here. I have a seven point lead, rough start,
but uh, forty two years big man coach K at
Duke and this is the final season, in the final
game at Cameron Indoor. It's crazy. Yeah, it's historic. You
know what Coach K has not only meant to Dupe
but college basketball. Um, I mean it's you know, we

(00:45):
you see these types of of coaches, historical coaches go
uh you know, most notably Dean Smith, um, Bobby Night,
all of these tremendous coaches that we get to see
every week because they're basically on TV like proteins. Uh.

(01:08):
And then it's the end of an era, you know,
and it's uh, that's you know that that ticket is
one of the hottest tickets on the planet Earth to
try to try and get. So it's you know, it's
it's bitter sweet, Yeah, it is. And you mentioned it
it's going for more than or it went for more

(01:29):
than Super Bowl tickets. Right, We're talking upwards of fifty
thou dollars for the higher end, which is crazy to me.
I mean, I don't for Coach K's finale. Yeah, how
about Coach K seventy five years old, he wears it well, man,
he looks good for being around the youth, and you

(01:49):
know that that'll bring it out of you. Now bring
them being around that youth, it means something. I also
think that the emotion of this final game. You've got
around eighty some former players that are there in attendance,
and they had a nice pregame ceremony, and I just
I don't know how you stay completely locked in and

(02:10):
completely focused on this particular game. And Coach K has
said he owes it to his current players to put
them in the best position to win a ballgame. But
easier said than done when you've got all that emotion
and all that nostalgia, I don't know how your mind
doesn't drift a couple of times during the game where
I don't know, unless you're a complete robot as a

(02:31):
human being, it's gonna be really, really hard to stay
locked in from a full forty minute. Most coaches, uh
have that robot gene where they can lock in. They
can literally compartmentalize emotion and lock in. It's it's a
trait that you must have as a successful coach. You
gotta be able to block out the noise. Do you

(02:52):
think he can do that for a full forty minutes?
I think if the game is well in hand, yeah,
you know, the second half down to stretch, then that's
when you will see the emotions start to bubble out.
But if the game, if it's a contested game, then no,
you keep that in check. Yeah. Yeah, Well we go
from you know, the high side with coach k and

(03:15):
illustrious career to the low side with your purple and
golden action. Tonight the Lakers taking on the Warriors, eight
games under five hundred. Big man, Now, I seriously, this
isn't to troll you, because I know you're a Lakers fan.
You don't have to troll me, Like, I don't know
if I could be trolled. It's just speaking the truth
that like I mean, I'm not one of those fans.

(03:35):
First of all, I'm an analyst first uh. Secondly, I'm
a fan and I'm not one of those guys who
have delusions. The Lakers are broken, man, they are. They're old,
they're broken, they're unenthused. Uh, and it's embarrassing, and it's

(03:58):
it has been the majority of the year. So yeah,
I'm not. I'm not like, oh, come on, guys, you know,
and I'm not. I'm not. There's no silver lining. As
soon as we can put this thing to bed and
we can get to watching real playoff teams go, then
that'll be that. You know. I keep wondering where rock

(04:19):
bottom is. That's my question. Rock Bottom is eleven. Well,
I've that's true. They've hit rock bottom eight different times
this season. And it's like, all right, there's six games
under five hundred. Now there's seven games. There're eight games
under five hundred. Right now. You know why that's not
rock bottom yet because they're still in the playoffs, they're

(04:41):
still technically they're still in the they have an opportunity
to play in the cold season, and and what happens
is you get that mindset of just as long as
we have a chance, yeah, that's they're gonna get boat raced. Yeah. Right,
if they have to play either Portland's or New Orleans

(05:02):
and then have to pay it's got nothing for him,
and then have to play well. I mean, we've seen
the Lakers being beaten by by Portland also in Portland's
and guys who don't even start or couldn't start anywhere else.
So I'll never forget the post game where Frank Vogel
was like, and Nerk's not even playing right now, but

(05:23):
it's like, there are two guys that could hurt us
on the court. It's Simmons and Nerk. We knew that,
and that's a game we gotta win. And they still
lost that game. Yeah, And and so that this is
where we are when we talk about that. That's rock
bottom is eleven and you don't have chot right because
they say, oh, if we play nine verses ten, we
can win that, and then we can play seven verses eight.

(05:47):
The winner out of seven verses eight, hopefully it's not
the Clippers. If it's the Clippers, good luck, and then
you get a matchup in the playoffs. So they're still
believing they're alive, and I don't want them to have
any breath. Our life I wanted to be over so
I can move on. You're rooting against your Lakers, and
I'll never root against them, but I'm a rudy. I

(06:09):
don't like the effort. I don't like the effort um
and um just a focus, there's zero focus. Yeah, it's
something that Tehron Lew said, the Clippers head coach, just
a couple of nights ago. He was like, we play
hard every night. This team plays hard every night. And
he's right about that. And that's something you can't say

(06:30):
about the Lakers. No, and that's all you ask, just
go play hard. You can watch the Lakers play and
they'll start off the game on fire, moving defense, moving
the ball. Third quarter it's like nothing. They're tired, they've
gone in to halftime, they've come out. The energy is

(06:52):
not there anymore, none of that, And so it's hard
to watch as a fan. It's hard to watch. That's
why I very rarely watched the games live. I have
to to tape them. Yeah, I have to tape them.
And because first of all, I fast forward through commercials,

(07:15):
and then second of all, when they go into one
of their many, many, many scoring droughts, what I'll do
is I'll push fast forward on the DVR and I'll
watch the other teams points increase and watch the Laker
not score bucket right, Like it'll be thirty six to
thirty eight and Lakers and then it will be thirty

(07:38):
eight to fifty nine. Like that happens a lot, just
that fast. Yeah, yeah, man, Hey, it's been a it's
been a rough season. I don't need to tell you that.
But this is what I was talking about. This was
to Ron Loeu a couple of nights ago. This is
when the Clippers beat the Rockets earlier this week, but
he talked about the effort of his team that he

(07:58):
sees all the time. Check this out, Like I said,
these guys in the locker room, they come out and
I can compete every single night, and um, that always
gives us a chance. And so offense, if we figure
out how we need to play and what we're looking for,
what we're trying to do, you know we can we
can win some games. And we've been doing the has
of late. Amen. Right effort, that's the one thing you
can control. And listen, Lebron was saying that to the

(08:22):
crowd who was on him and the rest of the
team earlier this week. Is like sometimes the ball goes in,
sometimes it doesn't that's true. Sometimes you have off shooting nights,
but the effort should always be there, and it certainly
is not consistently with the Lakers. There's no way you
could say that it has been. No, it's not, and
that's the problem. Yeah, you're not gonna make every shot,
but you're turning the ball over your lackluster defense. If

(08:47):
you if you're not making shots, what do you have
to do? You have to play defense. You can't miss
shots and not play defense. That's how you get beat.
That's how you by teams with no starters on the court,
no zero all stars, and the turnovers against the Pelicans

(09:09):
just throwing the ball into the air, brutal man. How
have you been in the league this long and you
just flip the ball into the air. So let me
know what's on the uh the E from Crystal ball here.
What does it tell you about the Lakers? Like projected?
Did they sneak into the playoffs? Are they one and

(09:31):
done in the play in like Anthony Davis's health status.
How do you see it shaking out for the Lakers?
I think they win both playing games and then they
get boat raced in the first round of the playoffs
by it's gonna be Phoenix. They have zero questions for Phoenix,
zero answers. Excuse me, Phoenix has all the questions. They
have no answers. There's nothing they can do with Phoenix.

(09:54):
They're too young, they're too hungry. They have that experience
of being in the Fine last year. They don't care
about Lebron, they don't care about the Hall of Fame.
They don't care about any of that, by the way, evident. Yeah,
how about if you flip it here, their opponent tonight,
the Lakers the Warriors. The Warriors have a legitimate chance
to make major noise come playoff time. They've been in

(10:16):
a rough patch here, They've lost six of eight. They
definitely miss Draymond Green. How about the Suns have actually
extended their lead, having first place, running away with this thing,
and that's a sign of a good team and good
coaching Williams. Yeah, he's done a great job and the
clear favorite for coach of the year. But the Suns

(10:38):
are leading the Warriors by eight games for first place
in the world. Yeah, they're cruise control right now. Yeah,
but how about the Warriors. They should get Draymond Green
back at some point. Even though this is a rough patch.
How about the crystal ball for the Warriors this season?
I think the Warriors are dynamically at full strength. There's
very few teams that can handle the shooting and the

(10:58):
defensive prowess did they bring to the court every night. Um.
The crazy thing is you gotta watch Memphis because they're
creeping up there. Memphis has turned out to be a
tremendous team. Their defensive on ball pressure, John Moran as
a superstar. And and I mean you you're watching these
teams with this these youth that the youth and and stars,

(11:21):
and and they're just they got their heads down and
they're playing great basketball. And then you look at a
team that's taking all of this for granted. In the Lakers.
You put together this goofy team and with no real shooting,
no real youth or energy, and expect people to just

(11:42):
roll over. Nobody care about Lebron James, nobody cares about
Anthony Davis. They're definitely not worried about Anthony Davis. And
teams will let Russell Westbrook do whatever he wants it
works in their favor. Think about that in the scouting report.
Go ahead, let Russ do it. And then him go.

(12:03):
He'll do. He'll he's gonna give us two or three
one on four fast breaks where don't file him, don't
file him, let him go to the hole. He doesn't
have the lift that he used to have, so most
of the time those are clinging off the bottom of
the rim. And yes, when he's opened on the three,
step back, step back, make him shoot it. That's how

(12:25):
you guard the Lakers, and it's you think about it too.
The postgame press conferences. We'll get these cutsheets on Fox
Sports Radio. They do a tremendous job, the editors grabbing
all this sound and I'll laugh every time. Every now
and then I'll glance at it, and you just read
some of this stuff. It's Frank Vogel. We're gonna stand
by Russell Westbrook. You know, we've got Russ's back over here.

(12:46):
It sounds like he's going through some rough personal times.
It's just on the court. You know. It's like, we're
gonna we're gonna stand by our man over here, and
hopefully he figures it out at some point. It makes place.
It's just not all I don't think he's willing to
figure it out. I mean, just from his comments alone.
I don't think he's willing to figure it out because
he's gonna be who I'm gonna be, who I'm gonna be. Yeah,

(13:08):
I've earned the right. I've earned the right. Okay with nobody.
You haven't won anything. What have you earned the right
to do? Yeah? Well, we gotta get to that. Some
people had a problem with his comments, saying he had
no expectations heading into the season. We'll dive into that
a little bit later this hour. A few Laker fan
had a problem with that um and also this right

(13:29):
around the corner. It's not exactly a four three forty.
I would say it's even more impressive tailed on that
for you. I'm Brian No, he's he from salam This
is Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the
I Heart Radio app. Search f s R to listen live. Hey,

(13:54):
I'm Doug Gottlie. The podcast is called All Balls. We
usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more
about the stories about what made these people love their
sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We
talked to coaches, we talked to players, We tell you stories.
You download it, you listen to it. I think you
like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gotlieb on

(14:16):
the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you
get your podcast. I'm Brian, No, he's he from salam
here on Fox Sports Radio, Man big Man. How about
Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Davis. So he weighs in it
about three hundred forty one pounds and he ran the

(14:39):
forty yard dash in four point seven eight seconds. That's
freaking insane. That is dangerous, dangerous, that's crazy. A man
that large should not be moving that fast. Do you
know what you call somebody with those dimensions? Would say
his dimensions again? Three hundred forty one pounds piece six

(15:00):
six and three eighths alright, so north of six six
runs of four seven. You know what you call that?
I don't know what you call it. I call it
a fast locomotive. No, you call it a millionaire, that's
what you call it. Yeah, yeah, Yeah, that's a multimillionaire

(15:25):
right there. Oh, he's about to change the lives of
everybody he knows for years to come. Good for him?
And two months? How about this too? You only have
a couple of players who have weighed in north of
three hundred thirty pounds that have ran a sub five

(15:46):
second forty. So you have Greg Robinson, remember the bust,
the number two overall pick. He went to the Rams.
He uh is in Auburn grad. But Greg Robinson clocked
in under five seconds at four point nine two. That was.
And then Dontari Poe, who was just a specimen. He

(16:08):
weighed in at three hundred forty six pounds out of
Memphis and he ran a four point forty at the combine.
You also had Dontari forty four reps of two five
the bench press right and it had a thirty four
inch vertical jump, thirty four inch vertical at about three

(16:29):
hundred fifty pounds. Man, that's crazy. That's insane. That's insane.
And that's why I'm on the radio with you. Good
for Jordan Davis, That's why I'm hanging out over here
with you. It's time to retire. When he started making
them like that, got nothing for you, nothing for you. Goodness,

(16:51):
I hate to see him on third and long, new
and y five technique. That's be that power at that weight.
That's a situation, right, oh yeah, Yeah. So I wanted
to circle back here because there are some people that

(17:13):
had a big time problem with Russell westbrook saying that
he had no expectations heading into this season. I saw
the pregame on ESPN. Stephen A. Smith came on glued
on this and basically said, you're remember the Purple and Gold.
You've got Lebron James and Anthony Davis. You're expected to
compete for a championship, and you have no expectations. That

(17:33):
was his take. I was just curious what you thought
about Westbrooks saying, Hey, I didn't walk into this season
thinking he was gonna be peaches and cream. I just
didn't have expectations heading in. What was your take away
from You've heard of a championship mentality? Right? Sure? So
when you talk about great players, do you think Era
Jordan ever went to season without expectations? Kobe Oh absolutely not. Yeah, right,

(18:00):
Kevin Garnett, any of these great players, you think they
they've ever gone into a season with Lebron with zero expectations? No,
And there in lies the problem. If that's where your
mind isn't, then how could you possibly facilitate what we're

(18:20):
trying to do you just want to go out there
and play some basketball, right you? You you just want
to go out and and just hoop. That doesn't make
any sense to me. You're coming back home where you
grew up and you have a team steeped in championship tradition,

(18:43):
and you have zero expectations prior to the season, then
you're not the right fit. That's what that means. That
means there are plenty of teams that you can just
go hoop on, right, You can do anything you want.
There's plenty of them out there. Just go whop. You
go Sacramento. You ain't got to lead a state. You

(19:05):
just go whoop up there, zero expectations. Here's what I think.
I'll throw this at you know, see if you buy
it or not. I think that Russ is definitely a
proud guy. That's not always a bad thing. But I
think that sometimes Russ won't say what's really the truth
because he doesn't want to give the satisfaction to some

(19:26):
reporter who is saying, hey, what were your expectations heading
into this season. He doesn't want to say, well, gosh,
I thought we'd you know, be uh one or two
seed right now? Looking great as the playoffs approach, and
that's not where we are right now. He doesn't want
to go down that road, so he just goes the
other way and says, I didn't have any expectations. Will
first of all, just be honest, and he said your expectations.

(19:50):
He didn't say the team. That's the answer for the team, right, Well,
we're not what we want to be right now. You
know it's it. He said your expectations. Why expectations are
to play at an all star level. It helped his
team win another championship. Those were the expectations. Now the
follow up question is, you know, how do you feel? Okay, well,

(20:13):
we're not meeting the expectations, my personal and team expectations,
but we still have time. Boom. Next question, Now, that's
how you That's right. You've been doing this long enough
to know how to answer questions, man, So that excuse
of me, he doesn't want to give the report that's
done now, Man, say that to a rookie or somebody
who've been in their second year. Why, yeah, I think
what he should have done. I don't believe him. By

(20:34):
the way, there's no way that you could head in
to this season as competitive as he is teaming up
with Lebron and a d and just shrugging her shoulders, like, well,
let's just see how would unfolds here? Like, you gotta
be thinking we got a chance to do something special here,
something along those lines, I would imagine. So, yeah, I
don't think there's anything wrong with saying yeah, I thought

(20:57):
we'd be in a better spot everybody did at this
stage age and we're not. And certainly I'm a big
reason for that. I think you just gotta be real.
I think sometimes not doing that gets into into trouble
that way, I think honesty is the best is the
best policy when it comes to answering reporters. All the

(21:17):
questions aren't gonna be cupcakes. Some are gonna be hard
hitting if you don't want to answer, however, they don't
feel like answering that right now, you know, But don't
just throw a blanket, goofy statement out there because people
are going to annihilate you for it. I don't care
about turning the ball overact you beat me to the punch.

(21:37):
I was like, that's another example of of course he's
gonna care about you have to as a point guard.
He just doesn't want to say it he doesn't care.
Your coach cares. Of course, your teammates care, so how
can you not care? But that's the thing I don't think.
I just don't think he's telling the truth right there,

(21:58):
Then he's a liar, and what good is that? I
think that's where I think that's where pride comes in
and he just doesn't want to admit certain things. I
think that's really what it is. I don't think he
wants to say, yeah, I had high expectations and man,
this sucks, and where he just was like I didn't
have any how about that? Anything about that? It's like,

(22:21):
I think that's a lie. The reporter should have been like,
you're lying. Yeah. I guess that's why they don't let
me in the press conferences. I'm like, come on, bro,
come on, tell the truth. Come on, don't give me
that you didn't have it. Why didn't you have expectations? Then?
As an all star guard on a championship team, why
didn't you have expectations? That's a bet. That's a better

(22:43):
follow up question, right, that should have been Okay, so
can you explain what why you didn't have any expectations?
That's how you do that? As a reporter. Uh well, uh,
oh okay, you know who you say. Sometimes it's uh,

(23:04):
it's hard for certain people to tell the truth. It's
not hard for this person to tell the truth. Ever,
and sometimes it's difficult, you know. Sometimes he has bad
news to deliver. It doesn't face him, he doesn't sugarcoat it,
he doesn't change it. He just tells it like it is,
in a concise and friendly manner. That is our guy,

(23:26):
a friend of America, Mr Steve the Seger, Why thank you.
And my expectations for Russell Westbrook are that he finishes
his NBA career with the most turnovers per game of
anybody in the history of the league. Those are the
facts because he currently I looked it up, he currently
leads in that category. In fact, if you compare the

(23:47):
minutes per game Russell Westbrook only thirty five minutes per
game career, Alan Iverson was forty one minutes per game
and still had fewer turnovers per game than Westbrook, who's
played literally about a thousand games and over four thousand
turnovers over the only guy in NBA history that's played
this much and has over four turnovers per game for

(24:08):
his career, which is what he's doing this year as well.
And I'm glad you mentioned defensive tackle Jordan Davis, who's
played the last four years at Georgia. At the NFL
Combine this weekend, his forty yard dash time of under
four point eight seconds. NFL research points out that that
was faster than Patrick mahomes forty yard dashtime was. And
this guy is heavier than Jason Peters, was taller than

(24:31):
Rob Gronkowski. The ten yards split quicker than Jarvis Landry's
thirty two in vertical this weekend, was higher than running
back Jamal Charles, and his broad jump of over ten
feet was longer than Jimmy Grahams, who was a basketball player.
They need to do the simulation of Mahomes and Jordan Davis.
They did that. They had. Yeah, it's just a step.

(24:55):
That's basically a good luck quarterbacks. Good luck next year, guys.
Yeah to the college hoops, shall we? Because this is
the final weekend of the regular season for both teams.
It's early second half at number four Duke in coach
K's last home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke's lead
just forty five forty three over rival North Carolina and
about fourteen minutes left. At number three ranked Baylor Bears

(25:17):
lead Iowa State fifty one to thirty eight. Earlier number
six Kansas in overtime beat Texas seventy to sixty three.
Eighth rank Perdue edged Indiana sixty sixty seven. Oklahoma State
upset Number twelve Texas Tech fifty two fifty one, and
in overtime at l s U Tigers defeated number twenty
five Alabama eighty to seventy seven. Selection Sunday for March

(25:38):
Madness is a week from Sunday, just six NBA games. Tonight,
the late contest is an hour away Golden State, losers
of three straight, playing the Lakers in l A. Lakers
have lost seven of their last eight games at Dallas
right now, Luca Donsage of the Mavericks out this evening
with a sprain toe. The MAVs had just won one fourteen,
one thirteen over Sacramento disy forty four points from Deer

(26:01):
and Fox NASCAR's in Las Vegas tomorrow on Fox TV
three thirty pm Eastern time. Christopher Bell earned the poll,
his first in the Cup series. Among the ten NHL
games Arizona and eight five win over Ottawa Billy Horschell
tied for the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando,
and baseball's labor negotiations resumed tomorrow. The union is expected

(26:22):
to offer written responses to the owner's last proposal. Exhibition
games were canceled through at least March seventeen. The lockout
started in early December. There is a fund for stadium
workers that was set up, but remember Major League Baseball
this week it canceled the first two series of the
regular season after the players union rejected the owners offer
on a deal. Back to you, what's this deal with

(26:44):
the ghost win that Max Scherzer is a spokesman for this,
that if you they want to try and make everything
they're proposing is for competitive reasons, and therefore if you
let more teams in, players are saying, well, then maybe
they just won't try as the last month or two
of the season because teams will get in anyway. There's
not a huge advantage the first round. So if you

(27:06):
have a first round best of three and you spot
them a win the better team from the regular season,
you start the series one game to none. Up that's
the so called ghost win, and you get to play
all three games at home. In addition, that's their proposal.
The owners hate that because they can't make any money
off a ghost game. It didn't happen, they can't televise it.

(27:28):
It's a complete non starter to them. As good an
idea as it may or may not be. Yeah, interesting
stuff right there. What do you think about that, big man?
What do you think about the ghost win? Ownership is
just like, yeah, no, it's never gonna happen. Yeah, they're not.
They're not thinking like businessmen in imposing that. That's gonna
get shut down real fatter every single time. Yeah, it's

(27:51):
like no money, run that bias again. Actually, don't don't bother,
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next great higher visiting Indeed dot com slash credit. By

(28:15):
the way, big man, it pains me to say this,
but the bulls they're not ready for prime time. You
saw a bit of it last night against the Sixers
that came up short. The bucks are now too and
oh against the Bulls. The Bulls who have a very
good record, they are oh and thirteen against the top
teams in both conferences. They just can't beat the big boys.

(28:36):
You saw that last night. It was a trend. The
Bulls very good regular season, lots of wins, can't beat
the big boys. The Calves a lot of regular season wins,
very good season. Surprise, they came up short against Philly.
There's a big difference between stockpiling regular season wins in
winning playoff series, and I just don't think either team
is ready for that term of the Bulls UH having

(28:59):
their two as wing defenders out and in Alonzo Ball
and Caruso, that's that's hurt them. Getting those guys back
and healthy for the playoffs, it's going to vote well
for them. I mean Caruso has been hurt UH for
quite some time. Alonso has been in and out of
the lineup. But getting them back and getting them healthy,

(29:23):
it's just going to change the dynamic of that team
and what they're able to do. So I still look
for them to to win the first series that they're in.
I mean, they had enough talent and they play hard
in um Uh. Mar Rosen is just it lights out
right now, been tremendous. He's been sensational this season. But yeah,
I hear you. That's gonna help them defensively. Their defense

(29:47):
is nowhere near good enough right now. It's one of
the lower defenses in all of basketball. But yeah, getting
a Lonzo and getting Caruso back will help with that.
But is it the difference in you know, getting to
the conference finals or not, Like maybe they squeak out
a first round win. I think that's probably the ceiling
for the Bulls. You win a first round series and

(30:09):
then you're a tough out in the second round. The ceiling. Yeah,
but that's the building block, right Very few teams get
to go from zero to a hundred. So those are
the building blocks. Get some get the chemistry there, get
the the experience, you add a piece or two in
the off season, and then you go make a run.

(30:30):
M hm. It really will matter who you're matched up
against because there are a lot of teams. They're just
packed together in the East. If you look at from
the number two to the number six seed, they're just
separated by three and a half games, you know, so
you can jostle around and are the Bulls playing the

(30:51):
Box in the first round, or are they playing the Celtics,
you know, are they are they playing the Calves in
the first round, or are they somehow facing a tougher
team like the Nuts. Depending on how the seating works out.
That matters a great deal. It does. And I would
pick them over the nets that if they were fully healthy,
you would? I would, Yeah, I would. I think, Um,

(31:15):
they have better front court defenders, they have better backcourt defenders.
So I think, you know, if Katie's gonna be Katie,
Kyrie is gonna be Kyrie or whatever. But you know,
I think, do you have the ability to double those
guys when Ben Simmons comes back and and force him

(31:39):
to to beat you? Been good series though, So I'm
I you know, and that it pains me to say
because I didn't grow up a Bulls fan. My brother
was a Bulls fan, and you know the eight nine
UH Finals when Jordan's one his first campionship was against

(32:02):
the Lakers. So I'm still salty about that. So I've
never really been a Bulls fan. Uh So I'm you know,
it pains me to say that my brother would love
to hear me talk about the Bulls in that way.
But I just think that, uh, I'm just not sure
the Nets team that's gonna show up. The mandate is

(32:26):
is lifted in New York for the public but not
the private sectors. Is that we still don't know what
they're going to be when they're all together. Ben said,
we don't know what's going on with Ben Simmons, like
this is this is crazy at this point, being out
that long and still not ready to play. I just

(32:50):
I can't put my finger on it. It's just basketball.
It's just basketball. We gotta have a tail of the
tape Nets or Bulls. Who goes for they're in the
playoffs top of the hour. We definitely have to get
into that. You're selling my Brooklyn Nets short. Uh, I
don't know, man, they're in eighth place right now. Yeah,

(33:13):
I like what'utting it close? But so what But that
that's that adage, like it's all gonna come together when
we when we get get Yeah, but we don't know
when that's gonna happen. Yeah, right, so yeah, they're like, yeah,
we when we all get on the court, we're gonna
be cool. We are getting on the court. When are
you guys getting on the court? Yeah, so it sounds

(33:34):
good and and from a prolific score and one of
the top players in the NBA. Of course you will
have that type of of of bravado and enthusiasm about
oh it's all good when when it comes down to it.
But they're in eighth plades right now. Yeah, well, hey,
well we'll get into it. We'll get into it. I'll
give you the glass half full version of the Brooklyn

(33:55):
Nets and you'll go the other way. But that'll be good.
It'll be good for a little bit right there at
top of the year, but coming up next. Normally, solidarity
is a good thing. This is one of the exceptions.
We'll have details for you on that. I'm Brian no
He's Hee from salam This is Fox Sports Radio. I'm
Brian no He's Hee from Salam Here on Fox Sports Radio. Hiring.

(34:18):
Heating Up Indeeds hiring platform makes it easy to attract,
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on Indeed whose resumes match your job description. Visit indeed
dot com. Slash credit. All right, big man, Normally I'm

(34:38):
not against solidarity, but in this one, instance, I am
so the NFL Players Association they released a statement in
support of the MLB Players Association, and of course they're
just like, hey, you know, we we've got our our
brothers backs. You know, that type of thing. No big deal.

(34:58):
But some of the thing that they said in the statement,
I just I am not a fan of So I'll
read it to you. I want to see what your
reaction is. Okay, NFL players stand in solidarity with our
brothers at the m l B p A as they
fight for the rights, compensation, and working conditions that they deserve.

(35:19):
Without the players, there is no game, and we know
that they want nothing more than to be back on
the field as soon as possible. We also know that
in this united effort by players and union leadership, they
have the integrity and best interest of their game in mind.
By fighting the good fight to secure a fair deal,

(35:39):
everyone will benefit, including current and future generations of players,
as well as the fans who love the sport of baseball.
What do you think about that statement by the NFL
p A. I wish they had that same energy when
it came to us. Yeah, you're not a huge fan
of the NF No, I just think they when the

(36:04):
integrity of the game in terms of you know, playing conditions,
and you know, you got to realize football is a
brutal game. We all choose to play and that and
that's fine. Baseball is not if you it used to be.

(36:26):
You know, the new collective bargaining agreement for baseball is
getting worked out. If you play one game in in
in the big leagues, you had life insurance, our health insurance,
excuse me for life. One game I played ten years,
thirteen years, started for ten hundred and fifty six games.

(36:48):
My health insurance ran out five years after I retired.
I'm in paying every day. So you want to talk
about solidarity, where was that fight when you should have
been fighting for all of us. It's very few of
us get a chance to play in the NFL. Yeah,

(37:08):
even fewer get to play ten or more years. Where
was that fight when it came to the long lasting
effects of a contact sport. So I just I'm like
m yea. And what they'll do is they'll go to
current players and they'll say stuff like, you wan't hire salaries?

(37:32):
Are health care for life when you retire? What do
you think current players are gonna say? There? In the moment,
they're probably gonna say higher salaries they're playing. It's one
thing you do as a professional athlete. You don't think
about when it's over. You can't. You can't. You're living
in the moment because all your attention has to be

(37:54):
on that moment. So yeah, I'm not thinking about when
I'm forty five, when I'm right all right, I'm thinking
about maximizing this money right now. And I don't like
the way that's portrayed, because you won't feel the full

(38:15):
ramifications of the league until years in a decade after
you're done well. And if you look at what the
NFL p A was saying on behalf of the MLB
p A, I can understand saying, hey, I hope the
players get a deal that's fair. That makes all the
sense in the world. But the way it's miss portrayed,

(38:37):
it's just laughable. These players are just fighting for what
they deserve. They want nothing more than to be back
on the field as soon as possible. If that were true,
they'd be on the field like they want the best
deal possible. Just say what it is, don't miss portray
It's like these players they're just doing what's best for

(38:58):
the fans, both ship and players are guilty in this fight.
There's not a fight if if both sides aren't dug in.
They are, So don't make it just about one side
being greedy, like both sides are guilty of that. Yeah
it is. And whenever you have these labor disputes and
the professional sports, it's always that posturing. Right, Oh, we

(39:21):
wanted we yeah, we we just want to go out
there and play. We just want them to play. We
just want fairness, that's all we're after. So yeah, well
we want a couple of things in our favorite That's
what's going on there. That's exactly right. Yeah, what about that? Yeah,

(39:46):
but a couple of things we'd like to discuss beforehand.
All right, coming up next. They've got talent, arguably the
most talent, but will they have the results? Man, big man,
I will steal your catchphrase. Here we got action and
this Duke North Carolina game. North Carolina is up by

(40:09):
four with just about eight minutes to play. And the
thing I'm thinking of this would be arguably the sweetest
win for North Carolina Faithful against Duke if they're able
to ruin the coach k party and just think about this.
You've got all these Duke players from yesteryear there showing

(40:31):
Christian Lightner and Carlos Boozer and Sheldon Williams and coach K.
You've been unbelievable with all your wins in five national
championships and take this lost with you, right, Oh, that
would be so sweet for North Carolina. That's what they want.
They want that right now. And you best believe they've

(40:53):
been talking about it all week at halftime the whole
nine yards. Yes, yes, and Duke was a healthy favorite
right around eleven points in this game, and yet they
find themselves trailing by four with about eight minutes to go.
So it's anyone's ballgame at this point. Yeah, it's uh,
it's exciting, it's it's it's good. This is this is

(41:15):
what you want, right, last game for coach K on
Coach K court. Right, very few UH coaches get to
play on their own court named after them while they're
still coaching. Yeah, So you know, I just never been
a Duke fan. I'm sorry. I always hated Duke. Yeah,

(41:36):
you know, yeah, I'm I'm okay with Duke. Like I
look at them as they're they're entertaining to me. I
really don't root for him or against them. They're just,
uh like most of the time I've been in sports radio,
so they're great for what I do because people feel

(41:57):
very strongly for or against them, But I'm just it's like,
I'm cool with them. They're a little bit like the
Patriots to me, you know, a little bit, yeah, where
there's so much to talk about, even way more with
the Patriots. But that's how I look at it. Um. So, No,
I haven't hated them or loved them. I just know. Man.

(42:18):
For North Carolina fans that have heard all week, oh,
it's the home finale for coach K his illustrious coaching career,
and all these former Duke players are gonna be there
to pay homage, and it's Oh, you want to beat
them so bad? Man. That would be so sweet if
they're able to hold onto this lead. Oh, I mean right,

(42:40):
The one thing you want to keep the Cameron crazy
is from doing is storm in the court. Yeah, and
what better way to do that than to beat them
on their home court in coach k last his final
home game. Absolutely, what do you think just from the
players standpoint, We've talked about Coach k staying locked in

(43:02):
with all the nostalgia and all that, he's a grown man,
this is not his first rodeo. But think about the players, right,
they see all of these former great Duke players. They
know what's on the line. They don't want to lose
the final home game of Coach K's career. That's a
good amount of pressure on them. What it takes us
inside the player's mentality when they're when they're going through

(43:25):
this game and facing a deficit late here, Well, you
want to do it for the coach, right coach Okay,
obviously means a lot to them, uh and two previous athletes,
So you want to really win it for him. You
don't want to be the team they let him down,
all right, So think about that. You don't want to

(43:46):
be responsible for all those greats that are there in
attendance looking at you like, wow, you guys really couldn't
pull this off. That is a recipe for some tight
sphincter is out there, right? Yeah? Yeah, this is some
tight sphincter gumbo right here. With all the Coach K's

(44:10):
final home game, we got Grand Hill. We've not even
the Duke guys. They just showed Kyler, Murray haarall Owens
is in the crowd like this is a star studded event.
They're they're human beings. They feel that they might be
a little tight, a little tight right now, A little
bit tight, a little tight. Do you think Duke Duke
pulls it out, they find a way to win this?

(44:32):
I do. I think I don't want them to, but
I do. Uh. If I'll peruse just for entertainment purposes
over over here at the uh, let's just see what
the in game line has in store for us, you know,
just just the perusing, you know, let's the peruse over here.
By the way, big man, I gotta let you in

(44:53):
on a little secret here. So for Lentz, I've made
the decision. Why can you believe this? The can't be correct.
There's no way this is right. Duke is favored by
eleven right now while trailing by three. I'm trying to
verify if this is even correct right now that that
cannot be the case, right, There's no way that's correct.

(45:18):
But okay, this makes a lot more sense. Duke is
favored by a point in a half while trailing by
three with under six minutes to go. You're taking Duke
to win by at least two. Uh, yes, yes, you're
doing that during Lent so between now in Easter in
mid April. No gambling for yours truly what No March

(45:43):
madness bets. No in game Duke North Carolina tonight, no
candy bar bets. Look at you who. It's gonna be
a rough thirty. I don't know five ish days. I
don't know how many more days we have until least her.
But that's what's going on. Yeah, trying over here, Brian

(46:05):
no Ony from Salam with you here on Fox Sports Radio. Okay,
so we get back to you and your negativity towards
the Brooklyn Nets here. Huh the season outlooks for b
r K. It's not negativity, it's reality, Okay, right, because
one month, a month and a half ago, the Nets

(46:27):
were in first place in the East. They were in
first place in eighth a month ago. Okay, they're in
eighth place. Yeah, I understand that. But what I'm saying
is you go from first to eight? How am I
being negative? I didn't do that. Now, if they were

(46:51):
still in first or second and I was speaking the
way I was, that's all you hate and you're being negative? Okay,
that's what that is fair enough. Let me try a
different adjective, maybe not negativity, your skepticism. How about that
you are skeptical that the Nets can put everything together
and make a deep run come playoffs. Yeah, they're one

(47:12):
game away from being in tenth. You know that, right
one game. I'm aware. So I mean at this point,
Charlotte with you know, Montrese Harrold, I mean, they're they're healthy,
they're playing well, Atlanta, Trey Young, it's called fire. And

(47:36):
so those teams are trending up. Brooklyn is trending down.
They've lost the last three. They're three and seven in
their last ten, Atlanta six and four. I'm not worried
about anything. I get it, I understand. But what I'm
saying is that my negativity is coming from a team

(47:58):
that hasn't been fully together, coming down the stretch of
the season and miraculously hoping in the playoffs everything will fit.
We know we've been doing this a long time, be
we know it doesn't work like that, especially when you
get into a playoff series when teams are just focused

(48:21):
on you. So for them to just wake up and
be like, oh, we're all here now, bench him is
just playing he hasn't played in a year. You know,
Kyrie's here. Let's go what it doesn't. We know it
doesn't work like that. We typically doesn't, but it will.

(48:47):
Now you are you are a gung hole on Brooklyn.
Why tell me why? Okay, I've got numerous reasons for you.
Number one, they've got the most talent when you have
Kevin Durant who missed twenty one games with the sprained
MCL and tropped thirty one in his first game backs,

(49:08):
Like he rolled out of bed and said, take thirty
one with that. It's a great thing. He just came
back from injury. Because they don't have the help that
he needs. They lost that game, by the way, But
because they don't have the help, he's going to push. Push.

(49:29):
You don't want that that that is not a good thing.
He's smart enough to know when that's not true. We
saw him, really, he saw him blow its achilles out.
It's an injury, right, like that's the finals stuff happening.
I get I understand that. But to say he's smart
enough to know, he's smart enough to pull back alight,

(49:50):
you have have reason to believe he might push it
a little bit too much. Fat reinforcements are on the way,
all right. So we've got at the public sector. They
are allowed to frolic around in New York City in
a couple of days on March seven, all right, the
private sector not so much. So. Kyrie can't play home

(50:11):
games just yet. But that's going to be lifted, you
know it as well as I do. Sooner than later.
He'll be there for the playoffs. At least he might
be there towards the end of the regular season. And
Ben Simmons's working through the back issue, you know, but
he'll be on the court. And when he is, what
is he expected to do? What is he needed to do? Well?

(50:31):
He needs to defend, which he can do just waking
up in the morning and getting out of bed. It's
a tremendous defender. You need him to facilitate, which he
can with those playmakers around him, and you need him
to create for himself at times and hit shots ten
feeting in which he can do no jump shots. You know,
he can do all of those things. He's going to

(50:52):
be an asset any time now. Any time now, Vincent
could be on the co That is true. You're more. Look, uh,
you're more. You sound surer than than the organization. I

(51:13):
see the upside. I see where it's headed, not where
it currently is. And and look if this if and
I would feel the exact same way. If after the
trade deadline, Ben Simmons took two weeks to get in
shape and he was hit, he was ready to go,
I would be like boom. If the the the vaccine

(51:33):
mandate had been lifted in the private section, I'd be
like boom. Okay, we're cooking. But each game that goes
by is less of an opportunity to see how and
if these three dynamic players fit. Okay, but I even
go back to last year when the Big three they

(51:54):
didn't play a ton of games together seven seven, and
then what happened in the playoffs. You had them lose
to the eventual champion Bucks by a whisker literally like
the big toe of k D that wasn't behind the
three point line if it was Brooklyn's winning that series.

(52:15):
But the reason, like, first of all, if the fifth
we'd all be drunk. We know that. But the reason
they weren't at full strength is because James Harden and
his hamstring, and then on top of that, Kyrie Urgan
wasn't available. Yeah, Kyrie got hurt. Kyrie's injury was a
fluke injury. But he's injury prone. So now we're falling

(52:35):
into that category. So even if everything was all right,
great and you know, you never wish injury on anyone,
but hey, injuries can work for him. Let's look at
an injury prone James Harden will he plays for the Sixers.
James Harden gets hurt. It's so funny how how fast
he gets in shape. When he gets to a place
where the punds overweight three weeks ago. Now he's like

(53:03):
in his second year, right, Like it's it's it's amazing
on you know, how a player gets themselves ready to go,
which I still don't understand why Ben Simmons is ready
to go, Like, I'm like, sower lower back tightness? What
are we talking about here? You know you can always
tell when it's rubbish when those injured. When you talk

(53:26):
about the back, you can't prove a back injury, right, Like,
so you go with the lower Oh it's lower back stiffness.
What what does that? What? What time to Oh? We
know when you know when I shot? But you know,
giving a little bit of time here like, I'm like,
what has he been doing for a year? What do

(53:47):
you mean? You know he's not the most trustworthy player,
and that's but that's what you're doing. You're adding that
to an already just fun family. Were adding that your
uncle to gets out of prison, that comes stays in
the house with you and and everybody in there. Crazy,
But just think of this. Kai put the nets on

(54:08):
his back in the playoffs last season and was that close,
literally a big toe away from beating the Bucks, who
went on to win a championship without James Harden throughout
most of that series, a limited James Harden towards the
end of that series, hardly any Kyrie irving throughout the
entire series, and they were that close to beating the

(54:30):
eventual champs. Imagine if they're blessed with better health this postseason.
I love their chances. Um I would. If I could bet,
I would bet on them to be in the finals.
At a minimum. They're coming out of the East. I
take that bet. If you did bet, I would bet
three candy bars on it right away. Uh, the it's

(54:54):
lifted at Easter, so that will be right at the
time the playoffs are. So we're gonna with this. Well,
I know, I guess you can't do it. We can't
make the bet. But let's just say it's in the works.
Well you know what this is how we can get
around it? Right? Okay, Hey, down Brown, I feel like

(55:18):
betting three candy bars right when the playoffs start that
Brooklyn won't make the NBA Finals, I mean NBA Championship,
the finals. I feel like doing that. What do you
think That sounds like a pretty solid bed to me.
I can't, I can't see the net's cool. Yeah, that

(55:39):
sounds pretty solid to me. Hey, hey, you know when
the when the betting, we'll see I look, I didn't.
I don't throw the bed out there to anybody. I
just say that's what I feel like doing. Yeah, when
the restrictions have been lifted, we'll lock it in. Man.
The only unfortunate thing by that time you'll be seeing

(56:00):
the nets bawling, and you'll be like, I don't know
I want to do it anymore. I'm locking it in.
That's okay, all right, all right, when the restrictions are lifted,
we'll lock it in for sure. All right, coming up next,
don't don't listen about what I'm saying. Here, listen to
what Vegas is saying. We'll weigh in on that. I'm
Brian No Easy from Salam keep it locked right here

(56:23):
on Fox Sports Radio. Brian No Easy from Salam. Here
on Fox Sports Radio. We're brought to you by one
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Playing your trip today at visit Las Vegas dot com
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(56:46):
part is now through March thirteenth, we're giving away a
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(57:08):
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radio dot com to win a trip to Vegas during
Draft weekend and we are big man seconds away. If
you win, Are you taking me? I mean, can't are

(57:30):
we are. We don't dodge the question, are you taking me? No? No, no,
that wasn't doing surefire. No, Yeah, you're just qualified from participating.
Oh gosh, good good. I hope they I hope you
win and then they tell you're disqualified. We are thirteen

(57:50):
seconds away from North Carolina, not just three ste Duke one.
And look, yes they're celebrating on the court North Carolina,
as they should. That is for every North Carolina fan

(58:11):
and for every Duke hater, and there are a lot
of them out there. This is sweet, monumentous, Jess sweet
and uh, look, I think anybody you could be a
hard court duke hater. I think you still gotta respect
coach K. Of course I've always respected Coach K. It's

(58:33):
very similar to the Patriots with Brady. I think the
Patriots and the Evil Empire makes no sense to not
give Brady as due right. It's the same thing, same thing. Yeah,
but man, for this to be the home finale for
Coach K, never again. You'll never walk up. The last

(58:54):
time you walked off that court, you were a loser,
sir man. Wow, that hurts, That does hurt. And to
the arch rival North Carolina of all teams, you know,
salting the wounds right there, and they having fun. They're
running through the stairwelling. You know. I'll say this though, crying,

(59:20):
Oh every Duke caters like show more fans crying, just
please fans crying. As bad as this loss is for
Duke tonight, I think this helps their chances in the
n C Double A tournament. Do you think it has
an impact? I definitely do, because I mean, you see
that you're mortal. You see that if you aren't locked
in defensively and right like you allowed ninety four points

(59:44):
to lose. This is definitely a coaching moment. Yes, And
think about how low those Duke players feel right now
and what are they gonna want to do. They're gonna
want to make up for it. They are going to
be scratching clawn everything come tournament time. I think it's
a good thing for the tournament hopes of Duke. As

(01:00:05):
bad as this loss is for them tonight, I think
it helps them going forward. It does because it puts
things back in perspective in reality, and very few people
can like end a career on you know, things like
he won his last game right, That's like if one

(01:00:28):
of our teammates decided that he was going to retire,
and his last update, the mic went off right in
the middle of it, and he couldn't he didn't know.
He just went on with the update and it was
just it was just dead air. Right. That would be

(01:00:49):
the same I would be in here crying. It would
be the same as these fans, these students watching Coach
K while golf the court as a loser, and we'd
be watching our very own Stephen Sager walk out of
the update booth. Wow, with dead air left for his legacy. Ah,

(01:01:17):
there's no transition for me to Coach K. I think
that's pretty much for sure. But if you it's Stephen D.
Sager for Dead Air not for Duke tonight, you know
they're up nearly ten points late first half and they
wound up losing by double digits. Nobody, nobody this season
had scored ninety four against him, but Carolina did tonight

(01:01:40):
at Cameron. Yes, last home game for Coach K at
Duke is an l fourth rank. Duke champions of the
a c C regular season this year, loses to rival
North Carolina four to eighty one, and we have the
final weekend of the regular season for most teams, but
some are already in conference tournaments. The final of the

(01:02:02):
Ohio Valley Conference with twenty two ranked Murray State is
about to start a team that win eighteen and oh
in conference regular season. Murray State trying to get to
thirty and two overall. They start up in Evansville in
just a few minutes against Moorehead State, and at an
hour and a half the finale in the PAC twelve
of USC at U c l A. Each team ranked

(01:02:22):
in the top twenty among the earlier games. Number six
Kansas in overtime beat Texas number eight per DWO edged
Indiana sixty sixty seven in Oklahoma State ups at number
twelve Texas Tech fifty two to fifty one. To the NBA,
the Lakers are hosting a Golden State team that has
lost three in a row. It tips off in a
few minutes in l A. Lakers have not only lost

(01:02:42):
seven of eight, their record the last two months is
six and sixteen. Philadelphia is at Miami. You know, did
you see Charles Barkley on the post game after he
had another Laker loss this week? He said, can we
stop carrying this team? And I think that a lot
of people obviously went overboard and seeing how many Laker

(01:03:03):
telecasts they could gobble up for their channel this season.
When you see that roster, well, the Lakers entered tonight
with a twenty seven and thirty five record, So they're
hosting this Golden State team that I won't say is sinking,
but they are far far away from the first place
Phoenix Suns. In the West. ABC did not select Philadelphia
at Miami, which is, you know, the two best teams

(01:03:25):
in the East, by the way, and they're playing right now.
The Heat have started with a seventeen eleven lead over
Philly late in the first quarter. James Harden is not
playing tonight, resting the hamstring. He scored twenty five points
last night. The Heat first in the East two games
over Philly. Milwaukee and Chicago each three back. Dallas edge
Sacramento one thirteen. Spencer Dinwity with thirty six points. Luca

(01:03:46):
don Sitch of the MAVs was out with a sprained toe.
Baseball's labor negotiations resumed tomorrow. The union is expected to
offer written responses to the owner's last proposal. It seems
like there will be designated hitter in both leads. There
will be a draft lottery. Apparently it involved the bottom
five teams. Union wanted to involve more to combat tanking

(01:04:07):
and regarding service time manipulation, delaying the major league debuts
of top prospects. The proposal is that, apparently it will
be in the final contract that if a player finished
his first or second for Rookie of the Year, he'd
be credited with a full year of service even if
he wasn't with the major league team on opening day.
Back to you, good stuff, Steve, I'm Brian. No, he's
from salam here on Fox Sports Radio. No dead air.

(01:04:29):
There no dead air. You know we'll see for his
final update next hour. If that's the case, fingers crossed,
No dead air. If cold candidate calls aren't turning into
hot hiring leads, then you need Indeed because Indeed's powerful
hiring platform makes it easy to attract, screen and interview
candidates all from one place. Find your next great higher

(01:04:52):
visiting Indeed dot Com slash credit. Okay, so we transition
from the tears over in camera Cameron Indoor with the
coach K and Duke losing the home finale in Coach
K's legendary career we go right back to uh, the
Brooklyn Nets in your skepticism. Now, you don't take it

(01:05:13):
from me, big man, because I I make compelling arguments
that are right on the money here, and you might
shun them, but you might not want to shun Vegas.
You know, this isn't Vegas his first rodeo. And how
about this the odds to win the championship. If you
think about the Nets before I give you the results,
what do you think they are in the pecking order?

(01:05:33):
You know? Are they seven? We got the Sons, the Warriors.
We've got some tough teams in the East. They are
third in the packing order. You nailed it. In order.
Sons have the shortest odds, followed by the Warriors, and
then the Nets and the odds to win the Eastern Conference,
right just to get to the finals. The Nets have

(01:05:54):
the shortest odds, followed by the Sixers and the Bucks.
So Vegas. They're looking at this one of two ways,
Either their believers in the Nets and their talent, or
they are covering their butts knowing that they have a
ton of talent. If they make the odds long enough,
the public is gonna jump on that. And they're they're

(01:06:15):
gonna be in a precarious situation right there, So Vegas
they are at least well aware of the talent that
the Nets have and the problems that they could present.
I'm on board with Vegas on this one, big man.
I believe in the Nets, all right, Well, I believe
you might believe in the more than they believe in themselves.

(01:06:36):
At least that's that. I love this. The other night,
we've got it from Kevin Durant. So this was following
his return. And listen to k D. If he sounds
like we're we're only a game ahead of tenth place
over here, and see if there's any trepidation in the
voice of Kevin Durant. Here you go, here's k D

(01:06:59):
under twenty's left in this season. But that's a situation wein.
That's circumstances we ain. So what you gonna go out
there and figure it out. That's exactly what he's supposed
to say. That's exactly what he's supposed to say as
one of the best players on the planet Earth. That's
exactly what you're supposed to say. But I can promise
you this, he can't win a championship by myself No,

(01:07:19):
I agree with that. So if everybody else doesn't have
that very same mindset, that's what we have the problem,
and we're next year they do. Okay. I think this
is interesting because we can flip around this argument. It
really boils down to what are you banking on? Right,
So if you are skeptical of the nets, you're banking

(01:07:41):
on what Kyrie Irving not being allowed to play home games? No,
I just I just don't trust him. I don't trust him.
I think Philadelphia got better. We've seen how good phil
it up. Philipp Is gonna be a problem in the playoffs.
That relationship, in that chemistry between and Harden is unbelievable.

(01:08:02):
You have a real issue on your hands. Joel and
bead is lights out the m v P of the
year this season. I mean, he what he's doing right
now is crazy. When you add James Harden to that,
you want to talk about floor space? What do you
want to talk about spacing? They can get any shot

(01:08:25):
they want with those two in a high pick and roll,
so can Brooklyn. When you put when you put Kde
Kyrie space it with LaMarcus Aldridge throwing some Blake Griffin
for seasoning. Ben Simmons rolled down. It sounds good. It
sounds good. We haven't seen any of that. Sounds good.

(01:08:50):
You're speaking in hypothetical games. We've seen three games with
Harden against who, the Knicks, the Timberwolves. What you what
you have to really lies. It's not the opponent, right,
it's the chemistry. It's what you're doing. It's not the opponent.
It's the space scene, it's the direction. It's the the offense,

(01:09:11):
the continuity of the flow. That's what's impressive. Whoever they're
gonna play, nobody can guard Joel and Bad. Who's gonna
guard him? Pick pick a team and tell me who
they have to guard joelan Bad. It's not gonna happen.
I mean you can. You can hope to slow him
down a little bit with Bam out of Bio, with Miami,

(01:09:33):
but Joel embiads on another level extraordinary. When you have that,
and you take away a wing player that doesn't shoot,
refuses to shoot, that's fine, he doesn't need to. And
you add, no, I'm talking about Ben Simmons. I know
you are. Yeah, he doesn't need to. Did you take away?
What I'm saying is for the dynamic of the seventies sixers.

(01:09:55):
You take that away and you add okay, right, you
add a player that can give you forty because he
will shoot. What happened to his hamstring? Huh? He's sitting
out because of his hamster. It was a huge issue
with the Nets. Now what they're doing is what they're
gonna do, is they're not going to run into a
situation that they did last year. They're gonna make sure

(01:10:17):
they're not gonna play him in any back to backs,
which they shouldn't. He played last night, he dropped twenty five.
He was fine. But they're not going to get to
the playoffs and have him not available, which is smart.
That's what they're doing while Brooklyn still trying to figure
it out if you can come in without a vaccine
or what Ben simm is gonna be able to hit.

(01:10:41):
While they're doing that, the Nets are putting a plan
in place to be full steam ahead in the playoffs
because there are no back to backs in the playoffs.
Brooklyn is gonna be just fine. Okay, man, you keep
saying that, you keep you know, my little brother loves Brooklyn,
your Brooklyn's son until son, Yeah son, b k all

(01:11:03):
day son right here, doing all of that, and I'm
just like he was. We have a text chain of
all the guys I grew up with and all that.
We're all on this tech chain and everybody has their team.
My brother and a couple of guys are Bulls fans.
He's a Brooklyn fan. Of course I'm Laker, and so
all year he's been just Dog and the Lakers. Oh,
y'all in eight, y'all in the ninth. And I'm like,

(01:11:24):
hey man, welcome to five hundred and welcome to the
eighth place. Right like I said a month and a
half ago, they were in first Welcome to the basement.
We got plenty of room down here. Baseman is temporary.
We'll see, we'll see. We thought it was temporary for
the Lakers too. It's a short stay. They're in a
hostel right now. You know. It's bad conditions and everything.

(01:11:46):
They're gonna be in the penthouse before you know it.
I don't know. I don't believe that they have the
most talent. That's in arguable. You can't argue that they
have the most talented team. They have to have the
most available talent, though that's the most That's the big thing.
When when available, they have the most Okay, well, we
don't know what They've never all been available, so that
they will be. It's headed in that direction, you know that,

(01:12:09):
Like his back injury is not gonna keep him out.
We don't know what's wrong the rest of the season,
you know, we don't know if it is a back injury.
We don't know what's wrong with him. He'll be in
there and Kyrie irving. If they have the public sector,
I feel like the public sector, the private sector is
not going to be a no go for the entire playoffs.

(01:12:30):
Kyrie is gonna be playing home games. Even if you
just had Kyrie and k D. I think that's enough
to win a championship if you just happen to sprinkle
in Ben Simmons and his defense and playmaking ability, offensively
and distributing, Like now you're cooking. I think they can
win a title just with k D and Kyrie alone,

(01:12:52):
if those guys are ready to go. So you give
me Ben Simmons's added bonus, It's like, man, you're making
this easier on me. We shall see all right coming
up next. Of course, this guy is valuable, but he's
never been the most valuable. I'm Brian No, He's he

(01:13:13):
from Salam. This is Fox Sports Radio. I'm Brian No.
He's he from Salam. Here on Fox Sports Radio. So
your Lakers big man are taken on the Warriors as
we speak. And the Warriors they fun. They've lost six
of eight. They've been about a five hundred team without

(01:13:34):
Draymond Green. And we've had many discussions about Draymond Green.
How valuable is he for that team. Some people have
said that he's the most valuable. This is the deal
with Draymond Green. Of course they miss him. They had
a fantastic record when he was healthy for the first
almost forty games of the season, and they certainly miss him.

(01:13:54):
A game that they lost to the Mavericks at home
just about a week ago, they had a huge lead
and it just crumbled in front of them. That's not
happening if Draymond Green is on the floor. Draymond Green
is a very valuable player. I would argue now and
I've argued in the past, He's just not the most valuable.
You could play this game. What do you think the
Warriors would be over these last thirty games if they

(01:14:16):
had Draymond Green but didn't have Steph Curry, you know,
and you gotta keep it in context when you talk
about a value to a team. Um, they don't win
those championships before Katie gets there without Draymond. They don't
win a championship without Draymond, Especially at that time, Draymond

(01:14:37):
Green was the the glue and the catalyst for them,
you know what. He had to splash brothers and they're
shooting the lights out and all of that. But what
Draymond did was number one, he set the table for him.
His basketball ir Q was through the roof Wish Russell,
uh Westbrook had it um but his defensive his his
defensive tenacity, his ability to guard one through five. It

(01:15:03):
made it easy to take up for the lack of
defense that that left was that Uh Steph was able
to play right. Teams used to always right, the teams
used to always go at him. But team defense. They
specialized in team defense, and that was ran by Draymond.
Not only that, he let the team and assist then

(01:15:24):
rebend all of those things right from the forward position,
from the power forward position, which is very rare to
do so. Um, he wasn't the most in those those
two years. Stuff was winning m VP of the league.
But he was the most valuable player on that team
for that team. Well, a couple of things what you
bring up with Draymond's defense, the death lineup that was

(01:15:48):
so famous, they switched everything everything. It's an undersized lineup,
but which is difficult to do in the in the
in the league. You can get away that in college,
but in the pros it's just very difficult, right, Yeah,
because it's typically a mismatch. It was actually advantage Warriors,
mostly because of what Draymond brought to the table, as
you said, guarding all positions. So yeah, no one's questioning

(01:16:09):
his credentials. I just go back to it's weird because
it sometimes turns into it feels like you're saying Draymond
is not valuable. If you say he's not the most valuable,
and that's clearly not the takeaway. That's not the uh,
that's not the argument I'm making. But I look at
this and I say, well, although Draymond was very valuable,

(01:16:30):
he's not winning league m v P. He's not steps
winning league m vps. Of course he's the most valuable Warrior.
On top of that, if you had taken Draymond even
in his prime and you put him on a sub
five hundred team, Like, how much better is that team?
A little bit? If you put Steph Curry on a
sub five hundred team, how much better is that team?

(01:16:52):
I think they're a bit better now that leaps and bounds.
But he's the better individual player. And just like if
you take Steff off the off the UH the team,
they don't win those championships if Draymond is not there,
they don't win those They don't right, Well, you can
say that with a couple of guys, but I'm saying
like when you have the flash and you have the
shooting ability. This is pre H Clay really focusing in

(01:17:16):
on defense. He's been He's become a much better defensive player,
a wing defender, UH than he was in the early
championship for uh UM for UM Golden State. So Draymond
was the guy. He was the engine, the oil that
made the engine go. And this is what I mean.

(01:17:40):
He was averaging the triple I mean I mean not averaging,
but he was the only one to getting triple doubles.
Like he was up outside of Westbrook and hardened. He
was like third and triple doubles from the four, which
is crazy. It is crazy, but he's no, we're not
talking like like what I said was when we're not

(01:18:03):
talking about that aspect of it, Like, yeah, he's not
he's not scoring forty, he's not scoring thirty a game,
but what he wanted to seventeen and twelve, which is
very valuable. You you definitely need that, and so you know,
I just he doesn't he They don't win those championships

(01:18:23):
with without Dreymond and his his unselfishness. That's that's huge.
That was huge. But he did. Of course, he's the MVP.
He was the greatest shooter in NBA history. Yeah, but
that's not it. That's not even like that's that's a
no brainer, right, Like that's of course not he's the
greatest shooter in NBA history, right, and not just a shooter. Right,

(01:18:48):
he can put it on the floor, he can create
for himself. Yeah he can't. But that's not what his
specialty is. No, that's not what he Yeah, that's not
what he excels at. But he's got great handles, right,
he can attack the rack. Also, it's not what he's
known for. But I'm just saying he's not just a
shooter and that's the only trick in his in his
bag right there, you know. But in any event, the

(01:19:11):
Warriors need Draymond back. Coming up next, two stories Big
deal or no deal? Ah, yes, I hope you're enjoying
your Saturday evening, everybody. Brian no Andy from Salam with
you here on Fox Sports Radio. So we'll get to
a couple of stories. Are they big deals? No deals?
Maybe a medium deal. But the biggest story in the

(01:19:34):
sports world right now, big man is Coach K. His
home finale. Duke loses to our trival North Carolina and
there's a ceremony. As Steve de Seger he just played
the audio in his update. There's a postgame ceremony and
Coach K grabs the mic. It was unplanned, impromptu. He
grabs the mic and he says, I'm sorry, and people

(01:19:57):
start to kind of cheers. No, no no, no, no, no, no,
just please but quite I'm sorry. That was unacceptable. And
what a scene. Huh. This is unbelievable. Nineties six former
Duke players on hand to honor Coach K. And it
ends up in a thirteen point Duke loss to North Carolina.
And you've got Coach K in the post game apologizing

(01:20:18):
to the home fans. That's a wild scene right there.
That is a wild scene. But that's just class personified. Right.
He's like, look, uh, I didn't come up here and
put my best foot forward last home game or not.
I need to be better. Mm hmm. It's not about me, right,

(01:20:41):
And and that's what that was. This is not about me.
It's about us and me having these guys ready to play,
and I didn't do that. So I'm sorry. I gotta
respect that, Yeah, I gotta Now. This has been floating
around Twitter. Curious what you think about this. Some people
are saying that Duke losing to North Carolina coach K's

(01:21:03):
final home game, this is worse than losing in the
n c Double A tournament. It's more memorable. It's stings worse.
What do you make of that? No, because if you
win championship this year for his last year, did no
one cares? He lost his first home game, I mean
his last home game, No one cares. So no, this

(01:21:24):
is not worse. You get all the way to the championship,
and you win the championship, no one cares. How about
this game that just happened today, Because you go out
as a champion. Yeah, well that's the only way it would. Uh,
it would make it moot if you will, right, like

(01:21:45):
you gotta win it all now. Um, Yeah, that's a
tough one, right there, tough one. A lot of talented
teams in the tournament. Obviously, Duke's got a shot. They've
got a lot of talent, And I do I think
the loss as bad as it us today, I think
it makes a more dangerous come tournament time because all
these players, they're gonna want to right those wrongs. This

(01:22:08):
lost stings and they want to do right by Coach
K in his final season. They don't want to be
remembered as the team that led him down. No, you
want a championship. You don't have to worry about that.
All is forgiven. Yeah, definitely it is because now you
get to put him on your shoulders, carry him off
the court for the last time ever as a champion. Yeah.
I just think that. My initial reaction is, no, it's

(01:22:31):
not worse than a tournament lost because you're competing for
a championship there. But the more I think of this
big man Duke has lost, Like Coach K has won
five championships, which is amazing, but they haven't won championships
most of the time, you know, And you can go
year after year after year. Unless you are a college

(01:22:51):
basketball junkie or you happy to be a Duke fan
or a Rabbit hater, you're not gonna be be able
to remember, Hey, who did they lose to the tournament
five years ago? Right? Like who did they lose to
ten years ago? I think you're always gonna remember this
home finale with them getting dump trucked by North Carolina.
I'm not gonna forget about this anytime soon. No, no,

(01:23:13):
you won't, you won't. The only way to erase it
is what you gotta win it all. That's it. That's
that's that's it. That's the only that's the only way.
And if you don't, this will be part of the history. Yeah.
That's where I can understand the argument that it's worse
than a tournament loss because it is more memorable than

(01:23:35):
most of their tournament losses. They've had a handful of them,
where it's just like, oh, yeah, that's right, that year
they did lose to such and such team, or you
know what I mean, Oh yeah, that one year it
was Lehigh I got it. Yeah, you know. Um, But
this one. Man. It is memorable, no doubt. Nineties six
former Duke players on hand to honor him. Yeah, fifty

(01:23:55):
dollar tickets. Seinfeld was there, he was laugh. Think Adam Silver,
the NBA commissioner, made Jerry Seinfeld laugh. How about that?
By the way, how about Kyler Murray being there and
the Arizona Cardinals extending both their GM and head coaches through. Well,

(01:24:16):
Kyler Murray is trying to get an extension himself. What
do you think? I agree with you. I think this
is a proven year. This is hey, yeah, come on, man,
you want to ask it for an extension of off?
Come on? Man? Know but what do you make of
the organization extending Cliff Kingsbury and Steve kim through? Hey?

(01:24:43):
You know what I mean? Like, these guys aren't going anywhere? Man,
that I would love off the record Kyler Murray on that. Hey, Kyler,
what do you think about them not? Them dragging their heels?
I don't know if we want to extend they're not
They're not dragging their heels. For him to think he's

(01:25:04):
gonna get an extension two years out, it's ridiculous. And
you when you look at when you look at guys
like when Jared Golf got extended and yeah he came
off the Super Bowl. Yeah, he just come from the
Super Bowl. Josh Allen was an m VP runner up
the year before he got extended. Right, Sol, settle down.

(01:25:28):
You've got a lot of work to do, young man.
Drop the ego and the conceit and all of that.
Get into the lab, get yourself healthy, and get ready
to go ball out. Make a deep playoff run. They'll
back the building up to pay you. Yeah, that's it.

(01:25:49):
By the way, this is the audio. I just love this.
Coach k addressing the crowd after the home loss, his
final home game ever at came An indoor and there's
a postgame ceremony. He stops the ceremony to apologize. Check
this out. This isn't part of the program. This is
impromptu by me. I'm sorry about this, afternoon. No please, no, please,

(01:26:14):
everyone be quiet. What made you just say it's unacceptable?
Today's unacceptable. But the season has been very acceptable. That's cool.
I love that too. Love that he said no, no, no,
But how about this he went about crowd control. He

(01:26:35):
said no, no, no, be quiet, and they're like, oh,
you can hear a pin drop. Can't. It's not even
that quiet at a funeral. It's not even that quiet.
Doing the national anthbody's always like yeah. He was like no, no, no,
be quiet, zip nothing pin Drop. That's like being in

(01:26:55):
Big Mama house and she said, y'all shut up. Now
you're like, okay, don't make me come in there. Yeah,
she means business um, But that shows you what a
true tone setter means. You know, there is a standard
at Duke and certainly the players. Coach can't be the

(01:27:16):
first one to tell you this. It's about the players.
They've had great, great players over the years. But who's
the guy calling the shots and setting the tone. It's
coach k He could easily have said, hey, you know, sorry,
we didn't get it done. We tried, we fought. He's like,
no excuses, not acceptable. And that's the tone he's set
for over four decades. That's why he's one of the greatest. Absolutely,

(01:27:37):
it is now here a couple of stories big men
um getting a lot of traction. Curious if you think
that they are anywhere between a big deal, no deal,
medium deal. So how about this. I love this story.
Evan McPherson. He's the Bengals kicker. The Bengal Special teams coordinator.

(01:27:58):
This week, he came out and said that it's a
source subject that Nick Pherson was on the bench during
the super Bowl halftime show. He went out and was
just sitting on the bench watching the show, not in
the locker room, not with this team. So the special
teams coordinator says, yeah, it's a bit of a source

(01:28:18):
subject right there. What do you make of that McPherson
being on the sideline soaking in the Super Bowl halftime show. Um,
the kickers normally go out earlier than anybody else. You
gotta realize the adjustments and all that going on in
in the halftime had zero to do with the kickers. Zero.

(01:28:40):
They talked to their coach for well three minutes and
it's over. So they're normally coming out of the locker
room well before the team to kick and to get ready.
I don't see a problem with it at all because
the guys in the locker room probably didn't even know
he was missing, Right, That's the dynamic like that, That's

(01:29:04):
just it's part of it right here. What you're saying.
The way I look at this is look at that
final drive by the Bengals. Okay, if Aaron Donald doesn't
make that play, the Bengals are about eight ten yards
away from field goal range. Let's just say they sneak
into field goal range and McPherson misses that game tying kick.

(01:29:31):
Pect But but I'm just saying, what's the takeaway if
he misses and it really it goes right back to Bro,
you weren't focused. Whether this is true or not, he
could have just missed the kick, but it goes right
back to you weren't a good teammate. You weren't you
would focus what people are often running. If that's the
way it is. But I know, but that's that, that's

(01:29:53):
the way I mean, I don't see it that way.
Like if he would have missed that kick for whatever reason,
I couldn't foresee because he was lights out. That's the
kicker you want. You want that guy and whatever that means.
If he hanging out, if he whatever he's doing, let
him do his thing, because he was he was perfect. Yeah,

(01:30:16):
I'm on the opposite side of you, big man. And look,
you played in the NFL for thirteen years. I the
special teams coordinator cares. He didn't. He only cared because
people were talking about it. If no one mentioned it
or said anything about it, he wouldn't say anything if
they didn't ask him the question. He wasn't going, you know,
be fourth, right, But he doesn't care. He could have easily.

(01:30:38):
Why would he say he cares because it matters, right
like optics. Oh, they don't care if the player does.
But they look. Man, he was sitting out there. He
was enjoying the show. It was what it was, But
it wasn't anything like I said. He would have been
out there at that time anyway. He went out to

(01:30:59):
kick early. They having a concert. What are he supposed
to go back in the locker room. He's just hanging
out watching the show. He's not because he went out
to go kick. The whole field was a stage. That's
what I'm saying. Like, there's no reason for him to
be out there other than watching the But so what
happens is like, um, every everything and if it is routine, right,

(01:31:23):
everything is the same. So you're going at halftime the
same time every game, you leave the locker room to
go do your thing, right, That's just what it is.
It's routine. You've been doing it forever. He's been doing
it the whole year like that. So he got up
and left after his coach talked to him for two minutes.

(01:31:43):
He maybe had some orange slices or something like that,
and went out and was getting ready to prepare. They're
having a concert. He sits down on the beach. But
that's the same thing for the team, right like, but
that's an extended halftime. You're normally out early. But while
he's out there, they're in there going over strategy and
he doesn't need to he at that, no one has

(01:32:06):
anything to say to him. I don't like to look
it's I think it seriously. I think the kicker like
if he was like if he wishy washy right, kicking
around fifty percent, and sometimes it makes him sometimes he
doesn't know he was perfect. He was one in the
playoffs and they had some big, close games, and he
stepped up every time he did. But it looks like

(01:32:31):
something it isn't because it's not that. I know, definitely
it's not that. But to some it's gonna look like
who cares as long as this kid keeps kicking? I
promise you no one was gonna care. I don't know, man,
It's not gonna be a big deal. It will not
be a big deal. He didn't miss any of them.
And that's the only thing that all you can ask

(01:32:53):
of a kicker. You can't ask him to go to
the meet the offensive defensive meetings. You can't ask him
to you know, tackle or or All you can ask
him to do is make the kicks. And when he's
doing that, you do whatever you want. Yeah, a special
teams coordinator didn't see it that one. I promise you
he did. I promise you, I promise you he did.

(01:33:14):
It doesn't make sense to just be like, I gotta
act like it matters, because you know, no, he was like, yo,
what did he say? What did he say? What is? What?
Are his was a sore subject? There you go, a
source subject, Yeah, which means he was been like, hey,
you know on TV they caught you out there watching
you know you should that's it. That's the source subject.

(01:33:35):
That's not like, oh my god, I can't believe that
was it. It's over. He was just like a coach.
I went out early. They had the stage out there,
so I just sat down. Okay, boom, they're not even
gonna talk about it ever again. Yeah. I just think
that look, there are some times in life where some
people will have the incorrect takeaway and you do have
a role in them thinking something that's wrong. If you

(01:33:57):
show up to your job interview and flip flops, the
hiring manager might think you're lazy, you're you're not professional.
That might not be true. It depends on if you're
going to be a lifeguard. That's really really that's perspective
is everything now, I mean ends, I'll be trying to
go get really okay. If you go in with you

(01:34:21):
what if you're going to be a lifeguard with three
piece suit on, They're gonna be like, uh, it's not
it's not the one. But you understand what just Sometimes
sometimes people think the wrong thing and you have something
to do with that. If someone thought, hey, Evan McPherson,
not locked in, not ready, not focused, not a team guy,

(01:34:42):
I think all of those things are untrue. But if
anybody thinks that, he's got a role in them thinking that,
flip flops and tantop. Okay, we got out quarterbacks in
the news. We gotta get to the QBS right around
the corner. By the way, I do want to room
find you hiring heating up. Indeed's hiring platform makes it

(01:35:03):
easy to attract, screen and interview candidates all in one place.
Sponsor a post and instantly receive a shortlist of quality
candidates on Indeed whose resumes match your job description. Visit
indeed dot com slash credit all right, coming up next,
two quarterbacks. One argument that might not make sense to you,

(01:35:26):
but I personally think there's something to it. We'll dive in.
I'm Brian No Easy from salam This is Fox Sports Radio.
I'm Brian No he'sy from Salam here on Fox Sports Radio.
So one of the hot topics this week Kenny Pickett
the pit quarterback and its tiny hands. It's got small hands,

(01:35:49):
eight and a half inch hands. That would be the
smallest hand size of any starting quarterback in the NFL.
And I'm curious where you stand on this one, big man.
If you think this is uh, it's the big deal,
it's a non issue? Is somewhere in between? What do
you think about that? Well, you gotta be able to
secure the ball, so it is a big deal. And

(01:36:11):
you've got to think about inclement weather. Do you draft
somebody if you're playing in a place where it does
get wet, it does get slipper you are outside. All
of that matters when that defensive end comes around and
he swipes it dead arm, is that ball gonna pop up?
These are real things that happen. And you know Ben
Roethlisberger very rarely lost fumbles because he had big mitts. Right,

(01:36:36):
It's like, can you it's ball. It's all about ball security.
Now you can overcome that by being extra vigilant with
the ball. But in you know measurables matter. They're not everything,
but they matter. Yeah, that's I don't know why we
deal in extremes. It seems like that more and more,
where either something is a huge deal, maybe the biggest

(01:36:58):
deal arguably ever, or it's a non issue whatsoever, And
why are we wasting our time talking about this? I
think the hand size is somewhere in between. Like, you
can't tell me it's a non issue. He's got the smallest,
he's got tiny hands. And yeah, it might be raining
a game or two or fifty in his NFL career,

(01:37:18):
you know, it couldn't matter. It could be snowing sideways. Like, yeah,
ball security is a big deal. So to make this
out to be a non issue, I think is silly.
I think it's also silly to make it the biggest deal. Ever.
I think it's somewhere in between. I don't know why
we seem to have a problem with just dealing with
the middle ground. A lot of times that's the most

(01:37:39):
sensible area to be in. I think this storyline is
just that it's somewhere in the middle. Yeah it is.
And you know, the forty and everything, the vertical, the
broad jump, those things aren't everything, but they matter. Now.
He can overcome that if he's you know, when they

(01:38:00):
when they throw, he's you know, accurate all of those things.
That's that's everything, right, Like, what do you do to
overcome your weaknesses? Are your shortcomings? Right? He's not the fastest,
but from his sideline, the sideline, his agility is off

(01:38:23):
the charts. Or Tom Brady right, he wasn't really, he
wasn't there anything. He wasn't a athlete at all. He
made up for it. He could throw the hell out
of the body looked like it was just made of
meat and hairy, sort of like like silly putty or something.

(01:38:43):
I don't know, silly putty body. But yeah, he made
up And remember Mr Bill, I don't Oh no, the
little clay dog. Mr Bill, I don't remember, Mr Bill.
I'm sorry. He's always getting smashed at the end of
the episode. That's Tom Rady. But like to your point,

(01:39:04):
how do you make up for smaller hands. Kenny Pickett
was throwing at the combine with a glove on right,
he had gloves. Maybe that's the way he does it,
but I think there are going to be certain times
w it's gonna be very, very difficult to make up
for your shortcomings. Jared Goff is a guy who has
small hands and he's had problems going back to his

(01:39:25):
days in col there was some bad weather games and
he's fumbling the ball all over the place. You had
Kenny Pickett, whether he's wearing gloves or not, he fumbled
twenty six times in college and lost twelve of those fumbles. Like,
that's a decent amount of fumbling in college. Yeah, that's
that's a problem. And you know, whether he sees it

(01:39:46):
as a problem or not, it is. Ball security is
everything at the quarterback position, and if you have small hands,
you have to be hyper vigi of it. You have
to make sure you took that ball, you have to
make sure you have a grip on it. If not,

(01:40:09):
you know, that negative becomes a big deal. Yeah. We
talked about that a lot with Daniel Jones, the Giants
quarterback has had a lot of fumbling issues. Brady Quinn
made a great point I was doing the show with
him years ago where we talk about interceptions all the
time and it's obviously a big deal, and we casually
talk about quarterbacks who fumble, and he's like, a turnover

(01:40:32):
is a turnover? Man, Like, you gotta protect the ball.
And granted, if the left tackle doesn't block his guy
at all and the defensive and just has a free
path to the quarterback, Yeah, it's gonna be really difficult
at times. But there are plenty of times where quarterbacks
fumble they shouldn't have. It was more their fault than anybody's,
and we just kind of shrug our shoulders about that.

(01:40:54):
We shouldn't do that at all. It turnovers a turnover. Yeah,
that was a big thing with Jameis Winston were not
only were they had the interceptions, but he's also turning
the ball over. Yeah that matters, you know, That's why
that's why we're blessed when you talk about turnovers. That's
something we don't have to worry about ball security check turnovers,

(01:41:19):
not even a worry, no dead air check. That's right,
because we have a man, what did you call it,
hyper vigilant. Hyper vigilant. That is a great description of
our friend of America, Mr Steve de Seger. I have
an example, gentleman, of a turnover that I came across
in a news story that you know in the sports

(01:41:40):
world as well as outside the sports world. A lot
of support in many ways for Ukraine these days, including
college football announcer Chris Fowler last night tweeting a photo
that he saw of a bridge in Memphis lit up
in Ukraine's colors, the yellow and blue. Desmond Howard saw
the tweet from the University of Michigan and tweeted in response,

(01:42:01):
go blue. I'm not kidding. It has since been deleted.
Needless to say, there have been a fair amount of
reactions to that. Everything from this is idiotic, even by
Desmond Howard standards to read the room dude. In the NHL.
At the game at San Jose before tonight's contest, for example,

(01:42:22):
they played the Ukrainian national anthem, although Desmond's probably mistook
it for some European version of the Michigan fight song.
But nonetheless it was an odd, odd story that would
be in football terms. I believe a fumble for Desmond
Howard to the end be a scoreboard because we've got
the Lakers at home and trailing the Golden State Warriors
fifty forty four with about four minutes to go in

(01:42:43):
the first half Lebron James nineteen points. Meanwhile, the top
two in the Easter battling tonight at Miami. Third quarter
the heat up fifty eight fifty three over Philadelphia. Joel
emb just three of twelve, shooting twelve points, ten rebounds,
but his team is only down five. Minnesota leads Portland's
in the third seventy seventy one, and the Grizzlies are

(01:43:05):
up big on Orlando in the third eight five sixty two. Earlier,
Charlotte and Dallas got home victories, and for Dallas that
was without Luka don Sitch out with a sprain toe
on thirteen over Sacramento Spencer Dinwitty with thirty six points.
Baseball's labor negotiations resumed tomorrow. NASCAR is in Las Vegas
tomorrow on Fox TV. The Exfinity Race was tonight on

(01:43:27):
FS one one by Ty Gibbs, age nineteen, grandson of
Joe Gibbs. And in college basketball, yes, North Carolina one
at rival Duke, which was ranked fourth in the country
this week. In fact, North Carolina was down by nine
points late first staff still won the game eight one.
In coach K's final home game after forty two seasons.
Would have been a nice little paid day in game

(01:43:49):
money line, North Carolina trailing by nine, Steve, So we
might be at length and what you discussed earlier, but
thinking that way, apparently that just I's like breathing to you. Yeah,
there's no other way to think about sports at all
with you. Six rank Kansas and overtime beat Texas. Eight
rank Produce edged Indiana by to Oklahoma State upset number

(01:44:11):
twelve Texas. And we do have some conference tournaments going on.
In fact, the conference final tonight in the Ohio Valley,
number twenty two ranked Murray State is trailing thirty six
thirty four to Morehead State early in the second half.
This is a Murray State team that's not only ranked,
they went eighteen and oh in conference in the regular season.
Back to you, Thank you, Steve, Brian no Andy from

(01:44:33):
salam with you here on Fox Sports Radio. So some
people are looking at the Packers organization sideways, big Man,
because they don't think they're laying down the law with
one Aaron Rodgers, which I think would be idiotic. Now,
a couple of the comments during the combine this week
raised a couple of vibrows. This is goody right our guy,

(01:44:55):
the Packers GM, Brian Gudakunst. He was talking about hoping
to have a decity. Hudn't buy Rodgers. Check this out,
I would hope. So, yeah, I think that's some Obviously,
um started the new league year. There's a lot of
decisions that have to be made before that, so I
would be that would be helpful, But you know, I
would I would think we would know something before then. Okay,
so he's got figures crossed. Hopefully we know something by

(01:45:15):
March six. Kind of have roster decisions to to make
over here, so hopefully that works out. Now you also
have the Packers head coach Matt Lafleur weighing in on
Aaron Rodgers process of figuring out who he wants to
play for next season. Check this out. You always want
to be respectful because I know it's a lot to
take on, and he's got a lot to think about,
and certainly I'm making sure that I consistently communicate with him.

(01:45:39):
Also want to be respectful of his time and the
process that he has to go through. Okay, so people
think this sounds weak, big man, I think it does too,
But it's needed because he's you know, he has the
responses of a child. Right Whenever you feel, oh, you know,

(01:46:00):
you never know what what's gonna happen. I think it's
I think it's just like something you say. He's yeah,
he's gonna hold the grudge, he's gonna get petty. The
last you should do is say, we need to know
right now, jackass, what's it gonna be like? He's not
gonna respond to that. I think it's like coaching. There

(01:46:20):
are some players where you can dog cuss them and
they're gonna respond to that favorably. Right, They're gonna be heated,
they're gonna be locked in. There are other players they
go into a shell. You gotta know which buttons to push,
and Aaron Rodgers, he's not gonna respond to that bad
cop type stuff. It's not to be the worst approach
you could take. No, he's not but I would just

(01:46:45):
be like, look, man, we gotta make a decision. We
need to know what's going on. M I mean free
agency starts next week. Yeah, well it's got to be soon, right,
I've got the new league year beginning March sixt so
possibly this next week you think we hear something from

(01:47:06):
Aaron Rodgers by I don't know, Thursday Friday where he's
gonna play next? You don't think so? Okay, If March
sixteenth is the beginning of the new league year, what's
the date you think we hear something from Aaron Rodgers.
He's either committing to the Packers or he's right before. Yeah,

(01:47:29):
the legal tampering period is just before the sixteen, so
I think you need to know even before that. Yeah,
you would like to Yeah, man, this sounds like the
makings of a Candy bar Bett. Too too bad, Too bad,
It's not gonna work out now. This is also is

(01:47:51):
from Ian Rappaport. During the combine he was talking about
potential landing spots for Aaron Rodgers. He said that he
is truly torn. That was the catch phrase, truly torn,
like truly torn about whether to return to the Packers
or go elsewhere, and so the question then became, well,
if it's not the Packers, who might it be. Here's

(01:48:12):
what Rappaport had to say. Ever since the Aaron Rodgers
rumors started, UH, the Denver Broncos has always been the
potential trade location. I'm not saying anything is happening there
right now. Didn't seem like the Uh, it doesn't seem
like the Packers have entertained any trade thoughts at all.
But in Roger's mind, if he was not in Green Bay,

(01:48:32):
it seems that would be the other spot he'd want
to be. I'm rooting against the Broncos, big man. I
was gonna be honest. I hate that they were passive.
I hate that they played it safe last year. They
could have drafted justin fields. They could have drafted Mac Jones.
Both quarterbacks are better prospects than anybody in this season's draft,
but they played it safe. They're like, let's go with

(01:48:54):
Teddy Bridgewater and I would hate for them to somehow
find themselves us with Aaron Rodgers saying I want to
be in Denver. I don't want them to profit off
of being weak scared Pansy's last year. I want them
to pay the price for that. You can call me
petty or what. I don't. That's that's the truth. The

(01:49:17):
former Bronco I hope they get the quarterback they need.
I don't I want aggressive teams that take bold risks
two get glory. You know, I don't want these That
sounds a little risky. We've been burned before picking the
wrong quarterback like now week. I don't want them to

(01:49:37):
somehow find themselves with Aaron Rodgers. I don't want it
to ap petty. Hey, I'm I'm proud being petty on
this man. I hated borderline hating. Hey, is this the truth?
It's the truth. But you you might not agree with that,
but I think that you're a long a similar mindset.

(01:50:01):
I like. I'm not a Chiefs fan. I love that
the Chiefs were bold. They could have played it safe
and said, we've got Alex Smith, he's serviceable, we're winning
a bunch of games. They said, no, let's trade up,
let's take a swing at Patrick Mahomes, and it paid
off beautifully. I love that. Yeah, I like teams that

(01:50:21):
take risks getting rewarded, and the week Broncos over here,
I don't want to see them get rewarded. I don't.
I want to see Aaron Rodgers stay put or if
he goes elsewhere, just not in Denver. And I want
them to have a sucky quarterback situation for and I'll

(01:50:41):
change my stance when they finally do get aggressive. Until then,
anti Broncos That's where I'm at. Yeah, out here, that's
the absolute truth. You just want to go against me.
There's just something I like the Bronco. Man had a
great time there. I love the fans great. Well. You

(01:51:03):
should be on board with me. You want to see
them be aggressive and do what it takes to put
themselves in a position to win. They got an opportunity
to get uh you know, big time quarterback. That'd be
great for the NFL. Hey, by the way, you've been
watching having Aaron Rodgers in in Patrick Mahomes in the
same division. Yeah, that would be pretty good with Justin Herbert.

(01:51:27):
Are you kidding me? Yeah, But it'd be good for
the Broncos. So I'm against it. I'm dead set against it.
You can be watching Winning Time on HBO the Lakers.
I can't wait. Yeah, that's about the only thing Laker
I want to watch. Man. I can't wait. Bro play
some defense. It's terrible state at sixty seven points and

(01:51:50):
we've got about a minute left in the second quarter.
This is what I'm talking about, man, Like it's like,
it's very difficult to watch. Yeah, not good, not good
at all. They play well in the first quarter. What
did I say? Second quarters they've given up forty two

(01:52:11):
and a quarter. So what I'm talking about, man, it's
just it's ridiculous. It is. It's pathetic. And this is
a Warrior's team that hasn't been playing good basketball lately.
Be one thing. If they were just scorching hot. They've
lost six of eight and they're giving him the business today.

(01:52:32):
You know, gotta do better, Gotta do better. All right,
we'll close it down in style. Got a handful of
audio cuts that I think are pretty interesting. We'll throw
him at you. I'm Brian no Easy from salam This
is Fox Sports Radio, Brian no He's from Salam here

(01:53:00):
on Fox Sports Radio. So the Lakers rock bottom would
be eleventh place, right, no chance for the play and
got it right now we actually have the Blazers are
knotted up with the Timberwolves a piece. And the only
reason I bring that up is because of the standings

(01:53:22):
big man like you could have. If that held up,
you would have the Blazers gain a game on the Lakers.
If the Blazers win, Lakers lose. So if that were
to happen, the Lakers would be a step closer to
eleventh place, yet closer and closer to Room. It's insane.

(01:53:45):
What's going on here? I'm telling you, I thought the
Lakers have hit rock bottom six different times this season,
and they're like, no, no, no, there's more. It gets
deeper and tonight they're not out of it. What are
they down by five? They made a little push before halftime,
but giving up sixty seven points and a half, they're
gonna come out the second half and you know, be

(01:54:07):
the Lakers that we've seen and we've grown to know
this year. The crazy thing is they're not gonna go
oh for the rest of the season. They're gonna win
some games. But maybe they're trying to get into the lottery.
I don't know. I don't know what's going on, man,
it seems like crazy. What's going on here? Hey, if
cold calling, if cold candidate calls aren't turning into hot

(01:54:30):
hiring leads, then you need indeed because indeed's powerful hiring
platform makes it easy to attract, screen and interview candidates
all from one place. Find your next great higher visiting
indeed dot com slash credit. Okay, I'm gonna throw some
audio at you here, big man. Curious what you think
about this? John Lynch the forty Niners GM, he was

(01:54:51):
a guest on Good Morning Football. Here's what he had
to say about their current quarterback, Tray Lance. Check this out.
I think he's just got that makeup. That's the great ones.
We can only hope he can be Patrick Mahomes or
anything close to that, and uh, you know he's gonna
get his chance to go show that. Okay, now, is
it just me? I can understand fully why San Francisco

(01:55:12):
hopes and praise that Tray Lance turns into Patrick Mahomes
for obvious reasons, But to throw that out publicly, you know,
when this dude started two games, they're entertaining thoughts of
maybe bringing Jimmy g back because he's not further further
along in his development, Trey Lance, right, Like, do you
think it might make more sense to just not throw

(01:55:34):
out mahomes name? This dude is just trying to get
because the NFL, Because you want him to aspire to that. Okay,
you're good with it. I had vibes of I know
you remember this as a Laker fan. Remember when a
Lonzo Ball was drafted and Magic said, see all those
retired numbers. That's where you're gonna be like, wait, this

(01:56:00):
is this is different because he still has time to grow. Right,
Alonzo was through into the fire and it was too
hot for he was He's not his brother. His brother
loved relishes those moments. Lamello. He's been sensational. He's an
All Stars that means unbelievable. So you know, he he

(01:56:23):
he just you know, it took some time. It took
some time. He's playing extremely well for the Bulls. Now
when he's healthy. I'll tell you what we have, all
this um speculation of which quarterbacks gonna go? Where is
Aaron Rodgers going here? What about Deshaun Watson? All that stuff,
and that's interesting, But Tray Lance, I think he's one

(01:56:44):
of the more interesting quarterbacks in two Is he the starter?
How good is he? It wasn't that long ago. I
thought these arguments were silly at the time. I think
they're sillier now. You heard many people saying, hey, when
Tray Lance takes over for Jimmy ge it'll unlock the
full potential of Kyle Shanahan's playbook, right, Like a lot

(01:57:07):
of people thought that, and that's not the way it
played out in year one. We'll see what happens year two. Yeah,
I'm looking forward to it. Um just having a uh
uber uh athletic and talented quarterback in that offense man, Yeah,
I mean yeah, if if he's got the passing stuff

(01:57:28):
down right, that's a whole bear. But yeah, if he's
a good passer mixed with that athleticism, yeah, you can
see why the Niners were captivated by the guy. But
you gotta make huge strides in the passing game. Now.
How about this Cliff Kingsbury, the Arizona Cardinals head coach.
He was on the Pat McAfee show and he he

(01:57:49):
talked about potentially going back to college. Gave an interesting answer.
Check this out. I tell everybody, and I'm not just
making this up. I would do anything before I went
back to that, like I would do any job. Yeah,
it's full time now with the social media and you're
either tweeting, calling, face timing, and there's like this constant
anxiety because if you're not doing it, the university down

(01:58:09):
the street is, you know, and it just never goes away.
So this part, when you're done with the football, you're done,
you go live your life college it just never goes away. Wow. Right,
it's interesting to hear him say that because you hear
this of there's more job security in college. You can
have the top recruiting class each year in college. Certainly

(01:58:30):
can't do that in the NFL if you're coming off
a successful season. Right, So you typically hear the positives
talked about more than the negatives of being a college coach,
but Cliff Kingsbury sees it a lot differently. Yeah, it's
too much now, you know you have to you know, pacify,
you have to engage. It's just crazy man. Yeah, extended

(01:58:54):
through Cliffs in locked in man, Kyler Murray is gonna
be their quarterback or nine. We don't know, we'll find out. Good,
good show man, good hanging with you, big man. Good
luck to your Lakers if they don't get it done.
Nine games under five hundred

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