March 3, 2023 • 36 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon discuss the Lakers team that is without LeBron James, and why most people are wrong about their opinions on a post LeBron playoff push and Mike McCarthy's recent comments where he blasted former Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore, and what he will do with the Offense going forward!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Carmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
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(00:21):
This is the best of the Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmen on Fox Sports Radio. Greetings and welcome inside
The Jason Smith Show with my bass friend Mike Harmon
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(00:41):
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Mike Harman in the vein of that open how well
we have been doing predicting the future the last few
years here on the show. You're welcome to everybody else.
I have another big prediction for you now that I
know is going to come true. You're ready, nicely, don't
(01:03):
you like this? That's the way you start a show.
That's what I call a bleak and show. Let's go now.
I want to watch from dust till dawn. It'll be on.
Give it a give it enough time? What do you got?
Football fans are very upset about the officiating. No one
likes the officiating in the NFL. No one. How are
we going to fix this problem? How are we going
(01:25):
to fix all these bad calls? What are we going
to do? I'll tell you right now, bold prediction. After today,
officiating in the NFL will be immensely better next season.
I already know the answer. Ask me how? Uh? Please
tell me? How? How could I subscribe to your newsletter?
(01:46):
Because today Jerome Boger retired. Oh whoa, you can't despair it.
Actually no, we talked a lot about him officiating as
soon as he as soon as he even tired, there
was there was bringing up people are ready with the
worst Jerome Boger calls. No, I look, we knew what
was happening. But then it's it's like anything you get
(02:07):
the official notice, right, we know JJ Watts retiring. But
then we had the laugh when he got the hey,
you know report for drug tests and he's like, I'm done,
you know, Brady sending in his paperwork all of those things.
This one we knew what was happening, but until you
saw the list put out with including Walt Coleman, you
just didn't believe it. I'll tell you Jerome Boger at
(02:30):
nineteen years as an official, year in and year out,
the crew that throws the most flags of any crew.
Sometimes he gets eclipsed at number one, but the last
like ten years, he's been like one of the top
two or three crews all the time. So immediately there's
going to be less flags being better officiating. Hate to
break it to you, but he's a semi retiring. He
(02:53):
semi retired. Yeah, he's gonna only call the backfield the
Jets games and throw every flag at Sauce for holding. Yeah.
I mean, we know last year the guy that was
the head official at the Super Bowl, Carl Cheffers. Yeah,
well I'm in Look, they averaged his crew averaged over
one penalty more per game called than Sean Hockeyley and
(03:15):
we know he was doing it, so he can, you know,
get the full on flex like the old man. Um
Boger was barely top ten this year. Yeah, no, heat, Well,
he was off the pace by over three penalties per game.
Clearly he was done. He was like, this is my
last year. I don't care anymore. I'm retiring after this.
I'm done. I don't I don't really care about throwing
(03:36):
flags as much as I'll still throw a bunch of them,
but I don't care like I used to. So I'm
just gonna bay. I'm done. I'm finished. But he did
do like no load management. Some of the other guys
only officiated, say fifteen games, I don't know full seventeen
for for Boger. But here's the thing. I can't disparage
him too much. I'm trying to get a now that
he's retired, a jersey from my wall. Okay, I have
(03:57):
the wall of mean that I'm gonna work on with
all my favorite offensive tackles. And then I wanted Jerome Boger.
Oh nice? What do you see when I think this?
And you mentioned Carl Cheffers, And I think, you know,
when when the what's the line that the Montreal Canadians
have when when when one captain, like they say to you,
(04:17):
from failing hands, we passed the torch, like you know,
we've had our time. We can't do it now. The
next generation. You are carrying the torch for the franchise, Like,
do you think that happened? Like Jerome Boger actually handed
a torch to Carl Cheffers and said, here, I can't
do it anymore. Man, this is all you. You be
the guy. Now, you be the guy. Everybody hates you.
Keep throwing those flags the Super Bowl, man, keep doing it,
and everybody loves you. Somebody's got to be the big bad, right.
(04:39):
You always need a good villain. And with film, series,
television show, certainly in sports at and each level, we
try to create a villain. Sometimes, well we don't. We
just had. He's the least likable of these guys. Officials
get to do that. And you you were right there
with the quote to you from failing hands, we throw
the torch, be your to hold it high. That's it,
(05:01):
Carl chef and set Karl Cheffers holds a penalty flag high.
That's good. Oh I got that. In the opposite do
you think you think Jerome Boger is gonna have like
a some kind of exhibit at the Pro Football Hall
of Fame where you press a button and you see
how far you can make him throw a flag like, Oh,
can I press a button? I threw it? Oh, I
threw that flag fifteen yard? Either that flag eight yards?
(05:23):
Gonna gotta press a button a little bit better, press
a little bit better. Yes, I want to see. I
wonder if that will happen. You know, it seems like
we could do that as a new game, because we
always laugh at coaches trying to throw their challenge flags
or whether they just drop it at their feet. Same
thing with the penalty flag. Just gotta be careful. You
don't want to do it around players because sometimes you
know it will find the way into the grade of
(05:43):
a face mask. It's not good for business. Hey, farewell,
Jerome Boger, and godspeed in your retirement. You were really
something to talk about for the last few years. He
gave us a good run. There is the point where
when you're on the job as long as he has
you know, the legs don't get you to the spot.
You need to be right to be able to really
(06:04):
adjudicate properly. That's just the way it is. We've talked
about this ad nauseum for our duration. Here. At the
end of your first year, discover credit cards automatically double
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yourself at discovered dot com slash match. So while we
will spend tonight in retrospect on some of Jerome Boger's
(06:26):
greatest calls, which I'm sure we'll play back for you
zero of them. Well, I mean great calls, I mean
famous calls, like calls it really screwed some teams. We got,
we got. We gotta playback some big ones. I mean
we got, I mean we got. We got to dedicate
the show to Jerome Boger tonight. But you said that
would be a first. We dedicated it. You said you
were looking for a villain, Mike Harmon, and I have
(06:49):
found a big villain. Today, reports came out from the
NFL Combine that the Carolina Panthers have called the Packers
to inquire about trading for Aaron Rodgers. Now, this report
has been met with uh, some dubious, some resistance from
(07:10):
from the Panthers a little bit, which means it's true.
It means let's a little bit to keep it in
line with I mean, you're watching it the Mandalorian and yeah,
the resistance and everything else. Yeah, which is the best
pilot and resistance po PO damn uh so Lake Minnetonka.
This is now the team that has become the villain
in the NFL because they're gonna screw it up for
(07:32):
so many people, because they're gonna go now, they're gonna
insert themselves into this quarterbackness. And now Aaron Rodgers has
another place to potentially go, and Derek Carr has another
place potentially go, and they're gonna wind up screw in
the Jets or the Raiders because now they want to
get involved, right because now they got they have a
newish owner and today look, David Tepper said some wonderful
(07:54):
things about Jerry Richardson, former Panthers owner who passed away.
When you have a new owner, he wants to make
his mark. And you just watch the last year plus
where Sam Donald's our guy. No, Matt Rule is our guy. No,
but he's a quarterback head coach, doesn't matter. He's out.
Baker Mayfield's our guy. No, he's not. We're back to
Sam Donald. He's not our guy. They have two things
that should scare Everybody's why they're the villain, because now
(08:15):
they're screwing it up for everybody else. We thought, okay,
this is pretty good. Aaron Rodgers is deciding if he
wants to be traded, if he wants to go to
the Jets. If not, the Jets will pivot to Derek
Carr or somewhow wine up with Geno Smith and everybody's
everybody's got their place. Now everybody's coming. Now there, you're
coming the Panthers, because they're the two things that make
everybody scared. They are desperate and they are itchy. They
are desperate to make a move to get a quarterback.
(08:36):
They're sweating and they are itchy. They're itching to pull
the trigger on something to go get a quarterback. And
they're gonna be the team that screws it up and
said here's here's all kinds of guaranteed money for somebody
or someone else. Now they're the villain because now they're
the team involved. When we thought we knew was going on,
everybody's good. Look you said you need a quarterback, and
now the Panthers like, hey, we'll call for Aaron Rodgers.
(08:57):
Now this is gonna screw everything up. They're the villains. Well,
we knew they were in the mix, but the fact
that they could screw up all your plans. I don't
know that they screw up mine. So I worry about
you and you know how you navigate the coming weeks
of free agency and all. But but Tepper makes for
a pretty good villain. He does because he is brash.
(09:21):
He is a guy that is very much a I
don't like this now pivot kind of guy, as he
did with Matt Rule to your point, with the quarterbacks,
no next one? Hey called down there, tell him to
put the next guy in. And if Matt Carroll would
have been an available and healthy he would have quarterback
to a couple of games too. Just what's behind the
(09:41):
next door is seemingly how they wanted to operate. So yeah,
it would make perfect sense that they're at least trying
to figure out what the market is now. Might they
have to pay a premium? Maybe you got Marshall, you
got d J. Moore. I always want to say DJ
Moore like I'm Pat Summerroll. I don't know why that's okay,
(10:04):
Certain things sound good coming out of Patroll's more sure
it would be one that would he would gravitate to.
And then you have Tremble and Thomas we'll see what
happens there at the tight end position. And Dante Foreman
had himself a fine year. And defensively you're pretty strong, right.
That's the one appeal to the teams in the uh
(10:24):
NFC South is they all have pretty good defenses when healthy.
The offense is you got a question how much you
like whether the guy teams long in the tooth or
or whether these young guys more Marshall Chenault Junior gets
you excitable. But it's now what what's the price of
poker to play? And a guy like Tepper certainly elevates
(10:47):
the stakes as it were. I still think you either
end up with Derek Carr or he becomes a Carolina panther.
If I were to uh to etch those in. I
still think Rogers is a packer dud. Dude, listen, let
let me tell you, Let me let me tell you.
You're trying to voice Derek Carr on me. And you've
been trying to do this for a long time. Yeah,
Carson went, and I've told you none. No, listen, you guys,
(11:07):
you guys, I have already come to the fact, and
I have come to grips and I've accepted say that
the Jets are going to get Geno Smith. Saw what's
going on outer back at five. That's what's gonna happen.
Then unbelievable circumstance by which they pick fifth. Yeah, and
it's it's that's what's going to happen. I mean that,
that's that's the typical, perfect peak totally Jets is to
(11:31):
get Gino Smith back years after. Of course they had
to let him go because he stunk. It's perfect. Now
we get him back a decade later, and we got
to give him forty million dollars a year. That's peak Jets. Man,
I've already come to the mike. I've already accepted that. Man.
You think you can get to me with your crazy
Derek Carr crap and Carson Wentz, forget it, man, We're
getting Genos. I understand this. This is how it's going
(11:54):
to work, because that's peak Jets, and somehow they're gonna
get They're gonna wind up with Gino Smith and Jamal
Adams back. It's gonna be the same kind of dla Gino.
We're gonna find a way to get Jamal Adams out
of here too, And that's what's gonna happen. We're gonna
wind up with exactly that. Now the Jamal Adams is
a new wrinkle to it, but I've already accepted Gino Smith.
It's you really kind of added a one that'll get
(12:16):
Get that and put that on Twitter. See how that
gets a response from my heart happens the second he
becomes a Jet again, turns into well, that's really the
larger thing was were the years away enough to learn?
And he race bad habits and misgivings and the feelings
(12:36):
of getting punched in the face. I'll go instantly straight
back to Gino Tani. How many how many Jets fans?
I still have that Geno Smith jersey kicking around? So
I remember I got that ten years ago. I thought, Wait,
when did I sell that in the yard sale? No?
Nobody would buy it. No, no, so I still haven't time.
I'm gonna I think it's in the garage. I'm gonna
go find that. Oh yeah, there. You know. At the
(13:01):
end of your first year, Discover credit cards automatically double
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make no mistake, the Panthers are the villain in this.
They're gonna screw it up for everybody by going after
quarterback again. Desperate and itchy. You're looking for a villain,
I give you the Carolina Panthers. Those are the greatest
(13:22):
terms ever to describe a team, desperate and itchy. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. I
have always been I would I would say a little
bit more as am I pro Mike McCarthy. I am
(13:44):
less anti Mike McCarthy than most people were up until
now because now I'm out on him after what he
said in the last few hours regarding the Dallas Cowboys
going on moving on next season. You can you can
blame him for all you want with the Cowboys, but
McCarthy's a guy that's been in the playoffs a few
times now, won a playoff game last year. Look, Dak
(14:07):
Prescott is not a great quarterback, all right, and McCarthy
has done a pretty decent job with keeping things together
in Dallas, which is a tough place to keep things
together in. You know, Dallas is forever doom because of
the way the team is run, with the decisions that
are made by Jerry Jones. You're nobody's gonna have enough
talent to win nine or ten games. That's kind of
where you are. Maybe you'll win a playoff game, maybe
(14:28):
you won't, but that's what it is. Now. This year
they showed that they were closer than you expected because
a couple of bad Dak Prescott plays and maybe they're
moving on in the playoffs. So to blame Mike McCarthy
for so many things, it's just like we're looking for
somebody to blame. Let's play. No McCarthy's been able to achieve.
But now the last twenty four hours after I've seen
him talk talk about Kellen Moore, former offensive coordinator, I'm
(14:50):
out on the guy right now. He made some headlines
in the last day or so from the NFL combine
talking about former o C Kellen Moore and his role
with a team, and some of it was a little incendiary,
like boy, he's lighting Kellen Moore up on his way
out the door. But it wasn't so much about what
he said about Kellen Moore, but what he said going
(15:10):
forward that really has me saying, I'm out on Mike
McCarthy quote. I've been where Kellen has been. Kellen wants
to light the scoreboard up. But I want to run
the damn ball so I can rest my defense. This
is Mike McCarthy. I want to run the damn ball
so I can rest my defense because he's got all
the numbers from the last couple of years to prove it.
(15:34):
Let me just look at our run totals the last
three years. You know, we're We're a different offense in
twenty two and we were in twenty twenty. And that
was part of the evolution baying more balanced, more complimentary football.
Um not as wide open in a dropback just drop
back passing and Norman down dic you know you look
at all those things. So but I'm really looking forward
(15:55):
to the critique from you of how different it is.
So very guy. This is why I'm out on him,
because now, Mike McCarthy, this is how I want to
run the team. I want to run the football and
rest my defense. If Mike McCarthy was coaching in the
nineteen eighties or the early nineteen nineties, I would say, yeah, great,
(16:15):
this is not where the NFL is headed. Now, this
is not where the NFL is going. And there are
still teams that are under that mistake and assumption that
we can run the football, play great defense and win
the Super Bowl. You can do that. It will get you,
but it will only get you so far. Because how
do you win in the NFL? Now, you win with
great quarterbacks, You win by you win by lighting up
the scoreboard. Did the Chiefs win by running the football
(16:37):
a ton all the way the regular season into the playoff? No?
They want it because Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes. Did
the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl by running
the football as much as they did? Know they made
it because Jalen Hurtz is a huge playmaker at quarterback.
You don't win by taking responsibility away from your quarterback
and putting it on your running backs. You can't do it.
(16:57):
You can't ultimately win that way. And for a team
to has shown, hey, we're pretty good and we want
to get to the next level, how is that going
to happen? Either he fell into the trap with Cooper
Rush last year, or I'm going overboard with saying Dak
Prescott is not as good as we thought he was.
But this is why I'm out on Mike McCarthy now,
because that's not how you win. No team wins that
(17:18):
way in That's why it makes me worried about the Jets.
They want to go out and just get a guy
who can hand the ball off out We got Breeze
Hall about look what happened when Breeze Hall got hurt. Hey,
we had no quarterback to throw the football. That's why
I'm glad they're in on Aaron Rodgers because they're showing
they know we need to throw the football. But are
they really gonna settle get him or are they gonna
settle for somebody else? And Hey, to just be someone
who's the head of the snake here, it's very difficult.
(17:39):
It's difficult to win that way when you are not
absolutely loaded everywhere else with the football. The forty nine
ers are the one team you could say, boy they
got a great defense, and boy they got great playmakers
and great wide receivers and great tight ends and great
running backs. That's the one team that's loaded absolutely everywhere where.
You could say, maybe we can win with a brock
Party or a Trey Lance, but everybody else doesn't work
(17:59):
that way. Now you're going into the season saying I
want to run the football, rest my defense. Hey guess what.
So many teams in the NFL are going. Oh man,
now it's become a lot easier to beat the Cowboys.
Mike McCarthy is not coaching in twenty twenty three where
the NFL is in twenty twenty three. He's coaching like
it was years ago. I want to limit mistakes and
my quarterback can't do it, and so now I want
to run the football and rest my defense. How's that
(18:20):
going to work. That's not going to work. And this
is why I'm out on McCarthy. You have to figure
out a way to fix Dak Prescott. Limiting Dak Prescott
is not going to do it. But you figure out
a way, because you're the head coach to get Dak
Prescott to being as high level of quarterback as you
can be. We've seen glimpses that he can get there.
It's on you to make that work, not to take
away from Dak and say all right, now we're gonna
(18:40):
try to win this way. You're gonna win with Ezekiel
Elliott and Tony Poward who knows, and he's coming back.
Zell might not even be on the team. And he's
been disappointing the last couple of years since he got paid.
I don't see how this philosophy works. This is why
I'm out on Mike McCarthy. Now, yeah, it's great in
theory if you've got the run game, and it's turning
back the clock three or four years where Zeke was
(19:02):
at his peak and that offensive line was dominant with
anchored by Travis Frederick in the middle, and that ever
since he had to retire, and I hope he's well
that that offensive line hasn't been the same. You didn't
build your receiving corps to the level that you're you're
(19:22):
trying to talk to and and certainly if you're Mike
McCarthy and this was the well, we gave you the weapons,
we gave you everything. I didn't agree with how he
called it. And take some of the uh, the blame
away from me and a little bit away from Das
like no, no, no, Y'll wear it together in this process.
(19:42):
And Tony Pollard getting hurt as he did at the
end was monumental as a runner receiver. He was the
better option for them, as we talked about not only
last year, but the year before that. But McCarthy wanting
to harken back to an old time, not that those
guys don't have to have, you know, sizeable workloads. And
(20:04):
I understand in a large theoretical sense where he's going,
but nobody wins consistently relying on it gains of consequence.
I mean, look at Tennessee. I mean there's probably your
best example in recent history. Or you go to all
the Super Bowl winners and they put up all, right,
what was the contract of the leading rusher for the
(20:28):
Super Bowl winner? And they're all guys except for who
was it? Leonard Fournette? Right, he was the only guy
that was the outlier. Everybody else was under a million dollars.
So it's it's not built the same and nor do
you use running backs the same way. But this just
shows you're you're trying to cling to something and you're
trying to find a scapegoat. Guess what, he's out of town. Okay,
(20:52):
you got to talk about twenty three And if that's
what you want to do, then you're also telling me
without telling me you really don't trust the ball in
Dax's hands thirty five times a game, which is what
none of us did, or at least we did not
this show at any point. So now you've got to
go find wide receivers and you better be real active
in this marketplace. Look. Look, I understand how Dak was
(21:16):
was someone who really disappointed you because we talked about
the sea change that happened for the Cowboys after the
playoff game. Hey, a couple of really bad turnovers and
maybe the Cowboys could have won. Something changed with Dak's
standing in the organization and they're belief in him as
a quarterback after that game. And I understand that. I
get that, But what it needs to be because you
(21:36):
know you're locked into Dak for a while because you
decided to pay him. What it is is the sea changes.
You listen to us now and there's no choice, there's
no plan B, there's no no We are going to
do this and this is what you have to do
if you want to stay our quarterback. And you do
this this year or guess what next year, we're gonna
look to move on from. You're gonna try to find
a way to move on. But there was a report
yesterday and that they're talking extension. Now it's insane. It's
(22:00):
a well the saying you're not the guy right, but
by the X, extension might make him actually easier to
trade because you're you're you're. What you're doing is spreading
out the money and it's not gonna be hey, because
look they've seen what's happened with with Aaron Rodgers and
other quarterbacks in the last couple of years. Boy, look
at this huge balloon money that's do it's making it
impossible to trade him. But a contract extension because someone
(22:21):
will want Dak Prescott next year. Look a thirty year
old guy, that's one had been through the all the
big battles in Dallas. Hey, maybe he just needed a
little bit smaller spotlight now and he can win. Okay,
I'm in for Dak and maybe the next two or
three years it's more palatable. And if I want to
cut him and move on fro him, it's not as expensive.
So that's what this extension is going to do. It's
gonna make him. Ay, it'll make him easier to trade,
(22:41):
because that's kind of what they want. They need financial
flexibility because there's no way you saw what he did.
You're coming off that game saying we're extending him because
we believe in him as a quarterback. It's we need
to extend him to get out of some problems that
we have, so we can bring other guys in or
potentially move Dac if we have to. But if you're McCarthy,
this is where your work needs to be, not on
other parts of the not that we're gonna on the ball. No,
you gotta fix Dac and make him. He's the guy
(23:03):
you are, Dak driven make him better. You're the coach. Yeah.
I mean, I don't know how much the thumb injury
played into things, but certainly at the receiver position, you're
devoid of talent. You had Ceedee Lamb, you had Dalton Schultz,
and you had a big question mark thereafter. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific.
(23:26):
Tons of big NBA news to get to joining us
now on the Hotline Insider writer FRIENBA dot com Mark Medina.
You can follow him on Twitter at mark g Underscore Medina.
That's at mark g Underscore Medina. So Mark, maybe this
was all Russell Westbrook's followed the Lakers and now it's
gone to the Clippers. Look what's happening. I know, you
know what's amazing with the Lakers them making this trade
(23:49):
deadlineman with Jane whether Russell Westbrook not only today propel
themselves hiring to the standings, they basically threw a grenade
at the Clippers. It's astounding that the Clippers fell for
those It's it's almost like Home Alone two and Harry
and marr fell for the same tracks. It's unbelievable. Yeah,
but here's the thing. Know, Harry and Marv they were
(24:11):
mad at the kid. They wanted revenge, So I could
see where their decision making was a little bit blurred,
like they were mad at himself for the first movie. Yeah,
that's that's fair. And but what is fascinating though, is
that the Clippers, for the longest time, or not the
longest time, but leaning into the trade deadline, they were
very bullish that, look, we're not going to upset the
(24:33):
apple cart. We want continuity. We want to play some
of our young guys in the rotation, like Terrence Mann,
and we made these moves with game Bow and Thailand,
Eric Gordon, and we know Russ isn't good on defense,
and he's going to command a lot of minutes. And
then all of a sudden, the goalposts started. Movie Once
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George talked to it's like, okay, hey,
we'll entertain the idea as long as it's a limited
(24:55):
a role. But fast forward now like he's starting and
finishing games and it's the same nonsense that happened with
the Lakers. The results in els, and I think it's
very telling that not only is a stat line a
Russell Westbrook type stat line three or two from the field,
oh five, you know, from three four turnovers, but the
Warriors defense on him was playing no defense. Draymond was
(25:18):
just giving them open shots. It's just unbelievable. So to
that end, with Golden State, all of a sudden, up
at the five seed, steps slated to comeback Sunday. I
know we've talked about their depth a bunch over the
course of our visits. Mark. Are they a team that
could be dangerous though? If healthy? Yeah, I mean they
could be dangerous for the same reasons they were dangerous
(25:40):
last year. They still have Steph Curry and Clay Thompson,
Draymond Green, and they have championship equity. And you know,
I caught up with Jordan Poole when they're in town
in LA last week and he was, you know, counting
the company line that you know, even threw up all
the ups and downs. I have faith that we can
turn this around because of the experience. And on one hand,
you don't to discount that, But on the other hand,
(26:02):
I think there is a fool's errand to think of
this year was just be the equivalent of last year
or other years, because the reality is, unlike the dynasty
championship type seasons, the Warriors have been mediocre on defense,
they struggled winning on the road, and they weren't able
to really see much success with some of their young
(26:24):
guys after partying ways with some of their veterans during
the offseason. And so I did wonder, okay, or they're
going to get their act together. Now they clearly are
on the up and up, and I think that they'll
solidify themselves as a playoff team. But you know, the
ultimate question of can they be in the contention mix?
That might be a heavy ask only because you know,
(26:47):
guys like Jonathan Cominga. He showed some flashes tonight, but
he's also shown flashes of bloopers, right, Like, how much
can you trust on the young guys? And you know,
even the all star type of players, they've either been
unavailable like in Andrew Wiggins or inconsistent like at Clay Thompson.
But you know what, they are training the right direction,
(27:08):
Clay's playing well, Steph's about to come back, and so yeah,
you always discount the Warriors at your own peril. Yeah,
but here's the thing, though, I don't mean to pour
cold water on it, but did the NBA change the
rules or they could play every game at home? Because
if they've done that, I believe in that. But they're
gonna have to play games on the road and market.
They're gonna have to do that at some point in
the playoffs. Yeah, and you know, to the other point,
(27:30):
I was saying, they also have to be a good
defensive team, and so far they haven't been that way consistently.
I think Draymond, you know, I would say surprisingly has
played really well this season. I thought that maybe he
would have taken a dip because of just everything surrounding
the training camp paunch with Jordan Poole. But I think
that if anything, maybe that's lit a fire under him,
(27:52):
but it's also undermined him, you know, as a self
inflicted wound, because he doesn't have the same kind of
capital and weird capability to call guys out on defense.
And so, yeah, I'm with you, Like they're obviously training
the right direction. You don't never want to discount them.
But again, even through the ups and downs of even
last season, they're always a really good defensive team. They
(28:14):
always knew how to win on the road, and so
far they haven't shown that they can do that. Well,
I really thought Jason was gonna go in zagging in
different direction Mark by saying no, Yeah, by the way,
well it was either the Knicks or Owen. By the
way the Lakers are back. I could have gone from, Hey,
the Clippers about to be Owen for in the Westbrook era,
(28:35):
Nick's undefeated in the Josh Hart era. That way, you
know what I think that Josh Hart plug was is
very real. Like I'm not gonna say he's a franchise
player yet and they should retire as Jersey, but look
like he is a very good role player. What he
hustle team. He's close to jam and Brunson, Like, he
(28:58):
checks all the boxes of what you want as a
glue guy, Mark, I have seen people's MVP ballots right
now in the NBA, and it's Josh Hart, then Jalen Brunson,
then Julius Randall. I've seen ballots with that. Wow, Nicoleeokitch
is gonna finish fourth because of the next resurgens. Wow,
see the way that works out? Yeah, you know what,
(29:20):
I'm being dead serious here. I was on Colin cal
Hurt show earlier this week. I kid you not. We
were talking Nicks and not only their stellar play, but
he and I were actually saying, hey, if they match
up with Cleveland in a playoffs series, like I would
give the Knicks a chance. Like, I still think it's
Celtics and Box. So that's what's going to be in
East finals. But you know, we're talking about the next trajectory.
(29:43):
You know, I did backtrack a little and think, Okay,
I forgot that Donovan Mitchell has still a lot of
great depth around them, but I think they do have
a case to be able to beat them. Yeah, Nick's
Bucks Eastern Conference Finals. We're rolling through everybody while women yourself,
Nick's NBA Finals and well, you know, Joan, is this tough?
I remember? I want I want to I want to
keep one foot planet firmly as I leap for the
(30:04):
stars with the other one. Very very nice, you done,
NBA Writer, NBA dot Com. Weekly guests for us here,
Fox Sports Radiar, NBA Insider. It's Mark Medina with us
here at the Jason Smith Show with me, Mike Carmen
on Fox Sports Radio at Mark g Underscore Medina where
you find him on Twitter, Read him again, NBA dot Com.
(30:25):
Let's circle back to the Lakers, then Lebron James. Now
it's gonna be three weeks until reevaluation. Anthony Davis, despite
planned days off, had the opportunity yesterday to say I'm
gonna be that guy, not be sat out they want anyway.
But now Laker fans and we gotta get Frostburg kind
of calmed down over there, Mark Um as much as
(30:47):
I like it, and the schedules all finding good. What
do we say about Lebron James going forward? Well, I
think there's some silver lining things here, or not silver lining,
but like maybe a five or leaf that's now as
bad as it could be. You know, I was told
earlier in the week that Lebron James's right foot injury
it's not season ending, doctor's determent. He doesn't need to
(31:09):
have surgery. Now that three week timeline, that's the time
for when he's going to get reevaluated. So maybe he
even misses further. But I know that there is optimism
even though you know they're going to have to see
doctors afterwards, but there is optimism that after this absence
of three weeks, he can come back and he can
(31:29):
play through the pain. It's not going to be structural vulnerable.
But guys, just do the math here. They have nineteen
games left. Three week sideline means that he's out for
at least the next ten games. So the best chase
scenario is Lebron plays the Lakers' final nine games. They're
thirty and thirty three right now in eleventh place. What's
(31:50):
their record going to be without Lebron James. Look, they
can win without him, maybe on a short term basis,
like they did in Oklahoma City last night without Shake
Georges's Alexander. But you know, just knowing how NBA teams operate,
teams can win without a star player, maybe one or
two games because of adrenaline rush, but then kind of
(32:10):
the walls of nature come back to even things out,
and so yeah, I'm I don't have my hopes up,
but they're still in the thick of it. The West
is wide open. There's not a lot of separation from teams,
you know, three through twelve. So let's have at it.
Clippers keep losing. Yeah, Russell Westbrook, for one, it's going
(32:33):
to help the Lakers make the playoff. He's now the
Lakers most valuable player. Oh, we had to do it.
Let him go across. Hey. You know a conversation Mike
and I had earlier in the show Mark about John Morant,
and it's just absolutely crazy that here's someone who's now
been involved in three really difficult circumstances. The latest one
(32:56):
that's come up where he allegedly beat up a seventeen
year old kid after a after a pickup basketball game.
This on the heels of the fact that he and
some of his people that he was hanging out with
hassled some Pacers staffers a couple of weeks ago. Then
there was an incident with security guard at a mall,
and I can't believe we're having this conversation where I'm saying,
(33:16):
I've gone from last year thinking John Morants the new Kobe.
I mean, this is it. He's going to take over
the league. This is an MVP we're looking at. And
now I'm saying, I don't know if he's going to
be in the league in five years because he is
on a really bad path and this is like his Hey,
I gotta wake up and see this right now, because
this is not trending well for him, and this is
(33:36):
one more mistake and you put everything you've done in
your career at risk. Yeah, this is absolutely ridiculous. And
look like, even before all these incidents happened on a
much smaller scale, I thought the Memphis Grizzly is partly
because of John Morant's attitude. You know, they were seen like, hey,
the team that's playing with joy, and maybe they could
be what the Warriors were when they started Alan Irn
(33:59):
in twenty fourteen fifteen. But then all of a sudden,
they started becoming the punk kids that reminded me of
the Lob City Clippers or the Houston Rockets with Chris
Paul and James Harden. But on a much more serious
scale here while the NBA you know, technically couldn't find
you know, the corroborating evidence in regards to the incident.
(34:19):
The U outlined about everything going on with the Grizzlies
Indiana Pacers game where people around John Morant were threatening
Pacers staff employees, you know, so much that some of
them thought there was a red dot on their head.
And also, you know, the latest incident about he and
some of his friends beating up on a teenager during
(34:40):
a pickup game at his house that's going to go
through litigation, and the family attorney is disputing certain details here,
like forget the technicalities, and you know, the I guess
presumed innocence until proven guilty, Like this stuff is absolutely
horrendous and can't be condoned whatso ever. And you know,
(35:02):
while I do, you know, hold out hope and trust
and all that that the league and all parties involved
through the court system will do their due diligence. It
will be absolutely unacceptable if they sweep whatever findings they
have under the rug. Like the people who are around us,
(35:23):
whether it's jaw and people and this family and friends
are all the above, they need to be held accountable
for this kind of behavior like it's dangerous, it's reckless,
it's very irresponsible, to say the least. You can follow
on Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. That said, Mark
g Underscore Medina, NBA dot com writer and insider. Mark
(35:44):
is always buddy, Appreciate your time and I look forward
to now you're working on eight hundred words ranking the
home alone movies from top to bottom. I can tell
you one and two or you know, co number one
and the rest. However, whatever remakes are, they're not worth
their Oh that's bad news for Alex de Linz oh Man.
I'll tell you all right. Thanks so much, as always, buddy,
(36:06):
We'll talk to you next week. Appreciate you, Ben say
Mark
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Carmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two am Eastern
seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find
your local station for The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmen at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
(00:21):
This is the best of the Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmen on Fox Sports Radio. Greetings and welcome inside
The Jason Smith Show with my bass friend Mike Harmon
live from the tire irac dot Com studios. Ti irac
dot com will help you get there an unmatched selection, fast,
(00:41):
free shipping, free road hazard protection, over ten thousand recommended installers,
tirerac dot com the way tire buying should be. And
Mike Harman in the vein of that open how well
we have been doing predicting the future the last few
years here on the show. You're welcome to everybody else.
I have another big prediction for you now that I
know is going to come true. You're ready, nicely, don't
(01:03):
you like this? That's the way you start a show.
That's what I call a bleak and show. Let's go now.
I want to watch from dust till dawn. It'll be on.
Give it a give it enough time? What do you got?
Football fans are very upset about the officiating. No one
likes the officiating in the NFL. No one. How are
we going to fix this problem? How are we going
(01:25):
to fix all these bad calls? What are we going
to do? I'll tell you right now, bold prediction. After today,
officiating in the NFL will be immensely better next season.
I already know the answer. Ask me how? Uh? Please
tell me? How? How could I subscribe to your newsletter?
(01:46):
Because today Jerome Boger retired. Oh whoa, you can't despair it.
Actually no, we talked a lot about him officiating as
soon as he as soon as he even tired, there
was there was bringing up people are ready with the
worst Jerome Boger calls. No, I look, we knew what
was happening. But then it's it's like anything you get
(02:07):
the official notice, right, we know JJ Watts retiring. But
then we had the laugh when he got the hey,
you know report for drug tests and he's like, I'm done,
you know, Brady sending in his paperwork all of those things.
This one we knew what was happening, but until you
saw the list put out with including Walt Coleman, you
just didn't believe it. I'll tell you Jerome Boger at
(02:30):
nineteen years as an official, year in and year out,
the crew that throws the most flags of any crew.
Sometimes he gets eclipsed at number one, but the last
like ten years, he's been like one of the top
two or three crews all the time. So immediately there's
going to be less flags being better officiating. Hate to
break it to you, but he's a semi retiring. He
(02:53):
semi retired. Yeah, he's gonna only call the backfield the
Jets games and throw every flag at Sauce for holding. Yeah.
I mean, we know last year the guy that was
the head official at the Super Bowl, Carl Cheffers. Yeah,
well I'm in Look, they averaged his crew averaged over
one penalty more per game called than Sean Hockeyley and
(03:15):
we know he was doing it, so he can, you know,
get the full on flex like the old man. Um
Boger was barely top ten this year. Yeah, no, heat, Well,
he was off the pace by over three penalties per game.
Clearly he was done. He was like, this is my
last year. I don't care anymore. I'm retiring after this.
I'm done. I don't I don't really care about throwing
(03:36):
flags as much as I'll still throw a bunch of them,
but I don't care like I used to. So I'm
just gonna bay. I'm done. I'm finished. But he did
do like no load management. Some of the other guys
only officiated, say fifteen games, I don't know full seventeen
for for Boger. But here's the thing. I can't disparage
him too much. I'm trying to get a now that
he's retired, a jersey from my wall. Okay, I have
(03:57):
the wall of mean that I'm gonna work on with
all my favorite offensive tackles. And then I wanted Jerome Boger.
Oh nice? What do you see when I think this?
And you mentioned Carl Cheffers, And I think, you know,
when when the what's the line that the Montreal Canadians
have when when when one captain, like they say to you,
(04:17):
from failing hands, we passed the torch, like you know,
we've had our time. We can't do it now. The
next generation. You are carrying the torch for the franchise, Like,
do you think that happened? Like Jerome Boger actually handed
a torch to Carl Cheffers and said, here, I can't
do it anymore. Man, this is all you. You be
the guy. Now, you be the guy. Everybody hates you.
Keep throwing those flags the Super Bowl, man, keep doing it,
and everybody loves you. Somebody's got to be the big bad, right.
(04:39):
You always need a good villain. And with film, series,
television show, certainly in sports at and each level, we
try to create a villain. Sometimes, well we don't. We
just had. He's the least likable of these guys. Officials
get to do that. And you you were right there
with the quote to you from failing hands, we throw
the torch, be your to hold it high. That's it,
(05:01):
Carl chef and set Karl Cheffers holds a penalty flag high.
That's good. Oh I got that. In the opposite do
you think you think Jerome Boger is gonna have like
a some kind of exhibit at the Pro Football Hall
of Fame where you press a button and you see
how far you can make him throw a flag like, Oh,
can I press a button? I threw it? Oh, I
threw that flag fifteen yard? Either that flag eight yards?
(05:23):
Gonna gotta press a button a little bit better, press
a little bit better. Yes, I want to see. I
wonder if that will happen. You know, it seems like
we could do that as a new game, because we
always laugh at coaches trying to throw their challenge flags
or whether they just drop it at their feet. Same
thing with the penalty flag. Just gotta be careful. You
don't want to do it around players because sometimes you
know it will find the way into the grade of
(05:43):
a face mask. It's not good for business. Hey, farewell,
Jerome Boger, and godspeed in your retirement. You were really
something to talk about for the last few years. He
gave us a good run. There is the point where
when you're on the job as long as he has
you know, the legs don't get you to the spot.
You need to be right to be able to really
(06:04):
adjudicate properly. That's just the way it is. We've talked
about this ad nauseum for our duration. Here. At the
end of your first year, discover credit cards automatically double
all the cash back you've earned. That's right, everything you
earned doubled. Seriously see terms and check it out for
yourself at discovered dot com slash match. So while we
will spend tonight in retrospect on some of Jerome Boger's
(06:26):
greatest calls, which I'm sure we'll play back for you
zero of them. Well, I mean great calls, I mean
famous calls, like calls it really screwed some teams. We got,
we got. We gotta playback some big ones. I mean
we got, I mean we got. We got to dedicate
the show to Jerome Boger tonight. But you said that
would be a first. We dedicated it. You said you
were looking for a villain, Mike Harmon, and I have
(06:49):
found a big villain. Today, reports came out from the
NFL Combine that the Carolina Panthers have called the Packers
to inquire about trading for Aaron Rodgers. Now, this report
has been met with uh, some dubious, some resistance from
(07:10):
from the Panthers a little bit, which means it's true.
It means let's a little bit to keep it in
line with I mean, you're watching it the Mandalorian and yeah,
the resistance and everything else. Yeah, which is the best
pilot and resistance po PO damn uh so Lake Minnetonka.
This is now the team that has become the villain
in the NFL because they're gonna screw it up for
(07:32):
so many people, because they're gonna go now, they're gonna
insert themselves into this quarterbackness. And now Aaron Rodgers has
another place to potentially go, and Derek Carr has another
place potentially go, and they're gonna wind up screw in
the Jets or the Raiders because now they want to
get involved, right because now they got they have a
newish owner and today look, David Tepper said some wonderful
(07:54):
things about Jerry Richardson, former Panthers owner who passed away.
When you have a new owner, he wants to make
his mark. And you just watch the last year plus
where Sam Donald's our guy. No, Matt Rule is our guy. No,
but he's a quarterback head coach, doesn't matter. He's out.
Baker Mayfield's our guy. No, he's not. We're back to
Sam Donald. He's not our guy. They have two things
that should scare Everybody's why they're the villain, because now
(08:15):
they're screwing it up for everybody else. We thought, okay,
this is pretty good. Aaron Rodgers is deciding if he
wants to be traded, if he wants to go to
the Jets. If not, the Jets will pivot to Derek
Carr or somewhow wine up with Geno Smith and everybody's
everybody's got their place. Now everybody's coming. Now there, you're
coming the Panthers, because they're the two things that make
everybody scared. They are desperate and they are itchy. They
are desperate to make a move to get a quarterback.
(08:36):
They're sweating and they are itchy. They're itching to pull
the trigger on something to go get a quarterback. And
they're gonna be the team that screws it up and
said here's here's all kinds of guaranteed money for somebody
or someone else. Now they're the villain because now they're
the team involved. When we thought we knew was going on,
everybody's good. Look you said you need a quarterback, and
now the Panthers like, hey, we'll call for Aaron Rodgers.
(08:57):
Now this is gonna screw everything up. They're the villains. Well,
we knew they were in the mix, but the fact
that they could screw up all your plans. I don't
know that they screw up mine. So I worry about
you and you know how you navigate the coming weeks
of free agency and all. But but Tepper makes for
a pretty good villain. He does because he is brash.
(09:21):
He is a guy that is very much a I
don't like this now pivot kind of guy, as he
did with Matt Rule to your point, with the quarterbacks,
no next one? Hey called down there, tell him to
put the next guy in. And if Matt Carroll would
have been an available and healthy he would have quarterback
to a couple of games too. Just what's behind the
(09:41):
next door is seemingly how they wanted to operate. So yeah,
it would make perfect sense that they're at least trying
to figure out what the market is now. Might they
have to pay a premium? Maybe you got Marshall, you
got d J. Moore. I always want to say DJ
Moore like I'm Pat Summerroll. I don't know why that's okay,
(10:04):
Certain things sound good coming out of Patroll's more sure
it would be one that would he would gravitate to.
And then you have Tremble and Thomas we'll see what
happens there at the tight end position. And Dante Foreman
had himself a fine year. And defensively you're pretty strong, right.
That's the one appeal to the teams in the uh
(10:24):
NFC South is they all have pretty good defenses when healthy.
The offense is you got a question how much you
like whether the guy teams long in the tooth or
or whether these young guys more Marshall Chenault Junior gets
you excitable. But it's now what what's the price of
poker to play? And a guy like Tepper certainly elevates
(10:47):
the stakes as it were. I still think you either
end up with Derek Carr or he becomes a Carolina panther.
If I were to uh to etch those in. I
still think Rogers is a packer dud. Dude, listen, let
let me tell you, Let me let me tell you.
You're trying to voice Derek Carr on me. And you've
been trying to do this for a long time. Yeah,
Carson went, and I've told you none. No, listen, you guys,
(11:07):
you guys, I have already come to the fact, and
I have come to grips and I've accepted say that
the Jets are going to get Geno Smith. Saw what's
going on outer back at five. That's what's gonna happen.
Then unbelievable circumstance by which they pick fifth. Yeah, and
it's it's that's what's going to happen. I mean that,
that's that's the typical, perfect peak totally Jets is to
(11:31):
get Gino Smith back years after. Of course they had
to let him go because he stunk. It's perfect. Now
we get him back a decade later, and we got
to give him forty million dollars a year. That's peak Jets. Man,
I've already come to the mike. I've already accepted that. Man.
You think you can get to me with your crazy
Derek Carr crap and Carson Wentz, forget it, man, We're
getting Genos. I understand this. This is how it's going
(11:54):
to work, because that's peak Jets, and somehow they're gonna
get They're gonna wind up with Gino Smith and Jamal
Adams back. It's gonna be the same kind of dla Gino.
We're gonna find a way to get Jamal Adams out
of here too, And that's what's gonna happen. We're gonna
wind up with exactly that. Now the Jamal Adams is
a new wrinkle to it, but I've already accepted Gino Smith.
It's you really kind of added a one that'll get
(12:16):
Get that and put that on Twitter. See how that
gets a response from my heart happens the second he
becomes a Jet again, turns into well, that's really the
larger thing was were the years away enough to learn?
And he race bad habits and misgivings and the feelings
(12:36):
of getting punched in the face. I'll go instantly straight
back to Gino Tani. How many how many Jets fans?
I still have that Geno Smith jersey kicking around? So
I remember I got that ten years ago. I thought, Wait,
when did I sell that in the yard sale? No?
Nobody would buy it. No, no, so I still haven't time.
I'm gonna I think it's in the garage. I'm gonna
go find that. Oh yeah, there. You know. At the
(13:01):
end of your first year, Discover credit cards automatically double
all the cash back you've earned. That's right, everything you've
earned double seriously see teams, see terms, and check it
out for yourself at Discover dot Com slash match. But
make no mistake, the Panthers are the villain in this.
They're gonna screw it up for everybody by going after
quarterback again. Desperate and itchy. You're looking for a villain,
I give you the Carolina Panthers. Those are the greatest
(13:22):
terms ever to describe a team, desperate and itchy. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. I
have always been I would I would say a little
bit more as am I pro Mike McCarthy. I am
(13:44):
less anti Mike McCarthy than most people were up until
now because now I'm out on him after what he
said in the last few hours regarding the Dallas Cowboys
going on moving on next season. You can you can
blame him for all you want with the Cowboys, but
McCarthy's a guy that's been in the playoffs a few
times now, won a playoff game last year. Look, Dak
(14:07):
Prescott is not a great quarterback, all right, and McCarthy
has done a pretty decent job with keeping things together
in Dallas, which is a tough place to keep things
together in. You know, Dallas is forever doom because of
the way the team is run, with the decisions that
are made by Jerry Jones. You're nobody's gonna have enough
talent to win nine or ten games. That's kind of
where you are. Maybe you'll win a playoff game, maybe
(14:28):
you won't, but that's what it is. Now. This year
they showed that they were closer than you expected because
a couple of bad Dak Prescott plays and maybe they're
moving on in the playoffs. So to blame Mike McCarthy
for so many things, it's just like we're looking for
somebody to blame. Let's play. No McCarthy's been able to achieve.
But now the last twenty four hours after I've seen
him talk talk about Kellen Moore, former offensive coordinator, I'm
(14:50):
out on the guy right now. He made some headlines
in the last day or so from the NFL combine
talking about former o C Kellen Moore and his role
with a team, and some of it was a little incendiary,
like boy, he's lighting Kellen Moore up on his way
out the door. But it wasn't so much about what
he said about Kellen Moore, but what he said going
(15:10):
forward that really has me saying, I'm out on Mike
McCarthy quote. I've been where Kellen has been. Kellen wants
to light the scoreboard up. But I want to run
the damn ball so I can rest my defense. This
is Mike McCarthy. I want to run the damn ball
so I can rest my defense because he's got all
the numbers from the last couple of years to prove it.
(15:34):
Let me just look at our run totals the last
three years. You know, we're We're a different offense in
twenty two and we were in twenty twenty. And that
was part of the evolution baying more balanced, more complimentary football.
Um not as wide open in a dropback just drop
back passing and Norman down dic you know you look
at all those things. So but I'm really looking forward
(15:55):
to the critique from you of how different it is.
So very guy. This is why I'm out on him,
because now, Mike McCarthy, this is how I want to
run the team. I want to run the football and
rest my defense. If Mike McCarthy was coaching in the
nineteen eighties or the early nineteen nineties, I would say, yeah, great,
(16:15):
this is not where the NFL is headed. Now, this
is not where the NFL is going. And there are
still teams that are under that mistake and assumption that
we can run the football, play great defense and win
the Super Bowl. You can do that. It will get you,
but it will only get you so far. Because how
do you win in the NFL? Now, you win with
great quarterbacks, You win by you win by lighting up
the scoreboard. Did the Chiefs win by running the football
(16:37):
a ton all the way the regular season into the playoff? No?
They want it because Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes. Did
the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl by running
the football as much as they did? Know they made
it because Jalen Hurtz is a huge playmaker at quarterback.
You don't win by taking responsibility away from your quarterback
and putting it on your running backs. You can't do it.
(16:57):
You can't ultimately win that way. And for a team
to has shown, hey, we're pretty good and we want
to get to the next level, how is that going
to happen? Either he fell into the trap with Cooper
Rush last year, or I'm going overboard with saying Dak
Prescott is not as good as we thought he was.
But this is why I'm out on Mike McCarthy now,
because that's not how you win. No team wins that
(17:18):
way in That's why it makes me worried about the Jets.
They want to go out and just get a guy
who can hand the ball off out We got Breeze
Hall about look what happened when Breeze Hall got hurt. Hey,
we had no quarterback to throw the football. That's why
I'm glad they're in on Aaron Rodgers because they're showing
they know we need to throw the football. But are
they really gonna settle get him or are they gonna
settle for somebody else? And Hey, to just be someone
who's the head of the snake here, it's very difficult.
(17:39):
It's difficult to win that way when you are not
absolutely loaded everywhere else with the football. The forty nine
ers are the one team you could say, boy they
got a great defense, and boy they got great playmakers
and great wide receivers and great tight ends and great
running backs. That's the one team that's loaded absolutely everywhere where.
You could say, maybe we can win with a brock
Party or a Trey Lance, but everybody else doesn't work
(17:59):
that way. Now you're going into the season saying I
want to run the football, rest my defense. Hey guess what.
So many teams in the NFL are going. Oh man,
now it's become a lot easier to beat the Cowboys.
Mike McCarthy is not coaching in twenty twenty three where
the NFL is in twenty twenty three. He's coaching like
it was years ago. I want to limit mistakes and
my quarterback can't do it, and so now I want
to run the football and rest my defense. How's that
(18:20):
going to work. That's not going to work. And this
is why I'm out on McCarthy. You have to figure
out a way to fix Dak Prescott. Limiting Dak Prescott
is not going to do it. But you figure out
a way, because you're the head coach to get Dak
Prescott to being as high level of quarterback as you
can be. We've seen glimpses that he can get there.
It's on you to make that work, not to take
away from Dak and say all right, now we're gonna
(18:40):
try to win this way. You're gonna win with Ezekiel
Elliott and Tony Poward who knows, and he's coming back.
Zell might not even be on the team. And he's
been disappointing the last couple of years since he got paid.
I don't see how this philosophy works. This is why
I'm out on Mike McCarthy. Now, yeah, it's great in
theory if you've got the run game, and it's turning
back the clock three or four years where Zeke was
(19:02):
at his peak and that offensive line was dominant with
anchored by Travis Frederick in the middle, and that ever
since he had to retire, and I hope he's well
that that offensive line hasn't been the same. You didn't
build your receiving corps to the level that you're you're
(19:22):
trying to talk to and and certainly if you're Mike
McCarthy and this was the well, we gave you the weapons,
we gave you everything. I didn't agree with how he
called it. And take some of the uh, the blame
away from me and a little bit away from Das
like no, no, no, Y'll wear it together in this process.
(19:42):
And Tony Pollard getting hurt as he did at the
end was monumental as a runner receiver. He was the
better option for them, as we talked about not only
last year, but the year before that. But McCarthy wanting
to harken back to an old time, not that those
guys don't have to have, you know, sizeable workloads. And
(20:04):
I understand in a large theoretical sense where he's going,
but nobody wins consistently relying on it gains of consequence.
I mean, look at Tennessee. I mean there's probably your
best example in recent history. Or you go to all
the Super Bowl winners and they put up all, right,
what was the contract of the leading rusher for the
(20:28):
Super Bowl winner? And they're all guys except for who
was it? Leonard Fournette? Right, he was the only guy
that was the outlier. Everybody else was under a million dollars.
So it's it's not built the same and nor do
you use running backs the same way. But this just
shows you're you're trying to cling to something and you're
trying to find a scapegoat. Guess what, he's out of town. Okay,
(20:52):
you got to talk about twenty three And if that's
what you want to do, then you're also telling me
without telling me you really don't trust the ball in
Dax's hands thirty five times a game, which is what
none of us did, or at least we did not
this show at any point. So now you've got to
go find wide receivers and you better be real active
in this marketplace. Look. Look, I understand how Dak was
(21:16):
was someone who really disappointed you because we talked about
the sea change that happened for the Cowboys after the
playoff game. Hey, a couple of really bad turnovers and
maybe the Cowboys could have won. Something changed with Dak's
standing in the organization and they're belief in him as
a quarterback after that game. And I understand that. I
get that, But what it needs to be because you
(21:36):
know you're locked into Dak for a while because you
decided to pay him. What it is is the sea changes.
You listen to us now and there's no choice, there's
no plan B, there's no no We are going to
do this and this is what you have to do
if you want to stay our quarterback. And you do
this this year or guess what next year, we're gonna
look to move on from. You're gonna try to find
a way to move on. But there was a report
yesterday and that they're talking extension. Now it's insane. It's
(22:00):
a well the saying you're not the guy right, but
by the X, extension might make him actually easier to
trade because you're you're you're. What you're doing is spreading
out the money and it's not gonna be hey, because
look they've seen what's happened with with Aaron Rodgers and
other quarterbacks in the last couple of years. Boy, look
at this huge balloon money that's do it's making it
impossible to trade him. But a contract extension because someone
(22:21):
will want Dak Prescott next year. Look a thirty year
old guy, that's one had been through the all the
big battles in Dallas. Hey, maybe he just needed a
little bit smaller spotlight now and he can win. Okay,
I'm in for Dak and maybe the next two or
three years it's more palatable. And if I want to
cut him and move on fro him, it's not as expensive.
So that's what this extension is going to do. It's
gonna make him. Ay, it'll make him easier to trade,
(22:41):
because that's kind of what they want. They need financial
flexibility because there's no way you saw what he did.
You're coming off that game saying we're extending him because
we believe in him as a quarterback. It's we need
to extend him to get out of some problems that
we have, so we can bring other guys in or
potentially move Dac if we have to. But if you're McCarthy,
this is where your work needs to be, not on
other parts of the not that we're gonna on the ball. No,
you gotta fix Dac and make him. He's the guy
(23:03):
you are, Dak driven make him better. You're the coach. Yeah.
I mean, I don't know how much the thumb injury
played into things, but certainly at the receiver position, you're
devoid of talent. You had Ceedee Lamb, you had Dalton Schultz,
and you had a big question mark thereafter. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific.
(23:26):
Tons of big NBA news to get to joining us
now on the Hotline Insider writer FRIENBA dot com Mark Medina.
You can follow him on Twitter at mark g Underscore Medina.
That's at mark g Underscore Medina. So Mark, maybe this
was all Russell Westbrook's followed the Lakers and now it's
gone to the Clippers. Look what's happening. I know, you
know what's amazing with the Lakers them making this trade
(23:49):
deadlineman with Jane whether Russell Westbrook not only today propel
themselves hiring to the standings, they basically threw a grenade
at the Clippers. It's astounding that the Clippers fell for
those It's it's almost like Home Alone two and Harry
and marr fell for the same tracks. It's unbelievable. Yeah,
but here's the thing. Know, Harry and Marv they were
(24:11):
mad at the kid. They wanted revenge, So I could
see where their decision making was a little bit blurred,
like they were mad at himself for the first movie. Yeah,
that's that's fair. And but what is fascinating though, is
that the Clippers, for the longest time, or not the
longest time, but leaning into the trade deadline, they were
very bullish that, look, we're not going to upset the
(24:33):
apple cart. We want continuity. We want to play some
of our young guys in the rotation, like Terrence Mann,
and we made these moves with game Bow and Thailand,
Eric Gordon, and we know Russ isn't good on defense,
and he's going to command a lot of minutes. And
then all of a sudden, the goalposts started. Movie Once
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George talked to it's like, okay, hey,
we'll entertain the idea as long as it's a limited
(24:55):
a role. But fast forward now like he's starting and
finishing games and it's the same nonsense that happened with
the Lakers. The results in els, and I think it's
very telling that not only is a stat line a
Russell Westbrook type stat line three or two from the field,
oh five, you know, from three four turnovers, but the
Warriors defense on him was playing no defense. Draymond was
(25:18):
just giving them open shots. It's just unbelievable. So to
that end, with Golden State, all of a sudden, up
at the five seed, steps slated to comeback Sunday. I
know we've talked about their depth a bunch over the
course of our visits. Mark. Are they a team that
could be dangerous though? If healthy? Yeah, I mean they
could be dangerous for the same reasons they were dangerous
(25:40):
last year. They still have Steph Curry and Clay Thompson,
Draymond Green, and they have championship equity. And you know,
I caught up with Jordan Poole when they're in town
in LA last week and he was, you know, counting
the company line that you know, even threw up all
the ups and downs. I have faith that we can
turn this around because of the experience. And on one hand,
you don't to discount that, But on the other hand,
(26:02):
I think there is a fool's errand to think of
this year was just be the equivalent of last year
or other years, because the reality is, unlike the dynasty
championship type seasons, the Warriors have been mediocre on defense,
they struggled winning on the road, and they weren't able
to really see much success with some of their young
(26:24):
guys after partying ways with some of their veterans during
the offseason. And so I did wonder, okay, or they're
going to get their act together. Now they clearly are
on the up and up, and I think that they'll
solidify themselves as a playoff team. But you know, the
ultimate question of can they be in the contention mix?
That might be a heavy ask only because you know,
(26:47):
guys like Jonathan Cominga. He showed some flashes tonight, but
he's also shown flashes of bloopers, right, Like, how much
can you trust on the young guys? And you know,
even the all star type of players, they've either been
unavailable like in Andrew Wiggins or inconsistent like at Clay Thompson.
But you know what, they are training the right direction,
(27:08):
Clay's playing well, Steph's about to come back, and so yeah,
you always discount the Warriors at your own peril. Yeah,
but here's the thing, though, I don't mean to pour
cold water on it, but did the NBA change the
rules or they could play every game at home? Because
if they've done that, I believe in that. But they're
gonna have to play games on the road and market.
They're gonna have to do that at some point in
the playoffs. Yeah, and you know, to the other point,
(27:30):
I was saying, they also have to be a good
defensive team, and so far they haven't been that way consistently.
I think Draymond, you know, I would say surprisingly has
played really well this season. I thought that maybe he
would have taken a dip because of just everything surrounding
the training camp paunch with Jordan Poole. But I think
that if anything, maybe that's lit a fire under him,
(27:52):
but it's also undermined him, you know, as a self
inflicted wound, because he doesn't have the same kind of
capital and weird capability to call guys out on defense.
And so, yeah, I'm with you, Like they're obviously training
the right direction. You don't never want to discount them.
But again, even through the ups and downs of even
last season, they're always a really good defensive team. They
(28:14):
always knew how to win on the road, and so
far they haven't shown that they can do that. Well,
I really thought Jason was gonna go in zagging in
different direction Mark by saying no, Yeah, by the way,
well it was either the Knicks or Owen. By the
way the Lakers are back. I could have gone from, Hey,
the Clippers about to be Owen for in the Westbrook era,
(28:35):
Nick's undefeated in the Josh Hart era. That way, you
know what I think that Josh Hart plug was is
very real. Like I'm not gonna say he's a franchise
player yet and they should retire as Jersey, but look
like he is a very good role player. What he
hustle team. He's close to jam and Brunson, Like, he
(28:58):
checks all the boxes of what you want as a
glue guy, Mark, I have seen people's MVP ballots right
now in the NBA, and it's Josh Hart, then Jalen Brunson,
then Julius Randall. I've seen ballots with that. Wow, Nicoleeokitch
is gonna finish fourth because of the next resurgens. Wow,
see the way that works out? Yeah, you know what,
(29:20):
I'm being dead serious here. I was on Colin cal
Hurt show earlier this week. I kid you not. We
were talking Nicks and not only their stellar play, but
he and I were actually saying, hey, if they match
up with Cleveland in a playoffs series, like I would
give the Knicks a chance. Like, I still think it's
Celtics and Box. So that's what's going to be in
East finals. But you know, we're talking about the next trajectory.
(29:43):
You know, I did backtrack a little and think, Okay,
I forgot that Donovan Mitchell has still a lot of
great depth around them, but I think they do have
a case to be able to beat them. Yeah, Nick's
Bucks Eastern Conference Finals. We're rolling through everybody while women yourself,
Nick's NBA Finals and well, you know, Joan, is this tough?
I remember? I want I want to I want to
keep one foot planet firmly as I leap for the
(30:04):
stars with the other one. Very very nice, you done,
NBA Writer, NBA dot Com. Weekly guests for us here,
Fox Sports Radiar, NBA Insider. It's Mark Medina with us
here at the Jason Smith Show with me, Mike Carmen
on Fox Sports Radio at Mark g Underscore Medina where
you find him on Twitter, Read him again, NBA dot Com.
(30:25):
Let's circle back to the Lakers, then Lebron James. Now
it's gonna be three weeks until reevaluation. Anthony Davis, despite
planned days off, had the opportunity yesterday to say I'm
gonna be that guy, not be sat out they want anyway.
But now Laker fans and we gotta get Frostburg kind
of calmed down over there, Mark Um as much as
(30:47):
I like it, and the schedules all finding good. What
do we say about Lebron James going forward? Well, I
think there's some silver lining things here, or not silver lining,
but like maybe a five or leaf that's now as
bad as it could be. You know, I was told
earlier in the week that Lebron James's right foot injury
it's not season ending, doctor's determent. He doesn't need to
(31:09):
have surgery. Now that three week timeline, that's the time
for when he's going to get reevaluated. So maybe he
even misses further. But I know that there is optimism
even though you know they're going to have to see
doctors afterwards, but there is optimism that after this absence
of three weeks, he can come back and he can
(31:29):
play through the pain. It's not going to be structural vulnerable.
But guys, just do the math here. They have nineteen
games left. Three week sideline means that he's out for
at least the next ten games. So the best chase
scenario is Lebron plays the Lakers' final nine games. They're
thirty and thirty three right now in eleventh place. What's
(31:50):
their record going to be without Lebron James. Look, they
can win without him, maybe on a short term basis,
like they did in Oklahoma City last night without Shake
Georges's Alexander. But you know, just knowing how NBA teams operate,
teams can win without a star player, maybe one or
two games because of adrenaline rush, but then kind of
(32:10):
the walls of nature come back to even things out,
and so yeah, I'm I don't have my hopes up,
but they're still in the thick of it. The West
is wide open. There's not a lot of separation from teams,
you know, three through twelve. So let's have at it.
Clippers keep losing. Yeah, Russell Westbrook, for one, it's going
(32:33):
to help the Lakers make the playoff. He's now the
Lakers most valuable player. Oh, we had to do it.
Let him go across. Hey. You know a conversation Mike
and I had earlier in the show Mark about John Morant,
and it's just absolutely crazy that here's someone who's now
been involved in three really difficult circumstances. The latest one
(32:56):
that's come up where he allegedly beat up a seventeen
year old kid after a after a pickup basketball game.
This on the heels of the fact that he and
some of his people that he was hanging out with
hassled some Pacers staffers a couple of weeks ago. Then
there was an incident with security guard at a mall,
and I can't believe we're having this conversation where I'm saying,
(33:16):
I've gone from last year thinking John Morants the new Kobe.
I mean, this is it. He's going to take over
the league. This is an MVP we're looking at. And
now I'm saying, I don't know if he's going to
be in the league in five years because he is
on a really bad path and this is like his Hey,
I gotta wake up and see this right now, because
this is not trending well for him, and this is
(33:36):
one more mistake and you put everything you've done in
your career at risk. Yeah, this is absolutely ridiculous. And
look like, even before all these incidents happened on a
much smaller scale, I thought the Memphis Grizzly is partly
because of John Morant's attitude. You know, they were seen like, hey,
the team that's playing with joy, and maybe they could
be what the Warriors were when they started Alan Irn
(33:59):
in twenty fourteen fifteen. But then all of a sudden,
they started becoming the punk kids that reminded me of
the Lob City Clippers or the Houston Rockets with Chris
Paul and James Harden. But on a much more serious
scale here while the NBA you know, technically couldn't find
you know, the corroborating evidence in regards to the incident.
(34:19):
The U outlined about everything going on with the Grizzlies
Indiana Pacers game where people around John Morant were threatening
Pacers staff employees, you know, so much that some of
them thought there was a red dot on their head.
And also, you know, the latest incident about he and
some of his friends beating up on a teenager during
(34:40):
a pickup game at his house that's going to go
through litigation, and the family attorney is disputing certain details here,
like forget the technicalities, and you know, the I guess
presumed innocence until proven guilty, Like this stuff is absolutely
horrendous and can't be condoned whatso ever. And you know,
(35:02):
while I do, you know, hold out hope and trust
and all that that the league and all parties involved
through the court system will do their due diligence. It
will be absolutely unacceptable if they sweep whatever findings they
have under the rug. Like the people who are around us,
(35:23):
whether it's jaw and people and this family and friends
are all the above, they need to be held accountable
for this kind of behavior like it's dangerous, it's reckless,
it's very irresponsible, to say the least. You can follow
on Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. That said, Mark
g Underscore Medina, NBA dot com writer and insider. Mark
(35:44):
is always buddy, Appreciate your time and I look forward
to now you're working on eight hundred words ranking the
home alone movies from top to bottom. I can tell
you one and two or you know, co number one
and the rest. However, whatever remakes are, they're not worth
their Oh that's bad news for Alex de Linz oh Man.
I'll tell you all right. Thanks so much, as always, buddy,
(36:06):
We'll talk to you next week. Appreciate you, Ben say
Mark
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