May 10, 2023 • 38 mins
Mike Harmon and Ryan Hollins update you on the Celtics collapse to the 76ers in Game 5 of the East Semis. The guys’ breakdown Anthony Davis game saving defense on Steph Curry at the end of Lakers/Warriors last night. And Julius Randle said maybe the Miami Heat want it more than the Knicks. Plus, Jon Paul Morosi stops by to update the guys on all the latest in the world of Sports!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Jason Smith
Show with Mike Carmon 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.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
With Mike Harmon at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or
stream us live every night on the iHeartRadio app by
searching FSR.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
This is the best of the Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Great Eggs, Welcome in a beautiful Tuesday night here Fox
Sports Radio Jason Smith Show with me Mike Carmon, No
Jason Smith. Tonight we go and we tap into the
mind of a man who's been around the NBA quite
some time, ten years as a player, now as an analyst.
We'll get his thoughts on the upcoming draft lottery, how
you build a roster, and what the hell's going on
(00:52):
with some of these teams that we're supposed to just
walk towards the NBA Finals. It's Ryan Hollins, my guy
at the Ryan Hollins on Twitter.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
What's going on, Buddy man, what's going on?
Speaker 5 (01:03):
Dude?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Shot out of a cannon? Watching? Uh? Well, another poorly
played game.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
At home, as we've seen so many times in these playoffs, Like,
all right, they're taking it back home and they'll get
things back because they've had a couple of big up. No. No,
the Philadelphia seventy six Ers, led by Joel Embiid and
Tyrese Maxi, say nah, not so fast, hold my beer.
We got this thing, and they roll to a pretty
(01:29):
easy victory. Some big, heroic block shots and chase downs
down the down the wire here Joel Embiid at times
looking like he's lumbering, but giving it the everything he
has on the court. Ryant allins, and as you did
for a decade in the NBA, you got to appreciate
the effort of the big man rumbling up and down
the court.
Speaker 6 (01:50):
Man Joel Embiid was excellent, and this was a game
that he took over. And you you were waiting for
this Embiid like performance, and obviously, you know the Sixers
took their time getting him back and getting him healthy.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
But guys, but all due respect, this wasn't supposed to happen.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Phil was supposed to be a walk for the Celtics.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
Hey man, listen, Philadelphia was not supposed to come in
and beat the Celtics in their house. This is a
team that a lot of people projected to be NBA
chance because they're depth and there they're three point shooting,
and because the inconsistencies of the Philadelphia seventy six ers.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
But Mike, am I not mistaken.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
This is starting to look like this sixer team that
everybody had envision when James Harden signed and went over
and said, man, you know this is the one two
Punch's the Kobe in shack that's talk to him alone.
They are starting to look like everything that we expected.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Well, I think a lot of it comes down to
and remember the betting odds before tonight was the Celtics
were eight to five to win it. Well, now we
kind of flipped things away and sixers plus two to
eighty now in terms of getting finals odds. But Tyrese
MAXI a huge factor in this one. As I mentioned,
(03:10):
Get gets his thirty points. In the prior three games,
he'd a mass forty total points while shooting thirty three
percent from the field.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So a huge effort here.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
And as you mentioned with the Sixers, and we talk
about it, Smith and I quite a bit of all right,
in its best form. This is what you expect, kind
of like what we've been doing with the Lakers for
quite a while. Well, if it breaks right this that
the other way, and every one of them has the
parenthetical if they stay healthy to it all. And with
the Sixers, that's been a lot of it. Tonight the Celtics.
(03:45):
Al Horford goes oh for seven, oh for seven for
three point range, giving you nothing. He Marcus Smart and White,
three members of your starting roster, go four for twenty
from the field. Brown takes till towards the end of
the game game to heat up, and the bench as
a non factor, which is supposed to be one of
the great advantages for the Celtics, particularly on the home court.
(04:07):
But for the Sixers, you got sixteen from Harris, you
had thirty three from Embiid with his seven rebounds, three assists,
the huge four block shots, thirty from maxi as he
goes six to twelve from three point range, and then
James Harden doesn't need to be big from the field,
just four of eight fundamentally sound basketball in his thirty
(04:28):
nine minutes, only two turnolders. That's always the stat I
want to look at for James Harden. First, how many
lazy passes did he make that caused problems going back
the other way? But would you ever think you'd have
Philly go up three to two in a series. James
Harden only took two to three point shots in a
game to get you there.
Speaker 6 (04:48):
I think that's the real value, as you mentioned it.
But this was a different performance from Harden. It's not
that he was scared to take the shots or he
was out of rhythm. I thought I watched Philly tonight.
It might correct me if I'm wrong. I thought they
were in a flow and a real.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Little more methodical to it.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Right here, he just if he had an open guy
just said all right, I'm just facilitating, didn't try to
force as we've seen him do in the past.
Speaker 6 (05:14):
Well, sometimes what happens in Philly. You get caught because
of his greatness. You get kint watching Embeid, you get
caught watching Harden. But they hadn't quite looked like a team.
And you talked about Maxie's development and his contribution to
the game and how he's he's come along.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
To me, that's that's the huge difference in this ball club.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
They're just playing basketball and it's not this standing and
watching And if you watch Tarbrek's Maxie, he gets the
ball and he pushes in transition and he goes and
he looks for buckets and it's not standing and saying,
oh okay, James, where are you, James.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
You take a shot, or oh okay, Joel, it's your turn.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
His development and many pointed to that and noted that
is the biggest difference in their ball club coming into
the season.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
It looks like he's ready right on time.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Yeah, he got Tobias Harris goes for sixteen and eleven,
giving you eleven big rebounds.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Nine on the defensive end. PJ.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Tucker also added seven rebounds. Everybody, every starter at least
plus ten in your plus minus column. But the maxim
thing is interesting because just taking some notes, right, we'll
watch game to game and there's that I'm going to
kill this possession type thing where he's on a roll. Right,
(06:28):
We've seen maybe the confidence or willingness because he's got
him beat, he's got James Harden at times, or maybe
he deferred today, it was none of that. It was
decisively even down the stretch where it's like, wow, he's
taking that shot. A little early in the shot clock
as they're winding this thing down. It's like, Nah, he's
at the top of the arc and he's feeling it.
(06:49):
So it's just another dagger towards the Celtics. And I
like that mentality that he was going to be assertive
and they were going in to not only win the game,
but see if they couldn't stomp out a little bit
of the will for the Celtics to finish this thing off.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
I like that you noted some of those shots were
early in the clock. That's where the Philadelphia seventy six
ers role players were hesitating. And with Maxie staying aggressive
taking those shots, you know, being in rhythm. That's the
biggest difference, because if I'm game planning for Philadelphia, I
don't want the other role players, those other guys to
(07:27):
step up and be aggressive. And Maxie, even more so
than Tobias Harris, who you kind of slayed it to
be that guy is staying aggressive with the basketball. And
like I said, they looked in the flow tonight, the
Celtics just never looked comfortable. It looked like they couldn't
find their offense and a lot of times their defense
turns into their offense and then they're free flowing into
(07:47):
their you know, driving kit game and they.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
Never got going.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
And then you look up and Joel Embiid the biggest nightmare,
and you will dive into PJ.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
Tucker. A little later in the show, PJ.
Speaker 6 (07:59):
Tucker gave the com confidence to Joel Embiid to go
out and beat Joel Embiid, And he looked like the
MVP tonight. He looked like the guy that we had
all been looking for in a monster game on the row.
So it's scary this team getting confident at the right
time or wrong time, depending on.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Your right, depending on which end you're on.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
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up here in the Nightcap, We've got Phoenix, We've got
Denver again. Another series tied to to the kiss and
(08:41):
makeup thing between the owner and Jokic as he went
to the tunnel after warmups. That was all warm and
fuzzy as we get underway and Booker controls.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
But to go back to the Celtics for a minute.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Here Ron talking about the lack of continuity and flow
to this game.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
They shoot sub for this one.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
We talk and we'll get into it a lot as
we we look at the Lakers and the Warriors. Extensive
note in what I've sent to you, and Frostburg a
little random thoughts, rewatching it a little bit on the
treadmill this morning because I got to, you know, point
out that the road to swallow is on, because you
know you can't be you know, bloated and all sodium
(09:24):
filled like a normal radio host and what have been
for all these years? Ryan, I gotta get lean and
mean like you. But the idea that you didn't have
this flow, you didn't get the contributions from the bench.
Most of the twenty what is it, twenty two points
scored from the bench came in garbage time. After this
thing was decided, right, Prichard gets in and puts in
(09:47):
some a couple of buckets and whatever. But Brogden, who
had been a factor early on Grant Williams before he
had his face stomped by and Joel and beat a
couple of games ago. Those were a couple of guys
that were giving you some important minute and some contributions
that actually showed up in the box score. None of
that today. And if Al Horford's going to go oh
for seven for three, it just clogs everything else up.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
It does.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
But like I said, this is a team that was
focused on their defense getting their offense going, because they
can be inconsistent. You know, Jason Tatum, I thought he
played well tonight, but sometimes you know, I don't want
to say he doesn't show up. He just may not
get in rhythm. But this is a team, make no mistaken.
You know, Boston turned the corner when their defense started
turning into their offense, and they struggled to do that tonight.
(10:33):
You know, Philadelphia hit just enough shots to keep them
off ballot, to never let them get comfortable. And we
talk so much about pace being important. Philadelphia controlled the
pace here tonight hard and getting the ball up court
and getting the balls to his teammates, and Max he
pushing when he opportunistically needed to. But the pace favored Philadelphia,
(10:54):
and when you went on the road, that's important. So
you say, what's pace pace is taking shots when you
want to take them. Pace is defending and dictating what
the other team is going to do offensively. So it's
you controlling the basketball, and Philadelphia played at their pace,
and especially with Joel Embiid with you know that that
need not necessarily one hundred percent. You are not having
(11:16):
him run up and zip up and down the floor,
So that pace being controlled is a huge part also
of why the Sixers were able to take care of business.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Man, that's where we're at with all of this, right, everybody,
when Miyama is the sweepstakes. I just got to notice
a new trading card product coming out just in time
for the Draft lottery next week. The two that they
feature when Manyana, When Mayana and Caitlin Clark of Iowa
are going to be featured in this set. As you know,
(11:56):
collectors try to find the next great, great hope for
the squads, obviously Clark going back to Iowa for another year.
But for the NBA Draft Lottery, we have teams like
the Dallas Mavericks that said, oh, you know, let's keep
our possibly protected pick and ping pong balls for a
chance at greatness instead of a play in where well,
(12:19):
we maybe we get ousted very quickly.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And given the way the playoffs have.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Gone gone so far, Ryan like, Man, I gotta wonder
if there's ever been a quiet moment that any member
of the Mavericks said, damn it, we should have gone
for it.
Speaker 7 (12:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
No, listen, man, it's NBA teams are smarter than ever
and they see opportunities in the excitement with Victor wim
bin Yama and you know he's box office fan. He
really is that good, and you know he's the highest
prospect we've seen, honestly since Lebron James. And in today's NBA,
(12:56):
the excitement is. You know, before it was like, you
know you won, you wanted the next Michael Jordan. You
needed a Shaquille O'Neil, the biggest, strongest, you know, guy
that you can put on the floor. And today's NBA
you need the best basketball player. And with Victor size,
he has the ability to guard in space. He's long,
he's lean, he's athletic, and if he can be that
(13:19):
threat inside on the post as far as you know,
in the paint. That's the dangerous part about the league
and the way he's played the gay today and what
he brings to the table. So that's the excitement. And
I want to say for the draft lottery, this is
going to change organizations. Man, Like this is this is
(13:40):
really cool and you just hadn't seen this hype and
it's fun and honestly, this is going to change the
trajectory of a number of organizations. There may be some
organizations that may decide to trade out of their pick
or want to trade out because there's someone that they like.
And I think this is just really cool, and I
(14:00):
mean I arguably one of the more suspenseful lotteries in
a very long time.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Yeah, we talk about WEMBN Yama and the hype around it.
You know, we go back to twenty nineteen when we
had Zion Williamson and John Morant and RJ. Barrett, a
bunch of big names at the top of that draft.
And it's an EBB and flow. Right, you have one
or two guys most years that people get excited about
and maybe they're just a flash and then they become
(14:30):
a solid NBA player, and there's nothing wrong with that, right.
I can go back all those years to the Christian
Latner draft selection. Guy had a pretty good NBA career. Unfortunately,
he was coming out of college with so much hype,
the Dream Team inclusion, and then he gets drafted top three,
so the expectations are so sky high. How many other
(14:52):
players drafted top five went on to have nice careers,
but where they can you live up to the hype
when you're the number one, and that's all anybody's talking
about for months, no idea most of the time that
he really doesn't doesn't work. But for when Bin Yama,
he's the He's the guy in everybody's lips. Your Houston
Rockets expected to choose fairly early as well, given the
(15:14):
number of ping pong balls in ye old hopper. Do
you guys, do you have a wish list that you've
put up for the draft?
Speaker 6 (15:23):
You know what, I'm an a static for whoever the
team goes out and keeps done.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
That's good, very diplomatic. No, it's the thing with the
guy in the place.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
You don't have a choice, you know, And and I
just am a firm believer in what Houston's doing. I
love my Rockets, and you put your best foot forward,
you give yourself a chance, and you do things the
right way, and good things happen. And I really believe
that good things are going to be happening in Houston
that I have already seen, you know. So I think
whether it's Victor or it's not that the organization is
put themselves in a prime position to make amazing things happen.
(15:57):
And there's a lot of other talent in there, you know,
out outside of Victor.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Although don't make no mistake.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
No sure, if we're just turning a blind eye, he
is the generational talent that is there at leads to
the eye right now. And I've talked to a number
of scouts and front office members and media members who've
seen him and you know, watched him, and they believe
in Victor. You know, he's different, you know, and you
see his work ethic and his motor and you know,
(16:24):
we hadn't seen the league get behind a kid the
way they're they're championing win bin Yama already. I mean,
think about his games are on TV. You've been introduced
to him before he's actually played an NBA game, and
that's where those you know, Lebron James, those those LBJ
comparisons start coming from.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Well, it's always the thing I appreciate and want to
see from all the leagues. Get in there and sell, sell,
sell next. Right, why aren't there more draft specials in
the middle of your NBA coverage. Here's another halftime profile
on the top five expected picks. Although and we'll get
some of that next week, but the draft lottery will
(17:03):
come and go and we'll go right back into game
game analysis, right, and another second half of a game
like no, let's let's celebrate for the night and introduce
you know, the rest of the US that didn't necessarily
watch college buckets or when you've got a women Yama
coming from overseas. You've heard about it, maybe you've seen
(17:24):
a couple of highlight videos. Here's the opportunity to you know,
pull out the little stringed instruments and get the voiceovers
from some of those reporters that we love so much
on every network to give you the stories of who
they are, because come draft night now we're moving into
the next pick too quickly to do that. Get in
there and sell your next but for your Houston Rockets,
(17:45):
Jalen Green twenty two a game. Kevin Porter Junior, a
guy who's still only twenty two. Still, it seems like
he's been around quite a minute here. Perhaps I paid
attention to him earlier than I did others, But you
got to young squad and looking to add another big
piece here as we get ready for the draft, excitement abounds.
(18:07):
Ryan Hollins in for Jason Smith Mike Harmon. Were brought
to you by Progressive Insurance. Progressive makes bundling easy and affordable.
Get a multi policy discount by combining your motorcycle, RV, boat,
ATV and more all your production to one place. Bundle
and save at Progressive dot Com. Want to give him
a couple of minutes here. John Palmarosi gonna join us
talk about Major League Baseball. Where we're at lamentation for
(18:28):
the Mets. Thor left his start early for the Dodgers.
So all of those guys that were supposed to be
stalwarts for the Mets and just pitching staffs as a whole,
shows how quickly the worm turns. But in the NBA,
Ryan a lot made game to game about the officiating,
what's allowed, what's not illegal, screens was the battle cry
(18:49):
after the game from Steve Kerr. We saw Julius Randall
with four offensive fall, blocking blocker charge and standing in
for one late hoping you get a call. Tell my daughter,
you know, playing her club soccer work all the time.
It's like if you're going to go to the ground,
which she generally doesn't, she finds a way to stay
on her feet. Remember you go to the ground and
(19:11):
you don't get a call, that's a lot of wide
open space you're giving your opponent. Likewise in the NBA,
if you're going to try to stand in and create contact,
get it, get a charge and get that call goes
against Just suddenly the ebb and flow of a game
could change on a play like that, particularly if that
that becomes your second or third file early in a game.
(19:33):
So do you see it officiated much differently than it was,
say when you were playing, if we or or do
we just have too much scrutiny on the officials and
it's really not a lot of change more just that
we nitpick it all.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
No, it will. It's definitely a different game than when
I played it.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I'm not that old time, I know, but no, it's
it's a different game. There's three point shootings. There's not
a lot of teams that Carrie centers in their roster.
And I will say now from covering the league all
eighty two for Houston, it's very confusing between the block
and a charge. Those used to be clear cut, you know,
(20:12):
decisions and it there, there is and and they don't
even like to call him charge.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Player control fouls, yes, yes, so these are this is
such a defensive term.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
Now, well, what happens is sometimes a player is not
in position, but they're out of control. And because they're
out of control, now we have a player control foul.
So as far as the charge, sometimes there's a charge.
The guys squared up, you hit him, he was in position,
he went down, that's a charge. Player control is something different. Okay,
So that's where, uh, those terms actually do differ, and
(20:47):
that's where there's a there's maybe the confusion with some
of the uh you know, some of those calls.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
So player control is different.
Speaker 6 (20:55):
So you like to just describe them all as player control.
But you see a lot of guys I think moving
sliding up under guys and you know, not necessarily taking
it in the chest. And I think there's the there's
a lot of gray area. But the one thing I
trust in the NBA, they're gonna go this offseason and
clean it up. And what you're seeing now with the
discreption sheet is during the season, everything was called so tight,
(21:18):
so tight, so tight, and then all of a sudden
you're coming in and saying, uh, we're not calling anything.
The game is getting physical. The game there's a lot
of grabbing, there's a lot of holding. You know, playoff
basketball is completely different game than regular season basketball. I mean,
this is not even remotely close to being the same game.
And I think that's the challenge now that you're you know,
(21:41):
you got to look at and and and say, okay, well,
what's what's wrong. What's the difference here? It's a different game, man,
that that's what's going on. It's a different ballgame than
you're used to seeing.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
Ye.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
I think the hard part for to say, the the
casual observers. For us, I mean here in media like
to think we have a pretty good eye for what
we're seeing. But it's all all debate, right, and especially
when we're talking about the level of consistency, because we
do it with the NFL all the time, it's like, well,
in these down distant circumstances, you can't call that. I
(22:11):
go back to the Super Bowl the last couple of years,
go like, there's all these circumstances like, well, I mean,
with this much time on the clock, it's like, all right,
so if that was was called with six minutes left
in the second quarter, that doesn't potentially turn a game.
You're kidding me, right, I mean with the NBA, there's
enough possessions that you think a lot of times it's swallowed.
But down the stretch in the fourth quarter, you know
(22:33):
you're you're seeing some wrestling matches and you'll let it go.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I joked about it the other day.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Anthony Davis was going deep into the game with no
folsy when he got called for his first on television,
they laugh, They go, wow, considering all the defense he's
been playing, would you believe that's his first fall, as
if to mock the officials, because he was flying all
over the place, a lot of body in the lane, whatever,
and it's like, hey, there's there does seem to be
(23:00):
that level of consistency we see guys flying into the
camera wells with some regularity. Sometimes it gets called sometimes
it's just play on, and I think that's got to
be frustrating for players and coaches trying to figure out
where that line is, especially if a guy gets whistled
for a couple of quick ones, because now you've got
to change your whole tone and tenor of how you're
defending and playing in those circumstances.
Speaker 6 (23:22):
Yeah, no, it is different, and it's something that you
do have to go out to adjust too, so that,
I mean, that's just part of it.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
And I know, you know whenever I played in.
Speaker 6 (23:32):
The playoffs, you you adjust to it, you get used
to it, and you assume you're not going to get
the benefit of the doubt. But do you want to
be somebody that goes out and says, yeah, man, that
that that call that should have been made that didn't
get made is the reason why we lost. No, you
don't want to do that. You just go on and
play through it and you do a good job and
(23:53):
you work hard and you expect that you're not going
to get those calls, so that that's something that you
just do moving forward. So when you hear me talk about, hey,
what's the different between this team and that team, and
you'll say experience, even though a team may be more talented. So,
for instance, we talked about New York and Miami. What
does Miami have? They got experience, dude, and that experience
(24:14):
is showing, you know, in a game where you know
the Knicks really need to tie things up and go,
you know, get in there too too, they're not able
to do so because of experience. Why is Kyle Lawry
who's supposedly done and he's not the same Kyle Lowry?
Speaker 5 (24:28):
What's the difference? Experience?
Speaker 6 (24:29):
So that whistle is something that the veterans understand they're
going to see in a high presser situation like the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Part of the showcase coverage Boston Atlanta MLB Network. Tomorrow,
He's up late with us JP. Get ready for that
beauty sleeve?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
How you doing? Brother?
Speaker 7 (24:57):
I am out Stanley, gentlemen. One of the great time
the year. We've got the NBA Playoffs, the NHL Playoffs,
and I'm sure since now we can welcome Ryan to
the Big Ten, we could also have some some Big
Ten Bruins conversation at some point this evening.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Right, Yes, sir, look at that.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
He's all excited. He's like, Yeah, we're gonna be on
TV again. Sorry, Brian, I had to do that. Welcome
in JP.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Crazy couple of weeks here in Major League Baseball, so
many storylines that we're following. I'll ask the first question
for my absent partner, Surezers. Now to the IL and
questions abound. So much going on with that rotation. You're
there in Atlanta. What are the Mets going to be
able to do other than stopgap with prospects to try
(25:45):
to shore things up and chase down the brains.
Speaker 7 (25:48):
They're in a really difficult spot, Mike, and it's because
obviously we knew coming into this season they were heavily
leveraged toward veteran players, and it's actually veteran pitchers. And
the idea was that at least at the beginning of
the season that Verlander insures are would be fresh, that
(26:08):
they would have consistency out of the gate, and that
if they had to supplement with some starting pitching moves,
that the deadline are from within the organization, that those
reinforcements would arrive on schedule in the second half. Clearly
it's not working. And when you consider Mike just how
much money they're spending obviously for sures Er and for Verlander,
(26:31):
these are shorter term deals with huge dollars to where
you need to get that return immediately early on in
the year. And now you look at just how much
distance there is between the Braves and the Mets, and yes,
there's plenty of time left. But even as the Braves
today are dealing with the absence of Max free to
(26:52):
their ace has a forearm issue. That's keep them out
for a while. And Kyle writs already on the IL,
I just think the Brains have much better infrastructure to
weather this storm, whereas the Mets just seem like an
aging team that has no answer. Peede a. Lonso has
been brilliant, but the pitching has not been there, and
that explains why there is such a chasm for the Mets.
(27:15):
In between the Mets and the Braves right now in
the National League East, all right.
Speaker 6 (27:19):
You talk little brother, let's talk big brother now, Okay,
Aaron Judges pack there's a huge win, ten to five win. Okay,
are the Yankees trending in the right direction.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
Well, Ryan, they are, But here's the challenge for them.
They're playing in one of the best versions I have
ever seen of the best division in Major League Baseball,
that's the American League East. They're playing better, they've won
two in a row, and yet they're nine games out
of first place and they're still last in the American
(27:51):
League East. Obviously, there's a lot of baseball left. I
expect that we'll see at least three and very possibly
four playoff teams coming out of the American League East
this season, so there's plenty of time for them to
get back into this. But if we're looking at the
big picture here and asking ourselves, how vulnerable are the Rays,
(28:11):
how vulnerable are the Orioles, I'm not seeing it right now.
I see the Yankees still as being a significant step
below Tampa and Baltimore. And getting Aaron Judge back is huge,
but that just gets the Yankees lineup closer to par
as a group. They have just not hit enough. And Ryan,
(28:32):
my fear is that as much as I love watching
Aaron Judge hit, I'm a little worried about how often
other teams are gonna let him swing the bats, because
if he's the only player that you're really fearing right
now in the Yankee lineup, and Stanton is hurt and
Donaldson's hurt. There just hasn't been that lineup depth that
we typically see from the Yankees. I'm concerned, so thrill
(28:54):
to the Aaron back. He's one of the great ambassadors
in the games, a wonderful person that we all love
to watch play. But I'm just concerned about where this
Yankees lineup is trending. Big picture.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Now, he's on the down side of a three to
one game as we go to the bottom of the seven.
But show Aotani seven strikeouts and seven innings pitched to
night against the Houston Astros, and he's now surpassed Babe
Ruth for career strikeouts by a two way player. With
every strikeout and every big outing, how many more million
(29:24):
does it add a top six hundred million for whoever
brings him.
Speaker 7 (29:27):
In, Mike, It's it really is an extraordinary sum of
money that he's likely to get. I do think it's
going to be somewhere in the range of and I'm
just gonna pause and get this terminology out, about half
a billion dollars.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
That's pretty crazy, right line for.
Speaker 7 (29:44):
About half a billion dollars. And here's here's the issue though,
that I say this and I pause afterward to affix
the asterisk at the end of my statement, because whenever
we're I'm talking about a pitcher in his free agent year,
health is always the foremost line on that resume. And
(30:09):
we all, I don't care if you're an Angel fan
or not, we all for the good of the game,
for what a great ambassador he is, much like Aaron Judge,
we all want him to be healthy all season long.
And so I hope, I hope that he has a
fully healthy, dominant season in both disciplines, and that every
team comes out at the winter time and says, Okay,
(30:31):
let's all line up and offer our half a million
dollars to show a I hope that's where this is going.
There's a very good chance it is, but it all
hinges on his health, and as we know in sports,
health is the one thing that you can't really predict.
What I do know is this, if the Angels keep
playing good baseball, at least he can stay there through
the deadline. And as much as I would love to
(30:53):
be up all night for the whole month of July
covering breathless reports of where Otani's going to be traded.
I'll do it and we can talk every night in
the show because I love you, guys, But I really
think it's good for the game. If he ends the
year with the Angels, and free agency can arrive when
it arrives, that's all good. We need to see show
(31:15):
Hey and Trout playing meaningful games late in the season.
Speaker 6 (31:20):
And.
Speaker 7 (31:22):
Certainly if they make the playoffs or not, I leave
to them. But my near term wish as a baseball
person is that at the very least, we get to
the final week of the season, guys, late September early October,
and we're talking about show Hey and Trout trying to
make the playoffs together for the first time.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
All Right.
Speaker 6 (31:43):
We see the success that the WNBA is having with
the Aces. It's looking like the NBA's trending towards who's
gonna be the first team in Vegas? Am I seeing
this right? That the A's are gonna be in Vegas?
Are they kind of follow the Raiders? What's that there?
Speaker 7 (32:01):
Right? Ryan? It's a great point, and it's not a done,
done deal for certain yet we should make sure that
we're clarifying where where things stand. But you're you're reading
of this is correct that unless something falls apart, and
obviously it's that that that clause does a lot of
work when we're talking about franchises moving and Canadians being built.
(32:22):
But unless something falls apart, Plan A here is for
the for the Oakland Athletics to become the Las Vegas
Athletics or whatever nick nickname they're going to have they need, Ryan,
I think Vegas is going to be a tremendous major
league city for a variety of reasons. Number One, we've
seen already the Vegas Gold Mights have tremendous success in
(32:44):
the National Hockey League. We've obviously seen the Raiders have
success there too. But for me, it's about the grassroots
of the sport that they have a very well supported
Triple A team. We've seen Bryce Harper, We've seen Chris
Bryant come from Las Vegas arrived to the main leagues.
So I look at when we talk about relocation expansion,
(33:04):
what are the grassroots and are and what very importantly
is the corporate partnership. This is a transaction and a
move Ryan that I don't think could have happened ten
years ago, fifteen years ago, we just weren't there yet
in terms of the open marriage between professional sports and
(33:25):
the gambling industry, casinos, gaming, and it's just a different
world now, and I think it's very healthy that it
is a different world. And I'm excited to see where
we could just see the game grow because I'm done
being stuck in the past about where where the line
should be, what we should do if this grows the game,
and as long as it's all done legally from a
standpoint of sports gambling in baseball, I think it's something
(33:48):
that brings more people into the tent and grows the game,
and I'm all for it.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
JP now that we're a few days away from in
the rear view mirror, we had the Big Series in Mexico,
a lot of run scored, so that's excitement. But we're
talking about movement to Los Angeles, and we keep talking
expansion growth and where do we plant flags next for
Major League Baseball? What came out out of that, you know,
(34:12):
couple of games in Major League Baseball talking points, you know,
as you're hearing scuttle butt in response to the crowds
and to the action that was held.
Speaker 7 (34:23):
Huge success Micah, and I'm glad you mentioned it. Obviously
a lot of a lot of runs scoring. Yea, Honestly,
that is that is one of the reasons that we've
talked and certain Ryan knows well from the NBA and
all all the games the NBA has played all around
the world. It's an important thing to to be able
to grow your brand, to actually visit the countries that
matter to you and and that are that comprise the
(34:46):
identity of your sport. And so I think, first of all,
baseball has talked a lot about wanting to grow in Mexico.
I do think that the run totals are emblematic of
one of the competitive challenges that would exist if MLB
were to move a franchise there full time. This is
this is the cores field of Coors Field. This is
next level cores in terms of how the ball flies
(35:08):
and travels. And so I think that that would be
a challenge if there was a full time franchise base there.
But if you talk about growth market, that's going to
matter for the sport for a long time. We saw
the way that Team Mexico played at the World Baseball Classic.
We've seen already. I think more than a dozen Mexican
born players in the major leagues this season. It's an
(35:28):
important market for the game. And I love the reports
about the Dodgers potentially beginning the season next year in Korea.
I just think it's so important. I was actually having
a conversation earlier today, and this is a bit outside
of sports, but I think it's it's relevant here. The
power in being able to say to someone that you're
hoping will support your your team, or just or just
(35:49):
become your friend, to be honest with you. When you
can say, as Ryan can say when he's traveled and
played basketball around the world. When you can say I
have visited your country, I have spent time working in
your country. I have gotten to know the culture of
your country. It's just a very powerful statement. And I
think for baseball to do that and really put their
feet on the ground in different places just sends the
(36:10):
right message and opens up whole lot of opportunities.
Speaker 4 (36:12):
JP last one, real quick, look, the Central is a mess.
So we'll push them to the side. When your top
team just went to and eight in their last ten, right,
push past them. But for the West, right for our
people here in Los Angeles and the Padres now with
Tatis Junior back in full effact. Arizona intrigues me. Some
(36:33):
young players, Corbyn Carres having himself and nice.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
You can they hang around.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
Is this a team that I will see in the
second half still playing meaningful baseball.
Speaker 7 (36:42):
Yes, I believe they will, and for a couple of reasons.
Number one, the d Backs have gotten better. You've seen
the emergence. I think Rivera's had a really good year
for them. Guriel has had a really good year. Walker
as someone who I still think has a very productive
position over at first base. And to your point, Corbyn
Carrol would have dined player he is. They just called
up Dominic Fletcher. There's a lot to like about this team.
(37:04):
It's very young. But I also think in the big
picture here, the Dodgers are not necessarily as dominant as
they used to be. It has the feeling of a
different kind of year for them. I still think they
can win the division, and right now they're leading the division.
But this is not the juggernaut team of the latter
stages of the last decade. It's just the personnel is
(37:25):
different and so and the guys that are there are
a little bit older. They're gonna need guys like Autman
to really carry this team, I think for stretches of
the season, not for the whole year. They've got Mookie
and they've got Freddie, but he's going to have to
continue to be this productive rookie if the Dodgers are
going to find a way to hold off. To your point,
a young talented d Backs team that's playing with very
(37:49):
little pressure. Young talented teams with no pressure are dangerous,
and so the Dodgers I think have to be on
guard for the d Backs.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
Or this season.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Fantastic stuff.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
As always, we appreciate the minutes that we get few
but you know we'll go day to day as all
of these as we head towards the trade deadline, no
question about it.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
So much going on.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
Our buddy John Paul Morosi at John Morosi, leave the
h out because mom said so j O N M
O R O S.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
I catch him. Tomorrow's part of the showcase.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
The Red Sox are in Atlanta to face the Braves.
Look forward, have a great call, my friend. Look forward
to talking to you and catch it up with you
from the road.
Speaker 5 (38:28):
Sounds great.
Speaker 7 (38:29):
Mike and Ryan appreciate the conversation and again Ryan, welcome
to the Big ten, my friend, and it's great, great
to have you appreciate it.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Jason Smith
Show with Mike Carmon 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.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
With Mike Harmon at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or
stream us live every night on the iHeartRadio app by
searching FSR.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
This is the best of the Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Great Eggs, Welcome in a beautiful Tuesday night here Fox
Sports Radio Jason Smith Show with me Mike Carmon, No
Jason Smith. Tonight we go and we tap into the
mind of a man who's been around the NBA quite
some time, ten years as a player, now as an analyst.
We'll get his thoughts on the upcoming draft lottery, how
you build a roster, and what the hell's going on
(00:52):
with some of these teams that we're supposed to just
walk towards the NBA Finals. It's Ryan Hollins, my guy
at the Ryan Hollins on Twitter.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
What's going on, Buddy man, what's going on?
Speaker 5 (01:03):
Dude?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Shot out of a cannon? Watching? Uh? Well, another poorly
played game.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
At home, as we've seen so many times in these playoffs, Like,
all right, they're taking it back home and they'll get
things back because they've had a couple of big up. No. No,
the Philadelphia seventy six Ers, led by Joel Embiid and
Tyrese Maxi, say nah, not so fast, hold my beer.
We got this thing, and they roll to a pretty
(01:29):
easy victory. Some big, heroic block shots and chase downs
down the down the wire here Joel Embiid at times
looking like he's lumbering, but giving it the everything he
has on the court. Ryant allins, and as you did
for a decade in the NBA, you got to appreciate
the effort of the big man rumbling up and down
the court.
Speaker 6 (01:50):
Man Joel Embiid was excellent, and this was a game
that he took over. And you you were waiting for
this Embiid like performance, and obviously, you know the Sixers
took their time getting him back and getting him healthy.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
But guys, but all due respect, this wasn't supposed to happen.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Phil was supposed to be a walk for the Celtics.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
Hey man, listen, Philadelphia was not supposed to come in
and beat the Celtics in their house. This is a
team that a lot of people projected to be NBA
chance because they're depth and there they're three point shooting,
and because the inconsistencies of the Philadelphia seventy six ers.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
But Mike, am I not mistaken.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
This is starting to look like this sixer team that
everybody had envision when James Harden signed and went over
and said, man, you know this is the one two
Punch's the Kobe in shack that's talk to him alone.
They are starting to look like everything that we expected.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Well, I think a lot of it comes down to
and remember the betting odds before tonight was the Celtics
were eight to five to win it. Well, now we
kind of flipped things away and sixers plus two to
eighty now in terms of getting finals odds. But Tyrese
MAXI a huge factor in this one. As I mentioned,
(03:10):
Get gets his thirty points. In the prior three games,
he'd a mass forty total points while shooting thirty three
percent from the field.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So a huge effort here.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
And as you mentioned with the Sixers, and we talk
about it, Smith and I quite a bit of all right,
in its best form. This is what you expect, kind
of like what we've been doing with the Lakers for
quite a while. Well, if it breaks right this that
the other way, and every one of them has the
parenthetical if they stay healthy to it all. And with
the Sixers, that's been a lot of it. Tonight the Celtics.
(03:45):
Al Horford goes oh for seven, oh for seven for
three point range, giving you nothing. He Marcus Smart and White,
three members of your starting roster, go four for twenty
from the field. Brown takes till towards the end of
the game game to heat up, and the bench as
a non factor, which is supposed to be one of
the great advantages for the Celtics, particularly on the home court.
(04:07):
But for the Sixers, you got sixteen from Harris, you
had thirty three from Embiid with his seven rebounds, three assists,
the huge four block shots, thirty from maxi as he
goes six to twelve from three point range, and then
James Harden doesn't need to be big from the field,
just four of eight fundamentally sound basketball in his thirty
(04:28):
nine minutes, only two turnolders. That's always the stat I
want to look at for James Harden. First, how many
lazy passes did he make that caused problems going back
the other way? But would you ever think you'd have
Philly go up three to two in a series. James
Harden only took two to three point shots in a
game to get you there.
Speaker 6 (04:48):
I think that's the real value, as you mentioned it.
But this was a different performance from Harden. It's not
that he was scared to take the shots or he
was out of rhythm. I thought I watched Philly tonight.
It might correct me if I'm wrong. I thought they
were in a flow and a real.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Little more methodical to it.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Right here, he just if he had an open guy
just said all right, I'm just facilitating, didn't try to
force as we've seen him do in the past.
Speaker 6 (05:14):
Well, sometimes what happens in Philly. You get caught because
of his greatness. You get kint watching Embeid, you get
caught watching Harden. But they hadn't quite looked like a team.
And you talked about Maxie's development and his contribution to
the game and how he's he's come along.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
To me, that's that's the huge difference in this ball club.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
They're just playing basketball and it's not this standing and
watching And if you watch Tarbrek's Maxie, he gets the
ball and he pushes in transition and he goes and
he looks for buckets and it's not standing and saying,
oh okay, James, where are you, James.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
You take a shot, or oh okay, Joel, it's your turn.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
His development and many pointed to that and noted that
is the biggest difference in their ball club coming into
the season.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
It looks like he's ready right on time.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Yeah, he got Tobias Harris goes for sixteen and eleven,
giving you eleven big rebounds.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Nine on the defensive end. PJ.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Tucker also added seven rebounds. Everybody, every starter at least
plus ten in your plus minus column. But the maxim
thing is interesting because just taking some notes, right, we'll
watch game to game and there's that I'm going to
kill this possession type thing where he's on a roll. Right,
(06:28):
We've seen maybe the confidence or willingness because he's got
him beat, he's got James Harden at times, or maybe
he deferred today, it was none of that. It was
decisively even down the stretch where it's like, wow, he's
taking that shot. A little early in the shot clock
as they're winding this thing down. It's like, Nah, he's
at the top of the arc and he's feeling it.
(06:49):
So it's just another dagger towards the Celtics. And I
like that mentality that he was going to be assertive
and they were going in to not only win the game,
but see if they couldn't stomp out a little bit
of the will for the Celtics to finish this thing off.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
I like that you noted some of those shots were
early in the clock. That's where the Philadelphia seventy six
ers role players were hesitating. And with Maxie staying aggressive
taking those shots, you know, being in rhythm. That's the
biggest difference, because if I'm game planning for Philadelphia, I
don't want the other role players, those other guys to
(07:27):
step up and be aggressive. And Maxie, even more so
than Tobias Harris, who you kind of slayed it to
be that guy is staying aggressive with the basketball. And
like I said, they looked in the flow tonight, the
Celtics just never looked comfortable. It looked like they couldn't
find their offense and a lot of times their defense
turns into their offense and then they're free flowing into
(07:47):
their you know, driving kit game and they.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
Never got going.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
And then you look up and Joel Embiid the biggest nightmare,
and you will dive into PJ.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
Tucker. A little later in the show, PJ.
Speaker 6 (07:59):
Tucker gave the com confidence to Joel Embiid to go
out and beat Joel Embiid, And he looked like the
MVP tonight. He looked like the guy that we had
all been looking for in a monster game on the row.
So it's scary this team getting confident at the right
time or wrong time, depending on.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Your right, depending on which end you're on.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
There, we're broadcasting a lot from the Tirac dot com studios,
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up here in the Nightcap, We've got Phoenix, We've got
Denver again. Another series tied to to the kiss and
(08:41):
makeup thing between the owner and Jokic as he went
to the tunnel after warmups. That was all warm and
fuzzy as we get underway and Booker controls.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
But to go back to the Celtics for a minute.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Here Ron talking about the lack of continuity and flow
to this game.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
They shoot sub for this one.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
We talk and we'll get into it a lot as
we we look at the Lakers and the Warriors. Extensive
note in what I've sent to you, and Frostburg a
little random thoughts, rewatching it a little bit on the
treadmill this morning because I got to, you know, point
out that the road to swallow is on, because you
know you can't be you know, bloated and all sodium
(09:24):
filled like a normal radio host and what have been
for all these years? Ryan, I gotta get lean and
mean like you. But the idea that you didn't have
this flow, you didn't get the contributions from the bench.
Most of the twenty what is it, twenty two points
scored from the bench came in garbage time. After this
thing was decided, right, Prichard gets in and puts in
(09:47):
some a couple of buckets and whatever. But Brogden, who
had been a factor early on Grant Williams before he
had his face stomped by and Joel and beat a
couple of games ago. Those were a couple of guys
that were giving you some important minute and some contributions
that actually showed up in the box score. None of
that today. And if Al Horford's going to go oh
for seven for three, it just clogs everything else up.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
It does.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
But like I said, this is a team that was
focused on their defense getting their offense going, because they
can be inconsistent. You know, Jason Tatum, I thought he
played well tonight, but sometimes you know, I don't want
to say he doesn't show up. He just may not
get in rhythm. But this is a team, make no mistaken.
You know, Boston turned the corner when their defense started
turning into their offense, and they struggled to do that tonight.
(10:33):
You know, Philadelphia hit just enough shots to keep them
off ballot, to never let them get comfortable. And we
talk so much about pace being important. Philadelphia controlled the
pace here tonight hard and getting the ball up court
and getting the balls to his teammates, and Max he
pushing when he opportunistically needed to. But the pace favored Philadelphia,
(10:54):
and when you went on the road, that's important. So
you say, what's pace pace is taking shots when you
want to take them. Pace is defending and dictating what
the other team is going to do offensively. So it's
you controlling the basketball, and Philadelphia played at their pace,
and especially with Joel Embiid with you know that that
need not necessarily one hundred percent. You are not having
(11:16):
him run up and zip up and down the floor,
So that pace being controlled is a huge part also
of why the Sixers were able to take care of business.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Man, that's where we're at with all of this, right, everybody,
when Miyama is the sweepstakes. I just got to notice
a new trading card product coming out just in time
for the Draft lottery next week. The two that they
feature when Manyana, When Mayana and Caitlin Clark of Iowa
are going to be featured in this set. As you know,
(11:56):
collectors try to find the next great, great hope for
the squads, obviously Clark going back to Iowa for another year.
But for the NBA Draft Lottery, we have teams like
the Dallas Mavericks that said, oh, you know, let's keep
our possibly protected pick and ping pong balls for a
chance at greatness instead of a play in where well,
(12:19):
we maybe we get ousted very quickly.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And given the way the playoffs have.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Gone gone so far, Ryan like, Man, I gotta wonder
if there's ever been a quiet moment that any member
of the Mavericks said, damn it, we should have gone
for it.
Speaker 7 (12:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
No, listen, man, it's NBA teams are smarter than ever
and they see opportunities in the excitement with Victor wim
bin Yama and you know he's box office fan. He
really is that good, and you know he's the highest
prospect we've seen, honestly since Lebron James. And in today's NBA,
(12:56):
the excitement is. You know, before it was like, you
know you won, you wanted the next Michael Jordan. You
needed a Shaquille O'Neil, the biggest, strongest, you know, guy
that you can put on the floor. And today's NBA
you need the best basketball player. And with Victor size,
he has the ability to guard in space. He's long,
he's lean, he's athletic, and if he can be that
(13:19):
threat inside on the post as far as you know,
in the paint. That's the dangerous part about the league
and the way he's played the gay today and what
he brings to the table. So that's the excitement. And
I want to say for the draft lottery, this is
going to change organizations. Man, Like this is this is
(13:40):
really cool and you just hadn't seen this hype and
it's fun and honestly, this is going to change the
trajectory of a number of organizations. There may be some
organizations that may decide to trade out of their pick
or want to trade out because there's someone that they like.
And I think this is just really cool, and I
(14:00):
mean I arguably one of the more suspenseful lotteries in
a very long time.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Yeah, we talk about WEMBN Yama and the hype around it.
You know, we go back to twenty nineteen when we
had Zion Williamson and John Morant and RJ. Barrett, a
bunch of big names at the top of that draft.
And it's an EBB and flow. Right, you have one
or two guys most years that people get excited about
and maybe they're just a flash and then they become
(14:30):
a solid NBA player, and there's nothing wrong with that, right.
I can go back all those years to the Christian
Latner draft selection. Guy had a pretty good NBA career. Unfortunately,
he was coming out of college with so much hype,
the Dream Team inclusion, and then he gets drafted top three,
so the expectations are so sky high. How many other
(14:52):
players drafted top five went on to have nice careers,
but where they can you live up to the hype
when you're the number one, and that's all anybody's talking
about for months, no idea most of the time that
he really doesn't doesn't work. But for when Bin Yama,
he's the He's the guy in everybody's lips. Your Houston
Rockets expected to choose fairly early as well, given the
(15:14):
number of ping pong balls in ye old hopper. Do
you guys, do you have a wish list that you've
put up for the draft?
Speaker 6 (15:23):
You know what, I'm an a static for whoever the
team goes out and keeps done.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
That's good, very diplomatic. No, it's the thing with the
guy in the place.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
You don't have a choice, you know, And and I
just am a firm believer in what Houston's doing. I
love my Rockets, and you put your best foot forward,
you give yourself a chance, and you do things the
right way, and good things happen. And I really believe
that good things are going to be happening in Houston
that I have already seen, you know. So I think
whether it's Victor or it's not that the organization is
put themselves in a prime position to make amazing things happen.
(15:57):
And there's a lot of other talent in there, you know,
out outside of Victor.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Although don't make no mistake.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
No sure, if we're just turning a blind eye, he
is the generational talent that is there at leads to
the eye right now. And I've talked to a number
of scouts and front office members and media members who've
seen him and you know, watched him, and they believe
in Victor. You know, he's different, you know, and you
see his work ethic and his motor and you know,
(16:24):
we hadn't seen the league get behind a kid the
way they're they're championing win bin Yama already. I mean,
think about his games are on TV. You've been introduced
to him before he's actually played an NBA game, and
that's where those you know, Lebron James, those those LBJ
comparisons start coming from.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Well, it's always the thing I appreciate and want to
see from all the leagues. Get in there and sell, sell,
sell next. Right, why aren't there more draft specials in
the middle of your NBA coverage. Here's another halftime profile
on the top five expected picks. Although and we'll get
some of that next week, but the draft lottery will
(17:03):
come and go and we'll go right back into game
game analysis, right, and another second half of a game
like no, let's let's celebrate for the night and introduce
you know, the rest of the US that didn't necessarily
watch college buckets or when you've got a women Yama
coming from overseas. You've heard about it, maybe you've seen
(17:24):
a couple of highlight videos. Here's the opportunity to you know,
pull out the little stringed instruments and get the voiceovers
from some of those reporters that we love so much
on every network to give you the stories of who
they are, because come draft night now we're moving into
the next pick too quickly to do that. Get in
there and sell your next but for your Houston Rockets,
(17:45):
Jalen Green twenty two a game. Kevin Porter Junior, a
guy who's still only twenty two. Still, it seems like
he's been around quite a minute here. Perhaps I paid
attention to him earlier than I did others, But you
got to young squad and looking to add another big
piece here as we get ready for the draft, excitement abounds.
(18:07):
Ryan Hollins in for Jason Smith Mike Harmon. Were brought
to you by Progressive Insurance. Progressive makes bundling easy and affordable.
Get a multi policy discount by combining your motorcycle, RV, boat,
ATV and more all your production to one place. Bundle
and save at Progressive dot Com. Want to give him
a couple of minutes here. John Palmarosi gonna join us
talk about Major League Baseball. Where we're at lamentation for
(18:28):
the Mets. Thor left his start early for the Dodgers.
So all of those guys that were supposed to be
stalwarts for the Mets and just pitching staffs as a whole,
shows how quickly the worm turns. But in the NBA,
Ryan a lot made game to game about the officiating,
what's allowed, what's not illegal, screens was the battle cry
(18:49):
after the game from Steve Kerr. We saw Julius Randall
with four offensive fall, blocking blocker charge and standing in
for one late hoping you get a call. Tell my daughter,
you know, playing her club soccer work all the time.
It's like if you're going to go to the ground,
which she generally doesn't, she finds a way to stay
on her feet. Remember you go to the ground and
(19:11):
you don't get a call, that's a lot of wide
open space you're giving your opponent. Likewise in the NBA,
if you're going to try to stand in and create contact,
get it, get a charge and get that call goes
against Just suddenly the ebb and flow of a game
could change on a play like that, particularly if that
that becomes your second or third file early in a game.
(19:33):
So do you see it officiated much differently than it was,
say when you were playing, if we or or do
we just have too much scrutiny on the officials and
it's really not a lot of change more just that
we nitpick it all.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
No, it will. It's definitely a different game than when
I played it.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I'm not that old time, I know, but no, it's
it's a different game. There's three point shootings. There's not
a lot of teams that Carrie centers in their roster.
And I will say now from covering the league all
eighty two for Houston, it's very confusing between the block
and a charge. Those used to be clear cut, you know,
(20:12):
decisions and it there, there is and and they don't
even like to call him charge.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Player control fouls, yes, yes, so these are this is
such a defensive term.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
Now, well, what happens is sometimes a player is not
in position, but they're out of control. And because they're
out of control, now we have a player control foul.
So as far as the charge, sometimes there's a charge.
The guys squared up, you hit him, he was in position,
he went down, that's a charge. Player control is something different. Okay,
So that's where, uh, those terms actually do differ, and
(20:47):
that's where there's a there's maybe the confusion with some
of the uh you know, some of those calls.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
So player control is different.
Speaker 6 (20:55):
So you like to just describe them all as player control.
But you see a lot of guys I think moving
sliding up under guys and you know, not necessarily taking
it in the chest. And I think there's the there's
a lot of gray area. But the one thing I
trust in the NBA, they're gonna go this offseason and
clean it up. And what you're seeing now with the
discreption sheet is during the season, everything was called so tight,
(21:18):
so tight, so tight, and then all of a sudden
you're coming in and saying, uh, we're not calling anything.
The game is getting physical. The game there's a lot
of grabbing, there's a lot of holding. You know, playoff
basketball is completely different game than regular season basketball. I mean,
this is not even remotely close to being the same game.
And I think that's the challenge now that you're you know,
(21:41):
you got to look at and and and say, okay, well,
what's what's wrong. What's the difference here? It's a different game, man,
that that's what's going on. It's a different ballgame than
you're used to seeing.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
Ye.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
I think the hard part for to say, the the
casual observers. For us, I mean here in media like
to think we have a pretty good eye for what
we're seeing. But it's all all debate, right, and especially
when we're talking about the level of consistency, because we
do it with the NFL all the time, it's like, well,
in these down distant circumstances, you can't call that. I
(22:11):
go back to the Super Bowl the last couple of years,
go like, there's all these circumstances like, well, I mean,
with this much time on the clock, it's like, all right,
so if that was was called with six minutes left
in the second quarter, that doesn't potentially turn a game.
You're kidding me, right, I mean with the NBA, there's
enough possessions that you think a lot of times it's swallowed.
But down the stretch in the fourth quarter, you know
(22:33):
you're you're seeing some wrestling matches and you'll let it go.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I joked about it the other day.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Anthony Davis was going deep into the game with no
folsy when he got called for his first on television,
they laugh, They go, wow, considering all the defense he's
been playing, would you believe that's his first fall, as
if to mock the officials, because he was flying all
over the place, a lot of body in the lane, whatever,
and it's like, hey, there's there does seem to be
(23:00):
that level of consistency we see guys flying into the
camera wells with some regularity. Sometimes it gets called sometimes
it's just play on, and I think that's got to
be frustrating for players and coaches trying to figure out
where that line is, especially if a guy gets whistled
for a couple of quick ones, because now you've got
to change your whole tone and tenor of how you're
defending and playing in those circumstances.
Speaker 6 (23:22):
Yeah, no, it is different, and it's something that you
do have to go out to adjust too, so that,
I mean, that's just part of it.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
And I know, you know whenever I played in.
Speaker 6 (23:32):
The playoffs, you you adjust to it, you get used
to it, and you assume you're not going to get
the benefit of the doubt. But do you want to
be somebody that goes out and says, yeah, man, that
that that call that should have been made that didn't
get made is the reason why we lost. No, you
don't want to do that. You just go on and
play through it and you do a good job and
(23:53):
you work hard and you expect that you're not going
to get those calls, so that that's something that you
just do moving forward. So when you hear me talk about, hey,
what's the different between this team and that team, and
you'll say experience, even though a team may be more talented. So,
for instance, we talked about New York and Miami. What
does Miami have? They got experience, dude, and that experience
(24:14):
is showing, you know, in a game where you know
the Knicks really need to tie things up and go,
you know, get in there too too, they're not able
to do so because of experience. Why is Kyle Lawry
who's supposedly done and he's not the same Kyle Lowry?
Speaker 5 (24:28):
What's the difference? Experience?
Speaker 6 (24:29):
So that whistle is something that the veterans understand they're
going to see in a high presser situation like the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Part of the showcase coverage Boston Atlanta MLB Network. Tomorrow,
He's up late with us JP. Get ready for that
beauty sleeve?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
How you doing? Brother?
Speaker 7 (24:57):
I am out Stanley, gentlemen. One of the great time
the year. We've got the NBA Playoffs, the NHL Playoffs,
and I'm sure since now we can welcome Ryan to
the Big Ten, we could also have some some Big
Ten Bruins conversation at some point this evening.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Right, Yes, sir, look at that.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
He's all excited. He's like, Yeah, we're gonna be on
TV again. Sorry, Brian, I had to do that. Welcome
in JP.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Crazy couple of weeks here in Major League Baseball, so
many storylines that we're following. I'll ask the first question
for my absent partner, Surezers. Now to the IL and
questions abound. So much going on with that rotation. You're
there in Atlanta. What are the Mets going to be
able to do other than stopgap with prospects to try
(25:45):
to shore things up and chase down the brains.
Speaker 7 (25:48):
They're in a really difficult spot, Mike, and it's because
obviously we knew coming into this season they were heavily
leveraged toward veteran players, and it's actually veteran pitchers. And
the idea was that at least at the beginning of
the season that Verlander insures are would be fresh, that
(26:08):
they would have consistency out of the gate, and that
if they had to supplement with some starting pitching moves,
that the deadline are from within the organization, that those
reinforcements would arrive on schedule in the second half. Clearly
it's not working. And when you consider Mike just how
much money they're spending obviously for sures Er and for Verlander,
(26:31):
these are shorter term deals with huge dollars to where
you need to get that return immediately early on in
the year. And now you look at just how much
distance there is between the Braves and the Mets, and yes,
there's plenty of time left. But even as the Braves
today are dealing with the absence of Max free to
(26:52):
their ace has a forearm issue. That's keep them out
for a while. And Kyle writs already on the IL,
I just think the Brains have much better infrastructure to
weather this storm, whereas the Mets just seem like an
aging team that has no answer. Peede a. Lonso has
been brilliant, but the pitching has not been there, and
that explains why there is such a chasm for the Mets.
(27:15):
In between the Mets and the Braves right now in
the National League East, all right.
Speaker 6 (27:19):
You talk little brother, let's talk big brother now, Okay,
Aaron Judges pack there's a huge win, ten to five win. Okay,
are the Yankees trending in the right direction.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
Well, Ryan, they are, But here's the challenge for them.
They're playing in one of the best versions I have
ever seen of the best division in Major League Baseball,
that's the American League East. They're playing better, they've won
two in a row, and yet they're nine games out
of first place and they're still last in the American
(27:51):
League East. Obviously, there's a lot of baseball left. I
expect that we'll see at least three and very possibly
four playoff teams coming out of the American League East
this season, so there's plenty of time for them to
get back into this. But if we're looking at the
big picture here and asking ourselves, how vulnerable are the Rays,
(28:11):
how vulnerable are the Orioles, I'm not seeing it right now.
I see the Yankees still as being a significant step
below Tampa and Baltimore. And getting Aaron Judge back is huge,
but that just gets the Yankees lineup closer to par
as a group. They have just not hit enough. And Ryan,
(28:32):
my fear is that as much as I love watching
Aaron Judge hit, I'm a little worried about how often
other teams are gonna let him swing the bats, because
if he's the only player that you're really fearing right
now in the Yankee lineup, and Stanton is hurt and
Donaldson's hurt. There just hasn't been that lineup depth that
we typically see from the Yankees. I'm concerned, so thrill
(28:54):
to the Aaron back. He's one of the great ambassadors
in the games, a wonderful person that we all love
to watch play. But I'm just concerned about where this
Yankees lineup is trending. Big picture.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Now, he's on the down side of a three to
one game as we go to the bottom of the seven.
But show Aotani seven strikeouts and seven innings pitched to
night against the Houston Astros, and he's now surpassed Babe
Ruth for career strikeouts by a two way player. With
every strikeout and every big outing, how many more million
(29:24):
does it add a top six hundred million for whoever
brings him.
Speaker 7 (29:27):
In, Mike, It's it really is an extraordinary sum of
money that he's likely to get. I do think it's
going to be somewhere in the range of and I'm
just gonna pause and get this terminology out, about half
a billion dollars.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
That's pretty crazy, right line for.
Speaker 7 (29:44):
About half a billion dollars. And here's here's the issue though,
that I say this and I pause afterward to affix
the asterisk at the end of my statement, because whenever
we're I'm talking about a pitcher in his free agent year,
health is always the foremost line on that resume. And
(30:09):
we all, I don't care if you're an Angel fan
or not, we all for the good of the game,
for what a great ambassador he is, much like Aaron Judge,
we all want him to be healthy all season long.
And so I hope, I hope that he has a
fully healthy, dominant season in both disciplines, and that every
team comes out at the winter time and says, Okay,
(30:31):
let's all line up and offer our half a million
dollars to show a I hope that's where this is going.
There's a very good chance it is, but it all
hinges on his health, and as we know in sports,
health is the one thing that you can't really predict.
What I do know is this, if the Angels keep
playing good baseball, at least he can stay there through
the deadline. And as much as I would love to
(30:53):
be up all night for the whole month of July
covering breathless reports of where Otani's going to be traded.
I'll do it and we can talk every night in
the show because I love you, guys, But I really
think it's good for the game. If he ends the
year with the Angels, and free agency can arrive when
it arrives, that's all good. We need to see show
(31:15):
Hey and Trout playing meaningful games late in the season.
Speaker 6 (31:20):
And.
Speaker 7 (31:22):
Certainly if they make the playoffs or not, I leave
to them. But my near term wish as a baseball
person is that at the very least, we get to
the final week of the season, guys, late September early October,
and we're talking about show Hey and Trout trying to
make the playoffs together for the first time.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
All Right.
Speaker 6 (31:43):
We see the success that the WNBA is having with
the Aces. It's looking like the NBA's trending towards who's
gonna be the first team in Vegas? Am I seeing
this right? That the A's are gonna be in Vegas?
Are they kind of follow the Raiders? What's that there?
Speaker 7 (32:01):
Right? Ryan? It's a great point, and it's not a done,
done deal for certain yet we should make sure that
we're clarifying where where things stand. But you're you're reading
of this is correct that unless something falls apart, and
obviously it's that that that clause does a lot of
work when we're talking about franchises moving and Canadians being built.
(32:22):
But unless something falls apart, Plan A here is for
the for the Oakland Athletics to become the Las Vegas
Athletics or whatever nick nickname they're going to have they need, Ryan,
I think Vegas is going to be a tremendous major
league city for a variety of reasons. Number One, we've
seen already the Vegas Gold Mights have tremendous success in
(32:44):
the National Hockey League. We've obviously seen the Raiders have
success there too. But for me, it's about the grassroots
of the sport that they have a very well supported
Triple A team. We've seen Bryce Harper, We've seen Chris
Bryant come from Las Vegas arrived to the main leagues.
So I look at when we talk about relocation expansion,
(33:04):
what are the grassroots and are and what very importantly
is the corporate partnership. This is a transaction and a
move Ryan that I don't think could have happened ten
years ago, fifteen years ago, we just weren't there yet
in terms of the open marriage between professional sports and
(33:25):
the gambling industry, casinos, gaming, and it's just a different
world now, and I think it's very healthy that it
is a different world. And I'm excited to see where
we could just see the game grow because I'm done
being stuck in the past about where where the line
should be, what we should do if this grows the game,
and as long as it's all done legally from a
standpoint of sports gambling in baseball, I think it's something
(33:48):
that brings more people into the tent and grows the game,
and I'm all for it.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
JP now that we're a few days away from in
the rear view mirror, we had the Big Series in Mexico,
a lot of run scored, so that's excitement. But we're
talking about movement to Los Angeles, and we keep talking
expansion growth and where do we plant flags next for
Major League Baseball? What came out out of that, you know,
(34:12):
couple of games in Major League Baseball talking points, you know,
as you're hearing scuttle butt in response to the crowds
and to the action that was held.
Speaker 7 (34:23):
Huge success Micah, and I'm glad you mentioned it. Obviously
a lot of a lot of runs scoring. Yea, Honestly,
that is that is one of the reasons that we've
talked and certain Ryan knows well from the NBA and
all all the games the NBA has played all around
the world. It's an important thing to to be able
to grow your brand, to actually visit the countries that
matter to you and and that are that comprise the
(34:46):
identity of your sport. And so I think, first of all,
baseball has talked a lot about wanting to grow in Mexico.
I do think that the run totals are emblematic of
one of the competitive challenges that would exist if MLB
were to move a franchise there full time. This is
this is the cores field of Coors Field. This is
next level cores in terms of how the ball flies
(35:08):
and travels. And so I think that that would be
a challenge if there was a full time franchise base there.
But if you talk about growth market, that's going to
matter for the sport for a long time. We saw
the way that Team Mexico played at the World Baseball Classic.
We've seen already. I think more than a dozen Mexican
born players in the major leagues this season. It's an
(35:28):
important market for the game. And I love the reports
about the Dodgers potentially beginning the season next year in Korea.
I just think it's so important. I was actually having
a conversation earlier today, and this is a bit outside
of sports, but I think it's it's relevant here. The
power in being able to say to someone that you're
hoping will support your your team, or just or just
(35:49):
become your friend, to be honest with you. When you
can say, as Ryan can say when he's traveled and
played basketball around the world. When you can say I
have visited your country, I have spent time working in
your country. I have gotten to know the culture of
your country. It's just a very powerful statement. And I
think for baseball to do that and really put their
feet on the ground in different places just sends the
(36:10):
right message and opens up whole lot of opportunities.
Speaker 4 (36:12):
JP last one, real quick, look, the Central is a mess.
So we'll push them to the side. When your top
team just went to and eight in their last ten, right,
push past them. But for the West, right for our
people here in Los Angeles and the Padres now with
Tatis Junior back in full effact. Arizona intrigues me. Some
(36:33):
young players, Corbyn Carres having himself and nice.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
You can they hang around.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
Is this a team that I will see in the
second half still playing meaningful baseball.
Speaker 7 (36:42):
Yes, I believe they will, and for a couple of reasons.
Number one, the d Backs have gotten better. You've seen
the emergence. I think Rivera's had a really good year
for them. Guriel has had a really good year. Walker
as someone who I still think has a very productive
position over at first base. And to your point, Corbyn
Carrol would have dined player he is. They just called
up Dominic Fletcher. There's a lot to like about this team.
(37:04):
It's very young. But I also think in the big
picture here, the Dodgers are not necessarily as dominant as
they used to be. It has the feeling of a
different kind of year for them. I still think they
can win the division, and right now they're leading the division.
But this is not the juggernaut team of the latter
stages of the last decade. It's just the personnel is
(37:25):
different and so and the guys that are there are
a little bit older. They're gonna need guys like Autman
to really carry this team, I think for stretches of
the season, not for the whole year. They've got Mookie
and they've got Freddie, but he's going to have to
continue to be this productive rookie if the Dodgers are
going to find a way to hold off. To your point,
a young talented d Backs team that's playing with very
(37:49):
little pressure. Young talented teams with no pressure are dangerous,
and so the Dodgers I think have to be on
guard for the d Backs.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
Or this season.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Fantastic stuff.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
As always, we appreciate the minutes that we get few
but you know we'll go day to day as all
of these as we head towards the trade deadline, no
question about it.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
So much going on.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
Our buddy John Paul Morosi at John Morosi, leave the
h out because mom said so j O N M
O R O S.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
I catch him. Tomorrow's part of the showcase.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
The Red Sox are in Atlanta to face the Braves.
Look forward, have a great call, my friend. Look forward
to talking to you and catch it up with you
from the road.
Speaker 5 (38:28):
Sounds great.
Speaker 7 (38:29):
Mike and Ryan appreciate the conversation and again Ryan, welcome
to the Big ten, my friend, and it's great, great
to have you appreciate it.
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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