April 19, 2024 • 16 mins
Pat Brennan of Cincinnati.com joined us on ESPN1530 to discuss FC Cincinnati's two-game losing streak and whether his Philadelphia 76ers can win a game in their series against the New York Knicks.
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Follow on Twitter: @MoEgger
Email: mo@espn1530.com
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Follow on Twitter: @MoEgger
Email: mo@espn1530.com
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Before what is the esped Kerty,we remember iconic sports history and Jevan also
Brennan and Jones on Baseball this hour. FC Cincinnati is on the road tomorrow
against Atlanta, trying to snap atwo game losing streak, the first in
nearly two years. Pat Brennan coversFC Cincinnati for the Cincinnati Inquirer. You
(00:25):
can read him at Cincinnati dot comand follow him on x at P Brennan,
E and Q. It is goodto have you as always, Pat,
How are you well? Normally I'dsay it's a place to join you,
but current circumstances might dictate that Ifeel a little bit differently towards you
going into this particular weekend. Butgenerally I'm well, and I hope,
(00:47):
uh, I hope you're okay.I'm I'm doing great. I'm excited.
But you know, before we talkabout the things that might make this your
last appearance on this show, let'slet's talk about the soccer team, and
then you know, uh, doesthis team ask Luco to do too much
(01:10):
potentially, especially in crunch time?You know, like you said at C
Cincinnati has been uh, it's ona losing streak in the regular season for
the first time in almost two years. And I think, you know,
there were enough instances last year whereLuco would you know, just outright bail
this team out or do something incrediblyspecial that I do wonder sometimes if there's
(01:34):
a little hint of you know,sometimes when when they're passing the ball around
the opponent's penalty area, it lookslike a game of hot potato. They
all want to give it to Lucoand kind of like, here, you
know, m VP, you figureit out, which is kind of what
you want your MVP to you know, he can. I I agree with
(02:00):
that sentiment. I do feel likesometimes there's an air of, hey,
Luco, bail us out. Idon't know if they're asking him to do
it explicitly, but in one senseor another, I think the sentiment you're
describing that might be starting to creepin a little bit with this epsty Cincinnati
team. You know, it wouldremind me of like a like a Jalen
(02:21):
Brunson. But hold that thought,uh so, this is going to be
the third consecutive game without Roman Celentano. Now there are idiots like me who
go, you know, okay,fine, he's he's got to stop the
ball when it comes his way fromfrom from going into the goal, right
And and yeah, yes, that'sobviously a big part of it. But
my favorite thing to watch, andthis might make me a nerd, maybe
(02:44):
it speaks to my advancement, mymy continued advancement in in enjoying this sport.
I love to watch the goalkeeper andspecifically, you know, over the
last couple of years, Roman communicatewith, you know, the guys that
he's that he's playing with, withthe defenders, and and it looks like
he's you know, he looks likea quarterback calling plays. For lack of
a better way of putting it,how much from that standpoint has he been
(03:07):
missed beyond just stopping the ball fromhitting the back of the net. You
know, I think he really hasbeen missed. And well, that's a
great thing to watch, by theway, because it's not like a game
of baseball like we'd see down atGAVP tonight, you know, where it's
static and the main point of conflictor action is the pitcher, the batter,
(03:27):
the catcher and the umpire and it'sall kind of lined up perfectly for
you. There's a lot going onin soccer you could pick any number of
places on the field to pay attentionto something. I encourage people to do
that, and your observations of Romanare very apt. They have missed him.
He is the quarterback of the defense, and because FC Cincinnati likes to
(03:50):
defend in modern soccer, you reallydefend with all eleven players. You know,
your first defender is sometimes Aaron Bupenza, who's supposed to be all the
way up at the top scoring goals. But you know, he's really captaining
everyone to a large degree, andI think they have missed him. I
have written a lot about the strengthof FC Cincinnati's goalkeeping department. They have
(04:12):
a wonderful They have a really,really talented goalkeeping coach, one of the
best in North America, in PaulRodgers. But you know, there's a
big drop off from Roman. Idon't think it's heresy to state that,
you know, publicly. Evan Laurelstarted two games ago for FC Cincinnati.
He's kind of their third stringer,and the second stringer Alec Can he was
(04:36):
dealing with. It was a littletoo soon for him to come back for
that game because he himself had anoffseason procedure on his wrist, So the
timing was off, so they startthe third stringer. People really felt great
about that because Evan Laurew, thethird stringer, is quite a character and
he's well left amongst some of thehardcore fans. But there was a late
reaction play that he couldn't get downto the ball to save it, and
(04:58):
that's why the Red Bulls won thatgame to start this skid. You know,
maybe we're talking and thinking about fC Cincinnati a little bit differently if
that save is made and f heSincinnati ekes out a draw, or maybe
you know, they just we don'tknow how the game plays out if that
save gets made and Roman cille Antanawould have made that save, so and
then you know, you could certainlyargue that with Alec cam who started last
(05:20):
week against Montreal, some of thetiming was off just because he hadn't started
a game since a dead rubber gameafter they had clinched the regular season championship
last October. So yeah, theymissed Roman. It's a it's a big
loss. This this could I couldI could see this stretching until he gets
(05:40):
his timing back. I could seethis stretching out to be a four week
month long thing where they don't havehim, and they could look back at
the at the end of the seasonand say, hey, that was a
that was a crucial period for usand we really missed Roman. So,
uh, the sooner he gets backin net, the better. It's it's
never easy when you're without a keyguy like like like a Julius Randall.
But but hold on to that thought. So you wrote about, you know,
(06:05):
the two game losing skid, andand you know Pat Noonan has I
don't want to say he's downplayed it, but you don't get the sense,
at least publicly, that he's he'spanicking, or that he's you know,
things that his team is not asgood as perhaps he thought coming into the
season. He's looking for answers.If you are Pat noon and you're trying
to get this thing back on track, and you've got a list of stuff
(06:26):
that you're trying to correct in training, what's at the top of it,
maybe maybe confidence with some of theattacking players because they're just not seeing the
ball go in the back of thenet right now. That's really the thing
of it. They've defended really well, even though they've given up four goals
over the last two games. That'sa that's a little bit much for this
(06:46):
FC Cincinnati team as we've come toknow them over the last two years or
so. Yeah, they've given upseven seven goals over eight regular season games.
That's a pretty good return. Soand those guys don't have any margins
for er because this team isn't scoring. It really just comes down to one
(07:08):
goal game isn't gonna be enough everyweek. Even though f C Cincinnati was
great at eking out one goal winsa year ago, the reality is that
living that way with those thin marginsis going to come back to bite you
eventually. And I think you justyou know, whether it's it's uh Luco
who the kind of the underlying numberssay he's still producing or putting other guys
(07:31):
in a position to hammer the ballhome, and he You're You're getting what
you need out of your captain.But you have some guys who are kind
of chronically underperforming at this point.They're they're just not delivering the goals.
Guys like Corey Baird who they broughtin in the offseason, Aaron Bupenza,
who had a very busy offseason forkind of some of the wrong reasons,
and you worry about that with him, But yeah, this this team needs
(07:57):
confidence in front of goal, andright now you have a player and yu
Yah Kubo who has basically been aspot starter since pat Noon and came to
f C Cincinnati and kind of aSwiss army knife for this team. He's
a great player to have around becausehe can put him all over the place
and he knows exactly what the responsibilitiesare for every position. But he's your
(08:18):
leading scorer right now, and that'sjust not what this is supposed to look
like at all. I mean atall. Mo you like the production you're
getting from him, You're gonna needeveryone to chip in with goals at some
point. But it's just not supposedto play out this way for FC Cincinnati,
and if it continues like this,it won't be a successful season.
So Aaron Boupenza has got to getgoing. Corey Barrett's gotta get going.
(08:39):
We're about a quarter to the waythrough the season now, so it's not
there's enough of a sample size toshow, like, you know, there
could be some bigger problems here.But I think if this team can kind
of figure itself out in the attackingthird of the field, and maybe if
the book isn't out on them likesome people are saying, how to defend
(09:00):
them, you know they can beokay with this group of players they have
right now. And we'll see.There's still, you know, three quarters
of a season left, so it'svery early and this is a long winding
season. A lot for Pat Noonanto figure out. But you trust because
he was last year's MLS Coach ofthe Year, like cut Tom Thibodeaux,
(09:22):
two time NBA Coach of the Yearas a team in the playoffs, in
the playoffs this year as new yearbeloved seventy six ers get set to a
square off. Can you believe Pat? Thirty five years since our teams met
in the postseason. You might rememberthat the Knicks swept that series back in
nineteen eighty nine. Do you thinkthe odds are good for a repeat of
(09:46):
that three and a half decades later? I don't know, Mom, what
do you think? I don't thinkso at all. Well, I don't
think so at all. Yeah,honestly, man, I'd love to joke
with you. I think this isthis is I actually feel for it.
This This first round matchup sucks forthe Knicks, it sucks. Yes you're
(10:09):
getting I mean, look you are. I do subscribe to the the Bill
Parcells. You are what your recordsays you are, and the Sixers are
what the record says they are.But you know, it might it's one
of the rare cases where they aren't. They are more than the forty seven
wins they had in the regular season, only because they played so much of
the year without Joe Ellenbiid, who'sI think obviously the most important player in
(10:31):
the series, for better or forworse for the team I root for.
And yeah, I think they werethirty two and eight with him on the
floor this year. That's crazy,you know. So you've got a two
seed versus a seven seed on paper, but this is really the Sixers are
more of a probably fair in fairness, a a three four seed. So
(10:54):
for the Knicks to get that inthe first round, that like, this
is one of those first round serieswhere like both teams are essentially eliminated no
matter what the outcome is. Youknow, I could see it being like
that where the Knicks are just Ithink the Knicks will win and seven,
but this is gonna be like abruising first round series, and that's a
(11:18):
shame for what has been a prettyand I like the Knicks. We talked
about it. I think in thewinter. You know, it's a villain.
It's a Villanova alumni club essentially.And even though I'm not a big
Villanova guy as most people, somepeople in Philly aren't because they're more out
in the suburbs. And you know, and the Zigger teams I covered here
(11:39):
in Cincinnati were consistently frustrated by alot of those Villanova guys, Josh Hart
jailing. You know, I like, if I were I like the there
there's really good odds on the Sixersright now if you're a you know,
inclined to lay a wager on matters, I don't know. Well, look,
(12:03):
this has just been me talking.What do you think You've been talking
smack the whole show, So no, I well, in all honesty,
there's there's a reason why so manyof us were conflicted. For those who
don't know that the Knicks win theirlast game of the season, which that
combined with a Milwaukee loss, meansthey're the two seed. Yeah, which
yeah, yeah, and guarantee theywould play Philadelphia, but put them in
(12:24):
a position where they would play aseventy six ers team that if emb plays
most of the season, they're probablythe two, or if they lose,
they're the three. But you know, okay, if you get to the
second round, then you're not goingto have home court. And I admit
to being conflicted. Those of uswho love this particular Knicks team have loved
its competitiveness, and so you can'task, yeah, you know this team,
(12:45):
you love their competitiveness, and thenyou want them to lay down in
Game eighty two. That doesn't work. The idea is to get to the
finals, right, and so it'snot to win your first round series.
It's to get to the finals.But yeah, I mean for a two
seed, you're playing a Philly teamthat you know, again, if EMBD
plays most of the season and I'mnot talking about you know, days that
he takes off or whatever, butjust plays most of the season and doesn't
(13:07):
get hurt, they're probably very comfortablythe two seed and talked about as the
one team that could beat Boston.So it is a tough draw. I
think we're gonna know very early tomorrowbecause I didn't love what I saw from
Embiid the other night. He didn'tlook like this physical condition was great,
but he still made some plays inthe fourth quarter. He had the weird
(13:28):
three point play. Yeah, theydid what they did offensively because they because
Miami double teamed them, which theKnicks are gonna have to do at times
in this series. I just feellike if with three days between games we
get a better sense of his physicalconditioning for the better, that I think
that's scary. He's the best playerin the league went healthy, and if
he's healthy, he's the best playerin this series. If he's compromised,
(13:50):
then I mean, it's such anoversimplification. If it's Joe l embiid close
to one hundred percent for the majorityof the games in this series, Philly
wins, and it's something shy ofthat, then I liked the next chances.
Yeah. I don't know what kindof time we have left here,
MO, but I think I thinkjoel Is is compromised. He did tweak
(14:11):
the knee after he got back fromyou know, the long period away from
the team. Because of the knee, he tweaked it pretty quickly after he
got back, and he you knowthe fourth quarter that that playing game against
Miami the other night is really interestingbecause he did take it over and score
eleven points in the fourth quarter,you know, but eventually he he stands
(14:33):
up and he's counted for his presencein the game, and the Sixers get
to win. But that was afterthree quarters of being pretty anonymous. And
again, you know, if you'resomeone who likes to, you know,
make a wager, back up youryour fanaticism with with you know, cold
heart Cash not saying I am youknow that he was not in It was
(14:56):
not peak Joel Embiid until the fourthquarter. So I don't know. It's
a it's a it's a really toughseries. I think I think the Knicks
are deeper. Joel has to behealthy, like you said, uh,
And I think we'll know early whatthe situation is. I think I think
that. I yeah, I stillthink Nix and seven, but that's going
(15:22):
to be they will the winner ofthis series will look worse for the wear.
I think we could probably agree onthat one. All right, we'll
enjoy it. I'm sure if myteam wins, I'll bother you and if
not, I might go home.We could make it interesting too offline.
We could make it interesting offline,though, but we I'm in done.
(15:46):
We you know, we we weshare some of the same so it's weird.
That's where I was thinking, Okay, well we'll like it. We'll
see, all right, buddy,we're on the same We're on the same
page. Thank you as always enjoyedthe game. To rm Man, thanks
so much you to have fun withit. Bye, Mike. That's our
guy. Pat Brannan covering FC Cincinnatiand a Sixers fanatic. Thank you for
(16:07):
indulging us with some NBA talk becauseI love having pat on. He loves
his Sixers. I love my Knicks. But we you know, we gave
you the FC Cincinnati stuff too.We are as we always are, late
twenty three from five o'clock. Dowe have time, Tarin when we come
back to talk about one of myfavorite moments in TV sports history? Yes,
all right, we're gonna do thatnext on ESPN fifteen thirty
Before what is the esped Kerty,we remember iconic sports history and Jevan also
Brennan and Jones on Baseball this hour. FC Cincinnati is on the road tomorrow
against Atlanta, trying to snap atwo game losing streak, the first in
nearly two years. Pat Brennan coversFC Cincinnati for the Cincinnati Inquirer. You
(00:25):
can read him at Cincinnati dot comand follow him on x at P Brennan,
E and Q. It is goodto have you as always, Pat,
How are you well? Normally I'dsay it's a place to join you,
but current circumstances might dictate that Ifeel a little bit differently towards you
going into this particular weekend. Butgenerally I'm well, and I hope,
(00:47):
uh, I hope you're okay.I'm I'm doing great. I'm excited.
But you know, before we talkabout the things that might make this your
last appearance on this show, let'slet's talk about the soccer team, and
then you know, uh, doesthis team ask Luco to do too much
(01:10):
potentially, especially in crunch time?You know, like you said at C
Cincinnati has been uh, it's ona losing streak in the regular season for
the first time in almost two years. And I think, you know,
there were enough instances last year whereLuco would you know, just outright bail
this team out or do something incrediblyspecial that I do wonder sometimes if there's
(01:34):
a little hint of you know,sometimes when when they're passing the ball around
the opponent's penalty area, it lookslike a game of hot potato. They
all want to give it to Lucoand kind of like, here, you
know, m VP, you figureit out, which is kind of what
you want your MVP to you know, he can. I I agree with
(02:00):
that sentiment. I do feel likesometimes there's an air of, hey,
Luco, bail us out. Idon't know if they're asking him to do
it explicitly, but in one senseor another, I think the sentiment you're
describing that might be starting to creepin a little bit with this epsty Cincinnati
team. You know, it wouldremind me of like a like a Jalen
(02:21):
Brunson. But hold that thought,uh so, this is going to be
the third consecutive game without Roman Celentano. Now there are idiots like me who
go, you know, okay,fine, he's he's got to stop the
ball when it comes his way fromfrom from going into the goal, right
And and yeah, yes, that'sobviously a big part of it. But
my favorite thing to watch, andthis might make me a nerd, maybe
(02:44):
it speaks to my advancement, mymy continued advancement in in enjoying this sport.
I love to watch the goalkeeper andspecifically, you know, over the
last couple of years, Roman communicatewith, you know, the guys that
he's that he's playing with, withthe defenders, and and it looks like
he's you know, he looks likea quarterback calling plays. For lack of
a better way of putting it,how much from that standpoint has he been
(03:07):
missed beyond just stopping the ball fromhitting the back of the net. You
know, I think he really hasbeen missed. And well, that's a
great thing to watch, by theway, because it's not like a game
of baseball like we'd see down atGAVP tonight, you know, where it's
static and the main point of conflictor action is the pitcher, the batter,
(03:27):
the catcher and the umpire and it'sall kind of lined up perfectly for
you. There's a lot going onin soccer you could pick any number of
places on the field to pay attentionto something. I encourage people to do
that, and your observations of Romanare very apt. They have missed him.
He is the quarterback of the defense, and because FC Cincinnati likes to
(03:50):
defend in modern soccer, you reallydefend with all eleven players. You know,
your first defender is sometimes Aaron Bupenza, who's supposed to be all the
way up at the top scoring goals. But you know, he's really captaining
everyone to a large degree, andI think they have missed him. I
have written a lot about the strengthof FC Cincinnati's goalkeeping department. They have
(04:12):
a wonderful They have a really,really talented goalkeeping coach, one of the
best in North America, in PaulRodgers. But you know, there's a
big drop off from Roman. Idon't think it's heresy to state that,
you know, publicly. Evan Laurelstarted two games ago for FC Cincinnati.
He's kind of their third stringer,and the second stringer Alec Can he was
(04:36):
dealing with. It was a littletoo soon for him to come back for
that game because he himself had anoffseason procedure on his wrist, So the
timing was off, so they startthe third stringer. People really felt great
about that because Evan Laurew, thethird stringer, is quite a character and
he's well left amongst some of thehardcore fans. But there was a late
reaction play that he couldn't get downto the ball to save it, and
(04:58):
that's why the Red Bulls won thatgame to start this skid. You know,
maybe we're talking and thinking about fC Cincinnati a little bit differently if
that save is made and f heSincinnati ekes out a draw, or maybe
you know, they just we don'tknow how the game plays out if that
save gets made and Roman cille Antanawould have made that save, so and
then you know, you could certainlyargue that with Alec cam who started last
(05:20):
week against Montreal, some of thetiming was off just because he hadn't started
a game since a dead rubber gameafter they had clinched the regular season championship
last October. So yeah, theymissed Roman. It's a it's a big
loss. This this could I couldI could see this stretching until he gets
(05:40):
his timing back. I could seethis stretching out to be a four week
month long thing where they don't havehim, and they could look back at
the at the end of the seasonand say, hey, that was a
that was a crucial period for usand we really missed Roman. So,
uh, the sooner he gets backin net, the better. It's it's
never easy when you're without a keyguy like like like a Julius Randall.
But but hold on to that thought. So you wrote about, you know,
(06:05):
the two game losing skid, andand you know Pat Noonan has I
don't want to say he's downplayed it, but you don't get the sense,
at least publicly, that he's he'spanicking, or that he's you know,
things that his team is not asgood as perhaps he thought coming into the
season. He's looking for answers.If you are Pat noon and you're trying
to get this thing back on track, and you've got a list of stuff
(06:26):
that you're trying to correct in training, what's at the top of it,
maybe maybe confidence with some of theattacking players because they're just not seeing the
ball go in the back of thenet right now. That's really the thing
of it. They've defended really well, even though they've given up four goals
over the last two games. That'sa that's a little bit much for this
(06:46):
FC Cincinnati team as we've come toknow them over the last two years or
so. Yeah, they've given upseven seven goals over eight regular season games.
That's a pretty good return. Soand those guys don't have any margins
for er because this team isn't scoring. It really just comes down to one
(07:08):
goal game isn't gonna be enough everyweek. Even though f C Cincinnati was
great at eking out one goal winsa year ago, the reality is that
living that way with those thin marginsis going to come back to bite you
eventually. And I think you justyou know, whether it's it's uh Luco
who the kind of the underlying numberssay he's still producing or putting other guys
(07:31):
in a position to hammer the ballhome, and he You're You're getting what
you need out of your captain.But you have some guys who are kind
of chronically underperforming at this point.They're they're just not delivering the goals.
Guys like Corey Baird who they broughtin in the offseason, Aaron Bupenza,
who had a very busy offseason forkind of some of the wrong reasons,
and you worry about that with him, But yeah, this this team needs
(07:57):
confidence in front of goal, andright now you have a player and yu
Yah Kubo who has basically been aspot starter since pat Noon and came to
f C Cincinnati and kind of aSwiss army knife for this team. He's
a great player to have around becausehe can put him all over the place
and he knows exactly what the responsibilitiesare for every position. But he's your
(08:18):
leading scorer right now, and that'sjust not what this is supposed to look
like at all. I mean atall. Mo you like the production you're
getting from him, You're gonna needeveryone to chip in with goals at some
point. But it's just not supposedto play out this way for FC Cincinnati,
and if it continues like this,it won't be a successful season.
So Aaron Boupenza has got to getgoing. Corey Barrett's gotta get going.
(08:39):
We're about a quarter to the waythrough the season now, so it's not
there's enough of a sample size toshow, like, you know, there
could be some bigger problems here.But I think if this team can kind
of figure itself out in the attackingthird of the field, and maybe if
the book isn't out on them likesome people are saying, how to defend
(09:00):
them, you know they can beokay with this group of players they have
right now. And we'll see.There's still, you know, three quarters
of a season left, so it'svery early and this is a long winding
season. A lot for Pat Noonanto figure out. But you trust because
he was last year's MLS Coach ofthe Year, like cut Tom Thibodeaux,
(09:22):
two time NBA Coach of the Yearas a team in the playoffs, in
the playoffs this year as new yearbeloved seventy six ers get set to a
square off. Can you believe Pat? Thirty five years since our teams met
in the postseason. You might rememberthat the Knicks swept that series back in
nineteen eighty nine. Do you thinkthe odds are good for a repeat of
(09:46):
that three and a half decades later? I don't know, Mom, what
do you think? I don't thinkso at all. Well, I don't
think so at all. Yeah,honestly, man, I'd love to joke
with you. I think this isthis is I actually feel for it.
This This first round matchup sucks forthe Knicks, it sucks. Yes you're
(10:09):
getting I mean, look you are. I do subscribe to the the Bill
Parcells. You are what your recordsays you are, and the Sixers are
what the record says they are.But you know, it might it's one
of the rare cases where they aren't. They are more than the forty seven
wins they had in the regular season, only because they played so much of
the year without Joe Ellenbiid, who'sI think obviously the most important player in
(10:31):
the series, for better or forworse for the team I root for.
And yeah, I think they werethirty two and eight with him on the
floor this year. That's crazy,you know. So you've got a two
seed versus a seven seed on paper, but this is really the Sixers are
more of a probably fair in fairness, a a three four seed. So
(10:54):
for the Knicks to get that inthe first round, that like, this
is one of those first round serieswhere like both teams are essentially eliminated no
matter what the outcome is. Youknow, I could see it being like
that where the Knicks are just Ithink the Knicks will win and seven,
but this is gonna be like abruising first round series, and that's a
(11:18):
shame for what has been a prettyand I like the Knicks. We talked
about it. I think in thewinter. You know, it's a villain.
It's a Villanova alumni club essentially.And even though I'm not a big
Villanova guy as most people, somepeople in Philly aren't because they're more out
in the suburbs. And you know, and the Zigger teams I covered here
(11:39):
in Cincinnati were consistently frustrated by alot of those Villanova guys, Josh Hart
jailing. You know, I like, if I were I like the there
there's really good odds on the Sixersright now if you're a you know,
inclined to lay a wager on matters, I don't know. Well, look,
(12:03):
this has just been me talking.What do you think You've been talking
smack the whole show, So no, I well, in all honesty,
there's there's a reason why so manyof us were conflicted. For those who
don't know that the Knicks win theirlast game of the season, which that
combined with a Milwaukee loss, meansthey're the two seed. Yeah, which
yeah, yeah, and guarantee theywould play Philadelphia, but put them in
(12:24):
a position where they would play aseventy six ers team that if emb plays
most of the season, they're probablythe two, or if they lose,
they're the three. But you know, okay, if you get to the
second round, then you're not goingto have home court. And I admit
to being conflicted. Those of uswho love this particular Knicks team have loved
its competitiveness, and so you can'task, yeah, you know this team,
(12:45):
you love their competitiveness, and thenyou want them to lay down in
Game eighty two. That doesn't work. The idea is to get to the
finals, right, and so it'snot to win your first round series.
It's to get to the finals.But yeah, I mean for a two
seed, you're playing a Philly teamthat you know, again, if EMBD
plays most of the season and I'mnot talking about you know, days that
he takes off or whatever, butjust plays most of the season and doesn't
(13:07):
get hurt, they're probably very comfortablythe two seed and talked about as the
one team that could beat Boston.So it is a tough draw. I
think we're gonna know very early tomorrowbecause I didn't love what I saw from
Embiid the other night. He didn'tlook like this physical condition was great,
but he still made some plays inthe fourth quarter. He had the weird
(13:28):
three point play. Yeah, theydid what they did offensively because they because
Miami double teamed them, which theKnicks are gonna have to do at times
in this series. I just feellike if with three days between games we
get a better sense of his physicalconditioning for the better, that I think
that's scary. He's the best playerin the league went healthy, and if
he's healthy, he's the best playerin this series. If he's compromised,
(13:50):
then I mean, it's such anoversimplification. If it's Joe l embiid close
to one hundred percent for the majorityof the games in this series, Philly
wins, and it's something shy ofthat, then I liked the next chances.
Yeah. I don't know what kindof time we have left here,
MO, but I think I thinkjoel Is is compromised. He did tweak
(14:11):
the knee after he got back fromyou know, the long period away from
the team. Because of the knee, he tweaked it pretty quickly after he
got back, and he you knowthe fourth quarter that that playing game against
Miami the other night is really interestingbecause he did take it over and score
eleven points in the fourth quarter,you know, but eventually he he stands
(14:33):
up and he's counted for his presencein the game, and the Sixers get
to win. But that was afterthree quarters of being pretty anonymous. And
again, you know, if you'resomeone who likes to, you know,
make a wager, back up youryour fanaticism with with you know, cold
heart Cash not saying I am youknow that he was not in It was
(14:56):
not peak Joel Embiid until the fourthquarter. So I don't know. It's
a it's a it's a really toughseries. I think I think the Knicks
are deeper. Joel has to behealthy, like you said, uh,
And I think we'll know early whatthe situation is. I think I think
that. I yeah, I stillthink Nix and seven, but that's going
(15:22):
to be they will the winner ofthis series will look worse for the wear.
I think we could probably agree onthat one. All right, we'll
enjoy it. I'm sure if myteam wins, I'll bother you and if
not, I might go home.We could make it interesting too offline.
We could make it interesting offline,though, but we I'm in done.
(15:46):
We you know, we we weshare some of the same so it's weird.
That's where I was thinking, Okay, well we'll like it. We'll
see, all right, buddy,we're on the same We're on the same
page. Thank you as always enjoyedthe game. To rm Man, thanks
so much you to have fun withit. Bye, Mike. That's our
guy. Pat Brannan covering FC Cincinnatiand a Sixers fanatic. Thank you for
(16:07):
indulging us with some NBA talk becauseI love having pat on. He loves
his Sixers. I love my Knicks. But we you know, we gave
you the FC Cincinnati stuff too.We are as we always are, late
twenty three from five o'clock. Dowe have time, Tarin when we come
back to talk about one of myfavorite moments in TV sports history? Yes,
all right, we're gonna do thatnext on ESPN fifteen thirty
Mo Egger News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.