December 25, 2023 • 54 mins
Ho ho ho, sports fanatics! Anthony the "Ant-Man" Felli here, unwrapping a sack full of sports insights just in time for the holidays. Brush off the snow, grab some cocoa, and get ready to tackle the NFL's latest twists with me. We'll be examining the unexpected struggles of the Kansas City Chiefs and dissecting the Dallas Cowboys' playbook. Is Mike McCarthy's coaching style a gift or a lump of coal? It's a discussion that'll deck the halls of sports debate.
Shifting gears, the NBA's got a shiny new in-season tournament that's jingling all the way. I'll break down how these changes are keeping the league more riveting than a Christmas cliffhanger and why players might find an extra incentive under their trees. Don't change the channel when I discuss the highs and lows of the Orlando Magic's season and whether they'll be singing carols or facing a silent night come playoffs time.
And for the grand finale, I'll play Santa's helper, delivering bold predictions that could make or break your holiday spirits. We'll peek into the futures of the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, and other teams dancing on the playoff bubble. So, light up the fireplace and tune in to Beat the Clock Sports Talk, where sports insights and festive cheer go together like milk and cookies!
Find more from Beat the Clock by clicking the link below :
https://t.co/dp37RhqPU5
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Welcome to beat the clock, sports, talk, swing and
about Way back Fending in.
The blue jays have repeated asWorld Series champions Joe,
(00:24):
you'll never hit a bigger homerun in your life, six yards away
from Pontiac.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
The clock sports talk .
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Our test looking gets it a briar to put it up with a
buzzer.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Your host, anthony the Ant-Man belly.
What is up?
Everybody?
The Ant-Man is back.
Beat the clock sports talk isback.
A Very special Merry Christmasto all of you out there.
However you're listening,wherever you are listening from,
it's a pleasure to be back,coming through your speakers, in
(01:19):
your radio, through yourcomputer.
However, it is that you're herein the show, I'm happy to be
back, got some great news toshare with everybody, to Tell
you what's been up in the worldof beat the clock sports talk
and what direction we are goingto go in this relaunch.
Here's the scoop Beat the clockwill no longer live in the
(01:43):
universe of just the NBA andWNBA or just basketball in
general, although we will stillhave a lot of the same great
guests that you've come to be sofamiliar with.
We are going to branch out andwe are going to talk about all
the major power sports out there, as well as Anything that's
(02:04):
newsworthy or noteworthy in anyplace within the sports universe
.
So that's that's that.
Secondly, I'm committing toputting more content in video
form on YouTube for all of youout there that rather Watch or
look at somebody who's havingthe conversation as opposed to
just hearing it come throughyour speakers.
(02:26):
So here's what's been up.
Early in the year got a newjob's been great, absolutely
love it.
Love it just as much as I lovecreating content and putting
stuff out for all of you andtalking about all the things I
love About about the sportsworld with all of you.
Secondly, I moved.
I'm down here in South Texasnow, and so this one Episode
(02:50):
will not be on video becauseit's a quick release, it is a
Christmas special and it'sbasically just a a getting
reacquaint it type of episodeand so the studio is not set up.
But I promise as soon as thestudio is set up and we will get
content on video.
But but that's in progress.
Thirdly, I've been able tospend more time with my daughter
(03:14):
because of the move.
I've been coaching her in ingolf and in going on this golf
journey with her for the lastyear and a half as she Started
playing competitively in highschool.
It's been great Just to watchher develop and grow in the in
the game of golf and also matureas a young lady.
So shout out to Malia Lane Ilove you and it's been such a
(03:36):
great journey and such apleasure to be a part of this
with you as coach dad and as dad, and Even though I know that
you won't admit it, I know thatyou have enjoyed going through
the process as well, even withcoach dad.
So I love you and keep knockingit out the park girl.
(03:57):
So Surgery had a surgery, havemy tonsils taken out?
Why am I telling you this?
Well, because I don't know ifit's affected the way that I
talk, but I know that it gave mesome time to really think about
what direction I Want the showto go, and you'll notice in the
Intro that we have made somechanges to reflect when the show
(04:18):
is going to go.
Again, all sports, right, and Ihope that everybody can
appreciate the little montagethat I put in there, because
those are some of my favoritecalls in sports history.
So, got the tonsils taken outand I don't know how this is
gonna go.
I don't know how talking forperiods of time are going to be.
So, a little bit of grace,don't be afraid to Point it out,
(04:42):
and I certainly will point itout for myself as well, like
right now as I take a drink.
This episode will be raw anduncut.
As I prepare to do more videostuff, I don't want to get into
the, the perfection of things.
I don't want to.
I don't want to.
It doesn't need perfect.
I just want to haveconversation With all of you out
(05:02):
there listening.
So this one will be, this onewill be probably be uncut and
we'll probably do more uncutstuff in the future, going
forward.
So here we are Christmas Day,december 24th, 2023.
Man, this year has been a blur.
It's been a blur.
(05:22):
Sure, all of y'all have filledthat and I hope that All of
y'all have accomplished thethings that you've set out to
accomplish.
And those of you who might havefallen short, just keep
grinding.
Got a new year coming, movethose goals over to the next
year and keep grinding.
That's the most important thing.
The grind right.
We all have, we all have it, weall face it.
(05:43):
We all struggle.
We got to get out there andgrind.
Having said that, the firsttopic I want to get into today
the NFL baby.
Let's go.
So.
Monday night games not included.
Monday night games not included.
So if you listen to this, onTuesday after Christmas, I will
not have covered the Mondaynight games.
(06:03):
There's three of them.
I wasn't prepared, I didn't wantto wait, but we will talk a
little bit about what happenedon Christmas Eve and the Sunday
slate of games.
Saturday, again two terriblegames Pittsburgh and I'm sorry,
(06:25):
I mean Pittsburgh and Buffalo,and Pittsburgh and Buffalo and
Cincinnati, and I'm sorry,buffalo and Chargers sorry,
that's my fault and bangles inPittsburgh.
Not great games.
Not great games, not a wholelot of movement in the playoff
(06:49):
race.
We'll just take a look at theplayoff picture right now we
have we have the chiefs andthird currently, which is it's
something that that I Don'tthink anybody expected them to
have such a struggle.
They're nine and five, althoughthey are leading their their
(07:10):
division.
I think we all expected them tobe way up at the top, because
this is the dynasty, remember,but they are having a down year.
There's a lot of reasons forthat and and I'm looking forward
to getting more into it andkind of taking a deep dive into
the chiefs as we move forward atthe number two spot Right now
is the dolphins, who are 11-4and lead their division.
(07:32):
The dolphins who, man?
So we've seen this coming Eversince Mike McDaniel.
Can I just say Mike McDaniel isprobably the most genuine and
most entertaining coach in theNFL right now.
If you don't, if you don'tbelieve that or if you don't
agree with that, fight me,because there is.
There is nobody.
(07:52):
I look forward to hearing atthe podium post game, pre game
mid week, then then I do MikeMcDaniel.
I am constantly looking forMike McDaniel clips and I will
bring some of them on this showmoving forward, just some of the
classics and anything new thatmay pop up.
But this guy is a treasure andeverybody made fun of, including
(08:13):
myself.
Everybody made fun of him whenhe was hired.
Everybody made fun of him.
But to know the journey thatthis guy has been on and to see
what his personality really isand the fact that he really
knows how to get the best out ofthat team is, is a testament to
to coach Mike McDaniel.
It really has been awesome andhe is right now by far my
(08:36):
favorite coach in the entire NFL, maybe in the entirety of the
sports world.
To be honest, and and roundingit out at number one is the
first place, ravens.
Now, nobody expected the Ravensto be in one, I would say two,
three, best.
Of course, the dolphins were abit of a surprise because I had
(08:58):
them at like four or five, butthis Ravens team has been
incredible, although thequestion still lies.
We've seen this movie before.
Can they get it done in theplayoffs?
Can Lamar Jackson get it donein a playoffs now?
Lamar Jackson, this is ashealthy as he, as he's been the
(09:18):
last maybe three years At thispoint in the season, and so all
the trends are pointing up.
I feel like I can't trustanybody right now.
In the afc playoff picture,there is no set pick.
I feel like, with the Chiefsbeing down, the dolphins being a
(09:43):
surprise team but not reallyhaving a set identity yet I
think they're one year, twoyears away.
The Jaguars are frauds.
They're being exposed.
I think the problem is they'renot they're not a deep team, so
as they mount up injuries, theyjust don't have the the quality
depth to compete at a high level.
(10:04):
If the Ravens we're going to doit, it kind of feels like this
year has to be the year, doesn'tit?
Lamar Jackson's as healthy ashas ever been at this point of
the season.
Their offense is getting thejob done, they're consistent,
they're scoring points and theirdefense is one of the top in
(10:26):
the NFL.
It feels like if the Ravensdon't get it done this year,
then they need to considerblowing this team up.
And I haven't even talked aboutthe bills, yet you, because I
don't trust anybody.
This AFC Playoff picture isgoing to be a wild ride and I'm
(10:47):
here for it.
I'm happy to be in it, I'm gladto be covering it.
This AFC Playoff picture is ablurred mess right now.
It is abstract art For sportsfans, for true sports fans, it's
everything you want, becausethe parody in this side of the
league is going to be outrageous.
(11:09):
It's going to be outrageous.
Moving over to the NFC, not soabstract, it's pretty clear.
It's pretty clear.
Right now you have the Ninersat one, the Lions at two, eagles
at three, cowboys at five, theBucks my Bucks at four, but the
(11:37):
Bucks haven't clinched yet.
So what it looks like is theCowboys can't do any worse than
fifth.
They're going to be in.
The Bucks have an opportunityto get to three, depending on
what happens next week.
What a huge win in Jacksonville.
By the way, I don't want toturn this into a Homer, but deal
(11:57):
with it.
I mean, we're going to talk alittle bit about the Lakers
later.
Anybody out there listening, andanybody who knows me personally
, just knows that not only am Ipassionate about sports, but I'm
passionate about the teams thatI follow.
Like.
It has become clear to me thathow my teams do in the sports
(12:19):
world affects my everyday life,and there's many of us out there
who feel that way.
So I know that I'm not alone,and all of you out there who
feel like you're alone in that,trust me, you are not alone.
All right, so the Bucks are atnumber four.
There's a lot of things thatcan happen.
They haven't solidified thatyet.
Next week is going to be a hugeweek in the NFC for the rest of
(12:43):
the Playoff picture and I thinkthe AFC Playoff picture as well
will become more clear.
As a matter of fact, the billsright now not to jump back to
AFC on you, but just somethingthat's noteworthy is the bills
right now are currently sixth.
They're holding that lastPlayoff spot.
So, having said that, it isvery clear in the NFC and in the
(13:08):
entirety of the NFL that the49ers are the best team in the
NFL.
I mean, there's no arguing it,there's no denying it, it's very
clear.
Quick shout out to the DetroitLions the first NFC division
title in.
(13:29):
Was it NFC North Division titlein 30 years?
Shout out to them what afantastic football team.
I've enjoyed watching them, notonly because golf is my fantasy
quarterback most weeks.
But just I've never thought Iwould say I enjoy on a
week-to-week basis watching theDetroit Lions, and this year was
(13:50):
that year.
Shout out to my buddy, steve,he is a huge Detroit Lions fan
Y'all did it, y'all did it.
Y'all conquered the NFC Norththis year and it's been a long
time coming.
My brother and the Eagles arekind of on this downward spiral
right now.
A lot of they're just notplaying quality football.
I expect that to get bettergoing into these last couple of
(14:15):
weeks of the season.
What we've seen over the lastfew weeks I don't think is a
clear reflection of who thisteam really is, where usually
you say like teams will regressto the mean Hot teams at the
beginning will fall back as theschedule goes on and they become
(14:38):
more in tune with who theyreally are.
I don't think that's the casewith the Eagles.
I still think that this is aquality football team that in a
one game playoff eliminationscenario can go in and make a
lot of noise in that tournament.
But that brings me to the numberfive Dallas Cowboys and the
(14:58):
ladies from Locked In Sports arenot gonna enjoy me saying this,
but the Cowboys are absolutelyuntrustable.
Shannon Sharp said it bestthey're a good team, they look
good, everything about themmakes you wanna believe in them,
but you can't trust them.
You can't trust them, and lastnight was a clear indication of
(15:21):
that.
It was a clear indication ofthat.
Every time you think they'regonna get over the hump, they
lose to a quality football team.
Yeah, they beat the Eagles, butwe just got them saying that
the Eagles aren't.
This isn't reflective of whothey really are.
So did they really beat theEagles at their best?
I don't think so.
I think they have caught theEagles on this little slump and
(15:43):
took advantage of it.
So, sitting at five, I justdon't trust them.
I don't trust them.
I believe and you're hearing itright now I believe that the
Dallas Cowboys will end up beinga one playoff game and out team
again.
Again.
(16:07):
Here's what Mike McCarthy had tosay after the game yesterday
Hold on, it's not queuing.
We'll give it a minute to letthis queue.
For right now, I just wannapoint out that Dak Press guy is
probably having the best yearthat he's had in.
You know, since maybe year twoTurnovers way down.
(16:32):
He's not getting sacked as much.
The difference between DakPrescott this year and last year
is last year coming off the leginjury.
He you saw hesitation to usehis legs to get out of trouble,
to get first downs, to pick upnecessary yards.
This year Dak Dakota Prescotthas done everything that he can
do to keep this team.
(16:52):
This is not an indictment ofwhat Dak is or is not doing.
He is playing wonderfully.
The team, the coaching, theculture, the aura, whatever it
is with this Dallas Cowboys team.
That is the issue.
And here's what Mike McCarthyhad to say after yesterday's
game.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
The plays that were, you know were there.
You know we had some miscues.
I had a horse back up plan.
You know we were back up twiceand it didn't, you know, didn't
move the field position.
So you know we didn't help ourdefense there.
You know we had to take onegive away.
So I mean, it's those bigmistakes that you can't make in
these kind of games.
(17:33):
But you know, I think theresilience, the battle, the grit
that you're looking for, youknow, I think we clearly have
that.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
So basically, what he said was is that he thinks that
they're okay For all you Dallasfans out there, how are we
feeling about Mike McCarthy, isit?
Does it seem like the samething over and over again?
Does it seem like the samemovie?
When they win, everybody's on ahigh, but it wasn't ever really
(18:04):
Mike McCarthy that helped theteam win.
But when they lose, isn't itMike McCarthy's glaring coaching
errors that can be pointed to?
Yes, now coaches, coach andplayers gotta play, I get it.
I get it.
But to hear Mike McCarthyconstantly become apologetic at
(18:25):
the press conferences afterlosses and make excuses, but
when is enough enough?
Dallas Cowboy fans, when isenough enough?
I mean, we're talking aboutAmerica's team, we talk about
them boys, right, right, andthey cannot be trusted in the
playoffs.
They have won, won, and it's avery questionable, with an
(18:52):
asterisk quality win on thisseason.
I don't see them getting by thefirst round.
So I state my case again the49ers are the best team in
football.
They are clear favorites tocome out of the NFC, and I can
say that, trying to be asobjective as possible, even
(19:16):
though my heart clearly, clearlyhopes for a Bucks resurgence
and a hot Bucks team going intothe tournament.
I'm not going to fool myself.
I won't be disappointed if theBucks get to the second round
and lose.
If they get to the NFC titlegame and lose, I won't be
(19:39):
disappointed after the year thatthe Bucks have had if they go
one and done.
I'm at peace with that and thatallows me to clearly state,
with an objective point of view,that the 49ers are probably
going to represent the NFC andthe Super Bowl and they'll
probably win it Bar in any kindof major injury or setback to
(20:02):
this team.
They've got the best passrushing defense in the league.
They've got the best receivingcore in the league.
Brock Purdy is a clear MVPfavorite.
Mccaffrey is the best runningback in pro football.
He is the best all aroundfootball player in pro football.
(20:25):
They are stacked, plus thecoaching, even though I think
that Shanahan tries to be toosmart for his own good at times
and gets caught up in thesmartest guy in the room
mentality, because that's whereyou could beat them.
If you catch Shanahan trying tooutsmart or he just sometimes
(20:48):
outsmarts himself instead ofjust run the basic plays, stay
in the game, stay in the flow ofthe game and execute a game
plan.
You'll see him do these littlethings that are like head
scratchers.
Why, right there, kyle, you gotthe best team in football.
You can beat anybody justplaying football.
(21:09):
We don't need the gadgets orthe trickery or the
misdirections.
You don't need them.
They're fun when they workRight.
Come on, kyle.
All that being stated, that'swhy they're clear favorites.
They should be clear Super Bowlfavorites.
I don't know if the line is inVegas, but I'd be highly
(21:30):
surprised if they weren't clearfavorites in Vegas as well.
And again, I'm at peace withthat.
I'm at peace knowing that thisteam is probably going to kick
everybody's ass in the playoffsand win the Super Bowl.
I don't see anybody in the AFCright now that can beat them.
(21:50):
I really don't.
The four niners are the mostwell rounded team in football,
simple as that.
Staying on football, I just wantto make mention of this.
This is a sidebar.
It's time for Beat the Clock.
Who are you?
Sports Talk Player Spotlight.
(22:12):
This is the player spotlight, anew segment on the show where we
are going to highlight aperformance of a player in
whatever sport.
Maybe multiple players if it'swarranted, but this certainly is
Amari Freakin' Cooper.
Don't the Dallas Cowboys wishthat they had this Amari Cooper,
(22:35):
because Amari Cooper yesterdaywent 11 catches for 265 yards
and two touchdowns on 15 targets.
That's record setting.
I watched Amari Cooper makecatches yesterday that the late
great sorry, I said late great.
I don't want to imply that Ithink something happened to him.
I watched.
Let me restate that I watchedhim make catches that even the
(22:58):
Great Lins won would be proud of.
I mean, the footwork on thesidelines was amazing and any
old football head will know thatLin Swan made one of the most
incredible sideline catches everin the history of the game and
I think is seriously underrated,especially for that time when
(23:21):
athletes weren't the same asathletes today.
So for that catch Lin Swan madewas incredible to get both feet
in bounds and secure thefootball.
Very different game back then,I know, but even Lin Swan would
have to appreciate some of thesideline footwork that Amari
displayed yesterday.
It was an amazing performance.
(23:42):
I hope to see more because Ilike watching Amari succeed,
especially when the Cowboys arefalling flat.
And that's not to say that theydon't have received.
Cdlam went off yesterday as well.
I mean CDLAM.
Cdlam had like 30 fantasypoints in the first quarter of
(24:02):
the game yesterday.
Cdlam was not the problem.
Their inability to keep gettingCDLAM involved in the game
until the third late thirdquarter.
Fourth quarter was again anindictment of the coaching, the
game plan and probably some ofthe execution as well.
But Amari turned out.
(24:23):
He turned up and I love to seeit and I hope this continues for
Amari Cooper.
Shout out to the great AmariCooper.
Yesterday on his game Again, 11catches, 265 yards, two
touchdowns on 15 targets.
That is the player spotlight.
It's time for beat the clock.
Who are you Sports Talk?
(24:44):
Player Spotlight.
Moving on to the NBA, we areback in the world of basketball.
Okay, so yeah, this is arelaunch show.
I know it's not going to bevery meaty.
We're not going to have theinterviews, it's just going to
be me talking.
Hopefully it's engaging enoughto where you guys feel like you
(25:07):
want to respond and reply.
I just want to make mentionright now that you can do that
on all the social media.
Follow the show.
The links will be in the showdescription.
You can also catch me onbeattheclocksportstalkcom where
you can leave comments.
You can send emails.
You can join the email list andhit subscribe.
(25:30):
Click that follow button andthat little shiny bell.
That way you get notified whereall the new episodes drop and
you don't miss out on all theconversation.
That plug should have happenedat the beginning.
I acknowledge that, but I dowant to make mention of it
because this show only surviveswith all of your participation
(25:56):
and I am eager to have theseconversations with everybody out
there listening To the NBAleading up to Christmas, because
we won't talk about theChristmas matchups.
They're going to be greatmatchups.
We'll do that in the follow-upshow.
I do want to give my thoughts onprobably one of the biggest
(26:20):
newest events this NBA season.
You guessed it the end seasontournament.
Not because my Lakers won it.
I don't want to talk abouthanging a banner okay, although
I get it and my thoughts on thatare I believe that it was
something that the leaguemandated for anybody who won it,
(26:44):
because, again, let's be honest, they are just trying to create
momentum with this tournamentand they need the teams to show
that they believe it meanssomething, so that it means
something to all of us out therewatching, and so hanging a
banner is a way to do that.
(27:05):
Oh, there's a banner in there.
It's got to be important,because teams don't just hang
banner.
Well, most teams don't justhang banners for the sake of
hanging banners, and that's awin for the league All in all,
because I was skeptical aboutthis, here's why you do it in
season tournament in a leaguethat has never done anything
like this before.
(27:25):
Regular season games areimportant because you're always
jockeying for position in theplayoffs.
Well, they added two more spotsto the playoffs.
That worked Because we gotmeaningful basketball late in
seasons where teams were nowjockeying for nine and 10 and
seven and eight.
(27:46):
You weren't secure so itcreated a little tournament per
se I guess the easiest way todescribe it at the end of the
season.
So you've created two moreplayoffs spots.
It can minimize the first halfof the season where everybody's
just kind of trying to findtheir footing the first month.
(28:07):
Two months in, by Christmas time, you start to see the cream
rise in the league, which we'llget into a little bit later, and
then certainly after theall-star break the Lakers last
year were a huge example of thatyou turn it up teams that are
kind of teetering on that 11, 10, 12, nine every game kind of
(28:30):
becomes a playoff game.
From the all-star break on, theHabits of Lakers last year, who
still managed to get in, didwhat they needed to do in the
playoffs, got to the WesternConference Finals and ended up
being swept, and I believe,heavily because they've been
playing playoff basketball fortwo months, where the Denver
Nuggets had really only beenplaying playoff-level,
(28:53):
high-stress basketball for twoweeks.
That might be an understatement, but the example's the same,
the weight of it, I think, isthe same.
So now you have an in-seasontournament, so from the time the
season starts in October to twoweeks into December, so a month
(29:21):
and a half of basketball.
All of that matters.
Now we start seeingplayoff-type basketball, and
this is exactly what the leaguetried to pitch to all of us fans
was you're going to get moremeaningful basketball more often
earlier in the season.
Ok, I'm for that.
Check that box.
You're going to have teams thatdon't make it to the playoffs
(29:46):
start to experience what playoffbasketball feels like.
Ok, if it works, if you gethigh-intensity basketball, then
everything that you'repredicting the in-season
tournament games to feel like,then yes, check that box.
Those players, those teams,those fans will have something
more to root for earlier in theseason.
You're going to generate whatRevenue?
(30:08):
Revenue?
This is a huge money grab bythe league.
Come on, come on, we have to behonest about this.
My fear was that if you put anin-season championship then you
cheapen the actual NBAchampionship.
I don't know that that's trueanymore.
That was just my belief.
(30:29):
I don't know if it was evertrue to begin with.
It was just my belief Becausemy whole life of watching NBA
basketball being an NBA fan, itwas you played 82 games, you had
a playoff and then at the endof the playoff gauntlet you had
one championship and that teamdid everything they needed to do
(30:53):
.
Whether it be Fluky orParody-driven or Cinderella-like
, they still did what theyneeded to do.
And you had one champion.
That city got to hoist achampionship banner, that team
got to raise a championshiptrophy, or vice versa Raise a
trophy, raise a banner, hoist atrophy, whatever Same difference
(31:17):
.
So does it cheapen it?
I mean, I'll take the thoughtsand the comments, but that's
just where my head was.
But then, after it happenedagain not because the Lakers won
it just watching the games,seeing how they separated those
games from the rest of theregular season type games by
(31:38):
changing the floor, giving itsome purpose, giving it some
tangible differences, watchingthe energy of the players.
The players completely boughtin the incentive was certainly
nice, especially for low salaryplayers or deep bench type
players, as stated by the Lakerswhen they won it, especially
LeBron James and AD making it apoint to mention that they want
(32:01):
to make that money available forthe guys that don't get to get
on the bench, that don't havehigh salaries.
You know that's what greatleadership to think about those
guys and want to go out thereand play your best.
You don't need that money, butyou know there are guys on your
bench, on your team, on yourroster, that certainly could use
(32:23):
it and I think that trickleddown though we saw it from the
Lakers because they won it, butI believe that that feeling was
the same for all the teamsinvolved.
So it did exactly what theleague hoped it did.
It made basketball meaningfulearly in the year.
(32:45):
It gave teams an opportunity toplay high pressure, high stake
basketball when most of thesefranchises don't make it to the
playoffs and the players onthose rosters don't ever get to
experience that.
The fans don't get toexperience that.
Now that should be anindictment on how those teams
are ran, and we will do episodeswhere we could talk about
(33:09):
poorly ran franchises and all ofsports because they are out
there.
They are out there.
There are ownership groups onevery level of the sports world,
in every league, that don'tshow the interest or invest in
the teams that the way that theyneed to to make their team
(33:34):
relevant and to give their fans,who are paying those salaries,
who are putting and investingtheir own hard earned money for
lifetimes, through generations,into these franchises.
And there are just somefranchises that ownership is so
(33:55):
bad that they can't get out ofthe basement, they can't get out
of the cellar.
They are not taking strides toimprove, they are just
collecting money.
They are there and those NBAfans, those Major League
Baseball fans, those sports fansin general, are victims of this
kind of fraudulent activity theselling, you hope, and not
(34:20):
delivering.
So the NBA said well, we'regoing to give all these teams an
opportunity to play meaningfulbasketball.
Well, it worked.
And box number three was thebiggest for the league, because
interest and fan interest andplayer interest and commitment
(34:41):
and viewership and branding andall of that leads to one thing
and that's revenue.
And I believe that because ofthe buzz and the stir and the
raising of a banner and all ofthose things, the league made
revenue in the end seasontournament.
Like it, love it, hate it, areindifferent to it it is here to
stay.
It's here to stay.
The league accomplished what itset out to accomplish.
(35:06):
It sold the hope of meaningfulbasketball in the first two
months of the season, deliveredand then made.
They made a few bucks, and thatis an understatement, I'm sure.
So it's here to stay.
Those are my thoughts on it.
Kudos to the Lakers for winning.
(35:26):
That was nice.
They did what they needed to do.
They went 7-0.
Shout out to all the teams thatbattled and made it, you know,
with this European style, madeit through the group stages and
into the knockout rounds.
That's an accomplishment initself.
And now it's time to set thatbehind and go out and get the
(35:48):
thing that really matters, andthat's an NBA championship.
So to my Laker fans out thereand to the Lakers who may or may
not be listening enough's,enough with this.
You celebrate it.
You're Rosa Banner.
You went on a four-game losestreak, picked up a win the
other night, crucial win in OKC.
Let's go take Boston out onChristmas Day later on today and
(36:11):
let's get back to the mainfocus, the main goal of the
season.
That's to go get an NBA titleand that's it.
That's what I got to say aboutit Again, love the feedback,
love the comments.
Get on social media.
Let's talk about it Now.
Calling out all the frauds.
Calling out all the fraudsBecause we're at this turning
(36:36):
point.
We're at Christmas Day andAll-Star Break is right around
the corner.
Be here.
Before we know it, we got amonth of basketball before the
first half is done.
I know the half happens beforethe All-Star Break.
For all you keep in track, butfor most NBA fans, the All-Star
(37:00):
Break is the halfway point, thetrade deadline, and then you
have the second half.
So we'll just go with that.
But look, it's 82 games.
I didn't choose it.
Okay.
I mean, you have to havesomething that marks where
you're at in the season.
The All-Star Break and the tradedeadline for me and I think for
most, I think I'm not alone inthis is that's your marker Post.
(37:24):
Those two events is seriousbasketball.
You know, basically your topteams are your top teams.
I mean your teams 7, 8, 9, 10,11, and 12 usually are all
fighting playoff games.
Every game is a playoff game,every week is playoff basketball
and they're just trying to getin the tournament.
(37:45):
So that's meaningful basketballfrom the All-Star Break and the
trade deadline going out to theend of the season.
Don't fight me, excuse me.
You know the thing abouttalking a lot.
Okay, so, but as with all cases, there are frauds.
(38:10):
There are teams that got reallyhot at the beginning and I'm
going to tell you if I expectthem to return back to the mean
Okay.
And the first team on the listis the Orlando Magic.
The Orlando Magic are fourth inthe league in there and they
(38:34):
just had a football brain meldthere.
They're fourth in theirconference, the Eastern
Conference, and they'recurrently 17 and 11.
And it seems as though they arestarting to regress, as they've
won only four of their last 10and their latest win coming in
(39:00):
their last game, which I'm notsure when it was, so I'm not
going to say, but their streakis won, so they've basically
gone four and six in their last10.
They're fourth in the EasternConference.
By Orlando Magic standards overthe last few years, this is
fantastic.
I mean this is truly the OKCThunder, the Utah Jazz, but all
(39:27):
happening on the East Coast forOrlando, right, they've gone
through drafts, they'vedeveloped young players, they've
shipped young players out,they've tried to put some, you
know, some veteran leadership ontheir bench and these are the
(39:48):
results of that, and it takestime and for a franchise like
Orlando, you have time.
I mean, orlando hasn't beenrelevant I think I heard the
ladies on Lockton Sports mentionsince Dwight Howard and I would
even say they really haven'tbeen relevant since Anthony
Hardaway and Shaquille O'Nealthat championship level team.
(40:13):
From when was it 2009?
They lived and died by thethree point shot.
That's where the league was.
It was a little fluky and itreared its ugly head for them in
the finals when they shotatrociously from three and the
(40:36):
Lakers came out and beat them.
So I would say their relevancegoes even as far back as Anthony
Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal.
But this is a team that'sbuilding as a franchise that's
trying to do it right.
They didn't sell their soul fora championship.
Now They've built and developedin the draft.
They appear to be taking allthe steps in the right direction
(40:58):
.
They appear to not be afraid toacknowledge when they've made
drafting mistakes and ship youngplayers out for more picks or
more talent, and it'sculminating.
They are the fourth seed.
Do I anticipate them being thefourth seed at the end of the
season?
No, no, I don't, I don't.
(41:21):
I would say they're a play inteam, at best at the end of the
season.
That's where I see them at,because this youth, this
inexperience, it'll only go sofar.
They have a very good Nix teamthat's tricky, right behind them
at six.
You've got a Cavaliers team atseven that's battling some
(41:44):
injuries right now but might getsome.
You know, again, they got tochoose.
If they make some moves at thetrade deadline and beef their
team back up and want to make arun, they certainly can.
I think that they have theability to do that.
If they choose to sell DonovanMitchell's out.
That's my take.
If the Cavs choose to sell thisyear and don't make moves at
(42:06):
the trade deadline that areindicative of winning, donovan
Mitchell isn't going to stay,he's out, and it might be the
Cavs who sent him out inacknowledgement of hey, we are
going into a complete rebuild,we are selling out.
What a disappointment the Bullshave been, what a
(42:29):
disappointment the Nets havebeen after they got hot last
year.
So I easily see the Cavs canjump into the sixth spot.
I think the Nix and the Heatmove up to four and five.
I think that puts the magic atseven.
(42:49):
I think there are seven, 16 bythe end of the year.
We'll see, but you got it.
It's Christmas Day.
Everybody's going to referencethis.
It's on track now.
It's on tape.
It's recorded.
I think the Orlando Magic are a718 at the end of the season.
Moving on to the WesternConference, which is even more
(43:11):
intriguing because this teamcan't decide if it wants to be
an absolute dumpster fire or acontending team.
The Minnesota Timberwolves theMinnesota Timberwolves you want
to talk about a team that soldout.
They sold out for Rudy Gobert.
What was it like?
Five draft picks and a handfulof players between several teams
(43:35):
to get the Rudy Gobert tradedone?
And it didn't work out lastyear.
Chemistry problems or I'm notreally sure.
Rudy Gobert seems like the typeof guy who has trouble in the
locker room, and so maybe someof that is subsided now that
they've had some time in andthey've kind of figured it out.
(43:56):
Anthony Edwards can alwayscount on him to ball out and do
his thing.
But the Timberwolves are 22 and6 as it stands on Christmas Day
, and they are currently 8 and 2in their last 10.
Do I see the Timberwolves makinganything happen from here?
(44:16):
Do they stay at the top and I'mgoing to say no, although I
don't think that their fall fromgrace is going to be as bad as
the Orlando Magic.
I think the Timberwolves go to5.
I think the Timberwolves are a5 seed team by the end of the
year.
I think the Clippers drop outinto a play in.
(44:37):
I think the Mavericks can getto that 4 or 5 spot as well,
which means the Timberwolvescould fall to 6.
I like the Lakers to make a runand get back into the top 6.
And that's a little bias, but Ihave to.
(44:58):
As a Laker fan, as I bleedpurple and gold, I have to
project them high.
This team is capable.
I don't know what's going onwhere they've been, but they
showed in OKC.
They beat a very good OKC teamand this team is capable and
we'll see what they got againstBoston.
(45:19):
Let's see you want to be thebest.
You got to beat the best andright now the Boston Celtics are
one of the top three teams inthe NBA.
I don't know where the PowerRankings are currently.
I'd have to look that up, but Ibelieve I'd be remiss to think
that they were not number one atthis point.
I don't see the Warriors doingmuch.
(45:39):
I think they stay in the play-inscenario and the Suns?
The Suns who have been thebiggest disappointment, but
battling so many injuries, theycan't keep Bradley Beal on the
floor.
When they get Bradley Beal backon the floor, devon books out.
Kevin Durant's always hit ormiss.
They're all play when.
When each of them are on thefloor individually, they are all
playing great, but they haven'tplayed very many games together
(46:02):
, which is how this team wasbuilt.
They're not a very deepbasketball team and they are
completely reliant on two oftheir three stars being
available almost all the time,and it hasn't worked out.
In fact, they are three andseven in their last 10,
currently at the 11 spot, sothey are out of the playoff
(46:23):
picture currently at Christmas.
I don't think that stays thatway.
I think the Suns buckle downand they get back in this thing.
I see them as a nine or eightseed.
The rockets have been a hugesurprise.
They are currently at the eightseed.
I think they regress and theyend up at the 10 or 11 spot,
(46:44):
which puts them out at 11 and.
And the timber wolves, I think,sit comfortably in the playoff
picture, I think.
I think that, if anything, theydon't fall further than seven.
But I'll put them at.
I'll put them at five.
I'll put.
I'll put the Tim rules at fiveagain, a lot can happen.
Teams could get better in thetrade, teams get worse in the
(47:05):
trade.
Obviously, injuries and illnessand all of those things can Can
take place.
But as we stand right now,those are my picks.
So we talked a little bit aboutthe Sun's and their struggles.
There's a couple other teamsthat I think are struggling
teams, that that they can vastlyimprove their spot, maybe
(47:28):
through trade or maybe even justgetting some players back.
I don't see the grizzly stayingat 13 with job being back.
I think I think they make a runat that 10 spot in the second
half of the year.
I think that the jazz are a Verygood team, although there is
some conversations right nowthat they are looking to sell
Jordan, jordan Clarkson,apparently, is on the trading
(47:52):
block and Markinin is on thetrading block and, and so I
think the jazz are kind of atthis crossroad where, as you
would say in the, in the, inbaseball, around the trade
deadline, are we selling or arewe going to make a push, and it
looks right now the way that themedia is presenting this is
(48:14):
that the jazz might be ready tosell Danny Angel's huge on draft
picks, so he might be lookingto stock up on some more draft
pick draft capital to be able tomake moves this offseason.
So we'll see.
I think this year's tradedeadline is going to be a lot of
fun.
And and then in the EasternConference, I would say that the
(48:38):
Raptors at sitting at 12 rightnow might be the best bet.
If I were to pick a team that's, that's, that's been really low
, who's been underachievingbased on where I would have put
them at this point in the season, I think that they are very
capable of making a run.
And the Hawks at number 11again, do they sell?
(49:01):
I see the Hawks selling.
So I think they dropped out andI think that I think that that
puts.
I think that paves the road forthe Raptors to try to get that
10 spot.
The bulls are Dumpster fire.
I think they drop it out.
So, especially if they tradeLevine, if they trade the Rosen
(49:22):
and and and Caruso as well,which seems to be a package that
they're shopping, I see theRaptors, they're there there, a
few healthy players and a couplemoves at the trade deadline
away to get that 10, 9 spot.
I think if I was going to pickan underachieving team to make a
run in the Eastern Conference,it would be the Raptors.
(49:43):
I Like the Raptors to do thatby the end of the season.
I think the Raptors will holdthat 10 spot and that's it.
That's it I also want to.
I also want to point out beforebefore we, before we close this
out, that many of you know thatmy little teaser with the Lakers
I believe purple and gold, asstated earlier, and I just want
(50:06):
you to know that, in spite ofthat, all Of my Laker takes need
to be taken with someseriousness.
They need to be taken With someauthority on the matter.
And here's why because I'm adiehard fan and I have these
conversations in my head where,if I was the GM, if I was, you
(50:29):
know, if I was able to talk toRapalink, if I was able to have
a conversation with Genie, if Iwas Darwin ham, what line of
sweat have?
And all of you out there, youprobably, probably do this with
your own teams.
I get it.
So, again, I Would take youropinion seriously as a diehard
fan of whatever team andwhatever sport.
If you had input like that andI'm not just speaking out of my
(50:50):
ass, they are educated Takes andopinions on what the team
should do and what direction theteam might go.
I will be honest and asobjective as I possibly can.
But everybody knows where myheart lies and so I say that
with a lot of with with, withsome self defecating tone,
(51:11):
acknowledging that that I'm ahuge homer when it comes to the
Lakers.
But but also, you know,speaking as a true fan of the
sport, I will be as genuine aspossible, I'll be as realistic
as possible and when my takesare outlandish and crazy, I will
acknowledge that so thatthere's no confusion as to where
or what I really think or wheremy head really lies in the
(51:34):
grand scheme of things.
But I think through all thesports the Braves when we talk
baseball, the Bucks when we'retalking football and the Lakers
when we're talking basketball.
We'll talk some hockey here andthere.
Like I said, hockey and boxing Idon't know where the two sports
really what.
The lines are kind of blurred.
Sometimes they're the same,Especially from the hockey
standpoint, when you know youcould say I went to a boxing
(51:57):
match in a hockey game, brokeout.
But I'm a Ducks fan and I'm ahuge Los Angeles homer because
that is where I'm from.
That is my home in my heart.
I will represent Los Angeles tothe best of my ability.
You even hear me cheer on theDodgers from time to time,
because as long as the Bravesaren't involved or can't be
(52:17):
their, their season can't bechallenged.
For it, I will root for thehome team, it in the Dodgers.
Huge news out of LA, by the way,getting a Tony and and the
other Japanese cat which I'm notgonna try to butcher his name
right now and I do not have itup in front of me but they have
spent over a billion dollars inpayroll just this offseason
between three players, the twoJapanese standouts and Glasgow
(52:40):
and, and they're looking to dobig things now.
That is just on paper.
They should.
They should be clear favoriteson paper to start the season as
we head into spring in April.
But but the Braves will alwaysbe my favorite personally and
Even though the mountain isgoing to be tough to climb and
come in off of such a great yearwith such a huge disappointment
(53:02):
, the Braves are looking to dodo big things as well and the
Dodgers are completely relianton performance, because names
are the name on the back of thejersey only gets you so far, and
that again, we, again sportsfans, know this, and and that's
just my thoughts on it.
So so I got off track a littlebit because I want to throw some
baseball thoughts in there, butbut the the point I'm trying to
(53:23):
make is I will show bias to theteams that I enjoy, that I am a
fan of, but I would say that ICommit to doing my best to be as
realistic and as Objective as Ipossibly can, and all my takes
and that's why you should takemy take seriously when it comes
(53:47):
to me talking about my ownfavorite teams.
Okay, got that off my chest.
Got that off my chest.
It's Christmas Day, everybody.
Merry Christmas to everybody.
If you're listening to thisepisode on Tuesday and and any
day after that, I hope you had agreat Christmas.
I hope I hope everybody stayedsafe and you were able to enjoy
your families and eat some goodfood.
(54:07):
Hope you got everything youwish for.
Hope you, in the processsetting all your new year's
goals and rolling over the thegoals that are still in progress
from the year before, and andand and.
Stay tuned, stay tuned.
Hit that like button, hit thatsubscribe button.
That way you get Notified everytime a new episode drops.
Beat, the clock is back.
I am the ant man and let's gointo the new year, 2024.
(54:32):
I'm looking forward to hangingout with all of you.
That is it for today and P-C.
And yeah, cool video guys.
Okay, love you guys, and smallChristmas tree day Peace.
Welcome to beat the clock, sports, talk, swing and
about Way back Fending in.
The blue jays have repeated asWorld Series champions Joe,
(00:24):
you'll never hit a bigger homerun in your life, six yards away
from Pontiac.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
The clock sports talk .
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Our test looking gets it a briar to put it up with a
buzzer.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Your host, anthony the Ant-Man belly.
What is up?
Everybody?
The Ant-Man is back.
Beat the clock sports talk isback.
A Very special Merry Christmasto all of you out there.
However you're listening,wherever you are listening from,
it's a pleasure to be back,coming through your speakers, in
(01:19):
your radio, through yourcomputer.
However, it is that you're herein the show, I'm happy to be
back, got some great news toshare with everybody, to Tell
you what's been up in the worldof beat the clock sports talk
and what direction we are goingto go in this relaunch.
Here's the scoop Beat the clockwill no longer live in the
(01:43):
universe of just the NBA andWNBA or just basketball in
general, although we will stillhave a lot of the same great
guests that you've come to be sofamiliar with.
We are going to branch out andwe are going to talk about all
the major power sports out there, as well as Anything that's
(02:04):
newsworthy or noteworthy in anyplace within the sports universe
.
So that's that's that.
Secondly, I'm committing toputting more content in video
form on YouTube for all of youout there that rather Watch or
look at somebody who's havingthe conversation as opposed to
just hearing it come throughyour speakers.
(02:26):
So here's what's been up.
Early in the year got a newjob's been great, absolutely
love it.
Love it just as much as I lovecreating content and putting
stuff out for all of you andtalking about all the things I
love About about the sportsworld with all of you.
Secondly, I moved.
I'm down here in South Texasnow, and so this one Episode
(02:50):
will not be on video becauseit's a quick release, it is a
Christmas special and it'sbasically just a a getting
reacquaint it type of episodeand so the studio is not set up.
But I promise as soon as thestudio is set up and we will get
content on video.
But but that's in progress.
Thirdly, I've been able tospend more time with my daughter
(03:14):
because of the move.
I've been coaching her in ingolf and in going on this golf
journey with her for the lastyear and a half as she Started
playing competitively in highschool.
It's been great Just to watchher develop and grow in the in
the game of golf and also matureas a young lady.
So shout out to Malia Lane Ilove you and it's been such a
(03:36):
great journey and such apleasure to be a part of this
with you as coach dad and as dad, and Even though I know that
you won't admit it, I know thatyou have enjoyed going through
the process as well, even withcoach dad.
So I love you and keep knockingit out the park girl.
(03:57):
So Surgery had a surgery, havemy tonsils taken out?
Why am I telling you this?
Well, because I don't know ifit's affected the way that I
talk, but I know that it gave mesome time to really think about
what direction I Want the showto go, and you'll notice in the
Intro that we have made somechanges to reflect when the show
(04:18):
is going to go.
Again, all sports, right, and Ihope that everybody can
appreciate the little montagethat I put in there, because
those are some of my favoritecalls in sports history.
So, got the tonsils taken outand I don't know how this is
gonna go.
I don't know how talking forperiods of time are going to be.
So, a little bit of grace,don't be afraid to Point it out,
(04:42):
and I certainly will point itout for myself as well, like
right now as I take a drink.
This episode will be raw anduncut.
As I prepare to do more videostuff, I don't want to get into
the, the perfection of things.
I don't want to.
I don't want to.
It doesn't need perfect.
I just want to haveconversation With all of you out
(05:02):
there listening.
So this one will be, this onewill be probably be uncut and
we'll probably do more uncutstuff in the future, going
forward.
So here we are Christmas Day,december 24th, 2023.
Man, this year has been a blur.
It's been a blur.
(05:22):
Sure, all of y'all have filledthat and I hope that All of
y'all have accomplished thethings that you've set out to
accomplish.
And those of you who might havefallen short, just keep
grinding.
Got a new year coming, movethose goals over to the next
year and keep grinding.
That's the most important thing.
The grind right.
We all have, we all have it, weall face it.
(05:43):
We all struggle.
We got to get out there andgrind.
Having said that, the firsttopic I want to get into today
the NFL baby.
Let's go.
So.
Monday night games not included.
Monday night games not included.
So if you listen to this, onTuesday after Christmas, I will
not have covered the Mondaynight games.
(06:03):
There's three of them.
I wasn't prepared, I didn't wantto wait, but we will talk a
little bit about what happenedon Christmas Eve and the Sunday
slate of games.
Saturday, again two terriblegames Pittsburgh and I'm sorry,
(06:25):
I mean Pittsburgh and Buffalo,and Pittsburgh and Buffalo and
Cincinnati, and I'm sorry,buffalo and Chargers sorry,
that's my fault and bangles inPittsburgh.
Not great games.
Not great games, not a wholelot of movement in the playoff
(06:49):
race.
We'll just take a look at theplayoff picture right now we
have we have the chiefs andthird currently, which is it's
something that that I Don'tthink anybody expected them to
have such a struggle.
They're nine and five, althoughthey are leading their their
(07:10):
division.
I think we all expected them tobe way up at the top, because
this is the dynasty, remember,but they are having a down year.
There's a lot of reasons forthat and and I'm looking forward
to getting more into it andkind of taking a deep dive into
the chiefs as we move forward atthe number two spot Right now
is the dolphins, who are 11-4and lead their division.
(07:32):
The dolphins who, man?
So we've seen this coming Eversince Mike McDaniel.
Can I just say Mike McDaniel isprobably the most genuine and
most entertaining coach in theNFL right now.
If you don't, if you don'tbelieve that or if you don't
agree with that, fight me,because there is.
There is nobody.
(07:52):
I look forward to hearing atthe podium post game, pre game
mid week, then then I do MikeMcDaniel.
I am constantly looking forMike McDaniel clips and I will
bring some of them on this showmoving forward, just some of the
classics and anything new thatmay pop up.
But this guy is a treasure andeverybody made fun of, including
(08:13):
myself.
Everybody made fun of him whenhe was hired.
Everybody made fun of him.
But to know the journey thatthis guy has been on and to see
what his personality really isand the fact that he really
knows how to get the best out ofthat team is, is a testament to
to coach Mike McDaniel.
It really has been awesome andhe is right now by far my
(08:36):
favorite coach in the entire NFL, maybe in the entirety of the
sports world.
To be honest, and and roundingit out at number one is the
first place, ravens.
Now, nobody expected the Ravensto be in one, I would say two,
three, best.
Of course, the dolphins were abit of a surprise because I had
(08:58):
them at like four or five, butthis Ravens team has been
incredible, although thequestion still lies.
We've seen this movie before.
Can they get it done in theplayoffs?
Can Lamar Jackson get it donein a playoffs now?
Lamar Jackson, this is ashealthy as he, as he's been the
(09:18):
last maybe three years At thispoint in the season, and so all
the trends are pointing up.
I feel like I can't trustanybody right now.
In the afc playoff picture,there is no set pick.
I feel like, with the Chiefsbeing down, the dolphins being a
(09:43):
surprise team but not reallyhaving a set identity yet I
think they're one year, twoyears away.
The Jaguars are frauds.
They're being exposed.
I think the problem is they'renot they're not a deep team, so
as they mount up injuries, theyjust don't have the the quality
depth to compete at a high level.
(10:04):
If the Ravens we're going to doit, it kind of feels like this
year has to be the year, doesn'tit?
Lamar Jackson's as healthy ashas ever been at this point of
the season.
Their offense is getting thejob done, they're consistent,
they're scoring points and theirdefense is one of the top in
(10:26):
the NFL.
It feels like if the Ravensdon't get it done this year,
then they need to considerblowing this team up.
And I haven't even talked aboutthe bills, yet you, because I
don't trust anybody.
This AFC Playoff picture isgoing to be a wild ride and I'm
(10:47):
here for it.
I'm happy to be in it, I'm gladto be covering it.
This AFC Playoff picture is ablurred mess right now.
It is abstract art For sportsfans, for true sports fans, it's
everything you want, becausethe parody in this side of the
league is going to be outrageous.
(11:09):
It's going to be outrageous.
Moving over to the NFC, not soabstract, it's pretty clear.
It's pretty clear.
Right now you have the Ninersat one, the Lions at two, eagles
at three, cowboys at five, theBucks my Bucks at four, but the
(11:37):
Bucks haven't clinched yet.
So what it looks like is theCowboys can't do any worse than
fifth.
They're going to be in.
The Bucks have an opportunityto get to three, depending on
what happens next week.
What a huge win in Jacksonville.
By the way, I don't want toturn this into a Homer, but deal
(11:57):
with it.
I mean, we're going to talk alittle bit about the Lakers
later.
Anybody out there listening, andanybody who knows me personally
, just knows that not only am Ipassionate about sports, but I'm
passionate about the teams thatI follow.
Like.
It has become clear to me thathow my teams do in the sports
(12:19):
world affects my everyday life,and there's many of us out there
who feel that way.
So I know that I'm not alone,and all of you out there who
feel like you're alone in that,trust me, you are not alone.
All right, so the Bucks are atnumber four.
There's a lot of things thatcan happen.
They haven't solidified thatyet.
Next week is going to be a hugeweek in the NFC for the rest of
(12:43):
the Playoff picture and I thinkthe AFC Playoff picture as well
will become more clear.
As a matter of fact, the billsright now not to jump back to
AFC on you, but just somethingthat's noteworthy is the bills
right now are currently sixth.
They're holding that lastPlayoff spot.
So, having said that, it isvery clear in the NFC and in the
(13:08):
entirety of the NFL that the49ers are the best team in the
NFL.
I mean, there's no arguing it,there's no denying it, it's very
clear.
Quick shout out to the DetroitLions the first NFC division
title in.
(13:29):
Was it NFC North Division titlein 30 years?
Shout out to them what afantastic football team.
I've enjoyed watching them, notonly because golf is my fantasy
quarterback most weeks.
But just I've never thought Iwould say I enjoy on a
week-to-week basis watching theDetroit Lions, and this year was
(13:50):
that year.
Shout out to my buddy, steve,he is a huge Detroit Lions fan
Y'all did it, y'all did it.
Y'all conquered the NFC Norththis year and it's been a long
time coming.
My brother and the Eagles arekind of on this downward spiral
right now.
A lot of they're just notplaying quality football.
I expect that to get bettergoing into these last couple of
(14:15):
weeks of the season.
What we've seen over the lastfew weeks I don't think is a
clear reflection of who thisteam really is, where usually
you say like teams will regressto the mean Hot teams at the
beginning will fall back as theschedule goes on and they become
(14:38):
more in tune with who theyreally are.
I don't think that's the casewith the Eagles.
I still think that this is aquality football team that in a
one game playoff eliminationscenario can go in and make a
lot of noise in that tournament.
But that brings me to the numberfive Dallas Cowboys and the
(14:58):
ladies from Locked In Sports arenot gonna enjoy me saying this,
but the Cowboys are absolutelyuntrustable.
Shannon Sharp said it bestthey're a good team, they look
good, everything about themmakes you wanna believe in them,
but you can't trust them.
You can't trust them, and lastnight was a clear indication of
(15:21):
that.
It was a clear indication ofthat.
Every time you think they'regonna get over the hump, they
lose to a quality football team.
Yeah, they beat the Eagles, butwe just got them saying that
the Eagles aren't.
This isn't reflective of whothey really are.
So did they really beat theEagles at their best?
I don't think so.
I think they have caught theEagles on this little slump and
(15:43):
took advantage of it.
So, sitting at five, I justdon't trust them.
I don't trust them.
I believe and you're hearing itright now I believe that the
Dallas Cowboys will end up beinga one playoff game and out team
again.
Again.
(16:07):
Here's what Mike McCarthy had tosay after the game yesterday
Hold on, it's not queuing.
We'll give it a minute to letthis queue.
For right now, I just wannapoint out that Dak Press guy is
probably having the best yearthat he's had in.
You know, since maybe year twoTurnovers way down.
(16:32):
He's not getting sacked as much.
The difference between DakPrescott this year and last year
is last year coming off the leginjury.
He you saw hesitation to usehis legs to get out of trouble,
to get first downs, to pick upnecessary yards.
This year Dak Dakota Prescotthas done everything that he can
do to keep this team.
(16:52):
This is not an indictment ofwhat Dak is or is not doing.
He is playing wonderfully.
The team, the coaching, theculture, the aura, whatever it
is with this Dallas Cowboys team.
That is the issue.
And here's what Mike McCarthyhad to say after yesterday's
game.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
The plays that were, you know were there.
You know we had some miscues.
I had a horse back up plan.
You know we were back up twiceand it didn't, you know, didn't
move the field position.
So you know we didn't help ourdefense there.
You know we had to take onegive away.
So I mean, it's those bigmistakes that you can't make in
these kind of games.
(17:33):
But you know, I think theresilience, the battle, the grit
that you're looking for, youknow, I think we clearly have
that.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
So basically, what he said was is that he thinks that
they're okay For all you Dallasfans out there, how are we
feeling about Mike McCarthy, isit?
Does it seem like the samething over and over again?
Does it seem like the samemovie?
When they win, everybody's on ahigh, but it wasn't ever really
(18:04):
Mike McCarthy that helped theteam win.
But when they lose, isn't itMike McCarthy's glaring coaching
errors that can be pointed to?
Yes, now coaches, coach andplayers gotta play, I get it.
I get it.
But to hear Mike McCarthyconstantly become apologetic at
(18:25):
the press conferences afterlosses and make excuses, but
when is enough enough?
Dallas Cowboy fans, when isenough enough?
I mean, we're talking aboutAmerica's team, we talk about
them boys, right, right, andthey cannot be trusted in the
playoffs.
They have won, won, and it's avery questionable, with an
(18:52):
asterisk quality win on thisseason.
I don't see them getting by thefirst round.
So I state my case again the49ers are the best team in
football.
They are clear favorites tocome out of the NFC, and I can
say that, trying to be asobjective as possible, even
(19:16):
though my heart clearly, clearlyhopes for a Bucks resurgence
and a hot Bucks team going intothe tournament.
I'm not going to fool myself.
I won't be disappointed if theBucks get to the second round
and lose.
If they get to the NFC titlegame and lose, I won't be
(19:39):
disappointed after the year thatthe Bucks have had if they go
one and done.
I'm at peace with that and thatallows me to clearly state,
with an objective point of view,that the 49ers are probably
going to represent the NFC andthe Super Bowl and they'll
probably win it Bar in any kindof major injury or setback to
(20:02):
this team.
They've got the best passrushing defense in the league.
They've got the best receivingcore in the league.
Brock Purdy is a clear MVPfavorite.
Mccaffrey is the best runningback in pro football.
He is the best all aroundfootball player in pro football.
(20:25):
They are stacked, plus thecoaching, even though I think
that Shanahan tries to be toosmart for his own good at times
and gets caught up in thesmartest guy in the room
mentality, because that's whereyou could beat them.
If you catch Shanahan trying tooutsmart or he just sometimes
(20:48):
outsmarts himself instead ofjust run the basic plays, stay
in the game, stay in the flow ofthe game and execute a game
plan.
You'll see him do these littlethings that are like head
scratchers.
Why, right there, kyle, you gotthe best team in football.
You can beat anybody justplaying football.
(21:09):
We don't need the gadgets orthe trickery or the
misdirections.
You don't need them.
They're fun when they workRight.
Come on, kyle.
All that being stated, that'swhy they're clear favorites.
They should be clear Super Bowlfavorites.
I don't know if the line is inVegas, but I'd be highly
(21:30):
surprised if they weren't clearfavorites in Vegas as well.
And again, I'm at peace withthat.
I'm at peace knowing that thisteam is probably going to kick
everybody's ass in the playoffsand win the Super Bowl.
I don't see anybody in the AFCright now that can beat them.
(21:50):
I really don't.
The four niners are the mostwell rounded team in football,
simple as that.
Staying on football, I just wantto make mention of this.
This is a sidebar.
It's time for Beat the Clock.
Who are you?
Sports Talk Player Spotlight.
(22:12):
This is the player spotlight, anew segment on the show where we
are going to highlight aperformance of a player in
whatever sport.
Maybe multiple players if it'swarranted, but this certainly is
Amari Freakin' Cooper.
Don't the Dallas Cowboys wishthat they had this Amari Cooper,
(22:35):
because Amari Cooper yesterdaywent 11 catches for 265 yards
and two touchdowns on 15 targets.
That's record setting.
I watched Amari Cooper makecatches yesterday that the late
great sorry, I said late great.
I don't want to imply that Ithink something happened to him.
I watched.
Let me restate that I watchedhim make catches that even the
(22:58):
Great Lins won would be proud of.
I mean, the footwork on thesidelines was amazing and any
old football head will know thatLin Swan made one of the most
incredible sideline catches everin the history of the game and
I think is seriously underrated,especially for that time when
(23:21):
athletes weren't the same asathletes today.
So for that catch Lin Swan madewas incredible to get both feet
in bounds and secure thefootball.
Very different game back then,I know, but even Lin Swan would
have to appreciate some of thesideline footwork that Amari
displayed yesterday.
It was an amazing performance.
(23:42):
I hope to see more because Ilike watching Amari succeed,
especially when the Cowboys arefalling flat.
And that's not to say that theydon't have received.
Cdlam went off yesterday as well.
I mean CDLAM.
Cdlam had like 30 fantasypoints in the first quarter of
(24:02):
the game yesterday.
Cdlam was not the problem.
Their inability to keep gettingCDLAM involved in the game
until the third late thirdquarter.
Fourth quarter was again anindictment of the coaching, the
game plan and probably some ofthe execution as well.
But Amari turned out.
(24:23):
He turned up and I love to seeit and I hope this continues for
Amari Cooper.
Shout out to the great AmariCooper.
Yesterday on his game Again, 11catches, 265 yards, two
touchdowns on 15 targets.
That is the player spotlight.
It's time for beat the clock.
Who are you Sports Talk?
(24:44):
Player Spotlight.
Moving on to the NBA, we areback in the world of basketball.
Okay, so yeah, this is arelaunch show.
I know it's not going to bevery meaty.
We're not going to have theinterviews, it's just going to
be me talking.
Hopefully it's engaging enoughto where you guys feel like you
(25:07):
want to respond and reply.
I just want to make mentionright now that you can do that
on all the social media.
Follow the show.
The links will be in the showdescription.
You can also catch me onbeattheclocksportstalkcom where
you can leave comments.
You can send emails.
You can join the email list andhit subscribe.
(25:30):
Click that follow button andthat little shiny bell.
That way you get notified whereall the new episodes drop and
you don't miss out on all theconversation.
That plug should have happenedat the beginning.
I acknowledge that, but I dowant to make mention of it
because this show only surviveswith all of your participation
(25:56):
and I am eager to have theseconversations with everybody out
there listening To the NBAleading up to Christmas, because
we won't talk about theChristmas matchups.
They're going to be greatmatchups.
We'll do that in the follow-upshow.
I do want to give my thoughts onprobably one of the biggest
(26:20):
newest events this NBA season.
You guessed it the end seasontournament.
Not because my Lakers won it.
I don't want to talk abouthanging a banner okay, although
I get it and my thoughts on thatare I believe that it was
something that the leaguemandated for anybody who won it,
(26:44):
because, again, let's be honest, they are just trying to create
momentum with this tournamentand they need the teams to show
that they believe it meanssomething, so that it means
something to all of us out therewatching, and so hanging a
banner is a way to do that.
(27:05):
Oh, there's a banner in there.
It's got to be important,because teams don't just hang
banner.
Well, most teams don't justhang banners for the sake of
hanging banners, and that's awin for the league All in all,
because I was skeptical aboutthis, here's why you do it in
season tournament in a leaguethat has never done anything
like this before.
(27:25):
Regular season games areimportant because you're always
jockeying for position in theplayoffs.
Well, they added two more spotsto the playoffs.
That worked Because we gotmeaningful basketball late in
seasons where teams were nowjockeying for nine and 10 and
seven and eight.
(27:46):
You weren't secure so itcreated a little tournament per
se I guess the easiest way todescribe it at the end of the
season.
So you've created two moreplayoffs spots.
It can minimize the first halfof the season where everybody's
just kind of trying to findtheir footing the first month.
(28:07):
Two months in, by Christmas time, you start to see the cream
rise in the league, which we'llget into a little bit later, and
then certainly after theall-star break the Lakers last
year were a huge example of thatyou turn it up teams that are
kind of teetering on that 11, 10, 12, nine every game kind of
(28:30):
becomes a playoff game.
From the all-star break on, theHabits of Lakers last year, who
still managed to get in, didwhat they needed to do in the
playoffs, got to the WesternConference Finals and ended up
being swept, and I believe,heavily because they've been
playing playoff basketball fortwo months, where the Denver
Nuggets had really only beenplaying playoff-level,
(28:53):
high-stress basketball for twoweeks.
That might be an understatement, but the example's the same,
the weight of it, I think, isthe same.
So now you have an in-seasontournament, so from the time the
season starts in October to twoweeks into December, so a month
(29:21):
and a half of basketball.
All of that matters.
Now we start seeingplayoff-type basketball, and
this is exactly what the leaguetried to pitch to all of us fans
was you're going to get moremeaningful basketball more often
earlier in the season.
Ok, I'm for that.
Check that box.
You're going to have teams thatdon't make it to the playoffs
(29:46):
start to experience what playoffbasketball feels like.
Ok, if it works, if you gethigh-intensity basketball, then
everything that you'repredicting the in-season
tournament games to feel like,then yes, check that box.
Those players, those teams,those fans will have something
more to root for earlier in theseason.
You're going to generate whatRevenue?
(30:08):
Revenue?
This is a huge money grab bythe league.
Come on, come on, we have to behonest about this.
My fear was that if you put anin-season championship then you
cheapen the actual NBAchampionship.
I don't know that that's trueanymore.
That was just my belief.
(30:29):
I don't know if it was evertrue to begin with.
It was just my belief Becausemy whole life of watching NBA
basketball being an NBA fan, itwas you played 82 games, you had
a playoff and then at the endof the playoff gauntlet you had
one championship and that teamdid everything they needed to do
(30:53):
.
Whether it be Fluky orParody-driven or Cinderella-like
, they still did what theyneeded to do.
And you had one champion.
That city got to hoist achampionship banner, that team
got to raise a championshiptrophy, or vice versa Raise a
trophy, raise a banner, hoist atrophy, whatever Same difference
(31:17):
.
So does it cheapen it?
I mean, I'll take the thoughtsand the comments, but that's
just where my head was.
But then, after it happenedagain not because the Lakers won
it just watching the games,seeing how they separated those
games from the rest of theregular season type games by
(31:38):
changing the floor, giving itsome purpose, giving it some
tangible differences, watchingthe energy of the players.
The players completely boughtin the incentive was certainly
nice, especially for low salaryplayers or deep bench type
players, as stated by the Lakerswhen they won it, especially
LeBron James and AD making it apoint to mention that they want
(32:01):
to make that money available forthe guys that don't get to get
on the bench, that don't havehigh salaries.
You know that's what greatleadership to think about those
guys and want to go out thereand play your best.
You don't need that money, butyou know there are guys on your
bench, on your team, on yourroster, that certainly could use
(32:23):
it and I think that trickleddown though we saw it from the
Lakers because they won it, butI believe that that feeling was
the same for all the teamsinvolved.
So it did exactly what theleague hoped it did.
It made basketball meaningfulearly in the year.
(32:45):
It gave teams an opportunity toplay high pressure, high stake
basketball when most of thesefranchises don't make it to the
playoffs and the players onthose rosters don't ever get to
experience that.
The fans don't get toexperience that.
Now that should be anindictment on how those teams
are ran, and we will do episodeswhere we could talk about
(33:09):
poorly ran franchises and all ofsports because they are out
there.
They are out there.
There are ownership groups onevery level of the sports world,
in every league, that don'tshow the interest or invest in
the teams that the way that theyneed to to make their team
(33:34):
relevant and to give their fans,who are paying those salaries,
who are putting and investingtheir own hard earned money for
lifetimes, through generations,into these franchises.
And there are just somefranchises that ownership is so
(33:55):
bad that they can't get out ofthe basement, they can't get out
of the cellar.
They are not taking strides toimprove, they are just
collecting money.
They are there and those NBAfans, those Major League
Baseball fans, those sports fansin general, are victims of this
kind of fraudulent activity theselling, you hope, and not
(34:20):
delivering.
So the NBA said well, we'regoing to give all these teams an
opportunity to play meaningfulbasketball.
Well, it worked.
And box number three was thebiggest for the league, because
interest and fan interest andplayer interest and commitment
(34:41):
and viewership and branding andall of that leads to one thing
and that's revenue.
And I believe that because ofthe buzz and the stir and the
raising of a banner and all ofthose things, the league made
revenue in the end seasontournament.
Like it, love it, hate it, areindifferent to it it is here to
stay.
It's here to stay.
The league accomplished what itset out to accomplish.
(35:06):
It sold the hope of meaningfulbasketball in the first two
months of the season, deliveredand then made.
They made a few bucks, and thatis an understatement, I'm sure.
So it's here to stay.
Those are my thoughts on it.
Kudos to the Lakers for winning.
(35:26):
That was nice.
They did what they needed to do.
They went 7-0.
Shout out to all the teams thatbattled and made it, you know,
with this European style, madeit through the group stages and
into the knockout rounds.
That's an accomplishment initself.
And now it's time to set thatbehind and go out and get the
(35:48):
thing that really matters, andthat's an NBA championship.
So to my Laker fans out thereand to the Lakers who may or may
not be listening enough's,enough with this.
You celebrate it.
You're Rosa Banner.
You went on a four-game losestreak, picked up a win the
other night, crucial win in OKC.
Let's go take Boston out onChristmas Day later on today and
(36:11):
let's get back to the mainfocus, the main goal of the
season.
That's to go get an NBA titleand that's it.
That's what I got to say aboutit Again, love the feedback,
love the comments.
Get on social media.
Let's talk about it Now.
Calling out all the frauds.
Calling out all the fraudsBecause we're at this turning
(36:36):
point.
We're at Christmas Day andAll-Star Break is right around
the corner.
Be here.
Before we know it, we got amonth of basketball before the
first half is done.
I know the half happens beforethe All-Star Break.
For all you keep in track, butfor most NBA fans, the All-Star
(37:00):
Break is the halfway point, thetrade deadline, and then you
have the second half.
So we'll just go with that.
But look, it's 82 games.
I didn't choose it.
Okay.
I mean, you have to havesomething that marks where
you're at in the season.
The All-Star Break and the tradedeadline for me and I think for
most, I think I'm not alone inthis is that's your marker Post.
(37:24):
Those two events is seriousbasketball.
You know, basically your topteams are your top teams.
I mean your teams 7, 8, 9, 10,11, and 12 usually are all
fighting playoff games.
Every game is a playoff game,every week is playoff basketball
and they're just trying to getin the tournament.
(37:45):
So that's meaningful basketballfrom the All-Star Break and the
trade deadline going out to theend of the season.
Don't fight me, excuse me.
You know the thing abouttalking a lot.
Okay, so, but as with all cases, there are frauds.
(38:10):
There are teams that got reallyhot at the beginning and I'm
going to tell you if I expectthem to return back to the mean
Okay.
And the first team on the listis the Orlando Magic.
The Orlando Magic are fourth inthe league in there and they
(38:34):
just had a football brain meldthere.
They're fourth in theirconference, the Eastern
Conference, and they'recurrently 17 and 11.
And it seems as though they arestarting to regress, as they've
won only four of their last 10and their latest win coming in
(39:00):
their last game, which I'm notsure when it was, so I'm not
going to say, but their streakis won, so they've basically
gone four and six in their last10.
They're fourth in the EasternConference.
By Orlando Magic standards overthe last few years, this is
fantastic.
I mean this is truly the OKCThunder, the Utah Jazz, but all
(39:27):
happening on the East Coast forOrlando, right, they've gone
through drafts, they'vedeveloped young players, they've
shipped young players out,they've tried to put some, you
know, some veteran leadership ontheir bench and these are the
(39:48):
results of that, and it takestime and for a franchise like
Orlando, you have time.
I mean, orlando hasn't beenrelevant I think I heard the
ladies on Lockton Sports mentionsince Dwight Howard and I would
even say they really haven'tbeen relevant since Anthony
Hardaway and Shaquille O'Nealthat championship level team.
(40:13):
From when was it 2009?
They lived and died by thethree point shot.
That's where the league was.
It was a little fluky and itreared its ugly head for them in
the finals when they shotatrociously from three and the
(40:36):
Lakers came out and beat them.
So I would say their relevancegoes even as far back as Anthony
Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal.
But this is a team that'sbuilding as a franchise that's
trying to do it right.
They didn't sell their soul fora championship.
Now They've built and developedin the draft.
They appear to be taking allthe steps in the right direction
(40:58):
.
They appear to not be afraid toacknowledge when they've made
drafting mistakes and ship youngplayers out for more picks or
more talent, and it'sculminating.
They are the fourth seed.
Do I anticipate them being thefourth seed at the end of the
season?
No, no, I don't, I don't.
(41:21):
I would say they're a play inteam, at best at the end of the
season.
That's where I see them at,because this youth, this
inexperience, it'll only go sofar.
They have a very good Nix teamthat's tricky, right behind them
at six.
You've got a Cavaliers team atseven that's battling some
(41:44):
injuries right now but might getsome.
You know, again, they got tochoose.
If they make some moves at thetrade deadline and beef their
team back up and want to make arun, they certainly can.
I think that they have theability to do that.
If they choose to sell DonovanMitchell's out.
That's my take.
If the Cavs choose to sell thisyear and don't make moves at
(42:06):
the trade deadline that areindicative of winning, donovan
Mitchell isn't going to stay,he's out, and it might be the
Cavs who sent him out inacknowledgement of hey, we are
going into a complete rebuild,we are selling out.
What a disappointment the Bullshave been, what a
(42:29):
disappointment the Nets havebeen after they got hot last
year.
So I easily see the Cavs canjump into the sixth spot.
I think the Nix and the Heatmove up to four and five.
I think that puts the magic atseven.
(42:49):
I think there are seven, 16 bythe end of the year.
We'll see, but you got it.
It's Christmas Day.
Everybody's going to referencethis.
It's on track now.
It's on tape.
It's recorded.
I think the Orlando Magic are a718 at the end of the season.
Moving on to the WesternConference, which is even more
(43:11):
intriguing because this teamcan't decide if it wants to be
an absolute dumpster fire or acontending team.
The Minnesota Timberwolves theMinnesota Timberwolves you want
to talk about a team that soldout.
They sold out for Rudy Gobert.
What was it like?
Five draft picks and a handfulof players between several teams
(43:35):
to get the Rudy Gobert tradedone?
And it didn't work out lastyear.
Chemistry problems or I'm notreally sure.
Rudy Gobert seems like the typeof guy who has trouble in the
locker room, and so maybe someof that is subsided now that
they've had some time in andthey've kind of figured it out.
(43:56):
Anthony Edwards can alwayscount on him to ball out and do
his thing.
But the Timberwolves are 22 and6 as it stands on Christmas Day
, and they are currently 8 and 2in their last 10.
Do I see the Timberwolves makinganything happen from here?
(44:16):
Do they stay at the top and I'mgoing to say no, although I
don't think that their fall fromgrace is going to be as bad as
the Orlando Magic.
I think the Timberwolves go to5.
I think the Timberwolves are a5 seed team by the end of the
year.
I think the Clippers drop outinto a play in.
(44:37):
I think the Mavericks can getto that 4 or 5 spot as well,
which means the Timberwolvescould fall to 6.
I like the Lakers to make a runand get back into the top 6.
And that's a little bias, but Ihave to.
(44:58):
As a Laker fan, as I bleedpurple and gold, I have to
project them high.
This team is capable.
I don't know what's going onwhere they've been, but they
showed in OKC.
They beat a very good OKC teamand this team is capable and
we'll see what they got againstBoston.
(45:19):
Let's see you want to be thebest.
You got to beat the best andright now the Boston Celtics are
one of the top three teams inthe NBA.
I don't know where the PowerRankings are currently.
I'd have to look that up, but Ibelieve I'd be remiss to think
that they were not number one atthis point.
I don't see the Warriors doingmuch.
(45:39):
I think they stay in the play-inscenario and the Suns?
The Suns who have been thebiggest disappointment, but
battling so many injuries, theycan't keep Bradley Beal on the
floor.
When they get Bradley Beal backon the floor, devon books out.
Kevin Durant's always hit ormiss.
They're all play when.
When each of them are on thefloor individually, they are all
playing great, but they haven'tplayed very many games together
(46:02):
, which is how this team wasbuilt.
They're not a very deepbasketball team and they are
completely reliant on two oftheir three stars being
available almost all the time,and it hasn't worked out.
In fact, they are three andseven in their last 10,
currently at the 11 spot, sothey are out of the playoff
(46:23):
picture currently at Christmas.
I don't think that stays thatway.
I think the Suns buckle downand they get back in this thing.
I see them as a nine or eightseed.
The rockets have been a hugesurprise.
They are currently at the eightseed.
I think they regress and theyend up at the 10 or 11 spot,
(46:44):
which puts them out at 11 and.
And the timber wolves, I think,sit comfortably in the playoff
picture, I think.
I think that, if anything, theydon't fall further than seven.
But I'll put them at.
I'll put them at five.
I'll put.
I'll put the Tim rules at fiveagain, a lot can happen.
Teams could get better in thetrade, teams get worse in the
(47:05):
trade.
Obviously, injuries and illnessand all of those things can Can
take place.
But as we stand right now,those are my picks.
So we talked a little bit aboutthe Sun's and their struggles.
There's a couple other teamsthat I think are struggling
teams, that that they can vastlyimprove their spot, maybe
(47:28):
through trade or maybe even justgetting some players back.
I don't see the grizzly stayingat 13 with job being back.
I think I think they make a runat that 10 spot in the second
half of the year.
I think that the jazz are a Verygood team, although there is
some conversations right nowthat they are looking to sell
Jordan, jordan Clarkson,apparently, is on the trading
(47:52):
block and Markinin is on thetrading block and, and so I
think the jazz are kind of atthis crossroad where, as you
would say in the, in the, inbaseball, around the trade
deadline, are we selling or arewe going to make a push, and it
looks right now the way that themedia is presenting this is
(48:14):
that the jazz might be ready tosell Danny Angel's huge on draft
picks, so he might be lookingto stock up on some more draft
pick draft capital to be able tomake moves this offseason.
So we'll see.
I think this year's tradedeadline is going to be a lot of
fun.
And and then in the EasternConference, I would say that the
(48:38):
Raptors at sitting at 12 rightnow might be the best bet.
If I were to pick a team that's, that's, that's been really low
, who's been underachievingbased on where I would have put
them at this point in the season, I think that they are very
capable of making a run.
And the Hawks at number 11again, do they sell?
(49:01):
I see the Hawks selling.
So I think they dropped out andI think that I think that that
puts.
I think that paves the road forthe Raptors to try to get that
10 spot.
The bulls are Dumpster fire.
I think they drop it out.
So, especially if they tradeLevine, if they trade the Rosen
(49:22):
and and and Caruso as well,which seems to be a package that
they're shopping, I see theRaptors, they're there there, a
few healthy players and a couplemoves at the trade deadline
away to get that 10, 9 spot.
I think if I was going to pickan underachieving team to make a
run in the Eastern Conference,it would be the Raptors.
(49:43):
I Like the Raptors to do thatby the end of the season.
I think the Raptors will holdthat 10 spot and that's it.
That's it I also want to.
I also want to point out beforebefore we, before we close this
out, that many of you know thatmy little teaser with the Lakers
I believe purple and gold, asstated earlier, and I just want
(50:06):
you to know that, in spite ofthat, all Of my Laker takes need
to be taken with someseriousness.
They need to be taken With someauthority on the matter.
And here's why because I'm adiehard fan and I have these
conversations in my head where,if I was the GM, if I was, you
(50:29):
know, if I was able to talk toRapalink, if I was able to have
a conversation with Genie, if Iwas Darwin ham, what line of
sweat have?
And all of you out there, youprobably, probably do this with
your own teams.
I get it.
So, again, I Would take youropinion seriously as a diehard
fan of whatever team andwhatever sport.
If you had input like that andI'm not just speaking out of my
(50:50):
ass, they are educated Takes andopinions on what the team
should do and what direction theteam might go.
I will be honest and asobjective as I possibly can.
But everybody knows where myheart lies and so I say that
with a lot of with with, withsome self defecating tone,
(51:11):
acknowledging that that I'm ahuge homer when it comes to the
Lakers.
But but also, you know,speaking as a true fan of the
sport, I will be as genuine aspossible, I'll be as realistic
as possible and when my takesare outlandish and crazy, I will
acknowledge that so thatthere's no confusion as to where
or what I really think or wheremy head really lies in the
(51:34):
grand scheme of things.
But I think through all thesports the Braves when we talk
baseball, the Bucks when we'retalking football and the Lakers
when we're talking basketball.
We'll talk some hockey here andthere.
Like I said, hockey and boxing Idon't know where the two sports
really what.
The lines are kind of blurred.
Sometimes they're the same,Especially from the hockey
standpoint, when you know youcould say I went to a boxing
(51:57):
match in a hockey game, brokeout.
But I'm a Ducks fan and I'm ahuge Los Angeles homer because
that is where I'm from.
That is my home in my heart.
I will represent Los Angeles tothe best of my ability.
You even hear me cheer on theDodgers from time to time,
because as long as the Bravesaren't involved or can't be
(52:17):
their, their season can't bechallenged.
For it, I will root for thehome team, it in the Dodgers.
Huge news out of LA, by the way,getting a Tony and and the
other Japanese cat which I'm notgonna try to butcher his name
right now and I do not have itup in front of me but they have
spent over a billion dollars inpayroll just this offseason
between three players, the twoJapanese standouts and Glasgow
(52:40):
and, and they're looking to dobig things now.
That is just on paper.
They should.
They should be clear favoriteson paper to start the season as
we head into spring in April.
But but the Braves will alwaysbe my favorite personally and
Even though the mountain isgoing to be tough to climb and
come in off of such a great yearwith such a huge disappointment
(53:02):
, the Braves are looking to dodo big things as well and the
Dodgers are completely relianton performance, because names
are the name on the back of thejersey only gets you so far, and
that again, we, again sportsfans, know this, and and that's
just my thoughts on it.
So so I got off track a littlebit because I want to throw some
baseball thoughts in there, butbut the the point I'm trying to
(53:23):
make is I will show bias to theteams that I enjoy, that I am a
fan of, but I would say that ICommit to doing my best to be as
realistic and as Objective as Ipossibly can, and all my takes
and that's why you should takemy take seriously when it comes
(53:47):
to me talking about my ownfavorite teams.
Okay, got that off my chest.
Got that off my chest.
It's Christmas Day, everybody.
Merry Christmas to everybody.
If you're listening to thisepisode on Tuesday and and any
day after that, I hope you had agreat Christmas.
I hope I hope everybody stayedsafe and you were able to enjoy
your families and eat some goodfood.
(54:07):
Hope you got everything youwish for.
Hope you, in the processsetting all your new year's
goals and rolling over the thegoals that are still in progress
from the year before, and andand and.
Stay tuned, stay tuned.
Hit that like button, hit thatsubscribe button.
That way you get Notified everytime a new episode drops.
Beat, the clock is back.
I am the ant man and let's gointo the new year, 2024.
(54:32):
I'm looking forward to hangingout with all of you.
That is it for today and P-C.
And yeah, cool video guys.
Okay, love you guys, and smallChristmas tree day Peace.
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