Nick McClay Interview: All Things NFL Draft - 02/22/25

Nick McClay joins Mark Henry Jr. and Sean Barnard to take a deep dive into the #NFLDraft as DRAFT SZN IS UPON US!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
It is a Saturday. It is nine am.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
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Speaker 3 (00:31):
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call one eight hundred gambler live here at Parks Casino
and Ben Salem. John Jansen here along with Mike Kern
and Kyle Nunnemaker. Joining us in the everywhere portion of
the program is Dick Girardi in Minneapolis. Plenty to go
through today, Football in the rearview mirror. Now it's all

(00:55):
about college hoops, all about Joel Embiid's knee, and of
course we do have some free agency outlook to look
at for the Eagles as well, and a legend retiring
in Philadelphia basketball, especially Big five basketball. But first of all,
I need the to do the ever aportion. Dick Girardi.
Where in Minneapolis? I guess you are in Minneapolis. What

(01:17):
is the weather like? What is it like there in Minneapolis?

Speaker 4 (01:21):
It's actually you get up to thirty two degrees today,
which is very exciting because.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
That summer as the sailboats out here.

Speaker 5 (01:27):
Where are your son screen?

Speaker 4 (01:28):
Yeah? Really it was. It was zero low yesterday minus
had a couple of days ago. We got here yesterday afternoon.
So yeah, look, I love Minneapolis. Mike knows I love Minneapolis.
And we did a little Murray's Roun last night of
Billy Mignon and went over the perdeem by a lot.

Speaker 6 (01:47):
But that's so I didn't see you as an s
car go guy.

Speaker 4 (01:52):
Yeah, I went for the s cargo last night.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Wow, surprise.

Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah, I about that. Yeah, I know you were, Mike.
I wanted shot Mike. He was like the stuns that
I was like a French connoisseur of es gargo. But yeah,
add here added a lot of college hoop games today.
We'll get to villin Over in a minute, but yeah,
I think we did. I think we need to start
with coach Duffy announcing his retirement, only only coach to

(02:19):
coach at two Big Five schools. Well, he coached at three,
so phenomenal career thirty years. Nobody won more games as
a Big five coach, six and twenty three wins for
coach dump seventeen NCAA tournaments nine and ten. And people
might don't remember this. He was an eight at Temple

(02:41):
and he had a hell of a run winning at
Lanticton tournaments with three in a row at one point,
so people, yeah, phenomenal, phenomenal run. And of all the
people that have ever coached played being in Philadelphia basketball,
you could say, if you're ranking him, you put coach
Douff right up there at the very top. He's one
of the best people beyond coach. Obviously a great player

(03:02):
at LASAL back in the day. But sorry to see
him not coaching. But he'll be around and hopefully he
can hand over the rings to somebody that can figure
out what's a rather large riddle at the moment. To me,
it's the toughest job in stuff I have.

Speaker 6 (03:16):
I have some I covered Dumfin Penn so when him
and Pete Carill were going out and it didn't get
any better than that, they were two of the great ones.
But to me, there's many dump stories I could tell.
Jimmy Lyne once said to me, totally unsolicited, the toughest
job ever for somebody replacing somebody was Fran. Don't be

(03:39):
replacing John Cheney. Yeah, he said that to me. I
didn't you know, he didn't say John Wood and he
didn't say this.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
Guy that guy.

Speaker 6 (03:46):
When you think about it, and it was the perfect
choice and the reason it was the perfect choice. And
I knew it was going to happen because him and
the Temple Ad had a relationship going back to still
took them two weeks to decide he wanted to do it,
but because Cheney signed off on it, and Cheney respected Fran,
and Cheney accepted Fran, which made it easier for Fran
to go do what he did. And people forget he

(04:09):
won three straight and our Atlantic ten titles, something Cheney
never did. Now, Cheney was trying to beat U Mess
a lot, so that had something to do with it.
But when they switched from the A ten to the
American changed everything, you know, it just did.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
It started to change.

Speaker 6 (04:24):
So if they had stayed the Atlantic ten, much like
if La Salad stayed in their conference, you know, thirty
some years ago, I think it would have been a
little different. Fran's only problem, and Fran, like many of
the people we covered, Dick is a better person as
great as a coach as they were there better people,
and that stuff that him and Fill in particular did
with coaches versus cancer is off the charts. And for

(04:45):
the people that don't know, they had the second highest
raising money to everybody except Jim Beheim at Syracuse. And
the amount of lives that they touched and saved and
helped over the years dwarfs anything they ever did as
basketball coaches. And you and I know the last three
years he basically did this as a favorite to his

(05:06):
alma mater, trying to help them out when they were
in kind of a line. But there's only one Fran Dumphy.
And again, if he had won more in March. If
he had won, I could look up like two or
three games in March that would have got him to
like a Sweet sixteen with Temple or maybe with Penn
even But he didn't. And you know what, that's the
way it is. It shouldn't buy anyway. And Dick wasn't

(05:28):
he one of the guys. I'm pretty sure it was
largely responsible for getting Lionel to LaSalle.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
That's correct. There's a famous story. You love this guys.
So Fran Dumphy and Joe Mahalick or assistant coaches at LaSalle,
both LaSalle grads under Lefty Irvin. Lefty got fired and
they decided to hire the then women's coach at Lasal,
the first time it had ever happened. They hired Speedy
marsh It was the women's coach for two years, and

(05:54):
Speedy kept Joe and Fran on the staff, and they
had just about locked up Lionel Simmons, who was became
a legendary player, and they went down for a visit
to Lionel's house. I think Speedy went along so the
assistant coaches could introduce him to Lionel and his family.
And at one point Speedy says, now, now, Lionel, I

(06:15):
can't guarantee you any playing time, and they're kicking him
under the table, like, what are you talking about, you idiot?
We have this guy locked up, you know, to shut up.
And Lionel started every game in his Do.

Speaker 6 (06:31):
You think when Phil Martell he was getting jamiered, he
told Jamire that no, here's the ball here's the ball, right.

Speaker 4 (06:42):
Speedy thought he was back in Roman Catholic where he
could say you're going to play, you're not going to play,
And this is not that much.

Speaker 6 (06:51):
He was the greatest player in I don't know, Lasal
maybe Big Five history, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
I mean he was the only one. He's the only
one to score three thousand points. He's a phenomenal player.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, And not knowing if there's any like a profound
answer to this, but he grew up. I think he
was born in Drexel Hill. He stayed here coach college basketball,
coach at Malvin Prepp. What was the loyalty I guess
to staying here, especially to all of the Philadelphia schools
and even Delco schools.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
And that's a great point because he had opportunities to
go elsewhere out of town. And he said to me
many times, he says, I'm the only coach ever that
switched jobs two different times and never had to move. Yes,
So that that's kind of cool, right, I Mean he's
been He and his wife Rae, as far as I know,
been in the same house forever. So yeah, and what
Mike said is so true. Look, he wasn't thrilled with

(07:44):
how it ended at Temple. I'm feeling in reality he
never said anything, but it just it wasn't handled particularly well.
And then he's working in the business school at Temple
and he's a professor there and life was fine, everything
was good. He was having no issues and LaSalle was
just crying out for some help after they, uh, after
the Ashley Howards think didn't work out, and Dunk all

(08:07):
his friends, the alums came to him, says, look, you've
got to come back. You've got to help us. We
need we need help. And so what what's changed since
he's been there. Well, they they refurbished the gym. Uh
it gives the next coach something to hang his hang
his hat on. Uh. The problem is, I mean, the
sounds just underfunded. They're's not just serious about trying to

(08:27):
win at basketball in that league where you're in against
DCU at dating it and these schools that throw serious
money around. So there's nothing Dunk could do about that.
But yeah, thats to Mike's point. That just shows how
loyal he was that he came back. He just finished coaching.
I don't really even wanted to coach anymore. And he
came back.

Speaker 6 (08:45):
Really his last year at Temple, he made the tournament.
Uh they you know, so that's something. And he's done
a fairly good job there for a team that you
know they're not.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
He had their competitive and and to your point, Mike
bet and I know people will talk about his NCAA record.
I would always say this. I think of all those
NCAA games, I think he was favored in like three. Yeah,
so he was sure. He was an underdog almost every
time that Penn had a Temple where he'd be the
eleventh seed against the six or whatever the number was.
There were only a couple out of us. I mean

(09:19):
there was one against the South.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Sward of South.

Speaker 6 (09:24):
I thought the best they ever played a couple of
You saw the win over Penn State because obviously you.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Were there, and.

Speaker 4 (09:32):
The Kawhi Leonard in San Diego.

Speaker 6 (09:35):
That was the best game his Temple teams ever played
in the tournament. They were locked down two starters to
Kawhi Leonard and went and then the game. I think
that sticks in a lot of people's minds due two
of them they lost to Cornell when they got thumped
and Cornell was legitimately really good.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
Uh, you know that that's the way he goes.

Speaker 4 (09:53):
Well, they looked Puli Beg pulverized the next game. So
that's how good Cornell.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
That's how good they were.

Speaker 6 (10:01):
And they lost to Indiana when they had Indiana beat
put In and they would have been in the sweets.
I think if don't it made the Sweet sixteen twice,
which I think he could have.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
I think that was because if they had beaten South
Florida that.

Speaker 6 (10:14):
Year, they were going to play the thirteen seed, which
I think was a team from the MAC. I can't
remember which map team, you know.

Speaker 4 (10:22):
And Mike one of his best Penn teams was the
drum Allen Matt Maloney team that ran Nebraska out and
then just played didn't have a good game against Florida.
And then the next year, in fact, there was drum
Allend and Matt Maloney's last game. They played Alabama and
Derrek Kid at the Baltimore Civic Center and it just
miss winning the game, I mean lost by like a point.

Speaker 6 (10:42):
It was PRU two of the best games because I
covered all those Pen teams. I mean I was there
for most of those games. They played Oklahoma State first
round two thousand and three and I'm watching the game
and they're even six or seven minutes to go even
with Oklahoma.

Speaker 4 (10:58):
State and lost.

Speaker 6 (10:59):
Might have the big guy, I don't know. A kid
went down, he got injured. It wasn't Penn's best player,
but it was. You know, they only played six guys.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
Big Country Reeves, and he was gone by then.

Speaker 6 (11:09):
Okay, but somebody Oklahoma State was good. I remember talking
a thing one kid, Shiftner. I asked Shiftner a question
after the game, and he says they were so fast.
He goes, you couldn't tell on some but anyway, So
Penn loses the game Oklahoma State. The next game played Syracuse.
They're winning by eighteen. Ten minutes into the game, Beehives,
screw this, We're gonna play man for the first time ever.

(11:33):
They win the game and then they win the national championship.
The other game I remember was Dump's last game. I
believe it was his last game at Penn. UH six.
They're playing Texas Texas in Dallas, last game of the night.
There's nobody in the arena except the Texas fans. Everybody's left.
It's an even game with three or four minutes. Texas

(11:54):
had three pros on the team, three pros.

Speaker 4 (11:57):
That's what people forget the kid from Penn.

Speaker 3 (11:59):
To got the left wing.

Speaker 6 (12:01):
Why don't they were tired? He misses the shot. Texas
wins by four or five or six or whatever it was.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
It's all context. Unfortunate people just see the bottom line,
but forget all that legendary coaches. Mike said, better guy,
friend to everybody. I haven't called because I know the
whole world is called.

Speaker 3 (12:20):
I just texted him.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yeah. I think context works both ways too, because the
context of what Temple is now is a program and
what they were doing, I mean Temple, Temple fans and
Temple is a program would kill for what fran Duffy gave.
That just just to make the tournament is a big deal.
I don't think people considered that a big any sort
of relevancy.

Speaker 6 (12:39):
John John Jamey's in the Hall of Fame for all
the reasons that we all know about John's last five years.
They did not make the tournament. Okay, that's just reality.
Frans first year, they did not make the tournament. I
think they were five hundred, they were whatever.

Speaker 4 (12:54):
They were in.

Speaker 6 (12:57):
A row with Lavoy Allen. Then you got guys like Christmas.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
I mean.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
Pretty calif Wyatt.

Speaker 6 (13:04):
I mean they were good, they were choice, they were five.

Speaker 4 (13:09):
You know, if I remember Michae It was funny when
when Frank got the job, everybody said, wait a second,
you know, how's he how's he going to do? And
this is going to be a lot different, And France
said to he says, waite a second, I got scholarships
for the first time. I think I'm going to do
just fine. And he did. You I covered a lot

(13:30):
of those games. Obviously Mike has covered them. But yeah,
I mean, he was a phenomenal coach and you forget
something just don't doesn't matter. But he'll be missed in
the city as a coach, but you know he'll be around.
If they were up to me, he would be He
would be the commissioner of the Big Five. He would
run everything. He and Phil could be co commissioned. I

(13:51):
don't care, but yeah, yeah, that's what should happen because
right now there's no leadership in the city. Nobody knows
what's going on from one minute to the next. And
let's steal on round. He piled up her basketball is
not good. Not at the moment. We're going to get
the ball over in a moment. But it's just it's
just going to be the third year in a row,
barring some miracle that not a single team is going
to make the tournament. That never happened two years ago.

Speaker 5 (14:12):
So, Dick, do you think his resume is good enough
for that position.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
Experience that?

Speaker 5 (14:20):
Yeah, I think he still needs to prove it.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Dick, two things, and I want to ask you a question.
But two things.

Speaker 6 (14:25):
So when he was at Temple, he went to Temple
and people said to me, They go, well, you know
he's the he's an IVY League coacher. And they came
in and they said, you know he curses more than
Cheney you practice. I said yes, I said, what don't
you get about this guy?

Speaker 3 (14:40):
Well, just you don't get it.

Speaker 6 (14:44):
Freen hated. They all hate losing. They that's wider coaches,
that's why, or good at what they do. But Frian
just it was whatever. Somebody asked me this last night,
and I think I had the right answer, but I
wanted to get your opinion. Is he ever got a
chance for the Hall of Fame.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
Well, here's how he would get in. It's the same
category that Speedy's in Speedy Marrises and it's the contributor category.
You know, Speedy. Speedy's got twelve hundred wins counting high
school college women. I mean, nobody actually has a resume
in the history of basketball like Speedy Marris Do's, but
yet dump for the a coaching at three different schools

(15:24):
in his own town. He was a really good player
for one of the great teams in Philadelphia basketball history,
and the coaches versus cancer. That's a contributing category. It's huge.
It's one of the reasons Jim Valvando got in a
couple of years ago. He got in as contributor. He
didn't coach long enough to put up like a thousand
wins or anything like that, but obviously he won a

(15:45):
national title, and his enduring legacy is the be Foundation.
So that would be the category where fram would certainly
at least get a hit. The problem is Mike, because
I've been involved in trying to help Speedy get in.
It's so political. Uh, Jerry Kolins basically runs the whole thing.
And this year and lately, what they've been doing is

(16:06):
getting his NBA owner of friends in there. And I
don't know what the hell they need to be in
the Hall of Fame. For it, but they're getting in
his contributors. And this year he got a guy and
who's played his whole career in Israel. I don't know
cal Brody is the guy's name. Well, he was a
college teammate of Colangelo's at Illinois. It just doesn't look good.
They don't care, like, what are we doing here right?

(16:26):
Number one time, it's very political. But yes, Dolphus certainly
should be a pat.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
I remember one time, Dick.

Speaker 6 (16:32):
I don't know when this would have been, maybe when
he was still a pen or when you just and
I said, if you took all six coaches in the city,
and because Bruiser I think was at Dreuxel then, and said,
you got to vote for one guy who's the best
coach gets the most food ever out of his guys,
but you can't vote for yourself.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
I said, frim.

Speaker 6 (16:50):
Would easily win that, because I think that's how other
coaches looked at him. And he had a great story once.
I'll never forget this. They ran up at the end
of the game, miss the shot, they lose the game, whatever,
And afterwards I'm talking to.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
Him and he goes, Mike, let me ask you a question.

Speaker 6 (17:05):
So if we practice that play fifty one hundred times whatever,
and then we get in the game, we run it,
and we run exactly like we want to and the
shot doesn't go in.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
Was it a bad play?

Speaker 6 (17:16):
And I never heard somebody explain it to me like
that before. And he wasn't trying to absolve anybody. He
was just saying, Hey, we ran the play, the kid
missed the shot, so you know.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
It happens. And I always thought.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
That was a great answer. The most recent time I
saw Dom Futzels, I believe is the most recent time
I talked to him was Penn State was in Daytona
Beach and right week before Thanksgiving, well sala Is also there.
We got there on a Saturday night. Sal was leaving
the next morning, so I walked up the dumpso tell him.
Oh out with him for like an hour and just
telling stories, and we were discussing how so much of

(17:50):
the results of these games are random, Like you can
do like to your point, Mike, you can do everything right,
you can put your players in the perfect position, but
if they don't make the shot, then to go to
the coach as an idiot, well it's absurd, of course, right,
I mean the coach gave him a great play. And look,
I think at X and O's I think he was
as good as anybody. And when he and fran O'Hanlon

(18:11):
and Steve Donoghue were all in the same staff, that
was a college basketball staff as you'll ever see your one.
I mean, these guys are just absolute basketball geniuses. And
I was around some of those DOUP teams. I mean,
you covered some of them. I covered some of them NCAA's.
I remember he showed me one time, he pulled me
into the locker room. He says, look at this, He's

(18:32):
showing me why Princeton hadn't gotten a back door against
them in like a decade. He had figured out the formula.
The formula was when when the player for Princeton who
was setting up the back door did a spin dribble,
that was that was the ticket for the opposite side
cutter to go back door. And Penn had figured out

(18:52):
the formula, and they never got a backdoor against them
for a decade. And it's like and they and they
kind of owned Princeton. Yeah, I was kind of amazing.

Speaker 6 (19:01):
When I would call and when Penn played Princeton back
in those days and our seats at the Pluster, you know,
we're right next to pet Were those some of the
best games? I mean, I look had some great games,
and I'm sure you had. Saint Joe's probably had people
that they had great games with, and.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
On and on and on.

Speaker 6 (19:20):
Penn Princeton, My god, it didn't get any more intense
than that.

Speaker 4 (19:25):
And then you check John and Kyle checked this out.
Mike and I aren a Penn Princeton game. At halftime,
it's thirty three to nine Penn and we leave. We
leave the Pluster to go to Saint Jose tep and
were covering. Yeah, I mean, that's how nuts we were
back in the day. We go to games already to covered.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 4 (19:44):
So Princeton comes back to win the game fifty one
to fifty. Uh. It was just a complete insanity. And
later on the last game of the regular season is
for the IVY League title. Penn goes up to Princeton
and runs them right out of the gym, just kills him.
And Dolf had the great line. I felt like Bill

(20:05):
Buckner on that I got another chance.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
You know, Dick.

Speaker 6 (20:10):
So when we get to the Temple Saint Joe game
that night and Temple won. Temple hit like ninety threes
and Phil looked at us and said, like, what do
I have to do?

Speaker 4 (20:18):
Game?

Speaker 3 (20:18):
Lynn Greer looks at me. We go up to that
and he goes, uh ten one right, Mike. I said no,
and he looked at me.

Speaker 6 (20:25):
He goes no. I said, yeah. Nobody could believe it.
No nobody. And by the Wayan O'Hanlon's name, who got
into the Big five a fame with us. If Penn
had just hired Fran o'hanlan, if Steve had just given
the job to him, I think things would have been

(20:45):
so much different.

Speaker 4 (20:46):
But no question, friend, Yeah, now he did a wonderful
job at Lofia. Great players going over on their final
fourteen way back in the day, I believe.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
So my favorite is what if scenarios was it? Was
there ever a timer? Frand Dumpy was close to going
outside of the Big five?

Speaker 4 (21:05):
Yea, yeah, and there this is This is actually one
of the few times I ever had a disagreeing with Dump.
Now that he's leaving, I'd tell all the stories at
this point. So California, Yeah, California was looking for a coach.

Speaker 3 (21:20):
I remember the story.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
Yeah, yeah, And they interviewed a number of people, including Dump,
and I found out that Dunk was interviewed. I didn't
know if he was getting the job or ou'side called.
I said, hey, Dump, is this agery sciations? But tell writing,
you know, because I don't know if I'm getting a job.
And I said, well, how about this. How about I
write it and I just I just say that, you know,
you're involved in the job. And turned out he wasn't
going to get the job. I said, just it's okay

(21:43):
to just be involved in the job. That's not a
good thing for your resume, it says, all right, So
I write it, and I just already to knock it
was a friend was involved to interview. I think they
hired ben Baum, who ended up being a disaster if
I recall correctly, and and I tell, and I made
the mistake. And it's the only time I ever did this.
I called the office because I knew Dump was sensitive.

(22:04):
I called the office and said, hey, look, he's pretty
sensitive about this. Just in the right kind of an
innocuous headline. The headline is you know, I'm saying, hey,
Dump interviewed, You're great, he said. The mand The headline
is cal interviews, Comma mixes Dump and he calls me

(22:30):
the next day and he's going to fucking.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
Almost somebody somebody just Dump? Did somebody just hit you
in the parking lot? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (22:42):
I mean he was. He was going nuts as you can,
as you might imagine, and he didn't talk to me
for like six months.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
I got like, I tried.

Speaker 4 (22:53):
To relate to him. Headline worked, and I don't write
the headlines, but I don't think he was vital.

Speaker 6 (22:58):
But I got like three or four of those calls
in my life where and this was before I probably
had a cell phone and Dump would call it like
nine in the morning, kern Stump call me and I'm like,
oh god, I knew, I knew. And one of the
times he was absolutely right when he was getting when

(23:20):
Cheney left the day chain, I had to write like.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
Three stories, you know. And this isn't an excuse, just
an explanation.

Speaker 6 (23:25):
It's like ten o'clock at night, I'm writing like who
can be the next Temple Coach? And I'm throwing you
and I knew Dump was probably going to get it
because I you know, I knew Bradshaw and whatever, and
I just wrote something like you know, dumf makes this
much at pen, He's going to make this much atten
and he he's just how can you write what I'm
First of all, you're wrong. I don't know if I
was wrong, but that's not the point. All I had

(23:46):
to do was say, hey, Dont's gonna make a lot
more money Temple. That's all I had to do. But
I was comatos at the time, and you know, I'm
writing a story, and I.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Was, but I was wrong.

Speaker 6 (23:55):
And but that's exactly what you're doing in the morning,
curb Stump call me and I just looked at my
and my wife would look at me, and I.

Speaker 4 (24:04):
Go, yeah, it's just not going to this is not
going to go well. But you know, again, if I
appear that I had appear with that few years, just
make sure.

Speaker 6 (24:12):
That if you or I needed anything right, something happened,
I could call Jay Wright.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
I'm sure I could call Phil, you could call it.

Speaker 6 (24:19):
But friend, Donty, I've said this many many times, Had
is much or more integrity than anybody I have ever
covered in my life. And I've covered a lot of
guys with a lot of integrity, so.

Speaker 4 (24:31):
I'm don't have much integrity had Mike. I used to
talk to him more Temple, certainly than ten about recruits.
He would never talk about guys they were recruiting. I
know every coach talked to me about guys they were recruiting,
but because it was against the rules, he wouldn't talk
about it. And there was actually a kid, oh God,

(24:53):
Rashid Jordan. Do I have that name right? Mike ended
up on John.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
He was real good.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
He's a tremendous high school player, really John, and he
went to school right down the street from Temple. Think
of it. I remember interviewing him at school. I'll think
of it in a minute. But one of the public
schools Strawberry, and that's that sounds. I think it might
have been Strawberry Match, and they desperately wanted him, and
he was a hallible player. And I don't know what

(25:20):
happened why I ended up at the same chat as.
It turned out to be a disaster anyway. But that
was the only time Dunphan I ever kind of a
little bit. I wentever and do a story and I
called him, I said, hey, I does a story. I
just want to let you know here's kind of what
I'm here. And that was the extent of it and
they ended up not getting him. And my suspicion is
because they were doing everything on the up and up
and some other people might not have been. That was always,

(25:42):
you know, I think somebody was.

Speaker 6 (25:44):
When he coached it, nobody cared about pen recruiting because
there was no national letters of intent, there was no
We never had to question him about that.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
It was just like, hey, here's who we're getting.

Speaker 6 (25:54):
And then when Temple, it changed a little because then
we kind of care tem Temple.

Speaker 4 (26:00):
Absolutely, but yeah, we definitely wanted to start the show
with a tribute to coach. Don't Philadelphia icon, no question.
I believe it's Dun't Bust already be in the piled
up his sports Hall of Fame rights. He's not.

Speaker 6 (26:16):
He's you want to say he is, But again, I'm
never totally up on that stuff. I know he's not
in the drive right because he can't be right right.

Speaker 4 (26:25):
He's not the Big five Hall of tamere because you've
got to be retired a certain amount time, which is stupid,
but that's.

Speaker 3 (26:29):
Hey, how about next year, next year? Friend in Phil him.

Speaker 4 (26:33):
And Phil Yeah, why that's good. Get them both. It
ye not hard. They can they can have the thirty
second ceremony at the Welsh Road.

Speaker 3 (26:42):
Don't go there, don't go there.

Speaker 6 (26:45):
And you know what, maybe if you put hey, wait
a minute, seriously, maybe if you put those two in,
maybe that gets fixed.

Speaker 4 (26:53):
That would be nice. Again, make them the commissioners, right.

Speaker 6 (26:56):
Well, that would be my first move tomorrow if I's
in charge of that time.

Speaker 4 (27:03):
Yeah, make them commissioners, say, I know the dant to
start the show A big game in sass Philly to
the huge I mean playoff implications. Well, maybe not play
an implication, draft choice implicated.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
I hate this team, hate.

Speaker 6 (27:20):
Teams the standing and I never I have never said
that before, even when things weren't going right.

Speaker 4 (27:27):
I never will. Well, we'll discuss after the break. I
want you just to get wound up.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yeah, you tease.

Speaker 5 (27:34):
It's gonna be wound up for four minutes.

Speaker 6 (27:36):
Break doesn't matter anymore, save it all.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
This is a big game tonight, Mike. This is a separator.
At that Parks, the sixers are favored by eleven and
a half.

Speaker 3 (27:53):
Give me the nuts.

Speaker 5 (27:55):
Yeah, you're not here at You're not here at Parks.
Danson is running to take six. John Janson's walking across
the table to calm down, Mike.

Speaker 6 (28:04):
I would lay.

Speaker 3 (28:05):
Look, the Sixers might win my thirty. Okay, who knows.

Speaker 6 (28:09):
I wouldn't lay eleven and a half points with the
Sixers if they were playing Father Judge tomorrow the plus okay, hey.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
Father Judge for the Catholic League title against Romans first.

Speaker 6 (28:21):
Time set ninety eight, which I couldn't believe because I.

Speaker 5 (28:26):
Grew up in Judge's name and they beat Roman this
year during the regular season and Romans your two time
defending champ.

Speaker 6 (28:36):
And by the way, Saint Joe Prepp doesn't even get
to go to the state playoffs apparently because they didn't win.
They didn't make the Catholic League Final or something like
that or speed Boles old team.

Speaker 4 (28:47):
Yeah, that's crazy. Oh man, that's nuts. So we got that,
we got going over with a big win last night.
We'll discussed what's going on with the Wildcats for those
that are not paying attention. Number two in the country
in three point percentage of the twelve or sixteen in
the first half last night at Wells where it's insane.
Number two. Yeah, number two, all right, that's.

Speaker 6 (29:13):
I'm sorry, it was they.

Speaker 4 (29:18):
There's a lot of that going around. Yeah, that's that's
just the way that we got a lot of college
hoop games we'll get to, but specifically we're talk filling
over when we get back, just just to play caate Mike,
keep him happy. We're gonna talk about it long filled up.

Speaker 6 (29:34):
Hey, can I say a bad word?

Speaker 3 (29:36):
Is some pound? I think we already hit our quota today.

Speaker 5 (29:39):
Yeah, we hit our quota.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
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(30:04):
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Speaker 1 (30:20):
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It's the gambler, look about the sports here, there, and everywhere,
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Or odds, betslots and games all come together right in
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Go to Bedparks dot com.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
The only app I recommend must be twenty one in
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Speaker 5 (30:58):
I have a feeling Mike Karn's gonna to be the
opposite of mister Brake's side.

Speaker 4 (31:01):
On this round.

Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, I imagine I'm not saying anything so downside, I'm gonna.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
Let you guys do this whole segment.

Speaker 6 (31:07):
So Mike Current on six Ers basketball, Hey, Dick, how
you doing it?

Speaker 4 (31:12):
I'm doing I'm doing five, Mike. So here we go
the Sixers. The Sixers have lost six in a row.
The good news, or maybe not necessarily good news, is
the Bulls, who they're chasing for the last play in spot,
have lost five in a row. They're now tied with
the Nets at twenty and thirty five. The tie wrecker
comes tonight in a huge game. It's WUFC, so everybody's

(31:36):
into that. They're game and a half out of the
last play. They're then five and a half behind Atlanta
for the ninth spots and they're not catching then. So
then the question is do you at this point want
to tank to get to hold onto your top six
draft choice, which potentially could be worth something? Right? I mean,

(31:57):
hell they can. I guess technically they could, John, could
they if the top six, if they're in, they could
win the lottery and get Cooper Flagg? Is that possible?

Speaker 3 (32:05):
Am I messaging something that I guess it is?

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Sick?

Speaker 3 (32:08):
Is top six?

Speaker 6 (32:09):
So at the end of the year, this eight or
six and then the lottery balls they move down to
seven or eight. Does that then still count as a
top six pick?

Speaker 4 (32:18):
You know who probably knows that as that man, Sean
Bernard who's back in the studio. I'll straighten that out.

Speaker 6 (32:24):
Of them, because the ping pong balls could screw you
up as much as they can help you.

Speaker 4 (32:29):
Yeah, I don't know how that. I honestly do not
know how that works. It's what's known as top six protected,
which means if they get into the top six, they
keep the pick. If they don't, they lose the pick.
I think I have that right, but I'm not sure
about the lottery.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
Imagine any way, pre you know.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
You're thick because that's how everybody talks about it. But
I don't understand the NBA rules all the time.

Speaker 7 (32:49):
Yeah, it'll be based on the lottery for that, and
if it's outside the six it goes to OK.

Speaker 3 (32:54):
See so what you say.

Speaker 6 (32:56):
What you're saying then, is it after the lottery or
before the lottery?

Speaker 3 (32:59):
After?

Speaker 6 (33:00):
Yeah, so you can get screwed by the ping pong
balls exactly. Yeah, Yeah, it's all today getting the sixth pick.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
Yeah, somebody's gonna.

Speaker 4 (33:08):
Yeah what if what if? Can they? So could they
get the first pick? Sean?

Speaker 6 (33:12):
Is that possible hypothetically?

Speaker 4 (33:14):
Sure?

Speaker 7 (33:15):
If you get real lucky with the ping pong balls,
it's kind of when you dive into like the numbers,
they're not going to get their chances above like forty
percent of actually keeping the pick, which is why you
got to kind of wait to do the dance here.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
Yep, right, yeah understood, Yeah, that makes that makes some sense.
So anyway that even to get there at this moment,
like there's shing pong balls above Toronto's. Toronto's worse than
they are Charlotte Washington in Portland, Utah, in New Orleans
or all. They're gonna have to really play. They're gonna
have to find a way to play really bad to
get work. Worse than any of those squads. But well
they'll be in the lottery. Uh, we know that much,

(33:48):
barring some miracle here. So Mike, we can't have you
just like piase Us and then not go berserk. So
your thoughts on here's my thing.

Speaker 6 (33:55):
But I'm not going to go I'm not advocating tanking.
I've been through tanking. I went through that for two
way too long. But that's what I'll say. I don't
understand what the endgame is. You're twenty and thirty five.
It's clearly evident that you're probably not ever going to
have all three guys playing. Joe's knee is not does

(34:17):
not look like it's getting any better. It's coloring. You
can see the frustration on his face.

Speaker 3 (34:22):
You can see the way you're playing.

Speaker 4 (34:24):
Paul.

Speaker 6 (34:24):
George's finger doesn't look like it's going to get it.
But let's say, let's say you get the tenth. You
get the tenth spot in the play in, what if
you accomplished.

Speaker 3 (34:35):
I don't understand what they think might happen.

Speaker 6 (34:38):
Like if you're if you're looking at some teams in
the NBA like a golden state, I'm going get it.

Speaker 3 (34:42):
People say, hey, if you get.

Speaker 6 (34:43):
To play in and we've seen teams in the play
in make runs, I get it.

Speaker 3 (34:48):
Not this team.

Speaker 6 (34:49):
So And the other thing is if if Joe indeed
needs surgery, which it sure looks like he's going to again, Yeah,
and you don't do it. If you don't get it
to let's say second week of May, I'm just throwing
out of time and it's going to take nine months,
let's say, or ten months to maybe recover. We don't
know if he's going to recover. That puts you to
the trade deadline next year.

Speaker 5 (35:10):
Yeah, this year, and then you're putting next week, you
get surgery done next week or whatever, you've got a
fighting chance.

Speaker 3 (35:19):
And by January first, which still you know, the first
two weeks, two two months to see it.

Speaker 6 (35:24):
But again, why would you The man is hobbling around,
he does he can't play.

Speaker 5 (35:30):
It's like they're holding they're holding on by a thread
of I understand.

Speaker 6 (35:34):
I astok last year. I understood last year sort of
why they did. They were a good team when he
got hurt. Sure, and then he comes back and they say, Okay,
maybe we'll catch lightning in a bottle, and we can
win a couple of playoff series. Fine, not this year,
No way.

Speaker 4 (35:48):
Yeah, the way I would look at it at this point,
I mean, just trying to be rational that Let's let's
say they get to the final playing spot and I
think I have this right, they would then play it,
assuming it on stage where they are. They play one
game in Atlanta, and then if they win, they'll play
one more game on the road against one of the
other beds. If they win again, they'll be what the

(36:10):
seventh or eighth seeds playing the Cavaliers or the Celtics,
where they'd have no chance anyway. So what are we doing?

Speaker 6 (36:16):
That's my home point jump through hopes just to get
to the point where you're going to get swept, right.

Speaker 4 (36:23):
I don't even know why you would even think about
doing that, So I would at this point, Yeah, Mike,
I don't like tanking either, but I would just say
that and be man, we love you you obviously you know,
you can't play at the level you want to play
at if you need the surgery, which apparently does just
do it. Uh, and the season ends up wherever it
ends up, and maybe they get lucky, they get lucky

(36:46):
in the lot No, that's a good way to Yeah,
that's a good way to do things. And maybe you
get lucky in this lottery and the balls fall your way. Uh,
there's a look, there's a Cooper flag is obviously anybody
with a brain can see him. Uh, there's a couple
other players. I'm a huge fan of this kid in Maryland. Therapially,

(37:07):
he is a phenomenal player. You just get somebody younger athletic,
and they're desperate for a young athletic wings slash forward
kind of a player. Queen's not super athletic. Flag. Yes,
flags are ridiculous at but there are a number of
college players that potentially could help them. Uh, and they
have to get younger. I mean you look around the league.

(37:29):
I was just watching highlights a little while ago of Houston.
They got like eight of these young three athletes on
their team. You just go, oh my god. In Oklahoma City,
you know, I mean, Oklahoma City is putting up historic numbers.
They put up a graphic on the ESPN today that,
after I think it's fifty five games, they have the
most point differential, the second most best in history, behind

(37:54):
like a Bucks team from the early seventies. At this point,
they're like, I.

Speaker 6 (37:59):
Was playing a lot of young guys too, right, And
they're actually having a decent little season.

Speaker 3 (38:03):
I mean they're not.

Speaker 4 (38:04):
They're having a really good year and their second best
player has been hurt for a couple of months.

Speaker 6 (38:08):
Jason, So, yeah, let me ask you something about the Yeah,
let me ask you something about the NBA, because this
is what I don't I have real trouble. So I'm
seeing a story on the Suns the other day that
the Sons are in all this salary cap hell and
they don't have a draft pick in the first round
till thirty one or thirty.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
Something like that.

Speaker 4 (38:28):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (38:28):
Now, the Sixers are going to be in the same boat, right,
They're going to if they lose this year's pick, and
they I don't know where they are in the next
few years. How do teams get better if you just
trade all your first round picks?

Speaker 3 (38:42):
I don't don't understand, don't.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
Yeah, you don't they're drafting is Drafting is really matters,
and I never thought it mattered where you drafted. It
matter who you drafted. Obviously the higher the better, But
I mean, we have no perfect better example of how
drafting matters. And the football team. I mean, the l
four drafts are actually insane. They have to be the

(39:07):
best four drafts in the history of the NFL. I mean,
everybody's starting. It's just it's unheard of them.

Speaker 3 (39:15):
But they're good.

Speaker 4 (39:16):
I mean, right now, it's it's the ultimate. I mean, look,
Hallie Roseman and his staff. I mean, I don't know
if general managers can go to Hall of Fame or not,
but he said, then it's crazy.

Speaker 6 (39:31):
Do the thing.

Speaker 4 (39:32):
And a lot of teams just don't know how to draft.
They've never figured it out. They don't know. They don't
know how to put a team together. And that's Look,
that's been the Sixers problem. And they've had what I've
lost track of how many general managers here, but they've
never figured out how to put a team together. They
just have it. And they're not alone. There's a lot
of teams that a lot of lakes that can't figure
it out.

Speaker 3 (39:49):
Yeah, but they really have.

Speaker 6 (39:51):
I mean, you can go. We've went through this a
many times of the Noel the okhors put the one again.

Speaker 3 (39:57):
Markel Foltz won. I don't blame him for Ben Simmons.

Speaker 6 (40:00):
Ben Simmons was the pick, that was the pick, and
he was an All Star for three years and then
he lost his mind or whatever he did. And Joe's Josane.
You know, it hasn't cooperated. So they had a little
bit of bad luck. And I mean, look, New Orleans
takes Zion Williamson. Everybody's like a great They played like
twenty two games in four years. I mean there's a

(40:21):
lot too. But when you look at the Eagles and
even go back to Jailen Hurts, and I wasn't on
board for them taking jail and I like Jailing, but
I just didn't, you know, they just give him carts
in the money whatever, and how he had a couple
of bad drafts he didn't take justin Jefferson.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
There was a couple of those, my god.

Speaker 6 (40:38):
And as soon as he started drafting Georgia and Alabama players,
You're like, I mean, they had a thing this week.
I think it was ESPN or somebody did the top
hundred players in the NFL, and the Eagles had like
eight guys I think or eight I'm trying to remember.
Jailen was the lowest rating. Jailen was like ninety fifth, okay,
on the list, and they had Cooper. Dejene was ahead

(40:58):
of the other cornerback. Cooper Gen was like thirty fifth
or fortieth. They got the should have been a first
round Thick. I don't know how he dropped.

Speaker 4 (41:08):
Here's the here's the last four drafts for the Eagles
for Round one this year, quin John Metro, Cooper j Gene.
I don't know how to say this guy's name, Hunt.
I don't know how to say that.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
He's actually not bad.

Speaker 4 (41:22):
No, he's not bad. The year before, year before that,
Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, I mean every year. The year
before that, Jordan Davis, Cam Jurgens, the Kobe d year
before that, Devonte smith Land and Dickerson uh and Melton
Williams are you serious? And then the year before that,

(41:43):
I guess was hers.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
And yes, look they've gotten they've gotten lucky a little bit.

Speaker 6 (41:48):
I mean this year, Howie, because they could, they they
wanted to take de Jine in the first round. They
thought quin Quinna is going to be off the board,
and he didn't trade up here. He waited everybody. Yeah,
and then friends up and said, but he took Landon Dickerson,
who should have been a first round draft pick, but
he had the knee injuries.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
Yeah, he had.

Speaker 5 (42:05):
He won a three season ending injuries.

Speaker 6 (42:07):
They got they got a little bit lucky because he's
been fairly healthy. Jalen Carter felt like six spots because
of the troubles he was having and how he moved
up the one spot. So you're right, Dick, I don't
know how many general managers have had better.

Speaker 3 (42:20):
Three or four year runs.

Speaker 6 (42:22):
And from jail In from from twenty.

Speaker 4 (42:26):
Yeah, that's just that's like one of the great runs
in history. You can't do any better than that. You can't.
But look, it's hard. It's hard. In basketball. It's it's
even more important, right because one player, yeah, can change
everything in basketball. The one player's not changing everything in football,
maybe unless you're safe on Barkley, but for the most part,
they're not. One player's not changing everything. So yeah, that's

(42:47):
and the six Ers have just they just missed too
many times, uh in, And they've had all these picks
and all these different trades and different things, and it's
been a mess. And yeah, they've been unlucky.

Speaker 6 (42:59):
At least in football you get to see him for
three years. In most cases basketball sometimes you know, you
see a kid play one year like folks played, like
what nineteen games that ye played?

Speaker 5 (43:12):
Like basketball third year. When you have the top five picks,
it's easier to determine who the right pick is. It
it's not as in depth as it is when it
comes to football and you and they still messed it
up more times than they got it.

Speaker 6 (43:24):
Look at the amount of great players in the NBA
that went in the second round or went late in
the first round, like they weren't. I mean Curry was
like the eighth pick or whatever he was, Clay Thompson,
he wasn't a real real high pick on second round
Gianni sixteen, Jokie second round. So so those guys do exist.
You just got a two years in there.

Speaker 5 (43:45):
But most of them are the like the the solidified
top five picks and that that you should get right, but.

Speaker 4 (43:55):
Right for some guys that are really easy. Look, you
know when Lebron James High school, there was but there
was not a discussion and look, Cooper Flag is like that.
I don't know how many people have had a chance
to see him playing college, but he's an absurd athlete.
He's becoming a better three point cheer, which is the
only thing you had there were questions about. So he's
obviously going to be the number one pick. After that.

(44:16):
You know, there's a lot of very good players. I
don't know if there's a guy who's going to change
your franchise, which is what the Sixers desperately need and
they need to get up their clothes.

Speaker 6 (44:26):
So I don't know, Tyreee fluting around that they got
what twenty.

Speaker 4 (44:33):
Yeah he was the best pick, but by far the
best pick by this regime. Yeah not closed, No, Yeah,
really really really good player, great guy guy, you want
to build your franchise.

Speaker 6 (44:43):
And then when you screw up absolutely by actually drafting
McHale where you should have taken him.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
Okay, that was a.

Speaker 6 (44:50):
Good pick and they feel like that changed.

Speaker 3 (44:54):
He loved it. Fifteen minutes later they had a good
ten minutes.

Speaker 6 (44:57):
I mean, and it's not a good and pick, it's
just the fit. That's a lot of things too.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
Is like Jared McCain is a really good pick, but
what the fit becomes a bit of a problem because
you have two really small guards and how you're gonna
play then and they can't.

Speaker 6 (45:10):
But Kel was the first time.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
Where they they nailed the player and they nailed the
fit and they went, yeah, we don't need any Dick.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
If you were the Sixers, unbelievable.

Speaker 6 (45:22):
I still cannot believe that they wanted the draft pick.
They wanted the draft pick that they got with zyr
Smith because they then they made.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
A trade or whatever. Someone like Kel Bridges think about this.

Speaker 6 (45:33):
You're the Sickers, right, and you could have called Dick Girardi.

Speaker 3 (45:38):
You could have called Mike Kern.

Speaker 6 (45:39):
But better than that, you could have called uh said hey, Jack,
we're thinking about what what do you think Jay?

Speaker 3 (45:45):
You just won two national titles, you made a fine
and Jay.

Speaker 6 (45:48):
Would have said, hey, this guy's and I'm thinking when
they took him, I'm like, wow, give the Sixers credit.
And then like ten minutes later, I'm like, what the hell.

Speaker 4 (45:57):
Are that was the Brett Brown was in charge at
that moment, I believe so, Andelo got blown up and
he was sort of the defective personnel guy. Yeah, that
that'd be a really good question for you. Know whoever
was the finally UH made that pick? You know what
in the world were you thinking. Here's this guy who's
in your city, as Johnny just said, not only a

(46:20):
terrific player, but a perfect fit. You're dying for a
three man is three and D guy that can do
all the different things you need to do, and and
he plays in when you're in your floor. He's a
two time national title. You've seen him a million times,
and and his mother worked for you, and you draft
him and you trade him fifteen minutes later for a
guy who can't shoot outside of three feet.

Speaker 5 (46:42):
Yeah, for a guy that's a pro.

Speaker 6 (46:43):
Want to know, you want to know a team that
did that. Back when Brian Westbrook was coming out of
Villanova and I never thought Brian was going to be
what Brian became. But he was a great player. Oh,
the Eagles took him because.

Speaker 3 (46:54):
The Eagles had this guy playing in your backyard. They
took him in the third round.

Speaker 6 (46:58):
Brian wasn't going to be taken higher that and he
what he turned out to be to me. The two
rooves that screwed the Sixers up the most through this
whole whatever you want to say, you're gonna make bad moves.
You're gonna draft the wrong guy for the wrong reasons.
Markel Foltz and Michale Bridge. If you changed those two picks.

Speaker 4 (47:18):
Yeah, you have Jason Tatum and McHale Bridges. You might
have won a championship all.

Speaker 3 (47:23):
It would have been a lot closer than than you've been.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
And even with because I know there's always the contention
of all, if they weren't gonna take Markel Faults, they
would have never had a chance to take Jason Tatum
because I don't think yeah, I think the argument still
is they were If you just don't take MARKL. Folts,
just take anyone other than Markel falls.

Speaker 6 (47:41):
There had to be a guy that went fourth fifth.

Speaker 3 (47:43):
I have to go back and look at the draft.

Speaker 6 (47:45):
I don't think Danny Aings was going to let you
take Tatum. That's just my opinion. I think he was
playing the sixers and that's fine. You weren't taking Ball
because Ball went too But you could have taken somebody
other than Markel Folts.

Speaker 4 (47:59):
That could will be true. I will say this. I
saw Jason Sadam playing Duke and I did not see him.
I liked him. I didn't see doing what he's.

Speaker 5 (48:07):
Doing, Darren, do you like the Iron Fox better than Man?

Speaker 4 (48:15):
Okay?

Speaker 5 (48:16):
Well he went fifth mar marketing when Mark Donovan Mitchell, Donovan.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
Mitchell, You like Donovan Mitchell?

Speaker 4 (48:24):
Yeah? I like Donovan.

Speaker 3 (48:25):
You all guys who wins? We're after faults.

Speaker 4 (48:28):
We've talked about this on the show before. I know
we have. But everybody I talked to that you're all
the scouts, and I know a bunch of them. They
kept screaming faults at me and I kept the take
and I kept going, what am I missing? And it
turned out they were all wrong.

Speaker 6 (48:46):
I remember you saying, I remember you saying this guy.
I watched this guy play. He's got a bad shot.
He plays for a bad team in a.

Speaker 4 (48:53):
Bad couldn't shoot free throws other than that.

Speaker 6 (48:57):
And again, if you have a chance to take it
to Tucky guy, especially any well, any but a guard,
take him deer. The Fox was a freak. It's like
taking It's like taking a Georgia or an Alabama guy
in football.

Speaker 4 (49:12):
Why would you want to take why would you want
to take? Donovan Mitchell from Louisville's Plays for.

Speaker 5 (49:17):
Dear Fox and Malik Monk in this.

Speaker 6 (49:21):
In this conversation, Dick should be the GM and the stickers.
I should be his assistant and just get rid of
whatever the hell did.

Speaker 4 (49:29):
Just get rid of more Sean, and Sean is coming
along with her, and I will give you more credit.

Speaker 2 (49:38):
I think again, I think he's nailed some really good
draft picks like Maxie and McCain. Like I think there
that is a good evaluation of talent, knowing that those
guys their skill set can fit in the NBA. But
I think, like everything we're talking about had a domino
effect because once, once those early draft picks didn't happen,
then all of a sudden, you're like repurposing all of
these things.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
You have just to go after.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
One free agent or one train, get a star player
to fix everything.

Speaker 3 (50:01):
And that's where everything was Ben Simmons did. If Ben
Simmons didn't go nuts, Now he wasn't that's a big party.
He wasn't going to shoot the ball, we know that.

Speaker 6 (50:08):
But if he had just been that guy who was
like an all defensive guy, a facilitator or a third
team All NBA whatever, whatever the heck, he was going
to be none, I mean, they would have been a
lot better off. That was the plan. The plan was
we got em beat and Simmons going forward and we're
going to fill in around them, and it never happened.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
This is where I always and I think said this
and it filled my head with this is probably why
things are the way that they are because of the process.
It bred a basically losing environment.

Speaker 6 (50:37):
Like after a.

Speaker 2 (50:38):
While and you go, well, this guy came in here
and he went he went crazy, and James Harden came
in here as bad.

Speaker 6 (50:43):
Well look at he's doing with the Clippers.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
At some point it's just it's you, like, what what
is going on here? That just it is the right
environment for people to thrive. Did you say that, like
a legitimate question?

Speaker 6 (50:54):
Did you say that one time to me, Dick that
like when Brett Brown was here, like they none of
the guys on this team know how to win.

Speaker 4 (51:01):
I said it early and look okafor who there was
always a terrible draft choice. Again, anybody that watched him
at the five four, like I said, what a great
He literally couldn't guard anybody there. Chefs got to take
them off the floor. Uh, they don't win the game
if he doesn't take them off the floor. They couldn't
guard Bankamsky. But you know, I'm you know, but they

(51:22):
take guys like that, and not only they take them,
then they put them out there, as Mike just said,
in an environment where they want you to lose, Well,
guess what you're gonna lose if they want you to lose.
You can't teach guys like that. And it's a shame
because that that kid is a phenomenal offensive talent, but
he's just a non athlete in a league where athletes

(51:44):
were uh and and they needed to know that, but
they just lived.

Speaker 6 (51:47):
Unfortunately, Nels play Nerlands was Kentucky, right, Yeah, so you
had a guy from Kentucky and a guy from Duke.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
All they did in college was win. That's what they did.
You know, you win year.

Speaker 4 (52:00):
And if you and if you could have put their
skill sets together to make one player, you had a
hell of a player. One couldn't play offense and one
couldn't play defense.

Speaker 3 (52:10):
You got to show them.

Speaker 6 (52:11):
You got to show me the franchise in the history
of sport that for five straight years their first round
picked in play because that was it.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
Embeid didn't know.

Speaker 6 (52:21):
Emi missed two years, No missed a year, Simmons missed
a year, and Oka for and then false false too.
I mean, it was like five straight years whirreder guy
literally did not play. That's impossible. But and then in
nineteen they get Jimmy Butler. They got a guy who
knew how to wind the way he does, and they

(52:42):
came within a four bounced thing of going to the
conference finals.

Speaker 3 (52:46):
I mean, and then they get rid of him.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
Yeah, and again with all that though, it just comes
back to, like the six Ers, you could look at it,
maybe just a string of bad luck, like all these injuries,
all these weird things. But is is Boston just like
a string of good luck?

Speaker 4 (52:59):
Then?

Speaker 6 (52:59):
Like, is it it took them, took them a while, definitely, But.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
It's just that maybe there was a right way of
doing And I don't know what the answer is what
the Sixers could have done better? I don't know that.
But there is a difference. And I can't just say, well,
that's bad luck versus good luck. It's not that like
one organization just seems like they're healthy and doing it.

Speaker 6 (53:15):
They lost a series to Atlanta, which hasn't won a
thing ever.

Speaker 3 (53:21):
Okay, they played, they.

Speaker 6 (53:23):
Had the home court, They lost a game where they
had a twenty six point lead. They lost a game
where they had an eighteen point lead. They forced a
game seven here and could win.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
Now what am I missing?

Speaker 6 (53:34):
I'm not saying they would have won the title that year.
I'm saying they were the number one seed in the East.

Speaker 3 (53:39):
Should have at least made the conference final.

Speaker 5 (53:42):
Okay, the next year then Kevin Hurder.

Speaker 6 (53:46):
They're beating Boston by three with five minutes to go
and Joe doesn't touch the ball. And by the way,
that nineteen game that they lost to Toronto. As much
as I love Jimmy, he had two twenty four second
violations in the.

Speaker 5 (53:59):
Last y and win in that game, if it went
to overtime, they were probably down the stretch.

Speaker 6 (54:03):
Probably not, But again they've had they they've the and
that's the teas.

Speaker 3 (54:07):
That's the teas, and the tea's is over.

Speaker 6 (54:11):
The teas no longer exists.

Speaker 3 (54:13):
It went down last year when Joe hit the floor.

Speaker 4 (54:17):
That's what do you say last last.

Speaker 6 (54:22):
If we say we get everybody healthy, we we we've
got We haven't had everybody healthy in ten years.

Speaker 4 (54:28):
He said, you have to squint to see it, but
we still see a championship window.

Speaker 5 (54:32):
It's right there, right in front of us.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
I just don't I don't see a way out of
what this is now because you have maybe one of
the worst contracts in the league and Paul George and
there's like some good things and beads kind of back
and beads contract with the bat.

Speaker 6 (54:46):
Can't wait. If you went out in your season said,
what's everybody gonna give me for Joe Nothing?

Speaker 2 (54:51):
I guess my thing is I I just don't see
even though you have two young bright spots in Maxi
and Jared McCain, that I just don't know with no
two bad contracts, one because of a bad kneed, one
because the guy just turned to a bad player.

Speaker 3 (55:05):
I don't know how you get out of it. Dick.

Speaker 6 (55:06):
You know they've gotten out of things before. This one.
To me, just you know, this is like, Dick, you
make a bet on a horse, big rate whatever, and
you bet one of the favorites or whatever, and about
halfway through two thirds through your horse is like, you know,
just ain't running, and you sit there and say, Mike, Mike,
he's coming, Mike. Look if you just get no, Dick,
rip the tickets.

Speaker 5 (55:26):
Up there and you're down the line to go.

Speaker 6 (55:29):
You know that better than anybody Dick, because you you're
a horse race guy. You know how it works. Like
what happened with Smarty Jones at one year, That doesn't
happen a lot. Right most times, you know that. You
know when your horse has a chance, when your horse
doesn't have a chance.

Speaker 3 (55:42):
The Sixers have and they just won't admit it.

Speaker 6 (55:45):
They just can't come out and say and and they
should just go up to They should go up to
Joe very nicely, say Joe, you can't play like this.
We were not going anywhere. Get it done. Let's try
to have a chance next year.

Speaker 3 (56:00):
But they won't do it.

Speaker 5 (56:01):
Sean Bernard, I think just tweeted out the Sixers are
up to like minus what three ninety to miss the fatal.

Speaker 3 (56:08):
Oh I thought to win the chant? What are the
rids to win the championship?

Speaker 5 (56:12):
Not not minus?

Speaker 6 (56:14):
All the board?

Speaker 4 (56:15):
Off? Off the boards.

Speaker 5 (56:16):
Hold on, let me scroll all the way down.

Speaker 4 (56:19):
Yeah, we got we gotta take we gotta take a break. Mike,
have you have anything on the golf tournament in Mexico? Forts?

Speaker 3 (56:25):
Okay, we got golf, Mike, don golf.

Speaker 4 (56:27):
We'll get it into Villanova. We'll get into the good
college games. Today.

Speaker 3 (56:31):
There's some good ones.

Speaker 4 (56:32):
That all it needs to be said about the sixution's
bad situation. Uh, but what are you gonna do? You
are listening to sports here, there and everywhere. We at
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(57:14):
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