NBA Preview with Zach Harper

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
From the King of sports Books comes the Key sports
podcast Unleashed, presented by the MGM. Here's your host, Jerry
Ferrara and Olivia Harlan Decker. Welcome to Gosh. How do

(00:32):
I say this? An interesting episode of Unleashed, A sad
episode of Unleashed, and very more than anything unprobable episode
of Unleashed. And our loyal listeners know exactly what I'm
talking about. They know that I lost a bet that
had a lot of sentiment involved in a lot of
embarrassment at stake. Oh my god, Jerry, and here we are.

(00:55):
I cannot believe it. Yeah, just to reflect for a minute,
I did not want to make this bet with you,
Olivia Harland Decker. I did not want to do it.
For number one, I didn't want to wear cheese on
my head. I just didn't. And number two I thought,
I really thought we were most likely going to lose.
But now you, on the other hand, and if you're
just catching up with us this week and didn't here

(01:16):
last week, you know, Olivia die Hard Packers band made
a bet and you actually even threw me the points
out of pity. I asked for the points bread and
you said, yeah, all right whatever at a pity, that
was my only hope and we went down big. But yeah,
you have to wear cheese on your head this episode,
and you have really nice hair, so I'm worried about

(01:36):
I'm just worried, and I feel bad for your husband
saying like you're gonna you smell like cheese tonight. Well,
a couple of things. You're nice to say that, because
my postpartum hair loss would beg to differ. Um, I
also did not do my hair tonight, so I'm very
much anticipating my post show shower. And also Sam is
out of town playing a game, so no one else

(01:57):
is going to even be close to this head of hair.
In mind, my baby, you'll be asleep. So, um, this
is just for you, Jerry. One wash or to wash it?
You go two washes? Maybe well wash in the condition
you maybe do a wash in a little condition or treatment. Now,
to be fair, I get that the whole cheesehead thing
is an easy thing to make fun of. I get it.

(02:17):
I think Packer fans are self aware that it's kind
of a stupid thing. Believe me, I heard a lot
of that overseas for the Packers Giants game. Obviously, in London.
I live in London. I went there and there were
some I think did I tag you? And one of
them are you sent it to me? Of Giants fans
sheering about the cheese after yes, they with some curse

(02:38):
words about the cheese. Roll that clip in here. Let's
roll that clip in here because I want everyone to
know who Giants fans really are. That was mean. That
was nasty, too godly the whole thing though, Jerry, and

(03:01):
I'm eating my words. I thought there was no chance
in hell this would happen. I really didn't. That's why
I was giving you such a hard time last week,
and to be quite honest, it really shouldn't have it.
I'm as shocked as anyone, only because the Giants are
obviously decimated with injuries. There was Marcus Johnson I think
his name is. I didn't even know who that dude was, Like,
I was googling him during the game. Yeah, I just did.

(03:25):
You were players I had to do. I had to
do quick Google checks on. But I do kind of
you guys are all to blame because here's my issue
that I'm having with Like the Packers, obviously, I love
Aaron Rodgers. He's amazing quarterback. You have two really, really
good running backs, and I know the Giants defense was

(03:45):
stout and we were keen in a little bit, but
still to go away from them on those third and
fourth down plays, to not even really get the ball
in their hands or even the third n I get
Aaron Rodgers is your your best player. You gotta put
the ball in his hands. But still your two running
backs are dynamic. I thought we would have saw. I
was most afraid of a j. Dillon and of Aaron Jones.
I'm not afraid of any of your receivers. I'm sorry.

(04:07):
In the past, obviously, Davante Adams scared the life out
of me. There is not one receiver on the Packers
that I was fearful. And we lost our number one quarterback,
A Dory Jackson too, went went out in the first quarter.
And I still wasn't afraid of any of your receivers.
You need like a redo because Davante Adams had some
issues the other night. He doesn't look too happy. Get

(04:29):
him bad, you need him bad. Honestly, he should be.
He should be in Green Bay. Still, I just love
how much show you're eating up without making me put
this cheese in my head. Let's talk it, let's go now.
I did spare you. We talked off air. I didn't
want I don't I could do no fondue or anything,
and I'm like, let's just keep it simple. I'm a
cheddar guy. You know it smells, but it's not like

(04:51):
God awful. So do you have? What do you have
in your possession? So you texted me I could just
get away with some you know, either slices or spring
goals of just cheddar, and you kept you again, You're
going very easy on me, so I appreciate that. So
in my fridge I looked and Sam maybe wondering what
happened to our cheese. This is British cheddar, perfect for cooking,

(05:13):
and it expires today. Oh God, are you going to
keep this on for the whole shell? Um? Not for
the interview? All right? I asked for that because I
thought we were interviewing Kevin Garnett. Today. We're actually interviewing
Kevin Garnett I believe next week, which is awesome. But
today we have Zach Harper because we're gonna get to
talk some NBA action, which I can't believe. That's finally

(05:34):
here I can't believe. I know, I know, we can't wait.
There's so much to get to. Okay, all right, all right,
she reaches in the bad folks out most disturbing because
I have a babysitter right now watching the baby, and
I really hope them come out and sees what my
work really. Oh that's a good. Oh my gosh, I
feel bad. I feel bad. I know. Okay, so there's

(05:59):
all right. Well, look, you cannot say Olivia Harland Decker
does not pay her debts. She pays her debts. She's
currently Yeah. Well, I'm sure we'll have these will be
breakout clips, so we'll have this on blame the play calling.
Should have got the ball a j and Aaron a
little more. Oh, it doesn't all that. We gotta be

(06:24):
a little careful with these, with these bets going forward,
because but you know what, you know what, we'll end
it with this. We'll move on from the bed after this.
I reversed. Jings to you, Allah, Peter Andrew. Peter Andrew,
but you you were a heavy favor going in, and
you are pushing the envelope on what this bet wants.
So let this be a lesson in our next future. Bets.

(06:45):
Maybe we just go a little easier on each other.
But it can't be money, you know. We like to
make it a little bit different. And honestly, unless our
two teams meet again, this is it. So I alright,
I'm okay with this. So I'm not actually gonna meet
in the super Bowl. Yeah, so this is it. I
don't care, right, But overall, listen, great game, so much fun.

(07:06):
The stadium at Tottenham Hotspur was amazing. In the fans
Jerry were like seven Packer fans. I'm not kidding. That's
the other thing you had home you had home field advantage.
I did see uh picture or video Sam posted on
his on his Instagram and them. I was like, wow
that it just looks I used like some kind of
old classy bar. It just looked really cool. Yeah, man,

(07:29):
I whish I was there. That looks awesome. Oh it
was so much fun. We ran into so many random
people we knew. It really felt like we were at
lambeau Field. It felt better than if we were at
lambeau Field because so many people were you know, new
Packer fans, like if they were either Brits or Europeans
in general coming over for the game. And there were
a couple of things. And Packer fans will know this
that at a home game r p P, a announcer

(07:52):
will say that's a Packer's first down in the music
plays da da da da, go back go, and I
think you do it three times and then you're done.
Because you're on offense. You want to be quiet, and
the either new NFL fans or new Packer fans and
not realize you want to be quiet when your team's
on offense. And they just kept going, go, Pat go,
and we're like, no, no, no everar me quiet. But man,

(08:13):
it didn't seem to matter that. Uh. I mean, we
just gave it away. We gave it away. We're feeling
confident at halftime, obviously. And one of the bets I
liked going into this game was a J. Dillon over
twelve and a half rushing attempts and he only had six.
That's the horrible Everyone in the stands kept saying, run
the damn ball, run the damn ball. It was so maddening.

(08:34):
And then the tip passes to end the game. I mean,
your defense was great, you guys throttled us. Defense was great,
but so after five weeks now I have not been
very impressed with the Packers at all, and to me
it is squarely on. The defense hasn't been great either.
Let's be honest. You let the Giants have what twenty
on the answered point like, that's not good. The Giant

(08:55):
shouldn't score that much. But yeah, again, I repeat, there's
no and on that offense. Who scares me other than
your running backs? Your running backs do. But I know
they were like a non factor. Call down you should
be calling Carolina. I also put on Twitter I was
I was begging the Giants to call the Panthers because
they're in full blow it up mode. It seems like

(09:16):
DJ Moore, I don't even know if you could get them,
I don't know what the trade would be. I don't
even think the Giants have any cap room to make
it work. But if you're the Packers, maybe you should
be called Carolina and say, hey, what what do you
like for DJ? Or even Robbie Anderson. At this point,
that's how down I am on this receiving corps. The
Packers or Robby Anderson call the Panthers the Giants. Packers

(09:40):
absolutely should be calling the Panthers today. I know, I know.
And again We've talked about the O b J situation
on this show. He's not healthy. Really told in November
he's smart, he's taking his sweet time. He's like, you know,
the hot new girl to move to the high school.
I'm just gonna let all the suitors come to him
and and figure this out. I I would love to
think he'd see the chance to do one year with

(10:01):
a Hall of Fame quarterback. But if I'm O b J,
I'm kind of wondering. I don't want to, you know,
go somewhere to not advanced far in the playoffs. I
want a multi year deal. You know he's gonna want
stability after the last year. So well, I think he
deserves it because and I've always been a fan of
his since he was on the Giants. I still wish
he was on the Giants. I still think the Giants
should call him as well. Although I don't see how

(10:23):
you go back. I don't think it works. But we
know the Rams have problems, Cooper Cup not being one
of them. Oh b J got open a lot for
the Rams. Alan Robinson, who I did a whole spiel
on Alan Robinson before the season started. I was so
happy for him to finally have a legit quarterback. He
put up numbers in Chicago with no quarterback whatsoever, and

(10:47):
then he goes to the Rams and I'm thinking, Okay,
he's got Stafford. Now I don't know if they have
zero chemistry or if Alan Robinson can't get separation or what.
He gets no looks. So to me, if you're looking
at it, O b J was getting looks and was
a big part of that offense, Alan Robinson is not.
So I think that makes O. B J stock go
up if I'm now that was coming off a massive injury.

(11:10):
But yeah, I you're right. He should absolutely sit back.
Teams like the Giants who are decimated, the Packers who
need help, or you know, some teams were gonna look
to maybe just get that one last piece like the
Bills and and and go for it. So this is
really getting interesting. If I'm O b J looking at
the Rams still, I mean, look at their last game.

(11:30):
Stafford through for over three hundred and had four interceptions.
They're playing with everyone keep saying a patchwork offensive line,
which you know, almost every offensive line in the NFL
at some point of the season is patchwork. You know,
guys just move all around. Certainly Green Bays is getting
back to that. But yeah, Ram's offense looks pretty pedestrian,
and you want to you spoke about London fans cheering

(11:51):
at the wrong time in l a Stafford having the
quiet his own crowd, or at least he thought it
was his own crowd, and last year Majordy cowboy fans there.
And oh I talked about this on Twitter at one
of my buddies who's a Bears fan. We both the
fact that there is no disrespect to Justin Fields. I
think Justin Fields is good. I think he's going to
be good. I believe in Justin Fields. The Giants traded

(12:14):
out of that pick, the Bears got that pick draft Fields,
and now Michael Parsons is having a year that very
few defensive players have. And the fact that the Giants
passed on them. The Bears passed them, but the Bears
that need a quarterback and he falls right to the Cowboys.
That just hurts, because man, I would love to have
Michael Parsons on the Giants right now. I know everyone's

(12:36):
looking at Michael Parsons. Dan Quinn's defense is looking really legit.
In fact, I think Dan Quinn's probably first step for
the next head coaching hire, which we're kind of looking
at Matt Rule and Carolina. I think he's got the
hottest seat right now in the NFL. But on the Cowboys,
let's just finish off on that. When you look at
Cooper Rush, he had just ten completions. I know, people
are really hot right now. He's undefeated, blah blah blah.

(12:58):
I mean, his game wasn't tastic. He had just ten completions,
like I said, but he's winning now. Obviously. Zeke and
Tony Pollard are doing the heavy lifting and looking incredible.
In fact, I think Tony Pollard needs the ball more.
But together they were great and Dad may come back
this week against Philly. How do you feel about that? So,
as a Giants fan and as an avid NFC East

(13:19):
watcher and being pleasantly surprised by the NFC East this year, Look,
Cowboys have gotten off the great starts in the past.
This is in the last ten years, isn't it, But
by far, by far. And I'm being honest with you
Cowboy fans, and I know there's a billion of you
out there. This is the most scared of a Cowboys
team that I have ever been because I look around

(13:40):
that roster. I look around. They have two really good
running backs, they have one really great receiver and a
bunch of good role playing receivers. The offensive line could
get even healthier. And the defense, this is the best
Cowboys defense since the nineties, since they had Charles Haley
and Leon This is the best Cowboys defense since the nineties.

(14:00):
I'm sorry, it just is. So I'm really afraid you
lay out a good argument. I guess I just feel
like the Cowboys of years past have been more star studded.
But you know, it doesn't matter, and we're seeing that
by by teams like the Giants, and you know what,
the Eagles, who are obviously the leaders right now, be
scared of the Eagles, right But could you name like,

(14:22):
could you name seven Eagles off the top of your head?
You probably could, but you have to think when you
get down the like four or five or six and
not loaded with stars. They're just a really good deep team.
I don't really want to talk about the top of
my head right now, besides the Chadar, the British Cheddar
that's on the top of your head. Last thing about
the Cowboys because I want to ask you this, it's

(14:44):
Dak's job, right, I mean, that's what every talking head
show is going to talk. Of course it is, and
I agree, And I thought about this a lot while
doing the workout this morning. Cooper Rush is doing amazing things.
He's managing the game perfectly. Ceedee Lamb is very effective
with Cooper Rush in the lineup. But I just think
Dac has a much higher ceiling. Maybe a lower floor,

(15:06):
maybe when he goes bad and the offenses run differently,
and if he throws some picks because Cooper does not
throw picks, maybe a lower floor. But I think to
advance and win three or four games in the playoffs
to win a Super Bowl, I think you need the
ceiling of Dak, and I think he's earned that. So
let's let's quiet all the chatter about maybe the Cowboys
are better off what time will tell, but and and

(15:28):
beating the Eagles would go a long way for either
of these two quarterbacks. But yeah, this is we got
some good matchups this week. I gotta say with Cooper,
it's really fun to watch this because of course, when
Dad comes back, which should be this week, he's earning
himself years in this league. You know what I mean,
people will go back to this season and look at
what he did and whether he's a backup for the

(15:52):
rest of his career or not. I see him really
doing some good things for his career. So it's always
great to see that someone else who was earning themselves
years in this league. Is Dino Smith in your Seattle Seahawks.
He's been so great last week three touchdowns, no interception.
H Kenneth Walker Jr. Obviously was great. Penny got hurt,

(16:12):
so that's a question mark. Their defense is terrible in Seattle,
but they've got this like top ten offense in the NFL.
And they lost, of course, but they look legit on offense.
So obviously, my my long shot lottery ticket of the
Seahawks winning the division is not going to hold up.
Although gosh, if they just had a little bit of
defense and if they could have held onto that game,

(16:34):
or you know, they had one more win and you're
really looking at the Rams saying okay, and look, the
Niners are scary on defense. They just lost the defensive
player today. I would still at least be in the hunt.
I still am in the hunt, but barely. But the
bigger story. The bigger story is they got the Russell
Wilson trade right. They got a lot of value for him.

(16:57):
They didn't have to pay him all that money. And
maybe it's too soon to say, oh, Russell Wilson's finished.
I think it is a little too soon because who
knows if he's hurt new offense and maybe the coach
is part of the issue. Who knows. Either way, Do
you want that for the next five years? No, you
now have draft capital, you have GENO for the time being. Uh,

(17:19):
things are looking bright in Seattle. I just again with
these older coaches. That's why I'm so upset with Like Tomlin,
he's not an old coach, but it's been around. I
don't want to watch Tomlin rebuild. I don't know if
I want to watch Pete cow rebuild. But it certainly
seems like they're there are a few steps ahead of
where we all thought they would be going into the year. Yeah,
the Russell Wilson thing is cringe e. But it's like

(17:40):
when a couple gets a divorce and one of them
just really kicking ass and one of them is and
I you know, one of them is going on dates
and supernatos on the cat were subway sandwiches weird commercial
subway sandwiches on Then how about the let's ride as
he's leaving the press conference? That was that not so

(18:01):
weird and cringe e than country. You need to go
ride yourself to a quarterback camp and talk to Trent
Dilfer or something or whatever, because no one's writing if
you are, No one's riding right now, so you need
to Yeah, no one's riding right now unless the people
are betting against you or maybe riding with you. Something

(18:23):
else about Russ that kind of just it was always
weirded me out for years now. I've kind of kept
tabs on this is like every video I see of him,
he has a different accent. I'm not kidding. Some of
his Instagram stories, he has a completely different voice than
later and and I just I've heard like twelve different
variations of his voice, which just kind of adds to

(18:43):
the who are you dude? Like? And I don't know
if you watch this two on Good Morning Football, they
did a whole rant on it and it was a
great piece and they just we're giving more firsthand stories
of dealing with Russell, like behind the scenes and just
same kind of unflattering things, and so a lot coming
to light. Look, I I wish, I wish no one
ill in this business. I don't. I would love. I

(19:05):
would love everyone to do well, stay healthy and provide
for their family. But he would have Russell Wilson or
Gino Smith. And you have to answer right now. I'll
let you take one piece of cheese off your head
if you answer in less than five seconds. Okay, I
believe you could take a little cheese off. I think
I would too. I don't know, I don't. I don't
really see that. We're overreacting obviously, and we're kind of

(19:27):
jumping to it feels like an NBA trade to me,
that trade. There's so many teams, Like if you look
at the Pelicans and we're gonna talk about all this
with Zach Harper. Obviously you love Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis
won a Bubble championship with the Lakers, but the last
few years he's been injured, we haven't seen him. And
now the Pelicans, who have a good roster, now have
a million of the Lakers picks. That's a great place

(19:49):
to be in and the Seahawks could be left with
very valuable draft capital. If the Broncos don't pull this together,
and now there's still the three and two, so we're
two and three. But yeah, this is crazy. Speaking of this,
there's a team that is one in four, that maybe
the best one in four team in the NFL, and
I have said, I think this team is making the playoffs.

(20:11):
I'm I'm going against that now obviously, but it leads
me to my m it's time to leash. So the
Davante Adams shoving a photographer thing, well, let me just
say when I first saw the video, I was shocked.

(20:31):
It's so not Davante. He's always been such a class act, calm, cool,
collected and as someone who works on the sidelines of games,
and I worked with so many amazing people over the years,
camera guys, security guys, graphics people. You know, there's a
lot of people who earn their paycheck on a football field,
not just the players and coaches. Okay, so I felt

(20:53):
pretty angry the first time I saw it. I'm like
that guy, just like, that's DeVante's dream job. That's that
guy's dream up, you know, to be an NFL photographer.
That it's It made me so angry that these people
sacrifice and are working long hours and for a lot
less money. And you know the guy too, he was
just walking across the tunnel. I could understand if it

(21:14):
was almost paparazzi like of like shoving a camera in
his face, blah blah blah, but he was I don't
think he saw Davante coming, as I've rewatched the tape,
so I just thought that was so unfair and really
sad to see. Davante quickly apologized both of the man
on Twitter and then to the press afterwards in the
locker room. And I still think he's a class act.

(21:34):
This was so out of character, and I get it.
He was so embarrassed by the way that game ended.
At one point last Monday Night football in Kansas City,
him and Hunter Renfro run into each other on their
final play to win it. And it was horrible. But
Adams had two touchdowns twenty four yards. He had a
great game and only on three catches too, which is wild.

(21:55):
How did he only have three catches and two touchdowns
and a hundred twenty four yards? I don't know. But anyways,
a eads now one and four and Adams is kind
of sitting there, probably wondering what his decision was all about.
I would assume we've talked about it a lot on
the show, but a part of my unleashed is this.
After saying all that, I think it's funny that after
three hours of asking these guys on the field, these

(22:18):
players to be gladiators, right, to just run down each
other's throats, to be so aggressive and violent, that now
we are clutching our pearls at this little shove like
as he's walking off the field. And I know this
might kind of sound hypocritical, but I think the shove
was totally inappropriate. And again I felt really bad for

(22:39):
the guy. But I imagine after giving a game, you're
all and being frustrated with the season, and all you
hear when you go home as you should have stayed
in Green Bay blah blah blah. Having all this energy,
all this aggression for that long, I think it's very
hard to simply walk off the field or talk with
the reporter, right. Don't you always feel awkward when a
players really heated and has a cameras and microphone shoved

(23:01):
in their face to talk after I think of Richard
Sherman and Aaron Andrews, that famous postgame interview, and obviously
Richard wasn't violent or anything, but I'm just saying, there's
so much going on that right after you're kind of
not your normal self. You're not how you'd be walking
down the street, you know what I mean. So I
always think about that. It's like we asked them to
do so much physically and to just be these animals,

(23:25):
these gladiators on the field, and then we want them
to be perfect gentleman seconds after. And I think that's
a little unfair of us. You know, let's let's give
these guys a little second to cool off, because it's
a whole different mode they're in when they're on the pitch,
as we say here in London. What do you think, Jerry,
I think that's a great point. Look, I think if

(23:47):
you Davante Adams would like to have that one back,
of course, And I'm with you, like he's he seems
like an awesome guy, besides this being an awesome player.
When I'm liking so far as it seems like everyone's
accepting an apology for the mistake. Finally, like someone made
a mistake. Uh fortunately, does not seem like the guy
was hurt. That's let's keep you know, clarity, That's the

(24:08):
most important thing. The guy didn't get hurt, thankfully, or
else this would have been a much bigger deal. The
guy made a mistake. He made Davante Adams made a mistake.
He said, I'm sorry, Let's forgive him. I've got to
get fined for sure. If our Davante had definitely reach
out to the guy, be like again, I'm I'm sure
he has. I'm sorry anything I can ever do you know,
let's let's let's move on. You know, I don't I

(24:29):
don't think it was Thankfully he wasn't hurt. Let's focus
on that and let's move on. I'm sure Davante Adams
feels like shit about it and would like to move on.
So I think we just we can move on. Let's
forgive someone who made a mistake and move forward. So good, great,
unleash though, thank you? Than do you want mine? Okay, listen, Obviously,

(24:53):
I'm a New York guy. I am not getting too
far ahead of myself with the New York Football Giants
four and one, and I love my coach. We talked
already about that way. I'm over the moon, so and
I'm actually trying to be quiet about like, great, awesome,
I'm not taking any victory laps because it's only five
games in. Now we're gonna circle over to my Jets
fan friends. However, we say that properly, my Jets fans

(25:16):
friends who historically have always taken victory laps after week one,
after Week two, or beating the Patriots once or whatever,
and haven't been good in a really long time. I'm
not a Jets hater. I do laugh at their pain,
as many people laugh at my Knicks pain. I do
laugh at the Jets pain. Jets fans, you should absolutely

(25:39):
be excited. But I was in a Twitter conversation which
probably was my first mistake, with a good buddy of mine,
Sean from the Knicks Wall, great Knicks fan, and my
guy was talking about, I can't believe the Jets are
gonna have a defensive rookie of the Year and an
offensive rookie of the year. This is crazy. Look, look,
look pumped the brakes. Okay, maybe Sauce Gardner could and

(26:02):
we devaded. So Sauce Gardner as being a little lockdown corner,
and he certainly seems like he is, and maybe he
will win defensive Rookie Year number one? Who cares really
about those awards? Those are great for the player individually.
You want this team to develop, You want the young
talent you have to develop. You have great young talent.
Take that victory lap Who cares about the awards? Let's

(26:22):
not get too far ahead of ourselves. You've done that
historically and that historically does not work. So enjoy the
winds that you've had. Enjoy this young talent. So don't
talk about defensive Rookie of the year offensive rookie of
the year. Just you got a game this week against
your Green Bay Packers. Could New York snake bite you twice?

(26:43):
I don't know. I like that it's in Lambeaux. But
these Jets are a problem. They really are. They are
not and I actually like the Jets this week. I
like the Packers to win, but I think it's another
tight one. Well, what I was just thinking, if if
you're bragging and we might have defensive Rookie of the
year an offensive Rookie of the year, well I should
would hope. So if you had to top ten picks

(27:03):
right exactly and the number four, number ten, I think, yes, yes,
I forget, but you would think, especially getting one on
each side of the ball, that that'd be an option.
But no, Hey, props to Robert Salah. These Jets are
are kind of fun to watch. And I'm happy for
Robert sala I've worked with them a little bit when
he was the forty Niners at d C, and it's

(27:24):
great seeing good things happen to good people. And I'm
sure as a New York guy and as a Giants fan,
you're just like, you're kind of like, come on, we
are having a moment. Not you listen take all the
head to see I this was what I did with
you last week. I played I downplayed the Giants in London.
I'm gonna downplay this Giants Jets. That Jets. Take all
the headlines, take all of them, take every single one.

(27:47):
We will quietly go about our business, will coach Briant table,
where's Jordan's cement? Threes? And we will just go to
work and that's it. He's cool onto the Ravens. I'm grant.
I actually reached out to him. Uh and my friends
at the Giants said, I don't think it's going to
happen in season, which I love that answer. Yes, because

(28:08):
he's not taking a victory lab and why would he
be talking to us. I should be prepping for his game.
I wouldn't talk to us. I mean, I got freaking
sprinkled British cheddar on my head. We're not serious, you
know what. Well, I'm in such a good mood talking
about the New York football teams, Like, you know, we
got Yankees playoff games in the city I'm living in
in Cleveland. Take the cheese off your head, Take it off.

(28:28):
Thank you. Let's get ready for our interview Zach Harper.
The NBA season tips off on Tuesday, and we're about
to run our own fast break to get you ready
and leading the point is our guest staff writer for
The Athletic Zach Harper is here. Zach. Thanks for joining us.

(28:51):
We're excited to have you on. Yeah, thanks for having me.
I'm ready to I'm ready to get back into the
whole thing. What's weird is I uh, I've been on vacation,
not going anywhere and not do anything fun. I've just
been off the last couple of weeks, so I've been
like cramming to get back. And I was like, oh, yeah,
I guess Draymond gotten to fight and you know, let's
let's see what else is going on? Yeah that much.
I mean from trade demands to inter office affairs. It's

(29:14):
really been one of the wildest, most interesting off season.
So as you're catching up, what's the one story you
can't believe happened? Surprisingly, it's that Draymond punched a teammate.
And it's the teammate that he punched, right, It's not
like if it was of like grizzly veteran or a
big tough guy or something like that. All right, you know, whatever,
the stuff happens, and it does happen. But Jordan's pools

(29:36):
like the little brother, who I think is like a
cat own. It's just not the guy you would punch, right, Like,
It's just not like it's not it's not that big
tough guy, Like, yeah he talks, but I think that
and everything that kind of mushrooms off of that in
terms of where we're going to see the chemistry of
the Warriors, which has always been something they can rely
on of like we know what we are, we know

(29:57):
who we are, and now as defending champs and even
a bigger target on their back and everything like that's
pretty big. But as I say this. I mean the
email Doka stuff is actually really crazy. Like I don't
know why I said Draymond because that is between their
injuries and they're just disruption and now they just have
a whole new coach they weren't expecting to have. I

(30:18):
should have suspected something when their own team governor came
out and said like a week prior, like, I think
we're overrated. I think people are overrating us where I'm like,
I just went to the finals, how are you overrated?
But those are the those are the two pick ones
I guess now. Look, everyone's obviously up in arms about
the Draymond stuff. I had several conversations with friends who
one of my buddies called me it's like you know

(30:39):
what you know when you look at someone and you're like,
they know what they're doing, Like Draymond knows how to
fight based off that punch, there's zero doubt about it. Uh. Look,
now I feel like everyone's shipping Draymond Green off, like
all the Warriors can't stay together like this, and that's
going to be such a like to me. But I've
never been hit like that. I don't want to be
hit like that. I've certainly argued with teammates and have

(30:59):
never to play in the NBA. If any team could
come back from that chemistry wise, it's the Warriors, right
like I think so, I think so like that and
it's it's not like it's a new guy who did it,
right like they know Draymond, but Draymond did he overstepped
the mountains, like across the line there, and you're right,
like that was a that was a bar punch like

(31:21):
that is that is? Like that was I have been
hit like that? It sucks, uh and I but but
it was by a stranger. I didn't have to be
friends with this person anymore like it was by a stranger.
And so there are plenty of those. There are plenty
of those. But yeah, like that's something where I think.
The crazy thing about that and something that happened throughout
the week of the of the story is most of

(31:43):
the people on the court didn't see the punch until
the video goes like Curry didn't see the punch happen.
All he did was turned around and there's a scuffle,
right like Andrewodalad didn't see the punch happened. So there
is okay, we got we had a practice fight. Whatever
it happens. You know, Jordan's on the on the floor.
He was shooting around and smiling after the practice when
the media got let in. So it's not like he

(32:04):
got sent to the hospital or anything. But once you
see the way it happened and that there's just this
immediate escalation. Yeah, like we miss you. We're not not
we necessarily, but like athletes often miss you. Like, I'm
so humbled by this experience, right Lebron James saying, Oh,
I'm I'm gonna pass Kaream's scoring record. I'm humbled by that.
It's like, that's not what that means, Like you're not

(32:25):
humbled by the idea that you're gonna be the all
time leading score Draymond Green is legitimately humbled by this,
and it takes a lot to humble that guy. And
so I do think like he has a ton of
work to do to get back on the trust side
for his entire team, for Jordan Pool. But it's not
a guarantee. It's not a guarantee that it's going to happen.
I would guess that it is, but if it, you know,

(32:47):
two months in the season, it Hey, this isn't gonna
be repaired, and maybe we do need to ship him
somewhere because he's got a contract coming up and everything
I could see it, I just I'm I'm with you,
like I think they're going to be okay. It seems
you know, when you hear something happened and you're kind
of like, oh yeah, but when you see it or
when you hear recording of something, it all of a sudden,
it's so much worse. In sports, we can think of

(33:09):
so many things that happened off the field, domestic violence
type thing. When the video comes out, when the audio
recording comes out, you're like, damn, that's that's it's different.
It kind of felt like that because and of course
there was no audio to it. Have you heard anything
about what might have been said? I have. I've read
a lot of stuff of like what could have been said.

(33:29):
I don't know how much of it is real and
how much of it is like people trying to be
the onion, Like I don't know what it is like,
there's there's just it's like that that Kawhi Leonard story
of he went to a restaurant and he had a
bag of apples and they asked him what, you know,
what he wanted, and he's like, apple time, Apple time.
It's not a real story, but enough people believed it
because Kauai is like kind of a different dude, right,
And so now with the Draymond stuff in Jordan's pool,

(33:51):
Jordan talks a lot. Draymond is Draymond, Like, there's so
many iterations of what you could say, Hey, I heard
this happened, and I'd probably believe. I don't know what
to believe. Though. What I heard before I saw the
punched in your in your right, what I heard was
like Draymond punched him aggressively. I'm like, what does that mean?
And then I saw the video, was like, that's underselling it.
That's that was not aggressively. That was that was a

(34:14):
just a straight up bar fight, except one guy didn't
seem to know he was fighting. And so yeah, like
seeing that and I think that's again, like that's the
thing for the team is once they all saw it.
I mean, Steph rarely comes out and talks against the teammate,
but Steph, you know, made some pretty strong comments for
him based on the situation, while still trying to delicately
balanced that leadership role, and you know Draymond, it's not

(34:36):
like he was just some guy on the team, Like
he's one of the big leaders and that's that's gonna
be a real thing that they have to fix. It
did lead to uh, one of my favorite Twitter exchanges
of Chris Child, who is not verified on Twitter. So
I hope it's the real Chris Child. I believe it's him.
I think it's him. I think we can we can't
confirm it, but like it's as close to a confirmation

(34:56):
as Bossy I was like reading, is this like a
fake Chris Child account? And Chris basically the Chris Child's
account who we believe is Chris Child is saying, Man,
if they if there's cameras in the nineties for those
nineties nixed teams in early two thousands, nixed teams, that
was like a regular thing. Also, it looked like that
camera was from the nineties. What we all the simply

(35:17):
save the ads that every podcast has and there's no
is there that might be on purpose that those security
cameras are such ship quality. Yeah, I think you know,
you can put filters on anything right now, Like I
could look like like the dog out of nowhere. If
you guys wanted to like it's just like you know,
there's there's a lot you can do there. Yeah. It
it definitely looked like like the early versions of a
ring camera, right like in the quality of it, and

(35:39):
they're like not the updated stuff, but that first like
kind of prototype, and um, it's yeah, I mean, man,
what would you pay to get the Charles Oakley practice footage?
Because I would pay a lot of money. That means,
I mean I just go straight credit card on that one,
like whatever, I'll pay that off later. Like let's we
got to see all that stuff. So I think it
was Chris Child's. I would love to hear Chris child
stories on that. No, we're gonna get Chris Childs on

(36:01):
this pod to try to talk the guy too. Pieced
Kobe Bryant during used to go to other teams practices
and fight like I don't even know how he got
in the building, Like he would just walk in like
you owe me money, Like let's go Like that's you know,
those those nineties ones were different, and Steve Kerr kind
of alluded to that. He said, of all the years

(36:21):
in the NBA, I've seen twenty plus fights, but that's
probably a conservative number, and he said, the bigger problem
right now it is who leaked it, and that kind
of leads to other organizational issues. And I just want
to circle back to a team that's got a lot
of organizational issues right now. Is the Boston Celtics, once
thought to be kind of a front runner to repeat

(36:42):
and and be the leader in the East. Now you
just wonder where did all these cracks happen? And where
was the breakdown in organization? What do you think the
Celtics do from here? Does this completely unravel their season?
And obviously you mentioned the big injuries do right, I
mean it's tough because now you start wondering what was
the real Celtics team. Was it the first half Celtics

(37:04):
team where everyone's like, oh, maybe we should trade Tatum
or Brown and maybe this isn't the right mix and everything,
or is it the second half team that dominated the NBA?
I mean absolutely dominated from every measurement you can you
can have out there on the floor, like they were
by far the best team in the second half of
last season. And then obviously their playoff run was incredible
and you can say, yeah, there's luck because you know
Chris Middleton got her. Sure, absolutely. That happens in every postseason, though,

(37:27):
like we always see some team that isn't healthy and
it hurts them. Celtics stayed healthy enough, they went through
their own injuries. UM trying to figure out which team
that is. You know, they acquire Malcolm Brogda. I love
that move. They didn't give up much for him, but
he misses a lot of time. He has planner fasciitist
issues and all kinds of extremity issues, and so is
he going to be healthy and available. Robert Williams the

(37:49):
third already out, you know, months and after the injuries
he's gone through earlier in his career, had the quick
turnaround from the meniscus tear. You have to be concerned
about his availability even when he is back to whatever
looks like for him. The coaching situation, I mean, until
this email, U dooka stuff broke. I thought Celtics are

(38:09):
the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, as good
as the Bucks, are as good as the Miami or
Philly or any of these teams Brooklyn on paper at least,
and until they figure out what what that's gonna be.
I thought, No, the Celtics are still a team to beat. Now,
I'd probably say Milwaukee is has their number and maybe
had their number the whole time. But the Celtics, I mean,
that's just what I like to do with the team

(38:29):
and trying to figure out if they're legitimate or not,
or if they're going to sustain is It's what I
call the what if game. And once we start getting
to like four or five what ifs of like what
if this guy is healthy, what if this coach is
really good, and what if this guy can come back,
and what if this chemistry. Once we get to like
four or five, you're really just grasping at straws there,
and it feels like we're headed that way. It can correct,

(38:49):
they could be healthy and everything could be fine, but
it feels like we're headed to that four or five
what ifs. Yeah, even the factor in you know, I
thought the Gallinari signing was going to be good, especially
come around off time for them. He gets hurt and
then you know, this is what makes me think, You're like,
we're living in a simulator sometimes because you have Will
Hardy there who is primed and ready for a head

(39:10):
coaching job, and then Danny Ainge plucks him away and
then you lose your head coach, like gosh, if Will
Hardy could have just you know, absolutely, I don't know
if we're having these well we're probably we're having them,
but not maybe as deeply of like how screwed or
the Celtics if Will Hardy's there. But uh, I still
think they have a good roster. I think the East.

(39:31):
And this is what I wanted to really dive in
with you about because obviously too we know I'm a
Knicks fan and this is a safe, safe chat right
permission for me to talk about. Okay, I won't totally
submarine the whole conversation, I promise, but the East for once,
as always it's been the West for years, I think
that the East. I sat down today and I really
tried to figure out, Okay, we're gonna have six playoff teams.

(39:54):
Who are they? We might be poised for a play
in that will rival the actual will first round of
the playoffs. So absolutely I looked at some of the team. Okay,
so we have to pick six of these teams Celtics, Bucks, Sixers, Calves, Nets,
he Raptors, Hawks, Bulls. I'm gonna throw in the Knicks

(40:15):
because it's podcast, but I get it. So do you
have your six yet? Is it? Or is it? There's
no way to even possibly hedge because I want to
know who's in the plane. I think this plane. Could
you could see Knicks, Nets, Hawks, Raptors in the plane.
That's insane. We might need to see like an executive
decision by Adam Silver of like, hey, the plan is

(40:36):
just going to be a best of five series, right,
like no like one and like it we really should
get not in the West, just in the Eastern Conference.
We're gonna do this best of five. Yeah, I mean
it's if you think about it, Let's be unbiased here,
Let's remove the Knicks from the conversation just for that.
We'll bring them right back in. But those are you
named nine really good teams? Not like oh they could
like these are nine legitimately good teams. There're only eight spots.

(41:00):
One really good team is going to be left off.
Maybe that's Brooklyn because whatever chemistry issues happened this summer
when coaching weirdness and everything, like, maybe that's them. Maybe
it's the Raptors taking a step back. Maybe the Bulls
were more fraudulent than we thought. Maybe the Calves will
be injured again and Donovan Mitchell is not going to
make the difference. I don't know what that's gonna end

(41:21):
up being, but I feel confident Philly, Milwaukee, Boston, Miami.
Let's lock them into four spots. After that, I would
guess the Calves and the Raptors would probably round that
out for me of like definites only because I don't
know what Brooklyn's chemistry is gonna be. Alonzo balls injury
is actually very significant for Chicago because he was a

(41:43):
He's a big part of what they do on both
ends of the floor. Um, I know his dad was annoying.
Is a good dude, Like he's good, Yeah, he's really good.
Some real issues physically, I hate to see that. Yeah,
it's it's tough, um, Atlanta. Maybe there's some weirdness just
in trying to get everyone on the same page at first.

(42:03):
We do see some chemistry issues, but just getting that cohesiveness.
But even then they might be really good right out
of the gate. I don't know, And so I don't know.
I think trying to predict the East of who's just
going to be in that top six is really difficult.
If you end up doing whatever bets you can and
you end up nailing that they should just give you
a vault, Like, just give you it, Like, I don't know, Like,

(42:26):
here's a vault. We filled it up as much as
we could. You get it because you guess that correctly.
You don't think there's any chance and I don't. I
think there's a small chance that the Heat maybe are
that bubble team that falls a little only because they're
a little bit older of a team. Yeah, they're a
little top heavy. Uh, I don't know. I feel like
they could be one injury away from like, okay, we

(42:48):
have to scramble to get to that six C. I
don't know that's the team I picked to like, actually
feel more comfortable about the Raptors than the Raptors. Scare
me more than the Heat. Yeah. I love this Raptors team.
They're just so smart and so versatile like I and
they can endure pretty much anything. Um. The thing about
the Heat, though, where I don't think they'll take a
step back because it it's tough that they lost p J.

(43:09):
Tucker and didn't really replace him. They have, you know,
still pretty much everyone there, but they had a lot
of guys missed time last year, Jimmy but missed twenty
plus games, Bam out of Bio missed twenty plus games,
Kyle Lowry missed a bunch of games, like they had
a lot of missed opportunities. But the reason that that
team is so good, and you have to mention heat
culture whenever you talk about the heat otherwise pat Riley
will come and punch in the face for not saying it.

(43:30):
But the heat culture, it really does breathe the next
man up mentality, and so they do. Eric Spoelster just
plugs in the next guy and they're still able to
win regular season games. Maybe that doesn't make them a
true contender year after year after year in the playoffs,
but in the regular season, I do think they're built
to endure that. Assuming guys don't miss forty games, they
can probably endure twentysothing games. But forty games would start

(43:53):
being maybe too much to make up for. He's kind
of been touching on it, but I want to really
dig into the Brooklyn situation because fascinating and on paper
they're looking good because we could see obviously Kyrie Katie
Ben Simmons. Do they contend this year? As as as
you expand on this, or is Steve Nash fired at
some point and we see a fire sale at the
trade deadline? Yeah, I mean everything sounds good right now.

(44:16):
They're all saying the right things, but it's easy to
see the right things. Now, what happens if they lose
four games in a row November or December or January.
This thing isn't gonna go away. They could still be
really good throughout the regular season. I mean, on paper,
Kevin Durant, you have Ben Simmons, you have Kyrie Irving,
you have Seth Curry, you have Nick Klaxson's really good,
like as in his role. You have Royce O'Neil, who's

(44:37):
a nice pickup when they lose Bruce Brown, you have um,
I feel like I'm missing that's Joe Harrison be back
and we know he can shoot the lights out. Like
they have a really good team on paper, But you
tried to get the coach and the GM fired. That
has to matter. This isn't a video game like where
you just okay, guys back and now here we go.

(44:57):
Kyrie Irving should be on his best behavior because it's
contract year, but it's Kyrie like that's I mean, I
don't know how you confident that he's gonna be out
there for as someone who needs stuff to talk about
every day. I love like he is a content machine
for us. But you know, Kevin Durant, as great as
he's been since coming back from the injuries, he still

(45:19):
misses a bunch of time too, and that's tough to
make up for. Ben Simmons is better than everyone's been,
you know, kind of hammering him for over the last
couple of years. He's still an All NBA defender. He's
still an All NBA player. He can still get you,
you know, sixteen eight and eight every single night with
great defense. But is he someone that's going to be
available every game after what we just saw last season?

(45:40):
There's just so much on paper that that makes sense,
and so much in the headlines that makes you just
kind of cock your head like a like a German
shepherd wondering if they're getting a treat or something right now,
Like it's just it's such a weird thing for them.
And so I don't know. You could tell me Steve
Nash is gonna be coach of the Air. I'm like, okay,
I get it. You can tell me he's gonna be
fired in December, and for sure, I just don't I

(46:01):
don't know how you predict them if it stays relatively
on paper. Love their chances, but I don't feel comfortable
that that's going to happen. I love their chances in
the regular season. I think the Nets come out super strong.
I think they make an early statement. I think they
feed on some teams early. The other elephant in the room.
There's lots of elephants in Brooklyn, Okay, the most elephants.

(46:23):
I think they like, there's so many elephants involved. I'm
actually like, I'm foregoing the regular season. I think they're
one of those top six easily. I really do. My
elephant in the room that has been Philly's elephant in
the room that's now the Nets. Ben Simmons is healthy.

(46:44):
Can you still and this is always the problem, and
it remains the problem soil can you play him in
the fourth quarter of a playoff series? That's the issue.
And if he's your third best player, which he arguably is,
and we'll see as long as he's healthy, you still
may have to bench your third best player in the
fourth quarter of a second round playoff game. I think

(47:06):
that's the biggest hurdle that they're going to face because
those questions, they are all still there since the last
time we saw him play basketball was he's passing up
a wide open dug. I hate to keep saying it,
but the other thing is can you hit from the
foul line? Which he has never proven that he could.
I don't think he needs to. He just needs to
not be afraid to go to the foul line. Like obviously,
you don't want to miss free throws. You need to

(47:27):
make a decent amount of them. But the reason Jannice
is so well, there are a lot of reasons is
so great. But one of the reasons Janice is so
great is he's not a good free throw shooter, but
he's not deterred from just being a battering ram and
trying to knock down whatever is in front of him.
Get foul, go to the free throw line. Ben Simmons
isn't quite the physical specimen that Janice is, but he's

(47:48):
six ten to forty, crazy athletic, very strong when not
going against Johanne like like he's he's physically capable of
doing a lot of that stuff. And yes, he may
go one of two from the free throw line every
single time, but the accumulation of yeah, but you get
the other team in foul trouble, and then Kevin Durant

(48:09):
draws a Tiki Tach foul, he goes to the free
throw line for two. Kyrie Irving gets a Tiki Tach foul,
He goes to the the free throw line for two. Like
there is this effect of if Ben Simmons can realize, yes,
I may be laughed at the free throw line, but
overall this is going to help us. You can absolutely
play him in the fourth quarter. It's when he's afraid
of the contact because he doesn't want that spotlight moment

(48:29):
of being at the free throw line. That's the trouble.
Maybe he gets mitigated by the idea that Kyrie and
Kevin Durant can set up the offense at any point,
Seth Curry as well to a certain degree, Like they
didn't really have that in Philly. Philly, they needed Ben
Simmons to get everybody into their sets, so it was
a little more difficult. But yeah, like, just be a
battering ram. You can get laughed at, but then laugh
in the next round of the playoffs at the people

(48:50):
who are laughing at you the two things. I look
at our honest two years the year before the championship
here had free throw problems. He corrected those when they
won the champions He's actually great from that. I think
in that clinching game he's like eighteen for nineteen or
something like crazy like that. So I don't know. I
just look at it like when they're playing in the
fourth quarter of a playoff games, you're playing a team

(49:11):
like Miami or Toronto, and they're literally you don't have
to guard a player on their team. It just makes
it a lot easier. I mean, you're right, Duran Kyrie
could mitigate all of that, that's how good they are.
But I think it's four v five until he's shown
he could make one out of two free throws. I
will say, like in that game seven, he did shut
down trade on right like for a lot like tray

(49:33):
On win like four for eighteen in that game, and
Ben Simmons was guarding him so defensively. He's still is
very significant in a very positive way. But when he says, yeah,
I turned and saw a jersey saw Hawks jersey, so
I decided to pass this like that. Hawks jerseys eight
inches shorter than you what are you talking about? You
saw Hawks Jersey? You saw over the Hawks Jersey, Like

(49:55):
there's no way and so yeah, like he's just gonna
he will have to prove whatever that meant hurdle is
that he that he can clear it. Okay, let's go
to the West for a little bit. Lebron James going
into your twenty and I'm not sure how much this
Lakers team really improved. They added Pat Beverley, who I love,
but he's had a contentious history with Russ and Anthony
Davis has already been out with back spasms. What's the

(50:16):
ceiling for this team this year at one? I love
that we're already getting stories of like Russ and Pattern
friends now like yeah, absolutely, yeah, exactly. They're on the
beach together just training like it's great. It's Apollo and
Rocky all over again. Um No, Like I I mean,
I think it's really good for the Lakers that Lebron

(50:40):
is approaching this Kaream record because you can distract from
all the losses with Hey, come check out Lebron James
as he marches towards the all time scoring record. I
don't see unless there's just a crazy rash of injuries throughout.
I don't see how they finished in the top six
at all unless they're very healthy. I don't see how

(51:02):
the Lakers are even like the seven seed in the
playing tournament. I think this team is gonna be really bad.
Anthony Davis is not someone you can rely on to
be healthy on the court. Lebron James has not been
healthy and reliable to be on the court consistently since
he joined the Lakers, other than the season where they
won the title. Pat Beverley helps a lot. They really
need a player like him. But Jovan Buja, who covers

(51:22):
the Lakers for the Athletic this was before the Pat
Beverley trade, but he was kind of looking at what
they're closing lineup could be the season, and it was
essentially Lebron and a d Austin Reeves want to Scano Anderson,
Troy Brown Jr. Of like who he thinks Darvin Ham
will trust and clutch moments. I beg any random person
on the street to be able to point out Austin

(51:43):
Reeves or Troy Brown Jr. Or want to Scano Anderson
to me, like there's just like that, like good for
them their NBA players. It's not like their talentless, but
those are not guys who should be closing games ever,
that's just not and the Lakers are gonna have to
put probably two of those guys out there now that
Pat Beverley is there. I just don't think I think
so much. I mean, we talked about the what if game.

(52:04):
We're like thirteen deep into the what if game to
get the Lakers just to be a team that matters
in a really positive way and can be a problem.
Like I think at this point, anyone who's not writing
them off is just that's respect out of Lebron's resume.
That is respect out of watching Lebron carry teams. He
can still do it offensively. He was a bad defender

(52:25):
last year, and maybe there was no incentive to be
good defensively because the rest of team was so bad.
But I don't think it's reasonable to ask a guy
year twenty to carry a team on both ends of
the floor, and they don't really have the personnel to
help out with that. Stay in l a though a
team you're talking about the Lakers closing five. I can't
ignore this. And it's so hard because you just never

(52:45):
know what the health is going to be that closing
five of the Clippers, which could go a few different ways.
But if everyone is healthy, if you're looking at Reggie
Jackson or John Wall or both, who knows whoever is
playing better. You still have Luke Kenard, still have Terrence Man,
Paul George Kawai. There gonna get another center to backup
zoo back at some point? Is this the year we

(53:05):
finally get the Clippers that we've been waiting for, Like,
you know, the Prince that's going to save us all
because we've been waiting, we haven't really seen it. We
saw for a flash in the bubble and it wasn't
very good. Is it happening? Unfortunately Prince is usually out
because of a knee injury, right, the one that's supposed
to save us, Like, that's that's the issue. Um, if
you tell me, like even if you tell me like, hey,
those guys are only gonna play sixty games this year,

(53:27):
but they'll be healthy for the playoffs, I'm in right,
get them healthy for the playoffs. I'm completely in on
this Clippers team. I just don't know how you trust
that at this point because of the injury issues. Like
that team. The great thing about that Clippers roster is
even when they go small, they play bit like because
everyone six or eight, everyone's strong, like you, you can
you can be so versatile with that group and not

(53:49):
really lose a whole lot unless like you're going against
a Yokich or an Embiide or one of those monsters centers. Yeah, exactly. Um,
like you could go they could go small, even a
team like the Timberwolves, and I would feel like they
have the physical advantage like they It's just and they're
so well coached. Tyler was such a good coach. He's
been able to separate himself from well you want a
title because Lebron was a player, Like, No, that dude's

(54:11):
a good coach. You look at what that Clippers team
had last year, and they were as competitive as they
were with Reggie Jackson Luke Kennard as their two most
consistent best players. That's great coaching. They were great defensively
last year without Kauai the whole season without Paul George
for a big chunk of it. That team is super deep,
they're super talented. They're just super injured all the time.

(54:32):
And so if if they're healthy, I think I think
they're as good as anybody. I think they're title contenders
and they can they can beat literally anybody that's thrown
at them. I just I gotta see Quai out there
for for the full playoffs. Yeah, if they're healthy. That
closing five to me, I don't know. You can't score
not and you can't stop it, like it really is
that incredible. You just have to hope that, you know,

(54:53):
Paul george Is is not clutching, he ends up with
the ball. Like that's really the all you can hope for.
We're gonna stay out West for a little bit longer,
but we're gonna close with the Knicks. I'm just preparing
everybody just two hours on the Knicks and then we're
going to get right a few more minutes here and
then probably till yeah, about until month, until Thursday night
football kicks off and then Okay. We talked about the

(55:16):
East being so deep, especially when you get like six
through twelve almost I think that the West is not
quite as deep, but they're really top heavy. But the
teams that I'm looking at that I have my biggest
question marks of who are you going to be this year?
I think the Grizzlies are gonna be good. It's the
Sun's like, has your window closed? Can you recover from
that awful playoff performance that we saw? And the team

(55:39):
I'm most excited about. We mentioned it in the football way,
like the Russell Wilson trade. If you're the Pelicans, you
traded Anthony Davis away. Yes, the Lakers got a bubble championship,
and you have all these picks on the team that,
like you said, might not be there even close to
there in the end. Pelicans and the Sun's okay, where
do we stack them up in the top heavy West?

(56:01):
The Suns are still deep? Like the Jake Crowder stuff
is kind of weird that like just all of a sudden,
he's like he's gone right like camp, Yeah he wants
to ring, and but like you should be able to
win a ring in Phoenix, Like that's a good team.
But also DeAndre Aton and Monte Williams didn't talk like
it was media days, Like I haven't talked to him
since Game seven. I haven't talked to coaching game seven.
That's crazy. You signed a hundred and thirty million dollar

(56:24):
deal with them. I mean you had you were forced
into it because of the restrictive free agency. But like
you signed a deal and you didn't hear from him,
or you didn't like choose to hit him back or
something like that, Like that's crazy, and so there could
be some real chemistry problems. Also, we have to be
aware that as great as Chris Paul is, the deeper
you get into a marriage with him in the NBA,
whether it's the Clippers or the Hornets, Pelicans or whatever, like,

(56:46):
as the years go on, he starts grading on his
teammates like he just does, and so that's got to
be coming at some point. Even for a group like that,
Phoenix should still be regular season good, playoff good like that.
You know, may be you know, there are reports that
they had they got hit with COVID right before Game seven,
and so maybe that really affected it. I don't know
what to make out of that collapse. But you lose

(57:07):
bys at home for a game seven, like there there's
some issues there and so they can get over it.
But the Pelicans, this is an important thing to remember
about the Pelicans. They got off to an awful start
last season because of injuries, because of a lot of stuff.
The last sixty three games of the year, they were
thirty three and thirty like they were above five hundred
team for most of year, but they had a losing
record because the start was so bad. Willie Green can coach,

(57:30):
he can flat out coach. There's a lot of talent
on that team. They played a lot of rookies last year,
a lot of young guys, and they got They soaked
up all that experience. They figured out how to fit
their role. And now you bring Zion back. We have
to remember Zion is a monster. His second year in
the NBA is something nobody had done. Twenty seven points

(57:51):
a game on six shooting. Will didn't do that, Ron
didn't do that, Shock didn't do that, Jordan didn't do
no one had done that in their second year except
for Zion. Like he is an absolute scoring machine and
he doesn't really know what he's doing out there. So
as he gets more experienced with those guys, it's just
gonna be scary. You have to worry about injuries because C. J.
McCollums had injury issues, Ingram's head injury issues obviously Zion,

(58:14):
but that team is so good. Like if you told
me you're back from the future and you saw and
there were the second seed in the West, I believe
it like they're they're going to be so good. Herb
Jones alert, we did not mention herb Jones. We love her. Yeah, sorry,
I don't want Pelicans Twitter to be at her Jones
the Alvarado Treby. Yeah, all those guys, they're all good. Okay, Well,

(58:36):
obviously we're a betting show and live down. Church is
the m v P favorite at plus four hundred, followed
by Joel at plus six undred than Janice plus six fifty.
Who is your super early MVP favorite? If someone calls
back from the future tells you who want it all? Uh,
isn't it crazy? Yokich isn't up there at all? Like
back to back m vps. They're gonna be really good,

(58:57):
Like they're gonna probably win sixty games if they can
stay healthy like it, but he would have to he might.
I think I think Himbat is an interesting pick. There
can I go off the board like super Dark off Menu.
We love off Menu. The media loves him. They're gonna

(59:18):
have a bounce back year. He puts up great stats.
He's almost infallible as a guy in terms of reputation.
Damian Lillard could be the MVP if they finished. If
they finished sixth in the West, which usually have to
be higher than that. But like that team, that team
had the most loss so before last season, the record
for most thirty point losses in the season was ten,

(59:39):
but I think like the ninety one Nuggets or something
like that, they had fifteen last year. They shattered the record,
like they tanked so hard or sorry they played young guys, right,
you have to be careful about how you've heard that
they lost so hard the second half of the season
and kind of intentionally once they realized like they didn't
have they traded off guys. Dame sat out like all
that stuff. This team's gonna bounce back. They made great

(01:00:00):
offseason moves. If they're like forty eight and thirty four
and sixth or fifth in the West. Ever, like Dame
is going to have a monster campaign to have. Like
if I'm going away from the favorites, like Dame would
be the guy that I throw out there as my
dark horse. I'm trying to find his odds, like they're
so down the list that I really think he could

(01:00:22):
be a massive, massive pick. I'm taking it because also
to I even just someone was just talking about like
the catch and shoot stats from like Simon's when playing
with Dave and like CJ mccollo, CJ has been great
without Dame, but he does make everyone better as well.
If we could see a healthy nurkics healthy nurk Jeremy
Grants there, they picked up gart was a heart's a

(01:00:43):
great addition. Not here little had a really good year
like that. That team, that team is going to be good,
like we got Gary Payton. Yeah, it's funny with we
talked about so much about like, oh, what could the
Lakers be? What could the Lakers be? I don't think
the Lakers are better than Portland's. Like that's the thing, Like,
I think this Portland team is gonna be good. Zack,
I'm all on that bet. None of this this like

(01:01:06):
it's wrong on that best odds in the NBA at
plus five thousand plus. Oh all over it? All right, Okay,
can you guys indulge me now for five minutes before
we let Zach go? No, no, I don't you jump
in here, Olivia. You should absolutely criticize me. Right, last

(01:01:27):
I spoke to our friend Zach Harper. You were weren't
you hosting for Envy? Yeah? Radio? Right? So yes, I
was on promoting this very podcast, And I think it
was Zach who asked me or someone who if you
had to make your pitch to Donovan Mitchell of like
why New York I went on this rant. It actually

(01:01:47):
was all over Twitter the next day. It was one
of my better rants about someone's gonna bring a title
to the Knicks. It was minutes, so we had to
blow past all these commercial breaks. It was fantastic. Yeah.
So now, like every Nick van it's like the girl
who turned me down when I asked her to dance,
I'm kind of like she wasn't really all that anyway.
I'm sort of doing that with the Donovan Mitchell trade. Like,

(01:02:10):
you know, I'm glad the Nicks didn't trade for Donovan Mitchell.
Look at all the young pieces we got in hindsight
and they'll play itself out. Should the Knicks have thrown
the whole farm at Donovan Mitchell? I still say no,
but I'm jaded, Yeah, I mean for what he ended
up going for, I mean what it was rumored. Like
when they're saying like it's got to be even a
greater draft haul than than what they got for Gobert. No,

(01:02:32):
you don't do that for Donovan Mitchell for what had
ended up being Colin Sexton Larry Marking in three picks
in a swap. Yeah, I like, I think it's doable.
The argument against it is he doesn't really fit with
what they have, and my view of like, well create
something better than what you have, like what you have
just got to like yeah, I mean, like everything's gonna matter,

(01:02:55):
like whether they got Dono Mitchell or not, everything's gonna
matter on who is Julius Randle this year? That is
the he sucked last year. He was so bad, Like
that's probably the worst we've ever seen him play. He
was fighting with fans like it, like that was that
was as hopefully as rock bottom as it gets for him,
especially on that stage with that media and that scrutiny
and everything. If he bounces back, that's gonna be a

(01:03:16):
really nice team. I love the Gym and Brunson pick up.
Like I'm not a Big four guy, so that's gonna
you know, that's gonna be tough. But I love R. J. Barrett.
I thought that the deal they gave him was really smart,
really good, and it's easy for him to justify that.
The young guys the bench has been a strength for them.
I think the question I have the most with them
is outside of Julius Randall is probably like, just what's
Tom Thibodeau gonna do? Is his leash very short with

(01:03:39):
the front office? Or is he gonna be allowed to
coach his way? Is he gonna play the young guys,
which historically he does not or does he recognize? Like no,
these are the the guys that galvanized that second unit,
and these are the guys that are going to make
a big difference for them. What's Mitchell Robinson gonna be? Defensively,
the idea of him is great. The application of him
has been a lot of jumping at nothing and then
you got an easy road the basket Like I probably

(01:04:01):
would have traded for Donovan Mitchell because as good as
I think Quentin Grimes can be or any of those
young guys, Donovan Mitchell is that it's the whole family
guy thing of would you like the boat or the
mystery boxes? Like the mystery box could be anything. It
could be a boat, like you know, or you could
just have the boat right like I would rather the
Donovan Mitchell and try to grow and build outside of that.

(01:04:21):
But I understand why they didn't do it. You just
have to hope that everything gels together, because that's another
team with a lot of what ifs. So I believe
they're over under thirty eight and a half win total
for the Knicks. If I'm if I'm off, or if
it's changed, that's the last time I remember looking, so
say it is thirty eight. Now, I'm gonna make a
little bit of a case before you give your answer.

(01:04:42):
I'm gonna let you go with the old But I think,
and again total Homer, I think the Knicks are closer
to the four seed from two years ago than they
are whatever they were the eleventh seed this year. My
reasons being they legitimately did not have a point guard
last year. Derek Rose missed a ton of time, even

(01:05:02):
like the stability of Alfred Peyton to start, but Derrick
Rose played a majority of the minutes. You know, Alec
Brooks was running point guard. I think Alec Brooks was
the most mistreated player in the NBA. People were criticizing
his numbers. He was playing point guard a majority of
the time. That's not what he should be. So I
think having Brunson, having Rose and that stability of actually

(01:05:23):
having real point guards. If they could stay healthy, I
think they make that over easy and really compete for
the sixth seed. And I think there're a lock for
the plane. If you had a guess right now, thirty
eight and a half over under Nick's total barring relative health, Yeah,
what do you have to say right now? I would guess,
like I think that's about aim, But I mean it's

(01:05:44):
this is this is why the oddsmakers are so good,
right because I look at thirty and a half, great number,
real to number, Like how do I push on thirty
and a half? Like how can they get a half way?
Like that feels about right to me, like relative health,
Like that should be a five hundred team. There's a
lot of talent. I don't know how that talent fits together.
That's the issue, right, Like, I don't know how much
of that fits together. But there's a lot of talent

(01:06:05):
on that team. And maybe I'm just like I've always
been an R J. Barrett guy, so I think that
kind of colors me a little bit. I think he's
been misused. I think I think Tips could could use
him a lot better as an initiator. But that team
should be at worst tenth in the East in the
playing tournament, ready to go, Like they should be better
than Washington, they should be better than Charlotte, especially with

(01:06:27):
this LaMelo ball injury and everything that happened with Miles Bridges.
They should be you know, Detroit with the Bogdanovitch pick up,
Like that's an interesting one to me, but that's still
a very young team. Young cores don't generally win. Orlando
not gonna do anything like that. They should be there
for the ten spot at worse. But again, like after
what happened last year, there is some even for a

(01:06:48):
non Nick supporter, like there's some PTSD of trying to
believe in that team. But I have to believe that
Tom Thibodeau is going to get them at least back
to the defensive part that they should be at, Like
that should be something that's a give in for them
and and if they're healthy, like that shouldn't be h
an issue. Like how they scored the end of games,
I can see that being an issue, but that should
still be a good defensive team. Look at Jerry satisfied

(01:07:10):
little smile. I am satisfied as I as I thought
that he just text you Nick's articles of like maybe
we talked about this on the hasn't even started yet, Zack,
this is our first real NBA conversation. We started this
podcast seven weeks ago. It's been all NFL. That's why
when I knew you were coming on. You are one

(01:07:31):
of my favorite people to talk hoops with. We've been
talking hoops for years and reading all your stuff. Okay,
last thing. It starts for you Tuesday. You're entering your
busy season. Not that you weren't busy coming up, but
we're in season. What gave you more excited for Tuesday,
October eighteen six? Their Celtics, which is a great one,
Lakers Warriors, just from like a storyline where it's you know,
we're starting the holiday season. What are you more excited

(01:07:54):
to watch on that opening Tuesday night. I want to
see the good games Lake his Warriors, That's what I
want to say. I mean the Draymond stuff alone. Is
he gonna be allowed to be a ring night or
is he gonna be suspended? Like he's like, I'm gonna
take some time away from the team, Like take some
time away, buddy, this season starting, Like I don't know
what that means. I don't know if that means he's
suspended yet, or they're gonna like still try to figure

(01:08:16):
out where the suspension should be. If they're dangling this
like who leaked the video thing as a distraction, Like
I don't know what that's gonna be. I don't know
if they let him come for ring night and they
just wheel him out there like Hannibal Lecter and then
wheel him back into the into the tunnel, like I
don't know. I don't know how you handle that. I
could see, you know, remember do you remember when we
had like the gun story with the Wizard's locker room

(01:08:37):
and Gilbert Arenas and then when he finally got back
out on the court, they like do the pregame huddle
and everything, and he like does finger guns? Like does
if Draymond gets his ring on the eighteenth, does he
go out there and like fake square up with Joe
lake Ub and like do like a fun little thing,
Like I don't know what. I don't like. It's Draymond.
Anything could happen. And then you get to the game itself.
It's Lebron and a d It's Pat Beverley trying to

(01:08:57):
annoy Steph Curry. Clay Thompson's back to full health like that.
You know, the young guys were like co In good
Moody and Wiseman's Wiggins k pop Star. Now like there's
just so many storylines for that game and and so
like and that's the one. And also like you know, selfishly,
I'm a West Coast guy. I love watching East Coasters
complaining about the times of everything with the ring ceremony everything,

(01:09:19):
The ring ceremony is gonna push that game way back.
You're gonna be asleep by halfway through the second quarter
and I'm just gonna be eating popcorn and loving the game.
So yeah, I'm I'm excited about that Lakers Warriors matchup. Yeah,
Patrick Beverley is definitely gonna go at the Jordan Pool
and you have not the He's going to try to
legitimately bully Jordan Pool that night. Like there, there's gonna

(01:09:40):
be a whole whole thing there. Oh I can not
wait coming to Zack. Thank you so much. I'm so
happy we had a basketball conversation. Please come back on
as we actually have some real data to discuss and
real wins and losses and uh yeah, get ready, your
busy season is upon you. Yeah, no one's gonna pay
attention until after football done, but the NBA. It's fantastic.

(01:10:03):
I will go next, all right. You can follow him
on Twitter at Talk Hoops and read his NBA insight
on the athletic all season back. Thanks again, thanks guys
for sure yea a figure since we are kind of

(01:10:30):
knee deep now and NBA stuff, which is so fun
season starting soon. I know Mark Cuban has been involved
with Entourage, now you know I haven't gotten there yet.
Is he a guest on the show? I take it. Yes,
Mark Cuban comes on show, he plays himself, he plays
Mark Cuban. Yes. Uh. And he's actually even said over
the years, I think that's helped what what's helped lead
him to Shark tank and kind of being And yeah,

(01:10:53):
I think he's said. I hope I'm not miss quoting him,
but yeah, Mark Cuban has been on a bunch of times.
I've acted with Mark Cubans several times, allage elsewhere, all
all on Entourage, and one thing stands out with him
that I always remember was like the coolest thing and
I really wish I could have followed him. So it

(01:11:13):
might have been his first day, maybe second day, and
we're doing this scene. I don't want to spoil too
much for you. I won't talk really what the scenes about.
It's him me. I think Kevin Dillon might have been
in it, and Bob Odenkirk actually who plays Saul on
Better Call sauls plays Mark Cubans like financial advisor. Right,
So the show's gone, and this is two thousand eleven,

(01:11:37):
I guess it was. Whenever Lebron signed with the Heat
was two thousand eleven, right, So yeah, so that day
at nine pm Pacific was when Free Agency officially opened up.
That day we were shooting, so and I just thought
that was really and obviously Lebron being the greatest prize
for any franchise. So we're doing scenes and in between

(01:11:59):
takes Cube and like looking at his phone or whatever,
and then we're telling he's like and he's the one
who tells me like, yeah, guys, just so you know,
at nine o'clock Pacific time, I'm I have to I'm
walking out that door because I have phone calls to make.
And obviously we're totally cool with that. So just because
of the trickle effect, like he didn't think he was

(01:12:21):
getting Lebron, he just didn't know how the dominoes were
going to fall up after I think at that point
it was it was like early on, and I think
all the rumors were it was obviously the Nicks thought
they had shot. He's not staying with the Cavs, or
maybe the Cavs. The MAVs were certainly in the at
least the public conversation. Who knows what was the real
deal behind the scenes. So we finish our stuff. Now

(01:12:43):
what you do when you're shooting, right you Obviously it's
called sides, Like I'm on one side, Cubans on the other.
So they shoot all of marks stuff first on his side,
so all his stuff is in the can. We have it,
but I still have to get all my stuff. And
it's approaching nine o'clock. So he's done. He's app I
am now going to do my scene with like a
green tennis ball on the other side. Yes, but listen,

(01:13:07):
Normally that's like an acting no no, Like you show
up for your off camera work. As an actor, you
give it up even more from your off camera because
you want to help get the good performance. In this case,
because I'm such a basketball head, I didn't get whatever
you could put anything in front of me. I'll get
the scene done. So as he's leaving and he's like
getting into his car and he's like, so, I'm like, Mark,

(01:13:28):
who's your first call? And he's smiles like maybe maybe Lebron.
I don't know, we'll call Lebron. But I also think
Dirk was doing a deal too, so he's like, no,
I gotta call him, calling Dirk first, finishing up dirt,
and like he's getting in his car on a cell phone,
and I just thought to myself, Man, that's gonna be
so cool. Clock strikes nine midnight, East Coast. He's in

(01:13:49):
a car and he's like, who he's called Dirk, He's
called Lebron's people. He's just gonna roll calls. And I
wanted to be in that car as his like assistant
or something, just watching that all unfold. So one of
the few times you're allowed to break that acting rule
of not doing your off camera. I've seen other people
break it, not for nearly as good as rules as

(01:14:09):
Mark Cuban. Man, I never knew that was a thing,
and I guess naivete I would think everyone's just standing there.
I would think there'd be two cameras facing like each
other like that but I just would have thought it
was done in one fell swoop. But you really do
like one half all the lines, the other half all
the lines. Yeah. I love behind the scenes stuff like
this because in TV, like in sports, like even on

(01:14:33):
sports broadcast, we have some hidden tricks as well. But
you know this isn't about that. This is about entourage.
When we're done with Entorage and we're gonna do our
sideline reporting stuff because I have question that's something I'm
super fascinated by and I would love to pick your
brain about. And I think the audience you want to
know too. Okay, you do that. So obviously our go

(01:15:06):
to bet MGM betting expert Peter Andrew. We talked last week.
He was getting married this past weekend, and you know,
we just want to let him live a little. Let's
let's not bother him. So we're giving him the week off.
But Jerry, you've got some bets you've put together and
I think even built a little parlay right. Yeah, you know, Look,
I do not claim to be any kind of Peter Andrew.
We love him, we miss him, but he's he's in

(01:15:27):
a better place. He's a married guy now. Who knows
where he is he's in a better place. But I
do have some games. I'm not gonna bore you with
my three team ten point teasers that I've been hitting
every single week. I'm five and oh in three team
ten point teasers, but those are risky. Those are very
risky and not always the smartest thing. I'm gonna stick
with Peter's format, and Olivia, please critique or jump in

(01:15:49):
if you have an argument or a better option. Look,
I'm sorry to do this to your Packers. I actually
like the Packers to win, but I'm putting three units
on the New York that's plus seven. I think that's
I think that's like a four point or less game.
I think that's a final possession game. I think the
Packers cruise. I think the Jets come back around and

(01:16:10):
make it close. I just don't know if you could
blow the Jets out at this point. They're too frisky.
So I like three units on that. And second bet,
here's a team that I've been all on for the
first five weeks and they've completely screwed me every single time.
So this is a bit reactionary, but also I love
what I'm seeing for the Patriots. The Patriots plus three

(01:16:31):
in Cleveland. Now, I know that's you know, that's the
home field three points that we're talking about there. I
really like what I see from the Patriots defense, their
run game. I don't think it really matters what quarterback DApp.
I think this is a Bill Belichick special. I think
Bill Belichick likes coaching a Patriots team like this more
than oh seven when they're putting up seventy points a
game with Tom Brady and Randy Moss. I think he

(01:16:54):
loves this and also talk about revenge game, which we
don't believe. In the Cleveland Browns fired Bill Belichick. We
remember this, so if anyone has an extra grind, I
think Bill Belichick is gonna step on the gas here.
And if you could get them plus there, what's the
worst thing that happens. I think maybe the Browns win
by a field goal, which they have not proven they
could do. So three units on the on the Patriots.

(01:17:14):
I really truly do love that. And Okay, I do
not normally like going with the Big Bills Chiefs matchup.
We all know that's gonna be a heavyweight showdown rematch
from the a f C championship game, and what a
game it was Chiefs are plus three at home. Now,
if we're taking in the three points for the home field,

(01:17:35):
we're saying that the Bills are six points better than
the Chiefs. I think anytime you can get the Chiefs
as an underdog at home. I think there were three units,
and again I think that's a safe number because I
do think this could be another field goal game. So
I like the Chiefs plus three for my three units.
So that's nine. And now I don't have the Peter
Andrews single game parlay because I don't really you know,

(01:17:57):
some of the Thursday Night lines are just kind coming
to us. Also, good luck figuring out a single game
parlay with the Commanders and the Bears. But I have
a part lay, and I don't know how you're gonna
like it. I like the Commanders plus one. I know
that's crazy to think. And I also like the over
thirty eight, something that I don't think anyone's gonna be on.

(01:18:18):
I think for a one unit parlay, Commanders plus one
over thirty eight points, I think these teams are gonna
score some points. I think the Commanders have fourteen garbage
points in them easily, and I think the Bears figured
out some things with you. The Bears were in that game,
the Bears. That dude got the ball ripped out of
his hand. Well, the Bears were driving down field to

(01:18:40):
go ahead or tie that game. So I think the
Bears figured some stuff out, and I think it's gonna
be awful game to watch. I go Commanders plus one
over thirty eight. I think it'll be an awful game.
I think you're right. These are two of the NFL's
lowest scoring teams. I mean, you said that's a low number.
Over on the right now is thirty eight? I know that. Yeah,
I'm on the over. No. I feel like this will

(01:19:01):
be like at two seven game like this is you
don't think Ron Rivera calling out Carson Wentz saying, what's
the problem with your team? Guys winning very I do
love one thing the NFL has been awesome about this year.
The quarterback play, with the exception of seven guys, has
been pretty atrocious. You've got Brady calling out the bad football.

(01:19:24):
Ron Rivera is called guys getting called out all over
the place. I love it. The backup too, Like we
talked about Geno earlier. I mean he wasn't the backup,
but we talked about guys who we didn't think we'd
be talked about in October, Cooper Rush and Ken you
Pickett we didn't think would be starting Missing Olivia. I

(01:19:44):
have a hard time naming the best fifteen. Yeah, the
best fifteen quarterbacks in the NFL. I think you run
out of gas at like eight, right when you get
to the eighth quarterback, which is probably maybe borrow at
what you start going like, I guess it is it,
Matt Ryan, No, it's not, it's not down. Yeah, okay,

(01:20:09):
you know I'm with you on all of them, except
in this gonna sound Homer and there's no cheese on
the head involved here, but Jets I I think this
could be a bigger game. I think the reason I
say that is I feel like Aaron's really good following
a loss and coming back home. I feel like they're
going to really stick it to him. And what he
says seven points, So I know you're want the bet,

(01:20:33):
you want to go extra do I dare I guess
another New York team death wish? Oh all right, hey, Peter,
better be careful. You did a pretty good job feeling
in a slot. Yeah. If I run the table right here,
Peter Andrew, you might be out of a podcast job.

(01:20:53):
The best wish is all the best to your guys. Okay,
as I run to the shower to wash the smell
of cheese out of my hair, Jerry, congratulations, this was
basically your best show yet with all the nixt talk

(01:21:14):
and winning the bet. I bet you're feeling on top
of the world. I feel the top of the world
because we just talked some hoops. We got football coming
up this weekend, and we get to talk to Kevin
Garnett next week. Kevin Garnett KG, the big ticket, the
big ticket. You know who gave him that nickname, my dad.
We'll get to that next week. More on that next
week for sure. See all then,

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