May 5, 2025 • 36 mins
Colin discusses the Warriors securing a game 7 win over the Rockets with a big 4th quarter performance from Steph Curry and Draymond Green playing lock down defense. He tells you why he was right about James Harden and wrong about the Lakers. Plus, 3-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck joins the show to talk about Aaron Rodgers leaving the Steelers in QB limbo as contemplates retirement.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, it is a Monday, and there is a lot
to discuss.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Love.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
One hour from now. Where Colin was right, Where Colin
was wrong. Jmack I was looking forward to a game seven.
Not all game sevens are equal, but when steps in
a Game seven, they're on the road, the deeper, longer,
(00:54):
more athletic Houston Rockets. And it was a little bit
of a coaching clinic. And the old guy, I mean,
they forced Houston into half court basketball and that's not
more Houston flourishes.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
And then that buddy Heal showed up.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
He was on a milk cart in All Series Wow,
Top thirty three, and gave him my God unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
So that was that's gonna be. That is a really
impressive win by Golden State. It was not a great
first round for old guys. The Old Lakers lost, the
Old Bucks lost, The Clippers were older than Denver and lost.
But then there's Steph, Steve, Draymond Green and the Warriors surviving.
Steve Kerr pulled all the levers and had to. They
(01:35):
had no bench. It was a starting five in Kavon Looney.
They're going to a one, three to one zone. Jimmy
Butler and Draymond Green were very good, but they had
to do a lot of it, not just in the
box score. Buddy healed in Pods because you know, Steph
gets doubled so often. Buddy healed and Pods got great
looks and Buddy hit a ton of his. The Warriors
(01:58):
had no bench, no depth. Think about that. An old
team on the road planed six guys because they tried
to play Jonathan Kaminga twice and you can see Steve
Kerr's frustration. It doesn't work. He's like the kid at
the playground. None of the kids will play with It
just doesn't work when Jonathan Kaminga's in there. He gets
(02:21):
the hook, and so here's Steve Kerr. They score one
hundred and three points. One hundred of their one to
ozh three come from their starters.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
You're on the road.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
The other team's got more length and size and depth,
so you had to pull all these levers.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
And then there's.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Steph Curry, and the gravity of Steph was on display.
So I mean, when you pick him up at half
court and you're doubling him and trapping him, it leaves
Buddy Healed open, and it gives Jimmy Butler more breathing room.
And eventually in the fourth quarter, Steph hits five of six.
He's the hammer. Houston's the nail, and he finishes it off.
(02:57):
But what Golden State really did yesterday is they said,
Draymond Green shut down shngon. Just shut him down, get
into his feet, push him around. He did, and that
was everything because then you're basically Jalen Green. You can't
trust Aman Thompson's excellent but not doesn't have a three
(03:18):
point shot yet. So Draymond closes down the middle and
I was looking at the numbers. The rockets were five
for twenty one. If Draymond Green was guarding you. And
this is what Draymond does in Big Series. He may
be old, he doesn't play old. So he shut down
the middle.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
And he does.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
He's the best defensive player I've ever seen and can
also be an offensive catalyst. But then Fred van Vliet,
they threw bodies at him. He didn't play particularly well,
and all that rocket size and all that rocket athleticism,
it just didn't matter because Houston has a bunch of
guys who are great athletes but don't know how to play.
That's why it's so obvious Cominga should be a Houston rocket, right,
(03:58):
he doesn't work with Golden State. They have six guys
and they all know how to play. And the key
is they all know how to play with Steph Curry
and so basically, very smartly Golden State and Kurk just said,
you stut Draymond shut down sng Goon. We'll switch in
a bigger and smaller guys. That's the primary deal. He
took him out of the game, and it forced Houston
(04:19):
to play half court basketball. And I've been saying this
for years. Kaminga didn't go to college basketball. Jalen Green
didn't go to college basketball. They went got some dough
went to the G League. Neither one knows how to play.
They're just athletes. That doesn't mean everybody that goes to
the G League fails. But when you watch Houston, you're like,
they just got a bunch of dudes who should have
(04:40):
spent more time in college and learn how to play
within the structure and a system, because I mean, you know,
the Rockets head coach got so frustrated so many times
with his.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Half court offense. And in the end, Steph.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Got hot, Buddy was hot, Butler was hot, Draymond was
a catalyst, and you talk about it.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Team. It was not a.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Good first round for old guys, and it may not
be a good second round for the calves.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
We'll wait on that. They have to shoot better.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
But this was a Warriors team been there a million
times of no depth, not much size, couldn't play Kaminga
and Steve Kerr, and this team pulled all the right levers.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Here's Steve Kerr.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
It couldn't be more proud of our guys.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
That was incredibly impressive display of resolve, discipline, The defense
was fantastic, the ball security, kind of game plan, discipline
followed to a tee and then multiple guys stepping up
Buddy heeled.
Speaker 8 (05:46):
I don't know what to say.
Speaker 7 (05:46):
I mean, that was was really incredible watching him light
it up.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
And so much of what Draymon and Butler and the
Warriors Kevon Looney do isn't necessarily box score stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
There is something.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Did you see Steph Curry before the game getting his
guys fired up? And that's where I want to talk
about the Clippers losing to Denver. So I thought the Clippers,
I mean, Denver fired their coach at the end of
the year. They were playing terrible basketball. I'm like, I
got a better coach, I got a head coach. I
got a team Clippers that are deeper, I think, more
talented arguably, and they're playing great. And yet here again
(06:25):
are the Clippers led by sort of a mercenary, a
basketball mercenary. Kawhi great player, not a leader, and James
Harden ball centric too often, invisible often in the playoffs.
And what do you do? There's no way the clippershould
have lost this series. Denver's got like the substitute teacher
coaching Stan Cronk. The owner is like, we're too good
(06:45):
to play this bad. They get rid of Malone and
I'm thinking that's a bad decision. Everything was right in
front of them and Kawhi Leonard. This is why demeanor
and leadership matter. He doesn't set the tone, unlike Yok
who got on his teammates multiple times in this series. Now,
(07:06):
Coawhi's just a He's a really talented instrument, a bit
of a loner. He'll never be the heartbeat of a franchise.
To be the leader, you got to play more than
forty five games annually. You got to be there. And
so it's like, okay, what about James Harden. James Harden similarly,
James Harden will give you buckets. But the difference between
him and say A Westbrook, if Westbrook's not giving you buckets,
(07:29):
he's giving you so much else. He's giving you rebounding
and defense and intensity and attitude. If James Harden isn't
hitting baskets, and he wasn't yesterday, you get nothing else.
So you know, Cowizo has got been a guy that
feels kind of cold and calculated. He's kind of a
basketball hired gun. And that's to me, He's got some MJ.
(07:49):
Kobe comps. But that's where it ends, because Kobe could
be inspirational, and Michael was a leader and he was barking.
And that's what Jokic did. The great players in the playoffs.
Demeanor matters leadership. Match Denver, give Westbrook a ton of
credit for a leadership role. Give me your kitch a
(08:10):
ton of credit. You got a substitute teacher as a
head coach. Denver shouldn't have won this series. Inspiration once
again matters. Leadership once again matters. Harden's talented, but he's
a one trick pony. You don't get points, what do
you get? There's always an excuse. And again, Kawhi is
an all time talent, but he has to be, like Katie,
(08:33):
an accessory. He cannot be a foundational heartbeat of the franchise.
You can't play forty five games and do that. So
I said, I don't know. The Clippers are good, but
if you can't win this series when you have a
significantly better staff, you're playing great basketball.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
At the end of the year.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
The Nuggets are a mess. They go with an interim coach.
Everything off and in Game seven one of your guys
is good but won't lead. The other one's bad and
refuses to Here's Tyleru after you.
Speaker 9 (09:11):
Know, James having to carry such a heavy load, you know,
with Kawhi missing, I think forty five games, and I'm
just having to carry that low, you know, all season long.
Speaker 6 (09:20):
And he did a great job with that.
Speaker 9 (09:21):
And I think Klai, like I said, coming back being
Kawhi and having a confidence in his need that he
can play, play more minutes, he can get through these games,
and those two together for a whole season, I think
would be tremendous.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Nobody thinks you're gonna get those two guys at this
point for a whole season. It's all fools Gold Kawhi.
There's always one purpose, but it's never a higher purpose.
So you the Clippers can keep grabbing onto this stuff.
But give the Lakers credit. The Lakers will move off people.
They take a swing for Westbrook doesn't work, they go,
(09:57):
They make deals. They're always willing to make deals. I
feel like the Clippers, you know, the step child in
the city. I know they got the richer owner in
the new facility. They just keep clinging onto this thing. Well,
next year will be different. No, I won't kwhile play
like forty games and Harden, they'll give you buckets and
won't defend and won't lead, and that's what you are.
But you know, the reality is, if you can't win
(10:20):
this series with a new arena, you got an interim
coach in Denver. I mean, you've got a brand new
head coach. I mean there was Russell Westbrook, there was infighting.
Malone wanted to play him, the GM didn't. Westbrook ended
up being a tone center for four different games in
(10:43):
this series. More on that later, but we've been saying
this now for some time. Jo Kisch is the best
player in the world, but there's an argument in many
games and Jimal Murray's the second most consistent offensive player.
Westbrook was huge, and it wasn't because Westbrook's in his prime.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Westbrook was willing to lead.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
And bark and immote and be raw and Westbrook has
seemingly discovered I don't know why it took so long
how to shoot at three, but I so much of
Denver was to me was looking in the mirror. I mean,
if you go to about game four on Denver was
the better team and should not have been should not
have won this series.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
J Mack, that was fun.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Your pacers call hey, hey, now let's go. Well, first,
of all, Cleveland will shoot better, but without Darius Garland,
the offense just isn't the same offense.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
A little too much ties your own. Okay, in Sam Maryland.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Jerome can shoot, but he's not not.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
A twenty nine minute a game now.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
And he's not a distributor. He's not gonna run an offense.
He can get your bucket.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Yeah, he took by the way, Donovan Mitchell one of
eleven on threes, like it was just a bad game
from the Cats. Quick point on Russell Westbrook. He shot
forty one percent on threes in the series. That's better
than Steph Curries you shot against the Rockets. Yeah, this
was total fools goal.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Is he gonna sleep them or no?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
No, you can't. You're not gonna sweep Yo Kitchen, No way.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Denver's got too much, too many players, all right, I'm
blasted by the way, by the way, Denver's got players
in their prime, Yo Kitchen his prime? Yeah, okay, uh,
Jamal Murray Stone his prime, Gordon athletically Stone his prime
may disappoint you, but Michael Porter's probably near the close
to the end of his prime. But they have too
many athletes and too many guys in those great years,
(12:27):
and Westbrook, by the way, is not at his prime,
but he actually does some things better than he did
in his prime, which is shoot corner threes and actually
play with a little bit more self awareness.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
I just want to say, it feels like fools gold.
You know, like you're guarding somebody in a basketball game.
They make a shot and you're like, all right, that's fine,
he's not doing it again. Maybe he hits another. There's
no way Westbrook duplicates that in the next series. I
I you know, I've been anti.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Thunder all year.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
I think this unders smashed them, and I did bet
thunder tonight.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Did you see minus nine and a half?
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Well, yeah, thunder tonight. It's if you've seen like the
DraftKings number on this Oh my, it's is like minus
eight hundreds.
Speaker 8 (13:05):
Ye.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
No, I mean it's not that the Nuggets are underdogs.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
The lines, the betting odds are so stacked in okaysee
his favorite.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
Same with the Celtics series like that, I think three
of the series that Cavs were lopsided favorites against the
Pacers in the series.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Not according to Jamak, get one every now and then.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Neon easternn AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
So yeah, a lot of you know that.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
You know Draymond Green's got a very popular podcast, and
I know Draymond, but I've said this for years. If
you don't get the value of Draymond Green, I can't
help you. People will fall in love with a Mellow
or a James Harden or the speed of a John Wall.
And I'm like, do you guys watch basketball? Do you
see how much he does? This league is a parade
of three pointers and one on one ISO basketball offense. First,
(14:00):
there's nothing wrong with that. Draymon is a testament to
how many ways you can win. He'll switch to biggs
guys five inches bigger, He'll switch to small guys. It
doesn't matter. The Warrior small ball is only possible. It's
not Stephan Clay. A lot of teams have shooters, it's Draymon.
You used to have to have a center, and you
also had a power forward. They have Draymon, who's faster
(14:23):
than both, who can be an offensive catalyst. He's such
a connective passer and a lot of what he does
is like not necessarily box score stuff. He shoots the
three just well enough that you have to be aware
of him. But this was a great example of they
just said, basically, take out Sheng Goon, get him off
(14:45):
his game, get him off his rhythm, and I mean,
he just It's like if James Harden isn't hitting shots,
you don't get anything else. And that's why Draymon is
the iPhone and you know, scores only like James Harden
are you know the pod. They just don't do a lot.
He does everything well. He can be the best screener,
(15:07):
he can be your best rebounder. He's obviously your best defender. Again,
a very connected passer. And as Steph is struggling in
the first half, what's keeping him in the game because
the Warriors had a bad offensive first half is Draymond Green.
He literally stopped the Rockets half court offense, took them
totally out of rhythm. And he doesn't get a lot
(15:29):
of appreciation. But you know who knows how great he is.
Steve Kerr and Steph Curry know how great he is.
I've always said this team at times has had a
lot of finesse. He has always been the bouncer at
the nightclub. You think they're soft, you think they're small,
and then it's like Rodman, but with a much more
(15:50):
layered offensive game. Rodman couldn't shoot. Rodman wasn't a great passer.
Rodman was just annoying. That's just one of the gears
Raymond Green has. And here's his coach after Draymond.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
Really he's our leader, and when he's right like he
was tonight, he's an incredible player to watch the defense,
just kind of owning the court on that side of
things and then just being patient and not turning it
(16:24):
over and being in the right spots offensively.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, and the other thing I like about Draymond, I'll
play it bye here in a second. The other thing
I like about him is, you know, and I understand this.
These NBA players, it's shoe deals, it's Instagram deals, it's
big contracts, it's pods. It will be so easy to like,
come into this league, you get the bag, and you're satisfied.
(16:47):
Draymond Green will not be satisfied until he no longer
plays in this league.
Speaker 8 (16:56):
I powed it way too much last game, So spend
the last two days embarrassed, just at what I what
I gave to the game, what I gave to the world.
I was embarrassed. So I've been dying since the last
game ended to get out on the floor and prove
who I am. You know one thing about this league,
(17:17):
You're never done proven who you are until you're done,
completely finished.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
And I don't know how many more of those games
he has. They play Minnesota. Chris Finch coming on later.
That's an interesting game, the bigger, deeper, Timberwolves. The difference
is Houston's biggs and depth all kids, Minnesota is a
Rudy Gobert, you know, Julius Randall knaz Reed. So Minnesota
(17:45):
collectively is a much more experienced team, much better in
the half court offense. They present much different problems. I
don't love this matchup going forward for Golden State. The
Warriors just took advantage of Houston's inexperienced, awful half court offensive.
Fred Van Vlietz not scoring in naivete. You're getting none
(18:07):
of that with a great staff and a lot of
games and a lot of experience. I think this is
a tough matchup for the Warriors.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
The Dubs.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I would probably take Minnesota. Their coach later on the show.
But that was classic Draymond. Yesterday in a crucial road
game Game seven, when you basically were playing five guys
in Kaevon, Looney and Steph was off in the first
half and you won, and Draymond was a huge, huge
(18:36):
part of that.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
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Speaker 10 (18:41):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
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Speaker 3 (18:53):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 10 (18:55):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
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Speaker 3 (19:13):
Check us out.
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Speaker 1 (19:35):
That's Covino and Rich. All right, Colin was right, Colin
was wrong. On the Monday Here we go.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Where Colin was right, James.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Harden in the playoffs not somebody I trust to no
shows and Kalion Harden again, they're absolutely all time gifted.
You can't build around either. I've said this during the year. Yes,
he'll give you twenty eight points. He'll have his core
in moments, but if Harden isn't scoring, and he wasn't yesterday,
(20:05):
you don't get a lot else. And you saw it
against the Nuggets in Game seven, where Colin was right.
I picked Houston to beat the Warriors. I thought, you know,
I be honest with you. Athleticism, size and length. I
thought it would be a problem. But too often they
were reduced to just a half court offensive team, and
(20:26):
it is ugly a Jalen Green doesn't really have a
traditional or dependable offensive game. They really if a men
Thompson would not have been so good yesterday, especially in
the first three quarters. I don't know if this game
would have been close, but they got worked in the
half court by Butler, Draymond, Buddy Heald.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
And Steph Curry.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I said before Jimmy Butler got to the Warriors, I
don't care what analytics say.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
He's going to fit.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
They were under five hundred pre Jimmy Butler, and there
were a lot of analytic ma evans that said it
may not work, Yes it will. He's a bridge between
Steph and Draymond Green. He's got the toughness and the
physicality and the defense of Draymond, but he can also
be a finisher like Steph Curry, and like Draymond Green,
he is often at his best when he's backed into
(21:18):
a corner and playoff. Jimmy illustration a yesterday where Colin
was rough. I thought when the Devner Nuggets fired their
coach with three games left in the regular season as
they were skidding out of control, I thought it was
crazy against tylu experienced Clippers, older Clippers deeper roster.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
What are you guys doing well? It worked.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Westbrook was a tone center, Jokich was dominant, Murray had
you know, typically yets hot and can be streaky.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
He was at the right time.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
I thought the Clippers faced just on having a substitute
teacher as a coach, We're going to be a bit
over their skis. But they made great adjusta Jokic barking
and leading, Westbrook playing some of the best, most important
basketball of his life.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
And I was wrong where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
I said, when Texas went to the SEC, guys, you're
in trouble. Bama LSU Old Miss can't play in that space.
Just reported that Texas will spend up to forty million
on the football roster. That, by the way, does not
count the arch manning money. That's a separate deal and
the SEC schools, and I think they're feeling it now.
(22:31):
And this is why the Big Ten is catching up.
Because the Big Ten gets Oregon big money, Washington good money,
USC spending huge nil money. Texas just has more bankroll
than everybody else in the SEC. In as long as
Sark is there, who is a more than capable coach?
(22:52):
Texas is going to control this conference. Where Colin was
row well, I picked the Lakers to dismantle the Tea
Wolves because I'm like, I don't trust Julius Randall in
the postseason. Who's going to do their scoring outside of
ant And it happens that Randall was great and a
lot of people did their scoring. The Tea Wolves were deeper,
they had more dexterity and options off the bench, and
(23:16):
JJ Reddick I didn't think flourished in this series. I
also thought they just kept throwing athletic bodies at Austin Reeves.
He was a bit of a no show. I think
they should probably move him to get a big But
boy was I wrong on.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
That series where Colin was right.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Who's not said this about Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
He can be a four like a Derek White on
a championship level team, but if he's a two or
of three, you know you're not going to beat the
best teams in the league. And he looked overwhelmed in
this series against more athletic wings. He shot thirty two
percent from three, did not get to the free throw
line in the last two games of this series. Again,
he is a good player, but look at all the
(23:55):
talent on OKC and Minnesota and Cleveland, Indiana and the
Celtics to here comes Detroit, Golden State still got it.
I just think you have to sometimes be honest about
your own players.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Where Colin was right, Paul.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Goldschmidt of the Yankees about six months ago, I told
the staff most underrated player in the last fifteen years,
and they said, he made seven All Star teams. How
can you say he's underrated? What evs? He is now
hitting three forty nine for the first place Yankees. Okay,
Aaron Judge is from Mars. I can't explain Aaron Judge.
(24:33):
But Paul Goldschmidt as your baseball insider, Okay, wasn't very
good for Saint Louis last year, but he is crushing it.
I do believe last fifteen years, nobody's been this good
and gotten less press than Paul goldschmidth Colin Wright Colin wrong.
And with that, Matt Hasselback eighteen years in the NFL,
(24:54):
is joining us. So there was a story out about
once you hey a quarterback, you have to make choices.
And so the Niners love Hufunga and they love green Law.
But there's a reason they're not on the team. It's
because they're getting ready to pay Brock Purty and Hufungo
was on like a podcast and he threw a little
(25:14):
shade at him and said how much he loved bo Nicks.
And my take is quarterbacks don't get criticized much. Russell
Wilson's a historic outlier. Do you think there it feels
like there's a tad animosity.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Not because he's getting paid.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Nobody's upset that Justin Herbert gets paid, or Lamar gets
paid or Josh Allen gets paid. But I feel like
there's a little bro this is Kyle's team, we're getting
rid of Pro bowlers?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Am I wrong on this?
Speaker 1 (25:43):
There's a little bit of animosity that Brock's talking mid
fifties or his agent is for a contract.
Speaker 11 (25:50):
Well, I agree with you in a lot of ways,
but I don't think it's specific to this team.
Speaker 6 (25:55):
Like if you were to be a fly on a
wall in.
Speaker 11 (25:58):
The NFLPA meetings in Hawaii or wherever they have them, now,
I think you'd hear that sentiment like, hey man, like
these quarterback contracts they're just getting out of control. You know,
those numbers are just exponentially, like multiplying, just going up
and up and up, and then what we're having in
other positions is we're not seeing that same growth. So
(26:18):
you know, that is certainly something that you hear as
a player in contract negotiations. I mean, I remember when
the Indianapolis Colts at the end of my career, they
were getting ready to do Andrew Lux contract.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
It was going to be one hundred million dollar deal.
They had to create space.
Speaker 11 (26:31):
You've seen a lot of teams do that with their
franchise guy when they have a guy that they cannot
let out the door. They have to make sacrifices elsewhere.
I've seen Cincinnati do it. They did basically did it
on the defensive side of the ball. So San Francisco
they're feeling that pain, they're feeling that real hurt right now,
and that's certainly an excuse that they give to the agent,
and it's probably being honest.
Speaker 6 (26:53):
I mean, that's just the nature of it.
Speaker 11 (26:54):
But I wouldn't be shocked if this is something that
does get talked about in the future.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Okay, so I know it's an old guy rant, but
I do believe there is a row your own boat
quality to my I say this to my kids, this
is your life. I was watching the psychologist recently and
he said, the more times you solve your kids problems,
the worst problem solvers they'll be as adults.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
Let your kids work through stuff. So yeah, I was
getting it.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
I was talking to my kids this weekend. Maybe that's it.
This story about Abdull Carter. Somehow it gets word out
that he's like asked for Lawrence Taylor's number fifty six,
the best defensive player in the history of this great sport.
That drives me nuts. That bothers me, should it? How
(27:39):
do you view it?
Speaker 11 (27:40):
Well, I mean, I'm maybe like, get off my lawn
even more than you like. I hate the fact that
defensive players like Tom Brady said, I hate that the
fact that they get to wear.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
Single digit numbers or number eleven in the first place.
I'm old school that way.
Speaker 11 (27:53):
But no, I just I think, listen, I don't listen,
you ask, Go ahead and ask. I'm upset that it
got out out now I look like kind of a
You know, it's embarrassing that that two different people said
no to me, But I.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
Guess you never know unless you ask.
Speaker 11 (28:08):
I think the team probably could have done him a
favor and just said, hey, pick whatever number you want,
just so you know, here are the numbers we will
never say yes to, you know, fifty six being one
of them.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Right.
Speaker 11 (28:17):
But when I was in Seattle, listen, it's not a
young guy, old guy thing. Like when I was in Seattle,
numbers mean something to players. Jerry Rice signed with the
Seattle Seahawks late in his career.
Speaker 6 (28:27):
He wanted to where.
Speaker 11 (28:27):
Eighty eighty was basically retired because Steve Largent Hall of
Fame wide receiver for Seattle, and it was a thing
like you know, basically Steve Largent got put in a
tough spot. Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver of all time, asked,
what are you gonna do? Say no, it's a little
bit harder to say no, they're and then he wore eighty.
Speaker 6 (28:44):
I was fine with it, The team was fine with it.
Jerry obviously was fine with it.
Speaker 11 (28:49):
But the fans didn't sit well with some of those
old school Kingdome fans, like didn't sit well with them.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
So it's a tricky thing. But I'm with you.
Speaker 11 (28:59):
I guess LT was my guy as well, Collin, so
I can relate to that.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
By the way, I just want to throw I want
to go old school here and again A lot of times.
You know, if you if you're twenty years old or
thirty years old, you don't think Michael Jordan ever lost
a playoff game. So there is something about the highlight culture.
Take our audience just because, I mean, tell them how
good LT was for people that only watch highlights.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Because I remember him.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I said, when Mike Tyson was in his prime coming up,
he intimidated other heavyweight fighters, like Michael speaks is like.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
I'm not interested. I want to go home and have
a boulapasta. I'm out. How great was Lawrence? Do you
have a Lawrence Taylor story?
Speaker 6 (29:42):
Yeah? I mean I got too many. Listen.
Speaker 11 (29:44):
My dad ended his career in the New York Giants,
and you know Mark Bavarro was the starting tight end,
so he'd go with the ones against the Scout team defense.
My dad was the backup tight end. He'd go with
the twos against the starting New York Giants defense. It's
Carl Banks on one side, it's Lawrence Taylor on the other. Like,
I got more stories than I'm probably allowed to tell
about LT.
Speaker 6 (30:04):
But he was the kind of guy I would just say.
Speaker 11 (30:06):
Like, from my perspective, like when the game was on
the line, he did whatever he wanted to do. If
he was supposed to blitz, maybe he did, maybe he didn't.
If he wasn't, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. He
had that kind of freedom. I remember one time my
dad was on the field goal protection team. They're kicking
a game winning field goal and LT felt like, no,
this is too important. He runs out there and kicks
(30:26):
off like one of the wings on field goal protection.
He was like, no, I'm blocking for this because we
need to win this game. He just had that aura
about him.
Speaker 6 (30:34):
He did whatever he wanted.
Speaker 11 (30:35):
And I think, like even now here we are in
twenty twenty five, you hear guys like Bill Parcells or
you hear Bill Belichick, they talk about the greatest to
ever play, a game changer, they're talking about LT. I mean,
he was that kind of a difference maker, a unique talent,
a unique teammate, and certainly someone that changed past protection
in the NFL the way that they design it. And
(30:57):
that's I mean, I don't know what more you could
say about a guy incredible.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
So let's take Jalen Milroll the Seahawks. I've been told
Seattle would like to use him in the red zone,
that he's just a unique athlete and team. He's one
of those athletes that you can't prepare for. He's just
faster than anybody on your team. But right now, if
you don't have a contract with the Seahawks, can I
get the playbook? What am I doing? You have a
quick camp? What is a quarterback that's new to this league?
(31:24):
What where are they in the process?
Speaker 11 (31:26):
Now, well, that's a couple of different questions there. Number one,
they're in this phase of like basically there's all.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
These rules of what you can do with veteran players.
You get it, so you get three phases.
Speaker 11 (31:37):
Phase one basically there's no football, it's lifting, it's rehabits, studying, terminology.
Speaker 6 (31:43):
Phase two you get into like.
Speaker 11 (31:45):
Maybe throwing on air, there's no defense, some of that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
And then Phase three the end of it.
Speaker 11 (31:50):
Now we're in seven on seven, nine on seven team drills,
eleven on eleven. But I think uniquely to this situation
with Jalen Milroe, what you're going to see is you're
going to see a guy that they're going to try
to develop as he's the backup he's going to be developing,
and I think that that might even include playing on Sundays.
(32:10):
So you saw what Kyle Shanahan did. You know Clint
Kubiak came from that system. You saw what Kyle Shanahan
did a little bit with Trey Lance before he got hurt.
Short yardage, goal line and low red zone meaning inside
the ten yard line.
Speaker 6 (32:23):
There will be a package.
Speaker 11 (32:24):
For Jalen Milroe who he is as a runner, also
who he is as a quarterback, as a thrower. I
think they're going to give him a small menu, not
a cheesecake factory menu, like a very small menu of
things to think about and dominate. And what's what that's
going to do is every opponent it's going to have
to spend a lot of time thinking about it, planning
for it. And it's time that they won't be spending
(32:47):
game planning for Sam Darnold and the rest of the guys.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
I got to ask you there. You know whatever Aaron
Rodgers is going to do, So how long if he
goes to Pittsburg and it's a totally new Arthur Smith's system,
how long would it take you ere and Aaron Rodgers
to go in and It's almost like moving to a
new city and driving to your new job where you
don't have to think about it. It's rote you've memorized
(33:13):
that everything's quick. What is the time that Aaron the
latest he could show up and you'd feel like, listen,
he's all it's all working, the timing, the audible system.
What's the timeline on that the latest Aeron could go to?
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Say the Steelers.
Speaker 6 (33:28):
Well, I'll tell you right now.
Speaker 11 (33:29):
I just mentioned the three phases for a venturing quarterback.
Phase one feels like a waste of your time, like
it sort of does. It's just lifting, Hey, I could
lift with my guy where I like to lift, Like
this is just kind of the mindset.
Speaker 6 (33:41):
There's no football there anyway.
Speaker 11 (33:43):
Phase two again like you're throwing the guys on air,
not that important.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
Phase three I think is really important.
Speaker 11 (33:49):
So for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I believe that's May twenty seventh.
May twenty seventh is the start of phase three. They
also have a mandatory mini camp, which would technically be
June tenth. So you know, so when is the day
that I need to, like all of a sudden, go
from speaking Spanish to speaking French. It's not really till
week one of the NFL season. Because of who you are,
(34:10):
You're Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 6 (34:11):
You'll figure it out. You can speak enough to get by.
Speaker 11 (34:14):
But to me, I think I would circle that May
twenty seventh date as a date that like, it would
really be detrimental to be starting the missing time at
that point right now, Phase one, phase two, I think
some guys that have played a long time and understandably
so you know, it's a little bit of ticket or.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
Leave it by the way.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Every time we talk to you, you're in a cool
different place. That's a snazzy looking room. Is that a
hotel somewhere?
Speaker 11 (34:37):
No, I'm actually my parents' house. So that's actually one
of my dad's paintings. But this is my mom's I
guess my mom's upstairs. So I am everywhere. I feel
like I'm always missing you though you're on the road
as well.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Your dad was a painter, right, Yeah, he.
Speaker 11 (34:51):
Was an artist inspired by the sunsets in Colorado. He
played in Colorado out in Boulder, So a lot of color,
a lot of mountains, a lot of that stuff.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Uh, beautiful, Matt Hasselbeck is always good seeing.
Speaker 6 (35:03):
Your body awesome. Thanks Colin, you bet.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
May twenty seventh, mark it down for Aaron Rodgers to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
I don't know, you know, there is a possibility that
he's I saw a story this weekend where Aaron was
wearing an engagement ring or a wedding ring or something.
There's a story out there is that's he's Uh, it's serious.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
Is that what the young people are doing?
Speaker 6 (35:26):
Men are wearing engagement rings?
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Well, I don't no, no, no, no, you're right, you're right.
He's wearing a ring. Okay, now I'm not saying.
Speaker 5 (35:32):
Maybe it's a promise ring. I think guys do that
right in high school.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
I don't know he's wearing a ring. Aaron Rodgers coming,
so I guess he would be married.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Possibly.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
I'm just he's very private, so nobody really knows. I
think the name is Brianna.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
I think no. I saw a story yesterday.
Speaker 5 (35:54):
So you know how you can like go into your
feet and put in words that you don't want to see.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
Aaron Rodgers is in my so I don't see any
Aaron ro I have no.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
Idea what he's doing.
Speaker 4 (36:02):
He could be in Egypt again, he could be on
the River Nile right now.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
I would have no idea.
Speaker 5 (36:07):
I'm out on Aaron Rod.
Speaker 8 (36:08):
Just done, totally
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, it is a Monday, and there is a lot
to discuss.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Love.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
One hour from now. Where Colin was right, Where Colin
was wrong. Jmack I was looking forward to a game seven.
Not all game sevens are equal, but when steps in
a Game seven, they're on the road, the deeper, longer,
(00:54):
more athletic Houston Rockets. And it was a little bit
of a coaching clinic. And the old guy, I mean,
they forced Houston into half court basketball and that's not
more Houston flourishes.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
And then that buddy Heal showed up.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
He was on a milk cart in All Series Wow,
Top thirty three, and gave him my God unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
So that was that's gonna be. That is a really
impressive win by Golden State. It was not a great
first round for old guys. The Old Lakers lost, the
Old Bucks lost, The Clippers were older than Denver and lost.
But then there's Steph, Steve, Draymond Green and the Warriors surviving.
Steve Kerr pulled all the levers and had to. They
(01:35):
had no bench. It was a starting five in Kavon Looney.
They're going to a one, three to one zone. Jimmy
Butler and Draymond Green were very good, but they had
to do a lot of it, not just in the
box score. Buddy healed in Pods because you know, Steph
gets doubled so often. Buddy healed and Pods got great
looks and Buddy hit a ton of his. The Warriors
(01:58):
had no bench, no depth. Think about that. An old
team on the road planed six guys because they tried
to play Jonathan Kaminga twice and you can see Steve
Kerr's frustration. It doesn't work. He's like the kid at
the playground. None of the kids will play with It
just doesn't work when Jonathan Kaminga's in there. He gets
(02:21):
the hook, and so here's Steve Kerr. They score one
hundred and three points. One hundred of their one to
ozh three come from their starters.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
You're on the road.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
The other team's got more length and size and depth,
so you had to pull all these levers.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
And then there's.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Steph Curry, and the gravity of Steph was on display.
So I mean, when you pick him up at half
court and you're doubling him and trapping him, it leaves
Buddy Healed open, and it gives Jimmy Butler more breathing room.
And eventually in the fourth quarter, Steph hits five of six.
He's the hammer. Houston's the nail, and he finishes it off.
(02:57):
But what Golden State really did yesterday is they said,
Draymond Green shut down shngon. Just shut him down, get
into his feet, push him around. He did, and that
was everything because then you're basically Jalen Green. You can't
trust Aman Thompson's excellent but not doesn't have a three
(03:18):
point shot yet. So Draymond closes down the middle and
I was looking at the numbers. The rockets were five
for twenty one. If Draymond Green was guarding you. And
this is what Draymond does in Big Series. He may
be old, he doesn't play old. So he shut down
the middle.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
And he does.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
He's the best defensive player I've ever seen and can
also be an offensive catalyst. But then Fred van Vliet,
they threw bodies at him. He didn't play particularly well,
and all that rocket size and all that rocket athleticism,
it just didn't matter because Houston has a bunch of
guys who are great athletes but don't know how to play.
That's why it's so obvious Cominga should be a Houston rocket, right,
(03:58):
he doesn't work with Golden State. They have six guys
and they all know how to play. And the key
is they all know how to play with Steph Curry
and so basically, very smartly Golden State and Kurk just said,
you stut Draymond shut down sng Goon. We'll switch in
a bigger and smaller guys. That's the primary deal. He
took him out of the game, and it forced Houston
(04:19):
to play half court basketball. And I've been saying this
for years. Kaminga didn't go to college basketball. Jalen Green
didn't go to college basketball. They went got some dough
went to the G League. Neither one knows how to play.
They're just athletes. That doesn't mean everybody that goes to
the G League fails. But when you watch Houston, you're like,
they just got a bunch of dudes who should have
(04:40):
spent more time in college and learn how to play
within the structure and a system, because I mean, you know,
the Rockets head coach got so frustrated so many times
with his.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Half court offense. And in the end, Steph.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Got hot, Buddy was hot, Butler was hot, Draymond was
a catalyst, and you talk about it.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Team. It was not a.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Good first round for old guys, and it may not
be a good second round for the calves.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
We'll wait on that. They have to shoot better.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
But this was a Warriors team been there a million
times of no depth, not much size, couldn't play Kaminga
and Steve Kerr, and this team pulled all the right levers.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Here's Steve Kerr.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
It couldn't be more proud of our guys.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
That was incredibly impressive display of resolve, discipline, The defense
was fantastic, the ball security, kind of game plan, discipline
followed to a tee and then multiple guys stepping up
Buddy heeled.
Speaker 8 (05:46):
I don't know what to say.
Speaker 7 (05:46):
I mean, that was was really incredible watching him light
it up.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
And so much of what Draymon and Butler and the
Warriors Kevon Looney do isn't necessarily box score stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
There is something.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Did you see Steph Curry before the game getting his
guys fired up? And that's where I want to talk
about the Clippers losing to Denver. So I thought the Clippers,
I mean, Denver fired their coach at the end of
the year. They were playing terrible basketball. I'm like, I
got a better coach, I got a head coach. I
got a team Clippers that are deeper, I think, more
talented arguably, and they're playing great. And yet here again
(06:25):
are the Clippers led by sort of a mercenary, a
basketball mercenary. Kawhi great player, not a leader, and James
Harden ball centric too often, invisible often in the playoffs.
And what do you do? There's no way the clippershould
have lost this series. Denver's got like the substitute teacher
coaching Stan Cronk. The owner is like, we're too good
(06:45):
to play this bad. They get rid of Malone and
I'm thinking that's a bad decision. Everything was right in
front of them and Kawhi Leonard. This is why demeanor
and leadership matter. He doesn't set the tone, unlike Yok
who got on his teammates multiple times in this series. Now,
(07:06):
Coawhi's just a He's a really talented instrument, a bit
of a loner. He'll never be the heartbeat of a franchise.
To be the leader, you got to play more than
forty five games annually. You got to be there. And
so it's like, okay, what about James Harden. James Harden similarly,
James Harden will give you buckets. But the difference between
him and say A Westbrook, if Westbrook's not giving you buckets,
(07:29):
he's giving you so much else. He's giving you rebounding
and defense and intensity and attitude. If James Harden isn't
hitting baskets, and he wasn't yesterday, you get nothing else.
So you know, Cowizo has got been a guy that
feels kind of cold and calculated. He's kind of a
basketball hired gun. And that's to me, He's got some MJ.
(07:49):
Kobe comps. But that's where it ends, because Kobe could
be inspirational, and Michael was a leader and he was barking.
And that's what Jokic did. The great players in the playoffs.
Demeanor matters leadership. Match Denver, give Westbrook a ton of
credit for a leadership role. Give me your kitch a
(08:10):
ton of credit. You got a substitute teacher as a
head coach. Denver shouldn't have won this series. Inspiration once
again matters. Leadership once again matters. Harden's talented, but he's
a one trick pony. You don't get points, what do
you get? There's always an excuse. And again, Kawhi is
an all time talent, but he has to be, like Katie,
(08:33):
an accessory. He cannot be a foundational heartbeat of the franchise.
You can't play forty five games and do that. So
I said, I don't know. The Clippers are good, but
if you can't win this series when you have a
significantly better staff, you're playing great basketball.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
At the end of the year.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
The Nuggets are a mess. They go with an interim coach.
Everything off and in Game seven one of your guys
is good but won't lead. The other one's bad and
refuses to Here's Tyleru after you.
Speaker 9 (09:11):
Know, James having to carry such a heavy load, you know,
with Kawhi missing, I think forty five games, and I'm
just having to carry that low, you know, all season long.
Speaker 6 (09:20):
And he did a great job with that.
Speaker 9 (09:21):
And I think Klai, like I said, coming back being
Kawhi and having a confidence in his need that he
can play, play more minutes, he can get through these games,
and those two together for a whole season, I think
would be tremendous.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Nobody thinks you're gonna get those two guys at this
point for a whole season. It's all fools Gold Kawhi.
There's always one purpose, but it's never a higher purpose.
So you the Clippers can keep grabbing onto this stuff.
But give the Lakers credit. The Lakers will move off people.
They take a swing for Westbrook doesn't work, they go,
(09:57):
They make deals. They're always willing to make deals. I
feel like the Clippers, you know, the step child in
the city. I know they got the richer owner in
the new facility. They just keep clinging onto this thing. Well,
next year will be different. No, I won't kwhile play
like forty games and Harden, they'll give you buckets and
won't defend and won't lead, and that's what you are.
But you know, the reality is, if you can't win
(10:20):
this series with a new arena, you got an interim
coach in Denver. I mean, you've got a brand new
head coach. I mean there was Russell Westbrook, there was infighting.
Malone wanted to play him, the GM didn't. Westbrook ended
up being a tone center for four different games in
(10:43):
this series. More on that later, but we've been saying
this now for some time. Jo Kisch is the best
player in the world, but there's an argument in many
games and Jimal Murray's the second most consistent offensive player.
Westbrook was huge, and it wasn't because Westbrook's in his prime.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Westbrook was willing to lead.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
And bark and immote and be raw and Westbrook has
seemingly discovered I don't know why it took so long
how to shoot at three, but I so much of
Denver was to me was looking in the mirror. I mean,
if you go to about game four on Denver was
the better team and should not have been should not
have won this series.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
J Mack, that was fun.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Your pacers call hey, hey, now let's go. Well, first,
of all, Cleveland will shoot better, but without Darius Garland,
the offense just isn't the same offense.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
A little too much ties your own. Okay, in Sam Maryland.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Jerome can shoot, but he's not not.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
A twenty nine minute a game now.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
And he's not a distributor. He's not gonna run an offense.
He can get your bucket.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Yeah, he took by the way, Donovan Mitchell one of
eleven on threes, like it was just a bad game
from the Cats. Quick point on Russell Westbrook. He shot
forty one percent on threes in the series. That's better
than Steph Curries you shot against the Rockets. Yeah, this
was total fools goal.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Is he gonna sleep them or no?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
No, you can't. You're not gonna sweep Yo Kitchen, No way.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Denver's got too much, too many players, all right, I'm
blasted by the way, by the way, Denver's got players
in their prime, Yo Kitchen his prime? Yeah, okay, uh,
Jamal Murray Stone his prime, Gordon athletically Stone his prime
may disappoint you, but Michael Porter's probably near the close
to the end of his prime. But they have too
many athletes and too many guys in those great years,
(12:27):
and Westbrook, by the way, is not at his prime,
but he actually does some things better than he did
in his prime, which is shoot corner threes and actually
play with a little bit more self awareness.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
I just want to say, it feels like fools gold.
You know, like you're guarding somebody in a basketball game.
They make a shot and you're like, all right, that's fine,
he's not doing it again. Maybe he hits another. There's
no way Westbrook duplicates that in the next series. I
I you know, I've been anti.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Thunder all year.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
I think this unders smashed them, and I did bet
thunder tonight.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Did you see minus nine and a half?
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Well, yeah, thunder tonight. It's if you've seen like the
DraftKings number on this Oh my, it's is like minus
eight hundreds.
Speaker 8 (13:05):
Ye.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
No, I mean it's not that the Nuggets are underdogs.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
The lines, the betting odds are so stacked in okaysee
his favorite.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
Same with the Celtics series like that, I think three
of the series that Cavs were lopsided favorites against the
Pacers in the series.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Not according to Jamak, get one every now and then.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Neon easternn AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
So yeah, a lot of you know that.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
You know Draymond Green's got a very popular podcast, and
I know Draymond, but I've said this for years. If
you don't get the value of Draymond Green, I can't
help you. People will fall in love with a Mellow
or a James Harden or the speed of a John Wall.
And I'm like, do you guys watch basketball? Do you
see how much he does? This league is a parade
of three pointers and one on one ISO basketball offense. First,
(14:00):
there's nothing wrong with that. Draymon is a testament to
how many ways you can win. He'll switch to biggs
guys five inches bigger, He'll switch to small guys. It
doesn't matter. The Warrior small ball is only possible. It's
not Stephan Clay. A lot of teams have shooters, it's Draymon.
You used to have to have a center, and you
also had a power forward. They have Draymon, who's faster
(14:23):
than both, who can be an offensive catalyst. He's such
a connective passer and a lot of what he does
is like not necessarily box score stuff. He shoots the
three just well enough that you have to be aware
of him. But this was a great example of they
just said, basically, take out Sheng Goon, get him off
(14:45):
his game, get him off his rhythm, and I mean,
he just It's like if James Harden isn't hitting shots,
you don't get anything else. And that's why Draymon is
the iPhone and you know, scores only like James Harden
are you know the pod. They just don't do a lot.
He does everything well. He can be the best screener,
(15:07):
he can be your best rebounder. He's obviously your best defender. Again,
a very connected passer. And as Steph is struggling in
the first half, what's keeping him in the game because
the Warriors had a bad offensive first half is Draymond Green.
He literally stopped the Rockets half court offense, took them
totally out of rhythm. And he doesn't get a lot
(15:29):
of appreciation. But you know who knows how great he is.
Steve Kerr and Steph Curry know how great he is.
I've always said this team at times has had a
lot of finesse. He has always been the bouncer at
the nightclub. You think they're soft, you think they're small,
and then it's like Rodman, but with a much more
(15:50):
layered offensive game. Rodman couldn't shoot. Rodman wasn't a great passer.
Rodman was just annoying. That's just one of the gears
Raymond Green has. And here's his coach after Draymond.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
Really he's our leader, and when he's right like he
was tonight, he's an incredible player to watch the defense,
just kind of owning the court on that side of
things and then just being patient and not turning it
(16:24):
over and being in the right spots offensively.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, and the other thing I like about Draymond, I'll
play it bye here in a second. The other thing
I like about him is, you know, and I understand this.
These NBA players, it's shoe deals, it's Instagram deals, it's
big contracts, it's pods. It will be so easy to like,
come into this league, you get the bag, and you're satisfied.
(16:47):
Draymond Green will not be satisfied until he no longer
plays in this league.
Speaker 8 (16:56):
I powed it way too much last game, So spend
the last two days embarrassed, just at what I what
I gave to the game, what I gave to the world.
I was embarrassed. So I've been dying since the last
game ended to get out on the floor and prove
who I am. You know one thing about this league,
(17:17):
You're never done proven who you are until you're done,
completely finished.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
And I don't know how many more of those games
he has. They play Minnesota. Chris Finch coming on later.
That's an interesting game, the bigger, deeper, Timberwolves. The difference
is Houston's biggs and depth all kids, Minnesota is a
Rudy Gobert, you know, Julius Randall knaz Reed. So Minnesota
(17:45):
collectively is a much more experienced team, much better in
the half court offense. They present much different problems. I
don't love this matchup going forward for Golden State. The
Warriors just took advantage of Houston's inexperienced, awful half court offensive.
Fred Van Vlietz not scoring in naivete. You're getting none
(18:07):
of that with a great staff and a lot of
games and a lot of experience. I think this is
a tough matchup for the Warriors.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
The Dubs.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I would probably take Minnesota. Their coach later on the show.
But that was classic Draymond. Yesterday in a crucial road
game Game seven, when you basically were playing five guys
in Kaevon, Looney and Steph was off in the first
half and you won, and Draymond was a huge, huge
(18:36):
part of that.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern nin am Pacific.
Speaker 10 (18:41):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 10 (18:55):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right, So.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Check us out.
Speaker 10 (19:14):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most
interactive show on Fox Sports Radio maybe the most interactive
show on planetar. Be sure to check out Covino and
Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app
from five to seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific,
and if you miss any of the live show, just
search Covin on Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and
of course on social media.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
That's Covino and Rich. All right, Colin was right, Colin
was wrong. On the Monday Here we go.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Where Colin was right, James.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Harden in the playoffs not somebody I trust to no
shows and Kalion Harden again, they're absolutely all time gifted.
You can't build around either. I've said this during the year. Yes,
he'll give you twenty eight points. He'll have his core
in moments, but if Harden isn't scoring, and he wasn't yesterday,
(20:05):
you don't get a lot else. And you saw it
against the Nuggets in Game seven, where Colin was right.
I picked Houston to beat the Warriors. I thought, you know,
I be honest with you. Athleticism, size and length. I
thought it would be a problem. But too often they
were reduced to just a half court offensive team, and
(20:26):
it is ugly a Jalen Green doesn't really have a
traditional or dependable offensive game. They really if a men
Thompson would not have been so good yesterday, especially in
the first three quarters. I don't know if this game
would have been close, but they got worked in the
half court by Butler, Draymond, Buddy Heald.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
And Steph Curry.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I said before Jimmy Butler got to the Warriors, I
don't care what analytics say.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
He's going to fit.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
They were under five hundred pre Jimmy Butler, and there
were a lot of analytic ma evans that said it
may not work, Yes it will. He's a bridge between
Steph and Draymond Green. He's got the toughness and the
physicality and the defense of Draymond, but he can also
be a finisher like Steph Curry, and like Draymond Green,
he is often at his best when he's backed into
(21:18):
a corner and playoff. Jimmy illustration a yesterday where Colin
was rough. I thought when the Devner Nuggets fired their
coach with three games left in the regular season as
they were skidding out of control, I thought it was
crazy against tylu experienced Clippers, older Clippers deeper roster.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
What are you guys doing well? It worked.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Westbrook was a tone center, Jokich was dominant, Murray had
you know, typically yets hot and can be streaky.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
He was at the right time.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
I thought the Clippers faced just on having a substitute
teacher as a coach, We're going to be a bit
over their skis. But they made great adjusta Jokic barking
and leading, Westbrook playing some of the best, most important
basketball of his life.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
And I was wrong where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
I said, when Texas went to the SEC, guys, you're
in trouble. Bama LSU Old Miss can't play in that space.
Just reported that Texas will spend up to forty million
on the football roster. That, by the way, does not
count the arch manning money. That's a separate deal and
the SEC schools, and I think they're feeling it now.
(22:31):
And this is why the Big Ten is catching up.
Because the Big Ten gets Oregon big money, Washington good money,
USC spending huge nil money. Texas just has more bankroll
than everybody else in the SEC. In as long as
Sark is there, who is a more than capable coach?
(22:52):
Texas is going to control this conference. Where Colin was
row well, I picked the Lakers to dismantle the Tea
Wolves because I'm like, I don't trust Julius Randall in
the postseason. Who's going to do their scoring outside of
ant And it happens that Randall was great and a
lot of people did their scoring. The Tea Wolves were deeper,
they had more dexterity and options off the bench, and
(23:16):
JJ Reddick I didn't think flourished in this series. I
also thought they just kept throwing athletic bodies at Austin Reeves.
He was a bit of a no show. I think
they should probably move him to get a big But
boy was I wrong on.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
That series where Colin was right.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Who's not said this about Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
He can be a four like a Derek White on
a championship level team, but if he's a two or
of three, you know you're not going to beat the
best teams in the league. And he looked overwhelmed in
this series against more athletic wings. He shot thirty two
percent from three, did not get to the free throw
line in the last two games of this series. Again,
he is a good player, but look at all the
(23:55):
talent on OKC and Minnesota and Cleveland, Indiana and the
Celtics to here comes Detroit, Golden State still got it.
I just think you have to sometimes be honest about
your own players.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Where Colin was right, Paul.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Goldschmidt of the Yankees about six months ago, I told
the staff most underrated player in the last fifteen years,
and they said, he made seven All Star teams. How
can you say he's underrated? What evs? He is now
hitting three forty nine for the first place Yankees. Okay,
Aaron Judge is from Mars. I can't explain Aaron Judge.
(24:33):
But Paul Goldschmidt as your baseball insider, Okay, wasn't very
good for Saint Louis last year, but he is crushing it.
I do believe last fifteen years, nobody's been this good
and gotten less press than Paul goldschmidth Colin Wright Colin wrong.
And with that, Matt Hasselback eighteen years in the NFL,
(24:54):
is joining us. So there was a story out about
once you hey a quarterback, you have to make choices.
And so the Niners love Hufunga and they love green Law.
But there's a reason they're not on the team. It's
because they're getting ready to pay Brock Purty and Hufungo
was on like a podcast and he threw a little
(25:14):
shade at him and said how much he loved bo Nicks.
And my take is quarterbacks don't get criticized much. Russell
Wilson's a historic outlier. Do you think there it feels
like there's a tad animosity.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Not because he's getting paid.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Nobody's upset that Justin Herbert gets paid, or Lamar gets
paid or Josh Allen gets paid. But I feel like
there's a little bro this is Kyle's team, we're getting
rid of Pro bowlers?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Am I wrong on this?
Speaker 1 (25:43):
There's a little bit of animosity that Brock's talking mid
fifties or his agent is for a contract.
Speaker 11 (25:50):
Well, I agree with you in a lot of ways,
but I don't think it's specific to this team.
Speaker 6 (25:55):
Like if you were to be a fly on a
wall in.
Speaker 11 (25:58):
The NFLPA meetings in Hawaii or wherever they have them, now,
I think you'd hear that sentiment like, hey man, like
these quarterback contracts they're just getting out of control. You know,
those numbers are just exponentially, like multiplying, just going up
and up and up, and then what we're having in
other positions is we're not seeing that same growth. So
(26:18):
you know, that is certainly something that you hear as
a player in contract negotiations. I mean, I remember when
the Indianapolis Colts at the end of my career, they
were getting ready to do Andrew Lux contract.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
It was going to be one hundred million dollar deal.
They had to create space.
Speaker 11 (26:31):
You've seen a lot of teams do that with their
franchise guy when they have a guy that they cannot
let out the door. They have to make sacrifices elsewhere.
I've seen Cincinnati do it. They did basically did it
on the defensive side of the ball. So San Francisco
they're feeling that pain, they're feeling that real hurt right now,
and that's certainly an excuse that they give to the agent,
and it's probably being honest.
Speaker 6 (26:53):
I mean, that's just the nature of it.
Speaker 11 (26:54):
But I wouldn't be shocked if this is something that
does get talked about in the future.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Okay, so I know it's an old guy rant, but
I do believe there is a row your own boat
quality to my I say this to my kids, this
is your life. I was watching the psychologist recently and
he said, the more times you solve your kids problems,
the worst problem solvers they'll be as adults.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
Let your kids work through stuff. So yeah, I was
getting it.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
I was talking to my kids this weekend. Maybe that's it.
This story about Abdull Carter. Somehow it gets word out
that he's like asked for Lawrence Taylor's number fifty six,
the best defensive player in the history of this great sport.
That drives me nuts. That bothers me, should it? How
(27:39):
do you view it?
Speaker 11 (27:40):
Well, I mean, I'm maybe like, get off my lawn
even more than you like. I hate the fact that
defensive players like Tom Brady said, I hate that the
fact that they get to wear.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
Single digit numbers or number eleven in the first place.
I'm old school that way.
Speaker 11 (27:53):
But no, I just I think, listen, I don't listen,
you ask, Go ahead and ask. I'm upset that it
got out out now I look like kind of a
You know, it's embarrassing that that two different people said
no to me, But I.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
Guess you never know unless you ask.
Speaker 11 (28:08):
I think the team probably could have done him a
favor and just said, hey, pick whatever number you want,
just so you know, here are the numbers we will
never say yes to, you know, fifty six being one
of them.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Right.
Speaker 11 (28:17):
But when I was in Seattle, listen, it's not a
young guy, old guy thing. Like when I was in Seattle,
numbers mean something to players. Jerry Rice signed with the
Seattle Seahawks late in his career.
Speaker 6 (28:27):
He wanted to where.
Speaker 11 (28:27):
Eighty eighty was basically retired because Steve Largent Hall of
Fame wide receiver for Seattle, and it was a thing
like you know, basically Steve Largent got put in a
tough spot. Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver of all time, asked,
what are you gonna do? Say no, it's a little
bit harder to say no, they're and then he wore eighty.
Speaker 6 (28:44):
I was fine with it, The team was fine with it.
Jerry obviously was fine with it.
Speaker 11 (28:49):
But the fans didn't sit well with some of those
old school Kingdome fans, like didn't sit well with them.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
So it's a tricky thing. But I'm with you.
Speaker 11 (28:59):
I guess LT was my guy as well, Collin, so
I can relate to that.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
By the way, I just want to throw I want
to go old school here and again A lot of times.
You know, if you if you're twenty years old or
thirty years old, you don't think Michael Jordan ever lost
a playoff game. So there is something about the highlight culture.
Take our audience just because, I mean, tell them how
good LT was for people that only watch highlights.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Because I remember him.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I said, when Mike Tyson was in his prime coming up,
he intimidated other heavyweight fighters, like Michael speaks is like.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
I'm not interested. I want to go home and have
a boulapasta. I'm out. How great was Lawrence? Do you
have a Lawrence Taylor story?
Speaker 6 (29:42):
Yeah? I mean I got too many. Listen.
Speaker 11 (29:44):
My dad ended his career in the New York Giants,
and you know Mark Bavarro was the starting tight end,
so he'd go with the ones against the Scout team defense.
My dad was the backup tight end. He'd go with
the twos against the starting New York Giants defense. It's
Carl Banks on one side, it's Lawrence Taylor on the other. Like,
I got more stories than I'm probably allowed to tell
about LT.
Speaker 6 (30:04):
But he was the kind of guy I would just say.
Speaker 11 (30:06):
Like, from my perspective, like when the game was on
the line, he did whatever he wanted to do. If
he was supposed to blitz, maybe he did, maybe he didn't.
If he wasn't, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. He
had that kind of freedom. I remember one time my
dad was on the field goal protection team. They're kicking
a game winning field goal and LT felt like, no,
this is too important. He runs out there and kicks
(30:26):
off like one of the wings on field goal protection.
He was like, no, I'm blocking for this because we
need to win this game. He just had that aura
about him.
Speaker 6 (30:34):
He did whatever he wanted.
Speaker 11 (30:35):
And I think, like even now here we are in
twenty twenty five, you hear guys like Bill Parcells or
you hear Bill Belichick, they talk about the greatest to
ever play, a game changer, they're talking about LT. I mean,
he was that kind of a difference maker, a unique talent,
a unique teammate, and certainly someone that changed past protection
in the NFL the way that they design it. And
(30:57):
that's I mean, I don't know what more you could
say about a guy incredible.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
So let's take Jalen Milroll the Seahawks. I've been told
Seattle would like to use him in the red zone,
that he's just a unique athlete and team. He's one
of those athletes that you can't prepare for. He's just
faster than anybody on your team. But right now, if
you don't have a contract with the Seahawks, can I
get the playbook? What am I doing? You have a
quick camp? What is a quarterback that's new to this league?
(31:24):
What where are they in the process?
Speaker 11 (31:26):
Now, well, that's a couple of different questions there. Number one,
they're in this phase of like basically there's all.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
These rules of what you can do with veteran players.
You get it, so you get three phases.
Speaker 11 (31:37):
Phase one basically there's no football, it's lifting, it's rehabits, studying, terminology.
Speaker 6 (31:43):
Phase two you get into like.
Speaker 11 (31:45):
Maybe throwing on air, there's no defense, some of that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
And then Phase three the end of it.
Speaker 11 (31:50):
Now we're in seven on seven, nine on seven team drills,
eleven on eleven. But I think uniquely to this situation
with Jalen Milroe, what you're going to see is you're
going to see a guy that they're going to try
to develop as he's the backup he's going to be developing,
and I think that that might even include playing on Sundays.
(32:10):
So you saw what Kyle Shanahan did. You know Clint
Kubiak came from that system. You saw what Kyle Shanahan
did a little bit with Trey Lance before he got hurt.
Short yardage, goal line and low red zone meaning inside
the ten yard line.
Speaker 6 (32:23):
There will be a package.
Speaker 11 (32:24):
For Jalen Milroe who he is as a runner, also
who he is as a quarterback, as a thrower. I
think they're going to give him a small menu, not
a cheesecake factory menu, like a very small menu of
things to think about and dominate. And what's what that's
going to do is every opponent it's going to have
to spend a lot of time thinking about it, planning
for it. And it's time that they won't be spending
(32:47):
game planning for Sam Darnold and the rest of the guys.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
I got to ask you there. You know whatever Aaron
Rodgers is going to do, So how long if he
goes to Pittsburg and it's a totally new Arthur Smith's system,
how long would it take you ere and Aaron Rodgers
to go in and It's almost like moving to a
new city and driving to your new job where you
don't have to think about it. It's rote you've memorized
(33:13):
that everything's quick. What is the time that Aaron the
latest he could show up and you'd feel like, listen,
he's all it's all working, the timing, the audible system.
What's the timeline on that the latest Aeron could go to?
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Say the Steelers.
Speaker 6 (33:28):
Well, I'll tell you right now.
Speaker 11 (33:29):
I just mentioned the three phases for a venturing quarterback.
Phase one feels like a waste of your time, like
it sort of does. It's just lifting, Hey, I could
lift with my guy where I like to lift, Like
this is just kind of the mindset.
Speaker 6 (33:41):
There's no football there anyway.
Speaker 11 (33:43):
Phase two again like you're throwing the guys on air,
not that important.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
Phase three I think is really important.
Speaker 11 (33:49):
So for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I believe that's May twenty seventh.
May twenty seventh is the start of phase three. They
also have a mandatory mini camp, which would technically be
June tenth. So you know, so when is the day
that I need to, like all of a sudden, go
from speaking Spanish to speaking French. It's not really till
week one of the NFL season. Because of who you are,
(34:10):
You're Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 6 (34:11):
You'll figure it out. You can speak enough to get by.
Speaker 11 (34:14):
But to me, I think I would circle that May
twenty seventh date as a date that like, it would
really be detrimental to be starting the missing time at
that point right now, Phase one, phase two, I think
some guys that have played a long time and understandably
so you know, it's a little bit of ticket or.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
Leave it by the way.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Every time we talk to you, you're in a cool
different place. That's a snazzy looking room. Is that a
hotel somewhere?
Speaker 11 (34:37):
No, I'm actually my parents' house. So that's actually one
of my dad's paintings. But this is my mom's I
guess my mom's upstairs. So I am everywhere. I feel
like I'm always missing you though you're on the road
as well.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Your dad was a painter, right, Yeah, he.
Speaker 11 (34:51):
Was an artist inspired by the sunsets in Colorado. He
played in Colorado out in Boulder, So a lot of color,
a lot of mountains, a lot of that stuff.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Uh, beautiful, Matt Hasselbeck is always good seeing.
Speaker 6 (35:03):
Your body awesome. Thanks Colin, you bet.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
May twenty seventh, mark it down for Aaron Rodgers to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
I don't know, you know, there is a possibility that
he's I saw a story this weekend where Aaron was
wearing an engagement ring or a wedding ring or something.
There's a story out there is that's he's Uh, it's serious.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
Is that what the young people are doing?
Speaker 6 (35:26):
Men are wearing engagement rings?
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Well, I don't no, no, no, no, you're right, you're right.
He's wearing a ring. Okay, now I'm not saying.
Speaker 5 (35:32):
Maybe it's a promise ring. I think guys do that
right in high school.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
I don't know he's wearing a ring. Aaron Rodgers coming,
so I guess he would be married.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Possibly.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
I'm just he's very private, so nobody really knows. I
think the name is Brianna.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
I think no. I saw a story yesterday.
Speaker 5 (35:54):
So you know how you can like go into your
feet and put in words that you don't want to see.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
Aaron Rodgers is in my so I don't see any
Aaron ro I have no.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
Idea what he's doing.
Speaker 4 (36:02):
He could be in Egypt again, he could be on
the River Nile right now.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
I would have no idea.
Speaker 5 (36:07):
I'm out on Aaron Rod.
Speaker 8 (36:08):
Just done, totally
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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