November 8, 2018 • 40 mins
Doug tells you why tonight's Panthers v Steelers game has ton of implications to the rest of the NFL. He also compares LeBron James to the Patriots and their ability to make adjustments. FOX Sports' lead play by play announcer Joe Buck joins the show to share what the feeling around the Steelers' is without Le'Veon Bell and to give Doug some advice on doing play by play.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug gott
Leap Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every
weekday from three to six pm Eastern Time, that's twelve
to three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for the Doug Gotlap Show at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
I Heart Radio app by searching fs R. This is
(00:21):
the best of the Doug got Leave Show on Fox
Sports Radio. Boom, What Up America, Doug got Leave Show,
Fox Sports Radio. Welcome into the Doug got Leave Show.
You're on Fox Sports Radio. Man, do we have a
great show for you today? I mean unbelievable. Joe Bucks
(00:47):
gonna join us later on the show. Joe Buck of
course calling tonight's Thursday Night Football and appears that he
may be calling the World Series for the next fifty
years with rumors of a long term Fox deal. Edward
is gonna join us, will get his take on on
what's going on with the Cowboys? Is Jerry a man
of his word? Is he really going to extend doc
And if so, doesn't that mean Jason Garrett's likely gone?
(01:10):
And what do the Cowboys think that Dez Bryant has
left in the tank. Former Calves general manager David Griffin
will join us. Will ask him what his take is
about Lebron James, fresh off Lebron James's l A Lakers
getting a hard fought win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He's
lived this, he understands what it's like to watch Braun
(01:33):
in his first dozen or so games with a new team.
Is this par for the course or is this Lebron
four point? Oh? And then Mike Leach the Pirates gonna
join us half past this hour. Org does he believe
they will get a rightful shot at a national championship
(01:57):
if they win out? I mean its beating Washington, running
the table, winning the Pack twelveth championship. We'll ask him.
We'll ask him, Man, there's a lot to get to
and sometimes there's a lot to unpack, right, there's a
lot to unpack. For example, tonight's game a lot to unpack.
(02:21):
You have the new Levy on Bell Soccer where they're like, oh, hey,
I'm not sure if you guys read this part of
the contract. But he might not have to show up.
After all, somebody stopped Levian Bell mid pickup game in
Pittsburgh like, yo, dude, you came back for nothing. Still,
it feels like a foregone conclusion. He will in fact
(02:41):
show up, he will in fact sign that signed the
franchise tag, and he will at some point in the
near future play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So you got that, like, wait,
maybe he doesn't have to show up in order to
in order for to count for a year and then
the franchise tag next year. He's so bloated, be so
ridiculously high that that he you know, the Steelers obviously
(03:08):
let him go. And then of course you have the
Steelers who are playing better. James Connors had a magnificen
seas and better statistically then Levian bell Antonio Brown pulled
over for going a hundred miles an hour and not
on a freeway, I believe, And look, I'm not gonna
(03:29):
sit here and tell you that I don't speed. I'm
not gonna tell you that. I'm not gonna tell you
that I haven't gone a hundred um but at time
and place, and you're going a hundred you caught once
you get to three. But once you get plus ninety.
I stopped feeling sorry for you. I thee I was
(03:49):
keeping up with the flow of traffic. Nobody else was
on the road. Like all of these things make total
sense when you're in the eighties. Once you get past nine,
I can't. And then once you get past a hundred,
I can't. I just can't. Oh yeah. And then you
have the Carolina Panthers, who have found Cam Newton's ability
(04:10):
to be uh A once again a game changing for
with a good side, game changing player. They seem to
be using Christian McCaffrey in a multitude of ways, all
of which are successful. They have a tremendous run defense.
This is a big time football game. It might well
be the game of the week. And of course on
Thursday Night, which in the past, once you get late
(04:31):
in the season Thursday Night, it's not always the best
play games. There's a lot to unpacked tonight ran what
Panthers defense eight in the league in rushing yards allowed
eight in the league and yards per game, not that
that really matters fumbles, cause turnovers are a huge Like
(04:55):
you ask NFL people that are like, what's your turnover ratio?
How many points are you giving up? What? What are
you in the red zone? What are you on third down?
That's really what NFL stats come to we almost have
to almost you almost want to shame the NFL and
how they look at how they still hand out defensive
(05:17):
stats because everybody in the NFL they look at it
completely differently, like total defense and yards. No one in
the league actually cares zero zero, like Cleveland, Chicago, Seattle, Carolina.
(05:37):
Those are the teams that that that lead in in takeaways.
Cleveland twenty three takeaways. It shows how bad Cleveland's offense
has been considered. They lead the world in takeaways. They've
gotten ten fumbles and thirteen interceptions. The Carolina Panthers fourth
in the NFL in takeaways at fifteen so far this season,
(06:00):
eleven interceptions, which is big time, big time. That's one
of those kind of all you need to know. So
I look at James Connor's rushing stats, and he's second
in attempts, he's seconding yards, he's fifteen in yards per attempt.
It's one of the reasons they're so good on third down.
(06:24):
Levy on bells lurking. He'll probably be watching at twenty
four Hour Fitness or l A Fitness or one of
the fitness centers in Pittsburgh. And here's James Conner's time
on national TV to show just how good he's been is,
how good he is against one of the top defense
in the NFL. Tent in total yards, ten total TVs,
(06:45):
over a thousand all purpose yards. Remarkable story. Man. There's
a lot to unpack here, a lot between can him
who's been to a Super Bowl but hasn't won one
and was coming off a wildly disappointing up and down
(07:06):
season and Ben Roethlisberger, who had some disappointing days last
last season and they came up short in the playoffs
to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team in the Pittsburgh that
at times early on the season the preseason seemed a
little bit in disarray to the Carolina Panthers, who you know,
(07:29):
ever since Josh Norman left. Then they started trading away
wide receivers mid season last year, some fingers being pointed
at Cam like this is a really interesting game. And
then you have the Levy on Bell stuff. Look, my
take on the Levy on Bell thing is is pretty simple. Uh,
(07:49):
they continue to search for excuses to have him not
show up. He thought he was worth more than they
thought he was worth. They offered him a contract and
he said he didn't want that contract. The agent probably
wanted him to take the contract. And now the agent
may have just now become aware of a clause in
the contract that means he doesn't have to show up.
(08:11):
Now he doesn't have to show up, might not have
to sign the sign the sheet of paper, but he
also won't collect a penny, which seems to be really,
really bad business. Be sure to catch live editions of
the Doug Dot Leaps Show weekdays in noon eastern three
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app. I watched the Lakers play last night, and
(08:34):
there were moments where Lebron James seemed like Lebron James
of old. There was some magical three point shots, the
the incredible strength and dexterity, maybe not the overall sheer
dominance scoring, but twenty four ten and nine, and he
seemed for the most part until the end of the
game to be playing within the offense. Lebron has twenty
(09:01):
four nine and ten, only three turnovers, does it in
thirty nine minutes and they win against the Minnesota Timberwolves,
who had beaten them going back last weekend the Twin Cities.
What was the difference well late in the game. They
chose to go with Josh Hart, who didn't play late
in the game the week before, and they added Tyson Chandler,
(09:23):
who only had two points, only played twenty three minutes
and only gets credit with nine rebounds, but he had
a whole bunch of tipouts that led to offensive team
offensive rebounds, and they were better defensively in the low post.
So Carl Towns was limited to five of sixteen and
seemed to disappear in the fourth quarter. Matter of fact,
I tweeted out and several people d m me that
(09:43):
they thought it was funny and accurate. Hey, Carl Town's
Andrew Wiggins, It's okay to come out now the game's over.
They went into a shell. Not only did the Lakers win,
but they survived a torrential downpall downpour from noted three
point specialist Derek Rose. Now happened, Derrick Rose, all of a
(10:04):
a sudden conshoot to have the Lakers done it well,
They've gotten healthy, they've played together, they fixed some things schematically.
Rondo's come off of suspension, just like Julian Edelman came
off of suspension, Brandon Ingram came off of suspension, probably
(10:25):
played his best overall game of the year with twenty
and six, and they went out in the waiver wire
and and got Tyson Chandler. My point is, I think
that Lebron looks a little bit older then he's looked
at any time in his career. And he is older,
but I mean finally starting to look a little bit older.
I'm not sure this this style is truly for him,
(10:47):
will benefit him. It may benefit others, but I'm not
sure it benefits him or gets the most out of him.
But I would also point out, and this is really
really important that whether or it's Lebron, Lebron's people or
gms who worked with Lebron who who have to figure
out what to put around him. The Calves added you
(11:11):
know Ray Allen after the first year Real was not
part of that, not one, not two, not three press complies, right.
They added pieces when he came back home. Remember they
added pieces as they went on. They didn't have j R.
Smith originally j R. Smith when he first started playing.
(11:35):
J R. Smith was not a member of the Calves,
and it was a disaster with the Knicks and they
got him off the street. The same is true when
they traded for Kyle Korver. So I didn't mean that
the Lakers are the Patriots, but Lebron has a little
bit of Patriots to him. Just give me some time
(11:55):
to figure it out, give me some time to play
in the shape, and you know, at the end of
the day, I'm still gonna be there in the playoffs.
There's a direct parallel there. I don't think anybody can deny.
And yeah, a lot, a lot like Tom Brady. I
know that at some point Father Time is going to
(12:16):
win this thing, but he had one yet until he does.
Much like the Patriots in the a f C East,
much like Kansas and the Big Twelve in basketball and
Oklahoma and the Big Twelve in football Clemson in the
a C, like they just but especially in professional sports,
(12:37):
the ability to kind of figure it out and go, like,
you know, if we just had this one piece changes everything.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug Dot
Leap Show weekdays in noon eastern three pm Pacific. David Griffin,
he put in his time in the city of Cleveland.
I'm sure it's in the low thirties. Uh this this
uh this weekend Cleveland, of course, David Griffin, former general
manager of the National Basketball Association an NBA TV analyst.
(13:01):
You could check out his show Deals and Dunks on
Serious XMS. Serious XM that's on Saturday mornings. David how
par for the course is Lebron james first ten twelve
games with the Lakers as opposed to his last two
stops Miami and Cleveland. I think radically different because I
(13:22):
think the way the team has built is different. I
think the fact that he's on a long term deal
there changes things quite a bit from the experience in
Cleveland as well. I think Magic and Rob Pelink are
looking at that as a long term build situation and
not something where they felt like they had to win
this championship. So I think I think it's the really
different template they're working from, and I'm anxious to see
(13:44):
what it looks like. Uh. I get the concept behind it.
They they sold Lebron on the idea of multiple ball
dominant play creators who could take some of that burden
off of him, which is all fine, And so you
get to the playoffs and then you're gonna have Lebron
do it because he's the most efficient play creator in
finals history. So you're going to give him the ball,
and in order to do that, you need to space
(14:05):
shooting around him. And I think as they built this
and as they augment the group around trade deadline, they're
going to look to do that as well. Oh my gosh,
we got augmentation. We got all kinds of big words.
My head is spinning alright. So, like, like, look, he
was good last night, He's been good in quarters before. Uh.
He does look like he's trying to fit into a
(14:26):
different style where the ball moves more. But we still
haven't seen. Hey I'm Lebron James and I'm the best
player in the world. Like, we haven't seen that. And
I understand that there's not the same number of shooters
around him, so there's not the space. I understand that, uh,
not being as much of the primary ball. But all
(14:47):
of that is great, But I would just expect at
some point, Um, you remember mo movie made a Gascar.
You've seen the movie Madagascar? I did not. Okay, Madagascar
is Alex the Lion and a ze and a hippo
from uh the Central Park Zoo uh and up swimmer
(15:07):
David David Timmers the draft right, and they're mistakenly shipped
to Madagascar, and it's there's just a point where Alex
the Lion is so hungry that he's just running. They're
just running through the wilderness, just running like friends, and
all of a sudden, his buddy is the zebra looks
like a bunch of steaks, and he snaps back into
(15:29):
two lion mode like real Liona. I'm just wondering why
we haven't seen that from Lebron yet. We haven't seen
the you know what, screw everything, I'm just gonna take
over and win a game just to show everybody I'm
still Lebron James. Well, you know, it's funny. I'm actually
watching as we're speaking. I'm watching the replay of the
Minnesota Laker game on NBA TV right now. And to
start the game, Lebron was in that mode a little bit,
(15:52):
and at times in the fourth quarter he was in
that mode a little bit. But he's very much like
and we used to watch him in Cleveland and much
the same way that we watched Jason Kidd in Phoenix,
and we would hope someone would piss him off um
and and right now he's very much in that counterpunching
mode where he's just sort of feeling things out. You know,
I say, he's a computer on learning mode, and I
(16:14):
think he's just trying to feel his way through it
a little bit, kind of see what the kids are
capable of doing on their own. And I think once
he figures out exactly where he's going to be able
to or rather where he's gonna need to assert himself,
he will. But he's he's not terribly concerned with the
record in the short term. I think he's more concerned
(16:35):
with trying to make sure he helps the pieces fit
together right now. David Griffin joining US former general manager
in the NBA. Of course, you can check him out
on NBA TV. You can hear him on Serious x
m UH with Deals and Dunks. That's on Saturday mornings
in Serious Sex Tams Doug Gotlib show Fox Sports Radio.
About five days ago, AGEA Wardanowski had a story that
(16:59):
Madge j Hunsen Uh called Luke Walton in and today, Dude,
you gotta we gotta have a better planned defensively, we
gotta have a system defensive this system offensively and called
him on the carpet. Uh. First, how often does that
happen where a gentlemanager, a president calls in a coach
after disappointing road trip and wants to have a discussion
(17:21):
about it. Well, I mean, I think it all depends
on how you're phrasing it, right. I mean we we
would visit every day. I mean we we lived together.
We're like a family. So from a GM head coach perspective,
if you guys aren't in lockstep together and aren't spending
an awful lot of time together, you're probably missing the
opportunity to do something special together. So I think in
(17:41):
the situation with Magic, who's who's not with the team
on the road, who's who's not? Like a traditional GM
that's sort of Rob Blinka's role. I think for Magic
to have a sit down with Lucas fine, but to
make a big deal about it that was probably unnecessary
just from a media perspective. And I'm I'm sure that
was done to generate some sort of a fact or
(18:03):
urgency in the team itself. But those kinds of sit
downs and visits happen every day now, That's it's kind
of my That's kind of my point though, David, though,
do you think do you think it's Magic that put
it out there because he wanted to seem like I
got this or because my problem was not the story
that they met or even that Magic wasn't happy, It
was that it got out right, that that kind of
(18:24):
thing gets out that. Okay, so what is it? The
question becomes, does that come from lebrons people or is
that a message sent to Lebronze people, like we know
it's not right. HOWE read the tea leaves for me
on how you think it actually went down. So my
perspective on it when I saw it happen, was probably
the Lakers wanting Lebron's people and mostly Lebron to see
(18:50):
that to understand like, look, we're taking action, we get it. Um.
I don't believe that it's it's again. I just don't
think it's a significant issue. And everything that happens around
the Lebron team becomes a major story. And to me,
you just the one thing you have to do, is
a fan of the Lakers right now, is ignore the noise,
(19:10):
because everything happens, everything coming from one direction or another,
happens for a reason that has nothing to do with
winning and losing basketball games. And I don't think it
has anything to do with the Lakers, not really believing
in Luke anymore, as evidenced by the fact that they
came out later and said they very much believe in him,
and Jeanie said he's our coach, and those types of
(19:30):
things holding Luke responsible for the team that was thrown
together prior to the start of the season would have
been Acidine at that stage in the game. So I
think it was really more of a just sort of
let's see where we're at, get a feel for the
lay of the land, kind of meeting David Griffin joining
us in the dug Outlives show. Um, when did Derrick
(19:51):
Rose become this deadly three point where this is one
of the most remarkable comeback stories, Like it's one thing
to come back, it's another thing for a guy to
come back on. Remember his last two teams he basically
bailed on right Like New York he disappeared on and
they got rid of him. Then Cleveland, you know, midway
through the year he disappeared on, And then he was
in Minnesota and then he's working out at like a
(20:14):
you know, a local workout club and they resigned him
to a really minuscule deal. And of course there was
the well TIBs believes in him. But all of a sudden,
now he is fifty in a game and he had
seven threes last night. This is how when did this happen? Well?
I think, first of all, he's healthy for the first
time in a long time. I've seen he and Tips
have talked about the fact that it's the first time
(20:35):
in five years he didn't spend the off season rehabbing
from some surgery or another. I think that's one thing.
I think the other thing is and it really speaks
to the power of confidence, and it speaks to from
an elite NBA perspective, the gap between showing up and
playing and dominating has a lot to do with your
thought process and your belief of self. And it's really
(20:58):
obvious Derek is back to feeling that he's capable of
the things that Tips is telling him he's capable of doing,
and he's going out and modeling that right now. I'm
I'm just super excited for the kid because to see
him healthy again and to see him playing the game
at this level from where he was during a stent
with Cleveland. I never would have predicted this, No, I
I would not have have have either. Um, I can't believe.
(21:22):
I mean, I get like. Look, Andrew Wiggins has a
reputation of being a guy super talented, but whether it's
soft or doesn't have the desire to take over late call.
Anthony Towns has some of that reputation as well. Some
of that's been helped by Jimmy Butler in the way
in which he's tried to get himself out of town,
and then they lived down to that reputation last night
in the game that I think most NBA fans are watching.
(21:45):
What's your read on what's going on and how they
fix it in Minnesota? Well, relative to how they fix it,
Jimmy Butler is going to have to get traded at
some point, and they're just gonna have to come to
grips with the fact that they're not going to get
a deal that feels like full value. And and that's
because of the circumstance that in large part the organization
(22:06):
and ownership created. It's also in large part because of
what Jimmy created, and because those two things are involved
and they're not all in lockstep. He's going to go
away eventually, and every day he's there, he's able to
block out the noise and go out there and just
hoop Carl and Wiggs. They're not, And so it's fairly obvious,
(22:26):
and in particular in the Carl case, he's shaken by
all of the turmoil. He's not enjoying showing up the
work every day. He's got the opposite of what Derrick
Rose has going right now. He does not feel an
enormous amount of confidence coming from the people around him,
and he's offensively, I think, playing down to that. Defensively,
(22:48):
he's a little bit better version of himself. He's blocking
some more shots. But when it comes time to know
that on the alpha and it's my turn to take over,
he doesn't have any of that, and I don't think
he's going to as long as Jimmy's there. So if
you don't want to trade him for the sake of
getting rid of Jimmy himself, then you need to do
it for the sake of saving the young guys, and
(23:09):
in particular Carl, because I think Carl's Carl's upside is
so significant. If you get the best version of him,
you could count on him to be a number one
or a number two on a Final four conference finalist
type of team. I don't look at wigs in the
same way, and I don't think he's as much. I
(23:29):
don't think the way he's playing has anything to do
with the turmoil. I just think that's who he is.
I'm sure you watch Duke. I'm sure like the rest
of us and R. R J. Barrett, you know, it's
like everyone's talking about Zion, but most people hold on R. J.
Barrett in even higher regard in terms of being an
NBA prospect. But let me ask you about Zion. How
(23:51):
concerning to somebody who's evaluated NBA players in NBA roster
and NBA draft for years, how concerning is it that
he's two pounds if he had an injury history would
be really concerning. Um the weight in and of itself,
the body type sort of allows for it. So if
it's not causing him injuries throughout his lifetime, you're not
(24:14):
as concerned when it really becomes an issue. And this
happened with like Sean May leaving North Carolina. He's a
heavy kid who's also had foot problems. Well, just the
act of getting in good enough shape to not be healthy,
are not to be heavy anymore, put so much strain
on your body you injure yourself and it just sort
of snowballs. You can never get right. If you were
(24:36):
already injured when you were heavy, it's really hard to
get into shape. This kid's played at this weight, he's
he's actually leaner now than he's been. And this kid's
played at that level without any incident. So for me,
that's not a concern as body type allows for it.
My only concern was Zion is going to be durability
in the course of an eight two game season because
(24:59):
he's laying ending from such a ridiculous vertical leap that
that starts to take its toll on the knees. You know,
Vince Carter has talked about this a lot. It's it's
not the takeoff, it's the landing. Yeah. Um, if you
were drafting, how how close is it between those two?
I mean, I know there's I know there's other prospects
in that mix. How close is it between those two? Oh?
(25:21):
I mean I'd be throwing a dart right now. I
don't know either one of them well enough to know.
I feel like, you know, because this era of one
and done has made it so that we're not in
high school gyms anymore. As as NBA personnel, and we
really only get to watch All Star events. You're making
the highest value judgments you make on lottery picks on
(25:41):
the guys, you know, the least it's really reflective of
are the problem in our model. Yeah, no, I I
agree with it. It's one of the reasons I actually
like to and done. Everybody shouts at me that I'm
somehow un American for saying, Hey, I actually think it's
better for NBA teams and for the players to buy
in and to figure out how to play bath schooball
and not carry the burden of of having to if
(26:02):
they don't declare immediately somehow uh there, you know, they
feel like they failed, But well that's why I think.
I think they ought to be able to come right
out of high school without declaring, and if they go
to college, they should have to stay two years so
both sides get what they want. Everyone's eligible right out
of high school, which would mean the man child is
going to get drafted out of high school and just
(26:24):
like he always did. I mean, when you look at Lebron,
you look at guys like Shack would have been able
to come right out of high school. KG came r
out out of house school, Kobe Bryant came. Those guys
were obvious, they were so much better than everybody else.
They were sort of touched by the hand of God,
and you went their their NBA guys, well, then they
would go to the NBA. Everyone else would sign to
go to college for two years and there's no declaring necessary,
(26:47):
so you don't have to have that sort of unsettling
effect in your life. The problem wouldn't be those top guys.
The problem would be everybody else thinking that they're of
that elk with the top guys, right like that, right,
but we'll we'll tell him that as soon as they
get drafted or don't get drafted, right, I mean, they'll
know and then they would Also, the entire second round
would be littered with guys that you take a shot
at and you stick in the G League. And really,
(27:08):
I don't I don't think that would happen because NBA
teams recognize how much can happen in that year. If
you weren't top one, two, three, whatever in in high school,
NBA teams haven't even really been watching you, So they're
not going to take flyers on guys like that in
the second round. That are that are shouldn't have been
in the draft guys. They won't do that now. They
(27:30):
might the first couple of years. But what will happen
is eventually, using your idea, those two year guys will
populate the draft and they'll be so much further ahead
of these kids that it will all work itself out.
But yeah, it could be a couple of years of
adjustments for sure. David, great stuff. Look forward to seeing
an NBA TV and listen to the show. That show
is Deals and Dunks on Sirius x M. Thanks for
(27:53):
being our guest, you bet duck. Thanks man, appreciate it.
David Griffin, former general manager of the Cavaliers, longtime NBA guy.
Of course you can see him on NBA TV. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
s R to listen live. Joe Buck joins us Emmy
(28:14):
Award winning play by play voice Fox not just the NFL,
but also most recently the World Series. Um, what's it
like in Pittsburgh with with Levan lurking out there playing
basketball down the street but not actually at the facility. Yeah,
I don't know. It's it's weird. Uh, you know, he's
(28:37):
he's walking around a sports club and pick up basketball
and you know, I guess in some ways pushing the
limits on whatever he's gonna sign for. I assume he's
gonna sign. I don't know. I don't get the sense
that these Steelers really care, uh if if he signs.
That said, he's one of the best players in the
(28:57):
NFL and was an All Pro last year, So I
think part of them is hurts. You know, you read
like the Castro and different guys in the offensive line.
We're just kind of tired of the questions and tired
of the topic and kind of if you're not with us,
then forget you. But the other side of it is,
I mean, he's one of the best players in the league,
so you can you can be mad and not want
(29:19):
them around, and some guys do, some guys don't, I'm sure.
But if he comes in and he plays down the
stretch and he's fresh, uh, who knows. I mean, maybe
he's a guy that throws them over the top. So
it's just kind of like this in between land right now,
and nobody really knows a how it works out the
rest of this year and be what his status is
(29:40):
going into next year, especially if he doesn't report and
he never ends up playing it down In two thousand eighteen, Uh,
Joe Buck joins us, you weren't You weren't driving with
a b when he was going on a a hundred miles
now right, that's that's that's not your style. I mean, uh,
to go a hundred miles an hour? No, I'm no,
(30:00):
I'm I'm I'm ten and two. I obey all speed limits.
I don't ever, I don't ever push it whatsoever. In fact,
my wife, who is uh now a first time mom,
used to always make fun of me for my grandpa driving.
And once we had kids and our boys are six
(30:22):
months old. Now all of a sudden she drives like
grandma and she's like, oh, now, I see where you
got it, because I have older daughters, so when they
were little, I think I went from lad foot to Mr.
Cautious And no, I would not drive that way, nor
be in a car at that speed. You know, It's
it's weird. This team was supposedly so distracted the start
(30:44):
of the year, but it almost feels like the leavy
On thing and maybe it's James Conner's personal story. Obviously
what happened to the the synagogue, you know, which is not
far away from the stadium. Like all of those things,
it feels like all these things have been kind of
galvanizing to the Steelers. Is that too hokey, kind of
radio guided thing to say, or is there some reality
to all the distractions have somehow made this a better
(31:07):
football team? Yeah? I think so. I think there's something
to that. I don't think, you know, it's okay to
be pokey. I think there's something to that. With regard
to Connor, I mean, I can't think of a guy
who's easier to root for in the NFL than James Conner,
considering you know, he's from Erie, he played at Pitt,
(31:28):
He's been through Lynn Palmer. Uh, you know, it was
a third round pick and he comes back and and
you know, he ended the year last year with a
knee injury, and then he get this chance and he's
basically one yard off the yards from scrimmage from Levian Bell.
The first time he won, Uh, he won All Pro.
(31:49):
And so it's not like a fluke. I mean, first
of all, you realize how good this offensive line is
but then yeah, I think they're rallying around that guy.
I think their cornerback is a rock. Uh. I think
they've been through a lot in this community. I know
Ben was was personally uh touched and and heartbroken with
what happened in Squirrel Hill uh and and so yeah,
(32:12):
all those things come together and they have a really
good coach. I mean they there there's a lot to
like here in Pittsburgh, and what they've had three head
coaches since nineteen Uh, that that has to pay off
more times than none. I think that stability leads to
all this as well. What's Cam Newton been like? Uh? Fun,
(32:32):
you know, I think he's uh, you know, we've got
kind of a different in now there because obviously his
offensive coordinator is Norv, who not only was Troy's offensive
coordinator when they've kicked it into gear in Dallas, but
in ductor Troy into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And I think it's surprised Troy when Norv agreed to
(32:52):
join as offensive coordinator. I'm sure it's surprised Cam. But
what's come out now is as we're way through the scenic,
com at his best and he's a former League MVP.
He's never had a quarterback rating like this, He's never
had a completion percentage like this, He's not throwing interceptions. Uh,
he's made him a better player, and they've got a versatile,
(33:14):
speedy offense that can get you from a lot of
different directions. Yeah. No, it's it's really amazing, especially you know, look,
Norri's tenure in Cleveland wasn't great. His tenure in Minnesota
wasn't great. And like a lot of people, I'll just say,
I mean, Cam's not like Troy or Rivers or Breeze
or some of the other incredible success stories he's had.
(33:37):
And he's found a way to kind of morph his
system to fit what Cam does and what Christian McCaffrey
can do as well. And it's been incredible kind of
a watch at this stage in his career, North Turn
doing some different things. Right. Yeah, I think it just
points out how smart he is. Um. I think the
great coaches mold to the talent they have around him.
(33:57):
You know, I'm a guy hard Lose fan, and I
know he won uh Stanley Cup, but Mike teen and
was a guy in the NHL but always had to
have his guys around him. So Adam Creighton had a
career in the NHL because of Mike Keenan by the
end of Adam Craton's time in the league, because he
was just his quote unquote type player. Well, Cam Newton
(34:19):
is not a Norm Turner quote unquote type player. He's
not Rivers, he's not Troy, He's not any of these guys.
And yet he's evolved. And we just did a game
with the two Shawn's going at it, his offensive coordinators
and two of the most creative guys in sports, not
just the NFL call in plays with McVeigh and Peyton,
(34:39):
and uh, you know. Then he got the sixty six
year old North Turner who is doing new things with
new type players, and good for him. He's adapted and
I think he's having a heck of a lot of
fun too. That's what Troy says. And again, those two
are are extremely close. The game tonight, seven thirty Eastern,
four Pacific, Fox. It's a great one. Carolina Panthers come
(35:03):
in to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's on Fox
on Thursday Night Football. I'm calling a game on radio
for Compass Media Networks. I'm calling the Bengals hosting. The
Saints never called the game and play by play before
um they called. They asked, I said sure, because I'm
the idiot. The things he can do everything. Uh, give me,
(35:25):
give me, I mean you're Joe Buck. I'm just me.
Give me your best advice. Why it's a radio Just
say whatever you want, and you know, if they match
up your radio call to the TV call, apologize later.
If they don't, then you end up having a hell
of a game, you know, and you're doing it with
(35:48):
Brian Baldinger, who really doesn't need a play by play guy.
I used to do games with Balding. He can talk
from whistle to whistle, so you basically are going to
struggle to get a word in edgewise. And then on
top of that, just always just always place where the
ball is. I think doing radio football is the hardest
thing to do. But were you doing this to me?
(36:09):
Why are you psyching me out? I think it's it's
just just because you know it's it's everybody can picture
a baseball diamond on for you. You know they're moving.
My dad used to say they're moving from our right
to our left. Split backs. You know, hand off to
whomever and just always say where the ball line's up,
and and that will buy you time out to the
(36:30):
forty one and you look at your stats guy again
of four, you look at your spot or tackled by Smith,
and then you set up the next down at distance
and that's all you have to do. Baldy will talk
the entire rest of the time. Okay, why do we
do the right to left thing? And so somebody does
the visualization deal. I think so, I yeah, I I
I always wondered that, and then I think that's what
(36:52):
I settled on, that that you you have to picture
in your mind. You have to be able to kind
of put yourself as a listener in the seat of
the guy calling it and you can picture it out
in front of you. Because if if you are saying
they're going from their left to their right to our right,
and they say, you know, they toss it out running
to the left, you know, if they're on that side
(37:13):
of the far side of the field, I don't know.
I think it just helps you better picture what the
heck is going on if you're in your car trying
to visualize where the ball is. The Great Joe Buck
joining us giving me broadcasting lessons here on the Doug
Gotlip Show on Fox Sports Radio. Do I call the
hash mark right there on the they're running to the
short side of the field, to the white side of
the field, or don't even don't even mess with it?
(37:35):
What in the NFL the hash marks? The hash marks
are too close? Nobody cares. What about formations? Uh? Yeah,
you can you know if if you want to get
into all that, then it becomes real wordy. But you
can say, you know, Drew Brees is in the shotgun
with Camara to his left. Um, you know that that
gives me a picture in my mind. Or Breeze under
(37:57):
center with Camara and you know whatever, their fullback is
behind Zach Line behind them, and you know, yeah, I
think you have to set what it looks like offensively.
I don't think you have to mess with the defense
before the snap and afterward, who made the catch, who
made the tackle? How many yards? And what's the down
at the rest of the rest of it, just lie, um.
(38:18):
I'm sure you've seen Billy Madison. You know Billy, he
couldn't write the Z for zudo, right. Who's what's the
name in the NFL that gives you the most difficulty
pronouncing for just for an unknown reason. Um well, what
I do is what I would suggest you do, and
that is go through the pronunciations with the PR guy
(38:40):
before the game and write them all down phonetically. So
I don't really have any names like that that that
screw me up, But that's because I spell it out
on my spotting board, like use check is a fullback
in the NFL, and on my board it's y O
O Z dash c h E c K, which couldn't
(39:01):
be any further from the actual spelling. But just give
yourself a break and do it the easiest possible way.
All Right, I got it, I got it. Umm, I
think I'm set. I'm good. I got a spotting board,
I got a spot It will be fine. You did
make me super nervous, but that this is the hardest
thing that you can do. Could you? Could you? You You
should have just said it the piece of cake. You'll
(39:23):
be fine, You're doing great. Tell me how awesome Baldi
is and how you can talk the whole time. But
yeah he can talk, And uh yeah, I could have
lied to you, but my figure, I'm gonna be honest
with you with that part of it. And then when
you have a hell of a game. You can you
can you know, hoist one at the end of the
night and say, hey, you know what, I just had
a hell of a game doing the hardest thing there
(39:43):
is to do. Hey man, have a great call tonight.
Enjoy Pittsburgh. Thanks so much for the advice. I appreciate it,
all right, And so well, check your pockets when you leave.
Baldy is a little uh, you know, clutchy clutchy, got it.
I've had people accused me of that in the past.
I just want I just mean, like food and stuff,
(40:05):
Like if you have loose food that you're hoping to
eat at halftime, it'll find its way in the balding
or backpack. Is he Is he a coffee guy? Is
there something I can bring the suck up to him? Like,
you know, like, oh he likes he's he's a Lotte guy.
He's a coffee guy. You know. The only thing you
need to do for Brian to suck up to Brian
is to just not talk a lot. To love you. Yeah,
(40:27):
all this stuff is going down on the pad. It's noted.
You're the best. Thanks for joining us, all right, Joe
Joe Buck joining us? Getting ready to call Thursnight Football
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug gott
Leap Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every
weekday from three to six pm Eastern Time, that's twelve
to three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for the Doug Gotlap Show at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
I Heart Radio app by searching fs R. This is
(00:21):
the best of the Doug got Leave Show on Fox
Sports Radio. Boom, What Up America, Doug got Leave Show,
Fox Sports Radio. Welcome into the Doug got Leave Show.
You're on Fox Sports Radio. Man, do we have a
great show for you today? I mean unbelievable. Joe Bucks
(00:47):
gonna join us later on the show. Joe Buck of
course calling tonight's Thursday Night Football and appears that he
may be calling the World Series for the next fifty
years with rumors of a long term Fox deal. Edward
is gonna join us, will get his take on on
what's going on with the Cowboys? Is Jerry a man
of his word? Is he really going to extend doc
And if so, doesn't that mean Jason Garrett's likely gone?
(01:10):
And what do the Cowboys think that Dez Bryant has
left in the tank. Former Calves general manager David Griffin
will join us. Will ask him what his take is
about Lebron James, fresh off Lebron James's l A Lakers
getting a hard fought win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He's
lived this, he understands what it's like to watch Braun
(01:33):
in his first dozen or so games with a new team.
Is this par for the course or is this Lebron
four point? Oh? And then Mike Leach the Pirates gonna
join us half past this hour. Org does he believe
they will get a rightful shot at a national championship
(01:57):
if they win out? I mean its beating Washington, running
the table, winning the Pack twelveth championship. We'll ask him.
We'll ask him, Man, there's a lot to get to
and sometimes there's a lot to unpack, right, there's a
lot to unpack. For example, tonight's game a lot to unpack.
(02:21):
You have the new Levy on Bell Soccer where they're like, oh, hey,
I'm not sure if you guys read this part of
the contract. But he might not have to show up.
After all, somebody stopped Levian Bell mid pickup game in
Pittsburgh like, yo, dude, you came back for nothing. Still,
it feels like a foregone conclusion. He will in fact
(02:41):
show up, he will in fact sign that signed the
franchise tag, and he will at some point in the
near future play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So you got that, like, wait,
maybe he doesn't have to show up in order to
in order for to count for a year and then
the franchise tag next year. He's so bloated, be so
ridiculously high that that he you know, the Steelers obviously
(03:08):
let him go. And then of course you have the
Steelers who are playing better. James Connors had a magnificen
seas and better statistically then Levian bell Antonio Brown pulled
over for going a hundred miles an hour and not
on a freeway, I believe, And look, I'm not gonna
(03:29):
sit here and tell you that I don't speed. I'm
not gonna tell you that. I'm not gonna tell you
that I haven't gone a hundred um but at time
and place, and you're going a hundred you caught once
you get to three. But once you get plus ninety.
I stopped feeling sorry for you. I thee I was
(03:49):
keeping up with the flow of traffic. Nobody else was
on the road. Like all of these things make total
sense when you're in the eighties. Once you get past nine,
I can't. And then once you get past a hundred,
I can't. I just can't. Oh yeah. And then you
have the Carolina Panthers, who have found Cam Newton's ability
(04:10):
to be uh A once again a game changing for
with a good side, game changing player. They seem to
be using Christian McCaffrey in a multitude of ways, all
of which are successful. They have a tremendous run defense.
This is a big time football game. It might well
be the game of the week. And of course on
Thursday Night, which in the past, once you get late
(04:31):
in the season Thursday Night, it's not always the best
play games. There's a lot to unpacked tonight ran what
Panthers defense eight in the league in rushing yards allowed
eight in the league and yards per game, not that
that really matters fumbles, cause turnovers are a huge Like
(04:55):
you ask NFL people that are like, what's your turnover ratio?
How many points are you giving up? What? What are
you in the red zone? What are you on third down?
That's really what NFL stats come to we almost have
to almost you almost want to shame the NFL and
how they look at how they still hand out defensive
(05:17):
stats because everybody in the NFL they look at it
completely differently, like total defense and yards. No one in
the league actually cares zero zero, like Cleveland, Chicago, Seattle, Carolina.
(05:37):
Those are the teams that that that lead in in takeaways.
Cleveland twenty three takeaways. It shows how bad Cleveland's offense
has been considered. They lead the world in takeaways. They've
gotten ten fumbles and thirteen interceptions. The Carolina Panthers fourth
in the NFL in takeaways at fifteen so far this season,
(06:00):
eleven interceptions, which is big time, big time. That's one
of those kind of all you need to know. So
I look at James Connor's rushing stats, and he's second
in attempts, he's seconding yards, he's fifteen in yards per attempt.
It's one of the reasons they're so good on third down.
(06:24):
Levy on bells lurking. He'll probably be watching at twenty
four Hour Fitness or l A Fitness or one of
the fitness centers in Pittsburgh. And here's James Conner's time
on national TV to show just how good he's been is,
how good he is against one of the top defense
in the NFL. Tent in total yards, ten total TVs,
(06:45):
over a thousand all purpose yards. Remarkable story. Man. There's
a lot to unpack here, a lot between can him
who's been to a Super Bowl but hasn't won one
and was coming off a wildly disappointing up and down
(07:06):
season and Ben Roethlisberger, who had some disappointing days last
last season and they came up short in the playoffs
to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team in the Pittsburgh that
at times early on the season the preseason seemed a
little bit in disarray to the Carolina Panthers, who you know,
(07:29):
ever since Josh Norman left. Then they started trading away
wide receivers mid season last year, some fingers being pointed
at Cam like this is a really interesting game. And
then you have the Levy on Bell stuff. Look, my
take on the Levy on Bell thing is is pretty simple. Uh,
(07:49):
they continue to search for excuses to have him not
show up. He thought he was worth more than they
thought he was worth. They offered him a contract and
he said he didn't want that contract. The agent probably
wanted him to take the contract. And now the agent
may have just now become aware of a clause in
the contract that means he doesn't have to show up.
(08:11):
Now he doesn't have to show up, might not have
to sign the sign the sheet of paper, but he
also won't collect a penny, which seems to be really,
really bad business. Be sure to catch live editions of
the Doug Dot Leaps Show weekdays in noon eastern three
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app. I watched the Lakers play last night, and
(08:34):
there were moments where Lebron James seemed like Lebron James
of old. There was some magical three point shots, the
the incredible strength and dexterity, maybe not the overall sheer
dominance scoring, but twenty four ten and nine, and he
seemed for the most part until the end of the
game to be playing within the offense. Lebron has twenty
(09:01):
four nine and ten, only three turnovers, does it in
thirty nine minutes and they win against the Minnesota Timberwolves,
who had beaten them going back last weekend the Twin Cities.
What was the difference well late in the game. They
chose to go with Josh Hart, who didn't play late
in the game the week before, and they added Tyson Chandler,
(09:23):
who only had two points, only played twenty three minutes
and only gets credit with nine rebounds, but he had
a whole bunch of tipouts that led to offensive team
offensive rebounds, and they were better defensively in the low post.
So Carl Towns was limited to five of sixteen and
seemed to disappear in the fourth quarter. Matter of fact,
I tweeted out and several people d m me that
(09:43):
they thought it was funny and accurate. Hey, Carl Town's
Andrew Wiggins, It's okay to come out now the game's over.
They went into a shell. Not only did the Lakers win,
but they survived a torrential downpall downpour from noted three
point specialist Derek Rose. Now happened, Derrick Rose, all of a
(10:04):
a sudden conshoot to have the Lakers done it well,
They've gotten healthy, they've played together, they fixed some things schematically.
Rondo's come off of suspension, just like Julian Edelman came
off of suspension, Brandon Ingram came off of suspension, probably
(10:25):
played his best overall game of the year with twenty
and six, and they went out in the waiver wire
and and got Tyson Chandler. My point is, I think
that Lebron looks a little bit older then he's looked
at any time in his career. And he is older,
but I mean finally starting to look a little bit older.
I'm not sure this this style is truly for him,
(10:47):
will benefit him. It may benefit others, but I'm not
sure it benefits him or gets the most out of him.
But I would also point out, and this is really
really important that whether or it's Lebron, Lebron's people or
gms who worked with Lebron who who have to figure
out what to put around him. The Calves added you
(11:11):
know Ray Allen after the first year Real was not
part of that, not one, not two, not three press complies, right.
They added pieces when he came back home. Remember they
added pieces as they went on. They didn't have j R.
Smith originally j R. Smith when he first started playing.
(11:35):
J R. Smith was not a member of the Calves,
and it was a disaster with the Knicks and they
got him off the street. The same is true when
they traded for Kyle Korver. So I didn't mean that
the Lakers are the Patriots, but Lebron has a little
bit of Patriots to him. Just give me some time
(11:55):
to figure it out, give me some time to play
in the shape, and you know, at the end of
the day, I'm still gonna be there in the playoffs.
There's a direct parallel there. I don't think anybody can deny.
And yeah, a lot, a lot like Tom Brady. I
know that at some point Father Time is going to
(12:16):
win this thing, but he had one yet until he does.
Much like the Patriots in the a f C East,
much like Kansas and the Big Twelve in basketball and
Oklahoma and the Big Twelve in football Clemson in the
a C, like they just but especially in professional sports,
(12:37):
the ability to kind of figure it out and go, like,
you know, if we just had this one piece changes everything.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug Dot
Leap Show weekdays in noon eastern three pm Pacific. David Griffin,
he put in his time in the city of Cleveland.
I'm sure it's in the low thirties. Uh this this
uh this weekend Cleveland, of course, David Griffin, former general
manager of the National Basketball Association an NBA TV analyst.
(13:01):
You could check out his show Deals and Dunks on
Serious XMS. Serious XM that's on Saturday mornings. David how
par for the course is Lebron james first ten twelve
games with the Lakers as opposed to his last two
stops Miami and Cleveland. I think radically different because I
(13:22):
think the way the team has built is different. I
think the fact that he's on a long term deal
there changes things quite a bit from the experience in
Cleveland as well. I think Magic and Rob Pelink are
looking at that as a long term build situation and
not something where they felt like they had to win
this championship. So I think I think it's the really
different template they're working from, and I'm anxious to see
(13:44):
what it looks like. Uh. I get the concept behind it.
They they sold Lebron on the idea of multiple ball
dominant play creators who could take some of that burden
off of him, which is all fine, And so you
get to the playoffs and then you're gonna have Lebron
do it because he's the most efficient play creator in
finals history. So you're going to give him the ball,
and in order to do that, you need to space
(14:05):
shooting around him. And I think as they built this
and as they augment the group around trade deadline, they're
going to look to do that as well. Oh my gosh,
we got augmentation. We got all kinds of big words.
My head is spinning alright. So, like, like, look, he
was good last night, He's been good in quarters before. Uh.
He does look like he's trying to fit into a
(14:26):
different style where the ball moves more. But we still
haven't seen. Hey I'm Lebron James and I'm the best
player in the world. Like, we haven't seen that. And
I understand that there's not the same number of shooters
around him, so there's not the space. I understand that, uh,
not being as much of the primary ball. But all
(14:47):
of that is great, But I would just expect at
some point, Um, you remember mo movie made a Gascar.
You've seen the movie Madagascar? I did not. Okay, Madagascar
is Alex the Lion and a ze and a hippo
from uh the Central Park Zoo uh and up swimmer
(15:07):
David David Timmers the draft right, and they're mistakenly shipped
to Madagascar, and it's there's just a point where Alex
the Lion is so hungry that he's just running. They're
just running through the wilderness, just running like friends, and
all of a sudden, his buddy is the zebra looks
like a bunch of steaks, and he snaps back into
(15:29):
two lion mode like real Liona. I'm just wondering why
we haven't seen that from Lebron yet. We haven't seen
the you know what, screw everything, I'm just gonna take
over and win a game just to show everybody I'm
still Lebron James. Well, you know, it's funny. I'm actually
watching as we're speaking. I'm watching the replay of the
Minnesota Laker game on NBA TV right now. And to
start the game, Lebron was in that mode a little bit,
(15:52):
and at times in the fourth quarter he was in
that mode a little bit. But he's very much like
and we used to watch him in Cleveland and much
the same way that we watched Jason Kidd in Phoenix,
and we would hope someone would piss him off um
and and right now he's very much in that counterpunching
mode where he's just sort of feeling things out. You know,
I say, he's a computer on learning mode, and I
(16:14):
think he's just trying to feel his way through it
a little bit, kind of see what the kids are
capable of doing on their own. And I think once
he figures out exactly where he's going to be able
to or rather where he's gonna need to assert himself,
he will. But he's he's not terribly concerned with the
record in the short term. I think he's more concerned
(16:35):
with trying to make sure he helps the pieces fit
together right now. David Griffin joining US former general manager
in the NBA. Of course, you can check him out
on NBA TV. You can hear him on Serious x
m UH with Deals and Dunks. That's on Saturday mornings
in Serious Sex Tams Doug Gotlib show Fox Sports Radio.
About five days ago, AGEA Wardanowski had a story that
(16:59):
Madge j Hunsen Uh called Luke Walton in and today, Dude,
you gotta we gotta have a better planned defensively, we
gotta have a system defensive this system offensively and called
him on the carpet. Uh. First, how often does that
happen where a gentlemanager, a president calls in a coach
after disappointing road trip and wants to have a discussion
(17:21):
about it. Well, I mean, I think it all depends
on how you're phrasing it, right. I mean we we
would visit every day. I mean we we lived together.
We're like a family. So from a GM head coach perspective,
if you guys aren't in lockstep together and aren't spending
an awful lot of time together, you're probably missing the
opportunity to do something special together. So I think in
(17:41):
the situation with Magic, who's who's not with the team
on the road, who's who's not? Like a traditional GM
that's sort of Rob Blinka's role. I think for Magic
to have a sit down with Lucas fine, but to
make a big deal about it that was probably unnecessary
just from a media perspective. And I'm I'm sure that
was done to generate some sort of a fact or
(18:03):
urgency in the team itself. But those kinds of sit
downs and visits happen every day now, That's it's kind
of my That's kind of my point though, David, though,
do you think do you think it's Magic that put
it out there because he wanted to seem like I
got this or because my problem was not the story
that they met or even that Magic wasn't happy, It
was that it got out right, that that kind of
(18:24):
thing gets out that. Okay, so what is it? The
question becomes, does that come from lebrons people or is
that a message sent to Lebronze people, like we know
it's not right. HOWE read the tea leaves for me
on how you think it actually went down. So my
perspective on it when I saw it happen, was probably
the Lakers wanting Lebron's people and mostly Lebron to see
(18:50):
that to understand like, look, we're taking action, we get it. Um.
I don't believe that it's it's again. I just don't
think it's a significant issue. And everything that happens around
the Lebron team becomes a major story. And to me,
you just the one thing you have to do, is
a fan of the Lakers right now, is ignore the noise,
(19:10):
because everything happens, everything coming from one direction or another,
happens for a reason that has nothing to do with
winning and losing basketball games. And I don't think it
has anything to do with the Lakers, not really believing
in Luke anymore, as evidenced by the fact that they
came out later and said they very much believe in him,
and Jeanie said he's our coach, and those types of
(19:30):
things holding Luke responsible for the team that was thrown
together prior to the start of the season would have
been Acidine at that stage in the game. So I
think it was really more of a just sort of
let's see where we're at, get a feel for the
lay of the land, kind of meeting David Griffin joining
us in the dug Outlives show. Um, when did Derrick
(19:51):
Rose become this deadly three point where this is one
of the most remarkable comeback stories, Like it's one thing
to come back, it's another thing for a guy to
come back on. Remember his last two teams he basically
bailed on right Like New York he disappeared on and
they got rid of him. Then Cleveland, you know, midway
through the year he disappeared on, And then he was
in Minnesota and then he's working out at like a
(20:14):
you know, a local workout club and they resigned him
to a really minuscule deal. And of course there was
the well TIBs believes in him. But all of a sudden,
now he is fifty in a game and he had
seven threes last night. This is how when did this happen? Well?
I think, first of all, he's healthy for the first
time in a long time. I've seen he and Tips
have talked about the fact that it's the first time
(20:35):
in five years he didn't spend the off season rehabbing
from some surgery or another. I think that's one thing.
I think the other thing is and it really speaks
to the power of confidence, and it speaks to from
an elite NBA perspective, the gap between showing up and
playing and dominating has a lot to do with your
thought process and your belief of self. And it's really
(20:58):
obvious Derek is back to feeling that he's capable of
the things that Tips is telling him he's capable of doing,
and he's going out and modeling that right now. I'm
I'm just super excited for the kid because to see
him healthy again and to see him playing the game
at this level from where he was during a stent
with Cleveland. I never would have predicted this, No, I
I would not have have have either. Um, I can't believe.
(21:22):
I mean, I get like. Look, Andrew Wiggins has a
reputation of being a guy super talented, but whether it's
soft or doesn't have the desire to take over late call.
Anthony Towns has some of that reputation as well. Some
of that's been helped by Jimmy Butler in the way
in which he's tried to get himself out of town,
and then they lived down to that reputation last night
in the game that I think most NBA fans are watching.
(21:45):
What's your read on what's going on and how they
fix it in Minnesota? Well, relative to how they fix it,
Jimmy Butler is going to have to get traded at
some point, and they're just gonna have to come to
grips with the fact that they're not going to get
a deal that feels like full value. And and that's
because of the circumstance that in large part the organization
(22:06):
and ownership created. It's also in large part because of
what Jimmy created, and because those two things are involved
and they're not all in lockstep. He's going to go
away eventually, and every day he's there, he's able to
block out the noise and go out there and just
hoop Carl and Wiggs. They're not, And so it's fairly obvious,
(22:26):
and in particular in the Carl case, he's shaken by
all of the turmoil. He's not enjoying showing up the
work every day. He's got the opposite of what Derrick
Rose has going right now. He does not feel an
enormous amount of confidence coming from the people around him,
and he's offensively, I think, playing down to that. Defensively,
(22:48):
he's a little bit better version of himself. He's blocking
some more shots. But when it comes time to know
that on the alpha and it's my turn to take over,
he doesn't have any of that, and I don't think
he's going to as long as Jimmy's there. So if
you don't want to trade him for the sake of
getting rid of Jimmy himself, then you need to do
it for the sake of saving the young guys, and
(23:09):
in particular Carl, because I think Carl's Carl's upside is
so significant. If you get the best version of him,
you could count on him to be a number one
or a number two on a Final four conference finalist
type of team. I don't look at wigs in the
same way, and I don't think he's as much. I
(23:29):
don't think the way he's playing has anything to do
with the turmoil. I just think that's who he is.
I'm sure you watch Duke. I'm sure like the rest
of us and R. R J. Barrett, you know, it's
like everyone's talking about Zion, but most people hold on R. J.
Barrett in even higher regard in terms of being an
NBA prospect. But let me ask you about Zion. How
(23:51):
concerning to somebody who's evaluated NBA players in NBA roster
and NBA draft for years, how concerning is it that
he's two pounds if he had an injury history would
be really concerning. Um the weight in and of itself,
the body type sort of allows for it. So if
it's not causing him injuries throughout his lifetime, you're not
(24:14):
as concerned when it really becomes an issue. And this
happened with like Sean May leaving North Carolina. He's a
heavy kid who's also had foot problems. Well, just the
act of getting in good enough shape to not be healthy,
are not to be heavy anymore, put so much strain
on your body you injure yourself and it just sort
of snowballs. You can never get right. If you were
(24:36):
already injured when you were heavy, it's really hard to
get into shape. This kid's played at this weight, he's
he's actually leaner now than he's been. And this kid's
played at that level without any incident. So for me,
that's not a concern as body type allows for it.
My only concern was Zion is going to be durability
in the course of an eight two game season because
(24:59):
he's laying ending from such a ridiculous vertical leap that
that starts to take its toll on the knees. You know,
Vince Carter has talked about this a lot. It's it's
not the takeoff, it's the landing. Yeah. Um, if you
were drafting, how how close is it between those two?
I mean, I know there's I know there's other prospects
in that mix. How close is it between those two? Oh?
(25:21):
I mean I'd be throwing a dart right now. I
don't know either one of them well enough to know.
I feel like, you know, because this era of one
and done has made it so that we're not in
high school gyms anymore. As as NBA personnel, and we
really only get to watch All Star events. You're making
the highest value judgments you make on lottery picks on
(25:41):
the guys, you know, the least it's really reflective of
are the problem in our model. Yeah, no, I I
agree with it. It's one of the reasons I actually
like to and done. Everybody shouts at me that I'm
somehow un American for saying, Hey, I actually think it's
better for NBA teams and for the players to buy
in and to figure out how to play bath schooball
and not carry the burden of of having to if
(26:02):
they don't declare immediately somehow uh there, you know, they
feel like they failed, But well that's why I think.
I think they ought to be able to come right
out of high school without declaring, and if they go
to college, they should have to stay two years so
both sides get what they want. Everyone's eligible right out
of high school, which would mean the man child is
going to get drafted out of high school and just
(26:24):
like he always did. I mean, when you look at Lebron,
you look at guys like Shack would have been able
to come right out of high school. KG came r
out out of house school, Kobe Bryant came. Those guys
were obvious, they were so much better than everybody else.
They were sort of touched by the hand of God,
and you went their their NBA guys, well, then they
would go to the NBA. Everyone else would sign to
go to college for two years and there's no declaring necessary,
(26:47):
so you don't have to have that sort of unsettling
effect in your life. The problem wouldn't be those top guys.
The problem would be everybody else thinking that they're of
that elk with the top guys, right like that, right,
but we'll we'll tell him that as soon as they
get drafted or don't get drafted, right, I mean, they'll
know and then they would Also, the entire second round
would be littered with guys that you take a shot
at and you stick in the G League. And really,
(27:08):
I don't I don't think that would happen because NBA
teams recognize how much can happen in that year. If
you weren't top one, two, three, whatever in in high school,
NBA teams haven't even really been watching you, So they're
not going to take flyers on guys like that in
the second round. That are that are shouldn't have been
in the draft guys. They won't do that now. They
(27:30):
might the first couple of years. But what will happen
is eventually, using your idea, those two year guys will
populate the draft and they'll be so much further ahead
of these kids that it will all work itself out.
But yeah, it could be a couple of years of
adjustments for sure. David, great stuff. Look forward to seeing
an NBA TV and listen to the show. That show
is Deals and Dunks on Sirius x M. Thanks for
(27:53):
being our guest, you bet duck. Thanks man, appreciate it.
David Griffin, former general manager of the Cavaliers, longtime NBA guy.
Of course you can see him on NBA TV. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
s R to listen live. Joe Buck joins us Emmy
(28:14):
Award winning play by play voice Fox not just the NFL,
but also most recently the World Series. Um, what's it
like in Pittsburgh with with Levan lurking out there playing
basketball down the street but not actually at the facility. Yeah,
I don't know. It's it's weird. Uh, you know, he's
(28:37):
he's walking around a sports club and pick up basketball
and you know, I guess in some ways pushing the
limits on whatever he's gonna sign for. I assume he's
gonna sign. I don't know. I don't get the sense
that these Steelers really care, uh if if he signs.
That said, he's one of the best players in the
(28:57):
NFL and was an All Pro last year, So I
think part of them is hurts. You know, you read
like the Castro and different guys in the offensive line.
We're just kind of tired of the questions and tired
of the topic and kind of if you're not with us,
then forget you. But the other side of it is,
I mean, he's one of the best players in the league,
so you can you can be mad and not want
(29:19):
them around, and some guys do, some guys don't, I'm sure.
But if he comes in and he plays down the
stretch and he's fresh, uh, who knows. I mean, maybe
he's a guy that throws them over the top. So
it's just kind of like this in between land right now,
and nobody really knows a how it works out the
rest of this year and be what his status is
(29:40):
going into next year, especially if he doesn't report and
he never ends up playing it down In two thousand eighteen, Uh,
Joe Buck joins us, you weren't You weren't driving with
a b when he was going on a a hundred miles
now right, that's that's that's not your style. I mean, uh,
to go a hundred miles an hour? No, I'm no,
(30:00):
I'm I'm I'm ten and two. I obey all speed limits.
I don't ever, I don't ever push it whatsoever. In fact,
my wife, who is uh now a first time mom,
used to always make fun of me for my grandpa driving.
And once we had kids and our boys are six
(30:22):
months old. Now all of a sudden she drives like
grandma and she's like, oh, now, I see where you
got it, because I have older daughters, so when they
were little, I think I went from lad foot to Mr.
Cautious And no, I would not drive that way, nor
be in a car at that speed. You know, It's
it's weird. This team was supposedly so distracted the start
(30:44):
of the year, but it almost feels like the leavy
On thing and maybe it's James Conner's personal story. Obviously
what happened to the the synagogue, you know, which is not
far away from the stadium. Like all of those things,
it feels like all these things have been kind of
galvanizing to the Steelers. Is that too hokey, kind of
radio guided thing to say, or is there some reality
to all the distractions have somehow made this a better
(31:07):
football team? Yeah? I think so. I think there's something
to that. I don't think, you know, it's okay to
be pokey. I think there's something to that. With regard
to Connor, I mean, I can't think of a guy
who's easier to root for in the NFL than James Conner,
considering you know, he's from Erie, he played at Pitt,
(31:28):
He's been through Lynn Palmer. Uh, you know, it was
a third round pick and he comes back and and
you know, he ended the year last year with a
knee injury, and then he get this chance and he's
basically one yard off the yards from scrimmage from Levian Bell.
The first time he won, Uh, he won All Pro.
(31:49):
And so it's not like a fluke. I mean, first
of all, you realize how good this offensive line is
but then yeah, I think they're rallying around that guy.
I think their cornerback is a rock. Uh. I think
they've been through a lot in this community. I know
Ben was was personally uh touched and and heartbroken with
what happened in Squirrel Hill uh and and so yeah,
(32:12):
all those things come together and they have a really
good coach. I mean they there there's a lot to
like here in Pittsburgh, and what they've had three head
coaches since nineteen Uh, that that has to pay off
more times than none. I think that stability leads to
all this as well. What's Cam Newton been like? Uh? Fun,
(32:32):
you know, I think he's uh, you know, we've got
kind of a different in now there because obviously his
offensive coordinator is Norv, who not only was Troy's offensive
coordinator when they've kicked it into gear in Dallas, but
in ductor Troy into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And I think it's surprised Troy when Norv agreed to
(32:52):
join as offensive coordinator. I'm sure it's surprised Cam. But
what's come out now is as we're way through the scenic,
com at his best and he's a former League MVP.
He's never had a quarterback rating like this, He's never
had a completion percentage like this, He's not throwing interceptions. Uh,
he's made him a better player, and they've got a versatile,
(33:14):
speedy offense that can get you from a lot of
different directions. Yeah. No, it's it's really amazing, especially you know, look,
Norri's tenure in Cleveland wasn't great. His tenure in Minnesota
wasn't great. And like a lot of people, I'll just say,
I mean, Cam's not like Troy or Rivers or Breeze
or some of the other incredible success stories he's had.
(33:37):
And he's found a way to kind of morph his
system to fit what Cam does and what Christian McCaffrey
can do as well. And it's been incredible kind of
a watch at this stage in his career, North Turn
doing some different things. Right. Yeah, I think it just
points out how smart he is. Um. I think the
great coaches mold to the talent they have around him.
(33:57):
You know, I'm a guy hard Lose fan, and I
know he won uh Stanley Cup, but Mike teen and
was a guy in the NHL but always had to
have his guys around him. So Adam Creighton had a
career in the NHL because of Mike Keenan by the
end of Adam Craton's time in the league, because he
was just his quote unquote type player. Well, Cam Newton
(34:19):
is not a Norm Turner quote unquote type player. He's
not Rivers, he's not Troy, He's not any of these guys.
And yet he's evolved. And we just did a game
with the two Shawn's going at it, his offensive coordinators
and two of the most creative guys in sports, not
just the NFL call in plays with McVeigh and Peyton,
(34:39):
and uh, you know. Then he got the sixty six
year old North Turner who is doing new things with
new type players, and good for him. He's adapted and
I think he's having a heck of a lot of
fun too. That's what Troy says. And again, those two
are are extremely close. The game tonight, seven thirty Eastern,
four Pacific, Fox. It's a great one. Carolina Panthers come
(35:03):
in to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's on Fox
on Thursday Night Football. I'm calling a game on radio
for Compass Media Networks. I'm calling the Bengals hosting. The
Saints never called the game and play by play before
um they called. They asked, I said sure, because I'm
the idiot. The things he can do everything. Uh, give me,
(35:25):
give me, I mean you're Joe Buck. I'm just me.
Give me your best advice. Why it's a radio Just
say whatever you want, and you know, if they match
up your radio call to the TV call, apologize later.
If they don't, then you end up having a hell
of a game, you know, and you're doing it with
(35:48):
Brian Baldinger, who really doesn't need a play by play guy.
I used to do games with Balding. He can talk
from whistle to whistle, so you basically are going to
struggle to get a word in edgewise. And then on
top of that, just always just always place where the
ball is. I think doing radio football is the hardest
thing to do. But were you doing this to me?
(36:09):
Why are you psyching me out? I think it's it's
just just because you know it's it's everybody can picture
a baseball diamond on for you. You know they're moving.
My dad used to say they're moving from our right
to our left. Split backs. You know, hand off to
whomever and just always say where the ball line's up,
and and that will buy you time out to the
(36:30):
forty one and you look at your stats guy again
of four, you look at your spot or tackled by Smith,
and then you set up the next down at distance
and that's all you have to do. Baldy will talk
the entire rest of the time. Okay, why do we
do the right to left thing? And so somebody does
the visualization deal. I think so, I yeah, I I
I always wondered that, and then I think that's what
(36:52):
I settled on, that that you you have to picture
in your mind. You have to be able to kind
of put yourself as a listener in the seat of
the guy calling it and you can picture it out
in front of you. Because if if you are saying
they're going from their left to their right to our right,
and they say, you know, they toss it out running
to the left, you know, if they're on that side
(37:13):
of the far side of the field, I don't know.
I think it just helps you better picture what the
heck is going on if you're in your car trying
to visualize where the ball is. The Great Joe Buck
joining us giving me broadcasting lessons here on the Doug
Gotlip Show on Fox Sports Radio. Do I call the
hash mark right there on the they're running to the
short side of the field, to the white side of
the field, or don't even don't even mess with it?
(37:35):
What in the NFL the hash marks? The hash marks
are too close? Nobody cares. What about formations? Uh? Yeah,
you can you know if if you want to get
into all that, then it becomes real wordy. But you
can say, you know, Drew Brees is in the shotgun
with Camara to his left. Um, you know that that
gives me a picture in my mind. Or Breeze under
(37:57):
center with Camara and you know whatever, their fullback is
behind Zach Line behind them, and you know, yeah, I
think you have to set what it looks like offensively.
I don't think you have to mess with the defense
before the snap and afterward, who made the catch, who
made the tackle? How many yards? And what's the down
at the rest of the rest of it, just lie, um.
(38:18):
I'm sure you've seen Billy Madison. You know Billy, he
couldn't write the Z for zudo, right. Who's what's the
name in the NFL that gives you the most difficulty
pronouncing for just for an unknown reason. Um well, what
I do is what I would suggest you do, and
that is go through the pronunciations with the PR guy
(38:40):
before the game and write them all down phonetically. So
I don't really have any names like that that that
screw me up, But that's because I spell it out
on my spotting board, like use check is a fullback
in the NFL, and on my board it's y O
O Z dash c h E c K, which couldn't
(39:01):
be any further from the actual spelling. But just give
yourself a break and do it the easiest possible way.
All Right, I got it, I got it. Umm, I
think I'm set. I'm good. I got a spotting board,
I got a spot It will be fine. You did
make me super nervous, but that this is the hardest
thing that you can do. Could you? Could you? You You
should have just said it the piece of cake. You'll
(39:23):
be fine, You're doing great. Tell me how awesome Baldi
is and how you can talk the whole time. But
yeah he can talk, And uh yeah, I could have
lied to you, but my figure, I'm gonna be honest
with you with that part of it. And then when
you have a hell of a game. You can you
can you know, hoist one at the end of the
night and say, hey, you know what, I just had
a hell of a game doing the hardest thing there
(39:43):
is to do. Hey man, have a great call tonight.
Enjoy Pittsburgh. Thanks so much for the advice. I appreciate it,
all right, And so well, check your pockets when you leave.
Baldy is a little uh, you know, clutchy clutchy, got it.
I've had people accused me of that in the past.
I just want I just mean, like food and stuff,
(40:05):
Like if you have loose food that you're hoping to
eat at halftime, it'll find its way in the balding
or backpack. Is he Is he a coffee guy? Is
there something I can bring the suck up to him? Like,
you know, like, oh he likes he's he's a Lotte guy.
He's a coffee guy. You know. The only thing you
need to do for Brian to suck up to Brian
is to just not talk a lot. To love you. Yeah,
(40:27):
all this stuff is going down on the pad. It's noted.
You're the best. Thanks for joining us, all right, Joe
Joe Buck joining us? Getting ready to call Thursnight Football
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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