June 26, 2026 • 32 mins
Mo talks more about the Reds and Terry Francona, takes calls, chats with NBA Champion Deuce McBride, and more on ESPN 1530!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Get right on that.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
What's not mullig or ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks for listening.
Hopefully you're having an awesome Friday afternoon with a good
start to the weekend. It has been ugly outside for
most of this Friday afternoon. We got a promise that
I'm gonna hold somebody to coming up at about forty minutes.
And the meeting that should have taken place yesterday all
(00:20):
day long at GABP that coming up in just a
few We have a poll question. I threw it out
just a few minutes ago thanks to United Heartland Insurance.
Here's something you can do this weekend. Do it with
your spouse, do it with your family. Take a look
at what you're paying for insurance, because chances are at top,
at the top of your head, off the top of
your head, you have no idea. See what you're paying
(00:42):
for insurance. Then on Monday, go to uhis dot com
and see if my friends at United Heartland Insurance can
help you pay a lot less and maybe get better coverage.
Go to uhi ns dot com. The poll question is
about Tito. Tito the Magnet. Terry Francona is Terry Francona
(01:03):
doing a good job. Four choices, vote now on Twitter
or x or x at Moe Egger. This feels like
the first week where Terry Francona's in game decision making
has gotten the most scrutiny, and understandably so I would
(01:26):
be willing to bet that Tito understands the criticism or
scrutiny that comes with in game decision making. This guy
has grown up in baseball. This guy's been a major
league manager for over a quarter of a century. He's
managed in Boston, He's managed in some of the highest
stakes and most famous games ever. Like he's a big boy,
(01:49):
he can handle it. But it feels like this is
a week. And I was off the first four days
of this week and not a huge participant on social
media because you know, sometimes you do need a break.
But in my idle moments, I did have some I
kind of watched folks go at each other about the
Reds on social media and and from a place of
(02:11):
passion and love but also deep deep frustration. And I
think that's where all of us are coming from, right,
deep deep frustration with the fact that the Reds by
now were supposed to be good and they go into
the final weekend of June five under five hundred.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
That's not good enough.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And so you know how this works, right, especially on
social media, but but oftentimes on shows like this as well,
it's just what we we just take turns blaming something
and so it's you know, it's it's the manager. Well no, no, no, no, no,
it's it's Nick Crawl And no, no, no, no, no no,
it's it's ownership. Well you know, I mean it's it's
the fault of the players. Actually, no, it's I've seen
some blame fans which I will never understand. Or hey,
(02:49):
it's baseball's economics. There's the problem is there's not just
one thing. If if it was just one thing, then
I think this would be an easy fix. Like if
there were if there was just one thing plaguing the Reds,
if there was just one issue, one problem, one person,
(03:12):
one department to blame for why the Reds are in
this unending cycle of mediocrity, of not winning, of not
paying off people's patients, of not advancing in the postseason,
of not seriously contending for a championship. If it was
just one thing, then the fix would be pretty simple.
(03:35):
Right now, some of those fixes might be easier than others.
Like you could say, well, ownership's to blame. It's not
like you can force ownership to sell the team. They're
probably not going to do that, although they would make
an insane amount of money. It's not just one thing
that that's the problem. Like, are the Reds five games
under five hundred because Terry Francone is a bad manager?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
No?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
But does it feel like they're getting great work from
the manager?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
No?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Nick Krawl may be hamstrung by the parameters that the
Red's ownership sets forth for him to work within. Okay,
we'll acknowledge that perhaps, But does it feel like with
the resources he's been given that he's made the most
of them.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
No.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Does it feel like the organization's plan and we could
obviously fold a lot of folks under Nick Kral when
we talk about the organization, does it feel like the
organization's plan to build something that's sustainable is working.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
No.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Does it feel like they're great at minor league development.
Does it feel like they have a farm system that's
really really good at consistently cranking out big league ready players. No.
Does it feel like the department that oversees drafting is consistently,
you know, hitting on a number of players year after
(05:10):
year after year, not just guys like Chase Burns who
are relatively easy to identify or Hunter Green, but like,
you know, the guys that you get in the lower rounds.
I'm not even talking about like the last rounds, rounds
two through five or two through seven. Does it feel
like the Reds are really good and have been really
good for a long time at getting players in those
(05:31):
rounds that can contribute for a long time as big
leaguers here. No, Like, it's not just one thing. It's
like I fatigue easily.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
I admit this.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
It's maybe one of my weaknesses as a baseball fan,
as a sports fan, and maybe as a sports talk
radio host. I fatigue when it comes to, hey, we
got to spend time equally at all the things we
need to blame, like it's one big thing.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
And so yeah, man Tito.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Has gotten his fears share of scrutiny and criticism because
of some in game moves, some decisions he's made, lineup construction,
who hits where, which picture to use in a certain situation.
Maybe the tip of the iceberg was the Wednesday game
against the Brewers to bunt to not bunt like all right, fine,
But if it was as simple as well, they need
(06:20):
a new manager, Okay, move on from Terry Francona. Tell
them see in Cooperstown, go get a new manager. I
think we've seen. It's not quite that simple, Like the
issues are deep here. And I know, as an outsider,
you know you could look at this and go, okay,
well they're five hundred five hundred into all hope is
(06:40):
not lost, and me, come on, there's still more a
little bit more than a half a season to go.
Like sometimes you have a disappointing season and you do man,
And I don't know about you, but me, i'm I'm,
I'm typically I could overlook a disappointing season. They happen
even the best and most well constructed sports organization. And
you know, sometimes players that you're counting on don't perform.
(07:04):
Maybe there's bad luck, maybe there's injuries, maybe the rest
of the league got better, whatever it is. But I think,
and I think this is this is easy for us
as Reds fans to understand. This isn't just about twenty
twenty six being so far a down season. It's about
what we were expecting four years ago, three years ago.
(07:27):
It's about what we're told to continue to expect every
single year. And this goes back well over a decade.
You know, since twenty thirteen, the Reds have not finished
higher than third place. That's kind of hard to do
in a five team division, right, nearly a decade and
a half. And so like, there's the just unending just
(07:50):
ninety four, ninety five, ninety eight lost seasons in the
twenty tens, and you know, whatever may or may not
have happened with the twenty twenty season because of cod,
there's what they chose to do at the end of
the twenty twenty one season, and at the end of
the twenty twenty one season, while it made while it
may have made all the sins in the world to
hit the reset button, you're kind of sitting there in
the fall of twenty twenty one going within a minute, really,
(08:13):
so you stunk every year fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen eighteen,
you stunk a little bit less than twenty nineteen, and
all the waiting and all the patients. The payoff was
the twenty twenty one season, where they barely finished above
five hundred, where they didn't really get better at the
trade deadline.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
That's the payoff.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
But then in twenty twenty two they decide to be
really bad. And I don't love tank because tank means
you're intentionally losing baseball games. But many they didn't exactly
try to get good. They trade it away understandably so
perhaps Sonny Gray. They don't bring back Nick Castianus, which
they never were, and they trade away Suarez, and they
trade away a Winker, and they move on from Tucker Barnhardt,
(08:53):
and then later on they trade away Castillo and Mally
and they lose one hundred games and it's miserable. It's
abjectly just miserable. But you either abandoned it or you
kind of nodded along and said, all right, then there's
got to be some payoff for this. And admittedly, Man,
in twenty twenty three, it felt like the payoff was coming.
Ellie was here, McLean was here, Abbott was here, Hunter
(09:16):
Green fully established Nick Lodolo on his way like it
won twelve straight games June of twenty twenty three, and
there was this sense that it's coming, man, middle of
the decade, it's coming. This is it, This is the payoff,
this is like waiting for two hours at a fancy
restaurant to get your table and you finally sit down
and you look at the menu and the server comes
(09:36):
over and it takes forever to get the meal, and
you've been sitting and you're starving, and they put the
meal in front of you and it's rubbish.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
That's what this is.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Like. You've waited forever for a payoff that was supposed
to be coming around now.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
And this is it.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
This is what it looks like. Dane Meyer's batting third.
Is that Terry Francona's fault. No, but he's complicit. Is
it solely Nick Crawl's fault, No, but he's complicit. Is
it totally ownership's fault. No, But they've owned the team
now for two decades. Is it the fault of a
handful of players that we were counting on to be
really good bye now?
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Is it the fault of the farm system not continually
cranking out really good players. Sure, it's a lot of
different things. No one's blameless, No one gets all the blame.
But I think the problem is there are so many
issues in so many areas where they're deficient that it
feels almost impossible to believe that, at least in the
(10:35):
short term, that things can change all that dramatically, where
they can go from this unending cycle of mediocrity to
something resembling true, genuine contention.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
And I think you're being fair if you.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Ask if by now true genuine contention isn't here, especially
with a lockout looming in twenty twenty seven, when will
it ever get here? Eighteen after five phone calls are next.
This is ESPN fifteen.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
From the UCEE Health Traffic Center.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
The promise that I plan on holding someone to coming
up in just about twenty five minutes five.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
One three, fifteen thirty. I was going to go to Richard,
but he went away, so instead we'll talk to Mike Hi.
Mike Hi MO.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
How was your trip?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
It was delightful, It was refreshing, it was relaxing. I
am tanned, rested, and ready to take two more days
off Monday and Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Wealth like bro Wealth FFE.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
You got load management.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Seat, Yeah yeah, yeah, I got to keep pictured on
the boat. Huh. So you discovered boats now good, I
can picture you on the boat. Kick that feed up?
Did you go fishing.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
No, no interest in fishing. Although my wife caught a
fish with her bare hands.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
That's pretty cool, dude.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
Yeah, pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
That's pretty masculine. I like it.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
My wife is a lot of things, masculine is not
one of them.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Well, she could arm rustle you maybe and whipped your boat,
but anyway, probably. Hey, I could see you sitting on
the fantail of the boat with your feet up, or
on the folkstle of the boat with your feet up,
just looking up at the sky and relaxing. Sounds great, No,
I heard. I went to North Wake. Oh my god.
I don't know how long ago, but I remember it.
(12:38):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
It is a very nice, very relaxing, and I can't
wait to go back.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
So Austin had a little piece at the end of
his show hun about photographs, right, Austin with photographs with
famous athletes with a possible autograph, and he said, the
brunch and photos now with the autograph, we're going for
over nine hundred dollars.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
No, I mean Austin, you were talking about fanatics fast correct.
Speaker 7 (13:12):
Yeah, you pay like eighty bucks to get in and
then you got to pay nine hundred and thirty five.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
If you want a picture with Jalen Brunson.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
There is not a human being alive. I would pay
money to be in a picture.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
With not for nine thirty five, not even Bruce Springsteen.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I went and saw Bruce Springsteen at a book signing
and I had to buy the book. And the book
was great, and I got my picture with him at
Joseph Beth as a result of buying the book.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
And the book cousted like thirty bucks. So no, but
I got a book out of it.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah, you did that. And was it a good book?
I heard about it.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
It was a terrific book.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
Yes, I'm sure it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
And he signed the book.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
My favorite time frame for Bruce Springsteen was when he
did his video with.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Oh my Gosh, No no, no, no, no no, the
famous guy that did uh, oh my God, that wore
the sunglasses and had the bangs with the black hair,
Roy Orbison, Roy Orbison who wrote many famous songs and
and Bruce was.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Real young, and he was playing rhythm guitar for the thing,
and man he was he was so into it, dude.
He looked up to Roy Orbison.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I'm sure he did.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Is is there anything that's not related to Bruce Bringsteen
or Roy Orbison that you would like to talk about today.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
No, not the Reds too much. Really didn't much to
talk about with them. No, but we already that was
Chad I talked to about the depth of the offensive line.
But we determined that every offensive line has the problems
in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
That is correct, and Austin agreed.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, that's all I got. Kind of a cool lazy moneth.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So, so you you called the radio show but didn't
have anything in my you wanted to discuss.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
You called the radio show, but.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
There was nothing that struck your fancy that I said
over the last two and a half hours that you
felt a need to either add to challenge, respond to question,
or anything of that nature.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well, the red stuff is just barked up. I mean,
we're all bart, we don't know where to go. Tito's
Tito's you know, I don't want to think about Tito.
He guess he's dealing with the hand he's been dealt.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Do you think Tito is a better vodka or a
better manager?
Speaker 1 (15:35):
The manager? Right, Okay, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Do you think Tito is a better manager or a
better mid eighties, good guy professional wrestler, Tito Santana.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
I'll take him as a manager.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Do you think Tito is a better baseball manager or
member of the Jackson five? Member of the Jackson But
I think we're on the same page. Mike, have a
good weekend.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah you too. Sorry I didn't have the lamblow today.
I'll talk to you later. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
You know, typically in this in this forum, this talk
radio forum, when when folks call the radio stations, it's
to do.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
One of two things.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
It's to tell the producer to tell the host something
which I can assure you never happens. I've worked in
this business for twenty nine years, and callers who call
the producer to tell the host are winless in getting
the message conveyed to the host.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
It never happens. Normally.
Speaker 7 (16:37):
I'm down the hall producing another show at this time,
and that happens constantly, Yes, constantly.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
You know, in years of producing for Mike McConnell and
Bill Cunningham and Jim Scott, for years, I would answer
phones and there was always you tell him, and I
would say, I'm not telling him, Like, if you want
to tell him, I will put you on hold. I'll
put your name on the screen and you could tell him.
But that's not how this works. So people call the
radio station four in this day and age for one
of two reasons. One to tell the producer to tell
(17:07):
the host something, which never works. Number two, to respond
to something the host just said, or you get a
phone call like that one. Uh, can I tell the
host something?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Sure?
Speaker 7 (17:16):
Amelio Pagan pitching today for the Louisville Betts how stoked
are rehab assignment. The Bats had a double header today
in the midst of one. He started the game, pitched
one inning through six pitches, got all three batters out.
He's done for the day, efficient six pitches, four strikes.
Emelio Pagan, Are they going to have him take fly
(17:37):
balls in centerfield two while he's at it? That's a
good question. Huh, that's a great question. By the way,
Will Benson didn't start for him today? TJ Friedo one
for three.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
I feel like if you play the infield for the Reds,
unless you're Ellie Della Cruz, you will be asked to
take fly balls in center field. As it said, is
how it works here. They should try that with Keith
Ryan Hayes My interview with NBA champion Duce McBride is.
Speaker 6 (18:06):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the Oblique issue.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Zach mccambley is back up to be the savior for
the Reds as they take on the Pirates tonight Abbott
versus Skien six forty on seven hundred WLW. If you
have listened to this show for any amount of time,
you know that beyond being a big Cincinnati sports fan,
I am also a fan of the New York Knicks,
the current NBA champion New York Knicks, and what has
(18:35):
made watching them win a championship. Among the things that
has made watching them win a championship so much fun
is they've got a local guy and somebody that over
the last few years has always been kind enough to
join our show, going back to when he was in
the G League, you know, struggling to just establish himself
in the NBA. Deuce McBride, Miles Duce McBride from Mohler
(18:55):
High School, who started playoff games for the next this year,
won a and so when the Knicks won the title,
my producer Tarren plan knew there was one thing I wanted.
I wanted Deuce on and ideally we could get him
from the parade, but logistically that wasn't going to be
able to happen. So we reached out to Deuce's people
and his handler says, we can do it. We can
(19:18):
do it on Friday, the day after the parade. Unfortunately,
I was off last Friday, so I didn't have a show.
But if that was going to be my one chance
to interview Deuce McBride fresh off an NBA Championship with
the Knicks, I was still going to do the interview
on Friday, and so I talked with Deuce last Friday morning.
This was the day after the NBA Championship parade. The
(19:41):
entire interview is on the iHeartRadio app, but here is
a portion of it. And I started by asking Deuce
to describe what it was like to be in the
middle of that immense championship celebration last Thursday in New
York City.
Speaker 8 (19:56):
Besides the birth of my daughter, I would have to
say that was one of the best days of my life.
I mean to see the love and support from that
many people, just knowing that what we did for the
city will you know, ring throughout history forever.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
It was such a cool thing to see.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Truthfully, you know, you you enter the NBA and you're
just trying to make it right. You're trying to establish
yourself on an NBA roster, and you get to New
York and you're just trying to stick with the Knicks
and and you know, meanwhile they're building a team that ultimately,
you know, has become a perennial postseason team and now
obviously an NBA champion. But at what point did you realize, like,
(20:37):
if we're actually able to pull this off, this is
what New York is going to do.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
I mean, I think.
Speaker 8 (20:47):
When those I'm not sure if you saw those videos
that started coming out when when we first made the playoffs, Yeah,
and people were just outside going crazy because you know,
I missed the playoffs my first year, and then you know,
we signed JB and we make it that second year,
and man, those those first playoff wins, I'd never seen
(21:08):
anything like it, and then beating Boston last year, I mean,
they just continue to continue to take it up another level,
and uh, you know, as long as nobody gets hurt,
it's it's uh.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Well, it did feel like everybody yesterday was was well behaved,
so from from last Saturday before the parade. What's the
coolest thing that's happened to you, what's the coolest thing
that you've had a chance to experience as an NBA champaign.
Speaker 8 (21:39):
I mean, wow, I think I think yesterday is just
something that can't be topped. I mean, I'm still out
of loss for words, like looking looking at videos and pictures.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
I don't know if it doesn't justice just because.
Speaker 8 (21:59):
You know, people were there at literally two days ago
just to get a spot for the parade.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
People are getting up at two, three, four in the morning, and.
Speaker 8 (22:09):
Then by six am people got turned away, you know,
like to have an atmosphere like that, it's just such
a blessing.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Truthfully, What what do because I know you were signing
jerseys right so like you you see fans face to face,
and I'm sure like long time hardcore fans who have
been suffering with this team forever. What is it like
when they tell you what this title has meant to them?
Speaker 8 (22:37):
Yeah, I think it's such a beautiful thing.
Speaker 5 (22:40):
You know what sports can do.
Speaker 8 (22:41):
And being here in the Mecca, you know of art culture,
you know sports, I mean, and for people to say,
you know, this is you know, people have done so
many great things. You know, I've been able to meet
so many cool people, and you know when they say, hey,
I've stayed with the team through all the struggles, through
(23:03):
all the ups and downs. Like you know, I wasn't
alive when the last time the Knicks were in the finals.
And you know, I'm a huge fan of a lot
of things, so I know what it is, what it's
like to live and die, you know, with with wins
and losses, and just to hear people and see the
(23:27):
videos of them crying and just I mean, it's it's
such a cool feeling.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
So you guys win the title in San Antonio on
Saturday night, and obviously there were you know, a million
Knicks fans there. There's what we get to watch on television,
right you guys embrace hug.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
You're running around looking for people to hug.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Right after the game, you guys go in the locker room,
you're pouring beer and champagne on each other. But like,
walk me through what those hours were like in the
immediate aftermath of you guys winning the title that maybe
you know, we didn't get a chance to see.
Speaker 8 (23:56):
Yeah, I mean, it was a it was a long
night of celebrated.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
For sure.
Speaker 8 (24:02):
We did end up flying back to New York around
three in the morning, but we honestly had a good
bit amount of media. But we I mean, if you've
seen some of the pictures of you know, we were
smoking cigars on the court. I mean it was it
(24:26):
was like what our fans do. What we do is
we come in and we take over arenas.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
And that was that encapsulated to a tea game four.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
You guys are down twenty seven and a half.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Now, not be honest with me, whether it's in the
locker room, on the bench, I mean, are you really
telling each other that you guys can come back and
win that game?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
What are you guys saying to each other?
Speaker 8 (24:49):
Yeah, yeah, we're We've done a lot of done a
lot of comebacks.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
And you know when you have you know, leaders that.
Speaker 8 (24:59):
You know they don't break, you know, they might bend,
you know, we get down. But we were just thinking,
we were just giving them, you know, a lot of
easy things. So I think we never panicked because we
knew we just needed to get a break, get an adjustment,
and then just you know, fire on all the cylinders.
Speaker 5 (25:19):
And you know, that's what we did so.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
Truthfully, I think that's what made us a championship team
is just going through those trials and tribulations, not just
this regular season, but playoffs, pass seasons past, and understanding
that is really not over until it's over.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
The the comebacks are awesome.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I enjoyed it more when you would curbstomp teams and
close out games. Yeah, Atlanta was awesome, But like the
Sunday afternoon, you guys are in Philadelphia, it sounds like
MSG and you close out the sixers and you go off,
I think, what six of seven in the first half
from behind the arc?
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Seven of nine for the game.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
And look, you've had awesome shooting games, You've had big games,
but in a close out game in that environment. Have
you ever experienced anything remotely close to that?
Speaker 8 (26:08):
I can't. I can't say I have. You know, it
was a It was a great opportunity, you know for me.
I started started that game, and you know, my mindset
really for this postseason was just to make an impact.
I had I had that uh surgery you know, the
middle of the year, and got back right before the playoffs,
(26:30):
So I was playing through a good amount of pain
and you know, to have a game like that was
such a you know, relief and just made me feel
so good that I knew I could just help the
team in so many ways.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
And you know, I'm just I'm glad. I was thankful
to God that he helped me through it.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
And by the way, not just shooting it great, but
like you were guarding Tyrese Maxie, I can't even imagine
what it's like to try to pick him up.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
I mean, he's he's absurd.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
But you mentioned the injuries because I think there's folks
who maybe don't realize you missed time early in the
season with an ankle, then you had the hernia, and
I remember the night you came back, you had to
leave the game against Oka See and I remember that
going like, I don't know if Duce is going to
get to the postseason. Were you ever worried that you
would have to sit out once the playoffs got here?
Speaker 8 (27:15):
Yeah, definitely, definitely. I mean, uh, hernie is a is
a nice way to put it. You know, the services
that I had, it was it was a tough process.
But you know, our training staff did great because you know,
I didn't There were some games where I was really,
really struggling. But you know, that's the great thing about
(27:37):
this organization, our coaching staff, training staff, is they were
just like, you know, even if you're not scoring a
lot of points, I can.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
Impact the game in a lot of ways.
Speaker 8 (27:45):
And you know, obviously the name of the game is
to score the ball, but to have, you know, a
belief that we just want you out there is such
a tremendous feeling. And that's what that's what really pushed
me because some I just man, I didn't have it.
I mean, it was it was painful, but you know,
(28:06):
I'm just thankful for my teammates and everybody just helping
me get through it.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
If I'm not mistaken, you are the second longest tenured Nick.
It's Mitchell Robinson then yourself. And so you know, when
you got to New York, obviously you were you were
just trying to establish yourself. But as as you've done that,
they've built this team and they've brought in guys and
I guess most notably Jalen Brunson. But but what has
it been like watching from your perspective how they've assembled
(28:33):
the team and doing so in a way that, like you,
guys took steps I mean, you know, I remember when
you lost to Miami in twenty three, it was like
all right, fine, and then you know, the next year
all the injuries against Indiana lost in seven, and then
last year and you you were kind of enough to
join us shortly after that series. It just to me
it felt like these are the steps you have to take,
and meanwhile they're just adding pieces. From your perspective team building,
(28:56):
watching it, what's it been like?
Speaker 8 (28:58):
Oh man, it's uh, it's been It's been great. I mean,
you people don't see all.
Speaker 5 (29:05):
The highs and lows of it.
Speaker 8 (29:07):
You know, from a team perspective, from like you said,
in my perspective, and the conversations, you know, the meetings,
you know, if you lose three in a row, where
you win eight in a row. I think the special
thing was the people that came into our team. They
were about the same things as guys that left, you know,
(29:27):
and we give a lot of credit.
Speaker 5 (29:29):
To the guys, you know, r J.
Speaker 8 (29:31):
Bartt, Manual Quickly, Evan for a Julius, you know, all
those guys that really helped build a winning culture. You know,
Obie Top and Like's they're still doing great things.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
And I mean Leon Rose just man killer killer, you know.
Speaker 8 (29:50):
I mean, you know, he took a kid like me,
and you know I had to wait my chance. But
I think just having those open convers as of like
when I'm young, like we still.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
Believe in you.
Speaker 8 (30:03):
You know, just keep working, keep trusting the process, and
it'll all work out. And I think, you know, fans
that get a little antsy, you know, if we lost
a few in the regular.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Season and thought the world was going to end.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
I'm guilty of that. I'm guilty of it.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yes, to one against Atlanta, I was you know, the
walls were closing in.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
I'll admit that.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (30:22):
And that's what I mean when your leadership and you
keep a lot of things in house, when when it's
you know, really solid, you know, you end up making
it through the fire.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
You end up making it through.
Speaker 8 (30:35):
And each year was a was a great step and
it shows now that we're champions.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
That's Miles Deuce McBride, the Moller High School alum who
won an NBA championship with the New York Knicks just
under two weeks ago. That entire conversation we aired about
half of it. It's roughly twenty minutes long. It's available
on the iHeartRadio app. I did not air this part
of it. At the very end of the inner, I
asked him do NBA players get a chance to do
(31:02):
what hockey players get a chance to do with the
Stanley Cup. Hockey players win the Stanley Cup, they get
a chance to take it wherever they want on vacation.
Many of them bring it to their hometowns. Do NBA
players get to do that with the Larry O'Brien Trophy?
And do said yes. So then I couldn't help but
ask is he bringing it to Cincinnati? And he said yes?
(31:23):
And then I pressed it and said, can we get
an in studio visit from you and the Larry O'Brien Trophy?
And he said yes, So we will be holding him
to that. My thanks to Tarren Bland for booking that
interview on very short notice. We're done on Monday and
Tuesday of next week. I am off. I'm exhausted from
(31:44):
working one day this week, so Austin Elmore will host
this show three to six on Monday and Tuesday. I
will be back on Wednesday of next week and looking
forward to it. Anything you might have missed go find
on the iHeartRadio app. Thanks to long Next sports Girl
Tony is back on Monday for since E three sixty
at noon and so have a great weekend and we'll
(32:06):
talk to you next week. Thanks for listening. Thanks to
Austin for filling in for Taran today. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Team
Get right on that.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
What's not mullig or ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks for listening.
Hopefully you're having an awesome Friday afternoon with a good
start to the weekend. It has been ugly outside for
most of this Friday afternoon. We got a promise that
I'm gonna hold somebody to coming up at about forty minutes.
And the meeting that should have taken place yesterday all
(00:20):
day long at GABP that coming up in just a
few We have a poll question. I threw it out
just a few minutes ago thanks to United Heartland Insurance.
Here's something you can do this weekend. Do it with
your spouse, do it with your family. Take a look
at what you're paying for insurance, because chances are at top,
at the top of your head, off the top of
your head, you have no idea. See what you're paying
(00:42):
for insurance. Then on Monday, go to uhis dot com
and see if my friends at United Heartland Insurance can
help you pay a lot less and maybe get better coverage.
Go to uhi ns dot com. The poll question is
about Tito. Tito the Magnet. Terry Francona is Terry Francona
(01:03):
doing a good job. Four choices, vote now on Twitter
or x or x at Moe Egger. This feels like
the first week where Terry Francona's in game decision making
has gotten the most scrutiny, and understandably so I would
(01:26):
be willing to bet that Tito understands the criticism or
scrutiny that comes with in game decision making. This guy
has grown up in baseball. This guy's been a major
league manager for over a quarter of a century. He's
managed in Boston, He's managed in some of the highest
stakes and most famous games ever. Like he's a big boy,
(01:49):
he can handle it. But it feels like this is
a week. And I was off the first four days
of this week and not a huge participant on social
media because you know, sometimes you do need a break.
But in my idle moments, I did have some I
kind of watched folks go at each other about the
Reds on social media and and from a place of
(02:11):
passion and love but also deep deep frustration. And I
think that's where all of us are coming from, right,
deep deep frustration with the fact that the Reds by
now were supposed to be good and they go into
the final weekend of June five under five hundred.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
That's not good enough.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And so you know how this works, right, especially on
social media, but but oftentimes on shows like this as well,
it's just what we we just take turns blaming something
and so it's you know, it's it's the manager. Well no, no, no, no, no,
it's it's Nick Crawl And no, no, no, no, no no,
it's it's ownership. Well you know, I mean it's it's
the fault of the players. Actually, no, it's I've seen
some blame fans which I will never understand. Or hey,
(02:49):
it's baseball's economics. There's the problem is there's not just
one thing. If if it was just one thing, then
I think this would be an easy fix. Like if
there were if there was just one thing plaguing the Reds,
if there was just one issue, one problem, one person,
(03:12):
one department to blame for why the Reds are in
this unending cycle of mediocrity, of not winning, of not
paying off people's patients, of not advancing in the postseason,
of not seriously contending for a championship. If it was
just one thing, then the fix would be pretty simple.
(03:35):
Right now, some of those fixes might be easier than others.
Like you could say, well, ownership's to blame. It's not
like you can force ownership to sell the team. They're
probably not going to do that, although they would make
an insane amount of money. It's not just one thing
that that's the problem. Like, are the Reds five games
under five hundred because Terry Francone is a bad manager?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
No?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
But does it feel like they're getting great work from
the manager?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
No?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Nick Krawl may be hamstrung by the parameters that the
Red's ownership sets forth for him to work within. Okay,
we'll acknowledge that perhaps, But does it feel like with
the resources he's been given that he's made the most
of them.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
No.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Does it feel like the organization's plan and we could
obviously fold a lot of folks under Nick Kral when
we talk about the organization, does it feel like the
organization's plan to build something that's sustainable is working.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
No.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Does it feel like they're great at minor league development.
Does it feel like they have a farm system that's
really really good at consistently cranking out big league ready players. No.
Does it feel like the department that oversees drafting is consistently,
you know, hitting on a number of players year after
(05:10):
year after year, not just guys like Chase Burns who
are relatively easy to identify or Hunter Green, but like,
you know, the guys that you get in the lower rounds.
I'm not even talking about like the last rounds, rounds
two through five or two through seven. Does it feel
like the Reds are really good and have been really
good for a long time at getting players in those
(05:31):
rounds that can contribute for a long time as big
leaguers here. No, Like, it's not just one thing. It's
like I fatigue easily.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
I admit this.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
It's maybe one of my weaknesses as a baseball fan,
as a sports fan, and maybe as a sports talk
radio host. I fatigue when it comes to, hey, we
got to spend time equally at all the things we
need to blame, like it's one big thing.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
And so yeah, man Tito.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Has gotten his fears share of scrutiny and criticism because
of some in game moves, some decisions he's made, lineup construction,
who hits where, which picture to use in a certain situation.
Maybe the tip of the iceberg was the Wednesday game
against the Brewers to bunt to not bunt like all right, fine,
But if it was as simple as well, they need
(06:20):
a new manager, Okay, move on from Terry Francona. Tell
them see in Cooperstown, go get a new manager. I
think we've seen. It's not quite that simple, Like the
issues are deep here. And I know, as an outsider,
you know you could look at this and go, okay,
well they're five hundred five hundred into all hope is
(06:40):
not lost, and me, come on, there's still more a
little bit more than a half a season to go.
Like sometimes you have a disappointing season and you do man,
And I don't know about you, but me, i'm I'm,
I'm typically I could overlook a disappointing season. They happen
even the best and most well constructed sports organization. And
you know, sometimes players that you're counting on don't perform.
(07:04):
Maybe there's bad luck, maybe there's injuries, maybe the rest
of the league got better, whatever it is. But I think,
and I think this is this is easy for us
as Reds fans to understand. This isn't just about twenty
twenty six being so far a down season. It's about
what we were expecting four years ago, three years ago.
(07:27):
It's about what we're told to continue to expect every
single year. And this goes back well over a decade.
You know, since twenty thirteen, the Reds have not finished
higher than third place. That's kind of hard to do
in a five team division, right, nearly a decade and
a half. And so like, there's the just unending just
(07:50):
ninety four, ninety five, ninety eight lost seasons in the
twenty tens, and you know, whatever may or may not
have happened with the twenty twenty season because of cod,
there's what they chose to do at the end of
the twenty twenty one season, and at the end of
the twenty twenty one season, while it made while it
may have made all the sins in the world to
hit the reset button, you're kind of sitting there in
the fall of twenty twenty one going within a minute, really,
(08:13):
so you stunk every year fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen eighteen,
you stunk a little bit less than twenty nineteen, and
all the waiting and all the patients. The payoff was
the twenty twenty one season, where they barely finished above
five hundred, where they didn't really get better at the
trade deadline.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
That's the payoff.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
But then in twenty twenty two they decide to be
really bad. And I don't love tank because tank means
you're intentionally losing baseball games. But many they didn't exactly
try to get good. They trade it away understandably so
perhaps Sonny Gray. They don't bring back Nick Castianus, which
they never were, and they trade away Suarez, and they
trade away a Winker, and they move on from Tucker Barnhardt,
(08:53):
and then later on they trade away Castillo and Mally
and they lose one hundred games and it's miserable. It's
abjectly just miserable. But you either abandoned it or you
kind of nodded along and said, all right, then there's
got to be some payoff for this. And admittedly, Man,
in twenty twenty three, it felt like the payoff was coming.
Ellie was here, McLean was here, Abbott was here, Hunter
(09:16):
Green fully established Nick Lodolo on his way like it
won twelve straight games June of twenty twenty three, and
there was this sense that it's coming, man, middle of
the decade, it's coming. This is it, This is the payoff,
this is like waiting for two hours at a fancy
restaurant to get your table and you finally sit down
and you look at the menu and the server comes
(09:36):
over and it takes forever to get the meal, and
you've been sitting and you're starving, and they put the
meal in front of you and it's rubbish.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
That's what this is.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Like. You've waited forever for a payoff that was supposed
to be coming around now.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
And this is it.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
This is what it looks like. Dane Meyer's batting third.
Is that Terry Francona's fault. No, but he's complicit. Is
it solely Nick Crawl's fault, No, but he's complicit. Is
it totally ownership's fault. No, But they've owned the team
now for two decades. Is it the fault of a
handful of players that we were counting on to be
really good bye now?
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Is it the fault of the farm system not continually
cranking out really good players. Sure, it's a lot of
different things. No one's blameless, No one gets all the blame.
But I think the problem is there are so many
issues in so many areas where they're deficient that it
feels almost impossible to believe that, at least in the
(10:35):
short term, that things can change all that dramatically, where
they can go from this unending cycle of mediocrity to
something resembling true, genuine contention.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
And I think you're being fair if you.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Ask if by now true genuine contention isn't here, especially
with a lockout looming in twenty twenty seven, when will
it ever get here? Eighteen after five phone calls are next.
This is ESPN fifteen.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
From the UCEE Health Traffic Center.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
The promise that I plan on holding someone to coming
up in just about twenty five minutes five.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
One three, fifteen thirty. I was going to go to Richard,
but he went away, so instead we'll talk to Mike Hi.
Mike Hi MO.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
How was your trip?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
It was delightful, It was refreshing, it was relaxing. I
am tanned, rested, and ready to take two more days
off Monday and Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Wealth like bro Wealth FFE.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
You got load management.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Seat, Yeah yeah, yeah, I got to keep pictured on
the boat. Huh. So you discovered boats now good, I
can picture you on the boat. Kick that feed up?
Did you go fishing.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
No, no interest in fishing. Although my wife caught a
fish with her bare hands.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
That's pretty cool, dude.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
Yeah, pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
That's pretty masculine. I like it.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
My wife is a lot of things, masculine is not
one of them.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Well, she could arm rustle you maybe and whipped your boat,
but anyway, probably. Hey, I could see you sitting on
the fantail of the boat with your feet up, or
on the folkstle of the boat with your feet up,
just looking up at the sky and relaxing. Sounds great, No,
I heard. I went to North Wake. Oh my god.
I don't know how long ago, but I remember it.
(12:38):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
It is a very nice, very relaxing, and I can't
wait to go back.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
So Austin had a little piece at the end of
his show hun about photographs, right, Austin with photographs with
famous athletes with a possible autograph, and he said, the
brunch and photos now with the autograph, we're going for
over nine hundred dollars.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
No, I mean Austin, you were talking about fanatics fast correct.
Speaker 7 (13:12):
Yeah, you pay like eighty bucks to get in and
then you got to pay nine hundred and thirty five.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
If you want a picture with Jalen Brunson.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
There is not a human being alive. I would pay
money to be in a picture.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
With not for nine thirty five, not even Bruce Springsteen.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I went and saw Bruce Springsteen at a book signing
and I had to buy the book. And the book
was great, and I got my picture with him at
Joseph Beth as a result of buying the book.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
And the book cousted like thirty bucks. So no, but
I got a book out of it.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah, you did that. And was it a good book?
I heard about it.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
It was a terrific book.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
Yes, I'm sure it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
And he signed the book.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
My favorite time frame for Bruce Springsteen was when he
did his video with.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Oh my Gosh, No no, no, no, no no, the
famous guy that did uh, oh my God, that wore
the sunglasses and had the bangs with the black hair,
Roy Orbison, Roy Orbison who wrote many famous songs and
and Bruce was.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Real young, and he was playing rhythm guitar for the thing,
and man he was he was so into it, dude.
He looked up to Roy Orbison.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I'm sure he did.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Is is there anything that's not related to Bruce Bringsteen
or Roy Orbison that you would like to talk about today.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
No, not the Reds too much. Really didn't much to
talk about with them. No, but we already that was
Chad I talked to about the depth of the offensive line.
But we determined that every offensive line has the problems
in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
That is correct, and Austin agreed.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, that's all I got. Kind of a cool lazy moneth.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So, so you you called the radio show but didn't
have anything in my you wanted to discuss.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
You called the radio show, but.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
There was nothing that struck your fancy that I said
over the last two and a half hours that you
felt a need to either add to challenge, respond to question,
or anything of that nature.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well, the red stuff is just barked up. I mean,
we're all bart, we don't know where to go. Tito's
Tito's you know, I don't want to think about Tito.
He guess he's dealing with the hand he's been dealt.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Do you think Tito is a better vodka or a
better manager?
Speaker 1 (15:35):
The manager? Right, Okay, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Do you think Tito is a better manager or a
better mid eighties, good guy professional wrestler, Tito Santana.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
I'll take him as a manager.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Do you think Tito is a better baseball manager or
member of the Jackson five? Member of the Jackson But
I think we're on the same page. Mike, have a
good weekend.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah you too. Sorry I didn't have the lamblow today.
I'll talk to you later. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
You know, typically in this in this forum, this talk
radio forum, when when folks call the radio stations, it's
to do.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
One of two things.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
It's to tell the producer to tell the host something
which I can assure you never happens. I've worked in
this business for twenty nine years, and callers who call
the producer to tell the host are winless in getting
the message conveyed to the host.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
It never happens. Normally.
Speaker 7 (16:37):
I'm down the hall producing another show at this time,
and that happens constantly, Yes, constantly.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
You know, in years of producing for Mike McConnell and
Bill Cunningham and Jim Scott, for years, I would answer
phones and there was always you tell him, and I
would say, I'm not telling him, Like, if you want
to tell him, I will put you on hold. I'll
put your name on the screen and you could tell him.
But that's not how this works. So people call the
radio station four in this day and age for one
of two reasons. One to tell the producer to tell
(17:07):
the host something, which never works. Number two, to respond
to something the host just said, or you get a
phone call like that one. Uh, can I tell the
host something?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Sure?
Speaker 7 (17:16):
Amelio Pagan pitching today for the Louisville Betts how stoked
are rehab assignment. The Bats had a double header today
in the midst of one. He started the game, pitched
one inning through six pitches, got all three batters out.
He's done for the day, efficient six pitches, four strikes.
Emelio Pagan, Are they going to have him take fly
(17:37):
balls in centerfield two while he's at it? That's a
good question. Huh, that's a great question. By the way,
Will Benson didn't start for him today? TJ Friedo one
for three.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
I feel like if you play the infield for the Reds,
unless you're Ellie Della Cruz, you will be asked to
take fly balls in center field. As it said, is
how it works here. They should try that with Keith
Ryan Hayes My interview with NBA champion Duce McBride is.
Speaker 6 (18:06):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the Oblique issue.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Zach mccambley is back up to be the savior for
the Reds as they take on the Pirates tonight Abbott
versus Skien six forty on seven hundred WLW. If you
have listened to this show for any amount of time,
you know that beyond being a big Cincinnati sports fan,
I am also a fan of the New York Knicks,
the current NBA champion New York Knicks, and what has
(18:35):
made watching them win a championship. Among the things that
has made watching them win a championship so much fun
is they've got a local guy and somebody that over
the last few years has always been kind enough to
join our show, going back to when he was in
the G League, you know, struggling to just establish himself
in the NBA. Deuce McBride, Miles Duce McBride from Mohler
(18:55):
High School, who started playoff games for the next this year,
won a and so when the Knicks won the title,
my producer Tarren plan knew there was one thing I wanted.
I wanted Deuce on and ideally we could get him
from the parade, but logistically that wasn't going to be
able to happen. So we reached out to Deuce's people
and his handler says, we can do it. We can
(19:18):
do it on Friday, the day after the parade. Unfortunately,
I was off last Friday, so I didn't have a show.
But if that was going to be my one chance
to interview Deuce McBride fresh off an NBA Championship with
the Knicks, I was still going to do the interview
on Friday, and so I talked with Deuce last Friday morning.
This was the day after the NBA Championship parade. The
(19:41):
entire interview is on the iHeartRadio app, but here is
a portion of it. And I started by asking Deuce
to describe what it was like to be in the
middle of that immense championship celebration last Thursday in New
York City.
Speaker 8 (19:56):
Besides the birth of my daughter, I would have to
say that was one of the best days of my life.
I mean to see the love and support from that
many people, just knowing that what we did for the
city will you know, ring throughout history forever.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
It was such a cool thing to see.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Truthfully, you know, you you enter the NBA and you're
just trying to make it right. You're trying to establish
yourself on an NBA roster, and you get to New
York and you're just trying to stick with the Knicks
and and you know, meanwhile they're building a team that ultimately,
you know, has become a perennial postseason team and now
obviously an NBA champion. But at what point did you realize, like,
(20:37):
if we're actually able to pull this off, this is
what New York is going to do.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
I mean, I think.
Speaker 8 (20:47):
When those I'm not sure if you saw those videos
that started coming out when when we first made the playoffs, Yeah,
and people were just outside going crazy because you know,
I missed the playoffs my first year, and then you know,
we signed JB and we make it that second year,
and man, those those first playoff wins, I'd never seen
(21:08):
anything like it, and then beating Boston last year, I mean,
they just continue to continue to take it up another level,
and uh, you know, as long as nobody gets hurt,
it's it's uh.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Well, it did feel like everybody yesterday was was well behaved,
so from from last Saturday before the parade. What's the
coolest thing that's happened to you, what's the coolest thing
that you've had a chance to experience as an NBA champaign.
Speaker 8 (21:39):
I mean, wow, I think I think yesterday is just
something that can't be topped. I mean, I'm still out
of loss for words, like looking looking at videos and pictures.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
I don't know if it doesn't justice just because.
Speaker 8 (21:59):
You know, people were there at literally two days ago
just to get a spot for the parade.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
People are getting up at two, three, four in the morning, and.
Speaker 8 (22:09):
Then by six am people got turned away, you know,
like to have an atmosphere like that, it's just such
a blessing.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Truthfully, What what do because I know you were signing
jerseys right so like you you see fans face to face,
and I'm sure like long time hardcore fans who have
been suffering with this team forever. What is it like
when they tell you what this title has meant to them?
Speaker 8 (22:37):
Yeah, I think it's such a beautiful thing.
Speaker 5 (22:40):
You know what sports can do.
Speaker 8 (22:41):
And being here in the Mecca, you know of art culture,
you know sports, I mean, and for people to say,
you know, this is you know, people have done so
many great things. You know, I've been able to meet
so many cool people, and you know when they say, hey,
I've stayed with the team through all the struggles, through
(23:03):
all the ups and downs. Like you know, I wasn't
alive when the last time the Knicks were in the finals.
And you know, I'm a huge fan of a lot
of things, so I know what it is, what it's
like to live and die, you know, with with wins
and losses, and just to hear people and see the
(23:27):
videos of them crying and just I mean, it's it's
such a cool feeling.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
So you guys win the title in San Antonio on
Saturday night, and obviously there were you know, a million
Knicks fans there. There's what we get to watch on television,
right you guys embrace hug.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
You're running around looking for people to hug.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Right after the game, you guys go in the locker room,
you're pouring beer and champagne on each other. But like,
walk me through what those hours were like in the
immediate aftermath of you guys winning the title that maybe
you know, we didn't get a chance to see.
Speaker 8 (23:56):
Yeah, I mean, it was a it was a long
night of celebrated.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
For sure.
Speaker 8 (24:02):
We did end up flying back to New York around
three in the morning, but we honestly had a good
bit amount of media. But we I mean, if you've
seen some of the pictures of you know, we were
smoking cigars on the court. I mean it was it
(24:26):
was like what our fans do. What we do is
we come in and we take over arenas.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
And that was that encapsulated to a tea game four.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
You guys are down twenty seven and a half.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Now, not be honest with me, whether it's in the
locker room, on the bench, I mean, are you really
telling each other that you guys can come back and
win that game?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
What are you guys saying to each other?
Speaker 8 (24:49):
Yeah, yeah, we're We've done a lot of done a
lot of comebacks.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
And you know when you have you know, leaders that.
Speaker 8 (24:59):
You know they don't break, you know, they might bend,
you know, we get down. But we were just thinking,
we were just giving them, you know, a lot of
easy things. So I think we never panicked because we
knew we just needed to get a break, get an adjustment,
and then just you know, fire on all the cylinders.
Speaker 5 (25:19):
And you know, that's what we did so.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
Truthfully, I think that's what made us a championship team
is just going through those trials and tribulations, not just
this regular season, but playoffs, pass seasons past, and understanding
that is really not over until it's over.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
The the comebacks are awesome.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I enjoyed it more when you would curbstomp teams and
close out games. Yeah, Atlanta was awesome, But like the
Sunday afternoon, you guys are in Philadelphia, it sounds like
MSG and you close out the sixers and you go off,
I think, what six of seven in the first half
from behind the arc?
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Seven of nine for the game.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
And look, you've had awesome shooting games, You've had big games,
but in a close out game in that environment. Have
you ever experienced anything remotely close to that?
Speaker 8 (26:08):
I can't. I can't say I have. You know, it
was a It was a great opportunity, you know for me.
I started started that game, and you know, my mindset
really for this postseason was just to make an impact.
I had I had that uh surgery you know, the
middle of the year, and got back right before the playoffs,
(26:30):
So I was playing through a good amount of pain
and you know, to have a game like that was
such a you know, relief and just made me feel
so good that I knew I could just help the
team in so many ways.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
And you know, I'm just I'm glad. I was thankful
to God that he helped me through it.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
And by the way, not just shooting it great, but
like you were guarding Tyrese Maxie, I can't even imagine
what it's like to try to pick him up.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
I mean, he's he's absurd.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
But you mentioned the injuries because I think there's folks
who maybe don't realize you missed time early in the
season with an ankle, then you had the hernia, and
I remember the night you came back, you had to
leave the game against Oka See and I remember that
going like, I don't know if Duce is going to
get to the postseason. Were you ever worried that you
would have to sit out once the playoffs got here?
Speaker 8 (27:15):
Yeah, definitely, definitely. I mean, uh, hernie is a is
a nice way to put it. You know, the services
that I had, it was it was a tough process.
But you know, our training staff did great because you know,
I didn't There were some games where I was really,
really struggling. But you know, that's the great thing about
(27:37):
this organization, our coaching staff, training staff, is they were
just like, you know, even if you're not scoring a
lot of points, I can.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
Impact the game in a lot of ways.
Speaker 8 (27:45):
And you know, obviously the name of the game is
to score the ball, but to have, you know, a
belief that we just want you out there is such
a tremendous feeling. And that's what that's what really pushed
me because some I just man, I didn't have it.
I mean, it was it was painful, but you know,
(28:06):
I'm just thankful for my teammates and everybody just helping
me get through it.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
If I'm not mistaken, you are the second longest tenured Nick.
It's Mitchell Robinson then yourself. And so you know, when
you got to New York, obviously you were you were
just trying to establish yourself. But as as you've done that,
they've built this team and they've brought in guys and
I guess most notably Jalen Brunson. But but what has
it been like watching from your perspective how they've assembled
(28:33):
the team and doing so in a way that, like you,
guys took steps I mean, you know, I remember when
you lost to Miami in twenty three, it was like
all right, fine, and then you know, the next year
all the injuries against Indiana lost in seven, and then
last year and you you were kind of enough to
join us shortly after that series. It just to me
it felt like these are the steps you have to take,
and meanwhile they're just adding pieces. From your perspective team building,
(28:56):
watching it, what's it been like?
Speaker 8 (28:58):
Oh man, it's uh, it's been It's been great. I mean,
you people don't see all.
Speaker 5 (29:05):
The highs and lows of it.
Speaker 8 (29:07):
You know, from a team perspective, from like you said,
in my perspective, and the conversations, you know, the meetings,
you know, if you lose three in a row, where
you win eight in a row. I think the special
thing was the people that came into our team. They
were about the same things as guys that left, you know,
(29:27):
and we give a lot of credit.
Speaker 5 (29:29):
To the guys, you know, r J.
Speaker 8 (29:31):
Bartt, Manual Quickly, Evan for a Julius, you know, all
those guys that really helped build a winning culture. You know,
Obie Top and Like's they're still doing great things.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
And I mean Leon Rose just man killer killer, you know.
Speaker 8 (29:50):
I mean, you know, he took a kid like me,
and you know I had to wait my chance. But
I think just having those open convers as of like
when I'm young, like we still.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
Believe in you.
Speaker 8 (30:03):
You know, just keep working, keep trusting the process, and
it'll all work out. And I think, you know, fans
that get a little antsy, you know, if we lost
a few in the regular.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Season and thought the world was going to end.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
I'm guilty of that. I'm guilty of it.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yes, to one against Atlanta, I was you know, the
walls were closing in.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
I'll admit that.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (30:22):
And that's what I mean when your leadership and you
keep a lot of things in house, when when it's
you know, really solid, you know, you end up making
it through the fire.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
You end up making it through.
Speaker 8 (30:35):
And each year was a was a great step and
it shows now that we're champions.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
That's Miles Deuce McBride, the Moller High School alum who
won an NBA championship with the New York Knicks just
under two weeks ago. That entire conversation we aired about
half of it. It's roughly twenty minutes long. It's available
on the iHeartRadio app. I did not air this part
of it. At the very end of the inner, I
asked him do NBA players get a chance to do
(31:02):
what hockey players get a chance to do with the
Stanley Cup. Hockey players win the Stanley Cup, they get
a chance to take it wherever they want on vacation.
Many of them bring it to their hometowns. Do NBA
players get to do that with the Larry O'Brien Trophy?
And do said yes. So then I couldn't help but
ask is he bringing it to Cincinnati? And he said yes?
(31:23):
And then I pressed it and said, can we get
an in studio visit from you and the Larry O'Brien Trophy?
And he said yes, So we will be holding him
to that. My thanks to Tarren Bland for booking that
interview on very short notice. We're done on Monday and
Tuesday of next week. I am off. I'm exhausted from
(31:44):
working one day this week, so Austin Elmore will host
this show three to six on Monday and Tuesday. I
will be back on Wednesday of next week and looking
forward to it. Anything you might have missed go find
on the iHeartRadio app. Thanks to long Next sports Girl
Tony is back on Monday for since E three sixty
at noon and so have a great weekend and we'll
(32:06):
talk to you next week. Thanks for listening. Thanks to
Austin for filling in for Taran today. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Team
Mo Egger News
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