April 19, 2024 • 45 mins
The FnA Podcast with Kevin Figgers and Adam Auslund + Brie Brie. David Vassegh on the state of the Dodgers issues, Ohtani as a teammate and pressing with runners on and more. Plus, NBA playoff talk on the Clippers and Lakers.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Let's get this. This is ghettobroadcasting live from the studios of AM five
to seven day. It's on awebsite. This is FNA man. I
am a god. Now what whydon't you get out of that jumpsuits?
Let me smack that fast. That'sa scary crew. As far as the
(00:21):
product goes, voice of a newgeneration man. He has the young guys
really at the top of their games. The two of them had something in
common. We bring you radio ecstasy. Oh it's beautiful broadcasting live from the
studios of AM five to seven day. Let it happen. This is the
FNA Podcast. Friday edition of theFNA Podcast is popping. Everybody's Kevin Figures
(00:45):
and Adam Alston with you guys asalways, It's a Friday Friday. It
is our pleasure to be with you. I'm a follow out of a He's
at k pig one at FNA showon Twitter, Facebook or the gram.
Breeber's in the house if a microphonethis year. Good morning, guys,
Happy Friday. I'm so bummed Imissed last week, but I know it
was a good show with the Duke. You missed a lot. If you
(01:07):
missed that show and you want tohear some ship talk to Brie, who
wasn't there about the Clippers being upthirty five to four on the Phoenix Suns.
Old news is old news. Don'tknow if you want to keep thinking
about that, that's on you putit on their tombstone for this season.
If they don't win it all,and they probably won't. Why if they
don't win it all? All right? Well, I mean, I guess,
(01:27):
I mean, I feel like forthe for the purpose of the two
of you, as if they justdon't go further than the Clippers do.
So that's going to be this.I actually like the Suns on this first
round series, I think. Yeah, all right, So with that,
so, how are we feeling,you know, let's go to NBA f
ya officially since whereas which we're talkingNBA right now with Brie? All right,
little first off? Yeah, let'sgo. First off, it's gone.
(01:51):
That's wrong. So are you feelingabout your Clippers taking on the Dallas
Mavericks for the fifteenth straight time inthe postseason they're at them? Well,
I'd be feeling a lot better ifI knew Kawhi Leonard was gonna be playing.
Oh what do you mean? Hegot an injection in his knee unless
he didn't, and he should beready to go, right That's what Sham
Sharoon and Sharoon Balloon said, Rightyeah. He also said he was having
intense workouts Shan Sharania yesterday, andthen Lawrence Frank had a presser, and
(02:15):
I felt much less optimistic about KawhiLeonard and the chances of him playing in
game one, because it sounded likehe's not doing really any conditioning work at
this point. So it's weird thatyou would believe. And maybe it's not
as someone who's not in the buildinglike Sham's over someone who is in Lawrence
Frank, and I don't think theynecessarily have to do gamesmanship, but there
certainly is nothing to gain from LawrenceFrank saying like, yeah, you know
(02:37):
what, he's good, He lookslooking fine, and he's definitely gonna play
on Sunday on Sunday, you know. So I feel like it's one of
those situations where if it's a playoffgame, he will be able to play,
which is this is the situation.So he missed the last eight games
of the regular season, it's gonnabe first game, the game, first
game, of the playoffs. Ibelieve he's gonna be available. It sounds
like he's limited in functional basketball moves, and the way he described what Kawhi
(03:01):
needs to do, the steps heneeds to take before getting on the court,
it just seems like within the nexttwo days that's not very likely that
he's going to get to that point. I hope it changes. I hope
he's able to give it a goin Game one, But my concern would
also be if his knee is stillswollen or inflamed. However you want to
(03:23):
put it over a three week period, because it has been almost a month
now. It's crazy, and it'shis right knee where he had ecl surgery,
where he had the meniscus last season. What are the chances that he's
able to play and it doesn't swellback up afterwards after his first real contact
out there, because he hasn't hadany yet. Yeah, the real fear
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is that you know it could causefurther injury, or even if he's sixty
percent, it's just going to continueto deteriorate. So it's probably not that
he couldn't play. If it wasa one off, it'd probably be fine.
You have to continue to play,continue to play heavy minutes in a
really intense series. Now, grantedit's the first round, you're going to
have some days off in between,but even still, you know, considering
that he's been off for two anda half three weeks, as you mentioned,
it doesn't bode well. Even ifhe does play, he's not gonna
(04:06):
be one hundred percent. We knowthat for a fact. It sounds like
at this point he's made some progress, but not enough to where they'd likely
feel comfortable with unless something changes overthe next two days him playing in that
game one. Some people think it'sgamesmanship. I would say at this point,
(04:29):
I'm not thinking of it like thatat all. Lawrence Frank was pressed
on that this is somebody who mighthave to make deals with the Dallas Mavericks
in the future. I don't thinkhe's gonna continue to double down and have
this big press conference just to keepthe Dallas Mavericks in the dark. I
don't think it's a strategy at thispoint. No, But it could be
that he's not necessarily as bad ashe's letting on. He can still be
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questionable, he can still have somerightning issues, and it's like, yeah,
he's not pleased on moving that well, and he can come out and
score the first fifteen points, thatdoesn't mean and it's not gonna flare up
again. That doesn't mean you're outcompletely out of the dark when it comes
to the injury situation, and overall, do I think it's a gamesmanship?
Probably not. I don't see Dallasbeing like, oh my god, Kawhi
Leonard is playing today. We're totallythrown off by this. We've never seen
(05:16):
Kawhi Leonard before. What game plando we have now? Like, they're
clearly gonna expect him to be therelike every team would. And even if
they don't expect him to and allof a sudden he shows up, I
think they have a strategy for him. They're very familiar with him. They're
very familiar with guys who could bein his place in Russell Westbrook or Norman
Powell or Mere Coffee. I don'tthink it's some great advantage to keep them
(05:40):
in the dark. I don't.All right, so all things are not
going to be equal. We knowthat. So just based on what you
know at this point in time,how confident are you that the Clippers find
a way to make it out ofthis first round matchup of Dallas. I
don't feel great about it. Dallasis the hottest team in the league.
Yeah, there's that part too.You can say their schedule has been a
little bit easier when they went sixtyto two in their final eighteen games before
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basically giving up the last two becausewho cares, they were gonna end up
being the five seeds, So theydidn't push anyone out there, and they
didn't have Luke out there, theydidn't have Kyrie Irving out there. The
Dallas Mavericks made great acquisitions to thetrade deadline, bring in Daniel Gafford,
bringing in PJ. Washington, andthey became a top ten defense. So
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they went from being a bottom tendefense for half the season to basically being
a top ten defense for the otherhalf of it. And Luca has rim
runners and rollers towards the basket,something he really hasn't had so much in
the past. These guys are muchbetter in their front court overall. He
also has the best second option he'sever had next to him in Kyrie Irving.
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You can say on the defensive end, they both aren't great defenders,
but they've been given a better effortthis season. They've been a top ten
defense even with Luca and Kyrie atthe point of attack. So, yes,
there's weaknesses there you can pick at. There's holes there. If the
Clippers were fully healthy, who's guardingJames Harden? Because if you throw Derek
Jones Junior at Paul George, ifyou have PJ. Washington on Kawhi Leonard,
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that means either Luca or Kyrie wouldhave to guard James Harden, which
seems like advantage Clippers. But that'sonly if Kawhi Leonard's there. How healthy
is James Harden by the way?I doubt I think he's okay? Okay,
so I do okay. I feellike, at least to me,
he hasn't necessarily looked right for awhile. And I know his scoring is
and look, I know that hisrole is different on this team than it
happened in the past. I justdon't know if there's a bit of a
(07:31):
diminished skill set there as far asdriving to the basket, drawing fouls the
way that he used to. Andagain, maybe his usage is different now
than it was before. He certainlydoesn't seem like the same sort of player
well have the impact on the gameas he would before, even with the
diminished role. His month of March, all the numbers were down. He
looked to be fatigued. It lookedto be tired legs. But they gave
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him a couple of days off andthe few games he played at the end
of the season, I thought therewas more bursts there. It looked like
he's great to go. He's beenpracticing. There's no issue there because he
was listed with it in flame rightfoot. It looks like more precautionary and
just getting him some rest at theend of the season. Like I do,
feel like the explosiveness should be thereenough for at least what he had
(08:16):
at his best this season at theage of thirty four or thirty five.
So I'm not as concerned with him, all right, So fair enough on
James Harden, I get that nowon a big picture standpoint. First of
all, it's very disappointing as someonewho's not necessarily a Clipper fan, but
I want them to do well.Obviously. Do you have the one season
where Kawhi Leonard plays sixty plus games, plays amazing. Was in the MVP
con well, should have been inthe MVP conversation. Probably wasn'tto what Adam
(08:39):
would mention in earlier episodes of thepodcast with Bob, and then all of
a sudden, at the worst timeof year, he ends up going down
and at the very least, evenif he's able to play, he's not
gonna be at at one hundred percent. It's just very disappointing. But this
happened yet again the four straight year. It could be the four straight year
where either he wasn't available to starta pl playoff run or finish a playoff
(09:01):
run, which is pretty incomprehensible andso disappointing and frustrating. And I feel
terrible for Kawhi. He's one ofthese top seventy five player ever, but
in a playoff series, I wouldsay he's a top ten performer in NBA
history. That's how high I wouldrate him. Yeah, even when he's
(09:22):
been hurt. Look at how heplayed with Toronto with one leg. He
liked one of the leg players withthe broken leg in Matt and dragging his
leg up and down the court.Let's say Greg Jennings, who was that.
Yeah, how what happened? Wouldbreak his leg and he's just running
up and down the field. Hewas noticeably limping throughout that playoff run.
We don't know exactly what he wasdealing with, but even before that next
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season started with the Clippers, itwas still hampering him. I remember they
kept him out of training camp becauseof that. So it's not like he
is unwilling to try to go.And that was really about the doctors.
Yeah, whether they let him go, they just signed him to a three
year extension. Yeah, so thisis somebody they've invested so much in.
(10:03):
If they feel like in Lawrence Frankdid say yesterday, at this point,
it doesn't seem to be something wherehe is risking further injury. But it's
in his right knee. If hecan't move the same way, you worry
about him. And they said heit's what was an issue before with the
(10:24):
ACL and the MCL. It's structurallysound. But if he can't move the
same way, are you risking furtherinjury because he's just not himself out there.
You can even overcompensate and end uphurting something that's not even related to
it. That's that's something you reallyhave to worry about. Yeah, And
it's a risk you can't afford totake when someone like you mentioned they just
(10:45):
signed an extension a few months ago. Where that stands, like Paul George
is still interesting to me, Butit does feel like this could be the
last dance, like if there wasa time where you were going to risk
it a little bit. And I'mnot saying Kawhi should do this, and
I'm not saying that Clippers should dothis, but James Harden's nune were stricted.
Free agent Paul George didn't get hiscontract extension. He has a player
(11:07):
option for I think forty eight million, And it sounds like, at least
depending on what reporting you want tolisten to, that the team and Paul
George's camp are apart in some way, shape and form on something now.
He had at the year's compensation,whatever it is. He had a great
last month of the season after acouple of months where he was dinged up.
It was noticeable and the numbers wereall down, but this was phenomenal
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in March and in April leading intothe playoffs. He couldn't have looked better.
There's been rumors out there that thePhiladelphia seventy six ers, who should
have a max slot open up becauseTobias Harris is going to be off the
books this upcoming season, would beinterested in signing Paul George. You wonder
if that's about him and his agentusing that for leverage. I could go
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here. I don't know. Ithink he wants to be in southern California.
I think he'd like to stay here. But Kawi took a little bit
less to stay. So then youstart to think, well, the other
guy's gonna fall in line and takejust a little bit less than what Kawhi
got because he's your number one.And then is it Paul George slotting in
and then James Harden slotting in afterthat? Because the one thing that came
(12:11):
out when Kawhi Leonard got his contractlater that night, the first game he
played under it, he was askedpostgame about it, and he made it
sound like he said something to theeffect of, well, yeah, pretty
much everybody's coming back. Yeah,So it sounded like at that point it
was a foregone conclusion that they weregoing to run this back. That maybe
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not regardless of how the season ended, but there was a strong likelihood that
it was going to be the SoCalfor or whatever you want to say about.
You know, a bunch of guyscoming together with him and Russ and
James Harden and Paul George staying withthe Clippers and trying to make this a
bigger window than just a one seasonthing with James Harden. That's what it
(12:54):
sounded, though. It just readsthat Kawhi would sign his extension and then
months down the line, Paul Georgethe guy that he convinced the Clippers,
I'm not coming unless this guy's comingwith me, and we're a package deal
that Kawhi stays and for all.At least as of now, Paul George
still has yet to sign that extension. So it's interesting things change though,
if they get bounced in the firstround, if Kawhi is not able to
(13:15):
go, if he is but heisn't fully healthy, if James Harden and
Paul George, you know, don'tplay to their best abilities, and they
end up losing in five or somethinglike that to a Dallas Mavericks team that
is really good and trending the rightway. This feels more like a second
round matchup or even a Western Conferencefinals matchup in past years. It feels
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similar to the Clippers taking on theSan Antonio Spurs in twenty fifteen. In
that first round matchup, the Spursare coming off being defending champs and on
the last day of the season theylost a ballgame and they dropped into the
sixth seed somehow, and the Clipperscaught him in the three to six matchup,
and the Spurs were favored as thesix seed. The Clippers ended up
winning in seven games off that crazyshot by CP three on the bad hanmy
(13:58):
over Tim Duncan. But it wasa war, and I don't I don't
know, I don't know. ThisDallas team is could easily be a team
that gets the Western Conference Finals,so I would not be shocked. This
is a coin flip of a series, and maybe not even that if obviously,
if Kawhi Leonards is not available forthe Clippers, oh yea Kauai is
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not going to be available, Who'swho's picking the Clippers in that situation,
Like, it's hard to make theargument that the Clippers can still win without
Kawhi when they needed him last timearound against Dallas against a lesser Dallas team
to go seven games where he hadthe game six with forty five and a
must win situation. Even knowing Kawhiis not going to be one hundred percent.
It's really hard for me to pickthem to win this series. It
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just really is. It's say howDallas is playing and how important he is
to what the Clippers do. Ican't. I can't pick the Clippers to
win that series right now, justthe prospect of having to beat Luka Doncicic
three times in the playoffs. Luca, to me, is one of the
greatest players of all time already.I've seen enough. He's twenty five,
he doesn't have the accolades, hedoesn't have the resume, he hasn't been
(15:00):
around long enough for that. Butif you just look at him and what
he has shown at his highest levelso far as an NBA player, he's
incredible. He's one of the bestwe've ever seen, one of the highest
skilled, most talented players ever.This is why people are talking about he
could be in the MVP conversation andshould be an MVP finalists even though he
didn't have a top seed. He'sgonna finish top three at worst. Yeah,
and it's hard to argue against it. Despite their seeding, with Jokich
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and Denver not getting the number oneseed, I feel like him getting the
MVP for the third straight time,not third straight, but his third regular
season MVP. I don't think he'sgonna get it now. I think it
probably will be between sga as Okay, see finished first and Luca. Yeah,
I agree, so regardless, it'sthat close. He has played at
one of the highest levels all seasonlong, and the second half of the
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season post raight at deadline with KyrieIrving next to him, and then the
new front court they got, theyare dangerous as hell. Now someone else
who have put up some awesome numberspost deadline and has been healthy, and
he's healthy this time this year hewasn't last year dealing with the foot injury
as Lebron James. As the Lakersfind their way and we go across the
hall for the last time, Iguess with Staple Center or Crypto with the
(16:07):
going from the Clippers of the Lakersat this point time, which by the
way, I'm sure you've seen thiswall concept that Steve Barmer is set up
in the into It Dome, fiftystraight rows, no suites there. Yeah,
but the seats cost like thirty bucks. It's like a first come,
first serve. They're not gonna letyou in this in the area, if
you're wearing gear that's not Clipper gear. If you cheer, whoever cheers the
most. If you sign up forit, they can track you and see
(16:29):
whoever's cheering the best or the most. In that section, you get discounted
items for sale. It's pretty it'spretty revolutionary. The fan experience there.
They want it to be like acollege atmosphere. On that side, they
want it to be as loud aspossible, as rowdy as possible for the
hardcore Clipper fans. That's pretty coreClippers. That's pretty cool. I love
that. I love that. Now, Hu good deal. You have been
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on record the last month or sosaying you're confident that the Lakers have a
shot to defeat the Denver Nuggets inthis postseason. Now I feel like this
is jail. They were gonna haveto play the Clipper fans slashed old kis
Sacramento King fan trying to poison thewater. It's kind of the vibe I'm
getting. But even within that,I do feel that you do feel somewhere
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inside you that the Lakers have ashot to beat them this year. I
really do. First of all,Lebron James is not nearly as banged up
as he was in the Western ConferenceFinals last year. I know he has
the ankle injury, but it's notthe same as what he was dealing with
with a foot injury, which soundedlike he needed a surgery on. Hasn't
really hampered him a whole lot either. He was so limited by the foot
you could see it out there whenhe's out on the court. With whatever
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is going on with the ankle,he looks pretty damn close to as good
as Lebron James can look at theage of thirty nine, which is spectacular.
I think, easily a top tenplayer in the league, and at
times he still looks like a topfive player. I think the stat was
he's one of three players average twentyseven points and more post All Star Break.
He's incredible still, Anthony Davis,you wonder about him with the backspasms
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because of that playing game against thePelicans, he did not look right now,
noticeably laboring. He also had oneday off, so and this is
something that I've been kind of ridingon the fact that they got Denver.
I said, this is absolutely thebest time to play Denver. One.
They don't have a lot of momentumthat the momentum behind winning a couple of
series under their belt to get tothe conference finals. And two, because
(18:14):
as I mentioned with the Clipper seriesof Dallas, these games are spread out.
I think you have a game aday off in between games one and
two. I think you have twodays off in between two and three,
and maybe even another two days offbetween three and four if I remember correctly,
every time they're traveling two at home, two on the road, one
to one one every time they're traveling. I think they have two games off
in between, which is huge fora team as old as the Lakers are
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and as banged up as Anthony Davistends to get. So I think it
actually works out in their favor thatthey get Denver early. They're not as
worn down in as good as Denveris. What people are misremembering or discounting
about last season's run by them isit wasn't just about their talent level.
That was a very special run.That was guys like Jamal Murray shooting over
(19:00):
sixty percent in the Western Conference Finalsagainst the Lakers. I don't expect that
to happen again. It could,I don't expect it to happen. LA
defense isn't necessarily the strongest. Iwill say gay Vincent helps, but gave
Vincent ate the second coming and GaryPayton either. So no, but I
they did a ton of things.The shots that Jokis was making in that
series, and I know it's Jokisseverybody you know, but Murray more special,
(19:26):
crazy run. Could they do itagain? Yeah, they could be
the first team to go back toback since the Golden State Warriors with Kevin
Durant. They could be, ButI think they're much more vulnerable. They
don't have Bruce Brown, who washuge for them last season. They still
have KCP. Jeff Green has momentsfor them. Christian Brown's been better as
guys, He's gotten more minutes forthem this year. Yeah, he's been
good. Uh, Peyton Watson Watsonawesome for the kids, great, especially
(19:51):
defensively. Look, they're still thebest team in the league. I believe
they are. I would take themover Boston easily from the two games I
saw against Boston. They just don'thave the to go up against Yokich at
all. The Lakers do have somebodies and they're gonna go with that same
scheme they ran last year. Thatother teams tried to copy, which was
have the smaller guy as the primarydefender on Jokic and then have Anthony Davis
(20:14):
floating behind him that had some levelof effectiveness, and that guy was really
more often than not yes last year. I don't hate that at all.
And all those games, you canmock it, you can do the Petro
or some money things say it wasthe closest sweep of all time. Well
technically it was. And all thosegames came down to Denver out executing the
(20:37):
Lakers in a close game late inthe ballgame. If the Lakers get one
of the first two where they getover that hump finally and that mental hurdle
of just beating Denver in a closegame late, I think that's gonna work.
Wonders for them, do you wonderfor them? And I think the
Lakers were the most clutch team inthe NBA. I think there were twenty
five and eight or twenty five andnine in games decided by like five points
or less. Was a stat thatI saw didn't earlier this week. It
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kind of surprised me someone who watchesall their games, But yeah, they
were the the the as far asclutch situations, winning games in clutch situations.
They were the best team or atleast had the best record in the
NBA in situations like that. Now, of those nine, I'm sure four
of them came against Denver. Butthat's how I wait. But to your
points, right to your point therethough, you know, all it takes
is one play, one turnover,one thing to bounce your way and gives
(21:23):
you confidence to be able to saybecause now it's probably in their head at
this point in time. If theycan get over that mental hurdle, they
know that they can do it,it changes the game completely and it would
change things for Denver too. Ohwe're not invincible against this team. How
many times they beat them going backto being them four straight times in the
Western Commerce Finals, I think threetimes this year. Yeah, so I
was eight in a row. Ifthat, if that error or of events,
(21:47):
invincibility excuse me, is over,I think it's a completely different series.
I think they are beatable by thisLakers team. I really do.
And I think I'm gonna go andthis is oh no, here we go.
Part of this hedging and me beinga Kings fan back of the day
and being a Laker hater and allthat. But I'm just gonna pick them
(22:10):
to win seven. Kevin. Thisis like when you pick the Dodgers to
win every those World Series every year, mister John. I didn't have him
in twenty twenty winning and that wasmy mistake. It wasn't. But I
don't if you don't count that one, an you don't count that one anyway.
So what difference doesn't make I thinkthe Lakers could win this thing six
or seven? Okay, I thinkthe Lakers can win it. I did
(22:34):
what do you what are you goingwith? How do you? Oh?
I still think Denver. I thinkI think Denver has their number. Uh.
Look, can the Lakers win?Of course you have Lebron James and
Anthony Davis. They absolutely have theability to. Uh. But I think
Denver is just as a superior team. And I think to a certain degree,
I think Denver finds, you know, oh the four game sweep.
Uh we you know, we lostevery game by an average of four points
(22:56):
or whatever it was. There mightbe an other one of Denver to say,
like we want actually put our stampand say we are the better team,
and actually way more convincingly to saythat there is a level of motivation.
You know, based on the waythat Mike Malone is talking, they
better be ready because he's based onwhat he said at the parade last year.
He is still talking trash now.The owner said it, Oh okay,
biker's daddy. Yeah you know,so you know, just make sure
(23:18):
you're not writing checks your butt can'tcash. But I think they can.
I still think Denver's the best teamin the entire league. They have the
best player in the world. NikolaJokic is the best player. If you
have are the reigning finals MVP,you've already won two regular season MVPs,
you're running for a third, You'rethe best player in the world. Yeah,
And from a tactical standpoint, theyhave no one who can stop Jokic.
They really don't think. I don'tthink anybody on the perimeter can even
(23:38):
stop Jamal Murray. Look, theyhad Jared Vanderbilt their best perimeter defriender last
year and it didn't make a differencewhen they tried to put him on him.
And I'm not sure the status ofhim because I know our old friend
Bill Ryders said it was over earlier, like a month agoing it's over.
Yeah, it sounds like sounds likeno. At least I wouldn't think at
this point in time, you're justgonna thrust them back in there in the
(23:59):
post season, I would I woulddoubt it. Gave Vincent at least had
four or five games to get underhis belt before they put him back in
the rotation. He looked good inthe plan. This is somebody last year
who shots against star for Miami lastyear. That's what got him paid,
That's what got people to think hecould be some missing piece or some real
role player, contributor type that hasbeen there and done that. So I
(24:22):
mean, if he has a goodseries, that could be a difference.
I just don't see it. Istill I still think Jamal Murray has the
number. So I don't think thathave anybody that can stop Jamal Murray.
We know they have nobody that canstop Jokic. Yes, losing Bruce Brown
was a big blow, but youmentioned I think Christian Brown, who actually
wasn't that good for them in theplayoffs last year they kind of won despite
him, despite him at times,who's been better this year. And Peyton
(24:42):
Watson is just a defensive beast onthe perimeter. I don't see it.
I think the Lakers winning one ofthe first two in Denver and that Game
three is gonna be huge back inLos Angeles swing the series. Absolutely could
no doubt out Lakers and seven allright, okay, whatever you say?
Or six all right? Have wetalked about the Dodgers a second ago?
(25:04):
Speaking of the Dodgers, let's getto have we had this guy on in
like three years. It's been awhile, It's been a long time.
I remember last season I asked himto come on and he was like,
yeah, how about in between thedoubleheader and it was kind of like,
well, then there may be newnews after the second game by the time
we post this thing. Yeah,So I'm glad we got him on today.
(25:26):
It worked out timing wise, itdid. So let's get right to
it. Let's talk some Dodgers baseball. If yeah, Alan drinking dud.
Thank you. Donny Well joining theshow right now as a friend, a
mentor, a father, not adaddy like Mike Malonis to the Lakers.
But he's also a professional, unlikeme, an accomplished reporter and broadcaster for
the Dodgers. Whether he's on theradio for five seventy or on Spectrum.
(25:49):
Holy crap, it's David Vasse backon the FNA podcast DV. Thanks for
doing this. Wow, what anhonor to be on with a big time
clipperdcaster. I'll take that. Thankyou. Now we're not the Panics.
Lakers beat Denver just so you stopplaying that stupid Mike Malone SoundBite. Hey
(26:10):
you're not the only one day.Trust me. I think they have a
good shot against Denver. Dave,all right, I really do so,
I'll give you that. I'm gonnasay Lakers in seven. Okay, Now,
we're not the Panic brothers over here. But are there more flaws than
this Dodger roster after the last coupleof weeks than we realize coming into this
season. I would say there areflaws. There's no perfect team, even
(26:30):
when you spend as much as theDodgers have spent. The Mets are a
great example. You could spend themost money in baseball and still not have
a complete roster. But the Dodgersare in first place after all that being
said and done, and they arejust an unsettled team when it comes to
some of their role players, likeGavin LUs at second base. Him the
(26:52):
Dodgers putting everything in Gavin Lux beingthere shortstop going into spring training just as
completely unsettled the entire roster because nowyou've had to move Mooki Betts to shortstop.
Lux is not hitting, so they'rekind of in a spot here rather
than just going with the veteran MiguelRojas and Kei k Hernandez and leave Mooki
(27:14):
at second base. And also youcould have just left Mooki in right field.
So I just feel like that partof the roster has completely unsettled everything
else. How long of a leasedo they give Gavin Lux in this situation?
Dave mentioning that they have Rojas whocan play spectacular defensive shortstop. I
don't know if durability is an issueand they don't want to play them every
(27:34):
day. You and O better thanI. Do you think that's a legitimate
option that at some point they canput Rojas in at short and put Mooki
at second and put Lucks on thebench. Yeah, that was the apprehension
that Rojas can't play one hundred andsixty two or even one hundred and forty
games. He's getting up there thirtyfive thirty six. In spring training,
he was limited because you know,aging legs, all that stuff. But
(28:00):
you could have a combination of Rojasand Kiki at shortstop until maybe you find
a better option at the trade deadline. But yeah, that's part of the
reason why they did not want tocommit to Rojas being there every day shortstop
because of the age and durability.David Veasse is our guest here on the
FDA podcast. Dave Chowio TONI onefor nineteen with runners in scoring position.
(28:25):
What are they going to do totry to get him to stop pressing?
Now, that's up to him.I feel like there's enough talk and he's
very aware of what is said abouthim. I just feel like he needs
to recalibrate, and if he continuesto struggle with runners in scoring position,
will Dave Roberts decide to flip flophim and Freddie Freeman Because Mookie Benz is
(28:49):
getting on base at a very highrate and you need to be able to
drive him in, especially if there'stwo outs. So I feel like that
Otani's a three hundred hitter career withrunners in scoring position last year to ninety
five, So I feel like it'sjust one of those things right now that
(29:11):
hopefully turn around. What's Otani likeas a teammate DV Because obviously there's a
language barrier. He's an international superstar. There's so much attention around him.
How does he fit into the clubhouse. What's your interactions been like there?
Well, my interaction has been verylimited, but I've talked to teammates that
I've said ever since Epaying Misuhara hasbeen out of the picture, he's been
(29:33):
a more approachable teammate and also avery humorous teammate. So it seems like
that human shield for now we knowthe various reasons was kind of impeding Otani
being a teammate instead of just beingon an island. If guys felt like
they couldn't talk to him because Epaiwas always there, and when they did
(29:56):
talk to him, they didn't getmuch out of him. But now that
he he is out of it,you know, O, Tommy, whether
or not you want to call it, is forced now to be more part
of it or whatever it is heis, and that's a good thing.
Now. If you brought up Mookiand you say you were on record saying
before the season started, this willbe the year of Mookie Betts, don't
(30:18):
be surprised if he has an MVPtype season. A lot of Dodger fans
now all things ended last year inthe playoffs with Arizona. He and Freddy
Feeman didn't particularly play well in thatseries. What was it in your interactions
with him throughout the offseason that madeyou believe that he was poised to have
a big year this year. Well, just what he was saying, like
he just cared about winning, andfor the first time he admitted that,
you know, he has failed inthe playoffs the last two years. He
(30:41):
actually took accountability for that. Andthen when he came to FanFest, you
could see the same kind of demeanorwhere he was very motivated. But really
what took me over the edge wasseeing Mookie actually be out on the field
in Cammel backgranchier than most and thatthat's the same type of Mookie Bets we
(31:03):
saw in twenty twenty, and alsotalking to him during spring training, he
just made it very clear that hewants to prove the doubters wrong. He's
heard the critics and this was goingto be a season of redemption for him.
So that's that's what led me tobelieve all that Brie wants me to
ask you, how come their outfielderJames Outman is struggling right now? Why
(31:26):
does James Outmann suck at the moment? Well, the league has made adjustments
against him, and he hasn't madeadjustments back. And also there's I don't
know if this is actual or justme guessing, but he did admit feeling
the nerves in his first playoff gamelast year he dropped that fly ball that
(31:47):
led to six runs by the Diamondbacks. And this team is built to win.
There's a lot more attention this year. So this is not made for
every player, is my point.And I'm not saying James Outman is not
made for this, but right nowhe's got to prove that he is made
(32:08):
for this, and so far hestruggled to go back. Chris Taylor struggled,
but James Outman struggled. Yeah,speaking of guys with long leashes and
someone who's had obviously a long,very successful history with the Dodgers, how
long of a leashed do they havewith Chris Taylor, who looks just completely
lost up there. Yeah. Right, whatever he worked on during the offseason
isn't working. I'm not sure howmuch longer the Dodgers allow this to go
(32:31):
on. It's one thing to believein a player, but it's hard to
ignore one hit in your first thirtyseven at bats at any point in time
in the season. That's that's that'shard to do. So I don't know.
I don't know. Maybe we showup at the ballpark today and they
make a change, or you know, they there might be something physically wrong
(32:52):
with Chris Taylor and he's able toget that right and reset. But I'm
not I'm not sure. I mean, he's owed a lot of money.
If if the Dodgers did what thefans are suggesting, they would owe him
thirty million dollars for the next twoyears for not playing for them, And
(33:13):
that would be kind of like AaronHicks with the Yankees. Are they willing
to do that? Right now?They're always talking about depth, so I
don't see them just letting a playergo, especially with how much they're paying
him. So I feel like theywould try to work something out as far
as putting him on the il,letting him have a chance to catch his
breath and you know, whatever isgoing on with him, try to rectify
(33:37):
it and give him one more chancenow, Dave last I saw Miguel Vargus
was playing pretty decently down in theminor leagues. Do you think there's an
opportunity for him to possibly come backup, especially if Lux and Taylor other
guys you know who are not steppingup in the infield, do you think
they might the doctors might give himanother shot this season. I don't believe
it would be on the infield ifthey needed Miguel Vargas, it would be
(33:58):
in the outfield. He's been playingleft field ever since the start of spring
training, so I feel like I'mnot sure if they would give him that
chance. I feel like they're ata crossroads with him as well. Like
he's mashing triple A every time he'sdown there, but he struggled in the
big leagues. I'm not sure whathis future is with the team. Last
one for me, David Yamamoto isgoing tonight. Been a little bit up
(34:22):
and down so far. Were theearly returns or signs you've seen from him
and the type of picture he's goingto be in the majors. Well,
everybody keeps reminding me that he's onlytwenty five years old and adjusting to a
new league, a new culture,a new actual baseball. So we've seen
signs that he's making the adjustments,which is a good thing. And the
(34:45):
indication I've gotten from the Dodgers isthey just want him to be right by
the time the playoffs rolls around.So this is somewhat of our process to
get him to that point. SoI know, after that first start and
after spring training, I was alittle concerned, but I feel like he's
settled down. And basically, guys, whatever the Dodgers paid for him,
(35:06):
it wasn't strictly about baseball. Ithink we're all aware of that, and
I'm not He's not the level ofa Garrett Cole. He's probably a number
two or number three pitcher at thispoint in time. But like I said,
Otani and Yamamoto were signings that werebeyond baseball reasons. And now,
speaking of pitching, Dave Walker Buehlermade a rehab start last night. How
(35:27):
did that go? When can weexpect to see him on the road trip
coming up? Did you check thebox score, Kevin? I did,
but I wanted you to let ourlisteners know just in case I want to
hear from the horse's mouth the Dodgerreporter. But gosh, you really know
how to hurt me, don't you. Man, Geez sorry, Oh yeah,
it wasn't good. It wasn't good. He walked for less than half
his pitches were strikes. I thinkhe needs one more, one more rehab
(35:52):
startings with Landonakt. The way hepitched, I think he gives the Dodgers
that chance. Follow him at thereal unders DV or just listen to AM
five seventy LA Sports within the nextten minutes. You know he'll be on
with somebody. Subscribe to Dodger Talk. One of the best listens off off
day Dodger Talk yesterday with Blake Trining. Blake gave Dave a lot of crap
(36:12):
rightfully, so uh, he doesa good job. Obviously. Dave's one
of the best reporters out there,So definitely subscribe. Listen. iHeartRadio app
Apple podcasts wherever. Listen to DodgerTalking. Subscribe. I've never heard anyone
have such great rapport with all theguys on a team, but also be
able to tell the truth the wayDave does. You've mastered that art,
Dave much respect for sure, Thankyou. I appreciate that. I think
(36:34):
the biggest thing is they know it'scoming from not a place of hate,
but a place of care and beinghonest with people. So I think that's
the reason why they know it's it'snot poorly intended whenever I constructively criticize my
observations. Well, it's impressive,David, thanks for doing this on the
f and A podcast. All right, say I had a Kauai for me,
(36:54):
Adam, I didn't need that allthe way out. Well, it's
all right, you did? DidI Do I deserve that? I mean,
I feel like you. Of allpeople, I mean, no one
takes more shots than you do.So I think that was actually a pretty
good dismount on days play a lotof player's health. That's cross the line.
Fine, he said, just sayhi to Kawi for me. I
(37:15):
don't think it was anything bad aboutthat. If he knows what he meant
by that, he just wants youto say hello. Been wrong with that?
Well it was good to hear itwas. And great job by Bbrie,
our booking agent, our producer.There you go, you said that.
I do like the word booking agent. I got a flight to San
Antonio coming up here. Bre Youthink you can couple brother out of here
(37:38):
exactly. No good work, Breeze, thank you for that. I appreciate
you as always, and all right, appreciate you guys listening as well.
Boysmails. He hit us up onthe socials. You know what, Let
me double check the Tory Pineeswan Patrickcall in about the Masters like he typically
does at dine four nine four seveneight eleven ninety seven Eater talk about some
(38:00):
you know, we do have avoicemail ole mission. All right, let's
get to it. Now. Thisis toy, this is uh, this
is Scotti Scheffler's world, and everybodyelse is living in it. I don't
think anybody is even close to theball striking that he possesses. It's Tiger
(38:23):
like not that good. I meanit's not. It's the best we've seen
since Tiger. Let me just putit out to you that way, best
we've seen since Tiger as far asball striking. It may be a little
while before somebody else catches us tothis guy. It's that good. F
(38:46):
and a Kevin Tory were Michaelroy GeorgiaSpeed. Now, I will say as
much praise as those guys have gotten, no one's gotten as much praise as
Scheffler has gotten over the last i'dsay even year and a half. So
you win two Masters. Those guyshaven't done that, you know, So
(39:08):
it does say something. And Ieven remember saying last weekend, I say,
look, if this guy really wantsto start being talked about as like
one of the greats and being Tiger'sera, he got to stop being second
and third place at these major Secondand third is great, and you still
make a lot of money. It'sall good. Jack Nicholas was second many
times. Yeah, but you gotto start winning some of these tournaments.
And now we got a second Mastersin and look pretty impressive doing it,
(39:29):
toy. So yes, it isfun to watch whether or not he's gonna
be the next Tiger, which youdidn't say, but you were starting to
allude to that. Let's let's pauseon that one. Sting those balls.
Yeah, well like Tiger used to. That's right. Well, what how
did Tiger perform overall? Maltip nowhe is, Well, he got off
to a great start and he justkind of wore down as you typically do
(39:51):
when you were, you know,forty plus years old with bad problems,
you know, so got off toa great start. I think he was
maybe five or six off the leadafter the second round, so that's probably
the best you can ask for.And then fate. I'm still trying to
go back to, like, youknow, was it twenty nineteen or twenty
eighteen when he had that crazy runand won the Masters? That was pretty
special to watch. Yeah, soyou're kind of hoping that he has enough
(40:13):
left in the tank to try to, you know, steal another major or
two before he officially hangs it upand joins the Senior Tour. It gets
me watching. Yeah, Can Isay something very quickly. I'm listening about
the clickbait that has been out thereregarding Caitlin Clark and how much money she's
getting paid okay in the WNBA,and people saying, can you believe this
(40:35):
is only seventy six thousand dollars?I believe it. You know what their
TV contracts are. I could believeit. Could you explain it, Kevin,
because I feel like there's some contextbeing left out here. Yeah,
Well, it's not about people don'tcare about or don't love women's basketball,
or they're underpaid because no one wantsto pay them. You get paid what
the market is willing to pay you. So the reason why NBA players are
making fifty five million dollars a yearI think as of next year, is
(40:55):
like that's the most you can makeon a base salary is because they're signing
ty plus billion dollar TV contract withTT and ESPN, and now they're gonna
add somebody else to the to themixes. What I read yesterday, they
want TTESPN and another like the streaminggames one. So they're gonna so that
twenty four billion, which I thinkis what they signed for previously, is
probably gonna go up to thirty something. It's the revenue split. That's literally
all it is. If you don'tmake enough as a league, And to
(41:20):
my knowledge, has the WNBA hada profitable season. Yet there's revenue and
there's profit, So the best ofmy knowledge, they've lost money for pretty
much the entirety of their existence.Now. I hope Caitlin changes that because
I remember when it first came outand I watched in the Houston Comments during
the summer and I loved it.I went to one of the Sparks first
games against the New York Liberty.It was it was an incredible atmosphere.
(41:45):
It's not this. These women aren'tas talented or anything like that. It's
just about the actual revenue that theleague draws, and they're not drawing enough
from viewership for attendance, and youknow who's not watching their games? Women?
(42:06):
Three you want to speak to this. I was gonna say Bill Burr
has it was had a stand upat Red Rocks in Colorado and he actually
like said that it was like,this is why the w NBA doesn't make
money because you women aren't supporting yourown women. It's true, And I
agree, And I think this yearis kind of going to be different because
like Ajel Reeves Pardos, there wasa lot of big names that were drafted
(42:27):
and you know, obviously March madnesswith them, that was like a whole
different thing. So I mean,I'm gonna watch this season just because I
have a little bit of like I'minvested in Yea, she has to see
Cameron brink that groken ball. Excuseme, woman, I just can't believe,
like we have to see the Presidenttweet about this like it's it's some
(42:47):
disrespect to it's business, just howbusiness works. Business, that's it.
If you guys want the w NBAplayers to make more. Buy their jerseys,
watch their games, go to games, they'll make more. That's how
this works. Yeah, I justthis low hanging fruit of Look how much
she's making. And by the way, I heard from the commissioner recently over
(43:09):
the last couple of days say thatshe actually has incentives and kickers that can
get her up for almost half amillion dollars this year just from the WNBA.
That's a side for whatever shoe dealsshe's getting. I don't know what
revenue they got they're getting that from. But yeah, you mentioned the shoe
deals she signed with Nike, whichis big, and they're flying commercial half
the time. That was a bigdeal, and they can only fly charter
(43:30):
during the playoffs. But again,that's all about revenue generated. You revenue,
you generate the revenue, you putit back into the franchises. The
franchises can provide those sorts of things. People have to be watching it and
care about it. Do I thinkit changes now? Yeah, it's their
moment. I hope, so Ireally do, yes, because it's a
good product. And as the asbasketball in general has kind of gone away,
not fully from like the dunking onathlete all that to the skill of
(43:52):
people being able to cross over andshoot. It actually appeals to women being
able to be on level playing feltto a degree. You know, the
highlights that people want to see islike people pulling up and shooting forty footers.
Steph can do that, soaking CaitlynClark, you know, Dame can
do that, soaking Page Beckers,and even as a playing field. From
that standpoint, and if that's wherethe baseline of entertainment is going to be
(44:14):
based on, women have a chanceto make inroads. After what we saw
between Steph. Was it Page thathe was going up against in the three
point shootout? Yeah? Oh wasClark? Wasn't it? It was Clark
that was the highlight of All StarWeekend by far. That was incredible.
(44:36):
So I do think it's on therise and it's happening. So she won't
be getting paid this much for thatlong. I believe she can be the
trailblazer to change things for them,which is excellent. All right, all
right, thank you guys for listeningas always at FNA Show on Instagram,
Facebook and Twitter, at k figone on Twitter, at follow out in
May at Bridanice twenty six on Twitteras well, Thank you guys for a
(44:59):
listen. We appreciate your support.Have a good weekend. This has been
another edition of the f and Apodcast. Where are all the feminists?
None of you? None of youwent to the fucking games, none of
you. You all you failed.Down You're not mean, not men.
(45:19):
Women failed the WNBA
Let's get this. This is ghettobroadcasting live from the studios of AM five
to seven day. It's on awebsite. This is FNA man. I
am a god. Now what whydon't you get out of that jumpsuits?
Let me smack that fast. That'sa scary crew. As far as the
(00:21):
product goes, voice of a newgeneration man. He has the young guys
really at the top of their games. The two of them had something in
common. We bring you radio ecstasy. Oh it's beautiful broadcasting live from the
studios of AM five to seven day. Let it happen. This is the
FNA Podcast. Friday edition of theFNA Podcast is popping. Everybody's Kevin Figures
(00:45):
and Adam Alston with you guys asalways, It's a Friday Friday. It
is our pleasure to be with you. I'm a follow out of a He's
at k pig one at FNA showon Twitter, Facebook or the gram.
Breeber's in the house if a microphonethis year. Good morning, guys,
Happy Friday. I'm so bummed Imissed last week, but I know it
was a good show with the Duke. You missed a lot. If you
(01:07):
missed that show and you want tohear some ship talk to Brie, who
wasn't there about the Clippers being upthirty five to four on the Phoenix Suns.
Old news is old news. Don'tknow if you want to keep thinking
about that, that's on you putit on their tombstone for this season.
If they don't win it all,and they probably won't. Why if they
don't win it all? All right? Well, I mean, I guess,
(01:27):
I mean, I feel like forthe for the purpose of the two
of you, as if they justdon't go further than the Clippers do.
So that's going to be this.I actually like the Suns on this first
round series, I think. Yeah, all right, So with that,
so, how are we feeling,you know, let's go to NBA f
ya officially since whereas which we're talkingNBA right now with Brie? All right,
little first off? Yeah, let'sgo. First off, it's gone.
(01:51):
That's wrong. So are you feelingabout your Clippers taking on the Dallas
Mavericks for the fifteenth straight time inthe postseason they're at them? Well,
I'd be feeling a lot better ifI knew Kawhi Leonard was gonna be playing.
Oh what do you mean? Hegot an injection in his knee unless
he didn't, and he should beready to go, right That's what Sham
Sharoon and Sharoon Balloon said, Rightyeah. He also said he was having
intense workouts Shan Sharania yesterday, andthen Lawrence Frank had a presser, and
(02:15):
I felt much less optimistic about KawhiLeonard and the chances of him playing in
game one, because it sounded likehe's not doing really any conditioning work at
this point. So it's weird thatyou would believe. And maybe it's not
as someone who's not in the buildinglike Sham's over someone who is in Lawrence
Frank, and I don't think theynecessarily have to do gamesmanship, but there
certainly is nothing to gain from LawrenceFrank saying like, yeah, you know
(02:37):
what, he's good, He lookslooking fine, and he's definitely gonna play
on Sunday on Sunday, you know. So I feel like it's one of
those situations where if it's a playoffgame, he will be able to play,
which is this is the situation.So he missed the last eight games
of the regular season, it's gonnabe first game, the game, first
game, of the playoffs. Ibelieve he's gonna be available. It sounds
like he's limited in functional basketball moves, and the way he described what Kawhi
(03:01):
needs to do, the steps heneeds to take before getting on the court,
it just seems like within the nexttwo days that's not very likely that
he's going to get to that point. I hope it changes. I hope
he's able to give it a goin Game one, But my concern would
also be if his knee is stillswollen or inflamed. However you want to
(03:23):
put it over a three week period, because it has been almost a month
now. It's crazy, and it'shis right knee where he had ecl surgery,
where he had the meniscus last season. What are the chances that he's
able to play and it doesn't swellback up afterwards after his first real contact
out there, because he hasn't hadany yet. Yeah, the real fear
(03:44):
is that you know it could causefurther injury, or even if he's sixty
percent, it's just going to continueto deteriorate. So it's probably not that
he couldn't play. If it wasa one off, it'd probably be fine.
You have to continue to play,continue to play heavy minutes in a
really intense series. Now, grantedit's the first round, you're going to
have some days off in between,but even still, you know, considering
that he's been off for two anda half three weeks, as you mentioned,
it doesn't bode well. Even ifhe does play, he's not gonna
(04:06):
be one hundred percent. We knowthat for a fact. It sounds like
at this point he's made some progress, but not enough to where they'd likely
feel comfortable with unless something changes overthe next two days him playing in that
game one. Some people think it'sgamesmanship. I would say at this point,
(04:29):
I'm not thinking of it like thatat all. Lawrence Frank was pressed
on that this is somebody who mighthave to make deals with the Dallas Mavericks
in the future. I don't thinkhe's gonna continue to double down and have
this big press conference just to keepthe Dallas Mavericks in the dark. I
don't think it's a strategy at thispoint. No, But it could be
that he's not necessarily as bad ashe's letting on. He can still be
(04:53):
questionable, he can still have somerightning issues, and it's like, yeah,
he's not pleased on moving that well, and he can come out and
score the first fifteen points, thatdoesn't mean and it's not gonna flare up
again. That doesn't mean you're outcompletely out of the dark when it comes
to the injury situation, and overall, do I think it's a gamesmanship?
Probably not. I don't see Dallasbeing like, oh my god, Kawhi
Leonard is playing today. We're totallythrown off by this. We've never seen
(05:16):
Kawhi Leonard before. What game plando we have now? Like, they're
clearly gonna expect him to be therelike every team would. And even if
they don't expect him to and allof a sudden he shows up, I
think they have a strategy for him. They're very familiar with him. They're
very familiar with guys who could bein his place in Russell Westbrook or Norman
Powell or Mere Coffee. I don'tthink it's some great advantage to keep them
(05:40):
in the dark. I don't.All right, so all things are not
going to be equal. We knowthat. So just based on what you
know at this point in time,how confident are you that the Clippers find
a way to make it out ofthis first round matchup of Dallas. I
don't feel great about it. Dallasis the hottest team in the league.
Yeah, there's that part too.You can say their schedule has been a
little bit easier when they went sixtyto two in their final eighteen games before
(06:02):
basically giving up the last two becausewho cares, they were gonna end up
being the five seeds, So theydidn't push anyone out there, and they
didn't have Luke out there, theydidn't have Kyrie Irving out there. The
Dallas Mavericks made great acquisitions to thetrade deadline, bring in Daniel Gafford,
bringing in PJ. Washington, andthey became a top ten defense. So
(06:24):
they went from being a bottom tendefense for half the season to basically being
a top ten defense for the otherhalf of it. And Luca has rim
runners and rollers towards the basket,something he really hasn't had so much in
the past. These guys are muchbetter in their front court overall. He
also has the best second option he'sever had next to him in Kyrie Irving.
(06:46):
You can say on the defensive end, they both aren't great defenders,
but they've been given a better effortthis season. They've been a top ten
defense even with Luca and Kyrie atthe point of attack. So, yes,
there's weaknesses there you can pick at. There's holes there. If the
Clippers were fully healthy, who's guardingJames Harden? Because if you throw Derek
Jones Junior at Paul George, ifyou have PJ. Washington on Kawhi Leonard,
(07:09):
that means either Luca or Kyrie wouldhave to guard James Harden, which
seems like advantage Clippers. But that'sonly if Kawhi Leonard's there. How healthy
is James Harden by the way?I doubt I think he's okay? Okay,
so I do okay. I feellike, at least to me,
he hasn't necessarily looked right for awhile. And I know his scoring is
and look, I know that hisrole is different on this team than it
happened in the past. I justdon't know if there's a bit of a
(07:31):
diminished skill set there as far asdriving to the basket, drawing fouls the
way that he used to. Andagain, maybe his usage is different now
than it was before. He certainlydoesn't seem like the same sort of player
well have the impact on the gameas he would before, even with the
diminished role. His month of March, all the numbers were down. He
looked to be fatigued. It lookedto be tired legs. But they gave
(07:53):
him a couple of days off andthe few games he played at the end
of the season, I thought therewas more bursts there. It looked like
he's great to go. He's beenpracticing. There's no issue there because he
was listed with it in flame rightfoot. It looks like more precautionary and
just getting him some rest at theend of the season. Like I do,
feel like the explosiveness should be thereenough for at least what he had
(08:16):
at his best this season at theage of thirty four or thirty five.
So I'm not as concerned with him, all right, So fair enough on
James Harden, I get that nowon a big picture standpoint. First of
all, it's very disappointing as someonewho's not necessarily a Clipper fan, but
I want them to do well.Obviously. Do you have the one season
where Kawhi Leonard plays sixty plus games, plays amazing. Was in the MVP
con well, should have been inthe MVP conversation. Probably wasn'tto what Adam
(08:39):
would mention in earlier episodes of thepodcast with Bob, and then all of
a sudden, at the worst timeof year, he ends up going down
and at the very least, evenif he's able to play, he's not
gonna be at at one hundred percent. It's just very disappointing. But this
happened yet again the four straight year. It could be the four straight year
where either he wasn't available to starta pl playoff run or finish a playoff
(09:01):
run, which is pretty incomprehensible andso disappointing and frustrating. And I feel
terrible for Kawhi. He's one ofthese top seventy five player ever, but
in a playoff series, I wouldsay he's a top ten performer in NBA
history. That's how high I wouldrate him. Yeah, even when he's
(09:22):
been hurt. Look at how heplayed with Toronto with one leg. He
liked one of the leg players withthe broken leg in Matt and dragging his
leg up and down the court.Let's say Greg Jennings, who was that.
Yeah, how what happened? Wouldbreak his leg and he's just running
up and down the field. Hewas noticeably limping throughout that playoff run.
We don't know exactly what he wasdealing with, but even before that next
(09:43):
season started with the Clippers, itwas still hampering him. I remember they
kept him out of training camp becauseof that. So it's not like he
is unwilling to try to go.And that was really about the doctors.
Yeah, whether they let him go, they just signed him to a three
year extension. Yeah, so thisis somebody they've invested so much in.
(10:03):
If they feel like in Lawrence Frankdid say yesterday, at this point,
it doesn't seem to be something wherehe is risking further injury. But it's
in his right knee. If hecan't move the same way, you worry
about him. And they said heit's what was an issue before with the
(10:24):
ACL and the MCL. It's structurallysound. But if he can't move the
same way, are you risking furtherinjury because he's just not himself out there.
You can even overcompensate and end uphurting something that's not even related to
it. That's that's something you reallyhave to worry about. Yeah, And
it's a risk you can't afford totake when someone like you mentioned they just
(10:45):
signed an extension a few months ago. Where that stands, like Paul George
is still interesting to me, Butit does feel like this could be the
last dance, like if there wasa time where you were going to risk
it a little bit. And I'mnot saying Kawhi should do this, and
I'm not saying that Clippers should dothis, but James Harden's nune were stricted.
Free agent Paul George didn't get hiscontract extension. He has a player
(11:07):
option for I think forty eight million, And it sounds like, at least
depending on what reporting you want tolisten to, that the team and Paul
George's camp are apart in some way, shape and form on something now.
He had at the year's compensation,whatever it is. He had a great
last month of the season after acouple of months where he was dinged up.
It was noticeable and the numbers wereall down, but this was phenomenal
(11:28):
in March and in April leading intothe playoffs. He couldn't have looked better.
There's been rumors out there that thePhiladelphia seventy six ers, who should
have a max slot open up becauseTobias Harris is going to be off the
books this upcoming season, would beinterested in signing Paul George. You wonder
if that's about him and his agentusing that for leverage. I could go
(11:50):
here. I don't know. Ithink he wants to be in southern California.
I think he'd like to stay here. But Kawi took a little bit
less to stay. So then youstart to think, well, the other
guy's gonna fall in line and takejust a little bit less than what Kawhi
got because he's your number one.And then is it Paul George slotting in
and then James Harden slotting in afterthat? Because the one thing that came
(12:11):
out when Kawhi Leonard got his contractlater that night, the first game he
played under it, he was askedpostgame about it, and he made it
sound like he said something to theeffect of, well, yeah, pretty
much everybody's coming back. Yeah,So it sounded like at that point it
was a foregone conclusion that they weregoing to run this back. That maybe
(12:31):
not regardless of how the season ended, but there was a strong likelihood that
it was going to be the SoCalfor or whatever you want to say about.
You know, a bunch of guyscoming together with him and Russ and
James Harden and Paul George staying withthe Clippers and trying to make this a
bigger window than just a one seasonthing with James Harden. That's what it
(12:54):
sounded, though. It just readsthat Kawhi would sign his extension and then
months down the line, Paul Georgethe guy that he convinced the Clippers,
I'm not coming unless this guy's comingwith me, and we're a package deal
that Kawhi stays and for all.At least as of now, Paul George
still has yet to sign that extension. So it's interesting things change though,
if they get bounced in the firstround, if Kawhi is not able to
(13:15):
go, if he is but heisn't fully healthy, if James Harden and
Paul George, you know, don'tplay to their best abilities, and they
end up losing in five or somethinglike that to a Dallas Mavericks team that
is really good and trending the rightway. This feels more like a second
round matchup or even a Western Conferencefinals matchup in past years. It feels
(13:37):
similar to the Clippers taking on theSan Antonio Spurs in twenty fifteen. In
that first round matchup, the Spursare coming off being defending champs and on
the last day of the season theylost a ballgame and they dropped into the
sixth seed somehow, and the Clipperscaught him in the three to six matchup,
and the Spurs were favored as thesix seed. The Clippers ended up
winning in seven games off that crazyshot by CP three on the bad hanmy
(13:58):
over Tim Duncan. But it wasa war, and I don't I don't
know, I don't know. ThisDallas team is could easily be a team
that gets the Western Conference Finals,so I would not be shocked. This
is a coin flip of a series, and maybe not even that if obviously,
if Kawhi Leonards is not available forthe Clippers, oh yea Kauai is
(14:18):
not going to be available, Who'swho's picking the Clippers in that situation,
Like, it's hard to make theargument that the Clippers can still win without
Kawhi when they needed him last timearound against Dallas against a lesser Dallas team
to go seven games where he hadthe game six with forty five and a
must win situation. Even knowing Kawhiis not going to be one hundred percent.
It's really hard for me to pickthem to win this series. It
(14:39):
just really is. It's say howDallas is playing and how important he is
to what the Clippers do. Ican't. I can't pick the Clippers to
win that series right now, justthe prospect of having to beat Luka Doncicic
three times in the playoffs. Luca, to me, is one of the
greatest players of all time already.I've seen enough. He's twenty five,
he doesn't have the accolades, hedoesn't have the resume, he hasn't been
(15:00):
around long enough for that. Butif you just look at him and what
he has shown at his highest levelso far as an NBA player, he's
incredible. He's one of the bestwe've ever seen, one of the highest
skilled, most talented players ever.This is why people are talking about he
could be in the MVP conversation andshould be an MVP finalists even though he
didn't have a top seed. He'sgonna finish top three at worst. Yeah,
and it's hard to argue against it. Despite their seeding, with Jokich
(15:24):
and Denver not getting the number oneseed, I feel like him getting the
MVP for the third straight time,not third straight, but his third regular
season MVP. I don't think he'sgonna get it now. I think it
probably will be between sga as Okay, see finished first and Luca. Yeah,
I agree, so regardless, it'sthat close. He has played at
one of the highest levels all seasonlong, and the second half of the
(15:45):
season post raight at deadline with KyrieIrving next to him, and then the
new front court they got, theyare dangerous as hell. Now someone else
who have put up some awesome numberspost deadline and has been healthy, and
he's healthy this time this year hewasn't last year dealing with the foot injury
as Lebron James. As the Lakersfind their way and we go across the
hall for the last time, Iguess with Staple Center or Crypto with the
(16:07):
going from the Clippers of the Lakersat this point time, which by the
way, I'm sure you've seen thiswall concept that Steve Barmer is set up
in the into It Dome, fiftystraight rows, no suites there. Yeah,
but the seats cost like thirty bucks. It's like a first come,
first serve. They're not gonna letyou in this in the area, if
you're wearing gear that's not Clipper gear. If you cheer, whoever cheers the
most. If you sign up forit, they can track you and see
(16:29):
whoever's cheering the best or the most. In that section, you get discounted
items for sale. It's pretty it'spretty revolutionary. The fan experience there.
They want it to be like acollege atmosphere. On that side, they
want it to be as loud aspossible, as rowdy as possible for the
hardcore Clipper fans. That's pretty coreClippers. That's pretty cool. I love
that. I love that. Now, Hu good deal. You have been
(16:49):
on record the last month or sosaying you're confident that the Lakers have a
shot to defeat the Denver Nuggets inthis postseason. Now I feel like this
is jail. They were gonna haveto play the Clipper fans slashed old kis
Sacramento King fan trying to poison thewater. It's kind of the vibe I'm
getting. But even within that,I do feel that you do feel somewhere
(17:10):
inside you that the Lakers have ashot to beat them this year. I
really do. First of all,Lebron James is not nearly as banged up
as he was in the Western ConferenceFinals last year. I know he has
the ankle injury, but it's notthe same as what he was dealing with
with a foot injury, which soundedlike he needed a surgery on. Hasn't
really hampered him a whole lot either. He was so limited by the foot
you could see it out there whenhe's out on the court. With whatever
(17:32):
is going on with the ankle,he looks pretty damn close to as good
as Lebron James can look at theage of thirty nine, which is spectacular.
I think, easily a top tenplayer in the league, and at
times he still looks like a topfive player. I think the stat was
he's one of three players average twentyseven points and more post All Star Break.
He's incredible still, Anthony Davis,you wonder about him with the backspasms
(17:53):
because of that playing game against thePelicans, he did not look right now,
noticeably laboring. He also had oneday off, so and this is
something that I've been kind of ridingon the fact that they got Denver.
I said, this is absolutely thebest time to play Denver. One.
They don't have a lot of momentumthat the momentum behind winning a couple of
series under their belt to get tothe conference finals. And two, because
(18:14):
as I mentioned with the Clipper seriesof Dallas, these games are spread out.
I think you have a game aday off in between games one and
two. I think you have twodays off in between two and three,
and maybe even another two days offbetween three and four if I remember correctly,
every time they're traveling two at home, two on the road, one
to one one every time they're traveling. I think they have two games off
in between, which is huge fora team as old as the Lakers are
(18:36):
and as banged up as Anthony Davistends to get. So I think it
actually works out in their favor thatthey get Denver early. They're not as
worn down in as good as Denveris. What people are misremembering or discounting
about last season's run by them isit wasn't just about their talent level.
That was a very special run.That was guys like Jamal Murray shooting over
(19:00):
sixty percent in the Western Conference Finalsagainst the Lakers. I don't expect that
to happen again. It could,I don't expect it to happen. LA
defense isn't necessarily the strongest. Iwill say gay Vincent helps, but gave
Vincent ate the second coming and GaryPayton either. So no, but I
they did a ton of things.The shots that Jokis was making in that
series, and I know it's Jokisseverybody you know, but Murray more special,
(19:26):
crazy run. Could they do itagain? Yeah, they could be
the first team to go back toback since the Golden State Warriors with Kevin
Durant. They could be, ButI think they're much more vulnerable. They
don't have Bruce Brown, who washuge for them last season. They still
have KCP. Jeff Green has momentsfor them. Christian Brown's been better as
guys, He's gotten more minutes forthem this year. Yeah, he's been
good. Uh, Peyton Watson Watsonawesome for the kids, great, especially
(19:51):
defensively. Look, they're still thebest team in the league. I believe
they are. I would take themover Boston easily from the two games I
saw against Boston. They just don'thave the to go up against Yokich at
all. The Lakers do have somebodies and they're gonna go with that same
scheme they ran last year. Thatother teams tried to copy, which was
have the smaller guy as the primarydefender on Jokic and then have Anthony Davis
(20:14):
floating behind him that had some levelof effectiveness, and that guy was really
more often than not yes last year. I don't hate that at all.
And all those games, you canmock it, you can do the Petro
or some money things say it wasthe closest sweep of all time. Well
technically it was. And all thosegames came down to Denver out executing the
(20:37):
Lakers in a close game late inthe ballgame. If the Lakers get one
of the first two where they getover that hump finally and that mental hurdle
of just beating Denver in a closegame late, I think that's gonna work.
Wonders for them, do you wonderfor them? And I think the
Lakers were the most clutch team inthe NBA. I think there were twenty
five and eight or twenty five andnine in games decided by like five points
or less. Was a stat thatI saw didn't earlier this week. It
(21:00):
kind of surprised me someone who watchesall their games, But yeah, they
were the the the as far asclutch situations, winning games in clutch situations.
They were the best team or atleast had the best record in the
NBA in situations like that. Now, of those nine, I'm sure four
of them came against Denver. Butthat's how I wait. But to your
points, right to your point therethough, you know, all it takes
is one play, one turnover,one thing to bounce your way and gives
(21:23):
you confidence to be able to saybecause now it's probably in their head at
this point in time. If theycan get over that mental hurdle, they
know that they can do it,it changes the game completely and it would
change things for Denver too. Ohwe're not invincible against this team. How
many times they beat them going backto being them four straight times in the
Western Commerce Finals, I think threetimes this year. Yeah, so I
was eight in a row. Ifthat, if that error or of events,
(21:47):
invincibility excuse me, is over,I think it's a completely different series.
I think they are beatable by thisLakers team. I really do.
And I think I'm gonna go andthis is oh no, here we go.
Part of this hedging and me beinga Kings fan back of the day
and being a Laker hater and allthat. But I'm just gonna pick them
(22:10):
to win seven. Kevin. Thisis like when you pick the Dodgers to
win every those World Series every year, mister John. I didn't have him
in twenty twenty winning and that wasmy mistake. It wasn't. But I
don't if you don't count that one, an you don't count that one anyway.
So what difference doesn't make I thinkthe Lakers could win this thing six
or seven? Okay, I thinkthe Lakers can win it. I did
(22:34):
what do you what are you goingwith? How do you? Oh?
I still think Denver. I thinkI think Denver has their number. Uh.
Look, can the Lakers win?Of course you have Lebron James and
Anthony Davis. They absolutely have theability to. Uh. But I think
Denver is just as a superior team. And I think to a certain degree,
I think Denver finds, you know, oh the four game sweep.
Uh we you know, we lostevery game by an average of four points
(22:56):
or whatever it was. There mightbe an other one of Denver to say,
like we want actually put our stampand say we are the better team,
and actually way more convincingly to saythat there is a level of motivation.
You know, based on the waythat Mike Malone is talking, they
better be ready because he's based onwhat he said at the parade last year.
He is still talking trash now.The owner said it, Oh okay,
biker's daddy. Yeah you know,so you know, just make sure
(23:18):
you're not writing checks your butt can'tcash. But I think they can.
I still think Denver's the best teamin the entire league. They have the
best player in the world. NikolaJokic is the best player. If you
have are the reigning finals MVP,you've already won two regular season MVPs,
you're running for a third, You'rethe best player in the world. Yeah,
And from a tactical standpoint, theyhave no one who can stop Jokic.
They really don't think. I don'tthink anybody on the perimeter can even
(23:38):
stop Jamal Murray. Look, theyhad Jared Vanderbilt their best perimeter defriender last
year and it didn't make a differencewhen they tried to put him on him.
And I'm not sure the status ofhim because I know our old friend
Bill Ryders said it was over earlier, like a month agoing it's over.
Yeah, it sounds like sounds likeno. At least I wouldn't think at
this point in time, you're justgonna thrust them back in there in the
(23:59):
post season, I would I woulddoubt it. Gave Vincent at least had
four or five games to get underhis belt before they put him back in
the rotation. He looked good inthe plan. This is somebody last year
who shots against star for Miami lastyear. That's what got him paid,
That's what got people to think hecould be some missing piece or some real
role player, contributor type that hasbeen there and done that. So I
(24:22):
mean, if he has a goodseries, that could be a difference.
I just don't see it. Istill I still think Jamal Murray has the
number. So I don't think thathave anybody that can stop Jamal Murray.
We know they have nobody that canstop Jokic. Yes, losing Bruce Brown
was a big blow, but youmentioned I think Christian Brown, who actually
wasn't that good for them in theplayoffs last year they kind of won despite
him, despite him at times,who's been better this year. And Peyton
(24:42):
Watson is just a defensive beast onthe perimeter. I don't see it.
I think the Lakers winning one ofthe first two in Denver and that Game
three is gonna be huge back inLos Angeles swing the series. Absolutely could
no doubt out Lakers and seven allright, okay, whatever you say?
Or six all right? Have wetalked about the Dodgers a second ago?
(25:04):
Speaking of the Dodgers, let's getto have we had this guy on in
like three years. It's been awhile, It's been a long time.
I remember last season I asked himto come on and he was like,
yeah, how about in between thedoubleheader and it was kind of like,
well, then there may be newnews after the second game by the time
we post this thing. Yeah,So I'm glad we got him on today.
(25:26):
It worked out timing wise, itdid. So let's get right to
it. Let's talk some Dodgers baseball. If yeah, Alan drinking dud.
Thank you. Donny Well joining theshow right now as a friend, a
mentor, a father, not adaddy like Mike Malonis to the Lakers.
But he's also a professional, unlikeme, an accomplished reporter and broadcaster for
the Dodgers. Whether he's on theradio for five seventy or on Spectrum.
(25:49):
Holy crap, it's David Vasse backon the FNA podcast DV. Thanks for
doing this. Wow, what anhonor to be on with a big time
clipperdcaster. I'll take that. Thankyou. Now we're not the Panics.
Lakers beat Denver just so you stopplaying that stupid Mike Malone SoundBite. Hey
(26:10):
you're not the only one day.Trust me. I think they have a
good shot against Denver. Dave,all right, I really do so,
I'll give you that. I'm gonnasay Lakers in seven. Okay, Now,
we're not the Panic brothers over here. But are there more flaws than
this Dodger roster after the last coupleof weeks than we realize coming into this
season. I would say there areflaws. There's no perfect team, even
(26:30):
when you spend as much as theDodgers have spent. The Mets are a
great example. You could spend themost money in baseball and still not have
a complete roster. But the Dodgersare in first place after all that being
said and done, and they arejust an unsettled team when it comes to
some of their role players, likeGavin LUs at second base. Him the
(26:52):
Dodgers putting everything in Gavin Lux beingthere shortstop going into spring training just as
completely unsettled the entire roster because nowyou've had to move Mooki Betts to shortstop.
Lux is not hitting, so they'rekind of in a spot here rather
than just going with the veteran MiguelRojas and Kei k Hernandez and leave Mooki
(27:14):
at second base. And also youcould have just left Mooki in right field.
So I just feel like that partof the roster has completely unsettled everything
else. How long of a leasedo they give Gavin Lux in this situation?
Dave mentioning that they have Rojas whocan play spectacular defensive shortstop. I
don't know if durability is an issueand they don't want to play them every
(27:34):
day. You and O better thanI. Do you think that's a legitimate
option that at some point they canput Rojas in at short and put Mooki
at second and put Lucks on thebench. Yeah, that was the apprehension
that Rojas can't play one hundred andsixty two or even one hundred and forty
games. He's getting up there thirtyfive thirty six. In spring training,
he was limited because you know,aging legs, all that stuff. But
(28:00):
you could have a combination of Rojasand Kiki at shortstop until maybe you find
a better option at the trade deadline. But yeah, that's part of the
reason why they did not want tocommit to Rojas being there every day shortstop
because of the age and durability.David Veasse is our guest here on the
FDA podcast. Dave Chowio TONI onefor nineteen with runners in scoring position.
(28:25):
What are they going to do totry to get him to stop pressing?
Now, that's up to him.I feel like there's enough talk and he's
very aware of what is said abouthim. I just feel like he needs
to recalibrate, and if he continuesto struggle with runners in scoring position,
will Dave Roberts decide to flip flophim and Freddie Freeman Because Mookie Benz is
(28:49):
getting on base at a very highrate and you need to be able to
drive him in, especially if there'stwo outs. So I feel like that
Otani's a three hundred hitter career withrunners in scoring position last year to ninety
five, So I feel like it'sjust one of those things right now that
(29:11):
hopefully turn around. What's Otani likeas a teammate DV Because obviously there's a
language barrier. He's an international superstar. There's so much attention around him.
How does he fit into the clubhouse. What's your interactions been like there?
Well, my interaction has been verylimited, but I've talked to teammates that
I've said ever since Epaying Misuhara hasbeen out of the picture, he's been
(29:33):
a more approachable teammate and also avery humorous teammate. So it seems like
that human shield for now we knowthe various reasons was kind of impeding Otani
being a teammate instead of just beingon an island. If guys felt like
they couldn't talk to him because Epaiwas always there, and when they did
(29:56):
talk to him, they didn't getmuch out of him. But now that
he he is out of it,you know, O, Tommy, whether
or not you want to call it, is forced now to be more part
of it or whatever it is heis, and that's a good thing.
Now. If you brought up Mookiand you say you were on record saying
before the season started, this willbe the year of Mookie Betts, don't
(30:18):
be surprised if he has an MVPtype season. A lot of Dodger fans
now all things ended last year inthe playoffs with Arizona. He and Freddy
Feeman didn't particularly play well in thatseries. What was it in your interactions
with him throughout the offseason that madeyou believe that he was poised to have
a big year this year. Well, just what he was saying, like
he just cared about winning, andfor the first time he admitted that,
you know, he has failed inthe playoffs the last two years. He
(30:41):
actually took accountability for that. Andthen when he came to FanFest, you
could see the same kind of demeanorwhere he was very motivated. But really
what took me over the edge wasseeing Mookie actually be out on the field
in Cammel backgranchier than most and thatthat's the same type of Mookie Bets we
(31:03):
saw in twenty twenty, and alsotalking to him during spring training, he
just made it very clear that hewants to prove the doubters wrong. He's
heard the critics and this was goingto be a season of redemption for him.
So that's that's what led me tobelieve all that Brie wants me to
ask you, how come their outfielderJames Outman is struggling right now? Why
(31:26):
does James Outmann suck at the moment? Well, the league has made adjustments
against him, and he hasn't madeadjustments back. And also there's I don't
know if this is actual or justme guessing, but he did admit feeling
the nerves in his first playoff gamelast year he dropped that fly ball that
(31:47):
led to six runs by the Diamondbacks. And this team is built to win.
There's a lot more attention this year. So this is not made for
every player, is my point.And I'm not saying James Outman is not
made for this, but right nowhe's got to prove that he is made
(32:08):
for this, and so far hestruggled to go back. Chris Taylor struggled,
but James Outman struggled. Yeah,speaking of guys with long leashes and
someone who's had obviously a long,very successful history with the Dodgers, how
long of a leashed do they havewith Chris Taylor, who looks just completely
lost up there. Yeah. Right, whatever he worked on during the offseason
isn't working. I'm not sure howmuch longer the Dodgers allow this to go
(32:31):
on. It's one thing to believein a player, but it's hard to
ignore one hit in your first thirtyseven at bats at any point in time
in the season. That's that's that'shard to do. So I don't know.
I don't know. Maybe we showup at the ballpark today and they
make a change, or you know, they there might be something physically wrong
(32:52):
with Chris Taylor and he's able toget that right and reset. But I'm
not I'm not sure. I mean, he's owed a lot of money.
If if the Dodgers did what thefans are suggesting, they would owe him
thirty million dollars for the next twoyears for not playing for them, And
(33:13):
that would be kind of like AaronHicks with the Yankees. Are they willing
to do that? Right now?They're always talking about depth, so I
don't see them just letting a playergo, especially with how much they're paying
him. So I feel like theywould try to work something out as far
as putting him on the il,letting him have a chance to catch his
breath and you know, whatever isgoing on with him, try to rectify
(33:37):
it and give him one more chancenow, Dave last I saw Miguel Vargus
was playing pretty decently down in theminor leagues. Do you think there's an
opportunity for him to possibly come backup, especially if Lux and Taylor other
guys you know who are not steppingup in the infield, do you think
they might the doctors might give himanother shot this season. I don't believe
it would be on the infield ifthey needed Miguel Vargas, it would be
(33:58):
in the outfield. He's been playingleft field ever since the start of spring
training, so I feel like I'mnot sure if they would give him that
chance. I feel like they're ata crossroads with him as well. Like
he's mashing triple A every time he'sdown there, but he struggled in the
big leagues. I'm not sure whathis future is with the team. Last
one for me, David Yamamoto isgoing tonight. Been a little bit up
(34:22):
and down so far. Were theearly returns or signs you've seen from him
and the type of picture he's goingto be in the majors. Well,
everybody keeps reminding me that he's onlytwenty five years old and adjusting to a
new league, a new culture,a new actual baseball. So we've seen
signs that he's making the adjustments,which is a good thing. And the
(34:45):
indication I've gotten from the Dodgers isthey just want him to be right by
the time the playoffs rolls around.So this is somewhat of our process to
get him to that point. SoI know, after that first start and
after spring training, I was alittle concerned, but I feel like he's
settled down. And basically, guys, whatever the Dodgers paid for him,
(35:06):
it wasn't strictly about baseball. Ithink we're all aware of that, and
I'm not He's not the level ofa Garrett Cole. He's probably a number
two or number three pitcher at thispoint in time. But like I said,
Otani and Yamamoto were signings that werebeyond baseball reasons. And now,
speaking of pitching, Dave Walker Buehlermade a rehab start last night. How
(35:27):
did that go? When can weexpect to see him on the road trip
coming up? Did you check thebox score, Kevin? I did,
but I wanted you to let ourlisteners know just in case I want to
hear from the horse's mouth the Dodgerreporter. But gosh, you really know
how to hurt me, don't you. Man, Geez sorry, Oh yeah,
it wasn't good. It wasn't good. He walked for less than half
his pitches were strikes. I thinkhe needs one more, one more rehab
(35:52):
startings with Landonakt. The way hepitched, I think he gives the Dodgers
that chance. Follow him at thereal unders DV or just listen to AM
five seventy LA Sports within the nextten minutes. You know he'll be on
with somebody. Subscribe to Dodger Talk. One of the best listens off off
day Dodger Talk yesterday with Blake Trining. Blake gave Dave a lot of crap
(36:12):
rightfully, so uh, he doesa good job. Obviously. Dave's one
of the best reporters out there,So definitely subscribe. Listen. iHeartRadio app
Apple podcasts wherever. Listen to DodgerTalking. Subscribe. I've never heard anyone
have such great rapport with all theguys on a team, but also be
able to tell the truth the wayDave does. You've mastered that art,
Dave much respect for sure, Thankyou. I appreciate that. I think
(36:34):
the biggest thing is they know it'scoming from not a place of hate,
but a place of care and beinghonest with people. So I think that's
the reason why they know it's it'snot poorly intended whenever I constructively criticize my
observations. Well, it's impressive,David, thanks for doing this on the
f and A podcast. All right, say I had a Kauai for me,
(36:54):
Adam, I didn't need that allthe way out. Well, it's
all right, you did? DidI Do I deserve that? I mean,
I feel like you. Of allpeople, I mean, no one
takes more shots than you do.So I think that was actually a pretty
good dismount on days play a lotof player's health. That's cross the line.
Fine, he said, just sayhi to Kawi for me. I
(37:15):
don't think it was anything bad aboutthat. If he knows what he meant
by that, he just wants youto say hello. Been wrong with that?
Well it was good to hear itwas. And great job by Bbrie,
our booking agent, our producer.There you go, you said that.
I do like the word booking agent. I got a flight to San
Antonio coming up here. Bre Youthink you can couple brother out of here
(37:38):
exactly. No good work, Breeze, thank you for that. I appreciate
you as always, and all right, appreciate you guys listening as well.
Boysmails. He hit us up onthe socials. You know what, Let
me double check the Tory Pineeswan Patrickcall in about the Masters like he typically
does at dine four nine four seveneight eleven ninety seven Eater talk about some
(38:00):
you know, we do have avoicemail ole mission. All right, let's
get to it. Now. Thisis toy, this is uh, this
is Scotti Scheffler's world, and everybodyelse is living in it. I don't
think anybody is even close to theball striking that he possesses. It's Tiger
(38:23):
like not that good. I meanit's not. It's the best we've seen
since Tiger. Let me just putit out to you that way, best
we've seen since Tiger as far asball striking. It may be a little
while before somebody else catches us tothis guy. It's that good. F
(38:46):
and a Kevin Tory were Michaelroy GeorgiaSpeed. Now, I will say as
much praise as those guys have gotten, no one's gotten as much praise as
Scheffler has gotten over the last i'dsay even year and a half. So
you win two Masters. Those guyshaven't done that, you know, So
(39:08):
it does say something. And Ieven remember saying last weekend, I say,
look, if this guy really wantsto start being talked about as like
one of the greats and being Tiger'sera, he got to stop being second
and third place at these major Secondand third is great, and you still
make a lot of money. It'sall good. Jack Nicholas was second many
times. Yeah, but you gotto start winning some of these tournaments.
And now we got a second Mastersin and look pretty impressive doing it,
(39:29):
toy. So yes, it isfun to watch whether or not he's gonna
be the next Tiger, which youdidn't say, but you were starting to
allude to that. Let's let's pauseon that one. Sting those balls.
Yeah, well like Tiger used to. That's right. Well, what how
did Tiger perform overall? Maltip nowhe is, Well, he got off
to a great start and he justkind of wore down as you typically do
(39:51):
when you were, you know,forty plus years old with bad problems,
you know, so got off toa great start. I think he was
maybe five or six off the leadafter the second round, so that's probably
the best you can ask for.And then fate. I'm still trying to
go back to, like, youknow, was it twenty nineteen or twenty
eighteen when he had that crazy runand won the Masters? That was pretty
special to watch. Yeah, soyou're kind of hoping that he has enough
(40:13):
left in the tank to try to, you know, steal another major or
two before he officially hangs it upand joins the Senior Tour. It gets
me watching. Yeah, Can Isay something very quickly. I'm listening about
the clickbait that has been out thereregarding Caitlin Clark and how much money she's
getting paid okay in the WNBA,and people saying, can you believe this
(40:35):
is only seventy six thousand dollars?I believe it. You know what their
TV contracts are. I could believeit. Could you explain it, Kevin,
because I feel like there's some contextbeing left out here. Yeah,
Well, it's not about people don'tcare about or don't love women's basketball,
or they're underpaid because no one wantsto pay them. You get paid what
the market is willing to pay you. So the reason why NBA players are
making fifty five million dollars a yearI think as of next year, is
(40:55):
like that's the most you can makeon a base salary is because they're signing
ty plus billion dollar TV contract withTT and ESPN, and now they're gonna
add somebody else to the to themixes. What I read yesterday, they
want TTESPN and another like the streaminggames one. So they're gonna so that
twenty four billion, which I thinkis what they signed for previously, is
probably gonna go up to thirty something. It's the revenue split. That's literally
all it is. If you don'tmake enough as a league, And to
(41:20):
my knowledge, has the WNBA hada profitable season. Yet there's revenue and
there's profit, So the best ofmy knowledge, they've lost money for pretty
much the entirety of their existence.Now. I hope Caitlin changes that because
I remember when it first came outand I watched in the Houston Comments during
the summer and I loved it.I went to one of the Sparks first
games against the New York Liberty.It was it was an incredible atmosphere.
(41:45):
It's not this. These women aren'tas talented or anything like that. It's
just about the actual revenue that theleague draws, and they're not drawing enough
from viewership for attendance, and youknow who's not watching their games? Women?
(42:06):
Three you want to speak to this. I was gonna say Bill Burr
has it was had a stand upat Red Rocks in Colorado and he actually
like said that it was like,this is why the w NBA doesn't make
money because you women aren't supporting yourown women. It's true, And I
agree, And I think this yearis kind of going to be different because
like Ajel Reeves Pardos, there wasa lot of big names that were drafted
(42:27):
and you know, obviously March madnesswith them, that was like a whole
different thing. So I mean,I'm gonna watch this season just because I
have a little bit of like I'minvested in Yea, she has to see
Cameron brink that groken ball. Excuseme, woman, I just can't believe,
like we have to see the Presidenttweet about this like it's it's some
(42:47):
disrespect to it's business, just howbusiness works. Business, that's it.
If you guys want the w NBAplayers to make more. Buy their jerseys,
watch their games, go to games, they'll make more. That's how
this works. Yeah, I justthis low hanging fruit of Look how much
she's making. And by the way, I heard from the commissioner recently over
(43:09):
the last couple of days say thatshe actually has incentives and kickers that can
get her up for almost half amillion dollars this year just from the WNBA.
That's a side for whatever shoe dealsshe's getting. I don't know what
revenue they got they're getting that from. But yeah, you mentioned the shoe
deals she signed with Nike, whichis big, and they're flying commercial half
the time. That was a bigdeal, and they can only fly charter
(43:30):
during the playoffs. But again,that's all about revenue generated. You revenue,
you generate the revenue, you putit back into the franchises. The
franchises can provide those sorts of things. People have to be watching it and
care about it. Do I thinkit changes now? Yeah, it's their
moment. I hope, so Ireally do, yes, because it's a
good product. And as the asbasketball in general has kind of gone away,
not fully from like the dunking onathlete all that to the skill of
(43:52):
people being able to cross over andshoot. It actually appeals to women being
able to be on level playing feltto a degree. You know, the
highlights that people want to see islike people pulling up and shooting forty footers.
Steph can do that, soaking CaitlynClark, you know, Dame can
do that, soaking Page Beckers,and even as a playing field. From
that standpoint, and if that's wherethe baseline of entertainment is going to be
(44:14):
based on, women have a chanceto make inroads. After what we saw
between Steph. Was it Page thathe was going up against in the three
point shootout? Yeah? Oh wasClark? Wasn't it? It was Clark
that was the highlight of All StarWeekend by far. That was incredible.
(44:36):
So I do think it's on therise and it's happening. So she won't
be getting paid this much for thatlong. I believe she can be the
trailblazer to change things for them,which is excellent. All right, all
right, thank you guys for listeningas always at FNA Show on Instagram,
Facebook and Twitter, at k figone on Twitter, at follow out in
May at Bridanice twenty six on Twitteras well, Thank you guys for a
(44:59):
listen. We appreciate your support.Have a good weekend. This has been
another edition of the f and Apodcast. Where are all the feminists?
None of you? None of youwent to the fucking games, none of
you. You all you failed.Down You're not mean, not men.
(45:19):
Women failed the WNBA
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