January 25, 2024 • 48 mins
The FnA Podcast with Kevin Figgers and Adam Auslund. The guys have some FnNBA talk on the Clippers and Lakers and then Kirk Morrison joins the show to talk about the Chargers hiring Jim Harbaugh, the Raiders with AP, NFC and AFC championship game previews and more....
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(00:01):
Let's get this. This is ghettobroadcasting live from the studios of a M
five to seven day. It's ona website. This is fn A.
Man, I am a god.Now what why don't you get out of
that jump sudents. Let me smackthat fast. That's a scary crew.
As far as the product goes voiceof a new generation, many of the
(00:24):
young guys are really at the topof their games. The two of them
had something in common. We bringyou radio ecstasy. Oh it's beautiful broadcasting
live from the studios of a Mfive to seven day. Let it happen.
This is the FNA podcast. Itis the fn A Podcast on a
(00:44):
throw that ass Back Thursday edition.I'm Adam Ozla. We got k fig
thanks for joining us. He's atk Big one on Twitter, on x
I'm at follow Adam a at fand A show on Twitter, Facebook and
the Gram. Kevin, how arewe doing? We're doing good, doing
very well. We're doing better.If you guys left us a voicemail at
(01:07):
nine seven eight eleven ninety seven,I don't believe we have one this week.
Talk shit. The hell's wrong withyou, guys, That's the best
way to talk. Some mes.Just don't leave one at all. Exactly
we hear you aloud and clear,exactly eight eleven ninety seven. Call us,
leave us a voicemail. Let's knowwhat's on your mind. Just call
all right. Coming up later inthe show, we won't have voicemails,
(01:29):
but we do have a fantastic guest, a guy on a throwback Thursday No
Less that we haven't talked to ina while. Should be fun. Kirk
Morrison. Yeah, your favorite linebackerfor the Raiders back in the day,
also did it for the Jaguars andthe Buffalo Bills in the NFL, and
now you see him on the televisionon ESPN calling games college football games there
(01:51):
and of course competitor, the otherevil for letter calling games, Rams Radio
Network doing pre affing posts for them. Does a great job way for a
serious XM if you're an NFL fanand you can shell out the extra bucks
to pick up serious XM channel eightyeight where they have their NFL coverage,
and Kirk does a hell of ajob doing some stuff there as well.
So we'll talk about some of thecoaching changes. I think something happened here
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in Los Angeles last night. Alsopreview the NFC and AFC championship games.
But first off, we got totalk a little fn NBA oos go time.
That's wrong, Well, puffing outyour chest from that Clipper victory the
other night there, Adam, I'mstill upset they actually lost two games to
the Lakers this season, Kevin.It's rare. It's rare. They've won
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thirty seven of the last forty sixgames between these two, going back to
I think the twenty eleven seasons,so over a decade here, and they
had won eleven in a row cominginto this season over the Lakers. Well,
and well, look, there werecertainly some factors into why that happened.
I mean, Kawhi Leonard didn't playwell better previous loss. Oh well,
no, I'm talking about as ofwhy they were and two going into
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that game earlier this week. Enough. Now, look and you can even
say there's a fact the rest ofwhy the Clippers won that game. Lebron
James didn't play in the Lakers hungaround if he's a zubox, did not
play as well, and that's hugeconsidering how much of a defensive beast he
is in the paint. And Idon't know, I'm sure you do Adam.
I don't know if he's the bestat defending the paint from an individual
standpoint, but he's certainly in thetop three when it comes to big men.
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Yeah, no, you're exactly right. He's only behind Chris STAPs,
Porzingis and Rudy Gobert. When itcomes to rim protection. That's defensive field
goal percentage within six feet of therim. Incredible. Yeah, and he's
been like this. This is whathe has been doing for years. He's
always been an elite rim protector,even going back to the Lakers days.
But for whatever reason, he's veryunderrated. He doesn't get the respect he
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deserves. And now this season he'sbeen his best on the offensive end.
It's not a coincidence they have JamesHarden. Now we know how good he
is with big men running that pickand roll, but if he's the Zubats.
Over the last six weeks before theinjury to his right calf, he
was getting thirteen and ten a blockwhile shooting almost seventy percent from the field.
I mean, really impressive. Hewas I think at the best mark
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between five and nine feet out hewas shooting sixty four percent. That's elite.
Also, the guy who led theNBA in that category last season when
it came to the highest field goalpercentage from five to nine feet out Niko
Jokic. So he's in good company. He's he was doing amazing things.
So I don't think people should overlookthe fact that they didn't have a Vitza
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zu Bots. Yes, Lebron Jamesis the bigger factor of the Lakers not
having him, But still the Clippershave to get by right now without their
defensive anchor. Well, look,they've been so good offensively. Look even
with their issues quote unquote against theLakers the other night, what they show
better than sixty percent from the fieldmost of the night. And really the
only reason the Lakers got back intoit is because the Clippers were sloppy,
which will happen at times with them. But you know, and I know
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there was a giant joke when JamesHarden was traded and people misinterpreted a quote
we talked about on the show abouthim. I am the system, but
to a certain degree, he doesthrive when having the ball in his hands
and running screen and roles. AndI do think a big reason why the
Clippers, and again you'll back meup on this because you see them every
single night and know all the numberswhen running screen and rolls, taking the
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ball out of Paul George's and Kawhileonards hands and making those guys secondary players,
not secondary players meaning their roles arediminished, but meaning they don't have
to create as much. Those guyshave fourished because they don't have the burden
of having to control the ball.James Harden's scoring is down, but his
effectiveness is way up because he doesn'thave to score thirty five and get fifteen
assists to night. James Harden canget eleven points, eleven assists and just
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float along while those guys clean up. And I think that's as big a
reason as any that they've had thebest record in the NBA for the last
what's it been month and a half, two months something like that. Yeah,
Clippers have won twenty five of theirlast thirty two ball games. And
to your point regarding James Harden,you go back to that introductory press conference.
He was downright to fine, andI think he felt like he was
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being disrespected for the player that hehas been with respect. He was looking
for that respect because he's a topseventy five player of all time, and
people were talking about him like he'sdone, he's washed. He wasn't an
All Star last season even though hehad a case to be. And he's
making the game so much easier foreveryone else. You look at the efficiency
while Kawhi Leonard, yeah, he'sat about twenty three points per game right
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now, but he's shooting forty fourpercent from the outside, fifty two percent
from the field. Paul George isat forty two percent from the outside,
Norman Pals at forty five percent fromthe outside. That is the James Harden
effect. They have had the bestoffense over those last thirty two games now
where they're twenty five and seven,best record in the NBA over that stretch.
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It's James Harden. When he runspick and roll, you're getting like
a point and a half per possession. That is extremely elite. It's almost
like free points out there. He'sjust a pick and roll savon and it
opens things up. Now, therewas an adjustment first six games or first
five games they lost with him,but Russell Westbrook was in the back court
at first, so they weren't exactlyempowering James Harden to be at his best
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and do what he does best.Once they brought Russ off the bench and
he made that sacrifice. It's beensmooth sailing offensively. Defensively, at times,
they have been a little bit upand down. It just seems like
they let up there because they knowit's so easy to score, and that's
human nature. When you're getting itdone offensively like that and you'ar the number
one offense, you may have aletdown defensively just because you're not as focused
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because you know you can get pointson the other end. But they still
have had plenty of moments where itlooks like, oh yeah, they're an
elite defensive team too when they needto be. Like going on a twenty
two to zero run against the BrooklynNets in the last five minutes and thirty
three seconds a couple of nights ago, just incredible. When they were down
eighteen in the fourth, well,you know, look, they've crossed the
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rubicon. They're one of those teamswhere they can play shitty for an entire
night and turn it on for aquarter and still win. But that's when
you know you've reached elite status.There was a handful of teams Denver Boston,
Milwaukee. There's only a few teamsthat can do that. We said,
we played terribly tonight and we stillfound you look up the final score
and we won by eight. There'snot a lot of teams that have the
ability to do that, and theClippers are one of them. So I
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know we'll get to the Lakers herein the second. Butte since everything revolving
around the Lakers right now is talkingabout trades and who are going to acquire
and how they're going to improve andif they're a title contender. So as
someone who watches the Clippers on anight in a night out basis and know
this team inside and out, isthere a move that even needs to be
made for this team? Is theresomething they can do to improve themselves?
As the deadline approaches here in afew weeks. The one thing that's brought
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up still is that because they tradedout Roco and Nicholas Batum, two of
their better wings. Marcus Morris wentto Philadelphia as well, but he wasn't
in the rotation for the Clippers thisseason, so that was somewhat inconsequential.
But Roko was he was back inand Nicholas batoum has been one of the
most valuable and important players over thelast three years because of the switchability he
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has defensively where he can guard onethrough five, and they don't have as
much of what we used to callwing stop with this team, where you
just had all these positionless guys outthere and you could play a bunch of
guys between six's, five andsix eight. So some think they still
need that four, a guy whocan play the four or the five,
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who's a good rebounder but can alsostretch the floor. Now, that's not
easy to find a guy who's thatgood on both ends where he can help
you out defensively but also not gettingthe way on offense and at least be
respected as a three point shooter soyou can spread the floor. Some of
the guys that people have brought up, or like PJ. Washington with Charlotte,
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Kelly Olennox, name has been outthere. They would love to get
I'm sure Dorian Finney Smith from theBrooklyn Nets, but sounds like they want
a couple of first round picks.The Clippers only have one. They can
offer their twenty thirty, and thatis a very valuable coveted pick and something
they might want to hold on tobecause that's really their last big trade ship
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they have at the moment. Soyou know, look, it's an embarrassment
of riches right now or nitpicking ateam that has been best in the NBA
over the last two months. Butif you're looking for one little blemish or
one little possible hole on the rosterright now, that's it just finding more
of that stretch wing or just aguy who can be an elite rebounder,
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a rim runner, and a greatdefender out there at multiple positions. And
look, if you're a team likethe Clippers, you're in a spot where
you don't necessarily have to be rushedinto making some sort of deal. You
can stand pat and take a lookat the buyout market and maybe there's somebody
who hits there that you can pickup and they could potentially help you,
you know they And to your point, they don't have a lot of moveable
assets. That's one thing that Iguess would hurt them in this situation.
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I know they have PJ. Tucker, but he has a player option that
he's If I were him, Ipick it up because who the hell else
is gonna pay him eleven million?Dollars next year, So that's probably going
to have more value next year thanit is right now from a trade standpoint.
But the Clippers, I mean,from my view, they don't need
to do anything. All the endsto do is stay healthy. The big
bugaboo that's bit them in this fivesix year run with Kawhi Leonard and Paul
George. Get those guys to stayon the floor consistently, that's really all
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you need. Yeah, that's beenthe biggest difference is not just having James
Harden. Now, the first twentythree games of the season, they had
both Kawhi and Paul George on thefloor. That is the longest consecutive amount
of games that they have played inthis era. So some of it's been
luck they've had better availability out there. But adding James Harden has just fine
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tuned this offense. He's just elevatedeveryone else around him. Now. Yeh,
Look, there's something to be saidfor thus wear and tear on the
bodies of Paul George and Kawhi Leonardwhen they don't have to control the ball
as much, When Kahi doesn't haveto be the guy on offense and defense
every single night, that means somethingand Kevin, listen to these numbers for
Kawhi Leonard over the last twenty twogames. Now we're talking historic stuff like
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you have not seen many better twentytwo game stretches in the history of the
NBA. And if you go backto the last three months of last season
where he was shooting fifty three fortyseven ninety splits and put those together,
you got about seventy games of datawhere Kawhi Leonard has been about fifty two
percent from the field and about fourforty six percent from the outside over about
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seventy games. Because over the lasttwenty two this season, he's at fifty
seven percent from the field and fiftyone percent from three while giving you elite
defense. And over those twenty twogames with him at that level, they've
only lost three of them. Wow, that's incredible. And look, I
know it's he's not going to putup the sexy numbers and Joel Embiid is
dropping thirty and twenty every night,and if things keep up, he's going
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to end up getting the MVP again, no doubt. But Kawhi Leonards having
that sort of season if the look, if these numbers continue and the Clippers
continue to shoot up the standings andby seasons, and by the time we
start getting into you know, Aprilish and the Clippers may have the top
seed in the Western Conference. Hemight get some looks, and he should.
It's deserving. So let's talk aboutyour Lakers. Why are they my
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Lakers that height out? How comemy Lakers couldn't have been the two thousand
and one Lakers that ran rough shotover the league? Why why did these
have to be my Lakers before myguy a I got to them? So
they didn't have that perfect record,Oh got to Yeah, that's our way
to hang your hat on that.Damn it. We didn't get swept.
That's right. Okay, the Lakersare still a game under five hundred twenty
two and twenty three after losing tothe Clippers with Albron James. But when
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you talk about trade market and ateam needing to make a move, and
look, I said yesterday on Roganand Rodney, I don't know if there's
a move that completely turns around thisseason, a savior type move for this
Los Angeles Lakers team. I stillthink a lot of it has to come
internally, with better lineups, rotations, some good fortune with health and just
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guys meshing and getting some of thatchemistry or some of that hunger that they
had early this season and after thetrade deadline last year. But I do
want to ask you, who doyou think would be the best fit for
this team that could help them onthe trade market. Well, the best
fit that could have helped them wouldhave been Pascal Siakam, but that wasn't
gonna happen, obviously, because ifyou talk about some of what they are
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lacking, you know, you mentionedthe liquor of the Clippers lacking you know,
someone who can defend on the perimeterand not hurt you offensively. The
Lakers need someone that can be elitedefensively and can make outside shots. And
that's something that Pascalcia can do.Unfortunately, off the market that probably wasn't
going to happen anyway. I know, de Janson Murray is a guy that
Sam a make and Joe bon Boujabrought up saying like, this is the
guy they zeroed in on, andit's fine, It's okay. He's an
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upgrade over D'Angelo Russell. I guessto a certain degree he slipped defensively this
year in the past, he's beenbetter, but again I don't think he
puts them over the hump. Andreally, I to your point, there's
really nobody out there on the market, realistically speaking, that does. I
agree with you that it has tocome internally for them. I do think
they can improve in their front court. This is something I said with you
and Bob a few weeks ago.They need to have a center to put
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next to Anthony Davis if they're trulygoing to try to play the way they
played in twenty twenty in the bubble. Ad cannot play the bulk of his
minutes at the five. He canplay a lot of them and closing minutes
and all of that, but youcan't ask him to go on there and
bang all the time because it's goingto end up affecting him. So I
do think finding some a big manon the market, trade market, buyout
market, whatever it is, isa need along with someone who can just
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consistently make open three point shots.And it's something we've talked about the last
three four years with this Lakers,with him being able to lack players who
were able to make outside shots consistently. So yeah, over their last fifteen
games, now their bottom ten offensively, their bottom ten defensively. We even
talked about that when people initially broughtup Christian Wood as being a possible pickup
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for them, that he doesn't necessarilysolve that issue of going back to where
they were in twenty twenty when theywon the championship with having someone like JaVale
McGee or Dwight Howard next to AnthonyDavis. Now it's hard to find those
guys too. But Bismack Biambo didget cut. I guess he's still out
there right As far as I know, nobody has picked him up. He
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wasn't playing amazing basketball, but forten to fifteen minutes a night when you
just want to go uber big likethat and just play with a lot of
force out there when they still dohave a big, long, strong team
already. But a couple of othernames that have been floated out there,
Bruce Brown at Malcolm Brogden, boththose guys can shoot and play defense.
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That wouldn't be those Neither of thoseguys would be bad pickups. And it
shouldn't take a lot, especially toget Malcolm Brogden right, yeah, and
Brogden as a two way player now, granted, he's had injury issues throughout
his career as well. But aguy that can control the ball. He
can run point so you don't haveto worry about that. He can defend
multiple positions. He is the kindof player that would help. But again,
it goes back to how much doeshe help. Does he make them
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from a middling at which at thispoint they're not even a middling Western Conference
team. They're fighting for a playin again like they were last year.
All right, maybe he takes themout of the play in and solidifies them
as number six fighting for seven orsomething. All right, great, does
that make him a championship contender anymore? No? No, they need the
guys like Rory Hachimura who they've signedresigned in the offseason, like D'Angelo Russell,
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who's been better recently. Why thatis? Is it because he's healthy
now I know he's had a coupleof games because he had the hip issue.
Is because he's back in the startinglineup. We know he doesn't like
playing off of the bench, somethinghe's openly said. Or is it because
he wants to make sure he doesn'tget traded. It could be any combination
of all things. It could beone of those things. I have no
idea, but he's certain. Ifhe plays the way that he's played the
last week and a half, youknow that's the kind of production that they
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need. Austin Reeves has had hismoments, but has not played up to
the level that they thought he wouldwhen they signed him to that contract extension.
So to your point, they Disneyguys on their roster to play up
to the potential, and look,Gabe Vincent has been basically nothing. He's
given them literally nothing. He's playedwhat six games this year, So when
you do get him back into thelineup, it'll be essentially like getting a
trade. Now. He was neverthat great of an outside shooter. He
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had a decent run in the playoffslast year, but he's always been about
league gaverage, if not just belowleague gaverage, shooting the three point ball,
and he is a plus defender onthe perimeter, which would certainly help.
I even saw a report the otherday that dinnis shooter. Now that's
Ronald. Looks like they're selling off. Maybe he's somebody they'd be able to
get back. We know he's hadan impact with them as well, But
then you'd have a crowded backcourt becauseyou have him and gave Vincent back there.
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Sure in his third stint with theLakers. That's pretty extraordinary, but
it would see it happening. Idon't know, it's not that far fetch.
There is one that I think couldchange their fortunes and get them possibly
out of the play in and theyare taking on the Chicago Bulls to night
at home. If they went outand somehow swung a trade where they got
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Alex Caruso plus one of either ZachLavine or DeMar DeRozan, that could be
a boon for the Lakers. Thatcould turn things around. Because if you
get DeMar DeRozan, who's making twentyeight million, but he'll be a restricted
free agent, and then Alex Carusohas one more year after this on ten
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million, and you were fine withthat. I mean, that's a deal
that it just speaks to how ridiculousit was. They didn't match it initially.
That's a bargain to have a guylike that. But if they could
pull in two guys somehow for DiAngeloRussell, a first round pick Ruy Hachima,
who has underperformed so far this seasonand hasn't making that leap, just
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like Austin Reeves and Ruy's defense.He he's hats a couple of stents on
the injured list. Health. Hehasn't really been able to find consistency this
year. No, that's fair.Still has shown flashes here and there,
and I still would think would becoveted by some teams that are trying to
rebuild, like Chicago, I thinkat some point and he has a reasonable
that yeah, and he has areasonable contract, just a three year deal
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right. Uh, That to medoes move the needle a little bit.
That could now you're committing a lotof long term money if you brought in
Zach Levine and it's definitely an allin move now with Lebron James who could
be gone next season. And thenyou say, Okay, we still have
Zach Levine and Anthony Davis on theteam. But I don't know, what
do you think about that? Becauseit's relevant they're taking on the Bulls tonight.
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I wouldn't touch Zach Levine with afifty foot pole, guy. I
can't stay on that he's hurt again? Did he hurt his ankle the other
night? And that would even toplay better sometimes without him. They do
so, and I don't. Look, there could be a multitude of different
reasons for that. I don't thinkhe's necessarily a ball hog or anything.
His numbers are good when he plays, and he wouldn't he would never have
played with two better players than Lebronand Anthony David if you were to come
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to the Lakers. I'm not sayingthat he wouldn't help. Yeah, I
just I just can't commit that amountof salary. We're talking forty plus million
dollars for the next three seasons,not including a player option, which he's
definitely gonna pick up, which Ithink is like fifty million dollars in twenty
twenty six. What if it wasDamar though and Alex Caruso, I'd probably
do it. You know, Iknow Caruso can run the show if need
be. Look, we talked aboutGabe Vincent coming back. You know you're
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hoping and banking on him being healthy. Lebron James, even though you'd rather
not have to, you know,be the head of the snake every time
can run point. You know thatAustin reeves he can run point for you
at times. So yeah, Ido it. Demarta Rosen is a proven
score is not going to have theburden of having to be the guy every
single night. And Alice Caruso,we know is a fan favorite and we
know he can play defense on theperimeter. It doesn't help you much in
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the paint, and you'd be losingsome frontcre depth if you indeed had to
end up trading Ruyja Chimura, butit certainly would give you more scoring,
which they need, and more perimeterdefense, which they also need. So
I would not be opposed to makingthat deal, But there's no way in
hell I would trade for Zach Lavine. I think I have some PTSD with
the Lakers because they always seem toland on their feet, even when they
have an atrocious stretch of what sevenyears where they don't make the playoffs,
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near the end of Kobe's career,where he has the Achilles injury, They're
going through coaches, they're going throughsome terrible rosters, and they end up
getting the best player maybe of alltime, in Lebron James out of it.
So I always feel like they're goingto land on their feet and figure
things out and figure out a wayto turn things around, just like last
season where it looked like they weredead in the water, and then they
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made some really good moves of thetrade deadline that Rob Polenka was lauded for
as he should have been, andI felt like right afterwards, this is
a dangerous team. They end upgetting to the Western Conference Finals, so
I am not counting them out yet, especially because we've seen them the first
twenty games go through a nice stretchwhere it looked like they were having some
carryover from what happened last season,going through the nd season Tournament and winning
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that. Regardless of what you thinkabout that, they were playing high level
basketball. Who cares about the rewardAt the end of it, they showed
that they can still be a topdefense and have enough offense with how good
they are in transition and taking advantageof turnovers, and then also having all
that size and the length they poseproblems. They were winning games even without
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making three pointers. I say itall the time, but the one thing
that makes them really dangerous to meis when they were at their best this
season and going back to last seasonand really in this Lebron and Anthony Davis
era, three pointers are like abonus to them. It's just icing on
the cake. Is the cherry ontop. They don't necessarily need it to
win because they're getting seventy points inthe pain every night and seventy free throws.
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It feels like, well, comeon, tell me out you're you're
not wrong. He's on the phonefor you. You're not wrong in certain
senses. This is true, Butto your point, we've seen that they
can do it, so it's almostlike now, granted, the Shack and
Kobe Lakers were never this bad.We talk about turn flipping the switch and
all that, but I think forthe people like Fred Rogan and others who
says, ah, they'll be fine, don't worry about it, they'll end
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up being okay. It's because you'veseen what they can do when they're playing
at their best. They have they'recapable of doing it, and for a
multitude of reasons, whether you wantto talk injuries, which is legit,
or you want to talk about rotations, which seemingly have worked themselves out.
Now that everything has calmed down alittle bit with the Darbnham situation, the
fan voting worked. They finally gotthe real starting lineup that fans wanted for
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a long time, and Darvin Haamcouldn't figure it out. Yeah, which,
look, and it made the mostsense to me and everybody else as
well. And look, it tookLebron James and a bunch of other guys
griping publicly for it to end uphappening. But regardless, and look,
some guys we mentioned D'angela Russell earlier, some guys just thrive better when their
starters and not coming off of thebench. And it's up to someone like
Darvin Haam to recognize that internally andfor whatever reason. Look, you're talented
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enough, you made it run tothe Western Conference finals. Let's not reinvent
the wheel. You don't have toswitch a starting lineup every three days just
because it didn't happen to work fortwo days in a row. That's a
knee jerk. That's not necessary.I think the criticism on him is very
much legitimate. I can see thatif you're a Lakers fan being extremely frustrated
with lineups and rotations, you cansay, they have problems that are outside
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of his control. They've had injuries, they've had guys slumping and having down
years. There's nothing he can doabout that. But it comes down to
optimizing what you do have to workwith and I don't feel like he's done
a good enough job with that thisseason. And when you see other coaches
like Adririan Griffin being let go whenyou're there, what thirty and thirteen and
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some of the other moves in criticismand hote David Blatt treatment right and like
so to say it's not fair oryou know, there's nothing to see with
Darvin ham because they have all theseother problems going on. No, even
in spite of that, you couldstill do a better job of pulling the
best out of your squad that youhave available to you. And for the
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most part, he just hasn't beengood enough there. Yeah, and look
for those to say, well,it's only his second year as a head
coach and he's just learning. Like, with all due respect, this is
the Lakers not learning on the job. I mean, yes, it's year
two and you are learning on thejob. You don't get to use that
excuse in this situation. You havea thirty nine year old Lebron you have
an injury pro on Anthony Davis.You are in a win now, win
(25:07):
like win yesterday window, not evena win tomorrow window. So all your
mistakes all your shortcomings, I acknowledgethem. They're gonna happen to a young
coach, but unfortunately, if you'reDarvin, they can't happen to you.
You don't have that leeway. Ithought when he said I'm tired of people
living and dying with every single gamewe play. Hey man, that could
have been the end, maybe circlingthe drain. Yeah, go coach the
(25:30):
Hawks or the Wizards whose job justopened up. Yeah, and coach them,
and you can say that everyone winsand losses don't matter and we're developing
or whatever excuse you want to use. That doesn't work here. And I'm
never rooting for anyone to get fired. But that lack of self awareness,
I just thought, uh oh,that was exactly the wrong thing to say.
In this city at that time.You just can't say something like that
(25:52):
because those are the paying customers.Yeah, they do live and die.
They are a passionate fan base,They do want to win. They are
entitled because they have a ton oftitles. So I was a little bit
surprised that he made it through that. But when you think about it,
I don't think the Lakers brass andthe organization came into this season in any
way thinking Darvin Ham was going tobe on the hot seat early on,
(26:17):
especially when you have that run whereyou win the n season Tournament championship,
things change so drastically, so quicklythat I don't think they had a plan,
and there aren't a lot of greatoptions now, Doc rivers it looks
like he's going to Milwaukee. Thatmight have been the guy that has championship
pedigree. But I well, youknow a lot of people might feel the
same way. That's a bunch ofcraft. No, they might. I
(26:41):
like Doc as a guy as aperson too, but you know, you
know I love him same way.That's a bunch of craft. Y'all know.
I still love you, Doc.But my point is I think the
reason they didn't make a move isbecause they didn't think they were going to
be in any way in a positionto have to make a coaching move this
early and to have to scramble likethat coming into this year. Yeah,
(27:03):
and while I also think they didn'twant to, you know, while you
know, we talked about Darbinham makingknee jerk decisions and you know, changing
lineups and all that, I don'tthink Genie Buss wants to be knee jerk
either, and she'd rather rally thetroops together and say because by the way
that comment that he made he didwalking back to a certain degree at his
next media session, somebody got inhis ear and told him, hey man,
that wasn't the best thing to say. Like, for all intents and
(27:26):
purposes, it sounds like most ofthe players love him. So there's rumors
out there about his relationship with AustinReeves, and there was a video about
Austin not acknowledging him. Maybe there'ssomething there, maybe there's not. I
really don't know. And Lebron,it seems like post game when he made
that comment about the Clippers and saying, no, it's coach Lou's team,
not James Harden's team. I've seencoach Lou and what he can do.
(27:48):
And then you get D'Angelo Russell praisingas opposing teams coaches post game after they
lost to the Nets. Those thatwas shade. Those were slights that seemed
like towards Darbnham right, But again, I don't think and Geni buses had
so much turnover at the head coachingposition, even over just the last decade.
If there's any way shape or formthat they can try to figure this
(28:08):
thing out. Because also you mentionedDoc Rivers. Outside of Doc, who
was like a who was legitimate headcoach for whatever his shortcomings, who else
are you gonna go with. There'snot even anybody on their head coat,
on their staff that you can elevate. You know, Jason Kidd's gone.
That specter is no longer hanging overtheir shoulder anymore. Wait, he didn't
take freak Vogel's job. I thoughtthat was a done deal. No,
well, Frank still got it unfortunately, so there's nowhere else to go to.
(28:32):
So if you're gonna fight, Sothe argument people always make say,
oh you should fire X, Yand Z. Okay, if you're gonna
fire him, then who's gonna takehis place? Tyler wasn't sitting on the
bench, you know, behind DavidBlack like he was in Cleveland with Lebron
James, you know, being hischeerleader. They just don't have that in
their back pocket. So at thispoint in time, and maybe look,
if things bottom out, they don'tmake the playoffs, they make the play
in and lose again in the firstround, maybe they'll revisit it. But
(28:55):
I just thought that giving him theacts mid season, even with the in
the midst of the rotation issue andall that, I just don't think it
would have been the best decision becauseI don't know who you would have replaced
him with that would have been better, all right? Or qualified a little
f and NBA for you, Kevin. We got something coming up, we
do. We do. Got oneof our favorite guests. It's been a
long time since he's been here.But got a lot of NFL obviously,
(29:17):
we got the NFC and AFC championshipgames coming up this weekend. Got some
coaching changes, so Adam, let'sget to one of our favorite guests,
has been a long time. Let'stalk to him. Alan Dragon did thank
you, Dotty. We'll beat meup and I don't mean take me back
to sack Town. But we dohave a guy who knows about Norcow with
Captain Kirk Morrison back on the show. A linebacker who balled at San Diego
(29:40):
State like Kawhi Leonard, where thenthe tackle man got paid when he was
drafted in O five by the Raiders, where he became the King of Oaktown,
Home of the Whistle. You wantto who would play eight years in
the League before taking his talents tothe broadcasting world where you see him on
ESPEN and hear him on Serious XMNFL and on the RAM call with our
(30:00):
competition. But we go back awaysand we're all friends here. So Kirk,
good to have you back on thef ANDA podcast. How you been
man, Good to talk to youguys in a while, been a while,
but great to be with you guys. What's up? Well, let's
start off with this. Jim Harbaugha couple of years ago was about to
be bought out by Michigan. Ifelt like, now he's the hottest name
in the game. He'll be withthe Chargers in Los Angeles. Can he
(30:22):
turn around one of the most cursedfranchises in sports? I think if there's
anybody that can do it, it'sJim Harbaugh. I mean he's done it
at so many different levels, whetherit was the college level of the FCS
right at University of San Diego,then goes to Stanford in the PAC twelve
(30:44):
and rises that program, then goesto the forty nine Ers, take them
to a Super Bowl, a coupleof NFC championships as well, and then
he goes to obviously Michigan and takesMichigan from a middle of the line program
the time before he got there,after some failed coaches and Rich Roderiguez and
Brady Hope, and then he takesthe university to a national championship. A
(31:08):
guy's resume, like Jim Harball tellsme that he's able to work with young
generational quarterbacks, but more importantly,he's able to change your way a a
team, an organization, how theydo business. I think that's Jim Harball
man. So I think the Chargers, no matter what, they've got their
guy. Now we just got tosee the results. What does it say
(31:30):
about the Spanos family, Kirk,because for so many years people have said
that they're cheap, they don't wantto spend money. They moved up to
LA mostly to just cash in andhave the franchise value go up, but
not really invest more into the team. Now, the contract terms have not
been announced for Jim Harbault, butwe know he wasn't coming cheap. So
does this really put the stamp froma Charger standpoint in LA for the Spanos
family to say, no, we'reserious about this, We're not cheaping out
(31:52):
on coaches. We're in LA andwe're in this to kind of go after
and win here. Well, Ithink now you look at where the Chargers
are, you look at the peckingorder of Los Angeles, you know Literatari,
you know twenty years now, soI kind of understand that this is
always going to be a Laker town, a Dodger town. And then it's
okay, who's next, whether it'sUSC, whether it's the Rams, U
(32:14):
C. L A. L.I gotta throw the Clippers in there as
well. I'm sorry, happy ifyou're right. And the Clippers, who
honestly, you know, I thinkthis is their year if we're talking basketball,
to really take hold of the cityas well. Then after you know,
the Rams in there as well.Like I'm just kind of going into
kind of the pecking order. Butit just really feels like the Chargers had
(32:36):
to do something, and we allknow you have to invest. This isn't
something that you just hope they canjust you know, you start small and
I hope they can get big.No, you got to invest and really
put the money behind what you feelis right. And what they felt was
writers bringing in Jim Harball, whobrings I think a just a different attitude,
(33:00):
legitimate validation, to what I thinkthe Charges are trying to get done.
KERK Morrison joining us here on theF and A podcast. You know,
you mentioned the Rams though for asecond, and they had a year
that most people really weren't expecting tobe honest, they thought it was a
rebuild. I think Bill Plaski wrotein The Times they need the tank and
they need to go after Caleb Williams, and then they have a great turnaround.
Everybody, you know, for themost part, stays healthy. Pooka
(33:21):
Nakupa breaks out. You saw thisteam front row and center one. What
were your expectations of the Rams cominginto the season and just kind of some
up how this thing ended for youbecause a lot of people didn't have the
highest of expectations. But what didyou think the Rams were going to be
and how surprised were you that theyended up where they did. Yeah,
I'm Probaul alone probably goes extreme asBill Plaski, But you thought that this
team at best was a nine winteam, ten wins possibly if everything kind
(33:46):
of went right for them, onlybecause you knew you had three guys that
were coming back Matthew Stafford, AaronDonald and Cooper Cup But you drafted fourteen
players, you had a ton ofsecond year players in your team as well.
Could all of those guys basically sortof evolve? Would they be able
(34:06):
to play at a high level withthe players who I mentioned who have been
here for a long time. Tome, I didn't think that it was
possible, just the way that mebeing a former player and the well we're
going to put on those shoulders ofthose rookies. But I can tell you
this, very quickly you realize thatthis rookie class was going to have a
major part of it. All fourteenguys made the team that they drafted just
(34:29):
to let you know. So thatto me, was just kind of showed
you that this team was going togrow throughout the season, and very similar
to what we saw from the GreenBay Packers. I think that's what happened
with the Rams. They continue toget better and better. They won seven
of their last eight games, andthey get to ten wins. But man,
I just never saw it coming.But wow, it was amazing to
(34:51):
watch young players play well above whatour expectation was for them. Kerk Morrison
is our guest here on the fAnda podcast. So Kirk, you know
this Lions team, you've seen them. What's their path for the upset against
the forty nine ers in the NFCChampionship game. I think continue to run
the football, continue to be aggressive, and continue to convert on third down
(35:13):
offensively. They've got a plan inplace, and they've got some big time
players. Man. I'm in rossSaint Brown from right here Modern Day over
in Orange County, who know himvery well from the USC as well.
So they have him obviously. Thename Jered Golf rings a bell in Los
Angeles, and he takes care ofthe football. He doesn't turn it over.
Their team doesn't take it over.We're just talking about young players.
(35:37):
One of the best young tight endsin the league was All Pro second team
All Pro is Samuel Porta. Sothey have the offensive weapons. They have
to continue to be aggressive. Theycan't come and win a conference championship.
That's just not how it's going tohappen. They're going to have to come
and take a conference championship. Sothat's how they get it done by going
(35:58):
in there and taking it, beingagrest being, you know, pushing those
guys around a little bit. Butif they think they're going to score some
points and try to run the clockout and play field position. That's not
going to work against these forty nineers. You mentioned Jared Goff and people
in LA being familiar with him andhis shortcomings towards the end, and you
know, even Sean McVeagh admitted thathe regrets the way that things ended,
with how the trade happened with MatthewStafford. Just in watching the film and
(36:22):
doing the work that you do,and watching Jared Golf from his days here
in LA to where he is inDetroit now, someone who was prone to
always making the big mistake and attimes he still does. Look he had
the dropped interception of the end zonethat could have been big in the first
quarter, but thankfully that didn't comeback to burn them. But just how
has Jared Golf evolved as a playerfrom his final days here with the Rams
to where he is now when Detroit. I would just say he's just experienced.
(36:45):
He's always had the talent, buthe's more experienced than I would say.
You look at the other quarterbacks aroundthe league. Jared Golf has started
in two NFC Championship games. Well, he'll be starting in a second NFC
Championship game. Jared Golf has beenhas been a starter in the Super Bowl.
He's played a lot of football fellows. Remember he was drafted in twenty
(37:07):
sixteen. He's been this league along time, right, And so the
one thing I can say is thatthere is no panic with Jared where maybe
when he was younger, yes,and I maybe compared. Or the analogy
I'll use is for us living inLos Angeles, he's able to navigate traffic
in Los Angeles a lot better,you know what I mean. Like when
(37:28):
you first come to LA traffic canbe over there, like wow, how
do I get a round? Butwhen you live here, you've been around
it long enough and you understand.You're like, Okay, I know how
to do. I may have tohit the one on one man, hit
the one thirty four, you know, make s cirkle back through the sixty,
the two fifteen. You know whatI mean, It's like, Okay,
I know the answers. I knowhow to get around the problem.
(37:49):
And that's what I've seen from JaredGolf. Honestly, man, he's been
in the pocket and you know,it's hard to fool him. Now.
That's why he's also been able totake care of the football not turn it
over as much as well, andI think that's really been crucial for him
now also in that same vein inthat game with Brock Purty, because he's
been a pretty polarizing player. You'veseen him obviously up close with covering the
(38:09):
rams the way that you do acouple of times the last two seasons.
Play had the big drive in theNFC Championship game to get them to the
victory, but certainly had some miscuesand dropped interceptions on his part. Has
put up really good numbers, wasright in the running with Lamar Jackson for
MVP honors before the Ravens put iton him on Christmas Day. As brock
Purty, how do you see himas he at quote unquote system quarterback.
(38:31):
Is he someone that can thrive inany situation? Do you have concerns about
him if a game is on theline and you have to put it on
his shoulders. Just what's your overalloutlook on brock Purty as a quarterback.
It's honestly to me, I thinkthe grading skill is a little bit skewed
because we've only seen a small samplesize. I remember talking to one of
my Hall of fame veterans I usedto always joke around with and you know
(38:54):
he would always tell me, man, let me see him in three years.
It's hard to look at someone yearone, year two, and year
three and we can see that alot of times they fall off, they
aren't the same person. You wantto see them progress, right, And
so with Brock Perdy, this washis first full year as a starter.
Now he played well, but we'vealso seen those moments where we're like,
(39:15):
whoa, And that one against Baltimorewas one that really was a head scratcher.
And so I think moving forward,when you look at just this championship
weekend, one of these things arenot like the other. And I'm talking
about the quarterbacks. It's four quarterbacksthat are starting this weekend. One of
them wasn't drafted in the first round, and that was Brock Purdy drafted seventh.
(39:37):
I mean in the seventh round,right, mister irrelevant, the last
pick in the draft. I thinka lot of times we hold that against
him and we want to put himin that category of the quarterbacks, but
he is not like Jared Golf orLamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes. So we
do want to see him make somemore of those throws. Now, Don't
get me wrong, he had agood drive to end that game against the
(40:00):
Packers, but it was two throwsin a running play or a scramble?
Was that truly him being the dynamicquarterback that the forty nine ers need.
The most pressure coming up this weekendis on brock Party. I'm still I'm
just the jury still out of him. I haven't seen enough yet, right,
It's only been a season and ahalf for him, not even a
(40:21):
season and a quarter of play forbrock Party. I want to see him
continue to grow, but I'm notready to annoint him as the next coming
Kirk, did you ever buy intothe Lamar Jackson narrative that he couldn't win
in the playoffs and now they're inthe AFC Championship game? Taken on Mahomes
and the Chiefs. I mean,that should be a good one, but
it seems like it was always afalse narrative. Well, I think the
(40:43):
goalpost always shift when it comes tothe elite quarterbacks of this league. Lamar
Jackson's elite quarterback. He's an MVP, and then he'll be a two time
MVP. So how do we critiqueour great players. We don't critique them
on what they've accomplished. It's whatthey have not accomplish. Right, Oh,
well, I bet you he can'twin the super Bowl. So if
he goes out and wins the superBowl, what's the next one? I
(41:05):
bet he can't win too, youknow me? Like they did that with
Peyton Manny, Right, they're doingthat with Aaron Rodgers, right, because
he's won all these MVPs. Butcan he win a second super Bowl?
Can he outlast this person? That'sjust part of the sport. That's part
of how we you know, wekind of grade our players. We shouldn't
do it, but that's just partof what we do. We want to
(41:27):
compare them, we want to putthose up. No one's going to ever
eclipse Tom Brady. But let's behonest with Lamar Jackson. If he wins
the super Bowl, this does somuch, not just for the Baltimore Ravens
and believing in him and picking himthirty seconds in the first round when he
came out, but I just thinkthe way the quarterback position is played and
how we've heard the narrative that aquarterback who has the ability of Lamar Jackson
(41:51):
can't be successful in the NFL.This will hush a lot of those critics
and Lamar Jackson. The Baltimore Ravensgo on to the super Bowl, but
more so win if they do.Kirk. Last one for me, the
Raiders hired Antonio Pierce. Seems likelinebackers turning the coaches are like catchers into
managers in baseball. Now you're gonnathrow your hat into the ring, Kirk,
(42:12):
I mean, come on, Imean so, I don't know,
man, this thing is looking good. Demiko Ryans, Now you got obviously
you mentioned Antonio Pierce. Mike VrabelI think he'll have a coaching job as
well. So, uh, yougot to give some love to the linebackers.
Man, we do a great joband seeing the field, and now
I'm glad that the NFL is finallytaking notice on what we can do as
(42:34):
head coaches as well. How doyou think ap faars with the Raiders?
Well, I think for me,it's the team is going to play well,
They're going to play hard, they'regoing to play physical. I just
think that we're going to see getmore out of the players because of Antonio
Pierce and just I know who heis as a person. He is going
to get the most out of hisguys. That's what a head coach is,
(42:55):
to be able to pull the mostout of your players. That's why
I think they'll be successful. They'vegot a higher offensive coordinator still, but
maybe you know, look at thequarterback position because I don't think that's solidified.
But overall, I think this wasa slam dunk higher. I don't
think the Raiders even knew that theyhad a coach like this, even on
their rock. He is all aboutthe Raider way and I love that last
(43:17):
one for me too, Kirka.The coaching carousel and namely Bill Belichick still
floating out there. Looks like he'sgonna get another interview with Atlanta possibly.
I believe Atlanta is the only teamthat he's interviewed with. Do you believe
that it's just kind of old setin his ways? People don't want to
upend their building to accommodate him.Why do you think the market for Bill
Belichick, the greatest coach in thehistory of the sport, has been so
(43:38):
cold? Well, I don't knowif it's been so cold. I think
that there's also the way that Billsees the game and can he get things
corrected quickly? Is he willing togive up power? Bill Belichick was the
head coach and the general manager withthe New England Patriots, So I think
right now is just kind of figuringout what is his role just head coach?
(44:01):
How much say will he have inpersonnel and signings, all of that
stuff that comes along with the beingthe head coach. I just know that
if you have Bill Belichick as yourhead coach, you're going to be prepared.
You're going to go out there andbe ready to play. Now,
some of the talent that is somethingthat he may not have his hands in.
If I just know when that teamgets on the field, they'll be
(44:22):
ready to go and probably won't bethe way that it looked in New England.
The last part of his coaching tenurethere just didn't look the same.
And I still feel he has theacumen to be the coach because he's still
the greatest coach of all time inmy opinion, and he's still chasing that
record of Don Shulis. So we'llsee which team gives him an opportunity.
(44:43):
But I still think he's got aboutthree to five years a good, strong
coach and left in him. Heis the great Kirk Morrison. You see
him on espen on college Football,you hear him on the RAMS broadcast,
and of course Sirius XM NFL,and he will always be the king of
Oaktown. We Raiders can move toVegas all day one. He is the
King of oak Town. Kirk,thanks for coming back on the FDA podcast,
(45:06):
my friend. Thank Kevin Adam.Always a pleasure, My friends appreciate
it. Thanks to getting Kirk Morrisonfor joining us. One of our favorites.
Yeah. The one thing we didn'tget a chance to ask Kirk about
because it just came down. Youhave a new head coach, your Carolina
Panthers. First of all, oneof your Harva do we get one of
your favorite Panthers, Dan Morgan,the general manager. So props to Dan
(45:27):
Morgan for that. Wait a second, I didn't even know Dan Morgan.
My guy. Yes, was alwaysin concussion protocol. One of my favorite
linebackers and somebody who went healthy waselite. He had twenty five tackles in
the Super Bowl. He did.That's probably why he had so many damn
concussions. He was in on everytackle. But he's the new general manager.
They hired Dave Canalis, the generalnot the general manager. Excuse me,
the offensive coordinator from the Tampa BayBuccaneers as a new offensive as their
(45:52):
new head coach. There Adam.So there you go, Kevin, How
should I feel about that? Ihave no idea? How many? How
did you feel about the Tampa BayBuccaneers offense this past year? I mean
they made it to the divisional round. They maximized Baker Mayfield much better than
the Panthers did. Well. Look, I guess you could have done I
guess you could have done worse.Look. I also say it last week
(46:12):
on the show. What self respectingperson would take this job? It is
one of thirty two head coaching jobsin the NFL. Somebody was gonna take
it. Someone needs to be ableto turn it around. Look, New
Orleans was a dumpster fire before SeanPayton got there, and look what he
turned them into overnight. So noplace that chets to win a Super Bowl.
Hey, I guess whatever it takes. But Tibery, Hey, hey,
don't act like you wouldn't take itat him, but want a bounty
(46:36):
game? Super Bowl one hundred atthe Carolina Panthers where they've been ever since
their Super Bowl lost to Denver.What was that in twenty sixteen or whatever
it was? You were there,watched it at my place. That's right,
there's been some lean years ever sincethen. I drank a gallon of
vodka and Alhambra bottle full of vodkaafterwards to try to push through that yeme.
So you got to put a boundieror two on somebody to get yourself
(46:58):
a championship and sell your soul.Don't like you're above at Adam, because
you're not. We're definitely not Carolina. I think we're the new Lions.
Now we're gonna go through thirty yearsof hell because of ownership. I thought
you were gonna say, we're gonnabite some knee caps off and then keep
on coming even if we don't haveany knees. And like the whole Dan
Campbell speech when he first got hired, I wish that guy who they called
(47:19):
like Fred Flintstone and just a mongLloyd and a meathead. Well he's got
his team in the NFC Championship game. Fan straight, how about that?
Catch me outside? So there yougo. Thanks again to Kirk Mortz for
hopping on the show. We appreciateit. Thank you guys for nothing nine
four, nine, four seven,eight eleven ninety seven, didn't call,
didn't sweet me, did nothing thatwas wrong with you. Guys. Hit
(47:43):
us up on the socials, Twitter, X, whatever it's called these days
at kfig ones where you can findme Adam is that follow Adam A and
we are at fn A show onInstagram, Facebook and X. We love
you guys. We would love youmore if you didn't give us nothing.
We'll talk to you next week.I'm way to the skies and I changed
my stars. I went to themass and I fall too hard. Oh
(48:06):
my cloud? Is that you thinkyou hard? Want to talk shit?
Pick up the phone, bitch.This is the real shit right here.
Let's get this. This is ghettobroadcasting live from the studios of a M
five to seven day. It's ona website. This is fn A.
Man, I am a god.Now what why don't you get out of
that jump sudents. Let me smackthat fast. That's a scary crew.
As far as the product goes voiceof a new generation, many of the
(00:24):
young guys are really at the topof their games. The two of them
had something in common. We bringyou radio ecstasy. Oh it's beautiful broadcasting
live from the studios of a Mfive to seven day. Let it happen.
This is the FNA podcast. Itis the fn A Podcast on a
(00:44):
throw that ass Back Thursday edition.I'm Adam Ozla. We got k fig
thanks for joining us. He's atk Big one on Twitter, on x
I'm at follow Adam a at fand A show on Twitter, Facebook and
the Gram. Kevin, how arewe doing? We're doing good, doing
very well. We're doing better.If you guys left us a voicemail at
(01:07):
nine seven eight eleven ninety seven,I don't believe we have one this week.
Talk shit. The hell's wrong withyou, guys, That's the best
way to talk. Some mes.Just don't leave one at all. Exactly
we hear you aloud and clear,exactly eight eleven ninety seven. Call us,
leave us a voicemail. Let's knowwhat's on your mind. Just call
all right. Coming up later inthe show, we won't have voicemails,
(01:29):
but we do have a fantastic guest, a guy on a throwback Thursday No
Less that we haven't talked to ina while. Should be fun. Kirk
Morrison. Yeah, your favorite linebackerfor the Raiders back in the day,
also did it for the Jaguars andthe Buffalo Bills in the NFL, and
now you see him on the televisionon ESPN calling games college football games there
(01:51):
and of course competitor, the otherevil for letter calling games, Rams Radio
Network doing pre affing posts for them. Does a great job way for a
serious XM if you're an NFL fanand you can shell out the extra bucks
to pick up serious XM channel eightyeight where they have their NFL coverage,
and Kirk does a hell of ajob doing some stuff there as well.
So we'll talk about some of thecoaching changes. I think something happened here
(02:14):
in Los Angeles last night. Alsopreview the NFC and AFC championship games.
But first off, we got totalk a little fn NBA oos go time.
That's wrong, Well, puffing outyour chest from that Clipper victory the
other night there, Adam, I'mstill upset they actually lost two games to
the Lakers this season, Kevin.It's rare. It's rare. They've won
(02:38):
thirty seven of the last forty sixgames between these two, going back to
I think the twenty eleven seasons,so over a decade here, and they
had won eleven in a row cominginto this season over the Lakers. Well,
and well, look, there werecertainly some factors into why that happened.
I mean, Kawhi Leonard didn't playwell better previous loss. Oh well,
no, I'm talking about as ofwhy they were and two going into
(03:00):
that game earlier this week. Enough. Now, look and you can even
say there's a fact the rest ofwhy the Clippers won that game. Lebron
James didn't play in the Lakers hungaround if he's a zubox, did not
play as well, and that's hugeconsidering how much of a defensive beast he
is in the paint. And Idon't know, I'm sure you do Adam.
I don't know if he's the bestat defending the paint from an individual
standpoint, but he's certainly in thetop three when it comes to big men.
(03:21):
Yeah, no, you're exactly right. He's only behind Chris STAPs,
Porzingis and Rudy Gobert. When itcomes to rim protection. That's defensive field
goal percentage within six feet of therim. Incredible. Yeah, and he's
been like this. This is whathe has been doing for years. He's
always been an elite rim protector,even going back to the Lakers days.
But for whatever reason, he's veryunderrated. He doesn't get the respect he
(03:42):
deserves. And now this season he'sbeen his best on the offensive end.
It's not a coincidence they have JamesHarden. Now we know how good he
is with big men running that pickand roll, but if he's the Zubats.
Over the last six weeks before theinjury to his right calf, he
was getting thirteen and ten a blockwhile shooting almost seventy percent from the field.
I mean, really impressive. Hewas I think at the best mark
(04:04):
between five and nine feet out hewas shooting sixty four percent. That's elite.
Also, the guy who led theNBA in that category last season when
it came to the highest field goalpercentage from five to nine feet out Niko
Jokic. So he's in good company. He's he was doing amazing things.
So I don't think people should overlookthe fact that they didn't have a Vitza
(04:26):
zu Bots. Yes, Lebron Jamesis the bigger factor of the Lakers not
having him, But still the Clippershave to get by right now without their
defensive anchor. Well, look,they've been so good offensively. Look even
with their issues quote unquote against theLakers the other night, what they show
better than sixty percent from the fieldmost of the night. And really the
only reason the Lakers got back intoit is because the Clippers were sloppy,
which will happen at times with them. But you know, and I know
(04:49):
there was a giant joke when JamesHarden was traded and people misinterpreted a quote
we talked about on the show abouthim. I am the system, but
to a certain degree, he doesthrive when having the ball in his hands
and running screen and roles. AndI do think a big reason why the
Clippers, and again you'll back meup on this because you see them every
single night and know all the numberswhen running screen and rolls, taking the
(05:10):
ball out of Paul George's and Kawhileonards hands and making those guys secondary players,
not secondary players meaning their roles arediminished, but meaning they don't have
to create as much. Those guyshave fourished because they don't have the burden
of having to control the ball.James Harden's scoring is down, but his
effectiveness is way up because he doesn'thave to score thirty five and get fifteen
assists to night. James Harden canget eleven points, eleven assists and just
(05:32):
float along while those guys clean up. And I think that's as big a
reason as any that they've had thebest record in the NBA for the last
what's it been month and a half, two months something like that. Yeah,
Clippers have won twenty five of theirlast thirty two ball games. And
to your point regarding James Harden,you go back to that introductory press conference.
He was downright to fine, andI think he felt like he was
(05:53):
being disrespected for the player that hehas been with respect. He was looking
for that respect because he's a topseventy five player of all time, and
people were talking about him like he'sdone, he's washed. He wasn't an
All Star last season even though hehad a case to be. And he's
making the game so much easier foreveryone else. You look at the efficiency
while Kawhi Leonard, yeah, he'sat about twenty three points per game right
(06:15):
now, but he's shooting forty fourpercent from the outside, fifty two percent
from the field. Paul George isat forty two percent from the outside,
Norman Pals at forty five percent fromthe outside. That is the James Harden
effect. They have had the bestoffense over those last thirty two games now
where they're twenty five and seven,best record in the NBA over that stretch.
(06:38):
It's James Harden. When he runspick and roll, you're getting like
a point and a half per possession. That is extremely elite. It's almost
like free points out there. He'sjust a pick and roll savon and it
opens things up. Now, therewas an adjustment first six games or first
five games they lost with him,but Russell Westbrook was in the back court
at first, so they weren't exactlyempowering James Harden to be at his best
(07:00):
and do what he does best.Once they brought Russ off the bench and
he made that sacrifice. It's beensmooth sailing offensively. Defensively, at times,
they have been a little bit upand down. It just seems like
they let up there because they knowit's so easy to score, and that's
human nature. When you're getting itdone offensively like that and you'ar the number
one offense, you may have aletdown defensively just because you're not as focused
(07:24):
because you know you can get pointson the other end. But they still
have had plenty of moments where itlooks like, oh yeah, they're an
elite defensive team too when they needto be. Like going on a twenty
two to zero run against the BrooklynNets in the last five minutes and thirty
three seconds a couple of nights ago, just incredible. When they were down
eighteen in the fourth, well,you know, look, they've crossed the
(07:44):
rubicon. They're one of those teamswhere they can play shitty for an entire
night and turn it on for aquarter and still win. But that's when
you know you've reached elite status.There was a handful of teams Denver Boston,
Milwaukee. There's only a few teamsthat can do that. We said,
we played terribly tonight and we stillfound you look up the final score
and we won by eight. There'snot a lot of teams that have the
ability to do that, and theClippers are one of them. So I
(08:05):
know we'll get to the Lakers herein the second. Butte since everything revolving
around the Lakers right now is talkingabout trades and who are going to acquire
and how they're going to improve andif they're a title contender. So as
someone who watches the Clippers on anight in a night out basis and know
this team inside and out, isthere a move that even needs to be
made for this team? Is theresomething they can do to improve themselves?
As the deadline approaches here in afew weeks. The one thing that's brought
(08:28):
up still is that because they tradedout Roco and Nicholas Batum, two of
their better wings. Marcus Morris wentto Philadelphia as well, but he wasn't
in the rotation for the Clippers thisseason, so that was somewhat inconsequential.
But Roko was he was back inand Nicholas batoum has been one of the
most valuable and important players over thelast three years because of the switchability he
(08:50):
has defensively where he can guard onethrough five, and they don't have as
much of what we used to callwing stop with this team, where you
just had all these positionless guys outthere and you could play a bunch of
guys between six's, five andsix eight. So some think they still
need that four, a guy whocan play the four or the five,
(09:11):
who's a good rebounder but can alsostretch the floor. Now, that's not
easy to find a guy who's thatgood on both ends where he can help
you out defensively but also not gettingthe way on offense and at least be
respected as a three point shooter soyou can spread the floor. Some of
the guys that people have brought up, or like PJ. Washington with Charlotte,
(09:31):
Kelly Olennox, name has been outthere. They would love to get
I'm sure Dorian Finney Smith from theBrooklyn Nets, but sounds like they want
a couple of first round picks.The Clippers only have one. They can
offer their twenty thirty, and thatis a very valuable coveted pick and something
they might want to hold on tobecause that's really their last big trade ship
(09:52):
they have at the moment. Soyou know, look, it's an embarrassment
of riches right now or nitpicking ateam that has been best in the NBA
over the last two months. Butif you're looking for one little blemish or
one little possible hole on the rosterright now, that's it just finding more
of that stretch wing or just aguy who can be an elite rebounder,
(10:13):
a rim runner, and a greatdefender out there at multiple positions. And
look, if you're a team likethe Clippers, you're in a spot where
you don't necessarily have to be rushedinto making some sort of deal. You
can stand pat and take a lookat the buyout market and maybe there's somebody
who hits there that you can pickup and they could potentially help you,
you know they And to your point, they don't have a lot of moveable
assets. That's one thing that Iguess would hurt them in this situation.
(10:35):
I know they have PJ. Tucker, but he has a player option that
he's If I were him, Ipick it up because who the hell else
is gonna pay him eleven million?Dollars next year, So that's probably going
to have more value next year thanit is right now from a trade standpoint.
But the Clippers, I mean,from my view, they don't need
to do anything. All the endsto do is stay healthy. The big
bugaboo that's bit them in this fivesix year run with Kawhi Leonard and Paul
George. Get those guys to stayon the floor consistently, that's really all
(10:58):
you need. Yeah, that's beenthe biggest difference is not just having James
Harden. Now, the first twentythree games of the season, they had
both Kawhi and Paul George on thefloor. That is the longest consecutive amount
of games that they have played inthis era. So some of it's been
luck they've had better availability out there. But adding James Harden has just fine
(11:18):
tuned this offense. He's just elevatedeveryone else around him. Now. Yeh,
Look, there's something to be saidfor thus wear and tear on the
bodies of Paul George and Kawhi Leonardwhen they don't have to control the ball
as much, When Kahi doesn't haveto be the guy on offense and defense
every single night, that means somethingand Kevin, listen to these numbers for
Kawhi Leonard over the last twenty twogames. Now we're talking historic stuff like
(11:39):
you have not seen many better twentytwo game stretches in the history of the
NBA. And if you go backto the last three months of last season
where he was shooting fifty three fortyseven ninety splits and put those together,
you got about seventy games of datawhere Kawhi Leonard has been about fifty two
percent from the field and about fourforty six percent from the outside over about
(12:01):
seventy games. Because over the lasttwenty two this season, he's at fifty
seven percent from the field and fiftyone percent from three while giving you elite
defense. And over those twenty twogames with him at that level, they've
only lost three of them. Wow, that's incredible. And look, I
know it's he's not going to putup the sexy numbers and Joel Embiid is
dropping thirty and twenty every night,and if things keep up, he's going
(12:22):
to end up getting the MVP again, no doubt. But Kawhi Leonards having
that sort of season if the look, if these numbers continue and the Clippers
continue to shoot up the standings andby seasons, and by the time we
start getting into you know, Aprilish and the Clippers may have the top
seed in the Western Conference. Hemight get some looks, and he should.
It's deserving. So let's talk aboutyour Lakers. Why are they my
(12:43):
Lakers that height out? How comemy Lakers couldn't have been the two thousand
and one Lakers that ran rough shotover the league? Why why did these
have to be my Lakers before myguy a I got to them? So
they didn't have that perfect record,Oh got to Yeah, that's our way
to hang your hat on that.Damn it. We didn't get swept.
That's right. Okay, the Lakersare still a game under five hundred twenty
two and twenty three after losing tothe Clippers with Albron James. But when
(13:05):
you talk about trade market and ateam needing to make a move, and
look, I said yesterday on Roganand Rodney, I don't know if there's
a move that completely turns around thisseason, a savior type move for this
Los Angeles Lakers team. I stillthink a lot of it has to come
internally, with better lineups, rotations, some good fortune with health and just
(13:26):
guys meshing and getting some of thatchemistry or some of that hunger that they
had early this season and after thetrade deadline last year. But I do
want to ask you, who doyou think would be the best fit for
this team that could help them onthe trade market. Well, the best
fit that could have helped them wouldhave been Pascal Siakam, but that wasn't
gonna happen, obviously, because ifyou talk about some of what they are
(13:48):
lacking, you know, you mentionedthe liquor of the Clippers lacking you know,
someone who can defend on the perimeterand not hurt you offensively. The
Lakers need someone that can be elitedefensively and can make outside shots. And
that's something that Pascalcia can do.Unfortunately, off the market that probably wasn't
going to happen anyway. I know, de Janson Murray is a guy that
Sam a make and Joe bon Boujabrought up saying like, this is the
guy they zeroed in on, andit's fine, It's okay. He's an
(14:11):
upgrade over D'Angelo Russell. I guessto a certain degree he slipped defensively this
year in the past, he's beenbetter, but again I don't think he
puts them over the hump. Andreally, I to your point, there's
really nobody out there on the market, realistically speaking, that does. I
agree with you that it has tocome internally for them. I do think
they can improve in their front court. This is something I said with you
and Bob a few weeks ago.They need to have a center to put
(14:33):
next to Anthony Davis if they're trulygoing to try to play the way they
played in twenty twenty in the bubble. Ad cannot play the bulk of his
minutes at the five. He canplay a lot of them and closing minutes
and all of that, but youcan't ask him to go on there and
bang all the time because it's goingto end up affecting him. So I
do think finding some a big manon the market, trade market, buyout
market, whatever it is, isa need along with someone who can just
(14:54):
consistently make open three point shots.And it's something we've talked about the last
three four years with this Lakers,with him being able to lack players who
were able to make outside shots consistently. So yeah, over their last fifteen
games, now their bottom ten offensively, their bottom ten defensively. We even
talked about that when people initially broughtup Christian Wood as being a possible pickup
(15:16):
for them, that he doesn't necessarilysolve that issue of going back to where
they were in twenty twenty when theywon the championship with having someone like JaVale
McGee or Dwight Howard next to AnthonyDavis. Now it's hard to find those
guys too. But Bismack Biambo didget cut. I guess he's still out
there right As far as I know, nobody has picked him up. He
(15:37):
wasn't playing amazing basketball, but forten to fifteen minutes a night when you
just want to go uber big likethat and just play with a lot of
force out there when they still dohave a big, long, strong team
already. But a couple of othernames that have been floated out there,
Bruce Brown at Malcolm Brogden, boththose guys can shoot and play defense.
(16:00):
That wouldn't be those Neither of thoseguys would be bad pickups. And it
shouldn't take a lot, especially toget Malcolm Brogden right, yeah, and
Brogden as a two way player now, granted, he's had injury issues throughout
his career as well. But aguy that can control the ball. He
can run point so you don't haveto worry about that. He can defend
multiple positions. He is the kindof player that would help. But again,
it goes back to how much doeshe help. Does he make them
(16:22):
from a middling at which at thispoint they're not even a middling Western Conference
team. They're fighting for a playin again like they were last year.
All right, maybe he takes themout of the play in and solidifies them
as number six fighting for seven orsomething. All right, great, does
that make him a championship contender anymore? No? No, they need the
guys like Rory Hachimura who they've signedresigned in the offseason, like D'Angelo Russell,
(16:44):
who's been better recently. Why thatis? Is it because he's healthy
now I know he's had a coupleof games because he had the hip issue.
Is because he's back in the startinglineup. We know he doesn't like
playing off of the bench, somethinghe's openly said. Or is it because
he wants to make sure he doesn'tget traded. It could be any combination
of all things. It could beone of those things. I have no
idea, but he's certain. Ifhe plays the way that he's played the
last week and a half, youknow that's the kind of production that they
(17:07):
need. Austin Reeves has had hismoments, but has not played up to
the level that they thought he wouldwhen they signed him to that contract extension.
So to your point, they Disneyguys on their roster to play up
to the potential, and look,Gabe Vincent has been basically nothing. He's
given them literally nothing. He's playedwhat six games this year, So when
you do get him back into thelineup, it'll be essentially like getting a
trade. Now. He was neverthat great of an outside shooter. He
(17:29):
had a decent run in the playoffslast year, but he's always been about
league gaverage, if not just belowleague gaverage, shooting the three point ball,
and he is a plus defender onthe perimeter, which would certainly help.
I even saw a report the otherday that dinnis shooter. Now that's
Ronald. Looks like they're selling off. Maybe he's somebody they'd be able to
get back. We know he's hadan impact with them as well, But
then you'd have a crowded backcourt becauseyou have him and gave Vincent back there.
(17:51):
Sure in his third stint with theLakers. That's pretty extraordinary, but
it would see it happening. Idon't know, it's not that far fetch.
There is one that I think couldchange their fortunes and get them possibly
out of the play in and theyare taking on the Chicago Bulls to night
at home. If they went outand somehow swung a trade where they got
(18:12):
Alex Caruso plus one of either ZachLavine or DeMar DeRozan, that could be
a boon for the Lakers. Thatcould turn things around. Because if you
get DeMar DeRozan, who's making twentyeight million, but he'll be a restricted
free agent, and then Alex Carusohas one more year after this on ten
(18:33):
million, and you were fine withthat. I mean, that's a deal
that it just speaks to how ridiculousit was. They didn't match it initially.
That's a bargain to have a guylike that. But if they could
pull in two guys somehow for DiAngeloRussell, a first round pick Ruy Hachima,
who has underperformed so far this seasonand hasn't making that leap, just
(18:55):
like Austin Reeves and Ruy's defense.He he's hats a couple of stents on
the injured list. Health. Hehasn't really been able to find consistency this
year. No, that's fair.Still has shown flashes here and there,
and I still would think would becoveted by some teams that are trying to
rebuild, like Chicago, I thinkat some point and he has a reasonable
that yeah, and he has areasonable contract, just a three year deal
(19:15):
right. Uh, That to medoes move the needle a little bit.
That could now you're committing a lotof long term money if you brought in
Zach Levine and it's definitely an allin move now with Lebron James who could
be gone next season. And thenyou say, Okay, we still have
Zach Levine and Anthony Davis on theteam. But I don't know, what
do you think about that? Becauseit's relevant they're taking on the Bulls tonight.
(19:37):
I wouldn't touch Zach Levine with afifty foot pole, guy. I
can't stay on that he's hurt again? Did he hurt his ankle the other
night? And that would even toplay better sometimes without him. They do
so, and I don't. Look, there could be a multitude of different
reasons for that. I don't thinkhe's necessarily a ball hog or anything.
His numbers are good when he plays, and he wouldn't he would never have
played with two better players than Lebronand Anthony David if you were to come
(20:00):
to the Lakers. I'm not sayingthat he wouldn't help. Yeah, I
just I just can't commit that amountof salary. We're talking forty plus million
dollars for the next three seasons,not including a player option, which he's
definitely gonna pick up, which Ithink is like fifty million dollars in twenty
twenty six. What if it wasDamar though and Alex Caruso, I'd probably
do it. You know, Iknow Caruso can run the show if need
be. Look, we talked aboutGabe Vincent coming back. You know you're
(20:22):
hoping and banking on him being healthy. Lebron James, even though you'd rather
not have to, you know,be the head of the snake every time
can run point. You know thatAustin reeves he can run point for you
at times. So yeah, Ido it. Demarta Rosen is a proven
score is not going to have theburden of having to be the guy every
single night. And Alice Caruso,we know is a fan favorite and we
know he can play defense on theperimeter. It doesn't help you much in
(20:44):
the paint, and you'd be losingsome frontcre depth if you indeed had to
end up trading Ruyja Chimura, butit certainly would give you more scoring,
which they need, and more perimeterdefense, which they also need. So
I would not be opposed to makingthat deal, But there's no way in
hell I would trade for Zach Lavine. I think I have some PTSD with
the Lakers because they always seem toland on their feet, even when they
have an atrocious stretch of what sevenyears where they don't make the playoffs,
(21:07):
near the end of Kobe's career,where he has the Achilles injury, They're
going through coaches, they're going throughsome terrible rosters, and they end up
getting the best player maybe of alltime, in Lebron James out of it.
So I always feel like they're goingto land on their feet and figure
things out and figure out a wayto turn things around, just like last
season where it looked like they weredead in the water, and then they
(21:29):
made some really good moves of thetrade deadline that Rob Polenka was lauded for
as he should have been, andI felt like right afterwards, this is
a dangerous team. They end upgetting to the Western Conference Finals, so
I am not counting them out yet, especially because we've seen them the first
twenty games go through a nice stretchwhere it looked like they were having some
carryover from what happened last season,going through the nd season Tournament and winning
(21:53):
that. Regardless of what you thinkabout that, they were playing high level
basketball. Who cares about the rewardAt the end of it, they showed
that they can still be a topdefense and have enough offense with how good
they are in transition and taking advantageof turnovers, and then also having all
that size and the length they poseproblems. They were winning games even without
(22:15):
making three pointers. I say itall the time, but the one thing
that makes them really dangerous to meis when they were at their best this
season and going back to last seasonand really in this Lebron and Anthony Davis
era, three pointers are like abonus to them. It's just icing on
the cake. Is the cherry ontop. They don't necessarily need it to
win because they're getting seventy points inthe pain every night and seventy free throws.
(22:37):
It feels like, well, comeon, tell me out you're you're
not wrong. He's on the phonefor you. You're not wrong in certain
senses. This is true, Butto your point, we've seen that they
can do it, so it's almostlike now, granted, the Shack and
Kobe Lakers were never this bad.We talk about turn flipping the switch and
all that, but I think forthe people like Fred Rogan and others who
says, ah, they'll be fine, don't worry about it, they'll end
(22:57):
up being okay. It's because you'veseen what they can do when they're playing
at their best. They have they'recapable of doing it, and for a
multitude of reasons, whether you wantto talk injuries, which is legit,
or you want to talk about rotations, which seemingly have worked themselves out.
Now that everything has calmed down alittle bit with the Darbnham situation, the
fan voting worked. They finally gotthe real starting lineup that fans wanted for
(23:18):
a long time, and Darvin Haamcouldn't figure it out. Yeah, which,
look, and it made the mostsense to me and everybody else as
well. And look, it tookLebron James and a bunch of other guys
griping publicly for it to end uphappening. But regardless, and look,
some guys we mentioned D'angela Russell earlier, some guys just thrive better when their
starters and not coming off of thebench. And it's up to someone like
Darvin Haam to recognize that internally andfor whatever reason. Look, you're talented
(23:42):
enough, you made it run tothe Western Conference finals. Let's not reinvent
the wheel. You don't have toswitch a starting lineup every three days just
because it didn't happen to work fortwo days in a row. That's a
knee jerk. That's not necessary.I think the criticism on him is very
much legitimate. I can see thatif you're a Lakers fan being extremely frustrated
with lineups and rotations, you cansay, they have problems that are outside
(24:06):
of his control. They've had injuries, they've had guys slumping and having down
years. There's nothing he can doabout that. But it comes down to
optimizing what you do have to workwith and I don't feel like he's done
a good enough job with that thisseason. And when you see other coaches
like Adririan Griffin being let go whenyou're there, what thirty and thirteen and
(24:26):
some of the other moves in criticismand hote David Blatt treatment right and like
so to say it's not fair oryou know, there's nothing to see with
Darvin ham because they have all theseother problems going on. No, even
in spite of that, you couldstill do a better job of pulling the
best out of your squad that youhave available to you. And for the
(24:47):
most part, he just hasn't beengood enough there. Yeah, and look
for those to say, well,it's only his second year as a head
coach and he's just learning. Like, with all due respect, this is
the Lakers not learning on the job. I mean, yes, it's year
two and you are learning on thejob. You don't get to use that
excuse in this situation. You havea thirty nine year old Lebron you have
an injury pro on Anthony Davis.You are in a win now, win
(25:07):
like win yesterday window, not evena win tomorrow window. So all your
mistakes all your shortcomings, I acknowledgethem. They're gonna happen to a young
coach, but unfortunately, if you'reDarvin, they can't happen to you.
You don't have that leeway. Ithought when he said I'm tired of people
living and dying with every single gamewe play. Hey man, that could
have been the end, maybe circlingthe drain. Yeah, go coach the
(25:30):
Hawks or the Wizards whose job justopened up. Yeah, and coach them,
and you can say that everyone winsand losses don't matter and we're developing
or whatever excuse you want to use. That doesn't work here. And I'm
never rooting for anyone to get fired. But that lack of self awareness,
I just thought, uh oh,that was exactly the wrong thing to say.
In this city at that time.You just can't say something like that
(25:52):
because those are the paying customers.Yeah, they do live and die.
They are a passionate fan base,They do want to win. They are
entitled because they have a ton oftitles. So I was a little bit
surprised that he made it through that. But when you think about it,
I don't think the Lakers brass andthe organization came into this season in any
way thinking Darvin Ham was going tobe on the hot seat early on,
(26:17):
especially when you have that run whereyou win the n season Tournament championship,
things change so drastically, so quicklythat I don't think they had a plan,
and there aren't a lot of greatoptions now, Doc rivers it looks
like he's going to Milwaukee. Thatmight have been the guy that has championship
pedigree. But I well, youknow a lot of people might feel the
same way. That's a bunch ofcraft. No, they might. I
(26:41):
like Doc as a guy as aperson too, but you know, you
know I love him same way.That's a bunch of craft. Y'all know.
I still love you, Doc.But my point is I think the
reason they didn't make a move isbecause they didn't think they were going to
be in any way in a positionto have to make a coaching move this
early and to have to scramble likethat coming into this year. Yeah,
(27:03):
and while I also think they didn'twant to, you know, while you
know, we talked about Darbinham makingknee jerk decisions and you know, changing
lineups and all that, I don'tthink Genie Buss wants to be knee jerk
either, and she'd rather rally thetroops together and say because by the way
that comment that he made he didwalking back to a certain degree at his
next media session, somebody got inhis ear and told him, hey man,
that wasn't the best thing to say. Like, for all intents and
(27:26):
purposes, it sounds like most ofthe players love him. So there's rumors
out there about his relationship with AustinReeves, and there was a video about
Austin not acknowledging him. Maybe there'ssomething there, maybe there's not. I
really don't know. And Lebron,it seems like post game when he made
that comment about the Clippers and saying, no, it's coach Lou's team,
not James Harden's team. I've seencoach Lou and what he can do.
(27:48):
And then you get D'Angelo Russell praisingas opposing teams coaches post game after they
lost to the Nets. Those thatwas shade. Those were slights that seemed
like towards Darbnham right, But again, I don't think and Geni buses had
so much turnover at the head coachingposition, even over just the last decade.
If there's any way shape or formthat they can try to figure this
(28:08):
thing out. Because also you mentionedDoc Rivers. Outside of Doc, who
was like a who was legitimate headcoach for whatever his shortcomings, who else
are you gonna go with. There'snot even anybody on their head coat,
on their staff that you can elevate. You know, Jason Kidd's gone.
That specter is no longer hanging overtheir shoulder anymore. Wait, he didn't
take freak Vogel's job. I thoughtthat was a done deal. No,
well, Frank still got it unfortunately, so there's nowhere else to go to.
(28:32):
So if you're gonna fight, Sothe argument people always make say,
oh you should fire X, Yand Z. Okay, if you're gonna
fire him, then who's gonna takehis place? Tyler wasn't sitting on the
bench, you know, behind DavidBlack like he was in Cleveland with Lebron
James, you know, being hischeerleader. They just don't have that in
their back pocket. So at thispoint in time, and maybe look,
if things bottom out, they don'tmake the playoffs, they make the play
in and lose again in the firstround, maybe they'll revisit it. But
(28:55):
I just thought that giving him theacts mid season, even with the in
the midst of the rotation issue andall that, I just don't think it
would have been the best decision becauseI don't know who you would have replaced
him with that would have been better, all right? Or qualified a little
f and NBA for you, Kevin. We got something coming up, we
do. We do. Got oneof our favorite guests. It's been a
long time since he's been here.But got a lot of NFL obviously,
(29:17):
we got the NFC and AFC championshipgames coming up this weekend. Got some
coaching changes, so Adam, let'sget to one of our favorite guests,
has been a long time. Let'stalk to him. Alan Dragon did thank
you, Dotty. We'll beat meup and I don't mean take me back
to sack Town. But we dohave a guy who knows about Norcow with
Captain Kirk Morrison back on the show. A linebacker who balled at San Diego
(29:40):
State like Kawhi Leonard, where thenthe tackle man got paid when he was
drafted in O five by the Raiders, where he became the King of Oaktown,
Home of the Whistle. You wantto who would play eight years in
the League before taking his talents tothe broadcasting world where you see him on
ESPEN and hear him on Serious XMNFL and on the RAM call with our
(30:00):
competition. But we go back awaysand we're all friends here. So Kirk,
good to have you back on thef ANDA podcast. How you been
man, Good to talk to youguys in a while, been a while,
but great to be with you guys. What's up? Well, let's
start off with this. Jim Harbaugha couple of years ago was about to
be bought out by Michigan. Ifelt like, now he's the hottest name
in the game. He'll be withthe Chargers in Los Angeles. Can he
(30:22):
turn around one of the most cursedfranchises in sports? I think if there's
anybody that can do it, it'sJim Harbaugh. I mean he's done it
at so many different levels, whetherit was the college level of the FCS
right at University of San Diego,then goes to Stanford in the PAC twelve
(30:44):
and rises that program, then goesto the forty nine Ers, take them
to a Super Bowl, a coupleof NFC championships as well, and then
he goes to obviously Michigan and takesMichigan from a middle of the line program
the time before he got there,after some failed coaches and Rich Roderiguez and
Brady Hope, and then he takesthe university to a national championship. A
(31:08):
guy's resume, like Jim Harball tellsme that he's able to work with young
generational quarterbacks, but more importantly,he's able to change your way a a
team, an organization, how theydo business. I think that's Jim Harball
man. So I think the Chargers, no matter what, they've got their
guy. Now we just got tosee the results. What does it say
(31:30):
about the Spanos family, Kirk,because for so many years people have said
that they're cheap, they don't wantto spend money. They moved up to
LA mostly to just cash in andhave the franchise value go up, but
not really invest more into the team. Now, the contract terms have not
been announced for Jim Harbault, butwe know he wasn't coming cheap. So
does this really put the stamp froma Charger standpoint in LA for the Spanos
family to say, no, we'reserious about this, We're not cheaping out
(31:52):
on coaches. We're in LA andwe're in this to kind of go after
and win here. Well, Ithink now you look at where the Chargers
are, you look at the peckingorder of Los Angeles, you know Literatari,
you know twenty years now, soI kind of understand that this is
always going to be a Laker town, a Dodger town. And then it's
okay, who's next, whether it'sUSC, whether it's the Rams, U
(32:14):
C. L A. L.I gotta throw the Clippers in there as
well. I'm sorry, happy ifyou're right. And the Clippers, who
honestly, you know, I thinkthis is their year if we're talking basketball,
to really take hold of the cityas well. Then after you know,
the Rams in there as well.Like I'm just kind of going into
kind of the pecking order. Butit just really feels like the Chargers had
(32:36):
to do something, and we allknow you have to invest. This isn't
something that you just hope they canjust you know, you start small and
I hope they can get big.No, you got to invest and really
put the money behind what you feelis right. And what they felt was
writers bringing in Jim Harball, whobrings I think a just a different attitude,
(33:00):
legitimate validation, to what I thinkthe Charges are trying to get done.
KERK Morrison joining us here on theF and A podcast. You know,
you mentioned the Rams though for asecond, and they had a year
that most people really weren't expecting tobe honest, they thought it was a
rebuild. I think Bill Plaski wrotein The Times they need the tank and
they need to go after Caleb Williams, and then they have a great turnaround.
Everybody, you know, for themost part, stays healthy. Pooka
(33:21):
Nakupa breaks out. You saw thisteam front row and center one. What
were your expectations of the Rams cominginto the season and just kind of some
up how this thing ended for youbecause a lot of people didn't have the
highest of expectations. But what didyou think the Rams were going to be
and how surprised were you that theyended up where they did. Yeah,
I'm Probaul alone probably goes extreme asBill Plaski, But you thought that this
team at best was a nine winteam, ten wins possibly if everything kind
(33:46):
of went right for them, onlybecause you knew you had three guys that
were coming back Matthew Stafford, AaronDonald and Cooper Cup But you drafted fourteen
players, you had a ton ofsecond year players in your team as well.
Could all of those guys basically sortof evolve? Would they be able
(34:06):
to play at a high level withthe players who I mentioned who have been
here for a long time. Tome, I didn't think that it was
possible, just the way that mebeing a former player and the well we're
going to put on those shoulders ofthose rookies. But I can tell you
this, very quickly you realize thatthis rookie class was going to have a
major part of it. All fourteenguys made the team that they drafted just
(34:29):
to let you know. So thatto me, was just kind of showed
you that this team was going togrow throughout the season, and very similar
to what we saw from the GreenBay Packers. I think that's what happened
with the Rams. They continue toget better and better. They won seven
of their last eight games, andthey get to ten wins. But man,
I just never saw it coming.But wow, it was amazing to
(34:51):
watch young players play well above whatour expectation was for them. Kerk Morrison
is our guest here on the fAnda podcast. So Kirk, you know
this Lions team, you've seen them. What's their path for the upset against
the forty nine ers in the NFCChampionship game. I think continue to run
the football, continue to be aggressive, and continue to convert on third down
(35:13):
offensively. They've got a plan inplace, and they've got some big time
players. Man. I'm in rossSaint Brown from right here Modern Day over
in Orange County, who know himvery well from the USC as well.
So they have him obviously. Thename Jered Golf rings a bell in Los
Angeles, and he takes care ofthe football. He doesn't turn it over.
Their team doesn't take it over.We're just talking about young players.
(35:37):
One of the best young tight endsin the league was All Pro second team
All Pro is Samuel Porta. Sothey have the offensive weapons. They have
to continue to be aggressive. Theycan't come and win a conference championship.
That's just not how it's going tohappen. They're going to have to come
and take a conference championship. Sothat's how they get it done by going
(35:58):
in there and taking it, beingagrest being, you know, pushing those
guys around a little bit. Butif they think they're going to score some
points and try to run the clockout and play field position. That's not
going to work against these forty nineers. You mentioned Jared Goff and people
in LA being familiar with him andhis shortcomings towards the end, and you
know, even Sean McVeagh admitted thathe regrets the way that things ended,
with how the trade happened with MatthewStafford. Just in watching the film and
(36:22):
doing the work that you do,and watching Jared Golf from his days here
in LA to where he is inDetroit now, someone who was prone to
always making the big mistake and attimes he still does. Look he had
the dropped interception of the end zonethat could have been big in the first
quarter, but thankfully that didn't comeback to burn them. But just how
has Jared Golf evolved as a playerfrom his final days here with the Rams
to where he is now when Detroit. I would just say he's just experienced.
(36:45):
He's always had the talent, buthe's more experienced than I would say.
You look at the other quarterbacks aroundthe league. Jared Golf has started
in two NFC Championship games. Well, he'll be starting in a second NFC
Championship game. Jared Golf has beenhas been a starter in the Super Bowl.
He's played a lot of football fellows. Remember he was drafted in twenty
(37:07):
sixteen. He's been this league along time, right, And so the
one thing I can say is thatthere is no panic with Jared where maybe
when he was younger, yes,and I maybe compared. Or the analogy
I'll use is for us living inLos Angeles, he's able to navigate traffic
in Los Angeles a lot better,you know what I mean. Like when
(37:28):
you first come to LA traffic canbe over there, like wow, how
do I get a round? Butwhen you live here, you've been around
it long enough and you understand.You're like, Okay, I know how
to do. I may have tohit the one on one man, hit
the one thirty four, you know, make s cirkle back through the sixty,
the two fifteen. You know whatI mean, It's like, Okay,
I know the answers. I knowhow to get around the problem.
(37:49):
And that's what I've seen from JaredGolf. Honestly, man, he's been
in the pocket and you know,it's hard to fool him. Now.
That's why he's also been able totake care of the football not turn it
over as much as well, andI think that's really been crucial for him
now also in that same vein inthat game with Brock Purty, because he's
been a pretty polarizing player. You'veseen him obviously up close with covering the
(38:09):
rams the way that you do acouple of times the last two seasons.
Play had the big drive in theNFC Championship game to get them to the
victory, but certainly had some miscuesand dropped interceptions on his part. Has
put up really good numbers, wasright in the running with Lamar Jackson for
MVP honors before the Ravens put iton him on Christmas Day. As brock
Purty, how do you see himas he at quote unquote system quarterback.
(38:31):
Is he someone that can thrive inany situation? Do you have concerns about
him if a game is on theline and you have to put it on
his shoulders. Just what's your overalloutlook on brock Purty as a quarterback.
It's honestly to me, I thinkthe grading skill is a little bit skewed
because we've only seen a small samplesize. I remember talking to one of
my Hall of fame veterans I usedto always joke around with and you know
(38:54):
he would always tell me, man, let me see him in three years.
It's hard to look at someone yearone, year two, and year
three and we can see that alot of times they fall off, they
aren't the same person. You wantto see them progress, right, And
so with Brock Perdy, this washis first full year as a starter.
Now he played well, but we'vealso seen those moments where we're like,
(39:15):
whoa, And that one against Baltimorewas one that really was a head scratcher.
And so I think moving forward,when you look at just this championship
weekend, one of these things arenot like the other. And I'm talking
about the quarterbacks. It's four quarterbacksthat are starting this weekend. One of
them wasn't drafted in the first round, and that was Brock Purdy drafted seventh.
(39:37):
I mean in the seventh round,right, mister irrelevant, the last
pick in the draft. I thinka lot of times we hold that against
him and we want to put himin that category of the quarterbacks, but
he is not like Jared Golf orLamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes. So we
do want to see him make somemore of those throws. Now, Don't
get me wrong, he had agood drive to end that game against the
(40:00):
Packers, but it was two throwsin a running play or a scramble?
Was that truly him being the dynamicquarterback that the forty nine ers need.
The most pressure coming up this weekendis on brock Party. I'm still I'm
just the jury still out of him. I haven't seen enough yet, right,
It's only been a season and ahalf for him, not even a
(40:21):
season and a quarter of play forbrock Party. I want to see him
continue to grow, but I'm notready to annoint him as the next coming
Kirk, did you ever buy intothe Lamar Jackson narrative that he couldn't win
in the playoffs and now they're inthe AFC Championship game? Taken on Mahomes
and the Chiefs. I mean,that should be a good one, but
it seems like it was always afalse narrative. Well, I think the
(40:43):
goalpost always shift when it comes tothe elite quarterbacks of this league. Lamar
Jackson's elite quarterback. He's an MVP, and then he'll be a two time
MVP. So how do we critiqueour great players. We don't critique them
on what they've accomplished. It's whatthey have not accomplish. Right, Oh,
well, I bet you he can'twin the super Bowl. So if
he goes out and wins the superBowl, what's the next one? I
(41:05):
bet he can't win too, youknow me? Like they did that with
Peyton Manny, Right, they're doingthat with Aaron Rodgers, right, because
he's won all these MVPs. Butcan he win a second super Bowl?
Can he outlast this person? That'sjust part of the sport. That's part
of how we you know, wekind of grade our players. We shouldn't
do it, but that's just partof what we do. We want to
(41:27):
compare them, we want to putthose up. No one's going to ever
eclipse Tom Brady. But let's behonest with Lamar Jackson. If he wins
the super Bowl, this does somuch, not just for the Baltimore Ravens
and believing in him and picking himthirty seconds in the first round when he
came out, but I just thinkthe way the quarterback position is played and
how we've heard the narrative that aquarterback who has the ability of Lamar Jackson
(41:51):
can't be successful in the NFL.This will hush a lot of those critics
and Lamar Jackson. The Baltimore Ravensgo on to the super Bowl, but
more so win if they do.Kirk. Last one for me, the
Raiders hired Antonio Pierce. Seems likelinebackers turning the coaches are like catchers into
managers in baseball. Now you're gonnathrow your hat into the ring, Kirk,
(42:12):
I mean, come on, Imean so, I don't know,
man, this thing is looking good. Demiko Ryans, Now you got obviously
you mentioned Antonio Pierce. Mike VrabelI think he'll have a coaching job as
well. So, uh, yougot to give some love to the linebackers.
Man, we do a great joband seeing the field, and now
I'm glad that the NFL is finallytaking notice on what we can do as
(42:34):
head coaches as well. How doyou think ap faars with the Raiders?
Well, I think for me,it's the team is going to play well,
They're going to play hard, they'regoing to play physical. I just
think that we're going to see getmore out of the players because of Antonio
Pierce and just I know who heis as a person. He is going
to get the most out of hisguys. That's what a head coach is,
(42:55):
to be able to pull the mostout of your players. That's why
I think they'll be successful. They'vegot a higher offensive coordinator still, but
maybe you know, look at thequarterback position because I don't think that's solidified.
But overall, I think this wasa slam dunk higher. I don't
think the Raiders even knew that theyhad a coach like this, even on
their rock. He is all aboutthe Raider way and I love that last
(43:17):
one for me too, Kirka.The coaching carousel and namely Bill Belichick still
floating out there. Looks like he'sgonna get another interview with Atlanta possibly.
I believe Atlanta is the only teamthat he's interviewed with. Do you believe
that it's just kind of old setin his ways? People don't want to
upend their building to accommodate him.Why do you think the market for Bill
Belichick, the greatest coach in thehistory of the sport, has been so
(43:38):
cold? Well, I don't knowif it's been so cold. I think
that there's also the way that Billsees the game and can he get things
corrected quickly? Is he willing togive up power? Bill Belichick was the
head coach and the general manager withthe New England Patriots, So I think
right now is just kind of figuringout what is his role just head coach?
(44:01):
How much say will he have inpersonnel and signings, all of that
stuff that comes along with the beingthe head coach. I just know that
if you have Bill Belichick as yourhead coach, you're going to be prepared.
You're going to go out there andbe ready to play. Now,
some of the talent that is somethingthat he may not have his hands in.
If I just know when that teamgets on the field, they'll be
(44:22):
ready to go and probably won't bethe way that it looked in New England.
The last part of his coaching tenurethere just didn't look the same.
And I still feel he has theacumen to be the coach because he's still
the greatest coach of all time inmy opinion, and he's still chasing that
record of Don Shulis. So we'llsee which team gives him an opportunity.
(44:43):
But I still think he's got aboutthree to five years a good, strong
coach and left in him. Heis the great Kirk Morrison. You see
him on espen on college Football,you hear him on the RAMS broadcast,
and of course Sirius XM NFL,and he will always be the king of
Oaktown. We Raiders can move toVegas all day one. He is the
King of oak Town. Kirk,thanks for coming back on the FDA podcast,
(45:06):
my friend. Thank Kevin Adam.Always a pleasure, My friends appreciate
it. Thanks to getting Kirk Morrisonfor joining us. One of our favorites.
Yeah. The one thing we didn'tget a chance to ask Kirk about
because it just came down. Youhave a new head coach, your Carolina
Panthers. First of all, oneof your Harva do we get one of
your favorite Panthers, Dan Morgan,the general manager. So props to Dan
(45:27):
Morgan for that. Wait a second, I didn't even know Dan Morgan.
My guy. Yes, was alwaysin concussion protocol. One of my favorite
linebackers and somebody who went healthy waselite. He had twenty five tackles in
the Super Bowl. He did.That's probably why he had so many damn
concussions. He was in on everytackle. But he's the new general manager.
They hired Dave Canalis, the generalnot the general manager. Excuse me,
the offensive coordinator from the Tampa BayBuccaneers as a new offensive as their
(45:52):
new head coach. There Adam.So there you go, Kevin, How
should I feel about that? Ihave no idea? How many? How
did you feel about the Tampa BayBuccaneers offense this past year? I mean
they made it to the divisional round. They maximized Baker Mayfield much better than
the Panthers did. Well. Look, I guess you could have done I
guess you could have done worse.Look. I also say it last week
(46:12):
on the show. What self respectingperson would take this job? It is
one of thirty two head coaching jobsin the NFL. Somebody was gonna take
it. Someone needs to be ableto turn it around. Look, New
Orleans was a dumpster fire before SeanPayton got there, and look what he
turned them into overnight. So noplace that chets to win a Super Bowl.
Hey, I guess whatever it takes. But Tibery, Hey, hey,
don't act like you wouldn't take itat him, but want a bounty
(46:36):
game? Super Bowl one hundred atthe Carolina Panthers where they've been ever since
their Super Bowl lost to Denver.What was that in twenty sixteen or whatever
it was? You were there,watched it at my place. That's right,
there's been some lean years ever sincethen. I drank a gallon of
vodka and Alhambra bottle full of vodkaafterwards to try to push through that yeme.
So you got to put a boundieror two on somebody to get yourself
(46:58):
a championship and sell your soul.Don't like you're above at Adam, because
you're not. We're definitely not Carolina. I think we're the new Lions.
Now we're gonna go through thirty yearsof hell because of ownership. I thought
you were gonna say, we're gonnabite some knee caps off and then keep
on coming even if we don't haveany knees. And like the whole Dan
Campbell speech when he first got hired, I wish that guy who they called
(47:19):
like Fred Flintstone and just a mongLloyd and a meathead. Well he's got
his team in the NFC Championship game. Fan straight, how about that?
Catch me outside? So there yougo. Thanks again to Kirk Mortz for
hopping on the show. We appreciateit. Thank you guys for nothing nine
four, nine, four seven,eight eleven ninety seven, didn't call,
didn't sweet me, did nothing thatwas wrong with you. Guys. Hit
(47:43):
us up on the socials, Twitter, X, whatever it's called these days
at kfig ones where you can findme Adam is that follow Adam A and
we are at fn A show onInstagram, Facebook and X. We love
you guys. We would love youmore if you didn't give us nothing.
We'll talk to you next week.I'm way to the skies and I changed
my stars. I went to themass and I fall too hard. Oh
(48:06):
my cloud? Is that you thinkyou hard? Want to talk shit?
Pick up the phone, bitch.This is the real shit right here.
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