April 11, 2025 • 46 mins
The Dodgers get set to host the Cubs and Rockies in this upcoming homestand as they look to shore up their hitting and defensive issues. Adam Auslund hops on as the Lakers and Clippers still have much to play for with 2 games left to go. The Kings hammered the Ducks last night and are on the verge of locking up home ice advantage in a likely matchup vs Edmonton
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alright, let's do this, fred Rugan, Rodney Peena, the Big
Friday Show on A and five to seventy La Sports Rodney,
how you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
All good, Freddy, all good? On a Friday Friday. You
know what happens on Friday.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Yeah, we don't care.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
No, we don't.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, we'd ask you to call the show and put
you on, but if you call, we might not even care.
It just you know, it's very organic. It's what moves
us on a Friday. If you think you can contribute
something and you can't convince Kevin, which you probably will
not be able to do out on a Friday, not
on a Friday, but if you can, you should. And
(00:34):
we'll just flight up the flagpole and see who salutes
and who's saluting the Dodgers back at Dodgers Stadium, Ronnie,
Let's roll this thing.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
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On Blue, What did the Boys in Blue?
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Speaker 5 (01:02):
Coachella Valleys, be.
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Speaker 1 (01:09):
That is so much better than last year's. I just
have to go on the record and say that I can't.
I don't know who sang that last year, but it
was not very good. Now this was singing. It wasn't
me singing last year.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Last year was Bob.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I think that was the issue, Bob saying it was Yeah,
Bob sanging it himself.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yeah, but didn't they just give it to him right
at the very end and say make a song.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
They might have, I'm not sure, but he was like, hey,
come to spot like twenty and icha and Bob did
it on his own.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah. This year it's got a little buick, which is
weird because Bob is usually pretty good. But that, yeah,
last year it was okay, Bob all right.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So anyway, Dodgers are back. If you look at the
National League standings, which I don't, I will for the
purposes of this, Uh, the Dodgers are ten and four
and they are currently in third place. The Padres are
ten and three, the Giants are ten and three. Again,
I don't really worry about the standings during the regular season. Uh,
(02:06):
but that's not how the standing is gonna wrap up anyway,
So it doesn't really matter. Doesn't matter. This is just
at your sea legs, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, okay, so you're just rattling it off the Yeah,
the Giant, the Padres and Diamondbacks are a little behind, but
you rattle them off. Who's gonna be there at the end,
so you don't pay attention until the until the end.
So you're not paying attention now, So let's fast forward
to the end. Who's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
There, Uh, Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks. Okay, I think you'll
get three out of the West in the playoffs. I
think that'll happen. Yeah, they'll be there at the end. Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
No faith at the Giants. Okay, okay, I'll buy that.
I'll buy that. Definitely. Definitely. The Padre is gonna be there. Yeah.
I think that they They're gonna be riding the Dodgers
all season long. I don't know if they win it,
(03:06):
but which is a good thing. You know. We talked
to Ned Coletti yesterday and he thought it would be
a good thing too for the Dodgers to be pushed
a little bit through the course of the season and
not you know, look up in July and they're twenty
games ahead of everybody and coasting into the playoffs. I
think the times that they've done good and run and
won the World Series is when they've been tested a
(03:28):
little bit.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, and there's no worry about that, because given the
way they've been playing of late, they're not gonna be
twenty games ahead of anybody. They've got a lot to
clean up, and they'll get it cleaned up. They have
the Cubs and Rockies in this homestand now it is
a long season. And again, the standings are whatever they are.
But here's something just to keep in mind, even though
(03:50):
it's very early, if you lose games you're supposed to win,
when you look down the road at the end of
the season, possibly those games could be a determining factor
in the playoff race. So if you're gonna get beat,
good beat, because everybody's gonna get beat. But don't give
games away when the games you're supposed to win.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Is that fair? Yeah? Yeah? But but at the same time,
you're not thinking in May when you're playing or in
April when you're playing back in Washington and you're kicking
the ball around because it's forty degrees and you're like
ready to go home, that you're giving that game away.
(04:32):
Now when you look back at it and go, god,
we went to Washington, just just laid an egg there.
You can say that, But during and real time, present time,
when you're when you're losing those games, you're not thinking, oh, man,
we just gave it away. We just gave it. That's
gonna hurt us down the road because you think you're
gonna be there down the road without worrying about game
you lost in April or may we Then you mentioned
(04:54):
though it always it always turns out that way. Though
most of the time it turns out that way. That
there was a stretch where you lost three or four
games and you're like, man, that was the difference.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well, it's the kind of thing they have to be
aware of. It's just there's an expectation here. They were
not going one sixty two and oh they were not
going to only lose three games. We know all of that.
I mean, everybody knows that was not going to be
the case, no matter how excited everybody got. But again,
the games are supposed to win.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
You need to win.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
They could come back and bite you later, because you're right.
We're sitting here now, they're ten and four. You know,
we're the middle of April. Okay, what does that mean
to us? Nothing? But you get on the road and
you're two games back and you think, damn if we'd
only win those games in April. So when the games
you're supposed to win, I think that's the mark of
a good team. And the Dodgers will. The Dodgers will
(05:47):
take care of everything this year. Now you have a
chance to get a little giddy up in your step. Well,
certainly part of this. When the Rockies are here. I mean,
they've already lost nine games. It's unbelievable. Bud Black is
the nicest man in the world. Already has pictures of
everybody with farm animals up there because they are awful
(06:09):
every year, and they keep bringing them back. And maybe
they think, why would we hire anybody else? Exactly what
I'm saying, That's what I think. I agree.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I think that they're looking at it going until we
change something, either move locations or we do something with
the organization, and we change something. There's no reason to
get rid of Bud Black. I don't care who you
bring in there. They're not going to turn things around
until their mentality turns around. And at one point they
had a very talented team. What happened Fred Nolan Ornando,
(06:44):
They had Trevor's story, I mean black men. I mean
they had a squad that was competing for the West
on a regular basis, and they just got rid of
everybody and fell apart, and they act like they don't care.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
That's the problem.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
That's the problem.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Obviously it fell apart because they made a conscious decision
not to spend money. Then they went out and did
spend money, and it was kind of an Ardi moreno move.
They signed Chris Bryant, right, and Chris Bryant can't stay healthy.
He just can't. Nice guy, but he can't stay healthy.
Went there and boom, hurt, immediately comes back, gets hurt again.
(07:25):
So they did spend money there. Another problem is in
of course Colorado, you can't really sign any pictures. No
free agent wants to pitch in Colorado because your era
is inflated a point and a half just because of
the altitude. So they have a problem getting quality pictures
unless they draft them or trade for them. And if
(07:47):
they trade for them, they try to run out of
their as soon as possible, because that's not how you're
gonna make a lot of money pitching in Colorado. So
they have no pitching. They cut their salary. Then they
signed Chris Bryant, and then you have to look at
their farm system and if you look at it once
it produced and there you go. I mean, that is
a function to their front office. That is a function
(08:09):
of their their organization. You cannot blame the players because
it's not their fault. We have the conversation all the time. Now,
you know these guys aren't very good. Well maybe in
that situation. Collectively, with that group, certain guys don't stand out.
But if you were to move those guys somewhere else
(08:30):
into a different situation, maybe they would. So if a
team is really bad, it's really not the players, not
even the manager. It's the organization. It's how they built it.
And I think there you see the Rockies. I mean
they've lost nine games already. Yeah, if this was the NBA,
you'd say they're tanking.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
The season.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yet they're just gonna tank it. You know, they're not
gonna stay for Star hotels on the road. They're gonna
stay at Courtyard Marriott. You know, they're not gonna fly private,
they're gonna fly commercial. You know, we're not gonna give
you per m, but we are gonna have a buffet
every day. Uh. And you can have that. I mean,
that's kind of what the Rockies are. Now. They also
(09:16):
get the Cubs, and that's the first stop with Yamamoto pitching.
Cubs are nine and six, and let's be honest, Cubs
aren't great. They lead to Central, but they're not great. Okay,
Cubs are okay, Cubs good the Central and you know,
I don't know if that's a badge of honor. At
(09:37):
least you did something, but they're not great. This is
a team that Dodgers should beat. They beat them in Tokyo,
they should beat them here.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
And those are the two opponents now at Dodger Stadium.
We have Yamamoto going tonight, so he'll see the Cubs
for the second time this season. He beat them the first,
and he should beat them this time too. I think
they have Sazaki going tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yep, Tazaki goes tomorrow, so he beat him. He beat
him as well, right, Oh he started I don't know
he started that game. I would like to see Suzaki
making five innings. That's what I'd like to see.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Every time he's out, you expect a little more growth
from him. It's kind of incremental growth. I'd like to
see him go five innings. I'd like to see him
reduce his pitch count. I'd like to see him throw
more strikes, because when he throws a strike, it's hard
to hit. No one is questioning that. But he's got
to get the ball on the strike zone more and
(10:32):
hopefully tomorrow he'll be able to do that. Just increase
that a little bit, Just get a little better.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
He's got he's got good enough stuff that he should
be in the strike zone. Let let him play defense
behind him. Now, look, someone would say defens hadn't been
that great. He better strike everybody out. But that sometimes
that gets to be an issue with guys that have
that kind of talent, is that they do want to
strike everybody out, and sometimes you got to pitch the
contact in certain situations to get a groundball, double play,
(11:00):
get a flyout. In a situation you don't want to
have to go with every batter, you know, seven eight
nine pitches with every batter. You want to have some
one pitch at bats and uh, but with that type
of talent and as young as he is, your idea
that I can strike everybody out is still a mentality.
It probably he's he he has and probably needs to
(11:20):
get out of.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yeah, I mean, the bottom line is there's a difference
between a thrower and a pitcher. He knows how to throw,
no one could question that. Now he has to learn
to pitch at the big league level. And normally you
would learn to pitch if you're Sazaki in Triple A.
That's where you'd learn, and they'd work with you, and
they'd bring you up here and you'd understand he's learning
(11:42):
on the job. This is on the job training. He's
just doing it here. Everybody knows you'll be able to
do it, and every time out you want him to
be a little better. But just wait till he figures
it out. Just wait till he gets to where he
needs to be. And that's that's a.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Good point because he came straight from Japan to the Dodgers,
to the big league club in spring training and then
right here, so he didn't have that what half a
year year into in Triple A or Double A that
you used to kind of hone your skills, to kind
of get refined, to work with the pitching coaches in
(12:20):
the organization to teach you how to be a real
pitcher at this level. He didn't have that, So you're right,
he's he's learning, basically learning on the job. Every time
he goes out. It's a new adventure and it's a
new learning experience that it counts because he's with the
big club. You know, if you're in Triple A, it's
it's hey, I just learned. I'm working on something, you know,
(12:42):
for for five innings and I might got hit around,
but that's okay because I was working on my my
breaking ball. You don't do that up here. You try,
you gotta get people out and you got to get
the win.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
That's why I think after every gaming pitchers, if you
if you listen to what the Dodgers said and even
re Jack Harris in the Times or I think the
only person that probably is more realistic about it all
as David Vassay. Because Dave never pulls any punches. He's
just brutally honest and it doesn't matter. He is just
brutally brutally honest, and you know, he says his Zaki's improving.
(13:16):
But if you read these other guys, they don't criticize
them at all. There's no criticism. It's every step is better. Hey,
I don't care if he threw, you know, forty two balls,
those thirty strikes, they were killer. You know, I don't
care if he walked the bases loaded, But to get
out of that jam was pretty impressive. So you can
(13:38):
tell what they're doing with him. They're just bringing him
along and being very encouraging. And they should because when
he when he learns what he's doing, I'm telling you
you will not want to miss one.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Game he pitches.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, he can throw the ball. Yamamoto has a lot
of pitches and can do a lot with that ball.
But if you watch the Zaki pitch, he does things
that seem unheard of, the way he can move the
ball around, the way he can fool people. I mean,
somebody will be looking at a pitch, it looks directly
down the middle of the plate. They swing and it
(14:15):
just drops a foot and you're wondering, how did he
do that? But he can do that, it's just gonna
take him a little time. So if Yamamoto tonight you
have say, Zaki tomorrow and coming up at two o'clock,
David Vase will join the show.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Spot Lot Blue, presented by Spotlight twenty nine Casino.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
It's my favorite spot.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Check out Spotlight twenty nine dot com for upcoming shows
from world class entertainers.
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Spot l twenty.
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Nine Coachella Valley's best bet.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah right on ya Tatata.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Kevin says, so cool. We got Dean Martin to record
this force nice. Okay, Let's get to the Salty A. Next,
the Lakers and Houston tonight, the playoffs on the horizon.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, we said it, you heard it. It's Friday and
on Fridays. We absolutely no, no, we don't right to
be Fred Rogan. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Let's do it. Lakers are almost done, They've got Houston tonight.
Perfect world. They win one of their final two, they'll
lock up the third seed in the Western Conference. Clippers
are right there as well. And the man who will
share all of the insight necessary to figure this out
is Adam Austin the Salty A and Adam, thanks for
(15:50):
thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
It's good to be with you, guys. The salt is
here is the playoffs approach.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
Let's go all.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Right, let's just get right to it before we get
to the Lakers. Now, there's a train of thought that
the Clippers could be giving some people trouble in the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
How about that, Freddy, Yeah, how about that?
Speaker 6 (16:08):
Though, even though they didn't bring back your guy and
Paul George this season, it seems like they made the
right move and holding on to Kawhi Leonard because with
him playing at this level, you got a shot against anybody.
And that's what it's been. The last nineteen games. They
have won sixteen of nineteen, they've won six in a row.
They have two winnable games, and if they win out,
(16:30):
they'll at least be the five seed in the Western Conference.
With a little bit of help, they could end up
being the four. I don't think they could be the
three because the Lakers just need one win in their
last two games to get that.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
But this Clippers team is surging.
Speaker 6 (16:41):
This they can make the case right now, guys, that
this is the best they have ever looked entering the postseason.
This is the hottest they've ever been according to net rating,
the advanced analytics. Just how good they've been on both
ends of the floor. With Kawhi playing at this high
of a level. James Harden's playing his best basketball of
the Season's Zubats is playing the best basketball of his.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
Career right now.
Speaker 6 (17:03):
He is legitimately a top five center in the league.
He just came off his first triple double ever. This
team is peaking at the right time.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I was going to ask you about James Harden.
You know, a lot of skeptics and a lot of
people felt that maybe it wasn't a good move. He's
beyond Yeah, but again, playing at a high level, making
some big shots at critical times. Man, just talk about
his performance and his importance to this team. I know
(17:35):
we talk about Kawhi and he's got to stay healthy,
but James Harden is equally as important.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
No, I think he's been the MVP for them this
season because he has given them a floor, He's given
them a system offensively. He calls himself a system or
the system, but that's who he's been in this league.
He's a top seventy five player. Ever, He's never missed
the playoffs. There's a reason for that.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
His teams have.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Always been competitive because he runs that high, can roll
to perfection. A lot of Big Zoo's growth and development.
You can attribute that to James Harden and just how
well or how much he has helped him in that area.
But he's turned into a much more efficient player over
the last month and a half now, since Kawhi came
back and is playing this well, it's taken James Harden
(18:17):
off the ball a little bit. It's less taxing for him.
So his shooting percentages are up last nineteen games. He's
at thirty eight percent from the outside forty six percent
from the field. But he leaves them in points per
game on the season. He has been so reliable for them.
You can make the argument because of his defensive each
Zubots maybe he has been the MVP this season. But
I would say I would lean slightly towards James Harden
(18:40):
being that guy for the Clippers. He's been so important.
There's a reason he was an All Star. I think
he has a case now to be third team All NBA.
He's been a top fifteen player in the league this year.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Okay, So as we get into the final games when
it all shakes out, where do you think the Clippers finish.
Speaker 6 (18:57):
I think somewhere between eight no. I would them to
be the fifth seed where they are currently, because if
they went out, that's where they will be. And Denver
has a chance to win out too. They take on
Memphis tonight in Memphis. What the Clippers would need is
Denver to lose a game and for them to win
(19:17):
out to be the four seed.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
And I think Denver has righted the ship to some degree.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
I don't know that for a fact, but Memphis has
gone a back to back tonight in Denver, it's gonna
be tough for them to get the victory there. Nicola
Jokich was drawing up plays the other night against the
Sacramento Kings with David Adaman now as their head coach.
I mean, I think they're trying to rally around the
fact that they've been through all this, you know, Turmol
and just tumultuous time there with the firing of Mike
(19:44):
Malone and Calvin Booth. So I think it's most likely
for the Clippers to end up in that five spot.
But guys, there's a great chance they fall to six
and they take on the Lakers in the first round
because the Lakers are all but guaranteed to be that
third seed in the Western Conference right now, you pretty
much know that. So they're taking on whoever ends up
in the sixth spot, and for the first time ever,
(20:04):
we could have the Battle of Los Angeles. It all
alls happened a couple of times before to shifts passing
in the night. I think this time it's real. I'd
say there's like a thirty percent chance that we get
Clippers and Lakers in the first round.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Dude, that would be I don't know if that'd like
that for like them late late in the in the playoffs.
Maybe not in the first round. That's fair to see
the meat later on. But when you look at this,
when you look at the West, look, I know, Oklahoma
City has kind of ran away with it a little bit.
Uh in the West, the Rockets have been pretty good
as well. But when you look at this and the
(20:38):
stack up and then look how the Lakers played Okay,
see the last couple of times they played them. Are
you looking at the West and going there's a clear
cut favorite and there's okay see that? Or is it?
Is it stacked up to the point where you wouldn't
be shocked by anybody at least in the top six
coming out of the West.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Oh yeah, I'm kind of with you there, Rodney.
Speaker 6 (20:59):
At this point, I told you guys a month ago,
I felt like the Lakers match up really well against
Oka See.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
They do.
Speaker 6 (21:06):
They have enough switchability. They don't have a big man
that really punishes Oka See. But okay See doesn't have
that against them either. Chet Holmgren is shooting from the outside.
Isaiah Hartenstein's best shot is his floater from ten feet out.
They just match up really well against them. That first
victory they got in Oklahoma City, that was the worst
(21:26):
loss the Thunder had taken all season long, and they
hadn't lost two games in a row up until that point,
and that put him in that spot where that was
the second game at a row they lost. I mean,
you expected them to bounce back. And while they did win,
the next game against the Lakers, of course, the Lakers
led by one was seven minutes left before Luka Doncic
got ejected because some referee wanted to inject himself into
(21:48):
the ballgame like that.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Was was talking to the crowd. He didn't think he was
talking to someone in the stands.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
It was obvious he was talking to the fan. The
fan knew he was talking to him. Everybody on the
court knew it at the time, except for the one
guy who gave him that technical, which was rescinded the
next day. So poor officiating there. That was an abomination.
Even as somebody who's a Laker hater, you know, I
never want to see stars get ejected from games like that.
But the Lakers have matchup advantages over the Oklahoma City
(22:16):
Thunder because, as I said before, if Sga is being doubled,
somebody else has to step up for them. And while
they have the guys who are talented enough in JDub
he was an All Star this season, he hasn't proven
it in the playoffs. That was a big reason they
lost in the second round. So Luka doncis when he
was with Dallas last season, like Luca is very good
(22:37):
against Oklahoma City clearly, So I don't think the Lakers
should be afraid of them and what we thought. Because
OKACE has won sixty six games, they're easily the best
team record wise in the Western Conference. There's not as
much distance between them in the Lakers, and you can
make the argument right now the top three toughest teams
(22:58):
based upon how they've been playing over the last three
months are Okay, see the Lakers and the Clippers. Maybe
throw Golden State in there is the fourth toughest team.
I don't want to overlook Houston, but they have a
lot of inexperience out there. They have a ton of
guys that just have never been in the playoffs before.
Sometimes that can be dangerous. They don't know how bright
the lights are going to be. Maybe some of those
(23:18):
guys on men. Thompson has been great for them as
of late, is a playoff riser and a killer and
becomes like Dwayne Wade when he first got into the playoffs,
and you saw that he had that in factor.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
But I don't know. I think the West is much more.
Speaker 6 (23:31):
Open than you know I would have said three months ago,
because the Lakers have Luca now and the Clippers are
playing at a very high level.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Adam Dan Whitey wrote about the Lakers small ball lineup.
They lost out on Mark Williams, but maybe Whikey suggests
it was a blessing in disguise because the small ball
lineup seems to be working well.
Speaker 6 (23:50):
One of the big reasons when their defense for two
months straight was the best in the NBA was that
small ball lineup and that swarming doubling, screen sampling small
ball they've been playing where ruy Hachimra is playing the
five and when he's right, and he wasn't playing back
to backs when he first came back from the knee injury,
but there's no more obviously at this point. If he's
(24:12):
one hundred percent, he's kind of the lynchpin to their
small ball activity because what you have there is Lebron
Luca Austin Reeves who's been playing like an all star
the last three months, and then Dorian Finney Smith next
to ruy Hachima. They have a ton of switchability and
when they buy in, when they are rotating correctly and
helping the helper. We saw in that game in February
(24:35):
in Denver against Jokis where he had one of the
worst games of his career, and it was against that
small ball lineup, and they schemed for like three days
to get to that point where J. J. Reddick said
he didn't sleep. That was a huge game for them.
I think they had lost twelve straight at that point
to the Denver Nuggets, who obviously completely owned them, and
they had this different wrinkle with a small ball defense
(24:58):
where guys are just running around, helping one another and
doubling Jokic over and over again, even before he got
the basketball like that is something that has progressively been
very good for this Lakers team, and they're getting back
to it now because the defense had fallen off when
Lebron had the groin issue, and when he first came
back he wasn't right. I still don't think he looks
(25:19):
as good as he did before the groin issue. The
outside shooting hasn't been there, but specifically defensively, they hadn't
looked good until that game against Houston that they were
able to get a victory against back at Crypto, and
then the two games against Okay See they looked better
with a small ball, and then the last game against
Dallas they look better. So they're getting back to those
defensive principles on that end, and I think that's what
(25:41):
makes them so dangerous. When they're flying around and playing
defense like that, that's when they're at their best because
the offense is going to be there. They just have
too much talent on that end. When they buy in
on the defensive end and they they scrap like that,
That's why I think the Lakers really have a chance
to get out of the West.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Staying in the West at how much of a threat
do you think the Golden State Warriors would be.
Speaker 6 (26:04):
They're tough, but they're in a tough spot right now too,
because they played the Clippers on Sunday and that game's
on the Evil four letter and if the Clippers win
that game, that should put Golden State into the play in.
So as good as they have been over the last
two months, once they got Jimmy Butler, they could still
end up being in a play in matchup where anything
(26:24):
could happen in a one game play and it looks
like Memphis will be the most likely team there with
them in the seventh A spot. But they need to
win out. They need to win out to stay out
of the play in. But they're good. They are a
much more complete team since they brought in Jimmy Butler.
He cured a lot of what ails them, and they
also got Jonathan Kmingaback, who had been hurt for some time.
(26:46):
But now they just match up a lot better against
different teams, and it's taken a lot of the pressure
off of Steph Curry where he doesn't have to do
everything because Jimmy Butler's giving you twenty He's a good
defender out there. Draymond Green, I think has been a
shot in the arm for pretty um much everybody. Draymond's
playing better defense. He's back in the defensive Player of
the Year conversation. So the Golden State Warriors, to me,
(27:07):
they're probably the fourth most dangerous team right now in
the West behind Okay, see the Lakers and the Clippers.
But it's real what they have going right that right now,
because I think they're starting to get vibes like they
had in twenty twenty two where things came together at
the right time for them to make that playoff run
to beating Boston in the finals.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Adam, did you see the comments by Austin Reeves. I
thought they were really interesting.
Speaker 5 (27:29):
The white point says that even he.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Underestimates white NBA players. You know, it was a white
guy in the NBA. I sometimes look at white players
and I'm like, they're not very good. So it's a
stigma that I think is real. Do you find it
interesting he said.
Speaker 6 (27:41):
That, Yeah, I thought that was pretty telling. I think
JJ Reddick said something too about having to prove it
all the time. I don't know, it's not you know,
while I'm white, it's not a conversation that I've had
that often over the last few years talking about NBA
players because nobody's been I guess transparent about it before.
(28:02):
But you know, Austin Reeves, I don't care about that.
I made a comment recently about him and talking about
how well he's been playing as of late. I said this,
and people thought it was a hot take at the time,
and it's aging pretty well. I would take him over
Devin Booker right now. I think he's been that good.
And I don't know what happened to the Phoenix Suns
(28:23):
this season. They really don't have an excuse for being
this bad. But Austin Reeves to me because of his
on ball capabilities creating for others and then himself, and
then the way he is blended in next to Lebron,
next to Luca, I think he's been playing at an
all star level and has a case to be what
the best third option on any team, because if you
(28:43):
look at the games where Luca or Lebron have been
missing or both of them, like they had that game
in Denver maybe a month ago, where it was just
Austin Reeves out there and like Bronni and he's still
i think dropped thirty five and had them within striking
distance as the first options. So even when he's had
to be the main guy out there at times in
(29:04):
games and teams have their best defenders on him, they're
not stopping him. He's that good. I don't think people
understand the growth we're seeing with Austin Reeves, the transformation
he has gone through from the start of this season
till the end of this season. I think Chandler Parsons
on whatever show FanDuel TV said before the year, Oh,
he's not gonna average more than fifteen points. He's been
(29:26):
averaging twenty three over the last three months now efficiently
with the passing out there, and while you can hunt
him out at times defensively and he has some weaknesses there.
I love Austin Reeves game. I do think that's one
of the best contracts. That is one of the best,
you know, third options, if not the best third option
in the game right now. And for the Lakers to
(29:48):
have held onto him, by the way, and not having
to give him up for Luka Doncic in that trade,
what a win for them and Rob Polnka. Yeah, wait,
to go.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Thanks Nico. I'm still better.
Speaker 6 (30:01):
I can't get over it, guys, and I told you
on Tuesday exactly what was gonna happen. Right he got
the Heroes, welcome Luka Dancic the entire time. They're cheering
for him against their own team while he's playing in Dallas.
That wasn't the Lions Den. That was the Cuddleau kittens Den.
That was like a care Bear Den. Like the entire
crowd was in favor of him. They wanted him to
(30:21):
beat them. They're chanting fire Nico the entire time, the
Lakers at the very end with a minute and a
half left, getting the crowd into it, the Luca chance,
the standing ovation again at the very end, and by
the way, I think those tiers were real. I think
that was real emotion from Luca. I don't know what
Rob Parker was talking about yesterday is saying those were
crocodile tears. This guy runs on emotion. He's one of
(30:43):
the most passionate players out there. And he had the
towel over his head during the tribute video. You could
see he was in pain there, maybe because he missed
out on one hundred million dollars, but he'll likely get
it back somehow, maybe because he just bought a fifteen
million dollar house or whatever. But I think a lot
of that is because he truly felt like he was
going to finish his career in Dallas. He was gonna
(31:05):
have a statue next to Dirk Navisky's and he was
going to carry on the tradition and win a championship there.
That was as an emotional of an evening as I
had seen, and for him to handle it that well
at this level drop forty five. I think he started
one for three and then he just settled in and
took over seven of ten. From the outside, that is
an all time performance. And everybody in the arena. Everybody
(31:29):
in that arena knew it was coming, except the guy
who traded him somehow, the guy who gets paid to
make moves to better the Dallas Mavericks was the one,
the last one to find out that, oh, maybe you
don't get rid of a twenty five year old superstar
like this, who is hasn't even really reached his prime yet.
It's just it's still shocking every time I see him
(31:50):
in a Lakers jersey, but specifically that game, that was
just an incredible night.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Uh yeah, no, no doubt, no doubt for that moment
could have gone either way. You know, we've seen it
where guys put too much on themselves to go back
and have a big game and they go one for eighty.
You know, we talked about Luca, we talked about Lebron
and Austin Reeves, but talk about the job that JJ
Reddick's doing and has done this season, Adam, because he
(32:17):
he I think has done as good a job coaching
this team as there is in the NBA this year.
Speaker 6 (32:22):
Yeah, I mean the pat Riley talk is was overblown
before the season and those lofty expectations trying to set
him up to fail. That stuff was ridiculous. Look, today's
NBA is different. Pat Riley might not be pat Riley,
but JJ Reddick I thought it would be a good
hire because you listen to his podcast, you listen to
him as an analyst. He understands the modern NBA, the
(32:46):
positionless league, it has become, the swish ability you have
to have out there. And my one big criticism, the
most obvious one for Darbyn Ham last season, and I'm
not saying he did a terrible job with the Lakers
or anything like that they made a run obviously with
him as the head coach, but last season he couldn't
figure out the best five guys to put out there,
Like that's the kind of the bare minimum. You have
(33:06):
to optimize lineups, and JJ Reddick has been great with
that while implementing a superstar of the ilk of Luka Doncic,
you know, with thirty percent left in the season, figuring
that out. I think he deserves a ton of credit,
Like this isn't just oh, he got Luca and that
saved him. No, they were playing great ball before they
(33:26):
got Luca. When I mentioned them being the best defense
in the league for over two months, that was before
they got Luca. By the way, obviously he has deficiencies
on that end, like, but that was with Ad without AD,
with Luca without Luca. That's scheming, that's getting guys to
buy in on that end. I think JJ Reddick has
been able to get his message across even when they
(33:48):
have had some downturns, they had some rough patches, he's
navigated beautifully. And I also feel like Lebron James deserves
some credit because I heard from a lot of people
that when they got Luka donci is not gonna work.
Lebron is not going to pass the torch over. He's
not going to give up the basketball. He can't play
(34:08):
off the ball, and I'm thinking to myself, guys can't
play off the ball. He's been one of the best
catch and shoot three point shooters over the last two years. Now,
he's been playing off the ball more. He's ready for
this moment. It actually helps him to not have to
do everything on the offensive end. He has another Lebron
on the floor with him. We've never seen two passers
(34:29):
this good on the same team. Two guys that can
manipulate a defense like this on the same team. It
is unbelievable. And I do think he's put his ego
aside a little bit to make sure Luca is comfortable.
He was helping lead those chants in Dallas the other
night at the very end, to make sure Luca got
his due. Lebron deserves credit JJ reddick. But again, you
(34:52):
know they're gonna be defined what happens in the playoffs,
of course, But all that talk of ah, this is
a move for next year. This is just a move
for the next five years, the next ten years. What
happened to that talk? Because now the Lakers are a
real contender this year.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Oh oh, say it again, Adam.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
Now the Lakers are a real contender this year.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
They are indeed all right.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Clippers and Sacramento six pm pregame. Adam will be there
seven o'clock. Tip you'll hear it on Am eleven fifty Saltta,
thanks for hanging today.
Speaker 5 (35:21):
Appreciate you guys. It's all love. You know it, Fred,
Come on now.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
All love, hit it, all love. Fifty years at full speed.
The Agua Grand Prix of Long Beach celebrates its fiftieth
anniversary today, tomorrow and Sunday. Ticket to gp LB dot com.
When we come back. As we get closer to the
NBA Playoffs, we get another step closer to the NHL Playoffs.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Gold Kings Go. Looks like It's Edmonton again Today Afternoon
Delight is Blink Twice by Shaboozy. The five time Grammy nominee,
teamed up with the UK singer song rider Miles Smith
on this track that dropped on streaming platforms last night.
(36:10):
This is the first release of the year for the
country star as he gets set to perform at both
the Coachella and Stagecoach Music festivals this year again. Today's
afternoon Delight is Blink Twice by Shaboozy featuring Miles Smith
Fred I know you love some Shaboozy.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Well, you know what, I'm excited to see Weezer at Coachella.
Oh okay, Weezer, that's right. Yeah, interesting that there will
be a performance by Weezer since two days ago his
wife pulled a gun on LAPD and was shot.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Oh she's okay, she's okay. She plugged gun on LAPD
and was shot by LAPD. Yes, and it's and it's
a live and she's okay. Yes, so it wounded her. Yeah,
weez are still going to perform, still gonna be out
(37:07):
here performing. And this happened when like two days ago.
Oh two days after your wife gets shot, you know,
still perform.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Yeah, well the show must go on. She's okay.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
I guess, so, I guess.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
So here's the thing, and listen, everybody can live their
life however they want. You make your own choices. One
thing I would advise against. Don't point a gun at
the police. No, you're still alive. Yeah, I mean, if
you want to, you can, But I just not a
good idea. Yeah, I don't think I would do that.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Yeah, I'm surprised though, I'm surprised she is alive because
if you if you pull a gun, especially on the police.
I mean, sometimes you don't have to pull a gun,
but if you pull a gun on the police, usually Fred,
they pepper you with bullets before you even can ask
(38:02):
a question. Right, Yeah, he did? Is fried chicken? Fred?
Well she's okay. She's okay, which is a miracle in itself.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
I mean, if you use the chicken analogy, maybe she
either has a bad wing or a bad leg.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Now she's okay, she's fine. They shot the wound not
to kill Okay. Yeah, but Weezer will be performing all right.
Let's get to the Kings. So they beat the Ducks
last night. They beat them pretty good, six to one.
Think about the.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Ducks and the Samuelli's on the franchise down there, they're
such wonderful people, so philanthropic if they really want to
turn that around. And the Ducks have some younger players,
and it does take time to turn a team around,
but they're getting better. Last night they were not good
against a formidable opponent and the Kings who beat them
six to one. So what Does it all mean the
(38:53):
second place Kings hold on to a four point lead
over third place Edmonton with four games to play. That's
what it means. The Kings still have to win.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
This is not.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Wrapped up by any stretch of the imagination. The Kings
still need to win, but they do have some breathing
room here. And the way it appears at this point,
that first round playoff matchup will be Edmonton again, but
the difference this go round is that the Kings will
have home ice advantage. Now, the Kings just beat Edmonton
at home, but they didn't have land Dry, Sidle or
(39:27):
Connor McDavid. The Kings beat it, well, can you call
that a win? Yeah, they don't have Conor mc McDavid. Then,
I mean, can you really call that a win? I
know you don't like the guy Fred, No, I don't
like him, and you know what, I'm calling it a win.
I'm calling it a win. Yes, it's a win. It's
only a win other than being a win because that
(39:51):
win helps the Kings hang on to second place. That's
kind of a four point swing. I mean, if Edmonton
had won that game, it wouldn't be a four point
swing at all. So the Kings need to hang on.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah. But when you say that, they, oh, you know,
it's all good because they beat them. They just beat them.
They beat them without their their superstar. Yes, and they
gonna have the superstar when they play him in the
first round.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
That's right. Yeah, it is my hope. It is my hope. Yeah,
it is my hope. The Kings take him out three
minutes into the game.
Speaker 5 (40:23):
Wow, dirty Fred?
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Yeah, well no, I mean legally not just like Club
and Kevin.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
That's what it.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Sounded like to me.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Rodnie, I don't know, like so as he walks on
the ice, just take the sticks and heavy.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
At him, thrill him into the boards. I mean Fred,
I mean Kevin. Can you can you imagine like Fred
playing hockey. He would be like he would be like
Connor McDavid. He would be a dirty player. He would
be ramming people into the boards. He'd be high sticking
Fred Rogan on the ice.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
And be the main one, the main one shrugging the
showder mat I didn't do anything. It whatn't mean he'd
be pulling them a tumble. I didn't do anything what
you're talking about?
Speaker 1 (41:02):
Yeah, no, you would be a mad man, absolutely, Yeah, Well,
depending on my size. If I was small, I'd be
really fast, but probably if I was one of the
big guys, I let people know I was out there.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
Is that where Josh gets it from? You said Josh
was a wrecking ball back in the day, would just
take people out left and right, take them after his
old man.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
Is that what it is?
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I can't even tell you the stuff he would do.
As a parent, you see that and you just turn
your head. You just turn your head. You don't even
want anybody to know that that's your kid.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
The kind say when you when you confronted him after that,
and he would you would come home and say, what
was that out there? What would he say? I didn't know,
I didn't do that.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
I didn't Well, the first thing he'd say is, oh, no,
they tripped me, Josh, No one tried you.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
I got two eyes. I can see what happened, Josh,
Come on, tell me the true. No.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
He and he just did the stuff. He didn't care,
and he would be that guy. He just shrugged his
shoulders and go with me, Well, what are you looking
to mean? For the best moment of all. One of
the highlights of being a parent was watching and I
might have told when they were very young playing soccer,
and I mean it was probably were probably six and
five or five and four, I don't remember exactly how
(42:10):
old they were. And they played on a team called
the Dolphins in Chatsworth. Ayso, okay, it's a nice little
soccer league and you have the little kid run up
and down the field. Jack and Josh were on the
same team. Now, the thing about it was, even at
that age, Jack was so much faster than everybody that
he would literally score in the first six minutes of
(42:32):
the game seven goals. He would just run by everybody
and score their little tiny kids. He was a little
kid too, So Jack was really quick and very athletic
and just ran by and scored. But Josh was known
for his patented and famous blaster kick. Now, the blaster kick,
it would be sort of like Tom Dempsey kicking in
(42:54):
the NFL. It was a run to the ball and
a straight on blast. It was the blaster kick. Now,
Josh needed a little time to set up the blaster kick,
because you know, he didn't just run around. He had
to have the ball set and if nobody was around him,
let it go. So they're playing and there's a scramble
(43:15):
in front of the net. We're trying to score on
this goal, and there it is. The ball is in position,
the ball is in position, and Josh is lining up
the blaster kick, and out of nowhere, Jack runs in,
takes the ball and scores as Josh was lining up
the blaster kick. What do they do? Josh jumps on
(43:39):
Jack during the game and tries to beat him up.
During the game, jumps on him and then starts trying
to hit him because Jack took the ball away from
the blaster kick.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
I just laughed.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
I thought, oh, this is great anyway to go back
to get back to hockey. That was what Josh would do.
I would be a cling player. But when it comes
to Connor McDavid, who was a superstar yet dirty and
mixes it up and physical, I think the King's need
to put a body on him. There's only one problem
in trying to do that. You can't catch him because
(44:19):
he's too fast.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
I've never seen a hockey player as fast as Connor McDavid.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
It I know he's fast. He reminds me of Steve
isser Iserman, remember Steve Iiman from Yeah. Yeah, he's a
bad boy, but It's rare, though, rare that the superstar
is also that physical. You don't see that from from Lemieux, Gretzky, Crosby.
Those guys, they were not it. Let somebody else be
(44:45):
the physical person, right, But McDavid is the physical guy,
yet he is also the superstar. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
And the thing about him being physical is he's physical
like Josh Rogan when nobody's working, he's that.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
Sneaky He's that sneaky, sneaky physical guy. What did I do?
Like he got away with something?
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Yeah, And because he is so fast, he can get
up on people quickly and then he can you know,
he can let him have it and then get away
because he's so fast. That's not how superstars play. You know,
superstars are protected in the league. Yes, but he doesn't
seem to care. So what I'm saying, if that somebody
(45:32):
can legally wind him up and put a body on him,
I would do it as soon as possible. You got
to catch him, and it's not easy, but if you can,
I'd put a body on him right away, let him
know he's out there. Because I think the Kings can
and they have to win this series at home this year.
(45:54):
They have to win the series. They cannot lose to
Edmonton again. And the Kings have been magnificent at home.
They're thirty five and four at home.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Yeah they rolling.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Yeah, that is a tough place for an opponent to play.
So if in fact they can hang on, four points up,
four games to play, hang on, get Edmonton at home
in the first round. Somehow figure out a way to
get an angle on McDavid and put a body on
him and let the good times flow. Let them flow,
(46:33):
because that's what they need to do.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
Let it happen this year.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
Go Kings, Go, Go Kings go.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
All right, playoffs in hockey and basketball, Baseball season just underway,
and it's almost time for the NFL Draft, So let's
talk about it with Vinnie Bond Senior Next
Alright, let's do this, fred Rugan, Rodney Peena, the Big
Friday Show on A and five to seventy La Sports Rodney,
how you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
All good, Freddy, all good? On a Friday Friday. You
know what happens on Friday.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Yeah, we don't care.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
No, we don't.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, we'd ask you to call the show and put
you on, but if you call, we might not even care.
It just you know, it's very organic. It's what moves
us on a Friday. If you think you can contribute
something and you can't convince Kevin, which you probably will
not be able to do out on a Friday, not
on a Friday, but if you can, you should. And
(00:34):
we'll just flight up the flagpole and see who salutes
and who's saluting the Dodgers back at Dodgers Stadium, Ronnie,
Let's roll this thing.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Spotlight on Blue is presented by Spotlight twenty nine Casino.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Eric Dickerson's favorite spot in the Coachella Valley, spot Light.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
On Blue, What did the Boys in Blue?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Luxury is coming to Coachella in twenty twenty six with
the opening of Spotlight twenty nine. So Telling Resort made
an experience that will define luxury in Coachella.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
Coachella Valleys, be.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Spotlight twenty nine dot com.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
That is so much better than last year's. I just
have to go on the record and say that I can't.
I don't know who sang that last year, but it
was not very good. Now this was singing. It wasn't
me singing last year.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Last year was Bob.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I think that was the issue, Bob saying it was Yeah,
Bob sanging it himself.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yeah, but didn't they just give it to him right
at the very end and say make a song.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
They might have, I'm not sure, but he was like, hey,
come to spot like twenty and icha and Bob did
it on his own.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah. This year it's got a little buick, which is
weird because Bob is usually pretty good. But that, yeah,
last year it was okay, Bob all right.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So anyway, Dodgers are back. If you look at the
National League standings, which I don't, I will for the
purposes of this, Uh, the Dodgers are ten and four
and they are currently in third place. The Padres are
ten and three, the Giants are ten and three. Again,
I don't really worry about the standings during the regular season. Uh,
(02:06):
but that's not how the standing is gonna wrap up anyway,
So it doesn't really matter. Doesn't matter. This is just
at your sea legs, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, okay, so you're just rattling it off the Yeah,
the Giant, the Padres and Diamondbacks are a little behind, but
you rattle them off. Who's gonna be there at the end,
so you don't pay attention until the until the end.
So you're not paying attention now, So let's fast forward
to the end. Who's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
There, Uh, Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks. Okay, I think you'll
get three out of the West in the playoffs. I
think that'll happen. Yeah, they'll be there at the end. Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
No faith at the Giants. Okay, okay, I'll buy that.
I'll buy that. Definitely. Definitely. The Padre is gonna be there. Yeah.
I think that they They're gonna be riding the Dodgers
all season long. I don't know if they win it,
(03:06):
but which is a good thing. You know. We talked
to Ned Coletti yesterday and he thought it would be
a good thing too for the Dodgers to be pushed
a little bit through the course of the season and
not you know, look up in July and they're twenty
games ahead of everybody and coasting into the playoffs. I
think the times that they've done good and run and
won the World Series is when they've been tested a
(03:28):
little bit.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, and there's no worry about that, because given the
way they've been playing of late, they're not gonna be
twenty games ahead of anybody. They've got a lot to
clean up, and they'll get it cleaned up. They have
the Cubs and Rockies in this homestand now it is
a long season. And again, the standings are whatever they are.
But here's something just to keep in mind, even though
(03:50):
it's very early, if you lose games you're supposed to win,
when you look down the road at the end of
the season, possibly those games could be a determining factor
in the playoff race. So if you're gonna get beat,
good beat, because everybody's gonna get beat. But don't give
games away when the games you're supposed to win.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Is that fair? Yeah? Yeah? But but at the same time,
you're not thinking in May when you're playing or in
April when you're playing back in Washington and you're kicking
the ball around because it's forty degrees and you're like
ready to go home, that you're giving that game away.
(04:32):
Now when you look back at it and go, god,
we went to Washington, just just laid an egg there.
You can say that, But during and real time, present time,
when you're when you're losing those games, you're not thinking, oh, man,
we just gave it away. We just gave it. That's
gonna hurt us down the road because you think you're
gonna be there down the road without worrying about game
you lost in April or may we Then you mentioned
(04:54):
though it always it always turns out that way. Though
most of the time it turns out that way. That
there was a stretch where you lost three or four
games and you're like, man, that was the difference.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well, it's the kind of thing they have to be
aware of. It's just there's an expectation here. They were
not going one sixty two and oh they were not
going to only lose three games. We know all of that.
I mean, everybody knows that was not going to be
the case, no matter how excited everybody got. But again,
the games are supposed to win.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
You need to win.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
They could come back and bite you later, because you're right.
We're sitting here now, they're ten and four. You know,
we're the middle of April. Okay, what does that mean
to us? Nothing? But you get on the road and
you're two games back and you think, damn if we'd
only win those games in April. So when the games
you're supposed to win, I think that's the mark of
a good team. And the Dodgers will. The Dodgers will
(05:47):
take care of everything this year. Now you have a
chance to get a little giddy up in your step. Well,
certainly part of this. When the Rockies are here. I mean,
they've already lost nine games. It's unbelievable. Bud Black is
the nicest man in the world. Already has pictures of
everybody with farm animals up there because they are awful
(06:09):
every year, and they keep bringing them back. And maybe
they think, why would we hire anybody else? Exactly what
I'm saying, That's what I think. I agree.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I think that they're looking at it going until we
change something, either move locations or we do something with
the organization, and we change something. There's no reason to
get rid of Bud Black. I don't care who you
bring in there. They're not going to turn things around
until their mentality turns around. And at one point they
had a very talented team. What happened Fred Nolan Ornando,
(06:44):
They had Trevor's story, I mean black men. I mean
they had a squad that was competing for the West
on a regular basis, and they just got rid of
everybody and fell apart, and they act like they don't care.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
That's the problem.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
That's the problem.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Obviously it fell apart because they made a conscious decision
not to spend money. Then they went out and did
spend money, and it was kind of an Ardi moreno move.
They signed Chris Bryant, right, and Chris Bryant can't stay healthy.
He just can't. Nice guy, but he can't stay healthy.
Went there and boom, hurt, immediately comes back, gets hurt again.
(07:25):
So they did spend money there. Another problem is in
of course Colorado, you can't really sign any pictures. No
free agent wants to pitch in Colorado because your era
is inflated a point and a half just because of
the altitude. So they have a problem getting quality pictures
unless they draft them or trade for them. And if
(07:47):
they trade for them, they try to run out of
their as soon as possible, because that's not how you're
gonna make a lot of money pitching in Colorado. So
they have no pitching. They cut their salary. Then they
signed Chris Bryant, and then you have to look at
their farm system and if you look at it once
it produced and there you go. I mean, that is
a function to their front office. That is a function
(08:09):
of their their organization. You cannot blame the players because
it's not their fault. We have the conversation all the time. Now,
you know these guys aren't very good. Well maybe in
that situation. Collectively, with that group, certain guys don't stand out.
But if you were to move those guys somewhere else
(08:30):
into a different situation, maybe they would. So if a
team is really bad, it's really not the players, not
even the manager. It's the organization. It's how they built it.
And I think there you see the Rockies. I mean
they've lost nine games already. Yeah, if this was the NBA,
you'd say they're tanking.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
The season.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yet they're just gonna tank it. You know, they're not
gonna stay for Star hotels on the road. They're gonna
stay at Courtyard Marriott. You know, they're not gonna fly private,
they're gonna fly commercial. You know, we're not gonna give
you per m, but we are gonna have a buffet
every day. Uh. And you can have that. I mean,
that's kind of what the Rockies are. Now. They also
(09:16):
get the Cubs, and that's the first stop with Yamamoto pitching.
Cubs are nine and six, and let's be honest, Cubs
aren't great. They lead to Central, but they're not great. Okay,
Cubs are okay, Cubs good the Central and you know,
I don't know if that's a badge of honor. At
(09:37):
least you did something, but they're not great. This is
a team that Dodgers should beat. They beat them in Tokyo,
they should beat them here.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
And those are the two opponents now at Dodger Stadium.
We have Yamamoto going tonight, so he'll see the Cubs
for the second time this season. He beat them the first,
and he should beat them this time too. I think
they have Sazaki going tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yep, Tazaki goes tomorrow, so he beat him. He beat
him as well, right, Oh he started I don't know
he started that game. I would like to see Suzaki
making five innings. That's what I'd like to see.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Every time he's out, you expect a little more growth
from him. It's kind of incremental growth. I'd like to
see him go five innings. I'd like to see him
reduce his pitch count. I'd like to see him throw
more strikes, because when he throws a strike, it's hard
to hit. No one is questioning that. But he's got
to get the ball on the strike zone more and
(10:32):
hopefully tomorrow he'll be able to do that. Just increase
that a little bit, Just get a little better.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
He's got he's got good enough stuff that he should
be in the strike zone. Let let him play defense
behind him. Now, look, someone would say defens hadn't been
that great. He better strike everybody out. But that sometimes
that gets to be an issue with guys that have
that kind of talent, is that they do want to
strike everybody out, and sometimes you got to pitch the
contact in certain situations to get a groundball, double play,
(11:00):
get a flyout. In a situation you don't want to
have to go with every batter, you know, seven eight
nine pitches with every batter. You want to have some
one pitch at bats and uh, but with that type
of talent and as young as he is, your idea
that I can strike everybody out is still a mentality.
It probably he's he he has and probably needs to
(11:20):
get out of.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yeah, I mean, the bottom line is there's a difference
between a thrower and a pitcher. He knows how to throw,
no one could question that. Now he has to learn
to pitch at the big league level. And normally you
would learn to pitch if you're Sazaki in Triple A.
That's where you'd learn, and they'd work with you, and
they'd bring you up here and you'd understand he's learning
(11:42):
on the job. This is on the job training. He's
just doing it here. Everybody knows you'll be able to
do it, and every time out you want him to
be a little better. But just wait till he figures
it out. Just wait till he gets to where he
needs to be. And that's that's a.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Good point because he came straight from Japan to the Dodgers,
to the big league club in spring training and then
right here, so he didn't have that what half a
year year into in Triple A or Double A that
you used to kind of hone your skills, to kind
of get refined, to work with the pitching coaches in
(12:20):
the organization to teach you how to be a real
pitcher at this level. He didn't have that, So you're right,
he's he's learning, basically learning on the job. Every time
he goes out. It's a new adventure and it's a
new learning experience that it counts because he's with the
big club. You know, if you're in Triple A, it's
it's hey, I just learned. I'm working on something, you know,
(12:42):
for for five innings and I might got hit around,
but that's okay because I was working on my my
breaking ball. You don't do that up here. You try,
you gotta get people out and you got to get
the win.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
That's why I think after every gaming pitchers, if you
if you listen to what the Dodgers said and even
re Jack Harris in the Times or I think the
only person that probably is more realistic about it all
as David Vassay. Because Dave never pulls any punches. He's
just brutally honest and it doesn't matter. He is just
brutally brutally honest, and you know, he says his Zaki's improving.
(13:16):
But if you read these other guys, they don't criticize
them at all. There's no criticism. It's every step is better. Hey,
I don't care if he threw, you know, forty two balls,
those thirty strikes, they were killer. You know, I don't
care if he walked the bases loaded, But to get
out of that jam was pretty impressive. So you can
(13:38):
tell what they're doing with him. They're just bringing him
along and being very encouraging. And they should because when
he when he learns what he's doing, I'm telling you
you will not want to miss one.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Game he pitches.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, he can throw the ball. Yamamoto has a lot
of pitches and can do a lot with that ball.
But if you watch the Zaki pitch, he does things
that seem unheard of, the way he can move the
ball around, the way he can fool people. I mean,
somebody will be looking at a pitch, it looks directly
down the middle of the plate. They swing and it
(14:15):
just drops a foot and you're wondering, how did he
do that? But he can do that, it's just gonna
take him a little time. So if Yamamoto tonight you
have say, Zaki tomorrow and coming up at two o'clock,
David Vase will join the show.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
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Speaker 2 (14:36):
It's my favorite spot.
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from world class entertainers.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Spot l twenty.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
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Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah right on ya Tatata.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Kevin says, so cool. We got Dean Martin to record
this force nice. Okay, Let's get to the Salty A. Next,
the Lakers and Houston tonight, the playoffs on the horizon.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, we said it, you heard it. It's Friday and
on Fridays. We absolutely no, no, we don't right to
be Fred Rogan. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Let's do it. Lakers are almost done, They've got Houston tonight.
Perfect world. They win one of their final two, they'll
lock up the third seed in the Western Conference. Clippers
are right there as well. And the man who will
share all of the insight necessary to figure this out
is Adam Austin the Salty A and Adam, thanks for
(15:50):
thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
It's good to be with you, guys. The salt is
here is the playoffs approach.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
Let's go all.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Right, let's just get right to it before we get
to the Lakers. Now, there's a train of thought that
the Clippers could be giving some people trouble in the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
How about that, Freddy, Yeah, how about that?
Speaker 6 (16:08):
Though, even though they didn't bring back your guy and
Paul George this season, it seems like they made the
right move and holding on to Kawhi Leonard because with
him playing at this level, you got a shot against anybody.
And that's what it's been. The last nineteen games. They
have won sixteen of nineteen, they've won six in a row.
They have two winnable games, and if they win out,
(16:30):
they'll at least be the five seed in the Western Conference.
With a little bit of help, they could end up
being the four. I don't think they could be the
three because the Lakers just need one win in their
last two games to get that.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
But this Clippers team is surging.
Speaker 6 (16:41):
This they can make the case right now, guys, that
this is the best they have ever looked entering the postseason.
This is the hottest they've ever been according to net rating,
the advanced analytics. Just how good they've been on both
ends of the floor. With Kawhi playing at this high
of a level. James Harden's playing his best basketball of
the Season's Zubats is playing the best basketball of his.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
Career right now.
Speaker 6 (17:03):
He is legitimately a top five center in the league.
He just came off his first triple double ever. This
team is peaking at the right time.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I was going to ask you about James Harden.
You know, a lot of skeptics and a lot of
people felt that maybe it wasn't a good move. He's
beyond Yeah, but again, playing at a high level, making
some big shots at critical times. Man, just talk about
his performance and his importance to this team. I know
(17:35):
we talk about Kawhi and he's got to stay healthy,
but James Harden is equally as important.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
No, I think he's been the MVP for them this
season because he has given them a floor, He's given
them a system offensively. He calls himself a system or
the system, but that's who he's been in this league.
He's a top seventy five player. Ever, He's never missed
the playoffs. There's a reason for that.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
His teams have.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Always been competitive because he runs that high, can roll
to perfection. A lot of Big Zoo's growth and development.
You can attribute that to James Harden and just how
well or how much he has helped him in that area.
But he's turned into a much more efficient player over
the last month and a half now, since Kawhi came
back and is playing this well, it's taken James Harden
(18:17):
off the ball a little bit. It's less taxing for him.
So his shooting percentages are up last nineteen games. He's
at thirty eight percent from the outside forty six percent
from the field. But he leaves them in points per
game on the season. He has been so reliable for them.
You can make the argument because of his defensive each
Zubots maybe he has been the MVP this season. But
I would say I would lean slightly towards James Harden
(18:40):
being that guy for the Clippers. He's been so important.
There's a reason he was an All Star. I think
he has a case now to be third team All NBA.
He's been a top fifteen player in the league this year.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Okay, So as we get into the final games when
it all shakes out, where do you think the Clippers finish.
Speaker 6 (18:57):
I think somewhere between eight no. I would them to
be the fifth seed where they are currently, because if
they went out, that's where they will be. And Denver
has a chance to win out too. They take on
Memphis tonight in Memphis. What the Clippers would need is
Denver to lose a game and for them to win
(19:17):
out to be the four seed.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
And I think Denver has righted the ship to some degree.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
I don't know that for a fact, but Memphis has
gone a back to back tonight in Denver, it's gonna
be tough for them to get the victory there. Nicola
Jokich was drawing up plays the other night against the
Sacramento Kings with David Adaman now as their head coach.
I mean, I think they're trying to rally around the
fact that they've been through all this, you know, Turmol
and just tumultuous time there with the firing of Mike
(19:44):
Malone and Calvin Booth. So I think it's most likely
for the Clippers to end up in that five spot.
But guys, there's a great chance they fall to six
and they take on the Lakers in the first round
because the Lakers are all but guaranteed to be that
third seed in the Western Conference right now, you pretty
much know that. So they're taking on whoever ends up
in the sixth spot, and for the first time ever,
(20:04):
we could have the Battle of Los Angeles. It all
alls happened a couple of times before to shifts passing
in the night. I think this time it's real. I'd
say there's like a thirty percent chance that we get
Clippers and Lakers in the first round.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Dude, that would be I don't know if that'd like
that for like them late late in the in the playoffs.
Maybe not in the first round. That's fair to see
the meat later on. But when you look at this,
when you look at the West, look, I know, Oklahoma
City has kind of ran away with it a little bit.
Uh in the West, the Rockets have been pretty good
as well. But when you look at this and the
(20:38):
stack up and then look how the Lakers played Okay,
see the last couple of times they played them. Are
you looking at the West and going there's a clear
cut favorite and there's okay see that? Or is it?
Is it stacked up to the point where you wouldn't
be shocked by anybody at least in the top six
coming out of the West.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Oh yeah, I'm kind of with you there, Rodney.
Speaker 6 (20:59):
At this point, I told you guys a month ago,
I felt like the Lakers match up really well against
Oka See.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
They do.
Speaker 6 (21:06):
They have enough switchability. They don't have a big man
that really punishes Oka See. But okay See doesn't have
that against them either. Chet Holmgren is shooting from the outside.
Isaiah Hartenstein's best shot is his floater from ten feet out.
They just match up really well against them. That first
victory they got in Oklahoma City, that was the worst
(21:26):
loss the Thunder had taken all season long, and they
hadn't lost two games in a row up until that point,
and that put him in that spot where that was
the second game at a row they lost. I mean,
you expected them to bounce back. And while they did win,
the next game against the Lakers, of course, the Lakers
led by one was seven minutes left before Luka Doncic
got ejected because some referee wanted to inject himself into
(21:48):
the ballgame like that.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Was was talking to the crowd. He didn't think he was
talking to someone in the stands.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
It was obvious he was talking to the fan. The
fan knew he was talking to him. Everybody on the
court knew it at the time, except for the one
guy who gave him that technical, which was rescinded the
next day. So poor officiating there. That was an abomination.
Even as somebody who's a Laker hater, you know, I
never want to see stars get ejected from games like that.
But the Lakers have matchup advantages over the Oklahoma City
(22:16):
Thunder because, as I said before, if Sga is being doubled,
somebody else has to step up for them. And while
they have the guys who are talented enough in JDub
he was an All Star this season, he hasn't proven
it in the playoffs. That was a big reason they
lost in the second round. So Luka doncis when he
was with Dallas last season, like Luca is very good
(22:37):
against Oklahoma City clearly, So I don't think the Lakers
should be afraid of them and what we thought. Because
OKACE has won sixty six games, they're easily the best
team record wise in the Western Conference. There's not as
much distance between them in the Lakers, and you can
make the argument right now the top three toughest teams
(22:58):
based upon how they've been playing over the last three
months are Okay, see the Lakers and the Clippers. Maybe
throw Golden State in there is the fourth toughest team.
I don't want to overlook Houston, but they have a
lot of inexperience out there. They have a ton of
guys that just have never been in the playoffs before.
Sometimes that can be dangerous. They don't know how bright
the lights are going to be. Maybe some of those
(23:18):
guys on men. Thompson has been great for them as
of late, is a playoff riser and a killer and
becomes like Dwayne Wade when he first got into the playoffs,
and you saw that he had that in factor.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
But I don't know. I think the West is much more.
Speaker 6 (23:31):
Open than you know I would have said three months ago,
because the Lakers have Luca now and the Clippers are
playing at a very high level.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Adam Dan Whitey wrote about the Lakers small ball lineup.
They lost out on Mark Williams, but maybe Whikey suggests
it was a blessing in disguise because the small ball
lineup seems to be working well.
Speaker 6 (23:50):
One of the big reasons when their defense for two
months straight was the best in the NBA was that
small ball lineup and that swarming doubling, screen sampling small
ball they've been playing where ruy Hachimra is playing the
five and when he's right, and he wasn't playing back
to backs when he first came back from the knee injury,
but there's no more obviously at this point. If he's
(24:12):
one hundred percent, he's kind of the lynchpin to their
small ball activity because what you have there is Lebron
Luca Austin Reeves who's been playing like an all star
the last three months, and then Dorian Finney Smith next
to ruy Hachima. They have a ton of switchability and
when they buy in, when they are rotating correctly and
helping the helper. We saw in that game in February
(24:35):
in Denver against Jokis where he had one of the
worst games of his career, and it was against that
small ball lineup, and they schemed for like three days
to get to that point where J. J. Reddick said
he didn't sleep. That was a huge game for them.
I think they had lost twelve straight at that point
to the Denver Nuggets, who obviously completely owned them, and
they had this different wrinkle with a small ball defense
(24:58):
where guys are just running around, helping one another and
doubling Jokic over and over again, even before he got
the basketball like that is something that has progressively been
very good for this Lakers team, and they're getting back
to it now because the defense had fallen off when
Lebron had the groin issue, and when he first came
back he wasn't right. I still don't think he looks
(25:19):
as good as he did before the groin issue. The
outside shooting hasn't been there, but specifically defensively, they hadn't
looked good until that game against Houston that they were
able to get a victory against back at Crypto, and
then the two games against Okay See they looked better
with a small ball, and then the last game against
Dallas they look better. So they're getting back to those
defensive principles on that end, and I think that's what
(25:41):
makes them so dangerous. When they're flying around and playing
defense like that, that's when they're at their best because
the offense is going to be there. They just have
too much talent on that end. When they buy in
on the defensive end and they they scrap like that,
That's why I think the Lakers really have a chance
to get out of the West.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Staying in the West at how much of a threat
do you think the Golden State Warriors would be.
Speaker 6 (26:04):
They're tough, but they're in a tough spot right now too,
because they played the Clippers on Sunday and that game's
on the Evil four letter and if the Clippers win
that game, that should put Golden State into the play in.
So as good as they have been over the last
two months, once they got Jimmy Butler, they could still
end up being in a play in matchup where anything
(26:24):
could happen in a one game play and it looks
like Memphis will be the most likely team there with
them in the seventh A spot. But they need to
win out. They need to win out to stay out
of the play in. But they're good. They are a
much more complete team since they brought in Jimmy Butler.
He cured a lot of what ails them, and they
also got Jonathan Kmingaback, who had been hurt for some time.
(26:46):
But now they just match up a lot better against
different teams, and it's taken a lot of the pressure
off of Steph Curry where he doesn't have to do
everything because Jimmy Butler's giving you twenty He's a good
defender out there. Draymond Green, I think has been a
shot in the arm for pretty um much everybody. Draymond's
playing better defense. He's back in the defensive Player of
the Year conversation. So the Golden State Warriors, to me,
(27:07):
they're probably the fourth most dangerous team right now in
the West behind Okay, see the Lakers and the Clippers.
But it's real what they have going right that right now,
because I think they're starting to get vibes like they
had in twenty twenty two where things came together at
the right time for them to make that playoff run
to beating Boston in the finals.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Adam, did you see the comments by Austin Reeves. I
thought they were really interesting.
Speaker 5 (27:29):
The white point says that even he.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Underestimates white NBA players. You know, it was a white
guy in the NBA. I sometimes look at white players
and I'm like, they're not very good. So it's a
stigma that I think is real. Do you find it
interesting he said.
Speaker 6 (27:41):
That, Yeah, I thought that was pretty telling. I think
JJ Reddick said something too about having to prove it
all the time. I don't know, it's not you know,
while I'm white, it's not a conversation that I've had
that often over the last few years talking about NBA
players because nobody's been I guess transparent about it before.
(28:02):
But you know, Austin Reeves, I don't care about that.
I made a comment recently about him and talking about
how well he's been playing as of late. I said this,
and people thought it was a hot take at the time,
and it's aging pretty well. I would take him over
Devin Booker right now. I think he's been that good.
And I don't know what happened to the Phoenix Suns
(28:23):
this season. They really don't have an excuse for being
this bad. But Austin Reeves to me because of his
on ball capabilities creating for others and then himself, and
then the way he is blended in next to Lebron,
next to Luca, I think he's been playing at an
all star level and has a case to be what
the best third option on any team, because if you
(28:43):
look at the games where Luca or Lebron have been
missing or both of them, like they had that game
in Denver maybe a month ago, where it was just
Austin Reeves out there and like Bronni and he's still
i think dropped thirty five and had them within striking
distance as the first options. So even when he's had
to be the main guy out there at times in
(29:04):
games and teams have their best defenders on him, they're
not stopping him. He's that good. I don't think people
understand the growth we're seeing with Austin Reeves, the transformation
he has gone through from the start of this season
till the end of this season. I think Chandler Parsons
on whatever show FanDuel TV said before the year, Oh,
he's not gonna average more than fifteen points. He's been
(29:26):
averaging twenty three over the last three months now efficiently
with the passing out there, and while you can hunt
him out at times defensively and he has some weaknesses there.
I love Austin Reeves game. I do think that's one
of the best contracts. That is one of the best,
you know, third options, if not the best third option
in the game right now. And for the Lakers to
(29:48):
have held onto him, by the way, and not having
to give him up for Luka Doncic in that trade,
what a win for them and Rob Polnka. Yeah, wait,
to go.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Thanks Nico. I'm still better.
Speaker 6 (30:01):
I can't get over it, guys, and I told you
on Tuesday exactly what was gonna happen. Right he got
the Heroes, welcome Luka Dancic the entire time. They're cheering
for him against their own team while he's playing in Dallas.
That wasn't the Lions Den. That was the Cuddleau kittens Den.
That was like a care Bear Den. Like the entire
crowd was in favor of him. They wanted him to
(30:21):
beat them. They're chanting fire Nico the entire time, the
Lakers at the very end with a minute and a
half left, getting the crowd into it, the Luca chance,
the standing ovation again at the very end, and by
the way, I think those tiers were real. I think
that was real emotion from Luca. I don't know what
Rob Parker was talking about yesterday is saying those were
crocodile tears. This guy runs on emotion. He's one of
(30:43):
the most passionate players out there. And he had the
towel over his head during the tribute video. You could
see he was in pain there, maybe because he missed
out on one hundred million dollars, but he'll likely get
it back somehow, maybe because he just bought a fifteen
million dollar house or whatever. But I think a lot
of that is because he truly felt like he was
going to finish his career in Dallas. He was gonna
(31:05):
have a statue next to Dirk Navisky's and he was
going to carry on the tradition and win a championship there.
That was as an emotional of an evening as I
had seen, and for him to handle it that well
at this level drop forty five. I think he started
one for three and then he just settled in and
took over seven of ten. From the outside, that is
an all time performance. And everybody in the arena. Everybody
(31:29):
in that arena knew it was coming, except the guy
who traded him somehow, the guy who gets paid to
make moves to better the Dallas Mavericks was the one,
the last one to find out that, oh, maybe you
don't get rid of a twenty five year old superstar
like this, who is hasn't even really reached his prime yet.
It's just it's still shocking every time I see him
(31:50):
in a Lakers jersey, but specifically that game, that was
just an incredible night.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Uh yeah, no, no doubt, no doubt for that moment
could have gone either way. You know, we've seen it
where guys put too much on themselves to go back
and have a big game and they go one for eighty.
You know, we talked about Luca, we talked about Lebron
and Austin Reeves, but talk about the job that JJ
Reddick's doing and has done this season, Adam, because he
(32:17):
he I think has done as good a job coaching
this team as there is in the NBA this year.
Speaker 6 (32:22):
Yeah, I mean the pat Riley talk is was overblown
before the season and those lofty expectations trying to set
him up to fail. That stuff was ridiculous. Look, today's
NBA is different. Pat Riley might not be pat Riley,
but JJ Reddick I thought it would be a good
hire because you listen to his podcast, you listen to
him as an analyst. He understands the modern NBA, the
(32:46):
positionless league, it has become, the swish ability you have
to have out there. And my one big criticism, the
most obvious one for Darbyn Ham last season, and I'm
not saying he did a terrible job with the Lakers
or anything like that they made a run obviously with
him as the head coach, but last season he couldn't
figure out the best five guys to put out there,
Like that's the kind of the bare minimum. You have
(33:06):
to optimize lineups, and JJ Reddick has been great with
that while implementing a superstar of the ilk of Luka Doncic,
you know, with thirty percent left in the season, figuring
that out. I think he deserves a ton of credit,
Like this isn't just oh, he got Luca and that
saved him. No, they were playing great ball before they
(33:26):
got Luca. When I mentioned them being the best defense
in the league for over two months, that was before
they got Luca. By the way, obviously he has deficiencies
on that end, like, but that was with Ad without AD,
with Luca without Luca. That's scheming, that's getting guys to
buy in on that end. I think JJ Reddick has
been able to get his message across even when they
(33:48):
have had some downturns, they had some rough patches, he's
navigated beautifully. And I also feel like Lebron James deserves
some credit because I heard from a lot of people
that when they got Luka donci is not gonna work.
Lebron is not going to pass the torch over. He's
not going to give up the basketball. He can't play
(34:08):
off the ball, and I'm thinking to myself, guys can't
play off the ball. He's been one of the best
catch and shoot three point shooters over the last two years. Now,
he's been playing off the ball more. He's ready for
this moment. It actually helps him to not have to
do everything on the offensive end. He has another Lebron
on the floor with him. We've never seen two passers
(34:29):
this good on the same team. Two guys that can
manipulate a defense like this on the same team. It
is unbelievable. And I do think he's put his ego
aside a little bit to make sure Luca is comfortable.
He was helping lead those chants in Dallas the other
night at the very end, to make sure Luca got
his due. Lebron deserves credit JJ reddick. But again, you
(34:52):
know they're gonna be defined what happens in the playoffs,
of course, But all that talk of ah, this is
a move for next year. This is just a move
for the next five years, the next ten years. What
happened to that talk? Because now the Lakers are a
real contender this year.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Oh oh, say it again, Adam.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
Now the Lakers are a real contender this year.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
They are indeed all right.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Clippers and Sacramento six pm pregame. Adam will be there
seven o'clock. Tip you'll hear it on Am eleven fifty Saltta,
thanks for hanging today.
Speaker 5 (35:21):
Appreciate you guys. It's all love. You know it, Fred,
Come on now.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
All love, hit it, all love. Fifty years at full speed.
The Agua Grand Prix of Long Beach celebrates its fiftieth
anniversary today, tomorrow and Sunday. Ticket to gp LB dot com.
When we come back. As we get closer to the
NBA Playoffs, we get another step closer to the NHL Playoffs.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Gold Kings Go. Looks like It's Edmonton again Today Afternoon
Delight is Blink Twice by Shaboozy. The five time Grammy nominee,
teamed up with the UK singer song rider Miles Smith
on this track that dropped on streaming platforms last night.
(36:10):
This is the first release of the year for the
country star as he gets set to perform at both
the Coachella and Stagecoach Music festivals this year again. Today's
afternoon Delight is Blink Twice by Shaboozy featuring Miles Smith
Fred I know you love some Shaboozy.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Well, you know what, I'm excited to see Weezer at Coachella.
Oh okay, Weezer, that's right. Yeah, interesting that there will
be a performance by Weezer since two days ago his
wife pulled a gun on LAPD and was shot.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Oh she's okay, she's okay. She plugged gun on LAPD
and was shot by LAPD. Yes, and it's and it's
a live and she's okay. Yes, so it wounded her. Yeah,
weez are still going to perform, still gonna be out
(37:07):
here performing. And this happened when like two days ago.
Oh two days after your wife gets shot, you know,
still perform.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Yeah, well the show must go on. She's okay.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
I guess, so, I guess.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
So here's the thing, and listen, everybody can live their
life however they want. You make your own choices. One
thing I would advise against. Don't point a gun at
the police. No, you're still alive. Yeah, I mean, if
you want to, you can, But I just not a
good idea. Yeah, I don't think I would do that.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Yeah, I'm surprised though, I'm surprised she is alive because
if you if you pull a gun, especially on the police.
I mean, sometimes you don't have to pull a gun,
but if you pull a gun on the police, usually Fred,
they pepper you with bullets before you even can ask
(38:02):
a question. Right, Yeah, he did? Is fried chicken? Fred?
Well she's okay. She's okay, which is a miracle in itself.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
I mean, if you use the chicken analogy, maybe she
either has a bad wing or a bad leg.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Now she's okay, she's fine. They shot the wound not
to kill Okay. Yeah, but Weezer will be performing all right.
Let's get to the Kings. So they beat the Ducks
last night. They beat them pretty good, six to one.
Think about the.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Ducks and the Samuelli's on the franchise down there, they're
such wonderful people, so philanthropic if they really want to
turn that around. And the Ducks have some younger players,
and it does take time to turn a team around,
but they're getting better. Last night they were not good
against a formidable opponent and the Kings who beat them
six to one. So what Does it all mean the
(38:53):
second place Kings hold on to a four point lead
over third place Edmonton with four games to play. That's
what it means. The Kings still have to win.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
This is not.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Wrapped up by any stretch of the imagination. The Kings
still need to win, but they do have some breathing
room here. And the way it appears at this point,
that first round playoff matchup will be Edmonton again, but
the difference this go round is that the Kings will
have home ice advantage. Now, the Kings just beat Edmonton
at home, but they didn't have land Dry, Sidle or
(39:27):
Connor McDavid. The Kings beat it, well, can you call
that a win? Yeah, they don't have Conor mc McDavid. Then,
I mean, can you really call that a win? I
know you don't like the guy Fred, No, I don't
like him, and you know what, I'm calling it a win.
I'm calling it a win. Yes, it's a win. It's
only a win other than being a win because that
(39:51):
win helps the Kings hang on to second place. That's
kind of a four point swing. I mean, if Edmonton
had won that game, it wouldn't be a four point
swing at all. So the Kings need to hang on.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah. But when you say that, they, oh, you know,
it's all good because they beat them. They just beat them.
They beat them without their their superstar. Yes, and they
gonna have the superstar when they play him in the
first round.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
That's right. Yeah, it is my hope. It is my hope. Yeah,
it is my hope. The Kings take him out three
minutes into the game.
Speaker 5 (40:23):
Wow, dirty Fred?
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Yeah, well no, I mean legally not just like Club
and Kevin.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
That's what it.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Sounded like to me.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Rodnie, I don't know, like so as he walks on
the ice, just take the sticks and heavy.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
At him, thrill him into the boards. I mean Fred,
I mean Kevin. Can you can you imagine like Fred
playing hockey. He would be like he would be like
Connor McDavid. He would be a dirty player. He would
be ramming people into the boards. He'd be high sticking
Fred Rogan on the ice.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
And be the main one, the main one shrugging the
showder mat I didn't do anything. It whatn't mean he'd
be pulling them a tumble. I didn't do anything what
you're talking about?
Speaker 1 (41:02):
Yeah, no, you would be a mad man, absolutely, Yeah, Well,
depending on my size. If I was small, I'd be
really fast, but probably if I was one of the
big guys, I let people know I was out there.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
Is that where Josh gets it from? You said Josh
was a wrecking ball back in the day, would just
take people out left and right, take them after his
old man.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
Is that what it is?
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I can't even tell you the stuff he would do.
As a parent, you see that and you just turn
your head. You just turn your head. You don't even
want anybody to know that that's your kid.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
The kind say when you when you confronted him after that,
and he would you would come home and say, what
was that out there? What would he say? I didn't know,
I didn't do that.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
I didn't Well, the first thing he'd say is, oh, no,
they tripped me, Josh, No one tried you.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
I got two eyes. I can see what happened, Josh,
Come on, tell me the true. No.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
He and he just did the stuff. He didn't care,
and he would be that guy. He just shrugged his
shoulders and go with me, Well, what are you looking
to mean? For the best moment of all. One of
the highlights of being a parent was watching and I
might have told when they were very young playing soccer,
and I mean it was probably were probably six and
five or five and four, I don't remember exactly how
(42:10):
old they were. And they played on a team called
the Dolphins in Chatsworth. Ayso, okay, it's a nice little
soccer league and you have the little kid run up
and down the field. Jack and Josh were on the
same team. Now, the thing about it was, even at
that age, Jack was so much faster than everybody that
he would literally score in the first six minutes of
(42:32):
the game seven goals. He would just run by everybody
and score their little tiny kids. He was a little
kid too, So Jack was really quick and very athletic
and just ran by and scored. But Josh was known
for his patented and famous blaster kick. Now, the blaster kick,
it would be sort of like Tom Dempsey kicking in
(42:54):
the NFL. It was a run to the ball and
a straight on blast. It was the blaster kick. Now,
Josh needed a little time to set up the blaster kick,
because you know, he didn't just run around. He had
to have the ball set and if nobody was around him,
let it go. So they're playing and there's a scramble
(43:15):
in front of the net. We're trying to score on
this goal, and there it is. The ball is in position,
the ball is in position, and Josh is lining up
the blaster kick, and out of nowhere, Jack runs in,
takes the ball and scores as Josh was lining up
the blaster kick. What do they do? Josh jumps on
(43:39):
Jack during the game and tries to beat him up.
During the game, jumps on him and then starts trying
to hit him because Jack took the ball away from
the blaster kick.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
I just laughed.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
I thought, oh, this is great anyway to go back
to get back to hockey. That was what Josh would do.
I would be a cling player. But when it comes
to Connor McDavid, who was a superstar yet dirty and
mixes it up and physical, I think the King's need
to put a body on him. There's only one problem
in trying to do that. You can't catch him because
(44:19):
he's too fast.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
I've never seen a hockey player as fast as Connor McDavid.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
It I know he's fast. He reminds me of Steve
isser Iserman, remember Steve Iiman from Yeah. Yeah, he's a
bad boy, but It's rare, though, rare that the superstar
is also that physical. You don't see that from from Lemieux, Gretzky, Crosby.
Those guys, they were not it. Let somebody else be
(44:45):
the physical person, right, But McDavid is the physical guy,
yet he is also the superstar. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
And the thing about him being physical is he's physical
like Josh Rogan when nobody's working, he's that.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
Sneaky He's that sneaky, sneaky physical guy. What did I do?
Like he got away with something?
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Yeah, And because he is so fast, he can get
up on people quickly and then he can you know,
he can let him have it and then get away
because he's so fast. That's not how superstars play. You know,
superstars are protected in the league. Yes, but he doesn't
seem to care. So what I'm saying, if that somebody
(45:32):
can legally wind him up and put a body on him,
I would do it as soon as possible. You got
to catch him, and it's not easy, but if you can,
I'd put a body on him right away, let him
know he's out there. Because I think the Kings can
and they have to win this series at home this year.
(45:54):
They have to win the series. They cannot lose to
Edmonton again. And the Kings have been magnificent at home.
They're thirty five and four at home.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Yeah they rolling.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Yeah, that is a tough place for an opponent to play.
So if in fact they can hang on, four points up,
four games to play, hang on, get Edmonton at home
in the first round. Somehow figure out a way to
get an angle on McDavid and put a body on
him and let the good times flow. Let them flow,
(46:33):
because that's what they need to do.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
Let it happen this year.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
Go Kings, Go, Go Kings go.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
All right, playoffs in hockey and basketball, Baseball season just underway,
and it's almost time for the NFL Draft, So let's
talk about it with Vinnie Bond Senior Next
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