Breaking Down the 2024 Olympics

Ben Ladner and Jon Sauber discuss the United States' gold medal win in the Paris Olympics, including LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant's ageless performances, Jayson Tatum's lack of playing time, and the state of international basketball. Plus: What the U.S. men's basketball team could look like in 2028. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Read and React.
I'm Ben Ladner and joining me on the other line
is John Sober.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
How you doing, man?

Speaker 3 (00:09):
There was so much enthusiasm in that It's so clear
that you haven't been watching much Phillies or Braves baseball recently.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
I have been watching Braves baseball recently. That's why I'm
so stoked right now.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
We had just this night, Yes, a class was last night.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Actually we had a classic PSD the other night, followed
by just an absolute walloping, but really two absolute wallopings
of the San Francisco Giants. Michael Harris is back. This
This is the moment mark it down. August fourteenth, last night.
This is the moment the Braves fortunes turn. The wild
card run to the World Series starts.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Now brains could reasonably miss the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, where that could happen. Yeah, I could really break
either way.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
It was funny you and I had a discussion about this.
Ore were text the other night and we talked about
like how bad both of our teams are and how
much it sucks. Uh, And I like was saying that
from a place of the Phillies are tied for the
at the time, we're tied for the best record in
the n L still like they were mostly fine and
so have like a six game leader or whatever in
the division. I did not realize at the time that
the Braves are on the verge of like falling out

(01:10):
of the playoffs, which that would be unfortunate.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, the Brave slide has coincided with the Phillies slide,
which is really unfortunate because like we had the opportunity
here to like we could have just stayed neutral, you know,
just kind of done nothing and made up some ground,
and no, we decided not to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
But I'm excited to the Philies.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
The Phillies are seventy and fifty, so it's fine.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah, yeah, y'all are y'all are sitting pretty I'm excited
to be back.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
We haven't recorded in a while.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
We've had I was out of town most of July.
I think we got one episode in there when I
got back, and the Olympics have happened. We got a
lot to talk about, so I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yeah, it's it's so weird, like this is so everyone.
I'm sure there are plenty of football fans that listen
to this to all two of you. But the the
NFL season is like here essentially, and college football for
me and work is like essentially here. But that also
means like the NBA is like unnervingly close to happening, right,
like we are at schedule release day actually, which we're

(02:08):
recording before because who cares, and I think that's the
appropriate way to handle that. But in two months the
season starts. The offseason really has shrunk to a crazy degree,
especially with the Olympics that cut out like another month
of Yeah, because that end of summer league to like
mid August feels like the slowest time. Well that's when
the Olympics was, and now it's really just these next
couple weeks until September.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
One.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
September's here. It's like ramping up all over again.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah, and we'll see how a lot of these guys
who played in the Olympics come into this coming season,
and really we'll see the effects probably down the line
February March, April May into the playoffs, see how their
bodies hold up. Let's talk about the Olympics though, because
I was not just with basketball everything, I was locked
into these Olympics. Probably the closest attention I've ever paid
to the Olympics in my life, but particularly with the basketball.

(02:57):
You know, it's it's been a long time since the
un has really been challenged when it's put its best
foot forward, and.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
The Olympics has still been a long time well it.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Has, but there was more of a challenge this year,
like there was some competition. I think we it's no
secret that the rest of the world so to speak,
has been catching up to the United States over the
last ten, fifteen, twenty years. Someone probably at some point
will write a really good book about that phenomenon and
sort of the from the Dream Team to now and

(03:28):
how that's opened up the international game. This year, like
these Olympics were kind of representative of that. I thought
this was a year where the US kind of needed
to bring its best players. They needed guys like Lebron
and Durant and Curry to really kind of carry the
team in ways that they haven't in the past that
those guys have been involved obviously, well Lebron and Durant

(03:48):
at least, but the US has just kind of walked
to a gold medal every time that they've actually put
their best roster on the court. And this year, you know,
they get challenged against Serbia, they get challenged against South
Sudan in pool play.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
France was the.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Same challenge was an exhibition play exhibition Yeah, that's right,
but you know, pushed to the brink by a country
that I think no one really gave a shot for
beating the US in that game.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
And then France was hanging in, you know, kind of
right up till the end until Curry knocked him out
with those four threes in the gold medal rounds.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
So maybe that's a place to start here.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
I don't know if you just have broader takeaways about
kind of the Olympic basketball tournament, but I thought it
was a really fun, engaging tournament, not just the US games,
but the bronze medal game, the entire rest of the field.
I loved watching Canada even though they lost early. Australia
is always a fun watch Serbia with Jokic, France obviously
being the host nation, Like there was just a lot

(04:45):
of intrigue with a lot of these really high level teams,
and I think now we're looking at a field that's
like six or seven teams deep of like really high
quality international teams.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
I will say this though, I think this will be
the closest that another country gets into at least twenty
thirty two, because interesting these fatal flaws that these teams have, right,
like Canada's lack of bigs, like there's nobody coming right,
like there's no like next big because it's not just like, oh,
who's the nineteen year old right now, it's like that
guy's still twenty three in four years, right. You need

(05:16):
guys to be like twenty three twenty four, like really
ascending already. And there are no French guards right like
Nolan Treire might be by twenty thirty two, but like
that is that's kind of it. It is not ideal
for France. They clearly need better guard play and I
think if they had better guard play, they would have
had a real chance. And I think we saw why
Victor Wemberinyama needs guards with him in that title game.

(05:39):
I think that was one of my main takeaways. But yeah,
I am curious and maybe I shouldn't put you on
the spot with this what you think this Team USA
team looks like in twenty twenty eight, because you mentioned
like Lebron's going to be done Steph's going to be done.
I think Durant could still play. I think like there's
a reasonable shot that Kevin Durant is still on at
forty years old. On twenty twenty eight, Team EMBIID will

(06:02):
be thirty four. I think probably still playing because we've
talked about before, like we think he will age pretty well,
especially like in the international game. I think he'll actually
be better as he gets older. That's like like Booker's
probably got to be one of your best players at
that point. You know, it's it gets a little it
gets a little hairy after that top group. That being said,

(06:23):
like the next generation isn't even playing right now for
Team USA, right, Like there are twenty three and twenty
four year old guys like Halliburton is going to be
a key piece of this that that weren't on the
team this year. That it's like, oh yeah, he's still
like better than every guard that has ever come from France. Right,
And that is a shot at Tony.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
Parker in casey' all were wondering, Yeah, no, it is
an interesting question. I was a question I was considering
a lot as I watched Team USA these Olympics, Like
Lebron Curry Durant. If Durant does play, he's probably not
vintage Durant anyone. I mean I didn't even think he
was vic don't know in this urn.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah, but I don't think he's going to be that
far of a drop off from what he was in
this tournament.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
No, probably.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
I mean his game, like he'll he's one of those
guys he's like he's almost like he's Jamal Crawford.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
Esque in this respect.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
Obviously he's better than Jamal Crawford, but just the ability
to kind of maintain what he does because it's such
a translatable thing at a really high level for a
long time. I think he's going to be able to
make shots and you know, get buckets the way that
he always kind of has.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
Legitimately playing the NBA till he's like forty five, if
not longer. Yeah, Like he is people we talk about
with Lebron Hown saying what he's doing is I think
people probably aren't ready for just how long Kevin Durant
can playing and probably will right because he loves basketball
like it's his Like other guys have a ton of
outside interests. He seems to like really really just like
want to play basketball all the time. And uh, people

(07:47):
we knock on like the Hooper thing, but like he
really is, like he just wants to play, like that's it.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, I mean I but yeah, I was thinking about
this question. I think Booker is probably a feature of that.
It'll it'll be interesting to talk about Booker because I
thought he played a really interesting role on this team
in a way that I really liked. Anthony Edwards, you
have to figure as part of that. I would probably
throw Bam into that category at least as far as
guys who we know are going to be on the team,

(08:14):
Like whether Bam is able to do what like I mean,
I'll say, even like Anthony Davis did for Team USA
this year and I thought he was probably our best
center in this tournament. Like, whether BAM's able to get
to that level, you know, we'll see, but I would
suspect he'll be at least on the team. But this
is why I feel like the rest of the world
is catching up, because this Lebron Steph durant Era is

(08:36):
is over that. To me, this was kind of the
last hurrah of that like twenty tens old Guard and
then there's not like talking about the rise of international
basketball over the last twenty years. I mean, what five
of the best eight players, ten players in the NBA
right now are international guys. What Jannis Jokic and B
plays for US even though he's from Cameroon.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
Here's the thing though, and B could play for Roon
in twenty twenty eight, you know what I mean? Like
he's true because because they you have to get some
kind of waiver essentially essentially, uh And I would think
if they qualify that he would want to write he
said he would have played for Cameron, but he wasn't
sure they would qualify. And I think that's like people
go on and saying like, oh, he should drag them there.
It's like it's it's not just about one guy, right

(09:20):
Like you have to be a better team than that.
We know that because Serbia qualified for the Olympics without
Nikola Jokic, right Like, you have to have those other
guys too, and and if if they just don't have enough,
then it's it's tough. But I want to I do
want to address the the some of the pretty absurd
like slander with him, like some.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Of the oh yeah yeah, getting up on your soap box.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
No getting on the decision for him to play for
Team USA.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
No, I think you're right about this. Yeah, he has
lived in.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
The country for half of his life. Like, the stuff
that Gilbert Arena said is flat out disgusting.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Uh and I didn't catch this.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
Yeah, you don't waste your time Like it's gross and
it's xenophobic and it's awful.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
I'm shocked that Gilbert us would say something like that.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
It's it's it was all pretty terrible. But this, like listen,
Embiid was brought onto this team to do two things.
Help the team beat France and help the team beat Serbia.
Rudy Gobaert didn't play that much for France, so he
wasn't necessary there, and he was crucial with them beating Serbia,
right like he in the semi finals, and that was it,
Like that was always going to be.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
I thought he was pretty good against France too.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
I did too.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
I was actually Steve Kurr didn't put him back in
in the second half.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
I think Steve Kerr might be a little too online.
Like once people really got on him for the decision
to play Embiid over a D in the starting lineup,
it seemed like he was pulling Embiid pretty much, you know,
six minutes into the game and he was done no
matter what outside of the Serbia game. But yeah, I'm
with you. I thought he was good. I mean, listen,

(10:46):
he's never in shape to start these things. He wasn't
at the start of this big surprise there. Like it's
it's just he's by the way, He's probably gonna suck
in late October for the six Ers two. Like it's
just it's how it goes. But yeah, I think, like
the discussion around it got pretty gross at one point.
I hope he plays for Cameron in twenty twenty eight
because I think that would be cool. But if he
doesn't want to, like I think he should play for TMOSA.

(11:07):
He is a citizen of the United States. His son
was born here. Like all of the other discussion I
think is around it is pretty gross. And listen, I
you know, half heartedly said in our group chat that
he is the best player on TMOSA. Like he is
the best player on TMOSA. It's just for how they
want to play, Like it's tough, right, Like they don't

(11:27):
have the to maximize Lebron, It's tough to maximize Embiid, right,
like I think him and Steph play off each other well,
but like with guys like Lebron, they're gonna be more
ball dominant guys like Anthony Edwards, like, it just doesn't
work quite as well.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Well, this don't go ahead.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Well, I was gonna say, I think people using this
as some kind of indictment against Embid for anything other
than stuff. We already knew that he comes in out
of shape, that like he has you know, a harder
time defending in space than you know, the best wings
in the NBA. Like, I don't know what the expectation was,
but yeah, he's suddenly not able to guard Wemby on
the perimeter. He's not that much of a surprise.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, And going back to your point about the superstar
talent being able to carry guys or carry teams, I'm sorry,
that's just not really the case in international basketball, like
for whatever reason, and maybe we could talk about what
those reasons might be. Star power is not the name
of the game in international basketball. It's much more like
soccer or where you have to play the team game.

(12:28):
It's much more about scheme and tactics, and it is
if you have one star like Serbia is a good
example of this. You structure your team around that star,
and then you have like a bogg Don Bogdanovic who
fits in as kind of a secondary guy. But someone
like that, like a team like the US. Historically, what
the US has done is they' it's gotten the most
talent and then the fit issues, if they're there, don't

(12:50):
really matter because the advantage is just so great on
the talent side that you know, it just overrides everything else.
Now that that's not the case anymore, I think we
start to see some of the cracks in the team
building of the US roster. We saw that in these Olympics,
and I think that for Steve Kerr into some tough
decisions and some counterintuitive decisions too relative to talent alone,

(13:12):
like Anthony Davis playing over Joel Embiid, which I thought
most of the time was the right move because Anthony
Davis is a better fit for how the US wanted
to play on both ends of the floor than Embiide was.
Someone like Devin Booker, I think is a really good
example of this, who could just modulate his game and
sort of do whatever is necessary offensively and defensively where

(13:33):
I thought his byend defensively was pretty good, and then offensively,
he's just playing a role. He's catching and shooting, he's
moving the ball. He can be your on ball guy
if you're the Phoenix Suns. But if he's playing next
to more talented guys, he just fits in seamlessly. And
I think that's where he has an advantage over someone
like Jason Tatum, who didn't play all that much. So
I think, like the star talent just is not as
much of a factor. You need continuity, you need you

(13:55):
just need to play more of the team game. And
I think the rest of the world kind of already
plays that way. That's inherent to the way that these
guys grow up in the way that basketball has coached
nationally in these other countries. That hasn't always been the
case in the United States. And I think there's a
parallel here between the rise and what we've talked about
as like ball movement and player movement in the NBA

(14:16):
kind of coming from that Spursy Warriors tradition and the
rise in international basketball prowess around the world. Like, I
think those two things are related, as those quote unquote
European concepts have made their way into the NBA.

Speaker 2 (14:29):
We see the way.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
In which those concepts are central to how other teams play,
how other countries play basketball around the world.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
Yeah, and it's funny you mentioned this because I was talking.
So we had some Penn Stateman's basketball availability this summer
in one of their players, Conen Nederhauser, is Swiss. Say
that again, Conan Niederhauser.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
Awesome, great name, Yeah, great name.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
But he played in Germany and before he went to
Northern Illinois then transferred to Penn State this year. But
he talked a lot about like the different in the game,
like it was just curious because the Olympics were going
on them. He said, like, it's more about isolation over here, right,
It's it's less about like team play and ball movement
and all of that. And so I think, you know,
you may hear that, like some people take that as

(15:13):
a slight on USA basketball, but honestly, it's just kind
of the truth, right, Yeah, the NBA is not as
much of a team game, or if it is, like
it's still a superstar centric right, And what I mean
by that is like and Beads kind of the perfect
example of this. We know he's one of the three
best players in the world. But to maximize him, you
need these perfect things around him, right, You needed to
operate a certain way. Same with honestly, on some level,

(15:34):
Yokichen Denver, right, like you need it to look a
certain way for it to work against the highest level athletes.
You're not playing the highest level athletes in Europe. I
think that's part of why you can get away with
more of the team on everything, because, like you said,
at the end of the day, Timo says, so ends
up usually crushing teams and winning. But I think that's
part of it, right, lack of talent kind of forces
you to do those things and more rely on those things.

(16:00):
I am curious. I think I know who I think
the four guards on the twenty twenty eight team should be.
People will get mad because I don't think Jalen Brunson's
one of them, But I think this conversation is part
of that, right, Like, he just doesn't play in that way,
like you can't. He's not valuable off the ball quite frankly,
and I don't think Trey Young fits it either. But
to me, it's Halliburton and Booker are my starting guards

(16:23):
in twenty twenty eight. Pretty much no matter what. Right,
And the other two guys I want are Tyrese Maxey
because you need the off ball shooting, which I think
we should discuss, like the TMOSA lacks some shooting right now,
and that I think that is he's a Steph vacsimile, right,
like you're kind of getting eighty percent of some of
the off ball movement. And the other one is Jalen Suggs,

(16:43):
right Like, you need a perimeter defender like that that
is going to spot up and catch and shoot and
like can excel in that role, to be that kind
of fourth guard that maybe doesn't play a ton, but
plays enough that when you need him, he's warm off
the bench, he can come in and do what you
need to do. I'm also curious to see what the
lineup will look like with Eric Spoelscher presumably in charge

(17:05):
instead of Steve Kerr. I thought Steve Kurr did a
pretty bad job. I'm not gonna lie with the rotations,
Like the platooning was pretty much always a bad idea.
It didn't feel like he was maximizing guys as much
as as much as he could have. Like, frankly, I
don't think Lebron and m b should have been on
the court all that much together, and if they were, like,
it should have been two man game after two man
game after two man game, right Like. I will be

(17:28):
curious to see what it looks like with SPO. But
to me, those are the four guards that I would
like without question. You you have four guys who who
can and will shoot, and who can and will play
off the ball, and I think that's going to be
important when there is no like Lebron at the center
of it.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
Are you thinking of Anthony Edwards as a three in
this case then.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
Yes, yes, yes, yeah, because I think at you know,
in the international game, he is a three, right like,
you don't need as much size on the perimeter. I
would say that Anthony Edwards is the clear cut best
wing for TEAMU, say, heading into twenty twenty eight. You know,
I know, like people would want to do the Tatum thing.
I just don't. It's like jaylen Bron said, like they're

(18:08):
great NBA players. I just don't think Jason Tatum is
good in international basketball because the way he wants to
play offensively. The problems we saw rise up in the
finals and in the playoffs are a massive problem in
international play, and he just like his he's when he
gets the ball. He is too good of a pastor
to play the way he does right, And but he
does that anyways, right where he takes he's seventeen footers constantly,

(18:29):
he's hunting these shots and like trying to get his
and I, you know, I think it's a detriment in
that kind of scenario.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
I'm glad you brought up Tatum. I wanted to talk
about him.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
To me, it was it was more glaring than ever.
I mean, we've levied some of these criticisms against him
based on his play with the Celtics, and obviously he
is a great NBA player, no question about it. But
I just think every time he was on the floor
in these Olympics, and maybe this was part of the
playing time, you know, he didn't know where fit in.

(19:00):
Maybe he was you know, that was in his head
a little bit, but he just looked so indecisive.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
And I thought on plays where you see, I won't even.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
Use Lebron as a comparison, but let's say Devin Booker,
because I think they were you know, Booker might be
the guy that some people would point to as as
you know, where you could have given Tatum minutes from
Devin Booker catches the ball and he knows what he's doing.
He makes he either drives, passes or shoots basically immediately.
And I feel like every time Tatum caught the ball

(19:29):
in an advantageous situation, or at least it seemed this way,
he just looked like he did not know what to
do and he had to take that extra beat to
kind of figure out map the floor, figure out what
the situation is, assess, Okay, now I'm.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Gonna do what I'm gonna do, and then the advantage
is gone, the moment has passed.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
And I just thought that was so screamingly obvious to
me in these Olympics, where he just he looked a
beat behind everything else that was happening. And I thought
Steve Kerr was right for not playing him. Like I know,
there was a lot of criticism and you know, kind
of handwringing about Tatum's minutes and all that. I didn't
think Jason Tatum should have played a big role on
this team, partly because of the fit stuff we're talking about,

(20:08):
Like the way he plays, he kind of needs to
be more of a featured guy and there wasn't room
for him to do that. But also just you know,
like Drew Holliday, Devin Booker, Derek White, these guys were
better fits for what the US was trying to do
on both ends of the floor.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
You know. I just I didn't think what's that.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
I thought Jalen Brown would have been too, right, Like
I think, yeah, people got mad about the brown or
the white over brown thing, but like I think Brown
should have been on the team over Tatum. Like he
just makes more sense because he's going to catch and
shoot and he will take those line drives right like
when he is when he gets spawned the perimeter, he
will make that quick decision. He's not like trying too
much to create or has to operate out of a

(20:47):
pick and roll. And frankly, I think they could have
used his athleticism a little bit because that is a
bit of an old team. But I think the juxtaposition
of Tatum and Embiid made all that stuff more glaringly obvious. Right.
It's Tatum clearly doesn't reach the level that mb does
where it's like, yeah, sometimes MBID takes a beat like
that too. One he like sees the floor better, and
it's like, frankly a better passer at this point that

(21:10):
Tatum is two. If all else fails and he has
to take that beat, you can trust him to make
those shots.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
Yeah, right, like or to create some sort of advantage.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
Right and like that that was one of the things
I think got lost in this Olympics, Like when him
and Steph were playing together, there were it was three
on two right, like that were on the opposite side
of the ball because of him and stepf are on
one side of the court. You were getting at least
three defenders with them, And I think that that gravitational
pool that he has was really important against Serbia, especially
uh and then of course when he started taking over

(21:40):
late that that matter too. But yeah, I think I
think Tatum just kind of lacks the the basketball instincts
right to make the right play quickly enough to to
be a part of a team. I guess, I don't
know how else to say it, right, like to be
a well to be like but to fade into the
background a little bit, I guess, yeah, like to be

(22:02):
willing to fade into the background. And again, you and
I've talked about in the past. We also don't think
he's good enough to be like the primary guy, and
so you get in this weird spot. But yeah, I
think I don't know, I am. I'm curious to see
if he's involved in twenty twenty eight, like if he's
feel spurned by this. Also one guard I didn't mention.
By the way, if dearon Fox keeps getting better, he's
probably gonna be on that team too. But again a

(22:24):
little more ball centric. We'll see.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
It's funny though, because I actually think Tatum does a
pretty good job being part of the team and keeping
the line moving. With the Celtics, it just looked like,
for whatever reason, but he didn't eat in the decisiveness
was not there.

Speaker 3 (22:39):
But late in the postseason it wasn't either, you know
what I mean, Like, yeah, so I don't like this
is a trend from then, rather than like an outlier.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
I think, yeah, it was.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
I'll say this too, kind of changing subjects a little bit.
It was really fun watching Lebron and Steph and Durant
playing together, and it kind of brought me back to
those twenty seventeen twenty eighteen Warriors teams, except you just
replaced Draymond with Lebron James.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
That was kind of the feel I got.

Speaker 1 (23:04):
You know, Steph and Durant are kind of they obviously
have the chemistry playing together, They're running their off ball stuff,
and Lebron's the facilitator at the top. That that was
a ton of fun to watch, especially in transition, where
you could see Lebron was looking for Steph, he was
making an effort to get involved with him, and I
think you could kind of feel how much fun Lebron
was having particularly playing with Steph, because he was yeah, yeah,

(23:29):
But you know, Lebron's basketball IQ obviously is legendary, and the.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
Thing you we always say with Steph Curry.

Speaker 1 (23:34):
Is you need high IQ players around him. You need
guys who understand how he's gonna move and what he's
gonna do. No one understands that better than Lebron James,
at least among players who've never played with Steph before.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
No one has a.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
Better feel for how Steph Curry plays than Lebron.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
So it was really cool.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
You could see Lebron just just relishing the opportunity to
play with Steph finally at this stage in their career.
And I thought a really nice kind of capstone for
all three of those guys being the faces of the
generation for you know, basically a decade. I mean that
they were sort of raining me over the NBA to
sort of cap off the peaks or the primes of

(24:11):
their careers with a gold medal together.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
Was kind of a cool experience.

Speaker 3 (24:15):
Yeah, And like I said, I think, like one it's
very like for always say about Kevin Durant, it is
very cool to see him just get excited about basketball
stuff when play, you know what I mean, Like you
wonder what he's going to feel when he's going back
to Phoenix, you know what I mean, Like he just
had this like incredibly joyful experience of playing basketball and
it's not like that's not how they play in Phoenix, right,

(24:36):
like you going back to Brad Beale and you're going
back to more Devin Booker isolation. I do think this
could be really good for Booker, Like I think this
could have been a there's a chance that this is
like a moment we point to his an inflection point
f Rahim in his career where he gets a lot better,
plays off the ball a lot better. I do think though,
that like Durant will probably play in twenty twenty eight, right,

(24:56):
Like I think he just loves it too much, and
I think that was but like those moments made that clear.
It is funny the twenty twenty eight like wings have
to look different because of what you said with Lebron,
like kind of aging out of this, you know, And
we'll see with Tatum. I think like there are a
couple of the obvious ones. Like I said, I think
Aunt is pretty much a lock to be in there.

(25:17):
It feels like Cooper Flag is pretty much a lock
to be in there, as crazy as that's good. He
was on the USA Select team in Vegas and was
like crushing the A team at times.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
Like I mean a guy you mentioned, Jalen Brown, he
could he could make a reappearance at this point too.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
He'll be thirty one.

Speaker 3 (25:33):
So the question for Brown is, so presumably if Katie
wants to play and Aunt wants to play, they'll be
in it. Right. I think Kad Cunningham at this point
will be a player in that aspect too, Right, he'll
be like twenty six, twenty seven if he can stay healthy,
like you'd be a part of that. And I would
take him over Jalen Brown because of some of the
quick decision making and everything too. Then it's like you're

(25:54):
looking at probably two spots for Cooper flag mckel Bridges
and Jalen Brown. And I think i'd probably leave Brown
off right, like interesting because Bridges is another Like it's
like having Derek White on this team, right it's and
he can guard guards better than Brown can. He will
be thirty two, I think at that point Bridge as well,

(26:14):
so we'll see where he's at athletically, but I would
think he'll get a spot. The Biggs, to me, are
obvious it's embiid if he wants it, Chet and Bam,
Like I just think like those three are pretty much
locked in unless Jaron Jackson figures out how to stop Fouling.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
Yeah, and I don't know that Embiid will play honestly,
Like just where he'll be at that point in his
career with the injuries, and just like it may be
one of those things where he reaches the point especially
like not to bring this up, but if the Sixers
haven't won a title by then and they're still in contention,
like if he wants to prioritize that, it could be
a situation where and he'll think it's not worth it.

Speaker 3 (26:48):
And he's won a gold medal and right, he'll check
that box. The thing that I think could drag him
there is if Max he's there right like you, because
those two seem to be pretty close. Yeah, and then
the idea of playing with him two Paul George will
be what thirty eight at that point, so like they
would be onto a next iteration of what this team
looks like anyways.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yeah, and I think they want to do I mean,
even if Paul George is like, yeah, I want to play,
even if Lebron says he wants to play.

Speaker 3 (27:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
I wonder if the decision makers with Team USA kind
of want to start stewing this younger because we've been saying,
you're listening to.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
The only one that is like gonna do it of
the thirty five plus guys in sort of like the
mellow role, you know, the elder statesman on the young team,
because as we've been saying, the rest of the world
is catching up and you can point to France's guard play,
you could point to Canada's.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
Lack of bigs and I thought their their lack of
continuity in this in this tournament was was pretty obvious
back to like the NB. Yeah, and back to the
difference between the NBA and international play. Canada played very
much like an NBA team, and I think it's at
a certain point, I mean against France that I think
the the team style so to speak, that we were

(27:55):
talking about really kind of one out over over Canada's
style play, and you saw just the lack of reps
that Canada had with each other. So you know, all
that to say just that the rest of the world's
catching up, the US is losing some key talent. I
think the next four years are kind of an important
restocking of the cupboard period where I think you want

(28:17):
to look for some younger guys who can maybe play
a couple of Olympic cycles with the team and build
that continuity. Even looking ahead to twenty thirty two, by
which point you know, you figure Germany will still be
in the hunt, France will probably still be in the hunt, Canada,
all these teams are still going to be there. Serbia
might have tailed off by then, but it's going to
be a competitive landscape I think in twenty thirty two.
So if I were the US, I'd want to get

(28:38):
some young talent like kind of in the system so
that they can grow and play together for a couple
of Olympics.

Speaker 3 (28:45):
Well that's what like a large portion of that roster
that I put together is like at least two cycles
out of these guys, right, Like both Tyrese's Maxi and
Halliburton would be at least two cycle guys, if not three.
Obviously Halliburton would be three because he was there this time.
Uh sugs like that. Did you see his tweet about it? Yeah,
that was very good. When you get the when you

(29:06):
get an a on the project and the like.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Dwayne Wade on one of the broadcasts. I love that
he was just like having a good time. He understood
he was the last.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
Role in the whole thing.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
Like, yeah, he's on the US Olympics. He's at the Olympics.
He's watching the best basketball players in the world play basketball,
and he gets to be a part of it. Like
I'd be having a blast too. I mean, obviously you
have that competitive instinct, but like I respect him for
kind of putting that to the side, not pouting about
it and just accepting his role.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
Well that's what like, again, juxtapposed it compared to Tatum,
like it's Tatum is closer to Halliburton's level than someone
like Embid right, and and like he I don't think
he knows that, you know, I don't think he uh
is aware that that's part of the problem there. But
like those guards would all be two cycle guys, and
Edwards obviously would be potentially three cycles. Kate Cunningham would

(29:54):
be two cycles. Cooper Flag could be like four, which
would be pretty much chit uh Chat would be a
three recycle guy. Like you have all of those guys
that are okay, it's twenty twenty eight, but it's also
twenty thirty two, and then.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
You know, would throw in as as if, especially if
a band doesn't play in twenty twenty eight, is Derek
Lively as.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
I was just said, Todd, Yes, I think he is
the perfect role player type that in twenty twenty seven,
he doesn't really play like he has the Haliburton role
on the team right where he's not playing, you're mostly
just playing Bam and Chet and although those guys can
play together, so maybe he ends up playing because of that.
I also like, you can play Cooper Flag at the
five if you want, because he's big enough, and you know,

(30:35):
I'm sure some people will say that Pollo should be
on the team, but I think that's a pretty clear
no based on the guys that I've laid out and
how they play. I'm trying to think of other names
here that we maybe have. Zion like it it depends
if he's healthy, Like I could see him having a
rules like, Okay, this guy's our sixth man that just
comes in and detonates for twelve minutes a game, right,
Like he just blows up the entire because the way

(30:56):
he plays, he would destroy some teams international play, like
it was just not that much brute strength in the
post for a lot of these teams, Like I think
you would be a lot of fun to go back
to what you said about Serbi real quick, though, I
think they're gonna drop off pretty drastically next Olympics, Like
Bogdan's getting old and he is far and away their
second best player, and if he's not there, like, I

(31:18):
think they're in pretty bad shape and they don't necessarily
have this pipeline that France or Canada does right.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
Now, Yeah, I'm just thinking ahead imagining another US France
matchup in twenty twenty eight and just adding another player
in the world adding another page to the Chet Wemby
Rivalry book, Like these guys are set up to just
have a historic, a magic bird level of rivalry.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
I mean, maybe not quite that level, but.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
No, I no, I don't think you're being hyperbolic. I
think this could be the greatest rivalry in the history
of the sport. Because I also, like, I think Chet
has kind of been put in a box and like
rim Protector shoots, it's like, no, he ain't Miles Turner,
Like he does so much more than that, Like this
dude is a legitimate top player in the world upside
level prospect, and I mean Wemby obviously might be the

(32:05):
greatest player of all time when it's said and done.
I think this is like it is so cool, Like
that's an excellent point, Like we could really be staring
down the barrel, not just twenty twenty eight, twenty thirty two,
right like these two Olympics where it's like these guys
at the center of it. Yeah maybe, I mean honestly,
like how old will they be in twenty thirty six?
Wemby will be thirty, I.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
Mean they'll still be in the mix.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
Yeah, they'll be thirty three. Yeah, so we like this
could be a a like a long like decade and
a half rivalry, two decades if you count the high
school stuff, and you know how long they've been competing
against each other and selecting everything, Like this could be
the greatest rivalry in the history of the sport. And like,
I don't think that's over selling it. I think it's

(32:47):
it's really cool and it's setting up in a way
you're right with the Olympics, but also they're in the
same conference in like you know, bordering states. Like this
really has some juice to it that I think is
worth paying attention right now.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
Going back to the Lebron steph KD thing, I think
another kind of nostalgia hit for me watching this tournament
was seeing all the old NBA guys who are no
longer in the NBA.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
Hop back up.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yeah, that was that was kind of a delightful, Like, oh, yeah,
I forgot about Sergio Yule you.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
Know was one. I was like, Oh, it's like I
did not know. I think there is one like Gershaan
Yabaseli feels like he's earned himself an NBA contract.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
He was awesome France. Yes, like I know Gobert that
it was similar to Tatum. The Gobert thing was kind
of a big deal For a minute there, La Sort
and Yabusele were France's best I mean other than when Yama,
they were France's best bigs. They were unbelievable.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
Yeah, and I don't like and it sucks for Rudy Gobert,
but like he he needs a guard, right, like he is,
like he needs someone to get him the ball and
to be his effective offense. We otherwise, like you can
ignore him, like you can, especially if you have the
size to guard him, like in isolation, like where he can't,
you know, just take a little bunny over a guy
like you don't have to guard him. And I think

(34:10):
that was that was pretty telling. It was also a
nice insight in to why Mike Conley has been so
important in Minnesota. Right.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
Yeah, although we said France's guard play a weak point
for them, Yeah, I mean Cordinier, but he plays more
like a waste an initiative.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
Yeah, right, and the the other by the way, the
funnest trash talk outside of him b doing the crotch
chop over and over and again to the French crowd
as they booed him as he got his gold medal,
and did you see the video in all of Team USA,
it was like bagging them on as he did it, Like,
it was very funny. Outside of that was Aunt Edwards
talking shit to Rudy Gobert in the final. Dude, that's

(34:47):
your teammate. He's gonna remember that. Rudy remembers everything like,
uh but yeah, no, I thought I thought that was Uh,
it was pretty telling that he needs or pretty pretty
good example of how badly he needs a guard on
offense be effective and defensively, like what he does just
kind of doesn't matter as much in uh, you know,
international play.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
Yeah, well, especially with women Yama already on the team
and the spacing that that's another I think part of
the USA.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
Wemy's not a shooter off the dribble despite him thinking
he is.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Right now, Yeah, well, and just in general, I think
another part of the US is struggle relative to the
NBA is there's just not as much spacing in the
international game, and so these some of these other guys
are maybe used to playing with less spacing, especially the
ones that play internationally that are not in the NBA,
and so they're kind of used to navigating.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
That a little bit.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
I think I'll posit another theory for maybe why the
US sort of not not struggled obviously because they won
the gold medal, but maybe why the gap closes a
little bit between the US and the rest of the world.
I think when you have a superstar team like this,
you know, guys are accustomed to being in certain.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
Roles with their NBA teams.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
They know kind of where their shots are going to
come from, they know what their responsibility is on offense,
and unless you were Lebron or Steph I guess Durant
was kind of like this too, and being to an
extent who were kind of playing the same way they
would with their NBA teams. I think it's kind of
difficult to figure out what your role is, and I
think we saw guys like like Lebron sort of adopted

(36:15):
well adapted. I should say, Katie's game kind of translates naturally.
I think Ant had a nice role as the sixth
man where he could kind of do his thing without
why he changed too much?

Speaker 3 (36:27):
What's that I said, play like he plays, which is
exactly It's also why he didn't work so well with
the main.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
Group, right, exactly, right, And then why I think Booker
did work so well with the main group is because
he was able to adapt White, Bam, Anthony Davis. Those
guys already sort of play the role player style, so
I think they they were kind of natural fits. But
you know, Tatum Edwards when he was with the other stars,
I think it's hard for those guys to figure out
what that new role should look like when they're when

(36:54):
they're not the number one guy, or when they're not
you know, playing when they're playing with others. I just
think it's difficult to figure that out. And again that's
where I think we'll give props to the guys who
could figure that. I think that's a really like that's
kind of a skill onto itself, as much as you know,
shooting or defensive execution or anything like that.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
Well, and that's why ad probably should have started over EMBIID. Yeah,
and EMBID should have played more minutes, but with a
different group, right like, put him out there with Steph
and KD and you know, take your pick like Devin Booker,
and then you know one of the like Derek White,
Drew Holiday, one of those guys, right like, put him
in a situation where he's a focal point to maximize

(37:34):
him on both ends of the court. You're maximizing those
guys too, because things are gonna get more open for them.
That's what Like, I think it gets misconstrued as like, oh,
like you just want Aunt to get buckets or whatever.
Right now, it's about the gravity they have and the
attention they requires then and opens things up for everyone else,
right It's true. Ant's true of Embiid all of those guys.
That's again to Tatum that he just doesn't have that

(37:54):
gravity so it doesn't work as well. But yeah, no,
I think seeing guys adapt like that, it was it
was pretty clear that one that I think Steve Courr
probably could have done a much better job with the rotations.
I understand they had to start, probably had to start
MB because he assumably was promised the starting spot if
he was with TSA, But I just think you don't

(38:14):
have to play him with those guys the rest of
the game. Like, I think playing him with Lebron so
much and not featuring those two was a mistake and
almost cost him the Serbia game quite frankly, m M
until MB took over and then Steph took over. But yeah,
I like, I don't know, this was very cool, like
you said, the way it wrapped up for a lot
of those guys and for Lebron and stuff especially. Who knows,

(38:35):
maybe Steph will play in four years, but if this
is it for both of those guys internationally, I think
it was. It was the best way for them to
go out.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
Totally agree and really fun to watch, just as someone
who was you know, as fans of the NBA who've
been following this for a long time, kind of seeing
these guys close out their career like that was pretty cool.
I think that's about all I've got on the Olympics again,
just a really fun tournament, not only from a US perspective,
but watching all the I mean Australia, a team that
didn't really make much noise in the tournament, they were

(39:04):
a ton of fun to watch. I love watching Australia play.
They just run really crisp offense. I think no matter
where you look, there's just really good basketball going on
in a lot of these countries. I mean, more than ever,
there's just like a lot of really capable, talented and
well coached international teams, which I think is setting up
for a really exciting basketball landscape in the next like two, three,

(39:26):
four and beyond Olympics.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
Yeah, But to bring us back to the NBA, I
think Steph's performance is what makes it so wild that
apparently the Warriors would not give up Brandon Padjemski to
get Lori marknin That's where they drew the line. Like,
I think that's crazy, right, Like I think that is.
I don't know what they think Pods can be, but

(39:50):
to me, he's probably a good second guard, maybe a
third guard. These illusions of grandeur that they have for him,
I think are a pretty wild Lorii marketing and obviously
lowry marketing, excuse me, signing a and renegotiating and extending
his contract with the Jazz so he's not eligible to
be traded this year because of that, does not become

(40:11):
a Warrior because again reportedly, Podjebski's where they drew the line,
not Kaminga, not you know, anyone else, not all the picks,
Brandon Pojevsky.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
I at least respect them for committing to what they
believe in and standing by it. They're wrong, I agree,
I agree, but I respect their resolve in standing behind
what they believe in.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
Which is just a totally incorrect.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
Pick takes takes some real guts to do that. Yeah,
it takes.

Speaker 3 (40:38):
It feels like when Danny Ainge. It feels like Danny
Ainge got Danny inged for one, and like the to
tie this with the Olympics, Like I would love to
trade for Paul George or Anthony Davis, but can't give
up Grisha on the episode?

Speaker 2 (40:52):
Yeah sorry, do you think? Well?

Speaker 1 (40:53):
I mean, with the way he's playing recently, maybe you
don't want to give up grishaon Yobu silly but no,
Like I just like.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
Listen, the Warriors could win a title if they had
Stephan Laurie Markinen and Lowry markten and Draymond Green playing
at a high level. I genuinely believe that to be
the case. And clinging to a third guard or second guard,
a future second guard or third guard is is bad
team voting. It's it should piss Steph Off. Quite frankly,

(41:21):
it won't because he seems to handle these things with
the utmost amount of grace. But like id bad team voting,
bad decision making all around for the Warriors front office,
And something I think we may look back on is
like if they're bad this year, like we're like, well,
they could have completely changed the shape of their their
team if they had made this trade. And if if
Pods isn't like an all star level player, Like that's

(41:43):
the other thing. This creased these undue expectations on him
now that he has to reach that or else. It's like,
you know, you could have had marketing.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
Yeah, well, and going back to Steph. As much as
we talked about the importance of team play and how
star power doesn't matter as much, it was all ultimately
kind of the individual brilliance of Steph Curry.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
In the end that set the US apart. So that
does still matter.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
I don't want to say that, you know, you could
just go out there with a bunch of like a
bunch of Derek Whites. You know, as much as I
love the Derek White types, I don't think Derek White
a team of Derek White types wins you a gold medal.
You still need the Lebron's and the steps and by
the way Lebron's passing in these Olympics, it's it's just
always so much fun to see him playing next to
elite players, and I know that that's not great for

(42:27):
like competitive balance in the NBA. But in these sorts
of situations, you know, these Olympics, all Star games, things
like that. See we talked about it earlier playing with Steph.
Just seeing the way that Lebron approaches the game when
he is surrounded by other elite talent as a passer,
it's just so much fun. I thought he was as
good a passer in these Olympics as Nicola Jokic, if

(42:49):
not better. The fact that he's still like the fastest
and strongest guy on the floor in a lot of
these games.

Speaker 3 (42:54):
And that he can just get mad and turn that
on and all of a sudden, he's bullying everyone.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
It's crazy, It's it's unreal. He yeah, he just continues.
I think I texted you this and texted the group
this while we were watching, to me, if there was
any doubt and this sounds like a silly thing to
say about the Olympics, I realized, But if there was
any doubt about who the greatest player of all time
was coming into these Olympics, I think Lebron cemented himself
with this run. I really like, Oh, he's at such

(43:20):
a high level. He was at such a high level
through these Olympics. I just as as an overall basketball player.
I think he kind of sealed the case.

Speaker 3 (43:31):
Yeah, I'm not going to push back on that. Uh,
but yeah, this is I don't know. We seem to
manage to circle back to the Olympics. We should probably
leave it at the Olympics. We can discuss Christmas Day
and scheduling some other time. But this is I don't know.
I just I feel really good about the state of
the sport. I feel really good about the next generation

(43:51):
of basketball players in the United States. I feel really
good about this generation. We just watched like it all
ended nicely for everyone involved except for Jason Tatum, And
what more can you ask for?

Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, man, I think the sport is in a great place.
I love seeing basketball. I'm I'm not one of these
people who just wants the US to dominate every Olympics.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
I think it's great.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
I want those gold medals to be clear to remain
in the United States.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
Well that's what y's I want to.

Speaker 3 (44:14):
Be one competitive Yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:16):
I had a great time watching the other events and
like just like pulling over the Nile.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
One hundred meter run was which like unbelievable, Like he
did you watch a chance in that race for the
last thirty meet to the last thirty meters.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
Did you watch the women's four by four hundred relay?

Speaker 3 (44:36):
I did not.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
It was the most dominant track race I've ever seen
in my life.

Speaker 3 (44:41):
Oh yeah, I saw the replay.

Speaker 2 (44:42):
Yeah, just unreal.

Speaker 3 (44:44):
A lot of a lot of great stuff in the Olympics.
The Olympics continue to continue to be very fun. I
am hopeful that in twenty twenty eight, major League Baseball
we'll get its hat out of its ass and let
players play baseball. And in the Olympics we deserve that,
right we Yeah. I don't like even soccer, Like I
know the World Cup is a bigger deal, but I
hate that it's like all under twenty three for on

(45:05):
the men's side. Like the women's soccer was fantastic. It's
I'm glad. Uh, you know, they've at least put the
best to best foot forward pun intended with women's soccer
in the Olympics. It's it's kind of a disgrace that
that the men's side doesn't do the same, like go
win a gold medal.

Speaker 1 (45:24):
Yeah. The Olympics are about seeing the best athletes in
the world. Yeah, play their sport at the highest level.
That's that's what we want to see.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
Yeah, and I, like I said, I agree the World
Cup is a bigger deal, but that does not mean
that it can't be a massive deal to be in
the Olympics too.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
All right, well that's a good place to leave it.
I think we cover a lot of good ground today.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
Go USA.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
Congratulations to the men's and women's team. Remember national pride?
Remember what that felt like. I don't comment on anything
good good to good to feel some of that again anyway.

Speaker 3 (45:55):
Uh, you know we're gonna get that in the US
men's national team too. Maurice Pocattino, Uh uh, former Tottenham manager,
former Chelsea manager?

Speaker 2 (46:03):
Is that what that was?

Speaker 3 (46:05):
Yes? Could you not figure that out? I think the
best hire that that the US men's national team could
make outside of Jurgen Klop. Clop obviously didn't turn it down.
Pocatino presumably was is going to require a ton of money,
which is fine by me. It is a It is
a fantastic.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
Higher Now, what's what's his background?

Speaker 3 (46:23):
He was at Tottenham and he was at Chelsea. A
lot of managers make their head as a player and
then grow into being like Yurgen Cleinsman the best manager
and you're the most notable US manager in history. Prior
to him, like made his head as a player, less
as a manager. Pocatino is like entirely as a manager.
I think he had Southampton in eighth I want to
say in the Premier League when he was there, uh

(46:45):
he he uh took Tottenham to a Champions League final.
They did not win the trophy though, because they never
win trophies. That is one thing you need to know
about Tottenham Hotspur is that they never win trophies and
that they should be shamed for that at every term
they are. In case you did not know, this Arsenal's
biggest rival.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
So he hired a loser, No he went he he was.

Speaker 3 (47:08):
He's not just a Tottenham guy though. The fact that
he got Tottenham is is is a loser and he
dragged them to a Champions League final. You know, it's
like this is this guy is because they because it's
it's at some point you're just not going to be
outdone by the Tottenham of it all. But you know,
had Chelsea and much better straights this past year than
they have been there. Chelsea's gonna be a mess. This

(47:30):
coming year has been a mess since they got bought
by Todd Uh. I think he's pronounced Bailey Bowie, however
you say it. USA Ownership Group is is a disaster.
And he still managed to cobble together a pretty good
side last year. So it's a it's a great hire,
as good as it gets and and uh it's it's
we're gonna win Golden toyty six. What do you go
for me?

Speaker 2 (47:49):
All right, hey, that's great, it's.

Speaker 3 (47:51):
Not gonna happen, but we should make the quarters and
that's pretty sick.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
Anything other than.

Speaker 3 (48:00):
To sixteen again, Yeah, that'd be yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:02):
Yeah, all right, Well, well we'll check back in and
once the schedule twenty.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
Twenty six and with the US men's national team.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
Yes, we'll talk schedule. We'll talk season preview as the
NBA season kind of inches closer here in the next
week or so and we ramp up into that in
the meantime.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
We appreciate you all listening.

Speaker 1 (48:21):
Make sure to check out John's work over at the
Center Daily Times, as well as on the Nitney Gritty
and Nitney Dispatch podcasts covering all things Penn State athletics.
Until next time, everyone, we appreciate you listening, Stay safe,
take care of yourselves and each other. Make sure to
stay hydrated, and John, I'll talk to you later.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
Talk to you soon.