May 12, 2021 • 40 mins
The NFL knows how to make a schedule
The Lakers are built for the playoffs
Guests: John Fox, Ric Bucher
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern,
nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one.
Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports
Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on
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Sports Radio. Ah, here we go our two. It is
(00:25):
such a pleasure to have you in NFL schedule release.
Hey night on FS one. You better be watching wherever
you may be, however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox
Sports Radio FS one. Joey Taylor is joining me. It's
very exciting. Love when the schedule gets released, feels like
(00:48):
the NFL season. There is no NFL season. June is
the only month when it feels like the NFL says,
all right, you guys, just go hunting, fishing, go hang
out with your family, will catch a back camp in
mid July. That's it and does that's And by the way,
they've they've moved around things to make sure they cover
(01:11):
every month they move free agency. I will also say
they have leaned into free agency, especially at the quarterback position. Yeah,
which I've been saying for some time now was a
good idea. Yeah, and it is. I mean, you're giving
up any of control. Players don't run the league. Some
of the best players in the league have a little
more say, and we can't stop talking about it. It's great. Yeah.
(01:33):
So anyway, the USA today yesterday this was a barnyard musical.
They came out with this quarterback tier thing. It was
just a hot mess. They had like thirty two categories
and I made fun of it all day yesterday. It
was bad. Listen, new rule, No more quarterback tiers. Here's
(01:54):
the new rule. We're gonna view quarterbacks in two camps.
You can pull a roster or you get pulled. You're
a truck or a trailer. As Bucky Brooks says, a
truck can pull a bad defense to the playoffs. A
truck can pull a bad GM. I mean Andrew Luck
(02:17):
got to the AFC Championship with two Pro Bowlers and
a bad GM that got fired and the coach that
got fired. That's a truck. There's five or six trucks
at quarterback. Let's simplify this. You're a truck or a trailer.
Here are the trucks they can pull bad gms. Goofy coaches,
Tom Brady, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson,
(02:39):
DeShawn Watson, and I don't know j Sean's future. Everybody
else is a trailer now. People all about Lamar Jackson. No,
he needs a defense. He's not really great plan from behind.
He's not right now gonna win shootouts, but he's close
to it. Everybody, Derek Carmatt, Ryan, they're good. Nobody's denying it,
but they can't overcome bad defenses. Baker Mayfield the Browns
(03:02):
better when he throws fewer times. Those are the trucks
six in the world now. Now, I think there's four
people to keep your eye on. Young people we don't
know yet. Justin Herbert and Kyler Murray looked like potential trucks.
I think they may be. Joe Burrow I don't think
(03:22):
he is, but give me ten more starts. Trevor Lawrence
feels like the first quarterback since Andrew Luck. And you
know how much I loved Andrew Luck at Stanford. Trevor
Lawrence feels like he could overcome some problems. I talked
to Dabo Sweeney last night on the podcast, and I
asked him. I said, you recruit all these guys. You
(03:42):
recruit all these guys, I said, what was Trevor Lawrence? Like?
He goes. I went to the first practice and David Shaw,
the Stanford coach, came out to me and he said, coach,
I don't know who your quarterback is, but I know
who's going to start next year for you. That's the
best high school quarterback I've ever seen. And David Shaw
had Andrew Luck. So I think Trevor Lawrence, let's wait
and see how it plays out. But those four, I
(04:07):
don't think Burrow is, but I want to see ten starts.
Herbert and Kyler Murray looked like, yeah, I think I
think we got something. And I do think Trevor Lawrence,
who I saw as a junior in high school live
in San Diego, he just against the other five star quarterbacks,
looked like a college quarterback at seventeen. So none of
(04:28):
this nine tiers of quarterbacks. And everybody's trying to get
a truck. Almost everybody ends up with a trailer. Heard
brought to you by Jersey Mike subs be a sub above.
You know, John Fox, this is interesting. Former NFL coach
he has the highest winning percentage in Bronchos history. He
won seventy two percent of his games and I didn't
know that. He also led the Broncos to four straight
(04:50):
AFC West Division titles, only head coach in Denver history
to have never missed the playoffs. But that tells you
how tough the NFL is and how it treats its coaches.
The NBA and the NFL are tough on coaches. I mean,
Belichick twenty years runs the league has his first losing season,
(05:10):
and all of us, myself included, I think it was Brady, Uh,
you know Bill? Yeah, what does Bill though? John Fox
now joining us live one of seven coaches to have
multiple teams in the Super Bowl. Yeah. The NFL is that,
you know, they're not always kind to you guys, John,
They're they're pretty rough on you guys. Definite. Yeah. So
(05:33):
I will start with this, UM I said this yesterday.
When you take over a team, you're not just building
a roster, You're building a culture. I don't love the
message Tebow to the jag sins. I don't think he's
gonna put his hand in the dirt. He's taken a
job away from somebody I don't think he can put
his hand in the dirt and block a two hundred
and sixty five pound guy trying to put food in
(05:55):
the table. He has a baby daughter, He's been around
the league for three teams. He looks at Tebow any
go drive of right through him. I don't love the
message to the Jags. Am I wrong on that? Or
you tell me what you think about it. Well, again,
I'm seeing Tim in ten years when I had him
(06:16):
in Denver, Colin. He definitely has the right mindset and
the right kind of message he wants to carry in
that lock of him. You can't deny him that. Now.
I don't know what he's been doing other than i've
seen him play baseball a few times in those last
ten years. I know it's not been on an NFL lost,
(06:37):
you know, at least recently. So that's hard for me
to predict. But I will say this, he's as competitive
as a guy. He's gonna do things as right as
can be done, whether it's in the off season, whether
it's in season, whether it's in the building or out
of the building. I think he's gonna I think he'll
(06:58):
carry the right message. That Verbamer once and you know,
I think Urban realizes this. He knows that's his guy.
He won the highest be trophy for him at the
University of Florida, you know, and Tim's gonna have to
earn a spot that's not gonna be given to him.
I can assure you that. Yeah. By the way, tight end,
It's funny about this, you know, John fifteen twenty years ago,
(07:20):
tight end, just block and don't drop passes. The position
now is where you often put somebody who you think
you know. Travis Kelsey's a number one target. I mean,
Kyle Pitts is gonna have eighty catches, Antonio Gates. These
guys are not just I mean they are literally game changers.
And maybe fifteen years ago Tim worked, but I look
(07:42):
at it now and I think, I'm just not sure
he's I'm not sure six two he's athletic enough to
be a tight end in the NFL. Thoughts on that, well,
I think, really, you know, they have what they call
an eighth receiver, and that can be a second tight end,
that could be a third wide out. It depends on
what personnel group you're incolm. You can put a faster
(08:02):
guy a little bit to your guy that can block
not as good as a y tight end. I'm talking
about a sixty four, you know, two hundred and seventy
pounds tight end versus ten size, which is more like
a fullback and h back. So people call up the
f back, but I think, you know, you gotta be smart,
you gotta be tough, and I think Tim's both those things. Again,
(08:23):
I haven't seen him in ten years on the hoof,
so I can't speak to that. But you know, anyway,
two hundred and thirty six pounds when he was with
me in Denver and played a quarterback. So it's interesting
when you look at Chicago goes and gets Justin Fields,
and San Francisco goes and gets Trey Lance, and New
England gets Mac Jones and now in some instances, Zach
(08:44):
Wilson's got to play day one. That's not ideal. But
even for a team like San Francisco or Chicago, who
has a veteran quarterback that's made the playoffs in won games,
tell me what it's like like in Chicago's a prime example.
You're in a division with Kirk Cousins, You're in a
division now with with Aaron Rodgers. You can't wait forever
(09:04):
you're four and four, middle of October, I mean, John,
your two weekends from being in big trouble. Kind of
your guests on how Matt Naggy will use Justin Fields
in Chicago, because, as you know, if Aaron Rodgers gets
off to a six and oh start and you're three
and three, you don't have a lot of time to
(09:25):
waste or you're out of work. Well, how do you
think the justin Fields thing in Chicago works? Well, I
think they'll definitely bring them along slowly, and I'm really
hoping for their sake that they, you know, have a
full set of OTAs they have great participations in those
obviously rookies running a little bit of a set of rules.
But as far as you're having to be there and
(09:46):
justin a lot to be there, I mean, it's it's
a lot to take over an NFL offense, and it
really doesn't matter what the offense is. There's just so
much more burbage is uh way more complex. Coaches at
telling you what to do from the sideline. You know,
you're noticing college they look over and boom the coaches
they're telling them, you know what the shift to um,
(10:08):
you know the quarterback ass to control and communicate that,
and that's whack so hard early. So I'm looking at
ideally about the first quarter of the season. So the
first four games, Andy Dalton running it, and you know
how soon Justin Fields comes in. It's going to depending
on what that record is that after four games. You
(10:30):
coached in Denver for a while, you had the Tebow situation,
the Peyton Manning you had, it was a lot to
put your arms around. The green Bay situation with Aaron Rodgers,
it's a mess. I mean, Aaron's can be prickly to
begin with. He's not real happy. The GM roll the
dice on Jordan Love said yesterday is a long way
from playing. He sat there. The guy I feel sorry
(10:52):
for is actually Matt Lafleur, not Aaron Rodgers. The coach
is sitting there and thinking, I just want my quarterback.
As a coach, what if you coach green Bay to
temper the situation, to take the the you know, the
fire out of it. What would you do if you
were Matt Lafloor today. Well, I think right now he
(11:13):
doesn't have much choice because I think, uh, you know,
this is business part of football. Coaches don't particularly like that.
I mean, it's necessary evil, but you know, you try
to distance yourself from that. So this is really about
the GM good against and really Aaron Rodgers, whether it's
player selection, whether it's you know, how they've handled their salary,
(11:35):
camp who they pay, whoever they pay, including Aaron Rodgers. So, um,
you know, I think a lot of that, uh is
the business side, which uh you know, I think most
coaches would say it's not their favorite part in the
NFL all business. Um, So I think it's still um salvageable.
(11:56):
I really do, just because you know, there's a comfort
level and sometimes the W knows better than W don't know. So, um,
you know what kind of see how it goes through college.
I honestly think it'll work out. And I can promise
you coach, the floor is rooting for it. By the way, finally, John,
the NFL schedule comes out tonight. I admit I'm kind
(12:18):
of a schedule nerd. I love the draft, I love
the sched I like the architecture of the league. I
like building stuff. So I see that schedule, you know
I'm sitting there loss loss when when as a coach,
are there times you've looked at your schedule and gone,
Jesus good, we didn't get a break on that, or
oh boy, our buy comes at the perfect time. Do
(12:39):
you look at that schedule? Does it matter to you
as a coach? Yeah, it definitely does. But at the
end of the day, callan there are no cupcakes in
the NFL. You know, this is not like college football
where you're gonna show up and you might be better
than you know, six out of the eleven teams you
play that year. Just physically, you don't have that. National football.
(13:00):
Everybody's got players. They're good players, they're world coach players.
I think really the key is is the start of
the season, especially if you're trying to build a new program,
build a new culture. You know, winning cures a lot
of ills. And then when you can get off to
a good start, especially when you've got a football team
(13:20):
that's maybe not used to win in or trying to
build something, I think that's really critical. That's one of
the things I always look for. And I think the
buys another example. You know, you'd like to have it
in the middle, but I've been a part of teams
where it's been late and it's actually been a blessing.
By the way, Denver historically is great at home in September.
(13:42):
My guess is the altitude that teams come up, they're
out of camp, they're not in great shape. Did you
did you think that when you were coaching the Broncos.
Did you feel like first two weeks of September at
home we got an advantage? Well, most definitely. You know,
I coach in a lot of different cities as a
head coach in three different ones, but there was no
doubt that was the best home deal field advantage in
(14:03):
the National Football League because you can't train and prepare
on an NFL work week for altitude. I mean you
can for heat, you carry for humidity, you're carry for cold.
But the bottom line is is there's no way to
train for the altitude, you know, on an NFL work week. Yeah,
John Fox, great seeing you again, look like you're in
(14:26):
good shape and happy and I appreciate it. Well my
pleasure column anytime, all right? Yeah, No, Denver, there's three
or four things in the NFL New England's worst month
in September, and he reads unbeatable off a buyer in September.
You don't want to play Denver. First two or three weeks. Yep,
you know in Denver Mile High City. Those are the guarantees.
(14:49):
Also now the pandemic, not that it's over, but you'll
have fans New Orleans on Sunday night. They like to
lubricate with alcohol. There's something about those Monday nights, Sunday
night games in New Orleans. It feels it's like Baton Rouge.
(15:11):
It feels like they've been drinking from about ten thirty
in the morning. Well, it's New Orleans, I feel like.
The other thing. Another thing, the throwacha is that Miami
in September. It is a it's a swamp. I remember
in Miami against the cold weather teams late Patriots usually
struggle down there. They have I remember a Steeler team
a few years ago went to Miami and the players,
(15:33):
multiple players throwing up on the field in Miami like
they'd clearly gone out on Collins Avenue. It's also Miami.
And then you have the humidity the next day, hangover
in humidity, and Pittsburgh cold weather team goes to Miami,
so the last time they're going to see the sun
for three months. They all go out and party on
Ocean Drive and they were throwing up on the field
against Miami. It's not a fun mix, not great. Chris Cooley,
(15:57):
former Washington football team tight end his thoughts on T
Bowl later today. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty
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(16:17):
Don't let age beat you or defined you. M drive
from en dot com today. That Knicks Lakers game last
night was actually a lot of fun. I watched the
Knicks against the guy. I've watched, you know, throughout the
course of the NBA season, I watch a lot of quarters.
I watch a lot of late Like I'm not gonna
watch four quarters in January and February, but I'll watch
the fourth quarters. So I see a lot of four.
But I've watched the entire Nick games last couple of nights,
(16:39):
and you can really see what they are. They remind
me of Phoenix. When you play hard and focused, discipline
defensive basketball, you goin a lot of games because a
lot of teams don't play hard. Stars are missing, but
in the playoffs, everybody plays hard, so you lose that advantage.
So the Knicks are really the classic Tom Thibodeau team.
Play their butt off, good foundation, play hard not. It
(17:03):
reminds me a little bit of Rex Ryan's teams. They
play hard. You win a lot of games doing that.
But there's a ceiling because Rex was never good with
quarterbacks and Thibodeaus not. It's great with Thibodeaus, not great
with offenses. So the Knicks just don't have a lot
of juice. They have to win one way, and that's defensively.
The Lakers, meanwhile, have both. They can lock you down.
(17:25):
We saw they were the number one defensive team in
the league early this year. They were a dominant defensive
team in the finals last year in the bubble. They
can win a lot of ways, but last night was
classic No Lebron, no Dennis Shrewder, Alex Caruso out ad
Hurt still beat the Knicks. So I mean the Lakers
are really built to win a championship, which is they
can be missing players, they it doesn't matter. They have
(17:46):
a bunch of guys who can drop twenty on any
given night. Nicks can win one way. Lakers can win
a lot of ways, and that's the key in the playoffs.
Can you win? Can you win a lot of ways?
Milwaukee what's been there liabil the last few years. They
kind of win one way. They're not good trailing late
with Jannis right like they couldn't win. It's a little
(18:06):
bit like the Baltimore Ravens. We kind of feel like
there's a way, a recipe to win. Kansas City has
trailed playoff games twenty four to nothing in one. Kansas City,
there's a lot of ways they can win. The Tampa
Bay Buccaneers a lot of ways they can win, Like
the certain teams, the Baltimore Ravens, they feel like there's
kind of a way. The Knicks, there's kind of a
(18:27):
way they have to win. And I kind of feel
that with the Knicks. But listen, the foundation's great, You're
going somewhere. But I thought last night was actually not
just a win for the Lakers, but it kind of
shows you why if Lebron's healthy, they're a handful. They
locked down defense last night. They had guys out, they
hit big shots. I mean they're on like their third
(18:49):
point guard. They're making it up late and they found
a way to win joy with the news. No no,
this is the Herd Line news sponsored by Mercy says
bets the best or nothing. Well, just as the Lakers
are gearing up for the return of Lebron, they might
have another superstar on the bench. Let me guess. Anthony
(19:11):
Davis suffered a groin injury and late and last night's
one one ninety nine overtime win over the Knicks, which
leaves his status for tonight's against Houston up in the air.
Now it is Houston, though not sure about tomorrow. Man,
I'm gonna get treatment and see how I feel. Um. Yeah,
I want to say I'm gonna play, but it was
really bothering me tonight. Um, but we'll see I feel
(19:34):
tomorrow and then later on to day. It's very very
strong possibilities, you know, fight through it in places the
next days off day, but also don't want to have
this lagon and then now I'm not for a couple
of games. He was noticeably limping. Yeah, in about three
minutes to go in the game, but as he said,
he didn't want to come out. It's a very important
game for them. Good news is though they get a
(19:55):
scheduling break. They do. Lebron is expected to return tonight.
They're currently eleventh in the West. They have three games left.
They are one game behind the fifth seed Blazers and
the sixth seed MAVs, and they would face the Warriors
in a play in game. I'm not going to bet
against Lebron, but that's it. That's just Lebron, Like, that's
(20:17):
all I'm concerned about. I don't. I don't think the
Lakers can make it very far in the playoffs without
Lebron and AD healthy. I wouldn't be concerned about them
in a playoff, a play in game if they have
Lebron healthy. But it's just this has been the story
all season Long's it's back and forth with a D
and Lebron, and once again AD is banged up. Listen,
(20:37):
the story in the West could end up being Jamal
Murray's injury. If Jamal Murray doesn't get hurt this morning,
I take the Nuggets in the finals. I really would,
because I don't. I can't. There's a lot of good
in the West. There's not a great Denver that altitude
advantage at home Yokitch, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter If Jamal
(21:00):
Murray injury really open chemistry issues, Aaron Gordon and the
ability to put up big offensive numbers, they can win
multiple ways. Yeah. That Jamal Murray injury. I mean again,
we talked about it for about two days. Could end
up really altering the West. If he's healthy today, I
just take Denver and say it's just not the Lakers year.
(21:21):
Nobody can stay healthy. Yeah, it's a devastating injury. Speaking
of injuries in the NBA, James Harden been out for
a while with a hamstring injury, but according to Melika Andrews,
he could return as early as tonight. She said after
missing five weeks with a hamstring injury, that star James
Harden return is expected to be a game time decision
before Brooklyn faces San Antonio on Wednesday night. Sources told
(21:43):
ESPN Harden is expected to gauge his readiness along with
team officials ahead of the Nets return to Berkeley Center
in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Sources said he last played on
April fifth. Yeah, I tell you, when this first came out,
I rolled my eyes and thought, Oh, give me a
break on this. I guess it was a real injury,
really was. It was definitely significant. He doesn't, which is
(22:04):
why you know your theory wasn't that far fetched, because
it's not you know, it's like, oh, kind of matching
up and Katie is back, but yeah, he clearly has
been dealing with this, and it's it's lingering. They're in
second place, they're two games behind the six Ers with
three games left to play, but now they're talking about
Harden coming back. Kyrie status is up in the air
because he was hit by vous Chevich's elbow last night
(22:28):
and had to leave the game against Chicago, so he
cleared concussion protocol, but he'll have a second X ray today,
so he's his status is questionable right now. Again, they've
only played seven games together Kyrie, Harden, and Katie. I
think they have enough offensively to make it far. But
if they're going to win the big games deep into
the playoffs, they're going to be able to overcome adversary adversity,
(22:52):
and you just can't figure those things out in the playoffs.
It's it's been the story of injuries for the big
star the teams with big stars this year. And I mean,
you like the Bucks in the East that I really do.
I like Milwaukee. I feel I think they match up
with everybody. I think they added Drew Holliday and PJ. Tucker,
who have been in these playoff games. They're tough guys.
(23:14):
You know, first of all, we had a condensed schedule,
so you knew a lot of stars. We're going to
take more games off. We knew it, and you probably
have a few more injuries. I think we tend to
blame all the injuries on the condensed schedule. It's like,
let's slow down a little. Guys do get hurt, but
it's um. You know, the Bucks have been healthy. There's
no noise. We dismissed them, nobody's talked about them. They're
just sitting there in that third spot. Nobody's paying attention
(23:36):
to Milwaukee. And feel like at the very least, a
no pressure season for them. Yeah. So finally Tampa knows
they're in a great position to who returned to the playoffs.
And one reason for that is, of course, Tom Brady
GM Jason Light was on the Rich Eisen Show and
seven it came to the draft. He knew how important
it was to keep his star quarterback in the mix first,
and I did mention to him leading up to the
(23:57):
draft that we might take the quarterback just we would
do that any great quarterback. But get alone to go.
He almost responds, if you have, I appreciate you letting
me know. You didn't need to let me know, but
I appreciate it. Whatever whatever we have to do to
make the team better, it must be nice to deal
with it. Just a little communication. It's a little time,
a little heads up, little TLC so anybody ever asks
(24:17):
for and then it just spirals and then small things
become big things. None of this is really complicated talking.
It's all just relationships. He also said that he'd be
fine with Brady playing. So he's fifty, well come on then,
and he things that could be a possibility. So if
he does that, Kyle Trask is never going to see
the field during his rookie contract. But who cares. I don't.
I don't have a problem with organizations. Organizations drafting quarterbacks,
(24:43):
give the heads up. I think you have to give
him a heads up. And if you're drafting quarterback in
the first round, then not only should the starting quarterback
have a heads up about it, but there should be
a significant reason, like there's not there shouldn't you should
know that the fan base and media aren't going to
have a significant reaction to that move, right, Like, if
you are a situation like Green Bay watch, so obviously
(25:05):
what we we're talking about you you have to gauge, right, like,
have have conversations with people outside of your circle. What
do you think about if we were to draft a quarterback?
Why why would you need a quarterback? Okay, thanks, I'll
take that. I'll take that note. I'm not saying you
have to listen to other people's advice, but take the
pulse of the room and communicates like how do you
(25:27):
blindside your Hall of Fame quarterback in his prime? And
this is a perfect example of that. Now if Tom now,
maybe if Tom Brady had not had that reaction, they
would have considered, hey, like maybe we draft a quarterback
in later rounds or maybe this isn't the year because
Tom clearly feels like he has a couple more years
and then we don't want to upset him. But there's
there's ways to do it. It all just comes down
to communication. Joy with the news. Well that's the news,
(25:50):
and thanks for stopping back the herd line news. You know,
one of the things I was I used to talk
about this all the time. I don't talk about it
as much, but nothing against fans, but networks make their
money on television. They don't make it on in game seats.
That's not where leagues make their money, Hockey, baseball, football.
(26:11):
It's nice to have fans, especially baseball, you have so
many games, but all these teams are still making money
right now without fans going. You get paid by the
television networks. So it's incumbent upon you as a commissioner
to understand your television shows. You're not your profits are
(26:31):
not tied to SODA's programs and Joe in the upper deck.
You make more money per television viewer then consumer sitting
in a stadium. Now that's not to say that Mark
Cuban doesn't want the arena full. It's additive, but the
TV money is why people buy sports teams and don't
sell them very often. The NFL, more than any other league,
(26:57):
has always understood television show and they work with Fox
and CBS and the NFL, and they construct the schedule
and they work all the time with their schedule. And
it's a prime example. The NFL has just moved their
chess pieces for years and years, a prime example, think
about this, how smartly the NFL is built the calendar.
(27:17):
So let's go through the months. January the NFL does
the playoffs, so they own that month. February the super
Bowl in the first week they own that month, then
they sneak the combine in the last week. March is
free agency. That's all we talked about this year. April's
the draft, that's all we talked about. Then the beginning
(27:40):
of May is still talk a little draft, but it's
the schedule release planted right in the middle of a
week Wednesday, so we talk about it. June is the
one month they just give everybody off. They give the
NFL front offices off, the team front office. July's training
camp starts. August preseason December regular season. Eleven months. They
(28:04):
think about when they hand out their awards, what days
they give those awards out on. It is an eleven
month season. They've moved free agency, they've extended the draft,
they've moved the schedule release, they've moved camps. They just
added another game. So now the super Bowl, when they
(28:25):
added another game, you know what that means, right like,
that means we're going to talk until mid February. Not
the first week of February about football, So they'd pushed
another week that week seventeen. They didn't put it on
Labor Day because they already owned that space. What they
did is they pushed it on the back end. They
(28:46):
added another playoff team to give us another week or
two in the back end to talk football. They think
about everything. They get it. Sometimes baseball drives me nuts.
You're a television show. Nobody can hit. Solve the issue.
You're much better in baseball to have a defensive problem
(29:08):
than an offensive problem. If nobody can catch, it'd be fine.
But when nobody can hit, you got a problem, you're
a TV show. Longer games tighten them up. So it's
just I just when I look at the NFL, it
is just such a smart even their schedule release today,
biggest brand Cowboys against the Super Bowl champions and Brady
Bucks first game of the year. Of course, that is
(29:30):
just how they roll. NBA playoffs start next week. I mean,
we're going to be into these things, right, and there's
some really interesting matchups. They really are. Rick Buker around
the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Herd weekdays in noon. Easter nine a Empacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, this
(29:52):
is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast,
Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sportspod
pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day.
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself
(30:13):
a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. Good things come to those who waited at
Jersey Mike's, They come to those who don't too. Download
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twenty third. Use the code the Herd for a buck
off your order. All right, I'm fired up NBA playoffs.
(30:35):
This is the time of the year. You can watch
the teams. The effort on the Knicks Clippers game Sunday,
the effort last night Lakers Knicks. I mean it felt big,
like these guys are diving for loose balls. Great defense
at the end of the shot clock, and Rick Buker
now joins US Live. I actually thought last night was
one of those regular season games that told me a
(30:57):
couple of stories. As hard as the knick Knicks play,
it showed me their limitations offensively, and it showed me
the Lakers with Lebron out, Shrewder out, Crusoe out. You're
sitting there thinking this is why they're gonna work. They
just figure out they got a multiple. Kuzma last night
was carrying the team, and I thought it was more
(31:17):
than a regular season game. It showed you why I
would buy a little lottery ticket with the Lakers in
the playoffs and not the Knicks. Your thoughts, I'll go
with you. As far as favoring the Lakers over the Knicks,
I'm not going to take it so far as that
this demonstrated that the Lakers are everything that they have
been in the past. I think this was more a
referendum on the Knicks. As you said, it was either
(31:41):
your go to guys and really go to guys in
isolation isolation situations were either Julius Randall or Derrick Rose.
It demonstrates you Julius Randall is having a very good
season and but is he the go to guy on
a championship contending team. No. And it also shows you
(32:02):
that Tom Thibodeau would have been a great NFL coach
because he doesn't care about next week, he doesn't care
about last week. It's all about right now. He played
Derek Rose twenty two straight minute, thirty two year old,
multiple knee surgeries. Derek Rose practically twenty two straight minutes.
(32:25):
At the end of that game, Derek was absolutely gassed.
He got one twenty second reprieve when Frank Nilakina came
in and that was it. And I'm thinking in big picture,
if you have any hope of doing anything, you need
to keep Derek Rose healthy. Because for all that Julius
Randall has done, what the Knicks have done this season
(32:48):
has been a reflection of their bench and their depth
as well as anything else. So your spot on in
terms of this is what the Knicks are. They're a
lot like the Spurs the last few years in terms
of they play close to their margin on a nightly basis,
and that will get you a lot of regular season
(33:08):
wins and get you a nice regular season record, but
can you go above that? And the Knicks just don't
have that capability at this point. So enjoy this Knicks fans. Yeah,
you've got a team that has a winning record. It's
going to be in the playoffs again. You're going to
get a look at RJ. Barrett and quickly in some
of the young players to see how they operate in
(33:29):
the postseason. But don't expect that their seating is a
reflection that they are going to make some sort of
a deep playoff run, because they're just not built for that.
You know, there are stats I don't I tend to
say I listen to analytics. I'm more into analytics, which
is you're dealing with human beings alpha males. Don't go
don't turn them into code. Don't turn them into numbers.
(33:49):
Take the numbers, use them in baseball, football, basketball, where
it makes sense in the red zone, or where it
makes sense again the games. But there are stats you
look at and go, WHOA. That is a problem. The
Clippers are atrocious with four to five minutes to go
in the game, Their clutch stats are awful, and they're
one of five really bad teams at the end of games.
(34:09):
The problem is the other four just bad teams. They're
a good team that's awful at the end. And I
watched them against the Knicks. Now, the Knicks play real defense,
but it's the third or fourth time I've watched the Clippers,
and I'm like they are They would be the classic
NFL team, good roster, no quarterback late. I think Rondo
should just take over. But maybe this is the downside
(34:31):
to having Kawhi a superstar who's not overly communicative. Clippers
are bad at the end of games. Can't you solve
that in the next three weeks? Actually, I believe that
you can once you get to the postseason and use aside,
this is the way we're gonna play and this is
who we're gonna have on the floor in certain situations.
(34:51):
I think you can streamline that. And there's something about
the regular season where everybody gets to indulge what they
want to do, what they want to try. There's no
none of that in the postseason. Now, there still is
the question about the chemistry and what Because of the
pandemic and zoom and the inability to get really close
to these teams right now, it's hard to determine how
(35:13):
good that chemistry is and ultimately how much, say does
Rajon rondo have. If he says this is the way
we're gonna go, this is what we're going to run.
Is Kawai going to fall in line and not only
fall in line, but play just as hard at the
defensive end when he's not being featured in a certain situation.
(35:34):
So that's the element we don't We don't know, but
I'm I'm with you. My greatest concern, and it has
been a question all year, is how are they going
to close? And while I love Kawai's mid range game
and needing to get a bucket because he can work
his way physically to good spots to take high percentage shots,
(35:56):
I don't like playing through him because it's Kawhi or
nothing in those circumstances. He's not a great playmaker. So
figuring that dynamic out is going to be the real
riddle as to whether the Clippers can make good on
all the talent that they have. By the way, I
hear a lot of this, Oh, you don't want to
play the Warriors, and I'm like, yeah, I do. They're tiny,
(36:19):
They're dependent on one guy hitting threes. I don't buy
the Warriors at all. You're in the Bay Area, do you?
I don't buy them in terms of being a threat
in the playoffs. Do I see them as a team
that could be a threat for, say, the Lakers in
a playing game. I'm not, by no means am I
saying that the Lakers should fear the Warriors, But they
(36:42):
damn well better respect them. Because I've seen this iteration
a couple of times with the Warriors, and it is
the magic of Steph and Draymond. First of all, the
connection that they have and the way that their two
skill sets and their personalities mesh so seamlessly, and the
confidence that they've created in these young players. Jordan Poole
(37:05):
thinking yeah, I can hit a big three, wantasco Anod
Anderson thinking I can hit a big three. Andrew Wiggins
finding a role that he's never had before. So look,
I don't think they're a danger to do anything significant,
but on any given night, they have nothing to lose,
and their chemistry is just something special. The ability of
(37:28):
Steph and Draymond to infuse confidence in younger players is
as good as any combo that I've seen. And in
a one game situation, who knows. In a seven game situation,
I know how it's going to play. Out all right,
I still have the Bucks winning it. What do you
make of that? I don't have a problem with that.
(37:48):
This is what is that makes this postseason really intriguing.
And I put the Lakers in the same camp. They
are the defending champions their defense without question. If they
are healthy, they're the team to beat. But they're not healthy.
Alex Caruso went down last night. Anthony Davis is limping again.
We don't know the condition of Lebron James, and so
(38:09):
as a result, it is wide open on both sides.
I don't like the Brooklyn Nets in particular. I do
like the Philadelphia seventy six ers, but I have questions.
I have questions for every single team. We touched on
several of them in this conversation, and so it makes
it intriguing because I really if you asked me to
(38:31):
pick a favorite from each conference, I could pick. I
could do it, but I wouldn't do it with any
degree of confidence. Rick Buker, Fox Sports NBA analyst, Good
seeing you, buddy, Good to see you, Colin. Yeah and
be it's fun now, Yeah, it's really interesting. Like Billy
Bean was the a's executive and Billy Bean didn't want
(38:53):
to watch all the games. Jerry West, same deal. Jerry
West didn't need to see all the games. You know,
Jerry would sit in the tunnel. There is something to
be said about you don't get the same effort in
the NBA regular season to the playoffs. So oh, I
sat and watched all the regular season games. It doesn't
mean anything. Like the bottom line is, if Lebron's healthy
(39:14):
Lakers are gonna win the West, it doesn't matter how
much how many games you watch. The New York Knicks
are a fun regular season watch, but if you're watching
all the games, you're getting emotionally tied to them. They're
a totally limited team offensively. So there the idea that
mass consumption is the right answer. In baseball, you look
(39:35):
at these theo Epsteins and these Billy beans and these
analytic whizzes. They want to see numbers. They don't care
about body shape forever and ever. You know, I candy
too many scouts fall in love with that. Can you play?
What are your numbers do you get on base? That's
the one thing I do like about analytics. Just give
me the numbers. Who can play? I don't want my
(39:56):
eyes to sway me and my emotional state to sway
me because you go watch a guy and you just
go look at that body, Jadeveon Clowney. Who did you
see that hit? Look at the numbers on Jadeveon Clowney.
This is literally what's happening with Tebow right. People get
their emotion their feels in a tibo. He's not an
(40:16):
NFL tidea. Like so the idea that I've always said
this college basketball is a great example. Don't watch December
in January because that's all of those one and done
NBA guys you have. In college basketball, the best teams
have no chemistry in December and January. Watch college basketball
February fifteenth on then you can see who's playing well.
(40:37):
I mean you cla, you got the bottom line here
is when you watch the Knicks, you get too emotionally
viscerally connected to They have a total ceiling. But they're fun,
a good story. But don't talk yourself into their a
championship team. They're not our three next
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern,
nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one.
Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports
Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching heard you're listening to Fox
Sports Radio. Ah, here we go our two. It is
(00:25):
such a pleasure to have you in NFL schedule release.
Hey night on FS one. You better be watching wherever
you may be, however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox
Sports Radio FS one. Joey Taylor is joining me. It's
very exciting. Love when the schedule gets released, feels like
(00:48):
the NFL season. There is no NFL season. June is
the only month when it feels like the NFL says,
all right, you guys, just go hunting, fishing, go hang
out with your family, will catch a back camp in
mid July. That's it and does that's And by the way,
they've they've moved around things to make sure they cover
(01:11):
every month they move free agency. I will also say
they have leaned into free agency, especially at the quarterback position. Yeah,
which I've been saying for some time now was a
good idea. Yeah, and it is. I mean, you're giving
up any of control. Players don't run the league. Some
of the best players in the league have a little
more say, and we can't stop talking about it. It's great. Yeah.
(01:33):
So anyway, the USA today yesterday this was a barnyard musical.
They came out with this quarterback tier thing. It was
just a hot mess. They had like thirty two categories
and I made fun of it all day yesterday. It
was bad. Listen, new rule, No more quarterback tiers. Here's
(01:54):
the new rule. We're gonna view quarterbacks in two camps.
You can pull a roster or you get pulled. You're
a truck or a trailer. As Bucky Brooks says, a
truck can pull a bad defense to the playoffs. A
truck can pull a bad GM. I mean Andrew Luck
(02:17):
got to the AFC Championship with two Pro Bowlers and
a bad GM that got fired and the coach that
got fired. That's a truck. There's five or six trucks
at quarterback. Let's simplify this. You're a truck or a trailer.
Here are the trucks they can pull bad gms. Goofy coaches,
Tom Brady, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson,
(02:39):
DeShawn Watson, and I don't know j Sean's future. Everybody
else is a trailer now. People all about Lamar Jackson. No,
he needs a defense. He's not really great plan from behind.
He's not right now gonna win shootouts, but he's close
to it. Everybody, Derek Carmatt, Ryan, they're good. Nobody's denying it,
but they can't overcome bad defenses. Baker Mayfield the Browns
(03:02):
better when he throws fewer times. Those are the trucks
six in the world now. Now, I think there's four
people to keep your eye on. Young people we don't
know yet. Justin Herbert and Kyler Murray looked like potential trucks.
I think they may be. Joe Burrow I don't think
(03:22):
he is, but give me ten more starts. Trevor Lawrence
feels like the first quarterback since Andrew Luck. And you
know how much I loved Andrew Luck at Stanford. Trevor
Lawrence feels like he could overcome some problems. I talked
to Dabo Sweeney last night on the podcast, and I
asked him. I said, you recruit all these guys. You
(03:42):
recruit all these guys, I said, what was Trevor Lawrence? Like?
He goes. I went to the first practice and David Shaw,
the Stanford coach, came out to me and he said, coach,
I don't know who your quarterback is, but I know
who's going to start next year for you. That's the
best high school quarterback I've ever seen. And David Shaw
had Andrew Luck. So I think Trevor Lawrence, let's wait
and see how it plays out. But those four, I
(04:07):
don't think Burrow is, but I want to see ten starts.
Herbert and Kyler Murray looked like, yeah, I think I
think we got something. And I do think Trevor Lawrence,
who I saw as a junior in high school live
in San Diego, he just against the other five star quarterbacks,
looked like a college quarterback at seventeen. So none of
(04:28):
this nine tiers of quarterbacks. And everybody's trying to get
a truck. Almost everybody ends up with a trailer. Heard
brought to you by Jersey Mike subs be a sub above.
You know, John Fox, this is interesting. Former NFL coach
he has the highest winning percentage in Bronchos history. He
won seventy two percent of his games and I didn't
know that. He also led the Broncos to four straight
(04:50):
AFC West Division titles, only head coach in Denver history
to have never missed the playoffs. But that tells you
how tough the NFL is and how it treats its coaches.
The NBA and the NFL are tough on coaches. I mean,
Belichick twenty years runs the league has his first losing season,
(05:10):
and all of us, myself included, I think it was Brady, Uh,
you know Bill? Yeah, what does Bill though? John Fox
now joining us live one of seven coaches to have
multiple teams in the Super Bowl. Yeah. The NFL is that,
you know, they're not always kind to you guys, John,
They're they're pretty rough on you guys. Definite. Yeah. So
(05:33):
I will start with this, UM I said this yesterday.
When you take over a team, you're not just building
a roster, You're building a culture. I don't love the
message Tebow to the jag sins. I don't think he's
gonna put his hand in the dirt. He's taken a
job away from somebody I don't think he can put
his hand in the dirt and block a two hundred
and sixty five pound guy trying to put food in
(05:55):
the table. He has a baby daughter, He's been around
the league for three teams. He looks at Tebow any
go drive of right through him. I don't love the
message to the Jags. Am I wrong on that? Or
you tell me what you think about it. Well, again,
I'm seeing Tim in ten years when I had him
(06:16):
in Denver, Colin. He definitely has the right mindset and
the right kind of message he wants to carry in
that lock of him. You can't deny him that. Now.
I don't know what he's been doing other than i've
seen him play baseball a few times in those last
ten years. I know it's not been on an NFL lost,
(06:37):
you know, at least recently. So that's hard for me
to predict. But I will say this, he's as competitive
as a guy. He's gonna do things as right as
can be done, whether it's in the off season, whether
it's in season, whether it's in the building or out
of the building. I think he's gonna I think he'll
(06:58):
carry the right message. That Verbamer once and you know,
I think Urban realizes this. He knows that's his guy.
He won the highest be trophy for him at the
University of Florida, you know, and Tim's gonna have to
earn a spot that's not gonna be given to him.
I can assure you that. Yeah. By the way, tight end,
It's funny about this, you know, John fifteen twenty years ago,
(07:20):
tight end, just block and don't drop passes. The position
now is where you often put somebody who you think
you know. Travis Kelsey's a number one target. I mean,
Kyle Pitts is gonna have eighty catches, Antonio Gates. These
guys are not just I mean they are literally game changers.
And maybe fifteen years ago Tim worked, but I look
(07:42):
at it now and I think, I'm just not sure
he's I'm not sure six two he's athletic enough to
be a tight end in the NFL. Thoughts on that, well,
I think, really, you know, they have what they call
an eighth receiver, and that can be a second tight end,
that could be a third wide out. It depends on
what personnel group you're incolm. You can put a faster
(08:02):
guy a little bit to your guy that can block
not as good as a y tight end. I'm talking
about a sixty four, you know, two hundred and seventy
pounds tight end versus ten size, which is more like
a fullback and h back. So people call up the
f back, but I think, you know, you gotta be smart,
you gotta be tough, and I think Tim's both those things. Again,
(08:23):
I haven't seen him in ten years on the hoof,
so I can't speak to that. But you know, anyway,
two hundred and thirty six pounds when he was with
me in Denver and played a quarterback. So it's interesting
when you look at Chicago goes and gets Justin Fields,
and San Francisco goes and gets Trey Lance, and New
England gets Mac Jones and now in some instances, Zach
(08:44):
Wilson's got to play day one. That's not ideal. But
even for a team like San Francisco or Chicago, who
has a veteran quarterback that's made the playoffs in won games,
tell me what it's like like in Chicago's a prime example.
You're in a division with Kirk Cousins, You're in a
division now with with Aaron Rodgers. You can't wait forever
(09:04):
you're four and four, middle of October, I mean, John,
your two weekends from being in big trouble. Kind of
your guests on how Matt Naggy will use Justin Fields
in Chicago, because, as you know, if Aaron Rodgers gets
off to a six and oh start and you're three
and three, you don't have a lot of time to
(09:25):
waste or you're out of work. Well, how do you
think the justin Fields thing in Chicago works? Well, I
think they'll definitely bring them along slowly, and I'm really
hoping for their sake that they, you know, have a
full set of OTAs they have great participations in those
obviously rookies running a little bit of a set of rules.
But as far as you're having to be there and
(09:46):
justin a lot to be there, I mean, it's it's
a lot to take over an NFL offense, and it
really doesn't matter what the offense is. There's just so
much more burbage is uh way more complex. Coaches at
telling you what to do from the sideline. You know,
you're noticing college they look over and boom the coaches
they're telling them, you know what the shift to um,
(10:08):
you know the quarterback ass to control and communicate that,
and that's whack so hard early. So I'm looking at
ideally about the first quarter of the season. So the
first four games, Andy Dalton running it, and you know
how soon Justin Fields comes in. It's going to depending
on what that record is that after four games. You
(10:30):
coached in Denver for a while, you had the Tebow situation,
the Peyton Manning you had, it was a lot to
put your arms around. The green Bay situation with Aaron Rodgers,
it's a mess. I mean, Aaron's can be prickly to
begin with. He's not real happy. The GM roll the
dice on Jordan Love said yesterday is a long way
from playing. He sat there. The guy I feel sorry
(10:52):
for is actually Matt Lafleur, not Aaron Rodgers. The coach
is sitting there and thinking, I just want my quarterback.
As a coach, what if you coach green Bay to
temper the situation, to take the the you know, the
fire out of it. What would you do if you
were Matt Lafloor today. Well, I think right now he
(11:13):
doesn't have much choice because I think, uh, you know,
this is business part of football. Coaches don't particularly like that.
I mean, it's necessary evil, but you know, you try
to distance yourself from that. So this is really about
the GM good against and really Aaron Rodgers, whether it's
player selection, whether it's you know, how they've handled their salary,
(11:35):
camp who they pay, whoever they pay, including Aaron Rodgers. So, um,
you know, I think a lot of that, uh is
the business side, which uh you know, I think most
coaches would say it's not their favorite part in the
NFL all business. Um, So I think it's still um salvageable.
(11:56):
I really do, just because you know, there's a comfort
level and sometimes the W knows better than W don't know. So, um,
you know what kind of see how it goes through college.
I honestly think it'll work out. And I can promise
you coach, the floor is rooting for it. By the way, finally, John,
the NFL schedule comes out tonight. I admit I'm kind
(12:18):
of a schedule nerd. I love the draft, I love
the sched I like the architecture of the league. I
like building stuff. So I see that schedule, you know
I'm sitting there loss loss when when as a coach,
are there times you've looked at your schedule and gone,
Jesus good, we didn't get a break on that, or
oh boy, our buy comes at the perfect time. Do
(12:39):
you look at that schedule? Does it matter to you
as a coach? Yeah, it definitely does. But at the
end of the day, callan there are no cupcakes in
the NFL. You know, this is not like college football
where you're gonna show up and you might be better
than you know, six out of the eleven teams you
play that year. Just physically, you don't have that. National football.
(13:00):
Everybody's got players. They're good players, they're world coach players.
I think really the key is is the start of
the season, especially if you're trying to build a new program,
build a new culture. You know, winning cures a lot
of ills. And then when you can get off to
a good start, especially when you've got a football team
(13:20):
that's maybe not used to win in or trying to
build something, I think that's really critical. That's one of
the things I always look for. And I think the
buys another example. You know, you'd like to have it
in the middle, but I've been a part of teams
where it's been late and it's actually been a blessing.
By the way, Denver historically is great at home in September.
(13:42):
My guess is the altitude that teams come up, they're
out of camp, they're not in great shape. Did you
did you think that when you were coaching the Broncos.
Did you feel like first two weeks of September at
home we got an advantage? Well, most definitely. You know,
I coach in a lot of different cities as a
head coach in three different ones, but there was no
doubt that was the best home deal field advantage in
(14:03):
the National Football League because you can't train and prepare
on an NFL work week for altitude. I mean you
can for heat, you carry for humidity, you're carry for cold.
But the bottom line is is there's no way to
train for the altitude, you know, on an NFL work week. Yeah,
John Fox, great seeing you again, look like you're in
(14:26):
good shape and happy and I appreciate it. Well my
pleasure column anytime, all right? Yeah, No, Denver, there's three
or four things in the NFL New England's worst month
in September, and he reads unbeatable off a buyer in September.
You don't want to play Denver. First two or three weeks. Yep,
you know in Denver Mile High City. Those are the guarantees.
(14:49):
Also now the pandemic, not that it's over, but you'll
have fans New Orleans on Sunday night. They like to
lubricate with alcohol. There's something about those Monday nights, Sunday
night games in New Orleans. It feels it's like Baton Rouge.
(15:11):
It feels like they've been drinking from about ten thirty
in the morning. Well, it's New Orleans, I feel like.
The other thing. Another thing, the throwacha is that Miami
in September. It is a it's a swamp. I remember
in Miami against the cold weather teams late Patriots usually
struggle down there. They have I remember a Steeler team
a few years ago went to Miami and the players,
(15:33):
multiple players throwing up on the field in Miami like
they'd clearly gone out on Collins Avenue. It's also Miami.
And then you have the humidity the next day, hangover
in humidity, and Pittsburgh cold weather team goes to Miami,
so the last time they're going to see the sun
for three months. They all go out and party on
Ocean Drive and they were throwing up on the field
against Miami. It's not a fun mix, not great. Chris Cooley,
(15:57):
former Washington football team tight end his thoughts on T
Bowl later today. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty
four hours a day, seven days a week within the
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(16:17):
Don't let age beat you or defined you. M drive
from en dot com today. That Knicks Lakers game last
night was actually a lot of fun. I watched the
Knicks against the guy. I've watched, you know, throughout the
course of the NBA season, I watch a lot of quarters.
I watch a lot of late Like I'm not gonna
watch four quarters in January and February, but I'll watch
the fourth quarters. So I see a lot of four.
But I've watched the entire Nick games last couple of nights,
(16:39):
and you can really see what they are. They remind
me of Phoenix. When you play hard and focused, discipline
defensive basketball, you goin a lot of games because a
lot of teams don't play hard. Stars are missing, but
in the playoffs, everybody plays hard, so you lose that advantage.
So the Knicks are really the classic Tom Thibodeau team.
Play their butt off, good foundation, play hard not. It
(17:03):
reminds me a little bit of Rex Ryan's teams. They
play hard. You win a lot of games doing that.
But there's a ceiling because Rex was never good with
quarterbacks and Thibodeaus not. It's great with Thibodeaus, not great
with offenses. So the Knicks just don't have a lot
of juice. They have to win one way, and that's defensively.
The Lakers, meanwhile, have both. They can lock you down.
(17:25):
We saw they were the number one defensive team in
the league early this year. They were a dominant defensive
team in the finals last year in the bubble. They
can win a lot of ways, but last night was
classic No Lebron, no Dennis Shrewder, Alex Caruso out ad
Hurt still beat the Knicks. So I mean the Lakers
are really built to win a championship, which is they
can be missing players, they it doesn't matter. They have
(17:46):
a bunch of guys who can drop twenty on any
given night. Nicks can win one way. Lakers can win
a lot of ways, and that's the key in the playoffs.
Can you win? Can you win a lot of ways?
Milwaukee what's been there liabil the last few years. They
kind of win one way. They're not good trailing late
with Jannis right like they couldn't win. It's a little
(18:06):
bit like the Baltimore Ravens. We kind of feel like
there's a way, a recipe to win. Kansas City has
trailed playoff games twenty four to nothing in one. Kansas City,
there's a lot of ways they can win. The Tampa
Bay Buccaneers a lot of ways they can win, Like
the certain teams, the Baltimore Ravens, they feel like there's
kind of a way. The Knicks, there's kind of a
(18:27):
way they have to win. And I kind of feel
that with the Knicks. But listen, the foundation's great, You're
going somewhere. But I thought last night was actually not
just a win for the Lakers, but it kind of
shows you why if Lebron's healthy, they're a handful. They
locked down defense last night. They had guys out, they
hit big shots. I mean they're on like their third
(18:49):
point guard. They're making it up late and they found
a way to win joy with the news. No no,
this is the Herd Line news sponsored by Mercy says
bets the best or nothing. Well, just as the Lakers
are gearing up for the return of Lebron, they might
have another superstar on the bench. Let me guess. Anthony
(19:11):
Davis suffered a groin injury and late and last night's
one one ninety nine overtime win over the Knicks, which
leaves his status for tonight's against Houston up in the air.
Now it is Houston, though not sure about tomorrow. Man,
I'm gonna get treatment and see how I feel. Um. Yeah,
I want to say I'm gonna play, but it was
really bothering me tonight. Um, but we'll see I feel
(19:34):
tomorrow and then later on to day. It's very very
strong possibilities, you know, fight through it in places the
next days off day, but also don't want to have
this lagon and then now I'm not for a couple
of games. He was noticeably limping. Yeah, in about three
minutes to go in the game, but as he said,
he didn't want to come out. It's a very important
game for them. Good news is though they get a
(19:55):
scheduling break. They do. Lebron is expected to return tonight.
They're currently eleventh in the West. They have three games left.
They are one game behind the fifth seed Blazers and
the sixth seed MAVs, and they would face the Warriors
in a play in game. I'm not going to bet
against Lebron, but that's it. That's just Lebron, Like, that's
(20:17):
all I'm concerned about. I don't. I don't think the
Lakers can make it very far in the playoffs without
Lebron and AD healthy. I wouldn't be concerned about them
in a playoff, a play in game if they have
Lebron healthy. But it's just this has been the story
all season Long's it's back and forth with a D
and Lebron, and once again AD is banged up. Listen,
(20:37):
the story in the West could end up being Jamal
Murray's injury. If Jamal Murray doesn't get hurt this morning,
I take the Nuggets in the finals. I really would,
because I don't. I can't. There's a lot of good
in the West. There's not a great Denver that altitude
advantage at home Yokitch, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter If Jamal
(21:00):
Murray injury really open chemistry issues, Aaron Gordon and the
ability to put up big offensive numbers, they can win
multiple ways. Yeah. That Jamal Murray injury. I mean again,
we talked about it for about two days. Could end
up really altering the West. If he's healthy today, I
just take Denver and say it's just not the Lakers year.
(21:21):
Nobody can stay healthy. Yeah, it's a devastating injury. Speaking
of injuries in the NBA, James Harden been out for
a while with a hamstring injury, but according to Melika Andrews,
he could return as early as tonight. She said after
missing five weeks with a hamstring injury, that star James
Harden return is expected to be a game time decision
before Brooklyn faces San Antonio on Wednesday night. Sources told
(21:43):
ESPN Harden is expected to gauge his readiness along with
team officials ahead of the Nets return to Berkeley Center
in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Sources said he last played on
April fifth. Yeah, I tell you, when this first came out,
I rolled my eyes and thought, Oh, give me a
break on this. I guess it was a real injury,
really was. It was definitely significant. He doesn't, which is
(22:04):
why you know your theory wasn't that far fetched, because
it's not you know, it's like, oh, kind of matching
up and Katie is back, but yeah, he clearly has
been dealing with this, and it's it's lingering. They're in
second place, they're two games behind the six Ers with
three games left to play, but now they're talking about
Harden coming back. Kyrie status is up in the air
because he was hit by vous Chevich's elbow last night
(22:28):
and had to leave the game against Chicago, so he
cleared concussion protocol, but he'll have a second X ray today,
so he's his status is questionable right now. Again, they've
only played seven games together Kyrie, Harden, and Katie. I
think they have enough offensively to make it far. But
if they're going to win the big games deep into
the playoffs, they're going to be able to overcome adversary adversity,
(22:52):
and you just can't figure those things out in the playoffs.
It's it's been the story of injuries for the big
star the teams with big stars this year. And I mean,
you like the Bucks in the East that I really do.
I like Milwaukee. I feel I think they match up
with everybody. I think they added Drew Holliday and PJ. Tucker,
who have been in these playoff games. They're tough guys.
(23:14):
You know, first of all, we had a condensed schedule,
so you knew a lot of stars. We're going to
take more games off. We knew it, and you probably
have a few more injuries. I think we tend to
blame all the injuries on the condensed schedule. It's like,
let's slow down a little. Guys do get hurt, but
it's um. You know, the Bucks have been healthy. There's
no noise. We dismissed them, nobody's talked about them. They're
just sitting there in that third spot. Nobody's paying attention
(23:36):
to Milwaukee. And feel like at the very least, a
no pressure season for them. Yeah. So finally Tampa knows
they're in a great position to who returned to the playoffs.
And one reason for that is, of course, Tom Brady
GM Jason Light was on the Rich Eisen Show and
seven it came to the draft. He knew how important
it was to keep his star quarterback in the mix first,
and I did mention to him leading up to the
(23:57):
draft that we might take the quarterback just we would
do that any great quarterback. But get alone to go.
He almost responds, if you have, I appreciate you letting
me know. You didn't need to let me know, but
I appreciate it. Whatever whatever we have to do to
make the team better, it must be nice to deal
with it. Just a little communication. It's a little time,
a little heads up, little TLC so anybody ever asks
(24:17):
for and then it just spirals and then small things
become big things. None of this is really complicated talking.
It's all just relationships. He also said that he'd be
fine with Brady playing. So he's fifty, well come on then,
and he things that could be a possibility. So if
he does that, Kyle Trask is never going to see
the field during his rookie contract. But who cares. I don't.
I don't have a problem with organizations. Organizations drafting quarterbacks,
(24:43):
give the heads up. I think you have to give
him a heads up. And if you're drafting quarterback in
the first round, then not only should the starting quarterback
have a heads up about it, but there should be
a significant reason, like there's not there shouldn't you should
know that the fan base and media aren't going to
have a significant reaction to that move, right, Like, if
you are a situation like Green Bay watch, so obviously
(25:05):
what we we're talking about you you have to gauge, right, like,
have have conversations with people outside of your circle. What
do you think about if we were to draft a quarterback?
Why why would you need a quarterback? Okay, thanks, I'll
take that. I'll take that note. I'm not saying you
have to listen to other people's advice, but take the
pulse of the room and communicates like how do you
(25:27):
blindside your Hall of Fame quarterback in his prime? And
this is a perfect example of that. Now if Tom now,
maybe if Tom Brady had not had that reaction, they
would have considered, hey, like maybe we draft a quarterback
in later rounds or maybe this isn't the year because
Tom clearly feels like he has a couple more years
and then we don't want to upset him. But there's
there's ways to do it. It all just comes down
to communication. Joy with the news. Well that's the news,
(25:50):
and thanks for stopping back the herd line news. You know,
one of the things I was I used to talk
about this all the time. I don't talk about it
as much, but nothing against fans, but networks make their
money on television. They don't make it on in game seats.
That's not where leagues make their money, Hockey, baseball, football.
(26:11):
It's nice to have fans, especially baseball, you have so
many games, but all these teams are still making money
right now without fans going. You get paid by the
television networks. So it's incumbent upon you as a commissioner
to understand your television shows. You're not your profits are
(26:31):
not tied to SODA's programs and Joe in the upper deck.
You make more money per television viewer then consumer sitting
in a stadium. Now that's not to say that Mark
Cuban doesn't want the arena full. It's additive, but the
TV money is why people buy sports teams and don't
sell them very often. The NFL, more than any other league,
(26:57):
has always understood television show and they work with Fox
and CBS and the NFL, and they construct the schedule
and they work all the time with their schedule. And
it's a prime example. The NFL has just moved their
chess pieces for years and years, a prime example, think
about this, how smartly the NFL is built the calendar.
(27:17):
So let's go through the months. January the NFL does
the playoffs, so they own that month. February the super
Bowl in the first week they own that month, then
they sneak the combine in the last week. March is
free agency. That's all we talked about this year. April's
the draft, that's all we talked about. Then the beginning
(27:40):
of May is still talk a little draft, but it's
the schedule release planted right in the middle of a
week Wednesday, so we talk about it. June is the
one month they just give everybody off. They give the
NFL front offices off, the team front office. July's training
camp starts. August preseason December regular season. Eleven months. They
(28:04):
think about when they hand out their awards, what days
they give those awards out on. It is an eleven
month season. They've moved free agency, they've extended the draft,
they've moved the schedule release, they've moved camps. They just
added another game. So now the super Bowl, when they
(28:25):
added another game, you know what that means, right like,
that means we're going to talk until mid February. Not
the first week of February about football, So they'd pushed
another week that week seventeen. They didn't put it on
Labor Day because they already owned that space. What they
did is they pushed it on the back end. They
(28:46):
added another playoff team to give us another week or
two in the back end to talk football. They think
about everything. They get it. Sometimes baseball drives me nuts.
You're a television show. Nobody can hit. Solve the issue.
You're much better in baseball to have a defensive problem
(29:08):
than an offensive problem. If nobody can catch, it'd be fine.
But when nobody can hit, you got a problem, you're
a TV show. Longer games tighten them up. So it's
just I just when I look at the NFL, it
is just such a smart even their schedule release today,
biggest brand Cowboys against the Super Bowl champions and Brady
Bucks first game of the year. Of course, that is
(29:30):
just how they roll. NBA playoffs start next week. I mean,
we're going to be into these things, right, and there's
some really interesting matchups. They really are. Rick Buker around
the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Herd weekdays in noon. Easter nine a Empacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, this
(29:52):
is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast,
Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sportspod
pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day.
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself
(30:13):
a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. Good things come to those who waited at
Jersey Mike's, They come to those who don't too. Download
the app. Order ahead, skip the line now through May
twenty third. Use the code the Herd for a buck
off your order. All right, I'm fired up NBA playoffs.
(30:35):
This is the time of the year. You can watch
the teams. The effort on the Knicks Clippers game Sunday,
the effort last night Lakers Knicks. I mean it felt big,
like these guys are diving for loose balls. Great defense
at the end of the shot clock, and Rick Buker
now joins US Live. I actually thought last night was
one of those regular season games that told me a
(30:57):
couple of stories. As hard as the knick Knicks play,
it showed me their limitations offensively, and it showed me
the Lakers with Lebron out, Shrewder out, Crusoe out. You're
sitting there thinking this is why they're gonna work. They
just figure out they got a multiple. Kuzma last night
was carrying the team, and I thought it was more
(31:17):
than a regular season game. It showed you why I
would buy a little lottery ticket with the Lakers in
the playoffs and not the Knicks. Your thoughts, I'll go
with you. As far as favoring the Lakers over the Knicks,
I'm not going to take it so far as that
this demonstrated that the Lakers are everything that they have
been in the past. I think this was more a
referendum on the Knicks. As you said, it was either
(31:41):
your go to guys and really go to guys in
isolation isolation situations were either Julius Randall or Derrick Rose.
It demonstrates you Julius Randall is having a very good
season and but is he the go to guy on
a championship contending team. No. And it also shows you
(32:02):
that Tom Thibodeau would have been a great NFL coach
because he doesn't care about next week, he doesn't care
about last week. It's all about right now. He played
Derek Rose twenty two straight minute, thirty two year old,
multiple knee surgeries. Derek Rose practically twenty two straight minutes.
(32:25):
At the end of that game, Derek was absolutely gassed.
He got one twenty second reprieve when Frank Nilakina came
in and that was it. And I'm thinking in big picture,
if you have any hope of doing anything, you need
to keep Derek Rose healthy. Because for all that Julius
Randall has done, what the Knicks have done this season
(32:48):
has been a reflection of their bench and their depth
as well as anything else. So your spot on in
terms of this is what the Knicks are. They're a
lot like the Spurs the last few years in terms
of they play close to their margin on a nightly basis,
and that will get you a lot of regular season
(33:08):
wins and get you a nice regular season record, but
can you go above that? And the Knicks just don't
have that capability at this point. So enjoy this Knicks fans. Yeah,
you've got a team that has a winning record. It's
going to be in the playoffs again. You're going to
get a look at RJ. Barrett and quickly in some
of the young players to see how they operate in
(33:29):
the postseason. But don't expect that their seating is a
reflection that they are going to make some sort of
a deep playoff run, because they're just not built for that.
You know, there are stats I don't I tend to
say I listen to analytics. I'm more into analytics, which
is you're dealing with human beings alpha males. Don't go
don't turn them into code. Don't turn them into numbers.
(33:49):
Take the numbers, use them in baseball, football, basketball, where
it makes sense in the red zone, or where it
makes sense again the games. But there are stats you
look at and go, WHOA. That is a problem. The
Clippers are atrocious with four to five minutes to go
in the game, Their clutch stats are awful, and they're
one of five really bad teams at the end of games.
(34:09):
The problem is the other four just bad teams. They're
a good team that's awful at the end. And I
watched them against the Knicks. Now, the Knicks play real defense,
but it's the third or fourth time I've watched the Clippers,
and I'm like they are They would be the classic
NFL team, good roster, no quarterback late. I think Rondo
should just take over. But maybe this is the downside
(34:31):
to having Kawhi a superstar who's not overly communicative. Clippers
are bad at the end of games. Can't you solve
that in the next three weeks? Actually, I believe that
you can once you get to the postseason and use aside,
this is the way we're gonna play and this is
who we're gonna have on the floor in certain situations.
(34:51):
I think you can streamline that. And there's something about
the regular season where everybody gets to indulge what they
want to do, what they want to try. There's no
none of that in the postseason. Now, there still is
the question about the chemistry and what Because of the
pandemic and zoom and the inability to get really close
to these teams right now, it's hard to determine how
(35:13):
good that chemistry is and ultimately how much, say does
Rajon rondo have. If he says this is the way
we're gonna go, this is what we're going to run.
Is Kawai going to fall in line and not only
fall in line, but play just as hard at the
defensive end when he's not being featured in a certain situation.
(35:34):
So that's the element we don't We don't know, but
I'm I'm with you. My greatest concern, and it has
been a question all year, is how are they going
to close? And while I love Kawai's mid range game
and needing to get a bucket because he can work
his way physically to good spots to take high percentage shots,
(35:56):
I don't like playing through him because it's Kawhi or
nothing in those circumstances. He's not a great playmaker. So
figuring that dynamic out is going to be the real
riddle as to whether the Clippers can make good on
all the talent that they have. By the way, I
hear a lot of this, Oh, you don't want to
play the Warriors, and I'm like, yeah, I do. They're tiny,
(36:19):
They're dependent on one guy hitting threes. I don't buy
the Warriors at all. You're in the Bay Area, do you?
I don't buy them in terms of being a threat
in the playoffs. Do I see them as a team
that could be a threat for, say, the Lakers in
a playing game. I'm not, by no means am I
saying that the Lakers should fear the Warriors, But they
(36:42):
damn well better respect them. Because I've seen this iteration
a couple of times with the Warriors, and it is
the magic of Steph and Draymond. First of all, the
connection that they have and the way that their two
skill sets and their personalities mesh so seamlessly, and the
confidence that they've created in these young players. Jordan Poole
(37:05):
thinking yeah, I can hit a big three, wantasco Anod
Anderson thinking I can hit a big three. Andrew Wiggins
finding a role that he's never had before. So look,
I don't think they're a danger to do anything significant,
but on any given night, they have nothing to lose,
and their chemistry is just something special. The ability of
(37:28):
Steph and Draymond to infuse confidence in younger players is
as good as any combo that I've seen. And in
a one game situation, who knows. In a seven game situation,
I know how it's going to play. Out all right,
I still have the Bucks winning it. What do you
make of that? I don't have a problem with that.
(37:48):
This is what is that makes this postseason really intriguing.
And I put the Lakers in the same camp. They
are the defending champions their defense without question. If they
are healthy, they're the team to beat. But they're not healthy.
Alex Caruso went down last night. Anthony Davis is limping again.
We don't know the condition of Lebron James, and so
(38:09):
as a result, it is wide open on both sides.
I don't like the Brooklyn Nets in particular. I do
like the Philadelphia seventy six ers, but I have questions.
I have questions for every single team. We touched on
several of them in this conversation, and so it makes
it intriguing because I really if you asked me to
(38:31):
pick a favorite from each conference, I could pick. I
could do it, but I wouldn't do it with any
degree of confidence. Rick Buker, Fox Sports NBA analyst, Good
seeing you, buddy, Good to see you, Colin. Yeah and
be it's fun now, Yeah, it's really interesting. Like Billy
Bean was the a's executive and Billy Bean didn't want
(38:53):
to watch all the games. Jerry West, same deal. Jerry
West didn't need to see all the games. You know,
Jerry would sit in the tunnel. There is something to
be said about you don't get the same effort in
the NBA regular season to the playoffs. So oh, I
sat and watched all the regular season games. It doesn't
mean anything. Like the bottom line is, if Lebron's healthy
(39:14):
Lakers are gonna win the West, it doesn't matter how
much how many games you watch. The New York Knicks
are a fun regular season watch, but if you're watching
all the games, you're getting emotionally tied to them. They're
a totally limited team offensively. So there the idea that
mass consumption is the right answer. In baseball, you look
(39:35):
at these theo Epsteins and these Billy beans and these
analytic whizzes. They want to see numbers. They don't care
about body shape forever and ever. You know, I candy
too many scouts fall in love with that. Can you play?
What are your numbers do you get on base? That's
the one thing I do like about analytics. Just give
me the numbers. Who can play? I don't want my
(39:56):
eyes to sway me and my emotional state to sway
me because you go watch a guy and you just
go look at that body, Jadeveon Clowney. Who did you
see that hit? Look at the numbers on Jadeveon Clowney.
This is literally what's happening with Tebow right. People get
their emotion their feels in a tibo. He's not an
(40:16):
NFL tidea. Like so the idea that I've always said
this college basketball is a great example. Don't watch December
in January because that's all of those one and done
NBA guys you have. In college basketball, the best teams
have no chemistry in December and January. Watch college basketball
February fifteenth on then you can see who's playing well.
(40:37):
I mean you cla, you got the bottom line here
is when you watch the Knicks, you get too emotionally
viscerally connected to They have a total ceiling. But they're fun,
a good story. But don't talk yourself into their a
championship team. They're not our three next
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