Speaker 1: You guys want to get into this weekend of basketball genius.
Speaker 1: I am not, and I should be, because if we
Speaker 1: ever got together, we're very light minded thinkers. Now I'm
Speaker 1: assuming he's much smarter than me, but you know this
Speaker 1: to be true. I've never really been the biggest fan
Speaker 1: of Bill Simmons. And maybe you can find that clip
Speaker 1: of him talking about the WNBA, because a lot of
Speaker 1: what he has said about the WNBA are things that
Speaker 1: I have said about the WNBA. So we're I think
Speaker 1: we're light minded thinkers. He loves pop culture, that is great,
Speaker 1: but he also loves New England, and I think New
Speaker 1: England sucks, and not just a Patriots, but most of it.
Speaker 1: I think it sucks. And we all got kind of
Speaker 1: tired of hearing from Bill Simmons about the Patriots and Bill,
Speaker 1: you know, when the flat Gate and all this stuff happened,
Speaker 1: we all got sick and tired of hearing that Bill
Speaker 1: Simmons and the Celtics, and you get sick and tired
Speaker 1: of hearing about that. Now, if the old school Celtics
Speaker 1: with Larry Bird, you never get tired of that. But
Speaker 1: he cultivated himself as not just a basketball guy, but
Speaker 1: then an all sports guy and then went over into
Speaker 1: pop culture, and we have similarities in that capacity. So
Speaker 1: you're right if you're saying you should really like him,
Speaker 1: because you guys are not equal in smarts, because I'm
Speaker 1: about as smart as this tabletop, but we are equal
Speaker 1: in terms of what we like, what we enjoy, whether
Speaker 1: it's sports or entertainment or movies or television shows or music,
Speaker 1: we are certainly in that same category. He's just been widely,
Speaker 1: massively more successful than your good friends sitting right here,
Speaker 1: and two thumbs up, like Fonzarelli to him for that. However,
Speaker 1: what he had to say about the WNBA, we'll get
Speaker 1: to coming up in a little bit, is is accurate.
Speaker 1: They need new leadership. They do. And what I have
Speaker 1: said about the WNBA is I want it to be
Speaker 1: about basketball, and with this leadership, it's never going to
Speaker 1: be about basketball because it's not like anybody really rallies
Speaker 1: and then spotlights the talent they have. Because there is
Speaker 1: talent there. Now it depends on you know, how you
Speaker 1: view you know talent. If you look at the NBA
Speaker 1: and the WNBA, they're just simply put, there are massive
Speaker 1: differences in the talent, but in terms of basketball on
Speaker 1: whatever level. The WNBA has a ton of stars. Yet
Speaker 1: the only thing that you ever hear is pissing and
Speaker 1: moaning about the WNBA. Face it, the only thing you
Speaker 1: ever hear around here is pissing and moaning about the fever.
Speaker 1: And the fever. They don't handle it well either, they
Speaker 1: haven't yet the WNBA. And really that's where it starts.
Speaker 1: Your your leader has to set the trend and the
Speaker 1: tone for everybody else, and in this case that has
Speaker 1: not happened. Thus you constantly find yourself I think Simmons
Speaker 1: referenced it as constantly stepping into bear traps. They just
Speaker 1: look unprepared by now. You should have some sort of
Speaker 1: blueprint or game plan about how to handle it, and
Speaker 1: they don't act like that. They have the foggiest idea.
Speaker 1: And oftentimes the Fever have shown the same thing. And
Speaker 1: I have been a tremendous defender of Stephanie White from
Speaker 1: a coaching angle, her coaching. Her coaching has been and
Speaker 1: for the most part, other than stuff that you can
Speaker 1: go at and just be critical of because she's a
Speaker 1: coach in general. Anyway, to me, a lot of the
Speaker 1: shortcomings that we see on the floor comes down to
Speaker 1: the players and what they do, the mistakes they make,
Speaker 1: the decision making, the lack of defense, the lack of rebounding,
Speaker 1: fouling too much, turning the ball over too much. That
Speaker 1: to me is well out of the control of the
Speaker 1: head coach. But here's what is at this point in time.
Speaker 1: If I'm Stephanie White and I had to exit from
Speaker 1: social media because of all the jackassery, and I haven't
Speaker 1: heard her on with Jake. I know that she had
Speaker 1: a really nice relationship with Jake coming on all the time.
Speaker 1: I don't think we've heard her on Jake with Quarrying
Speaker 1: Company in a while. And there's reasons behind that, because
Speaker 1: you get tired of it and you just kind of
Speaker 1: you hunk her down, if you will, and you try
Speaker 1: to make everything as normal surrounding basketball as you can.
Speaker 1: And I thought Saturday afternoon, after the player ejection and
Speaker 1: what took place in that win ninety eighty six over Chicago,
Speaker 1: So you had a player for the Sky that basically
Speaker 1: by the neck tackled Sophie Cunningham. That's really the only
Speaker 1: way you can put it. Dejane Carrington tackled by the
Speaker 1: neck Sophie Cunningham, and then you had a lot of
Speaker 1: the ESPN world coming to her defense and saying, well,
Speaker 1: look at the past, look how many plays she's made.
Speaker 1: It was nothing but a reckless and the only thing
Speaker 1: that could have come out of that there was going
Speaker 1: to be no defensive play made. It was going it
Speaker 1: was reckless and all it was going to do was
Speaker 1: injure somebody because one thing is she's not talented or
Speaker 1: athletic enough to do that. And that's why when you
Speaker 1: look around the WNBA, you rarely see block shots unless
Speaker 1: it's just a taller player standing up with their arms
Speaker 1: stretched out trying to block somebody down low, or you
Speaker 1: get a block from coming in from behind. Because the
Speaker 1: athleticism compared to the block shots that were used to
Speaker 1: seeing it that that's not part of their game. So
Speaker 1: the only outcome from that in that trackdown was going
Speaker 1: to be exactly what we saw, and it was malicious.
Speaker 1: I don't know about the whole why you guys, can
Speaker 1: the nerds all go with well, that was wind up there.
Speaker 1: It was just a reckless, dumb ass play. I don't
Speaker 1: know if that is in the Is that in the
Speaker 1: real book? Reckless and dumbass that's what it was. That
Speaker 1: was a dumb ass play. And all you're going to
Speaker 1: accomplish you didn't, I mean, score it anyway. You're not
Speaker 1: going to accomplish getting anything done defensively. All you're going
Speaker 1: to do is compromise yourself and your team and then
Speaker 1: you're going to go into the locker room and you're
Speaker 1: gonna send something out on Instagram and look like an
Speaker 1: even bigger dumbass. And then with that, you're gonna make
Speaker 1: your team and your league look like a bunch of dumbasses.
Speaker 1: That's all you're gonna do. That's all this is accomplished.
Speaker 1: And that's yet another reason why the WNBA needs new
Speaker 1: leadership and new guidance. But for Stephanie White, if I
Speaker 1: were her, and I know, nobody over there is listening,
Speaker 1: and nobody over there cares, And frankly, that's okay because
Speaker 1: it's not like you guys are providing a great deal
Speaker 1: of leadership in the first place. You are basically right
Speaker 1: there with the WNBA. So I'm just going to hand
Speaker 1: out this advice and if somebody hears it, so be it.
Speaker 1: If somebody does it, because you know how I do
Speaker 1: defend Stephanie White as coach. But as I defend her
Speaker 1: as a coach, she has to defend her players. These
Speaker 1: guys are all in the huddle together, and the only
Speaker 1: thing different in defensively looking at that malicious play is
Speaker 1: trying to figure out whether there was intent. Who cares.
Speaker 1: It was reckless and anybody can see that. But once
Speaker 1: you get around your team, that's who you're with, that's
Speaker 1: who's playing for you, that's who you're coaching, that's your family.
Speaker 1: You defend your family. You defend your family. I would
Speaker 1: expect that every single time, and I think you do
Speaker 1: it vehemently. You do it like I defend you as
Speaker 1: a coach when things don't work out, when you don't foul,
Speaker 1: when you're up three on a final play. You know,
Speaker 1: I defend the fact there wasn't enough time. I'll defend
Speaker 1: you as the coach. But you have to defend your team.
Speaker 1: And it was malicious and it was reckless, and that's
Speaker 1: all you need. I don't care about the brand of
Speaker 1: Sophie Cunningham. I don't care about the thoughts of white
Speaker 1: privilege after the game of carrot. None of that matters.
Speaker 1: You defend, You huddle up and you stay tight with
Speaker 1: your team, and the dialogue after that game on Saturday
Speaker 1: did not speak to the level in which it should have.
Speaker 1: And I'm not going to try to read the body
Speaker 1: language of the players, including Caitlin Clark up there. Somebody
Speaker 1: else can read the body language. I can just tell
Speaker 1: you you stay tight. That's not tight, and that's what's necessary.
Speaker 1: I'm Stephanie White. It really wouldn't matter to me. I'm
Speaker 1: getting it from every single direction. Had I said or
Speaker 1: taken my advice, if you're Stephanie White, she probably still
Speaker 1: would be slung with the arrows. It doesn't matter what
Speaker 1: she does. She's always going to be criticized. But you
Speaker 1: want to make sure everybody in that locker room, everybody
Speaker 1: in the huddle, is tight. And that wasn't great. I
Speaker 1: guess I don't understand what needs to be done. People say, well,
Speaker 1: they're not getting coached up enough, they're not getting guidance.
Speaker 1: My god, that's just sports. That's just sports. It's almostly.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine you imagine going all the way back
Speaker 1: to the eighties or stuff like this was commonplace. You know,
Speaker 1: one of the most noted plays in history was that
Speaker 1: playoff game with the Celtics and the Lakers when Kevin
Speaker 1: McHale closed line, Kurt Rambus, That's exactly what it was.
Speaker 1: It was a closed line with a purpose and even
Speaker 1: and if there was not significant purpose behind it, right,
Speaker 1: it was again reckless. It was dangerous, and it was
Speaker 1: dealt with the way that it should have been dealt with,
Speaker 1: just not by the fever head coach after the game.
Speaker 1: Can't be doing that stuff, There's zero way. And I
Speaker 1: had to watch the ESPN. I don't know whoever on
Speaker 1: the show. You could tell me, Caleb, who are the
Speaker 1: ones on the show? The WNBA show and they go
Speaker 1: back to a lot of these track down plays. Listen,
Speaker 1: this Carrington chick is not Lebron James. Okay, that stuff's
Speaker 1: not gonna happen. There's zero way these women are going
Speaker 1: to be able to jump up and discard from the
Speaker 1: side every single time you're going to make contact, and
Speaker 1: that's dangerous. Contact has nothing to do with white privilege
Speaker 1: or now there's no privilege there it like, I'll get
Speaker 1: that was the easiest call the WNBA and the officials
Speaker 1: have made this season. Now rescinding the technical that Kaitlyn
Speaker 1: Clark was the second easiest, but that was the easiest.
Speaker 1: I don't even know why at this point in time,
Speaker 1: with the rest of the league and everybody around it,
Speaker 1: and with all that's coming at her, I don't know why.
Speaker 1: Stephanie White, who was a fantastic player and a fantastic teammate,
Speaker 1: you got to get this thing tight. Man, You're leaving
Speaker 1: loose ends on Saturday afternoon. You don't want that. That
Speaker 1: is the only way you get through again, the world
Speaker 1: in which has been created by the fandom of Caitlin
Speaker 1: Clark and the focus on getting the responses that a
Speaker 1: lot of those media hijackers out there get off on.
Speaker 1: They see the response and they go with it. Otherwise
Speaker 1: they really don't care. I don't care anything about what
Speaker 1: happens in these games. You think Jason Whitlock's all of
Speaker 1: a sudden the big WNBA fan, I don't know. He's not.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's gets response for whatever the hell he
Speaker 1: does right now. That's it. Nothing else. Otherwise he wouldn't care.
Speaker 1: And really, if that's what you do, I'm not blaming
Speaker 1: I'm not blaming any of these guys for what they say.
Speaker 1: If you want to verbally grift and you know, take
Speaker 1: people with you, that's the time to do it, and
Speaker 1: certainly that is the subject matter to do it. But
Speaker 1: if you're the Fever, you got to tighten up and
Speaker 1: you've settled it. Kaitlin Clark says all the right things
Speaker 1: about being about basketball, and you just you got to
Speaker 1: be hardcore and say those are the types of plays
Speaker 1: that you absolutely have to eliminate. That was so much
Speaker 1: more egregious than even the fist to the throat of
Speaker 1: the neck area of Kaitlyn Clark. You have to come
Speaker 1: out because nobody else cares about you. Everybody else out there.
Speaker 1: Once you can, everybody once you can. I think I
Speaker 1: saw what's his name beck with the Lieutenant governor. You
Speaker 1: think that dude's ever dribbled basketball in his life? Hell no,
Speaker 1: his cheeks are way too rosy to be dribbling into basketball.
Speaker 1: There's zero way he's ever dribbled a basketball. Yet now
Speaker 1: he wants to Fever. Coach fired. You guys don't need that.
Speaker 1: Just stay tight with your team. And that didn't get
Speaker 1: it done. And I will also tell you, even if
Speaker 1: it's something that you thought was to the detriment of
Speaker 1: the league, the hell with it. The league's discombobulated as hell.
Speaker 1: Worry about the people you're going to battle with. Don't
Speaker 1: worry about the people you're going to battle with and
Speaker 1: their thoughts or their brands. You coach them, you stay
Speaker 1: tight with them. I know it's easier said than done,
Speaker 1: but damn, so many years of hoop and not to
Speaker 1: recognize that is it's flabbergasting, it really is. So anyway,
Speaker 1: I know you don't listen over there. I know nobody
Speaker 1: over there's every been on the show, and that's okay.
Speaker 1: I don't really care. But my advice again, which you
Speaker 1: won't hear or you'll leave, is make sure that everybody
Speaker 1: in that locker room and that huddle is on the
Speaker 1: same page with you. And you didn't do that. Stay tight.
Speaker 1: There was zero defense of that defensive move of Carrington,
Speaker 1: even though you saw that from ESPN and others, and
Speaker 1: not a way in the world. She's going to track
Speaker 1: down anybody from behind and block it from behind. And
Speaker 1: you're lucky the player. You're lucky Sophie Cunningham in this
Speaker 1: case wasn't injured more than she was. That's a reckless play.
Speaker 1: You can't have that. Anybody that's ever played basketball understands it.
Speaker 1: Why don't they.
Speaker 2: The ride with JMV.
Speaker 3: It's grug so it's problem.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Nuety three five and one oh seven five the fan
Speaker 2: busy rest of the week, Hirst and LaMonte is with me.
Speaker 2: Coming up on Friday at Pivot Downtown. You know we
Speaker 2: love the Pivot Balcony bar inside Hiatt Place Downtown. Coming
Speaker 2: up on Friday, that's before.
Speaker 1: The Fever game and is always a fantastic time. They
Speaker 1: played Dallas on Friday night. We shall be down there,
Speaker 1: I believe. Did we not talk to Debbie and then her.
Speaker 3: Friday?
Speaker 1: John, I'm sure they're gonna love the dialogue I have
Speaker 1: right now. If we do that on Friday, hopefully that changes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they may go I don't know what all about that.
Speaker 1: It's really simple though. That was egregious enough to be
Speaker 1: incredibly outspoken in the backing of your team and player.
Speaker 1: That's easy. You don't go into that and go, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know they meant to do. And I mean
Speaker 1: it was a round the neck and reckless regardless of
Speaker 1: what anybody else thinks. And listen, you're gonna have everybody
Speaker 1: coming at you regardless. You don't want that with your team,
Speaker 1: you know, want any misguided feelings regarding those in your
Speaker 1: huddle pretty simple to me. Fever and New York coming
Speaker 1: up tomorrow night, so the technical was rescinded. Caitlin Clark
Speaker 1: sits on seven right now. Now Bill Simmons talking about
Speaker 1: the leadership or lack thereof the WNBA and there has
Speaker 1: to be something new is absolutely right now. I've been
Speaker 1: talking about that and the TV you know, this being
Speaker 1: all over the map. It's not great. More on that
Speaker 1: coming up meantime on the Andy More Automotive Group podline.
Speaker 1: Getting said, I'm assuming to head out to New England
Speaker 1: for a couple of joint practices and then a gathering
Speaker 1: for a preseason game number one on Thursday. Steven Holder
Speaker 1: joins us. Anything that you gather from the release of
Speaker 1: the official depth charts earlier today with the cults of mind, Steven.
Speaker 3: Not particularly. I think there are I guess it was
Speaker 3: an admission that this is, you know, a backup quarterback battle.
Speaker 3: That was an acknowledgment of that, so they stayed out
Speaker 3: of the weeds on that one. There are a few
Speaker 3: veterans who are I think listed above some younger players
Speaker 3: where they're just kind of doing them a solid on that.
Speaker 3: I feel like, out of respect that the younger player
Speaker 3: and a lot of those instances is actually ahead, you know,
Speaker 3: And so I think one example would be better at linebacker,
Speaker 3: for example, I think he's in their top three linebackers
Speaker 3: right now. It did not reflect that if you look
Speaker 3: at the depth chart that they put out today. But
Speaker 3: that's not that unusual. I'm looking forward here as we're talking. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's not totally unusual. But for the first step chart,
Speaker 3: you know, but I think there are some things there
Speaker 3: that we know are not going to remain that way,
Speaker 3: if that makes sense, And that's an example of it.
Speaker 1: Do you where do you point the finger the first
Speaker 1: part the first position where you go, all right, this
Speaker 1: doesn't look grow obviously with me, we talked about this before.
Speaker 1: It's wide receiver. But what do you look at first
Speaker 1: and say, yeah, hopefully either this is a lot better
Speaker 1: than what we gather right now, or there is some
Speaker 1: marked improvement at some point.
Speaker 3: Point. I think I think linebacker will stick with that position.
Speaker 3: I think they got they're they're a little they're definitely
Speaker 3: thin there. It's kind of interesting. I asked lou An Arumo,
Speaker 3: defensive coordinator on Saturday, about that position. His answer was
Speaker 3: actually kind of honest, for refreshingly honest, and he admitted that, like,
Speaker 3: you know what, we don't really have a whole lot
Speaker 3: of guys locked in there yet, and because they keep
Speaker 3: rotating guys in with the first team, which tells me
Speaker 3: they don't know who their starters are, right, And so
Speaker 3: I asked him about that, and he said, well, you know,
Speaker 3: I think we're going to end up playing a lot
Speaker 3: of guys there. And he said, you know, we may
Speaker 3: just have guys kind of do what they're best at.
Speaker 3: So I asked them, does that mean you're going to
Speaker 3: have guys sort of specialize in certain roles, you know,
Speaker 3: not you know, not jack of all trades. But what's
Speaker 3: the opposite of that, right, it's just guys who were
Speaker 3: just really good at certain things and rotating in and out.
Speaker 3: And so he suggested that that's what it's going to
Speaker 3: look like. And he said the way his justification was
Speaker 3: for it was, Look, we don't want to overwhelm young guys,
Speaker 3: so if you can kind of give them a specific role,
Speaker 3: they maybe can lean into that and do well at that.
Speaker 3: So that doesn't make sense, but I think we all
Speaker 3: know that. I think in the best case scenario, you'd
Speaker 3: like to have your two or three guys and those
Speaker 3: are your guys, and you know they're going to play
Speaker 3: all the reps. That is not that's the way you
Speaker 3: structure it. The way he's talking about it is not
Speaker 3: the way you draw it up. So that would be
Speaker 3: out of necessity rather than something that they just prefer.
Speaker 1: So we heard the news we're getting Cam Taylor Britt
Speaker 1: going back to Friday, And you know, obviously this stems
Speaker 1: from a situation going back at the beginning of the
Speaker 1: year before he was signed here, how had he been
Speaker 1: performing up until that point and in this case missing
Speaker 1: the first game of the season, being able to do
Speaker 1: all the preseason stuff, but missing that first game obviously
Speaker 1: against the Ravens.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that he has actually been pretty solid.
Speaker 3: They like him right now. I would say if the
Speaker 3: season started today, Oh well, if the season started today,
Speaker 3: he couldn't play. But just throw that out for a minute, right,
Speaker 3: if the season started today, I think Kim Taylor Britt
Speaker 3: is their number three outside corner. So if something happens
Speaker 3: to Sauce Gardner, Mooney Ward, I think he'd beat the
Speaker 3: first guy off the bench. That's how I envisioned that
Speaker 3: right now, the other corner being justin Wally in the slot.
Speaker 3: So that's the way I see it at the moment,
Speaker 3: and they feel good about that because I think they've
Speaker 3: they've had a lack of depth at corner for a
Speaker 3: couple of years now, right, And you saw it last
Speaker 3: year just because the number of injuries they had, the
Speaker 3: death really got tested. I mean, they pulled a couple
Speaker 3: guys off the couch last year. They made that trade
Speaker 3: for Makai Blackman, for example. He played a lot of snaps,
Speaker 3: probably more than way more than he should have, right,
Speaker 3: And so they have this year you get Wally back
Speaker 3: in the fold coming back from his injury. I know
Speaker 3: he's in the slot, but just generally speaking, that's another body.
Speaker 3: You get Cam Taylor britt as a great example of
Speaker 3: the kind of signing where it gives you quality depth.
Speaker 3: They did not have quality depths last year, you know,
Speaker 3: and so I think this is definitely a step in
Speaker 3: the right direction. And then you have some younger guys
Speaker 3: who are fighting it out, and some of them will
Speaker 3: earn some playing time or earned roster spots, and then
Speaker 3: others may have to catch on elsewhere. But there's good
Speaker 3: competition back there. But Cam Taylor brit is the guy
Speaker 3: I think behind those two big name veterans.
Speaker 1: Stephen Holder of ESPN on ESPN dot coms on the
Speaker 1: Andy Moro Auto Modich Group potline. We're not talking about
Speaker 1: super notable names, certainly in free agency. But you know,
Speaker 1: for some of those defensive guys, from Key to Clemens
Speaker 1: to Chillery, guys like that, how are the veterans at
Speaker 1: those defensive positions? Anybody else you want to add in
Speaker 1: performing so far in camp from your estimation.
Speaker 3: So Arden Key is actually kind of interesting. I had
Speaker 3: sort of meager expectations for him. Look what we see
Speaker 3: out there, even when they have pads on, it's not
Speaker 3: necessarily the real thing. But I would say he has
Speaker 3: had a presence. I would say he's noticed him and
Speaker 3: I do think that's promising. I think he is the
Speaker 3: guy who's probably been outside of LAT too. He's probably
Speaker 3: the guy who's been the most consistent. LAT two is
Speaker 3: starting to come on and we're starting to see him flash.
Speaker 3: He's really creating consistent pressure. I like his chances to
Speaker 3: take a step this year. I think how big of
Speaker 3: a step he can take does? I think depend on
Speaker 3: the guys around him to a degree, right, And so
Speaker 3: that's going to depend on the Forrest Buckner becoming the
Speaker 3: Forrest Buckner again. Right, Yesterday was a day where I
Speaker 3: started to see him flash and that has been a
Speaker 3: long time coming. I hadn't really seen a lot of that,
Speaker 3: and he's he's been limited. But anyway, back to those
Speaker 3: other guys that free agent group you talked about, uh, Clemons.
Speaker 3: I mean Clemens has been out there with some of
Speaker 3: the first team reps. I think he's I think he's
Speaker 3: going to end up being a little bit of a
Speaker 3: of an edge setter. Not sexy and and not a
Speaker 3: position where you're going to get a lot of numbers,
Speaker 3: but he's never had numbers in his career. I think
Speaker 3: that's kind of been his role. A guy who, you know,
Speaker 3: set that edge against the run and you know, create
Speaker 3: create some pass rush when asked. I think that's probably
Speaker 3: going to be his role. Like we just talked about
Speaker 3: with linebackers, this could be a situational position. The guy
Speaker 3: this is not a free agent, but the guy I
Speaker 3: kind of like and I want to see more of
Speaker 3: is George Gumms, the rookie defensive end from Florida he
Speaker 3: actually has, I think flashed pretty consistently, and I am
Speaker 3: very very intrigued. I think in the preseason that's a
Speaker 3: guy you better circle circle his name and look for
Speaker 3: him on Thursday night. He's going to play a lot
Speaker 3: and we're going to find out if he can do
Speaker 3: it under the lights. I mean, he's been doing it
Speaker 3: against the backups, and when they put him out there
Speaker 3: with the third team, he just wrecks the whole thing.
Speaker 3: So the second team is a much better measurement for him,
Speaker 3: and he's flashed there too. So will he get some
Speaker 3: first team reps? I don't know about that, but I
Speaker 3: think he's fighting to show that he deserves some playing
Speaker 3: time and he's going to have opportunities to prove that.
Speaker 1: Steven, the offensive line, certainly the starters we note and
Speaker 1: we know, but what about what is always necessary really
Speaker 1: with any team, but certainly magnified with his team. What
Speaker 1: about the depth of the offensive line.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it always gets tested, right, I mean I remember
Speaker 3: that year, what was it like four or five years
Speaker 3: ago where all five guys played all seventeen games. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's that's a one in a million, right, that just
Speaker 3: doesn't happen. So I think the question is, so they
Speaker 3: have they have some decent depth. I mean they have
Speaker 3: the rookie Jalen Farmer is going to, you know, gonna
Speaker 3: be a guy who can rotate a guard. Dalton Tucker
Speaker 3: can certainly give him a hand there tackle and I'm
Speaker 3: looking at it here just to make sure I'm not
Speaker 3: forgetting anybody tackle I feel less secure about. I guess
Speaker 3: it's Blake Freeland out of necessity, because they don't really
Speaker 3: have an obvious answer for that swing tackle. Luke Tanuda
Speaker 3: is another guy who has played for them, and I
Speaker 3: would say that wasn't terrible. So I think tackle if
Speaker 3: they have an injury there a little more nervous, I
Speaker 3: would say than in the interior. Center. A few questions
Speaker 3: at center, and Dalton Tucker has and has been the
Speaker 3: backup center and snapping there, but there have been some
Speaker 3: mishaps in practice, and not all that has been Anthony
Speaker 3: Richardson's fault. I mean some of that is on Tucker too,
Speaker 3: So I think they don't really have a dedicated backup center.
Speaker 3: You know, for a long time, Danny Pincher was kind
Speaker 3: of that guy who you knew like center was his
Speaker 3: strength and he basically was a backup center, but he
Speaker 3: has moved on and so they're trying to piece that
Speaker 3: one together, so they kind of got their fingers crossed.
Speaker 3: I think at center, to be completely honest with.
Speaker 1: You, Stephen Holder of ESPN on espn dot com, joint gatherings,
Speaker 1: and then obviously the preseason game number one coming up
Speaker 1: on Thursday four to thirty is when we get started
Speaker 1: with the Colts pregame huddle coming up on Thursday right
Speaker 1: here in studio in ninety three to five and one
Speaker 1: oh seven five the fan. So I didn't go to
Speaker 1: in depth of this because we basically know what we
Speaker 1: know regarding Anthony Richardson. But has has this been a
Speaker 1: really bad start to training camp for him? Just in
Speaker 1: general terms of how he is playing and not even
Speaker 1: expectations or any of that, but just in general watching him,
Speaker 1: has it gotten worse?
Speaker 3: I think my biggest issue has been just the inconsistency.
Speaker 3: You still see the big throw once in a while,
Speaker 3: right the flash. He's always had that and he's always
Speaker 3: going to be capable of that. But on a play
Speaker 3: to play basis, which is what you need from your backup,
Speaker 3: you don't need flash as much as you just need
Speaker 3: you just need completions, I think with your backup quarterback,
Speaker 3: and he's got to I talked to somebody today and
Speaker 3: the feedback was just this, like, just get completions and stop.
Speaker 3: You know, don't play hero ball, right. I think last
Speaker 3: year he's trying to win the starting job, and so
Speaker 3: you're out there, you're trying to make plays. You're trying to,
Speaker 3: you know, go give Alec Pears an opportunity to make
Speaker 3: a big play. Well, you're not going to be able
Speaker 3: to do that. Frankly with the guys he's playing with
Speaker 3: on that second and third team. I mean, they're not
Speaker 3: going to go make, you know, a Randy Moss play
Speaker 3: for you. Those guys just that's not who he's playing with,
Speaker 3: especially with the receiver depth that they have right now.
Speaker 3: So he's just got to not force stuff and just
Speaker 3: take the check down, you know, make the easy throw,
Speaker 3: go to that first read. I mean, you know there
Speaker 3: are times when he's still holding the ball trying to
Speaker 3: go for the big play, and I don't think that's
Speaker 3: what's going to get him this job. I think if
Speaker 3: he wants to have that number two, he's just got
Speaker 3: to throw it to the guy who's opening and it's
Speaker 3: the first read. Throw it to that guy. You know,
Speaker 3: making the big play is not what they're looking for.
Speaker 3: So I do think that we saw him start to
Speaker 3: settle in on Sunday, and I liked what he did
Speaker 3: in the two minute drive. The two minute drill really
Speaker 3: drove the ball down and had a big completion position
Speaker 3: for a touchdown. That's what you want to see. And
Speaker 3: he has been clutching those situations in the past, but
Speaker 3: he just got to be more consistent. Is not to
Speaker 3: say Riley Leonard has been great, but on a play
Speaker 3: to blate play to play basis a little more consistent
Speaker 3: than Anthony for sure.
Speaker 1: Stephen Holder of ESPN on ESPN dot com, he is
Speaker 1: on the Andy Moore Automotive Group potline. The first official
Speaker 1: for training camp depth chart has been released and Jonathan
Speaker 1: Taylor got the extension, which I think we were relatively
Speaker 1: sure was going to happen considering his attitude of personality
Speaker 1: during this camp prior to that deal. We know about
Speaker 1: him and he's going to have to shoulder some significant
Speaker 1: load once again, which we understand, but what about after him?
Speaker 1: Your thoughts on the backup plan and anything of significance
Speaker 1: you gather from the first start of camp.
Speaker 3: Here, the guy that I most want to see in
Speaker 3: preseason is Seth McGowan, the rookie out of Kentucky. This
Speaker 3: kid is very interesting. He is off to a fantastic
Speaker 3: start and the coaches, they, I think, are starting to
Speaker 3: buy in on this. You know, DJ Giddens, I never
Speaker 3: saw it last year. He just never really got any momentum,
Speaker 3: no consistent playing time. Obviously, no one gets consistent playing
Speaker 3: time behind Jonathan Taylor, right, So I'm not breaking any
Speaker 3: news there, but I thought there were moments where they
Speaker 3: could have given him Giddins, They could have given him
Speaker 3: a series here, series there, or maybe let him finish
Speaker 3: off a game, and they very rarely did do that.
Speaker 3: So I think that said something about how they feel
Speaker 3: about him, or in terms of their level of trust
Speaker 3: with him, whatever it might be. And McGowan, what I
Speaker 3: love is just he is a north to south runner.
Speaker 3: Northern South Okay, one cut and he's gone. You know,
Speaker 3: I don't know that he's the fastest guy, but that's
Speaker 3: not what he brings to the table. He is a
Speaker 3: determined runner and the Patriots they're gonna have to tackle
Speaker 3: this kid in this preseason game because he is a
Speaker 3: powerful runner, and the other thing that he does is
Speaker 3: he contributes in the passing game. He's been a really
Speaker 3: shorthanded receiver when they've checked it down to him or
Speaker 3: thrown the screens, which they've done. So I think that
Speaker 3: he's done everything you could have expected, I would say,
Speaker 3: from a backup running back and has earned so far.
Speaker 3: At least, I think he's earned the playing time if
Speaker 3: they if they're miss snaps to have or to be
Speaker 3: had behind Jonathan Taylor.
Speaker 1: All Right, help the fans out there kind of eyeball
Speaker 1: on Thursday for the first time, what you have witnessed
Speaker 1: in Westfield so far, some of the things we haven't
Speaker 1: discussed that you're looking forward to on Thursday for preseason
Speaker 1: game one without the fact that it's going to be
Speaker 1: over and then you're going to be off the preseason
Speaker 1: game number two. What about preseason game one?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're just looking for He's just looking
Speaker 3: for some of those young guys to pop a little bit.
Speaker 3: You know, there's there's opportunity at wide receiver. You know,
Speaker 3: do those guys which of those guys actually play in
Speaker 3: this game? You know, I imagine we'll see, you know,
Speaker 3: the likes of Westbrook Kakine, the Quantred Wills hurt right now,
Speaker 3: I don't know that he will be back. You won't
Speaker 3: see Josh downs even if he does practice tomorrow, Like
Speaker 3: give me a break, right, So, So anyway, my point
Speaker 3: is there's just a lot of receivers that flash here,
Speaker 3: a play here or play there. What I am not
Speaker 3: seeing is consistency. Westbrook Kine, I think has come on
Speaker 3: and I'm starting to see him make some plays on
Speaker 3: a more consistent basis. And I think, you know, he's
Speaker 3: a veteran player, so I'm not surprised by that. Ashton
Speaker 3: Doolin always makes plays, you know, can he do it consistently?
Speaker 3: We'll see. So I think receiver is a position to watch.
Speaker 3: I mentioned McGowan. I really think you're gonna love watching McGowan.
Speaker 3: I really believe that. And then you already mentioned this,
Speaker 3: but that backup offensive line like who settles in there
Speaker 3: and who who? Really he starts to show that they
Speaker 3: are going to take ownership of those spots and be
Speaker 3: out in front, you know, be a front runner for
Speaker 3: that those roster spots.
Speaker 1: Is there going to be an addition wide receiver? Wise
Speaker 1: at some point. We've often talked about Keenan Allen, but
Speaker 1: it does seem like that the position is outside of
Speaker 1: his name dwindling. And the reason why we don't come
Speaker 1: up with any other names is because it doesn't seem
Speaker 1: like that there are any other names that are useful
Speaker 1: on that particular list. So, I mean, would you think
Speaker 1: that there they plan on going with what they have?
Speaker 1: Could we all be wrong about this?
Speaker 3: Well, I'm starting to think we are. I will tell
Speaker 3: you the God's honest truth because it doesn't matter now.
Speaker 3: I fully expected that Keenan Allen would have been here. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I don't know, maybe a week ago. Certainly by now,
Speaker 3: I fully expected him to be signed by the Colts.
Speaker 3: It's too obvious, right, they were talking imaging style close.
Speaker 3: He knows the offense. So if you bring a guy
Speaker 3: in late, you when you want the guy who knows
Speaker 3: the offense? Right, They did not get off to a
Speaker 3: great start at wide receiver in camp, so I mean,
Speaker 3: what more evidence do you need? Right, this is going
Speaker 3: to happen. I fully expected it was going to happen.
Speaker 3: The fact that it has not happened already has me
Speaker 3: really wondering if maybe they're not going to do it.
Speaker 3: And I trace that I don't. This is me talking, Okay,
Speaker 3: not a source, but I trace that back to Chris Pout.
Speaker 3: I think when we talked to him to start training camp.
Speaker 3: You heard he said that he wanted to kind of
Speaker 3: take a look at these guys and see what they
Speaker 3: had at that position. And that is the position he
Speaker 3: always takes when he is reluctant to make a roster move, right,
Speaker 3: whether it's the offensive line a few years ago when
Speaker 3: we were clamoring for them to make a move there,
Speaker 3: the secondary, I think the last couple of years when
Speaker 3: they entered the season and we said, you know, your
Speaker 3: little thin it's gonna be a problem. And behold, we
Speaker 3: were psychic, right, so very very reminiscent of situations that
Speaker 3: we've had in recent years. I'm very surprised we're still here.
Speaker 1: I am. It's amazing how often we and the fans
Speaker 1: have been accurate about things that the general manager has
Speaker 1: been inaccurate about.
Speaker 3: Steven Well, I have another thought about it. I'll take
Speaker 3: that a step further. I would go back to the draft.
Speaker 3: So I thought they had a nice draft, but free
Speaker 3: agency decisions affect directly affect your draft, right? What did
Speaker 3: they do in free agency? They locked up their own
Speaker 3: largely Alec Pierce and Daniel Jones. They did have some
Speaker 3: defensive signings Cam Tayler Britt you mentioned him too, defensive
Speaker 3: Ans Ard and Key Michael Clement, etc. So they did
Speaker 3: some work there, no question. But I think the thing
Speaker 3: we thought they might opt for in free agency and
Speaker 3: did not was a wide receiver, and not doing that
Speaker 3: I think put them in a spot where, Okay, they
Speaker 3: had to make a choice in the draft, do we
Speaker 3: finish off this defense and get the rest of what
Speaker 3: we need because you needed a starting linebacker, you needed
Speaker 3: a safety, you needed linebackers and all that. Right, So
Speaker 3: they had some tough calls to make because they had
Speaker 3: left a lot on their plate for the draft, and
Speaker 3: the receiver got overlooked. Not like they forgot about it,
Speaker 3: but I mean they made a conscious decision not to
Speaker 3: do it because they had other priorities, and that leads
Speaker 3: us to where we are right now. I'm not saying
Speaker 3: it was right or wrong, but I'm just saying choices
Speaker 3: have consequences, right, and so those decisions in previous months
Speaker 3: that is what has led us to where we are right. Now,
Speaker 3: this didn't just have overnight. This has been months in
Speaker 3: the making.
Speaker 1: We are on the way for a week number one
Speaker 1: to see a heavy dose, are we not? In this
Speaker 1: case of Lakwan Treadwell and of Westbrook A Kine, Right.
Speaker 3: I guess, I guess. Look, I mean, look Alec Pierce.
Speaker 3: If Alec he's not coming back this week for all
Speaker 3: intents and purposes, right, I mean they got one practice
Speaker 3: and then they got the preseason game. So you're talking
Speaker 3: about they're back on the practice field Saturday. That is
Speaker 3: the earliest unless I'm missing something, that would be the
Speaker 3: earliest you could see Alec Pearce. And I'm not even
Speaker 3: here to suggest that's going to happen, but let's say
Speaker 3: absolute best case scenario, he gets back out there when
Speaker 3: they get back to Indianapolis on Saturday and he's out there, Now,
Speaker 3: what is that? I mean you're talking about you're less
Speaker 3: than a month out. He's not in shape, not in
Speaker 3: football shape. But it's no like knock on him. But
Speaker 3: he has a lower body injury. Right, he's been hurt
Speaker 3: for like four months. Okay, the guy's not going to
Speaker 3: roll out of bed and go run past sauce Gardner
Speaker 3: on the first day of practice, right, So he has
Speaker 3: a lot of work to do when he gets back.
Speaker 3: So what version of Alex Pierce will beginning is my cushion?
Speaker 3: Is my point? Right? So you couple that with what
Speaker 3: is remaining of that unit, And no, I don't think
Speaker 3: this is a good recipe with a quarterback who is
Speaker 3: out here trying to prove that last year wasn't a
Speaker 3: flash in the pan, is coming off an Achilles injury, right,
Speaker 3: shouldn't you position him to do the very best he
Speaker 3: can do? I don't think they've done that. So maybe
Speaker 3: they will prove me wrong and we will see.
Speaker 1: So are they approaching this cautiously when he's much more
Speaker 1: on schedule than a lot of us believe, because we're
Speaker 1: well equipped now to just not really believe too much
Speaker 1: as positive surrounding the cold and decision making in general.
Speaker 1: So do you believe Pierce's situation to be better than
Speaker 1: what we all may believe it ourselves to be?
Speaker 3: Right now? I mean I would say, yes, they should
Speaker 3: be careful. Okay, they should be prudent. So I will
Speaker 3: never knock a team for being prudent with a star
Speaker 3: player not in August, Okay, you know what I mean, like,
Speaker 3: you don't go push him out there if he's not ready. However,
Speaker 3: that being said, they were projecting early in camp. I mean,
Speaker 3: is it early in camp still? I don't know, So
Speaker 3: I would say at best we have we have missed
Speaker 3: the rosier projections. They've missed that already. You know what
Speaker 3: I mean. It doesn't mean it's like the end of
Speaker 3: the world, but I mean it's not. It's not best
Speaker 3: case scenario right now with Alec Pearce. It's not that
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's worst case scenario, but it's
Speaker 3: not best case. So you know, are we over analyzing it?
Speaker 3: Maybe a little bit. He'll be back when he's back.
Speaker 3: But all I canna tell you is each day that
Speaker 3: goes by, I would say that the level of concern
Speaker 3: grows at least a little.
Speaker 1: Steven Holder walking us through familiar territory with the Colt
Speaker 1: Andy Moore Automotive Group FOTLFE, Hey safe travels to Foxborough
Speaker 1: and we'll check it again next week and see what
Speaker 1: the hell happens this week.
Speaker 3: Okay, Well I'm.
Speaker 1: Staying home this week, so you are, Okay, we'll check
Speaker 1: out next week.
Speaker 3: We'll go I got stuff going on, but I'll be
Speaker 3: out there for the rest
Speaker 1: Of it all right, Well, hey, we'll still You and
Speaker 1: I gather next Monday to see what they will happen regardless, Thanks,
Speaker 1: appreciate you